Calm after the storm...

Hi Friends!

Long time no chat! As most of you are aware, here in NYC/NJ we were hit hard by hurricane Sandy. I'm extremely thankful and happy to report that I was only impacted by a loss of power that lasted from Monday-Thursday of last week. I will admit that during last week's the darkness, I was pretty frustrated about my lack of internet, television, heat, light,  water, and elevator service in my building (17 flights of stairs! Oy! Oh well, my buns thanked me!). However, after personally witnessing property damage  and learning of the widespread destruction and tragic fatalities associated with the hurricane, my loss of power was SMALL POTATOES! My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who were  personally affected  by Sandy's wrath.



Here are some of my dear friends (and their backsides!)  Monday evening witnessing the streets of Jersey City become rivers. It was truly an unbelievable sight to see. I'm so fortunate to have a large group of friends (who are really more like family!) living within walking distance from my apartment. We all spent most of last week together ( alot of which was in the dark!) hanging out,sipping cocktails, playing apples to apples, foraging for food, and laughing ALOT.

Before Sandy hit,  I spent some time in the kitchen preparing food to have around in case restaurants closed or we lost power. I also ordered out for a couple pizzas to have on hand, and I picked up ingredients to make tacos.  The above photo is a Pumpkin Banana Bread I made. This bread was awesome, and the recipe called for absolutely no butter. Fabulous, right?

Pumpkin Banana Bread

(adapted from Low Fat Cooking)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 mashed ripe banana


• 1 cup pumpkin puree


• 1/4 cup canola oil


• 1 large egg


• 2 egg whites


• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup white )


• 1 tsp baking powder


• 1/2 tsp baking soda


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 2/3 cup sugar


• 1/2 tsp nutmeg


• 1/2 tsp ginger


• 1 tsp cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8 1/2 X 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.Place mashed banana, pumpkin puree, oil, egg and egg whites in a large bowl. Beat with an electronic mixer on low speed.Place flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon in a medium bowl and stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to banana and pumpkin mixture and beat until just moist.Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick placed in center comes out clean.Serves 12.

I also whipped up a batch of Candice Kumai's  Dreamy Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese from her book Cook Yourself Sexy. My friends and I all enjoyed the dish, but we agreed it tastes nothing like mac and cheese.  The picture above is from Candice's cookbook. I'm hesitant to post the actual pic of my dish as I'm afraid it will turn people off from making it. I attempted to substitute  in Daiya non-dairy cheese (which the orgininal recipe says is ok!); however, I didn't realize that the cheese would "crisp" up as quick as it did. Needless to say, my mac and cheese looks like cajun mac and cheese.

EEK- Definitely not the most flattering photo. Now, I love anything burnt, and therefore I was all about the crispy(well done) topping. This dish was really quite tasty, I promise. I would definitely make this recipe again, but I would not have my mind set on eating a mac and cheese- like dish. Please don't go by my photo!

Dreamy Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

(From Cook Yourself Sexy)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, halved, and seeded, then quartered and sliced into triangles


• 6 garlic cloves


• 1 thyme sprig


• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk

• 2 cups chicken stock, or vegetable stock to veganize


• 1 pound small elbow macaroni or mini shells


• 2 tablespoons grated Gruyere

HERBED BREADCRUMB TOPPING:

• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs


• 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

• 2 garlic cloves, minced


• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

DIRECTIONS

To make the mac 'n' cheese:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large saucepan, add the butternut squash, garlic cloves, thyme sprig, unsweetened almond milk, and stock. Cook until the butternut squash is fork-tender. Remove the sprig of thyme.Place the squash mixture in a food processor or blender and puree until velvety smooth.Meanwhile, cook the macaroni in salted water until it is al dente (semifirm). Drain and rinse with cool water.Spread out the macaroni in a lightly greased 13-inch x 9-inch pan. Pour the squash puree over the noodles.To make the breadcrumbs and bake:
Combine all the ingredients for the herbed breadcrumb topping.Cover the mac 'n' cheese with foil, place in the oven, and bake for approximately 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and evenly spread the breadcrumb topping and Gruyere over the top. Transfer to the broiler and broil for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

Notes

Want to veganize this dish? Opt for veggie stock, swap in almond cheese, and add fresh herbs like thyme, parsley, or even double the garlic.

While we still had our power on Monday, I started the day with a delicious bowl of Pumpkin Oatmeal.

I made PJ a veggie scramble with Daiya cheese, avacado, salsa, and sriracha sauce. After we enjoyed these nutritious breakfasts, our meals and workouts for the rest of the week were not optimal to say the least.  My friends and I all pitched in and put together breakfasts and dinners from what we had on hand. There was one grocery store open during the week which was ransacked of food and was instead stocked with people charging their phones/computers at various outlets throughout the store. We were thankfully able to grab a few odds and ends from the store to help us create a semblances of a meals.  We also took a group outing to Chili's on Wednesday as we were out of food, and it was the only restaurant in Jersey City open! On a side note: I don't think I've been to Chili's since high school, but my gosh I forgot how delish and comforting their food is (Chiliiissss baby back ribbbbbsss!). It was just what we all needed in the midst of a citywide shutdown. As far as exercise goes, I do suppose that the 17 flights of stairs I ascended and descended numerous times throughout the week did serve as cardio!

