It's good to be home! (+ rambling)

I celebrated my return to the Cities with a trip to Holy Land Deli with Ann and Michelle, who both picked me up from the airport! (Ann drove, but Michelle tagged along for an A/C hit -- they don't have air conditioning in their apartment, and neither do I for that matter, but it's been in the nineties for days now and they both looked miserable.) We ordered the "Vegetarian Shiek's Dinner for Two," which was more than enough food for the three of us with leftovers! Here's what was on the giant platter:

pita
hummus
tabouli
spanakopita
stuffed grape leaves
saffron Basmati rice
lightly breaded/fried cauliflower
falafel
three different sauces: cucumber, tahini, and hot sauce

AND THEN, the dinner also included Arabian tea and baklava for dessert. All for twenty bucks. I kid you not. The three of us ate ourselves sick for twenty bucks, plus leftovers. That place is just incredible.

Oh, it felt so good to eat lots and lots and lots of really yummy veggie food! (And it was all vegan, as far as I could taste/tell, except for the cucumber sauce, which was obviously made with yogurt.) Yes, even their spanakopita is cheese-free -- it's just loaded with tons of spinach, onions, and vinegar to make it extra-tasty! (And their spanakopita comes in a bread-like pocket, instead of in phyllo.) My tummy's happy, happy, happy to be home.

(Disclaimer: my parents actually were very generous and accomodating, it was just that we ate out quite a few times during the weekend, which is always a bit tough, especially following a week of lots of eating out.) Tonight will be the last time, if I have any say in the matter, that I eat out until Saturday, when we all go out to celebrate my BIRTHDAY!! (My birthday happens to be tomorrow, however.) :)

In other news, it is hotter 'n heck right now -- high nineties during the day, low seventies at night. My apartment is like an oven -- even the hardwood floors are hot! I have all the windows open and fans everywhere attempting to pull the cooler evening air inside.

I'm trying to see if I can live without the air conditioner, because it quintuples my power bill when I run it, and because I think it might be a waste of energy, when we really don't have that much miserable heat here. I'm going to see how long I can suffer through it!

Speaking of electricity, my first WindSource power bill came, and it only raised my entire bill by 26 cents. (I don't use much electricity to begin with, however -- my average bill is somewhere between ten and thirteen dollars.) It was a well-worth Earth Day adventure!

Speaking of Earth Day, I have been failing lately on my resolution of air-drying laundry. See, the family I nanny for has offered me the use of their washer and dryer for free, as long as I don't "get in the way" of the family laundry. Free laundry is pretty hard to turn down, and it could pose quite a challenge to wash my clothes at their house and then bundle them up wet to hang dry at home! So I've been tossing them in the dryer. I'm thinking of taking sheets/towels over there, but doing clothes at home. (I just need the willpower to turn down the free laundry!)

Segue,

I have been flattered by the chatter I've read around about my upcoming cookbook! I'm happy to have more recipe testers volunteer, although I don't have anything to give you at this time. (If anyone who has some of my recipes wants to hand one over to someone else, let me know -- I've got at least three more people queued up!)

Another segue,

I just finished reading David Sedaris's "Me Talk Pretty One Day," which I borrowed from Michelle. (Thanks, 'stache lady!) I am currently without a novel! I do have an issue of the Rake to read, plus the City Pages and Pulse, but I will need to go to the library SOON! And yes, the brand-spankin' new library is finally open! Perhaps I will run over there one day this weekend. Novels and cookbooks galore, oh my!

Another segue,

It's just so stinking hot. Boo.

yukkity yukkity yukkity!

We ate at "Old Country Buffet" with my grandparents today for lunch. It was pretty freaky. (Skirting a bunch of severely overweight people while trying to find vegan options was pretty interesting.) I stuck to the salad bar, which was actually okay, (they had chickpeas and sunflower seeds, and oil and vinegar as a dressing choice,) and also had some terribly overcooked white pasta with a basic red marinara.

I just hate chain restaurants.

Moo.

Greetings from America's Dairyland!

I have been in Wisconsin less than two full days, and have had two servings of cheese already! Spanakopita for dinner last night and Brie at the wedding shower today. Both were tasty, but I have to tell you, I felt really icky last night after all that feta. I'm better now -- I had an easy breakfast and dinner today, (hooray for Amy's cheeseless pizza!) had a reasonably okay time at the wedding shower, (I hate wedding showers as a general rule, but there were no stupid games and it was good to see Anna!) had fun visiting Jess and Dan and baby Aramae, and am now considering having a small piece of the birthday carrot cake with cream cheese frosting my mom made for me.

My tummy may never recover! Just goes to show that my idea of eating very little dairy is a good one. :)

vroom vroom

I'm "leavin' on a jet plane" this afternoon to spend the weekend in glorious Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (I have a high school friend's wedding shower to attend Saturday, and am also planning on visiting my friends Jess and Dan who recently had baby Aramae, and my parents and I will spend "quality time" with the grandparents on Sunday!)

Wish me luck dining in the land of brats and cheese. :)

I feel like a lazy bum flying to Milwaukee, but it's only a little bit more expensive than driving my gas guzzler all the way there, and since my transmission has been acting up, it seems much safer to me, too! (No possibility of being stranded by the side of I-94 in The Middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin.) Plus, cutting the travel time down to an hour (from 5 1/2 hours,) is a treat! (Well, it's more like three hours once you consider arriving at the airport early, the flight itself, and picking up my giant green suitcase.)

Hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekends! Eat lots of yummy picnic food!

a post just for Lauren

Here's a stinky update:

I like the Tom's deodorant! I'm not stinky, which is nice. Slightly damp, but odor-free. :) Not sure if this is the best thing or not, but it sure beats aluminum-based yukkiness that doesn't quite work anyway!

I have also been enjoying an aluminum-free deodorant by Adidas (Absorbent-Deo), but it's not perfect, either. Dove hasn't been working lately, and Certain-Dri has failed me horribly!

I have a buffet of underarm protection in my medicine cabinet right now.

I think I should go to bed -- Little Girl, Little Boy, and I spent the afternoon at the zoo, and I'm tired. Really tired. (The tigers were swimming when we were watching them, which was very sweet. This is not a "sad zoo," although we have one of those in MN, too.) So tired that posting about deodorant seems interesting to me right now! Sheesh.

recipe testing thank-you!

Hello everyone! I've been popping around to everyone else's blogs as usual, and received very awesome emails from those that volunteered to test recipes for me, and everyone's been so great. Thank you all! Just wanted you to know how much I appreciate your help:

I can test and test and test recipes until I'm blue in the face, but it is helping SO much having other people test them out for me. Why? Because they are my recipes, and I know how they are supposed to look and taste in the end, and also because I can be a bit snobbish (!!!) about my food and like things just the way I like them, and it's good to know other people like things that way, too! Every little piece of advice helps, and I'm so glad to hear what parts of recipes have been too complicated or confusing, or need more explanation. (i.e., how to peel a frozen banana! Thanks Leslie!) I really want this cookbook to be great, and the help of my testers will prove to be invaluable!

As a side note, and I'm sure as Dreena can attest to, food is expensive and testing recipes over and over again can become a bit costly. I hate to waste food, and since I'm only one person, I can only eat so much before I'm sick of something! (Fortunately, most of my recipes make a small number of servings, so that part isn't quite so horrible.) Also, I can only pawn so much food off on my friends. :) Although they are usually happy to partake -- Tony test-drove a brownie for me last night and said it was "a little strange, but really good." (Whole wheat pastry flour was the "strange," I think.) Having a few folks here and there help out has been awesome, again!

And many of you have asked how/why I chose recipes for you -- I tried to think of the things you blogged about often and offer you foods you'd enjoy/foods that would fit into your personality/lifestyle. (For example, Vicki and Kai both got some fun dip recipes because they both have kids, and kids like to dip things.) Hope I made decent choices!

Note: I haven't sent out any dessert recipes yet, because they are all still in the planning stages. Those will come in another month or so . . . watch out for the sugar!

And now, I must hurry off and get ready for work before I'm late! Sheesh.

Midweek Munchies

Question of the week: if you could cook with one famous chef, (dead or alive,) who would it be and why?

Here's my shopping (very little produce since I'm headed out of town this weekend, but I wanted to stock up on the "regular" stuff so next week wasn't such a shock!):

BREAD
1 loaf Great Harvest Bread Co. Country Wheat Bread

BULK
just under a pound of Peace Coffee Sumatra City blend (Fair Trade and organic)
just under three pounds of organic natural granulated sugar
organic flame raisins
sulphured dried apricots
dried cherries

FROZEN
1 box mint chocolate chip Tofutti Cuties
10 ounces organic blueberries
10 ounces organic strawberries
10 ounces organic raspberries
10 ounces organic peaches
10 ounces organic in-pod edamame
LightLife faux breakfast sausage

PACKAGED GROCERY
15 oz organic chickpeas
15 oz organic black beans
15 oz organic cannellini beans
8 ounces buckwheat soba noodles
16 ounces honey (from Canon Falls, MN! I love buying local products!)
Barbara's Bakery Shredded Spoonfuls cereal
Ka-Me Hoisin sauce
Westbrae naturals vegetarian fruit-sweetened ketchup
East Wind smooth peanut butter with salt
Sunbutter
Mori-Nu soft silken tofu
4-pack Seventh Generation TP
Seventh Generation lavender dish soap
Pet Promise cat food

PERSONAL CARE
Tom's of Maine peppermint gel toothpaste
Tom's of Maine lavender deodorant (something to try . . . anyone have any opinions about this product?)
Burt's Bees Garden Tomato toner
4-pack Preserve razors (the handles are recyclable . . . but #5 plastic, which I don't believe we can recycle 'round here! Bummer. At least there's less packaging than the Venus ones I've been using!)

PRODUCE
three organic bananas
two organic valencia oranges
one organic Asian pear

REFRIGERATED GROCERY
12 ounce tub Earth Balance whipped organic buttery spread (switching to this kind for the summer -- countertop margarine gets melty!)
16 ounces Earth Balance buttery sticks (been doing a lot of baking lately and ran out!)
sprouted corn tortillas
House organic firm tofu
Organic Valley plain soymilk
Holy Land Deli hummus (8 ounces)

I have to talk with someone at my co-op and ask them to please start stocking Bionaturae brand whole wheat fettuccine! They never have it. :(

Visit Harmonia for more info on Midweek Munchies.

"plus one"

Ha! I just had the best evening last night, but I have a funny story to tell you about it!

