Lack of posts

Sorry for the lacks of posts, dear readers. I'm visiting family and friends for the holidays and away from my blogging post. I'll be back shortly, possibly with some recipes and stories from my trip.

Happy holidays!

Free stuff rocks!

I happened upon a gift basket sitting at a colleague's desk this afternoon. She told me she didn't want anything in it and I should take as many things as I like. I don't know if she was being nice because I'm going to be jobless soon or if she just doesn't like cheese. Regardless, check out the free stuff I scored!

Is butter the answer?

Apparently my inabilities as a baker have to do with butter. Who knew?

Recipes of the week: Holiday Gifts, Part 1

I spent all weekend in the kitchen preparing tasty holiday treats. It has even spilled over into tonight. Whew, lots of time and energy. But, it makes for a great personal gift that I had an enjoyable time making. Much better than those lousy mass-produced gifts you can get anywhere. There's just one little problem with all of this. I am a lousy baker. It's true. I don't know how the baking gene passed over me, my sister is a great baker! So, I went into this with an open mind and prepared to have some misses but hopefully also some hits. And I think it is mostly the latter. Here are the goodies I made (if you are a friend or family member, you may want to stop reading right about now).

I have several friends and family members who are diabetic, so I tried to find some diabetic-friendly recipes.

First I made Sweet Potato Raisin Cookies. For some reason I had way more dry ingredients than seemed necessary, so I ended up not using them all. The cookies themselves came out okay, not the most exciting thing I've tasted. They were a little bland. But the raisins, nuts and bran added some much needed flavor. Not for those with a sweet tooth.

Another diabetic recipe I made was for Apricot Oat Treats. These were much better. I even had to fluff egg whites, which I have never done before. I was so excited to do it, but then it was a little bit of a let down.

Very much not a diabetic treat - I made a Paula Deen recipe for Cookie Dough Truffles. Very decadent and no baking required! I probably would make them smaller next time.

Lastly I made an oldie but a goodie - Chocolate Chip Cookies. (See my snazzy new apron in the pic!)

And of course, all this baking requires a play list. Here are some songs that helped get through the holiday baking.

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant make for good listening when you are deep in the throes of measuring and mixing. Here's my pick.

Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us ...

Here's a good one for getting into the holiday cheer. Van Morrison, you saucy boy, look how you've brought my spirits up.

Glad Tidings - Van Morrison

Finally, this is a great song to dance to while waiting for cookies in the oven. It's okay, no one's watching ;) (It's better if you don't actually listen to the words.)

Take Me As I Am - Wyclef Jean ...

I will soon post a part two, which will showcase the non-cookie treats. It was a busy weekend...

Menu Plan Monday: Week of December 15

It's a sad, sad Menu Plan day. I found out last week that I will be laid off as of next week. Happy holidays! What? You mean I will not be getting paid to write on my blog all day? Boo!

So, due to the dwindling funds and the zen retreat I am participating in for part of the week, my menu will be quite simple and limited. Sorry folks.

Monday

Breakfast: Granola bar

Lunch: Beef stirfry with zucchini and onions over rice (leftovers)

Dinner: Breakfast for Dinner!

Tuesday

Breakfast: Bagel with vegetable cream cheese

Lunch: Rice with sesame seeds, side salad

Dinner: Goodbye party for a dear friend

Wednesday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal

Lunch: Soup

Dinner: PB and J Sandwich (I am heading straight from work to the zen retreat Wed, Thurs and Fri, so dinners will be eaten en route)

Thursday

Breakfast: Bagel

Lunch: Tuna Sandwich

Dinner: PB and J Sandwich

Friday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal

Lunch: Soup and Salad

Dinner: PB and J Sandwich

Food of the week: Black Beans

A few days ago I wrote a post about my wonderful birthday dinner at a Latin American bistro. It seems that this week I have been eating quite a bit of Latin/Cuban food. Tuesday I had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and last night I found myself at a Cuban restaurant with a friend who was in town. While contemplating a food of the week I thought maybe I should incorporate a common staple in all of these cuisines. So today I present to you, the black bean.

Benefits:

• Good source of cholesterol lowering fiber. This means that your blood sugar will not spike after eating them. Good news for diabetics and those with hypoglycemia. And since the fiber is insoluble, it helps to prevent constipation, irritable bowel and diverticulosis.
• Protein that’s almost fat free (unlike those pesky meats)!
• Detoxifies sulfites.
• Antioxidants! And much like chocolate, the darker the bean the more antioxidants.
• Help prevent cancer.
• Lowers risk of heart attack.
• Good source of Iron.

Drawbacks:

• Because black beans contain Purines, excessive eating may lead to the gout or kidney stones.

Ways to eat black beans:

• Cuban black beans and rice are a favorite side dish of mine. I always get them whenever I go out for Cuban food. Trader Joe’s makes a pretty decent version that you can just heat up and throw over some rice.
• Amy’s Organics makes the best darn black bean soup I’ve ever tasted.
• I process black beans with olive oil to make the base for my taco dip, which is loved by all. By all!
• Essential in my Southwestern Quinoa recipe.

Little known facts:

• Dried black beans can be stored for up to a year.
• Black beans have been around for over 7,000 years.

The quintessential birthday dinner

I had the distinct pleasure of celebrating my birthday last weekend with several of my closest friends. First I had a VIP dinner, with only my nearest and dearest, which was followed up by drinks and shenanigans at a local bar/lounge. It was quite a night! Probably the most memorable part of the evening though, was the delicious dinner. Even several days later my friends are still talking about how wonderful the dinner was.

