Vegetarian on a budget: Stuffed bell peppers

Sometimes you want to cook something delicious and filling, but don't want to go grocery shopping and get specialty ingredients that are too expensive or won't get used up before their expiration date (I still have a mostly full half-gallon of milk left over from Russian pancakes I made over a week ago). 

Here is the answer to all of your financial and gustatory problems - stuffed peppers. This dish is incredibly versatile, as you can stuff said peppers with virtually anything you have around the house. Here is the basic recipe - feel free to experiment with it to make it your own. 

Ingredients (essential)

Bell peppers of any color (green are usually the cheapest)
Rice, or any other grain of your choice
A can of diced tomatoes (regular tomatoes or even tomato paste will do in a pinch)

Ingredients (non-essential)

Fake meat
Mushrooms
Eggplant
Beans
Any vegetable or protein you have lying around the house
Cheese (for topping)

Cat toys: the crazy cat lady edition

I freely admit to being a crazy cat lady. Between me and my boyfriend, we have three cats and we adore them as much as others adore their toddlers. My phone is always running out of space because I have to take a picture of our kitten every time he falls asleep in a cute pose. So, of course, we’ve tried almost every single cat toy we could get our hands on. Here’s the breakdown of which toys are worth it. I’m including links to Amazon because shopping online is usually way cheaper than going to pet shops.

Bergan Turbo Scratcher Cat Toy

What is it? The outside is a circular ball track, the inside is a scratcher. The scratcher comes with catnip to entice your cats.

Does it work? Though it doesn’t hold the cats’ attention for hours at a time, it is a toy they keep coming back to. The ball needs the smallest nudge to keep rolling in circles, which fascinates and befuddles the cats. The scratcher is cardboard and can take months of abuse before it needs to be replaced.

Should you get it? If you have the floor space to constantly have this toy out,  I’d suggest getting it, as it has two functions, both of which it performs tolerably.

Rating: 3.5/5

Cats Meow Moving Mouse Cat Toy (As Seenon TV)

What is it? This is a battery-operated toy which erratically moves a stick with a tantalizing piece of plastic at the end for your cats to catch.

Does it work? It’s a great idea in theory. The fabric covers up the mechanism, so that only a small moving part is seen. In practice, the cats lay on the mechanism, slowing it down or stopping it completely, thus “winning” the game that’s supposed to go on indefinitely. The batteries last a while, which is a plus.

Should you get it? We got this toy when we realized that we didn’t have the energy to run around our apartment with a manual cat toy. Battery-operated > human-operated, even if it’s not ideal. All three of our cats surround this toy as soon as we turn it on, making it amazing for breaking up cat fights and focusing their attention away from human food they try to steal.

Rating: 4/5

Russian pancakes (blini) with filling

There was no post this Wednesday because I was too busy celebrating my one-year anniversary with my boyfriend. To properly celebrate, I cooked his favorite dish from my Russian culture (which is not exactly known for its vegetarian selections). If you've read my post about cookbooks , you know that I'm against stringent recipes. So I'm bringing this dish to you with some tweaks, tips and ongoing commentary to make you feel at ease with preparing this somewhat-intimidating Russian version of pancakes.

A little intro - Russian pancakes, or блины (blini) are somewhere between American pancakes and French crepes. You can eat them unfurled with jam/honey/syrup of choice or rolled up with savory filling. My favorite fillings are mashed potato and mushrooms, but you can literally fill them with anything you'd like - fake meat, sauteed veggies, cheese, rice and beans (a bold choice), or fruit chunks.

We start with the ingredients. You will definitely need flour and eggs. Milk will make them heartier, but you can substitute water for milk (use less). Baking soda will make the dough a little more porous. A bit of salt and/or sugar can be added for a fuller taste. You can experiment with adding any spice, but don't overdo it - a pinch will do. You will also need a bit of oil or butter to grease the pan. Here are the ingredients I used.

1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk (if using water, stick to about 1.5 cups)
2 eggs (not pictured because they wouldn't sit still)
Pinch of sugar, salt and baking soda
Cooking oil spray

Here are the basic steps for creating blinis:

Top free Amazon Kindle books: Classics

I have a non-kindle e-reader, which I love and carry with me everywhere – this tiny gadget is what lets me get through over a book a week. I read it on subways, in waiting rooms, and wherever else I remember to bring it. So what do I do when I forget it at home or find it inconvenient to carry (small as it is, it can’t fit into a jeans pocket)? I turn to the free Kindle app on my phone and the free books that you can get through Amazon. These are the books that I read sporadically – only when no other entertainment is available – so they have to be good enough to keep my interest and attention through months of grabbing a page here and there.

Here are my top few classic works of literature available for free through Amazon and perfect for bite-sized reading sessions on the go.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Length: 191 pages

Premise: Scientist creates mutant; shenanigans follow.

Why should you read it? I will admit up front that neither of the main characters is particularly likable. Frankenstein – the scientist behind the mutant – is perhaps the whiniest protagonist in literary history. Frankenstein’s mutant is a gentle soul who turns on the world upon being mistreated by it. Shelley’s beautiful descriptions of each setting (icy seas, urban and suburban Geneva, Swiss Alps) as well as the underlying philosophy of existentialism (who deserves life?) are what make this book worth reading. Other reason to read – Frankenstein’s life has more drama than a reality show confessional room. There’s incest, revenge plots, story-within-a-story-within-a-story, conspiracies, death count as high as Hamlet’s, and long agonizing bouts of flu.