I went to see my friend/former coworker Dan play drums last night -- he's a member of the (rather famous, especially if you listen to the Current!) local band called Cloud Cult (see the link over on the right . . . scroll down!) and I hadn't seen them play in ages! It was very fun -- saw Kid Dakota open, and then Cloud Cult always puts on a fun, trippy-dippy show. (Their painters were present this time, which was neat!) Dan was kind enough to put me on "the list," (I'd never been on "the list" before,) with a "plus one," because Michelle was going to come with me. Michelle wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I went to the show by myself. (This is an accomplishment -- I don't usually do that, but since the show was in Dinkytown, which is a very safe neighborhood near the U of M campus, I decided to suck it up. Glad that I did!) When I walked in the door, I handed the guy my ID and said, "I think I'm on the list." He found me and then said, "your plus one?" I said, "I have no plus one -- it's just me." He shot me a funny look; I said, "well, my plus one is sick." He said, "oh -- okay -- head on in."

Never thought I'd get crap from the door guy for NOT having a plus one! Sheesh.

The moral of the story? If I ever write a second cookbook, it might be titled, "Plus One: Healthy Cooking for Parties of Two."

Speaking of the cookbook, I'm going to work on it for a couple of hours now, and those that volunteered to test recipes, beware -- you may get an email today!

I have a choir concert tonight at the church -- we are performing the Minnesota premire of Karl Jenkins's "The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace." If you are in the area and bored, come on over to Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church for a FREE concert at 7:30 p.m! It should be a neat show -- organ, piano, brass, woodwinds, percussion, and lots of singing. :) It's a neat, somewhat unsettling, but ultimately hopeful piece . . . hope to see you there!

workshop!

I just signed up for a workshop titled "Selling and Publishing Your Book" at the Loft! (The workshop itself isn't until July -- that's a long time to wait!) Regardless, I feel like I'm making some headway! Perhaps this will give me the push I need to keep working on the manuscript?

cookbooks

Just because I don't have any VEGAN cookbooks doesn't mean I don't have any COOKBOOKS! :)

Here's what I have:

The Ultimate A-Z Bar Guide (Sharon Tyler Herbst & Ron Herbst): a great book to learn about alcohol. I hardly ever drink, but when I do, I want to know what's in it!

The Laptop Lunch User's Guide (Amy Hemmert & Tammy Pelstring): there are some neat recipes in this teeny little book that came with my Laptop Lunchbox!

The Christmas Cookie Book (Lou Siebert Pappas): this book was given to me as a gift and I've never cooked anything out of it . . . but it's very, very pretty, and has many "old school" Christmas cookie recipes in it like springerle and peppernuts, which I might enjoy making . . . someday!

Betty Crocker's New Cookbook: I grew up cooking from an earlier version of this cookbook, and still prefer it to "Joy of Cooking." Many recipes are not vegan, but easily veganized -- I've pulled muffin, piecrust, and pancake recipes from here with great success! There are also some awesome recipes in the beans and legumes section, and handy charts for cooking times for dried legumes.

The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking (Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker): where I turn when Betty leaves me hangin'.

Gear for Your Kitchen (Alton Brown): I love this book. It's funny and interesting, and I've had it signed!

I'm Just Here for the Food (Alton Brown): even though I don't enjoy eating meat, it's still interesting to read the science behind preparing a variety of different kinds of foods. It's broken down by cooking method, which is just plain cool.

I'm Just Here for More Food (Alton Brown): AB's baking book. Truly fascinating, for those of you who love to bake. Funny as hell, too.

The Joy of Cooking All About Vegetarian (Rombauer, Rombauer-Becker, & Becker): I have lots of recipes flagged in this book, but haven't made any of them.

Jamie's Kitchen (Jamie Oliver): another gift cookbook; I love Jamie Oliver's philosophy of stripping food down (hence, "The Naked Chef,") and focusing on a few simple, high-quality ingredients over fussy preparation methods and complicated recipes. This is not my favorite of his cookbooks, because it is mostly "restaurant food" and a little too fancy for my tastes. (Plus, it's a lot of meat, of course.) But it sure is purty. And funny. (And I give credit to Jamie Oliver's first cookbook for my ability to bake bread from scratch -- those cookbooks, and a lot of practice, of course.)

That's my cookbook library. I used to have more, but I've gotten rid of ones over the years that I didn't use and/or didn't like. I check lots and lots of cookbooks out from the library and copy down a recipe or two here and there, and if I want to cry when it's time to return the book, I write it down on my wish list. I also have found many, many good recipes on the internet, and have a vast recipe collection of my own. (I actually worked about two years ago on digitizing my recipe box -- I had outgrown a side-by-side, double 4X6 recipe box, and decided it was time to join the 21st century.) I think, ultimately, unless I'm baking, I just "wing it" -- I never make anything the same way twice, and use recipes/cookbooks as more "inspiration" than anything else.

Cookbooks on my wish list:
Vegan with a Vengeance
Vive le Vegan (hi Dreena! Is that the one with the gooey brownies in it that I read about on someone else's blog? I miss brownies . . . !)
The Vegetarian Family Cookbook
The New Vegetarian Epicure
Sinfully Vegan
World Vegearian

And not a cookbook, but sounds very interesting:
Super Nutrition for Women (Gittleman)

SO, I guess the new question would be, what (top 5?) cookbooks are on your wish list?

AND, I forgot to add something to my gadget wish list: a Salter kitchen scale. I really should bake properly.

another question!

I started thinking of other "top 5" questions I could ask you all, and this one's too good to leave wait until next week!

What are the top five items on your "kitchen wish list?"

(Mine are modest because I have a small space, but feel free to dream big!)
1. Shun by Kershaw chef's knife, serrated knife, paring knife, and 4-inch (or so) slicer
2. All-Clad pots and pans: medium and small saucepots, tiny frying pan, 12-inch saute pan, large Dutch oven or soup pot
3. Food processor
4. rice cooker (I think I would like rice more if it was prepared properly -- I have a "bad rice gene," just like I have a "bad pancake gene" -- I can make good pancake batter, I'm just not very skilled at cooking them.)
5. vegan cookbooks! (I have none)

(I posted answers to my previous questions in the comment thread.)

Midweek Munchies

Since I didn't do any shopping this past weekend, I thought I'd post two questions this week!

What are your top five favorite/most used/can't live without kitchen gadgets/pieces of equipment?

What are your top five most favorite flavors or ingredients with which to cook?

(Your answers will help with the cookbook writing process, in the first full chapter, "Getting Started.")

Thanks!

Visit Harmonia for more info on Midweek Munchies.

new breakfast!

I just had to share what I had for breakfast today because it's really good, and I've never thought to have it for breakfast before!

Pan-fried polenta! (With a little drizzle of maple syrup -- like pancakes, only better!) (I have a soy sausage pattie and some watermelon on the side, too.)

Leftover polenta is just about my favorite thing in the whole wide world, and now I can have it every meal of the day! (Not that I would . . . but I could!)

end-of-weekend blues

I realized I haven't posted all weekend! Here's an update:

~ I made a tofu and veggie stir-fry with brown rice for Michelle and I for dinner on Friday night. I used hoisin sauce again, and added a little extra garlic, ginger, and chili flakes this time. I made chocolate pudding cake for dessert, too! (The kind that makes its own hot fudge sauce in the bottom of the pan while it bakes.) I sent Michelle home with the "Sack It!" section from my cookbook to read and test out, and I will try to get recipes out to those that volunteered soon!

~ Saturday, I took Christine to the airport and then spent the day with my friend Chelsea and her daughters Olivia and Norah. It was great to see Chels and meet Norah, and I had SO MUCH FUN playing with Olivia! She's 18 months old, and just a ham. We danced, wrestled, dumped toys out of buckets and filled them back up again, sang songs, and looked at books. I feel kind of bad because I didn't spend much actual time with Chelsea, but I think it all turned out fine in the end! Jenny, a friend of Chelsea's, also came over and brought yummy lunch and it was good to see her, too. (Thanks again, Jenny my blog lurker!)

~ Saturday night I WORKED ON MY COOKBOOK! I edited and added a few recipes to the dinner section, and added more recipes to the dessert section, too. That was fun. :) I also baked a loaf of bread and a peach-strawberry crisp. Carbtastic!

~ Today, I did almost nothing, other than drink tea, eat toast (and some other stuff,) watch movies, and go for a walk around Lake of the Isles. (Thanks for coming with me, Ann!) I feel kind of crummy -- low-energy, tired, a bit achy. I don't know whether I'm just overtired or actually coming down with something, but I decided to lay low today. I watched "Angela's Ashes," "Zelary," and "Walk the Line." All three were wonderful, and a great way to spend a rainy day! (I'm addicted to Netflix, if I didn't mention that already!)

Now, I'm a little sad that the weekend is over. I have to steel myself for the next two weeks -- they prove to be beyond busy. I apologize in advance for infrequent posting, because I will be working like mad, seeing friends' bands play (and going to a CD release show!), and be out of town for Memorial Day weekend. I will attempt to post any interesting kitchen happenings, however! (I took a bunch of stuff out of the freezer for this week, though, so there probably won't be much!)

weird.

The family that I nanny for also employs a housekeeper, and her name is Diane. She's Parisienne, and very nice, and speaks with good, but not great, English. The other day, she was unloading the groceries and came upon a canteloupe. She was supposed to clean it/cut it up, and she didn't know how. I don't think they eat much melon in France, (I think they are native to the Americas,) and I asked her if she wanted to watch me do it so she could do it next time. She did, but made funny faces the whole time. I asked her what was the matter; she said, "I don't like fruit." I was confused -- she didn't like cutting up fruit? (I thought maybe we misunderstood each other -- language barrier and all.) She said, "no -- I don't like fruit. Raisins, maybe, sometimes a banana, but otherwise, no!" and made a grossed-out face.

I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF ANYONE WHO DIDN'T CARE FOR FRUIT BEFORE! Weird.

Happy Friday! Don't forget to call your mommies on Sunday, if you celebrate Mother's Day!

:)

I just searched The Loft website, and found a workshop titled, "Selling & Publishing Your Book." I'm registering for it as soon as I get paid again!
Thank you Lauren and Michelle for shoving me in the right direction!

thank you!

Very special thanks to Anna, Dori, Leslie, Melissa, Jess, Johanna, Courtney, Kai, Megan, and Emily, who all have volunteered to test recipes for my new cookbook! (I wanted to reply to all of your emails individually, but I was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers!)

