part of the whole

The Annual Death Cold

2012-01-25T17:18:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I began coming down with the annual winter death cold - the one that leaves you sniffling and stuffed up at the same time, sucks every last bit of energy you have, makes your body feel like you've been beat up by a gang of people.

My go-to supplies for something like this are simple. I start with Traditional Medicinals Gypsy Cold Care tea. I buy this at my co-op, but I believe Target carries it and I'm sure Whole Foods would have it, if not something similar. It's a caffeine-free herbal tea made from a fusion of the best cold-fighting herbs. When I boil water in my tea pot, I add minced ginger before boiling. I love making stir-fry, so this is something I always have in a jar or tube in my fridge. Its immune-boosting properties are helpful during a cold - read more about it here. Finally, once the water has boiled and I pour it over the tea bag to steep, I add a squirt of local honey (honey has natural antibacterial properties - especially raw honey - and local honey can help you fight some of those allergy triggers).

This lovely cold also seems to take away any bit of appetite, so I love to have tangerine popsicles in the freezer. I buy the no-sugar-added, all-fruit kind. These give a little boost of vitamin C and put a tiny bit of something in my stomach.

And of course, rest, rest, rest!

Hold up...

2012-01-20T10:57:00.000-05:00

Did I seriously go from the end of October to the middle of January without posting a single thing about food? For shame...

Quick, easy, healthy work lunch:

2012-01-19T11:01:00.002-05:00

Packing lunches for work can sometimes be a total drag. Every now and then you luck out with leftovers from last night's dinner, but other times you're on your own and starting from scratch. I always seem to find myself without decent options, but last week I did think about lunch (instead of just dinner) before I went grocery shopping, and ended up with some decent options.

At home while I was getting ready for work, I boiled water and made a serving of pasta:

Then at work, I microwaved steam-in-bag veggies I found on sale at the grocery store:

I mixed the two together, put back in the microwave for a minute with shaved parmesan cheese, and enjoyed a delicious lunch!

This would also make an easy dinner-for-two with a baked chicken breast added to the mix.

I purchased a few of these Green Giant veggie mixes, and was sure to read the nutrition facts before making my selections (since some of them contained seasonings or in this case, a butter sauce). My body reacts pretty harshly to excess sodium (think pudgy hands), but I was happy to see that this particular mix only contained 9% daily value of sodium per serving (entire package was two servings). I think I may need to go back to the store and stock up! Shhh...

Fun Fact: I took these pictures using the Instagram app on my iPhone.

Iron Hill Brewery

2012-01-12T13:39:00.000-05:00

Hey all! Last night Ashley and I had a date night at the new Chestnut Hill Iron Hill Brewery. There are several other locations in the state, but neither of us have been to one yet. We were particularly excited about this new location because there is a very small selection of places we like to eat in my neighborhood.

There's one local pub that is packed to the doors if there is ever any sort of sports game on TV (and with Philly having a team for all the major sports, that's almost every night). The service there also leaves a lot to be desired. There's also a brewery and flatbread restaurant with a very unique atmosphere, but you can't really show up wanting a big meal, as the food is a little on the lighter side. But anyway, back to Iron Hill.

The first day of business for Chestnut Hill was on Wednesday, January 4. We were thinking about going this past weekend, but figured there would be a long wait on its first weekend open for business. So instead, we made a reservation (they offer online reservations through Open Table) for last night. That was an excellent decision, because when we arrived, the entire waiting area was full and the wait time was almost an hour!

Over the weekend, we took a look at the extensive menu online. Oh my gosh - amazing. I have to say, it was really difficult to choose what to order, especially since there were three meals I really wanted to try: the chicken pot pie, the shrimp scampi linguini and the turkey burger (seriously...you can rarely find a place that serves a good turkey burger). I finally decided on the chicken pot pie, and Ashley chose the Hawaiian spiced Ahi tuna. We also had a small order of buffalo chicken wings for an appetizer (amazing buffalo sauce!) and an apple fritter with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. Everything was made extremely well with great flavors and decent serving sizes.

And what about the beer? Well, we were seated right next to a window looking into the brewery (cool!). I ordered a raspberry wheat and loved the flavor. I tasted a light raspberry flavor first, finishing with that classic wheat beer flavor. Definitely not an overbearing or syrupy fruit flavor like some others I've tried, and it was a nice light color. Ashley ordered one of the featured Belgian seasonal brews, the Belgian Pale Ale. It has a great flavor - not too strong and not too weak, not excessively hoppy and a light brown color.

The service was great from the hostess to our server. The restaurant is really nicely designed with several semi-divided eating areas that provide plenty of options for the kind of atmosphere you want - quieter toward the back of the restaurant, or in the middle of the buzz up front by the bar. We were close to the kitchen, and saw the unending rush of servers back and forth all night. I think it was just as busy when we left as when we first walked in the door (our reservation was for 7:30 p.m. and we left around 9).

Overall, it was a great experience and I can't wait to go back again in a few weeks with friends!

Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post, but I was sure to provide lots of links to several different sections of Iron Hill's website. Enjoy!

I'm so behind!

2011-10-27T13:45:00.000-04:00

Okay - real quick.Two upcoming blog posts I hope for you all to see very soon:

1) N.C. State fair (and Raleigh weekend in general)
2) Pumpkin Party

I've gotten way behind in my blogging and I'm sure there will be much more soon!

Travel Tips to Have Your Cake and Eat it too

2011-10-13T23:01:00.000-04:00

Everyone loves a vacation, but I don't know anyone who likes to go broke because of it. Tomorrow, Ash and I are getting ready to take an extended weekend trip from Philadelphia to Raleigh. While I know we'll be eating many of our meals out, I also know we won't break the bank, thanks to a few good food-related, money-saving tips.

I booked our hotel using Priceline. It's the first time I've used their hotel service, but I'm pretty happy with what was available! Our hotel is brand new, super close to the main place we'll be going over the weekend, and top top it off, it had some of the best reviews.

The first money-saver is that our hotel offers a free continental breakfast, but not just the cereal and fruit spread you typically find. The breakfast features a little more, such as scrambled eggs and a few other hot options. It'll be a great chance to get our day started with a hearty meal, and even pick up an extra piece of fruit for a snack later in the day. The next time you are preparing to book a hotel for a trip, check for free continental breakfast.

Another bonus is that our room (and all of them in our hotel, for that matter) has a mini-fridge, microwave and coffee maker. The mini-fridge is great for stocking a few extras like juice, soda, yogurt, cold cuts, fruits and veggies, etc. Lunch time is usually when you're on the go, so it's extra convenient to be able to make yourself a sandwich to bring along for your day, and supplying the ingredients yourself will certainly be cheaper than picking up something while you're out.

I love when hotels have a microwave in the room. It's perfect for heating up dinner leftovers for a late night snack, making popcorn before bed, heating up water for tea, etc. And of course the coffee maker automatically saves you a couple dollars each morning. Rather than run out to a local coffee shop, you can make it yourself and have a cup while you're getting ready. Most hotels even supply the coffee for you, or you can bring your own. And with the mini-fridge, you can even bring your own cream so you aren't stuck using the non-dairy, powdered creamer (ew).

Finally, the best places to eat out when you go on vacation are the locals' favorite spots. Think about your own habits at home - do you go out to tourist-trap or similarly pricey restaurants on a regular basis? Doubtful. I've never been a fan of chain restaurants - imagine what they have to do in order for the food to be the same at every location across the country. Not something I want to eat, that's for sure. Since I lived in Raleigh for a few years, I already know some of the best spots in town, and I can't wait to get my grub on!

Sunday Funday: Apples and Pumpkins

2011-10-11T20:40:00.002-04:00

True to Sunday Funday tradition, Ash and I set off on an adventure this past Sunday. Our intended destinations were in central-ish PA - Hawk Mountain (to go hiking and watch for migrating raptors) and Cabela's. Bonus points if we came across a pumpkin patch on the way.

A hellish traffic jam led us to take a different route, which just so happened to dump us out on a corner where Ash saw the sign for pick-your-own pumpkins, apples and raspberries. Jackpot. Down some winding farm roads we went until we came across a few more signs, pointing us in the direction of the farm. Back up a winding gravel road and over hills we went until we arrived at the top. Totally. Amazing. The views were gorgeous and they did indeed have pick-your-own apples (four varieties) and pumpkins.

When we got home, I checked out Ontelaunee Orchards online, and found out that it began in the 1920s and the fruits are still harvested by hand, rather than machines. So cool.

The pumpkins growing in the field were fairly small, but who cares! We both whipped out our knives and cut our chosen beauties right from the vines. It's not like we settled...there are definitely more pumpkin patches in our future.

We ended up spending so much time wandering around the fields and picking plenty of Golden Delicious and Jonagold apples, that we decided to save Hawk Mountain for another day and head straight to Cabela's. Holy sensory overload. That is a pretty awesome store.

So hawks or no hawks, we certainly made an adventure. I can't say we were prepared to be sweating our butts off in 80 degree temperatures on an October afternoon, but at least we had a good snack.

Next weekend, it's off to Raleigh to visit some of my favorite haunts and go to the N.C. State Fair!

Last minute things

2011-10-03T14:18:00.000-04:00

Some weekends, you're just having too much fun to bother with silly little tasks like grocery shopping. Some mornings, even though you wake up to the entire block lined with idling utility trucks, chainsaws buzzing and wood chippers grinding tree limbs, you try with desperate futility to sleep 20 more minutes. Then you remember that silly little task you forgot to do. Cuss. That's when you have to get ready at lightning speed, thank your lucky stars that the dogs already woke up up pre-dawn to go outside to tend to business, and you get your butt quickly out the door.

On the rare (cough, cough) occasion something like this happens, I'm glad the grocery store is only a mile away, and I just have to loop back toward my apartment - on the same street, no less - to get to work. So, having neglected grocery shopping and desperately needing something for lunch, I buzzed through the grocery store in just a couple minutes and then was on my way.

Straight to the bagel bins - good, lots left. Grab a toasted onion bagel. Across the produce section to grab a bag of baby spinach. Oh - on sale. Holla! Down the aisle and around the corner to the pre-sliced/pre-packaged deli meats. Turkey. Also on sale. Double score. Back up the aisle to self check-out and out the door. And this is what I end up with:

Not too shabby. And now I have enough spinach and turkey for a few more sandwiches this week, too.

Well, because it's Friday...

2011-10-01T00:52:00.001-04:00

I almost made it, but not quite. The last meal I had planned for this week was one of my favorites, but a favorite I haven't made in several months: falafel (sorry, I'm not quite sure what happened to the pictures from this post!).

I've been up way too last the past few nights, and especially last night. Around 1:30, just as I was about to doze off, I heard the snap of the mouse trap I have set up behind the refrigerator. Ugh. When you live in a house that was built in the late 1800s, you get a few uninvited guests as the weather starts to get cold. By the way, no harm done - when I check it this morning it was just tripped and flipped over - no critter. In any case, I yawned my way through the work day (I think they're brewing half-caff...agh!), and when it was time to go home, I couldn't bear the thought of going to the grocery store during the mad pre-dinner rush (it seems no one in my neighborhood plans dinners and shops ahead...ever), and then spending another 30-40 minutes preparing the meal. Because it's Friday, and because I was hanging out with puppies, and because I'm a big girl and can do what I want, I ordered a pizza. I have to remind myself periodically that my body is not built to eat garbage. My tummy would have been much happier with falafel.

In other news, Ash has taken to home-brewing beer, and I want to tell you all about it, but it's really late and I have horse stalls to clean bright and early tomorrow. So...I'll save it for later.

One fish, two fish - revisited

2011-09-29T20:11:00.001-04:00

So remember last week when I was so excited about my dinner that I didn't snap a picture before digging in? Well I re-made the same dinner (yes - even the side dishes...it was so good!), and this time I did take a picture. So now that you know how to make parmesan breaded tilapia, here's what it looks like:

Fall-ing in Love

2011-09-29T10:18:00.000-04:00

Friends, I've got to tell you something. In case you didn't already know, I have just the slightest obsession with all things Autumn. Really, it's just a little weensy thing, I swear.

In my office, we have your typical office supply catalog, drip-pot mud served up every morning, but I'll tell you what. Pour some pumpkin spice coffee creamer in there and I could drink a gallon of it. Really, it makes a world of difference. And you want to know something else ridiculous? I checked the expiration date on the bottle of creamer I picked up at the grocery store earlier this week. January. Do you know what that means? I can stockpile pumpkin creamer in my fridge and enjoy it all the way through January. Yes!

Another love of fall is festivals and fairs! Get me outdoors in that crisp air and holy crap. You might need to put me on a leash. We've had some pretty soggy weather in Philly, and humid too. Gross. But the countdown is on. In two weeks, Ash and I go back to Raleigh, my old stomping grounds, for a long weekend at the N.C. State Fair! I think saying "I can't wait!" doesn't even cover it. He always makes fun of me for my lists, but I don't even care. I have a huge one started of alllll the things I want to do or take him to see (or favorite places to EAT!) while we're there. This post might be lacking in the visual stimulation, but you better believe I'll have some photo-packed posts after that trip. I'm already drooling thinking about the pulled pork sandwich I'm going to devour when we go to the fair on Saturday night. Whoa.

This weekend we were going to wander through Cabela's and then do some hiking at Hawk Mountain where, you guessed it, you can watch the hawk migrations, but Ash is fixing the front brakes on my car. Another weekend, I guess. We have a whole list of fall activities we're ready to enjoy.

Apple Spice Bread

2011-09-27T21:03:00.003-04:00

Last night I had a brilliant idea something along the lines of "I should make apple spice bread." As I said, brilliant. Okay, maybe not so much. It's no stroke of genius, but it's fall and there are apples and it's just what you should be doing on an autumn night - baking with apples and spices.

To my trusty Better Homes cookbook! (Imagine me blasting off toward the kitchen, something like Superman, but maybe with a wooden spoon or a whisk in my hand.) Oddly, the recipe for apple bread is the same that is used for zucchini bread. Hmm. If nothing else, I was going to use my all-time favorite banana bread recipe. Below you'll find the BH recipe, with slight adjustments to the amount of spices, mostly because I overflowed the measuring spoon...oops!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon (1.5 for me)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg (1/2 for me)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (my addition - a must for all baking)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 1/2 cups finely shredded, peeled apple*

*I cut mine into tiny chunks rather than pull out the food processor. It ended up being 2 cups, or 1.5 apples of the Pink Lady variety. I really wanted to use honeycrisp, but I only had one, and I wanted to be an apple purist. No mixing varieties.

Okay so I was being all Betty Crocker, getting my ingredients together in the separate bowls (see below) until I opened the cabinet to get the oil. Crap. I used the last of it when I made pumpkin bread a week or so ago. Just one more thing I forgot to put on the shopping list...uh oh. But! I did have just enough plain yogurt in the fridge, so I used that in place of the oil.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom and 1/2 way up sides of loaf pan; set aside. (I made a dozen muffins instead.) In medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

2. In another medium bowl, combine egg, sugar, shredded apple, vanilla extract and oil (or yogurt). Add apple mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Spoon batter into prepared pan. I sprinkled the top of the batter with a cinnamon-sugar mix.

3. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on rack. And here's another thing - I didn't set a timer. Go by smell!

Another Meatless Meal

2011-09-27T19:01:00.001-04:00

If I stick to the meal plan I've made for the week (well, the 5-day work week), I'll be eating meat one night, and fish another. The other days, my meals will have protein from soy or garbanzo beans. It's important to me to not only eat well for my body, but eat well for sustainability.

Tonight's dinner was another easy one with a Morningstar Farms product. I love their buffalo "chicken" nuggets, but the store where I did some grocery shopping over the weekend didn't have any. Bummer. Had to go with the plain old "chicken" nuggets instead. Throw 'em in the toaster oven on a sprayed baking sheet at 450 degrees for about 16 minutes. Flip 'em over once and let both sides get crispy.

I had leftover saffron rice from last night's tacos, so that was an easy side dish. Thanks to Ashley's garden, I had a fresh bell pepper for a veggie.

Fun fact: The past few photos I've posted have been taken with the Instagram app on my iPhone.

Less is More

2011-09-26T20:14:00.000-04:00

Some nights, just as much as I love trying a new, elaborate recipe, I love falling back on something simple. Tonight's "simple staple" is vegetarian tacos.

With a choice of white corn or yellow corn taco shells, I like the lightness of white corn. The two imitation beef products (soy-based) I use are either Morningstar Farms or Boca. Personally, I prefer Boca. It has the lightest flavor of seasoning already added to it, and it seems to cook better than the MSF product. To bulk the tacos up a little more, I made a pot of yellow rice.

