sarah's sustainable life

this one is difficult because quick is the antithesis of french food. (which is why it always tastes so good!) until i find a vegan “beef burgandy” that measures up to the one i had in paris, this will satisfy my craving for french flavors just fine.

serves four
2lbs fresh hericot vert (french green beans)
2T each fresh lemon juice & extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup each agave nectar & dijon mustard
sea salt
2tubes Pillsbury reduced-fat crescent rolls
1cup Vegan Gourmet jack cheese, shredded
2packages Smart Deli baked ham style soy slices

preheat oven to 375 and set hericot vert to steam lightly. whisk together the agave, mustard, lemon juice, oil and salt to taste; set aside. on eight of the crescent rolls (one package), arrange 2T grated “cheese” and a few slices of the “ham” evenly. use the remaining eight to cover and seal, making little pocket sandwiches. bake in the preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. meanwhile, dress the steamed (but still crunchy!) green beans with the agave dijon sauce. each plate should get 2 croissants and a nice scoop of beans.

for those of you who have been reading my site for the almost two years i have been writing – thanks!! – i wanted to let you know that i am getting ready to change a little something. i have decided to use the free recipe friday format to do a short series called quick international dinners! trying to go where creativity has led, i felt the need from readers i have talked to for whole meal recipes that are quick, nutritious, and exciting. and so this is what i hope to bring you through this new series. every meal will be fairly quick (most 30minutes or less to prepare), healthy, profiling an exiting international cuisine that your family may not be overly familiar with (no more meatloaf and potato night!), and 100% vegan. i will be including brand names in many cases, because a dinner stops being quick when you have to take 30minutes at the supermarket to inspect labels for shellfish or milk ingredients. it begins tomorrow and ends whenever i feel like it – because i can!!:) i hope you stay tuned, enjoy the easy possibilities, and expand your family’s dinner repertoire.

note of caution: many of these recipes are not terribly “outside-the-box”, because that’s not the way that i work (for example, quick thai dinner is simply my quick answer to pad thai). i want every person to be able to feel that international cuisine is within their reach in their own kitchen, and so have foregone most of the complicated instructions and obscure ingredients that are so often called for in more creative cooking.

who doesn’t love a BIG pile of sprouts on their salad or sandwich? such a nice change from normal greens, and full of unique vitamins, minerals, and allergy fighting properties, you would think every supermarket and restaurant should be pushing these. so why don’t we see them on salad bars, deli sandwiches, and produce isles? two words, folks: escherichia coli! that’s right. because conditions ideal for sprout growth are also ideal for bacterial growth, animal manure is used for fertalizer, and sprouts must be eaten raw, they have been linked to a large number of e coli and salmonella outbreaks in the last 40 years. alas, another natural crop of goodness that should be fighting for us is fighting against us because we allow others to grow all of our food. but there is a solution! most health food markets carry sprouting kits, which are basically a sterile jar, some seeds, and a screen to fit tightly over the top. sprouting your own seeds is a fun project to do with the kids, and can greatly decrease the risk of contamination. josiah loves science projects, so i believe this is one we will be taking on sometime in the near future. which is good news for me, because the only thing i love to roll into sushi better than avocado are sprouts!

this is for those of you who, like me, missed the first round of all these “bugs” being passed through the city, but caught it on the way back from your kids (or work, or something). just a small reminder, there is a mineral that can act just as well if not better than any cold and sinus medicine you might purchase. what’s it’s name? – ZINC!! – yeaaaah!! zinc is found in noticeable amounts in most nuts and seeds, some legumes, berries, and other fruit. but to get enough concentrated zinc from those sources to do a direct hit on a cold that is already here, you’d be stuffing your face day and night (and i don’t know about you, but when i am sick, eating is absolutely the LAST thing on my to-do-list). so, how can you get enough?

1) zinc lozenges – these are quite effective. they look like cough drops, but taste like quarters (if you can still taste anything). they work well because you keep them in your mouth until they dissolve, allowing the zinc to pass directly to your blood stream from your porous gums and tongue. they do taste awful, though.

2) sublingual zinc tabs – any vegan should be familiar with sublingual tabs, as this is the main source of vitamin B-12 recommended for veggies. basically a little medicine tablet you put under your tongue until it dissolves, usually less than a minute. this is nice, because you can’t really taste anything under your tongue, so you don’t have to feel like you are sucking on a metal bolt.

