vegancore

5-Day Core Report

2007-05-25T19:49:00.000-04:00

So it's been 5 days on Core, and things are going... mostly well. My usual routine has been oatmeal for breakfast, leftovers from dinner and an apple or some other fruit for lunch, some more fruit for a snack when I get home from work, dinner, and then a sweet snack/dessert. For the last two days I've found myself hungry just an hour or two after my oatmeal, which is weird, but I think it has more to do with, erm, upcoming female events than anything diet-related.

I like not counting. Or, you know, limited counting. It makes me feel less like I'm "on a diet" and more like I'm just making better choices. What I don't like is the complete and utter ban on bread. You can have it, of course, but you have to spend your points on it. Most of the time I'm okay with that, but it limits my lunch options a little bit. I can't just throw together a sandwich or take a pita and hummus, because I'd rather not spend my discretionary points on bread when I could spend them on, say, a delicious bowl of the carrot cake rice cream that is calling my name from the freezer. But then you have a situation like tonight, when I decided to make flatbread, have one, and put the rest away for use over the next few days. I ended up eating two, for a total of 6 points, because I was really hungry and I'm running low on veggies and I didn't feel like making a big effort for anything else. And now my stomach kind of hurts. Bleh.

So basically, I wish one serving of some wheat bread-like product was on the Core list. It would make my life easier. Also, this plan is much better for people who earn a lot of activity points. There was a time when I was exercising every day and getting 3 or 4 extra points, but right now I'm getting up at 6 am and spending 8 hours a day painting murals outside in the very hot sun, and when I get home I want nothing more than a shower and a comfortable chair in a cool room. I don't know if it's the heat or what, but I've had very little energy of late. Everything takes a lot of effort. It's a little distressing, but I'm too tired to do anything about it.

I'm going into the weekend with less than 5 flex points, and I'm having dinner at my favorite Indian restaurant tomorrow night. I'm not sure how I'm going to swing that. I may just get something bean-based and call it trying my best. On Flex this would probably send me into a spiral of junk food and badness. What's nice about Core is that even if I don't have any flex points left, I can still eat. And even if I go out to eat and I'm eating stuff that might not be Core, I'm not trying to count points for everything I put in my mouth, so I don't feel like a failure if I can't assign a number to something. So far this plan has led to much less obsessing about food and points and more enjoyment of my food. I like it.

And now, some pictures:

Lemon-Herb Seitan (the tofu recipe in Vive le Vegan, but with seitan instead), brown rice, sauteed yellow squash, steamed broccoli. Delicious. After reducing the oil a bit, the lemon-herb seitan is Core enough for me. Meaning that there's a tiny bit of agave (seriously, like 1/2 tsp), I'm not worrying over things like that. Seriously, it's 10 calories worth of agave spread over 2 servings (I halved the recipe). Not a big deal. The seitan is the last of Joanna's awesome chicken-style seitan that I had frozen; I'll have to make up another batch soon.

Joni's 50/50 Flatbread. Easy, and really tasty too. I halved the recipe and made them larger; I got 4 instead of 8. In retrospect, I wish I would've stuck with the little ones, because then eating two wouldn't have cost me so many points. But otherwise, the only downside is that I set off my fire alarm while making these and couldn't get it to shut off for like 3 or 4 minutes, during which time I thought my eyes were actually going to start bleeding. Awesome.

the state of the blog address

2007-05-21T19:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, so it's been well over a month since I posted. A lot has been happening in my life in the last few months.

My boyfriend of 6 1/2 years and I broke up about 2 months ago. I think it was the right thing to do, but it was still the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life. So now I'm cooking for one and looking for a smaller, cheaper apartment. My emotional state is perhaps not the best it's ever been, and while for the most part I'm okay, I've had little motivation to cook extravagent things when I'm just going to eat by myself in front of the tv. Also, I'm totally guilty of "eating my feelings" over the last few weeks. As if stuffing my face with junk will somehow make me feel better. Yeah, okay. In reality it'll just make me fatter, which, as I'm sure you can imagine, is less with the cheering up. It's a vicious cycle, really.

On the plus side, I started a full-time mural-painting internship almost immediately after school let out 3 weeks ago, in addition to some other freelance work that came my way, and some work that I already had lined up. It's been a good year for me, art-wise. I had a piece make it into the Society of Illustrators student competition; it hung in the gallery show there for most of this month. Another piece was chosen to be the poster artwork for this year's Lancaster Art Walk. It hung up all over the city, which was pretty freakin' sweet. All of this is wonderful, of course, and I'm very thankful for it all - but it's keeping me pretty busy. Which, given the current state of things, is probably good. But it does get in the way of all things food bloggy.

The basic gist of things is that some shit happened, and is happening, and life just keeps marching on, and I'm trying to keep up. And in doing that, I've neglected this blog terribly. Which I feel pretty bad about, I'm not going to lie. I don't like to see things sit and stagnate. But I'm sort of at a crossroads here. I'm not focused so much on cooking new things anymore. I still do, every once in a while, but I can't remember when the last time I opened a cookbook was. So I have no food to blog about, really.

My focus in life has shifted, and in an attempt to keep this blog relevent, I'm going to shift focus here as well. I need to get my eating and my weight under control. It's a source of a lot of negativity, stress, and depression for me, and I'm tired of doing nothing about it. Today I started following the Weight Watcher's Core program. I am going to blog about it. In an odd twist, this will make my blog name actually match the subject for once. Neat. I'll still post about food, and recipes, and I'll still do candy reviews occasionally. But the scope of the blog, if it's not completely different, has effectively shifted.

(I was going to say "expanded," but it reminded me too much of how my ass is steadily expanding, and I'd like to start this new endeavor on a positive note.)

Chili, Cupcakes, Cake, and a Cat!

2007-04-15T23:40:00.000-04:00

Joanna's Better Than Basic Veggie Chili, a tester recipe. It's pretty fantastic. I made some cornbread to go with it, and the combination made for several days of enjoyable meals.

Pink lemonade cupcakes! Well, that's what they were supposed to be, anyway. I pinked up the batter, but it didn't bake that way. Very annoying. The cupcakes are the basic golden vanillas from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World with some lemon extract thrown in, and the frosting is the lemon cream cheese recipe from the same book. That frosting is AMAZING. Seriously, it's worth typing in all caps for. I took these to my family's easter shindig and they were a big hit. Even my dad liked them, and he's been known to have heart palpitations at the mention of soy.

A pink lemonade mini cake made from leftover cupcake batter and frosting. For some reason these little cakes baked up a lot pinker than the cupcakes. Maybe because I used silicone pans? Who knows. Either way, it was cute and tasty. Forgive the shoddy frosting job. I was pretty tired of it at this point and there wasn't enough frosting left to do it up right.

And finally, this my kitty getting her stare on. Obviously she is not food, but I thought I'd post it anyway. Her eyes stare directly into your soul. Can you feel it? I know I can. What you probably can't get a sense of from this picture is how damn annoying she is. For real, she drives me crazy. Crazy, I tell you! It's a good thing she's cute.

life interferes with blogging, and ABC cookies suck

2007-04-04T00:37:00.000-04:00

So you may have noticed that the candy review hasn't been posted this week. It's terrible, I know. I'm such a bad blogger. But I have 3 weeks left in the semester and the proverbial shit is beginning to hit the fan, if you know what I'm saying. Things are getting hectic, with deadlines and projects and tests and trying to line up internships and whatnot. Plus I don't have any fun candy at the moment, which I can assure you is more disappointing for me than it is for you.

As soon as I get a chance I'm going to get a few different things and I'll post several reviews at once to make up for my blog neglect. So if you have any suggestions, give 'em to me now!

One thing I can say is that Alternative Baking Co.'s peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are not good. At all. I went in wanting Liz Lovely's mochadamia cookies, which are delicious pieces of heaven wrapped in cellophane, but when they weren't there I settled for an ABC cookie. It pretty much tasted like peanut butter-ish playdough with the occasional chocolate chip. I still finished it, because let's face it, I'll pretty much eat anything where the primary ingredients are sugar, fat, and flour. I'm basically a sweets-whore. And I'd been craving a cookie all day. But it was bad. Really bad. In fact, the only ABC cookie I've ever liked is the pumpkin spice one. I'd be willing to give the lemon poppyseed a shot, but otherwise I think I'll hold out for the Liz Lovelys in the future.

Candy Review Monday: Mazapan De la Rosa

2007-03-26T13:13:00.000-04:00

This week's candy is Mazapan De la Rosa, described on the package as "the authentic Mexican-style marzipan candy." And the candy is indeed made in Mexico. I found it at Wal-Mart, which I know is evil and I shouldn't shop there, but whatever, I've accepted the fact that I'm a horrible person sometimes.

The package contains 8 little individually-wrapped circles of candy. Each one weighs 1 ounce. The plastic wrapping has a rose on it and the whole thing is really quite pretty. I like that they're individually wrapped. If they weren't the whole thing would just be a mess of peanut crumbles.

Mazapan has just three ingredients: sugar, peanuts, and the ever-nebulous artificial flavors. The candy itself is in a smooth circle, and each one I've eaten has broken in half when I opened the plastic. It's very dry and crumbly overall, and the texture is a bit paste-like when you dissolve it in your mouth. There are little flecks of peanuts every once in a while, which is nice. It's very sweet and peanutty, but not like peanut butter - it actually tastes like peanuts. It reminds me of a dry peanut butter fudge more than any kind of marzipan I've had. However, like peanut butter, it sticks to the roof of your mouth like crazy. This candy requires a beverage to go with it.

I like it. I bought it on a whim because it was cheap (I think $1.99) and vegan and kind of pretty. And because I love peanut brittle, peanut butter, peanut butter fudge, peanuts themselves, and any derivative thereof. I'm going to give it an 8/10, because it's a unique product here in the states, and because it's something I'd actually buy again. Each little circle has 134 calories, 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein, and 14% of the RDA of calcium. I thought the calcium part was especially interesting. Not bad for candy.

Belated Candy Review Monday: Simpsons Fruit Snacks

2007-03-20T23:27:00.000-04:00

I was at Five Below a few weeks ago, looking for interesting candy, and I had to get these. I love me some fruit snacks, but often they have gelatin in them. Plus: Simpsons! And only a dollar. You can't lose.

Or so I thought.

Straight up, these are foul and disappointing. First, they aren't shaped like Simpsons characters. I totally thought they would be, and that made me pretty sad. I wanted to eat a little vegetarian Lisa. What they are shaped like is fruit. There are six kinds: orange, lemon, cherry, grape, green apple, and strawberry.

They taste like waxy nothing. Honestly. Here's the run down:

Cherry: It's like someone put a single drop of cherry cough syrup in a vat of fruit snack mix and called it a flavor.
Green Apple: The best texture of all of them. It's plumper, softer, and not as waxy. However, it tastes like a watered down jolly rancher.
Lemon: Lemon things are always my favorite, so I was hoping this one would be okay. It's not. Before I went vegan I used to get those honey-lemon cough drops, and I guess this kind of tastes like that. If you're tasting it from 3 months ago.
Orange, Grape, and Strawberry: These should all be shaped like some kind of magical nothing-fruit, because seriously, they are so non-flavored that the only reason you can taste any difference at all between them is because you brain sees something shaped like a strawberry and tries desperately to create a strawberry taste for you so that the universe doesn't collapse into itself

I'm calling it a 2/10. I'm throwing the box away. And I totally wasted that dollar. The only reason these don't get a 1 or a 0 is because I wasn't actually dry heaving afterward.

Candy Review Monday: More Ritter Sports!

2007-03-12T11:01:00.001-04:00

Ritter Sport Peppermint

I've heard so much about these, but I could never find them anywhere. So after last week's review, when Lindsay from vegan chai offered to send me one, I jumped at the chance to try it. And now I can say with complete convinction that this is the most fantastic chocolate mint bar I've ever had and that it's a damn shame it's not widely available in the US.

Inside those little squares of chocolate is a smooth, fresh, delicious minty paste of some kind that I would like to eat entire bowls of. It's a generous amount, too; when I broke the bar apart and only saw those little stripes of white, I was a little disappointed. But then I bit into one and found a big well of the stuff, so I was happy again. Honestly, it's just like a peppermint patty - only so much better. Whoever is responsible for importing Ritter Sport products needs to remedy this situation, stat.

This one gets a 10/10 from me. I may cry when I finish this bar, just for lack of being able to get another one. Plus the german name is really fun to say. Pfefferminz!

Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate

This is a really mild dark chocolate. It almost tastes like milk chocolate to me, actually. It's very smooth and sweet, but still has more depth of flavor than the milk chocolate that I remember. I don't have much else to say about this bar; it's simple and very good. It would be a good "starter" dark chocolate for people who aren't crazy about the really dark stuff, because it's not bitter at all.

This one gets a 10/10 as well, because even though it's not breaking any new ground in terms of flavor or novelty factor, it's a really good, highly munchable chocolate bar that I will definitely get again.

I am officially a big fan of Ritter Sports. They rock. They're cute and delicious, and the square shape and little chunky nuggets of chocolate make me feel like I'm playing with edible blocks. Go Ritter Sport!

Cupcakes x 2

2007-03-09T00:06:00.002-05:00

These tasty little morsels are rootbeer float cupcakes, and they're actually surprisingly true to life as far as the flavor goes. I don't drink soda too often, but when I do I love rootbeer - so these were awesome for me. The cake is moist and a little airy, and the frosting is sweet and creamy. Yum.

The recipe is here, courtesy of the ever-awesome Bittersweet. I sent most of these to work with my boyfriend last week and they were a bit hit. I followed the recipe for the most part, with just a few changes. I subbed applesauce for some of the oil, halved the frosting (I still had plenty), and left off the ganache drizzle because I was feeling lazy. Mine didn't rise too high, but they didn't sink, either - always a plus. I think I under-filled my muffin tins a little bit, though, because I got 15 cupcakes instead of 12. No one complained about the extras.

These are less exciting but just as delicious. Golden vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream, both recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I made them to take to class today, because college students are excellent for getting rid of excess baked goods. These were excellent, and well-loved by all. We are by and large a bunch of geeks, so the Spiderman wrappers went over particularly well.

Recent Joanna Tester Recipes

2007-03-06T20:25:00.000-05:00

Lemon "Butter" Rice and Roasted Roots. The rice is really nice and flavorful and goes perfectly with a lot of things. The roasted veggies were a nice change from my standard method and re-heated well too.

Chana Masala! Oh, how I love pretty much any incarnation of this dish. Joanna's recipe is super easy and really tasty.

Sesame Green Beans with leftover Roasted Roots and - yes! - hoisin-glazed baked tofu. I ate tofu! For real. And I didn't hate it. We're making progress. Those sesame green beans are SO good, and I don't usually care for sesame-flavored things.

Candy Review Monday: Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate with Marzipan

2007-03-05T09:02:00.000-05:00

Before Friday I had only ever seen Ritter Sports online. These square German candy bars aren't available at any health food or grocery stores in my area, but while I was at the farmer's market I spotted them in a display case at a German deli. I'd never even given the place a second look before, since they mostly sell meat and other extremely non-vegan items. But the lure of bright red packaging and the promise of chocolate covered marzipan were too much to resist; I plunked down $2.50 and then ran back to a produce stand to try and get the meat smell out of my nose.

Of course yesterday I was at Target and I saw the very same bar (and the plain dark chocolate variety, which I'll review another time) for less than $2. Damn.

It's a nice-looking bar. I like the square format. It's chunky and cuter than the standard rectangular bar shape. The little squares snap apart easily and without much mess. The chocolate is glossy and smooth, with a nice little Ritter Sport logo stamped into the top of each square. The marzipan is a creamy color that contrasts nicely with the dark chocolate.

But the real question is, of course: how is it? Quite good, I have to say. The chocolate is creamy and pretty sweet for a dark chocolate. It melts nicely on your tongue. The marzipan itself is a bit crumbly and not terribly sweet or overwhelmingly almondy. When you pop a square into your mouth you mostly taste chocolate, but as you chew the marzipan flavor becomes stronger. I'd say it lends more texture than any pronounced taste, though. My favorite squares were around the edges, where the chocolate to mazipan ratio was a little skewed toward the chocolate side of things.

I'd give this bar an 8/10, because it's very tasty and pretty unique as far as candy bars go. I liked it enough to pick up another one at Target. But I like marzipan; when I had my boyfriend try it, he didn't care for it very much. I think it goes without saying that if you don't like marzipan, you won't like this bar. But if you do, definitely give it a try.

Whole Wheat Bagels

2007-03-04T13:49:00.000-05:00

Earlier in the week I tried my hand at making bagels. I used to work in a bagel shop and I have a pretty deep love for the big, doughy, carb disasters we call bagels. I never buy them, though, because they're always insanely high in calories and full of white flour, which I try to avoid when I can. But when I ran across this recipe for homemade bagels while sorting through my bookmarks, I had to give the whole wheat variation a try. I followed the recipe pretty exactly, except I'm out of agave so I just stuck with sugar.

They were fun to make - boiling bread dough is a weird experience. Next time I make these (and there will be a next time) I'll knead the dough in my bread machine, because I really am not a fan of kneading and I don't think I did it quite long enough. Even so, they turned out pretty well. I made four plain and four with an everything topping (poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried onion and garlic, and sea salt). They were nice and soft right out of the oven, but the next day they weren't as great. There's a reason bagels are made fresh every day. They don't stand the test of time very well. Next time I'll pre-slice and freeze them the day they're made.

