CSA Week 7 / Recipe Help From My Readers

Despite being a bit sad that I am more than halfway through my Spring CSA with Gruber Farm, I was delighted with this week’s box.

The variety and quality of Week 7 was impressive.

• carrots
• green beans
• zucchini
• pattypan squash
• cucumbers
• onions
• peaches
• pole beans
• red potatoes

At first, I wasn’t exactly sure what the beans in the bottom middle were. I couldn’t decide if they were snow peas or pole beans. After asking friends on twitter, I finally decided they must be pole beans. I hope I’m right. I’m open to being corrected…

As usual, I went straight for the fruit. Biting into the first peach reminded me that Summer is just around the corner. That evening, I cut the potatoes in bite-sized pieces and sauteed them with diced onion. All they  needed was a bit of oil and a dash of salt & pepper. Sometimes it’s the simple recipes that turn out the best.

The other vegetables left me wondering…

Should I eat the carrots as I always do, with my favorite hummus?

What on earth do I make with the patty pan squash? I won’t forgive myself if I chop them up. They’re too beautiful not to keep in their whole form. Perhaps stuffed is the way to go.

Pole beans? Who cooks with those?

Everyone thinks of peach cobbler, why not make something else?

Here are some recipes I bookmarked today:

• Patty pan Squash Stuffed with Corn
• Stuffed Zucchini Boats
• Rosemary Roasted Potatoes – basically what Courtney made this weekend!
• Carrot and Raisin Salad – a healthy version of Chick-fil-A’s!
• Sautéed Peaches

What would you make with this week’s vegetables? I want to know your favorites. Your tried and true recipes. Your family’s secrets.  Your own creations.

As bloggers and foodies, we know how tiring searching for the perfect recipe can be, so why not share with one another? Send me what you’ve got – I’d love to make it at home and highlight it on my blog!

Winner gets a special prize.

Pure Barre & Pure Food

Last Thursday, I went to happy hour with my friend Sarah. The HH was hosted by Andrea, one of the teachers from Pure Barre. For each drink purchased, you were entered in a giveaway to win prizes from the studio. I was lucky enough to win four free classes! (source)

Bright and early on Sunday morning (okay, 9 a.m.), I went to my first free class. This was actually my third time at Pure Barre. (Read about my first experience here.) I wish I could take each and every one of my readers to the studio. The workout is incredible! It’s one of those classes that makes me wake up the next morning saying, “I have muscles there? Ouch.” And I love it! Check out the Pure Barre site to find a location near you!

At the Mt. Pleasant location, the new client special is $99 for a month of unlimited classes. On Sunday, their facebook page announced a deal I could not pass up.

You see that word challenge? GETS ME EVERY TIME. How could I say no to that? Twenty classes in 30 days…I’ve got this, right? I am both scared and excited to see what happens to my bum. Excuse me,  my seat ;)

Speaking of all things pure in Mt. Pleasant, let’s talk about The Sprout, an organic café and juice bar. My friend Nicole and I popped in for brunch over the weekend. The first thing I noticed were all the juices. My eyes immediately darted to The Refresher: beet, apple, celery, cucumber, and carrot.

Sold. It was pink! #beetsmakeeverythingpink

We also split the Black Bean Burrito: black beans, lentils, tomatoes, greens, dairy-free cheese, and tahini dressing. The juice was great and the wrap was also tasty, but the service was beyond slow. It took over 20 minutes to get our food. Our raw food. Um, what?

Nicole also snuck in an order of two wheatgrass shots. She threw hers back like it was water. I, on the other hand, took one sip, gagged as quietly as I possibly could, and passed mine over to her. Could not handle it. They were a pretty green though, I’ll give her that.

 

Have you ever taken a class at Pure Barre? Do you think I can handle 20 classes in 29 more days?

What’s a health trend you can’t get on board with?

Impromptu 4 Course Dinner at Crave

Usually when I’m at the gym, I’m daydreaming about what I’ll be having for dinner that night. Sometimes this makes me work harder and sometimes it’s the only thing getting through my workout. Let’s be real.

During my sprint intervals, I received a tweet from Alysa that the chef at the restaurant where she works was now on twitter. Alysa works at Crave Kitchen & Cocktails and their chef, Landen Ganstrom, is a member of my gym. I had met Landen before when we worked out at Eco. As a fellow fitness junkie, he has implemented many healthy menu options onto Crave’s menu: gluten free, vegetarian, paleo, and even vegan.

