Everything tastes good when you don’t know how it’s supposed to taste.

Right?

So, last night I made two things I’ve neither prepared nor eaten before: tabbouleh and falafel (I know! I lack culture). I thought they both turned out pretty well, but then, really, what do I know?

There’s the falafel. I know, it looks sort of creepy.

And there’s the tabbouleh. If you’re down with grains, as I am, you may notice that it’s not traditional tabbouleh because it’s made with quinoa instead of bulgur. Really, I think we get enough bulgur around here. And my sister made quinoa recently, which made me realize that it’s been awhile.

I also had more roasted broccoli because it’s maybe the best thing that happened to me all week.

I was going to post this last night, but they were doing stuff to the sewers in our neighborhood and spraying our car with weird steam. I don’t want to know what was in it. Anyway, I had to go out and move it, because… gross. And then I was agitated.

I’m tired now, because I woke up at 3am, hungry and plagued by searing arthritis pain in my knee. At 5, I limped around and got ready for the gym as usual and then I actually laughed out loud at myself and my spunky stupidity and can-do attitude. Then I went back to sleep.

I just got back from a work thing, where I tried really hard to keep my weight off my bad knee and to eat a lot of broccoli and strawberries and grapes so that I wouldn’t be tempted to pick up the entire block of cheese from the cutting board or eat seven pieces of carrot cake. What? It’s got vegetables. So anyway, no actual dinner. I’ll probably have some tabbouleh about 15 seconds after I hit publish. Matt’s on the phone with his brother talking about simulated basketball games and I’m falling asleep on the couch and it’s a standard Friday night here at the See Food mansion. The big news is that we have air conditioning in the bedroom now. I hope it gets so cold in there tonight that it freezes my tears of happiness.

I’m not sure if I’ll be posting tomorrow because we’re going to a high school basketball exhibition kind of deal, featuring some players who are going to be college players soon, presumably. At which point they will become very important to me because of my freakish, out-of-character love of college basketball, so I’m trying to get invested early. It’s supposed to start at 8am (I will not be there) and last until… 12 hours later or something. Let’s see if I make it that long.

I can’t think of a title.

Today was kind of rough, so I’ll keep this short.

Dinner was pan-fried tempeh, bulgur pilaf, and roasted vegetables:

I’ve never roasted broccoli before. It was awesome. I’ve also never cooked tempeh before. I’ve eaten it, and one of my favorite Planet Sub sandwiches is the tempeh parmesan. I loved making it. I think I’m going to make it every single day for the rest of my life. This blog will now be called See Food (But Only Tempeh). Nice, right?

Here’s a close-up. It looks like I burned it, but that’s actually a soy sauce/rice vinegar coating type of thing. I hope.

Mmmmmmm. Grainy.

Anyway, now I’m struggling with my eternal question: Edy’s fruit bar or coffee ice cream?

Both?

Miss Wrap Supreme

We just enjoyed some lettuce wraps while watching Miss Rap Supreme. I know it’s not a good idea to eat in front of the television, but when you don’t have a table, options are kind of limited.

This is “soba” vegetable salad lettuce wraps with chicken “sate.” Lots of air quotes because I broke a  few rules. For instance, those are not soba noodles. Soba noodles were 4.69 for 12 ounces. Whole wheat spaghetti was 1.89 for 12 ounces. Decision? Made. Also, this chicken sate was supposed to be in skewer form but we don’t have a grill pan or any other pan in which to effectively cook skewered meat.

Either way, it was great. I also made some spicy peanut dipping sauce for my serving, which was a delight. I’m really getting the hang of that stuff.

I also had a cookie. I’ve been starving all afternoon, which I trace back to cranking the Arc Trainer up to resistance 50 this morning. I’m surprised I lived to tell about it. I’m sure lots of my fellow gym-goers have also been telling about it, because really, my sweat level was obscene.

Speaking of sweating, I think it’s time to go log a few minutes with the Wii Fit so it won’t act all disappointed in me for skipping a few days.

Cook-in

Yesterday, we registered at Target and I got to live my lifelong dream of walking around with a scanner gun thing and selecting everything I might possibly want. Seven cutting boards? Check. Sheartoku? DONE. Then we had a tornado watch last night, along with some nasty storms and a really creepy looking sky. The watch went into effect right after I got home from the gym, so I made a quick dinner to fortify us in case of emergencies.

Bulgurritos

With bulgur, chicken, black, beans, and tomatoes. And a salad on the side with mixed greens, corn, black beans, tomatoes, and a cumin-lime vinaigrette. I also had a fruit bar, because it was really hot.

The tornado never came, and I spent the night reading In Defense of Food. Which was interesting, but didn’t blow my mind. I’d imagine that most people who would be inclined to pick this book up feel similarly and aren’t all “Go-gurt isn’t just yogurt??? WHAT???” Still, it’s interesting to think about all the crap that’s in the food most people eat. I thought about it again when the kids bagging my groceries today were all “that’s a lot of vegetables.”

