Oms and Honey

I’ve come to realize that I fit into a lot of northwest stereotypes. I always knew this but it wasn’t until I moved down to Texas that they became so obvious. Physically speaking, I am a walking example of the PNW. I am pale and freckled, I wear flannels, I couldn’t pass off as “classy” unless I tried REALLY hard (yoga pants are just so comfortable, am I right?) and I am sure I would look ridiculous in a cowboy hat. I drive a Subaru, I own a black lab, I’ve owned more than one pair of chacos in my life and I carry my hiking boots around in my car, just in case I stumble into a mountain.

My personality fits into that Seattle mold as well. I’m subdued, to the point where my friend down here told me, “you don’t need to smoke pot, you are already so mellow.” Thank you? I think? I am still finding it hard to meet stranger’s eyes on the street, which is a common practice down here. Everybody waves and smiles and says hello. I’m stuck in the mode of keeping my ear buds in, looking at the ground and shuffling by.

While this may seem antisocial and strange, it’s just how Seattleites are. If you were to walk around Greenlake in the summer (which is ass-to-elbows busy, everyday all day—we don’t see the sun often, remember?) most people ignore everyone around them. We all have places, things and people that we’re involved with, no need to chat with strangers.

All of this rambling is leading somewhere, I promise.

The other day my darling sister saw a boy in a coffee shop that was adorable. She texted me about it, that’s the kind of relationship we have. I told her to take a picture (I was JOKING), and give him my number. While she didn’t pass on my number, she did ask for his picture telling him that he was cute and she wanted to share it with me.

I would NEVER have the balls to do that, or at least not yet. Perhaps being in Texas for three years has made my sister courageous in a way that PNWers aren’t. She’s realized it isn’t all that scary to ask people for things, to meet their eye, to flirt when you want to and to go for it if you think you should. How am I supposed to move on if the only way I know how to catch someone’s eye is to look away when they try and smile at me?

Here’s my point: I need to go big, or go home. I need to put on my big girl pants, dress my face up with my biggest Texas smile and get out there. I need to flirt with the boy at the farmers market, I need to go out two steppin’ and ask a stranger to dance. I need to take my eggs out of this unattainable basket and live it up like the 20 something that I am.

Yee-haw folks, yee-fucking-haw.

Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink Spring Rolls

These have become my go to when I’m craving a healthy lunch. They’re full of veggies and will fill you up while not making you feel like dying. Win/win.

• Spring roll rice papers (I got these in the asian food section of my grocery store)
• ½ head of bok choy, washed and chopped into small chunks
• ½ head of green cabbage, washed and chopped into small chunks
• 3 carrots, shredded
• 3 leaves of kale, de-stemmed and chopped into strips
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1” piece of ginger, grated
• 1 clove of garlic
• ½ avocado, sliced
• 2 stalks of green onion, sliced
• sprig of fresh basil
• ¼ block of tofu, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce

This is one of those super simple recipes. You can adjust it however you see fit, add different vegetables, take out other vegetables, whip up a peanut sauce for dipping purposes… Do whatever tickles your fancy.

Start my sautéing some veggies. Heat a pan over medium heat, and add in sesame oil. Sautee carrots and cabbage first, for about 3 minutes. Add in garlic and ginger and then add in your greens: bok choy and kale. Add in 1 Tbsp of soy sauce, and then add in your chopped up tofu. Let all of these flavors mingle for another 5 minutes or so, until everything is cooked evenly and your kitchen smells so delicious it hurts your face.

Prepare your rice papers by soaking them in water for 2-3 minutes for each sheet. They’ll become very fragile after soaking, so be gentle with them or they’ll rip. Take them out of the water and shake gently to remove excess water, lay flat on a clean plate and get to stuffing and rolling.

Spoon out some of your sautéed veggies and tofu and then place the green onion, avocado and basil on top. Fold the sides of the rice paper in, and roll like you’d roll a burrito. I just ate mine plain, without any dipping sauces but they’re also delicious with some homemade peanut sauce. Enjoy!

