Burritos for Dinner

Tonight was about using two of my leftovers in the refrigerator. One of these is made with the Southwest Sweet Potato mixture. The other is made with some of the lentils and peppers that I cooked with some of the Simple Mole. In each of them, I used a slice of the Galaxy Naturals Rice Vegan Cheddar Cheese slices. I am glad to report it melted from the heat of the fillings alone, which is good to know. This will make them very useful in wraps and sandwiches. On the side is some corn, just to round out the meal.

Southwest Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Just using up some more of the Southwest Sweet Potato mixture, this time in a quesadilla. I used some of the left over “Vegveeta” spread also. Unfortunately, I discovered that my blender didn’t make the cheese base as smooth as it should be, will have to remember to run it longer the next time. However, now that it has cooled and set up, it did re-melt nicely on the tortilla. It makes me wonder how this sauce would work for a mac and cheese.

And Vegetation, I am getting over my food “blahs”. I think what is causing them is that summer has now and I think finally hit Florida for good. Heat really trashes my appetite for some reason. I might have to start looking at eating more salads, since that is the only raw food easily made in my small kitchen.

Taco Salad

I made this using an adaption of a recipe that has been in my file for some time. When I found the Southwest Sweet Potato Chickpea Delight on Vegweb, it sounded like a good dish. Unfortunately, I have very little need for casseroles and am not able to find shredded Pepper Jack vegan rice cheese; so this has been sitting till I could figure out either what to do with it or to make it for a potluck. However, last week it occurred to me that if the chips and cheese were omitted, then it could be cooked on the stove top and used in various ways. So that is what I did. The only other alteration to the recipe was the omission of the hot pepper flakes in the ingredients, since that would make it to spicy for my tastes.

It cooked up quite well on the stove top and the salad went together easily. All I had to do was put some lettuce on the plate and surround it with the tortilla chips (Tostitos are vegan, just to let you know). I then put the sweet potato mix on the lettuce, dotted it with some of the Warm “Vegveeta” Cheese Sauce (from Dreena Burton, don’t great minds think alike, Vegetation) and then a dollop of the Cashew Sour Cream. While it may not sound like all this would go together well, it sure looks good and tasted good as well. I have been in the food blahs lately for some reason, but this sure got me out of them. Look for me to use this a few more times this week, along with the “Vegveeta” as well.

Smoothie for Dinner

Didn’t feel hungry so just had a banana-peach smoothie made with some raw cashew milk. There are times that my Magic Bullet is a nice thing to have and this is one of them. The cashew milk was really simple, ½ cup of cashews with 1 ½ cups of water. I ended up with a bit to much, so had to put some of it in the refrigerator for later. Then I just put in some frozen peaches and sliced bananas and ran it again till done.

The bananas I used were some of the new frozen, sliced bananas from Dole. After using them this once, they don’t seem like a bad ides. You get nice, even slices that are individually frozen so that they don’t stick together. And the slices are also perfectly ripe, so it won’t discolor your smoothie. But considering, how much a bag costs, I may start just buying more bananas. At least now I have this nice bag to use in the freezer for them after they are frozen.

P.S. Sorry the picture is so blurry. Just tried to get to close to the container.

Indian Dinner Redux and More Rice Milk

Dinner was the Indian Spice Vegetables with some of the Tamarind Lentils on the side. Thankfully, after sitting a few days, the vegetables were more flavorful and just a bit spicy. And just to tell you exciting I found dinner, this photograph was taken when I was half-way through, because I forgot to take it first. Guess leftovers are getting to me a bit.

In other news, I made anther batch of the rice milk base today. This time it was a bit different. I upped the agave nectar to ½ cup and added 2 Tbsp of coconut oil; per idea from kateboy when I originally put this up. I also blended the base mix while it was hot with my immersion blender. However, I think this recipe will have one more version before it is to where I want it. The almond flour still does not get as mixed in as I would like it to do so. I think for the next iteration, I am going to run the almond flour, coconut oil and agave nectar through the Magic Bullet and get them well emulsified. Then blend with the immersion blender after cooking the rice flour and water. If I can get rid of the little chunks of almond flour, then this should be really good. I also measured it this time and ended up with a bit less than 5 ½ cups, which is a nice amount.

