Veggie chili and Greek salad

While locked away at the coffeehouse last night punishing myself for freelance procrastination, you better believe I ate… and ate well.

I had a veggie chili and Greek salad combo. Coffee Underground actually has fantastic vegetarian chili with big fat chunks of yellow squash, plenty of beans and bit of a spicy kick.

It was a nice try but… nothing is as good as mine.

When Stew arrived later, he had chili and fried green tomatoes.

Fried green tomatoes

The fried green tomatoes came with honey mustard dipping sauce that was foreign to me since I usually have them with pimiento cheese, but it was still good… until we got to the big pieces that were still frozen in the middle. I was wondering how they had green tomatoes this late in the season. Freezer. Of course.

Mr. Krispers

During my stint as a vegan last week, I picked up these rice crackers (that, uh, I hope are vegan?) as a little something to munch while watching TV and the like.

I found that they are incredibly delicious. I got the sea salt and pepper flavor and really enjoyed it. What’s cool about these chips is that the serving size is massive (37 chips) but the calories are low (120), which is what I’m looking for in a mindless snack-while-watching-TV snack food.

And yes, I’d consider Mr. Krispers a junk/snack food. Despite the fact that these are organic, low-cal and low fat, they are still overly processed chips. So one of their (massive) servings is a smarter choice than many other things you could reach for, but don’t try to fool yourself into thinking your TV snacking habit is healthy.

Buddy Fruit

Ah, yet another marketing ploy to get kids to eat fruit… that worked on me.

While shopping with my family to stock up on tailgate supplies, I spotted this happy little guy in the fruit section. Normally I wouldn’t buy this–even at a mere $1 each. But when mom and dad are paying, things find their way into the cart.

I took it with me to the game since I–like most babies–need food every few hours and I wanted to try and keep my bitching to a minimum for the day. I ate my Buddy Fruit on the drive home and it tasted pretty much like apple sauce. They’re about 60 calories and only have 14 g sugar, which is surprising considering the high sugar content of fruit. They also don’t add anything to it. Just pureed fruit. Baby food, if you will.

I liked it. If I were a long distance runner, I’d suck down a Buddy Fruit before taking one of those atrocious coffee flavored gel pack things. But no, I will not buy Buddy Fruit on a regular basis. That’s what apples are for.

C-L-E-M-S-O-N

We got to my sister’s house around 10:30am in time to catch her running out the door for a Bojangle’s biscuit. Stew and I hopped in with her to make a liquor store stop for bourbon and… bourbon. One bottle and a sleeve of mini bottles. Oh, college.

Once everyone was back at the house and the trucks loaded with all the food and drinks, we headed over to campus.

When we got there I went straight for food since I eat nonstop throughout the day. Eats included:

My plate

I had fruit, veggies, True North apple cinnamon nut clusters and some Stacey’s pita chips.

True North nut clusters are good

Nut clusters are delicious. That’s what she said.

In addition to the annoying healthy items above that I slipped into the tailgate, I also contributed some healthy pumpkin cookies that weren’t really cookies at all. These were actually just my standard vegan muffin recipe tweaked to be pumpkin-y and then dropped on a cookie sheet rather than into muffin tins. I topped them with cream cheese frosting from a tub to appeal to the masses.

Pumpkin cookies... sort of

My dad ate two and brother called them “not terrible,” which translates into success in my opinion.

I got made fun of for my plate, as always. Whateva.

Not tailgaters

And sipped on one mini bottle of pinot grigio for the entire 4 hours before the game.

Oh yeah, the game… I can’t pretend to care about football. We sat in the third highest row of seats and I kind of enjoyed the hike to the top.

Very high

I paid attention to absolutely nothing, left at halftime and do not know who won. And that, my friends, is how I feel about football.

Tailgating, though, tailgating I like.

The whole Sweet Tater family

Yesterday my mom, dad, brother, Stew and I met up with my sister and 30 of her closest, most hilarious friends for our first ever Clemson tailgate experience.

But first, we started out with breakfast at MaryBeth’s per dad’s request for a “real” breakfast.

I had my standard oatmeal with fresh fruit and requested a side of peanut butter to make it more like my at-home mix.

Oatmeal as always

Dad got his real breakfast in the form of eggs, bacon, grits and a biscuit.

Dad's real breakfast

Mom had crepes with Nutella and bananas, which my brother described as “bananas and chocolate in a towel.” Don’t even ask.

