The Edible Perspective

re-route

2009-10-29T01:38:00.001-04:00

You should get redirected to the new blog now!! It might take 5-30sec. depending on how speedy your computer is.

If you don’t get redirected, click this: www.edibleperspective.com

See you guys there ;)

go go go go!

2009-10-28T20:13:00.001-04:00

www.edibleperspective.com <---- check.it.out.

A delicious day

2009-10-28T01:32:00.001-04:00

I’m keeping this post extra short, but will leave you with 3 snippets from breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Stay tuned for the release of my new blog t.o.d.a.y!! I will have yesterday’s full post and a completely new look! I am pretty excited about it and am working on moving my content over as we speak.

Breakfast – Chocolate Amazing Meal + the pictured items + 1 container Wallaby Vanilla Bean yogurt + ice

It was delicious, but my favorite so far was the berry/acai infused Amazing Meal.

I went on a run with Laura late morning. It was a nice 60* and we went for about 4 – 4.5 miles. Tons of fun and then we picked up a few things for lunch. We had some awesome corn chowder, that Laura made the night before. We also made a fancy panini samich. It rocked! Details on the samich + soup tomorrow!

Whole Foods bakery case was making us drool, especially since we were starving from the run. We had to get something and settled on a big vanilla cupcake, all gussied up for Halloween. So.cute.

Dinner was delicious! I made Thai spiced pumpkin soup from the 101 Cookbooks website. I also made some of my specialty coconut rice, and roasted sweet + salty pumpkin seeds to top the soup. Perfect for this cold SNOWY night!

We might have 14” of snow by morning!

Off to work on the new blog…I have a LOT more photos from today of all the fun food…check back soon! =)

Ashley

chuggin’ yogurt

2009-10-27T03:01:00.001-04:00

Today started off with a redo of the cocoa oats. I got it right this time!

1/3c. oats + 2/3c. vanilla rice milk + 1 small banana + 2tsp cocoa + 1 glob of pnut butter on top = Cocoa Oat perfection!

Chris and I took off to the mountains today for a little boarding action. The dogs came with too. We have to hook this net into the top of the car to block them from jumping over and getting everywhere when we’re out of the car. Then cover it with a sheet so they don’t get tangled in the huge holes. There were no nets with hooks with smaller openings…so it’s pretty shifty looking =)

Chai Tea from NOVO coffee…mmm delish! I just go this vest..and I love it! It’s an Obermyer down vest and a GIRLS size 16 =) I found it on the sale rack for $23.99, originally priced at $80…s.c.o.r.e. Pretty excited!! Always check the kids’ sales racks!!

morning fun w/the hubs

drivin’

I got hungry. Insert pumpkin cornmeal muffin…literally! These muffins are addicting!!! Aaaand, their slightly chewy exterior improved overnight =)

almost there…

Dakota looks so noble here…Kenna is trying to escape…

It was SO nice out, even though the temp was around 25*. The sun was HOT. The vest kept me perfectly warm.

HUGE pet peeve!!!!!!!! Kids at the mountain wearing 10x larger than normal clothing. I didn’t know clown stores sold snowboarding clothes. You look reeeediculous and I can’t help but stare and rub my eyes in disbelief =)

In the morning, I am in charge of snack packing, and Chris loads up the car with all of our gear. This is my favorite brand of yogurt, by far! I only eat this, or Stonyfield Oikos, for the extra 7g of protein. The non-fat Wallaby is on sale at WF for $.50!! It’s normally $1.00, so I stocked up!

Guess who forgot to pack spoons!!?? This girl. Chug-a-lug.

Still famished…LARAbar time. I know I say I don’t really like these…but I keep eating them. I’m confused about this, haha.

It was one of the new pnut butter and jelly bars, which I think I actually do like! I also for sure like the chocolate coffee bar. What is the white streak on my nose? Oh, that would be from drinking my yogurt!

We took the dogs to Loveland Pass to let them romp in the snow. They LOVED it.

Look who else was chuggin’ yogurt!

…

Dinner time x2! I had stuff in the fridge since last week to make this Asian millet salad recipe from Kath’s blog. I wanted to make it to keep in the fridge for healthy snacking and/or lunches. I finally made it and it was excellent!!

I was also going to make a taco bake for our actual dinner. I had a lot of chopping to attend to!

This is what I changed: 1c. millet [instead of 1/2c.] – no mushrooms – no corn – no jicama – 1 red pepper [instead of 1/3 green] – 2 garlic cloves [instead of 1] – red cabbage [instead of green]

A little fuzzy but oh.so.yummy. Can’t wait to dig into this tomorrow!

Real dinner – I did a variation from the taco bake I made a few weeks ago.

Ingredients:

25oz. can black beans
1lb local 96% lean ground buffalo [can use ground turkey or beef]
1 1/2tsp. ground cumin
1/4-1/2tsp. cayenne pepper [optional for spice]
1tsp. cajun seasoning
appx. 1c. frozen corn
1 red pepper
1 small can mild green chiles
1/2 poblano pepper [leftover from the millet salad]
2 garlic cloves
2 jalapenos [optional…this made it quite spicy!!]
1 1/2 jars salsa [I used a chipotle…nice and smokey]
2 avocados
1/2 package whole wheat tortilla
couple handfuls of tortilla chips
4-6oz sharp cheddar cheese

Salsa too liquidy? Strain it with a fine mesh strainer [can do this for pasta sauce too].

Heat oven to 375*
Chop and sauté peppers [not the jalapeno] and garlic for a few minutes and then add in the meat. Season and brown thoroughly.
Chop all other veggies, shred cheese, strain salsa, slice 1/2 of the pack of tortillas into about 2” squares, drain black bean liquid, mash avocados.
Layer in a 9x13 dish: light layer of salsa + cover salsa with a layer of the tortilla squares + 1/2 of the black beans + 1/2 of the meat + layer of salsa + green chiles + corn + 1/2 of the cheese + tortilla layer + spread the 2 mashed avocados on the tortillas + rest of the black beans + rest of the meat + jalapenos + salsa
Cover with foil and bake for 45min.
Take out, set oven to broil @ 500*, sprinkle rest of the cheese, and crush a layer of the chips on top.
Broil appx. 5min

Cut tortillas

2nd layer of meat with the green chiles.

Broke into the Yellow Corn, Food Should Taste Good chips, from the awesome box of samples they sent. These are THEE best yellow corn tortilla chips ever. Super crunchy, perfect saltiness, and a lot of corn flavor.

All done!

My plate…super filling + delicious. Chris asked if we could have this every week…I think it went over well ;) It was full of flavor and not greasy [from the meat] or watery [from the salsa] at all. mmmm good

I’m wiped out from boarding and making 2 dinners =) Goooodnight!

I need some sleep for my morning running date with Laura!!

Byeeee

Ashley

zinc is pink

2009-10-25T21:38:00.001-04:00

I got rid of my headache, thanks to Chris digging his elbow into the knot, that lives in my shoulder blade/neck area! Huge ball of tension that never seems to go away.

Well, after that, I had a great wintery run. It was in the upper 30’s and dreary, but not too windy. I felt great on the run today. I prefer the colder weather for running and it wasn’t too cold where it hurts your lungs.

After the run, I made a Hemp Shake! It was my first time using that powder. I didn’t take a photo because the end result looked like mud =( Buuut, it was super tasty!!

They are packed full of nutrient goodness! 8g fiber, 6g protein, 90 cals, 1.5g. fat. [poly + mono]

Mudslide Shake: [adapted slightly from the back of the packet]

1 pack Berry Pomegranate Hemp Shake [soy free, woop woop!]
1T coconut oil
1c. vanilla rice milk
1 pear
1 kiwi

I realllly liked this one..and probably ended up taking in about 15g. fiber [holy cow!], with the added pear + kiwi.

Natalie slaved away in the kitchen today, making a childhood favorite meal. It’s called slippery pot pie and was comforting and delish. She made dough from scratch that she cut into squares and cooked in the broth. They were mmmmm good =)

The dogs are completely annoying when either of us are cooking in the kitchen. They think it is party time…they are SO wrong!

In an effort not to get sick, Chris and I have been taking Emergen-C like it is our job! [go to their site for free samples!] They have all different flavors and different mixes of vitamins and you just dissolve them in a 4-6oz glass of H2O. Today I found some that were Immunity Support with 100% daily value of Zinc! I despise those zinc lozenges, so this was perfect. The flavor wasn’t too bad, and it goes down super quick.

Pretty zinc in pink!

While Natalie was cooking, I decided to bake some pumpkin cornmeal muffins that I saw on Fallon’s blog. They sounded really yummy and I had ALL of the ingredients on hand. So it was obvious, I had to make them =)

I followed her recipe exactly, [how un-ashley of me!] even did the flax egg substitute. [1T ground flax meal + 3T warm water, let sit 2min – replaces 1 egg] I loved the flavor and slight crunch from the cornmeal. You could definitely tell they were a healthier muffin and had some substitutions in them, but for being so super healthy, they were reallly good.

This was a very dense muffin. The texture was a bit chewy, but I liked the exterior crust and they were very moist. I would definitely make them again. I liked the honey as the sweetener and might add some cinnamon next time =)

Off to do some work on the new blog!! Snowboarding tomorrow!

Ashley

cocoa oats

2009-10-25T13:56:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I made, Green Monster – Round 2! It was even more delicious than the day before.

GM #2

1 banana
1/3 avocado
1 kiwi [skin on]
1/2 pear
1 packet Amazing Grass – Goji/Acai flavor
3oz Wallaby Vanilla Bean yogurt [SO good]
1/4c. low-fat coconut milk
handful of ice

I used a few different settings on the blender: Blend/Chop/Grind/Liquify =)

I received a few questions pertaining to the first GM I made…

Can you taste the avocado?

No, not at all. It just adds a little creaminess and healthy fats! In my avocado research, I have read things about them lowering your cholesterol, aiding in cancer defense, etc. They have also been shown to help absorb more nutrients from the other foods you are eating them with. If you don’t like avocados try hiding them in this type of drink!

How did I come up with this combo of fruits/veg?

I was just thinking about all of the green foods I could add. I knew the avocado wouldn’t taste, but that it would be a healthy addition. The pear and apple would add a sweet + sour flavor, along with a good dose of vitamins + fiber. The kiwi was added to help thin out the mix a bit, add some tang, fiber, and vitamin C! I think it’s kind of hard to mess these drinks up =)

Chris and I both liked my 2nd version better, with the goji + acai grass mix, as opposed to the plain. I think we are both going to be addicted to these in no time!

I forgot a photo of the GM #2, oops! That was Saturday’s breakfast.

Last night was uneventful but relaxing. My dinner was also uneventful. It started with some leftover stuffed pepper filling, then pureed butternut squash with cinnamon + a little sucanat, and then a bowl of cereal [mixed with 3 diff. kinds]. Completely random!

This was dessert! It is my favorite pumpkin beer so far and look how cute the name and label are!!! l.o.v.e. =)

Today’s breakfast, I decided to mix some cocoa powder into my oats! 1T only has 10 calories and adds an extra 1g. protein =)

I was out of bananas, it DEFinitely would have been even better with a nanner!!

The mix: 1/3c. oats – 2/3c. vanilla rice milk – 1T cocoa powder – honey squirt

It was probably a tad too much cocoa powder, but was still super tasty. I topped it with some Barbara’s vanilla almond cereal [SO good], a little of the pumpkin oat bars, and a glob of pnut butter of course!

Not sure what is in store for today. Woke up with a massive tension headache, so I’m getting a late start on being productive!!

Have a great Sunday!!

Ashley

p.s. it’s snowing again…

easy being green

2009-10-24T14:34:00.001-04:00

So, as I told you yesterday, my morning mug of oats photos were deleted =)

Layered oats – Round 2

Layers:

1/3c. oats + 2/3c. rice milk + 1/3c. pumpkin + cinnamon + 1/2 banana
appx. 2oz. Vanilla Coconut Milk yogurt
Baked pumpkin/oatmeal bars [they solidified more after the first night and were much better the next day…especially w/a quick zap in the microwave]
glob of Whole Foods organic creamy [no stir!!!] peanut butter [my new fav. pnut butter, for sure! appx. $3.50]

Loving the clear, pyrex, mug =)

This was my first time eating this coconut yogurt. It is a great substitute for people that cannot tolerate dairy. It had a great consistency [nice and smooth] and good flavor, with a mild hint of coconut. The only downside is the protein count. It only has 2g protein. Regular yogurt has 6g [usually] and Greek yogurt has about 14g! So, while it was tasty, I probably won’t buy it again…

I have been wanting to try making a Green Monster smoothie for awhile. This past week I finally stocked up on some green goods!

Amazing Grass, wheat grass, is the fuzzy looking stuff in the front. Green is not my favorite color, but I think it is my favorite FOOD color!

Ashley’s Green Monster – Round 1

1/2 org. pear
1 org. whole kiwi [yes, with the skin!]
1/4 org. avocado
1/2 org. granny smith apple
1 packet Amazing Grass wheat grass powder
3-4oz. vanilla coconut yogurt [had to use up the rest!]
1/4c. low-fat coconut milk
handful of ice

i <3 green food

Chris has been ALL about the kiwi lately. It is such a great addition to this drink because of its sweet, tangy flavor. The skin is edible, and so good for you!

Layered in the blender. I don’t really know what you’re supposed to put in first…but I started with the ice =) I chopped up all the fruit into chunks and left the skin on the apple and pear as well..but not the avocado ;)

Chris was not 100% sold on my idea for this..especially because I was just winging it with no recipe =) He liked it a lot though and so did I! The grass flavor will take a little getting used to, but overall I really liked the flavor and thickness.

My lunch: green monster in a whiskey glass =) and 2 mini lentil burgers with a light layer of cheese.

Can I just tell you, again, that these lentil burgers are SO good. The mixture [that I made on Tuesday] was still perfectly fresh. The lentils take awhile to cook, but the recipe is super simple. You must give it a try!

I really like when I can put my food in a clear glass/bowl. It’s just more fun =)

Watch out for Green Monster Round 2! I have a feeling these are going to become a quick habit! After I made my first one, I stumbled on the OhSheGlows food blog. She has a whole website dedicated to Green Monster drinks! She also started her own granola bar business [like me!]. Glo Bakery

Have a great weekend and eat something GREEN!!! =)

Ashley

double whammy

2009-10-23T02:27:00.001-04:00

Whammy #1 - Chris + I don’t have the same system for using the digi SLR camera. I leave photos on the memory card and then delete all after a few days. Chris deletes them all as soon as he uploads them.

Well, to make a long story short…we were both using the camera today, and my breakfast photos got deleted by the husband!!! It was just oatmeal…but I really liked how 2 of the photos came out. I’ll have to repeat tomorrow..oh well =) I had some good layer action going on, in a clear mug!

Whammy #2 – I forgot my memory card in my computer when we went boarding today. It seems when I forget my camera or memory card there are always more things than usual I want photos of!

We brought the dogs with us and they were hilarious in the back trunk area of the new car. Everyone brings their dogs to the mountain while they ski/board! They did great and after, we took them to play at Loveland Pass. It was Kenna’s first time playing in the snow. She was hilarious! They enjoyed themselves and have been completely zonked out ALL night…even caught them cuddling =)

I packed lunch, as usual! PB+J and yogurt for me…had some Starbucks on the way home. Like pumpkin latte’s but hate all the extra calories and cost!? Try getting a regular coffee with a shot of pumpkin syrup [high fructose I’m sure…oh well, I couldn’t see the label! =)] and a little milk.

