i just want to be alone

S’up, ya’ll?  I hope your valentined week was pleasant.  In the past, this was not a holiday my equal (better?  gal, please) half and I would partake in.  However, since having kids, our relationship has required more… maintenance.  Of course, maintenance is a part of all healthy relationships, but when your needs become secondary (thanks, kids!) it is really easy to lose site of that.  Anywho, in honor of the holiday and as part of our commitment to each other’s well-being, we gave each other a day to ourselves.

I got Saturday.  The husby took the kids AND babysat my friend’s son so we could have a lady-date down in Albany.  It was divine.  We ate a New World Bistro Bar.  They support local and seasonal food, and have a decent vegan menu.  I kind of regret not at least asking about their seitan, but much as I love seitan, I’ve seen it go very, very wrong.  I got a delicious, if safe, mushroom sandwich.  Our appetizers were fantastic, and our server was extremely pleasant.  It was fortunate my lady friend had the foresight to call ahead and make a reservation.  We were seated near the door and saw many people turned away because the restaurant and bar were full.  Clearly, I have neglected the Albany food scene, but I am not sure my wallet could handle a reform.

I gave my husband Sunday.   A day with no kids and no responsibilities.  He took the opportunity to go ice fishing with friends.

At home, we carried on like it was a regular week day…

Mr. Darling and I don’t hate being with each other though.  We totally pre-gamed Valentines the weekend before.  My aunt and uncle were in town and watched the kids while we got some together-alone time.

i still think corndogs are awesome

I was a very picky eater as a child.  I am sorry.  That is not the whole truth.  I was a very picky eater well into adulthood.  My favorite food group was corndogs for WAY too long– Thank you, vegan cooking, for guiding me out of that pit of darkness.  As a reformed picky eater, I have only explored spicy foods for a few years.  To be frank, I have no tolerance.  I want to tolerate it.  Nay, I want to enjoy it, but all I taste is pain.

Last week, Husby suggested we add the Appetite for Reduction Buffalo Tempeh to our meal plan.  I knew I was going to have to modify to suit my heat-intolerance.  I took some inspiration from AFR and some from the milder Tempeh Wingz recipe from an old vegan zine, Don’t Eat Off the Sidewalk.  The result was a delicious sauce that will NOT melt your face off but still has some kick.

BuffMellow Sauce (Because it’s Buffalo sauce, but it’s Mellow!  I know… I apologize.)

• 1/2 C veg broth
• 1/4 C Frank’s Redhot
• 1/4 C ketchup
• 1-2 tsp agave
• 1 tsp sriracha
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp dried oregano

I just dumped this sauce and my cut up tempeh into a pan.  Then, cooked down the sauce until most of it was sticking to the tempeh.  Reserving some sauce to add afterward is a good idea (Oops).  Eating this with the Coolslaw recipe from AFR is an even better idea.

(It probably doesn’t look like it from my unfortunately low lit picture, but the saucy goodness was well absorbed into the tempeh and filled it with flavor.  I PROMISE.)

 

stuff around my apartment saturday

Over Super Bowl weekend I modified the Tempeh Wing recipe from Appetite for Reduction, on account of my extreme heat wussery, and I will post said mods very soon.  If you are not heat-phobic go ahead and rock the original recipe with a side of some equally bitchin’ AFR Cool Slaw (hot damn).  Until then…

 

Coat closets are for suckers.

So happy I finally stopped dragging tail and made a photo book.   Now I need more!

Three and already way too good at Super Mario Galaxy.

His birthday was two weeks ago, but I still haven’t erased it.

This is about as good as this room looks most days.

Somebody got into the rolled oats.

 

second-monday

Okay, so my meal planning was sort of 50/50 success.  Two of my good lady friends from the Midwest came out for a visit.  We ate, we gabbed, we ate some more.  I did bake them a vegan Kale and Quinoa Quiche the night they got in– I knew they would be hungry after a day full of travel.  We did make the Garlic Coconut Cream Pizza (so crazy delicious), but other than that our moods led our meals more than my plan.  Read also, there was a lot of dessert (Smlove Pie, Pull-apart Pumpkin Bread, and Cookie Dough Hummus to start).  We kept savory meals simple and veg filled– my ladies do love the veg.  So, when all was said and done, it almost sorta balanced out.

clockwise starting at top left: almond milk, felix, baked pumpkin oatmeal, super belated xmas gift, garlic coconut cream pizza, and laundry couch.

It is always very refreshing to see long distance friends again, and it was great having company in the kitchen.  There is a downside to visits though.  Every time someone leaves I feel overwhelmed by the physical distance between us.  Most of the time I enjoy where I live and am happy in the knowledge that we’re going home EVENTUALLY.  But, I totally lose it every time we drop someone at the airport.  Every.  Time.   My laundry couch gets a little fuller, my meals a little heavier, and my apartment even dirtier (because, I won’t lie, it’s never really clean).

Well, my mourning period pity party has passed, and I’m ready to hop back in the meal plan van– I thought it would be better than wagon because it rhymed, but it just sounds creepy.  We’re going to make a few recipes from Appetite for Reduction (pot-pie stew and buffalo tempeh with cool slaw), baked potatoes, and asian-style pepper steak (with gardein beef tips or tofu).  AFR recipes usually last through a couple of meals, and I also have some veg-lentil soup (also from AFR)  in the freezer.  I am hoping this and maybe some pantry improv will keep us eating from home until next Sunday.

Happy Friday if it’s your Friday!  Have a great weekend.  In this family it is more like Tuesday or maybe more accurately Second-Monday (there are some repeats in a seven-day work week).  Things are just getting started up in here.