FitFeat

Archive for March, 2011

Tuna, Termites and Diving Pigeons

Mar 31

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 11 Comments

Hi blog buds!

Wow, long delay there since my last post – the past week went by in a complete blink.  MSP was out of town all last week at an annual conference for work (the one I wrote about when I went along last year to Vegas).   I picked him up at the airport Friday and we spent a bunch of time together, eating out, ‘window shopping’ for furniture and home goods for fun (nothing purchased), catching up on the DVR’d shows and then Sunday what had started as a sore throat for him became full fledged SICK.  He sounds terrible!

So between playing nurse, wrapping up studying for ServSafe, spending all day in class Tuesday and taking the test, then recipe testing yesterday, here we already are at Thursday!  And the last day of the month no less!

When I last wrote, I had mentioned some beautiful tuna that I had purchased and couldn’t wait to sear.  I cut the piece in half so that I could have part of it one day and part of it the next, but freshly seared each time.

On the first day, I pressed the tuna first into wasabi powder then into toasted sesame seeds and seared it.

I sauteed some broccoli slaw in the juice of a blood orange along with some sesame oil and soy sauce.

It was heaven on a plate.

Then on the second day, I simply seasoned the tuna with sea salt and pepper, and then seared it, sliced it, and served it with salad, mango, avocado, wasabi, ginger and a little sweetened soy dipping sauce.

Despite all the nasty things I learned about raw fish in my ServSafe certification course, I just don’t think I can give up seared tuna.  It’s much too delicious!

Both of these meals were literally ready to go in less than 10 minutes.  Those are always my favorite meals!  Fast, fresh and restaurant-delicious!

While on the subject of ServSafe:  after taking that course let me just tell you that eating out will be much more difficult for me to stomach.  Our instructor was a ton of fun, and really loved telling us horror stories that she has gathered during the years.  And the attendees in the class got a kick out of telling their stories as well.  One guy talked about a pigeon that flew in through an open door and divebombed straight into the fryer!!  Can you imagine?  There was another story of wood chunks being tossed into a wood-burning pizza oven and watching a mass exodus of termites right before they incinerated.  (And these were stories told by the LOCAL participants in our class – not even the doozies the instructor shared!)

Makes you want to run right out and eat at a restaurant, no?

I told my friend from school who was there with me that this could be a great marketing key for our personal chef businesses!  ;)

Well on that appetizing note, I’ll leave you to consider what you’ll be having today for breakfast or lunch!  Hopefully you are making your OWN food today!  Now that the class is done, I promise not to share any more ‘grossness’ like that!  (For at least 5  years until I have to recertify anyway!)

Make it an AWESOME day friends!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , ,

A Toast to Miso

Mar 23

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 3 Comments

Good morning FitFeat friends!

Welcome to midweek!  :)   We’ll be halfway to the weekend at lunchtime today!

Speaking of lunch, I’m looking forward to mine today.  I picked up a nice piece of sashimi grade tuna that I’m going to crust with sesame seeds and wasabi powder then sear on a super hot pan.  I also bought a blood orange to go with it so I’m trying to decide if I want to juice it and reduce it with a little soy sauce or balsamic to make a syrupy drizzle.  For the side I have some broccoli slaw that I will most likely sautée. Mmmm I hope it turns out photo-worthy for the blog!  :)

So I have a new favorite toast obsession that may fall under the category of “Shari and Her Weird Food”!  I’ll let you be the judge of that.

It’s still my favorite delicious Ezekial toast – but I’ve been topping one of the pieces with MELLOW WHITE MISO! It’s delicious!  (In the pic above, the one on the right has the miso on it, left is almond butter).  Drizzle a little raw organic honey on it and I’m telling you it’s AWESOME!  A little salty from the miso, a little sweet from the honey.  LOVE IT.

I’ve also done the same thing on Ezekial sprouted grain English muffins:

I would say it’s no more than 1 teaspoon smeared on there.  You don’t want to go overboard because miso is a little high in sodium.  But it is a great source of trace minerals, and because it’s a fermented food it provides beneficial bacteria and enzymes (provided you don’t overheat it).

