Cooking!

[judecorp]

This never happens, so I'm totally documenting it for posterity. You know, for those times when I can drop the bomb and say, "Remember that one time, that one time way back in late 2004..."

I'm cooking. Right now. I never cook. In fact, it can be said that I mostly detest cooking. I like baking just fine. Actually, I rather enjoy baking. But not cooking. The idea of taking an hour or more to prepare a meal that you can wolf down in minutes irritates me. So does the idea of coming home from an exhausting day of work and needing to chop, stir, prepare. I am totally a box cook, a frozen bag cook, a call-the-pizza-place cook. And not a very good one at that.

I tend to enter relationships with good cooks, people who like cooking. It started with my brother. He is an excellent cook. Likewise, A. not only enjoyed cooking but was quite good at it, often experimenting with new recipes and not afraid to do some major work in the kitchen. My Jennifer is also quite the cook, and usually enjoys it. I don't think she really enjoys it after standing on her feet all day, though. Does anyone? Still, on those days where she works opening shift and is home at 7, she usually cooks. On the days she closes and gets home at 10, we fend for ourselves. This translates (usually) into my foraging for leftovers or food of randomness, and she comes home and nibbles on snacks.

So NOT ONLY are we making dishes for Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's tomorrow (pumpkin cranberry bread and broccoli, rice, and cheese casserole), BUT I am also making DINNER. Right now. And it, like, includes ingredients and stuff.

My mission has always been to get Jennifer and me to eat more healthfully, and to also get Jennifer to be less of a meat eater. I've already succeeded in making her tolerate tofu, a feat of which I am immensely proud. Someday I hope to help her fall in love with a number of vegetarian dishes, so that we can drop the meat-eating to a minimum. (Only at restaurants and friends' houses would be my ultimate goal, but I'll take what I can get.) So maybe if I become a better vegetarian cook, it will help my cause.

Tonight I'm going to try to make some fried rice with tofu in the spiffy wok. I have a bag of stir-fry asian vegetables from Trader Joe and I also opened a can of TJ pineapple chunks (no preservatives, yay!). Against Jen's personal tastes, I'm also using brown rice. (Dudes, white rice is lame! Everything good's been stripped!) Hopefully it will turn out good, so that she'll like it and agree that we should be groovy, healthy chicks who eat way less meat and lots of organic stuff! (I think watching Supersize Me might have helped my cause, too!)

Wouldn't it be cool if I became an awesome veggie cook in the process? Then I could be SUPER CRUNCHY REBEL ORGANIC HIPPIE ALTERNAMOM!

Comments

[geniusorafool.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the cooking! Yay!

As for making Jennifer less of a meat eater...*gasp* Jennifer, if you are out there and can hear me, DON'T GO VEGGIE ON ME!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Hush, you. =P DON'T UNDERMINE MY SEEKRIT PLANZ!

[estrange.livejournal.com]

If you have good veggie or tofu recipes, I would love to know them. I'm constantly looking for good ones. I'd like to be a vegetarian but it's so hard to find things that taste good. Plus I'm allergic to nuts, so that limits my choices further.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

We get most of our recipes from cookinglight.com. We have a subscription to Cooking Light, and everything we've ever made from there is soooo good! If I come across any particularly good veg recipes, I will let you know.

Someone suggested www.vegweb.com to me, you might want to check it out!

I don't like nuts. I always take the nuts out of recipes. Eww.

[estrange.livejournal.com]

Oh thank you for those urls! I will check them out. I have a question for you on the COoking Light magazine - are there a lot of veggie recipes in it? I was thinking of getting a subscription but if there aren't a lot of veggie recipes I might pass.

Yay for you not liking nuts - good taste!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there are a number of veggie recipes in Cooking Light. The great thing is that you can do a trial of three free issues, which gives you the website for free for three motnhs, too. Then you can decide if you like it!

[oxlahun.livejournal.com]

I don't like nuts

Holy crap. This sets up so many one-liners I hardly know where to start. I'll just say that looking at your friends list, I would've guessed the only people you like are nuts.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't know how long I used (and surreptitiously wore out) the corny joke, "I don't like nuts, and that's not a lesbian joke."