HAPPPPPY 3YR ANNIVERSARY TO PAT + NATALIE!!! I made red beans + rice, that I have been meaning to make for the past 2 weeks. I finally remembered to soak the beans overnight =)

Beans + sautéed onion/celery/garlic/green pepper + seasonings

Poor Pat and Natalie have been sick ALL week. I was hoping this meal would help…and a little gift that Chris and I put together. We got the idea from a gift Kelsey got for her birthday! It was so simple and cute we had to repeat it =)

All wrapped up in a WF bag =) I am a huge dork and even taped the handles back on to look like a bag…it was so cute and saved some money on wrapping paper!

Their cutie dog, Maggie!

I followed this recipe, almost exactly, for the red beans + rice. I doubled the cayenne pepper, cajun seasoning, added 1t garlic powder, about 10 black pepper grinds, and 1t sea salt.

All mixed up, before the water was added. Then just let it simmer for 2.5hrs and stir a few times. Easy!

You can’t have red beans + rice without cornbread! This is my favorite.recipe.ever [for cornbread]!!!

101 Cookbooks Cornbread

Batter bowl…While the beans were cooking away, I got busy with this!

Here is what I changed: [Leave me a comment and email address if you want the High Altitude alterations!]

No red pepper flakes. There was enough spice in the main dish. I like plain cornbread! =)
Also, I normally use the buttermilk, but didn’t want to buy a whole carton of it. So, I subbed in low-fat coconut milk and it worked perfectly! There was not even a hint of coconut flavor. Don’t worry!
2 1/2c. corn in 1 pan is a LOT of corn. I use 1c. [frozen] max!
2T of butter in the bottom of the pan is definitely enough..no need for the third =)

Super moist + great texture!

All of my timing worked out, even as I was scrambling to get that photo of maggie printed [last minute, oops!], and get it all wrapped up.

Topped it with 3/4 of a local Boulder Andouille sausage! mmm

Actually…this dish ended up too spicy for me, with all the extras I added in. The other 3 in the house can tolerate a lot more spice than I can, so it worked out. I ate about 1/2. I would have been happy with a whole plate of the cornbread!! =)

Off to get my sleep on…niiight!

Ashley

p.s. my new blog domain space has been secured =) hope to get it up and running by early next week!

triple yum

2009-10-22T01:47:00.001-04:00

Today was super productive!! Always nice to cross things off the to-do list.

Breakfast: oats + rice milk + whole banana + dollup brown rice syrup + pnut butter glob = always delicious

Do you guys ever eat Kale?? It is a completely underrated leafy green! I only started cooking with it about 1yr ago. Chris and I both love it. I either roast it in the oven [alone or with other veg] or pan sauté it. Today it went in the pan.

Drizzle a little olive oil in the pan and set to medium. Rip the kale leaves off the stem, wash, and dry. Chop to bite size pieces and let cook in the pan about 7min. I also sprinkle on a little salt + garlic powder. It has great flavor and still holds a nice crunch even after cooking. YUM

Lunch: pan sautéed kale + leftover veggies + noodles [sunday’s dinner] + sunny side up egg on top. The egg was seriously so good on the veggies. Provides a nice little sauce and lots of protein =)

With a side of POM!

I decided to make tomorrow’s breakfast, TOday! Back to the baked oatmeal snack bars I tried out a few days ago [from Kath’s blog]. I wanted to play with it more this time though!

Insert PUMPKIN =)

Here was altered ingredient list: [needs to be reworked more though]

1.5c. oats
3/4c. pumpkin puree
1T flaxseed meal
3T water [combine with the flax]
1.25c. unsweetened rice milk
1/4c. brown rice syrup [or cane sugar/maple syrup/honey/etc.]
1 sliced banana
2t. vanilla
1-1/4t. cinnamon
1/4t. cloves
1/4t. ginger
1/4t. nutmeg

So I am experimenting with substituting flax + water, as an egg substitute. For no reason in particular…just want to see if it works, like it says it does on the side of the bag! Not sure I would go trying this in cake recipes, but we’ll see ;)

Bob’s Red Mill – ground flaxseed meal – For replacing 1 egg combine 1T flax meal with 3T water and let sit for 2min then stir in with other ingredients.

I also left out the nuts and dried fruit and instead subbed in 1 sliced banana and the pumpkin. I may or may not have also added in 1/3c. dark chocolate chunks ;)

I made adjustments for the higher altitude, [the recipe I provided is normal elevation] but something was definitely off =( The flavor is good but it’s too wet. I even cooked it for 10min longer than I thought I needed to. Maybe the flax didn’t gel it together like the egg would have? Or maybe Rice milk doesn’t bake in the same way cow’s milk does? I figured it shouldn’t matter what type of liquid you use…kind of like when you’re making a bowl of oats, you can use whatever. I think I’ll just use less liquid next time especially because of the pumpkin addition + banana which added extra moisture.

I’ll let you know when I get it right!! I was cooking dinner + making the bars at the same time which made me need this…

Wine in a whiskey glass =) Oat bars in the background…

Dinner: my made up version of stuffed peppers – Greek style

Serves 6:

Cook 1c. of whatever rice/grain you want – I used short grain brown rice
While that is cooking preheat your oven to 400* – cut 6 peppers in half – clean them out – brush with olive oil – place in a pan cut side down – roast for 30min
Cook whatever meat you’re using, if you’re using any. I used 3/4lb ground lamb [local colorado lamb! yeehaw] and .25lbs grass fed beef
Drain the grease and use that pan to sauté 1 small onion + 1 med. tomato for about 5-7min. on medium
Wash – dry – chop 4 big handfuls of kale leaves and add them in the mix for another 5 or so minutes
Take off the heat and add in about 1c. spinach
When rice or grain is done, fluff with fork and combine with meat and veggies.
Take out peppers and stuff them full. Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350* for 30min.
Uncover, top with feta, and broil for 5min.

After baking, but before the feta was broiled on top…

If you have any questions let me know…I typed that out fast!! I’m wiped out =)

I don’t have the exact cost right now, but it was pretty cheap. The peppers were on sale for 55 cents!! They weren’t organic but at least they weren’t covered in wax. I couldn’t pass up that deal.

Pantry items were: rice/feta/spinach/tomatoes/onion

I only had to buy the peppers, meat, and kale!

Goooooooooooodnight!

Off to the mountains again tomorrow =)

Ashley

strapped in

2009-10-21T01:51:00.001-04:00

Last night Chris mentioned going snowboarding today or tomorrow. It still seems strange to 1. be able to snowboard in october 2. to actually live in Colorado and be able to snowboard pretty much whenever we want…

This morning I checked the forecast and today sounded better than tomorrow so we got ready and headed out.

I packed some snacks for the ride home because mountain food is $$$ and you know I’m not stopping for fast “food.” ;)

First time trying Chobani Greek yogurt. Deelicious! It was about 70 cents cheaper than Oikos, however not organic. This was my first time eating the Chocolate Coffee LARABAR. My feeling for these bars is still “meh.” Chris doesn’t like them because of the texture. They are o.k. to me, but I mainly eat them because they are filling and have an impressive ingredient list.

I like bars with more varying textures, like KIND bars. mmmm

I was really in the mood for coffee and we were going to be passing riiight by NOVO Coffee, a Denver based coffee shop. This also happens to be right next to Great Harvest Bread Co.

Natural Grocers + Sunflower Market are in the same plaza too, so when I do my Monday shopping I definitely go in all 4 places =) [GHBC to the left]

I got a Pumpkin Latte, which had the perfect pumpkin spice flavor, and no gross syrup taste. We went into GHBC, were given 2 HUGE samples, and bought a loaf of their Oregon bread.

Okay…I have a funny story about GHBC and our dog, Dakota. Yesterday, I went there to buy breadsticks and buns. All of their bread types have names and the buns I got were made with their “Dakota” bread. So, I came home and unloaded all the cold groceries, but left the pantry stuff out. [I was in a hurry for my interview] Chris got home 10min after I left to find that Dakota ATE 1/2 of the Dakota buns!!!!!! SO dumb + hilarious all at the same time. =)

The slice was bigger than my hand…so delicious + filling.

bread + coffee + snowboarding + husband = HAPPY ASHLEY [but not in that order, haha]

Not a ton of snow in the mountains yet. There was only 1 run open today.

We will be back to the mountain soon! I love that my winter running clothes double as base layers for boarding =)

We came home, famished! What’s for dinnerrrr? Lentil veggie burgers! I didn’t have super high expectations for these but they totally wowed us both! Chris said this is a keeper, for sure.

Brain fart in the kitchen! I cooked 3c. of uncooked lentils = 6c. cooked lentils. DOUBLE of what I needed, hehe. Misread the recipe…woooops!

The only changes to the recipe that I made were adding 2 cloves garlic, and some garlic/salt/parsley seasoning mix [about 1/2tsp]. This recipe was super easy. It just takes a little while to cook the lentils. Oh, and I used dark green lentils. I could not find black lentils at 3 different stores.

I topped them with a little asiago/mozz/avocado and Chris added jalapenos. We ate them with the herbed Oregon bread and I dipped mine in plain Greek yogurt which was SO delicious! Also, made a side of Alexia’s fries. Insanely filling + healthy meal.

The flavor was GREAT. I thought it might be a little bland..but definitely not. I added the 1c. breadcrumbs but next time will add a little less as they were sliiightly dry. You want the mixture to be pretty wet but still able to be formed into patties that don’t fall apart.

We both decided these are DEfinitely better than black bean burgers and there are tons of leftovers! On the 101 site, it says you can keep the uncooked mixture in the fridge for a week! These will be perfect for lunches. The recipe said to make 12 mini burgers but I made 6 full size patties.

pantry items: olive oil, cheese, garlic, eggs, seasoning mix

Total Cost: $11.40/6 = $1.90 INsanely CHEAP and again almost 100% organic! This price includes the fries/yogurt/avocado too! However, I didn’t include the special loaf we got at GHBC which was a little pricey. You can use any bread or buns…still super cheap =)

Adios foodies…I’m pooped!

Ashley

ROLLUPS

2009-10-20T01:36:00.001-04:00

Do you guys remember eating rollups as a kid? What was SO appealing about it? It seriously felt like plastic…Maybe it was the shapes that you could punch out of it, or the “fruit” flavors, or competing with your friend to see who could stuff the whole thing in their mouth and swallow it first.

Either way…I did not eat that kind of a rollup today, I ate lasagna rollups! Much tastier =)

Today was a busy day:

4 mile run –> plan this week’s meals –> weekly grocery shopping –> get ready for and go to interview –> come home clean + cook dinner --> pick up pat + natalie at the airport –> eat dinner

The interview [to be a vegan chef at a preschool] went really well. We’ll see what happens though!! It would be a great opportunity and something new and exciting to try =) I love cooking, kids, and teaching people about healthy living…so it’s pretty ideal!

Dinner time: I’m sure there are recipes for something like this out there, but I made this up and it’s super easy aaand affordable!

It’s kind of hard to find whole wheat lasagna noodles. I found them at the first store I went to but thought I could get them cheaper at Whole Foods. They ended up not having them [it is a small Whole Foods]. These were still made with wheat flour though, and were oh so tasty.

Lasagna Roll-Ups: serves 5

16-18 lasagna noodles

1 jar sauce
4oz. mozzarella
4oz. harder shredded cheese, like parmesan or asiago
5oz container spinach
1 medium container small curd cottage cheese
pepperoni [optional if you want meat or not]

Fill a large pot with water and 1T of salt and bring to a boil.
Add the lasagna noodles being careful not to break them. Cook until al dente [about 7min].
Dump noodles into strainer and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.
Lay noodles flat on a kitchen towel [to dry them].
Preheat oven to 400*
In a 9x13 pan add about 3/4c. sauce [a light coat]
Take 1 noodle at a time and add [from end to end] about 2T cottage cheese, then a single layer of spinach, a single layer of pepperoni, sprinkle of parm/asiago cheese.
Tightly roll being careful not to tear the noodle and place seam side down in the pan.
Repeat until all are rolled.
Cover rollups with the rest of the container of spinach and spread the rest of the jar of pasta sauce on top.
Cover with foil and put in the oven for 30min.
Take out, uncover pan, sprinkle with mozz. cheese and broil for 3-5 min. until golden and bubbly.

I made some without pepperoni for myself =) Cottage cheese is the perfect substitute for ricotta cheese!

All rolled up…they’re just so cute!

All done with a light coating of cheese on top! 4oz of cheese goes a long way.

My plate, with a Great Harvest Bread Co. breadstick!

pantry items: none

Total cost: $22.08/5 servings = $4.41 – This included $3 for the breadsticks. Leave out the pepperoni and save a few bucks! Also, except for the pepperoni, it was 100% organic! =)

Niiiiiiight

Ashley

bouldering in boulder

2009-10-18T23:29:00.001-04:00

When I left Colorado, the weather was snowy and in the 20’s. Cleveland was in the 40’s the whole week and dreary. Today was such a nice change! It was sunny and 80* in CO today. We were itching to get outside.

Chris found a spot, not too far away, to do some traverse bouldering. We don’t have a crash pad yet, so we didn’t want to do too much vertical climbing. This was the perfect little spot to practice on real rock.

In between a rock and a hard spot [or just a tree]

Awesome view!

Dinna’ time! It’s been awhile since I did pan roasted veggies over pasta. It’s really delicious and extremely easy.

Oven @400* – whatever veggies you want – roast about 40min [softer veg. can go in for the last 15min, like zucc, kale, tomatoes, etc.] – toss with olive oil, s+p – top whole wheat pasta w/veggies, a touch of sauce + a little cheese! It’s one of our favorites.

Veggie combo: sweet potato/onion/garlic/brussel sprouts [went in first] zucc/kale/tomatoes [went in after 25min]

The sweet potato might seem out of place, but I promise it was delicious!

Roasted Kale is really good…love the crunch!

My plate with a little vodka sauce + cheese

Up close + personal

Cracked open a bottle of our “Dope Whine,” after dinner tonight. We got a gift certificate to make our own wine, from a bunch of friends, as a wedding gift. We got 30 bottles!! Yes, that is our boxer Dakota on the label. She is pretty dopey and whiney..which is where the name idea came from ;)

Chris took this photo!

This could be the best/worst new addiction ever. Move over Ben + Jerry’s FroYo…blegh! Stonyfields frozen yogurt is UHmazing!! Seriously tastes like delicious fattening icecream! =) It has 130cals per serving and I think 1.5g fat [can’t remember exactly]. It is SO good. You would never guess this was yogurt. The caramel is really good too. Doesn’t have a fake, weird sweetener taste to it. YUM!!!!

Time to relax!!

Byeeeeeeeee

Ashley

flying home

2009-10-18T22:38:00.001-04:00

It is the first time I’ve ever said, “I’m going home to Colorado.” Still seems weird!! I am excited to see Chris + the dogs + for my interview on Monday. Pat and Natalie flew to PA to visit their friends that just had a baby, so I’ll see them in a few days.

Even though it was my last day in town, my mom and I ran all over the place doing last minute things as always =) We stayed up hanging out and talking til 2am while she watched me edit all the photos from yesterdays looong post.

We went to Dick’s, so I could get some more winter workout clothes. I didn’t need as many in Charlotte! I got SO much stuff and a lot on sale plus 3 coupons. It was awesome!

Bye mom + dad, thanks for everything!

