Lots of Cooking, Not Much Blogging

I haven't been using the computer much in the last several days. I managed to finish the Stephen King book late last week. Annelies has been home from school and sick since last Wednesday. I haven't really been feeling 100% myself. I have, however, done lots of cooking.

Let's see...I think last Wednesday evening I made some baked ziti. I actually used penne pasta because I couldn't find whole-wheat ziti. This time I also made my own sauce using crushed tomatos, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. I mixed it up with a small container of ricotta, and topped it with some shredded mozzerella. That's always an easy dinner that the kids will actually eat. Of course, they wouldn't touch the sauteed spinach, garlic and onions that I made to go with it.



Thursday evening, I was really feeling like some good comfort food. I decided on homemade macaroni and cheese and some baked beans. I used this recipe from Ina Garten for the mac n' cheese. It's definitely an "Ina recipe". Not lacking in fat or deliciousness! It's pretty easy to make, and easily the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had. For my baked beans, I make them the way my Mom taught me. I use two large cans of Bush's Vegetarian baked beans. To those I add a jar of salsa, a can of rinsed kidney beans, ketchup, mustard and molasses. I bake them at 375 for two hours, covered. Then I remove the foil and bake them uncovered for another hour or so. They're very good, and super-easy.




On Saturday, I made a very labor-intensive meal of Curried Tofu in Coconut Sauce. (Thankfully, Sleek was in the kitchen helping me on that one!) I found the recipe in my mom's America's Test Kitchen cookbook. It was good, but like many of ATK's ethinc recipes, it slightly lacked flavor. It would've been much better with a little dab of Thai curry paste mixed in. I'll definitely do that next time. To go with it, I made the Cornmeal-Masala Roasted Brussel Sprouts from V-con. They were really different, and really good. I'll definitely make them again.



Last night, I made my best pizza yet. I can believe how it gets so much easier to stretch the dough each time I make it. I was getting everything ready, and realized I didn't have any sauce left. All I had was a large can of tomato puree, which I accidentally picked up instead of crushed tomatoes. I opened it and tasted it. It was horrible and flavor-less. I spiced it up with some garlic, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. It actually may have been the best pizza sauce I've made. I'll definitely plan on using the tomato puree for pizza sauce in the future. I made the kids a cheese pizza, and for Sleek and myself, I topped it with fresh spinach and banana peppers. I left half of it cheese-less since I'm seriously trying to fit back into my jeans. :)


Sleek and I watched a fantastic movie on Saturday night. It's called Once. The soundtrack is unbelievable, and one of the songs won an Oscar for "Best song in a film". I highly recommend the movie. I've been listening to as much of the soundtrack as possible online, but Sleek purchased it from iTunes yesterday, so I've got the whole thing on my iPod now. Can't wait to give it a good listen today!

Sweet and Savory Lentils by Carrie

Okay, this is the first time I've posted within minutes of eating. I just can't help it. Dinner was out-of-control good. I made Carrie's Sweet and Savory Lentils, which she blogged about way back when. I don't think I'll be making the honey-baked lentils anymore. These are WAY better. They will definitely be in regular rotation around here.

I also made some mashed sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts to go with them. Since my oven was in use for the lentils, I boiled the sweet potatoes. I'm very, very glad I did. They are a bit difficult to peel and cut, but it was so worth it! I boiled them with water, about 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2TBS Earth Balance, a good sprinkling of cinnamon, a pinch of cayenne, and a good pinch of salt. I boiled them, covered, for about 15 minutes. Then I took the lid off and let them simmer for about 15 more minutes, until the liquid got thick and syrup-y. I did end up draining off some of the liquid at the end. Then I mashed them up a bit. They are just so freaking good!

I made some brussel sprouts as well. I just sliced them up and sauteed them in some canola oil for a few minutes. I just used salt, pepper and some garlic powder to season them. They seemed especially good. I think I just needed to get some veggies in my body.

