Juice it up!

Wow! Long time no write...Well, I am alive and today... I bought a juicer! I have been wanting one for a long time and a good friend of mine has one, which I've had the pleasure of testing out and so I splurged. Not necessarily splurged but I dropped $40 on a decent one and lets see how much I actually use it before I invest in the fancy pants model. So far I have used it twice. Juice for dinner and a juice for the morning. 


Its crazy how a lot of veggies and fruit go a little way. After the purchase (and work) I was not feeling going to the grocery store and picking out fun organic veggies so I grabbed a bag of spinach, celery, cucumber, carrots and lemon... the entire bag of spinach is gone, half the celery about 1/4 a bag of the baby carrots and half a lemon later I added a little later and was blessed with about 1 and a half mason jars full of juice. ha! 


So, my mission will be to buy the best produce, in bulk, and juice my little heart out. I have not tested it yet but, I have heard of tricks as to get the most of the fruits and veggies you use. I am thinking of spicing up the lasagna and bison recipes and using the waste from the spinach and carrots in the mix. We will see how that goes. 


I have been so bad about cooking and working out, since Christmas we had A's birthday (b-i-g 30), MY birthday! and our anniversary - on top of lots of work and friends and more February babies than I have ever imagined I could know. After making my first glass of amazing juice (a knock off green monster, I will have to come up with my own catchy name) I was inspired and really got the urge to cook again. And since I ate a cup of noodle with an egg tonight for dinner I was not about to whip up a grand meal...so here I am. Ahh feels good. 


Slowly but steady I will get back on track.. stay tuned 

Hors Devours sans Guilt - Cocktail Time!

Without sounding like a lush, I love a cocktail. The extra and empty calories they come with? Not so much. 

I have already made the switch from white to red wine, which wipes out about 5 extra calories per ounce. For those who need a bit more, instead of a lemon drop or apple martini, go ahead and order (or serve) the Pomegranate Martini! A 5oz mix is around 140 calories. I take those extra 40 calories and remind myself that this drink is packed with antioxidants and nutrients. I always use POM juice, because it contains no sugar, no preservatives, gluten-free and kosher and it just tastes amazing!

POM-tini

If you're making them one at a time or serving up a big batch as your signature drink, you can't go wrong! 

1 part Vodka

4 parts POM Pomegranate juice

Squeeze of lemon juice

Pomegranate Seeds (for presentation)

Some other vodka drinks that can be guilt-free are:

 Vodka and Sugar Free Red Bull - 85 Calories 

 - I try and only have one or two of these, then move onto a Vodka Soda or Vodka Water

Vodka Soda - 80 Calories

and perhaps the healthiest vodka drink ever created:

Vodka Water - 65 Calories (I use about half a lime in this one) 

Bison Meatloaf with Chips and Spinach

Clearly, I have an obsession with Bison meat. I don't even remember what ground turkey or beef tastes like. With the cold weather and my tree lit up, I just want some comfort foods!  This is lean, gluten free and loaded with nutrients. 


Bison Meatloaf
Serves 5
Total prep/cook 1.5 hours


Ingredients
Olive Oil
1lb Bison (or any lean ground meat)
1c onion, chopped
1T oreagno (or Italian Spices)
1 egg
1/4c pureed squash (I go frozen)
1/2c tomato sauce, divided (salt free/low sodium)
1/2c panko flakes (Japanese bread crumbs)
1/2t salt
1T black pepper
1/4t crushed red pepper, or chili powder
2T hot sauce (Tapatio!)
1 garlic clove, pressed
10oz spinach (fresh or frozen)  


For Him
1 potato, thinly slliced
3T olive oil
couple shakes of prefered seasoning (I have used lowrys in the past, but tonight I used Trader Joes 21 Spice Seasoning)
Handful of shredded cheese for meat loaf


Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Saute onions and 2T garlic in olive oil until clear, remove from heat and add oregano. In a large bowl, combine Bison, egg, squash, 1/4c tomato, panko, and cooked onions. (My mix got a bit mushy from being out and it being warm in the house, so i popped it in the fridge for a few moments while I prepared the potatoes) Mold your meat and place in greased pan and place in oven. Mix remaining tomato sauce, chilies and hot sauce in a small bowl - after 30 min pour sauce on top and bake for another 20.  While the meatloaf cools down, prepare the spinach with 1T of olive oil and remaining garlic. Salt and pepper totaste - try adding a little bit of parmesean or nutritional yeast into the mix! Serve with spinach on the side! 

Potatoes - combine olive oil and spices, add potatoes and cover with oil evenly. Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake until desired crispness. I put them in at the same time with the meat loaf, and let them bake, flipping them after I added the sauce on the meat. 

Hors Devours sans Guilt - Crab Rangoon

Since I won't be entertaining friends or family this season, I've decided to entertain myself... after some research, recipe reorganizing, I came up with these...

Baked Crab Tofu Rangoon
(To make these sans crab, follow my ricotta recipe, for the filling)

Total: 30-45


Ingredients

1 Egg beat
Won Ton wrappers

Olive Oil spray (my new obsession)

8oz Fat free cream cheese (or regular) 

8oz Firm tofu 

1/2lb Crab meat or imitation crab

1/4c Scallions diced finely

1/2T Minced garlic

Optional - 2T Mayonaise (I would use wasabi) or Sriracha for extra flavor


So - imitation crab meat is actually packed with different vitamins and nutrients and are virtually calorie-less, the tofu fills in for the missing cream cheese (and its also okay to use regular) to top it all off, baking instead of frying shaves 80 calories off each serving. woohoo!