The ingredients and cooking instructions are as simple as they come.

Rice: Get a box or bag of yellow rice; follow the cooking instructions on the package. One extra ingredient is a tablespoon of butter.

Tacos: Spray a frying pan and pour desired amount of frozen "beef" crumbles in; cook on low to medium heat until the crumbles are heated all the way through. Sprinkle in a little taco seasoning if you want (I always keep a couple extra packages in my spice cabinet). Throw the shells in the toaster over at 250 degrees for about 5 minutes.

Stuff the shells with rice, "beef" and cheese. Done and yum!

One fish, two fish

2011-09-22T21:45:00.000-04:00

In my extreme hunger and eagerness to eat dinner last night, I didn't snap any pics of the meal before we dug in...oops.

The last time I went to the co-op, I picked up a few different meats and fish for the main course of several meals. Last night's dinner was tilapia, which I think may be my favorite fish to prepare and eat. Because this white fish has such an un-fishy taste, you can prepare it so many different ways to feature the flavor of your ingredients. I decided to bread and bake.

I prepped by using two shallow dishes - one for a mixture of one egg beat with a couple tablespoons of milk (this was plenty for dipping two fillets). The other dish had a mixture of breadcrumbs and a few tablespoons of grated parmesan/romano cheese. I prepped a broiler pan by spraying the slotted tray with a thin layer of cooking spray, and nested it on top of the drain pan. After I dipped the fish in the egg mixture, I completely coated both sides in the bread crumb/grated cheese mixture, and placed on the broiler pan. Into the 425-degree oven for 20ish minutes it went, flipping the fish over halfway through. The breading was nice and crispy without drying out the fish. Perfection. I think I could have eaten both mine and Ashley's servings (shhh...).

Side dishes were steamed basmati rice (which you want to start before your fish, since it may take longer), and steamed broccoli (start the broccoli just a couple minutes before the fish is done). As always, I toasted the rice dry in the pan before adding the water. Let it boil for a minute, then reduce the heat and cover. With basmati rice, you'll notice a nice fragrance as the rice is cooking. It almost perfectly coincides with the rice being done.

I chose to mix my broccoli and rice and sprinkle with shredded Mexican blend cheese; Ash kept his separate and mixed hot sauce into his rice. We both had happy tummies after that dinner!

Food and Exercise

2011-09-07T17:00:00.001-04:00

Now that I have an office job again, I've started packing smarter lunches and eat it throughout the day, rather than all at one time. My stomach is definitely getting used to it. I've been eating like shit. I partially blame it on Ashley because he's all about eating out (even though he really likes my cooking...he wants to give me "a break"...plus it's something to do). The problem is we don't usually eat out places where you'd eat a real meal (umm...veggies?). It's usually more like bar food, cheesesteaks, etc. Blah.

I've brought an organic fruit strip, raw carrots and a piece of fruit both days so far. Yesterday I had some leftover saffron rice from the previous night's dinner, and today I have a container of plain organic yogurt with a scoop of Amazing Grass stirred in. Breakfast has been carbs (a couple of donut holes leftover from the weekend on Tuesday, and a bagel this morning). But mid-afternoon, all I can think about is what I'm making for dinner. I definitely have to pick up some raw almonds or other type of snack to fill me up a bit more. I get in a routine of eating certain things, but it never fails that I get sick of eating it before I run out (hence, why there are so many Kashi bars in my cabinet and I always try to pawn them off on Ash for breakfast, haha).

A few weeks ago I made a big batch of turkey chili, and another of chicken soup. I have a few containers of each stored in the freezer, but then the hurricane hit and I ate all of those portions so they didn't go bad while my power was out for about three days. Kind of a bummer, but it's not like I can't just go get the ingredients and make that stuff again. I've also been thinking about longer-range dinner planning so I can get back into the habit of more streamlined grocery shopping. I don't mind going to the store a couple times a week to be sure that I have fresh produce, but going every other night because I realize I don't have all the ingredients I need to make dinner is pretty annoying.

Up until the past few days of non-stop rain, I had been taking the dogs on a short walk around a few blocks in the neighborhood once a day. Our forecast shows rain through the weekend, which is annoying when I depend on good weather to allow me to exercise. Aside from not being able to walk the dogs (which makes me feel bad for them), the rain also means I'm not walking to work, and that is just lame. It's only three blocks away! And really, I only have about another month-and-a-half of walking to work, because I wouldn't feel comfortable walking home after dark once we have the time change.

Here's to hoping we get a break from the rain and I can get in a decent grocery shopping trip this weekend!

Dancing in the Dark

2011-08-30T21:55:00.000-04:00

Here I am, the naysayer, about to eat my words.

On Saturday night, Ashley and I went out to one of my new favorite places: El Camino Real in the Northern Liberties section of the city (oh my God - best pulled pork sandwich, salsa, guacamole, fries, margaritas...I could go on). I didn't bring my phone inside because of the torrential downpour we had to run through to get from the parking lot down the block to the restaurant doors, so I missed a call from my neighbor telling me the power went out in our apartment building. Damn.

A ridiculously large portion of a ridiculously large tree in front of the neighbor's house broke in the wind (landing on one of their cars...ouch) and ripping down the electrical line that connects to our building. It came to a crashing halt in our driveway. Double damn...not only did I lose my ever-so-carefully chosen parking space (one that seemed to be clear of all potential falling branches) and have to find an alternative on the street, but the darkness came too early.

Thank goodness I picked up the last couple packages of tea light candles I could find and an extra package of AAA batteries for my camping headlamp. When it's dark, it's...dark.

Without the usual hum of the fans, we heard every. little. noise. there was to hear, and of course popped up to look out the window any time something that sounded like a large truck drove by. Despite all the wishing and watching, no PECO truck for us. Sunday morning brought the neighborhood out to clean up. Some helped cut and move the tree, I babysat my landlord's dog...a great figure in the neighborhood...and we all chatted, thankful that people were safe and the damage wasn't much worse.

Luckily we have gas stoves/ovens and a gas water heater, so we weren't at our worst. I went to a few stores to look for a large cooler and ice so I could empty the contents of my fridge and pack my freezer. By yesterday afternoon, the freezer didn't seem to be faring so well, so I packed everything up and took it to the office to load in our freezer so I didn't lose everything. Thankfully I hadn't done a major grocery shopping trip recently.

After coming back from delivering my freezer contents to the office last night, my neighbor and I smelled something burning. We walked all around the outside of the house, and eventually around the block, but couldn't find a source. Twice we were passed by a fire truck and heard sirens in the distance - I guess they were having a bit of trouble, too. Maybe it was the paranoid state my mind was in, but around midnight I shot out of bed, unable to remember if I'd locked the office door on my way out. I could visualize when I set the alarm, but the door wasn't in my memory. Back to the office I went to check the door (locked, of course), and just a minute after getting home, a PECO truck drove around the corner and slowed in front of the house. YES! They were here to replace the electrical line!

About an hour-and-a-half later, we were back in business. I was giggling at all of the people who would be woken up when their lights, fans, TVs, etc. came back on in the middle of their slumber.

So, we survived.

Beer by candle light.

Irene, who?

2011-08-27T16:40:00.001-04:00

Yes...the whole east coast is talking about this Irene chick. Weird, huh?

I never like to believe the hype, and certainly don't want to be seen as one of those gullible fools clearing the store shelves of water, non-perishable foods and batteries (I even saw people stocking on up on a lot of paper goods like TP and napkins...weird). I especially don't want to believe the hype for a hurricane...hitting Philadelphia. We don't even have a coastline for cryin' out loud. But, we do have two large rivers and a creek that serves as a significant tributary to the Delaware, and with the wettest month on record, suppose there are a few things to worry about.

This post doesn't have much to do with food...except maybe I took stock of my "storm food" which consisted of half a loaf of bread, peanut butter, jelly, a few bananas, a peach, a few avocados and kiwi, some carrots, saltine crackers, cans of tuna, a few extra pitchers I filled with water...and a case of Leinenkugel's Autumn Sampler beer. Luckily, I have a gas range/oven so even if we lose power, I'll be able to cook "real" food.

I went to the barn this morning and we stocked up on hay and filled water troughs in the indoor riding arena, and secured the door open so the horses could come in to shelter if they need it. Good luck, boys!

There's a parks and recreation curfew going into effect at 6 p.m. and all of the city's public transportation is stopping at 12:30 in the morning. We're supposed to get the worst of the storm (up to 70 mph winds) after midnight. Perhaps we'll all be sleeping with one eye open tonight.

A tasty treat

2011-08-27T14:52:00.000-04:00

One of my all-time summer favorites - Caprese salad. The tomatoes are from my garden!

Tomato slices, fresh mozzarella, basil and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Recap: Smokey South African Lime Chicken

2011-08-21T20:00:00.000-04:00

I previewed this recipe in my last entry, and I'm finally getting around to writing the final review of the recipe.

I bought a package of two full boneless, skinless chicken breasts and ended up just using one, which was plenty of chicken for the both of us - there was enough left over for me to have as a lunch-sized portion the next day.

To start, I trimmed the chicken breast and separated the two breast pieces. I adapted this recipe from a pepper-lime chicken recipe, so I juiced two small limes for the marinade (use more or less depending on how tangy you want the flavor). To replace the pepper, I used a new seasoning mix:

It is called South African Smoke Seasoning Blend and Ashley found it at Trader Joe's. If you want to season meat to achieve a deep smokey flavor, this is your stuff! It's really good.

In a Pyrex dish about 2 inches deep, I poured the lime juice and placed the trimmed chicken breast. I sprinkled one side with the seasoning, let it sit for a few minutes, then flipped and sprinkled the other. Surprisingly, all of the seasoning stayed on the chicken. I put the lid on the Pyrex dish and put it in the fridge until I was ready to start cooking.

These chicken breasts can be grilled, broiled or baked. We got a little rained out, so I baked mine at 375 for about 30 minutes and flipped halfway through. The end result was great, and I'll definitely try this recipe again, hopefully grilling next time.

The side dish was scalloped mashed potatoes baked in a cheese sauce, but I wasn't very pleased with the recipe. I think it calls for too much butter and the cheese (sharp white cheddar) was too bland. I may try that again as well, but definitely reducing the amount of butter and using a more flavorful cheese like a smoked gouda.

Smokey South African seasoned & lime chicken and cheesy scalloped potatoes

2011-08-10T16:04:00.001-04:00

Hi friends! It's been awhile again. I swear there's a backlog on photos on my camera waiting to be downloaded for blog posting. What can I say - life is sort of busy.

Anyway, I'm really excited to try two new recipes for dinner tonight! A couple of weeks ago when we were in the grocery store, Ashley saw boxed cheesy scalloped potatoes and said "...that would be really good if it was real." And so came the inspiration for tonight's dinner. I'e been in kind of a food rut lately...we both have...so coming up with dinner ideas has been difficult. I decided to turn to one of my trusty old cookbooks and look for a chicken recipe that would go well with the potatoes. That's when I found the pepper-lime chicken recipe. But of course I can't just take a recipe and prepare it as-is. The last time we were at Trader Joe's, Ashley found a South African smoke seasoning blend (he loves BBQ and spicy flavors), so I'm subbing that seasoning mix (it comes in its own grinder/mill) for the pepper in the recipe.

Hopefully all comes out well and I'll have pictures and a great review after dinner tonight!

Gardens, Breakfasts and Dogs

2011-07-26T09:00:00.029-04:00

Good morning, glories! While I was sitting at my desk yesterday morning, I couldn't help but admire the pattern my coffee was making in the mug while I was slow to drink it, so I had to take a snap.

It's no secret that I've been loving my garden this season! And I'm not the only one. Occasionally I forget to check the squash, and they get too big to eat. What does that mean? Dog toys!

Wheeler has her mouth full with a piece of summer squash.

Marty gnawing away on his piece of squash.

Besides the squash, I've had some lovely yellow tomatoes. They're really tasty, and a perfect size. So far they are the earliest to ripen and I've picked a half dozen or so. I'm also super excited because tomato plants started coming up in places where some rotten tomatoes must have fallen last year, and at least one is my absolute favorite, but most difficult seed to find - the Garden Peach tomato!

And finally, how about these "green" beans? They are an heirloom bean - a deep purple on the vine, but supposedly when you cook them, they turn an emerald green. I love them too much raw to cook them, so I suppose I won't see that magic trick in the kitchen.

So what's with all these funky veggies? I really love the heirloom varieties, and this season that's pretty much all I bought when I was picking out my seeds. Do you realize how much genetic diversity you are preserving by choosing one of the "weird" varieties, as opposed to your typical big, red tomato or regular old bush bean? Saving seeds used to be a necessary part of the farming process for farmers years ago, which is how we've been able to have so many wonderful varieties available to us today.

Also, you may have at some point heard about monoculture (growing all of the same variety) versus polyculture (growing many varieties). That's kind of the idea here, too. I'm growing about 6-8 different varieties of tomatoes, all in my backyard garden. Again, it preserves the genetic diversity, but may also be beneficial if pests decide to attack any of my plants.

I'm not the only gardener around. Ashley loves to spend evenings in his garden (and I love that about him!) and often brings me some of the veggies he's grown. Currently I have a handful of hot peppers drying. It was pretty cool over the past couple of weeks to watch them turn from green to bright red and shrink up into almost fake looking little peppers.

But this past weekend, he brought a paper bag full of red and white potatoes. We washed them, chopped them up, cooked them in olive oil and sprinkled them with a hefty dose of Old Bay. Delicious!

And then we have the equivalent of the "his and hers" breakfast. Go ahead...just call us brunchaholics.

Ashley's brunch with local turkey breakfast sausages.

My meat-free brunch with a fresh croissant from a local bakery.

Are you growing anything new in your garden this summer? What's your favorite part of your weekend breakfast or brunch? Happy Tuesday everyone!

I'll Stop the World and Melt with You

2011-07-21T22:49:00.001-04:00

At this hour...at the minute...10:38 p.m. to be exact, we're still suffering a heat index of 101 degrees. Yuck. I think the high heat index of the day reached 107 degrees. Tomorrow's actual temperature is supposed to be 101 degrees with not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful, right?

Anyway, for an hour this afternoon, I escaped obligations and enjoyed this:

And believe me, I wasn't out of that water for a second until it was time to dry off and go home. Someday when I am married and a homeowner, there will be a pool in my backyard...if my husband knows what's good for him. *insert angelic smile and batting eyelashes*

Before I headed off this afternoon to complete two more of my member work hours for the co-op, I spied this little guy sitting on the door of my car:

Until this summer, I have never seen a praying mantis in Philadelphia. A couple of weeks ago, I found one on the foyer door in the entryway of my apartment. They're following me! When I was a kid, my mom owned a business and in the strip mall where her shop was located, there were large, brick planters with shrubbery in them. I always found praying mantises around them. I was so fascinated by their fragile, interesting little bodies. I guess I still am! Have you found any interesting, summer critters at home or while on vacation?

It's not spring, but I'm still cleaning!

2011-07-19T23:14:00.003-04:00

If you don't already know, I have two children...two furry, four-legged, barking children. One of my pups, Marty the poodle-terrier mix, is quite the sloppy eater. His messes could probably rival the mess that children of the two-legged variety make, for those types of parents out there.

Tonight I spied an army of black ants trying to make off with a piece of half-chewed kibble Marty spit onto the floor (Did I mention what excellent manners he has? No? Hmm...) and that was enough for me. I muscled up and pulled the refrigerator away from the wall and out into the middle of the kitchen floor.

Let me tell you friends, everything in the kitchen is not all sugar and spice. It's also part dust bunny, part army-carried kibbel chunks, part random food wrapper you could have sworn ended up in the trashcan, part dried mystery crud on the floor....yeah, you get the picture. I could sum it up in one word for you: EW.

After sweeping and scrubbing the floor (I use a pet-friendly mix of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle), I also remembered a good environmentally-conscious tip: dust off the coils on the back of the fridge. Keeping the coils free of dust can help your fridge operate and cool more efficiently, and we all know what that means. New shoes! Just kidding - it could mean a lower electricity bill (which I just may find a tad more exciting than a new pair of shoes)!

And not to be out-famed by Marty, I have to be fair my girl Wheeler, the queen of the castle!

