sunday, lazy sunday

I set my alarm for noon today.  I still hit snooze several times before convincing myself to get up.

I sat around in my bathrobe for hours, drinking cup after cup of amazing coffee.

That's right - Dark Chocolate Ecstasy.  You can't tell me that's not a killer name for a coffee.  It made the kitchen smell amazing, so Mister and I made and drank two pots.

I've been peeing almost all day, but it was totally worth it.

All day, or more likely between each new cup o' joe, I asked myself with a touch of anxiety, "Isn't there something I should be doing?"  Each time, the answer was the same - NO.  I did all the food shopping yesterday and we can wait a few more days for laundry, so no, there was nothing that needed doing.  It was great to just relax and enjoy my day off.

I'll admit, though, I'm still a little jittery from all that coffee - it's a bit more than I usually drink in a day and it was nearly as consistently administered (via hand to mouth) as it would have been if I had that sought-after IV drip of caffeine.  Mister just brewed a pot of decaf, but I am definitely done with coffee... until tomorrow.

Between being overly lazy and overly caffeinated, I definitely had the energy to cook dinner.  I made Mexican Rice and Bean Bake from Vegan on the Cheap, although I really ought to put "bake" in quotation marks (like I just did) because I haven't baked this since the first unnecessarily time-consuming time I made this.  I find it comes together much more quickly and with less gnashing of teeth when I cook the rice separately from the rest, adding it in once it's fully cooked.

While the rice was cooking, I minced a dark green poblano chili because I think it's wasteful to get those expensive little cans of flavorless and mushy diced chilies.  To soften the pieces up a little, I sauteed them with olive oil and garlic for at least 5 minutes, probably longer, before adding in everything else.

That smelled so good and only got better with the gradual addition of salsa, beans, sweet white corn, and then finally, the cooked rice.

I haven't made this in a long time and now I'm kicking myself because I did not remember it tasting as incredible as it did tonight.  I'm not in the habit of buying/using white corn, but it added a neat "surprise" to the dish.  It was crunch and sweet when you were not quite expecting something like that to be part of the dish, providing a nice contrast against the otherwise savory nature of this recipe.

Last night we had Pasta Florentine from The 30 Minute Vegan.

It was tasty and I always enjoy the nooch-heavy "cream" sauce, but aside from that, it was nothing special and I couldn't think of a single clever thing to say about it.  So you just get a half-decent picture.  Lucky you!

I hurt all over

When I started working at the place I just left, about four and a half years ago, the hardest thing for me to get used to was sitting.  I just sat, tethered to a phone, all day.  Yes, I had a couple of breaks, and believe me, I used that time to move around as much as possible, but for the most part I just sat.  The reason this was so difficult for me was because I had been unemployed for nine months, during which time I got into wandering around the city when I wasn't begging people to hire me.  Before I was laid off, I had a pretty physical job - moving at least every hour to go from this room to that or this house to that school.

Conversely, I got a little too good at sitting over the last four years, and my 3 hours daily of commuting did not help.  I got comfortable and besides, sitting so much allowed me to pull off dangerously high heels (which I have consequently forgone in my new position...at least for now).  Now?  Well, my whole body hurts.  I have not had to stand up for 8 hours in a row for....well, probably 15 years, actually.  15 years ago, I worked retail between Black Friday and mid-January, but my body was 15 years younger and able to handle the stress - in heels!  Right now, I would love a good massage and a bottle of aspirin.

My new job had a Grand Opening celebration this weekend with all hands on deck from Friday until tonight.  Everyone was working the floor, including the President, Marketing Director, and a bunch of other people who usually spend a decent bit of time sitting at their desks.  I'm sure at least some of them are hurting, too.

Anyway, I don't have a whole lot to say about food.  I'm hoping to have some good stories next week so I can convince myself to write more.  I'm kind of in this place where I'm re-evaluating Angst Loves Spinach and trying to see what's important and where we're going here.  I started the blog in the hopes of developing myself as a creative chef and as an outlet for my love of writing.  I do love to write and I have had a ball the last two years doing so, but I've definitely gotten away from the original intention - to create recipes, not just babble about the recipes other people made up and I cooked.

I'd like to flatter myself into believing that at least a few people are reading these words in something akin to horror and thinking, "gee, I hope she's not ending the blog..."  If that is going through anyone's mind, let me give a word of comfort - that is not really my intention.  Here is what I am hoping for: I am currently adjusting to my new job and my new schedule.  Once I am adjusted, once my body finds a new strength so I'm not bone-tired when I get home from work, I will find that I have a ton more time.  My goal is to use at least some of that time to become more creative - set goals for myself, force myself to create something at least once a week.

