go ahead, surprise me

What an unusual day.  It was absolutely chock-full of surprises - some good, some not so good.  Why don't we start at the beginning?

My goal for the next phase of my life is to not need a back-up alarm.  I'm sure you can imagine, my first alarm is annoying, but not nearly as annoying (or far away) as my second alarm.  That's the point, of course - terrifying incentive to get up and out of bed before Mister is awakened by the super-irritating noises my cellphone makes to nag me out of bed.

You would think waking up to a breakfast like this would be incentive enough, wouldn't you?  It would be, if it didn't greet a day that found me making my way out to another glorious day at work, knowing that this will probably be the most special part of my day.  And it was special - like I mentioned yesterday, those strawberries are ineffably incredible and need to be eaten in generous quantities and frequently.

Also, every now and then, there aren't many things that are more amazing than a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel dripping with melted Earth Balance.  Except a toasted everything bagel similarly decked out along with a row of perfectly ripe, organic strawberries.

When I got to work, there were two more surprises waiting at my desk.  The first surprise was found on my desk - an adorable star-shaped lollipop in red, white, and blue (it's Flag Day and as part of Employee Appreciation week at work, we get themed surprises and also honored employees who served in a branch of the military).


The second surprise took the form of an unexpected email announcing the promotion of one of my colleagues - this is both awesome and enviable.  He works very hard and deserves recognition for his efforts.

In a final pair of surprises (at least for the work day), we had a new class of new employees start training yesterday.  Today is normally the day that I blow their minds and they usually return the favor.  This group did not let me down.  They did surprise me, though, in two ways.

New Hire #1 shared her experience from her previous position at AARP - she said that the older folks she spoke to who were healthy and disease free in their advanced years all had one thing in common.  Are you ready?  I know this will blow your mind: they all either followed a vegetarian diet or ate plenty of fruits and vegetables (in addition to meat).  Who's surprised?  Raise it high!  No one?  Yeah, me neither.

The next surprise truly did catch me off-guard.  A lovely woman in the class, I'm guessing she's in her mid-50s, shared the secret of her gorgeous, gray-free hair and it was not what I was expecting.  She said she takes a teaspoon of unsulphured blackstrap molasses every morning and it reversed the grays she did have and now her hair is all blond like it was in her youth.  Considering how expensive it gets to keep up my dye-job, I think I'm going to try it.  The worst thing that happens?  I get a teaspoon of important vitamins and minerals in my morning tea and my hair is still gray.  Not a bad worst-case scenario (except for that whole "hair still being gray" thing).

So...it looks like my class is teaching me, doesn't it?

Dinner tonight was Vegetable Biryani from La Dolce Vegan.  It started out with a fun little spice medley:

And ended up (after some excitement - keep reading) as a tasty little supper:

I think it could use maybe a little more salt.  The only reason I say maybe is because the scent of the spices starts to take over and flavor the food about halfway through and then you can taste more complexity.  It does have to build up, though, and sometimes, I just want dinner to be tasty immediately.  Patience, Grasshopper.

So, while I was cooking, suddenly there came the wretched, loud, annoying, and terrifying sound of a fire alarm, followed by the sight of the occupants of the building next to us emptying out onto the sidewalk.  Mister went out to investigate while I shoved Angst into the bathroom so I'd be able to find him if we needed to evacuate.  Turns out the people on the top floor set their kitchen on fire, but were able to extinguish the blaze before the fire company showed up.  I really hope it just took a while for someone to call them, because if their response time started from the beginning of the alarm, I am pretty sure our whole building will be engulfed in life-destroying flames before they find their way to our home.  After all the excitement, I finally put dinner on the table and told Mister about my fabulous day.

We haven't see the mouse yet tonight, but Angst had a horrible day, so I hope his little friend pops out to say hi at some point just to make him happy.

another day, another dollar [saved]

This has nothing at all to do with the rest of this post, but I thought you might be interested to know that Angst has spent more time in the kitchen lately than I have.  It started a couple of nights ago.  I was sitting here at my computer, clickity-clacking away, when I spied something out of place in my peripheral vision.  I turned to see what was awry with just enough time to see something that appeared to be small and gray and possessing a tail skitter away.  Angst chased his new friend under the dishwasher and then sat there for the rest of the night, waiting for his little buddy to make another appearance.  Honestly, it happened in such a flash, I couldn't be sure if it was the cute little mouse I thought it was or a really big cockroach.  Obviously, my vote was for the former.

