I used the plum jam we made last summer from our backyard plums.  This jam had a definite tart note to it, so a sour cherry or a raspberry jam might be a good substitute.  This summer we’ll be prepared for the plum harvest.  Last year we were totally overwhelmed with hundreds of plums ripening in the same handful of days.  I envision lots more jam for next winter.

Breakfast Oatmeal Bars with Plum Jam

These bars aren’t very sweet, so they make the perfect breakfast or afternoon snack.  After quickly devouring 3 of these squares, I hastily wrapped the rest up before I ate the whole pan.  I loved the tart flavor of the plum jam, but you should use your favorite jam here.  Tart or sweet, they will still be delicious.

For the bars:

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed 
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 spelt flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

for the filling:

• 1 1/4 cup tart jam

for the topping:

• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tbsp spelt flour
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas until creamy and mix in the maple syrup, almond milk, and the vanilla.
3. In a separate medium bowl, mix together the oats, spelt flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until everything is well combined. 
5. Grease an 8×10” baking pan and pour half the batter into the bottom of the pan.  Use a spatula to make sure the bottom is completely covered.  This will be a thin layer.
6. Add the jam on top of this layer of batter, again using a spatula to make sure it completely covers the layer of batter.
7. Add the rest of the batter on top of the jam.  Use a spatula to spread it around, but you probably won’t be able to cover all the jam.  That isn’t a problem.
8. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon for the topping.
9. Sprinkle the topping over the bars, concentrating on the areas where the jam is visible through the batter. 
10. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and firm to the touch. 
11. Let cool before cutting.  The recipe makes 24 bars.

Sadly, that’s now what this post is about.  I haven’t run in two weeks.  Three Thursdays ago now, I did a killer workout.  6 long hills (0.2 miles each) at 5k pace, straight up into the Berkeley hills.  The whole workout totally kicked my butt, but in a good way, I thought.  I wasn’t able to hold 5k pace for the whole of each hill, but I definitely pushed my hardest on each repeat.  When I woke up the next morning I was super sore, but in a good “hey you worked really hard!” kind of way.

Friday is always a rest day for me, and I was grateful for the couch time.  I was still sore on Saturday, so I moved my long run to Sunday and took two rest days, all the while thinking I was being very responsible.  I ran my 11 miles on Sunday, and everything felt fine.  My run was no kinds of fast; I did it in just under 2 hours, but I felt perfectly comfortable.

Then Monday morning, I woke up limping.  I felt like my left hip (the villain in this story) was an inch higher than my right hip.  Just walking felt strange.  My hip hurt, and pain radiated down my left quad.  I knew there was no way I’d be running, so I went to yoga, and spent the next few days stretching, icing, and foam rolling.  When it seemed no better days later, I went to my doctor.  She diagnosed me with a strained hip flexor and sent me home with some stretches. 

(My cats like to bite chunks of foam out of the foam roller and bat them around the house.  I’m constantly picking up blue foam everywhere I go.  I never said my pets were normal.)

Since then, I’ve been stretching and using all kinds of other recovery techniques.  An A.R.T. session helped a lot, but I still feel crooked.  I have an appointment this morning for some more A.R.T. and an evaluation with a physical therapist that I hope will solve my problem. 

In the mean time, I’ve been riding my bike a lot more, and heading to spin class several times a week on top of that.  The bike doesn’t seem to bother my hip or quad, and I’m grateful for that.  With any luck I won’t lose too much fitness during this period.  Oakland is still five weeks away, and I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to run it.  I am sad though; knowing my training was going so well and then having to halt it is incredibly frustrating. 

I’m just trying to remind myself that this is the right, responsible thing to do.  I’ve run through injuries before, never with good results.  This is also the first injury where I’ve known positively I shouldn’t be running on it.  These days the most running I’m doing is 6 steps down my hallway to assess the situation.  When those six steps feel unstable, I know 6 miles would be a really bad idea.

