Author: samanthareddy87

Special Report: Harts Flea Medicine Kills

So, like I promised, this blog will still majority of the time be devoted to vegan food and recipes, and not be over-preachy. But this issue upsets me so much that my journalism background had to come out.

A few days ago I got a new kitty because my building has a small rat problem and I’ve wanted a companion for awhile. I got her from an animal sanctuary where she was in a room full of other kittens, so it’s not surprise she had some fleas. As a broken college kid, I did not have the money to buy her expensive Advantage or Frontline. My mom warned me that cheap stuff from the grocery store does not work, but it was was all I could afford without bugging my parents for money. So I picked up some Hartz Ultra Guard One Spot for Cats and Kittens. It was only $9.99 for a 3 months supply. I put it on Penny when I got home and was curious what was in and why it was so much cheaper than vet recommended brands. Wikipedia told me methoprene, the active ingredient, is an insecticide that interrupts the life cycle of fleas eggs. But it does not actually kill adult fleas. That annoyed me because it was the adult fleas not the eggs that were causing Penny to itch and chew fur off.

Then I Googled “Hartz” and several links about lethal the products are came up. I clicked on one called Hartz Victims, a site where people post their stories on what happened to their pet when they used Hartz products. Some of them very recent. As I read, I looked down to see Penny grooming herself and panicked. I scooped her up and ran to the bathtub. I washed her neck first was baking soda and normal soap, then I scrubbed her whole body in Dawn. I felt so guilty, I chose money over her health. I was afraid I poisoned her. My new little friend, only 9-months old. As I scrubbed her, I was worried I’d have to rush her to an emergency vet in the middle of night from a grand mal seizure or something.

However, besides being annoyed at the multiple baths, she seemed perfectly fine and the product was only on for an hour. But I decided to stay in and watch her the rest of the night. I poked her every once and awhile to make sure she would response like a normal kitten, and she did. She even discovered that she can snap the string on my eye mask to wake me up, so I knew she was all right.

Penny was lucky. Although some people have used Hartz for years on multiple pets and have no adverse reactions whatsoever, I did not want to risk it on my baby. I found more website, more horror stories, and even Youtube videos. What upsets me the most is that this product is still allowed on the shelves. If this was a human product, it would have been removed and the company sued to death after the first death. But, because it is for animals, it is allowed to stay. The EPA forced them to reformulate their cat products in 2006 but not its dog product. But this did not do much good because there is still numerous reports of cat and continued dogs death well after 2006.

So, please do not use Hartz products. Your pet might be  lucky enough to be one of the ones who has no reactions, but your money goes into making more products that can potentially kill another pet. There are some risks with all chemical flea medicines, but nothing like Hartz (I read a few stories about Sergeant, another cheap grocery store brand too). Advantage can cause a reactions if improperly used, like if it is put on in the wrong place where the pet can lick it. The stories you read about Hartz happened when the owners did nothing wrong. From what I can gather, methoprene is lethal to your pet in large doses and there is way more in one single tube of Hartz than needed to kill your pet.

I asked my mom the next day if she would order me some Advantage from Petco for Penny and she agreed. I will never put cheap products on her again. I don’t believe your pet needs silk pillows and $10,000 food everyday, but if you are a responsible pet owner, you will buy quality products to ensure your pet has the best chance to live a long, happy life. I plan on keeping Penny for as long she will grace this Earth, and I promise to make her life a good one. 

DO NOT BUY HARTZ BRAND PRODUCTS AND SPREAD THE WORD!!

Links:

"Cheesy" Breadsticks and Mushroom Sauce

I had pizza night last night because I have plans for tonight (Bad Geology Movie Night for the geology club, geeky I know) but I still wanted my pizza night. When I was about what kind of pizza to make, I thought of Pizza Hut, which made me think of its breadsticks. So I decided to make some. But, a big pile of cheesy bread is not a healthy dinner, so I decided to add some more veggies to sauce to add some more nutrients. There was sale on mushrooms at the store (99 cents a pound!) so I went with a mushroom sauce with some fresh basil from patio garden.

