Birthday Eve and Caulipots!

I am super excited that tomorrow is my birthday! I have the perfect day planned. It doesn't include cooking dinner, either, so don't expect a blog. It'ssort of a tight schedule and it involves:
-Working out
-Going to Movies
-Going to Spiral Diner
-Getting a massage
-Going to Starbucks and reading (using free birthday drink coupon!)
-Meeting Jessica at Happy Hour and going out to dinner.

Pretty awesome, right? I sure know how to get older! :D


Today I got outside and ran 3.1 miles (because I'm turning 31!), and the weather was beautiful. It was around 60 degrees out.

Then I decided to try a recipe from my new cookbook! It's called Appetite for Reduction, and it's a low-fat Vegan cookbook. Perfect for bringing in the New Year, wouldn't you say?

I actually made something I never thought I would. Isa Chandra calls them 'Caulipots', and it's basically mashed potatoes, replacing some of the potatoes with cauliflower. I wouldn't say I 'couldn't tell' that they were in there, but I think it added a nice flavor to it!

Easy Caulipots- Serves 4

-2 Russett potatoes, peeled and chopped into 3/4" pieces

-1/2 head of cauliflower (I used 1 whole, since it was a small head. Aim for 3 cups)

-1Tbsp olive oil

-2 Tbsp veggie broth

-1/2 tsp salt

-pinches of pepper

-First, chop the potatoes and put them in a big pot of water. You need to leave enough room for the cauliflower. When it comes to a boil, add the cauliflower. Boil for about 15 min. I let it go a little longer, because I was cooking something else. Mash with a potato masher. It can be a little chunky. Add broth, olive oil, salt and pepper and stir around.

Light, fluffy, and delicious!

I topped it with another recipe from the book, called 'Mushroom & Cannelini Paprikas. Here's what dinner looked like!

Don't worry, it's a salad plate!

Christmas Eve Party Popcorn

Christmas Eve Edition!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I hope everyone’s having some great family time! As for me, we leave for our party at 5pm. So I’ve been making some food, drinking some coffee and thinking about blogging.

First of all, sorry I haven’t blogged in awhile. I got into kind of a funk where I wasn’t working out (for about a week and a half), and I haven’t been cooking as much either. Or at least not cooking anything new and exciting.. nothing worth writing home about, in other words.  Also, my home laptop got corrupted by a big nasty virus, and we’re still trying to fix it. Good thing I have a work laptop! :D

So anyways, after baking endless batches of cookies with my mother-in-law, I asked her if Uncle Bobby liked cookies. He’s kind of the family patriarch, and he’s really sweet to us. But he has everything, so we can never think of what to give him! Well, she told me that he really likes popcorn and likes to munch on it while he watches TV.  Popcorn?! You don’t say! I happen to have an amazing Popcorn Peanut Butter Cluster recipe!

It’s not totally vegan, because it uses honey. There seems to be kind of an internal vegan argument about honey anyways. I don’t eat much honey, so it’s not a big deal. So here it is! (And I promise I’ll go back to the gym after Christmas break!)

Popcorn Peanut Butter Clusters

-1/2 cup unpopped popcorn

-1 and1/2 cup peanuts, cashews, or mixed nuts (I used cashews and almonds)

-1 c sugar

-1/2 c honey

-1/2 c lite karo syrup

-1 c peanut butter

-1 tsp vanilla

Butter a large roasting pan.  I used Earth Balance and a piece of wax paper.

 

Pop the popcorn.  I like to use coconut oil. About 2 Tbsps for 1/2 cup of unpopped popcorn. I feel like it makes the popcorn more crispy than canola oil.

Aw yeah. Stove popped popcorn!

Mix with nuts. Like I said, I used cashews and almonds.

Keep warm in roasting pan in 250 degree oven.  I feel the need to tell you right about now, that this is not going to be a healthy snack. If you want a healthy snack, you probably better just stop right here, with the popcorn and nuts. Because here comes the sugar!

Butter sides of 1and 1/2 quart saucepan.  Combine sugar, honey, and lite (as in color, not diet) corn syrup in pan. 

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Boil hard for 2 minutes. Here's what it will look like. 

Remove from heat.  Stir in peanut butter and vanilla.  Keep stirring until it looks smooth.

Pour over popcorn.

 

Let cool.  I'm letting it cool on a cookie sheet with parchment paper underneath.

Then, I'm going to break it into pieces and put it into a decorative container for Uncle Bobby! 

I actually doubled the recipe here, and tried not to use all of the sugar/peanut butter mix. Just enough to cover and flavor. So hopefully I'm sparing someone a little sugar. But like I said, this is a special holiday treat. So enjoy! :)

Portion Control and a Protein Power Bowl

Well, I’ve got a problem.

It’s a little something I like to call ‘portion control’.  I have gained 5lbs, and I haven’t even been to any Christmas parties, yet! Yikes.

