Tofu Mashed "Not-atoes"

Somehow, I've begun to embrace getting up early. It seems a daunting task at first, like, "5:00. NO. We were not made for each other. Why do you even exist?" but then it's not quite so bad. I get so much done early on in the day and feel like I'm prepared and not scurrying around gathering things for school or cleaning or throwing things randomly into my lunch and later asking myself, "Why did I even buy this? It's gross." and then eating it anyway, because, well, I'm a runner and that's what we do. Eat. Because we get hungry :) A lot, haha.

And so some of us try to whip up better things that will fill us up and keep us pounding out the miles. Like, oh, I don't know, a more protein-rich mashed 'potato' recipe that's super creamy and chocked full of vegetables.

Not to toot my horn, but I was actually pretty proud of how this turned out, considering my very meat-and-potatoes oriented father even told me it looked 'like real food'. Oh, Dad... That being said, it is not your buttery, thick and starchy mashed potato recipe. At all. So don't expect that. It tastes different, but it has awesome flavors in itself. I promise. I ate the whole thing :)

I still have a ways to go on the kitchen front, cooking up a storm. I know I'm no professional chef. I know I'm no super-blogger. But I take pride in what I HAVE done. Take that step back in your life and realize that you don't need to compare to others or worry that they'll believe you're not humble and good. You ARE. Do things that will satisfy you, and the rest will come. Others can like 'em or not.

But hopefully you'll like these :)

MASHED TOFU "NOT-ATOES"

The view, half eaten, on my dinner plate

3 oz lite firm tofu, drained and pressed once

2 cups steamed cauliflower florets

2-3 T. Nutritional Yeast

1/4 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp minced onion flakes

S+P, to taste

ON TOP: 

Mixed, sauteed veggies

BALSAMIC VINEGAR (You will want this even if you leave off the veggies!!)

Basil

Rosemary

1. Puree the tofu and cauliflower in blender until well mixed and super-creamy. This may take some time, depending on the strength of your blender. Stir a few times in between to ensure that EVERYTHING is getting down to the blades and getting pureed.
2. Scoop out and add spices and Nutritional Yeast. VOILA! It is done! (I refrigerated mine for about 3 hours prior to eating and it thickened up a little more. Otherwise, if you want them thicker, add more tofu, some greek yogurt, or possibly a tablespoon of ground flax or flour. I did none of these, though, and they were AWESOME!) ENJOY!

*Pictured on top is a little bit of mixed veggies I made which really added to the admittedly bland nature of the mashed tofu/cauliflower. I chopped up 5 mushrooms, a stalk of  celery, and steamed it in the microwave with basil, rosemary, olive oil, and about 1 T. balsamic vinegar (I used not-soaked up vinegar as a drizzle for the not-atoes also.)

Tofu Pizza Crust and Rest Days

Rest days, no matter how annoying they are sometimes, are important. Just saying. I've been starting to feel the load of running, running, running and my body doesn't necessarily like it. My shins hurt, my quads are tight, I can hardly walk up the stairs... and yet my mind says GO. Luckily, I have a very understanding coach who knows that breaks are sometimes just what the doctor ordered. It seems to be a pretty common problem among serious athletes, even in high school, to want to stretch the limits and never admit that they CAN'T or at least SHOULDN'T do something. But guess what? It's OKAY to have those days. It's even necessary once in a while.

We, as humans, need to understand that there are limits to our lives and abilities. It's just how things were meant to be. Whether you push yourself in school, at work, on the field, or at a gym, just remember that it's fine to not be fine. Some days are the kind when you need a nap. Some are the kind when you need to scream into a pillow and cry. And don't worry... that still leaves plenty of days for you to smile and skip and work your behind off at practice, if that's what you like to do. But a rest won't kill you. And remember: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

With that sentiment out of the way, we can move on to the fun part of the post. Or at least it's usually MY favorite. THE RECIPE! After seeing a lot about cauliflower pizza crusts and even making one myself, I decided it was about time for another sort of pizza to make its way to my repertoire. I have nothing against real dough, except it usually takes FOREVER to make... with the yeast and the kneading and such. So, I opted for a super crust full of flavor and protein and TOFU.

