Give Them A Chance!
Posted: November 15, 2011 Filed under: dinner | Tags: bike trainer, farmers market, turnip 2 Comments »It is the second to last Farmer’s Market Tuesday 
It was dark when I was at the market today, but thankfully the weather was seasonally warm and the rain was just spitting.
As the choices become fewer and fewer I have to get creative. One item at the market that I like to get are small turnips.
They usually come with greens which give me a second meal out of the plant! At the grocery store you can’t really find them together and if you do the greens are usually pretty wilted and gross.
Tonight I just sautéed the greens in some olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme.
I had them alongside two duck eggs on toast with goat cheese.
I eat eggs probably once a week – they are easy, full of protein and if they weren’t duck they would be pretty cheap!
I am really sad for the markets to end and to have to say goodbye until next spring.
*What do you miss most about summer produce?
Outtake from photographing dinner…
Sissy attacking my dishtowel!
And lastly…a PSA about bike trainers…
They will wear your tire much faster than the road, fling rubber and will be hot after use. I asked the people at REI and they said it was normal and suggest getting a cheap tire for indoor use. Learn something new every day!
Life Outside The Cube
Posted: November 11, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: biking, bok choy, bread, cycling, french toast, green monster, muffins, persimmon, turnip 2 Comments »Thanks to those who served or are currently serving our country, I have today off from work!
When I get days off during the week I try and make the most of them so I never really sleep in. I was up at 7, which is 1.5 hours more of sleep and it was so nice to eat breakfast with day light and with the Today show!
Yes, I did just wake up and that is my “relaxing morning” giant coffee cup.
Sissy is excited to have me home and joined me at the table while I took some pictures of a delicious breakfast!
French toast coated with almond butter, grilled banana and chia seeds.
Breakfast just tastes better when you can see it!
After breakie and hanging out with Matt I tried to make Jenna’s beginner rolls, but they were like bricks…I tried to make a loaf, but I am calling them dunkers for a pumpkin kale soup I am planning tomorrow. At least they taste good and they chewiness has not stopped me from eating 5 already.
While these were “rising” I ran a few errands to Target and the library to pick up a book for my cooking class this weekend!
I am so excited to read this and to take the class the weekend. I will be sure to give a full report.
After a few bricks I headed out for a lovely bike ride!!!!!
I haven’t been on my bike since September when it started getting to dark to ride after work, and my legs + lungs could totally feel it!
I almost died on a few hills, but I made it! It was so pretty out there.
These ponies wanted to play, but I didn’t want to cross the street to horses I didn’t know!
I did my normal loop.
I think I need some new tape on my handle bars!
Thankfully Ashley and Julie have posted about how to do exactly that.
When I got home I was still pretty full from all of the dough balls I ate before heading out but I need some protein for recovery and some veggies…enter smoooothie.
Green monster with spinach, frozen cherries, 2 scoops vanilla hemp protein, skim.
I also tried to enjoy another persimmon, but yet again I thought it was gross. It sucks the moisture out of my mouth and it is so odd. I really wish I enjoyed it but I cannot get over the reaction in my mouth! Am I missing something???? Barf.
So obviously this was not enough for lunch after my bike ride so I made a batch of Anne’s cranberry pumpkin muffins but I omitted the walnuts.
They didn’t come out as flat as I wanted, but I love the pop of the fresh cranberry in this hearty muffin. I cut the sugar back from 1/2 cup to 1/3 and they still taste delicious!
Look at the cranberry oozing out! I am going to bring some of these into work for the few of us that make it in tomorrow.
After muffin consumption I headed out to yoga. Let me tell you it is really hard to go out of the apartment after it is dark, but I did it! And it felt soooooo good.
When I returned I was starving and cooked up a mix of veg in the oven that cooked while I showered.
No sun for dinner….In a small casarol dish went: bok choy, sliced turnip, mushrooms, goat cheese and tomato sauce – baked for 45min at 350.
Sprinkled with parm cheese and served with a brick from earlier in the day.
Simple ingredients and delicious flavor. I read about that in Alice Waters’ book today!
Well that about wraps up my day out of the cube. I just remembered I forgot to go to the dry cleaner but other than that I got a lot done today!
