FoodPix

Topfruit iphone5

2011-07-04T12:53:00.001-07:00

Here is a really fun video of a pair of guys turning their fresh produce into a new iphone. Its worth a gander. I don't think I could manage it because I would want to eat it!

Gold Medal Recipes

2011-04-24T08:38:00.001-07:00

Here are two recipes from the Gold Medal Unbleached All Purpose Flour bag.

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

2 c. quick cooking oats

1 1/2 c. Unbleached Flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1 c. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans.)

1. Pre heat oven to 350 Deg. F.

2. In a bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, vanilla and egg on medium until well blended.

3. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add mixture to wet ingredients.

4. Fold in oatmeal.

5. Stir in chips and nuts.

6. On ungreased cookie heets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.

7. Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.

8. Cool slightly on sheet.

9. Remove from cookie sheet and place on cooling racks (a spatula works very well for this job.)

Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Glorious Morning Muffins

2 eggs (room temperature)

3/4 c. corn oil

1/4 c. organic milk

2 tsp. Bourbon Vanilla Extract

2 c. unbleached flour

1 c. packed brown sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. shredded carrots

1 c. shredded peeled apple (or dried apple diced)

1/2 c. organic, unsweetened coconut, shredded

1/2 c. golden raisins (softened)

3/4 c. sliced almonds (toasted is excellent)

1. Pre heat oven to 350 deg. F.

2. Either grease or line with baking cups, 18 regular muffin cups. If greasing, use real butter.

3. In large bowl, beat eggs, oil, milk and vanilla until mixed.

4. In another bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

5. Stir dry into wet until just moistened, by hand with a whisk.

6. With a spatula, stir in carrots, apple, coconut raisins and 1/2 c. of the almonds.

7. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

8. Sprinkle remaining almonds over batter.

9. Bake 20-25 minutes. or until toothpick comes out clean.

10. Cool 5 minutes.

11. Remove from pan, allow to cool on wire rack.

Makes 18 muffins.

Inspired

2011-04-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

I have stumbled upon a great food blog called veggiesandyoga. I was inspired by this post. I made a simple fudge like recipe.

Here is the cast

of characters (a la Pioneer Woman): Coconut oil, Coconut Milk (1/2 can.) 1/4 bag of chocolate chips, 1/2 bag dark chocolate chips. Melt slowly in microwave on low.

Pout into a dish with wax paper for easy removal.

Place dish in freezer.

Wait.

I'm trying this other coconut oil, but it has an odd after taste, like red hots, and I don't know that I really like the flavor. I will be going back to Spectrum brand.

Green Bean Beef

2011-04-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

I had a couple of left over beef patties that I crumbled into bits and fried in its own juices.

I set that aside.

Then, I stir fried some Asian cabbage with some brown sugar, cinnamon, garlic, onion flakes, red pepper flakes and white pepper.

I made a light gravy with mustard, ketchup and stirred it into the beef juices.

I added the Asian cabbage leaves, some grated carrot and cooked green beans last.

I let the green beans come up to temperature by turning down the heat and adding a lid.

They steamed in the sweet liquid until the potato was cooked.

I served it with a baked potato.

Corn Bread Food Pix

2011-04-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

I made corn bread the other night with the recipe on the cornmeal bag. It was very popular with butter and honey.

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

2011-04-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Self rising flour is flour with some baking powder and salt added. This morning I baked a batch of muffins using a cooks.com recipe. I modified it. Here is the original yogurt muffin recipe.

Here is my version:

Dry:

2 3/4 c. self rising flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

Wet:

4 eggs, room temperature, whisked lightly with a fork

1 1/2 c. Brown Cow Plain Yogurt (stir cream into yogurt before measuring.)

1/2 c. coconut oil, liquid/melted but not hot (don't want to curdle the eggs.)

1/4 c. corn oil

1 tsp. orange extract

1/2-3/4 c. Semi Sweet Guitard chocolate chips

Topping:

1/4 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. white sugar

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 deg. F.

2. Mix Dry Ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.

In a separate bowl, lightly whisk eggs, yogurt, orange extract, and oils.

Add wet to dry, mix until combined, don't over mix.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop by 1/4 c. in a buttered regular muffin tin.

