Tofurky and Sloppy Joes

I thought I'd take a break from Boston apartment hunting to do a lil' blogging.

First, let's talk about my excellent Thanksgiving weekend!! My dad, mom, and brother Ryan flew in from Minnesota and Los Angeles (respectively) for the weekend. My mom and Ryan stayed with me in my apartment and my dad stayed with my brother and sister in-law down the road. We had a great time, with lots of eating involved - just the way I like it! :) I prepared the vegan feast for Ryan and myself (recreated last years' meal), and my sister in-law made the non-vegan meal for the rest of the fam. Here are some highlights of the weekend:

Andy, Ryan, and I took the win in our post-Thanksgiving meal game of Trivial Pursuit. (They aren't into all the photo opps like I am.)

We spent Black Friday on the National Mall. Our first visit to the *new* MLK Memorial!
My sister in-law treated us to Jersey Boys tickets. What a great show!! We were all thankful that she planned ahead and did that for us! :)
Ry and I went to Mount Vernon on Saturday, after Mom and Dad had headed back to MN. It was really cool - beautiful property right on the Potomac!

It was fun to be with my family (although I wish my sister and her family had also made the trip), and it was also great to check off some DC bucket-list items. Namely, MLK Memorial and Mount Vernon. I still have a few more to check off, so we'll see if I can get those taken care of before I depart.

I also want to share a vegan sloppy joe recipe I made a few weeks ago. It made a large batch, so I was eating them for days, but the flavor got better and better the longer it was in the fridge. I got this recipe from the Vegetarian Frugal Housewife - I searched through a lot of recipes, and this one has more of a sweet recipe, which is just the way Mom used to make 'em.

VEGAN SLOPPY JOES



1 12-oz pkg Smart Ground (or other vegan "ground beef" product)
2 whole cloves garlic
1 lrg or 2 med green bell peppers
16oz tomato sauce
1 medium diced onion
4 tbs soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs mustard
2-3 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp black pepper
6 tbs ketchup
1 tbs salt
3 tbs cider vinegar
1/2 cup tomato paste (or fresh tomato chunks)
pinch nutmeg
pinch oregano
3 tbs olive oil

1. Chop onions, garlic and peppers.
2. Fry Smart Ground in pan with olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Add spices and soy/worcetershire sauce.
4. Add chopped items and fry a bit more until onions soften.
5. Add remaining ingredients.
6. Stir. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes on low.
7. Test flavor and add more spices as needed.
8. Simmer 5 more minutes and serve over buns or bread.

I paired this with some steamed/mashed potatoes and cauliflower. It's got all the great flavor and texture of the potatoes, but it makes it slightly healthier by swapping out some potatoes in favor of the cauliflower. I mean, enough margarine, soy milk and salt, and you can mash just about anything into deliciousness, right?? :)

Enjoy! Back to apartment hunting I go. Getting SO excited about Beantown in 2012!

Beantown, Baby!

Okay, so I've been super bad about blogging the past few (many) months. It's been a combination of laziness and busyness. And because of the laziness and busyness, I haven't been cooking as much as I'd like, so fewer recipes to share. But I've got some big news! I'm moving to Boston!!!!


Let's rewind a few weeks! At the end of October, I had a head hunter reach out to me, asking me if I'd be interested in a Digital Media Supervisor position at Mullen (exactly the job I want at a really great ad agency) in Boston. My initial thought was, 'Nah...I want to move to LA, not Boston.' But I paused for a second and realized that I'd be happy to be on the east coast for a few more years...and Boston is a great city for advertising, *and* just a great city, in general. I've only been to Boston a couple of times, but I have some friends there. And, heck, this is the time in my life where I should embrace opportunities like this! Throw caution to the wind -- I'm young, not tied down by anything, working on building my career, and this is a GREAT chance to work at a GREAT agency.

So I replied to the recruiter, letting him know I would, in fact, be interested. I had a couple of phone interviews, and very quickly they asked if I would come up to Boston to meet with them in person. This was really cool - I've never been flown to another city to interview! (not to sound like a country bumpkin) They flew me up last Sunday night, put me up in a super nice hotel next to Faneuil Hall, and I interviewed at the agency the next morning. I knew they wanted to make a quick decision, and they weren't kidding! I received an offer yesterday (Friday) and accepted. SUPER EXCITED!

So here we are. In a matter of weeks, my entire life is changing. I've got a lot to take care of before I move in a couple of weeks, but I think the stress will all be worth it. I don't start until Jan 2nd, so I'll be moving up to Boston mid-December, storing my belongings and staying in corporate housing while I apartment hunt, then I'm turning around and driving to MN for my annual 2-week stay.
I had plans to fly to LA to celebrate my 30th bday (Dec 29th), and that has to be canceled, due to timing constraints, but I can make an LA trip in March or April. Not the end of the world. :)

I've always believed everything happens for a reason, and this really validates that for me. I was definitely ready for a career move and some new challenges, and getting to move to a new city is just the cherry on top. I'm going to miss DC and the great friends I have here. I'm also going to miss the families that I babysit for here - I've really fallen in love with some wonderful kids. BUT that's what Facebook is for, right?? :) And I'm sure I'll be back for some visits.

All that said, I also plan to get back to cooking more and blogging about recipes. So I won't be MIA for another 5 months! I made some really tasty vegan sloppy joes the other day, so I'll try to get those posted this week. :)