Archives for July 2020

Recipe | Improvised Skinny Gnocchi Alfredo (One Pot Meal)

July 30, 2020 filed under: food, recipe

This is a gnocchi one pot meal I threw together inspired by a few different gnocchi recipes that I found online. I can’t really reference any one recipe, as I feel like I did make this my own (which is how every recipe comes about, am I right?).

If you like a savory and filling, but quick weeknight dinner idea that involves minimal cooking, this recipe is for you.

1 package (1.1 lbs) gnocchi
5 Sicilian chicken sausages (from TJs)
8 oz Crimini mushrooms (quartered)
10 oz baby spinach
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup half & half
3-4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic cube
1 small onion (chopped)
salt, pepper (to taste)
red pepper flakes (optional)

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and saute for 5 minutes.

Add the gnocchi and pan-fry until browned (no need to pre-cook). Take the sausage out of the casing and add to the pan, breaking it up as you cook it.

Add the quartered mushrooms and saute for 5-6 minutes (make sure to not overcook them, depending on size).

Add the vegetable broth and half & half and bring to a quick boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for a few minutes. Then add the Parmesan and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (optional).

Add the spinach, stir in and cook until wilted.

Enjoy!

Skinny Gnocchi Alfredo (One Pot Meal)

1 lb gnocchi
5 Scilian chicken sausage
8 oz Crimini mushrooms ((quartered))
10 oz baby spinach
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup half & half
3-4 tbsp Parmesan
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cube garlic
1 small onion (chopped)
salt, pepper
red pepper flakes ((optional))

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add the gnocchi and pan-fry until browned (no need to pre-cook). Take the sausage out of the casing and add to the pan, breaking it up as you cook it.
Add the quartered mushrooms and sauté for 5-6 minutes (make sure to not overcook them, depending on size).
Add the vegetable broth and half & half and bring to a quick boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for a few minutes. Then add the parmesan and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (optional).
Add the spinach, stir in and cook until wilted.

Tuesday Topics | How do you fit your workout into a busy day?

July 28, 2020 filed under: fitness, running, Tuesday Topics

This week, I am linking up with Kookyrunner and Zenaida for Tuesday Topics again. We’re talking about how we’re fitting our workouts into a busy work week.

The most important thing for me is having an exercise routine. If you set aside certain times for runs or other exercise sessions, it’s much harder to “talk yourself out of it”. Make it a fixed appointment with yourself, pencil it in, save it to your (digital) planner.

My husband, sweet as he is, sometimes wants to do me a favor and gives me permission to “skip” a workout. I know he’s trying to be kind, but I always tell him: look, if I skip this workout, it’s that much harder to get back to it next time.

That’s not to say that I don’t occasionally skip a workout. I think it’s fine, as long as it doesn’t become a habit. But I usually only skip it when I have one of these legitimate reasons:

I am sick (no really, take a break when you’re not feeling well)
I am super tired/fatigued
we have another, more pressing commitment (which rarely is the case early in the morning, unless we’re gone over night, which obviously isn’t happening right now)

‘I just don’t feel like it’ very rarely cuts it. And if I have fixed time slots during my week, I am much less likely to even “think about” if I feel like doing it or not, I just do it.

Most of my workouts happen in the morning these days. Since I’ve been working from home for the last 4 months, my morning routine has changed a little bit (and I actually quite enjoy it). I’m taking advantage of the cool morning temperatures during the summer months, the fact that it’s light out early, and the feeling of having accomplished something at the beginning of the day. The fact that I have this view to look forward to during my runs helps!

If I make it my workout a priority in the morning, it’s less likely that something comes up during the day that could derail my workout plans if they were later in the day.

While getting the workout out of the way in the morning is amazing, I definitely noticed that it’s key to still get up and move during the day. I might run 4-5 miles before work, but it’s still not good to sit on your butt all day long. I have a timer on my phone that reminds me to drink water and I am making it a point to get up and walk around or stretch a bit every time that timer goes off (which is 8x per day). I also try to take walks in the evening on my “strength training” days to still get some steps in.

What’s your workout routine these days? How do you fit it in?

Currently | July

July 23, 2020 filed under: currently

EATING | more things from the BBQ grill and some amazing salads.

DRINKING | coffee, tea, and water.

FEELING | okay overall. I keep my routine, I run, I work, I cook and bake, but I definitely also have bouts of pandemic fatigue. I feel like I want to do a lot of things, but then don’t do anything. I feel like reaching out and connecting with people, but then am exhausted by the prospect of yet another Facetime call.

