Fresh start

Everywhere I've turned this week I've read that one should not eat breakfast until a glass of (preferably hot) water with lemon is drunk. I woke up feeling refreshed and not too hungry this morning and decided to give it a try since I typically order it when dining out anyway. It's supposed to be detoxifying for one, and act as a prep for the stomach to start digesting food. The results? I really didn't expect to feel that much different but I do feel as if I had several cups of coffee. The Beanpole is working from home this week and sitting across from me looking at me like I'm nuts as I have a little dance party in my seat!! Anyone who has seen me try to dance knows just why this is hilarious.

After the crack (errr, lemon water) I made some oatmeal again. The heater's been in full force so despite the deeply sub-zero temperatures we've actually had to turn it off and only run it for a couple hours every two to three days and it finally started to cool down in here. I was ready for something warm and soothing. Today's concoction was focused on the amazing combos that peanut butter creates. I love it with bananas and I love it with chocolate so I made two kinds of oatmeal in one bowl! I like to put the toppings around the side so I can take just a little bit in each bite. : )


That looks like a lot of peanut butter but it was really only a tiny spoonful. It's natural so it gets a little goopy and melts down a little bit on the warm oatmeal. So tasty, and I loved the melty chocolatey parts!

A day late...and a couple dollars short

Wow, not sure how I completely forgot to blog everything yesterday! I did take some pics but writing it up escaped me. Oh well! Catching up!

I woke up super early (5:45am!) and just had to have a nice big cup of coffee to start the day. I've been thinking about it every morning for a week and finally gave in. For breakfast, of course, I made some oatmeal. Yesterday's golden bowl satisfied all my needs so I repeated it and used half a banana, flax, some slivered almonds, a bit of granola, AND golden raisins. No worries about not enough texture here!




Around 10:30 my stomach started growling and I could not figure out how I could possibly be hungry so early until I realized that it had already been four hours since breakfast! I am not used to eating that early and thought a mid-morning snack of hummus and a few pita chips would be just enough to hold me over until an appropriate lunch hour. Unfortunately the hummus had gone bad so it was just the pita chips. : (


The oatmeal just didn't feel like breakfast to me and I was in the mood for a potato so I whipped up a florentine omelet (with spinach, tomato, and a little mozzarella cheese), rosemary hashbrowns, and a slice of whole-grain toast with a little strawberry jam. It finally felt like the day had started!! I was full full full after lunch but hoped that some of that would subside so I could work in a yoga practice before dinner - more on that in another post.


Ahhhh dinner. This was the meal I'd been looking forward to all day. I could exist on Indian food alone, I think. Leaving the house in -23 degree weather was simply not going to happen so The Beanpole and I opted for delivery and man, was it good. We've been to the Indian Grill a couple times for their weekend buffet but had never ordered off the menu and hoped that it would be as good. We ordered samosas, garlic naan, dal makhani (buttery lentils), shrimp masala, and a Coke for him. Indian is unquestionably one of my "trigger foods" if you believe in such things, and the plate below actually demonstrates restraint. I did go back for another 2-3 spoonfuls of the dal makhani to use up the rest of the naan. We didn't know until last night that this restaurant delivered and I think that information could be problematic. The good news is that I have a TON of dal leftover for lunch!

Disaster of a Dinner

Oh well. That happens to the best of us and was mostly salvaged in the end. I'd done a yoga practice shortly before and was still in the fog. I hadn't originally wanted to practice but convinced myself with thoughts of looser joints and a good night's sleep. In the past those reluctant practices have often turned out to be some of the most enjoyable and while it seemed like an eternity it wasn't too challenging and I felt a little loopy afterwards. Loopy? Yes, as in it took me a full seven minutes of staring at the bread, cheese, tomato, and pan to figure out the best way to create a grilled cheese sandwich. I finally got it together and spread a bit of butter on the bread and threw it on the griddle, which I neglected to light until several more minutes had passed and promptly forgot about. The first round of sandwiches was absolutely charred on the bottom and I just stood there and pathetically implored The Beanpole to "just do something about it!" He (graciously) did and I tasked myself with making sure our Chipotle Corn soup did not overflow.


The soup was good, but not great. The Beanpole loves corn soup but I've always been on the fence and this didn't push me in either direction. I did add some bell pepper to get some more veggies in and he drained his bowl. I ate most, but the chipotle was playing tricks on my nose and I kept smelling the strangest corny spicy smoky odor and gave up.


The grilled cheese sandwich sequels were much better! The cheese was gooey, the tomato warm and sweet, and the bread slightly browned and crispy but not (ahem) charred. And this photo is fantastic!



As for the yoga brain, I've returned to earth for the most part but am sleepy! I'm not sure what's happening this week but I keep going to bed earlier and earlier. I might not even make it until 10pm!

Chipotle!!!!!

Sorry, had to scream that one in honor of a friend. One of my favorite fast-food type restaurants has long been Chipotle. I just love that I can get something every single time and their lime-cilantro rice. So it's only natural that I decided to use some of last night's leftover rice to make a healthier version of the Chipotle favorite! I'd intended on making a burrito but changed my mind at the last minute and made a bowl instead.


