Today is tax day. Finding receipts, organizing receipts, adding up receipts.
So of course we felt it was much more important to run some errands instead.
Hi Carlos!
And then the light was so nice I had to get some shots.
I managed to convinced Ravi that doing math on a Saturday night is more fun with a bottle of champers.
Ok, time to order up some food and start number crunching! After I check my email, twitter, facebook…oh and I’m on linkedin now! Add me!
Soup. I love making it. I love the time I invest chopping ingredients, tasting, stirring, sampling. 1 out of 2 (more like 1 out of 3) times I actually nail it. I mean melt in your mouth, tingle your taste-buds, wrap me up in a warm blanket nail it. The 1 or 2 other times – disaster. I have rocked (and ruined) various chilies, leak / potato, lentil soups. Tonight I dared to try something new. With some kale in the refrigerator (after a failed attempt at making kale chips) I wanted to cook it up. And after 3 days of nostrils-sticking-together cold temperatures, I decided that a soup would be most appropriate.
Nailed it! Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free but hearty and super tasty. However, like most of my soup creations, I fear this treasure will never be experienced again. With my soup cooking, I rarely follow a recipe, nor am I schooled in the science and art of flavour matching. That’s right, Moko’s soup is a freakin science experiment.
So, what’s in tonight’s soup? I have no idea other than some kale, carrots, potatoes, garlic, and water. Everything else I have added blindly while sipping on a glass of Malbec and watching a movie in the background. All I can say is that it is absolutely glorious – Iron Chef worthy. All I can do I take a picture to preserve the memory for it will probably never been experienced again.
I tried going gluten-free a little while back. I was feeling bloated and tired all the time. Being friends with a number of naturopaths I was inspired to try eliminating wheat and gluten from my diet. This is more difficult than you may think. Wheat has a funny way of sneaking itself into things, for example soy sauce. I became one of those annoying grocery store shoppers standing in the aisle reading ingredient labels. It felt like there was wheat in everything. I soon learned that one grocery chain had a gluten-free section. Awesome if you want to pay $8 for gluten-free bread crumbs (which I did). One of my greatest challenges was finding something to eat in the morning that was filling and delicious. I was getting sick of eggs and fruit every morning and I found myself needing lunch by 11 am. I looked at some gluten-free cereals but they were high in sugar and low in fibre.
By chance I came across this intriguing breakfast cereal, Holy Crap. Since I don’t live in British Columbia, it was only available for me by Internet. I ordered 3 bags of it in December and it arrived this week!
I didn’t know what to think of it when I poured the cereal into a bowl. It looked like bird seed.
I tried the first bowl yesterday with soy milk. After letting it sit for 4 minutes (as per the instructions) I gave it a try. It looked like what they ate in the Matrix but it tasted awesome! I think the magic is in chia seeds. I don’t really know what they are but they’re delicious. I felt sated and didn’t need to eat lunch before noon. The high fibre did the trick as well 😉
Today we tried it with some vanilla yogurt. Still pretty good but I prefer it with soy milk.
So, there’s help for all you gluten-free nuts out there! It’s also Vegan and Lactose Free for those of you with other dietary restrictions. Oh, and I wasn’t paid by Holy Crap to promote this cereal, nor was I given the stuff for free. But I’ll continue to go on and on about it if they want to send me a few bags ‘cause I think we’ll go through these 3 bags in about 6 weeks!
The lovely and talented Laura!
She really is talented. Writer, chef, artist.
Ravi cooked up a delicious Indian feast for us.
He’s been cooking this for me almost every week for the past 3 years and I still don’t know what goes into it.
I’m always in awe how he can make it go from this:
to this
and this in about 28 minutes.
I played sous-chef, bartender, DJ, and photog of course.
These were not taken at Indian feast but who cares, they’re awesome pics.
Except that I realize I’m in dire need of a manicure.
I served up Cava and Malbec with a soundtrack of Lali Puna and Phoenix.
Citizen Kitty was mesmerized.
I think she misses Laura. Kitty stayed with Laura while we were away in Mexico.
Love you Laura! Next time we’ll roll up some sushi!
Yeah, not so much play but work.
Clearing snow. Lots of snow.
Off a very long driveway.
Another reason I choose not to live in a house.
Ever share some pot brownies or a weed cookies with friends? You could go to jail for 18 months – that is if Bill S-10 passes the House of Commons and becomes law. The Senate of Canada already passed the bill in December and now it awaits the House of Commons.
Bill S-10 will bring mandatory minimum jail sentencing for marijuana offenses including LIFE SENTENCES for non-violent marijuana crimes.
This is not just for the pot dealers out there. You will get 18 month IN PRISON if you make “pot edibles” and share them – even you if are a medical marijuana user.
Many experts are saying that there is NO EVIDENCE that Bill S-10’s mandatory minimum sentencing will improve public health or deter crime. On the contrary, many claim that that mandatory minimum sentencing and an over-emphasis of drug law enforcement has a NEGATIVE impact on youth and public health.*
What you can do to stop this from happening:
1. Contact your Member of Parliament and let them know that you OPPOSE Bill S-10.
2. Go to democrazyinaction.org and sign the petition that states you oppose Bill S-10 as it is “not scientifically grounded and which research demonstrates may actually contribute to health and social harms in or communities.”
*From Democracyinaction.org
Mexican Cenote video is now on Vimeo!
This was the first kitchen accessory I ever bought. It was $7.99 at Target.
Tonight, she passed on. I don’t know whether it was the microwaving, the wisking, or just years of abuse but obviously she couldn’t take it anymore.
Ravi said, “it’s cool. Let’s just get a new one – a round bottom one!” I was hurt over how fast he wanted to replace her.
But I thought we could keep her, use her as a fruit bowl or something…until this happened:
Total rupture. I don’t think any radical surgery (i.e. crazy glue) can save her at this point.
So I bid farewell to one of my first adult purchases. I remember feeling so grown up the first time I filled you with apples; the first time I made a greek salad in you; the first time I chilled a wild rice salad in you.
Scuba diving – the best part of the week in Mexico. We did a number of ocean dives that were pretty fun. But, by far, the most spectacular dives were in in the cenotes-deep sinkholes in the interior.
We were lucky to have a professional photographer with us and used his footage to put together a video of our dives. Go to youtube to watch it in HD.
Moko Universe 