Mushroom Sauce
1 cup button or white mushrooms, de-stemed and diced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup red wine (I used Pinot Noir)
1 can tomato sauce
Handful fresh basil, chopped
Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Wash, de-stem, and dice the mushrooms. Chop the onion and garlic too.

Heat some olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

Add the mushrooms and cook until they release most of their water.

Add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions begin soften and the mushroom water evaporates.

Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape up the stuff up from the bottom.

Add the tomato sauce and stir well.

Add the red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste.

Cook for a minutes so all the flavors come together.

Take it off the heat and add the chopped basil.

This would be lovely over pasta, but it’s an even better dipping sauce for breadsticks…

“Cheesy” Breadsticks
1 pre-made pizza dough (try mine)
Italian Seasoning
Garlic salt
Vegan mozzarella cheese (I used Daiya)

Pre-heat the oven to as high as it will go and spray a pizza pan with cooking spray.

Roll your pizza dough into a rectangle. This dough I made last week and froze.


Cut into about 1 inch strips.

Arrange the strips on the pizza pan.

Sprinkle with desired amounts of Italian seasoning and garlic salt.

Top with desired amount of mozzarella.

If you want some extra flavor and crunch, you could brush on some olive oil before you put the toppings on.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until the dough is slightly golden. I like mine on the softer side but you can bake them longer if you want more crunch.


I had my breadsticks and mushroom sauce with a side of olives for bit more salt. And of course the rest of my Pinot Noir.

Warning, this dinner may attract your new 9-month old kitty.
Meet Penny, got her from an animal sanctuary on Tuesday. 

Jack-O-Latern and Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

I love Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday. Like I said in my Halloween Taco Rice Bowl post, I am named after Elizabeth Montgomery’s character Samantha from the TV show Bewitched, so this holiday is pretty much made for me. If I could get away with it, I’d still go trick-o-treating (and don’t pretend like majority you wouldn’t too!) As fun as dressing up and getting free candy was as a kid, my favorite part was actually carving pumpkins. It was good quality time I got to spend with my family while having fun and being creative. Those are some of my most cherished childhood memories. What kid doesn’t love to get messy and throw pumpkins guts at their brother? And, there was always the delicious toasted pumpkins seeds afterwards too. I haven’t carved a pumpkin in several years sadly. Now that I am not living in the dorms anymore, I decided it was time to carve and toast seeds again.  I also decided that I would spiced up my seeds this year, ya know be a little more adult. I divided my seeds in two in order to make some savory and some sweet.

You don’t have to carve your pumpkin like I did, you can just cut it in half length wise and scoop out the seeds. But what fun is that?

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
1 large, ripe pumpkin
Oil or cooking spray
Savory Seasoning
1 tsp curry
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt  powder
Sweet Seasoning
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp ginger
1 tsp black strap molasses

Setting up to carve on my balcony. 

First thing, carve your pumpkin. Since this can be get messy, I decided to do this on my balcony. You will need two bowls, a big knife, a smaller pairing knife, a spoon or ice cream scoop, and a dish towel to wipe your hands.

Draw the desired design on your pumpkin while it’s still whole.

Cut a circle around the stem, clean off the gunk and set aside.

Ew, slimy.

Scoop out the membranes, but separate out the seeds. The little tiny ones can be discard though.

Carve the design. I am not the best artist, but I like mine cock-eyed and crooked-toothed. I named him Igor.

Meet Igor. 

Clean up the edges and put the stem back on.

Put your beautiful pumpkin on display for everyone to enjoy.

Now for the seeds….

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.

Rinse the seeds very well and get all the gunk off.

Dry them well too.

You can either oil or spray a baking sheet. Oil can give the seeds a bit more flavor but adds more calories. I just spray mine.
Spread the seeds into a single layer.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once they are lightly golden, they are done.

Combine all the savory seasonings a bowl and add the seeds while still hot. Toss together to coat.

Combine all the sweet seasonings in another bowl and add the seeds while still hot. Toss together to coat.

Now you have a lovely jack-o-latern and delicious pumpkin seeds.

But, there is more a simple pumpkin can yield. Those slimy, nasty membranes can be added to a compost pile to give nutrients to your garden (assuming you have one). The pieces you cut out can be roasted in the oven and make a tasty addition to your dinner.

