Inspiration, inspiration everywhere!

So, I must say that one of my biggest complaints when it comes to cooking is figuring out what I'm going to make.  I often find myself staring blankly into the refrigerator or freezer, 30 minutes before the meal should be served wondering what the heck I'm going to make.  It's horrible...I hate it.  What I hate almost as much is preparing and eating the same 7-10 things over and over and over again.  I think one of the reasons I look forward to spring time is because we can finally fire up the grill.  I find it so much easier to gain inspiration when the grill is involved.  Maybe it works on more of my senses....cooking out in nature does bring a sense of calm.  Listening to the birds sing, feeling a gentle breeze blow through your hair...and the smell of delicious meat caramelizing over an open flame...a feel a bit better just thinking about it. 

I know through my journey of changing my lifestyle, this will continue to plague me...so the past few days, I've been thinking about where I can get ideas...what's going to inspire me from day to day to continue on this path??  What's going to keep me reaching for the sweet potatoes and stop me from grabbing the frozen pizza????  I'm like most people...when I find myself searching for answers, I go to the one person in my life who knows everything...my Mom.  I talked to her about it a bit and she said something very simple that made all the sense in the world...she said, "It's all about changing how you think."  At first it was a simple statement that didn't really effect me all that much, but as I processed or conversation, and went back over things in my head...it seemed to continue to play in my mind.  "It's all about CHANGING how YOU think."...changing....how I think...what I think, when I think, where I think and what I think about.  It's about making this a priority in my day...it's about putting my health and my families health above all else...it's about looking at the world through different eyes and seeing the inspiration and motivation in everything around me.  I suppose some of you might be saying "Well, duh.  Of course you have to change how you think."  But think about that for a second...how easy is it to change who we are??  How easy is it to change what you do??  Think about something big in your life that you've changed...was it a permanent change or something you did for a short time to get by and then went back to the way things used to be??  You see as humans, we are creatures of habit...we find some place that we think feels comfortable (even if it's not) and we dig in and hang out there for the long haul.  Change is VERY hard...it requires constant attention...constant inspiration and constant motivation.  I feel strongly that I have the motivation....I'm driven by the health of my children and husband...what could keep you more motivated than the well-being of the people you love the most in the world???  I think as women, we often put ourselves second, or third or fourth...but we always put or families first, but I definitely need to work on the attention and inspiration.  I know I'm not going to have huge "AH HA" life changing moments every day that will inspire my cooking...I know I need to look at my everyday to keep me going.

So that brings us to today's recipes.  My inspiration was a conversation with my sister Andrea.  Any of you who don't know me personally don't realize that I have a lot of sisters...four to be exact...so I imagine I will be giving all of them credit for my inspiration from time to time.  I was talking to Andrea about our everyday lives and our conversation turned to food.  She mentioned that she had made some delicious potato soup and Irish soda bread for supper the night before...it's been pretty chilly here the last couple of days, so soup and fresh bread sounded amazing.  I LOVE potato soup, it was a staple in our household growing up...something fairly inexpensive and quick to make...but I decided to change it up a bit. (New things, different way...you know the drill) I decided to make sweet potato soup with a Greek yogurt creme and a oatmeal quick bread. 

Sweet Potato Soup

2 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes (optional)
2 T flour
2 c chicken stock
1 T light brown sugar
3 sweet potatoes, cooked and cubed
1/8 t cinnamon
1 c half & half (may use milk or heavy cream)
Salt and pepper

In a sauce pot melt butter, add onions, garlic, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes.  Cook until onions are soft.

Sprinkle flour over onion mixture and stir.  Cook for a couple minutes while stirring to brown flour.  Add chicken stock to pan while stirring.  Mix in brown sugar.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Add sweet potatoes and cinnamon, bring to a simmer again and cook for 5 more minutes.  Blend the soup with an immersion blender or stand blender (may need to do this in batches), return to pan.  Add half and half & reheat soup.  Salt and pepper to taste, serve.     

For the Greek yogurt cream, I just mixed 3 T plain, fat-free Greek yogurt with 2 t honey and 1/8 t cinnamon.  Serve a spoonful on top of each bowl of soup.

Oatmeal Quick Bread

1 c rolled oats
1 c whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 T honey
1 T olive oil
1 c milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder and salt.  In a separate bowl, combine honey and oil, add milk.  Combine both mixtures until a soft dough is formed.  Place in a greased loaf pan.  Bake 22 minutes until golden brown. 

If you want a little less texture in your bread, you can grind the oatmeal in your blender or food processor prior to adding it to the wheat flour. 

Inspiration doesn't always find us...sometimes we need to be looking for it...sometimes we have to be searching for it...looking under ever rock we can see!!  Our willingness to change is just the beginning step in our journey...or ability to change depends greatly on our motivation to do so and the amount of  attention we pay to the process.  I hope you enjoy the recipes!!



