NYE TV dinner

I envy people whose jobs shut down over the holidays. In corporate accounting, New Years Eve is always a frenzy of trying to get last minute things done before the books close for the year. Tonight was no exception, plus it was bitterly cold outside. When I finally got home, all I wanted to do was put on a bazillion layers of pajamas and watch Netflix. But alas, I'd made plans join 20,000 people to watch the "D Drop" OUTSIDE. Fortunately, it's only a few blocks from my apartment. Looks fun in theory:

photo from Detroit Unspun

To compromise with my whiny, introverted self, I made the most processed, bland, delicious meal ever: Gardein Turk'y Cutlets, Edward & Sons Chreesy instant mashed potatoes and canned peas:

This was the first time I'd made the turkey cutlets and they were pretty solid. The outside was really crispy and I liked the gravy. I think the taste and texture were a little off, but it's been a decade since I ate turkey, so I didn't mind. The potatoes were a drunk impulse buy. I don't think I've ever eaten instant mashed potatoes before, but these were pretty good. Maybe a little gummy, but the taste was solid. And I love canned peas. Now that I'm fed and warm, I suppose it's time to join the masses and welcome in a new year that will hopefully be even better (and more delicious!) than this one. Happy New Year!

Happy Christmahanakwanza!

Happy Holidays everyone! After decades of dreading the winter holiday season, I've been trying to embrace it. I'm constantly trying to buy/have less stuff, so I've been on the lookout for decorations that are upcycled, functional, and easy to store. I'm pretty happy with how my spread turned out this year:

First, the tree: Despite never owning a Christmas tree, I've received a lot of ornaments as gifts. Inspired by Pinterest a few years ago, I flipped over a tomato cage, put a rubber band around the top, and wrapped it with lights and garland. Then I hung on all the ornaments I had. Here are a few phone pictures from 2011 and 2013 to show the evolution (plus lots of cats). I also made that tree skirt out of some leftover fabric, but I didn't use it this year since the tree fit perfectly on my extra-deep windowsill (above).

Decorating with wrapped presents is another trick I picked up (fortunately, my cats don't mess with ribbon). Those giant curly bows? Every year I go through the Xmas morning wrapping-trash-mess and pull out all the ribbon, then condense it into giant bows to use the next year. My family makes fun of me, but it serves multiple purposes: (1) I can justify using a ton of ribbon to make really fluffy bows because otherwise it would go straight to the landfill, (2) I don't have to curl all the ribbon every year, (3) it saves money/waste. Oh, and that foam gingerbread house is from a kit for ages "3+". I made it with my sister while drinking wine and watching Death Comes to Pemberley. Maybe it was the wine, or the distraction of a murder mystery, but I'm a little embarrassed to admit how many times I messed up a craft meant for toddlers.

And now my favorite part - snowflake curtains!!! I just cut regular copy paper into squares, then folded it into sixths, embraced my inner second-grader and cut and cut and cut. It was pretty fun to see how crazy slivers of paper turned into elaborate snowflakes. Once they were all done, I smoothed them out with a dry iron, then glued them on clear jewelry cord (because I had a bunch, but fishing line would also work). Lastly, I tied the cord around tension rods and hung them up. Here's a work-in-progress pic:

I'm REALLY excited about how they turned out! I was a little worried about condensation, but they seem to be holding up well. I even had a few strands leftover, so I sent them to a a friend who now lives in Texas, in case she forgets how awesome snow is while she celebrates Xmas in her pool.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season!

Operation: New Years Resolutions

Like a lot of people, one of my New Year's resolutions was to eat better and exercise more. Also like a lot of people, that didn't happen. In fact, this has been my laziest and unhealthiest year in a long time. But hey, 2014 ain't over yet! There are six weeks left in this year and I plan to finish it at least a little ahead of where I started (from a health/weight perspective).

We all know that cooking at home is one of the best ways to eat healthier, so I pulled out my beloved copy of Appetite for Reduction and picked two recipes to make and portion out. First up: Miso Udon Stir-Fry with Greens and Beans. Almost all of the recipes in that book are supermarket friendly, but this one might have benefited from a trip to the health food store. I substituted black beans for azuki beans and brown rice stir fry noodles for brown rice udon noodles. The regular grocery store did have udon noodles, but in the spirit of healthy eating, I thought brown rice was a better choice. I also didn't have the full amount of miso the recipe called for.

My camera didn't want to focus on this, but here's what it looked like:

This is perhaps the first recipe from AFR that I haven't loved. I liked it enough to eat it and I'll eat the leftovers, but it was a bit bland and mushy. I take full responsibility for that, though. I think if I had used the right beans and noodles, and proper amounts of miso and sriracha, it would have been better. It still has a ton of veggies and was a huge pile of food for 410 calories, so I might try making it again.

Usurper Alert: Daiya Frozen Pizza

When Whole Foods opened a store in Midtown Detroit last year, the media went nuts. This fit perfectly into their narrative that there are no grocery stores in the city (disproven here) and that the city was completely abandoned and is now showing signs of rebirth (refuted here). In fact, there was already a health food store a half-mile away from the WF location. But, rant over. Any positive media attention is good for the city. Plus as a yuppie, I love a one-stop-shop for organic groceries, vegan prepared food, fresh flowers and wine. Geez, I can't believe how pretentious that sounds...