Then I went to my Aunt + Uncles for a last minute baking session with the kids. I taught them about healthy eating this week and wanted to leave them with 1 more fun new recipe. I found these baked oatmeal bars on Kath’s blog. They are perfect for that on-the-go breakfast, or after school snack. They are packed with fiber, protein, and low in sugar...Can’t wait to make a pumpkin version!

Had tons of fun with my Aunt + Uncle, as usual!

Jenna, stirring. The kids did most of the work. It is a really easy recipe for a beginning baker because measurements can be a little off and you can add whatever you want in the mix.

We made 2 double batches so there were a bunch to cut and freeze, for even easier grab + go, healthy food.

combo 1: walnuts/cherries/dk. chocolate chips/pumpkin seeds

combo 2: apples/apricots/cinnamon/pumpkin seeds

I doubled the recipe and changed only a few things. I cut the salt in 1/2, added extra cinnamon, and 1/2c. pure cane sugar [for a doubled batch]. It was the perfect amount of sweetness. I used a 9x13 pan [1 batch goes in a 9x9] so these bars were extra thick. So, just an FYI if you double the batch they will need to cook about 55min with a 9x13 pan.

My babies!!! [hardly babies anymore…but they still are to me]

Can’t wait until they visit me in the wild west!

Off to the airport…Tucked in a corner I found 2 healthy options! Smoothies + Salads

I got a smoothie with: Acai juice + blueberries + bananas + granola + fat free frozen yogurt + ice

It was really yummy!! You could definitely taste the granola…Not sure they put too many blueberries in it…Wasn’t very blue/purple, but still good and really filling.

Snack time on the plane…

Blegh. I have always hated Fritos and Hershey’s chocolate is pretty nasty! Still nice they had a free snack though!

The mini samich wasn’t too bad. I ditched the lettuce and didn’t use any mayo.

However this was MUCH better!!! One of the oatmeal bars + h2o…mmmmm – This was the cherry/walnut/dk. chocolate one and it was oh.so.good! Had just a hint of sweetness and a great chewy texture.

All for now!! Hope to have a new blog up soon!

Back to mountain time =)

Ashley

soup + caramel slop

2009-10-17T23:47:00.001-04:00

I am writing today from thousands of miles up in the air. Playing on the computer while in flight makes the time fly!

My mom and I got back from my doc. appointment to find a sweetest day gift from my dad. It was too cute! I’ll show you what kind of chocolate was in the box later in the post ;) I bet you will never be able to guess!

When we went to the apple orchard last weekend we got a few goodies besides apples. One thing was a spinach parmesan beer bread mix and another was pumpkin lentil soup mix. The soup mix included the lentils/dried veggies/spices/etc. and then we had to add pumpkin/wine/carrots and a few other things. The beer bread only needed 1 bottle of beer. I don’t usually like buying pre-packaged mixes, but these were more on the gourmet side and had short ingredient lists with pronounceable words =)

The bread was dee-licious. It had a great texture with a perfectly crunchy crust and awesome flavor. You could definitely notice the beer but it was not overpowering.

I thought we would need another soup, because, well, 2 is always more fun than 1! I decided on potato soup, which I had never made before. It turned out awesome!! Recipe at the end.

Chopped taters!!

For dessert, the caramel apples I have mentioned a few times. It was kind of a disaster, but still fun, crazy + delicious =)

The pumpkin lentil soup had a rich flavor and was filling, even though it wasn’t a rich cream soup. It was hearty and delicious.

Have to try making this one from scratch sometime.

The potato soup was surprisingly easy. It didn’t have to cook for hours and most of the ingredients you would have in your pantry. If you have never made soup, I would suggest starting with one like this!

The soup was the perfect consistency and had a lot of soft potato chunks in it. I left the skins on for some extra nutrients =) i.want.more.beer.bread.now.

Perfect fall decor for our yummy fall food! Good job Aunt Sherie ;)

1/3 of the table…dad/mom/jenna – My bro couldn’t make it last night, so it was just the 9 of us.

After dinner we brought out the chocolate from my dad…

No.joke. Chocolate covered bacon!! It didn’t have full strips of bacon, but definite crunchy bacon pieces. It was interesting and definitely had the sweet/salty with some crunch going on. It wouldn’t be anything I would crave, but just a little piece was pretty yummy. A definite conversation piece!

Jenna was ready to help with dessert. She made that chef’s hat with paper and made the apron at a birthday party. So cute! Not to mention she is wearing an Ohio State shirt…that’s my girl!

Her hat can also hold kitchen supplies ;)

Caramel [disaster] Apple time!!!

Cooking the honey + salt + cream…It took FORever. The recipe said 15-20 minutes or until it reaches 255-260* using a candy thermometer. I had the therm. and it was at a steady simmer [like the recipe said] but it would not get above 225* even after about 40min. I took it off the burner and put the pot in a bowl of ice to start to cool and thicken the caramel.

First attempt at coating the apple. FAIL. I thought the caramel was cooled and thick enough…guess not!

The toppings did NOT stick at all…so sad!

More waiting and stirring while the pot sat in the ice water. The recipe said to have cold apples. They were cold but the mixture took so much longer they were probably closer to room temp by the time I started coating them. So, we stopped and put all the apples on cookie sheets and stuck them in the freezer.

They were ready after about 10min and I took them out 1 by 1 and then immediately put them back in the fridge after coating. The caramel was super thick and cold…It worked better but not totally. I took them out of the freezer after a few minutes and pressed the toppings into them.

Not TOO bad, but the caramel coating was not as thick as it should have been and a lot of toppings ended up on the wax paper. I tightly wrapped each apple individually with non-stick foil, scooped up the toppings and put them on the top of the apple and stuck them all in the fridge.

Toppings were: peanut + walnuts + dk. choc chips + heath crunch + pretzels

Jenna, AJ, and I decided to go at 1 of the apples on a plate. I was using this plate while I put all the toppings on each apple, so it was covered with toppings and caramel by the end.

Chomp.Chomp.

I took my disaster of an apple out of the fridge today. The toppings were all globbed on the top but I cut it up and it was still super delicious. It just ended up being a tad more work than I was hoping for, haha…but it was still really fun with the whole fam =)

Potato Soup:

1lb Italian sausage or 8 strips bacon
2 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon pepper
6 cups chicken broth
6 medium Russet potatoes, scrubbed + cubed
2 cups half-and-half cream

Bring broth to a boil.
Add washed + cubed potatoes to the broth and let boil, covered for about 20min [as much time as the other steps take you is fine to leave the potatoes boiling for]
In a large saucepan, cook sausage/bacon until done.
Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Set meat aside.
Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender.
Stir in flour, salt, basil and pepper to the onion/garlic pan.
Gradually add to broth, stirring, and bring to a boil.
Add the cream, bring to a simmer and stir until thickened. Mash some of the potatoes with the back of the spoon to help thicken the soup. If it still isn’t thick enough try stirring in 1/4-1/2c. sour cream.

Garnish with either type of meat – fresh parsley and/or shredded cheddar cheese.

Night all =)

Ashley

Time for a facelift

2009-10-15T23:28:00.001-04:00

While I should probably start to use some kind of anti-aging face lotion, I am not talking about my actual face getting a lift. I am talking about a NEW blog! Wahooo

A bunch of random photos for this post!! =)

Kenna + Dakota

I decided a few weeks ago, and after hearing some of your comments, that I want to start a new blog. Since ota is on hold and I have been food-posting everyday, I think the blog needs to get jazzed up a bit, complete with a new name. I have the name already…do you want to know what it is?? ;)

I miss Kelsey!!! =(

My issues are figuring out if I should use blogspot or wordpress. I am finding frustrating issues with both. Right now I use blogspot but I use Livewriter to write the actual blogs. If you are not using livewriter, please try it out. It will make your life SO much easier!!

[rachel – ginette – me – I miss these girls SO much!!!! my 26th bday this year, July 3rd]

Okay, so with blogspot, I really can’t find any free templates I like. I have found a few, but then I want to definitely add tabs in the header such as: about me, ota.info, my pantry, etc. It seems complicated messing with all of the code stuff.

[Some of my family came to visit us in Charlotte, on their way back to Ohio from Hilton Head, SC. They came on the 4th of July…I made a ton of food!]

With Wordpress, I have found a few templates that I really like. In the preview they show like 5 tabs at the top, but when I download and apply it, there are only 2 tabs. I don’t get this!! I am finding Wordpress to be much more complicated to edit colors/fonts/etc. compared to blogspot and their “widgets” aren’t as good either.

[My parents are amazing…wish we lived closer!]

What do you guys recommend? Does anyone have experience adding tabs?? Any help is greatly appreciated!!

[i LOVE grilling peaches]

No food today, how lame! I have to get a test done tomorrow AM and couldn’t eat all day…There is a good line-up for tomorrow! Potato soup + caramel apples!! Can’t wait to eat again!!!

[my bro plays his tabla drums at a few yoga studios…i got to go to one of the classes while he drummed..it was AWESOME!]

Niiiight all =)

Ashley

cooking for 10

2009-10-14T22:58:00.001-04:00

My Aunt and I planned to cook a meal for the whole family with all of the food we bought at the West Side Market the other day. I wanted to cook a few different things and just kind of have a buffet. There was no rhyme or reason to any of the food until I thought to make meatballs and sauce to go with our fresh pasta.

We had spinach, fine herb, wild mushroom, and roasted red pepper pasta. They were all fabulous! I tried a little of each one with dinner.

I found a recipe on The Food Network website. I usually don’t check there, but when I typed in “turkey meatballs,” this was the first recipe to pop up.

Turkey Meatballs + Sauce recipe

Unlike usual, I decided not to make any changes, since the reviews were so good. I used 93% lean ground turkey for the meatballs. They had a great texture and were extremely flavorful. Everyone raved about the sauce and it was all really easy to make if you have a little time! The recipe says they make about 40 meatballs. This is completely false. It says to roll them at about 1 1/4” but I only got 24 out of them. So just an FYI on that…it would be REALLY easy to double the recipe. [for meatballs or both!]

The mixture seemed a little on the wet side, but they were still roll-able. I thought about adding more breadcrumbs, but was glad I didn’t. The last thing you want is a mealy meatball! The texture was perfect.

Meatball mixture before adding the ground turkey.

When I make pasta sauce I normally have to end up adding quite a bit more s+p than it calls for, or more garlic, or even a little sugar. This was perfect as is…I guess if you wanted to make it spicy you could add red pepper flakes. It says in the recipe if it’s too acidic to add 1T of butter until it’s to your liking, but I didn’t even need to do that.

The sauce called for 64oz. can of crushed tomatoes. I used: 1, 24oz can of fire roasted WHOLE tomatoes – 1, 24oz can whole peeled tomatoes, and 1, 15oz. can diced tomatoes.

The fire roasted added an extra layer of flavor. I got whole tomatoes so I could easily pull the skins off. It’s kind of gross when you chew on a bunch of skin in pasta sauce and the fire roasted didn’t have the “peeled” option. The skin was pretty much falling off already, and I just took off as much as I could. Then I mashed them with a potato masher before cooking.

2 similar products – 2 TOTALLY different things!!! This disgusts me and is such a good example of eating something that is “real food” as compared to “franken-food.” Who would ever even think to look at the ingredient list for breadcrumbs?? Should just be bread and maybe some salt, right?

WHY!!!?????? Why is this list SO LONG?

Whole Foods bread crumbs - $2.99

Pleas check your ingredient lists!!!! It can be quite disturbing to see what is being added into your food. =)

While I was cooking with my Aunt, I was introducing her to a bunch of things that are on my regular grocery list. She was really excited to give everything a try and couldn’t believe some of the things I was telling her about food!

ie: the process to make brown sugar as opposed to the process of making pure can sugar

Left row front to back –> hemp granola/millet/quinoa/whole wheat pastry flour

Right row front to back –> pepitas/organic rolled oats/dried apples/pure can sugar

Oooh ALSO very exciting!! As you may know I am not the biggest fan of soy…I will go over my views on this at some point! The thing I hate the most is how Soy Lecithin [soy sludge] is in EVERYTHING. It is sooo hard to find chocolate without it…and I just think it is completely unnecessary! I have found some chocolate without it and it tastes just the same…so I’m not sure what the deal is with adding it in. It is even in most organic chocolate.

Well, Whole Foods [love them!] has their own 365 brand of chocolate candy bars with NO soy lecithin! They are $1.99 compared to most high quality bars that are $3.50+. They have a bunch of different varieties including dark chocolate with mint crisps! mmm

Okay…back to dinner! I wanted everyone to try some different veggies that get a bad rap. Brussel sprouts!!! mmmmm

These little suckers are SO good and SO good for you. I promise they can be tasty! My favorite way to cook them:

Wash – cut stem off – chop in half or in 1/4’s
heat pan on medium with 2T olive oil
add sprouts with s+p
Let sit for a 5min and then flip to the other side for another 5..I usually just kind of monitor them for about 20+ minutes. Some people like them softer/harder so just test them after 20min and see where you’re at.
At the end I usually pour in about 2T balsamic vinegar and it helps to caramelize the sprouts and add a little sweetness.

I let them get pretty dark brown if not a little blackened. Even my 11yr old cousin said, “I like these!!” She was very skeptical at first..but tried it and said she would for sure eat them again.

Not the best photo…but I wanted to get the whole spread of food! I also made sweet potato fries. They don’t really “go” with this meal, but it was another food that is nutrient rich, and I wanted to show them a really easy/healthy/yummy way to cook them. Everyone liked them, even ones that don’t normally go for sweet potatoes. Yay!

Preheat oven to 400* [use middle rack]
Slice potatoes into strips
Toss with a light coating of EVOO, s+p
Put on baking sheet for about 40min [time varies] and turn a few times throughout cooking.
When soft enough to eat – put the oven on broil @ 500 until desired crispiness is reached. Mine took about 10min on broil, believe it or not!

My plate! No I didn’t use a flash, it was bright overhead lighting =)

Will definitely be making the meatballs and sauce again. It’s so easy to double the recipe and freeze 1/2 of it.

For dessert I prepared the peanut butter krisp treats from 101 cookbooks. The only substitute I make, is using Brown Rice Syrup instead of Maple Syrup and Tapioca Starch [$2.50 for a box at WF] instead of agar agar flakes. The brown rice syrup works perfectly 1:1 and will not spike your glycemic index levels in the same way sugar/honey/maple syrup do. So you won’t get the “high” and “crash” feeling…I use it whenever I can!

Again…so easy…so good!!

Niiiight all…I’m pooped!

Ashley

girl dates

2009-10-14T00:11:00.001-04:00

I had 2 fun dates planned today. One was with my grandma and one was with my good friend Megan. I went to my grandparent’s house, while my g’pa was running errands. I made her quick breakfast and then we put together a puzzle…a HARD puzzle. There were only 300 pieces but it was a painting and the whole picture was kind of fuzzy.

We managed to get it done in about 1 1/2 hours!

I am usually only home for a short weekend trip and don’t get to spend much time with my grandparents, so this was fun.

I made 1/2 of last night’s dinner for lunch, with my 2 butternut squash pierogies, and some broccoli. The pierogies were SO.GOOD. I sautéed them with a tiny bit of oil until they were brown and crispy. The leftover squash was just as tasty as last night.

I applied for a job today!! It is just a part time thing, but they already called me to set up an interview. I am kind of excited about it, however it has nothing to do with architecture, and everything to do with food! I found a craigslist ad for a part-time Vegan chef. I looked into it more and it was for a preschool. They are hiring a new chef to cook lunch + snacks. HOW FUN!!! Plus this might lead to other fun opportunities, like in-home catering, or setting up cooking classes for kids at their house. I’ll keep you posted on what happens with that for sure!

