Koshary

An Egyptian street food, recipe adapted from Saveur magazine with the help of Cody Custis, epidemiologist and amateur vegetarian chef

4 oz Ditalini pasta, cooked
2 oz Spaghetti, cooked,
1/2 cup Brown Lentils, rinsed
1 cupBasmati Rice or brown rice, cooked (Optional)
1 cup canned Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 medium onions sliced thin
5 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin (more to taste)
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp ground ginger
2 TBS white wine vinegar
2 cups canned, crushed tomatoes
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 TBS canola oil
Combine pastas in bowl, set aside. Put lentils and 4 cups water into a 2 qt saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium -low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender, 20-50 minutes. When lentils are done drain water and transfer to a bowl along with rice (optional) and chickpeas; set aside.
Heat oil and sauté onions til they are limp and browned. Use about 4 TBS of the liquid from onions into a 2 qt saucepan over medium heat (may need to add a little more oil). Add garlic, cumin, cayenne and ginger, cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and vinegar and bring to simmer, cook for 5 minutes. To serve, divide pasta mixture between 6 bowls, top with lentil mixture and sautéed onions. Spoon tomato sauce over each bowl. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition Facts: 6 servings, per serving
Calories: 300.3
Total Fat 8.4 g
Saturated fat 0.6 g
Polyunsaturated fat 2.5 g
Monounsaturated fat 4.3 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 297.6 mg
Potassium 638.9 mg
Carbohydrates 50.1 g
Dietary fiber 7.1 g
Protein 9.7 g

It’s May But Feels Like Early March….

Are you anxiously awaiting the first bounties of Spring? More like, are you waiting for Spring period? It’s still cold, gray, snowy, and dreary, the heat is still on in the house and I am still wearing my winter clothes yet the calendar says May 2.

We were hoping to pilfer some beautiful lilacs from an overhanging lilac bush to give to our wonderful Office Manager, Susan, for Administrative Professional Day on April 27 but there are none. Spring Fitness pedometer walking program here at the State begins soon. So, Diane, all you are doing is bellyaching, where are you going with this? Hang on, I am getting there.

It’s all about keeping active, despite the weather. Many participants and former participants in this awesome program that encourages people to engage in 150+ minutes of weekly physical activity are struggling with the cold days, windy days, wet days, and let’s toss in a combination of all three at once. Montana weather can be prohibitive to exercising. Many of us choose to walk as our main activity. I know I do. I am grateful for my dogs who pretty much demand a daily walk, through rain, sleet, gloom of night, to borrow from the post office. I readily admit I must motivate myself to go and walk on those nasty days, which we have seen more than our fair share of this year. (Boy, am I grumbling about this or what??)

I have an exercise bike that I have gotten into the habit of riding daily, I try to do 2 miles and some days only get 1 mile in. The poor bike is disintegrating, a piece of plastic that covers the chain cracked off, it was used and old when I bought it. This brings me to---can’t get to a gym, afford one or even like to go? Used exercise equipment can be found at yard sales, the local newspaper ads, thrift stores. Check out bulletin boards at work. You can certainly purchase something for under $100, I got my bike for $75 (I love to bargain), he wrote Or Best Offer, so I said $75 and first he said no, but then I said, OK, well, you have my phone number, if you don’t get a better offer…. He said “wait”! But, I digress. You get the idea. An inexpensive piece of used exercise equipment can help you during those inclement weather days when you can’t or don’t want to get out and walk or don’t have an exercise facility nearby.

Here are some other tips for you:
· Watching TV? Talking on the phone? Stand up and march in place, swing your arms, during commercials, there’s at least 10 minutes right there for a 30 minute TV show.
· Get some soup cans if you don’t want to buy small hand weights. Lift weights (or cans). Fill a half gallon milk jug with sand (of course, when the jug is empty, silly). Make 2, use as weights, they even have convenient handles. To add more intensity, march in place with the sand filled milk jugs.
· If you have stairs in the house, go up and down the stairs. Be careful to not trip over the dog or cat or do something stupid like I almost did and dance off the top step, slide down the carpeted stairs and almost rip your arm out of the socket when you grabbed onto the railing. Hmmm, on second thought, maybe carpeted stairs is not so wise if you are a klutz.
· I’ve mentioned this before, I lug in 40# bags of wood pellets from the garage to the basement, I carry 10 in and you get your steps in for walking back and forth.
· Vacuum the house, scrub floors-not only is it good exercise but you will have a clean house and an added bonus, it appears to be good therapy for many women I know, sadly, I am not one of them. I don’t clean when I am anxious; it actually makes me more anxious!!
· I love to put music on and dance. The dogs don’t care that you look like a fool and your significant other is probably used to it, so go ahead and have fun.
· When all else fails, buy an exercise DVD or video or an interactive computer exercise program for the TV (I am not endorsing any particular brand). Then, put the DVD in and use it. If your dogs like to lick your face when you are lying down on the floor, banish them to another room.

OK, no more excuses. Get creative. Get moving. Have fun. Breathe. Smile. Repeat.