Tag: Leftovers

Gourd hopes “squashed”

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As promised in my last post, dinner did involve plenty of experimentation with autumn decor:

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As part of my organization efforts over the weekend, I packed up a box full of pumpkins and gourds that came from Brigitte’s family’s farm sometime in September or October. The gourds had served us well in their provision of seasonally appropriate color for months, but I decided it was time for an update! Brig was planning to toss everything, but she knew I might take offense at that and instead handed it all over for the sake of my kitchen adventures. I got started on the process last night with the four cuties pictured above.

I chopped them all in half (except for the one with all the tumors that would not yield to the knife) and scooped out (and reserved) the seeds:

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They went face-down into a casserole dish with 1 cm water and roasted for 45 minutes at 375:

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I knew the pumpkins would be fine (my oven and I got VERY friendly with a 25-pound fresh pumpkin back in October), but I was mostly curious to see what would become of the gourds. I licked my finger after getting the seeds ready to toast and found the answer:

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Yes, the gourds went right into the trash. Along with the gourd seeds, which unfortunately contaminated all of the other seeds with their relentless bitterness. I was seriously running around the kitchen trying to get the taste out of my mouth. Note to self: no more gourds.

The pumpkins, however, met a different fate. I mixed them (skin and all) in a pot with two small chopped apples and 1/4 cup water and then simmered until it was all tender enough for an immersion blender:

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After blending, I taste-tested several times and added 3 chopped dates, 2 chopped prunes, the last 1.5 cups of my healthy cream cheese icing, and loads of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom). The result was a mildly sweet, comfort-food puree that could go either the entree route or the dessert route. I began with the entree because I like to do things in order.

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I had about 1 cup of the puree with a morningstar Asian veggie patty and half an orange:

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These flavors blended deliciously. I even dipped some of the veggie patty into the puree for fun … and it was definitely fun!

I still felt hungry after, so I decided to go the dessert route as well (did you ever doubt I would?). I had 1/2 cup of the puree (chilled) topped with Italian cookie crumbs:

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It did not let me down!

I slept well last night, relaxed in the knowledge that I had given the gourds a fair shot and that I will never need to wrestle with one again … unless you have experience with gourds and a different take on the matter? Let me know!

Be back later with brekkie and a workout 😀

Step by step

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I tried to step it up this morning at the gym with my arm weights on the step + Stairmaster routine (thanks for all your suggestions last week!) by increasing the weights and switching from the “fat burner” to the “speed intervals” setting. It worked a little bit, but I think I need to up the Stairmaster level even more next time. Stats: 1 hour and 11 minutes, 378 calories, average heart rate 120, max 151.

My breakfast titles are getting longer and longer. Today, I had peanut butter chocolate strawberry cheesecake ice cream oatmeal:

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Along with 3/4 cup of the oatmeal mxture and the usual crumbled graham sticks and 1/3 cup cream cheese icing, I added 1 tsp peanut butter and one chopped square of the Lindt chocolate hazelnut bar I got from blogger secret cupid 🙂

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I obviously don’t need to tell you how good it tasted.

On the side I had 1/2 an orange and soymilky black tea (very soymilky — probably 1/2 cup because there was more left in the carton than I expected):

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Lunch and snacks today should be nearly identical to what I ate yesterday, but I’ll be back tonight with an update, as usual. In the meantime, go enter the BSI!

Happy Wed-nes-day!

Plans may go awry …

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… but not today!! Today was a rare day in that I was able to stick more or less to the food plan. As much as I love all the free food and exciting flavors that I typically encounter at work, I have to admit that, once in a while, I enjoy eating a reasonable amount of healthy food and having legitimate room for a real dinner when I get home.

In addition to the soup and yogurt that I had for lunch around 12:30, I also packed an orange that I ate mid-morning:

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And since it wouldn’t be interesting if there were absolutely no meal interlopers, my coworker Jennifer shared her leftover Moroccan food of couscous and veggies. I had about 1/2 cup after my soup (which was actually not as foul as I had expected; the overnight must have given it time to mellow) and before my yogurt:

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And then Jessica released her private stash of Valentine’s Day chocolates to the office. I broke the chocolate ice, of course:

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I chose one (well actually, I chose four but put three in my empty tissue box for “safekeeping”) to eat for dessert. Dark chocolate with praline cream filling, mmmmm:

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Afternoon snack happened around 3:30. My packed “Christmas” snack baggies of grapes and red pepper:

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And at 4, this yummy bar that came from Tina in my V-day scavenger hunt prize pack:

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This bar was very minty and very chocolatey (one of my favorite combos!), but despite its deliciousness, it did nada for my hunger. I was ravenous when I got home! Obviously, I had to make a three-part dinner.

