Betty Crocker, eat your heart out

No matter how vigilant you are about your health, no matter how healthy you eat, no matter how many toxins you avoid, when you come into contact with 100+ people a day, you will get sick.  It's unavoidable.

So, in an unusual departure from the Mister's Sick theme, I am sick.  It's just a cold and I honestly believe it will be gone sooner than later without any lasting ill-effects.  Nevertheless, it's annoying and has successfully knocked me [somewhat] on my butt.  I started to feel a little sneezy on Thursday night, so, being the smart young lady I am, I went to bed a bit early, hoping to head things off with a good sleep.  I thought I'd succeeded... until about halfway through yesterday, when it became apparent I was not okay.  Eventually, I was interrupting client interactions to run to the bathroom and blow my nose before I dripped on the iPads.  Paints a lovely picture, I know.

I still thought I would come home and make the Kale Barley soup I almost made the other night, but I didn't.  By halfway through my walk home, I was a sniffling, hiccuping, angry mess.  I'm not sure if there is something more irritating that sniffling and then getting a vicious bout of hiccups because you're sniffling and being unable to control your breathing (thereby stopping the hiccups) because you're still sniffling.  Anyway, I was in quite a state by the time I burst into our home.  After I blew my nose and calmed down, I sent Mister out for vitamin water, V8, tissues, and food.  He returned with the least offensive flavor of Vitamin Water I've ever had and a falafel salad, heaped with roasted broccoli and cauliflower and a Wawa hoagie for himself.

Angst was all over that.

To my surprise, you can now get baby spinach on Wawa hoagies.  To my greater surprise, Angst wanted nothing to do with that!  Mister tried to give him some and he wouldn't even touch it until Mister also put some Ranch dressing on the spinach.  Then he licked the dressing off and started squeaking for more.  He started pulling Mister's wrist toward him when Mister picked a piece of Provolone cheese off of the sandwich to share with the poor, malnourished, starving kitty.  I told Angst I was disappointed in him skipping his spinach for cheese and asked him exactly what I was supposed to call the blog now?  Mister suggested Angst Loves Stinky Italian Cheese, but I just don't think it has the same ring.

Shortly after dinner, I went to bed and slept for 12 hours before getting up and stubbornly trying to go out and teach lessons.  That didn't end up happening, so after returning to bed for another few hours, I got up and tried to make dinner.  It was at this point Mister intervened.

"Stop trying to do stuff!  Sit down."

There will be no recipe because I have absolutely no idea how he did this, but my husband morphed into Benny cRocker and made a vegan version of Biscuits with Sausage Gravy.

So it turns out my husband is actually pretty good at making biscuits!  They were soft and puffy and tasty and split right down the middle when I pulled it apart at table.

He was a little weirded out making the gravy with "fake" sausage and soymilk, since he hasn't tried to make this since giving up meat, but it was so cute watching him putter around the kitchen.  Although a bit confused, Angst genuinely enjoyed this Special Episode of the Cooking Show.

He used Lightlife Gimme Lean sausage, but it wasn't quite as crumbly as he wanted it to be.  The gravy was pretty thick and started to congeal, but he decided it was due to not using enough fat, not the soymilk that set off the fire alarm upon being added to the skillet.

I'd never had Sausage Gravy and Biscuits before (I wasn't actually a huge sausage fan when I did eat meat), but it was tasty and Mister said it was "close enough."  Mister is a CookingWithoutARecipe kind of chef, but it turns out Lightlife actually did the work for him and you can check out their recipe here.

I've been upright long enough.  Time to drink more liquids and recline a little while I digest.  Hope everyone out there in the cyberverse is feeling okay!

sausage in my pocket

Well, it's a new year so I get to start my HolyCowIt'sSoCold posts all over again with a brand new quotient of times to bitch about the weather.  Keep in mind - I love Philadelphia, I love Philadelphia in the wintertime, and I love the cooler times of the year.  Still, there is no reason that I should be outside when the wind chill factors the temperature into the single digits.

Nevertheless, this morning I put on two layers of clothing, wrapped my puppy-scarf snugly around my neck, zipped my coat up to my nose, pulled on my gloves and hat and headed out the door looking very much like a ninja.

A cold ninja.

There's always something that astonishes me the first time each year that I look at the weather and see that not only is it 14 degrees right now, but it feels like it's 2 degrees and today's high doesn't break the freezing mark.  It's as though that's never happened before, even though it did, in fact, happen just last year and the year before that, too.  To anyone reading in Wisconsin or any of its neighboring states, and of course Canada, feel free to have a good laugh at my expense.  I am grateful that I've never seen the temperatures you deal with all winter long.  But for a relatively temperate area like Philadelphia, sub-freezing is our sub-zero.

When I got home, my first impulse was to make soup dinner despite Mister's inevitable protests.  I did not for two reasons (one of which became null): first, we didn't have any sandwich fixin's and I feel bad [now] serving Mister just soup.  Second, I was already thinking ahead to tomorrow's work lunch.  Granted, there are a ton of fabulous eating options within a one-block radius of the store I'm in tomorrow, but I haven't been keen on spending money going outside unnecessarily lately.  I don't want to test the strength of my "tupperware" by toting soup in my purse for a mile, so I wanted to make something a little more leftover-travel-friendly.

