Geeze, doesn't anyone take care of this blog anymore? Look at all of these weeds! Total dilapidation. (Hey, isn't that a dinosaur?)
I can't say that I'm back for good, but it's time to check in. Who left all of these lights on? Were you people raised in a barn? (I never really understood that saying. Do barns have a lot of lights in them or something?)
I'm still waiting for my official acceptance letter from the graduate program. I know the director told me I'm in, but when you are as good at worrying as I am, you don't let something like that stop you.
Since the last time I've updated, my home has become overrun with spiders. Andrew refuses to kill them because he apparently only kills "gross" bugs. Therefore, if the spider doesn't look like it has fur or enough guts to audibly crunch when stepped on, he lets it live on our ceilings in perpetuity. I hate it. So out of necessity, I've had to take on the role of Spider Evictor Extraordinaire. Using empty yogurt cups or the lids from Chinese takeout, I scrape the little bastards from the walls and ceilings (if I can reach) and then throw the entire contraption outside while screaming. I've really perfected the process. (Now is the time for you to verbally lash my husband for leaving me to the bug removal duties. Thanks.)
Let's see... what else. What else...
Oh! After watching only 5 seconds of Food Inc. (a film that exposes America's industrialized food system and its effect on our environment, health, economy and workers' rights) I decided I can no longer consume food that was once a tortured animal. Andrew and I are not going full vegetarian/vegan, but we are going to cut back on meat and buy locally, organically raised products exclusively. Also, as much as it pains me to admit this, I don't think I will ever be able to enjoy a spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy's again.
I will never give up sushi... so my goal is to one day be a pescatarian--eliminating all meat and poultry from my diet.
Andrew would like to buy a vegetarian cookbook but isn't sure what is out there. I know I have some veggie readers out there, so please chime in if there are any books or tips you would like to share/suggest.
XOXO
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
E-mail
![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
Greetings!
My name is Amanda... but you can call me Mermanda if you want to. I nest in Pittsburgh with my merman Andrew and Luke, our rescued retired racing greyhound. I'm a full-time publicist and part-time freelance writer (hire me!) with a serious addiction to sushi, live music, ginger snaps, and blawgs, of course.
What else do you need to know? I'm a surprisingly excellent thumb wrestler and I make the best grilled cheese sandwiches around. Yep, that should cover it.
What else do you need to know? I'm a surprisingly excellent thumb wrestler and I make the best grilled cheese sandwiches around. Yep, that should cover it.
cuspofnormal at gmail dot com
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Since 1978, the law no longer requires a copyright notice. This means that every published work, including print and digital media, is automatically protected from copyright infringement-- whether expressed with a copyright notice or not. Nothing from Cusp of Normal is to be reproduced without written permission from the author. Consider this your notice.
18 comments:
I ♥ La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer. My husband is vegetarian so we still eat cheese, milk and eggs. There is not a bad receipe in that book.
We also have a 5 ingredient vegetarian recipe book which helped alot when we were first making the transition.
There are a lot of great recipes online too!
I missed you.
I was a vegetarian for a few years and if I didn't get total intense cravings for steak now and then I might be one again now. I try to eat lots of locally grown meat so I at least know it isn't those poor tortured things.
Anyway, good for you guys - and good luck :)
ANDREW! Refusal to kill bugs is inexcusable.
Unless someone makes a movie about bugs along the line of Food Inc. or The Cove, and then I'll be weeping and protecting our precious insect reserves.
(I am so afraid to watch Food Inc., btw.)
I just watched Food Inc on wednesday and within the first 15 minutes I was traumatized. The baby chicks scene was SHOCKING.
and it really opened my eyes to the true meaning of raising free range chickens.
I have slowly been making the shift to vegetarianism, this year, and I've noticed a big difference in the way I feel. Like you, I could never and would never give up sushi and I'm a newly-minted HUGE fan of salmon, so becoming a pescatarian sounds right up my alley.
thatShortChick, I only saw a few seconds of the movie because I was trying really hard to not pay attention to it while Andrew was watching it in the other room. I happened to walk in during the chicken scene and OH MY GOSH. That's all I needed to see.
I missed you.
Kyla has some awesome veggie tips: http://www.kylaroma.com/2010/03/friday-is-for-plan-a-challenge/
I can't personally vouch for it, but a lady who has given me much good advice on food RAVES about "Extra-vegan-za", which is a vegan book (no duh) that you should be able to find on Amazon.
Good luck!
Watching that movie totally changed the way we eat as well. The bit about the amonia in hamburger patties especially freaked me the hell out. I've never been a big meat eater to begin with, but it finally got into my Andrew's head that meat is kind of gross...best of luck on the veggie pursuit!
I had to stop the film about 20 minutes in because I had a giant steak in the fridge and had already invested a fair amount of time into prepping it, cleaning the grill, and dreaming about eating it all week. Maybe I'll finish it this weekend.
Amanda, maybe we should start eating bugs.
Good for you! Morning Star has a spicy chicken patty that reminds me of Wendy's sandwich. It was one of my favorites too! For recipes try Post-Punk Kitchen, Veganomicon, and FoodGawker.com (not all veggie, but I've found some great stuff on there) Good luck!
Good! You're back!
I went pescatarian (though cutting back on that drastically too) a couple years ago, and while it is hard sometimes, I just imagine a tortured animal. I don't usually tell people that because I don't want to sound militant about it.
This is a good basic book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0764524836/?tag=tbook-20
Chris is the same way with spiders, and it totally BUGS me (har HAR!). He'll pick them and put them right back outside. Um, hellooo, they can totally get back in! Gr.
The Clueless Vegetarian by Evelyn Raab is great. Also, check out check out this blog:
http://charskitchen.blogspot.com/
Great vegetarian/vegan recipes!
Food Inc was very enlightening- I would also recommend reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and Fast Food Nation. My husband and I have decided to change our eating too- in fact tonight we went to a restaurant where they served a grass-fed, no antibiotic steak which I had for dinner- yum!
The Kind Diet is a great book for new veggies. I also read Eating Animals which was really disturbing, but we should know exactly what we're putting in our bodies, right?
Yay! That's so awesome that you're transitioning into pescatarian / going to be buying local, organic products! Very, very cool. I think just cutting back on meat a few times a week really helps out the environment and such! And once you cut back on meat, you really don't miss it so much.
I have these two books:
http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Recipes-Cooking-Better-Gardens/dp/0696019892/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272390943&sr=1-8
http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Little-Guides-City-Press/dp/1875137793/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272390819&sr=1-2
But I can't really recommend them because I've never made a single recipe -- they all sound super tasty though! haha I'm such a bad veggie! Or maybe I'm just lazy?
I've found that for most things you can eat what you usually did, just take out the meat -- taco salad without the meat, spaghetti with marinara sauce, veggie sandwiches, veggie pot pie, cheese enchiladas, stir fry with just veggies ...
I'm a little late to this party, but I adore "How To Cook Everything (Vegetarian)" by Mark Bittman. He has a lot of veggie friendly recipes in his NY Times column (The Minimalist) too. Also, www.smittenkitchen.com has lots of good veggie recipes. Good luck!
Post a Comment