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butternut squash potage

Andrea

Good evening!  As promised...a semi-quick post. Breakfast:  Two Kashi Go Lean blueberry waffles with 1 tbsp almond butter and a sliced banana, all sandwiched together.  Yum.  :) 081215-b2 081215-b1 Morning Snack:  Dark chocolate covered strawberry!!!  They were delivered to us this morning from a dear friend in North Carolina.  Of course I dug right in while my lunch was heating! 081215-s2 081215-s1 Lunch:  Spinach salad and TJ's Veggie Lentil Soup.  My salad consisted of spinach, hearts of palm, orange bell pepper, alfalfa sprouts, dried cranberries and light ranch dressing (I know you've seen a lot of the light ranch lately...I'm trying to use up the bottle!). 081215-l1 081215-l2 Afternoon Snack:  Peppermint Eggnog Scone and a cup of Sugar Cookie Sleighride. This is the last of the scones, I sent the others to the office with Brian.  They were way too tempting (as evidenced by my last few posts...)!!! 081215-s31 Dinner:  Butternut Squash Potage (recipe follows) and a spinach salad with yellow bell pepper, black beans, fresh currants and light ranch. 081215-d4 081215-d6 081215-d5 This soup is so easy and perfectly creamy, without any cream!   I made a variation a few weeks ago here.  I've been thinking about using the potage method to make a butternut squash soup for awhile now, and am so glad I did!  I have an old favorite squash soup recipe that uses 1 cup of cream, and I couldn't even tell that the recipe I made tonight didn't have any cream!  Healthy and yummy...perfect. Butternut Squash Potage makes 4 servings calories: 267  fat: 3.2g  sat fat: 1.9g  carbs: 54.8g  fiber: 5.9g  protein 8.5g Ingredients:
  • one small butternut squash (1-1.5 pounds), peeled and diced into 1" pieces
  • one medium-large onion, diced
  • 4 medium russet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and diced into 1" pieces
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 5 cups chicken or veggie broth (I use Better Than Bouillon no chicken base...love it!)
  • salt + pepper
Steps:
  1. Melt butter in large saucepan on medium heat.  Add chopped onion and saute until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes.
  2. Add diced potato, squash and broth.  Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes until potatoes and squash are soft.
  3. Strain veggies from soup and reserve broth.  Puree the veggies in a food processor or blender using some of the reserved broth as needed.
  4. Add all broth and pureed veggies back to saucepan and heat through.  Season to taste.
081215-d1 I love the Better Than Bouillon line.  We keep the no-chicken base in our fridge at all times...its so much better than having cans and boxes taking up room in our teeny pantry! 081215-d2 Alrighty...I'm off to continue with Christmas holiday/travel/baking/gift prep.  Have a fabulous evening and Tuesday!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, soup
tags kashi, salad, scone, soup, squash

weekend eats recap + awards!

Andrea

Its Monday already?!?!?  Its amazing how quickly the weekends go by when you have so much to accomplish before the holidays.  :(  I have a weekend eats recap for you, and also a couple of exciting news tidibits! A big THANK YOU!!! to Ashley over at Sweet + Natural for liking my BSI recipe enough to proclaim it winner of BSI: PEPPERMINT!!!  I'm so excited, and thrilled at the great response I've had to the recipe!  I hope you all try the scones and let me know what you think.  Its easy to un-holiday them by replacing the eggnog with buttermilk and the peppermint with any toppings of your choice.  Some of my faves are dried cranberry + dark chocolate and orange zest, orange extract + cranberry...yum! Another big THANK YOU to Maggie over at Say Yes To Salad for the "I Love Your Blog" Award!  I'm completely touched, she is so sweet!!! iloveyourblog I've just recently discovered Maggie's blog and am enjoying getting to know it.  She has some fabulous recipes...go check her out!  I'd like to pass the award on to Jennifer at Running With Food.  Jenn also has some fabulous recipes to share, along with beautiful pictures, great stories and a HILARIOUS sense of humor!!!  Her posts always have me giggling...  I love your blog Jenn!!!  :) And last, thank you for all of the sweet comments regarding my new header look!  It was a lot of fun to design my own and tweak the css code, but time consuming!  So I'm glad that you've noticed and that you like the design, it makes it feel worth the effort!  :) Ok, weekend eats recap: Saturday Breakfast:  Red Currant Pancakes with 1/2  of a sliced honeycrisp apple. 081213-b10 Saturday Lunch / Snack:  Medjool Date with PB, 3/4 cup plain Oikos with 1/4 cup TJ's Pumpkin Spice Granola and a sprinkling of currants.  Breakfast was late so I just kinda snacked my way through the afternoon.  I also had a handful of TJ's multigrain tortilla chips... Several of you comment that you've never had currants before!  Just a warning, they are tart so if you're not a fan of tang you may want to try them before you add them to anything. 081213-l1 081213-l2 Saturday Dinner:  Take-out Thai...yum!  I ordered Pad Thai with Tofu and veggie spring rolls with spicy pineapple sauce. 081213-d2 081213-d1 Saturday Dessert:  1/2 a Peppermint Eggnog Scone. bsi-132 Sunday Breakfast:  Scrambled egg whites with sauteed pepper and onion, and two leftover Red Currant Pancakes.  This didn't turn out to be what I wanted so I just picked through about 1/2 the scrambled eggs...I ate both of my pancakes though!  :) 081214-b1 Sunday Lunch #1:  Leftover Pad Thai 081214-l1 The hubb and I were on different lunch schedules, and somehow we got out of the house to run errands without him eating anything.  A couple of hours in he was starving, and I was craving veggies since I hadn't had many over the previous 24 hours.  So we stopped at a little pizza place for his first lunch (calzone) and my second... Sunday Lunch #2:  Garden Salad with Bean Salad on top. Sunday Dinner:  So not healthy in any way...  Mexican Dip with Multigrain Tortilla Chips. 081214-d1 081214-d32 This is a classic favorite of ours.  The tradition started with my college roommate and I, we'd pile refried beans, salsa and shredded cheese together in a casserole dish and bake it for 20 minutes before dipping tortilla chips in while watching movies.  The hubb and I have experimented some and never have the same dip twice.  This one consisted of refried black beans, taco seasoning, sour cream, salsa, onion, orange bell pepper, corn, and cheddar cheese.  Sooooo good, yet so bad...  The good news is that this is the first time in the six weeks since I've been writing this blog that you have seen this dish.  We used to eat is once a week...seriously. Sunday Dessert:  A Peppermint Eggnog Scone. bsi-91 We went to the grocery store today, but I won't bore you with all the details.  We did get this fabulous treat though... 081214-brussels-1 Brussels Sprouts on their stalk!!!  I've never seen them in the store like this before. We tried growing them in our garden this year but because we don't spray, the bugs got to them before they could mature.  Aren't they fabulous!?!?! 081214-brussels-3 081214-brussels-2 Sadly I missed yoga yesterday because we were running errands.  I hate missing yoga, but will have to try to make up for it this week.  I'm going to try to keep my posts short and sweet because our evenings are jam-packed with Christmas prep, so this will probably be the last long post for awhile...I'm sure you won't mind because we're ALL busy!  :)
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags mexican dip, oikos, pancakes, thai

peppermint eggnog scones - BSI!!!

