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Archive for January, 2011


Cookbook Shmookbook

In Cookbooks on January 31, 2011 at 6:13 am

Cookbooks!

Cookbooks are one of life’s pure, simple pleasures. When I was bored as a child (and still now), I remember pulling out my mom’s Southern Living collection and dog-earing everything that looked good.

Circa 1985... just like me

At bookstores and libraries, I’ll grab one cookbook after another until the load is too heavy to bear and I find myself plopped on the floor in the middle of an aisle with mountains of books around me.

At home, I still love cookbooks. But a with combined lack of space and lack of motivation to actually make anything in said books, I keep my stash pretty limited. Due to blogs and magazines, I find myself putting my time into those recipes that catch my eye each day, not those tucked away in the gorgeous books on my shelf. Perhaps I need a 101 Cookbooks-esque intervention? (PS – One of the first food blogs I started reading. Also, one of the best.)

Some of my (new and old) favorites include:

  • Farmer John’s Cookbook – Stew just picked this one up a few weeks ago after watching a documentary on Farmer John. It’s an extensive collection of everything you would ever want to know about pretty much every single vegetable in existence. I haven’t actually made anything from it yet, but when the Southern spring starts unloading its bountiful harvest, you better believe I will.
  • How to Cook Everything Vegetarian – My friend Sandwich got me this as a gift and, in short, it’s perfect (both as a gift and as a cookbook). I’m a big fan of Mark Bittman anyway (who, by the way, is not a vegetarian himself), and every recipe I’ve tried so far has turned out pretty flawlessly. Including a gorgeous loaf of French bread that I had botched a million times before.
  • Local Flavors – Again, something Stew picked up for me. I’ve almost read this one cover to cover but have yet to make anything. I can’t wait for spriiiiiiiing.
  • The Kind Diet - If you’d told me 16 years ago that Alicia Silverstone would one day pen one of my favorite vegan/macrobiotic cookbooks (or that I’d be interested in vegan/macrobiotic food at all), I would have responded with a defiant, “As if!” But it’s true. As a movie star, Alicia got a whole lot of attention for this book (which subsequently brought a whole lot of attention to the vegan cause). I realize there are likely earlier, better books out there (Veganomicon and Clean Food), but this is the one I have and I love it.
  • Babycakes – Another new one for me… My sister got me this for Christmas last year, but I’ve had my eye on Babycakes for a while. I had the book checked out from the library almost all summer (sorry, York County Library, for my excessive late fees) and mostly just stared at the pictures. I’ve heard the recipes themselves have gotten horrible reviews, but I made the banana bread and it turned out for me.

What are your favorite cookbooks? Translation: What am I missing that I need to buy NOW?


Don’t Call Me

In Breakfast on January 30, 2011 at 10:07 am

Lovely little breakfast

It’s ok to be jealous of my cat mug. I would be too. I got two of those as a gift in last year’s Secret Santa exchange at the office. From TJMaxx, I’m told.

Speaking of TJMaxx… I killed it there yesterday. I have a trip to Florida with my girls this weekend and in seven short weeks I’ll be en route to Nicaragua. So I had some rather diverse shopping to tackle. I figure if I piece it together a little at a time, the final swipe of the debit card won’t be so painful. Good thing TJMaxx is the greatest place on Earth. For Nicaragua I got:

I also got a pair of jeans and three super cute tops for my girly weekend. $200 total. All hail the Queen of Brand Name Discount Shopping. I learned everything I know from my mom. And years of scouting TJMaxx’s around the country.

So things were going along swimmingly all day when Stew and I decided to head out to see The King’s Speech, which, by the way, is the best movie I’ve seen in a very long time. Colin Firth killed it, and if anyone else gets the Oscar (sorry, James Franco) then something is not right with that awards show.

I didn’t really have to pee, but you know how you should be prepared before watching a movie, so I decided it best to go at home before leaving rather than enter the pit of filth that is characteristic of all movie theater bathrooms (what’s UP with that?). That’s when this happened:

Hmm

Well, sort of. I didn’t drop my phone into a bowl of rice. Not at first any way. At first I dropped it into the toilet. It slipped out of the back pocket of my cute new jeans and straight into the pot (pre-usage by me, by the way).

I had a moment of panic, but then I remembered this is my first time doing it. It’s one of my first times dropping my phone at all. I just don’t use it that often. As I understand it, other people do this all the time.

At any rate, the rice worked. Thank you box of Publix instant brown rice that I’ve been carrying around (through a cross-state move) for over a year. Your work here is done.

The phone is working fine, but I’m leaving it in that bowl for the rest of the day for good measure. So don’t call me.

Better than a toilet phone


Om Yoga Studio

In Yoga on January 30, 2011 at 5:25 am

Leftovers are the best lunch

My perfect Saturday carried on after baking lemon chia scones with a trip to a new NEARBY (GASP!) yoga studio: Om Yoga. I got an insane Living Social deal for this studio: 20 classes for $20. Yes, please. I’m a little bit addicted to my current studio up in Charlotte, but I’m not so addicted to driving 1+ hour to make it happen. So I’m going to bask in the glory of this local gem for a while until I can justify the time (and money) involved in daily trips to the city.

Om Yoga (SC)

It’s a lovely little studio. I attended the 11am Power Flow class with hopes it might rival Tanner’s infamous Saturday morning Superflow at Y2 Yoga. It didn’t, but I loved it just the same.

The best part? At the end of class the instructor asked if I was a dancer… or a gymnast. I tried not to laugh in her face, but it’s just so funny. I’m neither flexible nor terribly coordinated. But if 90 minutes of me feigning gracefulness leads people to believe that I have spent a lifetime floating around on my tippy toes, I won’t correct them. Who doesn’t want to be a ballerina?

Or maybe she was asking if I was a stripper? Hmmm…


Lemon Chia Scones

In Baked Goods on January 29, 2011 at 11:23 pm

Lemon chia scones

Today has been one of the most perfect Saturdays I’ve had in a long time. I baked. I walked. I yoga’d. I shopped. And it was 60 degrees and sunny. The gods smiled on me today.

Saturday baking is one of my favorite pastimes, but I find myself too busy frantically studying, working or driving over an hour for yoga to make it happen these days. Today I made it happen.

Prettyyy

I kind of wanted to do muffins, but when I flipped open How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and saw a basic scone recipe, I saw visions of lightly tart, tangy nubbins of lemon, butter and flour dance through my head. I don’t have poppy seeds, but chia seeds make a nice substitute.

Using Bittman’s basic scone recipe, I tweaked, tinkered and toiled until I had something that matched my lemony vision and the ingredients I had on hand. It looked something like this:

Lemon Chia Scones

2 c wheat flour
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar (divided)
5 Tbsp cold Earth Balance (or butter)
2 Tbsp ground flax seed + 7 Tbsp water + 1 tsp arrowroot
3/4 c Greek yogurt
juice of 3 lemons + zest

Combine the dry ingredients, adding only 1 Tbsp of the sugar and saving the rest for dusting later. In a separate bowl, combine your flax, water and arrowroot and let sit. This will be your egg replacer. Add butter to the dry ingredients and pulse a few times in a food processor (or mix it in bit by bit by hand–I did it this way). Combine the Greek yogurt, egg replacer and lemon juice/zest. Slowly add wet ingredients to dry. Once combined, dump dough into a floured surface and knead 10 times. Roll it out to 1/4-in thick and cut into biscuit shapes (or divide into 3 to 4 6-inch rounds and score into triangular pie shapes). Dust with remaining sugar and bake on 450 degrees for 7-9 minutes until golden brown. (The pie shapes take longer to bake, 9-11 minutes.)

Make it work

Beauty

These are lovely, light little scones with just a subtle hint of sweetness and a bite of lemon.

I promptly ate four for breakfast. Standing over the stove.


Fondant and Fudge

In School on January 29, 2011 at 8:42 am

Fondant. Sort of.

Yesterday’s lab was an adventure in fondant- and fudge-making. Sort of.

We did, I think, nine or ten different manipulations of basic fondant and fudge recipes, adding and subtracting ingredients along the way to see how each affects the formation of crystalline structures.

I had the cream + sugar variable

My lab partner Lori had sugar + water +cream of tartar

Mine turned out like this:

Yikes

Which I’m told is exactly what it’s supposed to do. The whole point in lab isn’t to make 9 versions of perfect fondant. The point is to royally F it up with different manipulations so we can learn from them.

Lori’s worked perfectly because it took two people (plus a few pinch stirrers) to stir it the full 20 minutes required in the recipe.

Team work!

When it was all said and done, we sampled everything (thank you, fudge teams, for making fudge) and viewed pieces under the microscope so we could observe the crystal structures.

Never a dull moment in food science lab.


Caturday 1/29/11

In Cats on January 29, 2011 at 8:29 am

It's litter box time

You know when you’ve known someone long enough that it suddenly becomes ok to talk about poop? Yeah, me neither. But I do feel like I’ve known you all long enough to talk about Ralph and Weaz’s poop(s). I know a picture of La Weaz in her litter box may not be the most appetizing addition to the front page of a food blog, but I put that “Etc.” at the end of my tagline for precisely this reason: so I am free to talk about cat poop if I want to.

Here’s the thing… I share a bathroom with Ralph and Weaz. You might think this to not be such a punishment for me, especially if you are forced to keep your litter box out in open space, like the living room. (I used to have two–count ‘em, TWO–behind my COUCH. I feel for you. I do.) But I promise you it is terrible.

I love my cats. Don’t get me wrong.

See?

We match.

But because of these two, when I’m in the bathroom, the one place I’m supposed to feel clean, I really just feel like I’m covered in a light film of litterbox dust. Mmmm. And the smell? These tiny creatures drop BOMBS.

Who me?

YES YOU WEASEL.

And Ralph. Sweet LORD, Ralph can clear a room. Kill off plant life. Knock a grown man to his knees (his name is Stew). It’s awful.

So the point of this whole poopy story is that I spent like two hours last weekend researching the Cat Genie--God’s gift to the cat owners everywhere. Or so I thought.

Cat Genie

This self-cleaning, poop-flushing wonder box sounds like a dream come true, but in reading about a billion reviews, I found that the people who like it just like it but the people who don’t like it HATE it. Maybe the haters are just more vocal, but that’s a red flag to me.

So here’s my question: Do you have  a Cat Genie and was it the best purchase of your whole life? Alternatively, do you have a Cat Genie and have you had to clean out the clogged tubes yet, thus making it the WORST purchase of your life?

I must know. I know that even with this $300 investment I’d still be sharing a bathroom with cats, but their poops would now be handled by a robotic arm that sweeps through after the motion sensor goes off, tosses it into a side bin that is then flushed with water and deposited into your own sewage system by way of intricate tube design. The box itself is then filled and drained three times with water and finally a sanitizing solution and then dried and ready to accept another bomb. Sounds pretty good to me.

In dog news (yes, still dog news): Waldo is still here.

Here I am

He’s kind of like that house guest who’s like: “Oh hey yeah, can I crash on the couch for  couple nights?” And you’re like: “Yes, of course.” And he’s like: “Perfect.” And then he never leaves? And makes no effort to find another home? Or a job? Or a food that isn’t Doritos to eat? I made this hypothetical character up. But you know what I’m saying.

At any rate, Waldo is still here.

Yep.


Leisurely Morning

In Breakfast on January 28, 2011 at 9:00 am

Toast and the Journal of the ADA

I accidentally woke up at 5:30 this morning, which probably had something to do with accidentally falling asleep at 10:30 last night. I probably would have stayed up until all hours watching Say Yes to the Dress re-runs, but Stew was gone and I couldn’t figure out how to turn the TV on. So I just went to bed.

This is good though because I’ve had a rather productive day, completing two assignments, working out and enjoying a leisurely breakfasting over the January issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

No rush

My coffee looks like an infectious disease because of the cinnamon I sprinkled on top that proceeded to clump into bacteria-like blobs.

But the toast is workin it

Isn’t toast pretty? What? You heard me.

I’m off to lab (FUDGE today), volunteering, yoga and a whole lot of nothing this weekend.


Jade Yoga: Review

In Yoga on January 28, 2011 at 5:16 am

Jade Yoga eco mats and towels

Jade Yoga sent me some products to review, and without having actually used the mat in a class yet (I just got it five minutes ago), I can say I’m impressed.

Jade mats are made from natural rubber sources from rubber trees:

Yep, these exist.

Who even knew real rubber came from trees? Not I. Not only are the mats made from 100% natural rubber, they’re also made right here in the good ol’ US of A because owner Dean Jerrehian refused to outsource production to China just to save a buck. It doesn’t end there, oh no; they also plant a tree for every mat purchased.

Shall I continue?

Jade Yoga also supports a number of non-profit organizations around the world.

So… are the mats actually worth a crap?

(A tentative) YES!

Though I haven’t taken the mat to class yet (it’s packed and ready to go tomorrow), I can tell it’s a quality accessory. It’s a dense, heavy mat–much heavier than any of my others. The grip/stickiness is great–the best I’ve felt–and the thickness of the 3/16″ Harmony Professional I received provides just enough cushion.

I hopped on just to make sure:


Yep, it works.

