Hyped

Can I just say that the Biscoff spread hype is completely TRUE?

I started by spreading this on toast and decided...what's the point of the toast when I can just eat this deliciousness straight off of a spoon? If you haven't heard of it, Biscoff spread is basically ground up gingerbread cookies which results in a nut butter-like spread.

(Disclaimer: Biscoff spread is not a health product whatsoever. But I like trying new things! And I wanted to know what the hype was about).

I was at Whole Foods yesterday (which is walking distance for me, YES!) and was about to pick up some kombucha when I came across this:

It was quite good, but I think I prefer kombucha, as it's a little bit less sweet.

In other news, I was using my waffle maker liberally...

(With all kinds of toppings including thawed frozen mango).

Until this week, when I decided to use some thick bread to make a grilled cheese sandwich in the waffle maker.

The grilled cheese was pretty amazing, if I say so myself. Too bad the waffle maker handle broke off in the process.

Sigh. The waffle maker had a good run.

Confession time: I would have more pictures to show you but this week, I had strep and ate either canned soup or macaroni and cheese out of a box. TFG at her finest! This week I am back on the health track and I made not one, but two recipes for this week to share with you.

Now that it's spring and today is the start of a new month, I've decided to make a few new goals. Goal #1: Incorporate yoga into my weekly workout schedule again. Easy enough, right?

Right! Wrong. There are not enough days in the week to do all the workouts I want to do. What a ridiculous problem to have. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Lately

I've been buying way too much produce to finish in a timely manner.

(Luckily, the above picture is mine and my roommate's produce combined. It's still a lot).

I bought 12 beets for a grand total of $2. What does one do with such a volume of vegetables!? Juice them. Of course.

Needless to say, I've been consuming lots of juice lately.

Let's talk about how I come up with ideas that I think are pretty ingenious, and then I go and Google them only to find out the entire world has already been there, done that.

One such instance was this weekend when I wanted to french toast a tortilla.

I still was quite proud of myself for coming up with the idea. I soaked my tortillas in a combination of egg, milk, and cinnamon.

My topping of choice was honey. Usually my topping of choice for any breakfast item (french toast, waffles, pancakes, etc) is almond butter + maple syrup. Fun fact!

This weekend, my goal was to make these BBQ cheddar chickpea burgers. And that I did.

I made just enough for my lunches this week!

Why is it that I never knew how delicious BBQ sauce is? Who knew that one could use BBQ sauce for things other than BBQ? Never mind the fact that the first ingredient in the BBQ sauce is high fructose corn syrup. I'm planning on using it sparingly. (But seriously, it is quite delicious).

If you're looking for reasons to juice, check out this article. 

Cave life.

Have you ever gone a week without tv or internet at home?

I HAVE! And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I somehow entertained myself without technology. Tough life.

The good news is that now it's back. And now I'm back to sitting in front of the tv with my laptop...in my lap. I missed you, couch. I just realized how much more out and about I was when I didn't have these things at my fingertips (or in my apartment). Potential new life challenge? Perhaps. (Probably not).

Let's talk food!

Last week I went to the farmer's market and bought something like 12 tomatoes. So I did what anyone would do with 12 tomatoes and made tomato sauce. Super easy tomato sauce-- I just sauteed garlic + olive oil + chopped tomatoes until the tomatoes released lots of water. Then, I added in random veggies that I happened to have (broccoli, carrots, spinach, bell pepper) and seasoned with salt, pepper, and oregano. Instead of serving with pasta, I ate it with brown rice and topped it with goat cheese.

My dinners last week looked similar to this:

That is what happens with an overabundance of eggs and avocado. I can't complain, though. It's a pretty delicious combination.

This week I did something a bit more on the fancy side. Yesterday, I bought all kinds of ingredients I normally wouldn't buy such as bok choy (a miniature one!), lemongrass, and dried mushrooms.

Dried mushrooms! Best invention ever. To re-constitute them, they just need to be soaked in water for about 30 minutes.

I only used 1/8 of the bag for an entire bowl full of mushrooms. I'm a huge fan of this.

I combined all my findings and made a quick stir-fry.

This included: bok choy, red bell pepper, tofu, mushrooms, about 1.5 tablespoons lemongrass, soy sauce to taste, and a pinch of salt. I lightly cooked the tofu in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil before adding the veggies in. 

Can I just say that I love that the sun doesn't go down until past 7pm now? That is quite good news for the food pictures!

Count the ways...

I apologize for leaving you in suspense for one week after that cliff-hanger in the last post. I'm sure you all were waiting (im)patiently on the edge of your seats for the conclusion of how I used that huge chunk of goat cheese I purchased.

Fortunately for you goat cheese lovers, I've been using it all week. Fortunately for me, I still have more than half of it left to finish! Let's count the ways the goat cheese has found its way in my meals this week:

1. Polenta.

I based this idea off of something I saw in Vegetarian Times magazine. The polenta I used was square shaped, because when I went to the store, the regular polenta was all out. (Strange...I didn't know it was that popular). So I ended up buying this:

(The box is misleading, because the polenta really is no different from the cylindrically packaged polenta. It's just in a square shaped box).

What I did for this dish: I sauteed green peppers, garlic, and mushrooms in olive oil (seasoned with salt/pepper) and transferred it to a baking dish. In a separate skillet, I cooked the polenta. Then I placed the polenta on the veggies, topped the polenta with goat cheese, and baked everything for about 15 minutes.

2. Eggs.

Can I just make a quick announcement? How come I was never informed that eggs could be cooked in a microwave? My life changed this week because I had a couple of my dinners come together in about 2 minutes with this microwaved egg trick. Above picture: tortilla + microwaved egg + salsa + goat cheese.

