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Playing Catch-Up

First things first: I've been totally remiss in my posting lately, I know. Things have gotten in the way. Work. Apathy. Heat. But mostly work. Tuesday was the first day I've had off in a week, and I closed most of the days I worked - which means no dinner, and nothing to post about. I really hate that. They make me close all the goddamn time, which fucks up my day like you would not believe. I love how I've worked there for over a year and I'm still at the bottom of the totem pole. They really need to hire someone else so I can stop getting stuck with the shifts no one else wants.

ANYWAY. I suck, Michael's sucks, summer sucks. But I have actual content this time to make up for it! Behold:


Raspberry Chocolate Chip Blondies from VwaV. These things are so ridiculously good. It's unreal. People who normally won't touch my desserts dive right in and eat these with wild abandon. 100% picky omnivore-approved.


The perspective here makes this look like the largest pan of blondies ever made. I'm okay with that. I wish it really were, because then I'd still have some to eat. Also, you know how you can see part of my kitchen in the background there? Yeah, well that's actually my whole kitchen.


Tuesday night I was feeling lazy, and we had leftover veggie burgers from a barbecue The Boy's dad had for Father's Day. So there you have it: an Amy's All American burger covered in BBQ sauce, corn on the cob, and roasted sweet potatoes. The burger was okay. I'm not really a fan of veggie burgers most of the time - the texture is weird. These were above average, but I wouldn't buy them myself.


Last night was a VwaV breakfast for dinner extravaganza! Baking Powder Biscuits (made with whole wheat pastry flour), Tempeh and White Bean Sausage Gravy (oooooh god this stuff was amazing), and roasted potatoes. I left a few things out of the gravy - fennel seed, because I'm not fond of the flavor, oregano because I don't have anyright now (I threw in some thyme instead), and I didn't have any fresh sage so that got left out. It was SO good, though. Like I'm going to make it again and eat it straight from a bowl or as a sandwich spread. Mmm.

The only thing about this meal I didn't like was the fact that it was entirely beige. I feel like there was some nutrition lacking in that way. But it's okay. Sometimes you need a big, heavy plate of protein and carbs.

My name is Carrie and I'm a carb-o-holic. Whew! OK. I said it. It's out in the open. I think I eat more carbs in a day than a person really should. Atkins? NEVER!! Your entire carb-fest is fit for a queen.
Those blondies look incredible. The chocolate make them blondies with dark roots. I have to make those!

love the blondies
don't like fennel either
couldn't live without carbs

carrie - You know, I'm a carb-o-holic too, and I always thought I ate WAY more carbs than I should. But since I've started tracking my food on Spark People, I think I've only gone over my carb recommendation on three or four days (out of almost a month). Even more surprising, yesterday was NOT one of those days! I was shocked. That meal was carby, but it also packed some serious protein.

You should definitely make the (dirty) blondies! They're so amazing. :)

megan - Clearly great minds think alike. :)

Mmmmm, blondies. I haven’t baked anything in a while. But the korma experiment must move forth this weekend, so we’ll have to see if there’s time for desert making as well. Carbs are my friends :)

You mean my house has a kitchen? I'm suppose to cook? And post? Work is the only thing I know these days.

I love carbs. Have been to indulgent in them lately the only plus is that while I haven't lost weight I haven't gained any either.

Where do you work?

I've never tried fennel but avoid fake almond scent like the plague. I'm not big on the scent of that parsley looking herb, smells like soap. It's mexican, green and begins with a "C" ...the name has fallen out of the hole in my brain. I love it in food, just not the smell of it fresh.

shananigans - I'm excited to see the outcome of your korma experiment! You should definitely make time for the blondies at some point, though. They're just... yum. :)

jessie - Ha, I know, right? It's so easy to get bogged down by obligations. I haven't touched my sketchbook in nearly 2 months. It's horrendous. I work at Michael's crafts, in the framing department. It's not the worst job I've ever had... but it's retail, which means human interaction and customer service, which means that I hate it with the fire of 1,000 suns. Joy.

Fennel tastes very licorice-y. I had fennel seed for the first time in the White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup from VwaV, and it was a big part of why I didn't really care for the soup. Yuck. I'm okay with fake almond. I'm okay with most fake flavors, actually, with the exception of cherry and occasionally grape. Too cough syrup-y. The herb name you're looking for is cilantro, and I have to say I love the stuff. Love! Smell, taste, everything.

