Hi blog buds!
Happy Friday EVE! I’ve missed you guys! It’s been B-U-S-Y up here in FitFeatville! I had a Chef Shari project that took about 4 days and then a day of side work for something unrelated. It’s been a whirlwind since Saturday morning! I’ve been meeting myself coming and going. But I love it! Things are definitely cooking right now (pun intended!).
The only downside is that I think my usually bulletproof immune system may have succumbed to MSP’s bug. So far it’s only in my voice, or lack thereof actually. I woke up yesterday with little more than a whisper. I sound TERRIBLE but I feel fine for the most part. So I’m crossing my fingers that this is all that comes of it. MSP is in the tail-end of his cold (or whatever he had) and it’s been 2 weeks! I don’t want it! I’ve got some errands to knock out today but after that, I’m going to take it easy just to be on the safe side. And make some homemade ginger tea. Here’s why I’ll be making it at home – I bought this Ginger Soother drink that I’d heard about before:

But didn’t look at the label until I was already almost done with it. 32 grams of SUGAR??? Really? Well no WONDER it tastes delicious.

So today I’ll grate my own ginger, steep it in hot water, squeeze in some lemon juice and a hint of honey and have my own ‘soother’ for a lot less calories. Nothing against The Ginger People. I love most of their products. I love their Ginger Chews and their jarred minced ginger. But if I’m going to consume 32 grams of sugar in one sitting, chances are it’s going to be in the form of a Cadbury Caramel Creme Egg!
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Prior to the “busy busy” of the last week, I’d spent a bit of time ‘playing’ in the kitchen adapting recipes to use for personal chef clients. I have to share pics with you of my two favorites.
One is a vegetarian stroganoff using tempeh in place of beef (with plenty of veggies: mushrooms, onions, spinach, carrots) and served over wild rice in lieu of pasta. I am crazy about this dish – and it’s a good thing because I’ll be eating leftovers from the freezer for awhile!

I also wanted to make tamales but time is of the essence on a cookdate for a client, so I can’t really spend precious minutes separately wrapping each tamale in a corn husk or banana leaf. Solution? Put it all in a baking dish – now it’s like a tamale lasagna! This one is also vegetarian. Mushrooms, onions, spinach, black beans, tomatoes, raisins, almonds, corn – there are LOADS of things in this one.

Do you have a favorite food/dish that you have converted to your “style” of eating? Whether that means taking it from a meaty recipe to a vegetarian one, or from high in bad fats to lower in fats (or using better fats), etc? What recipes do you like to tweak?
Well friends, I’m off to get those errands done so that I can hit the “pause” button on the BUSYthis afternoon! I hope you have a TERRIFIC Thursday! Can’t wait to hear about your recipe tweaking!
– Shari B. =)









#1 by Carrie on April 7, 2011 - 11:25 am
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Shari, I’m so excited for you that your business is taking off so quickly! You rock!
Dan has been sick for two weeks also, just like Cory. I think he picked up the nasty virus on the plane on his way home from China/South Korea. I’m mad at him for not getting a flu shot! He went to the dr., but he just told him to wait it out. Since we don’t live together (and since I got my flu shot!), I haven’t even gotten a hint of what he has and I hope it stays that way. He’s been down for the count for awhile and like you, I’m too busy to squeeze being sick into my schedule!
#2 by Shari B. on April 8, 2011 - 1:04 pm
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Hi Carrie! Thank you, I love to hear that I rock! LOL!
It is definitely the time of year for a major bug to be going around. Everyone I know seems to have it or knows someone who has it! It’s crazy! I was at the store the other day, and people all around me were coughing and I felt like I just had to run out of the place! And go wash my hands!!
I hope Dan feels better soon!
And I hope you continue to keep from getting it!
#3 by Fallon on April 7, 2011 - 10:53 am
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I don’t blame you on the sugar department!!! I much rather save my sugary craving for something I will enjoy and is a treat for me.
My favorite thing I’ve done to cut fat is when I bread chicken breasts or eggplant I use egg whites as the glue (fluff them up real good) and whole wheat panko bread crumbs. Bake them up and so delicious. I will usually turn it into a parmigiana or salad toppings!
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#4 by Shari B. on April 8, 2011 - 1:05 pm
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Fallon! So great to hear from you! Whole wheat panko? I use panko but have never found a whole wheat version anywhere at the stores! Maybe I need to look more closely!
Thanks for sharing, that’s great info!
#5 by Joan on April 7, 2011 - 9:41 am
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I hope you don’t get any worse. That’d be a huge bummer. your homemade ginger soother sounds wonderful! So far I’ve managed to stay away from that ick.
Can’t think of any dish specifically but I basically just tweak any meat dish to vegetarian but since you mentioned stroganoff, I have my own creation. I make a home made vegetarian gravy, LOTS of quartered and sauteed mushrooms all over a bed of homemade spatzle. We have it with rotkraut. We just love it and thanks for reminding me I haven’t made it in a while. It would be great with sauteed kale/garlic on the side.
I like your idea of using tempeh in the stroganoff, it would add protein which mine lacks, and your tamale lasagna sounds awesome!
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#6 by Shari B. on April 8, 2011 - 1:06 pm
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Wow Joan that sounds wonderful! What is ROTkraut? I’m dying to know!
#7 by Joan on April 8, 2011 - 8:51 pm
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As you know sauerkraut is green cabbage/salt…rotkraut is red cabbage with sugar/vinegar and some spices…many recipes vary as much as German regions but Gundelsheim brand tastes like what we had in Germany and has little/no preservatives or goofy ingredients. You must try red kraut. Simply a sweeter version of sauerkraut. My German cookbook has more than one recipe, one of which includes apple as does the restaurant in Leavenworth (Bavarian style city in WA) but we don’t care for the apple version.
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#8 by Shari B. on April 9, 2011 - 10:01 am
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Hi Joan! Ahhh “Rot” = Red. I get it!
I use red cabbage for my homemade kraut simply because I like to eat brightly colored foods! I just didn’t realize it had a different name! How fun!
#9 by allison @ thesundayflog on April 7, 2011 - 9:02 am
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ummmm ok. ill be on the next flight to CO. those dishes look AMAZING, shari! i hope you dont get sick. ive actually never lost my voice (and secretly always wanted to…) so i hope that’s all that comes of it. i made a huge pot of rice and lentil soup last night, decided i didnt feel well, and threw the whole thing in the freezer. i guess it’s on the menu tonight! congrats on the chef shari projects!!! DEETS?
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#10 by Shari B. on April 8, 2011 - 1:08 pm
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Hi Allison! Oh my goodness, no you do not want to be voiceless! For me, it’s torture. I like to chat – a LOT! So instead of resting my voice as I should, I think I am straining to try to talk which is probably the worst thing for it!