Cutie patootie.

Love this boy. :o)

Pasta + kale + carmelized onions + lentils = Yum!

I tried a new recipe tonight -- pasta with kale, carmelized onions and lentils. I kind of winged it with Rachel's recipe -- Rachel has a lot of vegetarian recipes and she's never steered me wrong.

This was good - the onions were sweet and the pasta/lentils combo was really filling. I also really liked the kale - it was my first time trying kale, too. :o)

I think it would taste REALLY good with some tomatoes -- probably of the sundried variety. ;o)

And so commences an evening of "When Harry Met Sally," a glass of wine, laundry folding, and further menu and exercise planning for the week.

Sometimes, this level of domesticity for a 23-year-old is a bit weird, though. Hmm.

Yuuuuuuuum!

Being a vegetarian has it's challenges and it's perks. One of the biggest perks is the increased dependence on your own creativity in the kitchen sometimes.

Recently, everyone in my office took a personality test to see where our character strengths are. My top trait was creativity - which I'm pleased to see.

Last night, I looked in the fridge for something to eat. Sitting on the shelf was a two-pack of tofu. With my tofu and some new finds from Whole Foods, I tapped into that creativity I supposedly have and voila! A hereby nameless, but nevertheless tasty dish:

{in the pan -- please pardon my turmeric-stained spoon}

So here are the ingredients and directions if it looks at all appetizing . . .
1 half-pack of extra firm tofu (about 5 ounces)
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
about 2 Tbsp olive oil
red pepper flakes (to taste)
cayenne pepper (to taste)
juice of 1/2 lemon
about 2 Tbsp soy sauce
about 2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 ounces (dry) capellini (angel hair)

First, I cubed the tofu and put it in the pan with the olive oil. While I was frying the tofu, I boiled angel hair pasta. In the pan, I threw the chopped green onion and cilantro and seasoned with the red chili pepper flakes and sprinkled with cayenne. I drizzled the vinegar and soy sauce over it then covered and let it simmer for a bit while I strained the pasta. After this, I stirred the pasta into the pan, tossing it with the tofu. I let it fry in the pan with the cover off (to let the noodles crisp just a bit). After a few minutes, I sprinkled with some more soy sauce, vinegar, chili pepper flakes and cayenne. All in all, I think this took maybe 20 minutes.

{all finished - just wishing I photographed food better}

Mmmmm!!! There was some good heat, good flavor and texture to it. I'll definitely be recreating this one.

But what to name it????

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites - (n.) Like Tuesday Tops but not quite.

- flowers
- my new wine rack freshly installed by my dad
- my handsome boyfriend getting a pretty great opportunity at work (of course, it prolongs the amount of time until I see him, but I'm happy for him and really excited)
- my technologically challenged self managed to hook up my router (I'm blogging from my kitchen bar . . . NOT from the living room floor per the norm before this)
- books
- red lentil dal (I took Rachel's recipe -- it's a favorite and I make it once a week, usually)
- frozen bread (as a single girl living by herself, a loaf of bread usually goes bad before I can finish it so I've opted for freezing the loaf and pulling out and toasting slices as needed)


Tonight:
- veggie burger on toasted sourdough bread with goat cheese and mustard
- red wine
- long chat with my honey
- an organization 'game plan' is in the works


Current mood: loving life.

In spite

In spite of the dreary weather . . .
In spite of my currently low iron level (read: zilch energy) . . .
In spite of a birthday weekend full of high-calorie foods . . .
In spite of my own lack of motivation and pushing myself . . .

I've still managed to lose 1.6 pounds since last week. :o) I was praying to just break even . . . but I lost.

I'm going to run tonight, rain or not. Bring it, El Nino!

Lions and tigers and . . . tornadoes? Oh my!

Well, Palo Alto officially has a tornado warning in effect. It has been dumping buckets of rain for a few days now and lighting and thunder abound. It's come and go for the most part, but we've been officially "warned." There could be a tornado coming.

Of course, the sky's not green/yellow and there are no funnel clouds to be seen anywhere and thankfully, no hail, but hey . . .

We've been warned.

Oh, I can't keep it in! :oD

I'm down a whole pound since Friday (1/8)!!!! I can hardly weight -- er, wait -- for our Biggest Loser Challenge weigh-in Friday. Am soooooooo excited, but trying not to be too stoked in case the scale shows me something not quite as generous on Friday.

