Breakfast foods

This posting is for Sara. She wanted a healthy baked good for her company breakfast. And I'm also providing a not so healthy but OH SO YUMMY recipe that my mom makes all the time. It never fails, I could eat the entire plate of these scones. DO NOT skip the soaked raisins, it's totally what makes these ridiculously delicious.


Spiced Pear Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup whole wheat flour (feel free to add more WW and less WF)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger or 1 tsp fresh grated ginger

2 tbsp oil

2 tsp vanilla

8 oz. soy yogurt (or regular yogurt. but soy works great!)

1 large egg

1.5 cups pear, peeled and finely diced

3 tbsp raw sugar

1. preheat to 400 degrees.
2. combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt in medium bowl. stir well with whisk.
3. stir in chopped walnuts.
4. make a well in center of mixture.
5. combine brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, oil, vanilla, yogurt and egg in small bowl. add to flour mixture, stirring until moist.
6. fold in diced pear.
7. spoon batter into 15 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. sprinkle batter with raw sugar.
8. bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center.



Scones

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 stick butter, sliced into 1/4" chunks.

1/4 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 raisins

1/2 cup amaretto

1 egg

1/2 cup cream

1. stir flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt together in bowl.
2. rub in butter with hands.
3. soak 1/2 cup raisins with 1/2 cup amaretto.
4. add raisins and amaretto to dry ingredients.
5. mix egg with cream. add to mixture. stir with fork only until blended.
6. spoon onto greased cookie sheet. brush with cream.
7. bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
8. sprinkle with powdered sugar.

easy sammich

i go through phases where i eat the same meals on repeat. i made up this sandwich to eat along with my mango chutney. so far i've had it for dinner this week and lunch last week. it's quick, easy, uses up tiny bits of veggies in the produce drawer, and is pretty darn healthy and tasty. tonight i ate it with a mug of the last bit of homemade tomatoe soup.

supplies:

whole wheat tortilla

spinach (if this is your main veggie, use about 3 good handfuls)

onion, sliced into thin strips. about 1/4 of a medium onion

whatever else-- zucchini, summer squash, mushrooms are all good choices.

handful of cheese (any kind!)

1. carmelize the chopped onions by heating up a bit of olive oil in a non stick pan. cook them until they turn nice and brown.
2. if you're cooking squash, add it 1/2 way thru the onion cooking.
3. add the spinach and mushrooms and cook until spinach wilts.
4. slide all the sauteed veggies out of the pan onto half of the tortilla.
5. sprinkle with cheese. add salt and pepper.
6. add a bit more olive oil to pan. slide tortilla into pan.
7. fold tortilla in half. cook one side until brown. flip. repeat.
8. eat.

day 15

i've been bad about eating healthy this weekend. i drank my body weight (or close to) in beer, and didnt eat all day sunday because i puked all morning long (ok, i exaggerate. i puked for maybe 4 minutes straight). saturday morning my nana cooked me a breakfast of scrambled eggs (cooked in butter) and homemade muffins, and it seriously wrecked havoc on my gastrointestinal tract. my stomach was back to normal on sunday night, after a good 48 hours of gurgling and gas and general feelings of disgust. before that, i hadn't eaten eggs in over a week.

today i'm back on track. i had hot oatmeal for breakfast. i skipped the vitamin cause it's been making me sick to my stomach. maybe i'll take one now to see how it reacts later in the day, after i've had a couple meals. for lunch, i had homemade tomato soup and homemade eggplant calzone. for dinner, i'm snacking on a three bean salad (with red onion and celery, olive oil and balsamic vinegar) and some raw veggies dipped in honey mustard dressing. i'm going to the movies tonight, and seriously craving some salty movie popcorn.

oh, a tamarind chutney is boiling on the stove. updates on that later.

Vegetable Pakora

Ingredients:
1 cup Chickpea Flour (Besan)
2 tbsp Oil
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
1-2 each Chopped Green Chillies (Jalapeno)
1/2 cupWater
1 Potato
1 small Cauliflower
2 Cabbage
5 sliced Spinach
1 1/2 cup Sliced Onion

Method:
Boil the potato until just tender, peel and chop finely.
Finely chop cauliflower and onion. Shred the cabbage and spinach.
Mix first set of ingredients well. Beat in a blender for 4-5 minutes to incorporate air (this will make the batter fluffier).
Let batter rest 1/2 hour in a warm place.
Add the vegetables and mix in evenly.
Deep fry in oil that is heated to 375°.
Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.
Serve with cilantro or mint chutney or tomato ketchup

Onion Chutney

1 cup red onions (finely chopped)

½ cup tomato paste

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon cumin powder

½ teaspoon oil

¼ teaspoon sugar

salt to taste (~ ½ teaspoon)


1. Heat the oil for few seconds.
2. Put everything except onion in oil. Simmer sauce for few minutes and let it cool.
3. Mix sauce with onion (and garnish with cilantro). Serve chilled.

Mango Chutney

jessica <3's indian, and wants to eat that sweet and spicy red chutney at home. i looked through dozens of recipes, and this was the one i liked the most. to make this spicy, i put two of these tiny thai peppers in, but they were ridiculously hot so i took them out after about 10 minutes. i think they may have been a big mistake. eating this with papadums sort of equals out the hotness.

