you sleep, i'll breathe

tonight was a great night. the day started terrible, so to be able to say that. to be able to read that. goodness. sometimes days can't get back on track, after you wake up to an overdrawn account, a job that can make you go batty, or a day that just seems like everything is not going your way. but sometimes things go your way, despite self-fulfilling prophecy or bad vibes. sometimes parents can still lift you up, even when you feel like you have out-grown their help. sometimes something so beautiful as caring for the one you love, just takes all the sting out of a day that felt like it would have been better spent in bed all day.

tonight was like the ultimate high for jess and i. she got her vegan food, and i got to go record shopping. the wonderful part about both of these things, is that we both enjoy these things. so jess wanting to go out for vegan isn't exactly like pulling teeth out of my mouth. likewise jess loves records almost as much as i do, so when i lust for vinyl, she tends to go along, because she loves me, and of course she loves records TOO!

tonight was more than great food and awesome record buys. tonight we saw love of everything. goodness i think this may have been the most fun, most smiling, shouting, and girlish laughter i have been guilty of in one half hour of my life. it was so fun, to see bobby put together a song, it really was like being in a studio, or seeing someone create something from the bones. it was beautiful. and jess and i had so much fun yelling along to the songs. so much fun. and if that wasn't enough, i got to talk with bobby afterwards. thanking him profusely, and enjoying some idle chatter, being a total geek, but i guess this is how people would act if they met a famous movie star they liked, or something like that. he even sold us a shirt at a discount, and gave us an out of print 7" he was humble and just cool. if you are up for seeing a great show, go do yourself a favor and see love of everything.

btw, here is a pic of jess and i with bobby last year after the make believe show:

so the night has winded down, jess is sleeping and we are listening to the mountain goats'"heretic pride" a very beautiful album, that i really don't have the time to go into. but a definite top ten of '08 already. a great night, i am nearly passing out, running on pure adrenaline from such a great time tonight. i leave with you a picture of my wonderful bevy of records from reckless records:

more pictures of us eating food?

tonight we went downtown to see love of everything, eat yummy vegan food at the chicago diner, & we even were able to do some much needed record shopping...

i'm sure ryno will cover the show & talk up our new buys... but for now, the photos!


i had the seitan reuben (SO GOOD) with mac & "cheez"... we also started with the bbq seitan appetizer which was surprisingly good, considering i'm not the biggest seitan fan...


ryno had the gyro sandwich with sweet potato fries. judging by the (complete lack of) leftovers on his plate when we were done, it wouldn't be terribly far-fetched to say it was good. oh by the way, did i mention the vegan milkshake?! mmmm...

we just split our huge cookie from the diner, which was just as yummy as expected. we'll definitely be back!

easter craziness!

well, i was supposed to go back to jersey for easter but there was some crazy slightly stormy weather that prevented that from happening. overall, we definitely had a nice (first) easter together though i can't say i was properly prepared for the complete and utter viciousness that is the Chrisman egg-hunt...
because of our dietary whatnots, we decided to make easter breakfast before going out... ryno chowed down on his blueberry pancakes so fast that i couldn't even get a picture!

i was obviously much more reserved (okay, not quite) and was able to snap a shot of my dish. i had plain pancakes with earth balance and maple syrup, a yummy white bean and tempeh sausage pattie (recipe originally from vegan with a vengeance, but i modify them to hold together better), and some great fresh strawberries...


tonight ryno & i went out for my "prize" after winning our poker game.. (did i mention i won against ryno and ryan on friday?) i got some nice spices for less than $15...

pictured: hot chili powder, brown mustard seed, marjoram, california sweet paprika, ancho chili pepper, and sumac.

yum!

because i'm such a nice panda finance, i let ryno get a record & we had some super yummy thai food. mm good night!

somedays will some day be most days.

