Fact #288: I'm obsessed with quinoa

Seriously, you guys. I am.

If quinoa was my neighbor, I would always coincidentally leave my apartment the same time it was going out, so we'd just happen to bump into each other, and I'd inexplicably know intimate personal details about it, like its favorite book or its middle name.

If quinoa was a celebrity, I would be completely, absolutely positive that if I was just able to slip past its entourage of security guards, our eyes would meet, our souls would collide, and we'd be together for the rest of forever. Because we are M.F.E.O.

All that might make me sound super creepy, but I can't help it. That's what quinoa does to me! It makes me crazy.

Why do I love it so much?? Well, let's see. According to Livestrong.com:

Quinoa is a complete protein, which means that it contains all the amino acids necessary for our nutritional needs. Complete proteins are rare in the plant world, making quinoa an excellent food for vegetarians and vegans, or for anyone looking for healthy protein source. It's also high in iron and calcium, and is a good source of manganese, magnesium and copper, as well as fiber.

Ooo! Quinoa, you're so cool.

Quinoa is an awesome substitute for rice in pretty much any dish. I also like to put it in salads. Or make muffins with it. Or use it in a parfait. The list goes on and on!

For real, everybody. Quinoa rocks. You heard it here first. (Or here, 5,000 years ago.)

 Looks like meh.

Tastes like MAGIC.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #282: Preparation for being a broke-ass student

I got all these overripe bananas from the grocery store yesterday...

...for a DOLLAR!!! Whaaaa?!

I froze them in chunks and will use them to make delicious smoothies (and possibly also delicious banana bread). For a DOLLAR!!

Take that, ramen.


Til tomorrow!

Fact #255: Just shut up and eat it

Last night after my yoga class, I went home and cooked a delicious black eyed pea, sweet potato, and broccoli ..thing.. while I drank wine and danced around the kitchen to my new favorite band of all time, The Black Keys. They're just so good for dancing to in the kitchen!

Aaaanyway, it occurred to me that 90% of my cooking involves throwing a bunch of stuff in a pot or a skillet, mixing it all together with some oil and lots of garlic, then glooping it out onto a plate and eating it. I mean, it tastes super delicious. But it's not so easy on the ol' eyeballs. There's not a lot of fine presentation. I don't often garnish.

I'm a pretty lazy cook, so the concept of one-pot cooking appeals to me at a basic level. One dirty dish. One thing to stir. One big tupperware full of food in my fridge. What do you even call that type of dish? It's not a stew, exactly. It's more of a hash.

Yum, huh?

Yeah, that's me. Laurel Schroeder, hash-master.

While some people are busy marinating things, creating individual servings, and doing different things to different ingredients, I'm throwing everything I can find into my magic pot and keeping my fingers crossed it will turn into something I can eat.

Well, so far, so good. It isn't fancy, but it works!


Til tomorrow.

Fact #184: Ha HAH!

Hello and welcome to another installment of, Holy Crap, I Totally Made That!

Yesterday I ventured out to the East End Co-op -- clutching my handy-dandy shopping list in my.. well.. hand, I wandered the aisles searching for everything on the list. And I'm proud to report that I left the store with every single ingredient I needed to make this recipe for Pressure Cooker Indian Chickpeas by VeganDad.

Here's most of what I got.

Here are some spices cooking in oil.

Here's how it all turned out!

Yes, the finished product is a bit uglier than the original ingredients. But it's also a hundred times tastier, so there!

Seriously, this is super good. Everything but the chickpeas sort of disintegrates, making this thick stew-like thing chock full of flavor!

I used sweet potatoes, not butternut squash, and I think that was totally the right call. The sweetness of the potatoes was a great contrast to the spices -- and I actually added more pepper to make it a little spicier. Because I'm cool like that.


Til tomorrow!

Fact #179: This is why I'm a bad cook

I'm not an awesome cook. I mean, I can do it. I can rise to the occasion if need be -- but it doesn't really come naturally to me.

If I follow a recipe to the letter, I can usually turn out an okay meal. But the problem is, I almost never do that.

I'll look at a recipe and if there are any ingredients I don't have or don't want to track down, I just say to myself, "Eh, I probably don't really need that." Sometimes I'll say that about half the ingredients! Or I'll try substituting some completely random, unrelated ingredients for whatever ones I don't have.

So I probably shouldn't be too surprised when my dishes don't turn out anything like the pictures in the cookbooks. Ah well...


Til tomorrow!

Fact #174: 2011 -- roughly the number of french fries I ate today

Today was the first day of the new year. So far, I'm pretty satisfied.

I started 2011 off on the right foot with a full body workout -- pulling/pushing my niece around the house in a laundry basket, then hefting the basket into the air over and over. Seriously, that was a better workout than I've gotten in a long time. No personal trainer in the world will ever motivate me more than Isla's sweet voice saying, "Again, again!"

Then, to counterbalance my workout, I spent the afternoon consuming half my body-weight in french fries and cheese covered in gravy. It was my brother and sister-in-law's second annual New Year's Day Poutine and Pints Party! Poutine is a Canadian dish -- and its three ingredients are french fries, cheese, and gravy.

Uh. Yum.

We borrowed my other brother's industrial grade french fry cutter. (Yeah, he's got an industrial grade french fry cutter! The real question is, why don't you? And why don't I??). That process in itself was another kind of workout. As you can see, slicing up dozens of potatoes takes a bit of upper body strength!



So that's it. One day of 2011 down, 364 more to go. I have very high hopes for this year. I think it's gonna be a good one.


Til tomorrow!

Fact #154: Cooooookies!!!

We made Christmas cookies tonight! Yum!


This picture was taken before I scarfed down half the plate. Like I said: yum.

Happy holidays! Ho, ho, ow-my-tummy!


Til tomorrow.

Fact #152: Skills I wish I had

Over the years that I've been alive, I'd say I've learned a few new things here and there. Picked up a few extra skills.

But there are still so many more things I want to be better at!!! In honor of almost-new-year's-resolution time, here are a few skills I wish I had:

Musical ability. Specifically, the ability to play an instrument and carry a tune.

Telling good stories. I am in awe of people who can turn the most mundane event into an epic tale just by the way they weave the story together. I'm too easily distracted, I usually go off on tangents and sometimes never even make it to the end of my story.

Getting out of a car gracefully. I wish I could do it with style -- one leg sliding out, then the other, announcing my arrival to the world. The way I do it now, I sort of throw myself out of the car headfirst, like I'm Bruce Willis in an action movie. Or Bruce Willis in a comedy.

Bigger boobs. It's a skill!

Being able to improvise in the kitchen. I follow recipes to the letter, or risk certain doom. I'd love to be able to do the "dash of this, splash of that" method without disastrous consequences.

Interior decorating. I just don't get it. I can appreciate a well put together house, but achieving that for myself is a whole different story. The best I've been able to manage so far is, "not horrible".

Knitting. This one I think I'll actually be able to cross off the list before too long. I got a start on learning how to knit during Hobson's Choice rehearsals -- I need a lot more practice, but I've got the basic stitch down. I want to knit myself the fattest, plushiest scarf ever.

Til tomorrow!