My Birthday Is Almost Here!

In my last entry, I made chili. It wasn't thick enough. So I remade it with more tomato sauce and more spices. It was so good! It was perfect since it was chilly outside again. I scarfed it down before I could even snap a photo. I was hungry and it was tasty. Sorry! I didn't make bread because I'm out of flour. When I was in the store for some tomato sauce, I forgot to get flour. That's what happens when I don't have caffeine.

I have been making simple dishes lately, like pastas and salads. I made a taco style salad, but left out cheese since I'm trying to avoid it. I just don't buy it anymore. I put in a sliced up and seeded jalapeno for some flavor. I also made lentils and used them in sloppy joes (instead of fake meats). It was pretty good, gotta step up the spices next time.

But I saw a recipe for white bean and garlic soup online. Turns out there is a recipe in Vegan with a Vengenance too. So I'm making that tomorrow! I set the beans out to soak tonight, so I can't wait. I looked up Tofutti online since Spencer recommended their sliced "cheese" for grilled cheese sandwiches. I was craving some with the chili but I didn't realize that a store near me sells Tofutti. Whole Foods didn't have it, so I had to get online to find a place. So I will stop there when I get back into town after my birthday, because grilled cheeses are awesome. Good comfort food after a long day.

For my birthday, I am going to lunch with my mom, my best friend, and her older sister. I think her nephew will probably end up coming too. It is going to be fun, I hope I can resist the tempting foods. Jenn and I are going to do some cooking together over the weekend, I want to make vegan chocolate chip cookies from VwaV also. If I can get my mom to buy me a mini donut pan, I want to make the mini donuts from vegan yum yum. I saw a pan with mini bundt moulds a few weeks ago, I would settle for that. Why someone would want to make mini bundt cakes I don't know, but whatever.

So my mom wants to take me to get groceries as a bday gift. I know it sounds lame, but it's sweet. I told her I want gifts that are things I can use, things that I need. So that was what she suggested, but she did say she got me a real present. I'm curious about what it is. I need to get something for Jenn, since her bday was a few weeks ago. I think I'm just going to get her a gift card to Borders or something. I want to order the Twilight DVD for myself. I loved the books and I've seen a million interviews with the stars, so I'm ready to see the movie. I also discovered the amazing music of Robert Pattinson (he plays Edward in the movie and Cedric Diggory in the 4th HP movie).

Something New Saturdays

I've decided to spend my Saturdays doing something new. I went to the farmers' market to get some veggies and I got some organic flours at the grocery store. I made homemade wheat bread! I used the bread machine to mix it and knead it. I should have let it rise more but I was hungry.... It still came out pretty good, but my camera batteries are dead. :( No photo to record this event, but maybe later I can get some batteries.

I also tried to make vegan goldfish crackers from the schmooed food blog, but some of them burnt and those that weren't burnt I thought were icky tasting. I thought it would be a good way to test out nutritional yeast, but I think I'll go without goldfish than eat those again. :/

It's Girl Scout cookie season! Yum! Not vegan, but delicious. My favorite cookies taste different this year for whatever reason.

I got a great deal on dried beans, so I soaked them overnight last night. Today, I am making homemade chili. It has some tomato sauce, black beans, red beans, kidney beans, and white beans. Plus I added in some chili seasoning. Should be good with some rice tonight. Can't wait to see what it tastes like!

Book Review

I finally finished the Feminine Mystique about two weeks ago. It was a brutal read, because it's so analytical. Not something where I could sit and read for hours. It was worth it though. If you're interested in the foundations of feminism, read it. :)

I also read all of the Twilight saga recently. I will probably read them again, especially when Midnight Sun is released. Midnight Sun is the Twilight book re-written from Edward's perspective. I read the first part of it on the author's website.

So this weekend, I plan on using the bread machine I got from Ashley and Spencer. I want to make some wheat bread. I also want to make vegan goldfish. Maybe even some cookies. Depends on how happy I am. I am definitely craving goldfish, so I can't wait to make the veganized version from schmooed food.

I bought Follow Your Heart vegan cheese to try. I got cheddar assuming it's a safe choice for the first try. It's oily. It has a weird taste. Next time, I'll try tofutti cheese...

Also, I'm now officially single. I feel bad for Scott, but this is the best thing for us.

Curry

I got a bread machine from my friends Ashley & Spencer recently. I haven't gotten ingredients yet to make bread though. It's on the agenda for next weekend, since I get paid on Friday. Plus, I have to look up directions for the bread machine. (I would have done that this week, but I read all the Twilight books instead.)

