How do you like my new website header!? Snazzy, huh? I made it with my Microsoft Paint skills! I can also do bold and italic font on my MySpace page.

Did you hear that Red Velvet Cafe closed down one of their locations last week? Must be fallout from the Dirty Dining story plus cookie calorie scandal that I mentioned a couple posts ago. I wonder if they’ll close more locations or end up addressing the stories? I haven’t visited lately (it’s been painful) but I’d totally go back if they were just up front about everything. Like a clean slate, ya know?

Today was my girlfriend’s son’s 4th bday pool party and it was super fun plus I learned a lot of things:

1. There’s such thing as a swim diaper – it keeps water out but keeps the #2 in! I am beyond grateful to whoever invented this.
2. It’s ok for pregnant chicks in bikinis to drink Coors Light.
3. Sometimes 4 year olds like to motorboat their moms.
4. It’s always a good idea to take photos of 4 year olds motorboating their moms for future blackmail.

Happy birthday, Jameson! You’re my favorite 4 year old named after alcohol, xoxo

Tomorrow is already Sunday and I’m starting to feel conflicted about Sunday nights – on the one hand, it’s a bummer because it means the weekend is over, but on the other hand there’s Dexter, True Blood and Ray Donovan and it’s hard not to get excited about those! Also, Liev Schreiber looks like a really serious chipmunk. Serious and full.

I got a request for some Asian-inspired vegan dishes, since I have yet to do one on the blog. I love suggestions so keep ’em coming!

Vegetable Fried Quinoa

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Makes: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry quinoa
• 2 cups vegetable broth (optional, for cooking the quinoa)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 medium onion (any color), chopped
• 1/2 cup shelled edamame (frozen or fresh)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup cabbage (any color), chopped
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 2-3 tsp tamari, shoyu or soy sauce
• 1 tsp Sriracha or hot sauce
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt

Directions:

1. Cook your quinoa according to package directions using the vegetable broth or water.
2. In a large pan (or wok if you actually have one, which is awesome), warm your cooking oil then add the ginger and onion, saute for 3-5 minutes or until the onion is translucent.
3. Add your edamame, red bell pepper, mushrooms, cabbage and broccoli and continue to saute another 3-5 minutes.
4. Add your cooked quinoa to the pan, stir in the tamari/shoyu/soy sayce, ground ginger, garlic salt and Sriracha and continue to saute another 2-3 minutes.
5. Finally, stir in the cashews and green onions.
6. Give it a taste and adjust seasonings accordingly (I like mine really spicy and ginger-y). Serve immediately as an entree or side dish!