Like any good farm cook, I started out in the field…

We have buckets and buckets of ripe and ready tomatoes all over the farm (heaven!), but for this recipe I needed the green ones.

This internship has been such a fun experience for me.  There is truly nothing more fun than pulling your food straight out of the ground and onto your cutting board.

With my tomatoes in tow, I headed back to the kitchen and got to work slicing…

Because I was making samples for all the CSA members, and I knew how good the recipes was, I needed to make a LOT of tomatoes!

Next up – the breading.  For the tomato breading, you need to use equal parts flour and corn meal.  Because I had so many tomatoes, I used 3/4 cup whole wheat flour…

And 3/4 cup white corn meal. 

Mixed them together with a teaspoon each of sugar, salt, and black pepper. 

Before I got started on the breading, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and stuck my baking sheets inside to get hot and toasty.  Hot pans are key to good, crisp tomatoes!  Since my pans were busy heating up, I laid a few paper towels out on the counter to be a temporary landing zone for breaded tomatoes.

And then I got to work!  Here’s the point where you jump in and help me – take each green tomato slice…

And dunk it in a small dish of milk, making sure to coat both sides.

Then drop the tomato into your breading mixture…

And press it down firmly to make sure you get a good coating on each side.

Flip over and press down on each side – you want the entire tomato to be covered in the flour mixture, with as little green showing as possible,

By the end, you will have Super Mario Brother hands.  Do not be alarmed.

As you bread each tomato, lay them out gently on a paper towel.  Do NOT stack them!  Stacking breaded food = bad.

Once everything is breaded, carefully take your sheet pan out of the oven and spray it generously with olive oil spray.  Then lay out the tomatoes evenly…

And give the tops of the tomatoes another quick shot of olive oil spray.  Slide them back into the oven to bake for 40 minutes – flipping them over after 20. 

While the tomatoes are baking, it’s time to make the sauce.  Ohhhh yes the SAUCE!  This stuff is seriously amazing.  I can eat it up by itself with nothing more than a spoon.  Start with some chopped onion, white or red.

And toss it them into a sauté pan to brown and soften.

Chop up a boatload of mushrooms (that’s a technical term)…

And toss them into the onions after about 5 minutes have elapsed.

Stir the onions and mushrooms together for a few more minutes, until both are wilted and browned.

While you wait, chop up some tomatoes.

And then toss them on top of your onion and mushroom mixture. 

The tomatoes will give off a LOT of water, so the key to this sauce is to let it simmer long enough to cook out the extra liquid and let the flavors concentrate.  Let.it.cook.  Stir occasionally.

Okay 20 minutes have passed – time to flip the tomatoes!  You should see that they are much crispier now than they were when they first entered the oven. 

Using tongs, carefully flip each one and put your pan back in the oven to bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Check your sauce – it should have a nice rolling simmer going.  See the bubbles? 

Finally – after both sides of the tomatoes have had long enough to cook, they are ready to come out of the oven. 

They should be crispy and crunchy on the outside, and soft and sweet on the inside.  Yum.

The sauce should be done by now too – season to taste with salt and pepper, and spoon into a serving dish.

This sauce is aaaaaaaamazing.  I want to make vats of it and can it so that I can eat it on things all year long.  The secret to good sauce is simply letting it cook long enough. 

These tomatoes are perfect as a meal or an appetizer, because they are so simple and easy to eat!

Just pick it up with your fingers…

Get a good dunk into the sauce…

And take a bite!  Check out that gooey green middle.  Pure tomato heaven.

This is one of those recipes that sounds really complicated, but when you actually break down the steps and look at them, it is super simple.  Bread, bake, chop, simmer.  That’s all there is to it!

Enjoy! :)

I have been so busy showing you recipes and fun farm food that I haven’t told you one thing about this week!  And let me tell you, it has definitely been one of those weeks.  I have a huge school project due tomorrow, family issues at home, and our big trip to DC this weekend all weighing on my mind.  The absolute LAST thing I wanted to do when I got home late from work at 6:30pm was think about exercising.  Just as I considered blowing it off altogether, a little Tweet came across my screen telling me that Celeste was teaching the 7:15pm hot vinyasa yoga class tonight, and within five minutes I was in my yoga pants and back in my car heading to the studio. 

When I got home from work I was feeling sort of down and sad, and I knew I didn’t have it in me to push myself to do a hard workout.  So instead of giving up, I looked for someone else to push me.  And push me she DID!  I felt so much better the minute I hit the mat.  Yoga leaves me feeling peaceful and relaxed in a way that nothing else does.  I left the studio feeling refreshed and ready to face the rest of my week. 

