The weekend has been a gift

Yes, if every weekend is special, this one has been particularly special. I used to be one of those people who worked in stores, always dreading the Saturday crowds, and never appreciating the weekend. Times have changed. And if every weekend is a delight, this one was truly a gift.

You see, originally I had planned to go to Philadelphia this weekend. I was going for a job-specific purpose, and that changed. Alex is always happy to go back to his hometown as frequently as we can, so he planned to tag along. But our Thursday night flight was delayed, and ultimately canceled.

I can’t help but be a little happy. After all, his mother had just finished with some pretty high-maintenance company, and my job thing had been rescheduled. So getting a refund on the tickets was quite a treat. This was worth the several hours in the airport, I think, to return home by 10:30 on Thursday instead of 5:00 on Monday.

I didn’t do much with this extra time. My fridge was bare, so I went to the grocery and the Farmers’ Market. I also went to The City Flea, which was about as small as I guessed it would be. I did get an idea for my next blender: the blender bike. If I’d been hungrier, I would have loved to hop on this Fender Blender and pedal my drink to blended bliss.

Back at home, I cooked some easy meals, but I also got into “cooking” mode and have plans to make something really incredible. For now, I took a cue from a restaurant we visited recently. It seems like when anyone learns I live in Ohio, they tell me to visit Northstar Café in Columbus. Well, I went. It did not live up to the hype.

Thankfully, Alex’s sister wanted to go – otherwise, I’d be embarrassed to have suggested such a mediocre place. However, I did glean one bit of goodness from them: broccoli with peanut sauce. We’ve all seen broccoli smothered in cheese, or broccoli in curry sauces, but this one was simply broccoli with a side of peanut sauce. I decided to recreate that at  home. Mine isn’t as thin as the stuff in the restaurant, but it was really good, and very different for me.

Peanut sauce: vague mix of peanut butter, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, water, rice vinegar, ginger, crushed red chili flakes, and agave. Thinned with water. It was delicious on broccoli alongside the farthest thing from a stir-fry: sloppy joes and mashed potatoes.

Oh, and the best part about not being in Philadelphia on Friday? I was home for the delivery of Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations, which I won from Food Feud’s giveaway. Thanks, Maud!

Now my faithful partner Alex has seen two blog-related mailings lately, and he’s informed me that it’s time to host my own giveaway. When I asked him what I should give, he offered a night with him – a tofu-cake (not beefcake). He’s given me permission to post half-naked photos of himself on my blog, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

Leftovers across state lines

Quick supper solution: eat your leftovers. I am sometimes good about eating leftovers, sometimes bad about it. I do think my folks would have finished off the stewed zucchini and tomatoes we made during our visit, but I snatched more than half of the leftovers and carried them home in our cooler.

The tomatoes and zucchini were stewed with some pre-mixed Cajun seasoning and were spicy! but perfect, and at home I served them over some brown rice and with a generous side of black eyed peas.

We’d also used a block of frozen tofu as an ice pack in the cooler, fully expecting to need to eat it on our trip, but instead I toted it home and cooked it last night. I dry-fried it and seasoned it with Bragg’s and more Cajun seasoning. Perfect, quick, and easy!

Visiting Back Home–kind of

I think I’ve gone back to visit my parents for Independence Day for the past four years. At least the last three, and I was there right after the 4th five years ago. Anyway, it’s a fluid tradition.

We bought watermelon, tomatoes, squash, and red cabbage. Some of the vegetables came from a small farm where the family was selling boxes of tomatoes from their backyard, and the melon was from Marie’s Produce, which is set up in a gas station parking lot at the intersection of two small roads. Some of the tomatoes looked really, really ugly, with scars and bruises and other serious imperfections, but once that was cut away they were still one thousand percent better than what I get at the grocery store and two hundred percent better than what I get at my farmers’ market.

We played with the dog.

I took photos of my folks.

(source)

This visit, I really wanted to stick around their place more than we have in the past. This is the first trip back with no grandparents in town to visit, and the drive to Memphis and back feels pretty long. We did go out to brunch at Three Angels Diner, where I ordered the tofu scramble. I didn’t take a picture because I thought it looked like barf, but it looked just like this photo posted on Yelp. It did have chunks of portabella and red bell pepper, but it was just a lot of one thing on a plate. At least I was hungry for supper three hours later!

We went to a great little fireworks show in the small town they live near, ate veggie dogs and red cabbage slaw, and generally had a good time.

Confession Time: Healthy Foods

First things first. When I went to check the mail this afternoon, I saw a package sticking out of the mailbox. My first thought was, “Oh no! They delivered this to the wrong person!” Because my last name is not Cookie. I wish it was.

This is a much unexpected shipment from The Shenandoah Vegan, which was a reward for correctly identify some orange flowers. What’s inside? I’ll show you when I use it. Thanks, Shen!

I had originally planned a post about one-dish meals and healthy food. I quickly tire of both. One of my goals recently has been to cook quicker, cheaper meals. You may think I’m rich, the way I post about traveling, but I’m not. It’s time to buckle down, especially with more airfare already purchased. I also want to get dinners together more quickly, so I have time for other things, and reduce the temptation to just grab take-out.

