In Good Taste

I recently participated in Weight Down Throw Down, a weight-loss competition that my friend Clayton hosts on his blog. It was a lot of fun, I got to help raise a little money for his church TNLC, and I lost ten pounds and several inches off my waist! Once it was over though, I quickly realized that even though I am continuing my workout routine- and even pushing myself a little harder with spinning and P90X classes several times a week- it is much more difficult to watch what I EAT when I don’t have any type of competition to drive me.

So today I see this online competition for the month of October called EAT.SWEAT.BLOG and I just know I have to do it. The best part about it is that it focuses on healthy eating habits and fitness rather than just weight loss. It also seems to celebrate food and eating more than most ‘dieting’ sites, and I am definitely into that. And as an added bonus, it will possibly help me to start blogging more often! Hehehe…

I am doing ten challenges for EAT.SWEAT.BLOG and am also going to be blogging all my workouts. (Some of the blogs will be private journal entries that will just be on the ESB website, some I’ll also post over here.) These are some of the challenges I am doing:

For the month of October I’m not drinking any sodas.
I’ll drink just water from Oct 1st to Oct 7th
I won’t be ingesting any caffeine from Oct 8th to Oct 14th
No dairy from Oct 15th to Oct 21st
Juice fast Oct 28th
I’ll take my lunch to work 10 days in October
I’ll make ten meals or dishes for others in October

For more info visit EAT.SWEAT.BLOG. This type of competition certainly isn’t for everyone but do let me know if you decide to sign up for the challenge and what you decide to do! Have a healthy fall!

Sam said they were goooooood.

I woke up this morning in a great mood and decided to make these beignettes. I had a box of Cafe Du Monde mix that I had kept hidden from my husband in the pantry for about 6 months, waiting for the perfect day to make them- which turned out to be today.

I really wish we could have shared them with someone, alas, these things just can’t be planned. We only got partway through the batch before throwing in the towel.

The leftovers.

I also had a whole bottle of that starbucks dark mocha frappucino thingy. LOTS OF SUGAR EARLY IN THE MORNING. Next time I’ll plan better and invite plenty of people over to share…

I always thought you had to have an ice cream maker to make ice cream. Apparently, I was proven wrong by Janet at GourmetTraveller88. And it was just in the nick of time, since I really, really wanted to try an ice cream recipe from my favorite website, Smitten Kitchen!

It wasn’t too hard to make this ice cream. I did half a batch (you have to use a TON of egg yolks, and I didn’t really feel like wasting a whole dozen in case it didn’t come out the way I wanted it to the first time) of Deb’s Smitten Kitchen Buttermilk Ice Cream recipe, using a real fresh vanilla bean. I also cut down half of the ’secret ingredient’ (buttermilk!) since I wasn’t sure how strong the flavor would be. Turns out buttermilk is a little like yogurt and lends a nice rich flavor to the ice cream, enhancing the vanilla wonderfully!

Thanks Janet and Deb for sharing your knowledge!!!

SECRET INGREDIENT VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM

2 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cup sugar
12 large egg yolks*
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoon vanilla or half a vanilla bean, scraped and simmered with the cream
Pinch of salt

1. Put the stainless steel bowl in the freezer.

2. Flavor the cream by simmering the vanilla bean in it for a few minutes. First halve the bean lengthwise, then scrape the seeds out of the pod. Dump the seeds and pod into the cream and simmer with 1/2 cup of the sugar over medium heat. Remove from heat after 2-3 minutes and let cool slightly.

***(If you want to make a unique little gift, take the pod out when done, pat dry with a paper towel and put it in a Ziploc baggie with regular sugar for vanilla sugar later! It’s a good idea for coffee lovers! ***

3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/8 c sugar.

4. Gradually add some of the warm cream mixture to eggs while mixing, slowly so that eggs do not curdle. Do this a few times until yolks warm up a bit. Then pour eggs into cream mixture. Whisk constantly.

5. Cook over LOW heat for just a minute or two. the mixture will become thick & foamy quickly. You are done when it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and whisk in buttermilk and salt. (if you just used regular vanilla, you can add it now.) Allow to cool for a few minutes.

6. Take the stainless steel bowl out of the freezer. Pour the ice cream into the bowl and set in the freezer for about 45 minutes. You can leave the spoon in the bowl as well. Then take out, stir and repeat about 3-4 more times.

7. Transfer to a plastic container, cover and let ice cream freeze for about 2 more hours. It is now ready to enjoy!!!

Sorry I would post a picture for you, but it didn’t last long enough…

BIG THANKS to Janet for the secret to her machine-less ice cream making and to Deb for her recipe!!!

OK, I’m not really going to show you how to break any laws. I’m just going to tell you all how to make crack.