Andrea

I've been trying to find a way to use up the eggnog in my fridge.  I've had two 1/2-cup size mugs this season and am pretty much at my limit.  Eggnog is one of those special holiday treats that I crave as soon as the weather turns cooler and the Christmas decorations come out, but once I've had a mug or two I am DONE.  I hate to waste, especially expensive items, so I've been racking my brain to come up with a use for it before it spoils.  Last weekend I remembered my favorite scone recipe given to me by a friend years ago.  It uses buttermilk, and I thought that eggnog would make an excellent substitution because they have such similar consistencies.  Problem solved! I'd add some dry cranberries, a few bits of chocolate and Poof!  Holiday Scones. Then, on Monday, I read the lovely Ashley's blog over at Sweet + Natural and discovered that she had picked PEPPERMINT as this week's BSI!!!  Brilliant.  Out go the cranberries and chocolate, in comes the peppermint.  I now give you... Peppermint Eggnog Scones!!! bsi-8 Ingredients:
  • 3/4 cup eggnog plus a little extra
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1-1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
  • 1-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 8 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
  • 40 starlight peppermints, pounded to bits to equal about 1 cup
Steps:
  1. Preheat oven to 375*
  2. Mix eggnog with egg and extract, beat until smooth with a fork
  3. Put flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.  Stir to mix well.  Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine bread crumbs
  4. Add sugar and peppermint bits, toss to distribute evenly.
  5. Add egg mixture and stir with a fork until a soft dough forms.  Add a splash of eggnog if needed to bind dough.
  6. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and give 5 to 6 kneads, just until well mixed.
  7. Flatten dough to 3/4" thick circle and cut circle into 8 wedges.
  8. Place wedges on an ungreased, parchment paper covered (VERY IMPORTANT!) cookie sheet.
  9. Bake for 20-25 minutes until medium brown.
bsi-1 bsi-2 bsi-3 This is why the parchment paper part of the process is SO IMORTANT.  When the scones first came out of the oven they looked like this... bsi-4 The hubb and I thought we'd leave them on the sheet for a few minutes until the peppermint hardened and then we would just pop them off the sheet.  WRONG.  The peppermint is like glue...those scones weren't going anywhere after being out of the oven for just one minute.  So, back in the oven they went to soften the peppermint. bsi-5 Once the peppermint softened after a few minutes we brought each scone out of the oven individually and put them on parchment paper on the drying rack.  I'm dreading scraping off the cookie sheet...we may just be buying a new one because I don't know how we're going to get the hardened peppermint off of it... bsi-9 Theses scones are soooooo good.  I love the texture of them, they are a little softer than scones you get in bakeries.  They have more of a biscuit-y texture than the dry, crumbly texture typical of the classic scone. bsi-10 The peppermint is perfect.  The eggnog doesn't come through as much as I had hoped, which might be a good thing since the peppermint is pretty strong. bsi-11 They are so festive visually and in flavor, they'd make a great addition to a Christmas baked goods gift. bsi-12 bsi-131
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categories baking
tags BSI, eggnog, peppermint, scones

saturday mornings...

Andrea

...are my favorite.  If I were to rank the Saturday mornings in my everyday life, today's would be near the top of the list.  It had all the components I crave:
  • a restful night's sleep
  • an early morning workout
  • a trip to the grocery store for beautiful produce
  • cooking in the kitchen with my hubb
  • a beautiful, delicious pancake breakfast
  • a smooth cup of coffee in my favorite NOLA mug
  • good tunes on the stereo
I'll start with my training run.  The hubb and I finished week #7 of our C'ville 10-Miler Training Program this morning! WooHoo!  We went to the track to meet up with the group at 8am.  We were a little late, so I'm not sure what distance groups 2-5 ran, but group 1 (yay group 1!!!) is up to 3 miles!!!  We rock.  :)  And, they finally had us out on the road instead of the track!  Hubb and I have been running on the road since the beginning, so we were revved up and ready to go.  We actually added an extra 1/4 mile to the route because we were feeling so good!  So, total run for this morning was 3-1/4 miles, with an additional 1/4 mile cool-down.  YAY!!!  I love the 3-mile mark because I feel like I'm actually being productive with my workout by getting a solid 30 minutes of running in.  It felt AWESOME.  And there are hills too, good hills that have you feeling worn out when you get to the top but then you get to recover with a nice downhill.  I LOVE IT! I get bored when I go to Florida and run because its so flat, but I am looking forward to the warmer weather when we head home for Christmas!!!  It was 26* this morning when we were out running!!! After our great workout, the hubb and I stopped at Foods of All Nations to pick up a few things for breakfast...we were out of coffee, fruit and eggs!  We'll do a bigger trip to Whole Foods later, but I was pleasantly surprised by the produce prices compared to WF so went ahead and got our fruit for the week.  I ate a banana on the way home. 081213-groceries-1 Lots of citrus, honeycrisp apples and CURRANTS!!!!  I l.o.v.e. currants. 081213-groceries-21 I look forward to this time of year because it means I get to have one of my all-time FAVORITE breakfasts... Fresh Red Currant Pancakes!  I hope you all like pictures of pancakes, because you're about to get a lot of them...I just can't help myself.  And I have to give credit to my hubb for a lot of these pictures...he's catching the food photography bug too!  :) 081213-b2 081213-b30813-b3 081213-b4 081213-b5 081213-b6 081213-b7 081213-b8 081213-b9 Happy Saturday!
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categories breakfast
tags currants, pancakes, running

holiday bootie buster challenge

Andrea

I'M SO GLAD ITS FRIDAY!!!!!!!  Is it just me or was this the longest week ever?!?  So I just discovered Run To The Finish's Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge and am super-excited to participate! I'm a few days late, but luckily I have a blog so I've got a good record of my exercise so far this week (although it doesn't amount to much yet...).  Here's my count so far...
  • 12.10.2008: run 2.7 miles = 2.7 points
  • 12.10.2008: abs for 15 minutes = .5 points
  • 12:11.2008: yoga for 50 minutes = 1.7 points
Total HBBC Points = 4.9  Its a bit of a slow start, but I'm hoping this challenge is just what I need to kick my exercise up a notch! This morning the hubb and I continued our new Friday morning breakfast tradition, meeting our friend Amy at our favorite breakfast spot, The Bluegrass Grill.  This morning I felt like something salty instead of sweet, so I decided to go with a veggie omelet. Breakfast:  Veggie Egg White Omelet with green pepper, green onion, tomatoes and black olives (no cheese), topped with salsa.  Hashbrowns and the AMAZING honey wheat bisucuit on the side.  I only ate 1/2 the potatoes and 1/2 the biscuit with a packet of strawberry jam on top.  And a cup of coffee, of course! 081212-b1 Lunch:  Leftover Butternut Squash, Kale + White Bean Soup and a handful of Kashi crackers. 081212-l2 081212-l1 Snack:  A banana and 1/4 cup of Melissa's Trail Mix, plus a chocolate covered pretzel...I just couldn't leave him out!  :) 081212-s1 Dinner tonight was quick and easy.  Grocery day is tomorrow which means we are LOW on produce...as in we don't have any.  We briefly thought about take-out but then I remembered that I picked up some pre-made ravioli at Trader Joe's on Tuesday...perfect dinner in a pinch!  I also found some frozen spinach in the freezer...I've never cooked frozen spinach on its own, just put it in sauces etc, so this was a new experience.  I just steamed it for 8 minutes, then sauteed some garlic in Earth Balance and added the spinach to the pot.  It was just...ok. Dinner:  TJ's Portobello Mushroom Ravioli with TJ's Vodka Sauce and steamed spinach on the side.  Also, a GIANT glass of TJ's Shiraz...it was a TJ's kind of night! 081212-d2 081212-d1 I told ya...BIG glass of wine.  It was a frustrating day at work, what can I say?!? Dessert:  I made a sweet snack bowl with Annie's Honey Bunnies, TJ's pumpkin spice granola and 3 gingersnaps.  It was a little dry (obviously) so I added a few spoonfuls of unsweetened applesauce after I snapped the pic. 081212-d3 Tomorrow ends Training Week #7 with a 3 mile run!!!  I can't believe we've already finished 7 weeks!!!  Crazy.  I think the weather will be decent so the hubb and I are planning to meet the group at the UVA track. However, if group one is still run/walking on the track we're going out on the road on our own for several reasons.  #1) We are planning to run the full 3 miles after our fabulous 2.7 mile run Wednesday.  #2) Running 3 miles on the track sounds like the most boring thing EVER, except for maybe running 3 miles on a treadmill...!   What are your weekend plans?  I'm hoping to finish my Christmas shopping/making!!!
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categories Uncategorized, breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags kashi, soup, trader joe's, trail mix, vino

