Breakfast on the cheap.

One of the easiest ways to eat on the cheap is to eat breakfast.

42 oz. of Oats cost roughly $1.99 (sometimes much less - buy off brand, or from a bulk bin).

A serving is 1/2 cup of uncooked oats.

So, if you have oatmeal at least once a day, that's a meal for just a few cents.

Another option is polenta/grits. If you make it on the dry side, you can slice it and pan-fry, if you make it on the soft side, you can top it with margarine, cheese, veggies or stew. At less than $.10 per serving (pre-toppings) that is one heck of a cheap meal.

Then of course we come to beans. Beans for breakfast? Sure, why not?

You can make an entire pot of beans for less than $1.00.

Breakfast burritos, chili scrambles (tofu, or eggs if you're so inclined) and ful medames are all great options.

Foods traditionally associated with breakfast make great lunch and dinner options. Don't knock 'em, just because you think of them as breakfast.

I think we're taking on water...

Plans? What plans? The last few weeks have been all over the place for me. I haven't been able to plan a darn thing, let alone meals. I've been living on pb & j - no complaints.

I am cooking tonight though, so thought I'd post what I'm making.

It's nothing fancy, but it's a favorite of mine. The recipe falls into the category I call "slump," which I know I've mentioned before.

1 package of Smart Ground (soy-based vegan crumbles)
1 lb. pasta (macaroni or similar)
Veggies of choice (I use corn and black beans)
1 package taco seasoning mix (or mix cumin, oregano, garlic, chili powder)
1 cup salsa

So, get your pasta going.

In a big skillet, "brown" the veggie crumbles. Then mix in your spices or seasoning packet, if so inclined. Add 1/2 of water from the boiling pasta along with the corn and cooked black beans. Simmer for a few minutes. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add this to the skillet with the veggie mixture. Stir together, top with salsa and then serve.

It's delicious. Honest.

If you were cool with dairy, it would be yum topped with a little cheese and/or sour cream.

Meal Plan (day before) Monday.

So, I had a serious craving for cottage pie. Why? Who the hell knows. It's insane given that we're in the middle of a serious heatwave. 100 degree weather anyone? Yeah. But, cottage pie is what I wanted so cottage pie is what I made.

Monday
Lunch: Leftover cottage pie, grapes, homemade graham crackers and banana bites.
Dinner: Pasta with olive oil, grape tomatoes, fresh basil and red pepper

Tuesday
Lunch: Fruit salad, pb & j pocket and sweet potato chips
Dinner: Taco rice and green salad

Wednesday
Lunch: Leftover cottage pie, grapes and rice pudding
Dinner: Tostada bowl

Thursday
Lunch: Pb & banana sandwich, grape tomatoes and nectarine slices
Dinner: Ramen, cucumber salad and orange wedges

Friday
Lunch: cucumber salad, potato dumplings and grapes
Dinner: Tacos

So, how does one make veggie cottage pie? Well, I'll tell you.

In a large pan, saute one minced swede, one minced turnip and a couple of minced carrots. Once softened, stir in some veggie crumbles. Add a ladle or so of hot stock (or water, if so inclined). Let this simmer a minute. Then, take a can of Heinz Vegetarian Baked Beans and puree them. Mix in some vegan Worcestershire sauce, and whatever herbs and spices you like (cinnamon, oregano, cumin and thyme are my favorites). Pour this over the veggie mixture. Give it a good stir and let it simmer for a few minutes. Add in a "whack" of tomato paste. Simmer another few minutes. Pour this mixture into a baking tray, top with mashed potatoes. Score the mashed potatoes and then brush with a little melted vegan margarine. Pop into the oven for a couple of minutes until the mashed potatoes get lovely little golden-brown bits.

Wait a few minutes to consume, or be a daredevil and shovel the molten cottage pie goodness into your mouth straight away. Either way is good.

Oh, and what's a banana bite you may be wondering? It's a banana sliced in half, spread with nutella, and then cut into bite sized pieces which are individually wrapped and frozen. Yum!

Love, or fear of the cold?

It's been too hot to cook so I've been surviving on toast and various salads. As I've posted my salad method before, I don't think it's necessary to go into that. I will say that recently a friend shared an AMAZING and super delicious recipe for a vegan potato salad made with avocado dressing. The original recipe is from Vegan Brunch. Give it a try if you go in for silky textured potato salad.

