…and a little dessert

That’s all the photos I have for you today. What can I say, that’s just how the day went down.

It started with a wake up call, let’s say around 11 am. Oops! Mom was off to Costco, so I was out of bed in a flash, getting dressed and scrounging for a quick bite to eat so she wouldn’t leave without me. It ended up being a piece of sourdough bread, toasted, and topped with peanut butter, plus a glass of juice. Phew!

We made our way to Costco, bought a random assortment of things, including a new cookbook for me (that I don’t get until Christmas morning now), then made our way home. I blended up some smoothies for myself and mom, consisting of blueberries, milk, vanilla whey protein powder, and flax seeds. Yum!

Then I bundled myself up, and went for a walk around the inlet. It was rather brisk, but it kept me moving at a good pace. There were tons of Canada geese in the inlet, which was really cool to see.

Back at home, mom was busy making dinner, so I finally gave in and did some homework with my group online. I snacked on some medjool dates with peanut butter, and a couple of Super Charge Me Cookies to keep me from eating my arm off before dinner.

Finally, it was time to eat…roast beef!

With roasted potatoes and carrots, homemade Yorkshire pudding, gravy, and steamed broccoli.

Classic Sunday night dinner, enjoyed with an unpictured glass of red wine.

I may have gone back for a second Yorkshire. Love those things!

This was followed by more homework, hockey watching, and Amazing Race watching. Oh, and a wee slice of cherry cheesecake.

All the small plates were in the dishwasher. Oops!

Sadly, that’s all I have tonight. But if you’re looking for a little more of my wit, charm, and eats, head on over to my guest post at What’s For Dinner? Night!

Avoiding gluten, the protein found in wheat as well as grains rye and barley can be a challenge, but there’s no need to wave goodbye to your favorite foods.  If you suffer from gluten intolerance or Celiac disease, you can build your diet from vegetables, rice, corn, legumes, fruit and other tasty gluten-free foods.

Vegetables, Fruits, Seeds and Nuts

All fresh vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts are gluten-free.  Be aware of packaged, processed vegetables and fruits such as jellies, preserves, soups, nut butters and processed, pre-made meals, which may contain gluten.  You can easily prepare homemade soups, salsa, smoothies, dressings, marinades, parfaits, casseroles, salads, chutneys and nut or seed butters using fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts in their natural state.  Green, leafy veggies such as kale, collards, chard and spinach are great options steamed as a side dish or tossed into a green smoothie.  Hearty veggies such as carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, squashes, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower and legumes are perfect for making chili or stew, while artichokes, avocado, asparagus, celery, Brussels sprouts, corn, peas and peppers are tasty in a stir-fry or stuffing.  As for fruits: apples, oranges, grapefruit, berries, melons, bananas, pears and peaches are a flavorsome addition to smoothies, desserts or parfaits with yogurt and nuts.  Try freezing grapes for a satisfying, refreshing treat and create a homemade trail mix using nuts, seeds and dried fruit for a convenient snack.  Looking for flavor? Fresh herbs add a powerful aroma and zesty taste to any dish; toss rosemary into marinades or cilantro into gazpacho.

Dairy, Eggs, Meat

Eggs and meats are gluten-free, however, be sure to read the ingredient list for processed meats such as luncheon meats, breaded variations and sausage, which may contain traces of gluten.  Dairy is gluten-free, as well, however processed dairy such as ice creams, yogurts and butters may contain gluten.  Enjoy any of the following in their natural state: chicken, beef, bison, ham, turkey, eggs, seafood, lamb, fish and wild game.

Flours and Grains

All forms of wheat, barley and rye contain gluten; however, there is a vast array of naturally gluten-free flours available, which are created from beans, seeds or nuts.  Oats are naturally gluten-free, however, cross-contamination may occur during processing, therefore purchase oats with the certified gluten-free label.  The following gluten-free flours and grains can be enjoyed guilt-free: rice, buckwheat, teff, corn flour, corn meal, lentils, flax seed, potato, polenta, millet, soy flour, tapioca, quinoa, amaranth, almond meal, arrowroot and gluten-free flour blends.  These gluten-free options require easy prep and can be used to create a hot breakfast, casserole, stir-fry or dessert.  If you have trouble adjusting to gluten-free varieties, try adding fruit puree such as canned pumpkin or prune to moisten and add flavor.

As a rule of thumb, steer clear of processed foods and reach for foods as close to the original source as possible.  Using fresh ingredients rather than pre-made, processed options is a safe way to ensure a gluten-free lifestyle.  Your best bet is to prepare meals at home so you have control over the ingredients and ensure there is no cross-contamination with gluten.

Regarding my $25 Give Certificate, the nice folks over at Open Sky are offering a limited time $25 Gift Certificate Promotion…so head on over to Open Sky and check out my fabulous products to use your $25 free gift certificate.   Here’s the information you’ll need to get shoppin’ at Open Sky and receive your $25 certificate:

The Healthy Apple’s coupon code is: talli2509

Rules:
-          $25 off coupon
-          Good for any OpenSky item
-          No minimum purchase
-          Free shipping
-          Limit one per customer
-          Starts: Monday, November 30, 2009

I had a fun weekend with a mix of continuing celebration and studying.  Kimba likes to hang out with me while I study.  Sometimes he curls up nicely on my desk or on top of my computer and sits quietly, while other times he crawls across my lap or keyboard purring and meowing and nuzzling me until I pet him.  Nonetheless, I was able to be pretty productive during the times when I sneaked away.