jess and i had a good sunday(yesterday)...besides cleaning we also were able to do things that made us happy. we took a short walk during the afternoon, when we came back we relaxed(and cleaned) and then went out again for a run/bike ride. we went for 40 minutes, which kind of kicked my ass, since i am not quite in shape yet. but none the less it feels so good to ramp up these healthy things in our life. when we got back, i painted and jess cooked. jess has really come into her own with indian food, last nights meal was amazing. and so authentic. here is a pic of the pandagirl tough at work:


the before picture of me cleaning all the dishes that made such a wonderful meal is not available ;)

i had been putting off painting for quite a while. i have several things in mind, but it just comes down to time, and mostly kitties. god they love brushes and wet paint. the piece(s) i am working on, are old baby crib slats that i pillaged from a thrift store that was giving away things in the front of the store. i will post more pictures as the process continues.

indian night!

i originally was going to make chickpea cutlets but decided on a whim that i wanted indian food. i usually make saag with aloo gobi, but decided to use what we had. here's a delicious chole recipe that adapted from a few online sources & a yummy recipe for aloo saag.

chole
ingredients:
1-2 T canola oil
1 28 ounce can chickpeas
1 medium onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ginger paste
1 green chile, split
1 small can crushed tomatoes
1 cup water

1 1/2 T coriander powder
1/2 t tumeric
1 t cumin
pinch of asafetida (hing)
salt
1 t paprika
1/4 t garam masala

1. heat oil in pan. saute onions, garlic, ginger, and chiles until onions are soft and beginning to caramelize.
2. add coriander, tumeric, cumin, paprika, and hing and fry until spices are fragrant.
3. add chickpeas and coat with onion/spice mixture. add tomatoes and water and let cook covered on medium heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. add salt to taste and garam masala.

aloo saag
ingredients :
1-2 T canola oil
5-6 small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite-size pieces
1 small (10 ounce) package of spinach
1 small can diced tomatoes pulsed in a blender

pinch of hing
1/2 t cumin seeds
1/2 t crushed red pepper
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 t ginger powder
4-5 dried red chiles
salt to taste

2 T cornstarch mixed with water
soy milk (1/2-3/4 of a cup?)

1. boil potatoes until fork tender, but not still firm.
2. heat oil in pan. when hot add pinch of hing, cumin seeds, red chiles, tumeric, red pepper and ginger. fry until fragrent.
3. add tomatoes and fry until well combined and darker in color.
4. add spinach and stir to coat with spice/tomato mixture.
5. add cornstarch/water mixture and stir spinach until well combined. add soy milk to desired thickness.
6. cook on medium-low heat for 6-7 minutes covered.
7. stir spinach and add potatoes, stirring until well combined. continue cooking on medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until spinach is at desired softness.

mmmm..! we had both with steamed brown basmati with peas. so good!

cleaning pandas. . .

oh today...

biscuits & crazy!

before i came to the midwest i had never heard of biscuits and gravy. for me, a staple breakfast typically included eggs and toast and, for a while, eggs benedict (sans canadian bacon). last night while shopping ryno pointed out an egg poacher when i realized how long it has been since i've actually had eggs... definitely not something i miss! my homemade biscuits and "crazy" (something ryno somehow came up with on a long bike ride last summer) has quickly become one of my favorite breakfast foods. i've tried a few different biscuit recipes and have probably tried a dozen different gravy recipes. some "non-fat" recipes requiring nothing more than mixing store bought gravy mix with milk and cornstarch to somewhat more engaged recipes. the following recipe is one that i'm definitely sticking with and feel like i've finally perfected. the biscuits could be made by subbing half whole wheat pastry flour for some extra healthiness but, i must warn, this is not a particularly healthy recipe. i've tried recipes with less fat which were typically lackluster (tough crumbly biscuits, too thin gravy).
biscuit ingredients:
2 cups flour (as mentioned, you can sub whole wheat pastry for half or all of the flour)
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t sugar (less if using sweetened soy milk)
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
3/4 cup plain soy milk (unsweetened preferably)
1/4 t apple cider vinegar

preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. whisk together soy milk and apple cider vinegar and let sit to thicken.
2. sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt into a large bowl.
3. cut in shortening using a pastry cutter or your fingers until flour crumbs.
4. slowly add soy milk/vinegar mixture and mix to form a soft dough.
5. put dough on a floured surface and knead for a few minutes until the dough is no longer sticky.
6. flatten dough out on surface and cut into rounds using a biscuit cutter (i use a small wine glass!). this should make 10-12 biscuits.
7. cook for 10-12 minutes or until tops and bottoms are slightly golden brown.

