I’m writing this as I watch some particularly mind-numbing television including a couple of ANTM episodes, and currently the reality series “High Society” on the CW. My brain is about to explode.

After I got over my morning rain blues, I ate some breakfast:

Jook – Korean rice porridge. I’m a sucker for trying new things from Kukje market (in Daly City), and a savory rice porridge is right up my alley. Granted, I couldn’t actually read the directions as only the label with nutrition info and ingredients was in English, but things ended up pretty nicely.

I opened the rice bowl, dumped in the packed of green tea powder, furikake (seaweed topping), and what I can only assume were little crunchy dried fish balls?

It was savory, warming, and delicious, and exactly what I was wanting.

After breakfast I continued to work on errands, until I was hungry enough for lunch. I opted for a sandwich with guacamole, dill, and sardines. I’m not eating nearly as much fish as I used to (ie: in New England where fish was plentiful, less expensive, and of higher quality), so I’ve been trying to eat sardines more often.

After lunch, I headed to Omnivore Books to cover for Celia as she took her blab (beagle + black lab) Jolene to the vet Poor Jolene has been feeling sickly, possibly because she tried to eat Max Watman’s book on Moonshine.

After a couple of hours at the bookstore I ate a snack: a soft gingerbread cookie filled with nuts and fruit. They were good, I think, not great.

(Photo: Sarah Gilbert, Slashfood)

After Celia came back, I ended up staying at the bookstore to listen to Andy Smith talk about the historical moments in food in America. I’ll soon be reading his new book Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. (It’s going on my always grown stack). I was particularly fascinated about some of the historical health and diet movements, including Sylvester Graham’s diet (creator of the Graham cracker) and the health movements propagated by religious communities including the Seventh Day Adventists. These are definitely things I look forward to reading more about.

Doesn’t he look a bit like Stephen Colbert?

After the talk I came home and made dinner:

Refried beans, guacamole, a fried egg, with a quesadilla on the side made with Cabot Tika Masala cheddar that Cabot Creamery sent me to try. I have to admit I was totally skeptical of this when I got it, and it’s truly a delicious product. It’s a simple block of cheddar that has been dusted in some general south asian spices which give it this great flavoring with a hint of sweetness. (I’m not sure if this is on the market yet, but if it is, it’s worth a try).

After dinner, I wanted something sweet, so I made myself a single serve oatmeal chocolate chip “cookie” in a bowl. Oatmeal, a little brown sugar, a tiny bit of flour, some Barney butter, chocolate pieces, and some half and half. A little too sweet perhaps, but exactly what I was looking for.

The news is on, I better turn this thing off before I really lose my mind.

‘Night everyone.

Technorati Tags: Dinner

I made it to my couch. And then briefly to the kitchen. And then back to my couch. I’m actually still sitting here. Boy, was I exhausted!

Somewhere in the depths of my freezer, I had this amazing portion of curried butternut squash and apple soup. I heated it up on the stove, and in a fit of genius, stirred in a little bit of corn.

This stuff was good.

I ate is as I watched two episodes of CSI from last week (Miami and New York), which, perhaps un-coincidentally both featured axes as the main murder weapon. Ax-murdering doesn’t seem like a particularly pleasant way to go.

After dinner, I sat around and watched more CSI.

And then I opted for some more protein, and made a baked oatmeal with oats, egg whites, cinnamon, baking powder, brown sugar, and a splash of maple syrup. I’m not posting a recipe because there isn’t really one, and also, this batch didn’t come out quite as good as normal.

Steamy!

And then you dig in:

I know, it doesn’t look too pretty.

And now, finally, some well deserved sleep.

Adieu!

Technorati Tags: Dinner, Oatmeal

I’ve been finishing up all my loose ends this week, and not quite getting everything done on time. So, I’m a little behind here:

Last Night’s Dinner:

1. The last of some home made granola. I can’t share the recipe, because it’s still in testing (and isn’t mine to share, alas), but I can attest to it being seriously delicious. I just poured the milk right in the container.

2. A lone stuffed poblano pepper with shrimp from Trader Joe’s. I added a little bit of sriracha on top for some heat, and then after realizing I may have added a little too much I added some yogurt. (Not pictured.) And then I put on some leftover tomato sauce, because I was still hungry.

Today I decided to roam away from the roost to get some work done, so I hopped in a car and headed over the bridge with Devon to Hayward (where he works), so I could have a little change of scenery.

My first stop was lunch, as it was late and I had yet to eat anything:

A Panda Bowl from Panda Express – with Beef Broccoli and Mixed Vegetables, and a smidge of rice.

