lost in translocation

Dear Tofu,

Why do you taste different when I make you in Washington than when I make you in Utah. Is it the altitude, the moisture? That doesn't make sense though. Please give me a reason. I used to love you. Now I only like you as a friend.

Sincerely,

It's not me; it's you.

Meatless

I get so excited when I watch my vegan cooking shows! It's been awhile since I watched them, but when I go home, it's going to be a party.

Things to make: "Turkey" seitan, vegan gravy, pigs in a blanket with veggie dogs, vegan mashed potatoes, etc. The possibilities are endless.

I'm already getting jittery. I love to cook; I just don't do it at college for lack of time and resources. When I go home for Christmas though, I'm going to have a ball. Vegan cooking and modifying old favorite recipes is one of my favorite things in this world!

It's a vegan revival kind of day.

even artichokes have hearts

In case you didn't know, I'm a vegetarian. Sometimes I forget that I have this stigma. I was just sitting here eating my tofu, broccoli, and wild rice concoction, and I thought, "this is probably a really odd food choice for some people." I've lived this way for over four years now, and I have forgotten that people actually eat meat--not literally forgotten, but it is such a foreign thing to me now. I don't think about meat. I don't ever see a symbolic empty space on my plate that needs to be replaced or substituted with an "alternative." This always provides me with a rude awakening when I go to a restaurant because every dish features meat as the main course, and it now baffles me as to why. It makes no sense in my veggie brain.

Anyway, this post really has no direction. I was just realizing that a lot of my food choices are odd, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Peace, love, and fruit!

Tewsday

Today has been good.

I slept in until 11:00 (okay, not a regular thing, but I've been suffering from a bout of insomnia and late night dehydration lately, which has thrown my sleeping schedule through the ringer. This is always accompanied by anxiety, excitement, or stress.)

I went grocery shopping and was complimented for the healthy choices I made. I always wonder what the cashiers think I'm going to do with all that broccoli and spinach. I also found a cheaper brand of soy yogurt (the plain variety to which I'm becoming more accustomed.) My mom would be proud that I did the calculation in the store to see which was a better deal ounce for ounce. I also had a coupon for tempeh, and I indulged in some tofu dogs just for more protein variety.

I did my religion homework.

I talked to Ashley.

Now...I'm going to do some more homework. Maybe biochem and a write paper...

I love Tuesdays!

P.S. A random person occasionally comments on my posts in some Asian language of which I am not familiar. I'm just curious who you are...and how you found my blog...

catching up

I haven't blogged in awhile. I'm pretty bad at the whole blogging thing. I do this with my journal too. I write about once a month, but I remember back in elementary when I wrote EVERYday and it's kind of fun to look back and remember what I was doing a year ago. It's sometimes hard to remember the weekend sometimes. I fear Alzheimer's is settling in too soon.

So I'm at the grandparent's house for Christmas. My grandma gives me taco soup with huge chunks of beef and says, "you can eat that right?" Um, no...I am, um, pretty sure that's, um, meat in there....yeah, so I, uh, don't eat that. Every five minutes she always asks me if I'm finding anything to eat. Yes, Grandma, I'm eating. She means well. I just hate the look on her face when I refuse her cooking. It's the disappointment that she can't help. But I just love that she's around. I don't even bring up the vegan thing. When I come home, I downgrade to vegetarian when there are no other options. I miss soy milk :(

Here's the intinerary: Christmas Eve feast. Christmas morning breakfast feast. Christmas night feast. Day after Christmas feast. That's a lot of food. I guess we're going out of this year with a bang. The cool thing is that A LOT of my family is going to be together. The most we've had in a long time. My family is crazy and loud and talkative and gossipy and obnoxious and quirky and I love them. This should be fun.

Merry Christmas Eve.