Over the weekend, the three of us went to see Cirque de Soleil’s show Kooza which was absolutely incredible.  I have been dying to see a Cirque de Soleil show for years, and this definitely did not disappoint.  The wheel of death act was incredible and they had the best juggler I’ve ever seen, by far.  Blueberry Mom was excited to see the show because she had heard that many former Olympic and college gymnasts work for CdS.  At intermission, she said with surprise, “This is a circus!  I thought it was a gymnastics show!” 

We also, naturally, had some great meals out.  On Friday, we went out to eat before going to see The Blind Side (a very cute movie).  We ordered a crispy flat bread for the table with pesto, arugula, and roasted tomatoes.

For our main dishes, we each ordered fish.  I love ordering fish in nice restaurants…its usually fresher and more varied than what I can find (or afford) in the store and its light enough to leave me with room for dessert.  We all shared bites of each other’s dishes.  I had pan fried Arctic Char with tangerine vinaigrette and green lentils.  Sustainable seafood note:  Arctic Char is a great alternative to farmed salmon, especially when wild salmon is not available.  The taste is extremely similar, but the methods used to farm it are much more environmentally friendly.

Blueberry Mom ordered salmon in lemon-caper sauce with brussel sprouts and celery root puree.   This was also delicious and inspired us both to resolve to cook celery root puree more often.  Celery root looks like an knobby brown lump in the store, but peeled and mashed, it produces a velvety puree that tastes a lot like a mashed potatoes with a light celery flavor.  Celery root puree, as you can see from the picture, doesn’t have as much body as mashed potatoes, but the mouthfeel is also quite similar.  It’s delicious.  As an added bonus, it has lots of vitamins and fiber and a lower glycemic index than potatoes.

The Lemonator ordered roasted trout with smoked almond butter, green beans, and potatoes.

For dessert, we ordered a batch of piping hot house made donuts for the table.  They were perfect bite sized morsels of sugar coated goodness that came with chocolate sauce and Meyer lemon custard for dipping.  This was a very fun and social dessert.  The Lemonator and I almost never get to share desserts due to his strong objections to cream, custard, chocolate, fruit and frosting, so finding a dessert he could share was extremely exciting!

We had one last breakfast out with Blueberry Mom this morning before sending her off to miss as much traffic as possible.

Dinner tonight was a fabulous Thanksgiving leftover soup with turkey and wild rice.  I sauteed onion, carrot and celery in leftover turkey fat (always save the fat when you roast poultry!), added thyme, rosemary, and several spoonfuls of leftover pan drippings that had separated out from the fat in the freezer.  I added Imagine brand free range chicken stock, leftover cava and a handful of wild rice and simmered until the rice was cooked.   For extra flavor, I spiked the soup with my secret ingredient:  several spoonfuls of Blueberry Mom’s fantastic turkey bourbon gravy.  At the last minute, I added chopped turkey breast.  This was so flavorful and satisfying.

Now it time for sleep…tomorrow is the last day of classes and then it is study, study, study.  Goodnight everyone!

Had good fun shooting their wedding especially on Nikah day, when we went to Taman Warisan and Fort Canning to shoot their outdoor shots. To “Adek”, thank you for being my PA on that day, helped  me to hold the reflector .  And finally to the couple… Congrats again to you both!!!

Below are some selected shots of their 2 days event.

Photographer:
Malek – Nikah
Malek with Sarina – Sanding/Dinner

Ahhhh as the Thanksgiving holiday weekend draws to a close, the family is leaving (finally) and I am needing to find ways to use up those leftovers.  Turkey sandwiches are great, but after one or two, lets face it, I get bored and so do those around me. *Lightbulb!* What better way then to encase them in dough? I looked to the fridge and what did I find, but a big bowl of shredded pork my friend had made for me a couple days ago.

Wait a minute, pork?? That has nothing to do with Thanksgiving leftovers!

Yes, keep your bib on, I know. What I’m saying is this: use the turkey as part of your filling in these savory little dough pockets and you’ll be fooling your family into eating every last bit of those dark-meat-white-meat leftovers faster than you can say “Empanadas!”

You may be curious now…ahh yes, I see it in your eyes. “What,” you are saying to yourself, “is an empanada…exactly?” Well my foodie friend, it is basically a calzone, with Mexican ingredients.  According to PracticallyEdible.com, empanadas are a Spanish dish brought to Latin America by Spanish immigrants. Empanada comes from the Spanish verb “empanar”, which literally meant to put something in bread (with the “pan” part in the middle being “bread”), but which actually means now to put something in pastry or some form of dough for the purpose of cooking it (http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/empanadas). But in English, it means yummy meat pocket.

While this little often forgotten second cousin to the calzone is traditionally made into small bites, similar to that of a perogi or pot sticker size, I made mine into “hand pie” size which I would describe as not quite as big as a calzone, but larger than a pot sticker. Also, the ingredients of the dough is somewhat debatable. Some make it more like a pastry and others choose to use a yeast dough. I say, try both and use the one you like. In this case, I opted for my at the moment favorite homemade pizza dough. When I was first married I made these several times, because you can take some cheap ingredients and turn them into something really special. And we were in college and poor with a then just blossoming appetite for cooking and baking (oh if I could only have seen into the future and what an obsession that small hankering would turn in to…but that’s another post). Anyways, the point is, you can also use store-bought pizza dough, which I did back in the ol’ college/newly wed days. Many grocery stores carry it now, or sometimes you can buy it at a local pizza place. But of course, I highly recommend making it yourself (nose in the air just a little) which could also be a post in itself, but let me just tell you, the quality is superior to that of any store-bought.

