Veggin' Out

I enjoy my own cooking.  From start to finish.


It's a good thing.


I savor cooking, the endless chopping and grinding and whisking and folding and impatient hopping on one foot waiting for water to boil.

A bit of foreshadowing:  We'll begin and end with
a shot of a breakfast meal...

Then, I get to eat whatever masterpiece springs forth from my kitchen.


... but maybe I exaggerate.  They're not all masterpieces.  Mostly though, which I'm fine with.


I'm also fine with mistakes... from there rises learning.


However, I do enjoy eating out.  Recently the experience has been made that much more pleasurable by having some vegan options.


By an extraordinary stroke of pure luck*, I had three.  In a row!

I think you are plotting to make me eat plants in this very loud
hipster establishment, woman!  Wait, what?
What did you say?

You're adorably old, my dear The Husband.

We got to hit up The Bellytimber Tavern the night we went to The Byrd Theater for A Night with the Mighty Wurlitzer.  The Husband got himself a white pizza with 'maters on top (certainly not The Husband 'maters, but it smelled pretty tasty).  For me, a Vegan Veggie pizza.  Only my second vegan pizza ever in the history of ever.  And the first since I actually started eating vegan food for serious.  The pizza was very tasty, but not really tasting of pizza in the cheese department.  I think they use Daiya?  Not sure... it tasted creamy.  I'll have to experiment more with this.

The Bellytimber Tavern

This pie was flippin' HUGE.  If I didn't have my totally
imaginary second stomach for pizzas only,
I may not have been able to finish the whole thing.

Was he sad he didn't get a vegan pie?
That it was not bigger?  That the place
was so loud he couldn't hear his pizza?

This had broccolini, shrooms, onions, olives, 'mater sauce, 

and not cheese.  Tasted good, but unexpectedly creamy.

Fun fact: That ring on my thumb is my original wedding band.

The next day saw us at a race, followed by five minutes at a pumpkin patch (unfortunately for us, his job rang and he had to answer...)

The Husband noted he selected his B'klyn<3
from a bin very much like this one once.
... And they say romance is dead.

Him, me and orange carriages.  Something
about that rings familiar...
"Hey!  This is vegan!"

Below, sadly, is the one sad picture I managed to take of my meal at Sticky Rice in mid-devour.  There also managed to be a seaweed salad, a cucumber-umeboshi roll, and "Garden Balls"... so entirely too much food, but this monstrosity took the cake.  The fake fowl in this "Mock Chicken Szechuan" was nothing short of uncanny.  I admit; I had to confirm it was vegan.  Very tasty (fresh crisp veg, sweet pineapple, buckwheat noodles forever...), I may need to restrain myself from it in the future due to temptation to attempt a whole-bowl hoovering...

You can easily share this bowl with 3 of your friends
or 1 of your The Husband.

Sunday was a fun day where I got to go to a Vegetarian/Vegan lunch event! It took place at Mise en Place, and it was my first time ever going there... by myself in a car (remind me to enlighten you one day about how I don't drive anywhere ever... until recently).  It was my first time as such an event... well, since college, when I went to an etiquette dinner where the teacher advised I was doing it all wrong and grabbed my utensils from me, causing me to feel deeper shame than Catholicism ever did.


It was not my first time being late to anything though.


I had Vegan (Chickpea!) Frittata topped with Daiya, Root Vegetable Hash, and a vegan Cinnamon Bun.  The event was to help sponsor a chef leaving to study in China... ah, what tasty treats there will be in the future then!  This was so good.  I did want seconds of everything!

The meal shrank away from me in fear.
It knew it's tasty demise was imminent.

I'm excited to try even more tasty vegan treats around town... there appear to be several options.  However, right now B'klyn<3s need rest and relaxation... and they can't find a better place for that than in their own kitchen.

-----------

*All strokes of luck are meticulously planned at least 8 days in advance.  It still means I'll be late for something.

Ode To The Husband's Brush With Fitness

He only looks cool.  Really, he's a bigger
dork than I am.

I figured for once you wouldn't want to hear about me and my (continued, yes!) struggles to run (and knit, and cook vegan, and chop carrots with fine precision, and the 872 hour process to make Beans on Toast... or some odd derivative).


Sometimes you want to hear about the man.


My man.


The Husband.


He did not join Weight Watchers with me, but he was very supportive.  As a result of not making me cook any other food except the low fat, healthy food I wanted to eat, he lost 100 pounds himself.  Which goes to show a couple of things:

1. Anything you do healthy for yourself can be delicious and benefit your family.


2. Sometimes, [Insert Your Diety of Choice Here] is unfair, and grants men the uncanny ability to eat P.F. Chang's Great Wall of Chocolate, not exercise really, and still lose 100 pounds.  It's great if you are capable of this... just don't mind me as I stare at you with daggers dripping in jealousy and loathing.  At least the daggers are made of love?

