Well, I haven't really made anything creative - I really haven't had time (though my dinner tonight might be photo-worthy). With the exception of this past Monday when I had a sandwich on a white roll and a milkshake (yes, very bad), I've been good. Bought some more healthy goodies like roasted soybeans to squash the craving for salty crunchy snacks (I don't really like the soybeans, so I don't eat that much hahahaha), Luna bars, which are made for women and apparently have a low glycemic index, some Organic Quinoa from TJ's, a "sprouted wheat berry flourless" bread at TJ's that's really not that bad, some Barilla Plus pasta (I hope it tastes good), etc.
As for the "diet," I am trying to understand the combining aspects. I got one of Montignac's newer editions from the library and will take it home when I see my parents. Yes, that's going to make things difficult - it will be white bread, potatoes, rice, Chinese food, dessert, and other such unhealthy stuff galore :( I'll try to do the best I can but it's going to make things difficult. So I figure I will use the week and a half to just let myself be spoiled and enjoy these things (some of which, like the Chinese fried rice and prime rib and stuff, I literally can't even get here so it's not like it will make me crave it forever), and then come back and really get in gear and do it right. One exciting thing is that this newer Montignac book has a really amazing-looking recipe for chocolate cake, the only ingredients are chocolate and eggs, so I can't wait to try this one!!!
Will keep you posted!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Homemade Tomato Sauce
Ever since Trader Joe's stopped carrying my beloved "Starter Sauce" in a box, I decided I'd try making my own sauce. Finally I did it! So I went to Whole Foods and took three kinds of Italian tomatoes - I mean real imported Italian tomatoes with nothing added except a little salt in one case. A box of Pomi chopped tomatoes (that I had already pureed), a 28oz can of whole peeled San Marzano plum tomatoes and a smaller can of San Marzano cherry tomatoes (by the way, I found out a little too late that these still had the skins on. whoops. If you use them - I got them at Whole Foods with a yellow label - check first LOL).
As to why real imported tomatoes, they have this intrinsic sweetness that allows the sauce to be made with no added sugar. It works especially well for salsas too but for pizza as well, because when the sauce is combined with the crust and cheese and toppings, the sauce's flavor still gets through. :D Considering how much sauce I got for about $5 worth of tomatoes, I'd say it's worth the extra money to get a really top-quality end product that can be used for a long time.
But first, I heated up some extra virgin olive oil in my biggest pot and lightly sauteed about a half an onion (I don't really like onion so I go small on them) and many cloves of garlic, on pretty low heat for a few minutes. BTW, using a very large pot is crucial, even if you aren't making that much sauce - when the sauce cooks down, it kind of bubbles and blubbers and well, spits. If the pot's full, it will bubble and blubber all over your stove (yes even on low heat) ;)
Then I added about half a can of tomato paste (get one that has ONLY tomatoes as an ingredient please) to thicken it all up and let that go for about a minute, then I dumped in all the various tomatoes. I decided to put all the seeds and juice in, I figured it'd just cook down and I was going to puree it anyway. Maybe that's wrong. HAHA. Also, with the can of San Marzano tomatoes (which I put in after the cherry tomatoes, aka after I realized they had their skins on and I had to turn off the heat and go through and try to get all the peel out LOL), I was more careful and looked at those one by one and what I did was take off that hard part where the stem was attached that you get in tomatoes - I figured it'd be hard to puree later so I might as well do it. As I put each one in I squeezed it to break it up a bit.
I didn't really pay attention to how long I cooked it for, although I guess it was only about an hour... but it seemed quite thick already and it had reduced a fair amount so I killed the heat and let it cool for another hour or so to make it easier to handle and to make sure it thickened well. You can see in this picture as compared to the one above that it is a good amount lower in the pot and it just looks a little darker and thicker even in a picture:
After it cooled for a while (to basically room temperature) I mixed in some fresh parsley (Italian flat-leaf, of course) and a good pinch of kosher salt and pureed it in the blender (b/c I like pureed sauces). And there you have it! You can see the flecks of parsley in the final product; I hope that adds a fresh-tasting touch. I'll probably use it a couple times before breaking it down into smaller containers and freezing. If there's any excess water it should float to the top and I can get rid of that so it won't really get grossly watery after freezing.
