Food: Getting Back to the Basics

Picture Gallery

2011-03-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

Over the past month I've been cooking a lot, and, yes, I've stuck to my new year's resolution and haven't bought any processed foods (besides the occasional box of whole wheat crackers for my son). In addition to not cooking with or eating processed foods at home, we also eat much less meat and fish. Once or twice a week I cook wild fish or grass-fed beef or pork. (we don't eat meat everyday since the cost for this type of meat is higher; this makes us appreciate the animal we consume more). Here are some dishes I've created over the last few weeks.

Grass-fed beef meatballs in marinara sauce

Wild halibut in sage brown butter sauce with risotto

Pasta in brown butter cheese sauce

Pasta salad with kidney beans, kale, and mushrooms

Potato soup with sauteed kale

Wild Pacific Cod fish taco with mango sauce

Fish taco from above with homemade salsa and guacamole

Wild salmon with local potatoes and swiss chard

Zucchini quiche, homemade crust

Another Busy Week of Cooking

2011-02-22T13:12:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a few days because I've been cooking, of course!

Last night my second CSA box arrived with loads of fresh organic vegetables and fruits. I was so excited to start preparing delicious food that I couldn't sleep. My CSA box contained the most beautiful arugula, red leaf lettuce, baby spinach, rainbow chard, kale, sage, rosemary, oregano, red potatoes, and onions. Along with juicy blood oranges, tangelos, d'anjou pears, red pears, and lemons. For those of you who read a previous post about my first CSA box, you might remember that I was a little disappointed to receive a few items that traveled from distant farms. Well, I found a way online to make modifications to my order. Thus, this week I replaced a few distant items with more local pears and oranges. I also added fresh herbs that are grown in Duvall, WA.

Arugula and Blood Orange Salad

For lunch today I put my fresh ingredients to good use and made an arugula salad with blood oranges and balsamic vinegar. It was delicious, and I can't wait to make more fresh food. Earlier in the week I made pizza dough and used half the dough to make a pasture-fed beef sausage tomato based pizza. I now have enough dough left over for one more pizza and plan to top half the pizza this time with tomatoes, basil and pecorino romano and the other half with olive oil, fresh oregano, pecorino romano, and maybe a little arugula when it comes out. So excited!

Homemade Almond Milk

In addition to pizza dough and inspired by a friend, I also made homemade almond milk. It was so easy. Just soak the almonds for 48 hours, rinse, blend with water, and strain (I used a cheese cloth for straining). Voila! Almond milk! I used the milk for making oatmeal, and I used the crushed bits of almond/almond meal in pancakes. I have to say I loved the nutty addition to my pancakes.

I also made pate brisee for the first time this week. Basically, it's a basic crust for pie and quiche. I used mine for a caramelized onion and goat cheese quiche. I LOVE quiche, and it's on the menu for dinner again tonight (leftovers, that is).

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Quiche

Pate Brisee

Eat well and be well. If you'd like any of these recipes, just leave me a comment, and I will post them. Thanks!

Say "NO" to Sugar-Free

2011-02-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

You might be surprised by the title of this post, but after I explain it in context, I hope you agree.

This morning while I was preparing to shower at the gym, I glanced up at the Today Show on the television. They were discussing the calorie content of specific breakfast meals. In front of Hoda was a plate of three gigantic pancakes and a small glass carafe with about 1/4 cup of syrup in it. After explaining that this breakfast has over 650 calories and the syrup alone contains over 10 teaspoons of sugar, they suggested switching to sugar-free syrup. In the middle of the locker room, I blurted out, "Oh, please, just eat the real stuff!" Unfortunately, no one was around to hear me so I couldn't preach my beliefs about food to anyone. Americans, this is why we have a problem with obesity in the first place. We're replacing real foods with synthetic CRAP that trains us to eat MORE. Yes, you could have an unlimited supply of sugar-free syrup to go with your triple stack of gigantic pancakes, but that defeats the purpose. Let's GET BACK TO THE BASICS. Had I been invited to discuss food on the Today Show, I would've retrieved two more large plates, divided up the three huge pancakes amongst the three plates and poured a little REAL syrup over each one. Heck, I would've even thrown in a pad (1/2 T.) of REAL butter on each, with an 8 oz. glass of whole milk, and a cup of fresh berries. Now how's that for a breakfast under 650 calories.

