still feeling under the weather. it seems like everything is exhausting to me right now. we only left the house twice today. once for our saturday morning bagels and then to pick up some groceries to make dinner. we skipped the market since i wasn't feeling up for navigating through crowds of people this morning. we only have so many days left of harvest veggies so i was disappointed not to go.

we did make roastless brown potatoes & vegetables from this vegweb recipe. i was in need of some hearty, simple, comfort food and this recipe definitely fits the bill. we've made it a couple of times before for thanksgiving and x-mas and it's always a hit with the omni fam.


we make it with a few changes (and short-cuts because we're lazy):

3 organic russet potatoes
4 organic red creamer potatoes
3 ribs organic celery
3 organic carrots
1 small yellow onion, diced (j hates pearl onions)
1 package Hain Veg Brown Gravy
1 small package of Imagine Portabello Cream Soup
herbs to taste


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1) Chop celery, carrots, and potatoes to chunks that are approximately the same size.

2) Dice onion.

3) Dump veggies in a greased casserole or roasting pan.

4) In a small saucepan add the gravy mix and the soup mix, stir in 1/2 cup water.

5) Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over veggies.

6) Add fresh herbs (if using) and a few cracks of pepper.

7) Bake (covered) for 50-60 minutes. Uncover and bake additional 10 minutes.

we ate ours with wheat toast. if you're feeling industrious whip up some biscuits and i guarantee you won't be sorry.

no elaborate food posts today. i spent the afternoon and evening hooked up to monitors in the hospital (a long story, but i am well fortunately.) by the time i got out i was totally exhausted and starving so it was pb & j and a trader joes chocolate soy cream bar for dinner. i heading to bed now. but here's a picture of some chocolate peanut butter cookies i made in july from my sweet vegan. they tasted awesome, but i remember having some trouble getting them to stick together because of the humidity. and as you can see they didn't look very pretty.

my toes are freezing

ten comments today at work on the green tights and turquoise wedges. i get them every time i wear the yellow tights too. ha!



this looks like one of those seventies cookbook pictures. the ones where the food always looks really oily and orange, but i swear this food tasted really good. whenever j and i are really lazy about cooking dinner (which is often) this is one of our standby meals. a bag of the trader joes frozen arribata pasta (not an std), can of beans (usually cannellini or chickpea), and whatever veggies are on hand (in this case zucchini. spinach is good too). it's got a little kick to it, which i love and can be completed prepared and consumed in about fifteen minutes.

oh yes, and i've decided to participate in the veganmofo. twenty posts in the month of october about vegan food. i can do it. the vegan food part isn't the problem. it's the finding the time to post part and remembering to snap a picture. but i'm motivated. wish me luck!

happy october!

more videos. i've enjoyed this song, but it's even better with this animation. although i'm tad creeped out by the mustached men.

found via poppytalk

so sweet.

i think my first crush was a combination of all these stories.

found via Creature Comforts

summer's been busy. blah, blah, but really it has been. j and i just walked home from a street/craft fair. we had plans to go back tonight and listen to some more bands and drink more beer, but j is napping on the couch from all the beers consumed earlier. there were something like fourteen breweries there selling their wares. j did not stray far from the beer tent the whole five hours we were hanging out. alas, no beers were consumed by i even though i was interested. i did feast upon the blue nile vegetarian sampler plate. it was a little on the skimpy side in terms of portions, but the food was delicious. spicy lentils (in hindsight, i should have skipped for the sake of my stomach), garlicky greens, and some spiced (but not spicy) vegetable mix served on injera. yum!

an ulcer is currently ruining my days and regular eating habits. i've been learning by trial and many errors what foods i should be avoiding. food that may not taste spicy to my mouth is turning out to be too spicy to my stomach. boo.

regardless we ran in to tons of old and new friends down at the fair. a friend of mine makes birch bark jewelry and gifts. i bought this adorable birch headband from her. i also picked up a johnny cash and sewing buttons from here. hopefully, we have some time to stop back there tomorrow and pick up a few more things i was eyeing and to take advantage of what may be the few remaining warm days in michigan.

