Disappointing Teacher

I will always remember the first time Grandma let my sister and me help make Thanksgiving dinner.  She put us in charge of stuffing the turkey.  When we looked at her with blank stares she said, “Just shove the stuffing in the turkey’s behind.”  As completely grossed out as we were, we did just that.  We stuffed and stuffed.  Just as Grandma came back in the room, stuffing started coming out the neck of the turkey and spilling into the sink.  Grandma was on the floor laughing at us before we realized what was happening. “What ARE you doing to that poor turkey?!” she barely spit out. We may not have been the best ones for the job, but at least we gave some great entertainment.  The following recipe calls for stuffing the bird.  I opted to serve it alongside, for obvious reasons 😉

Quinoa-Stuffed Moroccan Cornish Hens (adapted from WholeFoodsMarket.com)

• 1 T sweet paprika
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp chile pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• salt to taste
• 2 Cornish Hens
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 T olive oil
• 3 T lemon juice
• 1/2 cup white wine
• Fresh cilantro sprigs

1.Put paprika, cumin, sugar, coriander, fennel seeds, pepper flakes, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, and 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl and stir together to make a rub. 2.Massage into the hen, inside and out. 3. Cut small slits into each breast and where the thighs meet the breast of each hen.  Insert garlic. 4. Drizzle hens with oil and lemon juice, transfer to a roasting pan, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 5. Preheat oven to 400*. 6. Bake hens until beginning to brown, approx. 15 minutes. 7. Drizzle with wine and return to oven to bake for another 15 minutes.  8. Tent the hens with foil and let rest for 10 minutes. 9. Cut hens in half and arrange them on platter or plate and garnish with cilantro.  10. Serve along with Apricot Quinoa listed below.

Apricot Quinoa (Adapted Apricot Couscous from WholeFoodsMarket.com)

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa
• 10 dried apricots, chopped
• 3/4 sliced almonds
• 3 T fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 2 handfuls fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T lemon zest
• 1 T olive oil
• sea salt

1. Cook quinoa in the 1 1/2 cup of water as directed on the package. 2. Fluff with a fork 3. In a large bowl, mix apricots, almonds, lemon juice, mint, cilantro, garlic and lemon zest. 4. Add quinoa, olive oil, and salt to taste. 5. Toss gently to combine.

Ready for Battle

This weekend we decided to try something new. I’ve now been consistent with my running and lifting,but this my friends, was a whole new beast. The Warrior Dash. Just a little 5k, no big deal.  Oh, but let’s throw some cars to climb over, walls to scale, ropes to climb, fire to jump over, and end with crawling through mud under barbed wire. Now that is what I’m talking about! First, obviously, you must have a costume.

We decided to call ourselves Warrior Goddess. Chad was a little offended so we amended it to Ultimate Warriors. I think we look tough 😉 It’s the gold sequin headbands.

It was pushing triple digits in heat again so our 3 pm start time was not ideal. But, we made it, we got dirty, and had a blast doing it.  I highly recommend even you non-runners to try one of these events.

Now, if you are going to race like a warrior you need to eat like one too.  Here is a recipe that I originally started using back when I was on the Clean diet a year ago. It was a good book with many good points. I found, however, that it is just not realistic as a lifestyle. It is also not a good choice for someone who works out. I became very irritable and tired, which is exactly opposite of how you are told you will feel. I was in the middle of a tough quarter in grad school, so being exhausted all the time was not an option. I only lasted two weeks of Clean. But, as I said I learned some good things from it and I use many of the delicious, healthy recipes like this one.

Baked Citrus Fish in Parchment

• 2 filets of fish (I’ve used Cod, Halibut, and Orange Roughy, all good)
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives
• 1 Lemon sliced
• 1/2 zucchini sliced
• 2 T capers*
• 1 T lemon juice*
• salt and pepper to taste*
• Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 425*. Cut two strips of parchment, approximately     in size.  Drizzle oil on paper and place fish on top. Arrange zucchini and lemons on top of fish, alternating them.  Top with remaining oil and lemon juice (split between the two equally).  Add the olives and capers to each and salt and pepper.  Fold up paper around fish like a little package.  If I can’t get the paper to stay put I secure it with toothpicks.  Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.The paper will be slightly browned. Serve in the paper immediately. 