Dinner tonight was LATE (after 9pm!) and super simple.  Since I’m not an every-meal-every-day food blogger, there’s a lot of stuff I eat that you guys don’t see.  And so often I am left wonderful, nice comments from people complimenting my culinary ability.  I thought tonight, just for fun, I would show you a completely non-gourmet or creative dish – just a few simple frozen ingredients, thrown together very quickly to create an easy, healthy dinner.

The fact is, there is NOT always time for chopping lots of fresh vegetables, making sauces from scratch, and devoting hours of your evening to your dinner.  But that doesn’t mean that an easy healthy dinner is out of the question.  Instead of heading to the fast food drive through, it is MUCH cheaper and easier to just head to your own freezer.  Tonight’s dinner – veggie burgers with Asian stir-fried vegetables – nothing to it. 

I heated up my wok and tossed in a bag of frozen broccoli, one bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables, and a handful of frozen edamame and corn.

Once the excess water was cooked out, I tossed it all in a bit of soy sauce, and added freshly diced avocado at the very end. 

Meanwhile, I heated up two of my very favorite vegetable masala burgers from Trader Joe’s…

Nothing special, but still tasty and healthy, and in the end that’s all that matters, right?

Our original plan for tomorrow was to work a half day and then drive to Charlottesville to spend the evening with the now-departed Kath and Matt!  But issues finding a dog-sitter left us here in Charlotte Thursday night – so sad to not see our friends.  :(  I’m working on training the dogs to take on a little more responsibility and not be quite so dependent, but until that happens, we’re in charge.  :)

The upside to not leaving until Friday though is that Casey found super cheap last minute flights for Friday morning, so now we get to fly instead of drive – SO much better!  And the cherry on top of the trip is that my wonderful and fabulous little sister is also flying in and meeting us there to help us search for our new home!!  Sarah has the rare ability to keep me calm and anxiety free – not always an easy task.  Crossing my fingers that we find a wonderful place to be our next home…

Off to bed – goodnight!  :)

Last week when we were going over my schedule and plans for the next few weeks at the farm, my boss told me that she needed me to come up with a healthy recipe for tomato pie.  I was slightly embarrassed to tell her that, while I was always happy to healthify a recipe, I had no clue was a tomato pie was.  Apparently it is a classic southern dish?  I’m sure someone out there can clue me in.

Through the power of Google, I started looking at tomato pie recipes to figure out the basic components of the dish.  Before I could create a healthy version, I needed to figure out the original!  From what I could tell, tomato pie is basically a mixture of tomatoes, basil, and a few other things baked in a pie crust and slathered with a heavy mixture of mayonnaise and a lot of cheese.  Eeek.

I found a few ideas I thought would work to lighten up the pie, and then I got to work.  I started by slicing up a few big tomatoes, and laying them out between paper towels to dry them out a bit.

I didn’t want all of the excess liquid from the tomatoes to make the crust soggy of the pie too runny.

One of the healthy specifications given to me by my boss was to make a pie crust without using any flour.  I considered a few different options, and ultimately settled on making the crust out of cooked brown rice. 

Did I tell you guys that I convinced my boss to order a rice cooker for the farm?  That’s how much I love this thing!  (Rice cooker post coming up soon – stay tuned!)

I combined a little over a cup of the cooked rice with 2 tbsp pesto, 1 tbsp parmesan cheese, and 1 whole egg.

And then things got messy.  Mixed it all up until it was well combined…

And pressed it into the bottom and sides of a 9’’ pie dish.

Popped it into a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, and said a short prayer.

In the meantime, I got the filling ready for the pie.  I am a BIG onion fan, so you may notice that they creep into a lot of my recipes.  Typically at home I only use white onions, but here at the farm we only have the red guys.  Cooking with them this summer as made me appreciate red onions for their own distinct flavor.  I think they are WAY too strong raw, but I actually really like them cooked.

So speaking of cooked – I diced them up and tossed them into a hot sauté pan to soften and brown them.

And by the time that was done, my crust was ready!  Pictures don’t show you the fact that this thing was literally bubbling from the parmesan.

Between the pesto and the parmesan, it smelled amazing.  The edges had gotten a little bit crispy, and the melted cheese helped the base hold together pretty well.  I crossed my fingers that it would turn out to be an okay base for my pie. 

With my crust ready, it was time to assemble the main dish.  I started with a base of cooked red onions…

And then added a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes.

Topped that with a sprinkle of freshly chopped sweet and purple basil, and gave it a drizzle of delicious pesto sauce.