I think its finally happened. I am finally a real adult. My besties are becoming real people, with real responsibility and real opportunities.  We’re all finding successes in different places- new jobs, new lovers, new engagements and the hint of having babies in the near future.  At my lowest of lows a few years ago I had convinced myself that I would never get here, I would never find my footing.

God knows I didn’t think it would be in Texas. My sister pointed out yesterday that our PNW raised parents should be proud because all three of their children have lived in Texas… Thank heavens?

If there is a higher something-or-other that exists they’re blessing me with my decision to pick up my life, shake off the Seattle dust and relocate to Austin. I have a job that I still find hard to explain, as it’s just that awesome. I am relishing in the sunshine almost every day, and I’ve come to realize that sun really DOES make you happier. This place is full of interesting, passionate young folks who want to change the world. I’m being swept up in their ambition, and it leaves me filled to the brim with hope.

Loneliness likes to rear its head and remind me that it exists (always). Being in a city without my group of friends and my family forces me to be okay with solitude. It forces me to learn more about myself.

Oh Texas, how much I’ve grown.

If and when I do return to that land of damp green comfort, I’ll be different. I’ll be less frenzied about making my life fit into a mold. I’ll return with more direction, and with a tendency to say y’all.

If I decide to return to the place where I’ve planted such deep roots, I will come back with a straighter spine, brighter eyes and a clearer picture of what happiness looks like.

Toasted Millet Salad with Arugula and Red Onion

I got this recipe from the Sprouted Kitchen cookbook that I just purchased (it’s so beautiful!) and seeing as I’m trying to get back on track and eat less like a kid in a candy store (it’s been bad), this salad fit the weekend lunch time bill. I think next time around I would use faro or wheat berries, as the millet wasn’t really my jam. All the flavors were delicious, but something about the texture of the millet didn’t do it for me. Do whatever your heart desires, it’ll hit the spot no matter what you do.

For salad:

• ¾ cup millet
• 1 1/3 cup vegetable broth
• 2 cups arugula
• 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
• 2  Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp white or balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

For onions:

• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf

Start by quick pickling your red onions. To do this, combine the apple cider vinegar, salt, sugar and cloves in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Once the sugar dissolves, remove from heat and add the chopped red onion. Let cool for 10 minutes, and then move to a glass jar and put in the fridge to expedite the process.

Now move onto the millet. In a large pan, toast the millet for 5 minutes on medium-high heat, stirring regularly. It should smell nutty and fragrant, after the five minutes have passed, add in the vegetable broth and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, cooking for 15 minutes. After cooking, remove from heat and let cool.

After the millet is cool, toss in with the arugula, pine nuts, onions and dress with olive oil, white or balsamic vinegar and salt & pepper.

There is such joy in solitude, in surrounding yourself with quiet moments, sewn together with drawn out daydreams.

It’s hard to find.

I find myself clamoring to make friends, be social, and stay busy in this new city of mine. I spent my SXSW in the comfort of old friends, flirting shamelessly with recklessness and questionable decisions. My life has been loud lately, filled with long nights and heavy mornings.

My soul was beginning to feel cloudy, like a window in need of a good cleaning.  Thank heavens for my sister and the fact that her boss has a ranch on 45 acres in Wimberley, Texas. When Pants (aka sister) told me we could go to the ranch for the weekend, my heart skipped a beat. I had yet to venture outside of Austin, and the thought of exploring the big Texas sky was swoon-worthy.

45 minutes away is paradise. Literal heaven. I wandered around the property squealing at how I had discovered all that I needed to claim bliss. The house sits at the top of Texas hill country. The loudest things are the humming birds, dipping in every now and again to feed. My pup can run free, his long pink tongue dangling out of his mouth as he stands guard of the porch. The house has big windows and an even bigger porch.

I sat barefoot in the sunset and felt everything inside of me smile.

