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1. Fake Chicken Breakthrough? -- I'm not necessarily a fan of fake meats but I own that they're very handy for a vegetarian who is trying to feed veggie-phobic omnivores. Though how anyone can not love brussels sprouts and eggplant and squash? I don't know because they are all super-delicious.

I tend to stick with crumbles or veggie sausage because they do a good job of approximating ground meats but I'm all for any product that reduces the number of animals killed in our farming industry. Even if it's highly processed. A word of caution, there's some verbiage in the article towards the bottom of the first page that might be upsetting if you're squeamish about meat coming from organic bodies.

2. Ancient cemetery in York could be Roman gladiators -- Sweet! And potentially a treasure trove of information. I hope I'll get to see some articles about this find.

3. Worst kept secret: Apple has a new generation of the iPhone. I stopped listening when they brought up the guy to announce that Farmville will now be an App. *rolls eyes* Steve Jobs is looking mighty thin. I hope he's continuing to do well; pancreatic cancer is a wicked nasty cancer.

4. Look for sign-ups for

sg1_lims to open up tomorrow evening!!!!!!

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I was really excited when I saw that York thing hit the BBC this morning. Yay York!

It's really exciting! All sorts of interesting research can come out of it.

Eggplant, for the record, is horrible. And I like 99.9 percent of vegetables.

LOL! I have to disagree. I will grant that it often looks unfortunate when stewed but it still tastes great. And it looks just fine when grilled or roasted. Okra? Not so much. I'm told it's good when fried but I've only ever had it stewed and it's not my favorite.

1. SO not reading that just because I wouldn't be able to avoid the yuck you warned about. I'm not a vegetarian, but I really don't eat a ton of meat.

Phlebotomist, trying to be helpful: Lots of people will eat red meat the night before they donate.
Me: Yeah. That is not happening.

Also, you are a weirdo re: brussels sprouts. I'll give you squash and eggplant. If prepared properly, both are delicious.

That's why I warned. I know some of the folks on my f-list have issues they'd rather avoid. I'm weirdly macabre.

As a vegetarian, of course I can't do much more to eliminate meat from my diet but I do try to have several vegan days each week. Lately I've been experimenting with raw food. Not as an entire diet but for snacks. Mostly because I'm lazy.

No, no, no! Brussels sprouts are seriously delicious. I buy them even off season and keep them in the fridge at all times. They're AWESOME when roasted. Sometimes, I make a whole meal out of them.

I'd love to know how you cook Brussels sprouts so that they turn out delicious. How do you roast them? I love roasted eggplant, zucchini, asparagus, etc. This sounds like it could be good if only I knew how. hehe

It's the simplest thing. Trim ends and halve. Toss with olive oil. (I use my hands to make certain they're coated evenly.) Single-layer them on a cookie sheet, cut side down. (I use that non-stick foil so that ) Top with fresh ground salt and black pepper. (I use fresh ground because they're coarser than pre-ground.) Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. I include the looses leaves that come off during trimming in the pan because they get really crispy; I consider them a treat.

The Veganomicon mentions throwing in some garlic cloves about 5 minutes before they're done but I've never wanted to because the sprouts are so good all on their own. And now I'm hungry for them. Guess I know what I'm having for dinner!

That sounds yummy. Is this recipe from Veganomicon? I have that book, and for some reason haven't done much with it. I love the idea of the garlic, though. I put garlic on nearly everything. :-)

Thanks!

I did get the idea from the Veganomicon. I usually love all the garlic in the world, too, but the creamy brussels sprouts are a milder version of sprouts and are a bliss unto themselves. I like both the sharper, sprouty flavor and the milder, creamy version.

I've been shocked at how much I love the recipes from the Veganomicon. I usually use recipes as suggestions. I have a veggie I want to use and I start looking at recipes, find a couple that look interesting and kind of combine two or three or otherwise improvise. I faithfully follow the directions in Veganomicon, though, and LOVE the dishes. Seitan with Kale, Brussels Sprouts, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes fed only half the people because we LOVED it and all had seconds. Grilled tempeh (& smoky collards) is a quick & easy crowd pleaser. Nothing from it has been bad so far and the hits are homeruns. I love the book!