(And you all, of course, will be receiving an extra-special thank-you in my "the author wishes to thank" section if I actually publish the thing!)

Back Where I Belong Midweek Munchies

Yes, I was happily back at the Wedge this past weekend, and here's what I bought:

PACKAGED GROCERY:
Ka-Me Hoisin Sauce (contains corn syrup! boo! but the only brand of Hoisin available.)
tube of tomato paste (Amore brand, conventional)
14 oz Muir Glen Organic Fire-Roasted Tomatoes (I thought of you, Jess!)
1 organic fruit leather (apple) (emergency work snack)
2 "Loony" Bars (Peanut-PB and Nuts & Cranberry) (emergency work snacks)
1 Larabar (Cherry Almond) (emergency work snack)

PERSONAL CARE:
Burt's Bees Garden Tomato Complexion Soap
Burt's Bees Lip Balm (the tin, which is less convenient, but recyclable, unlike the plastic tubes)
Burt's Bees Almond Milk Hand Cream

PRODUCE:
1 small bunch organic broccoli
1 organic mango
1 organic Asian pear (a new produce item!)
1 small head organic Bok Choy (another new produce item)
a big handfull of bulk organic basil
1 gigantic organic red bell pepper
8 ounces organic strawberries
organic watermelon chunk (about 1/4 medium melon)

REFRIGERATED GROCERY:
White Wave organic firm tofu
big tub WholeSoy plain yogurt
1 Mighty Mango Naked Juice

Visit Harmonia for more info on Midweek Munchies.

mornin'

Breakfast today: a smoothie made with vanilla soy yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, flax, and apple juice! (And some toast.) Yum. I wish I had another one, it was so good! The only bummer was, I dropped a glass and broke it this morning. :( Oh well.

I also managed to do 20 minutes of yoga. I'm having a hard time waking up "on time" this week, so the hour I did last week seems a little daunting!

Dreena gave me some great advice on the cookbook publishing front -- I need to head to the library and figure out how to write a proposal, and get those out sometime soon. (It probably won't be until next month, because the rest of this month's weekends are chock-full of busy stuff already . . . how did that happen?)

"Party of One"

Before I get started, tonight for dinner: a homemade white bean, oat, and herb burger with Vegenaise for dipping, broccoli stalks and red pepper strips with hummus for dipping, tater tots with ketchup for dipping, and an asian pear with nothing for dipping, because it's perfect just as is. :)

Now, on to the cookbook. I have had several questions about the cookbook I am working on, so I thought I'd post about it and offer you all a few details!

The working title is, "Party of One: Healthy Food for Single People." Essentially, my target audience is single people (young or otherwise) who cook for themselves and who want to eat healthfully but need help getting started and finding some ideas. All of the recipes are vegetarian, most are vegan (or can be veganized easily,) and all emphasize whole foods (fruits, veggies, grains, beans and legumes,) with a short to medium amount of prep/cooking time, lower sodium, and lower sugar. All of the recipes make a manageable amount of servings (one or two, or in the case of baked goods, six muffins or a small loaf of bread) and could be easily doubled for couples/dates/whatever.

Here's a simple breakdown:
Section 1: Why on Earth would a preschool teacher want to write a cookbook?
This is my introduction. It pretty much describes how I arrived where I am diet and nutrition wise, and gives a general overview of the whole cookbook. I'm thinking about overhauling it and focusing mainly on the reader, while keeping bits of my personality/story here and there.

Section 2: Plan of Attack.
This is my chapter on hardware and software, (kitchen needs such as pots, pans, knives, etc., and basic "raw ingredients" to have on hand,) with tips on grocery shopping/list making and meal planning at the end.

Section 3: Daily Breads.
Muffins, quick breads, a scone, biscuits, corn tortillas, a couple of yeast breads (which I'm thinking of omitting,) and pizza crust.

Section 4: The MOST IMPORTANT meal of your day.
Split into two sections: ideas/"recipes" for quick, on-the-go weekday breakfasts, and weekend breakfast ideas: homemade granola, doctored-up hot cereals, pancakes, french toast, a couple of egg recipes, and veggie home fries.

Section 5: Sack it!
Why and how we should pack our lunches. There's a sandwich assembly chart, a salad assembly chart, easy pasta salad, some sandwich fillers (tofu salad, chickpea salad, egg salad,) tabouli, croutons, and vinaigrette recipes.

Section 6: Snack attack.
Why and how to snack smart: ideas, tips, and a few recipes for dips and crunchy things.

Section 7: Mom, what’s for dinner?
Hoppin' John, Sloppy Lentils, Chickpea Pocket Pies, Beans and Rice a million ways, Black Bean Enchiladas, three bean burger recipes, polenta, stir-fry, tofu marinades, pizza, pastas, a marinara sauce, and soups (lentil, miso, chickpea noodle, chili, and a couple "cream of" veggie soups.)

Section 8: Sugar shock.
Cookies, simple cakes, maybe a cupcake or two, a couple bar recipes, and a couple of fruit desserts.

Section 9: Fancy food for fancy days.
This is a section I haven't written yet and am toying with omitting -- I wanted to give a few "fussier" recipes/sample menus for simple entertaining -- dinner parties of 4 to 6 people, etc. But I think a whole book on dinner parties could be more fun!


SO, here's where I'm at. Most of the cookbook is written, (I need to finish the Sugar Shock chapter, rewrite the introduction, and write a conclusion,) and I am working on testing recipes on my end. Once I get recipes the way I like them, I'm going to need helpers! If you'd be interested in helping me test-drive my cookbook, drop me an email (see my profile) and let me know what you'd be interested in testing -- baked goods, only vegan stuff, dinners, whatever. I haven't even thought about the publishing aspect of this yet . . . maybe someone (Dreena!!) out there could give me some tips about what I should do/what I should send publishers?

I appreciate everyone's encouragement for and interest in this! I have never undertaken a project this big or exciting before, and it's lots of fun. :)

regretting I don't have a camera . . .

Dinner tonight:

~ soba noodles topped with hoisin-glazed stir-fry of mixed veggies (carrot, mushroom, red pepper, broccoli, bok choy, zucchini, and green onion)
~ coconut-crusted tofu (from my recent Eating Well magazine)

This is a pretty meal -- pretty to look at, and pretty tasty, to boot.
Sorry I can't share the visual!

Best . . . Tomato . . . Soup . . . Ever . . . !

Thanks, Melissa, for sharing Sarah Kramer's recipe for Cream of Tomato Soup from La Dolce Vegan! I, of course, made my own bastardized version, and I have to say, THIS IS THE BEST TOMATO SOUP I'VE EVER HAD! Enjoy.

1. Saute 1 small onion, finely chopped, in 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil until soft. (Keep the heat at medium-low so the flavor of the oil doesn't cook away.) Add 1 clove of garlic, minced, and cook until everything is fragrant and translucent.
2. Add 1/2 cup vegetable broth, 14 ounces crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon salt (or less), and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Puree the soup using a regular or immersion blender. (I used my new boat motor!) Stir in 1 cup "milk" of your choice, 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil, and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup. Heat through.

(The garlic and choosing fire-roasted tomatoes were my changes -- everything else is exactly as Melissa relayed.)

Segue . . .

I did not buy a yoga DVD at Target, as I had originally planned to do. I bought clothes instead. A dress, a skirt, and 5 tees/tanks. I get stuck on black shirts. Three of the shirts I bought were black, and the dress was black, too. Everyone says I should introduce more color into my wardrobe, and I try . . . but the colors don't get worn as often as all of the black. So I've tried to branch out and buy interesting-looking black shirts, with lots of cute details, so I can look a little more feminine and a little less frumpy. I think it's working? We'll see. (The skirt, however, is blue and twirly!)

catch-up

I haven't posted in about 36 hours, and I have a lot to tell you!

~ I made Kai's recipe for fried rice again on Thursday night, and although I slightly overcooked my rice, it was excellent the second time as well. I tried for a more traditional approach this time, and used all brown rice, some white onion, mushroom, water chestnuts, baby cocktail corn, green peas, and green onions. (I forgot to buy bean sprouts . . . .) YUM YUM YUM! Thanks again, Kai, for the awesome recipe! It's so easy to throw together, and tastes fantastic!

~ Yesterday morning, I did a half an hour of yoga, made oatmeal for breakfast and ate it slowly, paid bills and balanced my checkbook, took out the recycling, and washed a few dishes. It's soooooo nice to have that time to get stuff done!

~ Last night, friends and I went out to celebrate release from my old job/starting my new job. We had fabulous drinks, appetizers, and PIZZA at Psycho Suzi's!!! (I did eat dairy, although I'm sure they'd be happy to make a cheese-free pizza for anyone.) The drinks were fabulous, the pizza was fabulous, our waitress was awesome and hilarious, and for a party of five with drinks all around (two of us actually had a second round,) two appetizers, and a ginormous pizza, our tab was only sixty bucks. Sweet! We got there around 8:30 and by the time we left around 10, it was starting to get kind of loud and raucous in there -- but the fun kind of loud and raucous. Funny side note: there was a line for the MEN'S bathroom most of the night! Isn't that hilarious!

~ I'm off to run errands today. I'll have a happier Midweek Munchies post this week, and will probably have a yoga DVD review as well (I need a few things from Target, and am going to browse their DVD section.) Happy, happy weekend, everybody!

a new grocery-buying experience

Holy cow. I went grocery shopping today with the nanny family, and they had the weirdest thing at this store --

Drive-thru grocery pickup.

You pay for your groceries, they load your groceries into tubs, they give you big, plastic numbers, you drive around to the side of the store, give them the numbers, and they load your groceries into your car for you (sans tubs.) I'm not sure how I feel about this whole process. It was quite the experience.

In unrelated news, the little boy was intrigued by my Nalgene water bottle. Almost every time I took a drink he asked me, "are you drinking green water?" At first, he was confused -- I couldn't possibly be drinking water, because water at his house comes bottled out of the fridge. He saw me fill it from the tap a few times, and thought about it some more. After I poured out a little water to show him that it wasn't green, he seemed satisfied.

Perhaps he needs his own Nalgene? I'll have to think about getting him one for his birthday, which isn't for several months.

up and at 'em

I got up, did an hour of yoga, made coffee, made breakfast, and now have time to blog! Wow. This is weird.

Cool, but weird.

toodle-oo, teacher-land!

Today was my last day as a preschool teacher! The kids and parents were sad to see me go, and I was bummed to leave them, but I'm excited to start my new job tomorrow!

