So I spent the day today preparing to go away on a business trip and in doing so, was required to spend some time cooking. I do this for two reasons: I do not want my DH to spend the next week eating Little Debbie snack cakes & Snickers bars but also to supplement my own diet while I am in the great unknown. I am going to Fargo, ND and I am willing to bet there are not alot of cool vegan friendly restaurants, so I bring my own stuff, afterall there is only so much salad a girl can eat.

Funny thing about this trip is that it is actually a sales and marketing thing for Microsoft and when you sign up, part of the process is to indicate any special requirements you have: wheelchair lift, equipment for the hearing impaired and of course, dietary. I am not deaf nor do I require the use of a wheelchair, but I am vegan, so... Jasmine, presumably one of the coordinators of this event called me late friday afternoon and inquired as to what exactly is vegan. She's going through all the meals and making sure there will be something I can eat. I thought this was very kind and unusually considerate, yes? The thing that I actually found funny was that she, like so many others I'm sure are completely unaware of what they eat. During the rundown of the food, she told me that for breakfast I would have to skip the eggs and sausage, but at least there would be muffins for me to eat... no, muffins generally have butter, eggs, maybe even milk... oh, she hadn't thought of that.

It is certainly not my intent to make fun of her or anyone else, and I do know that veganism is not for everyone, but I cannot help but feel if the average person was more aware of what they put in their mouth, the less disease and obesity we would have.

So, back to today's cooking. I made a double batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, pumpkin spice bread for my DH and then banana bread with chocolate chips for myself. Ok, I did sneak some of the cookies into my suitcase, but Bo got the most of them. I also made an interesting twist on an Oriental noodle bowl, presumably to feed him for a few nights this week.


The Oriental noodle bowl was a spicy peanutty sauce with all the veggies I could find, all tossed with soba noodles.


The sauce was made up of:
  • minced onions, sauteed until translucent
  • 1 1/4 c water
  • 3/4 cup Thai chili sauce
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1/4 cup Sriracha chili sauce
  • 1/3 cup organic peanut butter

I simmer this for about 30 minutes, then I add

  • 1/4 lime juice
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

The veggies I added, after stir frying were:

  • 1 coarsely chopped onion
  • 1 coarsely chopped orange bell pepper
  • 1/2 head of broccoli, chopped
  • 1 bunch of asparagus, blanched for 1 minute
  • 8 carrots, chopped diagonally
  • 1 zucchini, coarsely chopped

And then finally the noodles were just a package of buckwheat soba noodles that I found in the organic section of Hannaford. After everything was mixed together, I through some scallions on top. Yummilicious!