Braving a cold winter's night with soup + classy impromptu salad dressing #2

Last Christmas day my family and I trekked over to Lake Tahoe for our first time to experience snow (!!!!). My dad rented a cabin "that could comfortably fit 10-12 people" but in reality could've fit 20. Seriously, there are residential cabins out there that could house 20 people. Anyway all ten of us plus my three cousins made the trip at around 4pm on December 25 and arrived there at around 9:30. It was EXTREMELY cold but we enjoyed every moment of it, especially because we got to snowboard!

What we did NOT enjoy was our first night. So arriving at the driveway we had to shovel the snow off the garage door. Then we entered a 49 degree F / 9 degree C (if I can recall correctly) house, tired, hungry, cold, and cranky. The heater was broken. We literally could see the fog coming out of our mouths when we breathed. We had to wear our winter clothes inside the house.

My mom cooking in her parka. Nice.

While some of the boys tried to figure out the heater issue my mom and I decided to cook some dinner. We didn't have much supplies... To be frank I wasn't in the mood to open a can of beans and chop onions. Everyone was cold and the only thing that could've helped us was soup. We didn't have any soup supplies except for...

Excuse the ugliness and the extremely not vegan taxedermied snake in the background.
The snake came with the house.

Behold the V8 vegetable juice. We bought this because my American cousins don't eat enough vegetables (sorry guys, potatoes aren't really vegetables) and American restaurants don't serve 'em. During my stay in the US I drank this everyday so I could get a dose of veggies and vitamins. Anyway we ended up making fake soup: V8 juice gently simmered with Italian spices, chili pepper, salt and pepper. I think I may have added powdered garlic (too cold to peel and chop fresh). All the spices were found in the kitchen cupboard.















Too simple to make, it shouldn't even be blog-worthy. But it had a cold-winter's-night story so I thought I'd share. Moral of the story: always make sure you have V8 juice on you in case you're stranded in a freezing cabin.

We brought some Boy Bawang (extremely garlicky deep fried corn kernels) from home which made an excellent crouton-like topping. Yum with the ever dependable white rice.

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The next night after a full day of snowboarding I had to make salad dressing. We were in the middle of winter and all my mom got for veggies were salad greens. With no dressing.

Something good always comes out of a salad dressing dilemma, I always say.

This time the only acid on hand was bottled orange juice and the sweetener, strawberry jam. Orange juice isn't as tart as kalamansi juice so we had to add a good dose of salt. It was a good "gourmet-tasting" dressing.

Strawberry Citrus Salad Dressing
1/4 cup orange juice
1 heaping tablespoon of strawberry jam
1-2 cloves of garlic, grated
1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil, to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Add the juice, jam, and garlic in a small bowl and whisk together -- try to break up the clumps of strawberry with the whisk. Slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking the whole mixture together. Add salt and pepper to taste. If still too sweet, add more oil or splashes of water.

Me making the dressing with Pop, my oil pourer. I had to keep on wearing a beanie to hide my Medusa hat hair.

Hmmm I think this is my last Christmas entry! Finally. Now I can get on with more current stuff.

Bro #6 enjoying the sun and cool air on our way back to the Bay area.

Vegan on a Desert Island

Being vegan in Manila can be a small challenge, but not unbeatable. A handful of restaurants have vegan food; there's always a yaya to prep the tofu and cook the beans; one can easily whip up a meal in the most basic of kitchens. In addition, grocery stores are at our fingertips for fresh produce.

Not so on a remote island in the Philippines. I spent Holy Week in Tingloy Island, a 45 minute banca ride from Bauan Port in Batangas. Batangas may seem city-ish enough for some but let me tell you, Tingloy Island most certainly is not. I don't mean to talk mean about one of the most beautiful islands I've been to, but I'm gonna be honest with you. It's just one of the many islands that are still pretty rural. Sporadic electricity. No cars. A handful of bicycles and motorcycles. Not all houses have fridges. Definitely no grocery stores.

