I subscribe to Self online--I'm part of their 30 day challenge or whatever. I used it last summer until I got bored or too behind. However, their calorie calculator for workouts is top notch, so I pop in once and a while.
With this subscription comes little blast emails that I've subscribed to-mostly for the recipes.
I love to cook...and I'm a good cook.
However. Be aware....this low cal recipe sucked.
They promise me that "you'll love this chocolate torte, dripping with deliciousness"
Wrong. So very wrong. Especially at 300 calories wrong. (I didn't bother with the "whipped topping," so probably more like 200-250)
I was skeptical going in: prunes. Really folks? Let's hop on the PR bandwagon from a few years ago and start calling them dried plums.
But I was hopeful. Honestly, I think without the prunes it probably would have tasted like a low fat, dry brownie. The prune just added chucks of gooey...prune.
Bottom line: there are better ways and tastier results.
Next time, I'm going the volumetrics carrot cake route. Results to follow.
Off the list: Prunes.
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Tuesday Links!
Alright, before we get to a day in the life of the Realist, let's do some Tuesday links!
First, I'm making this tomorrow night:
Moroccan Pita Sandwich; at 370 calories, that's a nice, big dinner. It'll make great leftovers, too.
I recommend to everyone embarking on a weightloss/healthy change journey to roll up their sleeves and try one new recipe a week from something like Cooking Light. My parents gave me the Cooking Light massive binder cookbook and it basically is the best thing since Splenda. All calories, fat, carbs, protein, etc. is listed. If you have issues that require you to be aware of any part of your dietary intake, switch to recipes that let you know their total ahead of time.
This is a great article from my Pact Buddy, B.
Put "I" Into Your Workout
This article talks about making yourself responsible for your own well being. The knife cuts both ways. Consider this in terms of excuses and praise:
Excuse: It's too cold to go to the gym today.
I statement Excuse: I am letting the cold stop me from going to the gym today.
oooooh. Suddenly it's not the cold, but YOU deterring yourself from the gym.
Praise: Man, my cycle instructor is great. She's made me work really hard lately.
I statement Praise: Man, I am awesome at cycle. I listened to my instructor and I really pushed myself.
Is the scale making you sad? IT'S JUST A MACHINE.
Take the Stress Out of Weighing-In
Part two in a three part article from the same guy above. This is a great way to remind yourself that it's not all about weight. It's about your health. I'm guilty of feeling caught by a lot of the feelings in this article. It's a nice perspective check.
And for a little inspiration:
Notes from the Universe
My mom told me about this site and honestly, I love it. I signed up to receive the daily Notes from the Universe. They're a little weird, but never in a way that actually weirded me out. It actually, honestly, makes me feel special. I look forward to this email every morning. One from the other day that has stuck with me:
If you knew how much you have in common with every single person now living in time and space Mia - in terms of your greatest hopes and dreams, and your deepest fears and worries - you'd wonder how I manage to tell you all apart.
And from this day forward you'd likely think of every single one of them as "dearest," just as I do.
Tallyho,
The Universe
P.S. Yeah, like twins, to the power of 7 billion. But not to worry, dearest Mia, I can always tell it's you by your saunter.
I couldn't tell you why, but that, for some reason, has stayed with me. It's like a hug from the universe every morning.
And with that, you have your second issue of Tuesday Links! Please let me know if anyone is interested in becoming a guest blogger for next Monday! Don't worry, you don't have to ID yourself. You can be Jane or John Guest Blogger!
Prepare for the day in the life coming up later today!
First, I'm making this tomorrow night:
Moroccan Pita Sandwich; at 370 calories, that's a nice, big dinner. It'll make great leftovers, too.
I recommend to everyone embarking on a weightloss/healthy change journey to roll up their sleeves and try one new recipe a week from something like Cooking Light. My parents gave me the Cooking Light massive binder cookbook and it basically is the best thing since Splenda. All calories, fat, carbs, protein, etc. is listed. If you have issues that require you to be aware of any part of your dietary intake, switch to recipes that let you know their total ahead of time.
This is a great article from my Pact Buddy, B.
Put "I" Into Your Workout
This article talks about making yourself responsible for your own well being. The knife cuts both ways. Consider this in terms of excuses and praise:
Excuse: It's too cold to go to the gym today.
I statement Excuse: I am letting the cold stop me from going to the gym today.
oooooh. Suddenly it's not the cold, but YOU deterring yourself from the gym.
Praise: Man, my cycle instructor is great. She's made me work really hard lately.
I statement Praise: Man, I am awesome at cycle. I listened to my instructor and I really pushed myself.
Is the scale making you sad? IT'S JUST A MACHINE.
Take the Stress Out of Weighing-In
Part two in a three part article from the same guy above. This is a great way to remind yourself that it's not all about weight. It's about your health. I'm guilty of feeling caught by a lot of the feelings in this article. It's a nice perspective check.
And for a little inspiration:
Notes from the Universe
My mom told me about this site and honestly, I love it. I signed up to receive the daily Notes from the Universe. They're a little weird, but never in a way that actually weirded me out. It actually, honestly, makes me feel special. I look forward to this email every morning. One from the other day that has stuck with me:
If you knew how much you have in common with every single person now living in time and space Mia - in terms of your greatest hopes and dreams, and your deepest fears and worries - you'd wonder how I manage to tell you all apart.
And from this day forward you'd likely think of every single one of them as "dearest," just as I do.
Tallyho,
The Universe
P.S. Yeah, like twins, to the power of 7 billion. But not to worry, dearest Mia, I can always tell it's you by your saunter.
I couldn't tell you why, but that, for some reason, has stayed with me. It's like a hug from the universe every morning.
And with that, you have your second issue of Tuesday Links! Please let me know if anyone is interested in becoming a guest blogger for next Monday! Don't worry, you don't have to ID yourself. You can be Jane or John Guest Blogger!
Prepare for the day in the life coming up later today!
Friday, July 4, 2014
Moroccan Pita Sandwich Recipe Review
Do yourself a favor. Go home tonight, hell, leave work early, and pick up the stuff to make this incredible recipe for tonight. This is my new favorite food. I burnt out on the eggplant mushroom thing I talked about almost a year ago...yes, it literally took me a year to get sick of it...and immediately have a new replacement.
The Moroccan Pita Sandwich is amazing. If you can't find the tahini paste, neither could I because my safeway sucks, but I just added more garlic and lemon and found that it tasted just fine. I might add chopped cucumbers next time. Regardless. This is ridiculously easy to make, filling, and so good. I was craving something very earthy and ethnic yesterday, so planning for this meal was well timed. Some people in the reviews say they used plain yogurt instead of the Greek, which I'm sure is fine. I keep Greek yogurt at home anyway because I prefer that texture (it's almost kind of like French yogurt).
If you want to make this even easier on yourself, I'd suggest even skipping making the meat into patties and just cook it all and divide it into 4 portions.
In other words: this recipe gets my enthusiastic two thumbs up. I'm already looking forward to lunch.
The Moroccan Pita Sandwich is amazing. If you can't find the tahini paste, neither could I because my safeway sucks, but I just added more garlic and lemon and found that it tasted just fine. I might add chopped cucumbers next time. Regardless. This is ridiculously easy to make, filling, and so good. I was craving something very earthy and ethnic yesterday, so planning for this meal was well timed. Some people in the reviews say they used plain yogurt instead of the Greek, which I'm sure is fine. I keep Greek yogurt at home anyway because I prefer that texture (it's almost kind of like French yogurt).
If you want to make this even easier on yourself, I'd suggest even skipping making the meat into patties and just cook it all and divide it into 4 portions.
In other words: this recipe gets my enthusiastic two thumbs up. I'm already looking forward to lunch.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Tuesday Links (A Bit Late)
This sno"vacation" has put my mind on deep freeze and I've been a little slow to thaw, so while I get back into the fluidity of my normal routine, bear with me. Like how I used a few water/snow metaphors there? That's the kind of week it's been.
Anyway, here is your weekly round up of links:
Raising Awareness of Eating Disorders
I really enjoy reading articles by people who suffer from eating disorders. Not because I want them to have a disorder, but because I think it makes the larger problem more real, more understandable, and hopefully blazes the path to recovery. Kelly Zentgraf writes a very real article about her struggle and the lack of understand from the world at large about eating disorders. Most insightful, I thought, was her discussion of why people develop disorders--it's not just "oh the media said I was fat." Sadly, she says that she's heard people say "I don't know why, it just felt natural."
Fitness as a Full Time Pursuit
This is a great article that one of my participants sent to me (Thanks, Manny!) For anyone interested in how to pursue something off beat (and along the fitness path) this is a great boost for morale. It's also a well written, interesting article. Check it out.
Spicy Red Lentil Dal with Winter Veggies
My aunt gave me a fabulous birthday gift--a subscription to Fine Cooking. If that wasn't already awesome, what's even better is that Fine Cooking posts their nutritional facts in the back of their magazines. Without the lamb, you're looking at something around 320 calories for a cup and a half of the dal. Please ignore what the reviews say, I thought this was an amazing recipe, and very filling. I recommend making jasmine rice (easy to do, especially in the microwave) to pour this over. Now, if only I could manage to make naan...
Sweetgreen Has a New Location
Hurray for clean, local food, green business, and entrepreneurial endeavors! Stop by Sweetgreen in Logan Circle if you've never been to see what I rave about. My recommendation: The Guacamole Greens (with Chicken) and of course, sweetflow.
That's the round up! If you have links, post them before or feel free to shoot me an email!
Anyway, here is your weekly round up of links:
Raising Awareness of Eating Disorders
I really enjoy reading articles by people who suffer from eating disorders. Not because I want them to have a disorder, but because I think it makes the larger problem more real, more understandable, and hopefully blazes the path to recovery. Kelly Zentgraf writes a very real article about her struggle and the lack of understand from the world at large about eating disorders. Most insightful, I thought, was her discussion of why people develop disorders--it's not just "oh the media said I was fat." Sadly, she says that she's heard people say "I don't know why, it just felt natural."
