Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Veganly Kidney Beans with Roasted Mushrooms and Garlic

veganly kidney beans

I usually eat veganly beans with rice; so before I start the beans, I put on a pot of rice.

1 lb mushrooms
1 head garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled
1 red bell pepper
2 Tbsp or half a small can of tomato paste
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 can broth
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Heat oven to 500 degrees. Wipe and halve the mushrooms, and separate the head of garlic into cloves and peel them by smashing them open under the flat of your knife. Toss the mushrooms and garlic with olive oil, oregano, and a little bit of salt. Roast for about twenty minutes.

Gently heat oil over low heat as you finely chop the onion and pepper, adding them to the pan as they are chopped. Turn up the heat to medium high and saute aromatics until golden, about ten minutes. Add tomato paste, chili powder, and broth & bring to a strong simmer. Add beans, mushrooms, and garlic & simmer until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Practice/Recovery/Sleep: Sleep

sleep monitor

I had one more third of practice/recovery/sleep to write about, but I had nothing to write about sleep. I mean, I sleep. I think I'm good about sleep, I know that shorting myself on sleep just takes it out of the other two thirds and shorting myself on recovery just takes it out of practice. I did have to work through how horrifyingly little time that leaves for actual work, having been steeped in this goody two shoes, gonzo brew of I'll sleep when I'm dead and work hard, play hard that happens with puritans gone wild.

But then for the past week I have been participating in this sleeping while Asian study, so here's me doing that. I only had to wear the nose and finger thingy for one night to test if I have sleep apnea, which I don't think I do, and the rest of the week I've been wearing this wristwatch that measures how much I move around. I would love to see that data. Like five times a week for two hours I move around a lot, and the rest of the week I don't move at all. Except my eyes and mouth and hands, like Jabba the Hut.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Joanie's Strawberry Almond Yogurt Smoothie

joanie's strawberry almond yogurt smoothie

I use the Bella Cucina Rocket Blender to make my smoothies.

This is one of two smoothies from the blender of Joanie Utah, my milk tooth twin! Joanie makes YOGURT CUBES by freezing yogurt in ice cube trays. But I just use Greek yogurt from the fridge because I'm not sure where my ice cube trays are, and also I use almond milk instead of soy just because.

Yogurt cubes, though. Woah.

about six or nine frozen strawberries
about a half cup of yogurt
1-2 Tbsp almond butter
soy milk

Put the strawberries, yogurt, and almond butter in the blender cup and pour in a good amount of almond milk. Screw on the cap, stick the cup on the motor base, and blend for 30 seconds. Then take it off the base and give it a little shake to get anything that's stuck on the top of the cup. Blend for another 20 seconds or until the smoothie is churning freely from top to bottom.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Angel Hair Pasta with Shallots and Peppers

pasta with shallots and peppers

By now you get that these pasta recipes pretty much start with any vegetable, like this time a yellow bell pepper. And the sweetie man got me three cubanelli peppers for veganly beans this week, and I think I only need two for that. So, a cubanelli pepper. And garlic, no look, here's a bag of shallots, I wonder if shallots would be good as good as garlic...

12 oz whole wheat angel hair pasta
   or 4 cups cooked pasta
olive oil
3 shallots
a yellow bell pepper
a cubanelli papper
paprika
a little bit of parsley

Bring water to a boil for the pasta.

Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Peel and thinly slice the shallots, and saute them until lightly caramelized. Stir them every so often, but you can cut the peppers into matchstick pieces while the shallots cook. Add the peppers to the pan and saute over high heat until lightly charred, about ten minutes. Season to taste with salt and, just for a change, paprika. I also happened to have a little bit of a bunch of parsley left over from making salsa last weekend, so I minced that up and added it right at the end.