My bite of mom's breakfast

And then there’s my brother… He started with a request for chocolate milk and was subsequently berated by the waitress (and us) for being a child. Things only got better when the chocolate milk he expected in a pint glass arrived in a juice box complete with expandable sippy straw.

He's 26

After that we moved on to Publix to stock up on anything we didn’t get at our midnight Walmart run the night before. This involved fresh fruit, vegetables, ice and fried chicken, which we had to special order since it was 9 o’clock in the morning. Who needs fried chicken at 9 in the morning? We do.

Packing up

Once we got the car packed up, it was back to my house to rendezvous with Stew and hit the road…

Totally not my photo

My parents are in town this week making a whirlwind tour of the southeast to visit my sister, brother, maternal and paternal grandparents and me (all in different cities and 3 different states) by Thanksgiving.

I got them first, fresh off the flight to Atlanta, and delivered them straight to Soby’s for dinner. (See also: Brunch at Soby’s.) Soby’s menu isn’t exactly vegetarian-friendly but since my dad requested “something unvegetarian,” I felt it was out of my hands. And, as it turns out, Soby’s chef can throw together a mean vegetarian plate when prompted.

But first… We started with fried green tomatoes.

Fried green tomatoes

The little sweet potato curly cues on top were my favorite.

My dad has a flashlight on his cell phone so he provided much needed lighting for these food photographs. That is apparently the key to decent shots of restaurant food.

Light guy

For dinner, I requested a vegetarian plate. Our server was on top of her game and asked me to specify anything I didn’t want on it (um… MUSHROOMS), anything I definitely wanted on it (asparagus and potatoes) and what kind of flavor profile I was looking for (citrus).

The final product was a roasted butternut squash stuffed with rice and red and yellow cherry tomatoes over mashed potatoes with a side of asparagus and broccolini. Oh, the joy.

Vegetarian plate heaven

I could have just died. It was incredible. Anything dipped in mashed potatoes is perfect. I know you meat eaters feel me on that one.

My parents had Chic-fil-A the minute they set foot in the Southland around 3pm so they weren’t very hungry. They split the special: salmon over grits with some kind of blow-your-mind awesome sauce. Sorry, I struggle to pay attention to specials because I know they’ll never be vegetarian. They loved it.

Salmon and grits

Dessert was a shared plate of butternut crepes selected by Mom. Dad and I protested in favor of the chocolate pumpkin bombe but he made a smart move and let his wife handle the dessert selection.

Butternut crepes

And the verdict… incredible. I did, however, feel a pang of jealousy when walking past a table that had ordered the chocolate bombe. Do not covet thy neighbors chocolate bombe.

This was perhaps the best meal I’ve had at Soby’s. I usually defer to the standard fried green tomatoes (only vegetarian menu item) but tonight I just put it in the kitchen’s hands and that was much more fun, though likely a major headache for them. Damn vegetarians.

I do appreciate the service at Soby’s. My mom said our waiter was fantastic (she was) and we chatted it up with Brad up front on our way out. And you know what my dad says? “You couldn’t eat a better meal in New York.” So suckit, New York. We have food, too.

Pleasant people. Pleasant evening.

And like true southerners, we rounded out the evening with a trip to the 24-hr Walmart to stock up on Clemson tailgating supplies for tomorrow’s game. My mom was carded (plus request for second form of ID) for a case of beer. Yep.

Libby's canned pumpkin

As if a lack of Eggos weren’t enough, Libby’s has also warned consumers to stock up on their canned pumpkin or risk shortages due to flooded pumpkin crops this year.

AH! Thanksgiving! Pumpkin pie!

This could be one of two things… 1) A ploy to sell more pumpkin more quickly by faking a shortage or 2) Completely irrelevant because the pumpkin in canned pumpkin is not pumpkin at all. Whew.

Actually, I’m really not one to cry fowl when someone calls a squash a pumpkin. Is a rectangle not a square? But if you want to get technical, the orange goo inside the can comes from a Dickinson field squash, not a pumpkin. (Thanks for the heads up, Kristen.)

But the orange goo that comes out of a jack-o-lantern pumpkin does not in any way taste good soooo… what can you do? So is there a canned pumpkin shortage? Sort of. I guess. Canned Dickinson shortage sounds way more interesting, though.

Libby’s adds absolutely nothing to their canned Dickinson. So at 40 calories per serving, 4 g sugar and 300% your DRV Vitamin A, I’m fine with it. Whatever you call it, it’s not bad for you.

