The Perfect Housewife might shank the next person who writes a recipe that includes chicken broth or seafood and labels it vegetarian.
A vegetarian does not eat poultry, red meat or seafood. That is why they are called vegetarians. A person who eats seafood, but no poultry or red meat is called a pescetarian. A person who eats poultry, but no red meat or seafood is called a pollo-vegetarian.
This distinction is an important one, but sadly one that not many people know about. Luckily for me, my friends and family know that, as a vegetarian, I do not eat seafood or poultry. They saved me from stomach distress many times because of this knowledge. However, writers of many cookbooks and vegetarian recipes don't seem to understand the difference, and contribute to the myth that real vegetarians eat poultry or seafood.
It is extremely frustrating to be told that the "vegetarian" soup on the menu at a restaurant actually contains chicken broth, and that I have to wait for the second course to eat because none of the first course options will suit my needs. And yes, it is a need. I have been a vegetarian for more than twenty years now, and thus I cannot digest an animal product that I have either never been exposed to (red meat) or haven't been exposed to in nearly two decades (chicken, after my brother told me the chicken nugget was a giant Tator Tot when I was 11.)
It's even worse when it's something cooked in another person's home. I always feel that declining to eat something that has been prepared for me is rude, and I don't want to offend someone by refusing to eat their cooking. Unfortunately it's become more and more common for people to assume that vegetarians can and will eat poultry or seafood, and I firmly believe it's due to the pervasiveness of recipes labeled as vegetarian that are actually anything but.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Another chocolate and peanut butter experiment
As I've noted several times on this blog, I love chocolate, and I love peanut butter. I love it even more when they're together. And thus, I'm always on the lookout for something else that will put the two together. My last experiment was the chocolate peanut butter cheesecake I made for my brother's birthday in October. This time, I decided to make some candy.
Usually for Christmas I make some mint-chocolate cookies from a recipe that I discovered several years ago. This time, Mr. V and my brother suggested that I try something different (not that the original cookies weren't good of course.) So, I scoured the Internet looking for something with my favourite peanut butter and chocolate.
I found these. We had everything in our pantry, so I set out the ingredients and set to work last week. The recipe is not complicated, but I found it to be very, very time-consuming, and messy. After rolling a few of the treats, my hands were sticky and covered in chocolate, and the counter was full of bowls and cookie sheets. It took about an hour and a half from start to finish, and then they hung out in the fridge overnight.
However, the end result was absolutely, one hundred percent delicious. Though they were definitely the most time-consuming of my baking this past week, they were worth it. My in-laws gobbled them up, and my family polished off their share handily as well. I will definitely be making them again.
The downside to Christmas? The huge mess in my apartment. We didn't have time yesterday to put our gifts away, so they are now sitting in our den waiting for us to have time to find a place for them. We were very lucky this year, and our families and friends were very generous with what they gave us.
Now the Perfect Housewife has to get off her butt and put everything away. The pile of laundry in our room is yelling at me, the carpets need to be vacuumed since there are scraps of paper all over it from my wrapping party last week, the floors need to be washed, and the stove and kitchen countertops need to be cleaned. Taking a week off from housework is plainly never a good idea.
Usually for Christmas I make some mint-chocolate cookies from a recipe that I discovered several years ago. This time, Mr. V and my brother suggested that I try something different (not that the original cookies weren't good of course.) So, I scoured the Internet looking for something with my favourite peanut butter and chocolate.
I found these. We had everything in our pantry, so I set out the ingredients and set to work last week. The recipe is not complicated, but I found it to be very, very time-consuming, and messy. After rolling a few of the treats, my hands were sticky and covered in chocolate, and the counter was full of bowls and cookie sheets. It took about an hour and a half from start to finish, and then they hung out in the fridge overnight.
However, the end result was absolutely, one hundred percent delicious. Though they were definitely the most time-consuming of my baking this past week, they were worth it. My in-laws gobbled them up, and my family polished off their share handily as well. I will definitely be making them again.
The downside to Christmas? The huge mess in my apartment. We didn't have time yesterday to put our gifts away, so they are now sitting in our den waiting for us to have time to find a place for them. We were very lucky this year, and our families and friends were very generous with what they gave us.
