by Sam Tackeff | Sep 9, 2013 | Local stores, Meal Planning
When was the last time you got yourself a bouquet of flowers? I’m ashamed to say it had been far too long since I’d done so – and flowers really do make me smile every time I walk by them. I picked up this gorgeous bouquet of dahlias last Sunday at Russo’s in Watertown, and they’ve lasted me all week long.
This week, I’ve been following the prompts for Sarah Jenks‘ ‘Live More, Weigh Less Challenge’. As a health coach, I’m particularly fond of following the work of others in the health and wellness space, and Sarah does some really great work changing women’s lives. One of the reasons I went to nutrition school was purely for self-education, and I’ve learned so much not just from my teachers, but from my peers. Nearly a decade into my journey to good health, I feel like there is still so much to learn about myself, so participating in challenges like this is my version of continuing education.
The challenges this week have been utterly joyful, and there’s something very satisfying knowing that you are participating in self-care with a large group of people who are committed to doing the same. We’ve been instructed to buy ourselves flowers, make a luscious green smoothie, hike, and watch the sunset. All of which, I’ve documented on my Instagram if you’d like a peek: @alphaprep – I’d love to connect there. Now, these are all things that I know I should be doing, but sometimes I need a little prompting to put myself first and get out there. Maybe you do too? If so, I’m fairly sure you can jump into the challenge at any time. (And lest this sounds like too much of a shill, I’m not affiliated with Sarah in any way, other than I think she’s great!)
This week I sat down at a new (to me) coffee shop called Fuel to get my meal planning on. I ordered a Cortado (espresso with milk), and a large iced coffee, and got to writing.
Before leaving my house, I took a quick snapshot of the contents of my fridge and freezer to avoid letting produce go to waste, and used leftovers as the basis for this week’s list.
Week of September 9th.
Sunday :: Cast-iron flounder, a mess of kale, and a few potato latkes. Sunday is always fish night around here, and local flounder was on sale. The monkfish also looked delicious, but I haven’t had flounder for a while, and although it’s a mild fish, I always quite enjoy it. The potato latkes – not homemade, but a treat from Trader Joe’s.
Monday :: Cheddar dogs, baked beans, and greens. Cheddar dogs. Yes, not quite health food, but my love loves them, and nostalgia wins out on occasion.
Tuesday :: Taco salad, with cabbage slaw. Typically this is some sort of protein with all the fixins’ of a regular taco. Since I’m craving seafood, we might have fish taco salad. Unless I don’t get to the store, in which case, some sort of ground meat in the freezer from my butcher will win out. We’ll see.
Wednesday :: Vietnamese braised beef brisket. Last week I got a copy of Luke Nguyen’s new cookbook ‘Greater Mekong‘ in the mail, and I’ve been longing for Vietnam – the country is on my top five culinary travel destinations. This recipe is actually out of one of Luke’s older cookbooks, ‘Indochine‘.
Thursday :: Orange pork tenderloin. Or maybe spice-rubbed pork tenderloin. Or pork tenderloin medallions in red curry. Or something else. I have the tenderloin, hopefully the inspiration will come.
Friday and Saturday, I’ll be eating my meals out of a van while I compete in the New Balance Reach The Beach Relay. I’ll be running three legs (about 14 miles, total), of 200 miles with 11 of my coworkers at RunKeeper, and I’m expecting that I’ll have to push myself in ways I’m not prepared for. I’m still trying to figure out how to feed myself on this trip. We’ll see.
And you? What are you eating this week? Also, will you get yourself a bouquet of flowers please, and let me know that you’ve done so? It’ll make me smile!
–– Sam
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 3, 2013 | Blogging, Meal Planning
Why hello there! We’re having a house guest this week, it’s the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), and the work week is only four days long. I still felt the need to do a grand cook up this week, and a meal plan, you know, just in case.
Things I prepped tonight, mostly for lunches:
– baked chicken thighs with garlic powder, chile powder, salt and pepper
– roasted cauliflower with coconut oil, chile powder, salt and pepper
– roasted green beans (in the liquid from the baked chicken…ie: saves a pan!)
– chopped up three bell peppers, and a large cucumber
– pot of chicken broth in the slow cooker all afternoon
– pot of Rancho Gordo white limas
The hands on time for this stuff was less than an hour, and I’ll have lots and lots of options for mix and match meals.
No matter how tired, lazy, or busy I’ll be this week, at least I’ll have a good, healthy lunch.
