saving my awesome for MOFO

Tomorrow is the first day of Vegan MoFo 2011 and I can't believe it's here again already!  I'm really not sure what happened to September, though it's the same thing I imagine happens every time someone starts a new job - time just runs away with all the fun (and learning, and doing, and stress).  Regardless, October starts in a little more than a half an hour and with it begins my third MoFo.  I am totally looking forward to this.

If you want to read previous years' MoFo posts, just navigate along the right side bar --> to October of 2009 and November of 2010.

I don't have anything at all to say about my awesome 10pm dinner of leftover Chana Masala with Green Goodness, but I will tell you my walk home from work was awesome.  Everything is a matter of perception - whether you realize it in the moment or not, you always make a choice in how you respond to a situation.  Here are the FACTS about my walk home from work tonight:

• it was raining
• it was in the mid-60s for temperature
• it was 9:30 on a Friday night
• I was hungry
• I am sick

There are two ways to look at this.  On the one hand, you could read those as complaints.  They would be justifiable complaints, too.  Who wants to be leaving work, alone, hungry, and sick at 9:30 on a Friday night and walking through the rain to get home?

ME.

Honestly, those things all suck (well, the temperature wasn't bad), but I was so elated to be walking home from work that nothing but that actually mattered.  I continue to be abnormally happy about this change in commute style and length.

Before I leave you to go cough in a corner, I wanted to share something I thought was awesome (in that ironic, "um, right" kind of way).  I've mentioned before that there are two locations for my new job.  The one I was at tonight, which is walking distance from my home, is nestled between two Starbucks.  There is one a half block north, which is connected to Macy's and there is one a half block south and one block east.  The latter is a great location for grabbing coffee on my way in to the store, but if I'm actually just grabbing coffee during a break, I go north.

I was waiting for the nice young spaz at the espresso machine to brew my autumnal caramel americano and I glanced into the fine jewelry department of Macy's.  Just as I finished being underwhelmed by their displays (can we get some sparkling lights, please?), I noticed one of the most ironically super signs ever.

In case you can't make it out, Macy's wants me to know that for my convenience there are restrooms on the third floor.  I would like to point out that since I was in a Starbucks with a street entrance separate from the store, that means we were all on the first floor.  However, for my convenience, if I need to pee, I can find the ever-ellusive escalators or wait for the same elevators that have been creaking up and down the floors since 1928 so I can use the convenient restrooms on the third floor.

For the sake (and convenience) of their customers, I sincerely hope Starbucks has its own restrooms.

stiiiilllll going...powered by smoothies & espresso

I'm not sure there are words strong enough to express my longing, yearning, pining even, for Friday.  Once I have safely made it to and through Friday, I have a glorious, much needed, and much deserved 3-day weekend.  I do mean 3 days, too - I'm not teaching on Saturday and I don't have to go back to Diet Land until Tuesday.  Nevertheless, powered by three things that are becoming steadfast favorites, I am powering on, pushing myself to endure every day that stands between me and Friday night.

What three things?

• Espresso (say what you want about Starbucks, but I will not apologize for my iced caramel americanos - they taste like iced heaven in a cup)
• More Italian food - old habits die hard, especially when I can't think of a terribly good reason to stop this addiction.
• Smoothies!  Tasty, frothy, drinkable nutrition!  If I got enough sleep at night, I could probably easily sub out a smoothie for my espresso.  But I don't get enough sleep.  I love you, Starbucks.

I really don't think anyone wants to read my Ode to Caffeine and besides, I am well aware that this is not a healthy way to go about life.  Like I said, I don't get enough sleep.  It's a long story.  I'm pretty sure any faithful readers are also growing quite weary of my pasta-worship, too, but let me just share for a moment before moving on to the "good stuff."

Last night, I finally made Italian-Style Rice Casserole from Vegan Italiano because I finally bought peas.  In the course of preparing it, I realized I was woefully short of carrots, a fact that did not truly "hit home" until I started to prepare dinner tonight.

I love this risotto-like dish.  I love it because it's hearty and creamy and fully of veggie goodness (the peas nearly outnumber the rice!) with a few spikes of salty mixed in from the chopped kalamatas.  I love that even though it's supposed to be a baked dish, it comes together stovetop in approximately 30 minutes - I think that is at least partially owed to my use of the not-so-indigenous-to-Italy Jasmine rice.  After a ton of pasta dishes, I was happy to let go of my Italian fetish with a rice dish.  Or so I thought.

