WIAW- Back at home

Thanks Jen for hosting:
 

 

Being home has its advantages. Numero Uno: An (almost) fully stocked kitchen. Numero Dos: A supply of leftovers. (perfect for laziness). I love being able to utilize both of these points.

Breakfast:  This was second breakfast. Kale, Mozzarella, Bell pepper, and tomato.  The first was a small raspberry and bloob smoothie before a fitness class.

Errands needed to completed this afternoon and I accompanied my mom on her trip. We grabbed fro-yo to fuel us through our tasks before I had a real lunch.

Lunch: Strawberry/Vanilla and Chocolate/PB Twirl. (They didn’t have sprinkles or raspberries!!) I was at loss for toppings, but settled for a little kit-kat, chopped cherry and a single circus cookie. *Note my mom’s painted toes and sandal in the upper corner, whoops!

Lunch Part Two: Mixed Veggies with peanut sauce and a Morning Star Sausage Patty. This was my first time trying the sausage variety and I was disappointed, it was dry and lacking flavor. Mixing the patty with the veggies and peanut sauce helped to disguise what the patty lacked. I also snacked on Carrots/Tortilla Chips and Hummus while reading The Help.  Go see the movie! I’m sure it will be winning awards!

The light makes it looks less appetizing than it actually was, peanut sauce makes everything taste good.

Dinner: My friend and I made Mashed Cauliflower, this was my second attempt and the first dish was much better than this one, but I will continue to perfect the proportion of ingredients. We also ate Sweet Potato Medallions, (unpictured) Grilled Chicken, and Salad.

We ate in courses, too hungry to wait for the chicken to come off the grill. Brown sugar atop my medallions!

Dessert: Was the main event. We debated going out for fro-yo. Nixed due to our poor college student funds. We considered eating leftover blueberry cobbler. I unintentionally nixed this, oddly enough, it is too sweet for me. Ultimatley, we decided on Root Beer Floats. My house is lacking in the root beer department, so we ended up spending money anyway, but it was well worth the 1.85 per bottle.

We wanted to eat out of the sundae cups, but they are too small!

Instead, we busted out the big boys which held human sized portions of beverage and ice cream.

Much more adequate annnd festive. Summertime umbrella.

With our rootbeer floats we snuggled up with blankets and sat down to watch the new Jane Eyre. It’s a beautiful movie, great shots and stupendous acting. I’m sure this will also be up for nominations at the Oscar’s.

Now off to bed before tomorrow mornings pump class and some fun Frisbee (Disc) golf in the afternoon. I hope I remember how to throw a Frisbee…

Have you seen a great movie recently?

Are you reading any books that you’d recommend?

WIAW {In the Library}

WIAW is my favorite day of the week, but this week I didn’t prepare yesterday by snapping any photos of my eats. Today has not been any more productive in that sense because I ‘ve been in the library since class let out at 10:30. It currently is almost a quarter past four. Yes, I’ve been here a while. Luckily I packed a snack for after class, but that has barely tided me over. I only learned 10 minutes ago that there is a cafe in the basement(??!!!) This would have been great information 1.5 ago, but that’s okay, because now I am happily typing away my 6th page of my 8-10 page paper with a mocha and fritter. This is by no means healthy, but is soooo satisfying.

Breakfast: Overnight oats with coconut and almond extract. Almond milk and 1 T of Dark Chocolate Dreams PB. (I’m in love with that PB!)

oniab- recycled photo

Lunch: (in the library) Apple and Yogurt. A shrimp salad was packed, but wihout ice and I didn’t want to risk eating it after 5 hours without refrigeration.

Gala- my fave

It was actually strawberry- but vanilla works too..

Snack: (in the library) Mocha and Fritter. Heaven.

Mocha and Apple Fritter. Perfect Pick me-up

Dinner: (home after 7 hours, apparently it was nice day outside the library.) Tuna salad, Carrots and Hummus

with some mustard, mayo, and cayenne.

Snack: At the movies in the park! Stove-top Popcorn! (The kitchen may have caught fire once, woops. Not my doing this time!) Also, a thin mint and tag-along. Worth the hours in the library. We watched the new Wllie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It was great fun, but then the projector ran out of gas and they staff told us to “youtube the rest of it.” It was a slight bummer.