Sissy and I will be spending the rest of the night watching the Ravens! Things are not looking good…lets hope they can turn things around.
Apple-liciousness
Posted: October 26, 2010 Filed under: dinner | Tags: apple, kale, onion, turnip 2 Comments »First thing: Mark Summers was just talking about Hostess Ho-Hoes and I really want one now!
OK now that I got that off my chest onward to dinner!
After apple picking on Saturday Nick and I have about 36lbs of apples…that’s a lot of apples! It is about 1.5 reusable grocery bags full.
I am getting a little sick of just eating them as snacks so tonight I put together one of my favorite combinations – apple and onions.
I love the sweet and savory flavors of cooked onions and apples and it is so easy to make!
- Heat Olive Oil in a pan
- add apple cider vinegar
- add 1 whole chopped onion
- add 1 whole chopped or sliced apple
- add S&P
- Cook for about 15min until tender
I threw kale on top of mine in the last few minutes to steam and add some green.
Besides my kale, apple and onion deliciousness I also baked a turnip and make mini sandwiches with a ricotta and herb spread.
Turnip sandwich!
Ok so I know a lot of people do not like turnips/rutabagas like I do, but they remind me of childhood when we used to make them with a ton of butter and mashed. The flavor is still there for the memory but the sat fat clogging my arteries is not!
Do you like rutabaga or turnip? Any inventive ideas for my apples?
Tomorrow is a very special day for Moma Beans! 
One Month, No Run
Posted: January 27, 2010 Filed under: Wednesday | Tags: beef stew, beer bread, blackberries, Mediterranean chicken, salad, turnip Leave a comment »Tonight’s post is going to have a bit of a different start. You see today marks exactly one month since I last ran a) outside and b) over a mile. I actually remember the day perfectly, odd. It was such a nice Sunday morning run, and if I had to pick my last one it would have been a high note to end on.
Since then I have been to the gym 3? times and only been able to run on the treadmill for 8:19 before stepping off holding back tears from the pain in my knee. About a week and a half later I had been taking it easy and the pain was still there, I consulted my friend Ray who is a physical therapist and he came to the conclusion of patella femoral pain syndrome.
I did a ton of research, followed his exercises, did no cardio (only yoga) and ordered the knee sleeves recommend by HTP. If you couldn’t tell I like to address problems like this and get the fixed ASAP! Unfortunately my knee still felt like "someone was stabbing me with a knife in the side of my knee cap" and I went to see an orthopedist. The x-rays came back negative and he came back with sort of a catch all answer of irritated soft tissue. Either my IT band was pissed or the soft tissue that covers the bones in my knee were inflamed.
The worst part about this…I was told I basically was not allowed to move my knee anymore than I had to. I could swim (I think that is what he said, I was in a daze at this point), but I don’t belong to a gym with a pool nor do I have the funds to join. I asked about yoga, no. Foam roller? No. All of my hard work basically went out the window. I mean I now know that I can train for things and have a plan, but I have lost all of my stamina that took me months to get, and I can see the difference in body shape and muscle tone. I’m not going to lie, one of the main things I was worried about was gaining back the 20lbs I had lost or at least a portion of it. So…the big question, one month after I stopped working out/running, have I gained any weight? No. Surprisingly I have not gained any weight, just lost the tone in my legs and abs. I have tried to cut back on my snacking and calorie intake to match my calorie output, but honestly I think it really has to do with what I am eating. When I started getting healthy I began with going to the gym, but still eating nasty food. It was not until I changed my diet that the weight seriously started to come off. This to me is proof that you cannot just work off your fat, you must also eat less of it! I still have another 3 weeks to go until I am allowed to test out my knee…I already have a 2 mile run planned (I am just hoping I can do it). I am hoping to maintain what I have accomplished during that time and check off most of the things on my Month Off To-Do list. Life is all about challenges and how you deal with them. I am not giving up on running, and I am looking forward to the 2010 spring season!
Note: This is how MY body reacted to change, not everyone is the same. I just wanted to share this information to show that exercise is not the cure all to weight management. Please do not read too much into my little story.
