I am no talented chef. Just ask my husband.

He didn’t marry me for my cooking, he married me because I was fun and perhaps a little dangerous. I am getting less dangerous, but for some reason I am cooking more. Well, that can be dangerous at times. Anyway, we don’t eat meat in our house. I eat fish occasionally when we’re out. (They call me a pescetarian.)

But we do like to eat, and we aren’t vegans. We love cheese and we like a plate that looks full, with a nice presentation. I really like Top Chef and Gordon Ramsay. We like Indian food and Mexican food and Chinese and Japanese food — I LOVE Japanese food. But it’s hard to find really good quick recipes for vegetarians.

So, I’m very grateful for the number of faux meat products that have come out over the past couple of decades. Things have gotten easier. Now I can take a normal omnivorous recipe and swap out ‘chicken’ or ‘beef’ in the directions and voila, I’ve got real food, perhaps a favorite family flavor like ‘beef’ stroganoff, for me and my man, and there’s no flesh on the plate.

Cooking times definitely need to be adjusted — these items are fairly ready to eat out of the package — and extra seasoning does need to take place. But these mean that we can enjoy a variety of textures besides block tofu, and the convenience that the rest of our society enjoys in the freezer section. Plus, we can enjoy cookouts like the rest of our friends when summer comes around. (Tofu blocks do NOT grill well.)

All that said, here are my top ten meatless convenience foods. I hope this is helpful to some of you just venturing into vegetarian life, or into Meatless Mondays. It’s a great healthy way to live.

1. Morningstar Farms breakfast sausage
2. Morningstar Farms bacon
3. Yves Veggie Cuisine hot dogs
4. Morningstar Farms Grillers Prime – our favorite veggie burger
5. Quorn Chik’n cutlets – to do with as you please
6. Lightlife Smart Ground (for tacos!)
7. Seitan – for stir fry or stroganoff
8. Baked tofu – firmer, more flavorful than the white blocks
9. Morningstar Farms Sausage Style recipe crumbles – great for casseroles & lasagna
10. Boca Chik’n patties – for a quick sandwich or as chicken parmesan

Now it’s been two weeks since I planted my seeds in my indoor light box, and I am pretty darn impressed with me! Check out these sprouts!

This is a close-up look at a cucumber sprout, it blows my mind how much progress these sprouts make in a day. Look at how these tiny little guys can carry a load of dirt with them as they push out of the ground. I am mystified!

I am still waiting for the green peppers to sprout, but they are supposed to be on a bit longer schedule. Importantly, we have jalepeño sprouts, which will keep my hubby happy. The outdoor garden is prepped for transplanting, so some of these plants may be moving outside tomorrow. I’ve already planted some carrots and lettuce outside, and I refilled the bird feeder with some small hope that it will distract the birds and squirrels from my garden. Ha!

Looking forward to hearing your gardening stories here or on Twitter!

ALSO SEE: How will my garden grow? • Germination!

I’m happy to report that after one week, we have germination of both cucumber and tomato seeds!

The tomatoes are sure to be carried away by my squirrel friends if I plant them all outside, but my husband has suggested that we try growing them indoor all summer. If this experiment continues to work well, I may try growing them both indoors and out.

I’ll keep you posted!

ALSO SEE: How will my garden grow?

I’ve skipped growing vegetables for a couple of years for no good reason *lazy* and last year I got some rather loud complaints that our fresh jalapeños were missing. Many of the tomatoes and cucumbers went missing even in the years I maintained a garden, thanks to the squirrels. But the jalapeños are safe from the woodland critters, because our Northern Virginia critters apparently do not like the spicy food we do.

So, here I go again. We need jalapeños! I found a great book at a holiday book sale this year — The Veggie Gardener’s Answer Book by Barbara Ellis — and I’ve been reading it through all our snowstorms to keep me thinking spring. In addition, I’ve been catching up on a great TV show, Weeds, which inspired me to get started on seedlings with an indoor light box.

The photo is of my indoor seedling starter setup. I’m starting cherry tomatoes, jalapeños, peppers and cucumbers in the light box. More to come when I move the seedlings outside after the frost. I invested about $15 in seeds from Whole Foods and $3 in some topsoil, which I mixed with some leftover soil I had in the pots you see here. The frame is an old aquarium, which is providing both the primary light and the timer, not to mention protection from my cats during the day. Wish me luck!

Are you planting this spring?

It’s been nearly a week of snow, snow and more snow. The Washington, D.C. area set records for snowfall and for consecutive days of the Federal government and the D.C. government being closed. My husband and I set records for consecutive days of talking to no one else except each other. How did we survive? Well, the Internet helped a lot. And my husband’s unbelievably huge DVD collection. And the fact that we only lost power for two and a half hours. But there were some other key things that I was really very glad we had with us, and I’d like to make a note to keep this stuff on hand, just in case disaster strikes.