rainy day = comfort food

Andrea

What a dreary day we've had.  I tried to stay inside as much as possible but had to run a couple of errands at lunch time...yuck.  I did come home to a fabulous surprise in my mailbox though...my BSI Prize Trail Mix from Melissa!!! 081211-trail-mix 081211-trail-mix-2 Melissa had the great idea of giving the winner of BSI: Sweet Potatoes a custom-made trail mix...she sent me a list of mixin's to choose from and this is what I decided on:
  • PB-filled pretzels
  • chocolate-covered pretzels
  • almonds
  • cashews
  • caramel bits
  • yogurt-covered raisins
  • dried cranberries
  • chocolate-covered banana chips
  • dried raspberries
  • raisins
It is soooooooooo good!  Thanks Melissa!!!  :)  I had a big handful as soon as I opened the box!!! I had high hopes for another wonderful run this evening but just didn't feel like going out in the nasty weather.  So instead I pulled out my favorite power yoga dvd...not the same as going to class but I went with it.  50 minutes later I was a bendy, stretchy, happy girl...I do love my yoga.  :) Backtrack a little to my day's eats...another post full of comfort food.  What is it about winter-time and the need for warm, filling meals...do all of you lucky Floridians with your 80* winters have the same cravings? I am so-in-love with the TJ's Pumpkin Spice Granola...I was craving it as soon as I got up this morning and thought it was a perfect opportunity to test out the new Siggi's yogurt that Whole Foods gave me as a consolation prize for eliminating my Oikos from their shelves. Breakfast:  One 6oz container of Siggi's Icelandic Skyr, plain, with 1/2 cup TJ's Pumpkin Spice Granola and one sliced banana. 081211-b1 081211-b2 081211-b3 I must say...I am VERY impressed with the Siggi's.  It is very thick but oh so creamy...Julz was right when she commented on my post awhile back that Skyr is like Greek yogurt on steroids!  I LOVED it...too bad it is WAY out of my price range.  $2.69 for 6oz?!?!?!?  I don't think so. Morning Snack:  3 ginger snaps while knitting...is there anything better on a rainy, cold day?!?  I went home around noon to let the pups out and realized that my lunch was actually at work (I didn't anticipate being able to leave the office today).  So, I decided to actually take my full lunch hour and just hang out on the couch for 30 minutes and work on a Christmas present...I was happy and so were the pups.  :) 081211-s2 Lunch:  Leftover Chicken Veggie Soup and a handful of Kashi crackers (I actually took these photos this morning before going to work...poured the soup out of its gladware into the nice bowl, then back into the gladware after the picture.  Yes, I'm becoming that obsessed with my food photography...). 081211-l1 081211-l21 Afternoon Snack:  Another glorious pear. 081211-s1 Dinner:  Homemade Veggie Pizza!  Woohoo!  We loaded a TJ's whole wheat pizza crust with:
  • TJ's pizza sauce
  • fresh spinach
  • onion
  • yellow bell pepper
  • broccoli
  • black olives
  • 1/3 cup part-skim mozzarella on my 1/2, LOTS of cheese on the hubb's 1/2
081211-d1 081211-d2 081211-d3 Mmmmmm...yum.  The crust needed a little longer in the oven, we typically bake it for 5-7 minutes before topping it but the TJ's instructions didn't say to do that so we stuck it in the oven raw with toppings.  It was still a little doughy, but yummy all the same.  :)  I had another piece 1/2 the size of the piece above...which would mean about 3 of 8 slices of a 12" pizza. Dessert:  A small cup of eggnog with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top...my holiday guilty pleasure! 081211-d5 I hope you all have a glorious night and Happy Friday!!!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, product review
tags granola, pizza, skyr, soup, trail mix

quiche + chicken veggie soup + veggie broth oh my!!!

Andrea

Good evening!  I hope you all have had a fabulous day!  Mine was good...I played lots of catch-up in the office after being out all day yesterday.  After work my hubb and I went for a fabulous run...YAY!!!  I was worried after my not-so-great run on Saturday when we didn't run the full 2.5 miles that were scheduled in our training.  We decided that tonight we would try to make up for it, especially since we hadn't been able to do anything the last two days with my overworking. I mapped out a 2.7 mile stretch for us close to our house that involves a looooong hill at the 1/2 mile mark all the way to the 1-1/4 mile mark and again at the 2-1/2 mile mark.    I just discovered the elevation tool on mapmyrun.com...look at that hill!!! 081210-map We made it though!  My hubb was great, he probably could have gone a lot further.  I was a very satisfied level of tired at the end....not feeling good enough for another mile but not completely dead either.  I'm so pleased!!!  :) I have some eats to tell you about, along with some recipes to share as promised.  I hope you can hang in there for one more long post from me... Breakfast:  3/4 cup Stoneyfield fat free french vanilla yogurt with one sliced banana and 1/4 cup of TJ's Spiced Pumpkin Granola. 081210-b1 Now I know what you've all been raving about!  The granola is AWESOME!  :) Lunch:  I pulled some black bean soup out of the freezer and added a dollop of sour cream to it along with an 8" sprouted wheat tortilla. 081210-l2 My office desk doesn't make nearly as nice of a background as my dining table at home... Snack:  I ate about 3 bites of this gala apple before tossing it because it was COMPLETELY devoid of flavor.  We finally finished all 13 pounds of hand-picked pink ladies...sigh.  :( 081210-s1 So instead I ate the other 1/2 of the Clif Builder's Bar I snacked on the other night. 081210-s2 Dinner:  Butternut Squash and Kale soup, modified from Kath's original recipe, along with a piece of my homemade whole wheat bread.  My soup had
  • 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 32oz box of creamy carrot soup
  • 1 cup of diced ham
  • 1 15oz can of white kidney beans
  • 6 cups of fresh chopped kale
  • salt + pepper to taste
081210-d1 081210-d2 081210-d3 The soup was really good, but a little thick for our tastes.  I actually had a different soup plan for the butternut squash, but when I realized that I had kale wilting in my fridge it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out Kath's recipe.  I do think I'll try my original plan next week...the hubb and I discussed it tonight and I think its going to be good! Recipe Recap:  As promised, here are the recipes for the amazing dinners my Hubb made Sunday and Monday nights.  They are both pretty simple, but full of so much home-cooked comfort food yumminess...! 081207-d71 Chicken Vegetable Soup with Homemade Veggie Broth Ingredients:
  • one gallon-size ziplock of frozen veggie parts*
  • 2 frozen cheese rinds**
  • 8 cups commercial veggie broth ONLY if you don't want to make your own
  • 2/3 pound of ground chicken, cooked and crumbled
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 4 medium russet potatoes, diced
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 cup frozen lima beans
  • 1 cup frozen okra
  • 2 15oz cans of diced tomatoes
  • salt + pepper to taste
* We put all raw veggie "waste" into a gallon-size ziplock bag we keep in the freezer.  "Waste" includes the ends of onions, asparagus, carrots, green beans, etc., basically anything that won't break down quiclkly (don't throw potato, squash, mushrooms etc. in there...you need to be able to strain everything out after simmering for awhile) * We keep the rinds of any hard cheese we use in a small ziplock in the freezer to use for soups etc.  Parmesan, parano and gouda are our most common. Steps (starting with veggie broth):
  1. Put all frozen veggie parts and 2 cheese rinds into large saucepan or stock pot.  Fill pot with water until veggies are covered.
  2. Bring to a boil, lower heat and let simmer uncovered for one hour.  If you simmer longer you will have more intense flavor, less time will yield a milder taste.
  3. Strain liquid through a fine colander or china cap (pictured below), collecting the broth in a bowl.
  4. Put your broth back in the soup pot, add the tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots and potatoes and bring all to a boil. Lower heat and simmer uncovered until the potatoes are starting to soften.
  5. Once the potatoes are slightly soft, but still about 10 minutes from being soft enough to bite easily, add the frozen veggies and the chicken.  
  6. When the potatoes are soft and the frozen veggies are heated through you soup is ready!
081207-d1 081207-d2 081207-d3 081207-d4 081207-d81 I LOVE my hubb's homemade soups....they are so incredible.  We typically make the version above completely veggie and add in some barley or israeli cous-cous, but we had leftover ground chicken after making the potstickers a few nights before so decided to throw it in.  That's the beautiful thing about these soups...anything and everything can go in!  And I also love that the homemade broths provide a way for us to use our veggie waste when the compost bin is out of commission during the winter. Monday night's dinner was another favorite of ours...QUICHE!  We always try to keep a frozen pie crust in the freezer so that if we have veggies that need to be used up we can throw together a quiche.  Its a quick, easy, nutritious dinner (as long as you are smart about the crust...!) and so good on a cold night.  I like to add in more egg whites and reduce some of the yolks, but we had exactly 5 eggs so had to use them completely (don't worry, egg yolks never go to waste around here...our dogs love them!) 081208-d1 Ham + Veggie Quiche Ingredients:
  • one frozen whole wheat pie crust
  • 1 head of broccoli, chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1/2 pound cooked ham, chopped
  • 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 5 eggs
Steps:
  1. Pull pie crust from freezer and allow to thaw for 10 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400*.
  2. Poke holes in the bottom of the crust, cover with foil, add pie weights (or dry beans) and bake for 10 minutes.
  3. Whisk eggs and add salt and pepper.  Set aside.
  4. Put fillings into crust.  Pour egg on top.  Add more egg if needed, the crust should be about 2/3's full.
  5. Bake @ 400* for 60 minutes on the BOTTOM rack of oven.
081208-d21 081209-d21 Whew!  Another long post complete.  Thanks again for hanging in there...I hope to get some feedback on these recipes as you all try them!  I'm off to bed...
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, recipes
tags Clif, black beans, quiche, soup, yogurt