Because the focus of this pie was to be healthy, instead of adding extra layer of cheese, I added extra layers of tomatoes to bulk it up.  One more layer of delicious sliced tomatoes…

And the final cheese mixture on top – 1/4 cup grated parmesan, 1/4 cup grated gruyere, and 3 tbsp veganaise spread.  Veganaise isn’t typically something I have at home, but we use it on the farm as a mayonnaise substitute.  It didn’t seem like much cheesy topping when I put it on, but I knew it would distribute once it was melted in the oven.

Topped it off with one last sprinkle of fresh basil and a little pinch of salt, and then popped it into the oven at 350 degrees…

Forty minutes later?  Tomato pie!

The final product looked and SMELLED amazing!

It sort of reminded me of a quiche without eggs.  Sounds good to me!

Once the pie had cooled, the dinner plates were assembled for the farm owners to take with them to their other apartment.  And since the pie had been sliced into at that point, I figured it only made sense that I had a piece. 

Tasting is as much a part of the learning experience as cooking, right?

Having never had the “real” tomato pie myself, I can’t promise that this is a representative recreation.  But I can assure you that it was completely delicious and I wanted to eat the whole thing. 

The brown rice crust held up pretty well.  Even though it wasn’t crispy and crunchy like a traditional flour crust, it still gave stability to the dish, as well as great flavor from the cheese and pesto. 

Hopefully my boss thinks my recreation was as successful as I did!  I would definitely make this again for a brunch or lunch the next time we have friends or family visiting. 

One thing is for sure – I am not leaving the south without learning all of these classic southern dishes!  In fact, tomorrow I’ll be making more Un-Fried Green Tomatoes – stay tuned…

Are there any other classic southern dishes that need a healthy makeover?

I called up to the red shed to find out what I could get quickly and easily.  The answer – tomatoes, potatoes, and zucchini.  From there, I took a peek in the pantry and started chopping.  I washed a big pile of red, blue, and fingerling potatoes…

And chopped up a big handful of fresh rosemary picked out of the kitchen garden. 

I made a vinaigrette of grapeseed oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and rosemary…

And then dumped it onto the big bowl of sliced potatoes.

Stirred to combine and coat each precious potato…

And then poured out onto a sheet pan.  I started these off at 400 and let them roast for about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 or so.  Once they were browned and fairly soft, I backed the heat down on the oven to 200, and left them in there for an additional hour (because I was serving them at a specific lunch time). 

Starting them high and then backing the heat down low resulted in absolutely delicious potato pillows.

The farm boys gobbled up every last one!

For a main course at the lunch, I decided I was going to make zucchini boats – something I had never actually done before.  I knew it would be a little bit tricky since I had three varying sizes of zucchini, but I decided to just go with it. 

First step was to cut the ends off each zucchini and slice them all vertically into two halves.

Papa, mama, and baby bear.

Then I took a spoon and scraped out the fleshy stuff inside each half.  If I had been at home I would have used a melon-baller or my serrated grapefruit spoon, but this regular spoon was fine too – just took a little more arm muscle!

I made a big pile of all the scooped out zucchini flesh…

And then drizzled the inside of each half with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Time for the filling!  I started by chopping up one small white onion and half of a huge red onion.

Threw them in a sauté pan with olive oil to soften and start to brown.

With the onions softened, I chopped up the zucchini guts and threw them in to the pan to cook too. 

Meanwhile, I also cooked up some quinoa in my nifty rice cooker.  Because our farm lunches are vegetarian, I always try to incorporate some sort of veggie protein.  Quinoa is such a quick and easy way to do this!  If you don’t have one of these, you can very easily make quinoa on the stove top in 20-25 minutes.  Just use a 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups liquid ratio, and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed. 

Once the quinoa was cooked and fluffed, I added it to the pan with the onions and guts, and then sprinkled it with a little cumin and lemon juice.  Once it was seasoned to taste with salt and pepper, I tossed in a handful of shaved parmesan for a final flavor boost.

Spooned the mixture evenly into my zucchini boats…

And then gave a final topping of a little extra cheese for melting. 

Into a 400 degree oven, covered with foil for 30 minutes, and then uncovered for an additional ten.  Final product – gooey and browned zucchini goodness!

Since I was cooking for a large group and wanted to make sure I had enough servings, I cut the halves into equally sized pieces, and stacked them together in a serving dish.

These were a HUGE hit!  The farm staff seriously freaked out.  They declared it the best lunch ever – hurrah!

The parmesan cheese was a great addition, and by taking the foil off for the last ten minutes, there was just enough crispiness and browning. 

Mmmmmmmmm.

Oh yes – and one more thing!  I also made a summer tomato salad…

Tomatoes, peaches, red apples, and basil – all chopped up and tossed in a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Perfect sweet ending to a delicious meal. 

