Time Traveling!
Two posts coming at you guys cause I’m the worst! (It’s been over a month since I’ve posted!)
Working two jobs + hot weather = no motivation to cook anything over smoothies and salads.
Now, saying that, a little over a month ago I was working every day and three of those days a week were doubles. At one point, I realized that just having a smoothie and making my salad weren’t enough to get me through those long days. (To be fair, I was eating cheese at Unos, I love cheese but one can’t live on cheese alone, sadly) I had some time off and decided to make a simple quinoa salad to take with.
Not only is this salad easy to make in bulk, it’s good eaten warm or cold. It’s also 100% vegan and has a decent amount of protein.
Here’s what to get from the store:
Qunioa
Roma Tomatoes
Red Onion
Cauliflowr
Asparagus
Black Beans
Make Ahead Roasted Veggie Salad
2 cp cooked quinoa
1 head cauliflower
Handfull chopped asparagus
1 red onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 can black beans
5 cloves garlic, smashed
- Roast the veggies, except tomatoes, in a 350 oven tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper for about 20 minutes, or until cooked through.
- Add the veggies, tomatoes and black beans to the cooked quinoa, mix and season. Store in your fridge, use as needed.
Now that fall’s back I hope to have more time and want to cook. I still work way to much, but the cold at least makes me want to turn on my oven.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Who needs em?
The other day I talked about how I had cut out processed carbs, at least for a few days. I have completly curbed my snacking, no chips, no crackers, nothing. All my snacks have been fruit, vegetables or nuts. Cutting that out, my stomach is flatter and I lost 2 pounds. My muscles have not suffered, so that is good. I had been a little worried that my strength would wain (I also hadn’t been able to exercise since last Friday). That being said, I have the energy and that’s important.
Last night I wasn’t really sure what to make, I was hungry but nothing stood out. Then I remembered that I had some sweet potato left over, and thought that I could make something simular to what I had made the day before, but put it on a spinach salad. I added some pickled red onions and a sriracha honey dressing, and it was fabulous.
I’m not going to post the recipe for the sweet potato part, because it is like the spirilized ones I made the other day. I just cubed the potato instead. I will put the basic recipe for the dressing, though. I don’t ever measure when I make it, everything is to taste.
Here’s what to get from the store:
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Sriracha
Honey
Lemon Juice
Honey Sriracha Dressing
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Sriracha
Honey
Lemon Juice
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, tumeric, paprika
- In a measuring cup, put equal parts vinegar and oil, then add everything else. Whisk together, and taste to adjust seasonings.
I’ve noticed a lot of the things I made are more “taste to adjust seasonings” I like that, though. It teaches people to actually taste the food they make. If you don’t taste while you’re cooking, how will you know it will be good?
I have been working hard on my exercise as well, I can now do 11 push ups, which is a lot more than I used to be able to. I’m getting stronger all the time, and it feels great.
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When did we forget?
I’ve realized in the past few weeks that not only have we forgotten how to cook, it seems we’ve forgotten how to eat too. Now, I never thought I was an expert on food, I honestly thought most people had the same knowledge that I do. After serving people at Bdubs and just going through life, I’ve learned that’s not that case. I’m not sure how many ties I’ve had to explain what a dry rub is to people, isn’t that common knowledge?
Anyway, I digress. One of the girls I work with, Chelsea, is always wanting to lose weight. Nothing wrong with that, she’s not a big girl by any means, but she’s not feeling too good about herself and that would help her. She tried one of those juice cleanses and I told her at the beginning that it’s not going to work. Any of those cleanses or crash diets never work; they help you drop water weight really quickly, but they don’t help teach you how to eat correctly. She told me after she was done that I was right, but she didn’t know how to cook healthy food for herself.
So, in honor of Chelsea and others who maybe need some suggestions, I’m going to post something at least once a week that will be healthy, and what to get at the store that is not only healthy but cost efficient. As I’ve said in the past, balance is key. Don’t go over board on anything, if you want the cake, eat the salad. This week, I’m doing one of my favorite salads for you guys, it’s simple, you don’t have to turn on the stove (so you can make this in the summer too) and it’s filling.
Here’s what to get at the store (this will make many servings):
Bag of spinach
Bunch of Kale
1/2 pound radishes
1 pomegranate
Blackberries (they are the cheapest right now, get whatever berry is in season)
1 red onion
2 Roma tomatoes
Avocado (should be darker green, soft but not too soft)
Stone ground mustard
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinager
Honey
Siracha
Spinach and Kale Salad
Handful of Spinach
Handful of Kale, Chopped
2 radishes, chopped
1 tbsp chopped red onion
1/2 tomato, diced
1/2 avocado, diced
3-4 blackberries
1 tbsp pomegranate seeds
Dressing:
Equal parts oil and vinager
Dash of honey, siracha, and mustard
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
- De-seed your pomegranate. The best way I’ve found is to roll it around to break up the inside tissues, then cut along the outside, don’t cut down the middle. Pull the halves apart and hit the rind of the pomegranate with a spoon over a bowl, most of the seeds should come out. You can store what you don’t use in a tupperware container in your fridge.