The only stores around are sari-sari stores which sell pre-packaged food in small quantities - junk food, packaged baked goods, soft drinks, and small cans of processed meat and fish. The only fresh produce you'll find would be root crops (camote, camoteng kahoy, gabi) and the occasional eggplant, kalabasa, onion, garlic, and tomato. Most homes have a small garden plot in which coconut trees, papaya trees, and banana plants grow. Batanguenos in Tingloy usually have de lata meat (corned beef, meat loaf, etc.) with rice and egg in the morning together with a cuppa Nescafe coffee. For snacks, there's the junk food or pre-packed cookies / cupcakes from the store. For lunch and dinner, there's freshly caught seafood, sometimes fried, with rice.

I had to bring with me my own box of food. For those who think it's such a hassle to be vegan on an island, let me tell you, this was necessary even for the 10 omnivore girls I was with. The contents of the box was tricky to plan. The food had to be able to last a whole week with no refrigeration in the humid tropical heat. I had to bring fruits and vegetables. The food had to be low-maintenance in cooking -- I had 15-30 minutes of cooking time. And, the food had to be in individual servings so as not to leave extra that would have had to be refrigerated.

What I packed:

• Cereal - Kashi Go Lean
• Homemade granola - easier to make than you think
• Individual boxes of soy milk
• Roasted peanuts
• Canned chickpeas (the only local canned beans in the country)
• Dried lentils
• Individual sachets of tomato sauce
• Garlic and onions
• Low-maintenance veggies: carrots and camote / sweet potatoes
• Fruits: bananas, oranges, and apples
• Dried basil leaves and ground cumin
• Bottle of vegetable oil
• Green tea

• 1 plastic container - to store food for the trek
• Small colander
• Chopping board
• Knife for chopping
• Peeler
• Can opener - unnecessary as the house we stayed in had one already

Luckily, the other group of girls brought with them a tub of peanut butter and some bread. Other food they brought that I was able to eat: Oreos, spaghetti noodles, and bananas.

Breakfast was usually: a banana, a few tablespoonfuls of peanut butter, a handful of granola, and a cuppa green tea. One morning there was suman. Another morning, when we ran out of bananas, I made a fantastic sandwich: 2 slices of whole-wheat bread, peanut butter, and a couple of (thin) slices of apple. Yum!

We usually had lunch away from home so I had to bring my own lunch.

Day 1: I had a sandwich which I brought from Manila - whole-wheat pita bread, slices of seitan / fake meat, roast eggplant, and bell pepper slices with a pesto and balsamic vinegar dressing

Day 2: cereal with soymilk and peanuts

Day 3: cereal with soymilk again

Day 4: food by Nanay Mely - rice with cabbage and tomatoes and atchara

Day 5: food given to us by Nanay Carmen - rice with a sour soupy salad of cabbage, tomatoes, and kalabasa

Day 6: same as Day 5

Day 7: spent in Manila

Merienda / mid-afternoon snack was usually an apple with a handful of peanuts and the occasional bread.

While lunch wasn't the best meal of the day for me, I made it up with my dinner as I had access to a small kitchen. While the omnivores ate well for lunch, I have to say that I ate better for dinner.

Day 1: sandwich from Manila

Day 2: Mexican chili - chickpeas, tomato sauce, garlic and onions, cumin, chili sauce

Day 3: Italian lentil stew - lentils, tomato sauce, garlic and onions, basil

Day 4: Moroccan chickpeas - chickpeas, onions, cumin - with spaghetti

Day 5: no dinner as I was stuffed on merienda of cereal, apple, and peanut butter on fruit salad

Day 6: Thai curry - chickpeas, eggplant, tomatoes (bought from the sari sari store), garlic, fresh coconut milk (from one of the coconut trees in the yard), fresh tamarind pulp (from tamarind pods foraged during one of the hikes), chili sauce

Day 7: spent in Manila

The great thing about knowing how to cook your own food is sharing it with others, even though they may be suspicious of vegan food. For the vegans out there, don't be scared to go to a remote island! Always prepare before hand and bring the food you need.

For the omnivore girls I spent Holy Week with -- I hope I got you thinking about the animals and about how going veg can still be delicious.