See You in 2019!

We’ll see you in 2019! 2018 was a year full of changes and discoveries.ย  My cat Trinity and I packed up, left Long Beach, CA, to relocate to our new lives in Dayton, OH.ย  Despite living here for eight months at this point, Ohio still does not feel like home.ย  Nonetheless, I continue to settle into my new normal.ย 

I did some cooking. Vegan Peach Cobbler Muffins, Seafood, Sausage, and Chicken Gumbo, most of it was vegan as my roommate is one.ย  Learning the ends and out of vegan cooking has been a fantastic experience. I even put on an all-vegan Thanksgiving.

Travel in 2018

According to Google, I traveled to 196 places in 50 cities in two countries.ย  I spent the day in Canada, looked around briefly, had a beer and some lunch. Before that, I was in Detroit, Michigan, to visit the MGM Grand Casino.ย  We had dinner at Vegan Soul, and the following day had lunch at Mustard Chili Onions. On the way home, we stopped at The Garden Asian Vegetarian Cuisine.

I also went hiking at the Glen Helen Ecology Institute Trails in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

In September, for my birthday, I went back to California.

Having found a great therapist has helped me find and correct the errors in my thinking. Learning how to ask the correct question of myself to make sure I am looking at encounters or problems through the proper lens has been exceedingly beneficial.

To be honest, I am looking forward to 2019. My motivation has increased, and looking forward to putting it to good use.

There are so many ideas running through my head regarding Simply Catering, this blog, and life in general.

I am looking forward to sharing more adventures, discoveries, and experiences with all of you.

Here is to a fantastic New Year, and we will see you in 2019.

Vegan Peach Cobbler Muffins

One could say Vegan Peach Cobbler muffins came to be as a result of my move. Within months of moving to Dayton, OH, I was introduced to the Peach Truck. If you are unfamiliar with the Peach Truck, first let me say I am sorry (unless you are from CA, since we have our own peaches).ย  Second, let me introduce you.ย  The Peach Truck goes on tour to select states each year to deliver fresh Georgia peaches and pecans.ย  Before you run to their website to see if your state is on the list, you should probably line up a few recipes.ย  The Georgian gems come in a 25-pound box!

Can you keep a secret? I ate a few of the peaches.ย  Okay, that was not much a secret, but truth be told, I was supposed to breaking them down to freeze them. Getting a fuzzy peach ready for the freezer requires a little bit of work.ย  First, a small, shallow “x” is cut into the bottom of the peach.ย  They are then given a quick dip into boiling water, then into an ice bath.ย  Now the skins are ready to come off.ย 

From there, it is all about slicing and discarding the pits.ย  Before the peaches go into the freezer, you’ll need to take out some browning insurance.ย  In comes our favorite kitchen acid, the lemon. Tossing the peaches in a bit of lemon juice will keep the brown away.ย  You can also use powdered vitamin C.ย  Gently lay the peaches on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and pop in the freezer. After they are frozen, slide them into a zip-top bag or vacuum seal them for future use.ย  For more details, check out the tutorial from The Kitchn.

Peach Cobbler Muffins

Fast forward to late November, and I am staring at leftover peach cobbler filling.ย  Then there was a light bulb moment; muffins need to be made immediately.ย  My roommate is vegan, so vegan peach cobbler muffins needed to be made. After sorting through a few recipes online, I decided upon this one from the Minimalist Baker.ย  The apples were switched out, and the peach cobbler filling took their place. A few liberties were taken with topping, as one can see.

Creating these muffins was a ton of fun.ย  Recipes will be posted again soon!ย 

Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

This Sweet Potato and Lentil soup was surprisingly delicious to me. I am not a big sweet potato fan. My feelings for them are quite ambivalent. Nonetheless, I settled upon this recipe since I was not making the dish for myself.
Since moving in with a vegan, the Minimalist Baker has been my top source for many easy vegan meal ideas. This soup one-pot soup did not disappoint. Click here for the original recipe. I have to make a few alterations for the ingredients I did not have on hand, and to utilize the ones I did.

For example, I did not have cilantro or green beans. Instead, I used baby spinach and omitted the optional cilantro. The spices used in this soup give such warmth and depth: coriander, cinnamon, cumin, and pair wonderfully with the sweet potato. A little cayenne pepper for heat would be enjoyable as well, with this sweet potato and lentil soup.

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Cooking with Love

Often, I find myself making meals for people to help them feel better. In this instance, it was my roommate, who was down with a cold. My love of cooking is rooted in serving others. When my grandmother was teaching me to cook, it was usually during a big family meal. In my childhood, I must have grated 20 pounds of cheese and peel 60 pounds of potatoes.
At the time, I was resentful because I wanted to stir the food in the pots or flip something in the pan. Unbeknownst to me, those acts were the foundation on which I continued to build for years to come. When I think back on it, I realize I was her 11-year-old prep cook.

My grandmother died before she could see me cooking professionally. I took up her mantle of feeding people with love and caring in the form of food. She is part of the reason I started this blog. I have no children to pass the serving spoon to continue the tradition. Therefore, I pass down my passion to all of you.

Breakfast Egg Rolls

The hardest part of making this was deciding how much filling I could get inside of the wrapper.ย  ย Before I could resolve how much, there was the matter of what to put inside the wrapper.ย ย 

What's inside the Breakfast Egg Rolls?

Bacon got fried, the ham received a slicing. And the hash browns were, umm well browned.ย  Cheddar cheese got shredded like it spent too much time in the gym. I even scrambled an egg for my unsuspecting taste tester.

In a cast-iron skillet, I added the right amount of vegetable oil, then cranked up the heat to medium-high.ย  These babies only need to cook for no more than 4 minutes.ย  While the oil was warming, I started the assembly line.ย  Because I love to wash dishes (that was sarcasm), each ingredient was in its little ramekin.ย  I have a beautiful mismatched collection of them from my days of eating out. I was ignorant of the fact; you could ask for small containers to take home any condiments.ย  My bad.

In another bowl, I had an egg wash.ย  Just in case you are unfamiliar, an egg wash it an egg mixed with water or milk to act as a glue or to make baked things shiny.ย  In this case, I was going for the it glue function.ย  Keep a damp down handy to cover the egg roll wrappers to keep them from drying out.

On a dinner plate, layout one wrapper then places your filling in a line down the middle. I like to keep the point of the egg roll wrapper pointed towards me.ย  The mixture goes almost diagonal, so it already lined up to be rolled.

If there is too much filling, the wrapper will tear, and breakfast egg rolls had failed before they even started.ย  Once you get them wrapped up, take for a dip in the now hot oil for a couple of minutes.

Serve them with ketchup if you so, please.ย  While you here check out a few recipes.