Hangry Pants

First, I wanted to say that reading all the comments about the conclusion of Meatless Month was really fun. I can’t believe it’s only been a month since I’ve been blogging. It’s been so great “meeting” all of you and I look forward to reading your blogs (if you have one) and your comments at the end of the day. 

Second, I am fairly certain I freaked out my dad by being overly excited after returning from a 2.5 hour trip to Whole Foods. The 20% off coupon was great (thanks, Brother). I would show pictures of everything, but then it wouldn’t be as exciting (for you or me) when I eat them for the first time. Here are a couple highlights: 

Let's hope Mark doesn't want to go "Dairy Free!"

For dinner I had some stuff from the prepared food bar. Highlights include the Pineapple Tempeh, Roasted Veggies and some awesome Cauliflower. 

For dessert I had two Laura’s Wholesome Junk Food Lemon-Vanilla Bite-Lettes. 

Oh and for some Entertainment News, I watched Dancing With the Stars when Kelly Taylor Jennie Garth was a contestant and I was not hooked. I just can’t sit still and watch people dance. I recently learned that Rocco Dispirito is going to be a contestant this season. I am mildly intrigued.

Meatless Month was going so well, but tonight I got a little over confident in the tempeh cooking. I made it Saturday night following Heidi Swanson’s recipe and it was so good that I thought I could definitely make tempeh without using a recipe as a guide.  I am not going to sugar coat this. It was nasty. I am not even going to explain what was in it or what I did for fear that it might accidentally go into your memory storage as a good thing to do. I think I need to read up more on what flavors compliment tempeh, as the ones I used definitely did not. I am not afraid of embarassing myself though, so here’s a picture. 

Don't try this at home.

The mess on the plate happened when I attempted to salvage this disaster by adding other ingredients. 

I also had a big salad.

But  it was no use. The tempeh left me unfilled and unfulfilled, so I turned to this: 

Whole Wheat English Muffin

And I had another Mango Blueberry Oatmeal Muffin. No judgement, please. 

The good news is that I did not have one gratuitous cheerio at work today because I was smart and brought gum to chew instead. 

Women’s Health Create Your Own

I am the kind of person who needs a little guidance in the workout department, so I was looking around online for a routine of sorts and I found out that at Women’s Health you can create your own workout here. They have core, lower, upper and total body workouts with brief explanations and pictures.  I picked 4 total body moves, which were challenging, but doable for me. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.

I have vivid memories of the 1996 Summer Olympics.  They go something like this.  Go to summer camp job, hang out at friends house, come home at 10 and eat a Hot Pocket (preferably ham & cheese or pepperoni pizza), watch Kerri Strug do crazy things with her broken bones, go to bed, repeat.  (P.S. This You Tube video on Hot Pockets by comedian Jim Gaffigan is hilariously accurate). 

My how things have changed!  Mark and I are almost halfway through Meatless Month and I am LOVING it. It’s given me a reason to cook foods, like tempeh, that I’ve eaten before and loved, but never dare make for myself.  Last night I made Maple Grilled Tempeh that I first saw looking mighty fine over at Couch Cubicle. Turns out Heidi Swanson is some sort of a tempeh genius because this was sooooo good.  And tempeh, by the way, is ridiculously easy to make. Easier than tofu. 

This is what my Organic Three Grain Tempeh looked like before I cooked it. 

And after.

I had the weirdest ketchup craving all day. I was craving that cold tomatoey sweetness.  Sadly, this is the HFCS ketchup.  I saw a recipe for ketchup in July’s Cooking Light, so I’m going to try that out soon.  With my ketchup I had grilled sweet potatoes, salad with lots of red onions and grilled corn on the cob.  Corn on the cob is seriously one of the best summer vegetables.  It’s so sweet and crisp.  Like nature’s candy.  No wait, that’s prunes. 

I think one of the keys to the deliciousness of the tempeh, aside from the marinade, was cutting the block in half before cutting smaller triangles.  The thin tempeh grilled right up.  I gave a triangle to my mom and dad.  My mom liked it and she doesn’t like the kind at the Whole Foods salad bar.  My dad also liked it, but that might have been because he ate it with a forkful of grilled steak. 

I also had a blurry wheat roll, which was soft on the inside crusty on top. I love me some bread, but I think I’ve been indulging a bit toooo much lately.  I usually have oats at breakfast, a sandwich or some other grain at lunch and a grain at dinner so that’s probably enough! Let’s see if I can lay off the extra dinner bread for awhile! 

And some Hood Fat-Free Chocolate Frozen Yogurt.  No HFCS, just regular old corn syrup. 

Off to blog, run and eat breakfast. Later gators. 

P.S. These three U.S. female fencers rock! Gold, silver, bronze.  Notre Dame, Yale, Duke.  Those ladies rock! 

P.P.S.  I direct you here for a free sample of Sundance Organic iced tea! Enjoy.