Monday, November 3, 2008

indecision '08

That was the theme for yesterday.  Michael and I literally spent like 2-3 hours debating over what to have for dinner.  We couldn't decide on anything.  I had already baked bread and made lunch meat for the week and was starting to feel ultra sick again (damn this stupid sickness...it just keeps getting worse, if that's possible), which was making me impatient and tired and cranky.  So we whipped up some lurvely Broccoli Cashew Teriyaki Tofu Stir-Fry from Eat, Drink, & be Vegan.  
sriracha garnish by michael, of course

We ate it over some udon noodles, and it was delicious and filling.  Michael declared it the best Chinese food we've had in ages.  It had to do with making the sauce ourselves, I think.  Anyway, I'm really glad that I used up the last of my tastebuds on it.  They're shot today because I'm super stuffy, therefore dinner is just kind of going to be going through the motions for me tonight.  Bummer, eh?  I'm gonna go for texture.  We'll see what happens.  I have ideas.

Here's some shots of the bread and seitan lunch meat that I made for the week:
makin' my mama proud

I finally got my bread to rise!  Here was the problem:  my kitchen is cold.  This is what I did: I put the oven on warm and put the yeast in there to activate.  I also did both rises of the bread in that heated oven.  They still didn't rise quite as much as I would have liked, but it's definitely way better than last time.

And now our lunch meat concoction:
i love not buying lunch 'meat' at the store

This made a seriously nice little sammie for my lunch today.  I also gobbled up some creamy sweet pea soup that is admittedly store bought.  Ever see Imagine brand soup?  Well, their creamy soups are made with soymilk.  And they are good.  I just thought it would be nice to have a small bowl of soup with sammiches this week.  And I was so right.  

I planned to cook some beans too, and maybe make tofu, but I forgot to soak all the beans.  

There's just never enough time in the day, is there?  However, I did spend some quality time with Michael and some friends last night making paper snowflakes.  I'll post a pic of them next time, I forgot to take one this time around.  The plan is to string them up so that they cover our ceiling and we have a nice unique holiday decoration.  At the rate we're going, by Christmas, we'll have like...thousands.  

Ok, well, I'm going to go back to drinking tea and not tasting anything and then making dinner in a bit.  

obama obama obama obama obama obama obama obama obama obama

13 comments:

aTxVegn said...

Looks like more great big sammies are on the menu! I like to let my breads rise in the oven too. It seems to help a lot.

You need to get well.

Anonymous said...

what gorgeous bread!

Virginia said...

i let my yeast dough rise in a preheated and then shut off oven sometimes! it works great! i don't make homemade bread =( i really should.

Anonymous said...

Yay for risen bread and seitan sammies!
I hope you start to feel better soon :o)

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

Your bread looks awesome, I love homemade bread - you can't beat that smell!!

Virginia said...

what bread recipe do you use? i think i am gonna make some today.

miss v said...

that's a bummer that your tastebuds are shot. but happiness that you used them up on stir fry. cashews and/or peanuts in anything foods remotely asian is dyno-mite.

Lisa -- Cravin' Veggies said...

Whoa! Your bread looks perfect! Glad you found a solution to your 'cold kitchen' problem! And the seitan looks great too! I need to give it another try... The last time it exploded thru the foil! I need to get some heavy-duty foil before I try again, I guess!!!

Kristin said...

You should make this mock "chicken" noodle soup. Soup always makes me feel better. I haven't blogged about it yet b/c I am still modifying and tweaking:

http://eatpeaceplease.blogspot.com/2006/11/tofu-noodle-soup-post-1-of-2.html

I used White Wave Chicken Style seitan, cut into tiny pieces. Added a lot more salt and some soy sauce. Used Not-chickn bouillion cubes. Vermicelli for the noodles. Oh, and use about 4 oz of noodles, not 8 oz.

Get Michael to make it for you!

Hope you feel better.

Kristin said...

Oh crap. And I almost forgot to tell you the most important modification, in case you make it... no dill. Unless you are into dill, of course. I hate it.

Anonymous said...

I am sorry you're not feeling well. get better soon. That bread looks awesome, I am sure I could eat it for weeks. Together with the seitan, of course.

Anonymous said...

OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA!
I'm so sorry you can't taste all that goodness, because man, I think I can smell it all the way overe here!

jessy said...

your sickness needs a stern talking to. boo to the sickness! do you have a neti pot, Jessica?! we've got one and i think they're the most glorious goodnesses of making noses un-stuffy ever! if you don't already have one - get your butt to a natural food store or order one online. they're the shit! seriously. just make sure you use sea-salt in them - and sea salt WITHOUT iodine - 'cause the iodine "stings the nostrils". (did you totally get my Anchorman quote there?! ahahahahaa!)

now, on to the foodz: hooray for some marvelous look'n stir-fry. sriracha as a decoration = mmmmmmm! (and spicy!)

you bread is most magnificent - looks super fluffy! and yes, a cold kitchen will hinder the little yeasts from rising and such. i coordinate bread making with laundry time. i time it up so that the bread rises in the pan that's set on top of the dryer for extra heat! ahahahahahaaa! the un-measties look fantastical, too! squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

you soak your beans? uh oh, and i do'n something wrong?! we totally don't soak our beans - just rinse then cook. hmmmm, i'm gonna look in to this 'cause i want to make sure i'm do'n this right. i am too scared of canned food so dried beans it is!

feel better soon! :D

p.s. - i might be steal'n yo snowflake idea - it's freak'n BRILLIANT! make sure to post some snowflakes, indeed - i bet they're so pretty! yay!