Put some icing on that funny bone.

I've been really into cakes lately. I find myself wanting to create masterpieces, but since I'm working on flowers I can just drool for now.

Well, because of this new interest - I was dawn to a Food Network show called Ace of Cakes. Have you SEEN this show? It's a bunch of people, with personalities that I find insanely comfortable (like, I have been friends with these sorts of people my whole lives), that run and operate a cake company. I love their sarcastic, and sometimes morbid, creativity. I also love their passion for creation.

And really, I'm sorry I can't go work for them.

Kidding.

Sort of.

Anyhow, my husband just sent me here and I just can't stop laughing.

Really, there are no words.

Laptop Lunches

Instead of buying my daughter a beautiful new Princess lunch box, and my son one adorned with race cars, I invested in Laptop Lunch's Lunch box bento. These appealed to me for several reasons:

(1) They are made entirely from "safe" plastics. (Marked with recycle #5)

(2) The plastic has all been made in the USA.

(3) They're dishwasher safe plastics that can be used over and over (instead of tossed away like a plastic bag).

Here's the average lunch I pack for the family The first is for the kids, the second is a picture of my husband's lunch.


And this is of a yummy granola bar chock full of fruits and nuts for the husband.

I was expecting to use fewer plastic bags and feel good about the choices I was making for my family, but I also sort of expected my pre school to get a little annoyed with me. I'm used to being "that lady" at the grocery store with my reusable grocery and produce bags. But I have to live with the people at my fabulous pre-school. I've watched them take out individual snacks at snack time, and I worried that the compartments (instead of bags) would be an issue. On the first day we had them, I went into school and pulled my kids' teacher aside. I showed her how to open it, as some compartments don't have lids. You simply must sit it down before opening. I braced myself for an exasperated sigh, but instead I got "wow, that's SO cool!"

Huh?

Apparently, everyone at the pre-school loves them so much, that I had to give the name out to all the teachers and the owner. AND, they plan on giving out the information to other parents who may be interested.

So, long story longer, these are a huge hit for the kids, their school, and us too. We hardly even look at our plastic bags anymore. It's also nice to set out 4 boxes (one for each of the kids, and one for each of the adults) and just get lunch done for everyone all at once.

As a little note, the cooler bags and plastic thermoses in them are NOT made in the USA nor are they "chemical free." I weighed the costs and benefits, and decided that the food never touches the bag, and I need a bag capable of keeping their food cold while at school, so I purchased the lunch bag on the Laptop Lunch's website. I do not, however, use the associated thermos.

Meal Planning

It appears that this is a common search for many people that find my blog. So, I'm going to start this up again. I have continually done it, but sometimes my menus get (I'm embarrassed to admit) stale. I went through a stage of not feeling particularly creative, and well, gave up posting my boring plans.

As I said in a post on an earlier day, my most recent grocery run was $56. I am SO proud of that number, but it was out of necessity. We "front loaded" our foods by buying in bulk - which leaves me very little wiggle room to meet budget. $70/week to be exact. Now, I try to put two servings of fruit into my kids' lunch box every day, plus fruit at home (they're not crazy about vegetables). There's also the dairy to cook with, and that pretty much meets my budget. Now, the nice thing is that we don't eat meat, which means when I cook beans and rice all week, my husband is understanding. It's also nice that I have a WELL stocked pantry.

I plan Thursday - Thursday as that is when the new ads come out for my grocer. I plan based on sales as much as possible.

Thursday: I was recovering from an operation, so we just drummed something out of the freezer.

Friday: I've been whipped from this operation, but I managed to boil some gnocchi and toss some sauce over it

Saturday: Felt pretty good, whipped together some pasta with asparagus, lemon, and pepper, lightly sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Sunday: Black Beans and cilantro rice.

Monday: Leftovers (I tutor late Mondays)

Tuesday: Chickpeas and rice. I'm going to spice these up with something in my pantry, but not sure what. Curry, maybe? Make some bread for sandwiches on Wednesday!

Wednesday: Leftovers/chick pea sandwiches (chickpeas smashed with a little bit of mayo, dill relish, onions, and mustard on bread)

Thursday: Leaving this open. If I plan TOO much, I don't get to use my creative energies and then I have nothing to post on this blog. There are these vegan chickpea cutlets in Veganomicon.
I'm also curious about the lentil sloppy Joe's.

All of these dinners have been talked about - in some way or another - under the tag "What's for dinner." I highly recommend meal planning, as it really saves you from the "what's for dinner" stump at the end of a long day. It also keeps you from buying produce you don't need that ends up going to waste. You can save money by making sure you shop sales and maximize coupons. Really, in today's high cost food world, it's the best way to keep on track.

Friday: Hopefully we will go out for a "hooray, I survived the first week of school." But, if that hurricane cancels school for a day or so, I might be off all together.

Pretty cupcakes and summer review.

