I is for Infusion Water Bottle

December 22, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

It has been a crazy week with grades from the Fall Semester due this week and personally I was screaming for vegan ice cream. However, when I could finally sit down to write I found that I was less interested in writing about any of our ice cream products or even our Indoor Outdoor Portable Grill. Rather my friends and I kept talking about our Infusion Water Bottle. So I is for Infusion Water Bottle

One of the things that I love about this bottle is that regardless of whether you are a person who likes to sip what they are drinking (like my wife) or chug (like me), this bottle works for everyone. The strainer, which comes with the bottle, allows you to position what you are infusing in ways that do not interfere with your drinking, whether you are a sipper or a chugger. If you are a sipper, the fruit or herbs you are infusing go below the strainer. If you are a chugger, then that which you are infusing goes above the strainer. The idea is that regardless of how you choose to drink your beverages, this water bottle works for you.

H is for Herb Mill

December 12, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/sharonjacobson/shop/Cooking+Tools/Fruit+%26+Vegetable+Tools/Herb+Mill/1524

Using fresh herbs is something so many of my guests and hosts tell me they are afraid of. I can understand that to some degree. Even though we know fresh is always better than processed, we tend to not be familiar with them and so go for what we are familiar with. There is also the fear of how to properly handle them and mince them for recipes which call for them. Having the right tool is always important. I love the herb mill for a few reasons. First it enables me to mince herbs without bruising or crushing them.

Like herbs, we as human beings can be fragile at times. There are times we have to go through transformations in our own lives. However, where possible we would prefer to go through these changes in a way that did not cause us any additional harm.

The Herb Mill is a fast way to add fresh flavor to your favorite recipes. It’s a quick and safe way to mince herbs, both soft and hard. The ceramic ball in the mill gently pushes the herbs into the blades without causing them any harm. The container also has a lid which allows you to store the herbs in the refrigerator after being minced.

G is for the Grill Tool Set

December 5, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/sharonjacobson/shop/Outdoor/BBQ+Tools/Grilling+Tool+Set/2725

A friend of mine gives me a hard time about my ability to see life and spiritual lessons in just about everything. As I was thinking about our Grilling Tool Set, I thought how awesome it would be if I could store all my spiritual tools in one place. Many of them are stored within me, but others have found their home in meditation room which contains my books, music, a futon for friends and clients to sit on and my altar which contains all the things which help bring me peace and ground my environment. Yet I do not have a way to put all of them in a tote and bring them with me.

Our Grilling Tool Set allows those who enjoy grilling to tote their tools, cook, and clean up without the stress of wondering if they have all the tools they need. The set includes Grill Tongs, Grill Spatula, Grill Basting Brush, Wooden Grill Scraper, and of course the Grilling Tool Bag.

Each piece plays its own role, including the Grilling Tool Bag. When you first look at, it appears like a fairly simplistic bag. However, as you explore it you begin to see that there is a functionality to the bag that transcends carrying tools. It has five pockets to carry the grilling essentials. However, it also has a mesh pocket where you can store other things you might need, such as spices, silverware and a thermometer to check the temperature of the meet you are grilling. One of the qualities I love is that it is machine washable. During the process of grilling, the tools can get dirty and there is not always a place to wash them before having to repack them, so being able to wash the Grilling Tool Bag once you get back home is a blessing. We all need safe places to store our tools, however, it is also nice to know we can easily keep them clean.

I love each of the tools for different reasons. Each of the tools is at least 16 ¼” in length. The length helps each tool do what it is supposed to do while keeping your hands away from the heat. There are tools I have in my spiritual toolbox which have helped me turn situations, or at least my perception of them around, so I did not cause myself or others any harm.

F is for Food Chopper

November 29, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

https://www.pamperedchef.com/iceberg/com/product/2585-lg.jpg

In all honesty, this is one of the products, which in my kitchen, gets the least use. However, in several of my friends’ kitchens it gets used multiple times a day. It is because of this disparity that I wanted to spend some time with my food chopper this week and come to appreciate it in a new light

One of the qualities I appreciate about the food chopper is its transparency. The clearness of the chopper allows you to see the size and quantity of the food you are chopping. It is one of the qualities I appreciate about both the Food Chopper and its sister product the Manual Food Processor. Both allow me to see the chopping action and determine how many more times I need to use them and to see when I have achieved the desired texture and quantity. I find transparency is something I appreciate in human beings. Transparency, for me, is important in building trusting relationships as it suggests you have nothing to hide. Our food chopper allows you to see everything, no surprises.

