I was one of those people who swore up and down they didn’t like sweet potatoes. Nope. No, thank you. Don’t want ‘em, won’t eat ‘em, PASS.

Boy, am I glad I gave them another chance here now that I’m a bit older. Turns out, I really, really like sweet potatoes! A lot! The problem was, I just didn’t like them loaded with sugar and oozing with melted marshmallows. Yuck. I don’t care for marshmallows on my dessert plate, let alone my DINNER plate. Blech. For some reason, it never occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, there’s other ways to prepare them. Ways that are bit more modern, a bit more sophisticated and every bit as delicious.

This is kind of  hybrid of a couple recipes. There were elements of both that I wanted to try, so I kind of just combined them into one tasty side dish. These smashed sweet potatoes get a flavor boost by being roasted in a hot over until fork tender. Then kicked up a notch with hint of sweetness from pure maple syrup and a hint of spiciness for chipotles in adobo before being smashed into a puree. We both enjoyed these a lot. Anytime I can get my husband to eat something that’s not the color of meat or bread, I call it a win.

Speaking of win, I’m proud to report that I knocked the 30 day NaNoWriMo challenge out of the park for the second year in a row! Crossed the 50k mark on Thanksgiving afternoon. Now, thank GOODNESS that’s over. I can get on with my life and back to my regular scheduled blogging. Whew!

Hi, I’m Tangent! Have we met?

Okay, back to the food.

MAPLE-CHIPOTLE SMASHED SWEET POTATOES (Recipe inspired by: These two recipes by Alton Brown and Claire Robinson

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large sweet potato
• Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 of a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, very finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon adobo sauce from can
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel and chop the sweet potato into one inch chunks and spread onto a cookie sheet in an even layer. Drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup. Toss to coat. Roast in oven, stirring occasionally until just fork tender, but not crisp; about 15 minutes.
2. Place potatoes in a large bowl. Add butter, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, salt and cinnamon. Smash with a potato masher or fork until combined. Garish with copped parsley and a bit of freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

Makes 2 to 3 servings.

ENJOY!

One Year Ago:
Texas Chili – this is my favorite chili recipe. YUM!
Rigatoni All’Amatriciana – Past in a bacon and onion sauce. Spicy and delicious!

The busyness of the holiday caused me to neglect my blog! So sorry (that’s what I get for leaving my laptop at home I guess)! But I’m home now, laden with leftovers and good cheer! As well as the tasty results of a few thanksgiving ventures! The first one I’m sharing is a new and slightly healthier twist on my families traditional holiday sweet potatoes. There was a unanimous inclination to dissconatinue the marshmalow toped version we have done for years. So I googled and came upon this lovely little gem!

Sweet Potato Soufflé (Adapted from TLC Cooking)

I think topping this with just a light sprinkle of brown sugar about 30 minutes into the baking would create a nicely caramelized crust, wish I had done it!

4 medium sweet potatoes

2 Tbs butter

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp white pepper

½ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

¾ cup Coconut milk

5 egg whites
Boiling water

1. Peel and chunk sweet potatoes, place in a medium saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover with lid. Boil 20 minutes or until fork-tender. Drain well and cool to room temperature before continuing.

2. Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter 2 quart soufflé dish casserole.

3. Mash cooled potatoes with salt, white pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and coconut milk until smooth.

4. Beat egg whites with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently but thoroughly fold egg whites into potato mixture until completely incorporated.

5. Pour into prepared soufflé dish. Place soufflé dish in 13X9-inch baking pan and place in oven. Pour enough boiling water into baking pan to come 1 inch up side of soufflé dish. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

I ate several undocumented bites of green bean casserole throughout the afternoon but it didn’t stop me from being ready for dinner!  We used my so-so PF Chang’s leftovers to make something amazing.

The original dish wasn’t so bad, it just needed a little seasoning.

We also upped the veggies by added 2/3 cup steamed broccoli and 1/2 cup shredded carrot.  We pan cooked the whole thing, adding two eggs at the end.  Delicious.

It’s crazy that my leftovers made (large) meals for two of us.  How much were they expecting me to eat?!

I feel pretty sick so I’m going to try to shower and get to bed soon.  I probably have another cookie somewhere in there too   I hope everyone’s long weekend went off without a hitch!

Do you take leftovers from restaurants?  Why not?

It’s been a kitchen day here at the Bear-Mouse household.  We emptied the dish washer this morning and it’s pretty much full again with casseroles and mixing bowls.  Good times

We got up late late this morning, since I stayed up late late last night feeling sick.  Our first mission was a walk to Walgreens for Junior Caramels and cream of chicken soup (you’ll see in a minute).  $3.32, Challenge Balance – $98.86.

First up on the cooking agenda was green bean casserole.

I followed the recipe on the back of the onion can, but I subbed in cream of chicken for cream of mushroom and skim for whole because it’s all I could find.

Then came the baking of cookies.  I kept changing my recipe plan (Adam just might have eaten ALL of our oatmeal without my knowing) as I discovered ingredients we were out of.  In the end I made a half batch of the toll house recipe.

I used 1t skim milk instead of vanilla extract, and used half a cup of Jr Caramels with half a cup of chips.  Not my best substitutions, they might have been a little stuck.

Lunch was rather reminiscent of Turkey Day meals.

A small serving of Annie’s Shells.

A large serving of casserole.

Pretty tasty.

Once the cooking was tasted, I had to try the baking for dessert.  Adam and I split this crumbly plate.

My homework due date got pushed back so I doubt I will be motivated to do much today and dinner is going to be PF Chang’s leftovers so it’s looking like a lazy day.  I think there is a stack of magazines in my future!

Do you make substitutions in cooking/baking?  How do they usually turn out?

Hey guys!  I feel bad about breaking the challenge (not that it’s the first time we’ve cheated!) but it was so so so worth it!  I had such a great time catching up with my cousin.  She is pregnant with her second child and I’m glad I got to meet the first baby before she has the second one.  She and her husband are so nice and fun and we all had a good time.

They needed to meet somewhere close to the highway so we ended up at the Galleria Mall.  Adam and I showered and did our best to pretty up.

He was a bit more successful than I, it’s pretty obvious I’m sick!

PF Chang’s had a 5minute wait so that became our lunch spot.  I ordered the Vegetable Chow Fun.

It was only ok.  Way too much food and pretty bland.  I ate about 1/3 of it before I packaged it up for leftovers.

After lunch we walked around the mall and Dairy Queen just seemed right.  I got a small Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard with chocolate froyo.

Mmmn.  This made me pretty happy.

From there Adam and I hit up the movie theatre.  Sharing pretzel bites seemed like less of a good idea, but still an irresistable one.

We saw “Old Dogs.”  It was pretty terrible, but movie dates are always fun

Not surprisingly, I was not hungry for dinner after all my mall food.  I got unpacked and did some cleaning this evening, but mostly Adam and I spent a looooooong time discussing my life choices stagnation.  Some tears later, I think after a meeting I have this week things will be a lot more clear.

Just as it is clearly time for bed!  Sweet dreams.

Seen any bad movies lately?  What would you NOT recommend?

… and had the best dinner ever. But let’s start with breakfast, which started last night:

With some of this:

And some of this:

Smooshed onto Santa’s face to make my first breakfast cookie!!!

I woke up with a headache .. sad, for my not-even-a-glass-and-a-half of wine, but I just really don’t drink. After some coffee and nana:

I ran a 5k at the gym (too windy for the trail) in 28:59 and spent 15 minutes with the Stair Master.