Fitness as a Full Time Pursuit
This is a great article that one of my participants sent to me (Thanks, Manny!) For anyone interested in how to pursue something off beat (and along the fitness path) this is a great boost for morale. It's also a well written, interesting article. Check it out.
Spicy Red Lentil Dal with Winter Veggies
My aunt gave me a fabulous birthday gift--a subscription to Fine Cooking. If that wasn't already awesome, what's even better is that Fine Cooking posts their nutritional facts in the back of their magazines. Without the lamb, you're looking at something around 320 calories for a cup and a half of the dal. Please ignore what the reviews say, I thought this was an amazing recipe, and very filling. I recommend making jasmine rice (easy to do, especially in the microwave) to pour this over. Now, if only I could manage to make naan...
Sweetgreen Has a New Location
Hurray for clean, local food, green business, and entrepreneurial endeavors! Stop by Sweetgreen in Logan Circle if you've never been to see what I rave about. My recommendation: The Guacamole Greens (with Chicken) and of course, sweetflow.
That's the round up! If you have links, post them before or feel free to shoot me an email!
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Tuesday Links
Well Happy Tuesday. This week is already moving right along, especially considering that today is my Wednesday since I'm taking Friday off work for the fitness conference.
Here are your Tuesday links:
(quick note--the first three articles are from the association that does the gold standard personal training certification--NASM and their health fitness professional network site (HFPN), so they're directed to wards the trainer audience)
1) Stretching Yoga into the OPT Model: FYI, OPT is a training reference for a type of program that is used for most clients. This article gives a more technical view into why Yoga might be a good addition to any training routine. After my yoga class this morning, I was certainly aware of where I have an imbalance--I'm not talking lack of balance, but where I'm weaker/stronger and where I'm compensating.
2) Group Fitness Breakdown: Following the post I did on appropriate behavior in a group fitness class, here's an article talking a little about different classes and what they entail. It's not a comprehensive list, but it's a good reference for learning more about Cross Fit and the various types of Yoga.
3) Anatomy of an Exercise: Cable Row: Oh man one of my favorites. I love my back and it has a lot to do with a ton of these puppies--or the upright row done with weights. Biggest two tips? Keep your shoulders down and squeeze your shoulder blades together. The shoulders down keeps your neck from straining (if your neck is straining, take the weight down) and the shoulder blades squeezing together works your entire back.
4) Spa (Weight Loss) Secrets: The first paragraph of this article is EXACTLY why I'm going to start seeing a nutritionist (tomorrow, in fact!). Do I really need 1500 calories? If not, how should I structure my caloric breakdown between different nutrients? The one thing I disagree with in this article is that chocolate torte. Worst recipe ever. I promise.
5) Grilled Chicken with Roasted Tomato and Oregano Salsa: I am very excited about making this tonight, especially at 312 calories a serving, this is perfect with a serving of rice. Review to come!
6) Angel Food Cake: Alright, I know this says Chocolate glazed, blah blah blah, but I'm not having 300+ calories for 1 inch of cake. I am going to make this tonight, sans glaze. I think I'll likely wind up having this with strawberries before bed at night. Again, review to come-just trying to make up for my lack of recipe posting!
7) America's Worst French Fries: Don't worry--you can still have them! In fact, the golden arches make a surprise showing here in the category of "best" fries in America. Man, I am craving some of those right now...must eat grapes...
8) What the World's Healthiest People Eat: As a foodie and fitness person, I love this article big time. Also, turmeric, one of my new favorite spices gets a little shout out. I'm not saying that any of us should adopt wholly any of these diets, but we should be a lot more willing to do what they do--they take their time, they are gentle with their food and allow it to have flavor on its own with the use of calorie free spices. Step outside your normal cooking path and try a little something new!
And that's all for right now. Post coming this afternoon with a frozen food review.
Here are your Tuesday links:
(quick note--the first three articles are from the association that does the gold standard personal training certification--NASM and their health fitness professional network site (HFPN), so they're directed to wards the trainer audience)
1) Stretching Yoga into the OPT Model: FYI, OPT is a training reference for a type of program that is used for most clients. This article gives a more technical view into why Yoga might be a good addition to any training routine. After my yoga class this morning, I was certainly aware of where I have an imbalance--I'm not talking lack of balance, but where I'm weaker/stronger and where I'm compensating.
2) Group Fitness Breakdown: Following the post I did on appropriate behavior in a group fitness class, here's an article talking a little about different classes and what they entail. It's not a comprehensive list, but it's a good reference for learning more about Cross Fit and the various types of Yoga.
3) Anatomy of an Exercise: Cable Row: Oh man one of my favorites. I love my back and it has a lot to do with a ton of these puppies--or the upright row done with weights. Biggest two tips? Keep your shoulders down and squeeze your shoulder blades together. The shoulders down keeps your neck from straining (if your neck is straining, take the weight down) and the shoulder blades squeezing together works your entire back.
4) Spa (Weight Loss) Secrets: The first paragraph of this article is EXACTLY why I'm going to start seeing a nutritionist (tomorrow, in fact!). Do I really need 1500 calories? If not, how should I structure my caloric breakdown between different nutrients? The one thing I disagree with in this article is that chocolate torte. Worst recipe ever. I promise.
5) Grilled Chicken with Roasted Tomato and Oregano Salsa: I am very excited about making this tonight, especially at 312 calories a serving, this is perfect with a serving of rice. Review to come!
6) Angel Food Cake: Alright, I know this says Chocolate glazed, blah blah blah, but I'm not having 300+ calories for 1 inch of cake. I am going to make this tonight, sans glaze. I think I'll likely wind up having this with strawberries before bed at night. Again, review to come-just trying to make up for my lack of recipe posting!
7) America's Worst French Fries: Don't worry--you can still have them! In fact, the golden arches make a surprise showing here in the category of "best" fries in America. Man, I am craving some of those right now...must eat grapes...
8) What the World's Healthiest People Eat: As a foodie and fitness person, I love this article big time. Also, turmeric, one of my new favorite spices gets a little shout out. I'm not saying that any of us should adopt wholly any of these diets, but we should be a lot more willing to do what they do--they take their time, they are gentle with their food and allow it to have flavor on its own with the use of calorie free spices. Step outside your normal cooking path and try a little something new!
And that's all for right now. Post coming this afternoon with a frozen food review.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Tuesday Links
Tuesday Linkage!
I've got a bunch for everyone this week, so here we go...
1) McDonald's Signs Weight Watchers Deal: I literally cannot even talk about this one without doing a headdesk. One of the items they mention as being a part of the new Weight Watchers is chicken mcnuggets. I'm not even kidding you. This where, personally, I think we're failing to see the point of health. It really ISN'T about weight loss, it's about changing your eating habits and recognizing that if you have McDonald's one day, you're probably going to want to stick to something you know, not frozen then deep fried the next. Just because it has x number of points doesn't mean it's a good idea.
2) Dannon Settles False Advertising Lawsuit: I don't really take 100% stock in a lot of the healthy benefits claims of packaged foods anyway, but I do think that the questions in the article are good ones to keep in mind when you feel enchanted by the claims of food at the store.
3) FDA Warns Companies on Food Claims: Lots of articles this week on food and consumerism. Must be something in the air. This article actually makes me a little defensive of food companies. Here's an excerpt:
The FDA also chastised companies for implying that consumption of their products can help treat disease, akin to taking a drug. For example, the FDA said POM Wonderful, of Los Angeles, implies on its Web site that its popular pomegranate drinks can help reduce blood pressure, clogged arteries and the progress of prostate cancer.
Look, I'm not saying that POM is going to cure your blood pressure or that you'll avoid that triple bypass next month, but I do believe that if you put good things into your body, you'll likely see an improvement. Example: if I feed my cat food with corn in it (cats can't digest corn), he's sick...and we all suffer. If I feed him high quality food (no corn or additives), his coat is shiny, we avoid hairballs, and I don't buy out Febreez supplies at Target. I don't think that anyone expect someone to pop the top off of a POM juice bottle, down it, and find that they're suddenly healthier. But I would bet that there are some benefits to laying off the coke and trying some antioxidant fruit juice instead. Just sayin. Are we really that dumb/health dumb? It's not magic, it's science...and common sense.
4) Student Lunch Contest: This is a wonderful article with the results of the student lunch contest. This blog set out the challenge to create a healthy and delicious snack for students at the cost of $5. The results are inspiring and will definitely find their way into my lunch.
5) Humans Found to Have Sixth Taste: Fat: Well well well. Unami, now fat! We're certainly up a few from when I was in elementary school and tested my taste buds with lemon juice, salt water, sugar water, and cranberry juice. Interesting study on the sensitivity of people to the actual chemical make up of fat. We actually "taste" it's chemical makeup, not just its texture. People who can taste fat acutely are less likely to eat it. Who knew.
6) How Much Caffeine Is In that?: A good list of common beverages/foods that have caffeine in them. If you count those sorts of things....admittedly, I don't. I do keep my caffeine consumption to about 2-3 drinks a day, max. Just out of habit, never something I plan.
7) Pizza Pronto: I'm trying this sometime this week. Looks delicious. Review to come!
I've got a bunch for everyone this week, so here we go...
1) McDonald's Signs Weight Watchers Deal: I literally cannot even talk about this one without doing a headdesk. One of the items they mention as being a part of the new Weight Watchers is chicken mcnuggets. I'm not even kidding you. This where, personally, I think we're failing to see the point of health. It really ISN'T about weight loss, it's about changing your eating habits and recognizing that if you have McDonald's one day, you're probably going to want to stick to something you know, not frozen then deep fried the next. Just because it has x number of points doesn't mean it's a good idea.
2) Dannon Settles False Advertising Lawsuit: I don't really take 100% stock in a lot of the healthy benefits claims of packaged foods anyway, but I do think that the questions in the article are good ones to keep in mind when you feel enchanted by the claims of food at the store.
