Leftover Queen

This weekend I had had breakfast, lunch and dinner planned out like usual.. but we were entertaining out of town house guests and naturally, BOTH of my breakfast plans had to be re-scheduled. :( I hate missing out on oats in the morning. Boo.

Friday night I painfully agreed to go a Mexican restaurant 20 miles away or so, because Jen (my housemate and co-worker) had said the food was good and comparable to Tucson. High doubts began to fill my brain at this point.

I have an issue that when I don't know you very well, I feel inclined to agree to things. Lie to you for the sake of, well, you. I hate to disappoint and cause unnecessary conflict, so I shrug, simply put a smile on my face and say "well, why not?" or "alright, I guess so." If I am not in agreement or completely and utterly want OUT of the conversation... I simply nod my head, or reply with the effortless "mhmm's", "oh, cool" and the always fun, "that's interesting".

I couldn't NOT go to the restaurant.. when someone invites me out for a most likely paid for dinner, I accept. On a very different spectrum, people who know me well know that I am a control freak. If I truly don't care about letting you down... I probably will decline. (Story of my high school career.)

The restaurant (yeah, back to my point) was typical real, traditional Mexican food. It was good. I had Pollo en Mole, some side salad and a few bites of re-fried beans. Mmm.. The good stuff. The positive news was that it came with a side of homemade flour tortillas! The little planning side of my brain immediately went off and told me *Egg white burritos for breakfast!*. Ahh...do I actually get to benefit from this night of Bekah style spontaneity?? Suddenly on a mission, I politely asked for a to-go box, saved half of my pollo for what would be a salad for tomorrow, stashed the flour tortillas and even poured some of the salsa in the box. Oh, I am thrifty. Three meals out of one.

Mini egg white burritos:
(Inspired by my one of my favorite breakfast spots in SD: The Mission. So tasty!)

• 3 egg whites, whisked
  
• 1 scallion chopped
• 2 mini flour tortillas
• homemade salsa for dipping
• sliced tomatoes, on the side
  

Salad with leftover pollo en mole, romaine, cabbage, red onion, almonds, blueberries tossed in a light vinaigrette of: safflower oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Scrumptious!





I did eat oats anyway this weekend. I'll post em tomorrow.. but once again, breakfast wins me over! Oats for dinner last night, and chilled oats for lunch today. That's all for now.. Going to bed, anxiously awaiting my oats for breakfast! BTW- I've been doing Jillian Michaels "Biggest Winner" dvds for the past couple weeks now, and I honestly didn't think anyone could make me sweat like Dave Farmar but sorry Dave, for being only a 30 minute DVD, Jillian basically makes your Utkatasana look like, Savasana. Power yoga still kicks my tush though- literally.

xo, B

habits broken

This week was a little bit more busy than the past few. I managed to get out a few times which meant I missed a few meals, so I ate a handful of almonds instead. I'm realizing back in Tucson I ate the same thing EVERY single day and when I craved something different I would have a 'bite' or 'taste' of it, but I would also eat what I ate every day. A typical day in the life of Bekah, would be two poached eggs for breakfast with sliced tomatoes and a 'two tablespoon bite' of Nature's Path granola (but seeing as I put the granola in a Dixie cup, it usually ended up being more like an actual portion *gasp*). Between my chicken salad and cut veggies at lunch, my protein smoothie in the afternoon and dinner, I still munched on little things like slivered almonds, dried fruit, chocolate chips, grapes, cereal, saltines, tears of tortillas, hummus and little spoonfuls of peanut butter and honey.

I eat different things here, mainly because of my effort to cut back on grocery shopping and also my new discovery of so many variations of healthy breakfast eats. So, I don't munch anymore. I eat four solid meals a day and drink coffee and water. All day. :) I never get bored of my meals either. Apples aren't going anywhere! So if I want to venture one day into the almond world, I will have an entire portion of raw, whole almonds instead of my daily apple. I have learned that it won't kill me. I won't miss the apple.

