Quick Note...

Just a quick note:
I really don't like the way that last post was formatted, but I can't figure out how to fix it! Sometimes it seems like blogger thinks it is smarter than me when it comes to determining how the blog should look! I am going to look through their "help" options and try to work out some of my problems. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Please Cut Me Some Slack...

"Chicken Soup for the Sick, Blog-Slacker's Soul"

Photo taken from eatingwell.com which is a very

impressive website!

If you're mad at me, I understand. I haven't posted in about a week (I think) and I did not do a Make-me-laugh-Monday the past 2 Mondays. I'm mad at me too! The thing is, I have been doing a lot over the past week and to be honest the blog is not on the top of my mind right now.

To catch you up to speed, I have been preparing myself to start a new job, which I started yesterday- I'm SO excited about it by the way!! I have been diligently digging through my nice-ish clothes and deciding what I like/what I don't like and also what fits and what doesn't. I have also been brushing up on some materials from school that will be helpful in this position.

In addition to all of that, I have been sick, sick, sick! Somehow I managed to get through the entire Winter without even a sneeze (exaggerate much?) and now, just as I start a new job, I get a bad sore throat and head cold. I think it hit me now for 2 reasons: 1 is that it is the changing of the seasons and the weather has been crazy (it snowed today!) and 2 is because I have been so stressed out about finding a job lately that when I finally found one, I think my body just let go and felt it was "OK" to get sick.

Do you find that you get sick when you finally get a break from stress? This used to always happen to me after final exams just in time for Spring break or Summer. Ohhh, the irony of it all!
Stay well and if you are on Spring break or will be soon, Enjoy!

Free Recipes for Healthy and Cheap Meals

First let me just say that the title of this post has to be one of the most appealing sentences ever written, don't you think? I usually try to think of something "catchy," but I think this one needs no manipulation to get your attention!

Have any of you heard of SparkPeople.com?? It is an awesome website that provides a ton of healthy eating, exercise, and weight loss advice. You can create a FREE meal plan and track your progress. There are message boards where you can talk to other people that may be going through similar things as you (ie weight loss, lack of motivation, etc.) and you can also "Ask an Expert." SparkPeople actually invented a word called "Healthtainment" to describe the fun that can be had while exploring their site.

I found out about SparkPeople through their expert Dietitian when I was a Dietetic intern. I feel like I know someone famous or something! This online company was started in Cincinnati in 2001 and has continued to grow into something HUGE!

Check this out:

"SparkPeople is growing into one of the largest free diet and health-related sites in the world. SparkPeople has received media coverage from: Fox TV, The New York Times, and ABC TV.SparkPeople was voted best online health site in Business Week's 2006, 2007 and 2008 "Best of the Web" awards."

I guess I signed up for SparkPeople a while ago, so I get daily health-related e-mails. I get recipes, exercise ideas, and my favorite- articles written by Becky Hand, the expert Dietitian that I admire so much! Yesterday, an e-mail showed up in my mailbox with a subject line that read: "Special Attachment: Recipe Book With Healthy Dinners for Under $2.50 a Person." What?! Healthy meals that are cheap- they DO exist!

The body of the e-mail encourages you to pass the recipe book along to family and friends and even mentions posting it on a blog!! How could I resist?! Since I have only had the recipes in hand for less than 1 day, I obviously haven't had the chance to make them, but they sound delicious!

Here is the link: www.sparkpeople.com/10recipes.pdf

Enjoy!

The Colors Duke, The Colors!!!

...I'm Colorblind Kid.

Do you remember this commercial?



Classic!

This morning I went around and took a few pictures of some of the vibrant colors in the yard.
FYI- I just figured out how to change the font color- pretty cool, huh? I guess I have never actually needed it or looked for it before.

Getting back to the whole yard colors thing, I have to say that this year--more than ever--I noticed a HUGE difference in the appearance of the yard in very little time. What I mean by that is, it wasn't long ago that the grass was brown, the trees were bare, and in a word it just looked lifeless. Now everything is bright, colorful, fresh, and full of life!

I know I am getting carried away with the colored words- I promise I won't over-do it in future posts!

No one in my family remembers this plant ever blossoming like this before- Beautiful!!

Daffodils:

On the left they are hiding behind a bush and on the right they appear to be looking through a peep-hole. They seem to be up to something...

I like how the "leafy things" in back
are shining through. Can you tell
I'm not a gardener?

While we are on the topic of Color, I might as well mention how important it is to eat a variety of colors. This is a great way to get all of the nutrients and antioxidants your body needs.

