It was a spectacular week of recipe fails around here, which is why I haven’t had anything to post. Not just recipes that needed fine tuning, mind you, but real duds.

It was frustrating. Needless to say, I reacted by bearing down and retesting everything, which only resulted in repeated failures. Finally, I decided to take a real break. I took the end of the week and the weekend off from cooking, assembling simple stuff and focusing on my baking adventures instead.

I’m not unaccustomed to periods of being uninspired in the kitchen. The past few month have been an especially long stretch. I started to feel reluctant about cooking during the end of my clinical internship, and I haven’t quite gotten my energy for it back since passing my exam in September.

It’s not really about effort, since I’ve been baking up a storm and loving that. It’s more about limited creativity and enjoyment. Baking soothes me right now because it allows me to immerse myself in a predetermined process. It’s work, but I don’t have to make decisions as I go. Cooking is intuitive, and for whatever reason, I’m totally out of touch with my culinary intuition at the moment.

I mentioned all of this on Instagram, and I was grateful to get a lot of validating responses. Cooking can be so wonderful and rewarding, but it’s important to talk about the fact that it can be a drag, too. It’s frustrating to put time and effort into preparing a meal from scratch, only to end up with something that you don’t want to eat. Not to mention the regret of having wasted ingredients.

One reader pointed out to me that cooking is often assumed to be intuitive and easeful if you have a knack for it, when it fact it goes through periods of being stagnant and difficult like anything else. I’ve definitely found this to be true, and the stale periods have gotten more pronounced since cooking became part of my job.

If I’ve learned anything through recipe development, it’s that creativity goes through natural phases, and it really can’t be forced. There are lots of things that I can muscle through when I’m unmotivated, but creative work isn’t one of them. So, I’ll allow my mini-pause to last as long as it lasts. I hope you’ll all be OK with more “assemble-and-eat” recipes and baking recipes than usual 🙂

Last week, I wrote about advent as a season of remembering that life exists on a spectrum with both suffering and joy. That lesson was driven home for me, albeit in a small way, with my cooking experiences this week. The struggles, I know, will make way for deeper appreciation once I’ve found my flow in the kitchen again.

Happy Sunday, friends and food lovers. Here are some recipes and reads.

Recipes

So impressed with the flaky layers in Valerie’s vegan biscuit pot pie!

I love the simplicity and flavors of Lisa’s vegan bombay potatoes.

Red cabbage is one of my favorite vegetables: I love that it’s available nearly all year round, inexpensive, and so nutritious. And this looks like a lovely, fresh winter salad to use it in.

A nutritious recipe for vegan cauliflower steaks with lentils and romesco from my friend Cadry.

Finally, I can’t stop staring at Marly’s spectacular vegan apple pie.

Reads

1. An interesting read on the necessity and difficulties of removing carbon dioxide from our atmosphere.

2. I love seeing mainstream coverage of vegan holiday recipe and entertaining ideas.

3. I was concerned to learn this week that work requirements have changed for SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, sometimes referred to as food stamps) recipients. Hundreds of thousands could lose access to the program.

4. New reporting on how social media use may be associated with disordered eating in young people. Good motivation for those of us who use it in a professional capacity to reflect carefully on the images and words we’re sharing, and I’ve taken it to heart.

5. Via the New York Times, one mother’s process of advocating for an autism diagnosis. I thought it was a touching meditation on the intuition that parents develop about their children and what’s going on with them.

I wish everyone a restful Sunday night. And hopefully this week I’ll have some food to share. Even when cooking is hard, I need to eat, and I’m my best self when I’m eating things that give me pleasure! Till soon.

xo

The post Weekend Reading, 12.7.19 appeared first on The Full Helping.

In addition to being the first day of the month, it’s also the first day of Advent. I grew up observing the Advent season at home. My holiday celebration is different now that I’m older and on my own, but I do still try to keep Advent in my heart and soul throughout December, regardless of how busy the month tends to be. Last year, I was too distracted with my internship to really feel the coming of Christmas, but I think it’ll be different this year.