So, while I’m seeing that big bowl of shredded pork in the fridge, I’m also thinking about what items from the pantry I have on hand… beans, diced tomatoes, onion, garlic… a quick little rootin’ around in the veggie drawer and I find a clamshell of fresh oregano and some fresh cilantro, as well as cheddar cheese and mango salsa from last week (see Quick Jerk Chicken). In the freezer I pull out what is probably my number one frozen staple, corn. I also find a container of pumpkin enchilada sauce I made and froze months ago, but a little zap in the microwave is all it needs. You know, one thing I noticed today is how truly handy it is to be a foodie. Sauces can be made from scratch and leftovers frozen and reused in something else later. A little searching around and you can make something delicious without much that needs to be picked up at the store right then. Also, as my friend and coworker (and fellow foodie) Katchen says, “the freezer is your friend.” I like to think of it as being resourceful, but others may find it similar to hoarding. However you slice it, it works out in my favor (and yours too, if I’m having you over for dinner).

Okay, back to your thanksgiving leftovers. Here’s my recommendation: Take that bird and shred her up. Saute up some chopped onion, garlic and some spices, for a mexican flair, use cumin and paprika and maybe a little cayenne. Then go ahead and add a bit of gravy or stock to put some moisture back into it, but not too much, no body likes a soggy empanada. Also, add that corn from thanksgiving or maybe some leftover carrots or sweet potato. Then a can of black or pinto beans… mmmm… salt and pepper it, and then begin assembling. Take your dough ball and split in to 6 pieces. Roll out each piece to about 6 inch rounds. Take a couple spoonfuls of turkey filling and place it on one half of the dough, then top with some shredded cheese (for the pork I used cheddar, but a white cheddar, or oooh…manchaego would be fabulous!!). Then take the other half and fold it over the filling. Seal the edge like by folding the dough over itself a little, and brush lightly with olive oil. Bake in a 400° oven for about 15 minutes, until golden brown. Serve with sour cream, salsa, or a pumpkin enchilada sauce if you just so happen to have some. You’ll soon see that you can mix this little fiesta in your mouth up a hundred different ways, and always with the same result: using what you’ve got (resourcefulness), and being completely satisfied (full). Now doesn’t that feel extra good?

I made tostadas for dinner tonight. They’re pretty easy! It took me 30 minutes, but you can save about 15 of  those minutes by buying pre-made guacamole. It won’t taste as good, though!

Last week, I boiled some chicken to make my own chicken broth. I used two pieces of chicken tonight (the other two will go into another recipe I have later this week). I just re-heated them while I made guacamole. The secret to good guacamole is using soft avocados. If you can’t feel them give a little as you squeeze them, then they aren’t ready for guacamole. It’s easy, but it is a little time consuming. I used 2 avocados, 1 garlic clove, juice from half a lemon, 1 small roma tomato, and about 1/4 c. diced onion. Mash the avocado, dice the garlic (or just use a garlic press and cut the pieces off the end like I did), squeeze the lemon, and mix in the tomato and onion. Yum! You can use bottled lemon juice, but the fresh lemon here really does make a fresher taste. I am not usually a big guacamole fan, but I love this!

I put refried beans in the microwave while I heated a few tostada shells in the oven.

Here is how I layered my tostada:

• Heated tostada shell (tastes best when still hot)
• Refried beans (I used fat free. Fat free products have gotten a bad rap in the last couple of years, but the fat free refried beans I used just omitted the lard without adding any other weird ingredients. I can do without the lard!)
• Shredded chicken
• Shredded cheddar cheese (I grated it myself because it’s cheaper, but you can use pre-packaged if you are pressed for time. As always, find happiness in moderation)–I put it here so it would melt, but you can put it on top if you’d rather.
• Guacamole
• Sour cream

Tostadas are personal,and you can arrange them however you like! Steve omits the sour cream, and when Julieanne is here, she omits the guacamole sometimes.

Taste: One of our favorite dinners!

Time: About 30 minutes, but if you have to cook the chicken it may take about 40. Just let it boil while you fix the rest of the meal, though, and it should be done unless it is a huge chicken.

Cost: About $7-8. We could have fed one more child, but probably would have had to add an extra $2 of ingredients to feed 4-5. Still cheaper than eating out, and it’s filling enough that we won’t need snacks before bed.

Good Evening!

I’m healthy again! The mono seems to be out of my system for the most part and I’m feeling normal again. Time to catch up with the blog now. Aaron is currently sitting next to me reading and making fun of the fact that I took about twenty pictures of my new running shoes. I’ll show you those in a different post. I have to break up the five million pictures that I took since Thanksgiving.

First of all, Thursday morning I woke up feeling a little better. Aaron and I had breakfast together (egg sandwiches on the George Foreman!) and then I set Ted (bread machine) to work on making dough for the dinner rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. We went to Aaron’s parent’s house first around 2 PM after watching Thanksgiving parades on TV. Look how pretty the table was! Dinner rolls came out well and are in the far right corner. I used this recipe from the King Arthur Flour website for soft white dinner roll with the exception that I used two tablespoons of raw, cane sugar and one tablespoon of honey in place of the white sugar. I also let them rise (second rise) for about 2 hours total.

Aaron carved the turkey…sort of:

Aaron’s brother’s girlfriend and one of his grandmother’s in this picture:

Action shot of Aaron pouring gravy onto his plate:

My plate = sweet potatoes/white potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, & brussels sprouts (+another serving of brussels sprouts):

Aaron’s pumpkin pie which I tasted:

I made Aaron’s mom a wreath and brought it along. I’ve had LOTS of free time while sitting around trying to rid myself of the kissing disease so crafting it is.

