by Sam Tackeff | Oct 10, 2012 | Baking, Breakfast, Lunch, Pantry Staples, Quick and Easy
The rains have come. This is, I assure you, better than the snow we could be having in October. But not by much. I took advantage of the day by staying cooped up, working from home, and getting many, many errands done.
My morning coffee was Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice again, in one of my new Miya boulder mugs. I picked these up at Abodeon in Cambridge last week. I love the matte earthy tones and cozy shape of each of these mugs – they make for new happier mornings! (Miya also makes them in jewel tones here.)
Mid-morning I made breakfast. Two eggs with the leftover vegetables from my slow cooker beef stew. I was busy playing with my phone, and thus didn’t notice the eggs overcooking on the stove. Shame on me!
In the afternoon, I took out my trusty stick blender to make some of Mel’s Sunshine Sauce from her cookbook Well Fed, which I love! Think of Sunshine Sauce as peanut sauce without the peanuts. The ingredients are lime juice, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, coconut aminos, powdered ginger, rice vinegar, sunflower seed butter, cayenne and coconut milk. You blend and then you are done.
For lunch, I cooked some ground turkey and spinach, served it over the leftover spaghetti squash, and poured on a good amount of sunshine sauce. Yes, it looks odd, but again, delicious! Actually, shockingly delicious.
In the evening, I listened to podcasts and set to work building our new IKEA Expedit bookshelf in birch. This was of our IKEA pieces I was most sad to give up when we moved from San Francisco (the other being our soft and comfy Tylosand couch), and my books have been sitting in boxes for way too long. It took me about an hour and a half of slow and steady work, and I practiced my Olympic lifts by getting it upright and in the next room by myself.
For dinner, I had to figure out what to do with the tiny lean eye of round I had purchased from M.F. Dulock. When I asked what he’d do with it, the butcher replied “probably sell it to someone else“. I probably should have listened.
I seasoned it with mushroom powder, and seared it off in a hot pan. My plan of attack to was to crank up the oven to 500, cook it for about 10 minutes, then turn the heat off and let it cook in the residual heat for about 2 hours. (This wasn’t quite as foolproof as I’d have liked. At the end, terrified that I had poisoned us by not cooking it enough, I seared it off again to make sure it was cooked through.)
While resting, I cooked some shredded brussels sprouts with some pancetta, salt, pepper, and a good swig of apple cider vinegar.
When I cut the meat, I have to say I was pretty surprised at how moist it was in the center, despite a slightly dry exterior. I’ll definitely choose a fattier cut of meat next time. Devon got his with a big scoop of mashed potatoes from Whole Foods, and I got mine with some of their zucchini and tomatoes. (I have no regrets spending $5 extra on sides at Whole Foods when I’ve made a mostly home cooked meal – especially when it means that we can each have a little extra of something we want without having to cook several extra dishes!)
After dinner, I had planned all day to try one of these single serve microwave cakes all the cool kids are eating. I found a simple recipe – almond meal, cocoa powder, an egg, honey, salt and cinnamon.
You mix it all together,
Then microwave for a minute and a half.
And then pour on a splash of coconut milk (or cream if you can eat it).
And devour.
It was almost perfect.
A little too sweet (I’ll put less honey next time). A little dry (I’ll add a bit of coconut oil and maybe some coconut milk to the batter, and microwave less.)
When I perfect it, I promise I’ll share.
But after a month of nearly no dessert, it certainly hit the spot.
by Sam Tackeff | Oct 8, 2012 | Challenge
Happy Columbus Day everyone! It was very busy around here this weekend, and I just came back from racing in my very first 10k! I’ll be writing a race-recap tonight, but in the meantime, I thought I’d present my weekend in pictures.
Now that my Whole30 is complete, I’m still in the midst of the gym challenge, but a lot more relaxed about eating snacks, eating out, etc. On Saturday morning, I ate a quick breakfast before we headed out on errands: a Chocolate Coconut Chew LÄRABAR, and a banana.
