Food Friday - It's Eat Your Veggies Day!!

from Tracey G.

This week's recipes just kind of happened when Kris and I were talking food. I'd just sent her a text saying I seemed to be on a broccoli kick - which isn't a stretch since it's one of my all-time favorite vegetables. There really isn't a vegetable I don't like - the one exception that comes to mind is okra. I just can't do okra. Nope. Don't care, not my thing, I know lots of people who do like it and that's ok! I do not harbor any okra-eating prejudices at all!! It's just not for me...

But anyway, we got talking about broccoli, because I was going on how I like it because it's a great side dish to make in these days of watching what I'm eating, and it's one thing I don't have to worry about watching! Granted, my from-childhood way to eat it is (warm or cold, no matter to me) with red wine vinegar, olive oil and some salt. Bar none, that is my go-to way to eat it and cauliflower actually. (And it makes canned spinach and canned asparagus pretty yummy as well, I LOVED both as a kid because of it!) It even works in my mindful eating plan, since extra virgin olive oil packs a lot flavor even in the teensiest drizzle to give me that "comfort food" feel! 

But I was wanting something a little different for the heck of it. I'd made a yummy new recipe a couple weeks ago, "Asian Orange Beef". The sauce included fresh ginger, orange juice, hoisin sauce and soy sauce. I'd made broccoli to go along with it and discovered my broccoli tasted pretty darn good dipped in the extra sauce. That led me to today's recipe.  I found one to use as a jumping off point and then put my own spin on it. I also wanted a recipe I could use frozen broccoli with because it's certainly NOT broccoli season around here, and even when it is - the stuff in my stores is always terrible looking, so I depend a LOT on frozen broccoli florets, and that's what I wanted to work with!

Asian Inspired Broccoli

Serves 2 (feel free to double or triple etc)

3-4 cups frozen broccoli, thawed

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp minced fresh ginger

1 tsp canola oil

1/4 cup water + 2 tbsp, divided

3 tsp hoisin sauce

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp grated lemon peel

1/8 - 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the broccoli, ginger and garlic, add the 1/4 cup water. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the broccoli is crisp tender and water cooks down to about half. Add the hoisin sauce and extra 2 tbsp water if needed. Cook and stir until broccoli is evenly coated. Before serving, toss with the 1 tsp of lemon juice (or you can add more to your taste, I just liked the "hint" of lemon flavor). Garnish with the lemon peel and red pepper flakes. 

from Kris B.

Broccoli!  I love broccoli!  Therefore writing a recipe with broccoli should be easy because it is my favorite green vegetable and we eat it all the time.  The problem is that when 
I make it as a dinner side, all I do is coat it in a little olive oil, sprinkle it with pepper and maybe a little salt or garlic salt and throw it in the oven to roast for 15-20 minutes.  If we are being fancy, I may grate a little fresh Parmesan cheese on the top right before serving.  That’s it.  And I feel like I could eat broccoli in ad infinitum prepared just like this.  The problem here is that basic roasted broccoli doesn’t seem like enough “recipe” for today’s post.  So, for my contribution this week, I actually turned to a searching for a new recipe, a new way to enjoy my favorite green vegetable.

I discovered lots of variations on the broccoli slaw theme.  I make and enjoy a few such recipes, but almost everyone has a favorite along these lines.  I also found a good number of recipes with broccoli and pasta or grains.  Again, they sounded good, but were nothing substantially different than I do myself.  And then I found today;s recipe.

I already said that I love broccoli.  Sweet potatoes are also a personal favorite.  And we all know how I feel about bread.  And a few nuts and a little spice and it should be good.  Nonetheless, I found myself hearing a mantra that I used to say to my children, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”  Just because I can make a spiced sweet potato spread, spread it on a piece of toast, and then top all of that with broccoli doesn’t necessarily mean that I should do that, or expect it to be good.  The clincher to me giving in and trying this recipe was that it calls for fresh basil. Last week Weber said to me that we needed to find something to do with basil because the basil plants in our garden are getting huge.  I considered that a sign and committed to giving this seemingly strange but potentially good combination a try.  The original recipe is from the February 2014 bon appetit.

The Spiced Sweet Potato and Roasted Broccoli Toast is relatively easy to make, especially because both the sweet potatoes and broccoli can be made up to three days in advance of serving, leaving just the toasting of the bread and assembling to be done at the point that you are ready to serve these.

We ate these as an afternoon snack.  They also make a would make a great appetizer or perhaps even lunch.  Weber said that they are quite filling.

I won’t deny that the combination is a little odd, but it is a good kind of odd.  And, these are a reasonably healthy food choice whether eaten as a snack, appetizer or as a meal.