Directions Preheat to 350. Combine cream cheese, tofu, crab, garlic and scallions (I did it in halves in the food processor) - place 1-2T of the filling onto the wonton fold in half like a triangle, or bring the corners together for a flower like shape. Use the egg to seal the edges. Grease cookie sheet (I use olive oil spray) and place rangoon. Lightly mist rangoons with Olive oil and bake 18-20 minutes. 

This actually made a lot more filling than I had expected (and had energy for) - I froze about half and have an idea for what to do with it and the left over wrappers... stay tuned. 

Holiday Helpings

Seasons greetings!

I love entertaining. Cocktails! Appetizers! Dinner parties! I love it all, unfortunately this season I am swamped and my work/travel schedule is clashing with my social calendar. After a hectic 3 weeks at work, I traveled to Chicago for 72hours of fun and football, then to New York to kick off holiday shopping and back to San Francisco only to find out I was being flown down to Los Angeles 4 hours later for work... thankfully my family is in Southern California so it worked out with Thanksgiving plans. So here I am now at home, overwhelmed with what December has to offer, and all I want to do is throw a party! I will be out of town this weekend with his family and then next we are off to Mexico for a relaxing vacation... where do I have time to eat right? work out? let alone sleep?!  I am going to try and cook, bake and blog as much as possible while I am home. 


While I am out, here are a few things I will most certainly keep in mind while indulging in holiday treats...

• When you know you will be attending a gathering over the weekend, be sure to be extra good with what you are putting in your body during the week

• If its a potluck, bring a light and healthy dish that everyone will enjoy - check out my posts on Lasagna, Bison Sliders and Bakes Crab Tofu Rangoon (post coming!)

• Fill up on the fruit and veggie trays before you dive into the sweets

• Stick to lean meats and fish when there are entree options

• Hydrate! Drink plenty of water, if you're the good stuff too, try alternating a beer or glass of wine with a glass of water

• Partner up! If you're headed out with your girlfriends (or your plus one) you can support each other when passing up that bacon wrapped cheesy good passes by on the plate. You know I swear by my workout club and they would never let me eat something I was going to regret 

My Tree! 

Most importantly HAVE FUN! If you really want something, have it, don't deprive yourself or focus on the food all night. Moderation is key!

better late than never - its cold, lets make chili

Since my last post my work has been upside down - running 24 hours and is finally back to normal. So am I! I was able to cook once or twice over the last couple of weeks but no time to post. 


On Halloween I made (and made up) a new Chili recipe full of fall flavors - and just to be cute... served it in a pumpkin bowl! (Points for presentation, not for functionality)


Bison, Beer and Apple Chili
Prep and Cook - 1 hour


Ingredients
7oz Red Kidney Beans
7oz Hominy Beans
7oz Black Beans
1 can Beer (I used 21st amendement IPA)
1lb ground Bison
2 Green Apples, chopped
1 Onion, chopped
2tsp chili powder
1tsp sugar
1tsp salt
1Tbs oregano
1Tbs minced garlic
2c Veggie Broth
1 14oz can Diced (Salt Free) tomatoes
Hot Sauce to taste (Tapitio baby!)


For Him:
Corn Bread Mix
4tbs butter
1tbs agave nectar
1/2tsp chili powder
Shredded cheese of choice


Directions: In stock pot on high, add apples, onions and bison, stir occasionally until meat is brown and then stir in spices and sugar. Add broth, beer, tomatoes and garlic, bring to a boil, add beans and let simmer about 30-45min. 


For Butter: Mix, butter (of choice) with Agave and Chili powder


I served these in little pumpkin bowls (luckily I was able to successfully make pumpkin seeds with them!) that turned out great, but did not work so well - along with homemade corn bread (for the man) and honey-chili butter! So good! 

Not Enough Time in the World!

Things have been so busy at home and at work - I have been so bad - take out, easy meals and NO gym. My workout club is about to kick me out! Last night I prepped for this week - a fool proof plan to get back on track!




I decided on already frozen chicken last night (I NEVER do that) but I thought I would give it a shot. I baked three breasts for about an hour and then divided them into 4oz servings.  Then, I took the steam-able bags of broccoli and cauliflower and nuked them - divided those into 5 equal servings. and lunch is done. 

For my dinners this week - I made a modified version of GOOP. I replaced the arugula with fresh basil and mixed in some pureed squash into the mix... I must say. Its my best GOOP yet.

 [INSERT BROCCOLI PICTURE... oops!]

For Dinners I will eat the GOOP and my boyfriend will get fish, bison or chicken with a side of Spinach and GOOP is hes lucky.


We work together, and this weekend we have a huge project at work. We will both be staying in a hotel near by and working just about 24hour shifts through the weekend. I am so scared - for the food. They will be catering all out meals, but I NEED portion control and I don't want un-healthy meals all the time. I am thinking I will set up shop on Thursday and do a meal plan, and then bring it to work a head of time. More on that to come.