mad skills September 9, 2008

i threw a little something together last night to use up the produce i just bought. i was pretty happy with the result. next time i will sautee the squash first and make the spinach layer a lot thicker. i’d also like to use black beans instead of the canned refried ones i used this time. other than that, this was a perfect way to use a lot of ingredients and have plenty of leftovers for the week. and quinoa is good.

i started with a layer of beans.

then i added the quinoa. it was only a 1/4c. (and i of course prepared it beforehand in boiling water).

uh, for some reason i didn’t photograph the next two green layers. i have nothing against my greens, these were both my favorites. i just got excited layering and skipped the photo… whoops. first it was a modest sprinkling of diced jalapenos from the can. i remember how friggin’ hot they were last time i used them with a grain (the bulgur bean stuffed peppers) so i went easy on them this time in order to take advantage of all the flavors i would be using. then i threw the spinach on after them. i really wish i had made a thicker layer of it.

next up was the squash. you can see the spinach underneath. again, i really i shoulda sauteed them first.

then i added a generous helping of corn.

a fresh diced yellow bell pepper…

and finally two fresh diced roma tomatoes.

here are all the layers before going into the oven.

i stuck it in there for 20 minutes at 450 and got perfectly roasted peppers and tomatoes and perfectly wilted spinach. had i made the other modifications it would have been perfect all around but it really was tasty just like this. i sprinkled the last of my shredded mozz right when i took the whole dish out of the oven so it melted very nicely.

here’s my portion topped with avocados and some of mom’s salsa with the leftover corn on the side.

creativity is dead August 20, 2008

just like chivalry. i almost typed chauvinism… oh if only that were true. point being, i’m running out of post titles.

dinner last night was tasty though. i microwaved a frozen vegan chick’n patty and ended up dicing it to roll up into tortillas to make tacos/mini burritos with avocado and salsa.

i used la tortilla factory low carb small whole wheat tortillas. at 50 calories a pop i had two last night with dinner.

the chick’n patty was 100 times better than any soy burger i’ve ever tried. i’ll be sticking to these if i can help it, boca leaves a chemical aftertaste sometimes. though i do want to try the new bruschetta flavor that i can’t find anywhere.

i finally ate the last of my spinach last night with goddess dressing and sunflower seeds to add some non-fat greens to dinner.

and for dessert, the oh-so-addicting ciao bella blood orange sorbetto. i swear there’s crack in it, i can’t stop eating it! i can’t feel too guilty about it though because 1/2c. has only 98 calories. i’m pretty sure i polished off at least a third of the carton. it only comes in little pints so i still didn’t break the calorie bank, so to speak, by indulging a little. with only three ingredients and a fantastic tangy-sweet flavor, this will become my frozen treat fixture.

i desperately need an ice cream scoop.

hardly working August 13, 2008

yet i always have time for lunch. weird.

today it was two blocks of leftover bbq tofu

and a big salad, same as it has been since saturday when i bought all the ingredients except today’s didn’t have blueberries because i ran out of those. this salad used up the last of my mushrooms as well

spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and cucumbers with annie’s goddess dressing. and as an afterthought because i didn’t bring a vegan cookie and i’m saving my larabar for pre-workout:

times 2

one week every month i just can’t stay away from chocolate, even milk chocolate, and these just happened to be sitting on the doctor’s desk. and four weeks every month i can’t stay away from dessert in general.

the tofu experiment August 11, 2008

but first can i just say how crap it is to live on the west coast and have all the results of the olympics ruined for me because espn.com is my homepage? i don’t see anything until 3 hours after everyone on the east coast has already seen it. grrrr.

on the plus side, i’m officially back in the game. i went to spin and pedaled hard after work and i have plans to do the same thing tomorrow. i ate the lunch that i packed for myself and felt satisfied with my food all day and didn’t spend so much as an extra dime. basically, this will be my routine until something (ahem, A NEW JOB) dares to disrupt it. one can only hope…

after working out i wasn’t even hungry right away which is a miracle. i ventured into the kitchen to tackle the tofu but not before i put a load of towels in to wash and cleaned the kitchen a little. by the time i found kath’s bbq tofu recipe and was ready to press the tofu i started to get munchy. of course, the kashi h2h was sitting right in front of me so i dug in for a handful and decided it would taste much better with soymilk, even just a little bit. so i had a mug of h2h as an appetizer

then i pressed the tofu. it was an interesting process because i just ran out of paper towels so i had to use napkins that are substantially thinner (not to mention ones that say ‘happy new year’ on them) to drain the moisture. kath’s recipe called for a heavy cutting board for 20 minutes but i got impatient so i did this

there’s actually blocks of tofu under there

so i waited until 8, not even sure what time i put the blocks under the weight but 8 seemed like the right time to move them to the pan. here they are before i stuck ‘em in the oven

they were pretty juicy and thick which i’m pretty sure is the opposite of what they were supposed to be. but whatever, i wanted dinner so i put them in anyway. while the tofu was baking i poured myself a glass of wine

and sauteed some zucchini and mushrooms in a canola oil blend instead of olive oil because supposedly olive oil isn’t safe to cook with above certain temperatures. since i’m not sure i played it safe and went with the canola for the veggies. i think i went a little overboard on the oil but i drained the excess before i ate them

when i took the tofu out after the prescribed 20 minutes the blocks still looked mushy so i cut each block in half to get 4 pieces and put them back in for another 10 minutes. when i took them out i decided they were done

to prove it, i even ate one. on a toasted english muffin with an extra smear of bbq sauce and some spinach (but i didn’t add the greens ’til after i took the photo)

the verdict: meh. possibly feh. definitey not bad but not life-altering by any stretch of the imagination. pretty decent for my first go round. next time i think i’ll buy extra-firm tofu and actually marinate it after it’s been pressed for longer than 20 minutes. and slice the chunks properly before i put it in the oven the first time. also i’d like to make my own bbq sauce like kath did because the one i used had HFCS! no bueno. i’ll be on the hunt for HFCS-free ketchup…

for dessert i had an uncle eddie’s

and i’m spent. i wonder how long i can stay up watching the olympics before i pass out?

pita pockets=love June 2, 2008

i might eat everything i ever consume for the rest of my life inside a pita pocket. they’re amazing, i get the sandwich feel for half the calories. i mean, who can eat only one piece of bread at a time anyway? i gotta have my filling surrounded by bread on each side, call me crazy.
lunch was a whole wheat pita pocket with mashed avocado, leftover tuna salad from this weekend and some spinach leaves with a cup of grape tomatoes on the side for a grand total of 395 calories.

i know, i’m awesome. check this out:

and i got to eat it! i can’t wait to see how many combinations i can come up with to fill these suckers. stay tuned…

early breakfast makes for an early lunch May 29, 2008

i’m not used to eating this early but i will have to get used to it while i continue to go swimming in the mornings. lunch today was the leftover tuna-hummus from yesterday on a bed of spinach with half an avocado. remember that’s what i said i wanted to have for dinner last night? but that was before i remembered my alternate dinner plans. it worked out well because it tasted better today as a salad for 485 calories then just plain the way i had it yesterday for way more.

temp check: annoyed with my eyeballs! i am going to buy some goggles immediately after jazzercise tonight, i cannot be having this everyday!