Quick and Cheap Dry Erase Menu DIY

Truth time:
I'm pretty damn ready for the chalkboard trend to be over.

I will gladly grant you the fact that chalkboards are stylish, and have an old-fashioned beauty to them, and some of the designs artists create are breathtaking. But LORDY ME, I cannot stand the feel of chalk on chalkboard. I don't know why we even needed to come up with the phrase "nails on chalkboard," because isn't chalk bad enough?! You can never get that dry, scratchy feeling to go away, and the dust gets everywhere. Messy, messy. Definitely not a practical every day solution to me. You know what IS? Dry erase. I LOVE me a dry erase board. They erase so crisply and cleanly, write so smoothly, and there's no dust to be found. Beauteous.

The problem, however, is that most dry erase boards are seriously butt-ugly. Plasticky and cheap-looking, even the pricy ones, and if you buy a cheap one they tend to stain after a couple erases.

The solution? The thrift store! My favorite solution to so many problems!

Step One: Buy a framed picture from the thrift store. It'll need to have a glass pane, not plastic.

Shocking that someone before me hadn't picked up this water-damaged little gem...

Step Two: Destroy! Tear out the back of the frame and remove the current photo/drawing. If you can find a fancy schmancy one with a removable and replaceable back, good on you. This one was so thoroughly sealed that I'm still a bit surprised there weren't incriminating documents hidden within.

Step Three: Almost die of tetanus poisoning. Avoid this step, if possible.

There were EIGHTEEN nails in this sucker. I have bookshelves with fewer fasteners.

Step Four: Create! Make a pretty menu (or just pretty paper/whathaveyou, if you're making a regular dry erase board) and paint/finish the frame, if necessary. I spray painted mine white.

Step Five: Reassemble! Put everything back together, and voila! A pretty, personalized dry erase board, and the glass will be higher quality than any of the cheapo boards you can get at most stores, and erase more nicely.

Mushroom, Fennel and "Sausage" Stew

Recently, I purchased a tube of Light Life Gimme Lean Sausage on impulse. Since I didn't eat much meat before I went vegan, I don't really ever miss it, and so rarely feel the need to buy faux meat foodstuffs. But lately I've found myself feeling pretty tired of plain old tofu, and though I wasn't sure what I'd use it in, it seemed like a fun way to play around in the kitchen. 

Later, as I was putting away my groceries, I realized I'd unintentionally picked up ingredients to make the MOST delicious stew ever, and the perfect meal for this sh*tastic weather. Mushrooms, fennel, "sausage," potatoes and vegetable stock -  it practically created itself right there on my counter. It was like a far less creepy version of that scene in Ghostbusters where Sigourney Weaver's carton of eggs comes alive. 

How many times have I seen this movie and I'm JUST NOW noticing that those are Stay-Puft Marshmallows?

It's also pretty great that it's quick and simply to throw together and, despite being hearty and filling, is only 300 calories and less than 1 gram of fat per serving. 

Mushroom, Fennel and Sausage Stew

makes 4 servings

1 14 oz package of Light Life Gimme Lean Ground Sausage

2 bulbs fennel, sliced (I'm partial to pretty sizable chunks)

2 carrots, chopped

2 cups chopped mushrooms

2 medium potatoes, chopped

1/2 onion, diced

1 cup white wine

4 cups vegetable stock

1.5 tsp sage

1.5 tbsp thyme

salt to taste

olive oil for sautéing

Saute the onions in oil in the bottom of a medium pot. After a minute, add the fennel. Cook, stirring occasionally for a couple minutes, then add the sage and thyme, and cook for several minutes more. Add the sausage and wine and cook, stirring (and chopping the sausage into pieces) for several minutes. Toss the potatoes, carrots and stock into the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes and carrots are just about done. Add the mushrooms and continue to simmer until all the vegetables are tender and the stock has reduced enough to thicken the stew. If you like your stew thicker or thinner, simmer for more or less time accordingly.

Keeps well in the fridge, and freezes well, too, so it's great to have on hand, especially for chilly nights. 

Enjoy!

wishlist wednesday

Ahem. So. It miiiight be Friday, not Wednesday. But I'm a pretty firm believer in "better late than never," so we'll make due. Plus, it gave me inspiration for this week's theme: time-travel!