When I received this tweet, my plans of nuking another spicy black bean burger with some veggies flew out the window. To Crave I would go.

I immediately texted Sarah, who had just finished a Pure Barre class. Sarah is a vegetarian of 8 years, so she was also quick to jump on a healthy meal.

Once at the restaurant, Alysa and our server, Carmela, informed us that Landen would be surprising us with different dishes. Carmela asked if we had any allergies and what our nutritional needs were and then reported back to Landen. For the record, both Sarah and I have no allergies and eat no meat or poultry. To say we were excited to see what we’d receive was an understatement.

Course 1: As soon as this came out, I knew we were in good hands. When I’m presented with beets, my trust is immediately handed over. Friends, this is a beet and carrot salad in a peanut sauce with candied peanuts. Have you ever seen beets in shoestring form? I haven’t, and I loved it.

Course 2: Wild Alaskan salmon with fennel pollen, black caraway seed,and poppy seed over sliced apples and jumbo lump crab sprinkled in some heirloom tomatoes. It was finished with imported Italian mustard. The lump crab meat was hidden underneath the sliced apple and was quite a happy ending.

Course 3: What we initially thought was pasta was actually local zucchini, summer squash and red bell peppers sautéed in oven roasted garlic paste topped with tomato basil chow chow. The peppers were unbelievably sweet, as if they had been plucked from the garden that day. The flower on top was also edible, but it was too cute to consume. I contemplated putting it in my hair and doing a hula dance but I resisted.

Course 4: Dessert. This was our most emotional course. Yup, even more emotional than beets. What you see here are pears and blueberries in a caramel sauce with walnuts and Humboldt Fog cheese. Sarah said this is her favorite cheese and it may just be mine too. The combination of flavors in this dessert was incredible. Get to your store and buy this cheese as fast as you can.

After dinner, Landen came out to chat and see if we enjoyed our dishes. We couldn’t thank him enough for such a delicious, yet healthy meal. If there’s one thing I can get you guys to understand, it’s that healthy food IS tasty. Especially when you have someone like Chef Ganstrom serving you. Carmela, our server, was a delight. She was friendly, attentive, and did an excellent job at explaining our dishes. I highly encourage you to check out Crave – it’s located in the shopping center with Target (The Shoppes at Seaside Farms.) Tell them I sent you!

For more information, check out these links:

• Crave’s website
• Crave on Twitter
• Crave on Facebook
• Chef Ganstrom on Twitter

Are you drooling yet? I am all over again. :)

Healthier Beef Stew 4 U

You know how sometimes you just crave comfort food? I’m not sure if it’s the weather cooling down, or my body telling me I need iron, but I’ve had beef stew on my mind for a few days. This is so random, as I rarely eat red meat. I’ll probably have 2 burgers a year and a few bites of someone else’s steak. I don’t choose not to eat red meat, I just prefer chicken and fish. With that said, when I have a craving for something, I go with it.

Beef stew doesn’t sound very healthy now, does it? Well, it doesn’t have to be that bad. Beef stew typically contains boneless chuck pot roast, but while in the grocery store I spotted mock tender roast, which is a less fatty cut. Yes, fat adds to the flavor, but I’d rather cut back and add flavor with my own seasoning.

Healthier Beef Stew 4 U adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. mock tender roast, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper
• 1 lb. medium onions, sliced
• 1 lb. sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 lb. baby carrots
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves

Preparation:

1. In a 3-quart (or larger) slow-cooker, combine beef, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, and salt & pepper.
2. Add onions, sweet potatoes, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, and 2 cups of water. Cover, and cook on high for 5 hours (or low for 8 hours) until beef is fork-tender.

Now that we’ve covered the food (literally), let’s talk about this week’s fitness plans. I’m decided to participate in more classes for a better variety of workouts. This ensures that I stay interested in the gym and my muscles aren’t getting bored.

Monday: Body Pump Express on my lunch break, 3 mile run outside with Amanda this evening

Tuesday: Body Attack

Wednesday: CX30 (a core class), possible outdoor run

Thursday: Cardio kickboxing

Depending on my weekend plans, I might squeeze in some additional strength training or a run. The above plans are a minimum and contingent on my social life, haha.

