Corn Chowder

Friday is CSA pick up day.  Once again, Fair Weather Acres did not disappoint, and i came home with a giant muskmelon, a dozen ears of corn, more peppers, giant scallions and more.  

I'm not a huge fan of corn on the cob.  Maybe it's the childhood punishment of having to shuck ear after ear, or the 6+ years of having to pick it out of my braces.  Even if i was, Duncan and i couldn't possibly eat a dozen ears of corn ourselves in just a few days.  The last time we got this much corn, I froze it, so that we could have some ready to go for recipes or a side.

This time, i decided to try my hand at making corn chowder.  It's not something i've made before, but i have enjoyed it.  When Duncan said it was one of his favorites, i decided to go for it.

I decided to start from Corn Chowder with Chilies from The Pioneer Woman.  Her recipe seemed flavorful, easy and i'll admit it, her photography could probably make anything look delicious and amazing.  I wanted to go with more items from my CSA, however, so i made some modifications.

some of my ingredients

• 6 ears of corn, shucked and cut off the cob 
• 2 slices of bacon (i tried her trick with just cutting the end and it came out great)
• 1 onion
• 1 large scallion (these were giant,you'd probably need several regular sized ones)
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper
• 4 cups vegetable stock   You could use chicken stock if that's what you have on hand.
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• Salt to taste
• 3-6 Tbsp corn meal
• 1/4-1/2 cup water

Over medium heat, place the bacon in a pot or dutch oven (yay i got to use mine!) and let it cook down so the fat starts to be released.  

Add the onion and scallion, stirring occasionally until the onion starts to become transparent.  (You could also add the peppers at this step if you wanted them to be more cooked in the final product).

Add the butter to the pot and allow to melt.

Add the corn and stir.  I added the peppers at this point as well, and they stayed fairly crisp in the chowder.  Allow to cook for a few minutes, so things start to get bright, stirring frequently.

Add the vegetable stock and cream.  If your vegetable stock is dark, don't panic, the cream will lighten up the color.    

Bring to a boil over medium high heat.

In a separate bowl, mix the corn meal and water, starting with 3 Tbsp of corn meal and 1/4 cup water.  Add to the pot, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.  

If the chowder is not thick enough, mix the remaining corn meal and water and add to the pot, simmer for another 10 minutes (approximately).  

veggies before adding stock and cream

We ate this with a sweet sausage and bread.  It was good enough Duncan told me to keep the recipe, which may be a first.  

Baking FAIL

This weekend some friends and i went camping, to celebrate Aimee's birthday.  Birthdays require cake.  But she is not eating much animal product (vegan as practical?), and seeing if removing gluten from her diet helps with some health stuff, which means not just any store-bought cake would do!  OK, and it's Miss Aimee the Cookie Mistress and no store-bought cake would do anyway, she's one of the best bakers i know!

Aimee loves salt.  She's taught me to be a little less fearful of it, and even taught me to add it to things i might not otherwise, like frosting, to add a little pop.  Also, we recently went to Tanglewood, and passed on some local salted caramel ice cream that all made us go "oooh".  I've never made caramel before (and it will show during this saga), but thought it sounded like a fun challenge.

It's a good thing sugar isn't expensive this was a complete fail, even after several tries.  And so the trash can had a feast.  These were my first attempts at a gooey filling (the sugar never melted enough) and harder decorative caramel (burnt).

Try #1 for filling came out grainy and gritty.  The sugar never melted enough, I think because i left out the 'optional' water, there was never enough moisture for it to get really soft.  

Try #1 for a harder caramel that i could break and use for decorating the cupcakes.  I let it get too dark and it burned.

I feel like maybe next time i should do some research about caramel before hand, as i ended up scrambling and not sure what i was looking for (hence so many failures!).  

This just wouldn't get hard, it kept melting at room temperature!

And here is Try #2 for a filling.  It's was way too thin.

The second time i adapted a non-vegan recipe, and substituted almond milk for the heavy cream.  This obviously cut the fat content way down.  Again, i maybe should of let this boil longer, as it was thin when i transferred it to the jar, but i was afraid of repeating my previous over-cooking error.  After a night in the fridge it was much more sticky and caramel like, but when i tried to use it, it was clear, it was way too thin.

I decided that the cupcakes should have a little more depth, rather than a single flavor note, so I made chocolate cupcakes, using a similar process to my lemon cupcakes.  These, however, were gritty, somethign didn't properly incorporate, either the flour or the cocoa.  But they looked ok, right?

Sadly, Aimee did not get cupcakes.  My time ran out before i could make a new batch of anything.  I would totally fail a reality TV cooking show audition.  We did, however, put candles in a cooked banana with chocolate chips and marshmallows for her on Saturday.  

