Sweet ‘Tater and Chili? Um, yes please!

Stop the presses!  That was one of the best dinners I have made in a looong time.  Here’s how it all went down.

Microwaved half of one sweet potato for six minutes.

Put it in a bowl and topped with half a can (1 cup) of Amy’s Low Fat Medium Black Bean Chili.

Grated 1 ounce of low fat, part skim mozzarella cheese on top.

Added half a loaf of multi-grain pita bread.

Nuked the whole thing in the microwave for about 2 minutes. 

BAM!  Here it is.

Now, that’s a really terrible picture.  I put it in a gladware bowl thing so I wouldn’t feel bad about not washing it afterward.  Therefore, it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing dish, but it was GOOD.  And it took a grand total of 10 minutes to make, two of which were spent trying to use a manual can opener.

It was so good, I packed up the other half of the potato and chili for lunch tomorrow (which also happens to be the last day of classes.  Heck to the yes.).

Hope everyone’s Monday was super-fabulous!

The Home Stretch

As the title might suggest, I am in the home stretch for this semester.  I only have an Eastern religion test, a physics final, and a calculus final.  I have already drawn up a schedule for studying, which keeps me from freaking out too much.  I have also made time to workout everyday and maybe do something fun for a study break.  I figure as long as I keep positive and don’t feel like a slob, I should be okay.

Yesterday was nothing special in my food world.  I had oatmeal for breakfast, a Luna bar for lunch, and a Subway veggie sandwich for dinner.  It wasn’t anything really worth taking a picture.  The Luna Bar was really good, though.  It was peppermint chocolate, and it tasted like Christmas.

Today, I had another round of oatmeal for breakfast and an almond butter and banana sandwich for lunch (idea courtesy of Jill@Quarterlifewellness!).  For dinner tonight, I plan to have this new concoction that I’ve read about on at least two different blogs.  It’s a baked sweet potato topped with vegetarian chili.  I think it sounds really odd, too.  But you can’t knock it till you try, so here goes.  I’ll let you know how that one turns out.  However, I’m also planning on going to this forum on religion called, “Ask an Atheist.  Ask a Catholic.  Ask a Muslim.  Ask a nondenominational Christian,” where they are serving pizza.  I’m having a really hard time saying no to the pizza idea.  So, tonight might end up being free pizza night or chili and sweet potato night.  Or both, but shhhh! don’t tell anyone.

I just thought I’d share with you the cutest invention ever made.  I love to write letters, so my mom got me this little stamp holder.  It’s a teeny tiny mailbox!

Vegan BBQ

Today was one of the most uneventful days of my life.  It was just packing, packing, packing.  And some movie-watching.  However, I did make some vegan BBQ.  It was amazing.  It tasted like real BBQ, without the gross pork taste. :)

In other food news, I had a glorious snack of pita bread and almond butter.  Too bad I ate it before I remembered to take a picture.

I got the cookbook Skinny Bitch in the Kitch today, and I’m so excited about some of those recipes.  Vegetarian chicken salad?  Yes, please.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday night!

Guacamole and Packing

Yesterday was such a crazy day that I never got around to blogging.  I had a fever all day but still went to work and stuff.  To make me feel better, Sam (the boyfriend) and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Here is a terribly blurry picture of the world’s best guacamole.

Sam enjoying said guacamole.

All that glorious Mexican food made me feel so much better.

For breakfast, (both yesterday and today) I had oatmeal with raisins, a banana, and some tea.  It’s my new favorite breakfast  I have never EVER like oatmeal.  Whenever my mom would make some for breakfast, I would stare at it until I finally got too hungry to turn my nose up at it.  However, the raisins make all the difference.  It tastes like rice pudding.

So far, today has been filled with packing for the big move next week.  For all the work I’ve done, this is all I have packed up so far:

Three boxes, a lamp, and a sewing machine.  You would think having moved all this crap before and after every semester for the past three semesters, I would be more efficient.

What’s everyone else doing with their weekend?  Hopefully something better than packing!

