Internship excitement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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!