I can make/buy non sugar foods

So I don't know if I've mentioned the "diet" I'm trying to follow until my friend's wedding (12/26...) which essentially is a way of eating I'm hoping to maintain not only to reign in my baking excess but also to keep my tummy happy. Now in week 3 I'm finding myself making purchases I don't think I normally would. The deal is, M-F afternoon I cut out gluten, dairy and added sugar. The dairy b/c I'm lactose intolerant and everyone around me is probably thankful (insert smiley face), the added sugar b/c I eat way too much at one time but also b/c all that concentrated glucose and fructose is not easy for a body to handle (read...converted to fat...did I mention I need to fit into a bridesmaids dress?) and the gluten b/c that typically triggers my cravings for sweets. Not that weird b/c gluten foods contain sugars and thus my vicious cycle.

Like I said, I'm in week 3 and once I get out of work (cue huge sigh of relief), it's the weekend and I get all excited about eating gluten, dairy and added sugar (not that I'm going all out stuffing my face with them, I usually try to keep "fun meals" to one to two a day on the weekends and of course I am continuing to workout most days of the week). So I stopped by the store to pick up supplies for cheesecake and then I start wandering and see these

Ever had one? These are Caramel Wafers (ala Aldi's) but also known as Stroopwafels. It's like two waffles sandwiched around carmely jam and then strinky-dinked. So so good. If you ever run across, please try. You won't regret it. But anyway, so I picked that up and of course I'm making cheesecake which leads to all sorts of fun purchases (but instead of buying a whole box of graham crackers to make the crust I just bought the pre-made crust so I wouldn't have them lying around).

So now I have a huge peanut butter cheesecake with Reese's Cups (and extra Reese's cups) hanging out in my apartment. And typical me who eats sweets whenever and wherever would have no problem finishing this off, but one, I try to teach mindful eating and proper nutrition so eating this all in 2 days is a no-go, and not having sweets at all during the week has already impacted my tastebuds (or maybe I just made a terrible cheesecake...it would help to have a mixer, haha). But this cheesecake is really simple to make, it's from Betty Crocker and then I drizzle chocolate on top and stuck in some Reese's Cups. I might just wrap it really tight in plastic wrap and freeze for the family. That way I can still bake more fun stuff and not have to worry about sweets lying around with easy access. Haha, I think I have a problem.

I did make other food this week, I'm eating a lot of rice (which I love) and tofu (which I love even more), but it's nice to mix it up a bit.

Had dinner at Luca's in Keene the other day and they had this Cauliflower and Asparagus soup listed as a special so boy and I both ordered. It kind of reminded me of the creamy savoryiness of potato leek soup so did some google searching and wha-la. Had a bit of dairy in it, but not too terrible. Plus, it had a ton of vegetables (fiber, anyone?). And also a lot of sulphorous smell from the asparagus, haha. I don't have a fancy Vitamix of Ninja, but my dinky blender didn't do too bad. It was still a bit stringy and I think I roasted my vegetables too long (was a very dark mustardy green), but it's super tasty. Recipe from Closet Cooking. I made a half batch b/c I wasn't sure how it would taste. The asparagus is sold in 1# bundles so that was perfect and I used the other half of the cauliflower for the main meal...

 My weekday diet is on a similar vein to "paleo" (which I hate that term, sorry, but it doesn't make any sense what fits and what doesn't, I prefer following the "flexible real food diet" where there's room for anything but aim for majority whole foods). But I found this on a paleo page (of all the meats I'm trying, sausage is still my favorite...second of course to everything mom cooks). I found the idea on Paleo Cupboard- basically just take the vegetables you like (that are also roasting friendly)- I used

• the other half of my cauliflower
• parsnips
• carrots
• sweet potato
• red onion
• Brussels sprouts
• Bell pepper

Chop them up to similar baking sizes (especially for the root vegetables), about 1", toss in olive oil and spices (I did black pepper, sea salt and Italian seasoning) then bake for 10-15 minutes at 375F. Toss, then top with sausages (I found some hot Italian with no preservatives!) and bake for another 20 minutes (I sliced up the sausages).

The nice thing about this recipe, you could totally prep a ton of veggies and keep them in zip lock bags and then just make either every night or batch a bunch at a time. Nothing like roasted vegetables...nom nom

So happy baking/cooking, whichever ever direction it goes!

More pumpkin??

I mean, can you ever really get sick of pumpkin during the fall? I feel like the feeling of fall only lasts a short while, so gotta take advantage of it while it lasts. Speaking of which, has anyone found the Green Mountain Creamery pumpkin yogurt?? I'm on the lookout!

Sorry the picture is a wee bit not so pretty, but this time, don't judge a book by it's cover! This bread is amazingggg. I mean, I know I say that about a lot of things (b/c of course I have extraordinary taste) but I mean, this is THE pumpkin bread (but that's also only if you like gingery stuff). If you are a ginger molasses cookie fan, this is your bread. I baked it exactly as simplyrecipes writes (I don't mess with a good thing, my waistline probably wishes I had).