Enter Charro Beans with Chipotle Sausage from Vegetarian Times.  I've made this before, so why bother posting about it again?

That's why ^.  I've been meaning to try Field Roast sausages pretty much as long as they've been on the market, but they are about $1 more than Tofurky sausages and, being somewhat impoverished, that $1 has disproportionate value.  Regardless, since the recipe called for chipotle sausages and since Field Roast makes them (and Tofurky does not), it seemed the perfect excuse to splurge.

Unlike Tofurky, which is packaged similarly to hot dogs, the Field Roast sausages were actually packed as individually-wrapped links.  This made for quite the adventure trying to free them from their casings.  It resulted in my hands and cutting board looking like someone had just killed him- or herself in my kitchen - I'll spare you the picture I took of my "bloody" hand.

Once I'd coerced the little buggers out of their plastic casing, I cut two sausages in half (anticipating they would pack too much heat to stay in whole rounds like the recipe instructed) and then sliced them to add to my sauteing peppers.

After letting them cook a little by themselves, I added the beans and tomatoes, but I left out the chili powder because I was getting the distinct impression the sausages might end up being more than I'd bargained for.

Fortunately, I did have the foresight to serve them on a fluffy, bland cloud of mashed potatoes.

That may very well have been the only reason I could finish my first...and only...serving.  It was far more outstanding this time than the first time I'd made this dish, and that is owed completely to the brand of sausage, I believe.  Okay, that mashed potatoes are awesome doesn't hurt.

In any case, two things resulted from this dinner: first, Mister ended up with a generous portion of leftovers [read: all of them] for his lunch tomorrow and I ended up with a new strategy to beat the frigid temperatures outside: sausage.  By the time I finished my meal, I was nearly sweating, even though I'd turned down the heat while I was at work (Mister's fine - he's Greek so he radiates heat).  So, I told Mister I was going to carry the leftover sausages with me to warm me up like the brandy in a St. Bernard's barrel - just keep my sausage in my pocket until I need to go out into the cold.

Insert reallllllly immature joke here.

On a final and unrelated note, my healthcare for my new job is about to kick in, which is perfectly timed since one of my contacts decided to rip in my eye today.  All day I was walking around work squinting and blinking and putting drops in my eyes and complaining to my colleagues about my eyes bothering me.  I was counting the minutes until I could come home and take them out.  Upon doing so was when I discovered the damage, so I was reminded of yet another thing I love about Philadelphia and Winter.

In Philadelphia, especially Center City, but even on the residential streets where the homes are three stories tall, there is a natural darkness.  This is both beneficial and detrimental, depending on your point of view.  On the one hand, it might not be so darn cold if the sun could touch you and warm you up a little.  On the other hand, I can get away with not wearing sunglasses most of the time.  When it's winter, there's even less sunshine because the days are shorter and the sun never actually makes it to the "top" of the sky, so it's possible to stay out of direct sunlight pretty much all day.

Before you think I'm a vampire, let me just point out how difficult it is to wear sunglasses with seeing glasses - it doesn't work.  Since my new contacts are at least a week away from being in my eyeballs, looks like I'll be rocking my glasses, so I'm glad I don't have to worry about sun.

That's all.

big fat butter beans

Have you ever eaten butter beans?  I hadn't.  I knew I'd seen them in stores, yet I still had some difficulty finding them and spent a little time pondering what would be an acceptable substitute if I couldn't find them.  Never fear, though!  The Bastion of Beans (Goya) would never let me down, so I did leave Superfresh with two cans of butter beans.

In case the "intro" didn't give it away, we had the Parsley, Butter Bean, and Cherry Tomato Stew from The Low GI Cookbook for dinner tonight.

I don't know why this surprised me, since the cookbook does actually have some very attractive pictures of almost every recipe, but butter beans are friggin' huge!  They were bigger than the half-moon slices of Tofurky sausage I added for substance!  They were bigger than the halved grape tomatoes (which were actually quite large for grape tomatoes)!  Texturally, they were kind of like really big cannellini beans - definitely a creamy center.  A person might even say they were "buttery," which is how I imagine they got their name.


"Hey - HEY!"
"What?"
"Have you eaten these beans?"
"No, why?"
"They're so....buttery!"
"Okay..."
"I'm going to call them butter beans."
"Good call."


That's the naming conversation.  It's acted out in my head by two cavemen who greatly resemble the characters in B.C., except hairier.

Anyway, all said, it was a pretty good stew, which I served over surprisingly fragrant brown basmati rice.  This actually happened - I was standing at my counter, chopping veggies, when an enticing scent invaded my nostrils.  I looked all over for the source of this scent before realizing it was the rice.  True story.