I am having a celebratory dinner of crackers and guacamole, diced mango, and almonds. (Weird, I realize, but very tasty.) Oh, and a cup of rooibos tea -- I got a big box of tea as a gift from one of the families! People are so generous there.

Speaking of generous, one of my coworkers, Don, gave me a hand blender as a goodbye gift! Wow. I'm excited to start using it -- I've had a "boat motor" on my list of stuff to buy for ages!

Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. Some of the parents planned a little ice cream goodbye party for me this afternoon, which was very nice!

Since I don't have to be at my new job until 10 a.m. most days, I have big plans for that time -- big plans, baby! I am going to continue getting up at 7:00, do an hour of yoga, sit and actually enjoy my breakfast, pack my lunch and do other things to prepare for the day, and get little things done here and there. Doesn't this sound fabulous?

I'm A Frustrated Midweek Muncher

Well, welcome to "Midweek Munchies, the frustrated edition", aka, "I shopped at Whole Foods this week." I had a $5 off coupon from my Blue Sky Guide, so I decided to make the ten-minute drive, shop, and cash it in.

I know a lot of you out there in blogger-land love Whole Foods. I don't. I think I'm spoiled by a killer co-op.

Things that frustrated me about my trip to Whole Foods this past Sunday:
1. I find their produce department mega-confusing. Some of the organic produce is over here, some of the organic produce is over there, and it's just too stinking confusing to find what I need. Plus, the WF closest to me doesn't carry a ton of organic produce, and even less locally grown stuff. The organic produce that they do carry looks a little battered and bruised -- not nearly as gorgeous as the co-op's.
2. Their receipts are cryptic at best. This makes figuring out what you were actually charged for difficult, and organizing my MM post that much harder! Garn.
3. They do not stock organic lite coconut milk.
4. They do not carry Peace Coffee in bulk.
5. They do not carry Great Harvest Bread Co. breads.
6. They do not stock ANY flours in bulk.
7. They do not carry Burt's Bees Almond Milk Hand Cream.
8. I find their store brand a bit confusing -- sometimes it's "365 Natural," sometimes it's "365 organic." I wish it was all organic, all the time!
9. Their store layout is nonlinear and JUST PLAIN CONFUSING. It took me an hour and a half to find everything I needed.
10. It takes me 10 minutes to drive there, I had to park far away from the entrance, and they only have two cart corrals, and they are within 15 feet of the front doors. (Why not just walk the cart back into the store?)

Things that I enjoyed about Whole Foods:
1. Their bag refund is better than my co-op's.
2. I think their vegetarian vitamins might be more reasonably priced than my co-op's. I'll have to check next time.

Total coupons redeemed, including bag refund: $9.80
Here's what I bought:

REFRIGERATED AND FROZEN STUFF:
Amy's Organic Pesto Pizza (not vegan, obviously)
365 Organic Frozen Blueberries
365 Organic Frozen Strawberries
365 Organic Frozen Peaches
Cascadian Farms Organic Spud Puppies
"the big carton" of WholeSoy vanilla yogurt

SHELF STABLE STUFF:
1 box soft Mori-Nu
1 can Ka-Me baby corn
1 can Ka-Me water chestnuts
1 can lite coconut milk
2 quart-boxes of original Soy Dream Enriched
Nature's Path Heritage O's
1 pound Peace Coffee Birchwood Blend
1 loaf Whole Foods Bakery 100% whole wheat bread
5 pounds Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
Daddy Sam's BBQ Sauce
2 cans 365 Organic no-salt added diced tomatoes
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
3 Clif Bars (crunchy peanut butter, black cherry almond, & cranberry apple cherry)
1 package unbleached coffee filters

SELF CARE STUFF:
1 gigundo bottle Jason Lavender Body Wash
Avalon Organics lavender body lotion
Burt's Bees Shea Butter Hand Repair Cream

BULK:
half a pound of organic raw walnuts
half a pound of raw almonds (I can't afford organic -- they are almost fifteen dollars a pound!)

PRODUCE:
4 organic bananas
1 organic zucchini
1 organic yellow onion (the only kind of organic onions in the store)
8 organic cremini mushrooms (the only kind of bulk organic mushroom in the store)
1 small bunch organic green onions
1 conventional mango (and it was crummy -- stringy and not very sweet)
3/4 pound bulk organic spring greens
3/4 pound organic broccoli
2 organic Bartlett pears
1 organic lime
1 organic Haas avocado
2 organic Pink Lady apples

I will be back at the Wedge next week. Sorry Whole Foods, but I heart you not!

Visit Harmonia for more info on Midweek Munchies.

hooray hooray hooray!

My work for work is done and edited. All I have to do is print, file, and stuff envelopes tomorrow.

AND, tomorrow is my last day teaching! Hooray, hooray, hooray!

new shoes (again)!

Leslie asked to see my new Earth Vegans, so here they are! Head over to Zappos for more info (they are Earth Solar Vegans in black microfiber).

This is random, but I appreciate that Zappos has a specific "vegetarian shoes" link over on the right-hand side of their main webpage.

veggie culinary schools

Since I had a bit of down time this evening, I decided to do a short web search and find information on vegetarian culinary schools. There aren't many. I located one in New York, one in the UK, and one in Colorado. The one in the UK sounds like the best of the three -- it's called the "Cordon Vert." Cute. Emphasis on whole, organic ingredients and other fun stuff.

My dream would be to one day own my own catering company. Perhaps I don't need to go to culinary school to do that? I wonder if there is an all-vegetarian catering company locally that I could check out? Hmm. More research is necessary.

what happened?

It's 7:40 p.m., and I've managed to eat dinner, finish those last two reports, bake blueberry muffins, and wash all of the dishes from the last two days . . . I think I hit some sort of reverse time-warp-loop!

Don't get me wrong . . . I'm not complaining! What a refreshing feeling, having everything on the "to do" list checked off!

Dinner of Champions!

On my plate tonight . . .

Barbecued tofu, steamed broccoli, tater tots, and sweet potato fries, with ketchup and Vegenaise for the fries and tots.

YUM.

(No camera today . . . my apologies!)

Shoes arrived today -- new Earth Vegans are right-on! Whoo-hoo!

Must run and finish writing last two reports!

homemade wholegrain bread

I am a nerd and a freak, and sometimes I make my own bread. "Sweet Pea" over at Garden of Eatin' asked for a good wholegrain bread recipe. This is one I've used with great success in the past, and it's courtesy of Cooking Light magazine (October 2005). The recipe title is "Whoe Wheat Sunflower Oat Bread." It's somewhat complicated, because you have to make a sponge, but this helps lighten the texture of the bread -- this is the only homemade wholegrain bread I've found tender enough to use for things other than toast! (I have slightly altered the recipe to make it vegan.)

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup oat groats
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one package, NOT the rapid-rise stuff)
2 1/2 cups water at 110 to 115 degrees Farenheight (I measure with a digital thermometer)
2 tablespoons honey (you could use sugar or agave nectar, but I'd probably increase the amount to 3 tablespoons if you use sugar, since honey is twice as sweet as sugar)
2 teaspoons salt, divided
5 3/4 cups stone ground whole wheat flour, divided (I prefer whole wheat bread flour)
1/2 cup sunflower seed kernels

DIRECTIONS:
1. Toast the groats in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes or in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant. (I prefer the second option -- I think it's easier.) Cool.
2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a medium bowl and let it stand 5 minutes. Add the honey and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
3. Add 3 cups flour to the yeast mixture, and stir well. Stir in the groats. Cover and let this mixture stand 1 hour at warm room temperature. (My favorite place to do this is in my "cold" gas oven -- the pilot light keeps it slightly warmer than room temperature.) The mixture will poof up and get bubbly -- this is called a "sponge."
4. Stir in remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt and sunflower seeds to sponge. Add 2 1/2 cups flour, stirring until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until elastic, about 10 minutes. Add enough additional flour to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers -- it should feel smooth and slightly tacky, but not stick.
5. Place the dough in a large bowl that you've sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly spritz the top of the dough, and cover the dough with a sheet of plastic wrap, sticking it directly to the surface of the dough. Let the dough rise in a warm place again for an hour, or until it is double in size.
6. Punch the dough down and let it rest 5 minutes. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Press each dough ball out into a 14X7 inch rectangle. Roll up each rectangle snugly, starting with the short end, pressing to eliminate air pockets. Pinch the seams to seal them, and place the dough rolls seam-side down in two 8 1/2 X 4 1/2 inch loaf pans that you've sprayed with cooking spray. Cover them and let them rise in a warm place until they are double in size, for about 30 minutes.
7. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Farenheight. Uncover and bake the loaves for 40 minutes, or until the bottoms are browned and sound hollow when you tap on them with your finger. Cool the bread on a wire rack.

going to the movies!

Tonight, Ann and I went to see the film Kinky Boots at the Lagoon in Uptown. It was about a guy who inherits his dad's shoe business, finds that it's going under, and discovers a "niche market" in making stiletto boots for drag queens. I laughed SO HARD during this movie -- comedy genius, I tell you. Go see this movie! (Bonus: it's based on a true story!)

new levels

I am supposed to be working on these developmental summaries for half of the kids in my classes (my coteacher will write the other half,) and I just have NO MOTIVATION. I've done a couple over the last few days . . . but have twelve left!

I've reached new levels of procrastination. I've become a manic blogger, and my apartment has never been so clean! I'm going to have to get out of the house for awhile tomorrow, go to a coffee shop or something, and really BUCKLE DOWN. Sheesh.

What a way to spend a Friday night . . . at least the one saving grace is, I'll never have to do this again! Hooray for new jobs!

yes, I still cook.

Enough about cats, shoes, Earth Day, and randomness!

Back to the food!

First, I made Kai's recipe for fried rice for dinner last night. It was fantastic! I used some leftover brown and wild rice, and used white onion, peeled & cubed sweet potato, green peas, and mushrooms for the veggies. Between the wild rice and sweet potato, it could be called a stab at fusion cooking. Regardless, it was great! What an easy recipe, and a simple way to use up leftover, cooked rice. Thanks, Kai!

Next, Lauren and I went out for brunch/lunch today to French Meadow. (Have I mentioned I'm off the latter part of this week to write developmental summaries on the kids?) I was impressed -- they had three completely vegan breakfast entrees on their menu, (pancakes, a tofu scramble, and loaded hashbrowns,) and I didn't even look at their soups, wraps, or other choices! Lauren and I split two brunch things: vegan cornmeal-blueberry pancakes, and their cajun hashbrowns with garlic, onion, peppers, and vegan sausage. (We did also get cheese on the hashbrowns -- Lauren really wanted it, and I wasn't opposed to it!) We also split a Naked juice -- the berry blast/burst one, I think. Everything was fantastic! Hooray for French Meadow!