But it is disappearing quickly… so run!

Eggo shortage

If you’re still eating weird packaged products even though I told you not to, then you better get stocked up on Eggo waffles. Kelloggs says there will be a nationwide shortage of the product until Summer 2010 because two of the four plants that produce them are closed for repairs.

Catch them if you can

Perhaps we’ll see a revival of good old homemade waffles. Do people even know they can make their own waffles anymore? I’m not so sure…

Oooh

My dinner was almost an exact replica of my lunch today but I added asparagus and made it look fancy shmancy.

This is a Dr. Praeger California veggie burger over blanched asparagus and roasted spaghetti squash with a side of black beans and corn. I seasoned the spaghetti squash and asparagus with lemon and added a little salsa to the beans.

But who even listened to that? You’re too busy looking at how pretty it is.

Seriously though, I’m midway through Vegan Week (hosted by Katy at Silly Tater Tot and Michelle at Eating Journey) and I need to make my food exciting so I don’t try to put cheese on it.

I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I’m actually loving vegan week. I hardly eat dairy or egg products anyway, but when you have to be really conscious about it you start noticing that they (and honey) pop up in just about everything. So I’ve had to pay a lot of attention to what I’m doing which has heightened the eating experience. I like it.

Stew's burger

After work Stew and I walked over to the Northgate Soda Shop, a 57-year-old Greenville institution. I’m clearly not the burger and milkshake kind of girl, but Stew really wanted to try it and, I’ll admit, I was curious too. I don’t know many people that have lived to be 57, much less a restaurant that has.

And as it turns out, the Northgate Soda Shop hasn’t aged a day since it was first opened.

The walls are lined with vintage sodas, beers and EX-LAX signs. And we’re talking real vintage, not the stuff you find nailed to the walls at Applebee’s, Chili’s and the like.

Real vintage

I was really excited to see a veggie burger on the menu. I had planned to just not eat until we got back home. Win.

Hooray for veggie burgers

As it turns out, however, my veggie burger looked and tasted suspiciously like meat. Stew was too busy eating his fried egg burger to talk me down so I just refused to eat it. He did eventually do a taste test and assured me mine was not meat, but I had already convinced myself that “veggie burger” at Northgate means a burger with vegetables on top. Also, there was mayonnaise on it. No chance.

Meat? No meat?

Tell me this does not look like meat…

Meat?

At any rate, I ate fries for dinner. I was fine with that. Even if it turns out that this was not meat, I still wouldn’t have eaten it because non-meat that tastes like meat is still gross to me. Grosser, in fact.

In other news, Stew loved his burger and onion rings and says we’re going back tomorrow.

Burger win

(We’re not.)

Baby-cut carrots

I recently stopped buying baby carrots because they’re always mysteriously wet and slimy and they cost more than normal-sized carrots. They are also impossible to grate or slice for recipes. Oh, and I couldn’t find organic baby carrots at my grocery store.

So I made the switch to regular organic carrots. I am so happy with my choice. As it turns out, the carrots used to make baby-cut carrots (yes, there is a difference between baby and baby-cut) are bred to have a higher sugar content so as to appeal to children. I prefer the lower sugar taste of big carrots.

Shortly after I made my switch, I got an email from my mom saying she’d switched because she heard that baby carrots are treated in chlorine. This was big for my mom since she practically ate a bag of baby carrots a day when we were growing up.

I looked into it on Snopes and as it turns out, baby-cut carrots are, in fact, treated with chlorine to reduce contamination. However, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says that it is a safe practice. I believe them that it probably won’t kill you. I’m also not about to eat it.

So what’s the difference between baby and baby-cut carrots? Baby carrots are those harvested when the carrot is still young and small. Baby-cut carrots, on the other hand, are full-size carrots specially bred to have a higher sugar content and brighter orange color that are then cut down to baby size and treated with chlorine.

There you have it.

Lunch for dinner

Tonight I totally had lunch for dinner. Who eats a sandwich for dinner? This girl.

Stew had a fancy open-faced thing with his famous hummus, avocado, roasted red peppers, organic herbs, etc. I had avocado, chickpeas, herb salad and… yellow mustard. I know thats gross and weird but I like it.

I even lunchified it further with carrot sticks, hummus and some Stacey’s pita chips.

