Rainy day dinner

It is a gross day in New York, and someone forgot their umbrella this morning.  By the time I got to my apartment from the subway on my way home from work, I couldn’t see because the rain running down my face was clouding my contacts.  Lovely.  I always test the limits with umbrellas and I always regret it.

But, on the plus side, gross day = chili!  I love chili.  Chris, however, does not.  I basically have been trying to bribe him for three weeks to eat chili, and I finally won the battle when he was too hungover to argue on Sunday.  I’m thinking about slipping him a little something something so we can have real gravy on Thanksgiving.  We’ll see what happens.

Anyway, here’s my bubbly pot of chili:

The recipe, which I kind of made up as I went along because you can do that with chili:

• 1/2 red onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1/2 a beer (I used Coors Light because there was a bottle in our fridge.  Classy.)
• 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 cans kidney beans, drained
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can vegetarian spicy refried black beans
• chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, pepper, paprika

So yeah.  Basically I used a lot of cans.  It’s quite complicated, really:  You saute the onion and bell peppers in some cooking spray, then add the garlic for about a minute, then the beer.  Once the beer cooks for a few minutes, start dumping in the cans, reserving the refried beans for last.  Stir those in slowly until they are incorporated and the mixture starts to thicken, then add spices to taste.

My bowl:

No cheese, sadly.

And we all know you can’t have chili without corn bread:

That’s Chris’s too.  Although I picked at the rest of the loaf enough to basically equal another piece, so whatever.

I don’t really like to put the effort into baking things that don’t taste like chocolate, so I always use this corn bread mix by Trader Joe’s:

This time I had to use soy milk, of course, and then I also went out on a limb and replaced the 1/2 cup of oil it called for with 1/2 cup of apple sauce.  It turned out exactly the same, I think.  I haven’t had it in about a year, so it’s hard to compare to the full-fat version, but it tasted like corn bread, and that’s all that really matters.

I had french fries for breakfast

I had this idea during spinning this morning.  I sometimes like to think about all the pizza and french fries and cup cakes I can eat if I just keep pedaling.  But today I was also thinking about how we’re out of the vegetarian sausage links I like, so I had to brainstorm what to eat with my scrambled egg whites in place of them.  I thought of toast, but I’m technically not supposed to eat butter, so I decided that I should reserve butter-eating for special things like Jaclyn’s cake, which I’m guessing had butter in it but that didn’t stop me from eating like five pieces on Saturday night.  And that, my friends, is what lead me to the frozen french fries we bought at Trader Joe’s on Sunday to treat our karaoke hangovers.

Brilliant.

Second best

Well, I found it.  It’s not quite as good as this, but it’s very creamy and if I had my eyes closed I might think it was regular ice cream:

It’s way, way, way better than any other soy ice cream I’ve ever had, but not quite good enough to make me want to have four bowls in one night.  I consider this a solid plus.

And to continue my love affair with Trader Joe’s, I would also like to share with you my new favorite soup, which I had for dinner tonight:

It is so good.  I didn’t even know I liked split pea soup.  My mother would be very proud.  I actually bought it by mistake but I am happy I did.  I don’t even have to doctor it up, and I always add a little something to canned soup.  You know, just some salt or some extra vegetables or four large handfuls of cheese.

Multitalented

It’s Monday, in case you didn’t know.  Blah!  But at least this particular Monday is Chris’s birthday, which is exciting.  More so for him than for me, but I still get to go out to dinner.

On Saturday we had a karaoke party to celebrate:

The extremely talented Jaclyn made Chris pretty much the most amazing cake ever:

And we sang a lot:

Betsy was not particularly impressed with my talents:

This may not have been my best song, I’ll admit it.  She wasn’t looking at me like that during my rendition of “Like a Prayer,” though, I’ll tell you that.

Anyway.  Moving on to cooking, the focus of this blog.  Here is last night’s dinner:

It’s roasted vegetables and polenta.  This is roughly the recipe:

• 1/2 butternut squash
• 1 parsnip
• 1/4 of a red onion
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed up
• 4 cremini mushrooms
• 5 cherry tomatoes
• 4 – 5 sprigs of thyme
• 3 T walnuts
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 cup polenta (dry)

Cut the butternut squash, parsnip, mushrooms, onion and tomatoes into bite-sized peices and mix with two sprigs of thyme, the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  Roast at 475 for 20 – 30 minutes.  Make the polenta according to the package directions (I added a little soy milk to mine), adding the remaining thyme.  Toast the walnuts in a dry pan.  Top polenta with the vegetables and walnuts.

Long post about small things

Thanks for all the lactose-related tips from the other day.  I know that I will probably be able to eat Sun Chips and butter and yogurt, but for some reason my doctor said not to until I go back in two weeks.  I’m serious.  I specifically asked about the Sun Chips.

In the comments of my last post, Heather mentioned that I should take a picture of my very small stove.  I don’t find it very interesting – mostly I find it annoying – and almost everyone I know in New York has one the same size, but I can imagine that it would be fun for someone who has a real stove to laugh at my easy bake oven.  It’s kind of like Roadside America. 

Roadside America definitely makes me laugh.  I am laughing right now.  I had no idea it had a website.  

Anyway.  I am getting sidetracked.  Here is my stove:

It’s hard to tell out of context, but you can’t realistically use more than two pans at the same time.  I mean, you could use four small sauce pans, I guess, if you angled the handles just right.  I don’t really count that as a perk, though, since I can’t envision a time when I’ll need to make four sauces at once. 

I tried to take a picture of my dark and scary broiler, but it was too dark and scary to show up. 

