Black Soil Living

Jackfruit Tacos

by ladypbwiggins

Yes I’m on a jackfruit journey. As I mentioned in my last post I discovered an authenic vegan Mexican restaurant in my neighborhood, #VEEGOS. They are my motivation. I decided to try making taco meat from jackfruit. I use young jackfruit packed in water. The only preservatives are lime juice and sea salt. That gives it a salty taste. For those who want to minimize or eliminate that, I suggest rinsing the jackfruit. I haven’t tried it but I think it would work.

I also decided to make my own Mexican spice mix. I did not add salt because of the saltiness of the jackfruit. My mix was cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and oregano. I put the jackfruit in the food processor with the mix. Just a note. I was out of chili powder so I ground some chili pepper flakes. While that was marinating I made some pico de gallo. I had no salsa. I used the chili pepper flakes in the mix so I skipped the jalapenos in my pico. Hey use what you got. I used roma tomatoes, green onions (white and green parts), parsley and a pinch of salt. I must say here thank God for food processors. I could have chopped all of this including the jackfruit but the processor made it so easy and quick.

When we were ready to eat, I took the jackfruit mixture out of the fridge and tasted it. Hmm it was good. It could have been eaten raw on a romaine leaf wrap but I added more cumin and it gave it a slightly bitter taste, I added some olive oil and cooked it in a nonstick skillet just like I would have used ground beef or ground turkey. I lightly fried my tortilla shells. I placed grated vegan mozzarella and cheddar cheese, the jackfruit and the pico de gallo on the tortillas. We enjoyed a very good late lunch.

Jackfruit Tacos

I told you VEEGOS was my motivation but it wasn’t just because of the jackfruit. I wanted their nachos. They are loaded and very good. I was all set to go and get them when I realized today is Monday. They are closed on Monday. As a result I made jackfruit tacos. So glad I did. Now I have a raw and cooked option. Give it a try.

Is It Tuna Salad Or Not?

by ladypbwiggins

Many vegans wonder why whould you want to eat something that imitates meat. Well when you have spent your whole life experiencing meat based food, the desire for those flavors and textures don’t go away immediately if at all. We are vegans for a variety of reasons. I wanted to improve our health initially and then my husband had a heart attack. His cardiologist prescribed a raw vegan lifestyle change. However, I did not lose my desire for certain flavors and foods One of those was tuna salad sandwiches or tuna and crackers. Until now I had not tried to make a substitute. All of the substitutes were carrot based mixtures that tasted nothing like tuna or at least remind me of seafood. My motivation for trying to create something now is my new found relationship with young jack fruit.

I must digress for a moment. The first time I tried jack fruit it was in a prepared barbeque meat substitute from the grocery store. I hated it. It was too sweet and it turned me off. Recently I discovered Veegos Authentic Mexican vegan restaurant. One of the protein selections was jack fruit. I loved it.. A customer told me how to get the same product at home. First, you must buy young jack fruit canned in water or brine. I use the packed in water. This product has not ripened so it has no flavor. That makes it perfect for absorbing the flavors of the marinade or seasonings. Back to the not tuna.

I did my research to discover the best things to use to get that seafood flavor. I have used dulse and hijiki seaweed before but it didn’t give me what I was looking for although it did add that seawater taste.What brought it home was Old Bay seasoning. I made my not tuna salad with young jack fruit, cooked pureed chickpeas, celery, dulse, hijiki seaweed, onion powder, garlic powder, It was a success. I served it on a vegetable salad. It was a good dinner. I planned to try it again with rehydrated chickpeas or another fresh bean product to make it a raw meal.

Observe, Ask, Listen!

by ladypbwiggins

I am a girl. I am a female. I am 100% woman. Societal stereotypes say there are certain things you are safe buying or doing for me because am a woman. What color is do people buy baby girls? Pink. Why can’t she have blue? What color are clothes bought for little girls? Pink. Why not green? As the little girl grows she may tell you what she likes but if she isn’t asked it will be assumed it’s pink. It doesn’t change much when she grows up. When a man doesn’t know his woman’s favorite color, pink is assumed to be safe. This is simply because she is female. Now layer my ethnic culture on that. Just because I am Black there are certain things that I absolutely prefer according to the stereotypes. Women don’t all like the same thing and no one thing clearly describe us. If that were so, the clothing, jewelry, cosmetic, hair and shoe industries would not exist. Understanding what I am about to say is crucial for some relationships. It is believed women are difficult to understand. We are not. There is a very simple method to understand us. Obseve and Ask.

