Exercise Update

I took some time off of seriously working out to prepare for our wedding. I know this is the opposite of most brides, but losing some muscle probably helped me fit into my dress.

It was a pretty snug fit--the dress was strapless

Now, I'm getting back into the swing of things. I haven't been out on the water for way too long, but have found it impractical to travel out to work early to get on the water, miss out on carpooling, and get sweaty and cold for the kids' practice.

Instead, I've come up with some alternative solutions.

First, I've started running the stairs in our apartment building. Of course, Dan informed me that in football, they made the players run stairs as punishment. Fortunately, I don't weigh 250 pounds, so running stairs is fun, not torture. It's also a great way to redevelop my leg strength.

I've also been doing some running outdoors. It's finally warm enough to run in shorts, so I'm starting to branch out and explore our neighborhood. Last week, I ran the 2 miles to the closest bread bakery around. The route runs by our local lake, and I saw lots of other joggers out--nobody else was carrying a baguette.

Other than rowing and running stairs, my third favorite work out is on the rowing machine. Instead of paying $40/month to join a gym, Dan and I decided to purchase a rowing machine! The club where I work is selling their used machines.

It's a little bit big for our apartment, but they stand up vertically. We plan to keep it in our bedroom, but in the summer I look forward to wheeling it out onto our balcony! I'll probably get strange looks from passersby, but at least I'm exercising!

As my mileage increases, look forward to more and more cake recipes! I eat a lot when I work out.

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Brussel Sprout Pasta

As we were menu planning last week, we realized we'd been relying heavily on Asian flavors for our weeknight meals. (Probably thanks to our local farmer's market.) We were ready for a change.

We don't usually make pasta because meat-free sauces tend to be tomato-based and too sweet/acidic or cream-based and too fatty. Instead, we dreamed up this awesome vegan "sauce"--really it's more like a hot pasta salad.

This dish is full of vegetables--way more than the standard pasta sauce--and can be customized to your tastes. We added parsley, basil and oregano. Add your favorite herbs (or whatever is in season). Throw in some chickpeas (I did--the next day for lunch!) or top with parmesan/nutritional yeast. We decided to go for simplicity--we wanted dinner on the table ASAP--so the ingredients are brussel sprouts and herb.

As for pasta shapes, I recommend campanelle, mostly because it's our favorite shape, but also because the strings of sprout get tangled in the dough. Fusilli, radiatore or rotini are good alternatives.

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Brussel Sprout Pasta
serves 3-4

1T oil
1.5-2 pounds of brussel sprouts
1c veggie stock
0.25c parsley, basil, oregano, chopped
2T garlic oil {optional}
0.5 meyer lemon
1 pound pasta
salt

1. Put a pot of water on to boil. In the meantime, slice your brussel sprouts into 0.25 inch disks. They will unravel into small shreds.
2. Once the water is boiling, add copious salt. Return to a boil and add the pasta.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, add the brussel sprouts, stirring every minute or two until the sprouts begin to brown nicely.
4. Once the sprouts are browned and a bit wilty, add the veggie stock, and simmer to reduce a bit.
5. Once cooked, drain the pasta, reserved about a cup of the cooking liquid, and return to pot. Add the brussel sprouts and herbs to the pasta, tossing to combine. Add pasta water or garlic oil as necessary until the noodles glisten.
6. Squeeze half of a meyer lemon over the top. Add the zest if you feel inclined.
7. Serve hot, with any toppings you desire. Suggestions: poppy seeds, more herbs, parmesan cheese (not vegan), nutritional yeast, garbanzo beans, blanched almonds
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A Growing Garden

Dan and I have a pretty spectacular balcony garden growing. It turns out, California winter really is mild enough for plants to thrive.

Last update, we had a few plants growing; most of them had yet to germinate. In the last few weeks, the growth has been tremendous. I also got a little bit excited and purchased more seeds to fill out gaps in the garden. Many of those seeds will go into the ground during the summer months, after the first solid harvests.

To track what has been planted and how much, I came up with this handy spreadsheet:

It tracks what I've planted, when I planted it, how much I've planted, when it will germinate, and when it should be ready to harvest. Of course it isn't all accurate. My green beans should be ready to harvest in 5 days, but many don't even have 3 leaves yet. The cold weather has definitely slowed growth.

So far, the radishes and the mesclun are absolutely thriving. I also have the lettuce inside, which is growing quite nicely. One of my cabbages has died, and I'm trying to decide whether to replant or repurpose the pot.

