Menu Week: Feb 1

Wow - birthday month is finally over and life can go on. We are already in the second year of the new decade! Time flies.
I will still have some leftovers from previous week: I love how stews and soups last forever! Red Wine Beef Stew and Curried Vegetables will continue to be on the menu this week.
Monday I will hopefully be having Pei Wei leftovers from my dinner in Brentwood on Sunday night - can't wait, it will be my first time!
We have a faculty meeting this week so I have something to bring goodies to: Salted Peanut Bars from Quick and Easy Recipes.
I'll be eating salads, soups, and easy breakfasts.
Saturday I am having dinner with a sweet family. Sunday another lunch with a great young family doing good things in ministry.
Then, for the Super Bowl (GO COLTS) a friend and I are getting together with good food. I have the NFC so that means I have to cook something related to New Orleans. Instead of copping out and just going by JGumbo's and picking up bourbon chicken, I found a recipe for it - so I'm going to make my own! Lorrie has the AFC and is bringing Orville Redenbacher popcorn and oreos (for the Mannings/Trump commercial). We are also having salad (me) and rice (lorrie) with our bourbon chicken. Should be a good night: who can pass up popcorn and oreos?
What is your favorite Super Bowl food?

Day 5 of Oats: Pumpkin Cranberry White Chocolate

I think I saved the best for last. This was yummy - reminded me of fall. Oh, I like fall much better than winter - but so be it! At least I can remember warmer temps with my bowl of goodness in the morning!

1/3 cup oats
1/2 plus a little more cup water
2 tsp white chocolate wonderful (PB&CO)
10 dried cranberries
1 T pumpkin

So good! Enjoy!

Product Review: Ciao Bella Sorbet

Love. This. Stuff.
Whole Foods comes through in little individual containers of yummy goodness!
Ciao Bella is a gelato place in NYC (they have some great stuff don't they) - and they send their sorbet to my Whole Foods here in Louisville.
I tried the Sicilian Blood Orange flavor of sorbet. For 100 calories - amazing. I felt like I was eating a blood orange with a spoon. I also put a scoop of free cool whip and a sprinkle of coconut on top - just for textural and temperature changes (important in my consumption of cold things).
1. With this, I don't have to wait till the oranges are in season
2. I don't have to be in Florida to get good oranges when I have this stuff.
3. It was cold - which felt good on my sore throat
4. It was better for me than ice cream.
5. I will be trying other flavors.

Yum - hey Ciao Bella people - got any coupons?

Red Wine Beef Stew

I made some yummy and healthy beef stew this weekend. Its good when you are sick, having company over, need something to last you all week, and to use up some yummy Sweet Red wine that is in the fridge. I picked up some good stuff at Trader Joes last weekend and this was a good use for it.

1.5 lbs lean beef chopped for stew

evoo

8 cups broth and wine combined (I used 7 cups chicken stock and 1 cup red wine)

1 onion, chopped

3 lbs red potatoes, chopped left skin on

2 carrots, chopped

5 celery stalks, chopped, plus leaves

2 T dried italian herbs

2 T worcestershire sauce

s/p to taste

Sear meat on both sides. Simmer in 4 cups of stock for 1 hour. Add all veggies, herbs, and rest of stock and wine. Let simmer for another 1 hr to 90 minutes. Eat with some bread.

We had 5 grain bread from Plehns (nearby bakery), a strawberry, walnut, feta, salad, and oreo cheesecake (bday celebration) for dessert. Then I went out and walked 2.5 miles!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Pepita Muffins

I needed to use up a bit of a can of pumpkin so this was a great recipe to do it. I was a little doubtful when these came out of the oven, but the chocolate really made these!