Last, Lauren and I stopped at the co-op and I bought granola (bulk French Vanilla Almond) and toilet paper (Seventh Generation.) It was a random trip -- Lauren mostly wanted to just look around, and I did need the TP! I think that makes trip #4 for me this week! (Mostly accompanying others . . . goodness gracious!)

And now, back to the randomness:
1. If you visit my blog and comment and I don't have you linked over on the right, (sometimes, if I use pictures that are too big, my links get pushed way to the bottom -- scroll down,) let me know -- I think I got everyone, but I might have missed one or two of you!
2. Earth Day Resolution Update: I air-dried two loads of laundry yesterday (pants and shirts.) Three loads (towels, sheets, and undies/socks/PJs) hit the dryer.
3. I have put "digital camera" on my list of things to buy, so, hopefully I'll be able to add pictures here again soon!

cat litter rave!

Yes, I'm posting about cat litter.

Why?

Because I love the brand of cat litter I use, and want to share the love with all you cat lovers out there in Blogger-land.

I love Feline Pine Cat Litter. You can see their website for the full story, but these are the reasons why I love it:
1. It's cheap. (Under ten bucks for the giant bag, usually. I've found it consistently at Target.)
2. It's all-natural, compostable/mulchable, and completely biodegradeable.
3. You use less each time you fill the litterbox, so you end up using less litter over time (less money, and less packaging ends up in a landfill!)
4. THE LITTERBOX NEVER SMELLS. Well, I should rephrase -- the litterbox never smells like cat pee. The only smell it gives off is a slight "lumberyard" fragrance -- fresh cut wood. (Since the litter is made from pine sawdust, this makes perfect sense.) If you grew up with a handy dad like I did, "lumberyard" smell is kind of good --reminiscent of trips to the hardware store/lumberyard as a small child.

Check out Feline Pine for your kitty, if you haven't already!

shoes, shoes, shoes.

I have to send my Earth shoes back. They ripped up the backs of my feet, and they pop off when I'm walking. Also, after more than a couple of hours of wearing them, my toes start to tingle (I guess they run a little small, at least for me.) I'm so sad! They are so cute and fabulous. Oh well. They are back to Zappos tomorrow.

However, I tried on more pairs of Earth shoes at Heavenly Soles today, and found a different style that I like MUCH better, that I will probably order soon. (This particular style has a padded area where the achillies-heel ripping occurred in the first pair, so I think that padding will prevent future owwies.) I also picked up a really cute pair of satiny mary-jane style shoes with a red flower print on them. Mighty cute. (And mighty cheap, too: $17!!!) If I had the camera, I'd show you! Michelle found shoes, too -- pink courduroy slip on sneaker type things.

Mini-Munchies

A small trip this week -- no list! I needed just a little produce, and picked up a few odds and ends.


FROZEN:
Peanut Butter Tofutti Cuties (believe it or not, I've NEVER had Tofutti Cuties! I'm excited!)

PRODUCE:
one organic cucumber
five organic bananas
one organic golden delicious apple
one organic Galia melon (my new produce purchase of the week -- I've never heard of this kind of melon before!)
one organic red grapefruit
eight organic cremini mushrooms
one organic yellow onion
one organic green bell pepper
one organic red bell pepper
two small organic yams

REFRIGERATED GROCERY:
two WholeSoy yogurts (mixed berry, and apricot mango -- I think Silk soy yogurts are a little runny, so it's my hope these are a little creamier/firmer in texture!)
one four-pack of Holy Land Deli whole wheat pita bread (made with organic flour!)

AND, $1 off for saving twenty green patches! (You get a green patch for every bag you bring in/reuse, each time you visit.)

Visit Harmonia for more info on Midweek Munchies.

WELCOME NORAH KATHRYN!

Rustad baby #2 is here! Her name is Norah Kathryn, (and I seriously think Chels and Jon have misspelled her middle name!) :) and everyone looks great! Check out their blog for pictures and more info!

i wanna go home!

I'm stranded. (Fortunately, I'm stranded at a friend's house who has wi-fi, and I have the work computer with me.) Half of the streets in my neighborhood are closed right now, because of some pre-race for the Twin Cities Marathon, and the other half are full of cars. THERE IS NOWHERE TO PARK. Thankfully, Ann and Michelle were kind enough to let me crash here until the hubub dies down. Michelle is going to drive me home later, when she returns from her haircut, and I will pick up my car tomorrow afternoon after we go shoe shopping. (I'm off work the next three days to write developmental summaries, so my coteacher doesn't have to do ALL of them herself before the end of the school year. But there's still some time to "play!")

THANK YOU ANN AND MICHELLE!!!!!!

Michelle and I went to the Holy Land Deli for dinner and gorged ourselves on delish middle eastern food. I have raved about their spanakopita before, and I will rave about it again. And saffron-infused rice. And pita bread! And a yummy salad, to boot.

And I recalculated my ecological footprint without the car, and it's still pretty high -- I think because I live alone, even though I live in a tiny apartment. But I'm down to 3.4 Earths, with the changes I'll make this year!

Thanks to everyone for humoring me on this one! And thanks, Vicki, for making a resolution with me!

perfect timing!

I received my power bill in the mail today, and there was an insert about signing up for "Windsource," which is a program that offers Xcel Energy's customers the opportunity to spend about 2 cents more per kilowatt-hour to support wind turbine energy generation. I have been meaning to investigate this program for ages; getting the insert in with my bill couldn't have been better timing! I signed up for 100% Windsource energy -- add a third Earth Day Resolution for me!

A direct quote from the pamphlet: "Signing up for 100% of your electricity from Windsource for a year saves about seven tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere. (Based on using 700 kWh/month.) Carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas linked to global warming."

Now, I don't use nearly 700 kWh/month of electricity, since that is the average amount for a home, and I live in a small, 1-bedroom apartment. However, every little bit helps, right?

In unrelated news, my friend Chelsea is finally having her baby! (She is more than a week overdue.) Hooray for the Rustad family! I hope all goes well and I get a phone call soon, letting me know how it all turned out!! :)

Earth Day Resolution!!

So, there was a Minnesota Public Radio "Policy and a Pint" earlier this week about environmental awareness that I missed. I really wanted to calculate my environmental footprint, and see what kinds of changes I could make!

I did a quick web search, and found this ecological footprint quiz. It was pretty interesting! Although I learned I have a below-average ecological footprint, I also learned it would take 4 1/2 Earths worth of space if everyone lived the way I did! Interesting. The biggest factor, by far, was the poor gas mileage my vehicle gets, coupled with my lengthy commute each week. At the end of the quiz, there is a place that offers suggestions for ways you can make changes! Cool. Obviously, the best way for me would be to stop driving so far each week, which will be accomplished in a very short period of time. (A week and a half left!) Also, selling my air conditioner should happen, (I run it too often, and really, there are only a couple of really uncomfortable weeks each summer,) and air-drying some loads of laundry each week. There weren't questions, however, about the types of products you choose to purchase, (like recycled toilet paper, phosphate-free laundry detergent, etc.) recycling or composting habits, etc.

Overall, it was interesting to see how I compared! I encourage everyone to give it a go -- I know there are plenty of things I could change in my life to better care for the planet, and I bet everyone else could find one or two changes to make, too!

I propose to anyone who's interested, make an "Earth Day Resolution" with me -- take the quiz, pick one or two things you plan to change, and we'll check back with each other periodically to see if it's happening!

My resolutions:
1. Drive less, and possibly sell my car and relying solely on my feet, bike, and public transportation.
2. Air-dry at least half of all laundry loads (towels and sheets will still hit the dryer, since I have limited air-drying space in my weenie apartment, and sometimes cotton knit things just get way stretched out and need a trip in the dryer for reshaping.)

Let's do it!

A weekend of photos, part III . . .

BEWARE: This post contains a considerable number of G.C.P.s (Gratuitous Cat Photos)
(Hey . . . Leslie started it!)


I think my cat has really unusual markings. I joke that he's monogrammed, since he has a big swirl on both sides that looks like the letter "O," and where most tabbys have an "M" marking over their eyes, Oliver has a "W!"


"Leave me alone. I'm sleeping."


"What part of 'sleeping' was unclear to you? Hmm?"

And, I have no pictures of my afternoon with the neighbors who I used to babysit for. I didn't even bring the camera with me, because I knew I probably wouldn't take any pictures. Why? When hanging out/travelling/having fun with people, I'm usually so busy having fun, I forget to take pictures. BUT, the whole Behlmer family met me after church, and had glowing compliments about the choir. Wee! (We are pretty good, if I do say so myself.) Then, we actually split up -- the boys and Rob wanted to head back to the Mall of America, (ugh!) and Lisa wasn't interested, so she and I hung out. We walked around downtown, walked along the river for a while, (yes, the Mississippi River,) and had lunch outside at Brit's. I had the "Portobello Road" sandwich, which is a big hunk o' mushroom, marinaded and grilled, on focaccia with roasted red pepper aoli, spinach, and sharp cheddar cheese. (Yes, today, I was a L/O veg. Usually only when I dine out!) Killer fries on the side. (Crispy on the outside, superfluffy on the inside.) I also had a half-pint of hard cider. Yum! (A half-pint is just the right size for me. I'm a lightweight.) Then, we wandered around the sculpture gardens before it was time to meet back up with the guys, and for them all to head home. It was a great afternoon! The weather was sunny and gorgeous the whole time, and it's a good thing I remembered to put on sunblock this morning!

A weekend of photos, part II . . .

(Vegan) Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies


And a (slightly blurry) close-up . . .


And this is one more thing that I have been meaning to post about, but haven't gotten around to until today. A while ago, Shawn asked a bunch of us Midweek Munchies folks for tips on meal planning. While I don't strictly meal plan, I usually have at least one or two new recipes I want to try each week, plus a ton of staples on hand for making all sorts of my favorite things. I keep track of what I need with an easy, foolproof grocery list idea that I stole from a former babysitting client, have tweaked the system to fit my needs, and it has cut tons of time off of my grocery shopping and list making each week. Here's how I do it:
I have a document on my computer called "wedge grocery list" that is a three-column list of pretty much everything I might buy from the co-op, organized by area/aisle of the store.

