The Tuesday Tab

1. Nelly has a new song for the first time since 2005, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.  I am sure that I know every word to Country Grammar. 

2. Did you know handwriting can clue people in to your personality?

I was scrolling through the list thinking they couldn’t pinpoint my personality through handwriting.  Wrong.  Cinderella, I am. Although I don’t agree with the description.  You vote – BS or not?

3. I saw the trailer for You Again today, and I think I will probably laugh my way through the movie.  I need a good laugh, mostly because it’s my favorite core exercise.

4. I just asked Nick his favorite song right now and it’s titled perfect girl.  I think he was just trying to be smooth.

5. Would you please tell me why I should pay a yearly fee to IRA advisor when I have not even made back my full starter investment from the stock hurricane of 2008?  This is not fair.  Life is not fair.  I should not be worrying about retirement cash at 23.  Just let me retire in a World Market store and I’ll be happy as can be.

Oh, and the advisor has not advised me in the past year.  Just sayin’.

6. I had froyo tonight after dinner.  Half business/half party…. aka toppings including strawberries and blueberries for their antioxidant value, but I did have my fair share of crushed Reese’s Cups and sprinkle-covered chocolate chips.  Froyo flavors included: birthday cake, peanut butter and plain tart.  It’s all  about balance.

I thought I had a picture, but my Facebook photo library (or lack thereof) ate it.

7. I am having an internal debate between organizing my life online or offline.  The act of writing something down seems to add more substance than typing it into an online calendar.  I think I just want a new planner so I can possibly let go of my oldest planner currently in possession (I’ve kept the last two from college.)

8. September is going to be full of strength-training and watching my sugar intake.  I know you’re as glad as I am that my goals start with an “s” like September does.  Clever, I know.  More on those thoughts in September.

9.  If you are still with me, major props.  I would give you gold star if I could.

10. Milo says hi! She’s hanging out on my lap right now so I’m typing in a pretty awkward position.  Typical cat owner story.

I know she doesn’t look thrilled to be featured on the blog, but really she’s just shy.

Caution – Casserole Mess Ahead

Tags

casserole, chickpeas, squash

Casseroles are a great way to get rid of leftovers that just won’t go away.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat pasta
1 cup cooked lentils
couple of slices turkey breast, shredded
.5 cup marinara sauce
2 tbsp shredded Mexican cheese
3 slices gouda

Mix first five ingredients together in a casserole dish.  Microwave for 3.5 minutes.  Add gouda layer on top.  Microwave for another 30 seconds.

Sorry, I know you know how to microwave and melt cheese.  I had an OCD moment and just had to type it out.

This was okay.  I could’ve done without the turkey addition, but the lentils + cheese rocked as always.

Unpictured garlic toast was served with the casserole-mess, which Nick thankfully finished off.

Tonight’s dinner was a whole ‘nother ball game. (Is that correctly spelled/worded?  I’ve never typed out ‘nother.  Strange.)

Roasted Chickpeas, Sautéed Squash & Romaine Salad with Avocado

 
For the chickpeas:
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed
.5 tbsp olive oil
Unmeasured:
    -Ground Cumin
    -Ground Cayenne Pepper
    -Chili Powder

Mix all together in large bowl until chickpeas are coated, line cookie sheet with foil and spread chickpeas out onto it. Bake at 425* for 20 minutes.

For the squash (serves 2):
3 small squash
1 t. olive oil
.25 t. beef fajita seasoning

Sauté squash on high heat until it begins to turn a golden brown.  Turn the heat down to medium and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes until soft, tender and sweet.

Just romaine and half of a sliced, small avocado here.  Drizzled with Kraft’s Olive Oil Greek Vinaigrette. 

 
I’m just as big of fan of squash as I am zucchini, and by glancing at my tag cloud, you know that means a lot.  Next summer I’m planning on planting enough squash and zucchini to cover my entire back yard.  Nick won’t have to take care of the yard, and I can eat squash for every meal.  Win. Win.

Summer squash has a sweet buttery flavor that sautéing really brings out. If squash isn’t a vegetable you normally eat, I suggest you try this as soon as possible.

