Cake Day/Jour de gâteau

WHOA.

WHOA.

Okay. DON'T EVER CHANGE your Blogger password and forget what it is. EVER.

You will not get it sent to you for a week. DAMN.

This isn't Blogger's fault. I'm the dumweiner who forgot my password/mot de passe and they probably could have sent it sooner had it not been for all the dumweiners like me who changed their passwords and needed them sent because they didn't write them down! In any case, REST ASSURED I will remember it now FOREVER. I wrote it down. IN PERMANENT MARKER. On the wall calendar. Whew.

Anyway, speaking of things written on my wall calendar, I came home for lunch the other day and noticed this on the calendar as I walked through the bedroom:



I do not know why this was written. There is no birthday, holiday, appointment or friend date anywhere else on my other calendars and my mind that could help identify this day. No conversation regarding cake with anyone comes to mind.

None.

You know why this worries me? Because of THIS. Apparently I have a predilection for writing down strange-o random shit that nobody, not even ME, will understand later.

It's scary.

So I don't really know what the deal is with "Cake Day," but I will tell you, crazy or not, Imma makin' me some CAKE.

Mmm. Cake.

What was I talking about?

Meatless Enchiladas/Enchiladas sin carne

Okay. Hi.

My friend Jackie came over again and we were all goofy crazy as usual, but what we made was STELLAR and I just have to share. It was delicious. It was rich and hearty!!

It was tofu enchiladas.

Before you turn your nose up at that (HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!) allow me to share the picture we took. MMMMM!



My mother, being the genius she is, made tofuchiladas for my sister and I when we were kids. They are a low-fat, low-cholesterol version of the real deal and are quite tasty. Based on her recipe and suggestions, I modified it a bit and Jackie said they were scrumptious so they have to be good!

Here's the recipe.

TOFUCHILADAS

1 pkg (36) corn tortillas (can be yellow or white though the yellow have far fewer calories and fat grams in them.)
1 pkg extra firm tofu
1 small can red enchilada sauce
1 small can green enchilada sauce (Las Palmas or Tapatio work well for this)
1 can black olives, rinsed
1/2 each of diced yellow, green and red peppers (for color, yo!)
1/2 minced onion
2 pkgs 2% milk cheese (low fat and lurvin' it!)

Crumble the tofu in a large metal mixing bowl. Add the red enchilada sauce, onions, peppers and 1 package of cheese. Mix well and set aside. It's best to let it marinate for a day or so but this is not necessary.

Place the tortillas on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with another microwave-safe plate and heat until pliable, usually around 2-3 minutes.

Spray a 13X9 baking dish and roll the ingredients into the tortillas. When done, cover the enchiladas with cheese and green chili sauce.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until nice n' CRISPY! YUM!

Serve with Costa Rican rice. Here is the recipe for that from a previous post. Notice the duplication of ingredients. This dinner is healthy for your body AND your wallet! Heh.


COSTA RICAN RICE

1 cup rice
1/2 (chopped) green pepper
1/2 (chopped) red pepper
1/4 (chopped) white onion
1 can black beans
1T vegetable bouillon (or 1 cube)
Olive oil (to cover bottom of pan)
A pinch of Safflower

In a large pan, sauté the rice and chopped vegetables in olive oil until the onions begin to look transparent.

Add 2 cups water to the rice, the bouillon and sprinke the safflower on top. Cover and let boil as you would normal rice (about 15 minutes or until the liquid is gone).

While the rice is cooking, drain and rise the black beans so the ookey crap from the can doesn't get in the rice. When the rice is done, add the black beans and serve with a dollop of sour cream and wine! Yay!

Can you feel the flavah? Mmmmm.

Wednesday/Mercredi

Okay. Here's a happier one.



HAPPY HUMP DAY! WOO!!

Tuesday/Mardi

It's Tuesday.



That is all.

Arts Festival/Fête des Artes

Today my mom and I went to the Arts Festival downtown. It was AWESOME! Booth after booth filled to the brim with gorgeous beads, paintings, sculptures, whathaveyou and everything else lined the street and various bands played the morning away with their own version of laid-back "Mountain" music. Simply walking around soaking up the atmosphere was enough.



After strolling around, we went to lunch at a local cafe where my outfit somewhat matched the floor. Heh.



My mom bought a necklace at the seashell store next door (say that three times fast). Isn't it lovely?



At the end of the street there is a plaza with an old train station that is now a museum. Here's the outside.



Here's the inside. There was an art judging thingamabobo going on.



After that we were on our way out when a lady stopped us and gave us a flyer. She said she was part of the "Harmonica Army" and they were rounding up enough people to play the harmonicas at once to beat the current Guinness record of 1800 or something. We went over to the baseball stadium and there was INCREDIBLE LIVE blues music and FREE FREAKING HARMONICAS!!





What a nice surprise! We learned how to play "When The Saints Go Marching In." I can kinda sorta play it now. Plus I got a harmonica! Score!!

Aaahh. Such a nice day.

Mangez-moi.

Tonight my friend Jackie came over as she does quite often (which is just delightful) and we had dinner again.

It was vegetarian chili...





...with honey cornbread...



...and sorbet with chocolate covered cashews for dessert. It looked goofy. What is it lately with me and the goofy desserts?



