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Thursday 26 January 2012
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Hello everyone!! How are you guys today? Hope you all had a most lovely Thursday :)! My Thursday was much like any other Thursday. I woke up, got ready for work, went to work, worked, walked home from work, made dinner, did dinner dishes, puttered around online, watched some telle and cuddled with Chibi. All in all, a most enjoyable day!
There is one note about my breakies that I want to share! In keeping with my new health regime, I’ve been trying to find a healthy breakfast that sticks. I’m trying to cut down on eggs and bread and the butter that usually goes with it, but I still wanted something tasty! Breakfast is, after all, a very important start to my day. For a while I was trying to eat granola and yogurt, but it just wasn’t doing it for me, so then I’d made hot oatmeal w/ what ever fruit I have on hand.. but that wasn’t really doing it either. I don’t know why, it just bored me. But then, i saw a great idea on The Edible Perspective, (that new blog I love) that has revolutionized my mornings! What secret is this you ask? It’s to combine them in a glorious union of hot and cold. So now I make a small scoop of hot oatmeal, throw in a scoop of granola cereal, then a scoop of yogurt, or peanut butter or what ever you’re feeling, and throw some fruit on there if you have it. It’s crazy yummy! I don’t know why! I don’t know why I never thought of it! It may be obvious to some of you, but it really just never occurred to me to combine them all. I love the crunch of the granola mixed with the hot yumminess of oatmeal.
Any who! On to the taco madness! As I said in a recent post, Andy worried that my new resolve to not eat red meat would be the end of tacos. Little did he know what I was just itching to try out a chickpea taco filling! Once again I looked for some recipes online and ended up just winging it with what I had on hand. I took a cup of chickpeas (canned and rinsed), onion, red pepper, zucchini and mixed it up with all kinds of spices. Chili powder, garlic, onion powder, kosher salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and.. something else? Can’t recall.
I saw a recipe that called to bake it for 20-30 mins that would give it a nice crisp coating and I would have tried that had it not been a long work day. I was super hungry so I just pan fried it up till it looked fairly cooked. Have I ever told you how much I love zucchini? I really really do. I can’t wait to try a zucchini loaf!
Then we heated up the tortillas. Like so ~_~
Then I whipped up some guacamole which is the best thing you can do with an avocado that’s a bit too ripe. For me, there’s a point when the avocado is a bit too soft and I can’t eat it on a sandwich or on it’s own, but I can mush it up and add copious amount of garlic and it’s just fantastic.
So there you have it! Add a bit of cheese and salsa and BAM! Veggie tacos extraordinaire! Doesn’t it look delicious? MMM. I devoured them. Nom nom nom!
After I took that final picture, Andy said Hey! What about mine?? He had worked very hard on his marinade for his red meat and he said they tasted delicious! The lighting it a little terrible, and to me they don’t look nearly as scrumptious as mine, but i guess that means I’m happy with my life change!
So there you have it, another cooking adventure with Christine the aspiring vegetarian! I’m pretty sleepy now and I’m about to head to bed, but there’s one last thing that happened today that I have to share! On my lunch break, i stopped in at a pet store to pick up a litter box filter and saw a little “Grow your own catnip” kit. It’s made here in BC and came with a little sample bag of catnip so i thought why not? Chibi hasn’t shown too much interest in catnip yet, but she’s young yet, and i thought by the time the plant is grown, maybe she’ll have developed a liking. When I got home from work I set the bag down by the door and because the cat nip was in a little bag, within a bigger bag that was in yet another bag, i didn’t think much of it. Well, I’ve sure learned my lesson. While the hunny and I were watching some after dinner telle, I noticed I hadn’t seen the cat in a while, which is unusual as Chibi is almost always in the same room as us. So I got up to see where she was and when I walked into the bedroom, i almost died from cuteness overload mixed with horror. There, upon the bed, was Chibi rolling around in cat nip that was also all over the bed! She had dragged the bag up there and torn it to shreds, along with the instructions on how to grow the seeds!
Oh Chibi… my silly kitty, how I love you so very much that you can make a colossal mess and I still think you’re so darling!
Any who, enough blogging, off to bed for me!
Lots of Love,
Christine and Chibi
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2012-01-26 ::
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Wednesday 25 January 2012
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Oh my oh my oh my!
I made the most ridiculously delicious dinner last night for my darling twin. She was most impressed!
What did I make you ask?? Oh wait, you didn’t ask? OH RIGHT! I put it in the title. I made the yummiest veggie pot pie in the universe. And I didn’t even use a recipe! Although honestly forces me to admin that I looked at quite a few recipes to get some ideas, but none of them were THE ONE. You know? So I just went at it kind of hap-hazardously like.
Ok! I’m terrible at writing recipes, so I’m going to try and remember what I did in what order and write it down for future reference.