Now, I love Latin American food, possibly more than any other food in the world. Seriously, beans and rice, plantains and sangria make me so happy! So, when my roommate suggested this Colombian and Latin America Bistro for my birthday, I was sold! And although we had to wait over an hour for our table (they didn’t take reservations after 6:30pm – WTF?!?!?!) we managed to sit at the bar-like section and get started on drinks and appetizers…which you know is just trouble…

Here is a break down of the totally wonderful meal.

6:58 pm Arrive and put our name in for a table. Wait for the entire party to arrive.

7:20 pm All have arrived and we decide that waiting outside for a table is for chumps. And we are not chumps!

7:30 pm The first pitcher of a red sangria is served alongside a dish of corn and plantain chips with several wonderful dips (guacamole, black bean, and salsa were the choices) at the bar.

8:00 pm We sit at our table and immediately order a second pitcher of sangria (and some order mojitos too…) from the very attractive waiter (hello Javier!).

8:10 pm We order our entrees.

8:20 pm The appetizers arrive, which include fried plantains with cheese and sour cream and a plateful of chorizo.

8:40 pm Our entrees begin to arrive. I enjoy the Quinoa Cakes entrée, which are made of quinoa and sweet potatoes, and come with a soy sauce for dipping. It comes with sides of shredded kale and a super-duper yummy mango-cucumber salad.

9:00 pm The time when we are supposed to get to the bar to meet those not coming to dinner. I feel bad for not getting there on ti…ooh, is that cheesecake?!?!?!

9:10 pm I come back from the ladies room and notice that the dessert menus have disappeared from our table. What are these people up to?

9:15 pm Some of the wait staff come to our table singing happy birthday and playing maracas. Best birthday song at a restaurant ever! They put in front of me a coconut flan and what can only be described as cheesecake heaven. The table devours both desserts like wild animals.

9:30 pm We sadly pull ourselves up from the table of gluttony and start heading to the bar. We get outside only to realize that it's snowing. Dancing and leaping ensue. Happy Birthday to me!

A perfect dinner - one part delicious food mixed with one part awesome friends having a great time. We finished the night with drinks at a lounge where we could converse on couches by a fireplace. Come on...how poetic is that!

Now this is how you celebrate the holidays!

Menu Plan Monday: Week of December 8

It's time to get back to the weekly routine of planning my menu's. Although, I know it will be put on the back burner in the coming weeks during the holidays. This week's theme is a little school lunch and a little more broke college student. The holidays are usually the hardest time for me financially, so I'm looking to eat minmally. This week is a bit busy with evening activities, so I will not be making many dinners at home (luckily some of the dinners out will be free!).

Also, I would like to add that although my menu's often look healthy, I don't always stick strictly to them and there are usually unhealthy snacks eaten during the day sometime. I find that if I make a plan to eat healthy ahead of time, I'm more likely to do it. But still, things happen.


Monday
Breakfast: Chai Latte (not helping the pocketbook) and a bagel
Lunch: Soup and salad
Dinner: Sushi (homemade by a friend!) and other foods brought by my knitting circle friends.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Hot cereal with raspberries
Lunch: PB & J and chips
Dinner: Out for Mexican with a friend

Wednesday
Breakfast: Hot Cereal with banana
Lunch: Salad with tuna, black beans and beets
Dinner: Alumni holiday party (free food and booze, woo!)

Thursday
Breakfast: Bagel
Lunch: PB & J sandwich and chips
Dinner: Burrito

Friday
Breakfast: Hot cereal with strawberries
Lunch: Egg salad sandwich
Dinner: Pasta primavera

Food of the week: Chocolate

People, it was only time. I've done several foods of the week that are vegetables or fruits, but now I move on to a food that really has something to contribute in the drawbacks category. I feel though, that the benefits are such that chocolate really needs to be a food of the week.

I am not really differentiating between semisweet and dark chocolate, although I outline how they differ in health benefits and drawbacks at times. They are very similar and come to be through mostly the same process. I will NOT be talking about white chocolate, however, because it is an abomination to chocolate everywhere. You hear that white chocolate? An abomination! You're not really even chocolate, how dare you soil the good name!

Benefits:

• Cocoa beans are high in fiber and antioxidants and help to lower blood pressure and prevent blood clots. These are diluted when mixed with milk, sugar and other additives. The darker the chocolate the better your cardiovascular health! (Actually dark, and even milk, chocolate rated the highest in antioxidants of all foods.)
• Contains Phenylethylamine and Serotonin, which make us happy. Cocoa also helps to relieve PMS symptoms. See ladies, there is a reason why we crave chocolate every month!
• Lots of essential vitamins and minerals.

Drawbacks:

• When mixed with milk, chocolate can be high in cholesterol.
• Chocolate itself is high in fat and sugar. Yes, even the darker chocolate.
• Chocolate is high in caffeine. Do what you want with that.
• Bad news if you’re prone to kidney stones and possibly migraines.

Ways to eat chocolate:

• A few bites of dark chocolate while sipping (sipping!) on a spicy red wine (perhaps a syrah).
• Mixed with peanuts and/or peanut butter. Reese’s sure has something right.
• An idea for a gift or to make for yourself: I put a cup of cashews, 1/3 cup of dark chocolate chips and some peanut oil in a food processor and made a decadent nut butter.
• Brownies!
• Strawberries dipped in chocolate, even better in dark chocolate.
• See my earlier post from today.
• I could go on, but really, you know….

Little known facts:

Your mother lied! There is no link between chocolate consumption and acne.

Ever wonder how chocolate is made?

Chocolate is made using beans harvested from the cocoa tree, Theobroma cacao. The beans are removed from their pod, fermented, dried, roasted and then ground to produce a cocoa mass or cocoa liquor. This is then pressed to yield cocoa butter and cocoa cake which is ground up into cocoa powder.

