Take one peek in my fridge and you can tell it’s the beginning of my work week:
This evening I took a butt kicking spin class which I would really suggest to anyone that wants to really get their cardio on, it was intense! When I got home I was starving and insanely thirsty, I guess I didn’t drink enough during the class. It’s so important to stay hydrated, I need to focus more on this!
Luckily the Bibimbop from Friday night reheated magnificently and made a perfect dinner. Eating it makes me want to go back and get more soon, it’s so yummy. While I was eating I was also cooking up a storm!
I didn’t make anything particularly groundbreaking today, just a veggie stir fly and roasted root veggies. They were delicious though and sure to feed me well through the week.
The roasted roots in their roasting process:
To make my veggie stir fry I started with the essentials – onion, garlic and some extra firm tofu. I sauteed them in olive oil until everything was lovely golden brown:
Then I add everything under the sun I could think of. Tonight that included eggplant:
zucchini:
And lots of veggies I didn’t capture in pictures – broccoli, cauliflower, red peppers, portobello mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and of course a healthy dose of cilantro and spices.
After everything was pretty well cooked I added a bit of crushed tomatoes and heated them through. I usually add soba noodles to the mix but I’ve really been enjoying the veggies at work so I just went with them. The result is a delicious healthy mix I can’t wait to dig into tomorrow!
When I went shopping today I noticed something special on the shelf at Pathmark:
This is not the kind of stuff you would normally see me eating. It’s definitely not healthy but the memories associated with it are incredibly cherished ones. Both my grandmother on my moms side and my grandfather on my dads side loved these things. I suppose maybe you could say it’s genetic? 
Mallomars aren’t much available outside of NYC and as a little girl I remember coming to visit my family and always having them here. They were as much a part of my childhood in New York as the 7 train or FAO Schwartz. So, when I saw them today I just couldn’t resist. I picked up a box and treated myself to one for dessert tonight.
Luckily they’re really small and I suppose I’ll bring the rest of them into the office tomorrow to share. I have to say though, even with all of their kind of icky preservatives and not so healthy-ness there is something in me that still absolutely adores these little guys!
What can I say? It’s kind of a New York thing.
My parents drove up on Sunday to visit and I took today off so we could have an extra day to spend together. We were so lucky, it was a sunny warm and beautiful January day. They gave me and my groceries a lift home from the supermarket and then we spent the entire afternoon exploring my Fort Greene neighborhood, so much fun!
By coincidence it was also Martin Luther King Day and I have to say I might make a habit of taking this day off. I like to listen to the “I have a Dream” speech and take a moment to remember what the day is really about.
I was surprised and warmed to discover that my mom knows much of the speech by heart. She says she remembers the day that he delivered it. Because of that I have to imagine it rings that much more poignantly within her. To keep something like that alive in me is different. I have to make my own memories of how I perceive such an amazing, and important man. I feel I benefit so much from listening to his words and the themes of his message. I like to think of immortality as a thing that exists by those that love you remembering you. Keeping him immortal is important to me.
He speaks of struggle and I feel I can relate. Though my struggles seem pale in comparison I still think that I can understand some of what welled in the hearts of those that listened and loved and were filled with pride at the achievements of MLK. I like to think that when any of us overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles we are channeling much of the some stuff that he speaks of. I also like to think that that stuff is something of which we could all use a little more.
Take a listen:
P.S. This is my 100th post on this blog!
