Oh, hello.

::Waves hello::

Hey there. Long time no see. I've been so busy these last few months that I haven't had much time to cook or blog. I've had my hands full with school and work. Any recipes that I make are tester recipes or things I've already posted on here.

That will be changing soon though because I graduate from college in 5 days!! I've also been hanging out with people more often lately and trying to make dessert to bring over when I hang out. I make all kinds of desserts so that I can have a little bit and be able to share the rest. This is something I really like because I've been eating much better the past few months and have managed to lose just about 15 pounds. So making and eating a dozen cookies just isn't going to fly with me. Today I made some and ate 2 or 3 and was totally satisfied with that and was glad to see the rest get eaten (even though a bunch of them got burnt!).

So, yes, I will start blogging again! I'll try to put in calorie counts where I can since I try to figure out the calories in everything I eat before I eat it.

Apples!

Told you there would be more apple posts.  I've made three apple crisps already, and last weekend I decided to mix things up a bit and make a pie.  I've made the Gingerbread Apple Pie from VwaV before, but I've never eaten it.  I had made it for a contest a few years back, so I couldn't try it before I submitted it.  It did win an honorable mention, though!

If you're scared of making pies, this one is for you.  You don't need to be all fancy and roll out your dough.  You just mix the ingredients, smush most of it into the bottom of the pan and crumble the rest on top.

See?  It doesn't have to look perfect or anything.  I love this pie because it has two different flavors which work so well with each other.  If you noticed that in that last picture the pie is on a cookie sheet, you should do the same thing.  Mine got really bubbly and spilled all over the sheet.  So it was much easier to clean that up than to clean out the whole oven.

This recipe calls for 2 pounds of granny smith apples, and says that it's about 8 apples.  I found this WAY off.  I used two or three cortlands and it was more than enough.  As you can see, it was piled very high.  It did cook down a lot though, yet still was high for a pie.

Someone over at SparkPeople was nice enough to post this recipe and get nutrition information.  So if you want to know how many calories are in this recipe, then be my guest.  I took a peak just now, and  they calculated this as 12 slices.  Yeah, okay.  I got 8 out of this, and ate about 5 or 6 of the slices.  No wonder I've gained at least 5 pounds since the beginning of September.

Gingerbread Apple Pie

Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 tablespoon molasses
2 tablespoon cold water

Filling:

2 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 8), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch ground cloves
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch  

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Make the crust:
Sift together the flour, sugar, spices, salt, and baking powder. Add the margarine one tablespoonful at a time and cut in with a pastry cutter, knife or your fingertips. Drizzle the molasses and water over the dough, mixing with your fingertips until the crumbs of dough begin to cling together. Set aside 1/2 cup of the dough. Gather together the rest of the dough and knead it into a ball. Press it evenly into the bottom and sides of a pie pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Make the filling:
While the crust bakes, combine in a mixing bowl all the filling ingredients except the arrowroot powder (or cornstarch). Sprinkle the arrowroot powder over the apple mixture and mix until the starch is dissolved.

Assemble the pie:
Fill the pie crust with the apple mixture, and crumble the remaining 1/2 cup of dough over the filling. Cover with foil and bake for 20 more minutes. Remove the foil and bake 30 minutes more; the filling should be bubbling and the apples should be tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8 - 12. Nutrition count is for 12 servings.

Testing, Testing

I've been testing for Isa Chandra Moskowitz's upcoming weight-lossy book, and it's awesome. I passed on testing for Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar because I couldn't justify making and eating dozens of cookies. And let's face it, I would have eaten most of them. I can't share them at school because everyone I know is a nutrition major, and I couldn't share them at work because I work at Jenny Craig. Neither are exactly good places to share junk food.

There are some really delicious recipes being formulated, so definitely pick up this book whenever it comes out. You'll need it after all the cookies you'll make!

Caulipots, along with a Tofurkey sausage


Low Fat Dill Hummus


To tide you over for now, Isa posted a recipe on her blog for Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto. I'll post it here for you too if you are too lazy to click the link.