1 ripe mango, cut into 1" chunks.

juice from 1 orange

juice from 1 lime

1/8 cup cider vinegar

1/8 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 garlic clove, minced

1" piece ginger, minced

1. bring all ingredients to boil.
2. turn down to simmer, for about 35 minutes.
3. put in food processor. grind until desired chunkiness.
4. cool in bowl, then refridgerate.

makes about 1 cup of chutney, perfect for one night of papadum eating. to make more, use 3 mangoes, and multiply the other ingredients by 2.

butternut squash with cumin couscous

this is half of the recipe-- the perfect amount for three or four good servings. double it to feed more ppl.

1/2 butternut squash (i bought the one that was already halved and peeled at the grocery store)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 can diced tomatoes

16 ounces vegetable broth

1/2 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup couscous

chopped almonds


1. peel the squash and slice into 1" cubes (or smaller, so it cooks quicker).
2. heat oil in heavy pot, cook onion for 5 minutes.
3. add garlic and 1 tsp cumin, cayenne and cinnamon. cook for 1 minute.
4. stir in the squash, tomatoes, broth, chickpeas and 1 tsp salt. bring to boil.
5. reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes.
6. uncover and cook until squash is tender, about the time it takes to cook the couscous:
7. in medium saucepan add 3/4 cup water, with salt and 1 tsp cumin. bring to boil.
8. add couscous, cover and remove from heat.
9. let stand for 10 minutes, fluff with fork.
10. ladle squash over couscous, sprinkle with almonds.

Day 8

ok, so it's the end of day 8 of no dairy. i had a momentary lapse this morning, and scrambled up two eggs to eat after a vigorous post-yoga hunger took over my body. two eggs with half an avocado and some homemade salsa. really, the perfect breakfast.


tonight for dinner i made my first recipe ever from a real simple magazine, butter nut squash with cumin couscous .

the only things i've noticed is that i'm incredibly gaseous (from eating huge amounts of beans, perhaps?). i've been satisfying the sweet craving after eating dinner with a piece of fruit. today i gave in to my cookie craving, as i've been craving Fig Newtons for a week straight. i ate a couple. and i bought some raisins to snack on-- they help satisfy the sweet need, as well.

day 3

ok, so it's been almost three full days of being dairy free. it's not so hard, really. i'll tell you what IS hard: cutting out refined white sugar and flour. they are the devil, and they are EVERYWHERE. i've been really really great about cooking, though. i made my mom and i a fabulous veggie sandwich for lunch today. and we went to the indian market this morning to get all the spices for an indian lentil stew. it sounds fabulous. i'll post the recipe and pics after i make it tonight.

last night at the bar, i had a blasting headache. so did ally, coincidentally. we cut it short at 930. i went to bed with a pounding headache. i've been drinking massive quantities of water, so it can't be caused by dehydration. it's just my body screaming at me: MAKE ME A DAMN ESPRESSO ALREADY!!! caffeine withdrawal blows. but i refuse to pop some tylenol to stop the headache, because it's not an aches and pains headache. i know why i have it, and i know what i need to make it go away (make it two weeks with no caffeine). i feel like i'm on a mission or something. a mission for what, i don't know. but what i do know is i don't want to die of cancer for unknown reasons when i'm 50. so i'll keep doing what i'm doing.

Happy 007!

so a bunch of things sort of simultaneously happened:

a new year started, which brings on

the thought of new year's resolutions

emily told me about this book called Skinny Bitch

the desire to become more healthy (elimating those stubborn vices that won't seem to go away)

soooo....
after reading about 1/3 of Skinny Bitch, which basically informs the reader about all the negative ways meat and dairy products react with the human body (in a really funny, sarcastic, but super informative way), i have decided to follow in Emily's steps in eliminating dairy from my diet. we spent new year's eve together, and she made me realize i've been meat free since 1994. that's a long time. originally, it started because we were doing a MIddle School project about endangered species, and becoming more environmentally aware. i started a recycling program in school. shortly afterwards, Stoneham started curbside recycling. and i stopped eating meat. over the years, i've gotten sort of lazy. i hate cooking for one. but my laziness has in no way, shape or form ever meant that i turned to fast food or junk food. i just tend to go through spurts where i don't eat a lot, or eat meat-less foods on the less healthy side of things (sugary, carb filled crap).

Today is January 1st. This morning we celebrated Ally's 28th birthday, which meant celebrating over brunch. I ate an egg scramble with feta and tomatoes and spinach. whole wheat toast, homefries. and oatmeal. As soon as I got home, my resolution commenced. i got hungry again around 6, and ate homemade salsa (tomatoes, red onion, small white beans, garlic, chiles, yellow bell pepper, vinegar) and some home made guac, with tortilla chips (made from pinto beans and corn flour). then i ate 2 pears, because they were perfectly ripe and won't be so tomorrow.

i'm going to try my hardest to quit coffee. it's one of my only vices that i know i should ween myself off of, but the addiction is pretty damn bad. we shall see.

i've neglected this blog for quite some time. my desire to do most things died in early 2006. i just rediscovered my passion for cupcakes, but it looks like i'll just stick to making them for other people and not eating them myself. as far as other resolutions for the new year, i resolve to get back on my feet, financially speaking. i resolve to read more. i resolve to be more open with my family. i resolve to love more and hate less. i dont want to make the list too long, so i'll stop here.

cheers to a healthy and happy new year.

addendum: smoothie before bed (blueberry, pineapple, OJ, flaxseed. and i cheated, using the last bit of organic banilla yogury. i need to go buy soy yogurt)