trader joe's and daily eats recap

Andrea

Hello!!!  So so so sorry I've been m.i.a. the last couple of days...  Monday night I was at work late trying to prepare for my project meeting in Raleigh on Tuesday, and Tuesday I drove 4 hours each way to Raleigh and back so was completely exhausted by the time I got home at 9pm.  I have LOTS of catch-up to do, but before I get into my eats I wanted to report about My First Trader Joe's Experience!!! I stopped at a brand new store in Richmond on my way home from Raleigh.  I'm excited because this store is right next to a huge shopping area that we visit every now and then only about 50 minutes from our house, so I think we'll be able to make Trader Joe's stops every couple of months at least!  The store was a lot smaller than I expected, and I didn't realize that they carry mostly Trader Joe's brand, which explains the smaller store. You all gave me such GREAT suggestions and I was able to get most of them!  I didn't get any frozen stuff because I had a bit of a drive ahead of me and knew it would probably thaw, but I did stock up on wine and non-perishables, and a couple of cold things 'cause I bought a TJ's cold bag!  Here's my loot... tj-1
  • brown rice pasta
  • canned beans
  • canned soup (organic split pea, veggie chili and lentil veggie)
  • cranberry apple butter
  • pumpking butter (!!!)
  • edamame hummus (!!!)
  • fat free balsamic dressing
  • multigrain tortilla chips
  • dark chocolate covered candy cane joe joe's (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
  • soyaki sauce
  • sweet chile sauce
  • twigs, flakes and clusters cereal
  • pomegranate and blueberry flakes and clusters cereal (!!!)
  • soy sauce
  • crunchy peanut butter
  • harvest grains mix
  • pumpkin spice granola (!!!)
  • korma simmer sauce
  • masala simmer sauce
tj-21 Not pictured:
  • pizza sauce
  • vodka sauce
  • active dry yeast
  • cranberries
  • hearts of palm
  • vino!!!
I'm so excited to try out all of these new products!  Especially since I've been reading about most of them on your blogs for months now!  I broke into the dark chocolate covered candy cane joe joe's on my way home from Richmond...oh. my. goodness.  Those beauties are little pieces of heaven in cookie form.  I don't have a picture since I was driving and it was dark, but I'm sure I'll be featuring them in the next week!  :) Now to back track a little, all the way to Sunday night.  My hubb was kind enough to make an AWESOME meal while I was working on my BSI: GINGER round-up post. Sunday Dinner:  Homemade Chicken Veggie Soup with Homemade Veggie Broth...YUM!!!  I'll post the recipe in a separate post later today, this post will get way too long if I include all my recipes too!  I also made whole wheat bread for the very first time without a bread machine!!!  I'm quite proud because the loaves turned out beautifully. 081207-d7 081207-d8 081207-d6 I made two loaves, so I sliced one and put it in the freezer for later. 081207-d9 Sunday Dessert:  Becca's award-winning Ancho Ginger Applesauce!  :) 081207-d10 Snacks:  I of course snacked on some of the baked goods I made throughout the day. I think I wound up eating two of VeggieGirl's Pear Pistachio Ginger Blondies and one of Jessica's Chocolate Gingerbread Bars.  No pics...sorry!  I need to get better about my baked good / snack consumption...I've been going a little overboard.  :( Monday Breakfast:  Toasted Ezekiel Cinn Raisin Muffin w/ 1 tbsp almond butter and sliced banana, the rest of the banana on the side. 081208-b1 Monday Lunch:  1/2 a leftover enchi-rito and a spinach salad with yellow bell pepper, cucumber and lite ranch dressing. 081208-l2 081208-l1 Snacks Monday:  My lunch calories were a little light (surprising I know, but the enchirito really isn't bad for you!) so I was hungry for this beautiful pear a couple of hours later.  I also grabbed one of the chocolate gingerbread bars that I brought into the office to share with my co-workers. 081208-s1 081208-s3 And because I was in the office until about 8:30, I ate 1/2 of this Clif Builder's Bar at 6:30 to keep myself from eating more choco. gingerbread bars... (iphone pic, sorry!) 081208-s2 Monday Dinner:  My hubb came to the rescue again with a fabulous quiche!!! I'll post this recipe later too...it was SO YUMMY!  And I was starving by the time I got home so I had 1/4 of it, along with a glass of chardonnay (no pic...). 081208-d2 And for dessert a molasses clove cookie (see what I mean about the sweets!?!?!?) 081208-d3 We're almost there!!!  Thanks for hangin' in there for this LONG post!  :) Tuesday Breakfast:  Toasted Ezekiel Cinn Raisin Muffin with 2 tbsp PB...I wanted to make sure I wouldn't get hungry on my drive and be tempted by a Starbucks baked goodie!  Also, a banana.   081209-b1 I managed to get PB all over myself while driving.  It was dark and I had no idea until the sun came up...pathetic.  :P Tuesday Morning Snack:  I stopped at Starbucks for a grande non-fat chai latte about halfway through my morning drive. 081209-s1 Tuesday Lunch:  We all went out to a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant where I ordered grilled tofu on lemongrass vermicelli noodles.  It was AMAZING but I have no pictures because it was definitely not appropriate to pull out my iphone with the entire team of architects and engineers present.  It was sooooo good though... Tuesday Afternoon Snack:  My hubb was so sweet and made me a very special trail mix to snack on during my long drive...he even took the pictures for me so that the note stayed a surprise.  He's the best!!!  :)  I had a handful of the mix on my way home. 081209-s2 Tuesday Evening Snack:  One glorious dark chocolate covered joe joe... 081209-s3 Tuesday Dinner:  Leftover quiche and a spinach salad with hearts of palm, red bell pepper, cucumber and lite ranch dressing.  And a much-needed glass of cabernet after my long day. 081209-d1 081209-d2 Whew!!!  Thanks for sticking with me!  I'll be back later tonight to post today's eats and the two dinner recipes I promised.  I feel so out of the blog loop because I haven't read any since Sunday!!!  I hope to get caught up tonight...  Have a great day!  :)
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categories baking, breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags bread, ezekiel muffin, quiche, salad, soup, trader joe's

BSI: GINGER round-up!

Andrea

I am so excited by all of the fabulous recipes that were submitted for the BSI: GINGER contest this week!  You all did a great job working with an ingredient that many of you weren't completely comfortable with.  I'm so proud!!!  :) Here are all of the entries I received over the last week... Mel @ A Taste of Life : Gingered Chicken and Vegetable Potstickers Caroline @ Banana Cabana : Ginger Orange Balsamic Glazed Chicken Beth @ Biggest Diabetic Loser : Grilled Chicken Wraps with Creamy Citrus Ginger Dressing Becca @ Bites of the Day : Ancho Ginger Applesauce and Ginger Rugelach Christina @ Dinner at Christina's : Crustless Apple Pie with Ginger Topping Jessica @ Johnstone's Vin Blanc : Chocolate Gingerbread Bars Miss Tiffie @ Miss Tiffie Munches : Apricot Ginger Pork Tenderloin Jess @ See Jess Run : Maple and Ginger Roasted Salmon Ashley @ Sweet + Natural : Crystalized Ginger Cookies Tri to Cook : Blueberry and White Chocolate Chunk Ginger Cookies and Curried Lentils with Butternut Squash VeggieGirl : VeggieGirl's Veganized Pear-Pistachio-Ginger Blondies Catherine @ Stevia + Spice : Extra Snappy Gingersnaps

Extra Snappy Gingersnaps

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 1 1/2 cayenne
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temp
  • 1/2 cup shortening, room temp
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup mild-flavored molasses
  • 1/4 cup egg whites (from 2 eggs)
  • Sugar (for rolling)
  1. Combine flour, soda, spices, salt and grated ginger in a medium mixing bowl.  Whisk to blend.  In a separate bowl, cream together sugars, shortening and butter until fluffy.  Add egg and molasses and beat until blended.  Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line 2 baking sheets with silpat cookie sheets.  Spoon sugar in thick layer onto a small plate.  Using wet hands, form dough into 3/4-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely.  Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. 
  3. Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to the touch, 8-10 minutes.  Cool on sheets one minute.  Carefully transfer to racks and cook.  (Can be made up to 5 days ahead of time.  Store airtight at room temp.)