Spinach Linguine With Edamame Pesto
Serves 4

For the edamame pesto:
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup packed basil leaves
Handful (1/4 cup or so) fresh cilantro
14 oz package shelled edamame, thawed
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
optional: 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

For the pasta:
10 oz spinach linguine or other pasta

1 teaspoon olive oil
Small red onion, in thinly sliced half moons
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
Extra basil for garnish

Cooking spray

Put on a pot of salted water to boil. Then prepare the pesto:

Place garlic and basil in food processor and pulse a few times to get it chopped up. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until relatively smooth, scraping down the sides with a spatula to make sure you get everything. Add a little more vegetable broth if it seems too stiff. Set aside until ready to use.

Preheat a large pan over medium heat. At this point your pasta water should be ready, so add the linguine.

Saute onion in oil for about 5 minutes. Use a little cooking spray as needed, or a splash of water if you prefer. Mix in mushrooms, garlic, thyme and salt. Cover pot and cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

The pasta should be ready now, so drain it.

When the mushrooms have cooked down, add pasta to the pan, along with the pesto. Use a pasta spoon to stir and coat the linguine. Get everything good and mixed and the pesto heated through, about 3 minutes. The pesto should be relatively thick, but if it’s too thick (not spreading out and coating the pasta) add a few tablespoons of water. Taste for salt.

Serve immediately, garnished with a little fresh chopped basil.

Apple Crisp

Due to my overabundance of apples, I have made two apple crisps within the past week or so. Luckily I have friends who enjoy my baking so I didn't end up eating it all myself. For both batches, I used different kinds of apples. Cortlands are the best kind of apple for baking because they keep their shape very well and don't turn to mush. You can add different kinds with it to mix up the flavor a bit. The first one was a mix of Cortland, Ginger Gold and Honeycrisp. I'm not quite sure what the second one was a mixture of.



The recipe I use is the one from the recipe section over at The PPK.

Apple Crisp

9 x 13 baking dish (preferably glass)

Ingredients
For the filling
4 lbs apples
1/2 cup light brown sugar (I sprinkled only a little bit instead of using this much)
1/2 cup sugar (I also sprinkled only a little of this sugar)
1/2 cup apple juice or water (I used apple cider)
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cloves (Skipped these)


For the topping
1 cup quick cooking oats (not instant)
1 cup flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup canola oil
3 tablespoon soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F

Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Dissolve the arrowroot in the apple juice or water. Set aside.

Place apples and raisins in the baking dish, add sugars and spices and combine everything well (you may need to use your hands to do this). Pour arrowroot mixture over everything.

To prepare the topping, in a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add oil, soymilk, and vanilla, mix well. Crumble topping over the apples. Bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Muffins!

I. Love. Muffins. I could eat half a dozen muffins in a day and still want to eat more. (Okay, I may have done it in the past). They are ridiculously easy to make, and there are so many varieties to choose from. I always have all the ingredients on hand to make at least one kind of them.

The other day I decided that I REALLY wanted pumpkin muffins. The ones from Vegan with a Vengeance are really the best pumpkin muffins, hence their name. I grabbed the huge can of pumpkin I had on the top shelf of my cabinet only to discover that I had expired early last year. I didn’t even realize it had been there that long. If it had expired early this year I probably would have used it still, but it was just there for too long.

Despite not having any pumpkin in the house or the will to go to the store to get more (and I only live about 2 minutes – walking – away from a grocery store), I still wanted muffins. I was flipping through the muffin section to figure out what kind I could make with the ingredients I had. I realized I had frozen cherries from Trader Joe’s that I’ve been meaning to use. I also remembered I had some slivered almonds that I had bought for VCon Caesar dressing. So, I ended up making the Cherry Almond muffins. I’ve never made this recipe before, and I’m not sure if I will again. It’s not bad or anything! I’m just not a big fan of nuts in my muffins. I hate banana nut muffins because of the walnuts in them. I thought I had used a lot of cherries for these, but after eating a few of the muffins I noticed that some bites were super cherry-y, while others were all muffin/nut and no cherry. I also didn’t have any of the soy yogurt that it calls for, so I added extra soy milk. I think the yogurt would have helped it to be a lot moister in the end.

