So I remain endlessly disgruntled that Starbucks doesn't do a soy version of the Frappucino. I mean, Frappucinos are one of my favourite summer snacks, and what is a trip to Starbucks without them?
No matter, I've been stuck with the iced green tea soy latte.
So what is with the fact that this is never made properly? So I don't get the whipped cream on top and I don't mix it with green tea liquer as pictured (hah), but I have never seen one look remotely like this!
Every second sip I take involves clumps of that green tea stuff. And it's never frothy, instead just being randomly stirred with a metal stick for a few seconds.
I like the general taste when it joins forces in my mouth, but the inability of the baristas to actually make it taste like a consolidated beverage rather than a combination of green tea bits, soy milk, and ice or the inability of Starbucks to put together a method of production that is a little less difficult for said staff? So very unfortunate.
Perhaps I should just switch to iced coffees for good.
Hey! There apparently is a word for what I'm doing: pescetarian. Who'd have thought?
In any case, things have been fabulous since we got our barbecued. I grilled tuna steaks for Dave's birthday with lemon and fresh herbs. I've been making some delectable salads, and am particularly re-loving my baked homemade french fries (curried is best). I've even started having soymilk on my cereal without a problem.
You know what I don't like, though?
At the cottage last weekend, I was a little forlorn at the lack of steak action, but veggie burgers with steak spice helped me out. However! When Dave was having his amazing Italian sausages, I decided to try out some veggie dogs. Now, I hadn't had veggie dogs in probably ten years, and when I had them, I completely hated them. But my sister swore to me they were great again, and I gave 'em a shot.
Dave called them Not Dogs and said they looked like Tootsie Rolls.
They were sick. Sick. I couldn't even finish a single one and hated them so much that I actually threw them in the garbage.
Nonetheless, when I found soy chicken nugget looking things and soy chicken strips, I still bought 'em. Sigh.
These are yummy.
I barbecued mine and Dave had a regular burger. Made some guacamole and topped heavily. Threw a side spinach salad alongside it.
Delish!
No real time to post with the family visiting, but lookie what I made today. Golden vanilla cupcakes with coconut pecan frosting, another from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.
Pure vegan, baby.
So tonight, I made my first foray into the world of cooking with tofu. And you know what? It was freaking great!
I am a huge fan of Indian food and have been craving it madly lately. Naturally, my favourite dish is butter chicken, and I was totally forlorn that I could no longer have it. But with Dave requesting mini-pizzas for dinner (ugh, I know), I decided to grab some tofu and coconut milk and give something new a shot. Et voila! My very own recipe. And, no, GroupRecipes won't do apostrophes in recipe names, which is why the contraction was expanded there.
I added spinach for kicks, as I tend to think it tastes good in everything, but you obviously don't have to.
Tonight, I'm going for a new batch of vegan cupcakes - I'd intended to last night, but after my food processor kind of crapped out due to the peanut butter experiment and I didn't make it to Williams-Sonoma today, I'm going to go with a new standard. I will make two dozen so the work people can share in my giddiness.
I should be sainted. Honestly.
And the eating is fresh!
I don't yet have the KitchenAid pasta-making attachments, but I nonetheless bought a package of Olivieri fettucine tonight and opted for fresh with this recipe for Summer Splendor Pasta.
The only variations I went for were as follows:
- Pan fried the zucchini with a little oil instead of boiling it.
- Cooked the sauce with a little oil instead of using water.
- Skipped the wine (none in the house, booo).
- Added a sprinkle of oregano.
- Added a teaspoon or so of sugar.
Next up, I made bunnyrock's homemade peanut butter. I added about a quarter cup of agave syrup to this, as I'm still getting used to sweet-free nut butters. And I don't know if my blender is just giving me crap or what, but I'm having a tough time getting it to a texture similar to hers in this picture. Why? It's a GE! Don't fail me now, Jack Welch/Jack Donaghy! (Either way, I used pumpkin pie spice - cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves - and it tastes damn delicious.)
I will be giving the raw vegan brownies from 28 Cooks a shot once I figure out if my blender can handle them.
I made this tonight.