Although I found the size of the butter beans a bit disturbing initially, they really did help with the intense flavor from the sausage.  Without the added sausage, though, I'm not sure this would have been quite as happy a dish.  It smelled very strongly of the 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon I added in and I feel like the taste would have been overwhelming if completed by the 1/2 tsp of sugar I forgot to add and did not include the savory notes contributed by the sausage.

It's a very attractive dinner and it smelled fabulous while cooking, but I can't say I'll rush to put this on the table again.

worst thing ever

Frozen Kale.  That's it.  That is the worst thing ever.  Wanna know the second worst thing ever?  Frozen beans.  Yup, frozen beans.

I may be exaggerating slightly, as there are probably worse things, like war, famine, tornadoes eating the entire southeastern part of the country, Japan being swallowed up by the Pacific ocean, and the possibility that Obama really does possess an American birth certificate (sorry, couldn't resist).  Yet, as far as culinary experiences go (and aside from The Saffron Incident), frozen kale is absolutely the most disappointing.

Tonight was the second experience I've had with frozen kale and it was even more disappointing than the first.  I love kale so much fresh that I thought I'd hit a goldmine when frozen kale started popping up all over the freezers in Whole Foods...but it was more like a landmine, causing two recipes to more or less blow up in my face.  Not literally, thank heavens.  Story time!

A little while ago, can't remember just when, I was in the frozen foods aisle of Whole Foods and as I extracted whichever bag of organic goodness I had originally sought out, I noticed something different out the corner of my eye.  I looked closer and saw a little flat box with kale, kidney beans, and navy beans.  I thought to myself, "Hey, this might come in handy some night when I'm feeling lazy pressed for time!" and dropped it into my basket.  Well, tonight was that night, and I thought I would make a cheater version of my already pretty quick-cooking Easy Tuscan Linguini by subbing the frozen kale-n-beans side dish for the shredded kale and can of navy/cannellini beans in the original recipe.  Also, for a little added flavor (and to use up the other two Tofurky from Tuesday's Cajun Rice and Beans), I sliced the sausages and sauteed them lightly in olive oil before adding the frozen stuff.

I was so sad when the bag open and spilled kale stems and hard-looking beans into the pan...I had really hoped for a more substantial presence from the kale...and some leafy bits, I might add.  Nevertheless, I heated everything through, mixed it together with the marinara sauce and linguini and hoped for the best.  It was "decent" as long as you ignored that the kidney beans were not thoroughly cooked before being frozen or they don't freeze well, because they were crunchy and that is not a quality I seek out in my kidney beans.  However, I still believe this has a lot of potential as a fast-and-easy weeknight recipe, as long as you substitute organic frozen spinach or fresh kale - not frozen kale; it's gross.  So, I promised you a recipe and a recipe you get (modified, so there's a chance you'll actually enjoy it):

Pasta Marinara with Kale and Beans
* about 4 servings *
Ingredients:
24 oz prepared marinara of your choice
1 cup canned kidney beans
1 cup canned navy/great northern beans
2 Tofurky sausages, flavor of your choice (I used Kielbasa)
2-3 cups fresh kale, finely chopped or 10 oz block of frozen chopped organic spinach 
8 oz linguini (whole wheat if your loved one will eat it - mine won't)
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 Tbsp olive oil

Boil water for pasta, then cook according to package directions, about 10-11 minutes.  Drain.

Meanwhile, cut each "sausage" in half lengthwise, then slice into 1/2" pieces.  If using fresh kale, chiffonade or chop finely and set aside.  When the pasta is halfway through cooking time, heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the garlic about 30 seconds, until fragrant and slightly golden.  Add sausage and stir to coat with oil.  Saute on medium for 2-3 minutes, stirring once, then reduce heat to medium-low.  Add kale, beans, and marinara; stir to combine, then cover and cook 2-3 minutes, until heated through and kale is lightly wilted. [if using frozen spinach, you'll want to thaw and drain it first, then add with the beans and marinara.]

Add drained pasta to the pot and toss to combine.  Remove from heat and serve immediately, preferably accompanied by a small bowl of mixed olives and a generous glass of red wine.

you lose some, you win some

So, I don't think I did too much to hide my disappointment with the Sicilian Market Pasta.  It had so very much potential to be an amazing pasta dish, but just not enough flavor in the end.  I was able to resurrect it and enhance it with some dollar tomatoes, but when I followed the actual recipe, it was nothing Mister and I would eat again.

But the chili was so good we ate until we were fat (which probably contradicts the purpose of the recipe) and Mister actually requested that I heat up the leftovers last night instead of cooking a new dinner.  So, when I got my peppers out to make dinner tonight, I had forgotten that I was afraid her infrequent use of pasta in recipes made Susan slightly less skilled in using it as an ingredient.

When I put my peppers (and tomato) on the counter to wait for their scrubbings, I was struck by the vibrant color contrast.  I love when recipes use multi-colored peppers, because unlike M&Ms, you actually can taste the difference between red and green and yellow.

One of the things I initially found intriguing enough about this recipe to include it in our weekly menu were the instructions to roast the peppers and sausages while the pasta cooked.  Once everything was laid out on the baking sheet, I was struck by two thoughts.

