Today, President Obama went to the airwaves and spoke about combat troops leaving Iraq.Finally.Well, I won’t start celebrating any time soon, we still will be leaving about 50,000 troops there.
No matter what the president says, the right will always say the opposite, or complain, and go on about what he did wrong.This is typical of both sides, always having ot disagree.
They were as upset as baby spiller its juice .Give credit where credit is due, it was Mr. Bush and the rights war, and it was their idea to build up troops once the war was seen as going so poorly we needed more troops.But, that worked, they say.So give credit.
Okay, lets.
We should thank them for putting us in a war they lied about, build on lies.First, Iraq was involved in 9/11, then they had weapons of mass destruction, and so on and so on.So, thank you for war , guys.
Let us also give them credit for all the costs, that of lives, and the financial costs.So, again, thank you.
I watched the speech, and then some mindless sill game show, name escapes me, while snacking on these. Perhaps that is crass, but that is our modern day way we seem to take in the news.A speech about warm and lost lives, followed by mindless television.
That is not me knocking mindless t.v. I am a huge fan.
Anyways, I made some crackers, two recipes.Here is one, the other will follow some other time.There reminded me a lot of a spicier, zestier cheez-it, they were originally supposed to be like a cheddar goldfish.Oh, well.To give credit, where credit is due, like our friendly republicans would like us to, I got the original idea from here.
Cheddar-ish Cracker Snacks.
- 2 and three fourths cups white flour
- 2 tbsp yeast
- 1 tspn baking soda
- 1 tspn salt
- 1 tspn paprika
- 1 tspn Ground peppercorn
- 1 tspn cayenne
- 1 tspn onion powder
- half a cup of Sunshine lighter bake
- half a cup of ice cold water
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- Orange food coloring, as desired
- cooking spray, I used olive oil flavor.
- Sea salt, to taste.
Preheat the oven to 375, mix together the first ingredients up until the lighter bake.Now, using a fork, mix in the lighter bake, till it looks a bit clumpy.Add the coloring , if you wish to use it.
Mix the cold water and vinegar together, now drizzle in the mix , mix this till it becomes a dough.Knead the dough on a floured surface, add flour or water if need be, you don’t want too doughy, but also not sticky.
Flatten the dough out, much like pizza dough, you really want it very thin.Cut out your crackers, I cut mine so they were about an inch by inch squares.Or, you can go nuts and make up some other shape, if you so desire.Go wild.
place some tin foil or parchment paper on baking pans, and then spray them with your cooking spray.place the crackers on the pans and put in oven.Bake for about 10 minutes or so.They should be getting brown on the bottoms.But, do not forget about them or you’ll have some not so yummy burnt up pieces of flavored flour.
I am thinking that some other seasonings would do great in these, maybe even some italian spices and some tomato sauce, and making some pizza flavored crackers.Feel free to try some other ideas out, have fun.
Then , you can sit on the couch and consider how grateful you are for the republicans, as they want you to be.Give them credit for the war that is so rightfully their creation.
There is good oil, then there is bad oil.Well , both can be good or bad.But, I have a point to make, so forget that we need oil for cars, for now.
I have found that many people, from the left, from the right, want blood.They want the blood of B.P., for the catastrophic damage done due to the leak in the gulf.
While boycotting and making B.P. pay for costs and clean up is a wise action, and make us feel better about the situation;we cannot fully understand that even if we made them go broke would they be able to fully clean up the mess, and pay for all the environmental and economical damage the spill has caused.
The damage is done.We are fried.But, there is a possible happy ending , if we can just take this chance.We should really take this chance, and see that such drilling is just a bad idea.The risks seem quite great.Why not take this opportunity to create other fuels, other ideas, something new.
I do not really know the right answer , but I do feel that we should take this opportunity.
New fuels could mean new jobs, cheaper fuels, cleaner fuels, and perhaps less risk of wiping out an entire ecosystem.
Or, we could just build domes, entire cities in domes. We could also use flying cars and jet packs.
Either way, we will have to begin working on either , fairly soon.
Speaking of oil and grease , I wanted fried rice.
So, I made fried rice.
See, that is easy, decide on a plan, and work on making that plan happen.I should also be upfront and honest, and tell you I just did not feel like really doing to much , today.So, this is what I would call an easy or half- assed fried rice.
Half-Assed Fried Rice
Ingredients.
- Chick’n Seitan, chopped into 1 inch cubes, recipe here.
- 2-3 cups of veggies ( your pick, peppers, peas,carrots,green beans, just about anything works.)
- 2 tbsp of butter or oil.
- 2-3 cups of already prepared rice ( I prefer brown.)
- Soy sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Lets start at the beginning, heat a large pan on medium heat, either adding the oil or the butter, if using the butter, let it melt down before adding anything.Add your seitan, frying for about 5 – 10 minutes, you should see it starting to brown.Add your vegetables, and cook further till they become soft.I like to keep stirring so nothing sticks or burns to the pan.Now, add your rice , and add soy sauce,at least a table spoon , or two.Fry and stir for another 5 minutes or so.
As I will openly state, I am no food photographer.But, to spice up this image I put the rice on top of a bed of green leafy vegetation.Sad, but not as sad as this.
