It’s been far too long since my vivacious mother has graced the pages of my blog! When I think of my mom I think of what someone who has a passion for life. She has this youthfulness about her and I believe it can be a state of mind. How you carry and perceive yourself really reflects a lot on how people see you. This brings me to my number one fashion tip: wear it with confidence! When you’ve finally decided what outfit you want to wear, or if you just threw something on, don’t forget to walk out your door with a good amount of self-esteem and work it!

First off I started my Thanksgiving day with some homemade granola!

I used the soybean pulp, coconut oil, honey, shredded coconut, and vanilla extract

Granola + vanilla Greek yogurt/pumpkin puree + raisins

After straightening the apartment up and running some errands, I picked up my mother at the airport and gave her a tour of the place. It didn’t take too long though since it’s quite small. She came bearing gifts from her recent trip to Germany!

German goodies!

Neela definitely understands that Germans have mastered the art of baking bread and Kuchen! Oh and making chocolate too!

Choco Gummibaerchen

Then we started cooking up a storm for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Mom also helped!

Then we set my coffee table and sat on pillows.

Looking cute!

Shall we eat?

This was on the menu:

First time trying Swiss chard!

Swiss chard with toasted pine nuts and raisins

Indian-spiced Kabocha mash

Stollen my mom brought back from her trip to Germany

Sage and pumpkin seed encrusted "chick'n" with cranberry cabernet sauce

I used Gardein scallopinis for the “chick’n”. I also baked some maple cornbread and mushroom gravy.

All together and what have you got?

Afterwards we went on a walk with Matilda.

Then we watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I had never seen that movie, and now I see why so many people love it!

Next morning, mom and daughter breakfast

My mom had some of the gourmet cashew toffee Holly sent me, a Fig Newman, banana, toast with sunflower seed butter (her first time trying it), and an arepa con choclo. Her and I actually split the delicious arepa. For myself I tried the chocolate Heart Thrive over some vanilla Greek yogurt, cashew butter, some Newman’s Own Organic dark chocolate, and a sliced banana. I think the Heart Thrives are getting better and better with each new flavor I try. I heated this one up and I loved the melted chocolate. This one in particular tastes like a cookie. Can you guess which kind? Then we got ready for some shopping!

Dressing room photoshoots - commence!

I tried on this incredible black dress!

So awesome!

Since I’m going to Art Basel this coming weekend, I need to come up with an extravagant outfit!

I'm thinking something along the lines of what I wore to my "End of the World" party.

Also tried on an incredible top.

A dress like in Breakfast at Tiffany's!

My mom likes playing with my camera!

Matilda went shopping with us too!

We were being goofy in the store!

On to the next store – my favorite!

Of course Anthropologie has adorable ceramic egg trays! (far right)

Now it's Mom's turn to model!

I think she wanted to go to the dog bakery!

She makes me smile

Now both of us!

Awesome overalls!

A shame they were too small.

A gypsy shawl!

Then we went to Sur la Table

The cooking class that day was entirely based around chocolate. Katie, I thought of you!

Minus my feet being cut-off, my mom took a cool picture!

We were done shopping and decided to head home for some lunch. Well the day before my mom flew in I had decided to bake something for us.

The ingredients!

I used French Meadow Bakery’s gluten-free pizza crust! Pizza 1: basil pesto pizza sauce, goat cheese, caramelized onions (in brown sugar), portobello, roasted eggplant. Pizza 2: basil pesto pizza sauce, goat cheese, caramelized onions (in brown sugar), portobello, roasted red pepper and artichokes.

Pizza No. 1

I must say that I was surprised at how normal the crust tasted. In fact, it didn’t occur to me till later that, “Oh yeah! This is gluten-free crust. Wow!” After lunch we were headed out again and I had forgotten something so I went back. Then I realized I had locked us out of the apartment and my roommate was out of town. Oops! Thank goodness through some guardian angels were watching out for me and my neighbors walked into the building at the right moment. They had a way of getting me into my apartment. Imagine poor Matilda waiting for us!

Dinnertime!

We each had Sunshine Burgers topped with diced tomato, seasoned avocado, and ketchup. I also sauteed some kale in balsamic vinegar and honey + grated parmesan. Lastly, we split a beautiful persimmon! I asked my mom what she thought of the Sunshine Burger. Her response: “DELICIOUS!” After dinner we got ready to go to the movies.

And I packed some movie snacks for us.

We went to go see Julie & Julia.

The movie made me smile so much because I totally feel the same way!

The movie theater itself is so beautiful!

After the movie we wanted to go get some drinks.

We went to this French brasserie called Can Can

My friend was working so she took some pictures of me and my mom.

They brought out the bread - They ended up giving us a free baguette and another loaf!

A toast to us!

With a blackberry Bellini for me and an Indian Summer for my mom.

We also ordered a dessert.

A sweet potato tart with ginger creme anglaise and cranberry ice cream.

After a couple of hours of talking we headed home and laid our little heads to rest.

You are all so sweet and I’m incredibly thankful for each and every single one of you. I can’t remember exactly what sparked me to start a blog, but whatever that reason is – it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that it brought me here, with a bunch of wonderful friends. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying all the delicious leftovers. Cooking shouldn’t be a problem for the next few days!