Potato-Leek Soup

2007-02-28T09:53:00.000-05:00

This is the easiest soup ever. Seriously, five ingredients counting water and salt. And it produces a soup that tastes so much better than these five simple ingredients have any right to be. It's magic soup.

Potato-Leek Soup
Recipe originally from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

2 tbsp earth balance margarine
1.5 lbs leeks, white and light green parts only, washed and chopped
1.5 lbs potatoes (yukon golds are nice), sliced into thin, bite-size pieces
7 c water
1.5 tsp salt

Melt the margarine in a large pot over medium heat; add the potatoes and leeks and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add water and salt and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 6 large servings.

Nutritional Info: 179 calories, 4 g fat (1.2 g sat fat), 664 mg sodium, 36 g carbs, 4.3 g fiber, 6.6 g sugar, 4.8 g protein, and 3 WW points per serving.

Candy Review Monday: Ricemilk Choco

2007-02-26T13:08:00.000-05:00

Something you may or may not know about me: I love sweets. Candy, chocolate, cake, cookies, whatever. It's my big food weakness. I love eating it, I love reading about it, and I love reading about people eating it - so I love Candy Blog. But most of what she reviews isn't vegan. And it's with that in mind that I've decided to start doing a Candy Review Monday. Every week I'll try some kind of vegan candy or sweet and post a photo and review. For this review I just pulled the shots from Terra Nostra's website, but from now on I'll have shots I take myself.

Ricemilk Choco with Almonds

I've tried the plain Ricemilk Choco bar once before and liked it, but I had to order it from Veganessentials because my health food store doesn't carry them. They still don't, but the last time I was there they did have two other varieties - almond and truffle.

The ricemilk choco is smooth and sweet. It's very reminiscent of milk chocolate, at least from what I remember. It could be almost too sweet for some people, but I've never met a candy that was too sweet for me so I like it. There's a good amount of almond bits in this bar, and it adds a nice crunch and offsets the sweetness of the bar a bit. I like this one better than the plain.

Ricemilk Choco with Dark Truffle Center

This bar is the same ricemilk chocolate with a darker chocolate center. The dark center really mitigates the sweetness, moreso than the almonds in the first bar. It's still sweet, but there's more of that dark chocolate smokey flavor that most of us are used to. It's a good bar, and very rich. Overall I still prefer the almond variety over the plain and this truffle bar, but all three are delicious and will definitely satisfy any lingering milk chocolate cravings.

Pineapple Coffee Cake

2007-02-25T17:02:00.000-05:00

I think I've posted a picture of this before, but I don't care. I made it again recently and it is SO good. Plus the picture came out well. This is Susan V's recipe from the Fatfree Vegan Blog; the recipe is here.

The only thing I did differently was to use a flax "egg" in place of ener-g. It didn't cause any problems.

Food Porn Overload, Part II

2007-02-24T16:42:00.000-05:00

Oatmeal-banana-raisin waffles from VwaV. I made the usual "healthification" adjustments - whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose and applesauce for most of the oil. Very tasty. Waffles are probably my favorite of the Breakfast Trifecta (pancakes, french toast, waffles).

Double chocolate chip cookies (recipe is here). These were just alright for me. Not bad, but I won't make them again.

Joanna's tester spinach dip. SO good. I love it.

The holy grail of oatmeal cookies. Crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle. Amazing. I could pretty much die happy now. The recipe is here. Make them and thank me later.

Joanna's tester alfredo sauce over whole wheat spaghetti. This stuff is pretty fantastic. Her cookbook (!!!) is going to be awesome.

Food Porn Overload, Part I

2007-02-23T13:56:00.000-05:00

I got out of class super early today, so I thought I'd take advantage of this bit of free time and catch up on posting photos here.

Here we have Joanna's chicken-style seitan, breaded and sauteed, with mashed potatoes and broccoli on the side. This seitan is the first simmered seitan that I've actually liked. Joanna and her recipes are fantastical. (It's a tester recipe, so I can't give it away. Sorry!) The breaded and sauteed bit reminded me of this pan-fried chicken my dad always makes. Very tasty. The seitan, I mean. Well, the chicken was tasty too, but that was a looooong time ago.

More Joanna porn. This time it's her sun-dried tomato cream sauce over whole wheat penne. Broccoli and bread on the side. This stuff is awesome. I love sun-dried tomatoes.

Lemon poppyseed muffins from the Candle Cafe Cookbook. Good but dry and not nearly lemony enough. Of course, I used whole wheat pastry flour and subbed applesauce for most of the margarine, but I do that to all the muffins I make and they're usually quite a lot better in texture than this.

More breaded seitan. This time I used a cornmeal coating and baked it; it wasn't as good as the sauteed stuff.

Fire-Roasted Quinoa and Black Beans, except with a small can of fire-roasted tomatoes and two cans of beans, one black and one garbanzo. This was my first time cooking with or eating quinoa. It's good stuff.

More tomorrow! Also coming soon: the rest of the Lightlife reviews.

Daily Food Photo Journal

2007-02-21T23:49:00.000-05:00

As you can see, the old layout is back. I have a new one in mind, but that will have to wait for another time. A time when my blog is not in shambles, perhaps. The photobucket images are still broken; they should be back in a few days. In the meantime I've gotten myself a Flickr account; I've been uploading food pictures to it for about a week now. I'll post them all here in due time, but right now I wanted to mention another thing I've started doing: keeping a daily food photo journal. Inspired by Joanna's daily eats project, I am taking pictures of everything I eat and compiling them into neat little mosaic of my daily consumption. It's really interesting to see it all together like that, big as life. And on the diet front, it really leaves no opportunity for plausible deniability. So if you want to check that out, it's here.

And if you want to check out the food porn that's on deck for blog-posting, those pictures are here.

Template Stuff

2007-02-18T23:27:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm working on a new design for the blog, and I should have it up within the next few days, but until then I switched back to a tweaked blogger template. The old design was a big mess with all the images broken and it was really annoying to look at.

As soon as I get the new design up, I have a bunch of pictures to post. I've been cooking more lately.

Picture Problems

2007-02-16T23:30:00.000-05:00

Apparently I've exceeded my bandwidth limit on my photobucket account, so all of the images on the blog are broken for a while. So that's awesome.

Tester Sauces, Rice & Beans, VwaV Casserole

2007-02-12T23:05:00.000-05:00

Whole wheat penne and broccoli with Joanna's Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce. She's putting together a vegan cookzine and I'm lucky enough to be one of the recipe testers. This one is fantastic.

Rainbow Rice & Beans from VeganYumYum. Excellent recipe. I've made it twice now. It freezes beautifully, too. This batch has both black and kidney beans in it. Also pictured is a metric ton of broccoli (I really love broccoli) and Joanna's nacho sauce (sans jalapenos), which is another tester recipe - and also my new favorite nutritional yeasty sauce.

Last but definitely not least, we have the Chickpea and Broccoli Casserole from VwaV. I was skeptical about this one. It has so few ingredients and no spices - it's just chickpeas, broccoli, carrots, onions, salt, olive oil, breadcrumbs, and vegetable stock. But of course Isa came through with another winner. I reduced the oil from 3 tbsp to 1 and added a little extra broth to compensate, and I left out the chives because I didn't have any, but otherwise I made the recipe as written. I'll be adding this one to the rotation for sure. It's creamy comfort food that you don't have to feel bad about eating (with 1tbsp of oil, it's 4 points per serving for 6 servings).

Soup and Cake

2007-02-09T17:05:00.000-05:00

Sensational Sun-Dried Tomato and Chickpea Soup from The Garden of Vegan. I never use that cookbook, but I saw this recipe posted at Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit and decided to give it a try. It's really tasty. I'll make it again.

The cake I made for Adam's birthday. It's simple vanilla cake with orange "buttercream" frosting. The frosting was a variation on the fluffy buttercream from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. This cake was fantastic, if I do say so myself. Yum. Plus it was perfectly shaped. No sunken tops or anything.

An inside shot.

Playing Catch-Up

2007-02-03T20:53:00.000-05:00

I never seem to have the time/motivation during the week to update, but I have been taking pictures of the more interesting things I eat. So here's a whole bunch that have been collecting dust on the harddrive.

Chickpea and Spinach Curry from VwaV. Seriously delicious and very low in points if you reduce the oil. I was low on spinach so I only used half the amount that was called for; I'm looking forward to using all 10 cups next time. I love me some spinach.

My second attempt at seitan. Based on this recipe, but with onion and garlic powder thrown in. And some nutritional yeast. And twice as much gluten flour, because the texture was weird. I wrapped the seitan log in foil and baked it that way instead of in a pan with broth. It turned out much better than my first attempt at seitan, but I'm still going to keep trying new recipes.

The seitan, sliced and sauteed with bbq sauce. Pretty tasty.

Flax-Berry Pancakes from Vegan Planet, with crushed pineapple in place of the berries. I always use whole wheat pastry flour for these.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal from Peanut Butter Planet. This was interesting. I'd try to make something similar, but I wouldn't make this exact thing again. I like the idea but I didn't love the recipe, basically.

Corn Muffins and Stormy Black Bean Soup

2007-01-28T08:50:00.000-05:00

Early last week I felt the urge to bake, but seeing as how it's still Junk-Free January for me, I didn't want to make sweets at all. So I turned to a perrenial favorite of mine: cornbread. I wanted to try out my mini-muffin pan, so I made 24 mini-muffins and then 5 regular-sized ones. I have to say, the mini ones are cute - but the big ones taste better. They have a better fluffy interior to crispy exterior ratio.

And aren't those square baking cups adorable? I got them to hold food in my bento, but I haven't had occasion to use them for that purpose yet. They make excellent square muffins, though. I love them.

And of course you can't have corn muffins without soup or stew, so I made Sunsan V's Stormy Black Bean Soup. I followed the recipe exactly, except that I only used 3 cups of broth and I pureed a few cups of the soup to get a thicker texture. I just prefer it that way. It's a really excellent soup with quite a bit of a kick from the chipotle and spices. I'll definitely make it again.

Today I'm attempting seitan for the second time ever. Fingers crossed.

First Bento Lunch Ever!

2007-01-27T14:54:00.000-05:00

One Wednesday I finally got to take my bento to school. I packed Susan V's shiny happy hummus, a wheat tortila (alas, I was pita-less), a fuji apple, and orange segments. It all fit, and it kept me nice and full - so there you go. The box may be tiny, but if you work it right you can fit enough food inside. I took it on Thursday and Friday as well, but I didn't take pictures. Friday was a repeat of this box, except with mini wheat pitas instead of a tortilla and a soy yogurt on the side, and Thursday was a mini tempeh sandwich and fruit.

I love my bento. It makes me happy.

Lightlife Reviews, Part II: Smart Strips Chik'n Strips

2007-01-22T22:24:00.000-05:00

Another one of the goodies in my Lightlife box were these Smart Strips. Now, I love these things. They were the first mock-meat I ever tried after going vegetarian lo those 10+ years ago. I loved them then and I love them now. They're the perfect sort of chewy and a bit juicy, but not in a gross way at all. The flavor is salty and savory and just... well, really damn good. But it's also subtle enough that you can use these in just about any type of dish.

Plus they pack a nice hit of protein and fiber - 14g and 4g, respectively - with no fat and just 80 calories. They work out to 1 WW point per serving.

My final rating for these is a 10/10, plus two thumbs up. I love them.

The chick'n strips adding their awesomeness to my stir-fry with peanut sauce.

The representative from Lightlife also sent along a link for $1 off coupons - check it out here if you're interested.

Clover Bento

2007-01-21T08:24:00.000-05:00

My bento came! Isn't it adorable? I love it so much. It is, however, much smaller than I thought it would be. My cell phone is there for comparison. I question whether or not I'll be able to fit enough food in it. I may have to look into a bigger box. I guess bentos in general are pretty small, though. Hmm. Regardless, I love it. The little bee is my favorite part.

Another shot so you can see the two layers. And also some bonus cat feet in the background.

bento madness

2007-01-14T12:21:00.000-05:00

Once again proving that Jess and I are two halves of the same person, I have become obsessed with bento boxes. I need one. Possibly more than one. But there are so many to choose from and I'm so very indecisive. What I'd really like is to see them in person. I don't know if there's an asian store around here that would carry them. Hmm. I must go hunting.

This is going to turn into a whole big thing, with the boxes and the adorable accessories... I can just tell. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

LightLife Reviews, Part I: Smart Tortilla Wrap

2007-01-07T20:53:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently received a box full of Lightlife products in the mail for testing/reviewing purposes. Yesterday I wanted a fast lunch, so I chose this tortilla wrap. This product comes in three varieties: Mexican Style, Breakfast Scramble, and Ranchero, which is the one I received. There is also a Smart Pretzel Dog that shares the same type of packaging.

Of the three wraps, the Ranchero is the one I'd be most likely to pick up for myself. The description on the package reads: "Chick'n-style veggie strips, brown rice, and vegetables in a spicy cilantro sauce." The package also informs me that the tortilla wrap is over 50% organic, which isn't something I usually worry about, but it's nice to know anyway.

Nutritionally, this thing has 300 calories, 6g fat (1g sat fat), 370mg sodium, 48g carbs, 7g fiber, 6g sugar, and 15g protein. It also has 50% of the RDA of vitamin C, 10% calcium, and 30% iron. It clocks in at 6 WW points.

And now to the real question - how does it taste? Pretty good, I'd say. I'm a fan of Lightlife's chick'n strips, so of course I enjoyed that part, and the cilantro sauce is nice - not as strong as I expected, either. There's a good bit of tomato flavor as well, and some pleasant smokiness. I didn't really notice the brown rice, but everything inside is sort of congealed together (as these things tend to be), so it likely just blended with the sauce and thickened it up a bit.

It seemed small when I first looked at it, but I ate it with some baby carrots and it filled me up pretty well. I still think that there's an awful lot of tortilla compared to the amount of filling, though.

My only real complaint is that the baking time given on the wrapper was way off for me. I wrapped it in foil and put it in the toaster oven at 350, just like the package says to, and 25 minutes later (20-25 minutes was the given span) it was still cold inside. I stuck it in the microwave (sans foil, of course) for 2 minutes and then put it back in the toaster oven for 5 minutes to crisp up the tortilla a bit, and then it was fine. I'm not sure what went wrong with the initial baking, but it was rather annoying.

Overall, I'd give it a 7/10. It was good and it filled me up, but the heating instructions didn't work out for me and I thought they could have been a bit more generous with the filling.

Xmas Goodies

2007-01-05T10:15:00.000-05:00

Wow, you know, I intended to post a lot more over christmas break, but I forgot how busy things can get during that time. Plus I've sort of lost all will to cook new and interesting things - hopefully I'll get over that at some point. For now I have some pretty bad pictures (stupid kitchen light) of the goodies I made for christmas.

Orange-Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti. Recipe is from the fantastic Bittersweet. She originally sent me this stuff when we did a little treat-swap last year, and it is seriously just the best thing ever. Everyone who got some loved it. Even my dad, who normally looks at anything vegan like it's made of twigs and elephant dung.

Soft cutout sugar cookies with simple confectioner's sugar frosting. I used this recipe, which has become my gold standard for this type of cookie. I used snowman and tree cookie cutters, but I didn't do any fancy frosting jobs. Too much work. Too many little bowls to clean.

These sugar-coated peanuts are my boyfriend's dad's specialty. It's a family recipe that I just now got ahold of. They're addictive and awesome, and so easy to make. This is another one that everyone loves. Even my dad. He actually asked me to make him some more. I thought my head was going to spin around and explode.

And finally, chocolate and peanut butter fudge. Two kinds, both from La Dolve Vegan. I used a candy thermometer and everything, and it was pretty simple to make. My first batch of PB fudge got heated up too much because I am very, very smart and was looking at the celcius temperature scale instead of farenheit. I kept wondering why on earth my boiling sugar was still at only 120-some degrees, and then suddenly it started to burn a little bit. It was okay, though. I just called it a test batch and Adam and I ate it all. It was still good.

I also made chocolate chip cookies from Vive le Vegan, but I didn't get a picture of those.

Today I got a package of Lightlife products in the mail, because a representative from the company contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in testing out and reviewing some products. Of course I said yes. So in the next few weeks I image I'll be posting a lot of that stuff.

Edit: Here's the recipe for the sugar-coated peanuts:

Sugar Peanuts

2 c raw, red-skinned peanuts - the skins MUST be on!
1 c sugar
1/2 c water

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine sugar and water in a pot, and bring to a low boil. Stir in peanuts. Stir constantly, but gently, so as not to loosen then peanut skins too much, until there is no liquid left and the peanuts are coated in a thick sugar paste. Spread the coated peanuts out in a single layer on a well-oiled or parchment-covered cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes; you may want to check them at 25 to be sure they aren't burning.

Pineapple Coffee Cake + Sloppy Lentils

2006-12-17T15:54:00.000-05:00

During the week I made this Pineapple Coffee Cake from the Fatfree Vegan blog. I'd been eyeing that recipe ever since Susan first posted it - I love coffee cake, I love pineapple, and her picture of it is so lovely. Plus it's whole wheat and low in points. So I had high hopes for this... and it met every expectation. It's wonderful. Moist, sweet, light, crunchy on top. Just delicious. My picture doesn't do it justice at all. (I'm having some issues with finding a good place to take pictures lately, what with the lack of sunlight.) I'll definitely be making this on a regular basis.

