Quick, quick!

No time for a long post today. Leo is coming in the morning, so I need to finish up my studying tonight for finals. Yuck. Can't wait until Wednesday when those are over, and I can just enjoy my time with Leo. I've been running around like crazy, just trying to get everything finished up so I can have a nice spring break.

Most of this week was spent doing homework and finishing up a giant paper for microbiology. Oh, and a take-home final for molecular epidemiology. I did have a little time to be creative with food, making a super quick and simple carrot salad, and baking a loaf of rosemary bread while I studied (bread is the perfect studying baking- you have to commit to being around for a long time, but the actual work is small).


Carrot salad:
2 cups Rainbow carrots, sliced
1/4 cup onion, sliced thin
2 teaspoons vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dill
Salt and pepper

Mix, let sit in the fridge a few hours, and enjoy.

(the bread wasn't actually this pale, that's just flash)

Rosemary peasant bread (this is for one small loaf)

1 package quick yeast
1 cup warm, filtered water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves

Mix water, yeast, sugar. Allow to sit at least 5 minutes. Mix dry ingredients, add wet to them. Allow to sit in a warm place covered with a towel for at least 1 hour. Remove from bowl, shape into loaf. Allow to sit at least 30min more on baking pan to continue rising. Preheat oven to 400 F, put a baking dish with water in the bottom rack of the oven. Hash the top of the loaf. Bake 40 min, checking at 30 min.


Besides that, I guess I wasn't in a great mood this week. Very lackluster, wasn't too happy with myself. Apologies to everyone who had to deal with me this week, including my horse. This quarter just wore me down. As it is looking next year, I may not need to take winter quarter (I would still need to take spring quarter, as there is a required class that quarter, but I have enough credits to take a quarter off), and maybe I should do that and just work. My fear would be finding a job for three months, but I am nothing if not resourceful.

On Friday I got to study at a friend's house (the first time I've ever done that at UW-it was a weekly occurrence at WU), then we went to a house party. I had a great time, it was so nice to see people. Seattle is a little lonely. I feel like I spend most of my time with my horse, who though awesome, isn't the best conversationalist.

Today I was massively productive- I rode, cleaned the whole house, studied, and applied for a job (the park ranger position). There is an aquatic wildlife specialist position that I'm hoping to knock off an application for this week, too. Other than that, I'm just getting really excited for spring break. Leo and I should have a great time, and then when he leaves I will start my garden, get to spend some quality time with my pony love, hopefully go hiking, and start my yoga class! Oh, and I think I've decided to brew my own kombucha. I was avoiding it, in fear of giving myself food poisoning, but if a microbiologist can't avoid campylobacter, who can? I've been drinking a fair amount of it, and it's just too expensive not to make my own.

Well, this is as much time as I can justify not studying, since I know I won't get a lot done after I pick Leo up tomorrow. So excited! Oh yeah, it's my birthday on Monday too, so that should be good :) I will write a post next week of my adventures. I'm going to try to remember to bring my camera when Leo and I have adventures this time. Hope everyone has a great week, I know I will (excepting finals).

That's more like it

Much better week this time around. Monday I snuck out and rode Starla. I have a new fleece butt pad for the saddle that makes it feel heavenly. I can't wait to trail ride in it!

Tuesday I had my first day as an intern at Seattle BioMed. They are insanely nice people, I think I'm really going to enjoy working there. I mainly did written research, as well as safety training for new employees. Afterwards they went ahead and showed me around the labs again. I would love to work there for the summer, but I'm going to start applying for everything now, just in case. Working next to Whole Foods is dangerous anyways- I just want to try everything they have (this week I got rolled barley to try instead of oatmeal- much better texture!).

Wednesday I managed to get my insane workload finished (Wednesdays are the day that everything is due), and came home ready to talk to Leo. Unfortunately, he got some rough news from home, and wanted the night to absorb it, which I understand. I just wish I could have been there. Instead of talking to him, I went to Zumba class, which is Spanish for "torture." Ha, it was actually a lot of fun, I'm just not in good enough not shape to do a full hour now. My left side with all it's atrophied muscles was screaming the next day.