They also sent along a microfiber towel that I’ll be interested to test out tomorrow since I’ve been getting pretty frustrated with my worn out Yogitoes as of late.

The mats come in a range of colors and thicknesses:

Rainbooow

But I’m not going to play with you, these babies aren’t cheap. Ranging from $50 to over $100, Jade Yoga mats are, in my opinion, a bit of an investment. But if you consider the quality of the product and the company, it may be worth it to you.

At any rate, the Jade Yoga mat gets two paws up:

Ralph approved

Weaz approved

Want Ralph and Weaz to endorse your products? They have no internal code of ethics whatsoever so they’ll put their names on just about anything. Address it to:

Ralph and Weaz Famous Internet Cats
United States

The USPS will know what you mean. Me? I kind of care what passes through this blog. So if you think your product is awesome and want to see if I think it’s awesome too, email sweettaterblog@gmail.com and I’ll let you know if I’m interested.


Vending Machines 101

In School on January 27, 2011 at 9:52 pm

Leftover fajitas

I had a class tonight that… defies words. I am so riled up about it, I’ll have to sleep it off before I can form coherent sentences (if I talk about it at all–even in generalities–because it involved a real patient). So we’ll leave it at that.

After a year of dietetics schooling (a full year??), I’d say I’ve learned a lot. One thing I haven’t learned, however, is how to use a vending machine.

Halfway through this class that left my mouth agape and brain oozing out my eyeballs, I realized I was very hungry and that the two sweet potatoes I ate at 4:30pm weren’t going to cut it. I scrounged up $0.60 and headed for uncharted territory: the vending machine.

I’m usually loaded down with enough food to get two people through one day, so I have no need for such luxuries as a vending machine. Plus, the food sucks. But, wait! What’s this?? I spotted a packet of peanuts. Hooray! The least number of ingredients but still a nice dose of fat and protein. GIVE.

I inserted my change, pushed D and then 1 and then… OH WAIT NOPE. No time for you to enter the 0 for the D10 item you wanted. Nope. Here are some crackers.

D1

So apparently there are special buttons for the numbered items above 9. I didn’t know this. Are you frightened that I didn’t know this? I guess I would be.

I sulked all the way back to the class and tossed the crackers aside. It’s not that there’s anything that wrong with them. I don’t want to eat artificial colorings and preservatives though, so I left them alone.

Now I know.


Is That… Chip Dip?!

In School on January 27, 2011 at 5:26 am

Dinner of champions... or students

We’ve already established that I’m that weird girl in class, and last night’s dinner was not helping. I got a handful of “What is that?” remarks and even one “Are you eating chip dip with a spoon?”

Which reminds me… I was once on a car ride with my friends and someone started rambling on about Miracle Whip to which I responded: “MMMMMM I love Miracle Whip. I love to just eat it with a spoon.”

Thankfully, my friend and former roommate Ryan promptly chimed in screaming, “SHE MEANS COOL WHIP SHE MEANS COOL WHIP.”

It’s true. I did mean Cool Whip, and I did love eating it with a spoon. Miracle Whip and chip dip… not so much.

What I did eat was a bowl of cold oats containing:

  • Uh… oats
  • Almond milk
  • Greek yogurt
  • Sweet potato
  • Raisins
  • Nuts
  • Sunflower butter
  • Cinnamon

Yeah boy

I ate this during community nutrition, which I love love love. It was glorious.

My professor brought in her trusty portion models:

NOT REAL

Convincing though, right?

I volunteered to recite my 24-hour food recall for the entire class. It was actually a mock counseling session set-up with my professor asking me questions about my food intake yesterday. Pretty easy for me to do since it’s all documented here. She said I eat better than she does. Extra credit?


At Least Lunch Was Good

In Rant on January 26, 2011 at 4:32 pm

Good

My car is broken again. Hooray!

If you’re thinking: Damnit, this girl breaks her car constantly. Then you would be my dad right. Honestly, this one’s not my fault. This is just an aging car at work. The crotchety old bastard demands a good $1000 of work every six months or so. I.am.so.sick.of.it.

Not good

I know I should be grateful to even have a car, not have a car payment, blah, blah and blah. Do not give me the “you’re a spoiled, entitled white girl” speech right now. I will complain anyway.

It’s not that I hate having the privilege of driving around; it’s that I hate having to drive around at all. I hate having things that are not my body that require constant upkeep. I hate feeling financially tied to inanimate things. I hate not living in a city with real public transportation. I hate the burden of “stuff.”

It reminds me of George Clooney’s opening rant in Up in the Air (which, by the way, is the greatest):

How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life… you start with the little things. The shelves, the drawers, the knickknacks, then you start adding larger stuff. Clothes, tabletop appliances, lamps, your TV… the backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. You go bigger. Your couch, your car, your home… I want you to stuff it all into that backpack… Feel the weight of that bag.

I live a relatively minimalist life. I don’t buy a lot and I’m constantly getting rid of things because clutter of any sort sends me into a tornado of fury every 30 days. But I still feel like my proverbial backpack is too heavy.

Which reminds me of something my yoga teacher said a few weeks ago in class. She had passed around “angel cards,” little slips of paper with a written intention to focus on for that hour. I got “surrender.” During that class she said this:

“Let go. Abandon that which is no longer serving you.”

That has resounded over and over and over again in my head the past few weeks because it was already something I was thinking about entering the new year. I carry around so much baggage, so much unnecessary weight–literally in terms of backpacks, gym bags, purses, phones, cameras, things, things things… and figuratively in terms of worry, doubt, fear, endless screen time and so on–and none of it is really serving me.

If we were to limit ourselves to what we need out of life, our backpacks would be a lot lighter. But not if they carry our food because I eat a lot of that. And we I would probably write fewer ranty posts about car trouble.

But, what’s this? A silver lining?

My lunch was totally good.


300 East

In Restaurants on January 26, 2011 at 9:40 am

300 East; Charlotte, NC

Last night Stew and I had some celebratin’ to do so we headed up to 300 East. I realize it might sound a bit odd to celebrate losing your job, but my schedule the past eight months of full-time school + full-time work + part-time work + volunteering + some sort of a life just hasn’t been working.

I found out in December that my full-time freelance project would be wrapping several months early. At first I was in panic mode (money!), but yesterday when I hit “Complete” on my last two straggling jobs in the workflow, I felt like I could finally breathe for the first time in almost a year.

So we celebrated.

We went to 300 East with the intention of participating in Queen’s Feast–three set courses for $30–but were quickly distracted by the rest of the menu (black-eyed pea falafel!) and strayed from our original plan.

We started with black-eyed pea falafel and hummus.

Black-eyed pea falafel

Hummus

That falafel killed me. The carrot slaw was perfect.

I had the seared Ahi tuna salad–fried rice cake, beets, carrots, avocado–with edamame instead of fish.

Ahi tuna salad. Hold the fish.

And Stew had the butternut squash pizza–gruyere, mozzarella, garlic oil, pumpkin seeds, butternut, perfection–without bacon.

Butternut squash pizza. Yes.

Everything was incredibly good. I’m glad we didn’t go with the set menu. That would’ve been perfect too, but I felt like I could eat and be equally as happy for under $30. I’m also glad work is done. I’m a pretty good saver so I feel good to get through the rest of the semester with occasional freelance projects on the side. (Need a writer? See my online portfolio here.) Come summer, I’ll be broke enough to find something more consistent.

Until then (or until I get antsy and find more work), you’ll find me… with a life! Hooray!


Heavy on Awesome

In What's for Lunch? on January 25, 2011 at 7:44 pm

Layer 1

Thanks to my weekly food prep extravaganzas on Sunday afternoons, today’s lunch was super easy to throw together. I’d already:

  • Washed and chopped celery
  • Washed and chopped romaine
  • Prepared quinoa
  • Cooked vegetarian chili

So all I really had left to do was throw it all in my lunch box.

Layer 2

Layer 3

Though the meal itself–veggie chili, quinoa, celery & sunflower butter, crackers, apricots, Raisinettes and a salad–packed a heavy dose of awesome, the true greatness lies within my salad dressing container:

Thanks, Jason!

After seeing my mini Patron salad dressing bottle, Stew’s friend Jason sent him home with this Blanton’s bottle for me last time he saw him.

I may start a collection.


That Weird Girl

In Weird on January 25, 2011 at 6:14 am

Sweet taters and sunflower butter

When I was little I was convinced I had been adopted. I was a big ol’ school nerd, and my siblings were not. I liked fruity candy, and everyone else liked chocolate. I had curly hair, and everyone else’s was straight. I was a lefty, and everyone else is right-handed. I wasn’t very social, and everyone else had friends. I was a little chunk, and my siblings were skinny. Clearly, to a child, all signs point to adoption. And clearly the fact that I would one day live just like my mom and work just like my dad had not yet become apparent.

I hate to break it to the 10-year-old version of myself, but the reason I was so different wasn’t because I was adopted, it was because I was am weird.

It hit me today before my night class when I was throwing down two mini sweet potatoes slathered in sunflower butter I saved from my lunchtime celery sticks and gnawing on dried hibiscus flowers:

They look like cranberries

That I am that weird girl. I am a big.old.weird.o. Things that are very normal to me (and mostly very normal in this blog world–that we should all admit is also WEIRD) are not normal at all in South Carolina. Or most of the country, I guess.

It takes a pretty long time for people to figure me out and realize I’m not a complete lunatic. But it takes me even longer to decide to give people the time of day. (I have very few, very good friends.)

I suppose the point of all of this is to point out that my level of self awareness has led me to deduce that I am that weird girl in class. I’m cool with it.


Stewjitas

In Dinner, Stew on January 24, 2011 at 11:12 pm

Tempeh fajitas de Stew

My day went something like this:

  • Wake up at 6:30 without alarm because alarm did not go off an hour earlier
  • Decide to go to yoga anyway
  • Chase Waldo out the door as he tries to go to yoga too
  • Already late, hit every single red light in Charlotte on the way to yoga
  • Ommm
  • Shower at the studio
  • Drive back to SC for class
  • 11am – Food Science
  • 12pm – Work
  • 5pm – Foodservice
  • 8pm – INHALE FAJITAS

I’m not always the most pleasant when I get home after a day like this. I’m usually carrying a backpack, a gym bag, a lunchbox the size of a tackle box, a purse and the weight of the world, and all I want to do is throw everything on the ground and go to bed.

But it’s on days like these that Stew really shines. Rather than throw my shit on the ground and stomp upstairs, I threw my arms around fajitas the guy that made THIS:

FROM SCRATCH

Mmmmm

It smelled like a restaurant when I walked in… and tasted like one too. I told him I would pay money for this meal any day.

We had: homemade salsa, homemade guacamole and a glorious fajita mix with tempeh, zucchini, corn, peppers, etc., etc., etc…

I want it again.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough

In Dessert on January 24, 2011 at 8:03 am

Oatmeal (chocolate-covered) raisin cookie dough

I have added another variation to my cookie dough truffle arsenal: oatmeal (chocolate-covered) raisin.

Yes, chocolate-covered raisins. And then you dip it in chocolate. Yes.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Truffles

1.5 c flour
1/2 c oats
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 c Earth Balance (or margarine)
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c regular sugar
1 Tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp almond milk
1 c chocolate-covered raisins
1 c chocolate chips
6 Tbsp almond milk

Combine the dry ingredients (flour, oats, spices, salt). In a separate bowl, cream the Earth Balance with sugar and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients to wet, mixing as you go. When it forms a crumbly mixture, add the almond milk and continue mixing. You may add more milk 1 Tbsp at a time if it isn’t coming together. Mix until it forms a dense dough that is not sticky. Fold in raisins. Use a melon baller to scoop out uniform balls of cookie dough. In a double boiler, heat chocolate chips and remaining almond milk until smooth. Dip each cookie dough truffle into the chocolate. Store refrigerated.


Emily’s Masala Burgers

In Dinner on January 24, 2011 at 5:23 am

Vegetable masala burger salad

Though my pictures take a great thing and make it look terrible, be not fooled. These burgers are far prettier (and tastier) than they look. If you keep in mind that the pictures are so bad because I was in such a damn rush to EAT this, then perhaps you can appreciate the quality of this meal.

This is a replication of Emily’s replication of Trader Joe’s vegetable masala burgers, which she made earlier this week and promptly informed me of. Perhaps, as she did, you remember me raving about those burgers here.

It helps that the burger’s ingredient list is short, but getting the replication as spot on as Emily did is still no easy feat. I highly recommend that you make this… like, yesterday.

Standard but better

We ate it as we eat so many things: atop romaine, sprinkled with cashews and smothered in avocado.

So so so good. Thanks, Emily!


Curry Tofu Scramble

In Breakfast on January 23, 2011 at 12:15 pm

Curry tofu scramble

Although I woke up at 6:45 this morning, I meandered through my morning taking Waldo for a walk, submitting two recipes for contests (I gotta make money somehow, right?) and reading some clinical nutrition homework. Before I knew it, breakfast time had passed and we were in brunch territory.

After last weekend’s Sunday brunch with Kelly and Brad, I knew exactly what I wanted to make: Zada Jane’s curry tofu scramble. I didn’t have everything they put in it–peas, tomatoes–but I made due with celery, carrots, spinach and edamame.

