Food, My Favorite Thing
So, food. (A post I have been writing for weeks.)
In Baltimore we had the inevitable visit to the Cheesecake Factory. It ended well. (Okay, that's a lie. I looked hopefully for the Platinum Mojito my male relatives and I love but didn’t see it; the waitress recommended the Passionfruit (?) Mojito and it was waaaay too sweet. The regular mojito was so much better; I like that tang. And all my food was greasy, but I suppose that's to be expected. The cheesecake--mine was Godiva, duh--was excellent. Rob was unhappy with his because he got Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavored and it had nuts on top. He HATES nuts on desserts.) We also went to a diner Rob has eaten at before; I had a pretty good vegan wrap there (tofu, hoisin sauce, assorted veggies). It was called the Paper Moon Diner, and something about the vibe there reminded me of Highland, if it were a crazy restaurant.
My mom gave me Vegan with a Vengeance for Christmas. After a lot of flipping through it, I made the White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup the week after Baltimore. I was a little leery of it, but it was one of the only things in the book I already had most of the ingredients for. The soup turned out EXTREMELY flavorful, and was good with croutons. (But then, croutons are good pretty much whenever.) I substituted vegetable broth for chicken because that was all I had on hand (also, I've never made stock and my experience with canned vegetable broth so far hasn't been great). Anyway, it was really good, and made me want some avogolomento or whatever that egg soup I've been making is. (When I reheated the last of the bean soup, I pitched in a couple spoonfuls of leftover rice just to beef it up a little and it was also good like that, a little more stewy in texture.)
Later in the same week, I made some spaghetti squash with herbs, recipe from Everyday Food, which I ate with chicken. It was pretty amazing--I've always liked the flavor of squash but have difficulty with the texture. I hate mushy foods. (I'm eating potatoes semi-regularly for the first time ever and I've also strangely discovered that I don't like mushy foods--such as potatoes--if they are also too hard.)
So I'm kind of trying my hand at meal planning. I’m concerned about money right now and it was my hope that planning my meals ahead of time would help keep my grocery costs down. I planned meals very formally the first week (sitting down and picking out recipes before going to the grocery store) and since then I have not been as good. It's helped my budget a little!
I had several meals planned but ended up only making cashew chicken (with leftover rice) (from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast). It ended up being pretty good, though I burned the cashews (due to making bread and cashews at the same time). The problem with Martha Stewart recipes is that they tend to be really complicated--lots of chopping and weird ingredients. Also, frying--lots of frying. They end up tasting good, but they involve a lot of effort and always seem a little greasy, depending on the recipe.
Anyway, one of the main lifestyle changes that's come from meal planning is that I take leftovers (or whatever I have in the fridge) to work for lunch instead of a turkey sandwich. That cashew chicken lasted me most of last week and made me happy.
I also had sushi with Emily last week (I've had a few variations and my favorite seems to be tempura shrimp with avocado, carrot, asparagus, and cucumber, with wasabi may, sesame seeds, a smudge of wasabi, lots of ginger, and a crapload of soy). Unfortunately, due to the nature of my schedule lately, I've had several "stage manager" dinners (as I like to call them): Ramen noodles and a Luna bar. I intend to make at least one real dinner this week and hopefully tonight I'm going to make a bean salad for work lunches.
I also tried a recipe for crackers from Everyday Food but they are TERRIBLE.
Also, there are roughly a thousand recipes from Vegan with a Vengeance I want to try. I like that it covers all your bases with breakfast/brunch, small foods, entrees, sides, and desserts. I really want to try the pancakes, waffles, and muffins! There is a potato and bean dish that also sounds great, and every time I flipped through the book I got distracted by the Potato-Edamame Samosas recipe, staring at it with longing. (I do not have a food processor and I am not sure if I can finely chop carrots and onion on my own. Also, I hate to chop vegetables.) I'm not too tempted by the chocolate chip cookie recipe because the one I use from Babycakes has served me very well (I like Babycakes because they try to use sugar alternatives, which is often more a concern to me than being vegan), but Vegan somehow has a much bigger selection of desserts than Babycakes does.