Ripe Hachiya/Hongsi type Persimmon

The persimmon harvest was light this year.  I think the trees were pruned too hard last year.  I pruned them a little more lightly and hopefully our harvest will be better next year.   The Hachiya type (Korea’s Hongsi variety is similar or same) varieties need to sit around after being picked, in order to allow the astringent fruit to mellow out and become sweet and succulent.  I used to HATE this type of persimmon, but once we started growing them and ripening them properly, I became a big fan.

Kale. I love kale. Kale is so underrated.  I eat it every morning, in my oatmeal, believe it or not.  I like that combo.  Yes, I know I am really strange, but that is why you can’t stop reading this blog.

Baby Kale

Also, am growing two kinds of Korean lettuce.  One green, one red.  They’re basically butter lettuces, with a loose head.

Korean Lettuce

We’re also growing carrots, minari, beets (my mom loves them for some reason) and trying to keep various fruit trees alive, including: one dwarf tangerine tree that gave out three extremely awesome tangerines last year, two Hachiya-type persimmon trees, one Fuyu-type persimmon tree, two avocado trees, one fig tree, and one loquat tree that I want to chop down because I hate it so much.

The figs were very light as well.  Figs grow really well in Southern California.  We also have a banana plant, but I’m not such a huge fan of the bananas off our plant.  I’m not sure what we’re doing wrong, but I suspect we’re not picking them at the right time.

Ripe Figs

Dan made this up. It was really good, though I think the ham chunks in the soup were unnecessary because the whole thing basically tasted ham-y. He soaked the beans over night, cooked the beans in some water for a couple hours, threw in a ham bone from this awesome ham we got at the farmer’s market, and then sauteed some garlic and onion, threw that in, threw some kale in, let that cook for about ten minutes or so, and then BAM we had a really great soup. We like soup.

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and I have been loving some new recipes! First of all, I am happy to say I made it through the holiday without even sniffing gluten or sugar! Yay me I was a little lot worried that I would not be able to resist all the traditional food. So, I made sure to take my own and basically stayed away from the large table of food at my mom’s. I have been learning more about the anti-candida diet and really prayed hard that God would help me stick to it! He answered my prayer

My Thanksgiving day started off with a yummy HOT breakfast–southwestern style. I have realized that I do much better with a BIG HOT breakfast–not cold and raw (more about that later). Here are a few I have been enjoying.

1 egg + 2 whites, cooked peppers, onions and black beans over spinach

More eggs, peppers, onions and black beans over spaghetti sqaush

Coconut flour pancakes with Sweet Almond Sauce--OMG!!

Did I mention I have a new BFF? I don’t think she knows it yet, but Ricki at Diet, Dessert and Dogs is saving my life with this Anti-Candida thing!! Thanks a million Ricki! I still have SO many more recipes to explore! The recipe for the Sweet Almond Sauce is here and it is to die for!!

Lunch on Thanksgiving day was:

Kale Salad with Sweet Potato Fries

These recipes were also on Ricki’s blog I’m afraid sweet tators may be out for me for a while though–they make me crave sugar! UGH!

Dinner on Thanksgiving:

Anti-Candida Stew

Yet another wonderful recipe from Diet, Dessert and Dogs! I used quinoa instead of rice and I did put the sweet potato, but will probably leave it out next time. I took this with me to my mom’s and didn’t touch anything else. I KNEW if I took even ONE bite of the traditional food, my taste buds would go BONKERS and I would be in trouble!

Dessert on Thanksgiving:

Tofu Carob Pudding (sugar free:)

I’m still not sure that tofu works for me, but it was certainly better than eating sugar and gluten. Tofu doesn’t make my stomach hurt, but I have noticed some unpleasant reactions to it. I think it is worth eating occasionally, but I couldn’t eat it every day.

So, basically, Ricki saved my Thanksgiving. I LOVE the blogging world. We have never even met and yet blogs are SO helpful!

Just a quick note about the raw diet in my life. I went to the ND the other day and she and I both think it is best if I just concentrate on staying away from sugar and gluten. With my past eating history, too many rules was REALLY freaking me out! Food was VERY quickly becoming my enemy and I just can NOT go there again. So, I will eat raw when I want (like kale salad) and cooked when I want. I’m sure it will be more cooked than raw and that has to be okay–if for no other reason than to keep my sanity! Eating disorders are a powerful form of bondage that I don’t want any part of–EVER AGAIN!! I have to see food as fuel and as my friend,and I wasn’t seeing it that way when trying to follow so many rules. I am feeling MUCH better emotionally since coming to this place with my diet I know there are rules to follow on the anti-candida diet, but I think it is easier than trying to do mostly raw. I’m not much into raw eggs, but have been loving them scrambled for my breakfast!

Better run now. I think my daughter and I are going to try to go to a movie today and maybe do a little window shopping Hope you have a blessed weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let me tell you about soup.  Make your own stock with the leftover turkey carcass and the green parts of the leeks and stems of the kale and peels of the squash and a big fistful of parsley and 6-8 whole cloves of garlic and salt – cover everything with water, bring to a boil, and simmer for about an hour, strain well, and set aside to cool.  Skim off excess fat and funky stuff.

In the meantime, chop butternut squash, leftover turkey bits, kale, the white parts of the leek, and 2 cloves of garlic.

In a large heavy pot, sweat the leeks in in some olive oil for a minute over medium heat.  Add the squash and let them both cook in the oil for a few minutes.  Shake a good shake of salt and pepper over them.  Add the turkey, garlic, kale, and a splash of white wine.  Stir everything well and pour in 8-9 cups of broth.  Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes, until squash is tender.  Chop a handful of flat-leaf parsley and throw it in the soup.

