I celebrated Christmas!! .... sort of

Yesterday was super exciting because for once in my life, I celebrated Christmas... in the sense that I went to a Christmas dinner hosted by the same neighbors we had over two nights ago. What nice people... their relatives and family friends were there and I ended up having a great time.
HOWEVER... It was a very weird day food-wise. I'm not used to eating at irregular intervals, and I think all that really wreaked havoc on my sensitive-ish stomach. I was supposed to head over to my neighbors' around 3:00 and we would be eating at 4:00 ish even though it was dinner (apparently a lot of people do this on Christmas). Therefore, I didn't want to eat lunch. But I was also really tired when I woke up and didn't feel like working out, so I ate a light breakfast.
I had 2/3 of a cup of GoLean Crunch, 1/3 of a cup cinnamon Puffins, soy milk, a sliced banana, some blackberries and blueberries, and a sprinkle of almonds and pecans. I also had a blood orange.
A while after breakfast my parents and I decided to go on a very long walk in Jackson Park, where there's a little Japanese garden. Everything was COVERED with snow and caked in ice... I stupidly forgot my camera, but my mom took some photos that I'll post later. It was a strange feeling, not actually knowing where we were, since everything looked homogeneous. We actually walked for a long time, and my toes were getting numb by the end. The sound your shoes make when they crush the slightly hardened snow is even more satisfying than cracking the top of the creme brulee (yes, I know that's in Amelie). Anyways, we walked for a good 45 minutes, or maybe even an hour. We were nice and flushed when we got back.
This was a perfect opportunity for hot chocolate if there ever was one. I love making hot chocolate in big batches because you can use more and feel like you're not the only one drinking it :)
I used the special Spanish hot chocolate from Zingerman's that my mom got me for my birthday last year. Here are our Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear mugs (the only difference is that I have a bigger mug than my mom).
Along with my hot chocolate I had a tiny little gingerbread cookie that I made... verdict: it was actually delicious! I suppose this was my lunch.

Meanwhile, my parents made what looked like the most wonderful lunch: a sort of zhou (rice porridge) of leftover chicken and vegetables. Think chicken soup and rice. I seriously have never wanted to have a meat dish so much... and I don't think there's anything that should hold me back. I didn't want to eat the actual chicken, just the broth, and God knows how many times I've probably had chicken broth accidentally. Yes, I know it's not the same, but maybe my body was trying to tell me something... If I hadn't been saving my appetite for dinner, I really might have had some. I just don't like always having a label: "vegetarian," "pescetarian," whatever. How about just eating according to my preferences, which usually favor vegetables over meat?

At my neighbors', they had a spread of cheese, crackers, and various dips. The photos didn't come out well, but I had one cracker and a few tastes of dips: artichoke, roasted vegetable, cheddar horseradish, and a little cranberry goat cheese.
The table was so nicely set: even a little place card for me!

"Dinner": pork tenderloin, lasagna, asparagus, and coleslaw.

The difference between this lasagna and the one they brought over to our place was like night and day. This one was melty and not too chewy.


I didn't have seconds because this lasagna is probably 2 parts cheese to 1 part noodles and sauce. I could feel my stomach churning a little. I'm not lactose intolerant or anything, but when ever I eat a lot of cheese, which is rare, I can feel it.
Because of this, I decided to pass on dessert, even though I hadn't eaten that much by my standards.
For dessert, there was homemade mandelbrot (half the people there were Jewish, despite the pork tenderloin), some kind of toffee, cookies, and vanilla cake.
When I got home around 7:20, it was almost time to leave for our movie, Slumdog Millionaire. I was a little hungry but my stomach felt weird, so I just had some applesauce.

The movie was amazing, but a bit of a shock. My parents thought it was a comedy, and it turned out to be super violent, disturbing, and depressing. I was sobbing by the end and that rarely happens.. BUT, I seriously recommend it.
We got home after 11, and I was starving. I rarely eat so late at night, but my schedule was so out of wack yesterday that I had a very strange "dinner": a piece of toast with 1 scrambled egg, 2 pieces of smoked salmon, some leftover squash, and a blob of hummus.
Plus a tangerine.




