I'm back! - Scramble Prep

Apologies for disappearing for so long.  Everything sort of fell off when Minneapolis had a great storm and our power went out (mine was only out for about 24 hours, but a lot of folks didn't have power for days).  Then I got pretty wrapped up in the business of summer and honestly wasn't cooking that much. Last week I went to Australia for a last minute modeling gig which was pretty amazing even though I was only there for three days (but gone for nearly a week because of the travel time).  I finally have a couple days off and I'm ready to get back in the swing of things. My roommate moved out so I'm trying to rebuild the kitchen and make time to nest and decorate.

With having such a busy lifestyle and just loving sleep, getting up an hour early to make a decent breakfast just isn't going to happen.  No matter how much I tell myself I will get up early, chances are I'll snooze until I only have 15 minutes before I have to leave.  If I'm prepared I can grab something and eat it on the way or when I get to work.  If I'm not stocked I usually just writhe in hunger pains until I'm allotted a lunch break,  which I obviously didn't pack because who has time for that?  I'm too cheap to spend more than $5 on lunch at the mall, so I usually succumb to a protein bar and a pepperoni pizza taquito from the convenience store.  This keeps my food craving under control but then I have the protein bar keep me full until I can get home and fix myself something decent to eat.  Which doesn't always happen. SO I've come up with a few things that help me save time and keep me eating throughout the day.

Pre-Mix a scramble:

The only reason I never make this in the morning is because it's a lot of work.  Cutting all the veggies, washing the dishes, I would HAVE to get up early.  I recently figured out that you can do that shit the night before.  GENIUS! Basically I just put in whatever I had in my fridge so substitute or eliminate as you wish.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

milk
salt & pepper

hot sauce (you can always add more)

kale - stemmed and chopped

green onions - chopped

red onion - chopped

cilantro - diced

tomatoes - chopped

cheese - shredded or shaved

peppers - chopped

Directions:

Crack eggs in tupperware, whisk in milk, hot sauce, salt & pepper.

Add veggies and cheese.

Close tupperware. Shake to mix. Refrigerate.

In the morning you can heat up the pan and dump this baby in there while you're getting ready.  The other day when it was done cooking in the pan, I wrapped it in a tortilla and put it in the toaster oven while I finished getting ready.  Then just grabbed it when I was heading out the door. 

I also did this with red potato hash browns!

Dinosaur Kale Quinoa Orange Salad

Today I had another full day at Aveda.  I [again] did not wake up in time to make myself anything more than a cold press coffee but luckily they had a wonderful breakfast for me.  Unfortunately we missed lunch due to having our actual event off site from the institute.  By the time I got home around 5pm I was [again] starving.  I immediately made plans to research a quinoa recipe that used dinosaur kale from Junko's Garden as that is the bulk and most time sensitive ingredients in my refrigerator.  I found a recipe and was about to head out when a friend of mine posted on facebook that they were in need of borrowing a computer.  He lives close by so I offered mine.  After some mild miscommunication as to where exactly we were to meet he came over and utilized my internet and software programs.  After some resume guidance and my grumbling stomach we eventually ventured off to the co-op for my two ingredients I needed for this wonderful mouth watering simple recipe.

As it turns out there was a parade happening down the street.  Unfortunately I do not have any saved footage of this event due to extreme snap chatting that was taking place, we roamed the strip and quite enjoyed ourselves I must say. (no candy though)

I spent about $8 total at the co-op [i did splurge on a cliff bar and an energy drink kind of sorry this time].  All in all I got a handful of roasted almonds, a lil ginger and a cucumber.  The recipe I had found had called for tangerines but they were no where to be found at the co-op.  Since I had one orange left in my fridge at home I figured that would suffice.

The original recipe can be found here.  I improvised with the below recipe.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of dinosaur kale
1 1/2 cups of cooked quinoa
1/4 cup feta [left over in my fridge]
1/2 a lil thing of fresh grated ginger [WARNING: DO NOT GET THIS IN YOUR EYE AS IT IS EXTREMELY PAINFUL, PROBABLY WORSE THAN LEMON JUICE I THINK MAYBE]
1 minced garlic clove
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp agave stuff? [idk i found some in my cupboard but I was planning on just adding sugar to taste]
1 orange
olive oil
roasted almonds


Directions:

Add olive oil to quinoa to moisten.
Cut stems off kale and massage with olive oil and sea salt to taste, add to quinoa.
Peal orange and section - saving a few pieces for juice for the sauce. Half and add to quinoa mixture.