Still, i will make these darned cupcakes for her!  Ian says that this is a sign i'm becoming a better baker, that i can tell things are not right and pitching them rather than making my friends suffer through my mistakes or something.  

CSA

Another weeks farm share, with Lucky investigating.  Lettuce, eggplant, tomatoes, peaches, heirloom cranberry beans, tomatoes and lots of peppers!

My First Cooking Class (but not the last!)

peach preserves

Last night, after work, i headed over to Billings Forge Community Works, in the Frog Hollow section of Hartford.  For those of you not familiar with New England's rising star, this is a neighborhood that is not-so-great, in charitable terms.  Billings Forge has decided to invest in probably the roughest area of Hartford, including the very fancy Firebox restaurant, as well as the Kitchen, which grew out of the catering side of the restaurant.  Both are farm-to-table style businesses.  There are also artist workshops, a community garden and a weekly farmer's market.  Oh, and did i fail to mention the mixed-income housing?  Or that it's all in former industrial buildings?  I know this blog is often about domestic things, but yours truly is an civil/environmental engineer who has a love for urban planning, so places like this do fill me with a certain joy, particularly when they succeed as well as Billing Forge appears to.

Among the many programs at Billings Forge, are some cooking classes at The Kitchen.  I was a little intimidated, having never attended a cooking class outside of 7th grade home ec, but a girl has to learn somehow, and books and youtube only go so far.

I'm happy to say this won't be my last time there.  The class was great.  We met in the dining area, and had an introduction to what Billings Forge is about, what the Kitchen does and met our instructors.  There were about 8 students in the class (3 pairs, me and another woman who came by herself) and 2 instructors, so there was lots of attention.  We had a short lecture on safety, and why it's important to follow instructions when it comes to preserving fruits and vegetables (botulism, among other reasons).  We also learned the difference between 'refrigerator' recipes versus recipes which require hot water baths and proper sealing.  We would be making refrigerator types of preserves, which won't last as long, but are much faster to make (and, after tasting my peach preserves, these won't be lasting long anyway, as i want to eat it all NOW!).  

We also learned that we'll be using a lot of sugar.  And this is critical, because that's what acts as the preservative binding with water in the fruit and preventing the growth of microorganisms, much like salt does in some recipes.  Then we headed to the kitchen to begin our hands on work!

Our instructors already had all the prep done for a pepper jelly, which they gave us the recipe for.  I don't have a lot of experience with savory jellies, but after trying a sample of this recipe the instructor had made a few days earlier, i'm excited to try some new things out!  The smells from the pot as it boiled were amazing.  

As we learned about pectin, we began to cut up our peaches for a preserve.  Pectin is extracted from fruits (some fruits have more pectin in them than others) and is used to make things gel.  It's in a number of products, in liquid or powder form.  We were recommended to check out Pomona Pectin, produced in Massachusetts, not only because they apparently make a great product, but it comes with a recipe book and a how to do your own recipe guide.  Liquid and powder pectins will produce different results, so you can't just substitute one for the other.  We would be working without pectin, which means we wouldn't be getting a really hard set product (hard set would be like Smucker's, when you scoop it out of the jar it sort of holds it's shape). 

I cut up 6 peaches unpeeled cut into small chunks and added 2.5 cups of sugar and just a little water to prevent the sugar burning before putting it on the stove. A good stir to get things going and then we let them go!  Some people added herbs to theirs, such as rosemary (i got to try a drop of this, and it was ZOMG good).  Basically we just let them boil, stirring occasionally, hoping to get to approximately 220F.  

Finished products

Because there are only so many burners on a stove, we made 1 large batch of the blueberry preserves (i forget what this was officially called), using the same process.  Lots of fruit, lots of sugar & a little water, setting to a boil and stirring occasionally.  Again with the wonderful colors and smells!  

We were told we could skim off the foam if we wanted from our preserves, it was just an aesthetic thing.  Some folks use a little butter to deal with the foam.  I didn't, and mine looks lovely anyway.  We also discussed how to tell if things were set without a thermometer.  Our instructor had a very fancy instant read thermometer, but you can also get an idea of your set with a frozen plate, and seeing if a skin forms or if it is runny.

We also spent some time discussing techniques for packaging, fancy jars, and trying some pickled items that had been made at the Kitchen, including beans, beets, onions, radishes and garlic snapes.  When things were ready we used a canning funnel to pour into our jars and ta-da!  Really, it was as simple as cut, stir, heat, stir more & pour.  

This class really boosted my confidence about making preserves,  both sweet and savory, and answered a lot of my questions regarding technique.  I just ordered a copy of Well Preserved, which focuses on small batch preserving, which fits with my food quantities better, and am looking forward to more adventures in preserving!.  