Crushed red pepper makes a nice garnish and, in tandem with the garlic, prevents everything from becoming too Thanksgiving-y.

Variations on the theme:

• Turkey, (cooked) rice, carrots, celery, peas (garnish with parsley, black pepper, and lemon).  This is my Dad’s recipe and it is good.
• Stock (turkey or vegetable) with squash, kale & white beans instead of turkey.
• If you’re craving this on a weeknight or don’t happen to have a turkey carcass around, use commercially prepared chicken broth instead of laboring over a stock – no one will know and the soup will still be delicious.

Ok, so now that we’re past Thanksgiving, you would think our first reaction would be posting pictures of delicious turkey, potatoes, squash, dressing, gravy, rice, etc. We will do, we promise, but not today.

Instead, here’s a recipe to bring you right into the heart of the fall/winter season. We were inspired to do this after Perry and Dan hosted an incredible dinner that centered on recipes that incorporated kale, bok choy, and swiss chard.

They used innovative and fun recipes that were awesome. We’re not that cool. We just used the traditional boiled kale formula to come up with a delicious side dish. While we recommend the recipe linked to below, your best bet would be going over to their house for dinner.

Recipe: Boiled Kale with Turnips and Side Meat

With the weather turning cold, my seasonal job ending, and the holidays approaching for whatever reason I haven’t been too inspired to be in the kitchen.  I intend to change this around this week and enjoy some hearty stews all winter season.  I started this soup late afternoon before an appointment I had and was hoping the beans would soften by dinner hour.  Of course that didn’t happen and we ate the soup for dinner the following evening.  Lesson to be learned is to soak beans of any kind in high altitudes!

Since I was rushing to get the soup started I decided to food process all kinds of veggies to make an on the spot stock.  This was a successful idea which will be used again.  Plus it is much easier to food process raw veggies than blend cooked chopped veggies in batches.  All ingredients used for this soup are from our crop share except a couple cloves of garlic (not pictured).  Note: due to the freshness of the veggies I also used the celery leaves which I highly recommend trying.

Ingredients: Turnip, 2 Red Potatoes, Tomato, 2 Carrots, Large Onion, Kale, Celery, Split Peas, and Curry Powder

I heated up some olive oil in our new 5 quart cast iron dutch oven (thank again nan), and added the veggies as they were food processed.

Veggies

Once the veggies started to soften and become aromatic I added about 8 cups water, 3 T curry powder, S&P, and the whole bag of split peas (12 oz.).

Ready to Simmer and Thicken

I let the soup simmer for hours, literally, until I went to bed and then left it covered on the stove to cool overnight.

Soup to Cool Overnight

The soup sat in the fridge all day and before dinner it simmered for about another hour.  This was the best split pea soup I’ve ever made : )

Curried Split Pea Soup

]]> http://eatdrinkandbehopeful.com/2009/11/26/the-night-before-thanksgiving/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:25:44 +0000 Lauren http://eatdrinkandbehopeful.com/2009/11/26/the-night-before-thanksgiving/

I can’t believe it’s almost here. Thanksgiving AND my Turkey Chase 10K. I’ve been nervous all day, and I have no idea why. This will be my fifth race so I think I should know what I’m doing by now. But nerves are going crazy. With that being said, work was insane to say the least. I didn’t get to sit down all day so the boss ordered us Thai food for lunch. I tried to pick something pretty healthy so I ordered the steamed tofu with veggies in a black bean sauce with brown rice and an order of summer rolls. I made a plate of about 3/4 C brown rice and some of the tofu and veggies. The veggies included broccoli, green onion, mushrooms, and red peppers.

The summer rolls were carrots, fennel, and spinach wrapped in rice paper and topped with chopped peanuts. It came with a sweet sauce on the side, but I only had a little of that. These were different than any other summer roll I’ve had because of the fennel. It had such a strong anise flavor to them. Quite interesting. And if you couldn’t tell, these are not fried, they are raw.

I only had this plate plus a tiny bit more, and then it was back to work.

For snacks I had one of my pumpkin cranberry power bars.

Picture courtesy of yesterday since I had no time for pictures today. I also had a few crostini’s and 3 or 4 small chunks of cheese. I needed something to keep me going. My energy got so slow around 5pm and I felt like I was dragging my feet.

Once I got home I knew exactly what I was going to have for dinner. I present to you leftover Thai with some kale. I needed to get my greens in somewhere today. I had the remaining 1/4 C of brown rice, the rest of the tofu (I had eaten all of the veggies at lunch) with sauce on top of a ton of steamed kale. Not the BEST tasting dinner, but it was pretty good.

Now I’m just mentally preparing for my race and icing my foot. I’m excited for it to be over and for me to enjoy the rest of my day. I love Thanksgiving a lot, but my favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving is drink hot cocoa while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade with a fire. It reminds me of my childhood, and it’s a tradition now. I’m very excited to continue my tradition after my race tomorrow.

In other news: Look at this gorgeous wreath I got from work.

Every year we get a free wreath for our door at work, but we can never hang it up because the door won’t close. Since no one else wants it I always take it home. This years wreath is way better than lasts, and I think it is gorgeous! On Sunday evening Chris and I are going to decorate our apt for the holidays like we do every year. I really get into decorating for the holidays if you couldn’t tell already.

