Hangry Pants

How is everyone doing today? The downside of having two Tuesdays off in a row (Election Day then Veteran’s Day) is that this week seems soooooo long. To break up the week, I made some cookies last night! We had a bunch of carrots with their hats on about to turn to the dark side, so I used them up in these delicious little nuggets. 

Here is what I used: 

• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 2 egg whites
• 4 T butter 
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 t vanilla 
• 1 T cinnamon 
• 2 cups whole wheat pasty flour 
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Here is what I did: 

After I peeled and shred the carrots, I combined them with the egg whites. In another bowl, I creamed the butter and brown sugar. Then I added the carrot mix, vanilla and cinnamon. In a third bowl I mixed the flour, oats and baking soda. Then I added the dry mix to the wet mix and poured in the chocolate chips. I baked them at 350* for about 15 minutes. I made pretty small cookies, so the recipe yielded almost 5 dozen little cookies.  I can’t be 100% sure as my dough consumption may have amounted to 2 to 3 cookies. 

These are good, fairly healthy, crispy little cookies. I dare say they could be a breakfast. I mean that have oats and a vegetable!

Ahimsa is the Sanskrit word for non-violence and one of the principles of yoga. In addition to the literal meaning, the principle encompasses not doing any harm to any being (including animals). I skipped running today in favor of this class on Yoga Today that focused on this principle in terms of on listening to your breath and not harming yourself by pushing too far. For me, it reminded me that “any being” includes myself. 

Here is a bit of an article from yoga.com about Ahisma. 

[W]hile practicing Ahimsa towards others, don’t forget about yourself. Treat your body with the same sort of care that you would any prized possession. No matter what town you call home, your body is where you live, so avoid harming it with polluting substances and keep it healthy. Neglecting your body is doing it harm. Even more importantly, be aware of your thoughts - when you make a mistake do you beat yourself up over it? Do you ever engage in vengeful thinking? When you are stressed out, do you forge ahead anyhow without taking a break? All this harms your psyche and has a direct effect on your attitude, not to mention your health. Negative thoughts, even if you are trying to repress them, also have an effect on the way you treat others. Of course you can’t just banish all negative thoughts - the point is to be aware of them and then consciously choose not to act on or believe them.

This class came at a perfect time for me because as I discussed last week, I’ve been trying to be a more positive person. And, although I’ve been doing better, I’ve been a little negative about myself. What I mean is that I’ve been feeling a little stocky lately. I think it’s all the running. I guess because of the way I am built (short and not twiggy), running makes my legs and hips bigger more muscular, so I get bigger, not smaller. That and, oh right I’ve been eating more, have made for some slightly snug pants. Anyway, woe is me, right? No. What I was reminded of today, from a simple internet yoga class, is that I should be kind to everyone, including myself. I wouldn’t be mean to a friend who had tight pants, so why should I be mean to myself? It won’t do any good, and it will just harm me, and in turn the universe. 

The message goes along with my favorite yoga chant, “Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu.” I’ve heard translated different ways, but I think one of the nicest is, “May all beings everywhere know peace and happiness.”

So remember, be kind to all beings. 

Dinner

For dinner I had my mom’s homemade lentil soup, which has made all other lentil soup unacceptable to me.

Thanksgiving Desserts

Thanks for all the wonderful Thanksgiving dessert ideas. If you said you had a recipe, I would love to take a look. If it’s not too much trouble post it as a comment or shoot me an email at hangrypants@gmail.com. And for those wondering, my mom and I make the Pumpkin Pie from the Libby’s can recipe and it’s wonderful. It was the only pie I would eat as a child!

I feel like I’ve been missing out on the mid-day blogging. I miss getting to chat during the day, so I just thought I would drop in to show you what I’ve been drinking in the mornings. 

 Oh yeah and head over to Grounded Fitness for a great Nature’s Path Organic give away.

So, here’s a student teaching related story for you. Everyday this little girl has one of these Wholly Guacamole! packets of guacamole and a few tortilla chips for snack. Everyday I want to steal it. It looks extra delicious at 10:30 in the morning when I haven’t eaten anything for 4 hours. Anyone tried it?

When I got home from school I tried something I didn’t really like… dried figs. I’ve tried fresh figs, not so much fan. Now these, also not a fan. They were sort of seedy and stretchy and they weren’t all that flavorful. Well, I’ll stick to dates, prunes and figs in newton form. 

After running I was kind of hungry, but not sure what I wanted. I knew I wanted it to involve pasta, so I started cooking some whole wheat penne and rummaged around for other ingredients. I made what turned out to be a surprisingly creamy macaroni and cheese.

After I cooked the pasta, I drained most, but not all of the water and added 1 small carton of vegetable broth. Then I found the star ingredient: a delicious Parmesan cheese from Whole Foods. It was so good and I just kept grating and grating and grating. It just melted right in there. As I stirred, it became thick and creamy when combined with the rest of the  ingredients. I used probably 1/3 cup for 1/2 box of pasta. Here is what I added to the penne. 

• A bag of frozen veggies (summer squash, green beans, carrots, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli)
• Grape Tomatoes
• Cannelini beans
• I can’t believe how creamy it was. Yum. Definitely made up for my poor fig experience. 
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder
• Pepper

Pie Please

I am in charge of making one pie for Thanksgiving (don’t worry there will be at least two others), so what is your favorite Thanksgiving pie? If you have a recipe, pass it along. Thanks! 

