Contact Us

Use the form on the right to contact us.

You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right. 

         

123 Street Avenue, City Town, 99999

(123) 555-6789

email@address.com

 

You can set your address, phone number, email and site description in the settings tab.
Link to read me page with more information.

Blog

Filtering by Category: dinner

quickity quick recap

Andrea

I'm so sad that I missed my morning Blog post!  :(  My day started with a faulty alarm which resulted in me getting up 45 minutes later than I was supposed to.  Brian had custody of the camera (and thus the memory card) for a site visit this morning so I wasn't able to download my pics until afternoon, and by then I was completely swamped at work.  So, my apologies.  I'll give a quick recap because, again, I have lots of T-Day prep to do tonight! Breakfast: Oikos plain yogurt with fresh raspberries, slice of pumpkin cranberry bread with almond butter. Look familiar?!?! 081124-b1 081124-b21 Lunch: Whole wheat pita stuffed with 2 tbsp roasted red pepper hummus, broccoli slaw and cucumber slices, and an Amy's Lentil Soup. 081124-l1 Snacks:  Pink Lady apple and 1/2 a Clif Mojo PB Pretzel bar. 081106-s11 081118-s13 081124-s2 Dinner: Baked sweet potato with edamame, corn and broccoli (and 1/2 tbsp earth balance buttery spread). 081124-d1 Exercise:  There was none.  Today was a run day but I didn't have a chance to go to the running shop on my lunch break and I really didn't want to risk hurting my foot anymore.  Tomorrow the running shop is my priority and hopefully I will be on the road tomorrow night!  So, running around like a crazy woman doing chores and helping B with projects for a few hours will have to count... Turkey Day Peek!!! Last year Brian found this amazing stuffing recipe on FoodNetwork.com, Country Bread and Sage Dressing. It was so incredible, I wish I had pictures but amazingly enough I don't.  Luckily, we've decided to recreate the magic and serve it at T-Day 2008...so, stay tuned!  My favorite part is that it has hot Italian sausage in it, which adds a wonderful spicy flavor.  We are using our favorite sausage ever from Babes in the Wood, which I've written about before so I won't bore you again with their cool sustainable and humane methods.   Ok, sorry that was short and not nearly as exciting as last night's peek... Have a great night!
Read More
categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags hummus, oikos, sweet potato, thanksgiving

saffron tomato soup and gourmet "grilled cheese"

Andrea

First of all, congrats to all of the BSI "winners"!!!!  And of course, the big winner, my cousin Meghann with her Pumpkin Pecan Crusted Chicken!!!  WooHoo!  Thank you Lindsay for a great BSI week, what a tough decision you had to make!  All of the recipes looked amazing! So a quick note, in the name of accountability (the whole reason I started this blog in the first place!).  I forgot to mention this morning that I had a piece of bacon with my breakfast.  Eek!  Gasp!  I know, naughty. But soooooooo good.  Who could resist when Brian brought this plate to our breakfast table for his own morning meal?!?!? 081123-b4 Anyway, after posting my BSI recipe this morning I dashed off to a 75 minute vinyasa yoga class.  It was amazing.  One of the best classes I've been to in the last month, taught of course by my favorite instructor Hilary.  She is fantastic.  I got such a great total-body strength workout...I could feel my abs screaming at me an hour afterwards and know I'm going to be sore tomorrow...whippee!!!  :)  BTW, does anybody know of any good yoga reads?  I really want to learn more about the philosophies so that I can take more from my practice...any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Lunch was leftovers from dinner last night, Dal Saag and Vegetable Masala on some white rice.  Yummy! 081123-l1 I had lots of cleaning and errand running to do this afternoon in prep for Thanksgiving.  There is still so much to do!!!  Poor Brian, he's been working his booty off to finish projects around the house... For dinner I made one of our favorite recipes, Saffron Tomato Fennel Soup.  I found it in my Self Magazine 3-1/2 years ago and we've made it many times since, it is SO GOOD!   ingredients ingredients saffron threads saffron threads saffron tomato fennel soup saffron tomato fennel soup The best partner for tomato soup is of course grilled cheese, so I decided to try a very slightly healthier version.  Instead of pan-frying the sandwiches in butter on the stove top, I decided to bake them at 400* on our pizza stone in the oven.   Brian picked up this beautiful loaf of rustic white whole wheat bread. 081123-d3 I sliced it thin and put the slices in the oven for about 8 minutes (on a low oven rack), flipping the slices after 4 minutes.  Once the bread was slightly crispy, I rubbed a garlic clove across both sides of each slice. This gives the bread a wonderful garlicky flavor. 081123-d5 I roasted some red bell pepper slices for about 20 minutes at 400*. 081123-d4 Then assembled my little sandwiches with some Taleggio ca d'Ambros cheese...basically a nutty brie.  Yes ladies, this is real, full-fat cheese.  I'm sorry, but I can't compromise with my cheese.  I. love. my. cheese. Luckily the sandwiches were small and I only had one.  And, I added veggies.  That counts for something, right? 081123-d6 081123-d81 081123-d9 And a glass of white wine (because I had to open it for the recipe!), plus about 1/2 this while cooking... 081123-d10 And now.... Turkey Day Peek!!! I haven't had any time to elaborate on what we're doing this year because we have been so busy getting ready for guests (and I've been BSI-ing...).  Brian and I are hosting Thanksgiving for a group of our friends who live far from family (like us!) and weren't able to get home this year (like us!).  We love to cook, and have the experience of hosting one Thanksgiving last year for all of our parents.  This year, we are providing the turkey, stuffing, mashed 'taters, roasted veggies and homemade dinner rolls.  We've asked our friends to each bring a side dish or two, along with a bottle of wine.  Which means LOTS of food and LOTS of wine...!!!  I'm super-excited, and have so many things that I want to share but I still have such a long list of chores to accomplish tonight and its already after 10:30!!!  :(  I'll give one little hint though...we smoke our turkey for most of the day, after brining it in a special Alton Brown brine all night, on our Big Green Egg.  Ever heard of a Big Green Egg before?  You can read more about it here, but basically it is "Derived from an ancient clay cooker called a "kamado"...The EGG is the most unique barbecue product on the market, with unmatched flexibility and capabilities that surpass all other conventional cookers combined. It is a smoker, a grill and an oven and you can cook literally any food on it year around, from appetizers to entrees to desserts."  In laymen's terms...its freakin' awesome.  Here are pictures from last year, when Bri and his dad cooked our Thanksgiving 2007 turkey on it: img_0477 img_0480 Sooooo good...I'm drooling right now in anticipation.  That's it for T-Day peeks for now, I hope to add something each day until Thursday! Alright, on to chores.  Have a great night!!!
Read More
categories dinner
tags cheese, soup, thanksgiving, yoga