That’s all for now-I’m just sipping on some diet hot cocoa and just had a sliver (I’m talking sliver) of pumpkin pie. It was just staring at me calling my name! I hope everyone has a very safe and happy Thanksgiving! See you all on Black Friday for Race Recap, Thanksgiving Recap, and a wine Review coming soon!

We got kale in our winter shares and I wanted to do something different. So I googled kale and pasta and found a dish with Kale, Bacon and Pasta.  I made it according to the recipe – it was very tasty but next time I am going to add garlic and mushrooms.

1 lb Kale

8 strips of bacon – cut into pieces or use pancetta

1/2 onion minced

1 lb of dried pasta

2 garlic cloves

handle full of sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup of parmesan grated

Cook pasta according to directions. Dice bacon and cook over medium heat.  Remove bacon and saute in onions, mushrooms, and garlic in bacon fat.  Add kale till wilted. Add cooked pasta, toss and finish with parmesan.

4 servings

I’m going to start this post off with something that made me smile about a second ago. I just had a most delicious cup of tea I got at a coffeeshop. I had green tea with jasmine & lemon.

So remember when I said that I always say I’m going to get a rain jacket and I don’t, and then it rains?

I finally got one!

When I got back from shopping I started to make my lunch.

I baked some sweet potato fries with Old Bay seasoning and cumin. I also baked some Gardein chick’n tenders as well. I squirted ketchup on both and sprinkled some curry powder on as well. I made something of Sophia’s but with a different texture. Rather than make her kabocha soup with bacon and goat cheese- I made it a mash with coconut oil. I also subbed out the bacon for fakin’ bits. And that cute little chocolate cup? This time I tried a Newman’s Own Organic Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. It tasted good, but I wasn’t too keen on the gooey peanut butter middle. I was hoping it would be a bit more solid.

Look at what I got in the mail!

Awhile back Kashi was giving out free samples on their site. You know I jumped on that offer!

I've also been working on my project.

I started carving some wood yesterday. And after about 6 hours of that I realized I want to keep my thumb – it was so sore!

Granola bar!

I tried another 18 Rabbit granola bar that was graciously sent to me. This time it was the Funky Figs & Cherries. First off, I love the names of the flavors – they’re so much fun! I just heated it up and crumbled it over some vanilla Greek yogurt, and dark sweet cherries. This one was also very granola-y, however the first flavor I tried (Cheeky Cherry Chocolate) is the best so far. I swore I also tasted some chocolate in this one. Silly me didn’t check the ingredients though! Oh well, what matters is that it tasted good, right?

I had a little mishap with my lunch.

I had been cooking some kale on the stove and I went away and completely forgot about cooking, until I smelled something burning! I quickly ran into the kitchen and took it off the burner. Although it shriveled up a lot, it still tasted very good. May I suggest sautéing kale in a mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, and s&p? I also toasted a quick sandwich: goat cheese, basil pesto, and tomato with balsamic vinegar.

Yesterday, I got a bit of relaxing time in. I just did some beauty things and had dinner roasting and boiling away in the mean time.

My one person casserole dish.

I roasted some kabocha chunks, and boiled some edamame and quinoa pasta. I tossed it all in coconut oil, lime juice and s&p, then drizzled on some tamarind-date chutney. One word: yum. I haven’t had edamame in forever and I just found a great edamame succotash recipe I must try.

Now we're a little more caught up now.

This morning I decided to try the cranberry flavored Heart Thrive. I crumbled it over some vanilla Greek yogurt mixed with pumpkin puree. I also drizzled on some cashew butter and tossed in a handful of dried cranberries. To make the Heart Thrive less dry I heated it up in the microwave and spread on a bit of coconut oil. I must say I really enjoyed this flavor! It was perfectly tart and had a much stronger flavor than the others I tried.

Lots of blue today!

I wore my favorite blouse and these cool navy blue velvety pants…

And they're cuffed!

I only had one class today, so that left me with plenty of time to run errands and prepare some things for when my mom arrives tomorrow. I’m so excited!

Quick lunch

I got home and I was so hungry so I had some hemp brownie bites while I quickly prepared my lunch. No, not special brownies! I followed a BBQ Shepard’s Pie recipe from the Sunshine Burgers website with the BBQ flavor. Basically, I roasted corn, some cubed potato bits, and mozzarella in the oven. Afterwards I just drizzled on some BBQ sauce. I also had it with some beautiful blanched kale. I love that green!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I’m excited. Although I’m having a rather untraditional Thanksgiving (when is it not?), it’s going to be so nice to be with my mother. Since her flight comes in around 2, we’ll be having a Thanksgiving dinner. Which means she’ll be helping me in the kitchen! We make a great team. Anyway, I wanted to know what makes you all smile? I know for myself, it’s mostly the little things that cheer me up. For instance, when I take Matilda on walks I always notice the little quirks about Richmond. There are a lot of characters around here and they definitely make sure to leave their mark. Things like painted ice cream cones cut out of cardboard hanging on a string over a telephone line. I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving! Aside from having delicious food, I think the most important part is to enjoy being with people you care about. And being around those people can make a world seemingly filled with troubles, a much better place.

I’ll leave you all with some ideas from Kate Spade: 20 Ways to Merry-Make.

This morning for breakfast, I started off on a “blue note”!

