Healthy and Sane

Entries Tagged as 'comfort foods'

Kitchen design is on its way

December 29th, 2009 · 20 Comments · breakfast, comfort foods, dessert, rice, risotto, snacks

Did I mention on the blog that we are remodeling our kitchen? I’m sure I have since this is a project we’ve been thinking about since buying our condo back in August and have been trying to get it under way for months now. After interviewing half a dozen kitchen designers and contractors, and accepting that it will cost nearly double what we originally budgeted for it (can you say ouch?) we finally signed the papers last night and put our deposit down. The very same night, the kitchen designer came over, discussed all the details with us and promised to have the sketches done by the end of the week. It’s actually happening!!! I am beyond excited!! In fact, I had a hard time falling asleep last night, because I kept on thinking about it. Weee :mrgreen: Do you guys want to see the kitchen before it is gutted? I’m thinking of doing a little video tour of our condo…

BREAKFAST

Power bran muffin with a sliced persimmon and nonfat yogurt

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Lots of textures and tastes!

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LUNCH

Thai food leftovers. The papaya salad was still crazy spicy but so yummy :)

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SNACKS

3 things I’m obsessed with – TJ’s ww Tuscan bread, avocado + baba ganoush

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I actually had some more bread with baba ganoush after dinner as a snack. The stuff is my new crack – my Barney Butter de jour if you will. ;)

A little piece of fudge with walnuts at the office…

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DINNER

Dinner was one creamy concoction – risotto with cauliflower and walnuts (based on this recipe, which I found through Tri to Cook). I used only 1 cup of dry arborio rice but added some cooked wheat berries, inspired by this recipe. I also only used 1t of EVOO (for toasting the rice), 3 oz of brie and walnuts instead of almonds (we ran out of sliced almonds). This was SO indulgent tasting!

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It was actually overwhelmingly creamy (Adam thinks that’s crazy talk ;) ), so mid-eating I decided to add some fresh cherry tomatoes to the bowl. What a great addition! The tomatoes added such freshness to the dish. I still managed to eat only 1/2 of this bowl.

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Soon after dinner, I found room for dessert!

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I ate 3 out of the 4 cookies in the package. These guys are so much yummier (and junk ingredient free!) than oreos. The cookie is actually chocolaty.

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After the kitchen designer left, Adam and I watched 5 episodes of season 3 of Entourage. We just couldn’t stop. Have you seen the show? We’re addicts here! :lol:

All right kids, I’m off to work! Happy Tuesday :)

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Cold weather calls for comfort foods (mac & cheese recipe)

December 20th, 2009 · 18 Comments · comfort foods

Well, well, well – looks like winter is HERE. The temperatures have been dropping to single digits over the last few days, and when we woke up this morning, we had about a foot of snow on the ground. Cold weather calls for warm, comforting foods. My usual yogurt parfaits for breakfast and big salads for lunch have not seemed appealing lately. Instead, I’m dreaming of warm muffins, beef stews (weird, since I hardly ever eat red meat and not sure if I’ve ever craved a stew) and mac and cheese. The last one I’m pretty sure is on every American’s comfort food list.

I haven’t gotten to making any muffins or stews yet, but last night the mac and cheese daydream was made a reality. I based it on Alton Brown’s baked macaroni and cheese recipe (found here) but of course lightened it up a bit. Here is my version:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound elbow macaroni (I used Barilla brand)
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
  • 1.5 cups of skim milk
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
  • 2 ounces gruere, shredded
  • 1 ounce grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Black pepper to taste
  • 15 butter-style round crackers (I used these from Wild Harvest Organic brand)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, whisk in the flour, mustard, stir in the milk, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish (a heart shaped one is optional ;) ). Top with remaining cheese.

Put the crackers in a ziplock baggie and crush them with your fist (like me, possibly a little ghetto) or a rolling pin (classier). Top the macaroni with the cracker crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

[Makes 4-6 portions]

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This was cheesy and indulgent tasting, even without the butter, cream or insane amounts of cheese. The leftovers harden in the fridge, and you can enjoy a mac and cheese pie the next day. Mmm…

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In related news (not mac and cheese-related, but cold weather/snow-related :lol: ) I’ve learned something new about my husband today. Apparently on a cold weekend day he cannot sit at home, sip hot chocolate and watch the snow fall while I bake cookies. He insisted that we go outside and take some pictures. So here are some pics… we didn’t make it too far. It was windy!!

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Notice how we are the only ones on the street (except for the snow plow guy – he clearly was not out by choice). Yeah, we’re crazy.

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My parents in law are driving down to see us today, so we’ll be taking them out for dinner. I think more comfort foods will be enjoyed! What’s your favorite comfort food?

P.S. – Only a few days left to enter the somersaults giveaway (enter here).