As to why real imported tomatoes, they have this intrinsic sweetness that allows the sauce to be made with no added sugar. It works especially well for salsas too but for pizza as well, because when the sauce is combined with the crust and cheese and toppings, the sauce's flavor still gets through. :D Considering how much sauce I got for about $5 worth of tomatoes, I'd say it's worth the extra money to get a really top-quality end product that can be used for a long time.
But first, I heated up some extra virgin olive oil in my biggest pot and lightly sauteed about a half an onion (I don't really like onion so I go small on them) and many cloves of garlic, on pretty low heat for a few minutes. BTW, using a very large pot is crucial, even if you aren't making that much sauce - when the sauce cooks down, it kind of bubbles and blubbers and well, spits. If the pot's full, it will bubble and blubber all over your stove (yes even on low heat) ;)
Then I added about half a can of tomato paste (get one that has ONLY tomatoes as an ingredient please) to thicken it all up and let that go for about a minute, then I dumped in all the various tomatoes. I decided to put all the seeds and juice in, I figured it'd just cook down and I was going to puree it anyway. Maybe that's wrong. HAHA. Also, with the can of San Marzano tomatoes (which I put in after the cherry tomatoes, aka after I realized they had their skins on and I had to turn off the heat and go through and try to get all the peel out LOL), I was more careful and looked at those one by one and what I did was take off that hard part where the stem was attached that you get in tomatoes - I figured it'd be hard to puree later so I might as well do it. As I put each one in I squeezed it to break it up a bit.
I didn't really pay attention to how long I cooked it for, although I guess it was only about an hour... but it seemed quite thick already and it had reduced a fair amount so I killed the heat and let it cool for another hour or so to make it easier to handle and to make sure it thickened well. You can see in this picture as compared to the one above that it is a good amount lower in the pot and it just looks a little darker and thicker even in a picture:
After it cooled for a while (to basically room temperature) I mixed in some fresh parsley (Italian flat-leaf, of course) and a good pinch of kosher salt and pureed it in the blender (b/c I like pureed sauces). And there you have it! You can see the flecks of parsley in the final product; I hope that adds a fresh-tasting touch. I'll probably use it a couple times before breaking it down into smaller containers and freezing. If there's any excess water it should float to the top and I can get rid of that so it won't really get grossly watery after freezing.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
"Diet" - Day 1
So let's see... Breakfast consisted of a hard-boiled egg (minus yolk, ick), a slice of the whole wheat bread, a good slathering of almond butter, and some freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice (combined with a little orange) diluted with water. I had it the same time I normally do, and normally I get hungry around 10-10:30am at work and I made it all the way almost til lunch before I craved anything (had a couple almonds around 11:30). All in all not bad :D
Lunch: turkey sandwich in half of a 100% whole wheat pita, two slices of super sharp Vermont cheddar, carrots, a tomato, and sugar snap peas. This is actually about the same lunch I typically bring to work - except for the whole wheat pita. Not bad, a very small change and the whole wheat pita from TJ's tastes fine.
Fruit: some grapes and cherries.
Afternoon snack: handful of raw almonds and some raw sunflower seed kernels
Dinner: Fried chicken! Yeah, you read that right. Fried chicken. chicken breast pieces breaded in a breading of whole wheat flour, flaxseed meal, and parmesean cheese. It was actually really quite tasty.
*note* it seems that I'm not understanding this Montignac method that well - apparently certain combinations of food is also part of the whole thing. So I need to read more closely this weekend and I put a couple more of his books on hold so maybe it will help steer me in a better direction. of course, not liking fish and some of the other "staples" in his method is sort of a problem so I may not really be able to follow it that closely, but we'll see.
Lunch: turkey sandwich in half of a 100% whole wheat pita, two slices of super sharp Vermont cheddar, carrots, a tomato, and sugar snap peas. This is actually about the same lunch I typically bring to work - except for the whole wheat pita. Not bad, a very small change and the whole wheat pita from TJ's tastes fine.
Fruit: some grapes and cherries.