Hahaha!!!

I’ve already had some.

Seriously, this is a great recipe. I got it from Smitten Kitchen. If you’ve ever let me talk to you for more than about ten two minutes then you already know I want to BE Deb from Smitten Kitchen when I grow up. Please don’t tell her though, I’ll die of embarassment. I’m like 90% introvert. Anways. Crack-making.

Cook Time: Maybe half an hour, including baking and cooling time.

Yield: Errrrr…. you won’t have enough. Make two batches. Or more. Make as much as your budget allows.

Click here to view original recipe from my hero Deb at SK!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, unsalted, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
12 oz bag chocolate chips
1 box of saltines (you will end up using about half for each batch.)

1. Line a baking pan with foil. Cover foil with crackers. (Make sure you don’t leave any empty spaces or the caramel will flood underneath the cracker and may burn.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To make caramel, melt the butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar once butter is melted and turn heat up to medium-high. Stir mixture continuously. It will begin to boil. Boil for 3-4 minutes until it begins to thicken.
3. Pour caramel over crackers. Put in oven for 15 minutes. You may want to check a few times to make sure it doesn’t burn; if it starts to burn manipulate the oven temperature.
4. Remove crackers from over and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Wait for them to start melting, then smooth with a plastic spatula. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes…. lol… as if you can resist it that long…

DISCLAIMER:
Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you. It’s called crack for a reason. A very delicious reason.

High point of my trip to New Orleans:  Laughing my butt off at the intoxicated guy getting his face washed by a 3 legged bulldog.  OK, it’s a tie between the drunk-licking tripod pup and the beignettes at Cafe Du Monde!

Only regret: Didn’t get to visit the Emeril’s Delmonico (which was walking distance from our hotel, WHAT???) or the Commander’s Palace which was once home to both Lagassi and Prudhomme (again, Lagassi AND Prudhomme?  WHAAAAAAAT???)

I definitely need to visit The Big Easy again,  but since I can’t any time soon, I’m just trying to get all of the Louisiana out of my system with some Cajun cooking.  So here you go, my recipe for Zydeco Gumbo! (Adapted from Boudreax’s Zydeco Stomp Gumbo at Allrecipes.com, which you can visit by clicking on the picture below.)

Zydeco Stomp Gumbo

NGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cooked chicken breast, diced
• 2 small or 1 large cooked Andouille sausage links, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 6 oz can or bottle beer
• 2-3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 sweet onion, sliced
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, with liquid
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

FIRST STEP: MAKING THE ROUX

This is all the trouble the gumbo will give you.  Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan with the oil.  Then turn the heat on low and add flour slowly.  Whisk constantly while adding flour and continue stirring thereafter until the roux turns a deep mustard color.  (Traditionally gumbo is made with a dark chocolatey-colored roux but I was a chicken and didn’t want mine to burn so I made mine blonde, which is also perfectly legitimate .)

This takes time and patience- about 40 minutes worth.  The roux (gumbo base, similar to a gravy) can be stored refrigerated indefinitely if sealed in an airtight container.  If you want to try making a darker roux, by all means be my guest, but if your roux develops black specks you have burned it and will have to start over.  Last night at 11 I didn’t really want to take that chance.  Maybe next time .

AFTER MAKING THE ROUX:

Heat chicken stock and beer to boiling.  Add roux and stir to combine.  Transfer liquid to a crockpot and add in all other ingredients except for shrimp.  Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours.  Add shrimp just about 10 minutes before turning off crockpot, it will cook very quickly.  Serve over fluffy white rice.  ENJOY!

1 mango, peeled, flesh removed from stone in chunks.  

1 peeled banana

1 cup vanilla soymilk

ice 

honey

ground cinnamon and ginger

It’s not really time for smoothies yet, but it will be soon.   And I’ll be ready with this recipe, which tastes a bit like a mango lassi, if you’re familiar with that sort of thing.  

Add soymilk to your blender first, then add fruit in chunks.  Top with a squeeze of honey, a tiny dash of cinnamon, and a tinier dash of ground ginger.  Add ice to suit your preference and the abilities of your blender or smoothie maker.  

I adapted this recipe from allrecipes.com

No fun stories tonight, sorry. Just really, really good chicken. And tequila. What more could you want???

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken
breast meat – cut into strips

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

1 lime, juiced

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 green onions, chopped

2 1/2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch fresh cilantro

10 (6 inch) flour tortillas

1 cup tomatilla salsa

shredded lettuce

1 jalapeno, seeded, minced

1/2 onion, minced

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a shallow dish or large plastic bag, combine vinegar, 1/2 lime juice, sugar, half the salt and pepper, 2 chopped green onions, 2 minced garlic cloves, and about a handful of rinsed, chopped cilantro leaves. Add chicken and marinade in fridge about 20-25 minutes. Do not overmarinade or the chicken will turn tough. (Yes I just made up that word. It’s a good word.)

