Lohturuoka (Comfort Food)

Kurt and I went to Ikea yesterday to hunt for some new furniture (we didn’t buy anything, bummer!). I used to love going to Ikea with my mom and getting the meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam, but obviously that doesn’t really work with my vegan lifestyle! Still, I had a hankering for those little guys, which are pretty much exactly the same as what my host families served in Finland. I’ve had some Boca burgers in the freezer for months and while I haven’t had a Finnish or Swedish meatball for a very long time and therefore might be remembering incorrectly, I remember thinking that the Boca burger tasted somewhat similar to the meatballs I so dearly loved. So I decided to make do with what I had and prepare a Finnish-inspired vegan dinner! And of course I had to add something green to the plate, even though green beans aren’t a traditional part of the meal.

The Boca patties held together really well once I formed them into balls and were very easy to brown in a skillet (though next time I’d love to attempt making veggieballs from scratch). I made my own gravy using almond milk, flour, nutritional yeast, spices, and various other things. It wasn’t really like traditional Finnish gravy but it was still great! And my favorite part is probably the lingonberries… I’m so glad Ikea sells this Nordic treat. I usually eat at least as much lingonberry jam as meatball, haha. Reminds me of picking lingonberries in the forest for my Finnish grandmother while at the summer cabin. I miss those simple moments a lot – what I wouldn’t give for a patch of land where I could pick wild blueberries, strawberries, lingonberries, and chanterelle mushrooms! Food like this is definitely comfort food for me, not just for the richness, but for the happy memories eating it brings back.

Of course, in true Finnish fashion, I had to get as many things onto my fork as possible. I actually was not able to finish the whole plate, but I’m not complaining about having leftovers of such a yummy meal!

What are some of your comfort foods? Have you ever turned one of your favorite restaurant meals into something you make at home?

New Year’s Resolution? Nah…

I’ve never really gotten on board with the whole “New Year’s Resolution” thing. I believe that if there’s something you want to change or do, you should just do it! Moving has given me the feeling of starting over, and with that, I’m resolving to make some lifestyle changes. I was really fit and eating well for awhile in college, but a series of foot and ankle injuries kept me from running for a few months and I never really got back into good habits after that. My body was able to keep up with my not-so-healthy lifestyle for awhile, but as I’ve progressed into my 20s my metabolism has changed pretty dramatically – as well as my body. It’s no secret to those who have seen me over the last few years that I put on quite a bit of weight. When I changed my diet last year, I dropped 20 pounds and have managed to keep it off consistently and without much effort, but I think now is the time to take things to the next step and really take care of myself. I’m turning 25 this year and I know that the older I get it, the harder it will be to get myself into good habits and see good results, so there’s no time like the present to make changes.

Starting today, I’m beginning a consistent exercise regimen. I already got my workout in this morning and it’s pretty shocking what terrible shape I’m in – I’m really looking forward to building up my strength and stamina! I’m also not going to be drinking wine at all during May (definitely my biggest vice, even in moderation) and I’m going to make an effort to eat even better and cleaner than I already do. Michigan harvests at low prices are already starting to show up in the stores so I really have no excuse not to eat well. I’m going to make an effort to be more proactive about my mental health as well. I’d say my mental health is actually pretty good, especially considering how troubled I was in my teens and early 20s. However, there is always something to work on and you can’t deny the links between negative emotional status and negative physical/social behaviors, so I want to do my best to stay on top of everything and improve myself in general. I have pretty high anxiety at times which leads me to make bad lifestyle choices as a source of comfort, and I want to change those bad behaviors into good ones. There’s something about turning 25 that’s flicking a switch in my brain and telling me it’s time to start pursuing being the best person I can be with fervor!