I haven't heard anything (yet) about this year's VeganMoFo (and I truly hope it will occur again this year, but I certainly do not have the time or energy to be one of the initiators/organizers).  The last two years, this event has had a considerable influence on my posting and I'm hoping it will re-ignite the fire in my kitchen again this year.  I'm fairly certain that I will be up to speed and as comfortable as I'll ever be with my new job by the time it starts, so I want to make a schedule of goals to meet that month, culinarily speaking, so that I can spread my wings and stretch again.  I always feel such a sense of accomplishment when I come up with my own recipes, but lately I've been way to tired to do anything but follow someone else's [fabulous] recipe like a little KitchenZombie.

Nevertheless, I will, as I do every week, share the coming week's menu with you (as well as my joy that my new job is only a few short blocks from Trader Joe's, so I'll be stopping there after work tomorrow to pick up supplies):

1. Spanakopita from The Accidental Vegan with roasted fingerling potatoes.  I have never made this recipe.  I will admit, I'm a little nervous about making this recipe, the way I am always nervous when I try to make something Mister knows from his childhood of good eats made with love by a Greek father or a half-Sicilian mother.  My mother-in-law is getting awfully good at making Spanakopita from YiaYia's recipe, under her tutelage, so to go it alone like this is both invigorating and terrifying.  You can bet there will be a post the night I make this!

2. Seitan Pepper Steak, also from The Accidental Vegan.

3. Cajun Red Beans and Rice, also from The Accidental Vegan, because I used all of my self-control last week when I made the menu to not include this, since I had another beans-n-rice recipe on there, but this week, This is the beans-n-rice recipe.

4. Coconut Curry Rice from Vegan on the Cheap.

5. Baked Ziti, also from Vegan on the Cheap with sauteed cauliflower and broccoli.  This is also a new recipe (I believe - sometimes I space makings so far apart I forgot I made something before!), but when I was looking over the menu, I realized we had a lot of cuisines represented (Greek, Japanese, Cajun/Latina, Indian), but no Italian.  If I hadn't come upon this when I did, and if it hadn't looked as easy as it does, we'd have been reprising Isa's Pasta e Fagioli for the 100th time this year.

sunshine polka dots

Happy Monday!  The countdown is on - Monday down means only three more days until I wake up before the sun and race it westward to California!  I'm scheduled to touch down at 1pm-ish, so if I win, I might admit the world is coming to an end.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great weekend.  As my previous post shows, I was pretty busy on Saturday, and Sunday as well, but in a totally different and far more fun way.  On Sunday, we met up with friends we haven't seen in a while - some of them we haven't seen since our wedding!  Fifteen of us descended upon North Bowl in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia and spent about five hours eating, drinking, and making merry.  It was a mixed bag, in terms of the service level being a bit below where I expect customer service to be, but we weren't there for the waitstaff, we were there to see each other.  Even Mister managed to be social!

I'm actually not going to spend a lot of time talking about our experience with North Bowl because I used up a lot of my words in the email I wrote to the management.  The happy ending, for now, is that the management responded quickly and appropriately and my happiness with the venue has been restored by their actions.  More details coming later....along with one of two upcoming surprises. [ilovesecrets]

Tonight I had a real conflict within while trying to determine what to make for dinner.  The part of me that hates when food grows limbs in our refrigerator and runs away or turns funny colors really wanted to make the Black Bean Burgers since I'm using up the burger thins from when I made the Lemony Chickpea Burgers and I don't know how long it will take them to grow "friends."  Another part of me wanted to make a longer-cooking meal since I had time, and yet another part of me wanted to make a meal with lot of leftovers for lunch this week.  Eventually, I settled upon the Mexican Rice and Bean Bake from Vegan on the Cheap.

Because a 4oz can of about two tablespoons of diced green chilies is pointlessly expensive, I pick up a cubanelle pepper at Whole Foods and diced it to saute with the garlic, and in place of the onion, I use my last shallot.

I'll admit, this picture made me a little nervous.  For one thing, I've never cooked a cubanelle pepper and I wasn't sure of its exact heat level.  The lightness of the pepper worried me, as it seems like they get hotter as they get lighter (ghost chilies, anyone?).  Also, apparently, shallots make my eyes tear the way onions make people who eat onions eyes tear.  I really wasn't sure what I was getting myself into.

[I would like to take just a moment to direct your attention to the pretty little Whole Foods brand pinto beans hiding behind the bowl there - 89 cents each, baby - that's right!  Thank you, Lacy!]

