Tag: yogurt

A cow moos in Brooklyn

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I’m partial to cows. I don’t quite know when it started, but I’d say it’s been a good five years. After living in the city for so long, cows just seem representative of a much simpler (and much more ideal) style of living. Here’s some photographic evidence:

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making friends in Ireland, circa 2004

bonding with new friends via milking apparatus, circa 2004

bonding with new friends via milking apparatus, circa 2004

four-year reunion with bovine friends in Peru, August 2008

four-year reunion with bovine friends in Peru, August 2008

So it was really no surprise to anyone when I started making my own yogurt (or was it?) last year. I do it once or twice each week, depending on my rate of yogurt consumption, and it’s one of those relaxing rituals I really look forward to. I spent a big chunk of this snowy evening setting my yogurt up for its overnight incubation so that I could have fresh yogurt to enjoy with my oatmeal tomorrow morning, yay!

Speaking of oatmeal, I embarked upon another favorite ritual this evening: crockpot oats! More specifically, I decided to make a batch of banana bread crockpot oats. I added about 6 frozen chopped bananas, a sprinkle of cinnamon, a sprinkle of cardamom, and LOTS of nutmeg.

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

Mmmm, cannot wait until tomorrow moooooorning!

In other news, remember my tea tragedy? Well, after gluing the pieces I had back together and letting it dry for a whole week, I decided to give it a go! But here it is in the sink after the attempted “go” …

good as new?

good as new?

… because as soon as I poured the water in, I heard a river gushing all over everything! I quickly transferred the boiling pot into the sink (ouch, hot, ouch, hot, ouch, hot) and discovered this upon closer inspection:

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Because the handle of the teapot is hollow, the hot water spread into the handle itself, weakened the already not airtight glue, and started spouting like crazy. Grrrrrr. I’m considering retiring my pretty teapot to museum status.

Finally … dinner! I finished my leftovers from the work party. Salad:

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Topped with 1/2 tsp truffle oil, coarse sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, sprinkle of kasha (roasted buckwheat), and homemade grated cheddar:

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There was a little bit of salad left after this, so I topped it with the rest of the food from last night:

salad topped with chicken, okra gumbo with shrimp, and collard greens

salad topped with chicken, okra gumbo with shrimp, and collard greens

When I was putting my cranberries in the freezer earlier today, I made the most amazing dessert discovery! Just before the holiday, one of the nurses at my office brought in loads of homemade chocolates. Always thinking ahead, I had packed a little baggie with one of each kind and hidden it from myself in my freezer. I decided tonight would be the perfect night to experience the coconut cup:

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Bitten:

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Followed by two salt water taffy pieces:

one

one

two

two

And bed!

Snowbound

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As predicted, the snow started falling this morning, grrrrrrrr. I did not go for my run and instead rushed out to do some Saturday errands (along with the rest of Brooklyn) before it got too messy. I grabbed a kitchen sink mini muffin as I left:

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The grocery store was out of control with everyone stocking up on milk and water before the big storm (eye roll), but I survived. I had to get a lot of food because I hadn’t shopped in three weeks, and I ended up only spending $30 (my self-imposed weekly food budget is $40). My purchases included: 3 lbs. McIntosh apples, pint strawberries, pint grape tomatoes, dozen eggs, crunchy natural peanut butter, yogurt for yogurt-making tonight, 28 oz. canned pumpkin, 4 navel oranges, cantaloupe, cabbage, carrots, old-fashioned oats, 2 bags fresh cranberries, nutmeg, and ginger:

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I immediately peeled and chopped the carrots into matchsticks for snacking next week, chopped the cantaloupe into chunks, and cut the green heads off the strawberries. Food is less likely to go bad when it is ready to eat at a moment’s notice :-). During all of this, I snacked on some cantaloupe shavings:

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I wanted something hot for lunch, so I arranged a bowl of leftovers from last night and reheated it in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes. Wilted salad greens topped with collard greens, baked chicken, and okra gumbo with shrimp:

