Indian Food in 30 Minutes

I bookmarked a lot of recipes in my copy of The 30 Minute Vegan the other night, but I really couldn't wait to make the tofu saag. I'm a sucker for Indian food and this sounded delicious. I was skeptical about using frozen spinach, but I read in another cookbook it's essential for the right texture in some recipes and Rachael Ray called it one of the best values in the grocery store because it takes a lot of spinach to cook down to equal 1 lb. The book had several variations listed, so I followed two of them: using sesame oil instead of water to saute the onion and adding in tomato. The other additions of cauliflower, potato, or peas would have been tasty as well, but I didn't have any of those things on hand. I served it over quinoa and with a side of red lentil dhal. Although there is a red lentil dhal recipe in the book, I had a box of pre-made red lentil dhal by Ashoka, a company specializing in shelf-stable, ready-to-eat Indian foods. I bought it a long time ago at India Spice, a local shop, so I wanted to eat it before it expired next month. India Spice makes fresh samosa from scratch on the weekends, just FYI. :)

Burritos & Ice Cream!

I was flipping through my copy of The 30 Minute Vegan and saw burritos. It doesn't really take a recipe to make a burrito, but it inspired me nonetheless. I cooked black beans from scratch to use in the burritos, as well as pinto beans from scratch for a side of refried beans (another recipe in the book). I used my little slow cooker to cook the beans after soaking them overnight. The burrito recipe called for an avocado, a tomato, a red onion, garlic, and cilantro. Hello, all the ingredients to make guacamole! I decided to saute the red onion with a yellow bell pepper in julienne strips, instead of adding it to the guacamole. I seasoned my black beans with cumin and cayenne pepper. The refried beans recipe was simple enough, but they definitely needed a liberal dash of cumin to kick up the flavor. The book also has a recipe for a nutritional yeast based cheese sauce, so I made that too, instead of using store-bought faux cheese like the burrito recipe called for. I also omitted sour cream from the burritos, because I didn't like it as an omni and I've never tried the vegan versions. My attempts to roll the burrito were in vain, because I put too much stuff in it. Whoops.





For dessert, I had a bowl of vanilla Tofutti ice cream with Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups added in. I wish I had a fudge sauce to add in as well, but I didn't think to pick one up at the store.





After dinner, I went to see a movie with a friend. Nice little Saturday, I'd say. :)

Indulgence

Friday night, we had our monthly student happy hour. We always have pizza and drinks. I order the food, so I make sure that I get my pizza with lots of veggies and no cheese. This pizza from Papa John's doesn't hold a candle to the delicious pizza from Pizza Fusion, but Pizza Fusion went out of business in this area. I like to pour the garlic sauce over the pizza to add some flavor, since it's just oil and chemical flavoring agents. (Yeah, that sounds terrible.) I enjoyed some lovely So Delicious coconut milk ice cream in mint chocolate chip later in the night at my house. This coconut milk ice cream is even available in some WalMarts, which is impressive considering it's a non-dairy dessert.







I decided to have an unconvential lunch on Saturday. I had some Van's frozen waffles in the freezer, but I didn't want the standard Earth Balance and pure maple syrup topping. I decided to use natural peanut butter and a banana for toppings instead. I felt like Elvis. :)





Today, I went to Valerie's Market in Jupiter. They had a coupon in a local magazine for 10% off your purchase and a coupon on their facebook page yesterday for a free reusable tote. I had a little free time today, so I went over there to check it out. I enjoyed a vegan carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese style frosting, but I forgot to take a photo with my iPhone before stuffing it in my mouth. It was awesome. I picked up a bunch of snacks for my desk at work, including a Glenny's brown rice marshmallow treat (would have been better with chocolate frosting - the way my mom always made rice crispies treats), Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups (so excited to try these!), Halo S'mores bar, Kaia Foods kale chips in sea salt & vinegar and chili lime, Bakery on Main's peanut butter chocoalte granola bars [edit: just saw these have honey in them so they aren't vegan!], and Sunspire Tropical Source chocolate chips (newer bags are called Chocolate Dream). I also grabbed some sesame seeds, because the ones I had went bad. They smelled funky and then I realized that they can expire because of their high oil content. Honestly, the prices were very reasonable and the clerk was super friendly. They use biodegradable bags, so if you forget your reusable bag you won't feel like an asshole who hates the planet.