My Favorite Dinner

2011-07-19T16:46:00.003-04:00

Mmm...seitan and veggie stir fry! I was introduced to seitan by the wonderful, health-conscious mother of the kids in my neighborhood who I used to babysit. Part of the family ate a vegetarian diet and part ate meat, so seitan was a popular item in their house. Thank goodness for that, because it's one of my favorite meat substitutes, now!

I went for seasonal veggies to add to my stir fry - thin asparagus stalks, carrots and a summer squash from my garden. As you can see in the photo, I also used onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and of course, the seitan. Not pictured are the olive oil and rice.

The process is simple and uses one pan and one pot, at most. In a large frying pan, pour enough olive oil in the bottom to almost cover the the surface. Start with your peeled and slice carrots and seitan (I pull it apart into smaller pieces). Let them simmer a couple minutes on their own, and then add the minced garlic, ginger (I love the zing it adds, so I use about a teaspoon) and chopped onion (this was a small, yellow onion - I used half). The reason why I don't add the onion and garlic immediately is because they have a tendency to burn when heated the entire time. Next, add the squash, followed by the asparagus (washed and cut, of course). Finally, add the teriyaki and soy sauces in whatever amounts suit your taste.

As you can tell, I add my ingredients to the frying pan based on the length of time I want that particular ingredient to cook. The carrots and seitan need much longer to cook than the asparagus. I lucked out and already had a large portion of basmati rice leftover from dinner two nights prior, so I put it right into the frying pan and stirred it up with the seitan, veggies and sauces until it was completely heated. Talk about an an easy meal! This is one of my absolute favorites...now if I could just get Ashley to eat veggies...

BBQ Pulled Pork

2011-07-19T01:09:00.004-04:00

Ashley's birthday was on a Sunday in June. He's not really into big celebrations, so we stuck to our usual "Adventure Sunday" (I'll elaborate more on that in a future post) and explored a natural wildlife refuge in the area. I did get him a birthday gift, but while while we were out for the day, I think his favorite birthday treat was simmering in the crockpot at home.

Painted turtle sunning itself on a log in the pond.

I couldn't remember exactly how I prepared the chunk of pig (your best best is a pork shoulder with one fatty side and the bone still in it) the last time I made pulled pork, but I'll let you in on a little secret about the most important ingredient: beer. Not just any beer though - a stout (or three). Look at a million recipes online for BBQ seasoning and you'll find about the same mix of seasonings: paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, brown sugar and chili powder. Of course there are more (or fewer) spices you can mix together to meet your particular tastes, but those are the basics.

I like to mix all of my spices in a bowl, and then rub the pork shoulder really thoroughly with all the spices, just like you'd prepare dry-rubbed ribs. After the meat is coated in spices, I put it aside for a few minutes while I caramelize onions. Slice up a yellow onion into rings, add a bit of olive oil to a large pan and pour in a few tablespoons of brown sugar. On low heat, sauté the onions until they are golden brown, then dump them into the bottom of the crockpot.

I add a bit more olive oil to a the same pan (You really think I'm going to clean up that many dishes? Please.) and brown all sides of the meat, just to get the cooking started and seal in the flavor. Once all sides are browned, into the crockpot it goes, resting on a bed of caramelized onions. Next I throw in a few sprigs of fresh thyme and pour in 2-3 bottles of beer, depending on how large the piece of pork is.

You want the piece of meat completely covered with liquid, even a little extra so it remains covered as some of the liquid steams out. The beer selection is crucial. You want a dark, flavorful beer. You can choose one with a coffee or smokey undertone, or a sweeter taste. You can find any of these flavors in numerous stouts and porters. Don't be afraid to mix different types of beer. The first time I made pulled pork, we sampled all of the beers in a make-your-own 6-pack and chose two with flavors we thought to be complimentary to each other. So pour in your 2 stouts or porters. I topped my liquid off with half a bottle of a honey weiss, which is a lighter wheat beer. You can always add other flavors such as hot sauce, molasses, BBQ sause, etc. to enhance the flavor of the meat. Be creative!

After all the prep work is done, put the lid on your crockpot, set the temperature to medium or high and give the meat 6-8 hours to fall apart. When it's time to pull the meat apart, I like to keep it in the crockpot and the liquid so it can continue soaking up the flavor and not get dried out. I use a big two-pronged meat fork and a large serving fork since the meat shreds so easily at this point.

Ashley's birthday dinner was complete when the pulled pork was served on toasted potato rolls with homemade cheesy mashed potatoes, made from red potatoes. We ended the day with a picnic on the roof. It was such an awesome meal that I ate three sandwiches!

Birthday boy's pulled pork and mashed potatoes.

Chow down, birthday boy!

Improvising the Sunday Brunch

2011-07-16T09:00:00.003-04:00

Is that my awesome boyfriend I spy making breakfast? It totally is. One Sunday morning I'd whipped up the pancake batter, then took the dogs outside and swore I could smell breakfast food cooking (even though I said I'd start cooking as soon as I came in). When I got back inside, Ashley had the pancakes almost finished and was about to start on the eggs. He's the best.

Here's where things got interesting...I don't eat breakfast sausage (in fact, it wasn't until very recently that I even ate a grilled chicken sausage). Usually though, I have some breakfasty meat product in my fridge or freezer for Ashley to eat on the weekends. Except this time. He finished the sausages the weekend before, and I'd put the bacon in the freezer so it wouldn't go bad. Oops. Being the good sport and brave food eater that he is, he opted for a turkey hot dog and said "why not?." So he chopped it up and threw it in with his eggs, scrambled it all up and called it good.

Cutting up 1 turkey hotdog into bite-sized pieces to add to the eggs.

Mixing it all together.

Scramble time!

What lesson did we learn today, friends? Fake it so you can make it!

The Cheater's Margarita

2011-07-15T22:25:00.005-04:00

In the spirit of the weekend (as if we need a reason...ahem), how about a drink recipe? I like to call this one the "Cheater's Margarita" because, well, I cheated!

When it comes to a mixed drink, there's nothing I find more unsatisfying than an overly sweet, not quite real enough fruit flavored drink mix (probably loaded with calories, no less) to be the deathbed of good alcohol. You catching my drift here?

That said, the last time I made these margaritas, I wasn't exactly in the mood to be squeezing lime after lime (time after time?). So, read on my friends and find out how to cheat your way to a delicious margarita!

Liquor: silver tequila and triple sec

Other: Simply Limeade and Simply Lemonade

In a shaker (ok, who am I kidding? a pitcher...) with ice, add a 1:3 ration of triple sec to tequila. Then, shake up your bottles of Simply Limeade and Simply Lemonade really well. [Note - these do have pulp, so if you don't like it, use a strainer when pouring them into your pitcher.] Add about the same ratio (1:3) of lemonade to limeade. The lemonade cuts the tartness of the lime just a bit and makes a really smooth drink. Stir or shake it up, and test the flavor. Adjust to meet your taste preferences, then pour and serve.

And there you go...sit back and enjoy a summer day while sipping on a Cheater's Margarita!

Blueberries!

2011-07-15T18:26:00.008-04:00

Growing up on the Outer Banks, one of my favorite summer activities (well, besides going to the beach...duh) was picking blueberries. If I remember correctly, the blueberry farm was on Waterlily Road. We went several times during the summer and every time would leave with loads of blueberries. As a kid, it was super exciting to stop at Joe's "Tarheel Produce," where he'd pay you a couple bucks a quart for your extra blueberries. Cash-money, baby!

So, needless to say, I still love picking blueberries. A few weekends ago, right at the beginning of blueberry season up here in PA, Ashley and I went to Solebury Orchards in New Hope, PA for some fresh berries (they also have the best apple cider donuts I've ever had...like, to die for...but shhhh, don't tell anyone!).

Picking was decent. We both ended up with a lot of those not-quite-ripe-but-who-cares-because-they're-the-best-ones-anyway berries in our quart-sized containers. I ate all of mine by Thursday (we picked on a Sunday), and Ashley froze his (I know, kind of a sin, right?). He has good reason though! He recently bought an at-home beer brewing kit and as a substitute for some of the sugar, he's going to add the quart of blueberries he picked. We've had some good fruit-infused beers, and I think it'll turn out really well! His kit is for a Belgian Triple, so if he does it well, the end result might be a little something like the Three Philosophers beer that he loves, just with blueberries instead of cherries.

Repeat that last title...

2011-07-14T22:00:00.005-04:00

Gosh, I am getting bad at this. So there are a lot of new things on the horizon.

The public school district where I have been working as a Special Education teacher for the last 5 months has gone to hell. That being said, I'm currently without a teaching job for the fall. I didn't realize I was going to love teaching as much as a did. I'll tell anyone I meet that I love a challenge, and that's certainly what I was handed when I began working in February. And you know what? All the more reason why I loved it. Disrespectful students began to respect me, themselves and each other. Apathetic students began to care about their progress in classes. Students who were used to failing had a taste of success, and I became their biggest cheerleader. Students who weren't used to guidance were given a dose of tough love. The transformation for them (and me!) was amazing. I wouldn't have traded any single tough day...days when I wanted to throw the books down and go running out the door in tears...for anything in the world. And that's why I'm so passionate about getting back in the classroom this fall.

A college friend is following his dreams and starting an online, location-based magazine, and he has asked me to be the editor! Right now it's just a side project with collaboration from friends and friends of friends, but we're really hoping to see this go somewhere. And that's why I want you to check it out (and if you feel so compelled, by all means...spread the word)! We're called Culprit Magazine. Follow the link and you'll be taken to our website, which will be going live with the first issue August 1st! You can also follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. It's all about staying connected! Through Culprit Magazine, you'll be able to browse events calendars (tailored to each of our initial major cities - NYC, Philadelphia and L.A.), read articles related to events or activities in each of those cities, as well as read articles that may interest anyone in any location. We're all about access, so we've created a wide variety of interest categories to appeal to our readers. Hope to find you browsing the site in August!

Finally (I know, I know...I'm just like those TV shows that show all of the good stuff on commercials, then you find out that clip is from the last minute of the show), what people originally started coming here to read...the food. I have a ton of pictures to upload and meals to write about, my garden to rave (and fuss) about, restaurants to discuss and much more. But for the rest of the night, I must put on my editor's cap (ok fine - glasses) and read through my first batch of stories.

So for now, I'll leave you with a tasty imagine of summertime from the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk in Delaware. Yum!

Dang, it's been awhile

2011-04-26T21:28:00.005-04:00

I've been back to the grind after enjoying an awesomely uncommitted 9 days off from work...thank you spring break! I was just a tad bit lazy, waking up most days around...err...10. It was so nice to take my time getting out of bed, making a cup of coffee and taking the dogs to the backyard to play.

I finally did some serious work in my garden, tilling in some topsoil, marking off planting locations for the little guys still sprouting inside, and getting the direct-seed fruits and veggies in the ground. This year I hope to be enjoying a bounty of: cantaloupe, summer squash, Boothby's blond cucumber, dinosaur kale, kaleidoscope mix (colorful!) carrots, assorted beets, a purple heirloom bean, garden peach tomatoes (my favorite from last year), carnival (more colorful!) bell peppers, and lots of lettuce for salads. I'm just crossing my dirt-covered fingers that everything sprouts.

Another wonderful think about spring: seasonal beer. Well, that's wonderful about any season, but it's extra fun with a cool bottle opener. I picked this one up during my birthday trip to Baltimore, and Ashley also bought one. He's going to turn his into a door knocker, which is a cool idea. Having grown up at the beach, I can't pass up anything that's mermaid and awesome.

I freakin' love Seitan

2011-02-23T20:38:00.000-05:00

The end.

Pizza and Beer Night

2011-02-22T23:01:00.007-05:00

Never mind the 6-pack and extra large pie from the local pizza parlor. This was a make-it-yourself night. My local Whole Foods is also home to a great little pub. If you know Pennsylvania, you know the odd beer-purchasing laws of the state (i.e. beer purchases are mostly restricted to buying entire cases from beer distributors), which is partly why I love WF so much. In the pub, you can buy large, individual bottles of some of the delicious microbrews or seasonal 6-packs from the walk-in fridge room; fill up a growler to go or enjoy a pint inside the pub. It's a small spot, and every time I've been there it's been full of people.

At the local bar, I enjoyed a delicious Belgian dubble, so I was excited to see one inside the fridge room. Ashley's been on a hunt for a random beer I had leftover after my neighborhood Halloween party - Three Philosophers. It's a cherry Belgian tripel. Whole Foods had it!

We were planning to make our own pizzas for dinner, originally on pitas, but then Ashley spotted the garlic naan. Best idea ever. The garlic flavor of the "pizza crust" added a little extra something to the pizzas. We bought a package of four and ended up using all of them (Ashley ate both for dinner; I saved one of mine to have the next day).

To start, we rubbed a little olive oil on top of the naan (the secret to all great pizzas!), and then the sauce. I used Muir Glen's organic pizza sauce, which already had Italian spices in it, so we didn't need to add our own. And finally, mozzarella cheese and we each chose our own toppings (he likes pepperoni and I like olives). Into the oven they went at 400 for about 15 minutes...perfect and tasty!

Chik Patties Parmesan

2011-02-22T19:52:00.004-05:00

Confession: I am a wanna-be vegetarian. I seem to have commitment issues with my food relationship though. While I still enjoy a little bit of meat from time-to-time (except beef), I often opt for vegetarian choices when possible.

I love to make chicken parmesan, but this time I wanted a vegetarian option, and a shortcut (I know...seriously asking a lot, right?). Not exactly. I was able to get both with Morningstar Farms Chik Patties and the resulting meal was great!

Prepared as normal, I poured a little sauce on the bottom of a glass baking dish, then placed the Chik Patties on top, covered in more sauce and mozzarella cheese. In the oven it went at 350

for about 20 minutes. I have a gas oven and my broiler drawer under the oven is really shallow, so I was able to put the small dish in the toaster oven under the broiler for just a couple of minutes to completely melt the cheese. The meal was great! Overall, these aren't bad "chicken" patties and I will definitely try them in a few more recipes. The box comes with four patties.

Dear Blogger,

2011-02-22T19:42:00.001-05:00

I 98% hate you and your 987385970235897243589724 screw-ups per day. Now I remember why I stopped posting.

Ashley's Man Sandwich

2011-02-20T09:44:00.006-05:00

My man has his own man...man sandwich, that is.

Sure, he has the cupcake-making side:

But he loves some "dude food." His usual kitchen activity involves watching me cook, and then

being awesome and cleaning up the dishes, but he makes some tasty scrambled eggs.

The scrambled eggs in his man sandwich had mozzarella cheese and some Italian spices. The

potato roll was toasted to burnt perfection. His reasoning? Hot eggs have steam...steam makes bread soggy...bread needs to be extra toasted to avoid getting soggy. He also loves his Zing sauce...it's a sauce from NC my mom always used in her awesome bean dip. It adds a little kick to the food. Mmmm.

Summer Splendor

2010-08-15T22:08:00.019-04:00

Summer's best - freshly picked blueberries

From the garden - Garden Peach heirloom tomatoes and basil with fresh mozzarella from the co-op.

Shrimp Caesar Salad - Romaine, avocado, shaved Parmesan and a squeeze of lemon
with shrimp sauteed in extra virgin olive oil, Old Bay and lemon. Dressing added after picture.

Mmm...Italian! Farfalle tossed with roasted broccoli and garlic, organic tomato sauce and mozzarella.

No better breakfast - a cheese omelette between toasted and buttered oat bread.

Garden blooms - marigolds, rosemary and mustard green blossoms. So fragrant!

My favorite fella...

...And a little bit of puppy love with a farm friend's new Rottie love bug, Annie.

Good food isn't just for people

2010-08-05T14:43:00.002-04:00

As some of you may have read on (anne)vironment, I have a pup who has experienced seizures - one major seizure that impacted the right side of her whole body and a couple of minor/partial seizures that primarily affected the right side of her face. One of the best places to start when battling canine epilepsy is analyzing your dog's diet. I read label after label after label (and then some) to find the food that would best suit her needs, leaving out all of the unnecessary ingredients (which just so happen to be the ones that can be most harmful to dogs who experience seizures). After doing more dog food research than I ever thought possible, I decided that Dick van Patten's Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet food was going to be the best for Wheeler. This food is free of gluten, soy, dairy, corn and animal by-products - all common ingredients in traditional dog foods. Because Wheeler's previous food was chicken-based, I chose the chicken and sweet potato version of Natural Balance.