Tonight, I started to get everything together for Naked Burritos, and then remembered that I used the last four pitiful carrots for dinner last night, leaving me no carrots for the burritos.  Stop asking yourself what kind of sick person puts carrots in burritos and follow me back down the path to Il Belpaese.

So, I opened up my little gold book of magic and started to assemble ingredients and found myself lacking a fairly important one, so I looked at my menu for a quick-cooking one, as my stomach was trying to eat itself, and decided upon a recipe from Appetite for Reduction.  Broccoli Con Pasta, to be precise.  I made Dynise's version of this recipe not long ago, but I think I prefer Isa's.  It has a hot little kick from the red pepper flakes which can be at least partially dimmed by balsamic vinegar and wine, or left to simmer on your tongue and lips a bit.  It also does not involve trying to dissolve miso in hot oil with a flat whisk.  It also fits into that wonderful and welcome category of Perfect Portions/no leftovers.

With my continuing tribute to Italy out of the way, we can get to the real fun: Smoothies.  A few weeks ago, I posted about my smoothie virginity.  At least one daring and caring soul stepped forward to help me overcome my scarcity of smoothies: Kelly from Living on the Vedge.  She offered to meet up with me for a smoothie date, which we did on Saturday and it was delightful.  Prior to our meeting, though, I decided to dabble a bit - test the chunky, fruit-filled waters, if you will.

I began my Smoothie Odyssey on my way to work one morning.  I had an unintentionally light breakfast, leaving me quite ravenous by the time I got to the train station.  As luck would have it, there is a delightful little corner joint right where the Gallery meets Market East.  I have stopped a few times in the past for one of their abundant and varied fruit salads.  I noticed they had fresh-pressed juices, so I thought maybe I'd give one a try, but as I drew closer, I noticed a smoothie menu.  I shrugged a little to myself, then smiled at the waiting countergirl and ordered the Pink Lady: banana, strawberry, and carrot, blended with ice.

isn't she pretty?

I tried to reserve my judgment a little as I had nothing, really, to which I could compare my pretty pink smoothie, but it was darn good.  There was enough ice to give it texture, and I'm pretty sure they used a frozen banana, too, but it was totally drinkable as well.  I can't deny I was a little bit attracted to the color, especially since I thought the carrot would make it a little more orange...kind of like the Pineapple-Carrot Smoothie I got at Pure Fare on Saturday (the prettiest little Judgment Day there ever was!):

However, lest you believe that was all carrot turning it that amazing shade of orange, I think it was more the orange juice than anything else.  It was a tasty smoothie, profuse with citrus flavor between the OJ and the pineapple.  It was obvious there was carrot, though, as the blender did not completely pulverize it, resulting in the occasional chunk lodging itself in either the straw or my teeth.  Hot, I know - it's a good thing I wasn't trying to charm Kelly with my good looks and graceful smoothie consumption.  It was very thick but there was a certain comfort to be derived from drinking something that was clearly whole fruits and vegetables only moments before.  Kelly sipped on the Detoxifying Green Juice - she had been in a few days earlier and fell in love.  I think I am destined to return and try the Kale-Apple Smoothie and the green juice...and possibly one of the brownies I was assured is vegan!

Finally, when I got my hair touched up a few weeks ago for BIL's wedding, I stopped into Cups & Chairs to pay a long-overdue visit.  I had my detox tea for the first time since I finished Mister's this winter and could have kicked myself for forgetting how refreshing and addicting they are.  While I was waiting, I glanced up at the newly revamped drink menu and noticed something I hadn't seen in the past (probably because it wasn't there): a Matchanana Smoothie.

I correctly assumed it was matcha and bananas, as well as some plain soymilk and ice.  I headed over to Salon Sugar with my detox tea, but returned the following morning for a Matchanana to sip on my way to work.  By the time I made it to the train station, I'd sipped through half of it.  It was okay, but a little strange - first of all, it was way more soymilk than anything else.  Since she used a fresh banana, it didn't really stand out the way the texture of a frozen banana would have.  The matcha added a unique grassy-green flavor, but overall, it was not outstanding.  It was kind of like green milk.  Which doesn't sound that good.  It wasn't bad, but I won't get it again.

