What We Eat.. When We Eat Alone

A few years ago I attended a workshop in San Francisco and was introduced to a world renowned chef by the name of Deborah Madison.  She is the author of many cookbooks and I absolutely love one of her books I picked up years ago.  The book is "What we eat when we eat alone"  

I also LOVE the illustrations in the book by Patrick McFarlin, seriously make me laugh

I love this one with the person eating in their bed with all the bugs... I think eating in bed should be illegal.. YUCK!!

I can relate to this book in so many ways.. and in different stages of my life where I cooked for just myself.   For instance.. when I was in graduate school, I was a Teaching Assistant in the Foods Lab, and my professor allowed me to take home all the food that was not used, or about to expire.  I can remember bringing home all these vegetables that I have never heard of or tasted.   I will never forget my first experience with Jicama.   I had never tasted Jicama in my life growing up in rural Nebraska. If you are not familiar with this root vegetable... here is a quick infomercial from wiseGEEK:

Jicama

Jicama is a crispy, sweet, edible root that resembles a turnip in physical appearance, although the plants are not related. Jicama has been cultivated in South America for centuries, and the vegetable is quite popular in Mexican cuisine. Jicama has a unique flavor that lends itself well to salads, salsas, and vegetable platters. The roots can sometimes grow to be quite large, although when they exceed the size of two fists, they begin to convert the sugars that give jicama its sweet flavor into starches, making the root somewhat woody to the taste.

So I came home and cut up the Jicama.. and proceeded to eat it in my salad.. then woke up the next day with hives all over my chest.   So I guess trial and error with exotic root vegetables.  

I laugh when I tell people about my concoctions I think up to prepare for myself.  When I was younger.. I used to take Bologna and spread mayonnaise on it.. and fold it... and called it a "Taco Maco".  Not sure where this odd name came up.. but my brother and talk about it all the time.   

Here is a list of some of the odd things people confessed in the book that they ate when they were alone.

1.  Saltines crumbled in Milk (YUCK)

2.  Wonder Bread, flattened, covered with butter and sugar, then frozen briefly, so it becomes a kind of sugar cookie.

3.  Leftover spaghetti that is stuck together, fried with Swiss cheese (Holy Crap-ola.. that is bad)

4.  Oyster Crackers in Coffee

I can openly admit I really do not have any fun/cool/gross food inventions I have come up with.. but I think my tater-tot casserole recipe is borderline gross according to a few select people we will not mention on this blog.  

I have recently started developing my own smoothie recipes.. and I seriously love the latest one I have developed.. I am trying to keep it under 400kcals if possible (seems like alot.. but I drink them for breakfast.. and that is my meal replacement).

It involves 1 Cup Almond Milk, 4-5 Large Strawberries (Frozen), 1/2 Banana, 1 cup of Kale, 2 Scoops of Vegan Protein Powder, 1 scoop of Fiber Boost (12 grams of Fiber) (optional), 2 Tbsp of Flax Seed (Ground) as it gives my smoothie a little bit of crunch, and a little bit of coconut (fresh).   I seriously love it....

If any of you have a favorite smoothie recipe...share it... I dare you....