Have you ever recovered quickly from a freak injury?  Please cheer me up with your story!

I love bringing soup for lunch throughout the week, though at work I’ll liberate some goldfish from the salad bar to garnish this, as the crispy kale won’t hold up so well for traveling.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Kale

Another easy weekend soup recipe.  I rarely time these weekend recipes; I just always seem to have a pot of soup on the stove, and I dip into it to test for seasonings or done-ness of the vegetables throughout the afternoon.  The cannellini beans add extra creaminess to a simple cauliflower soup.  Serves 6.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 medium head of cauliflower, chopped (about 5 cups)
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• additional salt and pepper to taste

for the crispy kale:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 6 large leaves of kale, destemmed and roughly chopped
• salt and pepper

1. In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat while you chop the onion.
2. Add the onion to the pot, and stir while chopping the garlic and rosemary.
3. When the onion starts to become translucent, add the garlic and rosemary to the pot.
4. Chop the cauliflower, and add it to the pot when the onion starts to brown.
5. Add the vegetable broth and bring the soup to a low simmer.  Cook until the cauliflower is fork tender.
6. Rinse and drain the cannellini beans and add them to the soup.along with 1 teaspoon of salt.
7. Cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth.
9. Stir in the nutritional yeast, and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
10. In a small skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
11. Add the kale to the skillet, along with a dash of salt and pepper.  Cook until crispy, but not burnt.
12. Garnish the soup with the crispy kale and serve.

I really love the ritual of making breakfast in the morning before I rush off to work.  Having the day start at a calm and leisurely pace, even if just for 15 minutes, sets a nice precedent for the hours to come.  I always have cooked wheat berries in my fridge, and I keep extra frozen in 1/2 cup portions to help this breakfast come together quickly.  I’ll also buy 5 or 6 bags of frozen cranberries around Thanksgiving, and that’s usually enough to keep me in cranberries for this breakfast all year long.

Pear, Cranberry and Wheat Berry Breakfast (adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

With the wheat berries already cooked, this whole breakfast comes together in just ten minutes.  If I’m really short on time, I’ll pack it up in a mason jar and take it to work to eat there.  If you don’t have pears on hand, apples work just as well.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2 pear, chopped
• cinnamon
• 1/2 cup cooked wheat berries
• 1/4  cup cranberries (frozen is fine)
• maple syrup

1. In a small skillet over medium heat, melt the coconut oil.
2. Add the chopped pear to the skillet, and swirl the skillet to distribute the coconut oil.
3. Generously shake cinnamon into the skillet, until the pear is blanketed with a thin layer of cinnamon.
4. Every few minutes agitate the pan to flip and stir the pears (I prefer not to dirty any extra utensils in the morning)
5. Once the pear starts to soften and caramelize, add the cooked wheat berries, and toss everything together in the skillet so that it is well combined.
6. Add the cranberries on top of the mixture, and toss again.
7. When the cranberries start to burst, the dish is done.
8. Top with a drizzle of maple syrup, and serve.

What’s your go-to breakfast on a busy morning?

I piped some melted dark chocolate on top of these bars, but you could easily leave that out (there’s chocolate in the bars), or just pour melted chocolate on the top of the bars and let it cool into a thin layer.

The recipe does call for a 1/4 cup of coconut milk, and I know it can be a pain to open a can for just a little bit of something.  (I finally switched to buying tomato paste by the tube because a graveyard of half used tomato paste cans had taken up residence in the back of my fridge).  While the granola bars were baking, I cooked up some quinoa and used the rest of the coconut milk (cut with some water to have enough volume) as the cooking liquid.  I always like to have frozen grains on hand, so now I have four 1/2 cup portions of coconut quinoa in my freezer just waiting to become breakfast.

