A little closer everyday blog

Lesson learned...

2008-06-19T04:00:57Z

Okay, so I now know that green bowls isn't really the way to go when showcasing vegan mac and cheese. Lesson learned.
No matter what it looks like it tasted pretty good. So good in fact that it's calling to me from the fridge right now. I'm trying to ignore it.
Not too much else to report. It was nice and cool here today so I did some cooking. I caramelized some onions in hopes of making a home version of Amy's Cheeseless Pizza
I swear that I do eat more than pizza and stir-fry. Did you see that Mac and Cheese? I also made Brownies today too. Healthy, right? I'll put extra veggies on the pizza tomorrow.

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A post and a picture?

2008-06-14T04:42:29Z

Mushroom apple salad

This was yesterday's dinner. You can't see the mushrooms but trust me, they're there.
I tweaked a recipe I found on Vegweb. For some reason I've really been craving salads lately. This one was really good but would make a better fall-ish dinner or lunch. I used Shiitake mushrooms and cooked them in a little oil and added a couple minced cloves of garlic. The mushroom garlic apple combo was really good. Who knew?

On a some what related topic...
I was reading an article at Frisky about who guys would and would not date. One guy said that he would have a hard time dating a vegan girl because they all talk about is their poop. I've always been a little fascinated with poop. But, I really don't talk about it to too many people. Anyone really.
Really? This guy thinks that all vegan females sit around and discuss the last time we took a crap?
A little shout out to my Mom (who will never read this because she will probably never to use their computer) and a big thanks for the Detroit Red Wings "Stanley Cup Champions" t-shirt that I got in the mail yesterday. Best night shirt EVER.

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Ahhh, sweet sweet rain

2008-06-11T01:30:50Z

Thunderstorm

For the last couple days it's been incredibly hot around here. Heat index around 110. But, there's an amazing thunderstorm going on right now. What? I might not wake up in a pool of sweat tomorrow morning? Sexy, I know.
Today I made a "moch" sandwich. It could be chicken. Could be tuna. The recipes are EXACTLY the same. It tasted more like tuna to me. Chickpeas. Nature's great imitator. I think it tasted like tuna because of the onions and pickles. It was pretty good. Not just because there was no oven needed!
I wanted something sweet so I took a frozen banana and covered it with melted chocolate chips (mixed with a little soy milk to thin it out). Yummy.

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Wow! I'm bad at this!

2008-06-10T00:36:16Z

I feel like I should take up one of those "(insert month here) Challenge" because I can't seem to update this blog very often. Maybe my food isn't exciting enough to take pictures of? More likely I don't think about it until it's long gone.
I'm really enjoying cooking and I've been sharing a lot of it with the people that I work with. It seems to get pretty good reviews. Especially the brownies. Those brownies were pretty amazing.
Like most of the world (except for parts of Europe where they get a ba-jillion days of vacation) I've been stressed out at and/or about work. It's not even worth getting in to here. At least right now.
Still going vegan strong. It's really not that hard at all. And knock on something I'm still not craving cheese. I know, I'm surprised too. Really, the thought makes me sick.

Scale

On another good note I've lost 10 pounds so far. A great bonus. Now I just need to start that whole working out thing. One step at a time (honestly, no pun intended).
Okay, great food stuffs coming soon. Well, I'll do what I can. I don't want to turn the oven on. It's 90-something outside and no air conditioning. I pretend I'm doing my part for the world but really I'm too cheap to pay the electric bill. Tomato - potato.

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Please don't send hate mail

2008-05-23T02:16:52Z

Oprah

Okay, vegan blogs are a buzz with the fact that the big-O (Oprah, not the good big-O) is going vegan for 21 days.
I don't care.
I may not be a real girl because I don't like Oprah and I can't watch more than 10 minutes of The View. That being said...
I do think it's great that a whole lot of people who knew nothing about vegans or even thought about what they themselves eat are having a whole new world opened up to them. I'm not sure how many of O's many followers will take the 21 day plunge without their own personal chef.
Don't get me wrong. I love it when anyone explores new things and tries to better themselves. I think it's great the she's so moved by the book that she read she's starting to think about what she's eating and where it's been (or what it used to be). I'm just a little tired of reading about her being so ground breaking.
I don't mean to sound like Passover dinner (you know, bitter). I just feel like this is leading up to a big story in O magazine. The story that goes on about the emotional journey she went on for 3 weeks and ends with day 22 and the chicken dinner she had to celebrate. It was free range and all.
I hope I'm wrong. I hope O is vegan forever. I hope housewives and househusbands around the world make Chickpea Cutlets for their families every Thursday.
And I hope they invite me over. I'd like to not cook next Thursday!

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Yikes! It's been a while.

2008-05-22T02:18:49Z

General Tao's Tofu Stirfry

I haven't posted in a while. No real excuse. A little lazy, having some trouble focusing and busy at work. You know...life. I'm trying to learn to make time for ME and make it quality time not just time in front of the TV in that dent I've made in my couch.

