Oh gods I haven't posted in forever

I... had an exciting year.

On the bright side, I moved into an apartment! And I have a kitchen, all to myself! It's a little tiny but I'm going to get a cart soon.

I've been eating a lot of this lately:

(it looks non-appetizing. appearances lie! it's delicious.)
(mostly because beans and rice are dirt cheap, and dried beans and rice aren't heavy for how much food I get out of them... also because it's really tasty).

I never used to make this, until a friend showed me how. I was notorious as a child for burning rice, which put me off of rice and beans until now. (Then I learned it was super easy and I felt like a chump for not doing it before) No real ingredients list; just leave out what you don't have, and add whatever you want.

Start by heating up some oil in a larger saucepan (at least 2qt) (I used olive oil). Throw in some diced onion, minced/smashed/whatevered garlic, salt, and some spices (I usually use cumin, paprika, cayenne, chili powder, and a big ol' handful of nutritional yeast [add the nooch, the nooch makes it SO MUCH BETTER]). Stir every now and then for a few minutes, then add a cup of rice and two cups of water. Bring the mix to a boil, then add about a cup or so of beans. Stick a lid on the pot, set a timer for 15ish minutes. Stir every so often when you come to check on it. Cook until done.

It hardly deserves to be counted as a recipe, but it's easy and it gets the job done. I'd just come back from being out of town, and within 30 minutes of walking in the door, I had a bowl of tasty food in front of me.

NYC, what is it about you?

Red Bamboo:

wings, creole soul chick'n, coconut curry chick'n, brownie-bottom cheesecake

 

Gobo

spinach-wonton soup, green tea pan-fried dumpkings, soy filet, beijing seitan, pear-apple crisp

 

Le Pain Quotidian

riz au lait

Pure Food and Wine

beet carpaccio, dr cow cheese, lasagna, spanakopita, chocolate cake with mousse

Sacred Chow

biscuits & gravy & scrambled tofu & collards, tempeh hash, banana-pound-cake french toast, brownie & hot fudge sauce

  

Candle 79

rice-cheese balls, nachos, chimmichurri seitan, rosemary tofu, butternut squash risotto, cheesecake 

 

The last of Pittsburgh

Between finals and getting home, I haven't posted anything, though I have gone out to eat. So, to make up for it:

On one of the nights before finals, J and I went out to eat at some bar sorta place, Union Grill, on Craig Street. I got a nice hummus place and some whole-wheat "spa" pasta. I didn't expect much, but it was pretty tasty. Not something I'd do all the time, but it was a nice change of pace.

Though most of my exam diet was deplorable (the ultimate fritos and coke vegan!), once the exams were mostly over, I had some nice stuff to eat, like this bowl of ramen from Lulu's noodles:

One of my last meals in Pittsburgh was my usual green curry from Spice Island Tea House. Never a bad choice.

I am not even kidding when I say I could eat that green curry every day. It's the perfect mix of flavors. A little sweet, a lot of spicy. 

On our 15+ drive home (we broke it into two parts, the bulk of it being the ride from Pittsburgh to Charlotte), we stopped at Maggiano's. Luckily, our server was a vegan; she pointed out that the normal pasta had egg, but the gf spirals did not. Surprisingly good.

I've not been too creative at home (sleeping 12-16 hours a day) - the most creative thing I've done has been to take fancy ramen packets, add a splash of soy sauce and sesame oil, and cook some vegetables with the noodles (it does taste good...).\

J's mom, K, has been baking up a storm since I got back. I need to take pictures of some of the cookies she's made, they're delicious. As in, "Can I have a cookies? Please can I have a cookie? I really want a cookie, can I have one? ... I put some stuff away, I'm being helpful, can I have a cookie?" delicious. My obnoxious inner child will go to any and all lengths to get a cookie.

The end of 'mofo

It looks like I just squeaked by 20 food posts for the month, some better posts than others.

I guess I'll keep going from here, though definitely not averaging 5 posts a week, more like one or two. This upcoming week will be pretty hard, with the amount of work due on Thursday and Friday, and two tough exams on Monday and Tuesday. After that, I'll be free to cook, but I'm hesitant to buy any food that won't be eaten before I go home the 14th.

Some of the reasons I'm excited to go home:

• I have a car! I can drive to the grocery store and buy lots and lots of food and not have to worry about how I'm bringing it home.
• I have a whole kitchen, all to myself! No more prepping food on my desk while hunched over as to not hit my head. No more dodging dirty pans left to rot in the sink for weeks. No more fridge tetris.
• Mellow Mushroom: a pizza chain where I can get all the daiya on my pizza that I want. A little expensive, and a little tacky, but so tasty.
• Both my parents and my brother like eating at Basil, a tasty Thai place downtown. It's a bit cheaper than Silk Elephant and Bangkok Balcony, too. 
• The forecast for the next two weeks for Pittsburgh is mid-to-low 30s in the day, and the mid-to-low 20s at night. For Charleston, it's 50s in the day, 30s at night. 