To give her meals a little boost and extend the life of a bag of dry dog food (sure I want her to have the best, but the best is pretty pricey...), I cut up and boil sweet potatoes, then mash them in the food processor. I also make a pot of rice. Both of these ingredients are often used by those who make homemade dog food, so they are great to add, even if supplemental to dry food. Wheeler loves it, and cleans her bowl every time!

A week of campers

2010-08-02T21:58:00.003-04:00

This past week was quite possibly my favorite week of the summer...so far...we'll get to the potential of future weeks later. I spent it with a group for 4th-7th grade campers. I look forward to planning this week of work all year because we spend every moment of our days outside exploring the great, big world around us. There's not a hill we see that we don't climb...not a creek we see that we don't wade into looking for aquatic creatures. We caught more frogs and minnows and crayfish than I could keep count of. And Mother Nature, what a sweetheart, she tucked away her fussy storms and sweltering heat just long enough for us to enjoy our week together hiking through many local parks. If you're a regular reader, you know how much I love that "non-traditional" exercise - time spent hiking, bike riding, kayaking, horseback riding, etc. rather than in a gym.

Sitting in a big Indian statue on top of a cliff at one of the local parks

Also thanks to the cooler weather, my neighbors and I have been able to get together for some cook-outs in our backyard fire pit. We grilled everything we could get our hands on, but I think the best was the squash and zucchini from the garden, coated in a little EVOO and a sprinkling of sea salt. Another night we went fresh and light, cutting up fresh mozzarella balls from the co-op, my heirloom garden peach tomatoes (grown from seed in my apartment over the winter!) and basil leaves from the garden. Yum! Although we forgot the s'mores supplies all the nights we cooked outside, I had one at lunch on the last day of camp when we grilled at state park after spending the morning in the creek.

The campers all complimented my grilling and perfect s'more-making skills.

Lastly, an interesting turn of events in life has left me with a lot of free time on my hands. It's the free time I've been pining for all summer, but never expected to have...but here it is. It can be a terrifying world when you're out there totally on your own. Rather than spend every free day worrying, I'll do what I can to make the best of it. I'm looking forward sending my alarm clock on a vacation and welcoming a new morning routine: awaken when the sun says it's time; enjoy a cup of coffee and bowl of Cheerios at the kitchen table without being rushed; take Wheeler on a nice, leisurely stroll around the neighborhood; and then...just find ways to enjoy my day. And hey...since I won't have any room for excuses like "I just didn't have any time today," I should be able to spend some time exercising every day. And maybe I'll get back to some of the volunteer projects I've loved and the biggest excitement of all...more time with my sweet Charlie.

So this is where I find myself after another week gone by. As my life is transforming, it seems this blog is too. I promise I still have lots of snack and meal pictures to upload...hopefully I'll tackle that by the end of the week. And checkout (anne)vironment, too! It is part of my plan to also pack a whole lot more into that poorly neglected project. Stay tuned, friends!

Catching Up

2010-07-23T15:34:00.003-04:00

Wow...I've really fallen behind! Here's a little of what I've been up to lately:

First, there's my dear, sweet Charlie:

Charlie has been having a tough time of it after developing laminitis and foundering. We had some very scary days that I questioned whether or not would be our last together. Fortunately, they were not. With a lot of lovin' and special care, Charlie came through. He is now completely sound at a walk, and is even doing a little trot work. This is a long way from the days when he could not even support himself enough to stand. I've been trimming and dressing his front hooves every weekend so we can get the cracked part of his hoof wall grown out. He developed an abscess on the coronary band of each front hoof, and those have been healing nicely now, too. I've always liked my guys tall, dark and handsome...this one's no different, and he's stolen my heart.

And the garden...oh, the garden:

It might look a little chaotic, but we've got a ton going on in there. I share this space with two neighbors and a friend and we all threw in our veggie loves and talents to make this space flourish. We have squash, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, kale, collards, broccoli, chard, greens, onions, peas and even hops. Unfortunately we've encountered a few issues like blossom end rot in the early ripening tomatoes and a squash borer has attacked a cucumber and squash plant. Overall, everything is doing pretty well and we have a nice little bounty to share.

A couple of times, I've been fortunate enough to have this view:

One of my neighbors and I have paid a couple of visits to the beautiful beach at Island Beach State Park in New Jersey. It's still nothing like the Carolina Coast where I grew up, but I'll take it! The last time we were there the water was up to a refreshing 65º...better than the first time when it was still only 55º! Hopefully I'll make it back a few more times before the summer is over. Each trip to the beach is a four hour round trip for us from Philly, but boy-oh-boy is it worth every minute of the drive!

101 Days of Summer

2010-06-14T10:04:00.003-04:00

Wow, I have been swamped lately! Mostly with fun though, so I really can't complain. It's just meant that I've hardly been spending any time indoors and using a computer.

And now I finally get around to talking about this great summer health initiative I'm involved in!

Biz from Biggest Diabetic Loser had the idea to start an awesome blogger community challenge: 101 Days of Summer. From Memorial Day until Labor Day, a whole slew of bloggers are working to reach their summer health goals. I can't say enough about what a great idea this is!

The end of winter left me a few pounds heavier and my jeans a little tighter...something I was not happy about. To get myself on track, I've vowed to do a few things. I'm eating more raw foods as a way to get all those nutrients in my body in the most useful and beneficial forms. I'm also trying to do some form of exercise most days of the week along with tracking what I eat every day.

I'm by no means perfectly following all of the tasks I set out for myself to do, but I'm making a good effort. And I must say, knowing that 50 or so other people may read about my slip-ups if I were to, oh, stuff my face full of cake and have a movie marathon on the couch, certainly helps keep me on track! Oh guilt, it can be a beautifully useful tool sometimes.

I invite you to follow along on Biz's blog to see the group's progress as well as check back here to see my own personal progress. One more week and summer is officially here!

Good Food(s) of the Day

2010-06-05T21:41:00.003-04:00

Dinner: Alu Gobi (Indian spiced cauliflower, potato and peas) with Basmati rice

Dessert: Smoothie! Made with frozen strawberries and pineapple, fresh blueberries, organic fat-free vanilla yogurt and orange juice. Mmm...perfect for such a hot night!

Good Food of the Day

2010-06-03T23:29:00.003-04:00

Dinner at the office: Channa masala (from a great Indian take-out joint in the neighborhood; bought at the co-op) and basmati rice (made at home).

Good Food of the Day

2010-06-02T23:25:00.000-04:00

Salad for lunch: Lettuce (two types) from the garden, in-season blueberries, smoked Gouda from the co-op and light raspberry-pomegranate dressing.

Fridge Makeover

2010-05-27T18:45:00.006-04:00

The last time I went grocery shopping, I decided to do a fridge makeover! I was thinking about the bottom drawer, intended to be a produce drawer, and how it actually becomes a black hole in the fridge. This is particularly an issue with my fridge since the front of the drawer is solid white, rather than clear (i.e. - no constant viewing of what's inside).

To remedy this issue, I decided that instead of produce, the drawer would become home to all of the items I don't necessarily need on a daily basis: cheeses, bouillon, carrots that I take to the barn on weekends, etc.

All of the produce moved to more visible places in the fridge, wherever its size allowed. Sauces went in one area, drinks in another and other dairy products on the top shelf so they could be seen and used before expiration dates.

So far, it's been working out great! My philosophy is always to question why things are the way they are, and adapt anything you can to your needs.

Get Naked!

2010-05-06T18:02:00.000-04:00

Love Naked Juice? Read my review on (anne)vironment!

Lizano burger and lemon asparagus

2010-04-25T17:37:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago, my friends and I had a potluck BBQ for my birthday, and I had the most delicious asparagus ever. Last weekend was another friend's birthday BBQ, and I was in charge of the turkey burgers, which were probably the best I've ever made. Tonight, I put them both together to make one supremely delicious dinner!

What You Need:

Ground turkey
Yellow or white onion
Fresh garlic
Salsa Lizano (or your own substitute)
Provolone cheese, sliced
Asparagus
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Lemon

Unfortunately, most of you will be unable to make these burgers using my key ingredient - Salsa Lizano. I was introduced to the sauce in 2006 when I went to Costa Rica for the first time. I loved it so much that I stocked up on a couple of bottles before returning home. To my delight, the grocery store in my neighborhood had quite a large Hispanic section and sold my Lizano! Since moving to Philadelphia from North Carolina, I haven't been able to find Salsa Lizano anywhere, nor have I met anyone who's ever tried it. I returned to Costa Rica last May and was sure to stock up on a few bottles of that delicious, all-purpose sauce. And yes, it is a sauce, not literally a salsa, as the name may be misunderstood. Lizano is a mix of deliciously tangy and somewhat spicy flavors, best described in use as Costa Rica's version of America's ketchup.

What You Do:

To make the burgers, use the necessary amount of ground turkey meat (99% fat free/white meat) and add to it the desired amount of chopped onions, garlic and sauce. Mix all together, form your patties and grill (or cook in a frying pan, as I did due to the drizzly weather today). Just before they are finished, top with a slice of cheese. I ate my burger sans bun tonight, but when I do eat them I always choose potato bread. Mmmm, so good!
To prepare the asparagus, slice off the bottom ends of the stem and discard (don't forget to compost!); slice the asparagus stalks to the desired size (I cut mine into thirds). In a frying pan, add a little extra virgin olive oil, throw in the asparagus and cook until slightly brown, stirring occasionally so all sides get cooked. Turn the heat off and squeeze lemon onto the asparagus and stir to be sure all stalks get coated.

Both parts of this meal have really strong and delicious flavors, perfectly complimenting each other. It can sometimes be a mistake to serve more than one intensely flavored food in a meal, but you can't go wrong with these two!

The BSI winner and next host is...

2010-04-19T09:00:00.001-04:00

Woah...you are all awesome! The variety of recipes submitted for beets was really interesting, and I honestly wish I could have picked more than one winner. To come to my decision, I looked for creativity in the recipe, and of course something I'd love to try!

The entries were:

Beet Burgers from Aubree Cherie of Living Free

"Pepperoni" Beet Rice and Greens from Alisa of One Frugal Foodie

Beets with Sour Cream from Christina of Dinner at Christina's

Biz's Beet Hummus from Biz of Biggest Diabetic Loser

Beet Nut Bread from Chaya of Chaya's Comfy Cook Blog

And the winner is...

Beet Burgers!

This recipe is so wildly creative. First of all, I was so pleased that everyone had such healthy recipes, so props to everyone for that! It can be a such a challenge sometimes to eat healthy, particularly if your version of healthy excludes many ingredients that are found in easy-to-prepare food. As soon as I saw the recipe for beet burgers I was totally fascinated. I do not eat beef, so I love other alternatives for burgers! Congratulations Aubree, and thank you so much to all of you for being such good sports about cooking with beets ;) I'd like to try several of these recipes, so I'll be sure to post my progress.

Aubree, please email me your address so that I can send off your prize!

Your next host of the Blogger Secret Ingredient will be Alisa of One Frugal Foodie. Be sure to check her blog for this week's ingredient!

Thank you again to everyone for submitting their recipes! Now we all have lots of delicious ideas for new ways to eat beets. (See, they're really not so bad, now are they?)

A little motivation

2010-04-14T16:13:00.004-04:00

To get everyone thinking about what fantastic recipe they will submit for this week's BSI contest, here's a quick little dinner I made last week using fresh beets from the co-op.

A very basic prep, I washed a medium sized beet, filled a pot with enough water to cover the beet, put a lid on and boiled. While the beet was cooking, I diced two chicken breast strips and sauteed them in extra virgin olive oil and garlic powder. After the beet finished boiling, I removed it from the water and let cool, then sliced off the skin. Chop it up, toss it in the bowl and you're ready to eat! I really enjoyed the flavor of the beet with the garlic-covered chicken!

Here's an extra incentive to those of you thinking of submitting a recipe:

I have a good friend who hasn't eaten beets since she was a child and discovered how much she absolutely couldn't stand them. I suggested getting fresh golden beets, which had the potential to be a double-win in her attempt at trying beets as an adult (apparently your taste buds change about every 7 years). First benefit: the beets are fresh instead of canned. Second benefit: since they aren't the typical red beet, she may see them as something totally different and not association them with the canned beets she ate years ago. After seeing that I chose beets as my ingredient for the BSI challenge, she has declared that whatever the winning recipe is, she will make it for her official adult beet-eating taste test to see if she likes beets! So there you go...now go get your beets!

Big bowl salad

2010-04-12T19:39:00.004-04:00

After an unnecessarily strenuous bike ride tonight (got partway to yoga class and had to turn around because my wheel was slightly bent and rubbing the frame - like driving with the parking brake on!), I needed a big meal. With some chicken in the fridge, I threw together my favorite garlic chicken salad with spring greens, grape tomatoes and a little shaved Parmesan.

Now in mid-April, some of those early season crops are in the ground. In my garden, the tiny greens are just sprouting. I bought this lettuce mix from my co-op, and it was probably grown in a greenhouse. Here in Philly, the last frost date is May 1 (can you believe it?!). That said, none of the frost-sensitive seedlings I've sprouted (squash, melon, three types of tomatoes...) are in the ground just yet. The frost tolerant seeds, however, have been planted. Along with the lettuce we're seeing sprouts from the beans and beets. The carrots and peas probably aren't too far behind. I can't wait until I can make a salad from my own backyard! Mmmm.

Blogger Secret Ingredient Reveal

2010-04-12T10:33:00.002-04:00

Welcome! I'm really excited to be hosting Week 75 of Blogger Secret Ingredient! This is my first time hosting and I wanted to pick a great ingredient to use. So many of you have chosen some of my favorite items in the past, so I really had to think for this one.

Luckily, I've recently become a big fan of a particular root vegetable...

Source

Beets!

Beets are chock-full of nutrients. They can be eaten cooked, raw or juiced; produce natural dyes; can be planted before the last spring frost and have edible greens. What more can you ask for? Besides just the typical red beet, there are many other varieties including a white beet and (my favorite!) the vibrant golden beet. Take a trip to your local farmers' market and pick up some fresh beets to use for this week's BSI contest!

All entries will be due by 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, April 18. The winner and next host will be announced on Monday, April 19. To submit your recipe, please email me at savinglittleturtles at gmail dot com. Please send the full recipe (and photos if you choose), or a link to the specific entry on your blog. If you also have interest in being the next BSI host, please include that in your email or leave a comment below.

Because I love gardening and growing my own produce (I'm even growing two types of beets this year!), the winner will receive a variety of organic heirloom seeds, about a $10 value.

For those who are new to BSI (or need a refresher on the rules), each week there is a new host who must:

Pick an ingredient, preferably one that is in season and readily available and not too expensive;
link back to all the other previous weekly hosts;
review the recipe submissions by Sunday night of each week;
pick a recipe that is your favorite; and
post the winner Monday morning and send the winner a token prize of your choosing.