While preparing lunch/dinner in a rush I managed to burn the hell out of a spaghetti squash. As it turns out, the impenetrable shell around it that took me a good 10 minutes + boyfriend to get open ended up protecting the insides. I guess that’ll be lunch tomorrow…

Black bean brownie turned cupcake

If you assumed based on the name that these were not delicious, you would be correct. Though they didn’t taste like black beans, they definitely didn’t taste like brownies either. It was more a light, fluffy chocolate cake texture. Meh.

I did sub applesauce for the oil (which usually works just fine) so that may have been the problem. I found the recipe at Every Food Fits and theirs look truly amazing. So this was most definitely user error on my part. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I can’t bake.

Black bean brownies from Every Food Fits

To salvage mine, I topped them with cream cheese frosting in a tub and chocolate chips and took them to the party anyway. They did not go over well.

Disguised by gross frosting

So now I still have like a dozen of these sitting around. It’s a safe bet to assume that if I put them in the office kitchen, they’ll still be gone in 5 minutes flat. Never fails.

Purple sweet potato

In honor of Furman University (Go Paladins!), the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Prince, I ate a purple sweet potato for lunch.

Purple sweet potatoes taste pretty much like their orange counterparts but they are higher in antioxidants as evidenced by their deep purple hue. Purple and dark blue foods like purple sweet potatoes, blueberries, red grapes and red cabbage get their color from anthocyanins, which are associated with reduced cancer risk.

I baked mine like I would any other sweet potato and enjoyed it with with a bowl of rice, black beans and killer baked tofu.

Purple!

This was one delightful lunch. I’m telling you… lunch on Saturday never disappoints.

Baked tofu bowl

My baked tofu bowl was pure genius. Just leftover brown rice, some black beans, baked tofu (salt, pepper, garlic powder and some kind of seasoning) topped with a little tomato sauce.

I found my purple potato at Whole Foods. Go grab one and listen to “Purple Rain” while you eat it.

Baked ravioli with roasted red pepper dip

If you’re into accepting unsolicited advice from a stranger (you’re here, aren’t you?) then I advise you to make this recipe from Clean Eating (September/October 2009)… baked wonton ravioli with roasted red pepper dip. Yes, drool. Don’t get all sweaty nervous either. It’s easy. It’s also healthy. These babies ring in at about 50 calories each and they’re made with real food to boot. So stick that in your diet food pipe and smoke it.

[Confession: I still don't really understand how recipe copyrights work but since I once again did not follow the recipe like I was supposed to, I'm just going to tell you what I did and that it is very closely adapted from the Clean Eating recipe developed by Robin Miller.]

Baked Wonton Ravioli w/ Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Wonton wrappers
Ricotta cheese (low fat, fat-free)
Shredded parmesan
Basil
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
Roasted red peppers (1 jar)
Sour cream (fat-free)

1. Mix together ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, basil and spices. I really don’t have measurements for these. Just eyeball it. I’d say maybe about 1.5 c of ricotta, 1/2 c parmesan, 4-5 basil leaves thinly sliced and spices to taste.

2. Arrange wontons on a sprayed cookie sheet. Fill each wrapper with about 1 tsp of cheese mix.

3. Wet fingers and run along two sides of the wrapper. Pull the other two sides over to seal. Sprinkle with more shredded parmesan.

4. Bake on 350 for about 15 minutes.

5. For the red pepper dip, simply put about a cup of red peppers into a food processor with about 1/4 c sour cream. If you like a creamier dip, add more sour cream. If you prefer a vegan dip, leave it out entirely. Process until smooth.

Stuffing wontons

Getting the wontons sealed took about two tries to really nail it. This was my first time ever so much as touching a wonton so I feel like that was a decent learning curve. Friendly tip: Wonton wrappers are in the produce section. Yeah, who knew? Not me. I checked Ethnic Foods and the freezer section. Had to have customer service locate them for me. Thanks, Publix.

Toasty

These were truly just blow-your-mind amazing.

So.good.

They were quite a hit at the party I attended tonight as well. Two thumbs up. I’ll be making these again. Like… tomorrow.

Spaghetti squash as spaghetti

Get it? Awesome… squash… squaweshome.

ANYWAY, I can’t say enough about spaghetti squash (Exhibit A, B, C and D). It’s just so simple. So delicious. So… squaweshome. How many more times should I say it?

If you’re into hoaxes like this or this, odds are you are probably terrified of pasta. In your case I recommend getting a grip. But rather than quitting your carblessness cold turkey and going through reverse withdrawals, you may want to wean yourself off the insanity by eating spaghetti squash masquerading as real spaghetti. Before you know it you’ll be eating real pasta like the rest of us in no time. Baby steps.

