lately i’ve been

Lately I’ve been gardening like it’s my job. I mean, it isn’t. Obviously. Fortunately, since I’m not all that good at it yet.

Still, the adventure of growing plants from seed is going surprisingly well- here’s a shot of my overcrowded deck, taken Sunday.

I thought I’d recount a bit of my journey, to encourage those of you who’ve wanted to start a garden but have doubted your abilities. Believe me when I say that if I can do it, anyone can do it.

After planting my seeds, my first sprouts were greeted with joy. You’ll recall that they began their lives indoors, with consistent warmth cultivating their growth at a crucial and delicate phase of their lives.

Tomatoes and basil grew reliably (with the heirloom romas being particularly hardy). 

I worried about the heirloom zucchini because it took forever to sprout and I was afraid I wouldn’t get anything. Well, I needn’t have worried, as it turned out it was just taking its time below the surface, ultimately rising in an impressively large sprout.

The dill were the absolute cutest, reaching for the sun.

Once we had reliable sun and warmth outdoors, and the plants were hardy enough to be relocated, they got potted on the deck.

You produce an amazing quantity of seedlings when you grow from seed. Keep that in mind, particularly if you’re doing a potted garden. (I am by necessity, since deer freely wander our yard, entirely unafraid of us, eating absolutely whatever they want).

Here are just some of the pots required to contain just what the tomato seeds successfully produced:

Transplanted a few of the little basil guys, but had to keep most of them in the pot til I had space for them. So precious!

I’d bought a pepper plant at the farmer’s market, then suddenly panicked. Don’t plants need to cross pollinate? Isn’t that necessary for plant sex? (The fact that I call it “plant sex” is a good indicator of how much I know about cross pollination, obviously).

So my thoughtful boyfriend bought me an additional pepper plant and an additional squash plant, so my lonely plants could have necessary companionship.

They came in the neatest containers, where you rip off the plastic rim around the top and then everything else is biodegradable, so you can plant it directly in the pot.

The pepper department looked good (and its leaves bore a striking resemblance to basil, which I thought was interesting)

He also got a boyfriend for my lonely squash.

And so some more time passed, with me visiting my plants each day to top them off with water if needed (tricky, knowing what’s not too much and not too little- a Goldilocks esque quandry). It’s so nice visiting them, talking to them, cheering them on in their progress. I was explaining this to my mom, who agreed that it was so amazing watching things grow and then said, “It’s just like being pregnant!” And then I changed the subject, eurgh. Plants are quite enough responsibility for me for the foreseeable future.     

And now? Now all my plants are doing swimmingly!

The tomatoes are big and beautiful (and I need to stake them sooner rather than later)

 

The squash are glossy and abundant.

And the peppers are filling me with delight! I am growing them for the first time so am particularly enchanted by their growth progression.

You see, they have little baby bulbs!

And the first has begun to transform into a sweet little pepper flower! So excited.

 

In the herb department, we have thriving basil and wintered-over sage. The sage I raided to make succulent bison meatballs just the other day.

Very excited for the harvest! Will continue to update, mostly for my own scrapbook-like memories!

Lately I’ve been eating this for breakfast a lot.

   

It’s a (subtly) healthified version of an absolutely delicious Steve creation. I combine:

- yogurt (1/2 a cup or so; Steve uses full-fat vanilla yogurt, I use lowfat or nonfat plain yogurt plus a little milk, plus a little vanilla, plus stevia)
- a whole buncha whole flaxseeds (crunch!)
- sliced banana
- frozen blueberries (which I don’t bother to thaw; I use the Trader Joe’s frozen organic wild Maine blueberries which are tiny and packed with flavor)
- peanut butter
- oats

Steve also adds honey.

 

Guys, this is DELICIOUS. And difficult to photograph, obviously.

Lately I’ve been trying to be a runner.

My primary motivation for this is that I got shoes that are THE CUTEST. I know nothing about running shoes, so I went to DSW and looked for shoes that cost
-$85 or less (my dad was kind enough to get me these. We’ve been playing racquetball twice a week and my old shoes- which I’d gotten in high school, were understandably junky)
-Well padded with good support (I didn’t like the minimalist shoes at all. I also tend to do a lot of arc trainer at the gym, and that machine necessitates well-padded toes)
- Didn’t make my knee hurt when I ran up and down the aisle at DSW

So I ended up with these cute Nike Airs.