READING | How to be an anti-racist by Ibram X. Kendi

LISTENING TO | a new health podcast.

LOVING | my new-to-me AirPods that were hand-me-downs from Jon, who invested in some new and better earbuds to listen to music (his ears are fancier than mine LOL). I wouldn’t have bought AirPods for myself at this point, because the wired ones work just fine at home and I have Bluetooth Jaybirds for running, but hey, I won’t say no to hand-me-downs. I know a lot of people don’t like the fit of the AirPods but for me, they’re perfect!

ENJOYING | my morning runs. What else is new? These views make up for a lot.

WONDERING | why Trump keeps calling COVID-19 the ‘China virus’. It really, really makes me mad.

HOPING | that people can be reasonable and stay home as much as possible and wear masks. It seems like a lot of what’s going on right now in this country could have been avoided, if people stopped insisting on their freaking individual “freedoms” and do something for the common good for once. This could have been long over.

MISSING | eating out at restaurants and going for day or weekend trips, but we’re still not ready to venture out.

SPENDING | more time in the backyard.

AMAZED BY | the perception of time. The days are long, but the weeks keep on flying by. It’s almost August, guys.

WATCHING | a brand-new episode of Hoarders. (Guilty pleasure.)

BAKING | all the things. I’ve been making a loaf of rye bread weekly for the last few months and I recently used some of my sourdough discards in this amazing blueberry crumble cake. I think I have to post the recipe sometime.

LOOKING FORWARD TO | the day when we can make plans again.

WEARING | almost no make-up. I use my concealer every once in a while, but since I rarely leave the house right now, and if I do, I either run or wear a mask to the store, I haven’t had the need to wear make-up in a while. I think my skin likes it.

What is going on with you currently?

July Link List

July 21, 2020 filed under: link love

Around the Interwebs

We could get Coronavirus under control in 4-8 weeks, if everyone wore a mask. Come one, people, let’s get our sh*t together.

Read this. How the American idiot made America unlivable.

14 black women, we should have learned about in history class.

21 arguments for wearing a mask and a great trick to help masks fit better.

Two different people: a hair cut/color can really transform a person.

People’s stories for leaving California during the pandemic.

20 Black-female-ownded brands to support.

Around the blogosphere

A letter to my white friends.

The health benefits of turmeric.

My friend Kate shared her no-regret quarantine purchases. What have you bought during quarantine?

Beauty products from Trader Joe’s.

Craftiness/DIY

DIY Mini Trellis.

6 free hand-lettered photo overlays.

That sounds like a fun project! How to block print fabric.

For my runner friends

How to pace your half marathon with four simple strategies. Which one is yours?

Do you plank? Plank benefits for runners.

Deliciousness

Give me anything with lemon! Pucker-Up Creamy Lemon Squares.

91 recipes with eggs.

Since I’ve been making more smoothies again: Easy mango smoothie.

Arugula pesto. Yum.

Share a good link with me in the comments!

Recipe | A variation of a classic Niçoise Salad

July 13, 2020 filed under: recipe

It’s been awfully hot around these parts of the country the last couple of weeks and we’ve been thinking about more recipes that don’t involve a whole lot of cooking. We’ve been grilling a lot more (for obvious reasons), but salads are also always a good idea.
I am a big fan of a classic Niçoise salad, but we’ve put our spin on it this last weekend and swapped out a few of the ingredients. You guys, this was so, so good! Of course, the classic ingredients of tuna and hard-boiled eggs are a must, but I love that you can basically use anything to make this salad.

We added grilled zucchini and baby potatoes, which made this really filling, and we loved avocado and radishes as an extra edition.

Here’s the recipe for this particular variation (adapted from halfbakedharvest.com)

For the dressing:
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsps apple cider vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 2 tbsps lemon juice
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• kosher salt and black pepper
.
For the salad:
• 6-7 baby potatoes
• 2 medium zucchini
• 2 cups fresh chopped romaine
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 radishes thinly sliced
• 2 cans tuna, drained
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped basil or parsley
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, halved
. . .
Instructions:
1. Combine the ingredients and add pepper and salt to taste. Set aside.

2. Place the potatoes in a pot and fill with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce the to heat to medium, simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and let potatoes cool for about 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, then gently add the eggs and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Grill the zucchini slices in a bit of olive oil until fork tender. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Cut the potatoes in half and add to a large serving bowl and toss with half of the dressing. Arrange the other ingredients around them, sprinkle with parsley or basil, and drizzle with the rest of the dressing.