The best finding about this current iteration is that I no longer need the Magic Bullet to create the rice milk when adding the water. All I did this time was added the base and water to the pitcher and shook it up. It blended quite well and should stay emulsified for quite a while.

Jamaican Jerk Seitan Burgers

Those of you who have been following this blog are probably aware by now that I love jerk seasoning and somewhat spicy dishes in general. So when I saw these on Joni’s blog back in December, they instantly went into my recipe program. I finally got around to making them today and they do not disappoint. However, if you are reading this Joni, I did “wimp out” on the jerk sauce. Instead of habaneras or jalapeños, I used about 1 Tbsp of my Tabasco Chipotle sauce. The only reason I ended up going that route is that I really did not want to deseed and devein all the peppers needed and I was also afraid that even with jalapeños it would be to hot for me. I was a bit short, about 1 Tbsp, on the allspice. For some reason, I just did not comprehend that it took ¼ of a cup; but I don’t think it hurt the flavor that much (that is an entire small container of the spice, in case you are wondering). And I had to use orange juice, since I had no pineapple juice around; but I don’t think that hurt them either. Unfortunately I was not able to take the suggestion of cooking them with a pineapple ring on top, but if you are going to eat them right away that would be a very good addition to make. Joni also has a relish that you can make as a topper, which if you like pomegranates would be a great way to go as well.

If you are thinking about making these, there are a few things you should know. First of all, the hamburger mix makes a lot; so have a big bowl to pour everything into for mixing it up. Second, Joni didn’t say how much to use for each patty. I used ½ a cup and that seems like the correct amount. You may want to use more or less, depending on how big you want your patties. And third, this definitely works best with a food processor. I used a Magic Bullet, but the hamburger mix would have been easier to make in a regular food processor.

On the side I have another dish from PDQ Vegetarian, Tropical Coleslaw. And if you think that coleslaw with oranges and pineapple would be way too sweet, this dish will be a pleasant surprise. Even though the dressing was a bit sweet by it self, it did not taste sweet at all in the final dish. I have a feeling this will be made a few times this summer.

P.S. This is one of the recipes that will be in Joni’s vegan hamburger book “Just the Burgers: 101 Homemade Veggie Burgers”. However, it has been delayed due to her collaboration with Celine (Have Cake, Will Travel) on the new book “500 Recipes”. Both are due out this year.

New Product from Dole Foods: Good or Bad Idea

Dinner was leftovers (the Lentils Mole over rice and corn) so I thought I would write about something seen in the grocery store today. Dole has added to their line up of frozen fruit with what I think is a unique offering; frozen, sliced banana (don’t bother checking the website, not even up there yet). Now I know you are saying that you can slice and freeze banana yourself, which is true. But how many of us are going to take the time to do so. And for those of us that eat bananas on a regular basis, are you going to buy extra for smoothies and then forget about them and not get them into the freezer before they go rotten. Don’t know about you, but since the TeddyBear can really only eat bananas (due to his gastric reflux) we already buy about 2 dozen a week anyway. I don’t touch them since they are all for him (he eats about 3 or 4 a day, which is good since he doesn’t eat a lot, though I have gotten him to eat better lately); so that leaves me in the lurch for my banana needs. Which leaves me in the lurch for smoothies, since frozen bananas are a common base if you are not using ice cubes. I also thought they would be great in a cookie I want to make that takes 1 ½ cups of smashed bananas as the cookie base. Or I could just eat them a nice snack on a hot day.

So what do you think. Has Dole hit upon a new market or are they just trying to get us to spend more money on a convenience item?

*Edited to add photo after purchase from store

Indian Style Vegetates and Rice

This sounded so good when I got the recipe off of Recipezaar, but it was unfortunately a disappointment (it doesn’t photograph well either). Even though I did some things differently than the instructions (such as cook the spices with the onions and garlic and used green beans instead of peas), it’s missing something; just not sure what it is though. The first problem is that it has to many potatoes, it could have done with only one or maybe just leave them out all together. Also the sauce never really cooks down and thickens, it is way to thin. I didn’t have any apple juice, but I am not sure that would have helped it. This may not have enough spices, but I don’t think that more spices would help. The curry taste is almost nonexistent. And one cannot taste the cinnamon or cardamom at all. Some chutney may help, in the flavor department, but that may not even be enough to save this. It is really to bad, because you would think that recipe from Better Homes and Gardens would be better, but even they miss from time to time apparently.

