I Have a Thing for Amy

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!

It’s Getting Chili in Here

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.

Shopping in Twos

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.

The Flexitarian Diet

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?

An Issue of Integrity

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.

Foodie-Following

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.