April

Whew!  The last two weeks have been a whirlwind.  Ever since we got back from vacation it's been sunny enough out to actually garden and do yard work, and there is plenty about our yard to keep us busy. Luckily, since I got a new camera, I'll be able to tell my story all in pictures!  How exciting.  They all zoom really large, too.

Last week we went on a cruise to the Caribbean.    It was so awesome to get away somewhere sunny  after months and months of darkness here in Oregon.  I had no idea how vitamin D deficient I was.  I currently have more energy than I can remember having for years!  

While we were gone our tree exploded into bright pink blossoms.   I have no idea what kind of tree it is, but I've seen a few of them around here.  We've been gardening a LOT.  

This is our back yard.  Yep, just a tiny walkway with  a RED RASPBERRY patch growing on the side.  The canes will arch over towards the house in the summertime, so we're going to have to find a way to keep them all neat and organized.  This path was mud and weeds yesterday and now we've reclaimed it with teamwork.

I've gone vegan since we returned from the trip and I haven't been hating it too bad.  I think I'm going to try to be moderate about it and only do it like 5 days a week and then eat regular vegetarian on the weekends.  Best ease into it.  This is a raw vegan apple pie (just the crust in this picture).  I have the recipe ready for you to try.  It's freaking fabulous.

The pie with all the apples in it.  Yum!  To be fair, I'm not a raw vegan and making a regular pie with margarine would be easy enough, but I've been dying to make one of these and I took up the opportunity to make something that is semi-good for you.  Dates have tons of sugar, though, so none is actually added to the pie.  Enjoy it with a glass of iced rose tea, for a no-sugar-added dessert. 

So other than that, I've met some of my more lovely neighbors and gotten to know them a bit.  I can't wait for summertime here in Oregon, it's great.

Here's your pie recipe:  http://notsoaveragemama.com/2011/08/29/raw-apple-pie-a-yummy-good-for-you-recipe/

Vegetarian Bibimbap

Beep Beep Bop.  "Robot food" is what we called it in college.  I used to go to a tiny lunch place in Pittsburgh to get their Vegetarian Bibimbap.  Mine is pretty good, too.  Loosely follow the directions here.  I added an egg and a tiny bit of Kimchi.  Very healthy and great food for an afternoon being green!  Lisa knows what I mean...

Mystery Food

What is it? 

 Hasselback Potato.  Yum.

Not too bad, Lindsay...

A little healthy eating never killed anyone...except that one person.  Yes, that person was me.

I've been trying to lose some winter weight lately.  I've got a Caribbean vacation coming up (sadly, not the super cool kind with Raz) and spring clothing is just around the corner.  That, and someone's asshole Wii fit told me I need to lose 10 pounds.   The three C's are strictly off limits:  Candy, cakes and cookies (you know, unless my boss brings in chocolate from her trip to Paris).  Just trying to cut out too many extra carbs and added sugar is really restrictive.  I'm really in need of some method to make eating just vegetables for two meals a day tasty and possible.

Enter this fabulous recipe for Japanese Restaurant-style ginger-carrot dressing.  Not exactly like old Taipei-Tokyo's back in Monroeville, but a great substitute.  Can't be that bad for you, either.

Ugh my camera has the resolution and focus of a potato.

Speaking of slimming down, look at my li'l lady who has been just a tad slimmer since she's been hanging around outside a bit:

Balloon: I'm super sexy!

Shellfish a la Ms. T

Around Christmas time, I went back to visit friends and family in Pittsburgh.  And no visit to the Burgh is complete without a visit with Ms. T.  I got to see her new place, and experience her wonderful cooking.  She made mussels and asparagus in a Tom Kha Gai inspired broth.

I've had the Tom Yum paste in my fridge for months, waiting for mussels and veggies but only tonight have I gotten around to making my own version of Tess's amazing dish.  Prepwork takes a bit of time (cleaning the Mussels can be laborious as they can be covered in barnacles and beards. I was also informed, to my horror, that they were alive upon purchase.  Northwest seafood is fresh.)  However, once the sauce gets going, it takes only 5 minutes for this dish to cook.

