Monday, August 22, 2016

Back in the (Kitchen) Saddle

Although Kevita is still my favorite booch, I really love this brew made by GT's. It has turmeric, carrot, and ginger, and it tastes really nice and smooth. It is a lot harder to find, I've only seen it in Whole Foods and Natural Grocers. It's definitely my favorite of all the Gt kombuchas!
Last week when I was at Sprouts, I bought a spice pack for Mexican rice. I didn't read the ingredients, because it was a spice pack. Yesterday for dinner I wanted to make quesadillas and decided to make this rice to go with. Well, thank gourd I read the ingredients before using it, because it has chicken stock or powder in it! I feel so dumb for not checking, but man when I have to start checking spices it's super annoying! I really wanted my quesadillas, and I had already cooked some black beans, so I threw some taco type spices in a pan with the rice, and hoped for the best. When the rice was done cooking, I added in some canned green chilis, and the black beans. It was really delicious, and I wish I had written down what I added!
I shoved some of this delicious mixture into a whole wheat tortilla with some Follow Your Heart smoked Gouda and made a super tasty quesadilla. I have to say that smoked Gouda was one of my favorite cheeses, and FYH did an excellent job recreating it. I can't believe how good their slices are. I still remember the first time I tried their block cheeses when I first went vegan, and said I guess I'll live a cheese-less life! Ha, I guess we all learn, grow and improve. I think I saw pepperjack slices from FYH at Natural Grocers. That might have to be my next splurge!
I don't yet gave a frying/sautee pan, so I made these in a pasta pot I picked up at the thrift store. It was a bit of a pain (literally) turning it over, but it totally worked. Just call me Macgyver!
One thing I'm definitely noticing is that I am loving being in the kitchen so much more now that I have so much more counter space and also a window. My last kitchen was so small and dark, I couldn't wait to get out of it. Now, I love fluttering around and thinking of what to cook. And I love being able to gaze out of the window when I do dishes! Isn't it funny how the small things can really make such a big difference? I see lots of stews and soups being made when the weather gets cooler!
Wish me luck today, I'm off to stock up on some pantry staples today. I want to do it today before I start my new job. I won't have as much time to be getting lost all over town! My plan is to stock up on staples like condiments and tomato paste/sauce all of that kind of stuff so that meal prepping and shopping will be easy peasy. Now that I have the space, I want to really get back into cooking and making recipes. I enjoy throwing things together and seeing what happens. Some of my favorite dishes have been just thrown together.
Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with a fun little haul. One more time getting majorly lost might make me consider online shopping!
Happy Monday!



6 comments:

  1. It's so GREAT seeing you post again - about vegan foodie stuff!!!! YAY! And about BOOCH we might be adding that as a category on our tea blog when and if we do I might pick your brain a bit LOL :)

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    1. It feels so GREAT to be blogging about food again, and happier things. I'm going to be getting back into brewing my own booch again as soon as I get another scoby. Ask me anything!

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  2. I totally get the bigger, better kitchen thing. These days when I wash the pots I look out into our backyard which has plants in it. At my last place where I lived nearly 10 years I had a tiny galley kitchen in a ground floor apartment. Although it had a window as it was in a high crime area all of the windows in the apartment had bars over them which I hated. Good luck with the shopping today. I have never made quesadillas, I really should give them a try sometime. I look forward to you brewing booch too. I have been doing it for a few months but on a basic level and haven't experimented with flavours. It's not really a thing over here so I look forward to getting some tips!

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    1. Bars on the window sounds so depressing! I can't believe how much more I am enjoying being in the kitchen, just with more space an light. Although staring out into a yard with plants sounds lovely!
      Quesadillas are so fun to eat. I like the little crunch from cooking them in a pan.
      I hope to get another starter scoby in the next couple of weeks, and get to brewing. I want to experiment with flavors like ginger and lemon this time around! Booch lovers unite!

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  3. At least the spices was readable on the package! One time I picked up a packet of ramen and was pumped to FINALLY find one that didn't use fish. Then when I got home I opened the noodles and found that there was a second list of ingredients over the flavor packet that said there was some fishy ingredient in it. I literally couldn't read it without opening the packet.

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    1. That is so annoying. And almost a little deceptive!

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