This morning I woke up and forced myself downstairs to the weight room. I was really sick of the elliptical, so I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and then cooled down, so about 3.4 miles total. I really hate the treadmill, but you can get more of a workout in a shorter amount of time. I was also sweating way more than I usually do on the elliptical. I should probably ice my knee, though.
Breakfast was really more like dessert. Seems like other bloggers are "recovering" from the holiday season, but I never really ate any dessert during the season to begin with, so why not use up some of those delicious cookies?
Today's oatmeal was (partly inspired by Kath):
1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup soy milk, 1/3 cup water, 1 small banana, cinnamon, vanilla. Toppings: a sprinkle of gingerbread, peanut brittle, toffee, and a mandelbrot. PLUS: my new chocolate banana peanut butter!

This was very, VERY sweet. I ended up ignoring the peanut brittle because it was too chewy. The toffee basically melted in, so I didn't have to chew it. The peanut butter wasn't too strong-tasting, but the banana chocolate flavor was definitely there.
I also had a glass of milk and a tangerine.
Today's agenda (feels REALLY weird to be blogging in the morning, but I might start to): cousins and aunt coming for lunch, then tonight we're going to an awesome colleague of my parents' birthday! She's a total foodie, has a black belt in karate, and is from Malaysia.
Happy day-after Christmas!

Go Crazy with Kimchi

Lake shot of the day

I woke up pretty sore from these last few days of running. I looked out the window, realized that I really didn't feel like going outside today (good thing I didn't, because it turned out to be really windy), so I went down to the weight room and did my usual 40 minutes on the elliptical while looking at some stupid book on colleges... I need big books that will stay open. Boring, but at least I got to sweat some.
Breakfast was amazing, if I do say so myself. I plan on eating this amazing gingerbread until it's gone, so I need to get creative here.
Gingerbread Parfait with Caramelized Apple Chutney, Greek Yogurt, and Cashew Butter
Sounds gourmet, no?
Basically, I just layered the ingredients with a drizzle of Whole Foods raw fresh cashew butter, which I'd never had before. Very mild, but refined. Delicious, in fact, but a completely different creature from peanut butter, which is attention-seeking and hogs the spotlight.
I heated the gingerbread first. It went great with my chutney, which has proven to be versatile! My dad ate it with chicken for lunch, and, just as I predicted, it makes a nice accompaniment to meat.
Lunch: leftovers! We must clean out that fridge! More of that seitan pie (now that I think about it, it really isn't a pot pie, because the crust isn't puff pastry and there's a bottom crust), spinach and more vegetables.

And a pear.

I went to the bookstore and bought:
-A better edition of Anna Karenina
-TALES OF BEETLE THE BARD, which I've already read. And all the proceeds are going to charity! Go Rowling!
-There was a 20% off cook book sale, but I couldn't find anything I wanted! I have more than enough cookbooks, but what I really want are some good Japanese, Korean, and African (not just North African) cookbooks.

I was a little hungry later on and had a bowl of Amy's chocolate vanilla bunnies with a little GoLean Crunch, half a banana, blackberries, and soymilk.

Therefore, I wasn't too hungry for dinner, but my dad and I cooked, and I'm really glad we did. We were thinking of just having more leftovers, but we ended up incorporating leftovers into what I made, which was bibimbap! I've never made Korean food at home, but it really wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. The only difficulty was stir-frying EVERY single topping separately. (Check out the awesome peanut oil-pouring shot!)