BSI disaster + groceries

Andrea

Thank you ladies for your kind thoughts regarding my BSI and your faith in me in the kitchen!  I hope I don't disappoint you but, BSI pumpkin attempt #1 was definitely a disaster.  However, my goal for myself with these BSI entries is to try something new for me, which I did, and I feel like I learned something, which is good.  So that is why I am still going to share the recipe + experience with you all (but Lindsay, please don't submit it!  I have another recipe that I am going to post in the morning...).  So, here goes. bsia-5 Pumpkin Creme "Disasters" Ingredients: Pumpkin Cream
  • 8 oz of 1/3 less fat cream cheese
  • 1 cup pureed pumpkin
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • pinch of ground cloves
  • 1 roll of frozen phyllo dough, thawed
Apples
  • 2 apples, cored and sliced thinly
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp turbinado sugar
Steps:
  1. Combine all pumpkin cream ingredients together.
  2. Combine apples with cinnamon and turbinado sugar in separate bowl.
  3. (this step has many modifications as evidenced by the photo above, but this is what seemed to work best...) Unroll phyllo dough.  Take two sheets and lay them on cutting board.  Cut in 1/2 down the length of the sheets.  Spread pumpkin cream across one of the strips of dough.  Pile a couple of spoonfuls of apple mixture at one end, and roll phyllo dough to form a little packet.
  4. Place packets on greased cookie sheet.  Brush with egg white (I used butter, which was not good.  I think an egg white would be better.) and sprinkle with cinnamon.
  5. Bake at 375* for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
pumpkin cream pumpkin cream cinnamon apples cinnamon apples  bsia-4 bsia-51 They all look different because I was having a lot of trouble with the phyllo dough and was trying different methods of wrapping/rolling.  I realized that what I really needed was puff pastry (lesson #1) and that phyllo dough doesn't work well with more liquid fillings because it gets soggy and the filling seeps through (lesson #2).  I was pretty bummed because the flavor was good, the form however was not.  This photo pretty much sums it up... bsia-6 Oh well.  I'm over it now and have moved on to a new BSI recipe which I will post tomorrow.  It satisfies another goal of mine, the "healthify classic favorites" challenge I set up for myself last weekend, so I'm pretty excited about it.   On to the food diary. Dinner: Brian and I met a friend at our favorite Indian cuisine restaurant in town, Maharaja (sorry, no website).  I LOVE Indian food.  This restaurant gets me so excited because I know I am always going to have a great meal there with plenty of leftovers for the next day.  Our meal tonight definitely brought the food dance out of me (reserved only for stellar eating experiences.)  Sadly, the pictures are pretty awful (iphone + dark restaurant = grainy photos).  I'll have better ones tomorrow when I eat my leftovers for lunch. I had the Dal Saag (lentils and spinach in a cream-based sauce) and Vegetable Masala (veggies and chickpeas in a spicy tomato sauce) along with 2 pieces of naan (nobody can resist the naan!) and some white rice. 081122-d1 I had double what you see on my plate below, about 1/2 the total entree you see in the picture above. 081122-d2 And 1/2 this glass of wine.  Brian finished the rest for me... 081122-d31 We went to Whole Foods afterwards, nice and full so we didn't buy the whole store.  We did manage to spend a stupid amount of money per usual...  It really got me thinking about all of you bloggies that are participating in the Thanksgiving Challenge.  I am SO IMPRESSED with all of you and can't wait to see your final numbers.  When we got home I looked through our freezer and pantry and realized that we have A LOT of food.  I am hoping to next month adopt a similar challenge for Brian and I, even if just to cut our grocery bill in 1/2 for the month.  It seems like great timing to clean out the fridge, freezer and pantry before going home to Florida for Christmas, and the perfect time of year to be saving money and giving thanks for what we have. Here's our loot for the trip.  We decided to do a separate Thanksgiving trip on Tuesday (hello crowds!!!) to get the veggies and other miscellaneous items we need for the big dinner. groceries-11
  • whole wheat bread for bri's lunches
  • whole wheat pizza dough (should be in the newbies)
  • coffee
  • clif mojo and clif z-bars (we got clif builders for Brian b/c he LOVES them)
  • fancy cheese for fancy grilled cheese sandwiches one night
  • eggs
  • soymilk
  • oikos
  • maple syrup
  • tuna
  • canned beans for chili
  • canned tomatoes for tomato soup
  • pasta sauce
  • vino
groceries-21
  • bell peppers
  • onions
  • garlic
  • pears
  • fennel 
  • bananas
  • raspberries (not in season here, but 2 for 1...can't resist that!!!)
  • frozen berries
  • celery
The newbies!!! groceries-31
  • whole wheat pizza dough
  • cinnamon roll Larabar! (still no pb cookie or coconut!!!)
  • dates!!!
  • adriatic fig spread!!!
  • new tea - honey vanilla chamomile for night time and nutcracker sweet for work
I'm sipping on the honey vanilla chamomile right now and it is yummy!  It also means that I'm about ready for bed...chamomile is the perfect evening relaxer for me.  I will post my official BSI entry in the morning, along with some preliminary Thanksgiving plans!  I can't wait to hear what you all are doing for Thanksgiving!   G'night!  :)
Read More
categories baking, dinner, retaurants
tags apples, pumpkin, veggie

