My New Years prediction came true. I bought new underwear! I started shopping for the trip. There seems to be no where in Greenwood, SC to buy sunscreen in January. I'll be in Florida early enough before the cruise to get some, though. I got a new can of deodorant, some Chapstick SPF 15, and dental floss, and disposable razors. That stuff was easy-peasy. Then I went to the women's wear department. That was stressful. I got a brown skirt that I like, a blouse to match that it turns out I don't like (I'll take it back) and another shirt, a navy blue sleeveless knit thing with a nautical look. I know, so cliché, but it was on sale for $5. The perfect thing to complete the cliché would be a red skirt or trousers, but I hate to wear red and I don't want to be that cliché. So what else besides white looks good with navy? I don't wear white if I can help it. Refer to the earlier post when I referenced Pig Pen.
And honestly, it really was difficult to shop for clothes. I was talking to myself, mumbling at the racks of clothes. I felt very nervous and uncomfortable. (So, possibly, did anyone else around me!) I was a little bit jumpy. I didn't stay long. And I didn't try anything on, either; I just grabbed the sizes I thought would work. That's one of the reasons I need to return that blouse. It's a bit too tight around the tummy.
I made supper tonight. More often than not Superman does it. But I had a taste for the Spanish rice dish my mother used to make when I was a kid. It's ground beef, tomato sauce, chopped onion (and green pepper, but I always leave that out 'cause green pepper and I don't agree with each other.), rice, and some spices. Add enough water, bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, let cook half an hour. Top with shredded cheese.
But I wanted to try something different. I didn't want to use meat, but the idea of following the recipe and just leaving out the meat seemed, I don't know, wrong. S took Superman and me out the other night for sushi, and we had this fried tofu thing that was pretty good. I thought maybe tofu might make a good substitute for the meat in the Spanish rice dish. Twitch thought I had completely lost my mind. I don't pay much attention to him.
So we (Twitch and I) went to the grocery. I got some tofu, silken or soft or whatever they call it. I also got some green onions and a can of tomato sauce. We got home, brought in all the stuff, and I started making dinner. Wait a minute, where is my tofu? And the green onions? TWITCH!! I thought you said you brought in all the groceries. He says "Darn!" and goes back out to the truck to bring in the bag of tofu and onions. Superman laughed at him. Oy.
Here's what I ended up doing with the dish: 1 carton of soft tofu (1 lb? I didn't look), chopped green onions, chopped celery, and I chopped up the limp sad-looking romain lettuce that I'd forgotten about in the 'fridge. I put a little olive oil in the skillet and cooked the veggies briefly, with the tofu that I squished up. The tofu was the consistency of cottage cheese, more or less. Then I added 1 can (15 oz?) of tomato sauce (although I'd rather use pureed tomatoes, but I didn't think of that until we were home) and one can of diced tomatoes. Added 2 cups of jasmine rice and 3 cups of water. Oh, and I put some ground mustard and a little salt in it, too. Boil, reduce heat, cover, cook half an hour or so until the rice is tender. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese. It was really good! Much more interesting than anything Mama ever did with it. But then Mama is not a good cook. At all. Next time I do this I'll see what other sort of vegetable thing I can put in there. Mushrooms suggest themselves. I'll also put in some herbs, maybe a little more spice. As I was eating it I thought rosemary would be good in it. Maybe bay leaf, too. I'll grab what I see and dump it in. I was very impressed with it. The tofu blended in and except for the little curd looking bits was otherwise unnoticeable. Diva and Sproing had suspicions about the tofu but ate it anyway. Sproing separated out each bit of green vegetable matter and asked what each thing was before deciding to eat it. He was especially suspicious of the lettuce. He was worried it might be spinach. (That'd be good, too.) I have been known to slip some spinach into his food, so he suspicions me.
The weather is doing weird things again. The high today was 70F. I sweated again, dammit. And I didn't even do the walking. I sweated just sitting on the bus, driving around with the sun blinding me and burning my left arm. Tomorrow's high is predicted to be in the low 70s. At least it's 70s and not 80 or 90. This is me, looking on the bright side. J
Oh, look! It got late again. I have such fun here the time just flies by. I'm going to start shutting down now. Goodnight.
