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Posts Tagged tempeh

Mochi, the Adult Version of Sea Monkeys!

Jan 18

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 13 Comments

Well hello blog world!  My how quickly a week flies by when one is immersed in all sorts of recipe testing and business related stuff!

Fortunately I did take some time out to relax a bit over the weekend and make a fun Sunday breakfast. Have you ever had MOCHI before?

mochi

I knew it existed, I had read recipes for things to make with it (muffins, pizza crusts, waffles), but I’d just never picked any up at the store.  Cory loves waffles and so I decided to see what this mochi was all about.

One thing I love about the original flavor is the ingredient list:  Organic sweet brown rice, filtered water.

That’s it!

I cannot take credit for this fun idea – I learned the technique from Alicia Silverstone in her book The Kind Diet.  She has kindly included the recipe on her website as well for those of you who want to give it a try.   I didn’t make the syrup in the recipe – I just used a little raw honey and sprinkled it with chopped almonds.

This is my kind of cooking.  You cut the mochi into strips, lay it on your waffle iron, and VOILA – it grows into a waffle like those crazy sea monkeys we used to add to water as kids.

They were pretty good!  Definitely chewy and you want to add flavor with some sort of topping because alone they taste like, well… rice.

I even had some strips of tempeh bacon that I’d made the day before.  It was a fun and FAST breakfast for a lazy Sunday morning.

Next time I’ll have to try the Raisin-Cinnamon flavor!

Have you ever made mochi?  How do you like to prepare it? 

– Shari B. =)

 

 

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Another Fun Use for Coconut Oil

Sep 1

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 9 Comments

Hi friends!  It’s Thursday!  Wahoo, that means a new episode of Jersey Shore tonight!  :D   I readily admit to turning my brain to mush each week during JS and Bachelor Pad 2.  There’s something to be said about watching people behaving badly on TV that just makes you realize you are pretty darn normal.

So here is a random tidbit I came across the other day:  did you know you can use extra virgin COCONUT OIL as an underarm DEODORANT???  WHAT??  (Is there anything coconut oil CAN’T do?)  I have been on the lookout for something to replace my good ol’ Secret solid.  Yes it works great, but regular antiperspirant/deodorants really are just chock full of toxins.  I’ve known this but it’s been the one thing I haven’t yet fully embraced for replacement.  I’d heard great things about WELEDA deodorants from one of my instructors last year, and in doing some reading on it again this week I ran across some bulletin boards where people had good luck with coconut oil.  Well… I have it in the house so rather then drop $10 on the WELEDA, I’ll try this first.  I already keep some in my bathroom to use as a moisturizer.

I mean it does make sense, since coconut oil has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.

Obviously you’ll still SWEAT because there’s nothing in it to prevent that.  But sweating is good for you because it releases toxins through the skin.

So after my shower, I rubbed on the coconut oil until it had absorbed.  And at the end of the day, there was no odor!  I did sweat a little here and there when I was toasty, but no “pit smell” at all!  (Poor Cory even [begrudgingly] put up with me saying, “smell my pits – do I stink to you??” in the evening.  If only I had a camera handy for the look on his face… the things that man endures being married to me!)

Going forward, when I’m out in public wearing something that I don’t want to sweat in, like a nice blouse, I’ll still stick with conventional for now, but on days when I’m not dressed up you can bet I’ll be rocking the coconut oil!  Pretty cool!

Have you tried this?  Do you have any alternative deodorant brands you recommend?

***

On to the food recap: after my killer leg workout yesterday and my delicious post-workout green smoothie, my mid-morning snack consisted of toasted Ezekial with a hearty schmear of blueberry goat cheese.  We found the cheese on a recent Costco outing (they have a GREAT cheese selection for those of you looking for organics, for raw, for goat cheese, for sheep cheese – tons of cheese!).  And it did not disappoint – so so good!  While it will stain everything in sight (teeth, lips, fingers, white shirts!), it’s quite worth it!

For lunch I needed to cook up some tempeh that’s been sitting in the fridge.  So I sautéed some onion slices in one pan, sprinkled with Hungarian sweet paprika.  I sautéed sliced mushrooms in another pan with some Spanish Hot Smoked paprika and smoked sea salt, and then cooked the tempeh in the sides of both pans.

I used romaine leaves as little “taco shells” and stuffed them with the goods, the drizzled with a touch of ranch dressing, to “cool off” the heat of the rest of the meal.

It was pretty darn good!

My afternoon snack was a mini homemade Mocha Frap, blending ice, chocolate egg protein powder, almond milk, a small squeeze of chocolate syrup and a few shakes of decaf VIA.  Totally hit the spot on the 98 degree day!