Today is considerably cooler than the past several weeks have been so I am spending the day in the kitchen. I am making a couple loaves of bread, a bean soup (in the crock pot, it's not that chilly outside!), spicy lentils and a big pot of my current favorite red sauce. Last time I made it I used some for pasta, and ended up eating the rest with a loaf of bread. What? It's sort of soup-like. Oh just shut up. You only wish you were clever enough to think of eating it this way yourself.

My food budget is pretty spare this month due to some major expenses, so I'll largely be living off what's currently in my pantry, fridge and freezer. Not a lot of "fresh" this month beyond what I have on hand, grows in my minuscule herb garden, grows in my friend's gardens or on neighborhood trees.

Accordingly, Meal Plan Monday this week is going to look a little different.

I am making three base items, and I'll be eating a week of meals based on those three bases.

17 Bean Soup will be eaten as is, and also mashed up, spiced up and served over jacket potatoes.

Spicy Lentils will be eaten with rice, doused liberally with hot sauce and other spices and served in tortillas and also mixed with barbecue sauce and served "sloppy joe" style.

My Favorite Red Sauce will be eaten over pasta and also thinned out with red wine and mushroom stock and baked with vegetables as a sort of ratatouille.

Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it isn't tasty.

Other pretty words we will never speak.

Meal Plan Mondays.

So, been a while since I've posted anything. Life has a habit of intruding, doesn't it?

Anyhow - Meal Plan Monday for 7/19.

Monday
Lunch: Pesto Pasta Salad, pineapple spears, fruit-free muesli bar.
Dinner: Avocado, black bean and soyrizo tacos, watermelon cubes and fresh limeade.

Tuesday
Lunch: White pasta, black grapes, cherry tomatoes, pretzel sticks and nut butter.
Dinner: Nachos, lime-mint granita, spicy corn salsa/relish.

Wednesday
Lunch: Pancake sandwiches, potato salad, and tomatoes with hummus.
Dinner: Tostada "stuff," blue corn tortilla chips, mango smoothie

Thursday
Lunch: Cucumber salad, potato dumplings, chutney and celery sticks
Dinner: Chili mac, green salad and watermelon

Friday
Lunch: Chili mac, potato salad and watermelon cubes
Dinner: Ramen and gyoza - Japanese take-out.

Food is a Weapon, Don't Waste It! Buy Wisely - Cook Carefully - Eat it All

Yeah yeah. So I'm spouting WWII propaganda. Whatever.

Anyway, just back from a trip to the super market. Here's what I bought:

(1) 5 lb. bag of rice
(2) mangoes
(2) lbs. limes
(3) cucumbers
(2) lbs. zucchini
(1) head iceberg lettuce
(6) avocados
(1) 2 lb. bag of tater tots
(2) 10 lb. bags of russet potatoes (1 for me, 1 for my friend)
(1) 3 lb. package frozen prepared chicken nuggets (for The Booger)
(1) package of kosher hot dogs (also for The Booger)
(1) 24-count package of empanada wrappers
(1) package of garlic powder

Grand Total: $15.34

Hooray for eating on the cheap!

It's a wrap!

Okay, so I've posted what I intend to eat for lunch this week. This got me to thinking that it might be interesting to share some of the stuff I make sandwiches out of (sandwiches being quite a lunchy thing - although I tend to eat them for breakfast and dinner lots too!)

So - sandwich "outsides":

muffins (both english and regular American ones)
bagels
matzoh (Streit's is my favorite brand)
wonton wrappers/egg roll wrappers
crepes
pancakes
tortillas
lavash
crackers
rice cakes
waffles (I get the whole wheat frozen ones from Whole Foods)
pita bread
sliced vegetables
hollowed out vegetables
sliced fruit

For Shawn.

So, for my friend Shawn who is introducing vegetarian and vegan meals into her diet I am posting a list of some of my favorite "go to" cookbooks. (As well as prattling on about other stuff, as I do.)

Cook for Good - http://cookforgood.com/ I like this one because it's seasonal, incredibly practical, and frugal. (And being an eBook doesn't hurt!)

Vegan Lunch Box/ Vegan Lunch Box Around the World - Love both of Jennifer McCann's books. I'd probably go with one, not both. (I'm just obsessed with cookbooks.) Really great ideas for easy meals.

