In the spirit of Julie and Julia, the movie, and awesome cookbooks, food bloggers and chefs worldwide, Anna and I have decided to choose a favorite Chef/cookbook Author and recreate their dishes BUT with healthy substitutions. For example, if a dish calls for 4 eggs, the substitution could be 3 egg white and 2 eggs. We are really excited about this (and so our our boyfriends/husbands)!!!! Cooking is a passion of both of ours, and making "healthier" versions, well, I just can't say how awesome it will be!!!!
Anna will be taking Giada de Laurentiis and I've picked Ina Garten.
I am making the first recipe tonight, so stay tuned!!!!!!!!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Cooking is hip again!
I don't know about ya'll, but I am so glad that cooking at home is hip again. Remember in the late 90's/ early 2000's when Sex and the City meant girls night drinking cosmos out on the town? It wasn't even cool to eat at home, much less spend time cooking the meal you were eating. Eating at home meant you didn't have big fancy plans to go out with your friends in your super duper low rise jeans and highest pointiest-toed heels. I sure am glad that era has passed. I don't know if it's that I'm almost 30, or if I am lazy, and while I ADORE dressing up, I would almost always rather be home, with a pup and a book, watching the Food Network.
Well, thanks to so many awesome books, Food Network personalities like Paula Deen, Giada DeLaurentis, and yes, even Rachael Ray, cooking is hip!!!! I for one could not be happier. Some of my earliest childhood memories involve helping my mom peel vegetables for dinner, baking cookies with my maternal grandmother, and helping my dad's mom decorate wedding cakes which people ordered from her by the dozens in a tee-tiny Arkansas town. For as long as I can remember, these women just knew how to cook, and their cooking was the way they loved their families. Some of the funniest memories I have of my grandfather are of him and I watching Justin Wilson drink the majority of his bottle of wine with just a splash left for whatever dish he intended it to go into.
In the south, our livelihood is often food. We celebrated with food, we loved with food, and when someone needed it, we healed with food. New neighbors? Basket of baked goods. Friend had surgery or a death in the family? Casseroles. Good report card? Well....you get the idea.
It wasn't until recently that I realized all of the southern cooking I grew up loving, and the dishes I aspired to replicate actually had very healthy aspects. Sure we fried our fish, but it was caught fresh and cleaned by my grandfather. My other grandfather made his entire living with his crops. Rarely in the summer did I ever eat a fruit or vegetable that wasn't "MawMaw's purple hull peas" or "PawPaw's watermelon". In fact every Thanksgiving and Christmas there is at least one pecan pie with "MawMaws pecans" and one apple pie with "MawMaws apples". Let's not forget"Nannies' greens".
I love baking, chopping, stirring, mixing and pouring. I don't know if it is because of the recession, or what, but I am so excited that so many of my friends seem to be cooking at home more often these days. When you cook at home, you can control the quality and quantity of the ingredients you use. And benefit from having a very impressed man around the house. Afterall, the way to a man's heart really is through his stomach. Did Carrie Bradshaw ever think of that?
With this weekends release of Julie and Julia, I hope that people will fall in love with cooking the way I did when I was young. And I am so glad to tell my grandmas how long they have been "hip"!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
COOKIES...ME NEED COOOOKIES
Me Cookie Monster, me need cookies.
During college, one of my classes had a symposium of sorts (Psychology) and of course there was catering. I head straight for the cookies only to find one of my favorite teachers hanging around the cookie jar too. We discussed our love for cookies and agreed that cookies were in fact, the best food on Earth. When your professor says it, it's true.
It's definitely a week for cookies. I bought both boxes of cookies and the Le Petit Ecolier are gone. I shared veerry few with my coworkers. Very few. I pretty much ate them all.
The Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies are still available, as I type this. But I am pretty sure when I get home I plan on devouring them. Oops. Plus, so good dipped in Vanilla Coconut Milk.
This week has been a regular ol' week. Eatin' the leftovers of the gumbo and lasagna (go me!) is a rare feat and I also made tortilla pizzas last night and was STUFFED after one. Might be the fact that I shoved fresh Mozzarella in my face as I was slicing (one for you, 2 for me)!
Me and my boy, we got our new sofa this week and as soon as the apartment is clean, I will post some pics of me modeling how awesome it is. And when the table and chairs arrive, I will post ACTUAL MEALS at the table! I'm BEYOND stoked for a table. It's time to start setting the table again for dinner (yay) and talking instead of watching the tele hunched over our food.
T-minus 4 minutes until the end of my work day! Happy Thursday!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Ouch My Legs!
Sniff, sneeze, cough, cough, sniff. Those are the sounds i have been making for almost a week now. Dumb. This cold/flu thing I came down with last Thursday is hanging around! Luckily I do have a bit more energy today, adn I had a bit more last night. Good thing, becasue I had a super full spin class counting on me! We did a KILLER workout in class, and my legs are a bit sore today.