**makes 60 small cookies.

Thankfully my hubb offered to help me with the judging, I don't know how I could have made this decision on my own! There were so many great examples of sweet and savory uses for ginger, and in the end we chose a recipe that we felt could also be used both ways... The winner of BSI: GINGER is... Becca's Ancho Ginger Applesauce!!! What we both loved about this recipe was not only its originality and simplicity, but also the fact that it immediately evoked images of a summer barbeque on your back deck.  Big ol' bbq pork (or bbq tofu!) sandwich in your hand with Ancho Ginger Applesauce on top, the juice dripping down your arm as you take a big bite...  Ahhh summer.  Maybe its the fact that I had to go out in below freezing weather to get ancho chile powder that made this image so divine in my head, but after I tasted it I was even more sure.  Especially when I realized that its flavor truly transcends all seasons, summer barbeque, paired with roast pork and veggies for a fall dinner party, dessert on a cold winter night...it works in every scenario. bsi-c2 bsi-c3 bsi-c4 bsi-c1 Excellent work, Becca!  Hubb and I ate it for dessert tonight...  :)  I'm still deciding on a prize...here are my top 3 choices:
  • Trader Joe's care package (do you have one near you?)
  • A copy of one of my favorite cookbooks, Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop (if you don't already have it, if you do I can pick a different one)
  • A loaf of my pumpkin cranberry bread along with a few of my favorite baking ingredients
What do you all think it should be? Next week's BSI Host is... Ashley @ Sweet and Natural!!!  I LOVE Ashley's blog, she posts fabulous, naturally sweetened recipes several times a week along with very informative posts about key ingredients.  And she has a wonderfully witty style of writing that always has me laughing.  I'm sure her contest will be a blast so check in with her to see what the new ingredient is! My hubb and I had fun this weekend testing out some of the entries...check out what we tried! Mel's Gingered Chicken + Veggie Potstickers 081206-d2 081206-d3 081206-d5 081206-d9 081206-d11 They were SOOOO GOOD and so easy to make!!!!  These fabulous little potstickers even managed to evoke a food dance out of the hubb...that rarely happens and you know when it does that whatever he is eating is goooood.  The ginger was the PERFECT compliment to the ground chicken and veggie filling...I even wished we had come up with some great spicy ginger sauce to pour over the top of them but we just used some teriyaki we had in the fridge.  This is a DEFINITE KEEPER in our house! VeggieGirl's Veganized Pear Pistachio Ginger Blondies bsi-a2 bsi-a3 bsi-a4 VeggieGirl did an amazing job at veganizing this recipe...hubb and I are both EXTREMELY IMPRESSED!!!  This is our first dive into vegan baking, and we honestly couldn't tell a difference!  Not that we've tried the original recipe...but you know what I mean.  The blondies are perfectly chewy in texture, and the flavors meld together wonderfully.  I especially love when you occasionally bite into a chunk of the crystalized ginger...YUM!!!  Or as VeggieGirl says...HOLY YUM!!!!  :) Jessica's Chocolate Gingerbread Bars bsi-b1 bsi-b2 bsi-b3 These bars were wonderfully chocolate-y and spicy, with a perfect chewy texture.  I took them with me today to a little knitting party and they were a BIG HIT!  Definitely a great start to the holiday baking season... I was planning to try Ashley's Crystalized Ginger Cookies as well...I just ran out of ginger, and energy.  :)  Look for it later this week, ginger cookies are a FAVORITE in our house! Ok, I can't write anymore.  Its a shame, too, because Brian made a beautiful dinner tonight that deserves a great post...its just going to have to happen tomorrow.  :)  Goodnight!
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categories Uncategorized

trader joe's request!!

Andrea

I hope everybody is having a fabulous Sunday!!!  I've been having fun in my kitchen whipping up a few of the BSI entries submitted to me this week!  Don't forget to send me your recipe by 8pm tonight, and even if I didn't get a chance to actually make it you are of course still in the running to win!!! Before I forget, last night I had a little snack while watching Sex + The City reruns... 081206-s1 An unsweetened apple sauce cup with Annie's Honey Bunny Grahams on top.  Not pictured are the two additional handfuls of bunnies I had after this...I had such a sweet tooth yesterday!!! Breakfast:  Bowl of cereal, boring I know but it was just what I wanted. I combined 1/2 cup Kashi H2H, 1/2 cup Nature's Path Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch, 1 cup Silk plain soymilk and 1 sliced banana. 081207-b12 Workout:  Vinyasa Yoga at Studio 206.  Mmmmmmmm.  :) Lunch:  Leftover Healthified Enchi-rito and a HUGE pear...yum! 081207-l1 I'll be back later to post the BSI:GINGER results!!! (probably after 10pm est...) IMPORTANT ::: Trader Joe's Request On Tuesday I have to drive to Raleigh for a project meeting.  Because we don't have Trader Joe's in Charlottesville, I am planning on stopping at TJ's in either Raleigh or Richmond on the way home.  This will be my FIRST TJ'S EXPERIENCE EVER!!!  I would love some advice from all of you lucky readers who get to shop at TJ's weekly...What should I get?!?  I want to try out some of your favorite TJ's items, so please tell me the items you buy at TJ's that you can't live without!  Thank you!!!  :)
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categories breakfast, lunch, product review
tags cereal, trader joe's, yoga