I was happy to stumble on this thoughtful essay about the Advent season in the New York Times today. The author, an Anglican priest, offers the reminder that, according to the church calendar, Advent isn’t a celebration of Christmas. That celebration begins on Christmas day. Advent is about readying ourselves for Christmas, and that readiness includes recognition of our own hunger and yearning for completeness.

The author, Tish Harrison Warren, writes,

For Christians, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’ birth — that light has come into darkness and, as the Gospel of John says, “the darkness could not overcome it.” But Advent bids us first to pause and to look, with complete honesty, at that darkness.

To practice Advent is to lean into an almost cosmic ache: our deep, wordless desire for things to be made right and the incompleteness we find in the meantime. We dwell in a world still racked with conflict, violence, suffering, darkness. Advent holds space for our grief, and it reminds us that all of us, in one way or another, are not only wounded by the evil in the world but are also wielders of it, contributing our own moments of unkindness or impatience or selfishness.

While I don’t experience faith in the same way that Warren does, I was touched by her description of the human ache for “things to be made right.” Suffering and darkness are part of our world and our experience of it; they’re part of what give meaning and existence to joy.

During the holidays, it’s difficult not to feel pressured to be celebratory all the time; as Warren points out, this pressure may be part of what contributes to the “holiday blues” that so many people feel when their emotions don’t align with expectations of seasonal cheer.

In Warren’s opinion, though, acknowledgment of suffering can be a part of the Advent season:

We need communal rhythms that make deliberate space for both grief and joy . . . Abstaining, for a moment, from the clamor of compulsive jollification, and instead leaning into the reality of human tragedy and of my own need and brokenness, allows my experience of glory at Christmastime to feel not only more emotionally sustainable but also more vivid, vital and cherished.

This resonated with me, and it actually aligned with what I’d been feeling on Thanksgiving this past week.

For the last few years, I’ve entered the holidays with a lot of hope and expectation, the desire for the season to brighten things, or to make them right. I didn’t feel this way on Thursday morning, when I woke up. I was glad to have plans with my mom and an opportunity to be especially grateful, which is what the day means to me. But I didn’t have a vision of the day or an idea of how it had to be. And it ended up being one of the nicest holidays that we’ve had in years.

I appreciate the specialness of the holidays; apart from any spiritual connotations, they feel sacred to me, if only because they were a big part of my childhood and continue to be an important ritual for me and my mom.

But I think it’s important to make space for sorrow at this time of year, not in spite of the fact that it invites us to be jubilant but rather because it does. My therapist always gently reminds me that you can’t mute one side of the emotional spectrum without ultimately quieting all of it, and I’ve found this to be true. By acknowledging the sadness in our world and our lives, we make ourselves more able to value and experience sweetness.

I’m entering Advent with a quiet openness, a gentle receptivity to everything. This includes cheer and mirth, but it also includes the whole spectrum of human realness. And I’m remembering to acknowledge the suffering that befalls people and animals everywhere around the world, even as I hope for peace and goodwill for us all.

Happy December, friends. Here are some recipes and reads.

Recipes

I’m sorry I didn’t stumble on these scalloped potatoes in time for Thanksgiving!

A beautiful, festive wild rice salad.

Quite possibly the most authentic and appetizing vegan carbonara recipe I’ve found.

Allie’s lentil and rice stuffed squash is simple, yet so perfect for a holiday centerpiece.

I adore bulgur, and this golden hued stew is on my list of recipes to try!

Reads

1. My heart was warmed by Erin McDowell’s reminiscences of baking pie with her Grandmother. Whether you love rolling pie crust or not, it’s a lovely tribute to the consolations of being in the kitchen.

2. This isn’t a new video, but it reminded me of how mighty plants are!

3. Distressingly, US life expectancy is declining because of more deaths among middle aged Americans. The article cites the opioid epidemic as a major factor, but heart disease is another. This makes me hope that plant-based eating trends, which may aid in prevention, continue to grow.