Nourishing Traditions - Sally Fallon's book blew my mind. Seriously. Really interesting (and disturbing!) read. Lots of great information. The recipes are a little more involved, but once you get the hang of them they are well worth the bother.

More-with-Less - Doris Janzen Longacre's book is one of the World Community cookbooks, and fantastic. The other World Community Cookbooks are also really useful and interesting.

This Crazy Vegan Life - Christina Pirello is a pleasure to read, and this book is quite readable, interesting, and full of really great basic recipes.

Jamie's Food Revolution - Okay, I have mixed feelings about Jamie Oliver. But! This is a great book. The recipes are easy as hell, they use simple and readily accessible ingredients, and they aren't time consuming. Most of them are not vegan or vegetarian, but can very easily be modified.

Mark Bittman. Any of his books - How to Cook Everything, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Food Matters, Kitchen Express... I own them all, love them all and turn to them all time and time again. Pick any one of them up and I guarantee you'll be on the Bittman Bandwagon.

I could go on and on, but I won't - my cookbook collection is a scary thing, I know.

Other sources:

http://www.ivu.org/recipes/index.html - a great source of recipes.
http://vegweb.com/ - another fantastic collection of online recipes.

My personal tips:

1. Cook a big pot of beans every week. You'll end up finding countless ways to use this cheap and tasty source of protein.

2. Be careful about buying vegan/vegetarian ready-meals. Just like the traditional ones they tend to be full of nasty stuff for you, and they are also crazy expensive.

3. Shop the seasons. I can eat for a month on $50.00. This includes buying produce weekly. I mostly manage to accomplish this by excluding meat and dairy from my diet, and only buying produce that is in season - and therefore cheap. You're fortunate to live in Southern California where not only do you have access to all the Mexican markets, but Middle Eastern, Asian... great sources for inexpensive food across the board. Spices, grains and legumes, produce... all at a fraction of the price you would pay in a regular grocery store.

4. Healthy doesn't have to mean boring and tasteless. If you don't already have an herb garden, start one. Herbs can make all the difference between an "eh, well, I have to eat something I guess this will suffice" meal and a "holy crap, I should have made more of this and screw you hippie, get your own!" meal. Just sayin'.

5. Make the investment in a good lunch system. Laptop Lunchbox, Lunchsense, and a lunch jar or thermos as well as a refillable drink bottle. Having something neat and tidy and nifty will curb the temptation to just "pick something up," rather than packing your own. Be sure you pack your lunch the night before, so you're not scrambling in the morning.

6. Avoid "meat substitutes" for the most part. They are expensive, full of additives, and just not worth it. Do I use them? Yes, but infrequently. I rely on beans and grains, which are less expensive, taste better and are better for you.

7. There is nothing wrong with frozen vegetables! Just avoid the ones that come in sauces. 10 minutes and a bag of frozen peas (with some water or stock, a handful of herbs or some pesto) and you have a wicked soup that is awesome for dinner or lunch (and packs easily in a thermos for on the go).

And that's all I can think of for now.

Good luck!

(So... who would you invite to your Presidential VEGAN Dinner Party?)

The high road is hard to find.

Listening to: Rammstein - Pussy
Munching on: Nothing at the moment.

Doing my Meal Plan Monday a day early this week. Mostly because I haven't slept in, um, I'm not sure. Days, anyway. After the matches today I hit the Whole Foods on the way to the 90. If I'd had to detour I probably wouldn't have managed it. Yeah. Still, I'm pretty stoked that I didn't end up with a basket of seriously random selections - which has been known to happen when I'm this tired.

As a change, I'll be posting my dinners and new and excitingly - lunches.

Monday
Lunch: Cheese and chutney sandwich, black grapes, green salad with almonds and
raspberries.

Dinner: White pizza, watermelon, and a green salad with olives and tomatoes.

Tuesday
Lunch: Leftover pizza, watermelon, cheese and crackers and black grapes.

Dinner: Tortellini with tomato sauce and olives, watermelon and raspberry sorbet.

Wednesday
Lunch: Cinnamon bagel with banana and honey, some funky melon that's an heirloom
varietal and I have no idea what it is - looked tasty in my sleep-deprivedyness, green salad
with black grapes and almonds.

Dinner: Veggie chorizo, green rice, black bean and fresh salsa burritos, sliced mango and
avocado salad.