Meanwhile cook the angel hair until al dente, about four minutes. Drain the pasta and when the peppers are cooked, stir in about half the pasta—drizzle over a little bit of olive oil if the angel hair is sticking together—and put away the rest for later. If you have cooked pasta that you put away before, you can just add it right to the pan after the peppers are cooked and heat through.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Sweet Potato Fries

sweet potato fries

I made these with shoalmate Zombea Arthur, recovering from concussion in her twilight kitchen, and had to leave before they came out of the oven. So I had to make another batch to eat myself, before it gets too warm to turn on the oven until fall again.

a sweet potato
olive oil
salt
pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Scrub the sweet potato, slice it lengthwise into quarter-inch planks and then lengthwise again into quarter-inch sticks. If that seems unwieldly, you can first halve it crosswise and then cut the halves lengthwise into shorter planks and sticks.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Toss the sticks on the sheet with just enough oil to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and arrange the sticks in a nicely spaced single layer. Bake for twenty minutes.

ETA: I'm a salt and pepper gal, but Loco Chanel recommends fancying these up with "coconut oil instead of olive, add cinnamon, add cayenne pepper (just a wee bit). Gives 'em personality..."

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Veganly Pinto Beans with Hominy and Poblanos

veganly pinto beans

There's an earlier version of this that's just okay, but this is really good. I left out the diced tomatoes and thickened the broth with cornmeal roux.

I should say that I usually eat veganly beans with rice; so before I start the beans, I put on a pot of rice. But once I didn't have rice, so I put diced avocado on top and I'm telling you I was making noises like nomph nomph when I ate that.

olive oil
1 onion
2 poblano peppers
3-5 cloves garlic
1 chipotle pepper
1 Tbsp cornmeal
1 can broth
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can hominy, rinsed and drained

Gently heat oil over low heat as you chop the onion and poblanos, adding vegetables to the pan as they are chopped. Turn up the heat to medium high and saute aromatics until golden, about ten minutes. Mince the garlic and chipotle, add to pan and saute until fragrant, about a minute. Stir in cornmeal and cook for another minute or two. Add broth, stir and cook a couple minutes more. Add beans and hominy and simmer until slightly thickened, about twenty minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Population 331

A thing that I talk about with Myra is how I'm always blowing a gasket because I've overscheduled myself again and how I'm always overscheduling myself because people love you if you do things for them, and then I say no to things and actually have time to think and be elated about doing things for myself, and then if I have more than two days to think, I get sad. Presumably I am thinking about how people don't love me. It's terrible how sad I am, thank god I'm so funny. But seriously—serious face—it could be worse, I could do things for people and not get loved. I mean, right? We wouldn't have the words "thankless task" otherwise, but I always feel thanked.

Well, yay! I know nice people!

But I did indeed stay home instead of going to Milwaukee for Brew Ha Ha, and I wish there was a joke for decompressing like there is for old musicians never dying, just decomposing; but I guess there isn't. But I am, decompressing I mean. I rode my bike to breakfast with shoalmate Zombea Arthur, I forgot what it was like to ride your bike on a summery day without fifteen pounds of gear on your back, totally wonderful.

a contraption for making the bedThen I invented this great contraption for making the bed when I was making the bed! I mean, I invented it in my head. Not actually. So like, you clip the bedspread and the blanket and the sheet to the clips and then you pull them up with a pulley (not pictured). So then they air out all day, and then you lower them when it's time for bed again. Just to show that I'm not totally detached from reality, this is the Ikea Noresund bed; you can look it up. Actually, you have to hear the story about this bed.

So this is the bed that I got when I moved out on my own and the day that my bed was supposed to be delivered, I had planned a whole list of things to do during the delivery window, which was from eight to noon, to keep myself from thinking that the bed wasn't going to be delivered. Because I have trust issues. But instead at eight I dragged my blanket out to the couch and just sat under the blanket, feeling dreamy.

Get up Munt, I say to myself two hours later. Do something. Take out the trash, at least.