Something deep within me screams to be a country girl.  When my sister suggested I become the caretaker of the property, I considered forgetting everything I have created for myself and running to live out my fantasy of being a farmer.

I imagine there’s some kind of magic in tending your garden, caring for your animals and going to sleep at 8 pm out of sheer exhaustion. A very big part of me feels that could be the life for me.

Needless to say, I spent the weekend light on my feet. My sister and brother-in-law had to leave unexpectedly, and asked if I wanted to go back to the city with them. I shook my head and spent the day alone, reading an entire novel and drinking tea on the porch while the dogs chased each other around the property as if they had never heard the word ‘leash’ before.

I listened to a Neil Young record on repeat and wrote down all those silly thoughts that have cluttered my brain. I walked the property, two puppies at my heels, panting in the late afternoon heat.

Whiskey Ranch is where I will seek peace. It’ll become my refuge when I find my heart confused, my brain tired or my soul weary. This is where I’ll find my happiness in silent mornings, sun drenched hound dogs and fruit salad in the sunshine.

Berry Breakfast Bowl

This is one of the recipes that isn’t really a recipe, just more a smattering of delicious fruits thrown together and topped with granola. What can I say? I didn’t have time to do much cooking at the ranch. I kept things simple.

• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1 cup strawberries, cut in quarters
• 1/2 grapefruit, quartered
• 1 banana, cut into rounds
• 1/2 orange, quartered
• 1/4 cup granola

Cut these delicious things up, throw in a bowl and add granola. Like I said, not much of a recipe. Oops.

I had every intention of writing about my current relationship with yoga. How I sit at an office all day, and find myself too lazy to go to the studio after work.

I was going to make this post poetic and lengthy while describing my love affair with my dainty ankles.

Instead I’m sitting at the corner table in a very crowded coffee shop next to a group of 19 year old girls. Their conversation is fascinating (as I was typing that, frustrating came out unintentionally… woops.) They’ve spent the last hour talking about how shitty it is that they have to work over spring break, and how having sex in dorm rooms is, “so hard”. They then settle into bouts of silence as they all text those boys that have seemed to cause them simultaneous love and heartbreak.

I remember being a freshman in college. I felt dangerous. Hiding tequila in the laundry hamper, I was liberated, searching out house party after house party. Giggling in the bathtub as the cops told everyone to go home. To me, that was what freedom looked like. And god damn, did freedom feel good. I found myself in a few strange beds. I had some hushed conversations with my best friend as I told her where and when to pick me up.

I was a complete idiot.

Yet here I am, 26 years old, judging these ladies. They’ve talked themselves in circles, not digging into anything beyond surface level nonsense. But who am I to talk? I want to believe that when I was 19 I was MUCH more mature. I have always had my head screwed on straight, etc. etc… Did I mention the tequila in the laundry basket yet?

Phew… I will get off my high horse and just chuckle with/at these ladies, feeling slightly nostalgic for those times when my biggest worry was getting the boy in African American Literature to notice me (I did, and he was a dream) and what I was going to do on a Friday night.

Now I spend my Friday nights making kale and Brussels sprout salad, writing and getting to sleep before 11 pm so I can stretch my body bright and early on Saturday morning. Alcohol has taken a back seat in my life, and my whole body thanks me for it. My Friday night plans may seem somewhat dull, but boy do I love them.

And I’m sure for these ladies, Friday nights are meant for parties, drinking out of red cups, and figuring out ways to make the ex-boyfriends jealous. They’d be listening to shitty music while they pretend to know how to dance. I speak from experience.

I still don’t know how to dance.

So yes, these girls come off as somewhat petty. There’s no doubt about that. But they’re also living the shit out of life.

They’re being silly and self-involved and taking far too many pictures of themselves doing absolutely nothing. We’ve all been there, and there’s beauty in it. A simple brilliance in living a surface level life, taking those butterflies and turning them into your everything.