Lately (ish) I’ve been eating a lot of hardboiled eggs. After Greek Easter, we had a tonnnn of them. For reasons best understood by her, my sister’s godmother, who hosted Easter this year, asked us to bring three dozen Easter eggs… then already had that amount made herself.

Anyway, Jacques Pepin has a great recipe for hardboiled egg and tomato gratin and I made it a coupla times, with my own spin

The gratin must contain tomatoes and hardboiled eggs. Beyond that, one can add
- cubed stale bread
-onions, slow-cooked until soft
-cheese
-fresh herbs

Duh-lish.

 

Lately I’ve been taking organic chemistry. Pray for me.

Thank goodness I have Sheila helping me study.

Lately I’ve been making a TON of fruit compote. I finally, finally found rhubarb at the farmer’s market (I completely missed rhubarb season last year, SAD) and made a truly delicious strawberry-rhubarb compote. It involved agave nectar and a little powdered ginger.

It was magnificent on whole-wheat pancakes with a ton of chopped almonds.

 

Fruit compote is great to use up fruit that’s still good but perhaps a little squishier than you’d like it. My most recent rendition contained nice farmer’s market apples that were a little too wrinkly to eat raw mixed with a few soft cherries and strawberries from otherwise nice containers of them.

Lately I’ve been interrogating orthopedic surgeons because my poor baby sister is getting knee surgery tomorrow. I hope everything goes well!

Lately I’ve been apartment hunting in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area and I think I at last have success! I’ll share more once I’ve dotted i’s and crossed t’s, since apartment hunting is a volatile business, as I’ve learned the hard way.

Lately I’ve been eating not the best, mostly because I’ve had such bizarre sleeping habits. Sleeping ridiculously late, setting alarms and being unable to get up when I need to. Not cool. Staying up late, feeling really buzzed, eating junk food, then waking up with no appetite and skipping breakfast. Not cool! I want to get back into a healthier routine. I know I do better when I wake up at a reasonable hour; I’m happier and more productive in the morning. I like being a morning exerciser. Etc. I need a way to make this schedule happen in an organic way. I think these not so fun habits may be connected to a slightly lowered mood, which probably has something to do with imminent life changes, a course that demands skills that are far from inherent for me, and fears about getting the job I need in NC. And another thing, my next point…

Lately I’ve been watching the new episodes of Arrested Development on Netflix and boy are they awful.

balancing lunch

Being on a student schedule, I usually get to eat lunch at home. Suuuuuuuuuch a luxury! I’ve had too many jobs where lunch was a ten-minutes-at-my-desk-or-a-meeting affair. Having a (relatively) slow and relaxing lunch is a really nice way to work some self-care into my day. AND, as such, I want it to be balanced and leave me satisfied. Here are some recent lunches!

Lunch #1: The McGriddle (hahahaha not. But hear me out).

 

So my little sister is the master of microwave-cooking eggs in a mug. She taught me how to do it (relatively) well. So I take an egg, THOROUGHLY whisk it in a mug (key) and microwave it with some waxed paper on top for a minute, stirring halfway through.

Then I put it on a salad with greens, chopped apple or pear, and goat cheese. And THEN, put a little MAPLE SYRUP on top. Thus, egg+cheese+maple syrup=McGriddle!

Hahaha I know it’s BS. But this is a really good salad.

  

On balance I’m going to give it a B-. Delicious and healthy, but I probably snacked a good amount later since it was pretty low-cal and I just generally feel fuller when I have grainy carbs with lunch.

Next lunch: Count those food groups!

 

The savory portion of the meal was kind of a mini-version of the grain bowls I’ve been lovin’ on lately. Quinoa, black beans, kale, mushrooms. Topped with avocado for healthy fat/general bliss.

On the sweet end, chopped apples with Greek yogurt and cinnamon. A silly revelation that you all will think is super vapid: for years I put yogurt in a bowl and fruit on top. But if you put the yogurt on top of the fruit… it doesn’t stick as much to the bottom of the bowl! Another deep thought from my blog. You are so welcome.

   

Enjoyed with flowers! Nice and filling, this one. No complaints.

Third lunch: Veggie extravaganza!

I love how simultaneously nutritious and overflowing this plate is.

Let’s do a lap, shall we?