Thursday
Lunch: Cheese and chutney sandwich, green salad and curried butternut squash soup.

Dinner: Fruit salad, black bean tacos, and tomato slices.

Friday
Lunch: Mexican fatoosh with black beans, black grapes, pineapple, and the last of the melon.

Dinner: Slump. (various and sundry bits and bobs from the week turned into a skillet meal,
served with bread or tortillas, depending on what's leftover.)

Saturday and Sunday: I'll be out doing the World Cuppery thing, so I'll be eating stuff I probably shouldn't. Oh well!

Through the storm.

Listening to: Eminem, Recovery
Munching on: Tortilla chips

Yeah. I like Eminem. For some reason that always surprises people. Whatever.

Tonight for dinner I am making Stroganot. No, that's not a typo. I call it Stroganot because it's in the spirit of stroganoff - but it doesn't even come close to being authentic. Recipe to follow.

So - Meal Plan Monday.

Monday: Stroganot with noodles, salad, and these kick ass pluots I bought at the farmer's market.

Tuesday: Tortellini with my version of Puttanesca, salad and blueberry shortcake.

Wednesday: Taco Salad, mango-lime-slush.

Thursday: Homemade pizza, salad, and blood orange sorbet.

Friday: Going out. And stuff.

Stroganot
Okay, authentic stroganoff is it's own thing, and awesome - when you are eating meat and cream and such. Then there's the bastardized Suburban version of stroganoff - made with beef mince, canned cream-of-whatever soup, and sour cream. My Stroganot is neither, but incorporates what I like about both.

Saute a couple handfuls of good mushrooms in a glug of light oil - vegetable oil is good for this. I don't use olive oil because I don't want the flavor. Remove mushrooms from the pan. Make a paste with mustard powder and white wine. Put this in your pan, add some water, stir and cook for a couple minutes. Stir in some crumbles (Quorn, whatever), and your mushrooms. Stir in "sour cream" and quickly remove from heat. Serve over egg noodles, buckwheat groats, or rice.

Ain't nothin' please me more than you.

Listening to: "Home," Edwin Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Munching on: Carman's Original Fruit-Free Muesli Bar

If you are not familiar with either of the above - go out and get them right now! As a firm believer that raisins should stay the fuck out of my food, Carman's Fruit-Free Museli Bars were a thrilling discovery. They are absolutely delicious. They also happen to be good for you and really filling. I just happen to care more about the deliciousness of them.

Lazy.

Currently I am more sleep-deprived than usual thanks to obsessive World Cuppery which makes me even less inclined to participate in time-consuming cookery.

So, the meal plan for this week is super simple.

Monday: Honestly? Totally ate on the fly. Toasted bagel and some fruit salad.
Tuesday: Cheese enchilada stacks.
Wednesday: Tortellini salad.
Thursday: Taco salad.
Friday: Grilled cheese.
Saturday: Eating out.
Sunday: Eating out again.

On the cheap.

Today I went to pick up dates at the market. Whilst there, I ran across FAGE for $.50 a pint - the only catch is that it had a "use by" date of today. I picked up two pints of it, deciding I couldn't resist the bargain. Meal plan be damned, I can make that another night!

So, what does a girl do with two pints of greek yogurt in one day?

Muffins and paprikash!

I make there super simple muffins which require soaking the flour in kafir/buttermilk/yogurt for 12-24 hours, before adding the rest of the ingredients and baking. So that's one pint down.

The second pint was used to make paprikash. I know how to make authentic paprikash, and from time to time I've even been known to make it. This recipe, however, is anything but authentic. It's a total cheaterpants recipe and I really don't care. It's delicious, cheap, filling, easy and quick to make.

You can use any meat you like, firm tofu, tempeh, seitan, or Quorn. If using Quorn - make sure it's defrosted.

So, put a hit of oil in a HUGE pan. Dump in your meat "stuff." If you're using actual meat first chop into bite-size pieces (or you could use meatballs). Saute until browned. Remove from the pan. Add some butter/margarine/oil and a couple tablespoons of flour. Make a roux. Add some water or stock and white wine. Put your meat "stuff" back in the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat add sour cream (or greek yogurt!) and simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve over rice, egg noodles, or even better - baked potatoes. Nom nom.

Weekend shenanigans.

