Secret...

Don't tell anyone...but I've got a little secret...you see, last Saturday night while I was lying in bed half asleep, half awake, something happened...

The title for my cookbook just came to me out of no where...I have the title, I have the theme, I have a general idea of what recipes I want to put into it, and how I want to format it. Now I just have to format/write it all out.

I won't tell you the title now, because I don't want anyone to steal it...but know this, it's cute enough to make you giggle :)

I know there are a lot of things I say I'm going to do, but never do because I don't find the time (one of my biggest and lamest excuses, lol), but I have to write this! It's as if the food gods spoke to me...the whispered the title in my ear, and they knew I couldn't resist!

So now, it's up to me to make it happen, look out world, this cookbook's gonna knock your socks off!

Updates, Updates!

It has been forever since I've actually updated! My apologies, I've just been so crazy busy! So, let's go through the interesting stuff first...

Friday, May 7th:
After getting everything mostly packed, I left Kyle to finish everything up because I had to go to work. He tidied up the apartment, took out the trash and washed the dishes (mostly so stuff didn't sit around rotting all weekend, lol) and finished packing all the things I forgot to/didn't have time to...I had a really good day at work, cleaned the store top to bottom, made a bunch of sales, put up our big sign, reorganized the stock room...yes, I count that as a good day, lol. Our flight that my mom bought us left at 6:35pm...I don't get off work until 7pm...and it takes about 30mins to get to the airport, and considering you have to be at the airport at least an hr before your flight to go through security, I was about 90% sure we'd miss our flight. But that was mostly okay, because the next flight was at 7:15...so I know you're wondering why that's okay. It would've been fine because my boss' husband could come sit with her mom and help customers at least for the very end of the day, which would've happened naturally because he gets off of work and usually comes over here. So I told Kyle to come here around 6pm so that when he got there we could leave right away and maybe catch the flight (if there was NO line at security).

I was starting to realize how impossible that would be, so I sent Kyle a message telling him to start looking into flights Saturday morning, because unless the planets aligned, we were going to miss both of our flights. Just as I sent him that message, I get a text from Southwest that our flight had been delayed. I got really excited and checked, and the flight after ours was delayed too! The last flight was now at 8pm! Which was something we could definitely make! Brandon (Sadaf's husband) was really late compared to the time he normally gets to the shop...but I hadn't asked him to show up early, I was just assuming it would work out. So at around 6:45pm Sadaf's mom tells us we can go (she's such a sweetheart). We bolt over to the airport, instead of taking the 5 which would be crammed with traffic, Kyle found a faster side route. It was a bit risky considering we'd never taken it before, but it would get us there so much quicker, so we decided to take it.

We get over to the parking lot where we're leaving our car for the weekend, and they are taking FOREVER. Frustrated with their pure incompetency, Kyle reverses out of the parking lot and we decide to park in the airport parking lot, not caring it'll cost a bunch, just trying to make it on the flight. We speed walk over to the front desk, explain our situation, and the Southwest representative says there's a lot of openings for the flight and is totally confident we'll make the flight. We head over to security, and there's NO line!!! We're the only ones there, so the security guard is talking to Kyle about his hat and where he got it (lol?). Our gate is not super close by, but not crazy far away, we quickly walk over there, talk to the representative at the front desk, and he puts us on the flight. We're not in the same boarding group, but because we're flying Southwest, there aren't any assigned seats, so thanks to our apparent luck, we even get to sit next to each other. I don't think we've ever had that much good luck when it comes to airports, but I guess we were due for some, lol.

