English Breakfast

If any of you were wondering if I was going vegan  - the answer would be no. Evidence? Check out my breakfast.

Sweet Italian turkey sausage with baked beans and cherry tomatoes.

Sorry for the delay in the pasta post I was planning on doing yesterday. I am busy with job interviews lately so I am learning how to juggle posting while doing everything else.

I have an interview related thing later today so I will be spending the morning/early afternoon cooking. Yes, I do find cooking a very calming activity.

This morning I was in the mood for an English breakfast - but I didn't want any back bacon, mushrooms or eggs. I just kept in the good stuff - sausage, baked beans and tomatoes.

The dogs got a nibble of the sausage only because they were huddled by the stove drooling:-)

See you in a bit with the pasta recipe!

Low fat vegan tomato soup and a new find

This morning I enjoyed a super simple homemade tomato and basil soup.

This soup was simple because I used canned tomatoes and it was also super creamy because I added pureed Yukon gold potatoes.

Check out the recipe below. My recommendation? Take advantage of all of the nice, ripe tomatoes that are in the stores and at the farmer's market at this time of year and make this soup!

But on to my new find:

I found these cute little tins at Whole Foods. They are a bit on the pricey side but I decided to try them out because they are produced locally.

I opened the can of tuna for a side dish of protein with my soup. 

I really liked this tuna. Instead of being the smaller bits of fish that other manufacturers seem to use for their tuna, this one looked like it was one large chunk of a filet. 

Low fat vegan tomato and basil soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 15oz can of chopped tomatoes

1 cup of water

1 small Yukon gold potato, cubed

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tsp of sun-dried tomato paste 

1 Tbsp of nutritional yeast

1/8 tsp of olive oil

1/2 tsp of dried basil

1/2 tsp of dried parsley

1/4 tsp of dried oregano

1/2 tsp of raw honey*

3 basil leaves torn into small pieces

Instructions:

Place a sauce pan on medium low heat and add in the olive oil and chopped shallots. Let it cook until the shallots become translucent. Add in the chopped garlic and stir for another minute. Add in the basil, parsley and oregano and continue to stir until fragrant. 

Next, add in the rest of the ingredients (except the fresh basil leaves) and bring up to a simmer. When the soup comes to a simmer, turn down the heat to low and cover the pot. Let simmer for 15 - 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. 

Pull the pan off the heat and fish out the pieces of potato. There is no need to be fussy at this point, you just want to leave enough of the tomatoes in the pan so that the soup is a little bit chunky in the end. 

Puree the potatoes and whatever bits of the soup came along for the ride with an immersion blender. I used the tall cylinder that came with my immersion blender - the taller the better to avoid any splashing. You can also use a blender if that is what you have on hand just be careful to not overfill it.

Add the pureed potatoes back into the pan and stir till everything is combined. 

Ladle the soup into bowls and tear the basil leaves and add them on top.

Enjoy!

 

*Note: if you are using fresh tomatoes that are very sweet you may want to omit the honey all together.

The ultimate pair: Jam and Eggs

Scrambled eggs on a bed of spinach tossed with Strawberry balsamic vinaigrette.

So, I have seen the eggs and jam combo on blogs lately and figured I would try it.

I ended up tweaking it a bit because when I woke up this morning I just couldn't stomach the idea of the cloying sweetness of jam.

Instead I tossed some baby spinach with some Strawberry balsamic vinaigrette (just the level of sweet I could handle).

Then I scrambled up some eggs with some nutritional yeast, shallots, fresh thyme and a dash of salt and pepper.

When the eggs were cooked I tossed in some chopped tomato and breakfast was served

 

I was trying out this new instant coffee I picked up at the store the other day.

This looked really promising and it was really strong which I liked but it did end up being a bit too bitter. 


And I made myself a little fruit salad to go with my eggs and kinda-jam.

I am contemplating quitting the YMCA because I haven't been making it to the gym like I used to. 


Then I thought, "Well, I have only gone to 2 of the yoga instructors classes - why not try all of them before the membership would expire at the end of the month?"


Which I think is a great idea. So, tomorrow I will be up at the early hour of 6:45 to hit Flow Yoga. My goal is to try most of the flow yoga classes over the next week.

Abby slept much better last night so we are going to head out for a nice, slow meandering walk to start our day:-)

Happy Thursday!

Cooking while lying down

Thank you for all of your kind concerns regarding my back injury.

After a day off my feet it is feeling much better. And it isn't a new injury, it is just a tweaking of an old one. 

Since I needed to eat, I figured out something that takes only a little effort and more importantly could be done without spending too much time in an upright position.

Today I made vegetable stock.

I know most people think making stock is a big involved affair but it is, in reality, very easy.

