Stuff It!

I never had stuffing that didn't come in a box. That's only sort of true- my mom makes cornbread dressing every year for the holidays, but I don't consider it stuffing since there are things like eggs and...gizzards in it. So other than my mother's concoction, I never had homemade stuffing. Until this past Thanksgiving when I decided to make stuffing balls for my parents. And then I fell in love with stuffing, the real stuff (no pun intended).

It's so easy to make. I don't mind cooked celery in food, but every time I have raw celery I feel compelled to eat it and then it makes me want to vomit because I hate the taste. And I never have celery "just sitting around," so I rarely think to make stuffing. But I'm always looking for the opportunity.

I had some left over yellow and green bell pepper from the Superbowl Party. Don't judge me on how long I keep my food...if it looks ok and smells ok, I eat it. I learned it from my dad who would always say, "You know, we didn't have expiration dates when I was growing up." Why follow an artibtrary date on something when you could use your senses to determine if it's still good...but I digress.

So, I satueed a giant red onion (75 calories) , 75% of each bell pepper (the other 25%'s went to the quiche's)(60 calories), and 6 cloves of garlic (20 calories) in 2 TB of Earth Balance Vegan margarine (200 calories). When it got clear but not brown, I took it off the heat and added 1.5 teaspoons of poultry seasoning (I held myself back from 2-2.5 teaspoons, which, looking back, I should have gone with) and some black pepper. I'd left out 12 pieces of bread overnight to get stale. Ok, 13 pieces, but I had to put a few of them in the oven to speed up the drying process and one sat on the bottom shelf a tad bit too long. So, I ripped up my 12 pieces of whole wheat bread (480 calories, but I buy strangely low-cal bread) into a giant bowl, added the onions, and moistened with 1.25 cups of unsweetened soy milk (80 calories) because I had no broth on hand. Mixed with my hands until the bread was no longer crunchy and placed in a 2 qt round Pyrex baking dish. 40 minutes with lid on 350ish and then another 3-5 under the broiler without lid to get the top nice and crispy. I took it out of the oven and it looked like the bell peppers separated from each other- half the dish had chunks of yellow and the other half green. Interesting.

I think the entire dish was about 900-1000 calories and I ate half of it, even though I had to tear myself away from the rest.

It was wonderful...way better than the boxed crap. Next time I will definitely have mushroom broth sitting around to make it a little richer, but I was pleased with the soy milk. I might also try some type of nuts in it.

As Dora would say, Yum yum yum, delicioso!

Valentine's Treat

For Valentine's Day I decided I had to make something heart-shaped and tasty. I rummaged through the kitchen and, surprise, surprise, had about 4 ingredients to work with. Fine.

I began my recipe search looking for a recipe for egg-free fortune cookies, all because the Vegan Lunch Box mentioned them. However, her link sends you to a company that sells them, not a nice recipe for me to follow. After another hour of scouring the internet, I found another vegan fortue cookie recipe, but, *sigh*, I had no Enrg egg replacer, which I'm scared of quite frankly. Boo.

Then I decided I wanted some type of not-too-sweet cookie that I would apply chocolate frosting to (the frosting from last week's cupcakes, sans tea) and make into sandwiches. My search began and ended at vegweb.com, my favorite recipe place. I found this recipe for shortbread cookies...but CRAP, I had no egg replacer. That's ok, we'll use applesauce. So I followed the recipe but added 1/2 cup of applesauce instead of fake egg. And the cookies came out lovely and shaped, mostly, like hearts. But since I love me a good challenge and always seem to be doing something to make life a little harder on myself, I accidentally broke my heart-shaped cookie cutter. No worries, I pulled through with about 26 delightful cookies.

So I followed the same frosting recipe from my cupcakes, only making 1/3 of the recipe. It came out fantastic and I put it in the fridge to cool it down some while the cookies cooled. Then I slathered it on the bottom of one cookie and attached another. Perfect!

I thought they tasted alright, but I eat anything. An independent taste tester said they were yummy, so we'll go with that, though I suspect he was just trying to be nice.

Some thoughts for next time I make them: I'd like to add some orange peel to the cookies for a little ooopmh. Or, I have some Godiva liquers that I got for Christmas and have no clue how to use, so I'd like to add them to the frosting. Some addition of strawberry would be nice, maybe pureed in the frosting? Instead of sandwiches, I may stick a thumbprint in each and fill with something tasty...like the last bit of my pumpkin butter from Trader Joe's. The possiblities really are endless.

Sorry, no pictures :(

Just Peachy

Today was an all around great day, as I knew it would be before I even got out of bed. First, I knowingly slept in. Then I checked my email and found the lecture I was supposed to give at the US Postal Service HQ was cancelled, which was excellent since I didn't actually create a presentation. So I got to work and we got a 1/2 snow day! Score! I came home, ate, no, scarfed down, my leftover green bean delight, and took the dog to play in the snow. I can't feel my toes, but I'm starting to get feeling back in my hands.

When I got back from the park I was famished. I had planned to eat a peach, but the peaches are kind of gross and mushy. And since it was so cold outside, I decided to make warm "peach sauce," which is not a sauce you put on something. It's the same exact thing as applesauce, just with peaches.

So I boiled some water, tore up 2 peaches (you could use a knife if you're all sophisticated, I guess), and watched it fall apart and become saucy goodness. I added some nutmeg and cinnamon and let it boil until it was the right consistency for me. I poured it into two 1-cup pyrex ramekin's that my brother and his girlfriend bought me for Christmas so it would look pretty. I topped off the one I was going to eat immediately with a tablespoon of ground flax seeds and let the other one cool.

I was scared to actually combine the flax and peach so I initially just spread it on top. But it was hard to keep it from getting in the peach sauce so I just mixed it all together. Yummy.

