Friday, April 18, 2008

Cooking for one: the first two days.

I’ve spent occasional weeks by myself since moving back to Australia, but they were only a week at a time—so I usually either ate like crap for a week, or tried to be uber-healthy. But this time is different for two reasons: one, it’s for a month rather than a week; and two, it’s the first of many months like this over the course of the next three years. So I’m trying to eat normally, even though I’m on my own.

So, Wednesday I woke up before the sun to see Andy off, then laid in bed for a little while before getting up to a bowl of muesli. I biked in to uni, where I had some pumpkin and hummus wraps for lunch. After biking home, I was pretty hungry even though it was early, so I decided to have a two course meal. First, the soup course. I made a lot, and am planning on having leftovers for the next week or so.

For this soup, I just boiled one potato and one carrot in 3 cups of veggie stock, with a bit of wakame thrown in. This was all blended up, the heat was turned off and I threw in the kernels from half an ear of corn. In my bowl, I mixed in a little scoop of miso (I’ve heard it doesn’t reheat well, so I only added the miso to a single serve). Creamy, flavourful, and healthy!

Then, my second course was quick. I simply sautéed some sliced zucchini and some sliced portabella mushrooms. After they were cooked I mixed in some balsamic, and sprinkled on salt and pepper. Notice the small plate? I eat much less when Andy’s not around.

Thursday was not a good day. I woke up, did a bit of interview transcribing (tedious would be an understatement), and then went to pump up my bike tires to head to a feminist group meeting—but my back tire was 100% flat. So I walked instead. Later on at uni, I had the leftover sautéed veggies, combined with half an avocado.

I came home a bit early so I could get my tire fixed. I don’t know the first thing about fixing bike tires, so I decided I would just take off my back wheel and walk up to the bike shop. Unfortunately, removing the back wheel was not as easy as I thought it would be. Some greasy fingers and a few f-words later, I made it to the bike shop to find out I had a big chunk of glass in my tire. The guy patched the tire, changed the tube, and sent me on my way after warning me to keep an eye on it, since it will need replacing soon. When I got home, I realised getting the stupid wheel off the bike was the easy part—getting it back on, now that’s where the f-word was really needed. I eventually got it, but then screwed up the gears somehow. I was riding around the driveway, swearing and changing gears, then comparing my bike to Andy’s to see where I’d gone wrong. I still don’t know what I did, but it’s fixed, anyways. I felt a little proud of the grease all up my arms and the fixed bike.

Whinging aside, I definitely worked up my appetite for some comfort food. So I pulled out my well-used copy of Hot Damn and Hell Yeah and made his recipe for Taco and Burrito Filling. A base of TVP mince makes it really meaty, and I added portabellas for extra flavour. I turned the other have of the avocado into a quick guac, and opened some corn chips and had a really yummy, filling, and comforting dinner.

I think I can handle this cooking for one business. And I (semi) successfully fixed my bike without any help. I rock!

9 comments:

TB said...

i like seeing your cooking for one. that soup especially--yum! i have been doing a whole lot of cooking for one lately, too, because my gentleman caller is out of town for three weeks. it is an adjustment; the first night he was gone i made so many peanut noodles that i had to actually call a friend to come over and relieve me of most of them, because there was just no way one person was EVER going to move through those. i've been doing better since then, though ;)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

You're doing great so far, with your "Cooking For One" experience - love the soup and vegetable-dish!! Hang in there, until Andy returns :0)

Sam said...

I could never get the hang of cooking for one. I always ended up cooking for two and eating a lot of leftovers...

Vaala ◪ said...

I totally agree with the eating less thing when the guy isn't around. I don't really know why but I think I end up eating too much when they're there. I also find I eat quite differently when he's is out or away.

Way to go with the bike man, I never would have managed to get the wheel off let alone back on again! Lucky the bike shop isn't too far away and we have a car with a bike rack.

The Vegan Snorkeler said...

That avocado looks perfect. Your TVP taco filling dinner looks great!

Amy said...

I fell into the eat crap when Mr Unveg isn't home too for a while, but I feel much better when I make the effort (and it doesn't have to be a big one!).

You had me laughing at all your F-wording :P I'm designated Mr Fix-It around here so there is frequent coarse language at my place!

David J said...

Hey that taco mix looks great. I could handle a dose of that right now! maybe some extra spicy salsa too.

That's great about the tire. Now that you've done it once you will feel much easier about it next time, except the grease. I've had three flats this week. Each time my bike was parked at my new job and each time I filled the tire with air and it stayed up! I think someone is playing with me! NOT FUNNY!

Monika K said...

Woohoo for fixing your bike! I always feel so euphoric when I figure out something mechanical all by myself (I guess because it happens so rarely). (-: Our snow is almost all gone, so I think it's about time I pulled the bike out and got my lazy butt in shape.

P.S. The Frito pie thingy at the end of the post looks killer...

the little one said...

Impressive cooking and especially bike fixing! I always like working on mechanical things but am totally afraid of doing anything with my bike. I fear I'll screw something up and my bike will fall apart when I'm riding it causing me to crash and hurt my little self. Good for you, brave one!