I sauteed those veggies in sunflower oil, added curry, paprika, fenugreek and cumin seeds, and then crumbled 2/3 block of tofu over the top.

I ate it with cashews, a piece of spelt toast and a side of greens in homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

I’d call it a pretty successful recipe remake.

Now back to that homework…


Oh Hey, Tempeh

In What's for Lunch? on January 23, 2011 at 8:28 am

Worth mentioning

I actually ate this tempeh/quinoa bowl Friday (a million years ago in blog land) in about 60 seconds flat when I was running out the door to my volunteer outpost at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Health Department. I’m working with the Fruit & Vegetable Coalition, which is aimed at increasing the percentage of the Char/Meck population that consumes 5 servings of fruit/veg a day from 20% to 25%. Pretty dismal numbers, right?

Their initiatives center around community and school gardens, farmers markets and eating locally/seasonally. I can get behind all of that and am primarily helping out with marketing materials, social media, etc. right now.

So the lunch? On Fridays, I only have about 45 minutes in between lab and leaving to volunteer during which time I need to eat. Too bad I spent most of those minutes rambling on to Stew about what I think about Walmart’s Michelle Obama-backed healthy food initiative. But that’s another post for another day when I wake up at 6:30am for no reason. Don’t even get me started on how one study found that having a Walmart nearby actually made people fatter over a nine-year research period…

Anyway, in about 15 minutes flat I:

  • Chopped celery, shredded carrot
  • Sauteed those veggies in olive oil
  • Threw in already-rinsed black beans and chopped tempeh
  • Added liquid aminos for flava and a generous pile of quinoa for carbs

Top it off with an avocado and you’ve got a delightful, albeit rushed, lunch.

Fast food?


Shmeh

In What's for Lunch? on January 22, 2011 at 1:25 pm

Only the soup is shmeh

Do you have a sound you make when something displeases you slightly but not enough warrant a real word?

My sound would be: shmeh. I don’t think I say it often, but that’s what I think in my head anyway. And that’s how I felt about Trader Joe’s split pea soup. It’s been a very long time since I’ve had a canned soup, and I remember why. But last night I was just entirely too lazy to do anything else. I added black beans and quinoa, but to no avail. The soup is not good.

I had it with a tempeh sandwich with mashed avocado and tahini slaw. That was good.

Entirely unable to throw things away, I ate the remaining soup (and the exact same meal) again for lunch today.

You again.

You know what is good though? Trader Joe’s olive oil popcorn. A good 30 minutes after eating, Stew came into the kitchen, burst out laughing and marched me into the bathroom where I discovered the popcorn was so good that in my attempts to shovel it into my face faster, I was also throwing it into my hair.

No big deal.


Caturday 1/22/11

In Cats on January 22, 2011 at 6:00 am

Dogwatch

You know your life has taken a sharp turn into Lamesville when you spend your Friday nights pre-posting Caturday so that your Ralph and Weaz’s doting fans don’t have to wait until you get back from yoga to catch up on their weekly shenanigans. Also so your mom won’t text and ask if you’re still alive because Caturday isn’t up at 8am sharp.

So here I am… on a Friday night… in bed… with two cats… reading Snooki’s book. I know there’s something painfully wrong with one who writes (and would like to write a book at some point in her life) reading (and enjoying) a book “written” by a feisty little meatball. Stop judging me. Everyone knows she didn’t write it.

I judge you very much.

Ralph is one judge-y mother… Weaz, however, can’t say anything about my love of Snooks because she loves someone else eeeeeven more:

Mmmm his hair smells like puberty

[Bieber Fever brought to you courtesy of Adam, who bought me that doll for Christmas.]

Oh, I almost forgot… Waldo is still here.

Yes

But he leaves this week.

No

At least we will always have this picture of him etched in our memories…

Aaaaahahaha


Life is Hard

In School on January 21, 2011 at 9:23 pm

Cookie Lab

Ohhhh woe is me. I was forced to sample cookies all morning in lab. My life is so hard.

This was a pretty fun sensory analysis experiment that involved 8 progressive variations of one sugar cookie recipe, starting with just flour + water and then adding one more ingredient to each variation. Flour + water + sugar. Flour + water + sugar + butter. Flour + water + sugar + butter + vanilla. Etc…

My group was on no-egg duty.

No eggs here

Science?

Our “dough” was a horrendous crumbly mess…

MESS

But it turned out all right

It ended up being a pretty decent shortbread recipe that I may tweak at home in, liiiike, 15 minutes when I want some dessert.

When everyone was done, we sampled each variation and came up with sensory descriptors for taste and texture.

FLAKY CRUSTY LIMP

A grand ol’ time was had by all. I was, of course, partial to our variation, but it (and all the others) definitely needed some salt, as the flavors were all very one-note… flat.

I’m much more into nutrition than food science. After all, I don’t think food needs to be as complicated as we make it. But I really do enjoy the lab part of my studies. I’m actually hoping to swing a part-time gig doing sensory analysis with Lance Crackers this summer. Yep, Lance in my pants. Those crackers.


How to Make a Smoothie Green

In Smoothies on January 21, 2011 at 9:13 am

Ralph will lead you...

Since rambling on about green smoothies, a few people have asked me to detail out how to actually make one. Good idea.

Really, you can just add spinach (fresh or frozen) to any smoothie recipe. And if you really want the best green smoothie recipes, I suggest you see Angela (smoothie recipes under “Raw Food”) and her Green Monster Movement.

For me, though, it’s pretty simple:

  • 1 frozen banana (just peel and store in freezer over night)
  • 2 c almond milk (or milk of choice)
  • 1 c frozen (or two big handfuls fresh) spinach

That’s the base. From here, you need to decide what kind of flavor you want. I like:

  • PB-Chocolate: Add 1 Tbsp cocoa powder and 1-2 Tbsp peanut butter (or peanut flour)
  • Almond Joy (idea from Brittney): Add 1-2 Tbsp dried coconut, 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
  • Fruit: Add any fresh or frozen fruit you have on hand–strawberry, blueberry, etc.

You will also have to decide if you want/need a sweetener added in. I never use one, but I am hyper-sensitive to non-fruit sweetness. You can always add in:

  • Maple syrup
  • Honey
  • Fruit juice
  • Agave, etc.

You also have the option of adding a host of fancypants foods like: chia seeds, mesquite powder, ground flax, wheat grass, etc. But your smoothie will be just fine without these things.

All this goes into a blender at the same time and is pureed into a fine, smooth beverage. Enjoy!

PS – If your smoothie is a nastay consistency, I predict your blender probably sucks. Truly. I had a sucky blender for a long time and didn’t know how much my smoothies sucked until I got a new one.


This Was Better

In Restaurants on January 21, 2011 at 12:38 am

Wine wine wine

I thought I might just work all night, but this was better.

I had big plans to wrap up work, go to class (canceled! rejoice!), catch a late yoga class and set up shop at Amelie’s to wrap up the last of my straggling projects at the job I no longer have.

But then I decided sampling wine all night at Petit Philippe was a much better idea.

It.

Was.

I did manage to make my yoga class, but that’s about the only part of my schedule that remained intact as the night wore on.

I met Stew for Petit Philippe’s sampling–three tastes for $13. Pretty damn good. Throw in some chocolate and I’ll add an F bomb to that previous sentence. In a good way.

Strawberry balsamic

Chai

I really love this place. It fills me with regret about all those could-be ideas I’ve had but never had the balls ambition to make happen. In a good way. Like a motivating way. The world needs more little, locally-owned, refined-but-relaxed places like this.

You can come here for a glass of wine, but you’ll get much more than that (and I’m not just talking chocolate). Dylan the wine guy (one of those people) can school you on every minute detail about each wine–right down to its history, how the grapes were harvested, etc.–and you won’t even want to smack him.

You know how wine people often deserve to be smacked? Not Dylan. Petit Philippe is worth a visit… or 50.

After rounding out our sampling and realizing I would never start working, we walked over to Mellow Mushroom for the latest dinner in the history of my dinners (outside Spain).

My tempeh

Stew's caprese

Now it’s time for bed. I wish I had a cupcake on hand.


Yogurt Bowl

In Snack on January 20, 2011 at 5:30 am

Dairy time

I have this theory that I’m constantly hungry because I’m not eating dairy (because it grosses me out). I have no real grounds for this. I just can’t think of anything else.

So like any dutiful dietetics student, I’m using myself as an experiment. I bought a tub o’ yogurt and will try eating it each day and see how I feel.

The thing about yogurt, though, is that I can’t choke it down unless it’s buried under piles of non-creamy things to balance its natural off putting texture. So this bowl is buried under:

  • Oats
  • Banana bread
  • Buckwheat
  • Coconut
  • Honey

It was all right. And it got me through my night class until about 8pm. But I did feel an uncomfortable acidic burning in the back of my throat down to about my heart for a few hours after eating it. Heartburn? I don’t know.

Bodies are strange things.


Pizza Night

In Dinner, Stew on January 19, 2011 at 11:03 pm

Pacman pizza

I’ve decided that Wednesdays are my new favorite day. Sure, I have three classes and don’t get home until 8pm, but you know what I don’t have? Any sort of work. It’s the coolest.

This is the first day since I started taking classes one full year ago that I was able to feel like a real student doing student-only things. Do you know how great school is when school is all you do? In fact, up until this week, I was still working full time while in school full time. Somehow I pulled it off. Anyway, my work project came to an unexpected end after Christmas and I’ve just been tying up loose ends before I’m out on the proverbial street, and this week marks the bitter end.

So if you know anybody in need of a freelance writer, you know where to find me. (Please find me.)

Late class nights are Stew dinner nights, and with three of them each week this semester, things should get… awesome.

Tonight I was greeted with:

“The pizza will be here in a minute. And we’re watching Finding Nemo.”

Done and done.

I could get used to Wednesdays.


MORE FOOD

In What's for Lunch? on January 19, 2011 at 2:22 pm

Tempeh sandwich w/avocado and tahini slaw

This is a terribly (obnoxiously?) privileged thing to say, but no matter how much I eat, I just can’t feel satiated. I’m cranking up quantity of food, frequency of eating, amount of fat and protein, but to no avail.

For example, I ate this fat/protein-heavy meal approximately 45 seconds ago and I am still hungry and in need of a snack. I put a lot of thought into it too:

  • Bread, 2 slices – carby delight
  • Avocado, 1/2 – fatty mcfat
  • Tempeh, 1/2 block – proooootein
  • Tahini slaw, 2 globs – more fat/protein
  • Green beans – for good measure

Food food food

I’d call that a pretty well rounded, nutrient-dense meal. What gives?

I have had a few theories on my hunger:

  • Not enough fat – probably not, but I’m adding even more
  • Not enough protein – definitely not
  • Low on carbs – laughable
  • Not enough cupcakes – impossible
  • Dairy? – ding ding ding

I’ve never been a milk consumer, and I’ve never eaten much dairy, but I have cut cheese and yogurt out this past year, and I think my body might be asking for that. So I picked up a big ol’ tub of Fage yogurt and will see how that goes…

I’d really prefer to think that it’s just a result of not eating enough cupcakes but… we all know I’ve been eating plenty of cupcakes.


Sipping on Frozen Spinach

In Smoothies on January 19, 2011 at 9:44 am

Frozen spinach rocks green smoothies

I realize green smoothies freak people out. While food bloggers and health hippies are down to sip on the brownish-green sludge first thing in the morning, I think it’s safe to say that the population at large is not so keen on this idea.

There’s absolutely no way to convince people:

  • That they’re like milkshakes
  • That they don’t taste like spinach at all
  • That it is possible for something to be both good for you and good

Unless, of course, they try one. That seems to be the best way to convert a non-believer. Make them try it. The easiest way to make them try it? Make it easy.

Enter: frozen spinach.

Yeah boy

I’m a big fan of frozen vegetables for a host of reasons that should make lazy cheapies like myself very happy:

  • Dirt cheap
  • Long shelf life
  • No prep work

Not to mention, they pack a serious nutrient punch since they’re flash frozen after picking and don’t run the risk of losing all their goods while packed in a warehouse or delivery truck somewhere.

So the next time you’re making a smoothie, throw in some frozen spinach, like this:

You bet your ass you're gonna drink it.

It looks scary, but if you have a decent blender, it’ll quickly be pulverized into a smooth, creamy milk shake-esque beverage that tastes like peanut butter chocolate, or strawberry banana or whatever other flavor combination you went with.

Cross my heart.


Stew’s Homemade Salsa

In Stew, Vegetables on January 18, 2011 at 8:26 pm

Salsa de Stew

Stew made an outrageously perfect salsa earlier this week that we learned tonight is even better with an avocado pureed into it.

Isn't everything?

I asked him to come over here and write a quick, hilarious blurb detailing how he made this delight, but he refuses.

It is likely because he:

  • Wants to eat my cupcake
  • Wants to watch The Bachelor
  • Can’t hear me over the conversation he’s holding with Waldo

This is not two truths and a lie. This is two truths and a TRUTH. You’ll have to just pester him until he caves.