I went on a quick + brisk 3+ mile run. I knew it would be a shorter run, because I had to shower and get ready for date #2, so I did some intervals of quick running mixed with my normal pace. Every few minutes I would just run faster for maybe 50-100yds. It definitely got the blood pumping a little more than usual!

Megan and I went to a fun little restaurant, Tommy’s, in the Coventry area. Coventry is a cool little artsy neighborhood with lots of fun shops and good eats. This place has a HUGE menu full of awesome vegetarian/vegan and meat options. We split 3 things: a platter with falafel/hummus/baba ganous/spinach pie/pita, a pita sandwich with veggies + swiss cheese, AND a strawberry banana milkshake. Splitting meals is my favorite thing to do!!

It was SO creamy + delicious. I have had their milkshakes many times…and they might be the best ever =)

Platter of yumminess

Look at how pretty this girl is!!! Megan and I have been friends since the 7th grade. Just one of those life-long friendships you know you’ll always have! She is an UH-mazing mother of 2 adorable children! [Logan, almost 4 – Dominic, 3 months]

I have to show off her CUTE kids! Logan always remembers me, even though I don’t see him very often. He gives THE best hugs and is such a little grown-up. Dominic is just such a cute happy little baby =)

Look at them! [I couldn’t resist not snagging this photo from facebook, Meg!]

Off to do some food research for a few different things…

One last photo…it was from my last visit home, in August. Chris + the dogs both came that time. I miss them!!

Niiiight =)

Ashley

a foodie filled day

2009-10-12T23:43:00.001-04:00

I made up for the bogus breakfast my mom and I tried to get at that organic restaurant yesterday. My Aunt found this awesome little restaurant in Tremont, called Grumpy’s Cafe. First of all, Tremont is a super cute area, filled with restaurants, cute coffee shops, yoga studios, historic churches, art galleries, etc.

Our main reason for going there was that they had PUMPKIN PANCAKES on the menu! We split 2 pumpkin pancakes and vegetarian style eggs benedict. The pancakes were light and fluffy and full of pumpkin flavor. The eggs were SO good. The veggie style version was stacked with an english muffin, avocado, tomato, the perfect poached egg, and a delicious hollandaise sauce. OH, aaand all of the meals come with cajun style home fries…YUM, were they good!

The restaurant was really clean, the staff was extremely friendly, and the decor was simple but stylish.

The pancakes were great but the eggs benedict stole the show! They had tons of other yummy sounding dishes, including chocolate french toast. I will hopefully be going back there 1 more time before I go back to Colorado =)

After breakfast, we headed to The West Side Market, which is always a ton of fun. My dad came to meet us there too! I have been going there for years with my dad. We would get up early on a Saturday, every so often, and head to the market. There are two HUGE aisles of produce, most is not local, but good quality and pretty cheap. On the inside of the building there are tons of local Cleveland bakeries/delis/cheese shops/candy shops/ethnic food/etc.

The market is in this building.

so.pretty.

yum yum fruit

Aunt Sherie + Dad

*starfruit*

shoppers

If you didn’t know, the Ohio State University mascot, is the Buckeye. There is a DEE-licious candy they make that looks like the buckeye nut. It is basically a glob of peanut butter [mixed with a few other things] dipped in milk chocolate. Here was a caramel apple, Buckeye style. Very tempting…but we left this one in the case ;)

Sampled some amazing goat cheese that dad bought a 1/2lb of. Can’t wait to snack on that!

I could definitely snuggle with one of those…

Balcony view of all the vendors. I love coming here =)

One of my favorite stands at the market, has fresh pierogis. I bought 2 filled with butternut squash and cannot WAIT to try them out!

Leaving the market…I had such a good time with my aunt + dad =)

Dinner time.

Corn pudding in acorn squash – Round 2

I forget what the crazy looking squash was called, but it tasted exactly the same as the acorn. The hardest part of this recipe is cutting off the ends to make the squash halves sit flat. I cut through to the inside on 1 this time. Last time it was 2. If that happens though, just seal it as tight as you can with foil and you will still be able to fill it with the corn pudding.

It was the perfect dreary, chilly day, to make this meal. My mom loved it but my dad didn’t get to try it yet because he was at the Cav’s game tonight.

Round 2 was even tastier. The side of broccoli was delicious too. I pan sautéed it with a little olive oil, s+p, and garlic powder, for about 8min on medium. It’s a nice change of pace from boiling or steaming it.

Not sure what all is in store for tomorrow…

Check back though =)

Ashley

family fun sunday

2009-10-12T00:26:00.001-04:00

A few photos from last night!

If you are looking for a really creative different gift for your mom/sister/friend/etc. check out these amazing paper flowers! I got one for my mom for mother’s day. It is so unique and lasts forever. Anemone – handmade paper flowers They have a fan page on facebook too with tons of photos. Lots of really amazing wedding displays.

AJ [cousin] Aunt Sherie, Uncle Alan [mom’s bro], Grandma [mom’s mom]

Happppppy 30th Josh!!!

I went for a brisk 4.5+ mile run this morning. I could definitely tell a difference running in Ohio compared to Colorado. My legs felt great! It was only in the low 40’s, no sun, and windy, so my lungs took awhile to warm up [asthma was worse w/the cold weather too]. Mile 1-2.5 was so sluggish but then I felt great and I breezed through the last mile. I forgot to look at the clock before I left, so I’m not sure what my pace was.

My dad spotted me running, while he was on the golf course, so I ran over to say hello =)

My mom heard about this great organic breakfast place, kind of a far drive, but we wanted to check it out. Total disappointment. There was only a buffet option on Sunday, it was completely picked over, and not much to begin with. We were going to just grab a bakery item but the case had a few flies in it. Ew =( I have had some bad luck with eating out lately!

Then, my mom and I went to go see my bro play his tabla drums at a bookstore close to our house. He was playing for this organization called Passport Project. A quote from their website… “Passport Project's mission is to provide exciting education experiences that build community through the arts, encourage respect for diversity and rejection of racism and negative bias, and a passion for learning and the global community.”

I am trying to learn how to use the digi SLR for more than just food. Bear with me!

My bro is WAY talented!! So proud of him =)

This man was visiting from Guinea, W. Africa. I didn’t get to see him dance, but apparently he is amazing. He said he was having a really hard time adjusting to the fall Ohio weather.

My mom and I ended up eating at the bookstore [joseph beth bookseller]. They have a full restaurant there. We had a yummy, very late breakfast!

Banana yogurt boat w/granola, fruit, and a blueberry muffin. I had a strawberry Kombucha drink too.

My mom got the egg/toast plate. I ate half of the banana boat, some of the muffin, a few egg bites, and 1 sausage link. I am a sucker for sausage.

Then we headed to Patterson’s Fruit Farm with my aunt, uncle, AJ, and Jenna. You can’t tell, but this apple was seriously HUUGE! If you make a fist and wrap your other hand around your fist, that is how big the apple was.

Gourds!

Aj + Jenna were super excited about the honey sticks.

corn stuff

Pun’kins!!! =)

Jenna, mom, and AJ

The kids humored me posing for some pumpkin pics ;)

They used to be my babies!!! Now they are so big! Jenna is 11 and AJ is 14.

Jenna wasn’t sure this shot was such a good idea…

Mom took this one…good job mom!

Crazy white pumpkins!

Then…[we did SO much today!] we went to visit some other family. So nice catching up!

A little blurry, but these two kids are SO cute. Cole is 6 and Carson is 3. Cole was my ring bearer when he was 4yrs old. I remember the cutest thing he said that day… He was getting a little antsy, waiting in line to walk down the aisle. I said something to him like “you only have to stay still a little longer Cole..” and he said “I once heard, slow + steady wins the race!” hahah What 4yr old has heard and remembered that??? Too cute!

AJ, Jenna, my aunt and uncle came over for a quick dinner. Jenna also shared a cake she decorated at a birthday party last night. Mayfield is the school they go to [and the one I went too]. The mascot is a wildcat. I thought the cake was so cute!

Awesome awesome day with the family! More to come tomorrow! Stay tuned! I bought 2 big acorn squashes to make that corn pudding in acorn squash I made a few weeks ago. Pretty pumped for that!

Night!!

Ashley

off to cleveland…for better weather!

2009-10-10T23:37:00.001-04:00

I am writing while in flight today. I have never had a laptop that actually held more than 20min of battery power, so I thought I would try to make use of my time in the air! I never thought I would be traveling to Ohio looking forward to the weather there, haha. It was in the low 20’s when I left this morning with a dusting of snow on the ground. Natalie says this is definitely a-typical. I hope so!

The digi SLR was all packed up and ready to go, so it was a point-and-shoot type of morning ;)

Wake up call: 7am – last minute gathering of things, shower, hair, breakfast, and I’m off…Flight was supposed to take off at 11am and get in at 3:45 EST.

Creamy + hot bowl of oats, much needed on this chilly morning.

1/3c. oats
1 medium banana
1T almond butter
honey drizzle
cinnamon shake

= Deeelicious

I usually only use a 1/2 banana in the oats, but the full banana made it even creamier. YUM! See my car on the street + the snow? [yak!]

I try my best to avoid road food/airport food because it is definitely not the healthiest option and is usually way overpriced at that.

PB samich on honey whole wheat + walnut date KIND bar + LARABAR chocolate/coffee + Kidz bar peanut butter crisp [not pictured]

And behind door #3…a new car!!! Well, we definitely didn’t win this..but we are still really excited about it. We got a new RAV4 this week and on day 2 of owning the car, Chris already bought and installed the snowboard rack, hehe =)

It has a lot of power and will be super safe in the snow. It’s extremely spacious and rides really smooth. We picked this car because of its size [not too big], safety ratings, power, and it has the best mileage for a v6 in its class. For 200 miles we have driven so far, mixed freeway/city miles, it was at about 27mpg. Pretty awesome!

The trunk area is huge. Definitely big enough for both crazy dogs and there is a large storage space under the mat too! [notice the snowflakes]

Chris and I were super excited this AM, when we realized that the cup holders hold a full size Nalgene bottle! I have never seen cup holders that big. Seems silly, but we always have those bottle around and they end up on the floor. woop woop =)

Got to the airport and the plane was already delayed for 30min. After waiting for awhile they said it would be delayed another 1hr because they were fixing a broken window. At least it wasn’t a mechanical problem! Then a little while later it was delayed another 1.5hrs…frustrating! Then, it actually got pushed back 45min, which I have never ever seen happen. It wasn’t too bad.

Kenna + Dakota on my computer screen. Ate the crisp bar!

Why is it so hard to resist buying magazines at the airport? Gave in and bought some Naked juice and hilarious postcards that looked like they were shot in the 1980’s. I have been meaning to send out postcards from CO but haven’t really come across any until the airport.

The Green Machine Naked juice is delicious and full of real food! I don’t regularly buy the Real Simple magazine, but it is pretty long and I figured they would have some good articles and recipes to check out.

I read some amazing stories of breast cancer survivors, learned better ways to organize the laundry + avoid wrinkles [haha], got a recipe for pumpkin muffins, and some possible dinner recipes. It was a good read for $4.99 and I didn’t finish all of it.

Snacked on 1/2 of my PB samich and caught up on some blog reading while waiting for the plane.

Finally got on the plane. They were showing a pretty terrible movie…I don’t remember the full title but it was something with “Valentine’s Date” in it. I put the headphones on to listen to some Old Crow Medicine Show and Katie Herzig, while I tried to cleanup disk space and organize some folders.

We’re going to dinner to celebrate my bro’s 30th bday, right down the street from my parents house, where my wedding was at. [stonewater golf club] I love going back there…lots of good memories. Wish the husband was with me!

Oh yah, actually got free lunch on the plane. Small turkey sandwich, which I took 1 bite of. I haven’t had Ruffles in a long time and couldn’t resist 1/2 of the bag along w/the twix. Caramel, cookie, and chocolate? Couldn’t pass it up ;)

…

Got to Cleveland! Smooth flight and only 2hrs 10min. Mom and dad picked me up and I came home to pumpkin fudge and a surprise in the envelope =)

Off to dinner. Normally, Stonewater is spot on with their food. Tonight, very “meh.” I went with something I normally would never get. It was pasta with a cream sauce [i think pasta carbonara?] sprinkled with bacon and pees. I just didn’t feel like a meat dish or a salad and they were out of the lasagna I wanted.

Waaaaaaaay too much bacon. Kind of bland.

The whole family came over to our house for Josh’s b-day. Lots of family fun =) Happppy to be home!

Night!

Ashley

you call that a buffet??

2009-10-09T17:10:00.001-04:00

Alarm: 6am… Why? To meet Laura + Travis at the grand opening of Sprouts Farmers Market grocery store in Boulder. But why so early? They were offering a FREE buffet breakfast to the first 200 people. Sweet! The only alarm we have right now is on Chris’s side of the bed, and his hand must have been lightening fast on the snooze b/c I didn’t hear it go off until 6:30am. Eeeek! Rush rush rush and out the door by 6:40.

It was a nice and chilly 35 degrees! I met them in line and we anxiously waited…for our free yummy, hot, satisfying breakfast! As we start to get closer we noticed people carrying around small styrofoam bowls. Is the breakfast really in that TINY bowl??? Maybe at least it was hot oatmeal??

We finally reach the “buffet.” Here was the lineup: 8oz containers of milk/choc milk/oj – 1T packs of almond butter – 2oz sample of Naked juice – 1T udi’s granola – 1/3c. yogurt.

This was before Laura even ate any of it. Lame.

You could hardly call that breakfast, let alone a BUFFET! We were all really irritated. They should have said “free morning snack.” Yes it was free, but come on…it was enough to hold over a 5yr old for like 1hr. Laura said it was really odd because when places advertise free things in Boulder it’s always above and beyond what you would expect. Not to mention they were using styrofoam bowls and 16oz styro cups for their 2oz. juice samples, at a natural foods grocery store. Shame on you!

Okay, sorry for the ranting…but it goes just a little further!

Since we were still super hungry we decided to go to Panera. Normally, I feel like Panera’s portions are really big. Their bagels and muffins are huge and they always give you a side of bread or fruit with your soup or sandwich. So we all order breakfast sandwiches for about $3.59 + tax. When it came out my first thought was, “where is the other 1/2 of my sandwich???” Any normal person would have to order 2 of these to be full for breakfast. I realize it wasn’t their normal lunch/dinner sandwich price, but those use a lot more ingredients and fancier bread.

It also came out on the biggest plate ever! It had to be about 12” long, which made it seem even smaller, haha. The napkin was a bigger than the sandwich.

Friday Breakfast = ANNOYED

But we still had a really good time laughing at the situation!!! =)

I came home and took a 20min power nap. [I mastered the power nap during grad school ;)] Then, I went on my normal 4+ mile hilly run. The first 2 miles were rough. My lungs and legs were not in sync and I just felt sluggish. It could have been from the early wake up call and short nap. Did a quick 2min stretch at the turn around point and headed back. Even with the wind in my face the 2nd half of the run was much better. I’m sure the downhill had something to do with it.

Mile #2 is always my worst mile. It’s when I get the thoughts like “why am I running today” “go at least another .5 mile then walk” etc. Even during the 1/2 marathon training that was always the worst mile. As soon as I would get up past 3-4 it became a lot easier. What is your hardest mile to get past?