So I’m going to sit here in my corner, listen to my Blaze Foley, sip my tea and be thankful that I’ve grown up (just a little bit) since I was 19. That I find joy in kale salad, how good it feels to get 9 hours of sleep and how lovely it is to mix a little bit of local honey into turkish mint tea.

It’s the little things.

Buckwheat Soba Noodle, Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad 

Adapted from Sprouted Kitchen

• 8 oz buckwheat soba noodles
• 1 bunch kale
• 10-15 brussels sprouts
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 5 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp low sodium soy sauce or tamari
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 2 pinches red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated

Start by cutting up your veggies. De-stem the kale, and roll them up lengthwise, and cut it into thin strips. Throw the kale in a big bowl and toss with 1 tsp sesame oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Massage the kale to tenderize it. Set aside. Next, take your Brussels sprouts and remove any brown or yellow leaves. The original recipe recommends using a mandoline for cutting the sprouts, but I don’t have one so I just chopped diligently until they were paper thin.

Toss those in with the kale. Then you can make the dressing. Mix the remaining sesame oil with the rice vinegar, tamari, ginger and garlic. Whisk together and then pour over salad, mixing everything up with your hand. Sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Put the salad in the fridge while you cook the soba noodles. The longer you leave the salad in there, the more the kale will soak up all the flavors.

Prepare you buckwheat soba noodles according to the directions. Once they’re done, drain the water and toss in the with kale. You can wait until they’re cool or toss them in while they’re still warm, either way is delicious. This salad is REALLY good. Who knew that raw Brussels sprouts would float my boat?

Enjoy!

My dog decided to eat a bottle of ibuprofen on Friday. This brilliant decision led to me cleaning up diarrhea as I panic-cried into the phone while the vet told me to get him to the emergency clinic IMMEDIATELY.

Needless to say, it’s been quite the weekend.

For those of you that don’t know me, my dog is my everything. To the point that it might be borderline unhealthy. I usually choose my dog over going out and making friends, and I make sure that my schedule fits around his walks.

What can I say? I owe this dog my sanity.

When I suffered a broken heart, long runs and cuddle sessions with the hound restored me. I filled my emptiness with this 70 pound beast. He’s lived in a cabin in the woods, on a cramped col-de-sac in Seattle, and now he lives with me in a tiny house in Austin, TX.

This dog has been places, my companion on any and all adventures.

If you don’t have a dog, you might not understand. That’s okay. Just imagine something in your life that is always there. Imagine something that gives your heart happiness no matter what. Imagine that being fragile and at risk, and you’ll know the panic and horror that is in my heart and brain right now.

Two days later and he’s still in the vet. Seeing him in his kennel, hooked up to IV tubes and looking at me like, “you’re getting me out of here, right?”, broke my heart. He has to be constantly hooked up to fluids so his kidneys don’t fail. Boy oh boy… that damn dog of mine.

Fingers crossed he’ll be okay, and tomorrow morning I will pick up my wiggling body of warmth and I can snuggle him so hard that he’ll squirm just so he can breathe.

Positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

This kind of nonsense requires soup. A warm, rich, sweet soup. Thank heavens for My New Roots and her perfectly timed recipe.

Coconut Soup

From My New Roots

• 2 cans coconut milk
• 10 cilantro roots
• 6-7 stalks lemongrass
• 3 shallots
• 2-4 thai chilies
• 50 g of galangal root
• 50 g coconut sugar
• 12 kaffir lime leaves
• handful of white button mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic
• juice of 3 limes
• 3 Tbsp. tamari
• about 1 cup of water

I was surprised at how easy it was to find all of these ingredients. The original recipe called for fish sauce, which I didn’t use (surprise, surprise). I also cut out the sugar (because I’m not eating sugar right now, I’m on a cleanse, remember?) but I left it in the recipe because I’m sure it will make it even more delicious.

First things first, get your chopping done. Wash the cilantro well, remove the upper portion of the stems and set aside for garnish. Cut the lemongrass off where the white base portion ends and discard the tops. Pound the lemongrass until they’re cracked and open. Slice the shallots. Peel and cut the galangal into chunks and pound it until it releases a little liquid. Tear the lime leaves into smaller pieces. Slice the mushrooms. Peel and smash the garlic.