Dinner was late and eaten in a bit of a rush… but I still tried to savor each bite.  Two eggs, scrambled with some arugula and fresh garlic then rolled into a whole grain tortilla.  Quick and yummy!

Fortunately I can slow down a bit today and eat more GREENS because my work week is done for the most part, so I’m kind of unofficially in “Labor Day Weekend” mode!

Any big plans for the weekend?  I really (really really) want to get out for a hike!  It’s been WAY too long!

If you need a movie recommendation for the weekend, definitely check out The Help. Cory and I saw it last weekend and we both thought it was FABULOUS!  Fellas, it’s not a chick flick.  It’s worth seeing no matter your gender.  Heartbreaking and heartwarming all in one.  I read the book a few years ago when it first came out, but this time the movie even succeeded in surpassing the awesomeness of the book.

Have a GREAT day blog buds!

– Shari B. =)

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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.  =)

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Gift of Good Weather and Recipe Suggestion

Dec 20

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Do Something Daily, Keeping Fit | 10 Comments

Hi blog buds!

Happy Monday!  How many of you have the week off from work or school?  If so, I hope you are enjoying it!  Although I must admit that I have always loved working the holiday weeks (at least in the office settings where I’ve worked) because everyone always seemed to be in a great festive mood.   So if you ARE at work today, spread some cheer!

It’s ANOTHER beautiful day in Denver with warmer-than-usual temps.  I got up this morning and did an Upper Body Tabata workout and then when I saw that it was 48 degrees outside I had to add on a 45 minute power walk.  I absolutely love to walk and feel sunshine on my face.

I am off to the grocery store in a few minutes to pick up some food for the week (I wanted to avoid the SUNDAY rush at the store) so that I can have some cooked food to actually SHARE with you!

In the meantime, here’s a link to a recipe I tried last week that we REALLY enjoyed and it was pretty quick to make as well:  New Mexico Chile-Glazed Chicken (or Tempeh) on Hominy Polenta from Epicurious.com.

The main addition I made was I added TWO chipotle peppers (the kind that are canned in adobo sauce) to the blender when I made the sauce, and it added some serious heat.  If you like less heat you might only want to add one (or even a half) chipotle pepper.

Using yellow hominy to make a “creamy polenta” was genius AND tasty.  And the sauce just got better the next day.

And if you have vegetarians in the house, you can make it with tempeh in lieu of the chicken.  The stars of this show are really the hominy and the sauce so you could sub any protein source you like.

If you try it, let me know what you think!

Here’s how my tempeh version turned out:

(And of course I shot the photo BEFORE I put the beautiful red sauce on… I must have been hungry!)

Do you eat HOMINY?  Do you buy it canned or do you buy it dried and soak it back to life? When I was growing up my mom used to make me fried hominy for lunch sometimes and I just LOVED it.  To this day I still love it and every time I open a can of hominy, I think back to those lunches with her.

Have a MARVELOUS Monday everyone!

– Shari B. =)

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Back in the Bubble

Dec 16

Posted by Shari B. in Do Something Daily, Natural Chef Culinary School | 4 Comments

Hi FitFeat friends!

What’s new in your piece of the world?  I feel a bit out of touch again already, now that I’ve entered the “Homework Bubble”.  When I enter that bubble, I have to get in my creative zone with no outside distractions from the internet, TV or radio.  Yesterday marked the end of my delightful “homeworkless week”.  Our next project is due the day we get back from the holiday break and as I’ve mentioned before, I’d really rather NOT spend all of my time off thinking about schoolwork.  So I’m hoping to accomplish a LOT today, this coming weekend, and then no more than 2 days into break if I can possibly make that happen.

For me, half the battle is coming up with the ideas in the first place.  Last time, we had to do six original recipes, each from a different region that we’d worked on during our Ethnic Cuisine module.  This time around we are to pick a local organic farm, find out what’s in season on that farm, and then design six recipes built around those foods:  two for breakfast, two for lunch and two for dinner.

Two of those recipes need to be raw as well.  Basically in the middle of December in Colorado, here’s what’s in season:  root veggies and winter squash.

Raw root vegetables, anyone?  ;)

I have to admit that coming up with ideas for this assignment was much easier than it was for the Ethnic Cuisine one.  Having a much more limited set of ingredients with which to work seems to boost my creativity, whereas having a globe’s worth of ingredients threw my brain into some sort of paralysis. I kept saying at class that I had “Recipe Writer’s Block”.

The good news is that I have brainstormed all six of my recipe concepts.  Next I need to start detailing all of the ingredients, writing instructions, and testing a few of them.