And here we have the famous Sloppy/Disorderly Lentils. Believe it or not, this was my first time making them. I don't really know what took me so long, but now I wish I'd tried them before - they're awesome! And super easy to make. I basically followed the standard recipe, with just a few tweaks:

Sloppy Lentils

2 c water
1 c red lentils
1 1/2 c tomato sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
a few handfuls of spinach, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
generous pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
generous pinch of basil
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the water, lentils, tomato sauce, and soy sauce/tamari in a pot. Bring to a boil. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir well, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This made 4 servings for me, and I worked it out to about 3 points per serving. It's mostly zero-point veggies, so really the only thing to count for is the lentils.

I am pretty much in love with these right now. I had leftovers for lunch but I still want to make them again for dinner tonight. Yum.

The only other noteworthy thing I've made recently is the Eggnog Muffins from La Dolce Vegan. I was so excited for them - I love nog! I love muffins! Hell yes. Unfortunately I didn't like them at all. They were very bland and unpleasant. I actually threw them away. They rose well and had a nice texture, though, so I think the problem lies not in the recipe but in my sweet tooth. Or rather, the fact that I don't just have a sweet tooth - I have a full set of 32. So they may be sweet enough for other people, but for me they didn't really taste like anything. Gross.

Low-Fat Brownies

2006-12-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

So I'm counting points at the moment, working on this whole weight loss thing. But I have a massive sweet tooth, and every so often (and by "every so often" I mean "every five minutes") I need to feed that urge. Preferably without blowing my diet in the process. Enter the low-fat baked good. A strange and elusive creature, often just an unpleasant cardboard knock-off of the original. Often, but not always. These brownies are exceptionally low in everything that's bad for you, but they still taste pretty good. I used this recipe, and followed it pretty much to a T. I think the only change I would make in the future would be to use a bit less salt. There was a bit of an odd saltiness to these that I've never noticed in a baked good before.

I will say straight up that these are not what I really think of as brownies. They're good, and they're seriously chocolatey and deceptively rich and I will likely make them again, but brownies? Eh. I'd say it's more like a really fudgey cake. So if you're in the mood for a real live brownie, try a different recipe. But if you want something dense and chocolatey that won't break the diet bank, give these a try.

They worked out to be 3 points per brownie as I made them. Not bad.

Banana-Coconut-Date Oatmeal

2006-12-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Breakfast! Now that it's really starting to feel like winter around here (it's been in the 30's this week), it's time to ditch the cold cereal and break out the oatmeal. I got up miraculously early this morning and exercised, and by the time I was finished I was starving. I fought the temptation to just grab something and made this extremely satisfying oatmeal instead.

I'm sure everyone knows how to make oatmeal, so I'll just say that I simmered my oats in a mix of 1/2 cup very vanilla soymilk and 1/2 cup water, added cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla extract, and three chopped dates. After it was done, I mashed in a small banana and topped it with 1 1/2 tbsp unsweetened coconut. I feel extremely dorky and anal-retentive for giving measurements like that, but I'm counting points at the moment so I'm measuring everything. This worked out to 6 points, and will keep me full for quite a while. It was also seriously delicious. Like a tropical party in my mouth. Yum.

My new food love of the moment is Silk very vanilla. So sweet, so good. I know it's all "Fortified for kids! Kids love it!," but I don't care. I use plain soymilk on cereal and stuff, but for drinking straight, in coffee or tea, and making oatmeal, very vanilla is where it's at. I want to make vanilla pudding with it, too. It would be vanilla overload. Just how I like it.

A Cupcake Question

2006-12-04T15:43:00.000-05:00

No picture or new recipe in this one - just a question. A cupcake inquiry, if you will. Of course by now everyone has and loves Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I have it too. And I love me some cupcakes, so this book is like a little softcover slice of heaven.

In theory.

The problem I'm having is that every cupcake I've made from it so far has turned out... less than awesome. I know it's not the recipes, since I've seen everyone's cupcake posts and pictures, and they all look perfect. My problem is that they all sink. Every single one. And not just a little bit, either. We're talking crater cakes here. Actually, Jess and I made the gingerbread cupcakes, and they only sunk a little bit - but they didn't rise very much, either, so I think it's just that they're a different kind of cake. On my own I've tried the chai cupcakes and the sexy low-fat vanilla cupcakes, and both sunk like falsley-accused witches. Granted, that's only three kinds total, but at this point I'm wary of trying anymore. I actually threw both the chai and the vanilla ones away, and I do not generally condone throwing away cupcakes. It's akin to blasphemy. But they were both so sunken, and also oddly-textured. A bit spongey and gummy.

So what gives? I want these vegan cupcakes to take over my world, but so far? Not so much. And on the off chance that anyone responds to this (it seems I've been abandoned in my absence - not that I can blame you guys, seriously), my baking powder is newish (less than 6 months old), I always pre-heat my oven, I try not to over-mix, and other cupcake recipes still come out fine, so my oven is the same as it ever was. I will admit that I usually don't sift, but it's never caused trouble with other cakes. I'm stumped. Help!

Red Bean and Sweet Potato Curry + News

2006-12-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, first off, don't die of shock. I am, in fact, posting something. It's been forever, I know. Almost two months. School has been crazy, and work... everything has been a little crazy, really. Life has become very confusing recently, on a personal level. I haven't been cooking anything new, and therefore I haven't felt like I had anything to blog about. Or the time in which to do it. But tonight I made a new recipe from Vegan Planet, and since I'm due for a break from painting anyway, I thought I'd post about it.

This is the Red Bean and Sweet Potato Curry from Vegan Planet, served atop a bed of whole wheat couscous. (Can I just take a moment to say how much I like couscous? So quick, so tasty.) It was really simple and pretty quick to make, and all of the ingredients are things I usually have on hand anyway. I followed the recipe's suggestion to puree 2 cups of it at the end to make for a thicker, saucier curry. I love saucy things.

I started doing Weight Watchers a few weeks ago, so if you're interested, this makes 4 servings and is 3 points per serving.

In other news, I have about 2 weeks of school left. This is, as they say, "crunch time." I really love my school, and for the most part I enjoy my projects, but this semester? Has been crazy busy. In the next two weeks I have at least 4 medium/large paintings, 8-12 small illustrations that will then need to be scanned, laid out in a book format, printed, and bound, and 5 complete inked and colored comic pages to finish, in addition to assorted other loose ends that need tying up. And on top of that, I need to prepare a portfolio for my mid-year Junior review. Gulp. If you could see me right now, I would be clutching my chest in fear and panic.

The best part is that next semester is going to be even busier. I signed myself up for 7 classes, as opposed to the 6 I have this time around. I think my brain may actually explode.

I'm hoping to have a few things to post before break starts (December 15th will be a glorious day), but if not then rest assured that I'll be back soon. Well, sooner than 2 months from now, anyway.

Radio Silence

2006-10-08T01:56:00.000-04:00

Wow, I'm such a bad blogger. I haven't posted in ages, I know. I have valid reasons, though. School started up about a month ago and it's kicking my ass six ways from Sunday. I haven't really cooked anything in weeks. And since no one wants to see the bowl of popcorn and the apple that I had for dinner tonight, well, there's nothing to post about. My general internet activity has been very limited. I haven't been over at the PPK boards, or visiting other blogs... it's sad. But unfortunately it's also necessary at the moment.

I don't have a break from school until the end of November. I don't want to say that I won't post until then, because hey, I might. But at this point every waking hour I have is either spent at school, at work, or doing homework. That thing they call "free time" does not exist. So that's the situation. I'll be back at some point, but for now this little slice of the interweb is pretty much on a mini-hiatus.

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

2006-09-16T02:12:00.000-04:00

Yes, more cupcakes! Another Wendesday came and went, after all - and it's not a proper Project Runway experience without cupcakes. (And we really needed them this week to console ourselves when Kayne got the boot.) In my search for interesting cupcake varieties I can across a decidedly non-vegan bakery that make key lime pie cupcakes. I love cupcakes. I love lime. I used to love key lime pie. What could be better? I had to make them. These cupcakes were not optional.

I used the Lemon Gem cupcake recipe from VwaV, but I subbed lime juice and zest for the lemon and added a bit more flour to make a thicker batter. They rose much better this time around, incidentally. I made a cream cheese frosting with Better Than Cream Cheese, Earth Balance, powdered sugar, and lime juice, and then sprinkled crushed graham cracker crumbs on top. They came out really well - very light and limey, but still creamy from the frosting. The graham cracker crumbs added a nice cinnamony crunch as well as a cute finish.

Mission: accomplished. I'll definitely be filing this one away for future use.

Chocolate Chip Blondies

2006-09-12T11:43:00.000-04:00

And these I made the other night when I was super stressed and wanted to bake something. It's the PPK blondie recipe with cashews and a chocolate ganache drizzled on top. These were SO good. I sent most of them to work with Adam and everyone raved about them. They tasted very much like brownies to me, I think because I had to use mini-chocolate chips for a portion of them (I ran out of the regular ones. For shame!) and they melted into the batter. I'm glad I added the toppings, too, because it added some textural interest. In any case, these are definitely a keeper.

The only changes I made were to sub applesauce for half of the soy yogurt (I didn't have enough) and reduce the oil to 1/4 cup.

I have actually been eating non-dessert food, but it's been boring stuff that I don't feel the need to post about. Such is life during the school year.

Oreo Cupcakes

2006-09-11T16:31:00.000-04:00

This is a terrible picture of a really delicious cupcake. Last week for Project Runway Night (I usually have people over to watch it) I made oreo cupcakes. I basically just took your standard wacky cake recipe, subbed black cocoa powder for half of the regular stuff, and topped them with with a buttercream-ish frosting with crushed generic oreos mixed in. Originally I made a shortening-based frosting for them, because I wanted it to be white, but I had my suspicions about my shortening and one taste of the frosting confirmed it: rancid. So gross. So I scrapped that and made up an Earth Balance-based frosting that was delicious. These were a big hit.

Potato and Tempeh Sausage Pizza

2006-09-08T20:58:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since I last posted - my first week of school is winding to a close, and between that and work it's all I can do to cook some pasta for dinner. I forsee a lot of simple meals in my future, which is unfortunately bad for food blogging. We'll see how that goes.

Last weekend I made the Potato and Tempeh Sausage Pizza from VwV, only without the homemade crust. I used a sourdough Rustic Crust instead, because I love them and I was too lazy to make my own. I pretty much knew I'd love this pizza. And I did. Adam did too. It's chewy and substantial and basically just delicious. I used the optional soy mozzarella (Vegan Gourmet) and left off the fennel, because I'm not overly fond of the stuff.

Two thumbs up. I'll definitely make it again.

Another thing that's been occupying my time lately is the Super Secret Blogging Project I mentioned once before, which is no longer super secret because it's finally done. Jessiegirl and I have started a joint photoblog: iso365. The idea came up when I went to visit her for the first time, I believe, and we've been plugging away at it ever since. We're alternating days, with a new image posted every day. So if you're interested in that sort of thing, or just want to see what we get up to when we're not in the kitchen, stop by and check it out.

Lemon Cornmeal Waffles

2006-09-03T18:08:00.000-04:00

This morning I made a batch of Lemon Cornmeal Waffles from VwaV, sans blueberry sauce. Throw in some nectarine slices topped with a little agave nectar and vanilla soy yogurt and call it breakfast. These are probably my favorite waffles ever, because lemon = awesome.

Biscuits and Tempeh Gravy

2006-09-01T22:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I drove to York and hung out with Jessiegirl. We spent the day walking around York and taking pictures, then had a delicious dinner of Tempeh and White Bean Sausage Gravy and Baking Powder Biscuits from VwaV. We also brainstormed for a super secret (not really, but it sounds more fun that way) joint project we're working on, which was awesome. We're so similar in so many ways that it's seriously like hanging out with a much less annoying version of myself. I love it.

For the record, she's a much better biscuit maker than I am.

Lemon Gem Cupcakes

2006-08-31T00:27:00.000-04:00

Today was packed with goodness. I woke up early and biked to the store, came home and made cupcakes, went to see (muthafuckin') Snakes on a (muthafuckin') Plane, had a Veronica Mars marathon with a friend (we've watched through episode 11 of season 1 and she's gleefully hooked!), and then watched Project Runway. Lots of fine entertainment, lots of sitting on my butt and eating cupcakes. Good times.

I decided to give the Lemon Gems from VwaV a whirl, as you can see. I've been eyeing this recipe since I got the book. I love lemony anything. It's easily one of my top 5 favorite flavors. And they didn't disappoint in that respect - they were absolutely packed with lemony goodness. So much so that I ate... four. Yes, four. Shame on me.

The only odd thing about this recipe is that they cupcakes didn't really rise at all. You'd think that they'd be quite lofty, given the proliferation of both lemon juice and baking soda, but that's no so. The batter is really thin, easily the thinnest cake-type batter I've worked with, and I wonder if maybe a bit of extra flour might have helped a bit. It's also possible that they're not supposed to rise much; Isa states in the book that they don't rise above the tops of the cupcake papers. But I filled my cups 2/3 full, just like the recipe said to, and many of mine didn't even come close to hitting the top of the paper - even with the icing on top.

That said, I did get 16 cupcakes instead of 12, so maybe I skimped a bit without realizing it. Overall I'd give this recipe two very enthusiastic thumbs up. Light, refreshing, and delicious. They're definitely daintier than your usual cupcake. And they match my lemon apron perfectly! I'll definitely make them again. I want to try it with oranges next time, or maybe limes.

Taco Mac

2006-08-28T23:51:00.000-04:00

Today I took the leftover Mac & Nooch and mixed it with some taco-seasoned TVP to make something that is apparently quite similar to Hamburger Helper. So says Adam, anyway, and I'm going to have to take his word for it since I don't actually think I've ever had Hamburger Helper. (Is that the one with the weird talking glove thing?) Regardless, it was damn tasty. Better than I thought it would be, even. It doesn't look like much, though. I hate it when food isn't pretty.

The TVP was just simmed in water with a packet of taco seasoning. Oh, and I sauteed about half an onion and some garlic in there first. I was going to make the chorizo from VwaV, but at the last minute I realized that I'm out of black pepper and chili powder. And coriander seeds! Woe is my spice rack, seriously.

And of course the ever-present broccoli makes an appearance. I do eat other vegetables, I swear. Broccoli is just so easy to throw into things.

Tempeh Gravy and Mac & Nooch

2006-08-27T23:53:00.000-04:00

Tempeh and White Bean Sausage Gravy from VwaV, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. I love this gravy. It's so amazing. I also love mashed potatoes. I kind of forgot how much. Also: new plate! I'd been eyeing these at Target for months, and last time I was there they were on clearance so of course I snapped up the two that were left. I love them. I've just kind of accepted the fact that I can't be happy with matching dishes like a normal person, so from now on I'll be collecting interesting pieces whenever I see them/can afford them.

Ellen's Macaroni and "Cheese" from Get Sconed!. I was a little skeptical about this, because the first nutritional yeasty cheez sauce that I had was that Road's End Mac and Chreese, which tastes like cardboard and sweaty feet. I was hoping this would prove more successful, and of course it did. Next time I'll add more garlic powder and more salt, but overall it was really tasty. And super simple to make, which is always a plus. It was great with some broccoli thrown in, but tomorrow I think I'm going to get a little adventurous with the leftovers.

Fauxstess Cupcakes

2006-08-25T12:44:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, Jessiegirl came to Lancaster and we made Fauxstess Cupcakes from VwaV. I think a good time was had by all, but I regret to inform you that it wasn't because of the cupcakes. They're adorable, I'll grant you, but as far as taste is concerned I was underwhelmed. I've heard so many awesome things about them, but in the end they were just cupcakes - and not the best ones I've ever made, either. Just the most time-consuming.

The Good
Black cocoa powder. It's neat. It smells exactly like Ho-Hos and Ding-Dongs and Swiss Rolls, all those dark, chemical-laden Little Debbie snacks. It made the cupcakes pretty nearly black, too. And that was with a .75:1 ratio of black cocoa powder to regular cocoa powder. This stuff is serious. It does not mess around.

The ganache made for a lovely finish. And I now officially love the idea of filled cupcakes.

The Bad

Soymilk powder. I don't know if it was just the kind I used (Better Than Soymilk), but it was not a good addition. I don't care if it's authentic or not. It made everything taste like chalky soymilk powder. Two thumbs down.

Caster sugar. I couldn't find it anywhere. I read that you could run granulated sugar through a food processor and use that in its place, so I did... and it didn't work at all. I should've used powdered sugar. The granulated sugar made the filling all gritty and gross. And it exploded all over the place, which is more tha fault of the bag, but still. Gross.

The bittersweet chocolate ganache wasn't sweet enough for me. The cupcakes aren't super sweet themselves, so I would've preferred a semisweet ganache.

Overall Rating
I'd give them 3 stars. It might go up to a 4 or even a 5 with some changes, but as written? I just wasn't bowled over. Except by the pile of dishes I had to do afterward.

Design Hiccups

2006-08-25T03:26:00.000-04:00

So obviously there's a new look happening around here. It's giving me some trouble. It looked perfect when I previewed it, but then when I published it, everything moved up despite various paddings/margins. So I checked it in Shiira and Safari and everything is in the right place - except for the title image, which mysteriously doesn't show up at all. It's pissing me off and I need to fix it, but I can't for the life of me get things to stick where they're supposed to.

I've been working on this for like 3 1/2 hours. I'm going to bed. But rest assured that sometime tomorrow everything should (hopefully) get straightened out. Any ideas as to how I could go about that would be much appreciated, if any of you guys are into this sort of thing.