Tonight I was at a loss for creative ways to eat spaghetti squash (read: lazy) so I just made my spaghetti squash… spaghetti. I sauted onion and baby spinach, added some tomato basil pasta sauce and a little brown rice (for carbs, gasp) and mixed it into half of a spaghetti squash.

Spaghetti squash and green beans

I hated it… clearly.

See ya, spaghetti squash

No, we're not making cake

So we’ve been through tips for getting started and looked at a list of the standard foods in my house. Now let’s see what kind of quick and easy meals you can make using those standard foods.

What to do with the Standard Foods

• Homemade Instant Oatmeal – I eat oatmeal almost daily. I mix 1/3 c of oats with some nuts, dried fruit, cinnamon, and ground flax. When I get to work I add hot water and some honey or agave nectar. Sometimes when I want a little more protein I’ll mix in a spoonful of nut butter. Amazing. I’ve also been mixing in canned pumpkin which is awesome. When I don’t feel like hot oatmeal in the AM (like if I’m dehydrated) I’ll throw this mix into yogurt (Stonyfield plain with honey or Chobani).
• Homemade Quick Soups – Soup is my go-to meal. I just love it. Saute onions and garlic in a little olive oil for a few minutes. Add chopped fresh (or frozen) veggies to the mix and let it cook down a bit. Add a can of diced tomatoes and enough stock (vegetable, chicken or beef) until it reaches your desired consistency. I like mine thicker so I add less. Then add in prepared rice or noodles for your carb. You can eat these right away but I think they always taste better after sitting for a day.
• Packed Scrambled Eggs – Stew has been eating a lot of interesting egg mixes lately. He sautés onion and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes and then dumps in any veggies he can find (fresh or frozen). Tonight’s was frozen spinach, fresh tomato and goat cheese. Then crack two eggs on top and mix it all together until cooked through. You can seriously put anything in this.
• Salads and Sandwiches Galore – I like to chop up anything I can find and throw it atop a bed of lettuce or in between two pieces of bread with some beans or tofu for protein. Obviously you meat eaters would just go for… meat. If your produce is already cleaned and prepared this meal is super easy to throw together.
• Bean Salads – I throw all kinds of combinations of canned beans together with diced red onion and any other vegetables I have on hand. Top with olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon, salt and pepper and it’s a salad. I don’t do salad dressing. You can make your own with olive oil, red wine or balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper, garlic and lemon.
• Muffins – I made some incredible carrot spice muffins using a recipe from Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen. These muffins are crazy simple to make and they are delicious. I use her basic muffin batter recipe (mine’s not vegan because I use real yogurt rather than soy) and then add in any nuts or dried fruits I have on hand.

So now that you’ve got the tips, foods and meals that will help you get started on your new healthier lifestyle I hope some of you will really give it a try. Please email me your questions, concerns, favorite meals and progress. I would love it.

Not my refrigerator

As mentioned in the Tips section of Hop on the Healthy Bandwagon, I sent a friend of mine some advice on how to get started when you want to eat healthy organic foods on a budget and with time restraints.

After the tips for getting started I gave her a list of the foods that are in my house at all times. These are the foods I use daily that I consider to be both healthy and affordable. I’d say we spend between $60 and $90 on groceries each week (for two people). We probably eat about 80% of a month’s 180 meals (90 meals x 2 people) at home. So that comes out to around $2 per meal per person.

Here’s what we’ve been eating…

Standard Foods in My House

• Quaker instant oats
• Nut butters (natural, NO hydrogenated oils–try almond or cashew… more expensive, but awesome)
• Nuts – almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts
• Brown rice (instant)
• Canned beans – garbanzo, kidney, black, navy, etc.
• Vegetable stock (as well as chicken or beef for you meat eaters)
• Frozen vegetables – spinach, broccoli, artichoke hearts, soy beans
• Fresh vegetables – onion, carrots (whole, not the babies), tomatoes, lettuce
• Fresh fruits – apples, grapefruits, tangerines/oranges, grapes
• Eggs
• Bread – multigrain fresh (shouldn’t last more than a few days to a week)
• Soy, almond or rice milk
• Stonyfield yogurt (plain, organic)
• Chobani or Oikos (Greek yogurts super high in protein, low in sugar)
• Orange juice
• Apple sauce (no sugar added)
• Wheat flour
• Ground flour
• Wheat germ
• Honey and agave nectar
• Olive oil
• Red wine and balsamic vinegar
• Spices – cumin, cinnamon, sea salt, oregano, basil (lots more but those are my favorites)

My friend said she actually printed this out and used it as her shopping list. Feel free to follow suit. Let’s all hop on the healthy bandwagon together…

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Hop on the healthy bandwagon

A friend of mine emailed me a couple days ago to say she had been thinking a lot about getting healthy. She didn’t mean “healthy” in terms of dieting, counting calories and losing weight; she just wants to focus on overall health and nutrition.