Halloweeny

I love Halloween. It's just such a fun holiday where you don't have to worry about sending cards or making phone calls to distant relatives to keep on their good side. You can dress up as absolutely anything you want to, no matter how ridiculous or offensive. You can have a themed party! One of the main things I want to do when I move out of my parents house is have theme parties.

Jess Sconed is always doing cool theme-y things, and it makes me totally jealous. This weekend is Fakin' Fest, which is a "celebration of vegan bacon and bacon-flavored things." How about Vegan Prom? And a LOST season premiere?

Anyway, enough about Jess, EVEN THOUGH SHE IS THE COOLEST EVER.

If I could throw a Halloween party right now, I would. I can't, however, since I live in a trailer with my parents that can only fit a few people at a time (comfortably) and I have old neighbors and not much extra parking and it's a month from Halloween anyway and no one is even ready for it to be Fall nevermind Halloween which is only one day away from November which means it's going to start snowing pretty soon and we'll get heavy snow at 2 in the afternoon and everyone will leave work early which will cause major traffic jams in the city which means you're not getting home until 5 or 6 anyway so you should have just stayed at work, assholes.

These are just some cool ideas I've come across for parties that I would be into. I would call everything "spooky" whatevers, like Spooky Spice Cake. But I wouldn't tell my boyfriend they were called that because apparently he hates the word spooky! I had no idea until a few days ago, but I will respect his wishes because he respects my wish to never utter the word "panties" in my presence.

Frozen Ice Hands

• Using clean, non-powdered and non-latex gloves, fill them with water or the punch you will be serving (can also use a complimentary juice, don’t use an alcoholic mix since it may not freeze properly). Tie them off tightly with an elastic band so no water will leak out.
• Lay the gloves on a cookie sheet and freeze. Do this the night before the party. Once frozen solid, cut the glove off and place in the punch bowl.
• Make at least two so you have a fresh one to add as the first one melts.

Puke Pumpkins

No matter how many of these I see, I always love them!

Vampire Fangs in Blood

Just don't use Red Delicious apples, because they are the worse apple ever.

All kinds of fancy drinks

Not too many, though!

Vegan caramel apples

That recipe looks awesome

Plus a million other things that I'm too tired to look for right now.

VeganMoFo is here!

Today is October 1st, which means it's the first day of VeganMoFo! This is the third year of the mofo.

I've been crazy busy these past few weeks because I've been working my regular job, started school and started an additional job. I LOVE my second job. I work at a family farm that has raspberries, blueberries, peaches, pumpkins and APPLES! I have access to free, freshly picked apples four days a week, and it is the best thing ever. Even if I had to pay for them, all apples, no matter what variety, are only $1.29 per pound. A lot of people complain about it (people complain about everything!), but I was at the grocery store and Honeycrisp apples are over $3.00 per pound. And the ones in the grocery store are shipped from who knows where.

Expect to see many apple posts this month. I have so many apples that I don't have room for them.

VeganMoFo is coming!

See you in October, forkers!

Check out Kittee's blog to see what VeganMoFo is all about.

So much for blogging more in the summer...

Well, I pretty much forgot to blog all summer. I've mostly just been throwing together sandwiches and going out to eat. I did manage to cook a little bit the other day, though, so I'll tell you about that. Tempeh bacon is one of my favorite things. I used to recipe from Vegan Brunch, which is just an improved upon version of the one in VwaV. Since I had some tempeh laying around that expired in June, I figured I should eat it.

Cookin'


Ready to eat


Doesn't that just look perfect? I just ate my third one, and I am sadly out of the tempeh. (I had two yesterday and one today).

As I said in a previous post, we grow our own tomatoes. My mom has probably two dozen tomato plants of various sizes in our garden. Unfortunately, this summer has been horrible for growing vegetables. It's one of the top 10 coldest/wettest summers on record here in New England. We've thrown out dozens and dozens of tomatoes because of bottom rot (or whatever it's called). There have been a few good tomatoes, so I managed to put some on these sandwiches. I should be utterly sick of tomatoes at this point, not longing for more fresh ones.

