Sushi

I have never made sushi before, and I regret putting it off for so long. The task seemed daunting to me, and I just assumed there was no way I could ever roll the things, let alone make acceptable sushi rice.My culinary adventures as of late have been limited to leftovers and old stand-bys because honestly, I haven't felt like cooking. The stress of buying a house has been overwhelming. The only thing I've been able to do for months besides lay around and read has been to zone out on multiple episodes of Kitchen Nightmares on hulu.com. But after two disappointing let downs on homes that we thought we had, we have finally secured on and I think I can live again. At least until we're ready to sign the papers and I vomit all over myself, Jeffrey, and the loan officer, who has been more than kind to us throughout this whole ordeal. Let me just say that although it may be a buyer's market, the amount of short sales (I won't even get into the horror) and foreclosures that are just dirty and delapidated are nothing short of discouraging.

But as Jeffrey and I prepared to cut our losses and quit and die in this apartment that we've been living in for the past six years, the stars aligned and we actually found something nice, perfect for us, and at a decent price. So no more stress. Back to the cooking and writing.

So I made sushi, after watching many youtube videos on how to make the perfect sushi rice and how to roll the nori. The recipe is based off of Isa's recipe, and I added avocado because I love it. I also made some miso soup to go along with the sushi, but did not take pictures because a) I was too enthralled with the sushi to care and 2) I don't take good pictures of soup.

I won't go into the specifics of rolling sushi, being that I'm a total noob and only just learned myself, but there are plenty of resources available to you out there on the Internet, so if you feel inspired, go make some sushi using some other website than mine!

Fried Chicken on a Biscuit Two Ways

This is most certainly not light fare. But it is delicious, and a good way to end a nice weekend. The original plan was a picnic in the park, which turned into a picnic on our balcony, which then turned into the usual playing video games and eating on the couch. But that's okay, we will always have the park for another time. For our "picnic," I made fried chicken sandwiches on biscuits served with creamy potato salad (made with delicious organic Yukon Gold potatoes) and baked beans. The fried chicken was served two ways: one "original" style, which was simply chunks of seitan dipped in mustard, water, and flour, then coated with a mixture of spices and flour, then fried in olive oil. The other sandwich was a chunk of seitan battered with flour, water, and spices, then breaded with panko, fried, and then dipped in hot sauce. Delicious, and very VERY filling.

The potato salad was simply potatoes, celery, red onion, vegenaise, and a little Dijon mustard and white vinegar.

Blackened Tofu Slabs with Succotash Salsa

Having received a coupon for Amazon.com for completing a quick survey, I quickly purchased Vegan Soul Kitchen, an African-American inspired, soul food cookbook that I have heard good things about. This is the first dish I have made out of the cookbook, and it was simple, inexpensive, light, and delicious. And very spicy, just the way we like it around here. Unfortunately I burned my thumb on a jalapeno. I have never felt this kind of pain from a pepper before in my life, and keep taking brief pauses from typing to ice my burning pre-axial digit. :) It may be an excuse to put off writing a few paragraphs of my novel this evening, although I do need to forge ahead, or at least find a way to create more hours in the day. Here' s a picture of my dinner.
Very crisp and fresh-looking, wouldn't you agree? Wonderful meal when one is weight-watching.

Deli Style Sandwich

This is not the most extravagant dinner, but I had to do something, and fast, to get me back to my food blog. As I mentioned, I have been (and still am) writing a novel, which is slow going, but it's going. I also started Weight Watchers on November 1st with approximately nine of my co-workers. Because of the novel-writing and weight-watching, there has not been a lot of time in my life for cooking new things. But I am hoping that will change, as my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, new crockpot, and new bread baking bible and slow cooker bible are beckoning to me. And I was going to make Gobi Manchurian and onion paratha tonight, however the Gobi Manchurian is deep fried, which is not in the points (Weight Watchers points, that is) for me today. But Gobi Manchurian will be made, as well as bread, buns, pretzels, etc., and hopefully some slow cooker casserole dishes (these casserole dishes are pending Jeffrey's palate, which is not favorable in this area).

So here's a giant sandwich.
It has no Vegenaise or cheese, because that is not part of weight-watching, but has a TON of veggies, Tofurky slices, Yves ham slices, Smart Bacon strips, and spicy mustard. The buns are homemade, using a recipe from my new bread bible (which is entitled The Bread and Bread Machine Bible, and I cannot find it on the Internet to link, possibly because I found it on the discount rack at Borders).

I love making dough with my stand mixer much better than the bread machine because I have more control over the texture of the dough. I plan to make english muffins and pretzels over the weekend, if time permits.

Oh, and one last thing before I go. I've lost 12.5 pounds since starting Weight Watchers. Go me!

Look what I got for Christmas.......

This beautiful mixer, which I have been pining for for years, will whirl me into a bread and dough and treat making frenzy.

Back from Novelling....sort of......

National Novel Writing Month was not kind to me. Alas, I did not complete the 50,000 word goal, but did make it 20,000, which I am still quite proud of. I will continue writing and have a new goal of 10,000 more words by December 21, set by my encouraging aunt. :) As I am still writing, I will not have as much time to post delicious food. I'm sure all four or five of you that read this blog are bitterly disappointed. ;)

I will continue to post food, just not tonight. Maybe not tomorrow night, either. Jeffrey and I are in the process of buying our first home (exciting!) and planning our wedding (also exciting!) so things are a little busy around here. My wedding dress arrived at my parents' house yesterday and I just CANNOT WAIT to try it on! It's a vintage 30's style dress, and if it works out, we are going to be having a 30's wedding! How fun is that?! My mom says the dress is just as beautiful as it looked online, at the neat website I found: www.unique-vintage.com. Fun site for vintage and antique clothing.

See you folks soon.......I hope. Here is a picture of an orangutan at the Phoenix Zoo, just for kicks.

On Hiatus

I am participating in National Novel Writing Month, which takes up absolutely all of my time in the evenings. The point of the contest is to write 50,000 words in 30 days, and I am waaay behind. I will not be posting here until after the 30th of November, when my novel-writing is complete and my brain is fried. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!