Veg To Veg

My new blog venture

2012-01-14T03:00:00.000-06:00

Friends of Veg to Veg. I wanted to let you all know that I have started up a new blog.
It is called Mes Joies de Vivre.
In other words my little joys of life.
The blog will mostly be a hodge podge of love.
Beauty, Fashion, Running, Cooking...
You name it and I'll be posting about it.

I like the idea of this small joys blog because it allows me to broaden out to other pleasures in my life aside from cooking. I don't like when my cooking blogs post a billion photos of their cats or talk about school. Well at my new blog I can post a beautiful picture I took that morning or let you all know I got a 104% on a paper. You get the drill.

Take a look and I hope to see you at http://mesjoiesdevivre.blogspot.com/.

Hiatus

2010-09-08T20:45:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I have just started graduate school, and think it is best to put this blog on hold. Well as it has been all summer. It seems to get harder and harder to update. But I appreciate all the people that read and commented on my blog the past few years. It has definitely helped me push my way into the vegan world.

I am so excited about my new adventures in Washington, DC with all the veg friendly restaurants, so every so often I will just HAVE to tell somebody about the great food I am eating. Once I get a hang of things here, I may just update every so often. So I hope you all keep me on your readers so that you'll get the update.

For now, peace!

Primal Strips - Winner!

2010-05-12T06:37:00.000-05:00

Quickly, I wanted to announce the winner of the Primal Strips Giveaway.

#5 is HeyItsBeth

Please email me your contact information at (shadowsarah at gmail) so I can mail out your delicious strips!

Primal Strips - GIVEAWAY!

2010-04-24T16:57:00.000-05:00

Quite awhile ago I was approached by Primal Strips to give their product a go. Primal Strips are a vegan, meat-free jerky made from soy, seitan, and shitake mushroom. Primal Strips all have around 100 calories packed with protein (~10g each) and little fat (97% fat-free). They also do not contain any artificial coloring, no MSG, no preservatives, and are kosher! I have seen these in Whole Foods before, but I normally don't go for vegan jerky. I find that they are all so high in sodium and lack a chewy, pliable texture. But Primal Strips have only 300mg of sodium and have an amazing rich texture that is what you should expect from a jerky.

The 6 flavors:
-Thai Peanut: [Seitan] This was one of my favorites. A very peanut filled taste. Not fake peanut taste, but a true natural, peanut taste. The peanut is paired with basil and spices that make it a great treat in your mouth. Although, it was a tad messier to eat than the others.
-Mesquite Lime: [Seitan] A sweet, light flavor with a little added chili and dill for a nice umph. I flavor left in my mouth was such a nice tang and not over powering.
-Texas BBQ: [Soy - Gluten-free] Sweet and tangy bbq sauce taste, richly spiced. I really enjoyed this flavor and it really was true to a bbq style jerky.
-Teriyaki: [Seitan] A nice asian-infused flavor with soy sauce. It tasted like you were eating a piece of meat flavored with teriyaki sauce. It was delicious
-Hickory Smoked [Soy - Gluten-free] Tasting pretty similar to the texas bbq flavor it did have a nice added smoke that brought it to the next level.
-Hot & Spicy [Shitake Mushrooms] It was hot and spicy. It was mellowed out with seaweed extract and licorice root. I personally did not like this flavor, not because of the heat, but more so because of the seaweed and the texture was a bit different than the others as it was made with my "favorite" food ever, mushrooms. It was less saucy though, so it was easier to eat.

I tended to eat Primal Strips between back-to-back classes that cut into lunch hours. I was completely satisfied after eating just one strip and felt refreshed to tackle more lecture and notes. My only issue with the Strips were that the packaging was a bit harder to open and sometimes eating them could be messy with the sauce getting all over my fingers. If the company started using the tear back one side of the packaging style that many meat jerky's have, I would be buying these babies left and right for my on-the-go needs.

Delicious flavors, cheap price, high protein, low fat. There is nothing better.

GIVEAWAY: Giving away a set of the 6 flavors to one lucky reader.

Post what on-the-go location you would eat your Primal Strips

by Friday May 7th 12pm (noon, CST time)

Enter more than once by posting a link to this post on your twitter, tumblr, facebook, etc. Just post a second entry with the link to the location. (no limit to extra entries, only one link per media)

I will pick a winner by a random number generator and post the winner that same weekend.
Good Luck!

Apples to Apples

2010-04-24T16:05:00.000-05:00

Other than Apples to Apples being the best game ever to play with friends, apples in general are pretty sweet. Apples have always been one of my favorite fruits, but I am highly picky with them. A little mushy, a little grainy, not gonna do it for me. Buying apples becomes an absolute pain that I end up not enjoying them. My favorite apples are Gala and Jazz apples both from New Zealand, they are crisp and dense with a sweet juicy flavor.

Whenever the apples dont live up to my standards of eating fresh I tend to want to make some sort of desert with them instead of just throwing them out. So I decided to make apple pancakes. Using Isa's pancake recipe from VwaV I just added cinnamon and slices of apples. A perfect treat for a lazy weekend day. I normally only ever think of putting berries or sweet bits in my pancakes. These were a refreshing change.

The second apple dish I made was Apple Pie Coffee Cake by VeganYumYum. Although, the apples used were not fresh, and instead were from a can of apple pie mix. This was the first time I've ever bought apple pie mix, but it seemed worth it if it meant no messy attempt to core, peel, cut, and making a syrupy mixture. The cake was made of just flour, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. It was a very sweet and easy dough to mold. The bottom of the cake was covered in the apple pie mix and then pieces of dough were placed on top of the mixture with a cinnamon sugar mixture topping the delicious cake. It baked for 90 minutes and made my entire house smell of sinister goodness. I really enjoyed this cake. Little clean up, a nice sweet flavor, and a thick cakey dough. I could see making this for my family if I needed to make a coffee cake. Simple is the way to go in the morning

Curried Potato Salad & African Peanut Soup

2010-02-16T00:50:00.001-06:00

I am alive! Sorry for being missing for a few months, over break I rarely used my laptop as my ups fan (i think it is called) was dying again... So every time I had my computer on it sounded like something was dying or a giant vibrator, whichever you'd prefer. But! I ended up deciding to get an iMac. I was tired of the troubles I had on Windows and Windows 7 did not live up to my expectations. So far I am happy with my mac and just have to twerk with all the cool applications to find ways to do things I prefer (ex. renamer, sizeup) and learning the new keyboard shortcuts. There is a few things I dont like about my computer, such as how the usb and jacks are in the back (I can never find them and then i feel like im scratching the metal while trying to blindly get them correctly), the magic mouse's batter life is terrible, and i wish they computer came with the full-size keyboard. Just little things.

I am proud to say that I am in my last semester of undergraduate and being a part-time student (over-load of credits from summer school/study abroad) I am enjoying myself and able to relax a bit. Just today I mailed my last application for graduate school. It is such a relief that it is over and I am now only able to wait. I have heard back from one school, the department has congratulated me, but I guess the UC schools do it backwards and I still have to get accepted into the UC system. But I don't see why I wouldn't. If I dont get it, I will be really disappointed and upset that the department chose to email me before it was final. But my next move is to visit the schools I get into, meet with professors, students, and get a feel for the place. Though, in the end, money will be the deciding factor. The cheapest school w/cheapest living will most likely get my bid. But I sort of think I would love living in California in the Sacramento area and being so close to vegan heaven, San Francisco.
Enough of me. I just figured I owed you all a little update, I feel like Im so disconnected with the blogsphere.

Hot dogs were one of two 'meats' that I ate when I was an omni and I requested them often. Hot dog day at school was my favorite of all the 'day' lunches and mom's Pillsbury wrapped dogs with cheese are still a favorite meal of mine. I decided to pair hot dogs (topped with french fried onions and ketchup) with a potato salad, seemed like they always pair nicely. I decided to go non-traditional and try Vegan Dad's Curried Potato Salad. The recipe called for onions, garlic, frozen peas, and of course potatoes (i added celery). Using a little oil, curry powder, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon is what made them pop. I really enjoyed the recipe. I had a bit of an issue with getting the spices to spread evenly in the dish, so every so often a bite would be a bit too much. The flavors came together to really make this a special potato salad. I think it would be perfect for a summer bbq or vegan potluck. And it paired perfectly with my delicious hot dogs. Also, just for anybody curious, I have found two brands of buns that are vegan (so far). The first is Ener-G Tapioca Buns , I am not a fan at all. They are gluten-free and extremely plain, tacky mouth feeling, which is one reason why I dislike most breads. The other brand is Natural Ovens Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns (which were used in this meal). I am not 100% happy with them, but my favorite type of bun is sesame, soft and chewy and rip apart fresh. I will live with them, but I can't even find them at the company's website, so who knows if they still make them...

As always I love my soups. I saw Show Me Vegan's recipe for African Peanut Soup w/Red Beans and became very intrigued. I have never heard of putting nuts in soup, so i had to make it. It called for onions, diced tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, ginger, red beans, kale, and a little peanut butter. The peanuts surprisingly went in right after you sauted the garlic and onions. For some reason I figured they'd be last minute softening in the broth. They really had great flavor having been sauted with cayenne pepper and the onion/garlic mixture. The soup was a fresh flavor in my mouth and really wowed me, especially since the broth was heightened with creamy peanut butter. I enjoyed the little bit of crunch that was still present from the peanuts and the soft, sweet flavor from the tomatoes. This soup has been added to my gigantic collection of favorite soups.

Tofu Done Two Ways

2009-11-04T23:10:00.000-06:00

With every pack of tofu, there is about 4 dinner meals, so I will normally make two different recipes. With this container of tofu I made two Vegan Dad recipes.

The first was Malaysian Sweet and Sour Tofu. This recipe wasn't even what was on my list, I originally had a different Vegan Dad recipe, but for some reason did not feel like making it and instead felt like a saucy tofu-y meal. So I decided on the Malaysian style. The photo is really crappy, as this is a recipe I made when I still thought my camera charger was lost. I battered my tofu with corn starch and a little flour and the sauce was mainly made up of soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, and sugar. I was a bit hesitant to the amount of vinegar that he used, so I instead used more soy sauce and added a bit of hoison. My sauce wasn't as deep and rich colored as his picture implied, but damn it was delicious. Really nice tofu dish that prepped and cooked fast.

The second tofu dish was his Thai Tamarind Chili Tofu with Cashews. With such a stellar picture, I was well excited to make the dish. The grocery store that I went to has absolutely no good produce, ever (as why I never go there). But this grocery trip, I was offered a ride, so I took my chance. So where the recipe called for both shallots and green onion, they had neither. I made due and used sweet onion instead. Vegan Dad instead of the normal battered tofu called for golden baked tofu and have to say, as with the sesame-crusted tofu, I am so impressed with the texture of tofu that is baked. The tofu has time to evaporate water while baking, so it is a lot chewier than if it was fried. It is my new method of tofu prep and Im sticking to it. So good.
As always, I never have all the ingredients of the sauces, so I used brown sugar, sriracha, vegetable stock, and soy sauce for my sauce. Added to the already mentioned tofu and onions was red pepper and cashews. So simple and yet it packed a punch in the taste department. The sweetness from my onions and the brown sugar played delectably off the nutty cashew taste and the little bite of heat from the sriracha sauce. mhmm.

Whoever says tofu is a one trick pony or gave up after their first experience with it really needs to get back on the train. Tofu is so delicious!

best salad ever...

2009-11-03T22:57:00.001-06:00

So a few years ago I took a picture of seriously the best salad I had ever made at the time. The salad, pictured here was laden in cheese, egg, cream and milk based dressing, and processed croutons. And actually had no vegetables, hrm.

However delicious it does look, it is so no good. Instead, I have updated my view of the best salad ever (well that I have made) to this...

delicious in all of its enormity. Chikn strips, radishes, black beans, pieces of apple, carrot, and more.

I dont know if this shows how becoming vegan has made my view on eating much healthier and much more varied. The amount of color on the salad, the addition of spinach and beans adding such nutrition. It just reminded me that even though I still drink my diet pepsi like a mad woman, becoming vegan has made me be so much better to my body.

that's all. have a great day :)

White Bean Pasta & Quinoa Veggie Soup

2009-11-02T22:20:00.004-06:00

Well it is November, and I umm did not make the Vegan Mofo goal of 20 posts. I knew I wouldnt, October is midterms and such, but it is still fun participating and getting to know new bloggers and see new faces on the blog.

The end of the month turned out to be great. I made sure not to participate in Halloween this year. Until I am away from the college environment, I do not want to take part in the holiday. I hate the overly sexy, drunk mindset that most college students see as Halloween. I was telling friends on twitter that my idea of Halloween is the trick-or-treaters running up to my door, the crisp air, the warmth of my house from my mom making chili all day, and the voices of the black and white horror shows and movies that my dad would be watching. It was such a great experience. Memories that obviously will carry with me my entire life. So instead of dressing up and getting drunk I went apple picking with a friend. It had rained pretty hard the days before, so the farm was really muddy and of course a greedy goat somehow skidded mud all over my pants The farm was going to charge us 40 dollars for the apples and wouldnt let us get smaller sized bags, so we just walked around the farm. But being with a good friend and laughing a storm was enough of an adventure. We ended up going to the outlet stores and even going to the neighboring state for dinner. So much fun.

I am kind of in shock of where the year went. We have two more months left until 2010. The year that I have been waiting for since my high school graduation in 06. I will be graduating from university. It is pretty insane, but it looks like I will most likely still be in school and my applications for grad school are still a work in progress.

For the past 3 weeks I have pretty much had 5 fresh things on my shelves. Was out of bread, bagels, juice, all fruit, and almost every frozen meal I could possibly make. In other words, my meals came from Subway, Qdoba, and mixture of horrible junk food. I am so excited to have gone shopping this past weekend and finally have some fresh produce and more of my beloved Amy's frozen goods.

The first thing I made after I got my stash was actually a meal that I already had all the ingredients for. I figured I still had a little bunch of kale left, so I would make the recipe that had called for kale. And it was Joshua Katcher's White Bean Pasta with Garlicky White Wine Sauce. Simple pasta dish that consisted of red onions, garlic, white beans, kale, white wine (i used veg broth), a little nooch, and a little spice. Just had to brown the onions and garlic, add the beans, nooch, and spices, pour in the broth and kale and allow to simmer. Not much work at all, and the sauce was ready by the time the pasta was perfectly al dente. It was so effing delicious, I even licked my work spoon off before putting it in the sink. It was a perfect meal after a great relaxing day and again today when I had such a long day, plus still extras for lunch tomorrow (and I swear I made a half recipe). I will definitely be making this again, and think I might even make it for my family next time I go home.

Another meal that I ate for days and days without thinking of it as leftovers was Jenn Blumberg's Quinoa Veggie Soup. I made the full recipe of this soup, since I can easily have soup for lunch and dinner for days and days on end. How many times do I even have to tell you guys that I am madly in love with soup? All of Jenn's recipes are brilliantly organized and with amazing instructions for new cooks or cooks experimenting with new vegetables. This recipe had detailed instructions how to prepare a leek (which was really helpful to me) and showed how to cut kale correctly. The soup consisted of the leek, kale, carrots, celery, onion, okra, corn, and quinoa all in a delicious 'chikn' broth. I actually had the fake chikn broth from my whole foods adventure, and it really made it taste like a soup my mom would make for me when I was sick. So many flavors and textures, with just the right amount of starch from the quinoa. I fell in love with this soup every single time I ate it. And I of course added mounds of sriarcha sauce to my broth to make it nice and spicy. Was highly satisfied and this recipe as well has been added to my soup rounds.

Photo Wrap Up

2009-10-16T20:57:00.002-05:00

Because I still have photos and recipes from last year on my computer that have yet to be blogged, I decided today would be little words and a whole lot of pictures. Not all of the photos are very good, so bear with me. I just had to get this off my chest/to do list.

Baby Corn with Peppers in Sweet Teriyake sauce from Happy Herbivore

Hot Sauce-glazed tempeh and Messy Rice both from Veganomicon

Tofu and Broccoli in Spicy Peanut Sauce from happyveganface

Peanut Ginger Noodles (i think) from The Picky Vegan

Potato Latkes from The Vegan Table

I think I can sleep easy tonight. Have a good weekend everyone!

Udon Noodles with Sesame Tofu & Pumpkin Muffins

2009-10-16T00:27:00.000-05:00

First off, I wanted to tell you all my lack of ability of finding the "&" key. Believe me I know it is located at the number 7, but for some reason my poor little fingers sit idle looking for the key, which forces me to look down at the keyboard. Mrs Greene, I am sorry I failed you, I was your best student in both Introductory Keyboarding classes, and yes people I did get As without even trying. booyah. I took Keyboarding class as my freshmen elective of high school. I loved it, Mrs Greene had a deep voice with a southern drawl mixed with discontent. I would spend about 40 of the 50 min class online playing games (before myspace's time!). Anyways, thought I'd share that with you guys. But I am a good typer, speedy (120wpm, just took the test!), accurate, and all that jazz (hint, ill be looking for a job in a few months!). Way off track here, thank you number 7.

This sunday I decided to actually cook. I'm becoming lazier and lazier, but I am so stressed and strapped for time that most of the time I look to my freezer, pasta, or take-out. I had been drooling over Vegan Dad's recipe Udon Noodles with Sesame Tofu. I had great luck finding udon noodles in the store, but I was confused since the package said Wheat pasta and Gluten-free on the front label...hrm. But I don't worry about gluten, so it didn't worry me. They were also flat and not cool rounds ones like I have always had, but that was okay. I'm just being extremely harsh on these noodles. Like always, I love vegan dad for his simple recipes, easy to follow instructions, and the constant feed back he gives to our questions. Obviously the sesame tofu was the main feature of this dish. The tofu was to be fried, but I am trying to stay away from frying anything, so I drudged my tofu with a little soy sauce and the sesame seeds, it worked to get the tofu and sesame to bind, then just heated my oven to 400degrees and had the tofu in for 20 mins. While my tofu baked I prepared my noodles and veggies (orange and red peppers, carrots, and green onions). The sauce was nothing other than soy sauce, hoison, and rice vinegar. But since I cannot find rice vinegar no matter how many times I ask confused looking grocery workers I used a smidge of white vinegar and added a bit extra hoison. The recipe was so satisfying, barely any work to be done for such a delicious meal. I had plenty of leftovers for the next day and enjoyed it just as much.

Since, I had so much extra time while making my dinner I decided to finally make the VegNews Newsletter's Perfect Pumpkin Muffins. Unlike Caroyln who posted the recipe, I didn't have too great a success with the muffins. I have a feeling I just do not like putting tofu in any of my deserts. I have had no luck with them. I think it also has to do with my hatred of putting baked goods in the fridge. The tofu then spoils quickly and ruins your baked good. I mean, they were good and all, and I enjoyed the flavors, but next time I would just use apple sauce or something other than tofu. They were quite rich in the sugar and oil department, so definitely a treat that shouldn't be indulged. I think I have to throw away the 5-6 that I have left as they are starting to smell weird. They look good, taste good, but being in microbiology makes me wary of everything i touch, look at at, sit on, and especially eat.

And to finish this post off. HAPPY DIWALI!
I hope everyone has a great celebration. I really wish I got to spend more time in India and be there for Diwali, just means i will have to go back. I know you have all seen this picture in another post, but it is a picture of Ram and Sita at the temple my host mom went to every day.

Veggie Biscuit Pot Pie and Veggie Curry Pockets

2009-10-14T10:39:00.003-05:00

What is better than vegetables and bread? Vegetables in creamy sauces surrounded by bread. Both of these recipes did just that.

Joni from just the food. had a very enticing recipe in photo and in flavors which she called Vegetable Curry Pockets, very appropriate. These pockets were simple to make as she wasn't making her own dough, but using frozen puff pastry dough, that sounds good with me. So while my puff pastry was defrosting I went ahead and made the filling. The filling, which I failed to get a good picture of is filled with carrots, broccoli, and peas that are laced within a curry cream sauce (margarine, soy milk, and veg broth). It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I had issues filling my pockets, and it got a little messy. But mess doesnt stop taste, so no problem there. I also ended up having a ton of extra filling, but again, no problem. Why throw it out, when it can fill pita pockets or be topped on rice, etc.

The pockets were amazing. Pipping out hot with such a creamy delicious insides. I've said creamy a billion times already, so you get my point. The flavor was perfect, subtle spice from the curry and sweet from the butter. In other words, I will definitely make this recipe again. And highly recommend it.

Lindsay at Happy Hervivore had my second recipe of creamy and breaded goodness. Her version, a deconstructed pot pie entitled Veggie Biscuit Pot Pie. Now, Lindsay went all out and made her own biscuits. We all know, I need simple and quick to be able to survive. I bought the vegan Pillsbury dinner rolls and baked them while making the filling. The recipe, somewhat similar to the filling of the first was mostly made creamy by vegetable broth, soy milk, and corn starch. Then I had frozen peas, corn, cauliflower, and broccoli with my favorite all-season spice, Season-All. Took less than 15 minutes for this meal to be ready. With no prep and only one pot and one baking sheet, this could easily count as a simple meal that warms me up just thinking about it. Creamy sweetness is exactly what I want to taste when I need a fast break from the world. This recipe will definitely be added to my normal line-up.

Simple Meals

2009-10-13T10:32:00.004-05:00

Some days it feels great to know your meal will be ready from start to finish in less than 10 minutes. With barely any dishes and barely any prep, what else could be better. Every Monday I am in school from 9am to 8:30pm with few breaks in between. It sucks...
So, I have an hour and a half I have to get dinner in my stomach and be ready for my last class of the day.

Some days I will just eat a frozen meal from Amy's Kitchen, others I will run to Qdoba, and like yesterday I found a quick meal in my fridge that would also satisfy me beyond any belief.

The past weekend I had gone to a farmer's market and Whole Foods. I had gone with expecting to buy only a few items, and left with two full bags and 100 dollars out. Yes, 100 dollars. There is a reason I dont go to Whole Foods too often, I feel like a kid in a candy store.

At the Farmer's market, I bought the best looking sweet corn, which I couldn't let it sit in my fridge for much longer, so the corn is what I designed my meal around. I had also gotten gardein's bbq pulled pork. They are new mock meats that are so high in protein and fiber that it is almost unbelievable. I paired my 'pork' with spinach and cream cheese on toast. Now, this meal had more salt and 'butter' products than I am used to, so I had to have a salad to go along with it.

I don't know why, but I highly enjoyed this meal and savoured every bite. It was everything I could have asked for on a stressful day. And with only one pot and my plate to clean up, it made my life a whole lot easier.

Satisfying and quick, what are your favorite simple meals?

Broccoli Risotto

2009-10-11T10:26:00.000-05:00

Last week I realized that I had a package of Arborio rice in my cupbard for almost an entire year without being opened. I decided to open it and then two days later I finally gave in to making some risotto. My reason for not making it? I am lazy and thought it would be too much work and stirring. What gives!? Man, is that a wake up call. I need to get back into the kitchen and make sure that I dont get that lazy again with food.

I looked through my barren fridge and saw that I had zucchini and broccoli left. I decided on the broccoli (if you didn't figure that out from the title...). I sort am on an off mode with zucchini, i love it then i avoid it, weird. I typed into good ol google "broccoli risotto" and used the first recipe I found which came from cooks.com. I've only ever watched my mom make risotto, so I really had no idea what it entailed...

It was the simplest thing ever. My hand never got tired and it was sort of fun. I got so excited when I had finally mixed all of the veg stock with my rice. A pretty good pay off when I had waited so long to use the rice.

I pledge that I, Sarah, will not wait a year until I next make risotto.

Hotch-A-Do

2009-10-11T01:05:00.003-05:00

What better way to spend a saturday morning than with like-minded individuals.

This morning my campuses environmental organization (well 10 of us) headed over to a Milwaukee breakfast hot spot called Hotch-A-Do. It is right next to one of the biggest/most known veg friendly restaurants in the city, so I really never noticed it. But it was sure not to be missed. Although the menu really only had a few vegan friendly items, one of the first items on the menu is their vegan burrito. As described by their website menu: "Generous portions of tofu, green peppers, onions, morning spuds, vege chili, all wrapped in a grilled flour tortilla Includes a side of our homemade salsa and topped with fresh avocado." Does that description not get you all? I had it mind even before we got to the restaurant. So when the menu arrived, I had no reason to even look at it.

There was a run/walk for the local children's hospital, which meant streets around our school were all closed, couldnt cross the street, and members of our group ran it, so well by the time the race was over we were all starving. This meant my appetite was HUGE! I was so ready for my burrito to arrive. But in the mean time I got to engulf some delicious and fragrant Rishi Peach White Tea. We all got to know each other better as 6 of the members were new this year. I still remember everybody's name!!

Our food finally came. Three of us got burritos (although, mine was the only vegan) and the rest got eggs or pancakes/french toast. It so happened that all that ordered the burritos were sitting next to each other. Pretty much all were drooling over how good they looked, we sure didn't eat our words or spit. It was the best breakfast burrito I have ever had. Ever. It was perfectly seasoned, perfect amount of tofu, perfect amount of their amazing chili, and fresh avocado can never be beat.

We all were so full after brunch. It was so great getting together with a group from campus. It looks like this will be a recurring event in the club, so can't wait til the next food event. Mhmm food.

Afterwards I headed to Whole Foods to get my hands on the vegan candy bars that I keep hearing about from Go Max Go Foods. They are designed to mimic famous candy bars (Three Musketeers, Snickers, Milky Way, and Almond Joy). I ended up not finding them, fail. But I ended up finding a bit over 100 dollars worth of other goodies. I know, don't judge. It had been 4 months since I went on a proper visit, I got a little carried away. I left with natural acne solution kit, vegan potstickers, 30 Clif Bars (89 cents!!!), Teese moz cheese, and other delicious vegan specialties that I never eat.

Lunchbox time

2009-10-02T20:14:00.002-05:00

So one of my favorite days of the week is when I get to pack my cute little Laptop Lunches lunchbox. The company even has a new version, 2.0. It allows to switch up the size containers within the bento box, as their are no longer any more ridges on the bottom of the container. Great idea, as now there is a large sandwich container, and lids for all of the container sizes. So far this semester, I only get to use it once a week, but now that I am an intern at the crime laboratory, I will get to use it as well on Thursdays and Fridays. I definitely will be able to make new friends with my cool lunch box.

pb&j, carrots w/ hummus, apple, oreos

pb&j, curried potato salad, celery w/ peanut butter, vegan fruit snacks (costco!), and a fortune cookie
my fortune was: 'Teaching means learning twice'
i was satisfied.