- Put all of the ingredients in a bowl, honestly half the time I use a large mixing bowl and eat it out of there. Season with salt and pepper, mix together.
- Make your dressing, put everything in a bowl or measuring cup and whisk together. Pour over your salad and mix with some tongs. That’s it!
I eat this many times a week, it’s full of good things that give me energy, even in these darker winter months. If you want to get fancy, and don’t mind spending the extra cash, get some walnuts to add some protein. I didn’t include them in this recipe because they are expensive, but they do last a while. The things I told you to buy should last you about a week and cost under $30. Enjoy!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Balance
Life is all about balance. Work and play, awake and sleep, good and bad. I’ve been re-balancing my life, mostly with my food. When Matt and I were having our issues, I lost a bit of weight. When we started working things out, I didn’t really want to gain it back, and I started taking control of what I ate. Before, he and I would eat a lot of take out, a lot of fast food late and night, I didn’t want to do that because it made me feel like crap. Now, if we do eat out, it’s at a restaurant that has less processed food. I make most of my meals with fresh veggies, and it’s showed. I have better energy and I know what I’m eating is making my health all over better. I still eat the bad stuff, too, though, because that’s the balance part. I’ll let myself eat the bad food, only if I eat something good first. The healthy food fills me up much quicker and it keeps me from eating a lot of the bad food.
Something I’ve been eating pretty much every day is a salad that I’ve called my “Super Healthy Salad.” It’s filled with super foods that are filled with vitamines. It doesn’t really need a recipe, but I’m going to tell you how to construct it.
Super Healthy Salad
Fresh KaleFresh Spinach
Cucumbers, chopped
Strawberries, chopped
Red onions, chopped
Raw pecans
dried Cranberries
Cooked quinoa or chickpeas
Balsamic dressing (below)
- Rip the kale into bite sized pieces, add to the bowl with the spinach, cucumbers, strawberries, onions, pecans and cranberries and quinoa or chickpeas if you want them. Season with salt and pepper, and a little garlic powder. Pour on the dressing.
Balsamic Dressing
- Mix equal parts of olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. Add a splash of either fresh lemon or lime juice with salt, pepper, and a little honey. Wisk to incorporate. You can use right away, or store room temperature. It will separate, but you can mix it back together very easily.
Salads!!!
Today for lunch, Matt and I went to his friend Christian’s salad place on Lincolnway called Tropical Salads. With my new health craze, salads are kind of fantastic. Matt got the ginger chicken salad. He said his favorite parts were the fruit because there wasn’t a lot of ginger flavor to the chicken. I got the stuffed date salad and I loved it. One of my favorite parts of the salad was the fact that there were a good amount of dates on the salad. A lot of places tend to only put a few of whatever the main ingredient is on the salad. The place also served Kona coffee so I had to get some (ignore the fact that I really didn’t sleep well last night…). Since I’m a coffee freak I was so happy there was some coffee that I could drink black. In my opinion, any coffee that you have to add things to is NOT good coffee.
If you’re ever in Valpo, you should stop by the salad shop. It’s right next to the Jimmy John’s!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Salad Tasty!
A few weeks ago I wrote a post called Smoothie Tasty that had a great response. The point of the post was that food that is good can be very easy to make. After eating a lot of salads at Panera, and going grocery shopping hungry, I decided to make my own salads. Making my own salad is not only cheaper, but I can get whatever I want on them. Today’s salad was mixed baby greens, chopped mushrooms, ceasre crutons, sunflower seeds and salad toppins with parmesean asisago vingerette. I have to say, I do wish I had gotten a tomato to chop up to put in it, but maybe next time.
Many people I know don’t like salads. Some because they don’t like vegitables, others because they just haven’t gotten the right combination of ingredients. The best thing to do is to just put together what you do like. Every once in a while, add something new. After a while, you’ll have a perfect combination of food that you like in a healthy (hopefully) combination. Just try it!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Pockets!
I stated working for Emerald City Theatre in Chicago on Tuesday. Down the street from them on Southport, there is a place called Pockets. I wasn’t going to try it until I saw the director on the show had a calzon from there. Today I went after rehearsal and got a turkey and veggie pocket. It was basically a salad in some bread, but it was pretty good non the less. It was a little over priced, so it’s not an everyday thing, but it was healthy, and I like that part.
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Ramblings of the Culinary Addicted 