So I get up from under my blanket, putting my cell phone in my pocket for the bed people who are undoubtedly halfway to Mexico with my bed. I put on a pot of coffee. I bag up the trash, and then I get ambitious and break down all the cardboard boxes. I unlock the back door to my apartment and lock it behind me with my key and go down the stairs and peek out the side door of the building. The trash cans are supposedly in the back yard, which I've never seen. The back yard is piled with loose bricks, like piles of brick as high as my waist. I find the trash cans amidst the brick and put the trash in one of the trash cans, and I go back for the boxes.

I go out with the boxes, and for some reason this time I close the side door of the building firmly behind me. You know where this is going, right?

So I put the boxes in the trash can, and I go back to the side door, and of course, it's locked. I have locked myself out of every building I've lived in and also out of every vehicle I've owned. But ha, I have my key in my pocket. I used it to lock up my back door, remember. Only my key doesn't work on the side door, it's a different key. That I don't have. That is not fair. Ha ha, the front door. Only I haven't been out the front door today, and the chain is still on inside.

Ha ha ha.

At this point, I know without a doubt that my bed will be delivered as promised.

The delivery guys show up about ten minutes later. I have them put the bed in the little well in front of the garden apartment.

>inventory

bed slats
bed sides, boxed
mattress, wrapped in plastic
headboard and footboard, boxed
cell phone
wallet
key
sweatshirt
two t-shirts
long underwear
jeans
socks
slippers

I should mention it's December. Not the worst December ever, because I'm outside in a sweatshirt and two t-shirts and long underwear and jeans and socks and slippers—no coat—but still.

I bang on the neighbors' door, I leave two messages for my landlord, and then I call my ex-husband. "We finally got a car that you couldn't lock yourself out of," he says mournfully, not to mention that we disabled all the locks at home that could lock behind me. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, if my neighbors come home and if I don't freeze to death by four, you should come over and help me move my bed into my apartment."

Luckily, it's not that cold. If it gets too much, I can walk over to the internet cafe in my slippers like Vinnie the Chin. I mean, I have my wallet. I can buy shoes and a coat from K-Mart, if I want. I'd rather not leave my bed unattended, but who's going to steal a whole bed? Though I distinctly remember hearing on the radio that it's supposed to rain starting this afternoon.

About an hour later, I bang on the neighbors' door again.

They've actually been home this whole time.

So I go through their apartment and down the back stairs, and I try to unlock the back door to my apartment—and my key doesn't work. This is the one moment that I really give myself over to rage: I locked this door with this key! Is it a different key to unlock the door? Oh wait, I went down too many stairs; this is the garden apartment, this isn't my back door.

The bed slats are in a little bundle, nothing to carry. The bed sides are in a long box, but manageable. The mattress, though, up two flights of stairs into my apartment, all by myself. It's like an ant carrying a sandwich. I'm hulking up to get the last box with the headboard and footboard when the neighbors come out and their friend helps me carry it in.

I say to myself cheerfully, putting on another sweatshirt over my sweatshirt and two t-shirts, All's well that ends well! And that really seems to mean something when it starts to rain at about four o'clock.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Unicoroner's Pink Magic Smoothie

unicoroner's pink magic smoothie

I use the Bella Cucina Rocket Blender to make my smoothies.

BELIEVE that strawberries and peanut butter taste magically good together, and don't skimp on the peanut butter. Uni says that the two places she's had this used pineapple juice as a sweetener, but I didn't have any pineapple juice and honey is so good with with strawberries and with peanut butter. Uni also puts in a teaspoon of spirulina in her smoothies, but then it isn't pink.

about six or nine frozen strawberries
1/4 cup peanut butter
squirt of honey
almond milk

Put the strawberries and peanut butter in the blender cup, drizzle in some honey, and pour in a good amount of almond milk to almost fill the cup. Squirt in some Hershey's syrup. Screw on the cap, stick the cup on the motor base, and blend for 30 seconds. Then take it off the base and give it a little shake to get anything that's stuck on the top of the cup. Blend for another 20 seconds or until the smoothie is churning freely from top to bottom.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon Garlic Broccoli

angel hair pasta with lemon garlic broccoli

12 oz whole wheat angel hair pasta
   or 4 cups cooked pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 broccoli crown
5-7 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp lemon juice

Bring water to a boil for the pasta.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium low heat. Cut the broccoli into tiny florets, and chop any stem pieces about the size of the florets. Peel and mince the garlic, and saute over medium high heat until golden. I'd guess that this takes about ten minutes; but keep your eye on the garlic the whole time, because it goes fast as soon as it changes color and you don't want it burned. Scoop the garlic out of the pan and set it aside.

