Ooops, I think I missed lunch

After my morning snack (roasted beet salad with feta, walnuts, celery, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar on top of quinoa) somewhere between 11am and noon, I went shopping with my sister and we had a blast. Very successful trip! Shoes, boots, organizing stuff, sweaters, and even some things for The H. But before we realized it, it was almost 4pm... and I hadn't had anything but a few almonds since 11:30 or so. Lucky for me, I discovered that TJMaxx sells Lara bars at the checkout. So I had my first one ever, cashew with dates, and chased it with a bottle of water. It wasn't a gourmet meal by any means, but it was tasty enough and held me over 'til an early dinner shortly after 5. I just might need to get a few and stash them in the car or my purse. I can't remember the last time I skipped a meal!

So THAT's why I use the CrockPot

Don't tell The H, but I burned the chili tonight. I've been meaning to make CrockPot chili since Monday, so when the turkey was still in the fridge today I knew it had to get cooked or tossed. But I still didn't have 6 hours to devote to dinner, so I had to do it on the stove... you know, the old-fashioned way. :D Chili without a slow cooker is really just about a 20-minute meal, so I don't know why I put it of so long, but that's beside the point.

For those of you who just can't stand the suspense, it turned out fine. Delicious, even. Perhaps one of my favorite batches (since we all know I don't really measure, it's hard to duplicate things we like). The point is that when you are used to putting all your ingredients in a slow cooker and literally walking away from it for 6-8 hours, you may need to watch your pot a little more carefully if you choose to make dinner on the stovetop for a change.

But like I said, it was delicious: Ground turkey breast, two small red onions (co-op), one small Yukon Gold potato (co-op), kidney beans rinsed and drained, 1/2 diced red bell pepper, tomato puree, and canned tomatoes with garlic and onions, seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, cumin, and ancho chili powder. And once I realized that after 40 minutes it has ZERO liquid left and had begun burning to the bottom of the pan, I quickly added some water and a reduced-sodium beef broth packet (Trader Joe's) to bring it back to life. Crisis (and takeout pizza) averted! We served it with some rice elbow noodles, freshly grated mild white cheddar (co-op), grapes, and gluten-free bread. Thanks to some creative thinking, my son ate nearly his entire bowl of "bean soup!" The kid goes ape over canned beans but wouldn't touch the spoon when we called it chili. Whatever works, you know?

OK, I *owned* that squash.

Acorn squash. Small, pointy-ended green skinned veg. I asked about it in my previous post. I have (had) 5lbs of it in the basement, thanks to the co-op. And up until dinner, I'd only ever eaten it buried under mounds of butter and brown sugar. Growing up, it was the one squash I could tolerate the most, but I had to eat it as described above and it had to be eaten first. Why is it that squash gets cold so fast? Anyway, childhood memories aside, this squash was awesome. I took a few (pathetic) pictures of it, but won't gross you out with them right now. Perhaps I will edit to include them later... you know, when the camera isn't several rooms away and I'm not feeling so lazy.

Here's how it went down:

I wanted to make quinoa and acorn squash and had the brilliant idea of stuffing the latter with the former. Got that? But what else should go into it? A little rummaging in the freezer and pantry brought forth 4oz of cooked ground spicy turkey sausage, a tiny delicata squash, apples, and onion. And thus, my dinner began. The quinoa (in veggie broth) simmered itself in the rice cooker while I baked the halved squashes at 350 for 40 minutes or so. I chopped the apple (Fuji) and onion (red) and sauteed them in olive oil, then added the mostly-thawed cooked sausage. When the squash was soft, I scooped out each half and added the flesh to the skillet, stirring well to combine. I threw out the delicata skins and put the acorn shells back into the baking dish.

A quick taste determined that it was good, but not really flavorful. I hadn't added any salt, pepper, or seasonings yet. What to add? Italian herbs = bad combo. Red pepper = overkill with the sausage. Nothing sounded good...until I found the curry powder. It was PERFECT. And my Curry-Stuffed Acorn Squash was born. I added 1/2 teaspoon to my skillet, scooped some quinoa into the squash, then stuffed the seasoned filling into the four cavities. I topped each one with a tiny shower of locally-made mild white cheddar and tossed them back in the oven for a few minutes to warm through and melt. The sweet, gently spicy, smoky nature of the spice complemented the flavors in the squash just right. At dinner, I was that annoying cook who kept exclaiming over her own brilliance and tasty end result. Ha! I wasn't the only one, though; The H even said I could submit it to CE Mag. It was seriously good. I was so proud of us! At The H's suggestion, next time I make this, I will attempt a red (or other colorful) reduction or sauce.