I still follow an eating plan that works well for me personally. I usually have a protein source in all my meals, and only eats grains/carbs at breakfast. I will occasionally have starchy vegetables (i.e. sweet potatoes, red potatoes, corn, peas, etc.) as an accent in my lunch or dinner. And I always have a bite of dessert. Whether it be a tablespoon of chocolate chips or a spoonful of honey, I'm there. ;)


saturday 9/19 lunch Simple boiled sweet potatoes (I prefer steamed, but what'dya know, I don't have a steamer.) with a little bit of butter, salt and pepper and two soft boiled eggs on top. Such a simple, but delicious lunch. (Or breakfast, but you know how I feel about breakfast.)


friday 9/18 lunch I'm trying to use up my canned tuna, before going back to the grocery store. Honey mustard tuna salad with celery, parsley, dried cranberries, walnuts and dried dill. Carrots on the side.



friday 9/19 breakfast Fage! Greek yogurt with Nature's Path granola, coconut, frozen blueberries and cherries and raw almonds.



thursday 9/17 breakfast Um raw oats? Soaked overnight in soy milk? Dried apricots, almonds and coconut? Yes, please. In the morning I added a dollop of yogurt, frozen blueberries and a drizzle of honey. Yes, I like it sweet.


wednesday 9/16 So this was definitely experimental, but I had an abundance of kale so I sauteed red onion, kale, and chicken breast in some spices, and white wine and well, it was edible, but the flavors were a little weird.


wednesday 9/16 lunch Tuna salad and carrots! (Honey mustard variety- recipe above.)


tuesday 9/15 dinner Sauteed spinach scrambled with egg whites and leftover homemade pesto, and sliced tomatoes. Breakfast for dinner? Of course.


tuesday 9/15 snack Frozen blueberries (about 2/3 cup), frozen banana (a few chunks), 1 cup ice, spoonful PB, 1 scoop chocolate whey protein, and water.

oh, breakfast.

I love breakfast. In my humble opinion, it is not only the perfect meal, but it is the perfect meal that can be eaten three times a day. Breakfast is and always will be an American pastime. Like the 4th of July, baseball and pumpkin pie, breakfast shares that same quality that it will and always remain sacred. Amidst all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, heading to the office, gym, Starbucks, school, breakfast gets trampled upon. Glanced over. Forgotten. HOW CAN THAT BE?? Breakfast is my favorite time of day. The fact that the majority of the human race SKIPS breakfast is very disconcerting.

Here in Texas, since I am pretty much the only one awake at the hour of seven or eight am, breakfast is my time to myself. I sit. I drink a cup of coffee. I read. I eat. I drink another cup of coffee. I am blessed with two best friends in Tucson who share the same love of breakfast as me. Three of the things I miss most about Tucson is meeting them for eggs and coffee at Jerry Bobs, drinking a hot Venti Americano at breakfast time at Starbucks, and going out for breakfast with my parents after we finish at the gym.

A lot of breakfasts are also cheap. One of the reasons why I eat oatmeal so often because it costs pennies to make. And it's one of my favorite things.


tuesday 9/15 breakfast- this is another variation of oatmeal I tried making. I added a 1/2 scoop of chocolate whey protein powder to the mixture, as well as water, milk, wheat germ, honey and a couple chocolate chips. YUM!


monday 9/14 dinner - salad of arugula, canned tuna, tomato, corn, pecorino romano cheese


monday 9/14 lunch egg salad and raw veggies with salsa.


monday 9/14 breakfast - Fage! Greek yogurt with honey, pumpkin Nature's Path granola, blueberries, cherries and sliced apple and a couple walnut halves chopped on top.


sunday 9/13 dinner- I made cauliflower soup with frozen cauliflower, chicken stock, water, red onion, celery, butter, s & p, a little bit of nutmeg, and a few dallops of sour cream at the end. I fried two eggs to go on the side, because I need my protein!


sunday 9/13 breakfast- Scrambled eggs with stove top roasted spiced sweet potatoes


saturday 9/12 dinner- Greek salad with grilled chicken, cucumber, tomato, romaine, feta and oregano and a few green olives.


saturday 9/12 lunch- chicken salat, raw veggies with salsa


saturday 9/12 breakfast- I made homemade muesli with oats, wheat germ, coconut, cinnamon, almonds and chopped dried apricots. Usually you soak muesli with yogurt over night, but I used non fat milk, which surprisingly worked just fine too. I added fresh fruit in the morning. Another way to use my inexpensive oats!


friday 9/11 dinner- I was home alone that night and I decided to cook up a storm. Literally. It poured like crazy that night, and I even got candles out just in case. It hasn't really stopped raining since that night. I made pesto the old school way using, a mortal and pestle with arugula, spinach, walnuts, garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, s & p, and pecorino romano cheese. I put the pesto in a tuna salad with sun dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, corn and parsley. I made a raw kale salad on the side with lemon juice, olive oil, homemade bread crumbs, garlic salt and pecorino romano cheese.


friday 9/11 lunch- chicken salad with raw veggies and salsa.

a yummy week

After I (crosses fingers) successfully complete culinary school, I honestly do not know what I want to do. Obviously after working in the restaurant and catering services, I am aware that it is hard to maintain a healthy outlook and concept of cooking, especially when it is not necessarily a very profitable or popular concept to pursue. Some of the best chefs come out of the Culinary Institute of America, and after watching Top Chef, and Hell's Kitchen, etc; I am not sure I want to be a chef, chef. Yes, I love the restaurant industry. I love the hours, people, camaraderie in the kitchen, pace, etc. I love all of it. I don't know whether or not its my ultimate goal.

