Barley and mushroom risotto, turkey stuffing, lots of veggies, sweet potato casserole, and carrot cake

This week has been quite chaotic, but I managed to do a lot of cooking (partially because I needed distraction).  Squirt (my rat) got really sick last week, and after a few days of feeding her by hand and sleeping on the couch with her, she got bad enough that I knew I had to put her down.  It was rough, and I still miss her like crazy, but it's getting easier as time goes on.  Anyway, cooking gave me a good way to keep myself busy.  

First I made some barley and mushroom risotto.  This came from the same cookbook as the picadillo (Lorna Sass's "Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way"), but I see that it was also featured in the Washington Post.  I left out the parsley because I didn't have any, and I used dried portobello mushrooms because that was the only choice (other than the morels at $26/oz) at the store.  I also used green onions instead of the leeks because that's what I had handy.  I had a few space-out moments (like when I halved the recipe but forgot to cut down the liquid), but I managed to recover and the texture turned out beautifully.  It tastes good, too, but next time I'll reduce the amount of fennel seeds, or perhaps leave them out all together.  I knew that they taste somewhat like anise (which I don't like at all), and I suppose that should have been enough warning.  I still like it, but it would be much better without that flavor.

I also wanted to try out a stuffing recipe in preparation for Thanksgiving, and I thought it would be perfect while I had a little bit of turkey left.  I found a tasty looking recipe at Kalyn's kitchen (a very good website with a lot of whole grain recipes), so I tried it out.  I used basic whole wheat sandwich bread (with flax seeds) that I made last week.  I halved this recipe, too, but I didn't measure the veggies and I think I used a bit too much of them.  It tastes really good, but it could use a little bit more bread.

I then went crazy with the veggies.  Nothing too inventive, but I made lots of steamed broccoli, steamed carrots, roasted cauliflower, and roasted green beans with almonds.  I found out yesterday that it's National Roasting Month, so it worked out perfectly.  Oh, and I almost forgot about the sweet potato casserole that is delicious and amazingly simple (it only has sweet potatoes, crushed pinapple, cinnamon, and walnuts).

And my final concoction was a carrot cake sweetened with pineapple and raisins.  It's really good (and would be even better if I had remembered to add the vanilla).  I'm still amazed at how great these things turn out, and I don't miss refined sugar at all.

I can't cook for a while because I'm leaving on Friday, but now I have a new distraction because Bahareh got me a hamster for my birthday.  He's quite adorable and amazingly soft, but he's not quite sure about his new cage/owner.  Hopefully he'll figure it out soon.  Any name suggestions would be appreciated.  Right now I'm throwing around Rocko/Rocky, Pollan, and, Clack (I've been listening to far too much Car Talk lately), but I'm also waiting to see if anything about his personality jumps out at me. 

Who am I?

(me and Squirt)

A question I often ask myself.   No, really.  And some of you might be wondering the same thing, so I'll do my best to give you a little bit of insight into my thoughts on food, cooking, and blogging.

My interest in cooking has waxed and waned throughout the years, based mostly on the amount of time I had to dedicate to the process.  There were times (in high school, I believe) that I spent hours upon hours watching Food Network shows and trying to soak up as much as I could.  But, throughout grad school there have been many times when I ate a lot of pasta with simple tomato sauce and frozen veggies.  It was quick and it got the job done.

My sustained love for cooking resulted from a dramatic shift in the way that I think about food.  It all started last summer (2008) when I read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," "In Defense of Food," and "Omnivore's Dilemma" in quick succession (see my previous post for more about these books).  I began to realize the importance of paying attention to the food that I'm eating, and I became interested in eating local food, avoiding processed food, and eating a lot more whole grains, fruits, and veggies.  But I quickly realized that this eliminated virtually everything that I was accustomed to buying (especially snacks), and I was going to have to start cooking everything from scratch (or spend way more money than I have at the natural foods store) to avoid the weird chemicals in EVERYTHING.

Luckily I made this decision at the perfect time.  I'm the sort of person that needs challenge in life.  When things get simple, I get bored and very unhappy.  I had just finished my dissertation proposal, and grad school, while challenging in some regards, had become too monotonous and routine.  The solution?  Learn to shop differently and do a whole lot of things that I had never done before (like baking bread, making stock, etc.).  And the cool thing is that, in addition to giving me that challenge, it introduced me to a new community in Michigan.  And I suppose that I'm healthier, too :).

It has definitely been a learning experience.  I've been experimenting with a lot of whole grains - everything from barley to millet to amaranth - to figure out what I like best.  I also try to get new veggies whenever I see them (especially at the local markets) and then figure out how to cook them.  I'm a scientist at heart, so this has definitely been a fun process (and it's nice to be able to eat the results of an experiment, for once!).  

I suppose I should also say something about my thoughts on sugar.  In December of 2005 (the 27th, I believe), I decided to cut down on my sugar intake.  I thought that the most effective way to do this would be to completely cut out sugar for a week to reduce cravings, and then slowly add back a little bit.  Well, I made it through the week (relying on a whole lot of fresh fruit), and my desire for sugar was almost gone.  I had also managed to survive a trip to my grandmother's house (with approximately 57 freshly-baked cakes and pies staring me in the face at every meal).  So, I decided to try to go one more week without sugar.  At the end of that week, I didn't want it at all.  I must also mention that I am extremely stubborn.  In fact, I'm the most stubborn person I know, with one possible exception (let's just say that I inherited the tendency).  So, I kept it up.  And, it's now been over three years, and I really don't see this changing any time soon.

I'm not saying that I never eat sugar.  When I'm at home, I try to use more natural sources (particularly fresh and dried fruit, but also small amounts of honey and agave nectar, or even raw sugar).  And sometimes I'll have a bite of some dessert (although this is usually all I want).  There was even a time when I ate a huge piece of wedding cake, but that was a great decision because it was perhaps the best cake I've ever tasted.  But, I now enjoy the more subtle sweet tastes that come from using fruit or whole grains.  And I love that they don't leave me feeling gross afterwards.  So, you'll notice that I make a lot of desserts that are sweetened only with fruit.  I realize that these aren't for everyone, but perhaps you should try one... you just might like it.

And that brings me to the blog.  When I started cooking like a fiend, Dad suggested that I keep a record of everything that I made and any changes that I might want to make for next time.  I took that idea and ran with it.  That was the blog's original function, and I only shared it with a few family members.  After some improvements, though, I decided that maybe others would enjoy it.

Here we are seven months later and I'm still loving the experiments and the adventure.  I hope that you're enjoying the recipes, and I'm still finding ways that I want to improve the blog (but unfortunately I don't always have the time it needs).  I would love comments and suggestions about ways to improve the blog, new ingredients, different cooking methods, or anything else that's remotely related (or not!).