Okay now, CAREFULLLY, add the lemon juice to the hot oil, which will spatter like mad. If it's too much danger, this recipe also tastes good without the lemon juice. I know you laugh at danger, though. Whisk the lemon juice with the oil, so you're making a sort of hot lemon vinaigrette. Add the broccoli to the pan and saute until crisp tender.

Meanwhile cook the angel hair until al dente, about four minutes. Drain the pasta and when the broccoli is cooked, stir in about half the pasta and put away the rest of the pasta for later. If you have cooked pasta that you put away before, you can just add it right to the pan after the spinach is cooked and heat through. Add the sauteed garlic, and mix well.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

T-Shirt Surgery: A Racerback Dress

Reprinted from December 4, 2009.

200911225_racerback2

For fuller instructions on measuring yourself and marking out an A-line dress, see T-Shirt Surgery: A Simple A-Line Dress. I still cut the front and back together and sew up the sides, as for an A-line dress...

...then I cut the racerback, which goes like this:

20091224_racerback

  1. Draw two vertical lines a desired width apart down the center of the back.
  2. Draw four parallel diagonal lines from the inside and outside shoulders to the center band.
  3. Draw a horizontal line across the back from armpit to armpit.
  4. Draw a little curve at the neck.
  5. Draw curves from the horizontal armpit line to the diagonal shoulder line on both sides.
  6. Cut out the racerback as drawn.
Just don't get freaked out about the curves. It's all straight lines, and the curves are just to round out the angles.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

T-Shirt Surgery: A Simple A-Line Dress

Reprinted by request from May 20, 2009. I used to be the world's biggest fan of skating in a dress, but then there was the Great Pants Shift and besides that my t-shirt surgeries have been showing more and more skin. But, a simple A-line dress is a good place to start.

20090517_skatingsaves

omg lol look how skinny my legs are

First, measure yourself. I don't know if measuring goes against some punk principle of t-shirt surgery. But know thyself, that's the kind of punk I am:

1. Measure yourself across from armpit to armpit. Your dress can be narrower than this up top, but not wider because this is where it will hit your shoulder. If it goes past your shoulder, it won't look like a good fit.

2. Measure yourself down from your shoulder to your underarm or bust. Your armhole is going to hit between these two points. If it's higher, your arm won't go through too well! If it's lower, your boob will show (though that's a choice, too.)

3. Measure yourself around the bust. Your dress can be wider than this here, but not narrower because your boobs will be squished.

A note on boobs: I am flat as a board, so the following pattern works fine for me. You know how Eskimos have like eighty words for snow? I have, like, no words for darts.

Next, measure and mark the shirt. This is an XL t-shirt, by the way. I'm totally recutting the top to fit, and leaving it long and roomy at the bottom. Oh and, I'm using my 6" x 24" Omnigrid quilter's ruler to measure and this white watercolor pencil to mark with. The roadside of my life is littered with failed hobbies, and the tools I bought for them. But did you know that Doris Day of the Dead's mom is a pretty famous quilter? I have her book, but anyway—

First, turn the shirt inside-out and smooth it out as flat as you can:

20090519_aline

1. Find the center of the shirt. I measure from edge to edge on the neckband, locate the halfway point on my ruler, and mark with a little vertical line on the neckband.

2. Measure and mark your desired width across the shoulders. I measured six inches out from center on both sides, or twelve inches across for this dress.