Sauce:
Combine soy sauce, ginger, garlic, agave or sugar, and juice from remaining pieces of the orange.

Drizzle over quinoa mixture. Add feta and top with roasted almonds.

I actually just realized I forgot to add the almonds to mine.  This made about two "Kyndra servings", so I've saved the rest for lunch tomorrow with a side of sliced cucumbers and ranch dressing. YUM.  Also prepped some cucumber water and cold press coffee for the morning.

I don't work until 2pm tomorrow so I'm gonna ska-daddle and try and have some fun I guess.

Dinosaur Kale Scramble with Tomtato

I took a nap last night around 8pm, and didn't wake up until 8am this morning. Ooops. It was a much needed rest and I'm ready to take on today.  I poured myself a glass of cold press and sat outside in the morning sun conversing and catching with my homegirl Marta over text.  It was absolutely lovely.  When my stomach started to grumble I went inside and fixed myself a scramble with the Dinosaur Kale I acquired yesterday and two of my mothers farm fresh eggs and topped it with some tomato (I only used one for the med salad).  Enjoyed it outside again with the birds. Again, 100% organic!

It's almost noon, so I'm going to probably eat the rest of my quinoa med salad outside with some lemon water.  Then maybe I'll figure out what to do with this Kale and go for a walk. I'm planning on going to yoga around 430, since I haven't been able to go in a week! Eek! 

A 5am Call Time, Dinosaur Kale & A Solo Sunday Brunch

This morning I had a 5am call time for a hair show at the Aveda Institute.  Luckily this is only about a 5 minute drive from my house because I definitely woke up at 4:57am.  I had the pleasure of working with a wonderful woman, wife and mother named Stephanie Junko Molitor.  Stephanie and her husband started growing their own produce in their house about 5 years ago, and since then their growing aspirations have dramatically grown.  They now have their own hydroponic farm called Junko's Garden in Hinckley, MN.  She is the sweetest darling in the world and brought boxes of produce for us to grab!  She encouraged us to take as much as we want, but because of my busy schedule and minimal budget, I didn't want to get over zealous and have the food go to waste.  So I grabbed two bushels of dinosaur kale.

Now, I have no idea what to do with it so this is going to be fun.  Kale is not my favorite green despite it's fantastic nutritional qualities so I have very limited experience cooking with it (although I can recall a couple recipes from Cookie and Kate).  Since I don't have a blender, kale smoothies aren't going to happen either.  The last time I even used kale in a recipe an aphid crawled out on my hand and I almost had a heart attack.

I left Aveda around 1030am this morning and I was so hungry I was about to start eating my own arm. I ran to the Co-op and grabbed some feta, a couple tomatoes, and a couple red potatoes (and an energy drink #notsorry).  Total came to just over $8.00

I got home, cleaned the kitchen, and started makin some brunch.  First I started some quinoa on the stove.  Then I chopped the last of my red onion and scallions and put into a bowl (more med salad, duh).  I realized at this point that I did not grab cilantro at the store and I am in fact out (it went bad :( typical) but I figured I would be fine without it this time.  Then I sliced up both my red potatoes real thin like and threw 'em in a pan with some seasoning and olive oil. I figured I should probably add some onions so I grabbed a handful out of my bowl and threw it in there.  I also decided I should attempt this kale business so I cut off a leave and chopped it up and threw it in there too.  Pretty tasty if I do say so myself.  Served with feta cheese. Would have been even better with ketchup...

I still had some leftover spinach from my grocery trip last week, and it was starting to get a little limp so I figured I'd make a lil scramble (it's not like I'm running low on eggs either).  Grabbed another handful of onions from my bowl and threw that in there too.  Served with sriracha!

I realized as I was eating this lovely DIY brunch that everything on my plate, even the butter on my toast, was organic! Huzza!  The weather today is absolutely perfect so I enjoyed my little bunch in my backyard with the chirping birds.