TJ’s High Fiber O’s with some soy milk and blueberries (bowl to match, of course!)

For dinner, I threw together a very easy mix using FOUR ingredients: Quinoa, Sweet Potatoes, Kale, and Baby Portobellas

Sauteed for a few minutes..

Roasted the taters (I cut them in triangles)

AND mixed together with some quinoa!

For dessert, it was a big ol bowl of apple slices and a few Newman’s Own Organic soy crips.

Hit the spot!

Have a good eve.. cant wait to post our Thanskgiving meal! (Either late tomorrow or Friday). Have a great holiday everyone

i’ve been interested in kale from a distance for quite some time.
occasionally, someone would whip up a batch of the healthy greens and i’d dive right in, but never had i ever thought about diving into a bunch on my own.

lately, i’ve been reading more and more about eating less and less meat
(and the importance of LOCAL meat if you are in fact going to eat it)
and looking through delicious vegetarian recipes led me to a number of awesome dishes made with kale.

i’ve made this one twice, with and without chicken, and both times. . .IT WAS AWESOME.  it’s a mild, earthy base that is really open to interpretation according to your own tastes. . .use extra herbs/spices, play with the vegetables. . .i can’t wait to experiment more with it by adding some pine nuts or maybe a bit of pesto.

the boyfriend loves it, i love it, office holiday lunch people love it. . .

so here it is.
YUMMY.

also, at the end, i shared a recipe i found for baked kale chips!!
they’re actually quite good.

orzo and kale pasta (with chicken)

2 cups orzo pasta (i used a spinach and tomato type)
1 tsp turmeric (a little more or less depending on your taste)

1 bunch of local fresh kale – cut out large vein and tear leaves into bite size pieces
1 can ripe black olives – chopped
4-5 large cloves of garlic - minced, chopped or pressed
big handful of organic grape or cherry tomatoes – halved
1 organic lemon

optional:
fresh organic local chicken breast!!
local feta or parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (i haven’t tried this yet. . .??)

bring large pot of water to a boil. (i used vegetable/chicken broth for added flavor!) add orzo and turmeric and allow to boil, stirring occasionally, until pasta is cooked but still firm. drain pasta into a strainer and return to covered pot to stay warm.

chop ripe black olives and add to the pasta.

in a large skillet, heat olive oil slowly and add 3 or more cloves chopped or minced garlic. cook garlic until starts to soften and then add kale. keep covered and stir frequently (olive oil tends to burn if you aren’t careful) until kale is wilted and tender. when almost done, add the halved tomatoes to the skillet and finish cooking with the kale.

add kale and tomatoes to the pot and stir. ingredients should be balanced so add more olives/tomatoes if needed.

squeeze fresh lemon juice into the pasta. this is ESSENTIAL to bring out all the flavor and is a bit of “taste/add/taste/add” to make sure you get enough but not too much lemon.

if you like, top with crumbled feta or stir in parmesan. add more garlic if desired. (can you tell i like garlic??)

*if you want the chicken.  . .cook it before or along side the kale.

chop chicken into thin strips or bite sized cubes,
place chicken in a bowl and add 2 cloves minced/pressed garlic, season with salt and pepper (or whatever other subtle spices/herbs/marinades you like for chicken) and a drizzle of olive oil.  heat a large skillet and cook chicken till cooked through and juices run clear.  add to pasta along with kale and tomatoes.

and there you have it.

success really does taste good.

now. . .for all that leftover kale.

BAKED KALE CHIPS!!

sounds weird, kinda is. . .but weirdly delicious.
you basically mix a tablespoon of olive oil with any favorite seasoning/seasoned salt and evenly coat bite sized pieces of kale in a large bowl. bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for about 5-7 minutes.

you have to watch them like a hawk cause they go from perfect to burnt mess in a matter of no time.

best hot out of the stove. could also make a great garnish. . .

enjoy!

baked kale chips

Somewhere in the last 5 years, my blood went from thick and hearty to thin and wussy.  So, I’m back home.  Where it gets cold.  Not as cold as it was when I lived in the Lou.  But, waaaaaay colder than my November flip-flop weather in Georgia.

So, I’ve been freezing all day.  Which has meant I’ve walked around looking like an idiot.  Lulu tights + thigh-high leg warmers + fleece socks + knit hat + thermal running shirt = still cold.

That is not cool.  I do NOT like becoming a southerner by blood. (hee hee. yes, pun so intended).

But, I’m SOOOOO happy to be home in Baltimore.  I’ve been homesick for B’more like crazy since I moved to Augusta.  I’ve never had this problem before.  I was never this sick for home when I lived in St Louis, or when I was in Durham, or during my brief 8 mos. in Atlanta.  But, now I’m desparate to get back to the Mid Atlantic.  I would love a move to DC or Philly or Bmizzle.

You know, I love my parents, so don’t take this comment to mean anything otherwise.  But, it’s not even being close to family that I miss.  Because, I was further away from them when I lived in the midwest.  It’s just that I miss the lifestule and culture of the Mid-Atlantic.  The whole not quite southern; not quite northern.  Progressive.  The FOUR seasons (not the hotel or the doo wop group, but the kind you learned about in elementary school).

Anyway, while I’m home, I’m taking advantage of my favorite places.  The MOST favorite place is Prima Foods.

