Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

I had a lot of decisions to make today.

Now before you go getting all concerned, relax! Relax. Fortunately for me, the hardest decision I have on days like today is what I’m going to have for dinner. Before you laugh, that’s a pretty big decision. I mean, it can make or break your day! …or maybe I’m just a little dramatic.

In case you haven’t heard, it’s snowing all over the northeast.

I’m guessing you’ve heard.

My first decision I faced was whether I wanted to call in to work or not. I’m guessing you can figure out pretty quickly that I called in.

Which meant that I decided sauteed apples were in the forecast for breakfast this morning. I was awed when I saw that my beloved Gala apples were on sale at Hannaford’s. Unless they’re fresh picked from the farm down the road, they’re the only apples I truly enjoy. (okay, so I probably prefer them over the local McIntosh apples, but I fear that might be un-Vermontan of me to admit, so I won’t. We have maple laws for Pete’s sake, I wouldn’t put it past us to have an apple law, too)

My, oh my, how I’d forgotten how amazing sauteed apples are.

I polished off the last of my bread yesterday, and knew I had to make more today. The decision?

Do I keep it as the original inventor intended, or mix it up again?

I kept it as intended, and think this loaf is a bit prettier (re: less embarrassing) and so won’t withhold the name of the kind woman who shared her recipe with me this time – it was the lovely Sarena, of course! I don’t think there is anything she can’t do in the kitchen. And if you don’t want to see really delicious looking pancakes with a beautiful pour of maple syrup, definitely don’t go to her blog right now.

While that rose, I faced another decision: strength or cardio?

Cardio won.

But these things can only keep me entertained for so long. It was 9:00 and I was already looking for my next project.

Biscotti or granola bars?

Biscotti, says mother – who also had a snowday.

Orange chocolate chip or cranberry almond?

Orange chocolate chip. Best biscotti I’ve ever made all thanks to Veganomicon. No I can’t share the recipe and no I can’t find it either. Buy the book. The biscotti and the chickpea-quinoa pilaf are worth that $15.

…but do I want peanut butter, jelly or maple cream on my hot-from the oven bread?!

Maple cream.

But what kind of nut butter do I want smothered into my date?!

It doesn’t matter because I’ll have another one in five minutes.

If I have hot cocoa in my Easter mug, will it be Spring tomorrow?

…probably not, but you can try.

I love this Dagoba hot cocoa!

Should I shovel multiple times so that I only shovel a couple inches at a time, or once so that I’m shoveling more than a foot – but only one time?

Uhhh, well, I banked on multiple times, but this so-called “storm of the century” fizzled out, and I didn’t need to shovel after the once.

As it is, though, the snowbank to the side of our front porch is taller than the front porch, and if I venture off the beaten path I am up to my waist in the fluffy powder.

I hope I can go to the barn tomorrow so I can ride Teddie in it! Hopefully he won’t be like my Corona pony and decide it’s more fun to roll in said snow than it is to play in it. I’m not worried about getting rolled on, I’m worried about my saddle getting saturated. I paid more for the saddle than I did for the pony.

Do I make buffalo tempeh or barbecue tempeh?

Both! Sorry, guys – but I think I’m getting tempeh burnout. I’m sort of bored with it. When this block is done, I need to bid goodbye for a couple weeks. Needless to say, I do adore buffalo tempeh! Especially with the last of my caesar dressing and red onion (I heart red onion + buffalo + caesar)

I think I struggle making the decision between sweet potato fries or whole-baked sweet potatoes more than I struggle with the decision about what to wear.

It takes me a while to figure out what to wear in the morning. It’s too early to think clear, so I just stare into my closet for at least five minutes as if it’s some other-worldly realm.

And in case you were wondering, a whole baked sweet potato won, but I didn’t get to use this picture yesterday and was pretty proud of how perfectly baked and cut those fries are. Not to toot my own horn or anything.

Dinner was a big decision today, but I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

I knew I should use the eggplant I had in the fridge, but nothing was particularly speaking to me.

Yes, when I flip through recipes certain ones call to me. I can plan “ooh I want to make that!” until I’m blue in the face but I can never decide what I want for dinner until 3:00 that day.

What did speak to me was Chickpea Piccata. (< Lucky for you guys, Isa has the recipe for this one on her website!)

But what to have it with?

Eggplant!

But how?

My new favorite way ever, of course!