I know you may be thinking… Panda Express? Is this for real? But here is why I like their food:

a.) Fresh vegetables, and never stingy with them

b.) Light on sauce, but quite flavorful

c.) Nutrition Information that is relatively uplifting (ie – several dishes under 250 calories for the entire portion)

After lunch, I headed to Eon Coffee, on Hesparian in Hayward, right across from Chabot community college. It’s an independent coffee shop that everyone seems to like (from both personal recommendations and yelp) so I decided I’d plant down there for a while and see what I thought of it.

I had a mug of organic earl gray tea, topped with a bit of steamed soy. They didn’t charge me for the added soy, which was bonus number one! I sat down on a comfy sofa next to a woman grading exams, and proceeded to be supremely productive, so I have to say it was a success.

My tea was delicious, the company pleasant, and the ambiance nice. They were playing a selection of late nineties/early 2k music, which was distracting at times only because I forget that thousands of song lyrics are stuck wasting space in my head even though I’ve long forgotten about the songs…

In the late afternoon, I picked up Dev, and we headed over to CSUEastBay to take some pictures for a project he is working on.

I snapped this one in the library. I love books!

And those jeans, which were an art project.

We took a nice long walk around campus, and then headed home.

But not before taking a pit stop to pick up burritos at Papalote.

I know that I don’t need to be eating rich food so often, but I couldn’t turn it down.

This time, gluttony won me over: a carne asada super burrito (hold the sour cream, but I ate the rice), half a cheese tortilla, chips and salsa. I’m feeling stuffed.

Technorati Tags: Dinner, Mexican

Nevertheless, we still have a little shelf of decent selection: Trader Joe’s High Fiber O’s, Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Raisin Bran, Gorilla Munch, Cocoa Puffs, and Cracklin’ Oat Bran. When choosing a cereal, I look for high fiber per serving (5+ grams), and of course it has to taste delicious.

This morning I woke up and had a cereal craving. I poured a bowl of Trader Joe’s High Fiber Oh’s. This stuff is really, really good. Nutty and flavorful, they have this great texture that only stands up to the milk, and don’t get easily soggy. I poured in a cup of Straus whole milk – including the cream top.

Whole milk you say? Isn’t that fattening? Unhealthy? Well, no. I don’t drink all that much milk, but when I do, I drink whole milk because it is more filling, and I find that the fat content actually keeps me satiated for longer when I add it to my cereal. Plus, a cream top is absolutely delicious.

The cereal kept me tided through until late afternoon, when I ended up having a “lunch” of Recchuti hot chocolate. Michael Recchiuti and Fran Gage were at Omnivore to talk about their book ‘Chocolate Obession‘, and kindly brought us all some delicious hot chocolate to sip on. Fran also made some olive oil truffles, but I didn’t get to try any!! The hot chocolate tasted rich and sinful, but made traditionally with just a blend of chocolate and water – so I deem it as “healthy”. (I know, I know, but I can pretend….)

After work I headed out for a quick walk, to get in more steps for the day. The past few days I’ve been pretty sedentary, and I need to get back into the swing of things. I’m not sure what was going on, but it seemed as though the crazy people were out this evening. I live in a pretty safe neighborhood, but I sat for a few minutes and watched a man gesticulating wildly on the top of a trashcan. He was having some sort of drug induced delusions, but didn’t seem to be harming himself.

And then I got complimented on my feet, and propositioned for a two hour foot massage from a gentleman watching the debacle with me. I wasn’t sure whether or not to be creeped out or not, but he seemed normal enough, and I politely declined.

I didn’t end up getting home until 6 pm, and got started on a quick dinner. I made a big leafy salad with balsamic vinaigrette, red peppers, and chickpeas. For our main dish, I made a bulgur pilaf with some fire roasted tomatoes, and fried up some chicken chorizo sausages and mixed them in. One pot, pretty satisfying stuff.

Tonight is a pretty relaxed evening – we are watching Sunshine Cleaning, and I’m already starting looking forward to tomorrow’s Candlelight Yoga (which I have already registered for – so I can’t back out now!).

Night everyone!

Technorati Tags: Breakfast, Dinner

I actually had to miss out on Michael Kalanty’s breadmaking talk at Omnivore because I was in the middle of some recipe testing and misjudged my timing.

This is actually the second time that this dish has graced my table this week: Indian brown beef stew. I had this and a little more for dinner, and nothing else. It was absolutely delicious. It’s a great reminder that comfort foods all over the world will share characteristics – this is almost like a traditional beef stew, but the flavors of the coriander, cumin, and turmeric really make it standout. (I’ll post the link to the recipe on Monday).

Tonight I’m finishing up on some errands, watching some Iron Chef America, and then getting some sleep! I haven’t been doing much moving over the past few days, and I think a lack of exercise actually is making me restless at night.

Last night I didn’t get any sleep – but I did manage to get up early enough this morning to score four tickets to the Red Sox – Yankees opening game at Fenway for my little brother. So, WIN!

