Day 36--My First (and 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th) Attempt at Sand Tarts

It's been a while since my last post, and although the typical holiday hustle is in full swing, Erica and I have been doing an admirable job of not losing track of our goals and commitments.  We're still making all our food at home, and although we've not had the time to be as creative with new recipes, we've been pulling from our reporitore and managing clean, healthy, and budget-conscious eating.  So naturally, I've spent much of my free time over the past two weeks making very non-vegan, non-clean cookies.

But just like everything else this year, I wanted to try something new.  I can make chocolate chip cookies in my sleep, and I always say that they're my favorite, but that's not exactly true.  No, my favorite cookie is the stuff of legends.  One that most people these days have no time or patience for.  One that, apparently, is so Pennsylvania Dutch that my friends outside the tri-county area have never even heard of it.

I'm talking, of course, about sand tarts.  The paper-thin, crispy-crunchy, sugary-buttery  labor of love that I remember from my childhood.  If you do it right, they come out so thin you can see right through them.  And when you take that first bite, unf, they just crumble in your mouth and melt on your tongue!  I usually leave the cookie baking to my dad on Christmas (except for my chocolate chip, which Erica always demands), but this year I wanted a challenge.

However, not only have I never made sand tarts before, I've never even been in the room while they were being made.  And I've always been under the impression that rolling the dough that thin is such an advanced technique that I shouldn't even bother.  I don't even have a family recipe for them!  But still, I wanted to try.  I found a promising-looking recipe on an amazing blog called My Grandma's Recipes.  [I picked this one for two reasons: 1) I liked the name of the blog, and 2) this was one of the few I found that didn't call for powdered sugar, which I wanted to avoid after my vegan baking disaster.]  The only thing I didn't like about it was that suddenly, it became a two-day process, as the batter needs to sit in the fridge overnight.  But that was a common thread in all the recipes I saw.  If only I'd known that this would actually turn into a five-day event spread over the course of two weeks...

... Actually, no, I would have done it anyway, because I learned some pretty awesome things over the past fortnight:

• Meg, the author I yanked this recipe from, recommends lots of patience and wine.  Because of my 60-day water cleanse, I had to forego the latter.  Her way is definitely better--doing this sober sucks.
• I am a master of the technique of "creaming together" butter, sugar, and eggs.

Pictured: stuff that's been "creamed together," in case Hannah Hart was still wondering

• You can roll this dough so thin you can see the pattern on your counter through it, and it still won't be thin enough.
• Rolling this vigorously is a workout, also, I'm wicked out of shape.  After the first night, where I only got through a quarter of the dough, my arms were like noodles and I was a giant baby about it at work.
• One "batch" of this dough makes a ton of cookies.  I still have a quarter of the dough in the freezer.
• The only way I could get the cookies to stay together was to actually just roll the dough right on the parchment paper.  I'm so happy that I figured this out after only ruining one mini-batch.  I felt like a rockstar. Really. 
• For the first time in my life, I really see the value in convection technology, and I wish my oven had it. 
• Erica's family got the first quarter-batch, and even people as close as Philadelphia are not familiar with sand tarts!  (I also learned that testing your first batch on people who don't know how they're supposed to taste is really the way to go.  Huge confidence builder.)
• Decorating them is the only fun part.  I got really into different toppings, and I seriously think they're the prettiest cookies in the world right now.
• You really do get better as you go.  By my third quarter-batch, they were as thin as I think I'm capable of getting them.  At least for now.  

Anyway, my hat is off to moms and grandmoms everywhere, or at least those in the PA Dutch country area.  I have a new respect for you, and what you go through at Christmas to make those tiny treats.  I hope I make you proud; I really did my best. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Day 24--Another Update from Erica!

After Erica's "hat trick" day in the kitchen, she really got inspired to do more.  Over the past two weeks, she's actually been the one doing most of the recipe planning. And as work picks up for me, I could not appreciate it more.  So here's another post from her, updating how she's doing with the "water only" commitment, and some of her latest kitchen triumphs:

Giving up coffee was only supposed to be an experiment.  I told myself after 60 days I'd be right back on it.  But lately I'm wondering if I really want to go back to caffeine?  I function just as well without it.  I'm consciously trying to get more sleep, which is better for me.  So I changed my mind and decided to only go back on decaf.  