Chocolate Chip Coconut Granola Bars

This recipe (like my chocolate chip pretzel granola bars and the honey peanut butter pretzel granola bars), makes 16 bars.  They freeze easily and make the perfect snack.  The recipe is more formula than anything; feel free to make whatever substitutions catch your fancy.  For example, I used hemp seeds for the extra hit of vegan protein, but you could sub in any other kind of seeds you have on hand, or leave them out and add some extra puffed rice cereal. 

Ingredients

for the granola bars:

• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup coconut, divided
• 4 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cups puffed rice cereal
• 2 tbsp hemp seeds
• 1/2 cup chopped chocolate chips

for the chocolate topping:

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. On a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, spread the oats and a 1/2 cup of the coconut in a thin layer.  Toast at 350 for ten minutes, or until the coconut is golden.
3. While the oatmeal and coconut are toasting, mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl.
4. Mix the coconut milk and maple syrup into the banana mixture.
5. When the oats and coconut are finished, add them to the banana mixture along with the puffed rice cereal, hemp seeds and chopped chocolate chips.  Fold the mixture together using a spatula.
6. Pour the mixture into a greased 8×10” baking pan.
7. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until the center is firm.
8. Allow the bars to cool for at least an hour.
9. When the bars are cool, carefully melt the additional 1/2 cup of dark chocolate over low heat until smooth.  (Chocolate burns very easily, so you’ll want to watch it constantly.  You can also do this step in a double boiler) Transfer to a squeeze bottle and use to decorate the granola bars if you wish.

What flavors would you want in a homemade granola bar?

Just a little over a year ago, I started the first iteration of my Boston2Berkeley blog.  I’d been reading blogs for years, and periodically flirted with writing one myself.  After a few months adjusting to a new apartment, city, state, and time zone, I decided to create a WordPress blog, “just to figure out the software.” 

Every one of the original posts is still here if you dig into the archives, though I didn’t tell anyone about the blog for the first few months.  I’ve always liked bridges and architecture, so I put together my first header in Paint:

That’s the Leonard Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge on the left (you can see it from my grandmother’s house in Boston), and the Golden Gate on the right.  The Bunker Hill bridge picture is actually my sister’s, and the Golden Gate is Justin’s.  I was positively no good at photography when I started, and had no pictures of my own.  (Though I have improved a lot in the last year!)

After a few months I told my family and Justin about the blog.  I started using twitter to connect with other people and share my blog posts.  For many months I just wrote, occasionally photographed, and then shared on the blog. 

In May of 2011, I read this post of Courtney’s about a foodie book club.  I emailed her, and met up with Courtney, her sister Caitlin, Talia, Julia, and Kerry.  I had a great time with the girls, and this helped me past the obstacle of my natural shyness, so that when Aron organized a Bay Area running meet up in June, I emailed her and went.  I was still a little nervous.  I’d never driven out to Walnut Creek before, but I managed to not get lost, and I met up with everyone at Iron Horse trail.  We split up into different groups and ran a whole variety of distances along the trail before heading back over to Peet’s for coffee.  It was great to meet everyone, and fun to meet people like Aron, Cate, and Megan, whose blogs I’d been reading for months. 

I left the meet up feeling so happy.  I’d conquered my natural shyness and felt like I’d gained so much.  We’d talked for hours after the run, and I’d met a whole group of people who shared my passions for running and food, a group I probably wouldn’t have met if I hadn’t started my little blog.

In September I felt like the blog needed a makeover, and I switched up the theme and banner to look a little more like what you’re all used to:

These pictures were all mine except the second from the left.  (Justin took that salad picture, and I liked it far too much to leave it out.)  My little blog had kept growing, my photos had gotten better, and I was posting several times a week on food, running, and recipes I had created.  I was so proud of that banner that I had created, and proud of how far I had come in just ten months.  Every month the blog got a little bigger, and took over a little more of my life.

