#nicoskitchen

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Reflection: January 2021

Hello January 31st! Does anyone else feel like it was the longest January of their life? We already know that the pandemic is warping our sense of time, but is it getting worse (slower) as we barrel toward the 11th month? Maybe it was all the bad, bad news and the anticipation of Trump’s exit from office... idk, but I’m glad it’s over. 

All things considered, I’m wrapping January feeling really good and very accomplished. Here are some of my highlights: 

I’ve been able to “Wake up & Stretch” everyday this month, no misses!

I completed the Blogilates #21DayTone challenge! And actually, I’ve exceeded it; as of today, I’ve been active at least 21 mins per day for 28 consecutive days and I’ve hit the 64 oz water goal everyday, too! As they say, it takes 28 days to form a habit and this is one I’m interested in sticking with. For years, I’ve always taken weekends off from my workout routine, save for an occasional (and always light) hike. What the 21 day challenge showed me is how easy it is to fit a ~20 minute workout into the weekend, especially during quarantine. But, I’ve also decided I don’t need to be intense about it... my plan is to do this “Yoga for the Splits” video on Saturdays and this Sunday stretch, which should get me ever closer to my goal to be able to do splits by the end of the year. 

I read Laura Kang’s Traffic in Asian Women and wrote the review for a journal, which I emailed off on January 25 - hoping this jump starts my momentum for other projects. 

I made banana and oat based breakfast muffins and they are so delicious. 

After years of avoiding them, I tried making an eggplant dish and it was very, very good. Lesson learned: the only eggplants I want to eat are the long skinny Asian ones. Keep those chunky American eggplants away from me. 

I also made waffles out of banana & egg––I adapted a gluten free “pancake” recipe that is literally a mashed banana mixed with 2 eggs. I would suggest adding 2 tbsp of flour (whatever kind suits you best) to help with texture and give them a little more calories. And for flavor, a pinch of salt and cinnamon don’t hurt either. Because I haven’t bought new maple syrup yet, I enjoyed these with peanut butter, a drizzle of honey, and generous sprinkle of cinnamon. 

I “met” a poet on Zoom, who I’ve been corresponding with over email for over a year. After many delays, I read an advanced copy of the poet’s work and talked to him about it. I was so nervous, but it was the most wonderful. 

Some things I’m working on for February: 

Yoga with Adriene’s 2021 “30 Days of Yoga.” I actually tried to do this at the same time as 21 Day Tone & it just wasn’t sustainable. So I’m going to start this Monday and complete over six weeks (doing the videos Monday thru Friday). I’ll finish it in mid-March, which seems only fitting (given how I started this at-home fitness with the 2020 “30 Days of Yoga” in the middle of last March).  

Continue reading/finish the poetry collection Inclined to Speak (Arab American poets)

Get a library card (from the public library).

Some things to keep tabs on as we move into February: 

How long I linger in bed. I’ve been less snoozing or on my phone/social media, which has been a weakness in the past; now, I just stay huddled under the blankets working up the nerve to face the cold, drafty air of my new apartment. This week, I shrink wrapped all the windows and Aaron brought me an old space heater he doesn’t need. If I hit the power on the space heater with my first alarm, I’m hoping it’ll be warm enough by the second alarm (10 min later) to get me out of there. 

Spending: it takes so much money to get a new apartment set up. And I’m not really even talking about the $1200 I spent on furniture, which I planned and budgeted months ago. I’m talking about re-stocking my pantry, toiletries, laundry and cleaning supplies, Command Strips and extension cords/power strips that fit flow of the space and the locations of outlets, etc. etc. Every couple days I find something new for the shopping list and I don’t know when it’ll stop. But, I hope that my credit card spending looks a lot less crazy at the end of February than it does right now. 

[nicosroom]

I made 6 minute eggs & they're perfect!

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Summer chili cobbler with peaches & white beans. #nicoskitchen #dinner #cornbread #chili #castiron #avocado #summer

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Avocado Curry

The last year of grad school, one of my saving graces was this Thai restaurant in the next town over, where I always got an avocado curry with chicken. Though I’ve = looked, I’ve not seen it on any other restaurant menus. Sometimes I’ll see curries that include avocado among the vegetables, but have yet to find one with the avocado blended in the sauce. Alas, quarantine seems as good a time as any to try making it myself.