(I'm sorry this is sideways . . . I rotated it before I uploaded it . . . who knows??)
I print out a copy of this list after each time I go to the store, and stick it up on the fridge. As I run out of things over the course of the week, or if I think of something in particular I'd really like to have on hand, I circle the item on the list. (I have write-in sections in most of the columns for items that aren't frequently purchased, but still need to go on the list.) Then, when I'm ready to head to the store, I grab the list, look it over and glance through my cupboards to see if I've missed anything, circle/add any remaining ingredients I might need for special recipes, and I'm ready to shop! Having the list organized by aisle means I never have to backtrack because I've forgotten something, and really streamlines my shopping.

Hope this idea helps, Shawn, and anyone else who cares to pirate it!

A weekend of photos, part I . . .

I've had a busy, productive, food-related day! Here goes:

I started my day with a strawberry-coconut-tofu smoothie, and two pieces of toast. Ingredients for the smoothie: half a package of Mori-Nu, about a third of a can of light coconut milk, a cup of frozen strawberries, about a quarter cup of soy milk, and a small squirt of honey. (I forgot the flax!!!! Shoot.) Mighty, mighty tasty. Thick, rich, and almost to big to finish. And increasing the amount of tofu kept me going until lunchtime!

Isn't it a gorgeous pink color? A very happy breakfast. :)

Next, I ran a bunch of errands. Returned library books, FedExed my forms for my new job, got cash and quarters so I can do laundry, and had my knives sharpened at Kitchen Window. (See the link over on the right, in "shop 'til you drop.") I also picked up a small birthday gift for Tony -- a neat Japanese fish-shaped sushi dipping dish, that I figured he could use for whatever he felt like! He liked it a lot! The knife sharpening lady also sold me a $20 Wusthoff idiot-proof honer, which will help my knives hold their edge a lot longer, between sharpening trips. Here are my freshly sharpened knives, and new honer!

Oliver seems to want to get in on the knife-honing action. Or he just likes to smell new things. Who knows. :)

Then, I headed over to Tony's house to take him out for birthday lunch. He picked a new place -- Peninsula on Eat Street. Authentic Malasian cuisine, neat warehouse-type ambiance, friendly and speedy service, and a five-minute walk from Tony's place. What's not to like? I had Mango Tofu, and I have to tell you, it was TO DIE FOR! Loads of strips of fried tofu and sauteed mango in a ginger-infused sweet and sour sauce, beautifully presented in two hollowed-out mango peels, on a bed of shredded lettuce and fried rice threads. Perfectly gooey steamed white rice on the side. I left the camera at home, so here's a shot of my slightly dilapidated leftovers:


I stopped at the Wedge on my way home and picked up a few things for the week -- I have a photo post for Midweek Munchies this week! It was a fun trip -- everyone was dressed up for Earth Day, and it was busy as all getout!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

tofu smoothie!

I made a tofu smoothie for breakfast today, and it was pretty darn tasty! I did miss the yogurty-ness a little bit -- this smoothie just tasted sweet and fruity, and was missing that slightly sour note. Oh well! Ingredients:
1/4 a package of Mori-Nu
1/2 a cup of organic apple juice
about a cup of frozen organic peach slices
a couple shakes of ground cinnamon
a squirt of honey (which I found to be unnecessary -- the smoothie ended up a bit on the sweet side)
a big spoonful of ground flax

I also brought some Kashi Autumn Wheat squares with me for a few healthy carbs. It was a tasty breakfast, but not nearly filling enough! I'll probably double the amount of tofu next time, to give the smoothie a little more staying power. The above recipe, however, would be a nice accompaniment to pancakes or waffles as a weekend breakfast!

Lunch was Chipotle (two soft tacos with cilantro-lime rice, black beans, peppers & onions, tomato salsa, corn salsa, and guacamole,) and dinner was peanut butter toast and grapefruit (sometimes toast just sounds like the best option!), so no exciting pictures today. I did bring the camera home, however, so hopefully I'll have something else to share with you before the end of the weekend!

Have wonderful weekends, everybody!

dinner and shoes!

I knew I was going to be cooking up a storm tonight, so I brought the camera home, just for you all! I made a peanut-coconut tofu stir-fry type thing. It's pretty stinkin' tasty. I pressed and cubed half a block of tofu, and then marinaded it in a sauce I made from red curry paste, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, crunchy peanut butter, lower-sodium tamari, minced cilantro, minced ginger, minced garlic, the juice of 1 small lime, and coconut milk. I then started a pot of soba noodles, and prepped my veggies.

Here are the veggies and sauce, ready and waiting:


Here's the tofu, which I fished out of the sauce with my hands, hangin' out with some sliced onion (and the soba noodles, cooked and waiting on the back burner):


The rest of the veggies join the party (red pepper, broccoli, and a few mushrooms):


After stirring in the sauce and soba noodles, I plated, adding sesame seeds and a few raw peanuts as garnish:


AND, I wanted to model my new Earth Shoes for you all. Aren't they just darling? (My Chuck Taylors finally died. Even though I plan on wearing them to work every now and then, they are not fit to be worn out in public on a regular basis. I also lost my comfortable but not cute New Balances to the kitty potty disaster earlier this week. The Earth Shoes will hopefully serve a dual purpose -- hip, comfy walking/standing shoe. When you stand around a club for four plus hours listening to bands, you have to have comfy shoes, but I also want my shoes to look cute.)

I was a little worried about the "negative heel," which I read and heard takes a little getting used to. However, once you are used to it, it is supposed to significantly reduce strain on your lower back, by forcing you to use your core muscles while walking! Isn't that cool? I sometimes have lower back soreness, (especially after long walks or long periods on my feet,) so I'm very excited about this feature.

Tomorrow is Friday, the weather is gorgeous, (although we got hailed on this afternoon while hiking over to the farm to see the newborn lambs!), and I have a full belly. Off to fill out paperwork for my new job!

"mommies"

Lunch today: Edamame (which the kids at work call "mommies" -- we have them for snack sometimes) with a little EB and a pinch of salt, homemade yam fries (with a teeny container of Vegenaise for dipping,) brown and wild rice with garlic, and fresh pineapple.

When bad things happen to good muffins.

My vegan lemon poppyseed muffins molded! I lost three of them! No fair!

New Policy: In the future, all muffins will be stored in the fridge.

Midweek Munchies

Even though I stocked up and spent a fortune last week, I still managed to need quite a few things this week! I guess that's what happens when you have a small kitchen, and cook and eat a lot. ;-) Last weekend's purchases:

BAKERY:
1 loaf Great Harvest Bread Co. Country Wheat

BULK:
3/4 pound semisweet chocolate chips

FROZEN:
Woodstock organic peaches

PACKAGED GROCERY:
Kashi Organic Promise Autumn Wheat cereal
Spectrum organic canola oil
Spectrum organic sunflower oil spray (I hate paying for spray oil, but I can't cook without it sometimes! Phooey.)
Yogi Tea raspberry-ginger
2 boxes soft Mori-Nu
Thai Kitchen organic light coconut milk
one roll Seventh Generation brown paper towels

PERSONAL CARE:
two boxes NatraCare tampons

PRODUCE:
four organic bananas
one organic red grapefruit
one organic lemon
one organic lime
two organic valencia oranges
half a pound of organic button mushrooms
one organic green bell pepper
one organic red bell pepper
one white onion

REFRIGERATED GROCERY:
one box organic firm tofu

I've decided to try soft tofu in smoothies, instead of soy yogurt. (Less processed, methinks.) I made a huge smoothie discovery last week, too -- I love, love, love a good amount of chai concentrate in my smoothies. Mmmm . . . slightly spicy, slightly sweet, and a bit of caffeine, too. I might brew and chill some vanilla almond black tea this weekend, and see if this works just as well.

My plan for the peppers, onion, mushrooms, tofu, and coconut milk was a Thai peanut stir-fry, but since I ordered that last weekend, those veggies were used up in the creation of a no-cheese veggie pizza, instead. Mmmmm . . . veggies!

Visit Harmonia for more info on Midweek Munchies.

NEW JOB!

It's official! I have a new job! I collected my contract and other paperwork this evening, and will start nannying on May 4th.

HOORAY!

I give notice at work tomorrow, and then the ball starts rolling in a new direction. I need to go shopping for heath insurance, and investigate whether I can (afford to?) continue to purchase my dental plan. I also need to start bringing things home from work in small trips -- gear, books, supplies, etc.

I'm very excited. :)

although it's not "chili" outside . . .

LUNCH TODAY!!
Chili, fresh pineapple, a lemon-poppyseed muffin, and some trail mix (walnuts, chocolate chips, and dried apricots) for after school.

poopy Monday

I had a real Monday today:

1. As I was getting ready to leave for work this morning, I watched (from afar) my cat pee on my backpack. (Yes, my brand-new backpack.) I didn't have time to deal with it before work, although I soaked it down with enzymatic cleaner, and left it to air-dry. When I got home from work, it still smelled like cat pee. It is now soaking in the bathtub, in warm water and a LOT of laundry detergent. Cross your fingers for me, please!

2. Not only was my assistant out today (his band is touring this week,) my coteacher called me early this morning to let me know she was sick. Sheesh. And we really couldn't find subs at all. This morning, it was me, a sub, and our intern, and this afternoon, it was me, our intern, and two parent volunteers.

3. I sat in traffic for an hour and a half tonight, trying to get to my second interview for this nannying position. The traffic totally burned me out, and I fear I wasn't at my best for the interview. (They did offer me the job, though, and we're meeting tomorrow to go over the contract and fill out paperwork!)

Anyhow, now I'm beat. I just finished eating dinner, and am off to prep the coffee for tomorrow, pack a lunch, hopefully scrub my backpack clean, and then get ready for bed. I would really like to get to bed on time tonight! We'll see.

I hope everyone else avoided the "poopy Monday" blues today!

interview update, dinner, and more

I had an incredibly productive, incredibly busy day today! My feet are tired!

2:00 - I had an interview with a family for a nannying position. It went VERY well. I met with one of the moms, and she told me near the end of the interview that she'd like me to meet her partner and the kids, and then they were going to make me an offer. It sounds like a really excellent fit for all parties involved, and they are talking more money than I was asking for. Awesome! I'll keep you posted.

4:00 - I met Christine at her house and we walked to the Wedge to pick up a few things. Midweek Munchies to be posted this coming Wednesday!

