FitFeat

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Archive for category Recipes

Über Green Smoothie

Jan 13

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 7 Comments

Hi friends!

An early morning post — surprise!!  ;)   Right after I get off of work today I am meeting up with my brother for our belated xmas gift exchange and then I have dinner plans directly following.  So I’m here bright and early this morning, knowing that I won’t be back in front of the PC again until LATE tonight.  Guess where I’m going for the dinner plans??  I’ll give you a hint:  my plate will most likely have GIGANDE beans on it!!

I made the BIGGEST GREEN smoothie yesterday morning after I finished my Physique 57 workout.  I almost couldn’t fit the lid on the BlendTec.  (Do you think that’s bad for a blender??)  And as I poured this 34 ouncer into a massive cup, it occurred to me that I haven’t been posting the “parts and pieces” that I throw into my smoothies these days.  I guess I figured they might be old hat to some of you who have been reading for a while.  But for the sake of new readers (and in an effort to convince the rest of you to make a green smoothie) I should consider doing that more often.  I’ll start right now!

The Über-Green Smoothie

  • 9 oz water
  • 1 apple (cut into chunks)
  • 2 cuties/clemetines (peel removed)
  • 1/2 very large cucumber (peeled)
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1/2 avocado
  • large fistful of spinach
  • medium fistful of clover sprouts

Blend away!

Mmm avocado in a green smoothie makes it so thick and creamy!  This smoothie rocked.  It kept me full for almost 3 hours.

While we are on the subject of green smoothies, do you ever make your smoothies ahead of time to drink later? I never used to do that, but have made a few “to go smoothies” to take to work and drink later in the day while I’m there.  The idea of it used to gross me out until one of my training clients told me that she makes hers the night before, then gives it a good shake the next day when she’s ready to drink it and it still tastes great.  So I figured if she can do hers overnight, mine could sit in the fridge for a few hours.

The smoothie still TASTES fine, but I’ve learned that they don’t agree with me after they’ve been blended and held for later consumption.  Folks, I’m gonna get a little “TMI” on ya here:  I end up looking about 5 months pregnant – I’m NOT kidding!  My lower abdomen gets really distended and … uh.. ummm… well, a little gassy if you don’t mind my saying!

DOES THIS HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE?? I have to know if this is just me and my ridiculously sensitive ’system’ or if others experience this.

It makes me wonder if it has to do with the enzymes, natural sugars or fiber breaking down (or something along those lines.)  There are no protein powders in my to-go shakes (I nixed those early on out of the ones I take to work, in case the protein powder was the culprit).  I can make two identical smoothies, drink one immediately with no tummy trouble, but drink the other one 2 hours later and have it cause a very unhappy belly.   Hmmm, mysterious.

So do tell if you have had this happen (if you don’t want to post that kind of info in the comments section for all to see, feel free to email me directly shari@fitfeat.com)

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Chili and Ice

Jan 12

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 5 Comments

Hi blog buds!  How’s your Tuesday treating ya?  I hope I’m not throwing off your reading schedule by posting in the afternoon the last couple of days.  I thought I’d play with my schedule a bit to see which I like better.  What I’m coming up with is post when it fits, instead on a SCHEDULE! :)   Hopefully it doesn’t matter if it’s morning or afternoon!

Well Monday turned out to be a fun exercise day.  First I did 25 minutes of intervals on the treadmill in the morning.  I really do get bored on the treadmill and have to vary my speed and/or incline constantly just to stay interested.  After a quick warm-up I did 1 minute intervals of 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 mph running then walk one minute, then increase the incline a notch and do it again.  The time goes by so much faster that way.

Then when I pulled in the driveway after work, our street had been plowed again!  Which is good on one hand because at least they were moving all of the big ice chunks onto the sunny side of the street.  Unfortunately that also meant our ‘ice trench’ was covered up AGAIN!!!  So I put on my grubbies and some waterproof boots and went out there to dig yet another trench.  It was 50 degrees yesterday so things were just starting to melt a bit in the shaded part of our street.