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 T raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds, you can find in bulk bins at Whole Foods)
3/4 60% Ghiradelli chocolate bar, chopped

Combine wet. Combine dry. Add wet to dry. Fold in chocolate. Put in 12 greased (I use silicon liners) muffin tins. Sprinkle pepitas on top.
Bake at 400 for 18 minutes.
Serve warm. I'm sure Dark Chocolate Dreams would be amazing on the top of these (instead of butter). These are going to the office too!
220 cal, 10 fat, 1.5 fiber

Orange Molasses Cookies (2010.4)

I love healthy cooking magazines that don't always use the light version of everything. I want healthy stuff - not fat free or "light stuff". Eating Well is that magazine for me. A lot of their ingredients are either less of stuff or natural stuff. I like it. I love these cookies. I halved the recipe and changed it a little bit, but these are so good. I am glad these are going to the office tomorrow.

3/4 cup oats - put in a blender and ground semi-fine
2.5 T unsalted butter, softened
1/6 cup sugar
1/6 cup brown sugar
zest of one naval orange
1/4 cup molasses
3.5 T all natural applesauce
1/2 large egg yolk (scramble egg yolk, then just pour in half of it)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg (I didn't have any ginger)
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice (I added more of this and left out the pepper)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
Turbinado sugar to roll cookies in

Cream wet ingredients. Add in dry. Roll cookies in turbinado sugar. Bake at 375 on greased sheets for 9 minutes.
I love the orange flavor that comes out in the first bite - wow - orange! :)
About 76 calories a cookie, 2 fat, 1 fiber.

Chocolate Cherry Pistachio Oatmeal Cookies (2010.3)

Bon Appetit comes through again for this week's recipe. I really love their cooking magazine. I halved the recipes and made it my own by adding some chopped pistachios - and the review I got "These are great, just what I needed, something a little sweet". The only thing that puzzled me about these were the timing. I couldn't get it just right - but they were still good. This version of the recipe makes about 2 dozen.

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla (I upped it some from original amount)
1 egg
1 cup oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup dried cherries (next time I would chop these before putting them in)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Cream the first three. Add in egg and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients. Fold in the additions.
Bake on greased cookie sheets at 375 for anywhere from 10-13 minutes, just watch them so they don't burn.
These were good. I would make them again.

118 cal, 6 fat, 1 fiber

Curried Vegetables

I found a similar recipe in food blog land, and tweaked it to fit my kitchen today! This will be a very healthy bowl of yummy goodness all week for lunch or dinner.

1 large baking potato - chopped (I left skin on)
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 carrot, diced into pennies
1 zucchini - cut into half moons
1 squash - cut into half moons
1 onion, chopped
1 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup blush wine
2 T curry powder
1 tsp sriracha sauce
1 tsp evoo

Add all to a big skillet and let go for about an hour, stirring every so often, on a high simmer - till all veggies are done.
Serve as is - or over spaghetti squash, couscous, anything you want.

Sauteed Beet Greens

I love it when you get two side dishes out of one ingredient! And I love the colors that God brings us in his own creation!
These were delicious. A tad bit bitter, but so good and healthy!

1 bunch of beet greens, chopped - stems and all
1/2 onion, slices
1/2 cup blush wine
2 tsp evoo
1 garlic clove

Heat evoo and onions. Add in garlic (finely chopped or use a zester). Add in wine and let simmer. Add in beet greens and cook on medium for about 7-10 minutes.
Enjoy!

Week of Oats: Day 4 - Chocolate Banana

Since I am definitely feeling under the weather I went for a tried and true recipe this morning as I dragged myself to work.

1/3 cup oats
1/2 cup water
2 tsp chocolate peanut butter dreams
3/4 of a banana (the other 1/4 of it was bad)

So good - especially laying on my new couch while eating it! Washed down with a glass of water and some vitacraves gummy multivitamins.

Check back for my last day of oats tomorrow.