I wanted to try a Starbucks (anyone surprised?) Vivanno Smoothie, but the whole focal point is a blend of fiber and whey protein they add to promote energy and satiety.  Considering whey is a milk protein, that kind of went out the window.  I have my smoothie-eyes open wider now, so if I find anything exceptional, I'll report back, but for now, I'm going to sign off and dream of kale-apple smoothies and maybe treat myself to another smoothie from the corner place at Market East tomorrow...if there's time and space after my SBUX run ;)

may your days be merry and bright

Happy Friday!  We made it!

It blows my mind that this time next week we'll have gone through the first round of holiday eating festivities.  I'm looking forward to the holiday, seeing family, not working, and not going to work.
Yes, I wrote that twice on purpose.  What a week and I'm not sorry to bid it farewell!  I had this awesome Good-news-Bad-news story with Mister during dinner tonight:

The good news is the week finally ended and I get to breathe for a couple of days.
The better news is that next week I only have to work two days!
The bad news is that means I have to fit a whole lot of work into those two days.
The good news is that lots of work makes the days pass faster.
The bad news is that lots of work makes the days disappear too soon.
The good news is, once I get through them, I'll be off for five beautiful days straight.

That seems a good place to leave it.  Speaking of getting through things, we've gotten through the menu this final night with a beautiful blend of cultures and cuisines.

Tonight's dinner was Cajun Baked Tofu with Cajun Beans and Rice, both recipes from The Accidental Vegan.  I've made the rice-n-beans before - in fact, it is absolutely my favorite beans-n-rice recipe.  The Cajun tofu was new and a delightful addition.  Since the tofu seemed the obvious Protein in the meal, I opted to leave out the veg sausage called for in the recipe.  I also discovered, while cooking and after Whole Foods was too far away, that I had only one of two tablespoons of the prescribed worcestershire sauce.  I subbed in a Tbsp of tamari, since it has a darker savory taste and could fill in if I closed my eyes and wished really hard (which I did, and it seemed to work!).

I also subbed an 8 oz can of tomato sauce for the 1/2 cup tomato juice that was the key part of the tofu marinade, which resulted in a fun lacquered kind of situation.  I flipped the tofu halfway through cooking and spread the remaining "marinade" over top of the tofu slices.  I whisked some harissa into the mix in place of hot sauce and was quite pleased with the heat it lent to the marinade - the tofu and rice-n-beans played well together, and the whole Cajun melange made fast friends with the Georges duBoeuf Beaujolais I picked up on my walk home from the train tonight.  I had actually intended to pick up the Beaujolais Nouveau people keep saying they see, but all I could find was a 2009 vintage - but hey! It was on sale and had a little hang-tag telling me it was the best year ever for Beaujolais due to....blahblahblah....a bunch of stuff my brain is too full and too tired to fit in.

Let's just say I had a sip during dinner and had the exact same reaction that I had to my favorite summer wine.  Mister was quite amused.

Mister loves me.

I'm not gonna lie - by the time I made it in the door tonight, I wasn't sure I would be able to extricate myself from a chair if I sat down, so I just stood in my kitchen, still wearing my coat, hat, and gloves.  After giving me my kisses, Mister walked away and came back with something lovely he thought would make me happy.

Yessir, it sure did.

 Speaking of things that make me happy (yup, looks like it's that Random time of year), has anyone else noticed that Starbucks has the most brilliant marketing ever?  One year, someone said, "Hey, why don't we make happy red cups for the winter holiday beverages?"  To everyone's ineffable surprise and delight, the world responded by thinking that was just the cutest thing ever, so now, the minute that bitter chill begins to infiltrate the breeze, Starbucks launches the Red Cup Campaign.  It's brilliant and it totally works.  I'll admit, I bought into the hype - I wanted a red cup.

Admit it.  You do, too.

P.S. You can get a Toffee Mocha Americano (not just a latte).  You want one because they are incredibly tasty.  Follow your heart.  I'll be waiting with my red cup, too.

refriedillas and via-to-go

Was that even English?  I'm looking at the title of my own post and thinking it looks like a jumble of letters, but if you take your time and read it more than once, it will make sense...especially in the context of the post!

