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Three Things Thursday

September 30, 2010 by 2 Comments

1. Scottish Oats, Take 2

I tried Scottish Oats again, but this time I looked to the expert for how to do it. (see here for Tuesday’s attempt.) Instead of the microwave, I used the stove. I still want to experiment with the microwave because it’s faster, but I understand why the stovetop makes it easy too. Both would need two bowls–one for cooking, and one for eating. The stovetop for me is a fine when I have time to cook breakfast, but not for on the go.

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 C Scottish oats, I use Bob’s Red Mill brand
  • 1 1/4 C water (way more than Bob’s Red Mill package says and what I did before)
  • 1/4 C milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 banana, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (can use cinnamon)
  • 1/2 T chia seeds

Instructions:

Bring water to a boil. Whisk in oats, reduce to simmer for 5 minutes. Add other ingredients and cook together for 5 minutes. That’s it!

Here were my thoughts on this: The volume was night and day, and the consistency was more what I am used to. I really liked cooking the banana with the oats, I think it helped make it creamy, and the banana was very soft. You could also mash it and whisk it in. The extra flavors were also great in the mix.

I kept it simple so I could really taste the oats. Now that I understand the basics, I can experiment!

Here’s the microwave version:

2. The weather + running

I frequently complain about the heat and how hard it is for me to have happy jogs when it’s so hot. This week Houston finally cooled down, and the humidity went away. We are sure it won’t last long before it heats up again, but I’m enjoying it while it’s here! I went outside with no goal in mind, but hoping to jog around 3-4 miles. I successfully ran 4 miles very slowly and enjoyed it. It was one of those “this is why I run” runs that I really enjoyed the scenery and felt ok while running. It was hot enough to still wear shorts and a tank top and sweat, but cool enough to enjoy.

I also understand why the Houston Marathon is at the end of January. It takes until October for the weather to get nice. The Dallas Half Marathon is in 9 weeks, and I’m hoping that training will progress smoothly with good temperatures so I can really get prepared for this thing!

3. Grocery Finds:

I am always on the lookout for new things to try. Here are a few I’ve tried lately:

1. Amy’s Spinach Feta Pocket: I had this little burrito looking thing as part of a dinner one night with a side of vegetables. I keep some frozen things on hand when I don’t have anything or don’t want to make something. It’s not very filling on its own, so I still had to find something to go with it. One pocket, sold as singles, has 260 calories, 9 g fat, and 11 g protein. The ingredients are very basic–whole wheat flour, spinach, feta milk, etc. Amy’s is a natural frozen food distributor, so it’s a brand I feel happy about going to if needed. Grade: B

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2. Kashi Cinnamon Harvest: These little bites are great! I love the Kashi brand, and have been looking for a new cereal to try that is low in calories and sugar. Cinnamon Harvest has 3 ingredients–wheat, cane juice, cinnamon. How great is that? And it has 180 calories, 1 g fat, and 6 g protein for 28 biscuits. Watch the carbs though, it’s straight wheat. Anyway, the taste is great–even Jeffrey ate it repeatedly! And it’s a great snack on its own, no milk or yogurt needed. I love these. Win. Grade: A+

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3. Erin Baker Organic Brownie Bites: I am always searching for a great, low calorie/not terribly bad for you cookie. I found these at Whole Foods, and they are individually wrapped 100 calorie brownies. The Double Chocolate Chip ones that I tried have 90 calories, and all organic ingredients. 8 brownies come in a box. They taste like a regular chocolate brownie in a cookie shape. I also find that being individually wrapped makes me less likely to nibble on them in the pantry, which is usually how cookies disappear. I was also not familiar with this company. Erin Baker is a true health foodie in Washington State who wanted to bake using quality ingredients. All of her packaged goods have none of the bad stuff-HFCS, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, etc. I need to try more flavors! Grade: A-

Filed Under: Breakfast, Product Reviews, Recipes, Running · Tagged With: ,

Moroccan Dinner and Playing with Oats

September 29, 2010 by 2 Comments

hold that thought on the picture above…


Scottish Oatmeal:

Yesterday, I wrote about some new things I want to try in my kitchen. One is Scottish Oats by Bob’s Red Mill, which I made for breakfast. Scottish Oats are basically a ground version of rolled oats. There are 140 calories per 1/4 C dry oats, 2.5 g fat, 6 g protein. I read about different varieties of oats on Ashley’s blog. Click her recipe page for info and recipe ideas. I am still experimenting. And click this page for her description of every oat imaginable. Very interesting!

