East Peasy Mac and Cheesy (Healthy Too!) October 18, 2009

Today we’re going to discuss a basic principle of life:
Evil bureaucracy = No time for writing.

Actually, that’s it. See, if there was no evil bureaucracy in, let’s say, college, I might be able to spend some time on this post.

I might be able to say something, I don’t know, INTERESTING. But, alas, the point of this thing we call an educational institution is not to nurture the facets of the mind but, rather, to destroy them.

Soon we will all be robots named it and then only will the leaders of this horrible bureaucracy rest.

The Cheesiest!

Edible Easy Mac

• macaroni (yes, you can take a container of easy mac and boil the macaroni)
• cubed or block cheddar cheese (I found a 1% milk block at wal-mart)
• veggies (the horrors of education have produced a situation where I have been unable to go to the grocery store in 3 weeks, so I went with some frozen peppers and onions but broccoli would have been much better)
• soy crumbles or beef crumbles or something like that

→Boil pasta.
Steam or saute the veggies/crumbles.
Drain pasta.
Put pasta back in pot and add cheese/sauteed veggies + crumbles.
Stir until sauce forms. Add milk if necessary.
Eat pasta.
Do dishes (this is actually a very important, often forgotten step)

Ahhh, memories of my 6th grade English class exercises where we tried to give our teacher directions to make a pb+j sandwich. The trick? We had to assume he had never heard of the concept before. My sandwich had a knife in it.

Writer’s Block October 14, 2009

This post really has nothing to do with food. It should have something to do with food, seeing how this is a food blog and I’m eating food right now and I have a great recipe for spaghetti squash goat cheese lasagna (say it five times fast).

No, I don’t really feel like writing about food today. I don’t really feel like writing at all today but I’m hoping writing here might help me feel like writing so I can write my article that’s due in about 2 hours. Yes, this is the extent of my procrastination. Two hours before, and I still have about a tenth of the article, not to mention zero quotes.

Oh, and as if that weren’t amusing enough, I skipped the staff meeting today.

Do you want to know WHY I skipped the staff meeting? Well, it was because I have the world’s worst “bedside table” that seems to be incapable of actually allowing objects to sit on top of it. Although I’ve managed to chain my clock to the table, my glasses, which must be removed every morning, like to fall off and end up in strange places (i.e. under the covers). How they get from the table to under the covers is completely beyond me but, seeing as how I’m half blind, I can barely find them if they actually manage to stay ON the table.

I think the bedside table gods are out to get me. If I told a doctor that, they would diagnose me with paranoia and give me some pill or something but I swear to god that the tables are out to get me. As are the computers.

The good news, though, is that I’ve lulled my cell phone into quiet submission by throwing it against the wall several times. Take that, evil cell phone that sounded like a dying pig/cow/something whenever it rang! You shall not best me!!!! Of course, now the screen’s broken so I can’t see anything anymore, but at least the annoying ring is gone.

I think there was a point to this but, seeing as how I’ve clearly forgotten it, I’m just going to leave you with this picture of a bunny and a pancake, just to bring the focus back to food and all.

Taste Test: Nature’s Pride Bread October 4, 2009

Nature's Pride

When Foodbuzz sent all their featured published an invitation to try “Nature’s Pride Bread”, I was probably the first to sign up. Nature’s Pride? I thought, It’s got to be healthy.

Upon receiving the bread, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Not because I had actually tried it and it tasted horrible but because I had seen this bread every day in the dining hall since I started going there. It seems to be the bread no one wants and the only one that’s ever there. I never actually tried it though because, at 110 calories per slice, I felt it wasn’t worth it.

Now, I had two loaves of the stuff (pictured above) that I had volunteered to receive. I had to try it.

I started with the 12 Grain: I took a slice out and sniffed it, Hmmmm….nutty; it looked a little moldy until I realized those were just flakes of the grain; some more sniffing and I decided had better just eat the stuff.