1. Look how pretty those peppers are!
2. Maybe I should just saute these buggers in some olive oil.

In then end, I just hoped the extra spray of olive oil would keep everything from drying out in the oven (my main concern was the Tofurky, honestly) and tried to give Susan another chance.  That positive thinking got me as far as combining the pasta with the roasted peppers and sausages before I started muttering under my breath about how she managed to win blog awards when she clearly doesn't know anything about cooking pasta, and what kind of nut doesn't love olive oil, and how I was going to ignore her blog from this point forward.

In other words, I lost my faith.

Turns out, I was a little premature.  It tasted just as good as it looks.  Granted, I did some serious tweaking to the tomato sauce, incorporated not only a generous bit of olive oil but also my "secret" ingredient - V8 Spicy Hot.  I was right about the sausages drying out a bit, and the roasting enhanced their flavor a little too much for me - they're already pretty intense; they don't need any help.  The peppers, however, were divine.

In fact, the only complaint I have about Pasta with Peppers and Sausage is that my mouth is too small.

nothin' to write home about

Last Meal on the Menu Night is always a risky place to be.  Sometimes, I hold off on a recipe because I've lost interest in it, other times because it was too time consuming to make during the regular work week.  Sometimes I save the best for last and other times I'm not sure how it will turn out so I wanted to leave wiggle room for a replacement dinner.  In any case, tonight's Last Dinner was BBQ-Flavored White Beans with Sausage and Spinach from Vegan Express.

Leaving it for last, in this case, actually was somewhat strategic for two unrelated reasons.  The first reason had to do with how darn long this week felt.  Honestly, I feel like I haven't seen my piano students in two weeks, but I know I taught last weekend because I had a new student start.  The week didn't exactly drag by, but it really took Friday a while to get here.  I wanted to ensure I wouldn't have to put out a lot of effort for the Friday night meal (I was also counting on a lack of energy due to anticipated trouble sleeping last night, since there's an Irish bar across the street and whatnot).  The other reason was that I was a little concerned about the BBQ sauce.  Like I mentioned when I added it to the Sloppy Joes, I wasn't sure how I would feel about using it, unadulterated, as a main ingredient.  The flavor is pretty strong and tangy, which is not at all like the homemade BBQ sauce I usually use in this recipe.  In fact, at some point this week, I was kicking myself for actually buying BBQ sauce when I am perfectly capable of making BBQ sauce I knew I'd like for far less money.


Truth be told, I wanted to buy the BBQ sauce.  I was curious, since I've never actually bought BBQ sauce before, and I had heard good things about Annie's.  I'm glad we tried it, although it wouldn't be a "regular" in our pantry or fridge.  The most amusing thing for me was how perfect the amount in the bottle (12 oz) was.  Apparently, 12 oz = 2 Tbsp + 1 cup, because that was what I needed for the two recipes and that is exactly what came out of the bottle.  I had to shake the last bits out for dinner tonight before rinsing and recycling.

Anyway, all that being said, you really can't get too excited about beans-n-wieners, even if spinach and organic BBQ sauce are involved, so I'm just going to move on to the new menu:

1. Bulgur and Red Lentil Pilaf with Kale and Olives from The Complete Vegan Cookbook.  It's been a while since I've made this, but I just adore the tastes and textures, and it was the main reason I decided to start my dinner-hunting in that book.

2. Curried Bulgur Casserole with Garbanzo Beans, also from The Complete Vegan Cookbook.

3. Tuscan Vegetable Ragout from Vegetarian Times: Fast & Easy.  It's been quite a while since I made this and I don't know why - it's quick, easy, and delicious, and if I really wanted to make the effort, it never has to be the same twice.

4. Warm Chickpea Ragout with Swiss Chard, Carrots, and Harissa, also from Veg. Times: Fast & Easy.  See, I'm doing this two-fer theme...two recipes with bulgur from the same cookbook, two recipes for Ragout from the same cookbook...see?  I know, I'm so clever.

5. Garlicky Tofu with Spinach over Pasta also from VT:F&E.  I was a little rice-heavy last week and since the first two recipes this week use bulgur as the grain, I wanted to make a concerted effort to have more pasta for my Mister.

6. Broccoli Pasta with Savory Sauce.  Ditto.

green beer goggles

I don't actually like beer.  I think that is both a blessing and a curse.  On the one hand, beer is normally pretty cheap and easy to come by (although it takes way more beer than can fit in my belly to have any effect on me).  On the other hand, it doesn't taste very good, and by avoiding it I am also avoiding pointless calorie use and involving myself directly in scenes like this:

Apparently, shortly before I arrived home from work, there was a huge Irish band across the street, complete with a bagpipe choir and a marching band drumline.  Mister said the drums were making the apartment shake, which did not make our wee kitty happy.  They started up again while I was cooking dinner.  Mister started moaning but honestly, they weren't that bad - I kind of got a kick out them, as long as they kept it brief.  They did.