after the biscuits are in the oven i like to throw together the gravy...

gravy ingredients:
2 T earth balance
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups unsweetened soy milk
generous pinch of rubbed sage
pinch of thyme
lots of black pepper
a dash of cayenne
sugar (optional)

1. on medium heat melt earth balance in a small saucepan.
2. slowly stir/whisk in flour to form a smooth roux.
3. slowly add soy milk to the roux, stirring constantly.
4. add sage, thyme, pepper, cayenne, and sugar to taste. this is mostly personal prefence.
5. cook another five minutes or so to allow flavors to incorporate and gravy to thicken. serve immediately over biscuits.

mmmm.. enjoy!

sunday spring cleaning....

it’s way too early in the morning, and i of course am awake. i try to let jess get her sleep on the weekend, but often times she is awoken by me doing something. usually playing scrabbleblast.

last night we had an enjoyable night, giving each other the freedom to spend some money we decided we could afford to spend. jess got an amazing amount of items for 50$, making her cash stretch at Marshals and Bed Bath & Beyond. i got four new records, jose gonzalez’s ‘in our nature’, vampire weekend’s self titled album, cancer conspiracy’s ‘omega’ and the shins’ ‘chutes too narrow’

as you can see buki is a big fan of cancer conspiracy…


i would have to say that ‘in our nature’ is most definitely the stand out album of my purchases. making me wish i had his debut album ’veneer’ on vinyl as well. ’in our nature’ really is a natural follow up to gonzalez’s first release, with his vocals a bit more prominent, his music more vibrant, making all the reviewers use a different word other than “hushed” when describing this album. the art work is amazing, very simple, and subtle. Nathan Abels, my friend and artist, wrote a while back about gonzalez’s album art. either way, if you are thinking about grabbing an album that is sweet and rich, and composed well with simple arrangements, buy ‘in our nature’.

today is going to be a day of spring cleaning. jess is going to dust and arrange our drawers a bit more. i will be vacuuming, and changing a light bulb. we will both probably contribute to cleaning the bathroom, since we both seem to dread that the most. i think for breakfast we will most likely have biscuits and “crazy", which is jess’s version of biscuits and gravy. we may try to even exercise. depending on the weather, will determine how. i hope to run, no matter how cold.

jess and i are hoping the spring weather we had a few days ago, will return soon!

NOT 60 degrees!

today ryno & i biked/ran to jewel in what was definitely not 60 degrees! we were troopers even when i thought we'd never make it... and our determination paid off! we got a $25 gift card for filling my prescription there and bought some brussels sprouts, kale, kitty food, and larabars for during the week when i'm going to be working some extra hours...

we had a nice relaxing day at home watching house, listening to records and, as always, cuddling with the kitties. after a nice yummy dinner (veganomicon tempeh shepardess pie), we decided to go out and alloted ourselves both a $50 spending allowance. ryno naturally chose records while i opted for some (discount!) cooking/food stuffs...

pictured: five quart pressure cooker (hello 20 minute dhal!), italian coffee maker, organic fair trade decaf coffee, garlic press (mine broke!), mini muffin/cupcake pan, plastic spatula, and smoked paprika.

for $50 i think i did pretty damn good!

in the morning, before work

aside from the cheesy title, and nod to owen, we have pretty simple fun mornings. jess mentioned to me today on our bike ride that this is the first time in her life she has had an hour long snooze alarm greet her each morning. and although my affinity for snooze alarms is an obvious barrier to jess having a calm morning, she has bared with me. of course it is always hard to get out of the bed when your kitties are stopping you...


today was a good day...work went swimmingly...we had a great day, right now we are right where we started, with our kitties, on our his & her lap tops watching one of our favorite tv shows, house



tomorrow and the rest of weekend we plan on doing as much walking, biking, running as possible. in our effort to save gas we will walk and do our errands, get fresh air, and enjoy our freedoms as bipeds. keatsie will get some rest, and we will ramp-up our activity to get our healthy life into full motion. we are pretty excited about our weekend of celebrating our lack of need for gasoline. and on another amazing note, we have nearly paid off our credit cards, which is so rad considering we started this year with over 3 thousand dollars in credit card debt.


thank goodness for keeping to a budget, even when it means saying no to bacci pizza.