I attempted to make a spinach and bell pepper omelette with goat cheese. Apparently I was a little overzealous with the amount of veggies...because the egg did not flip...at all. So I had a nice plate of spinach, bell pepper, and goat cheese scrambled eggs! 

3. Pizza.

Sometime last week, the idea of goat cheese popped into my mind. I made it a reality today. Best decision ever. I found these awesome pre-made whole wheat pizza crusts:

I think this thin crust made all the difference...it was so crispy. The other toppings included spinach, olives, and mushrooms. (Still obsessed with spinach if it was not evident enough).

Since I still have lots of goat cheese left, tell me: what is your favorite way to incorporate goat cheese in your meals? Any recipes to share?

The one with the phone pictures.

(TFG has been pretty bad about taking her camera around these days).

I have some good news! Remember when I posted about Vibrams? I got some good feedback regarding ways to eliminate the blister problem. One suggestion I was given was to put deodorant on my feet.

I tried it today, and it worked quite well! Half marathon, here I come? (Just kidding).

My post-run meal today consisted of this:

A gigantic veggie burger and sweet potato fries. This veggie burger contained not only veggies, but also almonds and hemp seeds! Anything with hemp seeds is a friend of mine.

In other news, I somehow almost went an entire week without photographing my lunch. I remembered on Friday, mid-consumption. Better late than never!

As un-photogenic as this looks, this concoction was tasty and filling. I used my pressure cooker to cook a combination of beans, and then added them to a skillet with olive oil, okra, and corn. Seasonings included salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I had some leftover TJ's wild rice blend which paired quite well with the bean combination.

I've been eating waffles way too often. The good news is that my waffle maker was not a wasted purchase. The bad news is that I'm eating too many waffles. But, they are whole wheat! So, I can't complain.

(And now that I've found this website, I'll be using my waffle maker even more!).

I've been sent some very interesting recipes in the past week, and unfortunately, the majority of them involve appliances I still do not possess, including a real blender. Yes, it's true... I have lived without a real blender/food processor for the past 6 months, which is why you haven't seen those good ol' pop'ums in so long. I foresee a blender purchase in the near future...

I was planning on sharing a recipe today but instead I'm going to leave you with a cliffhanger. Guess what I bought today for said recipe?

One can never, ever go wrong with goat cheese.

Appliance of the week.

So...I bought a new kitchen appliance this week. It might seem like it was unnecessary, but I assure you, it was definitely not.

I put it to use the minute it arrived.

Raspberry waffle! With almond butter and maple syrup.

This is going to be my new weekend breakfast tradition. I am so excited.

In other news, remember the time I bought tomatillos at the farmer's market? I picked those up to make some tomatillo salsa. So very refreshing! And very easy to make.

1. Chop the tomatillos.

2. Add cilantro, water, salt, lemon juice from 1/2 lemon, garlic (3 cloves).

3. Blend.

What better way to eat tomatillo salsa than with some enchiladas? I hadn't made enchiladas in months. It was about time. I decided to get back into the enchilada making gradually with simple pinto bean and spinach enchiladas.

I took these for lunch everyday this past week and it never got old. Especially with the tomatillo salsa and a side of guacamole.

Lastly, I have to share this because it is awesome:

Best gift ever. And now I have yet another source for meal ideas!

Blast from the past.

It has been a rainy and gloomy weekend. Best weather to spend lots and lots of time in the kitchen! I especially spent some quality time with the newest addition to my kitchen:

Pressure cooker! With which I can cook beans and lentils in no time. I had some technical difficulties getting acquainted with it, but I eventually figured it out. And now I will never have to buy canned beans again. Quite exciting.

Today I thought I'd compile what I've been enjoying lately. There are some items that are definitely a blast from the past that I had completely forgotten about, and now I am re-obsessed. Let us begin!

Potatoes. This is a surprise for everyone, I realize, because I never was the biggest fan or proponent of potato consumption. But last week, I bought a couple of potatoes and lightly fried them on the skillet. I am never looking back. So crispy and delicious. And potatoes do contain nutrients, which is a plus. 

Eggs. This makes for the easiest dinner preparation ever. In the above picture, I used egg whites and made a pseudo omelette with cheese and placed it on a wheat tortilla. Post-picture I poured salsa over it. I usually eat my eggs with a side of some kind of veggie. Lately, I make a huge bowl of salad on Sunday and eat some each day. This makes the weekday dinner preparation even easier!

Eggplant. I couldn't think of anything creative to do with my eggplant, and I wanted something similar to eggplant parmesan without it being too time consuming. So all I did was cook the eggplant on a skillet with some olive oil and salt, and then mixed in a small can of tomato sauce, and for seasonings added black pepper and oregano. I could have used cheese, but instead I topped it with nutritional yeast and ate it with some quinoa (which I also topped with nutritional yeast).

Banana and almond butter. I used to eat this combination frequently and forgot about it, until one day when I wanted something sweet and had nothing sweet to eat. So, I improvised. I spread some almond butter on the banana and stuck chocolate chips inside it, and then microwaved it. It was a very good idea, I must say.

Green smoothies. I completely forgot about these until recently, and I really don't know why. This particular glass included: almond milk + 1/2 frozen banana + 1 cup spinach + frozen raspberries + ice. It gave me a brain freeze but it was so worth it. And I promise, spinach does not have a taste when it's blended with banana!

Brunch. I went to a brunch buffet and realized how much I love waffles. Oh, and that's butter on the waffle, which made it one thousand times better. 

In other news, here is a fun fact that I heard from the instructor of Body Pump class today: the average person eats 3000 calories during the Super Bowl.  

I'm skeptical about how true this is, but Super Bowl foods are notorious for being pretty calorific... stay healthy!!