Top each muffin with approximately 1 tsp of sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Bake at 350 deg. F for 20 minutes.

Remove promptly from pan and cool on wire rack.

Enjoy plain or with butter and honey.

Makes 23 muffins.

Gold Medal Buttermilk Biscuits

2011-04-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe off the Gold Medal Self Rising Flour bag. I made them this morning for my Dad. I put apples, cinnamon, sugar and a dot of butter in the scraps after I rolled them thin, making a rectangle, then folding it over, and crimping it closed with a fork. The dumplings were baked at 400 Deg. for 15 min.

Here is the recipe:

2 1/2 c. Gold Medal Self-Rising Flour

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup shortening

1 c. buttermilk

1. Heat oven to 450 deg. F.

2. In a bowl, lightly whisk together flour, sugar and baking soda.

3. Cut in shortening.

4. Knead 5-6 times until it just comes together.

5. On a lightly floured surface, roll or pat to 1/2 inch thick.

6. Cut with biscuit cutter

7. Place on ungreased sheet.

8. Bake 10-12 min. until golden brown.

Serve with butter and honey or sausage gravy.

Brown Cow Yogurt Recipe

2011-04-03T07:58:00.000-07:00

On the side of the Brown Cow plain cream top yogurt is a BBQ yogurt recipe

BBQ Yogurt Marinated Chicken

1 cup Brown cow Plain Yogurt

1/4 c. olive oil

2 tbsp. lemon juice

2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp. rosemary

1 tbsp. thyme

1 tbsp. salt

1 tbsp. pepper

4 chicken breasts, skinless boneless

Combine all ingredients in a bowl

Add Chicken

Marinate for at least 2 hours

Grill chicken on medium high until cooked through.

Serve with potato salad, grilled corn or any other favorite summer side dish.

Makes 4 servings

This recipe is from the Brown Cow yogurt tub. Don't substitute other yogurt brands, its not the same. Be sure to stir the cream into the yogurt, it rises to the top.

Stuffed mushrooms

2010-03-31T12:36:00.001-07:00

Its really easy to make stuffed mushrooms. Clean them, remove the stems. Oil, salt and pepper them. I like olive oil for the flavor. If you don't oil them they can get dry. Olive oil is good for you, eat it.

Filling:

Chop up the stems and add them to a package of cream cheese and shredded parmesan

I added 1 tbsp each parsley, oregano and hot pepper flakes. Add 1/4 cup of almond meal. Stir that together.

Fill the caps with the mixture but don't over fill because they will melt and make a nasty burnt mess in the pan and flavor everything with a nasty burnt flavor. So, don't do that.

Bake them off at about 350 degrees F. Watch them, depending on the size of your mushrooms they may cook faster or longer.

Lately, mushrooms are running around 4 dollars per pound. Thats actually more expensive than meat, but they are so darned tasty, I like to splurge. So Mange! Thats Italian for eat!

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

2010-03-31T12:10:00.000-07:00

Today is my brother's birthday. He is 34 years young. The world is lucky to have him. So, I baked a cake.

I went with the buttermilk cake recipe I've used here before. I poured half the batter in one 9 inch cake tin, properly buttered.

The filling is 2 packages of cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1/4 cup sour cream. I cut up some fresh strawberries. First, I laid down the bottom cake, flat side up. Then I added a layer of filling followed by a single layer of strawberries, then another layer of filling.

Then, I added the second cake layer, followed by a very thing layer of filling.

Then, I frosted the whole cake with fresh whipped cream and topped it with strawberries.

Lemon Chicken Pasta

2010-03-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

I made this for dinner out of scraps and bits and pieces. I never expected to enjoy these domestic pursuits. I honestly like and look forward to my time in the kitchen. Isn't it funny how we change and yet remain the same.

The Recipe:

Filling:

Whole wheat pasta.

Diced cooked chicken breast.

Artichoke hearts.

1 tbsp. diced mild green chili's

1/4 of a yellow bell pepper

1/2 can of corn

1 rib of celery

Cream/Cheese Sauce:

6 tbsp. AP flour

6 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups whole milk

1 cup monterey jack

1 cup cheddar

salt

black pepper

white pepper

tarragon 1/2 tsp.

zest of one lemon

parsley dried 2 tbsp.

more cheese to top it

1. Butter a large casserole dish.

2. Make cream sauce by making a light roux, then slowly add the milks, then cook for another few minutes on low until thickened and brought up to a simmer. Then turn off the heat. Off the heat, add the seasonings and cheese. Stir until melted completely.