Buddha Bowl and Channa Saag

2009-10-01T20:11:00.000-05:00

It is October...How the hell did that happen? I cannot believe that I have already been in school for a month and that I am only a few weeks from the middle of the semester. I am excited that it is already half over, but this also means that my applications for graduate school are needing to be completed. But no fretting, I have it all under control. Well, maybe not the paper I am supposed to have finished by Saturday night (did I mention it is a minimum of 12 pages!).

This week I have spent most of my meals hitting up Subway and Qdoba and my freezer. I am close to being completely out of all food, so I have a long, long list of groceries to get this weekend. But I love grocery shopping, so it will be fun to take a break from Amy's frozen dinners and Boca chicken nuggets.

This first meal comes from one of my favorite bloggers jessy, or happyveganface. Her recipe sweet 'n spicy adzuki buddha bowls. Now, I still have yet to find adzuki beans in any of the stores near my house. Ill have to try a middle eastern store next time, as they tend to have beans that I've never heard of. So I switched up the recipe slightly to fit my needs with kidney beans instead of adzuki. But the bowl was full of fresh veggies, cashews, and the most delicious, simple, and light sauce. The sauce was mostly just agave, soy, sriracha, ginger, and a little vinegar. I was so highly impressed with all the flavors, I dont know why but the sauce hit the spot in so many ways. And it has every time I've made it. I also have made the meal for my family and they loved the freshness to the recipe too. Filling, fresh, and light. I dont even know what else to say, but yum.

Now that I am missing Indian food so dearly, I keep wanting to make every Indian recipe I see. So I decided to made Vegan Dad's Channa Saag recipe. Spinach has somehow become one of my favorite vegetables (my mom would be proud) and I always adore chickpeas. A simple, quick recipe perfect for a weekday. It was sweet from the wilted spinach, tomatoes, and onions, and nice and spicy from the garam masala and chili powder. I enjoyed every bite.

So obviously, my writing skills and food loving adjectives are quite low at the moment. I am hoping it is being stored in a reservoir for my Buddhism/Feminism paper. I want to get at least half of it done today, but that looks dismal. And the final countdown begins.

Happy October, happy mofo-ing!

VEGAN MOFO, Numba 3

2009-09-29T11:34:00.003-05:00

Well guys and dolls, it is that time of year again.

The time of year that we are thankful to make food without sweating our heads off in a steaming kitchen, the time of year that we get to complain of the cold and eat warm soup, and the time of the year that we are posting our heads off in the love of veganism, food, and friends. Welcome to Vegan Mofo v. 3

This is my second year of Vegan mofo, but this year I am going to make a really great attempt to post everyday of October. We shall see.

Soup makes the world go round

2009-08-31T01:56:00.002-05:00

So soup is sort of one of my favorite foods of all time. Some people don't get it, but they are missing out. Soup is not just a one-trick pony. You can have a light, summery soup, or a thick, hearty chowder, or a sweet tomato based soup, hell you can even have soup as desert. What is there not to love. So I dedicate this post to four soups that I made in the last year.

First up is the heartiest of them all, Cream of Potato and Broccoli Soup from Vegan Dad. This soy and coconut milk based soup was extremely delicious. I really enjoyed eating it, but also making it. It was all new to me trying to make such a cream heavy style soup. I pretty much had given up any hope in having delicious cream of whatever soup. The cream wasn't over powering, as veggie broth and sweet onion mellowed it out creating a perfect soup for a cold day. You can see in the picture a little roll of bread. I will have to admit that it is the lid to my attempt of a bread bowl. Renae at ieatfood.net had a great bread bowl recipe. So i tried, and failed miserably at making my bowls actual bowls. One was a tiny little thing with a huge tumor like growth of bread to the side, and the other was more like a oblong loaf. I figure I didn't knead the bread long enough, and will just have to try again.

The next soup's name made me feel all warm just by what Veg Bitch had named it...Warming Lentil Soup What is not to love about that, soup...lentils...warming...k, it's mine. The soup was filled with things I love: onions, carrots, lentils, and tomatoes. I added for my own enjoyment some spinach leaves. Since I made one soup with kale, all of my soups need some green floating around. It adds just another element to soups. This soup was brilliant. It warmed me up, it was so full of flavor from the broth, tomatoes, and paprika and thyme. mhmm. You can even see the steam rising in the photo. Unbelievable.

This next soup is Hearty Vegetable Soup from
Show Me Vegan. Another three words I love to hear together. I seriously think I could eat soup every day of my life. I always ask people what their last meal would be, and I always give the same strange answer. Soup, a bagel, tofu pad thai, fries, and a diet pepsi. But soup comes first, yo. Potatoes, onions, kidney beans, tomatoes, orzo, kale, garlic, and carrots. I mean what is not to love. I believe I even added more, as I think I see some celery in there. I couldn't get enough of this soup. It was heaven in my mouth. I ate it 3 days straight. The first dinner, then for both lunch and dinner the next two days. It was that delicious, and all the flavors from the veggies made it such a great creation.

This last photo is absolutely terrible. I though I forgot my camera charger at home, but it was packed away neatly in my book bag all week. So don't judge. This recipe for Italian Bean Soup
by vegalicious was something I've had starred since she wrote the recipe. In her post, I saw the mention of easy and fell right for it. Most people think soup is tedious and hard work, but it is simple and can take less than an hour. Celery, onions, carrots, tomatoes, white beans, plus my as always addition of spinach. It took me less than 30 minutes to make it. I love that soup really is not heavily focused on added spices. This recipe only called for some basil, and that is really all it needed. The broth and the vegetables all together are all that it takes to make a meal delicious and wholesome.

So there is my story. I love soup, you better love soup. And if you were ever scared to make your own soups, you are missing out on such a diverse, easy, and delicious meal.

New School Year, New Worries

2009-08-20T01:01:00.000-05:00

The new school year is nearing and I have new book purchases, clean, new folders and notebooks, new classes and faces to see as usual. But also I am nearing a new chapter of my life. One year left of undergraduate and am currently preparing for the future. I have been researching grad school programs for my Masters in Forensic Science program (MSFS), a total of 18 schools I am going to look into more. Most of them in the upper east coast, some in the midwest, and a few in California. We shall see which ones I apply to and which ones get the boot. The process of applying for graduate school is long and much harder due to highly specific recommendation letters needed and signing up for the GRE while taking a full semester. But don't worry! I am well prepared and working ahead. I know who will be writing one of my letters, if the university will allow a non-degree class, I have my second. And I will need a third for a few, gargh. But yeah, I am further than most, and will have my applications out by my deadline of Oct 31st (most schools are Feb 1st, 2010). I will also be applying again for the FBI internship and looking to get an internship at the crime lab in my city. I am hoping so hard that I will be able to get an internship there, non-paid or paid it is what I need right now.

Even with all this school stress, one thing I am reallllly excited about pulling out is my LAPTOP LUNCHBOX. Although my schedule is a whole lot less hectic than last semester, hell I better be showing up to school with my lunchbox.

In honor of the lunchbox. Here are two of my lunches from last semester that I had yet to post.

-peanut butter and jelly
-frozen fruit
-black beans with a italian dressing in the container
-two fruit leathers

-large tortilla wrap with hummus and zuchinni, and any other fresh food I had left at my fridge during final week...
-frozen fruit
-two fruit leathers

Chowder & Chocolate Thumbprint Jam Cookies

2009-08-07T08:16:00.000-05:00

Both of these recipes were made a long time ago, but haven't yet to been commented on. I made Vegan Dad's Mixed Vegetable Chowder back in October of 2008. Yes, I said a long time ago. Luckily this is the last recipe I must review of 2008. The recipe was extremely simple and had such few ingredients which lured me in. A bag of frozen vegetables: check, coconut milk: check, and soy creamer: no check, but easier enough to get my hands on. Took awhile to chop the billion potatoes and to cook/peel them, but after that the recipe was a breeze. It was one of the first recipes that I got to use my immersion blender. My mom got me a great duel immersion blender that turns into a hand mixer. Absolutely genius for someone who has small space and only uses those two items for very specific items (cookies and soups). Yet, those few meals are so important in my kitchen that it is a necessity. Anyways, my chowder was very, very hearty. I know I would never make it again, but it isn't because it wasn't good, it just wasn't my thing. It was too thick for my taste buds, all the cream and the coconut milk (even lite milk) was too much for my stomach. If I made this again I would do half coconut milk and half vegetable stock to allow it to be just a bit thinner and lighter on the stomach. But it was absolutely amazing seeing how thick a vegan chowder could get. Who'd thunk it.

One night in chilly January I had a taste for cookies. I wanted to try and make one of the many cookie recipes that I always looked at while skimming through Dreena Burton's Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan. Torn between peanut butter chocolate cookies and the thumbprint cookies. I ended up on the Thumbprint cookies due to my desire for not just chocolate but sweet. Quick and easy cookie dough that made at least 30 cookies. The only messy business was my burning my poor little thumb. But a thumb works so much better than any spoon, so the sacrifice was small. I used a mixed berry preserve that I had in the fridge. The cookies were absolutely perfect. Chewy, chocolatedly goodness with a hint of sweet berries. I was so glad that the dough made so many cookies, as I didn't gobble them all up while they were cooling. They were a perfect addition to my lunches and dinners for the next week.

Comet Cafe and the adventures of vegan friends

2009-08-04T13:13:00.000-05:00

It is always great having vegetarian and vegan friends to help you try out all the new and exciting restaurants in the area. Sadly, most of my friends are not vegan. They sometimes will come out with me to a specific very vegan restaurant, like the Chicago Diner. But most of the time I venture off on my own. Luckily, the past year I made friends with one of my friend's cousin. We became vegetarian buddies as she was dealing with the swift from omni to veg and how her very irish, meat loving family was handling it. We first had an awesome little tea party with home-made dishes. She made a delicious apple crisp and I made chocolate chip cookies and Smlove Pie from Veganomicon. Sadly I had horrrible luck with that pie and I absolutely hated it. I just scraped the toppings off and ate it, so not worth any pictures and I was so frantic in the kitchen getting ready I forgot to take pictures of the occassion.

We also had a day where we went to a mexican restaurant called Riviera Maya. We got the suggestion from the Milwaukee Vegan Meetup. We would have gone with the group, but both of us couldn't make that date. So instead we took the bus down one rainy day and had some amazing mexican food. We both started with delicious margaritas, I mango and she peach. And then HAD to try their mole appetizer tray. We were given 6 different moles to try (peanut, almond, pumpkin seed, sesame seed, tomatillo sauce, and a chocolate mole. All served nice and warm and they were absolutely amazing. We had a fun time trying to figure out the tastes and textures that were in our mouths. What is great about this restaurant is that two of their 'meat' choices are vegan. So almost every single dish can be made vegan. Although I opted for my favorite, el burrito. But my meat mixture was: zucchini, corn, carrots, and red pepper. It was absolutely delicious in every way, I couldn't have asked for a better dish. My friend ordered a Mexican hot sub with potatoes, peppers, and corn as her meat. The sub looked delicious and was overflowing with toppings. Again, no photos. Failed everyone in that department. But if you are in Milwaukee, definitely check the place out. A bit expensive, but it was worth it.

Our third veggie night was at the Comet Cafe, which my friend had been raving about for ages. I had never been, but heard they served up a mean sandwich. The restaurant is half vegan, half omnivore's dilemma. Almost all of the sandwiches can be veganized and some are fully vegan from the start. The restaurant itself is full of ambience, with a 50's diner feel and huge booths and retro dining sets. We ordered for an appetizer the vegan deep fried ribs, which are described as beer batter riblets with a side of hot sauce and bbq with a spciy mayo dipping sauce and a side of fries. I am so positive I had a photo of these, but I guess not. They were sooo damn good. We ate every bit of them, even all the fries. It was a meal unto itself. But we still ordered more. My friend ordered the Marinated Tofu Sandwich. It was stuffed with red peppers, lettuce, and onions. And with a side of those heaping fries. I had a piece and it was amazing. The tofu was smoky and sweet, with a little kick all at the same time. I had to order their Reuben and compare it to the ever so great Chicago Diner's. It came out looking delcious. The bread was nice and crisp, the saurkraut looked fresh, and the seitan piece was crisp and tasted just like what I was looking for. The two restaurants have different textured seitans, but both were high in my book. I enjoyed every bit of the sandwich, enough to take home the little bit I couldn't force down my throat. It made a great midnight snack when I had to get down and studying.

Our adventures don't end there. We have gone to Riverwest Co-op together, which is a little health grocery store with a little vegan cafe attached. Great sandwiches and deserts, and all the vegan food products you can't find anywhere else...like Teese!

Hopefully our adventures do not end here. Although my friend has graduated from school, she is planning on staying in our school's city, so we can continue to eat our way through great conversations. And what is also super great is my friend just recently took the plunge and is fully vegan. Yay vegans, friends, and food. It's what life is all about.

Summer in India: Week 3

2009-08-03T00:23:00.000-05:00

The third week of my trip to India was a home-stay segment. We were all assigned to families that were friends with one of my professor while he was still living in India. A few were his relatives and the rest friends. I was a bit worried about this portion of the trip, not because of the prospect of invading someone's home, but because of my being vegan. We arrived from New Delhi after a 3 hour cramped car ride (we had 4 girls in the backseat of a car) and went to our welcome party. At the welcome party my teachers were assigning the families. Again, so great about the program, the teachers knew us pretty well by this point and were able to place us perfeclty with a family. I heard my name, though, being rattled off in the span of 5 minutes more than the comfortable amount while I was sitting and chatting with the other guests. I was feeling extremely guilty due to the fact that veganism is completely unheard of in India. But I was placed with a family. We were told some families would be Muslim, others Hindus, some rich, some with just 1 bedroom for the whole family, and others where you would have your own room. So I was expecting anything and was ready for it while on the ride over to the house. We arrived and my house was literally in the center of the city, it was a small apartment ontop of a men's clothing store. My host dad had just had double bypass heart surgery, so I carried my heavy suitcases up the small stairwell to the apartment. After I had recovered I got to know my family.

I was living with a host father and mother. They were a Hindu vegetarian family with three kids (2 grown and moved out, and one had passed away). My host mom and host dad were very nice and accommodating. They even turned on their A/C unit for me the first day, well until the daily power outages from 4pm-6pm. Every single day the power would be out. Each house would have a generator to allow some fans and some lights to function. Most of India does not have any electricity and when there is electricity it is highly unreliable and overused. The amount they have does not cover the demand, so daily power outages have become the temporary solution. The minute the power outage would be over, my host mom would turn on her soaps... We had had a LONG day and as you can tell in this picture, I was weathered! The photo is of me, my host mom (in the middle), and her friend. The first night we had a little of a celebratory party where the women sat in the bedroom with the A/C drinking small glasses of cola and talking. Then we joined the two men (my host dad and the son of the friend) for dinner. This happened at 9pm-11pm. My host dad told me that he was excited to have me in the house and the food was no issue because of his surgery he was not allowed to have much dairy. It felt like a huge wave of relief knowing that they didn't feel too burdened by my restrictions. He also told me that he already thought of me like his American daughter and that he would treat me just like a daughter. I just had no idea how literally he would be saying that.

I was soooo exhausted and so utterly pleased to find out that they do put the A/C on for the first 30mins of sleeptime. The city that we were in for the host stay was one of the hottest cities and also having a heat wave. At the time it was probably 110-120 degrees from 10AM-11PM. My host turned out to be the only one with an A/C, but most had fans and desert coolers (fans that had water churning inside). Anyways, before the little party, my host mom and I went to the temple which was just around the corner. They were having a celebration of Ram and Sita, where they were decorated beautifully in their vault area. The room was heavily perfumed with incense and jasmine, people were sitting everywhere in the dark singing and chanting along with the main priest, and bells could be heard from every which direction. It was a magical site and I was sad to leave it and realize it only happened once a week, so that would be the last time I saw it. But I did visit the temple three-four times, as my host mom went there every single day and would then walk around the little courtyard that was there with her friends gossiping. There was also always someone giving out free strawberry lassi, a drink made from strawberries and milk, like a thin milkshake. The beggars and the woman at the temple would always be gathered round tight getting second and third cups of the stuff. I also saw a strange scene at the temple where a crow looked as if he was dying to bits, he was laying flat on the ground croaking. A dog saw this as an invitation to eat him, but every time he got near to getting it, the bird would flag violently with its obviously injured body. Finally after watching in horror at the scene a man came and picked the bird up and threw him in the air so he'd go inside the gated garden, he plopped down, and then a few minutes later flew away all fine...it was quite a scene that I will not forget.

It was a bit awkward the first night as my host dad was forced out of the one bedroom of the house to the living room. Which part of the living room is shown in the picture, with the door leading out to the balcony. I shared the bedroom with my host mom. In India, showing your legs is highly provocative. Most women never show their legs in publics, all pant suits, sarees, jeans, all will cover their legs. So I had no idea how my host mom would react to me wearing short shorts and a tiny tank for bed. I DIED the first night as I had decided to wear at least a tshirt over my tank. She never mentioned anything about the shorts, but she might have been highly disturbed. We formed quite the nightly routine, every single night for a week we would have dinner at 9, which my host parents would go to bed right after. I would want to shower at night since I felt so disgusting after the day. Our shower and bathroom were in two different parts of the house. Inside the house near the entrance was the western style bathroom that never flushed properly and outside on the balcony was a little room with a bucket and spout. I got used to bucket showers and was thankful for the cold water being splashed onto me, but the fact that the shower was outside meant that mosquitos were in heaven with my blood. I would rush my showers, as well, as the house to the right had a higher roof than us, so if they went up they could clearly see into our shower, and with being very half-assed in the language at that point had no idea if people walking in the alley were really in the alley or on the roof.

After my shower I would always go to the room and read a bit of Holy Cow! or do some of my homework assignments, then attempt to fall asleep. Some nights I slept great and some nights I thought I'd never sleep from being the most uncomfortable I'd ever been in my life. I felt bad as my host mom had to have woken up while I was trying to cool down (sitting up, getting up, soaking myself in my filtered water).

I was never allowed to go anywhere on my own. My host dad was extremely overprotective of me. He would have one of the male students come to my house to share a rickshaw to school. It was nice money-wise as we shared the cost both ways, but the rickshaws in India are not standard. Each city has a normal size seat, well the seats in Aligarh were made for either two school children or two very, very, very small adults. We all left Aligargh with bruises on our thighs from trying to sit on the seat and absorb the shocks from the roads. Every morning at 9.30 I would be expecting my ride to come. Before then I would take yet another shower and eat breakfast. Breakfast in the house was one of my favorite meals. It was greasy and always fried, but amazing. Some days we would have grilled vegetables sandwiches with green chutney, a few days we had a thick fried rice and vegetable breakfast dish, and some days we had Kulcha a fried bread similar to batura, but it has mashed potatoes, onions, and spices kneaded into the dough. I helped once with breakfast, but my host mom really never wanted any help and when I tried to make a Kulcha, I did everything wrong apparently. So I would ask every day to help, but never was I needed.

My family didn't seem to have to make many changes to make their normal vegetarian cooking vegan, but others around me were always completely astonished that I didn't eat dairy. In India, vegetarian does not mean lacto-ovo, but it implies a lacto vegetarian. This is because most vegetarians in the country are vegetarian for religious purposes. And eggs are not considered clean, nor pure because Indians view them how we vegans see them, revolting. I always thought eggs were gross eating. Why eat another animals eggs? I remember learning about the layers of the egg and the umbilical cord in jr high and having stopped eating eggs for a long time, but it didn't last. I'm glad I had my last egg almost a year and half ago. But in India, dairy is not considered to be impure at all, but to be almost holy in itself. One of the most well-known dieties in Hindu religion is Lord Krishna who is known to be a flirt with all of the milk-maidens. Cows are also holy, so put together the two and other factors within the scripts we have a product that is highly auspicious. Though, much of the milk in India is from water buffalos. The issue is India is a country with OVER-consumption of dairy. I have no doubt that some of my food was contanimated with a dairy product. No matter how many times you asked if the food was clean of all dairy it easily could have not been. In general, you have to be very specific with the questions you ask:

"Does this have milk" no
"Does it have cream" no
"Does it have yogurt" oh yes, of course

hrm. it would go on and on like this. I felt bad as I was never comfortable enough to ask a Hindi speaking server if food was okay for me. After awhile, I would know which dishes to completely avoid and some that would always be clean. But some could have been vegan at one restaurant, but not at the next. I worried the most when we went to non-veg restaurants where chicken stock was being used in the food, who knows about that. I normally would just eat bread and wait til we got home to get a Clif bar. But at the homestay, I was lucky as my family knew everything that shouldn't be in my food and were comfortable with it.

Though, my host mom's friend would constantly sit and tell me how strange it was that I didn't drink milk, but my skin was as white as milk. I would sit and just try and tell her that I wasn't even the whitest of the bunch. And she was even light herself! Indians are obsessed with fairness as we are with having young skin. Every beauty shelf with Fair & Lovely or any of the other 20 different brands. All TV personelle are as white as possible. We had a few people tell us they worship light skin and think we should marry Indian men since they would treat us like gods. And of course, not only is the dream mostly unattainable for the majority of the nation of beautiful brown skin, but these creams are so dangerous!You'd see someone wearing a cream and they'd just look ashy or like they didn't get all the soap off in the shower. Westerners want to be dark and Easterners want to be light...go figure.

One of the highlights while in Aligarh was the university convocation (graduation). The guest list was quite impactful. Not only was A.R. Rahman, the famous composer of thousands of Indian songs, but also Gopalkrishna Gandhi, one of Gandhi's grandsons. It was a great honor to be present with these brilliant minds. The students were all too excited as well, plus we were an added bonus. I actually had to have the TA near me acting as my publicist pushing people away from having photos. I would say yes to one and then have 30 more photos to take in that one instant. It was fun at first, but then by the end of just that one day I had probably taken over 100 photos and had been in the background of another 200 photos. It was insane. The TA questioned why her people wanted their independence if they are so enamered with pale skin. It was kind of a laughing joke during the trip, but sometimes not wanted.

The night of the graduation my family had a little final get together where we had dinner at the family friend's house. The parties always start with drinking soda, sitting in the nicest bedroom with the best fans or A/C, then moving onto watching TV, and then dinner. We had a really nice dinner and good talk and what not. It had been a really long day, but it was worth it. After dinner we took some family photos (women and men seperate). Sometimes I would complain to the other kids about my family being boring, as it was just the two of them. But, I really did enjoy them. They were such a nice family and such good people. They worked hard in their life to be able to retire and do absolutely nothing, so they are enjoying it. I just had a different pace, but because the person nearest my age was engaged to be married, well I didn't get out much that week. I read a lot, and sat quitely a lot. For awhile, I wished the homestay was less than a week, but it was really a great time getting to know my family.

The last big event with my family was shopping for my saree. After going to 5 stores and turning down a good 50-60 different materials, I finally set eyes on the saree that I loved. And of course, it was the most expensive one I had looked at. At 50 American dollars, it was a 'luxury' saree. I figured if I get one, it should be nice since I wont be wearing it other than at something really formal. But commonly you can get a saree for 5 dollars or less. Sarees are just 6 feet of fabric that are lined with patterns. The saree is extremely hard to wrap as you have 3ft of pleating to deal with before you can move on to wrapping it around your upper body. But if you do it right, the saree is quite comfortable. The tops are specially made and are extremely tight fitting. It took two times for them to get the measurements right, but it fits like a glove. The day that I left, my host family all sat around waiting for me to try my saree on. And with the help of my host mom and beautiful jewelery she bought and gave to me for my saree it was perfect. They had me wear my saree with the sleeve long, which is common for an elegant, regal look. But again, there are so many ways to wrap and wear the saree. Women who work in construction normally wear saree's to work...imagine that.

After all the students packed into a little bus, we were headed to Agra. On our way to see the Taj Mahal...

To view all the photos I took from the time period in this post, please visit my flickr India collection: http://flickr.com/photos/shadowsarah

Ranchero Polenta

2009-07-31T19:17:00.004-05:00

Well I am back from my world wind adventure in India. I got back in the middle of the month and am finally back in the groove of things at home. Working my summer, reading, relaxing, and having fun. The minute I got home I got Isa's new cookbook "Vegan Brunch." The colorful colors pulled me in right away, and then you open up, and different from her full-length cookbooks there was tons and tons of pictures! Still all the humor and funny sections, like "Letter to a Young Crepe Maker" and the ever so present dilemma of polenta vs. corn meal. I went through it a few nights ago and pretty much loved every single recipe. The one that really took me was the Polenta Rancheros. After the first day of our garage sale, I decided I'd make it for my family for dinner. The recipe which is extremely simple just calls for the ranchero bean sauce, which is just tomato sauce, serano pepper, onion, garlic, cumin, and coriander, and well of course good 'ol black beans. The polenta is simple as ever to make, and you are set. I had a bit of an issue with my polenta, it just would not set as quickly as we wanted to eat. I think the issue is I didnt have 5 cups of vegetable stock to use, but 3 and used 2 cups of water. So the two cups of water added a bit more liquid to evaporate.

We topped our beans and polenta with guacamole and dug in with tortilla chips and salsa. My entire family (even my picky dad) enjoyed the recipe. It has a great hearty filling, a feel of chili with the nice touch of the creaminess of the polenta. As my mom said: "this is a keeper."

I will have a full update series on my summer abroad in India when I have time. Hope everyone is having great weather and a good time this summer.

Summer in India: Week 1-2

2009-07-25T14:18:00.010-05:00

The series of my adventure in India begin.

I spent the first 7 weeks of my summer studying abroad with a program sponsored by the University of North Carolina. The program was something I was drawn to while studying Hinduism and Buddhism. My professor told us about the program and I applied, and er went. It was a teacher-lead experience, two teachers and 1 TA, were with us 11 students the entire 6 weeks of the program. We took both Hindi language and an Indian culture class while we were there. And holy shit did we study. 4 hours a day in class, plus daily readings of around 30-50 pages, plus Hindi homework, quizzes, dictations, exams, and essays. We'd catch up on our work and only fall behind. What was great was our teachers were there with us at the excursions, at dinner, at the parties, so they knew if we had time to work or not. Late papers were not a crime and we had our teachers at full disposal. I am so glad that I went to India with a group and with teachers as it would have been extremely hard to navigate on our own, aside from being highly stressful. I know a few nights my teachers barely slept trying to straighten out bus companies. The culture class also was perfectly tailored to the sites and sounds and experiences we were going to take part in, so we were able to fully appreciate the places that we went knowing the historical and religious perspectives of everything.

