A little food improv

I'm tired. Working with middle schoolers is like a daily workout for the mind and body. Oh my, what a week so far!

Luckily there have been a few good eats and some good exercise that occurred. Not always the best workouts, but they happened. Hitting the gym after work at 7:45pm, is not always the best. I felt good after, but was completely exhausted and it was hard to give it my all.  This morning I did a solid 2.5 mile run before work. Such a lovely crisp fall day. My ipod shuffle was not charged, but it was actually a good break. I just enjoyed the fall weather, the Charles  river, and some time to myself to think.

Highlight of the week was my version of Bibimbop, the Korean rice bowl dish. It is not an authentic version, but it is quite delicious anyways. The authentic version would have kimchee and various pickled veggies, along with a seared protein of sorts. It's our new go to weeknight meal.

So easy. Here are the steps:

1. Make a pot of rice. I like brown rice.
2. Chop up some raw veggies. I like doing radishes and peppers.
3. Saute some greens with onions and mushrooms( I like bok choy and kale).
4. Throw some protein on. It's a great way to use up leftover chicken, tofu, or tempeh(my fav choice).

Put this all together in a bowl. The last step is fry an egg and throw it on top. I like an over easy egg. I break the yolk immediately and then mix it all together. So good!

This is all just an improvisation. The main idea is to have a warm rice bowl(with whatever you like in stir fry) and have an egg on top. I also recommend throwing on a hot sauce at the end.

Goodness in a bowl. Mix that up!!

Now I"m gonna dig into this!

Nothing original..but all delicious!

It's been a week/weekend of some good cooking and eats. And a few runs thrown into the mix.

First, Running....

I'm trying to build a good base. My weekly plan is...
- 1 rest day
- 2 days of cross training, usually elliptical
- 3-4 days of running(1-2 shorter runs, 1 mid length run, 1 longer run)

I'm not doing any speed work, just trying to build up some more endurance with distance. Also trying to not lose the momentum I got training for my first 10k. We'll see how it goes. I've been starting to feel sick(every one at my school is sneezing everywhere) which means I'm "taking it easy". I"m not always so good at that. But I got in a 4.5 run on Friday and some cross training yesterday.


Now, food!
 Made some recipes this weekend from some of my favorite blogs/recipe sites. No original recipes, but all things I've been wanting to try out.

 On Friday I made stuffed acorn squash from daily garnish blog. So good! I adjusted a few things...
1. Added chicken sausage to the stuffing
2. Added a little honey to the dressing

Roasted Acorn Squash..yumm!

Little chicken sausage thrown in

Ta-da!

Woke up this morning(Sunday) and wanted to try something new. Decided to throw together Kath's Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal. Good way to start the day and fuel to run. I changed a few things...
1. Almond milk since I can't have dairy.
2. Added some flax meal for extra umph.

Good start to Sunday. Plans for today include...a little shopping at the new Marshalls, hopefully a run, and enjoying my crock pot soup tonight after drinks with friends! Love when dinner is cooking all day without needing my attention. Got the recipe from a friend last year that found it only. Busting with flavor and sooo easy to make.

See you in 8 hours!

I'm back

It's been almost 2 months since my last post. Not sure why I disappeared. Life just took over and the blog went to the wayside. But I'm back, and hoping to enjoy writing and sharing my obsession with fall and fall cooking/running/celebrating.

Since I"ve been gone...

1. My after school program started up. This was part of my disappearance. Handling 60 middle schoolers every day took over my life. Now it's getting a little smoother.

2. I ran a 10K!!!! In less time than my goal. I had a goal of 1 hour and 5 mins(10:30ish pace) but I finished in 59 minutes(9:30ish pace)! It was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done physically. But wow, what a feeling. As they say, it really is all mental. I also had the training in and had built up my legs and endurance, but a lot was mental and just pushing myself. My most useful mantra was "pain is temporary, pride is forever". I just kept thinking about finishing and knowing that(as a type A person) I would want to know I pushed myself as hard as I could during the whole race.

