Recipe: Cranberry Apple Pie Smoothie

     I could easily turn this blog into an ode to Ye Glorious Blender, Most Magnificent of Kitchen Appliances but I'm pretty sure that's a form of idolatry. In fact there's probably a verse in Leviticus or Numbers commanding  Israel not to worship kitchen accessories or things with spinning blades that go whirr by punishment of stoning or ear amputation or detailed exchange of livestock. But you can't argue that blenders are awesome. I lived two years away from home with many blessings and luxuries, but a blender was not among them. When we got married, I was ecstatic to receive a small blender for a wedding gift and I whip it out every chance I get. Smoothies, virgin "margaritas", milkshakes--my young blender has seen it all. I even bend culinary law by using it in place of a food processor for making pesto.

   Smoothies are by far my favorite way to start a summer day, but I usually cast them aside in the chilly New York autumn and winter months. This year, I didn't want to sacrifice my quickest way to incorporate more fruit into my diet, so I cranked up the heat and started experimenting with some seasonal smoothies and cold beverages.  I buy lots of fresh fruit on sale and freeze whatever we don't eat fresh so it doesn't go to waste. Since defrosted fruit often has a freezer-y aftertaste, I recommend throwing them into your blender with a little  milk, juice or combination of the two. This one uses frozen bananas and seasonal cranberries and draws on the warm holiday flavor of apple pie.

Cranberry Apple Pie Smoothie

1/2 frozen, peeled banana

1/3 c. fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup apple cider

1 tsp. fresh grated ginger (substitute 1/4 tsp. powdered if you want, but you'll lose flavor and nutritional benefits!)

dash apple or pumpkin pie spice or just a little cinnamon

1 tbs. oats (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Pulse until smooth. Serve in a glass with a straw and garnish with a slice of apple if desired. Serves 1.

  Nutritional benefits: Cranberries are considered one of the most antioxidant-laden fruits and contain a ton of fiber. Some studies indicate that the mighty cranberry can help lower cholesterol, prevent urinary tract infections and fight tooth decay. Bananas are notoriously high in potassium and can decrease your risk of stroke and stomach ulcers. They're also full of good-for-you carbohydrates to give you an energy boost at the beginning of a long day. Fresh ginger is used for medicinal purposes in many cultures and has been shown to aid digestion, boost metabolism, decrease nausea and boost the immune system.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

  

  

Dying to Myself

   I can't take it anymore. I told Graham I wouldn't blog again until he posted something, but I can feel World Wide Web holding its breath, waiting for me to unload my self-indulgent banter into its empty space. I've got to take one for the blogging team and grace the internet with a few paragraphs of mediocre discussion about the utter predictability and markedly uninteresting series of events that is my life. But now, today, I want to talk about not focusing on myself. I know I'm completely contradicting myself by even blogging in the first place, but we're going to pretend that that I'm just being extremely meta or postmodern or something. I promise I have a point.

   People, by nature, are self-involved. We see everything through ego-colored glasses. As selfless, generous and charitable as we might train ourselves to be, we still seek our own desires and fulfillment above all else. I've always worried a lot about what other people think about me. I'd think, "How do I appear to this person?" and "How do people perceive me?" As a child and teenager, I remember being extremely concerned with appearing selfish or ungrateful. But rather than focus on making my heart generous and grateful, I turned me attention toward outward appearances. If I appeared grateful by saying "thank you", if I seemed selfless by allowing someone else to choose the movie we watched at a sleepover, it would all be okay. 

   Surprise! It's not. Being married is a whole new ballgame. In pre-marital counseling we discussed what it means to put others, particularly your spouse, before yourself. These few months of marriage have already been the greatest lesson in learning to put my husband's needs before my own.    