Packed with my water filtration system, linen pants galore, 2 dozen Clif Bars, malaria and Delhi Belly medication, and of course my camera, I was ready to get moving. I had an amazing deal with the group having a direct flight out of Chicago. I got to the airport and found my group huddled near a window playing cards and quickly got to greeting and getting to know all the others on the trip. I was lucky enough to be near one of the other students on the plane ride there, only a seat away from Caroline. but I ended up with a really nice Indian student, Harry, studying in America who was going home for the first time since arriving for his master's. I had ordered American Airline's vegan (Indian VGML) meal and confirmed not once, but twice. But of course, they messed up. They had my meal, which turned out to be the American VGML, but none of the sides of the tray were vegan. Had a huge container of YOGURT, cookies with egg and milk in it, BUTTER, and that orange cake that was made with a custardy cheese. I was so pissed. I hadn't thought they'd screw up that badly so I only brought a Nature Valley granola bar and an apple. The attendant was extremely rude, didn't care, and had to be told a few times that I had asked for another bean side dish. Harry didn't even get his meal at first, so that was another fiasco. Other than the food, I was happy with my flight and loved my in-flight personal tv. I watched 'Bride Wars' (waste of time) and a few other movies I cant seem to remember. I slept most of the 15 hour plane ride and was highly ready to see India.

My first impressions of India were at nighttime and scarred by the guard at the door with an fully automatic gun strapped and pointed at people passing through the door. But, when we got on the road we were brought into the chaos of Indian driving, road-side shops, men crowded on the street corners, dogs running in the streets feral, and even got to see an elephant. But after a long day we went to bed and slept. The first week we really didn't go off and venture on our own, we went to class and started learning the Hindi alphabet and simple conversions (Hi, my name is sarah, what is yours? Is your name Raj? I buy mangoes today...)

We did venture off to visit the market on the outskirts of the university that we were staying at. The market placed called Bulta house was at first a scary walk, but we ended up knowing our way around the market like no other. Although we were stared at and sometimes thrown rocks at by little boys, it was a great market full of people and shops. We all bought Indian cloths so that we could have clothes made. It was a necessity as even our linen pants and skirts were not enough in the heat. The market is also where we met our friends at the STD (phone booth stores). The man who owned it had tons of granddaughters and we became good friends with them. Well they loved us and we loved them and we giggled and tried to talk and would sit around taking photos and what not.

But most of the first week we spent only doing the activities that were required with our group. The first activity was going to the Nizamuddin Sufi Shrine. The shrine is part of a Muslim complex called a durgah. It had narrow streets filled with little shops in walls, beggars galore asking you for money, restaurants for all different socio-economic groups with the general Mughal food flare (in other words, meat, meat, meat...) When you get to the end of the narrow passage you are hounded by one of the shoe peddlars to take of you shoes before entering the complex. We caused a stir as we were such a large group. (this video shows the passage to the entrance Then you enter into the complex which is roaring with life. We got there just as nightly prayer was finishing, but we came specifically to see the Qawalli singers. Qawalli is a form of Muslim worship to a specific saint and to allah. The singers normally are all from the same family and come every night to sing. The music, the hymns, and the hand signals are all very important and all have their own message. We sat front row and got to see them preform. It was absolutely beautiful. I found a great video on youtube that shows the singers. Notice, same singers that are in my photo.

The next day we went to a Hindu temple called Kalka-Ji. The temple is dedicated to Durga is one of the busiest temples in Delhi, with thousands coming each night. The temple which was built originally 3000 years ago...yes, 3 zeros, has built the community around it with generations after generation living in small one room homes near the entrance. Many of the owners of the home came out of their house the minute the bells began to ring. We didn't have our cameras at the location as it was to be so pact, but on our night it wasn't too bad when we got there. The sound of the bells was unbelievable, almost deafening, plus there were all kinds of small bells hanging above the temple so that people could put their hands up and walk to make them ring. We all left with offerings from the gods. I received a small banana and some sugar candy. Like Nizamuddin, the pathway to the temple was more shops and very poverish people. It was sad seeing the people bathing in puddles and getting dressed in their parking lot homes, but from our stand point as students, all we could do is be thankful.

The next week we packed up from Delhi for a short pilgrimage to the cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh. Both extremely famously cities for Hindu pilgrims and tourist alike. Both are cities that are in Northern India, about 6hrs Indian road-time north of New Delhi. They sit on the banks of the Ganges river and at the base of the Himalayan Mts. Haridwar is a Hindu pilgrimage site because of a famous battle between the Gods and demons that happened in the air above the area. At the precise place there was a drop of God nectar that was dropped into the water. Making this site holy and a place where pilgrims from all over the world come daily to be apart of the daily aarti services and to bathe in the Ganges. It is not only auspicious to be at this place, but to fully submerge under the water to cleanse your body. Though, the Ganges has a reputation for being some of the dirtiest waters in the world. I do not disagree. I would only put my calves in the water. But being vegan helped me out a bit in the purity counter ;) The water commonly sees flower offerings, flaming banana boat offerings, people's belongings, and strangely enough dead infants and children are not creamted but put in the water. We had an amazing time experiencing the evening aarti and again coming back to watch the sunrise. We also went to a beautiful temple ontop of the mountains looking down at the Ganges. Some memories I will not want to forget here were: being asked to get out of our rickshaw, by our driver, and walk up the hill, 3 of the students fulling submerging in the water, and of course staying at an ashram and having class in a temple.

We took a day trip up 40 mins into the Himalayans to get to the city of Rishikesh. The Ganges as noted also runs through this location, but it is not as auspicious. What is famous here is the fact that the Beatles lived and recoreded their White Album at one of the many ashrams in the city. The place is a collection of serene nature paths with ashrams and meditations sites sitting in the mountains and also a touristy center filled with people and busy temples. You could probably visit 20 temples in less than an hour if you tried to. To get to the main area of the city, you must cross the Ganges river on a massive foot-bridge. The bridge had a few collisions, fights, traffic jams, and animals crossing all in the span of the hour that we were there. I got bumped in the head with a huge A/C unit, but such is life in India. We were torn in going to the left to the nature paths or to the right to the commercial area. But we ended up to the right since we had such a short time to explore. I have to say Rishikesh was probably one of my favorite places along the entire tour. I had so much fun watching the people, the animals, the many sadhus, a monkey stealing a full kilo of lychees from a family, and dazing off into the beautiful sunset across the Ganges. I wish we had more time and the next visit to India I will be spending at least a few days here in one of the many ashrams.

After the small side trip, we came back to Delhi and had a few more days of classes before we headed onto the road for a week homestay and another week of traveling to Agra and Jaipur. Which are all to come.

Because this is a food blog. One of the few meals I took a photo of while in India was at a chain called Nathu's. They had 4-5 different restaurants around New Delhi and were famous for their sweets. Indian sweets are pretty much all milk, milk, milk. But there was one sweet I was able to eat. Anways, the meal that I ordered was Channa Batura. A version or another of channa masala with a fried puffy bread (fully deep fried) called batura and a side of pickled mangoes and red onions. Sadly we were not allowed to eat any fresh ingredients because of water contamination while cleaning and knives and what not. So many things were off-limits. We went back to this chain 2 times, the second time I got a masala dosa. But again, photos at meal times would have been hectic.

To finish off this post here are a few more photos from my journey.

To view all the photos I took from the time period in this post, please visit my flickr India collection: http://flickr.com/photos/shadowsarah

One Year.

2009-05-03T00:27:00.000-05:00

I am happy to announce that I have been vegan for a year. Last year I went vegan the last week of school before finals. Which currently, I just finished the week before finals.

I did not do anything special for my anniversary other than make a batch of chocolate-chip muffins, using a recipe I found on VegWeb. It was a good recipe for me to use as I got rid of a lot of ingredients that have to go before I leave for India (flour, chocolate chips, apple sauce, vegan margarine...). They took less than 10 minutes to prepare and get into the oven, and barely any clean up. So that is what I call a happy celebration.

I cannot wait to have more anniversaries and know that my choice to become fully vegan after being vegetarian for almost half my life was necessary and has helped me feel a lot more complete and empowered. I have found myself wanting to work harder for the cause of animal rights and bond further with like-minded folks.

Happy Veganism!

Disney World Food

2009-04-27T03:32:00.002-05:00

Did you think I forgot that this was a food blog? Of course, not!

Before going on the trip, I spent a good amount of time searching websites for the restaurants and stands within Disney that would be the most accommodating and that would have the most options for me. Sadly, most of those options were sit-down restaurants that were 20-30 dollars for a meal. Obviously being poor college students, those places were not always an option.

I ended up eating A LOT of veggie burgers and fries while I was in Disney. Though, it was very delicious. What is nice is at each stand, no matter the size, there will be an official binder of ingredients of everything they sell. I spent a good amount of time looking at those binders trying to make sure that a vegetarian item was vegan. Luckily, those delicious burgers were.

We did eat a few times at nicer restaurants, where my friend's mother was generous enough to pay for us. One of those places was the Sci-Fi Diner. It was a cool place, as you sat in old 50's cars and watched old movie/advertisement clips. It was great fun, but the options were sparse. The chef came out and was very helpful and really wanted to make sure my experience was a good one. He made a special tofu sandwich that was seasoned to perfection. Was it worth 12 dollars, no, but what can you do. He got really excited and came back out saying that he had vegan cheese in the fridge and if he could add it on. I was happy that he really was trying hard to make my lunch as enjoyable as possible.

Another dining experience that we were dying to participate in was a Character Breakfast. Anybody unfamiliar with Disney will want to know that this is a special breakfast that includes Disney characters floating around to greet you. My mom laughed at the idea that 20 year olds went to one of these breakfasts, but it was all in good fun. Again, thankfully, our friend's mom paid for us, as this bill was hefty! We signed up for a breakfast with Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy! We got to meet each and everyone of them, a few times, and got pictures and signatures (yes, I did have an autograph book). The chef took my friend who has celiac around to show her what she could eat at the buffet and then put in an order for some gluten-free waffles. He was about to take me around and then was like 'All thatyou can eat out there is the fruit, what do you want me to make?' I was thinking a little of everything. We decided on a tofu scramble and some of the same gluten-free and apparently vegan waffles. The waffles I thought were awful. They were dry and flavorless. I had to DRENCH them in the artificial maple syrup to even enjoy them. The tofu scramble was a different story. Oh my, holy lord, this was the best tofu scramble I have ever had. Even though it turned out to be more of a potato hash with tofu in it, I can't even explain the flavoring. Just the spinach, carrots, onion, potatoes, and tomatoes together with the tofu was delectable. I was so sad when I couldn't stuff another bite. The breakfast was paired with apple juice AND chocolate soy milk. We all really induldged that morning and didn't really need to eat again for hours and hours. So delicious.

The rest of the food eaten on the trip was garbage. Loads and loads of sweets and french fries. But, we were on vacation and doing tons and tons of walking, so that was okay. One sweet that I was so excited for was Tofutti ice cream. At home, this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but having the option at a normal ice cream parlour was so gratifying. Food allergies at Disney are not taken lightly, your food will be prepared in a completely different kitchen. That being said, this also means that your food will take a biiiit longer. I felt so guilty as my friends were waiting and waiting for my poor cup of vanilla/chocolate Tofutti ice cream to arrive. When it finally did, I was beaming! We ate our ice cream in front of the glow of Cinderella's castle and prepared ourselves for another round of rides...

Disney World

2009-04-27T01:46:00.006-05:00

Spring Break 2009...wait, rather 'Time to be 5 years old again 2009'

Very last minute a friend and I decided to join one of her friends down in Orlando for Spring Break. I haven't been to any of the Disney parks since I was 4 years old so you can imagine my excitement in knowing I'd get to go to the land where all my favorite indulgences come from (Hannah Montana, Suite Life, etc). We were going to be there for 6 full days, where 4 of those days we would be staying free in a Disney resort with the friend and her mom. Then the last two days two of us would be staying extra in the cheapest hotel we could find.

We started the journey off a bit shaken, we all were taking seperate flights all from different airports that were closest to our homes, I arrived at the same time as another, but one was delayed almost 5 hours. I was perfectly content sitting in the warm airport feeling the lovely warm Florida breeze. It was 30 degrees or so back home and snowing, so any warm was happy enough. We spent three days at Disney World. The days that we were not at Disney was spent at Downtown Disney (shopping meca), Disney mini golf, or relaxing by one of the many pools. I was so excited to get a major tan (I know, not healthy, but neon white is not pretty either), sadly I only ended up with being a more normal shade of white.

The days we were at the park were very, very long. But smiles and giggles galore. Because we were staying with a family that was part of the Disney Vacation Club we got amazing perks like discounts at stores and restaurants AND extra hours in the parks. We got to stay at Magic Kingdom til 1am Sunday night! All of the rides and major Disney images were breath-taking at night. I would stop midtracks in desperate need to document how beautiful it was. My favorite night feature was the castle and the Epcot Ball (Spaceship Earth). It was so much fun and when we came back to Magic Kingdom the next few days it seemed all new since it was the first time seeing it in the daytime. Anyone who does not think Disney is a magical, magical place is mistaken. All the characters floating around, the joyful music, the awesome performers doing silly skits, and the crazy awesome rides.

My favorite park was by far Magic Kingdom. I never felt a dull moment and actually found that we didn't get to do all the rides I wanted to do there. I forced everyone on It's a Small World...which was the scene of a future scary movie. Effing creep as hell, but still cool to do.

My favorite rides? Tower of Terror, Rock'n Roller Coaster, Toy Story Mania (new ride!!), Splash Mountain, and the Test Track. And for your enjoyment, a picture of my friends and I on Rock'n Roller Coaster. And yes, that is me in the upper right hand corner with my lungs coming out of my mouth.

One of the greatest thing about the trip was getting to experience Disney characters that I had loved as a child. I was Belle two years in a row for Halloween, I watched Cinderella a billion times over again, and the whole shabang. Beauty and the Beast had a few opportunities to share with the characters. The first attraction we visited in the parks was the Beauty and the Beast live show. It was my FAVORITE show and I was so giddy the entire time. The actors were incredible and really put on a show. I felt like we paid money just to go see this show. And as a Belle enthusiast, I could not stop awing. We also got to meet Belle at story hour and at the meet and greet room.

Now after the friend and her mom left we were pretty much on our own. We arrived at this stingy motel near Universal Studios. We were scared it would be horrible, like horrible to the max. So when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't THAT bad. Yeah, I kept my shoes on the entire time, we double/triple locked our doors, kept the blinds shut all day, that sort of business, but for 25 dollars a night (yes, I do not kid), we were in heaven.

I felt really special while at the parks, as one of my high school friends works for Disney! She is a Disney PRINCESS!! How many people can say they are friends with a Princess. I have wanted to visit her and see her in costume for years. So after we met up with her and played around at the parks we got her schedule and wound up at Epcot's China and got to see our lovely Mulan. I was so happy to see her and she looked amazing.

While we were staying at the dingy motel, Mulan got the two of us into the park for free! She was the best Disney tour guide ever....seriously. She had already planned the whole day out for us and what there was to see and what we had to do. So we started the day off at Magic Kingdom to go visit some princesses, which she knew all of them. It was really funny to see how the characters while in costume would use code talk to get across what they wanted to say. It was great fun hearing Belle 'So, I saw a lovely picture of Mulan the other day, isn't she a doll...' We went on a few rides, but we spent most of the day going to see the shows and enjoying the parades. The morning parade in Magic Kingdom was too much fun. It was a block party parade that ended in front of the castle which allowed the dancers/actors/characters to interact with the public with tons of dancing numbers and singing. I had a BLAST! I seriously shook off my tail-fetha. There was an afternoon parade at MGM, but I was too hot and tired to really get into it. But it included characters from Pixar films. It was fun and included such characters from Toy Story and Monsters Inc. I really got a kick out of Mr. Potato Head. But what was even cooler was that during all of the performances my friend knew the actors. She got Little Bo Peep coming up and hugging her, winks from dancers, and even little waves from Princes! Little kids stared at awe in us... I mean we were in with the in-crowd!

Well our adventure was very tiresome and my feet were dead by the end of the vacation. It was also time to say goodbye to my first pair of Chucks (8 years old) as they were beaten to the core from Disney. All-in- all it was a great vacation. Not relaxing, but time to be a kid. Sometimes it feels good to want to carry a balloon around all day, or eat a messy popsicle, and especially meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse in their hometown.

Oh boy.

Spinach, spinach, spinach

2009-04-27T01:38:00.000-05:00

As a child I hated spinach. My mom prepared that god awful frozen spinach that was a bunch of muck. I never even realized how delicious spinach was until baby spinach was the 'cool' thing to do. Yes, certain vegetables are cooler than others, ('90210' just made kale cool, @ 4:30).

I decided to make ieatfood.net's Chinese New Year celebration meal, consisting of vegetable TVP postickers and a Tofu and Spinach soup. As a child, one thing I did love was potstickers. Well, I didn't just love them, they were the only food I'd eat at any chinese restaurant. You can imagine when I went vegetarian I began to miss my favorite little treat. I thought it would be fun to recreate the buggers. I had a bit of a problem reconstituting my TVP, it was the first time I had ever cooked with it and did not really realize how much it would expand. The TVP bubbled over the bowl in the microwave and I had a gigantic mess to clean. The TVP that stayed in the bowl was used for the mixture of veggies for the potsticker filling. I didn't have most of the vegetables that were used so I made my own mixture of onion, carrot, and kale. The dough was so easy to make and really quick, I was surprised and happy. I have a feeling the wrappers would have cost a TON more pre-made. After the filling had set-up a bit in the fridge, I started to package my potstickers. Since I used chopped up kale, I had a lot of moisture to deal with. I had a hard time getting my dough to stick. I ended up having to first put some filling on the dough, fold it over and let it dry out a bit before I could pinch the edges shut. No matter how ugly some of the postickers were, they cooked beautifully. While the potstickers were browning, I started on making the soup. I just used frozen spinach, tofu, scallions, broth, sriracha, and soy sauce. It was perfectly seasoned with just enough crunch from the scallions to add some nice texture. I also prepared a little dipping sauce of soy, sriracha, and crushed red pepper. This was the most fun meal I had created in awhile and I enjoyed every bite of it. The potstickers brought me back to my childhood and really reflected closlely on what I remembered and enjoyed. The addition of the kale to the filling really was perfect. I had so much filling left-over that I browned it the next day and created a filling for some sort of a burrito. I cannot wait to make these again.

I had only used half of the package of frozen spinach with the first soup so I had to find some recipe to use up the last bit. Using my lovely, google reader I searched 'frozen spinach' and viola Recipe Garden had a lovely, quick, and easy recipe using frozen spinach. I had a big exam two days later so I needed a meal that would be done in seconds. And with a name like 'Easy Noodle Bowl,' it couldn't be beat. The recipe called for rice noodles, frozen spinach, a carrot, and peas. I had all of the ingredients on hand, but instead of peas I used edamame and I added tofu. The soup was ready in minutes (literally) and was absolutely delicious with the warmth of red crushed pepers, veggie broth, and a little tamari. I ate up a huge portion in one of my favorite bowls.

It is a bowl that I created at one of those painting shops. I had visited the shop while I was in Palm Desert in the moutains of Idlewild. The sad thing was I had been there a few years earlier and my guaranteed shipment of an over-sized mug (which I might add was GORGEOUS) broke... The shop keeper was hesitant to believe me, but he ended up letting me get my bowl for free and pick any premium paints. I didn't want to be greedy, so I picked only one premium. And that is what I used to paint the interior. The paint has speckled rocks that when in the kiln popped open to create those awesome patterns. The outside is a pale green.

I adored the soup and had the leftover portion the next night. I ate almost two cups worth when I noticed something floating in my soup. Turns out it was a worm. Yes...a worm. I freaked. I think it was a spinach worm, as it was tinted green. I know edamame would not have that sort of worm, and it is more likely to be from the darn package of frozen spinach. I was too freaked out to eat any more of the soup and think I will stay away from frozen spinach for a long long time.

That being said, I know that there will be tons of bugs and 'defects' in my food. Just read the FDAs laws on defects and you will never want to eat again. I tried to share with my mom a few of the examples and was stopped immediately. She said "I know, but I want to pretend I don't know...' This lovely guide will tell you the max level of 'defects' allowed in processed foods. Insects, rodent droppings/hairs, maggots, are all among the deliciousness allowed in our food. Another reason why one should WANT to eat whole, unprocessed foods. bluergh

BBQ Black Beans and Kale

2009-04-26T23:59:00.000-05:00

The past year I have finally found my love for kale. I am quite obsessed with the bugger and feel lonely without a bunch in my fridge. And you ask, why should we all love kale to death? Well, it is high in vitamins K, C, A, beta carotene, rich in calcium, and fiber. That isn't all though. According to Nutrition Data, kale's protein content is very complete, as well as containing almost every mineral in the book. What is there not to love?

Beans and kale are some of my favorite ingredients in meals, so when I saw Show Me Vegan's recipe for BBQ Black Beans and Kale, I knew it was a winner for me. I pretty much made this a few days after I saw the post.

This very simple dish has two simple parts: cook-down kale and simmer beans, pepper, and bbq sauce. That is really it. It is so simple to make for a busy weekday meal, plus it has tons of fiber, protein, and all the goodness of the kale. I love the flavor of the garlicky kale with the richness of the barbecue sauce and beans. It is a hearty dish that will leave you satisfied even without a carbohydrate. I have made it with rice and also have just had it plain. I love it and think that it is a brilliant idea pairing kale and bbq sauce together, something I'd have never thought of.

school consumes me

2009-04-22T05:59:00.004-05:00

It has been a month, I am aware.
I love you all and will have a proper update soon.

The last exam of the semester is in a few hours
and I am in the process of completing my last all-nighter.

When I say all-nighter I mean it. I'm no measly study til 5am and run off. I stay up til 5pm the next day. I have grown quite fond of caffeine. Well I have always been, but the past few years I have been actually addicted [caffeine withdrawal is really frightening...trust me]. I hope once I leave school I will have better sleep habits and health.

In less two weeks time, I will be a year away from completing my B.S. degree. I really don't believe it.
In four weeks, I will be on a flight to New Delhi, India.

Life is great.

India

2009-03-18T03:02:00.004-05:00

The past few weeks have been absolutely insane busy.

Well I guess not last week, I was on Spring Break...in Disney World.
I will get to that at another point. If I get started on Disney I turn into a five year old and start going 'And then we did this, and then I saw this, and then this, and then this, and then....'

School is absolutely a horror. The work load is absolutely unbelievable. I guess I was this stressed last year too, but my exams were 5 in one week and then I had a month off. This semester I have had an exam every week (or two, sometimes three) for the last 5 weeks. I still have another 3 weeks that I have 4 exams to deal with. I have a few days off during Easter Break holiday, and then right back to my last exam. I just cannot wait for Friday May 8th comes rolling around. It has been a good semester, I love my classes and what not, just really stressful.

I think you get the point. I am currently trying to let my brain dethaw before I start the last section for my test tomorrow in Forensic Sciences. So I thought it was a great time to announce my summer plans.

I mentioned awhile ago that I applied for an FBI Internship. Well, I found out in December that they cut funding by 75% and there was almost half as less students that would be able to participate. The program being open to only upper under-graduates and all graduate students became even more competitive. The Wisconsin FBI informed me that they only selected 1 student instead of the 3-4 that they were planning. That 1 was not me. I am fine with the decision. I have a feeling I would not have been ready by this summer. I still have so much more to learn before I would feel comfortable putting my foot in the door over there. And I am still so proud of myself for being in the top 12 of Wisconsin.

I decided if I did not get the internship, I would instead apply to study abroad for the summer in India. I spent all January preparing my recommendation letters, application, and essay. It was loads of work, but it finally was finished. And on Monday I received notification that I was accepted into the program!

The program is through University of North Carolina at Raleigh. The program is not based in one city of India. We will spend two weeks in New Delhi and the rest of the 6 weeks will be spent in one of the following cities: Western Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Aligarh), Rajasthan, Jaipur, and Haridwar-Rishikesh. Where one city will be the location of a one week homestay with a family. We will be taking two classes a Hindi-Urdu language course and an Indian literature class. I am beyond excited and it sounds like all the other students are too. I have talked with three so far and I am so excited to meet them in a few weeks at our training.

I would love to keep a weekly blog update of my visit, but I will most likely not be bringing either of my laptops. But! I am thinking about writing out a blog and then sharing that with you all when I get back.

But that is all. I am just so excited that I finally get to see India. A country that I have dreamed of experiencing since I was a little girl. When I was much younger I wanted my honeymoon to be in India. I am in love with their culture, languages, history, philosophy, art, religions, and every teeny bit.

Now that I have put a smile back on my face it is appropriate to learn about Forensic Document Examination...

Have a good rest of the week!

Classic Slice Pizza Review

2009-03-06T21:00:00.000-06:00

When I first arrived at my university, I was not expecting the cheese and brat capital of the world to have many vegetarian-friendly restaurants. I ended up really not even looking for any, since I came to school as a vegetarian and it is quite simple to make a dish vegetarian. I also had a cafeteria meal plan (not by choice) and ate a pretty unhealthy amount of grilled cheese and french fries with pounds of ketchup (still waiting for a perfect vegan cheese to make a grilled cheese). But by the end of the year I was vegan! I started to be more aware of the restaurants around me and how it would affect my social habits. I decided to join yelp and was able to look further into vegan-friendly restaurants.

One night, one of my friends was so bored she wanted to go to the mall with me. In other words, she'd rather go through torture than sit at home. I knowing that she must really have wanted to get out of the house suggested instead of shopping with the queen of impulse that we should get dinner. It was all on me to find a restaurant for my friend (who is vegetarian!!) and I. I spent a good 30 minutes reading reviews and searching for a place that had high quality vegan food. We both agreed on Classic Slice Pizza.

We actually got lost on the way there, it is well hidden behind a fitness center. After thoroughly angering the drivers behind us with our slow driving and quick U-turn, we arrived safe and sound. The outside doesn't look like much, but once you enter there is a 'refreshing vibe' (as stated on my yelp review). The restaurant is very small, but has a very industrial cool look. You enter and immediately see a huge bulletin board that is filled with music from hopefuly bands, spiritual meditation classes, and the works. We entered and saw that the restaurant was still pretty packed for 9.30pm. And I have to say I am spoiled living in Chicago where smoking was banned a few years ago from all public establishments, but thankfully Classic Slice is completely smoke-free!

