Newlywed, Newly Veg!

Hey guys! Sorry for the missing lunch post—I ran out of time and was rushing out the door to get to campus! I finally enjoyed the tempeh/pumpkin butter combo in a wrap—it was awesome! I’m sure I’ll be having it again soon!

I’m glad you all liked my break-up letter to Summer…sounds like maybe some of you had to end that relationship too!  Does that mean we’re all dating Fall together?  It’s kind of like being on The Bachelor, minus the std’s and fantasy suites (hence, the std’s). 

Today was an easy day up at school.  In my comp class, we’re talking about analyzing visual texts, so we watched a bunch of really awesome Michel Gondry music videos.  He directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (among other things), so his music videos are pretty wacky—they’re really fun to watch!

After making the trek home from campus, I whipped up a quick veggie burger.  This was an Amy’s quarter pounder, and it was BIG!!! This is definitely the biggest veggie burger I’ve ever seen in the frozen food aisle.  Plus, it packs a whopping 21 grams of protein—yowza!  The taste, much like Michael Scott’s breath, was good, not great.  It was a little “smoky” for my taste, but definitely yummy all the same.

Talk about a tall order:

Yum!  See ya tomorrow, folks!

Dear Summer,

Well, it’s been a great three practically five months.  We had a blast together, didn’t we?  I’ll be honest—Winter left me feeling pretty horrible.  You know, I’m not one for name calling, but if Winter isn’t a nasty ho, I don’t know who is.  She was all up in my grill with snowstorm after snowstorm.  She ruined my travel plans more than once.  She had all of the control in our relationship—always dictating what I could do and when…she even controlled what I could and couldn’t wear!! It was all very Fred Savage/Candace Cameron in the Lifetime movie, No One Would Tell.  Except, you know…Winter didn’t kill me.

But then, Summer—you came along.  Sure, there was a fling with Spring.  I mean, I don’t know if I would even call it a “fling.”  We hung out, sure, but—it never meant anything to me.  Really! I was thinking about you the whole time!  Anyway, Spring was nice and all, but…there was just nothing there, you know?  There was no real connection.  I always felt like something was just…off. 

And then, Summer, you entered my life and swept me off my feet.  The higher temperatures…hour upon hour of daylight…the long vacations.  When the sun shone, there were hikes and long walks on the beach.  And Summer, when the rain came, we spent an entire day watching Felicity reruns together and eating peanut butter from the jar.  It’s okay—you don’t have to be embarrassed!  It’s not embarrassing, Summer…it’s beautiful!

And the meals, my gosh, the meals.  Bowls overflowing with fresh fruit, homemade ice cream, veggie burgers and corn hot off the grill.  Cold beers and hot nights…Summer, we had it all.

And that’s why it pains me to write this letter.  You see, lately I’ve been feeling like we’ve grown apart—like maybe the best of this relationship is behind us.  You’ve seemed…distant.  Or maybe I’m the one who’s been distant…it’s so hard to know.  I’m not trying to play the blame game, Summer.  We’ve both made mistakes. 

I think we both have to accept the fact that things aren’t what they used to be.  The corn that was once so sweet has lost its flavor:

On the other hand, sweet potatoes are just now coming into season.  I know I shouldn’t say this, but the sweet potatoes I had tonight were fantastic, Summer.  I’m not trying to be cruel, just honest.  Sweet potatoes have never really been your thing, but I have to say—I’m looking forward to them.

I know this is going to be hard for you to hear, so I’ll just say it: I’ve been hanging out with Fall.  I know, I know—he’s not really my type.  But Summer, I think that’s just it:  I’ve changed.  It’s not you, Summer—it’s me.  I know that sounds like a line, but it’s true.  Fall understands the new me—the me who likes slightly colder temperatures and changing leaves.  The me who doesn’t want to sweat like a hog every time I open the front door.  Fall gets me in a way that I never thought anyone could…he gets me more than I get myself.  It’s deep, Summer.

I know what you’re going to say—he’s only going to hurt me.  And that might be true.  He hangs out with a different crowd—I’ve even heard his name associated with Winter once or twice.  But Summer, he swears those rumors aren’t true.  Am I foolish to believe him?  Maybe. 

But as D.H. Lawrence once said, “Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectly and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration.”

Or, as the Miami Sound Machine sang in the opening number of Three Men and a Baby, “Bad, bad, bad, bad boys…you make me feel so good.”