Basic Scottish Oatmeal (Trial #1 following instructions on bag):

  • 1/4 C dry Bob’s Red Mill Scottish Oats
  • 3/4 C water
  • splash milk
  • 1/2 banana
  • drizzle honey
  • pinch salt
  • small handful of Kashi Go Lean

Instructions:

Combine dry oats, salt, and water in large bowl. Microwave for 3-4 minutes. Add banana, milk, cereal, and honey. (I prefer microwave to stove top because of cook time. I don’t like to wait for breakfast. But I might try stovetop to compare.)

My issue with hot oatmeal is the mess. First I tried a smaller bowl, and it exploded in the microwave. Then I moved it to a larger bowl and transfered to a different bowl for eating. Blah cleanup. I also thought the texture of my oats didn’t look anything like the pictures on Ashley’s blog. It looked a little like polenta but tasted like oats. It was very dense and made a small amount. She uses more liquid, which I’ll try next time.

I also kept my mix-ins and toppings light because I wanted to taste the oats and see if I should change the texture.

And as usual when I eat hot oatmeal, I’m never satisfied, and I think it lacks protein. I have a whole bag of it, so I’ll keep trying.

This is the dry oats so you can see the texture and how it’s different than rolled oats.

This is the cooked picture.

Moroccan Dinner:

One night for dinner, I had a little challenge for myself. I wanted to make a flavorful dinner without buying a flavor packet of pre-mixed spices, and I wanted to use what I had in my pantry. I had ground turkey in the freezer and pearl cous cous on hand,  so I wanted to make a cohesive meal that tied these together. With a little Googling, I decided on a Moroccan themed dinner, but didn’t tell Jeffrey or he’d get scared.

Ingredients:

  • Near East Pearl Cous Cous (or any brand)
  • small handful Feta Cheese
  • small handful Sliced Dried Apricots
  • 1 package Jennie O Ground Turkey, Lean
  • 1 small Yellow onion
  • 2 pan drizzles EVOO
  • 1 tsp Cumin
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 tsp Oregano
  • 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Instructions:

  • For Turkey: Sautee diced onions in pan with EVOO until translucent or cooked well.
  • In medium mixing bowl, combine turkey with spices and mix with hands. Let sit in refrigerator to marinate together. Other spices you could add if you have them are fresh garlic, coriander, nutmeg.
  • Add ground turkey to the pan with onions and break into pieces. Let cook through on both sides, about 15 minutes total.
  • For cous cous: follow box instructions. The instructions I used was to boil 1 3/4 C water, then add cous cous to pot and cook, then add mix. Cook more, let sit. Time amounts were on the box. After letting it sit covered for 5 minutes at the end, I added crumbled feta and sliced apricots to let it mix together.
  • For vegetables: Preheat oven to 375*. Spread asparagus and sliced red pepper on baking sheet with EVOO, salt and pepper, and bake for 30 minutes.

My favorite part of this dish was actually the cous cous! I haven’t cooked pearl cous cous at home before, and it was really great. The added feta and apricots gave a nice fruity and creamy consistency, and the water actually helped make it seem extra creamy too, but no cream involved.

The meat was flavored really well, and would be great in tacos or tortillas too. Nothing screamed “Morocco” (but we haven’t been there so wouldn’t know) but I wanted to make sure the flavors went together, which was why I picked a flavor type.

All parts were great as leftovers too.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Dinner, Recipes ·

Sick Day, and Playing with Food

September 28, 2010 by 5 Comments

Blog Housekeeping:

I don’t get a lot of comments on the blog, but I love it when you tell me that you’ve tried a recipe and liked it. Or you can tell me if you didn’t like something.

Also, I love to hear from readers! Feel free to email or comment with questions or things you’d like me to write about, or about posts that you like.

I can always use ideas about what to write!

What’s brewing in my head and in my kitchen:

Here are a few things that I’m thinking about and will hopefully experiment with soon. For recipe creation, my sister bought me a book called “Ratio” which teaches writes about cooking concepts and learning basic ratios, especially for baking, and applying these to how we create recipes. I’m trying to become more innovative and create my own dishes and recipes, and hopefully this book will teach me some basics so I can get to work!

One thing I will be playing with soon is different uses for pumpkin and fall flavors.

