Hungry and Poor

Holy Frying Pan, I have been SOOOO HUNGRY lately! Seemingly since the second I got back from Budapest I've been eating non-stop... and every second I'm not eating I'm plotting my next meal. Its like that scene in Rosemary's Baby where she's possessed by the urge to eat raw meat... except it would be, like, raw beets. (And also, I'm not carrying the child of Satan.)

Usually this surge in appetite would be a minor inconvenience, but at the moment I have exactly $.88 in my account since I'm still waiting for my loan check to come in, so its becoming sort of an issue... After the yummy tortilla stacks and vegan hot dogs I've been living on ran out, I started fantasizing about all sorts of concoctions with the remaining groceries and canned goods I have around. Which, truthfully, should be what I always do, not just when I'm broke.


Part of this, I submit, is related to my newly intensified work-out schedule. After a few weeks of practically nothing (unless you count walking up the Buda hill, pictured at right, which, come to think of it, was quite strenuous) I came back to a whole new schedule of classes, not to mention weather that permits (and compels!) bike riding. My (gorgeous and perfect) roomie M and I take Step class a few times a week, which is sort of a dancey cardio workout, plus a weight-training class and whatever we do on our own. This week we're also going to take a couple Bhangra dance classes, which I'm beyond stoked about. But it should make me even hungrier...

Anyways, one dish I dreamed about the other day was the Tamarind Chickpeas from The Healthy Hedonist by Myra Kornfeld. Its such a cheap and delicious dinner, and I decided my friend Karen and I should make it for a girls cooking night we had. Basically, its canned chickpeas, canned diced tomatoes, ground toasted cumin and a ton of ginger and garlic. On a given night I usually have all those ingredients! (I sub ginger for the tamarind, since its easier to find and I like it better.) And OH MAN. SO good with mango chutney and rice. Karen thought so too, and she is mega-picky so its saying sumthin. :) But alas, no pictures. However, if we start to cook weekly, like Karen says, then hopefully there will be pics to come.

Later, in a fit of hunger with very little actual food remaining save for some old potatoes, I also felt compelled to recreate a childhood classic, potatoes aux gratin. My Mom used to make this to accompany some meaty dinner, and its basically an ultra creamy potato dish that can be as fancy or homey as you like it. It has a ton of milk and usually a ton of cheese, but I think it actually can be quite marvelously veganized! I adopted the Joy of Cooking Recipe, but I think it needs some work to make it truly delectable so I'll wait until I've improved upon it a bit.

Not that this wasn't fabulous, but I felt it was a little too sweet (too much nutmeg?) and needed something other than nooch on top to get brown and crispy. Next time I'll try it with a mixture of teese and breadcrumbs I think. And did I mention this dish reheats really well? That works for one of my resolutions.

So until the loan check comes in I think I'm reduced to more hot dogs and oatmeal, which, to be fair, is not a fate worse than death. Let's just hope I go back to my normal, non-crazed appetite sometime soon.

Song of the Day: Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts- Wolf Parade

Law-school fright-fest

Can I offer you a vegan brownie, darling?

Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday. Its all about sugar, kids in funny and/or stupid costumes, and watching the Shining on repeat on TBS until you're no longer scared of it. (I'll get there some day.) But I can't fully appreciate the creepy/ mysterious feeling in the air this year because I am completely swamped!

This is seriously the week from HELL! A midterm, a 26-page paper, a presentation, oh my.... and two out of three are on seriously yawn inducing subjects (like the GATT... aside from being sort of sinister, who wants to read about tarriff reduction? Not I.) This really seems like mission impossible. But nonetheless, I fully intend to hunker down at an independent Columbia Heights coffee shop (that is, if I can find one) and spend countless hours toiling away until Halloween, when it will all be over. (With a wing and a prayer...)

The problem is, I'm also totally broke, so I can't get away with what I might like to do in this situation and eat out every day, unless I want to live on empanadas. But all the same, taking a few moments to cook something can be very soothing. (As can reading everyone else's blogs for inspiration!) Today, for example, I took the leftover veggies curdling in my fridge from my stir-fry and transformed them into quick and luscious life-affirming balsamic roasted veggies. I just tossed them with some s&p, EVOO and balsamic and served them over the quick grains I usually eat for breakfast.



I was cackling with glee at how good this turned out, let me tell you. And I didn't spend any extra money. (More for coffee!)

Another cheap and healthful food product? Dad, if you're reading this from the campaign trail (which I suspect is also quite frightening at the moment), get ready for the "I told you so"- potatoes! Just ask the Times, they are packed with vitamins and nutrients (B, C, potassium, fiber) and are low in calories and fat. And they are tremendously delicious with soy sour cream, tempeh bacon and chives. So even though my father thinks potatoes are the king of evil and fattening carbs, he is wrong, wrong, wrong and I will be eating them daily while my personal economic and scholastic crises plays out. (Looks the rest of the world is on top of that too, according to the recently potato-obsessed Times.)