Lentils Mole with Pepper and Onions

I had planned on something different tonight, but didn’t get the seitan out of the freezer; so I had to improvise. I looked at what I had in the apartment and realized it would have to be something lentil based. And that is when it came to me. Make something with the lentils, the Easy Mole sauce in the refrigerator and the Pepper and Onion Stir Fry mix in the freezer. So I cooked the lentils around lunch time, since I figured that they didn’t need to be hot when I started dinner. About the time the rice went on the stove I put some oil in a pan and poured the stir fry mix in so that they could start to cook. Once they were done, I let the pan cool a bit; since it had gotten a bit to caramelized on the bottom. After washing the pan, I put the lentils, peppers and onions back into it and added the mole sauce, along with a bit of water. I let that simmer for a few minutes and that was it. Much to my surprise it tasted quite good and was not to spicy. I think this is going to turn up in my lunch as wraps next week.

All for this week. Have a good weekend.

Using Up Leftovers

Tonight is just a quick post, since I just made a dinner with leftovers. This is just some flatbread with some Smart Balance on it, the Tamarind Lentils, the last of the Sesame Broccoli Salad and some Gingery Carrot Salad. Wasn’t sure all these would go together well, but since they have similar seasonings, it did work. Nice to know that these things work sometimes.

Asian-Style Rice with Steamed Vegetables and Almonds

Long title but simple dinner. And this dish really is simple. It is just rice, carrots, broccoli, a sauce and some sliced almonds. However, it is also very good. But it may have to much soy sauce in it. That was all I could taste when I ate it, so you may want to use less if you make this. And if you pack a lunch, this would be a great dish to bring. All you would have to do is heat it up and put on the sauce, since it would be a complete lunch on its own or with a side dish or two.

I found this in the recipe files at Veggieboards.com. Which is a forum for both vegan and vegetarians. I am not a member over there, but it is a nice place to lurk. They have some interesting discussions from time to time and some good recipes as well. If you are looking for a forum to join, this would be a good one to lurk at for a time and see if it is for you. And if you don’t like that one, look at PPK as well. If for some reason, you don’t like either one, just keep looking. The web has quite a few forums for vegans and vegetarians at this point and certainly one of them will turn out to be the correct one for you.

And update on the broiled chic-fu I had for dinner last night. I had it cold with lunch today and it was quite good. I might want to put some tamari on it next time, but it was quite edible. In fact, this would be a good item to include with the Asian-Style Rice for an added protein boost at lunch. It should reheat in the microwave just fine and the same sauce could be used on both. Drat, now I wish I had a job to go to. I miss packing my lunch everyday.

Basic Broiled Chick-fu Part II

For dinner I used chick-fu to in the Basic Broiled Tofu recipe from VCON. This time, however, I did the entire batch in the oven at once. What I didn’t eat for dinner, went into the refrigerator. I am hoping that they are as good cold (room temperature) as they are hot. If this works, it will be great for the day I again have a job to take in my lunch as an easy source of protein. However, if you decided to do this, remember that the chick-fu doesn’t need to cook as long as the recipe says. One cycle of 10 minutes and then 3 minutes is enough.

On the side is some steamed green beans and also a baked potato. The dollop on top of the potato is some Cashew Sour Cream I found up at Recipezaar. Normally I don’t like sour cream on my baked potato, I usually use plain yoghurt. However, I am needing sour cream for another recipe this week, and thought it prudent to try this before actually using it somewhere else. Even though I am not a sour cream lover, it is not that bad. Not sure if I would say it is just like regular sour cream, but the taste is similar. Should work fine in the recipe that calls for it. Unfortunately, my one hope of a commercial soy-free sour cream and cream cheese is most likely gone. The company Playfood had these products that were cashew based and apparently very good, from what I have read on the web. Recently though, their website has disappeared and I have also read that it is no longer found is the stores that used to carry the product. So they may be out of business. The creator is working on a new cookbook and a vegan restaurant in Kansas City, so she may have decided to no longer be involved. It was also caught up in her divorce, and that may have hurt the company as well.