5. Serve slightly warm.

A variation of a classic Niçoise Salad

For the dressing:• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsps apple cider vinegar

• 1 garlic clove, grated

• 2 tbsps lemon juice

• 1 tsp dijon mustard

• kosher salt and black pepper

For the salad:

• 6-7 baby potatoes

• 2 medium zucchini

• 2 cups fresh chopped romaine

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

• 4 radishes thinly sliced

• 2 cans tuna, drained

• 1 can red kidney beans

• 1 avocado, sliced

• 1/4 cup chopped basil or parsley

• 4 hard-boiled eggs, halved

Combine the ingredients and add pepper and salt to taste. Set aside.
Place the potatoes in a pot and fill with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce the to heat to medium, simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and let potatoes cool for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, then gently add the eggs and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Grill the zucchini slices in a bit of olive oil until fork tender. Season with salt and pepper.
Cut the potatoes in half and add to a large serving bowl and toss with half of the dressing. Arrange the other ingredients around them, sprinkle with parsley or basil, and drizzle with the rest of the dressing.
Serve slightly warm.

What I read in June

July 6, 2020 filed under: books

I finished 5 books in June (what?!). I think with everything that was going on, I felt like reading was the best course of “action” (as you can tell from some of the titles). So yeah, June was a good reading month. It probably helped that I was fired up and ready to learn some stuff.

You can’t touch my hair: and other things I still have to explain by Phoebe Robinson (★★★☆☆)

Let’s just say, I wouldn’t discourage you from reading the book, because Phoebe Robinson covers a wide range of relevant topics and I wouldn’t want you to miss out on her personal voice. However, the overuse of forced jokes, #hashtags and slang like “LOL.com, LOL.net, LOL.edu” or “nope.tumblr.com” in every other sentence (okay, she’s a comedian, but come on!), pop-culture references, and the need to rank the members of U2 in the order of whom she’d like to sleep with, seriously made my eyes roll back into my head at times. It started out as kinda funny but got „annoying AF“ (as she would say) real fast.

This could have been an interesting and informative book of its times, as she hit a lot of relevant matters about the black (and female) experience, but the writing style and some really superfluous stuff (IMHO) mixed in, took away from it. For me, it’s not a good sign that at the end of the book, I can’t remember the important parts, because I was so annoyed with the writing style. Sometimes, less is more. I also couldn’t really figure out what the takeaway was supposed to be. Was it a plug for herself as a comedian, or a true testament to the black experience?

I think I’d like to check out an audio version of this book (I imagine it to be much better, as IMHO the gazillion jokes didn’t really translate to paper very well). 3.5 stars.

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land (★★★★☆)

This book had some really mixed reviews, but it had been on my to-read list for a while and I must say that I thought it was a powerful book about the struggles of being poor in America. Land’s story illuminates the struggles of poverty, the frustrations of being a single mother with no safety net, and no one to turn to, and the indignity of government programs that are meant to support, but aim to micromanage and humiliate people that are in need of assistance. Getting ahead in this situation is nearly impossible.

There are a few “missing pieces” that would have helped to understand her situation a little better. What did she do between high school and getting pregnant at 28 (when she planned to go to college, but couldn’t because she had an unplanned pregnancy)? Why where family and friends mostly absent (or not willing or able to help)? All in all, though, I thought her story was compelling and well-written. I was rooting for her and Mia. Yes, she made some bad – and, from the perspective of an outsider, irrational – decisions, but it makes her story all the more human IMHO.

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad (★★★★☆)

This book originated from a daily Instagram challenge and is therefore structured as a 28-day program with journaling prompts at the end of each chapter. It’s meant to be an exercise in self-reflection and I definitely thought a lot about the questions that were posed at the end of each chapter (although I must add that sometimes I didn’t really know how to “answer” them, as I didn’t grow up in the US and cultural tensions in Germany exist but are somewhat different from the focus of this book.) I also instantly felt the urge to talk about the prompts with someone. I guess this is where the conversations with family members and friends come in that we’re supposed to have. I definitely will admit that a lot of our biases are subconscious and requires awareness and active reflection to become aware of and change them.

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo (★★★★☆)

At first, I was a little hesitant to read a book written by a white person that is meant to help white people acknowledge their fragility and biases regarding racist beliefs, but I think there was a lot of good information here and I guess that sometimes it’s “easier” to hear it from a fellow white person? I don’t know. It seems counterintuitive, but maybe seeing someone actively “do the work” makes it seem possible for the rest of us. I appreciated some of the examples she gave and her admission of “being a work in progress” and how she handled situations where she messed up and apologized.