E is for Electric Wine Opener

November 21, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

Even though I cannot drink wine anymore, much to my chagrin, I still love our Electric Wine Opener and not just because it is the easiest way to open a bottle of wine. I remember one of the first times I used it. A friend of mine who is blind was over and was asking how it worked. I told her. It was so easy for her to open the bottle of wine we were going to drink over dinner. It was the first time she had been able to open a bottle of wine without assistance and for her that moment was so empowering

My son has special needs and he loves this for other reasons. He loves watching the lights and the corkscrew go up and down. It was so much fun, he wished it could open soda bottles. LOL. I love it because I have difficulty with manual wine bottle openers. It is one of those products that is so simple to use that anyone who wants to open a bottle of wine can. It made me realize how often we miss those moments where we all get to do something which so many of us just take for granted. While not everyone may want to open a bottle of wine. Anyone who would like to should be provided with a product that would make it easy for them to do so.

What makes it so simple to use is that there is one button which operates the Electric Wine Opener. Slide it in one direction and it pulls the cork out and slide it in the other direction and it releases the cork.

Another feature I appreciate about this product is the stand, which is also the foil cutter. You begin by aligning the foil cutter over the bottle’s neck. Grasp the sides of the foil cutter with your thumb and fingers while rotating the bottle. After one or two complete rotations, remove the cutter from the bottle’s neck. After you have removed the foil, the cutter returns to being the stand for the Electric Wine Opener. This stand reminds me of my faith, it has the ability to keep me standing strong through all life’s moments. It cuts through and cuts away those things which are interfering with y growth and enhances my ability to open my bottle of internal gifts and talents (wine).

D is for Deep Covered Baker

November 15, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

I had to write about the Deep Covered Baker this week. Some of us call it The Magic Pot because what happens inside the baker when it is covered is magic. It does things like allow you to microwave a pork tenderloin in 10 minutes or a whole chicken in 30 minutes. There are entire lists of one pot meals you can make in it in 30 minutes or less and you can use it in your oven and microwave.

Because of something that happened in my life today, the Deep Covered Baker has taken on new meaning for me. It has become a symbol for me of what happens when I draw on my faith in my Higher Power. It is like magic happens. For example, how today when I was in need of an epipen, I learned there is a nationwide shortage. No pharmacy around me had one. I was going to have to delay starting a new medication. The tonight in the magic of my faith pot, the doorbell rang and a pharmacy I have never heard of nor am connected to bought me an epipen in a brown paper bag. We do not always have to understand the magic which happens in our Deep Covered Baker, we just have to appreciate the magic

C is for Chef’s Silicone Basting Brush

November 7, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

I was having a Sesame Street moment as I thought the letter for this week is C. We have so many C items it was hard to choose, but I decided to pick the C item that gets the most use in my home, the Chef’s Silicone Basting Brush.

What is interesting is that I use it less for basting then I do other things. I use it to easily spread oil on my stoneware and my metal pans. It gives me an excuse to play for a moment as I paint my pans with oil. Sometimes I take a moment to let my inner child play and paint an oil picture and then I paint over it and prepare it for whatever I am putting on it next. Other times I do use it for brushing sauces, butter or oil on whatever I am cooking at that moment. There is something about having a brush in my hand that makes me tap into my inner artist. Even if what I am painting is the slices of tofu with my Maple Bourbon sauce, I can have fun painting my “canvas”

One of the features I love most is the hook on the handle which allows the brush to rest on the side of the bowl or measuring cup that my “paint” is in. I never have to worry about it sliding into the “paint” and my having to dig it out, clean it off and pray it did not slip in again. That hook sometimes reminds me of my faith. How it is my faith that allows me to hang on to my relationship with my Higher Power and know I am going to be okay.

