I'm back!

First of all, it's good to be back! "Real life" happened in a particularly nasty way toward the end of January and I haven't able to put my mind toward blogging much til now.

Things are better for me these days, and my attention is back where I enjoy it most: thinking about what's for dinner. Lately I'm finding the answer to that eternal dilemma in the pages of food magazines.

I recently splurged a bit and got myself a subscription to Vegetarian Times. I don't usually subscribe to publications, as I don't often have the time to read them through, but lately I've been leaning more toward vegetarian/vegan than carnivorous. I found a recipe for tempeh chili in the latest issue (April 2008) that really worked out very well and stifled my reservations about the fermented soybean cake. As soon as I see that it's on VT's website, I'll post a link.

I made a couple of substitutions. The recipe called for a dark beer but I don't drink the stuff, so instead I dry-roasted some buckwheat flour and stirred it into the chili and added the 12 ounces of water that the beer would've provided. Also - whoops! - two teaspoons of maple syrup were called for but I ended up adding probably two tablespoons when the syrup came out of the jug much faster than I'd anticipated. Didn't hurt the taste! Plus ... I added probably a tablespoon of coriander powder and cayenne pepper for some added zing.

There's something else I wanted to make, something involving sweet potatoes, but silly me ... I can't find the recipe anymore. What do I do with 24 ounces of sweet potatoes? (I'm sure I'll find an answer!)

I did another uncharacteristic thing yesterday: I brought home a copy of Clean Eating magazine from the store. I'd never heard of the phrase "clean eating." Apparently it means eating foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, which I think is generally a good idea: the minimally processed food is more likely to be the healthiest, most satisfying food.

I couldn't resist the cover photo of a slice of veggie pizza. The magazine itself seems chock-full of recipes and all sorts of nutrition and health tips - there's even a 30-day meal plan with simple, healthful foods and a shopping list - and I'm really looking forward to checking it out more closely.