First, I sauteed a little red onion, mixed bell pepper, and some black beans in a little bit of cumin and chili-powder for a kick. Then I added a little bit of lemon juice and parsley to the rice, mixed it up, and popped it in the microwave for a minute. I didn't have any lime or cilantro and figured this would give it just enough of a bite. I cut up about a cup of spinach and "shredded" a slice of cheddar cheese, and put it all together with a dollop of peach-mango salsa. It wasn't exactly Chipotle, but it was pretty good and fast too! I had a tortilla on the side, but only ended up eating about half of it. It's just too doughy to eat on its own.

Who Said Beige Was Boring?

Liking oatmeal has been a long-time coming. At first I was intimidated by the process of making the homemade version thinking that it took a long time to prepare and involved considerable effort. If five minutes is too long and an occasional stir is too much then yes, my preconceived nothings are correct, but luckily I've found that neither is too taxing for me. Also, having never had homemade oatmeal I detested the gritty texture I'd become accustomed to with the prepackaged kind. That changed when I visited the Original House of Pancakes in Chicago. It's a chain I'd fallen hard for when living in South Carolina and was happy to discover that The Beanpole also loved in North Carolina. The waitress brings out a huge bowl of creamy oatmeal accompanied by raisins, brown sugar, and lovely little pitcher of cream.

I thought about cooking an egg this morning to make sure that I started off with more flavor and texture but went back to the oatmeal. As usual I topped it with the leftover half of banana, a little bit of granola, and flax, but after yesterday's lack of texture I decided to add some golden raisins and a few slivered almonds. This made all the difference. YUM!


I like to spread the raisins and bananas around the edge so I can add a little to each bite!

Some Like It Hot

BRRRRR! It might actually be warmer outside the apartment tonight! All the radiators are wide open but no heat is pumping out. We heard a lot of clanging and knocking earlier today and I'm hoping that the workers remembered to turn the heat back on, but past history indicates that they likely forgot and it will be sometime later tomorrow before we start to warm up. I knew I wanted dinner to have three qualities tonight - hot in temperature and spice, have a strong bite to it, and preferably contain rice. The first two are self-explanatory and the second was because I suddenly realized that I'd really only eaten soft foods all day. The oatmeal, soup, more soup, and even the wrap all presented a pretty similar textures and I was ready for something new. I think I wanted rice because it goes oh so well with my favorite spicy ethnic food cravings - Indian, Mexican, and Chinese. The Beanpole and I talked about going out but I suddenly remembered my creole shrimp recipe and figured that would be the most satisfying. Not only that but we could save some money and use up a couple of ingredients around the house as well!


I adore this shrimp recipe for its ease and flavor. In the past I've served it as a sandwich on a toasted baguette with a little bit of goat cheese, but it stands up well with rice or on its own. You can make it as mild or as spicy as you like and I've long since stopped measuring so play around to taste!


Spicy Creole Shrimp (serves 2)
2 cups medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 small red bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 small-medium red onion, sliced into strips
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
cooking spray
cumin
chili powder
hot sauce
pepper

Heat pan sprayed with cooking spray over medium high heat; add red pepper and onion. Saute until tender and onion starts to become translucent. In a bowl, mix all other ingredients; stir to coat. Add to pan and cook 3-4 minutes until shrimp start to turn pink. Add 1/4 cup water; cover and cook about 5 minutes. Uncover and let sauce cook off a bit.

I'd unearthed some pretty attractive spears of asparagus at Whole Foods yesterday and added them to tonight's comfort-food meal for some color and because well, I just love them.


All the spice finally warmed me up a bit and I feel calmer after having a meal with something to sink my teeth into. I still would like to try to reserve fish for dining out and prepare meals that are closer to a true vegetarian (whatever that is, haha) when at home. In order to do that I will need to be more attentive throughout the day and make sure that I incorporate more texture!!!


Not sure if these count as texture but as usual I needed just a tiny bit of sweet - especially after all the spice!

Drive-by lunching

I definitely had a case of yoga-brain today. For those not familiar with the term this is the phenomenon that occurs after a great practice and leaves the student, well, a little spacey. I leisurely went on about my day, taking a nice long hot shower and lingering over what to have for lunch. Practice left me pretty hungry and I was ready to EAT and ended up making some soup, a hummus and black bean wrap, and slicing up an apple.


I wanted to use up the rest of the Carrot-Cashew-Ginger soup since it was ok but not great and make room to stock up on the Curried Red Lentil version, so I poured the rest into a small pot and ended up using about 3/4 of the box! I got to eat about four spoonfuls or so. The wrap was about 1/4 cup black beans and 1/8 cup onion heated quickly in a small pot (they'd been in the fridge and I didn't want anything too cold competing with the apple), about 1/2 cup spinach, hummus, and about a tablespoon of goat cheese for tang on a multi-grain wrap. I'd underestimated the size of the wraps but man, it was good and I devoured it. Then I looked at the clock and realized I only had twenty minute to get everything cleaned up, dry and style my hair, get dressed, and....get the cat into the carrier. Not good since the car was buried under 3 feet of snow and needed rescue! I scarfed down half of the apple and gave the rest to The Beanpole and got ready in a flash.

Augustus Cat (for once in his life) went straight into the carrier and behaved quite nicely at the vet and was given a clean bill of health! The Beanpole dropped us off and by the time I got back I was still hungry since I never got to finish lunch, so I reheated the bowl of soup and finished it off.


I have a couple ideas for dinner but haven't determined exactly what we're going to do yet.