Penguin Girl

Slowly I am able to cook again as deadlines are met and responsibilities spread out to a more manageable level once more. I didn’t cook very much this week as these three weeks (last week and the next two) are when everything comes due. I did, however, cook a little from my recent cookbook purchases.

For Shabbat, from Flavors of Korea: Delicious Vegetarian Cusine, I made Kongnamul Bap or Bean Sprout Rice… mostly. I had a can of stir fry vegetables which I used instead of fresh bean sprouts. Of course I’d rather fresh local ingredients, but sometimes you have to use what you have on hand. I also substituted brown rice as I need to cook up the pantry in preparation of the new cabinets (no I do not know when they are coming). The Sesame-Onion sauce was made without green onions as I had none. In any case, E and I enjoyed it and I will make it again.

From The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen I made Cheddar Corn Bread. This turned out yummy. I will probably put in more cheese next time as I couldn’t really tell this had cheese in it. I also finally broke out one of the silicone pans I was given years ago since my kitchen is now “mostly-new”. I refused to use them until we fixed the kitchen. They’re kinda fun and I didn’t notice any difference using them over a traditional pan. It did feel a bit weird putting plastic into the oven. I also need to do more research given all I’ve heard [especially recently] about carcinogens and plastic (I have sworn for years that water stored in plastic tastes weird but that is writing for another day).

Tonight we ate stuffed grape leaves. My FIL has been after us to purchase a certain brand of canned stuffed grape leaves available at our local supermarket. He’s been raving about them. I decided to turn them into a full meal by sautéing diced chink’n strips with some garlic, onion, and turmeric and then adding in some tomato sauce. I placed the stuffed grape leaves in the sauce to warm them slightly. This was a pleasant surprise. It saddens me greatly that I grew up with grape leaves in my back yard and I don’t think we ever thought to cook with them. I will attempt to make my own some day. I think this would be a very pleasant shabbat lunch. It does make me miss pita, but I’ll find something by this summer. Yes, I am thinking toward summer already, I don’t mind winter but we missed Autumn this year so I’d like it to be summer so we can try again.

Sunday night found us with my lazy dinner: instant rice, tofu chunks, coleslaw mix, and peanut sauce. Ooh don’t I make it sound yummy?! Really it is.

Monday I wanted something Different. Something that could potentially use up a pantry item or two. I succeeded with the first thing that looked mildly appetizing and that was Rachel Ray’s Creamy Spaghetti and Beans. It surprised us in that it was pretty tasty, however, in my desire to stay GF (and a long Monday afternoon which involved too many confined places with people who smelled quite strongly of either smoke or perfume) I didn’t have any spare ideas to come up with anything to substitute for the pancetta. E commented that it was “missing something”. I added lots of pepper. It was quite good and I don’t think he’s yet realized I fed him GF (corn) pasta. :)

Tuesday and Wednesday were lean days as I walked on average about 5.1 miles each day and did not eat very much. Arriving home much after 10pm added to the “lean days”. Oddly I seem to be the same weight I was months ago. I guess the “fat” converted to muscle? (I have not had any change in waist size either).

Thursday was a tomato soup and grilled cheese type of day. I didn’t buy any bread but found some pita and made E his grilled cheese in that. I only had rice cakes around so I attempted to “grill” those and I do not recommend it. They were not bad, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted. I do miss grilled cheese with tomato soup. Maybe once the kitchen is completed I’ll invest in a GF friendly bread machine.

Friday found me turning on the slow cooker for my own lunch. I enjoyed some rice stew with pickled veges. I had found a HUGE container of mixed pickled veges the day before for $3. I also cooked up the last of the tiliapa I had in the freezer. The pickled vegetables are quite spicy due to something. I think it might be the pepperoncini but I’m not sure.

I had a hard time figuring out what to make for shabbos dinner that was GF and different than things I’ve made recently. I ended up running to the store at 3pm and picking up some tofu “hot dogs” and we had a splendid meal of hot dogs, sauerkraut, and french fries. For dessert I had mistakenly grabbed a container of “lite” vanilla fudge tofutti (instead of plain vanilla) but it wasn’t too bad. It was strange how tasty that meal was. :)

Today I’m battling unhappy sinuses and have been trying to eat anything spicy I can get my hands on. Tonight just now, I heated up some leftover rice stew and mixed in some feta and freshly ground pepper. It was good if unorthodox.

I need to bring better food balance to our week. Two consecutive late nights is difficult for both of us.

On Monday I purchased that 1.5 quart slow cooker for $10 at the drug store. With it I have enjoyed breakfasts and lunch all week. For my morning meal I toss in a handful of peanuts, at noon, sauerkraut. I need to learn to make kimchi or find a better varied pickled blend of vegetables (we’ve had them, I’ve just not see them on the store shelf this week).

Thursday (the next night I cooked) I made Read the rest of this entry »