The Wild Cow for lunch

OK, so we did a lot of debating about the name of this resturant, but we decided to try it in spite of the name. The Wild Cow is a new Vegetarian resturant in Nashville, TN. The name refers, ironically, to the fact that cows are not wild, because probably almost all cows in the US are livestock cows. The website says:

"We started the Wild Cow to provide delicious, cruelty-free, healthy food to the people of Middle Tennessee. We will never support the inhumane and environmentally destructive factory farm system that dominates our agricultural economy, nor will we support corporations like Coke and Pepsi that thrive off of our addiction to sugar and artificial “food”. Nearly all of our food is purchased in it’s whole form, meaning we make almost all of our own sauces, dressings, soup stocks, etc. This means that we can name every ingredient in the food we serve!"


The Wild Cow tends to serve mostly Vegan food, but some dishes do include free range eggs and organic cheese can also be added if desired. Our group included one long time vegetarian, two newby vegetarians who TRY to eat vegan, and one meat eater.
The ambiance of the place is great. Very "crunchy", with local art on the walls, and the servers all look like the live the natural lifestyle. Everything on the menu looks yummy, with lots of fresh options, different daily specials, soups and all sauces and dressings are homemade. I chose a tempeh buffalo sandwhich and vegan mac and "cheese". We all got sodas with natural and organic ingredients. Those were great too. The organic green tea root beer is recommended!


The food was awesome. We really enjoyed it. The long time vegetarian in the group was so happy to have a menu full of options to choose from instead of the usual one or two veggie options on a typical menu. Even our meat eater said the veggie burger was pretty good.

This is defitely a place to eat for anyone eating vegetarian or vegan in Nashville.

This week in verdant living...

So I just ate a really good meal. I cooked it last night, then took leftovers for lunch, and was still craving it by the time I got home. And I cooked it myself, amazingly!

I made a dish called Moujadra, which is a Lebanese dish. I found it on i was a kaleidoscope, a great blogspot blog I recently found. There is a lot of good recommendations for food on this blog, so check it out.

With it I also made Squash and Onions, a recipe found in The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone. It was so easy. I sauteed a couple onions in olive oil, cut up a butternut squash and threw that in with some oregano after a few minutes. After sauteing both for a couple minutes I added about 1/2 cup of water and covered it. Then I let is steam for about 20 minutes. The squash was soft and the onions gave it great flavor. MMMM.

So here is what my friend Rebekah made for dinner tonight. Looks good, huh? It is called Gingered Green Beans with Hidjiki. It is also a Kind Diet recipe. This photo is used without permission, so I hope she does not mind!

Another vegetarian exploration of the week was out annual trip to Siam cafe for Valentines dinner. It is where we ate the night of our first date as well as the Valentines day 9 years ago when we got engaged. So it is a tradition. But this is my first time going in with the mindset of eating vegetarian. But it was great because I could have any dish I wanted and they would substitute the meat with veggies and tofu. So I had my normal favorite, red curry, and it was delish!!

Vegetarian International

This week we got to go to a Vegetarian resturant. Both Vegetarian and Indian. And it was delicious!
We went to Woodlands Indian Resturant on West End Ave in Nashville. And it was great! Here is a picture of the beautiful food.

WE enjoyed a great night there with other vegetarian friends and vegetarian "flirts" and I think by the end of the night the servers thought we were a bit weird. But we had a great time. It is funny that I always forget that we have this great vegetarian resource in the Indian community. Imagine ME forgetting that! So it was great to re-discover a menu that is wide open to me as I eat this new way. Of course not everything there was Vegan, but much of it was, which was great.

And while I am talking food again, I thought I would add a picture of MY Rustic pasta that I made tonight. The other picture of this dish was not credited to me and some people doubted that I REALLY made it. So this is for those doubters! ;)

Castille soap...ever used it?

So I am trying lots of new things so far this year, and one I have tried is Castille soap. It is billed as a natural soap with tons of uses and that is not harmful to the environment. Apparently you can bathe in a pristine stream using it and not pollute the area...because it is made of olive oil and other oils.

