A Week In Review

you eat those massive cakes, boo

This week was rather busy for me, but I have been able to come home and have dinner with the boo at night, which is a new thing for us. Andy decided to make pancakes for dinner the other night. In the 10" skillet. Go big or go home, I guess!

vegan/glutard alcohol sponger

potato spinach hash


purple potato (par cooked)
frozen assorted veggies
spinach
baked tofu
daiya mozzarella
earth balance
sliced onion


In a hot skillet, melt some earth balance, caramelize the onions. Add potatoes and brown, add your other veggies and spinach. Dump in a bowl, sprinkle with vegan bacon bits and daiya. Inhale to soak up all that whisky.

 knock-off sushi bar ginger vinaigrette
If you don't have a microplane, its cool, use your box grater.

1 small carrot
1"x1" chunk peeled ginger
2T rice vinegar
2T lemon or lime juice
2t dijon mustard
splish splash of water
soy
olive oil



Using your fancy purple handled microplane, shave the shit out of a carrot and that hunk o' ginger into a mason jar that has a lid. Dump in all other ingredients, screw the lid on, and shake it like a polaroid. Or a shake weight. Use your imagination. Adjust seasonings to your taste preference, and shake more if it needs more emulsification. Pour over romaine and tomatoes with carrot shavings, and feel like royalty.

"life is short, eat dessert first."

plantain + chocolate 

"dirty" plantain shake and champagne, cause I keep it classy.

The grocer nearby sells it's "on its way out" produce at a sharply reduced price. Being a scavenger who likes to preserve things, I decided to buy some of these "over ripe" plantains to see what I could make of them. They are now my go to dessert, or other snack staple! Straight out of the peel with some peanut butter, honey, and cinnamon. Cut into pieces, freeze, and you have a base for some smoothies or "ice cream". Vegan ice cream is crazy expensive, at $2 for three to four massive plantains, this is a much more inexpensive alternative for snacks and desserts.

frozen plantain + dutch cocoa + peanut butter + sweetener + H2O

    

  Enjoy with halvah crumbled on top. Or cookie scraps. Or dollops of lyngonberry jam. Oh Ikea...

Manhattan Minimilalist Meal Número Uno

After an hour being stuck on the George Washington Bridge in the most epic of traffic jams (with such features as several semis cutting across four lanes of traffic) we finally got into the city, said screw it and parked the car in a garage for the night carrying what we could on our backs like slightly lighter skinned and lighter dressed sherpas, threw the carryings in our bedroom, hopped on the subway and had dinner at Carmine's with some family of Andy's that happened to be in town. Apparently they are known there for their massive portions for eating family style. We were an hour late for dinner, but there was still tons of scrumptious chow left, such as antipasto salad that was full of fat green and kalamata olives with little peperoncinis that burst in your mouth like flavor crystals, embarassingly squirting soppy juice on you. So technically first meal here was covered, with some leftovers to spare.

peanut butter + flax + sunflower seed + honey

Today we got the car from the garage, drove around in circles, watched a USPS truck almost get stuck, and unloaded all the rest of my crap. I had little to no desire to start cooking anything just yet, the knives, and my hand joints both need a rest. I made quick and dirty energy bite.

the supplies, sans that bottle of peach schnapps... not mine.

So most of what the pantry consists of is a massive tub of peanut butter, a box of Element Bars, many rices, beans, spices, and dehydrated things. I unfortunately forgot my smoothie additions in my mom's fridge, but those can easily be replaces... I do really want some Japanese green tea right now, dang.

Well, though lunch consisted of a bowl of bird seed and nut butter, dinner will be much more rich since we are going to Epicerie Boulud for dinner to kill 3 birds with one stone: eating, researching/spying on my possible new job, and hitting up Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get some bed lifts, because organizing a Manhattan apartment is like a large game of tetris.

Huzzah!

Smooth criminal

Broke? Busy? Need to eat healthier and tired of paying five bucks a bottle for Bolthouse or Naked juices? Invest In a blender.

We have one of those Nutribullets at the house, and I've been on a smoothie kick as they are much easier to digest and very healing for those prone to gastrointestinal flare ups. They are also delicious. It is also much cheaper to buy brown spotty bananas (found some for under a dollar at Tops Market) and freeze them, as well as other fruits, than to buy name brand juices or smoothies. They're also much healthier for you because you're ingesting them as soon as, or shortly after, they are blended so the nutrients aren't broken down or oxidized. I like to chuck a bunch of additions in to make em even more nutritious, which you can find at places such as The Whole Foods Co-Op. They have little bags in their bulk department and refrigerated section like:

• Maca powder
• Hemp seeds/hemp protein powder
• Green spirit mix
• Bee pollen 
• Cacao nibs
• Goji berries

Then choose frozen or ideally fresh fruits and veggies such as:

• Strawberries
• Banana
• Mango
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Spinach, kale, or herbs like cilantro, mint, or basil

You will need a liquid to help everything blend nicely, so if you'd prefer not to use water, fruit juices, milks (I dig almond milk and pineapple juice), or you know... maybe wine... can be used.

If you can afford it, and will actually use it more than once, I highly HIGHLY recommend a Vitamix blender. These things are like the MAC trucks if the blender world, and not only can you make smoothies in em, but also they are great for blending soups, dressings, dips, or purées. The cheaper the blender you get though, remember it will just be that much cheaplier built and will not last as long. 

So, in lieu of moving in T-4.5 hours to NYC, I salute you, Mom's-Nutri-bullet-blender-with-handy-cup, thanks for all the smoothies. I will miss you.