I thought of putting some sugar-free jelly on it since it already had a nutty tinge but went ahead and tried my first slice straight up. I have to say, it was yummy, even without anything on it. I can’t compare it to “normal bread” because the closest I’ve ever gotten to “normal bread” is the stuff my mom used to by that had far fewer calories than this.

The thing about this bread is that it tastes good on its own. Because it’s own flavor is so strong, I’m not sure it would make a good sandwich with all different sorts of toppings. It needs a complement. For the 110 calories a slice (and low-fiber/protein content), I’d say it’s not the best choice for those worried about anything beyond taste, texture, and natural ingredients. It does trump Texas Toast by several points though, so if that’s your bread of choice, you ought to give this a try.

It wouldn’t be filling enough in a sandwich anyway but more so in something like a bread pudding or french toast. Especially one with chocolate soymilk like my Aphrodisiac French Toast (just use the no peanut powder version).

So there you have it-not the best, but definitely on my list of specialty breads.

Zen #7: Garlic and Grown-Up Comfort Food October 3, 2009

I just spent the entire morning peeling garlic cloves. I would like to say it’s because I wanted to cook something with garlic but that’s really not the reason. Don’t get me wrong, I love garlic–in everything. But, usually, when I’m cooking, I end up just using the powdered stuff. (I know, I know).

No, the reason I spent the entire morning peeling garlic cloves is because there’s something meditative about it. It’s tedious and time consuming but mindless as well. Mindless in a way that allows you to sit there for hours on end…

The only goal is to get the skin of the garlic clove and the only thing you know at that moment is that you can’t lose THIS clove, you have to get the peel off. And then in starts again with the next clove. And again. And, after awhile, you find that it makes you feel successful, a little less worthless, a little less miserable.

You almost feel like you did when you were thin, when you had friends and went out and wore nice clothes, when you didn’t care what other people thought of you because YOU knew you were thin and that was all that mattered to you. You wonder, was that happiness?

Minutes pass, hours even and the memories start to flood your mind, the ones you avoid because they make you sad and nostalgic for those simple pleasures of having your friends teach you how one “frolics” properly. Surely, that was happiness. Surely, that’s the way life is supposed to be lived, at least for a few days out of the year.

The radio asking when you forgot it was your life and the cat scratching at your feet stop bothering you so much. If the phone rang, you wouldn’t even answer it, not even if it were your parents who you always wish would call you (even though you pretend it doesn’t matter) because you need to know that they care about you as much as you still need them too.

You think of what he said to you yesterday, the one who sits by you in your self-esteem-draining journalism class whose name is unknown yet who has become somewhat like “John by my locker John”. What did he say?
“Self-pity’s no good.”
“Oh, I live on it.”
“Well, that’s sad, you’re going to spend your entire life being miserable. What if you actually succeed?”

But you know that’ll never happen. Because success for you lies only in one thing and your greatest nightmare has come true: you know you’ll never have it again.

And then there is no more garlic. You look down and realize you’ve peeled it all. And you start to worry about the mess, your misery returns as you realize you’re not in that world anymore, the world with the perfect Steve Madden shoes (no leather AND a size 11!), the perfect Old Navy dress pants (grey, size 8 long), the blue, collard, button-down tops (Gap? Size M) and the perfect body to wear them all.

No, you’re in this world. And you’re sure you must have died that night and gone to hell.

Mac and Goat Cheese

Mac and Cheese with Zucchini

• 9.5 oz macaroni
• 1 lb zucchini (about 2-3 of them), sliced
• garlic, minced (I used about 2-3 cloves)
• 4 oz goat cheese (or more if you like)
• lemon zest, and or lemon juice
• salt and pepper

→Cook the pasta.
Saute the zucchini with the minced garlic and add to the cooked and drained pasta.
Mix in the goat cheese, adding enough water to make it into a sauce. I suppose you could also just use more cheese, but that might throw off the taste.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Top with some lemon zest and a squirt of juice.