This time I didn’t have the lemons, but I would highly recommend them. I also added fresh basil from my plant and used spears of mini zucchini instead of slices. I grilled some shiitake mushrooms and brussels sprouts for a side.  Just a little olive oil drizzled on top with some salt and pepper. There is also a mini steamed artichoke in there 🙂 This is so easy, so healthy, and so delicious!

It’s probably about time that I give an update on the actual Operation Meltdown.  The mission has been less about weight loss and more about getting healthy and it is paying off.  Slow and steady I am now down six pounds.  Not a ton but if you have been following for a while you have seen the ups and downs as I have tried to figure out what works and what doesn’t.  I’m feeling good and I’m only four pounds away from my goal. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon!

Protein Pick Me Up Bars

Are you sick of buying protein bars that are:  A).expensive B).full of crap you can’t pronounce or C). Both? I don’t even want to know how much we spend on bars every month because we try to buy the “natural” and “organic” ones. Chad came up with a great idea to make our own.  If you don’t care have time to make your own try Picky Bars. They boast that their bars are “allergy sensitive, athlete designed, gluten and dairy free.” And they are delicious.  We based our recipe off the ingrediants in their Smooth Caffeinator bar. 

First, I must warn you that these are messy and I had to go to a couple stores to get all the ingrediants.  The recipe starts by blending dates and apricots.  I thought that my beloved food processor would make things easy.  Wrong.  The blades wouldn’t turn in the stickyness of the dried fruit.  Chad started chopping and mashing using any utensil he could find. Then I remembered The Pampered Chef.  Thanks to my aunts and cousins who threw me a Pampered Chef party for my bridal shower five years ago I had the perfect tool for this job.  If you have this guy, it’ll make your life easier.

Here is what we ended up with:

Protein Pick Me Ups

• 1 lb dried dates
• 1 cup dried apricots
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup vanilla rice protein powder
• 1/2 cup instant coffee
• 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup puffed rice cereal
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or carob if you want a vegan bar)Method for the Maddness:
• Start by chopping the dates and apricots together. You want a smooth consistancy because this will be the base of your bar.  Make sure the dates are pitted!  In a large bowl add the honey to the mixture.  Follow with the PB, protein powder, and coffee.  Each time making sure to mix really well.  I had to give up on the spoon and just use my hands. (I told Chad that I’m going to give this to my patients that are in for hand therapy, it’s quite the work out!) Add the cranberries, hazelnuts, and rice cereal last.  Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet. Press the chocolate chips into the mixture individually.  Let it set for about 30-45 minutes before cutting into individual bars.  Store in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap. 

This recipe made us 21 bars with about 8-10g of protein in each serving.  Did I mention that they are awesome?!

Squash… it’s not just a sport

My day started with a nice and easy 1200 m swim.  Swimming is so therapeutic to me.  I don’t know if it’s just the tranquility of being in water or the silence letting me just think.  Either way I went to class feeling great.

I need to finish school so I can get back to this!

I finally got to the grocery store last night which means I finally got to cook again.  Cooking is also very therapeutic, at least I think it is. It also helps if you have some nice red wine to accompany you 🙂

I made some more labor intensive recipes, but they were worth it.  First, I roasted a butternut squash for about an hour.

This was to make a delicious butternut squash risotto.  I found the recipe in Natural Health Magazine.  It was an article on aiding digestion and the fennel in this is the aide.  I changed up the recipe a little by using pearled barley instead of the risotto rice.  The barley makes it even more digestive friendly because it is high in fiber and selinium.  It also provides food for the “good” bacteria in your digestive tract. It must taste pretty good because neither Chad nor my brother-in-law said anything.  I also used Romano cheese instead of Parm.  That was just because I picked up the wrong thing at the store and didn’t realize until I got home.

Butternut Squash Risotto

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 T of olive oil
• 1 small fennel bulb
• 1 cup of Arborio (or 1 cup of pearled barley, I cooked it for half the time too)
• 3-3 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 T butter
• 2/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preheat oven to 400*, Prick the squash with a fork several times then roast in pan for 50-60 min (turn a couple times).  When done slit the squash lengthwise and let it cool.  When its cool enough peel off the skin and scoop out the seeds.  Cut it into large chunks.  In a large pot site the onion into the olive oil and cook for 3-5 min at medium heat. Stir in the fennel and cook for another 3 min.  Raise the heat the med-high and cook for another 5-7 minutes until fennel is soft.  Add the rice and cook while stirring for 2-3 minutes. Pour in 1 cup of broth. Add salt, sage, and nutmeg. Cook for another 3 minutes until broth is absorbed.  Stir in another cup of broth and add the squash, then add one more cup of broth. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook, stirring a couple times, for 15 minutes.  Liquid should be absorbed, if its too dry add a little more broth.  Stir in the butter and cheese until melted.