This weekend I went down to visit my friend Lea in Oceanside (Hi Lea!). We went for a brunchy nosh at Hill Street Cafe. She had the Greek Salad and I had the Avocado Tacos. I have to say - the tacos were brilliant!

We then headed to Vista where I introduced her to the glories of Sprouts. It is one of my very favorite "inside" places to shop. I scored, because Dr. Bronner's was on sale. Woo hoo!

After that we spent the afternoon exploring the Strawberry Festival. Chocolate covered strawberries. Oh noes! Super yum. Now, I love a fresh unadorned super ripe strawberry - but take the same berry and cover it in white chocolate with a dark chocolate drizzle and I'm entering the sublime.

We also made a stop at The Yellow Deli. I had this date bar... holy crap and a half was it ever good! So good, in fact, that tomorrow I'm making an extra shopping trip to pick up dates to I can reproduce it at home.

We stumbled upon this Tortilleria. I bought fresh blue corn tortillas. I am stupidly giddy thinking about what delightfulness I shall concoct with them.

The highlight was perhaps our adventure in this "weird little book shop." Hippies, wiccans, whatever - they all smell like patchouli. Heh. Anyway! I scored a couple of fantastic cookbooks for 60% off the cover price.

So, in summation:

We walked. We ate. We drove. We ate. We walked. We ate. We walked. We acted like total dorks and giggled over silly things. We drove. We passed out from food indulgence.

A good day.

Next up: We need a Dr. Bronner's Field Trip! And there's some pie company in Julian that I must visit...

Bite Me, Atkins.

I'm on a high carb and low everything else diet. Am I fanatical about it? No. I'm not fanatical about anything really, it's just not me. I'm pretty good about playing by my dietary rules though - mostly because when I don't I feel like death warmed over. But sometimes a girl just needs a grilled cheese sandwich - at least this girl does.

I'm mentioning this, because a few people have asked me why just about every "recipe" I post is "super carby." So, there you go. I'm supposed to eat lots of carbs. Do you hate me? Are you jealous? All you Atkins people can take your bacon and shove it.

Door.

Anyone else have a rather random selection of foodstuffs in their refrigerator door?

Mine currently boasts:

6 kinds of mustard
Prunes
Muyploy
Soy sauce
HP Brown Sauce
Almond meal
5 kinds of jam
Earth Balance
Tamari almonds
Curry ketchup
3 kinds of chutney
Ajvar
Sun-dried tomatoes
Marinated artichoke hearts
Capers
Pickles
Kalamata olives
2 grades of maple syrup
Saki

Am I alone in my fridge door madness?

The Fourth Dimension.

I'm lazy when it comes to cooking. There's no shame in that statement for me. I work, go to school, have time-consuming health problems, a full social life and volunteer work. I'd much rather devote what time I do have to eating my food rather than actively preparing it. I like cooking once and eating a few times. So, I employ certain time savers. (Technology. Glorious, isn't it?)

1) Slow-cooker/crockpot. I use this sucker at least twice a week, every week. I use it to make a big pot of beans, a pot of steel cut oats (which I eat for breakfast almost every day) and a big pot of soup.

2) Rice cooker. Okay, so mine has a 6 cup capacity. This is not huge, but it's certainly enough for one person. The luxury of tossing in my water (or stock) and rice (or barley, or other grains) and ending up with perfect rice (or other grains) that I don't have to pay attention to? Heck yeah.

Sprung.

Saturday is my first real day off in ages. Almost every weekend for the past several my ass has landed in the hospital. (Boo with me here - booooooooooo!) Anyway, in honor of the occasion I have decided to get a head start on my weekly meal planning.

So, a week in advance:

Monday: Taco Stacks. Meal in one, yay! Put some enchilada sauce (or salsa) in a pie dish then put down a tortilla, then a layer of refried beans, a layer of spanish rice, a layer of calabacita, drizzle with a little more sauce, another tortilla. Top with some extra sauce, shredded cheese and olives. Bake until cheese is bubbly. Cut into wedges and serve.

Tuesday: Fried Rice. At the start of the week I cook a big batch of rice. It keeps well in the fridge for a few days. So, fried rice. In a big pan, heat some oil. Throw in a bunch of chopped veggies, stir-fry for a minute. Add your seasonings - soy, garlic, chili, etc. Then put in your leftover cooked rice. Stir fry for a few minutes until rice is warmed through, and taken on a lovely color. If you want, you can add egg to this - but I almost never do.

