What to do with vain attempts, what is disappointment and how do I proceed through frustration?

When you can’t change it, are stymied at every turn or feel attacked, you get frustrated.

Who hasn’t been frustrated with themselves for not being able to accomplish a new or difficult task – whether it be changing out a filter or learning a dance routine?

When you are doing everything in your power to do the right thing, find solution or help, sometimes indecision, life, circumstance, others or yourself thwart you.  It is confounding and disheartening.

In tears, in shouts, in anger, in silent scorn and disbelief we try to dislodge the load of discouragement.  But the only thing we can really do, is accept and find the positive.

How I turn the displeasure inside myself or outwardly, determines the level of pain I endure.  To be sure, we seek only to find peace and resolution but when we get to that place, is a matter of how long we want to stay in the castigation or punishment stage.  Crippling all efforts of reconciliation, restoration or restitution, we remain plagued in our own excrement.

We move forward when we are sick and tired of being sick and tired. When we find it in our hearts to forgive ourselves for being flawed, we can forgive others for the same human attribute.

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”  –  Jung

How many times have you had the occasion to forgive, empathize or soothe another person whom is steeped in utter desperate frustration, humiliation or remorse?  You cannot even believe they are so distraught over such a mistake, misstep or lack of judgment.  To you, it is not the end of the world and you see clearly beyond the trouble with objectivity.  And when our views are distorted, we need to be reminded to correct them.

But when it comes to ourselves, we wallow in the muck, mortified, whipping our own behinds and beating ourselves over the head with a huge bat.  What kind of compassion is that?  It isn’t love at all.

The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. – Mahatma Gandhi

Depression is long term anger directed towards self and harshly judges the past.  Anxiety is future based fear.  Both places exclude the present.  Both states lose sight of forgiveness.

It is never about the other person or situation.  We want to get rid of our guilt and pain so we project it onto someone or something else.  Yet, we always have a choice what we put into our minds.  Lack of forgiveness blocks the presence of love.  It blinds and deafens us.  Angry, fearful thoughts are based on ego.  Ego separates.  Love unites.  Fear and all its forms is ego based.  Love is in the field of potentiality – positive, wise, unconditional and eternal.

“In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

Store bought Vegan desserts have quadrupled in the last five years.  Vegan eateries and bakeries have sprung up even in small towns and suburbia. There’s increased interest in new and established vegan cafes in metropolitan areas.  The word is out.

Here is a sampling from NYC my NY family had the pleasure of partaking in:

Peanut Butter Brownies, Peanut Butter Cookies, Baked Apple Cider Donut with pieces of real apple, Vanilla Frosted Chocolate Cupcake and a Berry Muffin

Strawberry, Banana, Green Tea and Blueberry Macarons I just found at Mother’s Market.

They were delectable.

Whether home made, store or bakery bought, vegan delicacies await us!!

Another recipe I played with this long weekend, adapted and inspired by Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Moskowitz.

Indian Spiced Seitan Dish

Coconut oil spray

2 tsps. Mustard seeds

2 tsps. Coriander seeds

8 oz. chopped onion

8 – 10 oz. seitan

3-5 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbs. fresh ginger, grated

½ cup veggie broth

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 Tbs. curry spice

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

2 cardamom pods

1 lb. fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 cup light coconut milk

8 cups baby kale or spinach

½ lb. steamed sweet potatoes

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained

2 green onions, chopped

¼ cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

½ cup veggie broth

1-2 serrano peppers, chopped (optional)

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Heat up a large pot over medium heat and spray with oil.  Add the seeds, cover and let them pop for about 45 seconds or so.

Stir in the onion and cook covered for @ 3 minutes.  Add the seitan and cook covered for another 3 minutes.

Add the garlic and ginger, stir and cook uncovered for 1-2 minutes.

Add the next 8 ingredients and stir for about one more minute to combine fully.

Add tomatoes and milk, stir and cook covered for approximately 5 minutes.

Add fresh greens in batches, throwing in more as they wilt.

Add the next 6 ingredients, cover and simmer on lowest heat for 20 minutes.

Right before serving, stir in the lemon juice.  Adjust seasonings to taste. This might be too aromatic or spicy for some and there might be items you want to omit or substitute.  For example, if you don’t have cardamom pods, omit or use a dash of cardamom powder.  If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, use canned.  If you don’t like cilantro, use parsley or omit the fresh herbs all together.  If you don’t have mustard or coriander seeds, just skip it.