It is a wholesale Greek food store nestle under a highway overpass.   But, it has the most amazing selection of foods.  For example, in the picture below, we are getting feta for the thanksgiving spanikopta.  The choice was between salty-feta and really salty-feta:

My major Greek food love are Dolmades.  And, it’s hard to find grape leaves in Augusta to make them myself, so I stocked up on grape leaves…but, I also stocked up on pre-made dolmades:

Ok, those last cans of dolmades are AHnormous. Seriously.  The size of my head.

A large can of dolmades.  I’m so excited.  SOOOOO excited.  I’m just going to make a lot of tzatziki and eat it all with dolmades.  Yummy yum yum.

The next stop was The Book Thing, which is a nonprofit org that takes in book donations and organizes them and then you just come in and take books you want.  It’s all free.  It is a book lover’s paradise.

So, I went with four giant boxes of books from my parents, and wandered around.

I ended up taking three books home with me:

A copy of The Brethren (love me some Supreme Court Justice gossip)…and then two really old books:  A HUD propaganda pamphlet about creating neighborhoods that are easier to police and thus should reduce crime published in 1975 and a 1960 Juvenile Delinquency book filled with amusingly outdated science.

I love me some books and my trips to the bookstore are always dangerous to the wallet…so free books?  Oh, so the right price.

Ok, beddy bye time and tomorrow, there will be a nice long post about the delish meals I’ve been cooking.

So, 48 hours out after my final race of the season; it’s time to reflect on the mess that was yesterday and the relative success that was my season as a whole.

Racing Stats:

• Peachtree International Triathlon: 2:56:54
• Irongirl Triathlon: 1:45:28
• Peachtree Road Race 10K: 50:22
• Acworth Women’s Triathlon:
• Augusta 70.3: 5:41:04
• Chicago Marathon: 3:36:57
• Augusta Half Marathon: 1:42:04
• Philly Half Marathon: 1:46:47

Highlights:

• Completing my first marathon.  and getting a BQ.
• Completing my first half iron distance.
• Getting more confident on the bike.
• Meeting tri friends in ATL and Augusta

Lowlights:

• Being stuck in a boot from 11/08-4/09 with a never healing sesamoid stress fracture
• Bike crash at mile 18 of the Augusta
• Slicing my ankle open at T-2 of Irongirl and requiring stitches
• Getting laid off and having to leave ATC in Atlanta. (that’s the real lowlight)

SOOOOO. What are my goals for next season?

• Sub 3:30 marathon (hopefully sub 3:20)
• Sub 21min (pref <20min) 5K
• Lose 15 lbs (and/or reduce to 15% bf) to help accomplish the above goals
• Increase bike speed to avg 20mph over 70.3 bike course
• Complete first Ironman

I’m thinking that I want and need a coach for next year.  The only issue is I’m not one to hand over control.  I am very much a control freak and the thought that I would trust someone enough to just follow their plan and believe that I would be ready to reach my full potential…it just, well…it just wouldn’t happen.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t want that to happen.  It’s just hard.  But, the IM training really needs to not be done by myself.  That said, suggestions for tri & track coaches are so welcome.

And finally, a pictorial summary of the season…and the final summarizing statement: a good season, all in all.

Oden (Root Vegetable Stew); Edamame; Collard Green Tofu Salad Wraps; Orange triangles

I’ve been raving about the Angelica Home Kitchen cookbook lately. I found the recipe for this Oden (root vegetable stew) in this amazing cookbook. Rutabega, Turnips, Parsnips, Squash in a broth of ginger, shoyu, mirin, shiitake, and seaweed…rich tasting, light, delicious. Even if you don’t like these vegetables, they taste delicious melded in this warming soup.

I’ve decided on our Thanksgiving menu: Oysters, Roast Pheasant; Garlic sautéed Kale; Medley of Roasted Root Vegetables (Rutabega, Turnip, Parsnip); Carmelized Onions; Smashed Squash; Rustic Corn Bread; Concord Grapes (if I can find them!!). Yum! What’s on your menu?

Have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones!

You know one of the hardest things is admitting that we need help. But I do, I need help.

I promised a friend that I would look up the recipes for my favorite Kale dishes. She has a bunch of it growing in her garden, and cabbage too, and is looking for recipes for them.

I’m struggling to find time to do the most basic things recently, and so I just haven’t had a chance to find those recipes for her. I feel really bad about this, and yet time is speeding by and feeling bad about the situation gets me no closer to getting her the recipes.

So, my vegan greens-loving friends, what recipes can you suggest? The kale and cabbage do not have to be in the same recipe, of course!

Originally uploaded by M e l o d y

I read ’somewhere’ that Collard Greens are really, really good for you, a cancer fighting green rich in antioxidants and vitamins and tons of fiber.  One cup of cooked collards offers your full daily Vitamin A, half your C and over 800 percent of your vitamin K.

A few weeks ago I posted this short entry (below) on Collard Greens asking for good recipes.  I got no responses.  And I’m thinking it’s because most of the people who read my blog are mostly white folk.  It turns out most white folk think Collard Greens are a nasty weed and we don’t know what to do with it.

Last night, at the first White House State Dinner , among other delicious things Collard Greens were on the menu and that got me looking and reading again.

And I want to cook them.  Help me out?

It turns out their pedigree dates back 2,000 years.  (And though they can’t spell Mediterranean …)

They originated, like kale, their kin, in Turkey, migrating, along with folks who grew it, to Greece and Rome. Julius Caesar allegedly treated collard greens as medicine, eating them after banquets to insure good nutrition and digestion.