What started with no plan ended up being a delicious lunch, and one of the staff favorites!  Just goes to show that you shouldn’t be scared to try something new.  If the zucchini boats were a disaster, my back up plan was going to be to chop it all up and sauté it until soft, but I didn’t end up needing a plan B.  And now not only did I serve a well received lunch, I taught myself how to make stuffed zucchini – a win win!  :) 

This week kicks off the next round of summer travels and craziness, starting with Friday’s trip to DC to find a place to live!  After that I’ll be heading down to the ATL for a wild bachelorette weekend, and the following weekend I’m up in Chicago for the Healthy Living Summit.  (Who else is going?!)  Should be a fun and busy few weeks!

This run ended up being a FAIL, but not for the reasons I was expecting.  We were up nice and early, but then we ate breakfast really slow and dawdled too much, so we didn’t end up at the trail until around 9:30am – when the sun was already beating down.  But we were prepared with LOTS of homemade sports drink and ice cold water. 

Casey is awesome and has re-arranged his running schedule so that he can do my long runs with me, and he does his on Tuesdays.  I know, I am very lucky.  :)  The two of us set out with a strategy to ensure we would have water every three miles.  And with that…

Lesson #1: Fueling/Hydrating During Runs

I get a LOT of emails from readers asking about the best ways to fuel and get enough water during long runs.  I always wish I had a better answer, as this is something that I still struggle with myself.  I know that for some people, carrying water on them is the best solution.  I have tried the fuel belt, CamelBak, and just simply carrying a water bottles, and I absolutely can’t stand any of them.  For me, the weight and sloshiness of carrying water is not an option – it drives me crazy.  So instead, I choose to plan my runs around water fountains or water bottles. 

Typically, I either leave a water bottle on my front porch and loop around to it, or I take one to the trail with me and leave it halfway along my route (keep reading…).  While I know that other strategies have worked for many other runners, this just happens to be what works best for me.  Today we planned to run out and back on a 6 mile trail, leaving a bottle at the 3 mile halfway point, and with water options on both ends of the trail itself.

We started off strong, and I felt pretty good.  Yes I was DYING in the heat, but that brings me to my next lesson…

Lesson #2: Dealing With the Heat

This is another one that I struggle with, but I’m doing my best to figure it out run by run.  Now I may get some criticism for this, but my personal belief is that you physically can run in any condition, as long as you are careful and well prepared.  Today I ran 12 miles in 100 degree heat.  Was it fun?  No.  Did I die or even come close to it?  Absolutely not.

Knowing that it was insanely hot, and running half the time in full sun, I knew that the only way to have a successful run was to not over-do it and slow my pace.  It is always frustrating to run slower than you know you can run, but in extreme conditions you need to adapt your pace to the environment.  So today, despite my wishes to run faster, I stuck to a slower pace.  I even took walking breaks!  A lot of times I beat myself up for needing to take walking breaks, but on a day like today, I knew it was important if I wanted to finish the run and not bonk halfway through.  Which brings me to…

Lesson #3:  How to Get Faster

Another very popular question!  Between my first marathon and my third marathon (we won’t talk about marathon #2), I shaved 46 minutes off my finishing time.  How did I do it?  A combination of the following:

Strength training – running is soooo much more than just putting one foot in front of the other.  Doing weights consistently 3x a week gave me a very strong core and upper body, that carried me through the final miles when my legs had nothing left to give.

Losing weight – it should come as no surprise that the more you weigh, the more effort it takes to move your body.  But the more I moved, little by little more weight came off, and with each pound I lost, my pace continued to drop.

Running with a fast partner – For many of my shorter runs, Casey and I would run together, and by having him (super speed demon) run with me it encouraged me to try to pick up my pace.  I have never personally joined a running group, but I imagine they are helpful in a very similar way.

Make it hurt – This is probably my most important piece of running advice (not that you asked for it).  So often I hear stories of people telling me that when they try to get faster they are out of breath, or their legs hurt too much, etc. – I know this sounds harsh, but here’s how I see it.  Running is not supposed to feel good.  A casual jog?  Sure, that can be relaxing and nice.  But training towards a specific pace or goal?  That shouldn’t feel so good.  You should be out of breath, and you should be hurting by the end – that means you are pushing your body to a new level.  If running is comfortable, your body isn’t being asked to do something new.  As you get faster and faster, your body will become comfortable with the new pace or distance – and then it’s time to push it faster or further once again.  That is how you get better.  You have to push your body to the limit. 

Of course I am not talking about injuring yourself – that is an entirely different discussion.  But you can tell the difference between an injury and just general discomfort, and discomfort is necessary to achieve your best results.  I assure you, it is worth it for the way you feel both inside and outside at the end. 