B is for Bamboo Tablet Stand

November 1, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

Is it stable? Will it hold my planner? How about my surface laptop? These were the questions I was asked about our Bamboo Tablet Stand. Given that I had answered several questions about this product, it made sense I should use this as my B product as I blog my way through the alphabet. This is probably one of those products, one does not think of when they think Pampered Chef, but it is one of those products we use all the time in our house. I think we have four of them, one for just about every room of the house. In the bedroom, it holds the table, kindle or book being read at the moment. In my office, it holds a variety of things ranging from my planner, whatever documents I am needing to refer to while I am working or the book I am reading for school. In the kitchen, it holds my tablet or cookbook or pages of recipes when I am cooking. For me, and for others, it is more than just a tablet stand. It is that go to which is stable and versatile. It is like that sacred writing you think of all the time and refer to in a wide diversity of situations.

One thing I love about our Bamboo Tablet Stand is that it is made of bamboo. I have always appreciated product with a low carbon footprint and bamboo is one of those products. Bamboo is durable, doesn’t absorb moisture, and it’s a natural, renewable resource. For me, it assists me in being a good steward of the resources the Universe has entrusted me with makes me feel good.

A is for Adjustable Measuring Spoon

October 25, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

It has been a few years since I was part of an A to Z writing challenge. I had the opportunity to do it again. So I thought I would write my way through products and recipes from the Pampered Chef website. As I looked at the site the “A” product that popped out at me was the Adjustable Measuring Spoon Set. Perhaps that is because I use them daily and in all honesty, probably need an additional set of them for our kitchen, as they always seem to be in the dishwasher when I need them.

There are a few things I love about their design. One is that they fit perfectly in every spice container I have. In the past, I have been frustrated by spoons that are unable to fit into some of my spice containers, but these fit perfectly. Maybe this is important to me because unlike my spoons, there have been numerous times and places where I felt like I did not fit in. As I told a friend the other day, it is as if I am a round peg in a square hole, or in this case the spoon that won’t fit in the bottle. What an awesome world it would be if we all felt like we fit in the places and spaces we most needed to be.

We live in a world that is filled with binaries, wet/dry, black/white, male/female, rich/poor, etc. So often we feel like we must fit into one category or the other. So these spoons remind me that it is okay to be a combination of both or be able to fit into both categories. Being biracial I can appreciate not being just one or the other but both. Maybe that is part of what I love about these spoons. I never have to choose what I am putting in them. I can measure wet and dry ingredients with the same spoon.

Getting Creative

October 17, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

http://www.brampton.ca/EN/Business/BEC/whatsNew/Pages/getcreative.aspx

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Last night, was a great example of this for me. I had dinner all planned in my head. I was going to make a vegan egg roll in a bowl for our dinner. Love that dish because it comes together so quickly in the 12” nonstick skillet and with the addition of Chow Mein noodles, Zoe would have the crunch she likes in meals. All was going according to plan until I started gathering ingredients.

That is when I discovered that the bag I knew was vegan sausage crumble was actually a bag of frozen raspberries. I had frozen everything in the refrigerator but sausage and time was now ticking before Zoe came home and dinner was now not going to be on the table. Not that she cares about that, but I like dinner to be ready when she gets home from work.

Help Whip Cancer

October 11, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

This is Help Whip Cancer month with Pampered Chef. However, when you are married to someone who is a cancer survivor, every month is about cancer prevention and education. When Zoe was going through chemotherapy, finding foods she would eat was the biggest challenge. Everything to her tasted like cardboard. It was so hard to get her eat anything. The greatest blessing during that time was a cookbook I found called the Cancer Fighting Kitchen. In it, the author, explained how I could make the food taste palatable for Zoe. I learned to oversalt all her food so that it no longer tasted like cardboard

Sadly, the wisdom I gained from this book is a gift I have shared numerous times with friends who are battling cancer. When a dear friend of mine was recovering from what was to be her first of several battles with cancer, I suggested to her daughter that she add acids like lemon juice and hot sauce to her mom’s food. My friend, who normally does not like hot sauce, could not get enough.

We do what we can to help our loved ones eat when their taste buds make everything taste horrible. Another friend of mine said everything tasted metallic. So I suggested her husband put peanut butter on things. He mixed peanut butter into her spaghetti and meatballs one night and she scarfed it down like crazy. Peanut butter became her best friend and they went through gallons of it, or so I am sure it seemed.

Bowls for Veggies

September 28, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

When we began this new vegan journey, I had no idea how much I would be learning and considering as I planned out our menu for the week. Not that I stick to it exactly, however, it helps me think through how much I am preparing and what I need and am I making sure we are getting enough of all the nutrients we need. There are so many processed vegan products and we have been trying where possible to avoid those. However, making our own seitan to make “chicken” patties and other faux meat products can be a bit more time consuming then our schedule allows.

