Archive for the 'Food' Category

It’s that time of year again

Published at January 2, 2011 in Domesticity, Health, Home improvement, Money, Library stuff, Sports, Clotheshorsery, Vanity, Frivolity, Food, work work work and Travel. 5 Comments

Time for resolutions I won’t keep!

I’m going to try something different this year and set some concrete goals that will be easier to reach than something vague like “Eat better.”  Many of these goals are craft-related, since I inherited my mother’s propensity for starting projects and not finishing them.

1. Speaking of Mom and projects she never finished, finish the sweater she started knitting for me, oh, ten years ago (she died just over eight years ago).  Finishing this sweater was the reason I took knitting lessons in the first place, but I kept putting the bag with the unfinished sweater aside, or in a closet.  Part of that was due to it being kind of painful to look at the thing after she died, part of it was that I gained a lot of weight after she died and wasn’t going to fit in the sweater even if I did finish it.  But now I can look at the thing without getting teary, and I’ve lost enough weight over the years that I can wear it.  Plus, it’s motherfucking cold in my apartment and I NEED a big fuzzy sweater.  I’ve now got the skills to do it, too.

2.  Quilting projects: I’m making a quilt for my sister, and I also want to finish a quilt that my great-grandmother pieced and never finished, both because it would be a great way to honor Babushka and also because of the aforementioned state of motherfucking cold.

3. Home decorating: I need to locate my stud finder, so I can hang the pictures I already have, and then I need to go out and get my other pictures framed and hung.  I have a desk to paint, chairs to paint and re-cover, and at some point I should get a few more chairs and a vase or two.  Plus mirrors.  I also need a filing cabinet, badly.  This may not be a year in which I do anything with my bedroom, but I’m okay with that for now since I don’t really have a vision for it like I do with the rest of the place.

4. Sports: I haven’t lifted weights since last July, when I fell on the sidewalk and injured my shoulder, and then re-injured it in September.  I’ve decided to go a slightly different direction, doing a combination of yoga, running, and eventually some scaled-back weightlifting.  Running has gone very well; unlike in years past, I seem to have resolved some of the issues with my knees so that I’m not wearing my patella in some strange place after only a few weeks of the C25K plan.  I’m on Week 7 now (actually for the second time — I’d reached it in September, right before my second fall, which also rolled my ankle) and so far, so good.  My knee’s a little tender, but the exercise is actually doing it good.  I’d like to do a half-marathon and marathon this year, using the Jeff Galloway run/walk program.  Brooklyn Half-Marathon is in May, with the particular day yet to be announced, and I’ve signed up for the lottery for the NYC Marathon.  I’m also planning on doing the Bay to Breakers 12K in San Francisco in May, which will probably be the week before the Brooklyn Half.  If I don’t get into the NYC Marathon, I’m going to try for Chicago or Marine Corps.  All of these will be not only goals in and of themselves, but also opportunities for travel to places where friends and/or family are.

5. Food: I’m back to being mostly vegan, which is pretty easy since it’s a little hard for me to eat out much here if I have to walk everywhere I go; I also work in a place where the lunch options are very very limited.  I’ve got access to a really great food co-op and live around the corner from a grocery store, so I can easily get good, fresh ingredients and do a lot of cooking.  I’ve got a freezer packed full of individually-portioned meals I can just grab and go, and I’m working hard on using my cookbooks for more than just the old standbys.  My big goal this year is to stop eating mindlessly and to pay attention to and enjoy what I eat.  I’ve also made a special effort to clean off the dining room table, now that I have a dining room, and to have dinner AT my table with napkins and placemat and candles.  Bonus: the dining room is the only room that really gets heat.

6. Appearance: I managed to weed a lot of crap out of my wardrobe just before I moved, so I do wear a lot of what I have.  But I’m not wearing all of it, so I need to figure out why not and make any necessary adjustments.  For example, if I’m not wearing something because it doesn’t fit, I can make it fit or get rid of it; if I’m not wearing something because I don’t really like it after all, it has to go.  It *is* pretty nice having a lot of closet space free.  I also want to figure out this year what my style is, so that I can have some kind of consistent look.