I will also be playing with quinoa and lentils and preparing them in flavorful ways.

And I bought a package of Scottish Oats to cook like oatmeal. I’ve heard it’s great!

It’s fun to play with food.

Sick Day:

As I mentioned in my weekend review post, I got sick when we got to Austin. Just an annoying head cold, but it can really knock you out for a few days! Being sick at home is no fun, but being sick on vacation is even worse! I had oatmeal by myself one night for dinner, I made my husband (and dog!) sleep on a couch, and I didn’t have any energy. Not to mention I didn’t get to enjoy outdoor activities!

How do you cope with your colds? Green tea? Funky pills? Cold medicine? I loaded up on Tylenol, Sudafed, and hot tea and waited this thing out. It’s so hard for me to say no to exercise, especially when my body feels ok. My head was dizzy and my nose was running away from me, so I made myself take time off. I tell myself that rushing it won’t make me better, and it’d be really embarrassing to topple over on a sidewalk from dizziness.

Here is one of our favorite soup recipes when it’s cold or when we have a cold.

Enhanced Matzo Ball Soup

Ingredients:

  • Manischewitz Matzo Ball Soup + Mix Pack
  • 1 onion
  • 6 long carrot sticks, peeled and chopped
  • pack celery, chopped
  • 1 pack chicken breasts (3 pieces)

Instructions:

  • In soup pot, sautee onions, then add carrots and celery. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Prepare matzo balls and soup as instructions on pack say (with egg, vegetable oil, water, let sit in refrigerator, etc).
  • In separate pot, boil water and add chicken breasts until cooked through (approx 30 minutes). Drain and pat dry and let cool. Shred chicken to add to the soup pot after matzo balls cook.
  • Combine prepared soup instructions with sauteed vegetables and shredded chicken. Let simmer together, then enjoy!

Did I mention that Jeffrey is a great matzo ball soup cook? I tried to get him to write this post as a guest, but getting an action cooking shot is a good first step!

Filed Under: Dinner ·

Austin Part 2

September 27, 2010 by 1 Comment


I was in Austin for a few days, and blogged about the first half here. Part 2 was for the UT vs. UCLA football game, which was supposed to be a blowout in our favor, but it was not!

(The picture above is the welcome table at the Four Seasons. Isn’t it pretty with the fall/longhorn colors and the longhorn?)

My weekend trip doesn’t have many good food pictures or exercise stories because I caught a cold when we arrived in Austin and spent the weekend resting when we weren’t at the game and trying not to spread my germs around too much. And then I stubbed my toe really badly when I finally went downtown. It was not my most enjoyable trip to Austin.

Whole Foods Flagship Store:

Before game day, I had a great lunch at Whole Foods in Austin, the flagship store and the biggest in the country! On a Friday at lunchtime, it was packed. I had a great salad of spicy feta, quinoa with roasted vegetables, slaw, and some kind of marinated tofu. Also in the mix was lettuce and raisins.

And on the side, I had a wheat roll with chia seeds. I have never seen chia seeds on a roll before!

Here’s our little longhorn family picture. All the below pictures were all smiles before the game.

Our nice house host Jill who let us all stay at her house for the weekend. Hi Jill!

And then we found my parents too.

Better luck next season, Horns. I’m glad y’all were better when I was a student!

Filed Under: Lunch, Travel · Tagged With:

It’s the weekend!

September 25, 2010 by 5 Comments

Here’s a recap of the week in case you missed anything. See you back on Monday.

Monday: I told you about a new Houston class that I tried, and baked some yummy “clean out the pantry” cookies.


Tuesday: I recap’d Yom Kippur with the family, and shared my favorite iPod earphones.


Wednesday: On the first day of Fall, I told you about my favorite things.


Thursday: I made BLT Muffins for a Nature’s Pride contest.


Friday: I’m in Austin. Here’s part 1 of the trip.

Filed Under: Uncategorized ·

Austin Part 1

September 24, 2010 by 4 Comments

Happy Friday! I am in Austin and here are some pictures of Day 1 of our trip. Tomorrow is my first UT home game of the year, so more orange and white pictures to come next week! Every time I come back here, I wonder why we left.