Menu Week: Jan 25

I am excited about this week in cooking and eating. Pretend like this is being written on Monday morning (but I am writing it now so I can go grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon):
Coming off a great weekend of baking and getting some rest (I'm in the midst of a cold) - I am grateful that I have an office of professors and co-workers to bring yummy treats to. I promise I am not breathing on the food!
Orange Molasses Cookies
Dark Cherry Pistachio Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins
I will be eating leftovers this week: beef stew, pinto bean stew, curried veggies, salads.
Breakfast (coming off my delicious week of oats) will be vegan spiced banana pancakes all week - YUM!
I am taking dinner to friend's of mine who just had sweet baby Noah: chicken pot pie, salad, Best of Fall cookies (by request).
Recipe of the week is the afore mentioned Orange Molasses Cookies
Weekend will be in Nashville suburbs of Brentwood and Murfreesboro with new and old friends. I'm bringing with my Ghirardelli's Chocolate cookies for my friend who is pregnant. And get to eat out with some cool people while I'm there - so definitely check back after next weekend for my review of what we find!
The next couple of weeks will be spent clearing out the freezer because money will be tight. I have to pay my car tax - fun, huh! :) But, thankful to God I don't have to dip into savings to do it!

Day 3 of Oats: Apple Peanut Butter Oats

A few months ago I bought a bag of dried apples at Whole Foods for some granola I was making. After many little snacks of the leftovers, I finally had about a tsp left in the baggy. Not wanting them to go to waste, I thought of my morning bowl of oats. This bowl may even inspire a cookie!

1/3 cup oats
1/2 cup water
1 tsp dried apples
1 T crunchy salted Trader Joe's pb.

I liked it a little thicker this morning. It was good. Even being sick...
4 points. - under 200 calories

Week of Oats: Day 2 - Egg White Oats

One thing about reading food blogs - you make things you would never even DREAM of making. I tried a new bowl of oats this morning. Honestly - it wasn't my favorite - but I might try it a little different at least one more morning.

1/3 cup oats
2 egg whites
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp pb (from Trader Joes - crunchy salted. Just nuts and salt. Good stuff! Actually tastes like peanut butter)
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cook oats/eggs/water for about 1.35. Stir well the other ingredients into it. Eat. These are filling. Just not sweet enough for me. We'll see... Any tips? These are very healthy too:
227 cal, 6 fat, 6 fiber = 4 points

Taste of Chicago - Grand Lux Cafe

We thought the bags looked pretty familiar when we walked in - we were right - this place is owned by the same folks who own Cheesecake Factory. You know its going to be good. And it was next door to Ann Taylor - so how bad could it bed? And it had a wait at 4pm? We only waited about 15 minutes and when we walked out - it was about an hour wait. Glad we got there early!

I was not anticipating a sit-down nice restaurant when I heard about this place from a friend just based on the name alone. I'm so glad we stopped there.

We had their bread - very good. I took lots of photos. I dropped my knife and fork - silly me. The tables were completely on top of each other, but people know how to dine. I couldn't tell you what the other folks were talking about at their table. Most of the time people talk so loud at restaurants. Our first waiter wasn't all that, but halfway through they changed shifts and our waitress was much better.

To start off with - the Edamame: stir fried with Spicy Szechwan Sauce. SO GOOD! Better than Chais in Durham (gasp!)

Then, Janel got the soup of the day - a chicken chowder with veggies. I took a bite - good and warm on a cold day.

I got the mini goat cheese and mushroom pizza. This was not mini (about 7 inches by 3 inches) and was only 4.95 and was AMAZING. I would go back there every time and order this.

For dessert (and take home): New Orleans Beignets Served Warm with Three Sauces (a creme anglaise (close your eyes and savor the warmth and richness good), chocolate, and raspberry. They were warm and yummy. Thanks Kathy for the suggestion.

This place was definitely the best place I ate all weekend and I would gladly go there again! :)

Pinto Bean Soup

I got inspired for more soup - and a cooked bag of pinto beans that I needed to use.
So, I threw this together last night when I got home from Chicago and look forward to eating it this week - and I froze a tub of it too.

5 cups cooked pinto beans (or however many you like)
2 cups chicken broth (a cool whip container of homemade broth)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can of stewed tomatoes
cumin
red pepper flakes
pepper
sea salt
1 cup medium picante sauce

Mix all and heat through till boiling. I took a potato masher to it to make it a little thicker. Pretty good. You can add some hot sauce or some sausage would be a good way to change this soup up. Cheap, healthy, good.