Thursday I did get to catch up with Leo, and while we talked I started work on a portable cold frame for my garden. A cold frame is basically a tiny greenhouse, usually made with glass or plexiglass that you can put over plants (or open and close) on cold nights and days. Mine is not that long-term, but it is certainly economical. I took a really heavy-duty Costco cardboard box and cut out panels on all the sides (leaving a little cardboard connecting for stability between all panels). Then I used clear packing tape to cover all the exposed edges. I bought a dollar store clear vinyl shower curtain and taped it together, effectively making a little greenhouse. I think it should at least hold up for this year, and eventually I'll have a place of my own and it will be worth my time and money to make a real set-up.


Later Thursday my bad tummyache turned into the stomach flu, pretty strong and rapid. Actually, I don't really know what it was, as it felt like my egg allergy combined with that mysterious ulcer problem I had freshman year of college. Painful. I wasn't able to go to school on Friday, which started out as relaxing, and migrated up to boring and irritating. I'm not really meant to sit still for 24 hrs straight. I wanted to check on Starla, but as getting dressed was a struggle, I didn't think handling a 1000lb animal would be in my best interests.

Saturday I was able to eat food, and life was instantly better. My stomach was still tender, but I take what I can get. I finally got to ride Starla. We rode bitless for the first time since Sept, and I thought she did really well. There were a group of four men on the ground in the arena roping "cows" (sawhorses with plastic bull horns), and they were really impressed Starla didn't care at all about the ropes flying around. They joked that I should work with her on cattle roping, she might be a natural. I think Ms. Starla would find it beneath her considerable dignity to work with cows though. In further good news, I think her gums are getting better from the mouthwash. Turning back to normal horse-y pink.

I came home and celebrated actually being able to eat by making pasta with cherry tomato halves, black pepper, and smoked cheese. It was very yum. The picture isn't great, but it tasted awesome to someone who had been "eating" Gatorade for days.


I was going to go to a seed starting class in Woodinville, but I didn't want to try being somewhere new with a tricky stomach. I'm really excited about some of the free class opportunities. There is an herbal class next month. I have been thinking that next year I'd like to get my Master Gardener certification. It would be really great to teach people about sustainable ag and eating healthy. Honestly, I can't think of many better ways to help public health in America.

I am also really interested in the growing trend to sustainable livestock. I can't wait until I can actually handle all of Starla's care. There are some really innovative ideas for green horse care. I'm hoping to make it out to some of the Horses for Clean Water talks this year. But I'm also really interested in food animal sustainable production. I wonder how many people realize that 50% of antibiotics used in the US are used in food animals, and that is the reason we have kidney-destroying e. coli, and are facing a day in the near future where antibiotics are useless because of widespread resistance? And I wonder how many people would be outraged to find out the reasons we pump animals full of antibiotics is because we don't want to pay to feed them food they can digest, or give them space to be healthy. M. Pollan talks about how farming in the US before WWII was incredibly sustainable and healthy- farmers fed the cows and chickens the vegetable waste, and the farmers fed the veggies the animal poo. Now we've separated the processes, so we have farmers needing to put environmentally destroying phosphorous and nitrogen on plants, the run off of which gets in our water. And we have cows growing up on lots, chocked full of food they wouldn't normally eat, given antibiotics, and the poo goes into "manure ponds". And guess where the manure goes? Oh, yeah, our drinking water. Yays. No wonder the vast majority of microbiologists I've met are vegetarian. It's hard enough to get antibiotic free veggies.

So I'd like to do more studies in sustainable ag, and maybe work on human impacts of livestock zoonotic diseases and impacts of antibiotics. I wonder if anyone would take me seriously as a vegetarian in that line of work? People are so freaked out about the "Vegan Agenda", the secret plan to make everyone in the US give up meat. I haven't been told about this plan yet, but I still drink milk, so maybe I'm not a high enough level vegan to be in on the plans. Honestly, they need my help, as I think only 2% or something of the population is vegan. Slowest. Takeover. Ever.

Leo comes in one week. I'm so excited! Ready to celebrate the end of the quarter with my fella. I'm going to have lots of fun with him, and then Spring break will mainly be for working on my internship, riding Starla, and trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I have another quarter ahead of me before summer. I miss semesters.