The Veggie Nazi...

So...I hope no one takes offense to the title of this entry...it's credited to my family and their sense of humor...let me explain!

My sister Amanda stopped by last night to visit after work...right at dinner time.  I was not preparing a meal, so I offered her left overs...she's family, so that's an okay thing to do!  I ended up giving her our exact lunch, which I'm posting recipes for today, but our discussion led to recipes, eating habits and this blog.  During our discussion she brought up that fact that in our family, she is lovingly called "The Veggie Nazi"...insisting we always include a vegetable side dish (and usually preparing it) at every family dinner.  You see, Amanda is the type of person who is ALWAYS trying new recipes and new foods.  Constantly introducing our family to new types of foods, but especially vegetable preparations.  Now, in most families, a vegetable at each meal wouldn't seem out of the norm, but in ours it was.  The "vegetable" we at most was canned corn, followed by other canned vegetables.  "Why?" you might ask....well, I'm not exactly sure.  My mom and I have discussed this occasionally and I think it comes down to the fact that she was raised eating mostly canned vegetables, and they were never an important part of the meal.  Now, I've eaten many meals prepared by my Grandma...and vegetables have never been celebrated.  Most veggies she does prepare are hidden in a casserole and covered in cream sauce or cheese.  I suppose some of the basis behind it may have to do with cost factors....fresh produce is expensive and it spoils fairly quickly....a can of corn practically lasts forever! 

So back to my original thought, my sister....I wondered, while laying in bed last night, why vegetables are so important to her???  When did she decide to make them a centerpiece to her cooking???  When did she decide to insist on sharing her love for fresh, deliciously prepared vegetables with her family??  I'll need to ask her those questions to find out....but the conclusion I came to had to do with her willingness to be adventurous in her cooking.  She has a "no limits" type attitude when it comes to trying new foods and new recipes...she's constantly searching for cooking inspiration all around her.....her love for cooking has given her a new habit...a healthy eating habit, something she's passed along to her family...including my children.  So I guess what I'm saying is, I reinforced my original thoughts that little changes can make big impacts, changing your thinking about trying new things (or old things in new ways) can change your whole life, and the lives of those around you.  I thank my sister for sharing (and sometimes forcing!!) her love for vegetables on our family....and I also insisted that she work on some recipes that I can share here...how could she say no, right??? 

So that leads to the recipes today.  It was a chilly April day yesterday, so the food that sounded good to me was more "fall food"...strange how that happens, huh??  So I went with an apple glazed pork chop, sweet potato chips and a beautiful fresh herb salad.

Apple Glazed Pork Chop

4-6 pork chops (I used boneless)
salt and pepper
2 T olive oil
1/3 c unsweetened apple sauce
1 c water
1 T honey
1 T soy sauce
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T olive oil
1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
cinnamon

Season pork chops with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil in skillet, add pork chops to oil and brown on each side.  Add apple sauce, water, honey, soy sauce and vinegar to pork chops.  Simmer at medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until pork chops are cooked through.  Remove chops, set aside.   Remove cooking liquid and set aside.  Add olive oil to skillet and heat.  Add apple, onion and garlic to pan, cook until they begin to soften. 

Apple mixture just before re-adding cooking liquid

Return cooking liquid to apple mixture and reduce head.  Simmer for 5-7 minutes, until apples are at desired softness. 

I served the apple mixture over the pork chops...but my husband said he'd prefer it on the side...I don't see the difference...but I guess I'll serve it on the side from now on!!

My side dishes were simple:

an herb salad with blue cheese, dried cranberries and almonds and sweet potato chips. 

Here's the sweet potato recipe:

Sweet Potato Chips

2-3 sweet potatoes, thinly sliced
olive oil
salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Clean sweet potatoes, slice thinly.  Brush a baking sheet with olive oil, and arrange sweet potatoes in single layer on the pan, sprinkle with salt.  Bake at 375 for 12-18 minutes (depending on thickness of chip) until edges begin to pull away from the pan and they are lightly browned. (potatoes will crisp as they cool) Cook potatoes in batches.  Place in airtight container to store. 

I cooked my chips at a little higher temp, but I found that they were a little difficult to keep from burning.  I think a lower temp and longer cook time would help produce a more consistent chip. 

So that's that...my fall/spring dish that took items I enjoy, and make them in a new way...trying new recipes.  My request to you...post your new food/new way recipe in the comments...help me get some inspiration!!! 

Grilling pizza

So, my goal in my food transformation is to get rid of as many processed foods as I can, however, I'm a realist.  I'm not going to be eating all raw foods, or cut out things I love like chips and salsa, my husband and I will still want to go out to eat...but I figure if I can make the transition to 90% whole and 10% processed, I'll be pretty good off.  I'm slowly changing life, I figure show changes will more likely become lifelong changes.  I find it much easier to make a lifestyle change stick if you do it one step at a time, so that's my goal...hopefully over time I'll look back in disbelief and have trouble remembering life any other way!