You can do this same thing with similar fruits like apples, apricots, or plums, any combination will work. You *can* add sugar/other sweetener, but fruits are so sweet, especially when you cook them, that I think it's unnecessary. You can also add lemon or lime juice and whatever spices you prefer. It's way better than storebought crap, and way better for you. Takes less than 15 mintues start to finish.

My Favorite Meal

I recently came up with a recipe that is my absolute favorite thing ever. Chop up a large onion and sautee it in olive oil until the onion gets very clear and looks like you are about to burn it. Add some chopped garlic and brussels sprouts (greatest veggie ever) or green beans. When green beans are almost done, deglaze the pan with some red wine vinegar. Why did I have red wine vinegar? A friend willed it to me when she moved. I'd never used it before the first time I made this, and it was also my first time to deglaze a pan.

I made it last week and took it to work for lunch where no less than 3 people asked me what I'd made that smelled so good. My response, "Brussels sprouts!" Then I got a few weird looks. Just because your parents overcooked gross frozen sprouts so they tasted like crap doesn't mean they aren't absolutely delicious. You can roast them with olive oil, steam them and mash them with a little vegan butter, pan fry with onions/garlic, shred them, blend them into a soup...oh my god I have to stop.

Lately I've been trying to mix food groups instead of eating, oh, a giant plate of roasted brussels sprouts. So I made some whole wheat couscous that I had planned to add to the pan, but it was too full so I just threw it on the plate with the veggies on top. And ever since lunch a few weeks ago at Java Green, I've been obsessed with tempeh. I bought some awhile ago but let it sit in my fridge as I debated how to use it. Cubed it and tossed that right in a few minutes before the green beans.

It makes about 4 good-sized servings that are less than 400 calories a piece. (2 large onions, 9 cloves garlic, 1TB olive oil, 4 cups green beans, 8oz tempeh, 1 cup couscous)

Tofu Saturday

Jennilicious inspired me to buy tofu a few weeks ago and I was so pleased with the quiches that I decided to branch out. This morning I made scrambled silken tofu (1/2 the box) with green onions, cilantro, chilli powder, and turmeric. After a small mishap with 1/2 the bottle of chilli powder ending up in the pan, I plopped the mixture atop a nice warm piece of toast with Trader Jose's (Trader Joe's) habenero and lime salsa. Yum and only about 250 calories.

Since I still had a half a block of tofu and 2 tomatoes I needed to use today, I thought a creamy tomato basil soup would hit the spot on this freezing (well, below freezing) day. I blended the tomatoes and tofu, put it in a pot, and added salt, pepper, and dried basil. When I have soups, I like to dip bread into it, but today I decided to be a little different and use whole grain couscous. Instead of making the couscous first and then adding the soup, I put 1/3cup couscous in the bowl and topped with the soup and covered. Five long minutes later, I returned to the bowl slightly disappointed. I was hoping for a soupy mixture with couscous sitting on the bottom of the bowl. But, it all sort of mixed together. And the water from the tomato separated a little bit from the rest of the soup so I had to stir it all together again. Which is fine, it all tastes the same!

The soup came out a beautiful pink, and when topped with raw green onions, it looked amazing (if only my camera worked). It tastes even better than it looks. Next time I make it, I might thin it out some with unsweetened soy milk. And I meant to add some roasted garlic (6 cloves) to the blender, but I was famished and couldn't wait for the garlic to roast so I left it out. Only about 400 calories for a giant bowl.

Unrelated to tofu, I decided to make some pear chips. So I used my fancy slicer (otherwise known as a knife) to create somewhat even slices. But since I'm dumb, some of them ended up quite a bit thicker than the others. Oh well. I popped them in a 275ish degree oven and let them cook for an hour, maybe a little longer. I flipped them twice and moved the pan around when I put them back in. The last time I flipped them, I sprinkled cinnamon over them and added a total of .5TB of dark brown sugar to the tops. I let them cook until the brown sugar looked bubbley, then I put them on the rack to cool.

Amazingly I haven't scarfed them down yet, but that's because they were cooling while I was making my soup. I sampled one, though, and they are delightful.

I Heart Barley

Barley is my new favorite grain. It's so versatile, not too mention quite tasty. I hear there are different kinds of barley, but I bought mine in the international aisle and the package doesn't tell me anything about it.

Normally I just boil up some barley and when it's done, I throw in some vegan margarine and some dried Italian herbs. Then I scarf it down like I haven't eaten in months. Tonight, though, I needed some legumes/beans/nuts for dinner (according to mypyramidtracker.gov, the greatest FREE resource ever!). So I threw 1/2 cup barley and 1/2 cup lentils into a pot, added some water, and boiled until everything was nice and soft. Oh and I added some dried basil and dried rosemary. And the whole giant bowl (well, I had 2 medium sized bowls) is only 550 calories.

Delicious! I would have taken a picture, but the batteries are dead. But wait, did I post pictures of cupcakes and polenta? Yeah, I don't want to talk about it.

Cupcakes for Dinner

Today (and last night when I came home from work drunk...) I decided to throw healthy eating to the wind. Sort of...The past 2 days have been sort of "calorie-free" for me. Today the craving for chocolate took over and I was unable to control myself. The only logical next step was to make cupcakes. And eat them for dinner.




I used this recipe for the vanilla cake, adding some yummy vanilla hazelnut black tea to steep in the water. For the frosting, I used this recipe and added more tea to it.

Between the Hershey's Kisses, Hershey's Nuggets, and 5 cupcakes I ate for dinner, I'm about to throw up from all the sugar. With the frosting, the cupcakes are very sweet, but in a good way. I just ate too many other sweet things in too short of a time span.

Verdict? They might have a little too much tea flavor and none of the vanilla hazlenut flavor that I cherish when I drink a cup of tea every day. I'm in the midst of a major sugar crash right now and am pretty sure I have sugar-induced depression. Right, back to the cupcakes. They're ok. Will I make them again? Without the tea, maybe. But I'm debating throwing away the entire batch instead of taking them to work. The cakes are stuck in the wrappers, which is no fun.

