Omnidude, Me & The Bean

I’m in a different place right now in my life and I  feel that this blog has reached it’s end.  It was wonderful to meet so many great people.  I’ll continue to read everyone’s blogs and I look forward to coming back.  Right now just isn’t the time.

Well, my mom left on Sunday after a month long visit.  It was great to see her and have her around.  I miss her terribly.  However, that means that things are almost back to normal for the Bean and Me.  They won’t be fully normal until Omnidude gets back.

Bean is finally 3!  He had a ton of fun at his party.  Most of his little friends were able to attend, which was great for him.  We had it at Chuck E. Cheese’s.  WOW!  That is the loudest place on earth.  I was more exhausted that Bean was by the time we left.  I spent most of the party chasing after him.

So, I have a few pictures of food to show everyone.  We made a “chicken” curry with basmati rice and lentils while my mom was here.  It was made with Soy Curls which are amazing.  I’m hooked.

We also made a wonderful pasta with mushrooms, spinach, carrots, peas and a light olive oil sauce.  This was very comforting.  It tasted like home to me.

I also made some wonderful teriyaki tofu.  It was so good and unexpected.  Sometimes tofu isn’t right.  This dish turned out wonderfully.  I seasoned it with a natural teriyaki sauce, some soy, veggie broth, garlic, agave and water.  I marinated it overnight and then pan-fried it.

I have been gardening like crazy.  I never expected to enjoy it but OMG I totally do.  I have done so many little changes to the huge change I made a couple of weeks ago.  I’m really happy with everything.  Secretly, I’m just hoping I don’t kill everything in this hot Texas sun.  So far, so good.

Omnidude and I had laid out a mulch bed.  My yard guy brought in some shrubs and a rosemary bush.

I got some hanging baskets to add color and to make it look a little different.

I made an herb garden of sorts.  I call it my Pot O’ Herbs.  It has thyme, curly parsley, flat leaf parsley, basil, sage and something Mexican that I don’t remember the name of.

I also picked up a couple of pots of Texas flowers.  Aren’t they pretty.  There is a small pot of that Mexican stuff there too.  I’ll check on the name and get back to everyone.  It is something you drink in tea and it is supposed to be really healthy.

Saturday was my mom’s birthday.  I took her out for breakfast and then for some retail therapy.  Yeesh, I miss her.  Here is a pic of her and the Bean.

Here is a picture of Bean outside.  I love this picture.  He looks adorable.  He has been saying lately that he misses his father.  It was like he turned three and realized that Omnidude was gone.  This is not easy.

On a very sad note…

My kitty died.  She was poisoned.  I had originally thought that one of the plants that I brought in may have been toxic to her, but after careful examination I found that they were completely intact.  This is something that has happened to several of my neighbors dogs.  It is very sad.

In memory of Addie…

Well, I have been meaning to write for a few days now but I haven’t gotten a chance. I promise I’ll write tomorrow and post foodie pics.

I had a nasty back yard. It was overgrown and full of tree-weeds. I’m pretty sure I had a hermit living in the sunflowers and other fauna. Finally, I caved. I decided that enough was enough and hired someone (yes, hired!) to come in and fix the debacle. See the before:

And, the after:

Also, yesterday I was able to make dinner. My crazy life finally calmed down enough to turn on the oven. I made tamale pie. It was delicious.

Vegan Tamale Pie

2 cups prepared TVP (see ingredients below)

2 cups Black Beans, somewhat moist

2 cups yellow corn

2 cups prepared masa

1 cup salsa

Prepared TVP

1/2 yellow onion

1 clove garlic

2 cups moistened TVP

1 t. cumin

2 T. salsa

1 t. chili powder

1 tsp. cilantro paste

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

Add onion and garlic to a skillet with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil to coat. Sauté till soft. Add in TVP and spices. Cook for 10 minutes to integrate all of the flavors. Stir in the salsa and set aside.

Masa

2 cups masa (I use Maseca brand)

2 cups warm water

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground garlic

Add masa to a bowl. Add salt and garlic and mix in. Add warm water and stir until all of the masa is moist. You should be able to pick up the masa with your hands and have it be moist, but not sticky.

Preparation

Spray a 9×9 glass baking dish with non-stick coating. Spread half of the masa into the bottom of the dish. The layer should be about 1/4 inch. Add the layer of TVP, then the beans, then the corn. Between each layer I added about 2 tablespoons of the liquid from a jar of salsa. Just for some moisture. Lastly, add the remaining half of the masa. I covered it with a little of the salsa to add color and flavor. I cooked it in the oven for 1 hour at 400º in a water bath. It helps to maintain moisture in the masa. What I do is a put the 9×9 dish into a 9×12 dish filled halfway with hot water.

It is delicious.

To take care of the leftovers we will be making soup. It is so simple. Boil a little vegetable stock and crumble the tamale pie into the broth. The masa will thicken the soup and the TVP, beans and corn will make the soup hearty. Top with a little avocado, cheese or tortilla strips.

Bean got a haircut, finally. Thankfully, Uma (his grandma) has a magic touch. She sat him on the bathroom counter, put his feet in the sink and started to cut his hair. Hey, whatever works.

Before (yikes!)

After

I will write more. I’ve been so busy. Now, I’m finally finding normal again. I tell you what, absence makes the heart grow a little weary.

