We had a cookout after practice last night with grilled chicken, veggies and s'mores to round out the evening. We also had some of the first corn of the season! Yum!
I grilled corn quite a bit last summer, and tried it both ways--husk on and husk off.
Husk on, the corn seems a lot more moist, but it also takes a bit longer to cook and doesn't get those yummy char marks on the corn. (Yes, the same yummy char marks that also cause cancer.)
Husk off, the corn is incredibly delicious, but it cooks a bit less evenly and can dry out in the heat.
Today, we grilled the corn husk on, opened it, realized it wasn't all the way cooked, and put it back on husked to get char marks as it finished cooking. I think this is probably the ideal cooking method, but it's kind of a pain (literally--you'll probably burn your fingers).
How do you cook your summer corn? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.
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6.11.2011
6.09.2011
$12 a day
I'm not saying $12 isn't generous, but when you have a $5/day ice cream habit (fueled by all-you-can-eat ice cream in the dining halls), it brings your budget down to $7/day. Since I'm trying to also make up for the two or three days where we didn't receive per diem, my daily budget is really down to about $5/day.
If I had to buy everything from scratch, I almost certainly would fail to meet this budget, but I already had a lot of food stockpiled from the year. Here's an example of what I've been eating. Italics are things that I already had stocked in my pantry or acquired from kitchens or departing students.
----- ----- -----
Breakfast:
Instant oatmeal + nuts + seeds + cinnamon, strawberries, banana + peanut butter
Snack
apple + peanut butter, chocolate chips
Lunch
leftover gnocchi with kale and pesto
bread with cream cheese
bread with hummus or cheddar
banana
chocolate chips
Snack
Banana
Triscuits
Carrots and hummus
During Practice
Gatorade
Dinner
Rice with veggies
Dessert
Free ice cream with chocolate-hazelnut fudge sauce
Snack
Strawberries
----- ----- -----
Perhaps now you understand just how much I eat. This is a pretty light food day for me (other than the quantity of free ice cream consumed). I also eat a lot of fresh (and frozen!) fruits and veggies, which gets expensive.
Generally, I eat very plain and simple foods that are carefully selected and well prepared, but don't make any restrictions beyond that. (Bring on the ice cream! As long as it's made with cream and sugar.) This is especially true now that I'm making everything myself--simplicity is wonderful.
How would you describe your eating habits? Plain and simple? Lots of lowfat/nonfat foods? Full of spices? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.
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If I had to buy everything from scratch, I almost certainly would fail to meet this budget, but I already had a lot of food stockpiled from the year. Here's an example of what I've been eating. Italics are things that I already had stocked in my pantry or acquired from kitchens or departing students.
----- ----- -----
Breakfast:
Instant oatmeal + nuts + seeds + cinnamon, strawberries, banana + peanut butter
Snack
apple + peanut butter, chocolate chips
Lunch
leftover gnocchi with kale and pesto
bread with cream cheese
bread with hummus or cheddar
banana
chocolate chips
Snack
Banana
Triscuits
Carrots and hummus
During Practice
Gatorade
Dinner
Rice with veggies
Dessert
Free ice cream with chocolate-hazelnut fudge sauce
Snack
Strawberries
----- ----- -----
Perhaps now you understand just how much I eat. This is a pretty light food day for me (other than the quantity of free ice cream consumed). I also eat a lot of fresh (and frozen!) fruits and veggies, which gets expensive.
Generally, I eat very plain and simple foods that are carefully selected and well prepared, but don't make any restrictions beyond that. (Bring on the ice cream! As long as it's made with cream and sugar.) This is especially true now that I'm making everything myself--simplicity is wonderful.
How would you describe your eating habits? Plain and simple? Lots of lowfat/nonfat foods? Full of spices? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.
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6.08.2011
Everyday Veggies: 20 Minute Dinner
Our meal contracts ended at the end of the semester (almost three weeks ago). Because we're on campus training, we are given per diem to pay for our food.
Our budget for this week is $12/day. I know this seems like a lot, but with no cooking equipment, and very few resources (like olive oil, or spices) this is a pretty limited budget. It feels even smaller when you need to eat between 3000 and 4000 calories a day just to maintain weight.
So I've been all about cheap, easy, fast meals. (When it's 95 and you finished practice at 7PM, easy and fast are key ingredients.)