Baked tofu, pesto smashed potatoes and a side of roast pumpkin

Kale Pesto Pizza

I haven’t done a pizza post in a while, just haven’t had the time. But the one I made last night was amazing. I used the Kale Pesto from my Halloween Taco Rice Bowl post as the sauce, with some caramelized onions.  And I used the always delicious Daiya cheese. I didn’t blind bake this one because I was lazy. I just made sure my oven was as hot as I could get it first. The key to a good crust is high heat and as little time in the oven as possible.

Kale Pesto Pizza
1 pizza crust (try mine)
1/2 cup kale pesto (try mine)
1/2 cup Daiya mozzarella
1/2 an onion, cut into slices and caramelized
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, chopped

Pre-heat the oven as high it will go, mine was set to 500 degrees.

Roll out and shape your pizza into a pizza pan.

Top with the pesto.

Sprinkle on the cheese.

Add the caramelized onions.

Top with the olives. I suggest buying pitted ones, it was a pain to pit these.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Once again, this a non-dairy cheese so it will not get bubble. But Daiya cheese does melt so don’t worry.

It went nicely with a glass pinot noir (thanks for the suggestion mom).

Baked Apples

I was very sad yesterday when my mom texted me to tell me Steve Jobs, one of the cofounders of Apple Inc., passed away from pancreatic cancer. I looked at the text on my iPhone, a device his company developed that revolutionized mass communications, and my heart sank. Coming from a big techie family, his life and accomplishments were well-known in my home growing up. Whether you’re a Mac or PC person, you cannot deny that he helped change the world. You might not be able to read this very post right now if it wasn’t for his vision (and because I am typing this on a Macbook). I like what my brother posted as his Facebook status, “Steve, I was hoping you would stick around for “One More thing…” ”  

In honor of Steve, I decided to make baked apples. Many factors can trigger cancer, and diet is one of them. This is one of the main reasons I became a vegan. There are so many unknowns in this world and I want to give myself the best fighting chance of living a long, healthy life and proper nutrition is a good way to do so. Keeping that in mind, I made my apples a little bit differently. I did not use any butter. If you use nice ripe apples, their own natural juices will be enough to help it brown. I also did not use white or brown sugar. Most white sugars are processed using animal bones to remove the color so they are not vegan anyways. Not to mention it lacks any nutrients. Brown sugar is just white sugar with regular molasses added, so it isn’t any better. What I did use is black strap molasses. Yes, it is a processed sugar byproduct, but it does have some important minerals like iron, manganese, copper, calcium and vitamin B6. If you are going to eat sugar, it might as well have something beneficial in it. But, just like any processed food, it should be eaten in moderation. You cannot control the future, but you can control your actions now in order to have a better future. Steve is proof that all the money in the world cannot buy you health. Do all you can to prevent cancer. 




Baked Apples

4 Granny Smith apples

1/2  cup rasins

1/2  cup dry oatmeal 
1/4 cup black strap molasses 
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger 











Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Core the apples, but make sure you leave the bottom intact. If you have an apple corer, I really suggest using it. It can be done with a pairing knife but it’s a little tricky. 

In a small bowl, combine together the remaining ingredients. 






Fill the apples with the mixture. I stuffed mine pretty well. 






Place the filled apples in a baking pan. Fill the pan with about 1/4 of an inch water. 
Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. The apples should be tender, and the filling golden and caramelized. Let them cool a bit before eating. You can also cover the pan with foil before baking if you don’t want your filling that crunchy. 
Thank You Mr. Jobs. You changed the world and taught a whole generation to “think different.”








Halloween Taco Rice Bowl

Apparently today is National Taco day. And Halloween is just around the corner. So I thought I would combine the two. But, my normal grocery store did not have vegan tortillas and I didn’t feel like driving around town to find some, so I decided to make a rice bowl instead. All the same stuff as a taco, just over rice. For the Halloween  aspect, I used orange bell peppers, black-eyed peas (wooo, scary your food has eyes!) and topped it with a slimy-looking (but actual texture far from it) green kale pesto. I made the pesto the other day so I don’t have photos, but it’s so easy they aren’t needed. This recipe makes 2, but can easily be multiplied. Black beans would be good for the Halloween theme too.