This meal was quick and easy.

This meal was healthy.

I think it would make a tasty side dish for something a little more salty, and a little more filling. I get bored eating a big old helping of one thing. This is the Sweet & Sour Lentils recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook.

The lentils are cooked in apple juice and ginger, and then combined with onion, garlic, zucchini, red bell pepper, carrot, tomato, and rice vinegar and soy sauce. The serving suggestion mentioned brown rice and scallions, and I followed that direction. Between the apple juice and vinegar, the sweet & sour flavor was perfect, and the veggie/lentil/rice combination was really enjoyable. I’d make this again, but as a side dish.

What are your favorite quick and easy meals? I need suggestions.

Things in the Backyard

On a whim, I bought some leeks because I heard they were good on the grill. Actually, the tagline might have been “great on the grill!!!!” I didn’t look into how to cook them, and they weren’t good. These guys were tough and stringy. My post-grill research indicates that there are a lot of steps to grilling leeks and making them edible. I think I’ll stick to pureeing them in soups from now on. 

Everything else grills up beautifully: portabella strips, red bell peppers, corn, and – grilled separately, and first – my favorite: asparagus. I feel like someone on a cooking show trying not to make eating the delicious food look ridiculous.*

Besides grilling up the veggies, I decided to break out something I’ve had for years and never actually used. It’s a rainbow cat harness and leash. Our three cats are all indoor-only, but we treated the bravest two of them to a walk around the backyard over the weekend. Athena went first, and she overcame the indignity of wearing the harness as soon as she realized she was outside.

Twinkie was distressed that we didn’t take him out. He was less accepting of the harness, but once we got it on him, he was more eager to explore. Poor cat hadn’t been outside since he was four months old. I took this photo through the glass door while he whined.

I’m sure this is something we’ll be doing a lot more of. Yes, grilling, and taking the felines out.

*I know it doesn’t help that I’m wearing a gross t-shirt with the neck cut out. I don’t like things around my neck. This is yet another work gift, and I blurred out my company’s logo, leaving a blotch that looks like a grease stain.

Fun stuff

I guess I should be glad it’s already Tuesday. Every single day has been flying by lately – between being busy with work and trying to have some fun, I find myself almost halfway through another week. I like rounding in the most favorable way to me.

Saturday, I made a dreaded but infrequent trip to the mall for new clothes. Thankfully, my job also rewards me in Macy’s gift certificates as well as logoed items. So I spent them. Afterward, Alex and I went to our local Loving Hut for lunch.

I ordered their special “Golden Wrap,” which was Gardein tenders with lettuce, tomato, and avocado, along with the nacho-style golden sauce. This was super tasty. I also got a side of cauliflower soup.

Alex selected a burger which was also topped with a generous portion of the Golden Sauce. This sauce was better on the chips than on the patty; I agreed with him that the burger would be better with ketchup and pickles. (That’s not typically my style, but this beef-less burger was screaming for ordinary condiments.)

After we stuffed ourselves at Loving Hut, Alex offered to accompany me the library to hear Charlaine Harris talk. I’ve been reading her books and listening to them on recordings I can download through the library, and we’ve been watching True Blood together. Of course, Alex is interested in the nudity as much as the storyline, but I think he’s a super sweetheart for tagging along with my interests. Anyway, we drove downtown, parked right in front of the library, heard the author speak and answer some questions – she really impressed me and made Alex laugh – and headed on home. Things like how easy that is make it difficult to decide to leave Cincinnati. Right now, moving plans are on hold. Indefinitely.

I rewarded Alex with the Magical Coconut Cookie Bars. After seeing these about a dozen times over at The Shenandoah Vegan, I finally decided to make them. That was a great decision. So go, make them. You can thank me later.

Callaloo–what?

Wow, where did summer go? I wore long sleeves all day today and was chilly. I talked to my mom – she says it’s cooler in her area, too, because it’s not 90. Oh.

I went back and forth on trying this new recipe. Turns out, I picked a perfect day for it. This recipe caught my eye in the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook I picked up at a used bookstore recently. It’s called callaloo, which apparently is both a green and a dish.

Unable to find callaloo (possibly because I only went to my mainstream grocer), I used red kale. This dish is most like a soup, but it’s made with lime juice that brings a summery flavor to it. This soup is made with onions, garlic, ginger, spices (turmeric, coriander, thyme, allspice), sweet potatoes, kale, okra, and tomato. All that simmers in broth, then it’s finished with coconut milk and lime juice.

Yep, the okra and sweet potato combo both intrigued and disgusted me. In the end, though, this was a tasty soup. I thought it needed some heat, though, and I wish I’d cut my grape tomatoes (like the recipe suggested).

Since that soup is not too pretty, I thought I’d leave you with a cute photo. Now that winter is over, the cats are out of their cat beds and taking over a chair. I’m glad they’re sticking to one – I don’t like to sit in fur. Anyway, sometimes they take turns, but often, in this cooler weather, they pile on top of each other.