    Just a few weeks after we settled in to our apartment, I began to struggle with "grumbling." I'd find myself rolling my eyes when I picked up clothes left on the bathroom floor or at dirty dishes in the sink. A few days of this behavior and I found myself becoming more and more overwhelmed. Schoolwork, housework, dance classes, my part-time job. . . it all seemed like too much. The stray socks mocked me. One night in Bible study I came across the following verse:

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” --Matthew 16:24-25

Those are Jesus' words! I can talk and blog and think all I want about my desire to follow Christ with all my heart, soul, mind and body but until I deny myself and take up my cross I will never truly "find" my life. Everything I do will be empty if done for myself. Years ago I made the decision to give my life to the Lord, but I don't think I ever made the effort to die unto myself. Marriage has helped me see the importance of this in a whole new light. Rather than grumble inwardly about chores or surrendering our shared computer to Graham for the evening, I'm learning to do it with a truly thankful heart. Graham works crazy hours to support me as I finish school, we have groceries and a nice apartment and everything we need. If I'm living to serve God and others, there's no room for complaining. It's still a struggle to do dishes and laundry joyfully, but in Christ all things are possible, eh? (Okay, I'm not Canadian. I just like saying "eh." Give me a break!)
    t's easy for me to deceive men by appearing selfless and "holy", but it's impossible to pull a fast one on God on account of Him being omniscient and stuff. 1 Samuel 16:7 tells us "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 

 Graham and I strive to put God first in our home, followed by the needs of one another. I'm not going to pretend that I've become perfectly Christ-like overnight, feeding the homeless with my left hand and showing grace to adulteresses with my right, but I'm certainly growing. If you want perfection, don't look at me, look at the God I serve. He can do anything, including get me to enjoy doing the dishes! That's about as miraculous and making the blind see and the lame walk, in my opinion. 

 I leave you with one more piece of wisdom via my buddy Paul:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17 

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

   As soon as September 1st rolls around I rush to the kitchen and start whipping out the pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg. Yeah, I like Autumn a little bit. This year, rather than bake a year's worth of pumpkin cookies before the leaves even start to change, I decided to welcome Fall more subtly with this new recipe from Isa Moskowitz of The Post Punk Kitchen. In case you couldn't tell, I'm far from punk or post-punk, but The Post Punk Kitchen has long been my go-to website for vegan recipes and cooking tips. These little gems are from Isa's soon-to-be-released book, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and she was kind enough to share the recipe on her blog.

   When Graham works long hours, I like to take him cookies or other treats to boost his blood sugar and Forced Customer Service Smile in the middle of the day. These snickerdoodles were such a hit with Graham and all his co-workers that I made them again for a friend's birthday party a few days later. (Graham got to eat the "broken ones" of course.) Comforting, chocolatey and just a little bit spicy, they're the perfect way to usher in the new season.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles 

Originally posted on The PPK Blog by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

For the topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cookies:

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons almond milk (Or your preferred non-dairy milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon chocolate extract (or more vanilla extract if you have no chocolate)

1 2/3 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the topping ingredients together on a flat plate. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together oil,  sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix in extracts.
Sift in remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added mix until you’ve got a pliable dough.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Pat into the sugar topping to flatten into roughly 2 inch discs. Transfer to baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread). This should be easy as the the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, they should be a bit spread and crackly on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

  Yay cookies!

         -Sarah

Recipe Day: Black Bean Hummus

     One of the challenges I've faced since becoming a wife is learning how to cook healthful meals that Graham and I both enjoy. I'm vegan who's usually trying to lose five or ten pounds. Graham is a hardened omnivore who adores steak, whole milk and complaining about wanting to gain weight. Lucky for me, Graham's not a picky eater and will happily wolf down nearly anything I put in front of him but the fact still remains: Graham needs more calories and protein than I do and he can only stomach so much marinated tofu. The answer? Beans.
  