Why is dark chocolate healthier than milk chocolate?

• As you add more milk, you increase the fat and cholesterol in chocolate.
• Dark chocolate is made without hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.
• As mentioned earlier, dark chocolate contains more antioxidants, for greater health benefits.

So, there you have it people. Eat chocolate and be happy, but not if you get kidney stones or migraines (you poor souls).

Some recipes to tide you over

Here are some recipes passed on from my sister, from a friend of hers. I haven't tried them but they sound so good! Also, they relate to the food of the week that I am gearing up to post soon. Sorry, it's been a busy week at work, I'm still kind-of sick and yesterday was my birthday. What a week!


Chai Hot Cocoa Recipe:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 chai-flavored tea bag
1 envelope Hot Cocoa Mix

Heat milk & water to boiling then pour into mug.
Add tea bag. let stand for at least 1 minute.
Remove tea bag; tir in cocoa mix.


5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake:
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate ifdesired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous). And why
is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all
only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Thanks to my sister and her friend Kelly for the decadent recipes!

In the absence of an actual post

You may have noticed, dear Accidental Epi fans, that I have been lacking in the blog posts. I'm sorry to disappoint but I've succumb to the virus that I've been fighting off for a while and have been a bit busy at work, both things keeping me from writing on this here blog. I'm sorry to say there will be no recipe of the week or menu planning for this week. But don't you worry, little darlings! I'll be back soon with the food of the week. What do you think it will be? Talk amongst yourselves.

To keep you entertained until my next post, I will pass the buck on to other bloggers.

• How about giving away fetus cookies for holiday gifts?
• Some ideas for your Thanksgiving leftovers.
• Avocados, Avocados, Avocados! (And no, I am not linking to this post just because my blog was referenced in it. Although I do feel a bit like a celebrity. Avocados are a higher priority in my life than fame. If that seems to you in any way sad or wrong, I pose one question to you. Have you ever eaten an avocado?!?!?!?)

Recipe of the week: Southwestern Style Quinoa

Recently I had lunch at a place called 'sNice here in Brooklyn. It was soon after I chose quinoa for food of the week, so their quinoa dish with beans, corn and avocado caught my attention. While eating it I thought a) that it was tasty and b) that I could probably make it on my own. So, I did. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was also good.

Southwestern Style Quinoa
2 Cups Prepared Quinoa

8 ounces Black Beans

5 ounces corn

1 Avocado

1/2 Small Red Onion, sliced

1/2 Medium Lime

Few tsp of Chili Powder

Few Tsps Olive Oil

Mix 1/2 Avocado, small queeze of lime (don't use it all) and olive oil until it is a sauce consistency. Put aside.

Mix the quinoa, beans, corn, onions and sliced avocado with a splash of lime and some chili powder.

Mix in or put on the side the Avocado-lime sauce.

The dish at 'sNice also had greens, I cannot remember if it was spinach or some kind of lettuce. I didn't use it in my recipe, but it could be easily added.

Menu Plan Monday: Week of November 24

This week's menu includes a quinoa recipe I devised from a local restaurant, much of the old-standby dishes, and holiday treats. I'm very excited about this weekend and all the Christmas preparation that will commence after the the gobble gobble has hit my belly on Thursday. Hooray for shortened work weeks and spending time with loved ones! Happy holidays!

Monday

Breakfast: Breakfast Sandwich and Chai Latte

Lunch: Southwestern Style Quinoa (recipe soon to come)

Dinner: Chicken Burrito

Tuesday

Breakfast: Hot! Cereal

Lunch: Pb & J Sandwich and Vegetable Chips

Dinner: Pumpkin Tortellini

Wednesday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal

Lunch: Pumpkin Tortellini

Dinner: Pasta Primavera

Thursday
Breakfast: Scrambled Egg Whites and Fruit (got to keep it light for the heavy eating to come!)

Lunch/Dinner: All of the holiday fixin's (I'm making rice pudding with pomegranate seeds and an apple crisp for dessert)

Friday

Breakfast: Smoothie

Lunch: PB & J Sandwich

Dinner: Cuban Black Beans and Rice

Food of the week: Pomegranate

Pomegranates are in season! Yet another reason to love fall. I've been seeing and hearing pomegranate everywhere lately, it seems. I think it's time to make the pomegranate food of the week!



Benefits:

• Rich in antioxidants, which help to prevent cancer and heart disease.
• Good source of Vitamin C, Potassium, and fiber.
• Low in calories.
• May help lower cholesterol.

Drawbacks:

• May slow the metabolism of some medications.
• May cause low blood pressure when combined with blood pressure lowering medications.

Ways to eat Pomegranate:

• The seeds can be added to yogurt or pudding for a sweet treat.
• Pomegranate juice is tasty (fyi, I wouldn't drink it if you have a sore throat, it's a little rough)
• Pomegranate martini, mojito, what have you....
• I went to a party last weekend where there was guacamole with pomegranate seeds in it! Yum!
  

Little know facts:

• How to cut open a pomegranate with as little mess as possible.
• Pomegranates are known as Granada in Spanish and Grenade in French.
• Pomegranate trees do well in dry climates, therefore in the U.S. they are most successfully grown in the southwest, Southern California especially.

Recipe of the week: Hot! Cereal

I actually got this idea from a recipe I found online, in which you add sweet potato baby food to pancake mix. The pancakes didn't turn out that well, but this dish did. It helps to spruce up my breakfasts because the plain hot cereal just gets a bit mundane.

