I’m not going to do a regular post today.
I set up an open thread last night for those who want to discuss, or simply process, the Paris attacks.
For those of you who need to take a breather from the tragedy, here is an alternate open thread to discuss, well, alternate things. But let’s not talk about MRAs and the rest today. Let’s take a break from them too. (And this is, of course, a no troll, no MRA thread.)
The photograph I’ve used for this post? It’s just a picture of a man and his bunny in Paris on a happier day.
@dhag85
This is one of my favorite cooking blogs. She has a pretty big collection of vegetarian recipes and her baking recipes are AMAZING. Red wine chocolate cake with creme frache? Yes please!
http://smittenkitchen.com/recipes/#Vegetarian
@WWTH
My mom sometimes makes a spinach salad with raspberries and almonds and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It’s quite tasty and would add some green to the meal, though raspberries might be a bit expensive at this time of year.
In Thanksgiving news, I have a friend here in the UK who has offered up her kitchen (mine is a bit crap) for me to make a big Thanksgiving dinner. I’m extra excited because I managed to find pumpkin puree (thanks Tesco!) so I can introduce my British friends to the joy of pumpkin pie!
In other news, I have a reservation to visit the Kitty Cafe tomorrow. I am so looking forward to finally meeting this guy!
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A big, fluffy, polydactyl Maine coon! (His name is Heathcliff btw)
@autosoma
I know, I know. 🙂 It’s just that couscous is already pretty high in calories, so the rest of the ingredients will have to be very low cal. I’ll definitely try it out.
@ej
Thanks! I’ve bookmarked it and will check it out later.
I’ve had a very strange week, in two different scenarios guys have felt threatened or intimidated by me based on my interactions with women.
The first guy is (well, was) a friend of mine, who introduced me to someone who I really hit it off with. The person he introduced me to is in an open relationship, and that’s huge for me because I am very much polyamorous and so we really hit it off, comparing our different relationships and how opening up our respective relationships has worked for us. She invited me to a party, where I had a great time and ended up staying over (as in passing out on the couch). After that party I told my friend that I really had a great time and certainly hope to see her again, expressing my interest in her since we are both open.
Now, my ‘friend’ is apparently accusing me of ‘scaring her off’, and screwing up their friendship just because this woman and her boyfriend haven’t talked to him since that party. Nevermind that there could be a million reasons for it, apparently it’s my fault because ‘nobody ever gets to stay over’. This is completely bullshit because I was given permission by this woman (she was co-hosting the party) to stay over and crash on one of their couches with my friend instead of leaving at 3 am like I planned. When I told him about how this doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense, he got really sketchy, refused to tell me what I did that was apparently so offensive, and then got really pissed at me when I dared ask for a reason for why I was being accused of behaving so badly. He even forbid me from talking to her or any other of his friends from that party! At which point I informed him that I had already been in contact with this woman since the party, I asked her if she wanted to hang out and she said she wanted to as well (so the idea that I ‘scared her off’ makes less than no sense). This “friend” of mine is married, so even though all these signs point to a massive case of jealousy, there’s no reason for him to feel that way.
The second guy is my manager at a part time job who apparently is quite the creeper. At my work I was chatting with a co-worker and I casually gave her my number since she lived near me and I wanted to hang out with various co-workers outside of work. I wasn’t hitting on her (as I learned later, she’s married) I was just looking to make friends, yet this manager was “impressed with how confident I was at asking her out” and several times apparently went up to her saying “Moocow is seriously hardcore hitting on you!”. The only reason I know any of this is because this co-worker invited me to go have drinks with her and some friends last night and she was telling me all about this guy and what he said to her. We both collectively laughed our asses off but also kind of recognized how absurdly creepy this guy was to her (he was *actually* hitting on her, even though he was well aware that she’s married). He was very clearly interested in her and very much threatened by me giving her my number, even though I did it completely casually (I specifically gave her mine instead of asking for hers so that it was clear that I wasn’t hitting on her, making it easy for her to just not contact me.