The carrots are showing minimal above ground growth, but I imagine they are working their magic underground. They are just about ready to be thinned again so that I can check their progress.

The beets were planted recently, but quickly shot up bright red stems. I expect they'll continue to grow nicely, as they're definitely cool weather plants.

In addition to the plants listed, we have several herbs--cilantro, basil, thyme, chives and potentially parsley. (I planted a slew of herbs and gave up on them before they germinated. They're now sprouting up in an otherwise abandoned section.)

We also have three citrus trees--a lemon tree, a lime tree and a kumquat tree. The lemon tree is absolutely thriving in the California climate.  It has grown tremendously and is starting to display the early signs of fruit.

Baby lemons.

The lime tree was less happy about CA winter. Once we disposed of our Christmas tree, I brought the lime tree indoors to take its place. It has since started to grow rapidly, including an abundance of new branches. A little bit of reading about proper watering also improved its health.

The kumquat tree is a recent addition, purchased with fruits already adorning its branches. I have it in a reasonably sunny location, just hoping the fruits ripen fully. I haven't had an opportunity to buy a larger pot for it, so it's currently living in the black nursery pot it came with.

The cucumber and tomato seedlings are growing well in our living room. I'm looking forward to transitioning them outdoors, and seeing if they survive the shock.

I still have enough soil and space for a few more plants, but I'm waiting until the weather is a bit warmer. I'm hoping to plant some in early spring (mid- to late February) for an early summer harvest, and again in late spring once the winter plantings are harvested.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Blueberry Bran Muffins

Last week, Dan put in a request for muffins. Specifically, he had a hankering for bran muffins. With blueberries in the fridge, we went off in search of wheat bran and a blueberry bran muffin recipe.

The recipe we found called for applesauce. We have applesauce from a granola/granola bar experiment (post coming soon! they were incredible!) but decided that banana and blueberry were a match made in heaven.

Although I'm not a fan of blueberry muffins or bran muffins, these were moist and tender--generally positive descriptors for muffins. They be divine with some shredded coconut to mask the bran flavor, and perhaps cranberries in place of blueberries..

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Blueberry Bran Muffins
makes 6 jumbo muffins
adapted from allrecipes.com

1.5c wheat bran
1c milk
1 large ripe banana, mashed
1 egg
0.67c brown sugar
0.5t vanilla extract
0.5c AP flour
0.5c whole wheat flour
1t baking soda
1.5t baking powder
0.5t salt
1c blueberries, rinsed and lightly dried (or cranberries!!)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a muffin pan or use non-stick.
2. Mix the wheat bran and milk together; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Mix together the banana, egg, brown sugar, vanilla extract in a large bowl. Add the wheat bran and milk mixture.
4. Sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. (Sift! We didn't and our muffins had some flour lumps! These muffins are dark, so it's obviously if you've got a white clump of flour.)
5. Add the blueberries to the flour mixture, coating them with flour.
6. Add the blueberries and flour to the wet ingredients and fold to combine.
7. Divide evenly into muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes. The tops will spring back when lightly pressed, and a toothpick inserted into the middle will come out cleanly.

Serve warm with a big glass of water.
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Slow Cooker: Lentil Soup

When we moved into our own apartment, we quickly realized how great slow cookers are. We have a 2.5 quart super basic model--it has four settings: high, low, keep warm and off. It's a little bit small for two people, but a soup recipe will usually give us two generous dinner servings and one lunch serving.

When we moved out, my parents gave us a collection of beans as a moving out present. Slow cookers and beans are best friends. We use our slow cooker to make batches of garbanzos and black beans for use in salads, salsas and dips. Lentil soup is also one of the first things we made in our slow cooker.

This recipe can be as simple or complicated as you desire. We like to brown all of the aromatics in a big frying pan and then add them to the slow cooker. That takes time, but makes the house smell delicious. For the quick and easy route, chop everything in a big food processor, dump it in the slow cooker and go.

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Slow Cooker Lentil Soup
makes 2.5 servings

2 carrots
2 celery stalks
0.5 onion
3 cloves garlic
2t cumin seed {optional}
3c water or broth
1c green/brown lentils
1 28oz can tomatoes
2-3t cumin

1. {Optional} Chop/mince the carrots, celery, onion and garlic and saute in a pan over low heat until the onions are translucent. (You are trying to mingle flavors first.) Add the cumin seed. Turn the heat up to high and briefly brown the ingredients until things are just about to burn.
2. Dump all of the ingredients into the slow cooker. Turn on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
3. Garnish with cilantro or parsley, and more cumin seeds.
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