Remember, I am not a nutritionist or dietician, but she asked if I could give her a few pointers about how to hop on the healthy bandwagon without it interfering in her incredibly busy schedule or breaking the bank.

I didn’t sit down and plan out what to say before I sent it so it is a bit stream of consciousness. But the major points are: tips for getting started, standard foods I keep in my house, what to do with the standard foods. I’ll post them here in a 3-part series.

Here go the tips…
Avoid Processed Foods – Try not to eat anything in a box, bag or carton that has a long list of ingredients you can’t pronounce. Think of it this way: If that word you can’t pronounce were in a salt shaker on your table, would you sprinkle it on your food? No? Then don’t eat it just because someone else put it in there. Whole foods in bulk are far cheaper than their processed cousins. You can make your own instant oatmeal for pennies with a big canister of oats, some nuts, dried fruits, cinnamon and a little honey. Same goes for soup. Stock, rice (or noodles), fresh (or frozen or canned) veggies… pennies.

How to do it:

• Only snack on whole fruits or vegetables
• Make your own soups, oatmeals, etc. (it’s cheap and easy; see Part 3 Meals)
• Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. This is where you’ll usually find the produce section with fresh fruits and veggies, butcher, dairy, etc. All the chips and whatnot are usually on the inner aisles.

Prepare – It’ll be impossible to maintain a healthy diet (especially with a schedule like yours) unless you plan ahead. If you get caught somewhere without a healthy snack or packed lunch, it’ll be too easy to grab a less desirable option. I eat 3 meals a day 7 days a week prepared and packed by me. OK, sometimes we eat out. But for the most part that’s how it goes. I’d say Stew and I spend $300-$400 on groceries each month. So that’s 6 meals a day x 30 days = 180 meals a month. So we pay about $2.22 per meal if we spend $100 a week on food.

How to do it:

• Cook big batches of food on Sundays (or whatever your “off” day might be) to use throughout the week. I’ll usually make a big batch of soup or chili to use in differerent ways.
• Prepare all your produce. Wash and chop all of your fruits and veggies so that they’re easy to grab when you’re running out the door.
• Portion out your snacks and meals that you’ll need on the go. I’ll usually just do this the night before since I have down time but if you’re really busy you may want to do everything for the week at one time. I pack up 3 pieces of fruit, a packet of homemade instant oatmeal, and my lunch the night before I’ll need it. It makes running out the door easier in the morning.
• Preparation is key when you’re traveling or spending lots of time away from the house. My purse is never without a granola bar at the very least. Other non-perishables that hide out in there are nuts and dried fruits.

Cook – No, I don’t mean for hours on end and with complicated recipes. Just try new combinations of things. Baking is a science with precise measurements. But cooking is totally trial by error. Just throw things in pots and see where it takes you. Also try to eat a new fruit, vegetable or whole grain each week. You’ll be surprised how many new meal ideas you’ll come up with.

So there you have it. I could add a million more tips to this and might do so in the coming weeks. But for now this will help you get started. What are you waiting for?

Please contact me if you have any questions.

White bean mash

Tonight I couldn’t decide what I wanted for dinner so I ended up with this: white bean mash with carrot sticks and cave aged gruyere over spinach.

For the mash just smoosh white beans with a fork. Add salt, pepper garlic powder and a little olive oil. Mix it all up and microwave. Or don’t. I just like it warmed up rather than as a cold dip.

It has kind of a hummus taste/consistency. Supagood. Try it.

Cooking with Coffee at Liquid Highway

After work Stew and I went to a Cooking with Coffee demo at Liquid Highway. It.was.awesome. Shannon Kohn (of Foodie with Skills) hosted the event and featured two of her recipes: candied espresso pecans and espresso-glazed onion and goat cheese crostini.