So here we are today:

I’ve been working on the new design and self-hosting for about a month now, and I love the new design.  It’s my own work, and I’m very proud of it.  Justin performed some magic to help me get everything over from WordPress, and I’ve been moving and tweaking everything since.  Hopefully there won’t be too many bumps in the road with the transition, but please do let me know if you find anything awry. 

There’s still a lot to come (with an easy way to organize and search for recipes the next project in the works), but I hope you’ll join me here in this new space.  Thank you so much for reading!

Slowly I began borrowing his camera (a Canon Powershot SX10), though I never took it off auto mode.  I produced masterpieces like these:

Kale Salad with Cheddar and Apples.  A delicious salad, not that you can tell from the photo.  I’ve been intending to remake this salad and give it a better picture.

Cornmeal Crusted Tofu with a Tomato Caper Sauce  Another delicious dish doomed by bad lighting, a dreadful presentation, and sad photography skills.

Yuppie Nachos.  This was by far the best picture from that period of my photography career.  I remember being very proud of it.  Granted, I just lucked out that the auto settings didn’t make everything dreadfully yellow, considering this photo was taken at 9:00 at night under our stove lights.  Still, these nachos are delicious (made with goat cheese, jack cheese and sundried tomatoes before being topped with guacamole), and I was pleased that the picture made them look like something I would actually want to eat.

Last March (2011), I purchased a LivingSocial deal for a 3 hour beginner’s photography class from Isla Studio.  Justin had been trying to show me things on his camera, but I knew I’d do better with a teacher.  I went over to San Francisco for the class with Justin’s camera.  There were maybe 25 students in this cool industrial space, with a whole range of cameras.  Some people had tiny point and shoots, and others had massive DSLRs with multiple lenses. 

Our instructor, Lindsey, was fantastic.  She explained everything simply with great photos to demonstrate, and she somehow found time to show each of us how to use our camera and find each setting we were discussing without ever letting the class lag.  After her class I almost never took my little Powershot off manual again.  (Unless I was trying to photograph a moving target in which case all bets were off).

 Ashley also has a great series of Photography 101 posts that have been really helpful to me:

• Exposure
• ISO
• Shutter Speed
• Aperture 

Plus all her examples are pretty food pictures.

So armed with my newfound knowledge, my pictures started getting a lot better, very quickly.  These are all still taken with the Powershot SX10, but I was shooting in manual mode and had much better control over the camera.

Grilled Cheese with Extra Sharp Cheddar, Apples, and Whole Grain Mustard.  Still my very favorite sandwich.  I’d written about this perfect grilled cheese in one of my very first blog posts, but it was picture-less.  I hoped appetizing photographs would influence some of you to make this sandwich!

Roasted Zucchini and Potato Mole Tacos with Avocado.  Another photo I was so proud of.  I loved the colors (what’s not to like about a purple potato?), and I liked the lighting as well. 

I’d been borrowing Justin’s camera for nearly a year, and it mostly wasn’t a problem.  However, sometimes we’d be going different places and both want the camera.  I knew I’d eventually want to upgrade to a DSLR, but I didn’t have the money for it yet, and I was totally overwhelmed by all the different models and lenses.  I bought myself this tiny Canon Powershot ELPH 300 which I really liked.  It was tiny and easy to take on runs or bike rides.

I used it to take this picture of a lizard we saw on one of our hikes, and I was really happy with the quality.  For all of my food pictures, though, I was happy to continue borrowing Justin’s camera as long as it was available.

Around Thanksgiving, Justin started to talk about how he’d already thought of my Christmas present.  He taunted me with it for nearly six weeks.  He assured me that it was the best Christmas present ever.  That he knew I’d be so excited.  He wouldn’t give me any hints except that 1) I would love it, and 2) it was useful.  Let it be noted that when someone spends weeks telling you that they’ve bought you the best present in the whole world, it is hard to figure out what to get for their present! 