I’ve even mixed a little miso into Tofutti (dairy-free cream cheese spread) and smeared it on my Wasa crackers:

More reading on MISO:

From the last article in the list above, I found this interesting:  “Miso soup consumption is linked with up to a 50% reduced risk of breast cancer according to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.”

Do you enjoy miso?  How do you like to use it?

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , ,

Stuffed Kabocha Squash

Mar 19

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Recipes, vegan, Vegetarian | 6 Comments

Good morning friends!

I was a busy bee in the kitchen yesterday, trying some recipes that I want to freeze for later use.  One of the things I made I just couldn’t resist eating for dinner.

I roasted a kabocha squash then stuffed it with a revised version of my Indian Spiced Quinoa.  Because I was using what I had on hand, I substituted dried plums and basil for the dates and mint in the original version.

Stuffed Kabocha Squash with Indian Spiced Quinoa

Makes 2-4 servings (2 as a meal, 4 as a side dish)

  • 1/2 cup quinoa (measured dry)
  • 1 kabocha squash, halved and seeds removed
  • 3/4 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 1 yellow pepper, chopped and seeds removed
  • 1 small finger of ginger, peeled and minced
  • ½  teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • sprinkle of sea salt
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 3 dried plums, finely chopped
  • 3-5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • ½  teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Directions

Soak quinoa for 30-60 minutes prior to cooking.  Rinse well, drain and set aside.

After quinoa is done soaking, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place halved, deseeded kabocha squash face down on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Roast for 30-35 minutes or until flesh is fork tender.

While kabocha is roasting, melt coconut oil over medium heat.  Add shallots, pepper, garlic, ginger, garam masala and a pinch of sea salt, stirring often until peppers soften, about 5 minutes.

Add quinoa and stir well to coat with spice mixture.

Add vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until quinoa begins to look fluffy and liquid has absorbed into the grains.

Allow quinoa to sit uncovered for 3-5 minutes.  Using a fork, mix in plums and basil leaves.  Divide mixture in two and stuff into the kabocha cavities.  Drizzle each very lightly with balsamic vinegar to finish.

If you are serving the squash as the entree, serve the full half like this:

If you are using it as a side dish you can serve cut into quarters (or even slice through into half-circles):

I did put half in the freezer because I’m curious how the textures and flavors will react with freezing and thawing.  I’ll come back out and update this post when I take that one out of the freezer.

Enjoy your Saturday and the LAST DAY of WINTER!  It’s definitely going to feel like spring here this weekend!  In the 70s!  Nice!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , ,

No Longer a Sardine Scaredy-Cat

Mar 18

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Pescatarian | 2 Comments

Hi friends!

Happy Friday!  I hope that you all had a FUN St. Patty’s day yesterday!  We celebrated the birthday of my lovely friend Keri, from Om of the Rockies, last night.  And at a Thai restaurant thankfully!  So we were able to miss the crazy crowds.  :)

I didn’t cook any special meal for the holiday this time, like I did for Mardi Gras.  I’ve been cooking a ton of OTHER stuff during the week, so I think by the time yesterday rolled around I wasn’t feeling inspired by anything in particularly related to the holiday.  (Would you believe I didn’t even have a GREEN smoothie on St. Patrick’s Day??  If ANY day calls for a green smoothie, March 17 would certainly be it, right?)

I did welcome back an old friend though – one that hasn’t been in my food rotation for a while.   A PITA PIZZA!!!  My favorite!

mmm this one had roasted veggies (mushrooms, red peppers and zucchini) with some green olives, fresh garlic, olive oil, sundried tomatoes, a few bits of goat cheese and after cooking I topped it with fresh basil.  I’ve had two this week already and I’m thinking I’ll be having a third today for lunch!

I also picked up a copy of Eating Well magazine over the weekend and have been trying out a few of their recipes.

I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand for their Smoky Artichoke-Sardine Salad, which I thought sounded really unique and interesting.  I bought a can of sardines a LONG time ago because of all the wonderful health benefits that sardines provide (excellent source of Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, omega 3 fatty acids and selenium).  Then the poor little guys just sat in my pantry.  I was always scared to open the can!  But I finally got up the nerve and they taste great!