Oatmeal Pancakes

Tags

cinnamon, egg whites, oatmeal, peanut butter

Confession – 6 a.m. yoga did not happen, but only because the class was actually cancelled!  Good thing I checked Lubbock Yoga’s website before going to sleep, because I would not have been a happy camper if I had arrived to an empty studio.

After I learned about canceled yoga, I planned to get up a little earlier than usual for some home yoga, but let’s be honest here.  Even at 6:30 a.m. I need group exercise or a hot yoga room to motivate myself.  I didn’t have either of those this morning, but I did have a cozy, warm bed.  Guess which side of the teeter-totter I landed on.

You can conclude from this post and yesterday’s post that I’m not sleep-deprived.  Naturally, the next step in conversation is breakfast.

One of my favorite quick breakfasts to make is an Oatmeal Pancake. Sadly, I did not come up with this recipe, but read it in a fitness magazine (Shape, Fitness, one of those?) when I was just getting into learning about healthy, alternative eating.  I saved the recipe on my phone in early 2009, and it’s been a favorite ever since.

 
Ingredients:
.3 cup rolled oats
2 egg whites
1 T. peanut butter
1 t. cinnamon

That’s all, folks.  Amazing, right?

Stir the batter until the peanut butter combines with the other ingredients.  You will want the batter to be peanut butter lump free.

Pour into a heated non-stick skillet and use a spoon to spread the batter evenly.

Cook until the top bubbles and flip!

You can’t go wrong with this people.  I topped mine with a sliced peach.

Stats on oatmeal pancake – 231 calories, 10 fat grams, 39 carb grams, 7 fiber grams, 17 protein grams.

The oatmeal pancake is a beautiful combination of protein, fats & carb, and it’s a wonderful alternative to regular pancakes, which never seem to keep me full for more than 30 minutes.

Do you have any favorite “alternative” recipes?
Feel free to link back to them in the comments!

Eggplant Algebra

Tags

eggplant, pasta, salad

Math equation time!  Written in third person, of course.

If Kendall naps from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. and has a midnight bed time, how many hours sleep will she get if she goes to 6 a.m. yoga?

If you guessed 8 hours of sleep, you win.  What you win, I don’t know.

For the second day in a row, I made it a point to listen to my body. After a long afternoon at work  I was tired, and with the weather acting weird (scorching hot Monday to slightly chilly today), I knew my body/sinuses were not happy.

Upon arrival from work, I promptly laid out on the couch to watch the RHONJ finale.  I only made it 10 minutes into the most drama-filled show ever.  You know I was tired.

My nap kind-of worked out amazingly, though.  Nick was working until 9 tonight, so I was on schedule to make a dinner that would be hot on the stove and not in plastic containers ready to warm up.

Baked Eggplant Parmigiana

Ingredients –
1 medium eggplant, sliced .3 inch (or smaller)
.25 cup breadcrumbs (I used Progresso Italian Style)
.25 t. onion powder
.25 t. garlic powder
.25 t. dried oregano
2 egg whites
1 t. olive oil

 
Last night I peeled and sliced the eggplant and layered it in a dish, slightly salting between the layers, then refrigerated over night.  The salt brings the moisture out of the eggplant so it will bake up firmer.

Next mix the breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder and oregano together.  Also, place the egg whites in a separate bowl.

 
Coat the eggplant in egg, then breadcrumbs and place on a baking sheet lined with foil.  Before I started coating, I spread the 1 t. olive oil on the foil to make sure the eggplant wouldn’t stick.

I broiled the eggplant for about 20 minutes, flipping half-way through.  When it was brown and crispy, I topped half of the slices with shredded mozzarella and placed it back in the oven for 2-3 minutes.

*Note – You may want to cook this at 400* in your oven.  It has always taken a little longer to bake in mine, so I usually add a good amount of degrees to my baking temperature.

 

Served with whole wheat spaghetti, tomato sauce and a side salad with Greek vinaigrette.

Math equation #2 – Probability of Kendall getting her butt to the 6 a.m. yoga class.

