I definitely made the most of this three day weekend. In addition to penguins, grocery shopping, and paper-grading, I got to go for an awesome 14 mile run to celebrate Aron’s birthday.

It was the longest run I’ve done since Boston, and it felt fantastic.

I also did a little kitchen project that should be ready in about 3 weeks.

There are tons of organic lemons available right now so it’s the perfect time to preserve them!

One thing we noticed after buying groceries last week was how much plastic was included with our produce. We were completely disgusted, so this week we made a point to buy everything at the farmers market or the co-op with our re-usable produce bags. The packaging from last week is on the left and this week is on the right. Definitely an improvement.

I also found a great blog about living without plastic.

The beauty of this salad is that everything in it can be bought in bulk so there’s no waste. I know some people have issues with bulk bins, but I’ve been shopping out of them for years and never had a problem. Plus it’s a great way to try just a little bit of something without having to commit to a big package.

As I was making this I really wasn’t sure about how well everything would work together…broccoli, lemon, pine nuts, tortellini, cilantro, mint, sprouts. It all sounded good, but it also sounded like a lot of different flavors. It turned out to be completely delicious (not surprising, it’s one of Heidi’s recipes!

This on the other hand, was a lot better. I mashed up a bunch of red potatoes (with the skins still on) with a few white beans, added an egg, and baked it in little cakes. Then I topped them with roasted broccoli and shallots, cooked in butter with a little balsamic.

I’m SO glad I’m not the girl who avoids butter anymore. I don’t need to pull a Paula Deen and add a stick and a half to everything I make, but I’ve come to appreciate it so much more than a few years ago, when I was convinced eating it would instantly make me fat (but for some reason I didn’t worry about what the beer and late-night Taco Bell runs were doing to my figure. Logic fail.)

Hanging out with Ellie all day, every day this week is pretty awesome, but I’ve gotta say, I don’t know how stay-at-home moms do it. I love her, but the hours sort of dragged today (especially when she was fussy). I need to work on appreciating these moments though, because she is growing so fast. She has a whole new range of sounds and is trying so hard to talk! It’s pretty adorable.

I’m almost done with her stocking, and I’m glad I went for the tougher pattern. I was totally intimidated by wrapping and turning, and almost made a pattern that just used two regular needles, but I figured I should try and push myself to do something new, and it’s working out well. I only had to watch three different YouTube videos to make sure I was W&T-ing correctly…

I found the pattern on Ravelry and I love it!

It’s never a secret when I like something. I will talk about it a lot, cook with it/listen to it/read it multiple times, and just generally make it perfectly clear to absolutely everyone around me that I found the best thing ever.

Right now the best thing ever is delicata squash.

I just love the pretty half moons I slice it into, and the fact that I don’t have to peel it. It’s been featured in quite a few dinners around here lately, but this one is probably my favorite.

The recipe is from the always amazing Joanne, which she posted on Marcus Samuelson’s site. Quick side note: Joanne is a doctor (or technically in the process of becoming a doctor) and her blog is completely awesome. Two other blogs I love (The Curvy Carrot and Annie’s Eats are also written by doctors. I can barely throw together blog posts with my far less demanding career, so those women are seriously impressive!

Recipe:
(adapted from Joanne Bruno for Marcus Samuelsson)

1/4 cup white miso
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 16-oz block extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into dice
3 small delicata squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets

Whisk together the miso, maple syrup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and mirin in a medium bowl. Add the tofu and stir well. Cover and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Cut the squash into 1/2″-thick slices. Toss with 1 tbsp oil and spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 25 minutes or until tender.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet and add the broccoli. Saute until crisp-tender (you should be able to pierce it with a fork without too much trouble, but it shouldn’t be mushy), about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Heat the last tbsp oil in the skillet and add the tofu (remove it from the marinade with a slotted spoon and reserve the mardinade). Stir-fry until golden brown.

Toss the squash, broccoli, and tofu together in a large bowl and add reserved marinade to taste (I added about half).

Lots of time with this guy.

And this girl (even if she was asleep for a lot of it).

Yogurt! We don’t have a decent yogurt place in our town, which is fantastic and terrible at the same time.

Breakfast…made by my fabulous husband.

Wine and chocolate. Thank you, Trader Joe’s, for always having exceptionally good values on wine and chocolate to go with it.

This pizza is not particularly ground-breaking, but it’s a nice way to eat broccoli and have some not-typical-pizza-flavors. Be pretty liberal with the garlic and olive oil because it really helps out the flavor and texture under the cheese!

Recipe

dough for 2 10″ pizzas
3-4 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 medium head broccoli, cut in florets
1 1/2 to 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 red onion, cut into thin rings

Preheat oven to 500 F (with a pizza stone if you have one)

Steam the broccoli until crisp-tender (it should look bright green and still have a little bit of crunch).

