It was a dark and stormy night.

Actually, it was just a cold and gloomy Friday morning. And I was in the mood to cook.

I was also in the mood to shake things up! I went googling my way around the world wide web in search of something outlandish to do with a bag of red lentils.

Like… string them together to use as garland on our Christmas tree? Get started on a lentil mosaic of A Starry Night? Toss lentils at wine glasses filled with varying levels of water and teach myself to play I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In?

All awesome ideas for sure, I opted for a lentil dish made with dried apricots.

Yes, apricots. I know. I was a tad suspicious too. But since I had dried apricots in my fridge, I decided to give it a go.

Turns out this is an Armenian dish. Turns out I’d never heard of Armenia until I found myself looking at a bunch of lentil recipes made with apricots.

People of Armenia, please don’t be offended by my unawareness of your presence in Asia. I doodled my way through Social Studies. This is why I write a food blog instead of a political science blog, a geography blog or a former republics of the Soviet Union blog.

Oh, and those are Turkish apricots. That’s why they’re brown instead of orange. Again, I hope I have not offended anyone by using Turkish apricots in an Armenian dish. Tomorrow I’m going to put an ad on Craigslist for someone to come and homeschool my children in world history.

So! Dice up an onion, slice up some garlic and chop up your apricots from Turkey. (Or the orange ones from bulk foods.) Saute everything in a few tablespoons of olive oil.

When your vegetables are soft, add in your lentils and a can of diced tomatoes. Muir Glen is has a great line of canned products that do not contain BPA in their liners if you’re feeling BPAranoid like I am.

Add 4 – 5 cups of water (or veggie broth), season with salt, a tsp each of cumin and thyme. It’s going to look super soupy for a while, but don’t sweat it.

Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover for about 30 or 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once your lentils are soft, carefully (it’s hot!) ladle about half of your stew into the blender and puree until smooth. Return to pot and stir to combine.

Serve immediately, or put away so your husband who will be home late has something to eat when he scrounges through the fridge that night. Move some to an insulated thermos so you’ve got a hot lunch for Friday’s outing with friends.

Served with a tossed salad, hot lunches rule.

Enjoy again on Saturday and Sunday with some diced avocado, feeling grateful that you had the energy to cook on Friday and made enough to feed yourself and your loved ones for two more days so you can spend the weekend lounging around in your elastic waist-banded pants and cooking nothing more complicated than toast.

Armenians, I’ve got to hand it to you. This dish rocked like the Geghard cathedral four miles south-east of the Garni village.

(You can’t say this post didn’t teach you anything.)

The apricots made this so delicately sweet, they softened right up while cooking. This was perfectly seasoned with thyme and cumin, we’ll be visiting this recipe again.

Apricot Lentil Stew

2 – 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 – 3 cloves of garlic, minced or sliced
1/3 c apricots
1 1/2 c red lentils, rinsed and drained
1 (14 oz) can of diced tomatoes
4 – 5 cups of water of vegetable broth
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp thyme
salt to taste (you’ll need more if you used water instead of broth)

Saute vegetables in olive oil until soft. Add lentils, tomatoes and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, cooking for 30 – 40 minutes or until lentils are very tender. If desired, move puree half with blender or food processor and transfer back into pot. Stir to combine and serve!

My energy is returning, the second trimester is nearly upon us here!  I almost feel like I’m starting to recognize myself again, larger waist circumference notwithstanding.

I’ve spent every spare moment of the last two days catching up on some long overdue housework.  I forgot how good my stairs look without a nest of dust bunnies in every corner.  All the finger smears and toothpaste splatters have been wiped from the mirrors.  The laundry is caught up, the floors have been mopped and I finally sucked the giant cob web out of the corner of our entry way (with the vacuum, people) that I’ve been staring at for weeks.

(I’m sure there is a giant spider hiding in the depths of my walls plotting his revenge, but at least now I feel like I’ve got the energy to out run him.)

Speaking of running, I even ran this morning!  A whole three and a half miles with a little Rihanna (it is impossible to not run while listening to that song) while feeling all mushy about the wonders of fitness, running and exercise in general.