Toppings we used:
-Carrots
-Burdock (also known as mountain yam... it looks like an extra thick, hairy, brown carrot)
-Cucumber (But only the skins, which is interesting)
-Watercress
-Instead of beef, I used some "soy chicken" from Chinatown, which is basically just tofu rolled up to look like chicken... no TVP here. I seasoned it with sesame oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds, ginger, garlic, and a little sugar.
-Leftover mung bean sprouts
-Leftover Korean zucchini seafood-pancake (literally a tiny piece)-- we used this instead of a sunny side up egg
-MUSHROOMS
-and of course, kimchi.
-AND some pear-- this really evened out the spiciness


(All mixed together)
We microwaved leftover brown rice and mixed it with chili paste and sesame oil, then topped it with the vegetables... and more chili paste.
I ate the entire bowl, minus some of the soy chicken. The carrots and burdock were the best part-- they were a little burned, almost like shoestring potatoes or something!
Mm, this is one of those meals where I just don't want a dessert because I want to remember it. To get rid of that garlicky kimchi taste, I had a tangerine.

I finished Interview with the Vampire. How come nobody told me it was so philosophical and depressing? Any slightly more cheerful vampire stories? Or just good books in general?

Yummy eggs and cucumber

Apologies for not blogging yesterday! I had to rewrite my english paper for the THIRD TIME, and also had two hours of piano yesterday-- Wednesdays are busy!
Yesterday's eats:
Breakfast: oats with 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup oat milk, 1 whole banana, almond extract, almonds, and almond butter.
and a pear.

Lunch: I made the MOST delicious wrap (I guess it was more of a burrito) with leftover kale and mole. I also had carrots, hummus, and an apple.

I came home right after school and got to work on my paper. I was pretty hungry before leaving for piano, and knew I wouldn't get to eat till around 8, so I had a big snack of (what else is new?) cottage cheese, greek yogurt, grapenuts, and blueberries.

Dinner was very fast and light: my dad made shrimp wonton soup that was very authentic: lots of seaweed, cilantro and vegetables. My one concern: the wontons have MSG... At first I refused to eat them, but then my dad got kind of annoyed and did all this research about how it isn't that dangerous. What are your views?
Big bowl and small bowl (him and me):


Dessert: an apple

Today--
Breakfast, which I pretty much had to wolf down: oatmeal with 1/2 oats, 1/2 cup soy, stevia, 1/2 banana, vanilla, cinnamon, candied walnuts, flax, and peanut butter.
A tangerine
A chai latte using the rest of our milk... WE MUST GO GROCERY SHOPPING ASAP!



For some reason, I really needed a snack between breakfast and lunch... so I had a honey graham z-bar, which I didn't take a photo of.

Lunch was pretty light but satisfying: leftover wonton soup, more carrots and hummus, and an apple.

After lunch, my dad and I had a funny arrangement: he had a meeting, so he picked up my school stuff and clothes, and I went for a run by the lake and ran straight to my house afterwards! It was a really clever plan. At first I was nervous about running alone, mainly that I would get bored or slip on ice, but it was such a gorgeous day that I couldn't wait to get going! When I got to the lake, I just wanted to stare at the sky all day: the moon was out in the day time, and it was streaked with purple and pinkish blue. At one point, I ran through a huge flock of Canadian geese and got a little freaked out. Anyways, this was a very long run for me to do on my own, even though it wasn't that long: I ran from school to the playground on 43d, then back to my house instead of all the way back to school. I stopped and stretched at the playground, but I'd say I still did a good 3 miles without stopping at all. All in all, the run was probably about 5 miles, and I felt mentally and physically great the whole time: I got into a rhythm, I was with my thoughts, and I felt happy to be outside.
I got back and had the same snack I do every day, and I'm almost embarrassed to put it up: cottage cheese, yogurt, blueberries, pumpkin butter, and a combination of GoLean Crunch and Mighty Bites.