I’m kind of amused at both situations because I’m pretty sure I’ve done nothing wrong and both of these guys are just jealous and trying very hard to make me look bad. It’s certainly given me a lot to think about it.
dhag – do you use aubergine In your cooking? AKA egg plant, AKA the Iranian potato. It is versatile and very nutritious, but can be expensive if you do not live in an area where it is widely used.
Also, I recommend expanding your grain use to include some wholegrains that are higher in protein (and other nutrients) than the bog standard wheat/ corn/ rice.
I use millet, buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth as a grain mix, as they all cook in about the same time, and the former 2 are cheap, amaranth varies and quinoa is expensive. Also raw buckwheat and amaranth I do not find palatable on their own.
Moocow – those men sound like they are about 12! I have seen lots of times that being married/ otherwise unavailable makes no difference when someone is in this mindset. They have their little fantasy going, and then you come along and fuck it all up! I think what has happened is that you have shown them that there is a different way to be, and they find it unsettling.
I hate it when I meet people who see interactions between women automatically on a spectrum of sexual attraction. For a start it is heteronormatively presumptuous, and I don’t usually want to out myself around someone like that!
@Ellesar
Sadly I really really dislike the taste of aubergine. I wish I liked it, and I’ve given it many chances, but I just don’t. 🙁
I make a killer vegetarian chilli with quinoa, and I do use various kinds of grains. I love those sorts of dishes, but currently I’m more interested in vegetable based dinners that can be made low cal or very low cal due to my wife’s dietary restrictions.
You guys have some weird ass salads. If we make a salad with nuts and fruits and beans and leaves at the same time, no one eats it :p
Does anyone here know of a good C/C++ IDE for MacOS 10.8.5? Asking for a friend who asked me to help her learn to code.
The two I’ve seen recommended are Xcode and Eclipse. Xcode current release is only MacOS 10.10 compatible and the older versions aren’t available without an Apple developer account. Eclipse requires a better Java Virtual Machine than MacOS 10.8.5 has and apparently installing a new JVM is not a trivial process on a Mac.
I am hating the Two Steves more with every minute that passes.
dhag – my kids don’t like it either, but I blend it in soups and stews, usually flavoured with tomato, garlic and chili, and it is not coming through then. One thing I have learnt as a parent is that is a vegetable is disliked just mush it up with something else!
How about ratatouille with the aub blended? Depending on how much oil used in the cooking process ratatouille can be very low calorie, and is delicious.
why not get your friend to get parralles desktop run Ubuntu and then they have more options like kdevelop. How about netbeans or jetbrains clion… they may run on a closed walled OS
@ej… Jetbrains CLion says its Mac native
@WWTH My favorite salad is topped with mandarin oranges, avocado, feta cheese and nuts. Something about the combination of those is just so wonderful : )
Our younger son has asked me to make onigiri next week. We usually have brown rice, but he says he wants it with white rice.
He’s been doing very well lately, so I’m inclined to indulge him.
I actually got some drawing done last night. My goal right now is to draw something/anything each day. It’s been an interesting experience dealing with my resistance; instead of trying to get over it, I’m going around it. It takes a bit longer, but there’s less climbing.
@Ellesar
Actually ratatouille or shakshuka are two of my goto recipes and they’re great, very low on calories, but I don’t use eggplant in them. Disguising the taste of an icky vegetable is a good idea. 🙂 Honestly though, I like most vegetables so in general I don’t feel like I need to force myself to eat one I don’t like. Eggplant is a special case since it’s so “meaty” and you can use it for many different things. I used to make an eggplant lasagna for example, but I just couldn’t stand the taste in the end.
@dhag85:
Please tell me more. All my successful veggie chillis have been based around some form of imitation mince, and that feels like cheating.