3. Measure and mark your desired drop from shoulder to underarm. Mine is eight inches.

4. Measure and mark your desired width across the bust. My bust measurement is 30 inches, I divided that in half & measured out 7-1/2 inches from center and then added about a half-inch seam allowance on both sides.

5. Draw a curve between the two widths. You can eyeball this, or you can use a curved ruler. I've had this ruler similar to this Fairgate Fashion Form Hip French Curve 3-in-1 Rule all along, almost never used for fifteen years. It works great, who knew?

6. Draw a diagonal line from the armhole to the shirt hem. I go all the way to the edge of the shirt, because I need room for my butt.

Now, cut around the armholes and down the sides of the shirt. I cut the front and back together, so they're the same for this dress.

Finally, sew the sides up to the armholes. Leave the rest of the shirt unfinished. Actually I liked how the neckband looked, so I left it on & I left the hem, too.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Tofu Fried Rice

fried rice for breakfast

On and off again, I make this for Saturday breakfast, well, brunch really, before noon practice, if I have a container of leftover rice from the week's veganly beans. I often do. I usually have onions, carrots, garlic, and ginger on hand, and I've been keeping corn and peas in takealong containers in the freezer for this. It's maybe a teeny bit heavy to eat before practice, but then I have leftover fried rice for my two work lunches and it's perfect for that.

This is also a really good bout day breakfast.

1 lb firm tofu
vegetable or peanut oil
1 onion
3 carrots
3-5 garlic cloves
a thumb sized piece of ginger
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
4 cups cooked rice

Dice the tofu and let it drain in a colander lined with paper towels.

Heat a good amount of oil, about 2-4 tablespoons, in a cast iron or other nonstick pan over medium high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the tofu in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Now the key is to leave it to brown.

So now dice the onion and carrots. When you've done that, the tofu should be browned enough that you can stir it up without sticking to the pan. Hopefully. Let it cook a few minutes more, then scoop the tofu out of the pan into a large bowl. Add the onion and carrots to the pan, and leave them.

Mince the garlic and ginger, and add them to the onion and carrots. Saute a few minutes until the aromatics are fragrant, then add the corn and peas. Saute until corn and peas are cooked, about five or ten more minutes, then scoop the vegetables into the bowl with the tofu.

Now heat another couple tablespoons of oil and when it shimmers, add the rice in a single layer. Leave that to brown for about five minutes, then stir it up. Add the tofu and vegetables back to the pan, stir it all together, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Sargentina's Green Meanie Smoothie

sargentina's green meanie smoothie

I use the Bella Cucina Rocket Blender to make my smoothies.

Ha ha, it's perfect that Sarge invented a camo-colored smoothie. The only thing I do different from what Sarge said is that I use frozen banana instead of banana and ice. I think maybe the ice lightens it a little, so I use almond milk as my milk of choice.

Also double hit, this smoothie counts as a fruit and a vegetable serving—

a little bit of baby spinach
frozen banana
1/2 avocado, cut up
almond milk or your milk of choice
squirt of Hershey's syrup

Put the baby spinach, frozen banana, and avocado in the blender cup, then pour in a good amount of almond milk to almost fill the cup. Squirt in some Hershey's syrup. Screw on the cap, stick the cup on the motor base, and blend for 30 seconds. Then take it off the base and give it a little shake to get anything that's stuck on the top of the cup. Blend for another 20 seconds or until the smoothie is churning freely from top to bottom.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Pasta with Sauteed Mushrooms, Garlic, and Spinach

pasta with sauteed spinach and mushrooms

So this picture looks just like a drier version of last week's pasta with spinach recipe. But trust me, it is really different and really delicious.

12 oz whole wheat pasta
   or 4 cups cooked pasta
olive oil
1/2 lb mushrooms
1 lb baby spinach
3-5 cloves garlic

Bring water to a boil for the pasta.

Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium low heat. Wipe, trim, and finely chop the mushrooms, and add them to the pan. Peel and mince the garlic, and saute with the mushrooms over medium high heat until the mushrooms are softened and browned, about ten minutes. Meanwhile, wash and chop the spinach. You don't have to drain or dry the spinach before chopping, it will cook better wet. Add the spinach to the pan and saute until well wilted, about ten minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile cook the pasta until al dente, about ten minutes. Drain the pasta and when the vegetables are cooked, stir them together with about half the pasta and put away the rest of the pasta for later. If you have cooked pasta that you put away before, you can just add it right to the pan after the spinach is cooked and heat through.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The Buyer's Guide to Skates:
 "lightweight" Riedell She-Devils with PowerDyne Thrust plates

spartakris

THIS IS SPARTY!!! that is, SpartaKris, The Fury's fantastic rookie blocker, and her She-Devil skates. I like that Sparty opted for the "lightweight" She-Devils, which normally come packaged with aluminum Triton plates. I pretty strongly favor sticking with nylon Thrust plates until you can afford Reactors, but I will eventually have folks in who have the mid-level aluminum plates to advocate for them.

The 126 boot is based on the 125 or "RS-1000" speed boot, except that it is built on the D/B split last (wide toe, narrow heel) designed to better fit women's feet. It is a lower price point boot than the 265 Vandal or Wicked boot, which have an upgraded counter, slightly more padding, and tongue elastic to keep it from slipping.

How long have you been playing derby?
One glorious year. Since April of 2010.

What is your current skate setup?

Boots
The Reidell 126 boot (which is normally part of the She Devil package).

Plates
I switched out the heavier plate the package came with and opted for the PowerDyne nylon plate. I’m cheap and wanted more flex and a lighter skate without buying super expensive plates. They get the job done.

Cushions
Truthfully, I have no idea. I have whatever came with my skates. I sound like an idiot. Just another skate part I need to read up on I suppose.

Bearings
Kwik ABEC-9s. I totally need new ones. I’ve run these to the ground and never cleaned them. I really am still learning about all the things that matter on your skates. I guess bearings are one of them. You’ll be able to tell as soon as I can afford new ones because I’ll start being fast enough to jam. Ha.

Wheels
I'm currently trying out the Radar 92a Tile Biters. I was really hesitant to try out narrow wheels for some reason, but I’m a huge fan so far. I feel like it’s helped my plow stops and my work in progress hockey stops, or “plockey” stops as they look like at the current moment.

Toestops
I have the 2” Snyder toe stops. I’m a bigger girl, and smaller toe stops made me feel sooooo unstable and like I needed to walk on my tip toes because they were never low enough. It was so awkward. These are awesome, and I’m trying to get in the habit of using them more. Because I hated my old toe stops, I got in the bad habit of just avoiding using them. Apparently, they are beneficial for lots of things. Psssshhhhhh...

How long have you had these skates?
Since December, so about 5 months.

What skates did you have before, if any?
I had the Diablo skate package with G-Rod 93 wheels.

How does your current setup compare to what you had? What were you trying to improve from your previous setup, if anything?
It is like night and day. My old skates were fine to start with because I knew nothing about skates and it was in my price range when I started skating and it helped me learn the basics. Then I was told that the issues I was having with skating were because my skates were too big. I figured your skates should fit like gym shoes, with a little room, not like ballet slippers where your toes are touching the edge. I didn’t know any better, and if some fabulous veteran skaters didn’t help me out and try to fix my ridiculous looking crossovers, I still wouldn’t know.

My new setup has helped me immensely. I have a lot more control while skating, my jacked up crossovers have slowly gotten better, and I don’t feel like an idiot using my toe stops. I also no longer need to stuff Kleenex in my skates so they are snug!!

If you don't mind, what is your height and weight?
I’m 5’4, and as far as weight, I’ll choose the Myspace.com body type option. “More to love.” Hahaha. Truthfully, I haven't weighed myself since I started derby. I’d guesstimate 170ish? I should have one of those carnival folk guess it for me... or just buy a scale and weigh myself one of these days.

