Quesodilla Night

Melted cheese isn't just for between two slices of bread or on top of some baked pasta. Sometimes it comes in quesodilla form that includes veggies and topped with salsa. Tonight was such a night. When I first saw the quesodilla makers in the store, I laughed. We did fine without one. Then somehow we ended up with one and tried it out. Its not one of those kitchen necessities, but it can be nice. Quesodilla Night is one of those where a spread of filling options are laid out and everyone makes what they want. I like to saute up sliced mushroom and a bit of onion with a touch of taco seasoning, using a sprinkle of water to really let everything start to meld together, then add my mushroom mixture with black olives in between the flour tortillas and shredded cheddar, then topped off with homemade salsa after cut. Of course, the great thing is you can add pretty much anything you want and even put the salsa on the inside.

We are still in discussions on what to do for my family birthday dinner. It really shouldn't be this much of a discussion. For some odd reason I seem to want to go somewhere that includes more than grilled cheese and the occasional salad that is meat-free. I want more, especially since it is supposed to be for my birthday. At this point I think I'd be happy just with ordering in from someplace I like and enjoying a lone bottle of wine or something sparkly. This area doesn't have the greatest restaurant choices (a lot of steakhouses and "homecooking") for those vegetarians, and I don't know how open they'd be to some of those options as it is. Looking at something maybe more 'ethnic'- based like Mexican or Italian. We shall see.

'I venture to maintain that there are multitudes to whom the necessity of discharging the duties of a butcher would be so inexpressibly painful and revolting, that if they could obtain a flesh diet on no other condition, they would relinquish it forever." -- W.E.H. Lecky

Stir Fry Night

It was another stir fry night at our house. It's becoming pretty much once a week. We lay out a selection of vegetables and sauces (my meat-eating family usually chops up some sort of meat to go with it). It's a mix of what you like, what sounds good, and what is on hand. Mine usually consists of onion, garlic, shredded carrots, mushrooms (tonight was a mix of button and sliced portabellas), green onion, and broccoli. Depending on the season and what is in the fridge there may also be snap peas, lima beans, corn, green beans, asparagus, peppers and/or marinated tofu. Sauces and spices are all done to taste and changes depending on what's on hand. (My mom often will take scoop of my veggie filled stir fry and some of my brother's mostly meat stir fry to combine the two.) Served over some plain brown rice with a vegetable egg roll I have a meal fit for a queen. Of course, I have such a weakness for decent vegetable egg rolls and try (try being the key word) to keep them in the freezer most of the time.

Picked up some veggie burgers while getting veggies for tonight's stir fry. Between the veggies, the veggie burgers, and what's in the house I should be good for awhile. Although we so seem to be dangerously low on homemade salsa.

"Support you right to arm bears." -- Cleveland Armory

It's been kind of nice having a freezer and pantry full of home preserved goodies. I made a big pan of black beans and rice today, using a jar of black beans my aunt canned for me and corn my mom and brother froze this summer. I usually use tomato sauce or a bit of tomato paste for a tomato base, but instead took a can of diced tomatoes and ran them through the belnder for a bit. It was just long enough break down the peices more, but to leave some pieces through it. Topped with a sprinkling of shredded cheese and sliced black olives, served along side a handful of tortilla chips it was a very nice lunch. In honor of celebrating my family's canning and freezing, I even thought about pulling out a bag of frozen raspberries and using them to make some raspberry pina coladas later. (Yum yum!)



There is already a plan set for next year's canning as far as what we need to make more of. For instance, this year two batches of homemade salsa were made, and the plan is to at least double that for next year.

"It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb becuase it is dumb to his dull perceptions." - Mark Twain

Bring on the Yumminess!

It's been a fairly long weekend and I am ready for a break in this chilly weather. In the meantime I've been embracing some of those foods that are easy to fix for vegetarians, especially along side a family of non-vegetarians. Last night we had stir fry choked full of vegetables and mushrooms served over some white rice along side of a vegetable egg roll. Sliced mushrooms, onion, garlic, carrot, water chesnuts, and some snow peas made me happy. (The meat-eaters here added meat to their seperate serving.)

Tonight, after an afternoon/early evening rehearsal I came home to find the starts of tacos (okay, so the meat for them had been prepared). I sauteed up some diced onion, mushrooms, and a touch of garlic (my standby) in olive oil, then added some pepper flakes and black beans I had in the freezer (i usually don't use a whole can at once and have found freezing whatever I don't use for later to be super handy). Spiced it all up and let it simmer with a little water until it thickened and cooked down nicely. It didn't take too long to thicken.

I warmed some soft taco shell in the microwave between damp paper towels, then topped with my black bean/mushroom mix, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, and some black olives. Then served it along side some nacho chips and salsa. (Vegan, with the exception of the shredded cheese although that is getting easier to substitute or replace with something else.) Bring on the yumminess!

"Cruelty must be whitewashed by a moral excuse, and pretense of reluctance." ~George Bernard Shaw