Sugar Cane Drink

I was going to blog about an omelette that I made, but it was definitely not photogenic.

So. I will just say that it tasted really good and blocked out the characteristic Boca burger taste. I am never going to buy Boca burgers again. I don't get why I used to like them. They are so dry, and have that weird characteristic taste... Erg... well I only have two left.

TVP is way better.

Anyway, instead, I'm going to talk about this sugar cane drink that my mum bought for my sister, but she dislikes it. So... it wasn't worth 80 Cals of pure sugar, in my opinion. This is why:

1. I've had legit fresh-out-of-the-press [yeah, literally, a sugar cane press] sugar cane juice before, at ParknShop in HK. That stuff is REAL; it's not as sweet, has that sugar cane flavour [no, sugar cane juice is NOT the same as sugar syrup], and almost tastes a tad sour, in a refreshing way. I actually can't describe it.

2. The first ingredient in this juice is water. Great. It's not even concentrated. Then it's sugar. What happened to actual smooshed sugar cane? I am aware that apple juice is basically sugars and water... but you list apple juice as "apple juice" not "water, sugar, apple essence". Well, to be fair, there is pretty much no where else to get this stuff in the U.S., so I suppose if I had an emotional attachment to sugar cane juice, I'd probably enjoy it more.

Here is a picture. An "artistic" statement. Trashed...Should've bin in a bin [ha.ha.ha.]

CHILI SIN CARNE!

CHILI sans la viande - without animal pieces...instead, there are roman beans and lima beans and TVP and pickles and artichokes and tomato and parmesan and onion and crushed up tortilla chips [the leftovers].

A.k.a., awesome-everything-I-love-chili!

In fact, this chili even looks better than these here! YAY! This is just to prove to my brother that my plating, in fact, is not substandard [I've never really liked the idea of plating though, because it makes food appear more as an ornament than as a food].

Onions, artichokes, pickles, getting "gently browned"

Rehydrated TVP with dried chili and tomato paste marinade.

Adding the lima beans!

Ingredients:

1. A LOT of water. Keep adding cups of water throughout the.... 3-4 hours it takes to cook. I was initially going to make tomato/chili soup but that would mean that I used twice the amount of water. Which would've required a larger pot. Which I do not possess.

2. Lots of tomato paste!

3. Garlic

4. Onions! LOTS!

5. Pickles

6. Artichokes in oil - we have a jar of them. I don't know why, since no one in the family except for me and my brother has actually ever heard of the term "artichoke" before. I don't know who bought these... just that they've been sitting in the fridge for a while. Well, at least it covers the "oil" part of the chili.

7. Two cups of Roman beans. Soak these for a few hours. They take AGES to cook.

8. Half a cup of lima beans. They swell TREMENDOUSLY when soaked for a few hours. Literally 2.3 times their original sizes.

9. Half a cup of dried TVP, mixed with two cups of water and one scoop of tomato paste and two packets of dried chili. This way, the flavour gets "infused". Supposedly.

10. One cut up Boca burger since I dislike eating them grilled.

11. Leftover tortilla chips with the salt at the bottom.

12. Herbs - oregano, basil.

13. Quinoa, just because.

Method:

Cook everything on low heat for a few hours in a giant pot. Cook for an hour, turn off the heat, and go to XC practice for three hours. Come back later at around 9:30pm and continue letting the stuff simmer on low heat, adding water every now and then. When the roman beans are done, the chili is ready. The roman beans determine the cooking time!!

I wonder who else makes chili at 10:41 pm.

I ended up with a lot of chili. Look at that! Three boxes of chili. BUT IT'S AWESOME BECAUSE I LOVE CHILI!

The last time I made chili was the first day of school last September. It wasn't as great as this one. This one is "awesome-sauce"ly thick and beany and protein-filled! And it DOES NOT taste bland... for those of you who think vegetarian stuff is "rabbit food". It is NOT.

Peanut Potatoes and...

...My dad's garden.
My dad used to live on a farm, with his parents and seven siblings. No kidding. His eldest sibling has kids who have kids, who are older than I am, and a bunch of my relatives still live on the same farm. Actually, the government wants to demolish the farms and build random housing there, which not only messes up a whole culture, but also displaces my dad's "roots". He is quite proud of his roots, actually. From Farm to Pharm [Pharmaceuticals]. Needless to say, if his family didn't know how to farm or garden, they'd be pretty darn hungry [and that's an understatement].
So, when we moved here, my dad wanted to buy a house with a huge garden. Luckily for us, we found a house that was CLOSE TO THE SCHOOL, and had already had raspberries and garlic etc. growing in the backyard, because the previous owners also loved to garden.
This year, among the typical Chinese vegetables, there are also mini potatoes and green beans. Actually, I think that they're runner beans, but I'm not really sure. Flat green beans, maybe? So, I decided to take a picture of my dinner today :). The stuff that looks like minced cow pieces is actually TVP with cheese and seasoning. I made it a while ago [yay for freezers!] but I never had to chance to update about it.My sister stated that the smallest potatoes looked like "peanuts". In fact, in a blind test, I think that many people would indeed mistake them for boiled peanuts. The texture is the same. The potatoes aren't super starchy yet.
That's a teaspoon by the way. Just so you can gauge how cute and tiny the potatoes are :D
Flat green bean thingys, with garlic and some wo[1] ju[1], which is this Chinese plant stem thing.
Potato - the spud of da club!
MINI POTATOES!