Weekend + Roasted Cabbage Steaks

Hi there!

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Jay and I did a ton of gardening, only to be greeted by a wave of SNOW this morning.  Snow in April...whaaat?!  Hopefully, we got all the new plants covered in time so they can survive this random cold snap.

Wendy is sure excited about the fresh veggies and herbs coming soon!

We also planted a new tree and some flowers, although the big stars right now are our tulips.  They were looking amazing this weekend!

Of course, we had to do our usual house cleaning and grocery shopping trip.  Here's a pic of our food for the short week ahead:

In other news, I have a new favorite roasted vegetable - cabbage!  On Saturday night, we made "cabbage steaks" to have with tofu and pearled couscous.  They were delicious.  And they taste just like steak.

Just kidding. 

But they are really good!!

To make these, we cut a small head of organic cabbage into one-inch thick pieces.  I rubbed down each side with some olive oil and seasoned with salt and fresh-ground pepper.  I also drizzled on a little balsamic vinegar.

We baked them for 30 minutes at 425, flipping once.

There were a couple "steaks" left over, so yesterday for lunch I heated them up and added them to some quinoa veggie burgers along with avocado slices and Sriracha.  What a burger!

We finished off our weekend of good eats with another artichoke appetizer and a tasty lentil dish from No Meat Athlete.  That book has the best recipes. 

When it came to exercise, I made time for my new favorite workout - spin class!  Bri, my friend from work, teaches at Moxieride in OKC on the weekends.  Moxieride combines traditional high-intensity cycling with upper body exercises.  My arms and shoulders are really feeling it today!

Bri does a great job of keeping the class pumped up with her motivating instruction and upbeat music choices.  It's hard work but a lot of fun!  I purchased a Groupon for a 10 class package, so I will definitely be going back on a regular basis.

If you are in the market for a great workout in the Oklahoma City area, you should totally check out one of their classes. 

See ya soon!

Black Bean Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili

The weather may be heating up, but I can't give up my soups and chilis just yet! I just love the convenience of throwing a bunch of ingredients into a single pot for a quick, tasty, and nutrition-packed meal.

Last night, I combined veggies with some black beans, quinoa, and spices. Of course, I also added in my all time favorite chili ingredient: roasted chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.  It turned into one heck of a delicious vegan meal!

Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili
Total time: 35 minutes
Hands on time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 medium sized sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans (or roughly 1.5 cups fresh cooked)
• 1 (15 oz.) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1.5 cups vegetable broth
• 3/4 cups dry quinoa, rinsed
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne (or to taste)

Saute garlic, onion, sweet potato, carrots, and bell pepper in olive oil until onions are soft (about 5 minutes).

Add spices and remaining ingredients.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer covered for 20-25 minutes, until vegetables and quinoa are cooked.

Top with garnishes of your choice - avocado, cheese (we used Daiya non-dairy), green onions, etc.

I love how thick and filling this soup turned out.  Even through the cold weather is on its way out, this recipe is here to stay!

Water-to-Grain Cooking Ratios {A Cute Chart for You}

Since I pretty much prepare some type of grain on a daily basis, you would think I'd have all the cooking methods committed to memory by now. 

Instead, I am always second guessing myself on how much water to use, how long to boil it, etc.  I'll be making brown rice and think, "I need a one-to-two ratio. Or, wait, is that that quinoa?  Maybe it's one to one.  No, that's oatmeal." And so on and so on. 

And then there are times when I get the water amount correct, only to find out that I've accidentally made enough servings to feed an army rather than a family of two. 

To keep the details straight, I created a note on my phone listing all of the water-to-grain ratios along with (roughly) how long to cook each one and approximate serving sizes.  It has come in handy on so many occasions!  I find myself referring to it all the time, so I thought I would create a better-looking version to share with you all. 

I plan to get this list printed in color so I can post it on the little cork square I just added to the inside of my spice cabinet.  It's a perfect place for recipes and cooking notes just like this.  

Now I won't ever have to second guess myself again (at least when it comes to cooking grains, that is!). 

10K + Cinnamon Raisin Energy Balls

Today was the day of the Redbud 10k race I've been training for over the last couple months.  Unfortunately, the nice spring weather we've been having did not stick around.  It was quite cold - high only around 50 - and the rain started coming down strong right at race time.  

Even though the weather wasn't perfect, when it comes to running I would much rather be cold than hot.  I think I ran faster in order to stay warm and get out of the rain, and I ended up with one of my best ever 10k times.  I don't know how I finished officially, but I'm sure it was under an hour.  For someone who has to push it a little to run a 10 minute mile, I was happy!

