Resolution 8 & Lack of 10 /// January 18, 2012

The hours at the pool on Wednesdays are inconvenient for me. There is only one lane open until 7pm, then all lanes until 8:15pm. I like to get my laps done right after work so as to be able to cook and eat dinner before too late. 

Last night I decided to dry roast vegetables after talking fitness and food with my friend for a good hour or so. I mixed together

  • cubed sweet potato (whole)
  • cubed turnip (half)
  • onions (however much you like)
  • garlic (3 cloves)
  • drizzle of olive oil
  • sprinkle of salt
  • this rosemary seasoning mix from Pampered Chef 

I roasted everything in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, then stirred the veggies around and roasted for another 20 minutes. It was easy and delicious. However, by the time the food was done, it was already 7pm. It was impossible for me to eat dinner, then wait 30 minutes and squeeze in 25 laps before the pool closed.  

I slumped around for the rest of the night, sulking because I went off schedule, and stuffed myself with more starchy roots than I would like. 

So to compensate, I’m going for an hour of Zumba tonight. I know that it’s only one night of swimming that I missed, that in the grand scheme of my fitness plan it probably wouldn’t matter much. But I just started! To go off course so early in the game seems ominous for the months ahead. For now, I do not plan on cooking a full meal on Wednesdays which means no leftovers for Thursday. I’ll figure something out for that. It’s all about being flexible, right? For me personally, having too strict a schedule would almost guarantee an instant failure from a chronic procrastinator.

Tomorrow (Friday) evening is girls’ night out with coworkers and we go for dinner and a movie. That’s resolution #6 on my list…which I will have to forego in favor of the pool.

Being active is hard. 

Resolution #8 - Cucumber Salad

I love hot house cucumbers. They remind me of the ones grown in China, except without pricks and yellow flower still attached. I made this simple salad using just cucumber, tomato, and apple (plus the seasoning). The following ingredients will make enough for 2 people. 

1/2 hot house cucumber

1 tomato (I used beefsteak)

1 apple (I used Fuji)

For dressing, I used store-bought champagne vinaigrette, a drizzle of sesame oil, some sweet basil, a little bit of salt and sugar. 

The salad is filling, a little tart, a little sweet, and a little je ne sais quoi. I’ve been making and eating it for 3 days, haha! Now if only I can stop eating potato chips…

Resolution #8 /// January 14, 2012

I’m caramelizing some onions right now I think. I say I think because I don’t actually know the process that well. I just heard something on the Splendid Table last weekend and thought hey I can put stuff in a pan with oil and cook it for a long time with a small fire. So I decided that instead of only caramelizing onions, I would also “caramelize” bell peppers, zucchini, and yellow squash. We’ll see how that will turn out…

In the meantime, I’m making porridge in my new rice cooker (thanks Mom!). I threw together a cup of rice, splash of millet, green onions, coarse salt, dried goji berries, and wonton soup base powder (available at any Asian food market) and pressed “slow cook.” It’s not going to be ready for approximately another two hours.

Meanwhile, I just boiled some water for ramen. 

Balance, my friend. Balance. 

ETA: Well, this is how it turned out. Caramelized veggies on a piece of seven-grain toast. I didn’t realize how sweet those sweet onions are! It tastes pretty awesome if I do say so myself. A bit oily, though.