Now I’m going to spew a little of that appreciation here.

I Love How You Can Be Feeling Totally Crummy

and your mood can make a complete 180 degree turn by the time you get home.

I can be totally pissed/sad/frustrated at something/someone/somespider and then mystically/magically/predictably at the thirty five minute mark (every! time!) I have completely talked myself out of whatever it was that was getting me down.

Thank you Endorphins for saving my sanity and helping me with my perspective.

Exercise is Easier When You Weigh Less

I am officially into maternity pants now.  Maternity pants that I had to run out and buy yesterday because a.) I gave ALL my maternity clothes away in 2006 when I thought the baby making shop was closed for business and b.) it was either buy some bigger pants STAT or be forced to fashion a skirt out of a trash bag and some twist ties.

Over the past 6 weeks I’ve gained about 5 lbs.  This is my typical first trimester weight gain, and if history continues to repeat itself, there are 30 more pounds yet to come.  I bid adieu to my skinny jeans last night when I tucked them into a storage bin labeled “I’ll Be Back Again Someday”.

You know, like Frosty.

So while I haven’t been exercising or running a lot over the last couple of months here, I haven’t stopped completely either.  I can tell that running is starting to feel different.  It’s starting to feel harder.  Yes, I know there’s more than one reason for this (slowing down helps!) but I also know that at least part of the change I’m feeling is due to hauling around more weight than I was three months ago.

I point all this out for those of you who might be looking for some motivation for weight loss or wonder what can help you enjoy exercise more:

Exercise is likely to feel easier when there is less of you to carry around.

Stick with it.  Keep going.  It gets better.

The Only Thing That’s Constant is Change

Exercise can be your rock.  Running is my therapy.  Through all the ups and downs and curve balls that life just loves throw your way, having some healthy habits in place can be “that thing” you can count on to be there for you when things change, because they always do.

“Fake It Til You Make It”

has been my mantra for the last month.  And boy let me tell you that little phrase works.  When you know it’s time to get down to business with a workout or some incredibly boring task or chore and you would much rather curl up into the fetal position (like your fetus?) on the couch, tell yourself to fake some effort for 10 minutes.

If when the 10 minutes is up and you’re still not into it, give yourself permission to stop.  Chances are good that by the time you get through those first 10 minutes, it’ll be easy to keep going.

I fall for this trick every time.  Some days this is the only way my dining room table ever gets cleared off.    It works like a champ for workouts too.

Exercising For Wellness Is Way More Fun Than Exercising for Weight Loss or Weight Maintenance

There is more weight gain on the horizon for me over the next 28 weeks or so here.  It’s all good, but I’ll admit that it’s been a little challenging to begin to let go of a physical form I’ve worked so hard to achieve and maintain over the last three years.  I can also tell you that it’s been freeing to exercise with only “general wellness” in mind.

If you’re really struggling with motivation to exercise, you might have to temporarily chuck any fitness or weight loss goals and work on being active simply because you know it’s good for you.

Maybe that means dialing down the intensity.  Maybe that means finding something completely different to do or try.  Maybe that means simply walking.  It’s my opinion that it’s what you eat that has the biggest impact on your physicality anyway.  Consider forgetting about exercise as it pertains to your weight loss goals for a while.  Put your energy into fixing your diet and taking an honest look at your eating habits.  Exercise and stay active in ways that you truly enjoy, don’t be a slave to anything that you dread or despise.

Once you find something that you love, you won’t have to fake anything.

A few things to tell you today.

One: Banana, kiwi and diced oranges make the best fruit salad. EVER.

I want to weep when I look at this simple salad and remember how amazing it was. But then again I weep when the Disney World commercials play on Hulu during The Biggest Loser, so take that for what it’s worth.

You know that one, where they say “only so many mountains left to climb together…”

Gets me every damn time.

Two: My grandmother turned 81 today.

We had dinner with her tonight and stayed a bit late to help clean up while the girls were enamored with cable television and a seemingly endless supply of oyster crackers, neither of which we have at home.