7. Financial: I’ve started using Mint to track my money, and my new job has TIAA-CREF, so I’ve gotten started on a retirement plan (matching doesn’t happen until I’ve been employed a year).  I’ve identified several areas where I spend disproportionate amounts of money, so I can work on cutting that back. I’m also saving for a car; I plan on spending less than $2500 for a mid-90s Honda or similar that will run for a while.   Just like with the eating out, living here has curtailed my spending because I’m not passing stores and places to spend money all the time.  I’m also not reading like I used to, so my book habit is not being fed. My book habit really is shameful; I’m a librarian, after all, and I should be borrowing books rather than buying them.  And I should be selling off what I have; I see Amazon keeps asking me if I’d like to sell some of the books I’ve bought through them, so I may just take them up on that.

8. Personal: I’m still not into the idea of dating, but I want to make some friends here outside of work.  The yoga studio I attend seems to be a good place to meet people, especially since you’re asked to introduce yourself to the people on adjoining mats before class starts.  I’m also a member of the food co-op, and that seems like a good way to meet people as well; working there is optional, so I plan on signing up soon.  There are also extension classes to take and the local running shop organizes group runs every week, which will help with my half/marathon training and get me out a bit.  I’m also planning on taking advantage of the first paid time off I’ve had in about 10 years to do some travel, including a horsepacking trip through backcountry out here as part of the extension classes.

9. Professional: I’ll start teaching legal skills in the fall, which will give me some great experience.  I’ve also committed to writing a couple of articles, I’m involved with some committees and caucuses in my professional association, and I also have opportunities to do some outside work for pay and recognition.  I’m doing all this partly because I’m positioning myself for a return to New York or a move to another big city for my next job, and partly because I really do like my new career.  I made a good choice.

Cranberry-Lemon Oatmeal

Published at December 31, 2010 in Food. 0 Comments

I love my rice cooker.  I threw this together this morning before I went out for a run and it was ready when I got back.  I even purloined a lemon from one of my neighbor’s trees for the zest.

Warm and creamy

Let me tell you, I was glad for the hot breakfast: we actually had frost this morning, and it went below freezing last night.  That doesn’t sound like a big deal considering what’s going on on the East Coast right now, but my apartment has one heater, it’s in the dining room, and it doesn’t really do much for the rest of the place.  I also am a little afraid of letting it run while I’m asleep, since it’s gas, so I crank it during the evening and then shut it off before bed.  The cat parks herself right in front of it, with her paws underneath.  I’ve moved her bed there, since she gets kicked out of my bedroom at night and thus can’t take advantage of my body heat like the dog can.

As for the oatmeal, I took two rice-cooker scoops of rolled oats (which translates to 1-1/2 cups), threw them in the rice cooker with the designated amount of water (I believe three cups), zest from half a purloined lemon, a pinch of salt, about a tablespoon of unpacked light brown sugar, and a third of a bag of thawed frozen cranberries that I had left over from Thanksgiving.  I hit the “reg/sushi” white rice setting, and off I went.   The recipe makes 3 servings, so I have a nice hot breakfast for the rest of the weekend as well.

Badass

Published at September 2, 2010 in Aging gracefully or not and Food. 0 Comments

Roger Ebert, who can no longer eat, drink, taste or smell, writes a cookbook.

Me!Me! Roth must be pleased

Published at October 3, 2009 in Edumacation, Food, Political theater, New York Fugging City and I see fat people. 5 Comments

The NYC Board of Ed — which of course really means Mayor Bloomberg nowadays — has effectively banned bake sales. In the name of — say it with me — fighting obesity.

The problem I have with this is that the bake sales became necessary because of funding cuts; vending machines and bake sales and whatnot didn’t become common until the Reagan-era tax cuts and resulting slashing of school financing. So if you aren’t going to restore funding for sports programs and uniforms and clubs and activities, AND you take away their ability to make money to cover the costs that the city’s not providing, then you’ve just hamstrung your sports programs. Which might not be the most effective way to “fight obesity,” given that physical activity is generally considered an important part of that, if you’re actually serious about “fighting obesity” and not just putting on a show of being tough.

It’s also yet another way to shift the focus from the structural and systemic issues to the individual, putting the sole responsibility on the individual to fix the problem rather than on the system to fix the things that make it more difficult for individuals to fix things for themselves.

Now, Bloomberg actually has some ideas which *do* address systemic problems, such as the grocery gap, and I would even argue that his ban of trans fats and his requirement that chain restaurants post calorie counts of items also address a systemic issue, which is lack of information about what’s in the food or how many calories are actually in a “serving,” without which you can’t really make informed choices about your food. But all this ban is going to do is exacerbate the original problem, which is the underfunding of schools. Until you’re ready to fix that by raising taxes on your rich friends, don’t take away the workaround.