Make this, right now, right this second. You won't regret it (unless you're like us and going back up to the 70s tomorrow and have no a/c, then you might want to wait a sec). Oh, and if you want to spread some maple butter over a slice, I won't judge.
 

Pumpkin everythingggg!

The only thing that makes winter worth it is the season before it :) most especially because of apple cider and pumpkin flavored everything (not pumpkin spice lattes, there are certain lines I will not cross. But pumpkin beer (in moderation b/c sometimes even that is too sweet), pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin swirled into my Greek yogurt, I'm pretty open-minded to all things pumpkin (pumpkin pie for thanksgiving, i'm there!). I can't remember what first drew me to the idea of pumpkin cornbread, but it was most likely instagram (a dangerous place to surf at night when you're hungry). This recipe comes from google search and then narrowing down the ones that don't involve a cast iron skillet (b/c i don't have one...)

Pumpkin Cornbread (slight change from Two Peas and their Pod)
Makes one pan
Ingredients
1 cup AP flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup cornmeal
2 whole eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp molasses

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F and spray a baking dish (I had like a 5x11 ish size). In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs, and then stir in the pumpkin, oil, and molasses. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. Spoon into the baking dish and spread evenly. Bake for 18 minutes (hers is 30 b/c she has an 8x8 and my oven is tiny so it cooks faster) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve with your favorite chili!

Yum! I want to eat this all over again (pictured is a vegetarian chili I made with onion, bell pepper, zucchini, black beans, kidney beans, whole can of peeled tomatoes and spices).
 

Meaty adventures

I can now add another meat to my repertoire! Cooked pork tenderloin last night and it didn't turn out too shabby if I say so myself. Here were the players:

From Gimme Some Oven is this delicious 5-Ingredient Butternut Squash Arugula and Goat Cheese Pasta. I doubled the arugula and it was bomb, I love the peppery taste of arugula. It's 4 am and I'm making my mouth water just thinking about this salad again.

Isn't she a beaut? I had to cut the 1# tenderloin I got in half b/c my pan wasn't big enough to hold it. I got overwhelmed by all the pork recipes online with varying degrees of ingredient buying necessary, but then I found this epicurious recipe that simplifies the whole mess. I got my pork tenderloin at Aldi's and they only had somewhat seasoned options (unless I bought like the enormous multi pound hunk of meat and I was not trying to mess up that much money's worth of meat). I grabbed the least seasoned (lemon juice, salt) and then my rub I did black pepper (it's really hard to pepper grind enough for a rub...haha), paprika, garlic powder and brown sugar. I did less of the garlic powder and probably most from paprika and brown sugar. I did the whole pat down with a paper towel, rub down with spices about 30 minutes before I was going to sear it b/c I remember reading somewhere that meat cooks better closer to room temperature (or is that only turkey?). Seared for 7 minutes and then I cooked for 10 minutes in the oven (and completely forgot to flip it, now that I think of it). Let it sit and then cut and it was around the medium mark (which I like). I can't stand overcooked meat. Which also makes me think I need to invest in a food thermometer (and also to not kill anyone with undercooked meat).

I had leftovers so I sliced the pork on top of the salad, so I get some amazingness for lunch at work today, so excited.

I actually wanted to talk about these first b/c holy cow, they are amazing, but figured as a dietitian I should promote the most nutritious food first and then get to the fun stuff. It's finally fall in NH and pumpkin and apple cider are on my brain. I follow Yankee Magazine on fb (love love love) and they post some great recipes, like this one, Apple Cider Donut Muffins. If you end up buying a gallon of apple cider like me, go ahead and boil down multiple cups if you have the time so that way you can make this recipe over and over (I only boiled for an hour, but typically should boil for about 2-2.5 hours to really condense the flavor). I cut the recipe in half b/c I still only have a 6 cup muffin tin and I also didn't want to have a ton of muffins lying around (and I have an inkling these babies are the tastiest when they are warm out of the oven). It's the little tricks I pull on myself to live in moderation :) When I cut recipes down I usually write the smaller amount on a post it next to the recipe so I don't try to do calculations as I bake, it helps so I don't cut some things and not others. I cut the 2 cups of apple cider but then forgot it condensed down and almost used a whole cup of reduced apple cider (I think I ended up pouring in 3/4 of a cup)! Baking time got a bit extended b/c the muffins were on the pudding-side but after they got their heads dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar, these muffins are amazingggg. Light, moist, lightly apple flavored, sugar crystals from top, I could go on and on. Just make them and then you'll see what I'm talking about.

football is back!