Sausages

One of my favorite things to make these days is sausage. Whether I use Julie Hanson's recipe which is mostly vital wheat gluten, or Isa's recipe that mixes gluten with mashed beans, I love that it makes so many sausages in the end. I find that I can't eat them all within a few days, so I just throw them into the freezer for another time.



Seeing as though I had about a dozen sausages hanging around, I decided to whip up some mac and cheese using some Creamy Cheddar Teese. I've never used Teese before for mac and cheese, or any other kind of block cheese for that matter. I wasn't really sure what to do, so I just melted the Teese on the stove. I'm used to making a cheesy sauce in the blender and then throwing it in the oven for a half hour to harden up a bit.



It came out less appetizing than I had hoped. I was able to eat most of what was on my plate, but the thought of eating the rest of it grossed me out. Sorry, Teese! I wanted to like you in my mac and cheese, but it's just not happening. I still love your mozzarella, and I'm going to make some pizza on my new-ish pizza stone someday.



All plated up. I also fried up a tomato, but it just didn't come out that great. I can't wait until tomoato season starts so I can eat real tomatoes again. After eating ones fresh from the garden all my life, I can't stomach those terrible ones they sell at the store year-round.

Wow

I can't believe it's been over two months since I last posted anything. I was very bogged down by schoolwork and worrying about finals, that I could hardly be bothered with making food, taking pictures of said food, and blogging about it afterward.

Isa's Vegan Brunch book just came out, and I got my copy in the mail about a week ago. Not to brag, but my name is in the acknowledgments. I think I tested a good amount of recipes while testing was going on, but when I was flipping through the book I saw the banana flapjacks. Knowing I had bananas that were close to becoming compost, I decided to make them. They looked very promising while they were cooking, but alas they did not come out the way I expected. They seemed to not want to cook fully. It may have just been that the bananas kept it too moist and squishy to become a proper pancake. I did have fun making them, though. After I tried the first few and found that I disliked them, I decided to make a giant pancake with the rest of the batter. I didn't want to pour the batter in the trash incase it leaked, and this way it was just something solid I was throwing away.

Regular size:


Gigantic:


Since I was still in the mood for a breakfasty meal, I decided to make some Fronch Toast. Isa tells us that we should never toast our bread, but rather let it dry out in the oven. Well, I toast. It has always worked for me and has never given me a problem. I also just use regular bread instead of a loaf of italian.



From "Vegan with a Vengeance" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

"Fronch" Toast

1 loaf of Italian of French bread, baguette style
1/2 c soy creamer
1/2 c rice milk or plain soy milk
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 c chickpea flour
Several tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

Slice the bread into 1-inch thick rounds. The bread should be a bit stale, if not you can put in a 350 oven for 3-4 minutes to dry it out. Pour the soy creamer and rice milk into a wide shallow bowl. Mix in the cornstarch and stir until dissolved. Add the chickpea flour and mix until it is mostly absorbed; some lumps are OK. Heat a non-stick skillet over med-high heat. Add enough oil to create a thin layer on the bottom. Soak the bread slices (as many as you can fit in the pan) in the mixture and transfer to the skillet. Cook each side for about 2 minutes; if they are not brown enough, heat for another minute or so on each side. They should be golden brown.


And speaking of eating breakfast, I am currently eating a delicious Egg McVegan, as usual. For some reason I get in the mood to eat them when I blog. Or I get in the mood to blog when I eat them.

Breakfast for dinner

A week or so ago I decided it was time to make some scrambled tofu (recipe from VwaV). It has literally been a few years since I've made it. I'm not sure why since I absolutely love it! When I ate scrambled eggs as a young kid, they had to be very dry and I would only eat them on toast with ketchup. I'm still the same way. This time though I used english muffins because they are delicious.


Mmm. It was a little harder to eat since the muffins don't easily fold for consumption. Along with the scrambled tofu I made some roasted broccoli. Did you know you can roast frozen vegetables? I didn't. I had bought some frozen broccoli and wasn't really into it as a steamed side vegetable. It was too moist for some reason and just tasted awful.