No appearance was made by Angst's little friend, who only popped his little head in during the heaviest part of the recent rainstorm, so Mister and I assumed he had found his way back out to wherever mice in the city live (probably someone else's home?).  Then, just a few minutes ago, I noticed Angst was stalking the stove, staring quite intently at various parts of it.  Nothing says "Exciting Monday Night" like this: the cat was staring at the stove and I was staring at the cat and occasionally glancing at the stove.  Then it happened: a tiny, gray, fuzzy head popped up out of one of the burners and looked around.  He popped back down after I may or may not have exclaimed something relatively unholy...

He's good at hiding, so who knows how long he'll stay, but I'm not letting Mister kill him, so we'll see what Angst ends up doing.  He likes mice.  We had one at our ghetto apartment and he used to hang out by the stove and wait to pet it.  That mouse was much bigger than this one and he never did me any harm, so I don't see why this one needs to meet an untimely demise.  I'm just glad he turned out to be a mouse, not a 'roach.

So about that dinner... I didn't end up making dinner last night since we didn't even get home from the wedding until almost 7pm...and then we took a short nap.  Around 11, we both broke into leftovers and then went to bed.  Very exciting, I know.  But that's why I made Coconut Curry Rice from Vegan on the Cheap tonight.  I was a little surprised by how amazingly flavorful it was, for how simple a recipe it is.  I was completely astonished, though, when the brown rice actually did cook in the coconut milk.  As I was adding the rice to the dish, I thought to myself, "No, no...this is a mistake."  It took a little longer than I wanted it to, but it was well worth the wait.  I served it with some garlic naan.

Besides the normal savings earned by my diligent use of Vegan on the Cheap, this meal saved us money by helping me create the illusion of tasty, authentic Indian food right here at home.  Last night, I found myself craving a trip to Lovash for their amazing samosas, crispy poppadums, and startling spices.  However, right now I am both making an attempt to scale back our unnecessary expenses, as well as devoting any "extra" food money to our final trips to Horizons before they close.  All in all, a very "cheap" evening, which leaves more cash for a trip to Horizons in the [hopefully] near future.

A few other cash-savers included attending Employee Appreciation at work today.  Due to the stylish and healthy way we celebrate things, we had vendors with all kinds of health foods, served from little red kiosks under white-and-red striped umbrellas.  Here's the rundown: sno-cones, cotton candy, popcorn, smoothies, and soft pretzels (it's a "Philly" thing, as one new hire who recently moved here from Massachusetts pointed out).  Even though I know there is nothing natural or worth eating in that yellow flavoring they put on popcorn, it doesn't change the fact that it smells incredible and tastes as yellow as it looks, so I treated myself to some. I couldn't tell you the last time I had that kind of carnival popcorn, so I was able to justify it.  I also had a pretzel and would have had a smoothie, but the line was way too long.  So, there you go - afternoon snack taken care of with no added expense to me!

Finally, I managed to sneak off with about a half dozen "fresh" bagels for Mister's breakfast this week (probably me, too....I mean, they're free and they're bagels - what's not to want?).  One of the nighttime supervisors has a team member who works at Manhattan Bagel during the day, so he frequently brings in the bagels that would have gotten thrown away.  He had a haul of about 4 dozen bagels, so when my colleague invited me to help myself, I certainly did!

Here is your money-saving tip o' the day: although cherries are now increasing in price again, Whole Foods is blowing out organic strawberries at $3.50 a carton - they are so incredibly red and smell so good, you will do yourself a serious disservice if you let this pass you by.  By the way, not only are they extremely attractive - they taste like the best strawberries you've ever had. 

3 meals, 3 things

It was a dark and stormy night...the rain beat against the windowpanes and below the window, cars could be heard splashing through the puddles. Angst had tucked his feet beneath his body and greatly resembled a large, fuzzy, gray egg.

