Vegan Sloppy Joes

Vegan Sloppy Joes

I  know that this is a favorite of many. Quick and easy to make in the summertime, try this healthy variation of sloppy joe that will leave your kids very happy!

2 pounds soy crumbles (I like boca)

1 onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 small potato, finely diced

1/3 cup celery, finely diced

1/3 cup carrots, finely diced

1/3 cup green bell pepper, finely diced

1/3 cup fennel bulb, finely diced

1/4 cup julienned kale

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup water

2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp (or more) of red pepper sauce

6 hamburger buns

     Combine the crumbles and onion and cook until the onions are clear.  Add everything but the buns. Salt and pepper to taste before serving.  Enjoy!


Heard this on the Writer's Almanac this morning and found it to be a very interesting and so true poem:

Who the Meek Are Not

by Mary Karr

Not the bristle-bearded Igors bent

under burlap sacks, not peasants knee-deep

in the rice paddy muck,

nor the serfs whose quarter-moon sickles

make the wheat fall in waves

they don't get to eat.  My friend the Franciscan

nun says we misread

that word meek in the Bible verse that blesses

them.  

To understand the meek

(she says) picture a great stallion at full gallop 

in a meadow, who-

at his master's voice-seizes up to a stunned 

but instant halt.

So with the strain of holding that great power

in check, the muscles

along the arched neck keep eddying,

and only the velvet ears 

prick forward, awaiting the next order.  

Cheers!

Spring Drinks- Cheers! 

Thai Coconut Iced Tea

2 jasmine or green tea ginger tea bags 

2 cups boiling water

1 cup coconut milk

2 TBSP agave nectar or honey

1.  Brew the tea bags and then allow to cool to room temperature.

2.  Pour 1/2 cup coconut milk into each glass.  Stir in the honey or agave nectar.  Add ice. Gently pour the tea over the back of a spoon held close to the coconut milk.  This gives a dramatic look of the tea pooling over the coconut milk.  Fancy and delicious!  

Lemon-Limeade

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup agave nectar

zest from one lemon and one lime

juice of 3 lemons

juice of 3 limes

5 cups sparkling water

1.  In a small saucepan, boil a simple syrup with the water and agave nectar.  If you can bypass the sweetness of the drink simply skip this step. 

2.  Add the zest and juice to the syrup.  

3.  In a large pitcher, add the juices and zest to the sparkling water and ice.  I love serving this with a sprig of mint and a slice of lemon.  It is so pretty and refreshing!

     Enjoy what spring has to offer.  Take a run, a hike, or a bike ride and view the creation waking up from a long, harsh winter.  Try to continually experience God's daily, overwhelming presence in the newness of spring.  

          "God invites us to look up, open our eyes to the wonder all around us, 

          and seize every opportunity to encounter him." 

                               

                              -Margaret Feinberg, from her book Wonderstruck:Awaken to the Nearness of God

My morning run was filled with blooming trillium