If you’re in the mood for a change of pace in your salads, go check out the recipe at Eating Well.  :)

Are you a sardine lover?  Or you still staring at a can of them like I did, wondering what do with them? Sardine fans, share your favorite ways to eat them so that FitFeat readers who are hesitant to try them can get their vitamin D fix this weekend!

Speaking of Vitamin D – SPRING arrives this weekend!

Have a FABULOUS FRIDAY, blog buds!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , , , ,

I’d Rather Not Know

Mar 15

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 2 Comments

Hi blog buds!

So just when I thought the ‘schoolwork’ would be done for awhile, I signed up to get my “ServSafe” certification (a one-day class/test for food handlers) and just received a textbook in the mail that I have to read and study before the class at the end of the month.

NOOOOOOOO!

:D

I’m breaking it down to a chapter or two a day so that I don’t procrastinate and have to read it all the day before class.  Yesterday I read the chapters on “The Microworld” and “Contamination and Food Allergens“.

Let’s just say I don’t think I will ever want to eat again!  Pretty much every type of food can harbor something nasty.  (I’ll spare you the gory details.)  I may never be able to stomach shrimp or scallops again.  I will now NEVER try a raw oyster bar.  Even baked potatoes, rice, beans, and melons have their own issues – eeek!  And my beloved unpasteurized goat cheese!

Oddly enough, not a peep about pork and trichinosis.  Go figure.  (Maybe the National Pork Producers Council sponsors the printing of the book.) ;)

I’m already a little freaky about the chemicals in my food, genetic modifications, which ones are thyroid inhibiting, which ones are obesegenic or carcinogenic or estrogenic, and 18 other things it seems… do I really need something else to obsess over when it comes to my food?

One advantage is that if people who eat out all the time at restaurants took this course, they’d probably start knocking down the doors of personal chefs and eat at HOME so that they know who’s been touching their food!  :)

I know I went through a lot of this already at school but it was in the first week – so I quickly put all the “icky” out of my mind!  Now I’m freaked out all over again!  LOL!

Mostly I say this all in jest.  I know that there are hazards in most foods if they aren’t handled properly.  Fortunately, I think I have a pretty hearty immune system.  Throughout 38 years of eating all sorts of stuff, I’ve only ever been truly ‘sick’ from food one time that I can recall (MSP and I both).  And that was because we looked at the expiration date on our eggs, figured 2 days past wasn’t THAT big of a deal, and cooked them up for dinner anyway.  The next day, we were both super sick.  So we either did it to ourselves or we both contracted a 24-hour flu bug of some sort.

I know this may seem like an odd topic for FitFeat today, but have you ever had any sort of food poisoning?  Do you know what the culprit was?

Hope you are having a TERRIFIC TUESDAY friends!  See you next time!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , ,

Bait-and-Switched Bison

Mar 14

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 6 Comments

Hi FitFeat friends!  Happy Monday – I hope that your week is starting off on the right foot.

Mine started off SLEEPILY thanks to the time change.  I couldn’t get tired last night and then did NOT want to wake up this morning.  Tomorrow when the alarm goes off at 4:40 am, it’s going to hurt.  ;)   I know everyone likes the daylight later in the evening, but to be honest I am NOT a fan of Daylight Savings.  I would MUCH rather have my daylight early in the morning.  Midsummer when it’s light out at 10:00 PM that doesn’t help me!  I rarely see 10:00 PM!  :)

It was a two-cups-o’coffee kind of morning around here.

So I mentioned last week that I was planning to try out a bison roast in the pressure cooker and I owe you an update on that.  Well – guess what?  Somehow I came home with a BEEF SHOULDER roast.  It was in with the bison/buffalo display so I don’t know if they keep some of their organic beef in the same case or what.  When I pulled it out of the bag from the refrigerator, I was dismayed to see that it wasn’t bison at all.  Still, at $13 it wasn’t cheap so you can bet it was going to get made.

The recipe called for you to roast it in the pressure cooker for about 60 minutes with some veg stock, chopped onions and a whole bunch of prunes (that you later puree into a “plum sauce”).  Between the brown of the sauce and the brown of the beef, it was definitely NOT picture worthy for the blog.  Truly.