Schrödinger

Short blog for tonight.  I had a great day until a headache and flu-like symptoms set in.  Yuck.  I’m feeling a bit better after a shower, some chamomile tea, and SELF magazine, though.  It’s an early day tomorrow, so I’ll probably hit the hay soon.  Hopefully I can get another 10 hour night!

Oh yeah, don’t you hate it when you know you’re weekend is gonna suck?  This is the weekend right before finals, and that’s no weekend at all.

Wow, really negative post.  Sorry, ya’ll.

Here’s something positive and happy.

 

Schrödinger loves socks.  I think he thinks they’re another cat, because he wrestles with them and hisses at them.   Poor guy doesn’t know that next Friday he' goes to the vet for some booster shots.  But I’d bet he’d take the shots before he’d take the “snip snip” that’s happening in a month and a half.  Poor kitty. :(

It’s also really difficult to get a good picture of him.  He finds the orange light on the camera to be fascinating.  So, when I try to take a picture, he runs at the light.  Resulting in pictures like this one.

Grocery Shopping

First of all, I would like to share the highlight of my day.  I ran out to my car to grab my camera so I could upload some pictures, when I saw him (her?).  A deer standing in my yard.  Staring at me.  So, I crept to my car and got my camera, and SNAP!

I took this with no zoom; he was that close!

Here’s a close-up of Barney (I just deemed that to be his name).

He stayed there for the longest time, just munching away and staring at me.  Then I shut my car door, and that freaked him out, so away Barney went.

I just got back from grocery shopping, and I’m so excited about my purchases.  Vanilla soymilk, vegan BBQ (!), vegan chili, apples, bananas, lara bars, pita and hummus, vegetarian refried beans…

I’m so proud of myself.  Before I went shopping, I sat down and drew up a menu for EVERY meal of EVERY day.  Then I made the shopping list for those meals.  I was in and out of the grocery store in about 30 minutes, a new record.  It also helped me cut down on my spending.  I splurged on sprouted grain bread and organic chili, but that’s nothing to what I could have splurged on (a new car? a le creuset dutch oven?)  Plus, the cashier was super nice.

It’s another vegan hot dog for me tonight.  But tomorrow will bring new and exciting meals.  I’m thinking an egg white scramble burrito…

By the way, my mom is so great.  Even though she’s two hours away, I was able to call her, and she knew exactly where the vegetarian refried beans would be in the grocery store.  I don’t know how she does it, but she always knows.

Rain, rain, I despise you. Don’t come again some other day.

Wouldn’t you know that a super fabulous day would be followed by an epic crappy one.  It’s raining.  I couldn’t wear my heavy coat, even though it’s super cold.  I forgot to wear rainboots, and OF COURSE, three drivers decided it would be super hilarious to spray me with water from their tires as I walked the mile back to my car.  My jeans were soaked past my mid-thigh.  All of this to say, the weather is terrible here.

Other than that….things are good.  I’m starting to feel the stress of finals approaching.  I don’t even think I have that much to be panicked about really, but in my mind, I hype it up to this unconquerable mountain of work.

For breakfast this morning, I had a Weight Watchers 1 point oatmeal raisin cookie and some green tea.  I knew that that cookie wouldn’t keep me full, so I took a little bag of pretzels along as well. 

They look so big and awesome on the box.  You think, “That’s only one point?”  Then you get them home and take them out…

And they’re teeny tiny things.

For lunch, I had another Weight Watchers meal-a 5 point Ravioli Florentine frozen dinner.  I’m on campus at lunch time on most days, so I usually end up taking some frozen thing to heat up in the microwave at my boyfriend’s place (he lives super close to all my classes).  I don’t like those dinners all that much, but they’re easy.  Does anyone have any super easy pack-ahead-of-time meals?  I know I need more fresh fruits and veggies, and those frozen things just aren’t cutting it.