Treadmill:

• 5 minutes @ 6.0 mi/hr, 2.5 incline
• 5 minutes @ 6.5 mi/hr, 2.5 incline
• 2 minutes @ 7.0 mi/hr, 2.5 incline
• 5 minutes @ 6.5 mi/hr, 2.5 incline
• 5 minutes @ 6.0 mi/hr, 2.5 incline
• 5 minutes @ 6.5 mi/hr, 2.5 incline
• 2 minutes @ 7.0 mi/hr, 2.5 incline
• 1:59 minutes @ 6.5 mi/hr, 2.5 incline

Stair Master:

• 3 minutes, level 3
• 2 minutes, level 4
• 3 minutes, level 3
• 2 minutes, level 4
• 3 minutes, level 3
• 1 minute, level 5
• 1 minute, level 4
• 1 minute, level 3

Then I came home, had this:

and thanked God for Gina.

Seriously delish. I might add some Truvia or honey next time for a little more sweetness, but it really was like a giant oatmeal raisin cookie!

After a brief trip out with mama, I came home on the verge of being hangry! I was craving falafel and sweet potato fries. So I made both. While my “fries” were baking, I made this Hugh Jass salad:

  

It was a beast containing:

• The remainder of the spinach container (3 cups?)
• The last 3 Veggie Patch falafel balls
• Brocc
• Green beans
• Peas
• Hummus
• Tzatziki
• Frank’s

It was delicious and devoured. Then these were done:

Half of the potato in here, half in the fridge to take back with me.

We had plans to go to a Cuban restaurant in New Haven, but they couldn’t seat us for a while, so my uncle suggested Barcelona, a tapas and wine bar. I’ve been DYING to go here since the summer. There is one closer to us, in Fairfield, but we were meeting my stepbrother and he lives closer to New Haven.

Fail: no pictures. I REALLY wanted to take them, but my I’m still to shy in public .

I started off with a white wine, a 2007 Albarino from Pedro de Soutomaior in Rias Baixas, Spain. It was really great – refreshing, crisp, fruity – but not sweet. My mom and stepdad had the red sangria but I didn’t try it. It was really really hard to choose what to get to eat. For tapas, aka “small plates”, you can get a few tapas for your meal, or a tapas as an appetizer and an entree – there’s probably thousands of combinations you could make.

I ended up choosing 3 tapas for my meal:

• Warmed Cana de Cabra (goat cheese) with Port Figs and Green Apple
• Spinach-Chickpea Casserole with Cumin & Garlic Confit
• Pulpo a la Plancha – Octopus with Fingerling Potatoes, Smoked Paprika, and Celery

Yes. It’s okay to be jealous.

My stepdad got the Boquerónes (fresh marinated anchovies) and something else I can’t remember. He and my mom also split the the Roasted Chickpea Puree with House-Made Pita Chips, the Homemade Cumin-Scented Chicken Empanadas with Avocado Puree, and some roasted brussel sprouts with garlic and bacon (not on the online menu so not sure of the exact name/ingredients). My mom also ordered the Albondigas (meatballs). My uncle was at the other end of the table, so I’m not sure what he ordered, but my stepbrother and brother both ordered the Pepper-Rubbed Filet Mignon with Mashed Potatoes, Brandy Reduction, and Crispy Onions.

After we ordered, fresh loaves of bread were brought to the table and olive oil was poured. As it was white bread, I didn’t have any, but everyone said it was delicious and very warm and fresh. The tapas were brought out as they were ready. I got my goat cheese, fig, and apple platter first, on a long white platter, each ingredient perfectly separated from the other.

OH. EM. GEE.

Warm, creamy, amazing goat cheese. Port-soaked juicy, chewy, sweet figs. Crisp, tart, refreshing slices of Granny Smith. Really there are no words except Gina’s – FOODGASM. And the perfect dish. The best thing I’ve ever eaten (in America).

The spinach and chickpea “casserole” came out next, in a small, shallow round dish. Whole chickpeas were covered in the most thinly sliced spinach I’ve ever seen. To be honest, I couldn’t taste any cumin, and only got the taste of garlic a few times throughout the dish. It was good, but if those two flavors had been more pronounced, it would have been great.

Then the warm octopus salad came out. It was in a small, shallow, rectangular dish with octopus (flesh and tentacles), whole fingerling potatoes, celery slices, and red onions. The octopus was perfectly cooked – chewy, but not rubbery at all, and very savory. The potatoes were great too, but overall, the dish was WAY too salty. I actually didn’t finish it. Shocking – I know. Also, there was bacon in the dish, which I tasted before I saw. This was not indicated on the menu, and if it had been, I probably wouldn’t have ordered it. I would also be concerned for pescatarians/flexitarians/quasitarians/whatevertarians here – octopus would might be okay for them to order, but the bacon wouldn’t be! Also, I’m not sure if octopus is known to be fatty (?) but one of my pieces was entirely fat. I actually spit it out into my napkin .. conspicuously, I promise.

I tried the brussel sprouts my parents ordered – amazing. I also had two of the home-made pita chips with the chickpea puree (okay, let’s just call it hummus, because that’s what it is). The chips were visibly oily (ick), but perfectly toasted and crunchy with a great not-too-salty taste. The hummus was RIDICULOUSLY good. It had such a unique taste – including lots of garlic, which I love! I finished it off with a fork. Yup, just me and forkfuls of hummus at dinner. So classy.

It was all plated beautifully, brought out quickly, and with great service. That is, until we ordered dessert. I just got a cup of decaf (plus I still had some wine), but my uncle and brother ordered the Churros y Chocolate with Dark Chocolate Dipping Sauce and my stepdad got the Warm Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Ice Cream – mostly because my mom and I wanted just a bite. After we got our coffee, our once-attentive serve virtually disappeared and we waited 20 minutes for our dessert. It was obvious we had been forgotten about because when it was finally brought over, the ice cream on my step-dad’s plate was melted. At least plate a new dish to make it look like it hasn’t been sitting out, waiting.

I had just a bite of the carrot cake – and I’ve had better. There was no frosting on it – I guess the ice cream is supposed to serve as the frosting, but I didn’t want any. It was good, but not great. Carrot cake is my favorite so I would have been disappointed, but I’m glad I just tried it. I didn’t try the churros, but I guess they were just okay too.

Overall, it was a really great experience! My family and I had never had tapas before, so it was fun to try together. Definitely my new favorite restaurant. So so good. The atmosphere is great – very laid back, dimmed lights, nice ambiance. Modern, but welcoming. There’s so much more I want to try – and from what I can tell, things change seasonally and they use some local ingredients – woo! Go!

Back to school tomorrow for two weeks of class and a week of finals I have so much to do it’s not even funny. Normally I would feel bad about neglecting so much work over break, but I needed just that – a break. It was AMAZING to just lay in my bed all day, run when I want to (not just when I have time), spend time with my family, and have a lot more eating freedom .. especially discovering tapas. Hopefully I’ll finish my laundry tonight – nothing like waiting til the last minute! Then tomorrow I’ll get up early, run/gym, pack, and peace. With a special trip to cheer myself up on the way back to Storrs …

What’s your favorite thing to get at Whole Foods? I always love trying new foods! As much as my blog does not reflect that …

I had quite some fun with this dish. Our chef said that we could make a freestyle dish based upon the type of meat he gave us. Ofcourse my choice of protein was shrimp. Chef said it look’d “florida-ish”.

Today, I decided to go on an ADVENTURE!