INGREDIENTS

For the Mashed Sweet Potatoes

1 large sweet potato (approx. 12 oz.) peeled and cut into  1” cubes

1 red Thai chile (optional), halved, some seeds removed

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Broccoli

1 Large head of broccoli, stems removed  and cut into large florets

6 TBS olive oil

2 TBS chopped raw pistachios

1 TBS (or more) lemon juice

1 TBS fresh basil, divided

1 TBS fresh mint, divided

4 slices of crusty  bread

Olive oil to coat bread

Flaky sea salt

Combine the sweet potato, chile, orange juice and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan; season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and then simmer until the sweet potato is very soft and the liquid has evaporated (20-25 minutes).  Remove from heat and mash.  Let cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Toss broccoli and 2 TBS olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and pepper.  Roast until tender (15-20 minutes).  Let cool and then coarsely chop.

Meanwhile, brush both sides of the bread with olive oil.  Toast on a baking sheet until golden brown (6-8 minutes).  Toss broccoli, nuts, lemon juice, half of the basil and mint, and 4 TBS olive oil in a large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.

Spread toasts with sweet potato, top with broccoli mixture and remaining basil and mint, and sprinkle with sea salt.  

Cut into pieces.

That is the recipe as it originally appeared.  Here are the changes that I made:

• I used sliced almonds instead of pistachios.
• I did not toss the broccoli with the extra 2 TBS of olive oil when combining it with the basil and mint.
• I added all of the basil and mint to the broccoli rather than saving some for garnish.  I still could have used more in the broccoli.
• I did not garnish with the salt or use as much salt during the preparation.
• If you want a little hot but don't have a Thai chile, toss a few red pepper flakes in with the broccoli rather than the sweet potatoes.

If you try this recipe, I'd love to know your thoughts - good, bad , or otherwise.

Food Friday - Snack Attack!

from Tracey G.

Yep. I am still in a love affair with almonds. They're a great food item for many reasons, but, my main reason for them being a major player in my diet, is in helping me by providing me something good and good for me to snack on. I'm not happy with the numbers the scale is throwing at me when I get the courage to step on it, so after being annoyed about it for months, I started complaining about it to Kris. I then found out, as things usually go with the two of us, she seemed to be having the same dilemma and issues. We went back and forth enough to figure out, that, our snacking and eating habits were likely the culprits, or more directly the lack of forethought before the snacking and eating etc. It's been a busy past few months and that I know is my issue - too many other things on my brain rather than eating well. It seems when life gets busy, my eating habits get worse. I am honestly one who forgets to eat, but instead of losing weight, it's that opposite reaction my body has - thinking it's in starvation so it hangs onto every calorie I take in as it doesn't know when it's next meal is coming!

So, since I love grab-and-go foods - something to eat that I don' t have to stop what I'm doing to prepare during the day etc., I told Kris I really need to come up with some homemade versions. And versions I can live with - I've done all the so-called diets, I've gone the deprivation route, and all that has ever garnered me was failure. Every. Time. But in the times I've approached it realistically, I've achieved my weight-loss goals. Every. Time.  Even though I desperately want to see it go away immediately, I know I have to be smart about it. That means eating. And eating well, not junk, not live off totally prepackaged foods (but some do have their place, as there are good ones out there!)

First up in the grab-and-go realm for me, are snacks. I love to snack on stuff. Usually when I'm bored, so I've taken the approach of asking myself if I'm really hungry or just bored. And just by doing that alone, I've really cut down on snacking! Second is not jumping into all "diet" foods - that's a trap I get bored with and generally fail with. It's not realistic to think that "diet" treats are going to be always as satisfying as the "real deal" for me personally. This I know. It gets to the point where I've said "heck with it, I want to real stuff!" and that itself becomes a slippery slope right down into the failure pit. I know enough now, to know that I have to find alternatives I can actually live with. Plus, build in enough leeway that I can still enjoy the foods I love. So, I'm tackling snack foods. And when it comes to good-for-you snack foods, almonds fit the bill pretty well. High in protein and taste yummy, plus a whole host of other benefits.

Here's the recipe I chose this week - last week it was sweet, this week it's savory. And they are pretty yummy and so so so easy! Just enough spice and heat to be addictive and of course as usual, totally customizable in that respect. Make it as mild or spicy as you like! The recipe originally called for curry powder, but I'm not a big fan of it, nor have I found a curry blend that I like, so I used smoked paprika instead of it. Of course I'll provide measurements for both! I found this recipe through my SparkPeople "SparkRecipes" app, and it's originally from the California Almond Board, again. But, I couldn't find it at the almond site, so I am linking to the SparkPeople Recipes site. It can be found here:Firecracker Almonds

And now, the recipe!