Leftover Burger Salad

In Dinner on January 18, 2011 at 8:20 pm

Burgersalad

This is my best veggie burger yet, and I don’t even know what’s in it. OK, I kind of do…

I just started throwing leftovers into the food processor. It went something like this:

  • Maple tempeh
  • Quinoa
  • Raw cashews
  • Black beans
  • Veggie stock
  • 1 green bean

Yes, one green bean. A straggler. I processed all that together, formed patties and threw it in a skillet with hot sunflower oil.

We served these over romaine, carrots and celery and topped them with broccoli slaw in a tahini dressing

Hellooo

The tahini dressing is just: tahini, liquid aminos (or soy sauce) and a squeeze of lemon warmed over medium heat until it comes together smoothly.

The burger mix made three patties so I went back for a second after I finished my salad. I have been insatiably hungry for the past few weeks and I can’t figure out what’s going on no matter how damn much I eat. I’ll be eating a cupcake now and a bowl of cereal later. This has become the norm.

What’s my deal?


Not Cinnamon

In Breakfast on January 18, 2011 at 8:53 am

Muesli with sunflower butter

About six months ago, Stew and I started shopping almost exclusively at Earth Fare because it is the only decent grocery store in the area. About six months ago, I started fretting about the day I would inevitably stumble from my bed and, drunk with sleep, unknowingly reach for the wrong one of these:

Not cinnamon

After a couple months of successfully never eating cumin oats, my fears subsided. But yesterday while baking banana bread, I noticed how close I came to fully obliterating an entire loaf when my hand made a beeline for the not-cinnamon spice.

“You should distinguish those with a sticker or something,” I thought.

NAH, I’d much rather eat cumin muesli…

So this morning, drunk with sleep as predicted, I dumped a generous amount of cumin onto my muesli. I stared at it for a second. You know how throwing food out makes me ill. I reached for a spoon to try and scrape it off the top. Then I talked some sense into myself, tossed it out and started anew.

I think I’ll be adding a NOT CINNAMON sticker to the cumin. Just a thought.

Success

You know what’s better than cumin muesli (and most things at that)?

SUNFLOWER BUTTER.

Kelly was talking about it the other day at brunch so Stew and I went straight to Trader Joe’s and bought some. It is absolutely hands down the best nut (well, seed) butter I have ever had. Ever.

We drizzled it over cereal last night and Stew couldn’t even focus on Jersey Shore, which is a shame because Snooki definitely face planted into what I can only assume is the HIV+ sand of the Jersey coastline.


Cupcrazed

In Dessert, Restaurants on January 17, 2011 at 4:08 pm

Oh lawd

After lunch I was pretty convinced I didn’t need a cupcake. I kind of rationalized it by reminding myself I’ve had a cupcake every single day this week. But then I thought I should at least get Stew one… and maybe I’d have a bite. But then I walked in the door of Cupcrazed and immediately knew I’d be buying two. At least.

I'll have one of everything

The decision was hard…

Choices...

... CHOICES.

I finally settled on cookies and cream and the policeman special (coffee butter cream topped with a homemade fried donut).

Oh yes. Donut topped cupcake.

I’m kicking myself for not getting the coconut macaroon too. So suffice it to say we’ll be back, gamboling about with our faces covered in buttercream.


Sweet Peppers

In Restaurants on January 17, 2011 at 3:54 pm

Veggie wrap

I had a little blogger lunch date today with Brittney, Cindi, Jen and Kelly. Rather than truck it up to Charlotte as we so often do, we held this gathering closer to home at Sweet Peppers Deli.

I got some kind of veggie wrap with cabbage, yellow peppers, lettuce and water chestnuts and an oriental dressing. I asked for avocado, which they forgot, but Kelly saved the day and went up to get it.

I owed Jen and Brittney a big fat thank you for watching the cats while I was gone for the holidays, so this morning I whipped up chocolate chip banana bread from the Babycakes cookbook my sister gave me for Christmas and packed them up in two cute little loaf pans.

Thank you breads

You know what’s cool about Babycakes? Everything, yes. But ALSO… Their loaf bread recipes are designed to include extra batter for snacking purposes. Truth. The recipe I made this morning was enough for about 1.5 loaves so the book instructs you to spread the extra batter out on a cookie sheet, bake for 10 minutes and SNACK.

I support this

I find cooking a loaf or pie or anything else you can’t sample before giving it to someone to be a bit stressful. But with the built-in scrap design of this recipe, you get to test everything out before passing it off on someone else. Brilliant.

I brought the scraps to lunch:

Tasty scraps

But they were quickly overshadowed by dessert at our next stop: Cupcrazed.


Zada Jane’s Brunch

In Restaurants on January 16, 2011 at 8:45 pm

East-West tofu curry scramble

Stew and I are pretty pleased with our social skills this weekend. First, we went to Nicole’s birthday party on Friday. Then, we went bowling with his friends Saturday night. And this morning we had brunch at Zada Jane’s with Kelly and Brad. My very first blogger meet up actually took place here way back in March. “Way back” is probably not the right way to describe 10 months ago, but you know. I guess it feels like longer than that because so much has gone on with the move and school. Not to mention, I’ve tapped into Charlotte’s incredible blogger network and met wonderful people like our brunch companions and was lucky to be presented with a slew of “instant friends” rather than having to work for them like the rest of the world’s grown ups. Lucky meeeee.

Courtesy of Kelly

I had the East-West, which is tofu scramble with curry, peas, spinach, tomato and caramelized onion. I got the millet/flax toast and kiiiiind of kicked myself for not getting a biscuit. So now that means I’ll very likely make biscuits tomorrow.

Stew's Belvedere

Stew got The Belvedere, a veggie omelet with the most amazing sweet potato browns. Oh lawd.

I killed my plate and would’ve eaten two more of them. So before meeting Michelle and Lori at yoga, I ate this bar:

Pure Organic

The ingredient list is short; I liked it.

Yoga was perfect, as always. Even when it’s not “perfect,” it’s still perfect. You know? Maybe not. You should do yoga then.

What a busy and delightful day. I’m off to watch last week’s Jersey Shore. Oh, and maybe, maybe read this:

STEW BOUGHT IT JUDGE HIM NOT ME


Meskerem Ethiopian

In Restaurants on January 16, 2011 at 8:23 pm

Veggie combo plate of joy

Yesterday I woke up and declared… to myself… in my head: “I would like international food today.”

Good, Katie. How very white of you. What does that even mean, “international” food? To be honest, I have no idea. I just wanted to eat something that we don’t eat here and, preferably, a non-Americanized version of that something. With Mexican, Italian and Greek food so painfully dumbed down for our washed out palates, we thought Ethiopian might be a safe bet.

It was.

Meskerem

We dined at Meskerem, a cute little hole in the wall just outside uptown Charlotte (which I’m trying with all my might to call “downtown” but the locals aren’t having it). It was packed, a good sign.

We started with this little bundle of joy:

What bountiful riches lay beneath the surface?

Avocado salad!

Traditionally, Ethiopians eat their food without utensils using a light, spongy bread called injera to scoop it up. We were game, and even if we weren’t utensils weren’t offered at this point.

Dig in

I thought I was doing a pretty good job using the injera as a vessel in which to shuttle tasty globs of avocado, tomato and jalapeno to my mouth, but then I remembered that I’m a lefty and, naturally, was doing so with my left hand. This is not only not cool in Ethiopia, it’s down right filthy. In Ethiopia (and some other places like Ghana and India), the right hand is reserved for things like eating and shaking hands while the left hand is reserved for… the bathroom.

I realized the error of my ways just in time to have a fork delivered with my entree. Looks like I’m not the only one who caught the slip up.

The entree, oh the entree… a glorious collection of vegetarian samplings, including

  • Miser alecha – split lentils with ginger, garlic, onions, olive oil and curry
  • Miser wat – Split lentils with garlic, onions, olive oil and berbere sauce
  • Shro wat – Ground, highly seasoned chickpeas in berbere sauce
  • Sauteed strong beans, carrots and onions in tomato sauce
  • Cabbage, potatoes and carrots with garlic ginger and curry

If forced to pick a favorite, which Stew made me do, I would have to say the chickpea puree stole the show. He disagreed and went with the miser alecha. I disagreed again and said it was all the best. The combination makes it.

Eating here reminded me:

Exactly.

We followed this “international” meal up with an evening of good old fashioned American bowling.

Complete stranger

My dream of becoming a cat comes true.

Lovely


Spicy Maple Tempeh

In Budget on January 15, 2011 at 3:53 pm

Maple tofu, lemon dill potatoes, beans and quinoa

Spicy is relative here. I think that the addition of a scant teaspoon of chili flakes qualifies as “spicy.” No one else does, least of all Stew.

But what a feast we had for lunch today. Despite being ready to eat around 11am, when it came time to prepare lunch I kept uncovering more and more things we needed to use up before grocery shopping tomorrow they perish.

The potatoes were sprouting eyes so I peeled those off, chopped them up, doused them in olive oil, lemon and dill and threw them in the oven at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes (flipping halfway through).

I always need quinoa for the week, so I made a big batch to get that prep out of the way, and our bag of cheap frozen beans was just begging to get out of the cold so I boiled that.

For the tempeh, I sauteed diced onion in olive oil before adding the tempeh, maple syrup, liquid aminos and chili flakes. I let it cook down for about 10 minutes, added veggie stock for moisture and let it go another five minutes or so.

So so so good. All of it. And cheap? Let’s see…

  • Quinoa – $0.13
  • Green beans – $0.25
  • Onion – $0.10
  • Tempeh – $0.56
  • Potatoes – $0.30
  • Maple syrup – $0.17
  • Olive oil, liquid aminos, chili flakes – $0.10

Total for my plate (I made enough for three+ servings) – $1.61*

*Leftover cupcake not included


Masquerade at Petit Philippe

In Events on January 15, 2011 at 3:37 pm

The makings of an excellent night...

Wine is a good thing. And chocolate is a great thing. Together, as I’m sure you know, they are a perfect thing.

In my book, that must make Petit Philippe, Charlotte’s new (only?) wine and chocolate tasting bar, a perfect thing. We stopped by last night for Nicole’s surprise masquerade birthday party hosted by her boyfriend Isaac and Caitlin. Awesome idea, awesome venue.

Indeed!

It was so fun; they shut the whole place down for us and offered and special birthday wine flight: four generous tastings glasses and three chocolate pairings.

Perhaps you can't tell... that's US.

Wine galore

I actually just had one glass of prosecco, but I stole every single one of Stew’s chocolates.

Ignore the KKK in the background. Yikes.

Chocolate MAKES wine

I wish I knew how to pair wine and chocolate. Each element was amazing on its own, but together it just blew my mind. I drink wine on occasion when I think it tastes good, but Stew is actually genuinely interested in learning about it, so he had a grand ol’ time geeking out with the wine expert.

We’ll definitely be coming back. They do daily wine flights with 3-4 tastings for about $12-$16, which is a great deal. I prefer trying a bit of everything rather than committing to one glass I might not like. Plus, here you can get schooled on the wine while you drink it.

Michelle, Jen, Nicole, Me, Diana

[Stole that picture from Caitlin!]

As if I hadn’t had enough chocolate, Isaac sent us home with two extra vegan cupcakes. Twist my arm.

We came home to find that I left without my keys and we were locked out, but Stew totally MacGyvered his way in with a credit card. Pretty awesome, VERY unsettling. We’ll be deadbolting from now in. So don’t even think about it.


Caturday 1/15/11

In Cats on January 15, 2011 at 3:31 am

Something is amiss...

All is not well this week at Caturday headquarters. An impostor is among us:

Not a cat!

Though Waldo is doing everything in his doggy power to fit in here with a raging cat lady and her two (starter) cats, I know at least two of us are not fooled:

Keep your distance, dragon beast.

Ralph and Weaz are spending their days as high up as they can get so they can keep an eye on the dragon below.

Hello

Oh. Hey.

I don’t know why they think he’s a dragon. And to explain how I know it’s clearly me saying it but that it’s in the voices, language and personalities (completely separate from my own) that I created for them would lead far too many to conclude that I suffer not only from catladyosis, but from dissociative identity disorder, as well. I know I’m not the only one who has a voice for my pets, but I am probably the only one who speaks in it 90% of the time and makes it damn convincing. We had an exchange this week that went something like this:

Stew (to Ralph): Hey Ralph, how was your day?

Me (as Ralph): Ohhh you know.

Stew: [Affirmative nod]

Silence

Stew: Sometimes when you answer as Ralph, I really think it’s Ralph.

It is, fool! [I also made this video that won't convince ANYONE I'm sane... Cats in Snow]

I’ve been impressed with the cats’ reaction to Waldo so far. They’re by no means cordial hostesses, but they haven’t been overly aggressive or overly timid. Weaz is VERY intrigued by the new dragon in the house, but not enough to really get close to him. She likes to sit about three feet away and stare a hole through his soul. Ralph just keeps her distance.

Both have gotten outrageously clingy whenever I come around.

We saved you a seat.

But mostly they’ve just been sleeping it out… kind of like waiting it out but with sleeping instead of waiting.

Oh Ralph

Viva la Weaz

When we wake up, he’ll be gone.