My running buddy/husband was under the weather this weekend and couldn't run with me, but I enjoyed running the race alone more than I thought I would.  Jay and my mom both cheered me on, along with lots of other dedicated fans that got out and braved the elements.  I had a great playlist to keep me going, and the miles really flew by.  

(Sorry for looking like such a dork in that picture.)

So yesterday at the store, Jay and I scooped up a few too many raisins from the bulk bins.  Our little canister that we use to hold them was overflowing, so I decided to make a quick dessert with the extras.  I turned to my recipe for salty-sweet no-bake nut butter balls as inspiration to come up with these delicious cinnamon raisin energy bites.  

We ate them after dinner last night as a dessert, but they also made for the perfect pre-race energy fuel today.  These balls are packed full of such healthy ingredients, you could definitely eat them any time of day.  

Cinnamon Raisin Energy Balls

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1.5 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (mine was heaping)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Roll dough into balls and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before eating. 

Tip:  To help the balls stick together (and not to your hands), put a little water on your hands before rolling. 

 

We did get lucky enough to enjoy some nice weather on Saturday, and I am absolutely loving the start of spring and everything that goes with it!  I'll end this post with a few more miscellaneous weekend pics.

 

 

Have a great week everyone!

A Deep Cleaning Schedule

Jay and I are pretty clean people, and we always complete basic household chores like vacuuming, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, and doing laundry on a weekly basis.  We both do quick cleans throughout the week and generally keep most of our clutter under control.  I love the feeling of a clean and organized home!

There are a few areas, however, that we really tend to let go - tasks like washing windows, cleaning the insides of appliances, or wiping out the fridge, to name a few.  They don't need to be done all the time, but that doesn't mean one should never do them. 

This came to my attention last weekend, when I noticed that our oven had some gunk on the inside that was starting to smell like a marshmallow that had fallen into a campfire.  Our oven has a "self-clean" button (as I'm pretty sure most do), but I had never run a cleaning cycle on it (nor on any other oven ever in my life).  Since the inside of this appliance is out of sight about 99 percent of the time, apparently it has also been out-of-mind for me. 

I decided that cleaning the oven was something I really needed to work into my schedule every few months, and that there were probably a lot of other chores along the same lines that I had been neglecting.  They may not need to be done all the time, they still need to be done on occasion.  And "on occasion" means more than once every five years.

I came up with a list of extra chores that don't always get the attention they deserve.  Then, I put together a spreadsheet with the chores in one column and the date completed in another.  I am going to try to choose one or two of these extra tasks each week and then record the date on the spreadsheet (which I have shared with Jay through Google Drive, in case he wants to participate).  This way, I will know exactly how long ago each job was completed, and I can choose to do chores that haven't been tended to recently.

Here is the list I came up with:

• Make cleaning supplies - This is something I always put off, and I think it would be a lot easier if I set aside some time to make my laundry detergent, shower cleaner, etc. all at once. 
• Clean appliances - Vinegar works great for cleaning dishwashers, microwaves, and washing machines. 
• Clean out cars - Even if it just means taking them to the car wash...it's something I really have to make myself do. 
• Wipe down cabinets/appliances - I use a natural all-purpose cleaner on the cabinets and a stainless steel microfiber cloth on the appliances.
• Wipe down baseboards/trim/doors - These are all white in our house, so a quick wipe-down really makes a difference.  
• Clean out one drawer or shelf - The junk drawer can always use it.
• Clean out fridge and freezer - It is amazing what you'll find hidden in the back. 
• Deep clean oven - Now that I know how to do this, I vow to do it more often.
• Clean out one closet - It's amazing how quickly they all fill-up. 
• Wash windows - I love these new miracle glass and mirror cloths I bought on Amazon that require nothing but water!
• Go through bathroom toiletries - It's good to reorganize and toss the expired stuff once in a while. 
• Clean out pantry - More organizing and tossing.
• Spot clean upholstery and carpets - It doesn't take long for our beige couches to get dirty with two dogs. 
• Purge or file all excess papers - This could also include going through the file cabinet, which is long overdue for us.
• Wash throws and dog beds - It's easy to overlook, but they get stinky after a while.
• Clean coffee makers - A vinegar/water cycle does a great job.  You can see my method here. 
• Clean makeup brushes - I also show an easy method for this here. 
• Disinfect/wipe out trash cans - Kind of like the oven, just because you can't see it doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.  

And here is the plan reduced to a cuter, simpler format:

The oven looks one hundred times better now that it has been cleaned!  I wish I had taken "before" and "after" photos.

On the agenda for this weekend - clean coffee makers (there is some suspicious gunk in the water chamber of our Keurig) and maybe wash cars.

Happy cleaning!