Autumn Sunday Notes and a Recipe. . .

Last night’s tasty, healthy, easy dinner:

Tempeh with Veggies, Mixed Rice, and Peanut Sauce.

It also happens to be vegan.

From my brown recipe notebook.

This morning I was up early-ish, but not as early as I like to rise. I drank a glass of water, counted my many blessings, and plopped on the living room floor for some quiet time. I really like sitting on the floor, so I am loving having this new, cushy rug. And my low-slung, antique tea table is perfect for this because when I sit in front of it, it’s the same height as when I sit on a chair at a regular table.

After quiet time, I hopped onto the treadmill. Yes, the treadmill. I adopted it from Aaron yesterday, who wanted it out of his apartment. We brought it here last evening, and then I made the dinner pictured above (the recipe will be at the end of this post; and, by the way, Kate, if you see this, I haven't forgotten the miso soup--I'll add that later today). After eating and cleaning up my mess, I spent the evening puttering around while listening to the Oregon Ducks football game. (Go Ducks! Yay Ducks!)

Oh, but I was talking about the treadmill. Since my fall term schedule is not going to allow me to easily go for a walk during the day, the treadmill might come in handy. Problem is, being on that thing is painfully boring. It’s sort of frustrating to walk and walk and walk and never get anywhere or see anything new! Just the same old walls, and they never get even an inch closer.

So, I am going to attempt to take up jogging again to shorten the amount of time I need to be on that machine. I commenced this morning, and forced myself to jog slowly and stop early in order to fend off feelings of spite for the treadmill and for jogging. I’ll just take my time and build slowly because what’s the hurry?! And we’ll see how it goes. I’m thankful to have a way to move (besides the aerobic routine I do two or three times a week in my living room), but I’ve got to figure out something to do while I’m on the treadmill besides watching the numbers change on the dashboard (or whatever it is called) because that is not exactly inspiring or motivation-building.

Anyway, after drinking my post-treadmill-workout green smoothie and taking a shower, it was off to church. I picked up Aaron, and as we walked down the sidewalk together to the entryway, we were both struck with a happy feeling of autumn. The sky was grey, and a blustery breeze picked up the earliest falling leaves of the season to send them dancing and skittering in the air and along the ground. I got so caught up in the feeling that I wanted to join the leaves! (When my sister came into church, she exclaimed about the nice fall feeling outside, too.)

Church was wonderful today, as usual. And I saw my friend Sue, who said she has been reading my blog, so if you see this, Sue—Hello to you! :-)

My niece and nephew came home with me after church because their mom, brother, sister, and a friend were going to nearby stores and would stop by here to pick the kids up when they finished shopping. I didn’t have much to offer my niece and nephew to eat but a banana. Then I popped the few kernels of popcorn that were left in the jar (must buy more today), and it made enough for a little snack, and that was good enough! (You’ve gotta have some kind of snack to eat when kids are over, you know!)

Soon, the shoppers arrived, and for just a little while, my house was full of people and buzzing chatter. It’s always so nice to have friends and family come by. A home is made for people.

And now it is quiet again, and I’m finishing my cup of coffee. The wind has picked up, and rain has begun to pour. It feels cozy in the house, and Sunday is a good day for being inside and feeling cozy.

I hope your day is as pleasant as mine.

And now, the recipe:

This is really quick and easy to make if you have pre-cooked rice and peanut sauce on hand. If not, it takes 50 minutes to cook whole grain rice and just a few to mix the peanut sauce.

Here are the amounts I used and how I cooked the dish. This made around 3 servings. I would have used more veggies but I’m cutting back to save money, and I can do this for some meals because I get plenty of vegetables over the course of the day:

~1/3 c. red bell pepper, chopped

~½ large head baby bok choy, leaves separated from stem; leaves julienned and stems chopped

~2 shallots, thinly sliced (1/2 medium yellow onion would work)

~1 medium to large carrot, grated

~6-8 oz. tempeh, cut into bite-sized pieces

~1 ½ c. cooked rice (I used a combination of short grain brown rice and black Chinese Forbidden rice

~peanut sauce (recipe follows)

Peanut sauce (use your favorite; mine is a bit tangy because I like it that way; amounts are approximate—I don’t measure): Thoroughly mix 1/3 c. peanut butter, 2-3 T. rice vinegar, 1-2 t garlic-chile sauce, juice of ½ lime, 2 minced cloves garlic, 1 t. toasted sesame oil (or so), 1-2 T maple or agave, 1-2 T. shoyu.

Saute tempeh over medium heat in a neutral tasting oil, browning first one side and then the other, til golden. Salt lightly and remove from heat.

Now add more oil, if needed, and sauté all of the vegetables at once (minus the bok choy leaves) until crisp-tender. When the vegetables are ready, lightly salt them, and then add the bok choy leaves until they begin to wilt. Now add the tempeh, and heat through.) Toss in the cooked rice and, again, fry, stirring, til heated through. Stir in the peanut sauce until it is warmed and the dish is nicely mixed. Serve.

Bon (healthy) appétit!