a veg life

(posted by Emily) Sometimes, a really great recipe comes your way, you have most everything on hand, and you just have to make the dish. Yesterday was one of those occasions, when our friend Jen posted on my Facebook wall: The Post Punk Kitchen comes to us via Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of Veganomicon and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World . We've had her books for a while, but I haven't spent much time checking out the blog. The breakfast nachos looked pretty straightforward, and we've been on sort of a Mexican food kick the past few weeks. It didn't take much convincing for me to decide this was the direction dinner should go! I followed the recipe almost verbatim--we subbed guacamole for the avocado salsa, and I made scramble like I usually do, which is similar to their recipe, but allows for more eyeballing of ingredients vs. measuring. The cheese sauce is awesome, and we had fun making plates of nachos. There was even enough left over for lunch to...

(posted by Emily) One of the best parts of my job here in LA has been learning more about the Hispanic culture. The kids and parents at my school take so much pride in their heritage, and it has been fun to learn about their food, traditions, and values. The moms would help out with lunch everyday have become great friends, and they are always sure to encourage me to step out of my comfort zone. When Rick and I made tamales in the fall, they were so proud of us--hilarious, and endearing. One mom in particular has been very supportive of our love of food, always buying kale chips from REfoods, and bringing in food items she thinks we would like to try. On Friday, she showed up to school with a bag of nopal or prickly pear cactus pads and was sharing with everyone. I was excited to try something new, and got 4 pads to take home. I have known about eating nopales for a while, having first seen something about grilling them on a Man vs. Wild-type TV show. We've gotten a few a...