Last weeks CSA

Thought I would share a photo of last week's CSA share from Fair Weather Acres.  I've not been great at blogging our harvest, as Duncan has been picking it up, but it does give you an idea of just what comes in when, here in southern New England.  

Gluten Free Peach & Blueberry Cobbler

yum!

It was a very, very busy weekend.  And despite my best efforts, my food didn't cook itself, nor did the yummy fresh peaches get eaten.  They were on the verge of getting too soft, so i thought hard for a moment.  Then another.  Then another, until cobbler happened.

This cobbler has blueberries and a bit of ginger for flavor.  I added brown sugar, lemon juice, salt and cinnamon as well.

The topping is a mix of white & brown rice flours, almond flour, oatmeal, almonds and even a little ground walnuts, because i am a wild person.  With gluten free crumble tops you can get away with a lot of different mixes of grain and nut combinations.

This all went into a small baking dish at 350 F for about 30 minutes.

I get to taste it today.  I can't wait!

Update: despite the cat STEPPING on it, it still tasted awesome (Lucky may be adorable 90% of the time, but occasionally his name ought to be Lucky-We-Don't-Throw-Him-Out-A-Window).  I need to be more brave when adding spices, as the ginger was not very noticeable.  Also, i think i want to up the ratio of nuts or oatmeal, to give the crust more chew.  Still, for a throw-together, this worked!

Filling the Freezer with Fritters

Honest, i don't always make total junk food.  Sometimes i take healthy things and turn them into junk food.

All this without grating my fingers!

The CSA from Fair Weather Acres is great.  But like most folks in the summer, we've got an abundance of zucchini and summer squash.  I've already made a few batches of zucchini bread, and even brought some to work, where it quickly disappeared, but i still had way too much to use up and squash bread is less popular.

Then i saw a recipe for zucchini fritters... this sounded interesting!  Grated zucchini with a little flour, egg, spices and fried?  And promised to freeze well?  Hmmmm.  It was rainy out, and supposed to cool off (once again the weatherman LIES!).

This time i followed a recipe by Smitten Kitchen, which was amazing and yum.  My changes were using whole wheat flour, and making a second round with summer squash (which used a little more scallion).

Tasty tasty zucchini

Seriously? Make these.  Try not to eat them as they come out of the pan.  OK, eat the little bits that aren't a whole piece right out of the pan.  Or the ones that are a little too crispy.  Or not round.

Who am i kidding.  These and two muffins (and two hard ciders) were dinner last night.  And some more are lunch today, with some cherry tomatoes and a plum.

Some tips - definitely use a cheesecloth for de-watering the veggies.  I used a towel for the zucchini and it may be green forever.  Also the pore size was too small and took longer.  There is a LOT of water in these veggies and the full 10 minutes with salt makes a difference.

I only have a grater, but the texture was fine, sort of like a hashbrown of sorts.

These should freeze fine, and will update if not.  We'll probably know soon, because i want more already.

Muffin Experiments

Peach muffins

First off, although i didn't run yesterday because of the weather, i did make a rather crazy fitness choice - I signed up for the Warrior Dash.  This is a race that is around 3.5 miles, with a series of obstacles including climbing over walls, balancing on narrow boards, crawling through mud and jumping over fire.  Aimee, who is my running inspiration, as well as my brother will be joining me.  I've got until September to try and gain some upper body strength, as well as continue working on my running.

I did use the evening for productivity.  First off, i made a batch of peach muffins, using Alton Brown's muffin recipe from I'm Just Here for More Food, with a slight modification.  I used half whole wheat, half white flour (by weight).  I sifted the dry ingredients twice, to make sure things were incorporated.  I also used greek yogurt, because that's what i had.  I didn't measure, just went with what i had left in the container, which looked to be about a cup.  Because that's what i had.

I had wanted to use some raspberries in these, but sadly mine had gotten moldy, and the ones that were salvageable were too soft, and i didn't want pink muffins.

Blueberry muffin

I love the flavor the whole wheat added, but i think next time they will need a lower temperature, as the outside came close to being burned had i not turned off the oven and let them finish as the heat reduced.  These muffins were also a little more dense in comparison with the blueberry muffins i made several days ago using the same recipe except using only white flour.  I have done a little reading and learned there is such a thing as pastry whole wheat flour and may investigate such a product.  I don't believe white flour is the devil but any change to get a little better nutrition is nice.

Both batches were not sweet, nor cakey, but felt like something old-fashioned and comforting.  I'm interesting in trying a savory batch sometime soon, perhaps some sort of herb and cheese thing.

