aluminum chef

sorry for the crappy photo shop job!

if you're a fan of star wars you know that there's no such thing as an aluminum falcon. you become outraged that a non-star wars person would be an ass and get the name of the beloved millennium falcon incorrect, because everyone knows the name of that space ship. any hard-core foodie (omni or vegan) has seen an episode of the iron chef, right? well you know that there's no such thing as an aluminum chef....or is there?

once a month i work at my old job at juvenile detention. i used to teach social skills, but now i just sling hash in the cafeteria. they pay me 1/2 of the hourly rate i used to earn, i have no bennies, and the food i have to prepare for those kids is terrible: canned/frozen/processed gross-ass jail food. so why work there? well, i get to see the kids and i do i miss them. selfishly and more importantly, i get access to a huge industrial sized kitchen all by myself and have a ton of time between meals to do nothing but cook for my family. i bring in my own groceries and become the aluminum chef! i say aluminum because i'll never be as spectacular as the iron chef. aluminum recycles, and i like to use several ingredients and recycle them into multiple dishes:

butternut squash lasagna rolls: i had some leftover lasagna noodles and roasted squash. i cooked the noodles. carefully rolled these adorable babies up, and served them with alfreda sauce from VWAV.

rockin' tha lasagna: i make my own sauce without a recipe. layer the noodles with sauce, roasted butternut squash, smart ground soysage, and follow your heart mozzarella. i know squash lasagna sounds kinda iffy, but it was SO GOOD!

my specialty "ass of fire" salsa. my husband loves this raw salsa so much, he won't buy commercial anymore. during the summer we were able to get the ingredients free or on the super cheap. now that it's winter, he insists on buying fresh ingredients and having me make it all from scratch.
ass of fire salsa topping my ass of fire burrito with soy sour cream, rice, and cheez sauce from Veganomicon.

pictures taken with my new camera. i'm still trying to figure it all out, so sorry the pictures aren't that great.