He did not go vegetarian, but he did not complain about the delicious vegetarian dishes I made for him the past few months.

He did not become a Veganist, but he's continued to support me in my endeavours and has enjoyed all of the delicious vegan food I've made for him.  Except perhaps the one thing.

He certainly did not become a runner, but every now and again he'll join me at a run on occasion.  It started out as 5K walks, and while I've taken off running, he still comes out, supports, and walks.

One day, I'd like to convince him the below rare occurance could be sustained over many minutes and that he could run with me.  I'd love that... but at least he's out there.  He's supporting and he's trying.

He may not always be by my side, but I know he's always got my back.

The Husband!

See The Husband!

See The Husband run!

Run, The Husband!  Run!

Beans on... Oats? Sacrilicious!

Warning - If you are not a fan of savory oats or just not used to my sometimes strange food fetishes, stop reading... NOW, see you tomorrow!  *smootches*


Oh, you're still here?  


Don't say I didn't warn you.

--------------------

I won't lie.  I totally went there.

Creamy breakfast porridge with sweet Heinz 57 beans

When I was a child, I had a fever. 


My hands felt just like two oven mitts.  


This morning I had that fever once again, I can't explain, you would not understand... 


This is exactly who I am.  I'm a freak.


So essentially my desire to have beans, oatmeal and spinach spilled into my second ever savory oatmeal.  Once again, the first bite took some mind adjustments.  I wound up actually liking the dish, though I think next time I'd add in some actual garlic.


The Husband kept pretty reserved until I got out of him he hated everything about it except the beans.  "Then," he said, "it's just beans!"


Indeed, sir.  Indeed.

Pretty much what I'd envisioned when I could
have been fast asleep...

Oh.  And you know I added spinach.  


Hate me all you want.  Hate it all you want.  I enjoyed every last bite.
(Besides, told you I was a freak, you can't stop me.)


In any case, it hit the spot and I think I won't be seeing it again until the dead of winter.  It struck me as a dead of winter need-my-proteins-to-stick-to-my-bones kind of dish.  


And guess what, The Husband?


Winter is coming.


(Yup.  Totally went there too.)

Beans on Oats

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked old fashioned pats

2.2 cups water

Pinch of Kosher salt

1 cup Heinz 57 Baked Beans

2 medium scallions

3 oz spinach

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Directions

1. Add oats, water and salt to a pan and bring to a boil.

2. Add 1/2 of the beans, lower to a simmer and cook for 10-12 minutes until oats are nearly done.

3. Add nutritional yeast, then spinach in batches and cook until spinach is wilted.

4. Serve in two bowls and top with remaining beans and scallion slices.

  

5. Marvel at the non-faces your The Husband makes as you scoff your bowl down and satisfy the fever.

I certainly enjoyed it.  This bowl survived 3 whole minutes.

What I Ate Wednesday: 2011-10-05

Today's WIAW is brought to you by the letter "Inelegant Photography" and by the number "Trader Joe's"...

Breakfast of Champions!

• Ridiculously Easy Curry-Scrambled Tofu a la Fat Free Vegan Kitchen  (was ridiculously delicious)
• Trader Joe's Sprouted Whole Wheat Fiber Bread
• 1/2 cup soy yogurt with a quarter mango topped with a strawberry and sweetened with vanilla stevia
• Pumpkin coffee from TJ's

Morning Snack

• Honeycrisp Apple with Cinnamon and Tea

Evidence of Spud

Lunch

• Chili Mac over 4 oz baked potato (STARCH!), some nutritional yeast and some non-dairy sour cream for whimsy.

Still Lunch.  These were awesome!!! :)

• (The Most Delicious) Grapes (e-vah!)

And then the afternoon snackage began!

Banana

Tea, Seaweed Salad and Mixed Oshinko
(Pickled Daikon and Veg)

GG Bran Crispbread with a Clementine

Trader Joe's Apple Cranberry Bran Muffin

Trader Joe's Whole Grain Hard Pretzel Sticks

(And I may have had a few more grapes)

Magnificent Dinner

Baked Falafel a la Appetite for Reduction

Greek Green Beans a la Boston.com recipe I saw once

Half cup Quinoa with some red/green peppers in

Highly Enjoyable Desert

• Trader Joe's Swiss Chocolate
• Strawberries
• Almond milk with a splash of Pumpkin Coffee

I enjoy these adventures.  I track my food every day, but to see it all in one go makes me realize... wow, I eat a lot! ^_^;  However, looking at these... it was a good food day, I was not vaguely disappointed, and I still had chickpeas somehow!