Sunday, April 29, 2012

Gettin' Sloppy

Friday night I took a break from studying and made a real dinner - it had been awhile!  I was excited to try out a new recipe:  Snobby Joe's.


In keeping with my effort to be thrifty, this recipe calls for fairly inexpensive ingredients, many of which I already had on hand.


You'll need dry lentils, water, olive, oil, an onion (the recipe calls for a medium yellow onion, but I used 1/2 a white onion because I already had one), a green bell pepper, garlic cloves, chili powder, oregano, salt, tomato sauce, tomato paste, maple syrup, and prepared yellow mustard (which I omitted).

First, you cook the lentils.


While the lentils were cooking, I prepped some of the other ingredients by dicing the onion and green pepper, and mincing the garlic.


Then it was time to saute the onion, pepper, and garlic in some olive oil.


Once those have softened, you just add the rest of the ingredients.


Let that cook for a few minutes, and you're done!  Pretty simple, and it looks a lot like real Sloppy Joe's.


I was definitely a big fan of this recipe.  While it doesn't taste exactly like traditional Sloppy Joe's, the texture is spot-on.  The lentils are a perfect substitute for ground meat - it was a hearty and comforting meal.

And the best part (in my opinion):


Lots o' leftovers!!  This should get me through finals.

It was nice to take some time away from studying and relax in the kitchen.  I listened to a podcast of This American Life while I made my dinner.  I am really loving podcasts these days.  I've had the NPR app on my phone for awhile, and I absolutely love listening to Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me (this actually makes me laugh out loud to myself), Car Talk (also elicits a few chuckles), and Weekends on All Things Considered.  I usually bribe myself to wash dishes or do other chores with the promise of being able to listen to a podcast <-- nerd alert :)


I enjoyed my Snobby Joe's with a bowl of amazing fruit - strawberries and a perfect peach.


Yesterday morning I went to the gym and did my circuit workout, followed by some speed and incline intervals on the treadmill.  And then it was time for a protein smooooothie.


Into the blender went:  1 cup almond milk, 1 T ground flax seeds, 1 T natural peanut butter, 1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior protein powder, lots of spinach, 1 frozen banana, and 1/2 cup frozen blueberries.


I might have been thinking about this smoothie while pushing myself through my workout.  I'm all about the self-incentives, can ya tell?

I've got my first final tomorrow - it'll be my first completely closed book, handwritten exam in law school.  Wish me luck!



Song of the day:

"Janglin" by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.  I got to see them perform at a music festival a couple of years ago, and they were really fun to see.  I imagine this is what the 1970s were like, free love and all.


8 comments:

  1. mmm that smoothie looks delish! :D and how cool that you saw Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros! jealous!

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    1. It was really fun, and a festival was the perfect way to see them - there's something about their music that just seems like it's meant to be heard outside. Alex Ebert was walking around the festival grounds during other performances, too, but my friends and I just watched him from afar - he seemed so cool!

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  2. I have my first exam today, too. Good luck! I have to admit, I'm incredibly jealous that this is your first closed-book exam! I have only been able to take any material in for less than 1/3 of the exams I've taken.

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    1. Good luck to you, too! I can't complain about the open-book exams, but I think you're going to be much better prepared than I will be for the Bar!!

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  3. I've been having green smoothies lately too, and I DEFINITELY dream about them during a workout, haha

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    1. Glad to hear I'm not the only one - sometimes I need a little extra motivation to get me through :) Thanks for reading!

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  4. I love recipes that use simple ingredients that can be found in the pantry!! looks delicious!

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    1. I agree - I hate having to buy a ton of new ingredients to make a new recipe, especially if they're things that will most likely sit in my cupboards/ fridge because I don't know what else to do with them. Plus, it makes it a lot easier to try out new recipes because there's less planning involved!

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