I had heard that they had vegan 'mini-pies.' There are 3 different vegan mini-pies:

Mediterranean:
Olive tapinade, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms and vegan sausage
The Anne Curry: No red sauce!!! curry sauce, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, tofu and tomatoes
Super Veggie:
mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, basil and your choice of tofu or vegan sausage
Priced at 8 dollars a pop

I decided to try the Super Veggie mini-pie and get an order of their bread sticks. The bread sticks, which were amazingly cheap, so I thought 'why not?' They came out on a full pizza pan, spanning 10 inches in diameter. I am so glad that I had my friend to share them with me, or I would have died. The breadsticks were more so flattened dough that was drizzled with olive oil, basil, and garlic, with a side of marinara. I can't explain how amazing they were, but they were like dropping on the floor and screaming in joy...amazing. I'm not joing. I could have eaten this just as my meal. They were the best bread sticks I have ever had. So fresh and flavorful.

Then the Super Veggie came out, I decided to try one piece since I was already so full. This was packed with spinach, broccoli, basil and vegan sausage (of course, no mushrooms). It was so delicious. All the vegetables were so fresh and perfectly cooked. Not too soft and not too crunchy. The dough is absolutely fantastic as well. My only issue was that I was constantly getting spinach in my teeth. I had to do a fake smile to my friend a few times to make sure that I got rid of as much of the spinach as possible before I asked the cute guy for a box.
If you are worried about the price tag on this beast, realize there is absolutely nothing mini about this pie. I came home with more than 3/4s of the pizza left over.

They deliver to the surrounding areas of the city, but not all the way to my area of the city...lame. But! They think they are opening up a shop near us. I'd die and eat breadsticks every day of my life.

If you are ever in Milwaukee and want a cheap, filling, and delicious meal...head over to Classic Slice.

Sleep in heavenly peace...

2009-03-06T00:16:00.005-06:00

The day finally came when my 13-year old Boxer finally gave in to death. My mom said that the last couple days he could barely get up, was sitting all the way down to go to the bathroom, bleeding from the mouth, and then yesterday in his stool. This morning he couldn't get up at all and had wet himself everywhere and didn't seem to even realize he had. He collapsed somehow, but then after 10 mins he finally got up. My parents took him to the vet and they said there was barely a pulse and that they would have given him to the end of the day.

I was very sad when I first called my mom, not even thinking about the appt with the vet about the bleeding. Well my dad answered very upset and I realized what had happened. I shut down for awhile, but in my heart I know it was what was meant to be. I had to let go and I was slowly doing so. I told one of my best friends that I knew the last time I went home was the last time I'd ever see him. That was a month ago. I feel guilty that I wasn't able to be there for him when he needed so much help and more love. He has been deaf for the last 2-3 years now, so he was completely isolated from the world. When my baby girl died last year, he didn't have any dog to rely on as his ears. He began to get worse until he just started sleeping 20 or more hours a day.

RIP MACK 1995-2009

I hope he has found his best friend up there. I miss them both very much.

Lunchbox Mania Continues

2009-03-05T22:00:00.002-06:00

Just cause I am so cool with my lunchbox.

But I do have one question, how does one keep moisture from other foods from softening up starches. Im tempted to buy another set of compartments, so I can use two covered lids in a day. But I want to find an easier solution that is still renewable.

Had the same lunch 3 days in a row.
-Half a bagel with organic natural peanut butter and mixed berry preserves
-baby carrots, which seem to get wackier in shape as the pound bag empties
-natural, unsweetened apple sauce with cinnamon
-2 Fruit Leathers

Only one lunch needed to be packed for this current week, since I missed Monday entirely and Tuesday I skipped one of my morning classes...oops

-Apples and Peanut Butter
-Carrots
-Tortilla with hummus, scallions, and zucchini

3/5

Keywords

2009-03-04T23:36:00.003-06:00

I have read many blogs that have tons of strange entry points to their blogs. Finally have a few good ones to share:

-cabbage, ribs, tomato (boooooo, better be vegan riblets)
-fucking with veg (ow, ow)
-the resipe to tegan and sara's casserole (I laughed a bit when i saw resipe and now want their casserole recipe)
-whuch cities has sarah already visited (welllll, let me start counting for you)

and finally....

-ae59b3db8026bf3e117d6ff4d010b443a9cd6d6086eb8307892b9ee9f4855607e4b2a545e665719c
no, I am not joking. I tried putting it in google with no success.

and this ends my procrastination...
I swear!

Power Shift 09 experience

2009-03-04T22:45:00.005-06:00

I am still am baffled that it is March. Two months have passed, and I have two months left of school, but in all actuality 1.5 months (Spring and Easter breaks!). The work load the past month and a half has absolutely been draining to the soul. I have had at least one test or more, plus labs and quizzes for the last 6 weeks. That is absolutely absurd and it continues when I get back from Spring break for another two weeks. By the end of it all I will have had 12 big assignments in 1.5 months and only 2 tests for the last month of school. Very very annoying. I am dealing with high levels of stress and lack of sleep.

Last week was no exception, I got 3 hours of sleep, or less, for the entirety of the week. Then woke up at 4AM on Friday morning to head to Washington D.C. for Power Shift. However tired we all were, the energy levels were high that Friday morning. We finally arrived in DC and headed straight to the convention center. We were greeted by this LARGE banner

The first day there was a large job fair. Since, I was not looking for either a job or internship for the summer it proved to be quite useless. I decided to go sit down for awhile, but then headed up the huge staircase that is in that first picture. At the top of the stairs was more tables that were oriented for causes and student organization opportunities. I talked to Campus Progress, Student PIRGs, Forest Justice, and many many more. I was so excited to hear about these amazing non-profits. Campus Progress works hard to get student's voices and concerns heard by helping them with any issues they are having with an organization. Anything from getting a speaker for free and paying for their travel costs, helping getting the word out on campus about a new organization, or even putting together a rally. Student PIRGs work with a university campus to 'work to solve public interest problems related to the environment, consumer protection, and government reform.' And Forest Justice is a new organization that is working hard on innovative tactics in the fight against deforestation and its effects. In other words, I became highly energized in the first hour I was at Power Shift.

We then attended a special event called 'Awakening the Dreamer' which allowed us to reflect spiritually, visually, and on our connections with people and the world. It was a 4 hour symposium that explores the questions:

Where Are We? – an examination of the state of environmental, social and personal well-being
How did We Get Here? – tracing the root causes that lead to our current imbalance
What’s Possible for the Future? – discovering new ways of relating with each other, with the Earth and looking at the emerging Movement for change
Where Do We Go from Here? – considering the stand we want to be in the world and our personal and collective impact

from their website

Again, this was extremely powerful and if you are looking for something to repower you and find your roots in the activist community go to the website and look to see where one will be held near you (they hold them ALL over the world).

The night ended with keynote speaches from: Mojora Carter, Rocky Anderson, Lisa Jackson, Van Jones, Clayton Thomas-Muller, Billy Parish...and more And Santigold performed. Absolutely brilliant. Loads of screaming and cheering from a room of 12,000.

The next day started our panels and workshops. With 5 different sessions alloted. I wish there were more panel slots, but if there were we'd never have time to eat or sleep.

My 5 were:
-Go Green Without Greenwashing: Communicating a Winning Message on Climate Change (panel included Summer Rayne Oakes!)
-Healthier planet; healthier people - the dual fight for health care and climate change solutions
-Social Media for the Greener Good: from Twitter to Facebook, using the latest and greatest tools for your campaign on the social web (panel featured the creator of Facebook Causes)
-Take a Bite Out of Climate Change and Inequality: Your Plate, Fair Food and the Climate Crisis (was not happy that one student's idea of bridging the gap between all three was to have a 'Meet Your Meat' event where the club would drag a pig around their campus for 3 days, then roast it...actually it didn't just make me unhappy I was close to tears that so many people could think that was okay. I wanted to scream. I wanted to go up to her after the session and tell her that she was choosing not to bridge the gap, but to exploit an intelligent mammal and scare it literally to death, but she left the room way before I was able to. Completely disgusting)
-Agribusiness is Cooking the Climate--Intersections between the food we eat, how we grow it, and our climate (most definitely my favorite of all the panels. the panel told us that this was only planned 5 days before the event, which showed that even powershift organizers were not putting two and two together between large scale industries and global warming. One panelist completely focused on the meat/dairy/egg industry making me smile with glee that a room of 200 would be educated)

The night ended with more entertainment and keynote speakers...but I went to dinner at my cousin's house. She had her first child two days earlier. I got to be the first one from my side of the family to meet little James. He was so cute, yet I forgot to take any photos...my excuse is that I was holding him the entire time I saw him, so sleeping teeeny baby in my arms does not mesh well with trying to find my camera and take photos. But I will assure you he is a cutie.

Sunday we had the 4th and 5th panels and then 5 hours of meetings to get us prepared to meet with our Senators and Reps. After we had mock meetings, we got to meet with our own states and talk about issues in our states that matter and also to discuss our plan of action with our reps. It was really great to see how many kids from Wisconsin were there. Almost 40 of us! When the drive is almost 15 hours, this is a really good turn out. The states with the most were of course from the east coast. But every state in the US and every Canadian province and 12 other countries were represented this weekend.

Monday was our huge rally. We met on capital hill in inches of snow and blistering cold wind. I held a huge sign that spoke on issues of factory farming and grain production. Not really sure what it said though, I just saw a group that had animal rights related signs, and I quickly asked if I could hold one of them. It was actually for a TV channel online, Supreme Master TV. I got filmed a whole bunch, but not sure if I'll ever find it. Their site is quite confusing to me. But the rally was an amazing experience, no matter how frozen my toes were, or how sore my arms were from trying to hold up a heavy sign that was being gusted down.

Between the rally we went to 3 separate meetings. Two with Senators and one with a Congressman. What was so awesome is the Senators were very open to climate change legislation and wanted it to be as tough as possible on industries that are causing so much of our greenhouse gases. The last meeting, which I actually led (how cool!) was with a very conservative Representative, though he was still open to new technologies, but very worried with the few in his district that are worried about windmills and so on. It just goes to show that writing an email or letter to your state represenatives do not go to waste, they will read and take your voice into consideration. I know I have sent many, many letters to Obama (when he was my senator) and Durbin (who I have met with a few years ago). The greatest part of lobbying is the fact that they will almost always send you a detailed response back. Most likely not personally from the rep, but the fact that the office takes the time to reply back with past actions and what they plan to do in the future is exciting. Never hesitate to have your voice heard!

So all in all, my experience was amazing. We did a lot of walking and climbed a lot of steps, got lost a few times, were completely crushed by the shear amount of people in one place, and were exhausted...but I am so fucking happy I got to participate.

Power Shift 2010?

Fried Noodles and Tofu & Sesame Ginger Cabbage

2009-03-04T22:02:00.000-06:00

I am almost caught up, just 5 more entries and I will be at the dinner I had a few nights ago. Go me. At since I am extremely worried for an exam, to the point I get so upset when I look at the material, here I am!

If you can tell, I love asian-inspired foods. However unauthentic it is, I want a piece of it. I probably have at least 2 or 3 meals a week that are from the East. A few months back, the week was no exception.

This Vegan Dad recipe was for Fried Noodles and Tofu. With fried right in the title, we all know this ain't a healthy night. Sometimes I just am so exhausted and stressed that I need to induldge my ever so grease-loving side. I thought this would be the perfect meal to satisfy that, while still being somewhat healthy. So I wouldn't have to cook extra veggies or side dish, I added some veggies that I had on hand, which were few (carrots, celery, scallions, and onion). This was a perfect noodle dish, with crispy vegetables and tofu and a sauce that was not overpowering or too heavy, especially since it came from a bottle, which I normally don't do, but lazy days call for it. I gulped this up in high quantities. Very delicious and highly recommend for anyone who wants to put aside being uber healthy just for one meal.

Since I never use a full package of tofu, after the left-overs of my noodles were gone, I wanted to use that tofu right up. I looked at my list of starred recipes from my google reader and found Veg Bitch's Sesame and Ginger Cabbage. I remember when I first read her blog entry for that day, my mouth was salivating from just seeing the words sesame and cabbage together. We all know my love affair for cabbage by now. I loved that the tofu was crushed to pieces before it was cooked, I guess I never really thought of doing that. Goes to show that my creativity for cooking is still yet to come. This method assured that every bite would be equal in tofu and veggies. The recipe itself is quite simple with just sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and a little soy sauce for the sauce. And carrots, onion, the cabbage. I cooked a giant portion of cabbage and ate it without any starch. It was absolutely perfect meal. I had a study group to go to 5 mins after I finished cooking, I only realized after I had put it on a plate, so I quickly pulled out tupperwear and brought my meal with me to my study group. Boy oh boy, the kids I met with were completely infatuated with my meal and couldn't believe how simple it was to make. I have a feeling most kids who live off-campus eat macaronni, ramen, canned soup, and frozen meals...ew? I don't mind canned soup and every so often I will pull out an Amy's frozen dinner or burrito (my favorites: Mattar Tofu, Black Bean Enchilada, and Black Bean Tamale Verde). But I'd never eat those every single day. I'm so happy that I take the time to make slow food from real food.

Well enough procrastinating. It has lasted now almost 3 hours...oops? Off to learn about Ampere's and Faraday's Laws. boo

Tomato Basil Cream Pasta & Morrocan Soup

2009-02-20T12:22:00.004-06:00

It's officially the weekend. Yay!

I definitely fell asleep in my last class, really first time all semester. If you knew me, you'd give me cake or at least a hug. I used to fall asleep every 5 mins in class. I think having a computer to take notes is helping with that, as my body is more active, and if I get bored I can distract myself aside from snoozes. My friend woke me up in class since our teacher notices everything, and we sit 2nd row. I said 'I was listening, my eyes were hurting, think I have something in my left,' although that was true, I was definitely half asleep. I know I'm not the only one that does this. My mom will be reading a book, while we are watching TV, I will comment on something...no response. I look over she is pretty much drooling into the book. I cough loudly, and she'll just pretend she was reading the entire time. Seems like we all tend to pretend every now and then.

On a school night when I come home exhausted I need a quick fix meal. One that I found on VeganYumYum was Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta. With its few ingredients it made for a perfect meal to whip up in minutes. I never have tomatoes on hand, as I do not appreciate them in their natural state, so I just used a crushed can of tomatoes for the recipe. It took five-minutes to put everything in the blender and mix it up. Then a short heating of the pasta and you are ready. I decided I wanted to get a bit more fiber and protein, so I added some canneloni beans and a little freshly ground pepper. It looks really orange in the picture, but that is because our apartment has such high ceilings that our light isn't the greatest for photos. But this was so delicious, the cashews in the sauce really made it super creamy, but obviously no way near as unhealthy as cream sauces that our omni counterparts would consume. I was very pleased with the all of the flavors coming together, the garlic and basil was subdued a bit by the richness of the cashews. Very delicious and very, very quick.

Many nights I feel like making soup as it is probably one of my favorite meals ever. Whenever anyone asks what my last meal would be I have a hard time deciding between soup and thai food. Almost immediately after Happy Herbivore posted her Moroccan Soup recipe I made it. It was a nice soup since it had a lot of downtime that I could go off and do something else, like school work! It has lentils, onion, tomatoes, carrots, celery, and chickpeas...well and all the wonderful spices. My entire apartment filled with the exotic smells of the spices while the pot was simmering. The ginger, paprika, garam marsala, and cinnamon all complimented each other so well. When it was all cooked through I could not wait to get my taste buds flowing, it hit the spot massively. The warmness of the soup itself with all the rich flavors and textures and I could not believe how far the little bit of cinnamon went, it worked so well against the garam masala and paprika. I would recommend this soup to anyone and might just make it for my friends one night. I might even recommend doubling her recipe so you can have more to freeze for later. Yes, it was that good!

Hope you all have a good weekend :)

Powershift '09!

2009-02-19T20:04:00.007-06:00

Next thursday I will be heading in a big 'ol van to Washington D.C. to take part in Powershift '09!! Powershift is a 3-day youth summit that will be calling our government to take immediate action against the climate change that is occuring. The first two days will be spent in workshops and lectures that will help the youth bring back the resources they've gained at Powershift to their schools and workplaces across the nation. So far 10,000 are signed up. There will be some pretty amazing people there, I am excited to say Nancy Pelosi (speaker of the house) will be our keynote addressee. The list continues with many other high ranking government officials and others. Some of the panels include: Climate, Creatures, and Ecosystems, False Solutions: Agrofuels, and Yes We Did: Empowering Youth, When Coolie became Cool: Cultural Appropriation, Grassroots Outreach, and many many many more! There will also be two big preformers, SANTOGOLD, and The Roots! And Monday, the last day of the conference, we will be marching to Congress to lobby. Very, very exciting.

I am so excited for Santogold, I'm so excited to see that she has taken part in such an event. I will most likely be missing The Roots as I will be dining with my Aunt and cousin, cousin-in-law, and the new baby boy that she is about to pop out. Little James is only days away from joining the world! And I have not seen my DC family members in two years, so it will be really nice to catch up properly.

The only downside is the fact that we are driving the 20hours. For 7 people though, it is cheaper to drive than to take a train/bus/plane. Only 3 of the 7 will be driving, as 4 of the students are at a local high school and the remainder are students at my university. So 6 hours of driving will not be fun. I will be making a mega mixtape or maybe I'll just go by a ipod tuner since I will know the car will have a lighter plug. We are going to be staying at a local church for free and the conference itself is only 40 dollars. I will be going to the grocery store and bringing all of my own food. Probably a few Indian Heat and Serve dishes, cous cous, granola, cereal, and tons of fresh fruit and veggies. We get back Tuesday morning, and at noon I have my first midterm...it probably won't fair well, but climate change and a chance to participate in this large scale of a movement is far too powerful to pass up.

Lunchbox

2009-02-19T01:20:00.004-06:00

I have to say I have an addiction to searching for products I want online. But I just look at descriptions, reviews, and pricing. Does not mean I commit, though when I am stressed I'll commit on the whim (note baby laptop, a brand new backpack (yam orange!) that came today, organic dry shampoo). But, normally I am good and don't buy it unless I know I really need it, and well so far I've used what I've bought frequently and they have been good solutions for me. So last summer when I was about to move into my first apartment, you can imagine I had a few late nights just searching and searching mindlessly for things I probably did not need but thought were cute... One of those things was a darn lunchbox. Now, when I was little I didn't have the cool Barbie hard case lunchbox, I had those insulated deals that if you spilt anything they would smell terrible, and by high school I was too cool for bringing a real lunchbox and sported wasteful paper bags with plastic bags on the inside. Definitely not cool. So the lunchbox search would always end on me dreaming about the Laptop Lunchbox system that our dear blogger has recommended so highly. The cost was unimaginable for my sad salary so it always went on hold.

Not anymore! This semester has proved to living on campus and eating pounds of Subway Veggie Delight's on Italian bread. They aren't too expensive, but they aren't cheap for what I get (lots of lettuce, cucumbers, spinach, lots of green peppers, a few red onions, salt n' pepper, oregano, and a little oil and vinegar). So I decided to get my Whimsical colored Laptop lunchbox. It finally arrived Monday morning and I have already used it 3 times. I've probably already saved a good 10 dollars on food by bringing my own lunch and I'm lowering my carbon footprint further by keeping with a durable plastic that I will not just toss after one use.

So as a special treat. I took pictures of my lunches. Maybe not a special treat for you, but I giggled all day long knowing the lunchbox was smoothly in my bag and I giggled all while I ate my lunch on campus. I'm definitely the coolest kid at uni.

salad with miso ginger dressing, fruit, and hummus and pretzels.

half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, carrots, fruit, craisins, and an Oreo.

My dinner was not pictured due to my being late to class. But it was cous cous, daal palak, carrots, and a pear.

And that is all. I just had a great night seeing Ben Kweller and The Watson Twins live...for FREE! I won an awesome contest by being a twitter-er. woot.
Back to series and parallel circuits and trying to forget about how cold and WINDY it is. Almost got blown over while walking to the theater. And I'm not exageratting.

Cabbage Stir-Fry and Garlicky Ranch Potato Patties

2009-02-08T01:53:00.005-06:00

Well the long week is over, thank you! But, apparently a new week is already arriving with even more work. Last week, I got all of my work done and think I did really well on my exam. I will try and work just as hard. I barely cooked...wait I didn't. I am really needing to get to the grocery store. So next weekend I am going to go. I just have to carefully plan out my meals this week. Most likely, lots of frozen veggies and quick pastas and soups. I only have celery and peppers left of my fresh food. But, what is amazing is I haven't done grocery shopping in 4 weeks and have been good.

One produce item that I absolutely love buying without any plan to use it in specific meals is cabbage. I have to say cabbage might be one of my favorites. I love it steamed, fried, saute-d, baked, cooked, and I do like it raw. One of the best things about cabbage for a poor-college student is that it lasts forever. I have had a half-head of cabbage in my fridge for over a month before and it tasted just as fresh as the first time I used it. Sometimes, I find it so hard to find use for a full vegetable in a meal and then don't feel like it for weeks. I had to throw out kale that I had forgotten about today... Cabbage never has that issue. I can add a little cabbage to soup or a salad and get all that extra Vitamin C and flavor. Back in November I made an impromptu cabbage stir-fry. I cut up the bit of tofu I had left, celery, red pepper, and onions. The sauce was pretty average, just a little soy sauce, hoison sauce, and sriracha. With a little rice and garnished with sesame seeds, this made a really delicious, easy meal. It wasn't the quickest, since cabbage does take some time to cook down, but there was really no work involved other than stirring every so often. When I finally get grocery shopping, I will definitely be buying a good 'ol head of cabbage.

Normally when I am at school I don't have many conventional American meals of a protein, vegetables, and then a mixed side. But, every so often I feel like having a meal that would be similiar to something I would have at home. At home, we normally have a protein, beans or salad, and vegetables. I decided to make Joni's, of Just the Food, Garlicky Ranch Potato Patties. They were very simple to make, just had to peal and shave a few potatoes and mash together herbs and spices, bread crumbs, and a little oil. Before I cooked them I decided to make roasted vegetables and cannellini beans with tomato and sage. I actually had to call my mom to remember exactly what the cannellini bean recipe was. She wasn't sure, so I just threw together a half an onion in tomato sauce and a little paste, added dried basil and sage. After, the mixture was boiling I added the beans and a little salt and pepper. A brilliantlly flavorful side that is quick and easy. When the veggies were close to being done I cooked my patties and was ready to eat. Man was the patty so amazing to just cut into, it was crisp on the outside, and the perfect 'tender' on the inside. And boy were the flavors delicious. I didnt pair it with any sauces, but I ate it with my cannellini mix. I really could not get enough. The recipe made 4, so I cut back to two. And I'm glad, because the one patty was filling enough for one meal. I used the second for leftover sandwich the next day and it was just as good cold as it was hot. Perfect patty for the perfect meal.

twitter

2009-02-02T23:32:00.003-06:00

Apparently it is all the rage...

http://twitter.com/shadowsarah

I joined when I am completely, desperately in need of concentration. I wanted to be at the library tonight, but it was PACKED. I knew I'd get no studying done because I love to just watch people. And anytime anyone comes by me, I look up and look. Very, very distracting. I also am working highly from the computer, and its easier to just have my own, with my own settings. So here I am. I'm thinking Ill get to bed at 4 or 5...eek

On that note...
follow me?
oh dear.

I'll have a true update sometime after Thursday. I'll be working on getting at least 10 entries in this month. I will do it, don't worry. I am a proud owner of an ASUS Eee 901, which means I have a computer that is 9 inches wide! It is amazing, fits in my purse and barely weighs a few pounds. Perfect for my long days of 9am-6pm of classes. woot!

Have a good week!

Tegan & Sara / City & Colour / Visit to the Chicago Diner

2009-01-28T23:21:00.002-06:00

Wow... I know I am far behind on posts, but I didnt realize this far. I have to inform everyone about the Tegan & Sara / City & Colour concert I attended on October 9th, 2008. I had planned on going to the show, staying at my sister's condo, and heading back to school. Well my luck I got a massive fever. When I mean massive, I had a fever of 104-5 earlier in the week. I kept nursing it at home and hoping that it would die down without a doctor's visit. I was so close to not making it, but I would never miss a chance to see one of my favorite band's perform (City and Colour). It was Dallas Green's (get it, city...colour, BAM!) first time in Chicago for his solo project. I have seen him before with Alexisonfire, where he plays guitar and sings. I am completely infatuated by his voice in all aspects. It just gives me chills. So you can imagine no fever was gonna put me down. I decided to leave school Thursday after my morning classes and stay home that weekend to get to the doctor and just be in my own bed.

Well, I didn't just go in to see the show, I also got to see some of my friends that I have made through another favorite singer of mine...SIA! Sia who is a brilliant singer herself has a very active online community through her website. Well, we all get together for shows and it's really great being with a group of people that enjoy her music so much. Especially since we always are waiting in line for hours so we can be at the front of shows ;) Anyways, the 'Chicago Posse' as we have dubbed ourselves tries to get together when there are no Sia tours in the area. This was a great opportunity to get together. As two of the members are vegan and one is semi-vegetarian, we all decided to go to the Chicago Diner.

I will always jump a chance to dine there, it is just such a good experience every time and the staff and environment are all so welcoming. So what did I have? Like I said in my last post about the Chicago Diner, I was looovin the Reuben. I have never really been a fan of saukraut, but for some reason I absolutely adore theirs, but who wouldn't love home-made saurkraut. You could just tell it wasn't from some store bought jar concotion. It still had a bit of a crunch and a flavor that was not overwhelmed by the pickling. The seitan meat was again perfection. Sliced so thinly and looking just like a true corned beef. Their thousand island dressing should be bottled, it is sweet and sour and creamy and pretty much a perfect dressing for anyone. Even our omni friends loved the dressing. Now, you all know my dilemma with mac and cheese. I have tried three or four recipes now and still have had no luck finding one that will satisfy that processed cheese deliciousness that I had grown accostum to in my vegetarian days. Well, after having such good experiences the last time I was at the Diner...I decided to trust them. I ordered their vegan mac and cheese. And HOLEY (get it, holes...cheese, it's okay to groan!) MOLEY I was so glad I did. I couldn't believe how good it was, it was creamy with a very soft texture and that delicious cheese taste that I have been waiting to taste. I got so excited, I wish I could figure out what their recipe is. This is what I was waiting for. Oh my, I can still taste it...yes, 4 months later. Anyone who is planning to go to the Diner, try their mac and cheese! You will not be disappointed.

Now our bellies were all quite filled with vegetarian and vegan goodness. Two of us got the reuben with mac and cheese, another of us got grilled cheese, and another got potato skins, if I can remember correctly. But, who could resist their desert menu. We were too full to get a cake or a pie, but we opted on a shake. Our waiter said that he could split the shake into four servings, so we went ahead and got a Peanut Butter Chocolate Shake. This picture does not do this shake justice. Even the presentation is gorgeous, drizzled chocolate and peanut butter all over the glass and on top with crushed peanuts and cocoa powder. This was to die for! It was so rich and full of creamy peanut butter. I couldn't even imagine having gotten a full serving, the fourth of the serving was enough for me. We all savored the moment and enjoyed our company. And when the shake was all gone, we knew it was time to hit the venue and get ready for a fun night.

When we got the venue, there was already a lot of people there. But, we were fine with our back half of the main floor views. Plus, we all were fed with delicious, compassionate food. The first act was an all girl band named A Girl In Coma. Now, if anyone is a fan of them, Im sorry for saying this, but I really wanted to rip my ears off. They were pretty much just screaming bloody murder the entire time, and Im actually a fan of screamo and hardcore, but not their brand. I did enjoy their facial expressions, they ranged from eyes bulging out of their face to almost eating the mic. We all got a laugh from that. But, still power to them. A lot of kids were dancing and having a good time. I might have just been so anxiously awaiting City and Colour that I could not enjoy them. While and like promised, City and Colour came out on stage. I pretty much just lost it. I coooould not believe he was on stage and in Chicago. The only sad bit is that the crowd was AWFUL. They talked the entire time, they pushed and squished, and were just so rude to him. He did an entire acostic set, so the fact that there was chatter echoing in the hall probably was not welcoming. But, I still found the set absolutely brilliant, he tried to not let it get to him, and he played some pretty amazing songs. I did get a few small recordings of the show. Which are located here and here. His set was extremely short, but I was still glad I didnt wimp out and go home. No illness would stop me from seeing Dallas.

Finally the headliners, Tegan and Sara, made their way to the stage. They played an entirely energetic set with a HUGE mix of old and new songs. They always seem to have the funniest stories to tell you and as sister's their chemistry on stage is hiliarous. Apparently Tegan was moody that day and Sara made sure to tell the world. It was a very, very clausterphobic show. I felt like if I moved an inch 20 bodies would be plastered up to mine. Even the girls asked the crowd to step back a bit as the front row was looking like they were having a hard time even breathing. So, the crowd was extremely hostile. It's sad, especially since we are representing our great city. I have had a few bad experiences at that venue, so it could just be the location, but man was the crowd crazy. I did have a wonderful time and am so glad I got to see my Sia posse. We even took pictures with all of us and the hats that were made to represent our 'crew.'

Sia Represent!

French Toast & Szechuan Tofu

2009-01-11T06:07:00.001-06:00

I exist! A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Hopefully your new year is full a joy and love and all the good stuff. So far, I have yet to make my resolution. I just want to continue to be healthy and happy.

I'm sorry I didnt really update, if anyone missed me. At home, I really don't go on the computer. Either I am with friends or spending time with the family...oh and don't forget dumb 'ol work. I feel like I spent my winter holiday in a clothing store. I really wonder how many pieces of clothes I rang up. Im not doubting 2,000 or more.

I did have a great Christmas. It was the first year EVER that we stayed at home with just my parents and sister. It was really nice and relaxing. I hope we do it more often. I got a lot of great gifts, including the cookbook Sinful Vegan. Yum! Everything looks so good. My sister also donated a BedKit in my name. It is an organization by the name of "Sleeping Children Around the World" (scaw) which goes to countries in need, buys the supplies for the kits in that nation, and give them to children who are in need of common necessities. Each kit is a 35 dollar donation, which constists of: a mat or mattress, pillow, sheet, blanket, mosquito net (if applicable), clothes outfit, towel and school supplies. All of the money reaches the kids, as the volunteers pay for their own travel expenses. My entire family was really excited about it. We are now planning on holding back on gifts and donating to a cause in each of our names. My big gift of the year was a good chunk of change. I ended up buying a Wii and games with the money. Now all I can say is my search was HORRIBLE. It took 2 weeks of me calling 20-30 stores each morning after their shipments. By the end of the journey, I knew some of the employees just by their voice, some knew me, and I had all the shipments down by heart. I freaked out when one store finally said "We have one left." I rushed out the door and was giggling the entire way to the store. I absolutely love it. I have wanted one for awhile. I got 4 games (Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, Super Mario Galaxy, and Cooking Mama) and so far I love them all.

I also had a great New Years Eve. I spent it with some friends downtown at a comedy show. It was a bunch of comedians and also a comedy sketch group. It was great fun, though some of the comedians were a bit too rounchy for my taste. The sketch group was really great. They are called Big Dog Eat Child. If you are ever in the Chicagoland area, you should check these guys out. At midnight they had a complementary champagne toast. And what was even greater was public transportation was free all night.

So here I am, back at school. Hoping that all of my books arrive in time. I ordered only a week ago, so Im guessing they will be a bit late. I start school on Monday. Genetics and lab, Physics and lab, Criminology, and Forensic Science. Im quite excited about the last two. I hate Physics. And am nervous about the workload of genetics. It's going to be tough, but atleast I am doing what I am passionate about.

Long update, I mean I was gone for a full month! So on to the goods.

First up is mouth-watering french toast. This was a really late dinner. I think I started cooking around 11pm? I used Vegan for the People's recipe. I looked at Isa's, but it was just too many ingredients and a few I didnt have. So this one was quite simple with spices, flour, nooch, and soy milk. I used an older loaf of french bread that needed to be eaten quickly. I got a bit impatient with the soaking process, so a few of the pieces didnt get the 'full drench' effect. It was amazingly delicious and the whole apartment was full of the aroma. My roommate came in wondering what smelled so good, she always gets so surprised when vegan food tastes good. I was really excited to pair this feast with tons and tons of fruit that I just bought the day before. I had bought fresh strawberries, kiwi, plums, raspberries, AND nectarine. Yeah I went crazy. So I cut up most of the other fruits. I got to the strawberries...they were all horribly moldy. I bought them the day before. I was so frustrated, but it is such a hassel to go to the market that I wasn't about to turn around and return them. So I haven't bought any berries since. But Im always stocked with kiwi, pears, and apples. yum!

And what do we have here, Szechuan Tofu, and why yes? Another Vegan Dad recipe. Added to his recipe, I added celery, onion, and bean sprouts. It was sooo damn delicious. I roasted the peanuts first, so the flavor from the peanuts were so fulfilling. Im also glad I added the celery as the crunch from the nut and celery was the perfect combination with the softness of the pepper and tofu. The szechuan sauce I bought was absolutely hot! I really wasn't expecting it so I piled on my normal amount of asian chili sauce. Word of advice to myself, only a tbsp next time...please? I ate every bite and more, but I also had to nurse my mouth every few bites. I paired it with some cous cous. This was definitely a great dish that I will be making sometime in the future. Yum.

Enjoy your week. I will be back, much sooner than the last.

Spicy White Bean Soup

2008-12-05T09:20:00.001-06:00

The soup I talked about a few days ago was so good I couldn't just let it sit in my 'blogging' notepad. Again Vegan Dad's recipe called Spicy White Bean Soup. Can you tell I love his recipes? I think I say this once or twice a month. Anyways, it looked like the perfect soup to have when sick. I'm still not sure if I am really sick or just a cold. Hopefully only a cold, but I am prepared to fight this baby. No illness will get in the way of my studies this week. I have three finals and still in the works of finishing a 30 page laboratory report for physics. But, the end is in site and I am thinking about packing.

The soup is 'spicy' because it uses his recipe for seitan pepperoni. I thought this would be the perfect time to use the leftovers from my Thanksgiving seitan log, but that did not go as planned as it already was soggy and just did not taste right. I made the recipe the same and added basil, bay leaves, paprika, cayenne pepper, chili powder, tomato paste, and olive oil. I let it simmer for 40 mins and the smell was just radiating through my house. I got so excited when the potatoes were perfectly cooked that I never added the peas or corn, but I am fine with that. I had two bowls of this lovely soup for dinner, with another two bowls of leftovers. This soup took less than 10 mins to prepare and 40 to cook. I will be adding this to my normal line-up of meals. So simple, but so perfect.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T20:00:00.002-06:00

I have to say Thanksgiving has never been my favorite family-oriented holiday. My family in America is very small and during the winter months my nuclear family is the only family in a 1000mile radius. So we normally spend the holiday with family friends. Last year, it was really nice as we hosted the whole event at our own home. It felt much more casual and relaxed. Plus, after we stuffed our faces we were able to quickly get to bed.

This year was at my godmother's beautiful home. It was nice seeing everyone, but the time I spent creating the meal the day before was not really worth seeing two 25lb turkey's being cooked and sliced and fought over. I did though have a very extensive menu. I was the only one that would be eating my dishes, so everything I made was single or double servings.

THE MENU!!!
Bryanna's Seitan Turkey
Green Bean Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Bryanna's Rich Brown Yeast Gravy
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Sweet Yellow and White Corn
Cranberry Sauce and Applesauce
Apple Crisp

It was fun cooking all night, I just hated not being able to reward my cooking with eats right away. Though I did cheat and tried some of the Green Bean Casserole. oops...

Before dinner I spent most of my time re-heating and preparing my food. It is too bad they had to sit a night as the green beans were not as crisp and the mashed potatoes were not as fluffy. Such is life and it was all still perfectly amazing and delicious.

I took one picture of my plate, my family already thinks I'm strange for taking pictures of my food, I was not about to take 30 pictures and let my food get cold. Let's start with the green bean casserole. Holy hell, I absolutely looooved it. It was better than any green bean casserole I have ever tried. If I ever have to go to a dinner or am feeling like a good 'ol American dinner I will be having this! The Seitan Turkey was also amazing, very very flavorful and the texture was perfect chewy and soft. I normally am not the biggest fan of true meat replacers, when they are very similiar to meat's texture and taste I get really weirded out. But for the occassion they worked and were delish. I made my mashed potatoes with Earth Balance, soy milk, and a little Tofutti Sour Cream to fluff them up, they tasted amazing with the dark gravy (which even my parents liked). My mom made the cranberry sauce and applesauce which were to die for, both recipes had fresh orange zest which really made them pop.

Sadly, the apple crisp never actually got to be a part of the dinner party. I made a full recipe of the crisp, but we ended up leaving the dinner early, so we took it back with us as there was already two full tables of deserts to be shared. My family and I enjoyed it the next few days. This recipe is amazing. The combination of allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon made the apples even more brilliant. The topping was also perfect. I wouldnt change a thing about the recipe and I will be making it again and again.

That night I went to bed as early as I possibly could force myself. I woke up at 3.50AM and was at work at 5AM! I worked a 10 hour shift on the lovely American 'holiday' Black Friday. Shoppers galore attacking you, getting mad at you for them not reading discount signs, getting mad at the long lines, and screaming children being lost while their parents are bargain hunting. This year it was not as horrible as the year before. Less people are out due to the economy, but still enough to make it a perfect work day...

My thanksgiving break was not all cooking and eating and work. I got to spend a lot of time with my good friends and some friends I hadn't seen in awhile. I also got to know my new puppy, Mona, a bit better. She is now much calmer around me and likes to cuddle up against me and sleep. 7 more days and I will be back home able to see my family, friends, and of course, my puppies again :)

TuNori Melt and Cannelloni

2008-12-02T21:11:00.000-06:00

A week of school is left and 3 days of finals. Oh my, how did the time go!? Apparently sleeping and school and studies. Right now I'm making a lovely soup from Vegan Dad, the smells are making their way to my room. But right now, I really have to get caught up.

I tried another two recipes of Vegan Dad's earlier this year. The first was TuNori Sandwiches. One food that I absolutely adored when I was a meat-eater was tuna fish sandwiches and melts. They were probably one of my favorite lunches, aside from crescent dogs, and cucumber sandwiches. My mom would wrap them in foil and put them in the oven for a good 20 minutes. The bread would come out crispy, the cheese perfectly melted, and the spread melted in your mouth. Well it has been too long since that childhood memory, so I set out to recreate it. His recipe was quite simple, using chickpeas, vegenaise, and nori. I have not enjoyed nori in the past, but I really wanted to try the recipe, so I halved the nori in hopes that would be too little to develop that distinct after-taste. It smelled good and looked like a tuna salad. I popped these babies in the oven for 20 minutes on 200 to try and 'melt' the vegan cheese slices I have. They came out nicely, though I apparently no longer have the photo. Oh well. It turns out that I was still able to taste the Nori perfectly. It wasn't that it was horrible or the recipe, it was my damn sensitive taste. Next time I will try the same recipe, but add celery salt and other spices to get that same level of pow from the original.

The next recipe as I said was too from Vegan Dad. I made his Cannellon i. He made his own marinara sauce to cover the cannelloni, but I felt confident my glass jar marinara would work just the same. So all I had to make was the 'ricotta' filling. The main ingredients was the crumbled tofu, nooch, parsley, and soy creamer. It was so simple to make and it even smelled delicious. I filled my cannelloni with quite some difficulty until I finally gave in and got my hands dirty. Popped them in the oven for 40 mins. What was strange was they were so dry, even after they were covered in marinara and baked for 40 mins, I couldn't figure it out. I called my mom about it and she asked if I pre-boiled my cannelloni as some are all ready for baking and others you have to boil. Well shucks, got me. I definitely am an idiot and did not pre-boil pasta. Wow, hah. I didn't miss the step, but it sure did feel strange filling raw noodle with filling. They were still pretty good, the filling is absolutely mouth-watering. A few days later I saved the last of the bunch by completely DRENCHING them in marinara sauce and re-baking them. They came out nice and plump and again delicious. I will definitely be making these again and remember to pre-boil the cannelloni.

This post sounds like a failure in ways, but it really wasn't. I think that every time you mess up, you only become a better cook. I am doubting myself less and less. When I started to cook all my meals this summer, I would check and re-check and go back a third time to make sure I had the right measurements and was following the steps correctly, but I definitely have no need to do that anymore. I am able to do more and more intricate recipes and hope to do an amazing gourmet presentation for my family for part of their christmas gift (Food is so much better than gift cards!).

Well, I must check on my soup. I am hoping it will be done soon as I am getting hungry. I do believe I am getting sick. I am all congested in my head, sneezy, and a sour throat I only get when I am sick...ugh

8 days til I am home and done with this semester!

i know, i know

2008-11-09T22:40:00.003-06:00

I have been horrible, don't worry I know. I haven't forgotten about posting or any of you. I will be back in two weeks, hopefully before then, but these next two weeks are 3 exams, last assignments in all classes, and a physics fair. Already I am really behind. But Im keeping optimistic that I will be able to catch back up this week.

Take care! And I'll write in a bit.

PUPPY!

2008-10-30T22:45:00.006-05:00

Its definitely been awhile, I still have a ton of posts stored up from last month, but school is kicking my butt. I will post this quickly...tomorrow my family might get the chance to adopt a little puppy!!!! My sister works at Petsmart, she is the head caretaker for all the animals at a large shop downtown. They have a Pet Hotel attached to their store and there has been a little bulldog that was left over a month ago and the owners have no come to pick it up. The store has called them MANY times and for awhile they said they were coming, but now they hang up after they hear it is Petsmart. So this poor little gal has been in the hotel for over a month. The store has declared her abandoned and tomorrow she will be legally abanoned and we will be able to adopt her.

I think her name is Juicy and here is my sister meeting her for the first time today:

And of course, I cant not just stop with one, so I will show our other two puppies:

Ella is my sister's dog, she is almost 2 years old and the cutest monster ever. She likes to watch TV, like no joke she watches it. Anytime an animal comes on TV she goes nuts. We are working on her and she gets better, but its like she thinks she is protecting us from the dogs. And sometimes if she knows the commercial she will bark pre-maturely since she knows it is coming. She also loves to takes walks and cuddle.

Mack is my 12 year old man Boxer. We rescued him when he was 3 and have loved the boy ever since. He is the kindest, most gentle boy ever. He has a ton of problems with his hind legs and pretty much drags them now. You can sort of see how he has scraped his nails to the quick, so now he wears little booties. He also is acrobatic, since all of his strength is in his front legs he sometimes will stand only with his front paws on the ground. He has gone deaf in the last two years so really relies on Ella to know what's going on and loves to cuddle even more. He is in love with that little poof he is sitting on and sits there and licks it to death.
This last picture is of Mack and my late baby girl Maggie. We had to put Maggie down in Februrary due to degenerative mylopathy. She lost function of her hind legs and was in great pain as her nervous system was breaking down. It was the worst thing ever to go through, but the days before we decided she really communicated to us that she was in too much pain to handle anymore. We all miss so much. I have a picture of her and Mack right above my workspace when they were puppies. So cute.
Well we find out tomorrow if we get Juicy. I hope we do, I know we will be a great home for her and be able to give her all the love she needs.

WYSE cupcakes

2008-10-20T10:36:00.003-05:00

My life right is made up of mostly school and school. Thrown in is food and sleep. And that is how it should be for someone in their 3rd year of university. Im completely okay with this. But one activity that does help to take the ease off school, no matter how stressful, is the organization Women and Youth Supporting Each Other, WYSE. It is a national curriculum-based mentoring program for college-aged women and 6-8th grade middle school girls. These girls are normally at-risk and need guidance to help keep them on track. We work at a school that is 99% latino, a charter school. Even though the school we work with is really great, with great teachers, administration, and building, the girls do come to us willingly looking for that extra help and mentoring. Currently, we have over 50 mentees (almost 50% of the female population). The program is once a week at the middle school, where we use a curriculum to address major topics. When I say curriculum, I am refering to having a set topic each week that we base all of our activities off of. This week is focused on personal identity, where we will have 3 activities that all allow the girls to get to know their fellow mentees and mentors a bit better and also allow themselves to learn more about who they are. Other topics include: politics of motherhood, STDs, healthy living, and so on. So, we dont just sit there idly for 2 hours and hope that we can think of something to do, nor do we ever help them with homework, we are not there to be teachers or parents, but to be mentors. At the end of the year, we have a grand 'ol banquet, last year I was in charge of the event. All the girls and their parents were invited for a chic night at our university. We served a large dinner, showed a slideshow of what we did the past year, handed out awards and certification of completion, and really got to know our girls better. Im again in charge of the banquet for this year, and already in gear to start planning (its in April!).

Not only am I chair of banquet, but I am a director of the program. I hold the position of Community Director. I have direct contact between the middle school and their administration. I also handle all attendance for mentees and mentors. It ends up being a lot of work, 3 WYSE meetings a week, over 20 hours committed some weeks. But it is worth it. I have loved every minute I've been apart of the group. I've gotten to know some of the most amazing women on my campus and also learned more about myself. My mentee is the most adorable girl in the world, now a big bad 7th grader, we will graduate the same year. She is quite shy, but has a spunk to her that reminds me a bit of myself. I can't wait to get to know her even more this year.

These cupcakes were made for our after-training party. One Saturday last month, we spent a good 5 hours speaking to all of our new mentors (25) about the experience they will have and how to handle all the hardships that will arise. It is difficult to realize that even though these girls are amazing and strong, all women have experiences that are traumatic. So hopefully, our mentors are ready to take on any scary situation. The dinner was at another director's apartment. About 12 girls were in attendance. We served, garlic bread, salad, and pasta marinara (my suggestion ;) ) and I supplied these cupcakes for desert. The first is the ever so famous Cookies n' Cream recipe from VCToW. I had wanted to make these forever, but never had the cookies for it. These babies were so moist and chocolatey, I had trouble limiting myself to only one while I was baking. The cupcake on the right is what I call "Spiced Chocolate" Cupcakes. The major difference is in this chocolate batter there is red chili pepper, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon. They are topped with the same luscious white frosting (also of VCToW) and sprinkled with even more red chili powder.
Let me tell you, the girls at the party went first for the Spiced Chocolates. I was very surprised since most people dont relate spicy to chocolate, but chilis and chocolate were made for each other. Everyone thought they were so delicious and also really moist. They were really surprised when they found out they were vegan. So I think I did my job.

Chickpea Pot Pie

2008-10-18T15:33:00.002-05:00

I'm almost back to feeling a 100%. I had two midterms last week, they were tough and a lot of work...thank god they are over. What was great is that we had Thursday and Friday off for our fall break. I've been relaxing since Wednesday night in the comfort of my home sweet home. Though, the madness is about to start all over with two more midterms and two large scientific analysis papers.

Well one thing that does help to calm me down before large exams is to eat a good, hearty meal. This dish found on Vegan Dad's blog is 'Chicken' Pot Pie. This isn't a meal to make the day before a big exam or on a busy night, took me a good hour to make and then 45-50 minutes to cook. The leftovers were plenty, and they were perfect for those crazy days. While all the wonderful veggies cooked, I made the incredibly easy crust. What is nice about this pot pie is that there is only one pie crust, no bottom, just the top. Less unnecessary starches means more room for amazing vegetables. And I mean vegetables! It was filled with chickpeas, corn, celery, onion, carrots, peas, and potatoes. I was a bit nervous to make the crust, but it was so easy to mix. I did use a hand mixer, which made it very easy to put together. When all the vegetables were finished cooking I strained half the water and added in vegetable broth. It calls for vegetable broth powder, but it is a great deal more expensive than just cubes, so that remains to be something I will stock. My filling did end up a bit runny, but I didnt mind at all. Next time I will get rid of more water before adding the vegetable broth. What was so great with this dish, is after I assembled it and put it in the oven, the entire house filled with the aromas of the vegetables and the dough baking. I felt so accomplished. And I felt even more accomplished after I got to taste it. It was so damn good. It was everything I was looking for. I made sure to savour every single bite. I enjoyed the leftovers to the next few days just as much. You cant ask for more from a pot pie.

I must go and work on one of my papers. Sadly it is due on Tuesday afternoon, and I have barely started. I know what I will be doing all tomorrow. Lame school. Have a happy Monday!

Bean and Rice Burrito

2008-10-13T01:10:00.004-05:00

I am feeling a bit better. Thank you all for your kind words. Fluids and soup were my best friend this weekend. My mom did make a delicious lentil dish for me on Saturday night. Green lentils, yellow and red peppers, onions, turmeric, and vegetable broth. It called for parsley, but I stopped her right before she put it in. I have to say, parsley and I are not friends. But it was really delicious. Im so excited I brought the leftovers back with me...hello Monday night dinner.

Now that I am back at school, there is 3 days left til our fall break. I have 3 days of school to make-up, plus two exams...bring it on!

I will speak about my concert adventure, where my friends and I all went to the Chicago Diner had lovely vegan food. But that review and pictures from the show will come in about a weeks time.

Now to review another of Vegan Dad's recipes. Im telling you, I love his recipes. They are simple, few ingredients, and are most of the time less than an hour to prepare. It is great for any student. The Bean and Rice Burritos looked amazing from the picture. I love beans, rice, and jalapeno peppers, so this recipe was definitely for me. The recipe was quite easy, just had to wait for the rice to cook really. I had bought nacho cheese from Whole Foods that day, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to use it...wrong. Turns out I hated the nacho cheese. It was mostly a strong after taste from the cheese. The bean and rice and tomato mixture was perfect though. It was just what I was looking for. Nice simple meal, with great potential for leftovers. Next time I make this, I will leave the cheese out. I have yet to find a cheese that I am truly satisfied. I do like Tofutti slices, but I cant find any around here. Im not fond of Galaxy's white cheese slices, but their yellow cheese slices are perfectly okay with me. I am dying to get my hands on Teese and as well Dr. Cow's Tree Nut Cheeses. Once it gets colder, I will order the cheeses (since I wont have to pay extra for a cold pack).

Mhmmm, cheeese. One thing, Im still learning to live without. My house probably has 10 different types of cheese at one time. My mom is from Denmark and loves every cheese; therefore, I am quite partial to cheese after cheese myself. At Whole Foods today, I saw a blue cheese walnut bread, it was extremely tempting, probably the most tempting thing I have seen since going vegan. I am learing how to live without, but it will take some time.

What non-vegan item is most tempting for you?

sick...

2008-10-10T23:48:00.002-05:00

So my absence has been due to being very sick. I went home yesterday, still got to see the concert (full review coming), but apparently I might have pneumonia. I got x-rays to test for it today. This would not be the first, second, or third case, but my fourth. So it is a great possibility. Im hoping not, but it makes sense. I have midterms next week, so I need to get better in the next few days, like that will happen. At least I only have 3 days to get through of school, we have our fall break starting wednesday.

This weekend, Ill be nursing myself back to health. Lots of fluids, my antibiotics, and loads of soup.
Have a better weekend!

Internship excitement

2008-10-07T17:41:00.002-05:00

Well, I have loads of homework and a few meetings yet to go to tonight, so Ill make this short.

I got a really exciting phone call from my local FBI field office saying that I have moved forward in the application process for the highly competitive FBI Honors Internship, and have received an interview...TOMORROW!! Oh my! I am so excited. This is the chance of a lifetime. As some of you may know, I am a junior undergrad studying biology. I hope to continue grad school with forensic science (most likely trace elements or DNA). I really want to be a forensic scientist and with this internship I would get the chance to work at the FBI crime lab in Quantico, VA next summer. I freaked out mad when I was listening to the voicemail. I have been waiting to apply for this internship for two years now.
The application process itself is very hardcore. First faxed application, notices, recommendation, and the normal stuff. Also you must pass first security clearance. Then interviews. If you are considered further, more security clearances with polygraph test (lie detector), hair follicle/urine tests (drug tests), and they will visit family members, neighbors, friends, teachers, high school teachers, counselors, and so on to get more information on you. Then if you clear all that, you qualify. I've known I've wanted to work for the FBI for a good 7 years now? So while in high school I made sure all of my decisions were based on their requirements (no drugs of any sorts, marijuana and up and up). Even though, I already barely drink and never would have done drugs; the excuse of 'I want to work for the FBI, sorry I'm leaving the party...' or whatever, was quite helpful when peers demanded responses.

In other words, Im bouncing off the walls too excited to even try and think about hormones and their transduction pathways, ergh.

Yay, wish me luck!!

Spicy Tofu and Asparagus Stir Fry

2008-10-06T10:01:00.002-05:00

Monday, monday, monday. How I loathe thee. Other than hating the first day of the work/school week, I always have the hardest time waking up. On the weekends, my schedule reverts back to bedtimes of 3am-5am and waking up at 11-2pm. I've never been a very big fan of the mornings. My mom got me an alarm clock at a very young age, as I was not any picnic to wake up for school even then. But I am awake, and half-way done with classes. And so ready for my afternoon nap.