So speaking of discomfort, back to today’s run.  We ran out to the 3 mile marker and left our water bottle on a bench – something I have done many many times.  At that point I also decided I was sweating too much and didn’t want my sunglasses sliding off my face any longer, so I decided to leave them tucked right under my water bottle.  I figured that leaving our things on the bench on a trail filled with many of our fellow runners and bikers on a sunny Sunday afternoon would be just fine.  We carried on…

We reached the end of the trail at 6 miles stopped in a CVS for 2 bottles of ice cold water – one to drink and one to dump all over my head and body.  We also grabbed some scary gummy bears for a little sugar boost.  We headed back feeling energized from the sugar and cooled down from the water, and trucked along from miles 6 to 9.  When we got to mile marker 3, I immediately noticed that the bench previously occupied by my beloved sunglasses and sports drink was now empty.  Casey always tells me that I am far too trusting, but I guess I just like to hope for the best in people. 

For some reason I got REALLY pissed.  I was hot and I had already run 3 miles without water.  On top of that, my beautiful Anthropologie sunglasses had been stolen by someone with no soul.  We stopped to walk and I did a bit of crying, dropping the f-bomb no less than 100 times over the course of the next ten minutes.  The last 3 miles were slow and painful – I was really mad, thirsty, and my spirit was totally deflated.  We did a lot of walking.  Who just TAKES a water bottle and sunglasses?  And WHY?  Oh well…

Lesson #4:  Don’t leave valuable things on public benches.

I guess this lesson was obvious.  I just hate that on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and on a busy trail with no access to street traffic, I couldn’t trust a bunch of fellow runners and bikers to not steal my things. 

We got back to the car at 12 miles, and with the heat reaching the peak for the day – 1oo sweltering degrees.  I wanted documentation that I did, in fact, run – but couldn’t find it in me to smile.

Listening to my body, I knew I didn’t have three more miles in me at that temperature, so we called it a day and I quit my run after 12 miles.  Overall result?  FAIL.

But considering the conditions, and the fact that I was actually doing pretty well until I was violated by a thief, I was pleased to have successfully covered even 12 miles.  Next weekend I will leave my house earlier, store my belongings locked in my car, and cover all of my mileage.

Lesson learned.

It’s always so much more fun to do a race when there are friends to cheer you on!  Caitlin made a bunch of Operation Beautiful signs to pin on some of the runner’s backs – very cute. 

I am starting to get VERY sad about the fact that I spent sooo much time in Charlotte feeling lonely and friendless, and now that I have a fabulous group of friends, we are getting ready to leave.  Sniff!  The good thing is, these girls are all so nice, I know we’ll stay friends despite the distance.  From left to right – Jen, Kelly, Michelle, me, Caitlin, and Emma!

Caitlin made extra Operation Beautiful signs for our cheering squad – Matt and Diana!

And no Charlotte run is complete without my favorite running partner.  I am trying to soak up as much time with her as possible before she moves next week.  The good news is that once we are both moved, we’ll only be a short 2 hours apart!  Maybe we can even meet in the middle for some long runs.  :)

Casey and I realized on the drive there that we had only brought one Garmin, and since he had a specific goal time in mind, I offered to let him wear it.  I knew it was going to be a tough run for me since I wasn’t feeling great to start with, and it was already 80+ degrees at the starting line.  But when the gun went off and the run started, I realized how weird I felt to not know my pace – I had no idea how fast to push myself.

Since my marathon training started a few weeks ago, my running has been R.O.U.G.H.  I’ve gotten in most of my runs, but they have been sloooow and I’ve had to take walk breaks, which I really hate.  I hate to sound like I’m making excuses or complaining, but I just cannot adjust to this southern heat.  Growing up in Ohio all my life, I feel like I can’t even breathe down here.  I keep telling myself that if I just push through it, even at a slower pace, I’ll be faster when the fall comes and the weather cools down.

So needless to say, when I was already sweating at the starting line this morning, I knew I wouldn’t be breaking any records.  I did my best to just run my own race, not worry about what anyone else was doing, and focus on one mile at a time. 

The heat was insane, and I felt like the miles were craaaawling by, but I kept trying to tell myself it was only four miles.  Four miles was a weird distance to try to pace for when you are used to the 5K distance.

I crossed the finish line in 33:57, an 8:29 pace!  Not my best, not my worst, but good enough for me on such a hot day.  I felt like I was going to PASS OUT at the end!  Casey, of course, ran smoking fast as always and finished in 26:45, a 6:43 pace – insaaaaane.  We were both dripping wet at the end.

I love having a group of friends that all want to get up at 5am and run races on the weekends!  Crossing my fingers that there are girls in DC who will want to do the same thing!