baby. got. back.

Andrea

I attended my first spin class tonight....oh. my. goodness.  It was one of the best workouts I've had!  The instructor (my friend) is amazing, the workout was fabulous, the music was perfect.  I mean, this was my first spin class, but tell me who wouldn't love a class that ended with rolling hills to the sound of "Baby Got Back"?!?  Perfect. Backtrack:  My eating schedule was all off today.  I think its because I got up early for my doctor appointment and wound up eating about 60-90 minutes earlier than normal.  Or maybe the breakfast cookie didn't fill me up enough...guess I'll just have to test another of those beauties out to see! I snacked on my banana around 10:30, but was still starving so ate my pita at 11:45.  1/2 of the pita was soggy so I wound up just eating the filling out of that half.  The tuna salad and broccoli slaw went perfectly together... 081120-l3 I was meeting Christine for a walk at 12:30 and didn't want to fill up too much, so I saved my apple and Oikos for after our exercise.  If I haven't mentioned it before, pink lady apple slices dipped in plain Oikos is divine.  :) 081110-s21 Christine and I walked 3 hilly miles in about 50 minutes.  I enjoyed having chatty girlfriend time even more than getting out for exercise during lunch...it was a perfect break in my day. For a snack about 1 hour before spin I ate a chocolate chip Z Bar. 081120-s2 My spin class was right after work, and when I got home Brian had dinner nearly ready!  Yummy fresh veggie stir fry on jasmine rice.  It was the perfect light meal for after my workout, and so beautiful! 081120-d2 081120-d1 081120-d3 He used:
  • broccoli
  • red bell pepper
  • carrots
  • mushrooms
  • onion
  • celery
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp spicy szechuan sauce
  • scallions and sesame seeds on top
I ate about 1/3 of it, on top of 3/4 cup white jasmine rice.  Paired with a small glass of wine. 081120-d5 And for dessert a Kozy Shack rice pudding cup with frozen blueberries on top. 081120-d6 It was a great day.  I love big activity days because I'm not as concerned with what I consume, and I've learned to still portion things appropriately and not go overboard.  It is a very satisfying feeling.  :) I'm still looking for some good upper body workout dvd's...anybody have any suggestions?  I'd like something to combine with my running, yoga and occasional spin class... Have a great night!
Read More
categories dinner, product review
tags oikos, rice pudding, spin, stir fry, wine

my nose may fall off...

Andrea

Is it spring yet?  This last couple of days have been our coldest yet this year, and for some reason I am not adapting to the low temperatures.  I typically accept each change of season enthusiastically, but this year I could skip right over winter... Brian and I braved the cold and went out for our mid-week training run after work.  1/2 mile warm-up, 1-1/2 mile run, 1/4 mile cool-down.  I bundled up in long pants, a long sleeve shirt, fleece vest, fleece pull-over, head band to cover my ears and gloves.  It wasn't too bad once we got moving, and my hands were hot after the first mile as usual.  I really don't get that.  Aside from my poor frozen nose the run felt really great, and I'm excited to increase mileage again on Saturday. For snacks today I skipped my banana and had another spiced apple cider with my Kashi.  No pictures... Dinner was simple, leftover black bean soup (not so soupy today) with 1/2 a sausage link crumbled in it on top of brown rice and a side of roasted brussels sprouts. 081119-d1 081119-d3 Soooo filling, I couldn't finish my beans. Ok, in an effort to not let blogging take over my evening I'm stopping now, closing my laptop lid and heading to the bathtub with my book to hopefully thaw my fingers and toes...  Have a great night!  :) UPDATE:  I forgot!  I snacked while I was waiting for my brussels sprouts to roast, on these...   Kashi TLC Cheddar Kashi TLC Cheddar  and these... green olives green olives Now I'm off to a bath!  :)
Read More
categories dinner
tags black beans, running