• iPhone – I did not have to worry about whether we had power or not to check Twitter, e-mail and news websites thanks to my iPhone. Oh, and I could post photos of our deep snow to Facebook easily, too. It charges fast and keeps its charge. I’ve got a solar charger, too.
• Battery-operated radio - The radio offers updated information and music. In a power outage, sometimes you just need some tunes to keep you sane. Be sure to keep batteries on hand.
• Dry goods and canned foods - Fresh veggies are the best when you can get them, but when you can’t get out, it is a huge relief to have a good stash of things that are easy to make by just adding water, or by just heating them up. Stuff like ramen noodles, instant soup, canned soup and vegetables, as well as pasta and rice all keep well without refrigeration for long periods.
• LED nightlights that convert to flashlights when the power goes out or a circuit breaker trips. These are very low-energy and we keep one in every room, so when the power went out, these went on. They’re not super powerful, but they are enough to help you find what you need, like the other members of your family.
• Heavy-duty flashlight or camping lantern – It’s useful to have something like this to light up an entire room that isn’t a candle. Because candles are, well, flammable, and dangerous, especially around pets and children.
• Long-burning fireplace logs – If you have a fireplace — which I definitely recommend if you are going to experience a power outage in the cold — stashing a six-pack of these long-burning logs in your basement won’t keep your house toasty, but it will give you some light and comfort with much less work and ash than a wood fire.
• Water filter – Rather than a case of bottled water, which has an expiration date and creates plastic waste, we have chosen a large filter for our refrigerator. This works just fine for two or three people. Larger family groups may want to consider an extra filter or storing one or two large bottles of water for emergencies.
• Candles – Rather than candlesticks, if you have pillar candles or tall votives, these will be much easier to move around your house and safer to leave burning for a length of time. Be sure that you don’t leave any candle burning near drapes or on a tablecloth: use heat-resistant plates to catch any drippings. And never leave a flame unattended.
• Gas stove – This is a long-term decision, along with having a fireplace. Those of us with gas stovetops were able to warm up soup or make pancakes for breakfast even when the electricity went out.
• Matches – Most of our gas stoves have electric lighters now. So without matches or a lighter on hand, our gas stoves, fireplaces and candles would all be useless. Matches are much less popular these days as smoking is being phased out, so be sure you have a handy box of kitchen matches on hand, as well as a long barbeque lighter for those hard-to-get-at places.

P.S. Here’s a great recipe that is a tasty way to use your canned beans. Black & White Bean Primavera Salad

Got some other ideas? Please comment to share the wealth!

The first year I had my own apartment, I cooked a turkey for my family. It was a moment of pride and bonding. Since then, I became a vegetarian, (okay, a pescetarian) and Thanksgiving Day is still a bonding day for my family, but the menu is always a bit of a struggle.

My sister has married and has two children. Her husband has his own traditions — from another continent — and their children, still under five years old, are as picky as kids will be. I married a vegetarian, and the only meat I eat is fish. But to us the most important part of the Thanksgiving tradition is togetherness, so we’ve worked out ways to let everyone eat at the same table and be fed well. Our typical menu includes:

• turkey for 4-6 with brown gravy
• meatless turkey with vegetarian brown gravy
• 2 dishes of bread stuffing: one made with turkey juices, one made meat-free with vegetable broth
• 2 types of cranberry sauce: one with berries, one just jellied
• candied sweet potatoes: now sans marshmallows, (they contain gelatin, which isn’t vegetarian)
• green-bean casserole
• rolls
• home-made apple pie for dessert

I am in charge of the vegetarian dishes, although Mom has gotten lots better at these. And outside of this meal, of course, we have to come up with vegetarian and carnivore-friendly meals for the rest of the time everyone is together.

Some of the big hits have been:

• top-your-own baked potatoes with broccoli, cheese, sour cream and vegetarian Bac-os and/or vegetarian chili
• BLTs with vegetarian and regular bacon varieties available
• ravioli stuffed with butternut squash, spinach or mushrooms
• homemade pizza
• bagels, waffles, pancakes

See, it’s easy to get along with everyone at Thanksgiving. You just might need a bigger table. If you’ve had some other shared successes with your family of mixed lifestyles, please share your ideas in the comments. And Happy Thanksgiving!

The four corners of Wisconsin and M Street Northwest in Washington, DC have gone through a lot of changes in the last twenty years. But Nathans Restaurant of Georgetown has been the same for 40 years.

Twenty years ago, I was a waitress there on weekends with my roommate Mary. Just for brunches, because to be a waiter at dinner at Nathans, Mr. Joynt required waiters to have real experience, and I was just a college girl, and this was my first restaurant job. Nevertheless, during my brunch service, I got to wait on Walter Cronkite and Donna Shalala. Nathans was the place.

Not only that, I learned about wine waiting tables at Nathans. They had over 100 pages in their wine list at the time, and when I started working there, I only knew red or white. When I finally got a ‘real’ job, I knew the difference between Cabernet and Merlot, and I could open a bottle of wine with a wine key. I also learned how to make a really good Bloody Mary.

So besides just appreciating the familiarity of Nathans in Georgetown, I’ve had a special place in my heart for the bar/restaurant.  I was understandably disturbed to hear earlier this year that Carol Joynt, who inherited management when her husband passed away, was having difficulty keeping the place running. I’m even sadder to hear that she’s finally announced she’s closing it July 12.

But running one’s own business is a choice one makes very carefully, and Mr. J made that choice for himself. Carol didn’t choose to run a restaurant, she was thrown into it. From what I’ve read on her blog, she’s done her very best to keep Nathans afloat.

I’m very glad I managed to schedule my most recent birthday brunch at Nathans, for old time’s sake, and we had a great time. So sorry we won’t be able to do it again. Nathans will be missed!