3/14/14 - caffeinated day

Daylight savings kicks my bum bum

bfast: 2 1/2 decaf coffees w/ raw sugar, cardamom and soy milk, banana (bunna, if you're my nephew), breakfast bar
snack: raisins, Junior mints, coffee with milk and hnh
lunch: cheese, half a roll, hummus, sesame kale salad (do not like raw kale!) with roasted beets, mushroom, peppers and garlic, water, 1/2 decaf coffee with soy milk and agave nectar
dinner: bean burrito with buffalo cheese, Coke, grapes, water

Sooooooo tired, even after 5 caffeinated beverages. Holy Moly.

Cooking Greens

We had some yummy and very inexpensive kale with dinner yesterday. You can get a bag of frozen blue curl kale for 1.99 at Whole Foods. the key to cooking greens well is having a smoky flavor, an earthy flavor, a spicy flavor, a smidge of fat and a sweet flavor. Lots of people do bacon for fat and smoke but I don't eat pork so here's what I did:

Med high heat 1/2 tbs butter and 1 tbs olive oil, sautee 4 sliced garlic cloves and 1 sliced onion til they're clear, add the kale and stir then sprinkle about 1/4 cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp tumeric, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp honey and about a cup of veggie broth, season to taste with salt and pepper, cook until the kale is heated through, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn on the bottom and let the broth reduced. It takes about 15 mins.

Recipe: Quick and Easy Lentil Barley Soup

Lentil Barley Vegetable Soup Recipe

Approximate everything. Use fresh if you've got it (I didn't so, there you go):

broth:
1 tbs olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1 tsp curry powder
1 generous tsp coriander
1 tsp garlic powder
2 pinches thyme
2 pinches rosemary
1 heaping tsp Vegebase
1 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 heaping tbs brown sugar
salt & pepper

1 cup frozen veg medley from Whole Foods
1/2 cup frozen pearl onion
1 cup dry lentils
1/2 cup barley
1/2 cup tomato sauce or plain crush tomato (I only had the sauce so I improvised with it)

about 2 quarts water

In a big sauce pan, I put in all the broth ingredients in and stirred. When it start to just bubble, I added the frozen veg and stirred. Let the mix and veg heat up, about 5 minutes, when you can start to smell the flavors, added the lentils and water and stirred. Cover and brought to rolling boil. Turned to low, added barley and simmered 30 minutes, until lentils and barley were tender. really yummy. Really quick!

2/28

breakfast - clif bar, three coffees (half decaf) with soy
snack - rice crackers, tea, french roll and hummus
lunch - crackers, tea, rice crackers, banana
dinner - whole wheat pasta with spicy kale and red lentil tomato sauce, water

So far today 2/27

Right-o, back to it.  I will say, I successfully lost 8.5 pounds since the holidays, which set me up nicely for my trip to Mardi Gras, where I gained back 5.1 pounds. 5.1 is better than last year,w hich was a big ol' 9.

b-granola, coffee (2) w/ h&h and sugar (from school instead of home, no soy milk), apple sauce
snack- olives, bread, hummus
lunch- raisins, crackers, veggie pizza from WF, tea
dinner-water, veg medley from green Ginat, bean burrito from WF

Walking- around WF as a "walk", not used to this weird February weather, where you're supposed to wear a jacket outside.

Valentine's Day (Chocolate) Massacre

Apple
Coffee with soy milk and agave nectar
granola bar
tea
carrots
AND NOW IT GETS BAD
mini heart shaped raspberry tart
snack size M&Ms
hershey's heart shaped chocolate
reprieve: black bean soup
whole grain roll
large black iced tea
BACK AT IT
4 hershey's kisses
two tagalog girl scout cookies (it's that time of year again, cursed Girl Scouts!)
reprieve: whole wheat toast with hummus
veggie medley in light sauce from Green Giant
water

Wow: 6 sweet snacks. Whatever. They were delicious.

