Apricot Hempseed Bars

I'm making these for my friend and bringing them to warped tour on friday wrapped in tin foil in a tote bag. They seem healthful, delicious, easily transportable, and full of nutrients I probably don't get enough of (omega 3). Adapted from a recipe off the Whole Foods iPhone app... yup...

-1 cup shelled hempseeds
-1 cup pitted dates
-3 cups dried apricots
-some flax seed, raw sunflower seeds, raw almonds, WHATEVER!
-juice from one lemon
-vanilla extract (I'm using a vanilla bean my friend Jeremy picked from a garden and mailed to me from Malaysia... SERIOUSLY!)
-nutmeg
-cloves

Put everything in a food processor. Foodprocess it. Press it down with a spatula into a pan that you already lined with wax paper. Cover, refrigerate, cut into squares and feed them to your friends... aka this scaryass dude:
(photo courtesy of equally scaryass dude Nate Shannon)

squash tostadas

In America we tend to avoid food that's really spicy when it's stupid hot out, but in Indonesia, they made spicy food particularly when it was super hot and humid out, so I'm doing that today.



-one yellow squash
-one large onion (sweet), chopped
-one zucchini
-two jalepenoes
-one green pepper
-the juice of one lime
-2-3 cloves of garlic
-olive oil
-small corn tortillas (2-3 for a normal person, 4 for a hungry person)
-dash of salt
-fajita seasoning or hot sauce or a packet of taco seasoning (I use "the spice hunter" salt free fajita seasoning blend in the bottle)
-(optional) one avocado, mashed

1. In a large skillet (or ikea wok that you stole from ed grant) sautee the onions in oil until translucent. Reduce heat and add chopped garlic, and then jalepenoes. I used about half the seeds and mine turned out super spicy, so adjust accordingly based on how much heat you like.
2. I chopped my yellow squash in finger sizes, and my zucchini in thin medallions. Do that, and add them. Turn up the heat a little.
3. Add the chopped green pepper. I chopped mine pretty small this time.
4. Add salt and seasoning and let simmer for a bit.
5. In a separate skillet, heat some oil and fry up the corn tortillas, about 4 minutes on each side.
6. As the tortillas are finishing, squeeze the juice of one lime onto the veg mixture, and let it simmer for a minute more.
7. Smear the avocado on the tortillas that are now tostadas, and scoops the veggies over top.

SO KILLER GOOD!

NOT FOOD: making my own cleaning supplies

Lately, everything has been grossing me out. I've long since denounced obviously gross crap like antiperspirant and tampons, but I'm getting more and more extreme in my old age.

Tampons and maxi pads have been replaced (for the rare occasion that i menstruate thanks to my Mirena IUD) with a divacup and my "blood towel".

Laundry detergent: a grated bar of castile soap, 1 c. borax, 1 c. washing soda that I'm storing in pickle jar on the top of my fridge.

Window cleaner: 2 c. club soda, 1 tsp cornstarch, 3 tbsp lemon juice in a spritz bottle

For my bathroom I use borax and a sponge to scrub, white vinegar in a spritz bottle to clean/shine.

I'm still looking for: dryer sheets alternative.

I haven't used my homemade laundry detergent on my bag of rags yet (cut up towel tidbits to decrease/eliminate my paper towel usage), and I'm curious to see how clean they get. The nature of coin laundry in an apartment complex makes the whole "soaking" thing rather difficult too.

Word.

Tomato/Basil/Mozzarella Sandwich Summer

This weekend, my awesome friend Jason visited and we made some DELICIOUS caprese-style sandwiches. They were perfect for the stupid-hot weather and we discovered a delicious new fake cheese, daiya brand, at the local-bourgey-chain market near me: Plum Market.

We talked a lot about how important it is to be conscious of what you eat whether it be vegan/cruelty-free/organic/etc, and it really reinforced my convictions as a vegan. Since moving to the middle of nowhere and spending more and more time with my well-intentioned but thoroughly nonvegan family, it's been really challenging to stay enthusiastic about what i "can't" eat.

Being vegan is rad!

Ingredients:
-french or italian bread (we got Livonia small batch local stuff)
-daiya brand fake mozzarella
-a ripe tomato, sliced thin
-0.25 of an avocado per sandwich
-1-2 leaves of fresh basil per sandwich

1. Under the broiler, toast the bread on both sides. While toasting the second side, liberally apply the fake cheese shreds to one side of the sandwich and watch it melt under the broiler... melty but not burnt.

2. Thoroughly wash and pat the basil dry. Tear it up into little tidbits. If you are pulling fresh basil off a plant that you got form Home Depot, always clip it from the top, right above the next row of leaves, that way your mom won't keep yelling at you for killing the basil plant every other week because you kept pulling leaves off haphazardly leaving all stems, sorry Mom.

3. Mash the 0.25 of the avocado and spread it on the other slice of bread.

4. Add tomato slices.

5. Add basil tidbits.

6. Squish it down flat. Cut it in half triangle-ways.