The definite upside to meal planning: I have vegetables for every meal instead of just being like, "...well, I guess I'll just nibble on some carrots." And I'm thinking a lot more about what I eat (even if it's not good for me).
One random thing I had last week: I ate a lot of candy one day (...thursday?) and wanted a dessert after dinner but not more sugar/chocolate. Instead, I made two slices of toast and put butter and agave nectar on them. It ended up being kind of amazing. (I am a serious, SERIOUS sucker for toast.)
Also in the interest of saving money, I baked bread without a bread machine for the first time ever last week! I used the recipe from How to Sew a Button (out of the recipes I found, it required the least ingredients; I would have made English Muffin Bread, my one true weakness, but I didn't have a recipe). I baked the bread a smidge too long; it's not terribly moist or flavorful, but it serves its purpose as something to put peanut butter on in the mornings and turkey in the afternoons. Tastes better than grocery store bread, but not as good as English Muffin Bread. It also apparently tastes kind of amazing when toasted with agave nectar. So I count that a success.
My dad got a griddle for Christmas and then got a waffle maker thingie to put on it, so we had waffles on Sunday. Mmmm...waffles...
...Tuesday the 17th is about comfort food. I have decided I can buy one quick-make dinner thing per week and this week it was turkey hot dogs. I have had a very long day and my body feels tired for no real reason (except maybe too many cookies and not enough sleep), so I am having turkey hot dogs and English muffin toast for dinner. With broccoli. (I MUST MAKE THOSE CROQUETTES THIS WEEK. I MUST.)
My mom gave me some pizza crusts and I awkwardly mumbled, "I can't eat pizza," but she and my sister said I could eat it other ways. I'm thinking about trying to fake a pizza with pesto and chicken and maybe some turkey pepperoni. Oh, and mushrooms! (If only turkey bacon tasted good on pizza.)
Yes, food. Food is, as I like to say at work, the universal pleasure, and I do like to ramble on.
In Baltimore we had the inevitable visit to the Cheesecake Factory. It ended well. (Okay, that's a lie. I looked hopefully for the Platinum Mojito my male relatives and I love but didn’t see it; the waitress recommended the Passionfruit (?) Mojito and it was waaaay too sweet. The regular mojito was so much better; I like that tang. And all my food was greasy, but I suppose that's to be expected. The cheesecake--mine was Godiva, duh--was excellent. Rob was unhappy with his because he got Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavored and it had nuts on top. He HATES nuts on desserts.) We also went to a diner Rob has eaten at before; I had a pretty good vegan wrap there (tofu, hoisin sauce, assorted veggies). It was called the Paper Moon Diner, and something about the vibe there reminded me of Highland, if it were a crazy restaurant.
My mom gave me Vegan with a Vengeance for Christmas. After a lot of flipping through it, I made the White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup the week after Baltimore. I was a little leery of it, but it was one of the only things in the book I already had most of the ingredients for. The soup turned out EXTREMELY flavorful, and was good with croutons. (But then, croutons are good pretty much whenever.) I substituted vegetable broth for chicken because that was all I had on hand (also, I've never made stock and my experience with canned vegetable broth so far hasn't been great). Anyway, it was really good, and made me want some avogolomento or whatever that egg soup I've been making is. (When I reheated the last of the bean soup, I pitched in a couple spoonfuls of leftover rice just to beef it up a little and it was also good like that, a little more stewy in texture.)
Later in the same week, I made some spaghetti squash with herbs, recipe from Everyday Food, which I ate with chicken. It was pretty amazing--I've always liked the flavor of squash but have difficulty with the texture. I hate mushy foods. (I'm eating potatoes semi-regularly for the first time ever and I've also strangely discovered that I don't like mushy foods--such as potatoes--if they are also too hard.)