I’ve also been taking a lot of time to reflect on my life over the last two years. Kurt and I will have our second anniversary in June, which is totally crazy to me! Some days it feels like we just got married, others, like we’ve been doing this forever. I also realized that had I stayed in Finland for graduate school, I would have been completing my thesis right now and graduating this summer. Coming back to the US was an incredibly rocky, difficult process and I’d say it took me about a year to work through all of the negative emotions there, which certainly took a toll on me and Kurt. Even so, I know that coming back was the right decision because the growth Kurt and I have experienced as a couple working through things and the peace of mind I’ve been able to achieve were worth every second of doubt and unhappiness. I feel content with the time I’ve put in as a wife and housekeeper over the last year or so and I’m proud of how far we’ve come together. Now I know that our foundation is solid and I feel more than ready to tackle new goals in life. I haven’t been this excited for the next chapter in a long time.

Are there any milestones in your life that made you realize you wanted to change something?

Puzzling

Oh yeah, I forgot to throw this in – Kurt bought me a four-pack of puzzles as a silly little housewarming gift. I’m a puzzle junkie but haven’t had any in the house since we moved to Detroit. I did all four in the first four days we were here…

The one of Red Square was probably the least fun puzzle I’ve ever done. That black sky kept me busy for hours! I’d do all the other ones again though. Kurt asked if I wanted to frame them and put them up on the walls. I’ve seen people do that but never really thought about doing it myself. None of these are anything I’d want to put on the wall, but I suppose I would if it were the right puzzle. I love seeing unique wall art ideas – if only I were more creative so I could come up with them myself!

Beginnings in Belleville

Well, we’ve been here just over a week and it’s still safe to say we love it here! I feel like I have a refreshed attitude since we moved in… Belleville has a completely different feel and this apartment truly feels like “our space.” We still have a ways to go in terms of getting moved in, but I did take a few photos just to give you an idea of the place. Sorry the rooms are still so cluttered. I’ll take more photos as we finalize each room, but that will probably happen slowly over the next few months.

Here’s a photo I took at the old place… it was pretty unreal seeing all of our things get condensed from six rooms to two in preparation for loading up the truck. There’s nothing quite like moving to make you realize how much crap you actually own, haha. We ended up putting several pieces of furniture we didn’t want anymore in the alley, and all of them got picked up by various people in the neighborhood. Love it! We were really hoping that would happen because we didn’t want to put anything in the trash, but didn’t really want to load up the cars and find a Goodwill.

Kirsi did surprisingly well with the whole moving process! For the first time ever, she was actually very interested in everything being moved around and didn’t freak out until Gaven showed up to help us move (she is very scared of new men, for some reason!). She even found a new, fun perch to watch Kurt and I slaving away. Ever the princess of the house…

I left this little tidbit out of my last post because I didn’t want to talk about anything negative, but I realized it might be helpful for someone else – we had a major problem when we went to pick up our U-Haul. We made the reservation online with no problem, but when we went to get it, they would not give us the truck because we don’t have Michigan driver’s licenses. (Yeah, we are still technically Illinois residents. Oops.) Apparently you cannot drive a U-Haul truck in-state if you don’t carry that state’s license. It would have been fine had we been driving the truck to Illinois, though. So bizarre! Luckily Gaven agreed to put the truck in his name instead for us. He saved the day for sure. The guys did a great job loading up the truck, too. They didn’t have the truck we originally reserved so we ended up with a 17-footer that was WAY more space than needed, but they managed to secure everything with some jute.

So anyway, yes, now we’re officially in Belleville! Kurt returned the keys to the Hamtramck place yesterday (YES!) so we are officially done with that terrible place aside from having our deposit returned! I feel positively great. It’s so fun deciding where to put things in a new home! I ordered some cabinet liners last week and they arrived on Friday, so I got the kitchen (mostly) set up this last weekend. We’d been eating like peasants up to that point so the extra space is awesome to have. I even drove to the grocery store all by myself yesterday and we ate fresh food for the first time in awhile! Now, maybe driving to the store doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but it’s a huge deal for me. I absolutely HATED driving in Hamtramck/Detroit and I can’t parallel park (the only option in our neighborhood) so I think I took my car out all of three times in the last year. Yay for being inadvertently green, but boo for Kurt having to be my gracious chauffeur. Driving my car from Hamtramck to here was the first time I’d driven my car in six months. But driving in Belleville is basically stress-free. I feel like I can function more like a normal human being for the first time in over a year!