Is this the only book one should read about racism? Hell no, but it’s a good starting point.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis (★★★★☆)

This is the heartbreaking story of Hattie, who at 15 left the South during the Great Migration, to settle with her husband in Philadelphia. We get to know Hattie through the eyes of her many children, each introduced in a separate chapter, and the story spans many decades. I absolutely loved Mathis’s powerful writing style and definitely was engaged in this family’s story, which was so powerful and moving, but also sometimes unsatisfying, offering little resolution to any of the individual stories it told. If anything, I would have liked for the book to be longer and the chapters to be more interconnected. Still, I’d definitely recommend you read it.

What did you read in June? Anything you’d like to recommend? Leave a comment, and then add me on Goodreads to keep in touch.

Blogging through the COVID-19 crisis: Update 5

July 3, 2020 filed under: Corona Life, real life

Hey friends, it’s been a hot minute since my last Corona check-in. It feels like time has been on pause and time-lapse at the same time, doesn’t it? I have been working from home since March 17th but who’s counting anymore (Me, apparently. It’s been 16 weeks, 108 days).

I am not really sure where to begin. I didn’t expect us to be done with the pandemic at this point, but I’d for sure have thought we’d be further along in getting it under control. Instead, we seem to move in the other direction.

Californians did a phenomenal job for a while, adhering to the shelter-in-place order and keeping new infections low, but the last couple of weeks, our numbers here have exploded (as they have in other, less strategic places). We’ve had a mandatory, statewide mask order put in place for the last two weeks and as of a couple of days ago, restaurants’ indoor-seating, wineries, etc. have been closed down again in many counties in California. I am glad Governor Newsom is reversing course and making decisions based on the data, not by what people would like to hear (and let me tell you, there are still people who think we should just reopen everything). But PSA: just because we are tired of the Coronavirus, doesn’t mean it has disappeared. I still think we reopened too soon.

I cannot believe that Trump and his minions have all but abandoned dealing with the Coronavirus. It’s like, they decided it’s too hard and if they just wish it away, it’s going to go away. THIS IS NOT HOW THIS WORKS. We are where we are because Trump chose not to provide any coordinated federal response to the crisis and Republicans refused to address his failure. Decisions were passed down to the governors, then to county and city officials with far less authority to enforce their decisions. What we have is a hodgepodge of band-aid solutions scattered throughout the nation. And mask-wearing has become a political statement, not a matter of public health. Welcome to America.

There was tentative talk about a reopening strategy at my work recently, but there is no hard date, and with the latest developments, I don’t expect it to happen anytime soon. We’ve been sent a survey to share our thoughts on reopening strategies to let our leadership team know if we want to come back, why we would need to be in the office, and how often we’d want to come in.

The only reasons I’d want or need to go back to the office would be a) if I got involved in a project with datasets so large that my (hand-me-down, old) DELL work laptop couldn’t handle the processing that would be involved and b) to see/meet with colleagues. Since the reopening strategy at this point would involve having people come in on alternate schedules, so we’d be having a limited number of well-spaced people in the building, there’d be no point to go back if you’re sitting in the office by yourself the whole day (again, unless a) happened).

Honestly, everybody has pretty much adapted to WFH life now, and while I can see advantages for some people to go to the office (e.g. for lab work or fieldwork activities), personally, I have no need or desire right now to go back. Of course, I am lucky – and thankful – that I have the option to work from home at all.

Are you still working from home or have you been called back to your workplace? (If you still have work – sorry, did I just put my foot in my mouth? Seriously, I want to know how you’re doing!)

On a different note, my whole family was supposed to arrive for a 3,5-week summer vacation today. To say that I am bummed is the understatement of the century. When all this started, I knew pretty early on that the chances of them coming this summer were slim, but I didn’t think that we were going to be where we are today with rising case numbers all over the country and no tangible plan. The Coronavirus has really thrown a wrench into 2020, but in all honesty, I’d rather know my family is well and safe in Germany than having them travel to a place that is so clearly not handling this pandemic in any responsible manner.

If you want to know how the EU (or single countries) fares compared to the US (per million people), here’s a good resource. Cringeworthy, right?

Thankfully, Jon and I are on the same page. We are both not ready to venture out and 100% agree that we won’t leave the house for anything other than necessities (which is grocery shopping every other week, walking/running, and doctor’s appointments).

I am sad we still can’t go out to eat, make any plans for the summer (or even later), or see friends, and nobody knows when this will all be over, but I know one thing for sure: continuing to stay home as much as possible is the right thing to do right now.

Where’s your headspace these days?