As the days get warmer and warmer, hot coffee is becoming less and less desirable.  In light of this, I prepped some cold press in my french press for tomorrow morning.  I have the day off and it's supposed to be another beautiful day.  I cannot wait to start my day with that baby poured over ice to enjoy outside.

Now, this was a couple of hours ago, and I'm getting hungry again.  Time for some quinoa med salad!  

Since I was a little low on veggies this time I'm only going to make a half batch.  No idea what I'm going to do with the rest of the quinoa, probably something involving dinosaur kale...

And to finish this entry, a photo of my hair and make up from the Aveda show this morning and I'm probably going to rock this all day.

Cucumber Water

Cucumbers are probably one of my favorite summer veggies.  So fresh, so crisp, so healthy.  Since I still have a whole cucumber, I'm probably going to do one or more or all of the following;

1. Salads.  Remember that spinach I bought? Yeah imma put some cucumber on that for tomorrow's lunch.

Ingredients:
Lettuce
Cucumber
Other salad things (optional)
Dressing (optional)

Combine.  The end.


2. Pickled cucumbers.  I didn't say pickles, I said pickled cucumbers.  My mom has some bomb ass recipe that she uses but idk what it is so google helped me figure out an easy way last summer.

Ingredients:
1 jar of pickled jalepeños
Thinly sliced cucumber
Red onion (sliced in strips or circles)

Soak onion and cucumber in jalepeño juice for a few hours or overnight.
The end.

These are good on sandwiches, burgers, brats, or just on their own, a lil snack.

3. Cucumber Water

Ingredients:
Cucumber
Lemon
Water
Ice (optional)

Combine and store in refrigerator. I might throw in some cilantro too for a little zing since I have so much of it.  This is especially great because it helps me drink more water during the day too when it's so delicious.

A Default Meal

I spent about $40 at the coop the other day, wasn't able to make my med salad until yesterday, but it was well worth the wait.  I know what you're thinking, "FOURTY DOLLARS??!" I also had to stock up on some basic groceries as all I had at home was 3 dozen eggs, one tortilla and some granola.  I also was too lazy to run up to the regular grocery store to get my "Clean Fifteen" items, so I just bought them there and sacrificed a few bucks for convenience and splurged on a couple beverages that at the time I couldn't imagine living without.  I also intend on these groceries lasting me for the next 2 weeks. I also forgot to grab my receipt so I'll recite what I can remember I purchased.

1 loaf of bread
1/2 lb of coffee
1 quart of milk
4 boxes of annie's mac and cheese (they were one sale 4 for $5)
high ball grapefruit energy water
alô water
1 package of boneless chicken tenders (about $4.50)
handful of spinach
green onions
cilantro
red onion
2 roma tomatos
cucumber
1 small container of feta cheese (about 8oz)
lemon
1 cup quinoa from the bulk section


I have a couple staple meals that I know I will love that are inexpensive.  One of these is a quinoa Mediterranean Salad with lemon vinaigrette. (see bolded items above)  You can pretty much guarantee that I will eat this every day all summer without complaints or exhausting this recipe.  I originally happened upon this recipe through a friend a couple years ago and we made it with cous cous.  I started using quinoa because the protein in quinoa is complete protein, which means it abundantly contains the essential amino acids our bodies cannot make on their own.  This helps me not have a hypoglycemic breakdown at work and keeps me full longer.  Although feel free to experiment with other grains or make as an antipasti as it's pretty tasty either way.

Start making your quinoa.
Rinse it unless you want it to taste horrible. Put some olive oil in a pan and lightly toast the quinoa to remove some of the moisture, then add three cups of water, bring to a boil, turn heat to low, cover it and let it hang out for like 15 minutes.

While you're waiting for your quinoa start cutting up your veggies; cilantro, green onion, red onion, tomato, cucumber.  (I usually only use half a cucumber and we'll talk about the other half later).  Use as much cilantro as you want, don't worry about using the whole bunch, I've decided that's basically impossible.  If you have a cilantro plant, congratulations.

In a separate bowl, you can make some lemon vinaigrette via my hodge podge modified recipe I use.  Cut the lemon in half and juice into bowl using a spoon or whatever method works best for you to get all the juice out.  I usually have to filter out some seeds, too.  Add some olive oil, like one, two, three or four dollops idk.  It'll still be pretty lemony so don't worry about that.  You can also zest some lemon peal in there and add some pepper. Add it to the veggies or add the veggies to it and wash your bowl, knife and cutting board because you're all done with those.  Grab a big bowl for your quinoa and combine veggies and feta cheese and voila.