3. I got older. Had a lovely bday. The lovely fiance got me a garmin(so much fun for the race), took me out for a fabulous dinner, and went to open studios in a local Boston neighborhood. So lovely! Had a fun night of drinks, chatting, and relaxing with my favorite peeps the Saturday eve of my bday. Love my cozy friends.

So, I'm back. Food and pics will be coming in later posts. And I"ll do a full recap of the Tufts Women's 10k. I recommend it to everyone. It was great!

Celebrating Julia Child

I'm in a bit of running slump right now. I"m in the third week of my 10k training plan, and I'm just struggling. Just having runs where I feel worn, tired, lunky, and just plain bleeeh. Running is never easy, but right now it feels so hard.

I'm trying to tell myself it could be the heat or just normal running slump. But it's frustrating. Hopefully i can ride it out and it'll improve. Just frustrating!

So, onto food which is more fun. The other night I did my favorite soba dish. This was one of my favorite adaptation because:

1. I roasted A LOT of eggplant to put into it.
2. The raw green beans and crunchy yellow zucchini hit the spot.

Yesterday for lunch, I had one my favorite things....Summer Salad! I'm going to miss having such wonderful ingredients for salads when summer is over. It is so easy to make such a fresh, beautiful, delicious salad in summer. I threw a big glob of hummus on this and ate with some pita. Totally hit the spot. Seriously, you just can't find a tomato that color in the winter.

Included was....
Red leaf lettuce
Green beans
Heirloom Tomato
Yellow Zucchini
Green Pepper


Yesterday would have been Julia Child's 100th bday. I adore her. And it made me so happy to see this as the google homepage photo yesterday. I watched a bunch of videos on the pbs website of her show The French Chef to celebrate. She is one fabulous lady!

Weekend Musings

Saturday was hot and heavy.

Hot because it was very humid and I spent the first 6 hours of my day outside.

Heavy because there was a lot of lifting of corn bags and crates of vegetables to be done.

That all means I was working at the Farmer's market on Saturday. Hot and heavy, but lovely despite it. For these reasons:

1. I was outside (and under a tent, so not too bad)
2. I got to play with veggies all day.
3. I came home with a giant bag of veggies for the week!
4. Got in my workout for the day, while getting paid :)

My favorites are the cherry tomatoes. We have about 7 or so varieties we sell. So sweet and beautiful to look at. The strangest thing is that winter squashes and apples are appearing at the market. I love fall, but it just feels to early!

As much as I love fall, the end of summer means that the school year is gearing up. My students are great, but it means longer, more intense days. Gotta get myself mentally prepared. But for now I"ll enjoy the last few weeks of summer...and the deliciousness that comes with it.

I came home with a bag full of:

• Lettuce
• Kale
• Beets
• Sun gold cherry tomatoes(the best)
• Eggplant(Japanese and Calliope)
• Cukes
• Plums and Peaches
• Garlic

Cooking plans for the week include:

1. Big salads of all those glorious items
2. Soba Noodles with veggies
3. Ratatouille(depending on how hot it is this week)
4. Dill potato salad

And....to end the weekend I got to eat some delicious pasta at my parent's house. Full of chicken sausage, artichokes, olives, capers, and tomatoes! Yum! And play with my favorite cat friend. She is also very distraught that the Olympics are over :(

Soba it up!

Last week and part of this week was filled with eating out. We had family in town so that included some delicious meals out, and a yummy bbq at my parent's house. What is better than hotdogs, homemade potato salad and coleslaw, and blueberry cake!

My mother is the best cook around! But I miss being in the kitchen and cooking it up. So today I went to the farmer's market downtown. I grabbed all the good stuff I could get my hands on. It was late, because I went after work, so they were low on some things. But I got...

• Japanese Eggplant
• Pattypan squash
• Yellow Peaches
• Cucumbers
• Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes
• Field Tomatoes
• Basil 

I could eat sun gold tomatoes all day, every day.

 I used most of the items for salads and munchies for hummus dipping. I threw together another batch of pesto(previous post for recipe) to freeze.

** If you get basil and don't plan to use it right away, a great way to extend its life is to put it in a glass of water(like flowers) and leave it in the fridge.