3) FDA Warns Companies on Food Claims: Lots of articles this week on food and consumerism. Must be something in the air. This article actually makes me a little defensive of food companies. Here's an excerpt:
The FDA also chastised companies for implying that consumption of their products can help treat disease, akin to taking a drug. For example, the FDA said POM Wonderful, of Los Angeles, implies on its Web site that its popular pomegranate drinks can help reduce blood pressure, clogged arteries and the progress of prostate cancer.
Look, I'm not saying that POM is going to cure your blood pressure or that you'll avoid that triple bypass next month, but I do believe that if you put good things into your body, you'll likely see an improvement. Example: if I feed my cat food with corn in it (cats can't digest corn), he's sick...and we all suffer. If I feed him high quality food (no corn or additives), his coat is shiny, we avoid hairballs, and I don't buy out Febreez supplies at Target. I don't think that anyone expect someone to pop the top off of a POM juice bottle, down it, and find that they're suddenly healthier. But I would bet that there are some benefits to laying off the coke and trying some antioxidant fruit juice instead. Just sayin. Are we really that dumb/health dumb? It's not magic, it's science...and common sense.
4) Student Lunch Contest: This is a wonderful article with the results of the student lunch contest. This blog set out the challenge to create a healthy and delicious snack for students at the cost of $5. The results are inspiring and will definitely find their way into my lunch.
5) Humans Found to Have Sixth Taste: Fat: Well well well. Unami, now fat! We're certainly up a few from when I was in elementary school and tested my taste buds with lemon juice, salt water, sugar water, and cranberry juice. Interesting study on the sensitivity of people to the actual chemical make up of fat. We actually "taste" it's chemical makeup, not just its texture. People who can taste fat acutely are less likely to eat it. Who knew.
6) How Much Caffeine Is In that?: A good list of common beverages/foods that have caffeine in them. If you count those sorts of things....admittedly, I don't. I do keep my caffeine consumption to about 2-3 drinks a day, max. Just out of habit, never something I plan.
7) Pizza Pronto: I'm trying this sometime this week. Looks delicious. Review to come!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Eating Locally - Buffalo and Greens
I'm sorry I've been terrible about eating locally. I've been able to get to the market frequently, but the challenge has had to sit on the side lines since a) $30 is a lot for 1 dinner and b) I'm tired on Sunday nights. We've been doing Thai takeout (mmmm veggie curry = low calorie delicious), or this Sunday, Chadd was the man of the year and made me a beautiful Chilean sea bass filet with tomatoes, olives, potatoes and broccoli after my crazy intense training over the weekend. He went so far as to pick a low calorie recipe. Love that wonderful man of mine.
BUT. Last weekend, I did manage to stop by the market after class. I picked up two buffalo steaks--one for Chadd (a ribeye) and one tiny one for me (a petite filet). The guy told me that because buffalo has less fat, that I should cook it for a shorter time, but I should season it just like a steak. Total was about $16
I also picked up a big basket of mixed greens, which came with the suggestion to heat some olive oil with garlic, dump the greens in, cover and steam for about 3 minutes on the stove. I mixed in a little goat cheese afterwards and now that I think about it, I definitely should have added some pine nuts which are floating around in my spice cabinet. Greens = $5
I melted some butter (1 tbsp) and cooked Chadd's steak first on high heat to seal in the juices, I let it cook for about a minute and a half on each side, then I tossed my steak in and probably did four minutes total--2 on each side.
The result?
Greens with goat cheese: 190
Buffalo steak (1/4 pound): 165 (holy lean mean!)
Total: 355
I recommend the buffalo--find it at your local farmer's market if you're lucky enough! DC folks, Cibola Farms is our local supplier at Dupont's Farmers Market.
BUT. Last weekend, I did manage to stop by the market after class. I picked up two buffalo steaks--one for Chadd (a ribeye) and one tiny one for me (a petite filet). The guy told me that because buffalo has less fat, that I should cook it for a shorter time, but I should season it just like a steak. Total was about $16
I also picked up a big basket of mixed greens, which came with the suggestion to heat some olive oil with garlic, dump the greens in, cover and steam for about 3 minutes on the stove. I mixed in a little goat cheese afterwards and now that I think about it, I definitely should have added some pine nuts which are floating around in my spice cabinet. Greens = $5
I melted some butter (1 tbsp) and cooked Chadd's steak first on high heat to seal in the juices, I let it cook for about a minute and a half on each side, then I tossed my steak in and probably did four minutes total--2 on each side.
The result?
Greens with goat cheese: 190
Buffalo steak (1/4 pound): 165 (holy lean mean!)
Total: 355
I recommend the buffalo--find it at your local farmer's market if you're lucky enough! DC folks, Cibola Farms is our local supplier at Dupont's Farmers Market.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
First Day, New Changes
Today is the day to start new things. At least in my world.
I got up this morning at quarter of 7 (despite a raging headache an a sleepless night...I guess that's what nerves do to you), my coffee had already brewed. I had a banana and a piece of amazing homemade bread that my awesome dad made for me while I was at home, and walked around the apartment getting ready.
Today is my first day at my new job. Technically, office hours are 8:30 to 6, but since I have to leave early sometimes to teach, I've decided to start getting here around 8. I enjoyed my car ride over (though I'll likely hate the metro ride home since Chadd needs the car to get home), and I've been here for about 20 minutes so far.
I actually have an office (with a door) and a big desk all to my own, a huge window at my back that overlooks the courtyard. Life is feeling pretty good, to be honest.
I've decided that this is the time to make some big changes (though they're really not big in the scheme of things). I'm going to get up an hour or so before I have to leave for the office (I only hit snooze 2x this morning as opposed to the typical 5-8 times), I will eat breakfast (especially since my RD is strongly urging me to do that), and I will take time to get ready the night before work so I'm not frantic the morning of.
Essentially, I'm going to start taking care of myself, pacing myself, and making this a lifestyle, not just another hellish project to get through. Of course, that would be well and good if I had actually gone to bed early last night and slept well. I stayed up way too late cooking (made lemon angel food cupcakes for my office...I know, suck up to the extreme, but they're only 140 calories!) and trying to relieve stress. Then I tossed and turned all night. I'm not actually sure I ever got deep sleep. I wasn't too irritated since I was basically expecting to not sleep well. I actually had a nightmare that I'd get to work and have nothing to do.
Two hours later, my day feels slow mostly because I'm not usually at the office until 9 and adding another hour to my morning makes it seem like it's taking forever. But at 8:30, my boss came in, seemed pleased to see me here already, then we all (three of us, 2 others on the phone) had a meeting, then we shot the breeze for a bit and 10am comes around and I have some reading material and a small task that will take me about a half day as soon as I have the info (likely this afternoon).
So far, so good. I like where I am and if I hadn't had so much coffee this morning, I'd probably be 100% on top of the world.
In other news....
My parents got me the most amazing cookbook when I was home. It's the new Cooking Light Cooking Through the Seasons cookbook:
I tried three (yes, three) recipes last night. And judging from how good they all are, I'm going to go ahead and say this cookbook is a must have in any kitchen.
I'm having the Fresh Pea and Mint Soup for lunch with a small side salad and, later, for a snack, the Garlicky Lima Bean Spread (don't judge the limas, they're pretty good when ground into a paste and infused with garlic) and then, of course, the Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes which have so far passed the office taste test and made it into the email welcoming me to the firm.
It's a good day.
Tuesday Links!
I'm back! I have links for you!
15 Things You Wouldn't Want to See While Running a Marathon: This is true. So very very true.
How to Run Injury Free: On a more serious note, this is a great article about common running mistake (training too much, training too little, speed work mistakes, ignoring injuries) that if you've ever started to hurt while starting a running program, you're likely to find your mistake in this article.
Weekend Calories May be Wrecking Your Diet: SOOOO true. I duno about you guys, but I'm a big fan of my wine on the weekends. I've decided to be strong and go without alcohol Sunday-Thursday because it's useless calories. This, of course, is likely to be negotiated through happy hours...but I digress. Weekend calories. We have time for breakfast, we have time to sit and talk over a nice dinner (appetizers, dinner, dessert, drinks), we get bored on Sunday afternoon and snack...the only things I don't like on their list are the "get up the same time you do during the week" bit because I'm a major catch-up sleeper and the one about weighing yourself frequently. It's my personal belief that you can't really see weight loss over the course of a couple days, a week is about the right time to measure weight loss/gain since we can go between +/- 3 pounds in a day.
Weight Loss Quiz: Very very very interesting. I didn't do terribly, but the nutrition questions were hit or miss on my answers. The only question I disagree with is if it matters what time you finish eating dinner. I don't think it matters, it just matters that you're not eating more than you normally would. Calories in calories out. What was your score?
I don't have recipes for this week, but I do have a link for you to this amazing cookbook:
Cooking Light: Cooking Through the Seasons
all I can say is that it's the most amazing cookbook ever. Last night (and today's lunch) was the cavatappi pasta with arugula (subbed watercress since I got that at the market) pesto and cherry tomatoes. Hello amazing. The four recipes I've made out of this book in the past few days have been 100% amazing.
And that's it! Enjoy you're Tuesday. Update on my new job tomorrow. Hint: it's pretty awesome.
15 Things You Wouldn't Want to See While Running a Marathon: This is true. So very very true.
How to Run Injury Free: On a more serious note, this is a great article about common running mistake (training too much, training too little, speed work mistakes, ignoring injuries) that if you've ever started to hurt while starting a running program, you're likely to find your mistake in this article.
Weekend Calories May be Wrecking Your Diet: SOOOO true. I duno about you guys, but I'm a big fan of my wine on the weekends. I've decided to be strong and go without alcohol Sunday-Thursday because it's useless calories. This, of course, is likely to be negotiated through happy hours...but I digress. Weekend calories. We have time for breakfast, we have time to sit and talk over a nice dinner (appetizers, dinner, dessert, drinks), we get bored on Sunday afternoon and snack...the only things I don't like on their list are the "get up the same time you do during the week" bit because I'm a major catch-up sleeper and the one about weighing yourself frequently. It's my personal belief that you can't really see weight loss over the course of a couple days, a week is about the right time to measure weight loss/gain since we can go between +/- 3 pounds in a day.