Wednesday: Jacket Potatoes with veggies and cheese. This is obvious, isn't it? Bake potato. Top with veggies, grate cheese on top. Voila!

Thursday: RiSorta. Grate a bunch of squash - zucchini works well. Lightly wring dry in a towel to get rid of some of the excess liquid. In a big pan, heat some oil/butter/margarine or a combination, sprinkle in a 1/4-1/2 cup rice (not cooked rice). Saute for a minute. Then add your veg. Saute for a minute or two. Then add some stock which you've heated up. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the rice is cooked and the veggies super tender. Top with a sprinkle of cheese, if so inclined.

Friday: Veggie Frittata. Saute your veg in a pan. Whisk up eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour this over your veg. Put a lid on your pan - slightly askew - and reduce heat. Let this cook for about 15-20 minutes. The egg will puff up. You can also do this traditional style and put your pan in the oven, but eh, then you have to heat the oven. Top with cheese, salsa, nothing- it's all good.

Meal Plan Monday (actually Tuesday). Whatever.

Okay. So my week got off to a rocky start, due to last week being Suck Fest 2010. Anyway! I've decided that from time to time I'll post my weekly meal plans. Thrilling, no? Shut up. You're stoked.

Anyhow! Here they are - I know you've all been waiting with baited breath.

Monday: Taco Soup (this was frozen, as in "in my freezer", as in - I didn't have to make a damn thing, woo!) and homemade honey wheat bread with homemade strawberry freezer jam.

Tuesday: Cranberry bean tacos and watermelon salad.

Wednesday: Sloppy Sams, tomato salad

Thursday: Spaghetti with roasted tomato sauce

Friday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup

As ever, unless I'm baking - I don't measure. So, here's the "method" for my meals of deliciousness.

Taco Soup
Start by sauteing a couple cloves of minced garlic in a splash of olive oil. To this, add your stock. I use a 70:30 ration of veggie stock to bean stock (bean stock being the leftover cooking liquid from my weekly pot of beans). To this, add some passata or salsa. Throw in some oregano, pepper, chili powder and cumin. Bring this to a simmer and start adding your "taco" stuff. I usually add corn (frozen is fine, fresh is better in season), cooked beans of some variety and leftover cooked rice. I let this simmer until everything is nice and warm and the stock has reduced a bit. Before serving, a hit it with a squeeze of fresh lime. I top each serving with crumbled tortilla chips, diced avocado, and a dollop of "sour cream." It would be good with cheese, but oddly I prefer it without. Go figure.

Sloppy Sams
I have modified this recipe to my taste and for my dietary restrictions - no onions and vegetarian Worcester sauce.

Roasted Tomato Sauce
I make this in bulk. It's super easy. Take a few pounds of good tomatoes. Slice them in half - I use roma tomatoes. Put them on a baking sheet (make sure it's lipped). Sprinkle over some minced garlic, herbs of your choice and drizzle with olive oil and a splash of wine (or even sherry). Put in a 400 degree oven and roast for about 45 minutes. Dump this mixture into a big pot, and then blend up with an immersion blender (or blend in batches in a traditional blender - be CAREFUL!). That's it. This freezes well. It's also the basis for my tomato soup.

Tomato Soup
Start with some Roasted Tomato Sauce. Add some veggie stock wine or sherry - whatever you used the first time around. Simmer for a while. Add a splash of cream - real, coconut or soy. Simmer for another minute. Serve.

What American girls are good for.

A friend once repeated a remark he'd heard a comedian say - "The only thing American girls are good for is ordering off a menu." Now, I think this is hilarious - I also think there is some truth in there. We're good at other things, sure, but we're especially good at ordering from menus. Why? Because Americans are used to an abundance of choice. Our menus - our world - is options galore. Our problem isn't a lack of options, it's actually that we have too many options - and we don't know how to make informed choices about what we eat.

I have a life-threatening food allergy. Boring! Honestly, it's not something which impacts my day to day very much. The only time it's ever much of an issue is when I dine out. I guess my point is this - if I, with a life-threatening food allergy and all my damn dietary restrictions can still walk into any restaurant (Okay, maybe not The Stinking Rose) and manage to order a meal that I'll survive the consumption of, which is also reasonably healthy and tasty - anyone can. It's simply a matter of making informed and intelligent decisions about what I put in my body.