3. Add the filling to the pot.

4. Pour into the casserole dish

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Then add more cheese to the top and bake another 20 minutes.

Turn off the oven and let it cool in the oven 10 minutes.

Take out of the oven and allow to cool to eating temperature.

Enjoy.

Asparagus Quiche

2010-03-26T18:27:00.001-07:00

Asparagus Quiche.

Whole

One slice.

Its spring.

Inspired by Pioneer Woman's blog today. I wasn't going to make asparagus anything but I saw her blog and thought, why not?

Gluten free Chili Lime Burrito

2010-03-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon world! For lunch I made chili with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Check to be sure all your ingredients are gluten free if that is important to your health, if not, don't worry be happy. This is not an induction friendly recipe but it could be easily, just switch out the peas with some diced celery. Also, instead of garbanzo beans you could go with chopped bell pepper. Peppers are a berry and do have some carbs in them but are not a legume so I think you can have 1/2 to 1 cup of those a day and still be in the realm of a low carb diet. You can use this simple, easily adaptable base over brown rice, stir fried vegetables, or roasted squash. The great part is that it warms up very well.

Gluten Free Chili Lime Burritos

Protein and vegetable base:

1/2 pound of ground beef

1 can low sodium diced tomatoes

1 can garbanzo beans

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 can of low sodium SW garbanzo beans

Sauce:

1/4 cup of enchilada sauce.

juice of 1/2 lime

Dash of Louisana hot sauce

Capful of Tamari sauce

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. coconut oil (Spectrum brand)

Seasoning:

1 tsp. McCormick Ground Chipotle chili powder

1/2 tsp. Trader Joe's garlic powder

1/2 tsp. McCormick Chili powder

1 tbsp dried parsley flakes

dash ground white pepper

To serve:

Sour cream

Lime juice

Sprouts

Sliced olives

Method:

1. Brown ground beef in coconut oil, season the meat with salt and pepper.

2. Add vegetables

3. Add sauce.

4. Stir and simmer until done uncovered in a medium pot on medium heat.

5. If using, warm corn tortillas in the microwave.

6. Plate: Put small amount of bean sprouts in center, add a dollop of sour cream. (Knudsen please) add 1-2 tablespoons of chili filling.

Roll up into a burrito.

Enjoy!

Do you have a favorite chili recipe? If so tell me about it.

High Marks Meat loaf

2010-03-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

High Marks Meatloaf:

Notes: This loaf is full of flavor and was devoured by four grown adults with gusto.

The meat:

1.5 pounds ground beef

The mix-ins:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 cup diced raw mushrooms

1/4 cup raisins microwaved in 1/4 cup of water on low for 20 seconds. Retain the water.

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small cup of all natural applesauce

1/8 cup water

Heinz organic ketchup

zest of one orange

Seasoning:

1/8 cup dried parsley

1 tsp. ground chipotle chili powder

1/2 tsp. TJ's garlic powder

1 tsp. TJ's red chili pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. salt

white pepper (to taste)

freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Soak your oats in the applesauce, olive oil and raisin water.

3. In a large bowl, add all your mix-ins to your meat, gently mixing until all are loosely combined.

4. Sprinkle on your seasoning and mix into your meatloaf mixture.

5. Line a large glass oven safe dish with foil.

6. Place your mixture in the dish and gently forming a shallow loaf. Flatten to shorten the cooking time. If your loaf is taller it make take longer to cook.

7. Squirt some ketchup in a fun design if you are feeling crafty or just spread it over the top, this makes for a tasty finish. It creates a kind of tomato-ey glaze.

8. Place your dish in the hot oven and cook until done, approximately 35-45 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Banana Nut Yogurt Bread

2010-03-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

When life gives you bananas, you make bread. I realized that my bananas were almost too ripe to just eat so I decided to give the Banana nut bread recipe on page 584 in the "America's Test Kitchen Family Recipes" book a try. Instead of starting with three bananas, I had two. Because of this, I added an additional 1/4 cup of yogurt. I did not use a spatula to mix the batter, instead I used a whisk. I also added 4 egg whites, why? because I had them in the refrigerator and they needed to be used. They called for unsalted butter, I left it out. I added a tablespoon of cinnamon to balance the sweetness of the fruit.