Now the Perfect Housewife has to get off her butt and put everything away. The pile of laundry in our room is yelling at me, the carpets need to be vacuumed since there are scraps of paper all over it from my wrapping party last week, the floors need to be washed, and the stove and kitchen countertops need to be cleaned. Taking a week off from housework is plainly never a good idea.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The problems with dieting
Mr. V and I will be heading to Mexico in April for our honeymoon, and thus, I have returned to my strict calorie-counting ways. While dieting is never enjoyable, it's proving to be more of a challenge than it used to be.
This entire blog is devoted to becoming the best "housewife" I can possibly be, and in general that includes cooking delicious meals for my husband. Though it is always good to be watching what you eat, no matter who you are, I don't want to be passing on my food issues to those I am cooking for. Mr. V and I have been eating delicious food since a couple weeks after our wedding, and it's been amazing. However, I couldn't even begin to count the calories in some of the food I've been making in the last few months. Though I follow the recipe from beginning to end the first time, I've then been deviating and improving on everything I've tried, if it's deemed worth making a second time. This makes calorie-counting rough.
I don't want to shut down the cooking side of my Perfect Housewife Project until May when we return from our honeymoon, but nor do I want to continue on my path of eating tons of delicious food without even thinking about what goes in my mouth. I was not born with a metabolism fast enough to negate everything I eat, and though I enjoy the gym, I don't want to live there either.
Ah the conundrum of The Perfect Housewife. It is now my project to find healthy, delicious recipes where I can count the calories, but also not to deprive my husband and others I cook for. Food is an important part of our lives in that we enjoy going out for dinner with friends or having people over to spend time with us. I also live for baking, and I would die if I could never bake again. But unfortunately life is no longer simple enough just to eat, drink and be merry.
Even at Christmas.
This entire blog is devoted to becoming the best "housewife" I can possibly be, and in general that includes cooking delicious meals for my husband. Though it is always good to be watching what you eat, no matter who you are, I don't want to be passing on my food issues to those I am cooking for. Mr. V and I have been eating delicious food since a couple weeks after our wedding, and it's been amazing. However, I couldn't even begin to count the calories in some of the food I've been making in the last few months. Though I follow the recipe from beginning to end the first time, I've then been deviating and improving on everything I've tried, if it's deemed worth making a second time. This makes calorie-counting rough.
I don't want to shut down the cooking side of my Perfect Housewife Project until May when we return from our honeymoon, but nor do I want to continue on my path of eating tons of delicious food without even thinking about what goes in my mouth. I was not born with a metabolism fast enough to negate everything I eat, and though I enjoy the gym, I don't want to live there either.
Ah the conundrum of The Perfect Housewife. It is now my project to find healthy, delicious recipes where I can count the calories, but also not to deprive my husband and others I cook for. Food is an important part of our lives in that we enjoy going out for dinner with friends or having people over to spend time with us. I also live for baking, and I would die if I could never bake again. But unfortunately life is no longer simple enough just to eat, drink and be merry.
Even at Christmas.
Monday, November 29, 2010
The Perfect Housewife and the No Good Really Bad Couple of Weeks
Well, maybe not so bad. I've had worse certainly, but these past few weeks have been a doozy.
Though I have accomplished much (including my entrance to the butcher shop and learning a new trick to cutting onions without crying from an online friend), it's also been a really rough few weeks. After my trip to the butcher shop on Remembrance Day, I came down with the flu bug from hell, which left me working from home for an entire week and completely isolated. Mr. V's cold returned, meaning that neither of us were up to anything more than sleeping and eating Jello for nearly a week.
That went away, but it left me weak as a ragdoll and exhausted. I'm still exhausted, and the flu has been gone for over a week now.
This exhaustion has curtailed my hot yoga and turned me into a weakling at the gym. Instead of spending 45 minutes on cardio, I was able to make it only 15 before having to get off the elliptical before I fainted. This, as I'm sure you can understand, feels like a failure. I worked very, very hard before our wedding to get up every morning and hit the gym before work, and now, four months on, I'm too exhausted in the mornings to do much more than hit the snooze button. I assume some of this is due to the cold, wet weather we are having, but it's also just a general feeling of malaise. I want to go to the gym, I really do. But I'm just too exhausted to go.