Except maybe he won’t. Because we totally love him. Waldo truly breaks my heart and is as strong a case as I’ve ever seen against euthanizing shelter animals. I teared up tonight just looking at him.

This poor, sweet creature has had a terrible life. His face, throat, chest and legs are covered in scars. His big, dangly Basset-esque ears are jagged at the ends from being hacked (or bitten?) off. He can barely see, barely hear and walks with a limp. He’s horrendously overweight and his teeth are rotted away. And whoever treated him so poorly decided to put him through it for a miserable 10 years before abandoning him at a shelter where he would obviously be killed.

The world has not been kind to old Waldo, and yet… His tail still wags. His eyes still shine. And he is as trusting of and loyal to two strangers who met him 48 hours ago as he probably would be to the dickwad that abused him for so long. That’s probably the saddest thing to me: That despite a life of mistreatment, Waldo still has faith in humans at all.

He doesn’t owe anyone that kind of enduring loyalty, and yet, he has held on to some shred of hope that someone will return the favor one of these days.


Breakfast on the Run

In Breakfast on January 14, 2011 at 9:30 am

PB&J toast. Coffee.

I like being back in a routine. The cats, however, miss the good ol’ days where I sat in bed with them for a month straight.

My mornings now look like this:

  • Feed cats
  • Walk Waldo (Hooray! Poop!)
  • Feed Waldo
  • Work out
  • Shower
  • Make breakfast
  • Eat it

But on days like today when I’m 30 minutes behind schedule, breakfast will be consumed in the car on my way to lab.

Inhale


Aw Nuts

In What's for Lunch? on January 14, 2011 at 5:36 am

Snack layer

I ate a lot of nuts yesterday. That’s what she said. That’s what I said. That’s what happened.

I had nuts in my lunch:

Quinoa, beans, NUTS

Nuts in my snacks: celery with peanut butter, raisins and… nuts.

Nuts in my evening class snack:

PB&J on tortillas

Nuts in the granola I just ate. Nuts everywhere.

My boss lady brought a glorious loaf of nut-free sourdough bread that I was happy to gnaw on as well…

Sourdough

Remember that lunch I packed FOUR DAYS AGO? I was apparently thinking NUTS when I did it. This was it. It’s just been sitting around in the fridge waiting for me to eat it. Yes, yesterday we finally went back to school, and I finally got to eat my lunch..

Naturally, I carried enough food to feed me for 12 hours (no small feat) and, as always, it was neatly packed inside my trusty bento… that I love… dearly.

I do love eating.


Back to School

In Breakfast, Budget on January 13, 2011 at 9:04 am

Muesli and coffee

After three days free of classes in the first week back to school, my university flipped the bird at Mother Nature and announced: “We will be operating on a full schedule Thursday, January 13.”

The only problem I see with this (other than me being thiiiiis close to getting the full first week off) is everything. The roads have re-iced over and it was all I could do to not fall flat on my face trying to take Waldo out for a poop last night (which, by the way, he strategically placed on the SIDE OF A LAMP POST).

So far, so good as dog people… so far. He’s only peed on one (indoor) wall and that was after seeing Weaz for the first time.

Ralph and Weaz have spent their time sitting about three feet away staring a hole through the poor dog’s soul. Their curiosity is encouraging though. I was concerned they’d be hiding under the bed or hissing in his face for two weeks.

Stew’s on zookeeper duty while I’m at work all day followed by a night class.

I fueled up with a bowl of muesli and decaf coffee. (Can you “fuel” with decaf? I do.)

Museli

  • 1/2 c oats – $0.07
  • 1/4 c nuts – $0.37
  • 1/4 c raisins – $0.24
  • 1 c almond milk – $0.50
  • Raw buckwheat, coconut, cinnamon – $0.10*

Grand total for one bowl – $1.28

*Estimated price


Veggies and Rice Noodles

In Budget, Dinner on January 13, 2011 at 5:34 am

Broccoli, beans, tempeh, cashews, avocado, rice noodles

I’ve really enjoyed making my budget shopping trip stretch throughout this school-free, snowed-in week. I have more than enough food to get through until this weekend’s shopping trip. I feel like when I was previously spending more money, I had less food to get me through the week. Imagine that.

Frozen and canned vegetables are an important part of the make-it-last puzzle. Fresh produce is best, yes, but it’s more expensive and doesn’t last as long. I’m not knocking fresh produce. I prefer it, and I buy it because I can. But if you’re limited by budget or food availability and your options are canned/frozen vegetables or no vegetables at all, EAT THE CANNED VEGETABLES. Packaged produce, especially frozen, is picked at its peak and immediately preserved, a process that often maintains the integrity of the vitamins and minerals far longer than fresh produce that spends days on a truck and then even more on the shelf.

Tonight I threw together a stir fry with:

  • Broccoli
  • Green beans
  • Cashews
  • Tempeh

I served it over rice noodles (LOVE) with avocado.

How much did it cost?

  • Green beans – $0.50
  • Broccoli – $0.66
  • Cashews – $0.74
  • Tempeh – $1.69
  • Rice noodles – $0.90

Total for the dish – $4.49

Cost for my plate – $1.50 + $0.47 for 1/2 an avocado = $1.97

You may notice that my tallies exclude important things like oil and spices. This is because I don’t have any of the prices on any of these standard pantry items since I bought them before I was paying attention. This is, of course, pivotal for the success of a dish and, of course, not free.

(In)appropriately enough, this is also a shortcoming of the USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan, a meal guide for people on SNAP benefits (formerly Food Stamps). I learned in On a Dollar a Day that the plan includes shopping lists and recipes, but, much like my totals, the recipes call for oils and spices but the shopping lists don’t. Though these things are cheap per serving, they carry a hefty price tag, especially if you’re on a tight budget.


Killer Tofu Sandwich

In What's for Lunch? on January 12, 2011 at 2:42 pm

Tofu, avocado, hummus, spelt bread

Remember Doug? Of course you do.

You know?

And so you might also remember The Beets, Doug’s favorite band from Liverpool that is said to be a compilation of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks.

The Beets

And so THEN you might also remember their incredible song: Killer Tofu…

Fast food feels fuzzy
Cause it tastes like stuff that’s scuzzy
I used to feel like such a nerd
I refused to eat that strange bean curd
I didn’t eat it -ow- but it ate you
Aw-wee-oo
Killer Tofu
Eee-aw-wee Iee-oo
Killer Tofu

I eat my sugared cereal
But it makes my teeth bacterial
Ee-awee-oo EE-awee
If you’re feeling kind of cruddy
Just stick beside your buddy
And don’t eat too much fried food -ow-
Aw-wee-oo
Killer Tofu
Eee-aw-wee Iee-oo
Killer Tofu

This is perhaps the greatest song ever written by a fictional cartoon band, and it sums up my lunch pretty nicely.

I had leftover honey soy glazed tofu, hummus and mashed avocado on toasted spelt bread.

Oooo-wee-ooo KILLER TOFUUU

And now I present to you… the actual song. Listen here: Killer Tofu.


Snow Scenes

In Photos on January 12, 2011 at 12:25 pm

Not my car

On this my third day of cancelled classes due to snow, I felt it appropriate to stray from my usual food ramblings to share some pictures of what’s going on down here in the dirty south that has left us caged like rats all week…

Pretty

Ooooooh

Frosted

This much ice covering EVERYTHING

Eerie

Being locked inside has led me to go a bit crazy and has resulted in some irrational, unpredictable behavior like… deciding to a foster a 10-year-old homeless dog for the week.

Our new TEMPORARY child

His name is Waldo. We’re picking him up today. Repeat after me: I will not adopt him; he just needs a warm place to sleep. I will not adopt him; he just needs a warm place to sleep. I will not adopt him…


Supercharged (Again)

In Baked Goods on January 12, 2011 at 12:12 pm

Dreena Burton's Supercharge Me cookies

This isn’t my first time making Dreena Burton’s Supercharge Me cookies. It might be my fourth. No one knows. I like cookies.

Each time, however, I “tweak” way too many things and stray too far from the original recipe to be able to comment on whether or not it is actually good “as is.”

So this time I followed the rules. Result: Excellent. Tip: Cut the baking in half and they’re eeeeven better.

I like to use a melon baller for portioning tasty little bite-sized cookies. It keeps things uniformed and results in an end product that I can fit in my hand three at a time.

Scoopy

Cutie

Have you made these yet?

Cookiiiiiiiies


Salad 101

In Salad on January 11, 2011 at 9:42 pm

Salad that doesn't suck

I’ve talked about this before when I outlined the Anatomy of a Salad, but since restaurant salads continue to suck, let’s review it again.

Salad 101, Anatomy of a Salad or…

How to Make a Salad Worth a Shit

Greens – Obviously. Lots of them. I will confess that I like crunchy iceberg and romaine more than I like soft organic greens and spinach. I compromise by using a little of each so I get my crunch and my goods all in one bite.

Grains – I’m sorry, but Katie cannot live on vegetables alone. I need something else in there. Whole grains do the trick for me. Think brown rice, quinoa, millet, etc.

Veggies – Copious amounts. Anything your little heart desires. Pile it on. I actually like to roast mine first. Yep, I still call it a salad.

Protein – Here’s a no brainer. Vegetables pack, hm, like a whopping 20 calories per cup? Your bowl of goodness won’t even break 100 calories if you don’t pump it up with some protein. I like tempeh, tofu, beans and nuts. Not all at once. Well, yes, that would be delicious.

Fat – Last but certainly not least, FAT. For God’s sake put some fat on your salad. Do you know your fat-soluble vitamins? You’re about to… A, D, E, K. Your vegetables are rich in these vitamins but you have to consume fat in order for your body to absorb them. I like avocado, olive oil and nuts.

Still not sure how to make a salad that’s worth a shit? See Emily’s post about calorie counting to create a substantial salad and Gena’s post about building a meal-sized salad.

In my salad tonight:

  • Romaine
  • Celery
  • Green beans
  • Red quinoa
  • Nuts
  • Kidney beans
  • Chickpeas
  • Tofu
  • Full-fat dressing (homemade honey mustard)


Sweet Tater Oats

In Breakfast, Budget on January 11, 2011 at 10:57 am

Sweet potato oats w/ coconut and raisins

Yesterday’s snow gave way to freezing rain and now the world is covered in a thick blanket of ice and I am on day two of no classes. This full can of sweet potato puree illustrates the current weather condition by resting atop 6 inches of ice-capped snow:

Floating taters

I really wanted another smoothie today because yesterday’s was awesome, but I’ve been getting hungry at night so I wanted to up my caloric intake earlier in the day. I attribute the late-night hunger to increased physical activity during the day. (Stew and I are dutifully tearing through Jillian Michael’s 6-Week Six Pack–a video I received free for review–which I’ll provide a full review of in five more weeks. You can find my preliminary review here. I usually only do these videos once for the write up, but a six-week workout deserves six of my weeks, so we’re going for it. See all 19 of my fitness DVD reviews on DVD Talk.)

I decided to forgo the glorious smoothie for oats primarily because I wanted to see how they stack up in a cost analysis. So let’s do that…

Sweet Potato Oats

  • 1/2 c oats – $0.07
  • 1/4 c sweet potato puree – $0.25
  • 1/8 c raisins – $0.12
  • 1/2 tsp maple syrup – $0.11
  • 1/2 Tbsp peanut butter – $0.05
  • cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut, splash almond milk – $0.14*

Total for one bowl of oatmeal – $0.74

In On a Dollar a Day, the couple eats nothing but unflavored oatmeal for the entire monthlong experiment. I can see why; at just $0.07 per serving (and they probably found them cheaper in bulk), it’s an easy and affordable, albeit unappetizing (without mix-ins) way to eat in the morning.

*I don’t have prices for my spices purchased prior to this experiment. I used so little almond milk I didn’t take time to measure  it to account for cost.


Glazed Tofu Salad & Socca

In Budget, Dinner on January 10, 2011 at 10:03 pm

Honey glazed tofu over salad with holiday herb socca

I’m really excited about food. It is my favorite thing to talk about, read about, study, share and, of course, eat. As a dietitian-to-be, it’s natural that I should take interest in food. It is, after all, the foundation from which the major food-related problems that dietitians study stem–obesity, diabetes, heart disease. But you’d be surprised how little time we spend learning about food in my program. I memorize a lot of diseases, their symptoms and causes. If I may be honest, I really have little interest in the treatment of these diseases, not because I am cruel and heartless and want people to die, but because I think our current approach treats the symptoms not the cause, and that’s not getting us anywhere. What our country needs now is to learn how to love and respect food so that we can in turn learn to love and respect their own bodies. Sadly, most of what I learn in class is about nutrition-related diseases and comes from the reactive side of medicinal treatment or nutrition intervention only after a problem has been identified.

But my approach to health doesn’t work like that. My approach to health is rooted in the proactive use of food as preventative medicine.

I guess people don’t really take food seriously, which explains why we’re in the mess we’re in. And I guess lots of people don’t take dietitians seriously, or understand what they do, at least. I get a lot of questions about what I’m studying: “Yes, but what will you do as an RD?” and even more “Oh! Can you put me on a diet? Can you help me lose weight?” requests.