Best Veggie Chili Ever Recipe

Recipe: Vegetarian Chili - I  made this up and just used what I had in the house. It was awesome. You can use whatever you like but the thing that really makes this is the cashews, sauteed veggie burger, myriad of vegetables and fresh (frozen, as in not dried) herbs.

black eyes peas
red kidney beans
peas
choppedspinach
corn
diced carrots
diced celery
diced onion
diced peppers
brown rice
veggie burger - see prep instructions
can of diced tomatoes
chopped cashews
flax seeds - see prep instructions
packet of leftover taco sauce
red hot sauce
cajun spice
cayenne pepper
salt
black pepper
olive oil
minced cloves of garlic
smoked paprika
tumeric
rubbed coriander
cumin powder
fresh thyme
fresh rosemary
ton of fresh sage
agave nectar
broth or water (& and veg bullion)

Separate pan, real quick toased up the flaxseeds with paprkia, like you would with sesame seeds. Set them aside. In same pan, in evoo and garlic, sauteed chopped veggie burger. Set aside. In large pot, in olive oil and garlic sauteed onions, peppers, carrots, celery til tender. Add everything else. Pour in water til it is just covering everything. Stir well. Bring to boil then quickly turn to simmer over med low heat, stirring occasinally. It's ready when the rice and carrots are tender and it tastes like all the flavors have melded. Let cool and then reheat to warm for serving. Top with muester cheese and pepper flakes.

2/3/12

We finally had our post-Christmas Yankee Swap. 7 of my friends from high school and I get together to regift terrible gifts and swap nice ones. We also eat a lot.

bfast: coffee, soy mik, agave, blue bfast bar
snack: cheese bagel twist from Dunkin (treat from the 3rd gr teacher!), banana, tea, apple strawberry sauce
lunch: skipped
dinner: carrots, tomato, hummus, ranch dip, 6 cheese and crackers, 1/4 of small veggie calzone, spinach and chick peas salad, EIGHT miniature choco chip cookies (my biggest weakness), 2 wine, 2 *diet* creamsicle martinis

Bad For You: 8 servings of things (bagel twist, calzone dough, 2 cheese servings, martini, mini cookies) not bad for a party day. Must do much much better today, as tomorrow is another party day. GO PATRIOTS!!!

1/31/12

Hmmm...what did I have yesterday?

breakfast: coffee, soymilk, agave nectar 2 big cups, granola bar, banana
snack: carrots and spinach artichoke greek yogurt dip, mango greek yogurt, tea, cheese crackers, apple sauce
lunch: purple dinner leftovers - blue potato, indigo lentils, beets, red onion with carrots, celery and seasonings ina red wine beet juice sauce, so it was purple-y, tea
snack: chocolate caramel ghiradelli square (just one!)
dinner: red wine (2), goat cheese fritter salad with apples, pecans, field greens, balsamic dressing and brioche croutons

Walking around town, particularly the South End. Also went to see the play "Red" about painter Mark Rothko. It was a good day until the very end when I started to feel sick with cold symptoms AGAIN. Second cold of the season! This one is chills with stuffiness and sinus pressure. Last one was probably more likely a flu strain. This one is easier to cope with, so far, at least.

Sat 1/28/12

As I put on my FB status yesterday, if someone could see me on my day off, puttering around the home, how I hop like a flea from one project to the next, abandoning and restarting, they'd think I had sever ADD.

Breakfast:

3 cups of coffee (because I can enjoy it at home and I wanted to do lots) with soy milk, agave nectar and cardamom
blueberry yogurt with molasses pecan granola mix (so yummy)
black eyed peas, spinach and brown rice in spicy sour sauce

Snack:
3 Hershey's kisses
black tea with lemon balm

Lunch:
black tea with lemon balm
wh wh flat bread with cheese and veg burger

Dinner:
glass red wine
bowl of veggie chili (my best ever made, swear)
tea

I took a walk around the neighborhood and did errands as well as getting some chores done. read a bunch, wrote a bunch. It was a low key but nice day off.