Afternoon snack: handful of raw almonds and some raw sunflower seed kernels
Dinner: Fried chicken! Yeah, you read that right. Fried chicken. chicken breast pieces breaded in a breading of whole wheat flour, flaxseed meal, and parmesean cheese. It was actually really quite tasty.
*note* it seems that I'm not understanding this Montignac method that well - apparently certain combinations of food is also part of the whole thing. So I need to read more closely this weekend and I put a couple more of his books on hold so maybe it will help steer me in a better direction. of course, not liking fish and some of the other "staples" in his method is sort of a problem so I may not really be able to follow it that closely, but we'll see.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
"Sendoff" Dinner
I decided I would start this new 'diet' yesterday (Monday), so on Sunday I pretty much ate like crap all day ;) For dinner I decided to make chicken wings and a potato cake.
First I defrosted the wings in their ziploc bag they were frozen in and whizzed up a marinade consisting of extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, lots of garlic, a little fresh parsley and cilantro and half a canned chipotle pepper (I love the spicy smoky taste it imparts). I tried adding a pinch of flaxseed meal to thicken it up a bit. Zapped it in the mini-chopper and dumped it into the bag and smushed it around. I took the marinating in a plastic bag thing from my mom. I've seen Alton Brown and others do it on the food network now, but I think my mom was first ;) Anyway, I let it marinate in the fridge for a few hours and roasted in the oven for about 35 min at 400ish (my oven temp is kooky) or until nicely brown.
But the real YUM thing was the potato cake. I'll give credit where it was due, my parents and I saw it on the Food Network a few years ago and tried it that night and I've loved it ever since. It's a bit of a pain making it for one but as you can see the point is to shred up Yukon Gold Potatoes (yes it MUST be Yukon gold, I've tried it with both russets and red-skinned potatoes and it's just not right), squeeze out the extra water, mix in a little salt and pepper and like you see in the pan, flatten it out to be a cake. cook on fairly low heat with a little butter and oil in a nonstick pan for about 10 min per side or until dark brown. I like to drain it on paper towel for a sec to remove some of the oil.
As you see in the final picture, it looks like the potatoes might be burnt. I assure you they're not. The goal is to take the cake out in that perfect minute window right before the potatoes burn. It's fantastic. SO crispy on the outside and so soft and luscious on the inside - it's the way potatoes were meant to be. Oh how I will miss these potatoes over the next few weeks. :(
First I defrosted the wings in their ziploc bag they were frozen in and whizzed up a marinade consisting of extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, lots of garlic, a little fresh parsley and cilantro and half a canned chipotle pepper (I love the spicy smoky taste it imparts). I tried adding a pinch of flaxseed meal to thicken it up a bit. Zapped it in the mini-chopper and dumped it into the bag and smushed it around. I took the marinating in a plastic bag thing from my mom. I've seen Alton Brown and others do it on the food network now, but I think my mom was first ;) Anyway, I let it marinate in the fridge for a few hours and roasted in the oven for about 35 min at 400ish (my oven temp is kooky) or until nicely brown.
But the real YUM thing was the potato cake. I'll give credit where it was due, my parents and I saw it on the Food Network a few years ago and tried it that night and I've loved it ever since. It's a bit of a pain making it for one but as you can see the point is to shred up Yukon Gold Potatoes (yes it MUST be Yukon gold, I've tried it with both russets and red-skinned potatoes and it's just not right), squeeze out the extra water, mix in a little salt and pepper and like you see in the pan, flatten it out to be a cake. cook on fairly low heat with a little butter and oil in a nonstick pan for about 10 min per side or until dark brown. I like to drain it on paper towel for a sec to remove some of the oil.
As you see in the final picture, it looks like the potatoes might be burnt. I assure you they're not. The goal is to take the cake out in that perfect minute window right before the potatoes burn. It's fantastic. SO crispy on the outside and so soft and luscious on the inside - it's the way potatoes were meant to be. Oh how I will miss these potatoes over the next few weeks. :(
Monday, June 9, 2008
Berry Cherry Limeade
(did this about a week ago and forgot to publish it so I figured I'd just stick it in)
I defrosted a handful of TJ's Frozen Berries and cherries mix - it's got cherries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Pureed and strained the defrosted fruit and mixed with the juice of one lime in a glass, a squeeze of blue agave syrup (also from TJ's) and filled the glass with water and floated some more berries - oh yummyyyyyyyyy what a perfect refreshing summer afternoon drink!