You might wonder what all the Weight Watchers stuff if for.  I did Weight Watchers after my first year of college (the dining halls on campus are all you can eat 24/7.  Most of the food is really sub-par, so you feel like you have to eat a lot of it to get your money’s worth.  Needless to say, I gained some poundage.)  It totally worked, and I felt great.  And BONUS!  You can eat all the veggies you want without counting points for them.  However, all that counting points was tough once I got back to school, but the plan really showed me what one serving looked like and about how much food I need a day to keep my blood sugar stable.  I still really like some of the WW food, especially the Smart Ones desserts they have, though.  The cookie dough ice cream?  Um, yum!

Anyways, in an effort to make this day better, I’m off to do some yoga and/or pilates.  I should probably work some cardio in there, too.

Check back in later!

Well Rested

Today started off smashingly.  I got TEN HOURS of sleep.  Let’s say that again: TEN HOURS!  Hooray for no more physics labs on Tuesday mornings.

I actually got to eat breakfast, one that would actually keep me full.  I know that an egg salad sandwich might sound like an odd choice for breakfast, but I knew the protein would keep me full.  I also had some green tea, because I’ve heard that it jump starts your metabolism.

I also did pilates first thing this morning.  That makes three days in a row!  My abs are sore, and I love it!  I measured myself (bust, waist, hips, butt) today so that I could keep track of any inches I might lose.  Www.exercisetv.tv is a life saver.  I don’t have a television, so I just hop on over to that website, and they have tons and tons of free exercise videos.  The ones that aren’t free, you can download for about two dollars a piece.  The pilates one that I use is Nicole Stewart’s Total Body Pilates.  It’s only twenty minutes long, which is perfect for my mornings.  As much as I want to be healthy, I just can’t bring myself to wake up an hour early to get an entire workout in.  I usually do more exercise once I get home from class or work.

It was actually cold today, so I was able to wear my brand new winter coat.  I felt to sophisticated! :)

For lunch I had yet another vegan hot dog and some pretzels.  I put it them a little serving basket, like the ones you would get at a ballpark.  It made the meal so much more special than if I had thrown it on any old plate (or no plate at all, as is sometimes the case with me).  I also had some Smart Water.  I don’t usually buy bottled water (bad for the planet, yo), but when I have to (i.e. at school and dehydrated), I buy Smart Water.  It has electrolytes and all that good stuff.

Are you stuck on what to get for your friends or family for Christmas (or Hanukah)?  How about some TOMS?

These are hands down the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn.  EVER.  They come in approximately a bajillion styles, and every single one of them is cute.

But here’s the best part.  Their philosophy is “One for One". This means that for every pair that you buy and send to someone on your shopping list (or to yourself!), they give a pair to a child who doesn’t have shoes.

Now, don’t let the prices ($40 and up) scare you away.  Remember, an impoverished child gets a pair, too.  So, really, it’s like buying two pairs of shoes.  Because they are a charity, I believe there is no tax charged on your purchase, nor do you have to pay shipping.  Convinced?  Go to www.tomsshoes.com.

What’s on ya’ll’s shopping lists?

P.S. On a more somber note, today is World AIDS Day.  Please take a moment to pray for those ravaged by AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses.  Go to www.joinred.com for more information.

Beating the Monday Blues

The only thing worse than a Monday is a rainy Monday, especially one after a lousy night’s sleep.  I kept dreaming that I was drowning.  Not exactly restful.

So, I decided to do things to counteract that today.  I went to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants (by myself, a first for me) and ordered the most amazing guacamole and bean nachos.  I sat there, read my book, and ate at my own pace.  It was blissful.

Unfortunately, this indulgence set me back in my “Beat the Blues” plan.  I was so full after lunch that I couldn’t go home and do pilates like I wanted.  Instead, I made some earl grey tea and watched the latest episode of Ugly Betty (such a fabulous show).

 

Finally, I felt slightly less like a bloated whale and was able to get in 20 minutes of pilates.

I believe in moderation, so tomorrow, it’s back to eating normal portions at regular times.  But for today, that pile of Mexican food, the book Eat Pray Love, and earl grey tea were just what I needed.

It really is time for this semester to be over.  In one of my classes this afternoon, I wrote down blog ideas and to do lists instead of learning about elliptical conics.  Don’t worry, Mom, I didn’t completely zone out.