Technorati Tags: Dinner, Indian

Tonight was a low key dinner:

While I usually like to make my own salads (from a quality and price standpoint, usually the better deal) tonight we had a greek salad from Trader Joe’s. It’s perfectly portioned for two people, relatively inexpensive, and has a lot of little fixins’ such as feta and cucumbers that I don’t usually have on hand in the kitchen.

I made Devon some pasta, and I had a bowl full of leftover vegetables – steamed broccoli, chickpeas, leftover beet salad and acorn squash. Usually we have the same food, but there wasn’t quite enough pasta, and I didn’t feel like eating any. (Honestly, that’s a first..)

I actually topped all of this with some turkey bolognese, (also from Trader Joe’s), but it looked so awful photographed I thought I would spare everyone’s eyes, and assure you that it was absolutely delicious and surprisingly filling.

I didn’t really get in much exercise today, so I kept my meals light. It’s been an interesting mind game learning that I’m not actually very hungry when I don’t exercise – and I’ve been working to listen to my body rather than listen to my emotional cravings. It’s certainly a lifelong balancing act, but it’s been getting much easier of late.

Technorati Tags: Dinner, vegetables

Part One: Over the weekend I roasted an acorn squash to make space for the new vegetables from my farm box. It was now smaller, but I hadn’t eaten it yet. So for dinner, I mashed it.

I then topped the mashed squash with a fried egg. The great thing about acorn squash is that it requires absolutely nothing to be delicious. And there is almost nothing you can add to make it any better… except for the oozing yolk of a fried egg. (Although that, in my opinion, elevates most everything to a new level of deliciousness.)

I served it with sauteed beet greens and cabbage, with ginger, garlic, coriander and cumin, which I had fried up in a little bit of coconut oil. I have a big jar of virgin coconut oil that Tropical Traditions sent me to try, and I find it particularly useful for anything with indian flavors, and particularly greens.

In addition to my greens, squash and egg, I made my second dish this week from Ruta Kahate’s ‘5 Spices, 50 Dishes ‘, this time the sauteed beets with mustard and lemon juice. I’ve rarely met a beet dish that I dish that I didn’t like, and this one was pleasantly satisfying – the earthy beets were nicely complemented by the spicy mustard seed, chiles and tangy lemon juice.

After dinner I was still feeling like a needed a little something, but unsure what, so I toasted the last English muffin (so it wouldn’t go bad!) and ate one half with some reduced-fat cheddar from Cabot, and the other half with a tablespoon of crunchy Barney Butter, and a few teaspoons of Nutella. Sweet and Savory goodness!

And now, off to bed!! It’s late!

Technorati Tags: Dinner, vegetables

This is one of my favorite snacks or light lunches.

First I grilled the tortilla on the stove.

I top it with a poached egg (made in 50 seconds in my microwave egg cooker).

Top that with salsa, wrap it up, and eat! For more of a meal, I might add some melted cheese, sliced turkey, or turkey bacon, avocado, or extra vegetables, but usually I just eat it plain like this.

Then I headed over to work out on the treadmill. On my drive over I was listening to a particularly interesting NPR story about taking an eighth grade class on a field trip to a mosque as part of their world religions class. My drive to the gym is just eight minutes, about enough to listen to a good story on NPR, and get inspired to work out. I used to be a member at a gym within walking distance, but this new gym is only $20 a month, with a myriad of machines, and I actually am more motivated to work out if I have the short drive to pep me up for it, rather than walking and having to walk home post workout.

I hopped on this guy, and plugged in my headphone to watch some TV. It happened to be Discovery’s ’650 lb. Virgin’ a reality show about a man who lost over 400 pounds naturally, and is now learning how to date. If that isn’t good enough inspiration to work out, I’m not sure what is.

Now, given that I haven’t been into the gym in a while, I did a lighter workout:

My Workout:

At an incline of 1.0:

• 5 minutes at 3.8
• 5 minutes at 5.0
• Alternating 30 seconds between 5.0 and 5.5 (5 times)
• 15 minutes at 4.0
• 10 minutes at 3.8
• 15 more minutes at 4.0
• 5 minutes at 5.0
• and a 5 minute cooldown.

For a total of 60 minutes and roughly 4 miles.

This is me in my sweaty glory, trying to cool down:

When I came home I was HUNGRY. I put together an easy meal made out of pantry staples, and ready in about fifteen minutes.

I’ve been on a general Asian food kick, so I decided on some Sesame Soba Noodles, and some quickly braised celery. First, I boiled the water, made each sauce, and put them in bowls while I prepped the celery and soba. I roughly chopped up the celery, and steamed them for a just a few minutes in a covered pan with some soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and a dash of chili oil. (The idea was another one from ‘Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys’)

I then cooked up the two bundles of soba noodles in about 7 minutes, and then rinsed them well in cold water until they were cool. Soba noodles, made of buckwheat, pack a great nutritional punch, and are quite filling.