If her feline alarm clock wakes her up at 5:30 a.m., just like she’s done for the past two weeks – 80%.
If it’s cold and rainy out – 40%.
Just to see if morning yoga is something she likes – 100%.

Here’s to hoping my motivation is around at 5:30 a.m.

Listen to the Lentils

Tags

gouda, lentils, okra

Planning on an after work cardio/weights session, I drove myself to the gym, only to stay buckled into my seat in the parking lot.  You see, it was a dreary day here in West Texas, and when it’s a dreary day, I want to organize and cook.  I guess if I lived in Seattle,  I would have a spotless house and a full fridge.  Nick is planning the move to Seattle right about now.

I’m glad I listened to my body and didn’t force myself to walk into the gym.  When my heart is not fully into working out, my head and body seem to follow suit.  It’s not that I was too tired for the gym, but rather I was starving at 5 p.m. and couldn’t imagine getting through a workout while that ravenous.

I am still planning on going to the gym in a little bit, but I can’t say that with 100% assurance until I step on the treadmill.  I am in my workout clothes, though, which means I’m one step closer.

So I haven’t sweat yet today, but I have cooked!

After my around the world stint with lentils, I kind of forgot about them.  Until 5 p.m. when I wanted a fast-cook legume.

And gouda. I love that Wikipedia had this to say about lentils – “In rare cases the lentils are mixed with dairy cheese.”

Sorry Wikipedia, I think you’ve got that wrong.  Not rare.

I micro-melted a slice of gouda on top of my lentils.  Before I added the gouda I sprinkled some seasoning for the soul + salt on the lentils.

 I foresee emptying you before winter is done.

If you have never cooked lentils before, you should know what you’re getting into.

I cooked 2 cups dry lentils with 5 cups water for about 40 minutes after bringing to a soft boil and got this.

This = a lot of lentils.

Lentils basically double in size, so just be prepared with a large pan.

I drizzled  1 t. olive oil over the okra  and with a quick grind of salt and pepper, they were ready to broil in the oven for 20 minutes.  Roasting vegetables and serving with ketchup is always a win-win situation.

Next on tonight’s to-do list and before the gym, I need to take care of this problem.

Yes, that would be HLS swag bag material + clothes not yet organized.  Good thing it’s a dreary day.

 
My calcium levels think the Adora discs are a good thing, too.  So do my taste buds.

What’s your favorite cheese? 
If you can’t tell, I developed an obsession with gouda that I can’t seem to shake. 

Paper for Dinner

In honor of Caturday tomorrow, a Milo photo for your viewing pleasure.

This feline fur ball loves eating paper.  Well, actually I take that back.

Milo is an attention addict, and she uses paper to get her fix.  If she wants someone to play with at 5:30 a.m., she just takes a hunk out of my bookmark on the nightstand.  She loves nibbling on the edges of important papers (checks, thank you cards, tax forms), just so someone will tell her to stop.  And like the photo above, anything with a pointy-edge that smells like printed construction paper is fair game. I’m looking at that business card right now, and there is a solitary bite mark in the corner edge. 

Here’s to hoping paper isn’t a gateway into bigger addictions.  I don’t know if I could handle her if she moved on to whole books.

Thinking about investing in a book safe now….

Corny Tutorial Time

Tags

corn, feta, jalapenos

Remember the sweet and cheesy popcorn from my Tastebud Food Tour recap?

After a challenge from Arnold & Oroweat to create recipe inspired by the tour, I knew I was headed in a Chicago-style popcorn direction.  Corn is in season, so I knew it would be easy to find in a fresh state, and most of all, at its devouring prime.

Triple S Corn – Sweet, Salty & Spicy

Ingredients for four servings:

3 ears fresh corn, grilled
1 medium jalapeño
.5 T butter
2 T chopped green onions
.25 cup feta

Just incase you weren’t raised in the sticks like me (Well it wasn’t really “the sticks." I mean I am from the Texas Panhandle where there are more churches than trees, but this is just the best way to describe a small farming town of 1,000.), I thought I would run through a quick tutorial of how to grill fresh corn.

