Its all true, the boogie girl is real, and you've found her. She knits, sews, spins, does pottery and writes it all down in this blog.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Eating Monday
It is a holiday here in the US. It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I wonder if we had him still today if all the people in this country still struggling for civil rights, would have it any easier....
I'm taking the day off. Husbeast is home after being away on business for 5 days. I'll be sitting next to him taking up space on the couch with my knitting. I'm making you wait until tomorrow to see what it is though. I'll give you a hint, I cast on for new projects.
It's also a snow day! The storm is supposed to be a big one but we have yet to have a lasting snow, unlike New Mexico.
On to the food, because even though I'm taking the day off from work, we all have to eat. Today is a Mock Twofer. Or rather a twofer of mocks. Mock chicken fingers and Mock beef stew.
Mock Chicken fingers.
I made these with roasted vegies last Tuesday, even the picky Girl Beast ate them.Tempeh
2 Tbs Soy sauce
1 Tbs Red wine vinegar
Bread crumbs
Frying oil if you so choose.
Cut the Tempeh into 1/4 inch slices. Place in the bottom of a sauce pan. Add in the Soy Sauce and the red wine vinegar. Add enough water to just cover the tempeh. Heat on medium until boiling, then simmer for 15 minutes. Let them cool so you can touch them.
If you eat eggs you can roll them in eggs and then bread crumbs, otherwise just wetting them a bit and rolling in the bread crumbs works. I usually season my bread crumbs with Garlic salt and pepper. Sometimes I add in other spices like oregano or Basil but for the kids, I kept it simple.
I chose to fry mine in 1 Tbs of Canola oil. It doesn't soak up much of the oil so I didn't worry about the extra fat, you can bake it under the broiler until crisp if you want to avoid the whole oil thing.
Mock Beaf Stew
Part of the reason this is a twofer is that I made extra roasted vegies the night before and that's what I used for the vegies for this dinner. Planning makes things easier sometimes.1 large onion
2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 cloves garlic
4 potatoes
2 cups baby carrots
1 cup of seitan chopped (optional)
3 Tbs Soy
2 Tbs Barley Miso (or other brown miso if you're avoiding wheat)
1 cup Vegetable stock
1 cup white wine
1 cup of water
2 Tbs Arrowroot (or other thickener)
I roasted the vegies with garlic, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. It gives them more flavor and makes the 'stew' quicker especially if you've cooked the vegies the night before.
If you are adding in the seitan, sear it first. It will give it that little bit of crust that you get on beef.
In a pan I add in the stock, miso, soy, water and wine. I heat on medium and blend together, never boiling just making it warm. I scoop up some of the hot liquid in a cup. I add the arrowroot to the cup of liquid and make sure it's blended well. Then I return it to the big pot to thicken it.
When that's done, the sauce is hot and thick, I add in all the vegies and seitan. Let it warm through (especially if the vegies were cold from being in the fridge). Eat. I made chease biscuits to go with it. It's breakfast time and just thinking about this, I want my mock stew for breakfast.
Knitting
I'm saving my knitting projects for tomorrow, but I had to show you some mini's I got for Christmas. They arrived after Christmas but I keep mini's hanging about all the time.
Left to right are 1: Monogrammed sweaters from my friend Jackie, 2: A wreath with a sock from Joni, 3: a pair of socks from Rachel that look like they were knit in Spunky yarn Berry Pickin'. I'm tempted to try them on some of Girl Beast's smaller dolls but I don't want to give her ideas.I'm off to enjoy the day off and the new falling snow. The girls might actually get use of their snow suits yet.