Halloween Taco Rice Bowl

Kale Pesto:
1 large bunch of kale (sorry I didn’t measure it exactly)
Handful of basil
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes (optional)
The Rest of the Stuff:

1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup black-eyed peas (I used dried and cooked them myself but canned is fine too)
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 orange bell peppers, sliced into strips
1/2 cup onion, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 medium tomato, chopped
Cilantro, chopped
Jalapeños
Or any taco toppings you wish.

To make the kale pesto, first wash the kale and basil well. You can remove the stems if you like but I left them on. Peel the garlic too.

In a blender or food processor, add the kale, basil, garlic, and pine nuts. Pulse until ground up and combined.

Add the olive oil and lemon juice. Blend until smooth.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. I also added some red pepper flakes for a little kick.

The color might be reminiscent of slime, but it’s so good. And not to mention the wonderful health benefits of kale.

For the rest of the rice bowl….

Cook the rice according to the direction. I did mine in a rice cooker. Set aside.

I soaked my beans overnight and cooked them according to the package with just a bit of salt. If using canned, rinse them well and just heat them up. Set aside.

Slice the onions and peppers into strips. Chopped the garlic.

Heat some oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook just until it softens.

Add the onions and bell peppers. Season with a bit of salt and pepper and cook until the bell peppers start to blacken a bit and onions start to caramelize.

Time to assemble. In a bowl, put a serving of rice.

Next put on some black-eyed peas.

Then the orange peppers and onions.

Now put some of that lovely green kale pesto.

Lastly, I topped mine with some cilantro and jalapeños. But sour cream, vegan cheese, olives, or any taco toppings would be wonderful too. I am trying to eat more holistic foods so I kept it simple.

The pesto is what totally makes the rice bowl. And the orange peppers are just fun.

There will be more Halloween posts to come. It’s my favorite holiday because I am named after Elizabeth Montgomery’s character Samantha on the TV show Bewithched.

Purple Sweet Potato Hash

I talked about purple sweet potatoes, or ‘uala in Hawaiian, in my Purple Sweet Potato Salad post. But I have fallen more in love with them since. They are cheap at the Hilo Farmers Market so I buy them often. My new favorite breakfast is a purple sweet potato hash. A little sweet, a little salty, and very easy to make. A hash is usually just chopped or julienned ingredients pan-fried until golden brown. Most common kind is hash browns, which usually consist of white potatoes. While I have nothing against traditional hash browns, purple sweet potatoes have more nutrients too. You might as well get more vitamins and minerals in your food if you are going to cook them in fat. 


This is the most basic way to make this hash. You can add in veggies, beans, tofu, or even top them with some vegan cheese. I had shortening left over my from birthday cupcakes so I fried them in shortening but olive oil is great too. 



Purple Sweet Potato Hash
1 cup purple sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
Red pepper flakes, to taste
1 tbs vegetable shortening
1/4  cup of water
salt and pepper to taste











Wash, peel, and dice the sweet potatoes. Mince the garlic. 





Heat the shortening in a large skillet over medium heat. 



Once the shortening is melted, add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the skillet. Cook for a minute or so, just until you can smell the garlic. Don’t let it brown or burn.





Next add the sweet potatoes. Stir to coat every piece. 





Next pour in the water and cover with the lid so the potatoes can steam. Keep it covered for 3-5 minutes until the water is mostly evaporated. 



Remove the lid and turn up the heat a little so the potatoes can brown. Cook to desired color and crunchiness. It hard to tell because of their dark color, but I like mine lightly golden. 


Remove from the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste.



This hash makes a wonderful main dish or a nice side dish. Try it with a tofu scramble and some soy bacon strips. I ate mine as is with a dash of hot sauce. I love a good Sunday morning breakfast.  