Because i made the blueberry muffins before leaving for a trip to Massachusetts for a family gathering, i froze them and found they were still great post-freezer.  They also defrosted quickly, which is handy.  I decided to freeze all but 3 of the peach muffins (two i ate for dinner, plus one for today's lunch, don't judge!).  We'll see if the flour choice has any impact there.

In related news, i recently read two posts from Food 52, one on Food Styling and the other on Food Photography.  Please bear with me as i try and learn (and also use my iPhone 4S as my camera).

Gluten-free, vegan lemon & raspberry cupcakes (AKA Baking without a net)

July 4th was an important day in the domestigeek's life.

See, there was a low-key bbq to attend, with the usual Olympus family.  The perfect opportunity to attempt the kohlrabi chips i'd been thinking about.  And make up some German potato salad, an easy crowd pleaser that is safe for most diets because the ingredients are so simple.  But of course, i wanted something sweet.

I'd just done the fat kids salty-sweet cookie day, and it's been hot here in CT.  Stupid hot.  And humid.  (And awful for spending time in the kitchen, but maybe i'm a little twisted). I'd been thinking about doing chocolate cupcakes with coffee icing and heath bar chips on top, to play on Duncan's favorite ice cream flavor, but it felt too hot for chocolate.

For whatever reason, lemon was calling to me, and i thought lemon squares, but that seemed too advanced, and most of the vegan recipes called for tofu, something i knew i wouldn't be able to get Duncan to even try.

But then i found inspiration!  Lemon and raspberry cupcakes!  But this recipe was complex and i didn't want to spend the small fortune on the various flours and whatnot, if they even all were available at Stop & Shop or Whole Foods (and who wants to make 2 grocery store trips?).

So i did some more research, looked at several gluten free cupcake recipes and went to town.

Although it's not perfect, the Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour is decent for a base flour.  I hope to experiment more and maybe come up with a better blend when Aimee and Ian and i do Science Day (stay tuned for that adventure!), but i was willing to dumb down the flours to that.

I then had to consider the vegan element.  A cake needs the proper proteins to get the right texture.  I hate using egg replacer, because there is something kinda sketchy about it in my head.  So what would work?  I decided that this gluten free vegan recipe would be my base, which has apple cider vinegar, baking soda and water.

So for the cupcakes, this is approximately my recipe:

2-3 cups gluten free all purpose flour
1 cup sugar (yes, i know, sugar can contain bone char, which isn't vegan, but the lovely folks i'm most often baking for are comfortable with sugar, if you want an alternative, i'd suggest researching your brands or using turbino sugar)
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
0.5 teaspoons salt
0.3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
zest of 1 lemon
squirt of lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Line a dozen cup muffin pan with paper liners. (i also used a silicone liner to make a 'test' cupcake, there was plenty of batter
3. Sift together the dry ingredients (start with 2 cups of flour and sugar, baking soda, salt).
4. Add the oil, extract, vinegar, and water, and zest. Mix together till smooth.  My batter was very loose and i ended up adding more flour until i liked the consistency.  You want something akin to a cake batter, loose, but not watery.  I also tasted it and decided to add some lemon juice to up the flavor.  
5. Pour into lined muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. These seemed to rise fairly well.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Test with a toothpick, if it comes out clean you're good. 

These had a dense, spongy but soft texture.  I think next time i may reduce the amount of water to account for additional wet flavoring (lemon juice).

As i waited for these to cool i made a raspberry filling.  This was definitely a little tart.  If you'd like something sweeter, add more sugar.

1 bag frozen unsweetened raspberries

1.5 cups sugar

1-2 cups water

1. Thaw the raspberries with about 1/2 cup sugar
2. Put the raspberries in a saucepan and cover with water, add another 1 cup of sugar.  Simmer, stirring often and allow mixture to reduce to a thick consistency.
3. Strain some of the seeds out with a strainer.  
4. Fill a pastry bag with the mixture.  Using a narrow tip, insert into the cupcakes and squeeze gently (Wilton has some pictures to explain).  

Mine weren't perfect, but it did work!  Expect some leakage on the tops, but you'll cover it with frosting, so it'll be ok.  Next time, more sugar and maybe something to thicken it up better?  I'll do some research and report back.

The last part was the frosting, after all, a nice creamy frosting is one of my favorite cupcake elements!  

I've grown up on Domino Sugar's buttercream frosting recipe (although now i know Aimee's secret of a little salt, it'll never be the same).  Of course, this relies on butter, which is not so vegan.  Here's where a little playing comes into effect.  Earth Balance is great for baking, so long as you can do soy, but it's texture isn't as hard as butter, so the frosting isn't quite right.  You need to up the ratio of sugar to get the right thick texture.  I can't exactly quantify this, but i tested it as i went by seeing how stiff the frosting was on the spatula.  When it held it's shape without melting, i decided it was thick enough.  Because of the heat in my kitchen i also suspect i had a harder time establishing the right texture.