Today was awesome.  For one thing, I've been waiting for today all week.  For another thing, almost everything about today was pretty darn good - the sun was out and the weather was gorgeous (if not a little on the windy side).  I got up shortly after Mister left for work with an enthusiastic kitty waiting to say hello (actually, he was yowling outside the bedroom door) and had a delightful breakfast:

Apple Almond Oatmeal
serves 1 (but easily multiplied)

1 small apple, diced
1/2 cup dry oatmeal
1 cup nondairy milk (I used So Delicious Coconut Milk)
1 tsp Earth Balance
1 tsp Cinnamon sugar
1 tsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp sliced almonds

Melt the Earth Balance in a large skillet with sloped sides.  Saute the apples 2-3 minutes, until golden and tender.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and stir well to coat evenly.  Add a couple of Tbsp of the milk, then sprinkle the oats over the apples and stir to combine.  Pour in remaining milk and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, stir in maple syrup and almonds.  Cook 3-5 minutes on low, stirring often, until all liquid is absorbed.

I hope you like oatmeal, because it's only October!  No fear - I have some other tricks up my sleeve, so you won't spend the winter learning 1001 Ways to Cook Oatmeal.

Since we leave for California on Thursday, it's a short cooking week and I was able to buy all of my groceries at Whole Foods, affording me some free time to play my piano before heading out to teach other people how to play the piano.  It's a pity how infrequently the teacher practices...  Regardless, although I had plenty of time to finish everything I had written on my to-do list last night, tomorrow is supposed to be another spectacular day for roaming around the city I love, so I saved some "errands" for tomorrow.  You know, really burdensome things like shopping for make-up and playing at Williams Sonoma.  I'll be crying all the way down Chestnut Street.

Before I got on my train this afternoon, though, I stopped at the adorable hidden-under-the-stairs Starbucks at Market East and bought myself a present: Cinnamon Spice Via.  Okay, two presents - as long as I was there, I treated myself to a short peppermint Americano.  The short size is probably one of Starbucks's best kept secrets - 8 oz of your favorite drink; a little less costly, and more importantly when relying on public transportation schedules, a little less bladder-filling. 

I can't wait to try the Via, but I will.  Tomorrow, I will drink hazelnut coffee with my Mister like I do every Sunday.  Monday, though, I will have a new weapon to battle the coffee at my office (which is much better than the coffee at our old building, but still tastes like a paper cup, even when you drink it from a mug).

Dinner was Big Quesadillas with Refried Beans, Spinach Arugula, and Avocado from Vegan Express.  I've renamed it Refriedillas because the linguist in me cannot deal with quesadillas that aren't even made with quesas falsas.  For you non-Spanish-speakers out there, quesa=cheese, and there wasn't even fake cheese on this tasty little fold-over dinner.  I realized I should have taken a picture before I folded them over after I folded them over and effectively sealed them shut.  A few tweaks to the recipe resulted in a very tasty and filling dinner - I spread the refried beans over the entire tortilla because I didn't see how it would seal shut otherwise - tomatoes are not known for their adhesive qualities.  Also, I placed a layer of avocado inside each 'dilla rather than on top of them because although I know I need to work on presentation, Mister is more interested in practicality and loves food he doesn't need to use utensils to eat.  Maybe it would have been prettier to place them artistically on top of the 'dillas with a nice splat of salsa...but I'm pretty sure we both would have taken the slices off and discarded them rather than finding a way for them to fit into the 'dilla.

They were tasty and super-quick, therefore a good "back pocket" recipe.  I really ought to start storing those somewhere - a "back pocket" file or something.  We'll put that in the category of "cool things I want to do with my next kitchen."

you can't always get what you want

subtitle: How Bed, Bath, and Beyond failed me today.

There used to be a Linens 'n' Things very near my home.  It was a convenient alternative to BBB, since Mister officially declared his hatred for that store the night we became engaged.  It's a long story, but let's just say we ended up registering for our wedding at LnT (and Macy's) instead.  Anyway, since October 2008 led to the death of many of my favorite (but possibly second-rate) stores, my only option for convenience and price is the Triple B.  There happens to be one right around the corner from my Saturday job.

I went on their website this afternoon and was absolutely ecstatic to see they have the knife I've been looking for and which I am too lazy busy to walk up to Williams Sonoma to purchase:

Unfortunately, in the ten minutes I had to run into the store, grab coffeemaker water filters and find the knife, I was informed by a helpful and apologetic employee that they do not stock those knives, but they are available on the website.  I smiled, thanked her, and waited in line behind a woman with two very badly behaved children to pay for my coffee machine filters.  Nevermind that those knives were the only reason I set foot in that store.