Jazzed-up Ramen Noodles

Instant ramen noodles aren’t just for college students and don’t have to be so unhealthy. I don’t buy packaged foods often, but sometimes you just need a big bowl of steaming hot broth and noodles (and  at 75 cents a pop who can argue?). Try to find brands with lower sodium and no animal products. This means no chicken, beef, or seafood flavors. Vegan means no animal products and chicken flavoring usually implies it came from a chicken, so it’s not vegan. Stick to vegetable broths, the one I used was mushroom.

But the best way to counteract the evils of packaged foods? Throw some fresh stuff in there too! This is just one of many variations I make when I want to jazz up my ramen. I also suggest tofu, spinach, carrots, radishes, cabbage, edamame, jalapeños or any combination of these. 
Jazzed-up Ramen Noodles
1 package of instant ramen soup
2 cups water (may vary based on the brand you use)
1 1/4 inch piece of ginger root, sliced finely
1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
1 bunch bok choy
Fresh basil, chopped finely
Green onion, sliced finely 
Red pepper flakes 
Cook the noodles accordion to the instructions on the package. My package said to boil  2 cups of water, add the noodles and cook for 3 minutes. 
After about a minute of cooking, I added in the ginger and garlic. 
I suggest boiling the bok choy for a minute or two first so it is less bitter. 
Once the noodle are cooked, transfer to a serving bowl. 
Add the bok choy, and top with the basil, green onions, and pepper flakes. 
Relive or continue to survive your college days with cheap, easy, and delicious bowl of jazzed -up ramen. 

Birthday Cupcakes: Kona Mocha and Tropical Coconut

Today is my birthday! I am 24 years-old today and pretty happy about it. I am not where I thought I would be at 24, and that’s a really good thing. The most important thing I have learned in my 24 short years of life is to just go with it. Life takes you places you never imagined and the best thing to do is not fight it. If you told me when I was 16 that I would be living in Hawaii pursuing a degree in geology, I doubt I would have believed you. I still don’t have it all figured out, but life is more fun with surprises 🙂 I  would have believed you if you told me I was going to become a vegan though.

I put more thought into what treat I wanted for my birthday than is probably needed because I hardly ever make sweets. It’s a real treat when I do. I searched the web, found many yummy options but none really caught my eye. I couldn’t decide between something coconut/mango-y or mocha/chocolate-y. Then I realized I could make both! But I didn’t want to end up frosting 48 cupcakes all day so I decided to make a normal 24 batch and just split the batter.

I used a box mix because, it’s just easier. But, it’s organic and does not have tons of scary chemical ingredients. I am not opposed to packaged products occasionally, but they should not be the stable of your diet. But a nice treat on your birthday is fine.

I made two cupcakes from a single box mix, Tropical Coconut and and Kona Mocha. It’s not hard to doctor-up a simple box mix with your own variations. The Tropical Coconut have pineapple-mango preserves in the batter, a pineapple-mango buttercream frosting and are topped with coconut shavings. The Kona Mocha have Kona coffee and chocolate added to the batter, chocolate buttercream frosting, and are topped with some coffee grounds. If you want to make full batches of either or both of these, just don’t split the batter and add double preserves in the pineapple mango and double the chocolate and coffee in the Kona Mochas.


By the way, Kona coffee is the only coffee that is completely grown and produced in US. Make sure it says 100% Kona coffee on the label for the real stuff.

The Cupcakes
1 box of vanilla cake mix (I used Dr. Oetker)
4 and 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer
6 tbs water
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup applesauce (I used cinnamon but plain is fine too)

Pineapple Mango Variation 
3 tbs unsweetened pineapple-mango preserves
1/4 cup soy milk
1/4 tps baking powder

Kona Mocha Variation
1/2 extra strong Kona coffee
2 ounces of dark chocolate, melted

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees and spray a cupcake tin with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, add the cake mix.

In a small bowl, whisk the Enger-G Egg replacer and water. Add to the large bowl.

Add the soy milk and applesauce to the large bowl, mix together well, making sure to get air in the batter. If you aren’t a broke college kid like me, you can do this in your stand mixer.

Now evenly divided the batter into two bowls.  I only have one cupcake tin so I had to make them one at a time.

For the Tropical Coconut, in one of the bowls add the perseveres, 1/4 cup soy milk, and baking powder. Mix together well again.