(FYI: breakfast is pretty much the same every morning except for Friday (cough *Sportello bagel* cough) – a very large iced coffee, and three boiled eggs spaced in intervals from 10, to around noon. Lunch at 2:30. I’m a weirdo, but it works for me.)
We got a brand spankin’ new Breville Juicer in the office on Friday, and I’m dying to take it for a spin – I’m thinking that I might bring in some kale, apple, cucumber and celery just to give her a go.
Monday :: Since this Labor Day Monday was pretty much Sunday – which around here means seafood night – fish was on the menu. Fish cooks up quickly, and I always commit to eating it the night of purchasing it so that it’s as fresh as can be. This week crab-stuffed flounder was on sale at Whole Foods, so I got one for each of us, and served it with a heaping portion of asparagus, tossed in shallot oil and roasted, and some fresh tomatoes slices.
Tuesday :: Chicken sausage, roasted baby potatoes, garlicky kale, salad with tomato and avocado.
Wednesday :: Rosh Hashanah dinner! I’m not sure what’s on the menu, but I can pretty much be sure that there will be some homemade chicken soup, some gefilte fish slathered with horseradish, tsimmes (braised beef, carrots, and sweet potato), potato pancake, and my mom is making carrot cake.
Thursday :: Vietnamese Bun bowls and/or goat stew. I have goat meat, but I’m not 100% sure that guest (a former vegetarian) will be able to deal with the goat. In which case it’ll have to wait until next week!
Friday :: Out.
The weekend? Not sure yet! I know, I know.. what good is a plan when you only have a few days squared away? Wait, no, it’s better than no plan at all. This’ll largely depend on what we decide to do for the weekend…
What are you eating this week?
by Sam Tackeff | Aug 12, 2013 | Books, Fitness, Meal Planning, Random
Meal planning again – I really do look so forward to this process. Usually, the beginning of my weekends are spent curled up with a new cookbook, reading it from cover to cover by Saturday afternoon, meal planning for the week, shopping and prep cooking on Sunday. This weekend I was totally swept up reading Naomi Duguid’s fabulous Burma: Rivers of Flavor – the ultimate armchair vacation cookbook.
On Saturday I set to work making a little list of what was left in my fridge that I wanted to use up: asparagus, baby spinach, ham, cucumbers, two zucchini, coconut milk, feta, bacon, beets, basil succotash, basil oil, brussels sprouts, Anson Mills rice, eggs, carrots, avocado and tomatoes. Of course there are plenty of bits and bobs, sauces, condiments, and probably things in the way back of the fridge that I just haven’t noticed for a while – all fair game too. And then my pantry is stocked for the apocalypse, so I like to build upon the fresh stuff, but sometimes pantry goods get the starring role in the meal.
When I went to the store, I tried to pick up some meat, some fruit for the week, things to round out my lunches, pantry staples I was running out of: sardines, Red Boat fish sauce, an extra avocado. And by store, well, that’s a lie, we all know that I have a problem. “Store” is more like, three or four or five stores. By choice. For pleasure. Sometimes I stop by Trader Joe’s just for the sample first, you know, to clear my mind. Then I’ll head to Russo’s in Watertown to see if they have Chip-In eggs (they didn’t), or interesting peak produce. Then to Whole Foods for Sunday night fish and an olive sample and a little cup of bionically filtered water, and Trader Joe’s again (to see if they have the free range organic chicken thighs that I eat a lot of (they did.) And another sample.
So here’s what I came up with, accounting for a few days that we’ll likely be eating out because of our super late schedule:
:: Grilled Blue Fish, Mashed Potatoes, and Asparagus with Mustard Vinaigrette. I try to do fish every Sunday if I can because I know that I’ll be able to cook it right when I get home, and usually it’s a quick bet after an afternoon of prep cooking.
:: Saucy Spiced Meat & Potato. This one is from the Burma cookbook. It’s sort of like a spiced stew with ground beef (actually, reminds me a lot of sloppy joe mix.) and I’m not quite sure what I’ll pair it with yet – a big mess of sautéed spinach, and likely a simple salad. I think it suggests an okra/shallot stir-fry in the book, which would be nice, but I don’t have okra.
:: B.L.A.T. Salad. Yep, bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato salad. The feta might go in here too. And beets on the side.