Now I’m in a hurry to start packing for Cleveland and doing some other last minute things. It’s Pat’s [my bro-in-law] birthday today, so we’ll be gone all tonight. Lots to get done in the meantime!!

Check this out!!! Food Should Taste Good sent me some rockin’ samples! 6 full size bags of their chips and each was a different flavor. Of course I tore into the chocolate bag first. I have never had any of the flavors they sent, so I am super excited about this.

Lunch HAD to include the chocolate tortilla chips. What to make?

Pumpkin Parfait [can you tell I love pumpkin yet?]

1 container Stonyfield Organic Vanilla Oikos
1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree
dash cinnamon
dash cloves
drizzle of honey
1/2 thin sliced organic banana
FSTG chocolate tortilla chips!

Lunchtime perfection!!

This was delicious and filling. Dipping the chips in the mix was awesome. Love the crunch ;)

You can see the honey on top of the banana…mmmm

Total calories: 350 - Total fat: 7g – Protein – 18g!! [thanks to the yogurt mostly] – Fiber: 7g

This definitely wasn’t a full lunch for me, but it was all I wanted at the time. 2hrs later [now] and I need something small to hold me over before dinner. yum yum yum – this was so good!

THANK YOU FSTG!!! I cannot wait to try all of them!!

I have a few other chip dip ideas I’ll be posting when I make them.

Have a great weekend guys!! I might not post again until Sunday with traveling to Cleveland and losing 2hrs with the time change…but I may get to it. Either way, stay tuned!

Ashley

p.s. Visit the FSTG website for a $1 off coupon!! You can find the chips at Whole Foods and some other stores too.

chubby little bottles + affordable dinners

2009-10-09T00:00:00.001-04:00

A representative from POM Wonderful contacted me last week to see if I would be interested in trying their juice. Heck.Yes. Eight chubby bottles of their pomegranate juice arrived at the door yesterday.

I took them outside for a photo shoot. I love the bottles and the juice is SO good. It is sweet and super flavorful with slight sour bite. This juice has a slew of health benefits as well. I would say the only downside is that 8oz. of juice is 170 calories. Although, it is not your typical sugary/watery juice. POM juice is definitely a nice healthy treat. Thanks for the samples, POM! =)

I also received a fun package of goodies from Stonyfield. I got coupons for their Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt, which I am in love with. I also got a super cute shopping bag made out of 80% recycled materials. Thanks Stonyfield! Visit this link to get some coupons of your own!

I wanted to give you guys a recap of the cost of our meals this week. I was pretty excited about the final numbers! It is kind of hard to know how to figure out the total cost though. Do I include things I already have in my pantry? If I only use half a bag of rice, do I only account for 1/2 the cost in the total?

Here is what I came up with:

I’ll make a “pantry list” that points out all of the ingredients I have paid for in the past and are slowly being used up when I cook
If I buy a bag of rice [for example] specifically for a meal, I will include the full price of the rice, even if I don’t use it all. When I use the rest of the rice, for another recipe, this will now be included in my pantry list. It is too hard to figure out percentages of what I’ve used, so I figure I’ll include the full price the first time I use the item.
I am including the 3.96% CO food tax
I will divide the total grocery cost, for that recipe, by the total number of servings we got out of it. If it is a big enough serving for 1 adult meal, I am counting it as 1 serving.

Curried Veggies + Coconut Rice:

pantry items: jasmine rice/sweet potato/red potato/curry powder/cinnamon/cayenne pepper/ginger root/olive oil

total cost: $24.86

serves 8: $3.10/serving

Taco Bake:

pantry items: olive oil/cumin/garlic powder/cayenne pepper/frozen corn

total cost: $24.96

serves 6-8: $4.16/person for 6 - $3.12/person for 8

Spaghetti Squash Pasta Bake:

pantry items: garlic powder/oregano/basil/pepper/olive oil

total cost: $14.95

serves 4: $3.73/person

Red Beans and Rice w/Andouille Sausage:

pantry items: garlic powder, cayenne pepper, dried thyme, cajun spice blend, rice

total cost: $9.98

serves 8: $1.25/person

How much would it cost to feed a family of 4 at McDonalds? These meals are also sliiiightly [understatement] healthier than anything you will find under the golden arches.

---

So, I was planning on making the red beans and rice tonight, but guess what I forgot to do?? Soak the beans overnight. FAIL! I was so mad when I realized this. But, it was already pretty late and the meal would have taken 2.5hrs to make anyway, so we’ll save it for another night.

Plan B: Pumpkin French Toast + Eggs

I l.o.v.e. french toast!! This was on a whim and turned out really good. Super easy in a pinch!

All of these things were pantry items – SCORE!

2 slices whole wheat bread
1 egg
1/4c. pureed pumpkin
1/2t. cinnamon
1T cream or milk
1T maple syrup

Heat skillet on med. and grease with a little butter or oil.
Whisk egg/cinnamon/cream until combined.
Dunk both sides of each piece of bread in egg wash to cover completely.
Lay in pan and cook on each side until golden brown

I topped it with warm pumpkin puree, a little maple syrup, and 1T of vanilla granola. I also scrambled 2 eggs on the side! It was sooo good with the glob of pumpkin on top! I have never done that before…but will definitely be doing it again =) Had some POM juice to wash it all down.

I’m headed to Cleveland this Saturday, to visit my family. I grew up [well, the first 7yrs of my life were in Michigan] in an eastern suburb of Cleveland. I moved to Columbus, OH for undergrad and lived there for 5yrs and then moved to Charlotte, NC for grad school and lived there for 3yrs.

I’m going for a week and super excited to visit friends + fam and hang out with my bro for his 30th birthday!!! [which was today] I’m taking Chris’s camera [yay!!] and will be keeping the blog updated with fun food stuff. I am planning on making caramel apples with my cousins and lots of other yummy things!

Night all =)

Ashley

p.s. It snowed today…ICK! You can barely see it in this photo but later in the evening it was starting to accumulate. Not ready for it!

two right feet

2009-10-08T00:38:00.001-04:00

I tried to get as much done today as I possibly could. Had to make some oh-so-boring calls to insurance, clean, laundry, run, cook, photos, research + think about new blog things, think about what I should do with my life!! Ahhh! There really are ZERO architecture jobs right now, so it’s time to get creative with what I can do. I have some ideas in mind, but I have to look into them more before I start blabbing about them =)

I knew I wanted to go for a run today. Since being in Colorado, I have been cramping up while running, way more than I used to. I stay really well hydrated, so that was not the problem. I have been eating 1 banana each morning about 1hr before running, because potassium is supposed to help with cramping. Well, it’s not working. Something with more potassium? Coconut water! I tried it once before and didn’t like it at all. I thought maybe it was just the flavor.

1 serving of coconut water has 2x the potassium as 1 banana. It had to work! I got 2 flavors at Whole Foods yesterday.

The flavor was fine, but there is just something about coconut water that I don’t like. This may sound weird, but I swear it has a slimier texture/feeling when you drink it. It’s slightly thicker than water and just goes down funny. [ashley <---- freak] I choked down 3/4 of it.

While photographing the water, I had my perfect pumpkin oats cooking away on the stove. I finally found the spice ratio that I like the best!

cinnamon + nutmeg + ginger + cloves

Serious Pumpkin Oats – serves 1

1/3c. organic rolled oats
2/3c. any type of milk or water [I prefer unsweetened vanilla almond milk]
1/3c. organic pumpkin puree
2t. sucanat or honey or maple syrup
2-3 shakes ginger + cloves + nutmeg
1/4 rounded tsp. cinnamon

Turn burner on medium heat.
Add oats/milk/spices/sweetener
Whisk/stir until combined and every minute for about 5min until nice + thick.

Topping ideas: granola/walnuts/almonds/peanut butter scoop

You can see the steam!

Driving to Boulder…love this view

2 right feet + 2 different shoes

I drove to Boulder to meet with Laura for a mid-morning run. The leg on the right belongs to Laura ;) The weather was per.fect. It was about 58*, sunny, and not windy. We ran through a park/bike path/running path that runs through Boulder along a creek. It was such a scenic run. I am really enjoying my runs out here - so much more than Charlotte!

We ran about 3.5m and kept a good pace, especially at the end. It was probably around 9.5min/mile for the first half and closer to 9 for the 2nd half. After the run, we walked about a 1/2 mile to get some lunch on Pearl Street. We found a newer place called Maiberry that had a menu with crepes, frozen yogurt, belgian waffles, and smoothie bowls. They have tons of fresh fruit toppings, granola, nuts, and sauces you can add.

The architect in us, loved this table =)

We decided to split a waffle and smoothie bowl and added about 4 toppings each. The waffle was fresh and fluffy. It was topped with tons of fruit and a little maple syrup. I got the Acai Bowl which was realllly yummy. It was topped with granola, 3 kinds of fruit, honey, and almonds. YUM! The prices were pretty decent too.

waffle - $6.50 – [including all topppings]

small smoothie bowl - $4.50ish [including all toppings]

My half. We ate every last bite.

I got all of the cleaning/phone calls/boring stuff done and did quite a bit of thinking! On to dinner…

Dinner was nice and simple.

Spaghetti squash! mmm

the.guts.

Spaghetti Squash Pasta Bake:

1, appx. 3lb spaghetti squash
1, 5oz. container spinach
1 jar of spaghetti sauce [avoid runny sauces]
baguette loaf
liberal shakes of garlic powder/dried oregano/dried basil/pepper
6oz. fresh grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350*
Cut spaghetti squash into quarters and scrape out guts.
Lightly oil and bake for 40-50min.
Let cool for 20min and then scrape out the insides with a fork into a 9x13 casserole dish.
Add 5oz. container of spinach/half of the cheese/half of the sauce/and seasonings and stir until combined.
Spread another 1/4 of the sauce evenly on top of the squash mixture.
Cover tightly with foil about bake for 30min
While baking, slice a baguette in half and lightly brush with oil and shake on garlic powder/black pepper/salt.
Cut into crouton sized cubes.
Take dish out of oven and turn to broil.
Spread cubes and cheese evenly on top and broil for about 5min, until bubbly and browned.

Sometimes it can get a bit runny, so serve with a slotted spoon. The crunchy squash had such a great texture and the bread croutons on top were SO good and helped to make this all veggie meal more filling.

My plate…so so good. There was a lot of spinach in there but it’s hiding!

I also got some awesome POM samples in the mail today and coupons for Stoneyfield Oikos! More on that tomorrow!!

Time to do more thinking…

Ashley

taco bake bonanza

2009-10-07T01:06:00.001-04:00

I don’t know what made me think of this meal. I’m sure there are versions like it out there, but I just went with my gut and made this one up! My initial thought was “taco lasagna!” It is pretty hard to mess up baked layer dishes and they are always totally open for additions/subtractions.

I went on a nice 4+ mile trail run today. The first 2 miles are a steady incline the entire way. It’s nice to have the mountains to look at while running! Hitting the 1/2 way point is always SO nice – quick stretch – and a nice downhill run back home. I’m not sure what my pace is because I’m not sure of the exact distance. I would say on the way up I’m at a 10+min/mile and the way down 9.5min/mile…maybe a little better? I wonder if running in Cleveland, when I’m home next week, will be be a little easier now?

Chris and I went to the climbing gym today too. I was not feeling the climbing as much as normal but we did some bouldering [short climbs with no rope] which I enjoyed much more.

I’m wiped out from all the activities today!! But in a good way.

On to dinner…

cajun spice mix, sitting in my new spoons!! =)

Layered Taco Craziness: serves 6-8 hungry adults

1 – 1.5lbs ground beef [I used a mix of 95% and 85% lean grass fed]
1 sm. yellow onion
1 green pepper
2T olive oil
1 rounded tsp. ground cumin
1 rounded tsp. garlic powder
1 rounded tsp. cajun spice blend
1/2tsp. salt
1/2tsp. cayenne pepper
fresh ground black pepper
2 avocados
1 can green chilies
1 can black beans, drained
1c. frozen corn
1 jar salsa [steer away from really runny salsa]
appx. 8oz fresh grated cheese [I mixed sharp cheddar and monterey jack]
1 bag of your favorite tortilla chips [I used a mix of red corn + Food Should Taste Good Jalapeno]

Chop onion + green pepper.
Cut, scoop, + mash avocado until smooth.
Heat 2T oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add meat/onion/peppers.
Add all seasonings and mix well.
Pre-heat oven to 350* and get out a 9x13 deep dish pan.
Cook meat until completely browned, take off heat and drain grease.
Put a layer of smashed chips in the bottom of the pan just to cover.
From there add 1/2 of the black beans and 1/2 of the salsa, evenly spread.
Add 1/2 of the beef mixture and 1/2c. of the corn.
With a spatula spread all of the avocado evenly and then add the whole can of green chilies.
Repeat steps 7-9. [in the middle layer I used the jalapeno chips for a little kick!]
Cover with foil and bake 30min.
Take out of the oven and turn to broil. Top with a light layer of crumbled chips and the grated cheese on top.
Take out when cheese is bubbly and melted, appx. 3-5min.

Of all the meals I’ve made in the past few weeks, this was in the top 3, for sure. Let me know if you try it out! You can adjust the seasonings however you want. I would say this had a medium heat level. You can also use chicken instead of ground beef or take out the meat and add more veggies. It’s very open for playing! =)

pre-bake

FSTG yummmy Jalapeno chips

The crunchy chip + cheese topping was realllly yummy…I always love a little crunch in my meals ;)

One of my new plates! I took a little too much…Chris had no problem helping me finish it =)

Okay…now time for YOU to help ME!

I am trying to figure out what to do with this blog. It first started as a way to blog about my journey with my granola bar business. Since that is on hold for the time being, and I have no job, I thought I’d give the food blogging a try. I have always loved to take photos of my food + have always loved to cook. Now I have more time to play with Chris’s camera and work on the photography side of things. Most newcomers are probably confused as to what “ota.bars” even is.

I’m wondering if I should start a new blog and leave the ota.bars blog behind for now? [until I can do something w/the business again]

What kind of content do you like the most?

food + food photos only
#1 with general life stuff
more in depth details on calorie consumption, my workouts, food cost, food reviews, etc.

And for the photos…

food photos only
food + people + places

I am getting sick of my blog template too. It just isn’t working for me now. It was fine for ota.bars but now that I’m posting more I need more organization.

I feel like I started things a little backwards and didn’t give you much basic info into my life and what I’m trying to do here. Would you like a few posts like this: “about me” “my pantry staples” “ingredients I despise” “general health + fitness” etc.

I would love to bring something new and different to the table. Let me know your thoughts!

Time to brainstorm!! Comments pleeease =)

Ashley

curry + coconut

2009-10-06T02:32:00.001-04:00

Curry spiced veggies with a side of coconut rice was on the menu for tonight. It was my first time ever attempting something like this and it seemed to go over really well. It was FULL of veggies. Lots of chopping! I did all of that at the beginning and got all my spices out to make it easier on myself. Spending a little more time at the beginning to organize everything, will save time + stress while cooking!

veggie lineup – 1 red pepper + 1 green pepper + 1 med. yellow onion + 2 carrots + 1 sweet potato + 1 large red potato + 2 med. zucchini squash + 10oz spinach [I forgot to add the spinach in…and was really mad 2hrs later when I realized it…GR!]

Cooking away in the delicious spices and carrot/orange juice. The curry + turmeric definitely made everything very yellow…including staining a white spatula…beware! It smelled SO good.

