Quick Breakfast Shot

Clearly this picture is terrible, but omg how delicious does that melty peanut butter look as it spills out onto the chocolatiest oats of all time? One of these days I'll get around to posting an actual recipe, I swear.

Tired grad students eat...

Roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli drizzled with homemade vegan cheese sauce. This meal wasn't phenomenal, but I literally did not care at all.

Beans a la Morocco

Sometimes I think the title of this blog should be "Varying combinations of Beans and Cilantro" or "How to Eat Daal Once a Week and Not Get Sick of It." This next recipe is typical, but incredible. And, if we're going to be picky, I rarely eat chickpeas except in hummus, so maybe I'm a bit of a rebel this week? Quarter life crises will do that to you, I guess. Anyway, I followed this recipe almost exactly, except for a few changes because I was a) cheap or b) forgetful. Compare if you like, because the original could be better.


Moroccan Chickpea Stew

This picture is terrible because it was taken on my phone. 

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 cup onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dried apricots, sliced
1/2 tbsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup water
3/4 tsp. lemon zest
3/4 tbsp. lemon juice
1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (unsalted)
3 cups endive, torn into 1/2 inch pieces
fresh cilantro
toasted almond pieces


Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove garlic from pan using a slotted spoon; discard or reserve for another use (aka wait for it to cool and then pop it in your mouth). Add onion and next 6 ingredients (through cinnamon) to pan; sauté for 7 minutes or until the onion is lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add water, lemon zest, juice, chickpeas, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lastly, stir in endive; simmer for 1 minute or until endive wilts. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cilantro and almonds. Serve over couscous or quinoa (with raita on the side, obvi.)

THIS WAS FREAKING AMAZING. I had enough for about 3 servings, and I am sooo excited for the next time I make it.

1. 
   

Ignore this if you don't want to hear me whine

There have been times in my life when I thought I'd like to go back and relive experiences because I missed them so much. I remember after college wishing I could start at the beginning, but ultimately realized that I was glad I had finished and I didn't actually, really want to relive all of it again.

Now, I'm beginning to understand that it must actually be over with Nate, because every part of me wishes I could go back and have each experience I had with him over again, with no thought for the future or for the ways it would set me back in my life. I wish I could live on a circuit, where I just replay the two years we had together in Ithaca, and even the year we had together after I moved. I wouldn't even necessarily change anything to make it better, although I can say definitively that none of it was perfect. I just want it again. And again, and again.

I took this picture off my nightstand today.  Little by little I've tried to remove pieces of him from my life; I hide the miscellaneous tee shirts in bins beneath my bed, I slip birthday cards into the pages of books I've already read. I'm just hoping that I won't accidentally unearth them until I'm ready to throw them out. But that thought in itself- that I want that moment to come, that I want to forget him absolutely- makes my heart hurt. 

Weekend breakfast I'm loving lately...

Fried eggs, sharp cheddar cheese, and salsa. 

So salty and satisfying after a run! 

Eggless Fried Rice

This week I found myself with leftover zucchini, onion, and mushrooms-- I chopped them all into tiny pieces and fried them with butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, black pepper and leftover brown rice, and then added shrimp sauteed in lemon and soy sauce. I forgot the egg, but this meal was still delicious and easy; plus, it was created solely with ingredients I had on hand! New life plan: open Hibachi restaurant.

Blehhhh

I count the hours as they pass

one by one.  My feet

fall in line, miles to work and back.

Evenings ring of dinners prepared

and eaten,

of arms around me in the

kitchen,

bottles of wine shared in noisy

restaurants,

the mornings side by side.

I greet the sun with resolve.

I insist on forgetting.

Hour by hour I close my mind to you,

open it and breathe,

close it to you again.