Comments (20)

By kilax, December 22, 2009 5:07 am

This is a weird post, because I am trying to pinpoint where a feeling is coming from… and I really can’t. So please bear with me and let me know what you think. (P.S. Steven turns 29 today! Happy Birthday you old fart Steven!)

As you may recall, my floor potluck was last Thursday.

There are about 100 people on my floor and I think there was enough food for 300. Seriously.

There were at least 6 rooms filled to the max with plates and plates of food. I actually took photos to show you how ridiculous it was, but it would be inappropriate to post them. Basically, there were two dessert rooms, three rooms of entrees, one appetizer room and I think one more room filled with food. It was just too much. It was overwhelming.

I have been in situations where there is WAY too much food per person (hello, family gatherings) but it has never made me feel this bad, and grateful at the same time before.

I felt guilty that there was just SO MUCH FOOD for each person. And I think almost everyone contributed something. The potluck had an “ethnic” theme, and since I work on such a diverse floor, there was an amazing variety of food (a lot homemade). Just, so, so much of it. I kept saying, “I cannot believe how much food there is here. We are so lucky.” And I was grateful that everyone was so generous! And the party was a blast. We had food set up all over the floor, and people were congregating all over, chatting cheerfully and singing songs… it was very festive.

I just felt weird being around so much food. I knew a lot of it would go to waste and I knew the amount of food present was not necessary. I felt wrong to indulge in so much food, for some reason. I guess, I just feel like there is no reason to have 75 different dishes. It’s too much. It left me feeling bad.

Of course, after I wrote this on Saturday, we went shopping for groceries for ourselves and 3 extra people who will be here for 5 days. We had to shop at four different stores (ugh) and our first cart looked liked this:

And we had this many groceries to put away:

Hypocrite much? We are definitely focusing on simple meals, and not making a TON of dishes (drives me nuts) but still that is a lot of food. ‘Tis the season to indulge?

What do you think? Have you ever felt like this around an abundance of food before? Or am I just thinking about it too much?

Interestingly, Paige wrote some similar thoughts on cruise-ship food at the end of this post – I bet she would love to hear additional feedback! Check her post out.

Comments (16)

By kilax, December 5, 2009 7:33 am

Damn. Vegan “Chicken” and Biscuits make awesome leftovers*. Like, “I can’t stop eating them and am going to turn into a tub-tub, thank goodness that’s the last of them” awesome. Steven’s cooking is so good, I almost always feel like this with his leftovers. We were thinking about making the Vegan “Chicken” and Biscuits for Erin and Jason’s visit tonight, so we tried them out on Wednesday.

Can you spot the biscuit?

Steven followed this recipe for “Chicken” and Dumplings starting at the fourth step. We used biscuits instead of dumplings.

• Saute onion, celery and mushrooms (we added) in margarine until soft
• Add flour, celery salt and pepper to make a thick paste
• Add veggie broth and bring to a boil
• Add carrots, faux chicken and bay leaf (We used a box of Heartline’s “Chicken” Fillet** for the “chicken.”)
• Reduce heat, simmer 20 mins, stirring often
• Pour this awesome soupy mix on your biscuits
• Nom nom nom away, lick plate clean

Steven excitedly told me that the biscuits had a “surprise” ingredient (before I tried one, without the soupy mix). After a lot of guesses (some silly and some serious), Steven gave me a hint that he thought the biscuits tasted like the ones you get at Red Lobster. I immediately knew what the “secret” ingredient was then – Nutritional Yeast. After my last fiasco with it, I was worried about the biscuits, but he was right, they DO taste like the ones at Red Lobster, and they taste great! (Steven used this recipe for the biscuits. He used 1/4 c. nutritional yeast instead of 1/3 c., and for the “1 teaspoon of dried herbs” used 1/2 tsp. garlic then for the other half teaspoon he used a pinch of rosemary, thyme and dill.).

We loved this recipe – especially during this time of year. It’s such a hearty and filling dish! It makes you feel all warm and good inside. And it’s got that creamy thing going on, with a little bit of a soft chewy biscuit. Yum yum. But since we couldn’t come up with good sides (besides green beans), we are making something else for our guests tonight. Ha! At least we tried something new and it turns out we love it. We*** will definitely be making it again. We both said it reminded us of when our mothers made chicken and biscuits. And Steven suggested turning it into a pot pie…

Did you have chicken and biscuits growing up? Do you like the dish? Do you know what the difference between a biscuit and a dumpling is?! If so, please tell me!

*I took them to work on Friday.
**We order this stuff online.
***By now you must know, that by “we” I most likely mean “Steven.”

Comments (22)

By kilax, November 13, 2009 4:45 am

What’s your take on leftovers? Love them? Hate them? Won’t eat them?

Steven and I typically make a few big meals each week, then have the opportunity to enjoy the leftovers as part of lunch, or as dinner on a busy (running) night if we so choose. We eat them hot or cold and rarely throw anything out. Sometimes we (meaning Steven) get creative and the leftovers become an entirely new dish!

I ask this question because I know people who refuse to eat leftovers. And I’m curious. Is it because they get sick of eating the same thing more than once? Is it because they think the food isn’t fresh? Is it because they don’t know how to heat leftovers up to make them taste good (hint: it’s probably not in the microwave*)? Enlighten me.

Of course, leftovers from a restaurant are an entirely different story. Ha! I don’t always make it home with leftovers, i.e., I am a little piggy and eat my entire dish there. I am getting better at that though! And we usually eat those leftovers too. If it’s a restaurant I went to without Steven, I am more likely to just let him finish it, so he can try the dish as well.

*Fun fact – we don’t have a microwave. We never saw a need for one.