black bean soup and yoga

Andrea

Aaaahhhhh.....I am in post-yoga bliss right now.  Another wonderful class at Studio 206, taught by Hilary.  I must say though that I am more of a 60-minute class kinda girl.  The 90-hour class is nice, you get extra time to work on balance positions, extra meditation time etc., but I really hate to get home after 9pm.  And, I honestly feel that I get as good of a workout in 60 minutes as I do in 90, its just stretched out more in 90. Anyway, the studio only offers one 60-minute class that works with my schedule each week so it looks like I'll have to make do... :) Knowing that it was going to be a late night, I thought ahead this morning and revved up the crock pot for some black bean soup.  I love this simple, wholesome, filling recipe...I could eat it every single week. 081118-d3 Black Bean Soup Ingredients:
  • about 1 pound dry black beans
  • one onion, diced
  • one red bell pepper, diced
  • 3 big garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz)
  • 8 cups beef or veggie broth
  • 1/2 tbsp cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • cayenne pepper to taste
081118-d1 Steps:
  1. Put all ingredients in crock pot EXCEPT for salt, pepper and cayenne.  
  2. Set crock pot to low.  I do this in the morning before work and when I get home 10 hours later the beans are perfect.  You could cook them on high, but they would probably only take 5-6 hours total. 
  3. When beans are done, stir in salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.  I don't put these spices in at first because they intensify with slow cooking, and I don't want my soup too salty or spicy.
081118-d21 That's it!  So easy and sooooooooo good.  I make brown rice to pour my soup on top of, and Brian likes saffron rice.  We sometimes chop up sausage or ham in the soup which also makes it really, really good. Cheese, sour cream and scallions are all good toppers.  You could add many other types of veggies to make it your own...its so versatile. Instead of sausage in the soup this time we pan-fried it and had it on the side.  I knew Brian would want lots and I just wanted a little taste, so this was the best compromise.  This sausage is from Babes in the Wood, a local company that breeds a certain type of pig that they allow to forage in the woods.  Its a highly sustainable practice and the pigs lead happy lives eating the things they are meant to eat.  And, it is DELICIOUS.  I am not a big fan of sausage, but this stuff makes me pretty happy. my dinner bowl my dinner bowl
  • 1/2 cup brown rice
  • 2 cups black bean soup
  • 1 tbsp sour cream
  • 1/2 sausage link
brian's dinner bowl brian's dinner bowl
  • saffron rice
  • lots of bean soup
  • lots of cheese
  • 1-1/2 sausage links
For dessert I had a Kozy Shack rice pudding cup with berries on top. 081118-d8 A little backtrack, tonight before yoga I tried the Clif Mojo Peanut Butter Pretzel bar. 081118-s11 Product Review: Clif Mojo Peanut Butter Pretzel Ok, I know I've been saying this a lot lately and you're probably going to stop believing me if I don't give something a bad review soon, but this bar was AMAZING.  Seriously.  I felt like I was eating a candy bar. The only negative thing I have to say is that it has 200 calories...I usually like to stay in the 120-150 calorie range for my afternoon snacks.  But, every single extra calorie was worth it.  I thought about only eating 3/4s of it but once I bit into the peanut-y, pretzel-y goodness there was no turning back.  I polished it off. Plus, I burned 350+ calories at yoga tonight.  So there.  :) Now I am off to enjoy my post-yoga bliss before crashing in bed.  Have a great night!
Read More
categories dinner, product review
tags Clif, recipes, soup, yoga

