What's Cookin'?

I say it's time for a recipe swap! 

I've adopted cumin seeds, thanks to Naomi; gone crazy for figs at Shelly's suggestion; and Jonti and Denise, I still haven't quite gotten down the hard-boiled egg peeling.

What else is going on in your PCP kitchens?

I've been using a lot of different whole grains: oats, quinoa, brown rice, and I recently found some farro (delicious!). I usually just make them plain or with a little pepper since I tend to mix all my food together. Spelt bread is also a hit at my house. At breakfast, I sometimes roast plum tomatoes on bread with just a touch of olive oil, plus pepper and thyme.

Alice Waters's cookbook, Vegetables, is an excellent source of simple recipes that are easily adaptable for our diet. 

Taken on a pre-PCP night when we were particularly proud of our culinary accomplishments.

Her chilled tomato soup recipe (pictured above) is nice on its own or used in burritos or salads. Basically, it's:

4 lbs tomatoes (various), diced (Waters uses a food mill. I do not.)

3 shallots, diced

1 small cucumber, seeded and diced

2 stalks celery, diced

Vinegar (Your favorite...I've tried plum and apple cider. She uses white wine.)

Let shallots sit in a small bowl, just covered with vinegar. Then combine with tomatoes, cucumber, and celery. Add balsamic if tomatoes need sweetness. You can also add mashed garlic or garnish with diced hot and bell peppers. Serve cold.

I made a batch and froze it in individual portions.

Speaking of freezing, I got a little overzealous about buying vegetables this week and decided to freeze my Brussels sprouts (my all-time favorite vegetable except for maybe fennel) and wax beans with the help of this awesome piece in the New York Times.

Other faves:

*Tuna and egg salad with avocado and lemon juice as a base instead of mayo

*Shrimp marinated in a little agave, a splash of lime, ginger, and chili powder before cooking

*Apples or figs baked with cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove (can also add a little agave, oats, and raisins)

Tonight, my beau, Pacato, took the PCP Top Chef Challenge and made some delicious beets. He chopped them raw in the food processor and mixed with a touch of apple cider vinegar and some raisins. He also steamed some chard and onions, and I threw in some farro and halibut I topped with cumin seeds (again—thanks Naomi!).

That's just a taste of what's been going on in my kitchen. I hope you'll share your favorite recipes and tricks, either in the comments or on your own blog!

Meanwhile, in PCPland...

A week 2 wrap-up:

MONDAY

Makes final batch of cookies for next 3 months.

Don't worry, I only ate half of that. Rules are rules.

TUESDAY

Thinks she's either going to be totally buff or totally overweight by the end of PCP...now that the portions are GIGANTIC.

WEDNESDAY

Already hungry between meals. Sort of freaks out about merging PCP and normal life.

Also, contracts food poisoning and spends entire night on bathroom floor wondering whether her body is trying to tell her something about her recent decision to become a total bad ass.

THURSDAY

Falls off the wagon during recovery—eats some granola, a few pieces of dark chocolate-covered ginger, and...gasp...beans. No fish.

Celebrates beau's astounding 8th place finish in first ever North American Capoeira Music Festival with original song written in Portuguese!

FRIDAY

Watches this video and laughs...

SATURDAY

Catches up on exercises missed after Thursday boycott.

Graduates a cord level at the 5th Annual Capoeira Brooklyn Batizado.

(with beau)

SUNDAY

Finally realizes that PCP cooking is no different from regular cooking except with less salt and oil. Begins to adapt favorite recipes and manages to eat dinner, make tomorrow's breakfast and lunch, bake delicious apple snack, freeze some veg, and prepare extra grains—all before 10:30 pm.

Have You Seen This Guy?

Y'all, I'm a little overwhelmed. The getting up early to exercise. The making breakfast and lunch before work. The trying not to be late for work. The eight hours of work. The squeezing in a volunteer commitment. The fretting over when I'm going to clean the house. The two hours of capoeira. The making a GINORMOUS dinner at 10 pm. The crawling right into bed so I can get up early again the next day...

Seriously, I have total respect for those of you with kids. In fact, the only thing that kept me going during my exercises yesterday morning was this guy:

Have you seen this guy?

