No Poo Yes Seitan

Man, it has been a while since I have been able to post! I am sneaking this one while LO is on the road back from her grandparents and DH is not yet home from work. I've been no-poing for almost month now, in fact, my whole family has (yay us!). Of course, there was basically no change for LO, she hasn't been exposed to shampoo long anyways and it was natural shampoo that she got to use anyways. DH's hair has been doing great too. He is pretty much in love with it and now attempts to convert everyone to it on the daily. My hair was doing great to start. I held of about 3-4 days before I washed it. The first time with baking soda only and about a week later I did it with soda and apple cider vinegar. IT FELT AWESOME! All was going well until we decided to go to a pool. Somehow the chemicals in the pool water have thrown my hair for a loop and it is in a detox process again, yuk! Note to self: why be natural and then go swim in literally a pool of chemicals, choose lake next time. I hope that it clears up soon. In the mean time it is ponytails and french braids for me!




On another note, I made Seitan for the first time. YUM. I feel more comfortable with seitan than tofu because the whole estrogen controversy. Anyone know if the health concerns are just surrounding processed soy? I have been avoiding edamame too, maybe unnecessarily. Anyways, the seitan was chorizo sausage which I used in burritos and was delious. I found the recipe in Viva Vegan by Terry Hope Romero. I highly recommend this cookbook vegan or not it is wonderful. I slightly altered the recipe so here is what I did:
1 1/2 c chicken stock (I know, it is already not vegan or vegetarian really but it was organic which is my main concern)
4 T organic ketchup
3 T olive oil
3 t red wine vinegar
6 cloves crushed garlic
1 2/3 c vital wheat gluten (I found this at dillons cause Blue Planet bought the last of it at the Natural Food Co-op)
1/4 c chickpea flour (found at the co-op)
3 T nutritional yeast (co-op)
4 t paprika
3 t oregano
2 t cumin
1 1/2 t cayene
2 t chipotle pepper
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper

1. preheat to 350.
2. mix stock, ketchup, oil, vinegar, and garlic
3. in another bowl mix all the rest together
4. pour in liquid and stir with a rubber spatula until dough leaves sides of bowl (looks kinda soupy but once it stands it thickens into a dough so don't add any flour or anything)
5. knead/mix for 3 minutes
6. let rise 10 minutes
7. separate out into six logs 6" long and 1 1/2 thick. Wrap each in foil, kinda tight, but not too tight.
8. bake 35 minutes (so says the recipe, mine needed longer)
9. Cool 40 minutes. The books says it takes best if you chill overnight and heat it the next day which is what I did. So good and made the house smell good too!!

So, now I am obsessed with Seitan. Does anyone else make it? Want to share your recipes??