:: Burmese Grilled Chicken. Also from Burma – chicken with an exciting! marinade of ginger, turmeric, garlic, chile, and fish sauce. I’d bathe myself in Red Boat fish sauce… I’ll probably pair this with a quick pickled cucumber salad.
:: Ham & Cheese Omelette. I have leftover ham. And leftover cheddar with hatch chiles (sucker purchase after eating a sample). And eggs that are a little old, but not too old, that I really want to use up. And I like to channel my French side in the summer time. On the side some stewed zucchini, tomato, and garlic, and a side salad. Ooh la la!
:: Coconut Rice Pudding. I have rice, coconut milk, and some delicious Nielsen–Massey Organic Fairtrade Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract that was sent to me to try out for my blog. (Really good timing, P.R. folks – I usually make my own, and I’ve just run out of a large batch that had lasted for months.) I really love Thai mango sticky rice, so I might do some sort of play on that.
And fitness? There’s plenty of that too:
The three miles of walking on weekdays is my usual their and back commute walk. Our evening strolls are walks, although this week we’ve been adding in some running intervals. These aren’t always what I end up doing, but I find that if I schedule out my workouts, I’m more likely to commit to doing them.
Monday: 3 mile walk + 6 mile slow run
Tuesday: 3 mile walk + evening stroll
Wednesday: 3 mile walk, CrossFit Olympic Lifting Class
Thursday: 3 mile walk
Friday: 3 mile walk+ evening stroll
Saturday: CrossFit (or day off)
Sunday: CrossFit Class + Open Platform
What’s on your plate this week? Also, for those of you who have Burma, have you cooked from it? I have lots of notes, but I’m not sure what to tackle next…
by Sam Tackeff | Jun 16, 2013 | Meal Planning, Restaurants, Shopping
A Sunday night with no new Game of Thrones? What will we do? Oh, that’s right, the new season of True Blood starts tonight. Thank goodness for HBO. It’s been quite a long week, but this weekend I spent some time busying myself around the house, plenty of time out doors, and eating a few special meals out. On Friday night we had our usual Friday night dinner date at the Cottage. I went for the chicken tortilla soup, and a side of mashed potatoes. I don’t know. It was cold, a little rainy, and I just really wanted mashed potatoes. Potato police, just leave me alone.
Last night, we ended up at Gustazo in Belmont, for a Cuban dinner. We shared pork chicharrón with guacamole and mango salsa, Devon had the churrasco steak with chimichurri, and I went for the picadillo – ground beef with stuffed olives, tomato, topped with a fried egg, with buttery rice and sweet fried plantains. And then there was dessert. Gustazo has no liquor license (b.y.o.b.), but my goodness do they have good coffee. I went with the Cafe Bonbon – the Cuban equivalent of Vietnamese coffee, strong espresso with sweetened condensed milk – and the flan con coco. “That’s one hell of a flan!” Devon said to me, and I’d have to agree. Not too sweet, and the absolute perfect quivering creamy texture.
To balance these meals, I’ve been an active bee. Last week I mentioned my participation in the Runner’s World Summer Running Streak – I’ve really been enjoying the momentum that running a mile a day gives me – it eliminates the stress of choice, and I’m just so excited to get out and run. It’s also given me confidence to run longer distances – a few weeks ago I ran the Newton 10k and PR’d, and yesterday I ran the Heartbreak Hill Running Company’s Firehouse 10-miler. 10 miles – that’s a good 4 miles longer than I’ve ever run before. I wouldn’t say that I trained for it, but the goal was just to run and finish, and finish I did. (Actually 10.88 miles. We got a little bit lost.)
Here’s a snapshot of last week in fitness:
Sunday: Kayaking on Lake Waban, 1 mile run + 2 mile walk on the Charles
Monday: 3 miles of walking (to and from work), + mile run
Tuesday: Rest day (drove to work) + mile run (in rain boots!)
Wednesday: 4 miles of walking + mile run (in flip flops!)
Thursday: 2 miles of walking, mile run (in the pouring rain!)
Friday: Mile run, work meeting walk (with a work dog!)