Hot! Cereal

1 cup prepared hot cereal of your choice

1 small jar sweet potato baby food

1/3 cup brown sugar

A couple of tablespoons of Cinnamon

A few teaspoons of allspice

Mix all together (make sure cereal is hot, so that the brown sugar melts) and enjoy!

I made this Sunday morning and ate it with some scrambled eggs.

I had leftovers for this week. I heated it up and added some seeds, nuts and raisins to help fill me up a bit.

Back to the crappy camera phone pics. Sorry!

See the pictures!

I have posted the pictures my friend Ian took for last week's recipe of the week. Check them out. The food looks beautiful, doesn't it! Thanks Ian!

Menu Plan Monday: Week of November 17

I'm afraid there is nothing terribly exciting about this week's menu. There are a few things affecting this:

1. I have been keeping some sort of virus at bay for the past month or two and my body is getting exhausted. I've been trying to fight it as best as I can, but I'm just tired a lot.

2. Thanksgiving is next week, lots of cooking to do then.

3. Between the new laptop and the holidays gifts I've started buying, I've got to tighten the purse straps (That's kind-of a ridiculous saying, don't you think? But I feel like using cliches today).

4. Any creative energies I do have are currently being focused on making new and tasty nut butters as holiday presents. Look for posts on these to come.

Anyway, so here is this week's totally unexciting menu.

Monday
Breakfast: Hot Cereal (with sweet potato - I'll post it as recipe of the week later)

Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwich and soup

Dinner: Chicken Burrito

Tuesday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal

Lunch: Chicken Burrito

Dinner: Cheesy Quinoa Surprise

Wednesday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal

Lunch: Cheesy Quinoa Surprise

Dinner: PB & J Sandwich (I got a new Raspberry and Pomegranite Jam that I'm a little excited about)

Thursday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal

Lunch: PB & J Sandwich

Dinner: Breakfast Burrito

Friday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal

Lunch: Soup and Salad

Dinner: Chicken & Vegetable Pasta

Food of the week: Quinoa

Are you ready for this Mom? You're going to be so happy! This week's food of the week is none other than...duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh!....Quinoa.

It seems that quinoa has a very loyal following. Those that love it, want to spread its good word to people around the world. If there was ever a superfood, it would be quinoa. It's super-nutritious and easy to make.

Benefits:

• Excellent source of magnesium, which helps prevent migraines and hypertension.
• Helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol in postmenopausal women.
• Fiber, fiber, fiber!
• Lowers incidence of asthma in children.
• Contains plant lignans which help protect against breast cancer and heart disease.
• Lowers type II diabetes risk.
• Good source of protein (especially for vegans because it provides all the essential amino acids found in meat and dairy).
• Easy to cook
• Cool looking

Drawbacks:

• Can be more expensive than grains (but it expands a lot when cooking, so it kind-of evens itself out).

Ways to eat quinoa:

• Substitute quinoa for pasta or rice, as I did with my Cheesy Quinoa Surprise.
• Add it to vegetable soup.
• Eat it like a hot cereal.
• Use it in cookies.

Little known fact:

• Quinoa is not actually a grain, but the seed of a plant closely related to spinach.

Recipe of the week: Green Tea–Poached Asian Chicken with Lemongrass and Green Onion and Brown Rice

Okay, okay! Calm down! I know you've been sitting on the edge of your seat, awaiting this week's recipe. And after the decrease in blogging last week, you're hurting for more. I get it, I do. So, here's the fix for this week.

You may have noticed my shotty pictures of the finished products in previous posts. That's because my laptop died and so I've just been taking pictures on my phone and sending them to myself. Unacceptable, I know. Well, this week, I invited a friend to dinner in return for his mad food photography skills. Thanks Ian!

For this week, I chose another recipe from Natural Health, one that I've been eyeing for a while. It's Green Tea–Poached Asian Chicken with Lemongrass and Green Onion and Brown Rice. Who would have thought to cook chicken and rice in green tea? As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to try it. So, I did.

6 cups water
6 green tea bags
1 teaspoon vegetable or canola oil
1 cup brown rice (basmati is more aromatic, but any brown rice will do)

4 4-inch pieces of lemongrass taken from the bottom of the stalk
2 split skinless chicken breasts on or off the bone (4 halves)
1 red pepper
2 carrots
4 spring onions
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon low-sodium tamari
1 bunch of cilantro leaves, chopped (optional)

Basically you brew the tea and then cook the rice in 2 cups of the tea rather than water. Oh, and you throw in 2 of the stalks of lemongrass.

Then use the remaining 4 cups of tea to cook the chicken breasts. And use the rest of the lemongrass. This poaches the chicken. Do so for about 30 minutes over low heat.

After the chicken is cooked, shred it and put it back in the tea broth with the pepper, carrots, spring onions, and pepper flakes. Add the tamari and poach for another 3 to 4 minutes until the vegetables are crisp tender. Add the chopped cilantro.

Serve it over the brown rice and enjoy.

Not only was it a tasty Thai treat, it looked beautiful too! Ian helped me out and prepared the cranberry-walnut salad of Recipe of the Week fame.

I have learned something today

A few things actually.

1. Plastic bowls do melt in the microwave if you put them in for long enough.
2. Essence of lemongrass is not quite the same as lemongrass.
3. Cheap prepackaged food that you heat up in the microwave hits the spot sometimes.

Things I will learn tomorrow.
1. How melted plastic in prepackaged foods affects the body.

Menu Planning Monday: Week of Nov 10

Yes, I know I haven't been posting as much this past week. It was election week and it was exciting! But, I'm back today, with my weekly menu. I'm trying to save some money to buy a new laptop, so the menu's will be getting less fancy (because they were so gourmet before!).