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My head is getting to me

October 13th, 2009 · 20 Comments · Asian, Cooking Light, breakfast, comfort foods, dessert, salad, tofu, yogurt

Today was a tough one. There was a lot of self pep talk. Sometimes it worked; sometimes my head got to me. I need to get over the hump asap – it’s killing me! I woke up this morning and had a comforting breakfast – apple crisp yogurt!

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It looked ugly, but man was it good. Warm apple crisp over cool nonfat yogurt, fresh apple slices and pecans. Definitely comfort food at its best! :) This breakfast kept me full for over 4 hours. In fact when lunch time came, I didn’t even want a full blown lunch so I had a snack – TJ’s organic double fiber blueberry muffin. So hearty and delicious. Love these!

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So far, so good. Not sure if it was the anxiety at work that kept my mind wondering, or the fact that my co-worker stopped by to see how my race went (she ran it too!) and my dad called to tell me it’s ok (he read my blog post – I kind of avoided most phone calls this weekend). Oh yeah, I also had a recovery clinical massage for my sore legs and had to tell the girl about how the race ended.  Somehow I couldn’t get the race off my mind and I just wanted to have that moment back so I could do things differently this time. I don’t remember exactly what happened. I’m still in awe that I walked off the course and just quit. It doesn’t make sense to me. I know my body needed the rest, but couldn’t I have walked for 0.6 miles?! I wanted the satisfaction of crossing that finish line SO BAD and now my first half marathon will forever be my worst nightmare. I can never have another first half marathon. :( I know this is irrational. My husband keeps reminding me that I blacked out (!!!!) and that I can’t keep blaming myself. I know I pushed too hard and that’s another reason I keep wanting to relive that moment – so I can pull back and finish. My sister and I emailed back and forth a bit and she tried to screw my head on straight about this whole thing. I know everyone else is right. It just really was traumatizing and I think the only way to change it IS to run another half, but race season is basically over (and it’s freaking cold outside!!!) so I’ll have to wait a whole year to do it again. Can I do it next weekend, lol? I’m all about instant gratification (you know, instant as in 2+ hours of constantly challenging my body beyond its limits) ;)

Back to food – the next self-pep talk involved snacking. This gorgeous German chocolate cupcake won this time :grin:

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Wowza. Amazing rich dark chocolate, pecans + coconut. I was in heaven! The problem with delicious treats like that is that I want more right after. Instead I decided to wait a little, and about an hour later enjoyed a healthier sweet treat: 1/2 FFL english muffin, Barney Butter + 1/2 banana – my favorite go-to dessert “alternative.”

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Wait, did I forget to tell you all about lunch? Mixed greens, green and yellow beans, borlotti beans, hard-boiled egg and a scallop from last night’s dinner.

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Dinner was also delicious and nutritious (hehe, this sounds like it should be in some kind of infomercial :lol: ). I had some nappa cabbage left from chop suey last week, so I searched around for another good recipe to put the rest to use. This recipe from Cooking Light for tangy stir-fried vegetables caught my eye, and I was even able to buy all veggies at the local farmers market. Sweet :)

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You know the drill – I omitted the onions and otherwise followed the recipe (except that I used over 3 times the tofu, doubled the sauce and added a whole bunch of veggies without really measuring). The marinaded tofu was out of this world flavorful! Great spicy kick too! Adam and I were eating the tofu raw while the veggies were cooking. So delicious – the vegetables were so fresh and the recipe made them shine. My husband was excited about tofu. What have I done to him?! ;)

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And I wish this was it. I was full and satisfied. Did I stop eating? Nope. Somehow the chocolate covered almonds and roasted salted pistachios were consumed – in large quantities, while watching the Biggest Loser. I tried to talk myself out of the madness but gave in. Seriously, what happened? Literally a month ago I was on top of the world, eating intuitively, losing weight and feeling spectacular, and now I’m back to old stupid habits that I can’t seem to reverse. This needs to end asap, so I can once again be healthy and sane!

All right, this post became whinier than I planned on it. My apologies. Let’s see if I snap out of it soon and become the inspiration that many of you tell me I am. <3

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My first blog anniversary

October 8th, 2009 · 30 Comments · comfort foods, dessert, entertaining, pizza, pork, salad

Today is my first blog anniversary (I was calling it blogaversary for a while until Adam told me I’m not allowed to say that word anymore… haha)!! I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I started this blog. I feel like I’ve really grown over this year, as cheesy as that sounds. I’ve finally accepted my body, stopped counting calories, became a runner, found new friends and in the process of it all became happy. Thank you all SO MUCH for coming back here every day and sharing your experiences with me. I started this blog to share healthy recipes and ideas and had no idea this would become such a huge part of me… and it’s really because of all of you, my readers. THANK YOU!!! :mrgreen:

Just for kicks, here is a link to my very first post. Wow, I was in denial about summer being over then too. I guess I haven’t changed that much. ;)

DINNER

I’m starting with dinner today because it was so fabulous. We had friends over, our first mini dinner party at our new condo. I was nervous! Our new oven sucks (it takes nearly double the time to cook most things) and I was so afraid the food would not come out right. To minimize the damage, I went with old favorites:

I asked our guest Katie to bring a salad, and she brought an incredible fall themed one: mixed greens, roasted butternut squash, grilled pears, raisins and gorgonzola, dressed in Newman’s Own light cranberry walnut dressing.

