Sunday, November 25, 2012

Faux-giving.

I hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner this year. And it involved very little "typical" thanksgiving food. Details.

I obviously Tulika-fied some things. For example, I made some wild rice stuffing:


How to prepare: cook a combination of wild rice and brown rice in vegetable broth. While doing so, sauté 1/2 chopped onion and a few chopped garlic cloves in olive oil. Add chopped carrots and celery, cook for several more minutes, and season with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano. Once the rice is finished cooking, add the veggies and add a bit more broth.

It obviously was different from regular stuffing but I think my guests enjoyed it!

I also made a broccoli and spinach casserole instead of green been casserole.


The sauce I made was a roux, with butter, flour, and milk (and seasonings). I added this to a big dish of cooked whole wheat pasta, broccoli, and spinach, and topped with lots of shredded cheese.



We of course had some lovely sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie courtesy of my attendees :). I also made some salad and corn bread. Overall a successful dinner!

And on a completely unrelated note, please take a look at my Trader Joe's purchases of the day...


I can't help myself sometimes!

I have a new blog idea. Since it has been a seriously long while since I've done a fitness post, I am thinking of posting my workout schedule for each week. Since this week has not been figured out yet, this is what my schedule was like last week:

Sunday: abs/strength training
Monday: foam roll/yoga
Tuesday: weights (Body Pump)
Wednesday: Zumba
Thursday: rest day
Friday: run (3.6 miles)
Saturday: rest day

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Pumpkin this and pumpkin that.

You may have been wondering where all the pumpkin was on this blog. Never fear, my friends. Never fear. While I may have neglected to discuss my pumpkin consumption, I have been pumpkin crazy for the past month or so.

The strange part about this is that I have only cut one butternut squash so far. Why am I failing so much in the squash department?! Let me tell you. It's because one really does work for that squash. And despite the fact that I do love my winter squash... I have not found it in me to want to make the effort. This needs to be remedied ASAP.

Anyway, back to the pumpkin. I am sure you have gathered by now that I have been cheating and buying canned pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie mix).

My favorite way to use it is also the easiest way: pumpkin pie oatmeal. Here are my ingredients of choice: uncooked oats, 1 large spoonful of pumpkin purée, chia seeds and/or ground flax seeds, pumpkin pie spice, and milk. All nicely mixed together the night before, topped with some almond butter, and chilled in the fridge. Pumpkin pie in a bowl!

(Recycled picture from last year...obviously this shows how long I have been eating this).

Last weekend, I made this pumpkin alfredo, but with brown rice penne pasta. This was so so good, even more so than the pictures would suggest. Highly recommend. And it made five-six LARGE lunch portions for me, which was perfect.


I also made some rosemary pumpkin quinoa, which was really easy, and also worked well for some pre-portioned lunches. Here is what I did:

1. Sauté veggies of choice in some olive oil. I chose garlic, red bell peppers, and mushrooms.


2. In another small pot, cook the quinoa. Once cooked, stir in 1/4-1/2 cup pumpkin purée. The amount really depends upon how pumpkin-y you'd like it to be.


3. Add the sautéed veggies to the pumpkin quinoa, and season with salt, pepper, oregano, and rosemary.


I have opened yet another can of pumpkin as of today, so we shall see what happens to that this week!