I included the following veggies:

2 carrots 
1 onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves
1 yam
1 handful of green beans
2 stalks of celery
1 ear of corn, cut in half
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. of thyme
1/4 tsp. of rosemary
 Salt and black pepper to taste

All of this went into my dutch oven and I added a gallon or so of water. I brought it up to a boil, turned down the heat to let it simmer and I went back to lying on the couch for the next couple of hours.

When the water had reduced by about half, I turned off the heat and let it cool.

Then I fished out the veggies and threw away the bay leaf.

I strained the remaining liquid in the pot through some cheese cloth.

At this point many people throw out the veggies, but that seems like such a waste to me. 

Yes, the vegetables are way too mushy to enjoy straight so I puree them into a thick soup using some of the strained stock.

Pureed veggie soup with a garnish of cherry tomatoes.

An extra dash of pepper on top.

There was enough left over for three more meals. I ladled the extra soup into plastic bags and into the freezer they went.

It is back to the couch for me. Night, all!

Salad nicoise my way

Sorry for the lack of posts. I pulled my back out and I have been stranded on the couch or bed for the last day or so.

So, no recipe today - just a few photos of my lunch.

And excuse the photos. Trying to take clear, focused pictures when your lower back is screaming at you is kinda tough.

Salad nicoise my way.

Salad with hard boiled eggs, green olives, tomatoes, avocado and tuna fish salad.

Here is to hoping my back is better tomorrow...

Breakfast bruschetta

Breakfast bruschetta.

Day one of the construction went OK. It did throw a wrench in my plans when I realized the water was going to be shut off all day. But I muddled through.

In the afternoon my friend was nice enough to invite us over to hang out so we could get a break from the noise.

Connor is in the foreground and the ever mellow Scout is sleeping in the background.

This morning I woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep (I am sure I am a bit anxious about how today will work out) - so I got up and did some more cleaning.

Unfortunately, when I went to take photos of my breakfast I discovered that they had re-installed the patio blinds all wonky and they aren't working anymore, le sigh.

But that didn't stop me from enjoying my breakfast - I just moved everything out to the patio to take pictures.

This photo was taken at 5:45 am.

The bruschetta was fast and easy. I cut a baguette in half lengthwise and lightly brushed it with olive oil. Then both halves went into a skillet over medium heat.

While the bread browned, I chopped up one yellow tomato and one red and tossed them in a bowl along with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, a dash of salt, a dash of black pepper and thinly sliced basil.

When the bread was nice and crisp, I plated it and let it cool for a bit before I rubbed it with a clove of garlic. Then a generous heaping of the tomato mixture went on top.

This is wonderfully messy to eat and the sweetness of the tomatoes along with the fresh bite of the basil? Heaven :-)

Wish me a day of smooth sailing or at least smooth construction...

All about the pasta and the accents

Took the dogs out for their afternoon walk and I get the usual, "What breed of dog are they?".

I tell the woman that they are Silken Windhounds.


This always results in a puzzled expression.

Then they ask the name of my dogs. My female dog's name is easy. Her name is Abby. There is no way to be confused about that one. 

My male dog's name? It is also easy but I pronounce it in a way that it confuses everyone. 


My dog's name pronounced with a Boston accent - "His name is Conahhhh."

This results in perplexed looks. I always have to spell out his name - C-O-N-N-O-R. 

My dinner:

Spaghetti with tomato, basil and a Tbsp. of Tofutti sour cream.

 When you are having a carb craving I really recommend this one. 


Simple, yummy and flavorful.


Enjoyable with or without a Boston accent.

My favorite gym personality

There are lots of personalities at the gym. 

The Talker

The Poser

The Serious, iPod wearing, Leave Me Alone Type


but the gym personality that is my favorite made an appearance today -


The Screamer


There are two types of screamers - 

1) The type that actually lifts heavy weights and they workout with a vein bulging (possibly stroke inducing) intensity. That one is not my favorite.


2) The type that clearly rarely works out, never lifts more than 10lbs but they give the performance of a lifetime with every lift. And my ultimate favorite is the screamer that ends the lifting scream with cave man like panting and grunting.


I would really look forward to going to the gym if it could be guaranteed the screamer would show up every time.


After my fun filled time at the gym I put together a salad (with some protein) for lunch.

Tomatoes, carrot, brown mushrooms, turkey breast, cucumber, spring mix and homemade salad dressing.

The dressing was a mix of Udo's oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, black pepper, mirin and rice wine vinegar.


I contemplated adding in some pickled cabbage but I ended up leaving it out.

Turkey for muscle building protein!

For dessert it was all about the berries:

Sliced strawberries and blackberries.

Time to get back to work!

Savory pancakes

Oh, my! - what a way to start the day...

Savory pancakes.

As per usual, I woke up and stared into my refrigerator to figure out what to have for breakfast.

And because I don't keep a big stock of groceries I had this to work with:

- Steamed broccoli left over from last night's dinner.
- Some AP flour.
- 1 egg.
- The package of cherry tomatoes I am trying to work through.