Next, heat the coconut milk, cilantro roots, lemongrass, shallots, chili, galangal, sugar (if using), lime leaves and garlic in a medium saucepan. You’ll want to bring everything to a gentle simmer and cook for about 15 minutes with a lid on.

Then you’ll strain the soup through a sieve into another saucepan. Discard the solids. Add the sliced mushrooms, limejuice, tamari and water until you’ve got a consistency you want. You want the soup to be light, but still creamy. Bring the soup up to a lite simmer again just enough to cook the mushrooms. Don’t boil the soup. Season to taste and serve with cilantro leaves, extra lime and thinly sliced lime leaves. I served mine over brown rice, and it was DELICIOUS

This weekend I was told that the future of food involves breathing deeply.

WTF.

That was the only thing I could think as this man went on and on about how food is like the internet, and how we HAVE to rethink how we eat. He went on to explain about his creation, the “wiki cell”, food-shaped blobs with “edible packaging” that you’d carry around in refrigerated lunch boxes. Oh, and food that you inhale from these little canisters… because nothing screams “yum” like inhaling powder from a test tube.

I think he could see me rolling my eyes at the back of auditorium.

I spent my weekend at a food conference talking about the innovation of our food system. I applauded all those who are focused on urban gardens and reinventing the local food scene. I raised my eyebrows at those, similar to wiki-cell man, who insisted that we have to reinvent what we’re actually eating and how we’re eating it.

As if eating a carrot straight from the ground isn’t “innovative” enough.

I did glean some really great information from the conference, and am excited to be a part of this burgeoning food scene. To know that there are multiple farms within 10 miles of me gets my heart racing. Swarms of young people, sun-kissed and beautiful, spend their days digging in the dirt, planting seeds and tending plants like they were children.

These are my kind of people.

I spent my weekend inside (it’s 74 degrees here and PERFECT), sporting a name tag and diligently taking notes. This wide world of food is what I care about, and it feels wonderful to know what I want to do with my life.

Texas agrees.

All this talk of food reinvigorated my dedication to the elimination diet I’ve pledged to do in February… oh yeah, that’s another thing happening in my life. Needless to say, this limits what I can eat (no sugar, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, corn, soy, night shade vegetables, gluten) dramatically.

Thank heavens I live in a city that values unique diets. During my two-day conference I was lucky enough to find a gluten-free, vegan food truck and loaded myself up on black beans, vegetables and quinoa…delicious.

This kind of diet forces you to make a WHOLE bunch of food. It’s a good thing I love to be in the kitchen. Last night I made quinoa/brown rice crackers, a giant batch of hummus and vegan coconut curry. Four hours later, and I have dinner, lunch and snacks for the next few days.

I make the elimination diet look EASY.

I’m anticipating some stupid cravings, and a lot of eye rolls when I go out with family and friends and I order a plain salad with a side of avocado. I’m also anticipating I will feel like a fucking champion. So there you go, roll away eyeballs… I’m going to feel like a million bucks.

Vegan Chickpea Coconut Curry

I didn’t want to go to the store, and was able to pull this off without going to the store . Just goes to show having this kind of food in your pantry allows for all kinds of delicious meals.

• 1 can of coconut milk
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 2 cups chopped cabbage
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 Tbsp turmeric
• 2 tsp red curry paste
• Salt to taste
• Brown rice (optional)

Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Once warm, add in onions and sauté for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add in minced garlic and sauté for another 3-5 minutes. Add in carrots, chickpeas and cabbage, and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in coconut milk and all of your delicious spices. Stir and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, to let all the flavors mingle. Remove from heat and enjoy!

I served mine over brown rice, because I love curry over rice, but it would be good on its own or served over quinoa, white rice, or anything that tickles your fancy. This curry is DAMN good, add this one to your “easy-and-delicious” dinner recipes, it’s a keeper.