After early dinner at Aaron’s parents north of the city, we ventured to the exact opposite of the city to my Aunt and Uncle’s house. We had cookies and coffee and sat around talking until about 8:30. I was EXHAUSTED by this point so we headed home. It ended up being a great Thanksgiving! Aaron’s parents house was lots of fun and the food was great and then seeing my family was great too. Aaron finally got to meet a couple of my relatives! I’m curious to hear what Aunt Isabel reported to my mother about him….

Friday I worked for a short amount of time then came home and rested some more. Monoooooo. Saturday was pretty uneventful. Aaron was in Toronto for a show and I was just doing some chores and attempted to Christmas shop unsuccessfully.

Today (Sunday), Aaron got back into Pittsburgh around 4 AM and picked me up to go to Church at 10 AM. He’s crazy. We went to church together for the very first time then came back to my house and decided to do our little Save-the-Date photo shoot for our wedding save-the-date cards. Fun!

Mini-tripod + ladder = this plus about 30 more pictures. We haven’t decided on the exact picture or card yet but hopefully will this week!

Alright that’s about it for now. It’s almost midnight and I think time to get to bed. Back to work full-time tomorrow. Yay for the mono being gone!

Have a great week!

-Pamela

Since the holiday season is now upon us, it’s time for more eating folks!! This meal happened approximately two weeks ago after a nice long day spent in the kitchen, much like the day I spent on Friday with my papa for our own Thanksgiving meal! It had been wayyy too long since I saw my dear friend Stephanie so her and I figured out a night to meet up and luckily for us (actually them) our boys were also free that night so I insisted I would make a dinner party!

So off I went into cookbook land and landed upon two Barefoot recipes and for the appetizer options I wanted to stay somewhat French so I came upon two recipes from David Lebowitz! This picture is of my coq au vin. It was pretty good that night but it got 100x more heavenly over the next couple of days. God I love one pot meals that make tonnnns of leftovers!

My cousin Bob was just in Las Vegas recently and bragged to me about being able to go to Bouchon. I tried to be sarcastic and ask “What?? Can’t you do better? What about Joel Robuchon’s place?” My sarcasm is not easily read over text messages obviously and so I expressed that I was totally jealous and he wrote back saying ‘MMMM salmon rilletes…” I wondered what the heck is salmon rillettes? Well you see this picture right here is that exact thing! I found a recipe from David and he said people raved about it at a recent party and I figured he wouldn’t lie so I went for it. When I let Ned try some wayyy before dinner and he couldn’t keep his paws off of it. I now know which recipe I can use to butter him up! Birthdays, christmas, whatever!

The chilled smoked and fresh salmon combined with a good portion of butter and chives really create a great dip. I served it on thin slices of toasted baguette and thought it was perfect.

Next I wanted to make another tasty little appetizer, and I had exactly two eggs left in the carton so David’s recipe worked great for my purposes! (and yes I am sorry Jen that I took your last two eggs which prevented you from having breakfast the next morning.. hopefully a whole new carton made up for it on Sunday!)

So those little toasty babies are the gougeres. Almost exactly the same recipe as profiteroles (which I made with daddy a longggg time ago). Basically just some egg, butter, flour, cheese and heat made these! Go check out the recipe on David’s site. From just looking at them they appear to be full little rolls, but no no no, they are effervescent little nuggets of cheese air! A perfect bite of deliciousness and it doesn’t lead to spoiling your appetite for dinner at all!

The coq au vin as you saw above was made from one of my standby cookbook’s when it comes to dinner parties, Back to Basics. I have done similar braised meat recipes such as beef bourguignon and braised short ribs before and they are awesome when it comes to feeding a large group, but I have been smitten with chicken quite a bit this fall and so coq au vin was calling my name!

The recipe was gussied up a bit because of the use of bacon and Cognac (which I lit on fire and was very exciting!) This dinner went perfectly with some crusty bread. The really tender chicken was so nice with the carrots and onions and mushrooms. Perfect cold day kind of meal. And Ned and I got to eat this for two more days of leftovers and wooo weee it was even better then! See below for the recipe or just go here and print it out for yourself, you will not be dissapointed!

The pumpkin roulade was last! This is also a back to basics recipe and I was very happy that this dessert was one that would satisfy the savory tastes lover and the sweet tooth addict all in one! The flavors of the pumpkin and also the crystallized ginger in the filling were so nice and so appropriate for this season. Because I refridgerated it, it had a heavy moistness to it…maybe I should have let it sit out for an hour or two after chilling?

Ingredients:
4 ounces good bacon or pancetta, diced
1 (3 to 4-pound) chicken, cut in 8ths ( Ned and I used this video to learn how to disassemble the chicken!)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound carrots, cut diagonally in 1-inch pieces
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/4 cup Cognac or good brandy
1/2 bottle (375 ml) good dry red wine such as Burgundy (wooooops- now two weeks later I realized I put the whole bottle in! That’s why there was so much sauce!)
1 cup good chicken stock, preferably homemade
10 fresh thyme sprigs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 pound frozen small whole onions
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Meanwhile, lay the chicken out on paper towels and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. When the bacon is removed, brown the chicken pieces in batches in a single layer for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove the chicken to the plate with the bacon and continue to brown until all the chicken is done. Set aside.

Add the carrots, onions, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac and put the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collected on the plate into the pot. Add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just not pink. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.