I am so done with olives and capers. I think I made it too much with chicken last summer. Dave found it fine, but I was all meh. Also, halibut is really boring in flavour. I added so many tastes and it still tasted kind of like... nothing with olives and capers. And really fishy fish. Meh again.
It didn't help that Dave's white basmati smelled amazing and I mixed up the burners with my brown wild rice, leaving it mushy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
No matter, I'm making a new batch of cupcakes tonight and they'll make all right with the world.
So last night I went to Rockstar Hotel - read the whole scoop here.
On the food front, all turned out peachy. The whole gang did a huge sushi platter for dinner, which was just fine for my little tummy. I stuck with vodka cranberries for the evening, though I politely sipped champagne and a green tea martini before forcing my client to chug them for me (she knows the deal and I don't like attention and questions). Hah.
The Fresh lunch yesterday was pretty great. I had grilled cornbread, an energy bowl sans chickpea/vegetable stew, and rocket fuel sans espresso. It was pretty fabulous, though I felt a few sharp pangs afterwards. (Suspect the curried coconut milk may have been full fat, which may have been a little tough to process, but it wasn't bad enough that I wouldn't have it again. Hah!) Amy is awesome and we had a really great chat, followed by a little shopping around Queen West. Fun!
I also picked up the Fresh cookbook while I was out and am currently learning about tofu, tempeh, and some other crazy soy-based hippie foods that I will be living on. (I am only partially kidding.)
The Starbucks situation is happily resolved with the iced soy green tea latte. Better than no fun drink, and good to get the soymilk in (hey, did you know that it's supposed to be one word? learned that in my new cookbook).
So today will involve a little Home Depot, a little gardening my cement yard, and a little grocery shopping for the coming week. Dinner is currently up in the air, but I'm thinking maybe something from my new cookbook would be a fit. Though so would more trout... mmmmm.
Have a good one!
So today, I'm meeting my awesome friend Amy for lunch at Fresh. I will surely review what I eat.
The last two days have been kind of nuts. Thursday was a big work event. On my husband's assurance that something mild would be a-okay as she said limit not entirely avoid the booze, I dared to try a vodka and cranberry in a tall glass - and it went down just fine. (I waited two hours after I finished to be certain, then so did the second. Hah.) I am pleased to discover that I may have to swear off nachos, but I officially don't have to avoid patios for the rest of the summer.
In any case, it was a super late night and then I was completely exhausted yesterday. I fell asleep at maybe 10PM and just got up at 11AM.
Thirteen hours! Sad, honestly.
But now I'm revitalized, which is good seeing as I have that Amy lunch, then am going to work on the great outdoors known as my tiny yard al day, and will follow the whole thing up with Rockstar Hotel with clients. We're in possession of VVIP passes, which apparently means we will get gifted with celeb-type bags o' stuff. That's the only reason I agreed, as I have no idea what to where and generally hate things that start at 10:30PM. Hah!
Oh yeah, and I made swordfish and red lentils for dinner last night. Must not forget that swordfish most definitely needs flavours of some sort pre-cooking (forgot to do this in my rush to eat something and it was rather bland) and red lentils needed far more spices than green, but cook much more easily.
As I sit here watching Rock of Love (I know!), I am considering today's failings.
First up: I put my oat/quinoa blend on this morning before getting in the shower. Then it burned. Then I tried to salvage what wasn't burned. Then I added flax oil to try to get more good stuff in. Then I wished I'd only put in one teaspoon instead of two. Ew.
The mid-day was fine, then came the evening.
I got stuck in traffic. It took me nearly ninety minutes to do my fifteen minute drive home. That said, I knew I was returning home to yummy sushi. Sadly, it hadn't occurred to me that sushi could have sneaky elements. Sadly, I forgot that spicy salmon rolls have little tempura bits. Boo! Unfair!
But I did buy that cupcake book today! Dave is happy to point out that, though I have yet to master vegan cooking overall, I have taken charge of the cupcake situation like a professional. But they have so many options! Ganache! Fillings! Frostings! Snickerdoodle flavour!
Tomorrow... I'm thinking fresh pasta. Well, grocery store fresh (until I get the KitchenAid Mixer pasta attachments). Like that! But without shrimp. I also need to pick up some tomatoes, cocoa, and... oh, I swear there's something else. Anyway. Yes! Fresh pasta.