This is actually from Sarah

She tried to comment directly, but was for some inexplicable reason blocked by blogger. :( Anyway, here's what she had to say:

Re: reheatable dishes, how about soups/stews/chilis? Most are easy to make and healthy and most are freezable too. I like to freeze a few portions of any big meals I make so that I don't get sick of leftovers and so that I have a ready supply of homemade food on hand for the nights when I don't feel like cooking. I've attached two recipes, one is for a vegan chili which took me forever to perfect and is the bomb. the chili is freezable, but I don't think the polenta is. The second is a veggie burger rachel and I came up with one of the times I was visiting - you may have been there? Anyhoo, for these, I only cook what I'm going to eat immediately, then I form the rest into patties and layer them between layers of wax paper and put in freezer bags to freeze. This way you can pull one out at a time, and I've successfully skillet cooked them in a very small amount of oil directly from frozen. These are probably good with whatever fixins you like, but I love them with hummus and/or lemon-tahini dressing.

Sarah’s vegan chili with green chili-corn-smoked cheddar polenta

Chili

Ingredients:

A couple T olive oil

2 medium sized onions, chopped

1 habenero and 1 jalapeno, minced seeds and all

3 cans beans (black, red, white), drained and rinsed

2 cans diced tomatoes (drain juice and reserve)

2 sweet potatoes, pre-cooked, cooled, with skins removed (I baked them the night before)

1 pkg frozen corn

1 pkg frozen spinach

½ cup bulgar wheat

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup maple syrup

3 T chili powder

2 T cumin

2 bay leaves

¼ t cayenne pepper

Salt and black pepper to taste

~2 cups additional water or broth

1. cook onions and hot peppers in olive oil for 10 min
2. while onions are cooking, simmer bulgar wheat in reserved tomato juice for 10 min
3. add bulgar wheat and all other ingredients to onions, stir well, and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, add additional water or broth as necessary. Adjust seasoning as desired

Polenta

Ingredients:

6 cups water

~ 1 t salt

2 cups bob’s red mill corn grits (or equivalent)

3 T butter

2 T honey

1 7 oz can green chilies (I drained some of juice off and added it to chili)

½ to 1 pkg frozen corn, thawed

½ cup packed grated smoked cheddar

1. Bring water and salt to a boil
2. slowly add in corn grits, stirring as you add
3. reduce heat and cook for ~ 30 min, stirring frequently
4. after 10 minutes add in butter and honey
5. after 20 minutes add in chilies and corn
6. in the last 5 minutes, stir in cheese until melted
7. spoon into a non-reactive bowl and allow to set for 10-20 minutes
8. invert onto a plate

To serve:

Cut out wedges of polenta, or just spoon out, and place in the bottom of a bowl. Top with chili, grated cheese, and sour cream. Serve immediately.

Note, using olive oil or earth balance in place of butter and omitting cheese or replacing with vegan alternative will make the polenta vegan as well.

SaRachel’s Lentil-black bean burgers

Ingredients:

½ cup green lentils, dry

2 ½ cups hot water

½ can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 small onion, chopped

2 clove garlic, minced

1 ½ tsp cumin

¼ tsp cayenne

1 T soy sauce

¾ cup breadcrumbs

2 eggs, beaten

Salt and pepper to taste

A little oil to cook the burgers in

Directions:

1. Cook lentils:
1. Combine lentils and hot water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer ~ 30 minutes until tender
2. Saute onions in a little oil for 5 min, add garlic and sauté for one more minute.
3. Add cumin and cayenne and cook for one more minute.
4. Combine lentils and black beans and mash roughly so there are still some chunks
5. Combine onion mixture with lentil-bean mixture
6. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well mixed
1. Optional embellishments

i. Sauted/steamed – carrots, greens, mushrooms

ii. Fresh basil or other herbs

7. Adjust liquid (eggs or water) or solid (breadcrumbs or black beans) as necessary for desired consistency.
8. Adjust salt/pepper/soy sauce/cumin/cayenne for desired flavor
9. Form mixture into patties
10. Heat oil in a skillet and cook each patty 2-10 minutes per side, or until browned
11. You can also freeze these between layers of wax paper

DUH.

It just occurred to me that I never posted an update to explain the "shrinking" commentary.

As you may know, I work for a wedding/event florist as an assistant. During wedding season (April-ish to November-ish), there is a LOT of physical activity; climbing and descending stairs laden with crates full of heavy-a** water-and-flower-filled vases, breaking down and schlepping great piles of cardboard boxes to recycling, etc. Well, it turns out that this is an extremely effective weight loss/exercise regime, because over the past year, I lost over 30 pounds. 9" of that was off my butt. Seriously.

So now you know...

The Rest of the Story.
Good Day.

The Season is the Reason

Well, wedding season is gearing up. The temperatures are beginning to climb. These indicators can only mean one thing: I expect to continue shrinking for the next 7 months or so. Naturally, I do not depend on my job alone to accomplish this; I mean, if I ate like a horse every day I'm guessing that the beneficial effects of working my a** off would be neutralized. So I need to keep focused on my food intake, and not just rest on my shrinking laurels.

With work getting busier, it would be grand if I could get into the habit of making dishes that reheat well in the 'wave. Casseroles are perfect, except all I can think of are things like Tuna Noodle casserole, or mac n cheese, neither of which exactly fit the framework of Healthy Eating.

I think I just need to stop knitting long enough to think on this topic to find a solution. *sigh*

Nuts and Seeds and Seeds and Seeds

It was observed the other day that I eat a LOT of nuts and seeds. In my defense, the nuts were almonds (that I had roasted with Adobo seasoning and some pink salt), and almonds - so I've heard - are the best nuts for something-or-other (walnuts being the other best nuts for something-else-or-other), so I didn't feel too bad about that.

The seeds, however. Well, I DO consume quite a lot of sunflower seeds. But I buy them whole (not hulled), so I figure the effort I go through to extract the seed must burn off some of the oils or whatever that are supposed to be not as great for you. Besides, I thought seeds ARE good for you. And I don't come close to eating an entire serving (at any one time) as listed on the package. I mostly eat them while I'm driving (unless my favorite Bob Dylan song comes on, in which case I pause the CD til I finish the seeds in my mouth so that I can sing along without choking to death), which I figure is better for me than munching on chips or Twizzlers, right?

"Dissolving"

It has been a while...

Yesterday, Rachel said something to me that has not left my mind: "You're dissolving!" It's amazing how happy that short little exclamation made me! Since I don't have a scale, I have no idea if that's true (except the 30-something pounds I already knew about between doctor visits, as of January '11), but I *feel* like I am shrinking still. My boss/friend Gerry posited that due to my active job, my metabolism may have sped up while I wasn't looking, which - I don't mind saying - would be AWESOME. I know that I am not eating as much food as I used to... not saying I'm eating *better,* just not as much.

Oddly, I think my newest pastime may be partially responsible for the decrease in consumption: I am currently obsessed with knitting (a sedentary occupation if ever there was one). The thing about knitting is that it occupies both hands, which have to remain unsullied by foodie-type-bits while working with the yarn. This, by definition and necessity, precludes eating of any kind while pursuing this occupation. So, even though there is no aerobic elevation of the heart-rate (except during the terror of a dropped stitch), at least I'm not adding to my caloric intake, which is a nice little bonus.

OK, so now if I had an exercise bike in my minuscule apt, I could get exercise and knit simultaneously! Brilliant! Someone needs to design a bike with a knitting/crocheting work station attached! I do believe it's so crazy it might work.