To roast some frozen vegetables, spray a baking sheet with oil. Toss the vegetables on there and spray them with some more oil. I tossed some garlic in with them as well. Put them in a 400 or so degree oven for 40-45 minutes.

What goes with breakfast for dinner? Tea! My mom gets me the best presents because they are almost always kitchen related. She got me this fantastic tea pot for Christmas this past year.



Yay! Tea!

Teese!

I finally got on the ball and ordered some Teese vegan cheese. It's really not too expensive as far as vegan cheese goes, it's just the shipping that kills me. For some reason there is nowhere around where I live that sells it. Since I follow Chicago Soy Dairy on twitter I found out they were having a sale at Pangea. It's usually $4.99, but if you follow this link you can get it for 25% off ($3.75). I ordered the Mozzarella, Creamy Cheddar and Nacho. Considering it lasts for up to 6 months if you keep it in the refrigerator and people have had good luck freezing it, I figured I might as well get a few.

I think the sale ends this weekend, so if you've been putting off ordering it for as long as I have you should pick some up!

Buddha Hut

Looks like Buddha Hut in Worcester got a website! Check it out! They have their menu, hours and directions up there. It looks like they have added some new things, so I'll have to go check it out soon.

The Vegan’s Hundred

I've been super busy with school, so here's a quick little survey to tide you over until further notice.

The Vegan’s Hundred
The rules:

* Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
* Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
* Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
* Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
* Pass it on!

1) Natto

2) Green Smoothie

3) Tofu Scramble

4) Haggis

5) Mangosteen

6) Crème Brûlée

7) Fondue

8) Marmite/Vegemite

9) Borscht

10) Baba Ghanoush

11) Nachos

12) Authentic Soba Noodles

13) PB&J Sandwich

14) Aloo Gobi

15) Taco from a street cart

16) Boba Tea

17) Black Truffle

18) Fruit Wine made from something other than grapes

19) Gyōza

20) Vanilla Ice Cream

21) Heirloom Tomatoes

22) Fresh Wild Berries

23) Ceviche

24) Rice and Beans

25) Knish

26) Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27) Dulce de Leche

28) Caviar

29) Baklava

30) Pate

31) Wasabi Peas

32) Chowder in a sourdough bowl

33) Mango Lassi

34) Sauerkraut

35) Root Beer Float

36) Mulled Cider

37) Scones with buttery spread and jam

38) ‘Jello’ Shots

39) Gumbo

40) Fast Food French Fries

41) Raw Brownies

42) Fresh Garbanzo Beans

43) Dal

44) Homemade Soymilk

45) Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46) Stroopwafel

47) Samosa

48) Vegetable Sushi

49) Glazed Donut

50) Seaweed

51) Prickly Pear (cactus fruit)

52) Umeboshi

53) Tofurkey

54) Sheese or Teese

55) Cotton Candy

56) Gnocchi

57) Piña colada

58) Birch Beer

59) Scrapple

60) Carob Chips

61) S’mores

62) Soy Curls

63) Chick Pea Cutlets

64) Curry

65) Durian

66) Homemade sausages

67) Churros, Elephant Ears, or Funnel Cakes

68) Smoked Tofu

69) Fried Plantain

70) Mochi

71) Gazpacho

72) Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies

73) Absinthe

74) Corn on the Cob

75) Whipped Cream, straight from the can

76) Pomegranate

77) Fauxstess Cupcakes

78) Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

79) Jerky

80) Croissants

81) French Onion Soup

82) Savory Crepes

83) Tings

84) A meal at Candle 79

85) Moussaka

86) Sprouted Grains or Seeds

87) Macaroni and ‘Cheese’

88) Edible Flowers

89) Matzoh Ball Soup

90) White Chocolate

91) Seitan

92) Kimchi

93) Butterscotch Chips (I can walk to the store within 2 minutes to get these!)

94) Yellow Watermelon

95) Chili with Chocolate

96) Bagel and Tofutti

97) Potato Milk

98) Polenta

99) Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

100) Raw Cookie Dough


I think I have eaten a pretty good amount of stuff! You wouldn't be able to tell from reading this blog, however.

