Urban warrior

Today I listened to a This American Life podcast while shopping at my local farmers market. I'm so middle class!

Today's haul:



Including some fat, delicious sweet potatoes for the latkes I intend to make later this week:



Some strawberries and grapes to feed the insatiable breakfast monster:





And some squash and tomatoes which I'm going to mix up tonight with some chicken for a healthy stir fry (check out my beloved plums peeping out too):





Polished off the rest of yesterday's stew for lunch, and now we're off to the pumpkin patch! So excited!

The comfort (gravy) train rumbles on

Yesterday was one of the first truly chilly days of the season (well, chilly for Southern California). The winds were pretty intense, and drivers were slipping about all over the roads.

It was a great day to be tucked up inside watching Red Dwarf dvds with Joe and the cat. It was also a great day for stew.

I had some leftover beef cubes, and with a little research decided to pay homage to Julia Child with a quick and easy version of bouef boeurginon, but with marsala wine for a little added kick, and cutting down signficantly on the four hour cooking time.

Here it is simmering away and looking autumnal. I threw in some mushrooms and some diced carrots and onions, along with a chopped potato on Joe's request (cue plaintive cry, 'it's not stew without potato!')



My helping with a little piece of bread



Joe's helping with lots o' bread



The stew was thick, rich and very filling. It very nearly cured the dessert craving, although I ended up having a Jello low fat pudding AND a handful of Joe's chocolate popcorn, because, well sometimes I am an unknowable enigma.

Bon appetit Julia!

Comfort food

This blog is truly not intended to be too much of a personal project, at least not intentionally so. I've written personal blogs before, and always wanted to have a tighter focus. I'm self-contained by nature, and feel uncomfortable with too much blah blah me blah blah talk.

However, I don't think it breaks the rules to say that I have a lot on my mind at the moment. With work and personal worries aplenty flooding my thoughts today, I needed the ultimate comfort food.

Hence, it was grilled cheese day in Santa Monica.

This is a combo I've been dying to try since I brought home fresh deli carved chicken.

A thin spread of raspberry preserves



Add the righteous turkey and a few slice of brie (YUM!!!!)



Then about a quarter of a sliced farmer's market apple



Give it a whirl in the George Forman



And you have yourself some ooey gooey goodness. Eaten with my usual salad, and the rest of the apple. Fresh and delicious. The tastes blend just right, and it was the best lunch I've had all week!



One of the things I love about food is the concentration and satisfaction of putting something together and enjoying it. I used to avoid cooking because I hated the process of fussing over ingredients and pots and pans. I thought it was easier to have it all put together for me - now I can't stand the idea of not having a say in what I eat. I literally went to sleep planning this sandwich last night, and while that may seem sad to some, it really helped lighten my mood.

Every day, I love cooking a little more.

Things to do in a blackout

1) Curse SoCal Edison.

2) Light candles.

3) Take romantic candelight photos



4) Take romantic half head candlelight photos of self



5) Try to blind each other with flashlight



6) Take flashlight 'spotlight' photos of boyfriend



7) Thank the lord that you've already cooked and eaten your meal for the evening.



8) Realize how dependent you are on electricity, and slope off to the gym with a handful of cookies, you sadsack,

FINIT

Meals for one

Joe had plans last night to meet up with a friend at Denny's (Denny's? Seriously?), and I decided to use my rare meal for one status to indulge in one of my favorite things



Granted, I took the lazy route and bought frozen, but still a treat. Delicious chewy little bastards.

Decided to prepare a super simple meal (I have some grander plans for the rest of the packet a little later this week).

After defrosting, seasoned with loads of salt and pepper:



Then pan fried until yummy with cherry tomatoes, lots of garlic and a splash of white wine. Served with salad and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.



Truly delicious. Joe is not a big scallop fan, and I have missed these little guys. Next time, I may flex my Asian cooking skills and make pot stickers, but this shows that sometimes simple can be the best.

The Recessionista

The best part about cooking a creative dinner is reusing the leftovers the next day. It makes me a) responsible and thrifty and b) in line for a nice slice of dinner deja vu instead of my usual salad.

The pork and mushroom were delicious cold for a big badass sandwich. Add in a little salad (with my favourite new ingredient, raspberries) and one of the leftover sweet potato skins, and it was a very filling lunch. I enjoyed it with a big cold glass of water and yesterday's episode of Mad Men.



After a round of the 30 Day Shred this morning, I headed to the gym a little early for my kickboxing class this afternoon and knocked out a quick 3 mile run and 30 minutes on the elliptical.

Time for a quick snack..



Then it was time to punch and kick imaginary bad guys in class. I don't tend to do too many group activities, with the exception of long runs with the LA Leggers, I'm a bit of a solitary creature when I'm working out, and prefer to sweat and gasp in private - but the class is an amazing workout. If I'm feeling tired or have overrun my miles for the week, I'll sometimes phone it in, but this week I made an effort and kept on my toes for the full hour. I still don't enjoy being in a crowded, sweaty room full of people, but it's definitely a boost to my weekly workout.

Came back tired and gross and dove into half a banana which Joe had left for me. Onwards to dinner!

Gourmet night

When I went to bed last night, I vowed to stay there until I until a) hunger drove me out or b) the bed burst into flames.

Woke up at 10 in the middle of a confusing dream where I was re-enrolling at Oxford and moving back in with my roommate - at nearly 30. I forced myself to think calmer, happier thoughts and napped until midday, when cereal cravings forced me out.

After a quick lunch of scrambled eggs and a sprinkle of garlic chives, I made a quick trip to the gym for a 5 mile recovery run - not strictly needed after the 16 miler yesterday, but it felt great. I love running when it's easy and fluid like today. I felt like I could easily have run another 5 miles, but wanted to be careful and allow myself to recover. It's easy days like today that make me feel like an athlete. They almost make up for the painful, stumbly days when I'm forcing myself through it.

When I got home, it was time to try out a couple of recipes I've been excited about all week.

A few days ago, I added a brand new ingredient to the usual roster - pork tenderloin! Here it is nude. Try and avoid thinking about penises.

I was following the Napa Valley stuffed pork tenderloin recipe from one of my favorite new food blogs, with a few modifications, including rubbing with mustard before putting it in the oven.

Stuffed pre-oven:

Couldn't find any toothpicks to pin it together, so used fancypants wooden skewers. They worked great!

While the tenderloin cooked, I got busy on a yummy mushroom sauce to go with it. I mixed in some white and oyster mushrooms, and sauteed them with onion, wine, garlic and flour to thicken. Delicious!

Pre-wine:

Post-wine:

35 minutes later and the tenderloin was ready.

Carved

Continuing to pay homage to my sweet potato carby craving, I made sizzling sweet potato skins on the side (but forgot to take any photos of the process). This involved twice baking the potatoes - once to soften, scooping out the insides, blending with buttermilk and cinamon/paprika, then baking again for 15 minutes. We had them with sour cream and green onions.

The complete masterpiece:

This was my first truly ambitious meal in a few weeks (I've been sticking to some tried and tested recipes for a while) and I was really pleased with how it turned out. Not sure of the calorie count here (not completely sure that I want to know), but given that I didn't use any butter or oil (substituted with PAM), it didn't feel too sinful.

If I make it again, I may substitute plain potatoes for the sweet - it felt like the tastes clashed a little - but it was a great, truly satisfying meal that succeeded in quieting the marathon appetite for a whole night. No snack needed. Miracle!