I consulted a number of recipes online that were kind of what I was looking for but not really; so, I cobbled together the ingredient list and process below—and I’m quite pleased with the result!

Avocado Curry Makes ~4 servings

1/2 onion, diced – divided

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp ginger, grated

1 jalepeño, sliced (do what you will with seeds & membrane, depending on desire heat level)

1 large avocado (or two smaller)

1/2 can coconut milk

4 oz (plain) yogurt

1.5 tbsp yellow curry powder

2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

Lime

Cilantro

1 carrot, sliced*

1 zucchini, sliced*

8 oz mushrooms, sliced*

1 lb boneless chicken* (I pre-boiled mine and cut them into small chunks)

Water, as needed (to thin the sauce for desired consistency)

*Use whatever vegetables and protein(s) you like…

The sauce: Add half the diced onions to a hot, oiled skillet; sauté until translucent. Add garlic, ginger, and jalepeño. Once the edges brown, add the curry, garam masala, add the cumin. Stir these well and let cook until fragrant (less than a minute). Finally, add a splash of water to deglaze the pan. \

In a blender or food processor, add coconut milk, yogurt, avocado, the cooked onion mixture, juice from half the lime, and salt. Blend until smooth; add water to reach desired consistency.

 The meal: In a saucepan, add the rest of the onions to hot oil and sauté until translucent. Add the carrots and cook for a few minutes until they have softened a bit (maybe 4 minutes?). Add the mushrooms, which will release moisture that will also help with softening the carrots. I turn up the heat a little to help evaporate the water and sear the mushrooms. Lower the heat and add the zucchini and chunks of cooked chicken once the mushrooms look good to you (IMPORTANT because zucchini will turn to mush real quick). Mix in the blended avocado curry sauce and bring it all to a low simmer, for about 5 minutes. At this point, I mix in the cilantro, turn off the heat and let stand another 5 minutes. Season with additional salt and black pepper to taste. 

 Serve with rice, top with additional cilantro, if desired, and a squeeze of lime.

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homemade gnocchi!

in a mushroom sauce with roasted brussels sprouts. 

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When regular people try to use up their pantry/freezer items before moving, they eat like canned beans over rice with steamed mixed vegetables.

When I clear my pantry/freezer before moving, I make up recipes like avocado ramen with spinach and Spam. 😋

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#snowday eating! Rutabaga fries with truffle mayo (the latter of which will be my weakness in 2019); chickpea, coconut, tomato soup & grilled cheese. #nicoskitchen #dinner #eatyourveggies #19for2019 https://www.instagram.com/p/BsjfUq5hlfS/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vr1j14kkigjj

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Some days it seems there is nothing but spinach in my fridge so I make a green smoothie & eat jelly beans for lunch. I cannot work under such conditions, I think as I eat my last orange flavored jelly bean. Then, just a few hours later I cobble together something like this white bean, spinach, & sausage penne with things I find in the freezer & staple pantry. #nicoskitchen #dinner #saturday

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I saw an IG rumor that yesterday was #nationalgrilledcheeseday. I've barely bought groceries for the past two weeks. So once more, 2017 has caught be unprepared. But this AM I cobbled together a chicken, egg, & cilantro grilled cheese with the few things I have in my fridge & pantry #nicoskitchen #breakfast

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Tom kha gai.

I think about tom kha gai whenever I eat at a Thai or pan Asian place that has it on the menu. Since I do this only a few times a year, I go long stretches not thinking about tom kha gai at all. But, this January, I was in our bougie co-op buying bay leaves and the soup of the day was tom kha gai. Unfortunately, I turned down the chance to buy it since I was there buying bay leaves precisely so that I could go home and cook a totally different soup recipe. But, I did have the good sense to add "make tom kha gai" to my 52 list.

