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Percussion Whore
I have serious love for drums, but also for other types of percussion. I totally just bought myself a kosika, and hope to soon be able to do this:thus proclaimeth the Zabet 11:19 AM 0 comment(s)
Urban Wildlife!
This peregrine falcon lives and hunts around the University hospital. I work on the top floor of the building across the street from the hospital, so when we're lucky, my coworkers and I get a glimpse of this guy as he flies by. Today we were extra-lucky -- he decided to sit on our terrace for about 20 minutes! We got this pic through the tinted glass windows of our office. He was probably less than 10 feet away.
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 11:43 AM 1 comment(s)
Dear Smead Office Products,
Hello, I recently ordered a "100% Recycled Expanding File - Letter Sized - Green Tea" through my office. The product arrived today and itself is quite satisfactory, but I would like to address the issue of packaging.Of the expanding file folders available to me, I chose this one because of its recycled content. I firmly believe that every little bit helps, so you can imagine my dismay when it arrived shrink wrapped in plastic. Further, there was more plastic beneath that in the form of a 3" wide band that went around the folder, presumably to keep it from expanding; never mind that there is an attached elastic band for that. Lastly there was a 8.5"x11" sheet of paper attached to the front of the folder with rubbery glue. I realize you need to brand your folder and place a UPC on the product, but this could have been done directly onto the folder or on a sheet of paper half - maybe even a quarter - of the size used. There was not so much information on the sheet of paper that it could not have been redesigned to be smaller without loosing readability. I also doubt the paper itself was recycled.
So here's my suggestion: how about making a green product that doesn't require the customer to throw away anything just to use it. You might even save some money because you won't be paying for all that plastic and will only need half as much printing.
Labels: letter to...
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 11:27 AM 0 comment(s)
Zabet's (kinda cheap) Eats
Weird Bean ThingI don't have a photo because, frankly, it's not attractive. Also, I forgot. This dish is weird because it's not soup, not a stew, not a casserole. The closest thing I can say to describe it is "warm bean salad" and doesn't sound appetizing. It was a total experiment, and it was tasty if un-label-able.
NOTE: This recipe will ONLY work with a pressure cooker. Try to do it without one and you won't have enough liquid at all. You can add more liquid (you'll probably need 5 cups, total), but it'll be like a thick bean soup rather than this strange salad-thing I got. If you're going to go this route, also only add the potatoes about 30 minutes before you think your beans are done.
2 cups organic dried kidney beans
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery salt
1 heaping Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves (can minced after measuring; I left my whole)
8 smallish red potatoes
5 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into large slivers
1 can Dole No Salt Added Green Beans, drained and liquid reserved in a measuring cup - add water to make it 1 cup if need be
1/4 cup water (in addition to water used above, if any)
1/4 cup V8
Soak dried kidney beans overnight. Drain and rinse.
Place all ingredients in pressure cooker. Mix well so that the ingredients are well-distributed.
Place lid on cooker. Heat on high until at 15lbs pressure. Reduce heat to minimum needed to keep pressure and cook for 12 minutes. Allow to pressure to release naturally for at 15 min before doing any quick-release methods. Open pressure cooker. Mash a little bit with a potato masher or slotted spoon. Stir and serve.
Is also nummy when garnished with cheddar cheese, though the subtly of the rosemary is lost. Can easily take more garlic if you like it, because the garlic mellows considerably.
Makes about 6 cups of weird bean salad. 2 cups is a good single serving size for adults.
Labels: yummy
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 11:51 PM 0 comment(s)
Eats
This week, I am making non-vegetarian chili; pot roast with green beans, potatoes, carrots, and rosemary; some more of that superyummy "muligalentil" soup; and a pan of baked pasta covered in cheese.And even though I brought home literally 5 lbs of dried beans (black and kidney) from the Co-Op this evening, I've only just realized that I've run out of red lentils. D'oh.
Labels: yummy
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 2:34 AM 0 comment(s)
Today
Another year past and what have I learned?There are a lot more racists left in America than I ever could have imagined.
I get a secret pleasure from the thought that Latinos will soon outnumber the descendants of European immigrants. Not that anyone should be oppressing anyone else, just that it will shake up the status quo, ¿sabe?
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 10:01 AM 0 comment(s)
Zabet's Cheap Eats Lunch
Not-Quite-Minestrone Couscous
As mentioned below, I used some of the Not-Quite-Minestrone soup to make some couscous (2:1 hot liquid to couscous, let sit off heat for 5 minutes). It was good, but more of a side-dish thing than something to bring to work for lunch.
I pulled out the Cookware of Doom and Shrapnel—er, I mean, pressure cooker—and re-appropriated some soaked kidney beans I had been planning to use for bean tacos and cooked them up in some soup (and a little bit of salt and Italian Seasoning) as well, then mixed them in with the remaining couscous.
They are not so yellow as this crappy cameraphone pic would lead you to believe. But they are NOM.