We stop in Oakland, and then continue onto Sacramento. We're playing Peggle on Kyle's computer and the guy in the seat next to Kyle is watching us play. It was kinda fun :) the flight attendants were super funny, and we even got extra peanuts. We land in San Diego, and I'm starving, I haven't eaten since about 12pm. Diego and Scott pick us up, we go pick up Sean, then we head over to Lucha Libre. I'd never been there before, but the guys always talk about it, and it was one of the few places open. We were just eating our food, I got the veggie burrito (super yummy) and then these total Cougars (straight out of Sex & The City) come into the restaurant. They somehow manage to get more alcohol from the guy behind the counter, but he says it's the last beers they'll give out that night. A few minutes pass by when all of a sudden, one of them walks over and asks us if we want 2 of their beers because they're so wasted and can't drink anymore (lol). They didn't look like they'd been drunk out of, so Kyle said sure, thanks. Seriously, they were pretty gross looking! They were in their late 40's early 50's, were dressed like they were 20, and had that kind of saggy really orange tan look. Ugh, only in SoCal! lol.

Rosemary Red Potato Soup

you will need:
1 carton (or can, or the equivalent for homemade versions) of Vegetable Broth
1 carton of plain soymilk
8-12 red potatoes (depending on size)
1/2 a whole onion (chopped)
4 garlic cloves (crushed)
1 tablespoon of rosemary
3/4 tablespoon of thyme
a pinch of  salt
a pinch of pepper
1-2 tablespoons of corn starch (or baking powder)

It's really a simple recipe...you wash and cube the red potatoes...throw everything (minus the soymilk, rosemary, thyme, corn starch, salt & pepper ) into a big pot. Turn the heat on high to get things boiling, then after about 5-7 mins, simmer it at a medium heat for about 10 mins. Add the rosemary, thyme, salt & pepper and let it simmer for another 5 mins. Add the soymilk and give it a good stir to check the consistency. If you'd like it to be thicker (I sure did) add a little cornstarch until it's thick to your liking. Tah-dah!

[I enjoy most of my soups with a little bread or something to go along with them...we just bought some everything bagels at Costco, so I toasted a bagel and used it with my soup :) Kyle decided to heat up some of the garlic naan we also had at home, I had a bite of his, so that is also recommended :) But, of course, this soup is delightful and I enjoy it without anything extra too!]

For my 101th post...

I'll be boring and talk about stuff you probably don't care about...oh wait, isn't that what I do with every written entry? Haha

It's past 3am, so why am I still awake? Good Question. Kyle's been asleep since like 10pm, lol So he'll probably wake up in 3 hours...and I'll sleep for around 6 hours...being on different sleeping patterns kind of sucks :( All week he's been falling asleep before/at the time we watch our TV shows...last night I was making dinner (rice & enchiladas) while trying to watch Community...I didn't do too bad, but Kyle fell asleep before the Office came on, and before I finished dinner. So, I ate dinner alone and watched our shows alone...well, I guess not technically alone, he was asleep on the couch next to me, haha. Anyway, it's just kind of lame, because once he's asleep, I've got a few hours of just being alone, which I guess I could spend sleeping, and I'll probably go to sleep after I finish this, but it would just be nice to be back on the same sleeping pattern. To be honest, the reason we're so off is probably my fault. He got sick like a week after me, and so he's still getting over his cold, so he ends up sleeping from like 9pm-6am...and I sleep from like 3am-11am...sadly, neither of us are on normal sleeping patterns, lol. Or, at least what I consider normal...we normally sleep from like 12am-7am, so we're both really off, lol.

Sleeping pattern complaints aside...I am proud to say that I am no longer sick, I am no longer in school, and I am much happier in general, hehe! We went to Gas Works Park earlier this week, it was 70 degrees out, and so we had a nice little picnic, soaked up some Vitamin D, people watched, and I took some pictures. Today, we went to the mall so I could pick up a new wallflower from Bath & Bodys Works...don't tell them, but I bought 2 a long time ago, and I only used 1 of them until we moved up here (I bought the second one in preparation for having an apartment) and a couple of months ago, we noticed that one of them doesn't work. But it's been too long to return it :( So, the sneaky plan is to swap the new one for the old one. I don't feel too bad returning it because it is brand new! It was never used because it never worked! So, when I return it, I won't be lying to say it doesn't work...hopefully the plan works...even if it doesn't, the wallflowers were on sale today for only $6...also, I bought Lavender Vanilla refills, and I'm using the scent in the bedroom, and it is deliciously lovely and sleep inducing :)

While on our stroll through the mall (after we got some thai food and boba) we encountered one of those new digital vending machines! Super cool :) Look for them at Simon Malls near you!