I never had the traditional corned beef and cabbage before I stopped eating animals, mainly because my family is not Irish and we didn't eat cabbage.  I don't even know what you do to beef to corn it, but it sounds kind of gross.  Nevertheless, I did feel the need to do something Irish and cabbagey for dinner tonight, so I made my own version of vegan corned beef and cabbage (with a little help from my friends).

That's some pretty purple cabbage just steam-simmering away with some garlic and caraway seeds right there.  While it was cooking, I reflected on a memory I might have made up, but I think I remember my mother telling me about the time my sister, as an adult, wanted to make some traditional German meal that involved cabbage and how it stunk up the whole house.  As I inhaled the sweet scent of my cabbage, I wondered just what a person has to do to cabbage to make it smell as bad as other people think it does.  I think the answer is: boil it.  I think as long as you refrain from boiling it for hours, it is just fine.

In place of the corned beef, I sliced a package of Tofurky kielbasa on the bias and then did a quick saute in a bit of olive oil.  Once it was lightly browned, I turned off the heat and finished cooking the cabbage.  Finally, I artfully arranged the "beef" over a bed of Red Cabbage with Caraway Seeds from The Urban Vegan.  

It was a delightful combination of sweet and savory, a little crunchy and a little chewy.  We happily finished it all up while discussing how some famous people manage to have long, fruitful, and relevant careers (think Madonna, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Steven Tyler) while other celebs enjoyed a phenomenal career until the had some kind of major meltdown and never quite make it back to normal (for example, Mel Gibson, Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, Mariah Carey).

I love Mister's and my dinner conversations.

two days to market

So, with impeccable timing, I caught Black Death just a day or two into my first full week's menu in our new home.  I would berate myself, but it wasn't really my intention to get laid up and be useless for three days or so.  As a result of being too sick to stay upright and cook, and then spending the time I was upright to complete our move, we reverted to our take-out ways and last week's menu became this week's menu. 

Since I did get to make a thing or two before becoming incapacitated and/or busy, however, that means that last night I made the last thing I had plans or ingredients to make.  I had intended to figure out what we would eat tonight on my way home from work, but I forgot until I stepped off the train.  As a result, I just headed for Superfresh since I needed kitty litter anyway and thought while I walked.  The thing I do enjoy about not having a plan is that it not only enables me to be creative, it forces me.

Although I have proven since moving into our new home that I can, in fact, go wrong with pasta, I still know it's one of the fastest routes to Mister's heart.  It's also normally super easy and relatively fast to make, which I appreciate since I have so little time to be productive when I get home from work.

The first pasta dish I made here had too much sauce; the second had too little, but it appears tonight's dinner was just right.  Mister loved it and I was pretty happy with how my little tweaks came out.

 Rotini with "Meat" Sauce
serves 4-6

16 oz rotini (or other short pasta)
26 oz jar of prepared marinara (I used Tuttorosso brand)
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 tsp dried organic basil
1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste
medium tomato, cored, seeded, and diced
1 vegan Italian "sausage" (I used Tofurky), diced

Cook pasta according to package directions.
While waiting for water to boil, heat the oil in a medium pan over medium-low heat.  Add garlic, lower heat, and allow to saute slowly for about 5 minutes, more if you can.  Stir occasionally and watch closely to ensure the garlic does not burn.  
After 5 minutes, sprinkle on marjoram, basil, and salt, then add diced tomatoes.  Stir to combine and raise heat to medium.  After a minute or two, when the tomatoes have begun to break down, stir in the sausage.  Saute, stirring occasionally, for about 3-5 minutes.  Stir in prepared marinara and heat through.  Adjust seasonings as necessary.
Once pasta is finished cooking, drain and return to pot or a large bowl.  Carefully pour in the "meat" sauce and stir to coat.  

We really enjoyed this dish.  I hope I remember to make it more frequently because it was very easy to make, yet extremely fulfilling in the function of making it up as I went.  Initially, I was going to stir in some frozen spinach for a little color contrast and nutritional punch, but when I saw that one lonely Tofurky sausage in the fridge, abandoned after I cut up and cooked his siblings for last night's dinner, I couldn't resist the flavor I knew it would bring to the dish.  It was just right - I can't say that I would have added a second link even if I had it.

The sauce was astonishingly flavorful for being some random brand hanging out on the shelves of Superfresh.  I'll be completely honest and say that there were two factors which influenced me to buy the Tuttorosso out of probably a dozen brand options:  First, and most importantly, it was on sale and therefore, the least expensive option (even lower than store brand!).  Second, it was labeled "Natural," and upon inspecting the ingredients, I discovered it was not lying - no weird, unnecessary ingredients to encumber the taste of the sauce, just tomatoes, oil, garlic, and some herbs and spices.

I do think the sauteed garlic and herbs I added helped enhance the flavor of the store-bought sauce, but it would probably be good with minimal tweaking.  The rotini was ideal for capturing as much of the sauce as possible, which I enjoyed, and the amount of sauce this recipe makes is perfectly proportionate to the amount of pasta used, which Mister enjoyed.  I served with mixed olives and vegan parmesan and we happily housed two bowls each.