The theme of the night (other than cooking with coffee) was quick and easy holiday entertaining items. Considering Shannon made them both on a hot plate in front of a bunch of gawking strangers in less than 40 minutes AND they were delicious, I’d say both these recipes fit the bill.

Foodie with Skills

The candied espresso pecans were super good. But since we started with that sample I had to pace myself to save some for after the goat cheese crostini. Gotta end on a sweet note, you know?

Candied espresso pecans

But as it turns out, the espresso-glazed onion and goat cheese crostini was so insanely good I could have easily ended on that note. The secret was orange marmalade (and espresso, obviously) on the caramelized onions. Just… crazy good.

Espresso-glazed onions & goat cheese crostini

Next month’s demo is cooking with tea… Totally going.

PS – Liquid Highway is worth mentioning… This local coffee franchise donates 100% of its profits to charity. No lie. And their coffee is great too. Check them out.

Pumpkin muffins... oh the joy

The carrot spice muffin recipe I found over at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen has come in so handy. I used it to make carrot raisin muffins, cherry orange muffins (that I never documented), and today PUMPKIN MUFFINS.

You can seriously do anything with that base recipe. So head on over to SusanV’s blog and start getting creative with your mix ins…

Food of the week!

Check out the World’s Healthiest Foods Food of the Week… Sweet potatoes! These delightful tubers pack a whopping 262% of your daily recommended value for vitamin A as well as significant amounts of vitamin C, manganese, fiber, B6, potassium and iron all at just 95 calories per serving.

I like to bake mine for about 45 minutes and just eat plain. You could also steam, saute, roast… the possibilities are endless. I know lots of people like to bury sweet potatoes under brown sugar and marshmallows (especially this time of year) but consider trying them plain. Pay attention to how they taste on their own and you’ll see that sweet potatoes don’t have to be limited to desserts and sweet sides. You can just as easily make this a savory dish.

So here’s to sweet potatoes. May you enjoy one this week.

Carboload

Last night I went on a little date with Stew. Actually we made a whole day of it with trips to the humane society, PetCo, Lowe’s and TJ Maxx. Pretty nice little Saturday straight out of Old School. If that sounds like most of our days… I guess it was. But if you declare it date day then suddenly everything is more fun.

For dinner we stopped at a relatively new bar a few blocks from the house. Naturally, the bar food was… you know. We started with green bean fries.

Green bean fries

They definitely hand batter all their deep-fried items so that was a plus. Still, I pulled the breading off a few of them and just ate the beans. Health blogger over here. Deal with it.

Drinks of the evening were Magic Hat for Stew and Firefly with water for me… x2. Firefly is one of few liquors I can drink, uh, nonstop.

My meal was a 3 veggie plate consisting of a baked potato, salad and macaroni and cheese. It came with a corn bread muffin and they forgot my salad so the result was the carboload above. I eventually got my hands on the salad and primarily just ate that atop the potato with a few bites of mac. Have you ever stuffed your baked potato with salad? Love it. I just like the combination of something cooked topped with something raw and crunchy. Mmmm. And when it comes to something a little more indulgent than a salad-stuffed potato (like, say, mac and cheese), I just eat it sparingly as if it were a topping.

In the last 6 months of so of finally figuring out how to eat like a sane human being, I’ve realized I really can eat anything I want so long as I keep the portions in check. Give it a try. You’ll be fine.

Pleh

I picked up a few local (local being Georgia) persimmons at Publix earlier this week because I like to branch out and try new fruits and veggies. Persimmons are a sweet fruit that resemble a stout squashed tomato. You can eat them sliced or like an apple.

I like all fruit so I thought for sure I’d be all over this. As it turns out, I hate persimmons. They are way too sweet for me. Gimme a good ol’ apple any day.

Beanie grilled cheese

I just ate something delicious. It was about a quarter up of white beans mashed and mixed with a sprinkling of cave aged gruyere (from the Whole Foods bit basket, of course), spread on two slices of multigrain bread, grilled and topped with tomato, greens and mustard.

The use of mashed white beans in grilled cheese sandwiches is a little health nut secret. It cuts the fat by a lot but maintains a nice creamy texture.

Mmm.

Just mash up some white beans with a fork, add a little cheese of your choice, pop in the microwave, spread on bread and then toast it up on a pan spritzed with olive oil spray. You may want to add a little salt, some mustard or even hot sauce to your bean and cheese mix for more flavor. MMM.