Speaking of muscle soreness, here is an educational tidbit for you. There is so much false info out there in what "delayed onset muscle soreness" really is, i htought I should fill you in.
The soreness that appears out of nowhere 1 to 2 days after a workout is actually tiny little microscopic tears in your muscles. The pain comes from that inflammation, and your body trying to heal it. That is why if you will move those muscles the day after a workout, your muscle soreness won't be as bad, and will go away sooner. Increasing the circulation to that area can actually speed healing by delivering more oxegyn and nutrients, and removing waste.
Did you know that the eccentric portion ( or the "lowering phase") of an exercise is what causes the damage to tissue, creating those microscopic tears? So if you want to really feel your workout the next day, try concentrating on "Negatives", or slowing down that eccentric phase. Try taking twice as long to lower the weight as you did to lift it. For a quad shredding workout, try this!
- Leg extension on machine, 3 sets x 12 reps @ 60 lbs ( concentrating on lowering portion)
- Walking lunges with 20 lb dumbells in each hand, 3 sets x 20 reps
- High bar back squats with a 45 lb power bar, 3 sets x 12 reps
- Bench step ups with 10 lb dumbells in each hand, or load on shoulders to stress spine, 3 sets x 10 reps on each leg
Monday, August 3, 2009
Italiano Night!
Yay for healthy, homemade Lasagna! Since I am lazy this week, yes and it's only Monday, I went ahead and prepared this weeks meals: Gumbo and Turkey Lasagna or should I say it's a lasagna with a turkey meat sauce!
You'll need
75% of the cans
Dump in your 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, 1/2 can tomato sauce, and the whole can of tomato paste. Stir. Add spices (remember to taste the sauce). After about 10 minutes add the turkey meat. Continue to cook covered-for about 20 minutes . When almost done, stir in the handfuls of spinach a few handfuls at a time and let the leaves wilt.
Meanwhile in another pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook lasagna according to the instructions on the box. Drain and let cool for a few minutes.
In a long rectangular casserole dish, spread some sauce on the bottom so the noodles don't stick to the pan. Add a layer of noodles, layer of ricotta cheese, layer of sauce and a few sprinkles of the shredded mozzarella. Repeat. When you have reached the final layer with the sauce on top, add a few thin slices of the fresh mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. The last 5 minutes, uncover and add more of the shredded mozzarella, if desired. Yes, I desired. Take out of the oven and be sure to turn the oven off! Let cool for a few, then DIG IN!
You'll need
- 1 pound of ground turkey
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cans crushed tomatoes-I use one regular and one with jalapenos!
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 can tomato sauce-I use 1/2 the can
- 1 small onion-diced
- 1/2 green pepper (you can use a whole one, but I am saving the other 1/2 for pizza night) diced
- 3-4 handfuls of spinach
- fresh mozzarella
- shredded mozzarella
- Ricotta Cheese made from Skim milk
- Whole wheat lasagna-about 7
- basil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, italian seasoning-all to taste
- Bottle of wine!
75% of the cans
Brown turkey meat-drain. Set aside. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When it's warm, add the onions, garlic and bell peppers and sautee for 5 or so minutes.
Exhibit A
Dump in your 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, 1/2 can tomato sauce, and the whole can of tomato paste. Stir. Add spices (remember to taste the sauce). After about 10 minutes add the turkey meat. Continue to cook covered-for about 20 minutes . When almost done, stir in the handfuls of spinach a few handfuls at a time and let the leaves wilt.
See
Now with the spinach:
Meanwhile in another pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook lasagna according to the instructions on the box. Drain and let cool for a few minutes.
In a long rectangular casserole dish, spread some sauce on the bottom so the noodles don't stick to the pan. Add a layer of noodles, layer of ricotta cheese, layer of sauce and a few sprinkles of the shredded mozzarella. Repeat. When you have reached the final layer with the sauce on top, add a few thin slices of the fresh mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. The last 5 minutes, uncover and add more of the shredded mozzarella, if desired. Yes, I desired. Take out of the oven and be sure to turn the oven off! Let cool for a few, then DIG IN!
Finished product!!! With a slice of garlic toast and an iceberg lettuce wedge!
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Good Enough To Eat
Why, yes, it is Good Enough To Eat!
Good Enough To Eat is a VERY popular breakfast joint in my hood. The line is always long and I don't like waiting for long to eat, especially if its Brunch!
I ordered the "Good Enough To Eat" French Toast topped with sugar, raisins and walnuts and a side of Turkey Sausage! The meal came with 3, THREE!!!! slices of french toast and there's no way I could have eaten 3! Whew!
It sure was good though-Good Enough To Eat, for sure!
Good Enough To Eat is a VERY popular breakfast joint in my hood. The line is always long and I don't like waiting for long to eat, especially if its Brunch!
I ordered the "Good Enough To Eat" French Toast topped with sugar, raisins and walnuts and a side of Turkey Sausage! The meal came with 3, THREE!!!! slices of french toast and there's no way I could have eaten 3! Whew!
