The other day I talked about having to get some new cookware to use with the induction cooker, and finally I’ve gotten around to talking about the induction cooker! I won’t blab on and on about it here in these pages, but if you want to know more you can pop on over to my review at EcoRenovator. Definitely something I use very often.
Rice had been a staple of my diet for a long time. Not only is it the perfect side dish for almost anything, but it’s relatively inexpensive in terms of caloric content and when it’s cooked just right it’s super tasty. As I’m sure you know, the problem is always making sure it’s cooked just right. That’s hard enough by itself, but when you’re cooking a few other things all at once it becomes nearly impossible to make sure it’s cooked to perfection.
That’s why I picked up this Zojirushi NS-ZCC with Neuro Fuzzy Logic. I’ve messed around with standard, one button rice cookers in the past and never been very happy, but I heard great things about Zojirushi and thought I’d give it a try. Now, I must warn you, it is expensive. Like all things there are more and less expensive models, and this one is towards the lower end of the higher end, but it was definitely worth it. Check Amazon for a deal on the NS-ZCC
Now that I’ve said it’s worth the money, it’s time to tell you why. The first, and most important reason is that the NS-ZCC can handle all kinds of different rice. Never again will you need to worry about the difference between brown, white, sushi, washed, un-washed, and any other sort of rice. The rice cooker will do it all for you. This may seem like a relatively small feat, but when you can simplify 11 or so different tasks into a few buttons and no worries, it really changes the way you cook.
The second reason is that this rice maker is incredibly portable. It may seem strange to think about a rice cooker as portable, but in fact, the NS-ZCC is so portable that it make you just want to haul it around. Not only is it compact, but it has a very useful and well-designed handle with a retractable cord that means you can just cook your rice, toss it in your car, and plug it in at your destination to reheat, which makes it very convenient for potlucks or dinner at a friend’s.
Thirdly, the NS-ZCC makes delicious rice. Just plain old delicious rice. It’s hard to compare, but the rice I’ve had since I’ve been using this cooker has been better than any rice I’ve had in the U.S. outside of fancy restaurants. I’m definitely eating a lot more rice now, and cooking meals with the anticipation of using the Zojirushi.
The thing is expensive, but it works amazingly well and the brand has a great reputation. I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t last for years to come. If you have the money (or are thinking about holiday gifts, wink wink), it’s definitely worth it and it will change the way you look at rice. Happy cooking!
Last week I was at the LA Auto Show press days as a journalist for my other life at EcoModder.com, and before going I really thought I was going to hit the town and get some good eats while I was there. Little did I know I would be waking up at 6:30, jetlagged, and completely unprepared to walk around a show room floor for 9 hours without eating or drinking!
So, needless to say, after the days events were over I tended to walk home to my hotel and fall into bed. Luckily, the Sheraton room service people were incredibly accomodating with my vegan requests, and both days I ended up with some pretty good food. The first night I had the pizza you see above, and the second I had this delicious pasta dish with a name I forget:
On the whole, I’d have to say the Sheraton was a pretty nice place for food for such a lazy person like me, but next time I’m going to brave the haze and eat in some nice restaurants!
One of the most annoying things about traveling for me is the need to eat. Sure, eating is a luxury that really only needs to be done every couple of days (har har har), but it’s especially hard to make that happen when your only options can be found in the crappy food court at some crowded, overpriced airport.
Luckily, when I wound up in LAX before my flight to San Francisco, I had no trouble finding something tasty and familiar. That something was Baja Fresh. Baja Fresh is a national chain of Mexican food. I’m tempted to call it fast food because it is both fast and food, but it doesn’t have that same horrid taste and sense of impending, greasy doom that most fast food would give you.
Anyway, my usual fare at the baja fresh is one burrito with black beans and rice. The ingredient are always great and the burritos are made fresh and toasted to a crispy perfection while you wait. To top it off they always come with chips and a great variety of salsas from which you can choose.
I forget how much I ended up forking over at the airport, but usually I can get a burrito like this for about 4 bucks and by the time I’m done I’m positively stuff, so Baja Fresh is a great value. It’s also someplace I enjoy going to more than I feel forced to by convenience.
I haven’t tried much else at BF yet, but I’m sure there are some other vegan options (and tons of vegetarian ones). Does anyone eat there?
The other day I rediscovered one of the best things in life: frozen waffles. It’s been a long time since the eggo waffle days of my youth, but I certainly feel a little nostalgia when I slap one on the George Foreman grille and dress it up with some maple syrup.
Now, for years I had assumed that frozen waffles were just one of those things you had to accept wouldn’t become vegan because they were “too mainstream” or something like that. On the contrary, Van’s is available all over the place and very tasty. The waffles are about 3 bucks for a pack of 8, and most of the flavours are pretty delicious, especially the whole wheat variety.
Are there any other good brands running around out there?
I’ve been updating the site a little bit lately, as you may have noticed, and one of the things I did was add the option for email subscription. If you look over to the sidebar you’ll see it next to the RSS subscription button. RSS is great but since most internet users don’t use it I thought it would be good to add a more traditional subscription method.
All you need to do is put in your email, verify that you’re a human, and then wait for the verification email to come. It may seem like a bit of a pain but it’s just to ensure that no one is getting spammed, since I definitely don’t want that! If you have any trouble, drop a comment and let me know. Thanks!