training + groceries + egg drop soup

Andrea

Hello my fellow bloggies!  Have you all had a good Saturday?  Mine started out gloriously...the hubb and I slept in 'till 10:30!!!  I cannot even remember the last time we slept that late!  My alarm went off at 7:30 to meet the training group for a run, but when I rolled over to check the temperature and saw that it was only 16* outside I rolled right back over and fell back to sleep!   We did get up and go for a run once it reached a balmy 25* at 11am.  Brrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!  Today was supposed to be 2.5 miles and I mapped out a nice, although hilly, run for us around campus and some surrounding shopping areas.  When we first started I felt really choppy, like I couldn't get into the groove.  Things finally evened out and felt good after about 1/3 mile and stayed that way until about 1-1/2 miles, but then I got two horrible cramps, one under my ribs and one behind my hip bone.  Wierd, huh?  I had to stop to walk it off and decided to just walk the rest of the way back, so I only got about 1-3/4 miles in.  I was so bummed.  Especially after having such good runs this week.  I know sometimes you just have "off" days that can't be predicted or explained.  I remember even when I was having great 8-mile long runs I would have an "easy" 3-mile run a couple days later that I could barely finish.  What do you other runners do out there when you get a cramp mid-run? Breakfast:  I had 1/2 a banana about 30 minutes before my run, then had two Kashi Go Lean blueberry waffles afterwards. One was topped with 1 tbsp almond butter and the other with 1 tbsp apple butter, both with sliced pink lady apple. 081206-b1 Lunch:  Well, breakfast was kinda lunch since I slept so late, so my schedule was off all day.  I did make the horrible mistake of going grocery shopping while hungry, which resulted in several snacks that you will see shortly. I had the worst Whole Foods shopping experience today.  I'm still bummed out about it.  I've mentioned that we have a tiny store that doesn't carry a great selection of bars etc, but they are building a new store so I've just been hanging in there 'till its finished.  Over the couple of years that the hubb and I have been shopping at this Whole Foods they've taken away several products that I love dearly to make room for new or different products.  Some examples of products I love that I can no longer get at my store are:
  • Clif Nectar Cherry Pomegranate flavor
  • Clif Nectar Cranberry Apricot flavor
  • Newman's Own Salt + Pepper Pretzels
  • Nairn gluten-free Ginger Crackers
  • Nairn gluten-free Oat Crackers
And there are countless other things that other Whole Foods stores carry that mine does not.  Especially infuriating are the items that have coupons in the Whole Deal catalogs they pass out that I can't even get at my store.  So today, I had made a list that of course included Stoneyfield Oikos yogurt on it, but when I got to the yogurt aisle there was NO OIKOS!!!  I thought they must be out, until I noticed that the product's spot on the shelf was filled with something new and that there was no longer a tag for the OIKOS!!!  Incredulous, I asked the first WF employee I could find "what happened to the Oikos?!?!?!?!?!?" and he said "Oh, we started carrying this other product instead".  WHAT?!?!?!?!  I know I gave him the same look that my hubb gave me when I told him I had messed with his No-Bakes.  WHY would they stop carrying OIKOS?!?!?!?!  Its only the BEST YOGURT EVER!!!  I was seriously depressed for the rest of the trip.  It didn't help that my next item on the list was wonton wraps, which live on the dairy aisle just down from the Oikos.  When I got to their usual spot on the shelf there were none to be had.  I asked the same employee about wonton wraps and he said "yeah, I think that was another product that got bumped".  Ridiculous.  Not a wonton wrap to be seen in the entire store.   So, our grocery shopping trip today included three separate stores, Whole Foods, Harris Teeter (for oikos and wonton wraps) and Rebecca's Natural Foods (for dried pears, which are nearly impossible to find!!!).  Here's the loot: groceries-1 groceries-2 groceries-3 Yeah, this was a pricey trip.  Mainly because I had to stock up on some baking ingredients for the holidays and some specialty ingredients for BSI recipes I wanted to try out.  I don't have the energy to list all of the items so pictures will have to speak for themselves...  And I do have to give the nice employees at my Whole Foods credit.  When I went to Customer Service to fill out a form to get my Oikos back (yes, I did that), they offered to let me take a container of the new product that had replaced it to sample for free.  I thought that was mighty nice of them... groceries-4 I am intrigued...has anybody ever heard of  "icelandic style skyr" before?  This product had some amazing flavors, but I wanted to get the plain so I could do a true comparison to the Oikos I'm used to.  However, the Siggi's is a whopping $2.69 per 6 oz container, so even if I love it I won't be buying it.  I had a hard enough time paying $1.99 for Oikos, so $2.69 is out of the question! Oh, and this is what happens when you go to the grocery store(s) hungry: groceries-5 You buy ginger snaps from Whole Foods, apple chips from Harris Teeter and molasses clove cookies from Rebecca's.  All were amazing and satisfied the hubb's and my hunger in the car on the way home... Dinner:  I can only talk about part of the meal because the other part was a finalist in the BSI:Ginger contest this week.  I'm trying out several of the recipes being submitted so get them in ASAP so that I can try as many as possible!  :)  Tonight I made the best Egg Drop Soup ever.  I found this recipe so long ago that I can't even remember where I got it.  But trust me, it is SO GOOD.  If you like egg drop soup then you MUST try this recipe... Egg Drop Soup serves 2  Ingredients:
  • 4 cups chicken or veggie broth, divided
  • 3 quarter-size chunks of fresh ginger or 1/8 tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh scallions
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1-1/2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
Steps:
  1. Reserve 3/4 cup of the broth, and pour the rest into a medium-size saucepan.  Stir in the salt, ginger and scallions and bring to a rolling boil.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and the cornstarch until smooth.  Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk together using a fork.  Drizzle the egg a little at a time from the fork into the boiling broth mixture.  Egg should cook immediately.   
  4. Once the eggs have been dropped, stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually into the soup is the desired consistency.
  5. If fresh ginger was used, remove the chunks before serving.
081206-d7 081206-d8 It is so easy, so fast and soooooo yummy!  I'll have more pictures tomorrow night showing my whole dinner. I also had a glass of vino. 081206-d1 Ok, its time for bed.  Don't forget to get your BSI recipe in!!!
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categories breakfast, dinner, product review
tags BSI, egg, kashi, soup, wine

BSI: GINGER reminder!

Andrea

Happy Saturday everybody!!!  Remember, 8pm tomorrow is the cut-off for submitting your BSI: GINGER recipes to me!  Please either comment on the blog or send an email to let me know you've posted so I can keep track. Also, I started a category on the right side of my blog called BSI: GINGER entries so far...please check to make sure I've got you down if you have submitted a recipe and send me an email if I've somehow missed you, bellaeats@gmail.com. I hope you are all having a great weekend so far!  I'll be back later to report my eats...  :) PS:  Anybody have any good ideas for PRIZES????  I need to look back at old BSI contests to get some inspiration, but I'd love some suggestions!!!  :) 081205-d11
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categories Uncategorized
tags BSI, ginger

bluegrass grill + tofu two ways

Andrea

Brian and I park about 1/3 of a mile from our offices every morning.  The walk to work is short and pleasant, but forces us to pass our favorite C'ville breakfast spot, The Bluegrass Grill.  The restaurant serves down-home breakfasts and is famous for their house-made baked goods, especially the honey wheat biscuits.  I dream about their biscuits.  Its impossible to get a table on the weekends without waiting an hour, so we don't get to go very often, but every morning as we walk by we say "we need to get up early one day and go before work".  After 6 months of talking about it, today was finally "one day".  We invited our good friend Amy to join us so it was the perfect start to a Friday morning, good food + good company. Breakfast:  Short stack of Honey Wheat Pancakes with fresh strawberries, real maple syrup and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.  It was AMAZING.  I ate almost the whole plate.  :)  Surprisingly these puppies stuck with me from 8am until 1:30pm!!!  I thought for sure that I would be starving by 10. 081205-b1 Lunch:  Because I knew I'd be having a large, not-so-healthy breakfast I decided to keep lunch simple and satisfying.  I had a baked sweet potato in the fridge so tossed it in a bowl with 1/2 cup edamame and sea salt sprinkled on top.  Perfect. 081205-l1 And two more of the Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies from my co-worker... 081204-l41 Snack:  Nothing!  My lunch was so late that I didn't need one. Dinner:  Miso soup and pan-glazed tofu.   I wanted to use some of this guy in the spirit of this week's BSI... 081205-d1 I used my favorite recipe from Moosewood for Miso Soup with Tofu and Shitake Mushroom Broth. 081205-d3 And pan-glazed my tofu using this method, but with the following glaze.
  • 1/4 cup water (usually this would be veggie broth, but i'm out)
  • 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tsp minced ginger
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
081205-d4 081205-d5 081205-d6 And a lovely glass of cabernet. 081205-d2 Dessert: 1/2 cup fat free french vanilla Stoneyfield yogurt, 1 small pink lady apple and a handful of Annie's Honey Bunny Grahams. 081205-d7 Does anybody have any big weekend plans?  I am going to be a knitting machine...my goal is to start and finish a scarf this weekend that will be a Christmas gift.  I went to the yarn shop today during lunch to pick up a blend that I'm really excited about!  I finished a scarf last night that is also a Christmas gift, but I can't show it because I don't want to ruin the surprise for the recipient!  :) Have a great night! PS:  Kelly over at groundedfitness is giving away a danskin vest...check out her blog to see how you can win it!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, retaurants
tags edamame, ginger, miso, sweet potato, tofu, vino, wine, yogurt

enchi-ritos!

