pierogies!

Yesterday I once again had a crazy craving for pierogies, and thanks to my vegan friend Nicole's awesome blog, I was given the means and the drive to make them. As soon as I saw how easy it could be, I headed over to Whole Foods where I purchased potatoes, apple sauce, vegan sour cream, which were the only three ingredients I lacked. I couldn't find the wrappers that Nicole used, so I had to make my own dough which was modified from epicurious. I used too big of a template to cut the dough and mine were huge, but they were really delicious. I'll try to post a picture later today.

Pierogies!

Dough

3 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading
1 cup water
1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 2 tbsp warm water)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt

Put flour in a large shallow bowl and make a well in center. In a separate bowl, beat water, egg, oil, and salt. Pour mix into the center of the flour and stir with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating flour, until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes (dough will be very soft). Invert a bowl over dough and let stand at room temperature ~1 hour.


Filling:

1.5 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/4 cup margarine
2-3 Tbsp. soymilkttt
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp. pepper, or to taste


Peel and chop the potatoes. Bring a pot of water to boil and boil potatoes until they can easily be pierced with a fork. While they are boiling, saute chopped onion with margarine, be careful not to burn. When potatoes are done, drain the water from the saucepan, add the sauteed onion, with the margarine and all liquid in the pan, to the potatoes. Add the soymilk, salt and pepper and mash.

Roll dough out until it is about 1/4 of an inch thick. Use a cup with a small opening or another small round object to cut out circles. Roll each of those circles out until they are reasonably thin. You want to shoot for a 3-4 inch diameter circle.

Fill a small bowl with warm water. To make the pierogies, lay out one dough circle, add a heaping spoonfull of your filling of choice. Wet your fingers with the warm water and use them to wet the inside edges of the dough. Fold the dough over to make a half-moon shape and press down with a fork or fingers to seal. Repeat until all the dough is used up. You can freeze the extras.

In a large sauce pan bring water to a rolling boil. Carefully lower about 6 pierogies at a time into the water and boil until they float, about 3 minutes. When done, dry them briefly and then fry them quickly in canola oil so they brown on the outside.

Voila






Oh, and BTW, we're back together.

final product

cutting my hair

It's time for a change. I'm getting it professionally cut on Tuesday, but I did this today so that I'd HAVE to go through with it on Tuesday.

It's over.

Where do you go with your broken heart in tow
What do you do with the left over you
And how do you know, when to let go
Where does the good go, where does the good go
Look me in the eye and tell me you don't find me attractive
Look me in the heart and tell me you won't go
Look me in the eye and promise no love's like our love
Look me in the heart and unbreak broken, it won't happen
It's love that leaves and breaks the seal of always thinking you would be
Real happy and healthy, strong and calm, where does the good go
Where does the good go
Where do you go when you're in love and the world knows
How do you live so happily while I am sad and broken down
What do you say it's up for grabs now that you're on your way down
Where does the good go, where does the good go.
(Tegan and Sara- Where does the good go)

resolve

I'm back after a long hiatus. Dating a non-vegan has meant that I haven't been cooking much because I don't know how/don't want to cook meat, and he wants it. That means we eat out a lot, and my body is REALLY unhappy with that. I feel gross because I know that everything I'm consuming is loaded with fat and salt, and I've decided I can't live like this. I reminded myself today that I love to cook and live vegan, and I've resolved to make my diet a priority once again. No more meals out. No more compromising on what I know is good for me. Which means more whole foods. More healthy options. On this week's menu we have: coconut BLTs, tacos (boring, but so yummy), broccoli pesto quinoa, real fresh pesto pizza with tomatoes and kale (and maybe egg plant), and as always lots of kale and watercress salad yummyness. I'm packing myself snacks too like I did last semester so that I'm not tempted to get a cupcake as a snack. I will also be going back to eating fruit for breakfast and hitting the gym/the street before heading to work. No more excuses.

I'm ordering myself copies of Skinny Bitch and The China Study so that I can remind myself why I'm doing this. I'm going to watch Dr. Neal Barnards lectures again, too. It's easy to forget that I'm doing what's best for my body when the people closest to me make me question the validity of my choice. This is the healthiest thing, and I will keep it up.