Mini Wheats

I am so bummed! I just found out that Kellogg's Organic Frosted Mini Wheats have been discontinued. I knew I hadn't seen them at the store for awhile, but I thought maybe just the store I regularly go to stopped carrying them. Frosted Mini Wheats were one of my favorite cereals growing up and I stopped eating them years ago because they contain gelatin. The organic ones didn't have gelatin and they tasted awesome. I am now on the hunt for a gelatin-free frosted wheat cereal, but I reckon I won't find much.

I did stumble upon one of their new products though - UNFROSTED Mini Wheats. They appear to be vegan, and you can always add some of your own sweetness to it if you need some.

So sick

Shorty after my last post, I started my journey into gastrointestinal hell. For the past week I have been so insanely sick. I started feeling nauseous on Wednesday night. Thursday morning I woke up and I couldn't be too far from a bathroom. Friday I was able to go to school somehow. Saturday was bad again and my boyfriend convinced me to go to Urgent Care. I got an IV because I was dehydrated and a shot in my ass to help stop my nausea. I ended up sleeping most of the day and watching Anchorman and The Devil Wears Prada at night since I couldn't really go anywhere. Sunday I managed to go to a friends house to work on a project but the ride over there was awful. Yesterday I skipped school because it was too long of a wait to be near a bathroom again. I did manage to go to work but it was pretty unpleasant.

Needless to say, I have basically been eating toast with earth balance for the past few days. I can't wait until I can eat a real meal again!

Going along with my previous post...

I opened up a jar of jalapeño peppers tonight that have been sitting in my cabinet for an indeterminate amount of time. I tried to take one out and it was completely mushy. Ew ew ew ew ew. There was no date printed anywhere on the jar either, so I have no idea how long it was sitting there.

Lesson learned: Don't buy something just because its cheap if you don't plan on using it within a few weeks or months.

I also threw out a jar of Sriracha that has been in my fridge for well over a year now. I was sad to see it go, but I never find enough stuff to put it on and also the inside cover was NASTY. It could have been moldy, but honestly I didn't want to examine it too hard.

Blogger is irritating me today and messing up my post, so what I tried to say originally was that this list obviously isn't all vegan, but it's a good place to start. Personally, I've kept jars of spaghetti sauce for weeks, but I've always been weirded out by using it after too much time has passed.

Food Safety: A Guide to Expiration Dates on Pantry and Refrigerator Foods

The FITNESS Food Safety Chart

Most expiration dates printed on packages are intended primarily for store employees, so they know when to remove a product from the shelf. They don't necessarily indicate how long the food will keep once you've opened it. To find out whether it's safe to slather your sandwich with the last smidge of mayo that's been in your fridge for over a month, consult our guide.

After Opening...	It’s Good For...
pasta sauce	4 days
pickles	1 to 2 weeks
yogurt	1 to 2 weeks
sour cream	1 to 3 weeks
olives	2 weeks
eggs (in shell)	3 to 5 weeks
salsa	1 month
shredded cheese	1 month
butter	1 to 3 months
mayonnaise	2 months
salad dressing	3 months
cooking oil	4 months
jams, jellies	6 months
ketchup	6 months
margarine	6 months
mustard	1 year
maple syrup	1 year

Originally published in FITNESS magazine, May 2006.

Condiments

Does anyone else eat a ridiculous amount of condiments? I sure do. I have ever since I was little and my dad even made up a song for me called "Condiment Girl".

I don't have too much time to write at the moment, but here are some of the combinations I enjoy. Please note that I don't ALWAYS use these, but I do pretty often.

French fries - french dressing or bbq sauce; ketchup as a last resort

Broccoli - ketchup or mustard

Kale - tahini sauce(from VwaV)

Brussels Sprouts - mustard

Mashed potatoes - gravy or vegenaise/tofu sour cream/vegan ranch

Cauliflower - mustard

Pirogies - bbq sauce

Pizza - balsamic vinaigrette


That's just a short list, but I can't think of what else I eat at the moment!