Try to plan your meals around color- hospitals, restaurants, and catering companies all plan their menus according to color, texture, and shape (along with taste, of course!).

Let's say, for example, that you are planning a meal of pork chops, applesauce, and baked potatoes. BORING!! Where is the color? You can change it by doing pork chops, a baked sweet potato, and broccoli. Add a nice colorful salad and you've got yourself a bright and healthy meal!

Now go out and Taste the Rainbow- in the form of fruits and vegetables, not Skittles!

Go-ing to the Chapel and She's Gonna Get Ma-aarried

"How do I cut a tomato?" is a sentence that has been haunting me since Sunday when my friend Laura so innocently uttered the words. We were at a cook-out at her house and she was slicing tomatoes for burgers. I think she was just kidding in a way, but I'm not sure.

With her wedding rapidly approaching, Laura is always busy with something. She works, goes to grad school, and is planning a wedding; not to mention the fact that she has the most adorable new nephew that takes a lot of her attention (he would take mine too!). I have no idea how much time Laura spends in the kitchen. If her hectic schedule is any indication, it is probably not much.

For this reason, I want to provide her, my other friend Danielle, and any other new brides, with a quick, easy, and impressive meal your new hubby will swoon over!

The first thing is a super-easy Almond-Crusted Tilapia (sounds fancy, right?). There is not a recipe per se, but I will list approximately what I use and explain the procedure.

Almond-Crusted Tilapia (or other mild white fish)

• 1-2 packages frozen fish (If you can get it fresh, even better)
• 1-2 cups breadcrumbs (I usually use seasoned for more flavor)
• 1/2 cup-1 cup almonds, chopped fine
• 2 Tbsp flour
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg
• butter for cooking

Procedure: If the fish is frozen, thaw ahead of time in fridge or leave in the packaging and submerge in a bowl of cold water for 1/2 hour to an hour. If it is still frozen, place it under running cold water or defrost in the microwave.

Prepare one bowl with a beaten egg and a separate plate with a mixture of the breadcrumbs, almonds, flour, salt, and pepper. Sometimes I even add a little Parmesan to the mix.

Melt about 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium-high heat.

Dip the thawed fish in the egg and then into the dry mixture. It helps to really press the mixture onto the fish so that it adheres.



Slowly place the fish into the pan of melted butter and cook--without moving it around much--for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until you notice it browning around the edges. Flake with a fork to ensure that it's done.Voila!




The other recipe, that goes fantastic with the fish, is a Zucchini Casserole of sorts that was featured in Family Circle magazine. The magazine called it Seven-layer Gratin, but I left out ground turkey, making it more of a vegetable side dish than an entree. The recipe can be found here.

Here are some pics of how the dish is assembled. Just as a side note, don't you love the baking dish?? I bought it for my mom (selfishly) at our World Market store closing sale which, by the way, was almost like a funeral for me!

I hope you girls try this- let me know how it goes!!

Save My Fingers!!

I keep mentioning how Spring in finally here, yaada, yaada, yaada and now today, it's cold and dreary. What kind of a cruel joke is this?! My friend Kristen said it was because she broke her shorts and tees out of storage, so it's all her fault!!

For whatever reason---probably because I'm so cold my fingers are about to fall off---I don't feel like doing a long post. I am going to post a tribute to food using some of my favorite food pictures I have taken. I hope you enjoy them and I promise I will post something more interesting soon!

Here they are in no particular order because I am running out of time before I freeze to death...

1. Sourdough bread in which I scored "N" for my brother, Nino
2. Romanesco- an amazing looking cruciferous vegetable

1. My wedding cake; well, not mine from my wedding (I'm not even close to marriage!)- I just decorated it for school
2. Doughnut from Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland that looks like my dad

1. Pimientos de Padron from Viridian Farms in Portland
2. Brioche we made in school; they look like ET during construction

1. An AWESOME Italian Plum
2. I envy the skill of this latte craftsman/woman

1. I believe pears and figs were created specially for me
2. Butter Braids- they taste better than they sound...

1. Yellow tomato and Purple Pepper *Fun fact: I almost named my blog "Purple Pepper Eater" in honor of this rare pepper, but found that other people had post titles with similar names and I wanted to be original.
2. The morning of my exam to become a Registered Dietitian, I ate half of a peanut butter sandwich with Skippy on white bread (blah!) because that's what my mom ate before she passed her nursing boards (apparently it's a nursing tradition). It worked!!

