The City Mouse in the Country

If you have been following this blog, or our Facebook page , for a while, then you know that I'm trying to eat healthier not only for my health, but for the health of the planet as well.   I believe that we have a moral obligation to do so. The whole reason behind this "Trendy" series is to introduce you, the gentle reader; to something you may not be familiar with...in the hope that you'll try it.   So when I buy a "plant based meat" I'm really not that interested if it tastes like chicken or steak.  I won't lie, it helps, but for the most part I'm concerned about three things. 1)  Is it healthy?  If I am being completely honest with myself it's probably not.  Any time you buy a prepackaged meal it's most likely going to be highly processed and preserved food we're buying and as such may contain a variety of chemicals and preservatives. It's not something I've grown and made myself.  Thanks to advertising companie

I had a health scare that started me down the Meatless Monday path.  It scared me enough to look at my diet and determine what I had to change.  While I figured a plant based diet was good for my health, the more I learned; the more I realized it was better for the planet too.  I became a bigger environmentalist than I was previously.  However, I am a realist and know that most of us are not going to go vegan or vegetarian.  We are to set in our ways and that the beef and dairy industries are just to powerful; that we are just happy having that good steak.   We all know that somehow we have to change.  We all know we have to start somewhere. Going meatless at least one day a week is what got me started on a healthier path, although I do try to eat vegan/vegetarian at least one meal everyday currently.  No, I'm not giving up chicken or steak but I've cut back, and that helps in some small, small way. You and I maybe " spitting in the ocean " but anything we do to he

 I found myself wanting to make cheese the other night.  In particular, paneer cheese.  I've not made cheese in some time and it was for that reason that I decided to stay away from something a bit more complex like my beloved Amish Cup Cheese .  It's so simple that you could have it ready within a few hours. I wanted to make paneer for a couple of reasons but mostly because it's a simple cheese to make; only needing milk and an acid like vinegar or citric acid.  It's also used in a lot of Indian recipes, and I just happened to have a couple of jars of simmering sauces for two well known Indian recipes in my pantry.   Since I've been trying to eat more plant based or vegetarian dishes, paneer can be - and often is - used as a meat substitute.   Well many of these dishes are Indian, paneer can be used in a lot of different dishes as well.   As I've said before I'm more "plant based diet curious" than a vegetarian and there are various shades of &

I'm not a vegan.  I'm not even a vegetarian.   I am, for lack of a better word, "Plant based food curious." Like most people today, I got worried about my health.   A lifetime of bacon and cheesy poofs along with the traditional American hobbies of laying around on the couch pushed me close to the diabetic  range.  Heart disease runs in my family and after seeing what my wife has gone through with her diabetes and losing my mother to a heart attack...I started to seriously think about what I could do to improve my health.  Living through a pandemic didn't help either. The more I learned about diets and where food comes from, the more I realized that I could do lots of little things to help the planet too .  I'm proud to say that generally speaking I go at least two days out of week eating a vegan or vegetarian diet.    My interest in this type of food was sparked by my interest in cheese making , a hobby I picked up during the epidemic.  I read about how s

      It's a classic family scene, perhaps going back to the first family - Greg and his wife Oola as they tried to get their kids to eat veggies.  I can hear it now: " Your mother Oola spent all day slaving in the hot sun gathering those berries and green twig things for you!   She almost got trampled by a giant ground sloth!  So no one leaves the rock till they finish their green twig things!"       So it was that in mind that I decided to try Yummy Dino Buddies.   Originally made by a Canadian company but now owned by Purdue , these are being marketed as Vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian friendly, however not all of their products under the Yummy Dino Buddies name are meatless, so let the buyer beware.       It's up to the indivdual consumer to buy items that they feel comfortable with, however I believe that the only way to move these companies towards an environmentally friendlier product is by supporting their efforts to make plant based products.   With this

           Although no one asked for it, I thought it might be fun to do another food review (my blog, my rules).  I figure that eventually we American's are going to have to adapt to a more plant based diet and if I do nothing more than convince two people to try something new...then they can convince two people to try something new...I've done my job as concerned and decent human being.    In some ways we are already moving that way as the sale of plant based food items recently reached a peak.   I think it has dipped currently due to a lot of different reasons, but the market will only rebound in the future.       So yesterday I decided that it was a good day to try and go meatless for the entire day.  I've been trying to incorporate a few more meals per week into my "Meatless regime" and thought I would make some Tasty Bite Bombay Potatoes as a quick late lunch/early dinner.            I found these before in my local grocery store and this is actually the th