Pour the batter into the cupcake tin, filling eat 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 10-12 minutes. They are ready when a tooth inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Let them cool in the tin for bit, then remove from and let cool completely.

For the Kona Mocha, in the other bowl add the coffee and melted chocolate. I added some extra coffee grounds in for an extra kick too. Mix together well again.

Pour the batter into the cupcake tin, filling eat 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 10-12 minutes. They are ready when a tooth inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

Let them cool in the tin for bit, then remove from and let cool completely. 








The Frostings
1 box of vanilla frosting mix  (I used Dr. Oetker)
2 stick soften vegan shortening
1/4 cup soy milk
Tropical Coconut Variation
1 tbs pineapple-mango preserves
unsweetened shaved coconut
Kona Mocha Variation
2 ounces dark chocolate, melted
Kona coffee grounds
If you have stand mixer, use it. It sucked mixing this all by hand. 

In large bowl, beat together the frosting mix, shortening, and soy milk until smooth. 
Divide into two bowls.
For the Tropical Coconut,in one bowl add in the preserves and mix well. 
Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle on some shaved coconut. 

For the Kona Mocha, in the other bowl add the melted chocolate and mix well.
Frost the cupcakes, and sprinkle on some coffee grounds.
I decided to be nice (and it’s healthier for me not to eat them all anyways) and share them with the geology department. So UHH geology majors, go check the seminar room today.
I left some out for me to eat tonight of course, but one conveniently didn’t fit in the box when I was packing them up last night 🙂 Oh, the frosting is so good. And I love how moist the applesauce makes the cupcakes. Not as pretty as my mom would have made but delicious nonetheless. Happy Birthday to me indeed!  
PS, When I checked the geology seminar room at 12:30, only a few cupcakes where left. Guessing they were a hit!

Feel Better Vegetable Soup

I’ve felt kind of crummy all weekend, I think I caught a cold or something. So, I decided to make the best thing for a cold, soup! There is tons of research on the healing properties of vegetable and chicken soups—but since I am a vegan I am only going to talk about vegetable soup. Since soup is largely liquid based, it helps keep you hydrated, which is key to fighting a cold. The vegetables also can act like anti-inflammatories and help lessen congestion and soreness. The protein in the seitan also helps boost your body’s ability to fight off sickness as well. I’ll post some links at the bottom.
Besides all those wonderful health qualities, who doesn’t love a big steaming bowl of soup? That’s the main reason I decided to make this. It conjures up happy memories of my mom bringing a bowl of her homemade soup and kissing me on the forehead to make me feel better. It’s also proven that thinking of happy memories helps your immunity too (I watched a very good documentary recently called The Science of Healing with Dr. Esther Sternberg on the subject).
I guess this is based on my mom’s chicken soup recipe, just minus the chicken. It’s pretty much the standard vegetable soup recipe and it’s very easy. I wanted more of the seitan I posted yesterday, I made up another batch to add more protein to the soup. I made my own broth because it makes all the difference in the world. Plus, there is way less sodium than the stuff in the box or can. 

Vegetable and Seitan Soup
1 large onion
3 large carrots
4 stalks of celery
2 cloves of garlic
1 half inch piece of ginger
8 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 cup seitan

Peal the onion and chop off the ends. Cut into quarters. Cut the ends off the carrots and celery, cut into quarters as well. Peal the finer and chop off the ends. Peal the ginger. Throw everything into a large pot.

Add the water, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

Cover and turn on the heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for about an hour, until the veggies are tender. 

Remove the veggies. If you strain them, make sure you do not accidentally throw out the broth. Set the veggies aside to cool. Taste the broth and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Once the veggies are cooled, chop into bite size pieces. Some people discard the garlic and ginger, but I chop it up too.

Add the veggies back to the broth.

Add the seitan and turn the heat to low. Let it cook for a few minutes, just to warm everything back up.

I served mine over wild jasmine rice, but noodles would be wonderful too.

I hope I feel better tomorrow. And if not, I have plenty to soup to help me feel better.

Links on Cold Cures:
Today Show: The Truth About Six Common Cold Remedies
Mayo Clinic: Common Cold
10 Simple Ways to Cure Cold