Vegpod has started a twitter. Now I must admit had it not been for my lovely husband, I wouldn’t be so apt to joining yet another way to unsocialize our socialization. Does that even make sense?
For more vegpod happinings, and weekly menus for the farmers market, follow us on twitter.
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While it may be sometime before we see any locally grown produce for sale, the summer Sheboygan farmers market is back!
You can support your local farmers and vendors directly, every Wednesday and Saturday from 7am till 2pm. Located in Fountain Park, at the northeast corner of 8th Street and Erie Avenue, this market continues to have more vendors every year, with a growing demand for the local food movement.
Need some reasons to shop? I’ve made a simple list for you.
1. Taste the freshness. Treat your senses. The markets are held within hours from the field, and vegetables and fruits are usually picked within hours of the market. Your vegetables will have a better texture, and be at their peak of ripeness. Stimulate your senses from just seeing and smelling the food we eat can connects you to the land.
2. Environment. Yeah, yeah, heard it before. Only this time think about the cost of gas it takes you to shop at a grocer, and then think about the effect shipping food all over the globe takes on our environment. Did I mention packaging? Cut back on all that plastic junk, and silly bags veggies come in. Look at what plastic is doing to our ocean!
3. Community. You can actually talk to your farmers. What variety are you buying? Was it sprayed with anything? And not to mention the market is a perfect place to sit, have a picnic, and see familiar faces.
4. Support small farmers. Help to boost our local economy. Sustainable farmers struggle to survive. Helping them, helps us.
5. Vegpod. Come visit Erik and I at are little vegpod food booth, and grab a yummy brunch and sweet treats. As always, we promise no refined sugars or flours, 100% vegan goodness, gluten free options as well as options for diabetics. We will be there every Saturday. If you miss out on us there, stop by Goodside Grocery and look for our food. Soon we hope to be in natural food shops all over Wisconsin.
Whew, its going to be a busy summer.
This lovely lady rolled over 200 tamales!
Greetings from the western side of the vast Lake Michigan. Vegpod has been on hiatus to seek out and thus enjoy some soul searching. Through travels afar, hindered language(s), bewildered metric conversions, and a much needed cold and dreary winter, I can proudly say I have grown within myself, and re-inspired my idled culinary skills. Deciding to leave the vegan fast food industry was long overdue, and I am pleased to say my ‘studies’ abroad have brought me back to the gleeful fine dining chef I had once been. I miss San Diego almost everyday, but am pleased to find myself with more of an ambitious objective. And where better to find it then in the dairy state.
Wisconsin is mainly known for dairy & wheat production. So who could I possibly tempt with my vegans treats in a town of 50,000 cheese curd connoisseurs?
In the past, the thought of running my own food booth at the local markets in southern California had passed through my mind quite frequently. Since the restaurant had kept me busy, day and night, the idea had passed quickly, never thinking to return until the right time. Here in Sheboygan, Wi. there appeared to be no better occasion then Earth Fests’ 20th Anniversary.
Earth Fest is an annual festival showcasing an eventful two day weekend to help promote the environment through music, art, education, and food. And every Earth Fest needs a little vegan love.
Upon my arrival here, I had been approached by a women putting together this festival. I figured why not, and called in some worker bee troops for help. Luckily I didn’t have to look to far. We decided to stick to something simple, as well as something the locals could relate too. We went with three varieties of cold wraps, vegan ho ho cupcakes, and the winner of the weekend, a trio of Americana style tamales, complete with an array of homemade salsas. Sticking with the concept of choosing locally, we were able to arrange most of our veggie purchases from local farmers. And thanks to my new found favorite place, Paradigm, I had a certified kitchen, and a wonderful convection oven to work with
Bicycle powered smoothies, I heart Paradigm
The tamales proved to be the most popular by far, and with the hours upon hours worth of wo-man/man power that went into each hand rolled, and tied off cornhusk, it’s no wonder. They were by far the most labor intensive project I’ve ever seen attempted.
Before this weekend I had definitely been under the impression that Sheboygan had no desire in attempting to try any vegan eats. And though many of the Earth Festers traveled from other cities, I was definitely inspired to do more, feed more, and hence, start a vegpod food booth. There will be more to come possibly starting in spring 2011, and until then I will be trying to cater and shine my best through the wonderful Paradigm Coffee & music.
A big thanks to Kate and all of the Paradigm crew for being so darn cool, and making me feel like there is a warm place to just be myself. And a super, I mean super, duper, duper, big thanks to Melanie, Jared and Erik. For without them, I would’ve lost a piece of my sanity. You guys ruled it!