5:00 - Christine and I headed over to Sawatdee for some incredible Thai food. I had a coconut peanut tofu curry (surrounded by steamed spinach,) over jasmine rice. It was heavenly -- rich, slightly sweet, with the slight bitterness of the spinach acting as a nice "foil." (Man, I hope I'm using that word properly.) Anyhow, the flavors complimented each other brilliantly. I have a full meal's worth of leftovers, and only spent $13.50.

After dinner, Christine and I walked back to her house to stash our leftovers in her fridge, then headed over to Calhoun Square to go to Kitchen Window. I learned they sharpen kitchen knives in store for $3.50 a blade while you wait, and it takes about 15 minutes. Project for next weekend! (My knives need help. I am currently able to bruise herbs, but not mince them.) We then went to Urban Traveller, where Christine found a new travel purse, and stopped at Cheapo, where Christine bought a bunch of smashin' 80s pop on vinyl. We stopped at French Meadow for dessert to go. I got a pink vegan cupcake. The frosting was colored with beet extract, of course. :) The cupcake was awesome -- huge and sticky, not-too-sweet frosting, nice and moist. (I could only eat half -- I'll enjoy the other half tomorrow!) Then Christine brought me and my groceries home. Whew!

I have to be at church at 8:15 tomorrow morning and sing two Easter Sunday services, so I better get to bed. Nighty-night!

breakfast!

This is, unfortunately, going to be the last photo this weekend . . . the camera battery died on me, and I didn't bring the charger home from work! Alas. Anyhow, breakfast this morning is cardamom-spiked coffee (thanks for the idea, Dori!), and cinnamon-raisin 7-grain hot cereal with flax, honey, and a few walnuts.


I'm really looking forward to this weekend -- the weather's beautiful, I have very little to do, and I'm in a great mood! (I had a wonderful conversation with my last parent-teacher conference yesterday that made me feel tons better about my whole work situation, and I'm beyond caring about the politics now. I'm just ready to MOVE ON!!)

AND, I just got an email from the family that lives across the street from my parents whose sons I used to babysit for, (the oldest one is in high school, now -- that makes me feel old!), and they are going to be in town next weekend! They asked me if I would play tour guide with them for a little while -- wee! I think we are going to go to the Diner for brunch, and then maybe to the Sculpture Garden. I haven't seen them in ages -- I'm excited!

Friday night baking project

VEGAN LEMON POPPYSEED MUFFINS!!!!

Made from a homemade muffin mix (which includes flax,) some soy milk, canola oil, plain soy yogurt, the zest and juice of one lemon, and a teaspoon of poppyseeds. My apartment smells all lemony and fabulous right now! Mmmmm . . . !

Happy Weekend, Everyone!

lazy lunch

I have to say, having an hour break for lunch is mighty nice. We are in the middle of parent-teacher conferences, and scheduled ourselves hour-long lunch breaks yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I enjoy not having to wolf my food down and try to get the room prepped for the afternoon at the same time!

There are a lot of stressful things about this job that I will not miss when I move on to whatever comes next. (I have another interview this weekend, by the way -- we'll see how it goes!) I'm looking forward to something different -- lower stress, more pay, more respect.

I'm off to make a cup of tea with my remaining ten minutes before our next conference! Woo-eee!

Mega Midweek Munchies

I really wish that I had the camera this past weekend. Why? So I could take "before" and "after" photos of my fridge and cupboards! It was time for a stock-up trip, and to gather ingredients for several cooking projects, too. Here's what I bought:

BAKERY:
four wholegrain bakery buns (for homemade black bean burgers)
one loaf of Great Harvest Bread Co. Sprouted Wheat bread

BULK:
a little over a pound of organic cannellini beans
a little under half a pound of organic raw walnuts
a little under half a pound of organic, roasted & salted soy nuts
a little under half a pound of unsweetened flaked coconut
about a pound of Equal Exchange whole bean organic breakfast blend coffee
a little over a pound of organic brown Basmati rice

FROZEN:
Cascadian Farms organic in-pod edamame
Cascadian Farms organic apple juice concentrate
SnoPac organic whole strawberries
one Amy's no-dairy black bean enchilada meal

PACKAGED GROCERY:
Bob's Red Mill Masa Harina
14 ounces organic artichoke hearts (packed in water)
12 ounces Fantastic Foods whole wheat couscous
Arrowhead Mills 7-grain hot cereal
Maple Pecan Peace Cereal
12 ounces Mori-Nu soft (I couldn't find organic soft silken tofu! Bah!)
plastic wrap
Oregon Chai "not-so-sweet"
Muir Glen organic mild salsa
Seventh Generation toilet paper
Seventh Generation lavender dish soap
Seventh Generation drawstring kitchen bags
Quilts low-sodium crackers
Bionaturae whole wheat fusilli
Pet Promise kitty food

PERSONAL CARE
Tom's of Maine wintermint toothpaste
Tom's of Maine lavender moisturizing soap
Tom's of Maine peppermint shave cream (again, I had a buy-3 Tom's coupon)
Burt's Bees lip balm

PRODUCE
one bunch organic green leaf lettuce
four organic Braeburn apples
one organic Fuerte avocado
one organic, fair-trade mango
one organic pineapple
two organic lemons
two limes (conventional . . . the only limes in the store.)
organic ginger root
organic fennel (my new veggie of the week!)
organic garlic
two bunches organic kale
one bunch organic cilantro
two organic red onions
one organic red bell pepper
three organic Yukon Gold potatoes
one jalapeno
one medium-sized yam

REFRIGERATED GROCERY:
Tofutti Sour Supreme
Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
14 oz firm water-packed organic tofu
two Organic Valley half-gallons of plain soy milk

AND, just so you know, I ended up using approximately fifteen dollars worth of coupons, thanks to my Blue Sky Guide and the Seventh Generation website, so the trip wasn't quite the wallet-shocker I was expecting.

Whew!

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

other participants

another lunch!

Lunch today: brown and wild rice pilaf with garlic, two potato and tofu latkes, sauteed kale with onion and garlic, a small container of Tofutti Better than Sour Cream, and a couple of dried apricots.

Oh -- and a soy chai latte. It's coference week, and I needed a little caffeine . . . !!

i lied.

So, I'm at work eating lunch and I thought, "why don't I take a photo of my lunch today, upload it, and blog about it?" So, here you go. Here's my own version of laptop vegan lunchbox for today!


I have a killer veggie sandwich on the left -- wholegrain bread from Great Harvest, with guacamole and hummus, shredded carrot, red and green bell pepper slices, and fresh spinach. On the right, some organic black grapes (with seeds,) and some roasted, salted soy nuts. Yum!

frustrating

So, I got the latest edition of "Rolling Stone" in the mail today. Guess who was on the cover? Kiefer Sutherland. That's not the big deal. The big deal is . . .

HE IS ON THE COVER OF ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE SMOKING A CIGARETTE.

Yes, the cover. Smoking.

Now, I am pretty open minded. And I am aware that magazines are the only place (pretty much) cigarette companies are still allowed to advertise. But this isn't advertizing -- Rolling Stone CHOSE to show a famous actor SMOKING on the COVER.

It's just icky.

I might have to write a letter of complaint. I have been thinking about cancelling my subscription for a while now, even though I do enjoy some of the political/news related articles that they write, as well as the music news, of course.

This is just plain icky. I can't even articulate how frustrated I am by this.

ask, and ye shall receive

So I borrowed the digital from work. First, a tour of my kitchen:


This is a shot of my kitchen through the "window" leading to the living room. There is a barstool-height counter/passthru type area, which I am very glad they put in because, otherwise, the kitchen would be too small to be usable. However, the counter isn't good for much, besides collecting dirty dishes. :) It's also a nice place to set canisters while cooking. Notice how high the cupboards are? Keep in mind I am taller than my fridge, and I'm 5 feet 2 inches tall. I think my whole apartment was designed for basketball players.


So, we're starting in the kitchen now, on the left side, (if you have your back to the counter.) This is my wall o' spices. I have discovered the importance of using all available space in a kitchen this size, including vertical space. Below the three spice racks, I have a magnetic knife bar. To the left of the spice racks is the phone and four-cup programmable coffee pot. (I also have a French Press for special occasions.) I store my cookbooks on the window sill: one of Jamie Oliver's, all three of Alton Brown's, Joy of Cooking, Betty Crocker's Cookbook, Joy of Cooking All About Vegetarian, a couple miscellaneous books that were given to me as gifts, and Herbst and Herbst's Ultimate A-Z Bar Guide. I don't drink much, but when I do, it's nice to know what's in your cocktail! (Also, notice the "naughty kitty squirter" ready and waiting . . . ! For some reason, he especially enjoys attacking me while I'm cooking.)


Continuing around counter-clockwise, you see my stove, ONE usable countertop, and part of my sink. I store my cast-iron frying pan directly on my stovetop at all times, (covered with the splatter screen to keep out dust,) because I have nowhere else to put it. Also, the teakettle I "inherited" from my great-grandma. (It's nothing special, but it's tiny, which is nice in this space.) The oven is so small, nothing larger than a 9X13 pan fits in it. I had to buy new cookie sheets when I moved in. Again, notice the use of vertical space -- anything that can be hung on a nail in my kitchen is hung on a nail. I'll have a lot of holes to fill when I move out! Anyhow, on the countertop, (which is 16.25 inches wide by 24.25 inches deep,) I have a flatware caddy, because the drawers are just too small for flatware, (the caddy also holds my vitamins and the pepper grinder,) a drinking straw dispenser, (smoothies!), my mini Le Creuset casserole, which serves as my salt cellar, and a glass "butter" dish with an Earth Balance buttery stick in it. Below the counter are four, 8-inch wide drawers that hold junk, cooking utensils, and plastic wrap, foil, and parchment. I store my dishes and glasses in the cabinet above the oven.


Here's the sink. The single sink. The single, 5 1/2 inch-deep sink. I wear an apron when I wash dishes, because I slosh a lot of water out of the sink. I also have to drain and re-fill the sink several times while washing dishes, or fill the sink with water and dishes, and stack the dishes on a towel on the counter to my left, then drain the sink in order to rinse them. It's a bit tricky. HOWEVER, I love my dishrack, which must have been designed to fit spaces such as the one to the right of my sink. (Thank you, IKEA.) It's only 10 inches wide, but holds a TON of clean dishes! Below the sink are two large, open cabinets which house the garbage and compost, cleaning supplies, and all of my plastic containers, which I store with their lids on inside a cardboard box with the top flaps cut off. Very high tech. :) Above the sink are two (very tall) cabinets where I store oils/vinegars/other cooking stuff, cereal, crackers, and bulk dry stuff (beans, grains, and pasta.) Above the dish drainer, there is a super-skinny cabinet that houses teas and canned goods. I use my stepstool A LOT. OH! Also notice the microwave. I hardly use it, but it came with the apartment, and I like how it's hanging above everything. Neat, eh?