Collards became a hit all over Europe and were introduced to America in the 17th century. They grew prolifically, especially in the South. While plantation owners considered collards weeds, slaves used the free and plentiful greens to make the humblest of meals sustaining and nourishing.  Despite their Mediterranian roots, they’re sturdily American.

Most of us know collards, if we know them at all, from the way slaves prepared them – as a mess o’ greens, slow-braised with pig parts. Collards are also a component of hopping john, a filling stew combining collards, black-eyed peas, which the slaves brought over from Africa . . . and more pig parts.

Now is the time collards flourish, and not just in the White House garden.  (Source:  www.meatlessmonday.com)

So I ask again, does anyone have good recipe for Collard Greens? Someone who has actually cooked them. Or will I have to go digging?

———————————————————————————

November 11th, 2009

Does anyone have a good recipe for Collard Greens?

Mine was bitter. Is this from the way I cooked it or something else I might have done?

They look so yummy but even with garlic and butter/olive oil they were super bitter.

C’ mon people. Let me know!!

As you all know my leg was bothering me yesterday. Well what I didn’t tell you was that my left ankle was bothering me even more. I’m not sure if it was because of the left ankle that was causing more pressure on my right leg or what, but my leg feels fine and my ankle does not. I was massaging it last night, and there are parts that are so tender it hurts to touch. So I immediately got out an ice pack and started icing it down.

When I woke up this morning it was hard to walk properly on it. I don’t know what is wrong with it, but I REALLY hope it goes away soon. It hurts to pretty much put any pressure on it at all so I am taking today off from working out. I plan on doing my morning routine later tonight since I just wasn’t in the mood to do anything this morning.

• 2 sets 70 leg lifts each leg
• 3 sets 20 kneeling push ups
• 2 sets 50 bicycle crunches
• a few other laying down arm strength moves

I also had to take a break from my Green Monster Challenge. I think 2 weeks is a long time, and I really just wanted some oats! So I made a bowl of oats and topped with blueberries, coconut, and cinnamon.

• 3/4 C Quaker Oats
• 3/4 C Non Fat Cows Milk
• 1 Tbs Peanut Butter & Co. Cinnamon and Raisin swirl
• 1/8 C unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 C fresh blueberries

Holy YUM! I have missed you oats! Of course I had some coffee on the side.

The Turkey Chase on Thursday looks like it is going to be a pretty big race. Part of me wants to have a lazy Thanksgiving morning, but the other part of me is so excited to get some exercise and participate in such a big race on Thanksgiving morning. Plus it is so early that by the time I get home from the race will be about the same time I would be waking up if I decided to not race. They have 8,000 people registered for all 3 races. I’m participating in the 10K, and now that my ankle is acting up I am really nervous. I take racing pretty seriously, and I hate to do bad. I used to quit at a lot at things earlier in my life, and I don’t want running to be another thing I quit. But I know my health comes first so even if I have to run this race slow I want to finish it strong. Please keep your fingers crossed.

Lunch was what I call GOURMET! HA! I had some Healthy Choice Chicken and rice soup with an Arnold Whole Grain Sandwich Thin on the side. I actually really liked this soup. It was just what I needed for this awfully cold rainy day.

I also had some kale on the side. Gotta get those greens! Unfortunately work got so busy, and I wasn’t able to finish all of these.

Back to the insane day at work!

These cold weather days call for comforting, effortless meals that make staying indoors more of a reward than a burden.  Fellow blogger M of Little Magazine recently asked me to prepare and photograph a duo of butternut squash recipes created by the super talented Sophie of The Super Taster.  Now that all of those lovely winter squash are abundant at your local grocers and farmers markets, how can you possibly resist them?

One large butternut squash was tossed with olive oil and spices, oven roasted till tender, and divided. The first half of the squash was pureed into a smooth, flavorful soup and garnished with sour cream and fresh sage (which, after it’s closeup, was fried in brown butter).

Napa grown Rancho Gordo yellow eye beans and sauteed Tuscan kale were combined with the remaining half of the roasted squash and transformed into a hearty and incredibly satisfying dish, which would be an excellent candidate for a Thanksgiving side or equally perfect served as a main course accompanied with rice or farro as recommended by Sophie.

Not only were both recipes outstanding and easy to prepare, they are extremely versatile (you can use whatever beans or greens you’ve got on hand) and vegan friendly. I will definitely make both dishes again and again. Check out the recipes at LittleMagazine.

Recipe for Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

This classic tapa is commonly made with piquillo peppers.

INGREDIENTS:

12 piquillo peppers
1/4 c raw orzo
4 tbsp olive oil
1 med red onion, chopped

2 1/2 oz kale, washed, dried & torn into 1-2 inch pieces (~2 cups)
kosher salt and fresh pepper
4 oz goat cheese

1 tsp chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp dried
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
12 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/12 c dry white wine or water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring med pot of salted water to a boil. Cook orzo till al dente. Drain and cool. You should have about 1 2/3 c cooked orzo.
3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in large saute pan over med-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes. Add kale and cook, stirring, until wilted and tender, another 5-7 minutes. Season w/salt and pepper.

