Whole grains are delicious.

I’m having an RA flare, and while it’s relatively mild, I’m still finding it quite annoying because it’s all spread out - left knee, right hip, left hand, and jaw. Fun times all around, basically. So, no kickboxing for me, but I did hit the gym after work to do some cardio and weights. I’m always really proud of myself when I manage to exercise through pain - as long as it’s not excruciating, it really helps.

But enough self-congratulation. Wait, no. I’m not done. This meal was really delicious, too:

I’m going mostly meatless this week, just because meat is expensive and I didn’t want to buy any before we go on vacation. Good thing, too, because I took some WebMD diet assessment today and it was all DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! TOO. MUCH. PROTEIN.

So the main course (top right corner) was a delightful barley and walnut salad. It was inspired by a recipe from Food and Wine, with some major modifications. I’m more of a Cooking Light kind of girl, so I was a little appalled by the fact that the recipe called for 1/3 cup of olive oil. Just the idea of that makes me feel kind of sickly. Anyway, it’s barley, a few toasted walnuts, some spinach that I threw in with the barley at the last minute, a nice lemon vinaigrette, and some feta.

Close up:

I also roasted some veggies to have on the side, because I wanted to take advantage of the fact that it was only 78 degrees.

Now I’m off to clean and read and stress out over whether or not I can make it to the gym in the morning.

Sunday. Again.

I was more or less productive today, so I only have 21 things left on my list. Not bad!

In other good news, it was a lovely day, with temperatures ranging from ten to twenty zillion degrees. Approximately.

Okay, not really, but when I drove back from the gym at 7:00pm, I passed one bank sign that said it was 100, and one that said it was 106. Mmm. Steamy. I thought I was hallucinating when I passed the first one, as I had just spent 90 minutes in a big gym with an air conditioner malfunction, doing yoga with four other clearly deranged women. I just kept telling myself that people pay big money to do yoga in 108 degree rooms, so really, I was getting a great deal. This powered me through the eight times I almost passed out.

So, I came home and made a tasty dinner to lift my spirits and get my energy back. I got a huge bunch of chard at the farmers market yesterday, and I was planning to make this recipe again, but I decided to get fancy and do my own variation.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients (measures are approximate):

• humongous bunch of swiss chard
• garlic
• 10 ounces whole wheat pasta (I used linguine)
• 2 cups (or 1 can) of cannellini beans (rinsed well if canned)
• 1 can of stewed Italian style tomatoes
• 1 cup of tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes, but you could use whatever), roasted
• 1/4 cup of white wine (dry works best)
• 1/8 cup of chicken or veggie broth
• 1/8 cup of water
• Tsp olive oil

How to cook them:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-low. Add chard, white wine, garlic and cover. Let chard wilt, about three or four minutes. Stir a few times.
3. Add beans, tomatoes, broth, water, and more garlic to taste. Cook through, about six minutes.
4. Stir into pasta, heating over low heat for a few minutes until sauce thickens.

It makes about six servings. Plenty for dinner and leftovers for Matt’s lunches.

I added some parmesan to mine. And I had a salad, too. Baby spinach, roasted red pepper vinaigrette, and parmesan. Hey, it was out.

While cooking, I enjoyed my new favorite beer, Old Cherry from New Belgium Brewing Company. Brewed with the juice of real cherries. Cherries and beer? How could it go wrong?

Okay, an hour before bed. Let’s see if I can knock anything else off my list.

Oh! I almost forgot. In the midst of my productivity, I took a break and actually wrote things about me on my About Me page. It’s like See Food: The E! True Hollywood Story.

Shrimp and grits

I don’t have much time because I am catching up on old episodes of that Legally Blonde reality show my reading. But this dinner was really good, so I’m posting it.

It’s baked shrimp with tomatoes and feta, from my new Ellie Krieger cookbook (THANKS, MATT!). She recommends serving it over rice or orzo, but I was in the mood for polenta. And, with all due respect to Ellie, I’m the boss around here.

My toe is slightly better today, though still a lot of colors I don’t feel entirely comfortable with. I also forgot to mention that I found “evidence” (use your imagination) of a mouse in my filing cabinet at work yesterday. Today they set traps in my office! SO MUCH EXCITEMENT.