As the summer comes to a close, I am reminded of a post I made in the early moments. In it, I made some summer vows. Now, I knew I was taking a serious risk when posting that - I knew I held a solid chance of not being able to keep most (if any) promises.

The summer proved to be busier than most. In addition to my culinary goals, I made a few household ones as well. Another one of my passions (along with cooking, teaching, and greenification) is scrapbooking. The whole summer, I accomplished just one page. One. I am so far behind at this point, I fear I may never catch up! I was doing a few online courses for my job - one in teaching students of limited English proficiency and the other to boost my knowledge in reading education. Between those courses, chasing my kids around, and you all...well...that was pretty much my entire summer.

My comments in black, the goals in lavender.

(1) I am going to feed my family homemade bread. I am also going to find sustainable, go to recipes that will allow me to feed my family homemade bread all year long.

I mostly managed this one, but not entirely. I never completely mastered the sandwich bread. I realized, after just the first loaf, that my pans weren't big enough. So, I purchased some larger ones. Then I realized my bread knife wasn't sharp enough to really cut the smaller slices suitable for PB&J's, so I bought another one of those too. Then we went on vacation.

Now, on my defense, I almost always have a loaf of this stuff sitting around. Which, incidentally, makes wonderful toasts, sides, and even "grown up" sandwiches. While the kids LOVE it plain, it's not so good for their lunches, which is why I tend to stick to Nature's Own Organic bread for them. At least until I can master the sandwich bread.

(2) I am going to see how cheaply we can eat, while still eating well and organically wherever possible.

I did that this week, but the rest of the summer just seemed like such a drain. I'm not sure if it's because of the rising food prices or what - but we just can't seem to get our grocery budget under control without giving in and eating some processed foods that I just refuse to by. I think "well, maybe ONE week wouldn't hurt.." But then I think about how good we eat, and how good it makes me feel, and I just can't even do it. This week, I spent $56. And that included some water for the hurricane sitting out in the gulf. Now, we have a well stocked pantry, so all I really needed was produce and dairy. Still, I was quite proud of myself for that. And yes, there will be a lot of beans this week.

(3) I am going to learn to make homemade tortillas. Low fat homemade tortillas.

Did this, but I was less than impressed. I should try different recipes, including the full fat ones. I also want to learn how to make pita bread, as the stuff I buy in the store is terrible.

(4) I will master the balsamic reduction. We had that at a restaurant lately, and LOVED it.

I tried it, but was not impressed. The problem was that it tasted burnt, as the balsamic reduction has to be done at a relatively low heat to avoid scorching. It was okay, but I didn't love it. I found precious little information about this process, so I was flying pretty blind. However, while this wasn't great, I found a wonderful way to make a thick balsamic dressing with my mortar and pestle that I will share as soon as I get the proportions down. I think it was about as good as the reduction, with much less work. It made AMAZING bruschetta.

(5) I will master the Panna Cotta recipe.

This was way too easy. It's milk jello. Boring. Now, there were some chocolate Panna Cotta recipes and interesting flavors that I want to try...

(6) We will be making a family trip out to Portland, Oregon - to see more family, and determine the steps necessary to make it our new home. While in Portland, we will be taking a tour that I am VERY excited about. I will be sure to post a review.

Okay, I managed this with gusto...if I do say so myself. If you want to see, click on the "vacation" link above. Or, go to the left where my other tags are, and click on "Oregon."

(7) This is the one that bears most on you, my reader - I will be posting daily. Even if it's a "the kids are sick, I can't think of anything to post, so here is a good article..." I will post daily. I promise! From now until my vacation - I will post daily. So, if you would like to reciprocate my devotion - please feel free to share this blog with friends and family. I hope to have more of what I've already put here, just MORE of it .

I made a pretty good dent in this in June, not so much in July. Although, I'm finding that most of the food blogs I read aren't so good about posting every day, which makes me feel better! I also know that I write about more than just FOOD in here, but how to tend to a kitchen, how to serve your food, product reviews, and even restaurant reviews.

I also managed to do a few unexpected things this summer. Like, I began my quest in cake decorating.

These were my first attempts at decorating cakes. I decided to "start small" - small meaning cupcakes.

The cakes themselves weren't great. The first batch, chocolate, were terrible. These vanilla cakes left much to be desired. Now, I am not a cake fan exactly. I much prefer a good pie or cobbler, or even cheesecake. I'm just really tired of paying someone else to decorate a cake for my kids. I have a lot of mixed emotions over this as well, as I really hate the number of chemicals that go into the decorating bit. Which leaves me with a quandary: to decorate means more chemicals. To get good I need to practice, which means more decorating. What to do? I guess more research to see if there are organic ways to do it. I have a friend who uses fruits to create the butter cream colors, and even homemade marshmallows to create fondant. That might be a direction I have to go as I learn some of the techniques. Oh, and I must mention that this is all self taught - the cake decorating class in my area is from 12-2. Thanks, Michaels.

