Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Michael cooks! and, a package :)

This has been an interesting day.  Still dealing with some stabby tummy pains (but no nausea, yay!) and also having my first run with my....new....Diva Cup!  If you don't know what that is, click the link, but not if you're my dad.  You just might not wanna know, Dad.  But click it if you wanna - it's not bad.  So.  Yeah.  It's been interesting.

As you can see from the title of this post, this is all about Michael cooking for me.  And what a sweet and awesome boy he is!  (barf, i know, but it's true!)  Since I was a sickypoo yesterday, he made me dinner!  And what an awesome, brothy, spicy soup he came up with.  Oh yes.  This is a variation on a soup that my brother, Jimmy, and his wife once made for us when we had dinner together.  I have to hand it to them, it was a valiant effort at a vegan meal.  But...we were still hungry afterwards.  So this time, Michael amped it up a touch and we were fulll full fulllllll afterwards.  It didn't hurt that we ate the entire pot ourselves, instead of just one bowl, haha...  This is right up Michael's alley, too, because it is a Japanese inspired soup.
japanese veggie soup with soba noodles

Recipe?  Ok.

Japanese Veggie Soup with Soba Noodles

1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 carrots, sliced
1 head of napa cabbage, sliced in big chunks (bok choy would be ideal here, so use that if you can find it...we couldn't)
1 small red sweet pepper, thinly sliced
1 pint oyster mushrooms, sliced in big chunks
1 packet soba noodles (you know how they come in a package with like 3 or 4 bunches?  one of those bunches)
3 veggie bouillon cubes
1 'beef' bouillon cube
8 cups water (you could also just use 8 cups of veggie broth, instead of water and bouillon)
1-2 tsps sesame seeds
1/4 cup (or more, to taste) tamari (he used part regular, part wasabi tamari)
cayenne pepper to taste
sesame oil, for sauteeing
scallions (thinly sliced) and clover sprouts for garnish, optional

Prepare the soba noodles and set aside.  In a big soup pot, saute the carrots, onions, garlic, and sesame seeds in the sesame oil, until onions are soft.  Add mushrooms, saute another minute or so, then add the cabbage (or bok choy) and saute another minute.  Add water, bouillon cubes, tamari, and cayenne, bring to a boil.  Take down to a simmer for  about 20 minutes, until carrots are tender.  Then, assemble!  Put a nice handful of soba noodles in the bottom of the bowl, cover with soup, add garnishes, eat. 

 It's so simple, and so delicious, and so perfect on a sick day when you want something other than a knocked-off chicken noodle soup.  Mm.  MMMMM.  We ate it with chopsticks.  I love anything I get to eat with chopsticks.  The oyster mushrooms are perfect too, but as you may know, I am partial ONLY to oyster mushrooms.  I dislike all others at this point, but I'm trying to get better about it.  They are nice and chewy, but they lack any real 'mushroom' flavor that grosses me out.  And they're thin, unlike portabellas, which almost seem to squeak when you chew on them, they're so meaty and ...blegh.  I kind of like shiitake mushrooms, but only just barely.  Someday, maybe, I'll be a mushroom lover, but for now, it's only oyster mushrooms.  Anyway, this soup was completely and totally rad, and Michael did an awesome job.
slurrrrrp.

Then!  I came home for lunch today, and Michael had lunch ready!
yes, i ate both those burgers.  what?

He put a combo of BBQ sauce and liquid smoke on the burgers from Monday night, and reheated them in the oven with the end of the tots.  The real totally cool part though, is that he made some coleslaw from scratch to go on top!  It was the hit of the meal.  And he had a big mug of my favorite tea (constant comment, yesssss) ready for me.  Is he not the most bestest boy on the planet?  I think he is.  

Last, but DEFINITELY not least, I received a package today from Amy of Vegan Addict.  Michael further showed how great and patient he is by not opening it until I got home from work.  We had arranged a package swap last week when I talked about how I'd never had Tings and wanted to try them.  Well!  I got much more than just Tings!
the most fabulous package

Here is what I got:
2 packages of Tings (2!)
a bag of vegan white chocolate chips (get ready for cookies, yo)
brown rice marshmallow treat (that if you look close, you can see that's just an empty wrapper, because we were so excited that we ate it before i took a photo...)
a bag of chocolates
elderberry witches (gummies!)
a badass foodfight sticker
and a handmade card!  with owls!

There was also a FoodFight button, which I promptly put on my jacket.  Yay!  The Tings are really good.  Not what I expected, but seriously delicious.  They're like Cheetos in that they are the same shape and have that corn crunch, but not really 'cheesy' which I am fine with, because the flavor they do have is really natural and yummy and makes you not feel like crap when you eat them.  Awesome!  The marshmallow treat was sooooo good too.  Michael's not a fan of the witch gummies, but I like them, so more for me, yeah!  I made Michael wait until after dinner to open the chocolates, but they look perfectly fabulous, so I can't wait to try them later!  Thank you thank you thank you, Amy.  This was just what I needed.  I hope you like your package!  And if you haven't ever headed over to Vegan Addict, please do so.  Her blog is super rad!

Now, I need to go make dinner.  So I'll catch ya later.  It's almost the end of the week, yesssss.