**Updated: My mom will make apple pie, pumpkin from the Libby’s can recipe and possible mincemeat for my dad, so my dessert does not need to be a pie.**

Good evening everyone! How was your day? Mine started off on the wrong foot because I set my alarm for p.m., so I had to get dressed and out the door in only 20 minutes as opposed to the 45 I’ve been taking to have my coffee, read my blogs, get dressed, etc. I didn’t get to have my morning coffee or do any of my morning things, but it turned out to be a fun and regular Monday. My project about compound eyes went very well. The kids in the class have been learning about insects and today they looked through kaleidoscopes to simulate what it’s like to have insect eyes. They thought it was lots of fun.

When I got home I did my running thing. After I ran, I walked on the treadmill while reading my new Cooking Light. I always start a magazine from the back. I flip through and then when I get to the front, I start all over!

When my magazine reading was complete, I had a dinner based on leftovers. I had wasting food and luckily enjoy leftovers. Tonight I had leftover pumpkin rice, leftover peppers and onions, new roasted carrots and a Banana Sweet Potato Muffin. Or two. 

Long Distance Things

I just read this little article from Women’s Health about how technology can help long distance couples stay  in touch. As you know, Mark lives in N.J. and I live in R.I. We don’t get to see each other very often, so we have to rely on technology to communicate. One way is on the blog! We also send emails and pictures on our phones. Of course there is no substitute for the real thing, but these fun, quick ways of keeping in touch help out. Do you have any tips for long distance relationships? 

What a speed demon of a weekend, right? Well, I hope you enjoyed it because Monday is here. 

I just can’t stop with the baking lately! Well, to be honest, I planned to make this bread that I found at Zesty Cook’s blog. When I started to gather my ingredients I found that I did not have enough yeast. Actually it was after I already put the honey in the warm water. Normally, this wouldn’t stop me, but it expired in October and Zesty said the yeast must be active! Definite bummer as I really really wanted to eat that bread.

Well, I tried to just move on and do some work re: insects compound eyes, but I couldn’t shake the ache to bake! Oh wow. So, I used the rest of the sweet potato-banana mash to make these heathy and delicious muffins. 

Banana Sweet Potato Muffins

Ingredients:   

• Mashed sweet potatoes and bananas (2 medium to large sweet potatoes cooked and mashed with a banana).
• Another banana
• 1 Cup non-fat plain yogurt
• 4 t honey
• 2 egg whites
• 1 t vanilla 
• 1 cup whole wheat pasty flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1.5 t baking soda
• 2 tea cinnamon

Directions: All I did was combine all the wet ingredients (sweet potatoes - vanilla) in a bowl. Then, I combined the rest of the ingredients in another bowl. I added the dry to the wet. Mixed and poured into greased cupcake pan. Sprinkled with a little more oats and baked at 350* for about 30 minutes. Yield: 12 big.    

I did all this after I had dinner because I was starving at 5:00 and opted for the early bird special: Arnold’s Sandwich Thin, Hummus, Eggplant and Spinach with sides of spinach and peppers. I also had extra extra hummus. Extra hummus. 

Yay for blog awards. This weekend, Mark and I got the Superior Scribe Award from two fellow bloggers! One from Lindsay at For the Love of Oats and from Lee at For the Love of Peanut Butter - both currently residing in or about my former town of Philadelphia! They should get together and make some peanut buttery oats. Better yet, go to Wawa in my honor girls. Get a BLT shorty. 

I love this award! I love writing in any form, and the blog is great fun. Thanks ladies! 

So, here’s the deal with this award. 

1. Post the award on your blog
2. Link to me for giving it to you
3. Link the originating post here
4. Pass it on to five deserving people
5. Post these rules for your recipients. 

I want to give the award to every single blog writer I read. They are each unique and deserving in their own right. Alas, I have chosen five. 

(1) On a Lobster Placemat - I love Rose for many reasons. First, her writing is impeccable. I mean, she is a professional, so it’s to be expected, but really, she has a fresh take on mundane things. I love how she had a Spontaneous Dinner Party where she invited friends over and prepared a meal out of the ingredients they brought. She is just a regular girl who I just know I would love in real life. 

(2) Heather Bakes - Heather is the best. She gave up her corporate job to follow her dream of going to culinary school. She currently works in the pastry department of a Whole Foods and let’s me read all about it. She does wonderful things with fondant, loves Giada, watches The Office and has a cute pug named Chloe. 

(3) Care to Eat - Erin and Andrea are the loves of my blog life. That sounds so creepy, but I think I’m going to leave it and move on. 

(4) Rhodey Girl Tests - Rhodey girls stick together, so of course I love her blog. But aside from that, Sabrina has so much enthusiasm about life. She has the kind of positivity and energy I would love to have. She’s planning a wedding and moving to Philly soon, but she and I will always be Rhodey girls! 

(5) Couch Cubicle - She makes me laugh out loud every time I read her blog. I like funny people. I just know that she doesn’t take food or life too seriously, and that is very important to me when choosing a blog to read. 

I hope you all like your award!