I served this atop a bowl of brown rice and lentils.  It is like a stew and very hearty.

I am very proud of my adaptation of a vegan pancake recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance!!  Incredibly delish and healthy!

Here are your ingredients:

Banana Pecan Chocolate Good 4 U Vegan Pancakes

Dry Ingredients:

1-cup flour

¼ cup oat bran

2 Tbs. milled (ground) chia seed

2 Tbs. hemp heart seeds

2 Tbs. sugar

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

2 over ripe bananas

1 ¼ cup almond/soy/coconut milk with 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (wait 5 minutes) to make vegan ’buttermilk’

1 tsp. vanilla

Add-ins:

2 Tbs. vegan chocolate chips

½ cup raw pecans (broken and snapped into pieces with fingers)

Combine dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Mash the bananas and add the ‘buttermilk’, extract, and stir – it will be lumpy.

Pour the wet into the dry and mix until no longer dry but don’t over mix.

Fold in the chips and nuts.  The batter will be fluffy and delicious.  There is no chance of getting salmonella so feel free to partake of the raw batter, as I do.

Spray coconut or canola oil on a nonstick skillet.

When hot, pour batter onto skillet to make 3’” rounds.

Turn over with a spatula when golden brown on one side and flip onto a platter when cooked through.

Spray pan for each batch.

Makes 12-15 3” pancakes.

Serve with fruit and/or maple syrup.

I love them hot and still mushy/raw in their centers.

I have always wanted to make my own seitan.  I finally had the time and inclination.  I took the recipe from the package of Vital Wheat Gluten and Isa Moskowitz’s Vegan with a Vengeance and tweaked it to make it my own first experiment.  Here’s what you will need:and here is my experiment #1 recipe:

Cecilia’s Seitanic Experiment #1 

Dry ingredients:

1 cup vital wheat gluten flour

1 Tbs. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. dried sage

½ tsp. dried marjoram

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

Wet ingredients:

½ cup water

¼ cup Tamari

1 Tbs. chipotle paste

½ – ¾ tsp. lemon zest

Broth:

6 cups vegetable broth

¼ cup kalamata olive juice

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. 

Stir wet ingredients together in a smaller bowl.

Pour wet into dry and combine with a wooden/bamboo spoon/spatula.

Knead dough till spongy.  Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Put broth in a large heavy saucepot.  Do not turn on heat yet.

Roll dough into a log and cut into 6 pieces.  Place them in the cold broth.  Cover pot and bring to a boil.

Once the broth boils, bring back to a simmer and gently cook for one hour.  Carefully turn or separate the pieces every once in a while cooking.

Take the pot off the burner, uncover and let cool for one hour.  Remove the seitan from the broth and cut into bite sized pieces.  Use immediately in any recipe or store in fridge for up to five days.

I decided to make a dish with it immediately.  Using half the recipe, I sautéed the seitan pieces in olive oil.  I added onions, broth from the seitan experiment, brown rice, chives, parsley, lemon juice, saffron and peas.  I stirred in some nutritional yeast, last minute to give it a cheesy flavor.  Yum.  Next time, I need to remember to add some rosemary and this recipe is not so far flung from my notorious Arrroz con Pollo.

On a bed of baby kale, it made for a fine and healthy meal.

At Macaroni Grill the other day, the choices to eat vegan were sparse but I settled on a Chicken Florentine Salad as an entree, asking them to please skip the chicken and any cheese they had any intention of possibly adding.  The spinach, capers, red cabbage, fresh tomatoes, pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes and orzo with a lemon vinaigrette was vegan and deliciously refreshing. Loving Hut take-out today for me!!!! Jackfruit salad with herbs, soy protein that looks like boiled shredded chicken, fried onions and peanuts with a sweet, lemon sauce, served with poppyseed baked rice papers and a slice of vegan carrot cake.  The entire menu is vegan.  Vegan Drumsticks and spring rolls with vegan shrimp are just some of the appetizers.  You can also get pho, a variety of soups, salads, noodle dishes like Pad Thai and Chow Mein, eight different types of rice dishes like curry or fried rice, as well as Gardein Soy burger dishes, sandwiches and wraps.  Desserts include cheesecakes, carrot, coffee, Pandan and chocolate cakes.  Their beverages run the gamut from fresh juices to smoothies to water to hot and cold teas.  The walls in the ultra clean dining establishment are bedecked with positive sayings and framed pictures of famous vegans.

Whether you are eating in, out or away from home – there are always better choices and occasionally just the right places.