Firecracker Almonds

Serves 8 (1/4 cup servings)

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp curry powder - this is where I substituted 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp olive or almond oil

2 cups toasted whole natural almonds ( I did use salted)

1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce, or to taste

1 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne) or to taste

Combine chili powder, curry powder (or smoked paprika), garlic powder and oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Heat until hot and bubbly. Stir in almonds, tossing until almonds are evenly coated and heated through, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Stir in pepper sauce and red pepper. Allow to cool fully before serving.

Nutritional information:

1 Serving: 218 calories; 19 g total fat (2g saturated fat, 3.9 polyunsaturated fat, 12.8 monounsaturated fat); 0 mg cholesterol; 11 mg sodium; 268 mg potassium; 8g total carbohydrate (5g dietary fiber, 0g sugars); 7g protein

Oh! And by the way, this week I used my phone for my shot of the almonds on the sheet pan. It was a busy day, so to me the phone can be a real life-saver, it allows me to snap the shot and edit all at once on the same device, and that can be extremely handy! I used the Camera+ app to take the photo, did the filtering in Hipstamatic (I used the Loftus Lens and the DC Film), and then hopped it over to the Rhonna Farrer app "RhonnaDesigns, for the text and graphic (sticker)! Easy peasy! 


from Kris B.

 After only five days of logging everything I eat into Spark People and having it spit back all of my daily nutritional information, I have noticed a trend that needs to be addressed.  I don’t get enough protein in my diet.  Who knew?  Also, because my days start early and often go late, there comes a time during the day when I need a snack.  My husband would say that I need a “happy meal.”  Yep, I am one of those people that gets ridiculously grouchy and irritable when I need to eat.

Because I am also kind of lazy, I decided to try and remedy my protein and snack issues in one move - a protein heavy snack.  The first ingredient to come to mind that fit the bill was peanut butter.  I have mentioned before that I am a huge fan of peanut butter.  However, I wasn’t sure what to DO with the peanut butter.  I remembered a recipe that I had read on a blog awhile back for peanut butter and quinoa patties.  By some miracle, i was able to find it!  The original recipe is from the blogger Blissful Basil.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups puffed quinoa

6 TBS peanut butter

6 TBS coconut butter

2 TBS coconut oil

1 1/2 TBS pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

First, a few notes on the ingredients…

Admittedly, puffed quinoa and coconut butter may not be pantry staples at your house.  They are not at my house either, but quinoa and coconut are.  Though both of these ingredients can be purchased at a grocery store like Whole Foods, with quinoa and coconut they can both be made at home at much less expense.  In her recipe, Blissful Basil tells how to make the puffed quinoa.  Heat a large stock pot over medium heat.  Once the pot is hot, pour a small amount of pre-rinsed and dried quinoa over the bottom of the pan.  Gently move the pan so that quinoa swirls around as it pops.  The process is much like that of making stove top popcorn.  Keep things moving so that they don’t burn.  Once all of the quinoa has popped, a minute or two, Transfer the “puffed” quinoa to a bowl and repeat this process until you have a 1 1/2 cups of puffed quinoa.  During the process you will here small crackles from the quinoa as it in creases only very slightly in size.  There is not the dramatic change that you see with popped corn.  I “puffed” 1 1/2 cups and ended up with roughly 1 3/4 cups.  (The extra 1/4 will perhaps be used to top a loaf of bread.)

On amazon.com, a 16 oz. jar of coconut butter costs $13.99.  That is ridiculous when you realize what coconut butter really is.  Like peanut butter, coconut butter is made by processing the meat extensively in a food processor.  Translation…dump some coconut in your food processor.  Turn it on.  Let it run until the coconut is liquefied.  This took about 8 minutes.  I used 12 oz. of Red Mill shredded unsweetened coconut.  Because it was fairly dry, I also added a tablespoon of coconut oil to the food processor.  Again, the process is much like making homemade peanut butter.  I did use homemade peanut butter in this recipe as well (because I have it on hand), but any unsweetened commercially available peanut butter will work just fine.

Once you have all of your ingredients, these Peanut Butter Quinoa Patties are super easy to make!

In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine the peanut butter, coconut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla.  Cook for 4-5 minutes, whisking continuously, until the ingredients are completely melted.  Pour this mixture over the puffed quinoa.  Gently stir to evenly coat.

