Still Feels Like A Monday

For some reason I’m still watching local news during early morning workouts, I think because my brain is still waking up and a high-energy workout playlist just isn’t appealing at that hour. I need to stop watching it though because it’s getting depressing and infuriating. They try to stuff in a cheery nugget of information here and there, but it’s just not enough to counter the negative stuff. This mornings cheery nugget was that Tuesdays often feel worse than Mondays because that’s when the weekend memories fade and the reality of the week sinks in. I felt that today. It’s already been a busy week thanks to dog sitting still for my dad, being on-call for work and being busy at work. Having to work Monday while it seemed everyone else was off didn’t help. :-P

But it hasn’t been all that bad, my dehydrated tomatoes came out beautifully. They actually look like ones purchased from Whole Foods.

I cut the tomatoes into 1/4 and 1/8 wedges, depending on the size, and dried them for 24 hours at 110 degrees. They’re still a little soft, perfect for soaking and blending into sauces. But, unlike store-bought sun dried tomatoes, not overly salty.

I’m also on a mission to use up a few ingredients in our pantry to save money and make room for new ingredients when I have time to experiment more. Last night I used more dried chickpeas I soaked in the fridge overnight.

Then simmered in water for 15 minutes before adding an eggplant curry sauce and cauliflower and zucchini to simmer for about 15 minutes.

1 cup of dried chickpeas expands to about 4 after being soaked! And is capable if making a huge, cheap and tasty meal – love it!

I added fresh chopped tomatoes to remix the leftovers for lunch today, still delicious and filling. Curry and tomatoes go together nicely.

I did make a trip to Whole Foods after work to restock some fresh ingredients and look what’s back in stock finally after being pulled from shelves!

I celebrated by grabbing the Guava flavor, but still think I like my kefir water better now and I like the cheaper price. I also picked up something new at Whole Foods to challenge myself with, a kabocha squash. Never worked with one before, but have seen amazing dishes on other blogs. Have any recipes to recommend?