As we pulled out of the driveway I said “when you guys are grown ups, you’ll take care of your grandparents just like we take care of Great Granny now. They help take care of you when you are little, and you’ll do the same for them when you’re adults and they need your help someday.”

They both listened thoughtfully, although it was Maxine who replied, “but I’ll be too busy being a waitress!”

Three: Here are two articles

that reminded me how lax I’ve become with two things I use to be more paranoid about; Sugar and BPA.

Slaying the Sugary Beast in 2011

BPA Rises By 1200% After Eating From Cans

We all need to do our own research and make our own decisions of course, but I found both articles disturbing yet motivating enough to share. Both made me want to reconsider some of the choices I make for me and for my family.

OK, I guess that’s it.  I’m off now to try and forget that we had cupcakes for dessert tonight and that I made Southwest Tomato Soup for lunch today with canned black beans beans and a can of tomatoes. And then maybe I’ll go coach Maxine a bit on her future priorities and career goals.

I know this first little tidbit won’t be helpful to the majority of you guys, but one morning sickness remedy that I’ve come to discover works well for me is to “eat small, frequent meals”.

This “small, frequent meal” approach is supposed to help keep your blood sugar in check, and makes the rollercoaster of riding nausea waves a little less up-and-downy.

And see, I’m good with the “eating frequently” part. That’s easy!

That “small” part? Bah! Humbug!

(I’m working on it.)

Anyways. After a yoga class this afternoon (my first class in ages!) I came home and whipped up Lunch: Phase 1. A couple of PLT sandwiches.

That is; Pickle, Lettuce and Tofu sandwiches of course.

Sandwich construction on top of the toaster oven because counter space is sparse when the toaster beast is out.

It was the toast and the lettuce that made me decide to call this sandwich by its initials, like another sandwich we all know that is named with a trio of letters.

The Tofu was “lightly sauteed” in olive oil (translation: fried) and seasoned simply with a little salt and pepper.

The Pickle? A sandwich staple these days.

One for him.

And one for me, red leaf lettuce exploding out of the Ezekiel toast seam!

The only difference between the his and hers sandwiches was that there was a slice of provolone on mine.

I’d forgotten what a good sandwich filler tofu can be, especially when it’s still warm and the outside of each slice had been crisped up just a bit in the frying pan. I love plant filled sandwiches as much as the next vegetable freak, but sometimes I really love something faux-meaty in there too.

Are you tof-earul? Be brave! Stuffing it into a sandwich is a good way to try it out.

And throwing some dill pickle in there makes any sandwich taste better. Tofu or no tofu, small, frequent or bursting with lettuce; pickles do a sandwich good.

Today let’s be thankful for leftovers.

I made pumpkin pie this year! Until this week, the only thing I knew about pumpkin pie was that I liked to eat it.

Therefore, as a pumpkin pie newbie (and a girl without a lot of extra energy to spare right now), I decided to go with the tried and true recipe on the side of the can of Libby’s pumpkin puree.

And it looked simple enough. Pumpkin, sugar, spices, eggs… a can of evaporated milk?

While I’m sure I’ve eaten plenty of pumpkin pie made with evaporated milk (and I’m sure I wouldn’t turn a piece down if someone handed it to me either) I did want to find a substitute ingredient for that questionable can of evaporated milk since I was the one making it this time.

A little digging around the web and looking at lots of pumpkin pie recipes, I discovered Yes! You can definitely replace the evaporated milk for something that feels more like “real food” if you so desire.

Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie (without evaporated milk)

3/4 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 eggs, beaten
1 15 oz can of pure pumpkin
1 12 oz can of evaporated milk
1 c of heavy cream (or milk for fewer calories)

Preheat oven to 425, combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat eggs, stir in pumpkin and then sugar mixture. Gradually stir in milk and pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes at 425, reduce temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 40 to 50 or until knife comes out clean. If your knife refuses to come out clean even after 55 minutes, call your grandmother to find out if this is normal. (And Grandma said yes, this is normal.)