What’s your favorite crock pot recipe?

Do you plan your fitness for the week or just go with what you feel like doing each day?

Do you let fitness trump your social life? Or the other way around?

My Favorite Trader Joe’s Products

As you may remember, Trader Joe’s opened up in Mt. Pleasant last month. Amanda and I went to the grand opening, and I have been many times since. Many, many times. An inappropriate amount of times according to Wachovia. Here are some of my favorite products I’ve had so far.

Trader Joe’s Greek Yogurt + the Sugar, Chocolate, & Coffee grinder:

Spiral Wines Cabernet Sauvignon. For only $4.99, this wine is a steal. It’s much better than the 2 Buck Chuck. Go ahead, splurge a couple more dollars, ha.

I know soda isn’t the best thing for me, but sometimes I have my cravings. I don’t feel too bad drinking these:

Carrot Ginger Soup. It’s got great flavor, and for being low-fat, it’s pretty creamy.

Roasted Chicken Patties. These are incredibly convenient and are great on top of a salad or with a plate of veggies. I am really impressed with how much flavor they have.

Speaking of salads, this Champagne Pear Vinaigrette is awesome. It’s low in calories and fat, but it’s sweetness and chunks of gorgonzola make it an excellent salad dressing.

Lemon Pepper Pappardelle. I made a shrimp & broccoli recipe with this here.

Omega Trek Mix packets. For only 170 calories, these bags full of walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries are a great on-the-go snack.

Freeze-dried mango and banana slices. Holy heck, I could down an entire bag of each of these.

And on the sweet note, these Dark Chocolate Mints are a delightful treat.

I have bought a lot of different products, and of them all, I’ve only been disappointed in two. First up, this Dark Chocolate Bar with Caramel & Black Sea Salt. These flavors are right up my alley, but unfortunately the 70% cacao was too bitter for me.

I was psyched to see these prepared beets, but they were much too vinegar-y.

How about you? Which TJ’s products have you loved? Any I should avoid?

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How Do You Prefer Your Vegetables?

At work today, Sean and I ventured down to the cafeteria for lunch. As I was skimming the salad bar, whining that there were no beets for the 3rd day in a row, I suddenly heard Sean proclaim, “Veggie plate!”

Score.

For $4.49, we got to choose four different prepared vegetables. The lady serving at the hot bar must have thought that Sean and I:

a.) Need to gain weight

b.) Have a vitamin deficiency

c.) Should be put in a food coma so that we couldn’t work this afternoon, or

d.) all of the above.

This plate of food was meant for a small army.

Steamed broccoli, carrots, and snap peas, Brussels sprouts, butter beans, fried okra

Sean glanced at my plate and asked,  “You like okra?”

Me: “Nope. I liked fried okra.”

Sean: “So you like clogged arteries.”

Me: “Ew.”

Okra any other way is just nasty. Call me a distant relative of Paula Dean, but there are just some vegetables that taste better fried:

• okra
• potatoes
• pickles…err, cucumbers

Other than my fascination with frickles, I really don’t like fried food. It isn’t heart healthy and usually kills most of the vegetable’s nutrients. In an attempt to balance out my fried okra feast (oh, and the cookies), I made a healthy vegetable snack that afternoon.

Baked Kale “Chips”

• 1 bunch of kale, washed and patted dry
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• salt, to taste

To make the kale chips, I  removed the stems and tore the leaves into bite-sized pieces.

While I was getting my tear on, I found a dead ladybug. Ladybugs are supposed to be good luck, but dead ones? Um…

After the lady bug’s funeral service/burial in my trash can, I finished preparing the kale. In a bowl, I tossed it with olive oil, spread it on my Silpat-covered baking sheet, and sprinkled it with garlic and salt. I placed it in the oven that had been preheated to 350*.

Baked kale chips are done when they have reached your desired crispiness and the leaves start to brown. Be careful! It burns easily. You can eat the kale as is, or, if you’re as ketchup obsessed as I am, dip those chips!

So, I have to ask your opinion.

How do you like your favorite vegetable prepared? You all know I cannot get enough of roasted beets.

Which vegetables do you like better fried? Just admit it. I promise not to tell.