I’ve been spending a little too much money on groceries. As much as I love Trader Joe’s and their conveniently packaged produce, they don’t have the best selection or prices when it comes to fruits and veggies.

However, the Italian Market sure does! It was a beautiful day in Philly today, so I walked the 2 or so miles to the market and picked up a bunch of yummy stuff.

I managed to get the following with $13:

• 1 butternut squash
• 4 sweet potatoes
• 2 oranges
• 1 bunch of bananas

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 3 huge carrots
• 2 lemons

• 3 huge red peppers

and, unpictured

• 1 pound of mushrooms
• 1 bunch of scallions
• 1 HUGE bag of onions
• 3 pears

I also stopped by my local (but more expensive) farmer’s market and got myself some apples and salad greens:

Oh, and last, but most certainly not least, I got a pound of brussels sprouts, which I proceeded to roast:

Yum! They were really tasty – I hadn’t eaten brussels sprouts in something like six years, so I’m glad I tried them again. I borrowed the recipe from Carrots N’ Cake and sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top when they were done. They make me happy

In other news, I ran my two miles today! Round and round Rittenhouse square. I’m really curious to find out the exact distance around the square. According to Philly runners, a lap is 0.35 miles. According to Google maps, its 0.44 miles. This makes a huge difference, obviously. I’ve been counting 3 laps as a mile just to be on the safe side, but it could actually be more like 1.2 miles. Which means I may have run 2.4 miles today. We shall soon find out!

I’m planning on making a salad out of the leftover greens and a homemade pizza with dough acquired from Trader Joe’s. I’m ridiculously excited for this. I shall go jump up and down now.

Woo!

It’s that time!  We present another spectacular dish from this month’s guest blogger, our friend and co-worker Maureen.  And as Mo demonstrates, there’s nothing quite like a roasted vegetable.  Pick a vegetable, any vegetable.  Add some salt, pepper, oil, throw in a hot oven and…Boom.  Bam.  Bomb.  So good!  We’re so elated she picked this particular one to feature.

We were just reminiscing about the delicious roasted brussels sprouts served at the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival evening dinner. Brussels sprouts get a bad rap.  When you hear about this green, miniature, cabbage-shaped, bulb-thingy, images of your 12-year-old self come to mind, screaming in agony at the pain your parents inflicted on you by forcing you to eat said green thingy.  Now that your taste buds have matured—and your mind is open—try revisiting the spout.  You’ll be glad you did.   Tell us why Maureen…

I love the fall. It’s finally cool enough to use the oven, and my local farmer’s market is abundant with the offerings of Indian summer and autumn. I took my cue from the season and brought home some fingerling potatoes, brussels sprouts, rosemary, red onion and garlic. Modest earthy staples. I also made a quick detour to the store and bought some bacon, but that is totally optional.

This basic casserole is so simple and versatile that it can be varied upon endlessly for vegans or the everything-goes crowd. I use the term “casserole” in the broadest sense by virtue of all the ingredients being oven-roasted together in a Pyrex dish. It can be minimized to just brussels sprouts, sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil, or gussied up with meats and cheeses to make more of a “main.” There were a few things I would do better next time, and I’m happy to share the learning curve with the forgiving readers of Duo Dishes.

Prep work consisted of slicing the brussels sprouts in half and the fingerlings into 1-1 1/2″pieces (the tiniest ones I left whole – so cute!). I sliced the red onion length-wise (with the grain) 1″ long and 1/2″ wide and the garlic cloves into long thin slices. Next time I will leave the onion and garlic pieces larger – the extended roasting time rendered them down to almost nothing. I love food that is browned, even blackened on the edges, so more on the roasting technique later because I did learn a thing or two! I chopped several sprigs of fresh rosemary while heating my large cast iron skillet on the stove top. I browned the fingerlings in olive oil for about 8 or 9 minutes, making sure to brown all sides. As small as those little taters are, I found them to be quite fire. Perhaps they have a low water content. While the skillet was still hot, I did a quick-cook with the bacon though I don’t know if it was necessary. I just wanted it to have some crisp and not end up soft-cooked. I cut it up into small pieces.

Next I tossed everything in a big bowl and drizzled in a couple tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. I gave it a few good stirs and put it all down in a 7″ x 9″ Pyrex. My old O’Keefe & Merritt stove doesn’t measure the temperature so exactly, so I’ve learned to use it more intuitively. I’ll estimate the oven was about 475 degrees. I will also estimate that I cooked the dish for 50-60 minutes. Perhaps the photo tells you how I like it – nice and browned. I should have been stirring it all up a few times throughout cooking. The top layer took on a slightly dry appearance, so I drizzled in a little more olive oil. However, when I removed the dish later, I discovered everything beneath the surface needed more roasting time and that the added oil was just kind of sitting on the bottom of the dish. So I gave it all a good stir and put it back in for another 15 minutes (or so).

In the end everything was roasty-toasty to (near) perfection. I did remove a few pieces of charred onion and garlic from the surface – more frequent stirring probably would’ve prevented that. The flavor profile was lovely and amazing, earthy and heavenly all at once! I’m thinking for my encore (that’s a fancy term for leftovers) I will re-heat in the oven with freshly shredded Parmigiano Reggiano. Or perhaps I will crack an egg over the top and finish it under the broiler. Can’t wait.

Here is a list of the ingredients with a few measurements:

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts
1 pound fingerling potatoes
1 pound brussels sprouts
5 strips bacon, flash-fried then cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium red onion, sliced
Several garlic cloves
Several springs of fresh rosemary, stems removed and finely chopped
Sprinkle of sea salt
Drizzle of olive oil

Thanks Duo Dishes for asking me to be a guest on your blog. I enjoy your food so much. Happy cooking and happy eating.

We made it safely home!

A quick recap of Thanksgiving:

Jello Salads

I forgot to eat any.  Whoops.

My plate

(a baby scoop of mashed potatoes, turkey, and veggies I made for myself)

Oh if you were wondering about the veggie choices that were on the table, you could have green bean casserole (canned beans of course), creamed corn, and candied sweet potatoes)

The fiance and I had a mix of carrots, rutabegas, and sweet potatoes that had just a touch of butter plus salt and pepper, and peas.  The fiance also had a giant drumstick

I had a few sides too

Wine, beer, and bread.  The essentials.

And for dessert I had a bite of each pie with some condom lube Cool Whip on top

(and I just looked and realized that my picture of that was super blurry.  lame.  just imagine it)

And we had a good flight home, thanks to my new friend

I never used to have issues with flying but if I try and do anything besides sit quietly I feel like death lately.  Thank you pills for letting me read.

And now we’re following up our trip to real america with one to surreal america (where the tumbleweeds are radioactive, Sarah Palin celebrates Thanksgiving, and you can buy Dave’s Killer Bread at the grocery store)

I have some quality pics of what real america looks like to get up at some point, but for now we’re tossing pants on and we’re out the door!

How was your Thanksgiving?

Again, I’ll try to keep this quick, but it’s been a great Turkey Day.  I’m thankful for family, good food, and my wonderful husband.

We slept in until 10:30 this morning (I’m feeling sick again, boo!) and then woke up to the world’s tastiest breakfast.

My grandma is so cool, she had Greek Gods’ Honey Greek Yogurt waiting in the fridge for me!  I had a small bowl of fruit,

and honey Greek yogurt with berries and a sliver of homemade coffee cake.

Mmmmmmn!  I was in love with this breakfast!  If it wasn’t Thanksgiving I would have gone back for another bowl!  I think I’ve got my aunt hooked on Greek yogurt now too

We went to a family friend’s house for Thanksgiving at 1, so we headed out around noon to socialize.  Look how cute my grandparents are!