Mash 1 tablespoon of butter and the flour together and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. In a medium saute pan, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until browned. Add to the stew. Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Season to taste. Serve hot.

For our potluck Thanksgiving dinner, my friend Kelly Gallagher made mushroom ravioli with a balsamic butter sauce. I have no idea how she made it but I figured I’d make up my own version of it. This meal took about 5 minutes to make, so I’ll try to write a post that takes only 5 minutes to read. Ready? Set? Go!!

You’ll need:
Frozen tortellini
Butter
Balsamic Vinegar
Walnuts (if you like them, they’re not necessary)
Salt and Pepper

First start a pot of water boiling. Salt the water and when it boils, throw the tortellini it it. The tortellini should only take a few minutes to cook. 5 minutes should be plenty of time.

While waiting for the water to boil, toss some walnuts in a pan and put them on the stove over medium heat. Toast them for a few minutes (stirring or flipping occasionally). When they’re done, toss them in a bowl for later.

You should be able to put the tortellini in the water by now. It should’ve boiled.

Then throw some butter in the pan (for a meal to feed just me, I used maybe 3 tablespoons). Keep the pan over medium heat and the butter should brown. Once browned, throw in some balsamic vinegar (I used maybe 2-3 tablespoons) the amount depends on how much balsamic flavor you want in the sauce. Add salt and pepper.

By now, the pasta should be done cooking, strain it and toss it in the pan with the sauce. Throw the toasted walnuts in the pan as well. Toss the whole thing together. The tortellini will continue cooking in the hot sauce for 1-2 minutes over medium heat. Then pour the entire contents of the pan into a bowl and enjoy!

You could also absolutely use this sauce over any kind of pasta. I bet it’d be great on angel hair!

Currently Cooking To:

The New Pornographers – Myriad Harbor
The New Pornographers – The Bleeding Heart Show

Despite the band’s slightly off-putting name, The New Pornographers have an upbeat and catchy thing going for them. The super indie sound of a bunch of people singing makes me just want to throw my hands over my head and wave them back and forth while doing the pony. Don’t understand what I’m talking about? Listen to the end of “The Bleeding Heart Show.” I won’t lie, I played it on repeat for the last 20 minutes of my bus ride back to Boston at the end of Thanksgiving break. The girls sitting next to me probably didn’t understand why I kept bouncing my head from side to side.

For all the water I drank last night I still woke up feeling sluggish. Ugh.. it just reminded me of why I don’t drink. But there’s no use dwelling on it. I did it. It’s over. Now chug some water and get on with the day! Nothing helps me bounce back like a big bowl of oatmeal. I know it looks watery.. it is. I got carried away. But basically 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup water, 1T SF vanilla creamer, scoop vanilla yogurt, and mixed berries. Yum. I brewed french press too. I just love spoiling myself on a Sunday morning!

So I poked around the house this morning, got a lot studying done. I’m also working on putting my portfolio together for when I start applying to dietetic internship. Fun, fun, fun!! I finally talked myself into going out for a run around 1:00. It was hard. I really didn’t feel like running today. I kept playing in my mind which route I wanted to take. Should I run by the waterfront, the ship canal, a trail run, through the neighborhood. None of them sounded appealing. The weather was even perfect. I took yesterday off from running so I should have had plenty of energy. It didn’t matter though. I was just in a funk today. So I did a 5 mile loop through the neighborhood. I overdressed with the under armour. It was 50 degrees. I took my gloves and hat off half way down the block. My body was really fatigued. Maybe the fatigue was partly from the squats and lunges I did on Friday, but I’m pretty sure most of it had a lot to do with yesterday’s craziness. So I got through it. Tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow is going to be awesome! I am going to eat clean, no junk, and when class gets out at 12:20 I’m going to run like the wind.

I mostly nibbled throughout the day; two hard boiled eggwhites, a Honeycrisp apple with almond butter, cheese stick, a piece of plain whole-wheat toast. I roasted some acorn squash for an afternoon snack/meal. Then I got into the pantry and had a handful of almonds and dark chocolate chips. Dinner was a bowl of yogurt and berries (kinda like breakfast!) Aah.. again, tomorrow there will be a little more normalcy to my day. Now I’m heading downstairs to join the girls. Sara bought enough movies to keep us home for a while: He’s Just Not That Into You, P.S. I Love You, and The Holiday. All three are great movies. He’s Just Not That Into You is one of my top 5 though. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

 
Things to ponder:
How do you bounce back from an off day?
What motivates you when you just don’t want to run?

Happy Sunday! How has your day been?

I went to early church with my family today, but had some breakfast first. Instead of my normal quick oats, this morning I had steel cut oats. It was a nice change! With my usual toppings…

1/2 banana, raisins, coconut, chopped almonds and a scoop of PB. With the best coffee in the world (my dad makes magic!):

After church I packed up (a lot of crap, thanks to my mini shopping spree) and hit the road. But not without one last Christmas cookie. I’ll see you soon Christmas cookies!

The drive went quickly, thanks to catching up with some friends on the phone. I love talking to friends on Sundays! Kind of a weekly tradish.

After unpacking all my crap, I hit Starbucks to catch up on LIFE. I tried another new combo: Awake tea with steamed milk and one pump of vanilla. I was pleased!

After spending a couple hours at Starbs, I hit the g-store and home for a late lunch, which was a cobb salad!

Which included:

• Spinach + iceberg lettuce
• 1 hardboiled egg
• Mushroomskis
• Garbonzo beans
• Tomato
• Carrot
• Shelled pistachios
• Reduced fat chedda
• Light ranch

Awesome!