Why? Cause I forgot it in the microwave.

I poured the batter into two 9 x 5 pans, roughly evenly. In one I mixed in walnuts and in the other some slivered almonds I had sitting around. The recipe calls for one pan. Because of the two pans I reduced the amount of time in the oven to 35 minutes and it was just right. They came out beautifully. They made the house smell so good. Its a pity I'm on a diet and these are not gluten free. I baked them for my brother. Also, I baked them to use up those bananas. I hate to be wasteful.

Tip: Always be sure your eggs are room temperature. You can get them warm by filling a small bowl with hot tap water and putting the eggs in. They won't become hard boiled, I promise.

For a full copy of the recipe buy a copy of "America's Test Kitchen Family Recipes." Its a great big binder full of recipes and it has lots of cooking tips. It was a Christmas present several years ago and I use it all the time.

St. Paddy's day Coconut Pie

2010-03-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

Start by making a Tollhouse style coconut cookie. Bake the cookie with the appropriate amount of coconut flakes mixed in without any chocolate chips. Spread it in a buttered pie dish. Bake in a 325 degree oven, keeping an eye on it, watch for doneness, about 20 minutes. When you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean its done.

Then make a batch of the coconut cream pudding in "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook" on page 692. Put the pudding in the refrigerator to cool. Use only coconut milk rather than using regular dairy milk. It has much better flavor. Also, use coconut flavoring rather than vanilla extract, this is a coconut pie not a vanilla pudding. Allow pudding and cookie to chill overnight.

On the day you plan to serve, whip some fresh heavy whipping cream. Use 1/4 cup sugar, dash of salt and another 1/4 tsp of coconut flavoring.

Fold 1 cup of the cream into the coconut pudding. Spread this mixture on the coconut cookie. Then finish with plain whipped cream and sprinkle green decorator sugar on top.

St. Paddy's day coconut cream pie, ain't them Irish eyes smilin' now?

Gluten Free Blackberry Lemon Muffins

2010-03-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me! Its a gluten free birthday. Its a gluten free muffin birthday. I have adapted a recipe from "Just Like Mom Made" (pg. 211 "Lemon-Raspberry Muffins) to gluten free by using Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free flour. There is dairy in this recipe. Use fresh blackberries for the best result.

The recipe:

2 cups Bob's Red Mill all purpose baking flour

1 cup C&H granulated sugar

1 tablespoon Clabber Girl baking powder

1/2 teaspoon iodized salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 room temperature eggs lightly beaten

1 cup room temperature buttermilk

2/3 cup corn oil

1 teaspoon McCormick lemon extract

1 cup fresh blackberries (optional)

Butter to grease the muffin tin

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F.

Grease 12 cup muffin tin with butter around rims of cups.

Line tin with silicon or papers cups.

Combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a large bowl, whisk gently until no cinnamon streaks and it is well mixed.

In a small bowl put the wet ingredients: buttermilk (use a wet measure not a dry) the oil, and lemon extract. Add the eggs and with a fork or small whisk gently combine until the egg yolk is incorporated.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients slowly, gently whisking them together until just combined. Don't over beat. Allow to rest for at least a minute.

Put the berries into the bottom of the tins. Make sure you have the same number of berries in each cup or else they won't cook in the same amount of time.

Scoop 1/4 cup of the batter into each cup.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes. Check the muffins at 20 minutes for doneness, if they are too dark tent with foil to prevent burning.

The recipe makes about 12 muffins without fruit, 16 muffins with fruit.

We enjoyed ours with butter.

Brownies

2010-02-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

I don't have any pictures. I just watched a video podcast from "Howcast Food & Drink" and even though I enjoy the podcast, some of the things they did are not the techniques that I use.

For one, I don't use cooking spray. You are already making brownies, use butter. Grease your 8 x 8 or 9 x9 pan with butter, it dramatically improves the flavor of your final product. If you want to line your dish with foil you can but please consult either Martha Stewart's book on the subject of lining a pan with handles built into your foil or some other better guide than the Howcast. Don't get me wrong, I like their podcast, they just left a few things out.