Here's my fridge. Again, nothing special. I am taller than my fridge, which is kind of cool -- I didn't know they made fridges that small! When the fridge door is open, it completely blocks the entrance to the kitchen. In the cabinet above the fridge, I store metal baking pans, mixing bowls, my colander, and extra travel coffee mugs. There are also a couple bottles of liquor up there, but they are pretty dusty! On top of the fridge is my cooling grate, coffee grinder, filters, whole bean coffee, and bowl of bags of different kinds of dried fruit and coconut. Notice my laptop lunchbox??? ;-) Oh, on the fridge, I have my grocery list, and I have THE COOLEST system for this, but I'll post about it another time.


This is overflow kitchen storage (also known as the closet in my living room.) Pots, pans, more cansters (hot cereal, flours that don't need to be refrigerated, sugars, etc.), both Crock Pots, my French silicone pastry mat, rolling pin, glass baking pans, blender, hand mixer, Cuisinart mini-prep, cookie cuttters, serving bowls and platters, miscellaneous baking pans, and anything else that isn't in "regular rotation," like my ice cream maker.

AND NOW . . . FOR THE FOOD!


This is the last, lonely cupcake from a week or so ago. (Well, four are in the freezer.) It looked so lonely, I put a class of soy milk in the picture to keep it company. And I forgot I wanted to take a picture of it until AFTER I took a bite out of it. Oh well. You get the idea. :)


This is the chocolate pudding/mousse I made on Friday. Mmm . . . if I wasn't already so full, I might have dessert again!


This was dinner tonight -- "chips and dips." Sprouted wheat baked tortilla chips (I made the chips, but not the tortillas,) with leftover mango salsa from Friday, (this salsa does not store well -- the ginger flavor overpowers everything. I like ginger, but I don't want mango to taste like ginger!), leftover homemade refried black beans with a dollop of Tofutti Better than Sour Cream, and a big blob of leftover homemade guacamole. (I think Fuerte avocados are just about the best things ever. When they feel soft, they are perfectly ripe inside. None of this "rock solid outside, black inside" Haas avocado nonsense!)


Kitties like to eat, too. :) (Also notice my beautiful hardwood floors -- even in my kitchen!)

That's all the photos for now, and probably for a while. Hope that tides you over!

all right, fine then!

I'll borrow the camera from work tomorrow . . . I'll plate some food and take pictures! I'll take pictures of my kitchen, too -- you can start laughing now, though . . . wait 'til you see it . . . !

In the meantime, this photo is especially for Michelle . . .

attempt at photos?!?

meet my tubby kitty . . .



I love that he looks so irritated in this picture.

vegetarian times cookbook and chocolate pudding

I checked out the "Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook" (1995) from the library several weeks ago, and have just recently began reading through it. Two recipes caught my eye: Barbados Black Bean Cakes with Mango Salsa, and Apple-Fennel Salad with Fusilli. Both were simple to prepare and UNBELIEVABLY TASTY!!!! (I served the black bean cakes like burgers, on wholegrain rolls from my co-op's deli with a bit of Vegenaise and the salsa, with sides of the pasta salad and some sauteed kale.) Here are the recipes:

Apple-Fennel Salad with Fusilli:
Whisk together:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Toss with the dressing:
8 ounces whole wheat fusilli, cooked according to the package directions and cooled slightly
3 medium apples, cored and diced
1/2 pound fennel, trimmed and sliced thinly
(The recipe then instructs you to serve it on a bed of greens, which would be delicious, but it also works as a side-dish type pasta salad. I love the fennel!)

Barbados Black Bean Cakes with Mango Salsa:
Salsa (stir together):
2 cups peeled, diced mango
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced (I used a jalapeno)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Cakes (stir together, coat in breadcrumbs, and pan-fry):
2 15-ounce cans black beans: drained, rinsed, and mashed coarsely
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 egg white, lightly beaten (I used flax and water)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

I have no words to describe the fabulousness of this meal.

I also made the chocolate pudding recipe that someone posted in a comment on harmonia's blog a little while ago (1 box soft Mori-Nu, 1/3 cup maple syrup, 1 tbsp vanilla, and 1 cup melted chocolate chips, pureed in a blender, then chilled.) WOW. Super-tasty, super-rich, super-perfect! (I would describe it as more of a "mousse" than a "pudding," however! Way too fluffy and delicious to be called simply "pudding.")

It's been an exciting food weekend at my house.

My kitchen is an absolute pit, however. I should go clean it . . . !

i heart dickies!

I never thought I'd be brand-obsessed. However, I have fallen in love with Dickies bags. After stumbling across the perfect purse (color: chive) back in December, I have now found the perfect backpack (color: olive.) (It was originally priced $32 instead of the higher web price, AND I had a $4 off coupon!)

Strangely enough, I have been looking for a new backpack for quite a while now -- the zipper broke on my old one, and I had been searching for something a little less "campus-y," and a little more hip.

Dickies to the rescue! I love that their bags are hip, industrial-strength, and reasonably priced. What's not to love???

free Chipotle!

The fates collided after work tonight and resulted in me having FREE Chipotle for dinner tonight! (Veggie fajita burrito with rice, beans, peppers & onions, corn salsa, mild tomato salsa, guacamole, and shredded romaine. Yum!) (My friend Ann's sister manages a Chipotle.) Conveniently, the Chipotle she manages shares a parking lot with the Whole Foods, so we popped in and I got myself a package of soy sausage! Strange that I was just writing about that yesterday, eh? I also bought 1 1/4 pounds of organic black grapes (with seeds,) a small amount of bulk vegan raspberry gummies, two organic Atulfo mangoes, and four organic bananas.

It's so nice to have fruit in the house again. (I ran out Monday night.)

Midweek Munchies

Midweek Munchies: What I am contributing for the week No list this week, but two questions: ONE: What brand/type of soy sausage do you prefer? (That is, if you eat soy sausage.) I've tried Boca (not my favorite) and the Whole Foods store brand (pretty good, but Whole Foods is a bit of a trek from my house,) but would appreciate other options. :) (I think sausage might be the only meat product I "miss." I do enjoy soy sausage, however!) TWO: I'm thinking about buying beets as my "veggie of the week" this week. Anyone have any great beet recipes? I think I'd like to try roasting them. Links to other Midweek Munchies

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required. Have fun and Go Veg!

too many plates

Right now is one of those times in my life when I feel like I have too many plates spinning up in the air. I'm job searching, one of my friends is feeling icky and the doctors can't figure out what's going on, another of my friends is experiencing major stress, Daylight Savings always takes me a month to recover from, recent (albeit repaired, but expensive) car problems . . . the list goes on, and on, and on . . . .

I'm the stress queen! Perhaps I should wear my tiara tomorrow.

cupcake heaven.

I have died and gone to cupcake heaven. I have been craving (i.e., dreaming about) really great dessert for weeks now, and have not satisfied my craving. Until today. I veganized and wholegrained a Betty Crocker yellow cake recipe, with some other changes, too.

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Beat 1/4 cup Earth Balance buttery sticks on low for 30 seconds, or until fluffy. Beat in 10 tablespoons of natural granulated sugar. Slowly beat in 10 tablespoons of soy milk, 6 tablespoons of plain soy yogurt, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.
3. Slowly beat in 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of whole wheat pastry flour. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then on high speed for 3 minutes. Fold in 1/2 cup flaked coconut.
4. Lightly grease 10 muffin pan wells and divide the batter evenly among them. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then on wire rack until completely cooled.
5. Warm 1/3 cup plain soy milk over low heat until it is steaming. Whisk in 3/4 cup dark/semisweet chocolate chips, until the ganache is smooth. Top each cupcake with about a tablespoon (or a little more) of the ganache, and an extra sprinkle of coconut.

I highly recommend waiting until the ganache is set (very tought to do) before you sample one . . . otherwise, you might drip ganache all over the kitchen floor, like I did!

molasses "treats"

I have been after a not-too-sweet sweet this past week, and also ran out of the homemade lara-type bars I made a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to design my own pan of "treats," thanks to inspiration from Leslie.

1. Melt together 1 tablespoon of Earth Balance, 1/2 cup nut butter of your choice (I used cashew so I can take them to work,) 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses, a pinch of salt, a few dashes of cinnamon, a few dashes of nutmeg, and a splash of vanilla extract.
2. Stir in 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, 1/4 cup flaked coconut, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup flaxmeal, 1/4 cup almonds, and 1/4 cup sesame seeds. Pat this mixture into a greased or parchment-lined 8-inch pan. Chill.
3. Pry the mixture out of the pan and cut it into 16 squares using a pizza cutter. Wrap each treat individually, and store in the fridge.

I had to sample one (okay, two -- I was hungry!) of these as they went into the fridge. They are yummy. The molasses flavor is very strong, but not quite overpowering. I may play around with this a bit next time, just to see if I can make them more palatable for the "general population."

Oh, and I already screwed up my dairy-free month idea, but it was an accident. Tonight, I had some Annie's Whole Wheat Bunnies at a friend's house. After a handfull went into my soup (Amy's No Chicken Noodle -- I didn't really care for it,) and the soup went into my belly, I discovered cheese is one of the ingredients in the crackers. I guess I should learn to read my labels better! Oh well. I suppose this means dairy-free month OFFICIALLY begins tomorrow. (An April Fool's joke played on me by the universe? Dunno.)

bye-bye dairy???

I'm starting a dairy-free month today. (This is going to be a MAJOR challenge for me -- I love, love, love cheese, and although my home is dairy-free, I really enjoy having a little cheese now and then, when I dine out.) Wish me luck! If I start moo-ning (har, har) about cheese on here, I apologize. I'll need all the words of encouragement I can get!

What prompted the dairy-free month? Well, a couple of things: I have been eating out WAY too much lately (and thus consuming WAY too much cheese,) my skin is really starting to clear up but it's not where I'd like it to be, and I have mysteriously gained five pounds. So, goodbye out-food (for the most part -- I also need to cut back on spending,) and good-bye to my beloved cheese.

I was, after all, born and raised in Wisconsin. A daughter of America's Dairyland does not part easily with her beloved fromage.

Man, I'm punchy right now.