Stretch out your dough and brush with 1 or 2 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle evenly with minced garlic.

Top the oil-brushed crust with broccoli and a few red onion rings, then sprinkle with cheese.

Slide onto the pizza stone and bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly, approximately 10 minutes.

I looked at a few different recipes for Nasi Goreng, and even though I’ve never had it I pretty much immediately knew I’d love it (since I adore Thai style fried rice and this didn’t look that different.) It’s incredibly simple – just fry up some garlic and shallot, add the rice, add some vegetables, add some sauce, and top with a fried egg.

The one thing you’ll need to find is Kecap Manis, which is sweet soy sauce (I found it at our Asian grocery store). It pretty much has the consistency of molasses, and is mostly sugar with some soy sauce flavoring. You only need a tablespoon, so it might work to make a sugar syrup and add some soy sauce, but I have no idea what kind of ratios you’d use. I realize that’s extremely helpful.

This isn’t completely authentic because I didn’t use shrimp paste, but this recipe is a great starting point for adding whatever vegetables or protein you may have on hand. Not pictured, but essential (at least according to me) is a ton of chili sauce on top!

Recipe:
(inspired by Epicurious and Simply Delicious)

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 cups day-old cooked rice (I used half brown, half white)
1 1/2 cups chopped vegetables (I used about a cup of broccoli and half a cup of cabbage)
1 Tbsp kecap manis
1 egg per serving, fried
chili sauce (Sambal Oelek or Sriracha – optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for a few minutes, until soft and very fragrant.

Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the vegetables and continue to stir fry until they are cooked. Turn off the heat, add the kecap manis, and mix well.

Divide among bowls and top each serving with a fried egg. Serve with extra kecap manis and chili sauce on the side.

ANYWAY… after 3 days of unpacking, cleaning, less than stellar eating, and generally feeling kind of like a mess (which happens when your life is in boxes, I guess), I turned it all around today and felt a whole lot better.

Today got off to a kind of slow start… I ended up getting some work done for my online class, then fell asleep on the couch for a couple hours, but I did manage to get to the gym and bike for 45 minutes, with some upper body weights afterwards.

I knew I wanted something pretty healthy, because except for grilled corn and and coleslaw, my life has been a little lacking in vegetables lately. I tried out an almost entirely raw broccoli soup recipe from this book:

I say almost-raw because you steam the broccoli for a few minutes, but other than that, there’s no cooking involved. I was highly skeptical because it seemed like a random mix of ingredients but this stuff was GOOD. Even Mike approved, and he’s quick to call me out when I make food that is a little too hippie-ish. It tastes a little like guacamole (because of the avocado) but with a slightly more complex flavor profile because of the herbs and lemon. I didn’t realize it until after I’d taken the picture, but I accidentally left out the onion. I’m kind of glad I did though, because I’m not a huge fan of raw onion, and I think there was plenty of flavor without it.

You may have seen a couple other blogs giving this book away (I know Anne and Joanne both did) and I have a copy to give away too!

I like the mix of recipes (for food as well as beauty products) and chapters about foods that can boost your mood, reduce stress, and improve PMS symptoms. Definitely a useful resource if you’re interested in improving your diet! TO WIN: just leave a comment telling me your favorite healthy food (linking to the recipe would be awesome, but you definitely don’t have to). I’ll randomly pick a winner July 7th at 8 PM.

And the winner is…. Julie! Enjoy the book!

FTC Disclaimer: Vega sent me two copies of this book for free – one to review and one to give away. The views expressed above are entirely my own

Recipe:
(Must Have Been Something I Ate) by Peggy Kostopoulos)

soup
1 medium head broccoli, cut into florets and steamed just until tender
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 small yellow onion, chopped (optional – I left it out)
1 clove garlic, minced
1″ piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch sea salt
1/2 cup warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
half an avocado, diced

garnish
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1/4 avocado, diced
pinch cayenne

Combine the broccoli, celery, garlic, ginger, onion (if using), lemon juice, oregano, salt, pepper, water and half avocado in a blender and puree until smooth. Add more water as needed until soup reaches desired consistency (I added about 1 1/2 cups total). Drizzle in olive oil and stir until smooth.

Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, avocado, and cayenne. Serve immediately.

Today when I left work I had pretty much talked myself out of working out. I’d spent about 3 hours grading papers (no, I never catch up!) and was just.so.tired. But something (maybe that 50K that’s in FOUR DAYS) reminded me that working out would be a good choice.

So I decided to hit the treadmill with one simple goal: not want to kill myself after 10 minutes. That’s a pretty lofty goal if you hate the treadmill as much as I do…but I succeeded!