4. I love this story of camaraderie and breaking bread in my hometown. (And on the subway, no less.)

5. And finally, Tish Harrison Warren’s meditations on the Advent season.

This week, a holiday-friendly, winter-ready comfort food recipe. Till soon,

xo

The post Weekend Reading, 12.1.19 appeared first on The Full Helping.

For the most part, turning on my oven at this time of year feels like a treat, rather than a burden. I love to bake, and I love it especially during the holidays.

But when you’re jet-lagged and catching up on work and very possibly catching a cold, it’s not necessarily the time to be fussing with the oven or with a complicated holiday dessert. Which is exactly why I’m happy to be posting this easy, no-bake vegan chocolate mousse pie.

The pie requires some time, but very little effort. The crust is a simple, press-in chocolate graham cracker crust, which you could replace with a store-bought vegan graham cracker crust if you like (a few brands are vegan, including the one made by Arrowhead Mills).

The filling is a silken tofu chocolate mousse that would be dreamy to serve all on its own, in ramekins. It needs some time to chill and set, but it’s fast and easy to make. And the coconut whipped cream is optional (replace it with any store-bought, vegan whipped cream), but it’s simple to make in either a stand mixer or with a hand mixer.

That’s it: three simple components that need to chill in the fridge, but won’t demand any rolling or baking or complex decorating.

The pie itself is a delight. The chocolate gives it richness, and it definitely registers as an indulgence. But the texture is light and silky, which is a nice departure from heavier Thanksgiving treats! Here’s how to make it.

A nutrition client recently mentioned to me that chocolate cream pie was always served at the kids’ table at her family’s Thanksgiving, but that everyone loved it so much that the adults would sneak slices as the night went on. More traditional and grown-up holiday pies are lovely, but sometimes a plate of something simple and chocolatey just hits the spot.

I hope this pie will hit the spot for some of you. I’m sending you my most loving and heartfelt wishes for a happy Thanksgiving, if you’re celebrating this week. See you for weekend reading!

xo

The post Easy No Bake Vegan Chocolate Mousse Pie appeared first on The Full Helping.

I’m writing this post as I make my way home from a faraway place. I’ll be sharing more about the trip next weekend. For now, I’ll say that this experience has made me grateful on two fronts: grateful for the opportunity to leave home and explore a different part of the world, and grateful to be coming back.

It’s the gratitude for home I want to focus on today. Last week, I wrote about my exercise in journaling about things that make me happy. It was so illuminating to realize how small and quotidian these things are. And how lucky I am, really, that happiness can and does reside in things, habits, and relationships that are nearly always within my reach. The next time I find myself believing that I need something I don’t have in order to be happy, I’ll remember it.

My feelings as I travel home today echo much of what last week’s post said, except they’re more heartfelt because I’ve been gone for seven days. I’ve never felt more grateful for my little apartment, the street I live on, the coffee shops in my neighborhood, the food in my fridge and my freezer. I’m grateful for the fact that my mom lives thirteen blocks away and that I have friends all over the country whom I love with all my heart. I’m grateful for my yoga studios, which give me a sacred space and a spiritual community. I’m grateful for everyone who’s reading this post.

It’s been tricky since my internship ended. I’ve had to adjust to more time, more freedom, more choices about what I’m doing and where life is going. The freedom and autonomy sound enviable, and of course they are, but they can be scary, too.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how each one of my anorexia relapses growing up came at a time when a big life transition occurred or was on the horizon: the end of middle school, the end of college, the end of my first real relationship. I don’t have the demon of relapse nipping at my heels anymore, but I do have depression and anxiety, which are related demons. I wish I had an easier time with change and the opportunity for self-reinvention and growth that it brings. But lack of structure, and changes to the structure I’m used to, will probably always be hard for me.

This is, I realize, why daily joys are so important. Life really is uncertain, and everything is always changing. The so-called “little things” are what’s constant and reliable. They can be a powerful way of staying oriented, grounded, and grateful in the face of impermanence.

I take my life and all of its joys and privileges and gifts for granted far too often. I try not to, but I do. Maybe that’s just human nature. I know that I’ll always have moments or even whole periods of time when perspective gets lost, but when that happens, I hope I can find ways to see the big picture again. Being away from home one powerful means of regaining perspective, and I’m so glad to be returning to New York with a fresh way of seeing things. An appreciative way of seeing things.