I’ve gone to Thanksgiving with this family ever year I’ve been with my grandparents and it’s always so much fun.  They have the best decorations, I wish I could have gotten more pictures.

I made a small appetizer plate with pretzels, honey raspberry dip, and crackers with dirty martini dip.

And I had a light beer to drink.

As I mentioned before, I am actually not much of a Turkey Day food fan!  I didn’t even eat any turkey meat!  I tried to just take a small bit of everything.

Clockwise from the top – stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy, corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, roll, jello mold salad, cranberries.  I finished everything on my plate (except for the roll which I gave away).  I didn’t actually eat very much, but I didn’t do seconds because I knew dessert was coming.

I actually gave away that mini cake in favor of a second cookie!

It was great getting to catch up with people and Adam was definitely stuffed!  He took a fat nap before we even headed home, and hit the couch asap.  My grandmother and I wanted to take a nice walk but unfortunately it was raining.  The other disappointment was that there was nowhere for me to volunteer.  I really wanted to put in some time at a food bank or soup kitchen today but everywhere my grandma called had too many volunteers.

We ate dinner around 7, and I was actually hungry again.

Leftover sweet potato casserole,

and a yumtastic sandwich – turkey, cranberries, cream cheese.

Plus apple and celery salad on the side.

I was still a bit hungry so I went back for more salad.

We played cards after dinner.

I had a coffee with 2% and an amaretto stick,

a mini 7-up,

and a small handful of caramel corn.

We kept my grandparents up past midnight playing cards, I’d say it’s time for bed!

How was your turkey day?

Ohhhh boy.  I had a busy day. The first thing I did after waking up was put this in the oven:

That’s the post-breakfast photo, of course.  My cinnamon rolls go fast.  I basically use the Joy of Baking cinnamon roll recipe with a few alterations.  The biggest differences are that I add in vanilla and almond extracts to the filling, leave out the raisins, and then I make a coffee-based icing instead of the standard glaze.  That basically includes brewing up a pot of coffee, and mixing it with confectioners sugar, vanilla extract and tons of almond extract.  And then a splash of heavy cream at the end to give it a little extra oomph.  It’s all to taste & look (thick, brown and goopy is perfect).

After breakfast, we went on a short walk.  I wanted to do a much longer walk, but I had some serious kitchen time ahead of me.

I planned out a pretty simple menu that mixed traditional stuff with not-so-traditional stuff.  Hummus anyone??

Our appetizer spread was pretty photogenic:

The star of the show, by far, was a carmelized onion & apple tart I made from a Real Simple recipe:

I had to mix things up, of course, to make this “mine.”  I added butter to the onions along with olive oil, used more apple than they called for and used sour cream instead of creme fraiche.  I also decided not to use a puff pastry and went with a pizza dough instead.  I pressed the dough into a 9×13 pan, spread sour cream on top and spread the cooked onion / apple mixture on top.  A little salt and pepper, and bake at 350 till that crust gets puffy & golden-brown:

I ended up having a piece, despite the diet.  Screw it.  That shiz was worth it!  Other stuff on our table:

Brie, gruyere & herbed sausage plus a big hunk of French bread.  (Our host is French.  He loves his cheese a bread, man.)

Goat cheese & walnuts.

Hummus topped with sun-dried tomato in olive oil served with two different kinds of crackers.

More bread & cracker toppers:  goat cheese & walnuts.

And then there was the meal:

We decided to skip the turkey this year and roast up a Bell & Evans organic chicken.  It ended up being the most moist & tender chicken EVER.  We seasoned it pretty minimally with fresh herbs, salt & pepper and it was so effing good, I was blown away.  Definitely worth the hefty price tag.  And there’s plenty left over for tomorrow’s soup or sandwich lunch (we haven’t decided yet).

The salad was a blend of Organic Girl’s spring mix and baby spinach, with some cherry tomatoes tossed in for good measure.  Our host makes the most amazing salad dressing with cider vinegar, grapeseed oil, garlic, and dijon mustard.  It’s the only thing we asked him to help with.  The rest was us trying to satisfy 3 foodie friends in 1 meal.

I ended up making cranberry sauce, which I always hated as a kid but kinda like now.  It’s a far cry from the canned stuff:

Easiest thing ever.  One 12-oz bag of cranberries + 1 cup of pulpy orange juice + 1 cup of sugar (or in my case, 1/2 a cup of turbinado sugar and 1/2 cup of Splenda).  Boil, simmer, and 10 minutes later, you’ve got an amazing cranberry sauce.  Or you can call it cranberry relish and nobody will be the wiser.  I have more than half a yogurt container full of cranberry sauce and I’m baking a cranberry ribbon cake tomorrow to take to a dinner party.  Yay leftovers!

The roast veggies were spectacular.  Green beans, parsnips, carrots, mushrooms and sweet potato grilled in a cast iron skillet for a couple of minutes and then tossed them into the roasting pan under and around the chicken.  We were going to toss them with olive oil after they roasted, but they ended up roasting in the chicken juices and tasted super good.

The Husband made his special mashed potatoes:

So effing good.  The secret ingredient is a whole head of roasted garlic.  And whole milk and butter.  Nom nom nom.  I had to seriously watch myself with that one.  I took a couple of bites and called it a day.  Too rich for my blood.  Besides, I wanted to save room for a bite of this:

My first ever pumpkin pie.  It obviously didn’t go that well considering the size of that crack.  I think I pulled it out of the oven too soon.  I should have probably just opened the oven door and let it cool down in there for the last 10 minute or something, but I’m way too impatient.  Alas.  Next year!  The one big bite I had was delish regardless.

And finally, the healthier dessert option I indulged in:

Maple poached pear & ricotta parfait.  I stole the recipe from the latest issue of Food & Wine, but subbed Trader Joe’s Maple-Agave syrup for the maple syrup.  I also couldn’t find Bartlett pears so I grabbed whatever was at the store.  It worked out fine.  The dish contains 1 tbsp each of butter and sugar, plus part skim ricotta, a whole lotta pear and it’s topped with pistachios.  So, really, not an unhealthy way to end a meal.  And pretty frikkin yummy to boot.  Eveyone else seemed to go for the pumpkin pie, so guess what my breakfast is going to be tomorrow??

Anyway, I think I photographed everything except the salad dressing.  Our houseguest told us a couple of times that this was the best Thanksgiving meal he’s eaten in many years, and our hosts seemed to really enjoy everything.  All in all, success!

I definitely overdid a few things.

• I ate way too many Kashi crackers & hummus.
• I ate half a cinnamon roll that I wasn’t intending to eat.
• I ate pumpkin pie.
• I ate the onion & apple tart despite knowing its butter content.

But at the same time, I deserve a lot of credit for things done right.

• I ate a banana, a 100 calorie pack of mixed raw nuts, 2 soft boiled eggs & 1 piece of natural spelt bread for breakfast rather than the cinnamon rolls and croissants.
• I took only 1/2 a piece of chicken breast (a palm sized piece, no less!) and removed the skin.
• I filled half my plate with salad and the other 1/4 with roasted veggies.
• I skipped the salad dressing, French bread and Brie.
• I had only a couple of bites of mashed potatoes.
• I had only 1 bite of pumpkin pie — not the whole piece.
• I ate only 1/2 a cinnamon roll rather than a whole one.
• I gave the crust of my tart to the dog.
• I sampled a lot of diet-killer things throughout the day, but left it at just that:  a bite or two.
• And I went on a walk with the dog.  It wasn’t much — maybe 1 mile — but it was better than nothing.