“Food reflects both our national and regional culture as surely as do the fields of art, folklore, geography, history, literature, music, politics and religion. The problem with the study of food is food itself. If only food were more arcane, less accessible, less popular, not so sensual or comforting, even divisive, its study would surely find a place in the hallowed halls of the academy.” – Marcie Cohen Ferris

I could do that, I guess. But I’d much rather help you learn to cook; to understand where food comes from; to look beyond flashy advertising to the chemical-laden ingredient list hidden behind it; to understand food politics, inequality and insecurity; to know where your food came from, who created it and, at times, who (or what) died for it; to know how you spend your food dollars affects not only your health but our planet; and, most importantly, to help you learn to love food.

That’s why I want to be a dietitian.

All this to say: I had a really gloriously delicious dinner tonight that made me feel good body, mind and bank account. Over the past two years or so, I’ve noticed this shift in my eating habits and how I feel proud about my food choices because they align with my ethics, my body’s nutritional needs and, ideally, my wallet. Reading On a Dollar a Day this week has radically impacted the way I look at my food, and it is in that book that I first read in black and white the triad of ethics, health and finances and how good you can feel when all three align in your food choices.

I’ve been getting really, really excited (more so than usual) about the foods we buy and how we choose to prepare them. I feel like I’ve found a way to eat that makes me happy and does the least amount of damage to the rest of the planet, people and creatures I share my world with. I like that feeling.

Now, however, I’m wrestling with idea that most people probably don’t feel this way about their food, and the reason they don’t could stem from any number of variables beyond their control, including race, age, geographic location, poverty, war, education level, natural disasters and so on. To feel the way I feel about food is a privilege. To have a stocked pantry is a privilege. To have transportation to a grocery store is a privilege. To never miss a meal is a privilege. And sadly, all of these things should really be basic human rights.

I don’t have any answers. Food inequality is nothing new in our world. But I think that just being aware of it and being willing to learn how to make things right is a pretty good start.

So how about some dinner?

Oh yes.

Tonight we had tofu baked in a soy-honey glaze served over a bed of romaine, chilled green beans and celery and topped with homemade honey mustard dressing. While I threw that together, Stew made two hummuses (hummi?): lemon dill and some glorious hodge podge of everything in the spice cabinet. On the side, I made socca spiced with the holiday flavors of sage, rosemary and thyme.

How’d we do on dollar damage?

  • Tofu – $0.75
  • Honey – $0.10*
  • Liquid aminos – $0.10*
  • Sunflower oil – $0.25*
  • Romaine – $0.90
  • Celery – $0.25
  • Green beans – $0.12
  • Homemade dressing – $0.35*
  • Socca – $0.77, we only ate half though so $0.39

Total for two dinners – $3.20

Cost per plate – $1.60 for my dinner

My homemade honey mustard dressing will make you cry tears of joy. I don’t even like honey mustard, but that’s because I’d never had it like this. Five ingredients:

  • Honey
  • Mustard
  • Oil (I use sunflower)
  • Salt
  • Pepper

If I measured, you know I’d tell you. I’ll give that a whirl next time…

*Many items in my kitchen were purchased before I started this little cost analysis experiment so I’m doing some estimating that I hope is at least somewhat accurate.


Curried Lentil Soup

In Budget, What's for Lunch? on January 10, 2011 at 4:06 pm

Curried lentil soup

Though my lunch was packed with care for my first day back to school, I opted to save it for tomorrow and make snow day-appropriate soup instead.

I used this recipe from Eating Well magazine with a few minor tweaks to match what I had on hand.

  • Brown lentils instead of red
  • Mint instead of parsley
  • No jalapeno pepper (sorry, Stew)
  • No mango chutney
  • Vegetable stock instead of chicken, only used 2 cups then added 3 cups of water to thin it out (5 total rather than 8; it was still plenty soupy)
  • Added potatoes

Goods

Let’s see how much it cost:

  • Onion – $0.79
  • Garlic – no idea
  • Ginger – no idea
  • Curry powder – estimate $0.30
  • Cinnamon – estimate $0.20
  • Cumin – estimate $0.30
  • Lentils – $0.92
  • Vegetable broth – $1.99
  • Lemon – $0.28
  • Potatoes – $0.45

Total for the pot – $5.23, but let’s add $0.50 for the unpriced garlic and ginger that I purchased forever ago… $5.73

Price per serving (6 total) = $0.96 + $0.18 for 1/2 cup of quinoa = $1.14 for my bowl


Snowmageddon, Y’all

In Breakfast, Budget on January 10, 2011 at 10:50 am

Snowy smoothie

It’s official: The world has ended in South Carolina. I know my brother will tell stories of a time when he saw 16 inches of snow here. But I wasn’t here then and I can safely say I’ve never seen this much snow in South Carolina.

Remember this guy, JB??

Granted, I grew up in northern Illinois so I’m not impressed by the snow itself. It’s the geography of it all that’s kind of blowing my mind today.

We celebrated this frosty surprise, inappropriately enough, with ice cold smoothies.

Not warm.

Yes, rather than hunker down with a hot, steamy, CHEAP bowl of oats ($0.07 per 1/2-cup serving), I went with a combination of frozen bananas, ice, frozen spinach, etc. that will likely tally up to around $2 each. At this point in writing this post, I haven’t totaled the cost. So let’s do it together… [If you haven't seen my post about budget shopping, click here.]

Snowmageddon Smoothie
Makes 2

  • 1.5 frozen bananas – $0.29 x 1.5 = $0.44
  • 2 c nondairy milk – $0.50 x 2 = $1
  • handful of ice – FREE
  • 1/4 oats – $0.03
  • 2 Tbsp almond butter – $0.21 x 2 = $0.42
  • 1 Tbsp cocoa powder – $0.06
  • 2 tsp ground flax – $0.06
  • 1/2 c frozen spinach – $0.14
  • coconut garnish – $.05

Total for two smoothies: $2.20

Each smoothie = $1.10

Not bad! I really thought that would be a lot more expensive per serving. I actually have no idea how much the coconut cost because I got it a long time ago so I guessed.

I’m off to, uhhhh, do nothing!

Happy snow day!


Budget Shopping

In Budget on January 9, 2011 at 9:30 pm

The best grocery for a budget

I know I’ve poo-pooed Trader Joe’s in the past, but as it turns out, it’s my new favorite grocery store. Funny how losing your primary source of income changes your definition of “affordable.”

Let’s be clear: I am not destitute, but I would like to pay more attention to where my money is going. My decision to track my food spending actually has less to do with my personal financial situation and much more to do with the fact that I’m reading On a Dollar a Day, one couple’s account of eating on $1 a day for 30 days and, eventually, recreating life on Food Stamps with a daily food budget of $4 a day for another month. It’s a fascinating read that got me thinking: How much do I spend on food a day?

I know about how much we spend each week at the grocery store. But then there are those random runs to grab odd items, a quick snack or a coffee. How much is that? Furthermore, how much is each meal really costing me? I preach that healthy food is affordable and accessible, but, in the end, I haven’t a clue how much I’m really spending.

So let’s figure it out, shall we? According to the book, the average American spends $7 a day on food, but most of the world survives on less than $1 a day. Food stamps (now called SNAP – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), again, hover around $4 a day. I’d like to know where I fall on that spectrum.

Rather than limit myself with a budget, I decided to start by shopping the way I usually do to see what a normal food cost per day is for us. The difference is that I used to shop at Earth Fare but have found that I save around $50 a week going to Trader Joe’s instead. Madness, I know.

My shopping trip was not without its glitches. With the snowpocalypse of 2011 on its way to the Charlotte area, people were in full on panic mode stocking up for the inevitable snow in. Southerners are hilarious when it snows. At any rate, the store was slammed. People were everywhere. I found it easier to leave my cart in one place and venture off to find one item at a time than to maneuver it through the throngs of doomsday-ers surely thinking that tomorrow’s 3-in snow forecast must signal the end of the world. Done with everything but one item, I parked the cart, hunted it down and came back to find the cart… gone. I wandered for no fewer than 15 minutes before enlisting the help of the customer service guy who promptly got on the intercom to announce: “ATTENTION TRADER JOE’S SHOPPERS… Please take a moment to ensure your cart is actually your cart. We have someone up here who has lost hers.” Everyone turned to stare at the idiot who couldn’t keep up with her own groceries. Very good. It took another 15 minutes and two more employees to track it down. It had been abandoned in the wine aisle with a stowaway bottle of vino some poor, confused person must have dropped in it. I hope they got out of the store with another one. What else will they do on the snow day?

When it was all said and done, I came away with this:

The goods, STEW.

When I got home, I dutifully priced out the cost per serving for everything I purchased.

Click to enlarge

What I at first didn’t like about Trader Joe’s was the apparent lack of organic foods. I learned today that I just wasn’t looking hard enough. They’re definitely there, and out of 26 items I purchased, only three were not organic. Not too shabby.

I packed up my lunch and evening snack for the first day back to school tomorrow, which will run 11am – 8pm for me:

  • 1/2 c quinoa – $0.36
  • 1/2 c kidney beans – $0.31
  • 3/4 c green beans – $0.25
  • 1/4 c nuts – $0.37
  • 1/4 c raisins – $0.24
  • 2 celery sticks w/ 1 Tbsp PB – $0.25 + $0.21
  • PB & J on 2 tortillas – $0.21 + $0.19 + $.33

Total for lunch, afternoon snack and evening snack: $2.72

So it’s clear I’d never survive the $1 a day diet. Nor would I fare well on Food Stamps with just $1.28 left to spend on breakfast and dinner.

I’m really glad I took a minute to do this because I am genuinely interested in food inequality, food insecurity and the logistics of how to eat healthy on a budget. I’m looking forward to tracking this and sharing what I find.

Oh and… of course, since meticulously measuring and packing my lunch, I have learned the school is cancelled tomorrow. Happy snow day to me! I wish I still had that stowaway bottle of wine…


Dandelion Market Date

In Restaurants on January 9, 2011 at 12:34 pm

Trio of spreads

Last night Stew and I celebrated my last night of no-school life with a trip to Dandelion Market to use the Groupon I bought way back in July. The place was packed so we settled in to a seat at the bar to speed the process along. I like instant gratification when it comes to all things food. Plus, Dandelion Market’s menu is made up of lots of small, tapas-style plates rather than big entrees so eating at the bar just makes sense.

AND we ran into Jessie upstairs but couldn’t wrangle enough chairs or bar space so we stayed on our own downstairs. I think that’s the first time I’ve randomly run into someone I know at a Charlotte bar, so that makes it feel a bit more like home. Hooray.

We started with the trio of spreads–lemon humms, guacamole, red pepper feta. The grilled pita bread made it. Followed by the best fries I have ever, ever eaten in my life. They’re like fried mashed potato sticks topped with fresh-cut herbs.

Best fries ever

Fried sage leaves

Stew's pizza

My stuffed zucchini

The fried sage leaves are like nothing I’ve ever had, and I really enjoyed the subtle taste with a hint of sea salt. For something fried, they were surprisingly light and delicate.

Stew had the tomato, mozzarella, basil flat bread, and after much debating, I had the stuffed zucchini. I didn’t want to eat cheese, but when I discovered most everything on the menu was already prepared with it, I caved and went for the feta-stuffed zucchini. It was very heavy on cheese, so I kind of ate around it. The tomato sauce was killer–robust with a kick of spice.

I love this place. The prices are reasonable, veggie options abundant and atmosphere cool and relaxed.

We rounded the night out with coffee at Smelly Cat.

Creeper

He told me to: "Look less miserable."


Leftover Lunch

In What's for Lunch? on January 9, 2011 at 12:17 pm

Mmmmm, leftovers

Yesterday I had a glorious mountain of leftovers that likely appeals to no one but me.

We have:

It was really a perfect meal, which is both awesome and sad because it would be near impossible to replicate. And it was exactly the fuel I needed to gear up to help my friend Christine move boxes to her new apartment.

On the way I noticed this cute graffiti. Graffiti can be cute, right?

Cute, yes.


Oh BALLS

In Baked Goods on January 8, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Balllllls

Since my mom keeps lecturing me about swearing on the blog, I am forced to incorporate new PG phrases into my vocabulary. I think “OH BALLS!” is probably my favorite.

Anyone who has been reading food blogs since November knows a little something about dough balls. This was when the bloggerati descended on San Francisco for the Foodbuzz Festival and sampled the famed Annie the Baker dough balls. I don’t have to tell you this. You’ve read about them everywhere.

I’ve tried the dough balls, made Mama Pea’s vegan version myself and have concluded that I just can’t hop on the ball wagon. You see, I spent much of my youth eating frozen balls of cookie dough that my mom would by from Market Day and licking raw dough from beaters when we made our own cookies at home. Salmonella be damned!

So I consider myself kind of a cookie dough connoisseur, and as a dough ball purist, it is my firm belief that the dough cannot be cooked as it is in the dough ball recipes. No, if you want to eat cookie dough, you have to brave salmonella or make vegan versions. (See my attempts at uncooked vegan cookie dough balls here and here.) I’ve found that the cooked dough balls taste suspiciously like… cookies. Because they are. Even under cooking them by half the time still left mine too cookie-like for my snooty dough preferences.