Yay, you have returned! And it was worth the wait, for those photos. All looks soooo amazingly good. I also have been suffering through the heat (who knew it got past 90 degrees in Vermont?), and therefore, too hot to cook. It's not abnormal for me to just have cantelope or watermelon for dinner. I'm starting to crave something with more substance though, I think it's time to revisit VwaV.
Seriously, it all looks sooooo delicious.

I'm not a huge fan of fennel, but I swear it really helps in the tempeh sausage. I think it makes it slightly smokey, I know that makes no sense, but yeah.

I love me some beige food.

You're photography is so amazing it makes me very jealous. Either you should quit your crummy job and take up professional photography, or you have one hell of a camera!
Beige is not a nice colour but I think blogging makes you think too much about how food looks cos you don't want to share boring looking photos, especially if they might give non-vegans the wrong idea.
Roasted sweet potato (or raw sweet potato, or mashed sweet potato or boiled, steamed.....) can be described in only one way YUMMM!
P.S Good to see you back again!

ms. mercedes - Ooooh I feel you on the heat. It's been SO hot here. And humid. I've been eating a lot of fruit and carrots and things with peanut butter on them and cereal and smoothies in lieu of cooked meals for that very reason. Mmm, cantaloupe and watermelon... I could eat that for dinner anytime. I heart melon.

emily - I love beige food too, but I try not to each too many all-beige meals. :) Sometimes there's just no way to work in the veggies I have around, though. I'm on the fence about whether to add the fennel next time I make the gravy... I'm thinking I may just leave it out, because obviously I already loved it sans-fennel, and if I add it and don't like it then it'll just go to waste. I might just throw in a few drops of liquid smoke and call it a day.

freedom - Aww, thanks! I like to think I have some talent for photography - it's been a hobby of mine for years and years, since I was a wee freshman in high school and had my first encounter with a darkroom. But I also do have one hell of a camera, which help a bit I'm sure. :) I agree about blogging causing you to focus a lot more on how your food looks. Like I always want to make more colorful or interesting-looking things so I can post about them, even though less pretty food tastes just as good.

Sweet potatoes can do no wrong. For the longest time I didn't like them, because I'd only had the sticky-sweet marshmallow-covered casserole thing at Thanksgiving. Ugh. Thankfully I've seen the light, and now prefer my sweet potatoes on the savory side.

droooguroouwghgh. oh sorry, i just choked on my own drool a little bit there.

blondies! must. have. recipe.

p.s. the vegan ice cream sandwiches? soooo good. and SO easy. vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from trader joes, vanilla soy delicious ice cream. sanwich 'em, stick 'em in freezer, see how long you can wait before eating them all. yum.

Carrie - I'm with you, carb o holic for sure. For real.

Mmmm, corn on the cob. I haven't have any yet these season, but i think I'll look for it soon.

I know what you mean about the monocolor dinners. I always think I need something green on my plate. But sometimes when groceries are low, the only thing colorful on my plate is red, ketchup. Nothing compliments oven fried potatoes and tofu nuggets better.

holiday at sea - I'm a bit hesitant to post the recipe, because I feel like I've posted too many from VwaV. But I'll probably post it later anyway. :) I've made similar ice cream sandwiches with the sparkled ginger cookies from VwaV before... so yummy.

Are you using Spark People? I know you mentioned it before, and now they've added a Spark Mail feature where you can communicate with other users directly - so if you still want to be Operation: Hottie buddies, I'm there!

jess - Totally. I actually have a shirt that says "I heart Carbs." It's adorable. I never wear it, though, because I can just imagine what people would think about a fat girl walking down the street in it.

grace - Very true, ketchup is the best thing with roasted potatoes. I actually put ketchup on a lot of stuff I probably shouldn't. Like falafel. (Please don't stone me to death.) I actually have a ton of veggies in my fridge right now, but none of them seemed to fit with that meal. It's okay, though. Beige is just as vallid a color as green.

FYI - the vegetable korma recipe is posted on my blog now. Highly recommended!

i LOVE eating food from "the beige group"! i always joke around about that because sometimes when i go to potlucks i eat an entirely beige dinner.

kate - You're going to love them! VwaV is pretty much the pinacle of easy, delicious vegan cookbooks.

shananigans - Sweet! I'm heading over now. :)

girl least likely to - I know, beige is delicious. Potatoes. Bread. All that starchy goodness. That's what I always end up with as well, unless some kind soul forgot to butter the broccoli.

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