Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Friday, February 1, 2013
friday foodie favorites
Oh yes, it's Friday. I should be cleaning the house because my mom and youngest sister are coming for the weekend, but I've been cleaning all week (a weird obsession in this new year). And it was time to stop and eat lunch. My breakfast was sadly lacking this morning (coffee and a small piece of mango cake), so I figured I needed a fair amount of calories in my lunch. So I made a salad. I luuuurrrrvvvve salad. This salad, among a few different kinds of greens/herbs (baby spinach, arugula, chives, parsley), contained two of my new food obsessions: avocado and hemp seeds. I've had a bit of an obsession with avocado for a little over a year now, though I only just recently figured out how to cut them without mashing them... I usually mash half an avocado and spread it on toasted bread as a base for a sandwich. Hard-cooked egg goes really well with avocado. The other obsession is relatively new. I had been searching for hemp seeds for a while and finally found them at Costco. They taste a bit nutty and are super good for you. I sprinkle them on toast, put them in my smoothies, and sprinkle them on salads. So yummy. My other obsession lately is San Pellegrino. For those of you who have never had it, it's sparkling mineral water from Italy. Never thought I'd like sparkling mineral water, but there you have it. And because it's fizzy, I can trick myself into thinking I'm drinking a soda. (Club soda is good for this, too, because it's really only one step above sparkling water and still has zero calories.)
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
green smoothie goodness
Today is apparently just not happening. So I decided to write another blog post. This is one I've been meaning to write for a few days now, and now is better than never.
If you spend any time at all on the internet (and let's face it, who doesn't?), you have seen people posting about green smoothies. There are many books on the subject, as well. It seems that almost every blog I read has an obligatory green smoothie post. Now it's my turn, though I sadly don't have any pretty pictures because I fail at life. Just kidding, but I do have a failure of a camera. Anyway.
In my quest to be healthier, I realized I needed to eat more fruit. Truthfully, I just needed to eat fruit. Veggies, I'm good with. Fruit, on the other hand...well, textures and sensitive teeth were getting in the way. And sometimes the tastes are just too strong. Seriously. So I knew the solution to my fruit problem would be to get on the green smoothie train. Especially because the point of a "green" smoothie is that you incorporate greens into the smoothie, such as spinach or kale. And hey, I like greens! (My sister used to call me a rabbit because I loved lettuce and salads so much...but that's a story for another time.)
Green smoothies, then. Well, I stocked up on frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, mixed berries, and mango), bananas (because I love them), spinach, and kale last week. I also purchased some almond milk because I needed it for a soup recipe and I thought it'd be a good dairy-free way to thicken up my smoothies. Last Wednesday morning I made my first smoothie, and my poor blender hasn't really gotten a rest since. I've tried so many combinations that I can't remember them all to share with you, but here's one that I really liked:
Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
If you spend any time at all on the internet (and let's face it, who doesn't?), you have seen people posting about green smoothies. There are many books on the subject, as well. It seems that almost every blog I read has an obligatory green smoothie post. Now it's my turn, though I sadly don't have any pretty pictures because I fail at life. Just kidding, but I do have a failure of a camera. Anyway.
In my quest to be healthier, I realized I needed to eat more fruit. Truthfully, I just needed to eat fruit. Veggies, I'm good with. Fruit, on the other hand...well, textures and sensitive teeth were getting in the way. And sometimes the tastes are just too strong. Seriously. So I knew the solution to my fruit problem would be to get on the green smoothie train. Especially because the point of a "green" smoothie is that you incorporate greens into the smoothie, such as spinach or kale. And hey, I like greens! (My sister used to call me a rabbit because I loved lettuce and salads so much...but that's a story for another time.)
Green smoothies, then. Well, I stocked up on frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, mixed berries, and mango), bananas (because I love them), spinach, and kale last week. I also purchased some almond milk because I needed it for a soup recipe and I thought it'd be a good dairy-free way to thicken up my smoothies. Last Wednesday morning I made my first smoothie, and my poor blender hasn't really gotten a rest since. I've tried so many combinations that I can't remember them all to share with you, but here's one that I really liked:
Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
- 2 cups baby spinach
- a handful or so frozen strawberries (slightly thawed)
- a handful frozen blueberries (slightly thawed)
- 1 banana
- 1 cup almond milk
Friday, January 11, 2013
foodie blues (or, I really miss Olive Garden)
Yesterday afternoon while folding laundry, I decided to watch a little bit of television. I don't often do this so early in the day, but it was quicker than putting in a DVD because I'm too indecisive for that and I would have spent at least half an hour choosing something. Anyway. The channel I chose to watch was the Cooking Channel. (Not the Food Network -- hooray for two food channels!) As I was matching socks and sipping a mug of reheated coffee (black -- I was tired), I realized something. I am a foodie. A HUGE foodie.