Edited: Or maybe it's working. I can't tell. It's being really spastic. Anyway, I'll have a real post tomorrow regardless.

Moroccan Red Lentil-Bean Stew and Shark Cookies

2006-08-21T14:42:00.000-04:00

Moroccan Red Lentil-Bean Stew from Cooking at the Pacific Outpost. I was hoping this would be similar to the moroccan lentil soup that Panera Bread often has as a season soup in the fall; it wasn't, really. It was still good, though. I halved the fennel seed, because I'm not fond of the flavor - next time I'll leave them out entirely. I could still taste it, faintly, and it bothered me. Adam liked it quite a lot, though, and it was good with homemade bread.

And an outtake, in which Miss Scarlet attempts to lick the Earth Balance off my bread. She likes EB. And nutritional yeast (especially on Tings). She's pretty vegan-friendly, as far as cats go.

And some shark cookies that I made for a friend's random shark-themed party tonight. It's the soft cut-out cookie recipe that I posted about a while back, just in shark shapes. They were a big hit.

VwaV Breakfast Veggie Chorizo

2006-08-16T16:32:00.000-04:00

I made this a few days ago - it was my first time using TVP. I've always been kind of skeptical about the stuff, because it seems ground meat-esque and I've never liked ground meat substitutes (or actual ground meat, for the most part). But this recipe was really good. I'll definitely make it again. I mostly ate it on sandwiches (like this one), because I have some (homemade) bread to use up.

Wonder Twin Powers Activate!

2006-08-11T23:15:00.000-04:00

So today I hopped into my crappy car and rode down to York to meet Jessiegirl. We'd been talking about getting together for a while, so when everything fell into place schedule-wise I knew I had to jump at the opportunity. We went to Sonnewald's, a natural food store with a kick ass bulk section, and then just hung out and talked for a few hours. She's amazing and I'm SO glad I got to meet her. Seriously, we clicked right away. We're very much alike, in the best ways. Her daughter is adorable and the rest of her family is awesome. Plus I had a kitten sit on my neck! I don't think things could've gone better, honestly.

It was so awesome to be able to wander through a grocery store with someone who actually enjoys wandering through grocery stores as much as I do. Seriously. I don't have any friends like that. This is a major find. Plus she's planning to move to Lancaster eventually, which would rock not only my world but the rest of the planet in this solar system as well.

We're going to get together again soon (I hope), possibly for a Fauxstess Cupcake adventure. I'm excited. I'm also going to make her watch Veronica Mars, because I take my TV seriously and I must spread the love.

New food purchases: whole wheat couscous, a long grain and wild rice mix, quinoa, raw cashews, a mint carob rice cake, a peanut butter carob rice cake, a chocolate chocolate chip cookie that was adequate at best, and 3 mangos.

Cookies, Soup, Stir-Fry, and Bread (x2)

2006-08-07T23:14:00.000-04:00

What is this?! That's right, it's a bread machine. We found it at Salvation Army for $13; it was missing its paddle, so add on another $10 to replace it and I still got a bread machine for under $30. Not bad. In front of it are the Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies from Vive le Vegan! Otherwise known as the best cookies ever. I made a double batch, one for a friend's birthday and one for us to eat. They only lasted about a day and a half here at the apartment; my friend ate all of his during the party. I hate boys and their super fast metabolisms.

This is the first bread I made with the machine. I obviously didn't bake it in there, just mixing and kneading with it instead. I took it out to shape and rise before baking. My bread is always very flat. It's really annoying. I think I deflate it when I try to make the slashes.

The second loaf of bread from the machine. Oven-baked again. Flat again. I used a brand new exacto blade to make the slashes, and the first two were fine, but then I got cocky and made two more... and then it deflated. Is that my problem, oh experienced bread bakers? Why does my bread always go flat? And it's definitely not my yeast, because it rises wonderfully. I used Nic's recipe for Rustic Country Bread, except I halved everything and used agave nectar in place of honey. Flatness aside, it's a tasty loaf. Nice crust.

Curried Split Pea Soup from Vegan with a Vengeance, with fresh bread on the side. This stuff is awesome. I'm glad I made the whole recipe - lots of leftovers!

Aaaand another stir-fry. Second verse, same as the first. This one has peanut sauce on it, though. I've been eating so many of these lately.

Chipotle Black Bean Sandwich Spread

2006-07-30T22:41:00.000-04:00

For dinner tonight we had minestrone and sandwichy things. I had some black beans in the fridge that needed used up, so I threw together a little spread that's just basically black beans, garlic, scallions, chipotle pepper and hot sauce, and various spices. I think cumin, oregano, paprika, garlic and onion powders, salt, pepper, and Spike. Oh, and some nutritional yeast ("nooch"). And a little water to thin it out. It had a bit of heat, which was nice with the crunchy veggies. The bread is a sourdough loaf from Panera, because I'm lazy and we were nearby.

It's nothing special, but I thought I'd post it anyway. I think I'm making something from The Everyday Vegan tomorrow. It's my newest cookbook acquisition and I really need to break it in. I'm thinking about the caramel chip bars. I'm a sucker for caramel.

Kitchen Sink Minestrone

2006-07-29T15:45:00.000-04:00

It's been a long day. I dragged my (decidedly not morning-oriented) butt out of bed at 6:45 to go running before it got too hot, then came home and did my strength training (except for the squats, because my thighs were weeping tears of pain). After cleaning myself up I walked down to the farmer's market to pick up a few things. It was crowded, so I tried to get in an out as quickly as possible, but I still came out with a pretty good haul: garlic, parsley, zucchini, red and green peppers, shallots, onions, green beans, dried basil and oregano, cherries, and strawberries. And then I had to carry all of this home. I don't live far from the market, but it's uphill coming home and being loaded down with bags in the heat makes for a somewhat unpleasant journey.

When I got home I put away what I didn't need and then assembled my ingredients, washing and chopping and draining and mixing. I fired up the stove, and less than an hour later I had...

A huge pot of minestrone! It made a lot more than I expected - 12 cups, in fact. I thought about freezing some, but I figure that Adam and I can probably get through it in a few days. Once things go into my freezer I tend to forget they exist. Here's a shot of the bowl I had for lunch, and a recipe:

Kitchen Sink Minestrone

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 zucchini, sliced into rounds or half-rounds depending on the size
2 large carrots, sliced into rounds
1 large bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red potato (6 oz), chopped
1 c green beans, cut into 1-1 1/2'' pieces
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 cup (5 oz) ditalini or other small pasta
6 c vegetable stock
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp Spike seasoning (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper and saute until soft. Add the carrots, basil, oregano, and Spike (if using) and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.

Add the zucchini, potatoes, green beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, and vegetable stock and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, soy sauce, crushed red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, covered, for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add the pasta and cook, uncovered, for another 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how big your pasta is. Stir the soup a few times during all of these steps.

Garnish with parsley and eat.

Makes 12 cups.

Notes: Next time I think I'm going to add a can of crushed tomatoes in place of the tomato sauce and see if that gives me a thicker broth. I'll update the recipe if it works out well, but it's tasty this way too. You could use any kind of beans or vegetables in this, really - which is why I gave it the "kitchen sink" title. Spinach would be a nice addition. As for the salt, I probably used about a tsp. That's what I used when I calculated the nutritional info.

Nutritional Information: 163 calories, 2.2 g fat (.25 g sat fat), 496.4 mg sodium, 31 g carbs, 6.1 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 7.2 g protein, 37.5% vitamin A, 51.6% vitamin C, 6% calcium, and 10.5% iron @ 1 cup per serving.

This was an excellent lunch. And now I'm exhausted... just in time for work! Awesome.

Orange-Chocolate Chip Mini Cake

2006-07-27T23:29:00.000-04:00

I have this problem with icing. I always make it too thin. Every time. This time it started out fine, then I refrigerated it until the cakes cooled, and then it seemed too hard so I added a little rice milk. It did not for a second occur to me that it was hard because it had been, oh, let's see... in the fridge? Man I'm smart. So that's why the icing looks all melty and weird here. In retrospect I could've just added some more powdered sugar, but apparently icing is my kryptonite so of course I didnd't think of that at the time.

Anyway. This is an orange-chocolate chip cake with orange marmalade between the layers and chocolate frosting. The cake was modified from this recipe, and the frosting was a slightly modified version of the one on the back of the Hershey's cocoa box. For the cake I reduced the sugar to 3/4 c, added about 1/4 c of extra flour, used whole wheat pastry flour, used 3 1/2 Tbsp of applesauce and 1 Tbsp of oil in place of the fat, orange juice in place of the water/soymilk, no almond extract, only 1 tsp of vanilla, and a little less than 1 Tbsp of orange extract. I also added about some orange zest to the mix, and of course mini chocolate chips - about 3 Tbsp. So including the marmalade, there are 4 types of orange flavoring at play here. It's orange overload!

Chocolate and orange is one my favorite flavor combinations, so I love this cake. The only problem I had was that I should've halved this recipe, because it made enough for 4 mini round cakes. I put the excess batter into my mini bear and bunny pans, and they stuck like a mofo. They stil taste good, though. The round pans stuck a bit as well, but I think that's my fault for not letting them cool completely. Plus the chocolate chips always make things a bit stickier.

Overall I'd call this experiment a success. The cake itself is really good, even without icing. The icing itself is the only part I'm not happy with, and that's just because it's ugly.

So there you have it.

Artistic Food Porn

2006-07-27T00:52:00.000-04:00

Food porn of a different variety. I'm not actually crazy about the last one, but Blogger was being an asshole when I tried to center the 5th image by itself.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Mini Cake, and a Stir-Fry

2006-07-24T21:36:00.000-04:00

Breakfast! Flax-Berry Pancakes from Vegan Planet (my regular recipe), minus the berries and with a Tbsp or so of mini chocolate chips mixed in. Sliced strawberries on the side, and a little dollop of Soy Whip on top. For as decadent as it looks/sounds, it was actually pretty healthy - whole wheat flour, no oil, etc. Tasty, too! The mini chips were the perfect size - regular ones would've been too much.

Look, Ma, a mini cake! I went to Kitchen Collections yesterday before work and picked up two round silicone mini pans, plus a set of mini bear and bunny pans. They're all adorable, but today I went with the round pans - and ended up with this little cake. It's Kittee's chai cake, the recipe for which you can find here, down in the comments. I changed a few things, though - I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose and I used applesauce and 2 tsp of oil in place of the fat. I halved the recipe to make a single 8'' cake, and I had enough batter to make 3 mini round cakes. I whipped up a small batch of cream cheese frosting and made one mini layer cake, then just frosted the third one on its own. Each cake got a little sprinkle of cocoa powder (locally made!) and cinnamon on top. They're so cute! And delicious. We can't forget delicious.

And then we have dinner, which was just a big ole' stir-fry. Broccoli, green peppers, carrots, garlic, fresh corn cut off the cob, and lots of tempeh. Mmmmm tempeh. Nothing fancy, but it really hit the spot after a day in the kitchen.

Three-Bean Dal

2006-07-22T23:50:00.000-04:00

Tonight's dinner was Three-Bean Dal from Vegan Planet. I really love this book, but I don't use it too often. I don't really know why. In any case, this recipe is definitely a keeper. It's very bean-heavy - I mean, it's basically just a combination of three beans and some spices - which I consider a positive thing since I don't think I eat enough beans most of the time. It's not exactly quick - it takes about 45 minutes, not including prep work. But it's a lot faster to make than the traditional dish it mimics (dal makhani), and it's really tasty. Plus it's really high in fiber and pretty good on protein as well, and therefore super filling.

I made a few substitutions, but it's nothing that should really make that big of a difference. I'm going to post the recipe as it's written in the book, and then my changes at the end.

Three-Bean Dal
from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson

1/2 c dried yellow split peas
3 c water
1 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 c cooked black beans (or 1 15 oz can, drained and rinsed)
1 1/2 c cooked red kidney beans (or 1 15 oz can, drained and rinsed)
salt to taste
2 Tbsp corn oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tsp peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Put the peas and water in a large pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Bring the heat down to low and stir in the turmeric, then simmer, partially covered, for about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. After 20 minutes, add the black and red beans and salt to taste. Simmer, uncovered, until the pea "sauce" thickens and the beans are very soft, about another 20 minutes.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and saute the onion until soft. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Add the spices and tomatoes and cook, stirring, for another 30 seconds.

Add the contents of this pan to the pot of beans and stir to mix well. Garnish and eat.

My changes: I used 1 Tbsp of oil instead of 2, moong dal instead of split peas, 1/2 tsp of ground ginger in place of the fresh, only 1/4 tsp of cayenne, I didn't chop my diced tomatoes any further, and I didn't use any cilantro because I don't have any right now. Oh, and I cooked the spices and tomatoes for longer than 30 seconds. Maybe 2 minutes or so. In any case, it was yummy.

The book says this serves 6; I'd estimate we got about 5 servings. But then, it was oour entire meal. If you have this with other things then I can definitely see it serving 6 or even more.

Vegan Treats Rocky Road Brownie.

2006-07-21T23:01:00.000-04:00

This little hunk of delicious is the third and final thing I brought home with me from Vegan Treats: a rocky road brownie. Marshamallows, chocolate, and what I assume is white chocolate top a fudgy frosting, which in turn tops a very tasy brownie. It was really good. So good that I meant to only eat half and save the rest for Adam, but then I ate the whole thing because I couldn't stop myself. I kind of felt bad for a minute, but then I remembered that he still eats eggs and junk and therefore can get his own damn brownie.

I really like the Vegan Treats brownies. They're pretty much what I think of as the elusive "perfect brownie." I'd love to know how to make them myself.

Oh, and they freeze well too. I popped this in the freezer when we got home from the bakery, and then just let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes before I ate it. So stocking up is an option. A very dangerous option.

Vegan Treats Coconut Cream Pie

2006-07-19T23:41:00.000-04:00

This is the second thing I brought home from Vegan Treats - an individual coconut cream pie. Although in this case it was more like a 2-person coconut cream pie, since it took me two days to eat it. It was cocolicious, though! I am great lover of all things coconut, so this made me very happy. The big poof of whipped stuff on top was very rich, and the coconut filling was amazing - creamy and full of coconut flavor, but not too heavy. In fact I'd really like to know how to make it, because I'd eat bowls of it like pudding. I think the pie shell was lined with something on the inside, maybe a thin layer of white chocolate? There was definitely something there, but I don't really know what. The pie shell itself was good, pretty much what I expected from a pie shell. That's really all I can say regarding that aspect, because I'm no great connoisseur of pastry items.

The photo looks a bit blown out in the browser I'm using right now (Firefox), but it looks fine in the one I usually use (Shiira). I had to switch back over for a while because Shiira keeps crashing on me. Lame. I kind of hate Firefox because it displays my images wrong. It's like it doesn't read the color profile, even though it claims to. It's really frustrating. So I hope the picture looks better for you guys than it does for me.

Tofurky Italian Sausage + More Vegan Treats

2006-07-17T22:26:00.000-04:00

Tonight we tried the Tofurky Italian Sausages. I sliced one up and browned it in a pan, and then we had it with whole wheat linguine. Obviously. It wasn't bad. I'm a pretty hard sell when it comes to mock meats, because usually I think they're either too close to the real thing and therefore nauseating, or too mushy/weird-tasting and therefore disgusting. So it's really a no-win situation. Rarely does a meat substitute get my stamp of approval. These don't have it yet, but they didn't ruin my pasta and they pack a heavy dose of protein (29 grams per sausage!), so I'll ry them again.

This little beauty is an orange creamsicle cake from Vegan Treats. It's a mini-cake, maybe 5" across - the perfect size, if you ask me. We've gotten 4 slices out of it so far, and there's enough left for another slice or two. It's two layers of vanilla cake with orange frosting, and little poofs of vanilla frosting on top. I believe the frosting has orange essence in it. It's really yummy, very rich and super sweet. So sweet that I actually scraped some off of my slice because it was a bit too much for me. It's funny; as a kid I would eat everyone else's leftover icing and I always wanted the piece with the most roses and blobs of icing on it. Now I find it sickeningly sweet at times, and definitely prefer a more modest amount. That's just me, though - the cake is really delicious. I'd love to try more of their cakes in the future, the coconut one especially.

Isn't this dramatically-lit photo amusing? I took a bunch and they all came out like this. It wasn't intentional - it's just the way the cake was sitting in its little to-go box.

Also, does anyone know where to get mini cake pans like this? I'm going to do a google search after I post this, but I thought I'd ask anyway. I want to make mini cakes.

The Vegan Treats Experience

2006-07-16T22:40:00.000-04:00

Before I get started, I'd like to take say thanks to everyone who left birthday wishes in the comments. THANK YOU!!! Seriously, you guys are so awesome. My birthday is notoriously forgotten by my family and friends (this one was no exception), so to have so to get so many happy birthdays from people I've never actually met is really wonderful. And now, on to the goodies...

This is the storefront at Vegan Treats, an entirely vegan bakery located in Bethlehem, PA. It's a 75-miles drive from Lancaster, and I am here to tell you that it's worth every single mile. We stopped in on our way back from Bushkill Falls (pictures to come once I get them all sorted and processed), which is an additional 50 miles north. We got there around 2:30 in the afternoon, and the place was fairly full but emptied out a bit shortly after we arrived. It's a really cute place - lots of pink and black, with a checkerboard floor, polka dotted plates and adorable retro tables that I will covet in my dreams from now on, and a mural of pastries on the wall behind the display case. The girl working behind the counter noticed our shock and awe and came around to tell us what every item in the case was. That was awesome, because I honestly wouldn't have known where to start.