Forgot to take a good picture, here are the leftovers

I also made Love Birds- Chicken in Pastry in honor of Valentine’s Day.  So good!  Of course I changed it up a bit, but still turned out delish.  I used Muenster cheese (it was cheaper) and Apricot preserves (cause we had some in the fridge).  Then as I was finishing up my homework I had to indulge in the evilness that comes from innocent looking little girls. Ugh! They get me everytime! I will say that I’ve had them since Saturday and still have half a box left.  Progress!

Fresh out of the freezer!

Now it is time for me to go spend some time with my man.  It is Valentine’s day and all!

Rules of the Road

Because it has been so nice that last couple days (sorry to rub it in, kinda) I have gotten to work out outside two days in a row! We went out for an hour-long bike ride. A little windy but it was so nice to get back into it. Just one tip for those of you that don’t ride: the bike lanes are just that, lanes to ride your bike in. I get so annoyed by people who feel the need to honk. Not only is it obnoxious but dangerous! I scare very easily and one of these days someone is going to honk and I’m going to fall right off! But it was still a fun time. Obviously I need to get back on my bike a little more, but the calorie count made me happy!  

For dinner I made some Stuffed Curried Peppers.  I put it on top a bed of wild rice.  This recipe takes a little time to prepare but it is worth it.  Plus since there is only two of us there are leftovers for lunch!

Today I had a nice three-hour break between classes so I decided to go for a run.  This was the first time that I have done over 3 miles in about a year.  Sad but true.  I found a couch to 10K workout that I am going to start following.  I want to get back to the days that 6 miles was a nice little run.  Today’s run was 10 min run with a 1 min walk repeated four times. I didn’t die so I think that is something to be celebrated. 

I’m having some dinner guests tonight so I am going to try out some new recipes.  Check in tomorrow and see how it goes!

Early Christmas!

I had a surprise waiting for me on my doorstep and I just couldn’t resist. I had to open it and try it out.

Isn't it pretty?

My very own food processor 🙂 Let me tell you how much easier it has been to make some of my favorite things. We shall start with a recipe that was handed down from my dad, the best cook I know.

My Family: Mom, Chad, Me, Dad, Sis Emily, Bro-in-law Drew, and my perfect niece Kanyon

Guacamole

Ingredients:

• 2 very ripe medium avocados, peeled, seeded, and mashed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 green jalapeño pepper, finely chopped (~2 T)
• 1 T lemon or lime juice
• ¾ to 1 t ground coriander
• ½ t salt
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• Tortilla chips
• Tequila

Procedure:

• Mix avocados, onion, pepper, lime juice, coriander, and salt together.
• Stir in tomato.
• The tequila is for drinking while making (this is a quote from my dad:) we didn’t have any so I didn’t get to make it properly this time)
• Cover and chill at least 1 hr. (Place plastic wrap directly on dip. The oxygen in the air causes the surface to turn brown. It still tastes OK, but you lose style points. *secret* if you put the avocado pit in there it won’t turn brown either)
• Serve with chips.

Because I knew we couldn’t shouldn’t just have guac for dinner I whipped up some other things. I found a great recipe using beer! I was running late from school so Chad actually made the cerveza and lime marinade for the shrimp. It is spicy so watch out! I put it on top of some corn and black beans that I cooked in some lime juice.

Cerveza and Lime Shrimp

One of my favorite things in the world is hummus. I have been making my own lately but it never got blended very well. Now I have this new fancy food processor so it turned out smooth and delicious. Below you’ll find the “recipe” that I use. Really I just kinda throw a bunch of stuff together, hence, the less-than-specific measurements.

Hummus

Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1-2 T lemon juice (to taste)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2-3 T olive oil
• ½ t salt
• Paprika for garnish

Toss all ingredients into a food processor until smooth. Top with paprika and some lemon juice if you want. Serve with fresh veggies or pita chips.

It is time to disclose yet another confession. I am kinda accident prone. Yesterday while trying to clean my new toy I sliced my thumb open. No stitches, this time anyway. Guess that blade is sharp!

Ouch!