I still have Sunday left of the weekend, but I think it's mainly going to be pony, lots of homework, and cleaning. I mostly feel like I have a handle on things for this week and next, but we'll see. Things have a way of going south quickly. Oh well, a week from Wednesday I'm done with this quarter, and get to do my favorite things with Leo. I'm picturing a week of movies, Indian food, arcades, oh, and my birthday! I get to take a painting class from my folks as a present. I'm so very excited to take it. I can't wait until I have some time to paint this summer. I feel like I have some good ideas I haven't had time to put into action. God willing, I'll get to take art class this summer.

Well, this post has mainly become a bunch of rambling, which is a good sign sickie needs to go to bed. I'll try to update before Leo comes, depending on how far along I am in on Operation Get-the-apartment-clean-study-for-all-my-finals-before-Leo-gets-here-and-turn-in-everything-due-this-last-week-of-school. We'll see.

Never enough hours in the day

Tuesday this week I got to experience the joys of walking a mile to and from work in the snow, uphill both ways. I exaggerate not. I had an interview at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute to become an unpaid intern. The lab is located in downtown Seattle, and has a pretty view of the Space Needle. They are a nonprofit focusing on infectious diseases, specifically HIV, TB, Malaria, and AfricanTriptosomes (probably misspelled this, but think Sleeping Sickness). It is a really cool place. I'd love to be working there right now (for pay, hah).

I got the position, and while unpaid, it will look good on a resume, and the woman I'm working under at least understands that 120 hrs of unpaid servitude from a graduate student is a good deal. She's really nice, and is trying to get me the most out of the project as possible. She asked why I'm getting a degree in Public Health when it doesn't seem to match any of my career goals or interests. Good question. Since this is only about the 30th time I've been asked that I don't even feel embarrassed anymore explaining that I really had no idea what I wanted when I graduated from college, and if I could redo things I would have taken a year to earn money, get healthy, and apply to programs that actually interest me.

It's something I've been thinking about a lot. UW was one of the worst decisions of my life in terms of personal health and growth, but if a year of grad school is the worst thing I've done I guess I'm not doing badly. I just have no interest in most of my classes (though to be fair, that is probably because they are taught horribly). I spend a fair amount of time daydreaming, fantasizing about the life I'd rather being living, and scheming on how much school I can skip and still get good grades. I'm not proud to be the queen of apathy, I'm just tired and miserable if I actually stop and think about why I'm getting a degree I don't want. I guess I'm far enough in that I should keep going, at least til they run out of money. I tell every single person I know in college that when all your professors and counselors say they should put a mandatory year off between undergrad and grad they really know what they are talking about. The average age in my program is probably 26-28, for a reason.

I just try never to think about it. I wish I had gone to school for completely different things, but I'm so worn out I don't see myself going back to school to get the degree I actually want. I could leave this program, but I'm half done at this point. Once I have the degree there is no rule saying I have to work in the field in which I got my masters. I keep telling myself it will be very worth it to be 24 and have my masters, but boy, do I wish I'd gone to one of the one-year programs!

It's not that I hate learning, I just want to learn things I'm interested in! This summer if I can afford it (I am hoping to be able to work about 50 hrs a week, I'm so poor) I want to take some classes for fun at the community college. That will be really cool. I can't wait until I graduate and can have a little money and time to take all the classes I've wanted to take the last 5 years but haven't been able to since I was on such an aggressive "pre-health" tract.

Anyways, Wednesday I just did school and lab from 7am until 11pm. I did get to talk to Leo for an hour, so that was a lovely break. We talked about the crazy politics going on right now in DC. Thursday with the snow I drove out to Starla to make sure she had water and everything, but I had a midterm Friday, so I couldn't ride her. She stood at the gate calling for me and looking confused about why I wasn't taking her out to play when I left. It was really upsetting, but hopefully school will get less shitty sooner or later and I can actually spend time with my baby. Luckily, Leo texted not long after I left her and told me he bought tickets to come out here for a week during my birthday. Perfect timing and perfect birthday present!

Friday I took my midterm, worked in the lab, and did my normal school work thing from 7am-7pm with breaks for classes. I got to meet up with my friend Lacey from college at 8pm downtown, and grabbed Gabby too. It ended up being myself, Lacey, Hilary (another friend from college who will be here for grad school starting next month), and Gabby. It was really nice to see Lacey, who has been living the dream since graduation. She's been working on a ranch in Colorado (more like a summer camp for kids than a working ranch), as a horse wrangler and outdoors guide. It sounds like so much fun. It was nice to see her so happy (lol, everyone spent 10 minutes talking about how great life without school is, and how it's so nice to to do work until late hours in the evening and to only work 40-50 hrs a week and be able to do your own thing- I was pretty jealous. Gabby and Lacey are thinking of applying to grad school next year, Hilary just took the first two quarters off, which still seems like a great break).