Now, though, I'm considering staying the course for the long haul.  Maybe having coffee (decaf) reserved as a weekend treat instead of the status quo.  This would mean I don't go back to those sugary flavored creamers on a daily basis, either.  It's funny how changing your habits changes your way of thinking.  

I've been more active in the kitchen.  Before Val's first challenge, when we were trying to eat healthy and rotating variants of the same old boring recipe, I mentally checked out of the process.  It wasn't fair of me; we're supposed to be a team.  So I definitely owe the household some cooking.  And I'm really enjoying it. 

I made another batch of muffins, banana this time, and shared with people!  I also discovered a love for the Indian spice garam masala.  A recipe required it so I picked some up, and now I can be caught sniffing the jar when no one's looking.  The recipe was for chicken tikka masala, which required an overnight marinade.  (The only thing I did differently was swap in milk instead of cream.)  It was delicious, and this week we're repeating the recipe with veggies swapped in for the chicken. 

 Chicken tikka masala, broccoli, and basmati rice

The reason for the repeat (other than how good it is!) is because I had to buy plain yogurt for the marinade, and the only quantity I could find was a big tub of it.  So, to make sure it didn't go to waste, the goal was to find clean eating recipes that called for yogurt.  I scheduled a vegetarian repeat of the above, and also used yogurt to make a spinach pesto sauce. 

 Spinach pesto, tossed with whole wheat linguine and mushrooms

We're starting to develop the habit for creating a weekly meal plan ahead of time, and building the grocery list around that.  We're saving money as a result. 

And yes, we pay for the monetary savings with more time spent in the kitchen.  But this is not "chore" food.  This is fun and engaging.  We spend time together while doing it.  We come home and look at the recipe board and get excited about what's on deck for that night.  Because most of the time, it's gonna be deeeelicious.

Moving forward, there are two ideas I'm excited to try: 

One, I'm about to run out of instant oatmeal.  It's been my staple breakfast for years, and while I've lost weight on it, I realize that it's still a processed food and I'm not controlling how much sugar (or salt) goes into it.  So this weekend, I'm going to buy some raw oatmeal in bulk and try some clean eating oatmeal recipes.  My goal is to cook a batch of it over the weekend and then keep it in the fridge, flavoring as I go. 

And two, I am going to stop taking vitamin supplements.  I'm lucky in that I don't have other pill regimens, but I've been popping multivitamins for years, taking for granted that it's good for me, never really questioning whether I should.  You can never have too much of a good thing, right?  Well, it turns out you certainly can overdose on vitamins.  Also, vitamins are more complex than just swallowing them, sometimes requiring other pieces of the puzzle (like fat-soluble vitamins).  And the best place to find that correct mixture is in clean food. 

Besides, those multivitamins have "recommended doses" right?  But supplements are not regulated by any governing body!  I'm basically trusting that the little pill I'm taking, which some strangers made in a pharma factory, will give me what the package claims.  

So if most of our dietary needs can be found in the foods we eat, provided we're eating the right ones, it makes taking multivitamins seem unnecessary.  Since I learned that I can quit caffeine, maybe I should break this habit too.

ETA: We had the vegetarian version of the tikka misala tonight, and it was amazing!   ~Valerie

Day 15--Potstickers, Take Two!

A few weeks ago, I made vegetarian potstickers after having some disappointing ones in Vegas. They were really labor-intensive and I felt stupid for essentially ruining the batch with white pepper, which I already knew I hated.

But I knew there was a good recipe in there somewhere.  So last night, armed with extra energy and a helper, I tried again (and left the white pepper in the cabinet).  So here's how it went, in four basic steps:

1.) Use food processor to chop up carrots, shitake mushrooms, cabbage, and red onion (about a cup each); mix together in bowl.