Fire up the grill.  I totally guessed on this part, mainly because our grill is brand-new.  It’s a propane grill, so I first turned the “burners” on to medium-high and then shut the lid.  By the time I the food was prepared to grill, the grill was hot and ready.  *Note – Before grilling, turn grill off and grease grates with a vegetable or canola oil-soaked paper towel.  I used canola.  After greasing, turn burners back on and you’re ready to go.

Prepare corn to grill.  This means shucking the corn down to the final layer of skin, pulling the final layer back while leaving it attached, and de-stringing the inside of the corn.  Just grab the “hair” and pull – it doesn’t put up much of a fight.

Fresh ear

Shucked to the final layer of skin, which is pulled back.  Then de-hair the corn.

Successfully shucked corn.

Next, you will want to soak the ears in a pot of water for a few minutes to keep burning of the corn to a minimum.

 
While the corn was soaking, I diced one jalapeño, added .5 T butter and wrapped in foil.  I de-seeded and de-veined the jalapeño, and the heat was actually perfect.

After draining the corn you are ready to grill.  I placed the corn on low heat and the foil ball out of direct flames.

The next Bobby Flay.  Vegetables as the main course, though.

We also grilled some BBQ-rubbed chicken, which is what you see peeking out from the corner.

Even though the corn is on a low flame setting, you will want to rotate it every few minutes.  Nick actually took over the grill at this point, leaving the corn on for about 15 – 20 minutes.

Grilled corn with a Ozzy Osbourne haircut.

I would recommend waiting for the corn to cool, after which you will remove all skin from the corn.

Then take a knife (I used a steak-knife) and run it down each side of the corn, slicing the kernels off the cob.

I didn’t remove the burnt skin.  A few flyaways were picked out of the bowl.

Next, add the cooked jalapeño and chopped green onions into the bowl and mix.  Top with feta and serve.

The grilled corn was perfectly sweet and fresh, and the jalapeño added a nice smoky kick.  The feta made all the difference, per usual.  It’s my go-to kick-it-up-a-notch flavor.

Have you ever grilled corn before?  Do you like my take on Chicago-style popcorn?

Historically Important Tastebuds – HLS Day 2.2

Saturday night I had the opportunity to attend a Tastebud Tour, courtesy of Arnold and Oroweat, sponsors of the Healthy Living Summit.

 
I would recommend this tour to anyone who enjoys food and history.  That being said, it was totally up my alley.  Our tour guide shared stories of Chicago and some great places to grab a bite.  The concept of the tour is a guide of Chicago on foot, with stops at famous restaurants for a small plate of food.  I knew it would be best if I didn’t finish the “mini” meals at each stop, so my game plan was to eat about half of the dish and move on.

First off– Berghoff, the oldest family-run establishment in the nation…yes, impressive.

We started off with a frosty mug of Berghoff’s own root beer.  It was tasty, but I wasn’t a fan of all the sugar.

(Photo from HLS photographer)

For our “mini” meal, we were served a German-style sausage topped with spicy mustard and sauerkraut with a side of vinegary potatoes.

I was surprised at how much I liked this! Sometimes sour and salty hits the spot.

Second stop – A gorgeous hotel, which I can’t remember the name of.  Honestly, there were a few wedding parties milling about, and I was more interested in people-watching than listening.
  
We were served brownies, and I made an exception an ate the entire thing.  These were as gooey as fudge and a rich as my future husband.

 
Random photo of our tour guide standing with a bull statue.  Apparently Chicago is infamous (in my opinion) for starting the animal statue tradition.  You know how some cities have different statues of the same animal?  Odessa, Texas, has jackrabbits…I’ve never figured that one out.

 
Third stop – We went down into the tunnels beneath the city.  I had no idea these existed!

Had a few bites of Chicago-style popcorn: cheddar + caramel!  Genius creation!  It’s like the tin of popcorn at Christmas, except there aren’t any dividers.  The popcorn was freshly popped and melted in my mouth.

 
Fourth stop – Chicago-style hot dogs, but first a tourist photo.