First, I ran outside on my favorite trail, Lady Bird Lake, and it was 75 degrees at 7 a.m. I was still soaked in sweat at the end, but at least there was a lake to look at. I may take a walk with my camera to show some pictures because it’s so pretty. I ran somewhere between 4.5-5 miles but my Garmin turned off once and took at least .2 miles to locate the satellites. That thing annoys me with its “I can’t find where you are, have you traveled hundreds of miles since the last use?” message. I think it should know these things. It was a slow run and my legs were burning. I think running is getting harder for me and I don’t know why!

Then there was breakfast–coffee and a parfait of Fiber One, my new favorite cereal Kashi Cinnamon Harvest, Dannon Yogurt (blah), and a banana. I went to the grocery later that day to have some better yogurt for the rest of the trip.I did bring my own cereal, fruit, and even plasticware!

You didn’t think Lily stayed in Houston, did you? She came too. Peekaboo. This picture was not posed.

I am so beautiful.

We got smoothies from The Daily Juice, a hole in the wall juice shop by Lady Bird Lake. I had never been but heard great things. I got the Sure Thing with strawberries, bananas, and apple juice. And Jeffrey had the Marigold with mango, peaches, and orange juice. It’s hot here! We needed summer drinks to cool down.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Exercise, Lily, Running, Travel · Tagged With: , , ,

Nature’s Pride: BLT Muffins

September 23, 2010 by 2 Comments

Foodbuzz and Nature’s Pride are offering six bloggers the chance to attend the Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco in November as a Nature’s Pride Bread Ambassador.

In order to win one of those six spots, the blogger has to create a unique recipe using Nature’s Pride bread and post it to their blog by October 3rd.

This is my official entry to the contest, and I have a great recipe creation!

BLT Muffins:

First, Nature’s Pride Bread was really hard for me to find in Houston! I searched many grocery store chains with no luck. I sent a message to the nice people at Nature’s Pride, and they shipped me a loaf of their Healthy Multi Grain bread so that I could participate in the contest. Isn’t that nice? And it arrived in perfect condition.

I wanted to create a recipe that was tasty, creative, versatile and pretty. I came up with the BLT Muffin, and there are many variations that this muffin could do. This muffin is great for breakfast or party brunch, part of a lunch, or a snack. You can take away or add ingredients, or double for a larger crowd. It’s really a balanced dish in itself!

Below is my ingredient list, and in parentheses are some alternatives or tweaking that I would try the next time I make these.

Ingredients: (makes 12 muffins)


  • 9 eggs (or egg beaters)
  • 1/2 C frozen chopped spinach (I really packed the spinach into the measuring cup, I would do less next time)
  • 1/3 C milk
  • 5 slices Nature’s Pride Bread, cubed
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/3 C sundried tomatoes chopped
  • 3 slices turkey bacon uncooked, sliced

Instructions:

  • Beat eggs with milk, salt and pepper into a medium sized bowl.

  • Slice and add other ingredients and stir well with a large spoon. Make sure the bread is soaked with mixture.

  • Coat muffin tin with cooking spray generously or use muffin cups. Portion out 1/4 C per muffin cup.

  • Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes.
  • Cool and remove from muffin tin to cooling rack. Enjoy!

The batter was very thick and the muffins stuck to the muffin tin. I would probably bake in foil cups next time or use more cooking spray. The other modifications are above in the ingredients list, but overall, it was a great new recipe!

Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipes · Tagged With:

The Little Things of Fall

September 22, 2010 by 5 Comments

Project Food Blog:

Today is the last day that you can vote for food bloggers to advance in Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog. Miss my first entry? See it here. And click here to vote. Takes less than a second, just one click!

Happy first day of Fall!

In Houston, the weather is dipping below 90, so that’s progress in the right direction. I will absolutely never see a picture like this in Houston, but maybe I’ll get to travel to see it! At least we have Google images.

In honor of the first day of Fall, here are some little things that make me happy. Happiness and health are more than food and fitness.

1. Using my fine china for the first time after being married for over 2 years

2. My puppy’s scruffy face after a nap

3. Pumpkin recipes are back in season (and I have two cans of Libby’s from last year that I didn’t throw out because there’s a shortage)

4. Maybe getting to wear a jacket outside soon? And leggings for a run?

5. College football with a cool breeze? That’s hopeful thinking. This weekend’s game will melt me!

What little things make you happy?

Filed Under: Thoughts · Tagged With:

Yom Kippur in San Antonio

September 21, 2010 by 2 Comments

Project Food Blog:

From now until Wednesday, you can vote for food bloggers to advance in Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog. Miss my first entry? See it here. And click here to vote.