Thus far, this week has not been much better. This morning I hit snooze until it was too late to hit the gym. I am determined that tomorrow will be a better day, even if I have to put my alarm clock on the other side of the room to force me to get out of bed. If I don't go to the gym before work, I don't get to eat dinner tomorrow night until I go for a run, in the rain. That should be punishment enough for anyone, let alone The Perfect Housewife in training.
Though I have accomplished much (including my entrance to the butcher shop and learning a new trick to cutting onions without crying from an online friend), it's also been a really rough few weeks. After my trip to the butcher shop on Remembrance Day, I came down with the flu bug from hell, which left me working from home for an entire week and completely isolated. Mr. V's cold returned, meaning that neither of us were up to anything more than sleeping and eating Jello for nearly a week.
That went away, but it left me weak as a ragdoll and exhausted. I'm still exhausted, and the flu has been gone for over a week now.
This exhaustion has curtailed my hot yoga and turned me into a weakling at the gym. Instead of spending 45 minutes on cardio, I was able to make it only 15 before having to get off the elliptical before I fainted. This, as I'm sure you can understand, feels like a failure. I worked very, very hard before our wedding to get up every morning and hit the gym before work, and now, four months on, I'm too exhausted in the mornings to do much more than hit the snooze button. I assume some of this is due to the cold, wet weather we are having, but it's also just a general feeling of malaise. I want to go to the gym, I really do. But I'm just too exhausted to go.
Thus far, this week has not been much better. This morning I hit snooze until it was too late to hit the gym. I am determined that tomorrow will be a better day, even if I have to put my alarm clock on the other side of the room to force me to get out of bed. If I don't go to the gym before work, I don't get to eat dinner tomorrow night until I go for a run, in the rain. That should be punishment enough for anyone, let alone The Perfect Housewife in training.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Wherein a vegetarian visits a butcher shop
Yes, you read that right. I, a life-long vegetarian, went to a butcher shop last week to purchase sausages for my husband, who wanted some to add to pasta I was making for dinner.
It was my own fault for volunteering to run across the street and buy some groceries for dinner, as well as some other household items. As I was leaving to hit the farm market, Mr V. asked if I would pick up some lamb sausages. I was worried, to put it mildly.
The farm market was easy and normal. Then, I entered the butcher shop, and immediately wanted to turn around. Not only was I completely out of my element, the huge array of meat products was way too overwhelming to me. The man at the counter may or may not have immediately noticed I was paralyzed in the doorway like a frightened rabbit.
He asked if he could help me, so I told him what I wanted, and that I was a vegetarian and thus completely confused by everything in the shop. He laughed, packed up the sausages, and let me pay for them without further comment.
Thus, a vegetarian made her first foray into a butcher shop. My husband better appreciate it.
It was my own fault for volunteering to run across the street and buy some groceries for dinner, as well as some other household items. As I was leaving to hit the farm market, Mr V. asked if I would pick up some lamb sausages. I was worried, to put it mildly.
The farm market was easy and normal. Then, I entered the butcher shop, and immediately wanted to turn around. Not only was I completely out of my element, the huge array of meat products was way too overwhelming to me. The man at the counter may or may not have immediately noticed I was paralyzed in the doorway like a frightened rabbit.
He asked if he could help me, so I told him what I wanted, and that I was a vegetarian and thus completely confused by everything in the shop. He laughed, packed up the sausages, and let me pay for them without further comment.
Thus, a vegetarian made her first foray into a butcher shop. My husband better appreciate it.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The hot yoga experiment
Well, I finally got my kitchen back, with its brand-new light fixtures and a freshly painted ceiling. Ah, bliss once again falls over the land.
However, I haven't been using it much as of late. It was a busy week last week, so we didn't end up sitting at home much. Despite this, I am quite proud of the state of my home. The office is being cleaned out this weekend (thank the deity of your choice for long weekends), and then I will finally have the giant bookcase out of my living room.
Another facet of being the Perfect Housewife is to take good care of yourself, through good grooming and exercise. I've been a horseback rider for nearly 13 years now, but last week I decided to try yoga. Not only yoga, but hot yoga.