Spinach Salad

On the bright side, this syrup fiasco inspired me to do a little "cooking" today. I have pizza dough rising and sliced sweet potatoes roasting in the oven, and I just finished eating a delicious spinach salad. For the salad, I used organic spinach with beautiful, dark green, thick leaves, fresh organic basil, local roasted hazelnuts, an organic local gala apple, goat cheese, lemon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. I like to call this salad: spinach salad with apples, goat cheese and roasted hazelnuts, dressed with a lemon basil balsamic vinaigrette.

Here are a few pictures of dishes I've prepared this week:

Broccoli Cheese and Rice Casserole

Thai Tofu with Cabbage and Parsnips

Lemon Pomegranate Scone and Latte

Now, I hope I've inspired you to get cooking with REAL food.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

2011-02-11T14:14:00.000-08:00

"Getting Back to the Basics" started as a new year's resolution to feed my family only whole REAL foods. At the same time, I began reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, a book written by Michael Pollan; and soon after, I began getting back to the basics in a more powerful way. Not only was I changing what and how my family was eating, but I was also questioning where the food I was eating came from. Over the last 2 months I've been scrutinizing each food item I purchase and have had many "omnivore's dilemmas":

(1) to buy conventional produce, organic produce that came from Mexico, organic produce that traveled half way across the country, produce from the farmer's market, or produce through a CSA;
(2) to purchase a roasted chicken that was not treated humanely by my moral standards, organic free-range chicken that still may not be treated humanely, or pasture raised chicken from a local farm;
(3) to buy canned beans, organic canned beans, dried beans, organic dried beans, or dried beans in season from the farmer's market.

I've had a dilemma, like these, for every food item on my grocery list: milk, eggs, wheat flour, oats, soy milk, cheese, tomatoes, etc. And as I've been working my way through all of these dilemmas, I've deemed it necessary to understand where and how these foods are produced, cultivated, and/or processed. For when we understand how the food was brought into existence and to our dinner table, we can make better choices (which are defined by each of us based upon our morals) about which foods to eat. For instance, if I want to bake fresh bread using wheat flour, which type of wheat should I use (durum, emmer, red fife, winter wheat, etc.), which type of flour should I get (unbleached, bleached, cake, pastry, self-rising, etc), how much processing should the wheat undergo (e.g. white versus whole wheat flour), and finally which brand of flour should I purchase (i.e. should I buy a national brand or a local product).

Learning about wheat flour is just the beginning for me. I have much to learn about every food in order to feel comfortable with the food I buy. To be conscious of what we're eating is achieved more fully when we understand where the food came from and the energy cycle it takes part in. To be appreciative of what we're eating is developed when we attempt to prepare the food (and each of its ingredients) with our own hands. "A meal that is eaten in full consciousness of what it took to make it is worth preparing every now and again, if only as a way to remind us of the true costs of the things we take for granted."

My bucket list just got a lot longer!

My First CSA Box

2011-02-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

Last night I received my first box of produce from Full Circle Farm in Carnation, WA. Since it's wintertime this farm partners with other organic farms to provide produce to its customers. I thought I'd try it out and for $35/standard size box it's comparable in cost and quality to shopping at the West Seattle Farmer's Market (I was there on Sunday and was able to do a cost comparison). Each standard box should feed 2 adults and 1 child for a week. I currently am scheduled to receive a box of produce every other week, and I may need to purchase a few additional items from the farmer's market the week I am not scheduled for a shipment. In my first box of produce I received (in order from most local to least local):

1 lb. of turnips, 3 apples, 3 pears, and 2 onions from Washington

1/2 lb. Cremini mushrooms from British Columbia (only 2 hours away)

4 oranges, 1 bunch of broccoli, 1 bunch of kale, 1 bunch of green leaf lettuce, and 1 bunch of spinach from California (up to 900 miles away)

1 cucumber from Mexico and 1 mango from Ecuador (I was surprised by these 2 items)

Since half of my order still traveled quite a distance to get here, I will put in a special request to the farm (I'll ask for two orders of a local item in place of an item further south than CA.). If my request cannot be fulfilled, then I may postpone more orders through this farm until the spring months arrive and I can be assured most, if not all, of the produce will be provided by the farm itself. Despite my slight disappointment with the location of some of the partner farms, I am so far very impressed with taste. I just bit into my first orange and have not tasted a better orange since I moved to Washington over two years ago. The flavor was extremely concentrated, and although I know there's no fat in an orange, this orange had a smooth, creamy texture (3 pieces slipped right out of my hand as I picked them up). Because of the flavor and texture, I was completely satisfied after eating half the orange, and I saved the other half for my son when he awakes from his nap.