great run + simple dinner

Andrea

Good evening!  Tonight Brian and I tried an after-work run downtown.  It was fantastic!  The temperature was a good 10* warmer than it was this morning, we were still in "go" mood from being at work and, best part, we weren't trying to drag ourselves out of bed and onto the road.  We did a little under a 1/2 mile warm-up walk, 1-1/2 mile run and a 1/4 mile cool-down walk.  It was perfect.  This was my first 1-1/2 mile run on the road (not the track) since the start of the training program and it felt really really good.   For dinner we had leftovers in the fridge for Brian, so I wanted to put something easy together for me.  I was still in comfort food mode and wanted something warm and satisfying after being out in the cold.  So, I pulled an Amy's Tomato Bisque out of our pantry, a couple of slices of leftover oatmeal bread and some broccoli together. 081117-d1 I was going for a tomato soup and grilled cheese kinda thing, so I put 1/2 a slice of 50% reduced fat white cheddar on each of my oatmeal slices and broiled them in the oven.  The cheese didn't melt very well...it kinda looked like plastic wrap while it was in the oven.  Scary.  I also steamed some broccoli and added a sprinkling of sea salt to it.  I don't understand why restaurants put butter or cheese on broccoli, its natural flavor is so great and perfectly enhanced with a bit of salt.  Yumminess. 081117-d2 081117-d3 081117-d5 The Amy's Tomato Bisque is pretty good.  Its definitely not homemade, but I just didn't have the energy in me tonight.  I'll do a tomato soup soon though, I've got a couple of recipes that I love and now I'm in the mood...  This meal was really filling, I only finished 1-1/2 pieces of the bread and about 3/4 of the soup, but I ate all of my broccoli like a good girl...  And Lucy was more than happy to finish off the cheese bread for me, how could I resist this face? lulu-1 For a snack today I had my Clif Nectar Cacao: dark chocolate walnut about an hour before my run. Product Review: Clif Nectar Cacao: Dark Chocolate Walnut This bar was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!  I had never tried any of the Cacao flavors, and sadly this is the only one my Whole Foods carries so it may be the only one I try for awhile.  It had a wonderful, dense texture, almost like a really chewy brownie.  And big chunks of walnuts!  It was a great energy boost for my run and held me over until dinner a couple of hours later.  I will definitely be buying these again!!! 081117-s11 I also tried a bite of Brian's Clif Builder's Chocolate bar....also really yummy!  He loved it, which says a lot because he is NOT a protein bar fan.  I wanted him to try out some Clif bars this week for me and give me some reviews.  He says "it tasted almost like a candy bar"..."really filling".  So there you go.  :) And last, but not least, my favorite coffee shop downtown broke out the Spiced Apple Cider!!!  You know I was all over that this afternoon...nothing says "its fall!" like spiced apple cider... s1 Have a great night!  Oh!  I added a Meet Andrea page, so if you feel like learning a bit more about lil' ol' me, check it out!  :)
Read More
categories dinner, product review
tags Clif, quick, running

comfort food for hubby, new challenge for me

Andrea

When we were in college, my roommate Jackie and I used to make a big "southern dinner" and invite a bunch of friends over to feast.  The meal consisted of:
  • breaded, fried chicken tenders
  • macaroni and cheese
  • mashed potatoes
  • collard greens w/ bacon
  • black eyed peas
  • fried okra
These six items are at the top of my list of favorite comfort foods, and those meals are some of my favorite memories from college.  After we started dating, they quickly became some of Brian's favorites as well.  I already mentioned that my hubby was craving some good ol' stick-to-your-ribs comfort food, and this was exactly the kind of meal he wanted. So, tonight we cooked together and made chicken tenders, mac + cheese, garlic + dill mashed potatoes and steamed green beans (I had to have SOMETHING healthy!).  It was a wonderful, filling meal, and I didn't even try to over-"healthify" anything (hubby may have divorced me...not really!).  I did load my plate with steamed green beans and took smaller-than-normal helpings of the other, not-so-healthy options though. 081116-d2 081116-d3 The one thing I changed in my mom's amazing mac + cheese recipe was that I used brown rice pasta instead of semolina...I LOVE this stuff!  Its texture is so similar to semolina, I don't even notice a difference. 081116-d11 I loved the meal, and I loved cooking with Brian, and I love that this kind of food brings back such great memories of friends and family, but I don't love the guilty, nagging voice I have in my head that is telling me I should have tried to make a healthier dinner.  :(  Why does classic comfort food always involve frying, cheese and potatoes?  Now, I'm not saying that my healthy meals don't evoke satisfying feelings, because they do, its just a different kind of satisfaction.  Think how heightened my enjoyment of the meal would have been if I had made healthy chicken fingers, mac + cheese and mashed potatoes that still tasted just as good as the originals?!?!   So I'm setting a new challenge for myself and my hubby.  One night a week we are going to pick a classic comfort food from mine or Brian's past and "healthify" it.  And we're going to do it together, because part of what was so great about tonight (and last night's home made pizza) was being in the kitchen cooking side-by-side.   And, another even bigger challenge for myself is this:  On these very occasional nights when we decide to have a blast-from-the-past with a not-so-healthy meal I'm not going to feel guilty about it, because it doesn't happen THAT often.  :)
Read More
categories dinner, product review
tags comfort food

