Doomies Home Cooking

On Sunday night, I joined a couple of my fellow sporkies for dinner at Doomies, which just opened this weekend in Hollywood.  Let me just start by saying that this is not food for people on diets.  Instead it is full blown, delicious, savory comfort food.  In fact, it was so delicious that I didn't get a single picture!  There were five of us. Because the waiter recommended the chicken fried steak so heavily, four out of five of us (I was odd man out) got the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and salad with ranch dressing.  I went with the pot roast with mashed potatoes and salad with ranch.  I figured that I was getting more vegetables. However, those veggies turned out to be potatoes and carrots, that's it.  However, the pot roast was excellent.  I wish there had been some broccoli or maybe some kale thrown in but hey, beggars can't be choosers.  The chicken fried steak was insane.  Crunchy on the outside and delicious on the inside, it was hit right out of the park.  While we were eating, the owner/chef came out to make sure we liked everything.  Our mouths were so full we could barely answer.

For desert we went with deep fried Oreos a la mode, which I gotta say everyone should try once.  They were tasty but mostly just warm, squishy Oreos.  The only negative about this place was the mashed potatoes.  They tasted very bland and almost like powdered mashed potatoes that you find at KFC.  They also did not reheat very well.  So next time I will get the baby red potatoes instead because lemme tell you, there WILL be a next time.

Oh and the place is currently cash only and they don't have beer or wine yet.  However, we were assured that credit cards machines and booze were happily on the way!

President Clinton wows us all

By Dr. T. Colin Campbell on December 6, 2010

President Clinton’s Momentous Intervention in the Health Debate

These are momentous times for sharing with the public the exceptional benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet. By now, many people have seen President Clinton’s comments on CNN and elsewhere about the dramatic turnaround in his personal health when he adopted this dietary lifestyle. Some of us have been doing research, clinical practice and writing about this dietary lifestyle for many years, sometimes having to overcome considerable skepticism (my own experience in experimental research and public policy making on food and health goes back a half-century). We all are indebted to President Clinton for his candor, indeed courage, in sharing his personal experience with the public.

Those of us in the professions have seen many times what this dietary lifestyle does – and I confess that sometimes we have been discouraged in not being able to penetrate the public mindset. But in the last two to three years the idea is definitely growing, mostly because people simply try it and see dramatic benefits for themselves. For myself, I have presented more than 300 lectures since the 2005 publication of our book, “The China Study” (co-authored with Thomas Campbell, MD), and the majority of my more recent lectures have been at medical venues and conferences. I personally have seen a very welcome adoption of this idea by an increasing number of medical practitioners, many wondering why they had not received nutrition training in medical school.

President Clinton has turned on a flashlight that will cast a very long ray of light.

One of the truly remarkable benefits of this dietary lifestyle is its ability not only to prevent future disease events, but even to treat already diagnosed diseases, an incredible opportunity to avoid expensive medical interventions, drugs and most dietary supplements. Reliable evidence exists to support this view both from the laboratory and from the clinic.

Even though the biology is complex, the message is simple. Choose a whole foods plant based diet – vegetables, legumes, fruits, cereal grains of your preference, but include lots of antioxidant-rich colored vegetables. Minimize added oil (no frying in oil), sugar and fat – none is best. Animal based foods (including dairy) and processed foods are a no-no. Use some of your favorite herbs and spices to befriend your palate and you’re on your way. Find great recipes on the Internet and in many cookbooks. After a month or two, you will eliminate your addiction for fat and, presto! – a whole new world of tastes!

The benefits of this dietary lifestyle are unusually broad, going beyond the prevention of most diseases like cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, obesity, certain autoimmune diseases and nuisance diseases (colds, flu, acne, headaches, etc.). This dietary strategy has a remarkable ability to act fast to reverse already diagnosed diseases. This is food as medicine, at its best.

