Energy Boosting Sesame Orzo

I kind of failed at food last week. I took a “cooking vacation,” if you will. I went out to eat, grabbed takeout, or made avocado sandwiches literally every night. With everything going on this summer, I just hit a wall where I felt overwhelmed and like I had no time. When this happens, it’s not only fast meals that I crave, but carbs. I just want all the carbs.

When I finally found myself with some time on Sunday, I decided I better step foot in the kitchen and see if I could get back in the groove and make something substantial. While I had no intention of ending my carb bender, I thought adding greens and protein to the mix might be helpful for my dwindling energy level.

Enter beluga lentils. A teeny tiny protein powerhouse that pairs well with just about anything. I figured lentils, broccoli rabe, and a miso-sesame sauce juuuust might bring my energy back up and get my cooking shoes back on.

To be clear, I would be piling all these ingredients on top of pasta, of course…we’re taking baby steps here, people.

Peanut Butter Drenched Ice Cream Sandwiches

Some people can fall right into vacation mode. They simply finish up work, walk out the door and haven’t a care in the world.

I’m not one of those people. Not even close.

Since the 4th of July fell on a Wednesday this year, I went crazy and took a 5-day weekend. Look out for this girl, I know. The boy and I decided to spend the vacation at his dad’s place in Wisconsin. It’s secluded within a bunch of tree-covered bluffs, has a creek the weaves throughout the property, and it’s also one of the few places where my phone absolutely refuses to work. So, to summarize, it’s pretty great.

On our first day of vacation, Wisconsin set a heat record (brace yourselves, here I go complaining about heat again), so, with the exception of an hour sitting in the creek with a beer in my hand, the outdoors was off-limits. No structure and no outdoors? My thumbs started to twiddle, my toes started dancing up, down, around…I needed to do something to settle into vacation mode. Naturally, this “something” became a baking project. I’m so predictable.

Red, White and Blueberry Crisp

This weekend had some ups and downs. Not in temperature or humidity, of course, as those just kept going up, up, and away. Sure, it was beautiful, sunny, and full of skin-burning loveliness, but it was also the weekend when I started to move my stuff from my apartment to the boy’s place. This is a great thing, yes, but what is NOT great is that I currently live on the third-floor of a brick building with absolutely zero air conditioning. Not even a window unit, because in all my cockiness I thought, “Psh, I’m moving out in July, I don’t need to pay $25 for someone to install my air conditioner. I’m stronger than that.”

I’m not stronger than that. That was a mistake.

The air was heavy, the floor was hot and moist, and the fans were just turning their heads in vain. We were productive, sure, but also…thirsty. So very thristy. I wanted all the water in the world, and something refreshing and sweet. Yes, I wanted dessert, because even when nearing heat-stroke I’m still me.

So when I finally got in his (/my new) central-air-conditioned home, I deemed it dessert time. Fruity, fresh, and weather-appropriate dessert time, that is, and something likely involving ice cream. Yes, that is what I needed. And a cold glass of Chardonnay on the rocks. This, my friends, is the key to hot-weather happiness. Fact.

Sweet, slightly tart, gooey perfection, with melty ice cream just making a mess of the whole thing.

I made this late on Sunday afternoon, and it took all my strength not to eat the entire “photo shoot” piece before dinner.

So then I ate half of it.

…Okay maybe a little more than half.

If I had waited a few days, this would have been a perfectly patriotic dessert to have on the Fourth of July. After all, it’s got the red, white, and blue covered, plus it’s filled with refreshing berries and covered in ice cream. If that’s not a celebration of mid-summer then I don’t know what is.

But let’s be real, that wasn’t the point here. I wasn’t thinking straight. The heat had gone to my head and a selfish fruit and sugar craving had overtaken my common sense.

 

Summer heat can drive a girl insane, but you just need to know your own quick fixes. In my case, triple berry crisp. Done and done.

[Nearly] Vegan Weekend, Continued: Nutty Veggie Burgers

Earlier this week I wrote about dipping my toes into vegan baking for a cabin trip last weekend. I’m strictly a lacto-ovo veg, and have been since I was but a wee 3-year-old, but I wanted to make a couple of things to share with our vegan friends: a sweet treat and a substantial meal. Since this weekend was all about convenience, and grabbing food that would get us back to the lake faster, I decided to whip up some veggie burgers. Well, it was mostly this convenience factor that made up my mind, but I’m also kind of obsessed with veggie burgers. It’s true. Weird, but true.

I’m also kind of obsessed with learning about how vegan food works. The science befuddles me (MOST science befuddles me, but that’s a different topic), but I love how creative vegans need to be with their food. I’ve always thought that I’m just on the cusp of being a vegan. Sometimes I think I could do it. Sometimes I think I might even LOVE it.

However, every time I consider veganism, even if only for a moment, there’s this little voice inside of me that screams, “CHEESE! Grab the cheese and run!”

…but we’ll get to that later. First, the veggie burger.

Vegan Weekend: Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

This weekend was one of those summer weekends. The kind where you do nothing all day but are tired because of it. The kind where you get sleepy eyes from too much sun, and need an afternoon nap after a midday happy hour. I like those kind of weekends.

This weekend was also an experiment in vegan-ism…or at least sort of. We went to a friend’s cabin with a 50% vegan-friend population, so I wanted to make some things that would be enjoyed by all, including the little 1.5-year-old who entertained us the whole time. My first order of business was to get my sweets covered…I decided to fashion some kind of muffin that was healthy enough to be breakfast, but yummy enough that the non-vegans would also partake.

I figured we needed to come in with a plan for food. Partially because of the group’s varying food preferences, but mostly because I didn’t want anything silly like cooking to interfere with our days of doing nothing. This girl’s got priorities.