**No need to add salt due to the feta being so salty on it's own.  Add pepper to taste

I grabbed some chicken tenders too to prepare and add in or serve on the side although it's not necessary because it's so fucking delicious anyway.

An Introduction

I grew up on a beef farm in rural Wisconsin. I was raised on hamburger helper and frozen fish sticks (bless my mother's heart). This was a time before eating healthy and "green" was trendy and a meal without meat was not a meal at all. When my sister became a vegetarian in 7th grade, we prayed to God that she would come back to us. After high school I was living in Madison, WI, and I took my dad to a persian restaurant(RIP CASPIAN CAFE FOREVER.) They had several vegan and vegetarian options on their menu, because of this my dad ordered twice as much food convinced that there was no way he was going to get enough food. (He was unable to finish his double entree for the record.) He asked me if kabob was the next step after vegan and to this day I'm not sure if that was a joke or not.

Needless to say I was raised with a very interesting mindset about eating healthy. My mother has always scoffed at her coworkers who drink their "fair trade coffee" and "shop at the co-op" for their organic produce. Meanwhile my mother had her own garden and most the produce we had we grew ourselves. I think it's some weird superiority complex that my mother felt social pressure and had to rebel, I'm not really sure. What I do know is doing all your shopping at whole foods and the co-op is expensive as fuck, so yeah fuck those people I guess.

During Fair Trade Coffee week in Madison they had a viewing of the documentary Black Gold, which I found to be very inspiring and it opened my eyes to the importance of shopping fair trade, coffee specifically. Since this experience (which you should totally watch) I cannot support companies like Starbucks, Illy or Nestle with a clear conscience. I must buy my coffee fair trade (sorry mom). I also understand there are so many things other than coffee to buy fair trade and it's overwhelming. I simply cannot afford to buy EVERYTHING fair trade and others have judged me for this. Do what you can is my motto, don't not support one thing because you cannot support everything.

Last summer I reconnected with an old acquaintance from "the scene" in Milwaukee circa 2005. After several interactions on the internet we finally met up and it's one of the best things that has happened to me since moving to Minneapolis. Aside from being a fantastic friend, she has awoken me from my slumber of depressing boring meals like ramen and mac and cheese with a protein bar on the side to savory sweet potato burritos and korean barbecue bulgogi stir fry. She introduced me to the "Clean 15" and the "Dirty Dozen" which has helped me make much better decisions when grocery shopping and meal planning. When her and I are together we obsess over food blogs and new recipes we've tried. She also introduced me to yoga for the first time and I think my life is finally starting to come together. Rachel, if you're reading this, THANK YOU.

I'm 26 years old, 5'10", 125 lbs. PT Model FT Retail. I don't have a juicer or a blender. I haven't been to a whole foods in years. I can't afford those new wave trendy drinks in the beverage isle or vitamins from the co-op. I rarely eat out and if I do it's the dollar menu at Mickey D's or Taco Bell with the occasional splurge on pepperoni pizza taquito's from the gas station. I have literally survived on cliff bars for months. I am in a constant struggle to eat healthy and save money, which is kind of an oxymoron these days. Even if I knew how to garden, I don't have time. My metabolism is that of a 12 year old boy and I am self diagnosed with hypoglycemia (I passed out in a parking lot after eating a muffin for breakfast.) I've never been "well off". My life is in a constant state of which bills to pay late and direct deposit advance. I have a knack for worsening my financial situation whether by accident or unintentional self sabotage. When food I purchase goes bad it breaks my heart because like, I could have eaten that. I find it near impossible to utilize all of my groceries to make different meals that give my body energy as well as the nutrients I need while on a budget.

I am about to begin a documentation of what I buy, where I buy it from and why. In addition to what I use it for and whether or not it totally sucked. I'll include recipes and if I can get this scanner working, some actual hand written and physical documentation. Maybe you can follow me in this adventure and learn from my mistakes and at the same time save money, eat healthy and sustainably, not be wasteful and be happy.