[bad lighting..eek]

It paired perfectly with the subtle coconut flavor I added to the jasmine rice.

I got to use 1 of my new plates!! Natalie used one too =) It’s kind of fun to have a bunch of mix-matched plates. It was a change of pace from the normal dinnerware and they were such a good deal!

The veggies were really yummy and didn’t get too soft while simmering. This is a “keeper” for.sure.

1-2-3 Curry Veggie Yum: [feeds 6-8]

1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 med. onion
2 med. zucchini squash
2 carrots
1 sweet potato
1 large red potato
3 cloves garlic
15oz. can of garbanzo beans, drained
10oz. spinach
3/4tsp. salt
1 rounded tsp. ground turmeric
1 rounded Tbs. curry powder
1tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 – 1t. cayenne pepper [start with 1/2t. if you’re not sure – you can always add more to taste at the end]
1c. orange juice [or carrot juice, or I found an orange/carrot mix]
1tsp. fresh ground ginger
6Tbs. olive oil

Creamy coconut rice:

2c. jasmine rice
1.5c. lite coconut milk
1.5c. water
2T extra virgin coconut oil [this gives it most of the flavor – you can substitute any oil however]

Peel the potatoes + carrots then cube.
Chop all other veggies and mince the garlic.
In a medium saucepan add 3T olive oil/cayenne/salt/turmeric/cinnamon/garlic.
In a large pot heat 3T olive oil on medium. When hot, add onion/peppers/carrots/potatoes and sauté for 5-8min.
After the veggies are sautéing for a few minutes, turn the spice mixture on medium heat for 3min. + stir until all combined together.
Add in orange/carrot juice, ginger, beans and zucchini to the veggie pot.
Use a spatula to scrape out the spice mixture and add to the veggies. Stir until well combined.
Cover and simmer for about 20min. You can always do a potato check to see if it’s ready to eat after 20min.
Stir in the spinach at the very end [tasted great without it but next time I’ll add it in]

To time the rice correctly you can turn that on after step 2. The rice will take 30min total.

In a large saucepan add rice/coco milk/water/oil and cover on medium heat until it comes to a boil. When it boils, stir once, recover and simmer for 20min. [until all liquid is absorbed] Take off heat and keep covered for 10min. Fluff with fork just before serving.

If you want the curry sauce to be a little thicker you can mash up some of the beans and a few potatoes. This releases their starches and will help to thicken a bit.

Let me know if you try this out! It was super flavorful and something fun and different to make. YUM.

I am too tired to figure out the cost of this meal…maybe tomorrow? It wasn’t too bad because I had all but 1 of the spices, there was no meat, and I always have coconut oil on hand. It also will serve 6-8 easily.

I’m pooped…off to bed!

Niiiight =)

Ashley

supermarket sweep monday

2009-10-05T20:16:00.001-04:00

Did you guys used to watch, Supermarket Sweep or Shop ‘til You Drop, when you were younger? I pretty much loved those shows, haha.

I feel like I did really well at the stores today!! I had a few things left from last week that didn’t get used [spaghetti squash + sauce] but I came home with a ton of stuff for juuust over $100. Here are this weeks meals:

Monday – Vegetable curry over coconut infused jasmine rice
Tuesday – Crazy taco layered bake thing [I am making this up]
Wednesday – Spaghetti squash bake
Thursday – Red beans + rice with andouille sausage

Besides the dinner food, I got some random lunch foods, snacks, 4lbs of organic oats [good sale!], 4 cans of organic pumpkin, juice, a few spices, etc.

Not everything was photographed…but close!

Those EnviroKidz Organic Crispy Rice bars are REALLY yummy. Their ingredient list is impressive. I’m sure it would be really easy to make these at home. They are somewhat similar, [but a little lighter], than the pnut butter crisp bars I made a few weeks ago.

The best deal were organic avocados for $.99!

I also ventured to World Market today to see if I could find any deals on fun plates/napkins/cups to use when I photograph the food I make. I went in with the idea to spend NO more than $20 for photography related things. They had a lot of plates 50-75% off. Napkins/placemats were 20% off plus I had an extra 10% off coupon for my whole purchase. I got a few empty spice jars because I have been finding that bulk spices are cheaper than jarred, even with the cost of the jars. They were $.89. I found measuring spoons that I am in love with for $2.99.

2 napkins + 1 tea towel + measuring spoons + 4 plates + 3 spice jars for JUST under $20. SCORE!

I also bought this tea on sale, and the extra 10% off = $4.00. It sounded amazing…I couldn’t pass it up. I made it as soon as I got home. It smelled awesome, and the flavor was good but a little weak =( I even let it steep for about 5min and then dunked about 20 times. It had a nice subtle sweetness so I didn’t need to add any sugar or honey. Next time though, a splash of cream + a sprinkle of cinnamon might help! I could also use a little less water.

One thing I saw at World Market…but did NOT buy…I am not so sure about this.

Time to get started on dinner!!

Have a great night!

Ashley

pumpkin perfection

2009-10-05T02:08:00.001-04:00

Natalie and I may have created thee most perfect pumpkin bread ever today. Consistency was perfect…not too dense..not too oily…nice crust. mmmm… I am still excited about it!! [recipe at the end]

I found 2 similar recipes, that I thought sounded the best. This may not be the smartest thing, but when I bake, I never follow the recipe. Even the first trial, I am always substituting. Not only did I substitute at least 4 ingredients, I had to change a LOT of things due to the higher altitude. We are just over 5,000’ above sea level. The explanations of “why to change” made sense, but it just seemed strange.

One change I made was subbing out some of the white flour and adding in some whole wheat pastry flour [pretty standard]. In breakfast type breads I really like subbing about 1/3 of the flour as whole wheat. I did it for taste and not really any health reason. If I am trying to make a super healthy loaf, I’ll use almost all WW and sub in a lot more applesauce [or bananas or pumpkin] to oil ratio.

I have only ever found WW pastry flour in bulk bins. At Natural Grocers they pre-bag their bulk in various weights, which is really nice. I got a 2lb bag of unbleached organic white flour and organic WW pastry flour for about $1.75 each.

The natural light was not exactly my friend today…Here a strainer became a sifter and worked like a charm [for the most part, right Nat?].

***********SECRET INGREDIENT*********** [$1.49/can cheapest @ WF]

Spices!! You can buy “pumpkin pie spice” or use ginger/cloves/nutmeg/cinnamon and make your own.

Whole nutmeg was a lot cheaper than a jar of nutmeg. It was my first time grating nutmeg. The inside was crazy looking!

Fully mixed pumpkin bread batter

It rose and cracked perfectly. Natalie and I ate at least 1/3 of the loaf already, hehe =)

Chris + I met Laura + Travis for dinner in Boulder. We had some really good eats and FABulous company =) I was in undergrad at Ohio State, for Architecture, with Laura. She moved to Colorado after undergrad. We stayed really close over the years, with visits here and there, and are so excited to finally live in the same city! They are 2 of THEE most amazing [and talented] people you will ever meet. seriously.

rock.stars.

Pumpkiny Deelicious Bread Creation: [normal altitude version – if you want the high altitude version leave me a comment!]

This makes [2] 9x4 loaves – Preheat oven to 350* and grease pans with butter

2c. unbleached/un-enriched white flour
1c. whole wheat pastry flour
1c. cane sugar
1c. sucanat
2t. baking soda
2c. pumpkin
1/2c. olive oil [seems strange..but swear it worked!]
1/4c. butter [let come to room temp]
1/4c. unsweetened applesauce
1/4c. water
1/4c. low-fat coconut milk
4 eggs, beaten [let sit out for 20-30min before using]
2t. cinnamon
1/2t. ginger
1/2t. cloves
1/2t. nutmeg

You can totally play with the amount of spices you add or just add 3-4t. pumpkin pie spice.

Sift the flour, salt, sugars, soda into a large bowl.
Beat the pumpkin, oil, butter, water, coconut milk, applesauce, eggs, and spices until smooth. There might be small chunks of butter throughout, which is totally fine.
Stir the wet into the dry in 3 increments until JUST combined.
Make sure your pans are well buttered [I used metal pans..baking time may differ if you use glass…not sure]
Split the batter evenly between the two pans and give the bottom sides of the pans a few knocks, with your fist, to release excess air.
Bake 40-50 minutes. Test with knife blade or toothpick until you get a clean swipe.
Let sit for 10-15min. and then tip out onto a cooling rack. Let fully cool before wrapping. You can easily freeze a loaf, after completely cooling. Wrap tightly with foil or saran, stick in a bag, and thaw whenever [up to 6 months].

If you don’t want to buy sucanat, you can do 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 cane sugar or just all cane sugar. The original recipe called for 1 full cup of oil. The ratio of oil/butter/applesauce, that we used, worked really well. I actually can’t imagine it having a whole 1/4c. more oil in it.

Also, the coconut milk, will NOT make it have coconut flavor at all…promise! It is just for moisture. If you don’t want to use it, try buttermilk or you can just use all water.

The original recipe also called for THREE cups of sugar. We took out ONE full cup of sugar and it was definitely sweet enough.

For the spices we used 2t. cinnamon, 1/4t. ginger, 1/4t. cloves, and 1/2t. nutmeg. It could have used a little more spice, so I upped the ginger and cloves as specified in the recipe list above.

If you have any questions just let me know!!

Time to plan this week’s dinners…

Ciao!

Ashley

matzo ball deliciousness

2009-10-02T23:29:00.001-04:00

Lately, my morning have been filled with oats…big bowls of oats! I prepare them differently everyday. Lately they have included a lot of pumpkin + cinnamon…mmmmmm

I had a HUGE morning bowl of oats yesterday and wasn’t really hungry for a full lunch. I munched on some Stoneyfield Oikos with a 1/2 crushed graham cracker and a little Bare Naked Vanilla Almond granola. [so gooooood] I love a little crunch in my yogurt. Whole Foods has $1 off coupons in their in-store flyer for Oikos right now. I refuse to pay $2 for a less than 6oz container of yogurt. I had some fruit after this too!

I am loving the Greek style yogurt because it is super creamy and 2x the protein compared to regular yogurt. I found this other brand, Voskos, that is just as yummy and cheaper. If I’m not eating Greek style yogurt, Wallaby is where it’s at. Their flavors are SO good. Maple might be my absolute favorite. And look at that adorable kangaroo!!! ;)

Time to get busy in the kitchen. Matzo ball soup, from scratch, first time ever. This was about a 3hr production from start to finish, but was well worth it. I used a mix of egg + onion matzo and 1 box of whole wheat matzo.

You could easily buy a box of matzo ball mix at the store, but this just seemed way more fun. The recipes all call for matzo meal. It is completely unnecessary to buy matzo meal. All you have to do is pulse matzo in a blender until it’s a fine powder. EASY!

Broke up all the matzo and soaked in water. Then cooked in a large skillet until it was dry and browned. Mixed in some eggs + matzo meal –> formed into balls –> added to broth –> boiled for about 10min.

Someone was not happy I blocked off the kitchen. SO.SAD.

I didn’t make the broth from scratch, but I added a bunch of veggies and seasonings to spice it up a bit. I used 2 cartons of veggie stock and 2 cartons of chicken stock, then added from there. I also boiled skin-on, bone-in, chicken breasts in water. I let them cool and then pulled it apart and added it to the broth.

The matzo balls did not look exactly like they did when I was a kid, but I think it was from the darker whole wheat matzo I used. They were however, delicious. Imagine a saltine cracker dough-ball in chicken soup. MMMM

oh.so.good. + suuuuuper filling – lots of leftovers!! I made at least 50 matzo balls.

FRIDAY:

Poor Laura has been sick ALL week. I brought her some matzo ball soup + veggie mash [from earlier in the week]. Get better soon please!!

Chris and I planned to go hiking today. We drove to Eldorado State Park and hiked about 4-5 miles. The first half was all vertical. It wiped me out for sure. It was in the 50’s today and not a cloud in the sky. I packed samiches and bars to take along. The almond/apricot KIND bar was DEE-licious. We split that bar before we started and ate the sandwiches on the trail.

Love going on adventures with the husband ;)

I packed a peanut butter + banana + honey sandwich on the honey whole wheat bread from GHBC. YUM. It was the perfect pick me up.

Have a good weekend!!!

Ashley

mash.it.up.

2009-10-01T12:59:00.001-04:00

One of the meals I planned out was for a fall veggie stew. I got this brilliant idea from Kath a few weeks ago. I played with the recipe a bit and here is what I ended up with:

Serves 6:

appx. 3lb butternut squash

2 carrots [next time will only use 1 for less carrot flavor]

2-3 parsnips [looks like a white carrot]

2 large red potatoes

2-3 cloves garlic

3T olive oil

16oz. creamy tomato soup

16oz. butternut squash soup

1c. veggie broth

1/2c. canned pumpkin

1/2 – 1t. cayenne pepper [more to taste]

1t. chili powder

appx. 3t. fresh grated ginger

fresh ground pepper to taste

salt to taste

Pre-heat oven to 400*

Since the veggies already have a lot of natural sweetness, I wanted to add more savory/spicy seasonings. You could easily make this a sweeter version with brown sugar and cinnamon type seasonings, along with some of the spice.

If you peel your butternut squash you will be able to get the most out of it. Peeling it was a task…my arm was TIRED! Peel until you start to see a more orangey color on the body of the squash.

peeled.

I love Pacific brand organic soups. I had the creamy tomato soup leftover in the fridge. You could use 32oz. of the tomato or of the butternut or mix 1/2 and 1/2. I mixed, but would probably use all tomato next time.

butternut + carrots + parsnips + potatoes + garlic

Peel + chop all the veggies and garlic. Toss with 3T olive oil/pepper/salt/cayenne/chili powder. Roast in oven for 40min. Toss once or twice while cooking.

Heat a large pot [on med-low, just before veggies are done] with the tomato soup/butternut soup/veggie broth/grated ginger/pumpkin. Add the roasted veggies and start mashing.

Mash until desired consistency is met. If you want a smooth stew, use a hand blender. Taste and add more of whatever seasonings you like. If you don’t like ginger, you can definitely leave it out.

You can’t have stew/soup without something to dip in it!! I bought some Haute Cuisine basil/pepper crackers and also used the rest of the ciabatta bread. I cut the rolls in half and added butter and garlic/salt/parsley spice mix. Then I cut into strips and broiled for a few quick minutes.

Took my bowl outside for some natural light. Love the orangey, fall color! It had a good amount of spice to it, but a little too strong with the carrot flavor. I will use 1 carrot next time. The carrots also have the hardest time mashing up, which might have made for a more pronounced flavor. Next time, I would also add about 1/4c. of cream/whole milk to give it a little creamier consistency.

The Jew in me has been craving Matzo Ball Soup!! I will give it my first attempt, ever, tonight! My grandparents were always the one to make it. Hopefully I can pull it off!!

Price re-cap: Not including ciabatta b/c I had it leftover from the steak/veg dinner. Also had the tomato soup in the fridge and potatoes/olive oil/spices in the pantry.

2 organic loose carrots – $.45

organic pumpkin - $1.95

butternut squash - $2.26

organic butternut squash soup - $3.19

365 brand organic veggie broth - $1.99

bag of parsnips – $2.99

Haute Cuisine crackers - $2.89

Total - $15.72/6 servings = $2.62/serving – CHEAP!!!

Usually people have stray potatoes in the pantry, most of those spices and olive oil too. If you don’t have the ginger, just buy a small piece and it will cost about .25 cents. This should be a really affordable and super filling meal!

Enjoy!

Ashley

shop til you drop

2009-09-29T14:04:00.001-04:00

I used part of Sunday night to go online and check the local store ads. It’s a little annoying, but also really helpful if you are looking for some deals. It doesn’t take too long to jot down which stores have deals on the foods you want.

I realize I have a little extra time on my hands right now, but if you utilize one day of the week to check ads, search for recipes, and make lists, you can get all your weekly shopping done in 1 day. I had some requests about summarizing my trips + total cost at the grocery store. [heavy in text, sorry!]

My goal was to buy meals for 4 nights, for 4 people, plus some lunch + breakfast food for Chris + me, and snacks. I linked all of the store names to their websites. Whole Foods has a great website, with a HUGE catalog of recipes. You can also search the WF website for deals at your store!

I stopped at Sunflower Farmers Market [it’s a store, not an actual famers market] first, to take better note of their inventory. The first time I was there it was a little overwhelming. They seem to have the cheapest non-organic produce around. I try to stick to organic produce that is on sale, but sometimes give in to the non-organic deals. I got 2 red bell peppers for $.99/ea, a small red cabbage for $.45, and a 3lb butternut squash for $2.26. They have some pretty cheap blocks of cheese. I got Monterey Jack on sale for $1.99/lb! I tried to take note of the prices of their bulk items to compare with the next 2 stores.

Total at this store = $24.21 with tax

My next stop was Natural Grocers/Vitamin Cottage, which I L.O.V.E.! The staff is super friendly and helpful, the store is organized and clean, and all of their produce is organic and affordable! I got some organic loose carrots for $.99/lb, org. celery for $.89/lb, and org. sweet potatoes for $1.59/lb. Maple syrup is definitely a specialty item, but they had a normally $16.99 12.7oz bottle on sale for $8.99. I could not pass that up and it will last me a long time. I am glad I held off at Sunflower Market because I definitely found some better deals here. Things like organic canned pumpkin, rice vinegar, bulk brown rice, and “food should taste good” chips, were all cheaper. The FSTG chips were $2.75 compared to an on sale price of $2.99 at Sunflower. The canned pumpkin was about $.85 cheaper! Score!

Total at this store = $44.21 with tax.

My last stop, was Whole Foods. The WF we live by, is the smallest one around. Bigger WF stores definitely are stocked with more of the 365 brand, which will help you save $$. When you walk in WF, make sure to pick up their coupon booklet. I have saved at least $15-20 in 3 trips utilizing the book. I went here mainly to buy some meat for the week, so I knew this total would be a little more. I got fresh, antibiotic-free, cage free, bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts for $3.99/lb. This is $2/lb cheaper than the boneless, skinless. This is somewhat crazy to me b/c the bone-in and skin-on make the chicken so much more flavorful, with just a little extra work. I stocked up on 85% lean grass-fed ground beef for $2.99/lb. This was $2/lb savings, so I got some to wrap and freeze. I normally go for 90% lean, but this was such a good deal! Their 365 brand broth was the cheapest I could find, at $1.99/32oz, also organic. I also wrote down some of the prices of bulk items there, like grains and flours. When I bake, I prefer to buy flour in the bulk bins. This way, I can buy what I need, and it is fresher than a bag that has been in the cupboard for 6+ months. I also got 1lb of Top Sirloin Steak for $8.99 on sale. I got some fresh organic veggies [organic winter squashes $.99/lb!], a few specialty drinks with coupons [like odwalla], a few KIND bars on sale, cage-free large brown eggs 365 brand $2.69, few snacks, organic valley whipped butter, more of that vodka sauce [from the pasta bake last week] for $4.00 [it was still half off!] and a few other odds and ends.

Total at this store = $66.27 with tax

I did have to stop at King Soopers to pick up Matzo for matzo ball soup this week! WF would normally have it, but it’s the smallest WF ever =)

total shopping = 142.08

[many items not pictured]

close-up

I feel like that is pretty impressive for 4 meals to fill 4 adults, plus some breakfast + lunch food, and snacks for the week. I’m sure there will be a few fill-in items we might need to pick up, but for the most part that should take care of it.

Ooookay, sorry for the lack of photos. I guess I could have brought my camera to the store to make it more interesting!!

Easy easy yummmmy dinner:

serves 4:

1lb top sirloin steak, or similar

2 red bell peppers

1/2 small red cabbage [can add the whole cabbage if you like]

1/2+ lb fresh snap peas [goes better w/the asian flared meal than plane green beans]

1/2 small yellow onion

6T rice vinegar [asian food aisle]

3T honey

3T low sodium soy sauce

s+p to taste

2 cups uncooked brown rice [short or long grain]

Get the rice cooking first, as it will take about 55min total. Add 4 cups of water to a large pot. Add 2c. rice and a little EVOO. Cover, and when it boils reduce to low for 45min. Cool with cover on for 10min and fluff with fork.

I chopped the cabbage and peppers into strips, finely chopped the onion, and left the snap peas as is.

Whisk honey/soy sauce/rice vinegar in a bowl. Pour a few spoonfuls on top of steak to coat. I also added a little pepper, and salt/parsley/garlic spice mix to the steak. Be careful not to over-salt, as soy sauce is full of sodium!

Place veggies on a foil lined pan [to help with cleanup!]. Pre-heat oven, to broil. Pour remaining sauce mixture on veggies and toss.

Pre-heat grill when rice is about 45min in. You can always leave the rice covered, off the heat, for longer than 10min if your timing on the rest of the food is off =)

I had 2, 1/2lb steaks, which needed about 6min/side on the grill + heating time of 5min + letting the steak sit after grilling so the juices don’t run out 3-5min. Total steak cook/prep time = 20min.

After you turn the steaks over once, put the veggies in the oven for 5-10min watching so they don’t burn. You want them to be slightly browned and slightly soft.

Fluff the rice, take the veggies, out, and slice the steak into strips. CHOW TIME!

I also broiled some ciabatta bread with a swipe of butter and the salt/parsley/garlic spice mix.

We each had about a 4oz. portion of meat, which was more than satisfying. The veggies + rice were super filling, and healthy! There was plenty to feed the 4 of us, and more than enough leftovers of the veg + rice, that I will be eating for lunch!

Total meal cost = 19.61/4 = $4.90/person

This included everything: the full cost of the ciabatta, which we still have 1/2 of, rice vinegar which I didn’t use much of, and the full cost of the 2lb bag of brown rice, which I still have 1/2 of. The only things I did not buy were the honey and soy sauce. Pretty affordable, with leftover pantry ingredients that will go to good use!

Phew…okay, done! Hopefully you found this helpful, and not extremely drawn out and boring!!!

Happy Tuesday!

Ashley

p.s. I also picked up a FREE loaf of honey whole wheat bread from Great Harvest Bread Co. Natalie had a coupon!! Yummmm – I love their minimal ingredient list!

They stamp a flower on top of the loaf =)

weekend in review

2009-09-28T20:16:00.001-04:00

Friday night we laid low, watching TV and playing the Wii. Natalie cooked an awesome meal [that I forgot to photograph]. She made a chicken and black bean curry dish with a side of brown rice. It was super flavorful, healthy, and delicious.

Saturday was the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. I can’t even take a guess at how many beers there were to sample. They had it sectioned off by regions, like: Pacific Northwest, Midwest, etc. The place was packed with people, but it was fun roaming around sampling beers and munching on our pretzel necklaces!

pretzel necklaces…everyone was wearing them..such a good idea!!!

The sample sizes were 1oz. I probably tried about 12-15 beers. The only down-side was that a lot of the most sought after beers [like october spice beers] were gone really early on. There were a handful that I wanted to try but they were already out within the first hour!

My awesome sis-in-law, Natalie + me!

On Sunday, we headed to a 400+ acre dog park that is about 2 miles away from where we are living. I’m pretty sure Kenna + Dakota had a blast.

Kenna is the front-most dog. She chased the black lab in front of her, the whole time.

Dakota had 1 thing on her mind…swimming + sticks!

Later, we met up with this fabulous couple, Chris + Ann. We have been friends with Chris since undergrad at Ohio State and we just met Ann when we moved out here. Super cool people!! We checked out their neighborhood and walked around Wash Park, in Denver. We really like that area, and will definitely be looking there when we’re ready to find a place.

It was a gorgeous night out and we went to Vine Street for some eats. Completely delicious meal.

Carrot + Coconut soup – UHmazing. It was creamy and flavorful with not much coconut taste at all. I’m guessing they used coconut milk, which doesn’t have too much actual coconut flavor, to help thicken the soup.

No, that is not juice..it’s blackberry wheat beer. This restaurant is also a well-known local brewery [Mountain Sun Brewery]. Deeelicious.

Thee best salad, ever. Mixed greens, with roasted butternut squash, lightly breaded + fried goat cheese, with a bacon vinaigrette. They gave plenty of cheese and the dressing was perfect. I cleared my plate but left about 1/3 of the cheese!

On the menu for this week:

[monday] brown rice + pan seared veggies + grilled sirloin steak

matzo ball soup + boiled chicken

butternut squash + veggie stew

spaghetti squash + veggie + cheese bake

Tomorrow I’m going to post a little about how I try to save at the grocery store and a summary of how much this week’s meals add up to! Stay tuned =)

Ashley

an explosion of fall…in your mouth

2009-09-26T15:43:00.001-04:00

If you like oatmeal + pumpkin you MUST try this recipe. I have started preparing my basic bowl of oatmeal according to Kath’s awesome recipe for whipped banana oats. The only thing I change is that I leave out the salt. I have been using unsweetened rice milk or unsweetened vanilla almond milk instead of regular cow’s milk, but any will work fine. I use organic rolled oats that you can usually find for about $.99/lb in the bulk bins. They take a little longer to cook than the quick oats, about 5+ min on the stovetop, but there is a big difference in texture.

From there I added 1/4c. plain pumpkin puree, a dash of nutmeg and a 1/4t. cinnamon, 2t. of either brown sugar/honey/maple syrup/brown rice syrup [any will work, just to add a little sweetness]. I also topped it with vanilla almond granola, for a little crunch.

Off to the Great American Beer Festival after the OSU game! Have a great weekend!!

Ashley

PNUT BUTTER CRISP DELICIOUSNESS + PASTA BAKE

2009-09-25T14:00:00.001-04:00

Please prepare yourselves for the following recipe…

Again, I was tempted by the amazing photography and simplicity of this recipe on 101cookbooks.com. I did change up a few things with the recipe! It calls for 3/4c. of maple syrup. The smallest bottle you can find will cost you about $7.99 and I just didn’t want to dish that out for a dessert recipe. So, what could be substituted? Ahh, perfect, brown rice syrup + a little honey! I happen to have a LOT of jars of brown rice syrup because it is an ota.ingredient, and I never made it through my whole supply. I will go over brown rice syrup after I finish about this recipe.

The other thing I changed was instead of using agar agar flakes for thickening, I used an organic tapioca starch. I couldn’t find agar agar at Whole Foods and tapioca starch was only $2.50. It seemed to work perfectly.

So, instead of 3/4c. maple syrup I used about 1/2c. + 2T brown rice syrup and 2T honey which totals 3/4c. sticky liquid. Make sure to get CRISPY brown rice cereal and not puffed rice cereal.

Thicker than maple syrup.

I mixed in and topped this with pistachios but really any nut or a mixture of nuts would work perfectly. If you want even more pnut flavor add peanuts. Next time I might try an almond/walnut combo. Next time is going to be very soon!

It was such a tasty treat right out of the fridge. A rich pnut flavor but not overly sweet, thanks to the brown rice syrup. Maple syrup might have been too sweet for me, so I was glad I substituted!

So, a little bit about brown rice syrup. I haven’t come across too many brands on the market and have always found Lundberg to have the BEST brown rice products. From their brown rice chips to the cereal to the syrup, I love Lundberg’s products. Brown rice syrup is one of the healthiest sweeteners you can use because of how it breaks down in your body. It metabolizes much more slowly, in comparison to white sugar or maple syrup, which will keep your glycemic index level at a steadier rate. This will help avoid the sugar high and crash feelings.

While I don’t always go by what Wikipedia says they do a great job at summarizing how it is broken down – wiki - brown rice syrup

This 21oz jar will run you about $4.50 at Whole Foods, which is the cheapest place I have found it. I utilized WF’s case discount, for an extra 10% savings, when I bought it for ota.bars.

Now, on to dinner! This one just came out of my brain…it is amazingly easy…and a good way to clean out the fridge!

Whole Foods had their grass-fed beef on sale for $2.99 this week!! I will definitely be going back to stock up on this yummy grass-fed beef, while it is so wallet friendly!

I decided to make a simple pasta bake. Easy, full-proof, recipe.

Most of the ingredients [not pictured: cheese + noodles + beef]

The Vodka sauce was also on sale at WF’s for $4.00, when it is normally $8.00! Loved it! I had leftover spinach to use up, 1 leftover leek from last nights dinner, and 1 yellow squash. I grated the squash so it wouldn’t be as pronounced of a texture in the bake. I didn’t want it to stand out as it can usually get quite squishy in the center, when cooked. That made it SO much better. The leek added the perfect amount of oniony flavor.

Recipe:

preheat oven to 350* [I used 375* b/c of the CO altitude]

1 standard box of pasta [I used shells, which were SO yummy]

1 standard size jar of sauce

1 – 1 1/2lbs grass-fed ground beef

2c. fresh spinach

1 yellow squash, grated

1 chopped leek

1 1/2c. fresh grated mozzarella

1/4c. fresh grated parmesan

Boil the pasta until al dente. [It will finish cooking while it’s baking in the oven.] Brown the meat and add a few shakes of salt/garlic powder/pepper. Drain the meat. Add all the ingredients [except for the cheese] to a 13x9 baking dish. Toss until combined. Cover with foil and bake for 30min. Uncover and top with cheese and broil for a few short minutes until the cheese is bubbly and a little browned.

When broiling, it is best to leave the oven light on or oven door cracked slightly to keep an eye on your food. It can burn fast!

You can substitute any of the veggies for whatever you want. I would say that this combo worked really well and was delicious with the vodka sauce. It had the perfect amount of moisture which can sometimes be an issue with runny sauce or wet veggies.

Give it a whirl!

I made the BEST oatmeal breakfast this morning…stay tuned!!! =)

Off to play with Laura!!! Soooo excited! Tomorrow we’re all going to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. We’ll probably get some climbing in at the gym and hopefully a hike or run at some point too!

Have a good one!

Ashley

double yum

2009-09-24T12:32:00.001-04:00

It was still really chilly + rainy in Colorado yesterday [in the 40’s!!]. My awesome sis-in-law remembered that she had a coupon for Great Harvest Bread Company [GHBC]. It was for a free loaf of their honey whole wheat bread. I was definitely planning on redeeming this asap!

dreary, cold weather…

After working out w/my bro-in-law in the morning, we headed to GHBC and then Natural Grocers, my new favorite store. Well, it’s not really new because that is where I was buying 3/4 of my ota.ingredients, but NOW it’s a local store for me! So, GHBC, Natural Grocers, AND Sunflower Farmer’s Market are literally all right next to each other. The stores are definitely more wallet-friendly than Whole Foods, with a lot of the same brands.

So my plan was to get the free loaf of honey wheat, but when I went in for some reason a plain loaf of white bread was calling my name. I haven’t bought a loaf of white bread in FORever. Grilled cheese was the plan. The bread was SO good. It only has about 5 ingredients with a touch of agave nectar sweetness. AND, they give HUGE samples in the store. Perfect after workout snack.

