Meatless Monday Curry
Posted: January 31, 2011 Filed under: Meatless Monday | Tags: acorn squash, curry, kale, mung beans 4 Comments »Do you like curry? I LOVE curry! I however do not like that the first ingredient in most curries is some form of oil. I set out to make a delicious curry with less oil and tons of flavor.
I have had the curry powder in the left for a really long time. In fact I think my mom gave it to me from her spice rack when I moved to Boston. It may be old, but I love its can and the crazy label. I added a little extra flavor with the other spices just to pump it up, but I don’t have all of the curry spices so I just went with it.
MUNG BEAN CURRY – serves 2 maybe 3
- 2 TBSP curry powder – I used a lot and these spices are really to taste for me
- 1/4 tsp tumeric
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 clove garlic – pressed
- 1 acorn squash roasted, peeled and cubed
- 1/2 cup water or chicken broth
- 3 kale leaves torn into chip size pieces
- 1/2 cup dry mung beans cooked as directed
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- Roast squash for 20min @400 coated in 1 tbsp of coconut oil
- coat bottom of large pot with other tbsp of coconut oil
- chop onion and cook until clear in the oil ~ 5min
- add garlic, spices and water
- Add kale and steam ~5min
- Add beans and stir together – add more water if needed to coat the spices over the beans and kale
- Lastly add the chopped squash and gently stir into the curry bean mix – try to keep the cubes whole
- Let the whole mix simmer for about 5min to get the flavors throughout adding more water if needed.
I cooked some split grain pasta to go under my curry because it is what I thought would taste the best with the nutty flavor but you could use rice, couscous, millet or really any other grain.
This made a lot of dishes but it did not take much time to make because once mung beans are soaked they do not take very long to get soft.
This was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! I can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow after the flavors have melded in!
We are supposed to get an ice storm tonight into tomorrow so Sissy and I might be staying put tomorrow. All the more time to enjoy some curry!
Better In Theory
Posted: November 3, 2010 Filed under: dinner | Tags: acorn squash, egg, spinach, vegetarian 2 Comments »I was so excited when I came up with the idea for dinner, unfortunately I did execute it the way I would have liked. The flavors were all there but I need to work on two elements.
Side note: I love how this red plate pops with the orange and white.
Where the idea began was my love for eggs in a basket, which I need to make again soon! I love all bread and to have a dippy yoke in the middle of a lightly fried piece of bread is amazing. So I thought, Why can’t I do this with the acorn squash sitting in my apartment?
I think the hardest part was getting the circle of the squash…I only got 2 real circles out of a small acorn without worrying about loosing a finger.
I roasted the squash for 20min in coconut oil (love) before adding lightly sautéed spinach that I had done on the stove top with garlic powder and S&P. This was problem #1, too much spinach in the hole! As you can see my egg fell over the edge!
The egg cooked for another 10min the oven – this was problem #2 it did not cook the way I wanted it too and I think it needed to have a cover over it or something to make it cook faster and get less rubbery. I added a little fresh parm and S&P to the top.
I will revisit this recipe again! I think you could also do it with b-nut or any other squash that has seeds you could scoop out out of a round area. You bet I roasted those seeds!
Along with my egg-in-a-squash I had more squash and some Harvest toast with real butter (just for you Katherine!)
Time to grab a little chocolate out of the freezer and have some tea! It is getting cold around these parts!
Chocolate Delivery
Posted: October 6, 2010 Filed under: dinner, foodbuuzz | Tags: acorn squash, Foodbuzz, ghiradelli, quinoa 3 Comments »Yesterday was a great day!
I finished 5 miles no sweat and no foot pain! Good thing because the Baltimore Running festival is in 10 days! I am so excited for Lindsay to get here with David!
After my run I made up a nice little vegetarian plate featuring a lovely acorn squash!
I baked this with COCONUT oil and s&p so delicious! I actually could taste the coconut unlike the last time I cooked with it. I will definitely be roasted for squash with it.
Along with my squash I made some interesting quinoa.
- 1 serving of quinoa
- 1/4 cup part skim ricotta
- large handful spinach
- S&P
- garlic powder
- handful of parsley
This was creamy and delicious! I love ricotta cheese!
Simple and easy. That is how I roll.
I didn’t go to the Farmer’s Market this week because I will be gone this weekend so no more squash 
sad.
Something to turn my frown upside down?
I received a package from FoodBuzz and Ghiradelli! As part of the tastemakers program I was sent some samples of their new Luxe Milk line.
We were asked to select our few so obviously I had to try all 3, right? Yep! And I loved the hazelnut the best. It reminded me of Baci chocolates.
Time to pack up for the day…lots to do before I leave tomorrow for CT!