If you look at the left side of my page of notes, you will see just how detailed these lists became.  The amount of detail is directly proportional to my boredom.

 

Well, it’s back to the real world and physics homework for me.  How do you cure your Monday (or Tuesday or Wednesday) blues?

Break Over

Well, I'm back at university, about to settle in for three killer weeks of studying and finals.  Boo.

On a positive note, I did a TON of baking yesterday to make up for my lack of it on Friday.  I also happened to make the world’s best grilled cheese sandwich. I got the recipe from an insert in a package of Sargento Mozzarella Cheese.

The World’s Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich

There’s not really a specific recipe for this, you know using measurements and everything.  However, you will need PER SANDWICH

Two slices of really great mozzarella, the kind that comes in a block or a knot.  Not the shreds.  If you can, get the whole milk kind.

Two slices of tomato

Some mayo

Some butter

Assemble the sandwiches by slathering the pieces of bread with the mayo, then add the slices of tomato and mozzarella.  Set aside. 

Melt about a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

When it just starts to brown, add the sandwich.  It should sizzle when it hits the pan. 

When that side is brown, flip and brown the other side, making sure that the cheese gets all melt-y and lovely.

Lastly, enjoy the world’s best grilled cheese.

On the baking side of things, I made Joy the Baker’s S’mores Brownies.

I also baked my first apple pie, although it wasn’t from scratch.  I feel a little ashamed.  Regardless, it was really great.

That thing in the middle is a homemade pie bird.  It vents the steam from the bottom of the pie, so the bottom crust doesn’t get mushy.

I also made my mom’s cheese straws.  However, in the process, I screwed up the beaters of her 30 year old stand up mixer.

I was using a rubber spatula to push the dough toward the beaters, and I guess I misjudged the distance.  Thus, twisted beaters.

To top it all off, I made some more of those amazing blueberry muffins.  However, I got hasty and didn’t let the blueberries thaw thoroughly.  So, they overflowed and fell in the middle.  Regardless, they still tasted wonderful, despite looking like purple blobs.

Here’s a pre-baking picture.  I should have known then what was to come.

On a completely non-food note, I had to leave my new kitten at home with my parents for the next three weeks until I transfer back home.  This saddens me greatly.  I got back to my apartment at university and found kitten formula in the fridge from when I rescued him two weeks ago.

Here he is when I first rescued him.

And here is a picture from today, right before I headed back to the university.  I apologize for the blurriness.  He rarely sits still.

   

He’s already noticeably bigger.  They grow up so fast, don’t they?

Feeling Kind of Slutty

I didn’t cook a thing today, unless you count throwing some tofu dogs in the microwave.  I was supposed to make more mexican wedding cookies for the boyfriend (because I ate the ones I was saving for his return), but that didn’t happen.  I mean, he had one, so that’s enough, right?

I feel a little slutty.  I mean, what did I do all day if not cook?  Well, I went shopping on Black Friday, something I have never done.  My mom bought me the most adorable winter coat.  I wore it all day, and it’s not even that cold.

Anyways, it has been a good day despite the lack of kitchen time.  Currently, I’m chilling on the couch with boyfriend watching “Say Yes to the Dress.”  He is dying of boredom.

Bah. Humbug.

Call me a Scrooge.  Call me cynical.  You can even call me a terrible person.  But I am so glad that Thanksgiving is over.  Yes, the food was great.  Yes, I enjoyed hanging out with my parents.  But really, it’s a whole lot of hoopla for not a lot of fun.  My idea of fun is relaxing with simple food and a few really good friends and family.  Unfortunately, that’s pretty much the antithesis of what Thanksgiving is all about.  Oh sure, in theory, you’re supposed to get together with your family, all of whom you absolutely adore, and sit down to a meal that’s been effortlessly prepared in under an hour.  The fact of the matter is that you are forced to travel however far you must to visit family that nine times out of ten makes you want to cry, shove bamboo shoots under your nails, vomit, commit murder, and laugh maniacally simultaneously.  Then you must sit down to a meal whose preparation has caused two panic attacks, eight threats of leaving, and five glasses of wine to be consumed within half an hour. 