But before I do so, I must rave about this amazing recipe from Robin Robertson's blog called Spicy Tofu and Asparagus Stir Fry. Anything with tofu and asparagus...sign me up. A very simple stir-fry that took less than 10 minutes to prepare and 10 to cook. The sauce is quite simple made up of mostly just soy sauce, sugar, and a little seasame oil. But the tofu is enhanced with fresh garlic and ginger. And lastly, the extra spice of red pepper flakes. I like heat, so I added double of what was called for. I have not a bad thing to say about this recipe. It was amazing. The flavors so simple, but exquisitely paired with the delicate asparagus. And asparagus are not yet psychotically expensive, last week I saw a bunch for 99cents at my local grocery store, so I will definitely be making this again.

Also to add, I know I use white rice (of course, enriched!). Most people would cringe with that thought. But growing up I HATED rice, the texture was absurbed to me (can you tell I was/am a picky eater). But, I realize now it was because my mom always used wild or brown rice. As well, living in Brazil we ate white rice every day. It is what I am accustom to, what I like, and also it is almost 3x quicker in cooking time than other variations. I am learning to like brown rice, but it's baby steps.

That's all. Enjoy your monday!

VEGAN FUCKING MOFO

2008-10-05T19:09:00.005-05:00

I did say I was not going to participate. But I cant help it! Everyone is doing it and Im feeling the peer pressure!!!

More so, every blog is making me really excited for Vegan Mofo. I have already over 15 entries lined up, so I was like why not?

So it is official, as of 7:09pm CT of October 5th, 2008 I have signed up for the Vegan Month of Food!

This means that I must adhere to posting at least 20 times in the month of October. Ill be doing my normal stuff, but also be adding in a bit more personal goals for myself and talk about a couple projects I am working on animal rights and not. Also, if you have a specific question for myself or want me to answer, Ill do so!

Time for Desperate Housewives and more hot apple cider!

Mac and Cheese

2008-10-05T14:30:00.003-05:00

Thank you to everyone for all the recommendations for mac and cheese recipes. I did try one, I went for Vegan Dad's version called Creamy Mac and Cheeze. I mean creamy right in the title, that had to be the one for me. The funny thing is, I was never a huge fan of mac and cheese as a vegetarian. I mean every so often Id crave those boxes of the cheesiest mac and cheese by Kraft or Velveeta shells, but that was the extent of my mac and cheese love affair. But it seems that I need to wait longer than 6 months san cheese to try out these recipes...

The picture is not beautiful. I have a feeling I was shooting with ISO 1500 setting. But even so, you can see how creamy this mac and cheese is. The sauce was easy to make with my awesome bullet blender. All the nuts and seeds took a good 20 seconds to pulse down. I was making this while on the phone with a friend, I finished and was about to heat it, but it wasnt really orange/yellow. I realized, I forgot the nooch! I grabbed by canister of nutritional yeast and mixed it all in good. Again, it truly was probably one of the most creamy recipes I've tried so far. My biggest issue was that it had no real flavor other than the nooch. I enjoy nooch, but definitely in small quantities. I think it really is an acquired taste. I had no problems downing my entire portion, but the leftovers sat inthe fridge...forever. Im not going to throw this recipe out (like the veganomicon recipe) but I might try it in a few months and see if I like it then. But for the moment, I think Im going to stop trying to recreate a vegan processed cheese pasta.

The weekend is almost over...again! It just comes too fast. Hopefully this school week, goes by nice and quick. I have a great Thursday planned. Off to Chicago to see Tegan and Sara and CITY AND COLOUR. I have been looking forward to this show for MONTHS! It is the first time I get to see both of these artists live. It is City and Colour's first American tour. I am missing an exam for this show. I spoke with my professor, no worries, I drop it from my grade. I get to meet up with some great friends and eat some great vegan food at the Chicago Diner and see probably one of the best shows of the semester. Oh boy. I better calm myself down, still have 4 days to get through. Drink some of my hot apple cider and read Vegnews.

Book, book, book nerd

2008-10-04T13:16:00.002-05:00

Okay, so even though I am not participating in Vegan Mofo, I am of course in the spirit of things. I am loving just going through all the blogs that are participating and finding new blogs to stalk and love. Today I came across Awesome. Vegan. Rad. She has a great entry on the top 100 books at Librarything. Bold each book you've read, and color books you own. Star books you love. Well here I go!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (32,484) **
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) by J.K. Rowling (29,939)**
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) by J.K. Rowling (28,728)**
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) by J.K. Rowling (27,926) **
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) by J.K. Rowling (27,643) **
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) by J.K. Rowling (27,641) **
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (23,266)
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (21,325)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) by J.K. Rowling (20,485) **
1984 by George Orwell (19,735)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (19,583)
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (19,082)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (17,586)
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (16,210)
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (15,483)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (14,566)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (14,449)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (13,946)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel (13,272)
Animal Farm by George Orwell (13,091)
Angels & demons by Dan Brown (13,089)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (13,005)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (12,777)
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (12,634)
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (12,276)
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (12,147)
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (11,976)
The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Part 2) by J.R.R. Tolkien (11,512)
The Odyssey by Homer (11,483)
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (11,392)
Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut (11,360)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (11,257)
The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Part 3) by J.R.R. Tolkien (11,082)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (10,979)
American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman (10,823)
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (10,603)**
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (10,537) **
Lord of the Flies by William Golding (10,435)
The Lovely Bones : a novel by Alice Sebold (10,125)********(one of my favorite books)
Ender's Game (Ender, Book 1) by Orson Scott Card (10,092)
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by Philip Pullman (9,827)*****
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman (9,745)
Dune by Frank Herbert (9,671)
Emma by Jane Austen (9,610)
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (9,598)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (9,593)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (9,433)**
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (9,413)
Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides (9,343)
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (9,336)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (9,274)
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (9,246)
The Iliad by Homer (9,153)
The Stranger by Albert Camus (9,084)
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (9,080)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (9,027)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (8,960)
On the Road by Jack Kerouac (8,904)
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt (8,813)
The Little Prince by saintexupryantoinede - 75k - (8,764)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (8,421)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (8,417)
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (8,368)
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (8,255)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (8,214)
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (8,191)
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (8,169)
Moby Dick by Herman Melville (8,129)
The Complete Works by William Shakespeare (8,096)
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (7,843)
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (7,834)
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (7,829)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare (7,808)
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (7,807)
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (7,793)
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (7,710)
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (7,648)****
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (7,598)
The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by William Strunk (7,569)
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (7,557)
The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, Book 2) by Philip Pullman (7,534)**
Atonement by Ian McEwan (7,530)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (7,512)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (7,436)*
Dracula by Bram Stoker (7,238)
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (7,153)
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (7,055)
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (7,052)
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (7,043)**
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (6,933)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (6,901)
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (6,899)
Neuromancer by William Gibson (6,890)
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (6,868)
Persuasion by Jane Austen (6,862)
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (6,841)
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (6,794)
Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt (6,715)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (6,708)
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (6,697)

Almost half the books I have read, and I own just as much. Some of the books that I own and have not read yet Im hoping to getting to soon. They are all with me at school. In general, I love reading, my only issue is I allow myself to think while I am reading, so I have to re-read pages over and over and never get relaxed. Currently I am reading: Punishment by Anne Holt, Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis, The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston, and The Ethics of What We Eat by Peter Singer.

Today is the perfect day to sit around and drink tea or hot cider reading a great book. Hopefully if I get my work done for the day, Ill get to do just that.

Blackened Tofu, Tomato Cabbage, and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-10-03T20:49:00.005-05:00

Well the week is over, it was a nice quick week, but Im still exhausted. My apartment is also FREEZING, making it hard to concentrate on anything. We are having our maintenance guy come and help us close the storm windows since we cant get them shut. The high was in the high 50s today! Its crazy how it went from 90 to 50 so quickly. But, thank god for the weekend. Im going to relax and work on homework all weekend and Im perfectly okay with that. I am so happy it is October, it is one of my favorite months. Halloween, the weather, the smells, and all the amazing childhood memories. I've done a lot of cooking this week and have loads of recipes that I need to share. So no time to delay.

Sadly, Im still trying to catch-up with my September foods. I made Dreena Burton's Blackened Tofu, from Eat, Drink, and be Vegan. Ive seen a lot of people make this recipe and was excited myself. I made about 5 slices, then realized it was way too much. The smell of all the spices was mouth-watering. Though, I had issues with construction. I think next time Ill soak up more water from the tofu by having it sit between pots and books for maybe 30 minutes. It was hard to keep the spices on while frying them because they just were not sticking. It might help to also add some constarch to the mix to just have that little extra binding. But other than that, this was really good. I paired it with some rice and edamame and green beans. Really quick dinner and filling. Great for a weekday meal.

I've been grilling my mom for the last few months on a recipe she used to make us as kids. It was quite simply cabbage, ground beef, tomatoes, and veggies. But it was one of my favorite meals ever. She doesnt even remember it! So one day, I set out to recreate it. I had a small head of cabbage,celery, onions, and red peppers in the fridge, so it seemed like the perfect evening to prepare this dish.

Cabbage and Tomatoes
serves 2
1/3 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 head of one small cabbage, chopped
2 large ribs celery, chopped
1/2 can of tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup soy ground 'beef'
salt, pepper to taste
1 tsp cornstarch

-Using a bit of olive oil, saute the onions, in a saute pan, until clear transulcent, (3-5 mins). Add the cabbage and celery to the onions. Add a little water to help the mixture boil down. Once the cabbage is softened (after 5-7mins) add the tomato sauce. Let simmer for 3-4 mins. And stir every few moments.
-Add in the red pepper and water. Allow to simmer for a minute. Add the meat crumbles, salt,and pepper. Once the crumbles are defrosted, add cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp water to thicken the sauce. Serve once the sauce has thickened.
---

This meal was delicious. I adored every bite of it. I was so glad I made enough for two, as I had the rest of it the next day at lunch. Its such an easy meal and so filling. A great fall meal that will keep you nice and warm. I know I didnt really re-create the meal my mom used to make, I have to keep trying to refresh her memory. But this meal turned out amazing, and I cant wait to make it again.

And a final note on deserts. I FINALLY made Isa's chocoloate chocolate chip cookies from Veganomicon. Her cookies call for walnuts, but I left them out. I was surprised by how many cookies they made. I had a good 30 cookies that were medium to large in size. Took 4 cookie sheets to get them all baked. You have to try these cookies to believe how amazing they are. Each bite melts in your mouth while you are being submerged into the chocolately dough and chips. The only thing Id change for the future, is half the chocolate chips in the recipe. I think Im just a whimp, but oh my gosh I would have a bite of cookie, then 5 gulps of soy milk, and so on. They are sooo rich. But of course, that is a good thing. I made these cookies a few weeks ago and I still have a few cookies left. They are getting stale, so I might just use them to make cookie ice cream. Also delicous. So you have to make these cookies when you have a fresh gallon of soy milk. If you want amazing rich chocoloate chip cookies, pull out your copy of veganomicon and you will be set.

Yes, it is Friday night. But I have a lot of work to get done. Ill be reading a lovely chapter of Physics on conservation of energy, wooooho....

dont worry, Im kidding. booooo, is a better word for it.

Oh! Catherine, I finally used my shopping cart this week. My biggest issue is I fail at maneuvering it when it is packed. I probably ran over 5-6 people on the bus, plus my bags bumping into everyone. I guess that means I should do grocery shopping more than every 3-4 weeks ;)

Have a good weekend all!

Rainy Day Lentil Soup and 'Neat' Balls

2008-09-27T23:07:00.001-05:00

Well first grouping of exams are over. I had 3 exams and a paper all within the span of two days... Yes you read correctly. How am I still functioning? Well, first I had an amazing professor, and he let me take my physiology exam a day later. And, I have spent the entire weekend so far just lounging and watching tv. I mean like A LOT. 90210, America's Next Top Model, PROJECT RUNWAY, Grey's Anatomy, The Cho Show, and more. I told you! I even watched a magic bullet infomercial at 3am and was highly entertained. So yes, my brain is in need of a lot of rest. It was a hard week, really stressful, no sleep, and so on. But no matter the grades its over. I have to say the more time I am in school, the less I care about grades. Freshmen year I was miss perfect 4.0, second year I freaked over Cs on exams, and this year Im like whateeever. Im not sure if it is because I am in a more homey setting, or am just away from a lot of the drama that surrounded the dorms, but I am so glad I am a bit away from campus.

Lately, I have not made a thing. I have no juices, pop, or food for that matter in my house. So Ive been ordering my favorite chinese, or eating lunch on campus. Which is fine, but my pocket is obviously getting more and more empty.

So awhile ago I was craving a nice warm, hearty soup. So I made one. I found Rainy Day Lentil Soup on Fatfree Vegan. The recipe name was entising enough. It is quite simple, just all delicious things, like lentils, carrots, potatoes, celery, and spinach. It was very easy and quick to make. My lentils cooked in less than 40 minutes. But, sadly. I was not prepared for that to happen. So I started to smell crisp... Sadly, I burnt what sat at the bottom of the pot. It wasnt to the point I had to scrap the entire dish. And I had made the full recipe, so I could freeze it. Ooops. I got out most of the really badly burnt parts and salvaged it. Added a bit more salt and cumin to cover up any 'burnt' flavors. But there werent really any to begin with. Even with my little burning session, the soup was delicious. It was just what I was looking for. Nice rich flavors, thick consistency, and just all the vegetables added in just the right proportions. But, as you can see from the picture, I was unable to get alll the burnt pieces out. Though, after reheating it, I haven't noticed really. Its great to have the soup sitting in the freezer, so if I am really lazy or have no idea what to eat, I have it as a back-up. I have one serving left, so after that I'll be making a new soup :)

I made Dreena Burton's Neat Balls from the Everyday Vegan. Everybody that has had them have raved about them. Well I made the sweet and sour sauce first that went with the recipe. I really did not like the smell of it, it was really tangy and just did not smell right. I asked my roommate if she thought it tasted good, she didnt think it tasted like sweet and sour, but was okay. I obviously ended up scrapping it. I just did not like the smell. Next time, Ill try a different recipe or buy pre-made. So after scrapping the sauce, I made the neat balls. Tofu, veggies, spices, and some sauces to make them. They looked like a meat patty before baking. But I had some trouble with these guys too. Im not sure if I didnt keep them in long enough, but the outside was about to burn and the inside still was extremely mushy. They were good, but really soft. I ate it with some rice and a little soy sauce. Its not a recipe Ill be grabbing for anytime soon. They werent terrible, but even the left over balls sat in my fridge til I had to throw them out.

Well, I will eventually catch up with all my food from September. Im going to try and post them all within the next week. Have a good week to all of you. Hopefully Ill find some motivation to do work since I spent my Sunday watching Hannah Montana and played a virtual golfing game. Oh dear.

Chinese BBQ Tofu and Veggies

2008-09-15T23:19:00.004-05:00

Okay, really really crazy round here. School is finally picking up. Next week, I have a large batch of 3 exams and a book report. Eeek!? I just have to keep on top of things and not allow myself to fall back. I also have two weeks til my internship forms are due, but I am getting close to finishing all that. My organization WYSE (Women and Youth Supporting Each other) just had our fall mentor recruitment, and I'm happy to say we accepted 15 amazing girls to the program! We have training in two weeks and it is going to be long and lots of work, but we want to give these new girls the best training possible, so it is worth it.

All this is a lot to take on, but Im glad to announce, I dont feel too stressed...this is like a first ever!! Hooray. I got to go home this weekend, the bus was 4 hours late (2 waiting at bus stop + 2 in traffic) it was pretty dramatic, but I did finally get home. Though, in my area we had really bad flooding due to Ike's after effects. Chicago might go into a state of emergency. Both of our basements were flooded, but luckily it did not head to the main floors of the house. I know many homes have had 4-10 feet of water from this weekend. The rain didn't ruin my weekend, I got to see my parents and DOGS!, hang out with some of my friends, relax, and just get away from the school environment.

It was nice at home having someone cook my meals. I definitely appreciate my mom and the dishwasher now that I don't have either at my apartment. But I have been doing a good job at cooking healthy, fresh meals.

I've got 9 different recipes I tried lined up for the blog. AND a recipe of my own.

Today I have to tell you all about Fatfree Vegan's Chinese Barbecued Tofu and Vegetables. I have been using a lot of her recipes lately, and for good reason...they are all so good! I made this recipe while my friend was over helping me make the WYSE logo banner for our recruitment process. The sauce was a bit complex with: tomato sauce, hoison, Worcestershire sauce, molasses, soy sauce, and spices. But it really didn't take that long to make, as normal, I left out the mustard that was suposed to go in it. The auroma from the sauce saturated my kitchen as soon as I mixed it all together. It was just the right amount of each ingredient. Then peppers, broccoli, zucchini, and tofu were the main bits. I made a full recipe for once, and so glad I did, as three of us were able to scarf it all down. It wasn't too spicy, but it had the zing after effect that I love so much with spicy foods. The sauce, I cannot tell you enough how delicious it was. Even if you dont want to try the recipe itself, but use the sauce by itself or with another recipe...do it! It was so satisfying and delicious. I obviously will be making this one again. Perfect in all ways.

Well, I might go back to missing for a bit. Until next week's exams are over, I will be swamped.
Hope life is well.

Pasta Primavera and Snobby Joes

2008-09-09T08:59:00.003-05:00

Well I finally have internet! So here I am. It took the cable company a month to finally get their shits together. Take that back, finally took me a month to bitch them out about it. I am so happy to be back! And I will get to comments in due time, school is preventing me from spending tooo much time on blogging. 3 weeks in and I have my first exam on Thursday. It will be extremely easy (elementary statistics) but that is obviously not the point. I am studying a bunch, but I am trying to stay sane this semester and realize school is not rule over sleep and a bit of relaxation. So today, I will be watching the new 90210 and getting to bed at a decent hour. I will be getting a fresh breath of air this weekend and I will be going to my home sweet home. I am so excited to see my family and my dogs! I hate being gone for long periods of time, since Mack is now 13, and for a boxer that is off the charts old. I know he doesnt have much time left. His heart is healthy as can be, so we keep praying that it'll continue that way. I'll also get to see some of my friends from home, yay!

I am getting a bit behind on my meals. I have a ton to share, and a recipe, so stay tuned for all that.

Right now, I have to tell you how amazing Susan's Fatfree Pasta Primavera. I am madly in love with this recipe. The sauce is really what makes it special. Just a little milk, seasoning and spices, garlic, and cornstarch. But somehow when they all come together, they make the best vegan pasta sauce. Creamy, but not heavy. Halving the recipe makes just enough to coat the veggies and pasta in it, but thats all it needs. The flavors are immense. I've made the recipe a good 3-4 times already. Just plop your choice of veggies, beans, and pasta to boil. Mix the sauce, and viola. I cant tell you how much I love this recipe, you just have to try it for yourself. If you are short on time, or just want an amazing pasta dish. I vote for this one.

While looking at Happy Herbivore's blog, she had declared Isa's Snobby Joes the sole reason she bought Veganomicon. Well this I had to try, right then and there. I was already in search for something for dinner, and saw I had all the ingredients (well I used a red pepper over green). My roommate asked if she could have some of the meal too, so I made the full recipe. Again, very easy to make. Just boiling lentils and cutting a few veggies, and then mixing all the ingredients together. I seem to find that many of Veganicon's recipes are just too long for me to be able to successfully make on a school night. But this one, definitely is do-able. And AMAZING! Yes, it needed the caps. It was sweet, yet had a nice kick from my chili powder. All the ingredients were subtle, making it a really great meal to just savor in the flavor. I had no buns, well I still havent found a brand at my supermarket that is vegan (and Im lazy), so I opted for my Italian sourdough toasted. Just as delicious. I paired it with green beans. I had my leftovers the day after with some left-over rice. It was just as good atop the rice. My roommate also adored the snobby joes, she wanted the recipe to make for her mom. Such a great, versatile recipe for anyone, vegan or not.

Ill be back, now sooner than last time. Im so enjoying having internet again!

First meals in the new place.

2008-08-29T18:47:00.006-05:00

Day two of school is down. And only three more days of this week left. I cannot believe school is here! I am not having a hard time adjusting to my new location a bit further from my campus (a whole 4 blocks). The walk is nice and breezy as of yet. Come November, I will be screaming in agony over the cold and the LOONG walk. I still do not have internet set-up in my apartment. I applied through the school for a 'discount' rate. So they only make so many appointments for us kids. Its been 10 days since I applied and I am getting antsy. That's probably why this post will not get up til Thursday or Friday.

I don't have much work yet for my classes, but the large organization fest for campus is on Thursday. It's a great event for new students to check out all the organizations on campus, all 250 of us. I remember going to it last year when I transferred here. It was mind blowing. And its where I found out the club that I am now a director. It is called WYSE, Women and Youth Supporting Each Other. We are a curriculum-based mentoring program for middle school girls that are at-risk. I love my mentee and its so great to really see how she has flourished as a person this past year. I feel I have grown so much due to being a mentor and it has been the major shaping for my college experience.

Tonight I wasn't really up to cooking. I was going to make a great feast of Chinese Bbq'd tofu, but it was 7pm by the time I was able to start cooking and I was bent over sick to my stomach hungry. I am not joking. I had no idea what was wrong, but after I ate my big bowl of Annie's Tuscan Bean soup with toasted pita bread, I felt tons better. I also had a kiwi and apple with peanut butter for desert. So delicious.

My first two meals in my apartment were also not too extravagant. But they were monumental! My kitchen is fully baptized mine. The small size will not bring me down. I have everything a little more organized than a normal kitchen, that's all. It makes the small size a bit easier to bare.

The first meal I decided to make was Fatfree Vegan Kitchen's Chili Mac. A simple chili recipe that looked delicious. I didnt have any kale on hand, so I replaced it with green peppers. And I had a taste for black beans over kidney. But that didnt make any difference to the meal. It was so quick to make and so easy. It's definitely a recipe Id come back to when I was starving or running out of time. And it was so delicious. I used rotini pasta, so the sauce clung to every bite. It had all the right flavors with the nutritional yeast being only a small component of the recipe. I was so full after eating even half of my bowl. Even all by my loansome I felt like I was at home with this meal.

My next meal was just trying to pull together some of the leftovers I had. I brought some white rice from my going away dinner with my family, we had a thai feast, it was deeelicious. Even my grandparents ate a ton. But anyways, the rice was sitting for a few days and it needed to be used up. Then I used the leftover black beans, onion, green pepper, and then frozen corn. So pretty much all the veggies that was in the chili mac. I threw it all in a bowl, added a bit water to recook the rice, some chili powder and diced jalapenos. Took me a whole 5 minutes to prepare and it was so good. Really good. Yay for quick, easy meals. Ill be living on them once the semester gets tough.

I didnt just cook, but I finally got around to baking. We dont have AC, so I never wanted to bake, I couldnt even imagine how bad it would have been. I waited til one night was extremely cool and made Dreena's homestyle cookies. This is my sad little stove, yes it is as tiny as it appears. It is not a normal sized oven. But the pans do fit all the way. Ive never cooked with a gas controled oven, we have electric at home, so this was a pure experiment to see if I could even make anything without sending us all flying out of the building in alarm. Do notice we have a fire extinguisher, just incase anything like that happens. I got us an oven thermometer just because I do not trust this little oven at all. It took 10-15mins to pre-heat but it seemed like it was off 50 degrees. So I turned the oven to 400 F for my cookies. I kept checking them every 2-3 minutes, but then at 6 minutes I got so involved in the clean-up process (we don't have a dishwasher either) so I forgot to check before the timer went off. When I went to get them out, they were not burnt, but they also were like GOLDEN GOLDEN brown. They were crispy, but still did have a chewy texture. Dreena's recipe is flawless, so they were obviously amazing. My roommate adored them, she couldnt believe they were vegan. Definitely pretty successful so far.

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As I said, I knew this would take forever to get online. Its now Friday, Organization fest is over, and we got over 200 names that are interested in our mentoring program!! And all my classes are going off without a hitch. It seems like the it will be one of the first semester I can relax and breathe a little...hopefully.

This weekend is the Harley Davidson 105th anniversary. And since my city is the birthplace of Harley we are being taken over by bikers. A good 8000 of them to be exact. There is a huge festival for them down by the lake, but my ears are permanently screaming from the roar of their engines revving and screeching by. Ill be very glad when we get our streets back. But I guess Happy Birthday Harley? haha Have a greatweekend, and for all the Americans, enjoy the long weekend!

Summer is Over

2008-08-23T17:52:00.004-05:00

At least, the school year summer is over. I have one last day to prepare for the new school year, but I also have only one last post to finish with all the summer blog entries. I really thought that summer would prove to be a good time to blog. All the time in the world to relax and enjoy the weather. But that did not happen. I am still pale as a ghost and I was not able to de-stress too much. I did though have some great moments and it was overall a pretty good summer. Of course, no more carefree world of childhood where we played in the sprinkler and swam at the pool every waking hour.

A few weeks ago, I saw CeciLiA's post on the Jelly Donut Cupcakes from Veganomicon. I had never really thought of making them, but they looked damn good. I posted right then and there, that I was going to make them that night. And of course, when it comes to baking... I follow through! My dad was excited for the cupcakes, though my mom had high hopes that Id make those chocolate chocolate walnut cookies that I keep saying Ill make. But without chocolate chips she was out of luck. I didnt have powdered sugar to top off the cupcakes, but I had a huge jar of raspberry jam that was calling to me. They were super easy to make, and the cupcake base was amazing. I will definitely be using the base for plain vanilla cupcakes (i was not too fond of the vanilla in VCtotw). The richness from the nutmeg and cinnamon was heavenly, and made these bites extremely hard to keep to just one. I got a little carried away with the dollop of jam in the batter, so as you can see a few of my cupcakes caved in. It just made them even more fun to eat. Like a real jelly donut that always finds its way on your clothes. Like Cecilia says, I had to put them away in a container before I could eat every single cupcake. I'll be making these again and again.

On one of my busy work consumed days, I was looking for a quick bite, but had no idea what I wanted. I finally decided just a plain old sandwich. I found some yellow squash, red pepper in the crisper. Yet, I was extremely hungry, so I added a garden burger to the mix. Set with a layer of hummus, I piled all the pieces atop, and a sprinkle of seasoned salt. The sandwich was delicious, and it looked so pretty that I could help posting it. It was a mouthful to take a bite into, but its worth it for art ;) I was completely satisfied my entire work day. Which does not happen to often, since I always am running late.

The days that I am not working, I normally roll out of bed at noon and have no motivation to make anything delicious. Even so, I still want something delicious. I had been reading my new cookbook Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan and noticed the amazing sounding burrito mix from the recipe Veggie-Sizzle Burritos. I had all the ingredients except for the tortilla. So I used my fresh pita bread I got at the farmer's market instead. I also forgo the mushrooms and put red bell peppers in the mix instead. Fresh zuchini, red bell pepers, black beans, and onions were all delectably seasoned with chili powder, paprika, and tamari. I ate every bit of it. They were so good.