Place 16 muffin liners on a baking sheet.  Drop heaping tablespoons of the quinoa mixture into the muffin liners.  Tap the mixture down with the spoon if necessary.  Place the tray in the freezer for about an hour to allow the patties to set.  Once set, they can be store in the refrigerator.

These Peanut Butter Quinoa Patties are not particularly sweet, but they are sweet enough that I feel like I have had a treat.  My daughter, who doesn’t really have an over active sweet tooth like I do at times, said that she thinks that these need to be half dipped in chocolate.  There is no doubt in my mind that this would be a really good idea, it is not absolutely necessary, especially if you eat one with a glass of chocolate almond milk.  There’s my secret. :-)

Here are the nutrition facts for these based on having put the recipe into Spark People’s Recipe Calculator.

In addition to agreeing to support one another along this weight loss journey, Tracey and I also agreed to take and process this week’s photo on our phones.  As she said, sometimes this makes the whole process go a little more quickly.  It also adds a little spice to our food and photography life as well as gives us a reason to play with all of those apps on our phones.

I shot my image using the resident camera on my iphone6.  I lightened it a bit using the phone’s basic editing capabilities.  In then used the Rhonna Magic app to apply a filter and the Rhonna Designs app to add the text.  The final touch was the border (frame) which was done using Rookie Cam.  

Rookie Cam is a new app to me.  Tracey suggested it because I was telling her about the fact that I wanted some simple borders for my photos but couldn’t find them in any of the apps I had.  I’m not sure how that could be, but was the truth.  Rookie Cam is a free app, sort of, so I downloaded it and there were borders exactly like a wanted - simple and clean.  If you like the more fancy type of frames, they are there too!

We hope your days are filled lots of pretty pixels, healthy plates and lots of laughs!!  Enjoy the weekend.

Food Friday - Almond Joy

from Tracey G

Kris had informed me that her new favorite snack was cocoa covered peanuts. This intrigued me, so on my next shopping trip, I just had to look for them - and came up lacking. But I did see cocoa covered almonds. I passed on them this trip, because darn it, I wanted cocoa covered peanuts! That then led me to a idea. I wonder if I could make them at home. And I discovered lots of recipes for cocoa covered ALMONDS. None for peanuts, which I took as a sign I was to try cocoa covered almonds this time around.

There is a funny story too about my acquisition of said almonds to cover in cocoa powder! Instead of heading out just to buy almonds, I sent a text to my husband, Jeremy, to see if he'd pick some up on his way home. Sure, no problem. In the exchange he asked how much I needed and I gave him an approximate amount and so forth. When he gets home with them and I see that he bought about 7-8 smaller snack sized bags because the market he stopped at didn't have the larger bulk sized bag. He thought I had to have them that day so did whatever he could to make sure I had the amount I needed, even if it cost probably twice the amount of a bulk sized bag - I felt bad informing him that I could've waited until the next day when a larger grocery store would have been accessible! You can be sure I said thank you for all his trouble!

Almonds have lots of great benefits besides being yummy. Here's a link to the Almond Board of California's information sheet Almonds.com Health and Nutritional Info which also has a link to a neat PDF with even more information.

And here's an overview of almonds benefits:

Heart Health

•High in monounsaturated fat (good fat)
•No cholesterol or sodium
•Top food source of vitamin E, an important antioxidant

Energy

•6 grams of protein per ounce
•12 vitamins and minerals
•Rich in magnesium

Weight management

•6 grams protein, helps keep you going with less snacking
•3.5 grams fiber, good for helping to keep you fuller feeling longer
•Only 160 calories per ounce

There's also a lot of good benefits to cocoa powder too, so this is a pretty good choice for snacking that feels like an indulgence!

There's really not a "recipe" for it, more of method. This is the method I used:

1 1/2 - 2 cups whole almonds

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 5 minutes, remove tray shake it back and forth to "stir" up the almonds and then continue to bake for about another 5-8 minutes or until they are lightly fragrant and toasty.

While the almonds are baking, mix about 1 1/2 tablespoons each cocoa powder and powdered sugar. I actually sifted the two together in a mesh strainer to get rid of lumps and help facilitate the combining of the two.

When you remove the almonds from the oven, let them cool a minute or two on the baking sheet, then carefully pour them into a medium sized bowl. Add the cocoa powder/powdered sugar mixture to the still-warm almonds and toss gently with a spoon to coat. Spread them back onto the baking sheet in a single layer to cool.

And that's it. It's super simple to create these yummy treats at home. I have to admit that I was skeptical of the coating sticking with nothing added to make it stick, but it did and it did so beautifully! And after trying them with the just the cocoa powder and powdered sugar, I decided to dust them with cinnamon and wow, it knocked an already great tasting treat out of the park!! 

