Category: Eats to make

New year and revisiting old things

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I’ve been absent from this space and now, post wedding planning, post wedding and post holidays, I feel like I am finally settling back into a routine.

I didn’t want to believe the many well-intentioned friends who shared with me that post-wedding blues are a phenomenon – the big event is over, now what? And yet – here I am, noting that I have been feeling a little bit of that exact sentiment since the wedding. One of the biggest days of your life and it’s gone in a flash.

It was a wonderful day – a day to see friends I hadn’t seen in a long time, old family friends who have since moved away and family that I don’t get to visit with very often.  And there is something about standing up in front of all of those you love and affirming that this – this person is your chosen – for the rest of your life.

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Photo by the fabulous Emily Griffith of Emily Griffith Photography

Thank you to all those of you who were able to be there with us. It was a marvelous day.

But on to the new year and revisiting this space!

As part of a reset after the holidays and the wedding, we are doing Whole30 for the third time. It’s always amazing now, having done an intense Whole30 now three times, how great the feeling is to cook fresh, whole meals that are helping to reinstill those healthy habits.

If you’ve not ever done Whole30, the best resource, is obviously www.whole30.com.  Lots of great information on why this is a method that works and why you should consider trying a lifestyle change like this! I personally am always amazed at how good I feel – much like when I went gluten-free. I didn’t realize how BAD I felt until I cut it out of my diet.

So – with that in mind, if you’re interested in trying out a switch to Whole30, here are a few of my tips/tricks for success and survival! And up front, you have to be willing to put in the time and do the work. It is a lot of work, but it’s worth it, I promise.

  1. Read the book. I’m serious. It will help you understand why things are set up the way they are and what you’re trying to accomplish.
  2. Plan out your meals. I created this tool that works well for me. It gives me space to plan the meals plus a notes and prep area. Feel free to borrow it! Copy it and make it your own.
  3. In the vein of planning (because planning is crucial to not just randomly ordering pizza on a snowy night) – try and do all your prep and shopping for the week on Saturday or Sunday. I like to organize my grocery list by the way my store is laid out. #turningintomom
  4. READ the recipes from beginning to end before you start! And make note of anything that tripped you up the first time you made it or special notes you want to remember (i.e. this only makes enough for one meal, etc.).
  5. Mise en place! Mise en place (MEEZ ahn plahs) is a French term for having all your ingredients measured, cut, peeled, sliced, grated, etc. before you start cooking. Pans are prepared. Mixing bowls, tools and equipment set out. It is a technique chefs use to assemble meals so quickly and effortlessly. DO IT. You won’t be sorry.
  6. Have fun! You will learn how to be a better cook and how to eat better on a more consistent basis. The food is GOOD. Don’t think of it as depriving yourself, but simply as eating delicious things every day.

A few books I’ve found particularly useful are:

The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom
The Whole30 Cookbook: 150 Delicious and Totally Compliant Recipes to Help You Succeed with the Whole30 and Beyond 
Whole30 Fast & Easy
Well Fed Weeknights: Complete Paleo Meals in 45 Minutes or Less

Stay tuned for more dinner plans and tips as we work our way through these 30 days!

What are your tips and tricks for Whole30?

Saturday Favorites

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Happy almost end of April! I thought I’d share a few favorites and discoveries from this past week.

Music:
Sylvan Esso – this is a collaboration between a singer-songwriter from the Appalachian indie folk trio Mountain Man and an electronic producer/bassist – which results in a happy electro/pop/folk sound.

Holst’s The Planets – heard a snippet of this and was reminded about how much I love these pieces.

Because we were down and out with the crud and busy this week, I didn’t cook (okay – maybe one night).  As a result, I’ve been studying recipes and also ate out a fair bit for lunches this week. Some of my new favorites and ideas!

Eats:
Bep Eatery – Because I hardly ever venture out into the skyway, a coworker of mine had to introduce me to this place – and it was delicious. And most of their food is gluten free, because: rice noodles. I got some pho and not only was it affordable for a lunch, a large quantity, but I got to choose everything I wanted from the protein to the sauce. Comfort in a bowl.

This Ricotta Dumpling with Asparagus and Green Garlic looks amazing (putzy, but amazing) and perfect for spring. On my list!

One of my friends and I have decided to revamp happy hour to fit how we feel on Fridays. Because really – let’s face it – most of the time on Fridays, you don’t really want to go out (translate – we’re not as young as we used to be). So our new plan is to go and get snacks from a restaurant or have them on hand and then bring them, the wine and yoga pants to the happy hour. Best ever. Last night she had fries and this Sriracha Mayo – delicious.