So, anyway…I hope we can still be friends.  Maybe I’ll see you around sometime?  Maybe the three of us can even hang out together—no pressure!  I’ll always cherish the memories of what we had, Summer.  I love you, but I’m not in love with you.  Someday, you’ll find someone new who can give you the things that I’m just not prepared to give. 

Always Yours (in June, July and August),

Anna

Unfortunately for me, NOT by the seashore!

Greetings, friends.  Another school day has come and gone…are we really in the second week?  Before I know it, the semester will be halfway through.  My classes were great today…I hate to jinx myself, but I really seem to have gotten a strong group of students for all three classes.  Here’s hoping I’m still saying that at the end of the semester!

This morning, I did all of the prep work for a delicious Asian noodle dish for dinner tonight.

First up, tofu:  I pressed a firm tofu cake in my tofu press for a few hours, then dried it off and covered it with my go-to tofu marinade.

Go-To Tofu Marinade

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. mirin

1 tsp. plum wine vinegar

1/4 tsp. ginger (optional, depending on the dish you’ll be using the tofu for)

1 tbsp. shoyu (or soy sauce)

I cut the tofu into one inch cubes, toss it in the marinade, and pop it into the oven for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.  Voila! Perfect tofu!

*       *       *

We were using the tofu for an Asian seaweed noodle dish.  After reading about some of the benefits of incorporating seaweed into one’s diet the other day, I spotted various types of Seaweed packets at Wegman’s and snatched up a bunch to experiment with.  Today, hijiki was on the menu.  Hijiki is black and comes dried.  When you reconstitute it with water, it grows in size and becomes slippery…it almost looks like little tadpole tails or something!

I covered .5 ounces of hijiki in water for thirty minutes, then drained and rinsed it.  While the hijiki was soaking, I julienned two carrots and cut a red bell pepper into thin red strips.  When the hijiki was finished reconstituting, I added it to the veggies.  Before I added the hijiki to the veggies, I tasted a little bite of it plain.  It tasted pretty salty and kind of…well, kind of like the sea! It almost reminded me of caviar, in a way.

To the veggies and hijiki, I added a very simple dressing that was a lot like the tofu marinade: 1 tsp. sesame oil, 2 tsp. plum wine vinegar, 1 tsp. mirin, and 2 tsp. shoyu. 

Once the tofu was done cooking, I let it cool and then added it to the veggies.  Stirred it all together, and popped it into the refrigerator, where it marinated and the flavors melded all day while we were teaching.

Finally, when we returned home from campus tonight, we cooked some rice noodles to toss in with the salad.  Before we added the noodles, we ran them under cold water so that they would go well with the cold salad. 

Whew! This was a simple dish to put together, but I guess it needed a lot of description! Anyway, the final product was absolutely delicious…a great meal to come home to after a long day of teaching!

It’s been in the 90s here today, so this was the perfect cool dinner.  Enjoyed…yep, at the table!

Have you ever cooked with seaweed before?  I was a little nervous about it, but it definitely gave the salad an extra something special!

See you tomorrow!

Hey guys! Gotta post quick and hit the road.  I’m walking up to school again today—hopefully I won’t be quite as rushed as last week.  I’m leaving a little earlier, so I might have some time to spare!

Lunch is quick (and on the small side because I prepped for our dinner tonight this morning, and ended up taking quite a few tastes of our dinner in the process…it’s going to be a good one!).  One cup of chickpeas mixed with a fourth of a cup of Greek yogurt and a half a cup of salsa.  Easy, fast, and tasty!  I just hope it doesn’t spill into my bag!

I’m also bringing this apple and pb packet for snacking later. 

See you tonight for a fishy dinner…

Hey guys! Welcome to Sit-ember (blog reader Stacey came up with that—I love it!):

We enjoyed our dinner tonight…where else?  At the table! Grilled veggie sandwiches and kale chips were on the menu tonight.

Ryan manned the grill:

When the veggies were cooked, we served them over pita flatbread with a little dijon and some feta. 

Plus kale chips and ketchup for dipping:

Yum!

We just got back from a nice two mile walk…the September challenge is off to a great start! Have a great night!

Weekends make me feel like this:

(Eloise, Saturday, on our way to go hiking)

And Mondays make me feel like this:

(Baxter, Monday, 10 am—dog tired already)

At least I know I’m not the only one!

Lunch today was simple: an ezekial wrap, filled with fresh avocado, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato:

Though August is not officially over until Wednesday, I’m officially wrapping up Raw-gust and getting started on my September challenge.  It just feels right to start a challenge on a Monday!