This is the display case. Cases of cinnamon buns, pecan rolls, and donuts; jars of huge cookies; and row upon row of cheesecakes, cakes, and brownies. You can see why we had a little trouble deciding.

This was my poison - a peanut butter bomb brownie. A big scoop of creamy peanut butter mousse plopped on top of a rich brownie, then covered in chocolate and drizzled with more peanut butter. It was seriously amazing. And huge! I'm kind of surprised that I managed to finish it. Okay, no I'm not.

Adam (aka The Boy) got a mini oreo cheesecake, which was good but not spectacular. We both found it a bit bland. I was never a huge fan of the New York-style cheesecakes pre-vegan, though, so I may be a bit biased. The texture of this was pretty spot-on, not at all runny or mushy like some vegan cheesecakes can be. The frosting on top was delicious, and the cheesecake really benefited from it. I think maybe the cake itself wasn't sweet enough for my taste.

I brought three more things home with me, which I'll post about as I eat them over the next few days. Overall I'd give Vegan Treats two thumbs up, but that's only because I don't have more thumbs to give. One a scale of one to awesome, this place rates right up there with unicorns and a vegan cheese that stretches like the real thing. Definitely plan a trip if you're anywhere close by.

So! Excited!

2006-07-15T22:48:00.000-04:00

So tomorrow (Sunday) is my birthday, and The Boy and I are driving up to the Poconos to go hiking at Bushkill Falls. I love this place but haven't been there for a few years because it's like 130 miles away, so I'm excited about that. But I'm actually MORE excited about what we're doing on the way home - stopping in Bethlehem to visit Vegan Treats! A whole bakery full of vegan goodies! I think I may actually become so suffused with joy that I explode.

Rest assured, pictures will be taken. Expect an image-heavy post sometime tomorrow. I suspect these goodies will be too pretty not to share. (Plus there might be some trees and stuff too.)

Lunchbox Porn

2006-07-14T01:26:00.000-04:00

The lunchbox (dinnerbox, actually) that I took to work yesterday. The log-shaped thing wrapped in plastic is half of a whole wheat tortilla stuffed with Curried Tempeh-Mango Salad from Vegan with a Vengeance and some sliced carrots. Next to it is a little pile of whole grain Wheat Thins. In the top left we have a mix of strawberries, blueberries, and a chopped nectarine. On the top right is the ever-present baby carrots.

If you're wondering why there's only half of a tempeh-mango wrap, it's because I ate the other half for lunch. That stuff is GOOD. I was skeptical, because truth be told the dressing smelled horrific, but in the end it was really tasty. It was a bit soggy for some reason, though, so next time I'll probably use less vinegar or something.

Chocolate Chip Cookies + Quesadillas

2006-07-11T01:59:00.000-04:00

Last night I wanted cookies, but I didn't want anything too time-consuming and I definitely didn't want several dozen of them lying around. So I turned to Vive le Vegan, and made the Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies. The verdict? Yum! These are really good. They're nice and chewy on the outside, and soft in the center... plus the recipe only makes 10 or so cookies, so it's much more practical than most if you're only making them for one or two people. I'm sure they're just as good the next day, but unfortunately I can't say from experience... there aren't any left.

Quesadillas! Vegan Gourmet cheddar and sauteed onions, garlic, corn, broccoli, and black beans in a wheat tortilla. Super simple and really tasty. I had mine with ketchup for dipping (yes, I'm gross) and watermelon on the side. The Boy put some hot salsa in his and ate it that way.

I used to waitress at Friendly's back when I was in high school, and a lot of times people would mispronounce "quesadilla" when ordering them. Case-a-dilla was pretty common, as was keeza-dilla. One time I got queeza-dilla. They always emphasized that "dilla," though, pronouncing it just like it's spelled. So that's what I think of whenever I have quesadillas.

Ina Garten is Just! Like! You!

2006-07-06T17:17:00.000-04:00

I'm watching Food Network right now, and Ina Garten (sp?) is making chicken with morels. She just added 8 oz of creme fraiche AND a cup (maybe 2) of heavy cream to the mix. Jesus. That is a motherload of dairy. And also fat. This woman puts dairy in everything. It's really bothersome. One one hand, I like her. She's chubby and seems a least a bit more sincere than your average Food Network host. On the other, she's schmaltzy and obsessed with cheese and cream and I can't stand the cutesy little segments that show her "working." Oh look, I'm just like you! I have a job! I don't just whip up gourmet food in my spacious kitchen all day! Oh, sure, I have an acre of fresh herbs growing in my huge, sun-dappled yard, but I have to go into the office for 10 minutes and discuss how awesome my recipes are with my perky assistant - just like you.

Okay, so maybe she annoys me a little. And that thing I said about her seeming sincere? Knock a few points off. "I'll call you for dinner!" "Great, lets!" I wonder if she's a bitchy kitchen diva in real life? Hmm. I still like that she's chubby, though.

At least she doesn't make me dry heave like Rachael Ray. She eats my soul, and yet I can't look away. I think she may have promised her firstborn to the devil in exchange for her evil powers. And that sweet-ass stove.

Anyway. I've been slacking off for the last two days, eating kind of badly and not exercising. Monday was fine, but then Tuesday was the 4th and I went straight from work in the morning to my brother's in the evening, and I came home with my 10-year old niece in tow. She spent the night and then we hung out on Wednesday; by the time I drove her home and got back to Lancaster it was almost 9 o' clock. Plus my period started yesterday, which of course makes just makes me want to sit around like a sloth and eat cupcakes all day. Awesome. But today has gotten largely back on track. I'm supposed to do strength training, but I haven't yet. I did take a walk, though. We'll see how the rest of the night goes.

Still watching Food Network, only now it's Sandra Lee. She's way too fucking perky, is really all I have to say about her. Plus she keeps giving the camera, and as an extension me, these seductive, half-lidded eyes. It's freaking me out a little bit. And she just used the work "fierce" in describing cupcakes. She seems so very pleased with herself. I kind of hate her.

I need to find something else to watch. An entire hour of Rachael Ray stands between me and my true love, Alton Brown. I'm not sure I can get through that without a priest.

Soft Cutout Cookies

2006-07-03T23:29:00.000-04:00

Pre-vegan (and way pre-healthy eating!), I loved those big, iced smiley face cookies you can get at Eat 'n Park. They're soft and sweet and evil. I think the icing is actually just crack and powdered sugar. Of course it's been ages since I've had one - I haven't been there since high school, long before I went vegan and couldn't eat there even if I wanted to. Which I really don't, anymore. My tastes have definitely changed, but I still love the thought of those cookies. So when I found this recipe in my "Recipes To Try" bookmark folder, I figured I'd give it a shot.

With only one egg, it was a snap to veganize. I made two half-batches, because of confusion regarding how many cookies the recipe would yield. It states 4-5 dozen depending on cookie cutter size, but I used a large (but not huge) round cutter and only got 14 cookies from half the recipe. So I made half again to get a total of 28. I guess my cookie cutter is bigger than I thought. The difference in color is due to an ill-fated attempt to make pink cookies by coloring the dough with cherry juice. What I neglected to consider is that lovely red cherry juice turns quite quickly to a dull purple, thus leaving me with somewhat greyish cookies. They're not the prettiest things ever, but they still taste good. The second batch obviously didn't get colored at all.

These cookies aren't much by themselves - soft, but somewhat bland. It's the icing that makes them. I just used powdered sugar and a bit of vanilla soymilk, which was super sweet by itself but set off the cookies perfectly. They deifnitely satisfied my Eat 'n Park cookie cravings.

Soft Cutout Cookies
Recipe veganized from this recipe by Nic of bakingsheet

2 3/4 cups ap flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine, very soft
1/2 cup soymilk, with 1/2 Tbsp vinegar mixed in (this mimics buttermilk)
2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer + 3 Tbsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar and margarine. Beat in soured soymilk, egg replacer, and extracts. With the mixer on low speed or by hand, add in the flour mixture, mixing until no flour remains.

Divide dough into two pieces. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll out to 1/4-inch thick on a lightly floured surface and use a floured cookie cutter to make desired shapes. Transfer cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet. Reroll remaing dough, chilling for a few minutes if it becomes too warm to handle easily. Repeat with second piece of dough.

Bake for 6-8 minutes at 375F, until the edges are slightly firm to the touch but cookies are not browned (The bottom of the cookies will be light brown). Cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Makes 2 dozen or more, depending on cookie cutter size.

Simple Confectioner's Sugar Icing

Mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar with soymilk until it's thin but spreadable. Add food coloring if you want. Ice cookies as desired.

This mix makes enough to ice 28 large, round cookies.

Pancakes with Cherry Sauce

2006-07-03T01:09:00.000-04:00

It's almost cliche to have pancakes on a Sunday morning, but The Boy and I both had the day off - which is cause for celebration if there ever was one. I used the Flax Berry Pancake recipe from Vegan Planet, minus the berries and with whole wheat pastry flour instead of white. The cherry sauce was just 1 cup of pitted cherries simmered with 1 Tbsp of sugar until saucy. I dissolved a little cornstarch in water and added that in because I wanted it a little thicker. I had watermelon and pineapple on the side, and it was a lovely start to what turned out to be quite a busy day.

And now I'm going to go finish up those cookies I promised you.

Peanut Noodles Save The Day

2006-07-02T00:48:00.000-04:00

I had this whole big meal planned for tonight. It was slightly Mexican in terms of flavor, and it was going to be goooood. But then I came home from another day of retail slavery and worked out the logistics of it all, and of course it was going to require way too much cooking time and also some ingredients I didn't have. So I scrapped that (though I've filed the menu away for another day) and suddenly lost all motivation to cook. I'd been deflated. I contemplated going out to eat, but around here the pickings are pretty slim. Plus I really can't afford to go out. So I turned to an old standard: peanut noodles.

We're out of soba noodles right now, so I used whole wheat linguine. The veggies are grated carrots, steamed broccoli, and peas. I threw in some cilantro just because I love cilantro. I thinned the sauce out a bit too much, so it wasn't as thick and sticky as I usually like, but it tasted good nonetheless.

Obviously this isn't a new and exciting dish, but I thought the picture turned out well so I wanted to post it anyway.

Tomorrow: some very special sugar cookies. Hold onto your hats.

Fruit Salad + Pesto Potatoes

2006-06-30T20:44:00.000-04:00

I'm in total fruit-loving mode right now. I'm pretty much always in fruit-loving mode, actually, but I have an enormous amount of fruit in my fridge right now that's kicking me into overdrive. This has been my lunch for the last week, pretty much. Big bowls of fruit - in this case watermelon, cantaloupe, fresh pineapple, a nectarine, and of course cherries. Yum. Again, not something that really requires a picture, but fruit is just so pretty that I couldn't resist.

I've been craving pesto lately, so while thinking about what to make for dinner tonight I put that craving together with the little potatoes I bought a few days ago and came up with this: un-dried tomato pesto on steamed new potatoes. It's really good. Especially considering that I just made it up as I went along. Luckily the farmer's market was open today, so I was able to walk down and get basil this morning. The rest of the meal was sauteed tempeh and corn on the cob.

Today's dinner picture came out a lot better than yesterday's cobbler, except for that giant blown highlight in the background. Taking food photos in front of a window, while infinitely better than the yellow indoor lighting I usually use, has disadvantages all its own. Alas.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

1/4 c sun-dried tomatoes (mine are NOT oil-packed)
1/4 c packed fresh basil
2 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp olive oil
2 Tbsp water
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Dump all of the ingredients into a food processor (or blender, I suppose) and whizz until it's thick and pasty. If you want to use it as a pasta sauce, thin it out with some more water. Or oil, if you want to be all all crazy like that.

This makes about 6 Tbsp of pesto, which was plenty for 2 servings of potatoes. It would probably be enough for 2 servings of pasta as well, once you thin it out. I'll put that to the test sometime soon and report back.

A Lazy Dinner + Cherry Cobbler

2006-06-30T01:28:00.000-04:00

A spicy "chicken" Boca patty on top of whole wheat linguine with pasta sauce from a jar. My favorite is Bertoli Marinara with Burgundy Wine. This is obviously no great culinary masterpiece, but I wanted to post it anyway because the reality is that sometimes I'm very lazy. Also, the lighting in this picture is horrendous. I need to start cooking more thing during the day so I can take advantage of the sunlight. Maybe I should make lunch my largest meal. My eating schedule is so whacked that it would probably be more akin to most people's dinner time anyway.

The first of many cherry creations. I used the Peach Cobbler recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, but tweaked the hell out of it to accommodate the change in fruit and to make it lower in fat and calories. I also halved the recipe, and then split it even further by baking it in two smaller dishes. So I ended up with 4 servings, with each dish containing enough cobbler for The Boy and I together. The leftovers got covered and put in the fridge for future consumption. And by "future" I mean "tomorrow." Possibly for "breakfast."

The cobbler in an unfortunately-colored bowl. It's made even worse by the reappearance of The Yellow Light of Doom. Anyway. I've never made the Peach Cobbler straight up from the recipe, so I don't know how my modified version compared, but it was pretty damn tasty in any case. And not too bad for you, either: less than 200 calories and 3 grams of fat per serving, plus 4 grams of fiber. The topping was perhaps a bit less crisp than I'd like, but not enough that I'd feel compelled to go the full-fat route. Besides, this way I'd feel less guilty plopping some vanilla Tofutti on top.

Cherries

2006-06-28T11:47:00.000-04:00

This morning, after the rain finally stopped and it was confirmed that we didn't need to start gathering two of every animal, The Boy and I went cherry picking. There's an amazing orchard 10 minutes from our apartment that has the best prices I've ever seen - today the sweet cherries were $1.00 per pound. One dollar. They're like $6.99 at the grocery store, and $3.50 at the farmer's market. Of course they're more if you buy them already picked, but damn son. So we spent an hour among the trees, searching out the ones that hadn't been split or knocked off by two days of torrential rain. They warned us going in that they might be a little sparse, but actually it was no trouble at all, especially if you kept to the inner branches.

We left with 12 pounds of cherries. Grand total: $12.00. I can't get over that. In addition to eating them plain and making cherry cobbler or crisp, I think I might make cherry preserves and maybe try to dry some for use in future baking endeavors. And then I'll freeze whatever's left. We're going to go back another time or two before cherry season is over, because it was a lot of fun and I do love me some cherries.

A little tip, courtesy of The Boy's mom: in lieu of a cherry pitter, use a bobby pin to remove the pits. It works really well, and everyone's got a bobby pin on hand. Those little babies are so handy. Picking locks, pitting cherries, holding back stray bits of hair. Amazing.

Bocoles

2006-06-26T22:53:00.000-04:00

I have a lot of cookbooks. Occasionally I forget about some entirely, and finding them is like getting a new cookbook all over again. It's fun, in an early onset memory loss kind of way. Such was the case with a book called Heaven's Banquet by Miriam Kasin Hospodar. I picked it up at a bargain bookstore many, many moons ago, and haven't made anything from it since. I pulled it out last night for some bedtime reading (yes, I am a freak) and wondered what took me so long. I marked off a few to try right away.

This was the first - Bocoles, or Fresh Corn Pancakes. Super simple, but I'm a sucker for anything corn-related. The ingredients are very minimal: corn kernels, cornmeal, chickpea flour, margarine/oil, and salt. The liquid is just water, and I pan-friend them in a bit of Earth Balance because pretty much anything jumps a few notches on the scale of One to Awesome with the addition of a delicious Earth Balancey crust. I liked them a lot, especially eaten in the same bite as the carmelized tomatoes from the green beans. I think they'd be really good with a black bean and mango salsa as well. It's on my list of things to try soon.

Bocoles (Fresh Corn Pancakes
from Heaven's Banquet by Miriam Kasin Hospodar

3 c corn kernels (I used a mix of fresh and frozen)
1/2 c cornmeal
2 Tbsp chickpea flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp to 2 Tbsp melted margarine or oil (optional)
water

2 tsp to 2 Tbsp margarine or oil for frying (optional)

Blend corn, cornmeal, chickpea flour, salt, and optional margarine/oil in a food processor, adding just enough water to make a thick batter.

Heat margarine or oil, if using, in a skillet over medium heat. Spoon the batter into the pan, spreading it out a bit. Let the bottom cook until it's golden brown and firm before flipping, otherwise they'll fall apart. Cook until browned on the other side and then eat as soon as possible.

As far as size and servings go, the book says to make 2'' pancakes. I obviously made mine bigger, probably 4-5''. I halved the recipe and got 3 pancakes of this size. That served me well for lunch, but maybe I'm just a glutton and other people would only eat one. In any case, I'm saying that the recipe serves 2-4 depending on the size of the pancakes and the size of your appetite. Also, I left the margarine/oil out of the batter, and just used 1 tsp of Earth Balance to fry half the batch. I didn't find them lacking in any way, so I probably won't add include it in the future either.

I didn't actually work out the nutritional info for these, because I just enter the ingredients separately (based on what portion of the recipe I eat) since there's so few of them.

Chickpea Pancakes and Tempeh Gravy Redux

2006-06-25T11:00:00.000-04:00

Gussied up chickpea pancake. I just used the basic recipe from World Vegetarian and added chopped broccoli and grated carrots. I halved the recipe and it made 4 pancakes, but I was so full after two that I stuck the others in the fridge. The next morning I tried to re-heat them... yeah, that's not such a good idea. When the recipe states that these are best eaten straight from the pan, it's not lying.