When Christmas finally came and we opened presents, I was completely shocked to see he’d gotten me a Canon 7D.  It was an incredible gift, and I was totally blown away.  He said he thought I’d gone as far as I could with his camera, and that I needed a better one to really make the most out of my photography.  I was so amazed, and must have thanked him a million times.  Even now, when I’m taking photos or going through the day’s photos at night I’ll thank him for my fancy camera.  I’m still just barely learning all of its tricks. 

Several days later, as I was celebrating Christmas with my family, I was shocked again to open a 50mm f/1.4 lens from my parents.  I could finally take artistic food photos with a super tight focus and very shallow depth of field (let’s just call that artistically blurry).  I think I unwrapped it, stared at the box in disbelief, and said to my mom “Really?!” My grandmother had even gotten me the perfect camera case to fit all my new toys!  Justin had put some serious coordinating into Christmas, and I was overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity.

I was determined to learn everything about my camera, and not become one of those people who has a fancy toy but no idea how to use it.

I bought a manual and got to studying.  Even though I’ve read the whole thing cover to cover, I think I’ve only mastered about 20% of my camera’s functionality.  Still, I’ve been able to take some incredible photographs.

Simple, Customizable Granola.  I loved how the colors of the craisins played against the pink of the bowl, and as well as how much texture there is in this photo.  I’ve also finally learned the lesson about natural light, which means I can take photos in my house, on my kitchen counter, between the hours of 2:30-3:30PM.  Which pretty much limits me to getting great photos on the weekend until it starts getting lighter much later.

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup.  This was my first picture that got accepted to FoodGawker, and I was over the moon with excitement.  Seriously, I called Justin and my parents and sent frantically excited emails like I’d just gotten into my first choice college, early admission. 

It’s been just a little less than a year from the first photo in this post to the last.  I’m thoroughly amazed when I look at the difference between them.  I still have so much to learn (manual focus, I’m going to master you one of these days!), but my photos are really starting to look exactly how I want them to, and that’s very exciting.

Here are all my tools, my little Canon ELPH 300 in red, Justin’s trusty Powershot SX10, and my new Canon 7d.  I’ve committed to taking at least one picture a day for all of 2012, though many days I’m up more around the 100 range, and up in the 500-700 range on the weekends.  I’m still taking lots of duds for each good photo, but I’ve learned so much about my camera, as well as about lighting and composition.  With any luck I’ll have improved even more in another year!

A large chunk of my pantry is stocked from the bulk section at my grocery store.  I always have a few kinds of dried beans and grains, plus nutritional yeast in glass jars. 

Right now, I have green lentils, snowcap beans, and Christmas lima beans on hand.  For grains I have brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, and wheat berries.  All of these are stable for a long time, and when I empty a jar, I’ll refill it with something new from the bulk section.  I also always have polenta and nutritional yeast on hand.  I use nutritional yeast in tons of dishes, including my favorite mushroom gravy and black bean soup.  I like the taste, and it’s a great source of vegetarian protein and B vitamins.

In the metal bucket I keep onions, garlic, and potatoes.  They’re also shelf stable for at least a few weeks, and I use onions and garlic most nights in whatever I’m cooking.  The potatoes also make for a quick dinner.  A sweet potato with black beans and nutritional yeast is easy and requires almost no hands on time, and scrambled eggs and roasted potatoes is one of my favorite quick dinners.

I also always have canned beans, coconut milk, pasta, marinara sauce, canned tomatoes, and macaroni cheese on hand.  I like cooking beans from scratch, but on busy nights that just isn’t feasible.

I buy my spices in bulk too, usually in very small amounts.  I always have cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, rosemary, oregano, thyme, cinnamon and nutmeg on hand.

I always have olive oil and safflower oil on hand, plus balsamic vinegar and apple cider vinegar, and soy sauce and mirin.  These let me make most salad dressing or simple sauces easily.

Other things I always have on hand are cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese, and lemons or limes.  When I do the weekly grocery shopping, I mostly pick up produce, milk, yogurt, eggs or tofu, plus anything we’ve run low on.

