Lo and behold

First the Lo; produce prices are through the roof! It kinda makes being a vegetarian hard. I'd assume carnivores are suffering too since their dinner eats my dinner for dinner. Either way, I've been trying to come up with creative ways to conserve my beer and art supplies budget. Some of those ways are meal-planning, cooking ahead/in bulk and mixing it up. We buy locally and whenever possible we buy reduced priced produce; reduced because it is coming upon its Sell-by date. It's still edible and tasty, just lacking in hang time.

Last night we had Mexican with broccoli and ripe plantains as sides. The green plantains are ripening for next weeks' recipes, but the bell peppers, onions and broccoli needed a new look. They got just the look they needed in my Leftover Vegetables Lo Mein, this recipe is simple (Providing you don't start a minor grease fire that has to be put out with your most comfortable fat girl shorts as I did.) and delicious!

Leftover Vegetables Lo Mein

Sauce:
5 tbs Hoisin Sauce
2.5 tbs honey
5 tbs Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice seasoning w/o MSG
1/2 cup warm water

Leftover fresh vegetables (whatever you have, we had matchstick carrots and broccoli)
2 eggs, scrambled or Tofu
1/4 large onion julienned
1/2 large bell pepper julienned
4 tbs bean sprouts (I used canned)
4 tbs bamboo shoots ( I forgot to add them amidst the fire)
4 tbs Sesame oil (I hate it, I used vegetable oil)

Spaghetti No. 9 (We had Spaghetti Rigati; same shit but ribbed)

Prepare pasta al dente (4-6 minutes at a rolling boil) drain (or is it strain) add to large bowl and drizzle w/2 tbs vegetable/sesame oil. Toss to coat. Add remaining oil to wok (or frying pan if you're practical-which I'm not.) saute raw vegetables just until coated in oil, but still crisp. Push vegetables to sides of wok or remove from pan and add eggs/tofu until cooked. Remove wok and veggies/eggs from heat/pan. Mix sauce ingredients thoroughly, pour over pasta and veggies, eggs/tofu and return to heat until warm. Serve with chopsticks, (It isn't spaghetti anymore!) fortune cookies and chilled Tsingtao (I settled for Kirin Ichiban because the Chinese brews were warm, and after the fire incident, I needed a cold one!)

Okay and now for the Behold! I have bangs damn it. I like them, really I do. Have a look; I totally could've used some Hello Crafty Honey Lip Balm in that first pic...ewww Ashy Ashy McNasty! So, yeah bangs...(for those of you who missed the dilemma of the decade, see here.) Now what I didn't mention is that I don't have a forehead. It's more of a threehead as I have lots of fine hairs which outline my face right down to the brows. This means my bangs have to be uber short (2.5") to sit above my brows. This works though, as my little...scratch that, younger (18) and taller sister Siobhan has informed me that I have a "Chinese bang" and, "That's what's up!" Lo and behold, my Chinese food and bangs are all about it! Go me! Wink, smile.