I need an intervention

I am going through a serious bout of IDC and the only thing I can think of to do (besides giving in to my darker nature) is to re-read the first chapter of Skinny Bitch until I can convince myself to give up my most recent vice.  Right about now, though, you're probably scritching at your noggin wonder just what exactly IDC is.  Insatiable Desire for Chocolate.  I cannot get enough and it's awful.  Maybe it's my body's attempt to battle the blues and anxiety that come from drastic cost reduction efforts... efforts that provoked terrible and understandable gossip in my recent absence from work, since the day I left early was the day our company "right-sized" by asking about 100 staff members to leave.  "Asking," by the way, is a euphemism.

In any case, I find myself craving chocolate in a way I haven't craved chocolate in many, many years.  All weekend, I was fighting a hardcore need for chocolate cake.  I can't explain it, I just really wanted chocolate cake.  With icing.  And layers.  I'll pause my self-flagellation for a funny story about that:

I'm at my desk at work; it's around 6pm.  My boss comes over with an incredulous expression.
Boss: Do you want to see an amazing chocolate cake?
a big, bright lightbulb shines into brilliance above my cranium.
Me: No.  I would like to eat an amazing chocolate cake.
Boss: Okay.  Follow me!

One of the supervisors was throwing a little party to celebrate recent achievements of two hard-working members of her team.  One of the teammates brought in a beautiful chocolate cake, in which I indulged with my boss's encouragement and shared guilt.  Every bite was exactly what I wanted it to be.  I don't even like cake.

You would think that would be the end, right?  Wrong.  Instead of quelling my IDC, it intensified it.  This will not end well.

I would love to use anything I just shared to segue into our dinner, but there is absolutely no common thread.

The only dinner left on my menu was Savory Sausage and Peppers from Vegan on the Cheap.  I delayed making this one for two reasons:
1. as you can probably tell from the picture, there was a lot of chopping involved and I just haven't had the energy.
2. I was afraid it wouldn't be as awesome as it was the first time I made it.

I needn't have feared - it was just as delicious in my mouth as it was in my memory.  There is something so perfect about the combination of potatoes and "sausage."  The abundant flavor of the Tofurky Italian Sausages that Mister chose for this dish were calmed and complemented by the creamy blank slate of the potato slices.  The tomatoes and peppers provide little bursts of juicy sweet-tartness amidst the already magical flavor profile.

I think one of the things that really "makes" this dish is that the very first step is to brown the diced sausage in a tablespoon of olive oil, then remove it from the skillet, add another tablespoon of oil and proceed with adding the rest of the ingredients for a hearty saute.  Although there is nothing in the recipe that specifically instructs me to do so, I do my best to rescue only the sausage from the skillet, leaving behind the flavor-infused oil, rich with the essence of sun-dried tomatoes and italian herbs.

The only complaint I have about this dish is that the potato slices stick together and no matter how gently or insistently I try to coax them apart with my spoon or spatula, I cannot get the slices to spread out from one another.  They're like a really snobby food clique.  I think the dish would be even more amazing if I could get the slices to stay away from each other long enough to absorb the infused oil and play nicely with their orange, red, and green neighbors, but the potatoes are not having it.  Does anyone know any tricks for keeping them from sticking to one another?

~*~

Angst is so good at sleeping, I know I show you an inordinate number of pictures of him being adorable and sleeping somewhere ridiculous, but I'm so amused watching him adjust to his new home.  I like seeing him explore and find new places he can call his.  I'm currently in the midst of creating a little Kitty Cave for him; his very own "bedroom" for the first time in six years, dressed completely in leopard print decor 'cause that's how he rolls.

For now, though, he has found that squishing himself into the space where the seat of the couch becomes the back of the couch is a really comfy place to fall asleep:

(I can't wait to get a slipcover)

super foodie post

Please pardon what is probably about to be a somewhat random post - there will be at least one connecting thread: everything will have to do with fabulous vegan food!

Most of the time when I post my menu, I do so at the conclusion of the post.  However, it seems like the best place to start this one, considering my Ode to Cookbook Browsing and my Look What I Can Do posts this week.  So, I did finally sit down with a glass of Beaujolais and Vegan on the Cheap last night and figured out what we're eating this week:

1. Caldo Verde with Vegan Gourmet grilled cheeses.  This looks like a hella hearty soup - potatoes and kale work together so nicely, texturally, taste-wise, and nutritionally.  I love the combination of the smooth, squishy potatoes with the chewy, stern kale.

2. Savory Sausage and Peppers which was dinner tonight, so you'll read more in just a moment, but I'll give you this one little hint:  it was so freakin' good.

3. Tropic of Tempeh Tofu - It really makes me sad that Mister crumples into a heap of hurt whenever he eats tempeh, because I really like it and never get to eat it.  Nevertheless, this recipe looked way too good to bypass just because Mister can't eat the main ingredient...so I changed the main ingredient.