(please excuse my dumb face, haha)

After the mall, we went to Target (right across the street) because I wanted to buy a doughnut pan (I want to bake vegan doughnuts) and I couldn't find one. So, instead we bought a deep fryer, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and some day quill. Upon seeing french presses, we decided to go to Ikea since we were already out and about...and because our french press broke, and doughnuts without coffee is so sad. On our way there, we nearly got in an accident on the freeway. We were exiting, when all of a sudden about 4 cars in front of us come to a complete stop and are swerving to avoid hitting each other, so we follow suit, and shortly after, everyone starts moving again. There was seriously almost a 4 car accident over NOTHING. Traffic had been flowing perfectly, no one was suddenly trying to get out of the exit lane, after being stopped for a minute or so, everyone started moving again. It was super weird and really dangerous! Anyway we wanted to buy replacements for all the glass products we've broken over the months (3 drinking glasses, our pitcher, and the french press) but we couldn't find our french press! :( The bright side is we picked up some cute throw blankets, a garlic press, a whisk, and some lingonberry concentrate! :)
So we were driving back home and we took the express route which doesn't lead to our exit, it only offers the exit above ours, and we're about to go home, when we stop at Target one more time for a french press. Yes, there is a little bit of irony there :P

We get home, eat leftovers, and Kyle falls asleep. No doughnuts tonight, but tomorrow, I'm all over doughnut making! I've done a lot of research, I've combined a few ideas, and I think I have the perfect recipe. I also have a couple of different types of toppings for the doughnuts, so I'll take pictures of my creations, and post a recipe if it all works out!

Since that is all I have to say, I bid thee goodnight. Sweet dreams Internet :)

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

{I have been wanting to make these burgers for quite some time, but I wanted to make them AWESOME! So I did a lot of research (honestly, I've read like 15 different recipes) and came up with my own recipe for what were THE most amazing black bean burgers I've ever had (Kyle whole-heartedly agrees!) This recipe is my baby...so use it well :) hehe}

You will need:

1 can of black beans (or 16 oz of homemade black beans) rinsed and drained/thoroughly dried

1 egg (or the equivalent in an egg replacement)

1/4 cup of finely chopped cilantro

1/4 cup of finely chopped onions

1/4 cup of corn

1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

a sprinkle of parsley

2-3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

1/4 cup of soy sauce

a pinch of black pepper

2 slices of toast (for the bread crumbs)

a handful of Hot & Spicy Cheez-its -optional but recommended

hamburger buns

chipotle sauce-optional but highly recommended

avocado-optional but highly recommended

cheese-optional but highly recommended (I used a soy pepper jack, but cheddar would also go well!)

1. Get your toast going if you haven't already done so, and using a grater, or whatever method you prefer, make bread crumbs.

2. Drain and dry the beans (excess water will make the patties fall apart!). Then mash them up with a fork in a bowl, but make sure that some of the beans are still fully intact.

3. Add the onions/cilantro/corn to the beans.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the egg/"egg" & the spices & soy sauce. Mix well!

5. Combine the beans and the second bowl of goodies, mix well.

6. Add about half the bread/cracker crumbs to the mixture, mix well. Depending on the level of consistency, add more. (The crumbs help keep the patties together, so the more, the merrier. However, obviously, not too much!)

7. Using your hands, form patties using about a spoonful or so of the mixture (depending on how big you want the burgers to be!)

8. Heat up a pan with some vegetable oil, place a pattie on the pan, flip over when slightly brown. You want both sides to look nice and brown (not black, that's burnt!)

9. Assemble your burger! Add avocados, chipotle sauce, cheese, lettuce, whatever your heart desires!

"Tuna Fish"

When I was little, peanut butter and jelly sammiches were my favorite! But, on the rare occasion that I couldn't have PB&J, tuna sandwiches were my second favorite! I haven't had a tuna sandwich in years but every now and then, when I'm in the mood for a sandwich, I think back on those tuna sandwiches that I haven't had in forever. Thanks to this recipe, though, I can relive an old favorite sandwich!