Saturday I got up, went to the gym, rode my horse for a short while (it was 27 degrees outside- I couldn't feel my feet), then I did homework from afternoon on. There was huge drama over potential snow, so I had to go stay on a friend's house in Snohomish so I could be there in the morning for the big annual 4H tack sale. It was really nice of her to pick me up, and let me stay at her house. The only bummer was I didn't get to ride Starla today because I was dependent on someone else for getting around. Steph was sweet enough to let me check on her and give all her supplements, but I couldn't ask her to hang out while I rode, especially since it was 36 F outside! I won't get to ride Tuesday because of my new internship. I'm going to see if I can't skip school this week so I can go see her.

Now, for the awesome- the 4H tack sale. It is truly epic. Anyone can consign anything to it, and they get approximately 300,000 items. It was in the 58,000 sq ft arena, and it was huge. I got so many great deals on things I needed (except winter blankets-people are delusional about how much a used blanket is worth), but mainly the social aspect was the very best. I got to see my trainer from high school, friends from high school riding, people from my current barn, people I vaguely remembered from showing years ago. I love the social aspect of riding. I got some bridles I'm going to take before and after pics later when I clean them up. Adding to the satisfaction of a huge haul is the knowledge I didn't really spend any money. I sold a saddle and halter at the sale (at $50 more than I paid for them), and even with commission I made back what I bought. Boo-yah!

My loot!

On the food front, my beans are mutants. I started them way too early. I'm going to be overrun in about a month. It won't be too terrible- I should be getting beans in May, then I can sow more for later in the summer. Who knew those things were so fast acting! My tomatoes have all popped up, and I'm trying to give them enough light until they need to be transplanted. My swiss chard has also popped, and the little leaves are the bright colors they will be when full grown.

Tiny tomato babies.

Giant week old bush bean starts!

For eating the eating front, this week I've been eating tons of steamed veggies with fantastic black rice I found at Whole Foods (best place in the world, and two blocks from my new internship at SBRI). It makes a pretty meal, and I just don't get tired of it very quickly.

Forbidden rice with steamed lemon pepper veggies. Yum!

I should wrap this up, so I can get back to work. I've got the next couple weeks planned to the hour. It's going to be worth it though, because two weeks from now, Leo gets here for a full week! And two and a half weeks from now, I'll be completely done with this quarter, able to visit with my boy in peace, and have a break to focus on horse, garden, and internship hours. I can't wait!

Cheep, Cheap

This isn't directly related to my normal blog, but I wanted to share a excerpt of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma about chickens. He states politely the horrors of the cage kept chicken industry, something I think few people understand. I love that people are starting to pay more attention, and that inner city chickens are becoming popular. I believe chickens face some of the worst conditions of any domestic livestock, and I can't stress how much it's worth that extra dollar to buy cage-free, vegetarian fed eggs.

"...the American laying hen, who spends her brief span of days piled together with a half-dozen other hens in a wire cage the floor of which four pages of this book could carpet wall to wall. Every natural instinct of this hen is thwarted, leading to a range of behavioral "vices" that can include cannibalizing her cage mates and rubbing her breast against the wire mesh until it is completely bald and bleeding. (This is the chief reason broilers get a pass on caged life; to scar so much high-value breast meat would be bad business.) Pain? Suffering? Madness? The operative suspension of disbelief depends on the acceptance of more neutral descriptors, such as "vices" and "stereotypes" and "stress." But whatever you want to call what goes on in those cages, the 10 percent or so of hens that can't endure it and simply die is built into the cost of production. And when the output of the survivors begins to ebb, the hens will be "force-molted"-- starved of food and water and light for several days in order to stimulate a final bout of egg laying before their life's work is done.

I know, simply reciting these facts, most of which are drawn from poultry trade magazines, makes me sound like one of the animal people, doesn't it? I don't mean to (remember, I got into this vegetarian deal assuming I could go on eating eggs), but this is what can happen to you when... you look. And what you see when you look is the cruelty--and the blindness to cruelty--required to produce eggs that can be sold for seventy-nine cents a dozen."

