taxes, writing & more yummy veg recipes

A butterfly rests on a wildflower at Glacier National Park. My friend and colleague and butterfly enthusiast Alana told me it's a Milbert's Tortoiseshell.
Copyright (c) 2008 Wendee Holtcamp

It's 11pm and I'm sipping the curried cauliflower soup I made for dinner, which I just finished making. Topped it with some freshly ground black pepper. Yum! It has the perfect amount of curry to make it a bit spicy, which I like, but doesn't overwhelm the cauliflower flavor (I will upload pics and post the recipe in a later post - but have some other recent experiments below).

I didn't get home from the gym until nearly 9pm, and as I tend to do, I multi-task-cooked. I was writing my Monday Animal Planet blog post, checking Facebook, chopping cauliflower, drinking coffee and eating a yummy Swiss easter cookie my friend Amalia gave me at the gym! Hey, I earned it since today I did two exercise classes in a row - body pump (weight lifting to music) and spin. I never do that, so it was awesome! Then Amalia and I went to the steam room, chilled and chatted, then after a shower I headed home finally!

And... I finished my ^&$#@ taxes today, finally. Being self-employed they are a royal pain in the patootie. I actually sat down on my couch, and attempted to get them done one weekend in January, and the file folder full of receipts and such sat there on my coffee table until... 3 days ago. Ha! But I finally tackled the beast, and everything is all filed and done. Next on my agenda is writing some Animal Planet blog posts, giving feedback to my writing students, researching a story I'm writing (not due until June), and pitching some new ideas to magazines. I've been sending out lots of queries! I had slacked a bit late last year, but have lots of new story ideas. I also have to spend a bit of time editing my book chapters before the writing retreat which is only a few short weeks away. And ... Doug will be back in a few weeks too, just before I leave for 5 days. But at least I will see him for a couple days, and then he can get moved into his new apartment and then we can spend some good quality time together when I return.

The only other thing is that I decided I'm going to spend my 40th birthday in Oregon with family and friends out there! I'm so excited! And that's why I'm querying like mad, so I can get some new work!! Doug is going to come with me, though whether we can go on the same flight - or whether he can go at all - and all depends on when he gets assigned to go on his next "hitch" offshore. So with that said, here are some pics of some of my latest recipes I've tried. If you try one, let me know what you think!
Enchiladas verdes. It looks nice, but this recipe was actually not a favorite. It was decent but not fantastic.
This is one of my fave things to make: veggie quesadillas. I don't have a recipe but in this case I used the Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain tortilla (fyi Ezekiel 4:9 is a bible passage that says "Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself"). I've also used rice tortillas which are really good. To make the quesadillas, I put a tiny bit of olive oil in the pan, and place the tortilla in there, filling with already roasted or sauteed veggies (I had mushrooms, red peppers, and onions), and a bit of mozzarella as a low-fat cheese. I serve it with salsa and it's sooo good!
I made Tempeh Cutlets Provençal, which turned out great but the tempeh was a little dry. This is my first time cooking tempeh, and only my second time eating it (the first was at the Laughing Planet Restaurant in Portland). Any suggestions for how to cook it without drying it out are appreciated! It's served with a sauce made of red peppers (I used yellow), onion, capers, and here has a garnish of rosemary.
This is the brand I bought, and what it looks like if you've never seen it before... I bought it at Whole Foods.
Here's a pic of the tempeh coming out of the oven. Looking at the photo of the recipe on the Vegetarian Times website, the cutlets look wider and thinner. I knew that I'd cut mine smaller but maybe making them thinner would make it less dry? I'd also recommend doubling the sauce, as the recipe did not make very much!