My first thought? I need coffee. My second thought? Savory pancakes!

So, I walked down the street and got the needed supplies:

Coffee and milk.

I needed time for the caffeine to kick in so I started with caremelizing some onions.

The onions went into a pan on low heat until they were soft and slightly brown.

Then I mixed some flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1 egg, milk, the chopped steamed broccoli and the tomatoes (for specific amounts see recipe below).

You will need to adjust the amount of milk depending on how liquid you like your batter - I kept mine fairly thick and added in 3 Tbsp. of milk.

An adorable tomato peeking out.

 
Spoon batter into a saute pan on medium to medium high heat (just use the setting you use to cook regular pancakes).

When the first side shows just a hint of brown on the edges, flip the pancake.

A crumble of blue cheese on top.

These turned out halfway between a crepe and a pancake. The caramelized onions added a hint of sweetness without any added sugar. The broccoli added nice texture and occasionally getting a burst of tomato flavor? Amazing!

I also ate the orange you see in the background.

Hot sauce would also work as a good condiment for these babies.

Savory pancakes

Serves 1 (makes 4 -6 small sized pancakes)

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup of AP flour

1/8 teaspoon of baking powder


 3 Tbsp. of whole milk

1 pinch of salt

1/4 onion, chopped

Cracked black pepper to taste

1/2 cup of steamed broccoli, chopped

1/4 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

Crumbled blue cheese for garnish

1 teaspoon of olive oil (for sauteing) 

Directions:

Chop the onion and add into a saute pan on low heat with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil (use more if your pan is not well seasoned). Let the onions cook until they are very soft and beginning to brown. Take them off the heat and set aside.

Combine the egg, flour, baking powder, salt, milk and black pepper. Stir in the cooked onions, chopped broccoli and halved cherry tomatoes.

Put the batter in the fridge for about 20 minutes to let the batter set up (feel free to omit this step).

Heat a saute pan on med to med high heat with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil. Drop batter into pan and flip when the edges of the pancake start to turn brown. The pancake is ready to plate when both sides are brown.

Garnish with blue cheese or hot sauce.

Enjoy!

Distractions

I was distracted this morning. I spent too much time organizing, deleting and re-organizing my photos.

But on the positive side - My camera's memory card is almost empty.

I ended up having lunch before heading out to do errands.

I simmered 1/4 cup of quinoa with 3/4 cup of water until tender. I mixed 1 small can of tuna with mustard, powdered garlic and pepper.

I dressed some salad greens with raspberry vinaigrette (with a 1/2 Tbsp. of Udo's oil).

The quinoa and tuna got mixed together and placed on top of the lettuce with a few cherry tomatoes on top.

Oh, and one orange.

My thoughts on weight loss? I know that the conventional method of counting calories and strictly controlling my food intake will not work for me.

I am too contrary in nature and the hyper focus on what you CAN'T have on most diets would drive me crazy.

So, I decided that I will approach it from a nutrition perspective. I have certain things I want to include in my diet - suffiecient amounts of Omega 3's, more trace minerals, lots of antioxidants, etc. - so I am just going to keep track of what I want to INCLUDE in my diet.

I figure after I fill in all the things I want - there will be little room left for the other stuff. 

And I believe that when you provide your body with great nutrition - all the other stuff will just fall into line naturally.

I will find out soon enough if this approach works :-)

Spring is sprunging

I saw buds on rose bushes on our early morning walk.

Spring is sprunging (yup, I made up that word). No pictures because I didn't have my phone or camera with me.

Oatmeal, veggie scramble and coffee.

Oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon and coconut butter.

Veggie scramble with broccoli and tomatoes.

My plans for today? Buy some new photo editing software and possibly a new (more Gigs) memory card for my camera.

Oh, and my thoughts on how to approach weight loss? I have decided to approach it from a purely nutritional standpoint. 

I need to run - more on the weight loss thoughts at lunch.

Early summer

Can you believe it is over 80 degrees and sunny here today?

It feels like summer has arrived in March. Very Odd.


I went with something light for lunch:

Quinoa with zucchini and carrot over a bed of lettuce and cabbage.

I started with the veggies:

Carrot and zucchini chopped small.

I put 1/4 cup on quinoa in a pot with 1 cup of chicken broth - I added in more liquid than was needed to cook the quinoa since I would be cooking the veggies at the same time.

When the quinoa started to simmer, I added in the chopped veggies.

I turned the heat to low and covered the pot and let it cook for 15 minutes.

Chopped lettuce and cabbage went into the bowl as a bed for the quinoa.

I also had some of the crispy cod left over so that went on top of the quinoa.

Quinoa with vegetables over a bed of chopped cabbage with crispy cod and drizzled with blue cheese dressing.

A garnish of cherry tomatoes.