Off the top of my head, here are just a few things I could make with these pantry staples:

• pasta with marinara sauce
• black bean soup
• multiple permutations of rice and beans
• baked sweet potato with black beans
• scrambled eggs and roasted potatoes
• poached eggs in tomato sauce
• polenta with marinara
• chili
• quinoa with coconut milk
• pasta e fagioli
• fried rice
• three bean salad
• cannellini beans baked in tomato sauce
• macaroni and cheese

Add some greens to the mix, and you can easily triple the list of possible dinners.  Some combination of grains, greens and beans is in my regular dinner rotation.

I’ll also often make a soup by sautéing onion and garlic in olive oil, adding dried beans and stock, and either cooking some grains in the soup, or else wilting in some spinach or chard or kale at the last minute.  I’ll season it with whatever spices I have on hand.

I keep everything pretty well stocked because I like to have lots of options.  I think we all have a small list of groceries that we always need to have on hand, though.  For Justin, that’s pasta, marinara sauce, parmesan cheese, tortillas, refried beans, extra sharp cheddar, and jalapenos.  For me, it’s potatoes, eggs, black beans, macaroni and cheese, broccoli, extra sharp cheddar, and sourdough bread.

What ingredients do you always keep on hand?

I bought the purple cabbage at the farmers’ market because I thought it was so cute (I like cute vegetables the best), and then I wasn’t sure what to do with it.

I sautéed some tofu.

Threw together some and ginger-lime dressing

and mixed it all together with something green. 

Purple Cabbage, Tofu and Bok Choy Bowl with Ginger Lime Dressing

I came up with this just from the ingredients I had on hand; the whole thing is built around the purple cabbage.  If you don’t have mirin, feel free to sub in olive oil.  The flavor profile won’t be the same, but it will still be delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp safflower oil
• 1/2 block extra firm tofu
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 head purple cabbage
• 1 small head bok choy

for the ginger-lime dressing

• 1 tbsp finely diced ginger
• zest of 1 lime
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp mirin

1. In a large skillet, over high heat, add the toasted sesame oil and safflower oil.  As the oil heats up, swirl the pan until the oil covers the bottom of the pan.
2. Slice the 1/2 block of tofu into 1” x 1/4” pieces.  Place each piece in the skillet and season with salt and pepper.  The key to a good sear on the tofu is not to move it once it’s in the skillet.
3. After 3 minutes, flip over one piece of tofu to check.  If the bottom is golden brown, flip the other pieces over and let them cook for another 3 minutes.
4. While the tofu is cooking, roughly chop the cabbage and bok choy.
5. When the tofu is golden on both sides, remove it from the pan, and add the cabbage and bok choy.  Cook for 4 minutes.
6. While the cabbage and bok choy are cooking, combine all the ingredients for the dressing together in a small bowl and mix.
7. After 4 minutes, remove the cabbage and bok choy mixture and portion into two bowls.  Top each bowl with 1/2 the tofu, and split the dressing between the two bowls.

The whole thought process and cooking, from idea to eating took me about 15 minutes.  Sometimes you just have to open your fridge and toss things together, and luckily for me, this worked out really well.  Now I need to go seek out some more cute purple cabbage.  Also baby bok choy.  That’s a pretty cute vegetable.

I followed her recipe exactly, except I chopped up a dark chocolate bar instead of using chocolate chips.  I nearly got a contact sugar high just making the frosting.  Luckily the pretzels cut some of the sweetness from the frosting so the whole cookie is delicious together.  Licking the frosting spoon is the equivalent of mainlining sugar though; so don’t say I didn’t warn you!

As I was assembling the cookies I also realized that they’d make perfect whoopie pies, so I put some together like that instead.

Obviously I love salted caramel whoopie pies, so I’m glad to have a second version up my sleeve.

Now I just need someone to eat the rest of them for me!