Labels: yummy
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 11:21 AM 0 comment(s)
Zabet's Cheap Eats #9
Not-Quite-Minestrone Potage
This is another "cleaning out the pantry" dish. It's a light tomato soup that is good for sipping out of a mug (say, at the office for a working lunch) or as a compliment to a heavy grilled cheese sandwich. The lentils give it the taste and mouth-feel of a hearty minestrone without making you want to take a nap after eating.
Ingredients
1 28oz. can of Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes (garlic, basil, oregano; $1.99)
1/2 cup dry lentils du Puy (aka French lentils; $0.50)
1 tsp. Better Than Bouillon Vegetarian Chicken
2 onions, finely chopped ($0.88)
pinch of thyme
8 black peppercorns, freshly ground (about 3/4 tsp.)
salt to taste
6 cups water
Directions
Pick over lentils for anything yucky and rinse until the water runs clear. Combine all ingredients in a stock pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer until lentils are soft and broth is reduced down as far as you'd like. Go nuts with an immersion blender. Voila.
If you have more lentils (I was trying to use up the little bit I had leftover), feel free to add them without worrying about adjusting the amount of water added, and you'll have a much heartier soup. This recipe is also a good base for adding just about any veggies you like for heartier soup.
Makes a heck of a lot.*
Total for the whole shebang: $3.37
Note: I got 2+ quarts, but I'm just storing it in quart mason jars because I recently bought some and had jars to spare, not actually canning or preserving it.
Sept 7 addition: I just used this soup as the liquid in making some couscous and it is FAB.
Labels: yummy
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 12:09 AM 0 comment(s)
Zabet's Cheap Eats Link
This link from my friend Robyn just underscores how zucchini is the perfect filler:Zucchini Bread Oatmeal
Granted, I'm not up to eating zucchini in anything other savory dishes, but a lot of other people seem ok with it, so this is for them.
Labels: yummy
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 10:57 AM 0 comment(s)
A People's History of American Empire by Howard Zinn
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 4:48 PM 0 comment(s)
Zabet's (sort of) Cheap Eats #8
In-No-Way-Actually-Mexican Enchilada PieBut if you have a weakness for cheap red enchilada sauce, like I do, it's fabulous. You can, of course, make your own red sauce.
Ingredients
1/2 cup dry quinoa
1 cup water
pinch of salt
2 tsp chili powder
1 large green bell pepper
3 smallish zucchini, divided
2 onions, divided
2 cups cooked black beans, drained (I pressure-cooked mine, you can use a can)
2 cups shredded colby-jack cheese
19 oz can of Old El Paso enchilada sauce, divided
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
18 corn tortillas
Directions
Step 1: Cook the quinoa.
Bring water, salt, and chili powder to a boil in small saucepan. While waiting, rinse quinoa. Add quinoa to boiling water, cover, reduce heat, and let simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Transfer cooked quinoa to a large mixing bowl and let cool in fridge or freezer while working on Step 2.
Step 2: Prepare the veggie layer.
Wash and finely chop two zucchinis, the bell pepper, and one onion. Add to a mixing bowl with black beans. Pour in 1/4 can of enchilada sauce and mix well to coat the veggies and beans. Add more sauce if necessary, up to half the can.
Step 3: Prepare the cheese layer.
Wash and peel remaining zucchini. Finely chop it and the remaining onion. Add these veggies and the colby-jack cheese to the bowl with the cooled quinoa. Mix well.
Step 4: Layer it up.
Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 15x10 glass baking dish. Arrange 6 corn tortillas on the bottom. Add half of the veggie mixture on top, evenly spread out. Arrange another 6 corn tortillas on top. Add all of the cheese mixture. Arrange last 6 corn tortillas on top. Spread remaining veggie mixture on top. Pour remaining enchilada sauce evenly over layer. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.
Step 5: Bake.
Cover with foil and bake for at least 45 minutes (onions will still have a little crunch) but no longer than 60 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Makes a whole hell of a lot of enchilada pie. Hubby says he thought the zucchini were a little bland (personally, the fact that I can't taste the zucchini is what I like about it), so if you're feeling really industrious, you could let the veggie mixture marinate for an hour in the enchilada sauce.
If you have corn tortillas left over you can make them into nommy tortilla chips by lightly greasing a cookie sheet, cutting the rounds into 1/6ths, putting them on the sheet, and spraying them with oil. (Nonstick cooking spray or a Misto works great here.) Bake at 400°F until golden, about 5 minutes.
Labels: yummy
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 8:56 AM 3 comment(s)
"Would you like to play Global Thermonuclear War?"
...is what Hubby asked me last night as I unboxed my new pressure cooker. (Presto, 8qt, stainless steel, if you are keen on pressure cookers.) "I mean," he continued, correcting himself, "are you going to cook something?"Americans, it seems, are trained to fear pressure cookers. I only finally bought one under pressure from my Naughty Indian Coworker. Her argument: "My pressure cooker comes from a third-world country and its not killed anyone yet." Surely, I thought, modern first-world pressure cookers are no longer the deathtraps we've been lead to believe they are. (They're not. Apparently the Swiss redesigned them. Go Swiss!)