Yes, I threw them out even though they were probably edible.

Veggie-Tofu Tacos

I stopped by the store on the way home from running errands and stayed focused enough to just pick out frozen vegetables, salsa, tortillas, toilet paper, and contact solution (aka, the five things I can't live without). This was an amazing feat because my already low blood sugar was encouraging me to buy everything in sight. I was kind of disappointed that they were out of the cheap whole-wheat tortillas, but I really wanted some, so I broke down and got flour.

When I got home, I wanted something quick and good, so tacos sounded like the best option. I chopped up a (surprisingly) small onion and began sauteing it in a little olive oil. I added some frozen green beans and some frozen yellow squash to the onion, along with a little crushed sea salt and a lot of black pepper. I let these cook while I cut up half a block of Mori Nu Silken Firm Tofu into bite-size chunks. I added a little hot water to the pan of vegetables to help them soften and put the other half of the tofu in the fridge to hopefully concoct something good with it tomorrow.

After most of the water steamed off, I tossed in the tofu chunks. To this, I added a palmful of cumin and a few shakes of less-sodium soy sauce, crushed red pepper, chili powder, turmeric, garlic powder, and paprika. I sauteed this for a little less than 10 minutes, until the tofu looked like it was a little browned and the vegetables looked soft and cooked through.

I pulled out two of the taquito-size tortillas and sprinkled the last of my shredded cheese on both. I piled a couple scoops of the cooked mixture on each and topped them both off with a generous amount of El Pinto Medium Salsa, which is one of my faves because it has NO CILANTRO and tastes really fresh.

These were, dare I say, crumbelievable! The only downpoint was that, by the time I had taken some pictures of them, the tortillas had soaked up a lot of the juice and were hard to keep together. They tasted amazing though, and that's all that matters. I still have enough left to add to some quinoa or couscous tomorrow (to make up for the flour tonight) for lunch.

What's in a Name: The Processed Food Debate

In my post on my philosophy of life and cooking, I mention that I no longer eat processed foods. I made this comment the other evening when someone told me they were looking to avoid processed foods, which eventually led to the debate about what exactly is processed. I suppose that at it's most literal interpretation, a processed food is anything that is not in its natural form. So a whole potato straight out of the ground and in the grocery store produce section is unprocessed, but the person at the farmer's market who has already sliced the potatoes for your convenience is offering processed food. In this way, I'd say 90% of the fruits and vegetables I eat are not processed. But what about grains? My whole wheat bread and Cheerios are clearly processed, but what about my multi-grain oatmeal, rice, quinoa, couscous, bulgur, barley, etc.?

I'm not one to affix hard and fast labels to things- I believe in flexibility of terms. Yes, I tell people I'm vegan, but a few times a month I'll consume animal products. There is the camp that vehemently believes I am not vegan, nor am I even vegetarian, and I should stop using the term to describe myself. I think that's silly. Nine times out of 10 I am vegan and I make a conscious effort to avoid meat, dairy, and other products that might have animal products. What am I, then, if not vegan?

I treat "processed foods" with this same spirit of flexiblity of terms as well. Are my grains processed? No, because they contain grain and only grain. Nothing articifial, no "natural" flavors, no preservatives. My frozen veggies? Nope, as long as they only contain veggies. Beans/nuts/legumes? My soy milk is definitely processed, but my dry beans/legumes are not. I only buy naked nuts, so I don't consider them processed, even if they've already been chopped for me. My canned beans are sort of a toss up, but something about me washing off all of the extra stuff that's added to them makes me less likely to consider them processed- they are still whole beans with nothing injected in them (I hope). Peanut butter? Not processed- I only buy the stuff without salt or sugar added.

Processed foods also have little nutritional value and for the most part provide more unnecessary ingredients than necessary ones (by necessary I mean required for my body to stay nourished):

* Potato chips are not healthy despite being made from a vegetable.
* Do fruit loops even contain fruit? A small trace of fruit even?
* White rice has the healthiest (and tastiest) part removed.
* Oreos contain nothing that my body needs.

So, if a product has whole grains/fruit/vegetable/beans/nuts/legumes and lacks additions like partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup or other sweetener, I generally feel that it is not processed. Fortification with essential vitamins and nutrients, while not the best way to consume those, does not constitute processed unless other ingredients, like sugar, are also added.

It's pretty hard to completely cut out processed foods. Afterall, who has time/patience to freshly bake their own bread each week (I've seriously considered it). But in the same vane that I am vegan, I also don't eat processed foods. Still, you want a definition:

processed food- any food which has had crap (that's the official term) added to it or is otherwise prepared in a way to significantly detract from the health benefits of the food in its natural state.

Kickoff Concoction: Fickin Fauxchos

I forgot it was Super Bowl Sunday until 6 p.m., when I turned it to the game and there was less than one minute left in the first quarter. OOPS! I guess this means no chance of attending a party or gathering of any sort. It's probably better that I don't show up to my interview tomorrow suffering from a "Bears Won (or Lost)!" appearance, i.e. still half-drunk.

In the spirit of the game however, I got a hankering for a ginormous plate of nachos. This was soon followed by the realization that I didn't have salsa, chips/tortillas, or really any makings for said nachos. But, being the Betty Crocker-wannabe that I am, I decided to improvise. Plus, I was frickin' starving.

I started by chopping up a bell pepper and an onion and sauteing them in olive oil with a little salt and lots of black pepper until they were really caramelized, some might say nearly burned. To this mixture, I added about 3 cloves of chopped garlic, cumin, chili powder, turmeric, and paprika. Like Veganne, I never measure spices, so I just put in a good pinch of each. I let this cook for a few minutes to bring the oils out of the spices some and get rid of the raw garlic flavor.