Lets move onto the butter/chocolate. They show the pan directly on the stovetop. Its better to use a double boiler or to even melt the chocolate in the microwave on medium low at 30 second intervals until its just melting. Stir with a spatula or spoon between each interval and allow the butter/chocolate mixture to melt gently or else you run the risk of burning your chocolate which I guarantee you is not good eats. Also, you don't want the butter on the outside of your pot, rather on the inside with the chocolate.

If it were me, I would not transfer the chocolate to the bowl just yet. They could have instead either beat the eggs and sugar until light yellow or stirred the sugar into the flour and then after tempering the egg with a small amount of the chocolate added the egg to the chocolate mixture not in the pan but in another bowl.

One more thing, they did not use any baking powder. The brownies will come out more fudge like and more dense rather than cake like. The vanilla could have been added with the eggs. Their idea of "mix well" is lumpy and looks too cold. If your batter is smooth thats ok. But, brownies want to be just stirred, lumps are ok, you just want to moisten the batter not build up gluten which will toughen your food product and make it very unpleasant to the tooth. As you can see when they "pour" the batter into the baking dish that its not really pouring at all. Most brownies when mixed are a thinner consistency than this.

They didn't even sift their flour. I would suggest doing this to produce a more delicate crumb and more loft in your brownie.

If you are adding the chopped nuts I would suggest stirring them into the batter before pouring it into the pan. This prevents burning. Burnt nuts are awful. Don't eat them.

Their demonstration of inserting a toothpick and pulling it out cleanly was a very underdone brownie. Extremely.

When you go to depan your brownies, use a plate, put it upside down ontop of your brownie pan. Flip the pan and gently tap the bottom side. The brownies should just fall onto the plate.

Don't eat them too hot or else you will get burned.

The Garden Fork Podcast

2010-01-25T14:27:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy their podcast. They cover a broad range of topics and its very personable not to mention very dogable. I have enjoyed making a play list with the recipes and gardening tips for when I do various kinds of office work. I let it play and it helps the time go by. Check them out they are on iTunes as a free download.

Chicken salad

2009-09-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

Is a versatile treat. You can make it out of almost anything that is edible. Today, my chicken salad consisted of jicama, 2 baby carrots, a little dried peach, parsley, brown rice, 1 spoonful of baked beans, and chopped walnut. Yum. I dressed it with a little soy sauce (low sodium tamari no wheat.) and a teaspoon of mayo. I would have taken a picture but I ate it.

Peach Cobbler

2009-08-26T16:46:00.001-07:00

Today I baked a peach cobbler pie. First I peeled 3-4 large ripe peaches. Then I combined 1 table spoon of corn starch with 1/4 cup of cool water. I stirred it until the corn starch was dissolved. Then I added 1/2 cup of organic granulated sugar. To that I added 1 tsp of vanilla and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. I also added a dash of salt to the fruit. I put all of this into a sauce pan and brought that slowly to a boil, stirring, until thick. I placed the fruit into a large deep pie dish.

I prepared a buttermilk biscuit topping. Spooned the topping onto the fruit. Then I baked it at 350 deg. F. for 40 min. After 40 minutes I brushed the top with butter and sprinkled turbinado sugar on the top. I baked it on a covered cookie sheet to prevent spills from burning in the oven.

Its a very rustic look. In retrospect, I could have rolled out the biscuit, but whatever!

Peanut Butter cookies, the simplest recipe ever.

2009-08-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on the internet. I thought it was bogus. It wasn't.

1 cup creamy peanut butter.

1 cup organic granulated sugar

1 beaten, egg, room temperature.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine ingredients until completely smooth and integrated.

Drop by teaspoon full and flatten with teaspoon.

Bake for 12 minutes on an air bake. Watch because these can burn.

Let cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a cooling wrack with a spatula.

They will be soft when hot and harden when cool.

Enjoy!

Cookie Cutters

2009-08-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

Nordicware makes some really fun and interesting cookie cutters. I am particularly interested in the mutliple cookie cutters that are for different seasons/holidays. Someday soon I hope to buy on and try them out. They are so very charming. Also, I am very partial to the pie crust cutters too.