Consistency-wise these were very strange. Kind of eggy, even omelet-esque. I've never been fond of eggs anyway, so I wasn't terribly impressed by these. I don't think I'll make them again.

Last night's dinner - White Bean and Tempeh Sausage Gravy (again from VwaV), smashed potatoes, and broccoli. Nothing fancy, but damn is that gravy good. The broccoli saves this meal from overwhelming beigeness. This isn't the best picture ever, but I took it in really weird lighting and none of the others could be salvaged. I really need to get some decent lights and set up a little food porn studio.

Playing Catch-Up

2006-06-22T23:13:00.000-04:00

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.

Magic iTunes 8-Ball Meme

2006-06-13T22:12:00.000-04:00

Stolen from Shananigans, because I haven't updated in like a week and don't feel like uploading the one picture I have to share just yet. Plus, music memes are just fun. It was an iPod meme, but eh, same thing really.

The way it works:
1. Put your iPod on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question.

How am I feeling today?
Too Bad About Your Girl by The Donnas (Yeah, that was a shame...)

Will I get far in life?
Sophomore Slump of Comeback of the Year by Fall Out Boy (Here's hoping for the latter.)

How do my friends see me?
Destination Anywhere by Sugarcult

When will I get married?
Rock Paper Scissors by Ani Difranco (So I guess the question really is will I get married at all?)

What is my best friend's theme song?
Take A Walk by Spoon

What is the story of my life?
The Rain (Where Do I Begin) by Si Se (Awesome, my life is about betrayal. And rain. Well at least I like rain.)

What was high school like?
Wisemen by James Blunt

How am I going to get ahead in life?
Drinking In The Afternoon by The New Amsterdams (HAHAHAHA. This was totally worth the whole meme.)

What is the best thing about me?
Le Moulin by Yann Tiersen (The best thing about me is the mill. Thanks for being so direct, iTunes.)

How is today going to be?
Tiny Little Fractures by Snow Patrol

What is in store for this weekend?
Into The Airwaves by Jack's Mannequin (This song reminds me of driving, which I will indeed be doing this weekend.)

What song describes my parents?
16 Military Wives by The Decemberists (Yeah, so my parents are polygamist army folk. Or not.)

What song describes your grandparents?
Strange Little Girl by Tori Amos (My grandma was a strange little girl, for certain.)

How is my life going?
Magenta by Hooverphonic (Again with the eerily specific insights!)

What song will they play at my funeral?
Warning by Green Day (My life: the cautionary tale.)

How does the world see me?
Revealing Too Much by The Honorary Title (Huh. I think pretty much the opposite is true.)

Will I have a happy life?
Worksong by Speechwriters LLC (Well at least I'll have a job.)

What do my friends really think of me?
Repetition by Hail Social (Awesome!)

Do people secretly lust after me?
Omaha by The Counting Crows (Apparently I need to move to Omaha.)

How can I make myself happy?
Faded Dress by Kay Hanley

What should I do with my life?
Humpty Dumpty by Tori Amos (I should toss a giant anthropomorphic egg off a wall. Oh, those wacky vegan activists!)

Will I ever have children?
I'm Ready, I Am by The Format (I'm ready to have myself surgically sterilized so that THIS NEVER HAPPENS.)

What is some good advice for me?
Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple

What is my signature dancing song?
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something (Man I love this song. It's not so much with the dancing, though.)

What do I think my current theme song is?
Another Day In Paradise by Copeland

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
How Am I Different By Aimee Mann

What type of men/women do you like?
Afterglow by Vanessa Carlton

What kind of kisser are you?
Dirty Little Secret by Sarah McLachlan (That's dirrty with two r's, thankyouverymuch.)

What's your style?
Last Call by Mae

What kind of lover are you?
Tie The Rope by The Format (Kinky!)

What would be playing on a first date?
Ribbons Undone by Tori Amos

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Freakshow by Ani Difranco (Gee, thanks.)

Wow, that was pretty much not flattering at all. The best thing about me is the mill. My friends think I'm repetitious. The only people who like me are in Nebraska. I'm going to be a carny in 10 years. The only way I can get ahead in life is to become an alcoholic.

Damn. Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow with Workout Wednesday and possibly actual food-related content.

Workout Wednesday 6/7

2006-06-07T13:23:00.000-04:00

You know, it's funny. Ever since I began Operation: Hottie a few months ago, it's been the simplest things that have challenged me the most. The things I always wrote off as being too easy, too small, not intense enough, not big enough to make an impact. Strength training, for one. I always thought it would be a walk in the park - I mean, it's just lifting 5-pound dumbells a couple of times, right? And then I did it for the first time, almost died, was sore for days afterward, and had to downgrade to 3-pounders in order to get through the whole routine. I really ate my words on that one. It's gotten easier, of course. I'm using 5-pound weights now, and actually I think I might need some 8-pounders soon. I don't get super sore afterward anymore, either, unless it's the first day of a particularly killer new routine. And even then I kind of like it.

Lately my easy write-off of walking as a viable exercise has come back to bite me in the ass in a similar manner. I always thought that walking was way too low-intensity to be an effective calorie-burning workout. I've always viewed high-intensity, high-impact activities like running as the end all be all in interms of cardiovascular exercise. It's what I've always strived toward, and what I always end up dropping after a few weeks or months because I just don't find it that enjoyable, despite its many benefits. And then I'm pissed at myself, because if it's THE workout and I can't get into it then of course I must be a failure at this whole fitness thing. If only I had more willpower, more determination, more self-discipline... if only.

Truth is, I never even considered walking an option in terms of exercise. It brings to mind images of power walkers and mall walkers, clad in spandex and windbreakers and headbands, pumping their arms like crazy and looking for all the world like escapees from a home for the criminally cheerful. That's not me. I am many things, but cheerful and wearing of spandex are not among them. I hate exercising in public because I hate being stared at. I hate even being looked at. I don't want to be the center of attention. I just want to be left alone. And people can't help but stare at power walkers. It just can't be done.

But lately I've been walking. Not power walking, of course. No swinging arms, no silly headbands. Just walking around the city like a normal person. I haven't even been trying to go faster than normal. I just strap on my iPod and wander around. It's amazing how many neat things I've seen around here that I just never noticed before. It's nice. It's "me time," alone time, which is something I need a lot of. Plus I don't come back sweating and panting and needing a shower, no matter how long I'm out. This might change once the temperatures start rising again, but I try to go in the evenings anyway to avoid the worrst of the heat.

The best part, though, is that I do it every day. Not because I make myself, but because I genuinely want to. I look forward to it. And it's actually not too shabby in terms of calorie-burning, either, especially given how long I usually walk. I've been averaging anywhere between 45 and 80 minutes at a time, sometimes more than once a day. Yesterday I was out for over 2 hours over the course of 3 walks. I walked about 6.5 miles total, burning (according to Spark People) over 550 calories. And I liked it, which is really the most important thing. Finding an exercise you like, something you'll do consistently.

So yeah, walking has really exceeded my expectations in the best possible way.

Speaking of Spark People, I've been using it for about a week now to track my food and exercise. I've committed myself to do 3 30-minute cardio workouts per week and 3 30-minute strength training sessions as well. So 90 minutes of cardio, burning 650 calories total. The cardio is being taken care of (mostly) by walking, of course - and thus far this week I've logged 284 minutes of cardio and a total calorie burn of 1,236. I'm thinking about changing my cardio schedule to 5 days a week - does anyone know if that changes your daily calorie allowance? I'm doing fine with that I've got, but what with exceeding the calorie burn like that I'm wondering if a bit of extra food wouldn't be in order.

In terms of Operation: Hottie's progress, I can now officially say that there's something to report! I finally lost a pound, and I took my measurements the other day and discovered that I've lost 2'' from my waist and 1'' each from my chest and hips. Not bad, not bad. I'm glad for fat coming off anywhere, of course, but I'm especially pleased by the larger loss being from my waist. As much as I complain about my chest size, the place I want/need to lose the most from is my stomach. So that was nice to see.

And now, a few links.

Spark People - I love this place. Definitely check it out. I like it a lot more than other, similar services I've tried, and best of all it's free. Awesome.

Google Maps Pedometer - You can use this to see how long your walking/running/biking/whatever route is. You can get the distances in either miles or kilometers. It's a really handy little tool.

The Eowyn Challenge - Okay, call me a huge nerd, but this is so cool. So cool! Basically it challenges people to re-create the Fellowship's journey via their own distance-focused exercise. I've decided to start at the beginning (of LotR, at least), following Frodo and Company's trek from Bag End to Rivendell. I started tracking officially on Monday, and so far I've gone just over 13 miles - so I haven't quite reached Stock Road yet. Again, this may just be the nerd in me talking, but... so cool!

Oh! I almost forgot. While walking, I listen to podcasts to keep me entertained. Here are a few, in case you're interested.

Buffycast - Just what it sounds like. A Buffy podcast.
Firefly Talk - And again, self explanatory.
The Signal - Another Firefly podcast.
Neptune Pirate Radio - Veronica Mars! I heart you so.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm just a little bit obsessed with TV. Just certain TV, though. Someone needs to make a good Angel podcast and then my life will be complete.

Chipotle Black Bean and Veggie Burritos

2006-06-07T00:24:00.000-04:00

This is a recipe I just kind of threw together as I went along. The Boy and I used to make these kick ass black bean burritos back in my lacto-ovo days, heavily spiced with cumin and smothered in cheddar cheese. The recipe was loosely based on one from an issue of Southern Living magazine that his mom had lying around. To this day I still have no idea why a completely non-southern woman living in Central Pennsylvania would get Southern Living magazine, but the recipe was a good one. I was thinking of those burritos when I made these, but aside from the black beans and cumin they have very little in common. It turned out really well, and was quick to make - an all-around success. I wish I'd made more, actually.

Chipotle Black Bean and Veggie Burritos

1/2 tsp oil (I used corn)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 small bell pepper, any color, diced
1/2 small zucchini, diced
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 chipotle pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 cup corn
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp salt
a few splashes of chipotle hot sauce
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

4 tortillas

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it's hot, throw in the cumin seeds and let them fry for about 10 seconds. Add the onion, carrot, and bell pepper and saute until the onion begins to brown. Add the zucchini, tomatoes, chipotle, and corn and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or so.

Put in the black beans and spices, including the cilantro and hot sauce, and cook, stirring, for a few minutes - until the beans are heated through, basically. You can mash it up a bit along the way if you like, or leave the beans whole.

Spoon the mixture into the tortillas and wrap 'em up. Place seam-side down on a baking sheet and bake for 10-20 minutes, depending how crispy you want them. Top with whatever and eat.

Makes 4 regular-sized burritos. Larger or smaller tortillas will obviously make less or more, respectively.

Nutritional Information (filling only): 145.5 calories, 5 g fat (0.5 g saturated fat), 652 mg sodium, 26 g carbs, 8.5 g fiber, 3.5 g sugars, 7.25 g protein, 40% vitamin A, 50.75% vitamin C, 5.5% calcium, 12% iron @ 4 servings.

(I calculated it as just the filling so that I can count it by itself and then add it whatever tortilla I use separately. It just makes things easier and more accurate, I think.)

Workout Wednesday 5/31

2006-05-31T16:09:00.000-04:00

You know what you absolutely shouldn't do if you want to keep your motivation running high? Step on the scale when you're in the middle of your period, crampy, bloated, have just eaten breakfast, and oh yeah, haven't peed in hours. No good can come of this. None whatsoever. Just, you know, FYI.

This week in fitness has been pretty uneventful for me. I've done my strength training and most of my cardio. Today I intended to do at last 30 minutes of my kickboxing video, but I only ended up doing 10. I know, it's terrible. But it's so HOT. And the cramps, oh god THE CRAMPS. I'm planning to take a walk tonight after it cools down, so that's something at least. I know I should feel worse about slacking today, but really, I just can't. I've been eating well. Keeping to my calorie goals and whatnot. I just figure that if I'm ever allowed to slack off, it's now. I'm hoping that things have eased up by Friday so I can get in a more strenuous workout, but otherwise I'll just take a long walk.

After sunset, though. Because the heat is just ridiculous right now. It's been upwards of 90 degrees for the past few days, and humid as hell. I hate summer in Pennsylvania. It's always so damn humid. But mostly I hate that it's not even June yet and it's 90 degrees. Seriously, global warming is the worst thing ever. I need to move someplace colder.

The only other thing really worth mentioning is that I picked up a used copy of Yourself! Fitness on the recommendation of a friend. It's like a personal trainer video game. It sounded awesome, but you know what? I can't fucking stand it. All of the cardio is your standard aerobics moves, and I've always hated aerobics. And for a game that claims to have a database of over 500 exercises - so that no two workouts are the same! - I have gotten the most repetitive sequences of moves ever. I swear to god I did squats and reverse lunges for 10 minutes straight. I don't know. I know a lot of people really like this thing, but I doubt I'll ever pick it up again. I'm glad I only paid $17.99 for it.

I'm going to be ordering a bunch of workout DVDs from Amazon sometime this week, so any suggestions are welcome!

Tuesday 5/30 - Smoky Corn Risotto

2006-05-30T23:27:00.000-04:00

I'd been eyeing this recipe for a long time, and after going to te market today I had everything I needed on hand. You could make this with frozen corn, but I really would recommend going with fresh. It's not much trouble, and the texture really makes a difference here - it's much more toothsome and crunchy, whereas frozen corn is often a tad mushy no matter how little you cook it. So, definitely go fresh, especially now that fresh corn is coming back into season (well, it is here anyway).

Overall this is a lovely dish. It's very creamy and yet not at all heavy, thanks to the fresh corn and sun-dried tomatoes. The sweet potato adds some more substance and color, and its sweetness, coupled with the delicate flavor of the corn, sets off the smoky chipotles very nicely. Plus it's much lower in calories than I thought it would be - bonus! The one downside is that it does take some preparation. There are a lot of things to cut up. Six things, in fact. But I think it's worth it. I'll definitely make it again.

We had this on its own as a meal, but in the future I'll probably pair it with tempeh or some other meat substitute to get in some extra protein. Because while it's low-cal and delicious, it is admittedly light on protein.

Smoky Corn Risotto
Recipe from Entertaining for a Veggie Planet by Didi Emmons

3 ears of corn, shucked, kernals cut off (or 2 cups of frozen corn)
4 cups of vegetable broth
2 Tbsp olive oil (I only used 1)
1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 medium red onion, chopped (reserve a bit for garnish if desired)
1 1/2 cups raw arborio rice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup dry sherry (I didn't have this - I just used more stock)
2-3 canned chipotles in adobo, seeded, minced
1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried
10 sun-dried tomatoes, drained if oil-packed, sliced thinly

Heat the broth, plus 1/2 cup water, either in a small saucepan or in a large microwave-safe measuring cup. I think the latter is easier, because then you can just pour it out from there. Anyway, heat it up and keep it warm.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sweet potatoes and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft - about 7 minutes. Add the rice, garlic, and salt and saute for 1 minute, stirring to coat the rice with the oil.

Stir in the chipotles, oregano, and sherry, if you have it - otherwise, as noted, you can just use some more stock and it will still turn out just fine. Add 1/2 cup of the broth to the rice mixture and simmer, stirring frequently, until the liquid is absorbed. Add the remining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly (or at least very frequently) until each addition is absorbed; when there is just 1 cup left, add the corn and sun-dried tomatoes.

Cook until the rice is tender but still slightly chewy, 18-20 minutes total, adding some additional hot water if the rice absorbs all the broth. (I had to add about 3/4 cup extra water in all, but I think I may have had my heat too high, so as always, your mileage may vary.)

Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately, sprinkled with the reserved red onion if you like that sort of thing.

Serves 4-6.

My changes: Pretty much just what's stated in parentheses.1 Tbsp of oil instead of the 2 that the book calls for, no sherry, and I didn't have any oregano so I used dried basil. Also I didn't garnish mine with onion. I just don't feel the need to sprinkle raw onion onto things that aren't sandwiches.

Nutritional Information: 230 calories, 3.4 g fat (0.4 g saturated fat), 3.6 g fiber, 4.8 g protein @ 5 servings.

Quick Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili + Cornbread

2006-05-25T20:33:00.000-04:00

First things first: this dish is U-G-L-Y, it ain't got no alibi, it's ugly. Yeah, yeah, it's ugly. It may not look so bad in the picture, but when I reheated some today I was struck by just how unattractive stew-type dishes can be. But it still tastes good! Especially with a hunk of cornbread. (I made this cornbread, as usual. I found the perfect balance of health and taste when I made it last night, so that recipe has been updated to reflect the new ingredients.)

Quick Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili
Recipe from Nava Atlas' The Vegetarian Family Cookbook

2 medium-large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons light or extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 to 3 garlic cloves
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
One 32-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 or 2 small fresh hot chilies, minced, or one 4-ounce can chopped mild green chilies
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt to taste

Bake or microwave the sweet potatoes on high until just firm, about 3 to 4 minutes per potato. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into 3/4-inch dice. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté over medium heat until golden. Add the bell pepper, beans, tomatoes, chilies, cumin, and oregano. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and continue to simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Season lightly with salt. If time allows, let stand off the heat for 1 or 2 hours, then heat through as needed.

Serves 4-6

My Changes: Instead of baking or microwaving the sweet potatoes, I diced and steamed them for approximately 10 minutes. I also left the skins on. I only used 1 Tbsp of oil, left out the oregano because I didn't have any, and threw in some chili powder. I mistakenly put the sweet potatoes in with all of the other ingredients instead of separately, but it turned out to be a good thing because they would never have finished cooking in that last 10-15 minutes.