Tonight I went out to dinner with friends. I did what I usually do - I ordered two appetizers. Why? Because I like being able to have more than one thing, and I've found that the portions are much more reasonable. One dish was a lovely Japanese cucumber salad with seaweed, peppers, asparagus and a sesame and vinegar dressing, and the other was kabocha tempura. No meat. No dairy. Not a whole lot of fat. Yum as fuck.

Random Cookbook Plug: Dolores Casella's The Complete Vegetable Cookbook

Industry. Industrial. Industrious?

There are weekends when all you want to do is hibernate, and then there are weekends full of events. For me, the best weekends are a combination of the two.

Today was a great Sunday. I started my day off by baking bread for the week. Is there anything as fantastic as the smell of yeast bread in the oven? I'm fairly certain there isn't. I also made banana bread. My banana bread is not particularly sweet and is also more bready than cakey - personal preference.

I had breakfast with a friend at a favorite dive in Fullerton which we used to frequent. Ah, nostalgia (in more ways than one!). After that, did a bit of shopping at Henry's market with my friend Bärbel. I love Henry's - it's way up high on my list of favorite markets. Yes, I have a list. The Oly Co-Op is my favorite, but also on the list are Henry's, Herbie's, Co-Opportunity, Whole Foods, Mother's, Glatt Mart, Erewhon, and Northgate. Those are actual markets. There is also the local farm where I get my eggs and raw milk, the farmer's market where I get my honey, etc. I freely admit that grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do. But I digress...

Over frozen yogurt (raspberry tart, hello Yogurtland!) we discussed what we've been cooking lately. As we both eat seasonally, there has been lots of asparagus on the menu. What I love about Bärbel is that she's as food obsessed as I am, so that's okay! Anyway, she's from a region where the good asparagus is grown. White asparagus has a short season, but it's amazing. When it's in season people gorge on the deliciousness. She was telling me about this dish her mother makes that honest to goodness had my mouth watering - asparagus, hollandaise, herbed Flädle and good German ham. Holy crap and a half, that sound wickedly tasty.

So, in honor of Bärbel's mum, tonight for supper I am making savory crepes with fines herbes (sans chive, of course), asparagus and topping them off with hollandaise. Yum.

Besides, I'll have lots of egg whites leftover from making the hollandaise, which gives me an excuse to make macaroons! (Not that I need an excuse.)

Crap... or brilliant?

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I know I am amused by it, but I might also be horrified. Crap, or fab?

What of wisdom?

Bedtime reading this week has been Mary Emma Showalter's Mennonite Community Cookbook. From the cover, "Eleven hundred mouth-watering recipes from old Mennonite cookbooks, brought up to date with standard measures and directions. Simple but wonderful country cookery contributed by Mennonite families all over the United States and Canada."

In my collections it ranks right up there with Liberace Cooks.

She will go down with her ship.

I made this salad for lunch today. Well, a modified version of it anyway. Obviously I didn't use bacon lardons or onion in my salad. Still, it was delicious. I remain a sucker for lentils.

Look her in the eye.

It is a beautiful sunny day in Los Angeles. It rained last night, so the sky is blue, there are "Jesus clouds" in the sky, and it's cool - if only the weather were always like this. Of course, if it were I wouldn't appreciate it as much as I do.

I have lots of "inside" things I need to do today, but the day is much more suited to outside things - so screw it. I am pulling a runner on being responsible today. If you're out and about in "Snata" Monica today you just might see me - I'll be the freakishly pale girl.

Get lost in the sun.

Tonight for dinner I am making calabacitas - which is a delicious skillet squash dish making use of the bountiful Mexican summer squash in all the local markets.

1.5 lbs of Mexican squash cut into bite sized pieces (if you are using zucchini, you might want to add a sprinkle of sugar)
2 cups of frozen or fresh corn
1 medium red bell pepper, medium dice (or small if you like)
1 large (or two small) tomatoes, diced
olive oil/vegetable oil
grated cheese - jack is good, so is cheddar

In a good sized saucepan saute the squash, corn, pepper and tomato in a little oil. Cover pan, and cook over medium heat until everything is tender. Add a handful of cheese on top, do not stir through. Cover again and let the cheese melt into the mixture. Once it does, remove cover, stir, and add another handful of cheese. Let that melt too. Serve it up with tortillas or pita bread.