If you get a can of Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin, it basically says the exact same thing on the label. Except for that last part about Granny.

I made two pies yesterday. One for my mom’s house, and one to leave here so leftovers were assured. One was made with heavy cream, one with 2% milk. Both pies tasted as good as any pumpkin pie I’ve ever had, I couldn’t even tell the difference between the two. Both pies have had MORE heavy whipping cream heaped on top… heavy cream whipped with a little sugar and vanilla of course.

So if you’ve never made a pumpkin pie before and you find yourself wondering if you can skip buying that can of milk when you’re looking at the directions on the side of the pumpkin can? Why yes, as a matter of fact as you can.

For dinner tonight, there was one goal:

Make something completely the opposite of Thanksgiving. I wouldn’t want to spoil my appetite for Thursday after all.

(right. like that could happen.)

So what’s the opposite of Thanksgiving, exactly?

I guess I don’t know, really. I do know that when I was shopping for T Day goodies today, I was on the lookout for anything that none of the other 1,257 Thanksgiving shoppers were loading into their carts. I was looking for anything that might scream “DINNER!!!” at me.

And the item that screamed was eggplant.

Unfortunately, I didn’t decide to blog about dinner until I’d already sliced, salted and rinsed my eggplant. This is why I have no photographs of screaming eggplant. Too bad, really. Screamy eggplants are a riot.

The good news is that even if I don’t have screamy eggplant, I do have steamy eggplant. Might that suffice?

Note to Self: (I’ve written this note before, mind you) stand BACK and let the heat escape before you go jamming your camera into the oven, lady!

A steam free lens. Except now you can see all the fun stuff on the bottom of my oven.

Stop looking at the bottom of my oven and judging me!

Did you know you can make a healthier/non-fried eggplant parm by baking the eggplant a bit before slapping it between layers of sauce and cheese? You can!

Tonight I used two medium eggplants, sliced into 1/2 to 1/4 inch slabs. Salted and then set aside in a colander over the sink for 20 minutes to sweat out some of its water and bitterness, rinsed and hand squeezed to get a little more moisture out. Pop those slices into the oven you preheated (375!) for 10 – 15 minutes to continue drying a bit more.

In the meantime, you can get to work on one of your other layers.

Tonight’s secret ingredient? PSsSt! It’s in the sauce!

The Pumpkin Enchiladas know the secret. Spicy peppers!

Sauce was made tonight with a couple cloves of garlic and a diced onion sauteed in olive oil. A 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, a 6oz can of tomato paste, a little salt, sugar and basil and finally two or three finely minced Chipotle Chiles that I had left over and stirred them into the sauce.

Really? Tomato sauce with a kick?

Yes, really! Stop questioning me!

Once your spicy sauce has bubbled bubbled toiled and troubled for a little while, spread a thin layer down in your baking dish and then a layer of your lightly baked eggplant.

Consider peeling your eggplant before slicing. I didn’t, but we don’t really mind the skin here.

And layer three, a sprinkled layer of mozzarella.

1, 2, 3 Action!

Then repeat. That is, another layer of tomato, eggplant and cheese. Top with the last of your sauce, it’s ready for the oven!

Bake at 375 for about 35 – 45 minutes. Set aside for few minutes to cool and set before cutting.

What do you mean it just looks like a red blob on a plate?

What if I serve a couple of side salads (hiiiii salad! It’s been a while!)

and top it with some Parmesan cheese? And what if promise that it’s a really GOOD red blob on a plate?

It was great! Especially with that spicy saucy. Spicy screamy eggplant parm totally rocks.

And hey, at least it was the opposite of Thanksgiving! You can’t deny me that!

Unless of course your grandma drops the turkey as she’s getting it out of oven on Thursday and totally ruins your Thanksgiving. Then if you’re forced to order pizza for dinner and your toddler picks off all the cheese and leaves a soggy blobby piece of red sauce covered crust on their plate?

Well then I guess in your case this wouldn’t be the opposite of Thanksgiving at all. Sorry about that.