 2.)  Heat mixture in large pan with 1 tbsp sesame oil  and 1 tbsp ginger about ten minutes, until onions start to cook, and mushrooms start to cook down.

Looks so tasty, right? :-/

 3.) Fold mixture into wonton wrappers, making sure one side is pressed totally flat.

Yes, I cheated and bought my wrappers this time! 

4.) Place potstickers in hot wok with a splash of sesame oil, just until the bottoms start to brown.  then add 1/4 cup water and cover until evaporated (this steams them).  When water is gone, the wrappers should be sticky.  And that's all there is to it!

I was particularly proud of this batch!

The cool thing about recipes like this is that you can sub vegetables you like if there's something in it you don't like.  Although, even if you think you don't like cabbage or mushrooms, the way they come together is really so perfect--I don't think this would taste very Asian without either one of those.  I also found that the dipping sauce on the same page as the original recipe is perfect just the way it is.

Anyway, the verdict is: success!  These were a fantastic little treat.  Even with two people, it was still a ridiculous amount of work (Erica had lots of trouble getting her wonton wrappers to stay pinched together), but the yield on this recipe is pretty hefty. We'll probably both get to eat leftovers out of it twice.

Look at that awesomeness, just look at it!

Day 14--Our Thanksgiving

Another one down.  Erica and I rotate years for spending Thanksgiving with my family and her, and this year it was her family's turn to have us.  Our assignment for contributing to the dinner was simple: cranberry sauce.  I thought we'd bring a can of the jellied stuff and a can of the other stuff and be done with it.  But Erica has been really into finding new recipes since her big day in the kitchen, so she found a fancy-schmancy recipe for Cranberry Sauce with Apples and Ginger, so we set to it.  Turns out, even a fancy cranberry sauce is actually pretty simple to make.  And it came out looking and tasting fantastic!

I really, really wish I liked cranberry sauce

So our dinner was amazing and our cranberry sauce was a hit, but I do have to mention that Erica and I both cheated on our water-only pledge: her family is very into wine, so we decided beforehand to allow ourselves a few glasses.  No regrets actually, because we went right back to drinking water the very same night--that's right, I got through Black Friday with no caffeine! I'm rather proud of that.

Coming up in my next post, we tried again with potstickers, this time with much greater success.

Day 33--A Dinner Guest, and Thai Food

My sister has been one of the people most interested in my vegan journey.  We've been talking about it a lot, she's always interested to know what I've been eating, and she's been following this blog pretty regularly.  We live pretty close to eath other, and we've been saying that we need to get together more often.  So when she suggested we get together to a vegan-themed dinner on Friday night, I thought that was perfect!

We decided on Thai, which was another first for me.  I found some really great recipes for Pad Thai and a cucumber salad, and I couldn't wait to get started! I know most of my plan was to focus around being healthy, but guess why everyone likes Thai food so much?  It has a ton of sugar in it.  I figured what the hell, the only sugar I've had in weeks came from grapes and apple juice, so I can afford just this one meal.  Plus, as soon as I saw the recipe for Pad Thai, my mouth was watering for it.

I was nervous about having a dinner guest, and I don't know why.  As much as I've been sharing talking about this, I've been a little reluctant to share food. I don't know what I'm afraid of--judgment, people thinking I'm one of those "pushy vegans," people thinking my food is gross or my choices are invalid.  I was also a little afraid of asking other people to eat tofu, because I know it's one of those things... I've only ever made it two times myself.  But I knew my sister would be willing to try it!

In any case, dinner was a huge success.  It took forever to make, and I kind of made a huge mess, but I always get better at that kind of thing the second and third time I make the same thing. Part of the reason I lovew Thai is because of all the extras you get to put on it, and everything looked so good with the peanuts, lime wedges, and sesame seeds on the salad.  The only thing I didn't get to put in it was sprouts, because my grocery store was sold out of them.  But overall, proabably the tastiest thing I've made so far!  The girlfriend and the sister really enjoyed it, and the night was a lot of fun.  I can't wait to do it again!

Cucumber Salad with toasted sesame seeds;

Pad Thai w/ tofu, peanuts, and lime