I was flipping through my binder of recipes,and saw this very plain-jane recipe for roasting eggplant originally from Cooking Light. I was a bit apprehensive that it would be all that great – it is basically eggplant straight up, after all – but combined with the absolutely amazing piccata, this meal was enough to make me fall head over heels in love with…well, everything in site. It turned me into a hippie peace-love flower-girl.

For the eggplant, though:

Roasted Eggplant

slightly modified from cooking light, for one eggplant:

• 1 medium eggplant, about 1 lb.
• olive oil for brushing (I used basil oil)
• pinch salt, pepper and herbs de provence

Preheat oven to 450*. Carefully slice your eggplant the “long way” into 1/4″ slices, leaving the end in-tact. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and fan out the eggplant. Brush with olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly tender. Remove from oven, press down to fan out more, and brush again with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs. Bake 15-20 minutes more or until tender and skin is beginning to crisp.

My mom: “are you going to eat that whole eggplant?”

Don’t mind if I do!

Decisions – do you find yourself sometimes having a terrible time deciding over the silliest of things, too?! Please say yes so I’m not alone. And don’t ask me who you should marry. I’ll just say “everyone! peace and love!”

Curry Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Day 1 of the Deep Freeze:

…obviously not spent at the barn. This will be a weekend that is intended for curling up with a hot cup of something and watching the Bruins slaughter the Avalanche. Avalanches? The Avs, we’ll leave it at that.

Unless I’m at Hannaford’s, I guess. My mom and I both had to do some work in town and then pick up something in the “big town” (I know that sounds corny, I’m just refraining from naming places!) so I ran into Hannaford’s for some sweet potatoes…

…but Amaranth flour found its way in my basket when I saw it “bargain priced to move” at $1.99. I don’t pass up bargain flours that I haven’t tried yet. Even if I’ve never even had amaranth as a grain before.

The irony? When I got home, I was reading through my comments on yesterday’s post with buckwheat flour, to discover my flour infatuation is rather well-known to you guys, too.

Look at how much iron it has, though!

Anyways. I haven’t used it yet and probably won’t even open it up for another couples…weeks…but I just found it ironic I suppose.

I did, however, make more sweets today. Cookies for the fam. We have a lot of desserts in the house right now, but they keep getting gobbled up so I’ll keep making them.

Which is probably the reason why I do try and make an effort to make stuff at least a little bit healthier if it’s possible. I don’t want to be blamed for making my loved ones unhealthy, so it’s my way of being able to continuously keep baking things I guess 😉

Which is why it’s going to be our little secret that I didn’t actually follow the recipe for the cookies that were requested, and instead followed Angela’s Ultimate Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe instead. The “requested recipe” was one that was an advertisement in a Rachel Ray magazine for Ocean Spray Craisins. It wasn’t that bad a recipe…but I think it was more of a “I like the process of finding a recipe rather than following one given to me.” sort of thing.

And yes, I baked with Angela’s printed-off recipe snugged in the magazine so it would look like I was following the magazine should anyone walk in the kitchen.

Ironically, I sort of unhealthified it, but mainly because I was feeling cheap and didn’t want to use the last of my coconut oil or maple syrup for something I wasn’t baking for myself.

Go ahead and call me selfish, I know.

That and, obviously, I needed to use cranberries. Raisins would just be a dead giveaway that I didn’t follow the other recipe, y’know?

The swaps:

• 3/4 c. all purpose flour in place of Kamut
• scant 1/2 c. brown sugar (the alternative suggested for Sucanat)
• 1/3 c. maple syrup rather than 1/2 c.
• 2 T. cow’s milk
• 3.5 T. butter vs. coconut oil
• 2/3 c. dried cranberries vs. raisins

I realize it probably seems contradictory to talk about using butter when I previously said I tried making things healthier – but I should probably clarify that I really don’t have any problems with butter or anything labeled “unhealthy.” I just don’t like to use a ton of it. And less than 4 tablespoons for 20 cookies is pretty marginal, if you ask me.

Alright alright. You’re sick of the cookie pictures. In case you were wondering, though, they were a serioius hit. And they smell amazing whilst baking. I think it was all the walnut meal and maple syrup.

Onto other, really unattractive things. I have the most difficult time photographing sweet potatoes and curries. The color just makes my WB go crazy, and it doesn’t help that I am so. sick. of having to use my flash to photograph anything that’s not lunch.

