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… to have salad and chocolate cake for dinner – sometimes!
So says well-read Jessie.
Case in point:
After a long morning of browsing the stacks at a library book sale (see above) and a very late lunch, I had a hard time even THINKING about dinner. I decided to eat what my body was craving at dinnertime: an enormous bowl of veggies with egg.
I steamed some carrots and threw them over a bed of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red peppers (fresh from our deck!), then topped the veggies with a poached egg and Amy’s Goddess dressing. I must have been deficient in micronutrients because I felt much better after eating this salad (I also need to empty the fridge of perishables). Lately I haven’t been taking advantage of summer’s fresh fruits and veggies, which is silly. We need to eat vitamin-rich fruits and veggies every 4 to 6 hours to take advantage of their antioxidant properties, so I will be making more of an effort to include these nutrient powerhouses in my diet.
That said, I knew I had to try a little of the chocolate cake we bought yesterday for dessert. This chocolate cake is from Billy’s Bakery in Fairfield, CT and it is the most decadent mousse cake I’ve ever eaten.
Look at that glassy ganache frosting!
You gotta really like chocolate to enjoy this cake. A little goes a loooong way. While I won’t make a regular habit of veggies and chocolate cake for dessert, it was a nice treat.
Hmm, these food pictures are pretty disappointing: no natural light, the glare of overhead 60 watts apparent. Let’s look at some gorgeous island pictures instead:
Q: Do you get your 5 A Day? How do you incorporate fruits and veggies in your meals and snacks?
When I bought several pounds of zucchini and summer squash at a farmstand last week, I thought I would be eating them up pretty quickly. Alas, the well-intentions of a soon-to-be-RD did not line up with my recent cravings for fresh fruit and leafy greens – the zucchini lay abandoned for a week and more. They started to feel a little … sad.
That's my zucchini on the right.
What’s the best way to show your zucchini a little love? Cook it!
I followed this recipe for zucchini pancakes, cutting out the frying oil (I cooked them on a nonstick pan instead):
Drizzled with a little VT maple syrup, these fluffy pancakes were the perfect change from my usual oatmeal-laden breakfast, along with ….
Breakfast salad à la Aletheia! This salad is no where near as creative as Aletheia’s masterful mixes, but it was pretty darn tasty. I think I ate plenty of veges today 
I still had a couple of zucchini lying around after making the zucchini pancakes, so I decided to make a little something Peter begged pleaded promised me free raspberries asked me to make: zucchini bread. I followed this recipe, substituting white whole wheat flour for the all purpose and cutting the oil and sugar in half (surprise, Peter!).
I’m only showing you half the bread because the other half crumbled away faster than a cookie in Cookie Monster’s mouth.
A smear of PB on a slice of zucchini bread makes a veggieriffic snack with whole grains and healthy fats. I think I covered all my nutritional bases with that one.
Lastly … I don’t usually accept unsolicited guest post requests, but I enjoyed the recipe in this one (thanks, Sonya!). As you all know, I love PB, so this protein-packed snack is right up my alley (and will keep you full for a long time!).
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Peanut Butter & Jelly Protein Cakes
Pancakes have been my number one favorite food for as long as I can remember with peanut butter coming in close second. In my late 20’s I decided it was time to start eating healthier though and this would include altering my favorite at-least-once-a-week food. This absolutely delicious and filling dish was inspired by the low glycemic index diet and emphasis on protein with every meal touted by successful weight-loss campaigns like Nutrisystem. Here’s what I came up with:
· 1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
· 1/2 tsp. baking powder
· Dash salt
· 1/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (egg whites work too)
· 1 tbsp. light vanilla soymilk (or skim milk)
· 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
· 1 tablespoon jelly
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add egg substitute, soymilk, and 2 tbsp. water. Mix thoroughly.
*Note: You can also mix the peanut butter to the batter mix and top with jelly. I just prefer the PB on the outside.
Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat. Add half the batter. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes, until pancake begins to bubble and is solid enough to flip. Flip and cook for an another 1 – 2 minutes, until both sides are lightly browned and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining batter. Top both pancakes with peanut butter and jelly and enjoy!
About the Author:
S. Sparks is a writer for small businesses and online stores with an emphasis on health and beauty. Some of her most recent work includes articles at BeautyBrief.com and TVTopTen’s Nutrisystem Review.