I followed the recipe as it was written (so unlike me, I know!!) but I’m new with this whole pressure cooker thing and I wanted to follow the advice of the pro who wrote the book.

It was a disappointment to say the least.  I thought the meat looked a little dry for being cooked with steam and when I taste-tested the sauce, I thought it was really bland.  MSP is the meat-eater and this was a meal for him – he said it didn’t wow him, but he sweetly ate his whole plateful.  I’ve shredded up the remainder of the roast and I tweaked the remaining sauce by adding some hoisin and chinese 5-spice to it, so he’s been having kind of an Asian BBQ beef over Jasmine rice.   Much better!

I did however make a batch of plain brown rice in the pressure cooker – and it turned out great!  As far as full recipes in it go, I obviously need to continue to tinker with it.

Other food over the weekend was better…

I made another batch of the Tomato Soup with Red Miso that we made way back in the first week of school.  Still knocks my socks off.  I had it with a side of baked kale (this time I used Lacinato kale in lieu of curly kale and left the leaves whole) and a side of “cheese” toast (I smeared a little creamy goat cheese on a piece of bread and stuck it under the broiler).  Oh my goodness.  Dinner was SOOO good.  I wanted go back for seconds even though I was stuffed.

I will never be able to make a batch of kale chips and not eat the ENTIRE batch.

And of course the pups got the kale stalks.

I think it’s funny how much my dogs love their veggies!

I turned my leftover shrimp into an Avocado Mango Shrimp salad.  This was so quick and easy.  I tossed the spinach first in a little olive oil and some Annie’s Gingerly Vinaigrette, sauteed the shrimp in a little wine and broth, topped with some cubed avocado and mango, some raw cashews and then a few alfalfa sprouts on the top.

And the last of the food news – during my grocery shopping this weekend I ran across the new Lärabar flavor:  Blueberry Muffin.

WOW! Another great Lärabar flavor.  I will be adding this to my collection of favorites!

On the fitness front, I’ve been doing a lot of hill walking outside for exercise because our weather has been so mild, in the 60s.  Saturday morning I did Tabata legs/abs.  I thought my abs would be sore.  I was wrong.  My hamstrings are CRYING still this morning, two days later.  I am telling you, the combo of doing some sort of hamstring curl followed by a straight leg deadlift gives your hammies a one-two punch that you feel for a few days.  EVERY time.  I love it.

Tabata Legs/Abs Workout (8 sets of ea exercise, 4 min total, 20 sec on, 10 sec off):

  • Leg Extensions
  • Hamstring Curls on the Ball
  • Straight-Legged Deadlifts with DBs
  • Reverse Lunge + High Kick
  • Side Planks
  • Bicycles

I think this coming week will see a lot of outdoor cardio and not as much gym time – it’s supposed to be 75 on Wednesday and I can’t resist getting outside for the nice weather while it’s here!

How was YOUR weekend?  Did you eat any great FIT food?  Try any new recipes?  Get to enjoy some outdoor activity?

– Shari B. =)

»crosslinked«

Mardi Gras Meal, FitFeat Style

Mar 9

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 5 Comments

Our little Mardi Gras dinner for 2 turned out really well – it was fun to come up with what I wanted to make but in a not-so-traditional way.

The menu:

  • Creole Spiced Shrimp (for me)
  • Crispy Creole Chicken (for MSP)
  • Jambalaya Rice over Red Bean Purée
  • Raw “Creamed” Spinach

I’ll link you to the recipes I used but you know me – I didn’t follow them totally as written.  :)   In the pic above, the purée is plated first (the pink layer on the bottom).  On top of that is a round of the jambalaya rice.  Then I placed my shrimp on top of that.  Then the “creamed” spinach around the front.  (Sadly it looks like I was trying to make a smiley face with my food! I assure you that was not my intent!)

So the first inspiration was this Jambalaya Recipe by Emeril.  At the bottom of his recipe he gives the ingredients to a Creole Spice Mix.  I scaled it down by half and made a batch to have some extra on my spice wall.

For MSP’s chicken I mixed a few spoons of that spice mix with some panko bread crumbs.  I cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally (to basically get the effect of pounding it out thinly without having to pound it!), ‘patted’ it into the seasoning and panko mix, then lightly pan fried them in a little coconut oil.

