Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Lost Weeknight

Heya! So, this is going to be kind of a weird post (you'll find out why by the end); I apologize in advance if it's a little irritating, but sometimes these things just happen.

I went to Starbucks with Greg and got a tall Berry Chai. It's been awhile since Greg's graced Lilveggiepatch, so here's a nice little shot:


The tea was great, but it kept getting on my face! Every few minutes or so Greg would rub his nose and go, "Katie. Your nose has red stuff. Like Rudolph."

I had some free time today so I finally got to whip up an item I've been eying for awhile: Veggie Girl's Fig and Almond Blondies. I made a couple edits to her recipe for economic reasons (I already had Greek yogurt so I didn't buy soy, I used almond milk, etc.), but I followed her instructions to the T. All I had to buy were the

My health food store didn't have black mission figs, so I used plain old California dried.


Let me tell you, I have a whole new respect for miss VG! "Finely chopping" these guys takes a lot of elbow grease, and you can see that my chunks are pretty big.


All the ingredients look so nice together. Look at all those textures!


And my reward:



These were seriously (seriously, Meredith) some of the best things I've ever baked. These are definitely a keeper, and I can see them being a stand-in for my Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares.


So, for the past few years, since our favorite Chinese restaurant changed management, I have been on a quest for cold sesame noodles that taste like cold sesame noodles and not a greasy mess. I've been meaning to try Hungry Girl's version for a long time, and tonight was the night.


I adapted it a little (for example, eliminating Splenda):

1 package Shirataki angel hair noodles
1 tbsp + 1 tsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp almond milk
2 tbsp chopped chives
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1 minced garlic clove
1 tsp honey

Rinse and dry shirataki noodles; pat dry. Microwave noodles for 1 minute. In a separate bowl, combine the rest of ingredients. Pour over noodles and mix well. Chill for at least one hour (or cheat and put it in the freezer). Serve and enjoy!

So, on to the mystery of tonight: Ari and I have been planning on going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for quite some. Tonight we snuck out and raced into the city and went... it was so spontaneous that I completely forgot my camera! So I kind of used it as an excuse to go all out, splurge-wise. I'm not going to blog about it, but suffice it to say that it started with shoestring fries and ended with Coldstone Creamery. I'm not feeling tippy top right now, but it was totally worth the nice evening. And, as always, tomorrow is another day.

Have a lovely night!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

HEHE if you're gonna splurge it might as well be at freakin' ruth's chris, and coldstone!! Hell ya girl :D

Caroline said...

Hey man, we all have our days! And they all come to an end when the sun goes down ;)
Berry Chai? What!? I've never heard of such a thing!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Fun night!!


THE BLONDIES!!! You rock, girl :-) So flattered you tried the recipe!! Enjoy.

K from ksgoodeats said...

Everyone deserves a splurge day my hear!!

You were busy in the kitch today - everything looks great!

Anonymous said...

omg ruth's chris. amazing :) definitely a place to splurge! sounds like you had a fun night!

Anonymous said...

Splurge days keep us sane!
Those look beautiful.

Anonymous said...

haha wahoo for blondies!! and veggie girl baking!!!

damn the shirataki noodles sound tasty! hungry girl has some pretty good recipes!!

Anonymous said...

Oh you're pumpkin squares look great!!! Hope you had a great night!

Laura said...

I'm glad you had a fun night! I have yet to try a dried fig!

HangryPants said...

Wow, you've really made those blondies sound enticing. I want to make them ... NOW.

Sounds like a worth it splurge. At least tell us the flavor at Cold Ston?