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Hi everyone! Hope you’re having a great Tuesday! I loved hearing about all the favorite snacks that you Eat for Energy in my last post. I’m going to compile them in a list (giving credit to each of you, of course) and put them under the “Healthy Eats” tab at the top. I know I’ll be using it as a reference to break me out of my snack rut!
Pop quiz: do you know what these are?
If you said goji berries, you’re RIGHT! (If you said Red Hots, well, I can’t help you.) Sometimes, I buy dried goji berries in bulk from Whole Foods to add to oatmeal and baked goods (such as SAWICs). When I saw these in the freezer case last weekend, I knew I needed to give them a try:
That’s right, my friends – frozen goji berries. PERFECT for morning oatmeal. I added them to my oatmeal thusly:
(I guess they kinda look like Red Hots.)
The frozen goji berries were pretty good, but they are blander than the dried variety (which is true for many fruits). They were fun to try once, but I think I’ll stick with my frozen blueberries.
Today, the other girls in my community nutrition group and I hauled on over to a Head Start preschool to teach the little ones about fruits and veggies. We split up and each one of us taught three groups of 18 preschoolers. LeQuan, you were right that I needed a lot of energy today – 3 and 4 year olds have more energy in their tiny pinkies than I have in my whole body! Even so, I love little kids, so this day was a blast 
Story time:
“Do you like cherries? If you like cherries, jump up and down!”
During our break, we set up a nutrition and recipe table for the parents arriving to pick up and drop off their kids.
As you can probably guess, I picked out the whole grain cereal sample 
We were really successful at handing out info and recipes today, probably because we’ve had a lot for practice at roping people to our table. Also, the little kids kept clamoring for the pens and fruit-shaped key chains we were handing out. All in all, a satisfying community nutrition day.
Back at home, I embarked on a simple new recipe to share with you all. I call it:
Green Curry
Is that name too boring? How about:
A Lightly-Spiced Dream Curry with Crisp Tofu Squares
Is that better? Great, let us push on!
Ingredients:
1 shallot, chopped
1 can light coconut milk (can use skim milk if you prefer a thinner sauce, or you just don’t like coconut)
1/2 cup Amoy curry paste (no, I’m not kidding)
1 14 oz. block tofu, sliced thinly
1 package noodles of choice
Cook noodles according to package directions. Prepare tofu by favorite method (I pan-fried the slices briefly, but baking would work better).
Saute the shallot in 1 tsp canola oil for 1 minute. Add coconut milk and warm through.
Now, if you are a cooking purist, you may want to avert your eyes from this next photo.
Yes, I used jarred curry paste. How very Sandra Lee of me … I can’t believe I just said that (ugh). But, you know what? I’m a busy girl, and this stuff is fantastic. Yes, I’m making excuses, but I’ll be going to bed early tonight instead of grinding spices. If you want to know what’s in this paste so you can make your own, here are the ingredients: curry powder, water, sunflower seed oil, salt, garlic, shallot, Thai spices (ambiguous, I know), and sugar.
However you obtain it, add curry paste to coconut milk and shallot. Mix until the sauce is a beautiful shade of green.
Toss with noodles and tofu, and enjoy!
We also decided to roast a few orange beets we found at the supermarket.
Wow. Dark.
As for the beet greens … don’t throw them out!
Sauteed in a little walnut oil as per this day, beet greens make a tasty and nutrient-packed veggie side.
All together on my new plate:
Not the nicest pictures, but you get the idea. The green curry dream curry was rich and smooth – delicious with the crispy tofu.
Before I go: as my prize for winning the Cook’s Mission contest (thanks to all of you who voted for me!), I get to choose next week’s ingredients! I haven’t quite decided which ingredients I will choose yet, but I’m excited to see what people will come up with. Thanks again, Mae!
I’m working late tomorrow, so to preserve my sanity … no post. Good eve, all!
Q: Do you like to cook from scratch, or do you use a little “help” in the kitchen?
What am I so excited about?
Cheerleader for the greens team.
Why, new foods for dinner, of course!
But, before I can eat dinner, I need to enjoy the rest of my day. I awoke early to get some running in and did an interval workout similar to the one I did on this day. After 45 minutes of heart-thumping running and a round of weight-lifting, I was HUNGRY. Fage, Barbara’s Squares, banana, PB, and chocolate disappeared faster than I can say “Peter, Peter, he’s my man!” (said while flailing my greenery pom-poms).
Then we packed up and headed to Peter’s parents’ house for our dogsitting gig. After seeing them off, I snacked on a date with some cheese.
The was a wonderful creamy Emmentaler. Has anyone else tried this combination? It’s superb!
Lunch was leftovers from last night — yum tum!
The best meal of the day:
Cinnamon Seared Scallops
This recipe is easy: sprinkle about half a tsp of cinnamon over a pound of sea scallops.
Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat and sear each scallop on both sides for about 2 minutes a side. Don’t overcook!
When a nice crust has formed, remove to a warm plate with a slotted spoon.
So, what about the greenery?
This vegetable is called yu choy, a type of Chinese cabbage. The description that came with it reads: “Yu choy, sometimes referred to as choy sum (flowering stem), is an Asian cabbage with a delicate sweet flavor. Yu choy can be used in stir-fries, soups, salads, or blanched and served with oyster sauce and black vinegar.”