To participate:

you do not have to have a food blog to particpate
you do not have to submit a photograph
if you don’t have a blog, you can submit your recipe to that week's host, and they will post your recipe for you

The previous hosts and ingredients are:

Week 74: Dinner at Christina’s – Sour Cream

Week 73: The Chef in My Head - Goat Cheese

Week 72: 5 Star Foodie - Asparagus

Week 71: Eats Well With Others – Carrots

Week 70: Burp and Slurp - Brussel Sprouts

Week 69: Fun Fearless Foodie – Parmesan Cheese

Week: 68: Natalie’s Killer Cuisine - Cocoa Powder

Week 67: Eat, Live, Travel, Write - Lemon Zest

Week 66: Travel Eat Love - Coconut Milk

Week 65: Run Beans Run - Tofu

Week 64: Chicago Marathon Val - Mushrooms

Week 63: Biggest Diabetic Loser – Cheddar Cheese

Week 62: A Fit and Spicy Life – Balsamic Vinegar

Week 61: Peanut Butter Fingers - Nutmeg

Week 60: Jenn Eats Nutritiously Now - Garlic

Week 59: Home Cooked Em – Cinnamon

Week 58: The Balanced Broad – Flax

Week 57: Cookin Fanatic - Blue Cheese

Week 56: Foodie in the City - Ricotta Cheese

Week 55: Savvy Eats - Maple Syrup

Weel 54: Sound Eats - Dried Fruit

Week 53: Mega Nerd Runs - Acorn Squash

Week 52: Healthy Tipping Point - Pancake Mix

Week 51: Live, Laugh Eat - Almond Butter

Week 50: Balance, Joy and Delicias! – Cauliflower

Week 49: Healthy San Diego Living - Chickpeas

Week 48: Thought 4 Food - Yogurt

Week 47: London Foodie in New York - Chocolate

Week 46: Johnstone’s Vin Blanc - Oats

Week 45: Guilty Kitchen - Figs

Week 44: Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet - Peanut Butter

Week 43: The Sophisticated Gourmet - Brown Sugar

Week 42: My Kitchen Addiction – Lime

Week 41: Nutmeg Nanny – Coffee

Week 40: Chaya’s Comfy Cook – Broccoli

Week 39: Healthy Delicious – Plums

Week 38: Zoe - Feta

Week 37: ChezWhat- Potatoes

Week 36: Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice – Blueberries

Week 35: Girlichef -Greens

Week 34: The Ungourmet – Watermelon

Week 33: Bread + Butter – Bell Pepper

Week 32: Burp and Slurp -Corn

Week 31: Say Yes to Salad – Kabocha

Week 31 1/2: Simply Fabulous Now – Cherries

Week 30: Thinspired – Bananas

Week 29: To Be The Whole Package – Almonds

Week 28: Kristas Kravings – Lemon

Week 27: From French Fries To Flax Seeds – Coconut

Week 26: Plentiful Plants – Avocado

Week 25: Training Fuel – Eggs

Week 24: Dinner at Christina’s – Cabbage

Week 23: Hey What’s for Dinner, Mom? – Strawberries

Week 22: One Bite at a Time – Basil

Week 21: Just Sweet Enough – Black Beans

Week 20: What I Ate Yesterday – Kale

Week 19: What’s for Dinner – Orange

Week 18: BranAppetit! –Spinach

Week 17: Tales of Expansion Dates

Week 16: Biggest Diabetic Loser – Zucchini

Week 15: Sweet & Natural –Peppermint

Week 14: bella eats [and runs] – Ginger

Week 13: Coffee Talk – Walnuts

Week 12: For the Love of Oats – Pumpkin

Week 11: Trying to Heal – Sweet Potatoes

Week 10: The Inner Workings of a College Graduate – Eggplant

Week 9: Itzy’s Kitchen – Pears

Week 8: The Fitnessista – Cranberries

Week 7: Tri to Cook – Lentils

Week 6: Rhodey Girl Tests – Polenta

Week 5: Eating Bender – Butternut Squash

Week 4: Care to Eat – Apples

Week 3: On a Lobster Placemat – Mushrooms

Week 2: Hangry Pants – Tomatoes

Week 1: sportsnutritionliving – Quinoa

You can find all the details about BSI here.

Sauteed vegetable and quinoa salad

2010-04-06T13:42:00.002-04:00

What started as a "use the random bits of leftover veggies" type of meal ended up being a great vegetarian meal. I've eaten this several times already and am not tired of it! I made a full batch of it, and bring small containers to work for lunch. Mmm.

What you need:

1 cup quinoa
Asparagus
Red bell pepper
White onion
2 cloves of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Shaved Parmesan

What you do:

In a large sauce pan, add 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water. Boil until water is absorbed.
Wash asparagus and pepper; chop or mince desired quantity of all vegetables.
While the quinoa is cooking, begin by sauteing the asparagus in olive oil. Once it is slightly browned, add the peppers, onions and garlic. Continue cooking until onions are clear.
Add the cooked quinoa to the vegetables and saute a few more minutes.
Spoon into a serving dish and top with shaved Parmesan.

High in protein, quinoa is an excellent grain choice for vegetarians, as well as those with wheat or gluten allergies. It is also an alkaline food, helping to balance the body's pH.

New Project Debut!

2010-03-10T11:20:00.003-05:00

Hi Friends! I'm really excited to announce a new project I've been developing: (anne)vironment.

This is an environmentally-focused website containing travel information, recipes, product and event reviews and more! Please take a peek, and check back frequently to see what's been added.

A Better Breakfast

2010-03-03T21:40:00.004-05:00

I've mentioned in previous posts how I've been eating the Amazing Grass Berry Green SuperFood mixed with yogurt. I stepped it up a notch and have been making fruit smoothies with my awesome new food processor (I love this appliance so much!).

I accidentally deleted the pictures of the first smoothie, but it was made with a few spoonfuls of organic vanilla yogurt, 1 banana, a handful of frozen blueberries, a splash of orange juice and a scoop of BGSF. Yum.

After seeing pineapples for only $2.50 (!) at the produce market a couple blocks over, I bought one and stared at it every day, impatiently waiting for it to ripen. When the time had come, I sliced it up and started adding it to my morning blends.

So the next creation had the same as the first but I cut back to 1/2 a banana, added frozen strawberries and fresh pineapple.

I've been wanting to cut back on the amount of dairy I consume, so this morning's smoothie was made sans yogurt after my avocados had a couple of days to ripen. To make prep a little easier in the morning (I need to save every minute possible since I am notorious for rolling out of bed 40 minutes after my alarm goes off...oops!) I went ahead and put the 1/2 banana, fresh pineapple and frozen strawberries in the food processor bowl and put them in the fridge. That allowed the strawberries to thaw overnight. In the morning I added the frozen blueberries, the orange juice, the scoop of BGSF and half an avocado. The creamy texture and mild flavor of the avocado makes it perfect for a filler in lots of recipes (I have a great one up my sleeve to try sometime when I need a dessert!). In this mix, the avocado replaced the yogurt.

As an environmental awareness plug, I strongly advocate using locally in-season produce. Fruit gets a little difficult because so many of the fruits we love come from tropical climates. I try to do the best I can by carefully choosing the lesser of all evils. I purchase organic, fair trade bananas at my co-op which ensures that the growing process is as easy on the land as possible (shipping is still an issue, since they're from Central America). While berries are starting to show up in stores, they're not local berries. Our crops won't be ready until late summer, and I will happily wait to be able to enjoy those delicious berries. Instead I'm buying frozen berries which were picked in-season. They're not losing any significant amount of nutritional value by being frozen. Most of these early season berries don't have a lot of flavor and can have gross textures...think of all the miles these delicate fruits travel in trucks! As for the pineapple and avocados, I do buy the conventional versions of both fruits. Organic options for those are often very sparse, and the prices are a little out of my range. While I sometimes wish I could buy more organic or local products, I'm happy for now that I do what I can in at least supporting some of those options.

Pita Pizzas!

2010-02-22T21:13:00.005-05:00

Because I primarily cook for one, that sometimes means a rush to finish a product before it goes bad. After making falafel, I'll typically only go through 2-3 pitas out of a package. The solution? Little pita pizzas! Not only were these delicious, they were so darn cute.

What You Need:

Pitas (whole wheat)
Extra virgin olive oil
Tomato sauce
Mozzarella cheese (part skim)
Toppings
Italian seasoning and garlic powder

What You Do:

Brush the pita with a little extra virgin olive oil (it's the secret to the most delicious pizza crust, you know)
Add sauce and spread across top of pita.
Sprinkle a little dried Italian seasonings and garlic powder, especially if you are using a plain tomato sauce. It'll add a little bit of extra flavor.
Add your cheese and your toppings.
Cook at 350 degrees for about 15 - 20 minutes (for two pizzas).

Ready to go into the oven!

The perfect little pizza with a whole wheat crust!

My mom and I would occasionally have make-your-own-pizza nights and I always loved doing that. What was especially great about this meal, is that I was using lots of extras from other meals I'd prepared and letting nothing go to waste! The pitas were extras not being used for falafel night, the sauce was left over from making chili, and so was the bell pepper.

My best chili yet!

2010-02-22T20:30:00.006-05:00

Ahh, I am getting so backed up on posts! I have several that I need to write and download pics for so that I can post them. Hopefully I can get them all up this week!

My last post was about all of the meals I'd planned to make after very carefully planning my grocery shopping list and what I'd be eating during the week. One of the best meals I made was a delicious batch of chili.

Prior to making the chili, I'd used about 1/3 of the 1-pound package of ground turkey to make burritos. I didn't want my chili to be less filling because I wasn't using the full pound of meat, so I was sure lots of "extras" were added. As it turned out, this was way better!

Here's what I used to make my chili:

tomato paste
petite diced tomatoes
tomato sauce
~2/3 pound ground turkey
onions
garlic
carrots
frozen corn
bell peppers
dark red kidney beans
black beans
paprika and chili powder
served with brown rice and topped with shredded cheddar cheese

I think the extra beans and the corn really made the chili this time. I also added the bell pepper and carrots to the crock pot without any prior cooking, so they still kept a little of their crunchiness (I love that!). There were so many really good flavors that blended together and it was so, so good. To give the meat a little extra flavor, I browned it in the same pan I sauteed the onions and garlic in. One of my favorite things about making chili is that it never turns out the same! That being said, for basic cooking instructions, see my earlier post about cooking chili on the stove instead of in a crock pot.

After the chili cooled, I packaged two small containers to put in the freezer (Score! I almost forgot they were there!) and put the rest in the fridge to be taken to work for lunches. All I'll have to do when I thaw the small containers is make brown rice to go with them.

About the rice: I tried a new trick a friend of mine shared about cooking rice, and it worked great! I measured one cup of brown rice and poured it into the pot and let it heat for about 5 minutes, stirring so it didn't burn. After the rice grains were toasted a bit, I added the 2 cups of water, boiled about 5 minutes, put the lid on, and let it cook on a low temperature. The rice was fluffy and cooked to perfection!

A week of meals

2010-02-13T22:17:00.005-05:00

I have been snowed in for too long and my eating supplies were reaching the slim pickin' level. The nature center where I work was closed Wednesday and Thursday due to this most recent blizzard that contributed more snow to our record-breaking winter. Before leaving work Friday to do some grocery shopping, I made a meal plan for the coming week. I chose many items that can be used for multiple meals in an effort to reduce leftover bits of veggies, etc.

Here's what's on the menu:

Falafel with tomato and avocado in a whole wheat pita
Ground turkey burritos and guacamole
Pita pizza topped with green pepper
Ground turkey chili
Cream of broccoli soup with potatoes
Grilled chicken and veggies
Frittata

I'm excited to get these meals cooking because the soup, falafe and chili will produce enough extra that I can package single servings to either freeze for later, or bring to work for lunches. I also just bought a food processor! Meal prep is about to get infinitely easier!

How did I cut down on purchasing? I am sharing the bell pepper and tomato sauce with the chili and the pizza. The pitas will be stuffed with falafel, and serve as the base of mini pizzas instead of using dough. I'm going to add potatoes and cheese to both the cream of broccoli soup and the frittata. I also am sharing onion and garlic in the frittata and chili, and black beans with the chili, frittata and burritos.

While I can always compost leftover pieces of vegetables, I'm also irritated with myself if I let something go to waste unnecessarily. My goal with shopping this week was to find multiple uses for a single produce item that wouldn't normally be totally used in one recipe. I feel pretty confident that I will achieve that with the meals I've planned.

I feel a little like a chump about doing my shopping for this week, because none of it was done at the co-op. An email was sent out earlier in the week that the deliveries would be slim, so there may be a lot of items out of stock. I didn't want to chance that (plus since Friday was the first day most people were out and about, everyone was restocking fridges and pantries), so I stopped at the grocery store and even Target to meet my shopping needs. Try as I might, I can't win 'em all.

P.S. I have a new (to me) product that I'm excited to try for the cream of broccoli soup!

Contest Alert: Amazing Grass products

2010-02-13T22:08:00.003-05:00

The blog Honoring Health is having a giveaway sponsored by Amazing Grass. I just wrote about my experiences with Amazing Grass last week, and it's a great product!

In this contest you can win:

Various flavors of Amazing Grass Green SuperFood
A couple types of Amazing Grass Amazing Meal

To enter, just do one or more of the following:

Tweet about the contest
Leave a comment on the Honoring Health Amazing Grass giveaway blog entry
Add Honoring Health to your blog roll
Post an entry in your own blog

Contest Alert: $500 "messiest recipe" from Mixing Bowl

2010-02-11T17:17:00.002-05:00

From the Mixing Bowl website:

$500

Contest ends on 02/14/2010

Got a delish but messy recipe that you think twice about making? Bring it! Roll up your sleeves and break out the Bounty because we're looking for your best, most perilously-messy recipe -- definitely not for the faint of heart. From sloppy Joes to saucy ribs and chicken wings, we want to see your most creative original recipe. The prize: $500. But remember, photos must be of the actual recipe submitted, and the recipe must be original. Entries that don’t follow these guidelines are ineligible to win.

Enter here. (Must create a membership log-in for Mixing Bowl)

Blizzard Brunch

2010-02-11T16:42:00.004-05:00

We had another big snowstorm on the east coast, and in typical fashion, the neighbor friends gathered for brunch to enjoy all sorts of homemade foods.

Here's what was on the menu:

Frittata - eggs from the backyard chickens, parmesan and white cheddar cheeses, potatoes, onions, garlic, asparagus and cayenne pepper
Bread - my banana walnut bread
Soup - cream of broccoli soup with potatoes and bacon
Rice pudding - a version with almonds raisins and several spices
Fruit - pineapple and avocado
Drinks - French press coffee and home brewed apple cider

Contest Alert: Equal Exchange coffee and chocolates from Mambo Sprouts

2010-02-08T18:15:00.004-05:00

Mambo Sprouts is giving away a yummy gift basket with fair trade, organic chocolates and coffee supplied by Equal Exchange! While I have not had EE chocolate, I do purchase their coffee from my co-op and all types I've tried have been excellent. I strongly advocate supporting companies that are socially responsible while providing a quality product. Check out all the ways you can enter to win this great prize! Be sure to enter by February 14; winners will be emailed on/around February 17.

Cupcakes!

2010-02-07T16:55:00.004-05:00

I'm not really into football, but my neighbor invited a few of us over to watch the Super Bowl. I've been wanting an excuse to make cupcakes lately, so I took advantage of this get-together.

For the cupcakes, I used a boxed French vanilla cake mix - with my own touch, of course. The instructions call for water, eggs and oil added to the mix. Anyone who eats my baked goods knows I never use oil. In its place, I added a single serving container of organic, low-fat vanilla yogurt and also added a bit of vanilla extract.

Browsing the frosting options, I saw that even the cream cheese frosting is artificially flavored. What the heck? I'll make my own, thanks. I halved the recipe and used 3 cups powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons of softened butter and 1/2 a stick of reduced fat cream cheese. Giving it a taste test, I thought the frosting was too sweet. To knock the sweetness down a bit, I added some fresh half-and-half from a local dairy farm. Perfection. It cut the intensity of the powdered sugar and still left the frosting nice and creamy. Yum!

Amazing Grass

2010-02-07T15:17:00.004-05:00

No...not that kind of grass. My cousin commented on my last blog post, mentioning the Amazing Grass product Green SuperFood we've both been using lately...which reminded me I forgot to post about it!

This product is pretty amazing, having many health benefits. It balances the pH level of your body, which can help your immune system stay strong. There is an energizing benefit as well, which is something Christina and I both love. I do hesitate to promote these energy claims, because it's not something that jolts through you and then leaves you to crash. I've just felt more awake and better functioning, skipping that daily afternoon workday crash I used to experience nearly every day.

My typical use of the product (I use the berry version) is to mix one scoop into about a cup of organic, fat-free, French vanilla yogurt and eat it in the morning or the early afternoon. It is marketed as a drink mix, but because it is actually very finely ground grass products (wheat grass, etc.), it does not dissolve because it isn't really a powder. If you read reviews on the site, you'll read many happy claims from prolonged use. Whether or not all claims are legit or are experienced 100% by all users, I do notice what it does to my own body and am happy that I've found and use this product. If you have a Whole Foods near you, look for the individual serving packets and give it a try!

Snow Day Brunch

2010-02-06T21:06:00.004-05:00

Overnight and into today, Philly topped off another record snowstorm at 28.5 inches! This is the second biggest snowstorm on record for the city, bumping our December record storm down to the #3 spot. How crazy is that?! Since December, we've had over 50 inches of snow from just two storms. I really love it. If we're getting snow, I want snow.

My neighbors and an extended group of friends have a tradition of Thursday brunch. Since I work during the week, I've only been lucky enough to make it to brunch once last summer. Knowing the storm was coming and we'd all probably be snowed into the neighborhood, L put out a call for a Saturday brunch. On my way home from work on Friday, I stopped at the co-op hoping to pick up some scones or fruit. Not a chance! Every.single.bin. for all of the bagels and pastries was empty, as was the bread shelf. The bananas were green. The avocados hard as rocks. I settled on fresh apple cider from a local orchard and some healthy looking grapefruits.