4. Better Bean Burgers with oven fries and these super-slick "burger thins."  I can't wait to make this and photograph it because these things are awesome - they're like the Macbook Air of bread products.

5. Tuscan White Bean Pizza because Mister loves pizza and I love Mister.  And I love pizza.  And all things Tuscan.  Plus, it takes a pretty picture.

So, tonight's dinner was Savory Sausage and Peppers and it was delightful.  How can you go wrong with a skillet supper involving diced Tofurky, bell peppers, and sliced potatoes (among other things)?  Also, there is something magical that happens when you add thyme to potatoes.  It seems like most people associate rosemary with potatoes, but I think they missed the boat - Thyme is where it's at.

It looks just as good as it tasted.  Between the intensity of the Italian Tofurky and the herb and salt-rich sauce, I was able to limit myself to just one-and-a-half servings, preserving a decent bit of leftovers for later this week.  This dish smelled phenomenal while it was simmering, even drawing Mister away from his computer and into the kitchen (all 7 steps) to see what smelled so tasty.  I wasn't at all surprised that it tasted as good as it did, but its inherent attractiveness shocked the heck out of me.  I mean, look at it - it's gorgeous!

Breakfast was also stupendous - a girl has to get fueled up for a fun day of grocery shopping and baking for work potlucks, right?  As promised, it comes with another recipe.

Banana Pecan Oatmeal
serves 1 (but easily multiplied)

1 banana
1 cup of nondairy milk (I used Almond Milk)
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup pecan pieces
1 Tbsp agave nectar (although I find the banana, when very ripe, is sweet enough)
cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

Bring nondairy milk to a light boil.  Shake in oats, stirring, then reduce heat to low.  Simmer 3-5 minutes, stirring often.  Meanwhile, break the banana into pieces and place it in a microwave-safe bowl.  Nuke on high for 45-60 seconds, then mash to near-liquid consistency with your spoon.  Pour oatmeal into the same bowl, along with half the pecan pieces and stir to combine with banana.  Taste and add agave nectar if necessary.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (if using) and remaining pecans.

Tomorrow will bring three blessings (we have to counteract that whole Bad Things Come In Threes thing somehow, right?):

1. For me: When I leave work tomorrow night, I will be halfway through my work week :)
2. For everyone at work: we're having a Thanksgiving potluck and surely, tasty food will abound.

Applesauce Softies from VCIYCJ, more in a minute

3. For YOU:  finally, after all your patience, The Great Chocolate Round-Up.  Yes, I promise.

So, Essene was having a sale last week and I took the opportunity to stock up on BOGO Santa Cruz Organic Applesauce.  There are a ton of amazing holiday recipes which recruit applesauce as a fat replacer, binding agent, or just plain fabulous flavor to incorporate into autumn eats.  One of the reasons I don't have a pantry is...well...because there's no room for one.  Honestly, I would give up my dishwasher to have space for a pantry.  The other reason I don't have a pantry is because even though I have the purest of intentions, when there is a sale that causes me to get things I wouldn't ordinarily buy or have no specific use for right now, I bring them home, thinking I'll store them somewhere until I need them, but then they stare at me until I do something with them.  Such was the case with my applesauce, so when I remembered this afternoon that I have a potluck at work tomorrow, I decided to try my hand at the Applesauce Softies that have been softly whispering to me since I got the book (within days of its release to bookstores).

The first step of the recipe involves reducing the applesauce by simmering it until it becomes more dense and concentrated.  The recipe says this should take about 25 minutes, but it took me about 45 minutes to reduce the sauce from 1 1/3 cups to 2/3 cup.  I had hoped that the simmering applesauce would fill my home with the tasty scent of autumn and apples, but it really didn't smell much as it evaporated the juices into the air of my apartment.  The cookies, on the other hand, smelled amazing!  Mister and I did a small sampling, to make sure I wouldn't accidentally poison my work-mates.  The taste is subtle but they are pillow-soft and rather light for cookies.  The best thing to compare them to would be muffin tops - the kind you want to eat, not the kind that make you avert your eyes out of courtesy and self-preservation.

One last tangent, then I'll let you go dream of chocolate in anticipation of tomorrow's round-up: I stopped into Essene today for my last test chocolate, a pizza crust, and hand lotion (can you develop a more disparate shopping list?) and came away with a bonus prize.

That is an organic Winesap apple.  Until today, I was unaware of their existence.  I still haven't eaten mine - I will probably save it to savor for breakfast on Wednesday morning, but I fear that I will become addicted to these the way I have recently become addicted to Honeycrisps.  I fear this because they are not inexpensive, but heavens!  Look at how red that apple is!  The deep crimson apple, along with my newly ebony hair and perpetually ivory skin made me feel something like Snow White...so I took a cheesy picture: enjoy!

I love my tastebuds

I have had a couple of great-tasting days! I have finished my bars, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow (I've gotten myself into a habit now), although I'm thinking of "sharing" one of Mister's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Clif bars.