Do you have favorite movie snack?
Are you going to see Harry Potter tonight?

C² [Chocolate and Curry]

After dinner last night I was still in the mood for more curry. I feel as though I’ve wasted almost 21 years of my life not indulging in any form of curry. I have to make up for lost time. I laid in bed and began Googling curry dishes for breakfast. My only prerequisites were minimal chopping was involved and it would take less than 30 min.

Voilà! Curried Oatmeal with Caramelized Onions. Two of my favorite things!

Curried Oats: Method
1/2 t  curry powder (or to taste)
1-3 T caramelized onions ( in this case more is better!)
1/3 + 1/8 C water
Pinch of salt
optional: poached egg

1. If you don’t already have caramelized onions start those right a way! They become sweeter the longer they simmer.
2. Wait 25 minutes and then begin to poach the egg. Allow 7 minutes for the egg to cook.
3. When the egg is almost finished pour boiling water on the oats (or microwave) and add the curry powder.
4. Top the oats with the carmelized onions, poached egg, salt, and if desired, more curry.
5. Enjoy!

This is now one of my favorite savory breakfasts and today debuted in my breakfast rotation!

Currying the oats!

Oats+Curry+Onions+Egg= Divine

Completed hummus with honey and peanut butter on top!

Raisin toast with Chocolate Hummus, Almond Butter, and Raspberries!

The second C!
Chocolate Hummus!
When I was biding my time on the elliptical a few days ago I picked up Oprah’s magazine and thumbed through the articles. In this magazine she adapted dessert hummus recipes from the company Crazy Camel.
I would have felt guilty tearing the recipe out, so at home, I recreated it from memory.

Chocolate Hummus: Method
15 oz. can chickpea or garbanzo beans
2.5 T cocoa powder
1/4 C honey
2 T water (for consistency)
1/2 t cinnamon (add more to taste)
Nutbutter on top for presentation

1. In a food processor combined the beans, honey, cinnamon, cocoa powder and blend.
2. Scrape down the sides and add water for desired consistency.
3. Continue to blend until desired consistency is reached.
4. Feel free to add more spices/sweetener as you see fit!
5. Enjoy with apples, bananas, cinnamon raisin toast, etc..

Next time, I plan to add almond or peanut butter in the hummus. The dollop of peanut butter on top complimented the hummus perfectly and I believe blending it in the spread would kick it up a notch.

Have you ever had a dessert hummus?
What is the easiest dinner for you to whip up in a hurry?

Hurry Curry!! Soul Food Tonight.

I just couldn’t resist using my name for post for the specific reason that I did  eat chicken curry for dinner. My friend and I cooked for her family and this is a dish she refers to as soul food. To be perfectly honest, I thought I understood what she meant the first time she talked about soul food, but it was obvious I didn’t until tonight.

While the spices were simmering together in the pan it produced a heavenly aroma. I had a release of endorphins  similar to a great run (or dark chocolate!)  This food smelled like food fit for the gods. I had to control my salivating, I’m sure her parents would not  have  appreciated my saliva in their food.  My friend first made a similar recipe with on of of her college mates a few weeks ago. Her friend immigrated to the US and her family moved to NY when she was little. This was the first dish she learned how to cook. You know how spaghetti is the American easy go to dish,  the chicken curry is her friend’s go to dish.

We started cooking late, but it didn’t matter because the longest thing that took to cook was the rice and that involves zero labor.   We plated up the salad, pita and hummus,  and finally the rice and curry. I personally never enjoyed curry until this year and now I cannot get enough of the stuff! (Previously ironic, the name, haa).
Of course improvements can always be made to any dish, but for our first chicken curry I would call this a complete tantalizing  success.

*We used this recipe as a guideline!

And the perfect way to end our dinner from around the world, (Indian curry/Mediterranean hummus) is with authentic Churros from the local panaderia. Fantastico!

Tonight we had soul food. It fills the stomach, satisfies the taste buds and is enjoyed with good company.

Do you have a specialty dish that you consider soul food?
Do you do something to feed your soul everyday? That might not be food or fitness?