Andrea

Good Evening!  First of all, another exciting announcement.  Don't know if any of you read Design*Sponge, (if you don't, you should check it out!!!), but they've released their 2008 Gift Guides!!!  I've been waiting for this for about a month now, and just checked in today.  I'm super-excited because they find the coolest stuff...!!!  If you're not familiar with the site, make sure to check out all of their guides...the City Guides are especially useful when searching for fabulous design while traveling, which the hubby and I typically are. We're design dorks.  :) On to food... Breakfast:  I found a use for my No-Bakes!!!  Last night I decided to stick them in the fridge to see if they would firm up...they didn't.  So instead of eating a cold cookie as I was hoping, I crumbled (or more accurately pulled and pinched) one "cookie" into my oats bowl.  YUM!!!!!!!!  This was a standard bowl with 1 cup prepared rolled oats, one mashed banana, 1 tsp ground flax seeds and a failed No-Bake.  The "cookie" melted into the oats and added the perfect amount of chocolate-y peanut-y goodness.  Now granted, I could have had the same affect by adding a regular spoonful of PB and a sprinkling of cocoa but I felt much better knowing that I had not wasted at least one cookie.  At 120 calories it wasn't a horrible add-in, but it didn't stick with me as well as my standard tbsp of almond butter does. 081204-b1 081204-b2 Lunch: A little boring today, but still really tasty.  I never got around to making my lentil salad as planned, so lunch groceries are getting a little low...  I made a spinach salad with the last of my mashed chickpeas, some orange bell pepper, frozen corn, frozen broccoli shrapnel and light ranch dressing.  All mashed together it was divine!!! 081204-l2 And an Amy's Low Fat Black Bean Veggie soup. 081204-l3 081204-l1 It was a very filling + satisfying lunch.  For dessert I had two of these beauties: 081204-l4 Mini Pumpkin Walnut Chocolate Chip cookies from my co-worker's wife.  They were sooooooo good.  :) Snack:  My lunch + dessert really filled me up today, so I managed to hold off 'till 4:30 to eat my Pink Lady apple.  I skipped the ZBar all together... 081204-s1 Dinner:  Chicken Black Bean Enchi-ritos!  This is a recipe that I found on foodnetwork.com awhile ago and have modified quite a bit since then.  I made my hubb my classic comfort food version and  made myself an even further modified version.  So modified that it can't even really be called the same thing, so I think I'll post both recipes... Chicken Black Bean Enchiritos 081204-d61 Hehe...can you tell which side is mine and which side is the hubb's? Brian's Enchirito Filling Ingredients:
  • 3 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup light sour cream
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 1/2 cup enchilada sauce (more for topping)
  • 1 cup shredded monterrey jack/cheddar cheese (more for topping)
  • 2 small chicken breasts, baked and shredded
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/2 cup black beans (canned)
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • salt + pepper
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced
Steps:
  1. In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and the sour cream.  Stir in the salsa , enchilada sauce and shredded cheese.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix together the shredded chicken, corn, black beans, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper and scallions.
  3. Add the chicken mixture to the cheese mixture and stir to combine.
081204-d11 Andrea's Enchirito Filling Ingredients:
  • 1 chicken breast, baked and shredded
  • 3/4 cup black beans
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup fresh spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • sprinkle of shredded cheese (plus a little for topping)
  • enchilada sauce for topping
Steps:
  1. In a medium bowl mix the chicken, corn, black beans, corn, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and cayenne.
  2. Add the salsa, bell pepper and scallions.
  3. Last, stir in the spinach leaves.
081204-d21 My hubb found these tortillas in the freezer section at Whole Foods awhile ago and knew I would like them. 081214-d31 The enchiritos can be made in any kind of tortilla...I think they'd be really good in the 6" corn tortillas too.  These are burrito size, so the mixtures above resulted in 5 total burritos. 2 of Brian's... 081204-d41 2 of mine... 081204-d51 And one that mixed the two fillings. Assembly:
  1. Pour 1/2 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of large, glass baking dish.  
  2. Place filling in tortillas, roll up and place seam-side down in pan.
  3. Cover enchiritos with enchilada sauce and cheese.
  4. Bake at 350* for 25 minutes until hot and bubbly.
081204-d7 081204-d81 Both of these recipes are soooooooooo good.  Brian's is definitely better, that cheesy mixture is amazing.  But, I was really happy with my version too.   I had one enchirito topped with salsa, and steamed broccoli on the side.  It was a very filling, satisfying meal. 081204-d111 081204-d12 Whew!  That was a long post!  I hope everybody had a fabulous day...I'm off to bed to read.  Goodnight!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags oats, recipes, salad

don't mess with a good thing

Andrea

Well, the poor little No Bake Cookies never hardened.  I figured out why with the help of my very wise (and somewhat disappointed) hubby.  I wandered into the office to sheepishly confess that I had "slightly modified" the cookies to "try and make them a little healthier" while he gave me a blank look and simply asked "WHY?". Fair enough.  I explained that I wanted to substitute honey for some of the sugar in the recipe, and that since I was adding a liquid I felt like I should subtract some liquid from the recipe.  Makes sense, right?  Well, the liquid I decided to subtract was butter (which was to be melted before adding to the cookie mix). "But the butter is what holds them together and makes them firm up!"  Right.  Point taken. So, I leave you with Nana's No Bake Cookies, which I assure you are little bites of heavenly goodness, and look just like this before they harden up into actual cookies that you can pick up and hold rather than mushy, sticky blobs... 081203-d31 Nana's No Bake Cookies makes 4 dozen "2 bite" cookies Ingredients:
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3-1/2 cups instant oatmeal (I've used rolled oats too, they are just a bit chewier)
Steps:
  1. Mix cocoa, sugar, butter and milk in a medium saucepan and simmer for 2 minutes.
  2. Remove from heat and add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal.
  3. Spoon onto wax paper or foil until set, 1-2 hours.
So easy, so tasty...so going to be making them soon because now I have a CRAVING!!! Oh, and I'm fully aware that this is my second post on the day that I'm starting "one post a day"...  :) Goodnight!
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categories baking
tags chocolate, oats, peanut butter

leftovers and no-bakes!

Andrea

Happy Wednesday!  Can you believe Thanksgiving was already one week ago?!?  Crazy.  I hope you have all had a fabulous day.  Thank you all for the great comments today and for being so supportive of my blog and decision to try one post a day...I think it will be better to keep the food diary consolidated into a summary each night.  I'll give it a trial period and see how it goes!  :)  I'm sorry I haven't been responding to comments...I need to play catch-up!!! My day was pretty busy, but not as busy as it really needed to be.  I've got a big meeting on Tuesday in Raleigh for my project, and just 2 weeks until a big big big deadline.  I'm not feeling the pressure yet which scares me...I'm afraid its going to mean some REALLY late nights at the end of this two weeks.  :(  I did have a fabulous run after work though! Brian and I went to UVA campus for a lovely 2 mile run.  It felt SO GOOD!!!  Brian's legs are much longer than mine so he gets ahead of me but is sweet enough to slow down and let me catch up.  We don't talk much, which I'm actually starting to like because it gives me time to get lost in my own thoughts.  I'm just so excited that running is becoming enjoyable for me again and that so far I seem to be steering clear of injury!  WooHoo!  I can't wait to keep increasing my mileage and run the New Year's Day 5k, it'll be here before I know it! On to food... Breakfast: Slice of Maple Banana Cornbread (still moist after 4 days!!!) with 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 cup of vanilla Oikos and my persimmon. 081203-b1 081203-b2 081203-b3 This was my first persimmon, and I was surprised at how sweet/mild the flavor was. I was expecting it to be much more tart. The flesh is very similar to a mango, and the skin (in my opinion) is inedible. I enjoyed it, but wound up picking it out of the yogurt to eat on its own. The yogurt overpowered the mild taste of the fruit. Lunch: I made a quick lima bean and corn salad (inspired from a Self recipe this summer...) and tossed it on a bed of spinach.
  • 3/4 cup frozen lima beans, thawed
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
This was such a yummy combo, the dressing from the salad coated the spinach leaves perfectly. 081203-l1 081203-l2 Snack:  Pink Lady Apple (of course!) and the other 1/2 of my Cinnamon Roll Larabar. 081203-s2 Dinner:  Leftover Healthified Baked Ziti and a spinach salad.  Look at that monster piece Brian cut me!  Its actually only 1.5 servings, and I managed to eat most of it...! 081203-d1 My salad tonight had fresh spinach, hearts of palm, red bell pepper, celery, almonds and light ranch dressing.  Yum! 081203-d2 Dessert:  I made cookies!!!  I've been in such a baking mood lately...  This is another of Brian's favorite recipes from his grandmother.  I did make a few modifications...I just can't help myself!!!  These cookies are so great and simple because they require NO BAKING!!!  They are completely similar to Gina's breakfast cookies but not quite as healthy...  I thought about adding banana to these but I just don't know that they would hold up well enough to actually be little bite-size cookies.  Plus, I didn't want to derail Brian too much...  :)  Anyway, they are still hardening (but seem to be taking awhile...hopefully my modifications didn't screw them up!!!) so I will snap some pictures tonight and post the recipe tomorrow if they turn out ok.  And if not, I'll post Brian's grandmothers original recipe because I KNOW they are delicious!!! Here they are hardening... 081203-d3 Oh little chocolate-y, peanut butter-y, oatmeal-y bites of goodness I could eat all of you!!!! What is your favorite family recipe?
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags cookies, larabar, oikos, salad

exciting stuff in the blog world...