I was still a little hungry after my salad and made a Go Lean + yogurt treat, with a spoonful of strawberry jam.

This afternoon I finished getting organized and caught up with this girl!

Hey You!

I was an intuitive eater this evening and had exactly what sounded good for dinner: CEREAL!

Special K Blueberry… With an apple!

GOTTA RUN, time for bed.

Sweet dreams!

For any of you that watched the Grey Cup game, you know thats clearly not what Im referring to!! First, let me say I love living where I do and would not live anywhere else. Im no more than a 15 minute drive from the beach, 25-45 minutes from the mountains (depending which mountains Im headed to), its half an hour to get downtown, everything you could want is right here. I really couldnt imagine a better place to live.
Now thats been said, I live in the middle of a hill. A rather steep hill, and no matter which way I run, how long or how short I make it, Im going up at least 2 hills. By the end of the run, when I am nearing the top of the last one I can’t help but think about how flat Saskatchewan is!! Granted, the hills have done some amazing things for my butt! However, I would give my new butt back for some nice flat lands right about now!!

As you can imagine, my run this morning was pretty gruelling. When I got home I made myself a DELICIOUS pita stuffed with couscous, goat cheese, lettuce, shallots, cilantro and homemade hummus. I couldnt decide what I wanted in it, so I just used a little bit of everything!

I was a total slacker after that and spent the entire day watching the Dog Whisperer marathon. My dog watched it too! She was fascinated with it. Ive never seen her watch the tv before, it was adorable!

Around 4 I convinced the boyfriend to take me to Superstore (yes I realize I went grocery shopping yesterday) to pick up things for dinner. I dont cook for the both of us often, so when I do I cook better than I would for just me. I decided I was going to make gnocchi with pesto, but they didnt have any basil! I dont like buying the premade stuff, I far prefer to make it myself. So I thought OK well I can make sage pesto. No suck luck! They didnt have sage either. I decided I had no choice but to be creative, so I used dill. Im in love with dill, but I wasnt sure how I would feel about it in a pesto. Well, I even impressed myself with this dinner!

To go with the gnocchi I made asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and topped with balsamic vinegar and goat cheese.

I mixed up some Caesars to go with the meal. It was fabulous. Im officially a fan of Dill Pesto! I googled it just now, and apparently its not as weird as I thought. Theres loads of recipes. Heres what I used in mine:

2 bunches of Dill
Small handful of almonds
2 squirts of lemon juice
Tablespoon of goat cheese
Olive Oil (enough to smooth it out without being too runny)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

I think this will be a new staple in my house! I was very pleased with how it turned out. The goat cheese was a complete afterthought, but for me it really pulled it all together!

Well thats all I have for you tonight, I hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Ingredients:

1 can beef broth

4 carrots

4 red potatoes

Beef chuck steak

4 celery stalks

1 T hot sauce

1 stem of thyme

1 onion

1 T apple cider vinegar

2 T flour

2 T garlic

1 can tomatoes

Instructions: Cut veggies in large chunks, and put them into the bottom of the slow cooker.  Add the potatoes and onion, thyme, and steak (cut into bite size pieces).  Add the liquid when combined. 

Liquid: Combine the flour and beef broth – wisk.  Add the apple cider vinegar, diced tomatoes, garlic, hot sauce, stir and pour over the top of the other ingredients. 

Cook on high for 5 hours.

Option: make Sheppard’s pies with the soup in the bottom, and top with mashed potatoes.  Cook in individual serving dishes for 30 minutes at 350

One of my roommates was catching the rest of us up after our Thanksgiving apart, and she told us something kinda disturbing and unexpected.  Apparently, her uncle was asked by one of his friends to be the best man in his wedding.  To a mail order bride.

Like, for real this guy is going to China soon to pick up the wife he bought.

This has a Law & Oder: SVU episode written all over it.

I just didn’t think this really happened!  I mean, I know in history it did, even in America from one coast to another (for example, see the movie or read the book “Sara, Plain and Tall”).  But now?  How is that not outlawed for being flat out creepy?

And apparently this guy was married before and has a son in college, but how do you tell this type of thing to your family?  I can just see him at Thanksgiving dinner, “Oh son, by the way, after I drop you back off at school, I’m heading to China to pick up your new mommy.  Pass the yams, please?”

I can’t even quite wrap my mind around it.  None of us could.  So we Googled “mail order bride” and a legit website seemed to come up where you could actually pick what country you wanted your wife to come from.  But it’s so creepy!!!

Today we set out for some Christmas cheer. I am a real Christmas tree kind of girl. I can never use a fake one, unless I really have to one day for whatever reason. At first, I wanted to wait until next weekend but having a tree in the house just makes me feel better and for the final stretch of my internship(one more week!) I needed all the cheer I could get. I remember coming home from school and plugging the tree right in and doing my homework by it just to smell the pine tree gloriousness! Onto the rest of my day..

First, a daily pic of Leo.

Looking like Eeyore.

(Disney Clip Art)

Oh, bother.

We headed out to run errands which included stops at Ross, Michael’s, and Target to get some Christmas decorations. Then we headed to good ol’ Home Depot for our tree. You northerners get to chop yours down, we pick ours up at home improvement stores. It didn’t take long to find the right one.

We paid, and got it tied to our roof.

I had a little fun with my camera, I am sure the car behind us thought I was crazy. Or a spy..

Our tree couldn’t escape if he tried..

When we got home, I gave Leo a bath. Then put out some of our new decorations.