4. In a bowl, combine onion and kale w/the cooked orzo, feta, herbs, olives, lemon zest and 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Toss gently until combined. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and add more lemon juice if necessary.
5. Slice off the top 1/2 inch of each pepper and reserve tops. With a paring knife, cut away the white ribs inside the peppers. Turn the peppers over and tap out the seeds. Divide the orzo filling among the peppers and replace the top of each pepper.
6.  Stand peppers in med baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and salt and pepper. Pour white wine into pan and cook peppers in the oven until the peppers are very tender and slightly blackened on top.

Baked pocket  catfish with old bay and lemon; stir-fried collards and kale with tamari and garlic; sweet potato and squash soup.  Chef Toni

Suspect: Coco

Crime: Kill day 1 of the second week work plan

Chronic:

Woke up at 5.30AM, exhausted! Definitely not enough sleep but I had the intention to start working early so as soon as I woke up I got up.

Lovely breakfast: kabocha spiced waffle topped with FitNutz chunky, the best of all three flavors

8 AM: start to work try to work.

11 AM: stop pretending being productive. I just COULDN’T focus! Okay. maybe a snack session would help! Bad idea

I got to try two products from that Gigantic batch from Newman’s Own Organic.

Product: Fig Newmans

Coco’s take: These are fat free, filled with fruits and used all organic ingredients. It was less sweet than I thought which is a plus, but the flavor and taste overall lack personality. No plus no minus. 2/5

Unsatisfied, I had to try something else.

Product: Newman’s Os

Coco’s take: It is SUPER tasty! The filling is like a chocolate mousse, strong in chocolate flavor and less sweet than usual Oreo’s fillings. I was hooked! 5/5 The downside was that the tasting session ended up with 5 cookies in the belly

After the “tasting” session I couldn’t go back to work anymore! What I did instead? An hour nap at 12PM! When I woke up, I had lunch. Leftovers!

Afternoon study snacking session began

My first Honey crisp apple!

Woooo!!!!! That’s the best apple I’ve ever had! Now I know why you guys love it so much!!! Worth every penny of the $2.49/lb

1/2 box of Dr. Kracker’s seeded spelt! Don’t ask how the mindless act happened

roasted almonds

And then, I felled into sleep AGAIN , this time was even longer. 2 or 3 hours? I didn’t wake up until Star called me and it was all dark outside. What heck happened to my body?  too much work/tension last week? too intense was the yoga class? I dunno.

“Dinner“: kale chips

isn’t my baby spoon cute? I need to do a spoon theme post to show you how many spoons I have

and KABOCHA! Love love love how ripped is this one!

‘

Many of you asked me what’s a ripped kabocha? Well… a ripped one has dense texture like sweet potato but less sweet, a not ripped one is similar to pumpkin.

Okay. Finally….the PUNISHMENT: Work harder from tomorrow until completion of this week’s plan.

Q1: Have you committed any “crime” lately?

Q2: Do you take naps? how long?

I love Kabocha..

I do not like CUTTING Kabocha..

Yup, these three guys were needed to do this..

Thank you, hubby, for coming to my rescue, btw!

Anyways, I ended up roasted these two halves at 425* for about 20 minutes. I took them out, let them cool for a few then sliced them into new moons then big chunks!

Roasted for another 20-25 minutes! (I also drizzled these with some EVOO)

The house smelled amazing while these were roasting btw. In the meantime, I steamed some kale and toasted some yummy fresh pita from the Mediterranean Deli!

Finished product!

Kabocha sandwich, of course!

Apparently my eyes were bigger than my belly. Kabocha is amazing but very, very filling. I had about 5 pieces and had to put down the fork. It’s all good.. lotsa leftovers…

…which brings us to this evening’s din din!

STEAMED Kabocha (no skin this time), tons of veggies ( a runaway green bean apparently?), and an Ezekiel!

Anyways, let’s get to the important stuff… like finding out who the winner of my Nasoya FREE coupon give-away is. I used the Random Integer Generator and it came up with #28. The 28th comment was from Elise at Hungry Hungry Hippie!! Congrats. Just email me your address so I can get these out to you asap!

Have a super evening, guys!!

]]> http://wholebelly.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/scrambled-eggs-roasted-potatoes-and-kale/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:21:19 +0000 Kelly http://wholebelly.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/scrambled-eggs-roasted-potatoes-and-kale/

This was a simple, quick and yummy dinner. The meal is pretty self explanatory- no complicated recipes involved. This is the type of meal I tend to make when we need to eat quickly. This night my husband had to leave about an hour after I got home. So I needed to make dinner and he needed a chance to sit down and eat it, within an hour. Plenty of time.  This meal is actually 100% local too. Eggs and kale from Fickle Creek Farm, and the potatoes from Jones Farm and Redbud Farm.

Scrambled Eggs

4 eggs

salt, pepper

2 tsp water

Heat a skillet over medium heat, add some oil. Whisk the eggs, water, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl until eggs are pale yellow and slightly fluffy.  Add the eggs when the skillet is hot and constantly push around until solid-take off the heat just before they are done.

Roasted Potatoes

2 cups diced potatoes (any kind)

olive oil, salt, pepper

Heat the oven to 400 F. Toss potatoes with olive oil in roasting pan, season with salt and pepper, roast until tender- about 15 minutes.

Garlicky Kale

1 bunch kale, washed and ripped into bite size pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

pinch of hot pepper flakes

Heat oil in medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. When oil is hot add pepper flakes and garlic. When garlic starts to brown add kale and cover. Lower heat and simmer/saute about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can add some water or broth if it gets to dry.

Simple, quick and yummy.