dinner / veggies / compost

i just finished cleaning out the kitchen cupboards... and some things are getting dangerously close to expiration. i typically cook and bake the same things over and over again. if you know me, you know that i make amazing chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon buns, and christmas cookies. i also eat chicken and rice a ridiculous amount of times per month. Usually i just figure oh well, why mess with a good thing.

BUT after spending time with amanda barkey, i am now inspired to cook more unique and healthy meals. actually, i'd love to star in julia and julia and cook through an entire cookbook in a year... however, i can't afford it, it's been done, and i don't have a gym membership. So i'll just start off by using up what's in the cupboards, and hope i get a Jamie Oliver cookbook for Christmas!!!

If you live in the area and want to have a delicious home cooked dinner (i reckon it should be delectable, but who knows)... let me know what sounds good to you and invite yourself over for dinner. Of course donations are accepted to cover the cost of the food, or just bring a side dish.

1. lasagna - either meat or vegetarian

2. veggie homemade pizza (with peppers, olives, pineapple, onions, mozzarella, or any combo)

3. spaghetti marinara (made with whole grain pasta and fresh tomatoes and mushrooms)

4. pasta - with a pesto sauce, feta, roasted pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted pine-nuts, and roasted squash

5. arabic chicken (chicken made with arabic spices), rice, and yogurt

I want to be a vegetarian.

I want to give up steak, chicken, and burgers. I love tofu. I picked up the Vegetarian Starter Kit when i was out in seattle. Sidenote: Seattle is a wonderful city where composting is mandatory. more on composting later. Anyways after reading through this pamphlet put out by PETA, I don't want to like meat. I am disgusted that "Farmed animals today are sick -- these are sick and diseased chickens, pigs, fish and cows, producing diseased and bacteria-laden flesh and pus-filled milk that even industry standards call 'unhealthful.'" Michael Greger, M.D. I thought that chickens were treated the worst (they are genetically manipulated and dosed with antibiotics to make them grow so large so quickly that they become crippled under their own weight, their legs are broken when they are shoved into transport trucks without food or water, their beaks are cut of without painkillers so that they don't peck at each other and ammonia levels are so high in chicken farms that the corrosive substance burns the bird's lungs and skin), but cows, pigs, and fish are equally as mistreated. Cows often die of pneumonia, dehydration, or heat exhaustion while being transported without food or water. Pigs have their teeth cut off with wire cutters without receiving any pain relief. 1/4 of pigs suffer from mange (due to the accumulation of filth, feces, and urine in their sheds). Thankfully I live in Arabland where eating pork isn't really an option. And fish? when their dragged from the bottom of the sea, they undergo excruciating decompression - often their swimbladders rupture, their eyes pop out, and their stomachs push through their mouths. I lived with Rocket for 2 years and hardly ate meat. And i didn't really miss it.

I want to be a vegetarian.

so composting... it's illegal not to compost in seattle. BUT most people don't have yards or gardens. So what's the point of composting? ? won't the food naturally compost in the landfills? I have a yard -- full of sand and desert plants. I've started composting my kitchen waste and am encouraging my villa mates to do the same. I need to get a proper composting container... I know i'm late, most people have composted for years. (though in my defense, i did separate my rubbish in korea into 14 different bins...) I need encouragement, why do city people compost and how?