Monday

Breakfast: Chai Latte and Bran Muffin

Lunch: Thai Dumplings

Dinner: Soup

Tuesday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal

Lunch: Thai Dumplings

Dinner: Salad with Tuna, Beets, Black Beans and Corn

Wednesday

Breakfast: Smoothie

Lunch: Leftover Salad

Dinner: PB & J Sandwich

Thursday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal

Lunch: Soup

Dinner: Bacon, Lettuce and Avocado Sandwich

Friday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal

Lunch: PB & J Sandwich

Dinner: Pumpkin Tortellini

Don't forget to vote!

Today is the day when all of the political rigmarole of the past year+ comes to a conclusion. This has been a historic and very heated campaign year. So, it's very important that we all use our constitutional right to pick who the president will be for the next 4 years. (Yea we're almost done with the previous idiot who has been "running" our country!).

Any who, if you need some incentive (other than having a say in who the next leader of the free world will be) to get your butt out there and vote, a few businesses are rewarding voters for their job well done. Starbucks is giving away free coffee and Ben and Jerry's a free scoop of ice cream. This was originally for people who voted, but I just heard on WNYC that it is actually illegal to reward people for voting or not voting, so they've changed it to anyone who comes in. Also, Krispy Kreme is sticking it to the man and giving away free donuts to people who have voted (and no one else!). So, you should take advantage of these give aways!

But honestly, if this is the only reason you decide to vote I am going to come over there and smack you over the head. I'm not a violent person, but really this election has been going on forever now. If you don't know who you are going to vote for, or worse - don't feel like voting, then you've had your head stuck in the sand and you deserve a smack over the head. You've been warned.

Recipe of the week: Stuffed Veggie Meat Loaf (aka Turkey Meat Mush)

So this weekend I had the opportunity of doing some cooking with friends. I got together with my friends Alisa and Katie to make a feast for Saturday night. I love having friends who can cook and who are open to trying new things. Hooray!

Saturday, I brought a recipe for Stuffed Veggie Meat Loaf from the Natural Health website to Alisa's place for an autumn night feast. I'd never made a meat loaf before and I was drawn to the combination of meat and vegetables all in one dish! We decided that we needed a side dish to go with this, so we made a salad with cranberries, sunflower seeds, and crumbled blue cheese. (Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of the results, so you'll just have to imagine the finished products).

Sounds like a lovely dinner, yes? Well, things happened during cooking prep and the recipe was sort of thrown out the window. Please consider the original meat loaf recipe:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 medium carrot, small dice
1 celery stalk, small dice
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (a packaged blend of dried oregano, basil, and other herbs)
½ cup spinach, finely chopped
1 1/3 pounds lean ground turkey (not extra-lean)
½ cup low-fat or fat-free chicken stock
½ cup shredded Parmesan1
tablespoon ketchup (We didn't use)
1 egg, beaten
15 low-sodium crackers, crushed
½ cup chopped leeks
½ cup chopped red bell peppers
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar (We used Red Wine Vinegar)
1 teaspoon organic evaporated cane juice sugar (We didn't use)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery, and cook until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add ½ teaspoon salt, garlic, Italian seasoning, and spinach; stir to combine and sauté 5 more minutes, then turn off heat.

In large bowl, mix turkey, chicken stock, cheese, ketchup, egg, and vegetable mixture. Stir in crackers, then shape into rectangular loaf on oiled baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.

While the loaf is in the oven, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saucepan and add leeks and peppers, sauté 5 minutes, then add tomatoes, ½ teaspoon salt, sherry vinegar, and sugar. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Blend in a food processor until smooth.

Remove loaf from oven and top with sauce. Place back in oven and cook about 10 minutes more. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.


Now, here's we went rogue! Instead of putting 1/2 cup of chicken stock in the meat mixture we (I) put in a whole 14 ounce can. Also, we (I) mixed the undrained crushed tomatoes into the meat mixture as well. Needless to say, the mixture was very runny and was not going to form into a loaf shape. We improvised though and drained some of the excess liquid, added some flour and poured the mixture into a 9 x 12 glass baking dish. We left it in for about 45 minutes.

It wasn't quite loaf consistency, but woo was it tasty! The vegetables and herbs mixed so well together. Also, since I used the tomatoes in the loaf, we had to come up with an alternative for the sauce. So we cut up a little bit of fresh tomato with red wine vinegar, the leek and red pepper. It wasn't exactly sauce-like but did make a good topping to the meat mush. All the while, we were sipping on some Malbec (may have contributed slightly to not following the recipe exactly).

After dinner we played some scrabble and then had dessert - whipped cream and berries. Yum!

It was such a fun night. Even though we messed up the original recipe, we got creative and had a fun time together. But the food turned out great anyway and only added to our fun night!

Menu Planning Monday: Week of Nov 3

It's election week! I have to make sure that I am fully fueled for this intense emotionally charged week. Here is my schedule for the week, which includes some pumpkin tortellini I bought from the market and a new recipe for cooking chicken in green tea. I'm so excited!

Monday
Breakfast: Hot Cereal
Lunch: Bean and Cheese Bites
Dinner: Pumpkin Tortellini with a Garlic/Parmesan Sauce

Tuesday
Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast and Yogurt
Lunch: Salad with Tuna, Black Beans, Corn and Beets
Dinner: Bacon, Lettuce and Avocado Sandwich

Wednesday
Breakfast: Hot Cereal
Lunch: Bacon and Apple sandwich/Small Salad
Dinner: Vegetable Soup

Thursday
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: Salad with Cranberries, Walnuts and Avocado
Dinner: Out with some friends

Friday
Breakfast: Chai Latte and Muffin
Lunch: PB and Jelly Sandwich/Vegetable Chips
Dinner: Green Tea–Poached Asian Chicken with Lemongrass and Green Onion and Brown Rice

Let the cooking commence!