After dinner I pounded out a fast and awesome 3.25 miles on the treadmill. Endorphins may or may not be contributing to the glowing review of this meal, though even before I cranked up my iPod and broke a good sweat, we were saying how good it was. :) Yay squash!

Post-Christmas cleansing

No, I do not subscribe to a "cleanse" in the sense of chugging pepper-spiked lemonade. Gross. And no, I am not consuming only fruits and vegetables for the next 10 days. What I mean by "cleansing" is getting back onto the clean-eating and menu-planning track and refocusing on whole, clean foods again after a good solid week of holiday treats and party food.

I started this morning with a hearty bowl of steel-cut oats mixed with chopped walnuts, a few dried cherries (until my son ate them all--"Cheddies! Eat, eat!"--and some real maple syrup from the co-op. I would have loved to whip up a Green Monster smoothie, but I forgot to buy peanut butter when I went to Trader Joe's. Grr. Lunch was a salad with mixed greens, apple, and stinky cheese dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. Planned snacks are raw almonds, dried apricots, blue-corn-flax chips and salsa, and 72% dark chocolate to ease myself off the steady sugar intake of the previous week.

This morning I was thrilled to get my first 2010 issue of Clean Eating Magazine! I am so excited to flip through it and get some fresh ideas. One of my tasks tonight is to peruse the grocery store circular for some green veggies; we have plenty of squash, onion, and potato from the co-op, but eating green things in the middle of a Michigan winter requires a little more non-local shopping (or preserving, oops), I've discovered. And besides, I've become rather fond of roasted broccoli, and I used my last two heads for dinner on Saturday.

This week I will be soaking some black beans, making a big batch of brown rice, and cooking a million-and-a-half chicken breasts to I'm ready for a quick snack or lunch without too much additional prep. I've said before how important planning ahead is, but I too often forget it myself. And now I need to choose something for dinner tonight... What's on your menu this week? Got any great recipes for acorn squash?

DDC #2: Holiday dinner #3

One of my self-chosen Dark Days Challenge rules was to make local-food items for family gatherings or potlucks as much as possible, so when our third family dinner in as many days rolled around I knew I wanted to contribute local ingredients to the table. With co-op pickup handily scheduled for last Tuesday, I was prepared to make parsnip mashed potatoes (using this recipe) and an apple crisp (using this recipe) today. Both got rave reviews, I'm happy to say. And though they are not the greatest, I took two pictures I have of the dishes--parsnips keeping warm on the stovetop, and apple crisp waiting to be baked 'til bubbly.

The parsnips were sweeter than potatoes, but very similar in texture. Even without cream or butter, they turned out so creamy and pleasant. My only change from the recipe linked above is that I doubled it and added one extra potato, so my ratio was 8 parsnips to 3 (large) Pontiac Red potatoes. Both the parsnips and taters were locally grown. I also made roasted broccoli, for the second time ever, using this recipe again. It was also very well-received, though not made with local ingredients. Does broccoli grow in west Michigan? I don't even know!

Due to The H's wheat allergy, I made the crisp with gluten-free flour. I love how the apples caramelize in the filling, and a crisp, sweet crumb topping is one of my favorite dessert components. I accidentally told my sister to add to much sugar to the apples (gotta love help in the kitchen, though!) so it was a bit sticker and sweeter than it's been other times I've made it... glad I was able to get my long run in this morning!

Merry Christmas!

It's been a day of indulgence for sure, but I am looking forward to a good long run in the morning if the rain we're getting doesn't ice over too badly. Merry Christmas to all of you; I hope you have been enjoying the holiday with friends, family, and whatever makes you happy.

Dark Days Challenge: Beef Stew

This was my first meal for the DDC. It's been a month since our last co-op pickup and I am not (yet) a canner/freezer/preserver so our local-food stock was running a bit low. I had one package of grass-fed stew beef in the freezer and some carrot, potatoes, and onions left, so really my first meal for the challenge kind of put itself together.

The only non-local ingredients I added were some red wine (which could've been a Michigan-made thing, but I didn't want to open a fresh bottle for one cup), beef stock, and seasonings. Yesterday I made Jell-O (with juice) for the baby with fresh-picked-and-frozen Michigan strawberries, so we had that, too.

Aaand wouldn't you know the camera battery was dead. So just picture a steaming bowl of cubed Pontiac Red and Yukon Gold potatoes, diced red and yellow onions, the cutest carrots you've ever seen, and browned stew meat (and my son stabbing cubes of red gelatin) and there you have our dinner. We did have my sister join us, which was nice.

Tonight was co-op pickup, so hopefully I'll have more creative fare for next week's DDC meal!