Happy Wednesday!
It’s Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Fall
Posted: September 7, 2010 Filed under: dinner, recipe | Tags: acorn squash, dinner, Fall, recipe 4 Comments »You know we are approaching fall when you see winter squash at the farmers market and you start dreaming of pumpkin oats in the morning.
For dinner tonight I opted for squash over oats.
Acorn stuffed squash to be exact.
Sweet Potato Stuffed Acorn Squash
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 acorn squash cut in 1/2 and seeded
- 1/2 onion
- EVOO
- Parm cheese
- S&P
- Allspice
- fresh/dried thyme
I cheated with the squash and potatoes because I needed to get dinner on the table before 6:30pm and the squash usually takes about an hour. Bring in the microwave for 3min in an inch of water for the squash and 2min in a wet paper towel for the potatoes. Once out of the “oven” pour out water and put the squash in the real over 350 for 30min. While this is cooking, chopped onion and sauté in oil for a few before adding potatoes, S&P and Allspice. With five minutes left on the squash stuff the mix on in and top with cheese.
After cheese has melted, remove from oven and top with herbs.
It is hot, watch out!
Serve with a lovely side salad. Enjoy salads now because after summer those amazing tomatoes will be gone 
All together on yellow.
Pumpkin oats tomorrow??? It is still so hot!
I’m off to the pool!
Sunday Well Finished
Posted: March 7, 2010 Filed under: bikram, Sunday | Tags: acorn squash, bikram, green monster Leave a comment »Another weekend has come to an end and I actually had a pretty productive afternoon/evening.
I did head out to the local running store to talk to a consultant about the Virbram Five Fingers and I also wrote a few e-mails to Ashley and Margaret. They didn’t have my color and I got a little worried because he highly stressed trail running only. Now we have a few trails around here, but I do not think I could run the same path for all of my runs. I also liked to use the trail as my long run location because it is flat and a once a week location. Apparently VFF didn’t make enough of the shoe and are in limited supplies and colors. I will continue to do research and consult, but the pavement that surround my home is always going to be a problem.
After shoe consulting I had a lovely lunch.
Green Monster and another bagel melt.
In my brown monster I had frozen raspberries, baby spinach and vanilla rice milk.
In between my everything bagel thin I had the last of my goat cheddar, avocado and cucumber. I really liked these bagel melts, I wish I could have a griddler in my office. Fresh pressed every day! No you didn’t!
After my lunch had digested it was time for my first outdoor run since December 27, 2009! I was really nervous, my heart rate was up, but my knee felt good.
I had planned on running 2.6 miles with a slight uphill at the beginning. I ended up doing 3.5 miles! I was so excited! I could “feel” my knee, but it wasn’t pain, just there. When I was finished there was no pain and that made me happy!
I felt so good that I decided to go to bikram this evening to round out my weekend. It seems to be a nice conclusion.
This is not my studio, but just gives you an idea. 105 degrees of heat for 90min and 26 poses. It takes a lot of concentration and determination. I love the challenge and what it does for your bones, heart, organs and mind are just a plus.
I made it through all of the poses this time and got a bit further back in camel this time. Progress.
When I got home I took a nice long shower and then made a simple satisfying dinner with about ten glasses of water on the side.
I roasted probably my last acorn squash of the season, and cooked a Sunshine veggie burger topped with sautéed onions and mushrooms.
Alright time for Sissy and I to watch the Oscars. Who do you want to win Best Picture???? I’ve only seen Avatar!
Good Night Moon.
Not a Fan
Posted: January 31, 2010 Filed under: Sunday | Tags: acorn squash, chobani, salad, sardines, waffle Leave a comment »Hello! The snow finally stopped around 8pm and we got about 6-8in total. A lot more than they were calling for on Friday (0-2). Given the weather Nick and I decided to stay in again last night. It just wasn’t worth it with the roads and other drivers. I tried my hand at making sardines. They are so inexpensive, sustainable and common that I thought they needed a chance.
I mixed the sardines with mustard, spices, carrots, tomatoes, kalamata olives, balsamic and celery and was going to use it as a salad, but it still tasted so fishy. I opted for a pizza with pasta sauce and melty cheese.
It was still gross and I had to through the whole thing out. Sardine are not for me! Maybe when someone makes them that knows what they are doing I will try again. I still ate my acorn squash and make another little tortilla pizza with spinach and cheese. This became a wrap.
Kind of a boring dinner, but it did its job. Nick and I spent the rest of the night play Scene It on the xbox and scategories. Nick won Scene It I won scategoies (Like always!)
This morning I was having breakfast blues and did not know what to make! I went with a good old waffle.