Week of Oats - Day 1

This week I'm trying something I did last week with smoothies - week of oats - where I eat oats every day this week for breakfast and see how it makes me feel. Just saying that I feel like the pit of despair in the Princess Bride. Do you know what I mean?

Anyway, first day:

1/3 cup oats
2/3 cup water
1 T dark chocolate pb
1/2 banana

SO GOOD! Filling - hmmm, we'll see. Maybe I'll try some steel cut oats or maybe egg white oats...

Day 5 Green Smoothie and Recap

Ok - here is my last smoothie for the week of smoothies:

1/4 apple
1/2 banana
1/2 cara cara orange
1 1/2 tsp ground flax
1 1/3 cup water
1 cup spinach
3/4 cup kale
3/4 cup frozen strawberries

Mix all.
Very good - not too sweet.

I like the low-cal, heavy fiber, portability of green smoothies.
I like the quickness of them in the morning.
I like all the veggies and fruits you are getting first thing in the morning.
I would like more protein in mine - I usually pair it with pb on a thin or something. PB in the morning is so good.
Now, for the week of oats.

Taste of Wheaton: Butterfield's Pancake House

Love the internet. It created a safe haven for Janel and I to venture into suburbia for lunch after church. Though it didn't disappoint, it didn't exceed my expectations. It was good. Not fabulous.

Janel got the hash with chorizo, tomatoes, avocado, potatoes. It was good - there was other stuff in it too. She said it could have used less chorizo and more tomotoes. Came with an english muffin - which I had.

I got the acclaimed heart heathy Caramalized Banana Steel Cut oats. A huge bowl - massive. Good, but very sweet. Basically - a big bowl of steel cut oats - which I love. With a banana chopped up on top, sugar blowtorched on it - with a runny caramel sauce below. Good, sweet - filling.

Do I need to go back if I'm in the area - no not really. Good for lunch on a Sunday afternoon - yes. Very quick service and cheap (under 10$). So there you go.

Menu Week: January 18

Since I am going to be out having fun this wknd in the Chicago area with my friend, I thought I would go ahead and post the menu for next week.
I am doing good so far. Spending less money on food. Cooking more legumes. This week I am doing well at the start of cleaning out the freezer work that I will need to do in the next 2 months.
So, here goes:
Leftovers: hummus pancakes (yum!)
Monday: brunch in Chicago with Janel and then probably a hummus pancake on an arthur's thin when I get home.
I am housesitting all next week for some friends so I want something easy and portable that I can just grab or eat in bowls.
All breakfast: oats - saving money, healthy, and filling (and versatile) - T-Friday. Saturday will be tea and muffins I think with a friend over a book review
Lunch: curried vegetables from a recipe that I am adapting from Crostini and Chianti. Yummy and healthy - even without the couscous. Just give me a bowl
Wednesday I'm hitting the salad bar at Jason's Deli with a friend of mine - taking a break from work and I haven't been to the new one yet.
Saturday - beef stew from The Kitchn - using some steak and roast that I have in the freezer - full of veggies. And my friend is bringing a late bday offering - oreo cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Yes, there will be some running after that meal. And I have some bread in the freezer we are going to use to sop up all the goodness in the beef stew.
Recipe of the week is from Bon Appetit - Dried Cherry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. I am halving the recipe - and it will still make a lot - plenty for a plate for the office.
I am looking forward to picking up a few good finds in Trader Joes on Sunday - and dreaming of the day when I live within easy shopping distance of a TJ again!

Day of Green Smoothie - 4

This one was so quick this morning - and yummy and healthy - because I woke up late. Already drank half of it before leaving the house (with oats in a jar/ 1/2 banana) and sipping on the other half in my SBTS insulated tumbler.

1/4 red apple
1/2 naval orange
1/2 banana
2 small pieces mango
3/4 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup spinach
2 stalks kale
1 1/2 cup water

You know what to do. Blend away! Enjoy!
150, .5, 7 fiber = 2 points, and a ton of veggies!