football is back! and that means football watching food is also back (not that I ever need an excuse to cook/bake), but at least now i'm not the only one chowing down on food every weekend :)

finally got around to making cauliflower buffalo wings, and i'm not really sure it's any healthier than the original, haha, but it sure is tasty. I combined two recipes, one from food and one from alex thomopoulos

Cauliflower Buffalo Wings
Serves 3-4
1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
1 cup flour
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 cup water
1/2 cup Frank's original hot sauce
2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 450F. Whisks together the flour, garlic powder, paprika and water. Dip the cauliflower into the mixture then place on a sprayed baking pan. Pop into the oven for 18 minutes. While those babies cook, combine the hot sauce and the olive oil. After 18 minutes, drizzle the hot sauce mix over the cauliflower and pop back into the oven for another 5-8 minutes. Enjoy with blue cheese dip! *I made the recipe with 1 cup of hot sauce and it was just too sauce-y (read- my nose and eyes were running like crazy)

Blue Cheese dip
Makes about 2 cups

Minced garlic
Sea salt
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup plain yogurt
Black pepper
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
1 tsp white vinegar

Combine ingredients. Serve with the cauliflower wings or with cut up vegetables (or with actual buffalo wings for that matter, it's just tasty).

I re-purposed the artichoke spinach chicken bake (shredded the chicken) and baked it as a "dip" to serve with olive bread. i would have added more cheese and sour cream/cream cheese if i'd had any, but i guess by default i made it healthy.

I keep trying to remind myself to take a picture of these cookies, but they disappear as soon as they come out of the oven. These are ridiculously good. By far my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. And the great thing for portion control, I've been keeping the chilled dough in bake ready form and only baking just enough for that day. So instead of all 12 cookies disappearing in one sitting, I still have 2 waiting for me in the fridge and I made the dough on Thursday (for those that know me, this is a real life miracle).

Oh, and the ravens lost...good thing I had good food at least

Summer to fall

It's been ages since my last post. I've been awful about loading recipes I'm trying but let's give this another shot. My goal every week is to cook/eat a myplate meal and of course I pick one of the hottest/muggiest days of this summer to cook. That's just my good timing. But how I can talk the talk but not walk the walk? Some nights, not gonna lie, I will pop popcorn for dinner (my new fav is zucchini chocolate chip muffins), and some nights, I figure out my life, so here's some happy eating.

I cut into these bad boys with a knife to check for doneness (I might have also snuck a few just to "test" the whole pan). So-so good. Crazy how I used to be vegetarian. I love pork. Like love love. My poor cholesterol numbers are not as good as they once were ;)

I was using my plastic tablespoon measuring spoon to make somewhat even meatballs and trying to wash it I snap the handle from the spoon and proceeded to cut my hand. I'm not safe around anything!

Along with the meatballs, plan is to have a side of asparagus (can't decide if I want to cook in butter or olive oil) with garlic (of course!) and some sweet potato wedges (hello apartment sauna!)

Baked Meatballs

Adapted from Tea & Biscuits

Makes 35- 2 tbsp size meatballs

For the meatballs:

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground turkey

1 pound lean ground pork

1/3 cup oatmeal flour (pulse in blender or food processor, dash less than 1/3 cup of whole oats will make 1/3 cup ground)

3 tbsp milk

2 eggs

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp pepper

2 tsps salt

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

Tomato sauce

1 28 oz can crushed no salted added crushed tomatoes

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp black pepper

Dash of crushed red chili pepper (optional, I like my food spicy)

Parmesan rind (optional)

Directions

For the meatballs: Preheat oven to 400F. Line a sheet pan with foil and spray lightly with oil. In a small bowl soak the ground oatmeal with the milk. Mix the meatball ingredients together in a bowl, then form into 2 tbsp size meatballs. Place on sheet pan. Bake at 400F oven for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through.

For the marinara sauce: add the olive oil to a pan and heat up on medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute for 5 minutes until fragrant and caramelized. Add the chopped garlic, canned tomatoes, Italian seasoning and pepper. Add Parmesan rind. Cook on low-medium heat for 20-30 minutes. Serve over cooked meatballs. 

I baked up all the meatballs, let half of them cool and then froze to eat another night sometime soon. They can be frozen uncooked, but that takes one more extra step I don't think I'd be down for again.

Happy eating! 

Quick and easy

Nothing like having things on hand and basics prepped to make sure you make a nutritious choice when your stomach starts grumbling and you need something quick. I had the rice are cooked and in Tupperware in the fridge, can of chickpeas, jar of salsa and frozen vegetables and a meal was born. Took 5 minutes 😁

Chickpea Bowl
Serves 1
1/2 cup brown rice
1 cup frozen green beans
1/2 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp salsa
Olive oil for pan

Heat a medium sized skillet on medium high heat with oil. Saute green beans first to get then thawed then add the rest of he ingredients. This recipe is easy to modify to your tastes- a different bean/tofu/meat, different vegetable and various starches. I bet pasta would be a great version.