Weight Loss Quiz: Very very very interesting. I didn't do terribly, but the nutrition questions were hit or miss on my answers. The only question I disagree with is if it matters what time you finish eating dinner. I don't think it matters, it just matters that you're not eating more than you normally would. Calories in calories out. What was your score?
I don't have recipes for this week, but I do have a link for you to this amazing cookbook:
Cooking Light: Cooking Through the Seasons
all I can say is that it's the most amazing cookbook ever. Last night (and today's lunch) was the cavatappi pasta with arugula (subbed watercress since I got that at the market) pesto and cherry tomatoes. Hello amazing. The four recipes I've made out of this book in the past few days have been 100% amazing.
And that's it! Enjoy you're Tuesday. Update on my new job tomorrow. Hint: it's pretty awesome.
Cooking Locally: Spare Ribs and Ramps
What a weekend...
Chadd and I did the Run Amuck 5k up in Rockville...absolutely hilarious. We also found out that Chadd is a superior trail runner than I am (though I think I'd probably win in longer distances) and that wading through lake mud makes your quads sore. We did finish 43, which, in our opinion, is pretty damn good out of about 370 teams of two. Our time was somewhere around 33 minutes. While that would be embarrassing for a 4k, I think it's pretty good for a 5k with obstacles and mud pits.
Some gentleman walking around the race took our picture for us since I was brilliant and left my phone in the car, and with that, my camera. So I'm hoping that he'll email us our picture so I can show you what happens when you run a 5k through trails, wade through lakes, and finish the race crawling in a pit of mud. Seriously.
I spent Sunday mostly cleaning and cooking, which brings me to this month's/quarter's whatever's Cooking Locally!
For just over $16, I picked up a little more than 2 pounds of pork spare ribs from one of the pork vendors. I grabbed asparagus from another farm (4.50) where I'd also grabbed Ramps ($5) the week before. I picked up a handful of small yukon gold potatoes ($2.50) and I was set.
I called my dad to get his expertise on the ribs. He suggested a dry rub, and normally I'd have just put one together, but then I remembered that we have packets of spice rubs I picked up from a little spice/tea shop in Florida (there's another one here in Alexandria, apparently). I brushed the ribs with a little olive oil, then slathered the rub on pretty thick on both sides.
After that, I tossed them (racked) in the over at about 175 for the next two hours. I made the mistake of thinking they were done at this point (they weren't) and went on much later in the evening to throw them into a 450 over (which surprisingly made them come out perfectly) for about 15 minutes while I was finishing up the potato and ramp au gratin (2 c. potatoes, bunch of chopped ramps, layered, 1 c. milk, bread crumbs on top, your choice cheese on top, bake covered for 20 min. in 450, uncovered another 15).
Dinner wound up looking like this:
Chadd and I did the Run Amuck 5k up in Rockville...absolutely hilarious. We also found out that Chadd is a superior trail runner than I am (though I think I'd probably win in longer distances) and that wading through lake mud makes your quads sore. We did finish 43, which, in our opinion, is pretty damn good out of about 370 teams of two. Our time was somewhere around 33 minutes. While that would be embarrassing for a 4k, I think it's pretty good for a 5k with obstacles and mud pits.
Some gentleman walking around the race took our picture for us since I was brilliant and left my phone in the car, and with that, my camera. So I'm hoping that he'll email us our picture so I can show you what happens when you run a 5k through trails, wade through lakes, and finish the race crawling in a pit of mud. Seriously.
I spent Sunday mostly cleaning and cooking, which brings me to this month's/quarter's whatever's Cooking Locally!
For just over $16, I picked up a little more than 2 pounds of pork spare ribs from one of the pork vendors. I grabbed asparagus from another farm (4.50) where I'd also grabbed Ramps ($5) the week before. I picked up a handful of small yukon gold potatoes ($2.50) and I was set.
I called my dad to get his expertise on the ribs. He suggested a dry rub, and normally I'd have just put one together, but then I remembered that we have packets of spice rubs I picked up from a little spice/tea shop in Florida (there's another one here in Alexandria, apparently). I brushed the ribs with a little olive oil, then slathered the rub on pretty thick on both sides.
After that, I tossed them (racked) in the over at about 175 for the next two hours. I made the mistake of thinking they were done at this point (they weren't) and went on much later in the evening to throw them into a 450 over (which surprisingly made them come out perfectly) for about 15 minutes while I was finishing up the potato and ramp au gratin (2 c. potatoes, bunch of chopped ramps, layered, 1 c. milk, bread crumbs on top, your choice cheese on top, bake covered for 20 min. in 450, uncovered another 15).
Dinner wound up looking like this:
And was it ever delicious. Chadd gave it a 4.5 out of 5, mostly because he likes the potatoes done a different way, but we both agreed the ramps were pretty good and a nice touch to the dish. I was also pretty happy with the caloric value (somewhere around 450 for me) since ribs require so much time to eat, I get full on them quickly and don't eat too much meat, everything else was pretty healthy, especially since I used 1% milk for the potatoes instead of cream, and no butter.
I also whipped up a frittata of leeks, potatoes, and spinach, which, since I fell asleep prior to my bed time last night, failed to cut for my lunch today. But there will be a review. That recipe came from the cookbook I hailed as awesome last week, so I have no doubt it's going to be awesome.
My bosses aren't in today, but that doesn't mean I'm at a loss for work. I can't believe it's already noon and I'm going to lose most of my afternoon and productive working time to a conference call.
I've got a lot of links saved up for tomorrow--get excited!
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
The Salad Life
The good news! I had my stress echocardiogram last Thursday after a very crazy week at a client's major conference.
The stress test was annoying at it's worst--I got there, lay down, had my uncomfortable echocardiogram (you guys, let's be a bit more gentle on the left side of one's chest. There are ribs under that skin and fat....)
Then I jumped on the treadmill, and walked up a very steep incline (hi, my hill training is lacking, clearly) until my heart rate got to a certain percentage (I believe 85%), then you jump off the treadmill, lie down as quickly as possible and do another cold gel filled echocardiogram!
From what I gather, everything is fine--she said I could do the marathon, but she had to run because she was leaving the country to see her 88 year old mother and she wanted to schedule a follow-up to discuss. I'll assume all things are fine.
In less awesome news, I do still have to have my hernia surgery (womp womp) on Nov. 18th. I have no idea what to expect, other than that I asked them to put all the way under to do it.
What I do expect, however, is to be basically immobile for a couple weeks (immobile means I cannot run). I was told that I could start "walking on a treadmill" two weeks after surgery. Sigh.
This also means that I need to very quickly ditch my marathon training eating habits (which I won't even go into right now)
I've been analyzing my diet and once again, fresh food has fallen off the menu. It seems to be inversely proportionate to the amount of time I have.
In spectacular news, Chadd was offered a new job last week that will put us on the same schedule. If you've ever lived with someone on the opposite schedule as you (especially someone you love), you know how tough that gets. While everyone else goes on dates during the week, shares chores, gets up and spends the morning getting ready/getting in each others' ways, etc., you're own your own. It's been very difficult and very draining at times.
We celebrate this weekend with a bunch of fun stuff we've had on our lists to do--Luray Caverns, massages, dinner out, beignet breakfast, etc.
In short: my life is going to get a lot easier not having to worry about the car, now that I won't be tempted to stay up til midnight to talk with him while he's at work via video chat...I will actually have time to do normal people things like make dinner, fresh lunch, and eat breakfast. Chadd's a lot better about keeping a schedule than I am.
Bottom line: I'm going to do an experiment to try and encourage veggies into my diet. I'm going to do a salad for one meal every day. These salads don't have to be run of the mill--I'm dreaming up one right now with a soy sauce reduction with seared ahi tuna, a bed of edamame, water chestnuts, baby corn, and a crap load of dark lettuce. See where I'm going with this?
I need your favorite dressings, salad combos, etc. I'll post my salad every day and a picture.
The experiment will probably start Nov. 8 (I want to have 2 weeks to get used to the low cal life style again).
Salad favorites...and go!
The stress test was annoying at it's worst--I got there, lay down, had my uncomfortable echocardiogram (you guys, let's be a bit more gentle on the left side of one's chest. There are ribs under that skin and fat....)
Then I jumped on the treadmill, and walked up a very steep incline (hi, my hill training is lacking, clearly) until my heart rate got to a certain percentage (I believe 85%), then you jump off the treadmill, lie down as quickly as possible and do another cold gel filled echocardiogram!
From what I gather, everything is fine--she said I could do the marathon, but she had to run because she was leaving the country to see her 88 year old mother and she wanted to schedule a follow-up to discuss. I'll assume all things are fine.
In less awesome news, I do still have to have my hernia surgery (womp womp) on Nov. 18th. I have no idea what to expect, other than that I asked them to put all the way under to do it.
What I do expect, however, is to be basically immobile for a couple weeks (immobile means I cannot run). I was told that I could start "walking on a treadmill" two weeks after surgery. Sigh.
This also means that I need to very quickly ditch my marathon training eating habits (which I won't even go into right now)
I've been analyzing my diet and once again, fresh food has fallen off the menu. It seems to be inversely proportionate to the amount of time I have.
In spectacular news, Chadd was offered a new job last week that will put us on the same schedule. If you've ever lived with someone on the opposite schedule as you (especially someone you love), you know how tough that gets. While everyone else goes on dates during the week, shares chores, gets up and spends the morning getting ready/getting in each others' ways, etc., you're own your own. It's been very difficult and very draining at times.
We celebrate this weekend with a bunch of fun stuff we've had on our lists to do--Luray Caverns, massages, dinner out, beignet breakfast, etc.
In short: my life is going to get a lot easier not having to worry about the car, now that I won't be tempted to stay up til midnight to talk with him while he's at work via video chat...I will actually have time to do normal people things like make dinner, fresh lunch, and eat breakfast. Chadd's a lot better about keeping a schedule than I am.
Bottom line: I'm going to do an experiment to try and encourage veggies into my diet. I'm going to do a salad for one meal every day. These salads don't have to be run of the mill--I'm dreaming up one right now with a soy sauce reduction with seared ahi tuna, a bed of edamame, water chestnuts, baby corn, and a crap load of dark lettuce. See where I'm going with this?