I appreciate all of you. Here are some recipes and reads.

Recipes

I love the idea of a winter fruit salsa!

Deryn’s butternut squash bruschetta looks like a perfect holiday season appetizer.

These baked and stuffed apples have two filling options—one with nuts, one without—and they both sound delicious.

A beautiful, seasonal farro salad (farro and sweet potatoes are one of my favorite combinations, as this breakfast recipe proves!).

This will be a week of elaborate desserts, but right now these peanut butter and chocolate krispie treats are looking just about perfect.

Reads

1. I really liked these five lessons about food from RD Theresa Shank, especially number two. I always ask my clients about adverse life experiences, trauma, and stressors; they’re an integral part of the “big picture” I need to understand a person’s way of experiencing food.

2. I’m all for encouraging kids to eat wholesome foods, but I’m never a fan of forcing or pressuring. Holiday tables can be difficult places for kids.

In this New York Times article, a number of experts on childhood feeding argue that it’s OK for children to be focused on things other than food on Thanksgiving—even if that means they don’t clear their plates or eat everything on offer.

3. A new survey shows that the majority of participants’ in one town’s Meatless Monday campaign found it easy or very easy to cut back on meat. I love seeing research that underscores the richness and satisfaction of plant-based diet!

4. The incredible story of one veteran’s journey from a coma to Wheelchair Games.

5. Not an article, but I was really touched by this Instagram post from Elizabeth Gilbert, and I wanted to pass it along. It’s an ode to “the heart-aching beauty of long friendships.” Gilbert writes,

My friends and I don’t belong to each other by blood, by marriage, by law, by ceremony. We owe each other nothing. Yet we DO take care of each other in sickness and in health. Till death do we part, apparently. Because we just love each other. We just DO. We never even had to think about it. It wasn’t a decision. As my friend Martha always says: “The heart knows who it belongs to.” Today I just want to say: My heart belongs to my friends. But only always. I love you.

Reading this beautiful expression of love made me feel especially thankful for all of my friends, old and new, but especially those whom I’ve known enough to be able to say we’ve seen each other through thick and thin.

Happy Sunday, all. I have an easy chocolate-y dessert coming this week, which is low-key enough to make at the last minute for Thanksgiving if you need to!

xo

The post Weekend Reading, 11.24.19 appeared first on The Full Helping.

I’m far from home as I write this post—an adventure I’ll share more about soon! Being in a very new place makes writing about a cozy holiday recipe all the sweeter and more meaningful. This red lentil chickpea loaf with simple vegan mushroom gravy is my Thanksgiving dish for 2019. But it’s simple and memorable enough to become a go-to comfort food meal, for any time of the year.

My lentil and sweet potato loaf has now been a favorite for many holiday seasons. I often make it on Christmas and share it with friends. Meatloaf is a traditional comfort food that I remember fondly from childhood (my mom’s was really good), so it’s been lovely to have a plant-based version that I trust.

And now I have two. Since I use chickpeas regularly in burgers, I figured they’d work nicely in a loaf, too. I used a potato masher to mash them up, much as I do when I’m making chickpea salad for sandwiches and wraps.

To the mashed chickpeas, I added a mixture of cooked onion, celery, and red lentils. The red lentils get mushy as they cook, which makes the loaf tender and easy to mix. Breadcrumbs and ground walnuts help to bind it all together (and the walnuts are toasted, so they add some nutty flavor, too).

You can use any bread crumb that works for you: regular, whole wheat, panko, or gluten-free. If you have a lot of bread at home, which I always do, you can also make your own! Simply toast some bread cubes in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes on a baking sheet. Next, transfer them to a food processor and blitz till they’re crumb-sized. I did this at the same time that I was toasting my walnuts for the recipe.

I like meatloaf even better with gravy, and I love mushroom gravy. This version is probably the easiest that I’ve made, and I doubled it so that I could have extra leftover. Not at all sorry to know that it’s in my fridge, waiting for me when I get home.