So I made one of the most colorful meals imaginable, just for spite.
Tonight I made Fiestadillas again, although I did actually add a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella to each one to help it adhere to the tortilla better. It kind of worked, though I probably could have used more cheese. Surprisingly, I just wasn't all that interested in piling on something that used to be a favorite food and now seems to be loaded with unhealthiness. Don't mind me - I'm just over-analyzing. I did actually take a picture this time!Also, in my continuing attempt to make "well-rounded" and balanced meals, I made a side dish - Spiced Potatoes & Green Beans from the September Cooking Light magazine. It was pretty easy, smelled great, tasted even better, and to my delight and astonishment, it looked very much like it did in the magazine!No cupcake stories today...and it turns out my assistance is needed at work tomorrow, so I will have to hold off on my good-neighbor-cupcake-baking until Sunday (as well as the accompanying story). I won't leave you sweet-less, though!

When I was at Whole Foods the other day, I picked up this sweet treat - Clif nectar cacao bar, flavor: dark chocolate walnut.

At 160 calories and delivering two servings of fruit cloaked in the most realistic dark chocolate taste and texture I've found yet, this chocolate-oriented fruit & nut bar is my winner (as far as vegan chocolate fun goes). It actually reminded me a little of the first bar of vegan chocolate I ever ate, on my honeymoon in Lake Tahoe. My (brand new) husband and I went to a paradise within my heaven: a wine and chocolate store. Honestly - the only thing better than a wine & gourmet chocolate store was that it was located in the most beautiful and peaceful place I have ever been. So anyway, we gawked at $500 bottles of special vintage wines, poked at some way-too-exotic-for-our-tastes chocolates and ended up leaving with about $50 worth of organic, fair-trade, and vegan chocolates.

Not a bad flavor association for a $1.19 bar made of dates, walnuts, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa, and vanilla (all organic) that can be easily purchased a mere 5 blocks from my home (rather than about 3,000 miles). So I think it goes without saying I was very happy with this bar and it will definitely find its way into my basket again!

I feel like it's Reverse Day. I started the blog with dinner, babbled about my midday snack, and now I'm going to tell you about breakfast (because I just remembered). Anyway, I think I got all my fruit servings in for the day with this morning's breakfast: Oatmeal, cooked in unsweetened soy milk, but here's the twist: I hulled 5 large strawberries and peeled my two remaining bananas, stuck them in my handy food processor, then stirred the resulting slop into my oatmeal. Oh my heavens was it good! It was just the right amount of sweet and perfectly thick. I was only going to do one banana until I realized that if I left the other one hanging there, fruit flies would take control of my home.

One last thing before I go - if you're feeling philosophical, check out my old buddy's new blog:
3 Things in DC.

pictures, pictures, and pizza!

As promised, I am back and I bring pictures! First, though - Dinner. Tonight, with the a/c blasting, I cranked the oven up to 450 for some pizza baking. Notes on the recipe - I have never put cubes of silken tofu on a pizza before...it was interesting and probably not something I'll do again. Also, in place of thinly slicing some tomatoes to provide the base, I briefly sauteed slightly more than a pint of grape tomatoes. Ultimately, dinner was a fail. It tasted fantastic, but pizza's only pizza if it sticks together and you can eat with your hands...the minute we picked up our slices, everything fell off. So, much like my cabbage adventures for yesterday's lunch, we just pretended we were eating bruschetta and piled everything back on and ate more carefully.

I think I used up all my words earlier, so now I'll leave you with a pretty picture show chronicling the last couple of days of food:

Monday's lunch: chutney bulghur, chickpeas, and kalamatas in a red cabbage leaf

Monday's dinner just after being washed...the colors were just so vibrant I had to share.

Monday's dinner - Seitan & Polenta with Fresh Greens

Tonight's pizza, pre-cooking. That's grape tomatoes, quartered artichoke hearts, diced silken tofu and chopped oil-cured black olives. It really didn't look any different post-cooking.

Tonight's little Mediterranean platter: green grapes, Pecorino di Pienza cheese, rosemary olive oil flatbread and mixed mezze olives.

It's only 9:30...there's still time for dessert...