…which is just about everything, these days.

Being that my mom and I got home from town sort of late, I didn’t have time to have my daily sweet potato for lunch.

You think I’m kidding, but I’m not.

And so that meant only one thing: I had to make up for it at dinner.

Normally I’m pretty content just eating them plain, but decided I’d live life on the edge tonight. And stuff it. I had a stuffed sweet potato kick sometime last year, and they really are delicious.

I know it’s easy to slice into a fresh oven-baked sweetie and want to just eat it plain right then and there – but please, every so often…give the sweetie the love and time it deserves! Here’s one way 😉

Curry Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

• 1 medium-large sweet potato (try and choose a round one versus a long skinny one!)
• 1/2 a red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 a medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 t. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 3/4 c. diced white mushrooms
• 1/4 a block of tempeh, diced (or chickpeas or tofu or ground beef, for all I care)
• 1/2 – 3/4 T. curry powder, depending on your taste (I used a heaping 1/2 T. of a sweet-ish curry)
• 1/2 t. honey
• salt, to taste

Preheat your oven to 425* and poke the sweet potato a couple of times. Bake for an hour, or until tender – when I knife can slide through it.

About half an hour into cooking, prepare your filling: in a small pan over medium heat, preheat your olive oil. Add in the onion and sautee until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and sautee one more minute. Add in the mushrooms and red pepper and allow to cook until all of the liquid has been cooked out of the mushrooms. Stir in the tempeh and then the curry powder and honey. If necessary, add a tablespoon or two of water at this point.

Once the potato has cooked, cut in half and very gently scoop out the insides, leaving 1/4 – 1/2″ around the outside. Chop the sweet potato you’ve scooped out and mix in with the filling. Spoon the filling back into the sweet potato and enjoy!

I’ve always been a fan of sweet potatoes and curry powder. If you’re hesitant, don’t be! It’s a lovely balance of flavors.

…or maybe I’m just weird. I’ve never been one to want to slather almond butter or maple syrup on my sweet potato, after all 😉

Recollections

Weekend’s over already, back to work tomorrow 😦 Fast weekend. Seems like they always are lately.

I spent the rest of my afternoon going through old photos, remembering “the good old days”.

yep. I was an avid horseback rider from just about the time I could walk up until a couple of years ago, when life got in the way.

I would spend my summers working all day in order to get a ride in, or to help pay off board for my horse. There’s no better feeling than bringing a young or green horse along, and successfully competing in their first show. The bond is an amazing feeling, but then of course the time comes to start over with a new one, yet rather than feel sadness at selling your old friend, it’s just pride as you watch your “baby” show a new rider the ropes, and watch a new bond form.

Don’t get me wrong – there’s also those horses that you keep with you forever, both of you learning together rather than one educating the other. I was fortunate enough to be able to partake in both of these roles.

I got so busy senior year of highschool, with school, working whenever I wasn’t in school, and college stuff. Then I worked 9-5:30 all summer, and then started school. 

Whenever I wasn’t busy, I would try to divide my time between “me” time, family time, friend time, and horse time, but it just got to be too much, and horse time ended up taking the backburner.

My horse at the time, Burly, the first horse in this post, ended up sitting in a pasture for the better part of the summer. Of course he was still fed and cared for – he was at a boarding barn – but it killed me that he wasn’t getting the love and attention he deserved, from one person (me) rather than the usual come-and-go of other boarders and lesson students passing through the barn. Burly was the horse I had finally settled on, who I had purchased using the money I had saved up from prior resale projects. He had the best personality, and every time I stopped to see him he would still give me just as much love as a family member would, regardless of the fact that it didn’t seem like I was giving it back. You could tell how proud and happy he was after each successful ride we’d squeeze in, and it seemed like the more time off he’d get, the more heart he’d give me. Usually, it’s the opposite.

I couldn’t sell him, but I knew I needed to find someone for him.

Luckily, I am able to lease him out to a place where he is getting all the love and attention he truly deserves. Hopefully, within the next couple of years, I’ll be able to dedicate a larger portion of my time to horses, and possibly bring him home. But who knows if I’ll have the heart to take him back from where he is now?

Burly – Summer 2008

Lately, I really miss it, and am hoping to find time to ride for at least one day a week.

But, enough babbling. Just thought I’d offer a small peak into my life. I feel like you guys hardly know me!

