I experimented with recipes a lot more the last few weeks. Most notably, I started doing something I've been meaning to do for a very long time, but was always a little too chicken (haven't seen that word for a while)--I finally started experimenting making INDIAN FOOD! I LOVE Indian food, but that long list of spices always intimidated me. Last week I decided to just buy all the spices and go for it, and it has been amazing. Seriously. Lesson learned: Cook the food you love! When I know I have delicious Indian food to come home to, I am not tempted by anything else. Make enough for LEFTOVERS. I had two or three "leftover days", when I didn't have to make anything new, and those were some of my favorite days.
Mid-Month Favs:
Breakfast:
I make a fresh juice or smoothy every morning and it keeps me going until noon or 1pm. This always includes green veggies and enough fruit to make it sweet. My body has adjusted to the intense blast of vitamins (it made me a little queezy in the beginning), and, I've never had coffee before, but the blast of wakefulness/vitality/energy I get from that juice is what I imagine its like to drink coffee in the morning. Its awesome!Lunches and Dinners:
Rips Big Bowl--one of my favorites. I look forward to eating this! You can add or replace or change the ingredients to fit what you have and what you like; it is VERY fiber rich, very filling, and very delicious. And I love cereal, so its amazing. I probably never have to eat cereal from the box again.Eggplant Stew--This recipe makes a big batch, and, the 5 year old that I nanny LOVED it. He asked for it all week.
Chocolate Banana Ice Cream-- This stuff is wicked good, and perfect for satisfying that sweet tooth. I can't live without ice cream, and I don't feel like I have too. WIN. (I omitted the sugar; with the vanilla almond soy milk it was sweet enough.)
Hot and Sour Soup-- I love Hot and Sour soup. This recipe was pretty good, but surprisingly better with age; I liked the leftovers better than the first bowl, but I have no idea why. It was really easy. I obviously omitted the meat. I added mushrooms and water chestuts because I didn't have bamboo shoots.
Aloo Gobi (Potatoes and Cauliflower)--This was my first attempt at Indian food and it turned out great. I love cauliflower, but it is hard to eat a whole head of it with only two people, so I used the entire head and had awesome leftovers.
TIP for Indian cooking: Turmeric is a very commonly used spice and adds a lot to a dish, but stains everything it touches yellow. I use quite a bit of it in my Eggplant Stew and now have "special" yellow wooden spoons reserved for cooking with turmeric.
Chole Palak (Spinach and Chick Peas)-- This is mine and Kyle's new favorite dish. Fo rills!! It is so amazing I made it twice in one week! It is my new favorite way to eat spinach.
Aloo Paratha (Potato stuffed flat bread)-- I love Naan and other Indian flat breads, and this one seemed easy enough to make. It is easy to make, and very tasty. I made this one twice too.
Chick Peas and Red Pepper with Couscous--My BFF gave me this recipe with her enthusiastic endorsement. Chick peas, red pepper, carrots, and about 10 delicious spices. It was really flavorful and I love couscous.
Aloo Baingan (Potato and Eggplant)--Even though I had to use canned tomatoes instead of fresh, this dish turned out thick, creamy, and tangy. A great way to eat a potentially useless eggplant!
First time tries:
Bocca Burger-- My wonderful friend Judy made these for Kyle and I. They were super tasty, and could easily be used as a beef patty in a hamburger.Veggie Pizza at Epicure Cafe--since my beloved art gallery closed, Epicure Cafe is my new hangout. Their food is really quite exceptional for a small, independent cafe in a random strip mall in Fairfax, VA, and their pizza menu is diverse and delicious (and written on a vinyl record in silver sharpie=awesome). I had this veggie pizza twice in two weeks, and Kyle was able to get his meat fix by putting whatever toppings he wanted on the other side of the pizza.
Cajun Lentil Patties--I tried these, they looked interesting, but we didn't like them enough to make them again. It also took far more oil than I wanted to use. I would like to find some kind of "patty" as a meat substitute (besides Bocca Burgers).
Lobia (Black Eyed Beans)--this could have been good, but I used canned beans that had their own smokey kind of flavor, so it didn't turn out very well. Kyle liked it though.
Best Quick Snack:
- Sugar snaps/mushrooms/cherry tomatoes in homemade hummus
- Granola
- Nuts and dried cranberries/apricots/raisins
During these middle weeks, my body was still adjusting--trying to shake sugar cravings, increase my endurance through feelings of hunger, and getting used to working out 4x a week. Its hard to tell if my increased energy levels, easier sleeping and waking, and general increase in positive feelings is due more to my changed eating habits or to exercise. I'm pretty sure its a lot of both, and its a LOTTA good.
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