TOFU PIZZA CRUSTS

3 oz firm tofu, crumbled up. DRAINED NOT PRESSED!

1 tsp. flax seeds, ground

1 tsp. nutritional yeast

1/3 cup diced mushrooms

Onion Powder

Celery Salt

Basil

1 tsp oil (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients and stir well. Don't worry if things don't hold together as well as would be expected... the microwaving ought to take care of that.
2. Lightly butter or spray a microwaveable plate and place mixture onto it. Press together with fingers to form one large pizza crust.
3. Microwave on HIGH 3-5 minutes until you can get under it with a fork or spatula and flip it without tons of crumbling. Microwave other side up for 1-2 minutes until it holds together well.
4. Top with sauce/veggies/more yeast/soy cheese and enjoy. I put a big slice of tomato and pizza hummus on mine. YUM!



Spicy Roast Cauliflower

It's tough to choose a favorite vegetable. I realized this very recently, when someone asked me WHAT my favorite veggie was. I would have expected myself to have some immediate answer, but nothing was coming to me. I guess it's like choosing a favorite child...although I neither have children nor have any desire to currently! The closest I could come to naming a favorite was making a list (and lists are what I do best!) of some potential candidates:

• Zucchini
• Brussel Sprouts
• Spaghetti Squash....actually all squash really :)
• Salads
• Cabbage
• Water Chestnuts
• Mushrooms
• Baby Corn
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Snap Peas
• FRESH tomatoes
• Celery

And actually, this list could go on for quite a while. I won't continue it in the interest of time, but it's nice to know I've begun to outgrow my childhood pickiness. One veggie that HAS succeeded in making it through the long haul with me, though, is cauliflower. I was ALWAYS part of the clean-plate club when those steamed florets were served. So it is with great excitement that I continue to show off my old friend in a new way:

SPICY ROAST CAULIFLOWER

adapted from here

1 head cauliflower, washed and cut into florets

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Pinch chili flakes

1/4 tsp paprika

2-3 dashes salt

Dash pepper

1/4 tsp. onion powder

2 tsp. Olive Oil

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Pour oil into large ziploc baggie, then add cauliflower and shake to evenly coat. Open up baggie and add spices, shake around again to coat evenly one more time.
3. Spread onto baking sheet and roast in oven for 40 minutes. It smells and tastes AMAZING, by the way! Enjoy!

Sunday Spinach N' Veggie Rollups

Hello world! I have not totally begun to neglect my blog due to the immense stress of Junior year (yet.) I've been studying away for the flood of tests that has come to greet me this first week of school, and let me say it was quite a shock to the system. Luckily, since I had some free time this Sunday (and it's a blessed rest day...my legs are sighing with relief), it was back to the kitchen for me.

I've been busy pinning away on Pinterest, which is also an addiction of mine, looking for special things to adapt and create. Some of the most intriguing pins I found involved making tofu frittatas and scrambles, as though it were eggs.

Huh.

I couldn't just let that go by without trying something similar, so here's what I came up with to please my picky palate:

Wrap it up!

VEGAN SPINACH 'N VEGGIE WRAPS (with tofu!)

8 whole wheat wraps (you can make your own even!)

1 16oz package frozen microwaveable spinach

1 16oz package firm tofu, drained but not pressed

1 tsp. basil

1 T. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. celery salt

S+P, to taste

1 red pepper, chopped

3-4 stalks celery, chopped

1-2 tomatoes, chopped

Any veggies you want!

1. Preheat oven to 350F and lightly spray or grease a cookie sheet
2. Microwave spinach according to package directions
3. In blender, combine tofu with spices and lemon juice. Puree for 1-2 minutes, then blend an additional 1-2 minutes until the entire mixture is creamy and there are no tofu chunks.
4. Combine cooked spinach with tofu mixture until spinach is completely coated.

5. Lay out wraps and spread with a large scoop of spinach mixture. Sprinkle with desired veggies, and then roll up and lay side by side on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 20 minutes until spinach mixture starts to set and veggies get nice and tender. Serve warm or cold, but of course, ENJOY!