While this was going, I found a can of Eden organic unsalted, black beans, which are one of my favorite foods, in the pantry. In fact, my friends are sick of hearing me tout Amy's canned, refried black beans. I rinsed those off really well in cold water and put them in the blender.

When the onion/pepper mixture had cooled off a bit, I threw it in the blender with the beans, a couple pickled jalapeno slices, and a little more olive oil. I soon realized this wasn't mixing well, so I threw in a little cold water to help lubricate it. Haha.

I then rummaged through my pantry to figure out what my "chips" would be for these pseudo-nachos. I had lentils, quinoa, a box of tabouli mix, jasmine rice, brown rice, and couscous from which to choose. I figured that, since it is the Super Bowl, I could and would be bad, and went with the jasmine rice. I threw a half-cup of that in with a cup of water, brought it to a boil, rinsed it, and then put another cup of water in it to boil (this is a new trick I've started using to keep the rice from getting too sticky/mushy, which tends to be a problem with me and jasmine rice).

I remembered I had a bag of Morningstar Farms Chik'n Strips in the freezer, so I put some of those in the same pan I sauted my onion mix in and heated them through.

I piled about half the rice in the middle of my plate and put a generous slathering of bean mix on top, followed by a scoop of shredded cheese (yes, this wasn't vegan or low-cal), and then the "chicken." I took a few pics before shoveling it in my pie hole, and needless to say, it was delicious, though perhaps too garlicky. I know, I know, that seems impossible for me, but next time, I'll add a little less garlic and cook it a little longer. Also, I can't get enough spice, so I'd put a little more jalapeno and have salsa on hand. I accidentally left mine out on the counter the other night and was afraid I'd get dysentery or salmonella if I ate it, otherwise I would've. Guacamole would be good too, but I had my fill of avocado yesterday. All-in-all, it was a successful experiment. TOUCHDOWN! Fifteen yard penalty, SUCK IT!

Super Bowl Funday

Cooking for other people terrifies me. For Thanksgiving my parents came to visit me (the way to do it, by the way) and I cooked a bunch of snacky type of foods before they got here. I had stuffing balls, mini-sweetpotato and meat pies in phyllo dough, apple phyllo things, and cranberry bread. I decided to cook a whole bunch of food and do a round of testing before making the real stuff for my parents. And who better to be my taste testers than friends and coworkers. When it came down to it, I literally couldn't be in the room when my coworkers tried it and I couldn't even talk to them about it. My heart started racing, I was sweating, and I fled the room. So, the thought of cooking for other people always sounds fun in the beginning, but when the time comes I get really nervous and wonder why I signed up to do it in the first place.

I chose to make 2 tasty, healthy recipes, especially after the hostess mentioned that she's avoiding processed foods this month. I made Bobby Flay's lentil and split pea dip, pretty much following the dip recipe as written, but without actually measuring things. You can't have dip without something to dip with, so I dug out the package of whole wheat multi-grain tortillas with flax seeds, used a pizza cutter (how do I have one?) to cut them into triangles, sprayed them with olive oil fake Pam, and put them on a cookie sheet in a 400ish degree oven until toasty.

I also made Mini Crustless Tofu Quiches from a recipe on Susan V's FatFree Vegan Kitchen blog. I made these quiches once before but didn't have the majority of the ingredients. But they were so tasty I decided to try again. This time I made them with onions, garlic, green and yellow bell pepper, and spinach. I also added more dried rosemary than the recipe calls for. The first time I made them, I had a tiny bit of trouble getting them out of the pan, but this time I just dumped the muffin pan over and beat the bottoms of the cups- it worked flawlessly. Luckily I was busy messing with the lentil and split pea dip that I didn't hover over them and scarf them all down the minute they came out of the oven. I guess I forgot to mention that when I dumped the quiches out of the pan, one fell on the floor. Yeah, I picked it up and ate around the part that touched the ground. It was 10 times better than the first time I made them.

How'd they work out? No one mentioned much about the dip, but I wasn't feeling it anyway. The quiche reaction was mixed- some people had some texture problems. And I didn't eat that bad, probably because I was stuffed from my Cauliflower Faux Gratin from earlier. However, when I got home I got in a competitive eating contest...with myself.

Cauliflower Faux Gratin

The problem is that it's Super Bowl Sunday, which means two things. First, I'm going to eat like crap today. Second, all of my dishes are dirty because I spent the morning cooking (more on this in another post). So I decided to make some sort of vegetable based dish to make sure I have something good in me (though both the things I'm bringing are healthy, duh).

I looked around my fridge and had an old head of cauliflower, some spinach that desperately needed to be eaten, and some left over green onions from something I made this morning. Done.

I put the spinach in a dish and nuked it for 2.5 minutes until it wilted. Then I put 2 cups of soymilk in the the microwave (which I HATE using, but I had to because all of my pots and pans were in the dishwasher) and nuked it for about 3 minutes until it got pretty hot and barely started to boil. I took a small container of cold water (a couple of tablespoons?) and mixed in roughly a tablespoon of cornstarch. I didn't measure because my measuring spoons were all dirty and because I like to live dangerously. I added the milk to the spinach with some salt and pepper, a large squirt of mustard, two tablespoonsish of nutritional yeast, and the cornstarch mixture. I put it in the microwave for 3:33 (too lazy to push any other buttons, seriously) and stirred it every minute.

Meanwhile, I dismantled the cauliflower and put it in a large rectangular Pyrex baking dish and sprinkled the green onions on top. I then started to pick them out thinking that I'd put them on at the end instead. But that lasted about 2 seconds when I realized it wasn't worth the effort. So I poured the nuked cheesish mixture over the cauliflower/green onions. It wasn't liquidy enough so I just added a cup of soymilk and didn't even bother mixing it together. Popped it all in a 400 degree oven and waited patiently.