3 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 cup earth balance (i usually get this at stop & shop in the butter/margarine area)

3-4 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon extract

zest of 1 lemon

1. Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix on medium, adding sugar as necessary for a thick texture.  This isn't a strict recipe, you can alter the flavor elements to taste, just remember the more wet you add the more sugar you'll need for that thick creamy texture.  You want to minimize the amount of liquid you add, so start small and add slowly.  If it's too thin add more sugar, too thick, add more wet flavor in the juice or extract.  

I topped these with raspberries.  Ta-da!

Farm Share Week 1

So here's what i did with my delicious produce from the first week of my CSA through Fair Weather Acres, a beautiful and delicious haul!

Spinach (1 lb)

• Omelettes with spinach and swiss cheese and Farmer's Cow eggs (see picture).  Pretty proud of actually making an omelette that didn't turn into scrambled eggs, but could of been more patient and cooked it a tad longer.
• Cut up a ciabatta roll and layered herbed goat cheese, fresh spinach and roasted red pepper as a fancy late afternoon snack.
• Threw some in a salad for Saturday & Sunday dinners
• Cut some up and ate it with slices of turkey for a lunch on Monday & Tuesday.

Strawberries (1 qt)

• Ate some straight out of the container they were SO GOOD i snacked on them consistently.
• Strawberry shortcake for Father's Day using home made Cream Biscuits from the Fannie Farmer cookbook and whipped cream from scratch.  I wish i took a picture of these, they looked so pretty in my mom's blue bowls!

Parsley (1 bunch)

• Looking to use it soon, if not will dry it.

Rainbow chard (1 bunch) 

• Pickled the stems with a modified version of this recipe.  They are not kidding in calling this rainbow chard!  They are gorgeous!
• Going to sautee the greens with the beet leaves maybe?

Turnips (2)

• Cut 1/2 of the larger turnips into french fry shapes and roasted with some herbs in the oven.  Came out tasty, but could of cooked longer.  Amazingly low cal!

Beets (1 bunch)

• Tried to make beet chips with the actual beet part, but they all came out burnt.  Looks like i'll have a chance at redemption this week as we'll be getting more.  The ones i didn't burn came out tasty!
• Pickled the stalks using this recipe.  
• Saute the greens with the chard?  Or just combine this week's haul with the next for a larger serving?

Romaine lettuce (1 head)

• Saturday & Sunday dinner salad with tomatoes, spinach, cucumber, peas and chick peas.

Bok choy (1 head)

• Slow Cooker Chicken with Pineapple and Bok Choy

Tomatoes (2)

• Saturday & Sunday dinner salad, basic but tasty!

Mini Pledge 1 from 100 Days of Real Food

So link hopping today took me to the 100 Days of Real Food blog, which is well worth a read if you're interested in food, what we eat and how to limit your intake of artificial ingredients.  I'm not sure i buy everything she says, but i've decided to participate, behind the schedule, in her 14 Mini Pledges.  Although they are not necessarily sustainable for me at this point, i will try to keep with the spirit of things.  I may modify as necessary, or fail, or whatever.

Week 1 is to eat a minimum of two different fruits or vegetables with every breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal.  I feel that this may be a challenge for breakfasts, as i usually only eat 1, but maybe i will alter my oatmeal a little.  Or alternatively, ensure one snack is a fruit or veggie.  Lunch and dinner should be relatively easy.

Although she suggests the fruit and vegetable be organic, i'm not going to hold myself to that.  In part just because i would rather use what i have available.  Also because today, after work, i sign us up for a half share in the Fair Weather Acres CSA!  This is a veggie & fruit CSA (the fruit will be coming from Belltown Hill Orchards and Dzen Farm).  I prefer local over organic, because it keeps money in my community, supports my neighbors, and Connecticut grows some delicious produce!  It also reduces the environmental impacts from shipping.  I'm not strict on either, but this is about new experiences, right?

Anyone want to join up with me starting Monday?

Breakfast, lunch and a snack!

Breakfast - maple blueberry refrigerator oatmeal! (small jar)

Lunch - blueberries (the dark spot in the center top), half an apple, cucumber slices, 2 hard boiled eggs, salt, cherry tomatoes, strawberries

Snack - lifesaver and wasabi & soy sauce almonds

Beverage - lemon ginger refrigerator iced tea

It's all delicious!  And happy!  And easy!