Andrea

Hi Everybody!  Thank you all for the great comments today!  I loved hearing about all of your favorite foods...it definitely seems like nut butters and bananas are the winners (and two of my daily faves as well!) I thought I'd share a couple of exciting events happening in the blog world this week/month... Rhodeygirl Tests is having a Cookie Contest!!!  Submit your recipe by this Friday, December 5th.  She's going to pick 6 finalists and make each of them over the following 10 days to decide on a winner! Heather and Mark at HangryPants have announced their quest for the month of December, to help raise awareness and money for those less fortunate.  Every comment made on the blog until December 22nd will earn 5 cents and will be donated to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, along with all financed with their earnings from Food Buzz!  What a fabulous idea...those two are so clever! Katie over at Good Things Catered started 25 Days of Treats yesterday.  Each day until December 25th she will be sharing a recipe for a treat that is easy to make, package and ship to be used as gifts this holiday season!  She's already got a couple of good ones posted...go check them out! BSI: Ginger!!!  Don't forget to submit your recipe to me by 8pm this Sunday, December 7th. On to the food diary... I ate and enjoyed everything I listed earlier, except for a couple of veggies and with the addition of 1/2 a Cinnamon Bun Larabar.  I was planning to go to my 90 minute yoga class but decided I just didn't want to get home after 9pm.  So instead I did a Power Yoga dvd at home for 50 minutes.  It was good, but definitely not as satisfying as just going to class.  I'll try and remember that next week... Dinner:  Baked sweet potato with 1/3 cup edamame and 1/3 cup corn, sprinkled with sea salt.  Some mashed chickpeas and Kashi crackers on the side.  I was in the mood for something simple and satisfying...this did the trick! 081202-d1 081202-d2 Alright, sorry this was short and sweet.  I'm thinking of trying one food diary post a day, what do you think? Its a little stressful trying to get a post up in the mornings before work or during my lunch break, and I was thinking it might be better to consolidate all the day's eats into one posting.  Any thoughts?  Suggestions? Does it even matter?  :)  What is your favorite time of day to catch up on your blog reading?
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categories dinner
tags sweet potato, yoga

blogiversary!

Andrea

Good morning!  Man, yesterday was a whirlwind!!!  I had so many fun things to blog about that I completely forgot to mention my evening run, or the fact that yesterday was my one-month blogiversary!  I can't believe its been a whole month since I signed up for Bella Eats one Friday afternoon...completely on a whim.  It has been an amazing experience for me so far, and I can't wait to see how the blog grows and changes over time.  Thank you all for being so supportive and fun to get to know, I appreciate each and every one of you and encourage you all to speak up if you have any comments or suggestions! Not only has the blog been creatively and emotionally fulfilling for me, but it has also done wonders for me physically!  I feel like I have been able to apply all of the great tips and techniques that I've been learning from other food bloggers out there, and can honestly say that my body feels and looks better than it did one month ago!  I can say this because today I am wearing a pair of dress pants to work that I haven't been able to wear in 6+ months...and they fit perfectly!  Woohoo!!!  :)  I am excited to see my body continue to grow stronger and leaner, especially as I continue to increase my running mileage and gain even more flexibility through my yoga classes. On to food... Breakfast:  One of my favorite combos...Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin with 1 tbsp almond butter and 1/2 chopped apple.  The rest of the apple on the side. 081202-b1 081202-b2 Lunch:  Leftover smoked turkey soup, mashed chickpeas with cucumber and yellow bell pepper. 081202-l1 Snack:  Pink Lady Apple.  I've eaten one of these every day for I think 4 weeks now and haven't tired of them yet...so good!  :) 081202-s1 What food do you eat on a near-daily basis that you never get tired of?
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categories breakfast, lunch
tags ezekiel muffin, soup

"healthified" baked ziti and spinach salad oh my!

Andrea

Tonight was another "healthify a classic favorite" night!  I can't tell you how happy my hubb was when I told him we were having baked ziti.  Especially since I was planning to use our favorite sweet italian sausage from Babes in the Woods.  This sausage is so good and so lean...I didn't even have to drain any fat out of the pan after I cooked it.  It browned and crumbled perfectly.  I also used fat free ricotta and low-moisture part-skim mozzarella to help lower the fat, and whole grain brown rice pasta instead of semolina...you can't even tell the difference!  Brian said he honestly wouldn't have known that I used fat free ricotta if I hadn't told him...woohoo!  This recipe is so easy...just brown the sausage, boil the noodles, mix everything together and pop it in the oven at 350* for 30 minutes.  Dinner? Done.  Of course, you don't want to have it every night or even every week, but the "healthified" version is much better for you than the original! "Healthified" Baked Ziti makes 12 servings calories: 286  fat: 8.3g  sat fat: 3g  carbs: 37.1g  fiber: 2.4g  sugar: 6.4g  protein: 15.4g Ingredients:
  • 16 oz brown rice penne pasta
  • 1 jar marinara sauce (about 3 cups)
  • 15 oz container of fat free ricotta cheese (I used Sorrento)
  • 1 lb sweet Italian sausage, browned
  • 1-1/2 cups part-skim low-moisture mozzarella cheese
Steps:
  1. Boil noodles until al dente and drain.  If using brown rice pasta noodles beware...they only take a few minutes to soften.
  2. Brown sausage on medium heat in non-stick pan.
  3. In large bowl, mix pasta and sausage together.
  4. In smaller bowl, mix together ricotta and marinara sauce.  Pour ricotta/sauce mixture into bowl with pasta and sausage and toss until coated.
  5. Spread mixture in 9x13 pan and top with shredded cheese (I used a bit of cheddar/jack because I ran out of mozzarella).
  6. Pop in oven at 350* for 30 minutes.
081201-d1 081201-d2 Dinner:  I had one serving of ziti, which was PLENTY for me. (Just picture cutting the shorter width into 3 pieces and the long width into 4 pieces).  I think Brian had three...  I also made a giant spinach salad with
  • 3 cups fresh spinach
  • 1/3 cucumber
  • 1/4 yellow bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup hearts of palm (love love love love these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
  • 1/2 a chopped celery stalk
  • 1 tbsp Ken's Lite Ranch
  • sprinkle of sliced almonds
And a Pellegrino White Cranberry Juice bevi... 081201-d4 081201-d5 081201-d3 And for dessert, my FAVORITE sorbet, Ciao Bella!!!  (in blood orange flavor...yum!)  This stuff is amazing, trust me.  And only 98 calories for 1/2 cup.  Yum. 081201-d6 I am now completely and totally full and satisfied.  :)  Are there any classic favorite comfort food recipes that you've "healthified"?  
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categories dinner
tags "healthified", comfort food, recipes

BSI: ginger!!!

Andrea

Hi Everybody!  I am so pleased and excited that Amy has picked me to host this week's Blogger Secret Ingredient Contest!!!  I was totally blushing when I got her email this morning...!  As a newbie to the blog scene I'm completely flattered that she chose me and hope that I can meet the expectations of all of you fantastic foodies out there! A quick recap of the BSI past...
Rules Reminder:
  1. Recipes can be submitted by linking to my blog (http://bellaeats.wordpress.com) or e-mailing me bellaeats@gmail.com with a link to your recipe. I'd prefer an email, so I can easily keep track of all the entries!
  2. Even if you don't have a blog, you can definitely still participate! Just email me the recipe, the steps, and some photos and I will add it to the entry list.
  3. Please have your recipe sent in by Sunday, December 7th, 2008 @ 8pm (EST)
As you can see from the title of this post, I have picked GINGER as the BSI this week!!!  This was really tough, because I had actually thought of an ingredient last week that I thought I would pick if I were ever chosen as BSI host.  However, it wasn't conducive to baking and I really wanted an ingredient that could be either sweet or savory...so ginger it is!
I will accept any form of ginger...
fresh ginger root
ginger-root
crystalized ginger
AT7X2P
ground ginger
groundginger
There are so many fabulous things to say about ginger, but I don't want to keep you waiting any longer so I'm going to post this and update it later.  And, I have baked ziti coming out of the oven and a hungry husband staring me down...
UPDATE:  Ok, I have a full stomach and a happy hubby so I can now provide you all with a bit more information about ginger.
  1. Fresh ginger should be peeled before cooking.  Keep fresh ginger wrapped in a paper towel and placed in a plastic bag.  It can be kept in the fridge for about 3 weeks or the freezer for about 3 months.
  2. Fresh ginger can be substituted for ground at a ratio of 6 parts fresh to 1 part ground.
  3. Fresh ginger and ginger juice is often used as a spice in Indian and Chinese cuisine, especially with savory dishes such as fish.  Pickled ginger is common in Japanese cuisine.
  4. In the Caribbean, ginger is a popular spice for cooking and also for making drinks such as sorrel and ginger beer.
  5. Powdered ginger root is typically used to spice gingerbread and other baked goods.
  6. Candied (crystalized) ginger can be used as flavoring in cookies, crackers and cake, an is also the main flavor in ginger ale.
  7. Ginger root has many medicinal properties, including helping to cure nausea, diarrhea, sore throats and headaches.
  8. I've had an amazing crystalized ginger and pear juice martini before...heaven!!!
I hope you all have fun with this week's BSI choice!  I can't wait to see all of the entries you come up with...ginger is such a versatile ingredient that I really think you can get creative with it!!!
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categories Uncategorized
tags BSI