I guess it cooked for about 20 minutes and I took it out of the oven to stir it. I suggest using two oven mitts- don't try to be a badass and take it out with one hand. I came pretty close to dropping it. Because I didn't stir it initially, some of the cauliflower looked a little dry and unhappy. Next time I'll definitely stir it before putting it in the oven.

After another 20ish minutes I took it out to stir it again. The cauliflower started to get mushy but still needed more time. It was still soupier than I wanted and I debated adding some flour to thicken it up...guess I didn't need that extra cup of soymilk afterall. I put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so until the sauce thickened up.

And the end result? Not too bad! It clearly wasn't smothered in cheddar cheese, but the taste was far from unpleasant. Would I make it again? Yeah! Would I let someone else try it? I think I might. Jennilicious would definitely eat it, but then again we both pretty much eat anything. Next time I'd like to add some very finely chopped onion and garlic and some more spinach, but otherwise it seems like a go. It might be nice with some homemade bread crumbs or whole wheat couscous on top, too.

"The Vegetarian," or What I Ate for Lunch

I finally stopped in and had lunch at a deli here in San Antonio that I've been wanting to try for ages. I went by myself, which was a feat in and of itself.

The deli is in what looks like an old, two-story house. It had a very Austin-y, hippie vibe (think Spiderhouse or Little City), which was encouraging. I quickly glanced over the menu and "The Vegetarian" sandwich jumped out at me because it was so self-explanatory. It consisted of red onion (which I picked off, because, although I LOVE cooked onion, I really can't handle the raw stuff), mashed avocado, tomato, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard, and a generous amount of cream cheese all smashed between whole-wheat bread. On a whim, I chose potato salad as my side, which was surprisingly good. I'm very picky about my potato salad and tend to pick at it for a few minutes and then give up on it; I don't like it sweet, or with too much mayonnaise, or too many crunchy bits in it. I do like it with a generous amount of mustard and with some chopped egg, both of which this stuff had. So, score on that. I did find myself adding a few shakes of pepper to it, because I put it on just about everything and can't really eat potatoes without it. I also immediately scarfed down the requisite pickle on the side.

I decided to sit in a bit of an awkward spot, on a banquette with three little tables in front of it. For some reason, I had to sit in the middle, so I had to move the other two tables around, which of course made a ton of noise and made me feel even more self-conscious, like I was screaming, "Hey, everyone, I'm sitting all by myself over here! Look at me!"

I tried to do the whole "look like I'm reading something extremely important" with a book I had just picked up from a friend, but soon realized I couldn't pick up the sandwich, which was overflowing avocado, while holding said book, so I quickly gave up on that and just focused on eating. I was pretty stuffed about halfway through the second half of the sandwich, but I just took some of the cheese and bread off, and made sure to scoop up all of the avocado (because I love it so).

I kept getting whiffs of a slight patchouli scent, followed by a delicious, flowery scent, both of which were comforting, though I have no idea where they were coming from.

Also, the deli was only open until 4 p.m. and it was 3 when I walked in. The staff was nice and helpful, but I could tell they were dreading having any more customers, or maybe I was projecting how I would feel if I worked in customer service. The woman who took my order and brought me my sandwich (I don't want to say "waitress," because it was more of a serve-yourself place) proceeded to sweep the floor pretty much the whole time I was there, and I think she still was when I left. Another guy was emptying the trash in an oddly noisy way. I know they're just doing their job, and I would do the same if I worked there, but I get really anxious when I go to an establishment and the workers are obviously trying to get ready to close. I can't really enjoy the experience to its fullest extent.

Overall, though, it was a pleasant experience, and I can't wait to go back with a friend!

Jennilicious: She's delicious and nutritious!

Since Veganne has been so freakin' prolific as of late, I figured I had to at least post something! I guess I'll start with a little introduction.

I, too, come from a home where the term "portion" was considered whatever you could ingest without becoming violently ill, or even including that. I don't have many memories of not being fat, though there are pictures that prove I was once "normal-sized." One particular memory epitomizes my childhood eating habits. I was on vacation with my family in Florida (vacations in my family have always been centered around where we are going to eat next, not the sites to be seen). We went to a popular seafood restaurant and gorged ourselves. Because it was vacation, we "had" to get dessert, so, my dad and I ordered the brownie with vanilla ice cream, even though I was pretty much sickened by the mere thought of it. I can't remember if we finished all of it, but I'm sure we came close. Needless to say, by the time we got to the car, I had undone my pants and was groaning with pain and wanting to puke. Ironically (or fittingly), Duncan Sheik's "I Am Barely Breathing" came on the radio on the way back to the hotel. I don't think I ordered dessert after that for years. I still can't eat a brownie without thinking about that. Though this is an extreme version of my eating habits when I was young, it epitomizes my family's lack of food boundaries. I rarely ate only because I was hungry. I ate because it was comforting and, for the most part, was encouraged or wasn't really discouraged.

Once I got to college (in "crazy" Austin), a new food world opened up to me, though I was still addicted to my old eating habits, so I mostly just watched from afar as some people I knew shunned meat, dairy, fried foods, or what-have-you and ate what I thought were exotic fruits and vegetables because they didn't come from a can. I'd never seen things such as Thai food or sushi, except on TV or in magazines. I tried a bunch of different foods that I would've been scared of if I were still living at home. I've never been a picky eater, but I'd never been very adventerous unless someone else was there to hold my hand. I began drinking coffee, whereas before I'd mocked my mom for drinking "bean juice."

When I began living with roommates, my eating habits were once again controlled by what everyone else wanted to eat, or so I thought. I liked the convenience of us going to the store together and picking out food for the week(s) and preparing most of our meals together. The downside was that we always got the cheapest and easiest to prepare foods, mostly canned or boxed (PastaRoni, anyone?) and loaded with carbohydrates and fat. We also were guilty of enabling one another to eat unhealthily and foregoing any form of exercise. Our motto: If some cheese is good, more cheese is better!