It is certainly about time that I did this. Did it take so long because I am intimidated by lemongrass or what? This took all of 30 minutes to make and it's so fresh, with the touch of spice from the ginger and the chilis. Next time, though, I am doing half as much chicken (8oz vs 1 lb) and twice as many mushrooms (1 lb vs 8 oz). I might even make it with all mushrooms (2 lbs?). I'd also say only 4 cups of broth are necessary; 6 cups leaves this soup just a little too thin. But, for my first time making the soup, I'm very happy with the results.

recipe from Gimme Some Oven

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Curried Cauliflower Fried Rice & these lengthening hours of daylight. And it's #vegan! #NicosKitchen #dinner #wednesday

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The internet says grain bowls will be one of the 10 hottest food trends in 2017. Let's not forget what a grain bowl really is, people: 1) a salad with a side of grains; 2) too much work. Anyway, I made this carrot-ginger grain bowl. & even though I feel skeptical about grain bowls and salads, the pops of color are on point.

[nicosroom]

Nico’s Guide to Meal Prep

Meal prep has been one of my biggest saviors in graduate school, helping me stay well-fed and on budget. People frequently ask me for meal prep advice (mostly new grad students, who heard from someone else in the department that I am the one to ask; like, one person on tumblr; sometimes my acquaintances on Instagram). And so, here is my first ever guide to meal prep: 

First, there are some major guidelines:

1. Schedule your cooking/prep time: we don’t have time, we make time. I clear parts of my schedule that are for cooking and meal prep and I do what I can not to schedule other things in these slots. Make it part of your routine and treat it as sacred. For me, it’s Sundays (to get ready for the week) and Tuesdays (when my roommate has a long day and I know the kitchen will be free). My busiest days are Monday and Wednesday, so this schedule tends to work out so that when I come home at 6pm, I can just pop some leftovers into the microwave. I’m away from home a lot on the weekends, so this is when I end up eating out most. If I do stay home (cause sometimes you just need this, ya know), I like to plan at least one elaborate meal or baking venture. Relatedly,  you also want to schedule your planning time (when you look up recipes if needed, survey what you have at home, make a grocery list, shop). I do most of this Sundays as well). 

2. Look at your week and determine when you need to eat a homemade meal, then decide what you want to eat. On a normal week, I need to cover 15 meals: breakfast at home M-F; packed lunch MW; lunch at home TThF; and dinners at home Sun-Th. I try to shop once a week and no more, so I hate when I don’t plan enough. Just as bad, though, is having too much and potentially having to throw it out - like when avocados hit 2 for $1 and I buy 8 of them, but only eat four during the week. Within reason, I plan as precisely as I can. It’s pretty common that I’ll eat a banana with breakfast, but if I only do five at home each week, there is no use in getting eight bananas. Once you decide what to eat make a grocery list. We already know sticking to a shopping list is a good budgeting habit, but its an even better meal prepping habit. 

3. It’s okay to eat the same thing everyday and it’s easier to do if you like them. When I eat lunch at home, its almost always truffle salted avocado egg salad on toast with potato chips. When I pack lunch, it’s PB&J with potato chips and an apple. One of the biggest benefits of meal prepping is the way it reduces the number of decisions you need to make in a day (read about decision fatigue here). Deciding what to eat is half the battle, and then you might have to make it? No wonder we break down and order take out instead. Minimizing the decision making over the course of the week adds up to a lot of cognitive free time. There was just a story about this in The Atlantic. 

4. Keep it simple, feel no shame. The meal preppers on Instagram are #theworst because their beautiful, perfect foods and elaborately portioned meals are not only saving them all kinds of time, but they are healthy, fresh, from scratch. #STOP. Don’t let anyone shame you about your meal prepping and approach it from whatever level you are at. There are weeks that I decide I’m eating Honey Nut Cheerios with banana slices for all five breakfasts and this is fine. Commit to whatever works for you because it is far more important to eat breakfast than it is to eat mini quiche with sausage link and pancake, plated in a conveniently subdivided tupperware. If a big batch of quinoa, store-bought BBQ sauce covered chicken breasts, and frozen broccoli steamed in the microwave is your level, own it. You can always scale up, but please don’t “go big” the first time you prep, get overwhelmed, and never prep again. 