On to today's recipe topic.....

I can't take credit for our love of grilled pizza...or our technique for cooking it.  That credit goes to my friends Greg and Nadene.  The innocently invited us to there home for dinner one warm summer evening, and Greg prepared us some unbelievable grilled pizza...we ate til we couldn't fit one more bite in...stuffed ourselves, and left that night hooked.  We of course made him share his process...and brought that home with us, the rest is history.  We've created an array of pizzas...some of our favorite have been a buffalo chicken and a roast beef with roasted red peppers (inspired by a pizza our friends had prepared for us).  I'm making a couple changes to our old pizza recipe, the first is preparing our own pizza sauce, minus high fructose corn syrup and preservatives, with the base starting with a canned tomato sauce.  I'm hoping that someday this will transform into making our own sauce from our own fresh tomatoes, but for today, I'll settle for the small step of moving to a "whole" canned food...minus all the other stuff.  The tomato sauce I found already has peppers and onions listed on the ingredient list, along with tomatoes and salt, so keep that in mind if you prepare the following recipe! 

Pizza sauce

1 can tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
red pepper flakes to taste (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and chill for one hour to let flavors develop.

We like a little spice in our sauce, so we add some red pepper flakes, but it's obviously optional.  I used dried herbs, because it's what I had on hand, but fresh herbs would be amazing!!!

And now on to my other change to our original pizza recipe...making our own crust.  I usually just bought some at the store...but looking at the ingredient list on most of them, I think it's best not to do that any longer!!  Plus...the pizza crust recipes I looked at were all VERY simple!!!  I didn't like any of the one's I found, so I took a little from each and made my own...a trait I come by naturally from my mom!!  We joke, because we rarely can make the same thing twice...we never remember how we change the recipe!!  So here's the pizza crust recipe:

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1 pkg dry yeast
1 1/4 c lukewarm water
1 tbs honey
2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 c all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbs olive oil
cornmeal for dusting board

Mix honey in water.  Proof yeast in honey and water mix. 
Add flour, salt, olive oil and yeast mixture to food processor and pulse til all ingredients are mixed, then turn on processor until dough forms a ball on the blade.  Transfer ball into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel for about 45 minutes, or until dough doubles in size. 
Punch dough down and transfer to floured board, knead briefly.  Cut dough into four equal sections (to make 4-8 inch pizzas, we cut in half and make two larger pizzas) and roll each into balls.  Cover individually and refrigerate at least two hours, or overnight.  Bring dough to room temperature before you need it. 
Dust your board with cornmeal, the roll and stretch each crust individually. 

Although I have several antique rolling pins, I put them somewhere while

I waited to find something to display them on.  Well, they are VERY safe

somewhere...can't even find em....had to resort back to the glass!

Most recipes I found call for over half the flour to be all purpose flour, so I still made this with some all purpose because I didn't know how it would turn out otherwise.  I think I will slowly play around with decreasing the amount of all purpose flour and see if I can get rid of it all together.  I also plan on adding some ground flax seed to the dough next time to add some good omega's and increase the nutritional value of the dough. 

We sprinkle the dough with a little olive oil before putting it on the grill....depending on your grill, you might need to spray the grill itself to make sure your crust doesn't stick.

Is there really any better smell than grilling bread??  I don't mean processed white bread slathered in margarine and slapped on a griddle...I mean the smell of yeasty, delicious dough sizzling over an open flame...it's just amazing!!!  I think there's a biological reason why something with such easily available energy source (carbs) is so appealing to humans!  Breads are in fact full of complex carbs, which do tons of things to keep our bodies running properly...we just have to make better choices about which ones to eat.

We usually cook one side of the crust and leave the other side without grill marks...it has cooked some since we have it in a closed lid 400 degree grill, but this gives us a little extra time for the toppings to heat through before the bottom is burnt!

At this point we take it off the grill, cooked side up and transfer it to a baking sheet.  Our friends also showed us that he easiest way to transfer the dough and pizzas was to use a baking sheet without sides.  You use it as a scoop and spatula, it works quite well.  The beauty of pizza is you can truly put about anything on it!  We've done shrimp alfredo, chicken and broccoli, and even fruit...try different sauces and toppings, you'll be amazed!!  We used what we had on hand, so we didn't do anything real interesting or new. 
Apply the sauce and toppings to the grilled side of the dough, then return it to the grill.  We've also found that at this point, indirect heat works best.  If you are using a charcoal grill, try to keep the coals on only half of the grill, place the pizza on the half without the coals...same concept with a gas grill. 

Keep a close eye on your crust...it can burn quite quickly.  If your crust is done and your toppings aren't...there's no shame in transferring the pizza to your oven to finish cooking!!! 

