I Made Over 6 Kg of Plant-Based Cheese!

The cheese I made has now been waxed, weighed and frozen.

The cheese smelled so good and tasted just as good. It is such a good feeling to know that I can provide for myself like that. When I was just a baby vegan – someone at the beginning of their vegan journey – I tried the cheeses in the grocery store and at that point, they were revolutionary. But they were also very small and very expensive. It just wasn’t possible for me to keep buying them. So to go from that to being able to eat as much cheese as I want, all year round, at little to no cost… it feels great. Truly.

And the flavour and texture really cannot compare. I won’t ever go back to eating the bland processed plant-based cheeses that the supermarkets sell for a small fortune.

I got about 3100 grams of the regular household cheese and a little bit less of the pepper jack cheese. Still over 3 kg though. But that was just because I had removed some of the cheese batter to make pepper jack cream cheese. So really, I was expecting it,

We all make mistakes

Yesterday I made a version of Shepherd’s pie, and it was great. But I was having a migraine and the migraine took over. I couldn’t eat, had to sit in the dark and go to bed early. And that meant that I missed dividing the food into my lunchboxes and freezing them. Which frankly hurt and I’m so ashamed. It was such a good dinner and I looked forward to eating the leftovers for the next few days. I also made it to make sure I used up everything I needed to use up so that nothing would go to waste. So that was disappointing.

We are human and sometimes we do mess up like that. And we don’t always have someone to pick up the slack when we do. So we deal with our mistakes as best we can. I can’t undo this mistake, and the loss and waste of food hurts. I can’t change what I did, but I can make it slightly better. I do still have my bokashi, even if it is rather full at the moment. When I get up I am going to do my best to get it open. And then… Then I will fill it up and next year… Next year I will use that fermented compost to grow more food from scratch.

I have learned from my mistake, and from here on, I will divide my meal into separate lunchboxes while I plate my dinner. That way this won’t happen again.

It is important to do better

Food waste is no joke. Food costs aren’t either. We are so incredibly good at wasting food and so inept at preserving it and appreciating it. We need to do better. It might sound weird coming from me after the mistake I just made, but I know that I do my best to reduce my waste every day. And I know that though I messed up today, I will get back up and do better tomorrow and every day after. I have no intention to quit fighting for the environment. Be it my own or the global environment.

Inventory is essential

The holidays are coming up, and while I am not that into Christmas, at least not the consumerism version, I do celebrate Yule. And while there isn’t much for me to prepare, there are indeed a few preparations that I need to get going with. Handmade gifts for one, since I don’t want to support the mass-producing industries any more than I have to. Homemade cookies and treats. Chocolate pralines. And of course the food for Yule. So to be able to make these things ahead of time, I need to make room for them in the freezer that I use.

I will be preparing most of my food and baked goods at my sister’s place when I go to stay with her for a few weeks in December. That means I need to have emptied about half of the freezer by then. I leave on the tenth, so I have roughly two weeks to get ready. I also have a few projects that I need to have finished by then.

My cookbook is about to be published, and I need to finalise the formatting and get it uploaded before I leave. I want it to be the ultimate Christmas/Yule/Hanukkah gift in 2023. For that to be possible, it needs to be up for sale online ASAP.

Yule Prep

More about my Yule prep in the next post. But I can say that I have decided to simplify things and witch things up even more this year. I want to get away from the consumerist holiday and back to the goodness, the joy, the nature and the celebration of winter solstice.

I haven’t decided what I can do charity wise this year, but I need to figure something out soon. There are too many people suffering in the world right now. By no means am I well off or free of issues myself, but it is important – essential – to share with others and do what we can for our neighbours. (Not necessarily in the literal sense, but neighbours as in our greater community).

When I was a kid, we got to pack, wrap and send gifts to children in need. We’d receive a list of items to pack ahead of time so that each child got the same things. Those gifts were then sent to children in need so that they would have something to open during the holidays. I loved that.

Last year and the year before, I tried to find a similar opportunity, but sadly, today the demands were higher than I could provide. There were only certain items allowed, certain brands, and nothing handmade. It would’ve cost more money than I had to spend.

I had hoped I could crochet or sew something for someone in need. Like people used to do. But I guess that’s not appreciated in the same way anymore. Somehow handmade things are seen as less durable, which is a little odd to me. Many of us are still wearing and using handmade creations that were made by our ancestors. Grandparents, great-grandparents and further back still. If handmade items were so fragile, how could they last so long?

I love handmade things. Like any artwork, they hold pieces of the creator’s soul, and they’re usually full of positive energy and love. What’s not to love?

How do you feel about the upcoming holidays?

Are you feeling stressed? Excited? Are you perhaps worried about the financial aspect?