Addicted

As much as I love travel, I do not love eating out for every meal. No sooner did we return from our last trip to Tucson, had we decided a week of Vegan cleansing was mandatory. Some of you may remember we did this last year, with varied success. (I might have been a bit over-zealous in the bean department. Bloat central!)

Truthfully, removing meat from our diet isn't that big of a deal, but taking away cheese and other dairy, well... that's a little trickier.

So this time, I focused on the bigger spectrum -- eating half of our meals as if they weren't Vegan. We tried products like Tempeh and Seitan as meat substitutes. Although they tasted fine, I felt like they were so processed they were probably worse than just eating a piece of meat! The other half of our meals were plant and bean based. My husband complained that he felt just as bloated as last year, but I felt much better this time around.

Although I have no intentions of ever going completely Vegan, it's a fun exercise. I don't diet. I can't just drink juice for a week. And while I eat healthily and mindfully 98% of the time, it's good to have to really think out of the box sometimes. No butter, no parmigiano, no bacon, no chicken broth, no milk. Conversely, you find recipes that are in your repertoire that are Vegan and you didn't even realize it. I'd like to share one with you.

I've been steadily working my way through the new Super Natural Every Day cookbook and out of all the recipes I've tried so far, the one that I keep coming back to is the Toasted Kale Salad with Coconut, Sesame Oil and Tamari.

If you haven't tried it, you must. It's perfect.

Toasted Kale and Coconut Salad

1/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 TBL tamari, soy sauce or shoyu
3 1/2 cups of lightly packed kale (that has been washed, trimmed, center stems removed, cut into bite-size pieces)
1 1/2 cups of unsweetened, large-flaked coconut (found at Whole Foods or other natural food store)
2 cups of cooked whole grains (I used quinoa, but you can use farro, wild rice, etc.)

Prepare your whole grains if you don't already have some made. (Quinoa takes about 25-30 minutes to make, so start it first.)
Preheat the oven to 350℉, with 2 racks in the top third of the oven.
Whisk together the olive oil, sesame oil and tamari in a small bowl or Pyrex measuring cup.
Put the prepared kale and coconut flakes in a large mixing bowl and toss well with about 2/3 of the oil mixture.
Spread the kale mixture evenly across a large baking sheet (or 2 smaller ones).
Bake for 12-18 minutes, until the coconut is deeply golden brown, tossing once or twice along the way. (If the mixture looks like it's browning too fast, move it to a lower rack.)
Remove from the oven and transfer the mixture back into the mixing bowl.
Place your grains on a platter and top with the kale mixture. Drizzle remaining dressing over the top. Serve warm. ENJOY!

On Board

In between soccer games, dinner with friends and 50 loads of laundry, I spent the weekend glued to my laptop watching a creativeLIVE workshop with photographer, Penny de los Santos.

Hopefully you are already aware of this Seattle-based company and their brilliant concept of "a live, world-wide, creative classroom" where artistic professionals share their knowledge for free! (If it weren't for my friend Val emailing me about the upcoming workshop, I would've missed out on this truly incredible experience.) Check out their course catalog for future and past classes.

I'm not sure if all of the seminars are set up the same, but this one covered the gamut of food + culture photography; complete with critiques, discussions with editors, watching and participating in several photo shoots, live tweeted q+a's, portfolio viewing, etc. It was captivating to say the least!

But really... the gem of the event was Penny. Although I was somewhat familiar with her work, I was completely wowed by her "in person." In the most basic string of adjectives, she is: open, real, funny, brilliant, insightful, helpful, cool, totally talented and fearless. I want to hang out with her. I want her to be my mentor. She answered questions I wanted to ask. She confirmed and reminded me of things I already knew. But most importantly, she inspired me to keep sharing my story.

I know that photography is my calling. I can't help but take photos of everything I see and I truly love what I do -- but as time continues to hurl me into the future, I don't want to find that everything I've done is buried in a hard drive somewhere.

This visual story of the way I view the world is constantly being created, but rarely being published. I don't have to wait for an actual book deal or a magazine cover. I have the platform to share with all of you right here, in this space, and yet I've been failing miserably to do that. It's time to hop on the bus, Gus.

Modern Mixtape: Wait For It

We are headed back on the road again and nothing is more essential for an 8-hour drive through the desert than a good, old-fashioned mixtape.

Once again, it has taken me a ridiculous amount of time to compile this latest cd. (Sorry about that.) I took so long working on it, that I ended up combining the last two mixes into one. Gotta keep things current, you know!

It's aptly titled Wait For It, which is a lovely double (er triple) entendre for: one of the lyrics, the length it takes me to get one of these mixes made, plus the natural build-up at the end of the album.

Artists include: Keepaway, Beach House, Cloud Nothings, TV On the Radio, Twin Shadow, Austra, Blonde Redhead, Freedom or Death, Suuns, Weekend, Lights On, Dirty Beaches, Giant Drag, PJ Harvey, Milagres, Broken Bells and The Joy Formidable.

ENJOY!

Download HERE on Mediafire.
Or listen directly on 8Tracks.