Rawgust Thoughts

So, for the last month, I’ve been loosely focusing on incorporating more raw meals into my diet.  I didn’t make plans to go 100% raw (which is good, because that definitely did not happen!), but rather tried to have at least a raw breakfast, as well as a mainly raw lunch or dinner. 

I think I took the raw challenge the most seriously during the first week, and, not surprisingly, this is also when I felt the most impact from the changes in my diet.  I began drinking green juice every morning instead of coffee; I’d have a raw smoothie for breakfast; and I’d eat either a raw lunch or raw dinner (occasionally both).  The first few days were rough, but after about three days, I actually really did notice a difference in the way I felt. I had a lot of energy in the morning, even without coffee.  I was very *regular*—’nuf said.  I felt, for lack of a better word, lighter.

Then, we had guests come into town.

And there’s the rub for me.  Back in January, when I did my vegan challenge, I basically reached the conclusion that if we only ate at home, as opposed to at others’ houses and restaurants, being vegan would be very simple.  I kind of came to the same conclusion with this raw challenge.  Fixing my own raw meals was a cinch, but eating out wasn’t always easy (or fun), and eating with others made it difficult for me to really commit to raw foods.  Sure, I could always find a raw salad on the menu, but, to be honest, who wants to eat salad after salad when others are ordering mouth-watering veggie burgers, wraps, and pasta dishes? So, yes, dining out and with others was a major issue I  had during this challenge.

Another issue I faced was dealing with cravings for cooked foods.  I think that doing this challenge in August was key, because on a hot, sunny day, I loved nothing better than slurping down a green smoothie for lunch, or eating some raw pasta for dinner.  However—the minute the temps dropped down to about 70, I was craving cooked foods! I definitely wouldn’t be able to  keep this up year-round—I think our bodies are made to crave warm foods in the winter, and I’m all about giving my body what it wants. 

On the positive side, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to “cook” raw meals—I think the raw foods diet gets a bad rap for being really complicated or difficult, and from what I experienced during this challenge, I will say that eating raw, much like following many other food plans, is as difficult or easy as you choose to make it.  Sure, you can make complicated raw lasagnas and dehydrated breads and raw desserts, but you can also slice an avocado, sprinkle it with a little sea salt and some sunflower seeds, plop it on some greens, and call it a meal.  Which I did, many times.  Raw salads, slaws, and soups were easy, and delicious.  Raw pesto?  A cinch!  This challenge opened up my eyes to the fact that eating raw doesn’t have to be difficult—in fact, it’s the simplest way of eating there is! 

All in all, I really enjoyed this challenge.  I won’t be transitioning to a raw diet, especially with the colder temperatures of fall right around the corner, but I really could feel a difference, and I think incorporating raw foods into your diet in some way is very beneficial to your health.  While I might not “go raw,” I’ll certainly still be enjoying several raw meals a week!  Until winter comes, that is. 

The September Challenge

Looking ahead to the upcoming month, my next challenge isn’t about what I’ll be eating, but rather, how I’ll be eating it.  Ryan and I have become, for lack of a better word, total couch-eaters.  We’ve gotten into the habit of eating almost every single dinner plopped down on the couch, watching reruns of The Office.  Yuck! 

Many studies show that eating in front of the television tends to make people tune out hunger cues and ignore satiety.  People who eat at a table tend to eat slower and more consciously, and often eat less.  I’ve certainly had the experience of serving myself a full plate of food and sitting down in front of the tv, only to look down five minutes later and realize that my entire meal is gone.  Couples who eat meals together also tend to have better communication skills and stronger marriages/relationships.

I’ve always excused the fact that we eat dinner in front of the television by saying that we see each other so much during the day that we don’t have a need to sit down and eat our meal together, but you know—I just don’t think that’s true! I think it will be better for our health and our marriage if we really make an effort to eat dinner at the table. 

So—for the September challenge, we will be eating ALL of our dinners that we eat at home at the table.  In addition, we’ve agreed to walk every night after dinner, weather permitting. 

I’m excited to embark on this challenge!

Are you a couch eater?  Where do you tend to eat your meals?

Have a great Monday!

Hey guys! I can’t believe it’s Sunday already! We’ve had a busy, fun-filled weekend.  Last night, we met up with some of our Penn State friends for drinks, and then today we drove to State College to meet with Danielle and her husband for a picnic in the park.  Fun!