What kind of kitchen gadget is on your Christmas list? Is there any gadget that you are lusting after?

Have you ever used a snowflake template to cut out a pie crust? That is a neat idea.

Mueslix Muffins

2009-08-09T10:34:00.001-07:00

Ingredients:

Dry:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup organic granulated sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. cinnamon

Wet:

2 eggs (room temperature) lightly beaten

1 cup butter milk

1/4 cup organic cream

1/4 cup melted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract (not vanillin)

Mix-ins:

1 cup mueslix

1/4 cup apple juice

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup walnuts (or nut of your choice)

1/4-1/2 cup raisins (soften with either apple juice or water then drain off the liquid)

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter your muffin tin carefully.

In medium size bowl, soak the mueslix in the apple juice.

In a large bowl, sifting to aerate, stir with a clean dry whisk thoroughly combine dry ingredients

Combine the wet ingredients.

Stir wet into the dry, be careful not to over mix. Fold rather than beat. Use a whisk or spatula, not an electric mixer.

Add the mix-ins gently folding them in.

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full.

Bake for 25 min or until golden brown or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

These were very popular. They were very filling and satisfying. We ate them with some scrambled eggs and bacon. Mueslix is a kind of a cereal medley usually served warm. My batch had some dried fruit, nuts, and oat meal in it.

Flax Muffins

2009-07-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

As inspired by the "Spiffyman" here is a link to the recipe, I did not write this recipe, I just baked a batch and took a photo of the result. I added a cup of coconut, 1/2 cup of raisins and 1/3 cup of semisweet chocolate chips. The chocolate was not sweet enough. In retrospect, I should have used a sweeter chocolate chip to balance the slight bitter after taste of the Bob's Red Mill Flax Meal. I used Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry flour rather than just regular whole wheat because I was out of regular whole wheat flour. I would give this a 3/5 star rating.

Clean PB & Banana Sandwich

2009-07-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

Yummo! First, I toasted my Alvarado St. bread, then I slathered on some Adam's peanut butter, and added sliced banana. The Alvarado St. bread is sprouted. The Adam's is just peanuts and salt. I prefer a banana over jam because it has less sugar and it adds potassium.

More about Alvarado St. Bakery

Adam's Natural Peanut Butter

About the Banana

"Food and our Bones" by Annemarie Colbin

2009-07-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

Is a book about "the natural way to prevent osteoporosis." I checked it out of the public library because I am particularly interested in preventing bone loss. I have had a few breaks in my life and I would like to prevent any further breakage. I understand the symbiotic nature of diet, motion, and emotion. All of those aspects have an effect on bone health. This book directly addresses the effect of diet on bone health. Printed in 1998, it is an older tome, however, sometimes data is still relevant even 11 years later.

I already engage in physical activity, take a multivitamin with calcium and vitamin D, and get plenty of sunlight. I do bone jarring jogging to improve bone density in my leg bones. I do light weight lifting to maintain the rest of my frame. I do yoga. All of these activities are done with the idea of maintaining or improving my bone density.

Some of my own personal history of my weight with crazy eating:

As a youngster, I drank diet cola, fully caffeinated, ate everything with Aspartame, had an extremely low fat diet. I also put on a lot of weight. I counted calories. I tried Slim Fast. I never did stretching beyond what was on an aerobics video. I never trained above the "fat burning mode" during my cardio. I ate carbohydrates with abandon. I shunned all fats. I favored margarine. I chewed bubble gum with abandon, too. Can I just tell you I gained weight to the tune of 10 pounds per year even though I was very active? I would take three dances classes per week. I would take two PE courses at the community college. I also had debilitating headaches and constant hunger pains. I was determined to do what all of the "get thin quick" magazines recommended.