I’m pretty good at portioning out and staying in control while at work… but after I get home, it’s a different story. I have a snack. I have a handful of almonds. I have a bite of leftovers.. I’m basically eating dinner while I’m making dinner. Then I eat dinner! 

It’s got to stop. At the very least, I need to track it.

I started trying to be more conscious of when I eat and what I’m eating. I tracked my snack, and was not able to take bites and nibbles of dinner, because all the silverware was dirty. HA! Whatever works, right? When I noticed this, I decided not to wash any silverware until we were right about to eat.

Probably can’t do that every night.

It’s a constant battle, no doubt about it!

I had a great lunch weights workout, and I made Angela Liddon’s Protein Power Bowl for dinner. When I first saw it, I thought it was a cold salad but it’s actually a hot salad. 

Here’s the link: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/05/12/lightened-up-protein-power-goddess-bowl/

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked green lentils (yield 2 & 3/4 cups cooked)
• 1 cup uncooked speltberries (yield 2 cups cooked) OR grain of choice, like brown rice
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil, for sautéing
• 1/2 red onion (~1 & 1/3 cups), chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 3 cups spinach or kale, roughly chopped (I used Lacinato kale)
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
• 1 batch of Lightened Up Tahini-Lemon Dressing (recipe below)
• Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste
• Lemon Wedges & lemon zest, to garnish

Directions:

1. Cook lentils and speltberries (or grain of choice) according to package directions. I did this the night before to save time. Drain and set aside.

2. Prepare the Lightened Up tahini-Lemon dressing in food processor (see below for recipe).

3. In a large skillet over low-medium heat, add your olive oil and sauté the chopped onion and minced garlic for a few minutes, being careful not to burn. Now add in the chopped red pepper and tomato and sauté for another 7-8 minutes.

4. Stir in the chopped kale or spinach and sauté for another few minutes, just until tender. Stir in the full batch of tahini-Lemon dressing, the cooked & drained grains and lentils, and simmer on low for another few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the minced parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with lemon wedges and zest. Makes 6 cups.

Lightened Up Tahini-Lemon Dressing

Adapted from Tahini-Lemon Dressing.
Yield: Just under 1 cup of dressing
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Tahini
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1/4 cup Nutritional yeast or a bit more, to taste
• 2-4 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
• 1 tsp kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 3 tbsp water, or as needed

Directions:
1. In a food processor, add all ingredients and process until smooth. Makes just under 1 cup.

I think I might like it as a cold salad better, but it was definitely good! I used quinoa as my grain, and spinach instead of kale. I also didn’t have any red bell peppers left, but I did use some leftover mushrooms. I can’t say enough good things about this tahini dressing. I could probably drink it by itself. BUT I WON’T. Because that wouldn’t be very good portion control.

This is Angela's photo off her site, too, because I think my computer got corrupted somehow and I keep getting USB errors. UGH! Must fix!

DWR Race Report

Well, race day has come and gone. 

Unfortunately, it was awful! It was 30 degrees, cold and rainy. I checked out the paper and apparently several runners were treated for hypothermia! If you’re like me, you’re wondering if you can get hypothermia at 30 degrees. Doesn’t seem that cold. 

However, remembering last year, it was about 40 degrees out. I was freezing cold in my running tights, long sleeved shirt and vest. I figured I’d warm up upon running, but we were waiting for about an hour outside to start. There were plenty of runners in tiny shorts, no coats or coverups of any sort, and without an ounce of body fat. Lucky bitches. Lucky, frozen, bitches.

I sincerely hope all the runners are recovering well!

I was supposed to work out last night, but the temptation to come home and play Skyrim was too great. So I did a ‘doubles’ workout today, weights during lunch and kickboxing after work.

Dinner today was very throw together:

Whole wheat linguine with sauteed eggplant, mushrooms and ‘beef’ crumbles covered w/ spaghetti sauce. 

Ooh, and I am having issues with my camera today. So here’s a picture of the crazy DWR Runners:

Walk the Rock Expo

Rainy, dreary Saturday afternoon. I hear Sunday is going to be very similar. Hopefully it doesn’t rain too hard for the runners in the White Rock Marathon.

I struggled getting up this morning. I debated whether or not I wanted to work out, shower, then run all my errands.. or maybe just stay home and veg out. (ha!)

Sigh. I got my things together and went.  After I got my workout clothes on, it felt a lot easier to get going. So I went to the gym and did some weights. I’m following the plan from New Rules of Lifting for Women. It’s a book. I really like it. They’re whole body weights workouts that you do 3 times a week.

After that, I was going to try out a couple health food stores in Mesquite to find Nutritional Yeast. But I couldn’t find the stores. I think they closed. So I ended up going to Whole Foods in Dallas. I love Whole Foods, but I usually buy way more than I mean to. Case in point: I went to get nutritional yeast, tahini, and a big bag of coffee. I ended up buying all those things +Kale, Beajoulais Noveau 2011, Mrs. Beachley’s mulled wine (drink hot in a mug!), and a ½ lb of curried tofu salad for lunch. 