Back to food. And stuff. haha.

It’s no secret that I love polenta. And it seems like lately, polenta is sweeping the food-blogger world! After seeing so many recipes pop up for polenta casseroles, I couldn’t hold off any longer and had to make one myself. Strangely, I started off with the inkling for a Mexican Polenta Casserole, but like most everything I do, changed my mind last minute to incorporate scallops. 

No, I don’t all of a sudden have a scallop obsession – see last night’s meal – in fact, I could take or leave scallops, really. But these scallops have followed me from my last apartment, and they need to be consumed. That’s a couple months. I mean, they’re fine in the freezer and everything, but really now.

Sorry for the poor photos. I wanted to leave it in that cute little personal casserole dish – kept it nice and warm! – rather than plop it all out onto a plate. It’s fitting because I coincidentally, accidentally stole that mini casserole dish from my last roomates. It’s the perfect size for one! anyways, you can’t really see the layers, but here’s how it went down:

For the scallop layer: Sautee ~10-15 Bay Scallops in minced garlic, lemon juice, dijon mustard, chopped onion, and chopped red pepper. Season with paprika, salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and chili powder. Set aside once done.

For the Veggie Layer: Sautee veggies of choice (I used broccoli, red pepper, tomato, onion, and carrot) in minced garlic. Season with same as above, or just some salt and pepper.

For the Polenta: Bring 1 cup water to a boil, and slowly whisk in 1/4 c. yellow cornmeal. Season with salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and garlic.

Layer in casserole dish – I went veggies, polenta, scallops, and then topped with tomato slices, parmesan cheese, real bacon bits, and red peppers. Bake for about 20m. at 400 degrees.

If you’re in a hurry, baking isn’t totally necessary since everything is cooked – but it’s definitely worth it. Gives the polenta a nice crust!

The scallops actually went really nicely with the polenta. Get a bit of everything! I liked the lemony flavor carrying through everything, but the chili powder gave it just the right mild kick.

Finish with:

a lime poppyseed oatmeal cookie and banana-raspberry-vanilla greek yogurt with dates, crystallized ginger, and total!

mmmm 🙂

Have you had to force a favorite pastime to the backburner in order to make room for other responsibilities?

It’s All Textural…

Guess who’s alarm didn’t go off this morning…

Yep. That’d be me. Only by about 40 minutes or so; I was actually up for maybe 15 of those thinking “Wow, I wonder why it’s so light out…” hah. Luckily I leave myself  lot of time to be able to take my time in the mornings so I ended up right on schedule, but I was rushing around the kitchen to get breakfast before realizing it wsn’t necessary!

However, it did cause me to resort to the usual breakfast!

I didn’t have much Greek yogurt left though, so I relied on some fried egg whites to make up for the protein! Does anyone else like to burn their eggs? I love my eggs to be all crispy, crunchy, and golden! I think that’s why I hate yolks so much – by the time the whites are perfect, the yolks are so dry and blah.

Also got to try the new Spelt bread I picked up! It’s good! However, I don’t feel like I really got to enjoy this breakfast since I felt like I had to scarf it down. I hate having to eat in a hurry. It makes me feel like I never ate at all regardless of how full I really am! I prefer eating slow and enjoying meals, by far.

That being said, this held off any signs of hunger well into the day! Before I knew it, it was noon and was just starting to want a snack. I don’t usually eat my lunch until 2:00, but get hungry for a small snack around 10-11.  When it was lunch time, however, I got to enjoy delicious leftover tilapia that I packed with some leftover  fried bulghur from Wednesday. Just as good the second time around!

I actually was debating between having this for lunch or dinner, but the deciding factor came down to lunch because I didn’t want to show you guys a repeat meal! I am so enjoying blogging, because it encourages me to eat balanced, healthy, and new meals. Love that! I became so lazy last semester, and even started missing way too many meals. This was moreso due to a horrendous living situation though, which I obviously have, luckily, resolved by moving back home for the time-being.

For those of you with your own foodblogs, do you feel it encourages you to keep trying new things?

