Vegan Chimis (And . . . Potatoes Not Prozac)

The perfect easy meal: spicy stuffed and lightly fried in olive oil, a chimi with onion, garlic, pinto beans, vegan monterey jack cheese and vegan chicken strips all rolled up and served on a bed of lettuce topped with guacamole and your own fixins.

A perfect wake-up kind of drink: vegan hot chocolate, mixed with some coffee and topped with vegan marshmallows: Yum!

This is Elroy, our neighborhood pileated woodpecker taking in some suet chow this morning--he's just beautiful and such an incredible bird to watch.

So have spun my second roving of wool--a bit thinner this time as I split my roving in quarters, then eighths to get a slimmer strand. Now, the white roving is going to be fun--I'll use food coloring to dye this after it's spun!

I'm half way finished with my Cathy Carron (Vogue Kntting Fall 2009) cowl number two--I just love this cowl--it will be fun to wear and the pastel colors of pinks, purples, and teal are faintly showing as I combined a verigated mohair yarn (from my stash) with a strand of Caron Simply Soft in gray. I like the results!

I ran outside yesterday in twelve degrees with a windchill of minus three, in the snow, on the back streets and in the middle of a sunny afternoon that was both quiet and sublime (it was the warmest time of day). *Please do not attempt this if you are not a runner, nor a fit person--maybe start out walking to the mail box. Call me crazy, but this is what I call a perfect run. Mind you, I was layered with three tops, a windbreaker, my hat, my scarf and ski mittens that I know would protect my hands even if they were submerged in liquid nitrogen. I didn't care about speed (well, I sort of had to care about speed owing to that body heat thing and not collapsing from exposure), or distance or any of the normal running obsessions, I just wanted to be outside, with the warm sun, cool (okay, cold) hitting my face and my feet to carry me along. It took me forty or so minutes to get my three miles in--I didn't care, I felt energized and great afterward. In my headphones I listened to Science Friday (one of my fave shows) with Ira discussing our country's obesity epidemic with other healthy folks. Sort of a strange coincidence, don't you think?


When I got home, I turned on one of my favorite cable channels: PBS Create. I lucked upon a P. Allen Smith (I heart Allen!) episode discussing gardening year round and how to begin those veggie seeds indoors now (warming pads and growth lights--yeah, I'm not that organized nor motivated, but it's good to know), and how to get a head start in your garden by doing some "winter chores" outside. He must not realize that the Midwest has become the winter tundra of the Canadian north. Seriously, Allen, I thought. I cannot possibly bring a burlapped tree here and prep it for planting. And no digging of holes for vintage urns or other garden statues and ditritus. Sure we'll have a January thaw, and it's coming soon. But then there is February with its unpredictable ride of more ice and snow. Perhaps March, I will most definitely be out readying my veggie beds then, but in the meantime. . . we cook, run, knit, spin and sleep--lots of sleep. (My latest knitting project--or "unfinished object" or UFOs in knit-speak is the cowl pictured here--it will be lovely when completed).

This morning was even colder than yesterday--like one or something. I pulled all of the curtains open on the south side of the house to let the sun warm us. I pull my chair up as close as possible to get the radiated heat, to feel good, to just sun myself. My furry kids all do the same. We all search for a "place in the sun." I started my day off in the sun with a cup of coffee and cocoa mix topped with some vegan marshmallows (these are great--but I wouldn't snack on them like they were your mini mallows--they have a good bit of sugar and quite a kick, but work well in small doses in a warm beverage)--it woke me up, that's for sure! Another favorite morning past time of mine is watching our birds. I feed the birds year round. I also feed the deer. I've tried to get a picture of this pileated woodpecker for three days now. He comes all year round and is an amazing and beautiful bird to watch (next to the flicker woodpecker--who is a bit more shy and hard to get a picture of). Right now, more than any other time, it's crucial to keep the feeders full. They wait for me to get up in the morning--serioulsy. I come out with my big coat and blonde hair peeking out from my L.L. Bean purple winter coat (which cost a car payment--my husband and I bought one each for ourselves for Christmas, they were worth every penny and are a life saver in this sub zero craziness). So the birds all start tweeting to each other--Hey, here she is, the food lady--come on in! I feed sunflower seeds and put a suet cake out for the woodpeckers. Recently, I counted at least twelve varieties of birds--all out my window in my own yard! So this morning when Elroy (my name for my pileated) came down to chow on the cake, I snuck outside real quietly and got a great shot of him eating--clearly he was hungry as they are known to be very shy as well. He's huge! It could be a she, (which would make her Ellie)--I have no idea--but just a gorgeous bird.