Baking Carrot Cake Cookies in Gym Attire

Around 5 a.m. this morning, a nasty storm came through Mt. Pleasant. It was so loud that it woke me up and I thought the world was ending. No joke! It shook me up so much that I couldn’t go back to sleep. I must also mention that I didn’t fall asleep until about 1 a.m. So running on 4 hours of sleep, I decided to start working at home.

By the end of the day, I knew I should go to the gym, but I was exhausted. I know better than to go to the gym when I’m overtired. I end up doing a pathetic workout and feeling like crap rather than energized. Boo.

So I skipped and baked instead. This makes total sense, right? I decided to leave my gym clothes on and get in the kitchen!

The dough was so good, I didn’t really want to bake it. I just kept looking at it.

And then I ate some.

And some more. Even though it looks like I’m kissing the dough…

I present to you…

Carrot Cake Cookies!
adapted from the Brown Eyed Baker

Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup raisins
• ½ cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375*.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and cinnamon.
3. With a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for 1 minute. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another minute. Slowly stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.  Carefully mix in the carrots, coconut, raisins and walnuts.
4. Spoon cookie dough onto a baking sheets. Baking for 15-18 minutes or until slightly browned.



These cookies are tender but full of texture from the carrots, coconut, raisins and walnuts. They taste very similar to carrot cake, but almost in soft muffin-cookie form. I used much less butter than the original recipe which made my cookies softer. If you’d like a crumbly cookie, use the original recipe. 

While I was baking, Santo sent me a message saying I needed to meet him later to pick up my birthday present. I love experimenting with new cookies and Santo is my go-to cookie taster! He is always honest and I’m glad to provide him with sugar. He’s such a great friend – it’s the least I can do!
Now my present from Santo…oh my goodness, another pickle present!
Not only do these say “Tickle my pickle” but they glow in the dark. Hahahaha.

I must admit, if I met a guy and he wore these, I’d be a tad bit concerned, wouldn’t you? However, rolled over 3 times and worn by me, they are pretty stinkin’ cute!

Ignore the rather large bruises. I am a clumsy mess.
Thanks Santo!! 

Thank Yous, A Winner, and Rainbow Eating

First, I’d like to thank you all for the sweet compliments on my nerdy glasses. I love how much better I can see and really have only taken them off to shower, work out, and sleep. When I take them off, I’m like ewww. Also, thank you for your help on the t-shirt contest!  :)

Second, I’d like to announce the winner of the Fiber One Brownie giveaway. Instead of using a random number generator, I used the Mariah generator. Without telling her why, I asked her to pick a number between 1 and 92…and she chose #8:

Congrats, Britton! Please e-mail me your contact information and your prize pack will be on the way.

…

In preparation for looking svelte for my birthday party on Saturday, I have increased my fruit and vegetable intake. Ok, ok, really I just have so many veggies from my CSA. I was chatting with Mariah, who also subscribes to a CSA and we were joking amount how many fruits and vegetables we ate all day. We kind of feel like rabbits.

For breakfast, I had my usual Kashi original cereal with light vanilla soy milk and blueberries. FYI, the “abbrev” for blueberries is “bluebs.”

Mid-morning, I snacked on some almonds and dried cranberries.

For lunch, I had more of the Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Quinoa.

My afternoon snack was a zucchini muffin and some baby carrots.

After I picked up my 10th CSA box, I cut up fresh yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, corn, and tossed them with italian dressing, balsamic, and goat cheese.

I ate that along with black beans and my most recent discovery: Bilinski’s Apple Chardonnay chicken sausage.

The moral of this story is: There is a rainbow in my stomach. It might even be a double rainbow.

On a completely different note, while I was gorging myself with rabbit food, Mariah asked me a very serious question. Our gchat conversation, complete with faces:

Mariah: if there was a breakfast that is just 100% bad for you (but wasn't) and you could eat it all the time... what would it be?

 

 

me:oooh probably pancakes.or cinnamony french toast

 

 

Mariah: with an assload of butter and syrup

 

 

me:and powdered sugar and brown sugar. also honey and whipped cream.

 

 

Mariah: all of the above

 

 

me: i wouldn't mind if there were chocolate chips in there either

 

 

Mariah: nope me neither

 

 

I can’t stop laughing at our heads. But the point of that was my question for you all:

If you could eat any breakfast, regardless of how bad it was for you, what would you have?!