[ladypussycat.livejournal.com]

i popped on over to your lil LJ (from b0st0n) and just wanted to say yay veg! good for you :)

and if you need more recipes galore, there's always http://www.vegweb.com (but you probably already have that link).

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Awwwh, I love that icon! The little tofu is so cute! :)

Yeah, I know about VegWeb. I don't usually look at recipes because I don't usually cook. (Ha ha) But perhaps I should start cooking. Maybe it could be a Dramatic Life Change or something!

:)

[ladypussycat.livejournal.com]

thanks! it's from a t-shirt neuty.com used to sell, but now they're closed and sell them at this cute lil DIY site to raise $ for greyhounds (http://www.craftersforcritters.com/clothing.html) - gotta give credit where credit is due :)

i've worked my way through vegweb, but i seem to fall into the same cooking patterns. in hopes of springing myself out of that i started ordering vegan cookbooks through the library (even have a cute recipe box for inspiration). HOWEVER recently a horde of mean moths at all my food and so now i live out of the frige :( but that is a sob-story for another time...

luck with the cooking!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Dude, I read about your moth problem - that is so freaky!!

I keep thinking I will motivate myself to cook. The subscription to Cooking Light was supposed to help. I guess it has a little. I dunno.

Talk about old cooking patterns - my #1 cooking pattern is a box of macaroni and cheese.

[sassyjenski.livejournal.com]

as a crunchy organic hippie alternamom, i highly recommend vegetarian cooking for everyone by deborah madison, the recipes aren't scary for meateaters, it gives good technique advice, and the food is DELISH and easy!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! I will have to check it out. I hope they have it at the library!

[calledmara.livejournal.com]

If I ever have kids we need to have a contest to see who can be the crunchier mama.

I am making bread pudding for my family. Mmmm sugar and a dozen eggs.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Dude, your bread pudding is SO GOOD but it KILLS YOUR HEART. My god, when you told me what was in it that day I almost had a coronary right there!!

I told my dad we were bringing pumpkin cranberry bread and he sounded excited, even when I said it was low-fat. However, when I told him about the broccoli casserole, he make wretching sounds. My father is afraid of vegetables. ;)

[calledmara.livejournal.com]

bread pudding is ok as long as you don't eat it every day! And it's not like you individually are eating the 3 sticks of butter involved.

I love broccoli casserole.

Someone once told me I cook like a vegetarian Amish person and I think that's pretty damn accurate. Mmm casseroles and stale bread as an ingredient!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

vegetarian Amish person

Holy crap, that's it exactly!!!

[phatsin8.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way when it comes to cooking! I was laughing so hard reading your post that Noah kept peeking over my shoulder to see what was so funny:) Of course it doesn't help that our oven is broken which especially sucks because I love to bake also. Thankfully, Noah likes to cook, however he does have hope that one day the kittys will learn to make him sandwiches...

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Oooh, if he figures out how to teach cats to make him sammiches, please let me know so I can do the same around here. Also, I'm desperately trying to teach the cats to clean the house while I am at work.

[juliann.livejournal.com]

One word: Quorn

I have served it to die-hard meat eaters and they have not known it wasn't meat! We gladly eat it as much as we can. (Which isn't much -- I have an intolerance to it. But I have an intolerance to virtually everything healthy!) Beware, about 10 percent of people who eat it get diarrea, but if you're not one of those then it's heaven!

They even have quorn tv dinners n stuff which are really really yummy.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Where does one by this quorn? I will have to check it out.

Oh, btw, Levenger doesn't sell Book Sarongs anymore. They sell Booksuits - made of bathing suit material. Weird.

[juliann.livejournal.com]

Well, I know they have Quorn at wholefoods, but I'd imagine any co-cop, gourmet or alterna grocery would have it. It's British and it's in every supermarkt here..but I don't think it has gotten that mainstream in the US yet.