It sure was good though-Good Enough To Eat, for sure!
I hope everyone has a nice rest of their Sunday!
Restful, rainy, lazy weekend
The weekend started with a rainy Friday. It was super yucky out! Since I had a long training run (Thanks NYRR!) on Saturday, I wanted to eat light and healthy and no dairy. But since it was raining, I CRAVED soup! For soup I went to Europa Cafe and picked up a small cup of Spinach and White Bean Soup. No dairy and no meat-and it was creamy and EXCELLENT!!! I also had a toasted peanut butter and sugar free jelly sandwich-on Ezekiel bread!
After work, I headed to the gym for a 45 minute cardio workout with just a few strength training on my shoulders and back and some core work!
Then I headed to Whole Foods to pick up some supplies to make Anna's Gumbo!
The changes I made:
Saturday I woke up early and ran 16.5 miles with the NYRR's Long Training Run in Central Park! I am so grateful they organize a training run... for about $10 you can choose to run between 6-20 miles and they provide pace leaders, water, goo, porti- potties, and even a few spectators! But Central Park is one hilly B&^%H! Yes, I definitely ice bathed after the run and today I am not sore one bit!
Saturday the weather was so nice-there wasn't a cloud in the sky. After a re-fuel with some Gumbo and a Grilled Cheese and Cherries and Carrots, I went to Central Park to lie in the grass and soaked in some Vitamin D! It was HOT HOT HOT and there wasn't much of a breeze but I sucked it up and caught some rays!
For Dinner, Live In and I ordered from Cafe Blossom-a vegan, kosher Cafe across the street from us. We both ALWAYS order the same thing: LI a Sloppy Joe and I a Tofu BLT! My sandwich comes with fried tofu, tempeh, lettuce, tomato, and a chipotle aioli on foccacia bread-not low in calories, but DEEEELICIOUS! I even have some leftover for a snack/dinner tonight-which it's raining-AGAIN!
I want to make for dinner this week a spicy, smoky cheese grits, with blackened chicken and tempura okra! A fusion of many spices and tastes, but comes together nicely. This is my "Signature Dish". which still needs a bit of tweaking. When I was unemployed, I watched HOURS on HOURS of the Food Network and I decided that I needed a "Signature Dish"-a go to dish when I needed to whip up something tasty and impressive, with my personality in the dish as well. So that's what I came up with.
A few others I have:
Grilled Steak with a Chipotle Sauce and Smoked Gouda Cheese Grits
Then I headed to Whole Foods to pick up some supplies to make Anna's Gumbo!
The changes I made:
- No black beans
- I used loads of Emeril's Seasoning and Cajun spices
- My Chicken Sausage was a Chicken Andouille Sausage
- 2 cups of okra
- Frozen Corn (I have an aversion to canned corn)
Saturday I woke up early and ran 16.5 miles with the NYRR's Long Training Run in Central Park! I am so grateful they organize a training run... for about $10 you can choose to run between 6-20 miles and they provide pace leaders, water, goo, porti- potties, and even a few spectators! But Central Park is one hilly B&^%H! Yes, I definitely ice bathed after the run and today I am not sore one bit!
Saturday the weather was so nice-there wasn't a cloud in the sky. After a re-fuel with some Gumbo and a Grilled Cheese and Cherries and Carrots, I went to Central Park to lie in the grass and soaked in some Vitamin D! It was HOT HOT HOT and there wasn't much of a breeze but I sucked it up and caught some rays!
For Dinner, Live In and I ordered from Cafe Blossom-a vegan, kosher Cafe across the street from us. We both ALWAYS order the same thing: LI a Sloppy Joe and I a Tofu BLT! My sandwich comes with fried tofu, tempeh, lettuce, tomato, and a chipotle aioli on foccacia bread-not low in calories, but DEEEELICIOUS! I even have some leftover for a snack/dinner tonight-which it's raining-AGAIN!
I want to make for dinner this week a spicy, smoky cheese grits, with blackened chicken and tempura okra! A fusion of many spices and tastes, but comes together nicely. This is my "Signature Dish". which still needs a bit of tweaking. When I was unemployed, I watched HOURS on HOURS of the Food Network and I decided that I needed a "Signature Dish"-a go to dish when I needed to whip up something tasty and impressive, with my personality in the dish as well. So that's what I came up with.
A few others I have:
- Seared Sesame Tuna with a Wasabi Mustard with Crispy Green Beans
- Southern Fried Buttermilk Chicken-Light (a "lighter" version, if you will)
- Edamame Goat Cheese Dip-I found this recipe in Food and Wine and ever since I made it, it's been a hit.
- Bite-Sized Spicy Spinach Croissant Rolls
Seared Tuna with Crispy Green Beans and a Cheese Crostini
Grilled Steak with a Chipotle Sauce and Smoked Gouda Cheese Grits
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