Little Pizzas?

DONE!

Each Wrap, depending on the tortilla/wraps that you use, has 200 calories, 10 grams protein, 5 grams fiber, 26 grams carbohydrates, and 6 grams of fat. Delicious and nutritious here I come!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do you do on your rest days? Do you flop on the couch and watch TV, or are you more the type who begins to get that itch to exercise anyway? I think for me it depends on the day. Often I have a really hard time NOT doing anything, so I'll go on a walk or a bike ride just to get out of the house, but today I was EXHAUSTED. Flopping on the couch (even with a textbook as my reading material) felt great!

Savory Oats?

The idea has always turned me off, quite honestly. I mean, I love my oatmeal and my porridge, but I don't get much savorier with it than plain. I guess that's the natural thing to expect from someone with a huge sweet tooth...I swoon over chocolate, peanut butter, cookies, fruit, and coffee (ok, so that's not really sweet at all. But it deserved to be included). And funfetti. I just devoured ate the final funfetti protein oat cake tonight, and they do get better with age after freezing and then thawing in the fridge, FYI.

Here's that little oatfetti cake again! YUMMY!

I've been eating slowly through my butternut burgers all week, but I was starting to get tired of them. Luckily, when I looked today, there was only 1 left (I usually eat them as a pair, so of course I had to find a different use for it!) What could one do with a little lone veggie burger? The real question seems to be: what can one do with just about ANYTHING?

Oatmeal. The answer is ALWAYS oatmeal.

But for a burger? Really? Was I going there, after all this fuss about keeping my oatmeal sweet and fruity? Apparently....yes. I was.

Because it's me, I had to make it high-protein, to give it even more staying power, but in this situation I doubted vanilla or chocolate protein powder was really going to work. What savory option did I have for a good low fat, high-protein addition to oatmeal? It's another miracle ingredient, folks:

EGG WHITES. Among other things, of course. Enough chit chat, though. Here's what I did.

SAVORY PROTEIN PORRIDGE

2 and 1/4 cups water or milk

2/3 cup rolled oats

6 T. egg whites

1 leftover Butternut Burger

Dash Ginger

S+P, to taste

1. Heat water on stovetop to boiling. Add oats and reduce to medium.
2. Cook until most of the water is absorbed (it may take a while.) Stir every 3-4 minutes to prevent burning on the bottom of the pot.
3. Once liquid has been absorbed, add in egg whites and stir constantly, or you will get some scrambled egg bits in your porridge. Because it is savory, this will be okay, but you want most of the egg to go to making a thicker liquidy part of the oatmeal.
4. After another 2 minutes, and all liquid absorbed, remove pot from heat and turn off stove. Crumble up the burger into it and add ginger and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well, and pour into 2 dishes to serve (or makes one hearty serving, like I did!)

*ANOTHER NOTE. You can refrigerate this for about 3 days after cooking both for thickening purposes and if you just aren't ready to eat it yet. Make sure you heat it up, of course, and ENJOY!

So, it doesn't look very yummy. I'm well aware of that. But it was actually pretty good. I was surprised at how much I actually liked it. I still prefer my sweet oats, but, well...it's worth a try if you haven't been brave enough yet!

Quinoa and Squash Bake (and a note about beauty)

In all honesty, today has been a struggle. My depression cropped up randomly, as it does most of the time, and I just didn't feel like doing much of anything. I felt really detached from myself as I was running and do so even now as well. The eating disorder thoughts tend to come on pretty strong whenever I fall into this familiar pit, so I'm just a little unhappy and withdrawn.

But I'm not going to let that be the end of it. No way will this get me down. Despite that voice in my ear telling me how ugly and fat and gluttonous I am, I will prevail. (I hope.) For anyone reading this, know that I believe in you and the beauty of you. There is something worthwhile in every person. And it is NOT what you look like or what you eat or what you weigh. I just need to practice what I preach now.

And on to lighter things.