As for the anemia, I wish I knew what it is I do that makes me so iron-rich because I'd love to pass that knowledge on to you. Maybe once a year I have to take a supplement due to light-headedness but my blood sinks like a stone and tests on the high side of normal for iron content.

The embarrassing thing about my anemia is that I've apparently always run low on iron and simply never knew it until I stopped the multivitamin. Embarrassing because I know my mom always had to force herself to consume prescribed iron supplements and at least two* of my sisters are also low iron, so it should have been obvious.

*for all I know all seven of us are - I'm the only one who donates blood and regularly have myself tested (and rejected, heh). It's not the kind of thing that comes up in normal conversation.

It's not necessarily intuitively obvious. My mother has scary high cholesterol and I have freaky low cholesterol. My mother is often low on iron and I'm well-ironed. My mother has a life threatening allergy to codeine and I found it delightful after they put my foot back together.

Of course, she loves seafood and it would kill me. But yeah, I guess the mother + sisters would suggest a tendency. Do you take supplements?

Well, yeah. We're not all allergic to goldenrod just because one of my sisters is. And we don't all get migraines, only two of us do, etc, etc. ;)

I take supplements now. I'm attempting blood donation again on Friday. *crosses fingers*

*fingers crossed for you*

I'm just saying that you shouldn't jump on yourself for not assuming you had the same problem your mother does. :) There's a lot to be said for recombination and mixing of genes during sexual reproduction. I know I am grateful for my blood chemistry and solid bones.

We've got all 3 of those vegetables growing in our allotment :) I LOOOOVE sprouts; I boil them until their just before al dente, then cut them in half and pan fry them in olive oil and garlic to finish. So, so yum.

I fix them two ways, primarily:

- Microwave them in a glass casserole dish with a tiny bit of water, or
- Roast them in the oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper. They're almost creamy that way.

When I'm feeling like cooking for real, I have an AWESOME recipe for seitan with brussels sprouts, sundried tomatoes, and kale. I can only make it when I have other people over, though, because otherwise I'll eat it all.

that possible roman gladiator cemetery is interesting

Doesn't it, though? I'm pretty excited to read about it. It's a unique research opportunity.

I'm not big on the fake meat stuff either, but I like some of it as...well, what it is. In other words, if a veggie burger tasted or even looked too much like a real hamburger...ew! But I love oat burgers, for instance, as something that's yummy and fits on a sandwich roll like a burger. It's not a substitute for a hamburger for me--just something different.

I used to love various types of veggie dogs, though in my past life I hated hot dogs. *g* Maybe that's why I liked them. (I'm pretty much over that now, though.)

I'm not sure I'd like chicken that tasted like real chicken. Have you ever tried Gardein (sp?) stuff? I've tried a few things and it's not bad, but I'm not sure it tastes like chicken (if it's supposed to be chicken-like), but I do like some of their things.

I also like veggie meatballs--not because they taste like meatballs, but just as something to add to spaghetti. *g* Same with veggie pepperoni--tastes good on a pizza. I don't think it's anything like real pepperoni, though.

Steve Jobs is looking mighty thin. I hope he's continuing to do well; pancreatic cancer is a wicked nasty cancer.

I didn't know he was sick with that. I'm not really a fan of his, but that sucks for anyone. My father-in-law and toolman's maternal grandmother both died from that many years ago. Very nasty.

OTOH, Farmville? OMG. I finally figured out how to hide those posts on Facebook.

I actually want to get a Droid. *g*

The funny thing is that if one views them as products in their own right rather than "meat replacements," I like quite a few of them. Becoming a vegetarian changed my view of what makes up a meal. I don't eat meals where there's a sort of hole where the meat would be and so I have a knee-jerk Do Not Want reaction to meat "replacements." I use them, though, if I'm feeding omnivores who aren't interested in eating vegetables because it's just easier. I do like getting a different texture and flavor from things like "mushroom balls" but I like them for what they are, not because I can squint and think they're meat balls. Just like I like carob because it's carob and not because it could be chocolate-ish.

I like some of the Gardein products. They're convenience foods and that's my favorite part of them. I think the line is uneven; I like some of them and don't much like others. I think it depends on the herbs and sauces. The underlying product seems too close to chicken for my preference because I'm not really interested in replacing meat.

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