(Photo from HLS photographer)

 
Again, I’m surprised I liked this as much as I did!  For those of you that don’t know, toppings on a Chicago-style hot dog include:

• Mustard
• Bright-green relish
• Sliced tomatoes
• A pickle slice
• Onions
• Hot peppers
• Celery salt
• Served on a poppy seed bun

Fifth and final stop – The Billy Goat Tavern.  Some history has gone down here.  It was featured in a 1978 Saturday Night Live skit with Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray.

 
With a food-induced coma, I didn’t remember to take a photo until after I had devoured half.  This was probably the meal I was least impressed with, but I think it was a tour stop for more of the historical aspect.

They did give us hats to wear, though!

(Photo from HLS photographer)

Overall, I really enjoyed the Tastebud Tour, but my feet were aching by the end.  I’m excited to share a recipe inspired by the tour.  Any guesses about which of the stops that inspired me?

(Photo from HLS photographer)

Healthy Living Summit Day 2.1

Ahhhhh…finally back to a real computer and Windows Live Writer.

When I left off, the Healthy Living Summit was just beginning. There was still a day full of breakout sessions, discussions, food and fun. 

 
I wanted to put some of the tips shared in the photography session to use, so I broke out my camera.
 

Why I photographed a Frito bag, I’ll never know.

I was experimenting with white balance, ISO & the macro button, even though my camera is just a point-and-shoot.  I was a macro virgin, so I was excited to play. (TWSS) The macro button on my camera looks like a flower, and creates a clear focus with blurry background photo.

After two sessions, it was lunch time.  I was too overwhelmed with food choices to even think about photos!  The HLS committee had planned an amazing buffet – I had a grilled vegetable and provolone sandwich with chickpea salad and fruit salad garnished with mint, all on a bed of mixed greens.  That mint did wonders!  Dessert was apple pie and a brownie, both pretty small bites.

The third session I attended was “The Ups and Downs of Blogging,” which I am planning on delving into a bit deeper in another post.  Next was yoga, or so I thought.  Jen and I walked in a little too late though because all the mats were taken.  We decided to just take a stroll near our hotel. 

Jen got this on the third try!  Also notice my blue tint.  Fail, Kendall, for leaving my white balance on a wacky setting.

White balanced fixed, we made time for some yoga in the park.

After Katie’s amazing speech ended the Summit on a very high note, we decided to take off for a quick photo-op at The Bean.

 
Me, Katie, Brittney, Jen, Rachel & Sana

Chicago Sidewalk Chess Players

I’ll be posting a review of the Chicago Tastebud Tour and what I took away from the Summit shortly!

PS – I posted the wrong URLs for Katie and Rachel on the last post.  (sorry, girls!)  If you ended up at a sweet potato farm for Katie last time, you might want to try again because the links are correct now!

Healthy Living Summit Day 2

Last night was so much fun! I took the L (Chicago’s metro) in from the airport, which ended up being about a 40 minute ride. It was about a 10 minute walk from the L to the hotel, and by the time I arrived at the room I was a sweaty mess.

Then I finally got to meet my roommates!

Katie, Sana, Rachel are all amazing women! Check out their blogs!

We headed down to grab our swag bag, and I have no clue how I’m going to get it all home. I think that’s a good problem, though.

The OpenSky Cocktail Party was held at the LaSalle Power Co. building. The venue was amazing – multiple floors of 1920s decor, a dancefloor and a photobooth. It was slightly overwhelming to meet so many bloggers that I already feel like I know, but it was such a fun experience. I had small plate of appetizers at the party, because I was too busy focused on meeting people!

The lounge cleared out around 10. Everyone wanted a full nights sleep before the full day of the conference today. A group of us split a cab and headed back to the hotel.

I chatted with my roommates and around midnight we decided we were starving and needed pizza. Thank god for delivery. I fell asleep before the pizza arrived, but had no problem waking up for a slice.

I’m currently sitting in the keynote presentation. The breakfast buffet was amazing, and I was all over the oatmeal station. It was so natural for all of us to whip out our cameras and snap photos of our food. It’s a beautiful thing.

I’m looking forward to the sessions today and the ‘food crawl’ tonight!