Over the years I’ve developed quite a few strange habits. One of these habits is taking big spoonfuls of maple syrup from time to time. I picked up this habit on spring break with the cycling team when I needed a quick, post-ride pick me up and couldn’t find anything vegan in the house besides a jar of maple syrup we’d dragged all the way down from New Hampshire with us.
As strange as it may sound, it worked. And while it’s not like I do it every day, it’s pretty much become “one of those things” in my life. Maple syrup is great for baking, so it’s always good to keep some around, and it really adds a distinct flavour to just about anything. From cookies to frozen waffles toasted on a George Foreman grill, just about anything is good with maple syrup.
Just be sure to get the good stuff. Don’t bother with the artificially coloured corn syrup in a bottle shaped like and old lady, that’s not maple syrup. The stuff in the picture is the good stuff. Pure, organic, and straight from a tree local to me in Vermont.
I may know a few people who tap their own trees, but no, I’m not a shill of the maple syrup lobby. This stuff is just good. And there’s no reason to quit! So, obviously, I’m a little obsessed. Does anyone else feel similarly about maple syrup?
Today, there was a bit of a hissy fit in my recent post about vegan cross-contamination issues. At first I got a little offended and was rude, but when I toned it back and tried to extend an olive branch, I was attacked for not even being a vegan because I wasn’t out “defending my rights” by attacking other people. This, I think, is really sad, and I wanted to explain a few things.
I used to be very strict about eating out and things, but after living in Japan for a period, where not only did people not understand what veganism was, but they thought I was crazy. The best I could do was present myself as being like a strict Buddhist monk, who would only eat things like “shoujinryouri,” which is vegan cuisine for the monks that still don’t eat animal products (most Buddhist monks in Japan abandoned this tradition a long time ago, though some sects still abstain from meat).
It was really hard to eat anywhere. It was hard to eat out, to shop, to anything. This lead to me just eating not enough food, basically. I was often tired and felt a little off-kilter. If I had to go through it again, which I will soon, I wouldn’t give up veganism, but I will have to learn to be a little smarter and less stressed out about it.
In fact, I hope to return to Japan in the spring and summer to do linguistic research. Because a lot of that research will have an anthropological focus, it means I will be doing lots of eating out with pushy Japanese people. And there, part of doing research is fitting in and not challenging the social paradigm of the people you’re eating with. This means that to be a vegan, I will have to be very careful and will have a lot of pressure on me to change, which worries me.
As such, I don’t think it’s kind for anyone to be pushy or rude, whatever the cause is. I encourage people to try veganism, but I don’t attack them or bully them. Who are you going to win over that way? Probably less people than a kind, caring individual would.
So my thought: be nice to others. If you want people to try veganism, cook them something tasty and tell them why you chose it. Don’t shove pamplets of dead animals in their face and then yell “murderers” at them. You have to consider that most people don’t consider what’s wrong with their actions, so they might be will to change. But those people know that they don’t like being talked down to or yelled at, and that’s going to turn them off to your message.
Happy eating!
Recently a comment on my post about vegan pizza got me thinking about my policy on cross-contamination when eating out. Obviously, this is something I have thought about for a few years, so I’ll try to some up my views in just a few points, since I don’t want to bore you.
Anyway, here was the original comment:
To answer this, I’ll first get into the reasons why I am a vegan, and how I try to flesh that out in practice:
Now, how does this apply to cross-contamination? Well, first I should talk about what that is in a broad sense, I guess. Cross-contamination happens when things are fried in the same oil, cooked in the same pan, or when something might get dripped when moving stuff around. It’s why a lot of products say “manufactured in a facility that also produces blah, blah, blah.” In those circumstances cross-contamination could harm people with serious allergies. Here’s how I feel in regards to the reasons why I’m vegan:
Now, to sound a little angry about it, I think getting overly concerned with cross-contamination when eating out is pretty worthless. Are you vegan because you like the label and seeming hardcore or because you’re acting in accordance with convictions? Personally, I tend not to tell people I’m vegan, because people thinking whatever about me isn’t going to affect what my vegan actions are doing. In the same way, not eating out or having unrealistic expectations of chefs isn’t going to change the impact of vegan dining choices.
My conclusion: be vegan, don’t be stuck up.
Since figuring out that pizza could be vegan I’ve been on a bit of a tear recently. I’ve toned it down a bit since I care for my health and my pocketbook, but gosh darn it, pizza is just tasty and so easy to order sometimes. In Hanover, there are three pizza places: EBA’s (known for its lack of quality), Ramuntos (kind of pricey), and C&A’s (not really known).
In calling around, Ramunto’s was the only place that really knew what was in their crust (weird, huh), and much to my joy I learned that there wasn’t anything taboo for me in there (milk, whey, etc). So I gave it a shot: one large, no cheese, with broccoli, black olives, and mushrooms.
Verdict: Delicious!
With delivery a pizza like this runs just about $20 + tip, so it’s not exactly cheap, and I don’t know that Ramunto’s has much else that is vegan, so for every once and a while, I definitely recommend this place (and pizza).
I work at a pizza place that sounds a lot like Ramunto’s…and “cross-contamination” happens all the time. Your hand goes straight from the ham to the pineapple or sausage to the black olives. Or cheese accidentally get dropped in the sauce…actually, the cheese gets everywhere.
Just out of curiosity…is this a concern for you, that animal products are likely mixed in to your vegan pizza even if only in minimal amounts?