So to those who have not understood, I will use me as an example. I don’t prefer pink or diamonds. I don’t like pastels. I am a bold color concentrated person. But I don’t prefer the bold winter colors. I prefer the fall colors found in nature. The stereotype would have me in ruffles. You know, frilly, girly stuff. I like clean lines and texture. When I drank liquor, I was a scotch, dry martini person. My sweetest drink was a margarita. My husband knew all these things before we were married. In the course of us developing a friendship he observed, asked and listened. When it became important to know he did. He could even choose clothes and jewelry for me with a high degree of certainty that I would like them.

I guess you’re asking “why is she telling us all this?” For those who didn’t get the memo, we are not all the same. Allow us to be collectively individual. We have individual taste. Yes there may be similarities but we have some differences. Give us room and stop trying to put us in your box. If you’re not sure what your woman likes, ASK! Then listen.There will be fewer misunderstandings. That has worked for my husband for 44 years. Oh and just so you know, if you are in a relationship or trying to develop one, don’t assume this woman likes something just because the last one did. Observe and ASK! Listen! Don’t ask the day before her birthday or your anniversary. Pay attention when your just having conversation and get those questions in there if she’s important to you. She will appreciate your wanting to know.

Remember Observe and Ask. Listen. Don’t Assume.

Beginning Anew Again

by ladypbwiggins

Over our 44 years of marriage we have started over several times. We changed avocations, we’ve made geographic changes and we have made dietary lifestyle changes. All of these changes caused something to begin again; Start over. In the last 3 years we have moved to a new state, moved back into apartment living and become vegans.

I am the primary caregiver for my husband. At one point I became physically challenged myself. People told me I looked and sounded tired. I couldn’t see it. When you do what you have to do you don’t think about it. I had chest pains and went to the hospital. All my test were normal. Thankfully it was just stress and I had an overnight stay and rest. That’s when I realized how tired I was. Everyone said rest but figuring out how to rest created more stress. And then Covid 19 dilema arrived. I didn’t get the virus but months of isolation caused depression to sneak in. Just what I needed, a mental health issue. Another thing to battle. I was getting a handle on that and then the Houston deep freeze. Thirty-six hours of no power and below freezing temperature just added to the stress. We stayed in bed for 30+ hours. I only arose to prepare food. Good thing we knew how to eat raw vegan. Oh yeah and to use the bathroom. You would think that was a good time to get some rest but it wasn’t. We were fully dressed in sweats and beanies under several heavy blankets. I felt buried alive but it was necessary. We were still cold. One night it was 9 degrees outside and it felt like all of that inside. So tell me how do you rest from that. I feel like I aged over this last year. My body hurt in places it hasn’t before. Recovery made it very clear that our 2nd floor living must come to an end.

The search began for a first floor, one level home. Change One. Change Two. During the pandemic I gained weight. I miss my size 12 and I plan to begin our dominantly raw vegan lifestyle again. At least that’s the plan. I know many aches and pains will be diminished or eliminated. I will see my size 12 again this year. Change Three. I am resuming my hobbies because I need the outlet. I had put them aside for a while but I have to begin again.

Back to Change One. We moved into that 1st floor home. Love it but it is taking longer to unpact because my bosy is still recovering. Change Two is proving more difficult than I thought. We are eating raw sometimes but the consistency is proving to be hard. Hence, I don’t know when I will see my size 12 but at least I haven’t gained more. Hobbies are still on hold.

Still beginning again but still moving forward. We have begun again and it is exciting. Always new. Beginning again brings new and exciting experiences.

Well, here I am two months after the move. I have spent the time trying to get adjusted: unpacking and organizing. I have not completely gone raw vegan or begun my hobbies but I am moving in that direction. My mental health has improved thanks to my kids and grandkids. They have blessed us immeasureably. I have so much for which to be thankful. So inspite of quarantine, deep freeze and body pain beginning again has been a blessing.