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Doesn’t it look like it was served in a fancy restaurant? Gorgeous!!

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The veggies for the main course took the longest to make. I peeped and chopped the beauties the night before. It’s very important to prep ahead time intensive dishes! Before (I still can’t believe colors like this naturally exist in nature!)…

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After nearly 2 hours of baking…

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+ pork

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All together:

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My plate (I had another slice of the pork… it came out incredible!)

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Dessert – before:

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After – with Sweet Scoops vanilla frozen yogurt

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Mmm, warm apple crisp with creamy frozen yogurt = perfect ending to a fall meal (I had a tiny bit of seconds :) )

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We had such a great time with Mike and Katie – I want to start entertaining more at our place! The conversation was flowing, and so was the wine. :D Oh did I mention we drank 3 bottles of wine between the 4 of us? No? Well we did. I told you we had a great time ;)

OTHER EATS

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Do you like entertaining? Any tips or go-to recipes for all of us newbies?

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Bigger is not better

October 1st, 2009 · 29 Comments · breakfast, comfort foods, eggs, oats, polenta, sandwich, snacks

My title refers to clothes! This morning I got dressed; the forecast was low 60’s so I thought it was appropriate to wear some long pants (during the warmer weather months, I mostly sported capris, skirts and dresses). I reached into my closet and found a pair of pants I haven’t worn for a while. These used to be one of my favorite pairs because I felt thin in them.  Today – they were baggy, embarrassingly baggy. I’ve about maintained my weight for the past year and a half. These pants were purchased at some point during that time. When did they become baggy? Sometimes baggy = relaxed. When it’s paired with heels for work, baggy = tired and frumpy. Instead of feeling skinny because my pants were too big, I wanted to hide in my cube because I felt like a little girl playing in my mom’s closet. These pictures don’t truly show how laughably big my pants were. Adam called them clown pants!

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What I found interesting is that despite feeling uncomfortable in my big pants, I am hesitant to put them in the donation bin. They are only 1 size larger than I am today! What if I gain a few pounds? If you’ve lost weight before, did you hold on to your old clothes or got rid of them as soon as they got too big? I got rid of pants that were several sizes too big, but these ones I’m struggling with… even though I feel like I’ve reached my comfortable weight (i.e. I stopped dieting and am maintaining this weight with little effort)!

BREAKFAST

Banana oats with white chocolate chips, almonds, pecans, raisins and cranberries + coffee

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Warm and creamy. I gave a taste to Adam because this bowl was just extra good and he said he wanted me to make oats for him next time :)

LUNCH

Turkey/laughing cow/grape sammie on Nature’s Pride whole wheat + carrot sticks

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The combo of creamy cheese, slightly salty turkey and super sweet grapes was divine. All of you non-vegetarians must try this sandwich!!!!

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SNACKS

Oikos + 1/2 banana + Nature’s Path Heritage cereal (unpictured – added the cereal last minute at my desk)

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Chocolate chip z-bar

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100 calorie almonds pack

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DINNER

I haven’t had time to hit the gym again (work :evil: ) so making a healthy dinner was the only way I could “treat” myself. I followed this recipe for parmesan polenta with eggs and roasted mushrooms.  This dinner took a lot longer than the promised 20 minutes (could be my sloooow oven and only 2 burners), but it was really worth it!!! This is comfort food for me.

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I am really obsessed with mushrooms and their woodsy flavor paired so nicely with the creamy cheesy polenta. We only had 1 egg left, so I decided to add shrimp to Adam’s dinner. While I was cooking the shrimp, I forgot about my egg and it cooked a little too long. No runny egg. :( I bet it would have really tied everything together. In any case, I LOVED my dinner (Adam just liked it) :D

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After dinner I watched the Biggest Loser (ok, I totally understand now who Jillian referred to as the devil… she clearly hates this girl!!!) and ate some pecans and 2 Kashi cookies. I didn’t need those; I just really wanted this food for the taste of it. I went to bed feeling quite guilty, although I know it wasn’t really about the nuts or cookies but rather a combination of feeling bluh all day (boo baggy pants), being hungry all day (I fed myself healthy snacks to remedy that), skipping the gym (need to make it a priority no matter what!) and then eating when not hungry. Every time I feel like I lose a good amount of weight and start feeling good about my body, I begin to gain. I think I felt guilty because I was scared.

How do you dress? Do baggy clothes comfort you or do you like to show off your curves?

Only a few days left to enter the Lazy Baker cookie mix giveaway. Get those extra bonus points. The cookies are worth it!!! :mrgreen:

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