So I'm kind of trying my hand at meal planning. I’m concerned about money right now and it was my hope that planning my meals ahead of time would help keep my grocery costs down. I planned meals very formally the first week (sitting down and picking out recipes before going to the grocery store) and since then I have not been as good. It's helped my budget a little!
I had several meals planned but ended up only making cashew chicken (with leftover rice) (from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast). It ended up being pretty good, though I burned the cashews (due to making bread and cashews at the same time). The problem with Martha Stewart recipes is that they tend to be really complicated--lots of chopping and weird ingredients. Also, frying--lots of frying. They end up tasting good, but they involve a lot of effort and always seem a little greasy, depending on the recipe.
Anyway, one of the main lifestyle changes that's come from meal planning is that I take leftovers (or whatever I have in the fridge) to work for lunch instead of a turkey sandwich. That cashew chicken lasted me most of last week and made me happy.
I also had sushi with Emily last week (I've had a few variations and my favorite seems to be tempura shrimp with avocado, carrot, asparagus, and cucumber, with wasabi may, sesame seeds, a smudge of wasabi, lots of ginger, and a crapload of soy). Unfortunately, due to the nature of my schedule lately, I've had several "stage manager" dinners (as I like to call them): Ramen noodles and a Luna bar. I intend to make at least one real dinner this week and hopefully tonight I'm going to make a bean salad for work lunches.
I also tried a recipe for crackers from Everyday Food but they are TERRIBLE.
Also, there are roughly a thousand recipes from Vegan with a Vengeance I want to try. I like that it covers all your bases with breakfast/brunch, small foods, entrees, sides, and desserts. I really want to try the pancakes, waffles, and muffins! There is a potato and bean dish that also sounds great, and every time I flipped through the book I got distracted by the Potato-Edamame Samosas recipe, staring at it with longing. (I do not have a food processor and I am not sure if I can finely chop carrots and onion on my own. Also, I hate to chop vegetables.) I'm not too tempted by the chocolate chip cookie recipe because the one I use from Babycakes has served me very well (I like Babycakes because they try to use sugar alternatives, which is often more a concern to me than being vegan), but Vegan somehow has a much bigger selection of desserts than Babycakes does.
The definite upside to meal planning: I have vegetables for every meal instead of just being like, "...well, I guess I'll just nibble on some carrots." And I'm thinking a lot more about what I eat (even if it's not good for me).
One random thing I had last week: I ate a lot of candy one day (...thursday?) and wanted a dessert after dinner but not more sugar/chocolate. Instead, I made two slices of toast and put butter and agave nectar on them. It ended up being kind of amazing. (I am a serious, SERIOUS sucker for toast.)
Also in the interest of saving money, I baked bread without a bread machine for the first time ever last week! I used the recipe from How to Sew a Button (out of the recipes I found, it required the least ingredients; I would have made English Muffin Bread, my one true weakness, but I didn't have a recipe). I baked the bread a smidge too long; it's not terribly moist or flavorful, but it serves its purpose as something to put peanut butter on in the mornings and turkey in the afternoons. Tastes better than grocery store bread, but not as good as English Muffin Bread. It also apparently tastes kind of amazing when toasted with agave nectar. So I count that a success.
My dad got a griddle for Christmas and then got a waffle maker thingie to put on it, so we had waffles on Sunday. Mmmm...waffles...
...Tuesday the 17th is about comfort food. I have decided I can buy one quick-make dinner thing per week and this week it was turkey hot dogs. I have had a very long day and my body feels tired for no real reason (except maybe too many cookies and not enough sleep), so I am having turkey hot dogs and English muffin toast for dinner. With broccoli. (I MUST MAKE THOSE CROQUETTES THIS WEEK. I MUST.)
My mom gave me some pizza crusts and I awkwardly mumbled, "I can't eat pizza," but she and my sister said I could eat it other ways. I'm thinking about trying to fake a pizza with pesto and chicken and maybe some turkey pepperoni. Oh, and mushrooms! (If only turkey bacon tasted good on pizza.)
Yes, food. Food is, as I like to say at work, the universal pleasure, and I do like to ramble on.