Yes. That’s a lot of vegetables. That’s why I’m going to live forever. Like in Fame.

I had a really long list of things I wanted to get done today, but then Matt talked me into acting like I was actually on vacation. I resisted until I realized that there was a Law and Order marathon on, and then I decided he was right. I’ll probably regret it in about five minutes when I walk into the kitchen and see all of the dirty dishes from dinner. And also, later this week when I have to wear pajamas to work and pretend they are real clothing as all of my regular clothes are dirty or embarrassingly wrinkled.

This afternoon, we finally watched Breach, which was underwhelming. There’s something about Ryan Philippe that makes it really hard for me to take him seriously. Is it his hair? His resemblance to Justin Timberlake? His entire role in Cruel Intentions? I don’t know.

Then we had a cook-in for memorial day, because 1) we don’t have a means of cooking out and 2) it was storming. We had veggie burgers, spinach, and sweet potato chips:

See how I am always creating these incredibly imaginative meals that are like nothing I’ve eaten before. The last time I had this exact meal, it was a black bean burger. And it was on a bagel square. This time, a Mushroom Lovers’ burger. On an English Muffin! I like to keep you guessing.

Oh yay, another lightning storm!

I also ate dinner

I got so involved in sharing interesting things about myself that I almost forgot to post dinner:

Whole wheat fettucine topped with diced tomatoes, garlic, basil, spinach, mushrooms, and shrimp. With some roasted tomato and basil bread from the farmers’ market on the side:

Then I decided that I wanted cookies. So I made some of these.

They look huge here! I wish they were that big. Anyway, I had to cut way down on the chocolate chips because I was almost out. So I added a little unsweetened coconut to make up for it. Mmm. Cookies.

Five things

Okay, Glidingcalm tagged me in this five things meme, and I’m going to give it a shot. Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

I’m warning you in advance, I’m going to tag some people who have already been tagged. My world is small. I don’t know that many bloggers.

1. Everything stresses me out. Little things, big things, all things. For instance: this meme, packing my lunch, deciding whether or not to go to the gym, getting ready in the morning, having overdue library books, the movie Groundhog Day, episodes of I Love Lucy. It’s honestly pretty amazing that I made it through college and grad school without ever finding myself in an empty room, eating my tear-stained hair.

2. I ate my first pear at age 24. I think I associated them with the bradford pear tree in my best friend’s yard when I was growing up, and assumed that all pears were rotten and smelled like fish.

3. I left the country before I ever left the East Coast. It was only Canada (though it was Montreal and that seems more foreign because they hate you if you speak English). I eventually made my way across the country, and now I live in Kansas. Which is very far from the East Coast. In lots of ways. Go figure.

4. I don’t shop at Wal-Mart. I haven’t since 2002 (2003?) This started as an ethical protest, but honestly, with the amount of money that I spend at Target, which is arguably just as bad, the ethical thing kind of falls apart. But I’ve maintained my policy quite easily because Wal-Mart stores stress me out (see #1). The last time I went to one in North Carolina, I stepped out of my car and directly onto a dirty diaper. Who wouldn’t be nervous?

5. I am often mistaken for things I am not. Today, a woman at Dillard’s started asking me questions about dishes because I had my registry gun in my hand and she thought I worked there. I don’t. Lots of patrons at the library where I work think I’m a student. I’m not. A woman at my bank asked me if I was a freshman when I went to set up my account. I’m not. I’m regularly carded for alcohol, to see if I’m trying to scam stores by using my parents’ credit card, and sometimes even for R-rated movie tickets. I’m almost 25, people. I have a master’s degree. I am a professional. What’s the deal? I wonder if it’s because I can’t stop wearing bedazzled clothing?

No, I’m kidding. I only do that in the comfort of my home.
Okay, now I’m tagging five people: Arielle, Betsy, Bill, Josh, and Tara. This whole thing reminds me that I need to update my blogroll.

I’m only blogging because Wii Fit told me it was time for a break.

Here’s what I had for dinner:

Another pita pizza. This one had tomato paste, a little bit of chicken-apple sausage, some pepper jack, some sharp cheddar, and a few baby bellas. And lots of love.

I had to go get my wedding dress altered after work today, and then I came home and promptly fell asleep. I woke up craving pizza, as I am wont to do after a bout of daytime sleeping, so I made this. There was also spinach on the side, but it looked like all of my other spinach so I’m going to ask you to just let your imaginations run wild. While eating, I started my long weekend by watching restaurant wars on Top Chef.

Interesting fact about Wii Fit: at a certain point, it makes you take a break. I would like it if someone came to the gym with me and told me when to take a break. “Hey, Jenny, this elliptical machine will kill you if you don’t step off for a few minutes.”