Buying Seasonally and Locally

2011-02-07T22:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to the West Seattle Farmer's Market and picked up a few things, including winter squash, parsnips, frozen pitted cherries, roasted hazelnuts, grass-fed beef sausages, and raw beef bones for our dog. They had sold out of medium and large eggs by the time I arrived so I will have to pick some up next week to try. Afterwards I went to QFC to buy local Twin Brook Farm's milk, which comes in a glass jug and makes me wish I lived on a farm during the first half of the 20th century. I also grabbed some local organic yogurt and examined the produce section. I wanted to get a few fresh herbs that I could not find at the market. I found organic cilantro made in the USA; however, the other herbs I was looking for (basil, chives, and rosemary), despite being organic, were grown outside the USA. I knew I'd feel guilty for buying them since they'd traveled so far to get here, so I passed them up and made a reminder note that I need to start growing my own fresh herbs again. There were two food items I did buy that were not local or seasonal: organic bananas from Peru and a lemon (I'm not sure where it came from). From the time I entered QFC until I got home, my stress level was high. It sounds crazy to get stressed out over grocery shopping, but trying to buy seasonally at a supermarket is nearly impossible. So from now on, I'm going to do my best to avoid supermarkets. I know that these changes I'm making (to never buy processed foods, to eat locally and seasonally, to buy grass-fed meat) are difficult now, but soon they will become a habit that I will no longer have to think about. It's just like starting an exercise regimen,quitting smoking, or cutting up credit cards and paying for everything with cash. It's hard at first but over time, habits are formed and the actions become quite subconscious.

So today for lunch I made winter squash stew (pictured above). I caramelized onions, garlic, and the cubed winter squash in olive oil, and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I used the remnants of the onions, garlic, and squash (skins and ends) to make a broth by boiling them in a quart of water. I strained the broth, poured 2 cups of the strained broth into the caramelized vegetables, and added about 2 cups of garbanzo beans.

I also saved the squash seeds and roasted them with a little salt.

The Organic Lingo

2011-02-04T21:49:00.000-08:00

If you read the labels found on items in the produce, meat, and dairy sections of a supermarket, you might be stumped about the different terminology. I know I was when I began my resolution to eat whole foods and started to think more about where my food came from. Be aware that "natural", "organic", "cage-free", "free range", etc. are simply marketing tools. My favorite marketing vocabulary that I recently noticed in a QFC advertisement for poultry was "vegetarian fed" (I actually laughed when I read this). Although "vegetarian fed" sounds healthy, the chickens may still be housed in feed lots eating mushed corn by the billions of bushels. These chickens may not even be consuming organic feed, but by putting a "vegetarian fed" label on it, many of us are fooled into believing this chicken is a lot better than a chicken without the same label.

All I can stress is that we need to do a little research on our food. Yesterday I spent several hours doing just that, and after a long discussion with my husband, I came up with a step-by-step process of changes we can make to our diet that will lead us to better health and a better environment:

Step 1: Eliminate all processed foods so our diet consists of only whole foods
Step 2: Reduce our consumption of animal products
Step 3: Make the switch to organic produce or, better yet, buy from a local farm/farmer's market (Don't worry about these small farms not having an "organic" label. Many small farms are doing more than what's required to get that "organic" label; they are practicing sustainable farming.)
Step 4: Make the switch to local dairy products that come from grass-fed animals

Step 5: Purchase wild seafood that is not endangered
Step 6: Start purchasing grass-fed meat from a local butcher

Achieving all these steps may be difficult (our family is still working on steps 3 through 6) so start small. Even if you just get through step 1, you're making a HUGE difference in your life; and if we all made it through step 1, we'd change the food industry for the better! Good luck, and if you're interested in grass-fed food, check out http://www.eatwild.com/.

The Value of Food

2011-02-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday as I was rolling out what seemed like an endless amount of dough for fresh pasta, I started thinking more about our relationship with food. If everyone, including our children, spent a day in Great Great Grandma's kitchen (or with me rolling out pasta by hand to feed a family of 12), I think we'd all have a greater appreciation for REAL food and become more disgusted with what so many of us actually call food. In addition to spending a day in Great Great Grandma's kitchen, I think we should all spend a day volunteering on a farm. If we understand more about where our food comes from and how much labor is necessary to produce quality food, I think we'd value food more.

I have always valued the flavor of freshly made pasta and croissants, but I didn't recognize the effort that went into making such delicious food. I am thankful that I can walk into The French Bakery whenever I have a craving and pick up a fresh chocolate croissant. My homemade croissants were good but nothing like those from The French Bakery. It'd take me a lot of time and patience to get them just right, and I'm not sure I'm up for that task since I can coneniently pick one up from the bakery whenever I want. Although I cherished every bite of the croissant prior to making them myself, I now can not put a price to a croissant. $2.55...that's nothing! and that's what I've been paying for a croissant for the past 6 months when The French Bakery opened its doors in downtown Bellevue. For the convenience of having a fresh croissant of such perfection, I'd pay a lot more than that.