I think I’ve taken more naps in the past month than I have in the last 3 years. I’ve replaced meals with snacks, I’ve swapped vegetables for fruit, and now instead of running or blogging, I’ve been watching Season 1 of Modern Family on DVD.

I hate to be wimpy, but the first trimester has beaten me to a pulp. And that show is so damn funny I can’t tear myself away.

But speaking of pulp and tearing stuff away, let’s chat about oranges!

Thanks to this giant box of oranges my mother brought me last weekend, (the same woman who is to thank for my Modern Family consumption) I’ve eaten at least one orange every day for the past 7 days. They came straight from Florida and are so perfectly sweet they are super easy to devour.

This particular variety isn’t so easy to peel. The fruit usually has a lot of that white foamy stuff stuck to the outside out it after I’ve removed the peel.

This has reminded me that somewhat recently I learned the white stuff is really good for you. It’s called the “pith”, and it’s loaded with all sorts of beneficial junk. More vitamin C, a good source of soluble fiber, plus a lot of a particular antioxidant called bioflavonoids that do rad stuff to your insides.

How’s that for technical? I love it when you talk nerdy to me.

But then while digging around the interwebs for more pithy facts, I found myself reading an article about Death From Orange Pith.

Well that sure figures. Never mind! Why don’t I just throw my hands up in the air and lay my head down on my keyboard in defeat. It’s time for another nap anyway.

As the case may be, the dude from that article who put his life at risk from eating oranges wasn’t actually chewing them. He was just swallowing orange chunks, only to later be scratching his head in curiosity as to why his intestines were all clogged up.  Somehow I’m reminded of the woman who practically poisoned herself by eating 2 to 3 lbs of Bok Choy every day.

Common sense people! Chew your food! Don’t eat 2 to 3 pounds of anything! Snooze when you’re sleepy!

Anyways. Forget all the nerdy food facts if you like, just know that it’s good to not peel every last bit of the pith off of your oranges. Eat up.

I also wanted to be sure you all knew I haven’t abandoned the blog, I’ve just been sleeping.

Enchiladas for dinner tonight!

And they. were. awesome.

But guess what’s inside of them? Just guess!

Never mind, you won’t be able to guess. In fact, you won’t even believe me when I tell you.

OK fine, I’ll tell you.

In a minute.

First, let’s start with these little buggers. They played a big part of what made tonight’s meal so good.

While I’ve made my own enchilada sauce before, I did it a bit differently this time.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

2 cups of water
1 (6oz) can of tomato paste
4 – 5 Chipotle chiles, pureed (in my mini prep)
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp agave nectar (but any sweetener would do)
A dash of salt, cumin, paprika and chili powder

Add all ingredients to a sauce pan, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring every 2 – 3 minutes.

While your sauce is simmering, get working on your enchilada filling. Your pumpkin enchilada filling.

Pumpkin Enchiladas!

(Was that not as exciting as you expected it to be? I probably built up too much suspense.)

Surprised or not, Pumpkin Enchiladas is right! I’m not the first person on the planet to make pumpkin enchiladas, so maybe you’ve heard of these before, but they shocked the glass slippers off of me. I was even more shocked when I dug into them tonight.

Pumpkin Enchilada Filling

1 – 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 – 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 small onion, diced
1 can of pumpkin puree (or bake your own)
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

Pre-heat oven to 375. Saute onions and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in pumpkin, black beans and heat through. Set aside.

Cover the bottom of a baking dish with enchilada sauce.

I filled five small flour tortillas with pumpkin mixture and then topped with pepper jack cheese.

Rolled, topped with more enchilada sauce and the last of the cheese.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or so, they’re done when your sauce is bubbling.

I stumbled upon this idea while looking for something different to do with refried beans. I had my doubts, but I decided to put my faith in the good people of the world wide web.

Trust the Internet. The Internet is smart.

Served with Basmati rice. When I tested the sauce on its own, it was really good, but also extremely spicy. Rice was made in anticipation of needing something to dampen the heat.