The spread was delicious! We had red potatoes roasted with rosemary, garlic, onions and olive oil; a quiche made with goat cheese, bacon and kale; homemade pecan-cranberry bread; bacon; grapefruit and bananas; delicious coffee from a local shop and the cider. We finished the meal with a shot of Kombucha. "What," you are probably asking, "is Kombucha?" Glad you asked! It is a probiotic tea that begins with a "mother culture." It is then mixed with water, tea and sugar to make a liquid that smells about as harsh as apple cider vinegar but a taste much sweeter. This drink is known for medicinal and other health benefits, and would typically be swallowed after a meal as we did this morning.

Super Stuffed Salad

2010-01-28T21:09:00.003-05:00

I love a good salad...one from a bowl so enormous that you don't know if you can eat it all. I've had an iffy appetite lately, but know I need to eat. I've made such strides in my food transition based on all of this knowledge I have been devouring (har har) from reading Michael Pollan, as well as watching so many food/agricultural-based documentaries. Something I didn't want to happen was to have my funk throw me off track and lead me back to soda, snack foods and processed comfort foods. Tonight I made a great big salad that filled a pie dish and it was delicious!

It included: fresh spring mix greens from the co-op, locally raised/free range chicken cooked in olive oil and garlic, avocado, locally grown apple, cucumber, raw sunflower seeds and raspberry-pomegranate dressing (added after the photo).

Chicken Parmesan

2010-01-20T18:27:00.006-05:00

I love the smell of Italian food cooking. The garlic, onions and tomato sauce...it builds the appetite even more! Every December, there is a Township employee lunch and it's a feast of Italian food. The chicken parmesan is so incredibly good that I always go back for seconds (hey, it's encouraged!). Tonight was the first time I've ever made my own and it was so good!

What You Need:

chicken - 2-3 chicken breast strips
1 egg
1/4 cup of milk
cracker meal (or bread crumbs)
mozzarella cheese
spaghetti sauce
olive oil

What You Do:

Trim the chicken if necessary.
Combine the beaten egg and milk in a shallow dish big enough to dip the chicken in. In a separate dish, pour enough cracker meal (or bread crumbs) to coat the chicken.
In a medium frying pan, pour enough olive oil to spread over the bottom of the pan, and turn on low heat.
Dip the chicken in the egg & milk mixture (be sure to get both sides) and then into the cracker meal.
Put the coated chicken breast strips in the pan and lightly brown on both sides.
After the chicken has been browned, transfer it to a baking dish for the oven. Add a layer of mozzarella cheese on top of the chicken, then spaghetti sauce and a top layer of mozzarella cheese.
Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes at 375 degrees or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. For the last 10 minutes, I moved the dish to the bottom rack to be closer to the heat (I have a gas oven). After turning the oven off, I opened the door and let the dish stay in there for a few more minutes to start cooling, so it was the perfect temperature to eat right away when I took it out.

To make the recipe even better, I made my own spaghetti sauce a couple of nights ago (okay, okay...I enhanced somebody else's). To do this, I minced 2 cloves of garlic, 2 slices of white onion and about 1/4 of a green bell pepper and sauteed in olive oil. Then I added 1 can of organic tomato sauce and 1 can of diced organic tomatoes and cooked. Yum!

Gallo Pinto Remix

2010-01-14T18:26:00.001-05:00

With my leftover gallo pinto, I wanted to make a few different meals. The first: burritos.

I use ground turkey as a substitute for beef in any traditional recipe (I do not eat beef). Ground turkey can get a little pricey, especially when using the leanest variety, so not only is this a way to use leftovers, it's a way to extend food dollars. Gallo pinto is rice and black beans, so it can add substantial bulk to a burrito filling meaning you can use less of the ground meat.

What I Used:

Lean ground turkey (from a local farm)
40% less sodium taco seasoning
Water
Gallo pinto
Flour tortillas
Shredded cheese

What I Did:

First, cook the turkey, adding water and taco seasoning as directed on the package.
Turn the heat down and add gallo pinto. Keep stirring so rice does not stick to pan, and heat until the beans are warmed through.
Once the gallo pinto has been reheated, fill your tortillas (or taco shells) with the ground meat/gallo pinto mix and add your taco/burrito toppings.

Sorry...no pictures for this post. Burritos are not very photogenic ;)

Home Cooking - Costa Rican Style

2010-01-13T22:32:00.002-05:00

Tonight I had another gallo pinto night. Making this dish is sort of like making any soup or chili - it never turns out exactly the same anytime I make it, and I like that. I've been wanting to make gallo pinto since I went grocery shopping last Sunday and bought the ingredients, but kept forgetting to soak the black beans! I finally remembered to put them in water before I left for work this morning, so when I came home they were ready to be cooked. This recipe makes a pretty large quantity, so I have plenty to bring to work for lunch and to make with some scrambled eggs (my favorite way). I love Costa Rica and think of it often, so anytime I eat one of the meals I would have eaten there, I feel a little bit closer. Pura vida, friends!

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants."

2010-01-10T22:26:00.005-05:00

Delving deeper into these words of wisdom from Michael Pollan, based on his research for the novel In Defense of Food, I ordered and have been reading his new pocket-sized book of 64 guidelines to getting off the Western diet, Food Rules.

With the fridge getting empty and cabinets becoming bare, I did a small shopping trip today at the co-op. Based on Pollan's original words of wisdom, let's see how I did:

4 clementines
1 bell pepper
mixed salad greens
cilantro
2 organic, fair trade bananas
1 dozen eggs - veggie fed, no antibiotics, no animal byproducts and from a local farm
32 oz bottle of skim milk - from a local farm
organic dried mango slices
organic dried black turtle beans
long grain brown rice
garlic hummus tahini - kosher, no preservatives, vegan, and from a local town
salsa - fresh veggies, spices and apple cider vinegar
raw honey (a gift for a friend)

Pretty much everything on my list is considered a whole food. For the two items made from multiple foods (hummus and salsa), both have very short ingredient lists that are whole foods and spices.

As I mentioned earlier, the 64 rules in Pollan's book are suggestions for a way to give your body what it needs in proper quantities while moving away from the Western diet, which is loaded with processed foods. Pollan tells readers not to try and follow each and every rule, but to at least choose one rule from each section of the book. Below, I've listed each section of the book (he switches the order of his original rule to fit the format of Food Rules), with one rule I followed from that section during my shopping trip.

Eat Food: #14, Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.

Even though the hummus and salsa are not individual food items, both are made from ingredients that you know exist in nature - tomatoes, peppers, onions, sesame seeds, garbanzo beans, etc.

Mostly Plants: #24, Eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two legs [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, pigs, and other mammals]. Chinese proverb.

The bulk of my shopping was all vegetarian, with only 3 animal byproducts: milk, eggs and honey.

Not too much: #44, Pay more, eat less.

It is true that eating organically costs more than eating traditionally grown foods, and that it is often hard for people to afford a totally organic diet. Shopping at a small co-op can also increase the price slightly, since smaller quantities of an item are being purchased to sell. By shopping at a co-op, though, I have ownership and trust those doing the overall purchasing of products for my store to choose only the best. We also have a very large selection of local produce and some packaged foods. I make choices about which items I will pay more for to get organic quality. My next best option is to support the smaller, local farms. As you can see by my grocery list, it was not very lengthy, but the quality is high.

Jeff Buckley Brunch

2010-01-10T15:34:00.005-05:00

I absolutely love cooking on Sundays. The day seems to lend itself to a slow start, time for planning and time for enjoying. After a small shopping trip to the surprisingly uncrowded co-op (where members who complete work hours now receive a 5% discount!), I came home and cleaned my fridge and kitchen. I love organizing my refrigerator. It makes preparing meals so easy. And of course, I cannot function in my kitchen unless all the dishes are cleaned and put away, leaving me with enough counter space to work.

So with coffee brewing, Jeff Buckley crooning in the background and abundant sunshine streaming through the windows, I prepared a scrambled everything egg brunch. As you read through the recipe, you'll see that it's very adaptable to your own tastes. I've listed my own preferences and ingredient quantities.

What You Need:

Cooking oil
2 eggs
1 large clove of garlic
1 full slice of white onion
1 small red potato
3 slices of a green bell pepper
Black beans (drained and rinsed from can)
Sea Salt
Shredded Mexican blend cheese

What You Do:

Pour a small amount of cooking oil into a large frying pan and let it warm.
Wash and cut the potato and add it to the oil with a sprinkling of sea salt. Since the potato will take the longest of any ingredients to cook, allow the pieces to get a golden brown color on both sides (stir them around a bit) while you are cutting up the rest of the ingredients.
Next, add the minced garlic and onion. Allow them to brown and the potato to absorb some of the flavor.
The chopped pepper slices and black beans are last since they cook the fastest, and I love my bell peppers to still be a little crunchy.
Now, with my whisk at the ready, I cracked the two eggs into the frying pan and immediately began whisking them with the other ingredients. I wanted scrambled eggs, not fried eggs, so I didn't want to allow time for them to cook flat on the pan.
After the eggs were scrambled and all the ingredients were well mixed, I added a handful of shredded cheese and stirred it into the egg scramble to let it melt.

In my mind, I must have been wishing I was preparing this for two, because it made a large quantity of food (the finished scramble filled a large dinner plate). I really love these one-dish meals that have your protein, veggies, etc. all cooked into one item. It makes clean-up so easy! It's also fun to prepare because all you need are the key ingredients (eggs), but can change what is added based on whatever veggies or cheese you have on hand.

Don't Diet

2010-01-08T15:31:00.002-05:00

If you are concerned about your body weight and want to change it, don't diet. A rapid and extreme change in your eating habits may be difficult for your body to get used to, and when you don't get the results you want, you'll get discouraged. And how will you make any progress if you are discouraged and revert to your old eating habits?

Author and investigative journalist Michael Pollan has made a name for himself with books such as Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. He also was interviewed and featured in the film Food Inc. In his much talked about In Defense of Food, he set the guideline "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants." While being minimal in explanation, a lot of research was done to come to the conclusion that this is the best way to nourish your body.

In a Food Network episode of Good Eats ("Live and Let Diet"), Alton Brown shared his insight on losing 50 pounds over the course of 9 months without "going on a diet." As reblogged, here are the four categories into which he organized food, and examples of the foods to eat (or not).

Eat Daily

Fruits
Whole grains
Leafy greens
Nuts (1 oz a day)
Carrots
Green tea

Eat at least 3 times a week

Oily fish
Yogurt
Broccoli
Sweet potatoes
Avocado

Eat only 1 time a week

Red meat
Pasta
Dessert
Alcohol

Never eat

Fast food
Soda
Processed meals
Canned soup
“Diet” anything

And eat breakfast, every single godforsaken day.

And it keeps getting better. Michael Pollan has released a new book, Food Rules, with 64 ways to choose the types of foods that will most benefit your body. While 64 may seem like a lot of guidelines to follow, the purpose is not to abide by every single rule, every time you eat. If you were to choose at least one rule from each of the three categories (Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.), you'd already be on your way to giving your body what it needs. And even "junk" foods aren't a complete no-no...as long as you make them yourself. As I've been turning the pages of In Defense of Food, I'm absolutely fascinated with the research and conclusions in the book. I ordered my copy of Food Rules a couple nights ago and can't wait to get it! Expect another update as soon as I do, and I'll feature some of my favorite rules!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-07T22:18:00.006-05:00

My new year celebration was spent in the Shenandoah area of Virginia with 5 great friends and our 3 dogs. We had fun passing each other on the highway until we all pulled into the driveway at a friend's family house. Some of us raided our cabinets and refrigerators at home and packed up some goodies to bring along, so after taking an inventory and quickly planning our meals, we made a shopping list and the girls (you know...the only ones qualified to shop) headed to the grocery store. How funny to shop at a Food Lion again (they do not exist in the NE), but glad I still had that old MVP card to save us $11! While it might be hard to prepare meals for that many people with differing tastes, we did a great job and to keep costs down, we choose some store brands and brands that were on sale. The total cost for each person after being split 3 ways was only $20! And to top it all off, we all came home with some goodies. I scored big by bringing home a large bottle of red wine and a box of ice cream sandwiches!

Our big meals for the trip were:

An Italian dinner! We added sauteed onions, garlic and peppers to a jar of organic Trader Joe's sauce for the spaghetti, toasted Italian bread and added minced garlic to olive oil for dipping, and had a salad with mixed greens from the co-op and chickpeas.
A hearty breakfast. With the leftover veggies from the night before and some of what was brought along, we scrambled eggs with black beans, onions, peppers and cheese. Oh so tasty. One of the guys made delicious scones (maybe cranberry?) that were so tasty dipped in organic French vanilla yogurt, and we also grilled a couple of big sausage links.
A warm and filling dinner. After spending the afternoon hiking through one of the parks with all the dogs, we were hungry and ready to get warmed up! After cheating and each ordering a couple of delicious slices of pizza (oops...) from the local pizza joint, we went home to rest and let our Friendship Soup cook. We opted for ground turkey instead of ground beef, added to the dry soup mix of lentils, beans, pasta and seasonings as well as a large can of crushed tomatoes. This is the best soup I have had in quite awhile, and after looking up the recipe, it's so easy to prepare the dry mix! Also, 1 container of the dried mix creates 16 servings! It's a good think, because I just may have eaten 3 bowls (shhhh).

This was such a great trip, and I had so much fun preparing meals with friends. There's no better way to do it!

French Toast

2009-12-20T18:31:00.003-05:00

With all this snow on the ground, I walked the mile to the co-op where I do my grocery shopping. Some of the items I was looking for were out of stock due to deliveries being held up by the local weather. I was hoping for some egg bagels, but when seeing that all of the bagel bins were empty, I picked up a loaf of local artisan bread and decided on making French toast for a late lunch.

What You Need:

Bread of choice (I used a loaf of artisan bread, and cut 4 thick slices)
Eggs (2 eggs were enough for the amount of bread I used)
Milk (1/2 cup of almond milk)
Spices, if you choose (yes please! cinnamon and nutmeg for me)

What You Do:

Crack the eggs into a pie dish and beat with a fork. Add the milk and spices.
Slice bread and dip slices into the egg mixture, letting each side soak for a few seconds until it becomes saturated.
In a non-stick pan, lay slices out and cook until a golden brown crisp on each side.

I wasn't sure that I was going to want all 4 pieces of toast, but it was so good and that walk made me so hungry (uphill both ways, if you can believe it...this place isn't called the Wissahickon Valley for nothin'). To make French toast with an entire loaf of bread, use 4 eggs and 1 cup of milk. I like mine buttered with a little powdered sugar. Mmm. Over the past two days, I have trudged 5 miles in the snow and loved every minute of it. If only we could stay snowed in for just a little bit longer...

Cheat your way to chicken soup

2009-12-20T11:28:00.003-05:00

Everybody loves a homemade chicken soup, especially this time of year. With this recipe, you can get the same, delicious soup by taking a few shortcuts and cutting down the time between preparing and enjoying.

What You Need:

One rotisserie chicken (mine was garlic and rosemary)
One package of soup greens, if available in your produce section
Sea Salt

What You Do:

Time to get your hands dirty and pull apart the chicken. Peel the skin back and remove all of the meat from the bones. I just used the white meat, and saved the wings and thighs (you can use them for another meal). Add all of the meat you're using to the crock pot.
Wash, peel and cut your vegetables. My soup greens package came with celery, carrots, dill, parsley, leeks, an onion, a turnip and a parsnip. If you can't find a package like this at the store, it's easy enough to purchase them separately. Add desired amounts of chopped veggies and herbs to the crock pot.
Add enough water to have broth as the soup is cooking, and sprinkle in the desired amount of sea salt (I use the finely ground salt).

After a couple hours of cooking on high in the crock pot, your veggies will be tender, the broth will be flavorful and you'll have a hot bowl of soup to enjoy! With the winter wonderland that has been created in Philly, my neighbors and I went for a 3-hour hike through our neighborhood and the park. Coming home to a hot bowl of soup right out of the crock pot was a delicious midnight snack!

Gobble, Gobble

2009-11-23T19:39:00.004-05:00

Who is excited about Thanksgiving?! I can.not.wait. to cook all day and eat all night. I've been building up excitement for a couple of weeks now. A couple neighbors and I are doing another traditional "orphan" holiday celebration - it's those of us who have far-away families and are staying in town for the holiday. No matter the size of the gathering, I am ready and waiting to prepare lots of tasty food, much of which I always enjoyed with my family during holiday meals.