Unfortunately, how we currently measure the value of food is solely by price. $1.99/lb for ground beef and $0.79/lb for oranges...that's a steal if you aren't aware of how they're produced. So how do we train ourselves to get away from the mentality that cost is the primary driving force for our food purchases? I think a day with Great Great Grandma and a day on the farm would do the trick.

Homemade Pasta and Croissants

2011-01-31T13:59:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged all weekend long because I was busy making homemade dough for pasta and croissants. I started the dough for the croissants on Friday. Saturday afternoon I made the dough for the pasta, and I baked off a test batch of croissants Saturday evening. Sunday we had a big family party where I served the homemade pasta and croissants. Here was our Sunday dinner menu:

Course 1 - sauteed cauliflower with red pepper flakes and Pecorino Romano

Course 2 - roasted red pepper and tomato bisque, served with rosemary olive oil bread

Course 3 - mixed greens with balsamic vinegar

Course 4 - shrimp pesto flat pasta

Course 5 - strawberry cream cheese and chocolate croissants

Course 6 - Zoka espresso

The most time consuming task of preparing this meal was making the dough for both the croissants and pasta. Making the croissant dough requires a lot of rest and chilling time over 24 hours but does not require as much hard labor as the pasta dough.

Layers of croissant dough before rolling out

Croissant Dough - After forming the dough in a mixing bowl, I allowed it to rest and chill. Then I took room temperature butter and a little flour and mixed together. I formed a 6X6" square of butter and then chilled it. After chilling both dough and butter, the butter is place on the rolled out dough and the edges of the dough folded over. The dough is rolled out, folded like a letter, rolled out again, folded like a letter again, and then chilled. This is repeated to created the layers of the croissant as seen in the picture. After the dough rests overnight it's rolled out to 1/8" thickness and cut into single servings. I filled the croissants with either 60% dark chocolate or a mixture of strawberry jam and a sweetened cream cheese (cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg). The croissants were rolled or folded up, brushed with egg wash (I forgot this step when making the test batch and you can see the difference.), and baked at 425*F for about 20 minutes.

Test batch without egg wash

Strawberry Cream Cheese
Croissant

Thin rectangles of pasta

Pasta Dough - The dough was simple to make and contained a few ingredients, primarily flour and tons of egg yolks. The hardest part was rolling out the dough, which is probably why they invented machines to do this part. I was rolling dough for almost 2 hours to make enough pasta for the 12 people at our dinner party. You must roll out the dough so thinly you can almost see through it. I cut my pasta into large rectangles about 2X4" and then boiled them for 2-3 minutes.

Pesto Sauce

Pesto Sauce - I made pesto sauce in the food processor by adding 6 c. fresh basil leaves, 1.5 c. olive oil, black pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, and 1.5 c. Pecorino Romano cheese. (Note: These measurements have already been tripled so as to make enough for 12 servings of pasta.)

Shrimp pesto pasta and mixed green salad

I also cooked up some shrimp in the pesto mixture and topped the pasta with the shrimp pesto sauce. I served the pasta with mixed greens and grape tomatoes tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Cheesy Risotto and Lemon Pomegranate Scones

2011-01-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

As the week progressed and my refrigerator became barer, it became increasingly difficult to put together dishes for lunch and dinner. However, yesterday I was successful at creating an excellent lunch of mixed greens with cheesy risotto. The cheesy risotto was prepared by first sauteing onions and garlic in a little olive oil and butter. While the onions and garlic were cooking, I added a cup of Italian style rice to the rice cooker. (Yes, you can make a risotto style dish in the rice cooker. The rice cooker is a lifesaver when you have a needy toddler attached to your hip and don't want to risk burning the two of you by stirring rice continuously over a hot stove for an hour.) I then added 3 cups of homemade chicken broth that I keep in the freezer and defrost when needed. Lastly, I stirred in the caramelized onions and garlic along with a cup of freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese. After the rice cooker gave its signature "beep, beep, beep" (i.e. "I'm done!") signal, I plated the risotto, grated a little more cheese on top, and served it with a side of mixed greens drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Later that afternoon while my son was napping, I managed to test out a variation of my scone recipe. This time I added lemon zest and pomegranates to the batter. The taste was amazing (almost all 5 scones were devoured by the time we went to bed), but I'm still working on the texture. Although I used less heavy cream this time, the scones still did not crumble like I had hoped, so next time I will try baking them at a lower temperature. Here is the recipe I have been playing around with for those of you that are interested (they are still better than any scone you can buy). I cut this recipe in half and it still makes 5 small scones.