Contagious

by ladypbwiggins

44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, Matthew 5:44 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/mat.5.44.NKJV

I have come to realize this is what I have been learning for the last 5 years. Inspite of their behavior, I must act like Yeshua. There are people who have told me that I am not a Christian or a real American because I don’t support Trump. I have been called names, basically cursed bcause I am not a Republican. They don’t know if I am a Democrat, Independent or Undeclared but because of how I look they have decided. How do I bless them?

This is one of the hardest things I have had to learn. Just like most other people I don’t partiularly want to show love much less acually love those who hurt me or threathen me. How do I love KKK members knowing what their stance is toward people who look like me? How do I love people who are determined to destroy me psychologically and emotionally? How do I love policemen who are inclined to kill my son and daughter just becasue of their skin color? Then there are my grandsons. Some are old enough to be targets just because they walked out of their house. One is a former marine. He was willing to give his life for a group of people who have decided he is a criminal just because of his skin color. This is one of my realities. Then there are those I have trusted. They said they loved me and as long as I agreed with them or did what they wanted they acted like it. But as soon as I stepped out of my place as they defined it, I was no longer loveable. I was the enemy. I want to follow Yeshua’s teachings to love my enemies but it is so hard.

I thought I had forgiven and gotten over the hurt from the ones I trusted but looking at myself through the lens of loving my enemies, it seems I haven’t. I don’t hate them but I discovered resentment and hurt are still present to some degree. How can I truly love them if those feelings are present. I believe pure love would not be resentful and would have forgiven. Remembrance would not have hurt attached. How can I love those who admit that they hate me when I can’t completely love those who have committd comparably lesser offenses? Lastly, how do I pray for those who spitefully use me?

I have a ways to go. This growing in the image of God is a neverending, involved process. I know I haven’t grown to say Father forgive them as they nail railroad spikes in my hands but maybe I can love them through hateful words and degrading actions. I am trying.

How are you handling this commandment?

Can you pray for them?

Can you do good to them?

Can you forgive them?

Can you LOVE them?

Clean Fridge Payoff

by ladypbwiggins

https://instagram.com/stories/ladypbwiggins/2589494116025707629?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&utm_medium=share_sheet

One of the dreaded but necessary jobs in the kitchen is to clean out your refrigerator. Let’s face it. Food can die on the shelf in the back of the refrigerator. The crisper drawers can be a veggie graveyard too. Sometimes food begins to go south faster than anticipated.

Yesterday was the attack day. This time I put a big soup pot on the stove and all of the almost gone veggies went into it. I had too-ripe tomatoes and mixed veggie leftovers to add. The cauliflower and cabbage were still good but not enough for a meal. I threw in a few green onions, some organic no-salt seasoning and water into the pot. I let it come to an almost boil and then turned it down to simmer most of the day. My results: a clean fridge and this bounty of veggie broth. Clean, cheap and no preservatives. Feeling good.

My Vegan Burger

by ladypbwiggins

When I first began to prepare raw vegan dishes I searched out appealing raw vegan recipes. I spent some money on cookbooks. Later I discovered internet and YouTube chefs. Today I prepared to make some raw veggie patties. I whipped out one of the cookbooks and i checked some chefs i liked on the internet. One of the recipes I made few weeks ago but I didn’t like the bitter after taste of the white onion. An experienced cook suggested I soak them. This time I soaked them for a few days. (Not on purpose. It just happened. 😄) I was walking through the house thinking and decided to try green onions. The bitterness is much milder. And then💡. I know the flavors I like so why don’t I make my on recipe. If the other cooks did, why can’t I? So I did.

I cannot give you a measured recipe because this was a taste it till you like it exercise. I may make a larger batch and record my measurements. The ingredients are mushrooms chopped small, carrots chopped, green onions, ground flax seed, soaked chopped coarsely sunflower seeds, chopped seedless jalapeno, liquid smoke, Kirkland salt-free seasoning, a pinch of sea salt,and water. I mixed all the ingredients and let the mixture sit awhile so the flavors could meld and the flaxseed and water could do their thing. I made the patties and put them in the dehydrator. One hour at 145 degrees and then 4 hours at 115 degrees. Flip them and dehydrate for another 4 hours. I tasted them this morning. I like. I am pleased.