An interesting thing I’ve noticed during this brainstorming process is how “out of season” I tend to eat.  I have my favorites that I eat each week (like bananas, cucumbers and baby spinach in my smoothies), mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, etc .  While I love potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, and the like, I find that I just don’t use them very often because they are dense, starchier veggies and  naturally gravitate toward lighter fare when I’m eating vegetables.  Plus when I’m practicing cooking grains for school, like I was around midterm time, the last thing I felt I needed was MORE starch.

Luckily my sauerkraut uses something seasonal: cabbage.

I finally had some on my dinner plate last night.  Raw, fermented sauerkraut!  YAY!  Too bad I don’t eat hotdogs or sausage anymore!  I’m going to have to come up with some sort of tempeh reuben sandwich now to use up my kraut supply!

I love the vibrant color having used red cabbage over green.

Today’s discussion question:  do you feel you eat SEASONALLY for the most part? Personally, while I feel I have the organic part down pat,  eating seasonally is definitely an area where I have a lot of room for improvement!  Awareness is the first step toward change so now that I’m paying closer attention, maybe this will propel me to progress.

***

DDSD update:  my movement for today was “homemade” HOT YOGA, 45 minutes.  By homemade, I mean that I turn on my electric space heater in front of my yoga mat (not TOO close, don’t melt your mat!) and do the standing poses of my Bikram audio.  It may not be authentic ‘hot yoga’ in the over 100-degree room, but it feels AMAZING when it’s cold outside and this way I don’t have to pay any yoga studio fees!

OK blog buds, back to homework!  Hope you are having a fabulous day!

– Shari B. =)

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Last Year: Hallowmas. This Year: Hallowsgiving

Oct 31

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Natural Chef Culinary School | 7 Comments

Hi friends!

Happy Halloween!  I still can’t believe it’s October 31 and tomorrow will be NOVEMBER!  It really is true what they say about time going by faster as you get older!

While I know it’s not yet Thanksgiving, I’d definitely like to give thanks that we are going to have great fall weather for the trick-or-treaters (65 degrees today!).  Check out last year’s Halloween Eve and Halloween posts – it was the complete opposite!

I’d also like to give thanks that no one was hurt or lost their home in the most recent Boulder wildfire that started on Friday.  Here are a couple of pics I took as I was driving to school on Friday:

About 20 miles from school

Still about 10 miles away

Still about 10 miles away

When I got to the block where I normally park for the walk to class (in order to avoid paying for parking, I need to park about 5-7 blocks away), the smoke was VERY thick so I decided it would be worth a few extra dollars to park in the paid garage right at the school, just in case they blocked off any streets.  As it turned out, they did evacuate to one block from where I normally park.   About 2 hours into class, the administrator for our building informed us that power for that whole area would be cut and it could happen in 20 minutes or 2 hours.  So we hustled to get our food prepared and our Kitchen Manager washed everything up as we used it.  We didn’t end up losing power while we were there, so we did finish out the day.

The firefighters plan to have the fire 100% contained today.   After the huge fire Boulder had in September, losing 6000 acres and 170+ homes, this is the last thing that community needs.  So I’m glad everyone is safe.

***

Back to Halloween….!

Allison inspired me to want to carve some pumpkins this year (you  have to click on her name and go check out her pumpkins – they rock!) so we had a couple of our good friends over for dinner and drinks Thursday night, and carved away.

Can you see the "woof"?

The Riley & Rascal Jack-o-lantern

In honor of our dogs, Jeff carved their names into his pumpkin (with WOOF on the backside).  SO COOL!

Somehow my pumpkins always look like Mickey Mouse:

My Happy Pumpkin

I saved the pumpkin seeds to roast later, and I’ll be delivering some later today to our friends who came to carve!

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds "Delivery Style"

I did three batches (all were doused in macadamia nut oil): one with nutritional yeast and sea salt, one with soy sauce, and one with some cinnamon, Sucanat, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.  My favorite was the nutritional yeast.

My friends were game to let me try out a school recipe on them, Braised Tempeh with Coconut Curry Sauce served on a bed of Cauliflower Couscous.  I so appreciate that they were willing to try some vegetable protein since I know that’s not something they would usually eat.  I didn’t do any fancy plating while they were here, but I did practice with the leftovers:

Mmmmm curry & coconut milk!

It was even better as a leftover!

***

From a workout standpoint, this past week was a little lacking (that’s an understatement) so yesterday MSP and I did a solid lower body workout and today we are both feeling the fruits of our labor!  :)   My slow walking should come in handy if/when I transform into a witch this evening for our trick-or-treaters! (If I dress up I’ll be sure to share a pic!)

Have a WONDERFUL HALLOWEEN, friends!  Share pics if you dress up!

See you next time with recaps from last week at school as well as some of my externship fun!

– Shari B. =)

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