I have lived in Texas for five months now (I thought it was six, got WAY too excited about being here for ½ a year, actually counted and then remembered that math isn’t a strength of mine). Regardless, five months is long enough to begin to feel like maybe, just maybe, this place is becoming my home.

I know what routine feels like down here. My dog has learned the trees. I have learned the streets. I’m already a baby when it comes to the weather. And I say y’all and folks.

I’m a full-blown Texan. (ha)

Although I know I will always be a PNWer at heart, I’ve come to love the idea of being a Texan…wait, let me clarify, I love the idea of being an Austinite.

Here is why:

1. This city is alive. It’s vibrant. It shines.
2. The food trucks are open late and serve fare that is making me drool as I type this. Just the other night, in the back of Cheer Up Charlies, I got two giant freshly made spring rolls with peanut sauce. At 2 am. IPA and spring rolls on a warm January evening. This is what bliss looks like.
3. You can swim nine months out of the year. For a town where summer is a literal oven, the number of natural bodies of water in this town is astounding. Spring fed pools, worthy of night swimming adventures. Paddle boarding, kayaking, and floating down the river with a beer in hand.
4. People smile at you when you’re walking down the street. Small talk is made when you buy your groceries. The handshakes are firm. The sunshine makes people happier. I can get down with all this joy.
5. Young people are everywhere. Austin is the fasting growing city in the USA, and a majority of those people are 20-somethings, looking for new. Similar to me, when you ask people why they moved to Austin, a usual response is, “I needed a change, and Austin was it.”
6. Austin is it.

Homesickness comes and goes. Seattle is in my bones. We got in a sample of beard oil at work the other day (my job RULES), and it smelled like pine trees and cedar. I ached for flannel and damp days. My co-worker joked that all a man would have to do is douse themselves in beard oil and I’d be theirs.

You can take the girl out of Seattle, but you can’t take Seattle out of the girl.

But I’m working on it. I went to a blue grass show and stomped my feet, drank a lone star, and whooped and hollered with the rest of them. I am falling for the combination of denim and worn-out cowboy boots. I am soaking up the warm winter evenings, and days that leave my skin freckled and alive.

Today I went on a “hike” with my dog. As he ran around avoiding cactuses, I realized how familiar all of this seems, and how that’s such a welcome change.

I celebrated this with a giant bowl of soba noodle salad and a good cuddle session with the puppy.

It’s good to feel this alive.

Soba Noodle Salad

• 12 oz of buckwheat soba noodles
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 4 carrots, shredded
• ¼ red cabbage, chopped
• Bunch of scallions, chopped
• 2 cups of kale or mixed greens
• 1 package of tofu, cut into squares

It’s become a habit of mine to get all the excess water out of the tofu. It makes it more dense, and easier to cook with. To do this, I wrap the tofu in a clean dish towel, put it in between two plates, and then put all my cookbooks on top of that and let it sit for 30 minutes.

So if that sounds like a good idea to you, do that first. If not, don’t. Easy enough. Either way, cut the tofu into small squares.

Next, make the dressing. Combine the soy sauce, 2 tbsp sesame oil, rice vinegar and honey together. Whisk and set aside.

Then cook the noodles. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and once boiling add in the noodles. They cook in about 8 minutes. Drain the water and put the noodles into a bowl.

Chop all your veggies and get your tofu ready. Take the remaining 1 tbsp sesame oil and heat it over medium-high heat. Add the tofu, and splash some extra soy sauce on top. Let cook for about 4 minutes and then flip, so each side of the tofu gets a nice crispy outside.

Once the tofu is done, toss the veggies and tofu with the noodles and add the dressing. Mix everything together and enjoy. This is a perfect salad to eat for days and days, as it tastes better cold. Hip hip for dishes where the leftovers are better.

* Note: I always listen to This American Life when I cook, the episode I listened to today was about pig rectums. I DO NOT recommend this. However, catching up on podcasts in the kitchen is heaven.