Arrowhead Mill mix with one egg, milk, flax and chia seeds. Topped with almond butter, unsweetened coconut and banana.
After breakfast I had about 2 handfuls of granola…yep, and meal planned for the week. I then headed to Giant, list in hand.
When I got home I cleaned the apartment from top to bottom and then sat down for a nice little lunch with something new!
Do you know what it is? It was not my salad made of spinach, carrots, maters, leftover acorn squash and a sunshine veggie burger (and wow holy those things are tasty but 13g of fat??! come on!)
My something new was a new flavor of Chobani!
Strawberry banana.
It tasted just like a strawberry banana smoothie. They definitely know how to make a good flavored Greek yogurt, now if they would only use organic dairy, I would be in heaven!
Not sure what the rest of the afternoon will hold, maybe a birthday party? I may let Nick go to that by himself though.
Either way I am off to enjoy what is left of the weekend!
Later Gators!
New Outside My Window
Posted: January 13, 2010 Filed under: dinner, lunch, Wednesday | Tags: acorn squash, panini, soup 1 Comment »Hello and we are in the downward slope of the week! And a downward slope it has been. Again with me knee, sorry if you are getting sick of it! It seems to kill me at work. I am going to try wearing different shoes tomorrow to see if it makes a difference. I don’t really walk much there, basically sit at my desk aka the least healthy thing you can do. I am a scientist by nature and therefore ran a bunch of tests in my cube including shoes on vs. off and different taping measures.
In between experiments I made time for lunch.
Leftover beef broth from last night mixed with wheat berries (!!!) green beans and okra. I also had a 1/2 of an Ezekiel muffin and an Adora disk. 
I spy a wheat berry! I think I liked this soup better than the beef stewish. I loved the chewy wheat berry texture. I need to make more of them more often!
The rest of my day was pretty uneventful except my stomach wanting my afternoon snack at 1pm! I think it was mainly boredom and I was looking for a an cheer myself up gift on Foodzie. It is a website kind of like Esty for food. I got myself distracted until 3pm before diving into the snack of the week.
Desk shot! Isn’t my particle board amazing! Apple+almonds+seltzer almost equals an apple with almond butter.
I went to find out how much I am going to have to shell out to get MD registration tags and title. $300 smackeroos from a tag and title place. I went to MVA once and I never want to go back again. Plus I have a weird situation with my car and I didn’t want to wait 2 hours to find out I didn’t have the proper paperwork. I have been trying to get one extra thing done every day because I am not going to the gym. Yesterday was get the salt washed off my car and today it was the tag and title. Tomorrow is get a MD state inspection (and shell out more $$$) I guess this is what my car fund is for in my ING account.
I had a nice surprise when I walked in the door. Well besides Sissy!
We had a cardinal at our feeder! I was worried that no birds were coming and then there he was today. It instantly put me in a good mood! Hello Mr. C! I hope to see you around all winter and spring.
After texting mom this event I did 45min of Dave Farmers podcast that everyone has been jazzed about. I actually knew most of the positions so I was impressed. I also did 1/2 of my PT stretches and I am planning to do the rest after dinner digests.
Speaking of dinner…I had Panini and salad on the menu, but I felt like I need something a little more. Acorn squash!
Baked acorn squash with a mini salad of greens and maters with WF balsamic.
And then there was the panini. I need to work on making these!
At least it was cheesy! along with 2 slices of cheese I had thia pesto, hummus, sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms. I meant to get in some roasted red peppers but I forgot them Plenty of time! I really want to remake that brie, pear, spinach and honey sandwich I had at Spoon with my dad.
I plan on watching two weeks ago’s Biggest Loser to find out who these peeps are, eating some chocolate, icing the knee, finishing PT sipping some tea and getting to bed early. Sounds like a plan!
Cranberry BBQ
Posted: January 4, 2010 Filed under: Monday | Tags: acorn squash, bbq, chicken, cranberry, kale Leave a comment »Wow Nick and I just had the most amazing dinner inspired by KERF’s Cranberry BBQ Crock-Pot Chicken! Before we can get to that I had to get through my day.
It actually wasn’t that painful until 3pm (1 hour before I leave) and my boss changes everything on me or have completed by tomorrow for our giant report. Where was this info at 8AM????
Anyway my pumpkin oats held me well and around 11AM I had my good old prunes. They are actually starting to taste a bit too sweet for me?!?! I checked and there is no sugar added, but maybe I need to switch to fresh fruit.
I was ready to dig into my lunch around 12:15.
I had brought quiet the assortment today.
Leftover acorn squash, carrots, last Harry and David Pear and a wrap of 1/4 an avocado, jalesburg cheese and hot sauce. I had originally planned on putting the squash into the wrap, but the wrap is small and it wouldn’t fit.