It’s fun to start building our holiday collections. I can’t wait to have a bigger home(note: not an apartment) to decorate. One day! For now our one bedroom apartment will have to make do.

Skinny tree, but perfect for it’s narrow spot.

For dinner, I picked up some kale and brussel sprouts and used some chickpeas from earlier and stuck all three in the oven to roast. Mmmmmm…I used my LARGE plate for this and it was filled up with goodies.

The brussel sprouts were drizzled with EVOO, S&P and paprika.

Same with the kale along with some garlic powder as well.

A little EVOO, S&P for the chickpeas.

All three went in the oven at 375. The kale took about 12 minutes, the brussels and chickpeas took about 25 minutes.

Together they made a super filling and satisfying meal!

I had done good sticking with mostly veggies today! I feel so much better already and know I am back on a healthy track. But I did share this giant bottle of beer with Adam, per his brother Nate’s recommendation.

“9″ beer! We picked it up a local gourmet market we love,

In a chilled mug. It was refreshing! It definitely had an apricot taste in the finish and was smooth, not bitter at all. I enjoyed it.

For dessert, some Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Along with a bowl of raspberry sherbet. It was about 150 calories worth. Yum!

I’m getting hungry again, but it’s bed time. Hopefully a mug of tea will help fill me up and doze me to sleep! I’m off to finish my last week in my internship. PTL!!!!! I cannot wait for Friday afternoon to come. Luckily, I have Wednesday off(sort of). I am on campus for a seminar until noon and then have the rest of the day to myself!!! Aka to clean.

Oh, pictures of the tree to come when we finish decorating!

Also, don’t forget to subscribe if you like what you’re reading! The new button is the right!

Katy

Ingredients:

4 T honey

1/2 cup of frozen OJ

Bone-in and skin on chicken breasts

Instructions: Making the glaze – combine the honey, OJ and S+P in a sauce pan.  Let it come to a boil slowly and then it’s done!  Turn off the heat and let it sit.

Preheat a larger pan with vegetable oil and prep the chicken. S+P the chicken, and brown up in a skillet.  Add the glaze and put in the oven at 375 for about 15 minutes to finish it.

From Melissa d’Arabian

Easy Shrimp Newburg

• 7 ½ c. wide egg noodles uncooked
• 2 Tbl. butter
• 1/3 c. chopped onion
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• ½ c. milk
• 1 pkg. cream cheese cubed and softened
• 2 Tbl. dry sherry (optional)
• ½ teas. Dried thyme leaves
• 1 lb. fresh shrimp, peeled and devined
• 1 c. frozen peas

In large skillet over medium heat, melt butter; add onion.  Cook 3 min. Add shrimp; cook until barely pink.  Stir in soup, milk, cream cheese, sherry, thyme and peas; simmer until cream cheese melts, stirring frequently.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Toss hot noodles and sauce. Yield 6

Contributed by Allison Crowell

To Print Click Here

Long time, no talk! Did you enjoy the weekend? I definitely had an interesting weekend…

On Friday night, we went to Eclipse di Luna.  Tobey and I shared a bunch of tapas, but the lighting was so bad that I didn’t get any good pictures. Later, we all shared a pitcher of margaritas.

Eclipse di Luna is a really cozy place, but still high energy… I love that. There was definitely some salsa dancing going on when we were there!

On Saturday morning, Tobey and I went to the spa and got massages. There is something to be said about the power of touch- you can go in really stressed out and come out so refreshed!

I went in the steam room for about 20 minutes… very relaxing. I love the decor & colors throughout the spa- turquoise and chocolate.

After our massages, I dropped Tobey off at home and headed to the Honda dealership. Do you guys remember how my car wouldn’t start the other week? Well, it wouldn’t start on Friday morning for the FIFTH time since August!

Volvo hasn’t been able to figure out the problem (huge money drain- they just kept replacing the battery, battery cable, etc) and it has left me stranded and late to work so many times. I decided to head on over to the Honda dealership to look for a new car.

Have you ever been somewhere and the salesperson talks to the man instead of the woman? I made it clear to the salesperson on Friday that I was buying the car and that it had nothing to do with my boyfriend, but he STILL kept talking to Tobey. That’s why I went back without Tobey on Saturday.

After looking at new & used cars, I said goodbye to Vicki the Volvo…

And hello to my brand new Honda Accord! I was going to get the basic 2010 black/black Accord, but they had a fancy ‘09 left for the same price so I got that instead…

I love it so much. It will be weird to have a car payment, but I’m so happy that I have a reliable car now!

3 1/2 hours later, I was home and dinner was ready.

Mixed greens with ginger dressing:

Peppers stuffed with honey goat cheese and baked to perfection:

This was inspired by one of the tapas that we had at Eclipse di Luna…

We also had some really good focaccia bread from Whole Foods. Honestly, I was so hungry that I don’t remember exactly what was on it. I was just really thankful that Tobey made us a nice dinner!

Oof… is anyone else having a hard time believing that tomorrow is Monday? I will be filling my new Starbucks reusable cup – so glad that they’re back in stock – with some strong iced coffee to get me through the day!

Is this “back on track” week for anyone else?

-Laura

I would like to be selected as the 2010 POM Featured Blogger. I don’t know what else I need to do in order to make it clear that this is something that I am very capable of. I have shown you videos, recipes, and lots more featuring these fantastic pomegranates. Here is my final attempt at proving my point, this is the recipe that I will submit to be the 2010 POM Featured Blogger.

This recipe is the real deal and I have been thinking about it for a while. The picture isn’t the best, the presentation isn’t the best, but I will have the more fun in 2010 being the POM Featured Blogger than anyone else they choose. So why not me?