Along with some frozen, leftover slices of this new favorite, and very nutrient-dense, loaf.

It is so special and rewarding to create vegan holiday recipes: I love making them nostalgic and full of comfort food appeal, while also packed with good things. And there are a lot of very good things here: beans, grains, veggies, nuts. The simple, sustaining foods that keep me going all year round, but especially during this busy season!

If you try this recipe for yourself or loved ones next week, I hope you’ll like it as much as I did. You’ll let me know. I’ll be checking in plenty before Thanksgiving, but it never hurts to send out early wishes to everyone for a week that gives us all something to be grateful for. Maybe many things.

xo

The post Red Lentil Chickpea Loaf & Simple Vegan Mushroom Gravy appeared first on The Full Helping.

As mentioned in a few posts already this fall, I’ve officially given into pumpkin season. These wholesome vegan pumpkin oat scones are a perfect way to celebrate fall baking while also indulging the desire for treats that are a little less sweet, and a little more nutritious, than others.

I’ve found that there tend to be two types of scones: ones that are only mildly sweet and relatively dry—kind of like biscuits—and those that are softer, richer, and easy to categorize as sweets. I really like both kinds, and my dark chocolate cashew cream chocolate scones are a good example of the latter.

These pumpkin scones are more the former, though they’ve still got some moisture in the center and a nice, mild sweetness that makes them appropriate for either breakfast or as an afternoon treat. One of the things I love about them is that they’re made with quick oats as well as flour. It was my first time preparing scones this way, and it created a lovely texture. They’re more toothsome than most scones I’ve made at home, and I like that.

To make the scones as wholesome as they are, I used a combination of sprouted whole wheat and all-purpose flours, plus the quick oats. The wheat flour and oats were courtesy of One Degree Organics, a brand I’ve come to love for its oats, cereals, granolas, breads, flours, and legumes.

One Degree products are sourced transparently, with traceable ingredients from trusted farming partners. They’re all organic, non-GMO, and free of artificial ingredients. Many of them are not only 100% plant-based, but also veganic, which means that they’re grown and cultivated without any animal inputs.

One Degree’s Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour gives a rich, nutty flavor to the scones. You can try using all whole wheat flour in the recipe, though the combination of white and whole wheat gave the scones a lightness that I really liked.

As for the oats, both the One Degree Sprouted Rolled and Sprouted Quick Oats are staples in my home. It was fun to bake with them here; I used quick oats for the dough itself and rolled for decorating. 

I decided to be extra seasonal and serve my scones with a homemade pumpkin latte (non-dairy milk, pumpkin leftover from making the scones, a dash each of cinnamon and turmeric, and maple syrup). They’re great with herbal tea, jam, or an extra little pat of vegan butter. I bet pumpkin butter would be lovely with them, too.

While I’m usually a fan of pretty pronounced sweetness in baked goods, I like the fact that these scones are only subtly sweet—it makes it easier to taste the whole grains. And there aren’t too many foods I love more than grains, or oats.

Hope you’ll have a chance to try this autumnal treat out soon maybe for your day-after-Thanksgiving breakfast or maybe just for fun. You can get the recipe on the One Degree Organics website, here!

Enjoy, and see you for the weekend roundup.

xo  

This post is sponsored by One Degree Organics. All opinions are my own. Thanks for your support!

The post Wholesome Vegan Pumpkin Oat Scones appeared first on The Full Helping.

This week, I tried a new exercise: each night before bed, I made a quick list of the things that had given me happiness that day. It was surprisingly illuminating.

I’ve done gratitude journaling before, but this was different. Whereas the list of things that I’m grateful for is usually long and unchanging (family, friends, shelter, food, health, home…and so on), the list of things that had made me happy shifted around a little from day to day. They were much more minute than I expected them to be.

Some of what made me happy came as no surprise: yoga and baking, for example. I was surprised to realize how much daily happiness it gives me to make coffee each morning (and sometimes afternoon). Writing about it allowed me to discover that it’s both the taste of the coffee itself and the soothing act of swirling water above my Chemex that makes it all so pleasurable.