Food of the week: Eggs

Eggs have always been one of my favorite foods around. They are eaten in so many tasty ways, how could you not love them? Now that I've done some research about eggs, I'm even more convinced of their necessity in our lives. The nutritional benefits heavily outweigh the few drawbacks (for most people) and eggs are used for so many things. Plus they're just so gosh-darn tasty!

Benefits:

• One egg contains about 6 grams of protein.
• Eggs are a good source of Choline, which is important for brain function and health and may help reduce inflammation; Lutein and Zeaxanthin, which may protect against vision loss; and vitamin B-12, which is good for your heart.
• They help prevent blod clots and protect against Macular Degeneration and Cataracts.

Drawbacks:

• Very high in cholesterol (but saturated and trans fats have much bigger effects on blood cholesterol levels than cholesterol in food.) The cholesterol is in the yolk of the egg. To cut out cholesterol, just use the whites.
• If not properly stored and cooked, could lead to salmonella poisoning.
  

Ways to eat eggs:

• Scrambled, poached, or fried with sides of potatoes and bacon (fakin’ bacon if you choose).
• Omelets filled with whatever your heart desires! This heart desires green peppers, onions and cheddar cheese.
• Eggs are the ingredient in baked goods that make it “risky” to eat the dough.
• Soak some sliced pieces of a baguette in a mixture of eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Griddle and Viola! French Toast!
• Hard boiled eggs are good in a variety of ways; cut up in a salad, egg salad sandwiches, deviled eggs, and plain with a few sprinkles of salt.
• Quiche!
• Eggs Benedict is favorite brunch entrée of mine.
• Souffles and Meringues are made by beating egg whites vigorously, which increases their volume 6-8 times.

Little known facts:

• If you do not store eggs in a container, they will absorb the odors around them.
• The color of the egg (white or brown) depends on the breed of the hen.

Final Note:
As with much of the meat-packing industry, the egg industry draws into question the treatment of egg producing hens. We see a lot of “Cage-Free” eggs around now, which you would think would be more humane for the chickens. However, many stories have come out in recent years about the truth behind cage-fee chickens. As always, my recommendation is to buy eggs from your local farmers. That is, unless your local farmer is a mass-meat/egg producer that lines it’s animals up in small cages and feeds them things that make their stomachs explode.

More on Calorie Counts

Looks like Calorie Counts at fast food joints in NYC has been successful in some ways. Though it is debated that the people who pay attention to the calorie counts are people who are already aware of their nutritional intake. Also, we know that calories are not the only consideration when thinking about healthy eating (but seriously, not getting a salad that is 1200 calories is probably a good thing). Regardless, some people find the counts beneficial and it appears that some restaurants are making changes to their menus because of it. I'd say that alone makes it worth doing.

According to the article there are some federal bills waiting to be passed, that could make this more of a national priority. Viva la calorie count!

Recipe of the week: Vegetable Soup

Last weekend I made a lot of soup. It was easy, made the apartment smell nice and provided me with plenty of leftovers! I basically just threw in a whole smorgasbord of vegetables, but here are deets.

Vegetable Soup
1 - 32 oz carton of vegetable broth

4 large Idaho potatoes, cubed

1 large zucchini, cubed

1 large yellow squash, cubed

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1/2 lb spinach

1 cup sweet peas

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

Cumin, to taste

Celery Salt, to taste

Oregano, to taste

Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Red Pepper Flakes, to taste

Add garlic, onion and bay leaf to vegetable broth in a large pot. Heat for about 5 minutes on medium heat.

Add potatoes and spinach. Sprinkle in some some cumin, celery salt, oregano, and black pepper, and cook on high heat until potatoes start to become tender and the spinach is wilted.

Take out a few cups of the mixture (make sure you have a good chunk of potatoes) and blend in a food processor. Add back to the soup mixture.

Add zucchini, yellow squash, red peppers and peas. Sprinkle in some more of the spices and red pepper flakes to give the soup a little kick. Simmer until the squash softens.

Menu Plan Monday!

I've mentioned in previous posts that I like to plan out my menu for the week, in order to eat healthier and to save some money. I'm obviously not the first one to think of doing this, and the Organizing Junkie has dedicated a website to it. So, here is my menu for this week ( I think most people just do dinners, but I'm planning out all of my meals). I'm feeling excited about it!

Monday

Breakfast: Smoothie

Lunch: Slice of Pizza and Vegetable Soup

Dinner: Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla

Tuesday
Breakfast: Smoothie

Lunch: Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla

Dinner: Chicken Parmesan

Wednesday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal with Raisins and Nuts
Lunch: Chicken Parmesan

Dinner: Pizza

Thursday

Breakfast: Smoothie

Lunch: Vegetable Soup

Dinner: Salad with Tuna, Beets, Black Beans and Corn

Friday

Breakfast: Hot Cereal with Raisins and Nuts

Lunch: Salad

Dinner: Grilled Cheese and Vegetable Soup

BTW - I made a large amount of vegetable soup this weekend, which will provide me with meals for a while! I put some of in the refrigerator, knowing that I would eat it over the next week, and the rest in the freezer.

Food of the week: Pickles

It's embarassing to admit how old I was when I realized that a pickle was really a cucumber. So, I won't tell you. It's funny that we do not call them pickled cucumbers. Think about it, when we pickle anything else, peppers for instance, we call them pickled peppers. What's that about? Pickling is an action, not the food itself. Maybe there was a universal agreement that pickled cucumbers were the best tasting pickled anything and therefore got to claim the title of pickle.