This chicken is lucky enough to be marinating in garlic, lime, and cilantro, three of God's natural wonders.

2. While the chicken marinades in the fridge, combine the other 1/2 lime juice, salt, pepper, remaining garlic, green onions, and about 1/2 a handful of chopped cilantro with a generous splash of tequila. Also, combine minced onion, jalapeno and tomatillo salsa to make your tomatillo pico de gallo. Reserve for later.

3. Saute chicken in a medium saucepan over medium high heat for about a few minutes until the first side is just starting to brown. Flip the chicken pieces over and pour the tequila mixture over the chicken. Turn your burner on high and cook the alcohol off. (DOn’t be sad.  It’s worth it in the end)

3. Remove chicken from heat and tear into pieces with a fork or knife. It will be nice and tender and if you taste it it should have a citrusy, yet pleasantly sweet, flavor. Keep chicken pieces warm.

SWEET, SWEET CHICKEN

4. Heat an iron skillet over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the pan, warm, and turn over to heat the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas.  Or you could just microwave the poor things.  It’s not like you’ll be getting any good tortillas anywhere in this area anyway (Tallahassee).  ***IF YOU DO KNOW WHERE TO FIND GOOD ONES YOU ARE OBLIGATED TO TELL ME!!!***

 Oh yeah, if you are really counting calories, a lighter choice is soft corn tortillas.  They taste really great when you cook them in oil, but if you want to be healthy they are also very tasty when you put them in a small plastic bag with a few drops of water in the microwave for just about 10 seconds.  This steams them.  They taste better than any flour ones you can get around these parts, IMHO.  

6. Serve chicken in warm tortillas topped with pico and shredded lettuce.  And avocadoes.  And margaritas.  And mango flan.  OH!  Right, everybody’s still dieting.  Forget that last part.  Really, the chicken is VERY good on its own.  :)

 So Friday was one of the WORST days of my entire life (since I did not sleep at ALL the night before, which you can read about here). Also, drinking that tea did NOT help. Afterwards I felt like my heart was a spooked rodeo horse trying to kick out of its stall. Which would be my ribcage… I went in to work about 30 min early feeling like crap but somehow made it through the day with the help of prayer, saltines and gatorade. I left about 30 minutes early after thinking I did something so stupid that it would require immediate dismissal. And making a fool out of myself for crying in front of my supervisor when I realized I hadn’t actually done it, and that everything would be fine. Good thing she also happens to be my friend. Still feel pretty stupid though.

Went home and took codiene which helped me feel more comfortable but did not help me get to sleep. We did not end up going on the trip thank GOD because I probably would have been crying and puking (or just wanting to) in my in-law’s car. Took some benadryl and finally got a few hours of rest, which would have lasted all night if my MOM hadn’t called and YELLED AT ME for ‘not taking care of myself’.

UMM, hello, I take off work when I’m sick, go to the doc if I need to, I work out regularly, drink a ton of water and eat pretty healthfully, get 7-8 hours of sleep a night- WHAT THE HECK MORE CAN I DO MOM??? She’s mad b/c I haven’t made an appointment with the cardiologist yet… blah… that’s a whole other story that I don’t really want to get into now.  I called back after she pretty much hung up on me and apologized to her for being mad and then finally finally finally got the sweet, sweet precious sleep I’d been needing.

Good thing is , I’m feeling much better now and think I have finally reached the end of what I would like to call “Horrible Debilitating Illness of 09″, YAYYYYYY ME!!! Moral of the story: Just stay home from work when you feel that crappy, even if it’s not a ‘legitimate illness’. Also, if your little brother has twitter and you are tweeting about being sick and your mom freaks out when you catch a sniffle, TELL HIM TO KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT.

I PROMISE I will have a recipe next time for you readers out there… Love ya’ll!  Big shout out to Dee and Jen, you guys helped me get through the day.  :)

My husband has something in common with most men; he’s not a fan of vegetables.  It is hard to find things he likes that are healthy, but this chili was a huge success! The great thing about it chili is it’s relatively easy to make and contains inexpensive ingredients.  The chipotle peppers in this variation give it a wonderful, rich flavor. Try it out!!!

• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with juice
• 1 small (4 oz?) can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped if desired
• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans
• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup matchstick carrot
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 T chipotle chili powder
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped jalapenos (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt

1.  Brown turkey with onions and drain fat.  

2.  Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  

Sam has been gobbling this stuff up!  Good luck and let me know how yours works out!