I love busy weekends like this…but I also like relaxing at home! Tonight, we made an easy dinner, and we’re relaxing on the couch…there’s just really nothing better.

We made some easy tempeh tacos tonight.  I always stuff my tacos full, but then they tip over before I can get a good picture, so tonight, I tried a different method:

Tacos, deconstructed:

For the tempeh “meat,” I browned half an onion in a little olive oil, then added the crumbled tempeh and a few tablespoons of taco seasoning, plus about 1/4 cup of tomato sauce and 1/3 cup of water.  Let it cook for a few minutes, and voila! Tempeh taco meat!

Tell me that doesn’t look just like ground turkey or chicken:

Along with our “meat,” we had homemade guac and fresh tomatoes.  Simple and delicious!

Mad Men time! See you tomorrow!

Happy Saturday!

We had a great time last night helping the Culinary Couple brew a batch of beer (Altbier, specifically)—but more on that in a second!

Many of you have asked for the recipe for my flax crackers.  Here ya go! I made mine in the dehydrator, but I’m sure you could do it in the oven too.

Veggie Flax Crackers

Ingredients

2 cups flax seeds

2 cups (approximately) water

1 carrot

1/2 zucchini, or 1 small zucchini

1 tsp. herbes de provence

1 tsp. salt (I used garlic salt for extra flavor)

2 tbsp. ground flax

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cover the flax seeds with the water.  Allow to soak overnight, or for 6-8 hours, until the flax seeds have absorbed the liquid.  The mixture should be thick and gelatinous.

In a food processor, process the carrot, zucchini, and seasoning until smooth (you can leave it a little chunkier if you want bits of veggie in your cracker).  Add the ground flax seed and stir until smooth.  Transfer the veggie mixture to the flax seeds and combine.  Mix well, until all ingredients of the batter have blended together.

On a teflex sheet or parchment paper, spread the batter to desired thickeness.  I made mine about 1/8 inch thick.  If using the dehydrator, dehydrate for 6-8 hours, then flip and dehydrate for another 4-6 hours, until crackers have reached desired crispness.

And that’s it! They were really easy to make, and tasty! If you make them in a traditional oven, let me know—I’d love to know the cooking time and details!

Moving on…back to the beer!

Last night, we headed over to Nick and Emily’s, where we enjoyed some lentil soup before we got started on the beer making:

Delicious! Perfect for the fall weather we’ve been having. Emily also made a peach blueberry crumble that was really tasty:

After dinner, it was time to roll up our sleeves and get to work! We’ve been really interested in trying some home brewing ourselves, so we were excited to help Nick and Emily with the brewing process! This is their second batch—back in July, we got to taste a delicious wheat beer that they had brewed earlier in the summer. 

This time around, they were brewing an altbier, which is a dark-ish German ale. 

After boiling a pot of water, the flavoring grains were placed in a mesh sac:

and boiled…basically like a giant tea bag!

After boiling for about twenty minutes, the sac was pulled out and liquid malt was added to the brew:

After another thirty minutes, two kinds of hops (bitter and finishing) were added and boiled.

Then the mixture was cooled down to 70 degrees.  After cooling, the brew was poured poured through a strainer into a sterilized bucket (ale pail):

The yeast was added and stirred…

and then the bucket was sealed up!

The beer will be ready for bottling after a few weeks, and then it sits in the bottles for another couple of weeks.  This batch will be ready sometime in October…probably right after Nick and Emily come back from Oktoberfest in Germany!

It was a great night.  The beer-brewing process is lengthy, but definitely not difficult.  You just have to follow the steps.  We’re really interested in giving it a shot ourselves now…I think we might have to look at some brewing kits online!

We have beautiful weather today, so I think we’re going to take the dogs on a hike. Hope you’re having a great Saturday!

They’re good for your heart!

The more you eat ‘em, the more you enjoy dietary fiber, iron, calcium, phytochemicals, carotenoids, lutein and folic acid in your diet.

Huh.  It’s not as catchy as the “beans” rhyme.   But at least they don’t make you…well, you know.

Lunch:

Collards, sauteed with a little shoyu (soy sauce) and agave, plus baby bella mushrooms and golden raisins, and topped with homemade raw crackers.  Yum!

Gotta get started on our dip for tonight! I think I’ve picked out a good one—I’ll post the recipe later this weekend!  Hope you have a great Friday and an awesome weekend!