60 degrees?!

today was the first really nice day, so ryno and i walked up to the gas station and put air in my bike tires! we took a nice long bike/run & came home and ate a delicious, healthy dinner..

buki enjoyed the fresh air... whoa, spider cat!



for dinner we had bbq baked tofu with quinoa and some steamed broccoli. i made the barbecue sauce based off the "backyard barbecue sauce" in veganomicon...

(modified) backyard bbq sauce

ingredients:
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced finely (i just used the mini food processor)
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 10 oz cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles (like rotel - next time i make it, i'm going to use 2 cans of rotel and one can regular tomatoes)
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 1/2 T sugar
1/2-1 T maple syrup (depending on how sweet you'd like it)
1/4-1/2 t chipotle chili powder depending on how smokey/spicey
2 t liquid smoke
1 T dijon mustard

1. throw tomatoes in a blend and pulse a few times just to break them up - don't completely liquify them!
2. saute onions in olive oil until soft. add garlic and saute for another minute or so.
3. add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 30-60 mins. mine simmered about 45 minutes and it was definitely good.
4. add liquid smoke and mustard. cook another five minutes or so.
5. let cool and transfer sauce to blender and blend until smooth, if desired.

we were both getting pretty hungry so i skipped the last step... i liked it chunky, but it would definitely have a more authentic bbq sauce texture when blended!

mmmm.. im gonna make more and use it on everything now!

our weekend..

as ryno blogged, we had a very nice, semi-productive weekend... we were able to spend a total of $15 (with tip!) on lunch and dinner out! its nice to be thrifty bears while still enjoying ourselves and having yummy meals. we also did a bit of shopping and treated ourselves... NO we did not actually take pictures with the easter bunny, but we did take this candid photo of him! i bought a nice, new big frying pan and ryno treated himself to some new records. now.. lets just make the in-car record player!

now.. let me tell you, sometimes the world is a dangerous place... especially for bears, i mean really.. you just have to watch out sometimes!



for dinner we had some quick indian food because i was craving it like crazy... i modified my go-to "saag tofu" recipe a bit, reducing the oil a lot and upping the spices. i'm completely happy with it at this point, and it definitely satisfies any craving for the "real thing." i was also craving something sweet, but didn't want anything too scandalous, so i tried to healthify an already pretty healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe. the original recipe is all over the place online, but here it is with my modifications.

vegan chocolate chip cookies
(makes a dozen average sized cookies)

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (next time i'm going to try subbing whole wheat pastry)
1 t baking powder
1⁄2 t baking soda
1⁄4 cup unrefined sugar
1⁄4 t salt
1⁄3 cup pure maple syrup
1⁄2 t blackstrap molasses
1 – 1 1⁄2 t pure vanilla extract
1⁄4 cup applesauce
1⁄3 cup non-dairy chocolate chips

preheat oven to 350°.

1. in a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.
2. in a seperate bowl, combine the maple syrup with molasses and vanilla extras and stir in the applesauce until well combined.
3. add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. fold in the chocolate chips, incorporating the wet with the dry, being careful not to overmix.
4. drop spoonfuls of dough on to a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. (i had to keep them in for 15 for them to get golden and cooked through. i checked them at 11 as recommended for the original version, and they were not cooked through)
5. let sit until they set up (no more than five minutes) and transfer to cooling rack. enjoy!

sprung...

so time changes and more day light...good for all, except those who can't wake up. i have the privilege of being both a morning and night person...so this is all good for me. all the clocks are adjusted, and now we can rest...

i got my letter from the government, letting me know i may be getting a stimulus package. kinda silly. the letter to tell me and everyone else cost us(the tax payers!!!) 42 million BUCKS! our government is so wise with our money.

also, sadly jim oberweis lost the election over the weekend to bill foster, which means he will not inhabit the house for the rep of the 14th district. what this means to me, is that while i may not have a super wacky conser- vative in office to carry on what hastert has done, i still can get good ice cream from his store.



watching this dog over the weekend was great. she is even more cute in person.














over the weekend, jess and i did lots of lounging...it was nice. we watched cable tv, like we had never seen tv before. jess got a hair cut that looks great, and found a hair stylist she likes, which is super important if you are a lady, or if you have hair. which i don't know anything about either.

there were other fun ongoings over the weekend, which i will leave to jess to tell all you folkies about.