Turns out, I was getting myself into a fabulous base for a very tasty dinner.  I know I've made this before, because I know this isn't the first time I've said, "no, I am NOT baking this."  I can't remember when, though - what I do know is that I should make this more frequently because at the moment, it's a contender for the 2nd place spot for my favorite rice-n-beans recipe.

It's just spicy enough to keep things interesting, but I'm still able to eat it, which I consider a plus, since it's my dinner, too. In addition to the "just right" heat level, the little drops of sunshine scattered throughout (also known as "corn") added a satisfying and sweet pop of "other" flavor into a very savory and spicy dish.

Stay tuned for the unveiling of Secret #1 soon!

red, red wine... stay close to me

So TGIF, right?  It's funny how certain vices are so culturally acceptable that you can gain acceptance and approval merely by giving the sight-unseen, I-could-be-a-liar-but-you-don't-know impression that the happiest way to welcome a Friday evening, once safely home from work, is by begging your bottle of wine not to stray too far from your side.

As though it can actually move without my help.

Social persuasion and acceptable conformity aside, I must admit I was pleased to find my darling Apothic Red at a $2-off discount upon my "detour" on the way home from work.  I'm trying to keep my wine-drinking to the weekend, so the little sale tag was a welcome sight and the familiar taste and scent were similarly comforting.

I didn't have the best day at work (that seems a trend lately, eh?) so I was glad that the less-than-coveted "Last Meal on the Menu" spot belonged to my very favorite recipe for beans-n-rice: Cajun Red Beans and Rice from The Accidental Vegan.

It was every bit as fabulous as I wanted it to be and the wine was a fairly complementary addition  Mister and I ate it all up, so if I haven't done so previously, let's add this to the No Leftovers pile.  Although I could probably go on and on about how awesome this recipe is, I'm sure I've done that already in plentiful previous posts about this dinner.  I'm hoping to have something slightly more exciting to babble about soon, so for now, the most exciting thing I can share with you is the new (exceptionally long for no good reason) menu:


1. Chickpea Croquettes with Green Salad Topping from Vegetarian Times: Quick and Healthy, which was really reprised from an earlier issue of the magazine I don't feel like finding right now.  I've made this before and it's a fun, light, quick summer meal.


2. Tuscan Vegetable Ragout from Vegetarian Times: Fast and Easy.  I figured it's been long enough since the last time I made this.  Hopefully, I can restrain at least some of my enthusiasm so I don't overcrowd the pot like I normally do.


3. Singapore-Style Rice Noodles with Snow Peas, Peppers, Cabbage, and Tofu also from Vegetarian Times: Fast and Easy.  I'm pretty confident that the reason I've never made this in all the time I've owned this cookbook (quite a few years now) is because the title is just overwhelmingly long.  I mean, seriously - once you've listed three vegetables, don't you think we could name it something like "Singapore-Style Noodles with Tofu and Vegetables"?  How likely is it, really, that simplifying the name would make it less appealing to someone looking for a "fast and easy" dinner recipe?  There's no need to list the ingredients in the title - it takes away all the mystery.


4. Chickpeas Romesco on Saffron-Garlic Rice, both from Veganomicon because one of my silly readers reminded me it was sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust and that made me sad.  Oh, and also because this is a kick-a$$ recipe.


5. Pasta Della California also from Veganomicon and also super-awesome.  Besides, my Sister-Trip is coming up - we've begun the "scheming an itinerary via email" phase of planning and squealing.


6. Pasta E Fagioli, also from Veganomicon.  It's still the reigning champ, so I figured it couldn't hurt to remind myself why.


7. Stewed Lentils with Soy Sausage from Vegan Express for two very viable reasons: one, I have an open package of Tofurky in my fridge that needs to be used (primarily the reason I sought this recipe out) and two, because my beluga lentils are threatening to find a different cupboard to live in - one where they'll occasionally get used.

saturday in the city

I had a lovely first day off - I slept until I was done, which was a positively, indescribably incredible experience.  I was so happy that when I finally opened my eyes and saw that it was still before noon, I tried to stay in bed a little longer, but my body was finished with that part of the day.  I got up and made a pot of coffee, a little luxury I reserve for the days that Mister and I will both be around to drink it - during the week I just have a cup of tea.  After a little while, I got in the shower and then got dressed because now that I was awake, I had an agenda!

In a favorite dress, face painted with black eyeshadow and red lipstick, I headed across town to redeem my voucher for tickets to see La Fille mal Gardee this coming Thursday.  I normally stick pretty close to home on my usual one day off, so as long as I was allllll the way on the west side of Broad St, I figured I'd wander around Rittenhouse Square a bit.

