Tag: Veggies!

GINORMOUS Bean Chipotle Extravaganza!

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Hi friends!

I hope you’ve all have a great day!  Mine has been busy and sadly not very productive but oh well!  As I mentioned before, I’m trying to have more complete, balanced meals.  Today was a success!

Oats for breakfast, sandwich and soup for lunch, cantaloupe for a snack and dinner…

Just plain delicious!  I found this recipe on 101 Cookbooks a long time ago and bookmarked it for future making. I finally got around to doing so.  Of course I tweeked the recipe (quite a bit actually) but it still turned out delicious!

Ginormous Bean Chipotles Extravaganza

adapted from 101 Cookbooks Giant Chipotle White Beans

1/2 lb dried lima beans, cooked in salty water
1 tbsp olive oil
few dashes of cayenne, more for more heat
salt
1 tsp chopped garlic
14oz can of diced tomatoes (I only had whole tomatoes so I chopped them up myself, works fine)
2 tsp dried oregano (more if you use fresh)
1 tbsp of adobo from a can of chipotle peppers
1-2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1-2 handfuls of kale, chopped
1-2oz crumbled feta (or other crumbly cheese like cotija… which apparently doesn’t exist in Upstate NY…)

Heat the oil (about medium heat) in a pot, add the garlic and the cayenne, cook for about a minute.  Add tomatoes, salt and oregano.  Cook for a few minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the cooked beans and adobo sauce.  Stir in the kale and cilantro.  Transfer to a baking dish, bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

I had mine with red quinoa!

and a huge salad!

You should definitely try this recipe!  It was soooo good!  If you’re one of those people who hates lima beans (don’t get this by the way) you can probably use any other bean, maybe cannellini?  That being said, I thought the lima beans were the perfect bean for this dish!  So big and “meaty”!  Delicious!!

I seriously loved this flavor combo!  Chipotle, feta and cilantro!  What could be better!?!

Try it!  I bet following the original recipe would be even more delicious!  She makes a cilantro pesto that I was just too lazy to make 🙂 Hence I just stirred in some chopped cilantro…

This is also a great make-ahead dish!  I actually prepared it all on Sunday, and today I just stuck it in the oven while my quinoa cooked.  Healthy and Delicious dinner in 15 minutes!  Voila!

Anyway, now I’m off to read before Lost!!  Anyone else as obsessed as I am?!?

Have a fantastic night!!

Food Fight

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Yesterday was the longest day ever!  After we last “spoke,” I went to class, prepared for my discussion section, had discussion section (went really well for the first time yesterday woo!), went to class again, met with a professor, worked on the demographic forecast from hell and went to see Food Fight!

Ok, let me tell you a bit about Food Fight.

It was an interesting documentary about local/slow food.  The documentary centered largely around the local food movement started by Alice Waters in Berkeley.  Watching the documentary was sort of exciting since a lot of it took place in Berkeley and a lot of the interviews were done in Chez Panisse (remember when I went in January?).

Basically, the documentary critiqued the federal government for promoting industrialized agriculture through the use of agricultural subsidies for specific products and consequently degrading the quality of our produce.

I thought this was really interesting.  It really got me thinking about who to “blame.”  I know some people don’t agree with this, but I have a hard time blaming the federal government or specific people for things.  I think things need to be looked at in the context of a larger system.  While this film promoted local farming, which I agree is great, I was torn because I understand the rationale for industrial agriculture.

In economic terms, I understand that industrial agriculture creates economies of scale which are more efficient.  However, there is a disregard for quality.

I guess what I took from this documentary was nothing particularly new: our food production system needs to change.

For me, the larger understanding I gained is that it’s easy to assign blame to the federal government or particular people (yesterday in my discussion section, a girl said she “hates Earl Butz,” which I think is a little crazy), but I think it’s important to understand the underlying assumptions and motivations to what people do.  I understand that lobbyists are an important part of this mix, and I’m not saying that this is okay.

Local food is a little elitist and expensive.  A lot of chefs in the documentary admitted it, which I thought was quite refreshing.  While they talked a bit about poverty and accessibility, I would like to see an entire documentary on access to good food by the poor.  Local and organic isn’t cheap, I’d be interested to know how we can change that.  Is “voting with your fork” enough?

Anyway, I recommend the documentary.  Unlike, Food Inc. and other documentaries on local/sustainable food, this documentary is centered on the idea of good tasting food, as in eat local/organic because it tastes good.  I thought this was an interesting approach.

Have you heard of Food Fight?  Any interests or thoughts?

Have a fantastic day!!

Not So Fat Tuesday

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Happy Mardi Gras!!

I remember feeling so cool in high school French when I realized Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday in French!  Nerd.  I know… but enough about that.

I woke up this morning to a good amount of snow on the ground.  While I groaned a bit, I got my butt to the gym anyway.  Here are some of my tips for working out when it’s cold.

  • Dress in layers if you have to walk to the gym.
  • Put all your layers on in the house and wear them for a few minutes while you get everything ready (i.e. fill up your water bottle).  By the time you get outside you’ll be so warm that the cold air will feel great!
  • Wear snow boots and bring your gym shoes in a plastic bag, change your shoes there.
  • The hardest part is getting there.  Just do it!

How do you motivate yourself to work out when it’s cold out?

On one of the gym TVs today, MTV was playing music videos!  Can you believe it?!?!

The prize for most ridiculous video: Lucris “How Low”

Why Luda?? Why!?!

Also, Ke$ha… girl is a hot mess… not a in a good way…

But on to lunch… once I find something I love, I tend to eat the same thing over and over again.  Last week it was hummus/cheese/veggie wraps.

Here is my most recent obsession discovery….