I cannot believe I am all updated for the summer. But that does not mean I am out of food to talk about. I have a cooked a bunch in the last week in my new apartment. I have yet to use the oven, but I am thinking about making some of Dreena's home-style chocolate chip cookies tonight. Oh my, heaven in a cookie.

Breakfast Galore

2008-08-19T13:45:00.005-05:00

I am all moved into my new apartment, so no more running around hustling and bustling. Since I had surgery on my toes last week, I have no doubt my feet are glad I can just do absolutely nothing. Well other than eating and watching the Olympics ;) The last week and a half I watched every single one of Michael Phelps' races and interviews. Not only was I amazed by his pure talent, but damn his body is ripped. It was so thrilling to watch the races live, I was freaking out mad during the 100m Butterfly. I used to swim a ton, I was on a team in jr high and all. But then I chose to take running to high school with cross country and track. Im also watching a ton of the track bits. But since I am not allowed to run for 4-5 weeks, I just get so jealous, hah.

Anyways...

Now that summer is 'over', I am able to look back and see the few times I woke up in time for a normal breakfast. If I was awake, it normally meant I was being forced. And a forced breakfast in my book is a quick bagel or fiber sticks and fruit. But there were a few occurrences where I would wake up at a decent hour on my own and be so amazed that Id cook a feast.

This day I had woken up around 6am. I dont get why, normally my bed time is around 5am, this was a miracle, in other words. I got up went running at the lake, went to the farmer's market, and came home ready to make something delicious. I ended up on one of my favorites...pancakes. I had gotten a ton of fresh fruit from the Farmer's Market. But we had some lingering blueberries in the fridge. My mom and dad still were not allowed to be eating any fruit because of their South Beach Diet. I normally dont like them, but I always love when they are cooked. Blueberry pancakes it is. They turned out amazing, I ate every little piece. It was Isa's recipe from Vegan with Vengeance. I havent tried any other yet, since I love hers so much. I paired it with some of the nectarines I got from the farmer's market.

This next morning I was alive for the morning hours was when I was still reading the Twilight Saga. I had fallen asleep while reading the book, and actually went to bed at a decent hour. I woke up starving, but could not decide on any food to eat on. Well then, make it, of course! I just got Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan so I decided to make a recipe from there. I decided on Zucchini Spelt Muffins. My only issue was I didn't have spelt flour, that was solved by looking online to see that the ratio between all purpose and spelt is the same. They were extremely easy to make and turned out amazing. MY entire family loved them. The fresh nutmeg and cinnamon were the perfect combination for a slow morning. After I baked them, I went straight to my bed and read the rest of the second book.

I will be all caught up with my entries by the end of this week. I only have one more before I am at present time, finally! Im going to go work on some more organizational projects for my room. Have a good one!

Check out my friends music show blog!

2008-08-10T02:03:00.003-05:00

Awhile back I told my friend that Id give him a shout-out to the good people of my blog.

Michael is already a hot shot at a radio station in the good 'ol midwest, but he is putting out some of his favorite music on his own blog radio program. Its a great 30min-ish radio show with great recommendations. A great collection of music that house all types of styles.

Here is his explanation of the show from the blog:

Thanks for taking a moment or two to visit our page. We work at a public radio station in the Midwest. I'm the morning on-air guy, Suzanne is the producer of one of our talk shows, and we both are into music in a big way. I'm also the music coordinator at the station so I get new sounds sent my way all the time. One day an idea occurred to me: why not share the tunes with others that are also into music in a big way? So Suzanne and I put our talents together and came up with The Mailbox, an offering of some of the things that are found in ... say it with me, people ... my mailbox, yes. Most of what you hear will be music that has come to me at the station or at home, but I'll add a few things now and again that might have some cohesion with the song before or after - or maybe I'll just play something because I can, dammit.

We hope you like what you hear, and we hope you'll tell your friends about us. We aren't doing this for riches or fame, we aren't receiving any special considerations from artists or labels. Not that we're against special considerations, mind you. If someone - let's say maybe someone like Sia or The Cinematic Orchestra, just to pull a couple artists' names out of thin air - wanted to send a poster or an autographed guitar pick our way, that would be swell. Just be sure to send two, I don't want to have to fight Suzanne for any of the cool swag. She'll kick my ass.

We're doing this because the idea of sharing cool music with cool friends and other cool people is kinda cool. Enjoy the tunes, and if you like them as much as we'd like you to like them, tell your friends about us, go out and buy a CD, catch the artists in concert, and let them know you appreciate their work. And if it's not too much trouble, ask them to send me an autographed picture.

Again the link is at: http://www.freewebs.com/themailbox/audioandplaylists.htm

Check it out. Every time he comes out with a new episode I listen to it while I surf my blogs.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend all!

Chickpea Cutlets and Mac n' Cheese

2008-08-09T12:23:00.006-05:00

So the summer is coming to a close. It makes me realize I really need to catch up with my blogging. Tonight I read all 200 entries from my blog roll on my google reader. Took a few hours, but that is okay as I was upset when I finished reading my book today, because it was the last in the series.

Last Friday, a few of my friends and I decided to support our friend at a book opening party. It was for the last book in the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. I was at work and had no plans for afterwards, so why not? I had no idea what the book was about, just that I have always loved the Harry Potter book launch parties that I had attended. (I attended every single one...yes, Im that HP fan)

Here is evidence of me and my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from last summer. I was shaking and freaking out, to the point where I had to calm myself down for a few hours before I could start reading.

Anyways. My friends tried to sell the book to me a few years ago, and I realized why I wasn't interested. They told me it was a love/adventure/teen story between a human and a vampire. I am really not into fantasy worlds, aside from HP. So we get to the opening, and I realize I should know what Im getting myself into. There were girls EVERYWHERE, like 12 year old girls. And they were all dressed in prom dresses, vampire teeth, bite marks, and etc... I was a bit scared. My friends and I were really the oldest there, aside from the parents with their pre-tweens. But everybody was telling me to just read the first page and give it a chance, so I did. While we waited for midnight I read, and really did get into it. I decided to buy the first book. There was also a costume contest, trivia, and other events. It was fun, and people were so excited.
Well I read the book, and was HOOKED. I had to run out that next night to get the second and at least the third book to keep me occupied. Sadly while my mom and I went on our shopping trip to the bookstore and Filene's the rain turned into tornado watch to warning. We had to sit in the back of Filene's for 40 mins while the storm went overhead. No storm funnels formed near us, but it was scary outside. Such is life...
Now less than a week after the book premiere, I have read all 2500 pages of the series. Even though I feel like a giggling pre-teen while reading the book. I absolutely adored the books. They were filled with a world that I had never thought to enter, pages filled with cute teen romance that did turn to adult relations, and adventure after adventure. I highly recommend the series, if you are looking for a quick, giggly, page turning adventure.

Lately I havent felt like cooking much. With work and all. But! I had my last day of work a few days ago, so Im hoping Ill soon want to get back into the kitchen. Today I just had minestrone soup and made a pizza from some left-over dough I had in the freezer.

So let's get back to food from earlier in the summer.

I got Veganomicon for my birthday, so I knew I had to sift through the recipes to find some delicious eats. My mom had already started dinner, and most of it was vegan-friendly. So I wanted to find something for a whole protein. I found Isa's recipe for Chickpea Cutlets. This recipe was so damn easy. Just mashing chickpeas and kneading a couple ingredients with the beans. Isa as normal had a few variations for prepartion, and due to the heat I just heated up a skillet and grilled the cutlets. They were ready in less than 4 minutes. And holy shit, they are amazing. Im so glad I made a full batch, because I ate them for a few days after at work. Made great sandwich meat. And also great conversation, I got a few girls at work to try some of it and they were freaked out at how good this gluten meat was. That night they were paired with brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cannelloni beans in a tomato base.

My next adventure in Veganomicon was Isa's mac and cheese. It was a pretty lengthy recipe, involving a lot of pots and pans and also baking. It called for you to make her Cheezy sauce to pour atop crumbled EF tofu, lemon with the noodles. Her recipe was for 8 people! So it took a bit to size it down for one person. My portions were still off, and I had enough to feed at least 4. Well, for all the work...I wasnt that impressed. I really forced myself to eat it. I hated the pieces of tofu in the sauce. I didnt like the citrus bit from the lemon juice, and the cheezy sauce's flavour was dependent on the nutritional yeast. Let's just say I was more excited about my roasted vegetables and just ate way more than my fair share of asparagus, broccoli, and red pepper. I feel guilty, but I threw out all the extras I had. So much for all that work...

That was the last bad experience I have had with cooking. All the rest of the food Ive made has been amazing, so I wont count that against Isa or Terry. I think Im still learning to like nutritional yeast, and really needing to realize that mac and cheese will never be the same without that gross powder shit.

Birthday Weekend Part 2.

2008-08-01T11:57:00.008-05:00

Well my birthday month has come to a close. So it feels necessary to update with the rest of my birthday weekend. I have been extremely busy with work and getting ready to move. I thought that the summer would allow me more time to just write and be carefree. Well, those summers I remember as a child/teen are over. Summer proves to be just as stressful as the school year.

But one weekend I felt like nothing was stopping me, on top the the world feeling, was my birthday weekend. The day of my birthday was so relaxing, almost as if I knew Id need it for the adventure to come the next day. My friends and I set out to see Jenny Owen Youngs at a venue downtown. We were going early so we could have a nice dinner at the Chicago Diner.

The four of us piled into my car to get to the train station. Had the most hilarious, yet sad train into the city. A woman obviously on many assorted illegal drugs was our entertainment. Her hair was everywhere and she wore these great pink bath slippers. At first she was very angry and yelling at this man who tried hard to pretend he wasn't hearing. Then she started to laugh and sing. Her lyrics went something like this:

"My momma was a drug dealer who kept me up. My daddy was a drug dealer who kept me up" "Im 5 days old, 5 days old. Gonna bring me up" "Pissin, pissin, pissin in a cup" "Singin, singin, singin for rock. Singin, singin, singin for crack"

All were to the same little beat and tune, a guy on the train was recording her. The lady sitting across from her had the hardest time trying to keep a straight face. We sadly had to get off before her concert was over.

So while waiting for our transfer train to arrive, we all were extremely giddy and excited from the funny train trip. After we made the transfer and
got up to the north side of the city, we trekked on over to the famous diner. I recognized it the minute I laid eyes on the building, right next to abundant sex shops, which got my friends even more giggly. There was a 10-15 minute wait to sit outside, but the day was gorgeous and we did not want to be inside on such a lovely day. So we waited outside for maybe 20 minutes, but once we got our table the service started immediately. The garden was so sweet and beautiful. I had a bit of a heart attack when I realized they didnt have any diet coke products. So I settled on getting my caffeine fix with a large glass of ice tea. We all decided we wanted to try the Cheesy Artichoke Calzone for a starter. It was a little small for sharing, we each got a small piece. But it was an appetizer so we all decided that was fine. It was very delicious, very creamy and cheesy and the pizza dough was fabulous. It came with piping hot marinara sauce, a really delicious little treat while we all were stilll deciding on what to get.

We did finally decide on our meals. All my friends were omni, but wanted to get all vegan options so we could all try each other's meals. I was soooo excited and all happy to see them trying some different foods and really embracing the full experience. I had been so worried that theyd all hate the food. My friend Teage settled on the diner's Reuben. I have heard great things about it, and now I know why. The seitan meat had the perfect thinness, crispiness, and flavor of a corned beef. Teage thought it was even better than a meat version. The thousand island dressing was delicious and it was just the perfect sandwich. She paired it with their Spanish rice. Next time I go, Im really tempted to get this again.

My friend Kim was torn between a few different entrees. She decided to try the Portabello Caesar Wrap. It was filled with long strips of 'chickin' seitan strips and portabellos, cabbage and lettuce, melted cheese, and creamy caesar dressing. Served in a spinach flatbread. She liked it, it was HUGE. It was impossible even with all of us tasting it to even finish half of it. I am not a fan of mushrooms, so Id probably not choose it myself, but the caesar dressing was delicious. I miss caesar and ranch dressings the most, I love creamy paired with crisp greens. She paired it as well with the Spanish Rice.

My friend Christina and I both chose the Chickin Ranch Sandwich. It had 'Chickin' seitan milanesa, guacamole, cucumbers, onions, large pieces of fresh lettuce, and their creamy ranch dressing. My oh my, was this a mouth full. It was so delicious. The ranch dressing was very good, I wish I could just bottle it up and take it home. It was tangy and sweet and extremely creamy. The seitan was delicious. I LOVED this sandwich to pieces. I forced myself to finish it, since I knew I wasnt going to be carrying it around at the show. Christina also enjoyed her sandwich, without guacamole, tomatoes, and onion. Our waiter asked if she was sure she even wanted the sandwich. I think its funny since normally at restaurants I have to just say what I DO want on my choice. Always have to say no this, no that, and so on. But this time I didnt have to do it!

Even though we were all extremely full, we had heard so many good things about their dessert menu, we had to venture on and try. So we planned on splitting, yet we couldnt decide on one to split. So instead we got two. Christina and I got the Cookies n' Cream cake. A mix of chocolate and vanilla cake with cookie pieces within the filling. It looked AMAZING. So beautiful presented. But I fel the cake was a bit dry, I like my cake moist, and it was lacking. The flavors were there, so I bet it was just our one cake. Maybe next time.

Kim and Teage's cake was a different story. They shared the Lemon Raspberry Cake. Moist yellow cake with raspberry filling and lemon custard, topped with frosting. Holy shit, this was to die for. It was so sweet, but since it was a yellow cake the sweetness wasnt overpowering with richness. It was heavenly. We were able to finish the entire cake and probably could have taken a full one home with us. Very delicious for such a lovely summer night.

After we emptied our wallets and slowly tried to even get up, we walked to Schuba's Tavern to see Jenny play. I was like in a mad rush to get there so we didnt miss anything. I was quite determined. Once we got there, I felt a bit more relaxed seeing that the starting act hadnt even gone on stage yet. We took a bathroom break, and caught the first song of Caleb Engstrom. His good looks matched his performance. My friends fell in love with his lips and lyrics. Kim bought his cd and it really is great.

After Caleb finished his set, it wasnt long til I saw Jenny come from the audience up to the stage and start setting up her one-woman show. She had no supports, just her and her guitars. I was so squeamish with excitement. We were second row, in such a nice intimate venue. She started off telling us how she lost her car keys and spent the last 4 hours of the day with a locksmith and shelling out 400 dollars to get car keys. She said she was really upset, but glad to be playing for her favorite city :) So things got started off and it was amazing. She said she didnt have a set list, so we were able to request any song we like. And she played every song from her album and a few new songs. It was just a beautiful show and I was beaming and laughing the entire time. She really is funny. I was so happy when she said she'd be selling her own merch after the show. So I went to the table and got in line. She was taking pictures, signing autographs, and more. So I was patient and anxious. But my time arrived and I got to meet her. We probably had a good 5 mins of time together. I got to ask her about her decision to go from veganism back to eating meat. She said it had to do with always being on tour and having to try and eat healthy and how all the soy in her diet was causing her vocal cords to be sore and inflamed. After she switched to a less soy-based diet, she said she saw results almost instantly. I also got to tell her how I had called in to a radio show she was on earlier in the day and ask her more. We took a photo, did some signing, and she even tape a video for my friends who are also HUGE fans of her. You can check out my videos from the show and the message to my friends on my youtube account.

I had the most amazing birthday weekend. I was beaming and freaking out from all the fun I had over the weekend. I could barely sleep that night. It was definitely a birthday I will remember forever. Im so glad I got to share it with my family and friends and of course, you guys :)

Birthday, Birthday...2 weeks later

2008-07-24T10:32:00.003-05:00

My birthday came and my birthday went. At first, I really wasn't too excited about it. My sister was like 'fact of growing up'. Very true. When we were younger there was the big parties the big excitement and yays and ooohs, but this year turning 20, really isnt monumental here. No new responsibilities and still cant drink legally. So I just planned on having a quiet dinner with my family and family friends and then going to go see Jenny Owen Youngs perform with my friends the next day.

So the day of the my birthday, I sleep in til noon (oh my!). When I left my room I saw a beautiful white wicker hamper filled with gifts and a blue star balloon. When my whole family got home, we opened them. I was completely flabbergasted that I got any gifts, as I had already had an amazing trip to IKEA, parents paying rent on a beautiful apartment, and many other necessaries for my apartment. I had asked for one thing, a concert poster of Sia's performance at the Belly Up. This is such an amazing translation of a beautiful photo of her. I cannot wait to find a spot for it in my new bedroom.

I also got a nice expandable drying rack, kitchen drawer organizer, awesome placemats and napkins, a shower organizer that fits my 9ft ceilings, and an addition to my growing vegan cookbook collection...VEGANOMICON.

I am so proud to finally have my own version. No more borrowed library version. Its mine to spill water and spices and fold pages and write changes to recipes or average times for myself. WOHOO

Pretty much after I finished my presents. I went and got my hair done all lovely. I am quite happy with it. It was too long and overgrown, Ive got my full fringe back and layers. Then it was off to the big dinner with family. There was 12 of us. 12 with many dietary restrictions: 2 on South Beach, 1 in need of Gluten-Free items, and of course me. It took me forever to figure out what to do. I was planning just on having spaghetti squash and marinara. I kept trying to read reviews on how happycow, which lead me to PF Changs. I had gone there last summer with my good friend from out of town and my family. We all enjoyed it then, and finding out all the vegetarian dishes were made with vegan ingredients made me really excited. So off we went. We got two orders of vegetarian lettuce wraps and I myself ordered Ma Po Tofu. I still think it is so amazing that they can crisp up silken tofu to such perfection. It was full of so many flavors that I could identify! I could smell the paprika among other things. I love how my pallet has evolved, it really shows that becoming vegan has made me appreciate cooking more.

After dinner we dropped the oldies off, and the girls went to go see Wall-E. OH MY GOD! Can I say this three or four times. You neeeed to see it. It was amazing. I couldnt stop smiling and giggling and laughing. It was so damn cute. And the message with the images were powerful. If you have no prior knowledge, Wall-E is a robot that is cleaning up Earth after all living creatures have moved onto spaceships. Save the environment, woot.

After the movie, around 1opm. I decided to make a birthday cake. Yes, that late. I was the only one who could eat the cake anyway. So it was more just to make it. I had already made the Chocolate Mousse Frosting/Filling from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. It was whipped and soft and deliciously rich and sweet. I was still contemplating what batter I wanted to make. But I ended up with the plain chocolate cupcake recipe from the same book. I just doubled the recipe to put into cake pans.

It was extremely fun to frost. I didnt really decorate it, but I did shave dark chocolate pieces on top. A triple chocolate cake, oh my lord. Definitely happy happy birthday to me.

So my actual birthday was fabulous, but I had a ton more to look forward. Like my first trip to The Chicago Diner, and the concert.

Review: Veggie Bite

2008-07-21T10:36:00.003-05:00

The acclaimed South-side Chicago all Vegan fast food restaurant was my first all vegan food excursion outside the comfort of my own kitchen. After I had told my mom that there was a vegan restaurant only blocks from our house, we realized it was necessary to go...immediately, well the next time they were open.

So the next day we headed off to Veggie Bite.

It actually barely opened when we got there at noon. But we got right in and ordered. My mom got the Live salad with tofu and tons of fresh veggies with their vinaigrette. I didnt take a picture of it, since she was already thinking I was crazy for taking a photo of my food outside of the house. She loved it, she said it was the perfect size and perfectly delicious.

I got the chili cheese dog. I havent had one of these in probably 10 years. So I was really excited. When they brought it out, it was still steaming. The whole wheat toasted bun was crispy and ever so soft. And their chili was delicious. It had the right amount of spice and sweetness with whole kidney beans and meat crumbles. Im really not sure what brand of hot dogs they used, but it was so good. It came with a side of fries and an organic Vanilla Lemonade.

Both my mom and I left happy and full. Too full to try the Chicago Soy Dairy's frozen deserts or shakes, meaning Id have to go back. Well like that wont be horrible for me, as I loved it. Obviously not the healthiest of foods for everyday, but it was so nice knowing we have the option for some delicious, fast-food only a few miles away.

Sorry for the long break. Summer months does make it difficult to have a regular schedule. But I have many photos yet to post about. Including my birthday cake, The Chicago Diner, and more...

SEITAN!

2008-07-12T13:01:00.005-05:00

My birthday weekend of amazing amazing delights is over, I swear that post is next! But I am definitely sad to see the few days off gone. I had the most amazing weekend, I still am high from excitement from last night's events.

A few weeks ago I decided to pick up some vital wheat gluten from the health food store. I found it a bit expensive for just a few cups in the package. But Ill probably start buying it in bulk. Anyways, I looked at Vegan Dad's seitan recipes. I knew his were quick and easy and delicious. I finally landed on Vegan Boneless Chickenless Hot Wings. It was promising and just looked so tasty from the recipe. I decided not to use the skewers, just because I would rather eat 'meat' with a fork. I went to the more ethnic grocery store in search for panko breadcrumbs. The pathetic thing is it was apparently a hot item that week, everybody was asking for them...and the spot lay empty. So I just used regular bread crumbs in the recipe. The breading was such a great fix that kept the breading snug on the seitan pieces. He used flax seed with soy milk, a little oil, and lemon juice. I really never thought of doing that, but it really kept the breading on because of how well it thickened. Im tempted to do something similiar for a french toast. I also did not make the sauce the same. He called for a 1/2 cup of hot sauce. The hot sauce we had was HOT HOT sauce that comes in a bottle that doesnt even hold a 1/2 cup. So I just picked up a hot vegan bbq sauce and heated it til it was liquid. When the seitan came out, I poured it just the same. I served it with roasted potatoes, leek, asparagus, and red peppers. Just so delicious. I was so excited to have finally ventured into the world of seitan. Just delicious.

I made the full recipe of chickenless hot wings that night, so I decided to use a piece atop a salad. We had cucumbers, celery, black beans, and radish. So I chopped up some romaine lettuce and mixed it all up. It tasted great cold and worked just wonderfully on top of the salad. Left me quite full til dinner.

Well that is it for today. I work tomorrow morning, and I really should get

Next post, my review of Veggie Bites and the start of my birthday! Shortly I will be all caught up and will feel much better, whew!

Brownie, 'Mexican' Pita

2008-07-12T12:40:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was my birthday, so loads of excitements came along with the day. I have one more post to catch up with, and then I can fully tell you about my birthday celebration. Though I can say it was family oriented, and I got to spend some quality time with my sister and mom. I vote it a great day.

So since Ive been working so much, I get stressed out so easily. Customers are evil at times and yell at you for things you just cannot control. Most of the people that witness these attacks come up to me and apologize for the person they have never met, but it still effects my day. So by the end of the day I am looking for something to savor and hold every bites worth. Normally I end up choosing to have my favorite snack of all time...popcorn. I have a microwave air popper, which pops perfect corn when you heat up the popper for 5 mins and then pop for 5. Though, my microwave is now 15 years old, I think she is a bit slow. One day I was craving chocolate, flipping through my google reader, and viola! Paulina of Veggie Delight had exactly what I was looking for. A quick gooey fudge brownie that can be made successfully in the microwave. I took my computer downstairs instantly and started to make it. It was the first time I was working with making a flax egg. I put the water in the microwave for a few seconds just to warm it out nicely, and let it sit for 15 minutes. I was amazed of how the flax soaked all the water up. It truly had an egg-like consistency. Then I made the batter, I just used the same bowl since I get complaints for making too big of a mess and using too many pots and pans and utensils. So it looks a little messy in the picture, but boy oh boy was this good. It was warm and gooey from the chips and had that nutty granola-y taste from the flax. It was so delicious! Exactly what I was looking for. I told my friend about it and when she came over to watch 'The Other Boleyn Girl' we made a batch, and she adored them! I just love when omni friends like my cooking/baking.

The next morning I was looking for another quick meal idea. I realized we had some leftover rice in the fridge that really needed to be eaten soon. And some pita, that looked quite tasty. I felt like something spicy, so I was like TOSTADA! But then I realized it was 95 degrees and there was no way in hell Id turn on the oven to bake a pita, to act as a tostada. So instead I cut it in half and toasted it in the microwave. I toasted it twice and flipped, since it didnt fit well in the toaster. I wanted mexican-style rice, but I also realized I didnt have the motivation to make it (veggie stock,tomato paste, veggies, and the spices) So the rice was mixed with black beans, creamed corn, salsa, and a mix of onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, and jalapeno powder. Heated that for a few minutes, and it was ready. I had some Tofutti sour cream in the fridge, and put it on top of the perfectly toasted pita. This was soooo good. I was so pleased with how it turned out. It filled me up and got me going and ready for another day of work.

I work even more next week, but I have a feeling Ill be making a ton of new recipes from my new cookbook. Anybody want to take a guess at which new cookbook has joined my collection?

Either way, you will be finding out quite soon :)
And Ive decided to change my font, I like this more, and I think your eyes will too.

Scrambled Tofu, Pizza Bagel

2008-07-05T23:58:00.004-05:00

Well Happy Birthday America. Another year has passed and my holiday and break from blogging is officially over. I have a ton of things to update on, so it wont be all in one post like normal. It'll take me a few days to get em all out. The past few weeks have been a load of fun. I have been working, but also getting some of the summer fun in. Last week, I finally got myself over to the forest preserves to run the 150 stairs that are at the toboggan sleds. I am unable to do the 15 sets that I used to be able to do last summer, but my goal is to get back up there before August. And I think I can do it. Im going tomorrow and then as well on Friday. I also went to the farmer's market, we got fresh raspberries, blueberries, snap peas, zucchini, home-made pita, hummus, baba ghanoush, and my mom got some cheese. It was nice and small, but it was a good market and we have already eaten all the fresh produce and fruit. Then for the Fourth, my friends and I headed up to Milwaukee to Summerfest. It is a large summer music festival that lasts for 10 days. Well we went up to see Ingrid Michaelson perform. She was amazing and amazing. She sounded just like she does on the cd, almost better, because you could hear every single pitch and shake and change in her voice. And it was great she rapped The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Ice Ice Baby. It was so fun. She ended on her Ukulele singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. What was also really great about the show, was that Bess Rogers, another amazing singer/guitar player was backing her up. Then after that show, was fireworks! We decided to then walk around and see what the festival had, and thank god, because we found out that Thievery Corporation had just started their set. We started out way in the back belly dancing and enjoying the sitar and the professional belly dancer. But we somehow ended up way up close and within the dancing, crazy crowd. It was an amazing show, sounds from every part of the world. I think the best bit was all the songs from the reggae side. The crowds went wild and for the final song before the encore, Warning Shots, we were allll going mad. Here is a clip from another show they did a few weeks ago of the song, Ill have to say our show was madder. The fans were just crazy! Im so glad I got a chance to go.