3 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

2 T. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 c. heavy cream (less if using fruit with high water content)

2 c. fruit, nuts, seeds, etc.

I have been baking them at 350*F for about 30 minutes, but may try reducing the heat and cooking longer to see how that might affect the texture.

Isn't it amazing how so few ingredients can taste so good!!!

America's Obesity Problem Solved

2011-01-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

I was taking a walk around the block this afternoon with my son and dog and peered into a neighbors open garage. Amongst all the rubbish, as clear as day, was a huge, OLD, yet still functioning refrigerator. That's when I had an epiphany and realized I can easily solve our nation's epidemic with obesity. All we need to do is downsize our refrigerators! For God's sake, unless you're feeding a family of 10 or more, I think one refrigerator would suffice. Agree?

Now you might be wondering what evidence do I have that would support this theory, and I'll leave you with a few simple points to ponder:

1) French Women Don't Get Fat

2) The size of a European refrigerator

Enough said! America's Obesity Problem Solved.

VS.

Inspiration from Thailand

2011-01-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

For lunch today I made a Thai inspired fish and rice dish. I started by chopping onions, celery, and sweet peppers (I was too lazy to peel the garlic today) and added these vegetables to a hot wok with sesame and olive oil. I sprinkled a little salt to the veggies and let them slow cook on medium low while I prepped the fish.

I rinsed the tilapia in cold water and seasoned with salt, pepper, fresh lemon juice, ground ginger, Thai fish sauce, red pepper flakes, and crushed peanuts.

(I would have preferred to use a lime if I had one. The rest of the lemon slice was added to the cooking veggies.)

I then placed the tilapia over the cooking veggies and let slow cook. Just before the fish was done, I sprinkled chopped fresh cilantro on top. I plated the fish and veggie mixture over brown rice and topped with more red pepper flakes, crushed peanuts, and fresh cilantro.

Sensory Stimulation: Simply Color

2011-01-25T15:00:00.000-08:00

Sensory Stimulation: Color and Memories

2011-01-25T14:23:00.000-08:00

If you haven't noticed the color of my blog page is the most beautiful shade of brown. This is the same color of most of my clothing and the primary color of my wedding decor. It is also the color of dark chocolate and a perfectly pulled espresso. I dedicate the color of my page to these wonderful pleasures.

Crackers or Cookies

2011-01-24T15:11:00.000-08:00

I found an unopened box of crackers in my kitchen cabinet the other day that I bought a few months ago to set out with cheese if we ever had unexpected guests come over. They are Carr's Whole Wheat Crackers, and although they have slightly over 4 ingredients (I don't have the box anymore, but I believe there are only 6 or 7 ingredients), they are an excellent substitute for cookies. They are twice as thick as a normal cracker and also crumble when you bite into them. They have a touch of sweetness but aren't too sweet. Mason loves them and I'm sure any child wouldn't know the difference between these crackers and cookies, unless of course you feed your child a lot of sugar loaded food.

I know this is a processed food, but I purchased them prior to making my new year's resolution; and I think these are a good option if you want a quick child friendly snack and find yourself in the cookie/cracker isle at the grocery store.

Our Meat Problem is a Corn Problem

2011-01-23T18:43:00.000-08:00

Growing up in Indiana where you could buy an ear of corn for $0.10, you'd think I would've known corn's story. But "The Omnivore's Dilemma" has opened my eyes to our problem with corn. It's so abundant, farmer's sell it for less than it costs to produce but continue to produce more in hopes to achieve an even higher yield so they can afford to make a living farming. Corn farms have led to a monoculture, which has created a problematic ecological shift. Since corn is most often the only crop planted on the soil, the soil must be fertilized (the cheapest way with synthetic fertilizers), which leads to pollution, and during winter months, the barren land is blown away with the wind. In addition, rarely would you see animals on a Midwestern corn farm since the pastures have become fields of corn, not to mention it's much cheaper to raise an animal in a feeding lot.

So what do we do with all this corn? Most of it is used to feed cattle and our other animal friends (It's probably in your pet's food too), which are meant to graze on pastures. In the feeding lot, cattle reside in cramped quarters standing in their own feces and are fed processed corn mixed with liquid fat and other animal remnants. Feeding cattle corn allows them to get fatter faster and be slaughtered sooner. Are you eating this beef? If so, you're also eating the liquid fat and processed corn they once consumed, which is probably not very healthy for our bodies.