Beauty/Lifestyle:

I’d forgotten how much I like to take a bath every now and again, until my chiropractor told me to take a epsom salt bath last time I was in to help relax my muscles. I love this Lavender and Honey scent from Calgon. Great before bed with that lavender!

Young Living Essential Oils certainly have their following and my sister has now introduced us to the joys of a diffuser with essential oils. Our diffuser came yesterday (it may or may not be the same one that both she and my mom have) and I could not be more excited to try it!

Sea Salt Spray is something I’ve used for a few years, but haven’t found one that I really liked until recently. Growing my hair out for a special occasion is not new to me, but this time, because it will be my wedding, is a different story. My hair is pretty fine and thin, so as it gets longer, I have to putter around with it more to make it look decent. Sometimes, I don’t want to and end up air-drying/retraining it to be wavy/curly. I love how light the Beautycounter spray is, plus it adds body and some level of hold and is free of so many ingredients I don’t want to be using!

And completely unrelated, I purchased some Yankz laces on the recommendation of my triathlete friend and just finally got them on my retro Sauconys – easy for putting on and cute!

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What are some of your new favorites or discoveries?

Cheers to Saturday!

Power veggies and chicken – weeknight dinner inspiration

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Today was an April day. Warmish, but with rain that hit towards the end of the day, making all of the green things even more green.

This is a busy time of year for us at work and with the crud that’s going around I ended up staying home from work for two days last week. Not an ideal time to be out, but at least I wasn’t sharing my germs!

I spent two days sleeping and drinking my go-to cold remedy: hot water, honey, lemon juice and a dash of cinnamon (or ginger or turmeric, depending on my mood!). I finally feel like I’m on the mend and actually made it to yoga tonight (but man was I glad when it was over so I could grab a Kleenex!).

All this to say that once I was done with yoga and finally home, (with a few work projects yet to do) – I had no desire to make the chicken soup I’ve been planning and no desire to go to the grocery store.

Order in? Grocery store? Make something?

Days like this – I wish that I had a pantry that I stocked for occasions like this, but given our current kitchen situation, there isn’t a lot of room for a pantry situation.

Days like this you want to thank the self of how ever many grocery trips ago got extra chicken breasts (and froze them for future use!). When we were doing the Whole30, I learned a good method of cooking a chicken breast that is now my favorite.

It’s simple and makes good use of my cast iron pan. Perfect for two people!

Salt and pepper your chicken breasts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Put two tablespoons of olive oil in the pan, get it nice and hot! You want to see that shimmer on the oil. Swirl it around and put your chicken in the pan with the rounded side down. Sear for 3-4 minutes and then flip – here’s the key thing – DO NOT attempt to turn if the chicken is still sticking to the pan. If it’s been properly seared – you should be able to turn it with no resistance.

Turn off the burner and put the pan in the oven – cooking for 10-15 minutes – until the internal temp of the chicken is 160 degrees. A good meat thermometer is a great tool to have and can be used for many things!

I normally don’t buy prepackaged, precut veggies, but this Power Blend called out my name last time I shopped. (Dear vegetable/fridge gods – thank you for keeping this fresh!) I heated some olive oil, added some minced garlic and sautéed these until they had a nice browning on them.

Add some of Udi’s Gluten Free dinner rolls that were in the freezer and VOILA! Dinner is served.

Now to enjoy the smell of the rain, the cool air coming in with a cup of hot tea and a cat. Perfect spring evening.

Sundays in the city

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Happy Easter everyone! Spring has really sprung this weekend after several thunderstorms and some gorgeous sun today. Greenery poking out, flowers starting to bloom and lots of birds flitting about.

We’ve had a nice weekend, checked a few things off the wedding list, had a nice long walk, and spent some quality time with family. My nephew joyfully searched for his Easter eggs this morning – and we had a really great (as always) Easter brunch.

This morning’s brunch included:

Obligatory Easter ham, grilled by my dad
One of our favorite ways to make scrambled eggs – with asparagus and parmesan cheese – this isn’t the recipe we use, but pretty darn close!
Fruit
Pastries from one of the best bakeries in the area – Swedish Crown Bakery – which always has lovely gluten free pastries. We ended up eating ours this evening while watching reruns of The Great British Baking show.

Not a bad way to end the weekend.

A busy week ahead, but I’m ready to embrace spring – though I still need to swap out my closet so that all of my lovely spring/warm weather clothes see the light of day again! Ready for open- toed shoes, dresses without tights and lighter lipstick (busting out my Rose Lip Sheer!).

What’s your signal that spring is here? Mine is daffodils, crocuses and the lovely warm sun.

April snow is the best kind

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April snow is the best kind. It’s light, it’s unmarred and doesn’t usually stay around that long.