The plan for tomorrow is to go for a longer walk and to cut myself off from the sugary, bready stuff.  Veggies + protein, salads, simple things. But first….sleep.

Back tomorrow with pictures of what we did with leftovers!

After four days of zero views, and many more of zero updates I thought I’d FINALLY do something about it.

So, Here we are.

Happy Turkey Day, unless you aren’t eating turkey– I understand that a lot of people are weirdo vegetarians or happen to like meats besides gobble-gobbles.  I get that.  I love veggies, but I feel that becoming a vegetarian would be awfully mean to all of those veggies out there.  I read an icon, once, it said:

“I’m not a vegetarian because I love animals, I’m a vegetarian because I hate vegetables.”

Ah ha.  That’s hilarious, I love it.  I wish I was a vegetarian so that I could wear a pin that says that.

Speaking, though, of icons.  I think they’re the bumper stickers of our generation.  I mean, you used to look for bumper stickers to get your fill of witty quotes, but now you go to icons.  Truthfully, I like the change– because icons are easier to find a cheaper to use, while you actually have to buy bumper stickers.

I think everyone thanks whatever for the same stuff, generally.  Food, a job, money, a house, and especially friends and family.  But we stood around the table, held hands, and said: “over the lips, past the gums, look out stomach, here it comes.”  That was our blessing, told by my grandfather it was absolutely beautiful.

Reminds me of a scene in Gran Torino, in fact, the first scene.  ”Spectacles, testicles, wallet, and watch.”  I don’t know about you guys, but I thought that was a fabulous movie.  I also should’ve been thankful for all of the fantastic movies out there, I don’t know what the world would be like without people like Chuck Palahniuk and Will Smith.

By the way, has anyone seen the movie Choke?  I read the book, but I have heard next to nothing about the movie, and yet if it was written by Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) it has to be good, no?  I heard it won something, or something, but I’m not entirely sure what.  Gimme a second, I’ll look it up.

Well, it got a 6.7/10 on IMBD, but is that good?  Truthfully, I don’t really know. D=  I thought it came out a while ago, but it actually came out last year (2008), which is kind of shocking.  That I can see, it didn’t win anything too notable.

“A sex-addicted con-man pays for his mother’s hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.” That about sums it up, doesn’t it?  Great book thought, if you have a chance– read it, before you watch the movie.

I’ll check out the movie and write up one of those lame little reviews I like so much.

Oh, lemme do what I came here to do: Happy Thanksgiving.

3-4 large sweet p’taters, peeled and diced
2 tbsp evool
1 tbsp salt and peppa
juice from 1 large orange
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup

Preheat oven to 450.  Place potatoes on large baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Bake for 30 minutes- you should stir once.  Mix OJ, sugar and syrup in a small bowl and drizzle over potatoes.  Return to oven for another 10 minutes.  Remove and eat!

1 lb Brussels sprouts, halved
1 tbsp evoo
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Steam sprouts over boiling water until tender, about 1-15 minutes.  Heat oil and garlic over medium-high heat until they smell good.  but don’t burn.  add sprouts, lemon juice, pepper flakes and salt, stirring until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes.  add bacon crumbles.  add balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, stiring for 1 minute and then remove from heat and serve immediately.

Hiya

How was your Thursday? Mine was great! Headache faded away once I had a coffee, the day flew, I went out for lunch , I got in some exercise and made a yummy dinner!

I’m afraid I’m a little photo-less tonight, sorry guys! I didn’t take my camera to lunch as my co-workers don’t know about the blog and I just didn’t want to bring it up.

Snackies were another morning banana with a skinny cap around 9.30am and then 3 corn thins around 11am. Since I’ve been eating brekkie earlier I’ve been getting hungrier for my snacks earlier. Not surprising I suppose. Plus my 35 minute walk to work, works up an appetite.

For lunch we went to The Generous Squire a new pub/bar in Shafto Lane. It was great – the food was fast and tasty. I went with the Salmon Nicoise which I’ll describe in detail since I have no photo! It was tiny baked potatoes, just steamed green beans, kalamata olives, red onion, big capers, 1/2 a just boiled egg and a small fillet of crispy baked salmon. It was really delicious and came with a lemon wedge. Just enough to fill me up and I didn’t crave an afternoon snack at all.

Once home I was thrilled because some angel came and ripped out the stupid bougainvillea plant that has been possessing our house (thankyou thankyou thankyou whoever you are), and I was pretty hungry having gone without a snack, so I chomped down some cottage cheese and a pack of sultanas and apples. Then I chopped up the last of my veggies in the fridge – a small sweet potato, a carrot and the rest of that enormous zucchini. I put them on a baking tray with foil, tossed them in Cajun spice mix, sprayed a tiny spray of canola cooking spray and baked them at 250 degrees in my oven for 30 minutes. Then I turned the oven off but left the veggies in, and went to the gym.

Tonight’s workout consisted of:

• 15 minutes Elliptical – calorie burn setting level 15
• 10 minutes hill walking on treadmill – 5.5kph at incline 15% (SO HARD!!!)
• 10 minutes seated bike – calorie burn setting level 5
• 50 squats with 8 kg medicine ball
• 20 lunges each leg with 5kg hand weights each hand
• various crunches and abs
• stretching

The veggies were amazing when I got home and had filled the house with a gorgeous smell!

I ate the whole lot.

Then I had some nuked raspberries for dessert.  

I’m picking Adam up from the airport later – he didn’t have to catch the later flight after all, yip yip!

Just snacked on a handful of Digestive 1st cereal too. Oops.

Last day of work tomorrow, casual day, lunch at Country Road Cafe, drinks with friends after work, sounds like a great start to the holidays!!!

Last night, I had a bedtime snack of some unpictured dried apricots.  I’m crediting this smart snack decision with this morning’s best run ever, which included a new PDR – 6.34 miles!

I woke up, tried to talk myself out of running, made some coffee and had half a Chocolate Hazelnut Jocalat bar (camera battery was dead this morning), made a bangin’ playlist, threw on my new Lululemon Wunder Unders and Brisk Run Headband (and a shirt for good measure – long sleeved, to be exact), and drove to the trail intending to do the whole loop of a little over 5 miles.

As usual, I tried talking myself into settling for 3 miles, then at least 4, but as I passed the half-mile mark, I knew I would run the whole valley.  I felt so so good.  My legs and hips felt great, and mentally I was in a glorious place – the place of knowing I was having an amazing run.  I’m sure starting the best run ever with this Lady didn’t hurt either.

Early on, I told myself not to push it – I really have a problem pacing myself.  It’s a learning process that not every run has to be the fastest, that I need easy days too.  Consciously slowing down was a huge factor.

Just after I turned around at the halfway mark, I was thinking how much I want to run 6 miles and when I would be able to do that.  I wondered if my friend Emily would run it with me.  Then I realized that I was having a great run, mentally and physically - so why not just do it today? When I got to the end of my run (the beginning of the trail), I could just turn around and tack on another mile by running to the half-mile marker and turning around again.  Amazingly, I didn’t try talking myself out of it.  I even considered making it 7 miles, but I knew that was pushing it and that I should have brought some extra fuel for 7 miles.

My knees and hips started annoying me around mile 4, but I just kept going.  When I got to the end of the trail, I turned around and did another quick mile. Total = 6.34ish miles in 1:02.