I was inspired by Janetha’s workout but added a little to make it longer and more intense. Oh man this was a good one. Obviously you can adjust the intensity to meet your needs, but for me this was totally perfect!

I set the incline to 1.0% and cranked through the following:
Minutes 1-5: 6.0 mph
Minute 6: 6.5 mph
Minute 7: 7.0 mph
Minute 8: 7.5 mph
Minute 9: 8.0 mph
Minute 10: 8.5 mph
Minutes 11, 12, 13: 9.0 mph
Minute 14-22: repeat minutes 5-13
Minute 23-31: repeat minutes 5-13
Minute 32: 8.0 mph
Minute 33: 7.0 mph
Minute 34-38: 6.0 mph

Oooh fun!

When I came home I wanted comfort food, but not of the artery-clogging variety, and I knew I wanted vegetables too.

This was my second time using Angela’s Vegan Mac and Cheese Recipe but I made a few changes (increasing vegetables and nutritional yeast, and adding steamed broccoli). Mike LOVED it (and he can be a little wary of my vegan culinary endeavors).

Who needs Pasta-Roni now?!

I kind of un-veganized dinner by putting feta on my salad… but that’s just because I’m trying to make more inspiring salads these days and feta makes that easier.

Recipe:
(adapted from Oh She Glows)

1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
2 small carrots
1/2 small onion, peeled and chopped
1.5 cups raw cashews
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tsp kosher salt
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp mustard
about 3 cups bite-sized broccoli florets
12-16 oz uncooked whole wheat pasta (I used 12 oz whole wheat spahetti broken into short pieces)

Preheat the oven to 350 and get a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish ready.

Dice the potato, carrots, and 1/2 an onion and place in a steamer basket over boiling water. Steam until very tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, process the cashews in a food processor until they are finely ground. Add the garlic, lemon juice, almond milk, salt, and nutritional yeast and process until smooth. When the vegetables are done steaming, add them to the food processor and process until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

Put a little more water under the steamer basket if necessary, and add the broccoli florets. Steam just until crisp tender, about 5 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook according to package directions, then drain and toss with the broccoli and sauce.

Bake for about 25 minutes.

I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is, this was a dinner experiment that turned out to be a total win. Even though I spent all day thinking about a salad I could make with the whole wheat couscous I was sure I had in the cupboard, only to come home and find we were in fact out of whole wheat couscous, it didn’t stop me from forging ahead with fine bulgur in its place. I think I actually like it with bulgur better than I would have liked it with couscous, so that’s awesome.

And the bad news is my right knee. 2 weeks before my first 50K, it is NOT a happy camper. I ran 6.5 miles last night and felt completely amazing…except for my stupid knee, which felt like it was going to explode. I’ve had tons of IT band issues in the past, but this is a completely different pain so I have no idea what it is, but I’m icing and ibuprofin-ing like a champ in hopes that it will magically heal itself as soon as possible. I think my weak quads are to blame because I haven’t lifted a single weight in… um a year? Not good.

Anyway… about that glorious run. It was SO GOOD to be back out there! I missed you, Lake Merced.

An no, that’s NOT how the image looked straight out of the camera. I’ve been wanting to try HDR lately, so this morning I spent a little time with GIMP, LuminanceHDR, and this tutorial and learned how to do this:

(The picture is from Si Phan Don in Southern Laos).

Sometimes I think it’s a little too Tomas Kincaid-ish for my tastes, but it’s fun to experiment with.

But back to the run…look! Somebody was feeling festive in the parking area. I LOVE seeing Christmas decorations in unexpected places.

After the run, I was definitely ready for a healthy, filling meal. I pulled a completely random assortment of ingredients out of the fridge and cupboards (broccoli, tempeh, fresh cranberries, mustard, maple syrup, almonds…) and got to work. There’s kind of a lot going on here, but it all works and as a bonus, it’s pretty healthy. Fine bulgur is one of my favorite grains to cook with because you don’t even have to cook it! Just soak in water for about 15 minutes and it’s ready.

Recipe:

salad
1 tbsp olive oil
8 ounces tempeh, thinly sliced
3 cups broccoli florets, steamed until crisp-tender
1/2 cup fresh cranberries, chopped
1 1/2 cups fine bulgur, soaked in 1 1/2 cups water for about 15 minutes
1/4 cup diced red onion, soaked in cold water for about 10 minutes, then drained
3 tbsp almonds, finely chopped

dressing
1 tsp dijon
1 tsp grade B maple syrup
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt

To make the salad:
Heat the oil in a wide skillet over medium-high. Add the tempeh slices and cook on each side for a few minutes, until golden brown. Set aside.