Tonight, I made more lentil burgers! These are chipotle lentil burgers from Appetite for Reduction. I did not use canned lentils, because it doesn't take long to cook dried lentils. (Plus, I made a ton so I can freeze some for future use when I'm in a rush!) I would say that the recipe needs more bread crumbs though to hold the patties together. The nutritional information is for 1/8 of recipe, but the top of the page says it makes 6 burgers. I got 8 big burgers and one smaller burger out of this recipe. These were much easier to make than the other lentil burgers I made recently because the recipe said to chop everything up in the food processor. The patties were much easier to form with the lentils processed like this, so I'm a little surprised that I didn't think to do this last time.

More Sweets from Christopher's Kitchen

I've posted about the amazing brunch (here)and decadent apple pie (here) that I've enjoyed from Christopher's Kitchen, but this cinnamon bun was incredible. It was the last one left for the day, so I got lucky last night!





While I was there, I grabbed a piece of chocolate mint crisp bark. After the cinnamon bun, the bark was just okay. It was creamy and tasty, but the cinnamon bun was clearly the star of the show.

Back to the Food...

My parents came down to help me move, but I did not want to cook after moving all day. We decided to try out the Quarterdeck restaurant. I've never been there before, but my dad wanted BBQ and their online menu showed BBQ ribs. Turns out they just added a raw bar, so my dad decided to get raw oysters and jambalaya instead. My mom ordered shrimp scampi. I ordered the Ciabatta sandwich with a portabello mushroom, sauteed onions (instead of the cheese), and basil. It was quite good. Plus, they serve tots!





The first new recipe that I made at my new place was lentil burgers. Well, more like lentil hash, since I didn't mash the lentils to try to form patties. I really like that this meal is high in iron, protein, and fiber because it has lentils. :)

New Place Part II

This weekend, I installed little magnets to hold some cabinets closed. I attempted to do this with a manual screwdriver, but quickly became frustrated. I talked to a close guy friend about power drills and decided to buy a Black & Decker 12V electric drill. I got those pesky little magnets installed, so now the cats can't open the cabinets! Success!

Speaking of the new place, I wanted to show how I like to organize things around the house. Maybe it will offer some ideas to people looking to reorganize their space.


Spice cabinet


Kitchen appliances


Knife block!


Cookbooks & weights


Spoon rest



In the spice cabinet photo, you can see a sheet of white paper taped inside the cabinet. That is a list of all my spices in alphabetical order, as well as a list of liquids divided by storage location (another cabinet or the fridge). Yes, OCD. The kitchen appliance shelf saves so much cabinet space by keeping items that are not used daily outside the kitchen. I used to store my mixing bowls on top of the waffle maker, but I now keep both sets of mixing bowls on the countertop. When I was looking at knives, I knew I had to have a knife block to keep them organized and to prevent myself from knicking a finger while fumbling in a drawer. I went with Wusthof Classic knives, buying a boxed set and adding a tomato knife. I love these knives. I have another small shelf that I set near the sliding glass doors. This shelf has cookbooks on the top two shelves and free weights on the bottom two shelves. I have 5, 10, and 20 lb dumbbells, a jump rope, weightlifting gloves, and The Body Sculpting Bible for Women stored here. I set my yoga mat against the shelf and my workout ball is tucked in the corner. The last picture is my adorable new spoon rest, which says, "Live life passionately. Laugh out loud. Love unconditionally." :)

For your moment of zen, here are some cranes walking behind my new place. They started squawking after they crossed the street though. I never knew they could be so loud!

Sweet Freedom

I am finally free! The last six months or so were unpleasant, mostly due to my roommate's sour mood, filthy living conditions, and unusual sleep/wake cycle. I can say that I am elated, excited, and thankful to be living alone again. I finally finished unpacking last night! I found a lovely 2 bed, 2 bath townhouse in a gated golf community. What really pushed me over the edge into picking this place was the screened balcony. It overlooks three holes of the golf course and a man-made lake. :)


Looking into the living room - love the hardwood floors!


Looking into the kitchen - the hallway leads to the laundry room, second bathroom, linen closet, and office.


Kitchen - was expecting new cabinets, but clearly that didn't happen.


Pantry - maximizing space in my little kitchen.


Office - using the closet in here to store jackets and rarely used items.


Master bedroom - yes, the wall is a mirror, because each room has a mirror wall. :)


Master bathroom - new tile and glass door on the shower.


Master closet - so organized. ;)


Is it football season yet?