Where are the veggies?

I ended up going to the store this afternoon like I said I might. I didn’t get much, but that’s probably for the best budget-wise since I got my regular groceries yesterday! I found a few things that my regular (small) grocery store doesn’t have: black bean burgers and Ezekiel products (I got some Almond cereal, more on that later)

I was so excited to try something new, so I had my other homemade pita with a spicy black bean burger for supper. I had only made two pitas the other day because they’re best fresh and I don’t have the freezer space to freeze leftovers. I only have a mini fridge and therefore a shoebox – sized freezer, it’s sad really. Actually, I had two burger patties since they’re pretty low cal and I thought I’d be hungry soon! After I finished, I realized that I didn’t have any veggies to speak of – yes, there were a few in the burgers but not enough that I’d count them. Oh well, I’m usually really good about eating my vegetables so I’m not going to worry about it.

Here’s the Ezekiel cereal that I bought:

I had a small bowl after supper as what I hoped would be desert (and I do mean small!) I was actually very disapointed in the cereal, it wasn’t what I was hoping for at all. I found it very bland and whole wheat tasting but It would probably be better paired with yogurt and fruit, parfait-style.

I was going to do a long bike ride on my indoor trainer, but my motivation was seriously lacking tonight. I didn’t skip it altogether though, I just shortened it a bit. I think part of the problem is that I didn’t start until 8PM, which is a bit late for me. It’s also hard to keep my goals in mind when I can’t even begin to guess when the 3.5 feet of snow will be gone so I can ride outside! There seems to be no light at the end of that tunnel, the snowbanks are almost twice as tall as I am. OK, now that I’ve got that little complaint out of my system, I had a Larabar afterwards – WOW it was amazing! It wasn’t what I expected at all. I have to say that I was guilty of buying it without reading the ingredients after reading about them on other blogs, but it worked out to my advantage this time – only two ingredients and it tasted so good! Here’s the picture:

I’m off to relax a bit and then go to bed. I might do a stretching session first since I’m still warmed up from my evening bike ride.

Pita Pockets

As promised, I made my own pitas! They are 100% whole wheat and they tasta a bit wheat-y, but I added just a touch of honey to the dough and they are divine. In my opinion they are 100 times better than any store-bought pitas I have ever tried

I should warn you that I’m not an expert bread baker, but here’s my recipe and procedure:

Pre-ferment:

- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/5 tsp instant yeast

Mix together, cover and let sit in a warm place 12 – 16 hours. When you next see this mixture it should be all bubbly.

Dough:

- Pre-ferment
- 3/4 cup flour
- salt
- 1/2 tsp honey

Add all remaining ingredients to pre-ferment, starting with only about 1/2 cup of flour. At this point, it’s hard to explain because I basically just threw the other 1/4 cup of flour on the counter and incorporated it into the dough as I kneaded it.

Divide dough into 4 even balls (~75 grams each)

Roll out each ball into a circle about 1/8 inch thick, brushing both sides with flour to prevent sticking.

Cover with a dishcloth and let rise about 30 minutes. They only puff up a little bit but don’t worry!

Preheat oven to 500*F. Yes, it needs to be hot.

Right before you bake them, flip the circles over onto your pan. I’m not sure how this helps but I was afraid not to do it!

Bake at 500*F for 5 minutes. When you take your pitas out of the oven they will be all puffed up, like this:

This is a good thing – it means the pocket has formed

I then placed them between two dish towels to cool so that they would be nice and soft when I’m ready to eat them.

Finally, here’s the final product that I ate for my evening snack, with carrot sticks and hummus:

I’ll probably have another small snack right before bed too because I think I sleep better with a small amount of food in my stomach. I’ll try to remember to post that with breakfast