Maybe I’m strange, but that doesn’t really float my boat.  Fortunately, this was one of the better Thanksgivings.  But next year, it’s sandwiches all the way.

The place setting.

The table.

 

My favorite thing at Thanksgiving.  Jellied cranberry sauce with the can ridges imprinted in it.  No really, I could eat this stuff every single day.

 

The turkey was gorgeous.  Of course, I didn’t eat any, being vegetarian and all.

Anyways, I hope y’all had a great Thanksgiving.

Happy to Be Back in the Kitchen

 

I’m back home from university for the week.  That means I have a kitchen.  I started off the week with making Joy the Baker’s Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins.  However, being without whole milk, I used half and half.  This was a pretty bold move for me seeing as how the last time I deviated from a baking recipe I substituted salt for cornstarch.  (Cut me some slack; I was, like, 5).  Anyways, they were, in a word, amazing.  You know those muffins you get from the coffee shop in the morning?  You know how they’re all dry and crumble all over your car?  Yeah, well, these were nothing like that.

 

Did you notice that it even has an ethereal glow?  That’s how heavenly these muffins are.

In other news, I took a shot at making my mom’s Mexican Wedding Cookies.  I ate four today.  Of course, they will never be as good as Mom’s, but they are pretty doggone good.

I described them to the boyfriend (who is six hours away with his family for Thanksgiving. Boo.) as tasting like cripsy butter with powdered sugar.  What else do you really need in life?

Speaking of the boyfriend, we had an interesting conversation a couple of days ago.  As he was watching me cook, he asked, “Which do you think takes more skill: cooking or baking?”  Why, that’s a very interesting question, boyfriend.

On one hand, baking is so precise, that you need to have ridiculous amounts of patience to do it.  (I’m still working on this.)  One of the most amazing things to me, is those kinds of people who can invent a baking recipe out of nothing.  All baking is is chemistry.  You need to have exact ratios of salt and baking soda to flour.  In order to dream up your own baking recipe, you have to know just how many eggs will bind that dough without making it too runny.  The most invention I can do with baking is substituting blackberries for blueberries.  Go me.

On the other hand, you have cooking.  There are so many more flavors to play with in cooking.  Directly proportional to this is the opportunity to mess up.  Yes, you may love bbq chicken and orange chicken, but put all that together and you get a whole lot of yuck.

So, in a classic cop-out answer, I would say that cooking and baking both have their own difficulties, none of which that outweigh the other’s.  And really, why do we have to choose?  That’s right.  We don’t!

In the spirit of not choosing, let me share with you my latest savory adventure. 

On a whim, I decided to do something nice for my mom by making her dinner.  The menu?  I think it’s pretty super.  Even if I can only eat half of it.

-Lemon pepper chicken

-Firecracker salsa

-Avocado, tomato, and mozzarella salad.

All of it was super simple, so there was no way I could screw it up.

Ingredients:

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Lemon juice

Lemons

Black pepper

Onions

Italian dressing

Tomato

Avocado

Mozzarella Cheese

To start off, I threw a boneless, skinless, chicken breast piece into a freezer bag with some pepper, lemon juice, and zesty italian salad dressing (something I always keep in the fridge for its usefulness).

Seal the bag and make sure the chicken is coated.  You may want to beat up the chicken to tenderize it or vent some anger.  Your choice.

I then let it come to room temperature so it will cook evenly.

While that’s happening, I mixed some pineapple chunks with some diced cucumber, diced jalapeno pepper, lemon juice, and a heaping teaspoon of brown sugar.  Do this all to taste.  If you like things spicy, add more jalapeno.  Like the sweet stuff?  Add more brown sugar.

For the salad, I sliced up some tomato and avocado.  I also thickly sliced some whole milk mozzarella.  Stack it all up in this order: tomato, cheese, and avocado.  Then, drizzle with the teensiest bit of italian dressing (there it is again).

Back to the chicken, throw it in an oven bag and bake with some slices of onion and lemon at 350 degrees.  Times will vary depending on how much chicken you have.  I tend to overcook, just to be on the safe side. 