I need your favorite dressings, salad combos, etc. I'll post my salad every day and a picture.
The experiment will probably start Nov. 8 (I want to have 2 weeks to get used to the low cal life style again).
Salad favorites...and go!
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Bouncing Back
Surgery was a success and even my surgeon says I'm the fastest healing person she's treated yet. Awesome!
She said to the nurse as I was leaving "two weeks after surgery and she's comfortable walking around in stilettos. Do you believe that?" (I do, mostly because it was the first time I could wear my leopard print heels and I was stoked.)
She gave me clearance to begin walking/running as I was comfortable. Before that, I'd been carefully walking and biking, but damn if it didn't tired me out. As I tried to add running, I was SO tired. You could have knocked me over with one finger.
The hardest part of surgery (aside from the very unpleasant side effects of vicodin) is the mental switch. I ran a marathon less than a month before my surgery and suddenly, I was exhausted after walking for 20 minutes. But, not much else I could do aside from keep on keeping on.
This weekend, I felt sluggish and unhappy, so I decided with Ragnar Keys rapidly approach (less than a month!) I needed to go and at least try to run. I got up this morning at 6, and walked outside:
SNOW!
Winter-happy, I got to the gym and warmed up on the bike for 30 minutes, then hopped over to the treadmill. I put on my power music (Pretty Lights: "More Important Than Michael Jordan") and started at my warm up pace of 6.5 mph.
Miraculous. I felt great. I felt like I could breath for the first time in months.
Knocked it up to 7mph. Even better. I am getting such a high that I'm getting wave upon wave of chills. I brought it up to 7.5 which I held for about 15 minutes before my allotted treadmill time was up. I'm not even kidding, the world looked totally different. I felt like I was on f*cking fire. I was the phoenix. I wanted to talk to every single person around me about how awesome today is and isn't it great that we can all work out!? Talk about a serious runner's high. I was giddy.
Wanna know how I got back to race pace?
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/fit-for-life
The general theory is that it's muscle memory. Once I healed up enough, my muscles jumped back into action. Probably looking at a 5k distance tomorrow morning.
I also lifted today for the first time in a long long time--I can only do arm weights below my shoulders for now to reduce stress on my abdominals, but that should change late this week since I'll be able to add leg work in late this week.
I also made a ton of veggie soup last night. You need:
1-2 zucchini squash (green or yellow)
1 onion
1 c. carrots
1 c. celery
1 can diced tomatoes
1 c. peas
some mushrooms
6 c. vegetable broth
Olive Oil
In big pot, heat oil, add onion and celery, cook til onions are clear. Add squash and carrots and stir. A few minutes later, add the tomatoes and broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and add peas and mushrooms. Simmer for a bit (15 minutes? sure). Add salt and pepper if you want. Makes about 8 servings of hearty soup. About 80 calories per serving. Add hot sauce to eat it my way.
Getting back in shape post surgery begins today, especially before the holidays arrive...yikes.
She said to the nurse as I was leaving "two weeks after surgery and she's comfortable walking around in stilettos. Do you believe that?" (I do, mostly because it was the first time I could wear my leopard print heels and I was stoked.)
She gave me clearance to begin walking/running as I was comfortable. Before that, I'd been carefully walking and biking, but damn if it didn't tired me out. As I tried to add running, I was SO tired. You could have knocked me over with one finger.
The hardest part of surgery (aside from the very unpleasant side effects of vicodin) is the mental switch. I ran a marathon less than a month before my surgery and suddenly, I was exhausted after walking for 20 minutes. But, not much else I could do aside from keep on keeping on.
This weekend, I felt sluggish and unhappy, so I decided with Ragnar Keys rapidly approach (less than a month!) I needed to go and at least try to run. I got up this morning at 6, and walked outside:
SNOW!
Winter-happy, I got to the gym and warmed up on the bike for 30 minutes, then hopped over to the treadmill. I put on my power music (Pretty Lights: "More Important Than Michael Jordan") and started at my warm up pace of 6.5 mph.
Miraculous. I felt great. I felt like I could breath for the first time in months.
Knocked it up to 7mph. Even better. I am getting such a high that I'm getting wave upon wave of chills. I brought it up to 7.5 which I held for about 15 minutes before my allotted treadmill time was up. I'm not even kidding, the world looked totally different. I felt like I was on f*cking fire. I was the phoenix. I wanted to talk to every single person around me about how awesome today is and isn't it great that we can all work out!? Talk about a serious runner's high. I was giddy.
Wanna know how I got back to race pace?
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/fit-for-life
The general theory is that it's muscle memory. Once I healed up enough, my muscles jumped back into action. Probably looking at a 5k distance tomorrow morning.
I also lifted today for the first time in a long long time--I can only do arm weights below my shoulders for now to reduce stress on my abdominals, but that should change late this week since I'll be able to add leg work in late this week.
I also made a ton of veggie soup last night. You need:
1-2 zucchini squash (green or yellow)
1 onion
1 c. carrots
1 c. celery
1 can diced tomatoes
1 c. peas
some mushrooms
6 c. vegetable broth
Olive Oil
In big pot, heat oil, add onion and celery, cook til onions are clear. Add squash and carrots and stir. A few minutes later, add the tomatoes and broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and add peas and mushrooms. Simmer for a bit (15 minutes? sure). Add salt and pepper if you want. Makes about 8 servings of hearty soup. About 80 calories per serving. Add hot sauce to eat it my way.
Getting back in shape post surgery begins today, especially before the holidays arrive...yikes.
5k and Ham Salad
This morning, despite the fact that the bed was warm and it was f'ing freezing outside of the covers (I have a boy and two cats to suffice as heaters, so we save the electricity and turn off the heat at night...)
But I got up because I promised myself I would (and I didn't wash my hair, so there's always that motivator). More snow this morning--it actually stuck on parts of the street. I did 15 minutes on the bike, then 30 minutes on the treadmill.
This morning was a bit more difficult than yesterday, probably because my muscles were cold and tired. But I did hammer out a 5k in 28:55, which, while not awesome, isn't my worst time by a long shot (remember the F*ck You Hills 5k aka the Wolf Traf Howloween 5k). I pulled out a 3.25 in 30 minutes.
My chest is tired, which is to be expected. Doesn't hurt that I did some chest work yesterday.
I made ham salad last night from Dad's recipe, which breaks down as follows:
[a little more than] 1 c. diced ham
1 hard boiled egg
1 Tbsp mayo
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 TBSP dried onion
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. paprika
Food process the ham to a grainy consistency (shouldn't be powder, but shouldn't be big enough to individually pick out the pieces), put aside
Food process the egg to same consistency, put in same bowl as ham
Add spices and mayo and mix. You can add more mayo, if you want, but I found one TBSP per batch was more than fine.
Caloric value: for 1/4 cup, you're looking at about 110 calories. I was really careful with the ham and sliced off as much fat as possible.
My lunch today:
2 pieces whole wheat bread: 123
Pickles: 20
1/2 cup ham salad: 220
Total: 343
Carefully budgeting the day around a drink tonight with an old friend from a previous internship. Small world that we'd both end up in DC!
But I got up because I promised myself I would (and I didn't wash my hair, so there's always that motivator). More snow this morning--it actually stuck on parts of the street. I did 15 minutes on the bike, then 30 minutes on the treadmill.
This morning was a bit more difficult than yesterday, probably because my muscles were cold and tired. But I did hammer out a 5k in 28:55, which, while not awesome, isn't my worst time by a long shot (remember the F*ck You Hills 5k aka the Wolf Traf Howloween 5k). I pulled out a 3.25 in 30 minutes.
My chest is tired, which is to be expected. Doesn't hurt that I did some chest work yesterday.
I made ham salad last night from Dad's recipe, which breaks down as follows:
[a little more than] 1 c. diced ham
1 hard boiled egg
1 Tbsp mayo
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 TBSP dried onion
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. paprika
Food process the ham to a grainy consistency (shouldn't be powder, but shouldn't be big enough to individually pick out the pieces), put aside
Food process the egg to same consistency, put in same bowl as ham
Add spices and mayo and mix. You can add more mayo, if you want, but I found one TBSP per batch was more than fine.
Caloric value: for 1/4 cup, you're looking at about 110 calories. I was really careful with the ham and sliced off as much fat as possible.
My lunch today:
2 pieces whole wheat bread: 123
Pickles: 20
1/2 cup ham salad: 220
Total: 343
Carefully budgeting the day around a drink tonight with an old friend from a previous internship. Small world that we'd both end up in DC!
Monday, June 9, 2014
Mia Cooks - Bolognese Sauce
If you didn't get a chance to watch me live-tweet my cooking adventure tonight, you can easily catch up on my twitter handle.
Here's my promised blog post!
I intended to make butternut squash soup tonight. I have all the ingredients sitting around and I love having the soup for lunch at work or as a quick snack after a workout. But I love cooking for Chadd and he needs more than soup for dinner and frankly, after a 95% fruit and vegetable set-up for my meals today, I was DYING for some meat. I find that when I'm really craving something (no, french fries don't count), I usually need it.
I made bolognese sauce tonight. Chadd still eats a lot of grains but I'm on a reduced grain diet (diet being lifestyle, not DIET). When I make things that usually go with pasta, I substitute spaghetti squash for my dish. The first time I tried it, I liked it, but I didn't love it. After several incidents with it, I've grown to like it MORE than pasta. Who knew.
I'll show how to make spaghetti squash another day, but I had some leftovers laying around.
If you are just beginning to learn how to cook, the best advice I can give you about cooking is to have everything prepped beforehand. Chop, peel, thaw, and measure everything before you start. Pretend you're on a cooking show. It does mean more dishes, but it makes timing everything so much easier.
Want to see how to chop an onion? Here ya go:
1. MELT THE BUTTER. I melted 2 TBSP of butter over a medium heat (half of what was recommended) in a BIG skillet. I probably could have done with even less than that, but whatever. If you're making half this recipe, you don't need a HUGE skillet, but make sure it's deep so you can stir without spilling. If you want, go ahead and grab a big soup or pasta pot.