homemade pizza and groceries

Andrea

Good evening!  I hope everybody had a wonderful Saturday, despite any dreary weather you may have had (like me!).  After my BSI submission I cleaned up the house a bit, lounged around a bit, blogged a bit and made a grocery list. For lunch I had leftovers: 1-1/2 cups green potage and 2 slices of oatmeal bread, one with roasted garlic hummus. 081115-l1 Turns out the garlic hummus and oatmeal bread weren't that great of a combination...I only ate about 1/2 of that slice. Before grocery shopping I had a Clif Nectar bar so that I wouldn't eat or buy everything in sight. Product Review: Clif Nectar lemon vanilla cashew flavor 081115-s2 This is my all-time favorite Clif Nectar flavor, and I'm so glad that my Whole Foods still carries it. I also really love the cranberry apricot and cherry pomegranate but they've discontinued them at my store...SO SAD!!!  :(  This flavor is wonderfully sweet from the vanilla but still has a nice tartness from the lemon, and there are big chunks of cashews.  Yum. The bar held me over through our various errands and grocery shopping, and kept me from ordering anything when we drove through Taco Bell so Brian could snack on a bean burrito. Here is a sampling of the grocery store loot this evening: First, the regular items. groceries-1
  • bananas
  • brussels sprouts
  • sweet potato
  • broccoli sprouts
  • mushrooms
  • cauliflower
  • broccoli
  • raspberries (!)
  • z-bars (!!)
  • Clif Nectar Cocao (this should be on the newbie list, never tried this flavor before)
  • tofu
  • Silk plain soymilk
  • Oikos (!) (would love to try Chobani, but my store doesn't carry it!!!)
  • vino
  • honey
  • Amy's soups
  • Kashi cheddar crackers
  • whole wheat pitas
More regular items. groceries-2
  • rolled oats
  • part skim mozzerella
  • Wallaby yogurts (Brian's favorite...so good!  they have great flavors and are super-creamy)
  • red bell peppers
  • pomegranates (2 of these!  2 for $5!)
  • feta cheese
  • frozen edamame
  • coffee
Regular items not pictured:
  • cucumbers
  • tortilla chips
  • more vino
  • lunch meat / cheese for Brian
  • arugula lettuce mix
  • scallions
  • onions
  • cream cheese for Brian's bagels
Newbies!!! groceries-3
  • Clif bars!!!  (the Whole Foods Whole Deal has tons of coupons, lots of taste-testing this week!)
  • new hummus - roasted red pepper
  • PB&Co dark chocolate dreams (!)
  • turbinado raw sugar
  • Smart Deli veggie pepperoni slices (for our pizza tonight)
So excited about my newbies!!!  Especially the PB&Co, I didn't realize my Whole Foods even carried it!  And, I discovered that they carry the MaraNatha almond butter, but I'm not in need right now so I will try it next time I'm all out. We also stopped at Bodo's to get Brian a supply of everything bagels for the next couple of weeks, groceries-41 and the Organic Butcher to get chicken breasts and some bacon.  I love the Organic Butcher, most of the meat that he carries is local and it feels great to support a local business as well as local farmers.  We actually reserved our local, organic turkey for Thanksgiving tonight!  :) By the time we got home I was STARVING!  Brian and I put together a wonderful homemade pizza with fresh pizza dough from a local pasta shop.  Sadly they were all out of whole wheat, but we were in SUCH a pizza mood that I couldn't say no to white flour. 081115-d1 We made up for it with part skim mozzarella, veggie pepperoni slices and lots of veggies. 081115-d2 I had about 1/4 of the 12" pizza, and paired it with a salad and small glass of red wine. 081115-d3 081115-d5 081115-d4 My salad consisted of:
  • arugula salad mix
  • cucumber
  • red bell pepper
  • 1 tbsp feta crumbles
  • 1/4 cup red raspberries
  • 1 tbsp sliced almonds
  • 1/2 tsp grape seed oil
  • 1 tsp red wine vinegar
This Syrah is a new bottle we found at Whole Foods, just $9, and is pretty good! 081115-d6 I'm off to watch SNL...have a great night!
Read More
categories dinner, lunch, product review
tags Clif, pizza, salad