When I moved across the world (or to Abilene), I began cooking for myself. I had a real job and real money for the first time and lived by myself for the first time ever. However, my odd schedule -- I worked nights and slept most of the day -- had detrimental effects on my social life and my eating habits. When I got off work, hardly anything was open, besides the bars and Wal-Mart, and the bars closed about an hour after I got off work. Most of my co-workers were years older than me and had families, so I didn't really do much besides work, sleep, and drive to see my now ex-boyfriend. I spent many nights wandering the aisles of Wally World searching for the thing that was going to fill me up emotionally and physically. I was trying to make better choices, i.e. less bread, more whole grains. I began experimenting with tofu and fish. But without someone else around to keep me in check, I was eating at weird hours and eating just about anything I could get my hands on because no one was watching me or judging me.

I've always had an underlying paranoia that people were watching me while I ate and thinking, "God, how can she do that to herself? Why doesn't she just quit eating for a while and see how that works out?" I've never really considered myself that bad of an eater, in that I don't really like food that is rich, sweet, or salty, and I'd take vegetables over just about any other food in the world. Most of my friends are baffled as to how I could've ever become overweight. I'm sure most of it stems from the fact that I pretty much disdain any form of physical exertion.

Over the past year, I've been re-examining my health and have come to the realization that I'm too young to be this damn old. My dad has high blood pressure and growing up around chemical plants surely has given me a predisposition toward cancers of all types. And after learning about Veganne's own experience with cancer, I've had a heightened awareness about it. I suffer from hypothyroidism, which most likely was one of the factors in my becoming overweight in the first place (though I know it's NOT an excuse). I have to take a pill for it every day for the rest of my life and have always felt rundown because of it. This is a bad foot to start off on when you know your health and happiness depends on being more physically active, but getting out of bed in the morning can literally be physically exhausting.

Veganne and I have always been excited for each other's eating adventures, so when she told me she was starting to incorporate vegan practices into her diet, I started researching more about foods and diets. I've experimented more, trying to choose organic over the regular. I've taken pride in the fact that every time I pulled out my lunch, my co-workers rolled their eyes and asked what weird food I had that day. I've also come to learn that many people just plain don't understand not eating meat (I used to be one of them). I've encountered ridicule for attempting to phase meat out of my diet from friends and family. I guess I just got used to the Austin-y, laissez-faire attitude about food, where just about anything and everything is accepted. Though I rarely go out to eat, it seems more of a hassle than a convenience because no one seems to get that "no meat" means just that. Most of the time, I just eat it anyway and feel guilty later because I don't want spit food. That's why I prepare most of my food, so I don't feel like I'm getting the third degree about everything. Also, I'm cheap and hate spending money on things like food. Furthermore, like Veganne, I don't care about making my food "pretty" or "appealing" and I'm sure most of it would be considered inedible by many. I don't care. I'll eat it anyway. Though I doubt I'll ever be able to call myself 100% vegetarian or low-fat or vegan, I know that I will continue to make better decisions with regards to food. And slowly, but surely, I will incorporate that she-beast called exercise into my life. After all, I'm worth it.

Polenta! Glorious Polenta!

Being from Southern influence*, I grew up eating and liking grits. Being a health-conscious eater, however, I know that grits are not a whole grain so they are of little value to me. Good thing I stumbled upon Yankee Grits, aka polenta. It's so easy to make and absolutely delicious. I eat it at least once a week (I believe today makes the 3rd time I've had it this week), usually before heading out to door to trivia because it's fast, filling, and fantastic. The best part about it is that you can do whatever you want to it and it's always yummy.

*While I grew up in Texas, I don't define it as "The South," especially having spent a great deal of time in Atlanta and going to graduate school in Auburn, Alabama. My southern influence is attributable more to the fact that my dad is from Alabama and my mom from Georgia. Texas is, well, Texas.

The basic recipe is simple:
1-2 cups boiliing water
.5 cup cold water
.5 cup cornmeal

My cornmeal is actually cornmeal mix that has a bit of wheat flour added to it. I like this much better than regular cornmeal, but go with what you've got.

When I first started making polenta, I always went with the 2 cups of boiling water and it was great. One day I was an idiot and only put it 1 or 1.5 cups of water...and created an even better version that I would probably lick off the floor. 2 cups make a nice polenta with a slightly liquidy consistency (can't think of something to compare it to at this moment). 1.5 cups makes a thick, creamy mixture that is heavenly.

To make polenta, while water is boiling, mix cold water and cornmeal together in a bowl to get all the lumps out. Add to boiling water and stir like crazy until it looks tasty, 5 minutes? I like to turn the heat down to medium low just before adding the cornmeal so it doesn't stick to the bottom at much. It makes a large serving that has just 200 calories. That's it.

My favorite polenta is made by adding some (2?) cut up canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and 2/3 cup corn. I adore chipotle peppers and put them in pretty much anything. Watch out, though, they pack a punch. So you've added an extra 120ish calories- about 320 total for a filling meal. Last time I made it, I added dried dill, a big squirt of regular mustard, and a small spoonful of Gray Poupon, which I would never have except a friend willed it to me when she moved away. It was quite tasty. I've also made it by mixing in some dried Italian herbs. It's also good with black beans, cumin, and chili powder. The possiblities are endless and I love mixing it up.

If you let it cool, the polenta congeals and becomes sliceable. From what I gather, it's pretty common to slice it up and fry it. I suck at pan-frying, so a few times I have put it on a sprayed baking sheet (I use Olive Oil nock-off Pam) and cooked it on 400ish until it gets crispy, 30 minutes? I'm not sure on the time because I always get impacient and take it out before it gets really nice and golden on the outside. It tends to spread out, too, which scares me and I'm pretty sure I'm not doing it right.