Caitlin was nice enough to have everyone back to her house afterwards for a post-race brunch.  Bagels with almond butter, delicious fruit salad, and I brought sample bites of our three-grain energy bars – this time a green tea and pistachio version (recipe coming…).

Since we were all gross and sweaty, Caitlin set up her tailgate tent in the front yard and we ate al fresco – so fun!  The neighbors thought we were a little goofy.  :)

Even though my finish time wasn’t quite as fast as I used to be, I was still pretty pleased with how I did in the heat.  Most importantly, I wanted to quit the ENTIRE time, and forced myself to juuuust keeeep goooing. 

It felt great to get my racing legs going again, and now I feel inspired to do a few more.  Casey and I are even considering doing a 5k in DC next weekend!  Off to enjoy the rest of the day and get ready for a fun cookout with friends tonight…

Three-Grain Chewy Energy Bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup steel cut oats, uncooked
• 1.2 cup millet, uncooked
• 1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked
• 2 bananas, peeled and sliced into thin discs
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1 tsp cinnamon powder)
• 2 tbsp finely ground coffee
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups water
• 2 tbsp coconut oil

To Prepare:  Add all ingredients through water (leaving out the coconut oil) in a rice cooker or saucepan and stir to combine.  Bring mixture up to a simmer and cover for 20-25 minutes until it reaches the consistency of a thick batter.  Stir occasionally.  (Use the quick-cook setting if using a rice cooker.)  If using a cinnamon stick, remove from the mixture once batter is formed. 

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the coconut oil by microwaving for 20 seconds and use half to coat the bottom of a 9” by 6” non-stick baking pan. Once your mixture has finished simmering and formed a batter, add the batter to the baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Coat the top of the mixture with the remaining coconut oil.

Bake for 1 hour. Let cool completely then slice into 12 bars.  Store in the refrigerator – these are best if eaten chilled!

Nutrition Facts (1 bar):

• 165 calories
• 3.6g fat
• 28g carbs
• 2.3g fiber
• 3.3g protein

You would never know that these bars have only 165 calories because they sure don’t taste healthy.  And with the calories lower than your typical Clif or Luna bars, you have room for extra mix-ins like nuts or dried fruit if your prefer to make your own variation.

The three-grain blend of steel cuts oats, quinoa, and millet give these bars the perfect amount of chewiness and texture.  Not to mention a serious nutritional power punch! 

Ground coffee is the (not so) secret ingredient that makes these bars stand out from the pack.  Warning:  once you try these you won’t be able to go back…

Enjoy!

Now a confident culinary graduate, I realize there are many many more people out there just like the “old” me – eager to learn, but embarrassed to admit they don’t know some basic techniques.  First off, you should never be embarrassed to ask anything on this blog, because I started out as the most clueless cook imaginable!  We all start somewhere, right?  So let’s get on with it.  Now you can never say that no one taught you how to properly roast your peppers, and you can stop buying that oily jarred stuff.

How To Roast A Pepper

The ONLY thing you need for roasted peppers are:  PEPPERS!  Okay that’s not entirely true.  You also need tongs, a bowl, and plastic wrap, but hopefully you already have those things.

I should add that this is typically done with sweet peppers, like bell – not spicy peppers.  Heating spicy peppers intensifies the spiciness of them, so roasting them would likely make your mouth catch on fire!

The first step is getting your burners going.  Turn them on and crank them up to medium high heat!  Depending on how many peppers you are roasting, you can use one or two burners.  I’d say you can figure on roasting 2 peppers per burner.

(If you don’t have a gas stove, this can also be done in the broiler.  Put the peppers on a sheet tray and place under the broiler, rotating every few minutes as the tops blacken!  Follow the rest of the instructions once your peppers are black all over.) 

The key thing to remember when roasting is that you are working with a HOT open flame.  Safety is a MUST!  Use a long pair of tongs to place your peppers on the burner, balancing them on the metal prongs over the flame.  Don’t worry, you want the flame to be hitting the peppers!  My peppers were small, so I roasted 3 on one burner…

(I did multiple rounds of peppers, so don’t be alarmed that the quantity and color of peppers is changing!)  When you start to see the bottoms of the peppers blacken and bubble…

Carefully use your tongs to turn them and rotate them around the flame – you want the entire pepper to be blackened by the end!

It’s kind of like a vegetable version of roasting marshmallows!  You may get a few sparks and see some embers on the pepper, but I assure you the pepper will NOT catch fire unless you leave it on there for an extremely long amount of time.  Don’t fear the flame.

Like I said, our goal is to have 90% blackened peppers as our final product.  The more black they get, the easier they will be in the next step – I promise.