green potage and oatmeal bread

Andrea

Mmmmmmmm potage.  One of my favorite cold, rainy night dinners.  Its basically a creamy soup made by simmering veggies (and sometimes meat) together until they break down enough to puree' them together in a blender.  Brian helped me tonight...he's kinda become our dedicated potage chef.  He used and slightly modified a recipe from one of our soup cookbooks, Soup: A Way of Life by Barbara Kafka.  It turned out perfectly. 081114-d11 Green Potage makes (4) 1-1/2 cup servings 180 calories, 3.4g fat, 1.8g sat. fat, 35g carbs, 4.3g fiber, 4.5g protein in one serving Ingredients:
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 cups mashing potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 5 cups veggie broth
  • 1/2 medium head of broccoli, stems peeled and cut into coins, tops into florets
  • 4 tsp kosher salt (less if using a commercial veggie broth)
  • ground pepper to taste
Steps:
  1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Stir in the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, until wilted and translucent.
  2. Stir in the potatoes and stock.  Bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.  Stir in the broccoli.  Cover.  Simmer until the potatoes and broccoli are completely tender, about 10 more minutes.
  3. Strain the soup and reserve the liquid.  In a food processor or blender, puree' the vegetables with a little of the reserved liquid.  Whisk the puree' into the remaining liquid and return to the saucepan.
  4. Add salt + pepper and heat through.
081114-d9 My task tonight was to try out the Oatmeal Whole Wheat Quick Bread recipe I found on Itzy's Kitchen.  I was really impressed with how easy and fast this recipe was.  And, it was really good!  VERY filling.  I made a couple of small modifications. 081114-d3 Oatmeal Bread yield 1 loaf, 12 slices 198 calories, 4.5g fat, .4g sat fat, 35.1g carbs, 4.2f fiber, 5.7g protein in one slice Ingredients:
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 cups hemp milk
Steps:
  1. Preheat oven to 450*.
  2. Grind oatmeal in a blender.  In a large bowl, combine oatmeal, flour and baking powder.
  3. In a separate bowl, dissolve honey in vegetable oil then stir in the milk.
  4. Combine both mixtures and stir until a soft dough is formed.  Move dough into a greased loaf pan.
  5. Bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
If I had more honey, I would have used the 4 tbsp recommended in the Itzy's Kitchen recipe.  My bread was really good, but it could have been a bit more sweet.  Unfortunately I ran out after 3 tbsp so I just worked with what I had!  I will definitely be making this recipe again. 081114-d1 081114-d41 Dinner was sooooooo good. Exactly what I wanted at the end of this dreary day.  The potage and bread are both really filling.  I had about 1-1/2 cups of soup and 1-1/2 slices of the bread paired with a small glass of wine, and am now completely stuffed!!! 081114-d10 A little backtrack to my afternoon snacking.  Lunch only stuck with me for a couple of hours....it was just veggies.  I realized when I was starving at 2:30 that I hadn't had much protein today, but sadly didn't have anything to supplement with at work.  So, I had my apple and slice of banana apple bread for a snack with a cup of green tea, which held me over for another couple of hours.   On Friday afternoons my office always gets a bottle of wine, cheese and crackers to celebrate the end of another week.  Today we were also celebrating my big drawing submittal yesterday, which was nice.  I had a small glass of wine, about a 1oz piece of really yummy white cheddar and a couple of water table crackers. No pictures, I still haven't gotten comfortable enough to clue my co-workers in to what I'm doing.  I think that's best for now though. Tomorrow starts another week of training and blogging!!!  I wasn't very good this week, I was so busy that my workouts and home cooking suffered.  I hope to find a way to better balance things because the busy weeks will keep happening and if I want to get to my goal weight I need to stay on top of my exercise and good eats. I am now totally pooped out and ready for bed, so no BSI cooking tonight.  I did spend about an hour working out my recipe though, so I'm all ready to prepare it tomorrow!
Read More
categories baking, dinner
tags bread, soup, vegetarian

spaghetti squash and glazed tofu

Andrea

Good evening!  With deadlines and social engagements the last couple of days haven't been very conducive to coming home and cooking a meal.  But, finally, tonight I had time to play around in the kitchen!  I decided to try out the spaghetti squash I picked up last weekend. I cut it in half, scooped the seeds, rubbed about 1 tbsp olive oil all over the flesh and sprinkled it with salt and pepper.  I placed it flesh-side down on a nonstick pan and popped it in the oven at 400* for 30 minutes. 081113-d1 081113-d2 When it came out, all I had to do was use a fork to pull the flesh away from the skin.  So easy! 081113-d14 We had some veggies in the fridge to use up before our grocery trip Saturday, so I decided to roast some asparagus while the squash cooked.  Ends chopped off, little drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of salt and pepper and in the oven it went. 081113-d5 I was debating toppings for the spaghetti squash and decided to keep it nice and simple.  I chopped up a zucchini, red bell pepper and 1/2 an onion. 081113-d7 The veggie trio was sauteed together with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.  I really wanted all of the pure flavors of the veggies to come through and not be muddled with any extra spices. Finally, I needed a protein.  I hadn't done pan-glazed tofu in awhile, and for some reason it sounded really good tonight.  So, out came a block of extra firm tofu.  I sliced it into (6) 1/2 inch slabs and layered it between paper towels for about 15 minutes.  No pressing, I've found that it doesn't really help that much. I heated one tbsp of olive oil on medium heat in a nonstick pan and waited for it to shimmer.  When it was ready, the tofu went in and immediately started to sizzle.  This is the hard part....no moving the tofu!  So difficult for me because I like to stir things on the stove top.  It just sizzles for about 7 minutes until it is golden brown on one side, then you flip it. 081113-d9 Once the tofu has sizzled on the 2nd side for about 5 minutes, you add a glaze to the pan.  I use this glaze from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop, I haven't been able to stray from it because it is so good!  
  • 1/2 cup veggie broth
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • sprinkling of red pepper flakes
  • salt
  Whisk it all together and add it to the pan with the tofu. 081113-d10 Once the tofu has sizzled in the glaze for about 2 minutes, remove it from the pan.  Perfect every time! 081113-d111 Dinner was a success.  I didn't saute' the veggie trio for very long so it still had a nice crunch to it.  The spaghetti squash was awesome, I love its texture! 081113-d15 Paired with a small glass of red wine and I am a happy girl.   081113-d8 I hope that everybody had a lovely day.  I worked on a new banana apple bread recipe tonight that just came out of the oven.  I'll report tomorrow about how it turned out and share the recipe...I'm pretty excited about it!
Read More
categories dinner
tags squash, tofu, vegetarian

quick dinner and taggings!