To assemble, plate the chicken with the salsa on top.  On the side, plate up a couple of those salad stacks.

Sorry the pictures kinda suck.  We had already started eating by the time I remembered to take pictures.

Super simple, super healthy.

Grouchy then Content

I was really craving a house calzone (I mean, really, look at that picture.  How can you resist?) from Mellow Mushroom with a cup of their tortilla soup for lunch today.  Unfortunately, boyfriend couldn’t go—physics homework, and he didn’t feel comfortable with me walking downtown by myself.  Because, even though it was broad daylight, that place is creepy.  Anyways, I settled for a burrito and chips from a place on campus.  It was a letdown.  Except for the cheese dip.  That was passable.  I was pretty grouchy about having to go to the burrito place until I got my blood sugar back to normal, then I was merely peeved.  But I am still CRAVING a calzone (oh the cheese and mushrooms and spinach and tomatoes) and tortilla soup (absolutely perfect).  I get paid tomorrow, so you better believe that the boyfriend and I are gettin’ us some calzones.  Of course, this will have to be after we see District 9.  Maybe I’ll like it.  Maybe it'll surprise me like Zombieland did.  Here’s hoping.

Currently, I am sitting in the cafe of a bookstore, sipping on some sugar and spice/pumpkin spice/Christmas-y latte variant.  It’s pretty bland.  I work in a coffee shop during the summer holidays, so I’m one of the biggest coffee snobs you’ll ever meet.  By the way, drink Ethiopian coffee with some lemon pound cake.  It’s amazing.  Or with a blueberry muffin.  Also, don’t put your coffee in the freezer.  Just keep it in an airtight canister on the counter.  If possible, don’t grind it until you’re about to use it.  At the very least, grind just enough for the coming week.  One more thing, when you go to a coffee shop, please don’t make your drink super complicated just for the hell of it.  You can leave off about half of those modifiers, and your drink will taste exactly the same.  You know who you are.  I had a customer who would specify IN FRACTIONS exactly how much flavoring she wanted.  You really think that 1/8 really makes a difference?  It doesn’t.  Promise.

I’ll get off my soapbox.

In addition to this subpar coffee, I am eating a triple chocolate brownie, which still doesn’t have enough chocolate for me. Sigh.

Stop the Presses!

For the first time in two years, I am not hungry. I don’t know if I’m sick or if I have simply satiated my constant cravings…finally. This is not to say that I couldn’t go for, say, the lettuce wraps and tofu pad thai at my favorite thai place. But I’m not dying to go, as is usual. Nor do I salivate at the thought of fat, crinkle cut fries and feta dip. Well, maybe a little, but I don’t want to hop in my car and drive over to the diner.

Some of you might think to yourself, “So what? You’re not hungry. It happens.” You don’t understand. I am ALWAYS hungry. As I have mentioned before, I dream about food. I’m hungry even in sleep. There have only been two times in the past two years when sickness kept me from eating. Wait, three. The third time was when I had all four wisdom teeth removed. Not only was it painful to even think about eating, whatever medicine they had me on (and that was gooood stuff) evaporated any appetite. So, yeah, I’m always hungry.

Maybe this is a new chapter for me. Maybe I will finally be able to pursue hobbies other than cooking and reading cookbooks and food blogs. Maybe I’ll eat meals like, “A cup full of raw veggies with 1/2 a teaspoon of dressing, with a banana.” But contrary to what readers might think, I am not overweight. Sure, my arms jiggle more than I’d like, and you can only see a “2-pack” on my abdomen. Also, my butt isn’t perky. I’m not entirely sure what a perky butt looks like, but I’m positive I don’t have one. Anyways, maybe I will use this lack of appetite as a springboard for a new way of life—one of 200 calorie meals and jogging.