I'm back again. That book is pretty intense, and there are parts that I applaud, and those I disagree with, but Pollan fully investigates the morals of the American food system. It has been a year since I've bought eggs in the store, but if I needed to, I would make certain they were from a cruelty free situation. There is just no way to justify the way we treat animals in industry to satisfy America's gluttonous need for cheap food.

Sunshine on my shoulders

It feels so much like spring right now! Sunshine and blue skies, my horse is starting to shed her winter coat, and I've got plant starts on my windowsill. Day two of the long weekend, and I feel like being lazy and luxurious, rather than doing the huge amounts of schoolwork I have for this week.

Yesterday I got to ride in the sunshine, and made my first attempt at correcting Starla's gingivitis. I bought mouthwash, put it on a washcloth, and held it to her gums, hoping for some antimicrobial action. I was also a little afraid of losing my fingers. Luckily, though she objected to having a hand in her mouth, she liked the minty-fresh Crest. She kept licking the washcloth.

I drove up to my folks place after, for a lazy night with the family. Leo and I caught up that evening. I've really been missing him- it's been a month and a half since the last time I saw him. Maybe it's the pretty weather. I want someone to share it with besides Miss Starla!

My parent's backyard in the sunshine.

Mr. B doesn't like the camera.


Miss Nellie is unconcerned by flash.

I utilized my parent's well stocked kitchen to make kale chips. I just heated the oven to 350 F, seasoned kale leaves with salt and olive oil, and baked for 10 min. I liked them, but I think I'd want to season with something with a stronger flavor next time. Maybe sea salt and lemon juice? I also got the idea for tea-infused vodka, to make an alcoholic Arnold Palmer. It seems really easy (just steep loose-leaf tea in vodka for a few hours), and I think that would be a great summer cocktail. I'll try it when it's warm enough to sit outside!

Kale chips!

My beans have started sprouting :) Success! Now I just need to see if any of the other veggies follows along. I'll post pictures when I get a little more impressive growth. I also went ahead and planted some marigold seeds. I learned at Nunhems that they help keep the pests away (though there is debate over the mechanism of how they do this), and so I thought I'd grow some to plant around the tomatoes.

Baby bush bean.

My friend Shonda came over on Sunday evening and we had a movie night, which was some of the most fun I've had this quarter. We ate pizza, junk food, and watched the BBC's Emma. We will hopefully be able to squeeze something like that in once a month.

Monday I had the day off, but besides riding Starla I put in about 10hrs of homework. The rest of my week was a mess of running around and ups and downs, but I'll talk about that in my next entry. I'm finishing this entry almost a week after starting it! I've been pretty busy. Hopefully just three more weeks of burning the candle at both ends...then I can go on to my even more difficult and time consuming Spring quarter.

Planting in hopes of spring

I can't wait for the weather to warm up. As we are expecting snow this weekend, I might have to be patient a little longer, but I got to start my garden inside yesterday, so now at least I have reminders that one day it will get above the 40's outside.

I'm hoping to make a deck garden on my apartment porch, as well as taking my friend Angela up on a generous offer to share her backyard garden. She only lives a couple blocks from me, so we'll be able to share her backyard plot. I'm excited for when we start prepping it in March. Her soil is heavily sand, so we'll mix topsoil and pony poo in to make a more rich environment. Luckily, I have the connections needed for free horse manure, so we won't lack for fertilizer!

We are also starting different plants right now, in hopes that we'll both get hardy starts, and we can mix and match, share our bounty. I'm really hopeful that we'll get a good enough harvest to feel like our efforts were worthwhile. No more repeats of last summer please- I still feel damp remembering the constant rain storms and wearing sweaters through June.

So, now what I'm growing:


Heirloom tomatoes: The most delicious of all tomatoes, I bought a variety pack and started a bunch inside yesterday. The hopes is that I'll get lots of starts that I can save for myself, Angela, my dad, and my grandma, then we can share our varieties this summer. This is my first time growing tomatoes from seed, so I'm hoping it works. I have always bought starts at the farmer's markets later in the spring, but I figure I'll still have time if this experiment fails.