For my shrimp, I just dusted them with the Creole seasoning (no panko) and then briefly pan fried them in a little almond oil then I added a bit of water to the pan and covered so they would steam for a few minutes while I was plating.

I somewhat followed Emeril’s recipe for the Jambalaya rice. I wanted extra veggies to balance out the rice, so I added larger quantities.

From his list of ingredients, here’s what I subbed:

I only wanted to make the rice portion of this dish, because I was making the proteins separately.  The flavor of the rice was GREAT – but it took FOREVER to cook.  I let the brown rice go for over an hour and it was still a little on the “not quite done” side by the time we were ready to eat.  Honestly, next time I’ll cook the brown rice separately first, then add all the rest to it for the flavor afterward.

Since “red beans and rice” is a dish you hear about a lot in New Orleans cuisine, I was fortunate to find this can of Louisiana Red Beans by chance at the store!  MSP isn’t a huge bean fan, so I decided to make a little purée out of it.  I added the beans, their juice and some fresh lemon juice to the Blendtec, blended till creamy, then put it in a pan to heat over low.

And last but not least the raw “Creamed” spinach (mine was ‘mostly raw’ since I used tahini that was roasted, and tamari which is not truly raw).  I followed this recipe provided by RawNani in her YouTube video.  The only changes I made were I subbed in some tahini in for 1/2 of the almond butter.  I made the dressing first in my Magic Bullet, then I put the spinach and parsley into my food processor and pulsed, drizzling the dressing in as I went. I only used about 2/3 of the dressing for a TON of spinach (easily more than a full 10 oz clamshell of spinach). This was SO tasty!  I love the dressing.

It was really a delicious dinner, even though it took forever to get it to the table.  I don’t really ‘celebrate’ Mardi Gras, but I always love an excuse to try fun food, new recipes and come up with fun ideas along the way.

I am TOTALLY looking forward to lunch today so I can eat the leftovers!

Have a WONDERFUL day friends!

– Shari B.  =)

Tags: , , , , ,

Mardi Minus the Gras

Mar 8

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 9 Comments

Hi FitFeat friends!

Hope your week is off to a great start!  Mine is definitely getting off to an unproductive beginning.  I’ve said before on the blog that I swear I have an electronic force field around me that sometimes makes all my technology act wonky!  Well, the force field is back this week for sure.  My laptop is being really slow – so slow in fact that as I write this, I’ll have a full sentence typed before all the letters decide to show up.  I’m still fighting with the Headway customizable theme that I bought for the new cheffing website – something that should be SO simple I’ve already wasted over 7 hours on.  (Literally trying to resize a column.  I wish I was exaggerating.  I’m not.  7+ hours trying to get 2 columns to STOP changing their size back to equal).

So I’m thinking, just to be safe, I should stay away from my CAR today!  :)

I’ve actually spent so much time working on my laptop over the last few weeks that my low back has been sore (I am a terrible sloucher when I’m on the computer – I know I need to fix that, but it’s just one of those things that you don’t catch yourself doing when you’re immersed in a project).  I need to go do a few sun salutations to release my hamstrings!

***

I have some random things for you today – no rhyme or reason to this post!

First a blog post that I happened upon via Twitter about why the author doesn’t want to be competition lean anymore.  It really resonated with me because I’ve been there and experienced a lot of the same feelings.  I thought it was interesting, so I thought I’d share it with you in case you are bored at your desk.  :)

Next I flipped through a Life and Style magazine while I was on the treadmill today – an article about celebrities and cellulite.  Now, I appreciate very much when stars readily admit that they have cellulite because, ladies, for most of us it’s just a fact of life no matter how lean we seem to get and the airbrushed images that we see in magazines are unfair expectations for us all to live up to.  I’ve only ever been without cellulite on stage days for figure shows, and that was after a lot of water/electrolyte manipulation (not to mention 4 months of strict dieting and exercising leading up to it).  I’ve had it since I was in my teens.  But what got under my skin was a quote from Jessica Alba that said, “I’ve got cellulite but I love it.”  Really Jessica?  You LOVE it?  Who LOVES having cellulite?  Come on!  It’s one thing to accept that you have it, but I’ve got a long way to go before I’ll ‘love it’.  I don’t know why, but it just struck me as an ODD thing to declare!