Then, since I was in the Dallas area, anyway, I decided to stop by the Marathon Expo at Fair Park and pick up my race packet and shirt. Actually, the walk from the parking lot to the Expo building could have been a half in itself. I almost wish I’d had my Garmin to see how far the walk was.

I also ended up getting a free box of Cliff bars, and a square of Ghiradelli chocolate. Score!

So here’s what the shirt looks like:

I like the design. I’m just hoping it’s not so cheap and thin that you can see my bra through it. I’ve gotten a couple cheapo race shirts like that before. I suppose I shouldn’t complain, since they’re ‘free’, but really. They fit weird and they’re pretty much see-through. What’s the point?

While I was there, I saw some tech shirts being sold, and a couple made me bust out laughing on the spot. So of course, I bought them.

Here’s one: “Running won’t kill you... You’ll pass out first!”   HAHAHA, I just wish they’d had my size in blue. It was a really popular shirt.

 

And another one: “If you see me collapse, pause my Garmin.”  PFFFFFF Love it!

Sigh, this could have been me this year:

But hey, there's always next year. And there are a lot of fun 5K's coming up in 2012.  I’ll go to spinning class tomorrow, wear my 13.1 shirt in honor of the marathoners, and drink these, while sitting in my comfy chair.

Non-toxic Taco Shell Bowls

Sorry I didn’t post last night! I had a killer headache, so I didn’t feel up to it. We had lentil soup and a fabulous kale salad with tahini lemon dressing, whose recipe I will have to post soon.

Today, I was going to do another double workout. Weights during my lunch hour and an outside run when I got home, but only ended up doing the weights.  Oh well, at least I did something.

I saw this cool, how to make a taco shell bowl thing on the internet, so I tried it out!

The instructions said that you should have flour tortillas, oil, an oven proof bowl,  and oven proof string.

What?

After unsuccessfully Googling ‘Is fishing line oven safe?’, I decided to try a way to do it without string.

First, I preheated the oven to 400. Then, I took a tortilla, and heated it up in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Then I brushed a little olive oil on both sides, and put it over an upside down bowl. Then I put an upside down bowl on top of that to kind of weigh it down in a bowl shape. It felt more safe, since I didn’t know if the fishing line would melt, set the tortilla on fire, or poison us.

After 8 minutes, I took the first bowl off, and the tortilla seemed pretty stiff, so I put it back on its own for 10 min.

This is how it turned out:

Oops. The sides have sagged down a bit, but it can still hold salad. Not a total failure. RUSTIC, in fact. The next one, I followed the same instructions, except I put the now bowl shaped torilla in the bowl, as if it was a liner. THAT’S how it keeps a bowl shape. 

I actually made two different taco salads for Nick and myself.

Nick’s has spinach, sauteed onion and pepper, Morningstar ‘beef’ crumbles, taco seasoning and sliced grape tomatoes.

Mine has spinach, sauteed onion and pepper, leftover roasted butternut squash, taco seasoning and sliced grape tomatoes. I'm so mad at myself. Apparently I didn't take a picture of it. Even though the tortilla um.. platter.. looked odd, it did look really good with the filling inside. DAMMIT. Well, you get the idea with Nick's bowl.

I put salsa on top after the pic was taken. Mine, at least, was really good. I was a little concerned about squash in a taco bowl, but somehow it worked!

DOMS and Quinoa

*whimper*

DOMS – Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. The pain and stiffness felt in muscles several hours to days after unaccustomed or strenuous exercise.

Oh yeah. I’m feeling it. I spent my lunch hour stretching and doing some yoga. Then kickboxing after work. I could hardly lift my arms over my head! I knew that the muscle soreness happened, just not what it's name was. Good thing tomorrow is a rest day.

Also, I felt self conscious because I had a new shirt on. Don’t you hate that? There’s a lot to be said for a comfy old tshirt.

Today I made one of Nick’s favorites! It’s pretty easy, too. It’s another Quinoa salad.

Quinoa, corn and avocado salad

-1 cup Quinoa (rinsed and cooked, per box instructions)

-1 can black beans, rinsed.

-1 red pepper, chopped

-1/4 cup chopped cilantro

-2 green onions, chopped

-1 can corn (drained and rinsed)

-1 small avocado

-1 chopped jalapeno, deseeded. (optional)

Dressing:

-4 Tbsp lime juice (1 lime squeezed)

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp black pepper

-1 garlic clove, minced

-1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

-1/4 cup olive oil

-1/2 tsp cumin

-While you’re cooking quinoa, chop up, de-can, strain and rinse everything you need for the salad in a huge bowl. 

-Mix up the dressing in a small separate bowl, and whisk.

-Mix Quinoa with the salad.. mix the dressing in with the quinoa salad. 

You’re done!

It’s a beautiful, flavorful salad or side dish. Really great. I made it with black bean quesadillas.. no queso included! :)