What is pickling exactly? The fermentation caused by soaking food in vinegar or salt brine kills with a vengeance the bad bacteria that causes food to go bad!


Good examples of pickled foods: Pickles, Peppers, Cauliflower
Bad examples of pickled foods: Sauerkraut, Eggs
Haven't tried: Kim chi


There's lots of things to say about pickled foods. I don't have all day so I'm just going to focus on pickles themselves. Let's take a looksy-loo at pickles.








Pickles come in many varieties, Dill, Kosher, Bread and Butter, Gherkin. The difference is the way they are fermented, specifically what condiment, herbs and spices they are fermented in.


Benefits:

• Low in calories and fat. But do keep in mind that most of us do not eat pickles alone.
  

Drawbacks:

• High in sodium and sugar.
  

Ways to eat pickles:

• Although there are recommended uses for each type of pickle, really they all taste good cut up on a sandwich or burger.
  
• Beer battered pickles! It may not sound appetizing, but they're so good, especially dipped in some ranch dressing. Yeah, that's healthy.
  

Little known facts:

• September 14 was International Pickle Day. Ah man, I missed it!
• Should kids eat pickles? There's no definitive judgement (at least that I could find) that says pickles are good or bad for children. The consensus seems to be that they're not bad (low in calories and fat) but don't really have much nutritional value either.

The cool air goes to my head and my stomach!

Last weekend welcomed fall as the temperatures were in the 50's, with the sun shining and a crispness to the air. The noticeable change in seasons motivated me to make some autumn-friendly foods. An additional motivational factor was I had a whole lot of apples and needed to find some ways to eat them all.

I decided to make some recipes from the Moosewood Cookbook. For dinner I made the Stuffed Squash recipe (which called for apples in the stuffing), along with some grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. I have to say I was very disppointed with the squash. It wasn't horrible, but it did not meet my expectations for all of the work that went into it. (I always hold my breath when cutting thick squash, I inherited terrible cutting skills from my mother. Both of us often draw blood in these circumstances. No blood this time though.)




The highlight of the dinner ended up being the apple crisp I made for dessert! This was also from the Moosewood Cookbook. I made a smaller batch then called for because it turned out half of my apples were rotten inside (ewww!). But the ones that were good made a totally delicious dessert. It consisted mostly of an apple-cinnamin-sugar-lemon juice mixture beneath a topping of oats, flour, brown sugar, butter and spices. Delicious!

With my dinner and wonderful dessert I enjoyed a glass (or two) of a Cabernet Franc I got from a winery a few hours upstate. The apples, the wine, I was trying to keep it local!

Recipe of the week: Katy's Beet Pasta

Who is Katy and why am I posting her beet pasta recipe on my blog? This actually comes from my friend Alisa, who got it from her friend Katy (who heard from Larry that Susie and Bobby were going steady...). I'm always looking for new ways to eat beets, and this looks tasty!

Katy's Beet Pasta
One bunch of Beets (with beet greens or you can use spinach instead)
One box o pasta radiatore, prepared
Chicken broth/water
Olive Oil for Sautéing
Parmesan or Romano Cheese, to taste

Chop beets. Sauté beets in olive oil under tender (add chicken broth or water after about fifteen minutes.) Add spinach or beet greens to wilt them. Mix with pasta radiatore.
Serve with Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Thanks Alisa...and Katy!

Food of the week: Pumpkin

It's October! Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the brisk air, the fall foliage, and warm and comforting foods! It only makes sense that pumpkin is the food of the week.

Did you know that 80% of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available in October?

Benefits:

• Low in fat and calories, and have lots of vitamins.
• Good source of Beta Carotene, Fiber, and Potassium.

Drawbacks:

• Some pumpkin recipes call for pumpkin pie mix, not pureed pumpkin. While pumpkin puree is just as healthy as fresh pumpkins, the pumpkin pie mix tends to have additives that increase sugar and cholesterol.
  
  

How to Select, Prepare and Store Pumpkins.


Ways to eat Pumpkins:

• See last week’s Recipe of the week, Pumpkin Pancakes.
• Pumpkins can used to make soups.
• Pumpkin pie!
• I found this recipe that I would like to make for Thanksgiving, it’s a baked stuffed pumpkin.
• Pumpkin seeds are tasty too! They have their own health benefits.

Little Known Facts:

• Pumpkins are 90% Water.
• Pumpkins are grown in 6 of the 7 continents, all except Antarctica.

Recipe of the week: Burrito Bar Options

You may have a noticed a brief absence of posts last week. I did not post a food of the week or a wine of choice. Forgive me, I had family in town and was having way too much fun to stop and blog! The good thing is that, out of all of my family fun, comes some yummy recipes for the blog this week!

My mom, sister and I decided one night while they were here to cook at home. With no shortage of activities in NYC, a quiet night at home was a nice break. We considered many options for dinner, including a tasty turkey meatloaf, but ultimately decided on having a burrito bar! (Yes, admittedly I got the idea from Rachel Ray, but we didn't end up using any of her recipes). So here's what we made.

Chicken with taco seasoning

Refried Black Beans

AvoSalsa (see recipe below)

Mango Salso (see recipe below)

Apple Ginger Salsa (see recipe below)

Lettuce

Sour Cream

Shredded Cheese

That's a lot of fillings to choose from! We felt that we needed some avocado, so we used this recipe from Avocado.org.

AvoSalsa
2 ripe medium California avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
1 large ripe tomato, diced
¼ Cup finely chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 large lime
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp salt

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy!

I then got two salsa recipes from my friend, Elizabeth. The first was a tasty mango salsa, that I mentioned in a previous post. The second, was a peach and ginger salsa. When I asked Elizabeth for the recipes to her salsas, this was her reply:

HAHAHAHA. Recipe?????