Maybe it’s because it was on a looped route, but it didn’t feel like that big of a deal.  But it is.  But it doesn’t feel like it.  Does that ever happen to you – you reach a new goal and you don’t feel accomplished?

I actually wasn’t hungry for a while when I got back and ended up eating an hour and a half later.  Sometimes exercise does that to me.  I ended up making some yumminess for brunch though:

1 egg + 2 egg whites omelet with spinach and feta with Frank, half an apple on a Pepperidge Farm 7 Grain Deli Flat with cinn

It’s true.  I’m cheating on Arnold with the Pepp.  Stop & Shop only had rye sammie thins left and I’ve been digging the multigrain goodness so I decided to try the deli flats.  I think I’ll go back to Arnold after these are gone.  My omelet was great though – spinach and feta is one of my favorite types!

On our 29823498th grocery shopping trip of the week, I had a hazelnut coffee with skim and Sweet & Low (ew) – I was exhausted all afternoon.  I also sampled some cranberry cheese on a Dr. Kracker.  If only both items hadn’t cost my first born (okay, so $11 and $8, but still).  Major nomminess.

Before dinner I snacked on some grapies and then devoured this amazeballs plate:

Corfu pockletless pita with 4 Veggie Patch falafel balls and Sabra tzatziki, plus sugar snap peas, carrots, and brocc with hummus

Lighting sucks and I was too hungry to maneuver around my house for a decent photo.  First time ever having tzatziki and wondering how I ever dressed my balls without it.  Could have used some Frank’s, but I was too lazy.  Wish the pita had been whole wheat but it was amazing so whatever.  Apparently have become too lazy to use pronouns.

Haircut (to debut later).

Snack:

Siggi’s Plain Icelandic Skyr with Stew Leonard’s Cranberry Fitness trail mix

That trail mix is my favorite, but me and trail mix are a problem.  The problem being that a portion size equals an entire bag.  Luckily, they started making snack packs.  Our love is reignited.  It has peanuts, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, pepitas and maybe cashews and more?  I’m not sure.

Mmmm look how thick!  Like soft serve …

Siggi’s Icelandic Plain Skyr Opinion
Taste: Tart, tangy, delish.  5/5.
Texture: As thick and creamy as soft serve, fo realz.  5/5.
Fill Factor: Again, I didn’t eat it alone, but I think alone or with mix-ins, it would be a great snack/large meal, depending on your choice of toppings and hunger level.  4/5.
Ingredients: “Pasteurized skim milk, live active cultures, vegetable rennet.”  As to close to perfect as it could be.  5/5.

I’m hungry again.

Many of you are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with your friends and family. We are both doing just that on opposite sides of the coast, but this past weekend, we had the chance to eat a pre-Thanksgiving meal with friends here in Los Angeles. One of the things we had to do when we moved to Los Angeles was create a sense of family amongst friends. We’ve both spent different holidays away from our blood relatives, and it’s nice to know that there are people around to be with you when you can’t go home. Enjoy the holiday however you’re spending it. Whether you’re with friends, family or your pet Fido, make it a good one.

We’ll keep it short and sweet and just give you a look at a few of the dishes that graced our potluck table!  You will notice a definite lack of photos in this post. There was more…much more.  Perhaps you understand just how difficult it can be to remember to take pictures with 30 people swarming around, food coming out of the oven, wine being poured into your glass and dishes piled everywhere. In the middle of all of that chaos, the camera can easily be forgotten. Even if there are two of us. Shame! You may notice the use of several products and ingredients snagged during the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival. Score! We definitely have to thank many of our friends for bringing cheesey mac and cheese, broccoli rice, risotto, spinach, spinach and bacon mashed potatoes, seven layer salad, rolls, green bean casserole, cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole…The list goes on.  Good thing we had a Thanksgiving a few days before the actual holiday.  There was a little time to recover before the big day.  Have yourselves a great one!

Cranberry Goat Cheese Spread – Serves 8 to 10
10 ounces goat cheese, room temperature
3 ounces dried cranberries, chopped
Zest of 1 orange, minced
2 ounces pistachios, toasted and crushed

1. Using an electric mixer, blend softened goat cheese, cranberries and orange zest until combined. Plop cheese onto a sheet of wax paper and shape into a log or a large ball. Chill for 1-2 hours or until firm again.

2. When the cheese has hardened, roll in pistachios to cover all sides. Chill until ready to serve.  (This could also be good rolled in the Oregon Dukkah Traditional dry dip from the Foodbuzz Tasting Pavillion!  It worked as a nice crunchy dip on the side.)

Marinated Olives – Serves 10 to 12
24 ounces pitted olives (create your own mix of size and color-kalamata, manzanilla, niçoise, etc.)
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Juice and zest of 1 orange
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 bay leaves

Mix all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, cover and chill for at least 3-4 hours or up to a week in advance. Bring to room temperature and remove bay leaves before serving.

Cranberry Sauce – Makes 4 cups
24 ounces fresh cranberries
1 3/4 cups water
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1. In a large sauce pan, heat the water, ginger, cayenne, salt, orange juice, zest, sugars and maple syrup to boiling.

2. Once the sugars have dissolved, add the cranberries. Bring back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes or until most of the berries have popped.

3. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

Citrus and Herb Roasted Chicken

Honey Balsamic Roasted Chicken with Carrots, Turnips and Brussels Sprouts – Serves 6 to 8
4 1/2 pound whole chicken
4 large sprigs fresh rosemary, destemmed and roughly chopped
10-12 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/8 cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic, whole
1 cup balsamic vinegar (Made in Napa Valley’s Blackberry Balsamic Vinegar with Pear was perfect.)
1/4 cup honey
1-1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 pound baby carrots
1 pound brussels sprouts
3 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 8ths
Kosher salt
Black pepper

1. Remove chicken innards and rinse inside and outside of bird. Place in a deep baking dish or roasting pan.

2. Whisk butter with olive oil, balsamic, honey, rosemary, thyme sprigs until fully blended.

3. Season inside of the chicken with kosher salt. Rub 3/4 of the balsamic mixture over the chicken, covering him completely. Season liberally with salt and pepper.

4. Stick garlic, carrots, brussels sprouts and turnips around the chicken and pour remaining balsamic liquid over vegetables. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

5. Cover the chicken with foil and bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

6. Take chicken out of the oven, remove foil and pour in chicken broth. Mix broth with drippings in the pan and baste well. Put the chicken back in the oven, uncovered, and bake for another 25-30 minutes, basting frequently. If you have a meat thermometer, the thickest part of the chicken should register between 160 and 165 degrees.

Corn Pudding – Serves 16 to 18
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1 large brown onion, diced
56 ounces corn, fresh or frozen and thawed
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 box Jiffy mix
1 cup sour cream
5 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups Mexican cheese
10-12 fresh basil leaves, sliced
Olive oil

1. Rub a little extra butter over two 9″ x 13″ baking dishes. Set aside.

2. In a very large and deep skillet, melt butter with a swirl of olive oil. When hot, add the onions and cook until they begin to soften, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add corn and stir to combine well with onions. Season with the salt, pepper and cayenne.

3. Pour cream and sugar over corn and stir to mix. Cook corn down until all the cream is gone, approximately 15-20 minutes. Stir often. Remove corn from heat and set aside.

4. In a large bowl, mix Jiffy mix with sour cream, milk and eggs until combined. Stir in cheese and basil. Add corn to the wet ingredients and incorporate well.

5. Pour the mixture into the two baking dishes and smooth the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until the top has browned and the middle has firmed.