----- ----- -----
20-Minute Dinner: Rice and Veggies
serves 2 (generously)
Equipment
stove
big pot
frying pan
knife
Ingredients
1c white rice ($0.50)
a large bunch of kale ($2)
0.5 small head of purple cabbage ($0.50)
pre-chopped mushrooms (or you can chop your own) ($2)
0.25 medium onion (optional) ($0.08)
olive oil (as much as you can pilfer from the public kitchen)
chili flakes, or whatever other spices you find in the kitchen
Directions
1. Put the rice and 2c of water into a big pot. (Use more rice to stretch this meal even further.) Turn it to high.
2. Remove the stems from the kale. Keeping them separate, chop the cabbage and the onion.
3. When the rice boils, turn it to low and add the kale to the pot. Put the lid on.
4. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. When it's hot, add the spices and onions. Cook 2-3 minutes, then add the mushrooms and cabbage. Continue cooking until the mushrooms and cabbage are softening, about 5 minutes. (If you like well-cooked mushrooms, add these before the cabbage.)
5. Add the mushrooms/cabbage to the big pot. (The rice should be finished cooking at this point.) Mix everything together and enjoy.
----- ----- -----
This would also be good with some romano grated over the top, or with frozen spinach instead of kale. The spinach would be a lot cheaper.
Still, $5 for two very generous servings was a great deal. (More rice would have made it an even cheaper meal, albeit less nutritious, by stretching it to three servings. Unfortunately, it was the last of my rice.)
The meal was capped off with raspberry sorbet from the The Bent Spoon and chocolate-hazelnut fudge sauce, courtesy of the public refrigerator. (Everybody has left for the summer--these were clearly abandoned by their previous owners.) Free dessert! YAY!
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.
Like what you read? Share it on Facebook, Twitter or GoogleBuzz using the buttons below!
Our budget for this week is $12/day. I know this seems like a lot, but with no cooking equipment, and very few resources (like olive oil, or spices) this is a pretty limited budget. It feels even smaller when you need to eat between 3000 and 4000 calories a day just to maintain weight.
So I've been all about cheap, easy, fast meals. (When it's 95 and you finished practice at 7PM, easy and fast are key ingredients.)
----- ----- -----
20-Minute Dinner: Rice and Veggies
serves 2 (generously)
Equipment
stove
big pot
frying pan
knife
Ingredients
1c white rice ($0.50)
a large bunch of kale ($2)
0.5 small head of purple cabbage ($0.50)
pre-chopped mushrooms (or you can chop your own) ($2)
0.25 medium onion (optional) ($0.08)
olive oil (as much as you can pilfer from the public kitchen)
chili flakes, or whatever other spices you find in the kitchen
Directions
1. Put the rice and 2c of water into a big pot. (Use more rice to stretch this meal even further.) Turn it to high.
2. Remove the stems from the kale. Keeping them separate, chop the cabbage and the onion.
3. When the rice boils, turn it to low and add the kale to the pot. Put the lid on.
4. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. When it's hot, add the spices and onions. Cook 2-3 minutes, then add the mushrooms and cabbage. Continue cooking until the mushrooms and cabbage are softening, about 5 minutes. (If you like well-cooked mushrooms, add these before the cabbage.)
5. Add the mushrooms/cabbage to the big pot. (The rice should be finished cooking at this point.) Mix everything together and enjoy.
----- ----- -----
This would also be good with some romano grated over the top, or with frozen spinach instead of kale. The spinach would be a lot cheaper.
Still, $5 for two very generous servings was a great deal. (More rice would have made it an even cheaper meal, albeit less nutritious, by stretching it to three servings. Unfortunately, it was the last of my rice.)
The meal was capped off with raspberry sorbet from the The Bent Spoon and chocolate-hazelnut fudge sauce, courtesy of the public refrigerator. (Everybody has left for the summer--these were clearly abandoned by their previous owners.) Free dessert! YAY!
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.
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A Long Overdue Update
It's been almost a month since my last post, but lots has happened.
Academically, I finished my last class, took my last final, turned in my last project and GRADUATED! Graduation here is a three day affair, involving baccalaureate, class day (with class speakers and honorary class member awards) and commencement. This year, it was disgustingly hot--we're talking 95 degrees, sitting in a black polyester gown in the sun. Gross!
The weather was especially gross because we were also still training! During finals, we raced at the regional championships, Eastern Sprints. And we won!
Dan also got to come watch races and take pictures. He got a ZipCar membership, rented a car and drove down, which was awesome.
