Vicariously Vacationing

Happy Friday FitFeat Friends!

Another week has flown by in a flash and I have been a COOKING machine!

(Does that make me an OVEN??  ha ha! OK, that was terrible!)

SOOO glad it’s Friday – I’m definitely ready for a weekend NOT in a kitchen.   Outside of some cheffing work, I’ve also been developing my library of client recipes – the ones this week are of the “freezable” variety for testing how they reheat and taste after coming out of the freezer, so I haven’t been taking pictures – they aren’t really pretty to look at as they are being packaged up.  This little guy was somewhat photogenic though, so I did nab a pic of him:

(BTW, would you believe that organic red bell peppers are currently $5.49 a pound???  OUCH!)

My house smells like onions and garlic all the time now.  No amount of candle burning or Febreze will eliminate it. 

Here are some of the dishes I was testing/tweaking/tasting/freezing:

Tempeh NewMex Stuffed Sweet Peppers (a variation of the tomato version I did for my final presentation at school)

Southwest Healthy “Joes”

Creole Chicken with Jambalaya Brown Rice (an improved version of the one I made for Mardi Gras)

Greek Spiced Buffalo Sliders with Rosemary Thyme Mashed Cauliflower

Indian Chicken Curry with Carrots and Chard over Basmati

African Sweet Potato with Peanut and Red Beans (sounds weird, but it is delicious!)

Asian Cabbage & Daikon Pita Pockets with Hoisin Peanut Sauce

Tilapia Italiano over Herbed White Beans with Capers

Salmon and Millet Cakes with Dairy-free Creamed Spinach

Oh and one dessert (not for the freezer – I just felt like I needed something sweet!):

Peanut Butter Millet Bars (mmm – MSP liked these and he doesn’t usually like PB)

Apparently I’m aiming to vacation vicariously through my cooking – my recipe list seems to hit a lot of locations: Italy, Greece, Asia, India, Africa, New Mexico…!

If you’re wondering why I don’t have almond butter in these recipes where you see the peanut butter, there are two reasons.  One is that when I’m first testing out a recipe (and especially if I’m going to change it up to fit into a healthier food style) I don’t want to use my insanely expensive almond butter when I can use natural organic peanut butter, just in case the recipe doesn’t turn out how I had hoped.  But the other reason is that I learned that peanuts may be beneficial to my digestive system (for my blood type) – if I were to follow the blood typing nutrition plan such as “Eat Right for Your Type”.  That’s a whole other discussion that we’ll have to have sometime in another post.  So I decided to have some PB on hand as well my beloved AB and switch it up every once in a while.  If I were to fully follow the nutrition plan for my blood type, I’d need to get rid of two of my all-time favorite foods: chickpeas (what, no hummus???) and mangoes, among a list of other things.

But I digress!

I can’t believe it’s Easter weekend!  Hallelujah, the Cadbury Caramel Creme Eggs will finally be off the shelves again for the next 9 months!  Wahoo!  Those little devils taunt me and I had more than my usual share this season for sure.  Speaking of devils and creme eggs, you absolutely have to go look at this link – someone with LOADS more patience than I will ever possess made Deviled Eggs out of Cadbury Creme Eggs.  They are ADORABLE!

Do you have any big Easter plans?  Large family gatherings?  Easter dinner? If the weather holds out for us, we hope to spend our Easter morning outdoors, preferably on a little hike.  I have been easing back into exercise with Bob Harper yoga this week and it feels GREAT.  Next week I’ll attempt a little more intensity.  Thank you all for hanging with me while FitFeat has been lacking in the “FIT” the last few weeks!  It feels so great to be on the road back to normal!

Have an EGGScellent Easter blog buds!

– Shari B. =)