Celebration Roast Sandwich

Dinner was leftovers tonight, so I think that showing you lunch is a good idea today. Strangely, lunch is leftovers from Easter. (Which I hope as a happy one for all of you.) Fortunately, I found a few weeks ago that the natural foods store I got to on a weekly basis (generally) now carries some Field Roast Products, the 1 lb Celebration Roast and Italian Sausages. Haven’t tried the sausages yet, but decided that the Celebration Roast would be the perfect thing for Easter. The best thing is that it takes no prep to cook. Just unwrap, place in a pan, put in the oven, take out when hot and slice. Easy as pie. I did find that it takes more than 15 minutes for the roast to heat up in the toaster oven, however. So will know that for next time. Some of the leftovers are on the sandwich I had for lunch, on top of some Dijon mustard. It was quite good. The cold roast sliced easily and the stuffing even stayed in place. And on the side is the Sesame Broccoli Salad. Nice little lunch. I finished off the Mexican Rice Pudding as well with dessert.

I also have done some experimenting with the Turtle Mountain Coconut Milk this weekend. So far I have: drank it plain, put it in a smoothie, used it as a coffee creamer, put it on cereal and I even used it in the mashed potatoes on Easter (the TeddyBear didn’t even notice). I would have to say that this quite a good product. In fact, I may now be addicted. It will be hard to go back to rice milk after this is gone. If any of you are missing 2% or above milk and can afford this, I suggest you try it. It has no coconut taste nor odor. It does not separate in hot liquids, such as coffee. Smoothies are very creamy and rich. You can easily drink it plain out of the refrigerator (and I haven’t drank milk plain since switching to skim milk in my pregan days). Turtle Mountain has managed to create the perfect non diary milk.

Three Salads

Yes, you did read the title correctly. I actually had salads for dinner tonight. The last (hopefully) cold front has left Florida and we are warming up again. I also really didn’t feel like much of a dinner, so decided to just have the side dishes I’ve made recently and some more of my flatbread. Of course, two out of three of these salads you have seen already. The Caponata I am still working on. I will the thoroughly sick of eggplant when it is done. Don’t expect to see any until sometime in May. The Gingery Carrot Salad, is from yesterday. After sitting for a day in the refrigerator, it did develop more of a ginger flavor. Will have to cook the carrots more next time, or maybe use them raw and shredded. There is one salad that is new, the Sesame Broccoli Salad. This is another AllRecipes find and it is another good way to eat broccoli, if you are not crazy about it. The recipe is really simple as well, so great when you need to put something together quickly. It can be eaten warm or room temperature, I prefer the latter. This is also a great dish to bring in your lunch or to a party, since it doesn’t mind sitting out of the refrigerator for a while. However, I would suggest that one runs the broccoli through a salad spinner to get all the water off of the flowerets after cooking them. Otherwise the dressing seems to get a bit diluted.

I went shopping today and found the Turtle Mountain Coconut Milk at one of the other stores I go to. They had it on sale for 2.49 a half gallon, so I splurged a bit and got some. No formal review yet, but I did have a glass of it today just as a test. The best news is that it does not taste like coconut, because we all know that would really limit how useful it could be. The texture is very reminiscent of 2% or even whole milk. I did not mind drinking it plain and cold. Now to try it in a smoothie and on cereal. I got the Original, but they have Unsweetened and Vanilla flavors as well. Don’t think this will become a regular purchase, unless the TeddyBear likes it and I have a job again.

Tamarind Lentils

Yes, I finally got to make the Tamarind Lentils from VCON. And they are so good. This is the first time I have had tamarind in anything, to my knowledge. I must admit, I really like the flavor it gives things. The sweet-sour is a nice contrast to the heat from the Seitan Vindaloo and the Gingery Carrot Salad as well. These are definitely a keeper. Now I understand why there are so many people who rave about them up at PPK. It is so different from how anything else tastes. There are really no words to describe it. Let me just say that if you can find some tamarind paste, you have to make these. And if you need something to make for someone who likes Indian food, but they not sure about things that are vegan, these will change someone’s mind.

The Gingery Carrot Salad on the side is from AllRecipes. Its good, but a bit disappointing. Maybe because of all the other strong flavors on the plate, I just didn’t taste the ginger in the carrots. It was a nice dish though to cool ones mouth after taking a bite of the Vindaloo. And it went well with the lentils. Maybe I should have cooked the carrots a bit longer so that they would be a bit softer and absorb more of the dressing. Not sure. It is, however, a nice cold side dish to have on a warmish Spring evening.