"Tuna" Sandwich

You will need:
1 can of garbanzo beans
About 1 tablespoon of veganaisse (or mayo)
About 1 tablespoon of relish (or you can chop up some pickles)
A pinch of pepper
A pinch of salt
2 slices of bread
Lettuce

Directions:
1. Drain the can of garbanzo beans, put them in a bowl and using a fork, mash them up a bit.
2. Add all the other ingredients to the bowl and mix well. Add the about a tablespoon of the "mayo" or a little less, or a little more, depending on the consistency that you desire.
3. Toast your bread, spread the mixture onto one piece of bread, top with some lettuce, and then the other piece of bread.

Tah dah!

(This can also be a "Tuna" Salad recipe, minus the bread, add more lettuce!)

A Lazy Lady's Vegan Single Serving of

Rosemary & Garlic Mashed Potatoes

1 baking potato
3-4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
about half a handful of rosemary (fresh or dried, your choice)
1/4 cup of your vegan butter of choice
1/2 cup of plain soymilk
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1. Thoroughly wash your potato, then wrap it up in aluminum foil and put it in a toaster oven or a regular oven.

2. Get a small pan and put it on a low-medium heat. Put half of the "butter" in the pan and add the garlic to the pan. After the garlic is slightly brown, add the rosemary. Add the rest of the "butter" and let it simmer on the low heat.

3. Once your potato is cooked (you can poke a fork and it falls right apart) get out a relatively large bowl. Using your fork smash up the potato a little bit. Then add the "butter"/rosemary/garlic in addition to about half the soymilk. Mix it up, and add more soymilk to your preferred texture of mashed potatoes. Add the salt & pepper and you are ready to go!

Saucey!

Today, I came to the realization that I had about 10 ripe pears! Some of them even nearing being over-ripened! So, in an attempt to use a whole bunch of them all at once, I decided to make Pear Sauce! (much like Apple Sauce, except with, well, Pears!) It was simple, and it turned out deliciously! :)

You need:
    6 very ripe pears (you could minus a pear, and throw in an apple! or something else!)
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/4 cup agave nectar-optional (I was all out, so I just used water, and added about 2 teaspoons of sugar!)
    2 teaspoon cinnamon
    juice of one large lemon

Directions:
1) Wash, peel, and dice pears. Mash with a fork and add to a medium sized pot.
2) Add salt, agave (or water/sugar), cinnamon and half the lemon juice, and turn heat to medium.
3) Reduce until volume is about half while constantly stirring.
4) Turn off heat, add rest of lemon juice and let rest for a few more minutes.

If you want to preserve this for a while, use good canning practices. I just jarred it in some re-used, clean jars, and threw it in the refrigerator (I like my sauces to be cold)

Banana Bread

 
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    1/2 cup white sugar
    1/2 cup vegan margarine (you can also use eggs or canola oil or applesauce)
    1 teaspoon vanilla
    1/4 cup soy milk (you can also use almond or rice milk)
    3 mashed ripe bananas
    1-2 cups whole wheat flour (depending on consistency)
    1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/4 teaspoon cloves- optional
    1/2 teaspoon salt- optional
    1/2 cup pecan crumbs- optional
    1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg- optional
    1/2 cup chocolate chips- optional
    1/2 cup of raisins- optional

This recipe has a lot of room variety, as well as room for personal taste! This time, I decided to do a nutmeg/raisin bread...but to be honest, any of the options work well together, and if I had pecans, I would've added them! [also, those are just some personal favorites of different variations, don't be afraid to include whatever you want!]

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) Mix together all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3) In a separate bowl, beat together all wet ingredients.

4) Pour wet ingredients into dry while stirring, only stir until everything is combined. Don't over stir.

4) Pour into a greased bread pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes (about 20 minutes if you make cupcakes, and up to 60 minutes if you bake it into a loaf)

(You're looking for golden brown! Also as is with other breads, stick a toothpick in to test the insides. If the toothpick comes out clean, good job! If not, the center is not fully cooked and needs a little more time!)