But probably not…

Home Cookin’

My mom is an amazing chef, raised by my grandmother, yet another amazing cook.  It goes back like that for about a bajillion generations.  When I hear people talking about how great Paula Deen and her cooking are (don’t get me wrong, they are), I smile to myself and think, “You haven’t been to my mama’s house for dinner.”  While I was growing up, my mom cooked a homemade, from scratch dinner every single night.  Except when I begged to order pizza (oh, how STUPID I was).  Spaghetti, meatloaf, chicken cordon bleu, chicken with firecracker salsa, stirfry, the list goes on and on.  In the mornings (yes, even weekday mornings), she would make me pancakes or waffles, again, from scratch.  No Bisquick or anything.  But Saturday mornings were her “thing.”  She would pull out all the stops.  She made (I guess it goes without saying now) homemade, from scratch buttermilk biscuits.  She has tried to teach me how to make them, but the only information I retain is that they involve buttermilk and flour.  However, these two things alone just make a weird, lumpy soup.  In addition, she would make cheesy scrambled eggs, grits, hashbrowns, sausage, and bacon.  Oh my goodness.  Just thinking about that bacon makes me want to renege on my vegetarian vow.  She used Jimmy Dean hot sausage and Hormel Black Label bacon.  I know, right?  I was pretty spoiled.  Lemme just tell you that a buttermilk biscuit with a slice of Jimmy Dean hot sausage and a dollop of grape jelly is just about the most perfect thing in the world.  (Again, this was before the vegetarianism.  Remember the suffering animals, remember the animals…) 

Whenever she had downtime on the weekends, my mother would make cookies and snack-y foods.  Snickerdoodle cookies, sugar cookies, mexican wedding cookies, cheese straws, and her world famous fudge, to name a few.  I know people who would sell both their kidneys and right arms for a taste of this fudge.  I’m not exaggerating.  Not in the least.  I would hear, “Tinky! Come here!” and there would be a plate of whatever creation she had whipped up and a glass of milk (Mayfield skim, of course) on the counter.  Or she would just deliver them to me wherever I was in the house.  When this happened, I would walk to the kitchen behind her anyways because as soon as she had turned her back, I was done with that batch and ready for another.

This past year, whenever I would go home for a weekend, my mom would make eggs benedict (sans Canadian bacon for me).  I would like to go swimming in Hollandaise sauce.  Please?

My mom and I actually went to Paula Deen’s restaurant years and years ago while on a Girl Scouts trip.  It was good, but my mom just shrugged and said, “I grew up eating better than this my whole life.”  It also needs to be said that my mother grew up dirt poor.  Like, “don’t even try to compare your life to hers” poor.  And she still ate and learned to make food better than the $15-per-entree stuff that they serve at the Lady and Sons.    

All this is to say that you don’t need to be rich or be like Paula Deen in order to have a wonderful meal.  Sometimes the best biscuits or the best spaghetti are right where you left them…at home.

P.S. I love you, Mommy.

The French Place

As promised, here I am to tell you more about "the French place."

My mom and I learned about this place from a friend. She simply called it "the French place." We had never heard of it. We learned why when we first visited it. The restaurant actually has a very fancy French name that I would love to be able to say without feeling like a hick. Alas, I cannot, so it will forever be "the French place."

From the outside, you wouldn't dream of the wondrous food produced inside. It is a converted house, set in a tiny gravel parking lot, on a backroad near some ugly factory. Stepping inside isn’t much better, either.  The place is tiny, miniscule even.  It seats maybe twenty inside with about ten more seats outside. 

However, upon stepping inside, you will see a glass case full of handmade, from scratch pastries and desserts including creme brulees, napoleons, rum balls, tiramisus, strawberry shortcakes, and many more.  The owner of the restaurant is actually French, with a French accent and everything.  Also, from what I can tell, the entire staff is French or can at least speak French.

After fighting for a place to sit, a world of tastiness opens up.  To try to tell you all of the items on the menu would be ridiculous, so here are my favorites.

For breakfast: get the Belgian waffle.  This is not just some dry, cardboard-esque thing like you might get at other places.  No, this waffle is like a piece of the clouds.  Mine was served with strawberries, whipped cream, and powdered sugar.  I’m pretty sure I put syrup on mine as well, but please don’t tell anyone about my gluttony.  Try this with the hashbrowns and you’ll be in heaven. 