When I was there this weekend, I stopped by the frozen pizza section, planning to grab a Tofurky pepperoni pizza. They taste just like the cheap omni pizzas I grew up eating and I LOVE THEM. Much to my dismay, the Daiya pizzas had completely overtaken the freezer case. Rather than pout, I coughed up $10 for the Fire Roasted Vegetable variety.

Before:

After (also, after eating 1/3 of the frozen vegetables and cheese while waiting for the oven to heat up):

I was a bit skeptical about the gluten-free crust, but it was actually pretty good. Overall, the pizza was good with the right amount of cheese and flavorful sauce and veggies. This was more of the "gourmet" variety of frozen pizzas, which I always thought were pointless because they cost the same as a fresh (and much better tasting) pizza. For the price, I can get a deep-dish pizza from Buddy's which also comes loaded with Daiya. If these were ever on sale, I might buy a few for emergencies (i.e., after the bar), but I don't see this being a new diet staple.

Peanut butter + waffles = heaven

I was like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Vegan Brunch to come out back in 2009. When I finally got my hands on a copy, I made at least half the recipes. I ate brunch food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for months. Then like most new toys, I just kind of forgot about it.

Fast forward to 2014... I wanted waffles for breakfast and leafed through the book to see what I had ingredients for in my nearly empty cupboards. Peanut butter waffles were the clear winner, even though I didn't have any peanut butter [because all PB that enters my home is immediately consumed]. I did have peanuts, and while I felt a little guilty running the Vitamix at 9 on a Sunday morning in my apartment, my desire for waffles overrode any feelings of neighborly courtesy. So armed with some freshly ground peanut butter, I got to work.

The batter was easy enough to throw together, and true to the instructions, very forgiving of my tendency to overmix. My waffle iron was a hand-me-down and came without instructions. After years of disappointment that my waffles never turned out right, I decided to check the internet for an instruction manual. Sure enough, I found it, and realized I'd been using too much batter all this time. And what do you know? These turned out great! I served them with some sliced apples, EB and maple syrup. They were great - not overly sweet, just the right mix of crunchy and tender, and a hearty way to start the day. Vegan Brunch FTW!

Happy Dark Season + a wreath

There are two seasons in my world: leaving work in daylight and leaving work in the dark. With the end of Daylight Savings this past weekend, I was abruptly pushed into the dark season. I know it's technically been fall for a while now, but now that MY season changed, I was finally inspired to make a fall wreath. I stopped by JoAnn to get some ideas and found their fall floral was 70% off (procrastinating DOES pay!). Unfortunately, it was almost all hideous, but I did mange to grab a few sprigs of yellow and orange berry/bud things for $0.89/each, plus a spool of burlap ribbon. I had some old dried wheat that had seen better days (it was turned into maracas during a dance party... don't ask) and a grapevine wreath already, so the whole thing cost $11. I didn't take any in-process pictures, but here's a basic overview of the process.

Step 1: Gather materials.

 Step 2: Recruit assistants.

Step 3: Insert decorations into wreath until it takes desired shape.

Step 4: Admire your handy work.

Unfortunately, there's not much natural light in my apartment hallway, so I can't get a good image of the colors. But I'm really happy with how it turned out, especially considering it cost $11 and took an hour. I really did just jam everything into the wreath in a circular pattern. For the bow, I loosely used this tutorial. I'm pretty proud of my ingenuity, because to make the bow you're supposed to use floral wire. I didn't have any, so instead I used a piece of the wire I'd cut off the sprigs of berries. It required pliers to bend it properly, but it worked!

MoFo Day 30: Carrot cake progress

Today is the last day of Vegan MoFo. I made a decent showing with 22 posts and I've really come to enjoy sitting down at my table to eat meals without distractions, so I'm happy. And I found a bunch of new blogs and really enjoyed reading the awesome, hilarious and informative posts the vegan blogosphere came up with this year.

Speaking of enjoyable meals, the GIANT piece of carrot cake I had for dinner tonight was great. I made it for dessert when my parents were over on Sunday and this was the last of it. I've eaten a lot of vegan carrot cake over the years, but this was my first attempt at making one. I've always read rave reviews of the recipe for Ginger Macadamia Coconut Carrot Cake from Vegan with a Vengeance. I never made it, though, because I have very specific ideas about what a carrot cake should be, and that doesn't include ginger, macadamia nuts, or coconut. While searching for a recipe, I realized I could just substitute walnuts for macadamia nuts and raisins for coconut and leave out the ginger. And it worked perfectly! I like a lot of "stuff" in my carrot cake and the recipe's proportions didn't disappoint. I also made the cream cheese frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, which was good, but was I thought it tasted too much like sugar and not enough like cream cheese. This was definitely a step in the right direction, and maybe now I'll stop spending $5 on the Chicago Diner carrot cake slices every time I go to Whole Foods.