So, all in all - I think I get a B. I met a good number of my goals, exceeded expectations in other areas, but didn't quite do all that I said I was going to. I did increase my blog readership, which is a huge deal for me - so for all you faithful readers...thanks. I really enjoy knowing that you come here to read about my kitchen adventures.

Seitan Ribs, from the Fat Free Vegan

Yesterday, I wrote about a few new blogs. One of them was the fat free vegan, and that is the same blog that I got this recipe from.

As I said before, my husband is a meat substitute phobe. He raises an eyebrow at anything that is supposed to mimic meat. We've found a few good substitutes, but the default is always that he won't like it.

I had read bits and pieces about Seitan, and I was starting to feel pretty positive about it. Seitan is made from vital wheat gluten, which is the "binder" in breads. In fact, vital wheat gluten is something many bakers keep on hand for their baked goods. On one of the Weight Watcher boards, I followed a link for "ribz" and ended up at the Fat Free Vegan. She was writing about her Fourth of July feast, which included Seitan Riblets.

Let me start by saying that they really are quite tasty - and the husband did enjoy them! Let me give you a few tips that weren't clearly spelled out at the Fat Free Vegan's site:

(1) DO NO clean up vital wheat gluten with water. You know that rubber-cement like stuff on the back of tags taken off of magazines? That's sort of what VWG is like when wet. Dust it off, and just wipe off the residue. Oh...and be careful with your sink - I'm still trying to clean the sludge out.

(2) The instructions say "knead," but this doesn't mean "knead" like you would a loaf of bread. You can't stretch it out and pull it apart like you can bread dough. Instead, you want to keep the ball of Seitan together, just pressing down, then cupping the very spongy dough back together. Don't flatten and lop over like bread - Seitan doesn't worth that way.

(3) When you spread the Seitan into the pan, it takes some serious effort. I had to work the dough vigorously for quite some time to get it spread out in the pan. Don't give up - it will come together eventually.

Other than that, Seitan is amazingly simple and something we will be trying again! The whole pan is 20 points, so if you divide it into 4, that's 5 points a serving. It's a nice "go to" meal, as Vital Wheat Gluten is a shelf-stable ingredient that can be kept on hand for a substantive meal.

A few new links in my blog roll.

I find myself delving more and more into the world of foodiedom, and all the while finding foodie blogs to read for inspiration.

I'm also finding myself drawn more and more to vegan sites. While I'm not a vegan, I do like cooking like one.

The Fat Free Vegan is cool because it mixes weight watching with no meat. I find vegans to be disgustingly skinny (disgusting, like, I want to be just like them!) So, it's actually hard to find ones that focus on watching caloric and fat intake. Don't get me wrong - almost every vegan I've ever met is heath conscious. They're just not always calorie counting.

Post Punk Kitchen is done by a couple of well known vegans that have written the books Vegan with a Vengeance, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and Veganomicon. I actually just picked Veganomicon up from the new bookstore in town, and I am way excited to try it out. What I love about these books is the wholesomeness often overlooked in veganism in favor of meat substitutes. I love how most everything is natural. Already the spicy tempeh sushi has completely caught my eye.

The Vegan Dad: who DOESN'T love a Dad who can cook?

I have a few more blogs that I've added that are neither vegan nor vegetarian:

A Veggie Venture is just an all around great site totally focused on vegetables with lots of references to Weight Watchers.

The Gourmet Momma is another Mom that loves to cook. I completely identify with these sorts of blogs and felt at home when I opened it. There are lots more Foodie Mommy Blogs there too.

I think that I just have Oregon on the brain right now, but I'm loving Northwest Noshing. I especially love that he reviewed Mother's, as I recently did the same after my trip up north.

Anyhow, a few more good reads for you while I gear up for the new school year. Then it won't be so noticeable when I don't post everyday! (I hope, I hope..)

Two vegetarian finds.

My husband is a fake-meat phobe. Seriously. When we became vegetarians, his one stipulation was that I don't try to force "matrix meat" into him. Consequently, I mostly try to cook without it.

A good friend (vegetarian) had a super bowl party. She had this chili dip that I tasted (thinking that it had no meat), and found myself a little upset that I tasted hamburger. Later, I heard her say it had no meat, and that she used a Boca crumble. The husband and I enthusiastically agreed that we couldn't tell the difference.

A bit later, I read about how wonderful these frozen vegan riblets were. I got a little curious and bought them one day - and low and behold - they WERE good. They taste remarkably like meat, the sauce is wonderful, and they're way low in points weight watcher points (I want to say 3 or so, but double check if you're on weight watchers).

Well, the vegan riblets went over so well, I decided to try the meatballs. And you know what? They were really good too! And only two points per serving (6 whole meatballs)!

This has given me the gumption to try seitan, which is on the menu for this week (oh...I really should get back into doing that on here...mental note). My husband is definitely feeling more open to them, so I better capitalize.

As an aside, the Tofurky franks are pretty much awful. Don't even bother.