Feast Day

Today was just full of tasty experiences! I feel like today was all about eating, but maybe I'm just more attuned to what I'm eating now, like I have to remember so I can give my oral report in class :)

I started my day with a nice bowl of perfectly ripe blueberries with Stonyfield Farms organic yogurt (plain). Last night, when I made the 'dillas, I had some stuffing left over and I thought it would make a great morning omelet for me and Mister to share. Unfortunately, after a month of 10-hour days getting me to work early, I'm having trouble sleeping in, so I just had berries - maybe we'll have the omelet tomorrow with some more of those juicy green grapes and multi-grain toast. I'll let you know tomorrow!

I believe I mentioned in an earlier post my plans for lunch today, but I'm pleased to report that I followed through and it was just as wonderful as I thought it would be (if not a little messier than I had hoped). I peeled the top leaf off my head of red cabbage and laid it as a bowl on my plate. I then proceeded to fill it with leftover chutney bulghur and sprinkled it with leftover chickpeas and just a few olives. I was going to chop them, but I was too lazy - I don't get many days off. Anyway, I attempted to roll it up, a la a burrito, and it was not havin' it. So then I figured I'd just "coax" it to fold in half like I do with pizza sometimes. No...that just caused a terrific amount of the bulghur and chickpeas to smush out the other side. I reloaded my little cabbage leaf and very carefully ate it like bruschetta. Still messy, but the best solution. I tried again with a second leaf and somehow managed to throw the bulghur between the table and the wall. I decided the best thing to do was sit at my table with my cabbage on a plate and my bulghur, chickpeas, and olives in their containers. I tore the cabbage leaves into fold-in-half-and-it'll-be-bite-sized pieces and then loaded each one up like bruschetta and pushed it into my mouth before anything could escape. So, it was a lot more work than I thought it would be, but it really did taste good.

A few hours after lunch, Mister and I took a walk down to the Italian Market. I visited the Spice Trader and got vanilla and peppermint extracts, brown sugar, and Swedish fish (for Mister). Then we went to Anthony's coffee house and got gelato, coffee, a roasted vegetable panini (for Mister) and a hunk of banana bread (for me). I had mint chocolate chip gelato and it was heavenly - the coffee was a perfect complement, too! Mister's panini arrived with a cute little bowl of pasta salad, which he gave to me - he also gave me the slices of roasted eggplant with which someone had "corrupted" his panini. I wished I had brought the camera, but again, it just didn't occur to me. After we enjoyed our treat, we walked home and then I went to the market to grab a few extra things I needed for dinner.

Dinner was wonderful - I made the Seitan and Polenta with Fresh Greens. It was so tasty! It smelled so good and was SO easy. I have to say, this Vegan Express book is working its way up my favorites list - everything I have made from there has been fast and easy. I have a couple of other books that promise fast meals, but this one really delivers! In addition to our main course, as I've mentioned, I'm trying to get better at side dishes. I was poking around online and came across one of the easiest things in the world and it sounded so refreshing, I had to give it a try.

Tomato and Strawberry Gazpacho - thank you Martha Stewart! You can follow the link to give credit where credit is due, but let me tell you the super easy recipe:
1 pound of ripe tomatoes
1 pound of strawberries
1 tsp of balsamic vinegar
1 blender or food processor

Voila! That's it. It took me about 3 minutes to put that together, including coring the tomatoes and stemming the strawberries. It was a gorgeous shade of rose pink (think deep, musty rose, not candy pink rose) and had a fantastically thick texture. I didn't get a picture because my camera battery died, and for that same reason I won't be posting any pictures tonight. However, there is some gazpacho leftover that I will probably dump (so gracefully) into a pretty glass and photograph tomorrow when the battery is all better, and then I will upload that picture as well as all the pretty things I ate for dinner and lunch.

I'm off again tomorrow and allegedly my air-conditioning will be fixed sometime in the morning/early afternoon. The reason for my extract and brown sugar shopping is a recipe I'm dying to make but I'm not trying to bake in this heat with no air conditioning. Also, I believe we're having pizza for dinner tomorrow, so the air better work!

I'm just giddy from what a great day today was. Pictures soon!