And comfort food aside, I am very much looking forward to the end of the week when I can bake some Halloween treats and head to a party featuring a Misfits cover band in Brookland. (We walk the streets at night, we go where eagles dare!) I'm thinking Marlene Dietrich for the costume, pumpkin-chocolate-cream cheese brownies for the treat. But I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it, because there's a lot of bluebooking between me and friday...

Exploring my new neighborhood & Unplugging

My mom is fond of telling me that the three most traumatizing things in life are death, divorce and moving. (I would add: the bar exam.) I usually think that adding the third one on there is kind of bullshit. I mean, moving? Ok, it hurts your back and all, but having done it maybe 15 times since college, I consider moving to be a mildly annoying side-effect of my persistent wander-lust. Usually I find it pretty exciting.

This time, though, I was sort of bummed out. I guess a lot of things happened in my Silver Spring house (insane roommate, major break-up, shifts in friends and priorities) and I hadn't really recognized it until I was packing everything up. So while the move itself wasn't terribly complicated, I did find myself a little dazed and distracted as I entered my new dwelling in Columbia Heights.

But now that I'm here, I'm waking up to the fact that I'm in heaven! Its a diverse, bustling neighborhood with plenty of vegan options, fantastic access to public transportation, and a great local bar and library! Its even pretty bike-friendly! I can't say I hung out much in this neck of the woods before, but now I don't ever want to leave! Here's just a few of my finds so far:

*Julia Empanadas- I used to get delicious and cheap lunches from their location in Dupont Circle a couple years ago, but I never dared to ask if the delicacies were vegan (I worried about the crusts). Well, the Columbia Heights location wears their vegan friendliness on their sleeve! I had an amazing $3.50 empanada yesterday- lentils, sweet potatoes, green beans and spices wrapped up in a slightly sweet, flaky crust- proudly proclaimed on the sign to be all vegan. Not only that, they have 3 vegan soups and two small salads- cucumber and beet. I honestly think I'll be eating here 3-4 times a week.

*Sticky Fingers Bakery- I mentioned this awesome vegan bakery/ coffee shop before, and since I was last there little has changed. There are still awesome cupcakes and sticky buns, vegan hot dogs, and convenient to-go meals. My only complaint? The hours! I wish they were open late so I could eat cupcakes and study there. Still looking for a late-night study lounge in the 'hood.

*The Heights-Although this restaurant doesn't have much in the way of vegan food other than, like, french fries, their one option is worth mentioning: tofu stir fry with red cabbage, shitake mushrooms and a sweet tamari sauce over rice. So good. Oh, and a nice selection of beer too. (This place is REALLY close to me, so I have to go there occasionally.)

I'm discovering new stuff everyday, but I won't post about everything... just suffice it to stay that if you're in DC, Columbia Heights is an area you'll want to hit up. Hey, I'll be your tour guide!

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As for "unplugging" a la Jennifer and Brett from VC&ORM, I have unintentionally done a lot more than I planned on. I initially intended to watch less TV and check fewer gossip sites and mainstream media sites. But funnily enough, life has a way of pushing you along once you get started on something. So, coincidentally, around the same time I started thinking about getting away from negative/ prejudicial white noise, I quit facebook, broke my phone, and moved to a new place where I don't have internet access or cable! So I am like, WAY unplugged right now. No text messages, no "friend updates", no perezhilton, and definitely no tv. Oh yeah, and I already mentioned no car.

All of this unplugging has left me with a lot more time and, dare I say, mental energy. It may also have to do with a lighter load at school this semester, but I find myself re-engaging in politics in a way I haven't done since college; re-reading Marx and Engels, Polanyi, Derrida, Foucault and all the other oldies but goodies. I've even been writing a bit of political stuff- after all, I can't count on law school profs to give me a critical analysis of anything.

Another nice side effect is that the lack of phone and facebook makes it difficult for people to get in touch with me. Now, that could be annoying after a while, but briefly its a nice vacation. Its amazing how much more in control I am of my time- no longer a slave to texts and event invites. And since I don't even get any messages, I don't waste time thinking about whether to respond.

So yes, my head is a bit in the clouds these days- my friends don't know where I am, and I don't know anything about Gossip Girl or my ex-boyfriend's relationship status... but then, in a lot of ways I'm more focused on what's right in front of me. Which is convenient, because I'm still getting used to dodging traffic on my new bike route.

So, in conclusion, just in time for Rosh Hashanah things are looking very up! Now, onto vegan apple challah bread...