PJ and I (and my devil eyes!) at Chili's! Look how happy we are! Margaritas, fajitas, and chili cheese fries; what more could two hungry kids want?!

Things over here have pretty much returned to normal!  I didn't meal plan for the week this Sunday as I usually do because I'm a spoiled brat and FreshDirect was not up and running most of the stores didn't have a good selection. I've been flying by the seat of my pants so to speak and  have been attempting to create meals out of the few things I picked up on Sunday. While this isn't typically how I like to structure my week, it's been kind of fun trying to create tasty meals out of the limited ingredients I have on hand! I think I'm going to start trying to do be a little more spontaneous with my meals a couple nights during the week. I think it will enable me to be more of a creative and intuitive cook!  I mean, hey- if the meal doesn't work out, there is always take out! Right?

Sunday night's dinner consisted of a freekah, braised kale, chickpea, and roasted onion bowl. I made a vinaigrette using:

-1 tsp ground cumin
-1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
-1 garlic clove, minced
-1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
-1 tsp whole grain mustard
-juice from 1/2 of 1 small lemon
-kosher salt

Not to toot my own horn, but beep beep. This meal was fantastic.

 

Please excused my cracked bowl. I had a spaghetti squash on my counter, and last night I attempted a "pad thai" using spaghetti squash as the noodles. Holy guacamole was it good! I'm going to include the recipe I loosely followed below; however, I didn't have all the ingredients and made do with what I had. I would make this again and perhaps follow the recipe more closely, but I will say my improvising didn't turn out so bad!

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai:

(adapted from Well Fed)

1 batch of sunshine sauce (recipe below)
2 large eggs  ( I OMITTED)
2 teaspoons coconut aminos (I OMITTED)
2 teaspoons plus 1 teaspoon coconut oil (or fat of choice)
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup or however much you like)
1 cup snap peas, thinly sliced lengthwise ( I USED GREEN PEPPERS!)
2 cups cooked spaghetti squash
6-8 ounces grilled chicken thighs, diced ( I USED TOFU!)

1. Scramble the two eggs in a bowl with the coconut aminos. Heat a skillet, add your fat of choice and let it melt. Pour in the eggs and let it cook into an egg pancake. You’ll want to flip your pancake. Once it’s browned on both side take it out of the pan and slice into strips. You can also just scramble the eggs. That’s probably what I’ll do next time. My pancake didn’t really work. It stuck.


2. Using the same pan, increase the heat and add more of your fat of choice (coconut oil). Let the fat get hot and then add the onion and sliced snap peas. Sauté for a few minutes until crisply tender. Add the cooked spaghetti squash or Kelp Noodles, chicken and egg to the veggie mix. Stir until all is heated through.


3. Add as much of your Sunshine Sauce as you want. Stir it all up until everything is well blended.


4. Plate it. You may want to added some freshly chopped scallions, cilantro,  and/or almonds or cashews. I did and it was delicious.

Sunshine Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons of FRESH lime juice (I ONLY HAD LEMON- DEF WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER W/ LIME!)


• 1 clove of garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)


• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes


• 1 tablespoon Coconut Aminos (OMITTED- HONESTLY, HAD NO IDEA WHAT THIS WAS!)


• 1/4 teaspoon powdered Ginger


• 1/2 teaspoon Rice Vinegar (I DIDN'T HAVE SO I USED WHITE WINE VINEGAR!)


• 1/2 cup Sunflower Seed Butter  ( I USED A LITTLE LESS THEN 1/4 of A CUP AND IT WAS PLENTY FOR ME!)


• dash of ground cayenne pepper (optional)


• 1/4 cup Coconut Milk ( I SUBBED IN ALMOND MILK!)

1. Put all of your ingredients EXCEPT Coconut Milk into your food processor and process until well blended


2. Add the Coconut Milk and process again until smooth.


3. Use what you need and save the rest covered tightly in the fridge. You can use it as a dipping sauce too.

ENJOY!!!



 

Yesterday evening, I did some Yoga which was exactly what I needed to reset and start my week off right! I tried to hurl myself out of bed early this am and get my exercise on, but for some reason I just cannot motivate for an early morning workout.  I used to workout in the mornings at 6 am before work, and I thoroughly enjoyed being up before the sun to enjoy some alone time and a good sweat. Unfortunately, I got out of the habit and as I'm sure many of you know,  it's a difficult routine to get back into! Oh well, I can't say I didn't try. Alright kids, off to work I go! I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

xo

Sarah