Sorry it's not the greatest picture.  I was very tired last night and not so enthused about making things.  Making things in bulk seems to be the way to go (like boiling the eggs and making several jars of oatmeal).

Today's Breakfast/Lunch/Snack

Today's breakfast/lunch/snack.  Wasabi almonds, hardboiled egg (with salt), raspberries & blueberries, salad (lettuce, tomato, broccoli & cucumber), babybel cheese, strawberries, salad dressing & lifesaver in Planetbox. Strawberry vanilla refrigerator oatmeal in jar.  Freeze dried peaches in tin.

I may not eat it all, but for 2.5 meals, 725 calories isn't bad.  Still leaves more than half of my budget for dinner!

Refrigerator Tea

It's summer.  OK, maybe technically not for a few more weeks, but it's summer here in Connecticut.  And in the summer, i love iced tea.  Lately especially, as i've been looking to drink more water, drink less soda and not add calories.  Unsweetened iced tea has become my go-to for dining out, but making it at home is a time consuming process (although VERY delicious!) and heats up our kitchen.

Enter Refrigerator Tea!  The actual time involved is mere minutes (filling a mason jar and adding tea bags), although the wait time is 6-12 hours.  It's really, really easy and very good.

Step 1.  Grab a mason jar and fill it with water.
Step 2.  Add some teabags.  Let the tabs dangle outside the jar, don't stick them in the water.
Step 3.  Close the lid.
Step 4.  Stick it in the fridge and wait 6-12 hours.
Step 5.  Enjoy!

I suggest using 1-2 teabags per cup of tea, depending on the strength you enjoy and how long it sits.  I plan on experimenting soon with adding some flavors for even more delicious soon!

SnackTaxi

Just a quick little post today.

My friend Michy bought me two SnackTaxi sacks, one sandwich sized, one snack sized.  Snack Taxi sacks are essentially reusable sandwich baggies.  With fun fabric designs on the outside and a nylon coating on the inside, they can be used over and over.  They are safe for the washing machine (though i often just turn mine inside out and use a sponge).  They have a velcro flap that allows for a fair amount of give in packing.

Snack Taxi's (CNBC/Snack Taxi)

As part of my plan to get healthier, i've been religiously bringing fruits and veggies to eat at work, and using these bags all the time.  For some reason i couldn't find one this morning and i had to use a regular ziploc style bag.

It made me realize how much i love the reusable bags!  It felt so wasteful to use a regular baggy!

The cost of the sandwich sized bags are around $9.  According to Target, a box of 225 Ziploc baggies is around $6, so depending on how often you use it, it may take a year or  more to be financially more worthwhile, however environmentally the results add up more quickly.  Also, your lunch looks more fun, how cool is that?

Eating the Moment, Activity 4 - Cravings Essay

Having learned what hunger feels like, i now get to work on identifying cravings.

I kind of assumed that i'd be writing this about some thing specific.  Wanting french fries or candy or something particular.  Instead it was a craving to eat due to being tired and a little low.

As i drove home from Springfield i felt false-hunger.  I wanted something comforting, and the idea of grabbing something crossed my mind.  I looked at the clock and it was well after 9PM, but i had eaten a delicious meal of salad and stir fry a few hours ago.  I thought about my hunger essay (as i was driving and couldn't read it per the book's directions!) and asked if i felt the same way as when i was hungry.  The answers over and over were no, other than feeling tired.  Well, my plan was to take a shower and go to bed, solving that issue right quick, so why did i need food?

That's when i looked harder at my day and realized i was having an emotional craving, looking for that comfort that food brings.

Yesterday was a strangely full day.  A little time with Duncan in the morning, followed by a walk, lunch with the engineer girls, time with my folks & brother and then a trip to Olympus for dinner and TV shows about the Amish.  It also involved some sadder moments - Duncan leaving for the week, changes in the lives of the engineer girls, and seeing Grandma's house empty in preparation for the closing this week.

I thought about what i wanted - salty or fried, startchy, and doubted it would of been sated with a salad the same way my hunger had been.  I wanted the specific feelings from carbohydrates and fats, unlike hunger which just wanted food.

Cravings aren't good or bad, but they are a signal of something, physical or emotional.  If i take a moment to examine them, rather than just react, i can make better choices.  Sometimes i may really want something, and that's ok!  I'm not bad for wanting a cheeseburger!  And i'm not a good person if i deny myself candy!  It's about making conscious choices about my food, which is much more important for me to learn.

Next up will be playing Craving Detective, and tracking what i crave and when/why.  Sorry this is all so food/weight/crazy oriented lately.

Eating the Moment, Activity 3 - Hunger Essay

The next exercise in Eating the Moment is an essay about hunger. Yesterday was the ideal day for the experiment. Often i don't eat breakfast or lunch during the course of the work day, particularly when i'm in the field for one reason or another, and it just so happened i got sent to the state library and DEEP. 