When I was 26 years old I shattered my toes. I stubbed them on a couch. At that time, my appetite dwindled to nothing. I could only manage 20 ounces of Sprite and one Little Debbie snack cake per day for four months. My digestive track was not willing to eat anything. I was not allowed to walk or do anything. I had my foot up the whole time, doctor's orders. In that time I lost 25 pounds. I'm sure I lost muscle. It was bizarre. I maintained that weight loss for about 3 years. My eating patterns returned to normal. I lost a little more and then gained it back first working one good job and then another more stressful job. While working on a film, my calorie load was very low due to no time to eat. We worked very long hours (20 hour days, 6 days per week.) I put on 15 pounds even though it was extremely hot. At the end of that film, I realized that I could not maintain a healthy weight and work in that industry. I came home to serve jury duty. It was a 3 week case. It was extremely stressful. I had to sit for 3 weeks straight. We were cooped up in a room with free donuts. I would eat one or two donuts in a day. I was also exercising at home. Over the course of those three weeks I put on 35 pounds. I was stunned and extremely saddened. I also discovered my first "DO NOT EAT!" food, donuts.

Over the years I have created a list of foods which I just should never eat unless I want to put on two-5 pounds of fat in a day. Donuts is at the top of my list. I also have low fat foods on that list. I have all fried chicken on that list. I don't eat bacon or anything with nitrates. I don't drink soda of any kind. I should not eat any sweetened cream. I should not eat bread and butter. I should not eat white bread. I should not eat cake, cookies, or pasta. I should not eat potatoes of any kind.

My point is that, what we eat is constantly evolving based on what we know at the time. In the beginning of my weight journey I tried all of the conventional ways to lose weight. That did not produce the results that I wanted. Over the past three years, I have slowly made progress by trying non-conventional means of weight loss (low carb, calorie cycles.)

Weight loss is not my only fitness goal. I also want strong bones. I do know that if I did no weight lifting I would lose weight faster. However, thats less important than not breaking again.

Ms. Colbin talks about some risk factors other than the obvious (small boned, Asian or European, post menopause, family history and no natural children.) Apparently smoking is a bad idea. Tallness is a risk. A high pulse rate is a risk. There are other risks, I will not list all of the them here. "Women who had five or more of these risk factors - regardless of bone density- had a 10 percent chance of breaking a hip in the next five years." pg 11. Certain medications also predispose one to breaks more than bone density. Interestingly, she says that an excessive amount of calcium doubles the risk of hip fracture. Wow, well then I don't feel bad for getting the amount that I do.

I will continue to review the rest of this book in subsequent posts. Stay tuned.

Buttermilk Pancakes Spanked with Coco

2009-07-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

I tried the Haagen Daz Green tea ice cream. It is sweet, creamy, and full of green tea flavor. I really like it. If you have ever had green tea ice cream at a Japanese restaurant, then you know this flavor. I liked it and I would buy it again. Also, its made from real food, milk, cream, eggs, sugar, and green tea.

I made buttermilk pancakes with unbleached flour from scratch for breakfast. I served them with fresh strawberries, frozen whipped cream, and spanked some pure coco powder on top.

You can freeze them for later.

Some of my favorite foods

2009-06-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

I love fruits, fresh vegetables, and hot straight from the oven chicken. I also love olives, capers, and lemon juice. One of my favorite quick meals is left over whole wheat pasta with olives, capers and a little lemon juice. If you haven't tried it, you should. Its easy, healthy (if you can tolerate wheat) and quick.

Blackberry Cream Scones

2009-05-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

Modifying a scone recipe in "America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook".

2 c. AP Flour plus extra for the counter

3 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

5 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes and chilled.

1 cup fresh black berries

1 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 450 deg. F

Combine sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Cut butter in.

2. Add the berries. It may get sticky!

3. Stir in the cream until the dough begins to form.

4. Knead on a counter. It will be a sticky ball.

5. Press into a 9 inch cake pan.

6. Turn it out and cut into 8 wedges.

7. Place the wedges on an ungreased baking sheet.

8. Bake until they are light brown. 12-15 minutes.

9. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minues.

They were best plain, without butter, jam or cream cheese.

Quickie Pizza

2009-05-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

I made this for my dinner. It was quick, tasty, and filling.

Ingredients:

1 parmesan, garlic pain perdu, sliced in half (Raley's brand is best)

Shredded mozzarella cheese 1-2 ounces.

1/2 cup sauteed mushrooms

1/3 cup sliced olives

1-2 tbsp. pasta sauce (I like Rinaldi)

Preheat oven to 375 deg. F

Spread the sauce on the bread.

Top with shredded cheese.

Top with mushrooms.

Top with sliced olives.

