Waking up hungry and NaNoWriMo

It is almost NaNoWriMo time!!!!

What is NaNoWriMo? It is a crazy event people commit to every November. Everyone that enters tries to write 50,000 words by the end of the month. 

50,000 words = about 200 written pages.

Yes, it is a pretty insane endeavor - but it is also really fun. 

I have been doing it each November for the last 3 years. If you have the time and inclination I encourage you to try it.

But back to the important thing - my breakfast:

Breakfast coleslaw with hard boiled eggs, jasmine tea and half of an orange.

Some mornings I am not that hungry but this morning I woke up ravenous. I don't know about the rest of you but when I get that hungry I know I need a big volume meal.

My easiest big volume breakfast I make is coleslaw with chopped up hard boiled eggs. 

All I need to do is measure out 2 cups of pre-made bagged coleslaw, toss it with some yogurt, mayo, vinegar and sugar. I almost always have some hard boiled eggs sitting in the fridge so I just chop up one whole egg and a couple of egg whites.

Easy protein slaw

Serves 1

Ingredients:

2 cups of pre-made coleslaw mix
1 whole egg and 2 eggwhites, chopped
1/3 cup of chopped apple
1/2 tsp of rice vinegar
1 tsp of Greek yogurt
2 tsp of Vegenaise
1/8 tsp of sugar
1/8 tsp of dijon mustard

Instructions:

Mix all the ingredients together and enjoy. This slaw is also wonderful made the night before and eaten in the morning because the flavors get a chance to really meld together. 

Savory pomegranate quinoa bowl

Savory quinoa with pomegranate, basil and celery.

The star of breakfast this morning was this beauty:

 A beautifully ripe pomegranate.

I cooked up 1 cup of quinoa with some chicken broth. When the quinoa was done, I put most of it away in the fridge for another meal and kept 1 cup of the cooked quinoa in the pot.

To the quinoa I added 1 Tbsp of nutritional yeast, 1 tsp of greek yogurt and some cracked black pepper. 

I let the quinoa warm through and then added 3 fresh basil leaves, chopped fine. As soon as the basil was fragrant, I tossed in a couple of handfuls of pomegranate seeds and one stalk of celery, chopped fine. 

Then it all went into a bowl and quickly into my tummy:-)

It was an interesting dish - I liked the hint of cheesiness of the quinoa and that paired well with the cool crunch of the celery and the citrusy bite of the pomegranate and the occasional herbal burst from the basil.

I have been in what I can only describe as a 'dull' mood since I returned from my trip. 

This morning I decided I needed an exciting goal to pick up my spirits. I have decided to select some of my favorite dishes from local restaurants and remake them at home.

The first dish on my list? Mantu. 

Dumplings filled with ground lamb and onions and topped with yogurt and vegetable sauce.

I posted here about enjoying a meal of afghan food at Kabul restaurant a while back. The other day I realized that they have a restaurant in my town. Yay!


So, tomorrow I am heading over to enjoy some mantu and then I will try remaking it on Saturday. Wish me luck!


I hope everyone is having a great Thursday!