1) Using a bit (tbsp?) of olive oil, i sauteed the carrots (diced), green beans (cut to about an inch) and potatoes (cubed). I tossed in some minced garlic (loving my new garlic press I got for Christmas!), kosher salt (i only cook with kosher salt these days), fresh ground pepper, onion powder, parsley, thyme, a bit of rosemary as it can be overpowering, and basil. Then, i added a cup of veggie broth (i used Campbells) and brought to a boil.
2) After some amount of time that I didn’t keep track of, I added chick peas (from a can), chopped onion, celery and zucchini. I added a bit more veggie broth and let it simmer some more.
3) I started a roux in another pan, (add some flour and butter and mix it a bit) then added some veggie broth till I had a decent paste and added it slowly to the veggie pot. Being careful not to mush my veggies, I mixed it in well until the sauce started to thicken. Once the sauce has thickened up, I added some cream cheese , and carefully folded it in. NOM!
4) Then i turned the burner off and let it sit there for a bit while i grated some extra old white cheddar and firm tofu (pressed). I sprinkled the grated tofu over the veggies and then the cheese on top of that and let it sit while I rolled out the puff pastry. Oh! I also cut a few slices of mozza into cubes and threw those on top as well! I didn’t mix in the cheese or tofu!
5) Then i poured the veggie mix into the caserole dish, sort of in two layers so the cheese was in the middle and on top , but with out mixing! Then i placed the puff pastry on top and brushed it with a little melted butter and cut a few slits. Then I baked it for 45 mins at 230 C.
MAN OH MAN. Did it ever smell good.
Doesn’t it look delicious? SUPER YUMMY!!! And filled with nutrients and protein! I’m pretty sure I could have tricked my dear Andy, had he been home, into eating it! Because you couldn’t even tell there was tofu! With the melted cheese and veggies, it was just a blend of mouth watering flavors! I had been a bit hesitant to add chickpeas too, but I don’t know why because they were perfect as well!
The only thing I would do differently next time is cook the potatoes a wee bit longer, they weren’t at the melt in your mouth level i would have proffered, although Joules said they were perfect. Also, it was my first time ever working w/ puff pastry and I think I let it get too doughy. I had worried about it being too frozen in the middle after having it out for quite some time and had nuked it 2o secs, so next time, I’m not going to worry about that and just roll it out after thawing it on the counter for 30 mins. The top was perfect, but the part of the dough touching the casserole seemed too moist. Once again, Joules said she didn’t notice anything, but I know there’s always room for improvement!
I whipped up some veggie gravy and a simple salad and BAM! Just typing this is making me sooooooo hungry.
Any who, I’m really enjoying making super yummy vegetarian food! I’m not missing meat at all! But for those of you who love the meats, you could easily make this same pie w/ chicken in place of the chickpeas/tofu or what not. I love dishes like this, because it’s basically a “what do i have in the house” dish! Next time I might attempt to make the pastry myself!
And if I wasn’t baked out already, as soon as I finished loading the dish washer, I whipped up a batch of peanut butter and chocolate chip (a mix of dark and white) cookies! HOLY MOLY WERE THEY EVER GOOD. I suppose it cancelled out any health advantages in my dinner, but oh well! At lease they were hand made and not those terrible prepackaged cookies filled with all that junk! It was just the perfect thing to go with our after dinner peppermint tea!
You know what else is fun about this whole cooking phase I’ve entered? It’s got me blogging again! 
Until next time,
Christine and Chibi
PS. I couldn’t find Chibi at all this morning until I realized I’d left my PJ drawer open and sure enough…
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2012-01-25 ::
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Monday 23 January 2012
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Hello everyone! Hope this Monday is treating you all well!
Last week I posted about my desire to kick meat, and my two part plan to lose red meat/pork first and then eventually poultry and fish etc. Well, so far I’ve been able to do Step One no problem! (Yes I know it’s only been a week or so but that doesn’t matter! Every day is a victory!) What surprises me the most is the number of negative comments I’ve received about my decision. My hunnyb and my family are supporting me, but co-workers, friends and acquaintances all seem to think I’m crazy!! I don’t know what prompts me to think about the quality of life these animals live, or the fact that they’re fed all sorts of chemicals and junk to speed their growth, but I do think about all this. And I want to see how my body feels once I eliminate this heavy matter. Like I mentioned earlier, my mother has been a vegetarian for a long time now, so I know how to make yummy healthy food without meat. But most people assume that in order to be a vegetarian, you have to eat all sorts of expensive and obscure items. They can’t seem to grasp the concept of the exact same meals you eat every days… just without the meat and add some other protein! Even my darling Andy, (who has been most supportive!!) looked sad and a little worried that this would be the end of Taco night or Summer BBQ’s. I told him, of course we can still eat all that! It just takes a wee bit more work on my part, which I am totally happy and willing to do.
One of the reasons that I’m finding this switch so easy and fun, is of course, the incredible number of Veggie Friendly blogs out there in the interwebs. One of my favorite I’ve found so far is The Edible Perspective. Great posts! Well written! Excellent photos! Wonderful humor! It’s all good. I tried one of her recipes last night and it was a success!
Roll Ups!
It’s lasagna that you make by adding all the yummy stuffs to a single noodle and then roll it up! Once your dish is full of roll ups, add some sauce and cheese and bake and VOILA! SUPER YUMMY MEOW! What I liked about this recipe is that I could make half the roll ups for Andy(meat no veggies!), and half for myself (veggies no meat! Indicated by the little piece of broccoli!), cook them in the same dish, and bam! So fun, so easy. And because they didn’t really touch each other, there was no worries of contamination! My main goal in this transition is to STICK WITH IT. Which means finding ways to accommodate both our tastes with out increasing the number of work and subsequently, the dishes. So what did I put in my roll ups? I sauteed some onion, red pepper, zucchini, broccoli and tofu. Add some sauce, some cheese (ricotta, mozzarella, old white cheddar) and bam! Could anything be more delicious?
Another dietary change I’m making which is tied, but not related to meat, is pre-packaged food. I really want to cut down on all those preservatives, as well as the garbage incurred with these items. For example, granola bars. Andy and I always have granola bars in the house. They are just filled with preservatives and chemicals and sugars we don’t need. So i researched a bunch of recipes and gave it a go this weekend and bam! Home made chewy yummy granola bars. I used this recipe; No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars! The only thing I want to do differently next time is change the granola I used. I happened to have flavored store bought granola already, so I used that, (one was Berry and one was Vanilla Almond) and both granola bars were delish but wayyyyy too sweet. The recipe calls for plain granola and I think it really needs it. However! They were super quick and easy to make and stuck together no problem! So I will definitely be making these again, but with different granola.
Alas! My lunch break is over so I will have to leave it here. Hope the week treats you all well!
Love Christine & Chibi
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2012-01-23 ::
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Saturday 21 January 2012
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I love the Universe. I love how big and crazy and beautiful it is. I love the stars, the nebulae, the vastness of the cosmos. Lately I’ve been feeling the urge to express this love creatively. I’ve had the idea to paint the skies with roving for quite some time, but it wasn’t until I came across a giant piece of black sparkly felt that I was ready and inspired.
My first attempt was a little Spiral Galaxy called NGC 4266.
I used a small picture from a book I have called “The Atlas of the Universe“. When I tried to google image NGC 4266 I couldn’t find it! Crazy! But I *think* it’s a pretty true likeness ^^!
Any who, moving right along. Next I made a artistic representation of the milky way. A lot of the pictures of the Milky Way that I’ve looked at show the center to be incredibly bright and sparkly, surrounded by spirals and light.
I just had too much fun mixing and matching roving colors, picking the perfect buttons and watching this little galaxy come to life!
My last project I have to show you is of a incredibly beautiful nebula in the sky called the Helix Nebula (also known as The Helix, NGC 7293, or Caldwell 63). I was reading about this nebula the other day when an article about it popped up in my news feed. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to paint it.
Isn’t it gorgeosu?
“The Helix Nebula is a planetary nebula, a strange object that forms when a star like our sun exhausts its hydrogen fuel. The star’s outer layers expand and cool, creating a huge envelope of dust and gas. Radiation flowing from the dying star ionizes this envelope, causing it to glow.”
This beauty is destined to become a white star one day… Anyways! Here is my attempt to do her justice.
What do you think? Does it look like the Helix Nebula? Andy asked me “Why pink???” and my only answer is that it was the only frame I had that was big enough ~_~! But I like pink and it seems to work!
So there you have it! My first foray into painting the skies with roving and felt. I had a lot of fun. I can see myself doing more and more work like this in the future! I’ve also been doing a lot of needle felting as well, but that is for a later post my friends. I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely relaxing Saturday.
Before I go, I want to leave you with one last picture! My faithful companion who tries to steal my roving when she thinks I’m not looking, Miss Chibikins.
<3
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2012-01-21 ::
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Tuesday 17 January 2012
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It’s snowing over here in little ol’ Victoria. I’m of two minds about the snow. I like it when it’s falling, but I dislike it when it’s on the ground and all slippery and slushy. Remember, I’m a walker here. So the snow slows me down significantly.
The most adorable thing about the snow is, (surprise surprise), Chibi. She’s only about 7 months old, so it’s the first time she’s ever seen snow and she’s really not quite sure what to make of it! As she watches it from the window she makes these quiet little chirp noises. It’s prolly one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.
I love how she’s not quite brave enough to go on the ledge, and just peeks from her safe little platform.
Anywho! Hope you’re all safe and cozy where ever you are!
Peace and Love,
Christine and Chibi
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2012-01-17 ::
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