Reasons why I think I legitimately lost the pound:
- I've been doing a VERY good job of sticking to my calorie range that SparkPeople recommends
- I've been eating well - not too much fat, too much sugar/salt/etc.
- I've been exercising more
- I'm wearing heavier clothes today (khaki pants and a shirt versus a silk skirt and tee from Friday) -- okay, maybe that's not quite the legitimate one, but whatever . . . every little bit helps, right?

Now, granted, I'm barely up to running a mile (ain't runnin' no marathons yet!) but I've been working other activity in as well -- walks at lunch time, exercise videos on On-Demand and trying to do little exercises here and there.

It's very motivating to actually see a difference on the scale but the weird part is . . . I feel different. I feel lighter, if you can believe it. And gosh darnit, I hope it shows on Friday, too!

I think I'm going to wear the same thing I wore last Friday -- which could very well become my Friday attire for the next seven weeks (until the challenge is over). But if I keep up the good work, I'll be in a bikini this summer, which I can honestly say has not happened in almost four years.

:o)

I wanna dance with somebody!

This song, as dorky as this may sound, might be one of my all-time favorites. It's so happy, so energetic and when I hear it, yes, I do wanna dance with somebody. Namely a certain boy who lives in South Lake Tahoe.

Today is the first "official" day back in the office. Several of us worked here and there through the holidays (the only mandatory days off were the 24th & 25th and the 31st & 1st), but it was so quiet and goodness knows we didn't exactly crank out 8 hours worth of work on the days we were here. (The bosses okay'ed that, though. I swear.)

Last night, I stayed up waaaaaaaaaay too late talking to this handsome boy I'm dying to dance with (the last time we danced together was at a friend's wedding in 2007 - dang!) finalizing plans for my birthday. I am so jazzed about what we'll be doing that I had a hard time talking myself into going to sleep. This is becoming a recurring theme -- the last several nights Alex and I have talked have resulted in semi-sleeplessness for me because I'm so excited about some of the plans we're making together.

Why can't I be one of those normal people who can simply breathe, smile and drift into sleep knowing that something will happen eventually? Not me. I'm the one who's W-I-D-E awake thinking about all of the possibilities.

So even in my tired state, I'm still really stoked. My birthday (which I like to celebrate in the tradition of a national holiday) happens to fall on a Saturday this year (no deliberation over whether to go to work - yay!). Alex will be joining me in San Jose for the weekend and we'll be playing my favorite game -- "Bay area tourist."

On the to-do list: cross the Golden Gate Bridge, see the Winchester Mystery House (which will be the third trip for me in the last 2 months) and go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Monterey is one of my favorite places in the world and the Aquarium is just so much fun. (Not to sound snobby, but my mom and I visited the National Aquarium in Baltimore several years ago -- we walked away thinking that the "national" aquarium needed to up the ante because it had nothing on Monterey.)

I am beside myself with excitement. And I might need a nap soon.

Excited!!!!!!

New Year's is almost year! Er, here. :o)

New Year's Day has to be my favorite holiday . . . ever. Hands-down, there is nothing I get more thrilled about than the promise that comes along with turning over a new leaf and starting fresh. I'm reminded that while New Year's comes once every year (hence the name, I'm sure), every day can be the start of something new, something good, something profound. Maybe it's hard to see, but at each phase of the journey, the best thing we can do is take a glance back, maybe linger over some memories that have truly shaped and defined us, and then turn our faces forward to walk into the future.

Now, before you start chiding me for being so gosh darn Pollyanna-esque, I should come clean and state that I am a chronic critic. It is my most crippling affliction. I resist change, I'm stubborn and obstinate mostly because I poke holes in ideas and feel that sometimes, if things can't be perfect from the get-go, they're not even worth attempting. So I'm sure you can imagine how hard this is to overcome. Every goal I've ever had (college, running a marathon, making my long distance relationships work) has been punctuated and peppered with the excuses I make for not following suit with Nike's mantra and just DOING it.

Back in April, I finished a marathon, which is big. Except, for all of the cheating and slacking I did because I didn't have the faith in myself to actually complete it, the accomplishment feels . . . tainted. It doesn't seem as sweet. It's something that I would think would motivate me to lace up my sneaks as soon as I recovered from the injuries I gained, but it didn't -- because I criticized my own victory. I'm so happy to be happy for others, but for myself? Not for long . . .