2. ADD THE VEGGIES. I threw all of the veggies that I'd chopped into a billion pieces into the butter and stirred around. When you're sauteeing veggies, just use a spatula to toss them around now and then so they don't burn or get soggy. Every 30 seconds is fine.
3. ADD THE GARLIC. After a couple minutes (maybe 3?) check the onions. If they are becoming translucent, it's time to add the garlic - make sure it's chopping up pretty finely. You can use the same technique I showed on the onion above for tiny pieces. Just two cloves will do. Stir around, then let sit for a minute until you start to smell the garlic. And trust me, you will.
4. ADD THE MEAT.
That's 1 pound of beef, 1 pound of pork sausage, 8 strips of chopped bacon (I cooked the bacon earlier last week and drained off the extra fat). I stirred this every few minutes to make sure nothing burned. I broke up the meat as much as possible until it was browned (this means there isn't red left in the meat. Pink is ok.)
A note on the meat here. I tend to cook the meat first and drain off the extra fat, but since this is a sauce, some of that fat is a key component for keeping the sauce thick and delicious. And frankly, we all get too scared about FATOMGFATFATFAT. Fat is good for you. Calm down.
6. EAT. Now it's time to EAT. When the simmering started, I put water on the stove in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Add pasta. Cook.
When I was just about to finish up the pasta and the sauce, I threw my spaghetti squash in the microwave for a minute or so.
Here's how it turned out:
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Looking back:
- I'd probably double the amount of carrots and celery in the sauce
- I'd mix the liquids and tomato paste before pouring into the sauce
Mia's Review:
I don't like a lot of meat in my foods anymore, but when I want it - I WANT it and this delivered (see: 3 types of meat). I'm glad I doubled the recipe because I feel like it will be a solid "go-to" for the next few days and also freeze well for future "oh crap I forgot to make dinner" meals. Put it on pasta, eat it straight, mix with veggies, add greens...the versatility is hard to beat.
Mia's Score: 90/100
Chadd's Review:
It had good flavor and was very satisfying and filling while avoiding the heaviness that characterizes many sauces of this kind.
I told him that was very formal and he said: "Fine. I liked it, would make it again, good flavor, light."
I disagree on the "light" description, but if he means light on grease and other heavier factors, then he's right. It eats clean to me.
Chadd's Score: 87/88 out of 100
I'll upload the videos tonight and I'll have another cook along (or possibly a lot of cook alongs) coming in the near future. After all, I did promise butternut squash soup.
Here's my promised blog post!
I intended to make butternut squash soup tonight. I have all the ingredients sitting around and I love having the soup for lunch at work or as a quick snack after a workout. But I love cooking for Chadd and he needs more than soup for dinner and frankly, after a 95% fruit and vegetable set-up for my meals today, I was DYING for some meat. I find that when I'm really craving something (no, french fries don't count), I usually need it.
I made bolognese sauce tonight. Chadd still eats a lot of grains but I'm on a reduced grain diet (diet being lifestyle, not DIET). When I make things that usually go with pasta, I substitute spaghetti squash for my dish. The first time I tried it, I liked it, but I didn't love it. After several incidents with it, I've grown to like it MORE than pasta. Who knew.
I'll show how to make spaghetti squash another day, but I had some leftovers laying around.
I decided to double the recipe and make some modifications from the recipe that was shown in Practical Paleo. I should note that I almost never make a recipe out of a cook book exactly as listed - but that doesn't mean you can't. I just get bored and "want to see what will happen" - most of the time this works out...some of the time, it does not. But tonight! It worked!
Ingredients:
1 pound pork sausage
1 pound ground beef
8 strips bacon (optional, but really good)
2 onions
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
6 oz. tomato paste
1 c. coconut milk
1 c. white wine (optional, but highly recommended)
2 TBSP butter
Seasonings (sage, fennel, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper)
If you are just beginning to learn how to cook, the best advice I can give you about cooking is to have everything prepped beforehand. Chop, peel, thaw, and measure everything before you start. Pretend you're on a cooking show. It does mean more dishes, but it makes timing everything so much easier.
Want to see how to chop an onion? Here ya go:
1. MELT THE BUTTER. I melted 2 TBSP of butter over a medium heat (half of what was recommended) in a BIG skillet. I probably could have done with even less than that, but whatever. If you're making half this recipe, you don't need a HUGE skillet, but make sure it's deep so you can stir without spilling. If you want, go ahead and grab a big soup or pasta pot.
2. ADD THE VEGGIES. I threw all of the veggies that I'd chopped into a billion pieces into the butter and stirred around. When you're sauteeing veggies, just use a spatula to toss them around now and then so they don't burn or get soggy. Every 30 seconds is fine.
2 small onions (I prefer yellow onions), 2 carrots, 2 stalks celery, diced
3. ADD THE GARLIC. After a couple minutes (maybe 3?) check the onions. If they are becoming translucent, it's time to add the garlic - make sure it's chopping up pretty finely. You can use the same technique I showed on the onion above for tiny pieces. Just two cloves will do. Stir around, then let sit for a minute until you start to smell the garlic. And trust me, you will.
4. ADD THE MEAT.
That's 1 pound of beef, 1 pound of pork sausage, 8 strips of chopped bacon (I cooked the bacon earlier last week and drained off the extra fat). I stirred this every few minutes to make sure nothing burned. I broke up the meat as much as possible until it was browned (this means there isn't red left in the meat. Pink is ok.)
A note on the meat here. I tend to cook the meat first and drain off the extra fat, but since this is a sauce, some of that fat is a key component for keeping the sauce thick and delicious. And frankly, we all get too scared about FATOMGFATFATFAT. Fat is good for you. Calm down.
Browned meat
4. STIR IN THE LIQUIDS. Once the meat was browned, I added the coconut milk, tomato paste, and wine. The wine is optional, but I find that it adds a depth of flavor. Don't worry, the alcohol cooks out!
Essentially, the tomato paste takes a while to incorporate - but I put it in the center, then use the back of my spoon to even it out. Instead of stirring around the pan (splashing happens a lot this way), I did more of an up and down stirring. Scoop some meat/veggies from the side of the pan and put into the middle, then push down with the spoon. Take your time. Another attractive option would have been to mix the coconut milk, paste, and wine ahead of time so the paste wasn't difficult to incorporate.
5. SEASON AND SIMMER. Once everything is incorporated, add seasonings and simmer.
I added salt, pepper, a smidgen of sage, oregano, parsley, some garlic powder and some onion powder, as well as some fennel. I highly recommend the fennel - that was a last minute addition. The recipe doesn't call for any seasonings other than salt and pepper, but I found it was a bit sweet for my liking.
That looks super gross, I'm sure, but it's awesome so far. Let it hang out on low-medium for 20 minutes or so. Stir every couple of minutes so it doesn't stick (I checked in ever 3-4 minutes). If it starts super bubbling (you know, BUBBLE BUBBLE SPLAT POP), turn it down.
After twenty minutes, the sauce should be thick without a ton of liquid. The alcohol will have cooked off by this time as well.
6. EAT. Now it's time to EAT. When the simmering started, I put water on the stove in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Add pasta. Cook.
When I was just about to finish up the pasta and the sauce, I threw my spaghetti squash in the microwave for a minute or so.
Here's how it turned out:
For Chadd - over pasta with some parmesan cheese
Over spaghetti squash!
Reheats well for lunch!
Looking back:
- I'd probably double the amount of carrots and celery in the sauce
- I'd mix the liquids and tomato paste before pouring into the sauce
Mia's Review:
I don't like a lot of meat in my foods anymore, but when I want it - I WANT it and this delivered (see: 3 types of meat). I'm glad I doubled the recipe because I feel like it will be a solid "go-to" for the next few days and also freeze well for future "oh crap I forgot to make dinner" meals. Put it on pasta, eat it straight, mix with veggies, add greens...the versatility is hard to beat.
Mia's Score: 90/100
Chadd's Review:
It had good flavor and was very satisfying and filling while avoiding the heaviness that characterizes many sauces of this kind.
I told him that was very formal and he said: "Fine. I liked it, would make it again, good flavor, light."
I disagree on the "light" description, but if he means light on grease and other heavier factors, then he's right. It eats clean to me.
Chadd's Score: 87/88 out of 100
I'll upload the videos tonight and I'll have another cook along (or possibly a lot of cook alongs) coming in the near future. After all, I did promise butternut squash soup.
Mia Cooks - Pork Tenderloin, Green Beans, Scalloped Potatoes, and Gravy!
Alright! I'm injured. Still injured. My ankle was swollen to the size of my biceps Saturday night (only slight exaggeration). Until my health insurance kicks in...Coach has mandated (wisely) that I am NOT allowed to run or do anything resembling impact. Blah blah blah, Coach is right, blah blah. Running resumes March 1.
In the mean time, I figured it was time to dedicate myself to some time in the kitchen! One of my goals for these two weeks with Christine has been to make a food plan at the beginning of the week and cook more of my meals. Normally, I'm really good at this, but probably one week a month, I fall totally off the wagon. We'll be out of food, I'll be too tired to go to the grocery, and face it, tomato soup from Cosi sounds SO good right now...
But this weekend, we hit up Costco and Safeway and Washington's Green Grocer delivered an abundance of beautiful produce. The freezer and fridge are PACKED, and mostly with produce!
And so, in the frustration of being off my ankle, I decided to cook! This episode of Mia Cooks focuses on how to cook a pork tenderloin. The best think about this dish is that the meat is craycray cheap. You can get a two pack at Costco for pennies.
