Taking Inventory

I realized that the folder for food photos on my computer was becoming unruly, so I decided to organize it today. What I realized in the process was appalling—I have 28 recipes that I have made and have yet to blog about.

The horror! The shame! The… procrastination!

And if I’m going to be truly honest, then I have to admit that there are many more un-blogged-about recipes than that. They aren’t as obvious since I don’t have photos of the finished products. This often happens because I’m STARVING and just want to eat instead of worrying about lighting and presentation. But I know those delicious little meals are lurking in my guilty subconscious, waiting for blogging redemption.

So, in the spirit of being as productive on my blog as I apparently am in my kitchen, here’s a vegetarian recipe that I made a couple of weeks ago.

(Btw, I have SO been keeping my New Year’s resolution to make veggie meals at least once a week. Go me!)

Moroccan Chickpea Stew
From First for Women, 2008

When to cook: On a weeknight when you need a quick meal and you’re sick of your go-to of pasta or baked chicken. This only takes about 20 minutes to prepare, and couscous cooks in 10 minutes or less!

½ cup chopped onions
2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon Moroccan rub, like the Spice Hunter (I couldn’t find this in our crappily-stocked grocery store, so I used some various spices already in my cupboard…a little ground cumin, thyme, salt and pepper.)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cans (14.5 oz each) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas, drained.
2 cups arugula
¼ cup raisins (Or Craisins, which I used instead because I had them on hand)
¼ cup slivered almonds
Cooked couscous

Heat oil over large skillet on medium heat. Cook onions, garlic and spices in hot oil. When the onions are soft, add cans of tomatoes and chickpeas; cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in arugula, raisins and almonds. Cook 2 minutes. Serve over couscous.

Makes about 4 servings. Total cost: $8.58; $2.15 per serving.

T.V. Dinners, and Not the Kind You Microwave

I was trolling around on the internet the other day, as I tend to do about 90 percent of the time and I found a fun article on Delish.com. It’s slideshow of some of the most popular restaurants, diners and bars ever on prime time. Cheers, Friends’ Central Perk, Monk’s Diner on Seinfeld and Moe’s Tavern from The Simpsons were all featured. A good list, sure, but I felt like I could add to it since my viewing habits don’t include any of those shows. Here’s what I came up with (with help from Lucy and Liz!):


Luke’s Diner from Gilmore Girls. There is still a gaping hole in my heart from the cancellation of that show. If Stars Hollow actually existed, I would take a road trip and get some of Luke’s infamous coffee. And in true GG style, I might just order everything else on the menu to go and veg out during an obscure movie marathon. Seriously, Lorelai and Rory could EAT.


The Hub from That 70’s Show. Jon and I are on a That 70s Show kick. We’re Netflixing them all, currently on Season 2 out of…oh…8. Anyway, hanging out at The Hub and witnessing some crazy Hyde and Fez hijinks would be fun. Yes, yes.


The Max from Saved By the Bell. Kirby and I used to watch these reruns every day after we got home from school. Oddly enough, I don’t remember much about the show, except the entire theme song. And that they always hung out at the really awesome diner after school. Oh, and that feisty Lisa Turtle was SO much cooler than Kelly Kapowski.

Honker Burger from Doug. When I was a kid Nickelodeon had some of the best (and weirdest) cartoons (Ren and Stimpy? CatDog? The Angry Beavers? ROCKO’S MODERN LIFE???? Weird stuff). In this one, sixth grader Doug Funnie and his friends Patti Mayonnaise and Skeeter Valentine hung out at the Honker Burger. Plus, there are all kinds of random food references in the show. Doug’s dog is named Porkchop and his favorite band is The Beets, famous for their hit song, “Killer Tofu.” And who can forget Quailman?

And that’s all I/we could think of. Feel free to add your favorite T.V. restaurants, diners or bars in the comments!

Resolutions—like wishes—only you have to work to make them come true!

It’s January 20th and I still haven’t come up with any New Year’s resolutions. Pathetic, I know. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve had any resolutions in about four or five years. I think my last one was in 2004 in my senior year of high school, right after I got early acceptance into NYU. It was something along the lines of “Don’t flunk out of college.”

While I could probably think of a million resolutions I don’t care about or ever intend to keep (dieting? Umm, yeah. Right. Saving money for [insert something special here]? Yes…with my nonexistent income. You get the picture.), I’ll spare you and share something that floated into my email inbox a few weeks ago. I receive daily email newsletters from Ideal Bite, a website that dispenses easily digested tips on how to slowly green your lifestyle through small steps. Ideal Bite calls its tips, “bite-sized ideas for light green living.”

During IB’s “Resolution Week,” the emails focused on eco-friendly New Year’s resolutions, and one resolution was something even I can add to my “list”—eating a vegetarian meal at least once a week. According to IB, “Livestock accounts for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and 8% of water use - and a meatless diet is 50% more effective at cutting CO2 than switching from a standard car to a hybrid.”

So, even though I’ve never been able to cut meat out of my diet completely—although I was a chicken-etarian for several years—eating a vegetarian meal once or twice a week is a simple compromise. Not only does it save me some money on groceries, I can feel a tad bit better about my carbon footprint. I’ve already started incorporating the meals into my weekly lineup. This week I have several meat-free meals planned. Don’t tell Jon, though. He really loves meat, especially the red kind.