Ahh. Time for that funny little grain to rear its head again. I think the only thing better than eating the quinoa is just saying the name. It's so fun! Just try it out loud for a bit! "Keen-wah. Keeeen-waaahh." The first time I heard about quinoa, I had absolutely NO idea how to pronounce it and made a bit of a fool of myself trying. I kept telling my friends about this awesome "Kwi-noh-aa" salad I had, and they were totally stumped as to what I was talking about (then again, I'm not sure they know what quinoa is either so it's all good)

Because it's just so loveable, quinoa gets to be featured AGAIN. Along with some of its squash buddies, Mr. Butternut and Mr. Zucchini, which have been hanging out in the fridge for some time now and were just DYING to get used up. (Okay, so I personify things a lot. We can add that to my Looong list of quirks)

QUINOA SQUASH BAKE,  inspired by Oh She Glows

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa 

1 c. roasted butternut squash, mashed

1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt

3/4 c. milk of choice

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 medium Zucchini, sliced into thin strips

Basil, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the quinoa (boil 2 cups water, pour in quinoa, reduce heat to medium, cover, and let cook for 12 minutes. NO PEEKING :)  )
3. Meanwhile, in blender or food processor combine butternut squash, yogurt, milk, and some salt and pepper. This is your 'cheez' sauce for the bake.
4. Slice zucchini into thin strips and lay out on the bottom of  a small casserole dish. Drizzle with a little but of olive oil and salt and pepper, if desired.
5. Combine cooked quinoa with cheez sauce and pour on top of zucchini. Bake for 30 minutes until everything starts to set and come together a bit. ENJOY!

Butternut Burgers

There is STILL leftover pumpkin from the pumpkin palooza I had the other day, and I was perusing various ways to get rid of use it. One of the more intriguing was in a veggie burger recipe seen here at Oh She Glows, one of my new favorite blogs. But after reading the assessment and careful consideration, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't willing to let go of my precious pumpkin for burgers. It needed to be used AGAIN in some oatmeal :) But I still needed something for some burgers...

To the cupboard! And almost as if it were magic, a BUTTERNUT SQUASH appeared (not really. It was already sitting there, but...) This would do. This would do.

BUTTERNUT BURGERS

(made 8 small burgers)

1 (15oz) can chickpeas, drained

1 stalk celery, chopped

2/3 cup mashed roasted butternut squash (can be done in microwave. Cut squash in half, microwave one half, cut side down, in casserole dish for 8-10 minutes on high and remove seeds. Mash up flesh to use for recipe)

2 T. Flaxseed

1/2 tsp. ginger

Dash cloves

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees 
2. Mash up your chickpeas using potato masher. Add chopped celery and mashed up squash.
3. Grind flaxseed into powder and add to bean mixture. Add spices.
4. Form into patties and place on lightly greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake 10 minutes, then flip. Bake additional 25-30 minutes until the burgers stay together in burger form. ENJOY!

Daddy's Birthday Dinner

Okay, so it's not REALLY his birthday yet, but it's close enough to cook him a new creation, right? Plus, since I have to go back to school the same day as his REAL birthday, it works out pretty well to just make something now while I've got the time on my hands. And maybe, quite possibly, it's my not-so-subtle attempt to coax him into getting a new food processor. But I'm not saying anything. These are all speculations, of course.

Today just felt like a lazy day. Despite much caffineated bliss, I didn't really feel like doing anything but sitting at the computer and drooling over blogs. Working out? Well...

But ALAS! Be proud of me! I got on that elliptical and sweated it out for 30 minutes before deciding I had paid my dues. It was time to get fancy in the kitchen.

So I looked all over my newly cleaned cupboard (hooray!) and figured I'd make a nice, spicy Indian dish for my Dad. He LOVES Indian food. Me? Sorry folks, I've never been able to get on that bandwagon. Curries are NOT my thing. It's blasphemy, I know. Do I get kicked out of the vegetarian blog world now? (Please NOOOO)

Anyway....

PUNJAB PATTIES

( on SALTED QUINOA FLATBREAD with CHILLED YOGURT)

Serves 2-3

For The Patty

1/4 Cup Homemade Chickpea Flour (I finally used it up!)