Below, I've got my recipes and step by step for pork tenderloin, green beans, scalloped potatoes, and gravy. If you decide to make everything, here is a list of what you'll need in total:
Tenderloin:
- Pork tenderloin(s)
- soy sauce
- sherry cooking wine
- rice wine vinegar
- vegetable oil
- orange juice
- shallot
- fresh or ground ginger
- rosemary
- italian seasoning
- butter
- salt, pepper, garlic salt, seasoned salt
- garlic cloves
Green Beans:
- green beans
- onion
- powdered chicken bouillon
Scalloped Potatoes:
- 5-8 small potatoes (enough for 2-3 c. sliced)
- chives, bacon, cheese (optional)
- powdered mustard, paprika, salt
- 1 1/4 c. milk and cream
Gravy:
- broth (optional)
- flour
- left over juice from cooking tenderloins
1) Optional Trimming I thawed the tenderloin out over night and then, mid afternoon, I trimmed up the tenderloins. This is optional. I recently had the opportunity to observe an incredible chef cook - during this time, he demo'ed how to trim a tenderloin. I will admit, I am not nearly as adept at it, but here is the general gist, via video:
(video coming shortly)
Basically, take off the fat and the tendons (anything white). You can do this with a sharp knife and some patience. If you're lazy/time crunched, don't bother...though I REALLY do recommend doing this.
2) Marinade. Then, I marinaded the meat for a couple hours. My marinade recipe is:
- 1/4 c. soy sauce
- 1/4 c. sherry
- 1/8 c. rice wine vinegar
- 1/8 c. veg oil
1 tbsp orange juice (or just a splash)
A couple dashes of rosemary
1 chopped shallot
Dash of powdered ginger (it's preferable to have about a tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger, but use what you've got.)
You can put this in a big bowl or dish, but I prefer the "no clean" option of a plastic ziplock. Easier to move the meat around the marinade this way.
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4. Crust. (ps. now is the time to preheat your oven to 400). I like seasoning the outside of the tenderloins in addition to the marinade. Here's the "no clean" way to do it. Pull out foil and grind a good layer of salt, pepper, seasoned salt, herbs (italian blend works fine), and garlic salt. Then roll your tenderloins over it (that's what she said). Then, I have slices of garlic cloves (thin) and put small knife cuts into the tenderloins and insert the garlic slices.
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5. Sear. I like to sear the outside of the tenderloin to lock in the flavor. There are more technical terms for why this is a good idea, but I don't know enough to tell you why. Go with me, here.
Just melt about 2-3 tbsp butter in a skillet that can go into the oven (which should be preheated before you sear the meat.) Make sure the butter is hot enough that when you put the meat in, you hear a sizzle, but not too hot that the butter browns before you put the meat in. On my electric stove, this is a 5-6 on a scale of 1-10. You can test the butter by dripping a tiny bit of (like, a drop or two) of water or marinade.
Cook each side of the tenderloins for 1 minute - just enough to sear the outside.
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In the mean time, I figured it was time to dedicate myself to some time in the kitchen! One of my goals for these two weeks with Christine has been to make a food plan at the beginning of the week and cook more of my meals. Normally, I'm really good at this, but probably one week a month, I fall totally off the wagon. We'll be out of food, I'll be too tired to go to the grocery, and face it, tomato soup from Cosi sounds SO good right now...
But this weekend, we hit up Costco and Safeway and Washington's Green Grocer delivered an abundance of beautiful produce. The freezer and fridge are PACKED, and mostly with produce!
And so, in the frustration of being off my ankle, I decided to cook! This episode of Mia Cooks focuses on how to cook a pork tenderloin. The best think about this dish is that the meat is craycray cheap. You can get a two pack at Costco for pennies.
Below, I've got my recipes and step by step for pork tenderloin, green beans, scalloped potatoes, and gravy. If you decide to make everything, here is a list of what you'll need in total:
Tenderloin:
- Pork tenderloin(s)
- soy sauce
- sherry cooking wine
- rice wine vinegar
- vegetable oil
- orange juice
- shallot
- fresh or ground ginger
- rosemary
- italian seasoning
- butter
- salt, pepper, garlic salt, seasoned salt
- garlic cloves
Green Beans:
- green beans
- onion
- powdered chicken bouillon
Scalloped Potatoes:
- 5-8 small potatoes (enough for 2-3 c. sliced)
- chives, bacon, cheese (optional)
- powdered mustard, paprika, salt
- 1 1/4 c. milk and cream
Gravy:
- broth (optional)
- flour
- left over juice from cooking tenderloins
1) Optional Trimming I thawed the tenderloin out over night and then, mid afternoon, I trimmed up the tenderloins. This is optional. I recently had the opportunity to observe an incredible chef cook - during this time, he demo'ed how to trim a tenderloin. I will admit, I am not nearly as adept at it, but here is the general gist, via video:
(video coming shortly)
Basically, take off the fat and the tendons (anything white). You can do this with a sharp knife and some patience. If you're lazy/time crunched, don't bother...though I REALLY do recommend doing this.
2) Marinade. Then, I marinaded the meat for a couple hours. My marinade recipe is:
- 1/4 c. soy sauce
- 1/4 c. sherry
- 1/8 c. rice wine vinegar
- 1/8 c. veg oil
1 tbsp orange juice (or just a splash)
A couple dashes of rosemary
1 chopped shallot
Dash of powdered ginger (it's preferable to have about a tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger, but use what you've got.)
You can put this in a big bowl or dish, but I prefer the "no clean" option of a plastic ziplock. Easier to move the meat around the marinade this way.
3. Wait. Let it sit in the fridge for however long, but 2+ hours is preferable. Overnight is even fine.
4. Crust. (ps. now is the time to preheat your oven to 400). I like seasoning the outside of the tenderloins in addition to the marinade. Here's the "no clean" way to do it. Pull out foil and grind a good layer of salt, pepper, seasoned salt, herbs (italian blend works fine), and garlic salt. Then roll your tenderloins over it (that's what she said). Then, I have slices of garlic cloves (thin) and put small knife cuts into the tenderloins and insert the garlic slices.
5. Sear. I like to sear the outside of the tenderloin to lock in the flavor. There are more technical terms for why this is a good idea, but I don't know enough to tell you why. Go with me, here.
Just melt about 2-3 tbsp butter in a skillet that can go into the oven (which should be preheated before you sear the meat.) Make sure the butter is hot enough that when you put the meat in, you hear a sizzle, but not too hot that the butter browns before you put the meat in. On my electric stove, this is a 5-6 on a scale of 1-10. You can test the butter by dripping a tiny bit of (like, a drop or two) of water or marinade.
Cook each side of the tenderloins for 1 minute - just enough to sear the outside.
Don't worry if some of the red at the ends isn't gone. It's thinner and will cook just fine in the oven.
6. Cook. This is a tricky one. If you get the normal sized tenderloins at costco or wherever, then this is a decent cooking time:
- 8 minutes - mostly raw
- 6 minutes more - smaller tenderloin is done
- 3 more minutes - larger tenderloin is ready
These cooking times are for a "pink" tenderloin. If you prefer yours well done (???) or have family members or small children who can only eat well done meat, I would add another 3 minutes to these times. The key, really, is to have an instant read thermometer. I've seen a range of temperatures, so I may be wrong, but 155-160 appears to be the right internal temp.
The biggest mistake I made when I was learning to cook was taking the meat off when it was exactly where I wanted it to be. WRONG. Meat doesn't stop cooking the second it is out of the heat, so make sure you take it off a few minutes before it appears "done" (whatever that "done-ness is to you.)
Here is what "done" is for me:
7. Rest. Yes, rest. Rest, for meat, is just as important as rest is for athletes. Take the meat out of the skillet (watch the handle, it IS hot and will sear your flesh off). For the no-clean method, put each tenderloin on it's own sheet of foil and loosely wrap the foil around it. This will keep it warm and allow the meat to cool, finish cooking, and have the juices set. This will keep the juices from spilling out all over everything (and drying your meat) when you cut it. I let this happen for about 10 minutes (or while I'm finishing making dinner.)
Sides
Yes, I know we can all live on meat alone, but it's SO much better with some sides. Normally, I'd make something a lot more healthy, but I was feeling indulgent. I added scalloped potatoes, green beans, and gravy.
Scalloped Potatoes
Recipe adapted from Joy of Cooking
I tend to make these when we have some potatoes have seen better days - usually, smaller potatoes. Some of them are starting to sprout and all that. No matter. Take enough to fill two cups with slices (this will be between 5-8 smaller potatoes).
1. Peel them. You can do this with a knife a little more effectively and easily than with a peeler, but it's chef's choice.
2. Slice them. The more thinly and evenly you slice them, the prettier and more evenly cooked your dish will be. I recommend going for something around an 1/8th of an inch.
3. Prep your secondary ingredients. And preheat your oven to 350. Chop up about 1-2 tbsp butter. You want smaller pieces you can "dot" around the layers of the potatoes. Grab about a 1/3 cup of flour and have that on the side. If you want to add some new flavors, grab some chives, a half an onion, or some bacon (or all of them!) Some people also use cheese.
4. Layer. Cover the bottom of the pan with one layer of potatoes. Dust with flour and with a few pieces of butter and whatever extras you'd like to add. Keep layering until you're out of potatoes, but don't dust the top with flour or any extras.
5. Mix liquid. Depending on your level of decadence, heat up a mixture of 1 1/4 c. milk and cream so that it's about bathwater temperature. Sometimes, I add more milk or more water to have more liquid. No more than an extra 1/4 cup, though.
Mix in 1/2 tsp. of paprika and another of powdered mustard. I add salt in at this point (about a teaspoon). Make sure it's really mixed up or you just get a lump of seasonings in the bottom of the pan.
6. Pour liquid over the potatoes.
7. Bake. Cover this bad boy with foil and pop it into the oven. In about a half hour, take off the foil. Cooking it with foil for the first half hour keeps it from drying out or burning on the top. Let it bake for another 45 minutes to an hour - but check it at a half hour. I just told Chadd to take it out after an hour while I was at a meeting, so ours came out a bit more "done" than normal.
Green Beans
I assume most people know how to make green beans, but if you don't - or you want a new twist - here's how we make them in our house.
1. Heat water. Put about an inch and a half of water into the bottom of a larger pot. Add two heaping tablespoons of chicken bouillon and half of an onion, cut into large sections.
2. Clean the green beans. Rise, then chop off the ends of each green bean. I'm not meticulous about it, don't let yourself spend way too much time doing this.