In the meantime, I'll get by, somehow. I have some bags of frozen beans, so I can always just eat beans and rice for all my meals (!!!).

Pigs in a Blanket

Our last night in Pinehurst, we decided to watch the UNC-Duke game, which mean tailgate food. (Even though we were inside the house the whole time).

I was kinda lazy, so I used the crescent rolls in a tube. So cheap, they're vegan.

Wrapped up some smart dogs in the crescent rolls, then stuck them in the oven at 350 for about 16 minutes. 

I actually prefer the rolls a little bit on the undercooked side, because it leaves the part touching the dog all gooey and delicious (There's a reason I like them this way: my grandmother used to make these for us with cheese wrapped around the dog. The mouthfeel of the melted cheese is just like the mouthfeel of the slightly undercooked crescent roll dough...) Most people probably want to do these 20 minutes.

Survey Saturday - little-food edition

1. What time did you get up this morning?
2pm...? 1pm...?

2. How do you like your steak?
Seitanic.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
...Avatar?

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Either the Office or Firefly. Just started watching the latter, but OMG! SO GOOD.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
New York, maybe? But living up north in the winter is so cold. Still, New York is awesome.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Haaa... Cereal and thanksgiving leftovers - sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato casserole.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
I'm a big fan of spicy foods, all the time. I guess, then, Thai or Mexican or something.

8. What foods do you dislike?
Cucumbers, some mushrooms, sushi (!!!), pickled anything.

9. Favorite Place to eat?
Oooh. New York has all my favorite restaurants. It's probably Red Bamboo. So much tasty food.

10. Favorite dressing?
Balsamic Vinaigrette!

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
Dahon Speed D7. So awesome! It's a bike... and it folds in half (maybe more than half)!

12. What are your favorite clothes?
Jeans, tshirts, warm jacket (Pittsburgh, it is cold).

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
I'd say Tokyo, but I got to go there last year (next time, I'm bringing energy bars). So now... I dunno, almost everywhere is up for grabs. I don't have time to go many places because of classes.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
You're not done pouring, keep going. And give me a larger glass, please.

15. Where would you want to retire?
Uh... I dunno. I'm not even a part of the workforce yet.

16. Favorite time of day?
In the summer, late afternoon; in the fall and winter, the morning.

17. Where were you born?
Some hospital in Mount Pleasant, SC.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Um... Soccer?

22. Bird watcher?
Not particularly.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
I vary. I'll get in a wake-up-at-5-am rut and do it for weeks, then suddenly, I'm in an up-until-5-am rut and do that for weeks.

24. Do you have any pets?
Lucky, a cute black cat. My mom's two dogs.

25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share?
Nope.

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
I think I wanted to be a cat. Yeah, that one's not going to happen.

27. What is your best childhood memory?
I'm not particularly sentimental, but I remember sitting next to the window at a beach house, reading a book and playing games while a huge thunderstorm went on in the late afternoon.

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
Cats rule, dogs drool.

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes.

31. Been in a car accident?
Yeah, none too serious. I wasn't driving in any of them. One, my brother was rear-ended in bad weather and got the car in front of him too; the back windshield shattered and his air conditioning broke. J's had a fender bender with me in the car, too.

32. Any pet peeves?
Don't touch my laptop while I'm using it.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Spinach, tomatoes, red peppers, onions, and garlic.

34. Favorite Flower?
Eh... Not a big fan. They die and get all over everything. (I always forget to add water)

35. Favorite ice cream?
Mmm. Lula's Sweet Apothecary, please!

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Chipotle (I mean, you can get it to go. That makes it count, right?).

37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?
Not once.

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Google Calendar.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Amazon, probably.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
I dunno. Not lately, really.

41. Like your job?
I'm a student with classes that take up most of my time, so no job for me.

42. Broccoli?
Yes, please.

43. What was your favorite vacation?
Most of my vacations are really good. Any visit to NYC is standout, and last summer's week in Japan was amazing.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
J and his family.

45. What are you listening to right now?
"If I only had a brain".

46. What is your color?
Black. It goes with everything! Except brown?

47. How many tattoos do you have?
None.

49. What time did you finish this quiz?
8:56 pm.

50. Coffee Drinker?
No, espresso and tea. It's hard, living in a dorm - no espresso for me (uh, that's not the hardest part).

Thanksgiving!

A satisfying, filling vegan thanksgiving lunch for any vegans you might have with you:

I kid, I kid. That was thanksgiving lunch that I had with my cousins and family at a country club. I'm not a fan of salad. Fortunately, I had dinner later with J's family.

I left out of the gravy from this picture, but tofurky (?), sweet potatoes, green beans almondine, stuffing, and sweet potato casserole.

Later, I went back and grabbed some apple pie.