19 comments:

miss v said...

whoa! that is one super rad package swap. congrants on your new gifties. she should have thrown in a can of sauerkraut... ya know, just so you could experience other brands you might not get there. :) and the ol' diva cup - i've been wondering about that myself. i can't decide on the size, cause i'm like almost 30.

and oh, this michael boy sounds fabulous.

APLACEFORUS said...

That looks so great. I can only pray that one day my husband will cook for me like that. Actually he did make a soup from vcon once.. now that I remember.
I am still so sad I missed the care package swap. Glad you got some goodies though, its great to try new things from different places!

Chessa said...

I LOVE the Diva Cup!!! Seriously, it's the best. I tried another brand before Diva (the name is escaping me...) but it was LAME in comparison. I'm so glad I upgraded to the Diva. Way more flexible and less splurting across the room mid-way through application. Yeah, it was like a murder scene. OK! TMI.

It sounds like you have yourself a mighty fine boy indeed! That soup looks amazing and that burger lunch? So good.

Yay for care packages! I heart Tings!

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

Yum that soup looks great - similar to the ones they sell in wagamamas that I LOVE!!

Anonymous said...

Cool package! And cool boyfriend! I love the little owl card.
And please stop showing me tots, I am so the green~eyed monster when you have tots!

Lindsay I-F said...

That soup looks amazing.

Virginia said...

i could never use a diva cup...too weird for me...i even have tampon issues so i can't use those either, maybe tmi?

what an awesome package! and what an awesome boyfriend!

aTxVegn said...

The soup looks tons better than any chicken noodle soup! And I guess you're finally feeling better if you ate two burgers.

Enjoy your wonderful gift box!

allularpunk said...

miss v - michael says i need to try sauerkraut in a bag. what's with this weirdness? cabbage in bags, potatoes in cans... oh, and on the divacup website i think there's something in the FAQ about what to do if you're almost 30.

aplaceforus - you should make your hubby cook more so he can realize his potential, haha... and this was a private package swap, cause i don't have enough posts on ppk to participate yet. boo.

chessa - whoa! haha.

sal - i wish there was a place here that i could buy awesome soup. alas...

becks - i would send you some, but i'm not sure they'd make the trip. maybe there's a way to make them? hm.

lindsay - it was!

virginia - it takes some getting used to, i guess. he is totally awesome, too.

atx - umm..2 burgers is totally norm for me, so yeah. i'm feeling better :)

Unknown said...

I LOVE my diva cuo, I will never go back!

Miss V, this borders on tmi, but you know your body best -- if you find that things (like even light tampons or regular OB) are ocassionally, um, a tight fit, then you might be fine with the smaller size for another couple of years. ahem.

Michelle said...

I'm a diva cup fan! It was weird the first couple months, getting used to it, but now I don't know what I ever did without it!

And such a lovely boy to cook all that yummy stuff for you!!

Anonymous said...

ha, "not if you're my dad"!!!
no more stabby pain for you, that's an order, mister belly.

Anonymous said...

So happy you enjoyed your package! Yours arrived today, but I am at work, so I haven't opened it yet!!!!!!!! The day must end soon because my boyfriend is trying his best to be patient!

The soup looks so good, I will be making that for sure.

tofufreak said...

the food looks super!

you're so lucky to have received everything in that package. it all looks amazing! i bought a glenny's bar recently myself-- must go try it now!!! :D

jessy said...

that soups look soooo awesome! soup that you can enjoy with chopsticks = even more awesome! mmmmmmmmm! michael is too sweet to make you a super scrumptious soup of asian deliciousness for dinner! and he made you tea & lunch, too! brownie points! doublew00t!
ever tried eating cantaloupe with chopsticks?! it's pretty funny! cantaloupe + chopsticks = not a lot of food get'n to you mouth. that is unless i = "the suck" with chopsticks, or unless you stab some of the pieces (which i believe if offensive in asian culture, or at least i have been told).
keep us posted on the diva cup. i still have 2 sea sponges left from my pre-vegan days, so once i'm done with my period friends i'm gonna compost 'em and move on the diva cup or "the keeper". i'm interested in knowing how effective and difficult they may be and such. but i bet it's pretty damn rock'n! yay!
and yay for the best goodies EVER! tripleyay for TINGS (crack!)! witch gummies - those sound totally glorious and squishy and yum! jealousface! the owl card = the best, too!
tots! w00t!
oh - and portobellos are totally squeaky! ahahahahaa! that's awesome!

Anonymous said...

The soup looks delicious! Would subbing the oyster mushrooms for another kind of mushroom affect it at all?

Anonymous said...

That is the best package ever! Amy is super-cool. I wish I got some cool mail like that!

miss v said...

**comment back** i've had cabbage in bags... never kraut. is the bf hallucinating? if not, i'm on a mission to find this.

oh, and the diva cup website is confusing. it says to buy one size under 30, and then another size if you've had kids or are over 30. i don't have kids, and i don't think my size is going to change all that much at age 30 (like close to a year away). what happens at 30 that i need another size? freaks me out.

Vegan_Noodle said...

Michael is so sweet! Men who can cook are awesome.

And what a cool package swap! Tings are so so good. And now I want some so so bad.