So I pretty much bought one that was as large as I could afford without being aluminum. This is both a nod to my mother's fear of developing Alzheimer's and a silent prayer that some day I'll have a kitchen with an induction cooktop, which requires either cast iron or stainless steel. The brand had good reviews both about the product and the customer service from the company.
I soaked a mix of kidney, black, and pinto beans yesterday, meaning to try the cooker out this evening, but I couldn't wait. At 1am, in went the beans, a large can of diced tomatoes, a roughly chopped Vidalia onion and green pepper, two hastily minced cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of ground cumin (which was all I had; must remember to buy more), two teaspoons of salt, and three tablespoons of chili powder.
I won't lie, I was extremely nervous while I heated it to full pressure. But everything seemed to be going by what the instruction manual and Naughty Indian Coworker had said. Seven minutes later, I removed the pot from the heat and Hubby and I watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory while it cooled.
Best chili I've ever made, hands down—eating some right now for lunch! I am totally in love with this little shrapnel grenade wannabe. Hello, new friend!
Labels: yummy
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 11:46 AM 2 comment(s)
Zabet's (sort of) Cheap Eats #7
Note to self: My tendency to only cook late at night has made me realize that it's near impossible to get a decent photo of food, and using the camera in the iPhone only compounds the issue.
I had wanted to add peanuts to this, but didn't have any on hand and was already naked so I wasn't about to go out and get some. I could have added peanut butter, but I'm not a barbarian.
Ingredients
12 oz. organic dried chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans, channa)
4 cups (1 box) organic, low sodium veggie or chicken broth
2 tsp salt (or to taste; 2 tsp made it a little saltier than I'd like personally)
1 lb. boneless chicken breast
1 fresh jalapeño, minced (add more or less as you like)
1 Tbsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Extra water as needed
Directions
Pick through chickpeas for rocks and various yucky things. Soak overnight in cold water. Drain and rinse chickpeas before cooking. Discard soaking water.
In a small stockpot, add chickpeas, broth, and salt. Bring to a boil, cover tightly, and simmer for two or three hours, or until chickpeas are near desired tenderness.
Add chicken, jalapeños, garam masala, and cinnamon. Mix well. Add water until just covered. Cover loosely and let just barely simmer until chicken shreds as you stir it, about another two hours.
Makes four servings.
Costs about $10 for the meal. (I got the chicken on sale.)
Labels: yummy
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 9:09 AM 0 comment(s)
Eats
I gotta say, since the budget has recovered, I'm not so obsessed about keeping track of how much each meal costs. Then later I think, "Damn! If I had gotten a photo and knew how much it cost, this totally could have been a Cheap Eats!"There are two more recipes I want to do that I intend to make within the next two weeks. They aren't exactly cheap -- not on purpose anyway -- but they sound really nummy in my head. I've not worked out exactly what I'm gonna do, but basically one will be a chicken and chickpea stew and the other will be veggie enchiladas with a quinoa side dish.
Mmmmmmmm... I'll let you know how they turn out. And I'll try to remember to take pictures!
Labels: yummy
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 1:40 PM 2 comment(s)
Zabet's Cheap Eats Tip
'Tis the season for a fuckload of zucchini!If you're like me and avoid the Great Outdoors with a passion and generally hate gardening because you're pretty much allergic to everything you touch (or that stings you), you absolutely must find the Green Thumb in your circle of friends, because chances are that he or she has a vegetable garden and WILL BE completely overrun with zucchini come August.
So how do massive amounts of zucchini fit into the Cheap Eats? Simple:
1. They are FREE. Your gardening friends will either be anxious to have their veggies eaten before they rot, proud of their garden and looking to show off, entirely sick of eating nothing but zucchini for the past two weeks, or any combination thereof. This works to your advantage, because while buying local, organic zucch at the Co-Op is awesome, getting FREE local, organic zucch from your friends is awesomer.
2. They are fabulous dish-extenders. Your sister brought her boyfriend to the cookout? Mince that zucch and mix it into your ground beef with seasonings before making putting those hamburger patties on the grill. Also in the awesome extender department is the fact that...
3. ...they are the tofu of vegetables. A zucchini will pick up any flavor you surround it with. Lentil soup? Namaste! Spaghetti sauce? Ciao! Cheese enchiladas? Olé!
4. They can be sneaky! If you, like me, suffer from squash-related phobias*, you can peel and puree the suckers into oblivion before adding them to most dishes, whereupon they hide themselves in between the other delicious molecules, never to be seen again.
--------------
*In my defense, I've worked on this enough to be able to eat chopped, unpeeled zucchini in dishes. Other forms of squash are still right out, though. Don't even get me started on eggplant. (It's an abomination.)
Labels: yummy
thus proclaimeth the Zabet 1:30 PM 2 comment(s)
by Zabet