I’m not saying I’m breaking new ground with this bulghur and bean burrito:

…but lets remember that I could eat the same hummus and veggie sandwich day after day and be thrilled 😛

This delicious dinner involved 1 high-fiber whole-wheat La Tortilla Factory wrap spread with 1/3 Laughing Cow Wedge, remaining bulghur, and 2 fried egg whites, to bulk it up a bit. Thrown on the George Foreman, and paired it with a small side of romaine and a lovely dill pickle. And don’t think that measly amount of Frank’s was enough…I was just getting too frustrated at how long it was taking to get it out of the bottle and really wanted to manja! So I took the picture and dug in 😛

I know I say this all the time, but this was so good! Definitely a fan of these wraps. At first I was disappointed, thinking they were way too small, but apparently I just have eyes way bigger than my stomach. I was stuffed after this! They have a great texture, especially when on a panini press – it’s a great combintion of chewy and crunchy. I love crunchy and chewy together! The texture of food definitely plays a huge role in how much I like it.

Will a food’s texture determine how much you like it, too?

The fried eggs were definitely key.

Check out the day’s dessert!

Okay, so I never said these cookies were the prettiest things, but I certainly love them! I think cookie my be the wrong term, now that I’ve solidified my method to making them, too. I prefer them more crispy-crunchy and bran-flavored than any normal cookie would be!

For the poppyseed citrus oat-bran cookie, I mixed 1 T. rolled oats, 1 T. wheat bran, stevia, cinnamon, 1/8 t. baking powder, lime zest, vanilla, and ~1 T. egg substitute. Formed into a cookie shape and nuked for about 1 minute.

For the almond butter bran cookie, I mixed 1 t. smooth, unsweetened almond butter, ~1 t. wheat bran, stevia, splash of egg substitute, and a “splash” of unsweetened applesauce. Nuked for about 1 minute.

I’m probably wierd, but I much prefer them this way – but they may be too dry for a “normal” person, haha. I’m also the one who likes burnt food and loves the smell of toast, especially when it’s almost burnt. Just a random little Jess Fact, for your entertainment! What’s one of your quirks?!

In almond butter news, I am a little disappointed! While I love it when made like above, I don’t when it’s just plain and I was imagining it was something I could enjoy regardless of its’ preparation 😦

However! I think it may just be because it’s the unsweetend kind, and thanks to the heads up from Karla at Foodologie, I learned that Barney Butter will send you free samples! I hopped on that train as fast as you can say almond butter! Thanks, Karla! And if you haven’t already, be sure to check her blog out – I mean, just look at all of these delicious eats!

And lastly, speaking of challenges and blogging encouraging me to expand my tastes, does anyone want to start a “new food product” challenge with me? There’s so many food items I have yet to experiment with, such as the TVP I picked up yesterday. I would like to begin picking up a new ingredient every week/every other week and figuring out what to do with it. Anyone game?

Whew! I can talk a lot. Hopefully I don’t bore you all too much!

Have a good night 🙂 The weekend’s here! Unfortunately I have to spend half of my day tomorrow waiting in Midas…this Jeep will be the death of me!

Quick Qookies and Turkey Salad

Do you follow Carrots N’ Cake? If not, you ought to, because she crafted this heavenly concoction: a three minute oatmeal cookie! I had to give it a go, and came up with a fun little rendition.

2 Tbs. Rolled Oats, 1 Tbs Wheat Bran, 1 tsp. Flour, 1/8 tsp baking powder, stevia, 1 tsp vanilla jello mix, cinnamon, vanilla, 1 Tbs. eggbeaters, and banana.

MMMM, good! The perfect little snack. This is one of those recipes that you make differently every time, I think 🙂 Next time I’ll try it with quick oats, I think. And the raisins probably make it perfect, but I wanted banana. I love me some banana!

Mom made a turkey breast for dinner tonight, and with my serving I decided I wanted it in salad and pita form!

Turkey, carrots, tomatoes, hardboiled egg, red pepper, laughing cow, and dill pickles dressed in dijonaise and a dash of franks.

Have you noticed yet that I like to put my meals in pitas, wraps, or sandwiches? haha. The turkey was SO good, though. Moist and tender. I think she said it was a butterball? It was better than a t-givs turkey, I swear! Probably because it was so small, so it cooked more evenly? I dunno. But I ended up having a bit more with some mashed potatoes 🙂

Currently munching on another “cookie”, except this one is more of a banana souffle, if you will. Waiting for a storm we’re supposed to get. I want snow! I still have to work tomorrow, but I love getting storms. Especially when I have a day off, but it’s fun to work during them, too. Being all cozy inside while outside is hectic but beautiful is just so comforting to me. What do you think?!