But I have been craving curry, so I used a recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. It wasn't spicy enough, plus I had to heat it for awhile to reduce the liquid. I wanted a fairly thick curry to put over my basmati rice. I would definitely make it again, reducing the amount of tomatoes (due to their juice) and adding more spices.



I've been enjoying the seitan recipe, I've just been making it by boiling. I want to try steaming soon. I think it would be good baked perhaps. I like having BBQ sauce and potatoes with it.

I haven't been eating much dairy in 2009. I haven't drank milk for years, but I used to use it to cook sometimes when I lived in BR. I haven't been buying milk at all, I don't cook anything that needs it. I have reduced my intake of yogurt and cheese, only had a few bites of each this year. So that's an improvement! I feel much less bloated, it's weird. I wasn't expecting that. Could be the increased intake of veggies though, making me full so I don't crave junk food. I really have been craving cheez-its/goldfish crakers. I found a recipe online from schmooed food on how to make a vegan goldfish. I am so doing that next weekend! I need to get baking sheets first. Can you believe the furnished place didn't include baking sheets? The other necessary dishes are here, but no baking sheets...

Vegetable Soup & Seitan

Today, I used that broth I made yesterday to make a soup. I used a couple stalks of celery, a potato, half of a large carrot, and some green beans. I used the rest of the broth to simmer the seitan in. I think I am going to pan-fry the seitan and have a salad with it for dinner.

Soup: Would definitely make again, but in a larger quantity...



Seitan: This afternoon, I made it and sliced it for later. I used the recipe in How to cook everything vegetarian by Mark Bittman. I decided to pan fry in olive oil tonight for dinner. I served it with some instant mashed potatoes (I had a headache so I didn't want to make some from scratch) and a salad. The salad has organic romaine lettuce, organic rainbow chard, some cucumber, and some carrot. Everything but the romaine came from the farmers' market. :)

Farmers' Market Season

So I resisted the pizza, but caved to chocolate chip cookies. Oh well, it's a start. I am a sucker for cheese, so that was shocking that I was able to resist. The Scripps people are super nice, we went to a little bar nearby after the pizza mixer. I laughed and had a lot of fun. There's another FSU alum in the group!

Today, the community started its farmers' market for the season. It is every Saturday through May. I am so excited about it. I set my alarm to wake up early to be able to go. It was so worth it! So much food, only $30!!

Homemade multigrain bread


Rainbow Chard - Organic


Adie checking out the green beans, green bell pepper, cucumbers, carrots, celery.


Yukon gold potatoes (organic), onion, garlic, ginger.


Parsley (store bought, not in season in FL), dill.


Homemade soaps! I want to use the bar soap, but the little ones are for decoration when I bring up the little white sherbet dish.


So I am no longer craving pizza so I am not going to hunt down the Follow Your Heart cheese today. Instead, I decided to make some homemade veggie broth so I can make some soups. That's why I got all the veggies. I was able to find store-brand organic extra virgin olive oil at Winn-Dixie, as well as Seventh Generation products! Those are soooo expensive in some stores, but since I use Scott's card info I can save 5% there. (His sister works at a Winn Dixie.) I needed fabric softener, so I bought some Seventh Generation fabric softener. Gotta take baby steps towards sustainability. :)

I Love Google Maps

I've located and mapped all the nearest thrift stores. :) Plus, I've found Whole Foods and local smaller businesses that are into health foods. I am craving pizza, so I'm hoping to find some Follow Your Heart vegan cheese this weekend. Their website says there are a ton of stores near here that sell it. I am cutting cheese out of my diet, since all it does is make me fat and addicted. I figure giving up cheese and booze will jump start my weight loss efforts. (Gotta lose that Louisiana weight and get back to my "normal" size!) ... And just eating less. Lol. Since I have limited funds right now, I bought fruits and veggies because I know I'll eat it since it's all I've got. I've been packing a salad with my sandwich for lunch, it's doing a good job of keeping me full. Much better than 100 calorie pack of snack food.

Work has a gym on-site!! I'm going to check it out tomorrow, I just found out which building it is in. I have some free weights at my mom's place that I want to bring down in a few weeks. I think if I get some of my things reorganized in my room, I can fit the treadmill. Or an elliptical, if I find a good deal on one.

I met other grad students today! Hooray! I'm not alone. The chem people are hosting a pizza and beer gathering tomorrow night. I'm going to go to meet people but try to resist the temptation of cow cheese. I can do this.