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Dessert was half the container of yogurt I just bought (I only need to use half to make a new yogurt batch tonight). Ronnybrook Coconut Creamline yogurt with a chopped strawberry and nutmeg:

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OK, I’m off to start the process and take care of some other weekend things …

Repeats (plus a guest chef)

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Today’s lunch was pretty much the same as yesterday’s, so I won’t go into details. One tupperware with chicken/okra, one tupperware with yogurt banana, the very last of the green beans, and a mini muffin:

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To make up for the extreme boringness of that photo, I present you with Brigitte’s Pulled Pork from her dinner earlier this week:

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My roommate Brigitte is kind of like a cross between Martha Stewart and Paula Deen. She loves to cook traditional comfort foods, and you will never see her trying something sneaky like replacing the butter in a recipe with olive oil (am I right?). If the recipe calls for 1 cup heavy cream and 2 cups granulated white sugar, that is exactly what Brigitte will use, thank you very much (I, on the other hand, would be trying to concoct some crazy skim milk-banana blend).

Anyway, my lunch today may have been boring, but it certainly succeeded in using up the very last of everything in my fridge. Tonight’s dinner will be some mystery items at my office holiday party (full report to come), and I’ll be food shopping with a clean slate first thing tomorrow morning. I couldn’t have planned it better if I had tried, and I only spent a total of $5 on groceries this week!

Breakfast

Breakfast this morning was predictable, but still delicious. The last of mom’s grainmeal, a pile of frozen banana, and some forgotten wrinkly blueberries I found in the fridge (Brigitte or Tara, if those were yours, I’ll be replenishing my produce supply tomorrow morning, and you can help yourself to what I come up with!):

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Post-oven with yogurt:

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And now that all that is taken care of … new food starting tomorrow!

Short and sweet

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Last night’s lunch preparation with turkey soup (the last of it), yogurt/fruit, two mini muffins (just in case), carrots/green beans, and half an orange from yesterday’s office haul:

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Today’s yogurt had bits of frozen banana from Monday’s windfall, half of an apple, and three blueberries for color:

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Breakfast

I was up bright and early again this morning at 5:00 for the gym! I did my favorite routine: 5-minute jog to gym, 10 minutes of arms with free weights on an aerobics step, 30 minutes with Good Housekeeping Us Weekly on the Stairmaster, 10 minutes stretching/abs, and 5-minute jog back home, at which point I put the oatmeal in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes and flew into the shower. Running with an umbrella against the windy rain on a pitch-black January morning in New York is not the best part of my day, but if it’s going to be the worst, I’m glad it’s done already!

Breakfast was a repeat with LOTS of yellow since I’m all out of colorful fruit. Grainmeal with yellow bits of more frozen banana and half of a chopped yellow apple in a sunny yellow bowl:

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Topped with yogurt, cardamom, and cinnamon post-oven:

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I wonder what dangerous office treats await today …

Same old, same old

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Lunch and breakfast today were pretty much the same as yesterday, so I won’t bore you with too many details. Here’s lunch last night stacked and ready:

turkey soup, yogurt/fruit, apple, carrots/green beans

the lineup: turkey soup, yogurt/fruit, apple, carrots/green beans

Notice there’s no emergency backup snack for today. That’s because I have no evening workout planned. Yayyyy, rest day!

Pretty yogurt:

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Breakfast

Again, today’s breakfast was similar to yesterday’s (1/2 chopped banana, 1/3 chopped apple), with one slight difference: no more cherries! So I used blueberries instead:

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Topped with yogurt and cinnamon, post-oven:

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And I forgot to mention yesterday that this batch of grainmeal mom sent was also cooked with eggs and milk, so it’s got a good protein boost to it :-).

Now, you may have noticed that I rarely use a whole banana in one sitting, and you may actually be worried about all those leftover banana halves and quarters floating around (or you may not care). I am about to put your mind at ease with the most dazzling invention to ever grace the planet, a Christmas gift from my roommate Tara who has long sympathized with my plight. I present to you the Nana-Clip:

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It clips right onto the cut end of a banana, thereby preventing it from turning brown. Brilliant!