Thanks for reading my little knee bit, now onto the regular posting!
Lunch was as delicious as dinner last night!
I got this pink Tupperware because of the built in spoon…I have since lost the spoon.
Stew and beer bread!
I didn’t get hungry for an afternoon snack until I got home and was starving!
I had my last scone with a little bit of Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter.
Glowing in the last bit of day light.
I stopped by the library to pick up some books I had on hold and had a glass of wine over Curtis Stone…so dreamy, but these recipes are way out of my league!
Awesome wine! I brought my glass to dinner.
Mediterranean chicken:
- chicken tenders
- lemon
- kalamata olives
- feta
- parsley
- roasted red peppers
- thyme
- capers
- oregano
Cook chicken in EVOO and lemon juice with dried oregano and thyme.
Mix other ingredients a bowl and heat in microwave for 30 sec.
I also roasted up a fennel bulb and white turnip to go along side – 30min
bake chicken for 15min and then serve onto of fennel and top with olives feta mix.
The only thing I would change about it was the amount of salt. No need to add any! Feta + Olives + capers = a little too much salt.
Check out how big my parsley is getting!
Turnip and side salad. Delicious and filling!
For a little dessert I heated up some black berries with chocolate chips on top.
Yum, chocolate!
I am going to get back to reading through a couple more cook books I picked up at the library this afternoon. New recipes are in the works!
It is so weird being done with blogging so early…I would just be getting out of the shower from the gym if I were still running 
More than 1/2 way through the week!
Third Meal’s a Charm
Posted: November 2, 2009 Filed under: Monday | Tags: cardio, kale chips, turnip Leave a comment »And another one bites the dust! Monday well done!
I don’t know if my breakfast just didn’t hold me or if I was just hungry, but from 10-12 I had 2 snacks and was still hungry!
I had a serving of prunes and about 10 almonds, which usually holds me just fine, but not today!
Lunch finally came and it was eh, OK. Yogi, 1/4 grapefruit and last bit of Friday’s veggie bake wrapped up tight.
I was kind of disappointed with this yogurt. It didn’t really have enough flavor for me, but I did like the lid!
I used to say that grapefruits had individual packets of juice
I also had some issues with my snack…
I picked this up in the marked down bin at Giant from $4.25 to $1.75. I don’t know what it was about the bar but there was just too much sugar (10grams, more than a reduced sugar Quaker bar) for my afternoon snack. I found myself craving an apple. They will be moved to the Nick’s dessert bowl.
So my heel was still hurting this afternoon so once again I had to resort to the other cardio machines at the gym. I do not like the fact that I cannot run outside without worrying about it being too dark.
I always find that I don’t push myself on the elliptical or bike so I made a point to keep my HR around 160 or above for he hour. I did 30min on the elliptical – I did random and sprinted when the resistance went down to 3 bars until it went back up again. Not the most scientific method, but it worked! I then went to the bike for 10min – I was supposed to do 30min, but after the spin bike I hated the regular one. I finished my 20min on the ArcTrainer, again keeping my HR up and did intervals. On the down side the gym was packed!!! and I forgot my ipod. After cardio I did arms and core. I really hope I can run tomorrow, even if it is on the t-mill.
With such disappointing food earlier in the day I had high hopes for dinner.
Nick had a soccer game sooooo that means I could have a non-Nick approved meal!
Before I enjoyed this I had some chips and salsa, which were supposed to go with my meal, but I couldn’t wait.
The Works chips taste just like the TJs crackers. I paired the chips with black bean and corn salsa.
Then onto turnips and kale chips!
yellow turnip with S&P thyme and about 1/2 tbs of good old butter. I also had a huge mound of kale chips and ketchup. I really liked these! Crispy to start with and then they got chewy. I cooked them in EVOO and Lawery’s Season Salt.
I got a special delivery today! I ordered a pic from the 1/2. It was expensive, but I feel like it was worth it. Check out my guns and how both my feet are off the ground!
It looks better in real life, and I am smoking the ladies behind me from pen #1!
Alright I am going to enjoy some Christmas Eve tea and thin mints then climb into bed with Food Inc. I need to get reading!
Have a great night!