Love you Mel!
I’ve been spending far too much time away from San Diego, and even more time away from Vegpod, for which I am truly sorry.
This past month, my days have been happily spent in a garden. Lots of heavy weeding, shovel skilling, soil turning, seed sprouting, water feeding, earth worm saving, compost smelling fun!
Yes fun!
And better yet? I had one of my best girls with me. Also an amazing vegan pastry chef.
In case you don’t know what 2 vegan chef’s look like in a garden….
If you took the art of being a chef one step further, I believe you would see a gardener. Gardening/Farming is arguably the oldest known occupation. Growing your own food takes you back to your roots, in the literal meaning. To see and learn just how food comes to be at our tables, from a tiny seed is magical!
And with hard work, comes lots of hearty meals…I could easily get used to this.
Starters from the farmers market: nasturtiums, radishes, romaine, dill, & oregano
A total of 4 gardens were worked on. And with those 4 gardens came early mornings to beat the 95 degree heat.
My morning breakfasts were usually some type of whole grain hot cereal (triticaleh, whole wheat, or steel cut oats) doused in almond milk, and sprinkled with cinnamon.
Lunch & dinner is where the real magic happened.
Homemade Black bean burgers, with roasted peppers, and grilled onions. Served with a cup of navy bean soup, and my fabulous Blueberry Acai Sun tea.
Megs Top 10 reasons to garden:
#1 Garden to be creative. Gardening provides an outlet for creative and artistic expression. You decide what to grow. You decide where to grow it, and how. Express Yourself!
#2 Garden to learn. The more you learn about plants and gardening, the more you want to know. Get out there and teach the youth! They need it most. Plus its fun to play with dirt!
WWII Poster, Build a victory garden!
#3 Garden to exercise. Gardening activities provide both cardio and aerobic exercise. Studies show that an hour of moderate gardening can burn up to 300 calories for women, and almost 400 calories for men. Yup.
#4 Garden for Urban Revitalization. Unless you are pimpin’ it up in the OC, chances are your neighborhood could use a little more love. Gardens are usually a pleasure to look at, and can change shady eyesores, into a beautiful array of colors.
#5 Garden for safe, healthy food. Contamination, pesticides, additives, preservatives…. do I need to go on?
OG Strawberries=yum
#6 Severe Allergies? Hardline vegan? Or just worried about how the food you eat is grown? Maybe you want to know what exact nutrients your food is grown with. Grow your own! Your veg-friends will be envious.
#7 Maybe even my favorite, garden for the sake of the sunshine! 15 min. a day provides your suggested daily amount of vitamin D. And you’ll have a healthy glow.
#8 THE FUTURE OF FOOD, get the movie, watch it. You’ll be growing your own food in no time.
#9 Meditation. We all need it. And you’ll feel a stronger connection with life, our planet, our environment.
#10 Vegan Mac-N-Cheeze! You might not be able to find this at your garden space, but help me in mine, and I’ll cook you up some grub!
The ripe vegetables had been picked over well from the winter and fall, but we made due with plenty of chard, parsley, celery root, fingerling potatoes, celery, chives, leeks, bay leaves, and mint.
There was leftover dried corn from the fall to which we made fresh popcorn with nightly.
Earth-balance butter….yummmm
El Corazon Celery Root
Crusted Tofu, Sweet potato/Celery root mash, Quinoa Pilaf, with walnuts and sun dried tomatoes, and sauteed greens, with yellow onion, and tomato.
We ate pretty good, no?!
Did I mention that all the food scraps, peels, you name it, ended up in the biggest compost pile I’ve ever scene. Well they did.
Sadly, our time at the farm had to come to an end. I came home and my lettuce bed had shriveled away with the heat wave that swept thru San Diego. Sort of made me happy there was more to do at home. They say the best fertilizer is the gardener’s shadow, and a true garden is never finished. But I’m still hoping it won’t be long before I’m back to diggin in the dirt up north again. Till then, watch out for snakes!
California kingsnake
I won’t lie. I am probably one of few vegans that will admit to being an amazing omelette maker. Its been almost 4 years since I’ve tried, but there was point in which my first days spent as a crazy lady chef took place at a hip veggie spot in Brooklyn, called Goga. Though not a totally vegan place, my early brunches were spent with flipping lots of chocolate chip pancakes, roasting breakfast potatoes, frying tempeh bacon strips, scrambled tofu galore, and unfortunately mixing eggs for omelettes. There is a definite talent behind those egg masters. Luckily, I’ve always been more of a crust fan myself!
Unfortunately, Goga had to close due to the awe