Okay, now onto the food. I had been wanting to make scrambled tofu for awhile, so when I had extra tofu lying round the kitchen after my stir-fry. I wasnt putting my hopes up too high since I still can remember the buttery, fluffy taste of perfect scrambled eggs. I have to say eggs were a weakness of mine. I put shallots, broccoli, zucchini, and garlic in my scramble. Spices were paprika, tumeric, and fresh ground salt and pepper. It looooked so delicious. I ate it, and I was not too thrilled. It had a great texture, but the taste had something weird to it. I think it had to do with the tumeric. It smelled good, but in that proportion I could not handle it. So next time, yes, I will try again! Im going to make it without the tumeric. As I really dont care about color, just needs to satisfy my mouth.

The next day, I was hungry for something warm and somewhat bad for me. So I ended up making a pizza bagel. I put leftover pizza sauce and toffuti slice with zucchini pieces, oreagano, basil, and minced onion pieces. While it was baking, I knew I should probably add something good for me, so I made a mixed berry smoothie, but Ive never been a fan of yogurty or milky smoothies, so I normally just use frozen fruit and orange juice and any other juice Id like. They are always delicious and I do like to add some ground flax seeds. I also had some fresh veggies cut with the meal. Well that was the first of the posts to catch up with my lack of posting the past few weeks. Tomorrow my mom and I are going to the farmer's market to get some more of the delicious pita bread we got last week and then we are heading to Veggie Bite, a fast food vegan restaurant. I will be overwhelmed with being able to pick everything from the menu. The Chili Cheese Dog or Italian Beef Melt or Nuggets or oh dear, see I cant handle it! There will be a full report back with the meals.

btw, It took me an hour to get my photos to upload, kept saying internal error, then I got one through til I gave up. Anyone had this issue?

Stirfry and Marinated Tofu

2008-06-30T12:20:00.004-05:00

Well work is really kicking me in the boots. Luckily this week I have taken the 3rd and 4th off, to celebrate the national holiday with my friends. We will going up to my apartment to go to the large summer festival to see some of our favorite singers/bands and maybe lay at the beach and get some food before fireworks. Then the next day we are having a BBQ back at home with all of our friends and watching fireworks. Ill probably be making a few pasta/potato salads for the party and bring my own hot dogs.
And btw, does anybody know an American brand of hot dog buns that are vegan? I cannot find any! Im also curious about the PETA list of 'Accidentally Vegan,' the email on the page does not work, so I couldnt FWD my question to them. A lot of the food on there has mono,di-glyercides and I just wonder What does PETA consider vegan enough? I will not consume any foods that have glyercides, unless I know for fact they come from a plant source. And the small issue we all have is that everyone views their own veganism to different extremes. Even at a potluck, how do we know that one vegan is at the same level as us, or if we are serving a dish that is below their standard food. Its all so curious. With veganism there really is no straight cut line, like with being a vegetarian. Most people realize that veganism is no dairy and eggs and no meat. But do they even know about the hundreds of other ingredients? Probably not, because I didnt even really realize it til a few months ago. Now I love checking the boxes of any foods, even if I am not going to buy or eat it. Just so curious to see all the 'crap' companies put in their food.

Now onto the food. Last week, my dad and I were on our own. Both of us were not feeling up to going out to get food. We both were pooped from moving and building all that stuff. So he decided to have leftover chicken, and I had a craving for something with tofu and veggies. I opted for a stir fry. I just found all the veggies we had and chopped them all up (red pepper, onion, broccoli, zucchini, and celery) put them in my wok and then made a variant of the Vegan Dad's sauce for tofu and cashew stir fry. My oh my did it turn out delicious. By the time it was all ready to go, I realized I never made my rice! So I turned to the trick of cooking cous cous in the microwave that I learned by Catherine of Food Snob. It was great cause the cous cous stuck to every bit of the sauce, very delicious.

The next night, my mom said she was going to be cooking brown rice with veggies and stock. They were going to be grilling meat, so I was like Ill do the same. I made a marinade with soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic, red pepper flakes, onion powder, salt and pepper, and then water to thin it out. I let the tofu marinate for 40 mins, and then put them on the grill. They turned out very very good. Had a lot of flavor and a bit of heat from the pepper flakes. Id definitely make it again.

That was really all the cooking I did last week, other than left-overs and quick meals I could make for work, since most of my large meals were had at work. Im off to work in a few hours, so Im making some whole wheat pasta to bring along. I still cannot believe June is going to be over in a few hours. Where has the time gone.

My Apartment!

2008-06-27T11:34:00.005-05:00

Well on Sunday, we head up North to school in a large rented van with all my crap. We arrived 20 mins earlier. And went scrambling trying to get ahold of my landlord or the manager. Apparently my landlord forgot to tell the manager Id be coming that day. But after ringing his door and the office so many times, we got his attention. It didn't take too long to get all the crap in doors, but we were there from 10 to 5 working on building all the stuff from IKEA and unpacking. All of it is done, and this is what my place currently looks like. The images are a bit pixelated, but just click on it, and you'll get the full image. I realize, most people dont want to look at 10 photos of an unfinished place, but im too excited. The apartment is 105 years old, all cabinets are original and there is a beautiful fireplace and claw-foot tub.

The entryway.
My bedroom!

The beautiful and large closet in my room.

My new super large desk, so excited to have space for once! Only problem is I need to figure out storage until I can afford a filing cabinet. Who knew they were so expensive.

The dresser from IKEA. Its huge and wide, can't wait to fill it.

The living room. The dining area, because of the window seats we have room to seat 6-7. We'll be covering both of the seats with new fabric, since they are old. The fireplace though is gorgeous!

The living room bit, we still are trying to work the details of how the layout will be. As the tv in any area is awkward.

My adorable bathroom. It will look much better once it is decorated. But for now it is quite bare. My roommate wants bright colors, so I obliged.The small small kitchen. This will be my new place of cooking soon. At least I will have cute pots and pans and serving wear. There is a ton of storage in the closet that will make due for my pantry. And the view is amazing, so compromises.

The start of my shelf for cookbooks! All the rest are at home, but so glad they have a home now.

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I luckily had Monday off, cause I was EXHAUSTED. So I slept and slept and really only ate leftovers, prepared soups, and rice and lentils. But I got some momentum going later on in the week.

30 Days, Sandwich, and Red Pepper Curry

2008-06-20T02:21:00.004-05:00

Days off. How we love them. But apparently I get so excited that I don't sleep the night before...5 am came and I was still online, but for good reasons. Helping a friend with a paper and philosophically debating with another friend on animal welfare, consumerism, capitalism, and other related ideas. He is a heavy meat-eater, but respects my beliefs.

After I got some sort of sleep, I decided to make what I was calling a HOT! A Hummus, Onion, Cucumber sandwich...then why hot? Because I apparently do not know what a cucumber is called. My dad finally questioned my logic with my name. So I decided to just stick with BLT, making even more sense. Just hummus on toasted whole-grain bread with cucumber, dill, season salt, and fried onion bits. Cucumber and dill is probably one of my favorite lunches.

And somehow the debate from the night before lead into my watching of the show 30 days. If you haven't heard, Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) has a reality series where one extreme will go to the opposite end for 30 days. He has done living on minimum wage, living with handicaps, and more. But this episode I was told about by the Vegblog. A deer hunter from the Carolinas would be heading to LA to live with a demonstration planner for PETA and her vegan, animal rights activist family. I was extremely worried about the show, I just hoped that it wouldn't put our cause into a bad light or make it out to be some kind of joke. It turned out to be an amazing 45 minutes of television. The hunter went with a closed mind, but he was able to open up while he experienced demonstrations for KFC, UCLA animal experimentation, and Burberry fur industry. He also ate fully vegan and worked at Animal Acres. My major issue with the episode is that for a few points I was agreeing with the hunter, he was extremely frustrated with people just continually being a broken record and not give him the hard facts. He said he would just have uped and left if he had to live with the founder of Animal Acres. I know it probably was frustrating having to work with someone you knew was going against your cause, but she continually tried to reason with him by bringing up Nazi Germany and slavery in our nation. I had a hard time seeing through this argument, as Im all about the facts, the science, the psychology, and economic sides. I know nobody will listen to me if I just go on about emotion. But if I can prove with my schooling that a vegan lifestyle is healthy or that all animals have developed sensory system, or even refute that a fucking plant has feelings...well then I think I will effect more people and get through further. The show was extremely emotional, I cried not once, not twice, nope not even just three, four times. I HIGHLY recommend watching the program. You can watch it on hulu, for free, and legal, beginning June 25th. There are little tidbits of the program already up.

I really want my mom to watch it with me, I think that if she sees first hand the events that took place just in 30 days, not too many months ago, she might take some interest in what I believe in and stop wanting to be ignorant. It hurts that after almost a decade of trying to talk about what is important to me I stil cannot get through to her. She doesnt want to hear about it and becomes disinterested and just shows to me that she doesnt want any part. Tonight I tried to talk about the episode and how great it was, but it was all just 'oh? hmmm' 's. My sister's friend is vegan and has been talking to my sister about some of the major issues with factory farms, my sister relayed that to my mom, and she listened! My dad is even worse. Anything I make, anything I bake he just turns away from it. I have a feeling if nobody told him they were vegan, he would eat 30. But with my vegan brownies, my mom loved them, tried to get him to try one, no do. I just don't get it. On the program the PETA employee was able to turn her whole family into vegans. I know that probably will never happen with my family, but I wish they could see the health benefits, want to see the horrors that I am aware, or even just take some interest in what I believe and care about. I try telling my mom that I want to make a difference in farm animals lives, she makes it obvious that she doesnt agree with my desires. She just told me I keep changing my mind. But I am only changing my mind because I know my calling, my passion, my life is within the animal rights realm.

Anyways, watch 30 days! You will love it. And if you are unable to watch it at Hulu and want a copy, I can try and figure out my DVD recorder and send it to you. It was that awesome.

I did promise that I would be cooking today since I had the day off. Though, my mom comes home and says she is making dinner for us all. She has this recipe she wants to try and it can easily be veganized. It came from the Chicago Tribune a few days ago, it is called Saucy curried chicken, but mine was obviously with good 'ol tofu. The recipe calls for honey, but we used sugar water and calls for yogurt, but I didn't have any soy yogurt so cream cheese whipped into a bit of soy milk did the trick. Laid out on a bed of orzo and topped with fresh mint and a plate of salad; this meal was delicious. It looked easy to make and could easily be tampered for a spicy or mild mood. Very delicious. So thank you mom for making dinner!

Tomorrow back to work, so no cooking. But I will be doing the last bits of packing and getting ready for my big move.

Chickpea Shepherd's Pie and Brownies

2008-06-18T23:32:00.001-05:00

I work even more hours this week. I even worked Monday 8pm to 5am. So I am extremely exhausted already from all the work, and still have 3 more days left. Though, I am moving this weekend, so that is adding to my work level. Tons of stuff I got to have ready for the truck. But Im not moving everything this weekend, just the big stuff. I just feel so bad since my mom is doing a lot of the packing and did all the painting I was supposed to do today. I kept telling her no, but she insisted.

Now onto the good stuff...FOOD, of course.

Monday before I left for work, I made another one of Vegan Dad's recipes. Like I said I adore his dishes because they are quick, easy, and yummy. This one was Cheesy Chickpea Shepherd's Pie. It doesn't look too pretty in the picture, but it was delicious. The longest bit was cooking the potatoes. I used Yukon Gold and cleaned the skins well so I could keep them on. The mashed potatoes made up the top and bottom, but in between was peas, corn, and an eggplant-chickpea cheesy mixture. Using milk and nutritional yeast. That bit was so good it could have been just eaten on its own or as a side. I'll definitely be making this one again. Im eating the leftovers at work. It looks to me that the recipe makes about 5 servings for one person. Since it was so quick, itd be great to cook once school starts and have a ton of already prepared meals. Delish.

Then yeseterday was my grandmother's birthday. But she wasnt feeling well, the poor dear. She is hitting the high 80's, so most days are slower. But she is still kicking and for the most part good an healthy. Even though she said she didn't want to go out, we still came over to check-up on her (she is the most stubborn lady in the world, even a blood infection didn't make her call the doctor). She turned out to just have a cold and so did my grandad, so we just opened presents at their house. We got her a digital photo-frame, my mom will be putting on photos of all the grandkids and then the one great grandbaby. After the photos are on, I think she will really like it. They were planning on getting hot dogs, I was thinking Id go home and get mine, when I remembered I cannot find any buns of any kind that are vegan. NONE! A whole aisle at two different markets, none. Im going to have to head out to Whole Foods, urgh. So instead got my chickpea shepherd's pie. I was extremely crabby yesterday. The overnight at work the night before was hell. We outsourced people to do our inventory, so I was just there to double count and help them out if they couldnt find a SKU number. We had to double count 25% of the store, but everybody kept telling us different ways to determine the 25%, so I got yelled at because the guy running it told me to do it different than one of my managers. Then they never gave us our paid breaks or a full lunch, we got half a lunch. So 9 hours in the middle of the night practically...so nobody really got on my case the past couple for being lazy and cranky, since I have reason. But I did cheer up once I got the chance to take a ride in my uncle's Cobra. Its apparently a really expensive car (150,000 and up) but his he made himself, like a kit. It's crazy to think he made it. It apparently can go up to 200mph, but he doesnt know how fast he has gotten his. It makes a load of noise and gets loads of attention. The seatbelt is a harness! It was just crazy, but a fun time. I couldnt imagine driving it often, but he loves it. My mom sat outside waiting for us to get back, she told me later. "I bet your blog friends dont have a Cobra," I just laughed cause she knew already that those photos would go up on my blog, oh dear.

I had a bit of a headache afterwards, but I was so giggly and what not that I was a bit happier. I worked again today til 11. I was going to go out with my friends to the open-mic at a coffee house, but I was too tired. I decided to make brownies. I used the recipe I found here. But we did not have any sugar, so I used agave nectar. I cut the agave to a hearty 1/3 cup. They baked extremely well, it was the first time I used applesauce as a replacer. I was a bit skeptical, but they look and taste like brownies. I think they are a bit too chocolately sweet for me though, next time Ill use only 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, and less nectar. But the more it cools down the easier it is to eat, so we shall see. Im very pleased with how they turned out, it took a whole 10 mins to make, so I sat and typed this up while they baked.

Tomorrow I feel like making either mexican or chinese food. Im off, so Ill definitely be cooking. So we shall see what I decide.

Chickpea Burritos

2008-06-14T00:02:00.004-05:00

Well I know I promised loads of foods and what not. But work got the best of me. I worked more hours than scheduled, and still have another long day tomorrow. But then I get a day off. Woooohoo, but not really as I am working inventory so Ill be at work from 8pm to 5am, so that will not be fun. Anyways, so that is my reasoning for not doing all the cooking I wanted to do this week.

But I did make one of the recipes I wanted to. I looove Vegan Dad's recipes. He always has quick and easy meals that are simple but delicious. And I tend to have all of the ingredients just on hand. So I decided to make his Chickpea tostados. What I loved about the recipe is it used hot spices, but then cinnamon. I had never thought about using cinnamon in a spicy dish. It was sooo delicious. The spice from the cumin and chili powder would flood your mouth, but then was cooled down by the sweetness. It was really great. For my toppings I used red pepper, lettuce, black bean and corn salsa, refried beans, and a little mozzarella cheese. My mom had already started making dinner for me, when I told her Id be making my own dinner. So she had a potato for me. So I put refried beans and salsa in it. It was good, but I was stuffed from my burrito that I didnt really eat much of it. Due to work I was super busy and tired. But I was able to eat the leftover chickpea and onion mix 3 days in a row. It was that good. I made two days burritos and the other day I had cooked some whole wheat pasta to take with work, but I had extra. So I mixed the chikpeas in with a little refried beans and mixed it up good. Then topped it with a little salsa. It was good and filling. The rest of the week was made up of hummus and veggies, leftover alfredo. And tonight pizza! I had made it because my friend who is spending the summer abroad in Prague leaves tomorrow. So we were going to do something before she left. She invited me over for pizza, so I said sure, I'll just bring maybe some pasta. But then I realize I had the left over dough. I had to defrost it in the microwave, a bit of it dried out, but most of it was still good. Just a plain cheese using Tofutti mozz slices. It turned out really well. The cheese got a bit runny it melted so well. So I just waited 10 minutes to eat and it was PERFECT! IT was so amazing. I was so glad. Her sister is vegetarian and wanted to try it. And she said she loved it. She had had a lot of bad experiences with soy cheeses, but who hasnt. Though she thought the pizza was amazing. I was really glad.

I also got a chance to try this Double Chocolate Decadence Cookie from Alternative Baking Company Inc. It was very very yummy. Very large and very delish. I wish I had heated it up a bit. It was very cakey since it was so thick. But I would definitely by one again. Though I do love baking my own. I will be making my grandad some cookies for Father's Day. Though I am still unsure what to do for my dad. eek, one day left! Ill figure something out. And I also want to try and make Isa's blueberry brownies. I have to return the book tomorrow, so Im going to have to make it tomorrow, or just pay fines for the book being late. Once I get my first paycheck Ill be heading over to the bookstore to get Veganomicon and a few other cookbooks. Anybody have a favorite?

Well other than work this week, I did get to IKEA! It was amazing and fun and so bad to my checkbook. I was able to get all my dishes, glasses, silverware, and a load of kitchen supplies. Plus a new dresser, desk, and chair. I move in a week, so its exciting as can be. So next week will be spent working a ton, packing, shopping, and hopefully getting to make another Vegan Dad recipe of Chickpea Shepherd's Pie (Im on a chickpea kick) and want to try a frittata recipe. So look forward to that.

Off to go eat a slice of cold pizza and watch a movie.

Weekend in short

2008-06-08T23:22:00.003-05:00

Well I have no photos for you all from this weekend. But I was a busy bee.

First off, HALLELUJAH! I am done with summer school. I believe I finished strong with good exams and good grades. Im just glad it is over, it was tiresome. I do not like having THAT structured a schedule. It did me well, but now I have time to enjoy my time.

So my parents did take me to my favorite Thai restaurant. Though, I did not take pictures as I was a bit embarrassed. Especially since the waiter has been there for years, knows my order by heart, and is a bit inappropriate (always asking me about dates and what not, but good food is way more important). He was a bit calmer since my parents were around, but I still was not going to be caught taking photos. Anyways. So he comes up and asks if I want my thai eggrolls and pad thai with tofu? And I told him about no eggs for me, so he told me I should try the rice rolls, which were rice paper, fresh vegetables, marinated tofu, served cold with a delicious dark sweet sauce. My entire family enjoyed them, it was perfect for a hot day. Then I decided to order the pad thai without egg and made sure no fish oils. It was just as good without the egg, I just wish I had more tofu! Its always the first thing that goes. I also ordered it a bit hotter, which was delicious. So in total, it was a great meal with my family.

The next day, my mom and I prepped my new room all day for paint. I started moving my clothes and packing up things, organizing, and what not. It was a very productive day, my mom and I both were pooped. For lunch I had leftovers from the night before. And for dinner my mom was going to make sausage and potato salad. So she asked what I wanted, I said Ill make my own version. While fishing out my hot dogs, I saw that there were still a lot of prepared 'meats' that were not vegan. So we threw away maybe 6 boxes of half eaten morning star and boca products. I dont like throwing things away, but when they are half opened, cant do anything with them. I realized that I didnt have any buns or time to run to the store or make any thing. So I made one of my childhood favorites of Crescent Dogs, I used a quarter slice of Toffuti Cheese singles and my favorite veggie dog, Smart Dogs. I was so happy when I found out that Pillsbury Crescents were accidentally vegan. They are just the perfect little finger food dinner. My mom was making Sour Cream Potato Salad. So I did the same. Here is the recipe.

Sour Cream-Dill Potato Salad serves two
2-3 potatoes, cooked, peeled, and cut in blocks
1/2 cup Vegan Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Vegan Sour Cream
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Cucumber, sliced in fourths
1-2 tsps Dill weed

1. Mix Mayonnaise and Sour Cream in separate bowl.
2. Place as much of the mixture you would like into bowl with peeled potatoes
3. Add Vinegar and mix well.
4. Add Cucumber and Dill.
5. Serve cold and with a dash of dill for garnish.

All done! Super easy, probably didnt need to give you all a recipe, but it is a great fluffier version of the American potato salad. Its delicious and quick.

Today we painted the room, its a gorgeous green (very soft, yet bright). We finished in a few hours. I got fired from using the rolling brush. Apparently wasnt doing it right. So I did all the fine touches and used the small brush to get up against the molding and ceiling. Now that that bit is done, the next big step is to get the current furniture gone. We are going to turn to freecycle to get rid of the furniture. It is a great program that allows communities around the world to get rid of their things through yahoo groups for free. The new owners pick up normally same day. And what's great is you can do as much getting rid or as much getting as you like. Their mission is to reduce waste and save resources. Great program! So after the furniture is gone, or atleast displaced for now, we will set up my 'new bed' and take apart my own bed. I will be painting my normal bed white to make it antiquish, and it will be moving to Milwaukee with me. I am buying a new dresser for my apartment, so my current will have be moved into my bedroom in my house. Its all so confusing! But when all is done it will have been a great benefit for my entire family for me to be in this other bedroom.

My main reason for moving into the bedroom across the hall (actually was my first bedroom when I young, but it is smaller) is the fact that the air vent in that room is MUCH better. In winter I will be warm and in summer I will be freezing. Currently I am freezing my ass off in winter and dying of heat (currently am extremely hot), so no more wah wah wah from me. Also it has a walk in closet. Also I've grown out of my current room. I believe I re-decorated and moved to this room when I was starting Junior High School, so 11? I painted it a beautiful blue and got all metal silver furniture with oak woods. And all things to do with blue stars. So for my current taste it just does not match. And it is very cluttered with its large open shelves.

I have been designing my room for Milwaukee to the dot. I have floor plans and measurements and everything you'd ever think a home buyer would do, yet Im just going to be living there for a year, maybe two. The building I will be renting from is 109 years old and is a Historic building in Milwaukee. It is just gorgeous with beautiful crown molding, original built-in cabinetry in the kitchen and walkways, large stone fireplace, claw-foot tube, original hardwood floors, and huge bay windows. Oh my! Amazing huh? Well we pay in sq feet in the kitchen, but really that is the only drawback. I will manage and because we have floor to ceiling closets in the hallway, I will just keep my pantry out there. Anyways, my room will be shabby chic and antique! I already have sheets all ready. And on Tuesday we are off to Ikea to find me a functional/large desk, awesome dresser, bed side tables, and all kitchen supplies needed. Im like madly excited. One of my favorite hobbies ever is decorating. I adore it. Its just too much fun. And Im so psychotic with detail that I go on and on and on to make sure it is perfect.

Well I will be taking photos of both finished rooms, so just you wait.
It will have been worth the lack of photos and boring rambles til that moment.

But, aside from all that rambles. After we finished painting, my dad and I decided to get dinner (my mom had already eaten with her friends). So we decided to try the other Thai place in town, we used to always go together. But they changed owners. We forgot, but that was because we werent impressed the first time. Now the lady was gabbing away to apparently her daughter when we came in, didnt even get off the phone. Nor helped us. She finally called someone from the kitchen to help us. I ordered the Garlic Tofu, it sounded delicious. And my dad ordered Ba-Mee. Came our dinner, and my tofu looked very fried, more like seitan. I looked at it for a bit and was confused. I didnt have any silverware aside from my chopsticks, so I bit into it, and chewed. It didnt taste like anything, but I spat it out. I asked my dad to try it, and he said what I was hoping it wasnt....chicken. FUCK! Its so ironic a few days after I had posted about my frustration with vegan food, well now somebody serves me fucking chicken. My dad was worried of how I would react, but I didnt want to be emotional about it. The waiter had disappeared, so we had to interupt the gabbing lady to confirm it was chicken. She said sorry and ran off to get it changed. Though our waiter even repeated tofu back to me, I remember it perfectly. So maybe he said tofu and wrote chicken, no idea. So that left me a bit freaked, not a bit...a lot. I kept reasoning with myself that my conscious decision to not eat meat products was what is important, because I had been served chicken or maybe ate something with a non-vegan dye, or whatever the case. I try my damn hardest to make sure food while eating out is vegan, but like we saw on Hell's Kitchen, sometimes we are told something is vegan/vegetarian, but it truly is not. Each person's definition of vegetarian is different. A lot of people don't realize that most vegetarians do not eat fish, others dont realize that eggs/dairy is not the only thing a vegan refrains from eating. So if served an item that is not vegan, it does not make us any less vegan. It does not mean that I must start the clock over back to 0 days. I do not feel good about it...at all. I wish it did not happen. But I have consciously made a decision to not support the meat industry, I have made a decision to be a voice for animals, and I will do so. My truest concern from the night's mishap, was the fact that the chicken probably was just thrown in the garbage. The poor chicken's life went to waste. I don't want any chickens to be served up on a plate, but the fact that it had to live in such horrid conditions for nothing. I just feel horrible. I wish I just took it home to my mom or something. At least then the food would not be thrown out. I know I get a bit more emotional over such things than most. I've always felt bad when I didnt like a gift or a toy. Hell I wrote my initials on all fast food toys as a kid, because I felt bad if I didnt like them all equal. Id split my sleeping time with my stuffed animals, because if I always slept with one, I thought all the others would feel bad. Even today, I am the biggest hoarder of things because I will feel bad if somebody finds out I got rid of the scarf they made for me 6 years ago, or feel bad if I threw out a card somebody wrote me for my birthday when I was 12, and the list goes on. It was an accomplishment the other day getting rid of a ton of clothes I do not ever look at, and got rid of a ton of papers and crap that was just left in boxes. I still have 6 under bed storage containers filled with different things. I still have my memory boxes (7 in total) from the past 6 years. But each time I go back and sort, I get rid of more. I still feel horrible, but I know I gotta do it.

Well after dinner, my dad went and got my mom and him some ice cream bars. He bought me a slushie. And I just lounged around watching HGTV with my mom. I think though Ill watch a movie and get to bed. Sorry again for the lack of photos. Been so busy with cleaning and what not. Though I will be cooking a storm this week. Get ready!