I like squash. A lot.

I'm currently obsessed with squash and zucchini. 

I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that they can be found in abundance at the local farmer's markets. 

Or that they are just delicious. 

The fact remains that I love them. 

It's almost unnatural.

It's not like I go outside, stomp around our veggie garden yelling "grow dammit" at my plants.

Because that would be weird.

And I'm totally normal.

Right.

This is a something I made a few weeks ago. 

I went to the Farmer's market without a clue...

Then I saw the huge baskets of squash/zucchini and the lovely $3 price tag...

Everything after that was a blur.

Husband came home and asked the dangerous question, "What's for dinner?"

I simply shrugged and said, "An experiment."

I dubbed it "Farmer's Market Mish-Mash".

Husband ate two large helpings and promptly burped. 

He claims it was the highest compliment possible.

The "recipe" is as follows...
-Find white rice that you impulsively bought at the bulk bins at Whole Food, Google how to cook it (yes I realize I'm almost 30 and don't know how to cook rice)... set aside.
-Dice up some white onion and cook for a few minutes in olive oil until good and stinky (fragrant, whatever)
-Add squash, zucchini & tomato... season with black pepper (or something else if you are not lazy like me)... let simmer for however long you have the patience for... I think I did 10 minutes because I was engrossed in a Big Bang rerun...
-Put rice in bowl and pour the veggies with juices on top.
-Eat.

(Everything but the rice was bought locally and trust me, it just tastes better)

This was tonight's experiment.

I was daydreaming while at lunch with my bestie.

Naturally my thoughts turned to squash and zucchini because I'm a huge dork.

(Seriously I don't know how I lived to be almost 30 without eating more of these delicious plants)

(Life before this discovery seems very dark...)

Anyway while perusing the isles for food my friend asks what I'm getting for dinner.

I'm sure you can guess that I shrugged and said "an experiment".

It was good.

(Never mind the fact that I forgot to get Husband mushrooms)

((I mean, seriously? They are gross))

((They are a fungus after all) )

(Or that I had to cook with canola oil instead of olive oil because I'm a huge spaz when I grocery shop)

(And maybe a touch forgetful)

So yea, here's this version...

-It's basically the same directions as before...

-Only I added red bell pepper in with the onion

-And I added a can of rinsed (this is very important) black beans at the end. 

-And I added a lot more pepper. Because I like pepper. And I'm too lazy to figure out other spices. 

It's an interesting experiment we have going on in our house.
Life is far more simple without dairy.
Now if only my garden would hurry up and grow, dammit grow.

Fail!

It started innocently enough...
I had finally gotten my cooking mojo back.
I had planned a veggie-licious black bean & mango quesadilla.
The instructions said to use the broiler.
I had to call Husband at work to ask if we even had a broiler and more importantly how to use it.
That should have been a sign.
The next thing I know I have flaming quesadillas.
Literally.

Thank god for old quesadilla makers.
Thank god for Husband who slammed the broiler back shut... while I just stood there shouting that dinner was on fire. 

This is why I should not be allowed in the kitchen. 

Buddha would be proud.

Tonight was round 2 of vegan goodness in our household. Husband was thrilled as you can imagine.




The veggies: red onion, broccoli, carrot, sugar snap peas, and garlic.




Then I added chickpeas & brown rice.




Lastly I added some avocado, salt, cayenne pepper, ground flaxseed, & olive oil.

The most important aspect was when husband didn't want the soy ginger sauce because it was already flavorful enough.
That's the best compliment.

(recipe is from Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr)

That evil genius!

I posted the following on Facebook earlier:

"Husband has agreed to eat as much veggie/vegan food as I'm willing to cook. Now I have to cook... the plan has backfired. He is an evil genius."

So here I sit.

A pile of cookbooks stacked next to me on the couch.

A wet cutting board in the kitchen.

Dishes drying.

Hands reeking of cilantro, again.

And I am tired.

Tonight we're going to feast on my first & only successful vegan recipe because I bought more cilantro & green onions at the farmer's market on Saturday. I have no idea why. I just did. Turns out this is a good thing though since Husband has been bugging me to make the dish again anyway. 

Tomorrow I plan to attempt something called the "Buddha Bowl" (Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr) only with sugar snap peas instead of black olives because I still don't like black olives and the snap peas were another bizarre decision I made on Saturday. 

I now have several old salsa jars overflowing with items from the bulk bins and a bowl of chickpeas soaking in the fridge. It's a whole different universe from my Taco Bueno days. Hopefully in a good way.

In the meantime though it would nice to find recipes that don't have a thousand ingredients and more importantly that it contains ingredients that I can pronounce. Also did you know that scallions are the same thing as green onions? I didn't until I googled it. I've been googling a lot lately.

The Carnivore does vegan!

I made this last night.

This was yummy.

This also left my hands reeking of cilantro, so much so that anytime my hands were near my face overnight it woke me up, but that's another story.

The point being Husband liked this.

So what is this you ask?

Quinoa salad with black beans & mango from Veganomicon by Moskowitz & Romero

This my friends is a victory.

What meat is this?

A few weeks ago I texted Husband at work to let him know I had pulled his frozen steaks out of the freezer for dinner that night.
That night we start to get ready for dinner and Husband goes to pull his steaks out of the fridge.
The conversation is as follows:
"Um, honey..."
"Yeah?"
"These aren't steaks"
"Oh?"
"They're porkchops"
"Oh, well what did you expect when you married a vegetarian?"
"That you could tell the difference between pork & beef"
"Well in my difference it all looks the same when it's frozen... unless it's chicken. That's easier"

And they lived happily ever after.