But anyone could do that.  Yesterday I lost the elevators.

I ended up working a little late (yes, on my first day) and learned the hard way that the tower I work in is a ghost town by 5:05.  My fingerprint/security code wasn’t working yet, so I took what I thought would be the easy way out of the building.

I walked out to reception and turned to push the elevator call button…and saw that I was facing a smooth wall.  I walked the length of the wall to see if maybe I was somehow “off” by 25 feet, crazy, etc.  No elevators.  Three entire banks of elevators disappeared.

Turns out there are sliding wall panels that are locked in place at 5.  Who knew?  (I did eventually find my way around to the elevators – back through my office and around to the other side of the floor, basically half a lap around my tower.)

Good times.  If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll “reply-all” with an obscene joke   I’m trying to get all my rookie mistakes out this week so I can settle in – I already have two projects (and I finished a mini-project today!).

But you’re here for the food, right?  Not just the beautiful view.

Breakfast:

“The Basic” – green monster, maple buckwheat flakes with almond milk and Nancy’s cottage cheese (yum!)

Lunch:

(not pictured)

was cold (tofu and green beans on leftover rice), sweet (a nice ripe plum), and processed (a chocolate mint Builder’s Bar – lots of chewy protein)

Dinner:

“Salisbury Steak” (veggie burger and peas in gravy) with leftover chickpea stew

See? There really is a veggie burger in there.  I made the gravy with garbanzo flour, olive oil, almond milk, and nutritional yeast, plus a splash of white wine.

Dessert:

Since dinner was all protein, dessert was all carbs. Baked pears drizzled with a tiny bit of agave and topped with “biscuits” – I made a basic biscuit dough (like the one in this post, minus the savory ingredients), but I added about 2 T of almond milk to make a gooier dough. We baked the whole thing at 350º for about 25 minutes. (But – doesn’t that picture look like ground beef?  Good thing you already know I’m a vegetarian!)

I used two of these pears.  I spared the tiny ones – they were too cute.

Delish.

Yoga!

I went back to my awesome yoga class – it was terrific!  We did some things I’ve never done before and spent a lot of time on sun salutations and upper backbends (like cobra).  I can’t wait to be settled into my new job so I can start going twice!

I worked really hard tonight.  We each set a (silent) intention for each class – this week, mine was about being calm, grounded, and confident.  I felt tough but relaxed by the end of our 90 minute class.

I’m worn out again – I haven’t been able to snack on schedule like I used to, so I have been getting tired at random times.  Working on that.  Meanwhile, sleep.

It was lovely to practice yoga with such a great teacher and such a warm, friendly class.  I enjoyed the challenge of Bikram yoga when I could afford it (and schedule my hydration, eating, and laundry around the class), but I see now that I found Bikram yoga too cold and regimented.  I really needed a good, fun night of limbering up and stretching out after all my pilates and running – I can’t wait to go back next week.

Or maybe Thursday.

Dinner was just as special – I made red quinoa cakes with scrambled eggs, micro-greens, manchego, and a tomato foam/coulis.  WB got home a bit too late for me to eat with him before yoga, but I was glad to see my plate when I got home.  I used some of the sautéed peppers from yesterday in the eggs for a nice kick.

Quinoa Cakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 2 T flax
• 2 T water
• 1/4-1/3 c flour (I used buckwheat flour)
• Salt, pepper, and herbs/spices to taste

Procedure:

1. Microwave the flax and water for 1 minute to create a gooey mass, perfect as a binder.
2. Stir in 2 T flour and the salt, pepper, and herbs/spices.
3. Stir in the quinoa; add additional flour as needed to reach a semi-firm texture (the mixture should hold its shape when formed into a ball, but doesn’t need to withstand great force)
4. Form into patties and pan-fry or brush with oil and bake until lightly crispy

Tomato foam/coulis (or any other veggie for that matter)

1. Whip 5-7 cherry tomatoes in the blender.  Add a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Let stand before serving (this ultra-simple “sauce” is best after it stands for about 10 minutes – it needs to settle).  Denser veggies may need to be steamed before whipping, or they may need to be puréed with a bit of water, olive oil, or wine.

(Yeah, that’s not a recipe.)  (And yes, there are lots of things you can add to keep this foamy and increase the foaminess if you really want to get into molecular gastronomy.  This was just a quick plate sauce to dress up a dinner that otherwise might have been a bit dry.)

I’m off to hit the hay as soon as I watch this! I’ve got more big plans for tomorrow – including another run (and maybe more speedwork)!

(P.S. – I ended up spending almost $200 at Lululemon – I got a pair of yoga crops, the towel I wanted, and an impulse pair of my favorite running shorts that were on sale.  I was hesitant about the crops, but I was really, really glad to have the right clothes tonight – I didn’t have to worry about anything riding up or sliding down, so I could focus on my practice 100%.)