It was a gorgeous sunny day, perfect for browsing sales at Anthropologie and Arcadia.  I wandered over to Pure Fare to get a Green Detox Juice or Kale-Apple Smoothie, but it was dark and there was a sign on the door wishing me a happy weekend, stating they'll return on Tuesday.  As I was walking down Walnut Street, though, I found myself on a particularly photogenic intersection.

I actually saw this ^ scene second.  As I was walking along, kinda spacey-like, I spied the scene below and thought to myself, "Wow, I wouldn't expect to see a boarded up building with graffiti on it so close to Rittenhouse Square."  When I think of Rittenhouse Square, I think of excessively expensive homes, restaurants, and boutiques (case in point, I did not buy a single thing from either "sale" at Anthropologie or Arcadia - a marked down dress still in triple-digits is currently too rich for my blood.  No, not too rich for my blood, but definitely too rich for my wallet.).  I think of wealthier people than I sunning in the lovely park that looks like Washington Square's big sister and then retiring to a room in the Rittenhouse after catching an orchestra concert in balcony box seats (best seats in the house, if you ask me) and enjoying a post-concert meal at La Croix.  

So when I'm wandering down Walnut Street, just past the park, I don't expect to see two abandoned and decaying buildings directly across the street.  This picture ^ was taken after I literally turned 180 degrees from the direction I was facing to take the first picture.  What a dichotomy - this is something that I love and hate (ironically) about Philadelphia.  You can be in a really "nice" area and literally cross the street to end up somewhere you don't want to be.  I remember my first apartment was like that - my little street was great, family-oriented and quiet.  I wouldn't cross Corinthian St to park my car, though.

It seems I have a thing for steeples lately.  I was pondering that as I took this picture, but it really comes down to two things:

1. I love Philadelphia church architecture - that goes for synagogues, too.  Most of the churches in the city, be they Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Episcopalian, are very old - some of the ones in my neighborhood existed before we were an independent country.
2. Steeples are tall - they look neat against the sky because there is very little chance of the busyness of the city interfering with the picture.  You aren't going to have some tourist family pulling their raggled children through the picture, nor will you accidentally take a picture of butt-cleavage poking out of some hot mess's overstuffed jeans.  

For this picture in particular, I like how monochromic the steeple is against a brilliant blue sky with perfect fluffy clouds.  It reminds me a little of Annie Lennox's album Bare.

For the cover, Annie got all painted in white, including her hair, leaving the only color on the page to be her barely blue eyes and the name of the album in red.  She states in the liner notes that this design was very purposeful, as she wanted to show that she was barren of all beauty and emotion outside of what she had poured into her music.  The album itself is astonishingly personal and you get the impression that you are finally hearing from Annie, just as she is, unpolished.  It is my favorite of all her albums.

Anyway, before we get too deep (did that last night, with the help of my bottle of Riesling - that stuff sure is easy to drink!), let's talk about dinner.  As it was the last item on the menu, there wasn't too much thinking involved in selecting Salsa Rice and Red Beans from Vegan on the Cheap for dinner tonight.

I've made this several times before, even naming it one of my "top 5" recipes from that book.  It's extremely simple to make and unlike a lot of the recipes in that book, it actually allows me to integrate fresh ingredients.

The quality of the food we eat is very important to me.  I am very aware of the way my body responds to different kinds of food now and I can feel when I'm not eating the way I should.  I feel that way lately - run down, sluggish, heavy.  Not heavy in the "oh dear, I have to lose 5 lbs for Cousin's Wedding" kind of way, rather in the "how am I going to drag my butt all the way to Market East before the train leaves" kind of way.

This weekend, as far as I can tell, will be a waste.  At best, I can hope for a 50-50 split of eating and drinking good, nourishing food and being a complete jerk to my body.  But I'm okay with that.  The plan I've constructed in my brain after too much thinking and almost enough internet research is that I will do whatever the heck I want to this weekend, and then I will start June with a new attitude and more nourishing and purifying interactions with my body.  I've been reading about the Alkaline diet and how much you can improve various afflictions (like my never-ending battle with the very attractive eczema on my neck) by balancing your body's pH.  I've heard this before and I've read the testimonials of internet "friends" who have had very positive results from eating more alkaline foods.  I'm thinking of this as a short cleanse.  Not quite a fast, but a temporary change in my eating habits to return me to the lightness my body is used to.

Like I said, that starts in June.  For now, I have a banana daiquiri to blend.