Pretty Babies

Our Changing Kitchen

Our lives (and diets) have been changing lately to be more nutrient-rich and eliminate empty calories, toxins and other bad stuff. Basically it means we've been eating lots and lots of fruit, veggies, beans and nuts. We've also begun the process of purging our home of refined sugar, white flour, processed food and cutting way back on animal products. Sounds extreme, and in some ways, it is, but so far its been a delicious and extremely satisfying. I'll periodically post some of our new favorites and recipes.

This last weekend we had Southwest Black Bean Burgers with Whole Wheat Buns. So delicious!

The recipe for the Black Bean Burgers comes from Veganomicon, a wonderfully entertaining cookbook. I'm excited to try as many recipes as possible! 

Black Bean Burgers

(served with fresh avocado and spinach)

2 c. cooked black beans (or 1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed)

1/2 c. vital wheat gluten

1/2 c. plain whole wheat bread crumbs

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 c. water

1 tbsp. tomato paste (or ketchup)

1/4 c. finely chopped cilantro

2 cloves garlic

1/2 small onion

Mash the beans with a fork until no whole beans remain (half-beans are fine). 

Add the wheat gluten (and for those of you who have never used wheat gluten, don't skip this! it's worth a trip to the grocery or health food store to get this. It's the not-so-secret ingredient that gives the burgers their delicious bite and chewiness), bread crumbs, chili powder, cumin, water and tomato paste.

Mince, press or crush the garlic into the mix and use a grater to grate the onion in. 

Mix all ingredients with a fork then knead with your hands until the mixture is firm and thoroughly mixed.

Divide the mix into six equal pieces and form into patties.

Use a thin layer of oil to cook patties for about 5 minutes on each side.

The recipe I used for the Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns came from a friend's blog full of great nutritional information recipes and well-written and well-researched commentaries on health and nutrition. 

February: Twisted Love (4 of 4)

I feel a little ashamed that I haven't posted anything at all this week... two movies in a row. You'd think we didn't do anything else!

Anyway, here is our fourth and final twisted love pic: LARS AND THE REAL GIRL

To be entirely up front, we've only seen this one once so far. So we're not self-proclaimed experts on this film but we did thoroughly enjoy it and it fits in just right with the theme.
For what it's worth though, I do have some thoughts to share with you.
The story centers around Lars, a socially backward young man whose "real girl" is an anatomically correct life-size doll he ordered from the internet and introduces to his family and neighbors as his girlfriend Bianca. 'Nuff said about that. You'll get the plot as you watch. Ryan Gosling is painfully awkward (and therefore spot on) as Lars. Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer (I love her!) are just fantastic as Lars' brother and sister-in-law. But honestly, every single person in the film was cast just perfectly right down to their Minnesota/Wisconsin/Scandinavian accents and exceedingly normal appearances.
The love story here really isn't about a boy's love for his fake-girlfriend. It's about a community's love for one of their own and willingness to support him even through ridiculousness, disbelief and frustration. We thought it was a beautiful story and left us feeling a renewed belief in modern society and values. There are still folks who believe in fidelity, honesty, integrity and moral courage. It was really encouraging to watch.
One final note, the copy we watched had quotes all over that said how hilarious it was and that it was the best comedy of the year. Stuff like that. This is not a comedy, just know that going in. Sure, there are lighthearted moments and you'll laugh now and then, but comedy? No way.

PG-13. I honestly can't remember anything uncomfortable or inappropriate. But I only saw it once.

Up next week: A new month and a new theme! Our first film will be "The Secret of Roan Inish".

February: Twisted Love (3 of 4)

Third Installment: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. 

Though the players seem a more conventional pair of lovers (young, beautiful, about the same age, both human), this is probably the twistiest story of twisted love we'll offer. In fact, you may not even see any love at all until the end of the movie. And you'll probably need to pop it back into the machine a second time just to figure out what you just watched.
So why the recommendation? Because this movie is amazing. It's a mind-bender for sure and has more than its fair share of uncomfortable moments, but the overall result is unlike anything else you will ever watch.
Jim Carrey is particularly great as the heart-broken hero and Kate Winslet as his intense, off-putting and colorful girlfriend. I'm not going to give away any of the plot because I think you just need to see it for yourself the first time.  Tom Wilkinson is awesome as usual. Ditto Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood. Even Kirsten Dunst turns in a great performance.