Nutritional Info: 305 calories, 3.6 g fat (0.6 g saturated fat), 17 g fiber, 13.4 g protein @ 5 servings.

Workout Wednesday 5/24

2006-05-25T00:11:00.000-04:00

Okay! So lately I've been having some issues with running. It's something I keep coming back to everytime I start an exercise routine - for some reason I associate running with being healthy, and therefore if I wish to be healthy I need to run. Logically I know that's not the case, but it's always been a sticking point for me. (Logic has never been my strong suit.) The thing is, I do like to run. I just like to run faster for shorter periods of time. This long, drawn-out jogging business has been getting to me lately. It's very boring. Maybe a change of scenery would help. Tomorrow I'm going to try running at Long's Park instead of the track and see how it goes.

But the thing is, really, that I can do other activities for a lot longer and have a lot more fun with it. Yesterday, for example, I did a kickboxing DVD (10 Minute Solutions Kickbox Bootcamp). It consisted of 5 10-minute segments, and I opted to do that whole thing straight through. 50 minute later I was sweating like a pig, but having so much fun that I actually did the first segment again. Let me repeat: I did extra exercise of my own volition. This isn't something that happens when I try to do longer runs. I get to 25 minutes and I stop dead in my tracks and thank whatever god you believe in that it's over. Sure, I feel great a minute later, but never great enough to voluntarily run for another, say, 15 minutes.

Plus I'm aching like crazy today, especially my triceps, upper back, and the front of my thighs. Like, it hurts to sit down. But in a good way. I think maybe running will remain part of my cardio arsenal, but I definitely want to try and change things up more often. I'm currently in mega-research-mode, trying to wade through the hundreds of workout DVDs and decided which ones I'd like. I'm particularly interested in kickboxing-type stuff, so I have a few of those on my list as well as Tae Bo. Leaving aside for a moment the fact that Billy Blanks scares the crap out of me, I did a few tapes back in the day ("the day" being before DVDs were omnipresent, that is) and they're seriously good workouts. I'm also looking at some pilates and stability ball workouts, some dancey stuff, and even some yoga. It's exciting.

On the food front, I've been tracking my calories this week. Annoying, yes, but it does give me a certain sense of security. This way I know that it's not my diet that's holding me back. I've stayed between 1,400 and 1,600 so far, with 1,600 being pretty much the optimal number. I'm also keeping tabs on my protein consumption, though not really for any particular reason. It's been between 40-50 grams so far. My goal is to try and include at least one protein-heavy dish every day - beans, tempeh, tofu, seitan. I need to find a way to eat tofu that I can stomach.

Wow, this has been really long-winded. I guess when you don't really have anyone to vent to in real life you start taking it out on your blog. Sorry!

Sunday 5/21 - Chana Masala

2006-05-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

I've tried several chana masala recipes over the last few months, and found every one lacking in some way - until now. A little while ago I stumbled upon this recipe, and, having a plain Whole Soy yogurt languishing in the fridge anyway, decided to give it a go. And it was spectacular. Seriously, the best chana masala I've ever had, including restaurant versions. I love the stuff at Passage to India, but this version has such a lovely, creamy sauce that I'm left scooping the last bits of tomato from the bottom of my bowl. And I'm not usually one to go after tomatoes specifically, so that's really a testament to how delicious this stuff is.

I'm going to re-post the recipe here with the (very minimal) changes that I made.

Chana Masala
Original recipe from Orangette

1/2 to 1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garam masala
3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 Tbsp cilantro leaves, roughly torn, plus more for garnish
A pinch of cayenne, or to taste
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup plain soy yogurt
lemon wedges, optional

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it is deeply caramelized and even charred in some spots. Be patient. The more color, the more full-flavored the final dish will be.

Reduce the heat to low. Add the garlic, stirring, and add a bit more oil if the pan seems dry. Add the cumin seeds, coriander, ginger, garam masala, and cardamom pods, and fry them, stirring constantly, until fragrant and toasty, about 30 seconds. Add ¼ cup water, and stir to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the water has evaporated away completely. Pour in the juice from can of tomatoes, followed by the tomatoes themselves. Add the salt.

Raise the heat to medium, and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, add the cilantro and cayenne, and simmer the sauce gently, stirring occasionally, until it reduces a bit and begins to thicken. Taste, and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Add the chickpeas, stirring well, and cook over low heat for about five minutes. Add 2 Tbs water, and cook for another five minutes. Add another 2 Tbs water, and cook until the water is absorbed, a few minutes more. This process of adding and cooking off water helps to concentrate the sauce’s flavor and makes the chickpeas more tender and toothsome. Taste, and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Stir in the soy yogurt. Garnish with cilantro and lemon wedges, if desired. Serve.

Yield: About four servings

Nutritional Info: 306 calories, 6 g fat (0.75 g saturation fat), 10.25 g fiber, 11.5 g protein per serving.

The Secret Ingredient Is Evil

2006-05-19T17:54:00.000-04:00

These look good, right? Warm, delicious brownies? Well, not so much. They tasted okay, but they stuck so badly that I just threw the whole batch away because I didn't feel like trying to pry them off of the wax paper. I managed to scrape some of the insides out - we ate the chocolatey guts with Soy Delicious Turtle Tracks. Yum. I won't be making this recipe again, though.

Today I made snickerdoodles in honor of Veronica Mars getting picked up for a 3rd season by The CW. This is appropriate because V makes Wallace snickerdoodles in the season one episode "Betty and Veronica." Of course I didn't listen to stolen police interrogation tapes while I made mine, but she used eggs so I think the cool points even out in the end. Ahem. Anyway, I used Kreeli of VeganMania's recipe, which I'll repost here since her site is down at the moment.

P.S. I gave some of these to a friend who had never even heard of a snickerdoodle until I said I was going to make some. WTF? How do you get through 23 years of life without ever having a snickerdoodle? Or even hearing the name? Error. Error. Does not compute.

Perfect Vegan Snickerdoodles
Recipe by Kreeli

1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp soy milk whipped with 2 tbsp cornstarch
3 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp tapioca starch or cornstarch

2 tbsp cinnamon
4 tbsp granulated white sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder (optional)

Preheat your oven to 300 F.

In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar together until smooth. Add the vanilla, and the cornstarch/soymilk mixture, and beat until well-mixed.

In a smaller bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and tapioca/corn starch. Stir this into the wet ingredients and combine well.

In a very small bowl stir together the granulated sugar, cinnamon and cocoa powder (if desired).

Begin rolling the cookie dough into balls of about 3 tbsp each. Roll each ball in the cinnamon/sugar/cocoa powder mixture until completely coated and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Continue until all the dough is used up. Using the bottom of a glass, press down on each ball until they are about an inch thick. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes, and no more. The cookies should still seem very soft when you remove them from the oven. Let cool on the pans for about 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire baking rack and let cool completely.

Makes about 30 cookies. This recipe can be halved, if desired.

Notes: I like mine on the crispier side, so I baked them for 14 minutes. These are seriously addictive, so be warned.

Workout Wednesday 5/17

2006-05-17T15:15:00.000-04:00

Okay, so after skipping WW last week due to not being able to find a single damn minute to sit down and blog, here I am getting right back on the horse. As it were. Last week wasn't the greatest exercise-wise, either, as I expounded upon in my last post. I'm pleased to repot that this week has been much better so far.

Monday morning it was raining like crazy, so we decided to do weights and save the run for Tuesday. I did over an hour of strength training and half-assed yoga/stretching and was surprisingly not really sore at all the next day. I used my new stability ball for the first time, too - serious fun was had. Also serious falling over, because that thing rolls like nobody's business. Hmm, I wonder why? I think maybe it's the whole no corners issue.

Tuesday's run went very well. We decided to do Week 6 again, so it was 5 run/ 3 walk/ 8 run / 3 walk /5 run. I wouldn't say that I'm madly in love with running, but I have grown to like it well enough. Well, the afterglow more than the, um, during-burn, but overall I don't mind doing it. I really want to order some kickboxing videos so that I can have alternatives on days when inclement weather or my own inability to get my ass out the door interfere with running. I also want to get off the track, because while it's a comfy surface to run on and good for keeping track of distance, going around and around and around is just too boring for words. I like to feel like I'm getting somewhere, not just looping endlessly for 20 minutes. Next week starts straight 25-30 minute runs, so I'm going to look into finding some suitable trails to run on.

Today I did another hour of strength training with a bit of yoga/stretching at the end. I'm using 5-pound weights more often than the 3-pounders I started with now, so that's some progress.

However..... I still cannot seem to lose any weight. It's really starting to piss me off, too. I'm seeing little changes. I'm pretty sure I've lost a bit as far as measurements go. I feel better. I know this is working. But the scale just refuses to move. I'm eating fairly well. I've never been more active in my life. So what gives? I don't want to start tracking my calories again, but I will if I have to. This whole crusade isn't just about the scale, but the fact is that I will never be happy at this weight. It's just not going to happen. And it shouldn't happen. It's not like I'm at a healthy weight and am just in denial about it. So something needs to change, and the only place I can realistically lay blame is on my diet.

Exercise Stuff + Evil Chocolate Cake

2006-05-13T23:36:00.000-04:00

When I disappear for a few days - from the blog, that is - it usually means that I either haven't had the time/inclination to cook much or that I've been slacking off on the diet/exercise front and don't want to face up to it. Well, this time it's a little bit of both. My work schedule has been such that I haven't been home for dinner, and not cooking much. I've been eating very randomly, erring on the side of not enough (check hell for snowcones!)... until last night when I decided to bake a cake. Now I have eaten four - yes, FOUR - pieces of cake in the last 24 hours. Luckily there are only three left, so one way or another this delicious menace isn't long for the world.

And I seem to have been struck by a disease that renders me incapable of waking up in the morning, which has put a serious kink in my workout schedule. I've only gotten in two runs and one strength training session this week. Bad. It's still more than I ever used to do, though. And I completely changed up my strength training routine, so I've been sore for the last three days. You don't realize quite how accustomed you get to doing certain exercises until you try something different and then find that you can't lift your arms over your head without crying the next day.

Also! I got a stability ball. It's pretty exciting. I wanted it specifically for ab stuff, because I want to do more ab work but doing it on the floor really hurts my tailbone for some reason. Possibly because it's a floor, and therefore hard and uncomfortable. Or it could be something else, who knows. Anyway, I'll definitely use it for ab stuff, but I think it's going to add a lot to my workouts in general. It's a lot of fun to just roll around on too.

And now I leave you with this delicious piece of cake, because this is a food blog after all.

P.S. Don't frost the cake with peanut butter frosting when it's still hot. Your lovely peanut buttery fudgey frosting will turn into weird, melty, tummy-upsetting stuff. Don't fret, though. A night in the fridge will mostly fix it.

This cake is your standard Wacky/Crazy Cake plus the peanut butter frosting from Veganmania.

Sun Tea, Fruitapalooza, Moong Dal + Samosas

2006-05-07T23:33:00.000-04:00

Blueberry sun tea a-brewin'. There's just something about sun tea that tastes better than regular iced tea. Vitamin D? Melanoma? Nostalgia? That all-important secret ingredient, love? The world may never know.

Lunch! Pretty self-explanatory, I think. Banana, cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries, a tangelo, and a rice cake with peanut butter and raisins. Normally I wouldn't take a picture of something like this, but fruit is just so pretty.

Moong Dal with Browned Onions from World Vegetarian and Potato-Green Pea Samosas from VwaV. I never feel like making the dough to go with those, so I've just been using phyllo. Not quite as good, but definitely quicker. This was my first time using moong dal, and I was pretty excited because I've had a bag cooling in the pantry for months. It was good - a bit bland, but in a creamy, comforting sort of way. It was extremely filling as well. And it's a great color, if I may take a moment to be completely superficial. I don't know if this particular dish will become a staple, but I'll definitely be experimenting more with moong dal.

Operation: Shake That Ass Update: Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that I ran for 20 minutes straight today. Twenty minutes! Five weeks ago I couldn't run for two minutes. So yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself right now. I feel like exercise is becoming less something I have to do and more something that I actually want to do. Unfortunately the scale is still not giving it up, and I'd be lying through my teeth if I said it didn't bother me. But I just keep reminding myself that these things take time. Slow and steady wins the race. Insert motivational platitude here.

I may start keeping track of my food again, just for a week or so, to see if I can determine what the problem is. Either I'm not eating enough or I need to cut out my evening chocolate chip habit. I'd pretty much bet my life on the latter, but oh, to dream! I don't think under-eating has ever been a problem in the 22.85 years I've spent on this planet.

Catching Up + Pants Rant

2006-05-05T13:18:00.000-04:00

Contrary to what the lack of updates here would lead you to believe, I have been cooking - and taking pictures. It's just that, for the most part, what I've been cooking hasn't been that exciting. Simple things. Variations on a theme. But I thought I'd post them anyway, because... well, because.

Baked pasta with Vegan Gourmet mozzarella, plus steamed broccoli and carrots. Also a slice of "garlic bread," read: toast with Earth Balance and garlic powder because I didn't have any roasted garlic hanging around.

Peanut butter french toast with shameful "pancake syrup" and sliced strawberries. Peanut butter french toast is so easy: whisk together some soy milk, creamy peanut butter, a little flour, and optional vanilla and cinnamon. Dip bread. Cook. Eat.

Greek-style green beans, mashed potatoes, and corn. Best green beans ever, no contest.

Leaving food aside for a moment, can I just ask: why have low-rise pants taken over the world? Seriously. I'm not totally averse to the low-rise. They look much better than high-waisted mom pants (no offense to any stylish moms out there, but my mom wears 'em, so to me they're mom pants). But I do take issue with the sort of low-rise pants that introduce strangers to your pubic hair, and it seems as if it's getting harder and harder to find any sort of middle ground.

I was at Old Navy yesterday looking for some new jeans. I hate hate hate shopping for pants. It's impossible. And the proliferation of low-waisted pants is not helping things at all. Old Navy claims to offer 4 rises, but I could only find two: low-waist and ultra low-waist. The latter is just not an option for me, which is unfortunate because all of the jeans I liked were of this variety. But awesome love handles + ultra low-waist = nausea, disorientation, and possibly blindness. So, no. I tried on like 6 pairs of pants, found three that would sort of work. I say sort of because the low-waist requires constant adjustment, so even if they fit well I'm forever pulling them up over my pudge. Because with mom pants your rolls get pushed up, but with low-waisted pants everything just kind of spills over the top.

And on top of this, it seems that there is a gang of stumpy girls roaming around buying all the 14 shorts just before I arrive at the store. Luckily I only bought one pair of full-length pants, and I did manage to dig a short pair out of the entrance to Narnia that is the back of the rack. On the plus side, that pair was on super sale and I managed to find two pairs of capris that are actually the right length. Mostly because they're supposed to be bermuda shorts, but I'll take what I can get. They still suffer from low-waist overflow, though.

Man, I just went on for way too long about pants.

Workout Wednesday 5/3 and Hiking Pictures

2006-05-03T18:49:00.000-04:00

I was supposed to start week 5 of the Couch to 5K program on Monday, but due to a spontaneous hiking trip - and the sudden return of my inability to wake up in the morning - things got a little off track. I still did my strength training on Tuesday, and I did the first run of week 5 this morning. It's going to throw the schedule off a bit, but I suppose my running week can begin on Wednesday just as well as it can on Mondays.

At first I was upset that my schedule got messed up, because I'm notorious for missing one day of exercise and then never starting up again. But the hike we took was exercise - we were out for 3 1/2 hours, which, according to several calorie calculators, burned around 1,600 calories. I really balked at that figure. I mean, that's what I eat in a day. But I checked about 5 different calculators, and it was a pretty strenuous hike - hills, rocks, etc. So even though I missed my run that day, I burned way more calories hiking than I would have if I went running anyway. Besides, life happens. I need to learn to be more flexible. Thing can't always be regimented and scheduled.

It was an amazingly gorgeous day for a hike, too. We went to the Holtwood Environmental Preserve, about half an hour from Lancaster. There are miles of trails, plus a lake with a hydroelectric dam and fish lifts. Yes, fish lifts. The fish need to go upstream to spawn, but of course they can't get over the dam... enter the fish lift. It's an elevator for the fish. This concept totally made my week. Unfortunately we didn't get to see it, because by the time we got off the trail it was nearly dark, but I will get back there to see it. ASAP. It has become a life goal for me.

Anyway, photos. Click to enlarge.

4/30 - Broccoli, Corn on the Cob, and Roasted Potatoes

2006-04-30T12:26:00.000-04:00

Tonight's dinner was straight from the farmer's market: roasted baby potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, and steamed broccoli. Simple. Delicious. I will have dreams about that corn. And yes, that is in fact ketchup on my plate. Don't judge me.

Workout Wednesday 4/26

2006-04-26T16:46:00.000-04:00

So Operation: Shake That Ass is still chugging along nicely. We did not, however, get up and go running this morning like usual - The Boy had to work too early and it just wasn't feasible. We're going sometime tonight instead, which is fine but also throwing me off a little bit. That plus the arrival of my period has made for a very blah kind of Wednesday. I'm really tired. I suspect tonight's run may not be a cakewalk.