Time Machine and War of the Worlds by H.G.Wells

Length: 80 pages and 180 pages

Premise: One is a novella about going to the future in a time machine and seeing how the human race ended up. The other is about Martians attacking London and surrounding suburbs.

Why should you read it? H.G.Wells is a pretty brilliant science fiction writer who was ahead of his time. Reading these works, published in the last few years of the 19^th century, introduces us to the beginnings of the genre (much like Jules Verne novels). Both of these stories are quick reads and balance quick action (Attack! Run away! Explore! Run away!) with long internal monologues about the state of the world and humankind.

Valentine's day cards

In honor of Valentine's day, I'd like to share a collection of images I've gathered through the years that are both cute, funny, and a little on the quirky side that you can share with your loved ones. None of these are of my making, but some have been making so many rounds on the Internet, it's hard to give credit. 

Parks & Recreation card.

Downton Abbey card. Plenty more can be found here.

Vegetarian on a budget: Fast food edition

Both vegetarian blogs and eating on a budget blogs never fail to mention cooking rice and beans within the first paragraph. I’d like to address the basics later on, but start off with  something different. One issue that vegetarians (and especially newly converted vegetarians) continually run into is the lack of options in fast food, which can make life more complicated. When you are tired and in no mood to cook after work, the temptations of fast food can easily sway you. Here’s a list of vegetarian-friendly fast food places where you can eat animal-free and guilt-free.

Taco Bell – my personal favorite. Many vegetarian and vegan options all over the menu. Though the only thing with actual vegetables you can get comes from the Cantina menu and costs just under $6, several options exist for $1-$2.

• ·         Loaded potato griller (make sure to ask for no bacon)
• ·         Bean burrito
• ·         Crispy potato soft taco
• ·         Cheesy potato burrito

Depending on your location and promotions at the time, other items may be available with potato or beans instead of meat as the primary filling.

Burger King – though off the menu most of the time, Burger King has been offering a Morningstar-brand veggie burger for a few years now for the same  price as their other burgers.

Subway – you can get two vegetarian sandwiches at Subway – eggplant parmesan, and veggie patty. The patties are not particularly flavorful, but you can load up on vegetables and add a little zing either with jalapenos or with Sriracha sauce (may be promotional and dependent on location).

Best cookbooks for the imaginative chef

I love cooking but I hate recipes. Recipes to me are nothing but lists of complicated ingredients followed by several steps of careful measurements of weight, temperature, and viscosity concluded with “until tender.” I’ve never owned a kitchen scale or a kitchen thermometer. I have no idea what the recipe authors mean by “until golden brown” and whether they would agree with each other on what the perfect “golden brown” is if they were in the same kitchen.

I also have to admit to never following a recipe precisely due to my ego. Following someone else’s recipe doesn’t have any grandeur to it. Like any chef, I want to make my special mark on the dish. Sometimes that means substituting a spice, sometimes that means hovering over the pan and stirring when I’m not supposed to. This either has the effect of creating a new flavor, or completely ruining the meal.

My favorite moments learning how to cook have always come not from cookbooks, but from cooking with others. Drinking beer with a friend and flinging garlic, onion, cumin, curry, ginger, and tamarind into a pot taught me several Indian dishes. Standing side by side with my mom and watching her create meals by intuition, unable to quantify any single step along the way. Get-togethers with my hippie friends taught me how to handle exotic vegetables without any exotic spices.

This is what I want out of cookbooks. The feel of another, more knowledgeable, human being chatting with you and sharing their knowledge as opposed to a set of strict instructions that yield only one type of meal. Though I’m an avid collector of cookbooks (if nothing else, for the pictures), it took me a long time to find the few cookbooks that could deliver just that.

Spontaneous exercise

I love the idea of working out. I love reading books and glossy magazine articles about it and I enjoy watching an occasional workout video while sitting on the couch and smoking my e-cigarette. I don't however enjoy getting around to working out. It's too complicated - gym fees, buying special workout clothes, finding the time. Working out at home isn't perfect either - I have to clear the space on the floor, get a yoga mat, oh, and get off the couch.

My problem with working out is that when, once upon a time, I found the motivation and the time to work out diligently at least every other day for a few months, I saw no immediate improvement. I am a big fan of instant gratification, so I dropped the actual workouts in favor of watching reruns of Saturday Night Live for the millionth time.

But as someone whose face is a timeshare for a second chin, I feel a strong need to actually exercise instead of just thinking about it. At this point, I feel immense guilt at the mere sight of my Jillian Michaels DVDs and dumbbells have been on my grocery list for at least the last four months.  What to do?

Until I become a full-fledged adult with a gym membership and a yoga mat that doesn’t just act as a dust collector in the closet, I’ve been battling my addiction to Chinese food with unintentional exercise. What is it? It’s exercise that doesn’t require preparation, props, special clothes, equipment or a time commitment. You can sneak it into your daily couch-sitting without psyching yourself out.