Yogurt

Published at August 30, 2009 in Food. 7 Comments

I’ve kind of given up on being a mostly-full-time vegan.  As I started paying attention to how much protein I should be getting in order to support my weightlifting, I started realizing that it was just too difficult for me to do it with only plant sources unless I consumed far more soy protein powder than my intestines would really like me to consume.  It’s not impossible, mind you, but it requires a level of attention to detail and planning that I just can’t really handle while juggling all the stuff I’m juggling.

I began casting around for protein sources that didn’t cost an arm and a leg and were tasty and easy to prepare.  Which led me to yogurt.  Greek yogurt, and specifically nonfat Greek yogurt.  I had bought some full-fat Fage yogurt for dessert (with honey and almonds) when some friends came over, and by damn, it was good.  But it had a lot of fat, so I didn’t eat all that much of it.  Then when I went to pick up some more, I started reading labels.

And — holy hell! — I discovered that the nonfat version has 22 grams of protein per cup.  And only 120 calories.  So a pint has 44 grams of protein.  Which is almost a third of what I should be taking in per day.

I snatched up several quart containers.  Highest price I found was $10 at a gourmet market; lowest was $6.69 at Fairway.  Since blueberries are in season, I’ve been having the yogurt for breakfast with some honey and vast quantities of blueberries (you eat vast quantities when you buy two-pound containers and have no more room in the freezer for more).

Fabulous!  Delicious!  Nutritious!   But still a little pricey, and the containers were piling up.  They don’t have a top that makes them reusable for storage, so they had to be recycled.   This was becoming an issue, since I’m trying to cut down on my waste.

Then I saw this post over at Hullabaloo, and knew it was time to start making my own yogurt.  I scaled up since I eat so much of the stuff (I used a gallon and a half of milk rather than one quart), but it worked!  I have yogurt.  And it was dead easy, even if I don’t have a microwave and it took over two hours for the milk to boil, and had to heat the oven up again because I had so much that it didn’t set within a few hours.  It’s chilling now, and I’ll start straining the first batch with a strainer lined with coffee filters (or a cheesecloth if I can find mine) once it’s cooled.  I’d like to have a sense of how much milk is required to make a quart of strained Greek-style yogurt.

This week in fat hatred

Published at August 14, 2009 in Health, Food, I see fat people, Woman-Hating and Dipshittery. 4 Comments

Item the first: Anti-donut signs can get you fired from your job as a county health director, but only if you name and piss off local businesses:

A 38-year-old former Army doctor who served in Iraq, Newsom returned home to Panama City a few years ago to run the Bay County Health Department and launched a one-man war on obesity by posting sardonic warnings on an electronic sign outside:

“Sweet Tea (equals) Liquid Sugar.”

“Hamburger (equals) Spare Tire.”

“French Fries (equals) Thunder Thighs.”

He also called out KFC by name to make people think twice about fried chicken.

Then he parodied “America Runs on Dunkin’,” the doughnut chain’s slogan, with: “America Dies on Dunkin’.”

Some power players in the Gulf Coast tourist town decided they had had their fill.

A county commissioner who owns a doughnut shop and two lawyers who own a new Dunkin’ Donuts on Panama City Beach turned against him, along with some of his own employees, Newsom says. After the lawyers threatened to sue, his bosses at the Florida Health Department made him remove the anti-fried dough rants and eventually forced him to resign, he says. . . .

In May, lawyers Bo Rivard and Michael Duncan, co-owners of a new Dunkin’ Donuts, asked Newsom to take down the “America Dies on Dunkin’” message. Newsom already had run other anti-doughnut warnings, including “Doughnuts (equals) Diabetes,” and “Dunkin’ Donuts (equals) Death.”

The businessmen had the backing of County Commissioner Mike Thomas, who owns a diner and a doughnut shop. Thomas called for Newsom’s ouster, saying the doctor shouldn’t have named businesses on the message board.

Note the two statements I’ve bolded. If that’s not conflation of health and thinness/aesthetics, I don’t know what is. But what I find a little disturbing is that his bosses were okay with this kind of hatefulness being funded by the taxpayers until the businesses he called out by name lawyered up.

