Veggie-Stuffed Acorn Squash

-2 small acorn squash (appx 1.25 lbs each)
-3/4 cup cooked millet
-appx 6 cups raw spinach
-1/2 white or yellow onion, chopped
-1 tbsp peanut flour
-3 tbsp almond milk (or soy, or dairy, or whatever)
-1/4 cup lowfat greek yogurt
-1/2 cup texturized soy protein
-1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- sprinkle of cumin, curry powder and garlic powder
- 4 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
-1/4 cup shredded asiago

Make sure your squash are perfect. I usually kiss mine to find out.

Remind yourself that even though you're STARVING after your run, the squash will taste better when cooked. Remove from mouth.

Halve both squash and scoop out the seeds. Leave the squash flesh (ew. I hate the word flesh.) in tact. 

Place two squash halves face down in a microwave safe dish with 1/2 inch of water, microwave on high for 10 mins. Repeat with other two squash halves.

After microwaving, scoop out most of the squash meat (that sounds weird too...), leaving some in the skins for sturdiness (the skins will be a bit floppy after the microwave).

Preheat oven to 350. While it's heating, brown onion in some olive oil in a pan on the stove. Add peanut flour, almond milk and spinach- cover and allow to wilt. 

Don't be afraid of the TSP. It looks WIERD in the package, but it's the same stuff you find in veggie chili or some veggie burgers. Combine 1/2 cup TSP with 1 1/2 cups water, cover and heat in a saucepan until the water is absorbed. Add to spinach/onion mix. 

Add cooked millet, Greek yogurt, nutritional yeast and seasonings to the spinach mix. Combine well and reduce heat for 3 minutes.

After spraying the bottom of a glass cooking dish, it's squash-stuffin' time!

 Set your squash shells in the dish and divide the filling between them!

 Shred some cheese! Sprinkle it over the squash and top with your breadcrumbs!

Have your hubbers (or someone equally useful) pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Impromptu photo shots are the best way to pass the time while waiting for dinner.

The second the timer dings, pull these babies out!

Revel in their crunchy-topped savory deliciousness.

And if you wanna lick the shell, I won't tell...

Book Launch Parties, Exciting News and Food (Natch)!

If we're connected on Facebook or Twitter then you probably already know this, but I'm included on Shape.com's Bloggers Reveal feature! Wahoo! What an honor!

In other exciting news, my husband just finished the first draft of his book. 

 And now, my job begins. Did you know that being married to a writer automaticallly makes you the first draft editor? Now you do. Though I can't complain- he edits all of my writing, too (plays, short stories, etc.).

Speaking of exceptional literary talent, I had the extremely exciting honor of attending the launch of my homegirl Leigh Stein's book tour for her first novel, The Fallback Plan!

 If you knew her, the panda wouldn't surprise you. If you don't know her, you should. Leigh and I were partnered by fate to teach dance (me) and drama (her) at an afterschool program in Brooklyn. Along with Erin (the visual arts leg of our happy art trifecta), we pushed our kids to work hard and as a result, they turned into some pretty accomplished artists. 

 There was a seriously impressive crowd of local supporters. Everyone wants a piece of the fabulous Miss Wee!

 An audience of pandas listened to her hypnotizing prose...

 Afterschool program support! Joshua was one of the most helpful counselors we worked with, and Erin (center) is the aforementioned visual arts genie.

 I can't wait to read my copy! It will probably not happen until the end of the semester, but a girl can dream, can't she?!

 Joe's pretty stoked, too!

 I got an autograph!

 It was so wonderful to have a mini-reunion with these fab former co-workers!

I got in a great Daily Burn kickboxing workout yesterday! I'm a part of their test group and have absolutely LOVED this program- the videos are great, not too long and challenging enough without being too difficult. They prompt you to enter your weight and they allow you to track the reps you complete of certain exercises while you're doing your workout. I'm beautifully sore this AM! :)

Joe got home just as I was finishing up my workout, and I was STARVING, so we whipped up some delicious lunch fare!

 Grilled tofu, cucumber, black bean, red pepper, pear and blueberry salad with beef veggie soup! So simple and so delicious!

 I continued unpacking and found these awesome cookie cutters my sister got my for Christmas. HA. 

We ran some errands and then did a marathon editing session for the hub's new book.

And then... DINNAH!

 Our friends who live in Hawaii sent Joe lots of delicious treats for his birthday in September, including these two jellies. 

 I scouted about for some other ingredients...

 And then mixed up a quick glaze for the salmon fillet we picked up at the store. 

SALMON GLAZE

-2 tbsp jelly or jam (I used 1/2 guava, 1/2 grapefruit juice)

-1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

-1 tbsp minced garlic (or 2-3 cloves)

 I applied 1/2 of the glaze and baked the salmon for 15 mins in a 450F oven, applied the other 1/2 and baked for another 10 minutes. 

 Joe grilled up these beauties on our Griddler with a bit of olive oil.

And I mixed up a tasty avocado sauce!

TANGY AVOCADO SAUCE

-1/2 cup lowfat greek yogurt

-1 avocado, diced

-1 tsp tahini

-1 tbsp minced garlic (or 2-3 cloves)

-1/2 tsp lime juice

-1 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce (just go with me here...)

-ground cumin to taste

 Combine ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Serve cold.

 Success! The avocado sauce was delicious on both the asparagus and the salmon!