Yesterday I had my Chocolate Coffee Jocalat bar. I have to say, this was my second experience with these bars and I can see why people love them! This one was deliciously rich...I couldn't necessarily taste the coffee, but I think it served to enhance the very dark, bittersweet chocolate taste. It was dense and satisfying, with just the right amount of nuts, and tasted like clean food should. Furthermore, all of the ingredients are organic, and if that isn't enough, the coffee used is Fair Trade Certified. Even though it had only dates in it with three different kinds of nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, and cashews), it still counts as a fruit serving. A chocolate fruit? Don't mind if i do!

Today's grand finale reached its culmination in the Cinnamon Roll Larabar. This was incredible. When I opened the wrapper, it smelled like the inside of my cinnamon jar. Cinnamon is both a favorite scent and a favorite flavor of mine, so this bar was the perfect way to end this week's parade of alterna-fruit-servings. Again, it was the perfect combination of nuts and sweet cinnamony goodness. It tasted just like the wonderful gooey stuff between the rolls of a cinnamon roll, but there really wasn't any taste of the roll itself. I'm okay with that.

Last night I just heated up some of the leftover Mediterranean Risotto and finished the Killer Wheat Bread (be careful, it contains wheat!). I think the problem is the sun-dried tomatoes...I cut the quantity by more than half and they're still too strong...Next time, we'll try something in place of them, or just leave them out in favor of the olives and roasted peppers.

Upon his return from work, hubby gave me a present!

I am so loved!

On a related note...kind of...we've hit a serious cool-down here in Philadelphia (which Mister and I are absolutely relishing). I had strawberries and yogurt earlier this week, but today I happily had my very first oatmeal of the season! It was wonderful - I cooked the oats in unsweetened soymilk and threw in a handful of dried cranberries about halfway through. I didn't take any pictures because I can barely see in the morning (squint squint), so aiming a camera is pretty much out of the question. Anyway, my recent reading has inspired me to get a little more creative in my oatmeal preparation this fall and winter.

Ordinarily (as in, for the past two winters), I cook my oatmeal (real oats, none of that instant crap - it's hard to get whole grains when they're ground to oblivion) in apple juice and water with some cinnamon sprinkled in. Every once in a while I got fancy (read: I ran out of apple juice) and made my oatmeal with almond/soy milk and swirled in this delightful pure maple syrup, given as a gift from my husband's boss, in a real mason jar! Well, taking a cue from Chocolate Covered Katie I think I'm going to do something completely out of character tomorrow morning:

I'm going to cook my oatmeal in soymilk and then throw in a truffle or two and stir until it melts! In my head, that tastes so good...

Finally, for dinner tonight I reprised Nava's BBQ-Flavored White Beans and Sausage with Spinach. It was just as good (and fast to make) this time, and instead of roasting some potatoes I heated up the leftover coconut rice and served the BBQ beans over that. Also, this time I used Tofurky Italian Sausage, rather than their Bratwurst. It has a bit of kick to it, I'll tell you that! It was almost too exciting - I think without being served on that creamy rice to calm it down, it would have been too much for my poor little tastebuds.

sweet (and savory) success

I am back and thrilled to report that tonight's dinner was such a success that someday I will be able to forgive myself for last night's dinner. After much deliberation, and eventually deciding based on an intense desire to stay away from rice tonight, I decided to cook the Pomegranate Saute on Cinnamon Bulghur.
It was extremely flavorful, which was a welcomed change from the profoundly bland meal we ate last night. It also came together in a little less than one hour - another substantial difference from yesterday's cooking time. I was very pleased with the combination of sweet and savory - one of my favorite combinations. I'm not terribly sodium-conscious, but I try to pay attention because I'm sure one day it will be an issue. Something I remembered from a magazine article about the Satisfaction diet (in which you seek to be satisfied with less food by incorporating more of the essential tastes) is that vinegar, in the right quantity, can have the same enhancing effect on food as salt. I stopped trying to decide between salt and soy sauce and picked up the red wine vinegar. It worked better than I could have imagined! Anyway....

Pomegranate Saute on Cinnamon Bulghur
serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups water
1 cup bulghur
1 scant tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic, pressed/minced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup corn
15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
14 oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
12 oz soy sausage crumbles
6 oz apple juice
2 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, crushed (optional)

Bring water, salt, and cinnamon to a boil. Add bulghur; cover and simmer on low for 20-25 minutes, until all liquid has absorbed.
Meanwhile, saute peppers and garlic in oil over medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally, until pepper is tender and garlic has browned slightly. Add soy crumbles and stir to break up. Increase heat to medium and brown soy crumbles slightly. Add corn, chickpeas, and undrained tomatoes. Stir to combine and bring to boiling. Add apple juice, pomegranate molasses, and red wine vinegar. Simmer on low, uncovered, for 15-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Put peanuts in a plastic bag and crush with the back of a spoon.
To serve, lay a bed of bulghur and spoon saute with juices over top. Garnish with peanuts, if using.

By the way, if anyone is interested in learning more about the Satisfaction diet, I find it fascinating and would be happy to expound. Just leave me a comment and let me know.