Black Ass Coffee Company

Since learning what real coffee is (thanks, Stew!), I have discovered that I prefer the darkest, boldest roast possible and prefer to steer clear of anything flavored. Gone are my days of French vanilla this and hazelnut that.

That said, I am currently drinking The Great Pumpkin from Black Ass Coffee Company and I approve. Described as “still true to the Black Ass brand of strong, smooth and dependable,” this is a flavored coffee I will not avoid. I don’t know how they did it but this tastes like a damn good cup of coffee and actual spiced pumpkin at the same time. None of that weird chemically flavored after taste. Hmm…

Anyway, while I ponder that… Other than their name being awesome, I think the Black Ass guys are doing something very right with their coffee. Also, they’re currently running a GI Java special: buy a bag and they’ll send one to the troops. Check them out… Black Ass Coffee Company.

Happy Thursday!

Some days you just can’t be near a computer another second. And so I give you this happy burger from tonight’s dinner to carry the blog into Friday.

PS – How lame are those tiny pickles?

Slimcado

I picked up one of those funky lower fat Slimcado avocados a few days ago because it was ripe and I was curious. Stew said they don’t taste as good as regular avocados, and I believed him until I tried it.

Well actually, it’s true that they’re not as good as a regular avocado, but they are still good and, in my opinion, make a comparable substitute.

Avocado toast

I had some on a piece of toast before my jog because I’m trying to front load my calories earlier in the day so I won’t be so hungry at night. I enjoyed this.

Fail

Research presented at the American Society of Nephrology in San Diego found that women who drink 2 or more diet sodas a day double their risk for a decline in kidney function.

Let’s see… save calories, risk kidneys? You decide.

The study began in 1984 closely following the artificial sweetener intake of 3,256 women. What the researchers found when comparing the kidney function of the women in 2000 to their kidney function in 1989 was that 11% of them saw a kidney function decline of 30%.

No association was found with other sweetened beverages and drinking less than 2 diet sodas a day did not seem to have an effect either. [Read more at WebMD]

In other news, yet another study shows that high fructose corn syrup (found in regular sodas) may lead to increased blood pressure. And that takes just 2.5 sugary drinks a day. [Read about it at WebMD]

Moral of the story? Lay off the sodas. All of them.

If it doesn't look like H20... probably isn't

If you are a drinker of flavored waters (yes, I am too sometimes) please take a moment to admit to yourself that it’s not water. It’s just not. It’s watered down… juice or something to that effect (since little juice is actually involved).

Have you ever read the ingredient label on, say, Vitamin Water? I promise you do not know what those things are. If you want orange-flavored water then add a splash of OJ to your tap water. You want lemon water? Add a squeeze of lemon! There is no end to the possibilities.

I will say, however, that I don’t think I could replicate Ayala’s Herbal Water. Not even going to go there. They’ve got something right and I will not wrong it. I’m sure with a little effort you too could infuse your water with cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla and lavendar. But I think I’ll leave it to the experts.

I also know that sometimes you may be playing the flavored water game for the electrolytes. I work out for an hour in a 90-degree room 5 times a week. I understand the need for electrolytes. If you must refuel I say go for Smart Water since it only adds electrolytes. No weird sweeteners, colors, etc.

If you want juice, drink juice. If you want water, drink water. Avoid the hybrid. It’s a mess.

Stuffed spaghetti squash

Long live Saturday lunches. Seriously. I always seem to eat awesome meals early Saturday afternoon. Yesterday I had half a spaghetti squash stuffed with some leftover beans and rice and some frozen spinach.

Goooood.

Spaghetti squash is delicious and is in no way intimidating. Just cut it in half (carefully!), scoop out seeds, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and throw in the oven at 400 for about 30-40 minutes. Then stuff it with whatever you’ve got.

Tangelo juice

What do you do when you buy a bag of tangelos that have so many damn seeds you can barely eat them? Turn them into juice, of course.

These tangelos had an absurd number of seeds making them messy and difficult to eat. Rather than toss the remaining dozen or so I hadn’t mangled for consumption, I decided to just turn them into juice.

Seedy

I had a glass, gave Stew a glass and used the rest in the batter for some orange cherry muffins. (See the recipe for carrot spice muffins at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen and just switch out the mix ins.) I just eyeballed the juice by adding a little less of the other wet ingredients, yogurt and apple sauce. I guess I didn’t add enough juice though because while the muffins were awesommme, they didn’t taste orangey at all.

Still a better use of those seedy tangelos than trying to eat them though.