From Kris B.

It has been a crazy week at our house!  My husband has been a sick boy.  When he went back to school, he actually took on additional responsibilities as the school librarian, and then we had a quick out of town trip this weekend.  Needless to say, all of these things contributed to our weekly routine being extremely disrupted.  It seems like such "blips" in our life have the greatest effect on our eating habits.  We found ourselves snacking through the week rather than making intentional and healthy meal choices.

These Brown Sugar and Almond English Muffins are one of my "go-to" snacks or, as was the case this week, go-to lunches lunches.  A little protein, a little sweetness, and a few carbs and I'm ready to go.   If you have a toaster oven, these are even easier to make when life is moving a quick pace.

INGREDIENTS
English muffin
Butter
Brown sugar
Sliced almonds

Split the English muffin and generously spread with butter.  Sprinkle the top with brown sugar and top with the sliced almonds.  If you are using a toaster oven, set the rack open its lowest setting.  In a standard oven, use the middle rack.  Place the muffins on a cookie sheet.  Using the broiler setting, cook until the brown sugar has melted, 5 minutes or so.  WATCH CAREFULLY!  These will go from perfect to burned very quickly!

Enjoy any time of day as a meal with a side of fruit, or as a snack.

Food Friday - On the Side!

from Tracey G

When I was a kid, the only coleslaw I would eat was Kentucky Fried Chicken's - to me, that stuff was the epitome of coleslaw and what it should be. I never realized back then either how easy it was to make - it wasn't a salad my mom made at  home. When we had it, I only wanted KFC's!

I would have to say it wasn't until my 30's that I actually made the stuff. And my first time with it was kind of a disaster - I know, I know, how can one screw up coleslaw?!? Well, I had a recipe to follow, but the dressing just didn't seem like enough - so I made more. Much more. I didn't take into account the sitting time that most coleslaw recipes direct - I didn't realize the amount of liquid that would come from the cabbage and carrots and actually add to the dressing! So, by the time I took it to the potluck party it was pretty soupy. I think it was after that I learned my lessons - 1) mix up just what the recipe calls for dressing-wise and 2) never make something you've never made before to take to a party - but if you do, always have a plan B!!  

I remember the first time I made this (I even followed the directions too!), I announced that if I ever needed a potluck recipe to take somewhere, this would be it. It's so very simple, and if you use pre-made cabbage/veggie slaw mix (any kind would be good with the dressing, even a broccoli slaw etc) it comes together super fast! I think super fast is even an understatement! And aside from the dressing of the slaw mix - the dressing mixture, I think would be great as a regular salad dressing on lettuce of any kind! I don't remember where I got the recipe from, and I've tweaked the amounts because the original recipe made much too small of an amount for our household and I'm pleased with how it's evolved.

Raspberry Slaw

4 c shredded green cabbage

4 c shredded red cabbage

1-2 c shredded carrots (personal preference can be used here)

Dressing:

1/2 c raspberry vinaigrette

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/2 - 1 c fresh raspberries for garnish

1) In a large bowl combine green cabbage, red cabbage and carrots.

2) In a small bowl, whisk the raspberry vinaigrette and mayonnaise until well blended. 

    Pour dressing over cabbage/carrot mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at

    least an hour for flavors to blend. (I find it's much better if it's sat overnight!)

3) Before serving, top with fresh raspberries. When at home, I usually just top the

    individual servings with a few of the raspberries.

From Kris B

Most of the time I love to cook.  What I don't always like is trying to figure out what to cook.  If someone will tell me what they want, I will gladly fix it.  When I am left to determine the menu myself, it is most often the side dishes with which I struggle.  Once you get beyond some form of potatoes or rice and steamed or roasted vegetables, my creativity starts to fall by the wayside.  So, I am always on the lookout for side dishes that push me beyond my boring starchy box!

This week's slaw recipe is one of my favorite quick and easy sides.  I believe it may originally have come from Weight Watchers, but I'm not absolutely sure of that.  Regardless, it is fairly low calorie and surprises the taste buds just a bit.

INGREDIENTS

1 12 oz. bag of prepared broccoli slaw mix

1 medium to large apple (variety of your choice)

3 scallions

1/4 cup sliced roasted almonds

3 TBS prepared balsamic vinaigrette dressing of your choice

Chop the apple into small bite sized pieces.  Slice the whites of the scallions.  Combine all ingredients in a good sized bowl so that you have room to "toss."  This best if chilled at least an hour, but this is not absolutely necessary.

A side dish doesn't get much simpler than this!