Breakfast In A Jar

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Ari

Life is good.
I’m one week into my surgery rotation, and despite the fact that this has lead me to discover a new realm of exhaustion, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed school more. I’m like a little kid in a organ-shaped-candy store every time I set foot in the OR. There’s no way to describe the excitement (or is it anxiety?) that pulses through my body every time I get the chance to throw a stitch, tie a knot, make an incision, drive the scope, or even hold back a fat pad. I’m sure the residents look at me and can’t help but laugh at how naive I am…but then again, maybe they remember just how exciting it was to be discovering all of this for the first time. It’s a good thing we have to wear masks during surgery, otherwise everyone would be able to see the fact that I spend the majority of each case with my mouth hanging open in total awe of what we’re doing.
One of the more interesting discoveries I’ve made is that somehow I have an unlimited amount of energy while I’m in the hospital, but the moment I set foot in the “real world”, I feel like I’ve just been run over by an 18 wheeler. It’s only for the 6-9 hours spent outside of the hospital each day that I realize just how tired I am, and it’s within those 6-9 hours that I need to find enough time to eat dinner, prepare food for tomorrow, write my notes, study for tomorrow’s cases…oh yeah, and sleep. In order to maximize the time spent sleeping, I have been working on cutting down on my morning routine…and I’m proud to announce it now takes me 30 minutes to make it from rolling out of bed to walking into the hospital. Instead of scrambling to get everything finished in the morning I spend a little time the night before packing my lunch, throwing everything into my backpack, and, most importantly, making my breakfast. I realize that I still have to take the time to do all that stuff, but sleeping in to 4:15 rather than 4:00 makes all the difference in the world…or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.
So now I’d like to send a shout out and thank you to the amazing sisters of The Healthy Kitch’n for making my morning routine both quicker and more nutritious. Thanks to their “Peanut Butter Jar Oatmeal” I now have something tasty to shovel into my mouth as I toss on my clothes in the morning. It only takes me about 2 minutes to prepare the meal the night before, and those 2 minutes are totally worth it.

(Adapted from The Healthy Kitch’n)

What you need:

  • An old jar
  • 3/4 cup plain yogurt
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 ripe banana, sliced
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • Cinnamon, to taste
  • Chocolate Chips (optional)
What you need to do:
  1. Add all the ingredients listed above to the jar.
  2. Stir to mix.
  3. Refrigerate overnight.
  4. Eat while hurriedly throwing on your clothes, tossing you hair in a pony tail and rubbing concealer under your eyes to hide the dark circles.
  5. Recognize that you now feel energized from your super fast, super tasty, and super healthy breakfast!
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Posted in Breakfast, Vegetarian | 4 Comments

An IKEA “Guess that gadget” contest

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Anita!

Greetings dear friends and visitors!  I have returned fresh from a weekend trip to Cinncinati and New Philadelphia, where I was visiting the vast majority of my remaining college friends (2 of them).  Included in this trip was my first experience at IKEA, land of Happiness that you can assemble with only an afternoon and an allen wrench.
I found a couple of interesting kitchen tools at IKEA and decided to create a quiz: the first person to name each gadget in the form below will get either a loaf of Peanut Butter & Banana Bread or “Exhibit I” shipped to their doorstep (continental US only).  Special thanks to Carrie for holding the items.
Exhibit A: The ganglion cyst pounder
Exhibit B: The finger amputation holder

Exhibit C: The social worker’s sorting hat
Exhibit D: The microderm abrasion-ater
Exhibit E: The mechanical heart pumper
Exhibit F: The enucleation receptacle
Exhibit G: The bowel tangler
Exhibit H: The pre-op castanet

Exhibit I: The transnasal brain stimulator

 Happy Guessing!!!!
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Posted in Non Recipe | 4 Comments