Continue reading ‘This week in fat hatred’

Foodblogging: Hibiscus cooler

Published at June 14, 2009 in Food. 1 Comment

It’s summer, which means that cool, refreshing beverages are in order. And while water’s great, it can get a little monotonous. It’s good to switch it up sometimes.

I’ve had the hibiscus cooler at Angelica Kitchen, and thought I’d like to try it at home. But I wasn’t sure where to get dried hibiscus flowers other than in Red Zinger teabags. And, well, I can get those anytime. I wanted the real thing. And then this weekend, some friends and I were at Sahadi’s — and there they were, with the pre-packed bulk spices. So I bought some, and I got some candied lemon peel because why the hell not, and I put them together. To about a gallon of cold, filtered water, I added about a tablespoon of the lemon peel, a good handful of the hibiscus flowers, and a squeeze of agave nectar. Then I turned the flame on low and walked away for a while. When the water was good and deeply colored and just about to simmer, I shut off the heat and let it cool, then strained and stored in the fridge. To serve, fill a glass (with or without ice; I prefer without) about 2/3 of the way with the cooler and 1/3 with seltzer. Garnish with lime and enjoy.

Pardon the fly.

Seems that there are many ways you could enjoy this; next time, I’ll probably use lime zest and skip the sweetener, though I might add some freshly sliced or grated ginger. Speaking of ginger, fresh ginger juice is DIVINE in lemonade.

More tomatoey goodness

Published at June 14, 2009 in Gardening, Domesticity and Food. 0 Comments

It’s been a rainy week here in Brooklyn (like, EVERY DAY), so I’ve barely peeked at the garden. But today, I decided to follow some of the suggestions in the thread below and pull out the flowers from the tomato boxes, mix a few coffee grounds into the soil, and pull off any dead leaves.

So far, so good. The cilantro plant’s still being a diva, though. How this thing can sit in the rain for a week and STILL have dry soil is a mystery.

More tomatolettes on the Early Girl and Mystery Variety plants. One tomatolette on the Jersey Devil plant, which is amusing because it’s a plum-shaped tomato and therefore pointy. Not a thing on Green Zebra.

The basil in Box #2 is doing much better than the basil in Box #1, as, really, are the tomato plants. I think the petunias were sucking the life out of the other plants in that box. Hopefully, that will be remedied now that the flowers are gone.

I has tomatoes!

Published at June 7, 2009 in Gardening and Food. 8 Comments

My god, I’ve successfully grown something!

Windowbox #1:

Some tomatoes grow in Brooklyn

Windowbox #2:

More tomatoes!

Tomatoes from windowbox #1:

These are on the regular old tomato plant

Tomatoes from windowbox #2:

These are from the Early Girl Bush

So far, the winners are the Early Girl in #2, and the one whose tag I lost in #1. Or never had a tag. And the other two plants — the Jersey Devil and the Green Zebra — have flowers, which looks like the precursor to actual fruit-bearing.

The basil’s doing nicely, but the cilantro’s being a little fussy. It gets a lot of yellow leaves, but it seems to be a water issue, so I just have to keep on top of that. None of the flowers except for the one in the ceramic pot in #2 are doing that well; all have yellow leaves and dead flowers. I can’t tell if they’re getting too much or too little water, or what, but they’re annoying me enough that if they don’t shape up soon, I’m just going to pull them out and let the tomatoes take over their space.

Foodblogging: Tuscan White Bean and Fennel Stew with Orange and Rosemary

Published at February 1, 2009 in Food. 1 Comment

Been a while. I’ve been cooking, and even taking pictures, but I just haven’t been posting. Here’s a delicious one from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson:

Yum!

2T olive oil
1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped,
2 med. carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and diced
1/2 c. dry white wine
1-1/2 c. veg. stock
1 pound small red potatoes, unpeeled and quartered
One 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 small zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1-1/2 c. cooked or one 15-oz. can cannellini or other white beans, drained and rinsed
1T minced orange zest
2 t. minced fresh rosemary leaves or 1 t. dried

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and carrots, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the fennel and wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered and stirring, until the wine is reduced by one-half, about 5 minutes. Add the stock, potatoes, tomatoes and juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes soften, about 20 minutes.

2. Add the zucchini, beans, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until the ingredients are tender and the desired consistency is achieved, about 15 minutes. If a thicker stew is desired, puree 1 cup of the stew in a blender or food processor and stir back into the pot.

3. A few minutes before serving, stir in the orange zest and rosemary. Serve hot.