Here's what to do:

Stuff (Makes 2-3 Servings):

Garlic

Thom Yum Paste

Coconut milk (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 lb. Clams (look up basic instructions on cleaning and cooking clams and mussels if you need to!)

1/2 lb. Mussels

1/2 lb. Baby Bok Choi

Rice stick noodles, cooked up.  They only take a few minutes, your package should have instructions.

Directions:

Saute the garlic in some oil at the bottom of a big pot.  Add the thom yum paste just as it gets going and then pour on the coconut milk (mine was powdered so I wanted to add it right away because it was lumpy.)  Bring this to a boil and add both the clams and mussels.  Set your timer for 5 minutes and cover.  

When your timer has about 1:30 left to go, add the cleaned and chopped Bok Choi and cover.  Stir it a few times, but it only takes a few seconds for it to cook.  Overcooking it makes it a little...slimy so resist the urge to add it at the same time as the shellfish.

At 5:00 your mussels and clams should have opened.  Throw away any that haven't.  That's all it takes.

Serve the rice noodles topped with your tasty shellfish stew!

*Note:  You could probably use more lemongrass, but mine fell out of my cart at the store so I didn't have any.  The thom yum paste should have some already so it's fine if you don't want to use it.



Enjoy!

New inspiration: Quinoa Mac and Cheese

*Update:  This is the best thing I've ever eaten.

Cheese specs:  Half and half, about 3 oz Sharp white cheddar,  3 oz Mizithra Cheese, 3 oz Chevre and some white wine.

Lately I have been very busy on my new favorite site:  Pinterest.  It gives me a place to collect my favorite online recipes and craft ideas in one place, visually.  My most recent discovery on Pinterest is Quinoa Mac and Cheese.

There are many variations of this on the internet.  This particular recipe called for cooking the quinoa and then adding shredded cheese and milk to it, as well as eggs.  I skipped the eggs, but I did make a tasty white wine and white cheddar cheese sauce and added it.  I did leave in the broccoli.  I love broccoli with cheese and while I haven't had any yet (still in the oven!) I did sample the cheese sauce beforehand and it's great.  I regret to say that mine version is probably not as healthy with half and half, regular cheese, and olive oil on my breadcrumbs.  This recipe was actually kind of great to use up some left over ingredients in my fridge though.  Pics to come!

For now, follow me on Pinterest so I can follow you back!

New round of cookbooks from LINCC

I have been getting so bored with cooking lately.  Nothing was inspiring me to try new things or explore.  I started eating take-out and microwave dishes more just to avoid planning and cooking.  Meat was getting in there a little more than I like it to.  I knew this had to change.

Then I got a brilliant idea:  I work at a library.  Libraries have cookbooks!  So I placed a dozen holds on popular vegetarian cookbooks, and I have received a few so far.  Some had so many holds, I'll be lucky to see them by August.  One I was very disappointed with.  I won't mention it (unless you really want to know); the recipes were too frustrating.  It was pretty pretentious.  

Enter The Veganomicon. It's several years old now, so I'm thinking of maybe getting a copy cheap from Powell's.  It's exactly what I like.  Foods I have heard of.  Tasty no-nonsense recipes.  Not just vegan food, because I was a very unsuccessful vegan, but rather variety. It's a thick 250-recipe volume, and it gives you so many options for recipes that you are bound to find one you love.  Especially one you can add cheese to.  

So far I have made two things from it, and both were flavorful and easy to prepare.  

Tonight's dinner:  Scallion flatbread from page 222.  Very good, but maybe not a great, nutritious dinner.  We've been busy today, so I'm not going to count it out as being terrible for you.  They are very fun to make and pretty quick. 

They're cooked on the stove top almost like a pancake, but with little balls of dough rolled out very thinly beforehand and tossed into the pan where they sizzle and brown.  I'd love to try branching out with other types of flatbread, too.  These would be great if company came over.  I recommend using low-sodium soy sauce because the sauce is pretty salty but in general they were great!

Your library is almost certain to have a copy, and used volumes are sold on Amazon for around 16 dollars.  I say give it a try.