It's been so long...

Pin It since I posted. I have a couple of good excuses, so hear me out. First, we moved (again), this time, to our very own townhouse! It's truly exciting to be a home owner after many many years of renting crappy apartments. As with any move, there's always a period when nothing is where you expect it to be. Even though the kitchen is up and running (I made pea and mint soup with bitter melon, jicama and strawberry salad for dinner yesterday), I can't find my cameras anywhere! So it will be a little bit longer before you'll see a post with pictures.

The stress of house buying and moving probably got to me, but I got really sick for over a week. To spare the world of many disgusting details, let's just say that it involved a lot of wheezing, coughing, sneezing and mucus. I spend 3-4 days in bed, not able to do much besides changing the TV channel. So the place is still in the state of disarray and things are still in boxes. But we're slowly getting there, one box at a time.

So for now, no food pictures. But they are coming, as soon as I find that box with my cameras in it. Until then....

We're Back! + French Bread... Pizza?

Pin It Call off the rescue team! I haven't fallen into a hole for 2 weeks with no food or drinks. In fact, quite the opposite. We traveled to Taiwan and had lots and LOTS of vegetarian buffet. For about a week straight, we ate at a buffet everyday. It has been an exciting and wonderful trip, but I can't wait to spend some time in the kitchen and cook some dishes inspired by what we've eaten on this trip.

But in the meantime, here's a VB classic -- something that he enjoyed as a bachelor short on time but long on pizza craving. It's a baguette sliced in half, smeared with marinara sauce and stuffed with mozzarella, chopped spinach, sliced mushrooms and artichoke hearts. The sandwich is then wrapped tightly in aluminum foil and baked in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. The result? A delicious, hot, melt-y, chess-y sandwich that tastes like a pizza but handles like a sandwich. I guess that is what you call best of both worlds.

We're back! + Turd Dogs + Spicy Quinoa

Pin It Moving is hard.

Never mind the weeks living out of a dozen of opened and half full boxes, the weeks of starting every other sentence with "where is __blank__?", and the weeks of cleaning, lining shelves, washing dishes, along with the other gazillion things that remain on the ever expanding to-do list, the absolute worst part about moving is eating takeout everyday. Last week, our pizza came with pepperoni instead of pineapple. So I had to eat an entire pie by myself over the course of four days. Nothing kills one's appetite for pizza quite like having to eat it over and over day after day. I hate overpriced Whole Foods salad bar... next thing you know, I won't want Indian buffet either. Then we're really shit out of luck here in Silicon Valley.

Now that our kitchen is in decent shape (with only a two more boxes to unpack), I'm ready to start cooking again. Of course, the perfect recipe for such an occasion is -- turd dogs?!?!

They say you can't polish a turd. But, it turns out you can make turd dogs look sort of like sausages. I tried putting them in buns and dressing them with condiments, but they still look like... well, shit. I wish our homemade sauerkraut had survived the move so at least we can cover this shit up. But our sauerkraut became a moldy, smelly, and generally vomit-inducing mess from heat and neglect. So here we are, looking at semi-naked turd dogs.

Incidentally, the post containing the recipe has a picture of turd dogs that strongly resemble something you'd find on a sidewalk or at a gas station restroom. VB, being generally fascinated with all things poop-y, was disappointed that my turd dogs did not look like they were freshly fished out of a toilet and plopped onto a plate.

Okay, I'll stop now.

Spicy quinoa is tasty. And it doesn't look like poop. There's nothing wrong with that.

The Everything Chili + Announcement

Pin It It's been a busy few days around here. I feel like I've been running around all weekend. You see, we are moving.

Yes. Again.

It's the second time in a 10-month period and we must be outta here in a week or two. Over the weekend, we found a new place to live (with a big kitchen!) across the Bay. We're slowly packing some stuff into boxes and purging others. The cats know something is up and are wary about what will happen next. Frankly, so am I. I feel like a fugitive running from the past and blindly into the future. I sincerely hope our second stint in the Peninsula will be better than our first. Really, it couldn't possibly be worse.

*Fingers crossed*

In the meantime, blog updates will be sporadic until our lives are back to normal. For now, priority number one in the kitchen is to pack food into our tummies so we have less to carry with us. Unfortunately, we have a particularly stinky food project that we'll have to take with us. But that's for another day, another post...

I made this chili so that I can basically throw some produce and pantry staples into one big pot and eat it for a few meals. It's simple and festive. I love the combination of sweet crunch from the fresh corn and savory creaminess from the kidney beans.

Goodbye, East Bay! I'll miss you, at least a little. Maybe not at first, but someday... eventually... I think...

Carnivore Girl on Vacation

Pin It I'm traveling. I plan to eat lots. Pictures are forthcoming (I hope).

Meanwhile, we may (or may not) have a guest blogger cooking up his signature vegetarian meals back home.

Stay tuned.

Veggies for Carnivores

Pin It Carnivore Girl meets Vegetarian Boy. They fall in love. But what do they eat for dinner?

Find out with us.