Wine was also served of course. We're not barbarians. I highly recommend Barefoot. It is to DIE for.



We had the candle going...



...and good times were had by all.



There's leftover chili in the fridge. I'm going to have it for breakfast because I can.



Ooooooh!!

Wow!

I am writing this on my cellphone! Woohoo!

J'(coeur) jus de V8

Ooooooh. Mmm.

I am having a glass of V8 right now and it is delicious. I can smell the celery. DID YOU HEAR THAT?? I can SMELL the CELERY!! YUMMMMM.



So...today at work Rebecca-have you noticed this is slowly becoming a foodie blog? Huh. That's weird.

Anyhoo...today my friend Rebecca (who still had that latte) suggested we go to lunch at this other Middle Eastern place called "B.C. Chicken." They had another location in the next town but it closed so I thought it was gone forever. Well it didn't close. They just moved and it's really, really close now! So that's where we went. She had chicken souvlaki with salad and I had falafel with salad and rice. As expected, it was as mind-numbingly delicious as it had been at the previous locale. The falafel was very crisp on the outside yet moist and rich on the inside with garlic and spices. The rice was chewy and to DIE for. Plus there was tzatziki! You KNOW how much I love tzatziki!

Rebecca brought up an interesting point. The new location is in a motel complex. It must have been cheap rent and I'm sure people hesitate when driving by, but the restaurant is very clean and everything is new inside. Everyone is very kind and greets you as you walk in and out. She said she liked supporting the place because it was within a motel and not so expensive that people staying there couldn't get a nice fresh cooked meal.

She's right. I like that too.

For those of you who are locals, the restaurant is on Washington just after 12th. You can't miss it. :)

OOOH. When we left I noticed a DRIVE THROUGH WINDOW on the SIDE.

I AM SO GOING BACK!!

Hahaha.

Last night was FUNNY!

I went to the gym, had dinner, watched Mystery Science Theater 3000, then fell asleep around 8. When I woke up at 11 I listened to music but was wide awake until about 2 a.m. Around that time I was sitting in bed eating a bowl of popcorn and it dawned on me that my computer had stayed OFF all night long! I didn't even check email!!

Isn't that hilarious??!! HAHAHAHAHA!!

Have a nice day.

Je pense...je mange...je dorme.

You know what's cool about living close to your parents? You can go over there and act all goofy making dinner with your mom in the kitchen and the end product looks like this:



Vegetable stir fry with whole wheat pasta and Asian Apples drizzled with homemade raspberry preserves.

With gewürztraminer to drink of course. MMMMM!!

Yes I had already eaten half the plate before I realized it needed to be photographed. Oops.

Cell Phone Phun Pics! Clandestine!

HEY!!

Did you have a nice Saturday? I did. My friend Rebecca and I went gallivanting around the town and it was fabulous. Here's what we did as seen from my new phone! Yippee!

We met up for lunch (which SHE paid for!! THANK YOU REBECCA!!) at our favorite Middle Eastern 'straunt called "Mazza." I had the spinach (YES. SPINACH.) and lentil soup with sauteed lentils and veggies with pita bread. Mmm.



Dessert was a pistachio cookie. Nutlicious!!



After lunch we wandered on downtown to Granato's, an Italian market.



I found Torani cinnamon syrup which my coworker has been wanting for some time. Look at all these freakin' syrups!! It's amazing I found it.



After that we went to Talbot's where Rebecca found some delightful outfits for work and I stared out the window.



Shoes!

(Her feet, not mine)



After a phantom in Nordstrom tried to swoop in and steal the latte in my right hand,



Rebecca (who mysteriously now had a latte) and I mused over why not only would a bikini be available in this season, but at full price as well. Craziness!



Then we went home and had dinner.

I haven't had this much fun doing nothing in FOREVER. Woohoo!

Oh yeah...here's the bat on my desk at work.



He says "Skreeeeeh!!"

Okay not really but it would be cool if he did.

Bye!

Dinner!!

My good friend Natalie came over tonight and we made a scrumptious dinner. It was vegetarian meatloaf with mashed potatoes, green beans and chocolate dipped bananas for dessert.

Well...that's what it was supposed to be.

Natalie brought ground turkey because they didn't have soy meat. That was too bad but we soldiered on with ground turkey. I kept asking her what to add and when, completely ignoring the directions she painstakingly wrote on an adorable little recipe card. When I brought up that fact she agreed and took over meatloaf operations while I worked on dipping the bananas.

Well...she got everything nice and ready for the oven when I mentioned the brown sugar hadn't been added to the sauce.

At least I read something.

She was a very good sport about it.



MMM!



Then I sorta...well...the crock pot...trying to balance it...

Okay I just dumped the chocolate on the bananas. It looked horrible.



Then I realized as we were "plating" it up that the green beans were in the freezer.

Frozen.

So we had a side of mashed potatoes and, um, potatoes.



That's Cajun Slap Ya Mama seasoning on the cut potatoes. Thank GOD that was handy!

But you know what? IT WAS AWESOME!! The food turned out delicious too! I haven't laughed that hard in months!! Natalie! Let's screw up some recipes again because that was a BLAST!!

Seriously. It was the best. :-)