Creative cooking

I learned that I enjoy cooking when I was a volunteer in New York and would host dinners-in for my friends in the neighborhood. The best way for us to eat was buying food at the grocery store with our food stamps, so we had to make it go far. I made up dishes as I went along and had to be creative.

Now that I live with my boyfriend Kyle, I am the primary food provider for two human beings and more to come someday! I've been collecting recipes and meandering my way through keeping food special and yummy as well as healthy for us. An additional challenge is that Kyle and I have unique health needs and are different in size. Figuring out how much to buy, how much to cook, and how to store things so I don't have to go to the grocery store all the time are some of the interesting conundrums I often tackle.

Here are some of the more interesting cooking endeavors I've attempted in the past:

1. Vegan cake - I had  a lot of fun baking a vegan birthday cake from scratch, including icing. However, I probably won't do it again because it required so many ingredients and I don't have the patience for it.. especially since I don't bake too much anyway. But I'm glad I tried it! The cake tasted great. Visit their blog to try out your own stuff.

2. Granola bars  - These are always a winner. I make them often and whomever I gift them to asks for more. The recipe is not difficult, and it lends you opportunity to be creative. I use Pumpkin Flax Seed granola, Agave instead of honey, equal parts chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, and "earth balance" type product instead of butter. I haven't tried it with gluten-free flour yet but that's next. They're easy breezy-delicious-drool-make-more-coffee-to-go-with-these-thanks.



Here are some I'd love to try:

1. Vegan Black Metal Chef - one has to be an experienced cook to follow VBMC because he doesn't provide instruction or measurements. It's just awesome and fun to watch if you appreciate his craft. Hail seitan. \m/

2. Vegan Soul Cooking - Soul food is rich and comforting; vegan food typically isn't. When I live in a functioning kitchen, I look forward to trying out some of the dishes to see if I can slip into food coma and not feel guilty about it.

Happy yummies.

Studying for the NBCOT

Studying for the NBCOT has been a trip. Since graduation on December 15, I have completed a review course, labored over the review book (which is littered with typos), and have looked over two years' worth of my own notes from school. I did well in school - I have a 3.9 GPA and earned A's and B's on all but one of my tests.

Preparing for a standardized board exam is a test of your personal will and self-esteem. I feel confident that my preparation has been adequate, but when I read Facebook comments from my classmates and other students who are preparing, it feels like I haven't done enough, have missed something, or am simply not as worried as I should be.

This is an annoying and cumbersome way to live, so I left one of the main Test Prep groups that was recommended by my teacher; the same teacher who professed in a public forum that her students are incapable of thinking for themselves. (Phooey.) I'll stick by my classmates and try not to let them psych me out.

My test is in two weeks.