So, it is Sunday.Let us talk about the big “S” word.Yes, you guessed right.Seitan.
The mean and horned guy who wears red spandex and holds a pitchfork may not exist, but this yummy meat substitute sure does.
Now, if the red guy did exist, he would be a fan of seitan, as clearly he has far more fun in life then that grumpy bearded old man up in the skies.
So, when you want something toothy, or a slab of something to slather sauces on, this is your best choice.Tofu or tempeh are not bad, but I prefer seitan.
There are many ways you can go about making it.You can even make your own gluten, if you have the time, and the amount of flour you would need.
The fun in working with seitan, and I do use the gluten found in stores, is that you can be like Dr Frankenstein, and the kitchen is your lab, and play around and make up things as you go.Experiment! Go crazy!
There is a ton, I mean a proverbial kitchen full of seitan recipes to be found in cookbooks, on the web, where ever.
Today, I made a sort of “chicken” seitan.
Chick’n Seitan
Ingredients.
- 2 cups vital wheat gluten.
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp poultry seasoning
- 2 tbsp thyme or thyme leaves
- touch of parprika
- touch of salt and pepper.
- 2 tbsp soy sauce ( I prefer Bragg’s)
- water
Broth Ingredients.
- 4-5 cups of water or vegetable broth.
- repeat the same ingredients from the seitan list above (minus the gluten, of course).
Okay, let’s go! Mix the dry ingredients all together in a bowl.Add the Soy sauce, and mix that in.I like to add water in slowly, as you can always add water, but you can’t subtract water.I knew math would come in handy one day.So, add it slowly, till you have a dough,not too dry but not too sticky, either.
Now, lets beat up that dough, kneed it for a few minutes, teach it who is boss.But, you are generally a sweet person, right ? So, you being so sweet, now let that dough sit, at least 10 – 15 minutes.
Now, put that broth of yours n large pan, and let it simmer.I like to make cutlet like pieces of the gluten mix, stretching and flattening.Place them in the pan, and let simmer for about an hour.Never let them boil, as that can make them fall apart.That would be bad-bad, as bad as this
Now, you should have enough seitan to use in just about any dish you with.Lots of protein, and no fat.
I suppose I should start out with a short little introduction.
Hello.
This is an experiment, just an idea.I wanted to combine my enjoyment of discussing politics, absurd ideas, rambling, and mix it with my passion for cooking.
I only really took up cooking in any serious manner in the last few years, or so.Vegan, generally from scratch, and when possible, organic and as little processed as possible.I will share some recipes and ideas I have created, as well as try out other peoples recipes and report on how how they come out.Cooking for me can be with hopefully a yummy result.Most of the time, anyways.
I have already limited any readership I may have hoped for, already.Yes, I said vegan.I will now cull that total once more and say I am an unabashed, proud liberal.
Yes, an organic food buying, vegan cooking, liberal.Yes, the cliche is true.
I am not that bad a person, really.
Now, as for that spaghetti squash, this is what I like to do with it.I am not that original, but its a simple dish, easy to make.Those of you out there that suffer from carb guilt, but love pasta, I can’t say you won’t know the difference, but it is yummy.
Spaghetti Squash with Chunky Tomato Sauce.
INGREDIENTS
- One Spaghetti Squash, halved vertically.
- Medium yellow onion, diced.
- 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Green Pepper, small to medium, diced into one inch pieces.
- 1 cup of chopped Portobello mushrooms.
- 3 to 4 Tomatoes.Half diced, other half pureed in processor.
- Seasonings, I am a fan of a lot of Basil and Oregano in my tomato sauces.I will leave that up to you how much of either, or something else you would like to add.I add salt and pepper to taste, as well as sometimes some red pepper flakes for a bit more kick, it is all about making it up as you go. Well , for me, anyways.
Okay, so you have all that? Is it filling up your already crowed studio apartment’s counter space ?
Great!
Let’s begin!
Preheat your oven to 375.place the squash halves on a baking tray, add a touch of oil if you wish, and bake for about an hour.
With about twenty minutes left in the baking start with your sauce.
Isn’t this exciting , isn’t it ? Fine, be that way.
Okay so you want to grab a frying pan, put it on medium heat, add the olive oil, the onions, and the garlic.Saute.Now, that will be be about 5 minutes, maybe a touch more.Now, add the pepper, cook for a few more minutes or.Till the peppers are becoming softer.Add the mushrooms, followed by the tomatoes, both diced and pureed.Add your preferred seasonings, and let simmer.
Okay, I already lied.Here I am in my first recipe, and I am already lying.Oh, well.I should have maybe said start the sauce with about thirty minutes left for the baking squash, as I like sauces to simmer a bit , and soak in flavors.I have no scientific facts to back up this claim, but let us just pretend there are.
Take your squash out, let is cool a bit.It is going to be hot and when you scoop out what looks like spaghetti ( Oh, that’s why they named it that!) Okay, so use a large spoon and scoop it out.You can either place a nice foundation of squash on a plat or bowl and top off with the sauce.Or, you can just mix it all up.You decide.
Eat.
My neurotic self tells me I should clean this up, less words, less rambling, but that is not the point.This is supposed to be different.if you do not like it, go and buy a cookbook, meanie.