The other challenge can be that Zoe and I have different palettes and love different kinds of food. Zoe loves foods that are crunchy, salty, sweet, and fried. As a friend of ours says about her husband, you can be an unhealthy vegan, especially when you are filling your diet with deep fried everything, ice cream, and foods that are loaded in pasta, pizza dough, etc. I tend to like more vegetables, especially the ones Zoe does not like, such as eggplant.

When we find something we both like we get uber excited, as that rarely happens.

FInding Our Voice

September 20, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

One of the reasons Zoe and I decided to give up animal products was that we decided to get serious about our health and working to reverse some of our health issues. Better late than never. What we have quickly learned, however, is that we fell into the trap of eating the same type of foods, just vegan style. Our quickie lunches became “chicken” patties with sweet potato fries and salad. We became quickly aware that our menu choices were become increasingly dependent on faux meats and cheeses. Yes, they were vegan but they were allowing us to be on a plant based diet with minimal eating of plants. I think there is something wrong with that

Even the recipes in the cookbook I had said I was going to cook my way through were vegan, but had minimal use of plants. Now I realize that nuts and grains and beans can be classified as plants. However, for us, we were thinking more about fruits and vegetables. So this week, we made the decision to focus on meals that were 50% fruits and vegetables and the balance could be grains and other proteins. While I may still prepare a dish or two from that cookbook, we have decided we need to make and eat things that are more plant, as we defined it, centered.

Hope & Sesame & The Zenful Kitchen

September 13, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

This week I was going to reflect on what I learned about freezing from the book I am cooking my way through, The Make Ahead Vegan, but then life happened. Three people of varying importance in my life passed over and I, once again, found myself in this state of grief. I once again found myself wondering if meditations of my heart and my work in this world was making a difference. So I did what I normally do and then the signs began to pop up as they tend to do when I need them the most. Yet despite those signs I did not feel motivated to write about food. I wasn’t really feeling motivated to even cook food this week. It was just one of those weeks where I wondered how I could make eating plant based food feel junky and comforting. I haven’t been successful at that either. The the universe heard and answered my prayers in the form of the following random Facebook message from a woman and an organization I had never heard of.

Hi, Sharon--I found your blog when I was seeking inspirational words about how food is a global language. I am one of two founders of a non-profit in Austin, Texas, that is dedicated to help refugee women use their amazing cooking skills and heritage to earn money and integrate into our community. One of the things we do is host dinners--people buy tickets to come and eat food from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc., and meet these women, etc. We're about to do one with Chefugees from Syria and Iraq, and I would love to include the passage below on the inside of our printed menus (there will be one at each guest's place).

The Make Ahead Vegan and Me

September 5, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

Normally when I get a new cookbook I start with the introduction, but I was in a hurry to get the menu planned for this past week and the grocery list done. Zoe and I picked two recipes from the section on Hearty Meals and took off running. I plugged them in the menu plan, into the grocery list and jumped into making them, never thinking twice again about the introduction, which I am reading now.

One of the things which attracted us to this book was that it looked like everyday food, which was one of the authors goals. What we decided I would make for us this week was the Rigatoni and Vegan Sausage Casserole and Pasta Chili Bake. One of the things I appreciated was that she shared information about storage times for both the refrigerator and freezer, not that ours will ever make it to the freezer. However, one of the things that I realized was that while these recipes were going to be exactly the kind of food that Zoe loves, they were not going to push or challenge me in the kitchen or help me introduce Zoe to new and different foods. Although it is going to help both of us develop a new relationship with lentils.

It’s a Family Thing

August 29, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

A few weeks ago, I shared that I was going to select a vegan cookbook and like Julie Powell, from the book Julie and Julia, cook my way through it. I was quite methodical in my approach. I looked at various lists of top vegan cookbooks, compiled my list of those that were on more than one top list, and borrowed them from the local library. I was not sure how I was going to discern which one I would choose, but I was clear I would be selecting one from the top ten list I had put together. Then life happened.