So where does this leave me? With some inspiration to actually embrace change. I'm not going to be a happy person (well, happiER person -- I still think in spite of my snap judgments and self-doubt that I'm a pretty happy person), I'm not going to be a runner again and I'm not going to be a more motivated person unless I PRACTICE them.

I'm sure this seems elementary, but at 22 years old, I'm finally getting it . . . just in time for New Year's, my favorite remember? So here we go . . . again. Practicing. Right now, I'm sitting in my workout pants, running socks (because cotton is rotten!), and my shirt from Big Sur (it was the first non-cotton shirt I pulled, but serendipitously enough, the one from my marathon). My Brooks Trance 8's are unlaced, right next to me. I have pulled my unusually well-behaved curls into a messy bun with the feeble hope that they will look just as good when I'm done. (But who are we kidding . . . Lightning really doesn't strike twice, does it?)

And I'm off to practice . . . :o)

Tuesday Tops!

1. Being on time! -- I have actually posted this on time. I think that's quite a feat given the last couple of weeks . . . Crazy!

2. Coffee! -- It's been a rough few nights for sleep, which means I'm groggy-hungover the next day and dependent on coffee for energy for the day.

3. Starting over! -- I made a commitment to myself that I was going to cut back on sugar. So this morning I'm drinking a vanilla latte and eating petite vanilla scones. I guess we're starting again tomorrow . . . ;)

4. Hanson! -- I L-O-V-E-D these guys when I was a kid and for whatever reason, I woke up this morning with "Weird" stuck in my head. So I grabbed my copy of "Middle of Nowhere" (their first album) and listened all the way into work. It was nothing less than FABULOUS! I was so happy, smiley and motivated coming into work. I even brought the CD in so I can listen on my headphones while I crank out some news releases. I'm listening and reliving some very happy moments of my youth. :o)

5. Quiet! -- Half of the office is already on vacation, which means it's very quiet around here. Of course, there's enough to do, but it's still . . . which lends to thoughts of "The Shining" and trying to stay motivated to actually work . . .

Quirks.

I have . . . quirks. I'm not sure if that's the best word for them, but yes, that's pretty much what they are. Sometimes they're my Achilles' heel, but most of the time, they just make others chuckle at my own uniqueness.

I got caught yesterday singing and (sort of) dancing in my car. I drive with the windows down and the music up -- at times, regardless of temperature. Last night, I was in a turn lane going home from work and a van was in the turn lane next to me. As I was nodding my head and singing along to my favorite Steve Miller Band song ("Jet Airliner," if you must know), I glance over and notice the guy in the van with his window down, giving me a thumbs up. Apparently I passed muster with the electrician -- my musical tastes are acceptable. Embarrassed, I smiled and gave a little wave. Thankfully, at that moment, the light turned green.

Welcome to my life.

On a crisp morning . . .

I'm drinking coffee sweetened with a bit of raw sugar. (I know, I know - I gave it up, right? I felt weak this morning . . .)

I have a lunchbox full of goodies -- miso soup, spinach salad, avocado, tomato, and an orange. And kombucha! Can't forget that . . .

I'm listening to Simon & Garfunkel.

I'm supposed to be working on webpages (in a minute . . .).

I am thankful. Life is sweet in this moment - even the stuff that's not so fun or sweet, I can ignore for just a second to embrace that overall, things are good. In a few short moments, I will likely be pulling my hair out or jumping the gun on something, but right now, I'm good.

Results are in!

The dal turned out DELICIOUS! I'm posting a picture below, but I promise it looked prettier! (I put in the dollop of yogurt and realized as I started to stir that I wanted a picture much like Rachel's, where I found the recipe.)

Next time, I'll make the trip to get the jalepeno pepper -- it would have done well to have that additional heat to the dish. Rest assured, though, if you're not a fan of spicy, this is still delicious without it.

It took me a while to make . . . probably close to 35-40 minutes, but it was my first time, so I was a little nervous about a.) having everything, b.) doing it in the correct order and c.) not just 'winging it' as I often do. I'm almost positive I'll be able to cut about 10 minutes off my time the next time I make this.

Happy cooking! :)

P.S. Whole Foods designed an iPhone app that allows you to search recipes based around special diets (gluten free, vegan, etc.). This will make my culinary experiences so much more fun, I think.

Vegetarianism: Week 2

I've finalized my challenge details: one new food each week, using it in as many recipes as I can. (And by "as many," I mean "most likely 1-2".)