President Clinton specifically named our book, “The China Study,” and I applaud his forthright mention of his not using dairy. I came from a dairy farm and started my career strongly believing in the nutritional value of this food, especially for its protein content. But, in our experiments, we documented multiple times a remarkable ability of the main protein of cow’s milk, casein, to promote cancer growth and to do so by a plethora of mechanisms. For many years, animal-based protein, like casein, has been known to increase blood cholesterol and encourage early stages of heart disease.

This is a very old story, with some of its most relevant parts beginning with the ancient Greek philosophers and medical caretakers. Important elements of this story also have been published in the scientific literature for at least the past century then, too often, left unnoticed.

But there is much yet to do, not the least of which is figuring out how best to inform the public in a way that offers a convenient, efficacious and affordable way to sustain behavior change, if they wish. This is one instance where government could help, simply informing its citizens of important information that comes into their possession, while letting them decide whether to take advantage of it. I get an equally enthusiastic response for this message from either side of the political spectrum. The last time I checked, I recall almost everyone wanting personal health. Could this be a bridge to span the political divide?

On March 11, 2011, a professionally produced documentary film, “Forks Over Knives,” will be released in theaters and offers further insight into this story. These are exciting times because this message offers an opportunity for all to benefit, regardless of political persuasions. It’s a great bridge to help resolve these contentious times.

Originally posted at HuffingtonPost.com.

Pure Luck

Last night Becca and I went to Pure Luck, a vegan restaurant on our side of town.  Pure Luck happens to be the first vegan restaurant that we ever went to way back in oh January maybe (?) with our friends, John and Lillian.  (This was before they embarked on the cave man diet, which basically means all they eat is meat -- sooo gross.)  Now I've never gotten anything bad here; in fact I'd say that everything on the menu is pretty scrumptious.  This is the only place where Becca can get carne asada without having to butcher some poor animal.  Now I try not to judge or preach with her as it hasn't panned out so far.  I want to be a good vegan like the Spork Sisters!  But it does make me a little sick to watch Becca consume beef.  I usually avert my eyes and refuse to kiss her until the memory of what she's done has left my mind.

So last night I got the spicy fried spring rolls, which are gigantic and yummy, and the Todd's BBQ sandwich, which is their pulled "pork" sandwich made out of jackfruit.  Both are pretty unbelievable.  However, I'm not sure if our waitress was new or just feeling overwhelmed but the service was god awful. The wait between sitting and getting our drink order in was about 20 minutes.  She didn't bring us water for about 40 mins and our food took about an hour.  Meanwhile, others that trickled in way after us were served while we looked on stomachs gurgling.  Finally our food arrived and it was excellent.  Becca decided to order another Soju Cape Cod right away even though she had half her cocktail left because we knew chances were it was going to take awhile.  The waitress smiled, said sure, then grabbed her HALF FULL COCKTAIL!  She brought a new drink about 10 minutes later but we were both stunned.  She wanted a second drink, not one and a half.  Luckily we weren't charged for the second drink, though I think that had more to do with the waitress' incompetence rather than any kindness.  We left a mediocre tip and took off.

We thought our crappy night ended there but alas, Becca and I both had parking tickets when we returned for $60 apiece.  I checked the sign, which was nearly an entire block away) and realized that it said No Parking 6 pm to 11 am.  However, there were a ton of cars on the street, none of which appeared to have any sort of permits, so how in the fuck did Becca and I get singled out?  I may never know but I do know it will take my pride awhile before I return to Pure Luck, which is really too bad since the food truly is amazing.

Sooo much has happened

I've decided that I can't start every post with a I'm sorry I'm such a bad blogger post so I will not apologize for such a long break in my blogging.  Instead I will say that I've started planning a lesbian wedding, which includes a new bout of bootcamp to lose weight for my pictures!  I'm a busy girl. Throw in Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping, well...you know.