2 tsp. Kebab Paste

1/2 tsp. Djion Mustard

1/2 tsp. Flax Oil

Pinch Cinnamon

Pinch Cardamom

5-6 Sweet Potato Chips, Crushed

For Quinoa Flatbread

1/4 cup uncooked Quinoa + 1 cup water for cooking

1/4 Cup Flour (can even use Quinoa Flour again for GF)

1/4 Cup Water

1 tsp. Almond Oil

Kosher Salt

For Chilled Yogurt Sauce

1 HEAPING Tablespoon Plain Greek Yogurt

1 Tablespoon Water

Pinch Curry Powder

Pinch Garam Masala

Pinch Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Kebab Paste

Extras:

Lettuce and Tomato

More Kebab Paste for Sandwich Spread

1. Mix Up all your ingredients for the patty. You may want to add some egg white depending on how dry your flour is... mine was still a tad moist so I didn't need to.
2. Heat up small skillet with oil and lightly pan fry patty until golden and beginning to dry out a little bit. OR if sweet potato chips begin to blacken. Flip and repeat on other side until cooked. Set aside. Mine started to crumble all over but it still worked fine as long as you get those crumbles out of the pan.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook quinoa: (boil water, add quinoa, stir, reduce heat to medium and cover. Leave alone for 5 minutes before returning and fluffing it with a fork. Cook until water mostly absorbed, though still damp.
4. Mix all other flatbread ingredients, except salt, then add cooked quinoa when it cools. Allow to stand for at least 5 minutes.
5. Grease a baking sheet and insert into oven for 1-2 minutes to heat it up. This will help the flatbread to not stick. When it comes out of the oven, lay your 'batter' out in small rectangle, about 4 inches by 10 inches or so (thickness should be maybe 1/4 inch). Put back in oven and bake 9 minutes until it starts to bubble. Take out, flip over, and cook additional 5 minutes if still gooey on other side.
6. When fully cooked, cut in half and toast each slice. Put aside.
7. Mix everything up for your yogurt dressing. Chill at least 5 minutes, or if you make it right ahead of time, there's no need :) Just be sure it's cold when serving.
8. Put everything together; spread a little bit of yogurt sauce and additional kebab paste (if desired) on the bread. If desired, also use lettuce and tomato. Fill with patty/crumbles and top with other bread slice. Serve warm (except for yogurt sauce. If reheating, leave that out of sandwich while heating other elements and then add on).

ENJOY!

P.S. I will continue to be stalking drooling over reading all your blogs out there! Thank you to everyone for making such delicious recipes!

Question of the Day: Do you ever have a 'lazy day'? What's YOUR favorite thing to do when you get in that mood? Mine used to be curling up with a book and then going on Pinterest for hours. (Now it appears to be salivating over blogs. Same difference)

Cauliflower Pizza and Cleaning the Cupboard

Hooray! I did it! My OCD has been temporarily assuaged, until another family member comes along and moves something, of course, but I'm hoping that doesn't happen.
Just like Sonia and Heather challenged today, I reordered my kitchen cupboard. It looks a ton better and should help me cut down on some waste from buying extra packages when I already have some lying around!

See Everything in disarray? The open packages? The similar items on TOTALLY different shelves? Well, it bothered me. It may not look so bad, but IT WAS!

 So, after an intense hour in which I took out empty packages, combined half-full ones, sorted goods by use and flavor, and cleaned some disgusting sticky/moldy junk out (yes...I know. It made me sick to think that was in our cupboard. Maybe take a peek at what's hiding in YOURS...) it was much better.

You can't tell that much has changed in this picture...but it has

The Canned Foods all sorted out

ORGANIZED!

Nuts and Nut Butters...

And a nice little section for the Asian Food!

 I also discovered some nifty things that I didn't realize we had. I'm going to have to find uses for them, obviously :)

Sour Cherry 'Spoon Fruit'

Tikka Masala Mix- okay, so not 'weird' but I could do so many things with this...