Caponata and Grilled Rice Vegan Cheese Sandwich

Missed lunch due to a job fair today (why do these have to start at noon). So had my lunch for dinner instead. The Caponata you have seen before. However, I don’t think I’ve talked about the cheeses from Galaxy Foods. They make both rice and soy based cheese, vegan and vegetarian. The Rice Vegan is distinctive due to its purple borders on the label. It also specifically says that it is soy free, gluten free and vegan. The best thing about this cheese is that it does actually melt. And if it melts for a grilled cheese sandwich, then you know that it will melt in whatever food you may want to use it. There are really only two bad things about their Rice Vegan line, however. One, no mozzarella is available. And they only come in slices, no blocks or shreds. So its usefulness is somewhat limited. However the slices are just fine for sandwiches, wraps or quesadillas. But I have yet to try these cold, so I cannot say if they also taste good cold or at room temperature. As a guess, since the American one tastes fine on the grilled cheese sandwich, I would bet that they also taste good un-melted as well.

Oh and one good thing did come out of the job fair. It allowed me to swing by the Indian store and buy some tamarind paste. And if I happen to have everything needed to make the Tamarind Lentils from VCON, they will be made tomorrow. These have been on the back burner for me for a long time, simply because I could not find any of this darned paste. This is the only store that I know in the area that even carries it. At least it is a cheap 8 oz ($2.49) and will last me for a long time.

Dinner and Rice Milk Recipe

Dinner was really simple. Stir fried onion and pepper mix from the freezer, sliced seitan cutlets (done on Sunday) and some more of that Molo sauce I made in February. All very simple, just through in a pan and cook. Then put over rice. Instant dinner. Actually this is how I am used to cooking, since a day of work usually makes me to tired to really make anything at the end of the day.

However, I know why you are here tonight. You all want to see the recipe for rice milk. Since I aim to please, here it is. But I will caution you, this is still a bit untested. It might need more agave nectar to make it sweeter. And I have not tried this with a natural sugar or molasses. You can if you would like to, but I have no idea what the measurements would be. I am not making it as sweet as it could be, since I usually have chocolate milk or have it over a sweet cereal. If you want to make is sweeter, go right ahead. This is also a half a batch, so if you want to make more, it should double easily.

Bunny’s Rice Milk (based off of this recipe)

3 ¾ cup water
½ cup white rice flour (may also use brown rice flour)
½ cup almond flour (optional)
½ cup agave nectar (you can add up to a 1 cup if you want it sweeter)
1 Tbsp vanilla

Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan.

Add the vanilla and rice flour to 3/4 cup water, stirring thoroughly.

Once the water boils, stir in the rice flour mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Turn heat to medium-low and boil at least five minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and no longer gritty.

Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl and stir in the almond flour and agave nectar, till combined. Once mixture is cool, add it to your blender (or mix with your counter top mixer) and run till mixture is thoroughly combined and mixture appears to be smooth and semi-liquid. Place in covered container and refrigerate. Should be good for up to two weeks.

Yield: 5-6 cups? Base (I haven’t calculated total servings yet)

To make rice milk
8 oz
1/4 cup base and 3/4 cup water: blend till combined (I do in my Magic Bullet, but it may work to just stir it in)

16 oz
1/2 cup base and 1 1/2 cup water: blend till combined (I do in my Magic Bullet, but it may work to just stir it in)

It will separate in the refrigerator, but will remix quickly in the jar upon shaking.

Seitan and Rice Milk

Tonight is leftovers (the last of the Gobi Aloo and some more of the Seitan Vindaloo), so I thought you might like to know some of the other things I have been doing lately.

First of all, I found that the Baked Seitan Steaks also works well if you do it on the stovetop with cutlets. Just for fun I tried it on Sunday, making 8 cutlets for one batch of the seitan. I cooked them on the stove top with 2 cups of water and 4 tsp of Bryanna’s Homemade “Chicken Style” Broth Powder. I set my stove on 1 and was going to let them sit for an hour, but upon checking them after 40-45 minutes, they were done. The broth was simmering, but the cutlets were not airy or brainy looking. They tasted good as well, which was good since they were our dinner. I ended up using three and the rest are in the refrigerator in the broth. They should get used up this week.