Saturday: Firehouse 10 miler! (10.88 miles)
Sunday: 1 mile run, an hour of Open Platform at CrossFit
The Meal Plan: Meal planning! I still do that. Except when I don’t. Lots of comfort food for this week, because I set off to the store without actually planning out my meals or consulting any one of my million cookbooks. Today I ended up at four grocery stores to get everything I wanted. Well, actually, I wanted matcha and glutinous rice flour to make these, but I couldn’t find the rice flour at any of the four stores, and I didn’t really feel like spending $20 on sub-par matcha. First stop was Russo’s, then a brief pit-stop at Stop & Shop, specifically for some Goya Black Bean soup, because, while it isn’t particularly healthy, I crave it enough that I cave in once and a while. And man, the entire Goya aisle makes me tingly and excited. Then Trader Joes, because, even if I don’t need anything at Trader Joe’s, I always need a sample. And finally Whole Foods, because on Sunday night I like to get some good fish for dinner.
Sunday: Copper River Sockeye salmon, black bean soup, rice, and avocado.
Monday: Spaghetti and Meatballs (i.e.: convenience food from Russo’s), and tomato basil salad.
Tuesday: Shakshuka (a.k.a. Eggs in Purgatory) with feta and salad
Wednesday: Pancetta, peas and orzo (from Nigelissima)
Thursday: Turkey chili with cheddar dogs and fried egg
Friday: Out to dinner
See that crispy salmon skin? Nobody ever wants to eat it except for me. What will you be eating this week?
Have a great Monday everyone!
by Sam Tackeff | Jan 1, 2012 | Kitchen, Lists
Julia Child, photographed in her Cambridge, Massachusetts kitchen, June 29, 1970. By Arnold Newman/Getty Images.
I love this photo of Julia, because it reflects a level of organization that I aspire to – a sort of chaotic organization where everything is in plain view and accessible. And we all know that Julia Child got stuff done.
Kitchen Resolutions, 2012:
I keep lists all year long, but January is a nice time to share them because everyone else seems to be sharing theirs, and it makes me feel a little less crazy to have a moleskin filled with thousands of bullet points. Here is my current kitchen list, in no particular order. I call them my “Kitchen Resolutions” because it has a nice ring to it. Some of these I do already, some I’m just starting, and others I’m working towards.
:: Take time each weekend to plan meals for the week. The goal here is to avoid the inevitable laziness that happens when I’m starving and haven’t thought of ideas for a meal. The main benefit is that it saves money and time, and it allows me to actually plan out new things to cook in advance.
:: Stock the larder with home made goodies. Once a month (at least) I like to make a new condiment. I’ve been working lately to put together a “condiment calendar” with ideas for each season.
:: Wash all dishes and wipe down counters before going to bed each night. I’m too often guilty of leaving things until the next day. A clean slate makes life infinitely easier in the morning, and I feel even better when I have my coffee mise en place ready to go to avoid confusion during my morning grogginess.
:: Keep a running Kitchen Journal. I usually record what I eat in loose notes anyway, but I’d like a more concerted effort to put together a real kitchen diary that I can look at in the future, and maybe even pass on as a keepsake.
:: Take stock of what is in my pantry. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt has this ridiculous spreadsheet that I admire immensely. I’m pretty good at itemizing and knowing where things are, particularly with my large cookbook collection, but keeping better track of spices, expiration, etc. is the way to go.
:: Make a list of easy pantry meals. In addition to my meal planning, I’m working to compile a list of easy pantry meals to make if I’m really tired, or just don’t want what I’ve planned. Having this list will make things easier, and help me to avoid my standby spaghetti nights.
:: Start more food traditions. I love traditions. Maybe pizza night? Sunday brunch? I haven’t quite figured out one that works best for our household, but I’d love to find something.
:: Sign up for a few cooking classes. I learn a lot out of cookbooks, from cooking shows, videos on the internet, but hands on in the way to go. I’m particularly interested in Thai, Japanese, Filipino and Persian food at the moment.
:: Work on my “Things I’d Like to Cook List”. I’m working on my life list, but this one goes in tandem. So far I’ve been adding just a few things at a time to my Pinterest board.
:: Assess and update kitchen for efficiency. The kitchen needs some more love. I’d like ideally to get some metro shelving, maybe a peg board, and figure out the best layouts to move smoothly in the place.
:: Identify and celebrate my kitchen rituals. David Tanis and Nigel Slater (two of my favorite writers) have written so well about ritual – those little private moments in the kitchen that remind us why we love the place so much. Morning coffee, heating oil to re-cure my cast iron pan, afternoon tea, frying eggs, using my Microplane to zest, and making oats are some of my favorites, but I always love discovering new ones.
What are your kitchen resolutions? Do you keep a list?