I didn’t take photos of the whole apartment (the set up of the bathrooms makes it hard to photograph anything but the toilet, haha) but hopefully this will provide something of an idea of the place.

Living room. This set-up is EXTREMELY temporary. We are planning to get a proper entertainment center – the filing cabinet and chair really don’t do it for me, haha. We used bookshelves at the old apartment but they’re going to go in other rooms this time so we’re stuck with this ugly mess until we decide what we want instead. Oh well. Kurt’s best friends from Illinois are coming to visit in two weeks and they’re big gamers, so Kurt promised he would have this taken care of before then. I can live with that! I love the giant sliding doors in this room – despite only getting direct sun in the morning, the apartment stays bright almost all day, yet the blinds are really effective at closing out the light if we need them. And I know Kirsi is loving having windows that go all the way down to her level.

That couch actually has a corner piece that’s in my mom’s basement at the moment, and while it wouldn’t have worked at all at the old place, I think it would work really well here. We’re planning to orient the couch so one of the sides extends out to where I’m standing to take the photos and close off the living room a bit, since right now it runs into the area with the dining table.

This is SUCH a mess and I’m almost embarrassed to post this photo, but we simply haven’t gotten around to moving our boxes into the storage unit yet. I’m not crazy about having the table on carpet, but there’s not much I can do about it! I do like that the area feels like a fluid part of the house, though. In our old apartment, the table went nicely in the kitchen but felt so isolated from the rest of the living space so it was usually only used for food prep, not actual dining. Kurt and I have actually had some meals at the table here! We also have a coat closet on the right side there, which is SO great. The amount of closet space here is phenomenal compared to Hamtramck – between the coat closet, pantry, linen closet, and two walk-ins, we’re finally able to put things in places where they feel like they belong.

Here’s the kitchen! It’s small, but it will do the job. I’ll get my dream kitchen with miles of counter space someday, I swear… :) The kitchen is pretty dated, but oh well. We do have new countertops, which is nice. And a dishwasher! AH! I still plan to do a bunch by hand, but being able to throw things in there instead of having them take up counter space is awesome. And now that I’ve got most of the dishes put away, I can get back to my normal routine – I made beans, broth, and hummus yesterday! We’re still trying to decide where to put the microwave, since I’m pretty protective of my counter space! Personally, I’ve loved not using it and told Kurt if he wants to use it, he can keep it in his office… but he wasn’t too sold on that idea. Shocker!

Here is the second bedroom, which Kurt has claimed as his office. It’s nowhere close to being organized yet, but I will say that I’m thrilled to have a large closet in there where he can keep all of his boxes and electronics out of sight. You can see that he also has a sliding door onto the balcony!

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to have this balcony. Sure, the view of the parking lot isn’t exactly luxury, but I really don’t care. It’s been wonderful sitting out here with my morning coffee in the sunshine! It’s much bigger than it looks in this photo – it stretches from the living room to Kurt’s office and even has a storage closet. I think we might actually have to get a grill!

And finally, the master bedroom. Also a total mess still. I’m not quite sure where my cello’s new home will be yet! I love the bedroom though. The floor to ceiling window is awesome – I have no problem getting up in the morning with all the light that comes in. There’s a walk-in closet behind me in the photo which leads to our bathroom (the other bathroom is in the hall across from Kurt’s office).

This place almost feels like more space than we know what to do with – not a bad problem to have. We’ll probably be playing with furniture configuration for awhile before we figure out what works best for us. We also have a great deal more wall space here so we will probably get some art soon. The rooms feel pretty boring right now with so much white space above everything. Both Kurt and I are pretty excited at the possibilities for making this apartment feel more and more like ours than our last two places! And the fact that we’re going to be hosting friends for the first time since we moved to southeastern Michigan makes it even sweeter.