How would you describe your skating style--low, high, short or long stride, whatever comes to mind...
I’d say my skating style is a work in progress. I definitely stand up too much and I’m still working on making my crossovers as beautiful as Kola Loka’s. Someday... someday...

Are there any gear considerations that you keep in mind with regard to your body type and/or skating style?
Not really. I’m still in the process of figuring out and perfecting what I like and don’t like. It’s really a trial and error with me. What I’ve finally thrown together is working for me right now, but I don’t know how to correlate that with my size/build/etc. I don’t think there is a consistent across the board “if you are this size, then this is for you” in derby. There are tiny girls that skate on hard wheels, and heavier girls that skate on soft wheels, and everything in between with skates. It’s just really all about personal preference and what you feel most comfortable with and what just feels right when you go to skate. My skates feel right, for right now.

Anything else that you would like to share?
I don't have anything else to say about my skates, but I will advise people that they should never hesitate to ask another skater about their skates or for help or information. That’s how I have learned everything about skates and how I ended up going with my current skates. I found it to be suuuuuuper intimidating and way overwhelming with all the skate information out there, so it helps to ask around first and get some different feedback.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Veganly Red Beans with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Garlic

veganly red beans

I had half a red bell and half a green bell pepper left over in the fridge, so that's what I used.

I was having a problem with my veganly beans this winter. I mean, my black beans with sweet potato and garlic are so good. I didn't even post my red beans though, they were so undistinguished. If you're wondering about the etymology of veganly beans, and I'm sure you are, they used to be called vaguely beans, as in "vaguely cuban" and "vaguely cajun," and all the recipes included meat. When I stopped cooking meat, I changed them to veganly beans and for the longest time I couldn't think how to make red beans and sausage taste really good without, you know, sausage.

Truthfully also, my pinto and cannellini recipes are just okay. I mean, they're okay as soup. I have renamed them as such, reinvented recipes TK. But proper veganly beans I think should not be a thin soup, they should stick to your ribs. Tomato paste thickens the black beans, but you don't want everything to taste like tomato paste. What else to do.

I solved the first problem by abandoning the vague idea of cajun for this recipe and really reaching for something umami. Everybody knows that mushrooms are umami, but did you know also tomatoes, spinach, asparagus, and corn are umami? So you can mix it up for your umami tooth, I picked cherry tomatoes for this.

I went back to cajun to solve the second problem, I cooked a little roux in the middle of the recipe to thicken the broth.

So good, y'all.

ETA: I usually eat veganly beans with rice; so before I start the beans, I put on a pot of rice.

1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 head garlic
olive oil
1 onion
2-3 stalks celery
1 green bell pepper
1-2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cayenne
1 can broth
1 can red beans, rinsed and drained

Heat oven to 500 degrees. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Separate the head of garlic into cloves, smash the cloves to peel them, and chop them into large pieces. Toss the tomatoes and garlic with olive oil, and a little bit of salt and pepper. Roast for about twenty minutes.

Gently heat oil over low heat as you finely chop the onion, celery, and pepper, adding vegetables to the pan as they are chopped. Turn up the heat to medium high and saute aromatics until golden, about ten minutes. Stir in flour and cayenne and cook until well browned, about ten minutes or more. Add broth and cook a couple minutes more, then add beans, tomatoes, and garlic. Simmer until slightly thickened, about twenty minutes.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Basic Greek Yogurt Cheese

basic greek yogurt cheese

The coffee filter is set over this coffee mug because I broke the carafe.

a pint of greek yogurt

Spoon the yogurt into a coffee filter, cover with plastic wrap if desired, and put it in the refrigerator to drain overnight. In the morning, it should be about the consistency of cream cheese. It will keep in an airtight container, refrigerated, for a week. Maybe longer, I always eat it up in a week.