On the rice milk front, I made an important discovery today. My problems with the base were that I skipped a step in making it. I had made the decision that since it was going to be mixed up in a blender that I could skip the mixing step once it was cool Big mistake. I just blended the last of the base and it totally changed its character. Instead of being hard and stiff, it became smooth and more fluid. So I decided to make a small batch of the milk and put it in the refrigerator. This one tasted much better. It did not have the grittiness I had previously found. So this batch may be a winner after all. I just needed to add a step.

And on a surprising finding, I actually found the Turtle Mountain Coconut Milk at one of my grocery stores on Saturday. Much to my surprise since I still cannot get MimicCreme (Vegetation and Mandee you may get it before I do). I haven’t bought it yet, since I am not sure I can validate the cost in my mind. Even though the cost does not seem to out of line for a half a gallon of product, 4.50 for a half gallon. Just have to see how my budget works out.

And on another surprising finding. Earth Balance will be coming out with a soy-free (yes, that is correct), vegan margarine in May. I just found it on the site today and can verify that it is soy-free. It uses no soybean oil, soy lechitan or soy protein. I have already started the wheels in motion, with a few emails, to try and get my local Publix to carry this. If I have to choose between this and the coconut milk, this wins; hands down. Can soy free tempeh be to far behind? Products page has been updated.

Seitan Vindaloo

Dinner tonight is courtesy of Vegan Dad. I figured that since I still had some of the Gobi Aloo, it needed another Indian dish for a dinner; so I decided to try something that had been on his blog last year. However, the first problem was to find a recipe for some beef-style seitan, since I usually make chicken-style. As usual, Google is your friend. I just used as my search “beef seitan” and what turned up but Bryanna Grogan’s Seitan Beef Cutlets. Very easy to make, but does make a lot, so they will be going into the freezer (and I easily have enough to make one of Joni’s burger recipes). If you have not made these before and need a beef flavored seitan, I definitely recommend them. As for the Vindaloo, it went together very easily. The sauce ingredients all fit into the Magic Bullet, but I did have to make a few changes. First, no white wine vinegar so I used rice wine vinegar; no black mustard seeds so I used yellow ones; sucanat for the brown sugar; 1 tsp of jarred, chopped ginger; no garlic available, so I used some garlic granules; and I cooked this in a sauce pan instead of a frying pan, just to make it a bit easier to do. After all that, it was very good. But the next time, I am definitely cutting back on the pepper flakes. It was way to hot for my tastes.

As for the job front, the temp position fell through due to the employer changing the type of job and it wound up being somthing I am unable to do. So back to hunting again.

Caponata and Mexican Rice Pudding (PDQ Vegetarian)

Hi, guys. Miss me.

Sorry about being gone but way to much food. However, I have done a bit of cooking recently. This was my dinner tonight, since I had an errand to run that took me through lunch today. The Caponata was made last night and I finished it today with the balsamic vinegar and any needed sugar. I liked it, but this recipe makes way to much for one person. One can hope I am not sick of it and eggplant when it is gone. On the side is the last of my store bought Tabbouleh. And next to it is the last of the Almond “Feta”, along with some the flatbread I made last week. Now I just have to use up all the oil that the “Feta” was in, hopefully it will make some nice Italian dressing.

For dessert I had some grapefruit segments, from the jar; walnuts and some Mexican Rice Pudding (from PDQ Vegetarian, using vegan variation of rice milk and coconut milk). This is not like Isa’s in VwaV, you make it like a traditional rice pudding. Still not quite sure why she calls this Mexican; possibly due to the coconut milk, dried orange peel and the stick cinnamon in the recipe. It calls for dark raisins, but all I had were golden ones, so in they went. If you don’t like brown rice, this would be a good recipe for you; since all the other ingredients really cover up the nutty taste and flavor of the brown rice. However, you can also make this with regular white rice as well. And if you like a more traditional rice pudding, you would like this. I, however, do want to add some chocolate to it. Maybe just a drizzle over the top.

On the job front, I have a fairly good nibble through one of my staffing agencies; but won’t know more till next week. Once everything is finalized, I will let you all know how it will change things around here. It is long term contract, which is fine for me; because I also have another possibility that is on an indefinite time frame for hiring. The second position is more to my liking; but it may be up to a year away, since they are waiting on government grants. So now I am in limbo till I get more details.