This is my husband's pizza...he's a meat eater...doesn't care what else is on his pizza,

as long as there's lots of meat!!!

So that's that...grilled pizza...so delicious!!  I'm sure I'll be posting different new recipes for grilled pizza throughout the summer...it's a simple, delicious meal that satisfies the whole family!  Hopefully my recipes will continue to evolve to include more veggies, more nutrition...continue to improve myself, my lifestyle, my health and my families health. 

The surgery that started it all...

So, I had an emergency appendectomy almost two weeks ago now...because of that...I spent some time quietly sitting around without much to do...something I haven't done in over twenty months since I had my twin boys.  I had "started my diet" again that Monday...something I'd been doing about every 3 months since the boys came along...hoping to lose that baby weight....3 months of bed rest had really helped pack it on!!  I had been quite successful at losing and maintaining my weight, using a low calorie diet, for several years so it was natural to resort back to that diet when I was trying to lose the baby weight.  Unfortunately, that diet didn't seem to work as well...whether it be lack of sleep, stress, breastfeeding...I'm not sure, but for whatever reason it's just been sticking around.  I've lost a total of 60 pounds since the boys were born...more than most people have to lose, but for me it was only about half of what I need to lose.  I have 30 pounds I put on before during my attempts to get pregnant...so I started out even further behind than most. 

So back to my recovery...I was quietly sitting in my living room one afternoon and I got thinking to myself.  "If I won't allow my kids to eat all this "diet food", then why do I feel it's what's best for me??"  Diet this, and sugar free that...I wouldn't let my kids touch it...they didn't need all those "toxins" that are found in those foods...so why is it my "go to" for my own health improvement??  Why did I spend 6 years gaining and losing that last 10 pounds when I never really varied from my "healthy diet".  So I did what I always do when I'm searching for answers...I started reading.....googling...researching....getting ahold of books...filling my mind....figuring it out.  My mom calls me the family "researcher"...and she's right...I crave information, facts...I like to make things add up, figure things out. 

So after several days (only equaling a few hours of actual reading...the boys don't like to let me have a lot of "me time") I had my facts...all the sudden it made sense to me...I need to feed myself how I feed my children.  I need to give myself the freshest, least processed, most balanced food I can find throughout the day.  I need to eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full.  I need to get rid of chemicals and processed foods and go back to eating how my great grand parents did.  Now...I'm not going to be out, planting and picking 100 acres of corn by hand, so everything in moderation, of course!  I also vowed to be an "I can" eater...to try things that I have always stayed away from.  Buy new things at the grocery store and make eating fun and interesting.  Enjoying my food and really tasting it is my goal, eating when I'm hungry, stopping when I'm not....and it seems to be working, I lost 7 pounds in the first week...more than I lost in one month the last time I started my "low fat" diet. 

So that leads me to this...I decided to take pictures of my food...talk about it and share recipes that are successful.

So I'm starting with my lunch today...I tried two new things, the first is quinoa.  If you don't know what quinoa is, it's a beautiful, creamy colored seed that is packed full of protein, it's actually considered a "complete protein" because it has all nine essential amino acids.  Although it's referred to as a grain, it's actually a relative to a swiss chard or spinach.  Nutritionally, it's a powerhouse...something I've heard about, but never tried...but I thought it would be pretty easy to make it one of my "new things" I tried this week. 

Quinoa Salad
1 c prepared quinoa
1/4 c diced cucumber
1/4 c black olives, chopped
1/4 c diced tomatoes
2 green onions, diced
olive oil
lemon juice
salt and pepper to seasoning

Cook the quinoa to your preferred doneness, cool.  Add remaining ingredients and chill. 
Just a note, you need to rinse the quinoa before you cook it or it will have a bitter taste.  I rinsed it three times (as suggested in a different recipe) by putting it in a bowl of water, stirring, draining in a metal strainer, and repeating three times.  Quinoa has a waxy, bitter coating on the outside of the seed...I suppose to keep animals from eating it...nature is an amazing thing.


The second is beet greens.  I bought beets to prepare for a lunch with my mom, and after I put the beets into water, I asked her "Have you ever cooked beet greens".  After our conversation, I decided that I'd attempt to cook the beet greens like I would a sauteed spinach. 

Sauteed beet greens with onions and garlic

2 bunches of beet greens

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 lemon, zest and juice

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.  Add chopped onion, cook for 3-5 minutes, until onion becomes tender.  Roughly chop beet greens and rinse completely.  Add greens to onion and toss with tongs.  Add garlic, lemon zest and juice and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook til greens begin to wilt, serve immediately. 

I rounded the meal out with a sirloin burger, topped with an herb salad and blue cheese...delicious!!

What a beautiful and filling lunch....dinner tonight is homemade pizza with a whole wheat crust...we'll see how that one goes!!