The sauce for the soba noodles was made with tahini, rice vinegar, almond butter, maple syrup, sesame oil, and ground coriander – a recipe from ‘Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking with Whole Foods‘ a simple cookbook that I love to flip through for recipes and inspiration to keep myself on track with healthy eating.

I added in some chopped scallions to the noodles, and then topped it with the sauce, and gave it a good toss. I put mine in my favorite tenmoku glazed bowl that my best friend Sara made for me when she was working at Kitt Cornell Pottery in Exeter, New Hampshire. There is something incredibly mindful when you eat out of a dish or bowl that you really love.

Then I added in some of the celery. It’s a great new way to cook celery and eat it as a vegetable – particularly when you have a lot of leftover celery from making a soup, etc. without having to eat it raw.

After dinner, I treated myself to sliced pear and mango, and a melted piece of bittersweet chocolate. A perfect ending. While watching……..

PREDATOR!!!



Another 80′s movie that somehow I had missed out on.
Now for a little bit of reading, and then bed!!!
‘Night Everyone!

Technorati Tags: Dinner, Healthy Living

It was a shockingly moving film, and there were a few moments where I was sitting there bawling my eyes out. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a really good movie, and this certainly filled the void. There’s nothing like watching a movie with empowered women, with some great food tie ins.

As far as my own food today…. It wasn’t quite the exercise in moderation I would have liked.

And – I left my camera at work!!!

This afternoon we had an incredible wine event at the bookstore with Kermit Lynch, a delightful man responsible for putting some of the best wines in the world on people’s radar. Somehow in the rush of the crowd I ended up leaving without grabbing it from the counter top. I’ll get it tomorrow, but it’s disappointing because I forgot how problematic my old point and shoot is to actually get a photo!

Exercise: Alas only 3300 steps for the day. But I think I’m going to get in a little strength workout as soon as the food digests.

Lunch: A plain Siggi yogurt, a small avocado, and an organic pink lady apple.

Snack: Well, I wasn’t going to eat anything after that, but my friend Stephanie brought me a delicious scone from Lovejoy’s tea house! Lovejoy’s is a spectacular tea shop that is a little like walking into a british grandmother’s parlor.

Snack 2: I came home and Devon had made some deviled eggs! I love deviled eggs, and ended up eating about 4 halves. They were delicious!

Dinner ended up being Cambodian take out from Angkor Borei on Mission. They have this really light cambodian crepe which is my favorite dish on the menu. We also shared some brown rice, chicken with cashews, and ground pork and shrimp with eggplant. Everything was as delicious as always, but I ate a little too much!

Hopefully I’ll get to bed soon – because today was exhausting!

I’m continuing on the empowering women theme and watching some Police Women of Broward County…

Technorati Tags: Dinner

I decided to skip the coffee for some ginger tea – just a nob of ginger steeped in some hot water, and some steel cut oats with a little bit of maple syrup. I made Devon’s with banana, and then decided I would steal some banana because his was looking pretty good.

* * *

Last night’s meet-up was with some of my favorite food blogging friends.

We started out at Gordo on Solano Ave. in Berkeley, to “prime our stomachs” for the upcoming wine tasting. I ordered the carnitas gordo plate, with no rice, and extra beans. It came with little corn tortillas. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so great, but I went ahead and ate my way through it anyway.

Then we headed up Solano over to Xocolate, where I had about 2 ounces of their delicious sipping chocolate. This stuff is only really good chocolate and water, but is as sinful as any extra cream based versions. Delicious!!

I also got a Fleur de Sel Caramel, which were just coming out of Malena’s kitchen. They were excellent.

We then headed over to Solano Cellars, for a little bit of a wine and cheese tasting. The first cheese was a Jasper Hill lambic beer-washed Winnimere, with membrillo (quince paste) with almonds.

And then some Lincolnshire Poacher Cheddar and Frog Hollow peach chutney.

We had two bottles of wine (I had about two ounces of each). The Copain Pinot Noir for our red selection, and the Clayhouse Wines Adobe White, a blend, which was absolutely delicious.

We ate one more cheese course – a Vermont Creamery Bonne Bouche goat cheese, with rose confit jam, and roasted pecans.

After our wine and cheese experience, I was pretty full… but somehow someone suggested House of Chicken and Waffles, and that’s an impossible one to turn down.

I had a quarter of this waffle.

And, save me, these deep fried beef livers. I’m a sucker for liver, but really thought that these were going to come pan seared with onions. Nope!

To be honest, I’m not feeling too well from all of this food!

I’m taking a bit of a rest day, and planning on eating as simply as possible!!

Technorati Tags: Dinner