Will be cooking lentils tonight. I have never cooked lentils before, but this seems interesting. I have the spices needed to make dal, an Indian lentil stew (sort of), but I have no experience. This could be interesting . . .


Things I'm loving today:
- my boyfriend texts me this morning to tell me that he drove from his house to school with his glasses on top of the car (I really did laugh out loud at that point)
- kombucha
- my salad (lettuce, tofu, avocado and chardonnay vinaigrette)
- going home to a (somewhat) clean apartment (Laura came over for dinner last night, so I frantically tidied up proving that I need to have company over more often)
- the prospect of cooking

Cat Stevens (see also: Why I'm in Love.)

I love Cat Stevens. I have a collection of some of his more well-known songs, but I aspire to own every album he's made on vinyl. No joke. Below you'll find me jotting some thoughts about my favorite songs by him:

Bitterblue
This song makes me want to dance energetically and joyfully. I can hear this come on in my car and it automatically propels me into a much better mood. Of course, I have never heard it on the radio, which means I'm forced to listen to it on my CD player . . . on repeat of course. ;o)

Father and Son
I think I literally wept hearing this the first time. The discourse between a father and his son (hence the title, Robyn), it really gets to me. At one point, his voice breaks with emotion and you can feel your heart wrenching . . . just a little.

Peace Train
My inner hippie loves this . . . I love the optimism, the camaraderie.

Where Do the Children Play?
This song breaks my heart just a bit with the truth of it. I always picture an inner city neighborhood and try to imagine what it's like to be a kid playing baseball in a not-so-safe park. Though he's not really talking about that, it's what comes to my mind.

The First Cut is the Deepest
I think what gets to me every time about this song is how bright, almost cheery it sounds . . . until you listen to the words. The hurt, the pain is very carefully played upon in an almost tongue-in-cheek way, which I have always thought to be very clever. This is probably his most well-known song, but that doesn't deter me at all.




Anyway . . . Just a few of my (many) favorites. My CD of his music is getting worn out and I've only had it a few years. :o)

Baby steps . . .

So I didn't wake up at the unholy hour of 5:30 this morning, I settled for 6:30. Or rather, I woke up around 5:30, but kept resetting the alarm and hitting the snooze button until 6:30. To-may-to, to-mah-to, right? Baby steps . . .

Anyway . . . Still feeling pretty awake. Relatively rested despite a marathon phone conversation with A that lasted until 12:30-ish. How are we able to talk sooooooo long about what seems like nothing??? I mean, I learn something new about him with every conversation, which is amazing, but it seems like we cycle through fairly uninteresting questions that always end up turning into long discussions. Clearly, the boy and I will be able to chat for years to come . . . or so it would seem.

He's pretty stinkin' awesome. I'm a lucky girl, indeed. :o)

Sometimes, improvising can be better...

I forget things. Little things, things that are really forgettable up until I really need them. Namely stuff at the grocery store.

Tonight was no exception as I hit up Trader Joe's after work. Knowing that I needed black pepper and chicken broth for the soup I am wanting to make, I shop around and pick up a crusty, delectable loaf of sourdough bread, mango mochi ice cream balls, produce, etc. I kept going right down my list, paid for my loot and went home. In my kitchen, I start cooking the chicken, seasoning it a bit and simultaneously boiling broth. I chop and put in the veggies and noodles.

Then and only then do I realize: I've forgotten the broth (I had some but was sure it wouldn't be enough) and the black pepper.

I made do with the pepper grinder (on normal occasions, I prefer fresh ground pepper but it's not practical for cooking).

The tricky part was the broth... Thankfully, in my cupboard was a box of vegetable broth. Not what I would have liked, but doable. I poured some in and later added some water, but surprisingly enough, it turned out good. Really good!

So sometimes plans don't work out, but tonight showed me that the last-minute, make-do improvisations can be even better...


Robyn's Chicken Soup:
- about 20 oz. chicken broth
- one chicken breast, cubed
- spaghetti noodles (about two servings)
- celery
- carrots
- green onions
- 1 small yellow onion
- oregano, salt and pepper

1. Cook chicken covered in a pan.


I seasoned the chicken with oregano, garlic powder (because I was lazy and didn't feel like mincing garlic), and salt & pepper.

2. While chicken is cooking, chop about two celery branches (sticks?), one medium carrot and the onions
3. In a stock pot, pour in broth and veggies. Bring to a boil, stir in noodles


Lookin' good so far!