I don't think the food I cook for myself does my cooking skills any justice. Dis-including my *poached eggs*, I can honestly tell you that what I showcase here is not my best work. But it is what I enjoy eating. I will say that I try and make it taste the very best it can taste, without adding any processed foods, food additives or non organic meats, etc. I just refuse to add any of that to my food. Hopefully one day, I will be able to practice what I do in my own home, in the restaurant world as well. I guess that is one thing I have to look forward to: the compromising a person does to try and balance out their career with their own personal beliefs and values.

9/11 friday breakfast- This is something I would put on a breakfast menu any day. If you have not experienced a runny egg yolk with some type of bread smothered in honey, you have not experienced heaven on a plate. I love eggs with toast and honey. In this version I toasted a multigrain english muffin and covered it in honey, and added two poached eggs on top. (The yolks must be runny for the full effect!) =) If I were to really jazz it up I might even add a few pieces of turkey bacon right underneath the egg.


9/10 thursday dinner- another chinese chicken salad with napa cabbage, carrot, orange, almonds, peanut soy ginger dressing, and grilled chicken.


9/10 thursday snack- watermelon, canteloupe, blueberries, mint and lemon juice.



9/10 thursday lunch- I used my leftover grilled asparagus and had a soft boiled egg salad on top of the asparagus, spinach, cherry tomatoes, almonds, pecorino romano cheese, drizzled with balsamic and olive oil.
This is what it looked like before, and then I chopped it all up.


9/10 thursday breakfast- I usually eat oatmeal every other day, because I love it so much, and because it's super cheap and good for you. This is one of my favorite versions I make with wheat germ, dried cranberries, coconut, vanilla, and honey.


9/9 wednesday dinner- I found individual pieces of Wild Atlantic salmon at a new health food store I found and I simply grilled it with grilled asparagus and cherry tomatoes.


9/10 wednesday breakfast- I ate a quick breakfast of Nature's Path pumpkin granola/cereal with 1/2 a banana before I had to leave the house that morning.


9/8 tuesday dinner- We had people over for a simple dinner of pasta, sauteed corn from the farmer's market and salad. I grilled myself a piece of chicken so I didn't have to eat the pasta. The corn was good though!


9/8 tuesday lunch- Simple egg salad with a green salad of romaine, black beans and corn and a spicy dressing.


9/7 monday dinner- I had a leftover turkey burger (slightly burnt) with napa cabbage salad and tzatsiki sauce for the burger.


9/7 monday lunch- the last of my tomato soup with a romaine salad with tuna and veggies.

I'm a planner

I'm not gonna lie... I enjoy food. Who doesn't? I'm no glutton, but I enjoy a good meal. Or snack. Or in between snack, snack. You get my point. I enjoy food like I enjoy a good book, or a good outfit. When I am reading a book, I usually have in mind which book I am going to read next. Same goes for clothing, and well, food. In high school I planned my outfits and meals on a white board, anywhere from one to two weeks in advance. From the time I turned 16, to graduation day I (usually) had all my outfits and meals written out. The point being, I think about what I'm going to eat for lunch, while I am lingering over my breakfast and coffee. I am a planner.

I am also kind of a food snob. What cook isn't? On school retreats and road trips I refused to eat the cafeteria and fast food, in which case, I prepared myself with Luna bars and apples in my bag. The reasoning for fixing each meal of my day is that I just don't like eating crappy food. It doesn't sit well with me. Why should I eat what isn't good for me? Now crappy does not necessarily coincide with unhealthy. If a basket of sweet potato chips are truly delicious and made with the best ingredients, but are still unhealthy, I will probably dig right in. It's not the same thing. One of my yoga podcasts said something the other day that I believe to be true: "Everything in moderation, including moderation." I believe in eating in moderation. But that includes eating in moderation. I am not perfect by any means, but cooking my own food makes it that much easier for me to stay true to myself and stay healthy.

When I do go out, and eat food at restaurants, I want to enjoy it. I want to remember my experience. Around the world there are countless restaurants that just, do things right, and many places that are worth visiting, so why should I waste an experience of eating out on food that is not worth experiencing?

9/7 Monday breakfast- Greek yogurt (again) with pumpkin granola, sliced banana, blueberries and shaved cocunut and wheat germ on top. This brand of Greek yogurt is Fage, and it is the plain flavor, I usually add a little honey.