Place pizzas on foil and a baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool about 5 minutes before eating, top with parmesan or black pepper.

It would just as good with just an olive tapenade.

Carrot Cake

2009-05-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

Carrot Cake with walnuts, raisins, and ginger served with fresh strawberries and lemony cream cheese frosting.

Turkey Salad

2009-05-03T08:55:00.001-07:00

This morning's brunch is home roasted turkey on a bed of romaine hearts, with avocado, grated carrot, walnuts and parsley. Its dressed with a splash of rice wine vinegar. Its an unconventional breakfast.

Tropical Squares

2009-05-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

6 melted tbsp. butter

2 cups plain graham cracker crumbs

2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs

1 cup macadamia nuts

3/4 cup dates

1/4 cup dried papaya

1/4 cup dried mango

1/4 cup diced sugared ginger

1/2 cup dried pineapple

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 350 deg. F

Pour butter into a 15 in. x 10 in. x 1 in. baking pan.

Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs.

Arrange nuts and fruit over crumbs.

Press down gently.

Combine milk and vanilla, pour evenly over fruit.

Bake for 20-25 min or until lightly browned.

Cool on a wire rack.

Cut into squares.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Parsley Burger Deconstructed

2009-04-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

Today's lunch is low carbohydrate. I folded fresh parsley into the meat. I fried two hamburger patties in olive oil. I served vine ripened tomato, avocado, and organic romaine hearts on the side. I sprinkled a little bit of rice wine vinegar over the top.

Buttermilk Protein Muffins

2009-04-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

Peanut Buttermilk Protein Muffins

This recipe is inspired by a recipe in "Just Like Mom Made 1,000 Family Favorites" which was a bargain at Borders book store. It is on page 211, its called Lemon Raspberry Muffins. I've modified the original recipe to include peanuts and whey protein powder.

The ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour minus 1 tbsp.

1 cup organic granulated sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp. vanilla whey powder

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup Safflower oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Method: Pre-heat oven 400 deg. F

Combine the flour, whey powder, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.

Stir into the flour mixture until just moistened, do not over mix.

Gently fold in the peanuts and peanut butter chips.

Fill paper lined muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 to 22 min.

Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Makes about 18 muffins.

Tips:

1. The whey protein browns quickly, so watch them at minute 18.

2. Be sure to not have any air bubbles, tap the bubbles out on the counter.

Oatmeal Apple Walnut Cookies

2009-04-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, gentle readers, this morning I baked a batch of oatmeal apple walnut cookies. I used the old Quaker Oats box recipe for oatmeal raisin but I omitted the raisins. I also added another 1/2 tsp of cinnamon instead of the nutmeg.

Here is the recipe from the 1988 box of Old Fashioned Quaker oats with my substitutions.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup room temperature butter

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup organic cane sugar (granulated)

1 large egg (room temperature)

1 tsp. natural vanilla (no artificial please)

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal (soak in a small amount of oj or apple juice)

1/2 cup of Trader Joe's dried apple soaked in either oj or apple juice and diced.

1/2 cup of walnuts broken into pieces

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 deg. F

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg and vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Whisk.

Add to butter mixture.

Stir in oats.

Drain dried apple, then stir into the butter/flour/egg mixture.

Add the walnuts and stir into the mixture.

Onto an un-greased air bake sheet, drop by rounded spoonfuls. Leave room for them to flatten out.

Bake for 8 to 9 minutes.

Cool one minute on cookie sheet, then transfer to a rack.

Cool on a rack.

I ended up with 48 cookies. You may end up with more depending on how the size of your scoop.

Enjoy!

Tips:

1. Do not re-use a hot baking sheet because the butter will run out of the cookie and burn instead of being baked in the cookie with the rest of the dough.

2. Stick around and watch them bake. Do not water the garden or feed the cat. Just sit there because the cookies can burn quickly.

3. For an additional depth to the flavor you could substitute brandy for the oj when soaking the apples or you could use apple cider.

Conclusion:

I really enjoyed baking these. I used a cookie scoop rather than a spoon to drop the cookies on the sheet. The dough is a little sticky so I don't know if that was such a hot idea. I did like that I had uniform sized cookies. I noticed that the cookies that were baked last and were most at room temperature, flattened out a lot.