Around noon i felt it, the uncomfortable rumbling in my belly. As i drove back to the office every billboard i passed with food seemed to be reminding me of how i was feeling, how much i wanted sugary, salty, fried whatever. I was determined to let myself feel this however.

The feeling in my stomach was fleeting. By mid-to late afternoon i was unable to focus, cranky and a little headachey. i was looking at recipes online, which only made things worse.

After work I made myself go to the grocery store, make up a salad at the salad bar and pick up some other things. I made better choices, but struggled against impulse buys because i wanted anything and everything to eat.

I made myself go for a walk after putting all the groceries away. It was the most emo walk ever - gray, slow, rainy, painful, crampy, cold, windy and full of angst. While some of this was in reaction to the weather and PMS, i suspect plenty of it was my body saying "ummm, remember me? i like fuel ya know!".

I tried to focus on what i was feeling because of the hunger. irritable, cranky, tired, distracted. My body felt heavy and slow. No wonder i often confuse tired and hungry! 

When i got back i made my dinner, logging as i put things together. i didn't let myself eat until i had sat down with everything completed (and logged). It was very hard! I would of eaten just about anything and felt better, but taking the time to make a relatively healthy dinner (turkey burger, pop chips and a salad) felt good, and tasted good. 

No wonder i often would grab whatever was fast and easy on the way home from work if i didn't eat breakfast or lunch. When i let myself get to that level of hungry anything will do, it doesn't have to be good for me!

The next awareness activity is to work on differentiating between cravings and hunger, so stay tuned as i keep learning.

Eating the Moment, Activity 2 - Why am I about to eat?

This week's activity in Eating the Moment was to shift the question from "Why did i just eat?" to "Why am i about to eat?". I admit i didn't do this perfectly, and intend to continue trying to incorporate it into my routine.

Plenty of times the answer was "I'm hungry" but it definitely wasn't the only one. Sometimes it was about trying something new and tasty (like at the wedding), or how my cooking/baking was (like the failed GF rolls). I sometimes ate because i wasn't hungry exactly, but felt like i needed fuel, like after my morning run. And sometimes i think i felt as thirsty as i did hungry, but wanted to go for food instead of water. There were also some opportunities where i ate to fill my calorie needs more so than hunger. I need to not be so afraid of things. Eating more fruits & veggies is great, but they can't be the only thing i eat. I can eat something with more than 100 calories per serving and not explode. Really.

Sometimes i did choose to put something down and wait, because it was out of boredom or wanting to delay going back to work. Today was a great example. On the one hand, i was more productive, because i came back to the office without a stop at Dunkin Donuts. On the other hand, i'm back and the office earlier, and totally could have stopped without any negative consequences (it's sort of an unwritten rule about field work). 

Anyway, i'll keep working on it. Eating isn't just about bare nutrition or we'd of turned food into a pill. It's about pleasure and taste and so if the only reason i eat is pure hunger... well, it'll be missing all of those things. But there are bad reasons. Learning the difference between thirsty & hungry, or tired and hungry will help me in the long run take better care of myself as a whole, not just my waistline.

Eating the Moment, Activity 1 - Why did I just eat?

As part of my weight loss goals, i'm working on Mindful Eating and developing a more healthy relationship with food.  Part of this is finding resources that work for me.  One of those is a book called Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time by Pavel Somov.  I'll try to write more about it as we go.  


The first activity in Eating the Moment is, after you eat, write down why you ate, for a weekish. It was pretty simple, but having to actually think why something just landed in my mouth was interesting, particularly as i'm being more aware of what and how much i'm eating.

Today is technically 7 days, but since i don't have a functional computer at home, i thought i'd make yesterday the last day and move on to the next exercise today. Because Duncan and i are using Friday as our weigh in day, it also feels like a good time to move along.


Saturday
Breakfast - hunger
Snack - hunger
Dinner - hunger
Dessert - craving, needed calories, hunger(?)

Sunday
Breakfast - hunger
Snack - tired, thirsty, hunger(?)
Late Lunch - hunger, boredom
Dinner - hunger, needed calories

Monday 
Breakfast - calories, fuel/tired
Lunch - wanted a break from work, lunchtime trigger?
Snack - hunger
Dinner - social, hunger

Tuesday
Lunch - hunger, smelled food
Snack - hunger, bored(?)
Dinner - hunger
Dessert - calories, craving

Wednesday
Breakfast - fuel, hunger
Pre-dinner - cooking trigger (tasting), hunger
Dinner - hunger
Dessert - hunger, tired, calories, pain (wanted cold)

Thursday
Breakfast - hunger
Lunch - hunger, habit
Snack - hunger, food in front of me
Dinner - hunger, tired



There is a huge bias here. In reducing my calories i'm being forced to think before i eat, and not eat so mindlessly. If i wasn't being so careful boredom, tired, lonely and cravings would likely have shown up much more. 