Once your peppers are good and blackened, transfer them to a bowl…

And quickly cover with plastic wrap.  Make sure it is tightly sealed!

Let the peppers sit off to the side for at least 15 minutes covered.  While you wait, you can prep the rest of your meal.  After time has passed, come back to the bowl and uncover – the peppers should be somewhat wilted and soft now.

Transfer the peppers to a cutting board.  If the peppers are still hot, or if you don’t like getting dirty, you many want to consider using gloves for this next step.  Take a pepper in your hand and, using your fingers, peel off all of the blackened skin.

You should end up with a big pile of ashy pepper peel…

And an almost clean pepper.  It is very hard to get 100% of the char off the peppers, and that’s okay.  It adds to the flavor of the final dish!  Despite your temptation, do NOT rinse the peeled peppers under water to get the rest of the char off – it will strip the peppers of the essential oils you worked so hard to extract!

Peel all of your peppers this way, until there is very little black left.

Then carefully use a knife to cut the peppers into strips or cubes, depending on what you are making.

Voila – you have successfully roasted your own delicious peppers!

What Do I DO With My Roasted Peppers?

Roasted peppers can literally be used in a MILLION different applications.  They are great mixed in with grains or beans, used cold as a salad topper, tossed in with some chickpeas to make flavored hummus – the possibilities are endless!

Here is how I used my peppers, just to give you an idea.  I tossed them with tomato wedges, fresh slivered basil, sauteed mustard greens, and a bit of goat cheese.  Tossed the whole thing in a vinaigrette of sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and grapeseed oil!

The smokiness of roasted peppers give any dish a wonderful rustic feel, and they add such a deliciously distinct flavor.

Now you can feel confident that you can roast your own peppers too, and you have this wonderful ingredient to add to your dishes and recipes.

Enjoy!

There were THREE big beautiful deer hanging out back there – giant antlers and all!  Good hunting dogs.  :)  So I took a long glorious nap and got all geared up to make a NEW delicious version of the favorite veggie burgers, and I was going to have them waiting when Casey got in from the airport. 

An hour before I was supposed to pick him up, he texted me to stay that his first flight flew aaaaaall the way to Cincinnati, and then turned around and landed back in Indianapolis.  What?  Apparently there were too many planes trying to land all at once in Cincy, and his poor little plane didn’t have enough fuel to keep circling around and around.  So he ended up back where he started, with no more available flights out for the night.

I’ll be picking him up in the morning, but for now that leaves me all alone here in Charlotte for one more night, boooooo.  I scrapped my plans for veggie burgers and did what any girl in my situation would have done – I ate an entire block of tofu by myself. 

I used my basic crispy tofu method, as outlined in one of my favorite old posts – How To: A Tofu Tutorial.  I am telling you, if you’ve never tried tofu before, OR if you have tried it and you thought it was mushy and weird – give it one more shot.  I assure you this method is foolproof and delicious!

A dinner cooked 100% on emotion and cravings.

Entire block of tofu – all 64 pieces, just for me.  And some delicious grilled peppers heated with an edamame and corn mixture.

I cut up the bell peppers first and just let them brown in the pan – flipping them over a few times to avoid burning.  I added the frozen edamame mixture and heated it all through with a little coconut oil, salt and pepper.  

Just as the tofu finished crisping, I drizzled it in some sweet and sour sauce from Trader Joe’s.  Sweet and spicy – two of my favorites.

The beauty of Lite tofu, is being able to eat the whole block myself and not feel one bit guilty. 

Yummy vegetables, which I doused in soy sauce half way through eating.  Everything is better with soy sauce.

Party for one!

While I ate my dinner, I drowned my sorrows in a pretty pink spritzer drink – sparkling water with a splash of POM!

I just received a whole case of this yummy blueberry pomegranate POM juice.  It is potent and TASTY!  A little goes a long way.

Something to take the edge off.  :)

Dinner for one is just NOT as fun.  :(

The dogs were expecting Casey to come home too, so I had to explain to them that we were the three amigos once again.  Huey was beside himself when he heard the news.

I tried to console him, but he was too depressed to talk about it.

Eventually, he flung his body to the other side of the couch (seriously), and laid like that the rest of the night.  He couldn’t even be bothered to curl up. 

Indy thought it was funny that Huey was so bent out of shape…

Until he heard the news about Casey…he cried out in disbelief! “What do you MEAN he won’t be home tonight!?!”

Then it wasn’t quite so funny anymore.  :(

With Casey out of town, I tried to get my kisses elsewhere, but it just wasn’t the same…

Hurry home, Casey!  We miss you!  :)

All by MYSELF!  Six hundred seventeen miles, and over 11 hours at the wheel.  It was quite the experience!  Over the course of my day, I covered 5 different states – a lot of ground for just one person.