You can spread this like cream cheese on a bagel, or on a slice of whole wheat bread. It's also good with a little jam spooned on top, or instead of hummus with smushed avocado, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Or with an underlayer of peanut butter or other nut butter...

Friday, May 6, 2011

May Diet Quality Card

may diet card

I have emancipated myself from Corner Bakery. It happened in two stages, first switching from coffee with blueberry muffin to coffee with bagel and cream cheese and then discovering that you can strain greek yogurt even more and get greek yogurt cheese that is very like cream cheese. For some reason I can only get nonfat greek yogurt at the Jewel, so this is nonfat, super protein like cream cheese. So now I have tea with whole wheat toast and greek yogurt cheese for breakfast at work. Lately I'm eating it for breakfast at home, too. Which means not so much greek yogurt and applesauce, so I'm down a little protein and a little fruit. At least I'm finally done with white foods and back to whole wheat bread and brown rice, so my card is looking not bad again.

I guess I also emancipated myself from afternoon snacks, not for any nutritional reason. Or well, I guess it was partly to time dinner better with my evening practices. It's perfect to eat dinner at five thirty and then get on my bike at six thirty for seven o'clock practice. If I eat a snack at three, I'm not hungry blah blah blah. Mostly though, it was to train myself to work for longer blocks of time. What can I say, I like food and I slow down for snack breaks. So now I eat every four hours instead of three, and my meals are basically breakfast, lunch, dinner, and post workout snack. I guess I don't feel hungry, but I'm not covering as much of my card and also I've lost a few pounds.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Pasta with Creamed Spinach
 a.k.a. pasta florentine

pasta with creamed spinach

This is a little different from the pasta I normally eat, but I was feeling blue and wanted something creamy and also was wondering if I could make bechamel with almond milk. And you can, so then I wasn't blue anymore.

12 oz whole wheat pasta
   or 4 cups cooked pasta
1 lb spinach
2 Tbsp butter
1 shallot
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup almond milk
pinch nutmeg

Bring water to a boil for the pasta.

Wilt spinach in a saute pan over medium high heat. Rinse with cold water and let drain.

Melt buttah in the saute pan over low heat. Peel and mince the shallot, and saute gently while you squeeze as much water as you can out of the spinach and chop it finely. Add flour and cook for a couple minutes over medium high heat, then whisk in almond milk. Stir and cook sauce over high heat for another couple minutes until thickened. Stir in the nutmeg and chopped spinach, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile cook the pasta until al dente, about ten minutes. Drain the pasta and when the sauce is ready, stir about half the pasta into the sauce and put away the rest of the pasta for later. If you have cooked pasta that you put away before, you can just add it right to the pan after sauce is ready and heat through.

Hint: If you don't add the pasta, then you just have creamed spinach. Which is very good as a side dish with you-know-what.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Avocado and Hummus Toast

avocado and hummus toast

I used to know this thing about wrapping and refrigerating the avocado half with the pit in supposedly to keep it from turning brown. But do you know what else works, eating the whole avocado.

good whole wheat bread or bagel, toasted
hummus
avocado
lime juice
salt
pepper

Spread hummus on each piece of bread, scoop the avocado on the hummus, and sprinkle with lime juice, salt, and pepper.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Spring Pastime Wear

Man, I got nothing. The two pairs of jeans that didn't fit with a layer under, they're too tight to wear with underwear at all and they're too tight to wear without underwear if you know what I mean. So I'm down to two pairs of jeans, and one of them I just mended within an inch of its life. At some point I have to get new jeans. What jeans fit derby thighs, it would probably be a public service if I found out.

For starters: What's Your Levi's Curve ID Shape?

A: Supreme Curve, bitches.

Monday, May 2, 2011

 

* ggggh
* wash up
# black tea with toast and greek yogurt cheese
* make bed
* fold laundry
* do dishes
# veganly kidney beans
* post post-IKC practice schedule
* talk to Myra
# pasta with red sauce
* pivot practice
* fresh meat scrimmage
# banana almond smoothie