Panduh!

Yesterday, as I mentioned before, I went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in DC at the Verizon Center. It turned out to be a good time, except for the leaving part, which I will get to later.

So yea, I get into DC, probably around 3pm. It took me a little over an hour and a half to get there due to crappy traffic. Normally, I don’t drive into downtown DC, but I wanted to park in a garage this time for a couple of reasons – (I normally park in a residential area further out and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my car out there unattended not knowing whether it would be towed or not because I’m not really supposed to park there and two I didn’t know when the concert was going to end and I didn’t want to miss the last metro train). In retrospect, I should’ve just parked where I normally do and I would’ve been fine. At least I know for next time, right?

I did some wandering around since I was there way before the concert started, but I did that on purpose. I always like to have a cushion of time before events/dates/appointments/etc. I am afraid of being late to anything.

I took this while waiting on the train to come. It took forever, it seemed like. I always feel kinda seasick/claustrophobic when I am down on the subway platform. I don’t know why.

I went to Sticky Fingers and got some amazing vegan food. I got a faux tuna melt and a cupcake. I was going to get a carrot cake cupcake, but I noticed the vanilla ones had these cute rainbow sprinkles.

Concert nails. [=

I finally made it back to the concert venue. I got a beer even though I am not supposed to be drinking right now. It didn’t bother my stomach too much, which is good. I just really needed something to help me loosen up so I wouldn’t be all weird and worried about other people. I just wanted to dance and have a good time and not be bothered with anyone else.

The opening act was Sleigh Bells. They came on at 7:30 and put on a half hour set. I was not impressed. I never liked them in the past, and I definitely did not like them live. There was barely anyone in the stands while they were performing. The Peppers came on around ten minutes ’til nine and put on a good show. I danced and had a good time. It wasn’t the best concert I have ever been to, but it was still pretty good.

The show ended at 10:30 and that is when my traumatic experience started. I blame the parking garage that I parked in, which happened to be attached to the Verizon Center. Long story short: a machine ate my money, I panicked, had a hard time finding someone that spoke English so I could find a manager, Nobody wanted to let my car out of my parking spot so I could get out of the garage, The guy in the booth gave me wrong change, my GPS couldn’t get a signal so I was stuck driving in circles downtown DC in the dark, and I had an anxiety attack trying to find my way around due to crappy GPS and it being dark. I was fine once I get on the highway because I knew where I was going then and I was able to calm down a bit.

So at the end of the day, I learned a valuable lesson — never take my car into downtown DC ever again.

Essentially everyday for me is meatless, except for those rare days where I cheat (oops!). I’ve been meaning to share for Meatless Monday for awhile, but I’ve been lazy or either I forget. Or both. I want to show that being vegan or a vegetarian doesn’t have to be bland or boring.

Anyway. Today for dinner, I made Lentils & Brown Rice with a side of Lemon Asparagus. What I like about the lentils & rice combo is that I can add any spices and/or veggies into it to create something different each time. However, everytime I’ve made it, I always spice it up to make it taste like Refried Beans that I used to get at Mexican joints.

Here’s a not so good picture of my asparagus before I put them into the hot oven that turns my kitchen into a fire pit of hell. But yea, I washed and cut the hard parts off and then drizzled with olive oil. Salt. Pepper. Then Lemon Pepper seasoning. FANCY.

There is the finished result. You can’t really see the lentils and rice because I was dumb and forgot to take a picture before I put the Asparagus on top. Its really not anything exciting to look at, just brown mush THAT TASTES LIKE REFRIED BEANS. I probably should’ve picked a more photogenic dish to do for Meatless Monday, but I didn’t. Maybe next week?? Yes? Yes!

I’ll go ahead and share the recipe since I don’t really have too much to say about it other than that is tasty and there wasn’t any leftovers.

Lentils & Brown Rice:

3/4 cup lentils – picked through & drained

3/4 cup brown rice

3 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup water

1.5 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbs onion powder

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt (more or less to taste)

fresh ground pepper

Put everything into a pot, bring to boil, cover and bring down heat to medium-low. Cook for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally. Its done when tender or most of the liquid is absorbed.

For the Asparagus, do what I said I did up above. Put on a baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 5 minutes and under the broiler for 2. The end.

Enjoy!

Gobble Gobble Giggle! I just wanted to say that I am very thankful for my boyfriend and all he does for me. He provides me shelter, food, and lots of love. I had an epiphany a couple of weeks ago and realized that he really does love and care for me. I am forever grateful. I don’t know why I had doubts for so long. I am content.

I am thankful that I am here with him this Thanksgiving and we are celebrating on our own and not having to worry about driving to eight hours to South Carolina or have awkward moments with relatives of any sort. I am cooking our own Thanksgiving meal with faux turkey and all the fixings. This is probably the first Thanksgiving that I won’t be having turkey. I’m actually excited.

Here is the menu I have planned out:

- Mini Tofurky

- Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

- Apple Sage & ‘Sausage’ stuffing

- Green Beans & Shallots

- Three Sisters Stew

- Bicuits

- Pumpkin Cheesecake

Its all going to be vegan (don’t knock it until you try it!) and I’m pretty excited about it. I’m making everything from scratch, pretty much. I’ve got the stew in the crock pot and gonna let it go until its nom nom time.

P.S. I entered in a nifty give away at Vintage Love & Photographs. Ch-ch-ch-check it out.

This past Sunday I went to the first annual Vegtoberfest here in Baltimore. I was pretty excited about it, not gonna lie, mainly for all the yummy food I would get to stuff into my face (especially sweets!).

See that right there? Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake from Vegan Treats. I died. It was absolutely delicious and in my opinion 100% better than the real deal. I wish I would’ve gotten like 30 million things from Vegan Treats because it was just mind blowing. I haven’t eaten real sweets/cake in a few months, so I was pretty excited.

Later, I got a salad from this one place that was amazing. And then I picked up some vegan white chocolate chips to bake with and a Oatmeal Cream Pie from Goody Goody Gumdrops.

I regret not sampling any of the chili from the cook-off. Oh well, there’s always next time.

We only stayed for about an hour before I was ready to go and protect my chocolate chips from the sun. They melted a little before I got them home, but that’s ok. I’m sure they’re still good.

Good day, good day. Even after running all of our typical Sunday errands later that day, which includes going to the grocery store. Worst part of the week. ever.

I forgot to do Music Monday. I didn’t really forget, I was just too busy/lazy doing other things. Next week!