Great iPod Earphones:

I noticed the the earphones I use for my iPod don’t stay in my ears well and I have the volume turned up high. I had been using the ones that come with your iPod, so I went to the Apple store to look for better earphones and came home with these by Scosche. These suckers are “noise isolating” and work great. They truly reduce noise even with no music on (I had to take them out to hear someone who came up to me at the gym), they stay in my ears comfortably, and they don’t hurt my ears. The cord is very long and lightweight, and it has a speaker and clicker which I haven’t played with yet. A keeper!

Weekend in San Antonio:

This past weekend was Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday where we repent for our sins of the past year and pray to be sealed in the Book of Life for the next year with a clean slate. To our grandparents house we went to go to temple and eat together. Yom Kippur also involves fasting for 24ish hours, which I did not do this year. But at the end of the fast, you feast. So here are pictures of our Break the Fast dinner.

Oh, and Lily came too, and she did try to fast. She also wanted to be rewarded with salami, doggie bacon, non-puppy dog food, and other scraps she doesn’t get at home.

My plate was salad with hearts of palm, tomatoes, and avocado, salmon croquettes, a blintz with strawberry jam, and noodle kugel. This is not healthy food blogging, but it’s good Jewish food!

The rest of the buffet had beef tenderloin, potatoes, salami, and plenty of appetizers and desserts too!

Our little longhorn family.

Filed Under: Dinner, Lily, Product Reviews, Travel · Tagged With: , ,

Cookies and DefineMind class

September 20, 2010 by 8 Comments

Giveaway Winner:

First, let’s announce the winner of the 18 Rabbits Granola Bar Givewaway. Congratulations to #14 Jae! Please email me your mailing address and 18 Rabbits will send you a 5-bar sample. Enjoy! Thanks everyone for leaving comments to enter the giveaway. Comments are always appreciated.

Project Food Blog:

From now until Wednesday, you can vote for food bloggers to advance in Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog. Miss my first entry? See it here. And click here to vote.

Define Mind Class:

Last week I tried a free Define Mind class at Lululemon. I have wanted to try free classes at Lululemon, but haven’t gotten around to planning for it. Define Body, a popular Houston studio that fuses pilates and yoga into their own “Define” style classes has intrigued me for a while, so I finally got to try. The Define Mind class I went to was relaxing and focused on stretching major muscle groups like quads, glutes, the spine, hamstrings, and shoulders. Hank, the owner and instructor of this class, was so kind, knowledgeable, and gorgeous (just had to throw that one out there)!

The hour long class used a rubber ball to roll around similar to how you would roll a foam roller over tight muscles. It was a familiar “hurt so good” sensation that really helped tight muscles.

He also played GREAT music during the class, including a lot of Dixie Chicks. If you’re in Houston, check out his original studio in the Tanglewood/Galleria area, or his new studio coming in the next month in River Oaks.

Clean out the Pantry Cookies:


These cookies didn’t really clean out the pantry, but I couldn’t think of an acceptable name for them. Oatmeal Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies was too long I thought.

This recipe was adapted from Anne P. at Fannetastic Food. They are more like chewies than cookies, and you can taste the ingredients, especially the banana and oats. Jeffrey was not a fan, but they satisfy the cookie need for me. They are soft and chewy and have a short list with things I always have in my house. No eggs, oil, butter, or sugar necessary! If you eat these for breakfast, I think it would be A-ok too.

Ingredients: makes about two dozen cookies

  • 1 C oats
  • 2/3 C whole wheat flour (*pastry flour is best, I don’t have any)
  • 1/2 C coconut
  • 1 T flax seeds (use ground glax if you have it, I’m still using up a bag of flax seeds)
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 2 mashed bananas
  • 1/4 C plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 C maple syrup
  • 1/2 C raisins and chocolate chips together, or choose just one
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

My modification to this list was that I used vanilla Greek yogurt and left out the extra vanilla extract. I happen to have a container of Oikos Vanilla open so I used that instead of opening a new plain. Adapt to what you’ve got!

Instructions:

Combine wet in one bowl, combine dry in another. Add wet to dry and mix by hand or with hand mixer. Then add chocolate chips/raisins in after. Spoon onto baking sheet and use a Silpat if you’ve got them. Bake at 350* for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Lily says Hook ‘em Horns! Way to wreck ‘em Tech!

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