"A day without sunshine is like, you know, night." - Steve Martin
I find it incredibly encouraging that - two days into the new year - the sun hasn't stopped shining yet. Heck, I haven't even been wearing a winter coat outside.
Likewise, things are going great on a personal level: I have new teaching gigs starting (my spring schedule below), I have a piece of choreography being performed in our big faculty dance concert at the university, and David and I are having a great end to vacation. It's amazing how much better people get along when the stresses of the workplace are eliminated. Sadly, David's back to work tomorrow and I'm back to work on Wednesday. But I guess vacations can't last forever...
In other news, I have a book recommendation for you today! On the surface, 400 Calorie Fix by Liz Vaccariello might seem like some kind of fad diet book. But it's really great! With the simple premise that calories in minus calories out equals weight gain or loss, Liz offers many recipes and solutions for the real world. She breaks down what you can - reasonably - eat at fast food restaurants, ball parks, casual restaurants, and even what to buy in grocery stores. It's incredibly practical too; Liz shows you what 2 oz of pasta looks like (a single serving size) and opposed to 4 or 6 oz. The book is a bit of a mash-up of a healthy cookbook and one of David Zinczenko's Eat This Not That books. I'm sure you understand how many cookbooks I own and, I must say, this one kept my attention way longer than most. There's a lot of quality information here (and recipes)!
And here's the latest news in regards to my eating habits (do you really even care?): I dropped the vegan/vegetarian title. I'm not going to turn into some Outback Steakhouse regular that shuns vegetables for extra macaroni & cheese and beef tips. However, I recognized that I was not eating well as a veg-head. There were carbohydrate binges, sugar binges, and other messy, unnecessary food dramas. If eating a piece of chicken the size of a stack of cards is worse than consuming an entire back of jalapeno pretzels, then perhaps I don't want to be right? I think vegetarianism is a great - and probably - healthier way of life...IF you can handle it. I couldn't stop thinking about how much better my eating habits were pre-veg. Aside from the question of meat vs. no meat, I was eating way less processed foods and junk when I included some animal protein and low fat dairy in my diet. So, for me, this is probably the way to go. *Sigh*
Anyway, I have two recipes for you today: an amazing "special" coffee from my friend Margaret Lion and a comforting lentil stew from yours truly. Enjoy!
Margaret's "Special" Coffee
My friend Margaret made this coffee during a fun afternoon movie marathon at her house. She uses really high quality coffee beans and Nesquick in her version; I use Dunkin' Donuts coffee and Nestle Fat Free Hot Chocolate Mix. Use whatever you have...it's delicious!
- 5-6 cups brewed coffee
- 1/2 cup Nestle Fat Free Hot Chocolate Mix
- 6 teaspoons Sugar Free Non-dairy Creamer (I use French Vanilla flavor)
Once the coffee is brewed, stir the hot chocolate mix and creamer directly into the coffee pot. Mix thoroughly and serve.
Lentil Stew
David is on a health kick and wanted me to make dinner with kale. I remembered a wonderful recipe from Katie Lee's cookbook The Comfort Table and decided to modify it. The original recipe called for bacon and sausage and - while I am eating meat once again - I didn't want all that grease and fat. Instead, I used a package of soy crumbles to serve as the "meat" and some seasonings, like Worcestershire sauce and Liquid Smoke, to add a deep, smokehouse flavor.
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 large or 3 small carrots, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 package soy crumbles
- garlic powder
- red pepper flakes
- liquid smoke
- Worcestershire sauce
- hot sauce
- 1 bunch kale
- 6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
- 1 cup lentils
Spray a large pot with cooking spray and bring to medium high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook for a few minutes...until the onion is translucent and the veggies soften. Add the soy crumbles and stir in the seasonings to taste: I went heavy on the garlic powder and red pepper flakes, gave just a few drops of liquid smoke, about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and quite a bit of hot sauce (I like spice). Do whatever works for you. While the crumbles saute and thaw, rip the kale leaves from their stem (discard the stems) and finely chop the leaves. Add them to the pot and stir everything together. Finally, add the lentils and stock. Stir everything again (make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot), cover, and simmer over low heat for an hour - stirring occasionally. serves 4
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And, last but not least, here is my spring teaching schedule. I am very excited to be teaching in some new environments! Hope to see you in class :)
Tuesday
Power Yoga
RecSports, Indiana University
HPER 171A
5:30-6:45
Wednesday
Yoga Dancefit
Panache Dance Studio
6:30-7:30
Thursday
Power Yoga
RecSports, Indiana University
SRSC Building, Room MS3
9:00-10:00
Hot Flow
Know Yoga Know Peace
7:00-8:15
Saturday
Yoga Dancefit
Panache Dance Studio
10:00-11:00
If you have any questions about classes, feel free to e-mail me at: eatmovechange@gmail.com.
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