Angela Marie Morton

If you are looking to simplify and streamline your kitchen routine, you may find this inventory list helpful. It has served our household well for several years, and has helped to keep costs down, even as grocery prices fluctuate.   A Capsule Kitchen: Inventory List Starches and Grains Barley  Oatmeal Pasta (whole wheat) Rice (brown and white) Beans and Legumes: I use dried, rather than canned. Making the switch from canned to dried has been a game-changer. They are super cheap, and you can cook as many or as few as you need .  Black beans Garbanzo beans Pinto beans Red beans Split peas Split red lentils Whole brown lentils Seeds Chia seeds Sesame seeds Condiments and Spreads Mustard Peanut butter Preserves Soy sauce Oils Olive oil Toasted sesame oil Vegetable oil Baking   Baking powder Baking soda Cornmeal Flour (whole wheat and all-purpose) White Sugar Spices Cinnamon Chili powder Curry powder Garlic salt Nutmeg  Nutritional yeast  Onion powder Pepper Sa...

I make this A LOT, and vary what I put in it depending on what I have on hand, or feel like using. Feel free to make this recipe as is, or use it as a template, and swap or add ingredients of your choice. One of the great things about dal is that it can be made with so many different things, so get creative! At the end of this recipe, there is a list of options to try, all of which I use regularly. Delicious Dal Ingredients  (note: I use mostly dried and frozen ingredients, as they are cheapest, but canned or fresh are fine)   1 cup dried brown lentils ½ cup dried chickpeas (or 1 can). If using dried, here's how to prep them: put them in a bowl of water in the fridge for a few hours, then rinse, drain, and bring them to a boil on the stove. Turn heat to low and simmer for about 1 ½ - 2 hours, or until tender. Either use immediately, or store in the fridge until ready to use. A handful of baby carrots, washed and chopped, or frozen carrot slices A handful of frozen kale A handf...

This recipe is based off one I found online quite some time ago, though I was unable to find it again to reference it here. I’ve made a few changes to it over the years, both to keep costs down, and to simplify and streamline it a bit. The best part? No kneading, no yeast, and no bread machine required! Supplies: 9x5 loaf pan Cooling rack Spatula Large bowl Measuring cups  Measuring spoons Ingredients:  (Dry) 2 cups whole wheat flour 2 cups all-purpose flour   3 teaspoons sugar 1 ½ teaspoons salt 8 teaspoons baking powder (Wet) ¼ cup vegetable oil 2 ¼ cup water Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 425° and grease the pan (I use vegan margarine) 2. Combine all dry ingredients into a large bowl (I sift the flour, but this is not essential) and mix. 3. Make a well in the center and add the vegetable oil and water. Stir until combined. 4. Add mixture into the greased baking pan and bake at 425° for 30 minutes. 5. After 30 minutes, rotate the pan (this helps ensure it bakes e...

Lotus Flower in Pond photo by Angela Marie Morton Integrity: 1. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles 2. the state of being whole and undivided Integrated: 1. desegregated 2. with various parts or aspects linked or coordinated For the past several years, I have been honing my craft as an artist and illustrator, and putting my work, and myself,  into the public sphere; tentatively at first, and now with more assuredness. Before I committed anything to virtual posterity, I took time to research best practices. As with many aspects of creativity, marketing, too, is subjective, and everyone has their own preference and level of comfort regarding how much they want to put on public display.  Until fairly recently, I had debated about whether or not to separate art-related content from everything else I choose to make public (interests, political views, spiritual practices, etc.). Ultimately, I opted to let the proverbial peas and mashed potatoes touch, and ...

My husband and I have this dish for dinner at least once a week, though I think it would work as a breakfast or brunch option as well. I suggest using this recipe as a template, adding or omitting vegetables of your choice. The following recipe is how I typically make it, though I change up the veggies depending on what sounds good, or what we have on hand. Vegan Potato and Tofu Scramble   Ingredients   (note: I use frozen veggies, aside from the baby carrots and potatoes, but fresh would work fine) 2-4 russet potatoes, depending on their size A handful of baby carrots, 2 regular carrots, or frozen carrot slices A handful of broccoli florets A handful of cauliflower A handful of green beans A handful of kale or spinach ¼ cup corn ¼ cup peas ⅓ block of extra firm tofu (feel free to use more if you prefer. I use ⅓ of a block so I have some left to use over the next couple of nights) Spices (all optional) Garlic salt (a pinch) Nutritional yeast (about a tablespoon) Onion powder ...

A Tiny Artist  Graphite pencil Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic at the moment, as its use and capabilities are creeping into more and more areas of all of our lives. While many industries and individuals are in favor of its growing presence, there are plenty of skeptics and warnings of caution, and artists,  in particular, are scrambling to protect their work and style from being used as fodder to train AI to be able to replicate their creations. As a result, it is becoming increasingly important and necessary to convey a sense of the person behind the art, which, ironically, is done primarily through the digital realm, in one way or another, and to varying degrees. With the introduction and, ultimately, the pervasiveness of digital art, as well as AI-generated content, hand-rendered art and illustration is getting pushed more and more into a niche. Over my long career as a bookseller, with many years spent working with children’s books, I witnessed the rise in popu...