This ice issue in front of our house has become the neighborhood comedy – neighbors sure like to chuckle at me every day as they drive by, thinking “Suckers!  You got stuck with the worst lot on the street!”  :)   I appreciate that it at least provides a neverending workout, that’s for sure.

But THEN the exercise gets better … because it was so nice out, I couldn’t resist getting the dogs out for a some WOGGING!  It’s been so long I think they forgot what WOGGING is (and you readers may have as well!)  I can’t keep a steady pace with my crazy pups because they like to stop every two seconds to sniff something, then run, then sniff.   So we’re walking AND jogging:  WOGGING.  They had a blast and actually didn’t drive me insane this time.  I think it had something to do with the treats I stashed in my pocket.  ;)   It was perfect weather for a walk.  Now THIS is the Colorado winter weather I love and miss!

***

Every weekend, usually on Sunday, I sit down to come up with food ideas for the week for his dinners (mine are much easier because I always have veggies on hand and as such always have a salad, wrap, sandwich, soup, etc.)  This time MSP said he wanted me to make my mom’s chili during the week, but make it VEGETARIAN.  I’m sorry, say that again? Did you just tell me to make VEGETARIAN chili?  By George, he did!  He said he’d be fine if I used a meat substitute for the beef so that we could both eat it.  (When I made it last time, I just made two pots side by side, mine without beef, his with.) He’s the best, huh?  No wonder I love him to pieces.  :)

So I picked up some Gimme Lean “Ground Beef Style Veggie Protein” and used that in place of the beef.  My mom’s chili is awesome.  We love it.  And it’s very easy and we had it last night for dinner.

I always seem to change the recipe around in some way.  Here’s what I did this time:

Brown 1 package Gimme Lean “ground beef” veggie product in the bottom of  a large soup pot.  If you like onions, you can brown it with that.  I just added a little onion powder, since MSP doesn’t like onions.

After browning, add the following to the pot:

  • 46 oz can of tomato juice
  • 15 oz can organic azuki beans (rinsed & drained)
  • 15 oz can organic kidney beans (rinsed & drained)
  • 1/4 tsp celery salt
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 2 Tbsp chili powder

Simmer for a few hours.

I plated my helping over some spiralized zucchini (just for Cindy, since she wants a spiralizer) and then topped it with some nutritional yeast (in place of cheese).  Mmmm my mom’s home cooking, with a twist!

What are your favorite beans to use in chili?  Are you a WHITE BEAN chili lover or a RED BEAN chili lover? I like ALL chili colors!  :)   I don’t think I could pick a favorite.  I just love BEANS, period!

– Shari B.  =)

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My Style Miso

Jan 10

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 5 Comments

Hi friends!  Happy Sunday!  It’s going to be 50 degrees today and I couldn’t be happier!  MSP and I are going get out for a REAL outdoors run!  Oh yeah!  Then on to meet one of my best friends for some SBUX action.  A great start to the day!

Since I posted the book review yesterday I didn’t recap much from Friday, so I’ll rewind a bit.

Friday’s workout was 30 minutes of intervals on the TM (5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0 mph for a minute each then repeat) followed by 20 minutes of shoulder strength (KB overhead presses, KB side raises, rear delt rows, YTI).  Shoulders are truly one of my favorite muscle groups to work on.  I’ve had a heck of a time getting my rear shoulders to grow so I’ve really given them a lot of attention lately.

Saturday’s workout was another round of Physique 57 on DVD.  I’m getting better!  I even increased my weights on some of the moves!

***

Friday eats were of the usual sort for me.  I made “Now and Later” smoothies:

One to drink "NOW"

And one to drink "LATER"

The combination of greens, acai and a purple to-go container do not make for pretty food photo ops, that’s for sure.  That’s one UGLY smoothie!

Both smoothies had a couple of clementines in them and I would like to know who has the fun job of having to put one of these on EVERY single one:

I had leftovers again for lunch, so no exciting photos at my desk.  But what WAS exciting when I got home was getting to try my first Umeboshi Plum!

Raw veggies, raw goat cheddar, dollop of hummus and UMEBOSHI!

You know that face you might make when you bite into a lemon?  It was kind of like that at first.  It’s sour and SALTY.  But then you get into the flesh and you can kind of tell it was fruity before being pickled.  Definitely interesting.  They are highly alkalizing, but high in sodium too, so one every few days is plenty.  This is not an item that you pile onto your plate.

After posting my blog Friday I moved on to iTunes to see what I could spend a giftcard on.  My latest favorite cardio song is “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha. Yes, I’m still listening to music for teens.  Not sure how I’ll ever break that habit.  Although, her lyrics are definitely NOT appropriate for teens, I quickly found!  But for $6.99 on iTunes I couldn’t resist just getting the whole album.  She has some great high-tempo beats to run with!

It's a party at my PC...!

I made some My Style Miso for dinner, meaning I didn’t follow a recipe I just kind of threw in what I wanted.  Thought I’d share it with you in case you’d like to make some too!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/3 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
  • 1/2 sheet Nori (folded and cut into strips)
  • 1-1/2 tsp barley miso
  • 4-5 shakes nama shoyu
  • handful fresh organic spinach

Bring broth, water and dried mushrooms to a light boil.  Simmer with bubbles for about 7 minutes, letting the mushrooms reconstitute.

Fold the nori and then cut into strips with kitchen shears, add to broth along with the spinach and the nama shoyu to taste (I used about 5 shakes of the bottle) and simmer for 3 minutes to let the seaweed and shoyu do their thing!

Using a measuring cup, take some of the liquid out of the soup pot so that you have something in which to dissolve the miso.  You only want about 1/2 a tsp to each cup of liquid with your miso soups (Thanks for the tip Alicia!) so I mixed 1.5 tsp of the brown barley miso into my liquid, stirring well till dissolved.  Then remove soup from heat (or turn down to LOW) and add the dissolved miso to it.

Stir it through with the rest of the liquid and serve after a minute or so.

The shiitake mushrooms made this dish feel ‘meaty’ and it was actually pretty filling all on it’s own that night.  You can make this so many ways, adding leftover brown rice, changing up your greens, adding tofu, etc.  As mentioned before, light broth soups are a great way to curb your appetite when you are trying to watch your portions.

Enjoy!

***

Well friends, I have an outdoor run calling my name right about  now!  See you soon!

Have a SUPERB Sunday!

– Shari B. =)

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Spicy Basil StirFry

Dec 27

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 3 Comments

Hi friends!  Yes, it’s Sunday and I’m putting out a blog post.  I figured since I used Christmas Day as my ‘blog maintenance day’ I’d write today and share a “build-a-meal” creation with you.

MSP and I made a Christmas Eve dinner in an attempt to recreate one of his favorite dishes at a local asian restaurant, Basil Chicken.  For FitFeat it will be Spicy Basil Stir-Fry, since we also made a meatless batch.

As usual there will be future tweaks I’ll make to this recipe the next time around (because I don’t think I ever do a recipe the same way twice!)  For instance, I may try this in a crock pot with rice already in it to see if the flavors infuse MSP’s chicken version better or maybe marinate the chicken beforehand.

Spicy Basil Stir-Fry:

For the Stir-In ‘Sauce’ (mix before you start your stirfry pan):

  • 3 TBSP water
  • 1/2 TBSP white wine
  • 1/2 TBSP agave nectar
  • 1/2 TBSP low-sodium soy sauce
  • black pepper (a few good shakes)

Remaining Ingredients:

  • 1 TBSP oil of your choice for stir-frying (I used macadamia nut oil, but you could use coconut oil or another oil that has a high smoke point)
  • minced fresh garlic (I used a rounded 1/2 tsp – add more or less based on how much garlic flavor you like)
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • Sliced jalapeno peppers (I used pre-sliced jarred, about 3 TBSP.  Again to taste – if you like spice, go to town!)
  • 1 large handful of fresh basil leaves
  • Stir-fry veggies and/or meat of choice (approx 1 lb if you are using just chicken, less if you are mixing chicken AND veggies.  For my pan I used one HUGE portabella mushroom, green pepper, and broccoli)

Make your sauce first.  I made two batches of the ’sauce’ because we had two pans going.  One for MSP with chicken and NO veggies.   One for me with ALL veggies and no chicken.

Slice your veggies and/or meat into thin strips.

Heat oil in stir-fry pan and sautee the minced garlic until golden brown.  (We started with high heat and I burnt my garlic to a crisp and had to start over, so I recommend medium heat for the garlic.)

Add the veggies or meat to the pan and NOW turn the heat up!  :)   Stir constantly while cooking, about 4 minutes or until your chicken or veggies are looking done.

Add the jalapenos and the ’sauce’.  Continue stirring and cooking to coat well and cook down some of the liquid, maybe another minute or two.  Then splash with the lime juice (no more than 2 TBSP) and throw in the basil leaves.  Cook just until the basil is wilted.

Serve over brown rice if you like or just enjoy as is!

Here is a pic of MSP’s Basil Chicken:

And here is a pic of my Basil Veggies:

And the leftovers are GREAT with this dish.   I had some leftover tofu and udon noodles, so I topped that with my leftover Basil Veggies, added a splash of soy sauce and a dollop of tahini and it was AWESOME:

MSP’s review was that he would like MORE basil in his the next time, which is why I think I’ll marinate his chicken prior to stir-frying.  However, my veggie dish turned out very flavorful because I think the mushroom soaked up all the spice from the jalapeno and alot of the lime.

Give this dish a try and play with the flavors as YOU like them – then come back to FitFeat and share your thoughts!

Have a great day FitFeat friends!

– Shari B. =)

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Adios Santa, Hola Healthy Popcorn

Dec 22

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit, Recipes | 4 Comments

Santa has left the building. Or at least the FitFeat blog.  That super cute Santa pop-up I had on here Sunday and yesterday was not playing nicely with my blog and I was forced to deactivate the plug-in.  I love plug-ins – they are fun and some do GREAT stuff.  But boy they can sure do some wacky things to blogs.  You may have noticed if you were commenting that the buttons for REPLY or EDIT where nowhere to be found!  (That was Santa’s fault!) So I’ll be experimenting with a different ‘greeting message’ in the near future.

My Monday was great and insanely busy.  I’m finding that my time at the office means most of my meals need to be sippable through a straw because I just don’t have a lot of time to chew! So I made a set of “Now & Later” smoothies:

The “NOW” smoothie had rice protein, chia seeds, banana, cucumber, sprouts, spinach, celery, and pepitas.

The “LATER” smoothie had a pear, hemp protein, spinach, cucumber, celery, sprouts, and pepitas.

I am telling you what, I got a LOT of greens in yesterday!  I bought a couple of new protein powders on Sunday, both of which I’ll be reviewing soon here on FitFeat.  I want to try each of them out in different types of drinks first.

I also had a favorite Larabar:  Tropical Fruit Tart!

***

Back in the early spring our popcorn air popper decided its time was done and went to small appliance heaven.  Smack in the middle of a home movie.  The internet saved the day because there were a BUNCH of sites that talked about making homemade microwave popcorn without all the chemicals and fake flavors that come in the pre-packaged stuff.

Now I know for some of you this is old news – any follower of health food blogs will have seen this info.  But I also have some readers who do NOT follow other food & fitness blogs (Hi Mom!!) so I’m going to put this info out there for their benefit.

I’m a snacker.  I get the munchies.  Sometimes when that hits, I go for things like baked kale.  Other times I’m in a hurry for a snack.  So I turn to this instead:

Healthy Microwave “Airpopped” Popcorn:

  • One paper lunch bag
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup popcorn kernels of your liking
  • Microwave

Measure 1/4 to 1/3 cup kernels and put them in the paper lunch sack.

Fold the top of the sack twice, like so:

Place in microwave standing upright and microwave on full power for approximately 2 minutes (depending on the strength of your microwave).

Listen for the popping.  As it nears two minutes it should start to slow down.  When there are a few seconds between pops, stop the microwave.  Take out the popcorn and open the top carefully (keeping your face away from the top as kernels may continue to pop.)  Place the popcorn in your favorite bowl and top with healthy toppings (if you smother it in butter, you’ve just defeated the whole purpose of HEALTHY popcorn!)

I like to put nutritional yeast and sea salt on mine (the yeast gives it a cheesy flavor.)  Sometimes I’ll use garlic salt or Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil Garlic sprinkles.  Or chili powder.  I especially like my popcorn with a side of Kombucha tea!  :)

Now you have a snack of about 150 calories that is fiber-rich and VERY filling.

Well blog buds, as usual I have MORE to say but not enough time!  Exercise is calling followed by work!  I didn’t cover yesterday’s exercise in depth but I bet you can guess what it was!!  Yes, TABATA!!  :)   For upper body.   It was awesome!

See you soon friends!

– Shari B.  =)

Lemon Dill Turnip Greens and Buffalo Broccoli

Dec 14

Posted by Shari B. in FitFeature, Recipes | 3 Comments

Hello again FitFeat friends! 

Ahhh, part one of the workday is done.  Part two starts shortly! 

So I have some rewinding to do for the EATS!  I already gave you my Saturday FEATS when I last left off (the 4.75 mile SNOWY hike). 

Saturday was all about the xmas shopping again.  I have one thing left and then I am TOTALLY DONE!  Even with MSP’s stuff. 

My lunch break at home consisted of some leftover Amy’s Organic Vegetable Barley soup, with some added spinach, chopped tomato and extra salsa to give it an extra VEGGIE boost.  Just a note to any of you who eat Amy’s soups or would like to:  this particular flavor will give you hellacious onion breath.  Arm thyself with breath mints!

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We had another invitation for dinner at our dear friends’ house (Jeff and Tricia) where Tricia made a FANTASTIC mexican burrito buffet.  She was so sweet to make some halibut for me since I don’t eat chicken.  Her guacamole was TO-DIE-FOR and I think I may have eaten at LEAST 1.5 avo’s worth of guac on chips.  For my dinner portion, I put my halibut on a bed of spinach with a little dollop of refried beans, some salsa, and sauteed peppers.  It was FANTASTIC!  Thanks T & J – we had a GREAT time!

Sunday  morning MSP and I left the house early to hit up the Whole Foods brunch buffet.  But unfortunately they don’t start the buffet until an hour after the store opens (and we were there at the door before they opened like some crazed Black Friday shoppers, anxiously awaiting the unlocked door so we could RUN in and get our healthy breakfast options!)

I did grab a Kombucha Tea at their coffee bar to tide me over:
  

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Then we had to go elsewhere for Plan B.  So I had a Veggie Benedict, hold the hollandaise, hold the fried potatoes and give me extra veggies please.  They did exactly as I requested and it was DREAMY.  It had artichokes, tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms.  I’m getting better at putting more veggies in during the breakfast hour, eh?  ;)

1 egg and i

For some reason when I look at that picture of my breakfast benedict, I keep thinking of this Geico commercial and humming “I always feel like… someone is watching me-e-e”:

1 geico

Later in the day I thought I’d get a little creative and try to do something different with my baked greens.  I’m STILL trying to use up that HUGE bag of turnip greens I bought.  Here’s what I came up with:  

Lemon Dill Baked Turnip Greens: 

I drizzled about 1/2 tbsp olive oil into a big bowl, gave a good squeeze of lemon juice twice around the bowl (in Rachael Ray style) and tossed in 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast.  Fill up with turnip greens, add the lid, and start shaking the bowl.

img 989

Lay out onto a large baking tray.  Sprinkle with sea salt and dill.

img 988

I baked these at 250 degrees for 20 minutes.  That was NOT enough to get the water dehydrated from the stalk portion, so I’ll go back to 350 degrees the next time and just cut down the time.  Ideally you want to catch these just before they cross the line from CrispyTown into BurntVille.  The dill flavor baked out so I’ll REALLY sprinkle ‘em good next time.  

Then I made some Buffalo Broccoli:

In the same big bowl I now added another 1/2 tbsp olive oil and about three long rotations around the edge of the bowl of Frank’s Red Hot (so that when I shake the bowl, there is also flavoring on the sides).  After well coated I got them loaded onto the tray, and sprinkled sesame seeds on top.  I would suggest doing these at 350 degrees as well, and bake to your desired level of doneness.  In the 250 I wasn’t even on the same MAP as CrispyTown.  But they tasted GREAT!  Had good zip!

img 990

A small combo bowl of each was consumed during the Broncos Game.

FitFEATure:  When you are in a “snacky” mood, having something like baked greens to ‘mindlessly’ munch on in front of the TV is a much better option than traditional snack food.  It’s super high in fiber and nutrients and MUCH lower in calories. 

Now if only I’d known I would run out of time Sunday and NOT get in the yoga I’d hoped to, I would have done my “Football Watching“ workout!   

Have a WONDERFUL Monday evening FitFeat Friends… and if you ARE planning to watch Monday Night Football,  I challenge you to do that workout! 

See you tomorrow!

– Shari B. =)

Recipe: Sweet (and light!) Broccoli Salad

Dec 3

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 3 Comments

I finally made the recipe for Broccoli Salad that I had intended to make on Thanksgiving but due to my overindulging on baked kale, I postponed it.  If you’ve ever been to a Sweet Tomatoes restaurant they have a yummy sweet broccoli salad called “Joan’s Broccoli Madness” that you know is just brimming with dairy and sugar (not to mention bacon).  I found a recipe for something similar on the back of a broccoli package and decided to tweak it to make it fit into my own style of eating.

img 910

Sweet & Light Broccoli Salad

  • 10 oz package of broccoli florets
  • 1/4 of a small onion chopped (I used a sweet onion)
  • 3 TBSP sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/4 cup light mayo (I used Nasoya FF SOY Mayo)
  • 1 TBSP agave nectar  (the original recipe called for 1/4 cup of sugar which is WAY too much, 1 tbsp agave worked fine.  Add in some stevia if you need it sweeter.)
  • 2 tbsp vinegar (I used rice vinegar)

- Steam the broccoli for 3-4 minutes until lightly tender and bright green and set aside.

- Mix the mayo, agave and vinegar in a small mixing bowl.  Stir well until even in consistency and color.

- In another container (one with a lid that can be shaken) add the onion, seeds, raisins and broccoli.  Pour the mayo mixture over the broccoli, put on the lid and shake around to full coat with the mayo mixture.

- Place in refrigerator to chill before serving.

***

I have been packing this recipe for lunch this week.  It’s light but very filling.  Next time I may try it with onion powder in lieu of actual onions, only because onion flavor always lasts TOO long with me.  I love eating onions, but I don’t like the aftertaste and I’m worried everyone around me can smell onion!  ;)   To keep the crunch in the salad, I’ll chop up some celery to use instead.

Enjoy!

– Shari B. =)

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SOYsage Gravy and Biscuits

Nov 27

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 3 Comments

Hello there FitFeat friends!  I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving!  I know we did!  I’ll write a separate post to recap our holiday, but wanted to put a recipe out for you vegetarians/vegans who would like to make a tweaked version of Sausage Gravy and Biscuits.

MSP loves the original recipe.  Because it was so high in bad fats and flour, we only made it on a holiday, once or twice a year.  I didn’t want to have to sit out on the fun, so this year I decided that I’d try to substitute some ingredients to make it something I would eat too.

SOYsage Gravy & Biscuits

  • 1 tube of Gimme Lean non-meat ’sausage’
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 cups almond milk (or soy, skim, whatever you drink)
  • sea salt & black pepper to taste
  • 6-8 biscuits of choice

If you are using biscuits that require oven time like we did, start those first as the rest goes really fast.  Our biscuits took 9 minutes in the oven.img 866

Brown the Gimme Lean in a pan sprayed with olive oil over medium heat, crumbling as you go.  It gets easier to crumble the more it cooks.img 867

Once the ’sausage’ is fully browned, sprinkle the  flour into the pan until the ’sausage’ is well coated.

Add the first cup of almond or soy milk (still over medium heat) and stir well.  The ’sausage’ and flour will soak it up really quickly.img 868

Add the second cup and continue to stir well.  Now the gravy will really start to build.  Add sea salt and pepper to taste.  Keep stirring until warmed through and at a consistency you like.  If you like a thin gravy, you’ll want to remove it pretty quickly and/or add more ‘milk’.  If you like it thick, stir longer over the heat and you’ll find that it gets really thick really fast. img 869

My version was only 255 calories per serving (2 small biscuits of 50 calories each and 1/4 of the gravy).  And it is FILLING!  Enjoy!img 872

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Orange You In The Mood For French Toast?

Nov 20

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 9 Comments

Good morning friends!  Happy Friday! 

Can you believe that one week from today Thanksgiving will be behind us and we’ll be out fighting the Black Friday shopping crowds?  Is 2009 really almost over?  One week from today I’ll be putting up my Christmas tree and ‘inside’ decorations. Outside decorations will be done whenever we have a warm(ish) day. 

Thinking about Thanksgiving yesterday had me craving breakfast for dinner.  (That and I just was NOT in the mood to zip to the store so I had to come up with something from what we had in-house already.)

I tried to be creative and made up this dish:

Mandarin Baked French Toast Fingers  

img 787 

  • 6 whole eggs (organic, free-range)
  • 1/2 cup MimicCreme (or something like FF half-and-half if you are a drinker of dairy)
  • 2 Mandarin oranges (or one regular orange)
  • 7 slices Ezekial sprouted grain bread

-Crack eggs into bowl and add MimicCreme.  Using a zester or microplane, zest the skins of both mandarin oranges into the bowl.  After zesting, cut each orange in half and squeeze the juice into the mix.

-Whisk well.

-Make two stacks of Ezekial bread, cutting through each stack twice lengthwise to create the ‘fingers’. 

-Dip each finger into the egg mixture and add to a prepared baking dish (I used my large round stoneware baking dish from Pampered Chef.)

-Pour remaining mixture into baking dish after all pieces are coated.

-Let sit in the refrigerator for one hour so that the egg mixture soaks into the bread really well (the sprouted grain bread is dense).

-Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes (my toast fingers were double-stacked.  If yours are in a single layer they may take less time.)  Cover for most of the cooking time so they don’t get really dry.

-Or make your french toast in a pan on the stovetop like ‘regular’ french toast rather than baking.

-Once plated, garnish as you like.  I sprinkled on unsweetened coconut flakes and some cinnamon, then used agave nectar as my “syrup”.

I think next time I make this I’ll try the regular french toast version on the stove top.  The baked version didn’t have a very pretty presentation, but it had really good flaver with all that orange zest.  Breakfast for dinner is always fun.

The rest of the day’s eats went like this: 

Half of a banana before my 6:15 AM training client. 

A beautiful 30 oz GREEN SMOOTHIE after my 45-minute arm-killing Iron Yoga session. 

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Lunch out with MSP at Three Margaritas.  I’ve been craving their Veggie Enchiladas for weeks now. 

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It’s probably the healthiest meal I’ve every discovered at a chain Mexican restaurant.  Sauteed veggies like broccoli, cauliflower and carrots tucked inside a corn tortilla and topped with CARROT PUREÉ.  So good.  I ate half the plate and brought the other half home.  And ate the cold leftover beans for a nighttime snack.  MSP thought that was the nastiest thing ever.  (He doesn’t like cold pizza either!!!  I can eat any food cold..)

Today’s discussion is on the topic of Thanksgiving:  What foods are on your menu?  Are you cooking at your house?  If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, what are some of your favorite things to serve?  Or do you have a favorite dish that you like to take when you go elsewhere for Thanksgiving? 

We don’t go anywhere for Thanksgving.  Most of our relatives are all out of state.  Sometimes we go out to eat and hit up the movie theater.  Last year (when I still ate meat) we picked up a full meal from Boston Market for our ‘turkey dinner’ and we loved it!  It was fast and fun.  This year, I’m aiming (keyword is aiming) to do some fun cooking at home, depending on the budget.  (My list of ingredients for the things I want to make may cause me to NOT make some of them – then I’d just be spending all that money I’ll be saving on the Friday xmas shopping!)   We always like to make a yummy breakfast on Thanksgiving so I’m thinking of tweaking a favorite recipe for Sausage Biscuits & Gravy into a vegetarian, non-dairy version.  Still working on the ideas for that one.  MSP would also LOVE some bread pudding so I’m thinking of making a Chocolate Croissant bread pudding recipe for him (too rich and full of dairy for my liking so that will be all him!)  I also have my eye on a recipe for vegetarian Almost Beef Wellington as the ‘main dish’ for the day.  We’ll see.  ;)   I always have grand ideas for cooking!  If we have GORGEOUS weather that day, it may all get thrown out the window so that we can get outside for a hike!

Have a FABULOUS Friday everyone! 

– Shari B.  =)

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As The Sprouts Groweth

Nov 14

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 6 Comments

Happy Saturday morning FitFeat friends! 

It’s a happy day indeed.  I have the beginnings of some homemade sprouts!  So if you are a new reader who regularly makes your own sprouts and/or can actually grow things like live plants, you may want to read my previous post about my lack of a green thumb.  Actually seeing something GROWING in my kitchen is a FEAT for me!  So, any sprout experts out there want to chime in and tell me if it will be obvious to me when I can eat them?  :)

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I have a feeling that I will still need to buy sprouts in addition to growing them because I eat way more in a day or two than what I have growing here I think. Although maybe they will still have a growth spurt!

Speaking of sprouts, check out this beautiful “before” shot of my green smoothie from yesterday. 

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It looks awfully HOLIDAY-ish, don’t you think?  Pretty reds and greens!  I finally put those new cranberries to good use after all of Cindy’s cranberry blogging.  And in a recent comment she mentioned putting 2 bananas and a CUP of cranberries into a smoothie.  Cindy, are you trying to defibrillate my tastebuds?  I tasted one of those little buggers before I added them to my smoothie – they are t-t-tart!   I’m starting small for now!

I present to you my Festive Holiday CranApple Smoothie!

  • 8 oz water
  • 1/2 to 2/3 cup fresh cranberries
  • 1 apple, unpeeled and chunked
  • 1/2 small banana
  • fistful of spinach
  • a palm’s worth of sprouts (I used sweet clover sprouts)
  • 1/2 large cucumber, peeled and chunked
  • 1- 2 stalks celery, chunked
  • 1/2 tbsp hemp oil

Blend till smooth. 

(“Chunked” is an official culinary term right?)  ;)  

Here is the after: 

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It was definitely festive for the tastebuds!  Thank you Cindy for inspiring me to get some fresh cranberries, which I normally pass right on by in the produce section.  But learning from you of their anti-viral properties sold me!

I had a crazy urge for lunch-ish food at morning snack time so I toasted up some Ezekial sprouted grain bread, added some Tofutti spread, smeared on a little avocado, sprouts, cucumber, spinach and pepitas. 

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Which left room for a light lunch when it was actually lunchtime!  Oh yeah, you know what I rolled with:

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A little heavenly, gingery squash soup!  Reheated, it was JUST as good, if not better than, the first time.

And then a little slice of “pie” for a late afternoon snack.

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Next up, it was out for some Friday night fun with some girlfriends I hadn’t seen for MUCH TOO LONG.  We hit up a local wine bar for a happy hour that spilled beyond that hour by about three more!  It was a wonderful time!  Love wine time with my ladies!  And in standard Shari style, I’m sure you know I suggested HUMMUS for a shared appetizer!  (My name is Shari and I’m a Hummus-Holic.)  While the service at this place left a LOT to be desired, their hummus most certainly did not.  It was probably the best hummus I’ve ever had. 

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(Or maybe it was just the dim lights, candles and pretty plates that made it taste so good.  It couldn’t possibly have had anything to do with wine consumption!)

The manager left us with a complimentary bottle of vino to share (conveniently while we were trying to decide on just HOW small a tip to leave for our unattentive waiter.)  It was a moscato d’asti dessert wine and I do declare that I will run right out and buy a bottle to have on Thanksgiving.  (Does anyone declare that they watched this week’s “The Office”?)   ;) If not you are all going, ‘Huh?”

Heavenly soup by day, heavenly wine by night.  It MUST have been a Friday!

– Shari B. =)

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