Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Oh - this reminds me. One of the prepared foods I do eat is Del Monte stewed tomatoes. Like to make a lunch of a can of them. I noticed the other day that high fructose corn syrup was a higher % of the can than the added veggies other than tomatoes. 1 serving (stupid. they say there are 3 1/2 in the can. I eat the can) has 7 gms of sugar. They list 35 calories per serving, which is essentially all coming from sugar (5 calories/gm) So the whole can has about 122 calories of sugar, or about 7 tsp.) Amazing. From a can of stewed tomatoes.

Oh, and of course the toast I was eating with my pb and banana wasn't vegan, but it could have been, as you've explained.

Kenji - I'm surprised the hot chili oil doesn't go rancid fairly quickly, and yet you say you've kept yours going for years. I've bought hot chili oil that smelled rancid as soon as I opened it, and I always make my own now, but never bring the oil to a really high temperature, and only make enough to use in a month or two.

Why doesn't your hot chili oil go rancid?

This reminds me of the stamp ad where the guy says "There's nothing worse than standing in line waiting to buy stamps," and I think "nothing worse????"

I don't like these infringements on my time either, but I try to find ways to be cheerful about it. It really makes the wait so much more pleasant. There are some things you can change, and some things you can't change, and when you can't change others' behavior it just makes more sense to change your own. Don't let these guys live in your head rent free.

I remember when I used to take my mother to the grocery store twice a week, and she spent 2 hours choosing things, comparing per unit prices, etc. nearly killed me. But I tried to remind myself that there would come a time I would give anything to be able to wait with her in the grocery store while she compared prices. And that is oh so true.

If you're this annoyed by small inconveniences there's something bigger going on in your life, or perhaps it's been too long since you've taken an inventory of your priorities. Life's too short....

Your vegan month could be one of the best things to happen to me this year. These look wonderful. I find phyllo absurdly easy to work with, so I'd make the empanadas and maybe even the refried beans/jalapenos as phyllo triangle stuffing.

You haven't described blanching the almonds. Are we supposed to do that first?

Do you have to rub the skins off first?

Have you priced this out - is it cheaper to make or to buy?

I really prefer almond milk to soy milk, and will try this.

Do you ever make veggie burgers? If so, what forms the base of them?

Do you always use a cooked sauce on your tomato pizzas, or do you ever use crushed fresh tomatoes in season?

A good way to preserve mint when you have extra is to process in the blender with sugar, then keep it in a glass jar in the freezer. All set for any sweet uses.

For savory uses you can just freeze the leaves in a bag with much of the air removed.

Look around for different mints from different sources. Mint doesn't come true from seed, so there are hundreds of cultivars out there, with subtle flavor differences.

I lose my inspiration and energy for cooking, regularly. I do go for simple things when that happens, but also have a list of dishes I like to make (yeah I know, I can't seem to remember what I like sometimes). Then I make out a list of meals I could make with ingredients I have on hand, which always includes things in the pantry I haven't thought about for awhile. When I get in a rut it's usually because I've been buying and eating very short term.

bobcatsteph3: Hope the spring comes early for you and that you feel as well as you can.

Thanks Kenji.

I see now I can order Goya's on amazon. A whole new world opening up....

blitzcheetah - good to remember the number of tiny organisms that have us in their food chain, and fell a good many more of us than lions and tigers oh my. And as often as not they've ended up in our belly, rather than the other way around.

I'm with POM on this. Never hungry during the night, which I'm grateful for, because I too am "so damn hungry all the rest of the time!" Occasionally eat something as late as 10:00, but mostly don't find I'm hungry after 8:00 or so.