Forget G.I. Jane. I want to have THAT kind of balance.

But what's the point of sculpting yourself into a buff and crazy-acrobatic TOTAL BAD ASS if you don't have time to nurture your other relationships? It's lonely on the Peak.

How do I give PCP my full effort, still be present in the rest of my life—my beau, my friendships, work, my capoeira community—and even find some space for myself?

Multi-tasking is not my strong point, so I'd love some suggestions. How do YOU find balance?

Last Hurrah

Mmm...my last half meal...a collaborative project between my beau and I...

Waxy beans, fresh fennel, grape tomatoes, onion vinaigrette

But wait, there's more!

Six spice oatmeal raisin cookies

I bake cookies to relieve stress. I'm not sure if you can bank this sort of relief, but I thought I'd try. I don't get nearly the same pleasure out of eating them. Naturally, I had to eat half a cookie, though, since it's my last opportunity for 83 more days...

PCP, I'm ready to go.

Day 4, Hit the Floor

Today I experienced my first, "Oh man! Do I really have to do these exercises??" as evidenced by the fact that I kept tripping up on my jump rope. By the middle of set two of my lunges, I got into a zone. (Incidentally, lunges are my least favorite—I think because I struggled with balance a lot at first.)

As I did my bad-ass pushups, it dawned on me—THIS is what I signed up for. 90 days...well, 84* more days...of straight-up physical challenge. Up to now, I haven't struggled with the exercises. I train capoeira at least three times a week, and I'm using those same muscles in the PCP exercises. But the brain. The BRAIN is what needs the training.

Yesterday was just sort of a tough emotional day anyway. I think today's resistance was carryover. But I read my fellow PCPers' blogs, and realized, clearly this is why we blog. I came here alone, but I'm not going to leave by myself.

Thanks also to the veteran PCPers who are reading and have dropped in to say hello. It's nice to know you're out there!

*ahem...um...86.

I think we can all agree...

...that half the oatmeal I would normally eat is quite a sad sight.

Don't worry, sad oatmeal. I'm going to add some plums.

My beau and I have a weekly farm share, so all that's in our fridge right now is vegetables, fruit, grains, beans, and eggs. I've a feeling this selection isn't so far off from what I'll be eating exclusively for the next 90 days. Part of me is like, maybe I should just go buck wild this week and eat fried Oreos for every meal! (But you know...just half of them.) I am going to a wedding this weekend. I can imagine half the wedding cake, but half the champagne? That might be tricky. That stuff sneaks up on you...

In exercise news, I find immense pleasure in getting up, jumping rope, doing some strength exercises, and not feeling guilty that I didn't go to the gym to run a few miles. Although I learned an important lesson about jumping rope: do NOT drink water between sets....

A Peek at the Peak

The event I have both feared and excited over is finally here—Day 1, the Peak Condition Project. Actually, it's after midnight, so technically it's finally over. Occasionally over the past couple of weeks, I've wondered why I signed up. Like, why did I really sign up? To achieve age-defying levels of skinny? A little bit. To lose those extra five pounds I put on this summer? Totally. To give myself a challenge? Yep. But let's be honest. I'm here to become a TOTAL BAD ASS. A glistening, one-handed push-upping, G. I. Jane, gun-toting, terminate-the-Terminator, Linda Hamilton-level BAD ASS.

Day 1: Check! So far, so good.

This week's assignment is simple enough: eat half of what you normally would. To which I immediately thought, if I could do that, wouldn't I already be in peak condition? Actually, it was pretty easy...on day one. But do you really eat half an apple? Half a hard-boiled egg? Luckily, I live in New York, where the other half is sure to find itself in needy hands. This evening, as I walked down the street, I experienced an odd, almost unfamiliar sensation—hunger. I can't remember the last time I was legitimately hungry. Usually I head the feeling off at the pass. Because I don't use food to fuel my body. I use it to sate my emotions. Stressed, overwhelmed, depressed, anxious, bored—put a cookie on it. A peach. Some peanut butter. I'm working to recalibrate my relationship with food outside of the PCP as well, and I'm sure I'll talk about it a lot in the next 90 days.

For now, this is just a peek. Let OPERATION TOTAL BAD ASS begin.

Grrrrr!