4. Season chicken with oregano, garlic powder and salt & pepper.
5. When noodles are soft, stir in chicken. Let simmer for 15 minutes

Okay, that's kind of a haphazard recipe, but it was good... Really good. The vegetable broth I used gave it a nice golden (non-yellow) tone. I had two bowls and there's leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Score!


Delicious.

P.S. Please ignore my cluttered couch . . . I've been organizing paperwork all week. Er, trying . . .

Bacon cheddar potato soup

Yesterday, the dreary, Edgar Allan Poe weather began again, which naturally made me so happy and inspired me to attempt potato soup again. This time, I decided to make some modifications and perhaps not follow the recipe quite so rigidly.

Bingo -- about a hundred times better than last time . . .


Potato Soup
- 4-6 strips of bacon cooked and cut into small pieces
- 2 large Russet potatoes, cubed
- 2 14oz. cans of chicken broth
- 3-4 green onions chopped, greens and whites
- 1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)
- roughly 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- shredded cheddar cheese (I like extra sharp, but to each their own - colby-jack is also a good choice for potato soup)
- salt & pepper

1. Cube potatoes and put them in stock pot. Cover with chicken broth and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and mash at potato pieces with a potato masher or fork (don't do this too much, you just want to break them up a bit more, not into too-tiny pieces)
4. Return to heat and stir in bacon, onions, thyme and milk. Cook for 15 minutes covered.
5. Serve with shredded cheese and salt & pepper to taste.


Soooooooooooooooooooo good and really tasty the second time around.

My new semi-life.

I have no life.

Really, I don't. I confessed to Alex the other night that I'm partly afraid of finishing the unpacking process because that would mean there's nothing left on the "to-do" list of things in my apartment.

Living with my parents made me so excited to move out because I felt like I would really stretch my wings, get out and socialize more. The only thing I've learned in the last several weeks is that I'm a major homebody . . . and I'm growing to accept this.

I love cooking . . . I like cleaning . . . I dig organizing. If I had the space, you bet your boots I'd be trying to learn how to garden -- the idea of growing my own herbs and vegetables thrills me beyond belief.

Part of me is willing to believe that having long-distance boyfriend also contributes to my desire to stay home, but I don't really think that's the case. Alex and I mutually trust and respect one another, so I know I don't have anything to worry about when I think about going out with girlfriends or whatever. I just like staying home. I like being cozy on my couch and watching some terrifying movie. (I really like the idea of watching some terrifying movie with Alex -- you know, so he can keep me safe and all.) But at the end of the day, I just want to be at home.

Now, this is not to say that I don't enjoy a good girls' night out from time to time. I would like to scratch "pub crawl" off of my lifelong to-do list. But I think it's time to come out of the impeccably-organized closet on this one:

I am a homebody and I am proud of that.

I think this blog is morphing into my homebody life reflections, but I think that was where I wanted it to be all along.

To be continued . . .

Zen and the art of . . . potato soup?

I don't think I could ever adequately describe how much I am loving learning how to cook. I mean, I've never really practiced. Mom and Dad usually took care of meals for us, but for the brief months I lived in Fresno, I got to try out cooking a bit.

Now, living by myself, I'm looking into recipes 'made for two,' mostly because I can make enough for myself and lunch the next day. I dig the idea because I think it helps me stretch my food options a bit more -- I'm majorly guilty of falling into food ruts when I don't have anything interesting to pique my interest.

Last night, I picked up some onions and broth to combine with stuff I already had and made myself a pot of really good potato soup. It was just so meditative and soothing to go home and spend about a half hour cutting, slicing, simmering and stirring. (Of course, the drinking of the pint of Guinness probably didn't hurt this relaxing process.)

If I had to grade my project, though, I'd probably give it a C+/B- (for now). It was tasty, however I think there are some modifications that could have been made and I'm picky about doing things well in the kitchen. (I have no idea where this has come from -- my family used to tease me about not knowing the recipe for boiled water.) Next time around, we're adding some turkey bacon and sharp cheddar cheese. You know . . . just to try . . .

Other menu options for the week:
* sauteed zucchini, mushrooms and edamame with basmati rice
* whole wheat pasta with homemade basil mushroom marinara
* pizza with spinach and goat cheese (okay, I confess -- this is coming from a box but I still have to manage not to burn it!)