Well, after cleaning everything out, my stomach was telling me it was time for dinner. Something that had been intriguing me for quite a while was Cauliflower Crust Pizza. Since we had a head of cauliflower on hand, I decided to give it a try. HOWEVER, I neglected to check and see if we had every ingredient necessary (no eggs or cheese, which make up a good portion of the ingredients!) so I had to make some modifications. Surprisingly, they worked! I felt so proud and creative I almost cried. I'm learning how to actually cook! I never thought I'd see the day!

Quinoa, Quirks, and Quotes

The 3 Q's. Or at least my 3 current favorite ones.
-Quinoa: That little high protein grain/fruit that is just so CUTE. It's like a little ball with a tail on it. Which of course leads us to number two:
-Quirks: I'm full of them. I do some pretty random stuff. I'm a little OCD, and I periodically exclaim random things. Often these things are related to number three:
-Quotes: I just love them. They make great conversation starters and continuers. They can inspire you or bring tears to your eyes. It doesn't even really matter if they are cliche. They just brighten up our world!

So today, you get all three! YIPPEE!!! (rhyming... falls under category number two. Although often, related to category number three. Not too many words rhyme with quinoa, so I think we're safe on that front.)

Italian Veggie Quinoa 'Risotto'

1 Portabella Mushroom Cap, diced

1 Cup Cauliflower Florets, diced

1/2 Medium Zucchini, sliced into Coins

1 Tablespoon EVOO

2 Cups Vegetable Broth

1/2 Cup Quinoa

1/2 tsp. Basil

1/2 tsp Oregano

1/4 tsp california lemon peel, or lemon zest

Salt and pepper to taste

1. In pan or wok, heat oil on medium high. Add mushroom, cauliflower, and zucchini. Cook until tender and soft. 
2. Add quinoa and cook for 30-45 seconds to lightly toast it
3. Add first cupful vegetable broth, about 1/2 cup at a time. Allow most of it to be absorbed by quinoa before adding second 1/2 cupful.
4. Add last cup of vegetable broth and cover, reducing heat to low-medium. WALK AWAY and leave for at least 5 minutes. Go for 10 if you can bear the suspense (I couldn't).
5. Stir it up and make sure all liquid is absorbed. Add spices. Serve and ENJOY!

COTTAGE CHEESE TOMATO CUPS

1 Medium Tomato- about 5 oz

1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese

Black Pepper

Paprika

Dill

Onion Flakes

Italian Seasoning

1 tsp. Parmesan Cheese, or Nutritional Yeast for Vegans

1. Preheat oven to 250.

2. Cut circle in top of tomato to remove 'lid'- don't cut all the way down through the tomato, just most of the way so you can remove the core. Do your best to hollow it out, making enough room for cottage cheese mixture to go inside.

3. Combine remaining ingredients (all spices are a pinch unless otherwise noted, or to taste.) Using a spoon, stuff into hollowed out tomato.

4. Bake in shallow glass pan for 15-20 minutes, until tomato begins to get soft and cheese mixture gets a little 'oozy'. Serve and ENJOY (with quinoa, rice pilaf, or fluffy Italian bread and green salad.)

Now for the quirks. I noticed as I was writing this post that the tomato ingredients look like an hourglass. This pleased me to no end, for no particular reason whatsoever, except that it's cool. I just like random things, as I mentioned before. I'm a runner. As my XC coach would say, "It's all that oxygen debt catching up with your brain." And I wouldn't disagree with him. My team is crazy.

If you've never had the privilege of being on a XC team, let me just say: you missed out. My team in particular is the most awkward, fun-loving, supportive, kind, generous, silly, happy bunch of teenage girls on the planet. For instance, we did a scavenger hunt run/photo shoot (AKA a 'kodak run'). In every single picture we had to take, someone is doing something completely outrageous, just because that's how we are. Here's some examples:

Notice girl hiding underneath truck... or me posing like a model

Pretending to eat ice cream...in front of the closed sign

"Oh look a boat! We need a picture of that!" "Ok! (hops in)" "Sarah, you can't just go on to someone's boat!" "We needed a picture..."