My Mushroom Sunflower Seed Veggie Patties

Bacon! Glorious Bacon!

by ladypbwiggins

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that everything is better with bacon. I miss the flavor of bacon. Early in our raw vegan journey I tried an eggplant bacon recipe. I was disappointed. I don’t know if it was the recipe or if I expected too much from the eggplant. I may not have seasoned the eggplant properly. In any case, I walked away with no bacon tasting eggplant. Here we are four years later and I decided to try it again. I found another recipe from #TheRawChef. He has videos on YouTube. It sounded good so I gave it a try. Don’t laugh at my cuts. I tried to show you the best of them. The mandoline and I are still working on our slicing consistency. 🙂 I adjusted the recipe a tiny bit. I added liquid smoke to give a smokier flavor. The smoked paprika did well but I wanted more. I also adjusted the maple syrup. I didn’t want it too sweet. First I put very little in the marinade but it was bitter from the paprika; regular and smoked. That had to be balanced so added a little several times until I was satisfied with the taste. What can I say. The chef knew what he was doing. I put the eggplant slices in the marinade for an overnight stay. I then dehydrated them according to instructions. The results were satisfactory. They are a little spicy but I am okay with that. I have bacon. Oh glorious bacon. I put some slices on my veggie burger and it was a good lunch. Now for those of you who are purest and can’t understand why this is important, that’s okay. I am a southern girl who grew up with bacon. I don’t want the pig but I like the flavor in certain sandwiches and meals. If you desire the taste of bacon, try The Raw Chef’s recipe. He has several others I would like to try.

Vegan – Raw Vegan Again

by ladypbwiggins

I wrote this post in February 2021. I was trying very hard to get back to raw veganism but I failed. I didn’t realize how fatigued and depressed I had become in that last year. So my next post will be my beginning again. I must fight through all of this. Our mental and physical health depend on it.

It has been a few months since we have done a completely raw eating plan. It was mainly because of my fatigue amd the ease of eating vegan but not completely raw. Have been preparing foods to eat that need to be dehydrated to get ahead of the game. The plan is to wean ourselves from processed vegan foods and return to clean. The next step is majority meals raw without nuts until detoxification has had ample time to accomplish its job.

I had wanted to make a recipe that would be a great snack. It was called a raspberry buckwheat crumble. I didn’t have raspberries so I used dried cranberries instead. Success.

There has been much talk about juicing during detoxification. I made some juice and my juicer died. I purchased a new one. I decided to try the Caynel masticating juicer. I discovered I could make juice with pulp and without pulp. I made graepfuit juice. Great job. I then made nut milk with it. Almond milk to be specific. I didnt have to strain it and I had dry pulp to be used in a veggie burger recipe. All that’s left is to try the sorbet/ice cream maker.

Today breakfast was raw and dinner was raw. But every meal was vegan.

Blame It On The Pandemic

by ladypbwiggins

Why not? I haven’t posted in quite awhile and I blame it on the pandemic. More specifically the side effects of the quarantine. I am a full time caregiver for my husband so my travels outside the home were already limited. I didn’t think it would matter that we were quarantined. I was so wrong. I suffered from the isolation depression that most other people experienced. I probably didn’t realize it as soon as others did. I woke up an realized I just did’t want to do anything that was not absolutely necessary for our survival. I felt myself getting irritable for no obvious reason. Added to that stress my husband was hospitalized from Christmas through New Years. The stress of not being able to see your loved one in the hospital is real. I was blessed with some very compassionate and helpful nurses and physician assistants. The doctors were fine but I delt with the nurses and PAs.

The last stressor experienced in this year+ was searching for a new home. Thankfully our daughters and their spouses relieved that pressure. Now I’m back to more normal stress:Unpacking and caring for my husband.

Many of my friends reported weight gain and bad eating habits were also the results of this pandemic. I just didn’t have the energy to prepare all of our meals the way raw vegans should. I succumbed to vegan processed meat substitutes and I found vegan restaurants that had curb-side pickup. I must tell you that I knew this was not good for us but I just couldn’t get it together. Today I took the first step toward getting back to more raw vegan meals. That is another post. 🙂 Hopefully in a few months I can report that we are eating healthier without processed vegan meat substitutes and have eliminated vegan fast food.

If you have experienced any of these things give yourself a break and take one step at a time to return to a new normal.

BLESSED LIVING!