I think it was a pull things out of my fridge sort of deal, as usual. Chopped mango, bell pepper, red onions or sweet white onions....something like that. You can also do it with tomatoes, but they make it more watery--I think mine was without because there were tomatoes in the taco filling already.

My other favorite is ginger peach salsa--you can do it with nectarines, too--cube peaches, and stir in finely chopped ginger, chili, and sweet red onion (you can leave that out as well)...add a dash of cinnamon, voila! And if you have mealy peaches that don't ripen, you can cook them down and then add the other ingredients at the end.

We ended up making an apple and ginger salsa instead, because a) we forgot to buy peaches at the grocery store and b) we had gone apple picking and had TONS of apples. I would like to try the 2nd slasa with peaches. Both salsas were great, but the apple and ginger had a bit of a kick to it.

Of course, I couldn't decide between the salsas for my burrito, so I piled them all on. Each bite of the burrito had a different flavor. Now that's how a burrito should be done!

Cultivating a healthy lifestyle

As much as diet and exercise fad products would like to argue otherwise, there is really only 1 way to be healthy. A balanced diet and an active lifestyle. These are things that I am constantly revisiting, because it is so easy for me to fall into patterns of bad foods and lethargy. So, I thought I’d share how I keep myself healthy; in part to help you, but also to keep me honest.


Diet:

You can obviously see that I love food. My interest here has been a work in progress throughout the years as I try to expand my diet. As a child I was a very picky eater, and this ran into my teens and early 20’s as well. For a while, in fact, I subsisted on a diet of mostly McDonalds. In the last so many years, however, I’ve been acclimating to a healthier diet, eating things I never would have tried before. I try to be aware of where my meal has come from and what it will do to my body. I’ve stopped eating fast food altogether because it scores horribly in both catergories.

My biggest battle at this point is balancing the preparation of my own meals and buying them. If I don’t plan out my meals for the week, I’ll most likely end up getting breakfast from Starbucks, lunch from the cafeteria, and a frozen pizza for dinner. So, each week I try to sit down and plan out a schedule of meals for the week. Some weeks are better than others. And even if I do plan, life is always throwing wrenches in our plans, and I have to be flexible. For instance, last night I ended up eating much later than I thought I would. So the chicken burrito was replaced by a frozen pizza. Not ideal, but it had to do.

Today, I was much more prepared for healthy options. I got up this morning and made some hot cereal, and brought that and a banana to work for my breakfast (I have a hard time eating right when I get up in the morning, so I eat at work instead). Additionally, I packaged up some leftover salad, made a pb & j sandwich, and grabbed some vegetable chips for lunch. A well balanced breakfast and lunch. In addition, I plan to actually make the dinner I failed to make last night, which will leave me with leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.

Exercise:

Living in NYC, I tend to already have a somewhat active lifestyle. I take public transportation to and from work everyday, which includes a 10 minute uphill walk and 3 flights of stairs/escalators every day. But, this past year I noticed that I’m still out of breath when doing these things. I also found this to be true when hiking upstate last month. So, I recently joined a gym and am trying to find the right motivation strategy. At first I thought that I should not intimidate myself by scheduling a lot of time for the gym; I would start slow and work my way up. But, then I would make excuses or something would happen that would prevent me from going to the gym as much as I wanted to.

This is my new strategy. I am planning to go the gym everyday, if even for a short workout, and am taking my gym bag to work so that I can just stop on my way home. I figure with this schedule, should I miss a day or two, I will still be getting enough exercise. So far, I’ve gone to the gym the past 3 days in row. Let’s see if I can keep up that stamina. I do yoga once a week as well, which helps to keep me stretched and toned.

Mind/Mental Well-being:

I find that my mental state significantly affects both my diet and my activity level. This makes perfect sense and really is not a groundbreaking discovery in the terms of science and health. But, to truly acknowledge this and to incorporate it into your lifestyle is really the key to maintaining healthy actions.

There are a few things I do to keep myself healthy mentally:
- Having a set schedule: As I mentioned before, if I do not plan out my meals and schedule a visit to the gym, I will resort to unhealthy lifestyle choices. So, I try to schedule these things ahead of time, so that I’m not deciding what to do on a whim.
- Meditation: I practice Zen meditation on a weekly basis. Every Saturday morning I get up and sit 2- 40 minutes periods of zazen. This routine gives me a consistent point of grounding and a supportive social environment as well. The mindfulness that comes from sitting, as well as from my yoga practice, helps me to be honest with myself. Also, it helps me to really feel what’s going on throughout my body while eating or exercising. Food tastes better when mindful, because I notice more of the flavors and textures, and I feel when I am full. I am also able to increase my exercise activities when I stay present in my body and notice how the activity affects my body.
- Sleep: Getting a full night’s sleep is essential to my mental and physical functioning. If I am going to be sharp and energetic throughout the day, I need to get enough sleep. Mornings are a little rough for me, so I’ve been trying to schedule morning activities to help energize me while not taking much time away from my sleep. I recently wrote out a daily schedule of morning activities, including a few energizing yoga poses and some brief meditation time.

In reality, people have their own strategies for a healthy lifestyle. This is my strategy and so far it’s been okay. I have tweaked it and will continue to do so when I find a better way to do something. A healthy lifestyle requires constant attention. If you lose focus, it will not sustain itself. This is why so many people are unhealthy. There are lots of convenient ways to distract ourselves or forget to be healthy in our choices. I find mindfulness and planning the best ways to cultivate and maintain a healthy lifestyle. And, of course, I allow myself those times when I eat out with friends and have a few drinks. I need the balance of both to keep me healthy, both mentally and physically.