Vegetarian Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)

The national soup of Vietnam is a bowl of rice noodles, fresh herbs, and bean sprouts swimming in a fragrant broth.  (My version with what we had in the house.)
Link to my scattered Vegan Blog

Source :http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10463

Directions

1. To make Broth: Place all ingredients in large pot with 8 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, 1 hour. Strain broth, and return to pot. Discard solids.
(We actually started the broth by quickly simmering a ton of ginger, garlic, daikon, lemon grass and some carrots. We never have shallots in the house. We did not discard the solids. Also baked the tofu in the oven and added it to the soup stock.) 
2. To make Pho: Cook rice noodles according to package directions. Drain, and rinse under cold water. Divide among 6 large soup bowls. Ladle Broth over noodles, and top with tofu, sprouts, watercress, and green onions. Serve cilantro, basil, and lime wedges on the side to be stirred into soup. (Nothing all that difficult here. Note I asked Riley to cut the lime and she told me she did not know how to cut a lime. Teen agers are quite original)

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ingredient list

Serves 6

• Broth
• 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 3 large shallots, sliced (1 cup)
• 1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 3 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
• 12 1/4-inch-thick coins fresh ginger (I diced these)
• 1 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 cinnamon sticks (I forgot this would have been a nice touch)
• 2 star anise( I should have used Fennel)
• 5–6 fresh basil stems, leaves reserved for soup
• 5–6 cilantro stems, leaves reserved for soup
•  
• Pho
• 1 8-oz. pkg. rice noodles
• 1 8-oz. pkg. Asian-flavor baked tofu, thinly sliced
• 2 cups soybean sprouts
• 2 cups watercress
• 4 green onions, sliced (1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Thai food sounds so complex however I find it quite simple and it all about the ingrdients.

You need eye glasses to find eye glasses.

I lost a pair of eyeglasses about 2 years ago. After awhile I gave up hope in finding them. So I went to the eye doctor and purchased a new pair. That was two years ago when I did not need glasses as much. Now I need them for day to day life. Getting older is a pain.

I found that pair of glasses behind a refrigirator in the basement. I must of pushed them off the frig while folding wash. They are my favourite glasses and they were down right expensive.

Well I lost that pair of glasses when my wife and I climbed Mt. St. Helens this summer. I would look for them on and off thinking they were not permanantly lost. Yesterday at random, I looked in a bag I had looked at several times before. The glasses were two feet from where I had lost them the last time.

Aunt Lynn Simple Veggie Stir Fry

EggPlant Dish Sent Via text Message while we were arguing the merits of Copes Corn

• Eggplant
• Cabbage
• Onion
• Celery
• Garlic
• Thyme
• White Pepper
• Oil
• Vinegar

Saute lightly all of the above.
Cook some pasta and add Vegan Butter. (She used regular butter) and bread crumbs.

Keep Copes Corn far away from this and any dish.

Blazers

The other night I was walking into The Rose Garden with my kids and one of the coolest girls on the planet. We were heading to a Trail Blazers basketball game....Some cute girl asked me if I wanted to be a part of a trivia concert on Northwest bands I should have ignored her.I said sure I followed her instructions and after half time we were whisked away to a place with a bunch of TV cameras.We were instructed at the first time out everybody would be watching us we were to be played a bunch of songs and had to guess the artists.The first time out came....Marina and i were on camera in front of 18000 people...The songs came on ......Main stream bull shit music I did not recognize.....Who knew Heart was still living off "Dream Boat Annie"I got crushed.....I could have won a weekend away somewhere.My refusal to listen to Main Stream Bull Shit killed me we laughed about it the entire way home and on the way back to the car, a stranger said...hey its the guy and the girl on television.....I ignored them.Happy to be spending a day with the kids.....A perfect day....

sniffsniffwagwag

Lying on the sofa for the past hour.
Dreaming of a walk
And the magic words came
Do you want to go for a walk.

Gentle rain
Wind in my ears
Smelling the bushes
Canines on walks
from days gone by.

Put two foot in front
Of the other two feet
Wind in my ears
Sniff Sniff Wag Wag
Water the Bush

My owners hes happy
seeing my ears bent
in the wind and I am
happy running
Sniff Sniff
Wag Wag

Simple Ordinary Things

This week we had astronauts going rocket ship ballistic and the details really don't matter that much. It was a crazy story but it was certainly fuel for the masses. And of course, this week we had Anna Nicole Smith pass into the abyss which was un fortunate in it self today, the same as a single seargent from Astoria that lost his life in Iran. Neither life is more valuable than the other.

But sometimes these large crazy things pale in comparision to the simple everyday things that surround our lives. Today we were walking on campus and I ran into a tree that had fallen down during a wind storm. As we got closer to the tree, I noticed that the tree was flowering. The flowers were woody and full of life and somehow somewhere there was life in that tree even while lying on its side. It was a simple moment during a busy hectic work day, but it was one I truly enjoyed.