First of all, and completely out of order, I finally got to see BOLD NATIVE.  It is amazingly well done. The production value and acting are all there.  As a vegan, I am in love with this movie because it points out some hard truths that many people are unaware of.  As a Hollywood assistant, I cannot FATHOM why this movie hasn't found more press.  As mentioned, it is truly well done.  This feels like a totally legit, moderately budgeted indie so where's the Spirit Award nomination?  I am aware that the meat and dairy industries are huge business but seriously?  This is a real film with merit so why hasn't the industry gotten ahold of it yet?  This will continue to be something that miffs me.  I took Becca with me to the screening after assuring her it wasn't violent.  I would break that promise through no real fault of my own.  The filmmakers add stock footage of animal experiments, de-beaking birds, etc.  I forgot that in my quest to learn more about this lifestyle, I watched all those images. Becca has purposefully chosen not to.  While I would never advocate tricking non-veggies into seeing this movie, I was excited by the result. Becca who, God bless her, has rolled with my veganism has not wholly embraced it for herself.  This film made her decide she wanted to live a more vegan lifestyle. She still doesn't think she can completely abstain from animal foods, she wants to at least make sure to get vegan shampoo, conditioner, etc. She even asked me if she should throw out her leather jacket.  This brings up an interesting question, one that I've posed myself as well.  Is it better to throw out everything non-vegan in your life? House?  I told her that I didn't think it was necessary. After all, ridding herself of the jacket would not save the cow whose hide it came from.  Also, that's wasteful. I told her being vegan isn't about being perfect; it's about making the best, most informed choices you can.  So I'm a vegan but I wear leather shoes. I've had said shoes since 6th grade.  Reuse and recycle right?  So here it is: I am a huge Bold Native fan.  Go see the movie, buy the DVD, or just wear the adorable shirt!

Now for some of the food, especially Thanksgiving!  First of all, I made a pre-Thanksgiving dinner to practice some of the recipes that I would endeavor.  I made Gardein stuffed turkey breasts (look a bit like chicken nuggets), mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato biscuits and green beans with hazelnuts.  It turned out amazingly.  The sweet potato biscuits turned out more cakey but hey who doesn't like cake?  Becca ended up eating pretty much the entire tray of these in one night!

As for real Thanksgiving, I used all of the same recipes, but added some as well.  The biscuits turned out more biscuit-y this time around.  Not sure why but I think it had something to do with super cool new potato masher that I got from IKEA so the sweet potatoes were broken down much more this time.  I also added an entire tray of roasted vegetables: beets, onions, garlic, carrots, etc.    There was also pie.  It was AMAZING!  The silken tofu really made the consistency perfect. No one could believe it was vegan at all.


The other night I picked up my CSA and got a huge butternut squash.  My mother's idea of squash was zucchini drowned in butter so I have zero experience cooking one of these suckers.  I went on one of my favorite websites www.vegweb.com and looked up some recipes.  I found this one.  It turned out so delicious.  I used less cheese than recommended but only because it seemed like a lot.  Sooo frickin good. I take my hat off to The Divine Miss Em.

So I guess that's it for now.  I finished Season 4 of Dexter so I'm waiting until the new season comes out on DVD already!

Pizza Purses

So the other night I followed Vegan Yum Yum's recipe for Pizza Purses, only I used Soy Mozzerella instead of Sheese.  I would have used Daiya but my Nature Mart ran out. They turned out lovely. Then I made some spicy roasted kale by just adding some lemon juice, sea salt and red pepper flakes.  Yes, I finally feel like I'm starting to get the hang of this whole vegan cooking on the go thing.  Most of the time I don't have hours to prepare meals. Becca and I work such long hours that we want to eat as soon as we get home, which sometimes isn't until 8:30 or 9 pm.  It helps to have some recipes in my back pocket, although I will say the phylo dough is a pain in the ass to work with. It dries out easily and is sooo big that us little cramped kitchen cooks can run into some troubles.