Anyway, I was miraculously able to prepare dinner tonight without the help of the very sharp, nonstick, carbon fiber blade.  I can't remark about last night's dinner, since the only sharp utensil necessary was a pair of scissors to open the bag of frozen broccoli...

Okay, you got me, I did have to chop some olives and one-third of a yellow bell pepper for the salads.  I made Penne with Broccoli and Creamy Tomato Sauce last night.  Since we didn't have occasion to drop the cat again, I decided to make it fun by using gemelli pasta instead of plain ol' penne.  I also tried a different prepared pasta sauce: Ragu Robusto 7-Herb Tomato Sauce.  It was really good and vegan.  Omnivores everywhere are wondering right now (well, at least the ones who read my humble blog), "What wouldn't be vegan about pasta sauce?"  In a word: cheese. They sneak it into simple marinaras and think you won't notice.  I was completely surprised by how many prepared pasta sauces have cheese in them.

Tonight was a little more cutting intensive, but since I could cube tofu with a dinner knife, the intensity of the Kuhn Rikon knife I didn't buy today wasn't really missing.

I love Black Bottom Pineapple Tofu with Coconut Cashew Rice.  It tastes so good and it gets easier to make every time I make it.  A couple of changes: the recipe calls for 2 Tbsp of unsweetened coconut, but I use 3 Tbsp of sweetened coconut.  I think it's better that way.  Also, tonight I subbed chopped hazelnuts for the cashews because I want to use them before they go bad.  The cashews definitely complement the flavors of the dish better - they are more mild, while the hazelnuts have a more pronounced flavor.  I did enjoy the extra crunch provided by these sturdy little nuts, though.

We were "eating the rainbow" again tonight with a vividly colorful salad of mixed greens, grape tomatoes (I don't think they're quite ripe), yellow pepper, shredded carrots, and kalamata olives:

It was too pretty to not be showcased in its own beauty shot.

I got some other little presents for myself today, in between fulfilling a mean Starbucks craving (it happens to the best of us) and buying coffee maker water filters (are we sensing a pattern?), but I'll fill you in on that tomorrow.   In the meantime, feel free to check out two new blogs I've added to the side of my [revamped] page:

The Cutie Tip of the Day from Make-up artists, Touch of Blush

Chic Vegan - What I like about this blog is how it incorporates everything, just like living a vegan lifestyle encompasses not only what we eat, but how we dress, what we put on our feet and how we paint our faces (should we choose to, and you can probably guess my choice, based on the first link).  I love all the vegan and raw blogs out there, but I can't focus on food all the time or I'll never stop eating!  Enjoy!

sweet potato? sweet tomato!

Can I start by saying that I still can't get over the fact that bananas melt? I love that little chocolate-covered blog for many reasons, but I think one of my favorites is that it opened my eyes to a whole new world of banana-eating.

Needless to say, I had a melted banana in my oatmeal this morning.

On my way to work I indulged in a rare treat - I got a peppermint Americano from Starbucks. I always remember why these treats are rare at the cash register... but it was worth every penny! Say what you want about Starbucks, but I appreciate their effort to promote fair trade and local farming.

Speaking of farming...we slaughtered us some chickpeas and olives tonight, while ripping out the hearts of palm and artichoke hearts...okay, that was a little graphic. I made the Mediterranean Chopped Salad for dinner tonight because it was 70 degrees in Philadelphia today. Yes, it's November. No, I don't think anyone told the weather. Anyway, it was fast, easy, and beautiful:
I'll admit, I cheated a little - those beautiful mixed greens came from one of those ready-to-eat salad bags. I opened the cans of artichoke hearts, chickpeas, and hearts of palm myself, though! There were two things that really stood out to me about this salad - the oil-cured black olives and the grape tomatoes.

By November, it's pretty safe to say tomato season is over. These little grape tomatoes would beg to differ, though, and they'd probably win. I was not expecting the honest-to-God sweet taste that filled my mouth when I bit down on one. Add to that the amazing contrast of dark, salty olives and it was an incredible salad. I also love the briny taste of the artichoke hearts and the chompy texture of the palmitos. This salad is so good with just these simple adornments, you wouldn't even notice that I left off the cubed mozzarella...I know Mister didn't!