By the way, I’ve taken some flak from people (DAD) for disparaging the older community in my last post. I’d like to take this opportunity to formally apologize to the two old people at the gym yesterday, because I bet they read this blog and were very hurt. Just to clarify, I wasn’t (necessarily) being ageist. I’m not that way.

Okay, I think it’s time for more virtual hula hooping! I’ve been tagged by Glidingcalm to share five facts and tag five other bloggers. I’ll have to do that tomorrow. It’s going to take me that long to figure out what I’m going to say and come up with five people I can tag.

Ris-oat-o

It was kind of weird today, weather-wise. This morning I was actually kind of cold, because it was raining and really windy. I also stepped in a puddle and had to go back inside and change my clothes. It’s kind of sad to think how often this happens. If only I worked from home more.

Anyway, so I decided during that time that I would make this steel cut oat risotto for dinner, because it would be all warm and comforting, and because I’ve been experimenting with breakfasts other than oatmeal this week. It’s left me feeling kind of… wistful. Oh, oats. I just can’t quit you. Even when it’s 91 degrees in my home.

Later, it got sunny and nice and warm-ish, and I had the afternoon off so I got to hang out with Matt and run some errands and go to the gym at a different time, with all of the old people who hog the treadmills going like 1mph. That’s what the indoor track is for, old folks.

I also had to go to the mall twice. Once is enough to leave me paralyzed with anxiety, so you can only imagine what twice did. Plus, I have these out of body experiences where I go into the candy store and buy some candy “for Matt” and then I’m mindlessly reaching into my purse for it as I walk around the Gap or whatever and I CANNOT STOP MYSELF. Seriously. It’s like I’m watching someone else.

So, the point of the story is.

I was annoyed with the people who work at Victoria’s Secret and I was all tweaked out on too much sugar. So I needed something nutritious AND comforting. So risotto it was. I even found some frozen butternut squash in the freezer. Score!

And now I have to go talk to Matt about simulated basketball games.

As in, games that do not happen in real life.

Wait, he just said, “They DO happen in real life. They just don’t involve real people.”

Got it?

In a hurry

Tonight’s dinner was Heidi Swanson’s In a Hurry Green Curry and it was pretty delicious. Of course my photo won’t be as aesthetically pleasing as hers, as I don’t have tulip bowls and I don’t think we have a piece of actual wood in the whole apartment to serve as a food styling surface. A girl’s got to have something to aspire to. To which to aspire? Whichever sounds right to you.

This was my first curry, and I’m glad I went with a springtime theme instead of starting out with a heavier, wintry kind of curry. Next year, though, I’m all over it.

I served this with some Texmati American brown basmati rice. I’ve never made that before either, but I was really proud that I didn’t somehow ruin it, as I am wont to do with rice. Seriously, I usually get the boil in bag kind because I just can’t hack it when it comes to cooking totally normal things. Have you seen my grilled cheese sandwiches? No.

Exactly.

Anyway, the name of that recipe was pretty appropriate, as I am in a hurry to finish this up so that I can set up my brand new Wii Fit, an early birthday present from Matt. He risked life and limb going to buy it for me. He’s just that kind of guy.

Here it is, waiting for me:

Right there with some of my shoes, a poster we need to re-hang, a bottle of detergent, and it looks like there are some comics back there, too. Just a little window into our rich and complex lives.

Two great tastes that taste great together

Peanut butter and noodles are two of the greatest foods on earth. Tonight I finally took the plunge and married the two. Here’s a really unappetizing picture of soba noodles with chicken and vegetables in peanut sauce.

This was so good. Like, almost barley risotto levels of good. Sometimes I think back to the food I was eating when I was trying lose weight and it makes me want to cry a little bit. Lean Cuisines, ONE CUP of pasta, Special K, carrot sticks. I think I ruined carrot sticks for myself forever. And Special K. Actually, that stuff is good, especially the one with the dehydrated berries? Yeah, maybe I’ll pick some up.

Anyway, enough about me (AS IF!). This doesn’t look super but the peanut sauce was so good and it really made the recipe. It was just 2 tbsp of peanut butter, 2 tbsp hot water, whisked together. Then I added 2 tbsp of rice vinegar and just under 2 tbsp of soy sauce. That was for four servings (8oz of soba noodles and a pan of vegetables that actually overflowed). It went really nicely with the broccoli, green peppers (the recipe called for red, but these are hard times and we don’t have 1.89 to spend on a single red pepper), and bok choy. This was my first time preparing or eating bok choy, and I’m a fan. I was so excited to see it at the farmer’s market last week that I knew I needed to do something with it, stat.

See, Kansas farms are so much more than beef. And other cow things. They even have fancy chinese cabbage!

Okay, it’s almost 10 and that means it’s time for me to take a Benadryl and slip into sweet oblivion. Our bedroom was 89 degrees last night, so I’m really looking forward to that. Hey, people pay dozens of dollars for Bikram yoga classes, right? This is the basically the same thing. Just free.