Going clockwise from the orange section, we begin with oven-baked sweet potato fries. Next, the last of some leftover brussels sprouts cooked my favorite way, which have been popping up all over the Internet (jk that’s my bff’s blog! check it out!). For the protein and healthy fat element on this plate of carbs, we have some Trader Joe’s refried black beans topped with some beautiful sliced fresh avocado (tip: Costco has the best avocados. I think they are absolute rubbish at Safeway, Giant and Trader Joe’s). Finally, something rather special: kale chips made with TAHINI. Dude. Try it. Kale and sesame are a match made in heaven. Just make sure to bake your chips on a low temperature and keep an eye on them, because they get crispy faster… then promptly transition to burnt.

It seems unfair to grade this one on balance, cause cmon- it’s a beautiful thing to have your entire day’s veggie needs in a meal. That being said… B+ rather than an A because I was hungry for a snack not too long after I ate it :) Don’t care, still delicious, still awesome for me.

 

survivalists?

I would say we’re survivalists, but yogurt goes bad. So there is no excuse for this except poor “What’s already in the refrigerator?” communication.

Just… I don’t understand it either.

Or the eggs.

 

There was also a large bowl of pasta… piled on top of another large bowl of pasta.

Clearly, the refrigerator needed an intervention… and in an added bonus, I wanted lunch.

Yogurt being the most pressing issue, I thought back to yogurt bechamel from this Cooking Light recipe that had always piqued my interest. But didn’t have the classic ingredients for moussaka, per the recipe, so instead I fancied a version of pastitsio, another Greek classic (not dissimilar to lasagna, but it uses tubey pasta, which I already had- perfect!)

Sauce commenced. It begins like a classic bechamel… whisk together fat (olive oil, in this case) and butter and cook til it smells boss.

In a traditional bechamel, you’d add cream, but this recipe had you add milk and strained yogurt. It thickened, albeit in a separated-y way, and it didn’t get that thick (but once it baked it did- I’m not dissing the recipe, I’m reassuring anyone interested in trying it that yes, it does thicken. We clear on that now?)

 

Then you add pepper, nutmeg, cheese, and an egg yolk (the white went into that handy container waiting for it; then into an omelet for me today. But did you know you could freeze egg whites? My cousin Rachel told me all about it. HELPFUL!)

So I took out the old and tired pasta…

… and dumped half the bechamel on top of it (there were chunks of cheese, clearly. For some reason I find using a grater exhausting so I just cube cheese generally. To me, there are worse things than melty cheese chunks in my dishes).

Meanwhile, I’d had some veggies going (traditional pastisio is made with ground meat but I didn’t have any handy and wanted to get some veggies in my stomach anyway). I rehydrated some dried shiitakes (to get some umami flavor), and also dumped in some fresh mushrooms, some cooked butternut squash, some random green tomatoes I picked, part of a can of sliced black olives…

 

And on it went to the pasta.

Plus more bechamel WOW THAT IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PICTURE EVER IN MY BLOG. Not.

I baked it for, say, 30 minutes in my handy dandy toaster oven.

And whaddya know, it was GREAT!

 

Rich rich rich comfort food! And really not at all unhealthy despite its decadent taste (the pasta was whole wheat, too!)

This would be a great meal if you had, like… really bad cramps. It’s that good.

Later that day, I fancied Caribbean food. Steve had bought some Caribbean chiles at the farmers market and I was eager to get my paws on a few of them.

Then a little research led me to these Jamaican black eyed pea patties. A hunt through my Moosewood cookbook hadn’t had the veggie patties I wanted but led me to this coconut lime banana bread whooooooooa. And finally my Gourmet Today cookbook had a recipe for braised plantains with cilantro and lime. Oh and finally finally there was leftover rice after making the bean patties so I mixed it with s’more cilantro and lime, and a little butter cause the texture was weird. Steve proclaimed it “the best rice ever”, which is why I love him.

Also cause he lets me photograph his plate, see below. He ate more than this, obviously. Which is another reason I love him- isn’t it so wonderfully gratifying, having someone house a bunch of food you made?

THIS WAS A REALLY GOOD DINNER GUYS. Who’d’ve thought to braise plantains? They were really good that way, and not quite the heart attack of their usual deep fried preparations. Also, the coconut banana bread was one of the greatest things that I have ever consumed. Do yourself a favor and click on the above link. Unless you are allergic to banana or coconut, in which case do not do that and just cry for awhile instead.

      

I also posted what I was making on Facebook and several people invited themselves over. Always the sign of a good menu.

My one regret was how brown it was. Oh and also how it was essentially a huge pile of starch. But see that is what I love, guys.