Greek Yogurt Granola Pie

I am so. so. so. so proud of myself. I'm a mad scientist in the kitchen.

Sometimes it's disastrous, but sometimes it's exquisite! This recipe is one of the latter, thank goodness!

This dish was developed out of a desire to use things in my fridge and conveniently covers my love for things that taste like dessert but can be eaten for breakfast, guilt-free AND gluten-free (I'm 99.9999% positive on this- if any of these ingredients look suspicious, let me know in the comments). Get ready. 

Greek Yogurt Granola Pie

CRUST

1 cup quick oats (not intentional- I thought they were regular oats but I guess I bought the wrong kind)
1/4 cup crushed raw almonds (food processor works well)
1/4 cup unsweetened dried coconut
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp Sun Crystals (equivalent to 2 tsp sugar)
sprinkle cardamom
1/4 c applesauce
1 tsp coconut oil

Preheat oven to 300F. Mix dry ingredients. Add applesauce and coconut oil. 

Roll mixture into a ball and place in a lightly greased pie dish. Flatten, raising edges slightly. 

Bake for 10 minutes.

FILLING

1 cup greek yogurt
1 tbsp Polaner All-Fruit Sugar-Free with Fiber Seedless Raspberry Preserves *GF*
1 tbsp TJ's Fig Butter *GF? Ingredients are- figs, water, sugar, lemon juice concentrate and pectin)*
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk
1 tsp soy flour
8 drops French Vanilla Stevia

Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl, mix well. Pour into pre-baked crust and bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool and then refrigerate before serving.

Makes 8 servings. 140 calories, 8g fat (mostly from flax, almonds, coconut oil...), 3g fiber, 6g protein and only 3g sugar per serving! 

Double your portions for a breakfast meal with 12g protein, 6g fiber, 6g sugar, 16g healthy fats at only 280 calories!

As always, feel free to sub similar ingredients to customize your own version! Let me know how it turns out!

Eat, Run, Eat.

I took a brief detour upstate to visit my family before settling back into real life. I arrived at 1:20a on Friday, so I crashed at my sister's pad in Albany. We were STARVING when I woke up, so she suggested heading to Uncommon Grounds on Western Ave. for some caffeine and breakfasty goodness.

If God made a breakfast sandwich, (s)he would make this ham, egg and swiss on a pesto bagel (unless God is Muslim, Jewish or some other belief system that's not down with the pig/ dairy consumption thing, but even then...). This is planted firmly in the top 5 breakfast sandwiches I've ever, ever had.  

 Paired perfectly with my signature drink- iced coffee with soy. 

 You KNOW I'm a sucker for funky abstract shenanigans...

 We returned to Kieren's apt and suited up for some sweat time.  

 You should probably take her seriously... I mean look at that face, and her Sporran-esque purse (KUDOS to anyone who gets this reference...).

My sister just joined a large chain gym that shall not be named but is famous for its super cheap memberships and exclusion of people who work out "too" hard (ahem, cough... cough...) and charges $20 for a guest pass if your friend doesn't have the upgraded membership. UHM- WHAAAA?

Hater, PLEASE. I'll go run on the sidewalk for FREE.  So that's what I did. 3.25 miles in the chilly December air, punctuated by a visit to the Steamer 10 Theatre- I worked there years back and poked my head in to say hi to some old friends!

We headed to my mom's house for a delicious night in!

 Oh yeah- it's veggie time...

Certain individuals in my family who I will not single out on my blog because they'd smack me have an aversion to a significant amount of vegetables and nutrient-packed foods... Much to their chagrin, I've made it my mission in life to force-feed them as many plant-based foods as I can. It's all out of love. 

I was feeling creative, so I improvised a squash soup recipe, mashed together appx 10 Maple-Roasted Brussel Sprout recipes and doctored Kate's recipe for Brown Rice Risotto.

 My mildly reluctant but excessively helpful kitchen slave sous chef.

 Scallions, anyone?

Maple Roasted Brussel Sprouts

1lb brussel sprouts, rinsed and halved 

3 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp (or 2-3 cloves) minced garlic

-Preheat oven to 400 F. 

-Mix last 5 ingredients in a bowl.

-Add brussel sprouts, toss to coat.

-Lay brussel sprouts on a foil-covered cookie sheet or roasting pan.

-Top with left-over mixture.

-Roast in oven for 20-25 minutes until brown, sugary edges appear. 

Sweet Potato, Acorn and Buttercup Squash Soup

1 large sweet potato

1 acorn squash (appx 2 lbs)

1 buttercup squash (appx 2 lbs)

16 oz reduced sodium stock (chicken or veggie)

1 c water

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp minced garlic (appx 2-3 cloves)

1/3 c soy milk 

-Rinse, halve and scoop both squash. One at a time, place halves face down in a microwave safe dish with 1/2 inch water, microwave on high for 10 mins. 

-Rinse, peel and cube sweet potato. Place in a large saucepan on medium heat with the stock and water, cover and bring to a boil. 

-After squash has been microwaved, scoop flesh and add to the cooking sweet potatoes.

-Add garlic and cinnamon.

-Let entire mixture cook, covered, until sweet potatoes are soft (appx 20 mins).

-Add soymilk after heat has been turned off- blend in food processor.

I followed the risotto recipe above almost exactly, my only tweaks were halving the regular onion quantity and adding a bunch of scallions (which I sauteed first) and shrimp (at the very end).

Food! 

This was probably one of my most impressive meals to date. Call me proud.