For lunch: veggie panini and the hashbrowns.  You might say, “Hey, lady, you already had the hashbrowns for breakfast.”  And you would be right, but let me just clue you in on these lovelies.  They are not simply pan-fried potatoes.  They have green onion and herbs cooked inside them that amp up that oh-so-comforting potato.  They are then presented in a neat, round serving.  Just talking about it makes me want to drive the two hours from the university back to my hometown simply to eat those hashbrowns.  Then there is the veggie panini.  The bread melts in your mouth.  The veggies taste like butter.  The cheese is like some more butter.  Even the oil they cook all this in is good, and I never call oil good.  (I’d much rather cook with melted butter.)  It is perfection on a plate, and I would sell my kidney for a lifetime supply of these sandwiches.

Though I haven’t tried it (remember, vegetarian), the chicken pot pie looks like a work of art.  The pastry on top is puffed up to there, and the smell makes me go cross-eyed.

Another goody to try: quiche lorraine (get it just for the crust at the very least),

Want to know the name of this little gem?  Think you already know it?  Show me some love, and maybe I will let you in on it.

Let's Talk Food

I have been remiss. I created this blog months ago, and until tonight, have not posted a single thing on it. You might (or you might not) ask what prompted me to start writing tonight, when I have 364 others from which to choose.

Well, in true college kid fashion, I am procrastinating. I really should be studying three dimensional vectors and the dot product. Also, I should be starting on some physics homework.

In fact, I will be venturing out to the dollar movie theatre in half an hour to see a movie that is (from what I hear) disgustingly gory, plot-less, and unspeakably offensive. That's how much I don't want to do Calculus and Physics.

Speaking of movies, I must confess that I adore the movie Julie and Julia, mostly because I love food almost more than I love my boyfriend (who seems to be okay with this). Also, I have a completely unrealistic dream of living a super fabulous life and being a chef. But not in a restaurant. That's too high-stress for me. I want to be paid to make food for my family in the comfort of my own home. Like I said, completely unrealistic. In reality, I am currently at a university studying mathematics and possibly computer science in order to do research and hopefully solve all of the Millennium Problems, while teaching at a wonderfully hip university in the Pacific Northwest.

Anyways, back to my love for food. Besides animal flesh (my boyfriend and I are strict vegetarians), I love any and all food, my favorites being mushrooms and chocolate (not together). I dream about food. When I get bored in my frighteningly long physics class, I invent new recipes and menus. I throw parties, not to socialize with friends, but to showcase new recipes. However, I am currently living somewhere where I do not have my own kitchen. I have a microwave, toaster, and coffee and espresso maker. Not exactly tools for a gourmet meal. So, I dream...and dream...and dream.

After a week of eating cereal and frozen dinners, I look forward to the weekends when I can indulge in eating at restaurants. One of my recent culinary adventures involved going to a place that creates a new twist on southern food. Case in point: for an appetizer, we had fried okra with a vidalia onion artichoke dip. Come on. You know you want some. This was followed with a coconut curry dish with apples, cranberries, tofu, almonds, and basmati rice. I wasn't a fan of this at the time. I was crabby because I was super hungry and traffic downtown was horrendous due to a homecoming parade. Whatever. Also, I've never liked curry, and believe me, I have tried. The thing is, the sweetness of it freaks me out. I love sweets, but not for dinner. I want something savory for my entree, not a dish that can't figure out if it wants to be sweet or savory. I griped all through dinner to my boyfriend who happens to love curry. I ate just enough of mine to keep my blood sugar stable, then let him finish it.

Remember how I said I wasn't a fan at the time? Yeah, in retrospect, that stuff was really good. I mean, all those flavors together...who but a genius would think of that? I'm not saying it will replace my favorite dish of all time the Veggie Panini and hashbrowns from "The French Place" as my mom and I call it (more about that amazing eatery later), but it was better than I thought. Maybe this will teach me not to judge a dish before I give it a fair shot. Possibly I will learn not to be so whiny about food. Probably not.