I wrote the other day about how I seem to be in a funk right now, and I went through the same thing a year ago. Well, today I discovered that I have every single symptom of Seasonal Affective Disorder. I mean EVERY SINGLE ONE! It's so weird, my brain tells me that eating better and getting some physical activity would help, but it sure isn't what my body is telling me! Another crazy symptom I've been having is the desire to lay in bed and watch Lifetime movies. Now, I haven't really done it (well, I did watch one Lifetime movie yesterday), but the desire is there. One of the symptoms is intense craving for carbs. Hmmm. I guess that would explain the pack of hamburger buns that disappeared in the last two days. Plus the vanilla wafers. Plus the crackers.

The meal I made this evening actually gave me hope, though. Hope that if I make really tasty, healthy things, that's what my body will start wanting again. If not, at least I can count on being back to myself by the end of February!

OMG! Check out Carrie's blog and see what she made for dinner this evening. CRAZY!

Navy Bean Gratin

Another recipe from The Hippy Gourmet cookbook this evening. I was leafing through it while doing my weekly meal planning/grocery list. So, two of my meals this week came from there. As I was putting this dish together, I was unsure of the outcome. It just seemed rather bland to me. Navy beans mixed with some sauteed carrots and onion, thyme, salt and pepper. All that topped with some breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese and a bit of olive oil. I have to say I was extremely pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite. Holy smokes! It was just unbelievable. Seriously.

I served the gratin as a main dish, with a side of sliced and sauteed brussel sprouts. I made a little sauce for the brussels using a few TBS of brown sugar, zest from an orange, juice from half of that orange, a splash of water, and salt & pepper. DAMN. They were out-of-control. Sleek and I have both decided we like the sprouts sliced instead of roasted whole (or halved). That's thanks to our friend, olives, who sliced and sauteed them for our Thanksgiving dinner. So, what I was thinking would turn out as a mediocre meal turned out to be fantastic. Definitely one I'll make again. Especially now that I've got plenty of already-cooked navy beans in the freezer!

Now that I think about it, I didn't turn on any music during my time in the kitchen today. Oh well, I couldn't have heard it over the kids playing and carrying on anyway. They get crazy in the afternoon!

Good Gravy!

Several months ago when I got "Vegan With a Vengeance," a recipe for chickpea gravy caught my eye as I was leafing through it. I've sort of missed a nice, steamy pile of mashed potatoes and gravy since I stopped eating all meat except for fish. And fish gravy just sounds...well, repulsive. So, I thought that when fall arrived and the weather got cooler, I was going to have to try this chickpea gravy. The actual recipe is called "Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy." While the ingredient list is long, almost everything in it I already had in my pantry. On paper, it looks way more difficult than it actually is. It came together very easily. It was absolutely delicious. Most people would just not understand how gravy could be made with no animal products. I obviously was thinking that myself since it's been years since I've had gravy.

This chickpea gravy is just so awesome. It would make a fantastic substitute for traditional sausage gravy over biscuits. It has that spiciness to it. I served it over mashed potatoes, which I just whipped up with some Silk soy creamer and Earth Balance. Salt and pepper to taste. I swear, they're better than the mashed potatoes I used to make with butter and milk. I roasted some Brussel sprouts with some balsamic vinegar, a sprinkling of sugar, a drizzle of oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. The combination of vinegar and sugar makes a nice glaze as it bakes in the oven. I just pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees, put the sprouts in, stirred them a little after 15 minutes and roasted for about 12 more minutes. It was a perfect meal for a cool, rainy autumn evening.

As I'm writing this, I'm listening to "Splendid Table" on NPR. It is a fantastic food and cooking show.

Oh, and on a totally random and unrelated note: This morning I spent five minutes searching the house for my cup of coffee (second cup of the day). I finally approached the sink, and there was my cup. Empty, washed and dried. How the hell did that happen? I must really be losing it!