I am a bad blogger

So it's been waaaay too long since my last blog and there have been so many amazing things happen in my life.  The first and most important of which is that I got ENGAGED! Becca asked me on my birthday weekend in Catalina Island!  She was soo nervous and it made her proposal all the sweeter.  Of course, as lesbians, we have discussed marriage since pretty much day one but it still threw me off guard a bit when she got down on one knee and pulled out a gorgeous ring.  I am so in love and happy.  Now I've just got to make her vegan!

So for my actual b-day dinner I went to Hugo's in West Hollywood. I've heard that the Valley location is better but hey, it was a Thursday and on my way home. We ordered the Asian spring rolls, which were amazingly delicious.  For dinner I ordered the Very Green Casserole.  It was good to mediocre.  The vegan cheese on top was a little overwhelming and the sauce was kind of bland.  However, it was still good enough to take as left overs!

Next, last weekend I attended another Spork Foods class.  This one was a Brunch class and believe me when I say that it was YUMMY!  We made bacon stuffed tater tots, asparagus hollandaise, quiche and ginger maple scones.  From start to finish, it was unbelievable, but then again it always is with the Sporkies!  Jenny and Heather have also started Spork Online, which is (you guessed it) an online version of their classes.  I just signed up for a year membership and look forward to starting soon.  Plus, I can download recipes, search archives and everything.  Much love to Jenny and Heather!!! I hope Spork Online is a smashing success :)

Vegan catch up

I am a bad blogger. I fully admit this.  I don't update my blog nearly enough. However, there is some yummy catch up to be had. First off, I tried the Whole Foods avocado balsamic sandwich. I gotta say there were some really delicious elements and some that were off.  First of all, my sandwich was drowned in balsamic vinaigrette, like I seriously had to mop up the mess. This struck me as funny since I always have to beg for extra vegan pesto spread on both sides but maybe the balsamic is runnier and just squirts easier. I don't know. I can't hold it against them.  The avocado was delicious but I think I will ask for sauce on the side.  Oh and I didn't have the cheese obviously.

Next, Becca broke me down and I ate sushi. Shame on me I know but it was her birthday. Baby wants and baby gets.

Then we tried out Masa of Echo Park. I've meant to get there sooner but like all things, it takes me awhile to get around to anything.  Becca and I went there with our friend Jim and his girlfriend.  I ordered the deep dish pizza because Quarry Girl raves so much about it.  Now I will make this caveat: I did know going into it that they use corn meal in their crust, which means I am allergic to it.  I can't digest corn (tears for me I know.) However, I have never tried Teese Cheese and I love love love pizza so I figured what the hell.  We had a couple of beers and waited for 45 minutes for the pizza. I got the California veggie which had sundried tomatoes and spinach.  The Teese was great but I wasn't in love with the pizza. Part of this prolly stems from the fact that I realized even as I ate it that I would have an impending skin inflammation at any time.  But there was something too sweet about the sauce. I've never had Chicago pizza either so it confused me a little. I won't lie.  However, the bread they brought out was delicious even without butter and I really enjoyed the ambiance. I will definitely be going back.

Finally, we had brunch at Flore and tried a couple of the new items. I ordered the fritata with fruit.  Now this is a gluten free recipe as well as vegan. It was a tad dry but this is the gluten free of it all.  I will say the kale and onions on top were really what sold me on the dish. It was so flavorful and awesome.

Becca ordered the biscuits and gravy. She is a big fan of the meaty dish so she didn't love this.  However, she admitted that it was good for being vegan. What can I say? As hard as I try, she just refuses to being converted lol.  However, the gravy was a little on the sweet side. I would have preferred a more savory flavor. The potatoes (with kale underneath) were divine. Again I realize more and more that I am powerless over kale. I would swim in it if I could

So there you have it. This was the week or so in wrap-up. Becca and I also ate some Mexican (beans rice for me) and went to a tequila tasting which was pretty sweet.  This week I'm hoping to get my Veggie Grill on because I have a coupon for a free meal for my birthday. Muwah haha!