The frenetic pace paid off, though: the wedding was fantastic, I had an awesome time, the honeymoon was fabulous, and I'm now back in DC getting to know all our new and fabulous kitchen appliances.
Let me explain why I'm waxing poetic about hardware: while some women say they've been planning their weddings since they were little girls, I'm not among them. Instead, I've been planning my registry. Starting when I was about 20, I realized how much I love to cook. Throughout my 20s, I stumbled across all manner of kitchen gadgetry that I knew I'd use, but totally couldn't afford to buy for myself.
What's a girl to do when she knows she'd get good mileage out of a badass food processor, but she'd have to give up, y'know, actual food in order to afford that food processor? She makes a mental list for her future wedding registry. And she adds to it. Some women clip out magazine pictures and make a concept board for their eventual weddings, but not I, my friends. Not I. I just drooled excessively over every Williams-Sonoma catalog I ever laid eyes upon.
So now that I have so many new and wonderful kitchen gadgets, I intend to use the everliving sh*t out of them. Some feature prominently in this week's WIAW -- hosted by the ever-lovely Jenn from Peas and Crayons, this gig is the best pot-luck on the Interwebz.
I was up bright and early in order to take my newly-minted husband to the airport (boooo!). A mere 10 days after the wedding, he's being sent overseas for work. (*Shakes fist at The Man for this grievous act of husband thievery.*) Thankfully he'll only be gone for a few days, but still. Phneh. Not a fan.
Anyways, I and my trusty caffeine addiction turned to our favorite new and uber-fabulous member of the kitchen family: the espresso machine. Sweet Jesus, I friggin' love this thing.
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| Youuuu are so beauuutifullll, to meeeeeeee... |
Hubs and I left for the airport shortly thereafter, and by the time I got back, I was starving. I would've shanked a malnourished Somalian for some food. Thankfully it didn't come to that (clearly), but I was surprised to find that my usual breakfast of Greek yogurt and fruit just didn't float my boat. I abandoned that plan for a smoothie:
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| This can only be described as a ludicrous volume of frozen strawberries, banana, and mango blended with almond milk and agave. |
Because I'm lame, I always get really excited about the arrival of lunchtime. Like, I should probably be embarrassed by how I excited I get. I sit there at my desk, forcing myself to wait until noon, and then make a frantic dash to the microwave to cook my GF burrito (which I then eat with 2 cups of baby greens).
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| Good folks of Amy's Organics: thank you, thank you, thank you for creating these. I lurve them. |
After getting home and getting my sweat on at the gym, I was stoked to try out some new ingredients I found at the grocery store this weekend: Thai stir-fry oil and dried Thai basil. I have an undying love of Thai food, so I was giddy when I brought these home. Combine that with our brand-new wok that was begging to be broken in, and...Thai stir-fry it was!
Thai Stir Fry
3/4 C Pre-cooked brown rice
1 Packet frozen veggies (I used snow peas, carrots, and broccoli)
1-2 Tablespoons stir fry oil (peanut oil also works well here)
1/2 package tofu
Seasonings: you can use peanut sauce, tamari sauce, sweet and sour -- whatever strikes your fancy!
Cube the tofu and brown it in the wok
Once it starts to brown, add the veggies and rice and combine until everything is cooked through and hot.
Add seasoning/sauce to taste (I used San-J GF peanut sauce, and it's fantasic), serve, and dig in!
Waahh, I wrote a comment and then my internet went wonky.
ReplyDelete1.) Congrats!! :-D
2.) I'm exactly the same way. Planning a wedding sounds HARD, but man do I have lots of kitchen toys I'd really love.
3.) Your espresso machine uses those little packets right? Are they expensive? (Wait, they can't be as expensive as the bucks...haha). Also, did you get a milk frother? I like iced drinks but the significant non-proposing-other likes the hot ones.
Karla -
ReplyDelete1) Thanks!
2) Oh, thank God. Whenever I'd get all excited about the registry, I'd wonder if I was the only person who gets giddy about kitchen toys - so I'm really glad to know I'm not the only one who does that! :)
3) The pod thingys aren't that expensive, actually -- if you order them from the Nespresso website, they're about $25 for 50 pods. I'd looked them up on Amazon first, and all the comments said that Amazon's prices were exorbitant compared to going directly through Nespresso (which is really bizarre, considering how Amazon is usually much cheaper than the manufacturers themselves). I highly recommend it!