life

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.

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!

Intangible Wealth for the New Year

by ladypbwiggins

Many are waking up this morning with a deep sigh of relief. We made it to 2021. The hope is high that everything is going to be better than 2020. I have seen memes and cartoons expressing the expectations for 2021. But there was one that really stood out to me. The basic message was we were putting too much pressure on 2021. What magically changes because the calendar flipped a page?

I woke up this morning with this thought. I pray for all of us the intangible wealth that is available to us. I pray that we all are blessed with peace of mind, good health, love, true and honest relationships, a focus on those things that benefit not only ourselves but society at large. When we do this one person at a time within our sphere of influence, 2021 stands a chance at giving us all those things for which we hope. In other words, give to others what you hope to get. Sounds familiar doesn’t it. “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.” Love your neighbor. The scripture says as you love yourself but many of us don’t love ourselves. So learn to love yourself but while you are learning, love others.

Eliminate the hate speech. We can disagree and discuss without it. Stop the name calling and labeling. You don’t like the negative adjectives used to describe or label you, so don’t lay on others. “Christians” stop with the self-righteous attitudes and behaviors. We have just as much sin in our lives as those we condemn. Let he who has no sin cast the first stone. He gave His life for those you condemn just as He did you. We were instructed to love not condemn. Condemnation hasn’t worked so let’s try His plan, Love. Loving someone doesn’t mean you necessarily agree with the person but you stand a greater chance of them hearing you when you are kind and nonjudgemental. The more I study Y’shua, the more I realize we have been doing it all wrong, so I proffer a change. If His Spirit really lives in you, allow Him to manifest His fruit in your lives and watch what happens to you and those around you.

So let’s give 2021 a chance and let’s do better. Let’s treat each other well. Let’s enjoy that intangible wealth that awaits us and brings more joy and enjoyment in our lives.

New Levitical Insight

by ladypbwiggins

Not Just a Sacrifice

All those dead animals over and over again. How many times will that list be repeated? It’s the same no matter which offering. That’s what I thought. I was so wrong. There was a greater significance. I believe it is more than a sacrifice for sin. Recently I completed a study on covenant; Covenant from God’s perspective. It is through this lens I have reread Leviticus.

This began with a study of the minor prophets. It became clear that I wasn’t sure specifically which of God’s laws Israel had violated in each prophets case. I decided to take a deep breath and jump into Leviticus. I was determined to struggle through the descriptions of the animals being sacrificed. My mind began to see through the lens of covenant, that God had given the Israelites a method to renew the covenant with Him that they had broken. When Moses presented the Law to them they agreed to do all that God commanded. God knew that however pure their intent, they would fail. Their merciful God gave them a way to repair the relationship and keep covenant with Him.

So when you read Leviticus, see each animal that is laid on the altar before God, not only as a sacrifice. Don’t see it as a fulfillment of a command only. See God’s mercy. See His love for people. See His desire to keep His promises that are based on their obedience or keeping their end of the covenant.

It amplifies even more the sacrifice Yeshua made for me. I am given a way to remain in covenant relationship with God because He knows my frailties and He extends mercy to me. He has loves me and desires to keep His promises that are based on my obedience.

More than a sacrifice!

Did I Miss The Point

by ladypbwiggins

Dr. James Cleveland penned a song many years ago based on an event recorded in the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. I think we are most familiar with Mark’s account because it gives more information. In Mark 4:35-41 we are told of Yeshua asleep on a boat with his disciples when a storm arose. The boat seemed in inevitable danger of being destroyed along with all aboard. Yet Yeshua slept. The disciples freaked out. How can he lie there asleep when we are going to die?

The disciples went to Him and woke Him up saying don’t you care that we are about to die. Implied was a cry for Him to Do something. So He got up and said to the winds and the waves, Peace. Be Still. He then looked at them and said “Why are you fearful. How is it that you have no faith?”

All my life the emphasis in hearing teaching and preaching on this text has been on Peace. Be Still. But I think we missed the most important lesson. Yeshua was in the boat. They had seen miracles performed by him. They had seen people healed, demons cast out but they still did not understand who He was. However, they knew if He were awake He could do something. The lesson I believe we missed is, He was in the boat. He did not have to be physically awake. The winds and waves knew their master and the mere fact that He was in the boat protected the passengers in the boat. If the boat capsized, He was there to save them. So the storm did not matter.

Protected because Yeshua was in the boat. Is He in my boat? Is He in your boat? If He is, do I have the faith to believe nothing is going to happen to me that He doesn’t allow and that He hasn’t prepared me for? Do I have the faith to be at PEACE in the storm? Can I BE STILL even if the storm doesn’t?