 

Almost There

Well, after a few hiccups, we managed to get the majority of our stuff over to the new apartment and spent our first night there! We decided against hiring movers and instead Kurt’s friend Gaven offered to help us. So we got a giant U-Haul truck yesterday and practically emptied the house. We’ve still got a few odds and ends left in Hamtramck, but it mostly just needs to be cleaned. I’m sitting on the floor of our old apartment typing this since we haven’t got our internet set up at the new place yet. It’s so weird to have it so empty.

I’d say the whole move went really well, despite a couple things out of our control. Nothing got damaged in the truck and we got it all done in about four hours from loading up to emptying the truck. Not bad! It was the least stressful move I’ve had yet. We’re so lucky Gaven offered his services, though. I don’t have nearly enough strength/stamina to schlep heavy furniture up stairs to the third floor, even with Kurt’s help. I promised I’d buy him craft beer and cook him some meat (!) as a thank you.

Now that all the furniture is in Belleville and starting to get arranged, I’m actually starting to love what we have. It fits the space so much better and the color of our carpet somehow really works with all of our pieces perfectly so that the living room looks much more cohesive than it ever did in Hamtramck. Maybe we’ll hold off on buying new furniture after all! It’s still not all set up how we want it, so no pictures yet, but hopefully I’ll have some for you later this week.

I’m probably going to have to rethink the balcony garden, which totally stinks! There are trees that surround our balcony so while we get really nice morning sun right now, Gaven pointed out that we’ll probably have full shade by early summer. Bummer! But I found out I can rent a cheap plot from the park district just down the road from our complex for the season so I’ll probably end up doing that. I gotta have my fresh veggies.

Kurt and I are already feeling really positive about the new place, having gotten our things in there. It feels more like home than Hamtramck ever did, despite only having spent a day there. The neighbors we’ve met seem nice but private (fine by us). The new noises will take some getting used to (we traded subwoofers and late-night hollering for planes, trains, and automobiles) but I imagine that won’t be an issue after a week or two. I’m just so excited we have a new place. And as soon as we tie up loose ends in Hamtramck, I’m off on the job hunt full throttle. Wish me (us) luck!

Moving and Planning

Well, we officially got the keys to our new apartment in Belleville last weekend! We settled on a two-bedroom two-bathroom apartment. We’re not moved in yet – we’ve been taking things over in small batches but we’ll do the bulk of it this upcoming weekend and will likely be sleeping there by Saturday or Sunday. Being able to get a two-week overlap on our leases has alleviated a big part of the stress I usually experience when moving, which is really nice and gives us much more time to plan how we’re moving things and clean. We’re still debating how we want to move the big, heavy, awkward items though – originally we were just planning to rent a truck or try to borrow one from one of Kurt’s colleagues, but now we’re thinking of maybe hiring professional movers. It would only take one trip to get everything we need help with over to the new place so I don’t think it would get too expensive. Can anyone weigh in on this? We’ve never used a company before so I don’t really know what to expect.

The new place isn’t everything I want it to be, but that’s the nature of renting I suppose. I’ll really miss the aesthetic of the kitchen here, but that’s about it – I have a feeling trading in our beautiful tile for a dishwasher and air conditioning will be worth it. We’re also FINALLY going to start choosing our own furniture over the next year! I can’t wait to be able to pick my own style. Everything we’ve gotten from family and friends has worked pretty much perfectly in our current house, but it’s hard to feel like an adult when your home is such a mish mosh. We’ll still probably get a lot of things second hand, but I don’t mind that. Also, the new place lets you repaint the walls however you like and hang art, so I have a feeling it’s going to feel a lot more like “home” than this place ever has. Despite being in Hamtramck over a year, we never really felt settled here and have been looking forward to leaving for at least the last six months. It’s hard to feel at home when you’re restricted and stressed out by your living situation. I’m trying very hard not to let my anxieties get the best of me about the new place… we really need to turn over a new leaf after everything that’s gone wrong here.