@dhag85 — what about okra? There’s a really kickass recipe that has okra, soft-boiled chickpeas, onion, and garlic and that’s a spiffy add-on as a sauce for rice or couscous.
dhag, there are lots of different types of aubergine, the small finger sized ones, the pink and white ball one, little cherry ones and if coarse good old dark purple supermarket ones. with the latter I always skin them, soak the flesh in brine and squeeze the water out between two cloths. That way you can get rid of most of the bitterness… and then treat it like tofu.
okra yum, slice down the centre roll in seasoned cornflower, deep fry. or slice in to rounds, pan fry with a dollop of Mrs Pataks Brinjal paste.
Guys, am I an evil scumbag if I’m shaving during “No-Shave November”? Personally, I just don’t see why I need to look like Charles Manson in order to be aware of men’s health. I mean, as far as I’m concerned, it’s National Home Caregiver’s Month (in which I am a caregiver), which frankly has no special things to bring “awareness” to.
@Newt
Sure! I got this recipe from somewhere at some point, but I don’t quite know where. I’m also bad at keeping track of exactly how much of each ingredient I use, but I’ll give approximate amounts.
1 cup of quinoa
vegetable stock (I use dried cubes of the Knorr brand, not sure what kind would be available where you are)
olive oil
garlic (a few cloves)
1 bell pepper (I prefer green, my SO prefers red so long story short we use red :p)
celery (a few stalks)
carrot (a few)
1 regular onion
kidney beans (I use 2 cans, and the cans are 410 grams each including the liquid, and 250 grams drained)
crushed tomatoes (I use 2 cans and they’re about 370 grams each)
canned corn (maybe about 1 cup, but it’s up to you)
chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, black pepper
1. Make the quinoa like normal, but use vegetable stock
2. Dice onion, mince garlic, sautée in however much olive oil seems reasonable (use a big saucepan or similar). Dice carrots, celery, bell pepper and add to the onions and sautée for a few minutes until it’s soft
3. Add everything else except quinoa. Make sure to NOT drain the beans, put them in liquid and all. For the spices I use a teaspoon of chili powder which makes it pretty spicy but not very. Half a teaspoon of oregano and cumin. Salt and pepper I never know how much to use.
4. Keep it simmering at reduced heat for half an hour, and then add the quinoa and corn at the end.
5. You can obviously add cheese or sourcream if you want, but then it would be a vegetarian chilli and not vegan, if you care about that.
Some cats think they would love this dish, but they can never be allowed to try it. Enjoy!
I love ocra! But I can’t really find it around here, as far as I know. 🙁
Or I guess it’s spelled okra?
Katz Family Vegetarian Lasagna
In a bowl, combine 1 large container of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, 1/4 cup shredded parmesan, 1 egg, 2 T parsley, 1 T oregano, and 1 T basil.
Layer in a 9×12 pan:
Pasta sauce
Uncooked lasagna noodles
Thinly sliced vegetables (zucchini, onions, mushrooms, etc) (optional)
Cottage cheese mixture
Shredded mozzarella
Keep layering until the pan is full. Cover with foil and bake at 325 F for 1 1/4 hours. It’s low-calorie because it uses cottage cheese instead of ricotta but it is very yummy and filling.
Selfcare Shelfcare. I’m at AVClub arguing about the plot points of Grimm.
Hey, at least I know it’s a coping mechanism…
@dhag85 — if there’s a shop in your neighborhood that sells foodstuffs from Mediterranean or Near East areas, you’ll find tinned okra. That’ll do just fine.
Softboil some chickpeas after soaking, leave to cool and drain.
Chop up garlic and onions, sautee in a kettle in a drop of oil.
Add pureed tomatoes and crushed tomatoes from a can. Add black pepper, salt, oregano, basil to taste. Squirt in some lemon juice. Let simmer on low heat for a good while, like 30 to 40 minutes, stir occasionally.
Rinse tinned okra, pop them to the kettle, turn up the heat just enough that it bubbles more vigorously, stir carefully, this should take about five minutes. Pour in chickpeas.
Serve with rice or pita bread, feta, sundried tomatoes, sour cream or yogurt. If you’re expecting carnivores to show up, you can serve a chicken breast as a side to this, this is an excellent veggie dish in itself for vegetarians and sauce for chikkin.