Three weeks later (last weekend), we raced at the national championships. We had hoped for 1st place, but come in 2nd after a very close race with Stanford. It was disappointing, but it was also a phenomenal race. After falling pretty far behind them in the first half of the race, we had a spectacular sprint to finish 0.68s behind them, with over 7 seconds between us and the third place crew.
Among all of this, I also entertained two families (mine and Dan's), got sick, packed up our stuff to get moved across the country, changed rooms, and cooked for myself.
I know most of you probably cook for yourself on a regular basis, but I promise it's much more challenging when you have to use a communal kitchen. It becomes even more challenging when most of your cooking equipment (including all of your good knives) are on a truck driving across the country. I'm currently cooking with one pot, one knife, two hot pads and whatever I can find in the kitchen.
I'm still on campus now, and still training. As a result of our undefeated regular season and our win at the regional championships, our program's alumni association has sponsored our boat to race at Women's Henley in England. We've been enjoying the hot weather and empty campus.
As you can tell, I've been quite busy. Now that life is starting to settle down a bit, expect more regular updates!
Academically, I finished my last class, took my last final, turned in my last project and GRADUATED! Graduation here is a three day affair, involving baccalaureate, class day (with class speakers and honorary class member awards) and commencement. This year, it was disgustingly hot--we're talking 95 degrees, sitting in a black polyester gown in the sun. Gross!
The weather was especially gross because we were also still training! During finals, we raced at the regional championships, Eastern Sprints. And we won!
 |
| We didn't have a bucket of Gatorade. |
Three weeks later (last weekend), we raced at the national championships. We had hoped for 1st place, but come in 2nd after a very close race with Stanford. It was disappointing, but it was also a phenomenal race. After falling pretty far behind them in the first half of the race, we had a spectacular sprint to finish 0.68s behind them, with over 7 seconds between us and the third place crew.
Among all of this, I also entertained two families (mine and Dan's), got sick, packed up our stuff to get moved across the country, changed rooms, and cooked for myself.
I know most of you probably cook for yourself on a regular basis, but I promise it's much more challenging when you have to use a communal kitchen. It becomes even more challenging when most of your cooking equipment (including all of your good knives) are on a truck driving across the country. I'm currently cooking with one pot, one knife, two hot pads and whatever I can find in the kitchen.
I'm still on campus now, and still training. As a result of our undefeated regular season and our win at the regional championships, our program's alumni association has sponsored our boat to race at Women's Henley in England. We've been enjoying the hot weather and empty campus.
As you can tell, I've been quite busy. Now that life is starting to settle down a bit, expect more regular updates!
5.10.2011
Weighing In
As part of women's lightweight rowing, all athletes competing are required to weigh-in at or under 130 pounds (59kg) the day before competition. This is no easy feat considering our training schedule, daily weight fluctuations and needing to balance muscle with body fat.
This is my first year rowing as a lightweight, and I came back to school this fall at 142 pounds. It has been quite a process making weight.
In the fall, our coach requested that we all maintain weight under 136 pounds. Although we raced a few longer races in the fall, the weight requirement was 133 pounds during that portion of the season.
Over the first few weeks back at school, my weight quickly dropped from 142 pounds to around 136 pounds, just from the increase in training volume and the change to dining hall meal plans. Still, I had an incredibly amount of willpower for the first few months on campus, restricting my dessert intake, and eating between 1500 and 2000 calories a day.
In the winter, our coach requested that we all start to drop our weight down, and the new weight standard became 135 pounds. Of course, 135 pounds seems like a very concrete number when you realize how much your weigh fluctuates on a daily basis. My weight often fluctuates 4 pounds in a day, with my lightest weight in the morning and my heaviest right after dinner.
This is my first year rowing as a lightweight, and I came back to school this fall at 142 pounds. It has been quite a process making weight.
In the fall, our coach requested that we all maintain weight under 136 pounds. Although we raced a few longer races in the fall, the weight requirement was 133 pounds during that portion of the season.
Over the first few weeks back at school, my weight quickly dropped from 142 pounds to around 136 pounds, just from the increase in training volume and the change to dining hall meal plans. Still, I had an incredibly amount of willpower for the first few months on campus, restricting my dessert intake, and eating between 1500 and 2000 calories a day.
In the winter, our coach requested that we all start to drop our weight down, and the new weight standard became 135 pounds. Of course, 135 pounds seems like a very concrete number when you realize how much your weigh fluctuates on a daily basis. My weight often fluctuates 4 pounds in a day, with my lightest weight in the morning and my heaviest right after dinner.
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