Now, to the foods part: 

Do whatever works for you, but here are some of my go-to meal prep foods and strategies. You might find they work for you too; and if they don’t, perhaps they provide some inspiration at least. 

The staples:

Eggs

Batch cooked grains (quinoa, rice, oatmeal)

Avocados

Beans and lentils

Bananas

Apples

Once a Tinderfella asked me what I enjoyed cooking most. I racked my brain for recipes and scrolled my IG feed for an answer. After 20 minutes, I wrote back “eggs.” He didn’t believe me. Seriously, think of all the things you can do with eggs: over easy, hard boiled, soft boiled, scrambled, quiche, meringue, omelet, frittata––you catch my drift. Anyway, I always have boiled eggs in the fridge (for my avo egg salads & for emergency snacks); some weeks I make a quiche and divvy it up over the week (it’s great for breakfast OR for dinner); many mornings, I make an egg over easy to put on top of toast or savory oatmeal. 

Batch cooking grains gives you a foundation to work with. Say I’m making a curry that I’ll serve over rice. I’m likely to cook more rice than I need for that and also make garlic fried rice or maybe arroz caldo (ginger-rice soup, like congee) to eat with eggs for breakfast all week too. Or, maybe I’ll decide I want quinoa based grain bowls for dinners that week: maybe you can plan two different types so you have variety, but your foundation is already done. Oatmeal for breakfast is another thing I like to batch cook. I’m a savory oatmeal person, so I do garlic, scallions in butter, boil the oats in chicken broth, and usually add cheese and breakfast meat. I’ll make enough for the week and then cook an egg each morning to top it off. 

For health and money reasons (read my money snapshot!), I don’t eat a lot of meat in my home cooking. Beans and lentils are very easy on the wallet and have a very high impact nutritionally. Because its more cost effective, better for the environment, and easier on storage space, I  use dry beans and have a tiny crockpot to cook them in, but I also keep a couple cans in the pantry at all times for days when I just don’t have the time to wait. 

Apples and bananas are pretty self explanatory - self-contained, portable fruits. I like bananas in my cereals or slathered in peanut butter as part of a balanced breakfast and I like apples for when I pack lunch. What I also like about these is their versatility if I neglect them. I can throw bananas into the freezer for smoothies and I can make applesauce if I ignore them too long. 

Avocados are essential to my near-daily dose of truffle salted avocado egg salad, so they’re always on my grocery list, all sneering about their cost aside. We have to invest in ourselves first, and so I’m all for foods I like that also make me feel good. That said, I draw the line at about $1.25 per avo. Luckily, they’re nearly always 99 cents, and occasionally go on sale for less. I typically only eat half at a time, so 2-3 avos a week really isn’t too taxing on the grocery budget, and I have nearly perfected the ripening process, so not a penny goes to waste. 

Some favorite recipe sources: 

Damn Delicious

Love & Lemons

The Simple Veganista

Budget Bytes

Good and Cheap

Eating Well (I get the magazine)

Favorite Entry-level Recipes: 

Crockpot meal: coconut curry lentils

One pot dish: marinated feta risotto (I usually use quinoa)

spinach and feta quiche (I don’t do crusts. Who has the time?)

Made entirely of pantry items: chickpea tomato soup

Cauliflower grits & bbq (rotisserie) chicken (and, girl, I use frozen cauliflower)

Spinach, feta, blueberry quinoa salad (kale tastes like dirt. I can’t even)

Cuban black beans and rice

Tomato eggs (the single greatest recipe I ever learned)

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Let's talk about these brown butter & sage pumpkin grits w/creamed greens I made tonight. #nicoskitchen #putaneggonit #pumpkin #wintersquash #eatyourveggies https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqqccm5hmXF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vubj4gievyw9

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Fall grain bowl with charred avo. #nicoskitchen #dinner #fallrecipes https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp5iYQIhRHp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ipnl5too936c

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Black pepper stir fry via #pinchofyum for #backtoschool week. #nicoskitchen #dinner #Sunday #vegetarian https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm9cY5XHbmV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zh63tndrt6cv