Have a great Saturday, with or without sunshine!!!

The Tale of Two Tarts

The word "Two" combined with the word "Tarts" does magical things for me. It brings me back to the Portland Farmers Markets where my friend Heather and I would frequent the lovely Two Tarts Bakery. I admire everything about their business- the quality of the product, reasonable prices, beautiful presentation, and friendliness. Although they have not been open long, they appear to be well-established and professional. That is exactly what I aspire to be like in the future when I too follow my dream of starting my own business.

My "Tale of Two Tarts" actually doesn't involve the bakery; they were just an inspiration for the post title, so I thought I would mention how wonderful I think they are.

With Spring finally here and weddings galore, my mom and I have been sampling various tart recipes to serve at a wedding shower we are co-hosting. Tarts are a fairly simple way to make a bold, yet elegant statement at nice event (you know, something a little fancier than a backyard barbecue where chips and dip are an acceptable appetizer).

The first tart we tried was sweet and the second was savory. In pastry school, my absolute, hands-down favorite thing we made was the Pear Tart. It has a sweet tart dough (Pate Sucree) crust, an almond (Frangipane) filling, with poached pears on top. Heaven in a tart pan. When I was in school in Portland living alone, I tried not to take the treats we made home because I didn't want to be eating them all the time. Well, I took the whole Pear Tart home, and what should have taken a week to eat probably only took a few days. I think most Dietitians would disapprove (oh wait, I am one- Oops!).

Pate Sucree (Sweet tart dough) - Yield: 4 x 8" tarts

• 4 oz powdered sugar, sifted
• 8 oz butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 12 oz All-purpose flour
• 1 egg

Blend butter, salt, and sugar on low speed.
Add egg and vanilla.
Add flour and mix slowly until dough forms. Don't over-mix!
Chill in plastic wrap before use.

*You can freeze the unused dough as long as you wrap it tightly. Another use for unused dough is to just roll it out, cut, and bake like cookies!
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Frangipane - Yield: 2 x 8" tarts

• 6 oz almond paste*
• 1 oz sugar
• 4 oz soft butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 oz cake flour, sifted (I used AP flour)

Use paddle attachment on low speed to blend together almond paste and sugar (you may have to use your hands to help break it up)
Add soft butter and blend in completely
Add eggs, then flour

*Almond paste is a little pricey; if you want to make your own, just combine--in a blender or food processor--2 parts blanched slivered almonds (without skins) with 1 part sugar, plus enough moisture to make a paste. I made the tart twice and the second time I didn't have enough store-bought almond paste, so I tried making my own and it turned out great! One thing I noticed though, is that the store-bought kind had a stronger almond flavor, so I added a bit of almond extract to my homemade paste.
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Poached Pears - You will need 1-2 pears for each tart

• Look for pears that are quite firm so they don't fall apart while poaching
• To make the poaching liquid, dissolve sugar into water in about a 1:1 ratio. So if you need 3 cups of water to cover the pears in the pot, use about 3 cups of sugar. You are basically making a simple syrup so you can make it as sweet as you like. It will turn out fine if you decide to add less sugar.
• Make your poaching liquid over medium heat to dissolve the sugar, then add the pears-- which should be peeled and cored--and reduce the heat to low.
• Cut a circle out of parchment paper to fit down in the pot and cover the pears.
• Poaching times vary, but will probably take at least 20-30 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick; it should go in easy and feel almost like a canned pear.

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To assemble the Tart:

• Roll out the tart dough and press against the sides and bottom of the tart pan. Remove excess by just pressing your thumb against the top edge of the pan to cut it off.
• Smooth the frangipane filling out in the bottom of the tart shell
• Drain poached pears and slice into thin wedges (whatever you think looks pretty)
• Arrange the pears on the tart and press slightly into the frangipane filling
• Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes or until golden brown and set.
• Allow the tart to cool and then brush the top with an apricot glaze (just warm apricot jam + a splash of water on the stove or in the microwave)
• Enjoy your beautiful masterpiece!

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OK, I know that recipe sounds complicated, but it really isn't all that bad and like I said, it can be very impressive! I am not going to post the recipe for the other tart because it will also be long and I don't want to bore you. If the pictures leave you dying to know what all goes into the Sauteed Spinach-and-Mushroom Tart with Ricotta Cheese either let me know and I can e-mail you the recipe or go to the library and check out Once Upon a Tart by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau with Carolyn Carreno. It is a great book!

I don't mean to brag or anything, but...YUM!!