Super Awesome, and Super Easy Omelet Burrito

This is my own recipe...sort of...it's my mommy's Omelet recipe...adjusted...and turned into a burrito :)

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro 
• 1/2 cup of chopped onions
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of black pepper and chili pepper flakes
• A dash of salt
• A dash of soymilk (or normal milk)
• A dash of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup of black beans
• 1 flour tortilla
• (Optional: chipotle sauce and avocado)

Mix the eggs, cilantro, onions, pepper, pepper flakes, salt, soymilk, lemon juice, beans in a bowel together. Heat up the frying pan on a medium heat, add either oil, or butter to the pan. Once the pan is hot enough, toss in the omelet mix. Once the bottom is slightly brown, and the top half isn't too liquid-y, flip it over. Once both sides are lightly brown, and it is fully cooked...heat up the tortilla slightly (a microwave for like 20 seconds works). Place the omelet the tortilla, and cut it down the center. Top each side with whatever you like, I prefer some chipotle sauce and avocado :) Fold in half, and then consume!

Enjoy!

Spiced Apple Bread

 This isn't my recipe, I found it online, but it made one helluva yummy Spiced Apple Bread!

• 2 2/3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 cups coarsely chopped apples
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 teaspoons sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

 In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and oil. Beat in eggs and vanilla, then stir in chopped apples, raisins, and pecans. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Grease 2 9x5-inch loaf pans and line bottoms with waxed paper. Greased waxed paper. Pour batter into pans, smoothing the top with a spatula or spoon. Bake for 20 minutes at 325°. Pull out rack and sprinkle loaves with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Continue baking for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes; turn out onto a rack. Slice and serve or freeze.

Before and After

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of margarine (or butter)

1 cup of peanut butter (I did half chunky half creamy)

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of white sugar

2 eggs (or the equivalent in egg replacers) 

2 tablespoons water

2-3 tablespoons soymilk or milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 cup of flour 

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

chocolate chips (i didn't measure, I just eyeballed it)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the water, soymilk, and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture. Add chocolate chips. Drop the 
3. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

La-Dee-Dah

My stomach feels better today, my heart feels better today, I feel better today!


I've been nom-ing on crackers & white rice...drinking vitamin water...and my digestive system is a little less hateful. There's a bunch of school work that needs to be done, but it's not due until tomorrow/Monday, so I still have sometime to relax...at least a little bit. I picked my classes for the winter quarter, I'm taking Human Sexuality, Physical Geology w/lab, and Environmental Issues & Problems...woo hoo...

As next week approaches, it's definitely easier to just relax a bit, and simply look forward to seeing family/friends. Hopefully my shoes will get here a day early (they're arriving a day after we leave, which I didn't foresee as a problem, otherwise I would've had them shipped to SD!) so that's quite disappointing, I was looking forward to dancing around in them :/ and now they'll just sit and wait for me...poor things...especially because they've had quite a journey (I've been tracking them, haha). We're making an early payment on rent this month because we're coming back at an awkward time...and then once we're home, we get to spend a bum load on the rest of our bills! The joys of being a poor college student!

In other news, I used some left-over spaghetti sauce, threw in mushrooms, spinach, and zucchini, and turned it into lasagna :) I know, I'm quite amazing...I would've photographed it...but it's all gone, whoops!

I also watched 3 episodes of the Atheism Tapes (oh how I love BBC) and found it quite intriguing. Arthur Miller was my favorite interview, but it could be just because he's one of my favorite American playwrights, haha :) he also gets life-time brownie points for marrying Marylin Monroe, haha


As far as recent movie watching, last night I watched SLC Punk, and it was really good, sad and beautiful. Tonight, I'm watching Brick again, the first time I saw it I liked it, and I'm looking forward to watching it again :)


Goodnight, World!

Good Morning!

