Honestly, she can do no wrong.

I have been buying some frozen Amy’s stuff lately, as the veggie lunch options in my own personal Scranton Business Park are rather limited. (I’m talking bagel with margarine limited.) Historically, I’ve had a rather substantial aversion to frozen entrees as they tend to be grody and filled with baddie chemicals or whatever. I was also raised by parents who made dinner from scratch every night, so I have it in my head that pre-made is no good at all. (Strangely, this thinking doesn’t seem to transfer to takeout, har.) In any case, I’d seen the Amy’s stuff for ages but – other than the veggie burgers, which I’ve been buying for a while and I expect to be premade – I’d remained relatively suspicious of the dinners ’til recently.

I’ve tried probably half a dozen options and have yet to be disappointed!

Right now, I am enjoying the living daylights out of this.

No kidding. This tastes like what my mum used to make. So gooey and cheesy and delicious, yet not cheese!

(Note: I do realize that it’s not pure vegan as it contains milk protein – remember that I’m veganesque, not the real deal. Har.)

In any case, Amy: you are winning me over in a huge way. And thank you!

Delicious, delicious, delicious. I’ve always been a huge fan of Mexican. And it’s not just the margaritas! (Though, honestly, they don’t hurt.) It’s the gazillion layers of nutritiousness hidden inside a bowl of delish. I love the beans. I love the spiciness. I love the snuggly warmth of eating this kind of stuff at this time of year.

So yeah, here’s my favourite vegan chili. (Okay, when I say here, I don’t mean in the picture, I mean in the recipe. I am always forgetting to take foodie pictures, so I am using someone else’s.) Important to note: First off, I don’t like to use too many vegetables, as I prefer the thick and smooth to the chunky and crunchy. Secondly, I don’t like adding fake tofu edition of ground beef, as the beans are enough for me. In any case, these are my rules, but you may do what you will!

It’s Getting Chili in Here

• 1-2T olive oil
• 1 orange pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 onion
• 1T flour
• 1T chili powder
• 1T cumin
• 1t cocoa
• 1/4t cayenne
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1T balsamic
• 1 can crushed tomatoes

Cook it all up in a big pot, takes maybe fifteen minutes to make. Let it sit however long you like, spicing away, or get ready to eat straight up. Smoosh with a potato masher to make a thicker, smoother consistency, if you like that sort of thing.

Either eat as a chili in a bowl or throw in a big whole grain tortilla. Add some shredded soy cheese and avocado for extra deliciousness.

About seventeen times better than anything you find pre-made in your grocery store – yes, even the organic stuff – and still a super quick dinner.

Oh man. I am the world’s worst shopper.

When I say I’m the world worst shopper, I don’t mean I have a buying problem. No, in fact, I rather hate shopping. Don’t get me wrong – I love pretty new clothes. I madly love and love and love pretty new clothes. It’s just that I hate the process of finding them.

But it’s not the trying them on, as is the part that many people hate about shopping! I rather love getting prettied up in the changing room. I have no girlish sensitivity about the fact that I’m physically imperfect – we all are, it’s fine by me, and I’m happy as I am.

Nope, what I hate is the picking things out.

There are too many choices. It’s overwhelming. I don’t know what section to find the shoes to go with that sweet dress. I don’t know whether they keep the little jackets with the little wraps. I don’t want to piece every step together before I hit the dressing room. I don’t know if I might have something at home that goes just right. I don’t know any of it.

So how does shopping work for me? A little bit like this.

Me: Oh, could I try this on?
Salesgirl: Of course! Let me get a changing room started for you.
Me: Actually, I am looking for something that works for [insert function/activity]… in fact, I need to buy a bunch of things… I’m really the worst shopper… can you pick things out and I will put them on?

Yes, it costs more. Yes, I have to go to lovely shops where the salesgirls will actually have the fashion savvy to dress me delightfully. No, I am not sorry to pay for it. The time that I’m saved in pacing about from store to store results in a net positive.

So, today. Two party dresses. Two sets of coordinating accessories. Two hours. Done and done.

So The Reluctant Vegetarian posted this week about The Flexitarian Diet. Given that I’ve been on this new eating system for just over four months now, I found it interesting.

The premise is that you become “mostly” vegetarian. Me? I’m “mostly” vegan – or as I regularly refer to it, “veganesque”. I eat fish once or twice a week (though I think this volume is actually falling as I better and better learn the art of vegetarian cooking). I also don’t go pure vegan in that I don’t avoid products that have egg/dairy/etc. as minor ingredients in ‘em.

Why not go full-force? First off, I’m just not super strict with myself, as I’m a pretty relaxed sort who’s just trying to be better, not trying to be perfect. Secondly, I do a fair amount of client entertaining, which involves a lot of taking people for lunch and dinner. It’s already next to impossible to find decent non-meaty meals in restaurants to begin with – particularly when you eliminate the cheese, creamy dressings, etc. I am simply not able to fully cut my need to eat out a few times a week given the job construct. I am okay with this. Overall, cutting out that stuff has been good for my health and has also reduced my footprint. It doesn’t need to be exactly per some magical script. It’s good and I’m happy about that.

So I’m not physically flexible, but indeed dietarily so! Har.

(In other news, I noted in that article that vegetarians are allegedly 15% lower on average in weight than non-veggies. How is it that I have yet to become 15% lighter care of my meatless/cheeseless agenda? Ridiculous!)

So how flexitarian are you?

For the love of pete. I am seriously frustrated by the idea that we are all so very free to say whatever our wee hearts desire, but when someone does and it’s offensive to another, the big public apology comes out.