On a cooking note, anyone making anything fun for Mardi Gras tonight?  I’m thinking I’m going to make some Cajun-spiced shrimp for me, Cajun-spiced chicken for MSP, serve it with some jambalaya-style rice (topped with either red beans, or a red bean purée) and then make some dairy-free high-raw “creamed” spinach.  I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.  I’m kind of flying by the seat of my pants on these but usually that’s when I make my best meals I think!  So cross your fingers for me!  I’m excited for dinner!  It should be pretty darn healthy!

Then later this week I am going to try making a roast in the pressure cooker for MSP.  I found a really good quality BISON at the store today so I’m going to sub it into a recipe I found with some plum sauce.  I am still attempting to master the pressure cooker – and this will be the first meat made in it since I’ve been using it so far just for my rice, beans and vegetable stock.  I’m thinking maybe I’ll make some tempeh for me and use the same plum sauce and maybe serve it with some jasmine rice.

Discussion time: let’s hear from you on any or all of the random topics above. Article on competition leanness and the obsessiveness that comes with it – what are your thoughts? (I totally agree with her that many women who compete come away from it with a bit of a disordered view of our bodies and our diets – I know I experienced that for a while).  Thoughts on celebrities who ‘love’ their cellulite? Or tell us what you’re doing for Mardi Gras? (Are you cooking “Mardi minus the Gras” style?)

Have a TERRIFIC Tuesday blog buds!

– Shari B. =)

Kelp is Kool

Mar 5

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Vegetarian | 4 Comments

Oh what a glorious start to the weekend already!  We were finally able to get the dogs out for a nice 5K wog this morning!  Sun was shining, not too much wind.  Chilly at 32 degrees, but I was cozy in my awesome birthday beanie from the talented Cindy!

If you say the words “WOG”, “WALK”, “PARK” or really any phrase that starts with “Do ya wanna go for a _____??”,  Rascal perks right up!  Look at this face!

I LOVE starting my days outside almost as much as the dogs do!

It’s amazing what 5 days of eating and exercising back in my own routine again has done!  I was experiencing a bit of digestive stress during most days of school, and I attributed it to a combination of things:  rushed eating, too many types of foods in one meal, and STRESS!  This week after being back to my more simplified approach to meals, I feel great.  And I’ve been fortunate to get to work out every day.  I am back to using my “no slacker tracker” and so far all 5 days of March are filled in!  I’ve done 250 minutes of exercise in 5 days.  Perfect!   A little strength training, some cardio, some iron yoga (Bob’s yoga yesterday means sore traps and obliques today!).

I did do a little running Thursday night with my friend Jen, but other than that none of my cardio has been running much over the past months.  I thought I might miss running more, but I don’t (yet).  I think when spring fever sets in I might be itching to throw on my five-finger shoes and hit the trails.

Before I switch gears to some food talk, I want to send a big shout out to Sunshine Burger for putting my blog post on their Facebook page and Twitter yesterday.  It’s always such an honor – and I love that it creates conversation with some new folks!

So one of the meals I showed you in my last post was the Tempeh Spinach stirfry with Kelp noodles.  A classmate gave me a package of kelp noodles on her last day here because she was moving back to her home state and she knew I was excited to try them.  I have yet to find them in my local Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage, so I might order them online.  They are by a company called “Sea Tangle“.

OH.  MY.  These things ROCK! It’s like eating zero calorie food!  OK maybe not ZERO.  But SIX, which is practically ZERO!  A full 4 oz serving of these noodles is only 6 calories!  When cooked they remind me a little of rice noodles.  And they are a sea vegetable, which you all know I believe to be a fabulous addition your diets.

These are a great way to get that “noodle” feel into a meal without breaking the carb or calorie bank with regular noodles.  Even gluten-free noodles (while better for us than refined wheat noodles) still add up fast in calories if you aren’t careful with portion size.

I will definitely be experimenting with these more in the future, because I love noodly meals!

Have you ever had kelp noodles? What’s your favorite dish to eat them in?

Hope that you have a SUPER Saturday!