A. I wish I could pop back to Wednesday real quick and make this post then.
B. I wish I could go back in time and meet Eleanor of Aquitaine, because she was a seriously badass lady. Plus, maybe we could work out some sort of French-English citizenship deal.
C. I wish I could go back to the late 1930's and hang out with Katharine Hepburn on the set of The Philadelphia Story. And sing Lydia, Oh, Lydia with Virginia Weidler. And drool over Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. But mostly I'd just LOVE to be buds with Katharine Hepburn.
D. I'm not one to want to know the future, so that has little appeal to me in a time-travel-empowered world. But I would love to go far enough into the future to reach the point when space travel is available to the everyman. RocketBus to Mars? Yes, please.

Happy wishful thinking, and happy Valentine's Day!

miso hungry: a love letter to souen

While I was living in New York, I didn't do nearly enough of the things I love most about the city. I didn't go to enough galleries or museums, I didn't spend enough time in Central Park, and I most certainly didn't eat out enough at my favorite restaurants. So every time I go back to visit, I'm torn between looking for new places to eat or returning to old haunts, namely among them Pukk, 'S Nice and Souen. A lot of the time I try something new, because it seems like a waste not to, since I'm usually upstate, where there's a grand total of two restaurants with largely vegan menus.

But every once in a while I need to make an exception, and go with what I know and love. And, oh, how I love me some Souen. Such simple, clean food is good for the soul, and I feel at peace with the world and myself every time I step inside. It's my haven. From the waitstaff that never changes to the friendly clientele happily munching on macrobiotic goodness, I breathe a sigh of relief upon entering. While you could certainly argue that some of the menu is overpriced considering it's mostly vegetable-based, the lunch specials are quite reasonable, and making a meal out of several appetizers is another thrifty way to go. This time I had some miso soup, vegetable dumpings and a lemon-cucumber-kale juice, with some green tea to round it out. Though on my recent trip I only had time for a quick lunch, it's lovely to bring a book or journal and take some time to simply eat, drink and be at peace.

wishlist wednesday

This week's Wishlist Wednesday is all about books I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see made into movies. But seriously well done ones. Hence the wishful bit. 

Oryx and Crake Trilogy- Margaret Atwood's trilogy just finished this fall, and I can't get over how well done they are, nor can I believe how ultimately pleasant and inviting her post-apocalyptic world wound up seeming. Labeled as sci-fi for being about the future, the books are in the vein of Bradbury or Vonnegut, in terms of using fantastical concepts to write about human nature.

The Phantom Tollbooth- To be honest, I haven't seen the film they did in the seventies, so it could be this is a wasted wish. But I think about special effects today and the wonderful things they could do to this masterpiece.

The Riddles of Epsilon- A somewhat obscure YA novel, this was my absolute favorite book when I was 13. The story is really engaging and at times incredibly creepy, yet ultimately it's not a book about supernatural lore, it's about mother-child relationships. Another one that would make a seriously fun movie. 

Tales of the Jazz Age- This collection of short stories is at times deeply sad and at times darkly humorous, and would make the coolest compilation of vignettes, a la Coffee and Cigarettes.  

Happy wishful thinking!

carrot soup with chickpea croquettes

This recipe was a total crapshoot, haphazardly thrown together after work one night. My aunt makes a carrot soup with turkey meatballs that is just about her daughter's favorite food, so when I saw this recipe for chickpea meatballs I decided to play around and see what I could come up with. And holy moly, it came out even better than I had hoped. I love it when a plan comes together.

It's comforting and absolutely perfect for this weather (Cue impending snowstorm. Sigh.), in addition to healthy and easy to have on hand. I recommend making extra soup to freeze, and then all you need to do in future is throw together some croquettes, which takes less than 30 minutes. You can call them meatballs if you like, but it just feels bizarre to me. For the same reason I prefer when seitan is called seitan and not Chikn. Or Beeph. *shiver*

Carrot Soup with Chickpea Croquettes:

First, the soup:

• 1 lb carrots, peeled or unpeeled, chopped
• 1/2 lb parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• Oil for sautéing
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp dill
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• Salt to taste

Heat a couple teaspoons of oil in the bottom of a medium pot. Add the onion and sweat over medium-low heat for two or three minutes. Add the dill, turmeric and salt and sauté several more minutes. Add everything else but the milk and bring to a boil. Reduce to a hearty simmer and cook, covered, until the carrots and parsnips are tender. Let cool slightly before pureeing using an immersion or upright blender. 

While the soup is cooking you can make the croquettes.

• 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and thoroughly rinsed
• 2 tbsp veganaise
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and mix till smooth, scraping down as needed. Roll into twelve balls and place on oiled cookie sheet. Spray or brush with oil and bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned and firm to the touch.