Here are my contributions on the menu:
*Roast turkey breast - coated in butter with freshly minced garlic (it's 4.5 pounds, and since there are only 3 of us, there's no need for an entire turkey)
*Sweet potato biscuits (one famous Thanksgiving, I ate 15 of these...)
*Steamed asparagus with cheese sauce
*Pumpkin roll (a delicious dessert my college roomie got me hooked on!)
*Pumpkin pie with a cinnamon graham cracker crust

We will also be having garlic and rosemary mashed potatoes as well as sweet potatoes.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Work Day

2009-11-19T17:26:00.004-05:00

Today's non-traditional work out wasssss....

Pushing a wheelbarrow! It was the monthly grounds work day at the nature center where I work, and even though I was super busy wrapping up one event and getting ready for another, I hit the trails for an hour pushing wheelbarrows of wood chips from one location to another.

What I like best about the non-traditional (i.e. not in a gym and without typical "exercise equipment") workout is that it's usually so much fun! I like to think of our grounds days at work as "Doozer Days." Anyone remember the Doozers in Fraggle Rock? All they did was push their little carts back and forth and build structures all day long. Then the Fraggles came and ate them of course...

And what is a good meal to follow up a good workout? A hearty sandwich. Mmm. I'm an addict for a Subway foot-long hearty Italian sub roll with turkey, lettuce, tomato and olives. Even though it's tempting to pay the extra couple of bucks for a drink and chips, skip it! Not only will you save money, but you can choose something healthier like a glass of water and an apple.

Take Two:

2009-11-17T21:16:00.003-05:00

Cheesy roasted cabbage and potato dish. This time I made a monterey jack cheese sauce and used green cabbage.

One of my favorite meals:

2009-11-17T21:09:00.004-05:00

A chicken Caesar salad! An entire heart of Romaine, a handful of shredded carrots, grape tomatoes, some fresh mozz, grilled garlic chicken and Caesar dressing. Mmmm. Yes, that's a pie dish and yes, I ate it all.

Back on Board

2009-11-13T22:03:00.002-05:00

This past month of time has been a little ridiculous for me at work. Now that our biggest fundraiser of the year has come and gone, I can get back to having my thoughts be more collected, leading me to be a little more inspired to work for my dinner once I get home. The recent trend has been to come home wiped out and want something to immediately shove in my mouth, since I probably never got around to eating a full lunch at work. I am happy to bid farewell to such days.

On deck: ground turkey, chicken breast cutlets, frozen stir-fry veggies, cabbage, potatoes, lots of cheese, assortment of beans and an over-abundance of eggs.

Meal ideas: chicken and veggie stir-fry; chicken caeser salad; turkey burger, chili or burritos; roasted cabbage and potatoes with cheese; omelettes and more.

As for my recent physical activity, in addition to working with the horses I have begun a 6-week course in Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes. The goal of the Feldenkrais Method (named for the developer) is to improve function through becoming aware of your movements. The class is not one for burning calories or even toning. It really is as simple as heightening your awareness. Each class focuses on one area of the body, and over the course of an hour, excercises in simple movements bring awareness to the way the body functions. Each class begins with what my instructor calls a "body scan." Lieing on my back on the floor, I notice the way each part of my body comes in contact with the floor. The class also ends with a body scan, at which time I notice that the way my body comes in contact with the floor has changed due to the simple exercises I spent much of the last hour doing.

After reading that, your next question is probably "If you're not going to lose weight or even tone your body, why bother taking the class?" Here's where the horses come in. A horse can sense the energy of your body. Distracted or chaotic energy often results in difficulty communicating with your horse (which is done even more through the body than with the voice). Having quiet energy will result in a much more successful training session with your horse, who will feel comfortable and safe with you. My chaotic energy resulted in my foot becoming the resting spot for a 2000-pound animal's hoof, whereas my quiet energy resulted in being able to ride bareback with my eyes closed for an extended period of time, completely trusting my horse to keep me safe. In the end, I will say what a big difference the small changes make.

When I couldn't find my regular brand of multi-vitamin at the store, I picked up another brand thinking it wouldn't make a difference. Much to my dismay, after swallowing a vitamin early in the morning with a small glass of water, I was practically double over in stomach pain. Little Miss Smart Pants here neglected to read the lable, which directs the consumer to take with food. Of course. My previous vitamin allowed me the freedom to take it whenever I wanted, regardless of food intake. Since I don't eat breakfast before leaving the house in the morning, my next option is to take it at work...if I remember. What this all boils down to is that I often forget to take my vitamin.

I have, however, been loading up with Vitamin C as coworkers are coming down with colds and other sniffly, stomach aching, nastiness. We all know that Vitamin C can help the immune system function, and that oranges are a prime source. Did you know that other good sources of C include brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kiwi, canteloup, broccoli and raw bell peppers? Humans are unable to make Vitamin C inside their bodies, but because it is so important, we must either take supplements or find it in the food we eat.

I've also started taking a Vitamin D supplement. The sun's ultraviolet rays are our best source of Vitamin D, and while I love some time in the sunshine, we are severely lacking it in Pennsylvania this time of year. Perhaps the greatest function of D is to help the body absorb calcium. If you enjoy carbonated drinks, listen up - the phosphorus (in the form of phosphoric acid) used in soft drinks can have a negative effect on your body by depleting it of calcium. The Daily Value developed by the US Food and Drug Administration suggests an intake of 400 iu of Vitamin D for adults each day, even though some doctors are recommended much higher amounts, especially depending on your lifestyle and location.

As animals, we have a tendency to slow down during the winter and add a few extra pounds. Try as we might, we still keep this connection to our wilder ancestors. in today's world, we allow this to happen and then get into a mad rush to uncover our healthier selves come the first sign of spring weather. Winter feels like it's approaching quickly this year, so let's all do ourselves a favor by keeping the system that is our body healthy and working smoothly. The more you do for yourself now, the more your body with thank you when you're not working it to death next spring.

Magic Meal

2009-10-28T19:22:00.002-04:00

If you run a tight schedule but still like to prepare dinner at home, you're probably no stranger to Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals. What would you say if I could offer you a 10 minute meal? With as few at 3 ingredients and 10 minutes of your time, you can have a homemade meal ready on the table.

In an earlier post, I discussed my recent trip to Trader Joe's. While I was there, I picked up the following things that I used to make this meal:

1 pouch of brown rice
1 bag of stir fry vegetables (they have a couple mixed veggie options)
1 bag matchstick carrots
1 bag mixed raw veggies (baby carrots, cauliflower and broccoli)

Brown rice is the better rice option, but takes significantly longer to cook than white rice. Say hello to Trader Joe's precooked long grain brown rice - all you do is open the pouch and microwave for 1-2 minutes and it's ready!

Already in my fridge, I had a bottle of reduced sodium soy sauce to add some flavor.

Instructions
-Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the bottom of a frying pan or wok and let heat.
-Add desired quantity of frozen stir fry veggies.
*Extra step: I added the extra matchstick carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.
-When the veggies are close to being finished, microwave the rice pouch.
-Add a little soy sauce to the veggies and finish cooking.
-When the rice is finished, pour it onto a plate and top with veggies cooked in soy sauce.

There's you're meal, and it won't take more than 10 minutes!

Pics will be up later...I've got a PHILLIES game to watch!

Banana pumpkin muffins with walnuts

2009-10-24T22:17:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow some friends and co-workers are coming over to carve pumpkins, and I always want to have something to snack on when I have guests. To celebrate the season (and pay homage to the great pumpkin, of course) I made these delicious muffins! I had half a can of pumpkin puree leftover from making my cookies, and a freezer full of bananas, so this was a great recipe. I found the original recipe online last year, but have made my own modifications to it to make it a bit healthier.

Ingredients:
1 mashed organic banana
1 cup organic pumpkin puree
1/4 organic low-fat vanilla yogurt
2 eggs from free-range chickens
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup Florida Crystals pure cane sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:
Mix banana, pumpkin, yogurt and eggs in a bowl with an electric mixer.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients, then add to the wet ingredients until just mixed in.

Pour batter into sprayed muffin trays and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Working it out

2009-10-24T21:41:00.002-04:00

Today, working at the barn really work me! The horses were in last night, so there were 10 stalls to clean. I was the first to arrive, so I started right away. I completed 4 of the stalls - pushing wheelbarrows full of manure/soaked straw and raked, carried out/dumped 5 of the water buckets, refilled the waters and dropped down the hay. They all sound like simple tasks, but believe me, you feel every bit of effort put into pushing the heavy wheelbarrows and lifting forkfuls of soaked straw.

My horse for the day was Elvis, an ex-racing quarter horse. Every one of Jill's horses has a story - Elvis's is that he didn't run fast enough. He was filthy from rolling in mud, so I must have spent 15-20 minutes grooming him. My first portion of training with him was to "drive" him - two long lead lines are clipped to either side of his halter and stretched out the length of his body. I hold the ends of them, walking behind him. After a bit, I walked with my hands on his backside to keep my movements with him. He was doing really well, so on went the saddlepad, bridle and reins and up I went. Big steps were made today with keeping a horse "in the box" and using my aides to direct him. He crapped out after awhile because it was too long for him - his body was worked too hard as a racehorse and at times can still experience some soreness.

My fitness activities for today: working at the barn and riding from 9:30-2:30. That's 5 hours of physical work - it was free and didn't require a gym membership.

To remedy my rushed morning, I packed a container full of TJ's frosted mini wheats, which I ate during the drive to the barn. I also packed an apple, which I ate on the drive home. Saturdays are a little hectic for meals because I'm not usually home until around 2:30, but today was even later. I've developed a hankering for Wendy's after a long day at the barn, which is a bad habit I've been passing up the past two weekends. Today's alternative was my own "chicken" nuggets - the Morningstar Farms buffalo nuggets I purchased yesterday at Trader Joe's. I made 6 nuggets, a total of 240 calories. If I'd indulged in my "usual" at Wendy's (5 piece nuggets and french fries from the Super Value menu) I would have eaten 440 calories. With one change, I saved myself almost half the calories and a few dollars - a win on both counts.

Onward and upward!

2009-10-23T21:22:00.003-04:00

I love my co-op where I do most of my grocery shopping, but a few minutes away from the nature center where I work is a Trader Joe's. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with TJ's because so much of their food is pre-made, frozen, and can be packed with sodium. Also, the produce selection is fairly limited and all comes wrapped in plastic - NOT sustainable for the environment. However, I do sometimes get the urge to stop in and pick up a few things.

My mindset today was on healthy options. Let's see how I did...

For healthier snacks, I chose:
-frosted mini wheats (something I like to snack on mid-morning...sweet but mostly good for you)
-roasted garlic hummus
-sea salt bagel chips to go with the hummus
-honeycrisp apples

For lunch, I chose:
-a French baguette (okay...not THE best option)
-roasted turkey cold cuts
-Champs Elysees salad mix, Romaine hearts and a bag of shredded carrots
-avocado

For dinner, I chose:
-brown rice
-frozen stir fry vegetables with no preservatives
-Morningstar Farms meatless buffalo chicken nuggets

My not-so healthy indulgence:
-honey roasted peanuts

There is an overwhelming number of goal-oriented thoughts floating around my head, but I want to keep this simple in order to avoid ruining my efforts. During the past couple of weeks, I've had a problem with oversleeping, skipping a morning meal, eating a late lunch, snacking too much after dinner and staying up too late. By adjusting to better meal-time habits, I can already get myself back on the right track. My mornings are always rushed, so a bit of extra effort (like slicing an apple the night before) will save my morning minutes and ensure that I get my breakfast once I'm at the office.

It's evolution, baby

2009-10-23T20:53:00.002-04:00

Constant change. It's usually the name of the game, isn't it? I began this blog as a way to centrally provide recipes and meal ideas to friends. I was having several people ask for recipes, would lose track of what I sent to whom and when, so instead of going to them, the blog allowed them to come to me. I grew up eating very healthy foods - to the point that kids would call me "rabbit" in elementary school because I always had a hefty serving of raw veggies packed in my lunch. I was also extremely active with dance, horseback riding, swimming, rollerblading, biking and so on. As I've gotten older, I've based my eating habits around the same general principles, but I've also developed a sweet tooth, a morning coffee habit and a love of dark beers. And I have fallen victim to the 9-5 slump.

So that's one change. Another change is considering what to do with this blog. I still enjoy posting recipes and sharing my knowledge of how to live a more environmentally friendly and sustainable lifestyle through your eating habits (I am an environmental educator, after all), but I think there's more potential here.

For a few months now, my pants have all been a bit snug. I go back and forth with which ones fit to my liking and which ones I peel off and throw in the corner the second I get them on. Today after lunch, I took a little bit of time off work and attempted to go shopping. I decided that at this moment, I'm not as concerned with the size on my pants tag as I am with them fitting well and looking the part. After 6 pairs of pants of varying brands, sizes and styles, I quit. I wasn't satisfied with any of them. Granted, finding that perfect pair of jeans is difficult, but I became discouraged and knew I wanted to change something. I'm not as much concerned with losing weight (if I was asked my height, weight and pants size, people would probably scoff at the idea that I need to "shape up" my eating habits) and I am with toning my existing figure. The shape of my body changes quickly, and I should try to use that to my advantage.

So now, not only with you find recipes here, but this blog will really fall into its title "Part of the Whole." Eating is just part of what you can do to maintain a healthy body and mind. I will be making my best effort to track simple habit changes, some easy exercise solutions and some overall wellness ideas. I hope everyone finds it useful, and feedback is always welcomed.

More Food Confessions

2009-10-22T01:03:00.002-04:00

The biggest of them all: I have been eating terribly lately. I've also had horrible sleeping habits, too. Combined, the two are pretty dangerous. I'm mostly so tired because THE PHILLIES ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES. I've been up really late watching the games, which haven't been over until midnight. This leaves me not wanting to wake up early to eat breakfast or pack an adequate lunch, which leads to a lot of unnecessary snacking at work, then the desire for a quick and easy dinner, which has sometimes been at the bar where I watch the games due to my divorce from cable. Whew!

Some terrible indulgences of late have included: pizza...and more pizza, sour patch kids candy, more glasses of beer than I care to count, hot wings, potato chips.

A couple of savings graces came in the form of: brown rice with steamed broccoli and soy sauce, a turkey sub with only veggies - no cheese or dressings, eggs, an apple.

I'm going to give myself through the weekend to get back on track. I'm due for a grocery shopping trip, so I'm looking forward to planning some good meals! I still have an acorn squash from my last trip, and am hoping to do something possibly a little more creative with it than the standard baking with seasonings.

Photos Added!

2009-10-13T22:20:00.002-04:00

Photos have been added to:

Caramelized Autumn Spice Apples
From the Garden
Tilapia and Harvest Grains
Roll me out of Bed

Enjoy!

Roasted cabbage and potatoes with cheese

2009-10-12T17:10:00.006-04:00

When I saw my cousin's recipe for roasted cabbage with cheese, I was a little surprised that I liked the idea of it so much. My history of being an adventurous eater is nearly non-existent, and yes, in my early days of trying "new" foods, cabbage would have been considered adventurous.

I based this recipe off the one Christina posted, but I wanted to make it a little heartier so that it could suffice as an entire meal (hers was a side dish to flank steak). To beef it up a little (har, har), I opted for adding potatoes and onions and seasoning with garlic instead of salt and pepper. I also used only half a head of cabbage - I bought red instead of green, because the work was done for me...someone at the co-op already had it cut in half!

Ingredients:
Half a head of cabbage
Potato(es) (red)
Onion (vidalia)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
1 tsp butter
1 tsp flour
3/4 cup milk (skim - and from a local farm!)
3/4 cup shredded cheese (colby-jack)

Instructions:
1) Slice the cabbage into wedges, brush with olive oil and bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes on each side.
2) While the cabbage is baking, scrub and prick your potato(es) and microwave for 2-3 minutes. This will help them cook quicker when the go in the oven later. Slice into little wedges.
3) Remove the cabbage from the oven and let cool while you prepare the cheese sauce. Reduce oven temperature to 350. Christina's instructions say: Melt the butter in a medium skillet and add the flour. Mix together until it's bubbly, then add the milk. Stir and let it thicken for a minute or two. Then add the cheese, and stir until it's all melted. Remove the sauce from the hot burner until you're ready to use it.
4) Chop the cabbage into small bits, chop the onion and mince the garlic. Along with the potato wedges, combine the cabbage, garlic and onions in an oven safe baking dish and mix; pour the cheese sauce over.
5) Return to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes uncovered, or until cheese sauce is bubbling and slightly browned. A few minutes before it was finished, I added a little bit more shredded cheese on top for an extra cheesy melted layer.