All of this is quite disturbing to me, and makes me wonder why we rarely question where our food comes from. If I ever do go back to teaching science, I'm adding "Where does our food come from?" to my lesson plans. Maybe if we educate our children, this "more is better" attitude we'll subside, and we can put our animals back in the rural rather than behind steel doors.

What does this mean for me and my family? Although my husband won't like our reduced meat lifestyle change, maybe he'll understand why this is important to me and support me in my efforts (what choice does he have, right?). Before I continue on about where I'm headed, let me explain when I started making changes. This past Thanksgiving was my first time hosting a holiday party. When I went to the local grocery store to purchase a turkey, I was shocked at how cheap these HUGE birds were. I knew something wasn't right so I did some research and $40 later had a small bird I was very appreciative of for giving his life to us. The following month I hosted a small Christmas dinner and purchased a small standing rib roast (just enough meat to feed the 4 of us) from a local butcher who explained that the beef was from a cattle that lived on REAL ground. What I learned this past holiday season is that eating quality meat that came from a happily raised animal is expensive. But, it's an animal; shouldn't it be somewhat expensive to raise a turkey or a cow (It sure is expensive to raise a dog.)? Meat has become too cheap. My motto is: if it's dirt cheap, it's probably no better than dirt (the kind that's been sprayed with chemical fertilizers and still won't grow a weed).

Where am I headed now?...on a less is more journey, where I appreciate meat for what it truly is and enjoy it on certain occasions when I know it came from a happy animal.

Better the Second Time Around

2011-01-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

My refrigerated pizza dough from the middle of last week tastes just as good, if not better, than it did the first time. Tonight I rolled out the dough, brushed it with olive oil, sprinkled it with pepper and freshly grated pecorino romano cheese. I then added a few slices of fresh mozzarella and fresh basil to the top before baking it at 425*F. Pagliacci, watch out! This was the best "cheesy bread", as I like to call it, I've ever had. A slice of this with a side of fresh tomatoes drizzled with olive oil was all I needed to make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Today was a culinary dream...after a cappuccino viennese, a "fresh out of the oven" chocolate croissant, and my own cheesy bread, I will fall asleep with a smile on my face tonight.

Substitute for Rice

2011-01-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

Previously I wrote a post titled, "Rice and Beans a Billion Ways," and included variations of rice and bean dishes. For most of my rice and bean recipes I use brown rice since it has more texture and fiber than white rice; although if my Filipino husband gets to the rice cooker before me, we end up eating white rice.

Today, however, I prepared a "rice" and bean dish with quinoa, a whole grain that looks similar to couscous and is a very good source of protein and fiber. I sauteed onions, garlic, and sweet peppers in olive oil; then added northern beans, cilantro, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. I mixed in quinoa that had been cooked by boiling in water for 15 minutes (just like rice) and topped with fresh tomatoes, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. It was healthy and delicious and just might have beaten Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meal.

Tackling Bread Dough

2011-01-21T12:27:00.000-08:00

I did it! And it was so easy. I started mixing the ingredients for the dough together at 9am, and after letting it rest twice, it was ready to be rolled out and used to make a pizza. I stretch the dough onto a round pizza sheet and drizzled it with olive oil. I then topped it with freshly sliced mozzarella, halved grape tomatoes, and fresh basil. A sprinkle of salt and black pepper and it was in the oven.

I only used half the dough and am storing the rest in the refrigerator. I plan to use the remaining dough this weekend for another pizza (topped with sauteed broccoli and spinach). If I find the pizza dough to be of poorer quality the second time around, I will either half the recipe next time or bake a loaf of french bread with the remaining pizza dough.

Pizza Prior to Baking

Pizza Ready to Eat

A Slice for Me

Stay tuned...I will be tackling homemade pasta next.

Eating Locally

2011-01-21T12:16:00.000-08:00

Last night after reading about how corn has become the American staple crop and can be linked to most foods that are not whole and even some whole foods, such as corn itself and dairy and meat/fish that comes from animals fed primarily corn, I started thinking about the foods I ate that day and where they came from. Although I wish I could pinpoint where everything originated easily, I can happily say only a few items (primarily the dairy I consumed) had a link to corn. Unfortunately, a majority of the food I ate traveled quite a distance to my table. If I'm striving to get back to the basics this year, shouldn't I also strive to eat locally? After all, eating locally will help promote local farming and ensure that I'm eating foods that are in season at the peak of their nutritional value.

