Master's Thesis Diet

Writing a master's thesis has done all sorts of weird things to my diet. First it made me addicted to coffee (for me that's one to two coffee drinks a day--if I drank more I'd be bouncing off the walls). Then it made me start craving sweets even more than usual. And I don't mean just any sweets. I'll have a particular craving. For example, today it was chocolate. What I really wanted was some kind of  chocolate cake. Like a molten chocolate cake or a cake with ganache. Something really dense and smooth and rich. But there was nothing of that sort to be found in the vicinity of the library, thank goodness. So I had to settle for something else instead. I ended up getting a scoop of chocolate coconut ice cream at Australian, my new favorite ice cream shop in town (see photo above: macadamia nut and chocolate coconut ice cream). Ever since Campo Eis left downtown (it can now be found in Schniegling) there was no place for me to get a decent ice cream cone since I don't like any of the ice cream the other ice cream shops offer downtown. They all taste fake to me and I wouldn't be surprised if they were indeed made from mixes. That's why I was thrilled to learn that Australian does not use any preservatives, artificial colors or flavors in their ice cream. Which is also why one scoop of ice cream in a cone costs €1,90 and two scoops cost €2,90. But I'll pay almost any price to avoid chemicals in my food!

The thesis has, however, also brought some good changes to my diet! Since I started making myself go to the library every day to work I noticed that I was eating less. When I was working at home I would convince myself that I was hungry and needed to go to the kitchen when in reality I was just bored and was grateful for any kind of distraction (weird enough the I'd-rather-clean-the-bathroom-than-work syndrome has not gotten a hold of me this time). But the thing about working at the library is that you do have to eat when you're there for several hours. After just a few days I got tired of trying to find decent and cheap things to eat in the vicinity of the library. It's just not possible! So I decided I would cook meals at home to take with me to the library. I also decided those meals would include seasonal vegetables. 

I had recently started seeing Hokkaido pumpkins at the store and decided they would be my first victim since I love their color and knew from past experience that they were quite tasty. So I bought a baby pumpkin at the organic market near my house and went through possible recipes in my head on my way home. I decided I would cook the pumpkin on the stove and spice it up with garam masala, an Indian spice mixture. The mix I like is by the company Lebensbaum and is organic.  The ingredients of this particular mix are cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, and cloves. Different companies put different spices in their garam masala mix. I left the skin on the pumpkin because it becomes very soft during the cooking process and it is high in fiber. We all know the benefits of fiber... 

Hokkaido Pumpkin with Garam Masala

1 lb Hokkaido pumpkin in small chunks

Water

1 tsp. Garam Masala 

Salt 

Pepper

Sour Cream

Cilantro

Place pumpkin chunks in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Add garam masala and salt and pepper. Let simmer until pumpkin is soft, about 15 minutes. Top with sour cream and garnish with cilantro.