Sucks about the sarongs! Oh well! Bathing suit material just sounds creepy :/

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check Whole Foods and stuff.

So is that a "no" on the Booksuits? It /does/ sound creepy, but I'm guessing is more protective or whatever.

[juliann.livejournal.com]

Yeah that's a no on the booksuit :(

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Okay - I'll think of something else!

[juliann.livejournal.com]

Can I have some crayons please, Mama? Lots of nice people sent me colouring books but not enough crayons!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Okay, I can do that! :)

[poopsmoothie.livejournal.com]

I turned into a cook like my dad: makes a few things well, but relies on pasta and junk food to survive. :( It's sad, because now that I'm a vegetarian I should make an effort to eat healthy, well-balanced meals. Instead I eat noodles with butter, lots of garlic and fake bacon bits. Oh well, hopefully the garlic will keep me healthy.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I feel exactly the same way as you. I also rely on pasta, processed food (like mac and cheese) and junk food. Even though I know (and advocate for) eating healthy is the way to go.

Ugh.

[folkyboy.livejournal.com]

haha i think the whole lack of cooking thing is just you being lazy ;P i think you could totally cook... you guys always have yummy food :)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I am very critical of the stuff I cook. I don't know why. But yeah, our food is usually good, but I think Jen's is better.

[ullrsawah.livejournal.com]

mmmmm...veggie food...

my suggestions:

~~~~~~~food:

**deep-fried tofu creatures (my sister gave me animal cookie cutters last year for christmas) with a favorite sauce

**anything with chite wine, butter, garlic and lemon (or lime) --- potatoes, veggies, pasta, tofu --- i just finished eating pasta, asparagus, and meatless meatballs (from trader joe's) tossed with butter, garlic salt and lemon juice with pasta cheeses

**couscous (much olive oil, garlic, and seasonings) with toasted pine nuts (but good without as well) and veggies tossed with a curry sauce (i'm a huge fan of trader joe's thai red curry sauce) ~~~ i also had the same couscous tossed with some quorn breaded "chicken" cutlet sort of thing while flying last week and it was super yummy and stayed tasty even without constant refrigeration

**black bean enchiladas --- sauce (i use two cans each of cream of mushroom soup, tomato soup, and old el paso mild enchilada sauce), cheese, tortillas, refried and whole black beans --- served over rice. the enchiladas can be annoying to construct, so let me know if you need directions if you've never done it before. (also, the sauce is a stunning dip for chips as well)

**roasted portabella mushrooms --- olive oil and garlic in the caps OR any seasoning you enjoy, they're a very flexible mushroom --- you can eat alone with standard sides as a sort of veggie "steak" or as a burger (what i ate the last time i went to the indy 500

**bean dip --- layer in a pan: veggie refried beans of some sort, cheese, myriad favorite veggies and then heat to melt the cheese. when my mom and sister make this, they add sour cream under the cheese layer, but i'm not a fan of sour cream, so i skip it. (i think this is a modified "seven-layer salad)

~~~~~~ any of the moosewood cookbooks are excellent (great directions, healthy, easy, and tasty)

~~~~~~ or simply substitute proteins ("not-meat" or tofu) in favorite recipes. i'm planning to try making my mom's hamburger pie sometime soon with tvp (textured vegetable protein -- the texture resembles ground beef, so it's good in taco variations as well. just make sure to season it because it does not *taste* like beef!

~~~~~~ also check out the lj group: vegrecipes -- the "memories" section is essentially a recipe book...

good luck with the cooking and let me know if you try any of the above!
have fun with the cooking and feel free to ask for suggestions any time...i LOVE cooking and thinking about food...

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

You are making me hungry! I wish I liked cooking because I sure like eating! ;)

Everything you mentioned sounds really good. Thanks!

[ullrsawah.livejournal.com]

no problem...i'm more than willing to share my love of food.

i've found cooking to be much more enjoyable when you just play (cook what sounds and smells good) rather than plan. some of my worst meals have been "well-planned" while some of my best grew out of smoke-filled failures

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I agree. Play-cooking is the best!