12 comments:
Tofu? they ate TOFU!!! Ha, I should try some experimenting net time I'm home. Wonder if I could make Miso soup with spinach in place of seaweed and try to convince Twitch to eat it!
Rotsa ruck getting Twitch to eat it. It sounds good to ME, though. Dad made Twitch choke down two bites of the stuff I made. It was really good but he's too ...16 to eat it.
Hey now I know I'm not alone in
talking to the clothes racks. I
also talk to the food in the
grocery store.
Tofu... ick
Great idea to cook healthy on the days you do not exercise! As far as the kids are concerned they can eat what you cook or go without - which helps curb their appetites in the long run! If hungry enough kids will eat almost anything.
As to your clothes shopping trip, one suggestion: Take C or S with you. After you've had gay men shop with you for a while you will be better prepare to do it for yourself.
And one more thing: with your left arm hanging out of that bus 5 days a week you should be wearing sunscreen every day! Always have sunscreen around!!!
Last thing: the photgrapher is Jon Holloway = beautiful work.
nice creative use of tofu :-)
firm or extra firm tofu would have been a little crumblier than silken, btw.
just a quick note to thank you for your comments. sometimes the ability that blogging gives one person to touch another person across so many miles still amazes me. your words honestly caressed my heart and made it smile. thank you.
oh for the days when i was jaded and bitter and knew it all:p
laurie: I talk to the food all the time, and it's not crazy. But something about the way I talk to the clothes is just, I dunno, different.
Scott: It's all about the preparation.
Uncle Z: Kids can take it or leave it, I don't care. Yes, the plan is to take C and/or S shopping with me. I know they can do much better than I can! It's a matter of availability. C is in school and working, S is a lazy sob who has gotten his cycles back to where he likes them: stay up all night, sleep all day. I'm gonna work on them getting to the store with me. S said he'd love to help.
You are right about the sunscreen. Shame on me. Jon Holloway is great! He's got a new studio in a part of town that's being renovated, and it is gorgeous. Especially the bathroom plumbing. If you come to Greenwood, check out the fixtures in Holloway's studio bathrooms. Oh, and his photography is fantastic, too. And if you come to Greenwood and don't contact me, I'll be eternally miffed.
vuboq: Thanks for the tofu tip. I got some firm, too, but used the soft last night. S got into the firm stuff this morning and made grilled burritos with tofu, swiss cheese and spinach leaves. I'm not sure how he flavored the tofu, and don't know if there was more in the burrito, but it was really good! He was extremely excited to learn there was tofu in the house. He's a pretty good cook.
This sounds delicious. I'm a big fan of jazzed up Spanish rice.
Certain shades of green look very nice with navy ... khaki, olive green ... even turquoise. Also tan ... I wear a tan/navy combination that usually gets compliments.
It's kind of fun preparing for a holiday, isn't it? :)
You can DEFINITELY leave the meat out...I do, regularly. I add in additional veggies of all sorts and kinds. Plus, the tofu idea is great. Beans for plenty of protein. It all works out and tastes fantastic.
PS....by theway, underwear is highly overrated.
Ha, I hate shopping for clothes. I actually have a friend that shops for me. She brings outfits home for me I try them on and if they are a no go she returns them. Yes I am lucky a have a shop-a-holic friend. I also agree with Lewis...underwear is overrated...I don't find a need for the extra layer.
Tofu is super if it cooked right, I will have to try your recipe out.
Cooper: Thanks for the color coordination tip. I want to get a khaki skirt anyway.
Lewis: I'm getting less interested in meat these days. Except for those times when I need a big hunk of medium rare cow butt. On those days don't waste my time with beans and lettuce. Although generally I love beans!
sageweb: I am so jealous that you have a friend to do your shopping! Also, I recently discovered that underwear is unnecessary much of the time. This has been a liberating experience for me. However, sometimes I need it, and I need it to have fewer holes than most of the ones in my drawer.
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