One of my newest(last few months) dish to make for dinner is soba noodles. I used to eat them when I was young and then rediscovered them. They are so versatile AND great chilled in the summer. Robert and I have been eating this dish at least once a week for the past few months. The great thing is that you can throw anything in. I stick to the same marinade/sauce, but just put in whatever veggies I have around.

Sadly I completely forgot to photograph this dish last night. I stuffed it in my mouth too fast and then realized I hadn't grabbed a shot. Next time, I promise!

Soba with tofu and veggies:
Dressing: For the dish AND as a marinade(for tofu and roasted veggies):
**This is enough for a serving that uses a little of half a pack of soba (about 3-4 servings)

• 1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or 1/2 fresh clove minced)
• 3 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
• Juice of half a lemon
• Added salt and pepper to taste

Veggies in the mix this time(can be changed based on what is available):
 Raw

• Kale- julienned in slivers
• pattypan squash
• green beans
• scallions
• edamame beans

Cooked ( I just lightly cook these in the oven at 350 F until done; the eggplant takes longer than the mushrooms so I pull them out first)

• Mushrooms- crimini
• Eggplant

Other Suggestions(raw or cooked): Zucchini, roasted garlic, tomatoes, bok choy, cabbage.

Tofu:

•  Press tofu under weights(between paper towel) for 45 minutes to an hour.
• Slice tofu into 1/2 inch thick slices
• Dip each slice in marinade (or marinate tofu in sauce overnight for better results)and place on baking sheet
• Bake tofu at 350 F for about 40 minutes (or until lightly browned) flipping after 20 minutes.
• Let tofu cool and then cut into cubes.

Put it all together:

• Combine noodles, veggies, and tofu.
• Dress noodles with about 3/4 of the dressing.
• Place in fridge to chill.
• When chilled, add the rest of the dressing to the noodles and combine(often when the noodles chill they clump together, so the extra dressing loosens things up)

Enjoy!!

Beans that are mean...in a good way.

It's hot here. The Northeast is humid and feels like a sweat lodge right now. Despite this, I was determined to make a batch of pickled spicy green beans...a.k.a. mean beans. I have accumulated a bunch of beans and need to pickle them up!

I don't can the pickles, because I find that doing the traditional water bath canning method affects the texture of the pickled items (either cukes or beans). Also, we eat these fast! Instead you can make "refrigerator" pickles After you jar them, you let them sit in the fridge for 3-4 days, and then crack them open. They stay good in the fridge for 3-4 weeks. And we eat them in about a week, so there is no need to worry. I"m sure you'll eat them just as quickly.

I got a mix of green beans and yellow wax beans. You can really use anything.

Wash and dry the beans. Then cut off the ends.  For jars, the store I went to only had 1/2 pint mason jars, so I used them. Because they are small I had to cut most beans in half. You can use any size jar for these.

I wash and dry the jars first. I don't know if this is necessary but I like to do it.

Then I make the "pickling liquid":

• 2 1/2 cups white vinegar (with 5% acidity)
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup salt

*Mix in a pot and bring to a boil.

While that is boiling I put in my flavorings. I call these means beans because they are spicy. But you can do whatever flavor combos you want. I'm not a huge spicy fan, but these have a nice heat. If you like a bit of heat, but not burning, this amount should work for you.

In each jar I put...

• 1/4- 1/2 tsp Cayenne
• 1 tsp dried dill or 1 sprig fresh dill
• 1 clove garlic

Then, I pack in the beans. You need to leave about 1/2 inch of headspace in the jar. The liquid should cover the beans and still leave that 1/2 inch of space in the jar. When liquid starts boiling, ladle it into jars. The liquid should cover the beans.

Then wipe the jars and edges, put on the lid, and screw on the jar band. Let them sit on your counter until they are at room temp, and then place them in the fridge.  After 3-4 days, crack them open!

AND when you are done with the beans, keep that brine. It is SO good for Bloody Mary's, dressings, and lots more!

We went through the last batch in 1 week, so I'm counting the hours until these will be good and ready to crunch into. Maybe some snazzy Bloody Mary's with the last batch's brine will be used this weekend.....