Along with my mini stove, we also have a mini fridge that looks like this:

Yes, that is Bo Jackson.

Here’s the inside:

Quite expansive, I know.

Really, though, I don’t mind my small kitchen and its small appliances.  It could be smaller for sure.  And I can turn on the stove from the couch.  Major perk.  If only I could reach the fridge, we’d really be in business.

Anyway, on to food.  Today I tried some soy yogurt:

Um.  Someone please tell me there’s a better kind.  Right?  There’s a better kind?  

I also made THE cookies from Betsy’s blog:

These are for Chris because he is turning 30 on Monday.  Yikes!  I’m glad I’m not that old.

I hope he thought that was funny.

A life without ice cream is no life at all

Tonight I very excitedly used a recipe in my new Food Network magazine to make Thai Red Curry Mahi Mahi Salad.

Quite a name, right?  It was quite a recipe.  I think it actually would have turned out well, except I’m scared of my broiler and so I couldn’t follow the directions.  I have a broiler, but it’s one of those ones at the very bottom of a very small, very old oven, and every time I open it I freak out a little.

So, I just stuck the fish in the oven, which didn’t get it all brown and crispy like the ones in the picture.  I actually didn’t really like the fish at all, probably for this reason.  I gave almost my whole piece to Chris in exchange for his cucumbers and red peppers.  The salad dressing, by the way, is pretty awesome.

In other news, I found out the other day that I am probably lactose intolerant, which is mildly depressing.  I am not supposed to eat any dairy for two weeks, just to test the situation, I guess.  I’m actually fine with the whole milk and cheese thing, although it cuts back on my cottage cheese progress significantly.  I’m more so concerned about things like Sun Chips and ice cream and milk chocolate and and yogurt and ice cream and cookies and ice cream and cake and, seriously, what the hell am I supposed to have for a snack?  Today I had an apple and peanut butter, but yesterday I popped a bag of popcorn, realized buttered popcorn = dairy, and had to throw it away.

And, by the way, this means that I won’t be getting my abs of steel via Jay Robb whey protein any time soon.  Because obviously, that’s the only thing standing in my way.

Part of history

I can’t believe it actually happened!  I don’t even know what to say about it, really.  It is amazing.  Last night when they named Obama the projected winner, Chris and I muted the television and our entire neighborhood was just exploding in cheers and fireworks.  When I was walking Jack this morning, three people I didn’t even know stopped me to talk about it.  Everyone is so excited!  I love it.

I woke up convinced it was a dream, but then I checked my phone and saw a text from the future president himself, telling me that we made history because of my time, talent and passion.  Obviously, he only sends those texts to me. It feels nice to be appreciated.

Anyway, on to food, which is what we’re here for, after all.  Really, I am so happy, I wasn’t even hungry this morning.  This is a first for sure, but I managed to throw down a bowl of Peanut Butter Puffins:

I got these over the weekend and I’d never had them before.  Let’s just say more than half the box is already gone.  I am obsessed.  They are so good and peanut buttery and crunchy!  I’ve been eating them for a snack just plain.

Okay, I have to get back to MSNBC work.

Big day!

Don’t forget to vote!!  For Obama.  No, I’m kidding.  Sort of.  Not really.  Just vote.

Moms do everything better

Tonight I tried to recreate this thing that my mom used to make all the time when I was little involving rice, tofu and mushrooms.  It didn’t work, but what I ended up with was okay, anyway:

It looks kind of risottoy, but that’s through no talent of my own.  I just over cooked the rice because I was talking on the phone when I did the measurements.  I can hardly figure out the measurements for rice when I’m giving it my full attention and I have a calculator in my hand, so doing it while on the phone was a bad idea.  Anyway, here’s the recipe I made up.  Watch that rice.

• 3/4 cup brown rice
• vegetable stock
• 8 to 9 cremini mushrooms
• 1 block tofu
• 1/4 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• Couple sprigs of thyme
• 2 T soy sauce
• Salt, pepper

Cook the rice using the package directions, substituting stock for the water.  Cut the tofu into eight long slices, and then cut each slice into fourths.  Salt and pepper it and bake it in a 450 oven for 30 minutes or so, flipping halfway though.  Slice the mushrooms and chop the garlic/onion.  Cook the onion until soft, then add the rice, the garlic and the mushrooms.  When the mushrooms are cooked, add the tofu, thyme, soy sauce and more salt and pepper.

I think I realized halfway through the meal why it didn’t taste the same as I remembered it:

Damn those seasoning packets.

Anyway, earlier I had THE blueberry Z Bar:

Pretty good.  Better than other fruit bars that always taste fake.  It still tasted a little fake to me, though.  Maybe I’m sensitive.

Just call me The Blogger

I had a rather uneventful weekend, which was exciting because things have been a little too eventful for me lately.  A few highlights:

Possibly the last ice cream of the season (outdoors, obviously…it’s always ice cream weather inside the walls of my apartment):

After he took this picture, Chris carried on for about an hour about how “artsy” he is, and how perfect the lighting looks.  I kind of think it looks like I have man hands.

Anyway.  So that’s exciting. But even more exciting, if you can believe it, is this:

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!  Food Network magazine!!  I have been waiting for this for nearly all of my 25 years.  My boss gave it to me on Friday and I almost kissed her.  I read the whole thing in about 15 minutes and now I know all the secrets of Iron Chef.  And I do mean all.  Although if anyone else has read this, please let me know because I would like to talk about how The Chairman forces everyone to call him The Chairman off the air, too.  I find that a little weird.