something old, something new.

if you think my title is eluding to me finally posting my wedding photographs, you are dead wrong. my procrastination station self still hasn’t picked them up.  i think that should be added to the list of october goals!

what my title is eluding to is two of my meals today: lunch and dinner.

breakfast wasn’t worth mentioning.. so let’s skip straight to lunch. something old!

recognize that pile’o’somethin?

oh yes, it is my old favorite combo!

for those of you who are new readers, this combo is cottage cheese, garbanzo beans & hidden valley ranch seasoning.  i threw in a tomato for fun.

and veggies on the side for added full factor.

i cannot tell you how great it was to be reunited with my old favorite! no idea why i stopped eating this on a daily basis.

here’s a story.  after i made my lunch, i was carrying it upstairs (i usually eat lunch at my desk while browsing the internet or typing a post) and my co-worker (hi, havalah!) said, “you always eat so healthy!”

my immediate reply was, “i like to eat healthy.”  true.

she replied by saying that she, too, likes to eat healthy, but today she was being “bad” and got take out chinese.

i replied with, “i just eat what i feel like eatingt.. and today it happens to be healthy.” true.  i also told her that i eat out plenty, usually on the weekend because then i can enjoy meals out with marshall.  i eat plenty of meals that are by no means healthy.  i explained that if i grabbed take out chinese, i wouldn’t be a happy camper. my plate of cottage cheese, beans and veggies was honestly what i wanted to eat for lunch.

i don’t want people to think eating healthy is something i do because i think i have to.  sure, it has its benefits, but i eat the way i eat because i want to.  i used to be a fast food junkie but these days, my stomach doesn’t agree with that sort of diet.  but just because i eat the above meal for lunch doesn’t mean i eat strictly healthy food 24/7.  when i eat ridiculously caloric mexican food or eat a whole loaf of cinnamon burst bread with butter (true story), i don’t say that i am being “bad”.  and when i eat the meal above i don’t say i am being “good”. that is not a good mentality for me and i can’t classify my meal as me being “bad” or “good”.  sure, the food itself can be bad for me or good for me, but the action itself is not me behaving bad nor good.  i just consider it eating what i feel like.. not good, not bad, just eating.  i also wanted to mention to my co-worker that there is nothing wrong with getting chinese take out.  she wasn’t being “bad” or “good”—she was eating what she wanted to eat for lunch.  i know she has been trying to eat healthier foods and i give her props.. but i also give her props for eating what she craved today.  that is how it should be.. i would never eat anything that doesn’t please the taste buds.

awhile back, i did classify my actions as being “bad” or “good”—but now i don’t think of eating as something that should be graded. it should simply just be done.

end of story

(woah! I just downloaded the update of windows live writer and I did a smiley face and look.. it did an actual face! ha! I wonder what other faces I can do?!)

 oh this could be dangerous…

I also should say that the latest version of windows live writer capitalizes the letter “I” for me automatically.  I have been having to back space and change it to lowercase, because that is how I blog.. all in lowercase.. but it is kind of a big pain in the butt so I think I will just let the “I” be capitalized.  all about convenience, no?

WOW, where was i?

my workout!

I had upper body on the agenda today but I really wasn’t feeling very peppy.  lack of sleep will do that.  here is the simple circuit I did:

5 minute warmup on treadmill

circuit: back to back moves (twelve reps each, three times through)

• dumbbell biceps curl
• overhead dumbbell triceps extension
• side dumbbell raise
• front dumbbell raise
• bent over dumbbell row
• incline pushups
• around the world dumbbell raises (side raise that keeps going and goes all the way up to above your head)
• bench dips
• dumbbell chest press
• dumbbell hammer curls

kind of boring but it did the trick! it took about 25 minutes. I wasn’t going to force myself to go any longer because I wasn’t into it.

I was, however, into my dinner: something new!

roasted garlic parmesan pasta with tofu.

nasoya sent me a few coupons to try their new tofu plus tofu.  it is just like regular tofu but has added nutritional benefits!  it is fortified with vitamins B2, B6, B12, D and calcium.

I pressed and diced the tofu, then marinated it in a sauce of olive oil, two cloves grated garlic, salt, pepper, italian seasoning and a bit of water to get it all flowing.

it marinated for about 15 minutes.

I prepped a bulb of garlic to be roasted.

I put the tofu on a baking sheet and popped the tofu and garlic in the oven at 425 degrees.

meanwhile, marshall cooked some noodles.. a mix of thin spaghetti and linguine. after all, today was national noodle day!

I made a sauce with the juice of a lemon, 3/4 cup homemade hummus, salt, pepper and italian seasoning.

 

poor penny and randy.. they kept getting in the way so we had to block the little beggars out of the kitchen with a barricade. don’t they look sad?!

when the tofu and garlic were done (I flipped the tofu about 15 minutes in and then let it bake for another 10 minutes) I took them out of the oven.

next, I smooshed the super hot, roasted garlic in my garlic press.. directly into the sauce.

the whole bulb. roasted garlic is not as pungent or strong tasting as raw garlic.. you can easily throw a whole bulb into a recipe without worrying about it being overpowered with a garlic flavor. just don’t try to kiss anyone later. unless they ate dinner with you.. so in my case, I’m good to go  

I poured the roasted garlic sauce on the pasta..

topped it with the tofu..

and then tossed it all with an unruly amount of shredded parmesan cheese

add some steamed veggies and call it a meal!

this was so flavorful and delicious! I have got to add roasted garlic to things more often.

the garlicky tofu marinade really worked well with the rest of the dish. we have a winner, folks!

I have to say I was pleased to know that the tofu was more nutritious than the tofu I typically buy. special thanks to nasoya for supplying me with the coupon to try the tofu plus.  if you would like to get a coupon to try nasoya tofu plus yourself, sign up for the tofu pledge here! you can also find all sorts of information about how to prepare tofu and great recipes using tofu. 

well, I gotta go. I have garlic breath in my mouth and a husband on the couch. you do the math.

Qs~

1. what is your favorite shape of noodle? how about your favorite sauce to top noodles with? I love thin spaghetti and penne.. my favorite sauce is pesto.  I also really like thai noodle dishes—which is a whole other topic!

2. what food behaviors have you let go of? I could talk about this for days, but here are a few. I no longer consider my eating choices as me personally being “bad” or “good”.  I no longer shy away from eating two carbs at the same meal. I don’t sweat it if I don’t have enough protein at breakfast.. I make up for it the rest of the day. say I am eating french toast– I used to always pair it with protein.. but sometimes I just want french toast, dangit! and now I will do that without worry. for more on this topic, check out tina’s recent post on food rules. it’s great.