Andrea

Today was just as hectic as I thought it would be, and it the day isn't over yet!  My breakfast (pictured last post) held me over 'till about 11:30, but I didn't get to eat until 12:15.  It took me about an hour to eat the lunch I packed (pictured last post) because I was so busy.  I was hungry again by about 5:00 and ate my yummy snack, pink lady apple slices dipped in Oikos plain yogurt.  The sweet/tartness of the apple perfectly balanced the yogurt...so good!

081110-s2

I left work at 6:00 and came straight home to do a Taebo workout dvd.  It had been FOREVER since I had done one of these, so I started with a basic workout.  It was way too short so I did another to get about 35 total minutes of fast-paced cardio and 20 minutes of stretching.

And now I am going to scarf down my dinner, a veggie salad (that's lite ranch on top) and small helping of leftover mushroom barley risotto, while catching up on some blogs.  I brought some work home with me so that will probably take up the rest of my evening.  :(  

081110-d1

But first, I've been tagged by Amy at CoffeeTalk!  So, here's the deal:

Rules:

  • Link the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
  • Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
  • Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links.
  • Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Facts:
  1. I decided that I wanted to be an architect when I was in 6th grade.  I finished my undergrad degree in architecture, worked for 2+ years in an architect's office, finished my graduate degree in architecture...and now work in a landscape architecture office and LOVE it.  Go figure.
  2. I'm part Finnish, and my maiden name had the classic double vowels of a Finnish last name (I kinda miss it...).
  3. I've had a love affair with peanut butter and bananas since I was a baby.  I called peanut butter banana sandwiches "p-bo nannas" when I was 2.
  4. I was a vegetarian for 9 months.  Now I'm just REALLY picky about the little bit of meat that I do eat. (I promise to write my food philosophy soon...)
  5. I went to Astronaut High School...no, they didn't teach us to be Astronauts.
  6. My husband and I lived in the highest incorporated town east of the Mississippi for a year...anybody know what town that is?
  7. I'm addicted to looking at real estate listings online, even though we're not in the market to buy a house.  I guess I could have worse addictions, right?!?
Tag-lings: (I'm sorry if you've been tagged before...I'm new and don't have a big blog list yet!)
This was fun!  But I know this kind of thing isn't for everybody, so absolutely no pressure to take part.   :) Have a lovely lovely evening!

 

Read More
categories background, dinner

pink ladies

Andrea

Happy Sunday evening! Sorry I haven't posted all day...it was a busy one! :) This morning I woke up craving cereal, as is usual lately. I mixed 1/2 cup Kashi Heart to Heart with 1/2 cup Back to Nature Maple Nut Medley. I topped it off with the golden raspberries I got from my garden yesterday, pom seeds that I slaved over this morning and Silk plain soymilk. These were my first pom seeds of the season....so yum!!! (and pretty!) 081109-b1 081109-b3 Brian and I decided to go apple picking at Carter Mountain Orchard, about 10 minutes from our house.  Its so beautiful at the top of the mountain, the perfect place to go in the fall for an overlook of Charlottesville. 081109-apples-1 081109-apples-2 I love fall in Virginia!!! [but am angry at the black speck on my lense :( ] The best part.......we picked Pink Ladies!!!!!!!!  My FAVORITES! 081109-apples-3 081109-apples-4 13 pounds of beautiful Pinks.....I am a happy happy girl.  :) And of course I had to eat one while we were picking...who could resist? 081109-apples-51 We also gathered 5 pounds of granny smith apples from the bin so that I can make Brian's Nana's famous apple crisp. 081109-apples-6 After a lovely morning apple picking trip I had a vinyasa yoga class at Studio 206.  Hilary is my favorite instructor and the class was WONDERFUL.  I felt so loose and gushy and fabulous afterwards.  :)  I snacked on a chocolate chip Clif Z-Bar immediately after class because I was starving!  This was my first Z-Bar and I LOVED IT!  It tasted just like a chocolate chip cookie.  Now, it could have been my ultra-serene, after-yoga state of mind, but I'm pretty sure I will love these bars no matter the situation! 081109-s1 081109-s2 Unfortunately I had to work for a few hours this afternoon, so I packed my lunch this morning before our apple picking trip.  A veggie wrap with  
  • whole wheat tortilla
  • 2 tbsp roasted garlic hummus
  • alfalfa sprouts
  • cucumber slices
  • red bell pepper slices
  • banana peppers
  081109-l1 And a side of leftover quinoa. 081109-l2 It was yummy and filling and got me through my afternoon of work. For dinner I wanted to try a Mushroom Barley Risotto recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop.  I love that he substitutes barley for arborio rice in the risotto because barley has much greater nutritional value and was a wonderful, earthy compliment to the mushrooms.  FYI, the barley takes a bit longer than arborio to cook. 081109-d1 Brian made lacinato kale as a side dish...another of my favorites! 081109-d3 081109-d4 081109-d5 081109-d6 I also had 2 small glasses of wine... 081109-d7 The meal was great, but risotto is very time-consuming and not something that I cook very often.   Whew!  I'm beat!!!  And...today I was tagged by Amy at CoffeeTalk!  Which means that I have some interesting facts to come up with about myself....I will post tomorrow on that. Goodnight!  :)
Read More
categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags Clif, apples, barley, local, yoga