Hello Seattle! Quite a chilly morning we're having, huh? At least the skies are clear, and soon it'll heat up to normal temperatures :)

However, on the topic of fall weather, I'd like to post a recipe for a delicious Lentil Soup I conjured up yesterday that was too delightful not to post! Keep in mind, I stole and adjusted it, so I don't know what it's called, and therefore, must name it all on my on...so I will call it...

Sety's "it's 40 degrees out and I'm hungry" Soup!

Ingredients:

2 cups of mixed lentils (confetti = mixed, fyi)

2 cups of vegetable broth

1/2 cup of diced tomatoes

1/2 cup of tomato sauce

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 of an onion

2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped up)

2 1/2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons of oregano

2 tablespoons of thyme

1 tablespoon of rosemary

1 tablespoon of pepper

1 tablespoon of salt

1/2 cup of white wine 

1 tablespoon of mustard

*if you have Dijon mustard, use that instead of regular mustard and white wine*

** celery or carrots would work well in this soup, I didn't have any, but feel free to chop them up and add them)

1. On a medium setting, heat up the olive oil for a minute or two. Add the onions, cook them for about 2 minutes until they are clear, then add the garlic.

2. Once the onions/garlic are lightly browning (not burning), add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Add the lentils (make sure to have washed/drained them thoroughly) and the vegetable broth.

3. After about 5 minutes, add the dry spices. Let it cook covered for about 20-25 minutes.

4. When it is full cooked, add enough water to your liking for the soup's consistency. Let it sit for another 5 minutes or so. When you're serving it, add the tablespoon of mustard to each bowl and enjoy!

*Kyle and I ate our soup with "cheddar" biscuits one day, and flour tortillas the next! :)*

Things that I love

There are quite a few things that I love. I love cooking, watching movies, our big comfy couch, our soft sheets, doing the laundry (our detergent is deliberately lovely), checking the mail, taking pictures, reading books, listening to music, laughing, smiling....lots of things. But I've come to realize that I love these things even more when I'm doing them with Kyle. Everything is just that much more full of love and happiness. I LOVE living together. Spending our days wrapped in each other's arms. I love that it's cold outside, it's all the more reason to cuddle, and bake cookies. :)

I do miss my friends, and I do miss my family...but is it horrible to love living in a little bit of paradise? I wish we could've found a way to make SD work...but would have been financial suicide to try to do what we're doing/live like we're living in SD. And plus, I kind of like going home to visit, it makes hellos even happier, distance does make the heart grow fonder!

But, every day is not perfect, we have our fair share of grumbles and cases of grouchiness. There are days when I feel like crying about everything. Or when our joking goes too far...same with the tickling (which I believe would be a great form of torture). One of us will pout and hide under the blankets...but to be honest, even these days aren't bad days, mostly, I think, because of our ability to apologize and forgive so willingly. True, most of our "fights" aren't even real, they're mostly just games. But every so often when one of us really is hurt, the sheer love in fixing things makes all the hurt evaporate. To be honest, I'm pretty sure it's impossible for me to be mad at Kyle for more than 5-10 minutes. I love him more than everything, so even when he's being annoying (like now :P) I can't help but love him. Sure, it'd be nice if we could go out right now, but I am aware that he stayed up all night, and sleep is important. So he has about 5 minutes before I go jump on him and wake him up, haha.

I'm so grateful to have him, honestly, he's more than I ever expected to have, I'm so lucky :)

In addition to Kyle, these things have been highlights of the past few days:

(Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies!)

(Home Made Pazookie! lol)

 (New Toilet! Thank you Management!)

Sloppy Joe, Sloppy Sloppy Joe...

There are many reasons I love Kyle...currently I'm grateful he puts up with me when I'm a big blubbering baby. Alliteration aside, I'm being quite serious, haha. Yes, being a woman means becoming completely irrational and out of control of your emotions at least once a month, however, I pride myself on being unlike the rest of the female population because I'm quite the bad-ass mother pucker! I'm kidding of course, though I do wish I was bad-ass, and I do make an effort. Rambling aside, I can't help but lose control at least one day a month...and it's usually a week, hah. 