So does it work? That is a question. Well, so far I have used it for a few things. I used it as a body wash. That worked fine. The kind I got had a nice peppermint smell. Very refreshing. It did leave my skin a little dry, but with a touch of lotion it was fine.
I then used it as a shampoo. Ew. No go. my hair became wiry and thick and weird. BUT I did try another natural method that worked better...Baking soda. Straight on the hair while I was in the shower. I rubbed it in and then conditioned. Seemed OK. My hair feels clean and light.

This article raves about Castille soap, but I am a bit stumped by it. That is, I am not sure how to use it in the laundry or dishwasher, or as a cleaner...but I am trying. I put a bit of it with water and vinegar to make a spray cleaner. Worked OK, I guess, but one can't seem germs dying, so I hope it is working!!

Ever used this soap? I'd love to know what you think...

Verdant food

SO I have not posted in such a long time, which is strange as I have had so much to say on the subject of living verdantly this month!!

But here is the deal, I have gone one whole month without eating any animal meat. Yes, for real, starting on January 1st I stopped. I don't think I have even cheated once, although it is possible I had one or two bites of something that Ashok was eating. But overall I have kept to it.

I have even given up MOST dairy and egg products, but there have been a few more cheating episodes when it comes to that.

And guess what, when it comes to eating I have LOVED every thing I have eaten this month!! I have cooked more than ever and have enjoyed and savored so many new foods.

So the first thing I want to share about this journey is a book that firstly clarified WHY I wanted to do this and then gave me tools to make it possible for me to succeed.
This book is called the Kind Diet. It is a book about the benefits of becoming vegan as well as a recipe book. There is also a website/blog/forum that has been really helpful too. Visit it at www.thekindlife.com.

So what have I been eating? Well here are a few pics of some of the great food. I can send you any recipes that you want when you see the deliciousness!! Two of these were cooked by my friend who is doing the vegetarian thing as well.


This one is radicchio pizza. I had never had radicchio before...It is kind of bitter, but when I added some onions it gave it good flavor and cut down the bitterness. Pretty yummy! Rebekah also made this with Asparagus on the side.


This one is rustic pasta...basically pasta with cabbage and celery and onion. Mix it with marinara and soy sauce and viola! HArd to believe it would taste good with that description, but again, surprisingly good. Never knew I liked cabbage until this year. It is good and cheap.


Isn't this meal beautiful? Succotash and sweet potatoe fries. One of Ashok's favorites!


And what would life be without dessert!? These are vegan peanut butter cups...They are amazing and amazingly easy to make!! Yummmm...

Hope you are getting hungry for some vegan food!!

Greenwashed?

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/sweet-dreams-with-a-sprinkling-of-greenwashing.html

This is an interesting site with an article on Greenwashing...which is defined as basically a false claim that a product is "green". So many companies are claiming that their items are "natural" "organic" "green" "eco-friendly"...etc...but often the truth is that there is a shell game going on, or only certain ingredients are natural, or that it is all a marketing scam. So what do we do about it?

The best advice I have seen out there is to remain suspicious, read labels, and don't "buy in" to things that are too good to be true. Do research and stick to items you can trust. Also, don't over spend on items based on these claime. But also, don't get too bent out of shape when the "Green" product you bought turns out to be a rip. Just determine to do better the next time.

I feel cheap...but in a good way...

So I have committed to a homespun Christmas, and the crafting has begun. But as Christmas approaches I find my temptation to shop has also increased. The twinkle lights are up in the mall and the Christmas music is finally welcome to me, although it has been playing for about 3 weeks. And I am in the mood to shop. But I have decided not to, so I am stuck. And I think this brings us to a crux of living verdantly...it is not always comfortable. It is a decision to look temptation in the eye and say "No". Not because one has to (although my committment not to shop is based on some real budgetary limits). But the choice to live verdantly has to do with making some honest choices about life and taking a path, not being swept along where ever the cuture takes you.

So this past Friday I did a little bargain shopping at Gabriel brothers and stopped at Target for a little look, but I did not do the massive spend that I have in previous years. And it felt strange.

So here is a question for you all. What brings you real joy. Because that is my goal this Christmas...less stress and more joy. So what brings you joy?

Family is an obvious one. Loving each other no matter what...even when we don't agree.


Accomplishment also. Setting goals and meeting them.

What else...what do you think?

(I love this picture...there is something so US about it!)