Beef Bourginon

Oh how romantic the sound of this dish.  I have looked at several recipes but the sheer beauty of the one I found on the ladyinfrance’s site was by far the most difficult to ignore.  As you may know, bacon isn’t really my friend (SHOCKING!) but I have included it in some recipes although I cannot imagine using a cup of rendered bacon for any recipe.  As per my usual, I will make my own modifications in the interest of health and my own personal preferences. 

 

I have lean beef perfect for roasting in the crock pot, baby portabella mushrooms, carrots, thyme and bay leaves from my garden.  Real butter and bacon will still have a role but in much smaller quantities than featured in the original recipe.  My favorite part will be the aroma that is bound to welcome me home tomorrow evening.  Oh the joy of a slow cooker, I will get the initial browning of the meat and flour dredging started in the morning and then throw everything except the mushrooms into the slow cooker before I head off to work so that, after a day of work, I will have a wonderful meal awaiting.  The mushrooms get to be added last and if I’m lucky enough to have a house guest, they can add the final touch of the mushrooms for the last stages of cooking.  While pasta is a traditional accompaniment to this stew, I'm going to serve it with some homemade crusty bread.

 

If this recipe is as successful as I anticipate, it will be a favorite winter inspiration.  After all, what could go wrong with beef, red wine and portabella mushrooms?

Healthful but NOT Boring

This week's healthy cooking night will include Stuffed Squash and Molten Chocolate Cake. The stuffed squash features acorn squash, roasted acorn squash seeds, lean turkey seasoned with bounty from the garden such as sage and cayenne. A splattering of goat cheese is bound to combine with the filling to fill the kitchen with a most heavenly scent. It's not a quick recipe but that was the tradeoff for not purchasing pre-seasoned turkey sausage. The turkey sausage requires the lean turkey meat and seasonings to marry for 8-24 hours. The squash and seeds will take about an hour of oven time so the cost savings and wholesomeness is paid in the form of time.

I love how my kitchen has returned back to basics in terms of eliminating most processed and convenience food ingredients. The garden herbs definitely save me a great deal of shopping around as well as money. The chocolate cake will be a well-deserved completion of the meal. I kept the entree jam packed with vegetables in order to save the carbohydrate to come in the form of a great dessert. The basic combination of baking chocolate, powdered sugar, eggs (better than organic since they are supplied by my personal urban farm connections), flour and butter yield a special end to the meal. Since the dessert involves a few minutes of assembly and less than 20 minutes of baking it's something that can be done while the guests enjoy the entree portion of the meal. To make a simple dessert truly noteworthy, there will be some fresh whipped cream which will be made all the more decadent by the addition of either Kahlua or amaretto. I'll definitely be posting any recipes that receive the thumbs up from the group.

Healthful eating doesn't have to be boring or expensive.

Have you had your polydimethylsiloxane today?

Chemicals, n: Noxious substances from which modern foods are made. ~Author Unknown



This should not = HORROR SHOW 

 

So Proposition 37 – a piece of state legislation (apparently our congressmen at the Federal level do not find this a profitable cause) in California was defeated after food companies spending reportedly almost $50 million to defeat this piece of legislation.  Proposition 37 represents a movement in truth in labeling where food companies would have to disclose if their product contains genetically modified foods (GMOs).  For those wondering why this would even be a debate, food companies potentially profit from a poorly informed customer.  As if bacon wasn’t horrible enough, imagine a strip, or 10, of bacon made not from slaughtering a pig but genetically grown from the stem cell of swine.  There are people to argue both sides of the debate and creators of this product are arguing it’s “green” friendliness for vegans or those against slaughter houses.  I have one word for everyone to remember – margarine.  Margarine represents a manmade product that was once believed to lead to the cure to our leading killer – heart disease.  Consumers now know what scientist soon discovered and that is that margarine was not the glamorous product it was originally thought to be and it’s now joined the clearance aisle of grocery stores. 

In an age where,

“Sports drinks” are not considered neither a food nor a drug or beverage,

Wheat is the Anti-Christ,

Supplements are seen as a replacement for food,

Protein is a powder,

Going on a hike is considered insane but practicing tire lifting is considered useful,

Marijuana legalization has a higher priority than food legislation,

It has become more and more difficult to distinguish between advertising and information. 

I now make my own yogurt, homemade bread for the family, sometimes homemade pasta because it’s become the best way for me to know that I’m getting real food at a reasonable price rather than a chemist’s concoction.

 

In the words of a previous student, now colleague:

I trust a cow more than a chemist.  Kallie Waldrip

Positive Feedback

Not only did I do great with my 11 cups of water mission but today’s happy happy moment was a weight that was 5 pounds lighter (and this was after breakfast) than when I started my most recent healthful eating plan.  This was just the motivation I needed for my run training plan.  I will probably not pay to exercise as I do with triathlons but I have a friend that is more than willing to join me in a mock triathlon.  If all goes well, I will have a good sized group formed for a weekly health night (scale optional).  All the home cooking has been wonderful. 

 

Yesterday, I experimended with homemade chili powder (recipe below).

 

Homemade Chili Powder

3 dried Cayenne Peppers

3 cloves Garlic (can substitute an equal amount dry garlic powder)

2 tablespoons dried Oregano

2 teaspoons Cumin Seed

I added all the ingredients to a mini-food processor and blended until smooth.  The oregano and cayenne peppers came from my garden so it's the best in terms of being green friendly.

 

 

11 Cups

The Basics

1) Most people need 6-12 cups of water per day.

2) ½ cup of additional water for every 15-30 minutes of physical activity.

3) Feeling thirst is a sign that the body has started the process of dehydration.