Here’s what’s going to happen, I can almost guarantee: my toe will heal and I’ll be able to wear open-toed shoes again. And then I’ll step on a mousetrap. The end.

Okay there’s a lot of crying on this show right now, so I’m going to go enjoy it.

I am clumsy.

Okay, so we had a nice little mini-honeymoon/celebration of Matt’s birth in Lawrence, which involved more food than it probably should have. Good food. But a lot. But a mini-honeymoon comes around, what, once every… month or so?

Anyway, after all the wedding/conference/birthday/Matt’s birthday/mini-honeymoon eating, I was all prepared to come back home and get back into my exercise and healthy(ish) eating routine and then I tripped while putting on some shorts yesterday afternoon and stubbed my toe so hard that I couldn’t walk for a few hours. So, being the smart and healthy person that I am, I skipped the gym and ate cake instead!

This morning I happened to notice that my toe was gray. Oops. I hobbled to work and called the doctor, who did some x-rays and things. Turns out it’s not broken! Just badly bruised! Sweet! But I can’t bend it and it looks really gross. Seriously. My doctor actually said “eww.” Needless to say, I was advised against kickboxing. I can’t exercise for 48-72 hours, and even then, I’m supposed to do the stationary bike until it fully heals. I loathe the stationary bike. I guess this is why you shouldn’t walk and put on shorts at the same time. This morning while I was getting ready for work, Matt yelled “STAND STILL,” just as a reminder.

But enough about me!

Just kidding. This whole blog is about me.

It was really hot today and we had almost no groceries, so we threw together this Mexican Pasta Salad, from Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites, which I picked up for 8 bucks in Lawrence. I love all things Moosewood, and this was no exception. Light but filling and if I’d only been able to resist the cookies I had afterwards, it would have been a really healthy end to my day.

Yum.

I need to go ice my gimp toe now.

I am very healthy.

I started today assuming that it was going to be horrible, which, if you’re wondering, is not the best strategy for getting through. For once, though, I was completely wrong and my day was very affirming. This happens sometimes.

I did cardio this morning and was pretty hungry for most of the day, and then I went to yoga after work (my crane pose is up to .000006 seconds off the floor!) and that killed my appetite but I knew I needed something in me, so I thought “What can I force myself to eat?” And then, “How can I work in some cheese?” I was planning a bean salad so I mixed that up and then hit upon my best idea of the day: nachos. So I layered my bean salad (chickpeas, pinto, black, and kidney beans, corn, a diced tomato, cumin, lime juice, S + P, and cilantro) with some cheese and those blue corn flaxseed Target chips I love, and microwaved it. Here they are with some avocado and sour cream for garnish.

I used to eat loaded nachos every single week during grad school. And when I say loaded, I mean, literally cups of cheese. With a side of jumbo margarita. And I still lost weight during that period of time. HOW DID I DO THAT?

Last night, I was really efficient, and I had much lunch packed, the coffee pot timer set, and my gym bag ready before I went to bed. This is likely directly related to my day going well.

Tonight, I’ll probably eat some ice cream and look at the dishes and say stuff to myself like, “We should really make room in the refrigerator for the cake” and then fall asleep on my book before I do anything about any of it.

Wait, I’m trying to be positive.

I will eat ice cream! The end.

Double dinner

Okay, not really. Not that I haven’t been known to indulge in a fourthmeal every now and again. Although, for me, it’s really more like eighthmeal. I eat a lot of meals.

Anyway, Matt and I have been wanting to try out our new grill pans (Thanks Mom and Dad and new Mom and Dad!), so Matt made portobello panini while I was on my way home from work. I wasn’t that hungry, because I’m on this new medicine that’s been making me feel sickly, so I just had this one and decided to wait until later for the rest of my meal.

Gorgonzola and sun dried tomatoes pressed between portobello halves. So, yeah. Delicious.

Then I ran to Target with Donna and suddenly it was 8 when I got home and I only had an hour before the Top Chef FINALE. We had a bunch of leftover portobello pieces, so I decided to marinate and roast those. I also needed some veggies, protein, and calories to round out my eating for the day, so I roasted some tomatoes (grape tomatoes - they’re safe), broccoli, and chickpeas along with the mushrooms. Then I really wanted couscous but the salad greens aren’t going to last much longer, so I compromised and had both. Look at this bounty:

Up close:

Roasted chickpeas are great. I think I’ll have some more in a few minutes. Oh, I also added some goat cheese. Because. It’s goat cheese.

