Claire Chenault

We have an omnivorous friend who really likes Burmese stacky-uppy (yeah, that's probably a racist name, I don't know of another one for it because this is the first I've ever heard of it), and I'm trying to figure out a way to make a vegan version. I'm thinking seitan cutlets would probably be best, but how should I season the broth/the seitan? Or should I try jackfruit or something like that?

My girlfriend is Jewish, and I'm not, and I went to services with her Friday evening. She thinks she'd like to continue going, and I'd like to go along at least sometimes.

So I'd like to learn enough Hebrew to follow along with the prayers, but I don't want to convert. I don't imagine this is a request synagogues get often enough to accomodate, so are there websites I could learn this from? Would you recommend community college courses in Hebrew? Or should I just approach the rabbi and see what she recommends? (It's a Reform temple, if that makes any difference.)

Both are brand new. The earbuds are the cheap Ink'd ones, I'm not sure if that matters. When I pop the headphone jack into the iPhone's port, it won't stay all the way in (it looks like it is but I can feel it pop back out maybe a millimeter or two?), and I can't get music to play through the earbuds instead of the speakers. It's not the case, because I had the same problem when I removed the case to test it.

Did I just pick the wrong earbuds, or does it sound like there might be something wrong with my iPhone?

I'm upgrading from my dearly departed Blackberry Curve, and these two seem roughly evenly matched after a bit of research. I don't tend to use phones for videos, music or gaming, as I have other devices that do a better job with all of those -- mostly what I need is a good navigation system, ideally one that will talk to me, for when I'm driving alone around unfamiliar parts of town (they seem about even there), a good Web browser for when I need to google something while I'm out of the house, and convenient texting. I'd also like to use whatever phone I get for Square Up (https://squareup.com/) sometime in the next year or so -- I'm working on starting a tiny business with my partner, and we might wind up occasionally selling at craft fairs and the like.

I have very small hands (I think I wear about a size 6.5 ring), so I'm leaning a little toward the iPhone because it's much smaller and would be easier for me to operate one-handed. I also have a Macbook, and my partner has an iPad, and I expect the iPhone would probably play better with them. I also hear Apple has better, more consistent tech support. However, I hear texting can be difficult on the iPhone -- any thoughts?

I'm about to get new glasses, and since the bridge of my nose is very narrow I have to have nose pads for them to fit properly. I prefer plastic over metal both because I have parrots who could easily bend metal wildly out of shape, and for aesthetic reasons. I haven't been able to find anything that would work for me under about $160 for just the frames -- my options are basically my current frames: http://www.ezcontactsusa.com/gucci-1504-eyeglasses... and then most of the stock of a Danish company called Prodesign. Does anybody know if, e.g., Warby Parker will add nose pads to their frames? Any other suggestions?

My partner and I are planning on a trip to Disneyland in a month or so. She has a condition that causes chronic pain and fatigue, so we'd like to rent a wheelchair (ideally an electric model) to make getting around the park and waiting in line easier on her. Does anybody know for sure whether Disneyland will make her show a doctor's note or anything like that? We'd rather not deal with her doctors if we don't have to, as they're often less than helpful and it takes forever to get an appointment.

Short version: it looks like my partner and I are going to be regulars at a weekly potluck/social thing in our area, and whatever we bring is likely going to be the only vegan thing there, so it needs to be filling. We're also on a budget and don't really have all that much time to cook it, so it needs to be cheap and not terribly difficult to make. Plates, bowls and forks are provided, though, so it doesn't need to be finger food.

So, does anyone have any suggestions for me? Any help is much appreciated!

To be clear, I'm talking about women's suits. I'm looking to get a suit for job interviews, ideally under $300 for a matching jacket/pants/skirt set. I'm having some trouble locating suits in appropriate colors and materials (medium to dark grey or navy, and I'd love a cotton blend but if absolutely necessary I'll bite the bullet and go with lightweight wool, so long as it isn't merino), with the appropriate number of buttons (two or three), that have a notch lapel. Ann Taylor has one on sale that meets all my criteria, and that I like the look of, except for the shawl lapel, so I'm vacillating a bit on whether to bother going there and trying it on.

(I know women can generally get away with a lot more than this, but while I am female-assigned-at-birth, I frequently don't identify as a woman and thus am looking to present a bit more "vaguely andro-butch professional").