My day started out in Indiana, where I bid my farewells to the wonderful Malones, including Casey!  He wasn’t able to drive home with me because he needed to work during the day, so he is flying home tonight instead.  When we originally came up with the plan for me to just drive back alone, for some reason I thought the drive was 9 hours (which still sounded long, but do-able).  Then I found out it was 11 hours – ouch. 

I waved goodbye to Indiana and rolled into the place that I call home – OHIO!

The first two hours of my drive were a cake walk because I was heading towards my FAMILY, and I was super excited.  Stopping in Cincinnati was slightly off course from the original path back to Charlotte, but when you’re that close to family it is worth the extra miles.  Just as I made it into Cincy I passed a sign that read Xavier University next right, and found myself steering my car off the exit ramp. 

I took a quick stroll across the beautiful Xavier campus, and busted into the library to surprise my favorite friend – LINDSEY!  She was totally surprised and excited to see me, and even though it was just a short visit, it was a bright spot in my day. 

Next I headed back to my stomping grounds – Hyde Park.  Part of the reason I hate where we live in Charlotte, and that I’m so obsessed with finding the right neighborhood in DC, is that I am totally spoiled by where I grew up.  Hyde Park is hands down my favorite place in the world.  Adorable HP Square with its shops and boutiques…

The fountain where I hung out in middle school…

And endless streets of adorable homes and perfect running sidewalks.  It feels so GOOD to be home!

I picked up my MOM and sister SARAH (love them!!) for a fun lunch outing.  I hadn’t seen my mom since we ran the marathon in May, and I last saw Sarah when we said goodbye after our fabulous week at the beach.  Waaaay too long!  We went to First Watch and I got a veggie hummus wrap and vegetable soup, mmmmm.

This wrap was delicious!

I hate to have to tell you guys this, but I have the cutest mom in the world.  :)  She just got back from a week at the beach and I barely recognized her with her tan skin and blonde hair!

My mom had to go back to work, but I held Sarah hostage for a while longer.  I am obsessed with her.  Leaving First Watch, I also ran into an old friend (Hi Rachel!) – part of the fun of being back home.  

We took my mom back to work and headed to my favorite frozen yogurt shop – Yagoot.  Sarah has worked there for three years, and just finally quit a few weeks ago.  But she took me back in to show me the adooooooooooorable new t-shirts they got in stock – American Apparel tri-blend – be still my heart!

Obviously a shirt was purchased.  How cute are these packaged in pint containers?

And I certainly wasn’t leaving town without a belly full of ‘goot.

Original and mango swirl with sprinkles and mango topping, mmm.

Happy camper!

Then it was back in the car for what should have been an easy eight hours to Charlotte…

I was armed with a giant iced coffee from Starbucks…

And lots of great songs to sing along to…

Alison Krauss, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Sara Evans, Rachael Yamagata, and more.  My iPod and lungs got a WORKOUT!

I continued to sing and love life, even though I hit a traffic jam due to some poorly timed construction work…

I got bored and snacked on an Odwalla bar – my first one.  I thought it was disgusting and had the texture of cardboard.  Never again.

After an hour of sitting and staring at the back of this truck, my spirits started to sink a bit.  I watched my arrival time climb higher and higher (thanks Garmin!). 

As the click ticked to TWO hours of sitting, I looked at my mileage and realized I had gone 7 miles in those two hours.  My poor Twitter followers watched me nearly have a mental breakdown.  Did I mention I reaaaaally needed to pee?

Finally, FINALLY back on the open road!  My speed was back up, but my spirits were pretty low.  :(

This chocolate chip Clif Bar helped a little. 

I was excited when I hit the mountains because that meant that HOME was on the other side!  Not to mention the sky and scenery were absolutely goooooooooorgeous!

The weird thing about the drive was that even though I felt delirious from driving for so long, I never got sleepy or tired.  I guess because I knew I had to do it all by myself, and napping wasn’t an option?

At 9pm the sun went down, and it took everything in me to drive that final hour into Charlotte.  I left Indianapolis at 8am on the nose, and I walked in my door in Charlotte at 10:15pm.  Longest day ever!

I had big plans for a nice relaxing snuggle session all night long with my pups, but the raccoon in the kitchen wall had other plans for me.  Scraaaaaaaatching and scritching all night long, accompanied by howling and barking from my dogs – can’t really blame them. 

Eleven long hours of driving, followed by ZERO hours of sleep, and I’m out the door to work now!  Looking forward to a very long nap when I get home…