Real dough

Cooked dough

All this to say: Mama Peas balls are daaaaaamn good, uncooked or not. But honestly, I’d follow her recipe step by step and then stop just short of baking (which she recommends, as well). Scoop the dough out into balls, dip in chocolate and refrigerate to eat as cookie dough truffles.

Have you hopped on the ball train? What’s your favorite recipe? Or are you a dough purist like me?


Caturday 1/8/2011

In Cats on January 8, 2011 at 1:14 pm

Woe is Weasel

Happy Caturday! The cats were devastated to hear that I’ll be returning to my regularly scheduled ridiculous life of classes and work (minus one job) on Monday and we’ll no longer be able to spend day after day lazing around in the bed.

Ralph swimming through blankets

At first I was stressed out by my lack of things to do with all this time off (I’m not good at “relaxing”), but after about two weeks of driving myself crazy trying to come up with productive things to do, I settled on a life of reading in bed and watching TV… with cats.

I dus yuv zis show.

When we weren’t being utterly worthless, we were eating.

Pass me some a dat.

And drinking…

What uh zis sing?

You’re welcome for the cat voice captions. The written word simply does not do it justice, but only a select few are allowed to hear it. Sorry.

We discovered lots of glorious things in our reading/TV-watching adventures. We read Plenty, On a Dollar a Day and Heaven is for Real, all of which are good, quick reads that’ll make you think whether you want to or not. Our TV selection is not so noble. If you are not familiar with the Hanukkah Fever, perhaps you should watch this and then just TRY to tell me that Ralph doesn’t look like the angry newscaster at 1:11…

Angry Ralph

Angry newscaster

Something tells me they’ll carry on this life of TV and sleeping without even noticing I’m gone.

Yes

Absolutely.


Cowfish Crisis Averted

In Restaurants on January 7, 2011 at 10:17 am

Build-your-own sushi

Last night’s trip to Cowfish was an almost-disaster when it came time to pay and I realized I’d left my wallet at the bar. And I wasn’t even the one drinking this:

But that would be a good excuse

No, I think I was just really excited to EAT so when they called us for our table, I all but sprinted from my seat at the bar, leaving my wallet to fend for itself.

I would like to simultaneously thank and apologize to the poor bartender who I greeted with a lovely “Ohhhh F*CK” (censored for your eyes, MOM) when he told me he couldn’t find it and no one had turned it in. I then thanked him profusely when he discovered it locked in the safe for, uh, safe keeping. PHEW. I would also like to apologize for telling him it was a wristlet rather than using any number of more masculine words–wallet, clutch, purse–that he could have used to describe it to others while trying to tack it down. Sorry, you’ll never have to say wristlet again But that is what it is.

I would also like to thank whoever found it and didn’t steal my identity. And the hostess for her part in retrieving it. I’m off to Nicaragua in 10 weeks and my passport was in there and we all know those bad boys take about 90 days to process. (Of course I carry my passport everywhere. You never know when you might be whisked away on a surprise trip to Spain. Right?) I came home and found that it was actually safe in my dresser where normal people keep their important documents. Good lawd. The panic.

So while we weren’t running around like deranged hamsters trying to find my wallet, we were definitely eating.

Edamame

Now I have to apologize to our waitress, too. What a night this was. I never send food back. Ever. Unless it has meat in it or I think it was too close to meat for my comfort. When our edamame arrived with a pungent fishy odor and taste, I got a little queasy. Stew insisted it was fine and that at worst it was stored in a refrigerator alongside fish, but I insisted I couldn’t eat it. I nervously sent it back. I hate being obnoxious. Our waitress was cool. They were happy to bring a new one and comped it along with our drinks, too. Thank you quality customer service.

I did a better job with dinner. Every time I come to Cowfish I say I’m going to do the build-your-own sushi and every time I am distracted by some other awesome thing on the menu. So I did it this time. I had:

Success!

  • Beets
  • Carrots
  • Pickled daikon
  • Avocado
  • Tempura asparagus

… in a seaweed wrapper with brown rice.

I would love it if they actually made you build your own sushi rather than just select ingredients. That would be a delightful disaster to watch me try and stuff all that goodness neatly inside an edible roll. Sushi is something I can safely say I will never be able to make.

Seaweed salad

I also had a seaweed salad that Stew said tasted way more like fish than the edamame I sent back. I disagreed. Taste buds are weird like that. No two people ever taste the same food the same way. That’s why I think the judges on food shows are such jerks. Eating preferences are far too subjective for a few uptight foodies to be able to call themselves the authority on food.

So that’s my rant. We rounded the evening out with a trip to Amelie’s (where I had decaf coffee with soymilk) and the premiere of Jersey Shore. This season is going to be incredible.


Beans and Rice

In What's for Lunch? on January 6, 2011 at 4:35 pm

Oh joy

I’m not what you’d call “religious,” but it is my firm belief that God made vegetable proteins incomplete so that we humans would be left to combine them in pairings so perfect as nut butter and whole wheat bread, tortillas and refried beans, lentils and rice… and beans and rice. What a wonderful world it is.

You see, there are lots of amino acids (the building blocks of protein), but only 9 of them are essential to the human body, meaning we don’t produce them ourselves and, therefore, must acquire them from our diets. Animal proteins–beef, chicken, dairy products, etc.–have all 9 of the essential amino acids, making them complete or “high quality” proteins. Plant proteins, however, lack all 9 essential amino acids in a single source, which is why vegetarians “pair” their foods to create a complete protein. I say “pair” in quotation marks because the foods don’t really have to be combined in a single dish or even a single meal. You just have to eat both at some point throughout the day. Still, the greatest vegetarian foods (in my opinion) are the complementary paired proteins. [Amaranth, buckwheat, hempseed, soybeans, quinoa and spirulina do contain all 9 essential amino acids, but their Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Scores (PDCAAS) are not perfect (1.0), meaning once the food is fully digested, you have not absorbed all 9 amino acids and, therefore, it's not as "complete" as it sounds.]

My love affair with complete vegetable protein pairing dates way back to before I even knew it to be a necessity on a vegetarian diet. When I first stopped eating meat, all I knew was that I wanted rice and beans and I wanted it NOW. Our bodies have a pretty amazing way of telling us what we need, if only we’ll listen.

My cravings come through loud and clear, and when my cravings are for protein, it’s usually in one of the following pairings:

  • Legumes with Grains – peanut butter and wheat bread, beans and rice, tofu stir fry
  • Legumes with Nuts – lentils walnut loaf, lentil soup with rice and cashews
  • Legumes with Seeds – falafel balls with sesame tahini
  • Nuts/Seeds with Legumes – chickpeas (legume) + tahini (sesame seeds) = HUMMUS

Today’s rice and beans craving came after waaaay too much time in between breakfast and lunch AND a book I’m reading, On a Dollar a Day, about a (vegan) couple who eat a whoooole lotta beans and rice while challenging themselves to eat on $1 a day each for one full month. It’s an eye-opening read with lots of unsettling facts and figures about food insecurity and poverty in America.


Stew in the Kitchen

In Dinner, Stew on January 6, 2011 at 11:41 am

Dhansak

Stew cooks quite often, but the prep usually takes place while I’m away from the house rounding out hour 12 or so of work/classes. Last semester he got into a routine of cooking a meal each Tuesday when I had a late class. My Tuesdays quickly went from the worst to the best. My favorite part is pulling up in front of the house, seeing Ralph waiting in the window and Stew in the background bustling about the kitchen.

So last night while I was completely zoned out, face in a computer (I thought I gave that up for 2011??) finishing up my new online portfolio, Stew and his brother Sam go to work on a feast recreating a Stewsday favorite: Dhansak.

The boys

With the boys on entree duty, I was assigned drink patrol. I set to work on a sort-of mojitos with tequila instead of rum because rum is the worst.

Tequila mojito

I was quite pleased with my handy work. Biebs was on tofu duty…

Girl, quit playin'.

We played Uno and ate guacamole while the food cooked.

Yesss

And finally feasted on a moutain of lentils, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, cauliflower, tofu and brown rice.

Spicyyyy

Turns out it was entirely too spicy for my girly face and despite smothering it in vinegar, I was not able to finish it.

Just being in the kitchen was all I wanted out of this night though. I love when cooking is a group effort.


Thi’s Take Two

In Restaurants on January 6, 2011 at 11:22 am

Lemongrass tofu

Or three? I can’t remember how many times I’ve eaten here. Not enough, I can tell you that. The first time I ate here, it pulled me out a pit of despair that I fell in when I realized Rock Hill is not the food town I wished it would be. This time it reminded me that I need to stop in more often. Rock Hill isn’t the town I wanted it to be, true, but it’s not without its holes in the wall, diamonds in the rough and the like.

If ever you are in the area, let me know and we’ll eat at Thi’s on Main. Or don’t let me know, but go anyway.

Autumn rolls

Goods

Thi’s is that sort of perfectly quaint, humble little place where the owner is also your waitress who is also your chef. I love that.

She made recommendations and we took them, and at the end of the meal (after we’d paid, mind you), offered to make us some doughnuts.

We said yes. Obviously.

How could you say no?


Organic Meat Recall

In Health, News on January 5, 2011 at 11:15 am

Sold as "Nature's Harvest" and "Organic Harvest"

Yikes.

A whopping 34,000 pounds of organic ground beef was recalled this week due to possible E. coli contamination. The California-based producer, First Class Foods, shipped the product to California, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Washington. It is sold under the names Nature’s Harvest or Organic Harvest.

Nature's Harvest

Organic Harvest

You can learn more about the specific products, sizes and Use By dates of the affected items on the USDA recall site below.

Hopefully this is a wake up call to many that “Organic” is not synonymous with clean, healthy or even safe, and that is a major flaw in our food industry. Even as a vegetarian, I will not say that meat is inherently bad. If you eat it, that’s your choice. But be aware that factory farming is inherently bad, wretched, terrible, wrong. And even an organic label can’t save such an operation from itself. The mass production of meat is unnatural and, in the end, unhealthy. (Yes, some factory farmed produce–organic or not–wreaks havoc on our ecosystem and is similarly difficult to monitor for safety and cleanliness, too.) We need to overhaul the way we eat from the ground up–meaning changing not only what we consume but how it is produced, as well.

Official USDA recall site: Organic meat recall

Read more: Slashfood


Almond Joy Smoothie

In Smoothies on January 5, 2011 at 10:55 am

Almond Joy smoothie fixins

I got this idea awesome from Brittney. She posted her Almond Joy smoothie recipe back in November and I’ve been dreaming about it ever since. I always hated Almond Joy and Mounds growing up. What a cruel trick for someone to hand out that garbage on Halloween. It wasn’t until college that I realized I love those little coconut nuggets stuffed with almonds and drizzled with chocolate. But I think that’s around the time I realized I liked anything drizzled with chocolate.

Did you know I didn’t really like chocolate as a kid? I would choose fruit sorbet over ice cream or Sprees, Sweet Tarts and Laffy Taffy over chocolate bars any day. Who am I?

Anyway, I’ve seen the light. So this smoothie includes a heaping pile of cocoa pile. Yes, sir.

Almond Joy Smoothie
(Makes 2)

  • 1.5 frozen bananas
  • 3 c almond milk
  • 1 scoop cocoa powder
  • 1 scoop ground flax seed
  • 1 scoop dried, unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 Tbsp almond butter

In case you can’t tell, I didn’t really measure anything. But this should do the trick. Smoothies are hard to mess up.


Biggest Loser

In Fitness on January 5, 2011 at 1:11 am

Season 11

I haven’t watched Biggest Loser’s last 10 seasons, so I’m not sure what sparked my interest in tonight’s premier. I think it had a little to do with the fact that I was waiting for Stew to arrive with my Pita House. Knowing I couldn’t eat until 8:30pm would require some serious distraction. I quickly found that if it’s distraction you seek, this show has got you covered. What a circus.

Having never watched the show, I’d already formed opinions on the following:

  1. Extreme – People weighing 300, 400, 500+ pounds and leading completely sedentary lifestyles should ease into physical activity, not be made to run a 5K on night one with no training.
  2. Overly competitive – When weight loss is about beating someone else rather than reaching your own healthy weight, things get a little out of hand. I heard reports last year of the final contestants starving themselves and taking weight loss pills in the days between taping the last episode and shooting the live final weigh in. Not cool.
  3. Unrealistic – Maybe it’s inspiring to watch people drop 10, 20… 40 (!) pounds in a week, but for most people this type of weight loss is at best unrealistic and at worst dangerous. The contestants poo-poo a 5-pound weight loss that, in the real world, is a fine accomplishment.

I also have issues with Jillian Michaels endorsing diet pills and the one-sided focus on fitness when diet is such a crucial part of the weight loss puzzle.