Rainbow carrots: These are also heirloom varieties, including red, orange, yellow, white, and purple carrots. When I worked at Nunhems I learned that orange carrots were developed from other varieties in honor of the king of Denmark (royal color is orange) and they became so popular that they became the main variety. At Nunhems they would do food competitions with the different colored carrots- I heard about a multi-layered carrot cake with each layer using a different variety of carrot. I wish I had seen it! My carrots will be sown directly outside in about a month.


Rainbow chard: At this point you can probably tell I like color. Swiss Chard is pretty easy to grow, and it is so good for you. You can use young leaves in salad, and saute up the adult plant for deliciousness. I went ahead and started these inside for fun, even though I could sow them directly when I plant the carrots. I got a little carried away yesterday.


Tricolor beans: I planted yellow wax bush beans, blue lake bush beans, and burgundy bush beans. As well as sharing my plants with others, I feel these will do well on a deck garden, since they grow up on trellises.



Hot pepper varieties: I was going for a lot of color, and feeling nostalgic for Nunhems. I don't know that peppers will do very well here, but I'll try to do tricks like black tarps on the tops of soil to trap heat. These delicate fellows can't go outside until May.

Green onions: These are easy, and I'm just going to plant them around the borders of pots that will have other plants in them. Or give them their own herb pots. I went ahead and started them inside, because I have no self control.

Cucumbers: I got a long trellis climbing variety. These will get planted when it warms up much more, but hopefully will do well for my deck garden.

I was given a little corn seed leftover from last year, so I might see if those can grow at Angela's place. She's growing onions, garlic, broccoli, a couple different lettuces, chives (which I plan on stealing when I have my set up going), and several other things. I'll also be growing herbs. From last year I have a thriving rosemary plant and parsley, but I think I'll buy the others as starts from Molbak's or the farmer's market when it warms up a bit.

I'm brainstorming cheap containers for my deck garden. I have room trash cans I have used in the past for tomatoes, and many small pots for the herbs I grow. I think I'll cut the tops of milk jugs for little herb pots, and see if I can't find cheap plastic bins at the thrift store. Using these sorts of containers is just so much cheaper than growing in actual pots. It's also nice because they weigh less typically than pots, so easier for me to move around.

I have my little greenhouse starter system in front of my kitchen window. I'm hoping to see some little green tendrils poking up in a week or two. Then over spring break we can start prepping Angela's set up, and I can prep my deck containers for transplanting later in the spring. I'm just so excited, I can't wait for summer!

A return to the kitchen!

Oh kitchen, I've missed you so. You've been sorely neglected while I do other things, like school and lab work and study group. Basically, school has killed my culinary genius. I didn't do anything too impressive this week, but it felt good to eat fresh and healthy, and not need to microwave any part of my dinner. I made my own bastardized version of Egyptian Red Lentil soup, and apple wheat bread. YUM.

Egyptian Red Lentil Soup
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
1-2 carrots, diced
1 cup red lentils
1/2 cup white wine
4 cups water or veggie stock
1 tbsp tumeric
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/8 tsp cumin seeds
Lemon to taste (I add a lot- 1 tbsp lemon juice)
Salt and pepper to taste
This recipe is not authentic (made up by me, based upon authentic food), and many ingredients can be switched out and changed. If you don't have wine, replace with water and saute onions and garlic in a little oil.

Put wine, onions, and garlic on medium heat. Let simmer for five minutes, add lentils, veggie stock, carrots. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes, before adding herbs and tomatoes. At this point I lose track of how long I leave it on, but I feel like the whole thing is ready as soon as the carrots are soft, and it is a very fast soup to make. Add the lemon juice when you turn off the heat, right before you serve. It should add a little tang, but not make the food taste lemon-y.

Yum. I've been eating it all week, and I'm still not sick of it. Maybe I'll make more tomorrow.

Vegan Apple Wheat Bread
1 packet dry yeast

1 2/3 c warm water

1/2 c shredded apple
1/5 c molasses
1/5 c brown sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 c wheat flour
1/4 c rolled oats
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, cloves, allspice- basically anything that goes with apple)
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix water and yeast, set aside. Mix dry ingredients, add yeast/water, stirr, add molasses and apple. Stir, pour into greased loaf pan, cover with greased plastic wrap and a cloth, and allow to sit in a warm area for an hour, or until it doubles in size. Bake for 40 minutes, checking as oven temps vary. I ate mine with margarine and a sprinkle of brown sugar. I thought it was not at all bad for a made up vegan recipe, which are notoriously tricky.