So many things are going on right now but first, as always, the food! The picture to the left is General Tao's Tofu that everyone in the world has made. I can't believe how good this turned out. It''s one of those meals that I never thought that I could cook. It was so easy too! And good, which really is the most important thing.

I'm starting this diet/exercise/health thing through work. It's called Kinetics. You get a journal to keep track of exercise and food and you get a "coach" to talk to and help you with any questions, basically your own personal cheerleader. It's a great idea. I have this weird problem where I hate the idea of letting people down. So, I'm hoping that having to check in with someone will help me keep on track. The one thing that I'm worried about is that the plan is 40/40/20 (protein/carbs/fat) and all of the recipes are "meaty". There are some vegetarian ones but they rely heavily on milk and eggs. I did some searching on the internet today trying to find recipes that will work. It's just a lot of thinking and math after a 10 hr day at work! I'll work it out.
I've done so well with vegan cooking for the last week I don't want to give that up. Actually I refuse to. I can figure this out.
Lastly, I found out that I'm going to New Orleans in October. I'm super excited. More on that later. Now, sleep!

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The picture says it all

2008-05-13T01:13:28Z

Question mark

Back to work today. I understand that when people go out of town on vacation they go back to work and dream about moving to that wonderful place they just spent the last week. Running away to that perfect place. But those impulsive few who actually do that find out real fast that it's not so perfect when you have to work and pay bills just like the place you left behind.
Well, I didn't go any place on vacation and I still want to move away somewhere. I just feel like I'm a little bit lost right now. The worst part is I don't even know what I want. I just feel like it's not THIS. Does this make any sense? Mid like crisis? Lack of passion? Just an off rainy day? Just restless today? PMS?Who knows. I'm tired of thinking about it.
I've moved around enough to know that no matter where you go it's always relatively the same after 6 months. Unless you put big effort in to changing you-it all ends up being the same.
On the vegan foodie note I had an amazing dinner on the fly tonight. No pictures, it tasted much better than it looked. I made a Mexican version of the chickpea snacks the other day. I took the left overs and put them in a dish then put corn and can tomatoes on top, threw it in the oven until hot. Dished it out on a plate then added some guac. and a couple of olives on top. Not too shabby.
Not to get all Annie but maybe the sun will come out tomorrow and dreams of blowing this Popsicle stand will fade.

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Holy Crap (Island)!

2008-05-10T01:29:45Z

This has probably made a million rounds but I just got done watching Garbage Island and it's the saddest most fascinating thing I've ever seen. I can't stop thinking about all the plastic in the ocean. It's really sickening. Be warned before you watch that sailors really do swear like a sailor.
On a lighter note (not the smoothest topic change) I made pizza tonight for dinner. Thank you Trader Joe's for the $.99 pizza dough.This picture is before cooking. The colors were so much brighter

before. I used green, red and yellow peppers, artichokes and mushrooms. Yummy! I never thought that I would like cheese-less pizza so much. I really filled up in the frozen section of the store today. It's so much easier because I

veggie pizza

know that the food won't go bad. Now to go do something a little more up lifting.
First I need to figure out what I can do with all my plastic. Obviously not throw it out. Looks like there's going to be a lot of wacky planters around the apartment.

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Who knew?

2008-05-09T16:44:09Z

Famous Vegetarians and Their Favorite Recipes: Lives and Lore from Buddha to the Beatles

Rynn Berry

I've been rereading some books that I've had around here forever. After looking through this one again I find it interesting that Buddha, Mahavira and Jesus were all vegetarians. Not to mention Killer Kowalski.
Most of the recipes in the book are vegan or easily converted. I have to admit that I haven't made too many of the recipes in the book but, it's an interesting read just the same.
Isn't it a given that one of Lao Tzu and the Taoists' favorite recipes would be "Taoist Carrot Stew"?

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It's Thursday already?

2008-05-08T23:36:31Z

So, I was supposed to be cleaning today and got distracted by taking pictures. First up is a pic of the shoes I wrote about yesterday. Don't worry, all man made materials. I love the green ones, so spring-y. The black ones didn't photograph that well but they're cute, trust me.

I ordered both pairs from Vegan shoes and bags. I can never tell if prices online are as low as they seem but these shoes were really cheap. You know how when you look through a "fashion" magazine and there's a $150 sweater next to a $1200 sweater and $150 seems really reasonable? I would never pay that much in real life but for that brief second $150 seems like a great price. That's how shopping online is for me.
Okay, now my first food porn attempt. I made Pineapple stir fry the other day. It tasted a lot better than it seems to look in this picture.

100_0251

I was never a huge green pepper fan but I find myself using them more and more. They went really well with the pineapple. Classic taste combo, I know. If only I had another dollar, then I'd have enough money.
Yesterday I found this easy vegan chocolate pudding recipe and it is pretty good. I think next time I'll add a little vanilla and less sugar. It made a lot of pudding so guess what I'm having for dessert tonight? I made the Bean Balls from "Veganomicon". They were pretty good but I didn't have enough kidney beans so they were a little mushier than they should have been. I froze a bunch of them for easy dinners later. Way to plan.

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