Finals Week & Stir Fry

Well I'm not going to lie, thank whatever gods there may be that it is the end of the semester! I mean who DOESN'T want to be done with University!? Although it's not over till it's over! Two finals to go and a Term paper. So what am I doing at 2:30am during finals week when I should be studying and or writing my Term Paper?

Blogging of course! Because It's less stressful than writing 12 pages of GRAH. Yes GRAH the new form of hell that professors like to toss on to you when they don't explain what they want in their long papers. 

ANYWAY, besides procrastinating and crafting (I think I'm going to do a mini blog post on my crazy crafting I've been doing to spruce up my living space in the tiny apartment.) I've been cooking! Now I've also been eating a lot of take-out.... and my stomach has been rebelling from it all. I'm back to late night yoga to make my body feel not like it wants to destroy itself. (Late night yoga is amazing by the way)

So a really simple but yummy dinner is Stir Fry! 

 I like how everything fits nice and handy into the Wok!

That's thin sliced ribeye! In my opinion the best stir fry meat.

 Ok so you don't have to use this but its AMAZING. It's Korean BBQ sauce for beef called Bulgogi, I got it at a store back home called H-Mart.

 We had this strange rice that you boil in a bag... Personally I want normal rice in a pot but beggars can't be choosers I suppose. 

 This is my super fancy Wok I bought from Williams-Sonoma, I didn't buy the cover for it and I need to go back and pick it up. Whoops.

 Start by browning the meat first in the Wok with a little of the sauce as a marinade.

 Thin sliced carrots, Bean sprouts, broccoli and snow peas.

 The broccoli will take the longest so toss it in first and then the carrots and then the snow peas.

 Add more sauce to the mix!

 When the rice is done we drained the bags and poured them into a bowl. Then I tought the boy how to fluff rice. 

 The last thing I put in was the bean sprouts, they cook quickly and no one wants them to be cooked the death. 

 Mmmmmm It's finished! Remember a slotted spoon!

 Table set for three and the girl and the boy about to dig in before I can take photos. (I stopped them)

 Now the RIGHT way to do this is the rice on the bottom and the stir fry on top, then you pour extra sauce over it so it seeps into the rice. This is non negotiable people. (not really)

Delicious! Easy! And completely GONE!

Well back to trying to work on my term paper. I hope you enjoyed this quick break (because I did) 

Remember, don't stress out (Like I did today at some people when I couldn't get a moment of silence to work on my term paper.) It's just not worth it and nothing good comes from it. DO stress out when you run out of soy milk at 10pm and run to the store! Then drink from the carton like a boss... (You don't have to but it made me happy... So sue me I'm the only one who drinks it in my apartment!)

Songs of the Meal: Snow Patrol's: Shut Your Eyes, and Give Me Strength

My new thing is Pandora The greatest thing... ever? Seriously I hate radio but this is personalized and I love it. I get to listen to all of my country music! (You didn't read that) 

By the way would anyone want to lend me $6000? 

This is Sweetie, the reigning horse I practice on at my stable, and the Jerk (My friend that helps to run the stable and owns her) is selling her... and I want her... REALL BAD. 

I'll cook for money!

Oddly enough thats the exact price the boyfriend payed for his car... *Weighs car against horse* 

I feel like I'd more use out of the horse...Sad but true!

Ha ha ha!

ANYWAY, do yoga, drink soy milk and read my blog, but not at the same time! (It ends badly I swear)

Turkey Time!

Well this post has been a while in the making, mostly because of my broken wrist and then forgetting my camera when I went home for the holiday. So I'm posting it now! Because its 3am and I can't sleep so why not blog?

This was a 20 Pound Organic Local Heritage Turkey. This thing was MASSIVE and brown instead of white. It was also wider than a normal turkey with way bigger legs. The boyfriend and I drove about an hour out to a little place called Vernon to Sweet Grass Farms. Got a bit lost but we made it! It's a great little farm and was well worth the drive.

So for this potluck thanksgiving with all my friends I took charge of the turkey and to tofurkey. Now for those who scoff at that word I promise you it's amazing. (At least my version) We had about 5 Vegetarians and Vegans so how could I exclude them!? It looks funny I will admit... REALLY funny but it tasted amazing and thats what counts.

So onto the main course! (See what I did there?) <-- It's past 3 am just let it happen.

Roomate: Rach there a turkey in our room...?

Me: YUP

 It's a big one people.