And I've mentioned my little OCD-ishness before. Well, Pinterest drives me nuts every few weeks. I accumulate so many pinned recipes from all of my favorite blogs that I don't know what category to put them in and I have to create whole-new boards and rearrange EVERYTHING. It takes hours.

I love it.

I mean, take a peek at my neat freak grocery list:

But you've probably stopped reading this post by now, since it's far too long. In fact, you just scrolled down to the recipe to see how to make some new food. Don't worry. I've done it, too. No hard feelings. After all, among my quirks: talking to myself randomly. Or singing. Or humming. Like Winnie the Pooh. (he's sooo CUTE. <-- #2)

We'll end on a quote, since I absolutely love them. I hope you enjoy this one (it applies quite nicely to my culinary journey, particularly the baking aspect):

SUCCESS is going from FAILURE to FAILURE without a LOSS OF ENTHUSIASM. ~Winston Churchill

Question Time! I've already shared a bit about my XC team: have you ever participated in organized sports or exercise? Tell me about the great (or not so great) times you had and the funny shenanigans that occurred.

Chili and Cornbread

It's that universal meal that seems to just find a way to be a staple of meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. CHILI. The little ditty did, in fact, get it right: "Beans, beans the magical fruit, the more you eat the more you toot, the more you toot, the better you feel, so let's have beans for EVERY meal!"

So let's talk about beans. Either you love 'em or you hate 'em. Or you, like me, are on a journey towards loving them after a long journey of hating them. The first positive things I found out about beans are:

1. the fiber. Some types can have as much as 8 grams of the satisfying stuff!
2. the protein. 6 grams or so for a veggie-ish food? Not bad, beans, not bad.
3. the versatility. Some beans, like white beans, can even be mashed up in desserts or in cookie dough for a nice boost and a very silky texture. Who would ever have guessed?

Beans. That's about all I have to say on that front. Except, maybe, that they go incredibly well with...

CORNBREAD!!

For Which I Tweaked Indian Head's Cornbread Recipe! (With Rosemary, Cheddar, and Olive Oil!)

1 Cup Yellow Cornmeal

1 Cup White Flour

2 T. Sugar

2 tsp. Salt

3 tsp. Baking Powder

2 tsp. Rosemary

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Cup Milk

1 Egg, Beaten

1/3 Cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together all dry ingredients. In separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients and cheese. Pour wet ingredients into dry and combine until just mixed. It should still be a little lumpy. Pour into greased 9x9 pan and bake 20-25 minutes. ENJOY!

You can even kind of see the little rosemary bits!

AND NOW.....THE COMPLETELY XC Kitchen Made Recipe for

SARAH'S SUPER CHILI! (to be served with said cornbread)

*The one sad note about this is that I never got to eat it. Because I was making dinner for my family, my Dad wanted me to use up the leftover pork and ham from our fridge. THUS, it is not vegetarian :(  *

1 Lb. Dried Black Eyed Peas, Rinsed

6 Cups Water

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

2 tsp. Curry Powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

Pinch Mustard

1 tsp. Coriander

Pinch Turmeric

1 Onion, Chopped

1 Tomato, Chopped

1/2 Head Cauliflower, Chopped

4 oz Cooked Ham, Chopped

6 oz Cooked Pork Loin, Chopped

1/2 Cup Ketchup

2/3 Cup Hickory BBQ Sauce

1 Dried Poblano Chili

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Simmer beans in water over medium heat with all spices for 1-2 hours until soft.
2. Add chopped vegetables (I would probably even add about 2 chopped carrots) and continue simmering, now on low heat, until they get soft (another 30 minutes or so.)
3. Remove from heat and let stand in fridge for 1 day or overnight to thicken.
4. Return to stove at medium heat and add remaining ingredients. Remove the chili when it is soft and begins to 'wilt' in the mixture. You may want to vary the amount of ketchup, meat, and BBQ sauce because I was eyeballing it. If you want it spicier, add another chili pepper. If you want it less sweet, add more ketchup and less BBQ sauce. It's up to you.

You know what comes next.... ENJOY!