     Beans and legumes are one of the cheapest sources of protein and (I've discovered) incredibly versatile. With our budget even tighter than usual this month, various "beans and rice" themed dishes have taken the spotlight at our kitchen table many times in recent weeks. Last Thursday, I came home from school and work too tired to cook. Graham and I looked forlornly at the Tupperware container of leftover brown rice and black beans in the fridge, resigning ourselves to another utilitarian meal. Graham's too optimistic to complain about eating leftovers for the fourth time in a row, but I knew we could do better with just a little more effort. Noticing that I still had another can of black beans in the cabinet and about-to-be-stale corn tortillas in the fridge, I decided to pull out my food processor and get creative. The result is a simple but impressive way to make beans more interesting.

Zesty Black Bean Hummus with Homemade Tortilla Chips

2 cups canned black beans (or cooked fresh beans + 3 tbs. water) 

1/4 cup olive oil 

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 chopped red bell pepper 

1/4 cup cilantro (optional)

juice of 1 lime

1 tsp. hot sauce

salt and black pepper to taste 

 6-8 corn tortillas 

2 tbs. oil (canola or olive)

3 tbs. spice blend of your choice (I use cumin, black pepper, salt, cayenne and a little nutritional yeast. Chili powder also makes for a chip with a bite.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

  
     Cut the tortillas into triangles however large or small you like. Place in a single layer on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Use a basting brush to brush oil over the tortillas, then lightly sprinkle the spice blend on top ensuring the spice is evenly distributed. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until chips are golden brown and crispy. Flip once, half way through cooking. Meanwhile, prepare the hummus.

      In a blender or food processor combine black beans (with liquid from can), olive oil and garlic. Pulse a few times until mostly combined. Add bell pepper,, hot sauce, lime, salt and pepper and cilantro (if using). Pulse until no whole beans or pepper remain. I like my hummus smooth and a little thick. If you'd like a thinner dip add a couple tablespoons more oil or water. 

  When chips are ready, remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes. If you'd like a warm spread, microwave the hummus for 1 minute. It's also great served chilled or room temperature.

  This makes a cheap, easy meal alongside some mixed greens or on top of a taco salad. Serve it for a party alongside salsa and guacamole or use it as a sandwich spread. I bet you could even wear it as a hat. I mean, this hummus is pretty talented. 

Enjoy and let us know what you think. 

-Sarah (with Graham's vigorous enthusiasm for hummus)

Wishing Aristotle Wrote Novels

   The fall semester began this week--  my last fall semester as an undergraduate-- and I'm already neck-deep in reading, studying and thinking too much about my classes. In my effort to graduate early so that Graham can go to school full time, I packed on the credits this semester, taking twelve credits worth of major requirements and another six credits worth of the core curriculum. I've remained true to my original major, English, but picked up first a minor, then a double major in Philosophy & Religious Studies. I always say I got duped into Triple-majoring because my college doesn't offer a separate Religious Studies major. It's a two-for-one deal. Kant and Jesus are not available for individual resale.

   Unfortunately, before I signed that monumental Major Declaration form in Academic Advisement office last fall, I failed to consider that as a philosophy major, I'd actually be required to take philosophy classes. Sure, I liked philosophy in theory, but talking about it at length always made me annoyed, and I'd yet to meet a wannabe philosopher who wasn't a pretentious Williamsburg hipster, sporting tight jeans and a smug expression. I scraped by with a B in Intro to Philosophy, blaming my inability to "think like a philosopher" on my professor's ineptitude rather than my own inability to write philosophical proofs. 


    During my first full semester as a Phil/RS major (as it is so lovingly addresses in course catalogs), most of my preconceptions about philosophy majors were shattered as I enjoyed classes with some of the brightest, wittiest and all-around most grounded (ironically) people at my college. Nevertheless, I still sucked at philosophy. In Philosophy of Religion, I took about 65% longer to comprehend the philosophical jargon of the text than most of my fellow classmates, and felt like the "slow kid" for the first time in my academic life. I got a lot of comments on papers like, "good paper, but not very philosophical" and was once told to "stop reading philosophy like it's a novel."  Philosophy makes me really, really miss novels. I just want to bust our a New Historicist Critique of Kierkegaard, okay?

   This semester, I'm enrolled in a slightly more basic course, Introduction to Ethics. I'm starting to get the feeling I should have taken all my Intro philosophy courses before my Let's-kill-you-with-ontological-proofs courses, but I rarely do things like I'm supposed to. I'm finding Ethics interesting and even starting to suffer from Thinking Too Much About My Classes All the Time Syndrome (TTMAMCATTS or "Tee-Mam-Cats).  For example, I can't stop thinking about the ethics of effort. I'll probably regurgitate my incoherent brainstorms about the value (or non-value) of risk-taking on this site soon and I'd really like to hear your opinions.

 God help me try to think like a philosopher without the tight jeans.

     -Sarah

P.S. Apologies for the lack of Graham. He'll post soon! You won't have to suffer through me much longer, promise!

Saving Money: Tips # 1-2

   *Insert obligatory paragraph about the economy, the recession, cutting back, spreading a dollar etc.*

  Okay, ready? At the risk of sounding like a morning talk show, the truth is that everyone likes to save money. September is an especially tight month for Graham and me, with broker's fees to pay, textbook costs and our desire to sleep on an actual bed instead of an over sized air mattress. We're still learning how to plan a budget, but I've recently discovered that a few small adjustments make a huge difference!

1. Vinegar is your friend.  There's a wealth of information available on the internet about various ways to use vinegar as a household cleaner, but while cleaning the kitchen last week, I experimented with a new way to rid my sinks, faucets and other metallic surfaces of grime:

        2 parts sea or table salt + 1 part distilled white vinegar = magical faucet/sink potion! Apply the solution to your sink and faucet and scrub for about 30 seconds with cleaning gloves, a rag or even paper towel. Rinse off and check yourself out in the super shiny surface.

    = A lot of commercial cleaners on the market claim to do the same thing, but will cost you up to seven or eight dollars a bottle. This homemade "paste" costs just a few cents and completely remove lime, food, dirt and all other kinds of build up.

2. Get some buns in your oven. Literally.  I've always loved to bake, so baking my own bread at home seemed like a natural way to cut back on our grocery bill. I recommend buying large bags of flour in bulk and storing it in an air tight container in your freezer if you don't bake more than once a week. This will enhance the longevity of your flour and help keep bugs out. Just be sure to let it return to room temperature before you start baking.

    "Seriously, though?" I hypothetically hear you ponder from the other side of the blogosphere. "Who has time to make their own bread? This ain't Little House on the Prairie. You ain't Laura Ingalls Wilder!"

   First of all, I commend your taste in children's literature, and it sure was fun to use "ain't" in hypothetical second person! Second, you may not have an awesome prairie dress and bows in your hair, but bread baking doesn't have to be a laborious multi-hour process. There's a huge array of bread recipes available online and all you need is some flour, salt, water, yeast and sometimes oil, sugar or other add-ins. Plus, most yeast breads require only about 5 minutes of initial preparation and 5-10 minutes of kneading. While bread dough is rising, I do homework, clean the apartment or go to class. If you need to get your bread on the table in under an hour, try a quick bread or a soda bread which use baking soda rather than yeast and don't need time to rise. Soda bread goes wonderfully with soups, stews and slathered with jam, honey, agave nectar or margarine/butter. My recipe:

     2 cups all-purpose flour
     2 cups whole wheat flour
     2 tsp. baking soda
     1 tsp salt
     1 cup milk (I use soy) mixed with 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
     1/2 cup margarine (shortening or butter will also do)
     1/4 cup caraway seeds (optional)

    Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a round cake pan or dutch oven.

Sift together flours, salt and baking soda in a large bowl; add margarine to the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or mix in with your fingers until it becomes crumbly; add the milk/vinegar combination and stir until combined; fold in caraway seeds. Dough should be firm, smooth and elastic. Add more flour if it's too moist, until desired texture is reached. Knead a few times in the bowl or on a clean surface and place in cake pan or dutch oven. Cut an 'X' in the top of the loaf. If using a cake pan, cover dough with a second cake pan and let bake 25-30 minutes. Remove top pan and let bake for an additional 15 minutes until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted inside comes out clean. If using a dutch oven, let bake covered for 25 minutes, remove lid and let continue baking for an additional 15. Let cool and enjoy.