First off: I enjoy Heather Mallick. I think she’s a smart cookie and her writing generally appeals to me greatly. I may not always fully agree with her, but I really dig her style. She’s opinionated, she’s strong, and she doesn’t mince words. These are among the most admirable characteristics that I can imagine a person having.

So did you see this? It’s in response to Mallick’s September 5 column, posted on CBC’s site.

Well, the CBC has now issued this apology for allowing it to be posted, despite originally standing behind Mallick and supporting its editorial policy, which accepts that its writers will hold varying positions and diversity in opinion.

Blagh. This kind of thing just frustrates the living daylights out of me. How on earth do we, as a culture, think it’s okay to check our values at the door when we are publicly challenged? How do we not politicize basic freedoms upon which we claim our foundation lays? What the living hell are we teaching ourselves and our growing generations of thinkers and leaders about integrity and standing up for what we believe when we lose the former due to an incapacity to undertake the latter?

Again: blagh.

I am really excited. Leslie is back to blogging. Finally, my favourite source of foodie inspiration has returned. As such, I spent the last hour stalking her blogroll and their blogroll’s, etc., while eating her quinoa salad, which I suspect my non-measuring self slightly over-flavoured as it was really strong tasting. That said, it’s the first time I’ve gotten Dave to eat quinoa, so it remains a success. Hah.

In any case, I am so making this.

So I’ve basically always avoided Etsy. There are too many things from which to choose. It’s overwhelming and I give up after twenty minutes of searching.

But today! I found a really unique business card holder – I hate my leather one that I have, my cards always still end up bent/smudged. I have been looking for a metal one forever, but wanted something a little different. This one has polished lizard leather on its front. Weird… but amazing!

I also found this seller.

I’m thinking I could rock this in my office. Thoughts?

So after not attending a single yoga or pilates class in all of 2008, I recently had a full physical. My results came back this week and I learned that a normal people have a score of 32 on this flexibility test I did. My score was 19. Yikes! (In good news, pretty much all else was highly positive and my muscular/cardio endurance were scored as excellent, whew.)

So I went to yoga today – I did a 1.5 hour Hatha class.

I was really bad! But it was good. I’m patient about this sort of thing (probably the only area in my life where patience legitimately arises, hah) and get that this will take time to rebuild. The class was small and my instructor was really helpful, spending a lot of time helping each person directly to ensure proper form, etc. It was also followed by half an hour of Yoga Nidra, which is effectively a guided meditation. So calming! So cozy!

I really want to get back into it. It’s hard to fit in classes during the week with my work schedule – not even just because of the hours, but because of working outside of the downtown core. If I want to attend even a 7:30PM class, I have to do the following:

• Arrive at studio at 7:15.
• Arrive at home by 6:45 to drop off car, get stuff ready, and walk over.
• Leave work at 5:45 to ensure I get home for 6:45 with traffic constraints.
• Be done work at 5:30-ish so I can get out the door by 5:45.

This? Not so do-able. Now when our office moves downtown, I think it will far more feasible as the steps will change as follows.

• Arrive at studio at 7:15.
• Leave work at 6:45-7 with yoga stuff in hand, walking over.

The official office lease end-date is May of 2009, but the real estate consultants think we’ll likely be moving more like March. Location and office selection should be complete in November/December.

God, I can’t wait. My phsycial flexibility is dependent upon this work flexibility!

In the meantime, I will do my best to go on one weekend day and Tuesdays, when I’m already downtown for the day at school.

Six more months…

Eee! I started my PhD this week. Flex time. Faculty of Information. U of T.

I can’t explain how much it ruled. We talked about philosophies and methologies and grant applications and research and ahhhh! I can’t even believe how lucky I am to get to do this kind of thing. Dreamy.

I have my own little office at the university! It’s overlooking Spadina. I swear to you, it is nicer than my work office, which – while more spacious – overlooks a parking lot and the 427. 

I have a supervisor, who is super smart and has really great positive energy. She also took me to the adorable Faculty Club to celebrate my beginning this thrilling challenge!

Sigh.

I wish to be a nerd forever. Or at least for the next six to eight years. Hah.

So, okay, it’s been nearly three months sans land animal products. And it’s felt relatively easy to date.

But this weekend? There were a lot of Wendy’s Baconator commercials on during the last few days of the Olympics. (Um, what? I know.) And, yeah, ew, right? But I’ve always loved a bacon cheeseburger. Salty. Melty. Delish. And then the reality set in: not only will I never, ever have a burger again, I’ll never have a steak. I’ll never have a lamb chop with mint sauce. I’ll never have a glass of milk with ice cubes in it to accompany my tuna sandwich. I’ll never have a cheesy, creamy omelette. I’ll never have my beloved nachos.

I miss food. I am feeling all worn out and slightly queasy – I think mostly because I’ve been pushing too hard again and am maybe not getting enough iron (have had iron issues in the past, will be making an appointment with doctor and nutritionist this week) – and… I would really just like some ham with scalloped potatoes. Hah.

Anyway. I’m really just feeling rather sorry for myself. I googled reluctant vegetarian and found this. The recipes look great, but the person doesn’t seem particularly reluctant. Do you know anyone who’s made such wholesale change with reluctance? I tried hunting for message boards or anything of the sort tonight, but found only an assortment of hardcore veggie snobs who would hate that I still eat fish, and people whose posts I could barely understand (yeah, that’s the snob in me talking).

I don’t even know what the point of today’s post is. I am just feeling rather sorry for myself and am not much for complaining out loud. No need to respond, this is pure vent!