Now, I've been doing yoga on and off for awhile and I love it. However, I was terrified by the prospect of doing it in a room heated to 40 degrees, in front of people who have been doing yoga for years. Because of horseback riding and a genetic predisposition to being completely inflexible, I have a ridiculous lack of flexibility in my legs. My back is the most flexible thing on the planet, but tight hamstrings (honed by controlling a large pinto) prevent me from reaching my toes without bending my knees, and contribute to occasional out-of-control back spasms.
Thus, I headed off to my first hot yoga class with trepidation last week.
Yes, it was hot. Yes, it was hard. And yes, many of the people in the class were way more flexible than me. But honestly? I loved it. I came out drenched in sweat, but calm and happy. Exhausted and thirsty, but happy.
To make sure it wasn't just a one-off, I tried it again earlier this week. Again, I returned home calm, happy and high on endorphins. I think I've found something new and exciting, and I plan to return to class a few more times before my experimental pass runs out next Wednesday. After that, it will be a weekly treat to myself. Perhaps I won't get more flexible, but at least for an hour I can turn my brain off and just breathe.
However, I haven't been using it much as of late. It was a busy week last week, so we didn't end up sitting at home much. Despite this, I am quite proud of the state of my home. The office is being cleaned out this weekend (thank the deity of your choice for long weekends), and then I will finally have the giant bookcase out of my living room.
Another facet of being the Perfect Housewife is to take good care of yourself, through good grooming and exercise. I've been a horseback rider for nearly 13 years now, but last week I decided to try yoga. Not only yoga, but hot yoga.
Now, I've been doing yoga on and off for awhile and I love it. However, I was terrified by the prospect of doing it in a room heated to 40 degrees, in front of people who have been doing yoga for years. Because of horseback riding and a genetic predisposition to being completely inflexible, I have a ridiculous lack of flexibility in my legs. My back is the most flexible thing on the planet, but tight hamstrings (honed by controlling a large pinto) prevent me from reaching my toes without bending my knees, and contribute to occasional out-of-control back spasms.
Thus, I headed off to my first hot yoga class with trepidation last week.
Yes, it was hot. Yes, it was hard. And yes, many of the people in the class were way more flexible than me. But honestly? I loved it. I came out drenched in sweat, but calm and happy. Exhausted and thirsty, but happy.
To make sure it wasn't just a one-off, I tried it again earlier this week. Again, I returned home calm, happy and high on endorphins. I think I've found something new and exciting, and I plan to return to class a few more times before my experimental pass runs out next Wednesday. After that, it will be a weekly treat to myself. Perhaps I won't get more flexible, but at least for an hour I can turn my brain off and just breathe.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The quest for enlightenment
The Perfect Housewife hasn't been around in the past few days. Why you ask? She has no kitchen.
Mr. V "accidentally" (this is up for debate) broke the kitchen light a few days ago, and thus he was quite excited to get to replace it. I'm not too familiar with how long it takes to renovate things, so I was expecting it would take him about a day, so I would only be without a kitchen for one meal.
Alas, it is not to be. We're now on day three, and still no kitchen for the perfect housewife. Instead, my kitchen is draped with plastic like Dexter's kill room, and I'm not exactly sure when I will be able to get back in it. Luckily for us my parents live close by, so we've been mooching off of them for the past couple days.
I live in hope that my kitchen will return tomorrow, but there are no guarantees. My next project, when I get my kitchen back, is the perfect grilled cheese sandwich.
Mr. V "accidentally" (this is up for debate) broke the kitchen light a few days ago, and thus he was quite excited to get to replace it. I'm not too familiar with how long it takes to renovate things, so I was expecting it would take him about a day, so I would only be without a kitchen for one meal.
Alas, it is not to be. We're now on day three, and still no kitchen for the perfect housewife. Instead, my kitchen is draped with plastic like Dexter's kill room, and I'm not exactly sure when I will be able to get back in it. Luckily for us my parents live close by, so we've been mooching off of them for the past couple days.
I live in hope that my kitchen will return tomorrow, but there are no guarantees. My next project, when I get my kitchen back, is the perfect grilled cheese sandwich.
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