With rice, Greek yogurt and guac (again! I’m addicted), the sauce was the perfect temperature.

The filling was so good and savory, it was hard to believe it was pumpkin. The enchilada sauce turned out better than any pre-made sauce I’ve ever used.

Hold on to your refried frijoles, people! Believe it! There’s a new enchilada filling in town.

Linked to Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade

Behold! The most beautiful box on earth.

When I spied that magnificent cardboard cube in the freezer case, it looked to me as though each one of those little waffle squares was delicately hand carved by fairies riding magical unicorns through the mystical forest. A magical mystical forest where streams of real maple syrup poured over majestic waterfalls and not a single creature in all the land felt as though they were living with a perpetual hangover.

Now you see why I had no choice but to bring those blue babies home with me yesterday.  This is also why I dove head first into that box first thing this morning.

While Kashi blueberry waffles are a true marvel, the real reason I’m here today is to celebrate the incredible tangle of flavors that is carrots, apples and ginger.

It’s thanks to my juicer that I don’t have to change the tag line of this blog to “eating frozen waffles and watching my kids grow like weeds”. I’m afraid to say that there has been very little vegetable eating ’round these parts as of late.

Drinking vegetables? Now that sounds a bit more appealing. Normally when I make juice, I am compelled to make every glass of juice GREEN. I simply cannot make juice without shoving a head of romaine through the chute.  What is the point of drinking fresh juice if you’re not going to get some green goodness out of it?

Well!  Now that a little someone has taken up residency in my uterus, I am able to answer that question:

The point of making fresh juice without something green in it is so that you can bear the thought of drinking it.

Carrots, apples and ginger it is then.

I should mention that it only seems to be my OWN vegetables that make my face turn green. If someone else makes me something veggie-ish – or if, say, I eat a bagel sandwich at a bagel shop for lunch with lettuce, tomato and cucumber on a random Tuesday afternoon?

It’s all good.

My own cooking though?

Completely offensive.

Thank goodness the juicer is willing to make stuff for me.

Sweet, spicy and not at all the color of shrubbery,

Carrot Apple Ginger Juice is a gift from above to those of us who might be having trouble with vegetables.

If you don’t have a juicer, you could probably concoct a smoothie with these items. In a blender I’d probably go light on the carrot and heavy on the apple plus a few glugs of water.  And just a lick of ginger should do the trick.

If you don’t have a juicer, maybe Santa will bring you one this year! And if you don’t have waffles in your freezer, maybe the fairies will bring you some tonight.

Today, I had a plan.

That plan was to make dinner early, so that when we got home from an outing with friends late this afternoon, dinner would be mostly ready. All that would be left to do would be to make some guac to top it all off.

And that plan worked. For the most part.

I did indeed make Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili with quinoa this morning before setting off on the day’s adventure.

Made much the same way it was made here, except quinoa was subbed for tempeh (1/2 c quinoa added for the last 15 to 20 minutes of cooking.), I didn’t use any vegetable broth and I definitely didn’t make any brownies for dessert. (Dammit.)

But friends, I gotta tell ya. These short days means that lighting at this time of year really sucks for food photography at dinner time. Natural light is best for food photos, and sunshine is in short supply around these parts right now.

I’m trying to figure something out.

I think I’ve got more lighting research to do. Either that or bump dinner up to 4:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. Or shoot all my dinner time pictures at breakfast time? I think I could be on to something there.

And of course, as soon as Maxine laid eyes on that Grow Light that I hauled downstairs from the attic, plans for her own “art studio” were immediately underway.

“Mah-aaahm. I’m creating!”, she said.

Uh oh. A two syllable-d “Mom”. I guess I better move along and mind my own avocado business.

At least the guac was easy, as planned. A mashed avocado or two,

a diced onion, a couple of chopped grape tomatoes, a little garlic powder and a dash of salt.

You know what? I’m not in the mood for Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili for dinner now after all! How about we just have guac for dinner? The lighting is much better over here by the stove anyway.

Sounds like a plan to me.