After actually watching the show tonight, I formed some other opinions:

  • It’s heartbreaking – I find weight gain and loss to be a very personal, very painful struggle. I will never know what it’s like to carry the weight of another person (or three) plus the emotional burden of such baggage. The contestant’s stories are very real, and they are very sad. I cried during their first weigh in on episode 1.
  • It’s degrading – I see no reason other than pure shock value and “good TV” to make the contestants remove their shirts for weigh ins or to show footage of them vomiting.
  • It’s dramatic – The heart-stopping music. The passing out and puking on the treadmill. Jillian’s in-your-face attacks. It’s all so… Hollywood.
  • It’s real – Despite what I think about some of the methods, the people and the weight loss are very real. When Biggest Loser first came out, I think it had a lot more shock value. Now, with 2/3 of our population overweight or obese, this is the norm. The contestants on this show are the face of our nation. Their struggle is our collective struggle.

The Biggest Loser isn’t all bad. If it inspires just one person (and it’s inspired far more than that) to change the way they live, then it is a success despite its shortcomings. The show is wildly popular, and, I suppose, for good reason: The majority of our population can relate to the contestants. If a little drama, shock value and competition are what it takes to save lives, so be it.

Still, I’d rather people learn to lose weight peacefully as a true lifestyle change and without all the hype. How? I won’t pretend to have the answers for that.

Do you watch the Biggest Loser? Do you love it? Hate it? Do tell…


Toasty

In Breakfast on January 4, 2011 at 10:49 am

Toast sampler

Stew’s not real big on your everyday breakfast (but the boy will THROW DOWN a Sunday brunch). So when he asked me to start making him whatever I’m eating, I saw this as a chance to get creative with my own meals, too.

Since I spent the night moping around dramatically proclaiming that I will “never be happy,” it was time to send this day down a different path. In a nutshell, I feel like I have no sense of place or home because I’m always waiting to be somewhere else, I have no friends, I thought at this point in my life I’d be somewhere else in my life, I feel like my human capacity for achievement far outweighs my current level of motivation and that is crushing, I just lost my job last week and I really, really hate winter. But I like to think toast has magical healing powers. So here’s this:

Indeed!

I made a toast sampler with three varieties using almond butter and:

  • Roasted cinnamon apples
  • Banana mash
  • Berry jam

Oh, what a wonderful idea this was. The AB is Trader Joe’s crunchy almond butter with roasted flaxseeds and it is the BEST.

The BEST

The apples are left over from yesterday’s oatmeal. And the jam is Crofter’s Europe superfruit spread (they have a line of flavors by continent–Asia, North America and South America are the others).

This was an appropriate breakfast considering someone (me who shall remain nameless) turned the thermostat up last night and woke up toasty warm this morning. When I was little I used to say that my little sister was “warm as toast” when she woke up in the morning. Now I just say it to Weaz. I’ve always been crazy. And loved food.


Indian Tacos

In Dinner on January 3, 2011 at 8:36 pm

Indian tacos

Somebody stop me; I’m on a ROLL with this Indian soup/pasta sauce/taco accoutrement.

Tonight I used it as a dipping sauce for our Indian-inspired tacos. If you haven’t had a Trader Joe’s vegetable masala burger, you are miss.ing.OUT.

Trader Joe's vegetable masala burger

First of all, it looks nothing (nothing) like the picture, which is good. It’s actually primarily a potato patty made with big visible hunks of potatoes with pops of other veggies and Indian spices. I’d call it the best frozen “burger” I’ve ever had. But it’s just not a burger. At all. It’s like a… latke. Indian latke.

So in keeping with the theme of foods that don’t belong together, I took that Indian latke and slapped it on a tortilla with some avocado, lime, carrot and lettuce. Indian tacos!

Perhaps the Cowfish’s next venture will be an Indian-Mexican fusion restaurant. If not, I call dibs. Never mind. It’s mine. I’ll open it.


Reduce, Reuse: Soup–>Pasta

In What's for Lunch? on January 3, 2011 at 2:20 pm

Reeeeeeeemix

Now, uhhh, usually I don’t do this but, uhhh, go on and break ‘em off with a little preview of the remix…

Last night I made a “soup” that was basically not that.

Not soup

It was kind of an empty-the-freezer idea that ignited when I opened the door and and mountains of half eaten frozen blocks of vegetables and shards of ice daggers spilled out on top of me. “I hate this freezer,” I declared.

Wrong. I probably hate that it’s full and disorganized. Remedy: soup! Soup fixes everything. It went like this:

Indian-Spiced Empty-the-Freezer Soup

  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1 large carrot, chopped
  • 3 very small potatoes, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp chili flakes
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp fenugreek
  • 1.5 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 c vegetable stock
  • 1 c almond milk (unsweetened, unflavored)
  • 1/2 c frozen spinach
  • 1/2 c frozen corn
  • 2/3 c frozen peas

Saute the onion in the sunflower oil until it begins to soften. Add the carrot for a few minutes and then throw in the potatoes, spices and salt. Let this mix cook for a few minutes while the spices “bloom” (release their aroma). It will smell amazing. Pour in the vegetable stock, almond milk and frozen vegetables. I reserved 1/4 c of peas to add in later so that not everything is pureed. Let the soup simmer about 15 minutes. When you can easily stick a fork through the potatoes, you’re good to go. Use an immersion blender (or a regular blender) to puree the soup. If reserving whole peas for the end, add these in and let them heat through.

Tah dah. Indian-spiced soup. We had it with a grilled “cheese” (Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella) and sun-dried tomato sandwich. I didn’t realize until today this invention makes much more sense as a pasta sauce. Enter today’s lunch:

Reused

I like it a million times more as pasta. Thank you Angela for posting about vegan alfredo and reminding me I had pasta in the cupboard.

PS – Lundberg brown rice pastas are the best. Second only to black bean pasta.


Apple Pie Oatmeal

In Breakfast on January 3, 2011 at 10:55 am

Apple pie oatmeal

Today I took Stew’s “Will you make me whatever you’re eating?” not as a polite request but as a breakfast battle TO THE DEATH in which I would star as a Top Chef hopeful in Quickfire Challenge: Whatever You’re Eating. It’s a double elimination this week and since my oatmeal totally killed it, I know two cats who better be packing their knives…

Whatever I was eating today was going to be a smoothie, but sommmebody forgot to freeze the bananas last night so I had to get creative with my dry goods and bruised apples.

Oooooh

This is easy as haaaail…

Apple Pie Oatmeal

  • 2 small apples, diced
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp cloves
  • 1 Tbsp sunflower oil
  • salt, dash
  • 1/2 tsp sugar (brown or white)
  • 2/3 c oats
  • 1.25 c almond milk
  • nut butter, optional

Chop up your apples and toss them in a sauce pan with the sunflower oil (or oil of choice) over medium heat. Sprinkle with spices, salt and sugar and let cook until the apples are slightly tender but with a little bite. No mushy apples here. Remove apples and set aside (I put mine in a 200-degree oven to keep them warm). Without cleaning the saucepan (you want those little flavor bits), add almond milk and oats. Cook until it looks like oatmeal, maybe 4 – 5 minutes with the rolled oats I used. Less for instant oats, more for steel-cut or groats. Top with almond butter if you’re feeling feisty.


Tennis Anyone?

In Fitness on January 2, 2011 at 8:13 pm

It's January 2.

There are some things I hate about the South. Mild winter weather is not one of them. With this weekend’s temperatures hovering around 60 degrees, Stew and I decided to seize the day with an afternoon of tennis.

Yeah boyeeeee

It’s important to note that Stew and I are not what you would call “athletically inclined,” but we have fun. The first time we played tennis we laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe. Quite the ab workout. I did get pulled up to the varsity team my freshman year of high school, but I have no delusions about my actual athletic prowess. Sometimes there just aren’t enough seniors to fill the roster. I know how it goes.

Today we just leisurely hit the ball around for about 45 minutes. Plenty of time to soak up some sun while it’s briefly dangled in front of our faces and then ripped away. The wind has already moved in, there’s a bite in the air and soup is on the stove. So much for an endless summer.

Please give me summer


So Long Sushi

In Restaurants on January 2, 2011 at 8:01 pm

Goodbye dinner

Last night I said goodbye to my friends over sushi and decided to make the trek home about 12 hours earlier than anticipated. I could feel a sore throat coming on (again), felt guilty about leaving the cats with my cat-hating brother and missed not seeing Stew at midnight. Waking up in my own bed today was the greatest. I’ve been running around all over the country the past 12 days and I just needed to be home.

I’m missing these faces today though:

Aww

Blurry pictures can be salvaged with B&W

The menu description of the veggie roll didn’t say anything about avocado so imagine my surprise and delight when it was in there anyway.

Avocado is always welcome

But look at this sad, sad excuse for a salad:

Boooo

It was so much fun to spend time with my friends. I find adulthood to be a really lonely, isolated time, especially working from home and being in a new place. Making friends as an adult is like going on lots of first dates, and I am not a dater. I’m lucky to have met some wonderful bloggers here in the Charlotte network, but everyone knows your college friends are your friends for life. :]


Happy 2011

In Holidays on January 1, 2011 at 11:42 am

Friends!

I had a lovely last day of 2010 that started with:

Gingerbread coffee

Ceeeereal

And ended with:

Partaaaaay

In between, we sat at the table discussing all the things you can only discuss with real friends and remain friends–religion, politics, murder, etc.

Jammies all day, son

And then we went on a hike because it was a balmy 60 degrees outside.

Into the woods

Tree on a tree

What's this? Sandwich spies an intruder...

AH!

So we went screaming back to the house like little girls. Snakes in Illinois are not scary because they don’t have any poisonous ones there. Snakes in the south… are all trying to kill you. Trust me. Run.

We didn’t really start cooking dinner until after 6pm, possibly later, and ate around 10. Sandwich and I combined forces (with Sarah on rice and greens duty) to create a vegan feast.

I busted out the chef coat

On the menu:

  • Black-eyed peas for peace
  • Rice for riches
  • Greens for GREEN DOLLAZ
  • Cornbread for… happiness?
  • Tofu for the vegetarians

Black-eyed peas and lima beans

CORN CORN

Sesame baked tofu

All together now

If you’re not familiar with southern tradition, many families follow the superstition that you must eat black-eyed peas and greens on New Years day to ensure good luck and prosperity in the coming year. We did it on NYE since we’re going out tonight. I’d like to point out that Lindsay is going to be BROKEASS because she not only gagged when she ate her one green, she spit it out. That’s a sign of coming debt, young lady.

SUCCESS

Other than Lindsay’s dramatic gag, I think everyone enjoyed the meal. I declared it my favorite night of 2010, but that might have been this Solo cup full of champagne talking.

Classy

This sums the night up nicely:

See ya, 2010


Caturday 1/1/11

In Cats on January 1, 2011 at 9:55 am

Barney

New year, new cats!

Lies. If I have my way there won’t be a year without Ralph and Weaz until I’m at least 40. But this post may lack their presence since I’ve been using my phone to document their every hilarious move, and it is broken and won’t email the files to me. So here’s hoping my brother is actually feeding them while I’m away this weekend. I need them around for next week… and the rest of my life.

As promised, here’s a rundown of the cats out at Sandwich’s place:

The Cracker Barrel Cat

Gigi

We found Gigi in a Cracker Barrel parking lot on our way back from who knows where, perhaps during a college spring or fall break. Unable to leave the little nugget there to die and/or eat Cracker Barrel (one in the same), we drove her back to campus and I smuggled her into our NO PETS ALLOWED dorm room.

Because the pet fines had just been raised significantly and because the little nugget would NOT stop meowing, I felt like I had no choice but to take her to the humane society. Not five minutes after I got back from dropping her off, I got word from Sandwich that her parents were willing to adopt the cat. She and another one of our friends had to lie, cheat and steal their way through the humane society to get the cat back without paying.

Success!

The first morning here, Gigi decided to bolt outside when I was coming in from taking pictures. I sprinted after her in a dramatic display of sheer PANIC and tackled her behind the house. When I relayed the heart-stopping tale to Sandwich an hour later, she looked at me, looked down at the cat and then let her out. She’s indoor-outdoor. Very good. Of course.

The Twin Cats

Juno and Barney

Sandwich’s mom found Barney as a wee little rat of a kitten and actually thought he was a rat. He is named after the place he was found, the barn. His mom, Juno, looks just like him but… doesn’t have balls. They live outside (and I actually know that) so I haven’t had any dramatic chases with them yet.

The One-Eyed Cat (AKA My Favorite)

Hermione

I will absolutely not pick a favorite out my own cats. But when presented with a collection of other people’s cats, one of them handicapped, I think you know who will pull ahead of the pack and melt my “special”-cat-loving heart.

Yaaaaaaar

Hermione was found with her eyeball dangling out of the socket after a run in with a creature we can only assume to be pure evil. Luckily, Sandwich’s mom found her, took her to vet, fixed her up and now she’s good as new better.

In addition to lacking one eyeball, she also has a bit of a harelip and I think her hearing is not so good. I will steal her when I leave.

Finally, because my pictures of Ralph and Weaz have STILL not come through, I present Steff’s cats doing things Ralph and Weaz would never do:

Jenga and Ella

Being friends.

And since even now there’s STILL no sign of my Ralph and Weaz pictures, here’s a little cat I found when I was 19 that looks like Weaz:

Furman rose garden cat

Also this because we can’t start the year without them:

Hooray!