Annie’s Naturals Organic Buttermilk Dressing!  Sooo good!!  Creamy and tangy!  Salad dressings really can make or break a salad!  Try it!

Huge salad!  Along with a can of soup!

Campbell’s Harvest Select Light Minestrone with Whole Grain Pasta.

You’ve probably realized I’m a little obsessed with soup.  I really liked this one!  They were on sale at Target!  I might have to go back and get more!

Huge meal for not a whole lot of calories!

I ended my meal with a delicious cup of tea…

Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride!!!!!!!!  I kept seeing this tea on blogs and really wanted to try it since everyone raves about it.  I commented on Paula‘s blog how I couldn’t find it around here and she sent me a box plus a few others to try!  What a sweetie!  Thanks so much Paula!

I wonder how on earth they get it to taste like this.  I’ve been drinking it plain (got it yesterday and already have had 4 cups of it) but to one of my cups I added some agave and it was like dessert!  Sooo good!

Mardi gras will not be a very exciting day for me.  I have a ton to do!

Do you have any plans for Mardi Gras?

Oh and if you’re in want of some fun reading material, this girl has a bunch of fun Mardi Gras stuff! (Including one very funny picture…)

Have a wonderful afternoon!

Taste the Rainbow

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Happy Tuesday!!

Did you all hear about Michelle Obama’s Campaign Against Childhood Obesity?

What do you think of this new Let’s Move campaign?

I had some colorful eats today and luckily they DID NOT include any of this:

For lunch, I had a DELICIOUS, COLORFUL and HUGE salad!

Isn’t it bright?! Lettuce, Cucumbers, Tomato, Carrot Ribbons and a sliced up string cheese with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar as dressing.  Along with a Morningstar Sausage Patty taco, which you’ve seen so here’s part of the tortilla process:

I would die without a gas stove!

After my scrumptious lunch, I went to class then I worked on Econ and Methods problem sets with people.  Ugh I need to learn to be more patient!

Then the highlight of the evening.. Dinner was pretty much the epitome of a fake and delicious makeover!

You know chicken parmesan? Served as such…

Forget that!  Mine was a million times better!

Boca Spicy Chik’n Patty topped with marinara sauce and cottage cheese (soo good!  If you’ve never mixed marinara and cottage cheese… go try it now! Creamy and delicious!), served with a side of spaghetti squash and broccoli, then sprinkled with some grated pecorino romano for good measure.

A dinner entree of Chicken Parmigiana at Macaroni Grill will set you back 1650 calories, 98g of fat and 2500mg of sodium!  Isn’t that nuts!

My version had a grand total of 405 calories and 12g of fat!  Much better and just as tasty and voluminous! Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of pasta (maybe because I didn’t grow up eating it?) but I understand that a lot of people do like it.  A serving of pasta still would make this a million times healthier than a restaurant version!

What’s your favorite at home dish makeover?

Ahhh Lost is on in a little over half an hour!  I have to read now so I can then glue myself to the TV!

Have a fabulous night!!

Soup It Up!

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Hi all!  Hope you’ve had a great day!

Thank goodness my presentation is done!  Honestly, it was pretty terrible!  Basically, me and another guy had to lead the class discussion for a 3hr seminar! Ugh!  First, I couldn’t connect my computer to the projector because I have a newer Mac that doesn’t have the right port.  Thanks Apple and Cornell, but it was okay I could go without.  Sadly those hours I spent on the power point were all for nothing!

Then, the professor kept interrupting me asking me to talk about specific things. He didn’t want to discuss what I had prepared until the end of the class!  So basically I had to search in the book for things he was asking for.  Even though I had read it and it was basically the most basic thing even (push/pull factors of rural-urban migration… really we need to talk about this for an hour??) I got flustered and it was terrible.  I should have talked to him beforehand to make sure I covered everything he wanted since I was the first to present all semester.  Oh well, It’s done.

I was nervous before class so I had a light lunch (soup + cottage cheese + cucumbers).  By the time I got home, I was starving!

I made a quick veggie lentil soup using a Thai Veggie Stock I found on sale at Wegman’s this week!

Delish!  In my soup: 2 cups Thai veggie stock, ~1/2 cup dried lentils, 1/2 broccoli crown, some kale, and bok choy.  First I cooked the lentils in the stock for about 10-15 minutes then added the veggies for a few minutes and voila! (Next time, I’d thicken it up with a little corn starch or throw in an egg!)  For a little extra protein and just plain deliciousness I had 2 Morningstar Sausage Patties.

One in a tortilla because that’s how brown people roll.

Corn Tortillas > Flour Tortillas.  What do you think??

Then the wonder that is Karin, inspired me again (I should really just start a fan club).

I made some homemade granola bars using a tweeked version of this recipe.

Sadly I messed these up for a few reasons…
1. Forgot to add the flour
2. Forgot to add vanilla
3.  Needed more apple sauce but didn’t have any more.

Regardless, they taste delicious!!!

In my granola bars I used:

2 cups of oats
20g chia seeds
1-2 tsp cinnamon
some dried cranberries (only had 16g)
1 oz dried coconut
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup agave nectar (use more if you want sweeter)
1/2 cup of apple sauce (use more next time)

I mixed all these ingredients together and baked them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  I could probably get 12 bars out of this.  Here is the nutrition info for the ones I made:

Delicious, easy, inexpensive and healthy!

I think they turned out okay without the flour, but I think they would have been more bar-like had I used more apple sauce.  Oh well!  Next time!  I can’t wait to make variations of these!!  (PB in the future???)  I need to run to the store to get more applesauce!!

Have you ever made your own granola bars? Any tricks of the trade I should know about?

Well, now I’m off to read a huge pile of things about climate change!  Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading 🙂  Have a great night!!

P.S.  Get a free sample of Kashi bar or cereal!! Click Here!