When i looked at this, i first thought "gosh, i must be hungry all the time!", but i think the reality is i'm feeling hungry, so i eat, which is a normal cycle. And normal people eat every 4-6 hours. Normal people eat meals and snacks. This is OK.

Breakfasts are still a challenge. I've been doing a greek yogurt and sometimes fruit in the mornings, though often one becomes lunch or a snack. 


Today i start the next activity, which is asking before i eat "Why am i about to eat?". The upcoming week includes a wedding (social eating opportunity) and four unscheduled evenings (bored/emotional eating opportunities). I can change my mind or not once i answer that question, but it's about the honest check in beforehand. I wish loseit had a notes option to keep everything in one place, but so it goes. 

Related, C25K continues. The dental work is still sore and mucking with my sleep, so exercise is being pushed to after work. I hope to get back to 6AM next week. Still, i'm doing it. Yesterday was a walk day, but i chose to run 2 3 minute sections just to see if i could. God that's a long time at this point, but i know soon enough it'll be easy. Just keep swimmin'. Or runnin'. Or something.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday, my husband and I did the most rebellious thing we could for a holiday - spent it together with just the two of us.  The last few weeks have been hard, with little time to spend together, if at all, so this was just what we needed.  I did most of the work in the kitchen, which was OK.  I thought I'd share my Thanksgiving Menu, which of course left TONS of leftovers for just the two of us, but that was partially intentional.  Most of the recipes were taken from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook my MIL got us a while back.  I'm finding the recipes are basic enough for me to follow, but still add my own ideas to.

* Appetizer: Baked brie with craisins

1 8oz brie, cut in half horizontally (making two wheels). Fill with about a tablespoon on melted butter, about a tablespoon of brown sugar, cinnamon to taste and about about a 8th to 6th of a cup of craisins. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Served with crackers.

* Turkey: Followed Fannie Farmers directions (mostly)

Rinsed and dried outside of turkey. Filled cavity with peeled & sliced onions and sprigs of parsley. Put salt & pepper on the outside, then rubbed butter on the outside. Put it, breast side up onto a parchment paper covered rack in a baking pan, and made a tin foil tent for the top of the breasts. Cooked for a few hours at 350, until it got to 180 according to the thermometer. We basted it every 20 minutes with butter and then the drippings in the pan. This came out super moist and yummy.

* Stuffing: Stove top.  Totally cheated.  It was eh.  I'm not a big stuffing fan to begin with, but my husband loves it.  Meh.  Next time i'll do it from scratch too.

* Potatoes: Roasted yukon gold, russet and sweet potatoes with rosemary and thyme.

This is one of those i can make anytime and do a thousand ways and they come out awesome. Cut up potatoes into bite size-ish chunks. Use what ever kind you like. I like to do a mixture for flavor and texture, but you don't have to be so fancy. I used 3 large potatoes and half a bag of tiny potatoes, enough to make a single layer (mostly) in a casserole dish. Drizzle olive oil and spices (i used rosemary and thyme, but there are no rules about it). Stick in the oven until tender. I usually cook these at a higher temperature, but since the turkey was hogging the oven, they were at 350 and took a little over an hour.

* Veggie: Asparagus, pretty much just like the potatoes.  Washed it, broke off the bottoms since they're not tasty and arranged on a cookie sheet.  Drizzled olive oil, then rosemary and thyme (keeping the flavor profiles together!) and stuck in the oven for about 15-20 minutes at 350.  Tasty and simple!

* Gravy: Followed Fannie Farmer's advice and used the pan drippings and flour.  This was the husband's big contribution.  Although he wanted to get fancy i encouraged him to keep things simple.  He rushed a little, so things were a little thin but still tasted awesome.

* Pumpkin bread with chocolate chips: Used the Fannie Farmer pumpkin bread recipe and added chocolate chips instead of nuts, because dear husband is not a fan of nuts.

* Apple pie (of course!): Again, Fannie Farmer for the dough and basics, but had a little fun with spices.  Used a nice mix of apples that gave some good texture and a little tartness.  I don't like totally uniform apple pies.  With the leftover dough i made some flower cut outs, which made me happy.  She didn't mention doing an eggwash on the top of the pie, but i always grew up doing so, for browning and shine, so i did.

Overall everything came out great (except the stuffing).  I'm really proud of myself and think next year we may host thanksgiving!