My dad made a fast dinner: stir-fried eggs and cucumbers. I know it sounds weird to eat cooked cucumbers, but when they're not too watery they taste just like zucchini. This dish is so delicious! He also defrosted some unagi (eel) for himself... it's already prepared Japanese-style. I took some, but didn't end up eating it. I usually like it, but it wasn't in the mood. Guess we've been in a defrosting mood lately, considering there is no food in the house! I defrosted some pumpkin and lentil stew and had that on the side. I ended up eating a lot because I was really hungry (probably because of my run)-- I had seconds on rice and ate half the plate of eggs (2 eggs per person).



I feel so excited to have gotten my urge for running back! I go through phases: swimming phases, workout machine phases, etc. I try to vary my workouts, but I also enjoy seeing results as I improve specific sports.
By the way, I'm so excited that I'm getting more comments on the blog! If you've been reading, I just want to thank you and encourage you to comment! It really does make my day, and I would love to see your websites too!
EDITED to add dessert:
a pear and the last spoonful of my Snickerdoodle ice cream

Holy Mole

Dinner tonight was, as my dad called it, "an experiment." I actually disagree with him there- it was a complicated recipe that turned out exactly how it was supposed to, and I enjoyed it. I just don't think I tested it on the right audience.
I'm getting ahead of myself:

Breakfast-- A piece of peanut butter and banana toast
Yogurt and cottage cheese with blueberries and grapenuts, and a drizzle more peanut butter (that was what I wanted this morning!)
And biology.
Tuesdays are the hardest days because I have no free periods and ALL my classes. Psychologically I always feel I need a snack, but I knew I had eaten a lot at breakfast, so I didn't have anything.
Lunch was leftover gumbo, Kashi crackers, an apple, and a Zensoy pudding.

The weather was awful: rainy, gray, and freezing, but I knew I had to run outside. If I did another damn elliptical workout I would kill myself... so I went with my friend Josey. It was a good pace for me, but also let me push myself. Instead of running on the lakefront, where it would be too windy, we ran south. While we were running, it started hailing... it stung a lot. I also jumped in a really deep puddle and got soaked. We didn't stop at all to stretch, so while the run wasn't THAT long, it felt longer because it was continuous. I felt GREAT when it was over: I was actually sweating (I don't sweat that much usually), and I could feel it in my legs. I'd say it was only 4 or 5 miles, but I definitely burned a fair amount of calories because I was starving when I got home.
I think my snack probably spoiled my dinner... in fact, I don't know if I should have had this for my snack anyway, since I had it for breakfast. I had more cottage cheese and cereal... but I figure I'll eventually get sick of it, so it won't really be an overload. I had it with some cinnamon Puffins, slivered almonds, and a tangerine on the side. But I waited after finishing and I was still hungry, so I had some more... I felt perfectly satisfied, but even when we ate at around 8:00, I wasn't THAT hungry. The recipe I made was COMPLICATED.

It was kind of Mexican-Indonesian-Vegan fusion: I made the mole from the Flexitarian Table with the tempeh. The mole itself had so much in it: dried poblanos, chiles packed in adobo, onions, almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, raisins, pumpkin seeds, cumin, cinnamon, and MEXICAN CHOCOLATE, which I so very conveniently had on hand.
This was complicated because everything had to be added in stages, soaked in water, and then blended. I also had to panfry the tempeh, simmer it, simmer the mole, add the mole to the tempeh, and simmer some more. I garnished it with lime wedges and cilantro.
I also made some brown basmati rice and my dad stir-fried some kale, which pretty much disintegrated, he cooked it so long. It was also way too salty, but he couldn't taste it at all! Should I be worried about this?

As for the mole, it was SO RICH... I guess I shouldn't be surprised... this was one of the more protein-packed meals ever. Plus, there were all those nuts in it, not to mention the CHOCOLATE. The flavors were so complicated: the chocolate came through, but all the different spices and nuts were also apparent. As my dad also put it, "it looks like mud." But what can I say... he's never really had Mexican food... I haven't either, really. I think my mom might have appreciated it more. But I couldn't even finish what was on my plate... so incredibly filling.

Dessert: a pear to cleanse the palate