Mini Cheesecakes – Serves 36
Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Cheesecake
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg

1. For crust, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, spices, salt and butter until combined. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon into the bottom of three mini muffin-lined tins. Press flat with your thumb to create an even layer. Bake crusts in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 4-6 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown. (Cool for 5-7 minutes before adding the filling.)

2. While crusts bake, use an electric mixer beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg until smooth. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cheesecake mix over the crust.

3. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely, then move to the fridge to chill before serving.

Variations:
-Stir in 1/4 cup melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate chips for chocolate cheesecakes.
-Spoon about 1 teaspoon of cheesecake batter over the crust, followed by a teaspoon of caramel syrup, then another teaspoon of batter for caramel cheesecakes.
-Add the zest of 1 or 2 citrus fruits to the batter before pouring into the crust.

Almond Apple Crumble Pie (modified from Odense)- Serves 6 to 8
Filling
3 1/2 ounces almond paste
6 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (This was a mix of Gala, Fuji and Granny Smith apples.)
1/8 cup sugar
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons butter, chilled and grated
1 unbaked 9″ pie shell, chilled (Leftover pie dough in the freezer worked well here.)

Topping
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

1. Roll almond paste out to a flat 10″ circle and press into the bottom and up the sides of the pie crust. Set in the fridge to keep cold.

2. In a medium sized bowl, toss the apples with the vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Pour sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cornstarch and salt over the apples and toss to mix. Scrape into the chilled pie shell and sprinkle butter on top. Set back in the fridge.

3. Place all of the topping ingredients into a large food processor and pulse until the mixture becomes crumbly. Spread evenly over the pie.

4. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until the crust and topping has browned.

Sweet Potato Pecan Pie (adapted from Closet Cooking) – Serves 6 to 8
Filling
1 pie crust (or homemade pie dough)*
2 cups sweet potato, roasted, cooled and mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons whiskey

Topping
1 1/2 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon whiskey

1. Using an electric mixer, combine the sweet potatoes, eggs, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and bourbon until smooth. Pour it into the pie crust, and sprinkle the pecans over the filling.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, maple syrup, eggs, butter, vanilla, salt and bourbon and pour evenly over the pecans. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 40-60 minutes.

*It’s suggested that you use a deep dish pie crust or pie dish if you’re making your own crust. If not, there may be a little run over of the pecan topping, and of course you want to be sure to use it all!

Click HERE for printable recipes.

To those that may not know, this is a picture of leeks. I have never, ever had a leek before. On of my favourite magazines, Oxygen, has an article about stay slim soups for healthy winter eating. One of the ingredients is leeks. The soup looked so yummy and being tired and cold for days with this wintery weather, I decided that last night was the perfect night to give this soup, and leeks, a try. The recipe called for fish but, not being to fond of fish, I substituted the fish with chicken breast chunks. I also substituted cauliflower for the zucchini since I found out the one I had in the fridge, was no good.

So in a nut shell, here is how I made my winter soup which varies a bit from the one in Oxygen magazine. For the true recipe, check out the December 2009 issue of Oxygen magazine. (I checked the magazines site for the recipe to link to it but, the recipe isn’t up on the site yet.)

• 4 diced up and cooked small, chicken breasts
• 4 fair sized leeks, chopped and washed well
• couple of cups of left over cauliflower
• 4 large handfuls of spinach
• 2 cups of chopped broccoli
• 2 tetra packs of chicken broth
• garlic, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper to taste

I sautéed the leeks and broccoli until a little bit tender. I added the cauliflower until warm and then added the chicken broth and chicken breast chunks. I then added in the spices to taste, added in the spinach and simmered for about 10 minutes to blend the flavours. Delicious! Goes great with garlic bread.

So my first experience with leeks was a good one. I definitely like them and will have them again. The rest of my family seemed to be fine with them too so they are keepers. I thought they smelled and tasted kind of like chives, with a hint more of an onion scent. Very mild and nice.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

I was blessed to be off work today so I took full advantage. I slept until 7:45 (that’s late for me) and got the day started with some pumpkin oat bran.

Complete with some raisins AND chocolate chips…because I just couldn’t choose.

In lieu of coffee (because I’m out at home), I had some stash green tea

In one of my favorite mugs!

Although now it reminds me of the poor chicks in Food Inc. Moving on…

Since I knew I was going for a run today, snacking was crucial. For a pre-run snack, I went ahead and “tried” one the dessert I made for tonight.

I’ll post more about that later!

Then, we hit the trails at Seneca Park for an awesome, fun and challenging 5 mile trail run! The trail itself was 3.1 miles so the rest was around the track and back and forth to the car.

I was a little nervous on the trail, but thankfully I did not fall! And I liked being unfamiliar with the course because I couldn’t tell how far we were going which is a good thing since I like to psych myself out. There were some really challenging hills on the course too, so this course was great for me – I stink at hills. I can’t wait to do it again!

My legs were feeling it by the end of our run, but they felt GOOD. We stretched and then headed back home where I proceeded to inhale this banana with PB.

Then I soaked in the tub for a while, listened to some indie rock on Pandora, and then finally got an appetite for lunch.

I started with some salad + hummus:

Then I heated up leftover brown rice, stir fried veggies and black beans from leftovers this week.

I think this dish was inspired by Heather’s husband CD who likes to refuel with stir fried veggies too! But I can see why he eats it – it hit the spot and was perfectly filling too!

I had a few chocolate chips after lunch

I watched some Dr. Oz since I’m never home to watch his show usually Cutie Bob Harper was on there too. Yay! Then I felt like I needed a nap, so why not? 

I slept for 2 hours!

I’m getting ready for girl’s night potluck now but I felt sort of hungry so I snacked on some mixed nuts to hold me over.

And now I am feeling some more tea (it’s getting cold here) so I think I’ll get to that. See ya later!

Have you ever ran on a trail before? What did you like or dislike about it?

Okay, this novel writing stuff? Yeah, It’s ridiculously easy. 50k in 30 days? No problem. Go ahead, make it a 100k, I triple dog dare ya!

It’s only the 25th of the month and I am INCHES away from winning. Like 500 words away. Woo hoo! Eat my dust, NaNo! Next stop, the winner’s circle.

Of course, I’ve sacrificed every weekend afternoon and all my favorite TV shows in the evening to get this far. I ate Zatarain’s Jambalaya mix for dinner. Quite a few delicious Lean Cusisines as well. And, I have to be honest and admit that the entire thing a huge, gigantic pile of crap, that no will ever get to read, but hey, I’ve managed to crank out 49,000 words plus in just 25 days. That’s gotta count for something.

Why am I not getting paid for this?

Anyway, I’m pretty psyched I’ve been able to stay ahead of the game with NaNo and update my blog as well. Last year, I couldn’t do it. I could not multitask and write a novel and blog at the same time. This year, I’m more comfortable, cruising at a comfortable speed of anywhere between 2,000 and 3,000 words a day. It must get easier the longer you do it.

Again, why I am not getting paid for this?? LOL.

I think the reason I’ve done so well with this is because I thought I was going to fail miserably. See, I woke up on November 1 sick. Sick, sick, sick. And remained so for the next three days. You might think, oh, it’d be easy to get a head start when you’re home sick, all you have to do is lay there with a laptop and type. Well, yes, in theory it should work that way, but in reality, my brain was so fogged and medicated I was having trouble concentrating. My word counts the first three days were dismal. I was off to such a rough start, I thought there’s no way I can do this. The minute I felt better I started working extra hard to make up for my loss. Which I did, and then some. Go me!