A certain pair of pajamas—which it’s now chilly enough to reach for—made me very happy indeed. Same with my winter comforter, which came out of the closet this week. I got very happy thinking about the holidays and realizing that, this year, I’ll have enough time and energy to get and decorate a tree (that wasn’t true last year).

It was also interesting to note what didn’t make it to the list. A few tasks related to work showed up on some of the days, but the lists contained very little related to my job overall. I don’t think this means that I don’t get satisfaction from my work: this was a short-term exercise, after all. Still, it was interesting to realize that so much of what makes me happy in the here and now are small, everyday pleasures: coffee, walks, baking and eating bread. Texts from friends. Funny emoji use from my mom.

I often hear that happiness is a choice. I’m not sure how true I think this is for all people, especially those of us who suffer from depression or melancholy. What I do believe is that, while we can’t always choose happiness, we can often choose our habits. And we can consciously cultivate those habits that make us happy, giving less energy and attention to the ones that don’t.

If you’ve never meditated on what gave you happiness or contentment within the last day, I can vouch for the fact that it’s interesting to consider it and to write it down. I often think I’m aware of how certain actions or routines affect my mood, but I’d never actually taken notes. This little journaling exercise functioned like gratitude journaling in that it left me with a sense of appreciation—in this case, appreciation of the routines and motions that constitute my life.

Wishing you small sources of happiness this week, each and every day. Here are some recipes and reads.

Recipes

A great, mini-bagel appetizer idea from my friend Amanda.

Speaking of appetizers, I love pinwheels, and these look especially yummy.

Picture perfect gingerbread cardamom buns from the talented Tiina.

A gorgeous plant-based Thanksgiving centerpiece.

And leave it Hannah to make pumpkin pie even more appealing than usual with a buttery streusel topping!

Reads

1. I didn’t know that companion animals experience the placebo effect, too.

2. This article about cows that were swept away during Hurricane Dorian is an incredible example of resilience.

3. Via The New York Times’ parenting vertical, a fascinating look at babies’ cries across languages.

4. Genetic counseling is available for many illnesses. Now it may become an option for mental health, too.

5. I learned a new word (and learned about its meaning) today: trypophobia, or fear of holes.

Happy Sunday, friends. Thanksgiving recipes to come this week!

xo

The post Weekend Reading, 11.17.19 appeared first on The Full Helping.

It’s about time for a few Thanksgiving recipes 🙂

My last few holidays have been simple, and my recipes have followed suit. This roasted butternut & shaved Brussels sprout salad looks festive and has a lot of nice contrast in textures, but it comes together with only a few main ingredients.

Leftovers of the creamy cashew Dijon dressing (a variation of this) can be used on sandwiches, in bowls, or with other salads as your holiday week goes by. I always feel bad giving instructions for a dressing that won’t be entirely used up in the recipe, but it’s usually easier to blend a bigger batch!

In place of Brussels sprouts, you could use chopped kale or even lightly steamed, chopped broccoli florets and shaved stems. But I do love the texture of the shaved sprouts; every time I eat them raw, I’m reminded of how much I enjoy them that way. You’ll notice that the instructions call for either roasting or using an air fryer. I tried them both, and they work equally well.

To decorate, I used pomegranate arils, but chopped, dried cranberries would be nice, too. Or golden raisins. Anything to give a touch of sweetness and a pop of color to the dish.

And there it is. Nothing too fancy, but a colorful and nutrient dense little addition to my home holiday table—and maybe your table, too. I hope you’ll enjoy it, and I’ll be back soon with more festive, but simple, food.

xo

The post Roasted Butternut & Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad appeared first on The Full Helping.

There are a lot of things that should have gotten more of my attention than they did this past week. What got most of my attention instead was my bread baking. A set of new loaves every morning.

