Hi! 
I am happy to report that I am safely in Amherst and fully unpacked. My classes don’t start until next Tuesday, so my roommates and I have some time to chill out.
We still don’t have internet in our house, but I’m not complaining. We’re currently sitting at the Book Mill, which overlooks a babbling brook, with a delicious wheat beer.
As some of you may know, a new roommate moved in with us this semester and she’s awesome. Here’s pictorial evidence, just in case you don’t believe me. She brought this:
'Nough said.
For the past few days, we’ve really been working hard on cooking delicious meals together.
We made pizza using TJ’s dough. Farmer’s market basil & fresh tomatoes:
And mushroom & my mom’s home grown bell peppers, both accompanied by wine of course:
Another night we found a box of spinach fettuccine made with Jerusalem artichoke flour in our kitchen and had it with more tomatoes, homemade pesto & freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Last night for dinner, I made a Mexican Polenta Casserole. I think I used a recipe for it from Couch Cubicle last year, but I just improvised this one. The final product came out very well so I thought I’d share:
Mexican Polenta Casserole
Ingredients:
- Polenta ( I bought it pre-cooked from TJs)
- 1 can of black beans, drained
- 1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 medium red onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Shredded cheese of your choice
- A bunch of kale
- Pasta sauce/salsa of your choice
- Chili, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper
Directions:
- Preheat over to 400 F.
- Cut up the onion and garlic & saute over medium heat until brown.
- Add the tomatoes & beans.
- Add spices to taste.
- When all is heated through, add cut up leaves of kale.
- Take off heat after a few minutes.
- In a small and oiled baking dish, cut up the cooked polenta in circles and place at the bottom of the pan.
- Top with half of the cooked bean mixture, a layer of pasta/salsa of your choice and shredded cheese. Then put the rest of the bean mixture of top of the cheese & repeat.
- Bake for about 30 min. I also covered the casserole with foil for the first 15 min or so to prevent the cheese from burning.
You can add any sort of veggies to this too. It’s quick, delicious and very filling.
Before I left Brooklyn, I discovered a new favorite post-run refuel option:
And this morning, my roommates and I invested in a bottle of local, farm fresh chocolate milk. I can’t wait to run!
And speaking of running, I’m on the second week of my 5K training schedule and I’ve done all the runs so far but have been lazy about strength training on my “off” days…Probably should get on that.
I’m not sure when we’ll be drinking beer at the Book Mill for the exchange of internet usage again, but I’ll record all things good & delicious for you ’till then.
Right now, a woman is sitting at a table across from us, wearing a sweatshirt that says: “Books. Cats. Life is Sweet.“
Amen, sister.
K, it’s official…..I NEED that recipe book!
Now I know what I want for christmas!
PS! That pizza looks deeeelish!
Well Brooklyn misses you but I am happy to hear you are safely installed in your Amherst digs. And eating well! Best of luck with the semester and enjoy your free time in between now and then, yee haw!
Hey! I’d love to do that 5K with you! Where is it and when is it? I don’t know if you remember, but I emailed you last semester right before the summer, and we are both students at the same school, so we should get together soon!
YAY! FOODIES UNITE!
That’s Edward Gorey quote on that lady’s shirt. I love Edward Gorey!!
Hooray for making it back to school safely and look at all those great eats y’all are diving into!
I’m glad you’re having a nice time settling back into school! A babbling brook? That sounds awesome.
Aww, I really miss cooking with my old college roommates! Your homemade pizza and pasta look delicious!
Oh my goodness, that pizza looks fantastic! And what a fun cookbook, too
LOVE that cookbook. You will love it.
haha omgosh! what an awesome roomie you have
that pb book , amaze!
i am so glad that you’re having a great time with your roomie! sounds like she could be a great friend!
Yay! Welcome to your new home! Love your roomie already
LOVING your meals…saving the polenta recipe (I miss that blog!)
Brooklyn misses you!
. . . and that polenta dish looks amazing!
. . . and I skipped all my strength training workouts (except yoga once/week) when I was training for a run a few years ago and ended up with an injury!! careful!
I own that cookbook!! Looove it
is your roomie single? ’cause i kind of want to date her — what a sweet (and delish) gesture hooking you up with that cookbook!
enjoy you downtime before classes, Olga!
what a fun place to blog!
your meals sound awesome and chocolate milk post-run does sound just about perfect.