– Shari B.  =)

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Getting Back to Normal

Mar 3

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Natural Chef Culinary School | 6 Comments

Wow, you know you’ve missed a couple of days on your blog when you log in to your dashboard and see that you have 827 SPAM comments!  Yikes!

So since I’ve been gone a few days – how are you?

I’m…. breathing normally again!  By that I mean that I don’t have any homework assignments due, business plans due, final presentations to practice for, final papers to write.

I’ve officially completed holistic culinary school!  I’m also OFFICIALLY a Certified Natural Chef.  Woot woot!  So what does a natural chef do after their closing ceremony?  Go out to eat and let someone else cook!  ha ha!  I kind of meant that as a joke at first, but really that’s what we did!   The students met up as a group the evening after our last (and very emotional) day at an Ethiopian restaurant in Denver.  I’d never eaten Ethiopian food so it was a real treat! Of course all my pictures turned out crazy from the dim lighting – this blurry picture below was the best of the bunch and it still hurts my eyes to look at it!  This was the deliciously sweet honey wine I tried:

And it’s served in something that resembles a bud vase!  I’m wondering if that is meant to force you to sip it slowly and savor it.

The style of Ethiopian dining was really neat – we sat around a tiny table that’s somewhat like a small circular coffee table.  So you don’t scoot under it at all.  And you use these great rolls of Injera to scoop up the food off the main tray.  The Injera was so soft and light, like airy pancakes only thin like a crepe (click HERE for more info on it and to see a picture).  It comes rolled up tight in individual servings and you tear a piece off your roll.  No forks or spoons.

It was really neat, very tasty and inexpensive.  Lots of vegetarian choices as well.  A perfect way to wrap up our schooling.

Leading up to the end I was getting so excited for school to be done – during that last month I was just mentally OVER it all.  I was tired, stressed, feeling behind on everthing.  And then at the end of our last day, our instructors had us sit in a circle on floor cushions.  We wrote something on little pieces of paper about each of our classmates, then placed the notes in front of the corresponding person.  Then we read aloud all of the things people wrote about us.  I absolutely lost it.  I could hardly get the WORDS out when I was reading mine.  I was so touched by all the things my classmates said.  We all really became very close and I know we’ll all keep in touch.  It’s amazing how you can become really attached to people or situations without consciously realizing it.

So now the real work begins – building up my personal chef business.  Currently I’m working on the website (trying to release myself from the perfectionist grasp and ALLOWING it to just be a simple site to start)   Then design/print flyers and business cards.  Then literally hitting the pavement – the scary part!  Acckkk! Sales!  Marketing!  Can’t I just skip right to having a full schedule of clients and get down to the cooking part?  :)

In between that though, I’m thoroughly enjoying “play time” in the kitchen again!  Oh my gosh it feels good to just whip stuff up, not because I’m doing recipe homework or testing a technique.  Just creating a typical ‘throw it together Shari-style build-a-meal’. SO. MUCH. FUN.

Here are some pictures of the fun I’ve had in my kitchen this week-

Seedy Softie Cookies
(almond pulp from homemade nut milk turned into cookie squares)

***
Italian Favorites on a Plate
(there actually IS whole wheat spaghetti down there at the bottom, topped with massaged kale, spaghetti sauce, crumbled Garlic Herb Sunshine Burger, butter beans, basil)

***
Wrap with tempeh, green apple, goat cheese, celery

***

Pureed Lentil Soup with Kale, Homemade Croutons (and Chicken Italian Sausage in MSP’s bowl!)

***

Tempeh, Spinach and Kelp Noodle StirFry
with tahini, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and mirin

***

And the one constant in my diet…

(You knew it wouldn’t be a complete FitFeat post without a Green Smoothie right??)  ;)

Hmmm my food pics look an awful lot like they did BEFORE I went to school, don’t they?  That doesn’t seem right!

Today the weather is in the 60′s and I’m hoping the incoming rain holds off until after 7:00 tonight because I’m going to my FAVORITE HILLY TRAIL today with a friend for some SOCIALCIZING! I can’t remember the last time I went there – I think it was OCTOBER!  And I used to go there at least once a week!

Have you done any socialcizing lately??? What was your outing?

See you soon, blog buds!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , ,