food choices

Bake, Bike, Grill

14 Comments

These gorgeous Spring days energize me.  Yesterday I walked and ran and before I knew it I’d covered 10 miles!  150 miles? I got this.

Good food energizes me as well.

Corn ‘n Beans Bread Muffins

Makes 12  Pre-heat oven to 365*

  • 1 c. white whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 c. cornmeal
  • 4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 eggs
  • 1 c. milk
  • 1/4 c. applesauce
Mix dry. Mix wet (if your applesauce is chunky like mine was then puree first in the food processor).  Add dry to wet.  Let sit while you prepare the beans.
  • 2 c. white beans
  • 2 T. olive oil
  • 1/2 chopped onion
  • lots of fresh ground pepper
  • red chili flakes
  • minced chives
  • minced fennel fronds
Sauté onions in oil over medium heat.  When onions turn translucent add beans.  Continue to stir and cook for a few minutes so beans soak up the onion-oil flavor and begin to brown.  Add herbs and spices, turn off burner, stir thoroughly.
Add beans to batter and mix.  Butter 12 muffin cups, fill, and bake for 30-40 minutes.  The muffins are done when the tops are slightly brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
A meal in a muffin!  These guys are dense, moist (why do so many women have a problem with that word?  I kinda like it. Moist.), and quite hearty.
I made these up for a potluck dinner party we attended on Saturday night but there ended up being loads of food and I got to bring at least half a dozen home with me.  Love leftovers.
The muffins are going to go great with all the grilled squash and asparagus in the fridge.
Um, yeah, that’s a mountain of veg to feed two people.  Leftovers. 🙂
I tossed the veggies in balsamic vinegar, a wee bit of olive oil, fresh ground pepper, and loads of rosemary.
Did you know that adding rosemary to your marinade can greatly reduce the risk of carcinogens in your grilled meat?  Vegetables don’t create carcinogens when grilled  like meat does, I added rosemary because I love the flavor.   If you grill meat consider cultivating a love for rosemary grilled meat.
After my 10 miles yesterday I am feeling less than motivated to hit the pavement today.  My exercise for the day may be biking back and forth to the clinic a few times and a mat Pilates class.
Thanks to Song for turning me onto my current favorite band, The Weepies!  They are perfect for playing in the clinic!  Here’s one of my favorites for your Monday morning listening pleasure.

Tang and Spice

8 Comments

Please excuse my tardiness but I was busy this morning auditioning to teach Pilates at an awesome local gym.

The audition went really well and (fingers crossed) I will probably begin subbing there soon until a regular class becomes available.

By the time I got home it was all about lunch and then kimchi and cookies called-to make, not eat-

A few nights ago I was served a really lovely, wholesome meal by my friend Shawna.  Along with fish, greens, and black rice, she set out sides of green cabbage kimchi and ginger carrot salad.

The carrot salad alone was a thing of simple beauty, multi-colored carrots sliced thin and dressed with loads of spicy ginger and a liberal sprinkle of salt.

I was inspired to combine both of these veggie sides into one tangy, spicy kimchi.

My past kimchi creations have revolved around Napa cabbage but I was game to try something new.

I chopped the cabbage and soaked it in salt water overnight.  This afternoon I strained the cabbage and add to it thinly sliced carrots (in the food processor), grated ginger, more salt, red chili flakes, and a spoon of sugar.

And I dug in.

You have to use your hands to mix kimchi because you must squeeze the ingredients as well as thoroughly mix them, this starts releasing the water from the veggies and makes a brine.

I always think I am making loads of kimchi but after all that squeezing and packing it as tight as possible into a jar I am usually left with only a quart or so.

The jar went on the pantry shelf and after two days will move to the fridge.  When there’s kimchi or ‘kraut in the fridge Tate and I eat it almost everyday so it only lasts a week or 10 days.  Not only do we love the tang and spice that it adds to meals but it’s an easy way to add some raw food onto a plate and get a healthy dose of probiotics.

But let’s be honest, most of you are probably more intrigued by these little guys ↓

Remember those almond butter cookies I wasn’t really nuts over?   As soon as I first bit into one I thought “these are a little boring but they would be a great ice cream sandwich cookie”, and proceeded to eat two more.

We don’t really eat a lot of ice cream around here and I wasn’t going to make a special purchase just to fill a few mediocre cookies so I rummaged around and came up with a Cinnanut Banana Cream filling.  Into the food processor went 1 banana, a generous sprinkle of cinnamon, and a tablespoon of almond butter.  Once it was nice and smooth I put the whole thing in the freezer-well not the whole thing but you know, the canister or whatever you call the mixing bowl part of a food processor.

After 10-15 minutes the “cream” was thick enough to dollop onto the cookie bottoms, top with another, and put the sandwiches back into the freezer on a plate covered with a plastic bag.   One was intercepted by Tate as he headed out the door to go for a bike ride and I believe I heard “delicious…” in his wake.

I worked out hard after my audition and have a feeling that all of those 9 mile an hour sprints may haunt me with heavy legs tomorrow.  Only time will tell…until then I’ve got a kitchen to clean!