I heated my last piece of pumpkin kibbi and steamed the rest of my asparagus:

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Part three was pumpkin-apple pie yogurt which I made by heating 2/3 cup pumpkin, mixing it with 1/4 cup yogurt and the holy trinity of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger), and topping it with a baby apple that I chopped and sauteed in canola and water until browned:

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Mmm, such a comforting and satisfying meal! I am about to indulge in a dainty little dessert of my dark chocolate pomegranate truffle that came from Brandi as part of my BSI: Spinach prize and some Italian cookie crumbles I brought home from our Valentine’s lunch at work on Friday:

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Ahhhh, I just had a bite of the truffle … AMAZING!! Thanks, Brandi!

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I’m off to attempt a repeat last night’s successful tea and reading in bed … though tonight’s reading may be more of the blog variety since I haven’t had a chance to read any all day! What’s your bedtime routine?

Also, you must go visit Beadie for the scoop on this week’s BSI and the amazing one-of-a-kind prize she is offering!

Use what you got

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My lunches for the work week happened when I found an intriguing soup mix packet while cupboard-organizing the other day … probably left over from the roommates I had before the current ones, over 3 years ago! Because my apartment just kept getting sublet, there was never any sort of complete clean-out. Here’s the packet with some other soup ingredients:

soymilk, coconut, homemade (!) veggie broth, frozen work mystery meat from a while bag, coconut-ginger soup base

soymilk, coconut, homemade (!) veggie broth, frozen work mystery meat from a while back, coconut-ginger soup base

And:

chopped green pepper, chopped red pepper, chopped onion

chopped green pepper, chopped red pepper, chopped onion

I made this soup yesterday and sort of used the recipe on the soup mix packet, but mostly I did not. The veggies all got sauteed in canola until they were browned, at which point I added the meat and sauteed more until it was fully thawed and heated through.

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I did not have coconut milk, as requested by the soup base packet, so I kind of made some by simmering 1 cup of soymilk, 1 cup of water, 3 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut, and 2 tsp of this guy I’ve had in the fridge:

img_4087It probably would have been delicious as it was, but I had to go and add the actual soup base packet to the pot:

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I knew pretty quickly that this soup was not going to be amazing because I could smell that fake lemony concentrate smell coming from the pot as soon as I dumped it in. But I forged ahead. Eventually, everything went into a big pot with the veggie broth (and loads more water because I was trying to dilute the packet), powdered ginger, and black pepper:

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It got pretty thin, so I added 1/2 cup whole wheat cous cous for quick thickening, and that seemed to do the trick:

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In the end, the soup turned out okay and I’ll definitely eat it, but I won’t ever use one of these packets again!!!!

My experimenting resulted in about six cups of soup, so two went into the freezer and the rest I’ll eat one cup at a time for lunches this week.

Along with the soup, I’ve packed a standard yogurt blend of 1/2 cup yogurt, 1 chopped date, cinnamon, chopped apple pieces, chopped strawberry pieces, and a sprinkling of kashi golean crunch over the top:

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I’ll be back later to report on snacks and any adjustments to the food plan. What’s your experience been with soup mixes/spice packets? Do you prefer seasoning yourself or using something pre-made?

Also, The Healthy Hostess is giving away Banana Nut Cheerios along with some fun kitchen goodies (including a banana tree!), so make sure to go check it out!

It’s time …

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Reading in bed last night was glorious … and I managed to turn the lights out at 8pm!! I got up at 5am today raring to go :-D. Gym was the 45-minute treadmill run again. I felt less tired doing it than I have before … yet I burned more calories. Go figure. Stats: 1 hour and 2 minutes, 524 calories, average heart rate 145, max 179.

Breakfast was more strawberry cheesecake ice cream oatmeal. I had about 2/3 cup heated with 1/2 cup cream cheese icing on the side and cinnamon and two crumbled graham sticks sprinkled on top:

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I’m out of fresh strawberries, so I had 1/2 cup grapes on the side and a giant mug of spicy cinnamon peanut butter hot chocolate:

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The hot chocolate contained 1 cup water, 1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk, 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp sugar in the raw, 1 tsp peanut butter, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper … oh, and a sugar cookie sleigh ride tea bag 🙂

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Yummmmmmmmm! So now that I’ve checked exercise and chocolate off the list, I think I’m ready to face the new week. To work I go!