Oh, and if you're a meat eater you could add some to this if you were so inclined. You could brown off some ground (turkey? beef?) and stir it through when you add the second handful of cheese. Or, you could stir through some shredded chicken or something. I dunno why you would want to spoil perfectly good vegetables with meat, but hey, knock yourself out.

Delicious!

Liquid bliss.

Dinner tonight was a little something I like to call "using up random leftover" fry-up. I had some leftover mashed turnip, leftover zucchini and leftover cauliflower and leftover garbanzo beans. I roughly mashed up the beans, mixed them with the turnip and a little water, a little garbanzo flour and chili sauce. I heated up some oil in a skillet and poured the mixture in to make a sort of pancake. The zucchini and cauliflower I warmed up with more sriracha and some soy sauce. Once the pancake was cooked to my liking I put the veggie mix on top and ate it. It was delicious, and the bonus: clear sinuses!

Know no fear, I'll still be here tomorrow.

What to do with leftovers? I often myself wondering about this - cooking for one can be such a chore. There is always the temptation to make extra portions for later. But if you're me, you don't like eating the same thing more than once in a short period of time (unless that something happens to be cheese, fruit salad or pancakes).

Looking in my fridge I realized I had a fair amount of leftover red wine sauce leftover from a roast I made for Jackson recently which needed to be used up. Fair enough, red wine sauce is delicious on pasta, potatoes, rice, couscous... it also makes a lovely risotto - if one is in the mood. I, however, wanted to transform it completely.

I opted to make soup with it. It doesn't seem like a natural transformation, but it smells hella good and if early indicators are anything to go by - it's gonna taste fantastic.

I started off with just under 3 cups of red wine sauce. To this I added about a half litre of water and a mushroom stock cube (although I did debate using a pot-au-feu stock cube which I imagine would be lovely). I also added one 15 oz. tin of whole plum tomatoes (which I crushed up with my hands) and a carrot. I brought this mixture to a boil and added rinsed and soaked lentils (soaking isn't necessary, but because red wine can toughen the lentils I opted to soak them first to counter this) - I used french lentils, because that's what I happened to have to hand, but I imagine brown or even red would work just as well. Because the red wine sauce had salt in it, and the mushroom stock also had salt I didn't feel it necessary to add more, but I did add a fair bit of freshly ground black pepper. I also added dried thyme (fresh would also work but I didn't have any) and a bay leaf. Toward the end to punch up the flavor a bit I will be stirring in a glug of red wine vinegar and then topping it all off with some fresh parmesan.

Yay for soup!

Ever since we met you've had a hold on me...

Just home from a weekend splurge at Bay Cities Deli. Oh how I love that place! I do tend to go a bit overboard in my purchases, but it's such a rare splurge for me that I always find a way to justify it. I was actually pretty well-behaved, considering what I am capable of.

Most of what I bought were "staple" luxuries - mushroom stock cubes, creme fraiche, super fancy pasta (fresh as well as dried), olive oil, san marzano tomato paste, bread and cheese.

In addition I picked up a few splurges:

Sour Cherry Jam - why the hell not? Sour? Good. Cherry? Good. Jam? Good.
Ajvar - Nice break from chutney I thought.
Curry Ketchup - because it's a weakness of mine.
Olives - I shouldn't be allowed near olive bars, as a rule.

What shall I do with all this deliciousness? Why, make more deliciousness of course!

The bread shall be used for bruschetta goodness with the cheese, the olives and the ajvar variously.

The fresh pasta will be used with the creme fraiche to make one of my favorite quick pastas.

The dried pasta will be used with my own sauce which incorporates what I love about puttanesca and arrabiata. Mmm. Some of the olives will also be used.

The curry ketchup will be used on roast potatoes, in place of chutney on my grilled cheese, and a secret (and delicious!) addition to my curried cauliflower.

It's going to be a happy food week in Meganland.

It'll be alright.

2010. To be honest, it's difficult to believe I made it. By any calculation, I shouldn't be here. So, what - sheer dumb luck? Seems that way. At this exact moment I feel like anything is possible, and perhaps it is.

In a few days I hit a significant anniversary - 10 years. I wear my scars on the outside; they are visible for everyone to see. But even 10 years later I am still not ashamed of them, because they prove that I survived. I got through it the only way I knew how, and no, it's not pretty to look at, but I'm still standing and I'm only slightly worse for the wear.