the ulcer is really hindering our food choices around here these days. i was told to stick to bland foods, which is almost impossible. who wants to eat bland foods al time? not i, apparently i'd rather lay awake with stomach pain and heartburn. like i said, i'm learning... slowly. i've being eating a lot cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and soy yogurt. we did veganize this broccoli gratin recipe from everyday food last weekend. i only picked up one head of broccoli at the farmers market last week so we ended up halving the recipe. we used plain soy milk and soy cheese (teese is good). j was in a cooking mood so he made it while i sorted bills and mail (fun!). we ate it with corn on the cob (also from the market). it was the perfect simple, creamy, comfort food to soothe my weary stomach after a week of assaulting it with pizza, penne arribiatta, and taco bell (!). this recipe is definitely going in to our regular rotation and we'll probably try it with pasta shells or potatoes mixed in.

we've also been devouring an obscene amount of chocolate chip cheesecake. i picked up a cake at whole foods on wednesday to celebrate mine and j's third wedding anniversary. so good, chicago diner cheesecake. we've both been sneaking bites here and there straight from the fridge.

adorable dog photo to hold you over until next time.

has it been that long?

yes, it's been a long time. much longer than i'd ever intended. but here i am again so let's forgive and forget, right? this is one of those mistakes new bloggers make that i'd read about before i started this blog. post a bunch of times in a row and then abandon the blog for a month or two. i've been busy though. seriously, out of town and occupied every weekend since the end of june. i've turned twenty-six, visited chicago, baked two hundred cookies, transported and bagged two hundred cookies (two hundred and eighteen to be exact), ate waaay too much cookie dough in the process, got my first manicure and pedicure ever, celebrated a best friend's wedding, partied at a scooter ralley, camped, floated down a river in tire tube, and attended j's grandpa's eightieth birthday. i've been to my parent's house more times this summer than i have since i actually lived there since the majority of the wedding activities took place in that vicinity. it's been fun, but i'm starting to feel like i've been run over by a truck. i could use a peaceful weekend at home around now, but instead i've got a full line up for a few more weekends. my graduation fiesta at my parent's house (again) this weekend (complete with a piñata per my nephew's request) and a friend's baby shower (my friend's are having babies now?! i feel old). the weeks after that have more camping (maybe), a welcome home party for some world travelers, and an out-of-town scooter ralley (the best of the scooting season). hopefully i can find so time in the next few days to post some more of what i've been up to (like finishing some curtains for our bedroom that i had started back in february).

july thrift finds.

so here is the dress i'll be wearing as a bridesmaid in my friends' wedding. obviously this dress needs to be worn with turquoise heels. what else would go? i was actually able to get this dress on ebay for only $35. i have extremely bad luck winning auctions and the buy it now was so cheap that i went ahead and bought it as soon as i saw it. i'm also be looking for a white belt to go wear with it. hopefully i can find the shoes and belt this weekend while in chicago for my (26th!) birthday. i'm not really sure why this font is underlined now or how to turn it off.

formatting aside, here's some pictures of some of cute stuff i've picked up from this thrift store near my parents house on the other side of the state. i always find something good whenever i get a chance to stop there.

teacups for my chicago friends, sixty-nine cents each.

orange hat box in perfect condition, dollar ninety-nine.
set of four napkins, dollar ninety-nine.

ikat-like print cotton dress, two dollars and ninety-nine cents.

thick cotton shirt dress, four dollars and ninety-nine cents.

i'm working on the photography quality. i know it's pretty rough right now, but i do think the teacups turned out pretty nice.

busy and two hundred cookies.

quick post before i head to bed. j and i are booked every weekend through the end of august. meaning we are busy, busy, busy. we had another wedding shower this weekend (for the same friends) hosted by the bride's family in the town where i went to high school and my parents still live. i saw so many people i haven't seen since high school graduation which was eight years ago. weird... but fun and a little awkward too. there was a whole lot of "sooo.... what have you been up to?" i can only imagine what the ten year reunion will be like, provided that i attend.

over the course of this past week i somehow volunteered myself to make two hundred cookies as favors for my friends' wedding. finding favors was one of the last things on her list that she was dreading and she had already bought these cute little glassine and stickers from etsy. i am excited and a little afeared. however, i'm pretty sure that i came close to the two hundred cookie mark this past holiday season. i think i'm going to go with a basic chocolate chip. because really, who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies? i just saw this recipe via orangette and i think i'll be attempting to veganize it. i'm pretty impatient though i don't know about this waiting thirty-six hours business.