I’ve also started trying to figure out what to do about gardening at the new apartment. The thought of not growing things depresses me way too much to even consider it! We’re on the third floor with an eastward-facing balcony so my options are much more limited than last year, unfortunately. From what I’ve been reading, it sounds like I’ll have the most success with dark, leafy greens. I’m happy about that since our garden didn’t have any of those last year and I love salads! I may attempt tomatoes but the lack of sun may be an issue. I guess we’ll just have to see. It’s just nice to have something to get excited about. If anyone has any personal experience with container growing in morning sun, I could really use the advice. The internet is a good source of information, but hearing from people I actually know always gives me more confidence in what I’m hearing!

Other than moving, not a whole lot is going here (moving is big enough, I guess!). I mostly pack during the days and we go over there at night. We’re such a boring married couple :) It will be nice once we’re settled so I can start looking for jobs out there, though. Job hunting around Hamtramck was – obviously – totally unfruitful but the market looks a little better where we’re going. It would be nice to be gainfully employed after so long staying at home! Plus, we know this is the last place we want to rent and we’ll be looking to buy a house next year, so two incomes would be really nice to have.

I’ll be sure to post photos once everything is arranged. It’s nothing fancy, but it will be home for the next year! Here’s to change!

Cleaning out the Pantry

With our upcoming move on the horizon, formal meal planning and shopping is being put on hold for the next few weeks. We’re trying instead to work through as much as we can in our pantry, fridge, and freezer. While Kurt still gets the benefit of at least semi-planned out meals almost every night, for the most part I’ve assumed the responsibility of making and trying different combinations of whatever we have left. We have way too much pasta in our pantry so it’s formed the base of several of my meals this last week.

Capellini with onion, spinach, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts, finished with just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. When I was a kid I really hated the texture of extra thin pastas, but now they’re my favorite. Kurt prefers “shapes” but they never seem to cook perfectly evenly for me unless I boil the heck out of them.

I used the leftover capellini to make another pasta dish today:

Brussels sprouts, onions, and mushrooms simmered in marinara sauce and finished with chopped Kalamata olives. I love one-pan meals like this – easy to make and even easier to clean! Plus, with a pan this size, I can make a whole bunch and save it for multiple meals.

While the next few weeks will probably be a little more boring on the culinary front than usual, I won’t deny that it’s fun to indulge in comfort foods – pasta is definitely that for me. Then again, we’ll see how I feel after three weeks of it! Still, having a well-stocked spice cabinet helps even the most simple of meals.

Leeks and Other Lovely Things

Tonight I made a soup based off of this recipe and it came out really well. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t change a few things, but all turned out well!

The original recipe called for kale but they were out at the store – this seems to happen every time I have kale on my shopping list. So I bought rainbow chard instead, and I’m so pleased at how well it turned out. The leaves wilted nicely and the stalks cooked but still retained some crunch. This was my first time having chard so I was a little nervous, but now I love it! And rainbow chard is so beautiful. It was also my first time having leeks and they were soooo good. I bought mine frozen from Trader Joe’s and they were so soft and yummy… I can’t wait until summer leeks come into season so I can try them fresh!

There’s more going on with us than just yummy dinners, though. Our lease here in Hamtramck is up at the end of this month (how can it be April already?!) so we’ve been looking at new places over the last few weeks. We saw several places we really didn’t like but we just put in an application at a nice apartment complex in Belleville. Belleville is about halfway between Ann Arbor (the home of University of Michigan) and Kurt’s work in the western suburbs of Detroit. We’re pretty tired of living in Detroit and I know I, for one, am really excited by the prospect of moving somewhere where I can go for a walk by myself without being harassed or followed. In the 14 months we’ve lived here, I’ve only gone for a walk once without being hassled. Not a great track record. Belleville, on the other hand, is a very small and sleepy little town on a series of lakes that seems much more our style at this point. And driving around, it was such a relief to see TREES and other nature. Most of Michigan is so beautiful but it’s easy to forget when you’re surrounded by buildings that are abandoned and look like they’ve been bombed out! While moving from a house to an apartment will probably be an adjustment, the thought of having maintenance and other issues taken care of by professionals is really appealing. The last year has been a total nightmare of dealing with our house practically falling apart under our feet (no really, our floor started coming apart) and trying to work with our landlady’s brother, who has been challenging. We’re ready for a change of pace. Fingers crossed that our application goes through on this new place! We’ve got one more showing tomorrow morning at another complex in Belleville, but I anticipate we’ll know where exactly we’ll end up by the end of this week. I honestly can’t wait – I tried really hard to love Detroit, but it’s a hard city to love. Ann Arbor is a much cooler, safer city with a young, liberal population and a lot more to offer in terms of what I’m interested in so it will be nice to be so close. I hate the process of moving but I can’t wait to have a new place to call home!