If eating locally means obtaining all food close to home, wouldn't I, a Washington resident, be eating different foods than a person who resides in Florida? And if so, would I still be as healthy as a Florida resident? These questions also lead me to another: How much biodiversity is necessary in our diet? Is the biodiversity of my diet sacrificed if I'm eating locally, and if so, would my diet still be healthy...or should I start packing up to Florida?

Budgeting for Healthy Eating

2011-01-18T15:31:00.000-08:00

Today I made a trip to Costco with a grocery list and $100 cash in hand. Although I have stuck with my new year's resolution and have not purchased any food product with more than 4 ingredients, I often wonder if healthy eating IS, in fact, more expensive than unhealthy eating? And which grocery stores give you the best quality food for the price you pay? After visiting Costco today, I'm determined to find an answer to these questions, but, first, I will elaborate on my grocery trip experience today.

My Grocery List for Costco on Tuesday, January 18, 2011, looked something like this:

milk
eggs
fish or shrimp
berries
tomatoes
spinach
spring mix
cucumber
goat cheese
sharp cheddar cheese
olive oil
gallon Ziploc freezer bags and sandwich bags
laundry detergent
baby wipes

In the end I didn't get fish or shrimp (they didn't look appetizing), cucumbers (I really only wanted one, and I was shopping at Costco where everything comes sized for a family of 10), sandwich bags (I decided to save the environment and will use plastic reusable containers I already have), and baby wipes (I can wait another few weeks for these). Instead, I purchased butternut squash (we haven't had an orange colored food recently and it looked really good), baby peppers (these are more versatile than cucumbers), heavy cream (I got a whipped cream canister for Christmas and Mason loves my homemade whipped cream at "tea time"), butter (I thought I might need it for all the breads, doughs, and pie crusts I'll be attempting to make soon) and pecorino cheese (for the homemade pasta dish I'm going to make this week). All in all, I did fairly well on my $100 budget and only went $6 over. Since I had just returned an item for Mason that day, I had an extra $40 in my pocket, which I was planning to set aside for his use later. But I justified going $6 over budget, even though taking out the heavy cream would have kept me under budget, since Mason will eat a majority of the whipped cream in the next few weeks. Don't worry...the remaining $30 from the return was put aside for a future diaper/wipes purchase for my son.

Although I did well on this Costco run, I always find it hard to stick to my grocery list and budget at Costco. So I will not renew my membership when the time comes at the end of this month. For the month of February (and beyond if I am pleased with the outcome), I may purchase my produce at the West Seattle Sunday Farmers' Market like I've been meaning to do this year, while the rest of my groceries (eggs, milk, grains, etc) may be purchased from QFC or Whole Foods. I'll be doing a quality and cost comparison of the two grocery chains next month to determine where I will likely do most of my grocery shopping. If anyone can suggest a Seattle grocery store that carries primarily local products, I'd love to add it to my quality and cost comparison of grocery stores. When I lived in Albuquerque, NM, I shopped at Sunflower Market, which was a local version of Whole Foods. Most produce came from Arizona and New Mexico, and it was very inexpensive. I'd love to find the same type of store here in Seattle.

Thanks for reading, and happy grocery shopping! I'm looking forward to sharing my grocery store comparison with you.

"What Do You Do?"

2011-01-17T21:23:00.000-08:00

I met up with a good college friend who was visiting Seattle on Saturday night at Brouwer's Cafe in Fremont. We sat squished with 5 of her graduate student friends in a booth in the corner on the top floor of the restaurant. She was visiting Boeing with 45 of her classmates and a few professors, and most of them had joined us. That evening I was asked over a dozen times, "What Do You Do?" Since most often the question is referring to your career and how you earn money, I simply replied for ease of conversation, "I'm a gymnastics' coach." However, the fifth time I was asked this question, I stopped the woman I was just introduced to and suggested a question that would better describe who I was (although, maybe she didn't want to "know me" and just wanted to know what my job was for sake of networking). However, giving her the benefit of the doubt and assuming she was a friendly person, I suggested the following question for introductions, "What do you enjoy?" She looked at me as if I was insane and said, "That's such a hard question to answer."

I was in shock, but then realized that when I was a student I would've have had an extremely difficult time answering that question. It mustn't be my age though that makes this question easier to answer since these graduate students were all in there mid to late twenties as I am. So what is it? When did this question become so easy to answer for me or why was it so difficult to answer before? Despite being focused fully on myself as a student, I didn't know the answer to this question. Ironically, now that my focus is completely on my toddler (as those of you with children know that there is very little "ME time" when you have kids), I can answer this question in an instant.

