Fried Rice

on my way home the other day i called ryan and had him put the rice on. he made about twice as much rice as i normally make, so yesterday i made fried rice with the leftovers. leftover rice is the worst. fried rice is the best and super easy.

modifications are that i had frozen peas and carrots, so i just steamed those. i didn't have sesame oil but i'm sure that takes it up a notch. recipe here. and the vegetarian dumplings are from whole foods, i pan fried them in canola oil for about 5 minutes. they are really good!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

i had never heard of whoopie pies until i moved to pennsylvania last year. they were originally made by the amish and they are sold everywhere in central PA. i think they are gaining popularity as i hear about them everywhere and am now thousands of miles from any amish community. the next cupcake?

well i made this recipe last night and it turned out great. and i remember now why i don't make cookies without plans to give them to someone else. i ate like 5, which in non whoopie terms is like 10 cookies plus frosting. whoops!

Red Bead Curry Soup

last week i made our favorite soup during the day on monday or tuesday. we weren't home for dinner so i just put it in the fridge. i kept thinking we were going to eat it for dinner, but instead we both had a bowl for lunch almost everyday. it was 100x better than what either of us normally scrape up, and basically it's like eating a bowl of vegetables. so i decided to try to make soup once a week that we could eat for lunch. homemade soup can be so freaking healthy.

this recipe is from bob's red mill -- whole grains and beans soup mix bag. you can click on the picture below to read the recipe, because you could probably make it with dry beans and rice too. i modified it to be vegetarian (actually vegan) by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and putting in roasted corn and sweet potatoes instead of chicken. I just put in 1 sweet potato but on round two i would use 2 -3 because it was a perfect pairing. i also added a final step of blending about 1 cup of soup and putting it back in to make it seem creamier and more curry-y.

soup is so great when it's nasty outside. it makes me feel like a million $$.

Homemade Oreo Ice Cream

i inherited an ice cream maker from my sister when she moved across country. i used it more in month than she had in 5 years, but i think i'm slowing down a bit now. now that i know what goes in them. like, eggs and cream. and oreos. delicious yum yum recipe here. i also made some nutella gelato and it was really amazing. i highly recommend.

Ratatouille

i copied this recipe exactly from right here. oh man it was delicious. ryan put it in his top 5 favorite meals. can you believe that? a pile of vegetables in his top 5 favorite meals? i've already made it twice and probably will again soon.
don't forget the goat cheese.

Roasted Tomato Soup

my parents planted a killer garden this year and we reaped a lot of benefits (tomatoes) from that. they usually came all at once, and soup was one of my favorite uses of them.
i couldn't find a recipe that i really like, so i used a few and adjusted to my tastes. i mainly used this recipe, but also roasted red peppers and some super spicy red peppers too. i didn't use any additional ingredients besides the peppers, tomatoes, onion, and garlic. it turned out delicious and had quite a kick.

Peanut Butter Coconut Tofu

whenever i come across a good tofu recipe i usually make it. i am always trying to get better at making tofu, it is so healthy i know i should probably eat it everyday for optimal health. recipe here
it was really delicious, pretty sweet tasting. the ginger was really the kicker. it made me determined to always have ginger on hand. a few days later i used what was leftover and made a stir fry. this is pretty typical to what i cook 2-3 times a week.