Our first errand was a trip to the Apple Store to pick up my brand new iPhone 5!
I’ve made it over a decade with only three phones:
1. A very trendy Samsung A300 (flip phone! text messages! the front screen lit up green! composer ring tone!), several years later when my poor little Samsung became possessed (it would turn on and off, flashing I kid you not – 666), I moved on up.
2. The Motorola KRAZR. Now I could take pictures with a 2 megapixel camera! Record my own ringtones! The “Itchy and Scratchy” theme song was my wake-up alarm for almost 5 years. Now every time I hear it watching old episodes of the Simpsons, I flinch. I’m not sure what I was thinking. Life was good.
3. And then a few years ago, my (now 20) year old brother insisted that we become data subscribers. He was so insistent in fact, that he purchased me a phone. So for the past three years I’ve been happy with my HTC EVO4G. It’s been particularly good to me, with the exception of killing power charging cords – I’ve gone through half a dozen in the past year alone.
I was due for an upgrade. I got the black one. (Photo via Engadget)
Our second errand was to get the birthday boy his brand new Banjo! He ended up with this Fender Rustler. It’s pretty, and it sounds wonderful. (Photo via themusiczoo)
When we came home, I had breakfast round 2 – a few Romanian sausages from M.F. Dulock, and some eggs.
In the afternoon, I went on a slow run around the neighborhood with a podcast – 3.27 miles in 44 minutes. My last go before race day!
For dinner, we met up with Amanda,
And my mom,
To celebrate this one’s birthday at Sweet Basil!
Sweet Basil is one of my favorite restaurants – a gem of a place in Needham.
The table started by eating inordinate amounts of bright pesto and bread. I, alas, abstained. I did consume a huge amount of roasted beet and goat cheese salad with dried apricots. (Minus the goat cheese which my mom ate, and minus the parmigiano which you see here, which was put on by accident after requesting the dairy on the side. We actually got a new one.)
For our entree, we shared the lamb shank with roasted vegetables over polenta (which I gave to my mom, regretfully, as it’s the most heavenly polenta you’ll taste). When I got home I realized that the shank might have been dredged in flour, and there might have been butter to finish the sauce – even though I had asked about dairy, I clearly wasn’t specific enough. A huge part of this challenge has been becoming more aware of just how difficult it is for folks with allergies and health concerns to eat safely, even when they think they are being careful. And it makes me extra thankful for my health. On the plus side, this was outrageously delicious.
On Sunday morning, I sat down to brunch – an avocado, and two eggs, with some pumpkin spice coffee from Trader Joe’s and some reading – Anne Lamott’s bird by bird. I’ve been taking much too long to read it, but love picking it up in small doses to avoid finishing it.
In the afternoon, we headed for an IKEA date.
I picked up my free IKEA coffee with my IKEA family card. And then, in further proof that something may be terribly wrong with me, I purchased and consumed this entire bag of almonds and raisins. Raisins, for the record, have tasted awful to me for the past two decades. I don’t know. I don’t understand it at all.
It was in IKEA that I discovered the full excitement of the new panorama feature on my iPhone.
We ended up with a new bookshelf, dresser, and bedside table – all part of our efforts to make our house more into a home. When we got back, I went for a short walk.
Fall!
Stately houses!
And came back to put together some furniture. Don’t let them tell you that IKEA sucks. We’ve been really happy with the furniture we’ve purchased from there in the past five years. Especially my beloved Tylosand couch which I had to give away before moving across the country, and mourn daily.
For dinner, I “carbo-loaded” for the race. And by that I mean, spaghetti squash and meat sauce. Not quite the same, I know. But I love my squash, and it twirls on the fork just like real pasta.
Before bed we sat around watching Devon’s Lakers pre-season game, and then got to sleep so that I could get a full 8 hours before my 10k attempt. More on that tomorrow!