It's fun to find a recipe you like and make your own creation from it. It also extends the life of the recipe so your stomach doesn't get bored too quickly. I chose not to season my cabbage when I initially roasted it, because I knew I'd be using fresh minced garlic when all the ingredients were combined. Garlic powder can be very salty, which leaves me with swollen fingers - ick. I prefer to save my flavor for the fresh ingredients that are easier on my body!

Pumpkin Perfect

2009-10-11T20:03:00.006-04:00

I love October! It's the best month of the year - perfect weather, the best holiday and the official go-ahead for eating everything that could possibly be made with a pumpkin flavor.

Yesterday, I was trying to think of a snack to make that was a little like dessert but not too sweet, when chocolate chip pumpkin cookies came to mind. Mmmm. The recipe I used is half of the original recipe since - let's be real here - I'm not going to be sharing these cookies with anyone, but also don't want to eat 7 million of them on my own. Even halved, this recipe still made about two dozen medium sized cookies.

Ingredients:
1 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar (I used my favorite, Florida Crystals)*
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg (cage free)*
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (organic)*
1-1/2 cups flour (unbleached)*
1 tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves**
1 cup (1/2 bag) milk chocolate chips (mini)*

* My options - use whatever brand or type of product you want

** I did not have any ground cloves in my spice collection, but I did have some pumpkin pie spice - it's a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice and could probably be substituted for the total amount of all the spices used in this recipe.

Instructions:
1) Slice the stuck of butter into a large mixing bowl. Add the white and brown sugar, and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy.
2) Beat in the egg, then the vanilla and the pumpkin puree
3) In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
4) Slowly beat the flour mixture into the rest of the batter, on third at a time.
5) Stir in the chocolate chips
6) Spoon onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
7) Remove from the oven and let stand on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.
8) Gobble down several cookies, followed by a glass of milk from a local farm

Inspired Meal

2009-10-11T13:23:00.008-04:00

I have a beloved hobby that's been renewed: riding horses. As a working student at a local-ish horse farm, I have tasks such as mucking stalls and the indoor riding ring, picking hooves, grooming, tacking up, turning out and bringing in horses, and many other jobs that might need assisting such as massaging a sore horse and keeping another still and calm while his sprain was taken care of. In exchange for my work, I'm becoming trained to train, and to be a "horse professor." The woman who owns and operates the farm has a very natural connection with her animals - she tries all homeopathic methods first, uses reiki and other such methods for sore horses and does her fair share to treat the environment right.

I've been riding a Percheron - a breed of draft horse who spent his time working as an Amish plow horse before being welcomed to the spoiled life of a riding horse. I've ridden him bareback and with my eyes closed (a method to train me) - now that's an experience! For training, I've worked in-hand with a fussy gelding who's known for being a bit of an ass on most days. Overall, it's an incredible experience and I'm happy to have found my place there. You can even find me singing along to my "favorite" country songs while working and riding...and even in the car...shhh ;)

Now, onto the food! When people think of horses, they often think of cowboys and campfires and all of the rustic meals that have been part of that lifestyle. With the cool air coming back, I wanted to make a big pot of chili. This is a great meal for me because I can make enough for dinners, lunches at work and even some to freeze for later. Somehow, I managed to lose the recipe (or, more like the "outline") that I used when I made chili last autumn and winter, so I started over today.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I'm not one for following perfectly measured out recipes, so this one won't be either. It's up to you to make those decisions based on your own tastes.

The base: 1 pound of ground white meat turkey from locally raised birds - no antibiotics or growth hormones.
Everything else: 1 smallish bell pepper, 1/2 a jalepeno from my garden, 1 clove garlic (minced), a few slices of onion (minced), 6 oz. ca of tomato paste, 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes, paprika, chili powder, olive oil, 1 can of small red beans.
Extra: Brown rice and shredded colby-jack cheese.

Every other time I've made chili, I let it simmer for hours in a crockpot. Today I felt like being a little more involved in the preparation, so I opted for stovetop cooking.

1) First, I cooked the turkey in a medium frying pan and set aside.
2) In a stock pot, I sauteed the chopped onions, garlic, bell pepper and jalapeno pepper in a little extra virgin olive oil until the onions were soft, but not browned.
3) After the veggies were cooked, I added the meat and sauteed a bit more together, then added the cans of beans, tomato paste and diced tomatoes.
4) I added dashes of paprika and chili powder, stirred, then covered the pot and let all the ingredients simmer while I cooked my rice.
5) When the rice was finished, I scooped some into my bowl, added a serving of chili, stirred together and topped with shredded cheese. So filling! I like mixing rice in with the chili because it adds another texture and really extends the meal to provide more servings. You don't need as big of a serving of the chili if it's going to be mixed with rice. It also means you may not have to buy as much meat - something that could certainly save a big family a few dollars. When brown rice is used, it adds an extra nutritional component that the meal did not have before.

My chili was so darn hot that it cracked a beautiful piece of pottery one of my friends gave me (the outside is a pretty metallic blue glaze). I'm really disappointed - it's been a favorite pasta and salad bowl since I received it. Since I can't bear to part with it, I'm sure it'll find a recycled use as some sort of catch-all bowl somewhere else in the house.

What did I use from my shopping trip yesterday? Turkey, onion, bell pepper, cheese, rice and red beans. Now I have a few more lunches or dinners already made!

To market, to market

2009-10-10T18:28:00.003-04:00

Have you ever had such a knock-out grocery shopping trip during which you've bought so many great meal components that you don't even know where to start once you get home? A blessing and a curse at the same time, hmm? That's how I'm feeling after getting home from the co-op! I think my first step is going to be to make a meal plan for the week, and take it from there.

Here is a sampling of some of the items I bought (L=local product; O=organic):

1 lb. ground turkey (L)
red beans (O)
black beans (O)
rice (O)
pumpkin puree (O)
red cabbage (L)
red potatoes (L)
tomato sauce (O)
assorted cheeses
pasta
acorn squash (L)
broccoli
bell pepper (L)
eggs (L)
vidalia onion

There was plenty more that came home with me - organic fruit, local dairy products, organic yogurt, etc., but the above items are what will be featured in this week's meals.

FREEdom

2009-10-09T19:46:00.002-04:00

Don't you love receiving gift cards for birthdays or other occasions? Shopping is always fun, but it's waaay better when you're not worrying about spending your own money.

Check out THIS contest - there are 8 bloggers who are offering opportunities to win $200 gift cards to Best Buy, where you could have the freedom to wildly purchase anything you want!

In THIS contest, you could win a $100 Visa gift card. There are 8 opportunities.

Want to win a year's supply of Wonder Bread? How about a $100 grocery store gift card? Win both with THIS contest! Grab one of the 7 prizes!

Tasty dish for 1, please

2009-10-08T19:29:00.005-04:00

Another confession: I despise the word casserole. It always makes me think of multiple gross ingredients baked into a pan and topped with cheese - to trick you into thinking it's good.

Due to above confession, I commonly call this type of meal a "baked chicken dish," which it is. I'm a big fan of that classic meal - made with chicken strips, rice, broccoli, cream of celery soup and topped with cheese - baked in the oven. It is indeed a tasty and easy dinner to make, but when wanting to limit my meat intake to about once a week, I don't want a couple days worth of leftovers (remember, I'm cooking for one). I would, however, like some extra rice and broccoli, so I opted for the following version.

I bought three stalks of broccoli, then washed and steamed them all. I also steamed an entire (dry) cup of brown rice. This gave me plenty of broccoli and rice to use in my dinner and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow (which I'll eat with a little soy sauce drizzled on top). Then I browned two chicken breast strips, cut into smaller pieces.

In a Pyrex dish I layered the rice, the chicken and the broccoli, then topped with shredded Mexican blend cheese. I placed it on the bottom rack of the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. One thing I also despise is the taste of meat warmed in the microwave - it seems to lose flavor and texture. In the end I had a dish perfectly portioned for one person, which had all the healthy components of a well-balanced meal.

Meat-fest '09

2009-10-07T21:57:00.002-04:00

Okay, that wasn't the official name...more like "backyard barbecue"...but it should have been called meat-fest!

Fact: I am not much of a meat eater. I have not eaten beef in probably over 3 years now (environmental reasons), and occasionally (once a week?) eat chicken, pork, turkey or various seafood.

Confession: On Monday, I ate 3 types of meat and 1 seafood.

Sadly (or maybe luckily?), I don't have any photographic proof. In the backyard is a wonderful fire pit dug into the ground and lined with stones. It's a favorite dinner spot for my neighbors and me, who quite often collect the contents of our refrigerators/freezers and turn any and everything grill-able into a meal.

The Menu:
-Dry rubbed pork ribs
-Andouille chicken sausages
-Dry rubbed chicken breasts
-Shrimp
-Assorted veggies (the saving grace to my potentially looming heart attack)
-Frozen Nutty Bars (the necessary dessert to any fireside event)

I started out easy with some grilled summer squash and zucchini - coated in a little EVOO with a generous sprinkling of garlic powder. Then I hungrily (savagely? no, not me) dug into a crispy, seasoned chicken breast and had a helping of shrimp, steamed in a cast iron pan over the fire with broccoli, corn and okra. I have finally, at the age of 25, become brave enough to eat slimy okra. Finally, I tore into some pork ribs, my new love. We've had then 3 or 4 times over the last couple of months, every time with the rub varying just a little bit. This one was a mixture of paprika, brown sugar, cumin and some other tasty spices (this same rub was used on the chicken). I could hardly wait until they were charred just enough to be crunchy and delicious.

All of these foods were grilled over a wood fire. Chicken breasts should be pounded before seasoning so that they cook through a little easier; place them bone side down on the grill first. For best results when grilling a rack of ribs over a wood fire, wait until you have a glowing bed of coals. This will prevent the outside of the meat from becoming charred before the inside is thoroughly cooked.

Now scamper off to your yards to collect some wood and make dinner!

Oktoberfest!

2009-10-03T21:22:00.006-04:00

Recently I took my first trip to Lancaster County (PA's Amish country), where I attended an Oktoberfest at a local brewery. The day was a lot of fun and there was a lot of good food, music and of course, beer! The selection of brews was a little disappointing, but I managed to find decent enough choices to use my three drink tickets for.

First up was the Gold Lager, a nice German style beer that was light on the hops. I really love the dark brews, so after that one I went for the Stout - a dark, heavy beer with a strong flavor. My last choice of the day was the Porter, another dark beer. After that, I was all beered out.

The food choices were also all traditional German eats. For lunch I went for the spaetzle, a super yummy noodle and cheese dish. I first had this when I was in college, homemade by a German neighbor. He even handmade all of the noodles! His version had onions in it as well. My neighbor Nick had an agenda - eat one of every sausage offered - and he did! I could not leave before having one of my favorite treats - a hand-rolled and buttery baked soft pretzel. Mmm.

Butternut Squash

2009-10-03T21:12:00.003-04:00

Despite being a big fan of summer squash, I've never tried the autumn or winter varieties. I guess at some point I just refused to eat it and it was never offered again. Well that's changing! Carefully choosing foods is important to me, and one way to do that is to choose foods that are 1) locally grown and 2) seasonal. If you can do both at once, that's even better! At the co-op, I chose a locally grown, small-medium butternut squash to make for the first time.

To prepare my squash, I washed it, sliced it in half lengthwise, scooped out the seeds and put each half in an oven-safe baking dish. I rubbed some butter on top and added pumpkin spice - the kind you'd use to season a pumpkin pie. I also added a sprinkling of brown sugar. I set the oven to 375 and covered the squash halves with foil so the tops wouldn't burn, and placed the dishes on the bottom rack of the oven. On the top rack, I placed a tray with the seeds, which I rinsed and stirred in some olive oil and salt.

Both came out great! Not pictured are the other components of the meal - steamed broccoli and chicken, which I baked in a butter and brown sugar glaze. It was soooo good.

Where are the pics?

2009-08-30T23:16:00.001-04:00

They're coming, they're coming! I've had several posts saved as drafts, waiting to download the pics from my camera, upload them to the website, blah blah blah. Rather than get a massive backlog of posts, I'll just come back to them later and add the pics - so enjoy for now! I'll let you use your imagination ;)

Caramelized Autumn Spice Apples

2009-08-30T19:31:00.004-04:00

Today felt like one of those beautiful, warm autumn days - my absolute most favorite of the year. To enjoy every bit of it, I made an autumn treat after dinner.

What You Need:

An apple (I had a Pink Lady in the fridge)
1 tbs of butter
Sugar
Cinnamon
Nutmeg

What You Do:

Cut the apple into chunks. It's easy to use and apple corer and then cut up the slices.
Begin melting the butter in the pan and add the apple pieces and let them warm.
Add the sugar and stir around to coat the apples pieces.
Sprinkle in cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.

Also great with cinnamon sugar graham crackers or vanilla ice cream.

From the Garden

2009-08-29T18:00:00.004-04:00

This is an easy meal that could either be straight from your garden, or probably all purchased locally from a farmers market. Simple, filling and tasty. My co-op has an awesome variety of potatoes (even purple ones!), so I might try this with some other options as we get into the colder months. Also, you could very easily add a meat to this dish if you wanted. It'd be almost like a stew without the broth.

What You Need:

Potato (I used a red potato)
Veggies (Carrots, yellow squash, zucchini and broccoli)
EVOO
Seasoning

What You Do:

Wash and cut your potatoes and veggies.
Option A: Stir all veggies with a little EVOO and seasoning and bake at 350 for 10-15 min.
Option B: Steam veggies while potatoes (stirred in EVOO and seasoning) bake.

I chose option B because I had already steamed my veggies earlier in the day, without knowing exactly what I was going to make for dinner. Also, I used a little sprinkling of Season All (seasoned salt) on my potatoes. Cooking the potatoes and veggies separately spared me from eating overly salted foods. If you're using any type of herbs for seasoning, I'd say throw 'em all together and bake.

Tilapia and Harvest Grains

2009-08-23T19:37:00.004-04:00

I've always eaten a lot of white fish as part of my diet, until I went on a sprint as a vegetarian. Now I've reintroduced fish to my diet, and tilapia was first. On a trip to Trader Joe's this morning, I picked up farm raised tilapia and harvest grains, among a few other things. TJ's harvest grains is a hearty mix that makes a great side dish, or is substantial enough on its own with steamed veggies added. This was an easy, filling and healthy meal.

What You Need:

Fish of your choice
Grains (quinoa, cous cous, harvest grains mix, lentils, etc.)
Veggies (I added carrots)
Seasoning (For fish, grains and veggies, I love Salsa Lizano, a Costa Rican staple.)

What You Do:

A few hours prior to starting your meal, marinate your fish in a seasoning rub or sauce.
Cook your grains according to package directions. I've often had problems with TJ's harvest grains sticking to the bottom of the pot, despite following the cooking instructions. This time, I smartened up and used a deep, non-stick frying pan with a lid. What do you know...not a single grain wasted by being glued to the bottom of the pan.
Chop your veggies and toss in with the grains to steam.
As the grains are nearing their finish, start the fish. I did a pan-seared tilapia tonight by melting a little Smart Balance in the bottom of the pan and then cooked the fish on both sides until it was cooked through.
Make a nice little bed of grains on your plate, top with the fish and finish off with an extra dash of seasonings or drizzle of sauce if you choose.

Roll me out of bed

2009-08-22T12:50:00.004-04:00

I've been all about the eggs lately - scrambled, omelets or hard boiled. I had an early wake-up call this morning for a volunteer project in the park that ended up getting rained out. Since I was up, and everyone knows an early trip to a bakery gives you the best pick of the freshest goodies, I headed out on an errand. Tonight is a birthday party for a friend of a friend and I wanted to bring her some treats. After that, I crashed until lunch time. What do you make for lunch, but is really your first meal of the day? A breakfast sandwich, of course.

What you Need:

A tasty roll (I have some fresh Jewish egg-washed rolls from the co-op)
1-2 eggs (from free-range, vegetarian fed chickens)
Cheese (I mixed it up this morning and opted for Monterey Jack)
Butter (my choice is Smart Balance with Flax oil)

What you Do:

Pop your roll in the toaster oven while you're cooking the egg(s).
Cook your egg as desired (I made mine into an easy omelet with cheese).
When both are finished, butter the inside of the roll, add your egg(s) and close.

Adding the Monterey Jack cheese was really tasty. The egg washed roll was also sweet tasting on its own. Putting it all together was delicious!