Yesterday we needed to go out and buy a book, and we took the time to make berry waffles and shower, which made us nearly late to go to the book store which was suppose to close at 4:30, we're only like 8 minutes away from the book store, so we would've been on time, but of course I was feeling dramatic and decided crawling into bed and crying was a better option, hah. But of course, my knight in shining armor managed to convince me to go with him and we ended up getting the book after all because the store didn't close until 6, go figure, hah. We went home and were hungry, so we decided to try to make something to eat before going back out. We ended up deciding to make vegan Sloppy Joe's. After finding a bunch of recipes and realizing we didn't have the real makings for Sloppy Joe sauce, especially because we don't have a key ingredient, Worcestershire sauce, nor do we have BBQ sauce (a sin, I know, haha). So we decided we'd make a concoction of our own...and then we slightly disagreed on how to do the sauce, stirring it in a bowl, blending it, or just throwing it into the pan and adding stuff as you go (my preferred method of cooking). I once again decided that crawling into bed/hiding under the covers/crying would be productive, and Kyle for the second time of the day held me, wiped away my tears, and cheered me up.

Oh the joys of having an understanding boyfriend/best friend. :)

Anyway, we decided to blend the ingredients, and let me tell you, it turned out amazing! I won't tell you extreme details because it is now an official secret sauce (I'm not gonna lie, I've always wanted to have a secret sauce!) but I'll give you a basic over view and leave out the crazy awesome ingredients :p 

This "recipe" made 2 sandwiches :)

For the "meat" part of the sandwich, you should use a "ground beef" that you're comfortable cooking with, we personally use:

For measurement purposes, I used about half of the package...

To start things off, you'll want to chop up about half a white onion and fry 1/3 of that it in a pan with some oil (I'd recommend vegetable or olive) on a medium heat. Once the onion is predominantly see through, add the "ground beef" to the pan and mix it about. Add a dash of salt and pepper for flavor. Stir things up a bit occasionally to make sure nothing burns :)

Next, you'll want to bust out a blender or food processor. We ended up making a hefty amount of sauce, hah, so you might want to make a little less than we did. We had recently used some diced tomatoes as well as some tomato sauce, and so as to save space in the 'fridge, we mixed the left overs into a single Tupperware space of about 20oz

We threw all of that sauce/diced tomatoes into the blender and added: 

2 cloves of Garlic

Remaining 1/3 White Onion

1 1/2 tsp. Paprika

1 tsp. Red Chili Pepper Flakes

 1 dash of Oregano

1 dash of Cumin

1 cup of Ketchup

4 tsp. of Mustard 

1 pinch of Salt 

Plus 3 Secret Ingredients (maybe if you ask super nicely, I'll tell you...)

We then blended a whole lot, and then blended some more...and then some more. Then we waited a minute, and blended even more!

 

After our blending, we then dumped enough sauce to cover the "ground beef" and let it simmer for a good 5-10 minutes on a low heat. Remember not to drown the "ground beef", and simmering will help the meat thoroughly absorb the flavors of the sauce.

We then grabbed to hamburger buns and toasted them in our toaster oven.

Take the buns out and put a good amount on the bottom bun, then sprinkle some of the cheddar cheese on that (we use Soy Sensation) and then put a little more slop on top of the cheese and put on the top bun. Hopefully your sandwich looks something similar to this little guy:

 Well, that's all for our Sloppy Joe recipe! If you ever make them, let me know how the turn out! Although we didn't personally add these specific ingredients to the sauce (because we didn't have them) they would have complemented the flavors quite nicely: lemon juice, BBQ sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. :)

Newest of News...

So, it's been quite a while since I've posted anything...it's time for a few updates, I suppose!

Since I last wrote a few things have happened...