11 Cups

…of water that is. I was playing around with the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) site for professionals and that’s the result for how much water I would need. The site adjusts for gender, weight and physical activity for providing a recommendation based on the DRI for key nutrients which include the ever beneficial water. There are many calculations for estimating how much fluid you should have each day and one is not necessarily better than another. It would be counterproductive to argue that there is no consensus as to the amount of water to drink each day as the most important factor is that the science supports that WATER IS NECESSARY. Individuals who do not stay hydrated are prone to health problems and dehydration can also complicate chronic and acute conditions. So slurp, guzzle,

http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/fnic/interractiveDRI/

The link is for those wanting to get into the details of various nutritional requirements.

The Basics

1)Most people need 6-12 cups of water per day.

2)½ cup of additional water for every 15-30 minutes of physical activity.

3)Feeling thirst is a sign that the body has started the process of dehydration.

No More Twinkies: Unions and the Death of Hostess

No More Twinkies: Unions and the Death of Hostess

Pretty Organization Inspiration

Motivation is the single ingredient for which no amount of knowledge can compensate.  Occasionally (definitely not often enough) I review my top priorities.  I usually have things in mind but keeping healthy is always on my list.  So despite being up past midnight at the Twilight premier with some friends.   So in the vain of practice what you preach, I will be having some quality time on the treadmill this evening. 

 

Each year I think, I need to keep better track of my expenses, mileage, and paper work.  I have missed out on some reimbursements/discounts and other fun things because of a lack of organization.  I know what I should do, but I haven’t been doing it consistently.  I bought this book because it was colorful, fun and it in no way pretended that I was going to get completely organized in 7 days or even in 31 days.  Don’t get me wrong, in a month we can all create some great habits to get us started but lasting change is an ongoing process. 

 Organize Now! is a book by Jennifer Ford Berry-Check out her chapters on Organizing Yourself (focusing on priorities which include getting healthy as a top priority). 

I had a client come in telling me that they already knew everything that they were supposed to do to lose weight.  My question then becomes “If you have the knowledge, then what do you feel is stopping you from doing the things you know will help you meet your goal?”  I had to apply that to myself, and one of my reasons it that it’s overwhelming, tedious and boring.  This brings me back to the book of inspiration.  I respond to things visually and I need things to look pretty in order for it to keep my attention.  Reading running magazines get me motivated to run and by the same token, organizing books give me motivation to organize.  I am proud that I already completed several of the tasks assigned by the book.  For instance, I already turned a rarely used closet into a small office which will be the designated detention center for all paperwork entering my home.  I’m also making home homemade file boxes covered in beautiful fabric to keep things from getting dull.  If I have to look at it each month, it might as well look great in my home.  With the extra time I can save by being organized, I’ll go running.

A Little Inspiration

When I was a young college student, I turned my parent’s travel trailer into an apartment.  It was parked in their huge back yard.  It was a large Coachman trailer that I’m sure they no longer produce.  It wasn’t one of the new lines of lightweight trailers or RVs that dominate the market nowadays.  It would sleep 8-10 but for those couple of years, it was all mine.  I had one area set up as a bed full time.  It was perfectly situated for feeling the heater at night during the winter.  At times, I would use my appointed childhood bed which was the top bunk at the rear of the trailer and that location was my favorite reading spot in the summer since it got a lot of the air conditioning from the ceiling mounted air conditioner.  I had an area (what was intended to be the large dining/entertaining area) as my study area.  It was surrounded by windows and had a surface that was perfect for storing my books when they weren’t in use.  It was my own little sanctuary.  Now, 20 years later, I remember the beauty of the structure in my life during those years.  My niece is about to graduate from high school and I hope that she finds an equally welcome sanctuary in which for her to start her adult life. 

 

Each day, I’m looking for a bit of inspiration.  I have found myself delaying some goals due to the unexpectedness and daily responsibilities in life.  I came across this photo of a space entitled “pretty light” and its simplicity, light and structure reminded me of what I think of as my first place.  I am going to set up my front living space as my Inspiration Space.  It already plays home to my piano, a lovely large desk, my art easel and supplies so a wall mount for my violin will be a welcome addition.  There are, of course, items that are less than inspiring such as the baskets of laundry needing to be folded and the bankers boxes that I refuse to stuff back in a closet in honor of project organization.  In those first days of adulthood, there sure was a lot less paper in my life. 

In honor of resurrecting those long lost care free days, my mission (I have no real choice but to accept it) is to go through each of the bankers boxes over the next few days and sort everything into appropriate piles and files.

Photo Repinned from Interior by Emma Stefan

Healthy Eating CAN BE Luxurious

Last night I prepared a new creation, an adaptation of a gratin.  Homemade gnocchi and blanched broccoli topped with a mixture of caramelized onion, sautéed bacon (1 strip total) and béchamel popped into the oven to make a beautiful golden topping.  The recipe did take over an hour to prepare (thanks to being true to caramelized onion creations) but it was worth it.  If you’re an experienced cook, caramelized onions aren’t at all scary and really don’t take a lot of attention as long as you’re not straying too far from the kitchen.

The final product was a great combination of soft potato dumplings, great for you broccoli with a creamy and crispy topping.  I used a single strip of diced bacon (our unhealthful fat contribution) combined with olive oil to caramelize the onions.  When the onions were complete (yes a whole hour later of low simmering to create the wonderfully complex flavor of the caramelized onion), the onions created the base for the béchamel sauce (which sounds so much better than a white sauce).  I used skim milk for the sauce which means it stayed true to healthful cooking night.  A light sprinkle of mozzarella cheese and bread crumbs completed the dish and would form the crispy crust.  This would have been a great dish to make ahead and just pop in the oven before serving.   And the added bonus is that it's another recipe for me to use up the 10 pound bag of potatoes I bought.

 I’ll definitely take pictures next time.  I’m definitely repeating the recipe more family and friends soon.