I didn’t really feel the need for an afternoon snack given that I wasn’t heading to the gym and we would be eating dinner about an hour earlier than we usually sit down.
I stopped off at Rite Aid on my way home for an Ace knee brace, icy hot and a reusable ice pack. I couldn’t stand wasting water in my ice bags anymore.
I checked on the dinner that I could smell in the breezeway of our apartment building and then did a small core and arm workout. Blah. I did this while wearing the new knee brace and icy hot.
My knee hurt so much in the bitter cold today, but the brace seems to help force me into keeping it straight and wow icy hot is amazing.
OK, onto happier things like dinner!
This morning I put 2 chicken breasts, 1.5 cups of veggie stock, 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and 1/2 a bag of cranberries into the Crock-Pot and set it on low. I was honestly a little worried that I would burn the house down so may have over done it on the liquids, but better safe than sorry and I now have a BBQ soup a stewing!
When I got home (9 hours later) I turned the heat up to high and waited about an hour before creating the additional items.
To accompany my chicken I cooked up a 1/2 of a cup of Trader Joe’s harvest grain and simmered one small onion in a large pot with some of the excess BBQ liquid.
Once the onion had softened I added a kale bunch and just let it wilt down.
The final product!
I couldn’t figure out whether to eat this with a spoon or fork, but I am glad I went with the spoon. Where is the kale and rice?
There it is! I loved how the cooked cranberries were both sweet and tart and still had a good pop to them. Nick even ate a few! (He had fruit in his dinner)
I was pretty full after this bowl, but I needed something sweet. I went with a small piece of peppermint bark to kick the craving.
Time to go check on my BBQ soup! I added some brown rice and okra to my “stock” that will be tomorrow’s lunch.
Have a Great Night!
What’s Going On
Posted: January 3, 2010 Filed under: week, weekend | Tags: acorn squash, kashi, knee, salad, yogurt Leave a comment »Woof, I can’t believe I have to go back to work tomorrow AND it is going to be super crazy and stressful. Mondo report due Tuesday, and I need to try and get caught up from vacation time.
Sorry I have sort of been slacking in the blog dept. I have been down in the dumps over my knee and just want to know what is wrong with it and how I can get it better/ when I will be able to run again. Running has become such a big part of my life it is really hard for me to cut it out. I have looked into other options if things look really bad. I could get really into cycling or even become an awesome yogi. Right now neither one sound that great. I am doing light yoga, core and upper body work, but it really isn’t doing it for me. I wanted to become an awesome 1/2 marathon runner and have a life list!
But life changes, and you have to flow with it or get crushed by the waves.
Anyway here are some of my eats over the past 24 hours…I am missing a few meals (a dinner and a breakie I think).
Leftover bep, mushrooms and brussels, toast with cotswold, clem. I also mixed in some cherry salsa that I got for Christmas instead of the pesto.
This was good, but not as tart as I was expecting from cherries. I think it would be good simmered with chicken in the crock pot 
MMMmmmm cheese. My mom and I both agreed we could give up meat before cheese and therefore think it would be easy to become vegetarians but we could never be vegans.
1/2 cup plain yogurt, banana, chia seeds, cranberry vanilla peanut butter, 4 berry jelly.
1 cup kashi h2h warm cinnamon.
Acorn squash baked and topped with 4 meatless balls mashed in organic pasta sauce.
I really like these meatless balls from TJs and they are vegan!
Salad of spinach, tomatoes, avocado, garden parsley and basil. I dressed it with lemon and white balsamic.
Ending on a happy note…the Ravens are in the playoffs!, Sissy has a Ravens collar and Nick and I had a great time with his Mom and Step-dad last night!
Life could be worse, just keep swimming
Tomorrow!
Posted: October 9, 2009 Filed under: Friday | Tags: acorn squash, half marathon, lentils 1 Comment »Tomorrow is the big day! Mom is here and almost all my stuff is laid out or packed up. Tomorrow at 9:45AM think of me!
My day in pictures…
x5 natures candy.
Green marathon!
Play like a Raven! Packet pick up was on club level! Awesome!
Pumpkin bread, applesauce with cinnamon and spinach salad with leftover veggies from sausage pasta and hummus.
Back of our race shirts.
100% recycled materials packaged in a plastic bag, irony?
I don’t even know how much I nervous ate of this plus an apple for my afternoon “snack”.
Dinner with mommy! 1/2 acorn squash filled with lentils, spinach, carrots, onions and mushrooms. Also a wee bit of parm on top and a slice of bread with butta.
OK time to finish packing up and get to bed early!!!!
See you after the race…I will not be posting in the morning because I don’t need the added stress!