 That's an extra large pan there. It didn't fit the roaster that my boyfriend's mother lent me, so I used that for the tofurkey and had to buy this. 

Don't use the packet with it! It's a lie! There are WAY better ways to cook this deliciously.  

 I don't recommend the gravy it's flat out terrible. Sorry. I made my own and regret buying this.

 So you can start this part the day before. I made rosemary, maple butter. (OMG IT SMELLED AMAZING.) 

 Just let 2 sticks sit out and use about a 1/4th cup rosemary to to taste and a 1/4th cup REAL maple syrup. Not that aunt jemima crap.

 

 Yes, it came with all the body parts. You can make some seriously yummy giblet gravy with these. Plus turkey liver is yummy. ( I know I'm weird, most people just ignore it.)

 I smother this turkey in the butter, I also took pieces and rubbed it under the skin and put chunks under there so it would be self basting. 

 Don't forget some basic salt and pepper. I also put some chopped sweet potatoes in and around the turkey and some turkey stock in the bottom of the pan. Heritage turkeys bake at higher temperatures for a shorter amount of time. 425 for only a couple of hours. 

Giblet gravy is beyond easy. Pour some turkey ( or chicken) stock into your pot of turkey giblets (photo above) Toss in half an onion, a few smashed pieces of garlic, some salt, pepper and a copped up carrot and a stalk of celery. Let simmer for a couple of hours while the turkey cooks. 

NOW, onto the tofurkey. I told you it looks funny!

I put some wedged butter potatoes, carrots and onions with a few smashed pieces of garlic around it for the baking process. 

Now this is a bit of a strange combo but I swear it's yummy. 

3 simple ingredients. Red wine (SHHHHH), olive oil and apricot jam.

I put the whole jar of apricots in there and eyeballed lets say two cups red wine and maybe half a cup to a cup of olive oil. The key to this is tasting as you go. 

Let simmer for half an hour and then pour over the tofurkey. Bake tofurkey 

It's time to tent the turkey, and use parchment paper with heritage turkeys! Its essential. 

How amazing does that bird look?

It smelled amazing too. Don't worry if it looks dark in those spots, its because I poured some of that yummy NY maple syrup over it to caramelize on the skin. 

I still had a broken wrist so it was up to the boys to take this hefty bird out of the oven!

And this is what happens when you invite 19 people to a potluck. AMAZINGNESS

I got to carve the turkey! Took some time with the broken wrist but it was worth it!

The tofurkey just smelled amazing with the apricot-red wine reduction!

Fresh bread from Wegmans! and Salad cause we are greenies.

There is even a dessert table! See those pies at the end? Made from scratch by the rainbow haired kid you are about to see in a photo below. Phenomenal. 

Omgosh so many people!

A mishmash of plates, cups and silverware erupted to make sure everyone had something. 

o_0 More kept arriving.

And like true hungry college students we ate. 

Just a sample of my plate. 

After the food it was lazy coma hang around time. 

And still people picked because all that food was there. 

This guy is the pie guy! (Thats how I will refer to him) And he is in a food coma. 

I think I woke the boy up?!

The boyfriend and the pie guy have a bromance nap.

Boyfriend deciding if he should/is physically able to eat more.

Told you the Tofurkey was a hit. Demolished. I'll make this again for sure. 

Most of the food was eaten.

Look it's the girl! 

Photo shy shenanigans. 

Who wants to move after all that food, Not this girl!

The sad and triumphed remains of a once amazing 20 pound turkey.

So all in all this was a complete success. Everyone brought food, took food and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I'm glad I was able to create this whole event. Because the truth is that being around all of your friends while eating a ton of good food and having a loud fun time is priceless. 

By the way we had SO many people that we had to do this whole thing in the downstairs conference room and still we had to push some tables together! Good times!

Songs of this meal: Camouflage, By: Bran Paisley & Rain Is A Good Thing, By: Luke Bryan

On a few side notes: The cast is off! Hello right hand! I missed you so! Today is 1 month+N with my boyfriend. N being the month we dated before hand. Our anniversary is a math equation... Only at ESF. 

Ha ha anyway its almost 4:30am so let me say I hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day/ Holiday and a fun NOT MACED black friday! (I did! Got all my holiday shopping done!)

A big project is coming up soon so stay tuned, fight off the zombie horde and read my blog!

Sorry about the spelling >.< Its late! 

PEACE OUT