I defrosted a handful of TJ's Frozen Berries and cherries mix - it's got cherries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Pureed and strained the defrosted fruit and mixed with the juice of one lime in a glass, a squeeze of blue agave syrup (also from TJ's) and filled the glass with water and floated some more berries - oh yummyyyyyyyyy what a perfect refreshing summer afternoon drink!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Embarking on a new "Diet"
Let me preface with: I HATE diets. I hate diets because they mean deprivation. But what I am in favor of, especially more recently, is changing some of the things I eat in order to not only be a little healthier but just plain stop putting crap in my body. It's so scary how people just grab stuff that tastes good with no regard to the ingredient panel on the side. Forget the nutrition information, what about the ingredients? I maintain, if I can't pronounce it, why should I be eating it? Additionally, if it contains stuff I studied in high school chemistry, why should I be eating it?
It's like, someone asked me the other day why I refuse to eat yellow cheddar cheese.... and my response was, UH, BECAUSE MILK IS NOT ORANGE? How do they get it that color? They put food coloring in it LOL. Even if it's made from natural ingredients or vegetable extract or something, it's still completely unnecessary and purely cosmetic.
So with all this in mind, I purchased a used copy of Michel Montignac's "Eat Yourself Slim" - to make a long story short he focuses on good carbs and good fats and not calories or even really fat or portion control. Interesting idea, even if I am a bit skeptical since I almost eat that way anyway. But I thought, while I am working and making enough to afford this stuff, I might as well give it all a try, no? So I went to town in Fresh and Easy and Trader Joe's and bought all kinds of good stuff (not pictured, raw turbinado sugar):
Of course, I don't even know what I'm going to do with the flour. All that stuff in addition to the brown jasmine rice and Barilla's 51% whole grain spaghetti (which unlike other kinds actually tastes good, and as the whole point of this blog points out, I am picky ;)), drinking freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice, and a few other changes here and there, we will see what happens. If all a good attempt requires is a few little changes here and there, mainly to breakfast, how can I not try, right?!
The next step will be ridding my apartment of the crap I already have, mostly snack foods and white breads............... and potatoes....... i don't think i can give up potatoes :( I'm gonna go out with a bang tonight (post on that forthcoming), and start it all up tomorrow. We'll see what happens! If nothing else it'll give me interesting material to blog about I suppose :) Wish me luck!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Chocolate Espresso Shortbreads
In my new addiction to Stumble, a great Firefox add-on that shows you sites that match you're interests, I've been brought to a lot of cooking sites. One in particular has some really amazing-looking stuff, and i signed up for the email list, so when I got this delivered to my inbox, i knew I was gonna break down and make it - and probably sooner rather than later ;)
So, of course, mine did not come out as pretty, but what I did was halve the recipe to control the fatty unhealthy goodness I was about to concoct (in other words, if I only made half as many shortbreads, I could only eat half as many shortbreads ;)), and I think it worked out pretty well. I don't have instant espresso so I used about a tablespoon and a half of regular pre-made mokka pot espresso. I didn't really taste the coffee in the finished product unfortunately, but I didn't want to add more than that in case it'd throw off the recipe with too much liquid.
Of course, I am too lazy to get all measuring and stuff, probably to the cookies' detriment. But oh well. They taste good and are very delicate and tender, they almost melt in your mouth because of the powdered sugar and very little mixing the recipe calls for. Baking is more fun now that i've figured out my oven runs a good 50 degrees too hot - no more burned cookie bottoms with raw middles, hooray!
Monday, June 2, 2008
It's California Cherry Season!
We're full-swing into the California cherry season. The first couple weeks, the cherries looked light and didn't taste too sweet, but now, they are deep red and just delicious. Picked up a little cup for $2 at the downtown LA Friday farmers market - these pictures are of those - and bought another little bag of them this past weekend at the LA Farmers Market. mmmmmmmmmmmmm yummyyyyy
As a note, I don't 'do' anything to fruit - I don't cook it or cut it or put anything on it or what. I wash it, and I eat it. And that's what I will do with these cherries :D
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