Grown-up: Alternatively, How I Learned to Love Brussels Sprouts

We all know there are those foods that can be classified as an “acquired taste.” Whether that’s pâté, caviar, truffle butter, or brussels sprouts (in my case), I always have a silly sense of accomplishment when I find I like something that a lot of other people may not. I get that “grown-up” feeling, even though I know eating a vegetable shouldn’t really be on par with doing my own taxes or mastering ironing.

I’m pretty adventurous when it comes to food, but a terrible experience with creamed Brussels sprouts when I was in elementary turned me off of them until very recently. I was in Portland visiting friends last month and my fellow vegan friend Kate prepared a simple but yummy dinner for us of Brussels sprouts and quinoa cooked in vegetable broth, topped with avocado. I’m so glad I kept my mouth shut when she pulled them out of the fridge, because the dish was delicious! I’ve made it for myself a few times since I’ve been back, and now I’m starting to branch out with that poor, misunderstood vegetable.

I found a recipe online for fried Brussels sprouts, and it intrigued me. We never go beyond pan-fried things in our house, and even that is rare, but I was feeling adventurous. They’re drizzled with an agave-sriracha-lime sauce, which sounded too good to pass up, so I decided to give it a go. WHOA. I think you’d like this even if you don’t like Brussels sprouts. However, I did learn my lesson about frying at home without the proper equipment – what a mess! I stopped a few batches in just because oil was flying literally halfway across my kitchen. Scary and not fun to clean up. But these were phenomenal and I would definitely do this again once I get a screen. They were crisp, sweet, spicy, salty, tangy… just an all-around amazing flavor/texture profile. I think I’ll use the rest of the peeled sprouts to make a salad tonight.

Oh, and I used them as an excuse to use my Iittala serving platter for the first time. Everything looks better – and feels fancier – on interesting kitchenware! I still have some foods that I haven’t yet acquired a taste for… these include kimchee (or really, most pickled cabbage things) and lutefisk, for example. But I’ll keep working on it. And apparently as you age, your taste buds slowly lose their ability to distinguish between tastes, so maybe it will just take a little time.

What are some of the foods that you just can’t get yourself to like? Or what new things have you tried in your recent culinary adventures? I’m always looking for something new to try!

Two of a Kind

Kurt and I have a few sets of things that match in the kitchen, but we’ve never had two of the same mugs. We have a couple of “standard” size ones, two absolutely monstrous ones, and then the 13 oz. Iittala cup I acquired in Finland, which is by far my favorite. Unfortunately, it’s become Kurt’s favorite too, as it’s the perfect size for preparing tea before he pours it in his travel mug in the morning! Inevitably it would be dirty when either of us wanted to use it, so I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get him his own.

It certainly didn’t come at the flea market price I got the blue one for, but oh well! Kurt loves having his own and I loved surprising him with it.

Dishes are a funny thing when you don’t have a dishwasher – and even when you do! I’m in charge of washing dishes and Kurt’s in charge of putting them away, but with no dishwasher and limited dish rack space it seems like I’m never quite caught up, and I hate taking up what little counter space we have with dishes waiting to be washed. Although I’m not sure I can call washing dishes my least favorite chore… that would have to be a tie between folding laundry and cleaning the bathroom. But I guess all this will make me never take having a dishwasher for granted again (fingers crossed that we’ll actually have one at some point!).

What’s your least favorite chore to do around the house?