Four Fun Facts & Further Falafel

My title might not make much sense, but I had to go for it with the alliteration!

The fantastical Jenny of Vegan And So Forth tagged me with Four Fun Facts.  If you haven't clicked on her in my blog roll yet, please go ahead and do it.  You'll love everything about her and her adorable family.

So here we go!

Four TV Shows I Watch:

I don't watch much current TV, so I would have to take it to the DVD's/Netflix and say:

1.  Star Trek (original series & Next Gen)
2.  Real Time With Bill Maher
3.  True Blood
4.  Sketch comedy (Kids in the Hall, Monty Python, Mr. Show)

Four Things I'm Passionate About:

This is pretty tough to narrow down, because I think I'm a pretty passionate person; annoyingly so, in fact.  My friends are nodding right now...

1.  Veganism......of course!
2.  Traveling, especially to Hawaii or to explore a city I haven't visited yet (I've been to 47 states).
3.  Reading and writing, and Shakespeare
4. Music (listening to it, playing it, singing it, writing it, everything about it)

Four Words/Phrase I Use Too Much 

I had to consult John, and he couldn't think of anything.  I'm usually pretty conscientious about not overusing phrases, but if I fall into any traps, they would be:

1.  In my opinion
2.  Pretty Cool
3.  So.....
4.  Really?

Four Things I've Learned From The Past

1.  Be aware that some people will mistake your kindness for weakness.  Don't expect it from everyone, but understand how to interpret the signs and assert yourself so that you don't get lost.

2.  Most of the time, no one is really thinking about your mistakes as much as you are.  They are too wrapped up in their own.

3.  99% of the things on your to-do list are completely unimportant in comparison to sitting quietly with someone you love and feeling the sun on your face.

4.  The only thing that can stop you from living the life you want to live is you.  If you allow yourself to give up some of that control, you will slowly but surely coast onto the path you were meant to walk.

Four Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1.  SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2.  Vacation - even just the planning part, which often ends up being just as much fun as the trip itself
3.  Visiting my family in Mississippi this spring/summer
4.  Working on a new video production project with John

Four Things I Love About Winter


Wow, this is just a cruel and unusual question at the moment, considering the possible foot of snow headed toward me, that will be landing on what's already stacked up.


1.  It ends?  Maybe????????
2.  Christmas & my birthday
3.  Winter clothes, I like sweaters much more than t-shirts
4.  Vegan hot cocoa

So (Really?) I will be tagging a couple of other folks who I have been fortunate enough to meet since I started this blog a mere 24 days ago, who have been really supportive and friendly commenters on my blog:  Melody and Laloofah.  Ladies, in my opinion, you are pretty cool.

In other news, I wanted to let you know that I tried the falafel sandwich at Firewood Cafe, a new little restaurant that's only a few blocks from my house.  We were helping some friends move and needed to grab a quick lunch.  Instead of stopping and grabbing a horrendously overpriced sandwich to go from the local health food store, we decided to pop in and compare the Firewood's falafel to some of the others in town.  This restaurant is just getting started, but if their falafel sandwich is any indication, they should be in good shape.  The sandwich is not on the menu (the falafel mentioned is a salad), but they didn't bat an eye when I asked for it.  It's almost like a salad rolled up in a pita, because there's a ton of lettuce involved.  I found that to be a positive, since it was so crisp and fresh.  There's also red onion and tahini sauce, which is nicely not overpowering, as it can often be when people glop it on haphazardly.  The price is very nice, at less than $20 for two of us to have a sandwich, chips, and a soda.  At the moment, their drink and side selection is limited, but we were told that other options are on the way soon, including fries and a BYOB option.

I promise there is some falafel hiding in there somewhere!

This is only half of the sandwich, as I hoovered down the first half instantaneously.  Hey, we were helping people move!  Lots of stairs!  Heavy stuff!  10 degrees out!  Hahaha. Seriously though, totally recommended for an inexpensive, filling meal on a weekend afternoon.  Try it out!

A Simple Food Day

Last night we decided we would go to an early show of "True Grit" today.  Yesterday I had made tofu scramble and home fries for breakfast, so today, I went the other direction and made Maple Pecan Waffles out of the book 1000 Vegan Recipes.  It was only my second time using the waffle iron I got on black Friday, and they turned out great.  I undercooked a couple to freeze and then toast later.  Hopefully that will work out.

We went to the movie around 1.  It was pretty good.  Not our favorite Coen brothers thing ever, but I think most of the time, their movies have to grow on me.  The only exceptions were "Blood Simple" and "Raising Arizona," both of which I loved immediately.  There was some good acting, especially Matt Damon, who I am liking more as he gets older.  I can't say I have been much of a fan up until this year.  

When we got home, we were both starving and I had a headache, so it was very important to make something quick and easy.  I bought some gigantic tortillas the other day, thinking of making big ol' burritos a la Moe's or Chipotle, and I noticed I also had some cheddar-style Daiya (for you non-vegans, Daiya is the new vegan wonder-cheeze; I'll post more about it another time).  So quesadillas seemed like a good idea.  I sauteed up some mushrooms & onions and included them so I could say I had some veggies today.

I served these up with some salsa and Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream.  They were great!  I think next time I probably would add a bell pepper and some extra heat from red pepper flakes or cayenne, but this was a great meal to eat in a pinch.

Hooray for finger food!

We spent the rest of the afternoon listening to some records we scored at Newbury Comics Norwood yesterday, using John's Christmas gift card.  We got 9 records for $9, most of which were in decent shape!  Some other stuff that was more expensive too, but it was worth it.  It's supposed to be a bit snowy tonight, so I am going to go make barbecue tofu and mashed potatoes, maybe with some spinach or broccoli so I will have eaten something green today, and then try to go to bed so I am rested for tomorrow.  Tomorrow at 10:06 AM CST, I will turn 33!  So we have some birthday plans in store, including a trip to New Hampshire to try a vegan restaurant we haven't been to yet.  Excited!