I had the opportunity to leave my home and physically go to the library by myself, something I had not been able to do in 7 years, and browse the vegan cookbooks. I found several which caught my attention for various reasons, so I came home with about 6 more books to add to my collection. Now I was faced with an even more difficult task of picking THE book I would cook my way through.

I had no idea on how I was going to pick THE book until I was reminded about how important family is. I was doing more then just cooking my way through a cookbook. I was going to be cooking for my wife and her selective palette. This was not just a me thing; this was a family thing. The decision of what book to use went from being a me thing to a family thing. Zoe and I began to go through the books together. Immediatel6y, some books were eliminated because there were not enough pictures for Zoe to imagine what these dishes were going to look like. Since we tend to eat with our eyes first, those with little to no pictures went back to the library.

If at First

August 23, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

https://createmindfully.com/vegan-garden-vegetable-cream-cheese/

This morning was my first attempt to make vegan cream cheese. Zoe has been pretty happy with my getting Tofutti from the grocery store. The last three trips, however, they have been out of Tofutti. So we have tried another brand, but it did not meet Zoe’s desire for bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, her favorite. Last night, they were out of Tofutti again, so I decided I would try to make vegan cream cheese, something I had read was pretty easy to do. Yes and no.

Last night, I did as everyone suggested, well almost everyone, and I soaked my cashews over night. This morning they were uber soft and I could tell it would be fairly easy to blend them in my blender. So I began. I followed the direction that had the highest rating which had me add 1 tsp organic apple cider, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and a pinch of salt. I was supposed to add 1 tsp of water at a time to help it blend, but I thought I would add cashew milk instead as needed.

So the first tasting with Zoe and she thought it was not creamy enough. So I had it blend several more minutes. It was creamy enough for her, but I could tell by her face it was not cream cheesy enough to please her palette. Other then it not being Tofutti, it did not taste fatty enough. So back to the cookbooks.

Cast Your Vote

August 15, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

Several years ago, well four to be exact, I was in the process of reading the book Julie and Julia. It was about Julie Powell’s efforts to cook her way through Julia Child’s book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” My goal at the time was to cook my way through the newly released cookbook by Alex Guarnaschelli. That did not go so well for a number of reasons.

This morning I was reminded it was Julia Child Birthday and it got me thinking how fun it would be to pick a Vegan cookbook and work my way through it. Unlike most people, I do not read cookbooks for the recipes. I read them for the wisdom and the spiritual lessons they offer. So now I am reviewing a list of vegan cookbooks. Not sure which one I will choose yet. If you have a recommendation from the list below, please share your comments or if you know of one I should definitely consider let me know about that cookbook as well.

Unlike Julia Powell, I am not setting a time limit, although my kitchen is not much better than the one she appeared to have in the movie. So what will I learn? Perhaps I will learn lessons about timelessness, senses, simplicity, integrity, adventure, and technique. Time will only tell.

Cookbooks under consideration are:

Peachy Keen

August 9, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

I almost missed this, but August is National Peach Month. I have always loved peaches, but now I have a greater understanding of why. Both in China and Japan the peach is associated with immortality and a long life. It is one of the “Three Blessed Fruits” in Buddhism and symbolizes longevity, so eating peaches may help me live longer.

That is just one reason I love peaches now. However, having lived in Georgia for several years, I came to love the state fruit. There is nothing like a good Georgia peach. I used to love making peach pies, but hated peeling peaches until I discovered the Pampered Chef serrated peeler, which makes peeling peaches so easy.

This week I thought I would share a few of my favorite Pampered Chef peach recipes and a few of my new favorite vegan peach recipes. Let me know which ones are your favorites.

Vegan Journey – Week Two

August 3, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

So it has been a complete week now of vegan eating and unlike my previous times of eating vegetarian, we have found ourselves going through some changes I was not anticipating. Yes, menu planning is taking more time as I realize how much of our previous meal plan was meat, cheese and egg dependent. I have also come to realize how, with my hectic schedule, I had become dependent on 30 or less minute meals. This week I have learned to slow down, breathe, and take time to think things through.

Interestingly, one day this week I was reminded to take time to do nothing. It was during that “do nothing” time that I began to gain insights into how this change was going to affect every aspect of my life. Zoe who is normally minimally engaged in meal prep and planning, has begun helping me, which is an awesome surprise. The other day she helped me grate potatoes for potato pancakes and realized just how much time I sometimes put into meal preparation.

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