    Soda bread is best eaten within 12-24 hours of baking, so if you need a longer lasting sandwich/all-purpose bread, I recommend a standard whole wheat loaf. A large loaf will last you 3-7 days depending on how many people you're serving and how much you like bread! You can also make several loaves at once and store them in the freezer for future use. Keep your fresh loaves in tupperware containers or wrapped tightly in foil.

  Homemade bread not only saves you money, it makes you feel like a domestic queen (or king) and makes your home smell, well, homey. The effect multiplies exponentially if you wear a cute apron whilst baking.

 
 I'm going to try to make Saving Money Tips a regular feature on this blog. What do you think? Are they worthwhile? Should I just be quiet and get back in the kitchen where I belong? Leave questions, comments and snark below!
  
     -Sarah

Three Names and How to Change Them

  Considering the amount of information available on the internet about marriage (about 173 million Google hits), the amount of wedding-centric romantic comedies I've viewed throughout my life (about 450 trizophomillion) and the number of people who have embarked on the journey of holy matrimony before me ( approximately 2.3 awholelotazillion) you'd think I'd better understand the process of having my last name legally changed. Way back in the days of engagement, I must have known there was some sort of legal process, but I think the majority of my brain assumed that some fairy godmother/archangel/county judge hybrid miraculously transfigured my full name on all legal documents the moment Ibecame Graham's wife. Little did it occur to me, that until I managed to send in all the right documents to all the right people, I'd live a tri-nomial (Trinymed? Three-named?) existence.

      Name #1: My plain ol' full birth name-- used by people who don't know I've recently gotten married, people who refuse to acknowledge my name change, the UPS guy and anyone who thinks my driver's license, passport or social security card contains reputable information. 

     Name #2: My married name-- used by Facebook, Twitter, family and pretty much everyone else who acknowledges our marriage.

     Name #3: My dance name-- a nickname I use at auditions and performances because I was advised that it stands out more than my given first name. I'd call it a "stage name" but having a "stage name" would make me sound 20% more obnoxious than I already do. 

   Thus the three beings of my existence. It isn't as hard to wrap my head around as, say, The Trinity, but it's still confusing. Since my fairy godmotherangeljudge hasn't shown up yet to grant me my name-altering wish, I've started the process of legally changing my name on my own. It's not exactly complicated, but it's somewhat tedious to make sure that everyone with your name on record is aware that you're legally married and non-progressively assuming your husband's last name. 

   Yesterday, I ventured to the Student Accounts office on my college campus to present my marriage certificate. Considering how disorganized and inefficient the office usually is, I expected a drawn out ordeal with a lot of paperwork and tears and maybe seven years hard labor. Instead, the whole thing took about five minutes and consisted of one form and the following conversation: 

Paperwork Woman: Can I help you?

Me: Hi, I just got married and need to have the name on my account changed.

Woman: You what?

Me: Um, got married? 

Woman: Really? Wow. Okay. Uh, there's a form you have to fill out, but we need a legal document so . . . 

Me: I have a legal document right here. A Marriage Certificate, right?

Woman (looking disappointed): Oh. Wow. Um, ok. One second. We have a form, but I don't know where it is. I don't think anyone's ever asked me for it before. 

Me: Yeah, I guess this doesn't happen a lot here.

Woman: No. Most students here are really young, like 18 and 19, so they're not getting married.

Me: Oh . . .I'm 19.

Woman: Oh. 

*awkward pause* 

   Eventually, she found the form and I filled it out and she ensured me I'd get an updated student ID soon. Now for the tedious process of faxing a copy of my certificate to the landlord, the electricity company, the government etc. etc. etc. 

   More new posts coming soon, including some money-saving tips from people with little money to save!