I know this post seems to have nothing to do with the topic of my blog; however, it truly does. Had the woman instead asked me, "What do you enjoy?" I would have answered, "food, my son, educating, exercising, and coaching". Yes, food is listed first on my list of enjoyments. I love everything about food: cooking/baking with it, eating/drinking it, the nutrition of it, and shopping for it. You might think it's crazy to put food above my son, but we parents have to have one pleasure above our children and families, otherwise we wouldn't be a "ME" and we'd always think in terms of "US". In other words, we must put time into ourselves and food is what I like to put my "me time" into. I won't go on to explain the rest of my list since this blog is about food. I just wanted to rant about our skewed way of getting to know someone.

Cooking versus Baking

2011-01-16T19:22:00.000-08:00

Although both cooking and baking are experimental, experimenting as a cook is much more forgiving than experimenting as a baker.

Flank Steak Stir Fry with Broccoli and Bok Choy

Yesterday evening I cooked flank steak stir fry with broccoli and bok choy. I started by cutting a large flank steak against the grain into 1" thick strips and marinated the meat for several hours in ground ginger, black pepper, and soy sauce. Then in a large wok I heated canola and sesame oil. When the oil was hot, I added chopped onions and garlic and white sesame seeds. Once the onions were tender, I added the flank steak strips. After several minutes I added a cup of beef stock and cooked the meat until medium rare. I transferred the meat and onions to a bowl but left the liquid in the wok. I then added broccoli and bok choy to the wok and cooked until tender. I transferred the meat and onions back into the wok and served the stir fry with brown rice.

Blueberry Scone

I also experimented with a scone recipe that was given to me by the Painted Horse Coffeehouse in Albuquerque. Since the elevation of Albuquerque is much greater than Seattle (10,000 feet versus sea level) I increased the amount of baking powder in the recipe by 25%. This was the first time I have made these scones, and the recipe is quite simple: flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, heavy cream, and fruit. Although I was pleased by the taste and texture of the outside of the scone, the texture of the inside was soft and muffinlike, rather than having the crumbliness I had hoped for. Next time I will use less heavy cream, depending on the fruit I use. Future scone flavors I will try making: cinnamon raisin, honey lavendar, lemon currant, mixed berry, and chocolate. I can't wait!

Simple Foods at their Best

2011-01-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

The other night I prepared a quick dinner for my family with all fresh ingredients (excluding the pasta...that's my next challenge). Our first course consisted of baby portobello mushrooms sauteed in garlic, onions, olive oil, and white wine, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Our main course was tomato and basil pasta. For this dish I sauteed onions and garlic in olive oil, and then tossed in cooked pasta, fresh grape tomatoes, and fresh basil. Each serving was then topped with a generous amount of freshly grated asiago cheese.

Dinner also consisted of broccoli that had been sauteed in olive oil, a fresh baguette, and white wine.

Fresh ingredients, simply prepared, and amazingly tasty!

My next challenges, however, aren't so simple: homemade pasta and pizza dough. Stay tuned!

Rice and Beans a Billion Ways

2011-01-10T14:56:00.000-08:00

There are endless ways to prepare rice and beans. I usually prepare rice and beans when I have leftover rice from a previous meal. I then add whatever beans, fresh vegetables and herbs I have on hand. Here are four variations I have recently prepared:

1) White rice, kidney and white beans, onions, garlic, grape tomatoes; seasoned with salt, pepper, and parsley

2) Brown rice, garbanzo beans, kale; topped with fresh tomatoes and green onions; seasoned with salt, pepper, and lemon

3) White rice, cannellini beans, onions, yellow peppers; topped with fresh tomatoes; seasoned with lemon and fresh mint

4) Brown rice, black beans, onions; seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, chili powder; topped with fresh avocado, tomatoes, and homemade tostones

For all of these recipes, prepare your rice and beans ahead of time. If you use canned beans, rinse them thoroughly with water to rid them of salt. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil, then add other vegetables such as bell peppers. Season with salt, pepper, lemon, and/or any other dried spices or herbs. Then add your cooked rice and beans, and season again accordingly. Add any fresh herbs you choose. When plating, top with fresh tomatoes or avocado; feta, goat, or any freshly shredded cheese; serve with lemon or lime wedge, depending on seasonings used.

I'm always looking to cuisines of other cultures (Mexican, Cuban, Greek, Italian, Indian) for ideas on how to flavor my rice and beans. Please feel free to leave me a comment with suggestions.