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Add a side of fruit (or a breakfast salad), and you’ve got a complete breakfast!
Q: What’s your favorite way to cook zucchini? Also, what are your favorite kind(s) of pancakes?
P.S. Head over to LeQuan‘s latest post for a chance to win a $40 CSN gift card! Start picking out your kitchen gadget now!
P.P.S. Also, check out Faith‘s Girard’s salad dressing giveaway for some delicious salad toppers!
Doesn’t that sounds like the name of a rock band? You’d better snag it now, because apparently all the good names are taken.
Why unintentionally eggy? I experimented with a new pancake this morning, and I would DEFINITELY make an alteration next time. I’ll share it with you anyway, so you can decide if you like eggy pancakes or not.
The Unintentional Pancake
Ingredients:
1 egg (please, try it with just an egg white first, or else you’ll come back to haunt me)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cornstarch (makes pancake crispy!)
1 Tbsp brown rice flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch salt
Mix all ingredients together and pour into a skillet over medium heat.
After bottom cooks, flip and let cook through. Turn onto plate and top with your favorite toppings. I topped mine with strawberries (of course) and a “frosting” of Greek yogurt mixed with Chillin’ Chocolate. Plus a little more Chillin’ Chocolate (I’m going to be so sad when it’s gone 
).
Verdict? Deliciously filling, but waaaaay too eggy! Please, do yourself a favor and make this pancake with egg whites. I used a whole egg because egg yolks have some wonderful healthy fats and other nutrients in them. But, they don’t taste good in these pancakes. With egg whites – voila! Perfection!
Lunch included a lovely strawberry and greens salad with crumbled blue cheese and the best balsamic vinegar we had – thick and syrupy and sweet.
… What’s that? You say you want to see the long-awaited salmon recipe? Well, if you insist …
Leeky Salmon with Sweet Grapefruit Sauce
Ingredients:
1 pound salmon
1 leek, thoroughly cleaned and sliced thin
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp grapefruit zest
1 Tbsp grapefruit juice
Just keep the rest of the grapefruit, too
2 tsp honey
Salt and pepper
Cook the salmon by your favorite method. Peter cooked our salmon in his homemade sous-vide setup.
For the non-Peter cook, I recommend broiling the salmon with a little olive oil and thyme on top, or using this little salmon trick.
While the salmon is cooking, prepare the leeks by placing them into a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes, then draining them and plunging them into an ice bath (or cold water like I did, if you don’t have ice).
Whisk together the olive oil, zest, juice, honey, and salt and pepper. Arrange a few leeks on the salmon and pour the sauce over all. Place a grapefruit slice or two next to the fish (in place of the typical lemon wedge) and serve with a snooty upturned nose and a French accent.
Who knew that grapefruit and leeks went so well together?? I originally came up with this recipe to enter into last week’s Cook’s Mission competition, but with my hemming and hawing last week, I never got around to making it until today. I’m sorry, Mae! And, I chose the secret ingredients, too! For those of you who want to enter this week, the secret ingredient is rutabaga. So, get cooking!
I just wanted to thank you all again for your sleeping suggestions! For the last two nights, I’ve been sleeping like a baby – sleeping until 7 am with no major interruptions other than a bouncing Maddies. No caffeine and unplugging for at least half and hour before bed really seems to help. I’ll see how it goes during the week, but for now, I feel WELL. RESTED. 
For those of you who want to see a summary of everyone’s sleeping tips, look under the “Reader Tips” tab at the top of the page.
On a final note: LeQuan of luvtoeat was so sweet as to give me this Happy 101 award! There are few people who bring a smile to my face as much as LeQuan. Everyone should check out her blog to see her mouth-watering dishes and adorable kiddies!
Here are the rules:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. List who gave the award to you and use a link to her blog (or hyperlink).
3. List 10 things that make you happy.
4. Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know about the award.
Of course, don’t feel obligated to participate if you don’t want to. I know we’re all busy!
Ten things that make me happy (in no particular order):
* My husb and his crazy hobbies that always remind me what a unique man he is
* My dad and sisters and my family in Canada and in Missouri and scattered all around
* Colored pencils
* A quiet morning, a light breeze, and a pair of sneakers
* Talking to my lovely friends
* Creating a new recipe and having it WORK
* Our doggles, Maddies and Bon
* Things that grow, be it person or plant
* Finishing something and finishing it well
* A good night’s sleep
I’m going to pass the award onto these lovely ladies:
Samantha @ Bikini Birthday
Darryn @ brio.gusto (whenever you get back from India!!)