Today I got a little whacky and sauteed 3 cloved of garlic (if I could bathe in it I would) in about .5teaspoon of olive oil. When it was brown I added the water. While that was going, I put some seeds rescued from my butternut squash 2 days before on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Well, first I tossed them with .5teaspoon of olive oil and a little salt. Ok, I added a lot of salt, but that's ok, I learned a lesson (that I seem to keep learning). The seeds cooked on 250ish for 15ish minutes until they were nice and crunchy. Then I tried to remove all the excess salt and dumped them into my steaming bowl of garlic polenta. Delicious.

I tried taking a photo, but before the seeds were out of the oven, the camera batteries died and I couldn't find anymore.

My Philosophy on Life and the Most Important Part of It- FOOD!

While a long post, the following explains the inspiration behind my relatively new philosphy on life that is the foundation for everything I contribute to this blog.

Ten years ago I was a typical American teen- overweight, underactive, and addicted to all things trans-fat. With our culture's obsession with supersized products, there was no portion control in my house. Whatever packaging food came in was what I considered a single serving...an entire pizza, a whole bag of chips, two rows of cookies...We never drank water, only soda. And gallons of it each week at that. We had some vegetables, though not nearly enough, and they were often prepared with butter or cheese.

Two weeks after turning 15 I found out that the strange lump on the back of my neck was cancer. I spent about 210 of the next 420 days (14 months) in the hospital getting poisoned with chemicals so toxic that the nurses had to wear gloves when anywhere near the bags of liquids that would bring me to the brink of death to give me life. I was wheeled down to the dark, gloomy basement where I was then burned severely every single day for 6 weeks in a room where no one else was allowed in, or if they were, they were covered in special gear to protect them from the radiation that will eventually kill me. During my 3- to 6-day almost-weekly hospital stays (one week for chemo, the next week because I needed to revived from the poisions and burnings, then one week off to gain enough strength to start it all over again), I happily slurped up any milkshake I could get my hands on and scarfed down food from every takeout place within about 5 miles of the hospital. And then I spent quite a bit of time eating anything I could get my hands on from the McDonald's that sits right smack dab in the middle of the hospital. To this day I cannot handle the smell of McDonald's and I have to try my hardest to control the instant nausea from one small whiff.

After surviving the poision, the radiation, the life-threatening infections, the incompetent doctors, and the extreme isolation, I resumed my life as a typical American teen. Though I was underactive before treatment, I did enjoy sports, especially swimming. Cancer, however, brought that to an end. By the time I got to college, I couldn't control myself around the constant supply of food and beer and cut out most physical activity outside of walking the short distance to my classes. In fact, I believe Jennilicious and I would wait 10 minutes for a bus to pick us up and drive us up the big hill that we were too lazy to walk up. Luckily my metabolism kept up with me enough, but I was overweight and utterly unhealthy.

When I went to graduate school I became involved in a research project examining news coverage of obesity. I poured over hundreds of articles to code who was cited as responsible for the obesity epidemic and what solutions were offered. (The article will be published this year in the Journal of Health Communication!) As I read each article I learned more and more about how important it is to be aware and in control of the things you put in your body. I slowly changed my eating habits to include more fruits and chose more lean meat and sometimes added extra vegetables into my diet. Internally, I appluaded how healthy I was becoming and felt really good about my efforts. While it was a decent start, I would eat gigantic portions all day long. Eating a banana is great, but blending a banana, 2 cups of strawberries, 2 cups of 2% milk, and a large helping of powdered vanilla mix and drinking that in 2 minutes just before dinner is not great. And, at the time I was living with someone who strongly influenced the food we bought so I didn't have much control (or thought I didn't) over how I ate.

I finished grad school, broke up with the boyfriend, and moved away to a new city where I knew no one. Because I was on my own for the first time in my life, I decided I finally had control over myself and I wanted to make substantial changes in my life. The hundreds of articles taught me a lot about nutritition and I felt knowledgeable enough to move on from my psuedo-healthiness to an entirely new lifestyle that promoted physical, mental, and emotional health.

My cross-country move was for an amazing opportunity to work for the National Cancer Institute where I learned that the poison and radiation that "cured" me would almost certainly kill me in the long run. In the ultimate irony, my cancer treatment will give me cancer. I'll probably suffer from heart, lung, and thyroid problems. I might develop osteoperosis and have the bones of an 80 year old woman by the time I'm 30. My ovaries, if they are even functioning properly now, may stop working and I might hit menopause by the time I hit 30. It became increasingly clear that I needed to do everything I could to give myself the best quality of life possible.

It started with a carton of soymilk. I'd read some articles about milk that questioned its place in our diets. Don't get me wrong, I love cheese. Jennilicious and I enjoyed many a giant bowl of queso (though I'm not sure there's actually any cheese in it) and cream cheese and sour cream formed the basis of most of the sauces I used to pour of anything I could. But I decided I'd phase it out of my diet as much as possible. At my new job several of my coworkers were vegetarian. Before that point I thought vegetarians were freaks of nature, much like the general population believes. Something about seeing other people not eating meat made it so easy for me to cut that out, too. Which left me, basically, a vegan. It wasn't overnight, and I'm still not 100% vegan. I eat seafood maybe once a month and very occasionally I'll eat meat or dairy or things that include animal products. People become vegan for a variety of reasons- for me it was purely health. Which is why I'm ok with occasional "slip ups." However, the longer I am "almost vegan," the more that I recognize and embrace other reasons for being vegan.

In addition to changing what I ate, I changed how I ate. No more enormous portions and fewer meals out. Since I changed my lifestyle in July of 2005, I've lost and kept off 30 pounds, awoken from the dark depression I suffered with for years, and become a much better person inside and out. I am hyper-aware of (obsessed with?) what goes into my body and how I treat myself. I choose to count calories and I choose to expend them. I choose to walk the mile to the grocery store and back with my groceries in tow, and I choose to take the dog on long hikes through the woods as often as possible.