3) zinc oral spray – this is my favorite! so quick and easy, you just spray the zinc solution four times into your mouth (inside cheeks, roof of mouth, and tongue or gums), wait 15 seconds, and swallow.

hope this info helps get you through the rest of this crazy cold and flu season with herbal ease;)

a word of caution: zinc is considered a homeopathic medication, and may not be suitable in high doses for very young children or others with weak immune systems. make sure to read the label of your chosen product very well before using it. high doses of zinc can also be upsetting to your tummy, so never take it on an empty stomach.

as i did my first trip to the market this month, i was left with one thought on the way out, “wow! prices have certainly changed since i got married!” but as i put away the groceries, another thought came to me. “wow! my shopping habits have really changed since i got married!” nine years ago, when i did my first marketing order as an adult cooking for a household, i never would have dreamed that i would be spending extra money to get organic bananas, free-range eggs, non-hydrogenated vegan margarine, or gluten-free tofu steaks (mmmmm, tofu steaks…)! but alas, as we become more aware of the impact our everyday purchases make on the world at large, we are left with little choice but to change our priorities and put our treasure where our heart is. this never became more apparent to me than when we had a child. expensive? YES!! but because it is important to make sure our son has the best that we can give him, somehow it’s easier to let go of the money. i would like to leave you with a challenge for the week, inspired by a green parenting publication from the UK i came across today at Borders: change ONE item in your shopping cart to organic and/or fairtrade. make it something your family uses/consumes on a regular basis, and just decide that it is worth the extra few cents to see the impact on the world and on your family’s health. and never go back to the “conventional”;)

you don’t have to know me very well to know that i am not a fashionista. (my husband still has to tell me whether or not my clothing “matches” before i leave the house.) but there’s one thing i do know about fashion: like food, it is a multi-billion dollar industry that manipulates and exploits its workers, its resources, and its patrons. how refreshing to find companies that manage to do good with necessary products (like clothing) without charging outrageous amounts of money or looking ridiculous. enter mata traders. fair trade and vegan are just the beginning! in its own words, “Mata Traders’ clothing and accessories are original designs handmade in India by women’s co-ops and artisan groups. Our producers are paid a livable wage and do their work at home or in small workshops rather than factories. Mata fabrics contain a history and preserve an art. Most are hand block printed with eco-friendly vegetable dyes, supporting an artisan based textile tradition existing in India for centuries.” check out the website! i think you’ll be as excited as i was to see so many choices of beautiful clothing at very reasonable prices!!

after a brief hiatus for family illness, i was inspired to write today about a new and exciting development in south central texas. greenling is an organic, local, and sustainable grocery supplier that offers free delivery in certain areas, and san antonio just joined the list!!
the following is a clip from greenling.com:

how it works:
1. Shop
Shop just like you would at the grocery store! You can click on any product you want and add it to your basket. Before or after, you can create an account by giving us delivery and billing information.
2. Confirm your delivery
If you’ve ordered before you can check out with just 1 click. Otherwise simply review your order and confirm when you’d like it delivered.
3. Enjoy!
We bring the freshest, local and/or Organic food right to your door. If you like your schedule and baskets, you’re done! Greenling’s Organic goodness will keep coming to your door on the weeks you picked. If you want to mix it up, just come back to www.Greenling.com and make your changes. That’s it. Really. And of course we have our 100% satisfaction guarantee so never worry about anything not being up to your standards.

check out the website!! i definitely plan on using this awesome service!

as the past few weeks have reminded me, there are times in life when you just need a brownie. i am sharing with you today what i make when i want to eat junk and not feel like junk. i hope you enjoy it as much as my family does- and i guarantee, no one will EVER know these are vegan and fairly healthy!!

1cup organic, unbleached all-purpose flour
1cup evaporated cane juice
1/3cup dutch process cocoa powder
1T ground flax meal
1/4tsp baking soda
pinch each salt & cinnamon
1/4cup canola oil
1/2cup coffee, brewed and cooled
1tsp real vanilla

preheat oven to 350. whisk together dry ingredients. combine wet ingredients in a blender and pulse together, then gently mix into the dry. spread into a lightly greased, square baking dish. bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, depending on how “done” you like your brownies.

having taken the last few weeks to acquaint myself with the bus system, i now feel confident reporting to you that you should ride the bus any opportunity you get! it was not at all what i was expecting, but it is a lovely way to get around and feel that you are doing something positive for the environment. my favorite part of public transport is that it offers a type of independence i have striven for most of my life and very rarely achieved. it’s as if you can travel anywhere and say, “that’s right, car. act up all you want. i don’t need you!!” the buses are very clean and, thus far, have not been even a little bit unsafe. so i encourage all of you, who like me, have had a bus stop sitting in front of your house for years and never bothered to try it. look up the site for your local public transport and see where it can take you for a few dollars. and then tell me about it when you get back – i enjoy our conversations:)

these savory muffins are so easy, i just couldn’t give them up when i gave up animal products. SO, i veganized them!!;) but they remind me of when i first got married and was just learning to cook; pretty much all recipes had to be this simple. throwback breakfast muffins will leave you plenty of time to spend with your family on a saturday morning!

1/2 cup Daiya cheddar style shreds
1 3/4cups heart healthy bisquick
1cup unsweetened soymilk
1/2tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup smart deli ham flavored slices, chopped finely

preheat oven to 400. combine all ingredients. mix well and use an ice cream scoop to fill 9 greased muffin tins half full. bake 12-15minutes, until baked through. enjoy hot with some fruit and coffee.