Fluff the bulgur with a fork and combine with remaining ingredients.

To make the dressing, whisk the oil, vinegar, mustard, syrup and salt together. Add as much as desired to the salad and mix well before serving.

With the holidays fast approaching, the need for crowd-pleasing, festive-looking, and great-tasting appetizers for holiday parties is growing by the day. If you’ve been searching for a delicious vegan appetizer, this bruschetta is a perfect option! I made this tonight to go with a giant bowl of pasta in preparation for a LOOOONG trail run tomorrow. It’s got a great mix of textures and flavors, and definitely has enough garlic to keep the vampires (or unwanted attention?) away.

Plus, that festive green color is perfect for celebrating the Oregon Ducks’ 10-0 record! My sister came down for the game at Cal and spent Friday night with us, which was awesome because I haven’t seen her in far too long. We immediately headed into San Francisco for some shopping and food.

First stop: Forever 21. Uh Oh.

Nope, we did NOT make it out empty-handed.

As soon as Mike got off work we met up and walked through Union Square, which already has a Christmas tree and a tiny ice rink. IT IS STILL NOVEMBER.

We walked through Chinatown…

Banksy sighting!

I was a little photo-crazy but it’s not my fault this city is so photogenic! Mike and Em got tired of waiting for me.

We crossed over into North Beach and were getting extremely hungry. So hungry, in fact, that we sat down at probably the most-touristy establishment in the neighborhood. We were sucked in by the tables on the sidewalk and all the candles.

Beer was definitely in order (Fat Tire for me, Great White for Emily).

Beer and pizza make us happy.

The pizza (sorry for the HORRIBLE lighting): marinated eggplant with black olives and goat cheese. Not the best execution, but a combination I definitely plan on replicating at home.

Much more exciting than the pizza was the adorable Fox Terrier named Molly at the table next to us!

After dinner we made our way home and slept so we were ready for a 4 mile run this morning. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL out.

Emily had to meet up with a friend in the city to go to the game, so we decided to go back to North Beach for some more pizza. (I didn’t realize until after we got into the city that my memory card was not in my camera, so these are crappy iPhone pictures) We decided to try a slice at Golden Boy Pizza.

I loved this place! It’s totally funky inside and they have about 5 different kinds of pizza by the slice.

I loved my slice of Pesto Vegetarian!

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with friends before coming home tired and VERY hungry. With 20+ very hilly miles on the agenda for tomorrow, we wanted a lot of carbs for dinner (and lets be honest, even when I’m not running 20+ miles, I want a lot of carbs).

I whipped up some vegan broccoli pesto adapted from this recipe), and toasted some baguette slices under the broiler. This garlicky, bright green spread makes a perfect bruschetta topping and it’s pretty quick to whip up, plus it’s a nice change from the typical basil pesto.

Recipe:
20 slices of baguette (about 1/2 a loaf)
3 cups broccoli florets
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
a pinch or two sea salt

Arrange the slices of bread on a baking sheet and toast under a hot broiler for a few minutes on each side, or until golden around the edges.

Set a steamer basket over simmering water and steam the broccoli florets until very tender. Let cool for about 10 minutes.

Combine the broccoli, walnuts, garlic, salt, and olive oil in a small food processor and pulse until smooth. Taste and add garlic or salt if necessary. Spread the pesto on the toasted bread, then put under the broiler for a minute or two to heat through.

And out of curiosity, how do you feel about Christmas stuff in early November? I think it is WAY too early…

Mike and I were talking about my blog the other day and quickly came to the realization that cupcakes bring big hits while things like this do not. However, cupcakes are not exactly what I need to be eating with a 50K race coming up in about 6 weeks. Lots of vegetables and protein? Probably a better choice.

If you’ve been looking for a quick “I just got a flu shot, did a temp run, voted, grocery shopped, and now it’s late and I want fast, healthy dinner NOW,” look no further. This is good stuff and it makes plenty so you should be good to go with leftovers for lunch. It’s a pretty standard stir fry — just mix up a sauce, cook some protein and vegetables, then stir in the sauce and serve over rice — but there are so many times that a standard stir fry hits the spot, and today was one of those days.

Recipe:

sauce
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp corn starch
5 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp chili garlic sauce (omit or scale back if you don’t like spicy food)
1 tbsp sesame oil

stir fry
3 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 8-ounce packages tempeh, cut into 1″ x 1/2″ rectangles about 1/4″ thick
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 large crown broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets
3 baby bok choy, sliced crosswise

Stir together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat.

Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the tempeh and stir gently, cooking for a few minutes (until golden).

Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for about 30 seconds.

Add the Shaoxing, broccoli, and bok choy and stir fry for a few minutes, or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in the sauce and cook just until it thickens.

Serve over rice.