I thought that last cooking suggestion sounded the best, so I proceeded to drop in boiling water for one minute, then plunge in cold water.
Blanching away.
I didn’t have oyster sauce or black vinegar, so I tried a wasabi ginger sauce from Stonewall Kitchen.
The sauce itself was a little too sweet for my taste. The yu choy itself was bland on its own, so I think I would try stir-frying it next time.
The scallops tasted wonderful with toasted pine nuts and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar:
A really good balsamic vinegar goes with just about anything.
Final word: I was just featured as a Friday Foodie Feature on Travel Eat Love! (I guess I spend a lot of time leaping into the air?!) Check out her site for wonderful insights into food, wine, travel, and much more. Thanks, Meghan!
Happy Sunday everyone!
I don’t usually post breakfast because I always have the same meal: oatmeal with banana and PB … the usual. This morning I was craving my hot weather breakfast, so I decided to go with it.
In the mix:
* 1 container Yoplait Greek yogurt
* 1/2 cup Barbara’s Bakery Shredded Oats (best cereal ever)
* 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
* 1 tbsp Saratoga Peanut Butter Company PB
Yes, it was still dark outside.
Has anyone tried this Yoplait Greek yogurt? I’d never seen it before. It was pretty good, but not as thick and creamy as Fage.
Frosty berries make me think of summer. Almost.
Most of the morning was spent in working on school assignments and yes, taking ANOTHER nap. This pattern may become a problem, as during the week, “naptime” falls when I’m in class. I don’t think the professor would like me to KO my desk.
I was also able to start up my AeroGarden again. Instead of just lettuce and spinach this time, I decided to grow some flowers, too. I may miss my organic greens in a few weeks, but the study room will smell amazing.
Just imagine a jungle of rippling leaves and fragrant blossoms.
In other news, Peter has been on a mission to cook sous-vide. Since devices that can cook sous-vide run in the thousand of dollars, Peter decided to rig one up himself (what a resourceful husband).
He wired up this system so that the temperature of the hotplate will adjust continuously, keeping the water in the pot at a constant temperature.
Display for the temperature probe.
After constructing the system, Peter declared that he was going to make me “the perfect egg”. All he needed was 45 minutes and a lot of patience. Hey, who said perfection was fast?
Think of the creamiest custard you’ve ever had, then make it richer. I guess I’ll have to start getting up 45 minutes earlier every morning to make myself an eggo perfecto.
Dinner was inspired by the wonderful Lori of FakeFoodFree.com. Of all the bloggie recipes I’ve tried over the past year, I’ve made her Pumpkin Veggie Lasagna the most, probably half a dozen times. One of the aspects of this recipe I like the most is that it’s so customizable — I throw in whatever veggies I have on hand. This lasagna is a good way to fit a LOT of vegetables into your meal.
In the vegel mix this time:
* carrot
* zucchini
* onion
* garlic
* cauliflower
* collard greens
The pumpkin, milk, flour, butter, and spice mixture:
Have you ever seen this whisk before?
It’s fantastic for roux because those little balls get EVERYWHERE. Besides, it looks awesome in the kitchen
Ready to go in the oven:
and emerging from the oven, with rivers of cheese:
Now, I’d like to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart, so to speak. I am speaking, of course, about whole grains. At this point, everyone know that whole grains are good for you, so I don’t need to harp on how whole grains have more fiber, are digested more slowly, keep you fuller longer, yada yada yada. What I wanted to talk about was how to find whole grains. It’s not as easy as you think. If you are looking for 100% whole grain, read on. If not, well … read on anyway. I promise I won’t be too dull.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come across a loaf of bread, or a box of cereal, with the words “WHOLE GRAIN” printed neatly across the front. Sure, the food industry has hooked into the health food movement, but they also know that people tend to prefer their grains soft, white, and everlasting. Thus, companies put a trace amount of whole wheat into bread, add molasses, and pretend it’s full of the good stuff (and I don’t mean enrichment). What a lot of people don’t know is that companies can put the word “whole” on the front of their packages, even if the actual whole grain content of the foodstuff is minimal.
I don’t want these companies to trick you. Here’s the low-down on how to pick out whole grain products:
*** Look at the ingredient label. If the grains listed do not have the word “WHOLE” in front of them, the product is not 100% whole grain. ***
So, this is what’s down in da hood:
LOOK AT THE INGREDIENT LABEL. NO “WHOLE”, NO GO.
Maddie agrees.
I wish I looked like this today:
Instead, I looked like the guy in the background of the uncropped version:
[source]
You know, umbrellas just don’t work well when they’re inside out.
At least I got to come home to some delicious eats! Besides some yummy shrimp scampi, Peter also sauteed beet greens (that’s right, the leafy tops of beets) in walnut oil. How does he come up with this stuff??
Smooth and nutty, without a trace of bitterness. What a husb.
While I was taking pictures of the beet greens, the camera lens fogged up until everything looked like those school pictures with the “soft touch” option:
After dinner, I made oatmeal cookies for a dinner I’m going to tomorrow, following the Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe on the Quaker website.
A little Peter-made vanilla sugar makes everything sweeter.
Ready to go in.
Warm and soft, right from the oven.
Cookies are good, but Maddie would argue that veggies are better.
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