"spring break", changes, and food stuffs

well, this week has been my spring break which has consisted of me getting some things done around the pandahouse, working, & making some fun dinners.

the past few weeks have been the (slow) transition into getting back on track, health-wise. maybe there was some pizza here and there and maybe some beer and chips, but next week starts really getting into the exercise part and a lot of good, yummy, healthy eats.

what does getting back on track entail, then? for us, its pretty simple! increase activity (i'm shooting for 2-3 gym days, and a few at home workouts as well... ryno does well running!), and decrease food intake. despite the two bags of romaine hearts in our fridge, we do not intend to live off salads and tofu! both of us have seen results by limiting the intake of not-so-good foods, and watching portions on the healthy foods. so trade out the take out pizza for a whole wheat crust and roasted veggies, and trade the mexican take out for things like homemade vegan tacos & veggie fajitas! i've also found it super easy to recreate our favorite dairy-ridden indian dishes at home with just a few substitutions...

so.. the break down, written in (world wide web) stone!
- cook and eat at home 99% of the time. this saves cash, obviously, and also allows us to know exactly what we're eating.
- increase fruit & veggie intake, eating raw frequently. maybe try yummy smoothies and juices?
- watch portions - if there's one thing i learned from weight watchers, is that you don't have to eat until you're going to explode to enjoy a meal. eat until full, and that's it. with the two of us there's always leftovers, but they shouldn't be a second helping, but tomorrow's lunch!
- NO white flour, white pastas, or white rice. only high fiber 100% whole wheat products & grains like whole wheat flour, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, & quinoa.
- limit intake of "healthy oils" and other fatty things like avocado & nuts.

some foods i want to eat more of are KALE and other leafy greens, lentils, and quinoa. and some things i personally want to eat less of are alcohol and snacky things (unfortunately, these two things go hand in hand), and definitely eliminate the remaining dairy i do eat (pizza and paneer, pretty much?)

i want to try more broth steaming for cooking veggies, and definitely start having fresh fruit and protein at breakfast with lighter lunches.

recently we've had the veggie burgers from vegan with a vengeance which were really yummy, and the hot sauce glazed tempeh from veganomicon which i would try again with some slight modifications. oh, and definitely scrap the jalapeño-corn gravy, right ryno?

phew! this has been a long blog. stay tuned for healthified updates! for now, i leave you with some numbers to help keep us accountable.

ryno stats:
lowest weight: 125
highest weight: 149
current weight: 148
goal weight: 132

gesso stats:
lowest weight: 171
highest weight: 192
current weight: 189
short-term goal weight: 170
long-term goal weight: 150

a week in the life of a bear

so it's nearly friday. goodness what a week. i have been drastically trying to get through this week without falling apart. nothing huge, just people aren't my most favorite things. last weekend was one of those awkward moments when i needed some sort of hidden camera to show me what exactly went wrong. as far as i can tell it's time to move on, and not let things bother me, bygones be-GONE! work makes me long for something more. something i just can't put my finger on, but i have been searching for a new job, and maybe i will be moving on sooner than i had thought possible.

jess and i have been budgeting our life so well. which means we spend a lot of time wishing we could buy things we can't. i want records and she wants cooking/food stuffs. but all in all, we have been looking at the last two and a half months as a time where we can reflect and look on how well we have done with our money, how well we are doing with such a tight budget. in two more months we will look back and see how far we have come. that isn't too long at all.

right now, jess and i are watching our new guilty guilty pleasure, "ROB AND BIG"


holy shit so many laughs...

so now thursday night, holy hell, it's almost the weekend, which means relaxing, which means watching a crazy bischon that drives me up a wall! ugh! but it ain't too bad i suppose. oh yeah btw...look at our kittie buki:


i cannot wait for sunday and the time change...godbless springing forwards!