1. We drove up to Vancouver, B.C. Canada to see Ingrid Michaelson!

2. While there, we ordered our first legal drinks! Kyle had a Rum & Coke, and because they were out of mint, I couldn't get a Mojito...so I just asked the bartender to conjure me up something tasty :)

3. The show was great! Ingrid's so funny, it was my third time seeing her! The first time I saw her was actually Kyle and I's first official "date" hehe :)

4. We got an amazing price on our hotel, and the room was quite luxurious! We had this amazing bath tub that I instantly fell in love with. Oh, and we got fuzzy white bath robes! hehe :)

 

 

5. I have made quite a few delicious meals including my special variation of Chana Masala, a Mexican themed Pizza, and Sety's Spaghetti!

6. I received my new camera (a cute fish-eye lensed lomography camera) who I named Sebastian to A) keep an alliteration between my cameras B)there's a crab on the top of the camera [it's named after Sebastian from the Little Mermaid!]

Date Night

While cleaning the kitchen this afternoon, I got invited to go on a date with this really cute boy, he lives in my building...in my apartment, actually. Anyway, we get along really well and he's super funny, so I decided to say yes.

And boy, what a mistake!

haha, I'm just kidding, it was a great night :)

For dinner we went to Zak's, a burger place, which we discovered, is a "branch" off of Hodads (a popular burger place back home in Ocean Beach).

Kyle was talking to our waiter about how we're from San Diego, and right before our food got out to us (I ordered a spicy black bean burger, Kyle got a chicken burger) Zak himself came out and introduced himself to us. We chatted for a bit, about San Diego, Hodads, school, the Ballard neighborhood, lots of things. He seemed really nice, and the food was amazing! We got Raspberry Apple Cider to drink, and a Milk Shake (the flavor of the moment was Banana)!

After we had finished our food and drinks, we walked right next door to the Majestic Bay Theater and saw Capitalism: A Love Story by Michael Moore. The theater was really neat looking, I didn't take very many interior pictures, but it had a "nautical" theme, and it was very old school!

The movie was pretty much what I expected it to be, and what I've pretty much come to expect from Michael Moore movies...It brought to light a lot of things I wasn't aware about, it highlighted things I was aware about, and in general, was a great portrayal of what's wrong with America. It was funny, sad, and serious, and had a great way of inspiring the audience to want to do something. I really enjoyed it, and hope that you (reader) will take some time and watch the movie. Maybe you won't watch it while it's still in theater, maybe you'll wait for it to come out on DVD, or maybe wait even longer for it to be an "instant" on Netflix...whichever way you manage to find time to watch it, please set all of your opinions aside and just watch the movie.

Experimental Enchiladas

For tonight dinner I tried making enchiladas and mexican rice by myself for the first time...and everything actually (to my surprise) was super amazing.

The enchiladas were super good, they were "ground beef", zucchini, onion, red bell pepper, and corn! Topped with a slightly spicy sauce and some soy cheese. The rice was pretty ordinary, but I added some corn because I like corn :) haha

Anyway, Enchiladas aside, Kyle brought home a pumpkin pie for dessert that was yummy :)

And then we watched some more of the Office!

Today was kind of ordinary, we did homework earlier, I talked to Sahar for a little bit...she was asking me advice on whether or not she should go with her boyfriend and his friends to the Haunted Trails, I told her to go, but I think we both know she's going to get super freaked out, she has like no tolerance for anything remotely scary! I also called my mommy for help with the rice (just double checking her recipe that I memorized)...

For some exciting news, we're going to see Ingrid Michaelson in Vancouver BC next Tuesday! And we're staying the night at L'Hermitage! I'm really looking forward to our little excursion! It'll be like a 2 hour drive up to Vancouver, and then the show is going to be great (I love Ingrid!) and our hotel is super luxurious (not to a crazy extent) and I'm looking forward to soaking in that marble bath tub post-show! Hehe! 

I'm also really considering purchasing a nice medium format camera (with a 35mm adaptor)! I've been thinking something along the lines of a Diana+ or a Holga...and then eventually purchasing an Instant Film adaptor as well, hehe. The main point being, I would love to take a quality lo-fi camera out and about! There's a cool photography contest I'm entering, and I feel like I want to do it old-school. Unfortunately, I can't do any of the processing myself...but...maybe one day I'll have my own studio and dark room!