9/6 Sunday dinner- I made turkey burgers with my ground turkey I got a few weeks ago. I mixed in green olives, mint, dried oregano, ketchup and a few oats to help it to stay together. It was a little dry, but I think that's because the turkey was so finely ground. Any burger does not like to be overmixed. I also made a cole slaw with my Napa cabbage, and I grilled some tomatoes.



9/6 Sunday lunch- Leftover tomato soup, carrots, cantaloupe and two boiled eggs. I don't know why.. but I was in an orange mood, I guess.



9/5 Saturday dinner- I made homemade tomato soup! My favorite. It's, sort of, getting close to getting cool here in Texas and I made soup. In the winter I make this soup every other week, and sometimes I'll even freeze extras because it's that good. I had tuna on the side.



9/6 Saturday lunch- Breakfast for lunch! I poached two eggs, and put that on top a toasted corn tortilla with heated black beans (I added chili powder and cumin to the beans) and made a salsa of storebought salsa, frozen corn, and cumin and chili powder. It was tastyyy.


9/5 Friday dinner- Breakfast for dinner! I guess I didn't really feel like cooking, so I made a smoothie with strawberries, banana,chocolate protein powder and water. Layered with pumpkin granola.


9/5 Friday lunch- Egg salad, carrots and a salad of tomato, watermelon, mint and shaved cocunut.



9/4 Thursday dinner- Jen bought chicken salad at a good deli place in Tyler. This chicken salad was flavorful, but not my favorite. This was true, literal, chicken salad. It was so finely ground, it was more like chicken salad you dip in with crackers. Not something I'll be eating again anytime soon. It was better on top lettuce though.


9/4 Thursday lunch- I ate a light lunch because I was heading out soon after. I had a piece of toast folded over with peanut butter, honey and raw oats for crunch. :) Also carrots and an apple.



9/4 Thursday breakfast- Two poached eggs with side of fruit and bread ends for toast, with honey of course.


9/3 Wednesday dinner- Grilled chicken breast on top a salad of romaine, watermelon, tomato, celery and an orange vinaigrette.

Bekah at Home.

I saw "Julie and Julia" last week, and began to read the book by Julie Powell a few days ago. As much as I loved the movie, the book is that much better. Not only does it make my blog seem inimitably less cool, but also slightly more pathetic than it already is. :/ So, my quest is to set out and make something that is actually good, every day. I don't necessarily have a desire to throw a stick of butter in everything I make, a la Julia Child, because that's just not me; but I do have Giada De'Laurentiis.

You could say it was her who originally got me cooking. The Food Network has what "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" doesn't have and never will: High Definition, food stylists, closets and closets stacked high of Le Crueset cookery, and measuring spoons and designer bowls straight out of the Anthropology warehouse. "Everyday Italian" with Giada De'Laurentiis was my original 'inspiration', if you will, for cooking. She makes everything pretty and light and is just, simplicity, at its most perfect.

I watched two episodes of "Giada at Home" this morning; Giada's latest endeavor about planning dinner parties, beach picnics, yoga recovery snacks, and gardening lunches in her painfully perfect Malibu home, with her home grown herbs and too cute one year old baby. Giada, I have decided, is my Julia Child. I don't know too much about Julia, but I can probably tell you GDL's life story on the fly. Watch Giada one day, and let me tell you, you won't be able to turn her off.

9/2 Wednesday lunch- My Giada inspired italian lunch. I first made a mint, lemon mayo for my sandwich. My sandwich: I toasted some 'tuscan' bread (yes, WalMart has artisan bread. It's no Beyond Bread, but satisfactory enough...) and boiled one egg. On the sandwich, was my mint mayo, sliced tomato, lettuce, sun dried tomato and sliced egg. I made a little italian salad on the side of chickpeas, corn, red grapes, sun dried tomatoes, lemon juice, mint, and olive oil. It all turned out really good.


9/2 Wed breakfast- Acai! with pumpkin flax granola, banana and almonds. One of my favorite breakfast's. A little taste of Xoom Juice, (which I miss terribly) because I use the same granola and same acai they use for their Xoom spoons.


9/1 Tues dinner- I made a chinese chicken salad, with leftover chicken breast, napa cabbage, green onion, orange segments, and a vinaigrette I quickly made of peanut butter, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar and orange juice.


9/1 Tues lunch Chicken salad, cantaloupe and a pickle.


8/31 Monday lunch A little tuna pasta salad with olives, cantaloupe, olive oil, lemon juice, red onion and carrots on the side. (It was experimental, tasted good enough, but probably not something I'll make again.)