I have a book called Potaoes Not Prozac by Kathy DesMaisons, Ph.D. that I bought after hearing the author discussing it on the radio several years ago. Her case made sense--I won't go into the full details here, but briefly say her book was written to present a plan to help wean sugar addicts off their addictions (like alcohol--a high sugar beverage to be sure--and I do not drink) and lessen the biochemical dependency those with sugar sensitivity face--mood swings, self esteem issues and the like. I believe I am a bit of a sugar addict. I have always been sugar-obsessed (gee, ya think?). I never understood anyone who could "pass on dessert" thinking something must be wrong with them. As an attempt to instill a small step of her seven step program into my diet plan, I often turn to the potato to help lessen the severity of my "low moods" when they set in (it's winter--they've set in, plus my myriad other emotional "issues"--thanks to several outside influences--I'm battling right now)--and have potatoes before going to bed. I am not practicing the program's full outline by any means, however, I do find when I am deeply upset or in a funk of sorts/depressed, having potatoes with dinner does, in fact, help me feel a bit better the next day.

So last night, I served potato wedges with my left over chimichangas.One darn fine vegan meal, I might add. I was searching, lurking and browsing trying desperately to get excited about something to cook--anything--still nursing myself back to the kitchen. I stumbled upon an Emeril recipe for chimis. It looked good, tasty, easy (but was packed with pork or some other meat, then deep fried--ick) but simple nonetheless. The chimis cinched it. I gave these my own spin--(not really rocket science when you deal with most Mexican dishes). I had a can of pinto beans and some left over soy chicken strips. I got to work on my own version of these. We loved them!

Vegan Chimichangas

1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
vegan chicken strips of your own liking--browned in olive oil, then added to the bean mixture
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon of chili powder or your favorite chili powder mix
1 teaspoon dried cilantro
Spike seasoning or S & P to taste
1 cup vegan monterey jack cheese
salsa *still using my canned salsa from this summer--am totally canning more next summer!
6 whole wheat flour tortillas
*shredded lettuce, avacado and whatever else you'd like to serve with these!

This recipe is so simple. First, for your protien, pick whatever you'd like--or skip it--I have beans and vegan chicken strips in mine, but you could totally get by with just the beans with this. Fry your vegan chicken stirps up in a bit of olive oil and set aside. Okay, heat some olive oil or canola oil in the same pan or another pan (I hate doing dishes, but used two pans because I was sort of trying to do two things at once). Add onions and cook for about 4 minutes--just until they begin to soften. Then, add garlic and your seasonings and cook about a minute longer. Add the drained pinto beans. Cook over medium heat for about 5 more minutes--to heat the beans through. Next, take a fork and mash up some of the beans--this works for me, you may not want to do this. Then, turn off the heat. Place about 1/3 (or less, eyeball it) cup of mixture down the middle of a torilla. Now, sprinkle some vegan cheese over this. Fold the chimi so that the thing won't spring open on you--then place with the fold side down on a plate and set aside. Continue doing the same with the rest of the filling. On medium heat in the same frying pan, add about 3 tablespoons of canola or olive oil. Don't let the oil smoke. Just warm it up. Add your chimis to the pan and carefully let it cook on each side for about 2-4 minutes--just until the tortillas begin to brown. Flip over carefully--and don't crowd your pan. I was able to cook 2 at a time. Set aside on another plate while you finish the rest. Serve over a bed of lettuce and top with guacamole and tofu sour cream and whatever else you'd like! *These reheat wonderfully in the oven (to get their crispness back) at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. They are just as good the second night!