3. Cook. With about 6-8 minutes left on the rest of your meal, throw in the green beans and just keep an eye on them. Take them out when you can pierce them with a knife, but before they turn brown. They will look vibrantly green when they're done. If you like your green beans soggy - don't come over for dinner.
Gravy
Recipe non existant, but mad props to my dad for teaching me how to make gravy.
When you took the tenderloins out of the oven and moved them to foil, I'm sure you noticed that you had a lot of extra juice and stuff floating around in the bottom of the pan. This is good.
1. Thicken. Toss a tablespoon or so of flour into the juice in the pan on medium low heat. If this makes paste, add some water, broth (any kind, really), or left over marinade. Your choice. If you use the left over marinade - match that 1 for 1 with water since the marinade will be very strong in flavor. Don't over do it.
2. Simmer. Bring gravy to a simmer. Too thin? Add flour a spoonful at a time to avoid lumps. Too thick? Add water, marinade, or broth. Stir continuously so you don't burn the gravy.
3. Repeat. Until you have the consistency you like. A word on using the marinade - that has raw stuff floating around in it. Make sure your gravy simmers (bubbles) for a bit if you've decided to use that as a loosening agent.
Timing
I think timing is probably the hardest thing for people to master as they are learning to cook. Here is my cheat sheet to make everything above and have it all finish at roughly the same time.
Earlier in the day: prep tenderloins and marinade them
2 hours before dinner: prep scalloped potatoes
1.5 hours before dinner: put in scalloped potatoes
1 hour before dinner: take foil off potatoes, prep green beans
30 minutes before dinner: sear tenderloins and place in oven
15 minutes before dinner: boil water for green beans
10 minutes before dinner: put on green beans, take out tenderloin and let rest
5 minutes before dinner: make gravy
And voila:
The meat is a little pink for my taste, but Chadd likes his tenderloin more rare than I do.
Success!
Questions? Mia Cooks requests? Soup recipes coming soon!
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Mia Cooks: Sweet Potatoes, a Surprise Hit
I had Team RAGE over for dinner on Sunday and while we took video and I took tons of photos of the lamb, kale, couscous, etc. that I made, by far the biggest hit were the sweet potatoes! And in response to the latest spate of "healthy" frozen food delivery reviews, I'm teaching you how to make them.
It's crazy easy.
You need:
- Sweet Potatoes
- Coconut Oil
- Cayenne Pepper
- Salt
That's it. Literally. That's it.
1) Peel sweet potatoes.
2) Chop sweet potatoes into circles (about 1/2" thick)
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3) Melt coconut oil
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4) Toss potatoes with oil
5) Lay sweet potatoes out on baking sheet
6) Sprinkle with cayenne and salt
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7) Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes
I thought I had a photo of the finished product, but apparently not - we just ate them quickly because they're that good.
Leftovers (if you have them) make great pre-workout snacks. And good breakfast sides with eggs.
And yeah. Stop buying that frozen crap with additives.
It's crazy easy.
You need:
- Sweet Potatoes
- Coconut Oil
- Cayenne Pepper
- Salt
That's it. Literally. That's it.
1) Peel sweet potatoes.
2) Chop sweet potatoes into circles (about 1/2" thick)
3) Melt coconut oil
4) Toss potatoes with oil
5) Lay sweet potatoes out on baking sheet
6) Sprinkle with cayenne and salt
7) Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes
I thought I had a photo of the finished product, but apparently not - we just ate them quickly because they're that good.
Leftovers (if you have them) make great pre-workout snacks. And good breakfast sides with eggs.
And yeah. Stop buying that frozen crap with additives.
Mia Cooks: Prep for the Week Edition
Christine and I had a chat earlier this week about better planning for food - it's too easy to be slammed with work and eat whatever instead of eating real food.
We agreed that the best way to stay accountable would be to cook every Sunday (or once a week if I have Sunday plans) and do a #miacooks along with it. I don't blame you if you want to mute my twitter feed every Sunday.
Today, I got up, felt rested, then wandered over to farmer's market. When Chadd asked what I got, I said, "If it was green, I bought it," which is pretty accurate.
(not pictured: ricotta, greek yogurt, and mozzarella from Blue Ridge Dairy)
I spent the afternoon cooking, with a couple of #sportz breaks, most notably a "restorative yoga" class which was basically guided nap time. Suffice to say, I feel incredibly peaceful today.
Here are all the recipes that showed up on #miacooks this afternoon:
Bacon Brussel Sprouts
I had these at a barbecue the other weekend and they totally blew my mind. I've made them twice in the past week.
You need:
- Brussel Sprouts
- 3-4 slices Bacon
- Salt
- Cayenne Pepper
- Olive Oil
1) Cut sprouts. Take the rinsed sprouts and cut off the stem bottom, then chop the sprouts in half.
2) Prep the sprouts. Drizzle the sprouts with a little olive oil. Add sea salt and cayenne pepper.
3) BACON. Chop uncooked bacon into small pieces and add to the brussel sprouts.
4) Bake. Pop the sprouts into the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes (check a couple of times, they'll start browning, but be easily stabbed)
Kale Chips
Best snack food. Ever.
You need:
- Kale
- Salt
- Cayenne Pepper
- Olive oil
1) Rinse and thoroughly dry kale. Seriously - it needs to be DRY.
2) Cut kale into chip sized pieces and toss with oil, salt and pepper.
3) Bake. Spread kale onto a baking sheet and cook in 350 oven for 15-20 minutes (check a few times, it should be totally dried out, but not totally brown)
4) Storage - I put my kale chips into ziplock bags so they don't get stale. I wouldn't throw them into fridge, either.
Pesto
I really love this pesto recipe - I put it on spaghetti squash, shrimp, chicken, or eat it with carrots. It's a very basic, but delicious recipe.
You need:
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1/2 c. macadamia nuts
- 1/2 c. olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt and peper
1) Prep. Clean up the cilantro (rinse, take out any brown leaves)
2) Mix. Put all ingredients into food processor.
3) BLEND.
4) Enjoy over pretty much anything.
Christine's Death Metal Chili
I took Christine's Chili Recipe and made it tonight so I could have a bunch in the fridge/freezer for emergencies. Her other soup recipes have blown my mind, so I knew this would be good. Let me assure you - it's delicious. Our recipes are a little different - I used Rotel and you'll see she has tempeh in her recipe. Soy makes me sick, so I avoided it. I also added cayenne pepper (have you seen a theme in all these recipes yet?)
You Need:
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cups kale, ripped to shreds
2 (14.5 oz) cans Italian style diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans
1 (15 0z) can pinto beans
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp sugar or honey
1/2 Tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1) Prep. Chop up the onion and garlic, drain the beans, but keep the tomatoes in their water (also: don't mind me, I didn't see I needed two different kinds of diced tomatoes, so I used Rotel instead). Shred some kale.
2) Sautee the onions and garlic in a little olive oil until translucent (2-3 minutes).
3) Add everything else to the pot and cook on medium for 20-30 minutes.
4) Enjoy!
Chard
I love chard for getting my greens - it's a little less spicy than kale and a little faster to cook. Chard has almost a buttery taste to it. Think spinach, but a little more rich.
1) Clean chard - rinse and dry.
I also made some sweet potatoes earlier in the day.The recipe is here. I quickly threw some asparagus into the oven with olive oil and salt and pepper. When that came out, I put some lemon juice over it.
I've got a couple more things I want to make for the week, but I'm out of steam for the afternoon and with the time change, I'm going to tuck myself into bed.
Christine's Death Metal Chili
I took Christine's Chili Recipe and made it tonight so I could have a bunch in the fridge/freezer for emergencies. Her other soup recipes have blown my mind, so I knew this would be good. Let me assure you - it's delicious. Our recipes are a little different - I used Rotel and you'll see she has tempeh in her recipe. Soy makes me sick, so I avoided it. I also added cayenne pepper (have you seen a theme in all these recipes yet?)
You Need:
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cups kale, ripped to shreds
2 (14.5 oz) cans Italian style diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans
1 (15 0z) can pinto beans
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp sugar or honey
1/2 Tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1) Prep. Chop up the onion and garlic, drain the beans, but keep the tomatoes in their water (also: don't mind me, I didn't see I needed two different kinds of diced tomatoes, so I used Rotel instead). Shred some kale.
2) Sautee the onions and garlic in a little olive oil until translucent (2-3 minutes).
3) Add everything else to the pot and cook on medium for 20-30 minutes.
Chard
I love chard for getting my greens - it's a little less spicy than kale and a little faster to cook. Chard has almost a buttery taste to it. Think spinach, but a little more rich.
1) Clean chard - rinse and dry.
See why it's called "Rainbow" Chard?
2) Chop off the stems, then chop the chard into 3rds.
3) Heat up olive oil in a skillet, add a little garlic and toss in the chard.
4) Cover and cook for 2 minutes, then stir, then cook another 2, for maybe 6-8 minutes.
Tonight's dinner was a quick one, but a Chadd favorite.
Lemon Artichoke Chicken
This is an easy easy dish, takes maybe a half hour from start to finish.
You need:
- chicken (we used about 1.5-2 pounds of boneless, skinless breast)
- 2 shallots
- 1 can artichoke hearts
- 1/4 c. capers
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp lemon juice
1) Chop up shallots and quarter the artichoke hearts, preheat oven to 375.
2) Season chicken with a little salt and pepper, maybe garlic salt or whatever you prefer.
3) Melt butter in the pan
4) Sautee the shallots for a minute or two
5) Add ingredients - artichoke hearts, capers, and lemon juice
5) Add chicken and sear on either side quickly
6) Bake for 10-12 minutes (check to make sure it's cooked through - it'll be just slightly pink when done and finish cooking in the pan.)
I also made some sweet potatoes earlier in the day.The recipe is here. I quickly threw some asparagus into the oven with olive oil and salt and pepper. When that came out, I put some lemon juice over it.
I've got a couple more things I want to make for the week, but I'm out of steam for the afternoon and with the time change, I'm going to tuck myself into bed.
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