Week One, 2012, in Review

The first week of 2012 has come and gone. 51 weeks to go. I'd like to believe they could all be like this week--busy, but not overwhelming, full of sleep and feeling good.

This week, I ran a total of 30.7 miles. None of it was for time. Distance is the goal, not time. Keeping my March marathon goal on the horizon and thinking all the time about the Kalamazoo Marathon. Hoping I make it through all three healthy.

I had two full days of vegan eating this week...yes, including my coffee of the day. I've found that I actually like soy lattes. 

And one of my biggest highlights of the week? Acceptance into the NYC Marathon in November. Deferring last fall was terrible, but receiving my guaranteed entry this week for it in 2012, yielded total elation!!!

Yesterday's long run, while not very easy, was fun in that I saw new parts of DC.  I always think it's amazing that I have lived in DC for more than ten years and I can still see new parts.  I also ran on roads that I have run on in years.  It was fun to run in "new" territory and on paths not well trodden (by these legs).

Here's to week two...

Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe with Rotelle

This week's recipe was chosen based on ease. But honestly, it did have quite a bit of intrigue with it's chili peppers, garlic and rapini. As we drove in the car and chose the recipe this a.m. we also thought about what we knew we had at home in terms of ingredients. We didn't want to go home to check, so this recipe seemed straight forward and relatively easy to navigate when it came to grocery shopping.

So, Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe with Rotelle it was!

I followed the recipe exactly with the substitution of gobbetti pastas for the rotelle. See that bulb of garlic? All but three cloves of it were used. Another allure of the recipe.


As the pasta boiled on the stove, the directions had me make the sauce for the tempeh. It consisted of red pepper flakes, fennel seeds, soy sauce, vegetable broth, dried oregano, and tomato paste. It was quite delicious and not nearly as hot as I thought it would be. The tomato paste added a little sweetness and the soy brought out the savory.


The tempeh and sauce steamed for about ten minutes and then were put in a separate bowl. By this time the pasta was finished and sat in the drained pot, with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a lid on it to keep it warm.

As the tempeh and sauce simmered, I chopped ten cloves of garlic. It smelled so great! Hope it helps to keep all of those lingering cold germs away too!!!


Then, the garlic was put in the, now empty, pan that the tempeh and sauce had simmered in. The garlic cooked in a little olive oil and then rapini was added.


It steamed for eight minutes with the lid on and then two without, as the final liquids evaporated.


Shazam! It was finally time for all ingredients to meet! The tempeh which had since been added to the pasta, was now poured in with the cooked garlic and rapini.


And very quickly, dinner was served!


Mark and I both liked the recipe, but I think Mark liked it better. For me, the rapini was just a bit too bitter. Also, I'm not sure if was the cooking of the fennel seeds or the combination with the rapini, but the fennel seeds really turned bitter and were somewhat overpowering. It was fun to cook and definitely a healthy dinner, but I will definitely try some other recipes from the book before making this one again.

My First Day Vegan

So, this is a picture of how I am ending my day, not how I started it.

I can actually say that I made it an entire day eating as a vegan! (Applause please!)

My biggest roadblock I thought would be my Half & Half in the coffee....honestly, soy milk is NOT a substitute for my morning addiction. I braced myself to be grouchy should my Starbucks order of a Venti Soy Latte with an extra shot, was not good. I got my drink from the bar, added three packets of sugar, put the lid back on and took a sip. It was actually good. I have to say, it was much, much better than I had anticipated.

Ok, I actually liked it.

The day was going to be ok.

My next dilemma was what to do for breakfast. No oatmeal from Au Bon Pain b/c it had milk in it. No yogurt from Starbucks ( a personal fave!) because, well, it's yogurt. In the end, I went hungry. :(

By 11 am, I was so hungry that I ate my vegan vegetable soup during a team meeting. But by lunch time (an hour and a half later) I was hungry again so I went out to the store to scope my options. I found dried fruit (not my fave, but I was sooo hungry). I also found a frozen Amy's Tofu and Brown Rice bowl...phew! I wasn't going to starve after all. And in the spirit of trying things (I was feeling empowered from my soy latte), I bought a bunch of bananas!

I went back to school and at the tofu and brown rice--I'd had it before and loved it. The dried apricots were also delish. The bananas? They sat there. I couldn't bring myself to eat them.

Fast forward another class and a staff meeting. 5:00 comes and I make it back to my room...again, ravenous! I eye the bananas...they eye me...

And then I take the plunge! I find the most ripe, but still unripe, banana and peel...I did it! I actually ate the full banana! It was honestly, probably my first banana in 10 years. And you know what, it wasn't nearly as bad as I remember them to be!!!

Tonight we went to Whole Foods for dinner. I went for a run after work, but before dinner and by the time we got home, I was HUNGRY!!!! So off we went to the prepared food bar at Whole Foods---tonight's dinner? Garlic noodles (entree) and balsamic roasted brussel sprouts with red onions. FANTASTIC!

We managed to pick up 10 other things from Whole Foods too--one of which is the Coconut Milk creamer. We just tried it. It too, is pretty good...I think this vegan thing might just work out... :)

I'm the Author of Great Vegan Food!

While this post seems to not fit with the rest of the theme of the blog, let me assure you, it most certainly does.

One of my New Year's Resolutions for this year is to eat vegan for the whole day three days a week in the New Year. This means several things for me: a gradual release from my dearly beloved Half and Half in my coffee, and a concerted effort to learn how to cook vegan.

This is not a new thought for me, but this Christmas I acted on it and requested vegan cookbooks that were easy to follow and had food that was "mainstream." My brother and his fiance came through with two great cookbooks.

Tonight, I made my first vegan meal from Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.


After Mark and I perused the book, we settled on Tempeh Shepherdess Pie. The recipe seemed easy enough but incorporated new flavors and new ingredients.


So, we made a list and headed out to Whole Foods.

Our new ingredient of the day? Grapeseed Oil. Who knew? From the looks of it, it is from green grapes. I just had no idea that they had it let alone, for sale.

After our run, we set to work.

The recipe took a little bit to follow but was very clear and had concise times for everything which I really appreciated. It was my first time cooking with tempeh and I found it all very easy to do.


I love the consistency of tempeh in my food so I was so excited to work with it and see how it was cooked. Above it's in the pan, simmering with some tamari sauce and water.

Once most of the water evaporated it was poured in the collander, where it waited until the mushrooms and onions were sauteed. Then it went back in the pan with the awesome smelling onions and garlic, where it simmered for a while as spices and other ingredients were added.

As I worked on the tempeh mix, Mark mashed the baby Yukon gold potatoes, adding in soy milk, grapeseed oil, and some salt and pepper.

Finally, the two parts were ready to meet...

Into the casserole dish it went...first the tempeh mix...

And then topped with the layer of mashed potatoes....

It only required 20 minutes in the oven and an additional four under the broiler to get the crunch, crispy potato top.

Served and voila! I've made an awesome vegan dinner! It was delicious! Already looking forward to my vegan cooking next adventure!!!

Happy New Year everyone! Here's to a year of new food and resolutions!