Eric deserves this (it will help pay for my culinary school tuition). Please vote for me.

Thank you for your consideration.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole pomegranate,  sliced and seeded (click for instruction), then juiced with about 1/2 cup reserved for sauce and remaining arils for topping on salad/rice
• Yellowfin Ahi Tuna,  I made two of these plates so I had about 1/2 a pound between the two
• Toasted Sesame Seeds     
• Lemongrass, sliced thin
• Sweet Chili Sauce (Mae Ploy)
• Goma Wakame Salad  (seaweed salad)…..wakame seaweed, sesame oil, sesame seeds, rice vinegar, soy sauce, strained then served cold
• Steamed rice
• Sesame Oil
• Murray River Pink Sea Salt
• Black pepper, ground

Procedure:

• Place lemongrass, chili sauce, and pomegranate juice in sauce pan and reduce mixture by half then strain and set aside
• Season tuna with a pinch of pink sea salt, and pepper then roll sides in sesame seeds
• Place a little bit of sesame oil in extremely hot pan
• Sear tuna for 1-2 minutes on each side
• Place rice and seaweed salad on plate with pomegranate arils to cover
• Pour warmed sauce over tuna on plate

Enjoy,
Eric

Here is a list of my other POM Wonderful posts.  I really want to win this.  Send the company e-mails about me…..bother them through twitter, facebook, or anyway possible and let them know that Eric is the right blogger for 2010.

The recipes and posts using POM Wonderful Pomegranates

Crispy Chicken Thigh with Pomegranate Cream Sauce (Click)

Sangria De Rivera (Click)

Kiwi Crepe with a Pom Kiwi Whipped Cream (Click)

Roasted Grapes and Nectarines (Click)

POM TOUR

Day 1-  (click)

Day 2- Part one (click)

Day 2- Part two (click)

Day 2- Part three (click)

Dietician Janel (click)

Day two- Part four (click)

Day three- (click)

How to quickly open a pomegranate (CLICK FOR VIDEO)

Pistachio Nut Butter and Pomegranate Jam Sandwich (click)

13 posts…..The Pom Blogger of the year in 2010 is only required to do 12 posts……I will do more, I will be the best.

Eric

今日は日曜日。

まだ七面鳥が残っているのですが、3日連続で食べて飽きてしまったので、来週の夫のお昼のサンドイッチにしてもらうことにして、今日の晩ごはんは、ハンバーガーに。

私は、買ったひき肉があまり好きでないので、シチュー用の適度に脂肪の入った肉を買って来て、フードプロセッサーでミンチにして、バーガー用のパテを作ります。

パテは、両面を6〜７分ずつほど焼き、赤い部分が殆どなくなるくらいにします。

肉以外は、タマネギの十分に炒めたもの、トマト、ベーコン、チーズを挟みました。

サイドディッシュは、ローストポテト。ジャガイモを６分ほど茹でて、ローズマリーと塩、胡椒、オリーブオイルで和えて、200℃のオーブンで30分ほどローストします。

本当は、これにサラダでもつけるといいのですが、週末ということでこれだけ。

満足、満足。

Good evening!  I hope your day has gone well.  We did some super Christmas shopping at Target, Pier One, and TJ Maxx, picking up lots of decorations (and a few presents for family members!).  I also got some cute snow boots at TJ Maxx for super cheap– they were absolutely necessary.

When we returned home, we got to work decorating.  The outside of the house is still not quite done…we ran out of lights!  I’ll definitely put up some pics once it’s all set up.  I’m also still working on the dining room…I want to create a centerpiece using some of the branches from our yard, but I lost track of time and it got too dark! 

I did hang garland on our fireplace mantles and our banister, and I set up some of our smaller decorations.  Here are some pictures of the house:

We picked up some cute pillows:

After all that shopping and decorating, we had worked up an appetite!  On the menu:  carrot soup.  We eat a lot of carrot soup, for whatever reason.  Actually, I know exactly why: it’s easy!  I try to throw in a little variety from soup to soup…this one had a distinct Indian flavor.  Here’s the recipe:

Spiced Carrot Soup

1/2 tsp. cardamom pods

1/2 tsp. cumin seeds

1/2 tsp. mustard seeds

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. cloves

2 tsp. yellow curry powder

1 tsp. garam masala

1/2 tsp. red curry powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 pounds carrots, chopped

4 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup almond milk

pepitas to garnish

Directions:

In a soup pot, heat the cumin seeds, coriander pods, and mustard seeds until they’re slightly toasted (only about 30 seconds to a minute…they’ll start popping!).  Add olive oil and chopped onion, saute until soft (about 5 minutes).  Add the carrots, and cook for another minute.  Add all the spices (coriander through salt), and continue cooking for another 5 to 8 minutes, until mixture looks like this:

Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil.  Boil for 1-2 minutes, and reduce to a simmer.  Cook over low heat for 45 minutes to an hour, until vegetable are soft enough to puree.  Remove from heat. With submerging blender (or in batches in a regular blender), puree the soup until smooth.  Stir in almond milk (adding more if necessary) until you reach the desired consistency.  Garnish with pepitas and enjoy!

We enjoyed the soup with a salad of mixed greens, pears, and asiago cheese.

All that decorating put me in the holiday spirit, so I set a nice Christmasy table:

Aren’t these flowers pretty?  I got them at Pier One today, and added the cranberries to the vase myself when I got home (I got that idea from my sister!).

Hope you’re having a good night!  See you tomorrow morning…bright and early