Top Chef is on.

Boo, Lisa.

99% local

Well, we ate local and I have the bruises to prove it. You’ll see.

I was really productive today and checked off maybe 42 things from my to do list. Granted, I’m one of those people who adds things they’ve already done, just to check them off. But, whatever. I’d say that 47 or however many things is still a lot.

After kickboxing, I had to go to Target to get a new prescription filled and to pick up some absolute essentials like conditioner and Now and Laters. By the time I got home I thought I was going to die, and Matt was wasting away on the couch so I made my quick local dinner. Things got thrown off track when the local cheese I already had on hand turned out to be bad (which I didn’t know until I ate some of it). I had to run to the grocery store. I literally ran. I was that hungry. And still in my gym clothes so it looked normalish.

Anyway, here’s what we had:

Spinach/tomato/cheese/egg scramble with a strawberry salad w/ honey dressing and kale chips. The 1% non-local food was a little olive oil. I need to do research, but I’m guessing we don’t have olives here.

What would have made this perfect would have been some goat cheese. I know there are goats around here, so I’m going to have to look into that.

I went back for seconds on the kale chips and the salad, and while I was eating the salad, I also, inadvertently, ate half a bug. The other half is on the floor somewhere, where I threw it, screaming. I was screaming, not the bug. That would have been horrifying.

Matt was in charge of washing the greens. That’s all I’m going to say.

His response? “Like my dad always said, bugs indicate freshness.”

I’m trying to work through it.

Last night we had balsamic chicken with steamed green beans/asparagus and whole wheat couscous. See:

Tasty.

Miss Rap Supreme is on, so I’m outta here.

Guess what? We had pasta and veggies again.

After last night’s state of events, I woke up to a really shockingly beautiful day. I mean seriously, when my alarm rang at 6:15 there were birds chirping. It was ridiculous. So, anyway, that meant that I didn’t have to cancel my rheumatologist appointment in Topeka, so I checked my oil and went on my merry way.

My rheumatologist didn’t have a clue about all of my recent health issues, which was a surprise to me, as my pulmonologist was all “Oh, we must keep your other physicians apprised of this situation” (no lie, that’s how he talks). So anyway, today my doctor said “Let’s find out what’s going on,” which was really comforting until the lab assistant came at me with the big needle and took half of my blood. I ate a snack but I still felt woozy. LUCKILY, there is a Kohl’s nearby where I could wait it out. And buy some shoes.

Then I drove back and went to work, after which I forced myself to go to the gym because I felt guilty that I didn’t really get any exercise yesterday.

Wait, does RUNNING FOR MY LIFE count? Man, I really could have used that earlier.

Then we played mini-golf and came home for an exceptionally late dinner of pasta and tuna and feta and a ton of veggies that were on their respective ways out. I bet you wish I had skipped that whole first part and just gotten to the point.

I think we really nailed the whole colors of the rainbow thing.

Now I’m watching The Tudors. So far, it’s pretty dirty.

I can’t think of a title.

Today was kind of rough, so I’ll keep this short.

Dinner was pan-fried tempeh, bulgur pilaf, and roasted vegetables:

I’ve never roasted broccoli before. It was awesome. I’ve also never cooked tempeh before. I’ve eaten it, and one of my favorite Planet Sub sandwiches is the tempeh parmesan. I loved making it. I think I’m going to make it every single day for the rest of my life. This blog will now be called See Food (But Only Tempeh). Nice, right?

Here’s a close-up. It looks like I burned it, but that’s actually a soy sauce/rice vinegar coating type of thing. I hope.

Mmmmmmm. Grainy.

Anyway, now I’m struggling with my eternal question: Edy’s fruit bar or coffee ice cream?

Both?

I also ate dinner

I got so involved in sharing interesting things about myself that I almost forgot to post dinner:

Whole wheat fettucine topped with diced tomatoes, garlic, basil, spinach, mushrooms, and shrimp. With some roasted tomato and basil bread from the farmers’ market on the side:

Then I decided that I wanted cookies. So I made some of these.

They look huge here! I wish they were that big. Anyway, I had to cut way down on the chocolate chips because I was almost out. So I added a little unsweetened coconut to make up for it. Mmm. Cookies.