What's for lunch?

I'm always making an effort to eat more vegetables. It doesn't often work. But here's what I whipped up for lunch today:

What's in it:
Onions
Portobello mushroom
Chickpeas
Pine nuts
Red and yellow sweet peppers
Fresh tomato
Spinach
Garlic

I sauteed it all in a little olive oil and sprinkled it with a little salt and pepper, so this was a nice little vegan lunch. This is normally the sort of thing I'd toss with some really good blue cheese dressing and serve with rotini pasta, but I'm also trying to cut down on my fat and carb intakes. The verdict? Not bad. Again, some blue cheese and pasta would've made it really good (ooh, and maybe some fresh sweet corn), but I didn't mind. I felt more energetic this afternoon, and didn't feel hungry 30 minutes later, like I usually do when I eat vegan (I think it was the chick peas that helped).

I think tomorrow I'm going to try an old family favorite -- sausage balls -- made with some vegetarian sausage. We'll see how that works out.

Prepare to do some funky poaching

For some reason, tonight, I got the wild idea to try to poach an egg for the first time. Well, okay, I tried it before. About four years ago. It didn't work. But tonight I wanted it to *work* for the first time. I hadn't even *eaten* a poached egg... it just isn't something that came up in our busy household.

To start with, I watched several videos on YouTube. Like you do. This one was the first I saw, and the most helpful:


To start, I put 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar (my mom's homemade) in a pot of about 3" of water and brought it to a simmer. The vinegar isn't suggested in the above video, but just about everything else I saw said it helped, so I went for it. I chose a deep but narrow ladle as my egg-to-water delivery device, which worked well, and helped me slide the egg into the swirling water with ease. I watched in angst.

Hey! That egg's a-poaching!

My first eggs was perfectly poached. I thought "What did Julie Powell have so much trouble for? This is a breeze!" So of course my second attempt was not as fruitful... in that it pretty much went everywhere as soon as it hit the water... but I was able to salvage the yolk and used it in some hollandaise sauce. The third one came out better. The eggs, then the sauce, went on top of a couple of scratch drop biscuits:


My verdict on the poached eggs? Super delicious! I didn't even use salt or pepper on these... though come to think of it, a little fresh ground pepper wouldn't've been out of place (not that I'm obsessed with fresh ground pepper or anything... I promise...), but I didn't miss it. I liked having the flavor of the egg without it being bogged down with butter or grease. I don't think I'll be doing this often, as that pot isn't very happy with having had boiled egg white all in it, but it's nice for a change.

The Beginning: A Fresh Start

I'm sitting in my parents' house. Again. I always find myself back here. When I started college, I didn't imagine that I'd find myself back here every several months, in-between jobs yet again. But such is the life of a young Theatre professional, I suppose -- short-term contracts in scattered places lead to brief periods of unemployment and the lack of need to have one's own living space. Four years and eight contracts since graduation, and I'm yet again whiling away my time, waiting for my next move.

This spring, I decided it was time for a change. My distaste for the jobs I felt I was qualified for led me to a conclusion: I have to go to graduate school to further my Theatre career. But am I ready for such a step? Can I afford to carry the loans that would inevitably arise, if I was unable to obtain a coveted graduate assistantship? What's more -- do I really want to rush into two or three years of schooling for a profession I'm getting downright burnt out on?

So I decided a change of pace was in order. Starting Oct. 5, I will be working on a Baking and Pastry diploma at the Art Institute of Ohio. Quite a different field, yes, but what I need is there -- the need to create things with my hands. In addition to my costuming work in Theatre, I'm also an avid knitter, sometimes crocheter, and an amateur -- well, really anything else craft-related, I've done a bit of it. That's what comes of growing up in a family of crafters and artisans.

My goal for this next year is to catalogue everything -- what I'm learning, what I'm creating, and in some cases, what I'm teaching. I'd like to not move back into my parents' house at the end of this year... we'll see how this goes!

Before I leave home at the end of this month, I have to create 2 jackets as a commission, organize a yard sale, make several aprons and other items for a potential Fall or Christmas craft show, and at least start on a baby sweater for a friend's upcoming arrival, in addition to packing. Lots to do!

Polly Want Alpaca

Find me over at PollyWantAlpaca.blogspot.com