When you don't eat meat, dairy, or processed/packaged food, you basically have to start enjoying cooking or find someone else who does. Luckily I found that spending hours in the kitchen on a Saturday afternoon was quite enjoyable. So I went from opening a package and nuking it to creating elaborate, healthy, tasty meals with my own hands. Over the past year and a half I've learned a great deal about cooking since I personally prepare 95% of everything that I eat.

That being said, I'm incredibly unknowledgeable about how to cook. All I need is a spoon, just a regular spoon. I own a cheap knife set from Wal-mart (which I've also given up because the place is evil) and the knives can barely cut through peanut butter. Luckily I got some much better knives that someone I know had just sitting around, but I'd be content to continue using my dull knives. Until this past Christmas, I did not have a ladle or tongs of any type. I don't have spatulas or wooden spoons and I didn't even have oven mitts until Christmas either. My pots and pans are hand-me-downs from my parents and are older than I am. There are no Pyrex measuring cups in my aresnal, only two sets of cheap plastic ones that seem to measure just fine. Expect cupcakes from me, but no cakes since I don't have any cake pans. I do have a waffle iron, though...it was a gift.

By nature I'm not one for following rules just because someone made them. Which poses a problem with recipes. I get inspired by any number of recipes and use them to create my own concoction. Lucky for me I don't have a particularly discerning palate because I'm pretty sure other people might be horrified at some of the things I make. I'm sometimes horrified. But I'll eat it anyway. I can only think of 2 things in the past year that I've made and thrown out. And 80% of the rest of it is really good and the rest is still pretty tasty.

So, this incredibly long post is my way of saying that my philosophy on life is to be healthy, be creative, and be daring. But don't be pretentious.

Why Blog?

jennilicious: i'm making lentil/split pea soup
veganne: I had some lentils today...I'm making bean burgers
jennilicious: damn you
veganne: can you make me dinner, I'm so f*ing tired
jennilicious: haha, only if you stir my lentils
jennilicious: ooh, that sounds kinky
jennilicious: we should start a recipe club or something
jennilicious: kinda like jennifer shmoo's web site
veganne: let's do it!
veganne: how do we start
jennilicious: don't know...a blog?
jennilicious: i should come up with some ideas b/c i am the one with free time nowadays
jennilicious: but i think the blog thing would be interesting
jennilicious: we can do pics, recipes, etc
jennilicious: ratings
jennilicious: i wish i knew some more folks around here who liked to cook or who even like the same stuff i do
jennilicious: well, my friend diana is pretty much up for trying anything like me
jennilicious: but she doesn't cook
veganne: we need to do something that's slightly different from all the others
veganne: a slant
veganne: the thrifty veggie
veganne: or the Not So Chef
veganne: "we aren't gourmet, we are cheap, we try to be vegetarian/vegan"
veganne: "I'll probably eat it anyway but it's bonus if it tastes good and looks pretty"
veganne: THE PHILOSOPHER'S SCONE
veganne: filled with our cooking philosophies
veganne: giant whiff of chipotle
veganne: oh my god
veganne: I can't breathe
jennilicious: hahaha
jennilicious: the philosopher's scone
jennilicious: inspired by van morrison
jennilicious: and our retarded cooking
jennilicious: or "cooking"
veganne: yeah
veganne: let's do it lady
veganne: how do you get a blog
jennilicious: um, blogger.com?
jennilicious: haha
veganne: haha
veganne: we can't get stuck on the first step
jennilicious: i want to try these: http://www.gnufoods.com/ourproducts/
veganne: ok I hate pan frying things, so I need advice
veganne: I'm about to pan fry my bean burgers
veganne: I'm just going to spray the pan and the bottoms of the burgers
veganne: should I let them sit in the pan and try my hardest not to touch them?
veganne: is that the best strategy?
jennilicious: probably
veganne: strange, my kitchen is filled with smpoke
jennilicious: uhhh
veganne: let's open those windows right up
jennilicious: did it clear out?
veganne: I have our first blog
veganne: "In the course of me trying to cook one meal, I managed to:
veganne: overcook and oversalt my snowpeas
veganne: take a giagantic whiff of chipotle peppers, which made my lungs burn uncontrollably and made me want to pass out
veganne: burn my toast in the broiler (I have no toaster)
veganne: drop a piece of toast in the dog's water bowl as I struggled to removed the burned toast from the oven with my bare hand"
jennilicious: awesome
jennilicious: i managed to eat a slice of toast w/ cream cheese and a veggie patty while waiting for my soup to cook
veganne: oh and fill the apartment with smoke
jennilicious: i'll probably just eat a little bit of it and freeze the rest
veganne: I'm bad about eating other stuff while I'm cooking
jennilicious: me too
jennilicious: now i just want coffee and cookies
veganne: I love coffee
veganne: but I can't drink it
veganne: I had 3 sips of some majorly watered down coffee today
veganne: and was shaking
jennilicious: haha
veganne: you should buy 8th continent lite vanilla soy milk- best latte ever
veganne: it's unfuckingbelieveable
jennilicious: i am still undecided on drinking soy
veganne: I love it...but it depends on the type you get
jennilicious: yeah
veganne: I am ok drinking a glass of it, but it takes a little getting used it...it looks like milk but doesn't taste like it
jennilicious: yeah, i think that's my main thing
jennilicious: though i have no problem with soy stuff that is supposed to imitate meat
jennilicious: i never drink a glass of milk anyway, so i'm sure if i just started using it, i wouldn't even think about it
veganne: buy the 8th continent lite vanilla soy milk and try it in some coffee
veganne: it's heavenly
veganne: how about blogspot for our blog?
veganne: blogger.com