Veggie Peel Stock

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Ari
As Anita has already pointed out, I don’t like spending money. Let me rephrase – I don’t like spending money on things I can make myself (or buy at a cheaper price). This penny pinching mentality definitely doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy nice things (trust me, the day my loans are paid off, all subsequent lunches will consist of nothing but sushi), but given that I’m currently living off funds from the government (funds that I will have to pay back in three-fold), I see no problem with saving a few bucks whenever possible. Whether I have to spend a few extra minutes shopping around online to make sure I’m getting the best price, or purchase most of my “work clothes” from thrift stores, I feel no shame. In fact, I’m quite proud of how far I can stretch a dollar.
This thriftiness certainly encompasses how I buy groceries, but in no way does it take away from the quality of the food Anita and I eat. It’s true, we don’t buy organic (unless it’s on sale), “fancy ingredients” (unless a specific recipes calls for them), or prepared beverages (between the water coming out of our tap, and our ridiculously large supply of tea, what more could we want?), but that doesn’t change the fact I am more than happy with how well I eat. I can’t believe how often I hear people complain that eating healthy is expensive. Well folks, based on my most recent calculations, Anita and I only spend a total of $120 on groceries a month. Granted, that doesn’t include my weekly chipotle/taco bell trip, or the occasional bowl of soup from the BRB, but averaging about $30 a week on groceries isn’t too bad. How do we do this? We shop at discount grocery stores, we don’t buy any prepared food, we eat mostly vegetarian, and we partake in our local City Fresh. Additionally, when we prepare recipes that call for exotic spices or ingredients, we go to ethnic grocery stores (I shudder whenever I see how much Dave’s Market charges for a little bottle of sesame oil). Again, this ends up adding a little time to each shopping trip, but it’s probably time I’d waste anyway (pinterest, you are my greatest weakness).
In honor of my obsession with getting the best deal, I’m pleased to present you with a “free” recipe (the ingredients are free, that is). I first heard about making soup stock from scraps from a fellow food-obsessed med student (thanks Rachel!), and have been dying to try it ever since. A couple months ago I started saving my cooking scraps and last week I finally had enough to try this out for myself. I mean, what could be better than cooking something where the ingredients cost you nothing?!

Some quick pointers:

  • Good vegetables to use – onions, carrots, garlic, celery, parsley, mushrooms, red peppers, leeks, fennel…basically anything you would throw into a normal vegetable stock.
  • Make sure to wash all of your vegetables before peeling so your stock doesn’t end up with lots of dirt in it.
  • Whenever you’re getting ready to cut up veggies for a dish, pull the gallon bag out of the freezer so you remember to add peels to your stock ingredients rather than your garbage can.
  • Don’t worry if your final product isn’t something you would want to eat on it’s own. This is meant to be used in place of water when making soups, rice, etc.

What you need:

  • 2 gallon bags of vegetable peels (my bags included LOTS of onion peels, garlic peels, green and red pepper ends, carrot ends, wilted cilantro, celery, shrimp tails – I realize that’s not vegetarian but I had them lying around)
  • Enough water to cover vegetable peels
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tsp salt
What you need to do:
  1. Dump the frozen veggie peels into a large crockpot (mine is 6 quarts).
  2. Fill the crockpot with water until the veggies are submerged.
  3. Add the salt and bay leaves.
  4. Cook on low for 10-12 hours.
  5. Strain the broth and discard the veggie peels (if you’ve got a compost, toss the scraps in there instead of the garbage).
  6. Store the stock in jars or tupperware (we keep all our old salsa, pickle, etc. jars for this kind of thing) and freeze until you want to use it. 
  7. Use in place of water when cooking soup, rice, etc.
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Posted in Freezer, Slow Cooker, Soup, Vegetarian | 6 Comments

Mixed Green & Potato Soup

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Anita!


One of the reasons I like cooking with vegetables better than with meat is that I find sterile technique a little tricky.  Take the OR, for instance:
If you’re scrubbed in, you can only touch the green/blue stuff and the instruments you see here in this picture.  No, not just that — don’t touch any part of your own gown save the front part of your torso.  Don’t let your hands drop to your sides.  Don’t let your glove touch the lamp.  And don’t cry when the surgeon yells at you, because you definitely can’t wipe away the tears.
And if you aren’t scrubbed in:
Remember the game “Lava”?  Welcome to the championships.
Anyway, working with raw meat generates the same kind of anxiety.  I’m so disorganized when I cook that I sometimes use latex gloves with meat to avoid having to wash my hands repeatedly.  So here’s to the forgiveness of vegetables.  And the fact that at the end of the day, my kitchen is not a surgery suite.

Ingredients

  • 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed flat
  • 2 small or one large potato(s), washed and diced into 1” cubes
  • 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth, warmed in a separate pot to just below a boil
  • 1 large bag of fresh greens, chopped — spinach, kale, swiss chard, anything you have on hand.  If you’re using frozen greens, try about a pound and adjust as you like
  • salt & pepper
Heat the olive oil in a pot that holds at least a liter of liquid over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, and saute until it turns yellow and translucent.  Add the garlic and allow to brown before adding the potato dice.  Allow the potato dice to cook until they are no longer raw in the center, then add the broth.  Finally, add the greens.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the greens to wilt for about 4-5 minutes (don’t wait too long or the soup will not be very green).  Turn off the heat, then ladle the soup 1/4 at a time into a blender.  Blend until the soup is as smooth as you would like.  Adjust the salt and pepper to your taste preference.  Add yogurt or sour cream and serve warm.

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Posted in Soup, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments