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Posts Tagged healthy cooking

Recipes to Inspire: Volume 3

Feb 7

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes to Inspire | 2 Comments

Hi FitFeat friends!

Since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to do another installment of the Recipes to Inspire series, in case you are going to be cooking for your Valentine.  Here are some of the recipes I’ve seen around the interwebs ;) that have caught my eye.

Red Curry Salmon Chowder

Besides the fact that this just LOOKS delicious, what I am really drawn to in this recipe is all the healthy fats.  Smack in the middle of winter means drier skin and hair, at least where I live.  My hands especially have been really dry, so I’ve been boosting my intake of the good fats to try to alleviate that without always needing lotion.  This recipe is chock full of healthy fats:  coconut oil, coconut milk and salmon.  The ginger and spicy pepper will make it a warming dish as well, perfect for dinner on a cold mid-February evening.

Nothing to tweak on this one – it’s written by one of my instructors and she’s a healthy eating maestro!

Jalapeño Crab Cakes

I adore crab cakes (or really any type of fish cake!).  It’s something I especially enjoy when dining out because I like to compare them from one restaurant to the next (even though I know when I eat them out I’m getting a few days’ worth of fat intake!).  I think the twist of adding jalapeño to them is interesting and original.

Shari Tweaks:  While I do have panko in my pantry, I usually sub my own bread crumbs that I make with the leftover heels from my sprouted grain loaves.  For pan frying, I’ll use coconut oil rather than the canola oil listed in the recipe.  As far as the slaw/salsa part of the recipe, I think I’d look for something a little different than what is shown because if I read this correctly the slaw is undressed?  I think this Southwestern Corn Slaw looks fun and light!

“Poor Man’s” Shrimp Cocktail (but no fish!)

How fun is this one?  It’s from the recent issue of Bon Appetit.  It’s not really shrimp.  It’s cauliflower!  Boiled in Old Bay.  I must try this.  I have some friends coming over for dinner in a few days – this might be a fun and easy appetizer.

Not really any tweaks to make to the recipe because everything is pretty straightforward.

Philly Cheese Steak (in your crock pot!)

So now that I’ve shared a bunch of ‘fishy’ recipes, I figured I better include one that MY Valentine would appreciate and eat, since he doesn’t like fish.   He loves Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches though and the fact that this one is for the crock pot is ideal, because I have a personal chef job that day and the LAST thing I want to do when I get home from cooking all day is cook some more!  :D   This way I can have something at the ready with just a few minutes of prep when I walk in the door.

Shari Tweaks:  Since I’m not much for meat myself, I’ll add a few large sliced portobello mushrooms to the crockpot over to one side to be the ‘steak’ portion for my sandwich.  And I’ll probably pick up a whole wheat demi-baguette to use in place of the roll, and hollow it out a bit for serving.

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Any big plans for Valentine’s Day?  If you are cooking, what’s on the menu?

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For fun:  I love the idea from last week’s “Parks and Recreation” episode of getting all your gal pals together on February 13th for “Galentine’s Day“.  If you could use a chuckle, check out this slideshow of Leslie Knope’s “Tips for Creating Your Own Galentine’s Day“

See you next time!

– Shari B. =)

Previous Recipes to Inspire Posts:

Volume 1

Volume 2

 

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Miso Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Feb 1

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 12 Comments

Hi FitFeat friends!

How did your first month of 2012 go?  Mine will be known as “Jam-packed January”.  I don’t remember the last time I had such a busy month!  When the blog gets quiet, you know things are going bonkers around here!  No complaints though – I’m thankful to be busy with work.   Although recently I’ve been finding that the more cooking I do for clients, the less cooking I do for my household.   It’s kind of a “cobbler’s children go unshod” situation – the chef’s hubby is left unfed!  ;)   Thank goodness for Chipotle bowls!

I did have one quick snack recently that I wanted to share with you.  As you may know, one of my favorite spices is Smoked Spanish Hot Paprika.  I love to pair it with sweet potatoes.  Well, I had half of a baked sweet potato left over so I mashed it up with a few sprinkles of paprika and a small spoon of fresh red miso and WOW was it delicious!   A little sweet, a little salty (from the miso), a little spicy & smoky…  I shaved a little raw goat cheddar over the top and finished it with a little sesame seed gomasio.  This would be a great side dish for burgers or even some seared tuna.  Don’t worry about measuring the spice and miso.  Just go by taste!


I’ll be working on the next installment of Recipes to Inspire soon.  I have had a brand new Bon Appetit magazine sitting on my coffee table for 2 weeks and last night was the first time I had a chance to crack it open.  Since I have some time scheduled for recipe testing next week, I’m on the lookout for some fun ideas!

Here’s to a FABULOUS February for us all!  And Happy Groundhog Day EVE!  :D

– Shari B. =)

 

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Save at Starbucks Today

Dec 8

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 3 Comments

Hi friends!

Just a quick hello to let you know that if you are a fan of Starbucks VIA coffee, they are having a great sale today for their “12 Days of Christmas“.  One 12-pack normally costs $11.95.  Today you can get that 12-pack for $7.95 OR you can get TWO for $11.95 (BOGO).

I ran out to Starbucks right after I finished my morning clients to grab some.  I love to have these with me when I travel because I never know if I’ll be able to get decent coffee in different locations.

I also love to make 40 Calorie Lattes with them at home and save calories AND cash at the same time.

Mmmm coffee – I think I’ll have one now!

– Shari B. =)

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Recipes to Inspire: Volume 2

Nov 10

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Recipes to Inspire | 3 Comments

Hi blog buds!

Hope your week has been fantastic!  Things here are HOPPING on this end for sure!  I have some travel coming up (again, I know!) so if you notice a lag in posts for few days, that’s why.  The super-exciting part is that I’ll be seeing TWO of my favorite blog participants on this trip! :D

As promised here is the next installment in the Recipes to Inspire Series.  A lot of the recipes I have been perusing lately had much to do with what seemed to be overflowing in my refrigerator.  But then I got so busy cooking client recipe tests that I haven’t had any time to make any of these!  They are on my list for sure though.

Pumpkin Seed Cilantro Pesto

This recipe is actually is for a main dish of Pan-Seared Salmon – but it’s the pesto that interests me.  I always have pepitas (raw pumpkin seed kernels) on hand and cilantro is a heck of a lot cheaper than basil at the store.  (I miss having herbs at-hand from my garden – I really need to start a new herb garden indoors in my AeroGrow to get me through the winter.)

Shari Tweaks:  usually basil pesto has Parmesan cheese in it and I noticed this recipe doesn’t include any cheese.  So I think I might consider tossing in a little bit of nutritional yeast to provide a hint of cheese flavor as well as boost the protein a smidge.  The other change I think might be fun would be to use avocado oil in lieu of olive oil.

Roasted Mushroom and Sunchoke Bisque

I adore mushrooms.  I bought a HUGE package of baby bellas which had me looking for creative ways to use them up.  This unique bisque really caught my eye.  I love that it uses sunchokes and I never really do much with them, so this would be a great excuse to pick some up.  Also known as a Jerusalem artichoke, sunchokes are actually the root of a certain type of sunflower. We used these on occasion in school, and I liked them.

Shari Tweaks:  You know, I don’t think I’d change this much.  Mainly I’d switch out the olive oil for a different cooking oil since I don’t like to heat my olive oil, so I’d use coconut oil.  And in lieu of the soymilk I’d probably use almond milk, but the recipe author stated that the ‘milk’ part was optional anyway.  I’m excited to try this one!

Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Wellington

I’m still stuck on mushrooms, it seems.  :)    This recipe totally intrigues me because every single season of Hell’s Kitchen with Gordon Ramsay shows the chef contestants having to deal with regular Wellingtons (beef), which actually look quite challenging.  And every season, I think to myself that I need to make a Wellington of some sort, maybe a beef one for Cory and a veggie version for me.  Then I saw this recipe last week and it looks even better than a regular Wellington (and maybe less work too, which you know is always a plus in my book!).  This one is basically a deconstructed version, in that it’s mostly just a stuffed mushroom with a piece of the pastry on top.  Doesn’t it look pretty, though?  This is what I was thinking about for Thanksgiving (if I even end up cooking anything that day).  This looks like something fun to serve guests for sure!

Shari Tweaks:  Like the previous one, I actually think this recipe looks great just how it is so there’s not much I’d change.  I don’t have any champagne vinegar and the last thing I need is another varietal of vinegar in my pantry so I’ll most likely use apple cider vinegar instead.  And I’ll sub out the olive oil for grapeseed as well as ghee for the butter.  That’s all I’d do!

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What do you think?  Anything look good?  Have you ever eaten a SUNCHOKE?  Do you love MUSHROOMS like I do?

Have a wonderful weekend friends!

– Shari B. =)

 

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Spice It Up!

Nov 7

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 3 Comments

Hi blog buds!

How was your weekend? Mine went by entirely too fast.  I would like one more day to get the rest of my household stuff done!  But today it’s back to work, which includes more recipe tests today.

One of my favorite parts of recipe testing is making a trip to my favorite spice shop, Savory Spice.  If you have your TV on the Food Network channel most of the time like I do, you may have seen a show on it called “Spice & Easy“.  The host of the show is an owner of Savory Spice.  This time when I was there, she was there too!  That’s the closest I’ve ever come to seeing a Food Network personality and in my geekdom, that was exciting for me.

But I digress… :)

I love going to the spice shop mainly because they have shelves and shelves of any spice you can imagine along with wonderful blends. I could wander around in there for hours.

I especially love that you can purchase spices in very small batches there, as little as 1/2 ounce.  One advantage is that it allows you to try it out first to make sure you like it.  Additionally once spices are ground, they quickly lose their potency of flavor (and some of the therapeutic value they might have) so when you buy in small batches you can use them while they are still very flavorful.

I picked up some Mexican Oregano to refill my stock, Harissa Spice Mix (which I plan to use on the excess of carrots I seem to have in my fridge!) and some Ras El Hanout blend (which I use in a seitan tagine recipe that I make for clients).

I also picked up some seasonal blends as well.  With the Sage & Savory Stuffing Seasoning, I want to make some sort of stuffing using maybe millet or buckwheat as the base in lieu of bread cubes.  The shop’s website also has a recipe for a Sage & Savory Sweet Potato Bisque that looks delicious as well, using this blend.  And of course a little pumpkin pie spice – no plans to make a pie but I do have some organic canned pumpkin so maybe I’ll mix it with some silken tofu and this spice and make a ‘pumpkin pie mousse’ or a spiced smoothie.  Or maybe in my coffee.

And I had to get a refill of my absolute favorite spice that I use on everything – smoked Spanish hot paprika.  I don’t think I’ve found anything yet that this doesn’t complement.  I love it on sweet potato fries, pureed carrots, roasted mushrooms.  I love it in soups.  If you haven’t tried this spice before, I highly recommend it!

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Do you have a favorite “go to” spice that you use regularly in your own kitchen?  I love to hear what other people enjoy using – in addition to the hot paprika, I find that I use a lot of CUMIN.  

Have a MARVELOUS Monday friends!

– Shari B. =)

 

 

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Take Your Temperature

Oct 27

Posted by Shari B. in Adventures in Dehydrating, Cooking, Handy Kitchen Tools | 2 Comments

Hi friends!

I’ve had a topic that I’ve wanted to cover for a while and seeing how this has been the week of bizarre weather extremes in Colorado (record heat on Monday, then snow yesterday and near record lows this morning), I figured it’s the perfect time to talk about TEMPERATURE!  But instead of outdoors, I’m talking about in some of your appliances!

When I work in a client’s kitchen, the first thing I do when I’m there is test the accuracy of their oven.  The last thing I want is to burn their food if I think I’m cooking something in their oven at 350° only to find out that it’s actually much higher than that.  You’d be surprised how the dials tell a completely different story than the actual temp inside your oven.

You can find an inexpensive hanging thermometer that you can pop right onto a rack in your oven and leave it there.

You can also determine “hot spots” in your oven this way as well by moving it to different locations.  This would explain why that batch of cookies you made burned on the back right side of the cookie sheet and the front left ones were perfect.  :)   You’ll find that if you have a convection oven the temp may jump around a bit as the fan turns on and off.  If I set my oven at 325° often times it actually registers on the thermometer at 350°.

It also helps you to know if your oven preheats in the amount of time it says it does.  Just because your oven beeps that the oven has reached the desired temp doesn’t actually mean it has.  I’ve had some client ovens signal preheated when still 100° away.  So place your thermometer and then compare.  Is it at the expected temp when it tells you it’s ready?

Don’t just stop at your oven though.  Do you have a toaster oven?  I do.  And I used to make the mistake of trusting the dial on the front. Until something came out of it TOTALLY charred (and not in that tasty ‘blackened Cajun fish’ kind of way).  It hadn’t occurred to me until then to check my toaster oven and BOY was it ever OFF.  I’m talking almost 200 DEGREES off.  I thought I was cooking at 325° and it was over 500°!

Another good appliance to test is your dehydrator, if you have one.  Many raw food enthusiasts use dehydrators to dry their food below certain temperatures in order to preserve the live enzymes in the food.  (Depending on which expert you follow, some say that is below 105°, some say 114°, and others say below 118°.)  So if you want your kale chips dehydrating at 105° and they are actually at 130°, you no longer have raw chips.

My dehydrator’s dial is anything but accurate when it comes to determining where the white dot actually is on the temp range.  In this photo, I’d figured I was set at about 108°:

But I was actually much closer to 120°:

To test your dehydrator, rather than using an oven thermometer you’ll want to use an instant read thermometer that will give you a smaller range.

And last but not definitely not least, you should also check your refrigerator and freezer temperatures rather than trusting what the built-in appliance thermometer may be telling you.   A recent job I was on found me working with a fridge/freezer that just didn’t want to stay as cold as they should.  In the Food Safety world there is something called the DANGER ZONE that you don’t want your food sitting at for too long and that’s between 40° and 140°.  In that range bacteria can multiply in phenomenal numbers.  So you want your fridge to be under 40° but not freezing (ideally 33-37°).  And ideally your freezer should read at 0-3°.  Otherwise you might have a few million (billion, trillion) more ‘guests’ joining you with dinner than you may have anticipated!

Do you check your appliance temperatures on a regular basis?

– Shari B.

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Stop by Cindy’s blog today and check out this delightful post about her visit with a good friend.  ;)

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Shari Becht is a Certified Natural Chef, Fit Living Coach and ACE Certified Personal Trainer.  She is extremely passionate about teaching people how they can take steps to fit healthy habits into their busy lives. 

If you or someone you know could use some help learning how to eat more healthfully, achieve a healthy bodyweight or fit more “FIT” into their lives, please feel free to email her at shari [at] fitfeat  [dot] com.  For more information, click here.

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Blackstrap & Mirin Caramelized Onions

Oct 4

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

Good morning friends!

I have been in an onion mood lately – not sure why.  I made a batch of dehydrated onions right before I went on vacation and ate them like a snack when we got back.  Then I decided to make a batch of caramelized onions to have in the fridge to reheat and add to different dishes.  I’m sure this drives Cory nuts, as he is definitely not an onion fan.  Not only did the house smell like them but so did I!  :)

I thinly sliced one onion (since it’s just me that will eat them).

I preheated my skillet over medium heat and then added a bit of ghee to my pan.  In this instance I prefer ghee because it maintains its ‘silkiness’ in the bottom of the pan for the duration of the cooking, since these will be in there for a while.

While they were cooking away on the stovetop, and just turning to their golden brown phase, I add in about a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses for flavor (and a health boost of minerals and iron).  I let my onions go for about 30 minutes (longer if they are thicker sliced).

This time though, I decided to deglaze the pan with a few splashes MIRIN (a sweet Japanese rice wine).  Deglazing is when you add a liquid (sometimes stock, water, or something acidic like a vinegar or citrus juice) to the pan and scrape up all of the brown caramelization in the bottom – that’s where your flavor is.

The mirin added so much flavor and worked really well with the blackstrap.  I wanted to just eat these onions straight out of the pan!

But I restrained myself and used half of them for a cup of onion soup using some overnight crock pot mineral broth I’d pulled from the freezer the night before, and served it with some sprouted grain bread sprinkled with some goat gouda and toasted.

This turned out to be a really fun and delicious lunch.

Better go refill the breath mints in my purse! ;)

What food have you been craving lately?

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Giveaway: Win A Fun New Cooking App

Sep 19

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Giveaway Contest | 2 Comments

Hi friends!

Earlier this year, I was invited to participate in something really fun that I’m excited to share with you today.  I was asked to select a recipe to test and write about for a project that was in development at the time.  I have strong admiration for the person who was putting this project together.  She is Deborah Chud, MD.  And her project is called Trufflehead, a new healthy cooking app for iPhone, iPad and iTouch.

I just recently installed the app on my own iPhone now that it’s been released and can’t wait to try some of the recipes from it when I’m back in my own kitchen after I’m home again from “travel mode”.   It is a SUPER SLICK cooking app.  What I especially love about it is the inclusion of video guidance for certain steps IF you need it.  For example, if you are making the artichoke appetizer, but have never worked with a fresh artichoke before and are unsure of how to prep it for use, all you do is click the video arrow inside the recipe and it walks you through the steps.

When I tried the Sesame Slaw with Pea Pods recipe as a contributing blogger, I was provided with the video for destringing the pods, something that I’d never done before.  You can read about my experience with this recipe and the video on the Trufflehead site at this link: Shari Becht’s Sesame Slaw with Pea Pods.

I also love that every recipe has a photograph.  I will almost always pick a recipe with a pic over one that doesn’t when I’m looking in cookbooks.  In this app, I don’t have to choose because EVERY recipe has one.

There’s something here for everyone:  omnivores, vegetarians, pescetarians, vegans.  I saw a recipe in the app for vegan Pumpkin Blondies that I definitely want to try.   Some of the recipes do call for Splenda OR sugar, and I can’t judge because I used to use Splenda myself (but I no longer do).  Deborah addresses the sweetener issue both in the app and on the website, and I appreciate the way the topic is handled.

To learn more about Trufflehead and the cool features included in the app, take a look at this video clip:

Here’s the best part!  Deborah has kindly offered to GIVE a free download of this awesome app to TWO FitFeat readers!

The first two people email talk@trufflehead.com with FitFeat in the subject line will receive a free download.

Let me know if you are one of the winners!

Now, if you DON’T win, you can still purchase this app at a 50% discount for a limited time from the iTunes store.  When I went to check it out at iTunes, the iPhone version was only $1.99 during this sale.  Think about how expensive cookbooks are to purchase and this app only costs $1.99?  That is a steal – and I really mean that because I know that Deborah put a LOT of work into bringing this to fruition.

Have a MAGNIFICENT MONDAY FitFeat friends!  See you soon!

– Shari B. =)

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Autumn Vegetable Ragu with Pumpkin, Fennel and Sage

Sep 14

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Vegetarian | 3 Comments

Hi there friends!

Is it just me or does it feel like today should be FRIDAY not WEDNESDAY?  The weather here is dreary and a little on the chilly side (high of 58 today).  My internal solar battery is running low already today.  I feel like I need a nap or some caffeine.  One or the other.

Hope you guys aren’t getting too sick of me, what with all this daily posting again during the ‘challenge‘ days!  It’ll be over in a couple of days and then I will be back in ‘travel mode’ again so you’ll get a breather!  ;)

So yesterday’s exercise was an EARLY hilly interval running session with some extra-intense intervals on a steep long hill tacked on at the end.  I was feeling pretty beat when it was done.  I’ve been running on an empty stomach again because I noticed I felt less sluggish.  However on this particular day, I wish I’d had something prior because I could have used the extra oomph!

My post-workout meal was a smoothie made with kale, cucumber, frozen pineapple, mint, pepitas and some raw plant protein powder.

Some other highlights of the day included leftover fajita veggies for lunch, this time in a “Southwest” tortilla that I picked up at Whole Foods.

Times two, because it was delicious.  The red, yellow and orange peppers were so sweet and flavorful on their own, the only ‘condiment’ I added was smear of garlic that I’d roasted when I made the veggies.  No need for standard fajita fare here (meaning cheese or sour cream) – it would just detract from the natural flavors of the good stuff!

And a wonderful treat that I split up throughout the day into 2 servings.  A bubbly!!  Mmmmm kombucha!

I was looking forward to cooking dinner because I recently found some tomatoes packaged in an aseptic box rather than in a can!

Love the ingredients list:

Nothing but tomatoes!

I made kind of a pumpkin-infused vegetable ragu.  I’ll call it Autumn Ragu with Pumpkin, Sage & Fennel.  In last month’s Good Housekeeping, there was a recipe for Linguine with Carrot Turkey Ragu that sparked the idea.  But I totally revamped it and did my own thing.  Here’s my take on it:  I sauteed some onion, carrot and fennel, then added fresh garlic, a little cinnamon and some rubbed sage (dried).  I deglazed the pot with red wine then added the tomatoes and a cup of pureed pumpkin.  I let it all simmer for about an hour and then I added some Eden (BPA free) lentils, a pinch of red pepper flakes and some fresh basil. The idea with the lentils was to provide texture (and a little protein) that a meat normally would have.

I spiralized some carrot and zucchini into ribbons to serve along with spaghetti noodles (you can add them to the pasta water with the noodles for the last minute of cooking to take the cold edge off the spiralized veggies).  Whenever I use pasta, I almost always try to cut it down by at least half using some sort of vegetable (like these ribbons, or spaghetti squash or kelp/tofu noodles).

And dinner was served!  (There I go doing something with some Italian influence again.  It looks like a marinara based meat sauce, but taste-wise  you get the pumpkin and fennel undertones with a hint of the cinnamon).

This was another meatless dinner that Cory and I were able to enjoy together.  His review was that the sauce was very “meaty” for not having any meat in it and that the only thing missing was “garlic bread on the side”.   :D

Late evening I had a little Teecino with almond milk and a bit of dry cereal.

So today’s question (which maybe someday should be a whole post topic and discussion):  do you find that you actually USE cookbooks or recipes?  I don’t write out the meals I make “recipe style” very often here, because my hope is that something I make will just spark your creativity with whatever you happen to have in your own kitchen at the time.  I love to READ cookbooks (and I own a bunch of them too) but truth be told I just don’t use them very often.  I have also read through the recipes on a zillion blogs, but have probably only tried a handful over the course of 3-1/2 years of blog reading.  Usually I’ll try a recipe from a cookbook checked out from the library or I’ll adapt one from an online source, like Epicurious.com.

Have a fabulous Friday friends!  (Ha, just kidding:  make that Wednesday!)

– Shari B. =)

 

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Grill Fajitas

Sep 13

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Keeping Fit | 7 Comments

Hi friends!

Well we’re in the remaining days of the *3 weeks of cleaner eating* challenge.  How have you been doing?  Overall I’ve done well during the weekdays, but still have allowed some sneaky refined foods into my weekend eats.

Yesterday’s breakfast was 2 pieces of sprouted grain toast with almond butter, miso and drizzle of honey.  I had a “carb strong” meal because I was going on a cleaning frenzy the first half of the day so I needed some energy.  (I’m even SORE today from the cleaning if you can believe it!)  I moved around furniture to do some deep cleaning, did some hand scrubbing on hardwood floors then polished with the BONA mop, vacuumed our main level, our upstairs and our basement, cleaned all the mirrors in my training studio, pulled a ton of weeds in our front yard landscaping, ran the trimmer and the lawnmower in the front yard, etc. etc. etc.  I was beat!  And at the end of it I decided I miss having a 700 sq ft apartment.  The cleaning process was so much quicker!  :D

It was about 3 1/2 hours in all.  And you can bet I counted it as my exercise for the day!

Late morning I had a scoop of greens powder mixed in water:

For lunch I made some egg salad with two hard boiled eggs, chopped celery, Vegenaise and mustard, pepper and Hungarian sweet paprika.

I ate it along with a handful of baked pita chips.

Mid-afternoon I had half of a coconut cream pie Larabar and then got busy getting dinner prepped so that it could marinate for a few hours.

I was planning some fajitas on the grill, so I mixed up some lime juice, grapeseed oil, cumin, coriander, chipotle powder, a pinch of cayenne, black pepper, ground garlic and some Alderwood smoked sea salt:

It was veggies for me and chicken for Cory.  I used half of that crazy large zucchini, along with some onion, and a trio of sweet bell peppers.

I ate my ‘fajita’ without a tortilla since I was having a side of rice.

I’ve been using my cast iron pan on the grill here and there, along with my dutch oven.  It’s such a nice way to use high heat outside and not overheat the whole kitchen.  But I definitely need more practice out there, because I’m so used to being able to really control the heat on my stovetop.  It’s not quite as easy on the grill.  But it turned out OK and we had a nice little dinner and a LOT of leftovers!

Are you a GRILL MASTER?  Do you prefer using your grill to your stovetop or oven?  What’s your favorite grilled food (or just ‘cooked outdoors’ food)?  I know Cindy has been doing a lot of outdoor cooking this year (check out her solar oven!) so I bet she has some tips to share!

Have a TERRIFIC Tuesday friends!

– Shari B. =)

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