Andrea @ Can You Stay For Dinner?
Christina @ Dinner at Christina’s
Katie @ Health for the Whole Self
Em @ HomecookedEm
Christie @ Honoring Health
Emma @ Midget Keeper Daily
Kristen @ Simply Savor
Lucy @ Sweet Spirit Shine
Feel free to participate if you’d like!
I’m off to do a little more work before unplugging for the night! Have a wonderful evening!
Q: Have you ever made a dish or recipe that did not turn out as you expected?
Thanks so much for all of your sweet comments about the wedding pictures in my last post! It was fun taking a trip down memory lane on Friday. My strongest memories of the wedding are of the gorgeous weather and the awesome husb
Last night, Peter and I went to a Tony Rice concert. His group, the Tony Rice Unit, is a bluegrass group composed of two guitars, a fiddle, a mandolin, and a bass.
The group was far away, and my hand was unsteady.
The man himself (Tony Rice):
This man can play.
Watching a really good group of musicians play is fantastic. When I used to play in chamber groups, the group wouldn’t have a conductor; instead, the first violinist would be responsible for setting the tempo and leading the ensemble. My group would literally breathe together as we played – if we were good. And if we were comfortable with each other. The Tony Rice Unit was GOOD good. And they were extremely comfortable with each other. Watching a group like that is like watching a dance – beautiful.
On to today! I spent most of yesterday and today catching up on work and studying for tomorrow Counseling and Teaching exam. I broke for eats:
I never get tired of breakfast pictures (although you might!). Looking forward to a warm bowl of oatmeal is enough to get me out of bed (almost) every morning.
Since I’m still working on finishing up the pineapple from this day, I decided to whip up a tropical salad:
Pineapple, Annie’s Goddess, and a few pistachios for crunch, over lettuce. This combination was just as superb as the peanut butter and pineapple oatmeal topper I ate this day. The nutty tahini in the dressing was a delicious contrast to the tart, sweet pineapple. I’ll be eating this again. I’m not joking – I’ve got a whole other can of pineapple in the pantry.
Haven’t we had gorgeous weather in the Northeast this weekend? We went for a walk with the doggies to enjoy it, where I promptly continued my jumping streak:
Dinner was more of the wonderful eggrolls from a few days ago – just as good the third time!
In honor of Sophia, I put the largest dab of the spiciest thing I could find in the kitchen (wasabi) on my eggroll:
People aren’t supposed to cry from spicy mouth pain at dinner, right? Sophia, I will never match your iron mouth.
Before I go study my bottom off, a few notes:
(1) Check out my guest post on Travel Eat Love! Now is the perfect time to whip out that peanut butter for something OTHER than sandwiches or oatmeal 
(2) Have you been hankering for a new yoga mat? Check out Em’s “I hope you love yoga” Aurorae yoga mat giveaway on HomecookedEm!
(3) Samantha had a great question about sous-vide cooking (from this post):
I’m curious about sous-vide. I’ve always been told not to microwave food in plastic containers or plastic wrap because chemicals can be released into the food. Do you know if it is safer to boil food in a plastic bag?
Samantha, the truth is I don’t know. Some plastics were deemed unsafe in the last few years because of evidence of BPA leaching out when heated. Food grade containers in food service are free of BPA, but for bags … I don’t know what they use. And truthfully, often we may never be sure about the safety of things we use every day. All we can do is to take responsibility to keep ourselves educated. (As a side note: The more prevalent danger in sous-vide cooking is the danger of botulism, since the cooking is done under vacuum. Because of this, restaurants need to be licensed to cook sous-vide.)
(4) What is this, you ask?
It may or may not be the beginnings of my entry into Mae‘s Cook’s Mission competition! Ho ho, what could it be??
(5) I have a workshop at school tomorrow evening, so I’m not getting home until late (I’m not looking forward to my 45 minute drive home in the dark … ). I probably won’t post tomorrow. If not, I’ll have lots of fun pictures to share with you on Tuesday!
Whew! That addendum was as long as the post! I’m off to study, so have a nice evening!
Q: Do you like pineapple? What’s your favorite way to have it?
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