Note on the rating: Yes, it is "R". And if your general rule is not to see movies with an "R" rating then this is not the movie to break your rules for. It's great and we love it, but it is "R" for the reasons you've stopped watching. Language, adult themes, etc.
Alternative: not what we'd call twisted, just quirky. But also more palatable to the general public: Stranger than Fiction. Stars Will Farrel who turns out to be a very talented actor in this more dramatic role. Also Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhal and Queen Latifah. It's fun, romantic and another favorite.

Up next week: Lars and the Real Girl

Little Builder

Happy's favorite toy at the moment is his lego set. Hands down. There is no activity into which he more happily dives and he can be perfectly entertained for an hour or more just building enormous towers like the one you see here.

Though this one is pretty conservative, many of his finest designs have a distinctly Seussian aesthetic: curvy, leaning, colorful concoctions that literally defy gravity for the 20 seconds that they stand. 

Oh Saint Valentine

 Sweet Saint Valentine made a long-awaited stop at our house last night. Curmudgeon is of the old "Valentines Day is an invention of flower companies to get us to spend money" school. So the fact that he caved enough to bring me a rose and switch his sleeping schedule in the middle of the week so that we could spend the evening together is a big deal!

 

We also got the cooperation of our children, who slept through the whole evening (at least until C. had to head off to work. Then it was business as usual).  We shared a lovely and high-falootin supper of a colorful and delicious salad (spinach, mustard greens, every color of pepper, tomatoes, grapes and strawberries) followed by the scrumptious collection of goodies you see here:

Home-made hummus and pita wedges, pears, apples, grapes, strawberries, peppers, dates, rice crackers and-- the treat of the evening-- honey-infused chevre cheese. As my husband can attest, I've been craving (and talking about craving) chevre for over a year now. Pretty much since I became pregnant with Punky and realized that I couldn't have any. The long yearning was deliciously satisfied last night. 

We drank Virgil's rootbeer. If you've never had Virgils then you are missing one of the great pleasures of life. Let me read to you from the ingredient list: Anise, Licorice, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Clove, Wintergreen, Sweet Birch, Molasses, Nutmeg, Pimento Berry Oil, Balsam Oil, and Oil of Cassia. Sounds delicious, no? Well it is.

Then for dessert, dark chocolate covered almonds rolled in turbinado sugar and sea salt. Mmmm.

It was a good day.

Indonesian Peanut Sauce (Sambal Kacang)

My dad tells me I ate peanut butter sandwiches exclusively until I was five. Though my palate has been conditioned for the stuff, I think you'll like this peanut sauce too! We typically put it on our chicken sate or Gado Gado. (Gado Gado is an Indonesian salad with many, many variations. Ours usually included big chunks of cucumber, tomato, sliced hard-boiled eggs, shredded cabbage, and limes).

You can include noodles in the salad too, or put the sauce on just noodles. Here's the recipe we've been using (you can also use regular peanut butter and coconut milk, of course):

Ingredients

0.5 cup reduced fat peanut butter 1.5 cloves garlic, chopped 1-2 hot chili peppers, chopped 1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped 4.5 teaspoons palm sugar 2 cups light coconut milk 2 tablespoons kecip manis (sweet soy sauce) 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Directions

Makes 2.5 cups. Serving size: 2 tbs

1. Puree peanut butter, garlic, chili peppers, and ginger root in food processor. (You may skip this step if you are using already minced ginger and garlic from a jar).

2. Transfer mixture to saucepan.

3. Stir in coconut milk and kecip manis.

4. Gently simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or more, stirring often.

5. Let sauce cool. Correct seasoning, adding kecip manis or lime juice to taste.


Number of Servings: 20

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 20
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 61.4

• Total Fat: 3.9 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 112.8 mg
• Total Carbs: 5.0 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.7 g
• Protein: 2.1 g