Last night as I was getting ready for bed and shutting the blinds, I noticed the snow outside. It had already covered the grass and the tops of buildings and was sticking to the trees and power lines. It was coming down as if someone was sifting powdered sugar over the whole earth. I must have watched it for at least 10 minutes, the silence broken only by the sound of cars driving by and the wet snow from the road was shushed to the side.

This kind of weather is perfect for a winter/spring meal combination. One of my favorites is Jamie Oliver’s Chicken in Milk. I discovered this recipe last year and it has quickly become staple for two reasons.

First – it is easy. Beyond browning the chicken whole (which you need to make sure you have plenty of strong utensils and possibly a friend near by), there is minimal prep. Second – it is delicious. It results in a tender, falling off the bone meat with a delicious sauce.

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Pre roasting.

I’ve seen this recipe on a few websites and recommend the following substitutes/suggestions. Please – use butter. Use all the butter. And – here’s a big one – do NOT toss it out. Keep it in the pan. I promise, it will be amazing.

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Nearly gone!

Even though this recipe says to keep the top off the entire time – I stumbled on this blog from the Kitchn and did the same thing as she suggests. Cook with the top on for the first hour and then take it off for the last 30 minutes.

Serve with a light green salad – spring greens and snap peas and a hearty loaf of crusty bread. Maybe a red wine, too. Delicious, easy, and seems a little fancy – so do not hesitate to serve to your guests. Don’t be surprised when you find yourself standing over the pan after everyone else is gone or in bed, sopping up the juice with a piece of bread.

And then the next morning, you wake up and the house still smells like lovely roasted chicken and a hint of cinnamon, but the snow is nearly gone. Evidence sticks to the grass, but the birds are chirping and it is still spring.

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”  ― Mark Twain

Meal planning, the Whole 30 and more…

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Anyone else here identify with a little thing I call “winter eating?”

The hearty stews, soups, wine to warm you to your toes, the eating out with friends and walking out into the bracing winter air – cooling your rosy cheeks, red from wine and laughing and cozy restaurants. All part of what I love about winter.

And now we’re in April.

It’s starting to get warm, and I won’t lie – I’m also gearing up for dress fitting and all that comes with it. So Z and I are going Whole30 (or at least most of the time – Whole30ish?) – getting a handle on what we’re eating again.

The first time we did Whole30 – meal planning is what saved my life. I do most of the cooking, and Whole30 is a cycle of cooking, prep and more cooking (or at least for me!).  Getting to the grocery store early on Sunday, before all the crowds is key.

Sunday I made this recipe of Whole30 Carnitas – which is absolutely amazing. I got a 3 pound pork butt and was going to 1.5 the recipe, but ended up forgetting until I went to add the spices to the onion/garlic mixture. It still turned out amazing. I used the slow cooker for 8-10 hours instead of on the stove.

We’ve been eating it on lettuce with salsa and an avocado for lunches – tomorrow, fried eggs for breakfast with pork!

Other meals on the docket this week: chicken cacciatore, curried beef with green beans and a sausage tomato chard soup!

If you’ve done the Whole30 – comment with your favorite recipe – I’d love to see some more options!

Monday night dinner inspiration

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Last fall, we did an adventure with Whole 30 – which was not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. And I LOVE cheese. And wine. It definitely took some adjusting, but we’ll be doing it again – we felt great.

One of the things that came out of it was my renewed obsession with roasting veggies and sheet pan meals in general. SO EASY. Easy to make, easy to clean up!

I thought I’d share one of our favorites for easy Monday night meal inspiration:

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Ready to roast!

Toss sliced zucchini (I used three small zucchini), potatoes (I used two large baking potatoes, but sweet potatoes or squash work well too) and small tomatoes (one lb of mixed size tomatoes) in olive oil, salt and pepper and then throw them on a pan (I use parchment paper to line the pans) with some sausage (pictured are not Whole 30 compliant, but definitely paleo compliant and I got them at our local meat counter).  Roast at about 430 degrees until they look done.

I usually check at about 20 minutes, flip/toss them around a bit, (make sure to switch the pans from top to bottom if you have more than one) and then finish it up for another 15-20 minutes.

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Yum.

The first time I made this – I was in awe of the flavor of the tomatoes. Roasted tomatoes are seriously tasty. This would also be good with garlic/onions, just about anything you can think of to roast!

A great meal for late farmer’s market season because you can get just about everything local. Prep work is super fast, and you can work, work out, read, watch the news or whatever you want while it’s roasting.

We usually have leftovers – perfect for lunches the next day and it reheats perfectly. OR, you can throw a fried egg on it and have it for breakfast!

Good comfort food for a rainy (!) February evening in Minnesota.