Bread baking has been a part of my life since the spring of 2017, when I was limping my way through a breakup and found Ali Stafford’s Bread, Toast, Crumbs. Soon after, I found Emilie Raffa’s Artisan Sourdough Made Simple, and my love affair with homemade sourdough began. Together, these books gave me a foundation to start baking bread every week, and since then, I’ve continued to hungrily read more, research more, and learn more about the process.

There’s not a lot of instant gratification with bread making. It takes time and patience and the willingness to mess up or try things you won’t want to repeat with the next bake. But that’s good for me. Bread baking plays to some of my inborn qualities; it’s methodological, it demands planning, and there’s a fair amount of science woven into the learning curve. But it also requires me to be a person more interested in process than in mastery. That’s not easy at all, and it’s exactly what I need.

Beyond that, baking in general—not just bread, but all of the other vegan treats and desserts that I love so much—is something that I can, and do, give myself over to. It’s immersive, it’s fun, and there are always new skills for me to learn.

I need that right now. I think part of why the depression monkey has been on my back since the summer is that my internship, no matter how exhausting, was all-encompassing. It didn’t give me much time or space to dwell on my stuff, and that was a relief for me, an overthinker who has a hard time getting unstuck from pain. There’s a lot of work on my plate right now, but the schedule doesn’t compare to how things were a year ago.

I guess I’d like to be more at ease with stillness at some point, but until that day comes, I need to be pragmatic, too. For better or worse, I fare better when I’m either busy or immersed, and if I can be immersed in things I love, like baking, that feels like a meaningful way to stay afloat.

It’s also nice to be immersed in a hobby for a change, rather than in work. I guess all food preparation could fall into the category of work for me, but baking is only a small part of what I write about on the blog. For the most part, it’s a personal passion, something I do for myself, my neighbors, and my friends. Growing up, and all through my early adulthood, I shied away from activities that wouldn’t somehow pertain to either academics or work and my success in those areas. It’s taken me a long time, but I’m starting to appreciate the importance—and the pleasure—of a cherished hobby.

Wishing you the warmth and satisfaction that baking gives me through whatever activities give it to you. Here are some recipes and reads.

Recipes

A simple and savory mushroom soup for the season.

Miso glazed sweet potatoes are a genius idea!

I love the idea of a tempeh pot roast, and this one gets bonus points for coming together easily in the slow cooker.

This kabocha brown rice soup looks so cozy and comforting.

And speaking of baking, some droolworthy vegan chocolate chip walnut brownie cookies.

Reads

1. I found this article on eating disorders in queer communities so nuanced and thoughtful. It’s encouraged me to become better informed/aware for my work with transgender and non-binary clients who struggle with EDs and body dysmorphia.

2. Looks like sesame may finally join the “big eight” food allergens (milk, eggs, wheat, fish, shellfish, soybeans, peanuts, and tree nuts) in getting FDA-mandated food label disclosure.

3. I’ve worked with some clients with gastroparesis, and I’m always struck by how difficult it can be to manage and also how little mainstream attention the disorder gets. So I was pleased to see this article by an RD, with good best practices for symptom management.

4. Frank Bruni has done some incredibly raw writing in the past year or two about a sudden decline in his vision and the possibility of losing it altogether. This essay follows suit, not only as a perspective on what it’s like to participate in a clinical trial, but also as a consideration of acceptance in the face of a health challenge.

5. I like to think of veganism as a dietary choice, rather than a dietary restriction, but I know that it gets grouped in with specialized eating styles—like food allergies—that aren’t a matter of choice. I’m happy to share a sense of camaraderie with any and all eaters whose plates look different than the norm. And I liked Parade magazine’s article on accommodating friends with dietary restrictions/preferences at Friendsgiving. I was especially impressed at how sensitively and thoroughly it tackled issues like cross-contact.

Speaking of Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving, I was proud to contribute a classic vegan bread stuffing recipe to the New York Times cooking section this week! You do need to be a subscriber to get it, but if you aren’t, this cornbread stuffing is also a favorite. Hooray for stuffing, right?

Have a lovely evening, friends. I’ll be back this week with a nutritious holiday side dish.

xo

The post Weekend Reading, 11.10.19 appeared first on The Full Helping.