On one of those sick days, after deciding that the blinking cursor on my screen was making me dizzy, I tossed my novel to the side and turned on the TV instead. To Rachael Ray’s talk show. I’ve said it before, I like her talk show. (This is so embarrassing.) I can take or leave 30 Minute Meals but if I have the chance to catch her talk show on a weekday afternoon, I always do. Come on, Michael Buble was on. And he sang his new song ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’ to an audience member’s pregnant belly. I coughed. I sneezed. I swooned!  He’s adorable.

And she made a delightful fall twist on lasagna that I knew I just had to try! Roasted butternut squash, layered with sweet Italian sausage and a creamy sage béchamel sauce. Sign me up, please!

Well. Making this was quite the ordeal. And all the while, I’ve got my novel breathing down the back of my neck. “Work on me!” It whispered in my ear. “You should not be cooking, you should be working on me! Order pizza!”

I had a few…issues. This recipe and I had a bit of communication problem. You will notice the recipe calls for TWO boxes of no boil lasagna sheets. You will then notice it says that it serves six. Say WHAT? Two entire boxes of noodles for 6 servings. No freakin’ way.

On the show she layered all the ingredients into one casserole dish. Okay, that must have been one HUGE honkin’ dish because there’s no way in h-e-double hockey sticks anything I owned was going to accommodate two entire boxes of noodles. Of course, I didn’t realize this until I was well into the assembly process.

So let me tell you how this ended up working out for me. In the end, it was edible. Not just edible, quite delightful actually. I really like the combo of sweet butternut squash and flavorful sausage. But it was touch and go there for a while.

I made a couple changes to lighten it up a bit, subbing 2% milk for whole and using my standard turkey sausage instead of pork. My package of sausage was 20 ounces, so not quite two pounds. I meant to pick up a second package when I shopped for groceries earlier that day, but for some reason they didn’t have any. Sigh…typical. I figured, okay I’ll just lighten it up even further by decreasing the amount of meat. I kept the quantities of squash puree and béchamel sauce the same.

So I start assembling. In a 13×9 inch pan. I realize when I’m half way through that I should have laid the noodles in the pan horizontally, thus allowing for four sheets per layer. No. I did them vertically and only got three. That was mistake number one. Mistake number two- I really poured on the puree and the sauce. I mean, practically drowned the thing. It was then I realized, I’m not fitting all these noodles in this pan. Meanwhile, it’s swimming in sauce.

Hm. Due to my error in laying my noodles, I actually didn’t even get ONE whole box in my pan. And even though I doused the thing in puree and sauce I still had quite a bit left. Scared and with the phone in my hand ready to call up for that pizza after all, I tossed that thing in the oven and said a little prayer.

When I removed the foil cover from the pan after 30 minutes, as per the recipes instructions, all I saw was a white, runny, bubbling mess. Eek. I left in uncovered for another 15, as the recipe says to do. Still didn’t like what it looked like after that, so gave it five minutes more. Finally, I decided to take it out and hope for the best.

I let it rest before taking a knife to it. I let it rest a good 20 minutes actually. And when I cut it into it and lifted the first piece out, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it held together. Yes, it was soft, but overall, not too bad. Plus, it tasted good! Really good actually! I’ve only recently started purchasing whole squash and this was a GREAT way to use one. Roasting it in the oven makes it easy to work with.

So, if you decide to take on this recipe, here are my suggestions. 1. If you make the entire recipe, be ready with a giant casserole or two 13×9 inch pans. Then be prepared to be able to feed at least a dozen people. Otherwise, I would plan to use one box of noodles, half the puree and the sauce, and use about a pound and half of sausage. That would probably fit nicely into one 13×9 inch pan and give you 6 extremely generous servings – Actually, more like 8 if you want to be realistic. I will be making this again for sure…with a few adjustments, of course.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND SAUSAGE LASAGNA (Recipe adapted from: Rachael Ray)

Note: The recipe below is adjusted to make one 13×9 inch pan, serving 6 to 8. For the entire recipe, click the link above. If you know six people who can eat all that then…wow, you have some very hungry friends!

Oh, and in the interest of full discretion, the photo below was actually taken the following day, after the lasagna had a chance to set in the fridge overnight. The actual first pieces out of the pan after it was made were a bit oozier, so heads up there.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound butternut squash or pumpkin, halved and seeded
• Extra virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling
• Salt and pepper
• Freshy grated nutmeg
• 1.5 cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoons honey
• 1.5 pounds sweet Italian turkey sausage
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 6-8 leaves fresh sage, very thinly sliced
• 1 box no boil, flat-edged lasagna sheets
• 2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF.
2. Drizzle the squash with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and a little freshly grated nutmeg. Roast cut-side down until tender, about 40 minutes. Let cool until it’s cool enough to handle, then scoop the flesh out of the skin and add to a food processor. Puree the squash with the stock and honey and set aside.
3. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and brown the sausage, crumbling it into very small bits as it cooks, about 7-8 minutes.
4. While the sausage cooks, heat a pot over medium heat. Add the butter and melt, then whisk in the flour, cook for 1 minute and then whisk in the milk. Season with salt, pepper, a little freshly grated nutmeg and sage. Cook until thickened, about 7-8 minutes, whisking occasionally.
5. Dot some squash puree in the bottom of a 13×9 inch dish, then add a layer of pasta. Top with a third of the cooked sausage and cover lightly with squash puree. Cover with another layer of pasta, a third of the béchamel sauce and 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano. Repeat with two more layers, ending each with béchamel sauce and using all of the remaining cheese for the top layer. Sprinkle parsley across the top, cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook 15 minutes more to brown the top. Let set a few minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

As it’s been getting closer to Thanksgiving,I’ve been thinking more and more about the last year. I think I ate Thanksgiving dinner with my left hand. That was just after my little plate collision with my right elbow.

 I was about to turn 18. 

Earlier in that month of Nov. I had become a rebelutionary,after reading the book by Alex and Brett Harris. I wanted to do hard things. I just wasn’t sure how. How do you search for hard things to do?

 Little did I know then that I didn’t have to look but identify the situation. I got many chances to do hard things.

I got to suffer a little pain,colds,the flu and bloody noses,until just breathing was hard.

I got to stand up for what I believe in. Stand up for truth. Even one of those harder things;myself. 

I got to gain and lose all friends,as some came from far away and then all moved far away. I was given opportunities for some wonderful good times,and to lay them down when they were done. 

I learned that trusting gets you hurt,but to trust anyways;especially a God who loves me.

 I had many simple moments in thanks of Him; like water droplets on the grass,like the sound of rain falling,like bright warm sunshine,and the stars at 5:30.

 Chances to sing and teach Sunday School. Wonderful times with my pastor’s family.

 Having my charge run and hug me when I pick her up from Head Start.

I really can’t complain when I get sugar in my water instead of salt. Having a matched pair of escorts is pretty handy. Even getting patted on the head. Overwhelming opinions and protection.

Good food and a warm house.

The unexpected circumstances that turn into grand adventures.

 All in all it’s been an exciting year.

          It’s life and I’m thankful for a chance to live it.

Hey guys!

My presentation went well, so thank you for all of your good wishes. I’m super tired now (yes, I know it’s early!) so this is really just going to be a visual post! Please forgive me!

Lunch

spinach, tempeh, black beans, corn, tomato, less Na soy sauce, ginger, lemon juice

Dinner

Silk vanilla yogurt, Pumpkin Flax Plus cereal, apple, cinnamon, peanut butter

~Meredith