Place two or three croquettes in each bowl of soup and enjoy!

superbore

Alright. I give up. I'm officially throwing in the towel. After 23 years of trying to make nice and act blandly entertained, I can't do it anymore.

I despise football. With a fiery hatred.

source

There are some sports I simply find boring or off-putting (I'm looking at you, speedwalking.) But I so dislike American football that it's become anger-inducing. I am completely incapable of seeing where the entertaining bit lies. Hockey and basketball are fast-paced and dangerous. Baseball is an engaging combination of strategy, physical skill and fit men in tight pants. Curling is both weird and difficult enough that I have a sneaking suspicion it's secretly awesome.

Before we even address the brooms, can we please talk about their hatwear?

But football? Really, America? THAT one is our favorite? The one where every 37.2 seconds we stop and talk for ten minutes? Senior center chair yoga is more action-packed. I just don't like sitting through three hours of game and commercials for approximately 15 minutes' play time involving any legitimate physical prowess or strategy.

Between being a fan of neither the ol' pigskin nor chicken wings, the Superbowl is simply not my kind of holiday. So I'm going to give myself a break, and for the first time in memory, not attend a Superbowl party. I won't even go within spitting distance of a television. My evening is going to be throroughly un-Blue-blooded American Sportsfan.

However, just because I am a Superbowl grinch doesn't mean I don't feel for the vegan football fans out there who have to subsist on chips, salsa and beer for the duration of the game. So I've put together a recipe that should satisfy vegans and meateaters, Coloradoites and Washingtonians, football-fans and football-toleraters alike. A grinch and a peacekeeper, both, that's me.

Buffalo Tempeh Pizza with Caramelized Onions and Blanch Dressing

Ahem. Yes. Some explanation. Before you go either the Golden Girls or Streetcar route, let me clarify by saying that the blanch dressing is a cross between blue cheese and ranch dressing.

Now, don't get overwhelmed by the amount of recipes listed below- yes, there are several different things to make, but each is incredibly easy, and this doesn't take as long to throw together as you'd think.

First off, caramelize some onions:

• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar (I used serrano-honey, YUM)

Melt the Earth Balance in a skillet and add the onions, then toss to coat them. Cook for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes. If they start to dry out and stick to the pan too much, add a splash of water. When they're as soft and dark as you'd like, add the vinegar and scrape up all the delicious caramelized bits off the pan (FYI: that stuff is called the fond). 

You can prepare everything else while the onions are cooking.

Buffalo Sauce

• 4 tbsp Frank's Red Hot (you can use other brands if you'd like, but it a) won't be authentically "Buffalo," at least according to this particular upstate girl, and b) don't use Tabasco. Aside from generally feeling like it's a sub-par hot sauce, it simply doesn't work in a buffalo sauce)
• 4 tbsp Earth Balance butter
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (add more or less depending how much heat you'd like)
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1/4 tsp minced garlic

Melt the butter and whisk in all the other ingredients. Set aside.

Blanch Dressing:

• 1/3 cup veganaise
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2-1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
• nutritional yeast
• almond milk

Alright, these are just ballpark estimates. I did use 1/3 cup veganaise and 1 tbsp tahini. Past that I added a bit more vinegar and lemon juice, and several dashes of nutritional yeast. So just taste and adjust as you go.

Breaded Tempeh:

• 1/4 cup cashew meal
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp nutritional yeast
• 1 8 oz block tempeh 
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp veganaise
• olive oil for frying

Whisk together the almond milk and veganaise til completely blended and there aren't any lumps, then pour into a shallow bowl. 

Whisk together the cashews, bread crumbs, garlic and yeast and put in another shallow bowl. Slice the tempeh into strips and roll in the milk, then in the bread crumbs til well coated, patting to make sure they stick if necessary.

Coat the bottom of a pan with oil and heat on high. When hot enough to sizzle, fry the tempeh strips, a couple minutes on each side, til golden brown and crispy. Slice into small chunks and toss in a bowl with Buffalo sauce, stirring to coat. 

Pizza

• your favorite pizza dough (I just used store bought, but I've been itching to try this one)
• Breaded tempeh tossed in Buffalo sauce
• caramelized onions
• Blanch dressing
• finely ground cornmeal

Roll out your pizza dough and put it on a pizza stone (preheat it in the oven) dusted with cornmeal. Top it with the onions and tempeh and bake according to your pizza dough's  recipe. Top with blanch dressing and enjoy!