I'm looking for a new strength training routine, since we've been doing the same one for almost a month and I know it's good to change these things up once in a while. I think I need to start doing some extra ab work as well. I carry most of my extra weight on my stomach, especially the upper portion, which makes for kind of a strange shape. It's really annoying. If I could just cut off my stomach flab I think I'd be halfway to my goal weight. And dying of blood loss, but hey! No pain, no gain.

I think I'm finally starting to see a bit of a physical change, though. Maybe. It's so hard to tell, because I look at myself every day and I don't think I'd notice any changes unless someone snuck in and liposucted me during the night. But I think things are shifting around a bit, in a good way. Possibly.

I'm still at a stand-still when it comes to showing progress on the scale. I know I've probably gained some muscle mass, and the last week has been full of awesome pre-menstrual bloating, so I'm not really sweating it yet. That's the keyword here: yet. I know that what I'm doing is good for me on so many levels, and I do feel better. I have no plans to stop exercising. But it's not like I have just a few extra pounds to lose here. I'm aiming to lose about 30% of my body weight. That's a lot. And I wasn't in the worst shape ever before I started this, but I did ramp things up pretty substantially. I've gone from not exercising at all to doing some form of physical activity 6 days a week.

Granted, my diet hasn't been the best lately. I've been stressed about school and it's taken a toll. I need to work on it. But I haven't been baking, even though I reeeeeally want to. I was going to make myself a congratulatoy end of semester cake, but instead I bought myself a sweet ring that I'd been eyeing since before Christmas. It was expensive, but it obviously wasn't a necessary expense and I couldn't justify it before. But I had to reward myself with something, both for getting through this semester and for sticking with O:STA for a month. I think I might get a few books as well, or maybe a filter and remote release for my camera. Non-food rewards are awesome.

Couch to 5K Week 4 Playlist

2006-04-24T00:11:00.000-04:00

Here's this week's playlist:

Smooth - Santana feat. Rob Thomas (5:00 warm-up walk)
Stupid Girls - Pink (3:00 run)
Tango Shoes - Bif Naked (1:30 walk)
Never Gonna Come Back Down - BT feat. Mike Doughty (5:00 run)
God and Mars - Days Away (2:30 walk)
La Tortura - Shakira feat. Alejandro Sanz (3:00 run)
Fresh Off The Boat - Nelly Furtado (1:30 walk)
Gifts and Curses - Yellowcard (5:00 run)

I'm re-using Yellowcard because I don't have that many 5-minute songs that are suitable for running. And also because I really like that song. I left off the cool-down song this week because I haven't been listening to it anyway. The Boy and I usually just walk around the track one more time and chat.

I apologize for the lack of posts recently - between school and work I've hardly been home, and when I am I'm not cooking. I think I've had one proper dinner in the last week and a half. If I eat one more bowl of plain spaghetti and marinara sauce I will lose all my will to live. Fortunately there is now just two and half classes, one critique, and one test standing between me and four months of sweet, sweet freedom. So things should return to normal by mid-week, hopefully.

10 Lbs of Awesome in a 5 Lb Bag

2006-04-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but Veronica Mars is pretty much my favorite show. There will always be a place in my heart for the Joss Whedon Trio (Buffy, Angel, Firefly) and a few others, but Veronica Mars is my 'currently on air' obsession. If you don't watch it, you should - it just moved to Tuesdays at 9 on UPN. There are only 3 episodes left in the second season, so you'll be seriously confused if you tune in blind but the first season is out on DVD and Mars Investigations is an excellent place to catch up on everything VM-related.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. Kristen Bell, who plays Veronica, did an interview with Peta2. I love her extra because she's a vegetarian. You can read the interview here. It's nothing earth-shattering, but when two things I love join forces I feel compelled to let the world know. Plus her dogs are ridiculously cute.

Workout Wednesday 4/19

2006-04-19T11:37:00.001-04:00

It's time for the first official Workout Wednesday! Concept and sweet banner courtesy of Jessiegirl.

Operation: Shake That Ass is still going very well. I started Week 3 of the Couch to 5K program on Monday, and that run was probably the best yet. It's getting easier to run longer, to the point where I find myself almost not wanting to stop. Today was good as well - the weather here is incredible right now, which just makes everything that much better.

The strength training workout has remained fairly tough, especially that damn 3-point bridge. I suppose that a good thing, since when it starts to get easy it won't work anymore. My muscles are never really sore anymore, whether it's after running or strength training, and I'm not sure what to make of that. I always thought that being a little achy the next day was a sign that you got a good workout, so... I don't know. Anyone?

One thing I need to work on is getting more sleep. I've been a night owl my whole life, and now all of sudden I'm getting up earlier but my internal clock hasn't really registered that. Between that and trying to get all of my final projects done I've been getting maybe 5 or 6 hours of sleep each night, which doesn't exactly leave me bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to run at 6:30. It's not terrible - I'm still pretty awake and energetic during the day - but I'm sure more sleep couldn't hurt.

Final projects are also keeping me cooped up inside on these amazing spring days, which is terrible. Seriously, my anger knows no bounds. This is my very favorite weather, and I'm missing it all because I'm stuck inside painting/hunched over my computer working on my digital illustration project. Which is what I'm taking a break from now, actually. Hopefully I'll get all of this stuff wrapped up by Friday, and then one of my big goals is to spend a lot more time outside. I want to go hiking and kayaking and have picnics and take roadtrips. School needs to end like yesterday. Just six more days to go.

In terms of results, well, I suppose it's too soon to tell. The scale hasn't shown any weight loss, which I'll admit is disappointing. I can talk until I'm blue in the face about not using the scale as a measure of success, but it still has power over me. I'm not too worried at this point, but at some point I am going to need to start seeing that number drop or things could get messy. Like I'll bake a cake and eat the whole thing in defiant frustration kind of messy, because if not eating cake doesn't help me lose weight then I'm going to have a whole lot of fucking cake. And then I'll feel guilty about it and it'll start this whole spiral of guilt and shame and frustration and anger. It'll be a bad time. So... hopefully the scale will start cooperating.

I can't say I'm seeing visible results from the strength training just yet, but that could be due to one of three things. Either it's just too soon to see a difference, there is a difference but I just can't see it because I see myself every damn day, or I have too much awesome fat covering up my developing muscles and therefore will not see results for a very long time. I'm hoping for 1 or 2, but 3 is unfortunately more likely. Gotta love that fat padding.

That said, I do feel better. Like a million times better. I have more energy, my skin is clearer, and I'm less inclined toward self-hatred because I feel like I'm making an effort and actually doing something to change what I don't like. So all in all I'd call it a very successful two and a half weeks, and I'm looking forward to seeing how things progress.

Man, I just went on forever. Sorry about that.

4/18 - Indian-Style Spinach and Potatoes

2006-04-18T21:42:00.000-04:00

I was wondering how I could work spinach into my dinner tonight when I came across this recipe on VegWeb. Indian + potatoes + pretty much anything = delicious, but it seemed a bit bland with just curry powder to season it so I used it as a base for this similarly-named but differently-spiced dish.

I cubed and boiled some Yukon Gold potatoes, and when they were done I heated a little less than a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan. In went about 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin, a little less than 1/2 tsp coriander and garam masala, 1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes, and, yes, 1/2 tsp of curry powder. I stirred it a round for a few seconds until the mustard seeds started popping, and then added roughly half a bunch of thinly sliced fresh spinach (I got to chiffonade! Yessss.) and cooked it until it started to wilt.

Then I added the cooked potatoes and about 1/3 cup of tomato puree. It all got stirred around until the spinach was sufficiently cooked and slightly "creamed" from the tomato puree and potato starches. And then of course it got the requisite waterfall of salt and a smidge of pepper. We had it with some onion naan, and I have to say that it was pretty damn good.

Easy. Tasty. Nutritious. A++.

Couch to 5K Week 3 Playlist

2006-04-16T23:42:00.000-04:00

I'm really particular about my playlists/mixes. You can't just throw a bunch of awesome songs together and call it a mix. No, things have to mesh. The songs have to flow into one another, not similar enough so as to sound repetitive but not so different as to disrupt the mood. It's complicated business. Workout mixes are the most difficult to put together, I think, because their purpose is to motivate rather than simply provide a pleasing aural experience. But these things aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

Every Sunday night I put together the playlist that I'll run to during the week, with the stop time of each song set to coincide with a run/walk segment. Adjusting the stop time like this is inherently disruptive, I'll admit, but until I can run for longer stretches of time there's naught to be done for it.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this week's mix.

Portions for Foxes - Rilo Kiley (4:45 warm-up walk)
Skeptics and True Believers - The Academy Is... (1:30)
My Paper Heart - The All-American Rejects (1:30)
Girl All The Bad Guys Want - Bowling For Soup (3:00)
The Peacock Song - Bif Naked (3:00)
Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy (1:30)
Memory - Sugarcult (1:30)
Stronger - Britney Spears (3:00)
Freak Out - Avril Lavigne (3:00)
Gifts and Curses - Yellowcard (5:07 cool-down walk)

Don't mind the Britney/Avril couplet. Nothing motivates like shameful pop, especially when you're nearing the end and don't feel like you can run one more step. No workout mix is really complete without some Britney, anyway. Anyone who says otherwise is a damn liar.

4/15 - Peanut Butter Eggs

2006-04-15T22:50:00.000-04:00

I first made these last year to assuage the peanut butter egg jealousy that is inevitable when your boyfriend's dad is a pastor. Every Easter the little old church ladies make dozens and dozens of peanut butter eggs, a lot of which end up going to The Boy's dad, and then to The Boy himself. They're mighty fine eggs, I'm not going to lie, but they're also mighty un-vegan. These are pretty easy to make and so seriously delicious that you'll want to wave them in the old ladies' faces and go "nyah nyah nyahnyah nyah." Until they cry. Because nothing warms my heart like making old ladies cry.

These are Omnivore Approved - my vegan-fearing family ate them with no prodding on my part, which means that normal people will stop you on the street and ask for them.

Peanut Butter Eggs

1 c. margarine
8 oz vegan cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 lbs powdered sugar
2 1/4 c smooth peanut butter

24 oz (2 bags) semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

Cream margarine and cream cheese together. Add salt, vanilla, powdered sugar, and peanut butter and mix thoroughly. Roll into roughly 1 1/2 inch eggs. Stick your eggs on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper and freeze for about 2 hours.

Melt the chocolate however you want (I do it in the microwave) and stir in the shortening. This is important. I left it out when I first started dipping mine and it was 100 times more gloppy and used up about twice as much chocolate as it should have. The finished eggs aren't as pretty, either. The shortening thins out the chocolate enough that dipping them is fairly easy, and it makes for a nice, smooth coating. Trust me on this one.

Dip your little peanut butter nuggets, put them back on the cookie sheets, and stick them in the freezer to harden up. It doesn't take long - maybe half an hour. I like to wrap each one in wax paper, which keeps them from getting broken and also makes for easy gift-giving. I keep mine in the freezer until I need them, because they're excellent cold.

Makes about 10 dozen eggs.

I don't know the nutritional information for sure, but I believe it's around 100 calories per egg. You know, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

4/14 - Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy

2006-04-14T22:52:00.000-04:00

I wasn't feeling up to anything complicated tonight, so I decided to finally try out the Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy from Vegan with a Vengeance. I mashed up some potatoes, sauteed some spinach, and threw the gravy on top. Yes, I actually threw it. I had The Boy stand across the room with the bowl and I hurled gravy at him. It was awesome.

Okay, so that didn't happen. The gravy was delicious, though. Isa really knows how to treat a chickpea. Plus it was super simple. Sautee an onion with some mustard seeds and garlic, add a can of chickpeas, mash 'em up, add an array of spices (cumin, paprika, corianer, oregano, thyme, rosemary), soy sauce, and the juice of one lemon, pour in 2 c. water with 1/4 c. flour dissolved in it, stir until thick, and then add 1/4 c. nutritional yeast. Done.

I really don't like the smell of nutritional yeast. It's very feet-y. Then when you throw lemon juice into the mix things start smelling like vomit. At least to me. So that turned me off for a minute. It tasted good enough when it was done to make up for the unpleasant smells along the way, though.

Definitely a keeper. I'm not surprised at all. VwaV has yet to let me down.

4/13 - Cajun Beans and Rice

2006-04-14T00:06:00.000-04:00

Tonight was Cajun Red Beans and Rice from La Dolce Vegan, except I subbed black beans for the red beans because I like them better. I also used tomato puree instead of diced tomatoes, added some minced garlic, used a yellow pepper instead of a green one, and left out the celery because I hate celery and therefore don't have any. Oh, and I added some cumin, chili powder, and a whole lot of salt on top of the cajun spice that the recipe calls for.

Overall I'd say this recipe is okay. Not spectacular, but not bad. It was pretty bland even with all the extra spice. It's one of those recipes where you like it well enough the first time around but don't really have any interest in the leftovers. I have about 3 servings of this left in a tupperware container in the fridge, where it will probably sit for a few weeks until it grows mold and gets thrown out. Awesome! I don't know, I'm weird about leftovers.

4/12 - Bruschetta and Roasted Potatoes

2006-04-12T21:47:00.000-04:00

I found another use for my spinach and sun-dried tomato pesto - bruschetta! Faux-bruschetta, anyway, since it's really just thin slices of wheat baguette topped with pesto and toasted to crisp things up a bit. It was really good, though. I'm going to make a vat of this stuff and put it on everything. The potatoes were standard issue. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder. I love potatoes.

Ass-Shakin' Update: This morning's run was kind of difficult. The Boy was being sluggish and cranky, so we didn't get out the door until 8:00, and then once we got to the track I couldn't really get into it. I felt like I was just dragging myself through along, like a lot of dead weight huffing and puffing and shuffling. The Boy wasn't feeling it either and said that he didn't really want to finish, to which I replied that he could quit if he wanted but I was damn well finishing what I'd started. He didn't quit. We finished the whole thing and of course I felt awesome afterward. I would have been so mad at myself if I'd stopped... like I was admitting defeat. And there is nothing in the world that I hate more than admitting that I can't do something.

It's probably kind of sick that hyper-perfectionism is part of the fuel that keeps me plugging along, but all I can say is that it's about damn time my issues started pulling their weight around here. "Pulling their weight." Hahahahaha. Horrible pun totally intended.

And now, a picture of a cat! Because a blog can never have too many adorable cats gazing at the heavens.

The Sandwich Plus Container

2006-04-12T18:21:00.001-04:00

As you may (or may not) know, I usually take my lunch to school and work in a 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lunchbox stuffed with tupperware and plastic bags. It gets the job done and is fun to look at (Turtles! Donatello was always my favorite), but all those extra bits of plastic are anything but environmentally friendly. Plus it takes up way too much room in my bag, and that's a big drawback considering all the crap I have to take to school. So I was in the market for something new.

I've been lusting after a Laptop Lunchbox (of Vegan Lunchbox fame) for a while, but it's kind of pricey and not a whole lot smaller than what I use now. The other item I had my eye on was the Sandwich Plus Container from the Container Store. It's substaintially cheaper even with shipping, so I went ahead and ordered two - one for me and one for The Boy.

Basically it's a double-decker container with dividers in the bottom half. You put your snacks in the bottom, close the inner lid, put your sandwich or whatever on top and close the whole thing up. Pretty simple and self-explanatory. It's bigger than I thought it would be from the picture on the website, but it's definitely smaller than my lunchbox and it fits quite nicely in my bag. It's made of sturdy, clear-ish plastic and definitely keeps my lunch safe from falling rocks or stampeding miniature elephants.

The one downside is that you can't really put wet foods in it. I mean, I haven't tried it out myself but it just seems like it wouldn't work very well. Something like pasta salad or rice pilaf would probably be fine, though.

I give the Sandwich Plus Container a 9. Minus one point for lack of wet food storage ability, but an excellent container on all other fronts.

4/11 - Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Tempeh Wrap

2006-04-11T23:03:00.000-04:00

Tonight's dinner was a tomato-basil wrap filled with marinated tempeh, sauteed onions, and spinach and sun-dried tomato "pesto," with maple-roasted carrots on the side. The idea for a spinach and sun-dried tomato pesto-type spread has been kicking around in my mind for a few days. I suspected that it would be delicious; I was right.

I basically took a bunch of fresh spinach (maybe 3 cups?) and whizzed it in a food processor with 6 sun-dried tomatoes, a lot of garlic (a little less than 1 Tbsp. minced), and a smidge of olive oil. I know pestos usually have pine nuts and a lot of oil in them, but I've never purchased a pine nut in my life and I have something of an aversion to using a lot of oil. Besides, rules are made to be broken and all that. These amounts didn't make a lot of pesto - enough for 4 wraps, probably. I didn't want to waste a whole bag of spinach on something that might've sucked, but now that I know it's good I'd definitely make larger quantities in the future. I can think of a lot of ways to use it, and anything that helps me eat more greens is definitely a keeper.

The maple-glazed carrots came from Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet, and were pleasant but not particularly memorable. It was just a bag of baby carrots tossed with 2 Tbsp maple syrup, a little over 1/2 Tbsp olive oil (the recipe calls for a whole Tbsp), and a pinch of cinnamon and roasted. I love carrots however they're prepared, so coated them in fat and sugar was really just unnecessary for me. Not to mention it added a ton of calories, which I don't love. Meh. I probably won't make them again.

Operation: Shake That Ass Update: Week 2 started yesterday with an early run, and I did strength training today. I don't know where I stand weight-wise because I'm trying to divorce myself from the idea that success is dependent on a number, but I definitely feel better. I have a lot more energy. Things in this little compartment of my life are good.

Tomorrow: A very special post about my sweet new lunch container.