Starting Up

I have not done that great of a job with this weekly blog concept, but I will be better once I settle into my summer routine. I had my boyfriend living with me for the last week before he went home for the summer, so my priorities were not my blogging.

We tried to do a lot of our favorite things together before he had to leave. We ended up going to Lincoln City and eating dinner over a bonfire on the beach with our friends. It was a lot of fun. I also got to host a great friend who came up for my graduation, so that was fantastic. After she left, we mainly watched movies and snuggled, which is completely perfect in my opinion.

I made him cookies for the plane ride back to NH, but unfortunately that resulted in his bag being searched. Luckily, he thought it was funny. I think these are probably the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever made, and they are vegan. I'll try to recreate what I did from memory.

Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix oil and sugar until completely mixed, add vanilla and 2 tablespoons water to the oil/sugar paste. Mix until water emulsifies in the mixture. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients, then add slowly to wet mix. Add chocolate chips and drop by rounded teaspoonful at least 2 inchs apart on a parchment paper-lined baking pans and bake for ~10 minutes. Makes about 20 cookies.

Since my fella is gone, I've just been trying to pack up the house I've lived in for the last two years to prep to move into my summer sublet. It is harder than you'd think to move that much accumulated clutter. Unfortunately I also get emotionally attached to everything, so I try to keep a lot more than I should. I've made some interesting creations while trying to whittle down my cooking supplies before the move.

I used this whole wheat pumpkin muffin recipe from vegweb.com (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=5635.0) to make sweet potato muffins using canned yams. I just mashed the yams up in the juice they come in, and used them instead of the pumpkin puree the recipe called for. They were awesome, but if I did them again I'd only use half the oil the recipe calls for, and add a cup of shredded carrot.

This week is my first week back full time at work. I wish I could have more of a break, but unfortunately life is expensive. Luckily, I am working four sets of ten hour shifts, and so I get three days off a week. I tried to be productive on the packing front, as well as getting some much needed exercise. I rode my horse today for the second time since graduation, and am happy to get back in the habit. There is a dressage show at the end of July, and I think I'd like to compete. It would be nice to have a goal to work towards for the summer.

Well, the next post I will write will be from my new house. It is exciting to go live with new people in a different area, though I'm sad to leave my old place behind. I am also going to try to live somewhat simply this summer, so hopefully I'll have time to paint, ride, and write a little.

Winding down

Been a little while since I wrote, but between finalizing my thesis (I got an A, btw), and a nasty virus, I've been down for the count. I graduated this weekend. It was nice, but unfortunately there isn't much time to spend with the people who will be leaving right away with everyone's families there.

Last week my boyfriend and I decided to do breakfast for dinner, with mixed results. We used Trader Joe's whole wheat pancake mix, and it was great, but our attempts at vegetarian bacon looked (and possibly tasted) like dog treats. The hash browns were a disaster in and of themselves.

Luckily, we made a fantastic Indian meal for our friends a few days earlier, so I am not too ashamed of our failure. I am going to share the cauliflower recipe which is fantastic:


Indian Cauliflower with Mustard Seeds:
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
2lb cauliflower florets
1/3 cup Greek-style yoghurt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Cilantro for garnish

1. Heat oil in large pan over medium-high heat, add cumin and mustard seeds. Cook, tossing, for 1 minute or until mustard seeds begin to pop.
2. Stir in chili powder, tumeric, and salt.
3. Add cauliflower florets to the pan, toss to coat. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 10 min, tossing every 2 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender. Remove from heat.
4. Add yoghurt and lemon juice, toss to coat, add cilantro and serve immediately.

I make it without the cilantro, and it is still totally delicious.

Procrastination

A sure sign your thesis is due the next day is a sudden urge to start a weekly blog for the first time in your life. Procrastination is a college staple, and I'm little better than the next student. Though, to be fair, I'm really close to finishing the dang thing. So why not use this extra imagined free time to create a blog?

Admittedly, the title had me stumped. I'd like to make a weekly blog focusing on of life's finer things, but "Biology, horses, and baking" just didn't make for a keeper title. I figure my interests are random enough to keep a diverse audience entertained, but we'll have to see.

I am a female vegetarian college student biology major who likes cooking, horseback riding, tennis, line dancing, hiking and picnics. If you can't guess I grew up in the Pacific Northwest you really aren't trying very hard.

In two short weeks I will be free from my undergraduate years forever (though not if I don't finish this thesis), spending my summer working in a plant cell biology lab near Salem, OR, then making the trip to Seattle, WA this fall to start graduate school in Public Health at the University of Washington. In the meantime, I plan on experimenting with vegan baking, traveling to New England, hiking as many of Oregon's trails as I can manage, and just making the most of my summer.

Tonight is my second time experimenting with vegan cookie-making. I'm not a vegan, but I'm a vegetarian with an egg intolerance, so I think learning to cook some cruelty-free baked goods suits me just fine. I got the recipe I used off of VegWeb.com and they are called Chewy Chocolate Chip Jumbles. Delicious. Plus, only ~100 calories each, which most cookies can't say. Go to http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=32489.0 and check it out. I'm planning on trying a bunch of their vegan recipes before the summer is over.

Other than vegan cookies, this weekend had nice enough weather to see me exploring with my bike for the first time in ages. I am super out of biking condition, so I decided to take it slow and go to Minto Brown Park, just off of downtown Salem. It is a 898 acre nature reserve with a dog park, walking trails, and paved bike paths. Perfect place for a leisurely bike ride to get you back in the habit, or a morning walk with a friend to shake off the stress of the day.

Saturday night I was excited to find The Horse Boy on instant watch on Netflix. It is the documentary of Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff and their travels to Mongolia to combine shamanistic healing and horses as a means to help heal the painful side effects of autism in their five year old son Rowan. The story is miraculous, sensitive, witty, and honest. You should definitely look into reading the book (by the same title and an amazing read), or renting the movie. You can also go to http://www.horseboyfoundation.org/horseboystory.html to learn more, or donate to the learning center the family started combining horses and learning for special needs children.

Well, hopefully this is a good enough start for my first blog. Looking forward to adding more recipes, not just links, and telling people about great outdoorsy places to hang out in the Pacific Northwest. Oh, and boring you with stories about my own miraculous equine. Take care, and have a nice week :D