I know it has been quite a bit since I wrote anything here but I have a good reason.  Four days after my last post the shit hit the fan.  I’ve been falling apart and building myself back up.  Some hard things have happened in my life and I have had to focus on them.  I’ve let the blog fall to the side.  I feel that now I have brought myself to a point where I will be able to move forward.  I promise that I will write regularly.  I’ve been a bad bloggie.  No hard feelings?

Up:

• Got to see a friend that I didn’t expect to see today.
• Lost two more pounds.
• Panda Express added a Tofu & Eggplant dish to their menu.  Yummy.
• Going to see Nickelback perform tonight. 

Down:

• Have a friend that is going through a really rough time right now.
• Feel lonely and want to disappear.
• Miss hubby.
• Desperately need COFFEE!

I will post some food later this week.  I did post some poems to The Empty Woman Chronicles just in case anyone wants to take a peek.

I have been trying to pack my lunch for work.  Some days it’s stellar, other days it’s just what I happened to come across.  Here is my lunch from Monday…

Cheesy Rice & Beans, Puffins, yogurt, strawberries, clementines, a banana and a Boca Patty.  This was my lunch, breakfast and two snacks.  Breakfast: Puffins and Yogurt with Banana, Lunch: Cheesy Rice & Beans with a Boca patty and the snacks were the Ccementines and the strawberries.

Also, I have been making it a point to make dinner for Bean and for me.  Something that involves a little bit more than a microwave and some frozen veggies.  On Monday night I made Spaghetti with “Meat” Sauce.  It turned out wonderfully.  Bean loved it.  He was pretty much covered in it.

Spaghetti with “Meat” Sauce

2 cups soaked TVP

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 small grated carrot

1/4 white or yellow onion

1 Tbsp. oregano

1 clove garlic

2 15 oz. cans Italian style tomato sauce

1/2 cup black olives

1 4 – 5 oz. can mushrooms

Sauté onion and garlic in about 1 Tbsp. olive oil.  Add in carrot and sauté until soft.  Add in TVP and soy sauce and brown for 5 – 10 minutes.  Add oregano, black olives and mushrooms.  Cook for 5 minutes and then add the tomato sauce.  Lower heat and cover for an additional 5 – 10 minutes.  Serve over al dente spaghetti.

This really turned out delish.

Last night I made Italian Soy Sausages with Sauerkraut.  This was a very easy recipe.  I took some onion and a little vegetable broth (about half a cup) and sauteed them until they were cooked.  I added the sausages and let them steam for about 10 minutes in the liquid.  This seems to make them softer and more moist.  I added the sauerkraut and lowered the heat.  Then I covered them for about 15 minutes and just let them steam away and get all flavor happy.  I served them with mashed potatoes and salad.

Bean liked the meal so much that he asked for seconds on everything.  It isn’t until recently that he has decided he likes to eat lettuce.  For the longest time he wouldn’t touch the stuff.  Now I can get him to eat iceberg lettuce with a little salad dressing.  I’m so proud of my veggie eatin’ baby boy.  Well, I guess he really isn’t a baby anymore, is he?

Wow.

Tomorrow I will show tonight’s dinner.  It was Butter Bean Ragú over Polenta.  It was delicious.

I also updated the Empty Woman Chronicles with a poem this afternoon.

The military has its good things.  One of the MWR (Morale, Welfare & Recreation) groups organized an Easter egg hunt for military kids.  They went all out.  They gave each child a basket, some toys, a stuffed animal and egg dye.  It was very nice to see all of the kids enjoying the activities.

My little one truly enjoyed it.  He actually won a couple of prizes.  First he picked a rubber ducky out of the water.  If it had a star on the bottom of it he would win a prize.  Sure enough, he picked a ducky that had a star.  He won a little Caterpillar truck.  He loved it.  However, he insisted on staying near the pond and helping other kids with getting a ducky.

When the Easter egg hunt started he did so great!  He ran out when they told him to and started picking up eggs.  He got so many of them.  One of them had a prize in it.  He was so excited.  He didn’t even touch the candy.  He, luckily, doesn’t like sugar.  Whew!  His prize was a “lovely” radio.  Mommy is so excited about this as you can imagine.  It plays 20 songs.  I’ve heard them all several times.

Now for our trip to Walgreen’s.  This is kind of funny and kind of sad.  I grabbed a package of Starbuck’s Espresso Shots to check the calorie content in them.  Someone had opened one of the cans and I poured it over myself.  Lovely.  Out of the corner of my eye I see a man in ACU’s (Army Uniform) and I say out of instinct, “Glen, help me please”.  Glen is my husband, who is in Iraq.  Then Bean looks up at this man, quite confused, and tilts his head to the side and says, “Daddy?”.  I figure that this poor man is thinking that I’m some crazy lady with a kid wanting to find a husband and a father for her child.  He turns to me and smiles and says, “Don’t worry.  It happens to me all the time.”  Ok, now I’m worried.  He was very nice and even helped me clean the floor off.

I’ll leave you with some pictures of food and of Bean.  I plan on cooking every night this week.  I plan on posting lots of good eats.  Tonight I will be making Spaghetti with Marinara.  Should be quite yummy.

Hope everyone had a wonderrful weekend.

I added two new poems to the “In the Deep End” page.

I’ll post a foodie update tonight and a little something extra.