and lastly, i want these hot shoes to wear to this friend's wedding (which i first saw here). i'll post the dress i'm going to wear later so you can see how adorable the pairing would be.

weekend madness

our saturday plans started off pretty rocky when we awoke to find our pitbull's, ruby, body covered in large mysterious itchy welts. thankfully the vet was open and able to squeeze us in that morning. apparently she either a) rolled in something (unlikely because our boston terrier, ziggy, is her constant companion and he was welt-free) or b) was bit by a bug (likely as i once found this dog laying on an ant hill, totally oblivious to the ants swarming her and leaving red bites all over her stomach). our vet gave her a shot and the hives gradually disappeared over the next couple of hours. we were glad it was nothing too serious. she has pretty sensitive skin so we figured it was some kind of allergic reaction.

because we ended up at the vet that morning we had to scramble to get everything done before our friend's bbq. i ended up making the lemon cupcakes from vctotw with lemon buttercream frosting. since i was crunched for time i, being the genius i am, decided to double the recipe, ended up running out of margarine. i decided then that it was a good idea to sub a stick of vegetable shortening for the second stick of margarine in the batter. bad idea. i ended up with extra fluffy batter that made about six cupcakes more than the recipe makes and the cupcakes sank a little because of the extra fat. they still tasted good though so i just layered on the frosting to give the cupcake a nice rounded top.
i added some fresh blueberries that we picked up at the farmer's market that morning to fance them up a bit and then made it over to the bbq two hours late. i'm the bad bridesmaid. the cupcakes were a success though and no one knew they were vegan until i told them. ha!

at the market yesterday we picked up a big bunch of organic collards for $2 (!) and some baby zucchini and summer squash so i decided to make this black-eyed pea stew recipe from cooking light that i had made last fall for some friends. i veganized it and halved it since the original recipe makes eight. it's a nice, slightly spicy dish that makes a thick stew you can eat alone or over rice. it's be good with cornbread, but j and i were too lazy to get that involved with dinner tonight.

here's my version, but if i made it with canned peas again i think i would use only one cup of broth since the peas were kind of mushy.

Black-Eyed Pea Stew (adapted from Cooking Light Oct. 2007)
1 can black-eyed peas
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup chopped yellow onion
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 (16-ounce) can diced tomatoes (drained)
1 bunch collard greens chopped (with stems removed)
5 baby (3-4" long) zucchini chopped
5 baby (3-4" long) summer squash chopped

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, zucchini and summer squash and cook until tender.

Stir in broth and bring to a simmer. Add peas, salt, peppers, and bay leaf. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Uncover and cook another 15 minutes or until liquid begins to thicken.

Stir in vinegar, tomatoes, and collard greens; simmer 10 minutes or until greens are tender, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaves.

ribz

a couple of weekends ago we made these seitan ribz from the fatfree vegan kitchen which i had eyed this past winter, bookmarked them for summer, and then forgot about until some one recently posted about how awesome they are (i can't remember who, sorry dudes). the recipe was really easy to whip up. we were able to use the leftover bbq sauce from here (which had originally been a little too sweet for our tastes in the tempeh recipe we had made it for). the only trouble we had was in locating the liquid smoke. it took stops at trader joes, whole foods, the co-op, and the natural food store down the street before we found it at this little gourmet market by our house. well worth all the running around. i didn't have tahini so i subbed garlic hummus, same thing, right? just be sure that your grilling partner doesn't get distracted by scooter projects in the garage because these ribz cook fast. j thought he had some time to start working on getting the engine from our allstate back together and left the ribz on the grill unmanned for an undetermined amount of time. as you can see from the picture ours ended up "well done", but still yum. these will be making many more appearances on our grill before the summer is over. i think these will be really good in a sub roll with a vinegary cole slaw.

i have a friend's co-ed bbq wedding shower to attend tomorrow so i'm going to whip up some cupcakes from vctotw and hopefully some cute toppers tomorrow morning after we hit the market.

first post!

ta da! i was finally able to come up with a name for this blog that hadn't already been claimed by some other blogger in 2005. seriously, every name i picked out was taken long, long ago.

but then, i had a flashback to my undergrad produce slinging days. we would get boxes of 'lemons by the sea' lemons that i would stack neatly in to pyramids each morning on the produce floor. i like the idea of lemons swaying in treetops by the sea.

i hope to be posting often with my adventures in cooking, scooting, thrifting and more...