Any advice/alternate suggestions would be much appreciated!

Per the suggestion of What The **** Should I Make For Dinner?, I'm making a vegan version of these noodles sometime this week: http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/egg-noodles-with-le...

I'm just substituting fettuccine for the egg noodles, no big deal. We have a guest over who likes meals to involve more than one dish, though, so I was thinking we could marinate and fry some tofu to go with it. Only, I'm not sure what sort of marinade to use. Any suggestions?

Preferably something in charcoal grey but not too much darker -- I'd like to err on the side of conservative without unnecessarily roasting myself alive this summer. I've already looked at J. Crew (apparently all their suits are merino wool) and The Limited (while I like some of their stuff, they don't have the color I'm looking for) -- any suggestions would be much appreciated!

My family has requested hot and sour soup for dinner, so I'm looking for a quick and easy vegan fish sauce substitute -- does anybody know if the fish sauce flavor in the aforementioned sauce is vegan?

I'm working on finding the most economical sources of high-quality, cruelty-free essential oils and I noticed Vitacost has a bulk house brand. Anybody know?

I'm developing my own moisturizing cream. Most of the ingredients are food-grade, and the rest are so inert I'd be really surprised if they were ever tested on animals, but I thought I'd check with the knowledgeable folks around here. My current recipe is: aloe vera juice, extra virgin olive oil, sweet almond oil, evening primrose oil, Vitamin E oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, organic liquid soy lecithin (Mountain Rose Herbs makes it :D), cetearyl olivate (aka sorbitan olivate), and whatever essential oil I feel like adding.

Is it a marketing thing or is there a material difference in how they're made or whatever?

http://www.thekitchn.com/easy-dinner-recipe-slowco... (we use Daiya cheese -- vegan "cheese" made from arrowroot flour -- and no meat, in case it matters).

Ordinarily I'd use balsamic vinegar, but it's a Mexican recipe, and that's a distinctly Italian flavor. All that salsa tends to give me heartburn, but I've made salsa before and don't really want to put that much effort into a school-day dinner... suggestions?

I have extremely dry skin largely due to atopy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atopy), and the reasonably priced vegan skincare products I can find near me (Yes To Carrots, Yes To Cucumbers, Kiss My Face Olive & Aloe) just aren't cutting it any more. I even tried Aveeno again briefly, but that just made it worse.

I'm considering just buying a giant jug of olive oil, mixing it with aloe juice, and shoving that in a bottle to use as lotion... Do any of you improvise your own skincare products, and if so, do you have any suggestions for me?

Thanks all!

I've been using this one: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/vegan-brownies/detail...

It's delicious, but super-messy because they always come out really sticky and crumbly. What's your favorite brownie recipe?

My partner just mentioned last week that she feels better (more energetic etc) when I include dark green leafy things in our meals, so I thought I'd ask y'all for suggestions.

I can't stand kale or chard -- I've tried a million ways to cook them, and they always taste super-bitter to me -- but other than that, we're not picky about the particular variety of dark green leafy thing. I've already made vegan spinach lasagna and included spinach in salads, sandwiches, ribollita (http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/23/4074016/recipe-ri... -- try it, it's amazing), minestrone, and miso soup. What other ideas can we come up with?

Chayote's just come in season, and I'd love to get some for next week, but for various reasons they'll have to be cooked in the crockpot. We're trying to stay away from super-processed food, and we're on a budget to boot, so we're trying to minimize our use of fake meat. Does anyone have any recipes that are at least vegetarian to begin with, and could be modified to be vegan? I've googled and checked all my favorite recipe sites already, and I haven't found anything :(

Bonus points if it involves lentils, black beans, garbanzo beans, barley, rice or quinoa! Thanks much :)

Hi, everyone -- I've recently bought myself a couple of binders* from T-Kingdom, and I was wondering -- does anybody know how best to wash them? There don't seem to be any care instructions on the relevant webpages, and I can't find any on the binders themselves. I'd like them to last a good long time, but I'm not sure what to do to make that happen...

*the 1500 and the 801. Here are the product pages, if it helps:

http://www.t-kingdom.com/shopping/english/pageT150...

http://www.t-kingdom.com/shopping/english/page801_...