This may not come as a surprise to some of you. I grew up in a household where my parents (especially my dad) tried to expose my siblings and me to as many cuisines as possible. Our favorite, to this day, is Indian, for many reasons. Dad's mom grew up in India as a child of missionaries, and the food got carried over to the U.S. One of our favorite dishes (and the most typical one Mom makes now) is chicken curry with rice. Oh, and don't forget the poppadoms! And my dear husband knows I'm not kidding when I say one of the tests for belonging with the Blieses is trying and liking curry! (Don't worry, he passed!)
Other cuisines we were exposed to at a young age were Japanese (Dad's been to Japan four times.), Chinese (which is always fun), Mexican (tacos, anyone??), and Italian. I also really like Thai food, but I obviously have a thing for anything Asian. Of course, I've eaten my fair share of European cuisine. Good old German food is always delicious, if a bit heavy (I love me some bratwurst.). And though it can be bland, I ate some delicious food in England, too. And I live for England's afternoon tea spreads.
But out of all of these, I think I've finally found my favorite. (Excepting Indian, because that tops them all no matter what.) My favorite, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, is Italian. Any time I see an Italian recipe, my mouth waters. I make simple spaghetti and meat sauce at home a lot. But all the experimenting I do in my too-small kitchen will probably never top the gloriousness that is Olive Garden. At least once a week I find myself craving a meal from Olive Garden. This has been happening with alarming regularity for the last few years, and it doesn't help at all that the closest restaurant to us is either in Milwaukee or Appleton. Since we rarely make it to Milwaukee, and then it's to visit family where we'll be fed amazing food anyway, that's kind of out of the question. And Appleton is rather a lot farther away, but we'd be more likely to eat at the Olive Garden there...
So you see my dilemma. My favorite restaurant is not close enough. And I haven't yet found a suitable Italian replacement in Sheboygan County. Le sigh. So I'm left with my severe case of the foodie blues once again. I suppose I can console myself with a yummy fish fry tonight at our favorite bar.
This may not come as a surprise to some of you. I grew up in a household where my parents (especially my dad) tried to expose my siblings and me to as many cuisines as possible. Our favorite, to this day, is Indian, for many reasons. Dad's mom grew up in India as a child of missionaries, and the food got carried over to the U.S. One of our favorite dishes (and the most typical one Mom makes now) is chicken curry with rice. Oh, and don't forget the poppadoms! And my dear husband knows I'm not kidding when I say one of the tests for belonging with the Blieses is trying and liking curry! (Don't worry, he passed!)
Other cuisines we were exposed to at a young age were Japanese (Dad's been to Japan four times.), Chinese (which is always fun), Mexican (tacos, anyone??), and Italian. I also really like Thai food, but I obviously have a thing for anything Asian. Of course, I've eaten my fair share of European cuisine. Good old German food is always delicious, if a bit heavy (I love me some bratwurst.). And though it can be bland, I ate some delicious food in England, too. And I live for England's afternoon tea spreads.
But out of all of these, I think I've finally found my favorite. (Excepting Indian, because that tops them all no matter what.) My favorite, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, is Italian. Any time I see an Italian recipe, my mouth waters. I make simple spaghetti and meat sauce at home a lot. But all the experimenting I do in my too-small kitchen will probably never top the gloriousness that is Olive Garden. At least once a week I find myself craving a meal from Olive Garden. This has been happening with alarming regularity for the last few years, and it doesn't help at all that the closest restaurant to us is either in Milwaukee or Appleton. Since we rarely make it to Milwaukee, and then it's to visit family where we'll be fed amazing food anyway, that's kind of out of the question. And Appleton is rather a lot farther away, but we'd be more likely to eat at the Olive Garden there...
So you see my dilemma. My favorite restaurant is not close enough. And I haven't yet found a suitable Italian replacement in Sheboygan County. Le sigh. So I'm left with my severe case of the foodie blues once again. I suppose I can console myself with a yummy fish fry tonight at our favorite bar.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)