1 slice of Havarti + 1 slice of white cheddar + golden perfection

I may have eaten 1/4 of the bowl of tomato soup while I was waiting for the grilled cheese to finish…

yum yum raspberries

I got some samples today from Navitas!! I first heard about them from Kath’s blog. I really wanted to see what their Cacao Nibs would be like in ota.bars! I have tried to incorporate chocolate in a few different forms, with no luck. It always makes the bars brittle and they turn a dark un-appetizing brown color. I think the Cacao Nibs might work because they don’t melt!

Cacao nibs are chopped up cacao beans. It actually tastes more coffe-like than chocolate-like to me. It reminds me of eating an espresso bean, in a way, especially with the texture. They also sent some Sweetened Cacao Nibs, which have a little organic palm sugar and organic cacao liquor added. I can’t wait to try them in ota.bars!

And now for dinner!! Off to 101 cookbooks for another idea. In the last year, my meat-eating habits have changed. I would say I eat meat free about 75% of the time. There was no real reason for the change, but just what I have been in the mood for. I make it a point to eat other high protein foods throughout the day, so I never feel like I am lacking in the protein department.

I decided on a high-protein, chickpea salad. Recipe is HERE! I made some brown rice couscous to make the meal more filling with some healthy carbs and fiber.

1c. plain yogurt + 2t. curry powder = delicious + EASY

I love this dish from Crate + Barrel!! It’s fun to make dinner a little fancy sometimes. Instead of putting it in a big bowl or just having everyone scoop out of the pan, I wanted to put it in a pretty dish.

1/2 of the curry sauce was mixed in w/the chickpea salad and then laid atop the brown rice couscous. Everyone added more sauce as the chickpeas made things a little on the dry side. The flavor combos were awesome though and the couscous was a great addition.

Have a great day!!

Ashley

playing while unemployed

2009-09-23T01:50:00.001-04:00

While I’m researching how to hopefully start ota.bars – version 2 – Colorado style – I am going to keep the blog going with whatever I want. [Booyah]

Chris and I are living with Pat + Natalie [Chris’s bro + wife]. We have made it 1.5 weeks and they have not kicked us out yet. They may however, kick out Kenna. ;) I have mentioned before these 2 are who I named the pnat banana ota.bar after. So, I am now cooking for 4, and loving it! I have not killed anyone yet!

Last night I made Thai-style stir fry + coconut rice…whoops, no photos.

Lunch was on a whim today but turned out oh.so.good!!!

I saw a picture on a food magazine, while checking out at Whole Foods, for spinach/bacon/sweet potato salad. I didn’t look at the recipe but the photo just stuck in my head. I pan seared sweet potatoes w/olive oil, and s+p. Turned on low heat and added some Applegate Farms ham [no bacon on hand] and some spinach, for a few minutes.

While doing this, for some reason I thought…sunny-side up egg on top! I have seen this on menus before but never tried on anything except toast. Holy cow, was it a winner!!!! Uh-mazing.

I guess maybe I was thinking these could be omelet ingredients…so why not put an egg on top?? Also added some parm/asiago cheese. Too bad I was the only one around to eat this one!

Dinner – corn pudding in acorn squash

I saw this on the 101 cookbooks website and knew it would awesome. Everyone loved it!! The flavors worked really well together. The only thing I changed was that I cut the green onion amount in 1/2. There was definitely still enough flavor. Also, be careful when cutting the bottoms of the squash to get them to sit nice and flat in the pan. I cut 2 of them a little too high up and they did not hold the liquid very well. If this happens, tightly wrap the squash in a foil-made bowl, as tight as possible, and then add the liquid.

food.guts.

A terrible photo of the final product. There was no natural light by the time this was done…101 cookbooks has an amazing “final result” photo!!

Cheesy garlic bread not pictured: French baguette –> slice lengthwise –> lightly coat with olive oil –> rub with garlic clove that has been sliced in half –> top with a little parm cheese and s+p –> broil for only a few quick minutes

This meal ended up really filling me up and it was perfect for a cold day here in Colorado. [it has already snowed here…sick]

Leftover cheesecake for dessert!! I taught Natalie how to make it last night. She has thee prettiest ceramic pie plate ever!

Also went up to visit my Uncle/Aunt/cousin this past Sunday with Chris. They own some amazing property up in the mountains. It was so peaceful up there. Here are a few photos!

Jonah! Their 8 month old, huge, puppy!

Kenna [beans] – Dakota [doder] – Maggie [maggers]

Gooooooooooodnight!

Ashley

the full trip

2009-09-16T01:43:00.001-04:00

day 1 breakfast - yogurt+zucchini bread+banana+pnut butter+kiwi…bad decision putting the kiwi in..

slow + steady rain for the first few hours

the start of the weird hovering head….

BAD!!! GOOD!!!

pisqua national forest was gorgeous – top west of NC going into TN

strange little rest stop…the bathrooms were in that building…

lunch!! if i’m not eating ota.bars i’m eating clif kid bars or larabar

weirdness.

these are perfection…no trader joe’s in CO…but lots of other good stores i’m sure

i’m not the biggest fan of larabars…but they are filling…peanut butter cookie is definitely not my favorite

eating to stay awake!

about to get on 70W which takes us to CO!!!

st.louis arch

bad photo w/flash…i forgot i had mom’s zucchini bread!!! got me through the last hour of the trip..made it to kansas city, miss. by 11:30pm

day 2 – well rested pup

feeling like 9hrs is going to FLY compared to the 16+ the day before

probably the best picture i got in kansas…straight + flat the entire way

yupp.

wooohooo a curve!! and lots of bugs on the windshield..I saw no tumbleweeds in KS and was really upset about that…

approaching an amazing wind turbine farm

these things are monstrous!!! i saw some of the blades being transported on trucks…HUGE!

snack time…these pita chips are the best ever…definitely a favorite of chris’s

this was next to a gas station…it smelled really bad

nom nom nom

trader joe’s supplied most of my road food

crunch time

finally in Colorado..still took FORever to actually see the mountains!!! eastern CO is just like Kansas…boring!

mountains..finally!!

awesome sky

can’t wait to visit laura in boulder and melissa in CO springs!

driving up to our new temporary house, thanks to pat + natalie!! the house is awesome and has a great backyard that the dogs looove

dog x3!

trying to figure each other out

what a doofus!

love to see the mountains while driving around!

Overall the drive went really well. It was easier than I expected but still insanely long to do alone. Chris definitely had it worse driving the 22’ truck. We are settling in and trying to find our way around. I love having no humidity, but I’m sure I will miss Charlotte winters…except when I’m snowboarding!

No new ota.news…Still trying to get everything unpacked and hope to start researching things next week! Will keep everyone posted and hope to have some more ingredient posts in the near future.

Niiiight!

Ashley

16hrs later – in kansas city, mo

2009-09-11T01:55:00.001-04:00

I cannot believe I drove for 16hrs in the car, by myself. Well, Kenna was with me, but she doesn’t talk. She was really good in the car, although somewhat creepy. She slept for maybe 3hrs total, and the rest of the time she was lying down in the back with her head hovering above the seat, looking completely exhausted. I am not sure WHY she could not just put her poor head down and sleep!

Chris drove our 22’ Penske truck STUFFED with STUFF and also Dakota! He said she was really good and slept the entire way.

yupp…its a truck

proof of her weirdness!

FYI – These coffee drinks are TERRIBLE. Sorry Starbucks, you totally messed this one up. Unless you like to drink coffee flavored syrup, do not buy this drink. =)

FYI 2 – Happy Ashley with the best Starbucks energy to go. [also, much less liquid + calories to consume]

There was a really pretty sunset…The sun was HUUGE and PINK! The picture is pretty bad…but take this and think 20x cooler!!

Off to bed…after 9hrs of driving tomorrow we will be living in Colorado. It still hasn’t hit me.

goooodniiiiight!

Ashley

wheat germ pancakes + the weekend

2009-09-07T01:11:00.001-04:00

I am excited to talk about the next ota.ingredient. It is another ingredient most people have not used or even heard of.

WHEAT GERM is a nutritional powerhouse. This flakey little food is packed with fiber, protein, potassium, iron, folic acid, and many other beneficial nutrients. The best part is a little goes a long way. 1oz will get you appx. 8g of protein and 4g of fiber!

What can you put wheat germ in?? pancakes – banana bread – cereal – oatmeal – smoothies – cookies – blueberry muffins – yogurt - etc.

If you add to oatmeal or a smoothie, just throw in a couple Tablespoons for a super health kick! You won’t even notice it’s there.

I really can’t go on enough about this amazing food. Here are a few more technical explanations if you’re interested: one + two

*Wheat germ should smell nutty, not musty. Once your bag is open, keep it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 9 months [you will know if it has gone rancid, just make sure to sniff!].

I made these panackes the day after Chris’s birthday for Chris, Joe, + Kelsey. They were healthy and so so delicious [and easy!].

wheat germ – in the raw [time to play with the digi SLR camera!!]

I buy raw wheat germ, in bulk, from Natural Grocers. I get a lot of my ota.ingredients from this store. It is located in Colorado, which will work perfectly when we are living there!

pancake batter – recipe below

finished product – with easiest the homemade blueberry sauce ever

fluffy + filling + not dry or too “wheaty”

EASY Blueberry Sauce [way better than Aunt Jemima – check out this nasty ingredient list – nowhere near “real food”]

Heat a pan on medium heat. Add in appx. 1T unrefined coconut oil or butter. Add 1/2-1 pint of blueberries [can use other fruit like strawberries or raspberries too]. Stir and watch for about 5 minutes until nice and bubbly. Transfer to bowl or other container.

DONE!

Wheat Germ Pancakes [makes appx. 12 pancakes]

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup unrefined melted coconut oil [can subst. canola or butter]
2 cups buttermilk [I used lowfat coconut milk for extra flavor and because my friend has a dairy allergy. It was the perfect substitute!]
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour [bulk bin area usually – if you can’t find mix 1/2 white 1/2 whole wheat – or full whole wheat]

Mix eggs, milk, and oil in medium bowl. Stir in dry ingredients until blended. Do not over mix.

Heat pan/skillet to medium+ heat. A 1/4c. works as a scooper and makes the perfect, easily flippable, pancake. Brown on both sides, turning once.

Top with fruit sauce. ENJOY!!!

……

And now a few photos from a wonderful weekend [and our last] in North Carolina…

Chris and I went to visit my grandparents up around Hendersonville, NC. We met them for lunch at a golf club. It was perfect timing for a visit because my dad was down to visit and play golf. It was so nice to see my grandparents and dad, but mom was very missed back in Ohio!!

My “made of steel” grandfather! He is going to be 92 this Halloween and still goes golfing 2-3x a week!

Grandma + me =)

dad.daughter.

Chris, me, Grandma, Grandpa, Dad [standing on the tee box]

delicious mushroom soup

dad’s muffaletta samich

After the quick lunch visit, we rushed back to Charlotte, to pack more boxes!!! [not fun]

Then we got up early Saturday morning to drive 5hrs East to the Crystal Coast for Heather’s wedding. [my awesome friend that used ota.bars in her hotel guest gift bags!!]

What a gorgeous wedding!! Heather looked stunning, wearing a dress that her mom made for her. It was our first time going to a beach wedding. The ceremony was perfect, the food was awesome and fun, and the reception was a blast. Thanks Heather + Penn, I wish you 2 the best!!

the.most.perfect.wedding.day.

the were both beaming with excitement

the hubs and me

pretty.pretty.lady. [that I miss, dearly!]

cupcake extravaganza [with sucanat!]

2009-09-04T00:52:00.001-04:00

mission: vanilla cupcakes + white russian butter cream frosting for the 2 Chris’ birthday part-ay!

I know it’s a long one…get over it and just read! ;) I promise you’ll learn something!

I feel like I am decent at baking. Cupcakes and cakes are always the hardest though. Making sure it rises correctly and not letting it overcook are my main concerns. I set out to find the best sounding vanilla cupcake recipe I could. I settled on this one but already knew I was going to make some substitutions. This may not be the best idea for the first time trying a recipe, but that is pretty much what I seem to always do! =)

Right off the bat, it says to use a stand mixer. Well, mine is all packed up, but I convinced myself it was no big deal. I haven’t played with sucanat too much yet, with more technical baking like this, and I definitely wanted to see how it compared to sugar. One thing I read was that sucanat will soak up more liquid than other sugars so you might need to add a little more liquid when using it. Someone out there, please define “a little” for me. [so.vague.]

The recipe calls for 2c. sugar and 1c. of whole milk. I used 2c. of sucanat and decided for this recipe “a little more liquid” would be 3T. [kind of a random amount, but whatever] I thought this recipe was a bit odd, because normally you cream the butter + sugar together and then go on with the rest of the recipe. I thought, maybe this other technique is what sets these cupcakes apart. I followed the recipe for everything else.

Here is batter #1 – The sucanat definitely gave it a darker color. The raw batter [yes, there were raw eggs in it..whatever..I ate it and it was delicious!!] was maaaaybe the most amazing thing I have ever tasted! It had soooo much flavor. The vanilla was there, but it definitely had caramel + maple flavors in there too. [From the sucanat of course…mmmmm]

The recipe said it was going to make appx. 30 cupcakes filling up each cup 2/3 the way with batter. WRONG. I would think appx. would mean between 28-32. This made 25 and they were a tad on the small size. I would have liked them a little bigger to get a better puff on the top!

So, I had to make batter #2. I cut the recipe in half and wanted to use pure cane sugar instead of sucanat to see how the final result would compare.

The batter was definitely lighter in color. Pure cane sugar is not quite has stark white as white sugar. I definitely recommend using this if you don’t want to try sucanat in your baking/cooking. The batter was again reallly yummy, but I preferred the deeper flavor the sucanat left.

The pure cane sugar batter and the 25th cupcake from the sucanat batter.

So here is how they looked. The left most cupcake, was the 25th cupcake made from the sucanat batter. For some strange reason it rose the most! I filled the cup the same amount, so I’m not sure how this happened. I was thinking it might have been because that batter had been sitting out for 30-45min and maybe the baking powder was more activated??

Obviously there is a color difference. The sugar cane cupcakes got filled with a little more batter because I didn’t like the small size of the one on the right.

I had 1 of the sucanat vanilla cupcakes with no frosting. So did the husband [Chris] and our friend Eric. It held its deeper caramel/maple flavor and was reallllly good. I baked them for 18min. It was buttery and moist and had a great consistency.

The finished cupcakes all frosted and pretty and ready for the partaaay!

Close-up!! Instead of buying blue sugar in the shaky container [because it’s something I rarely use] I put some cane sugar in a bowl and added a few drips of food coloring [not an ingredient I enjoy using…but oh well!]. Voila, blue sugar topping!!

Chris + Chris [my hubs on the right] Yes, they are both wearing goofy bowling shirts. We had a bowling party and then party at a bar called Lebowski’s. The theme of the day was The Big Lebowski [if you haven’t seen the movie..you need to]. Hence, the white russian butter cream frosting.

At our favorite neighborhood french bakery, Amelies!! This place is amazing, convenient, not too pricey, and open 24hrs a day!! Nothing like a game of chess and some amazingly delicious samiches @ 2am.

Okay, so the consensus on the cupcakes at the party, was that everyone LOVED them. Even got a few people hooked that aren’t usually cake eaters. Everyone loved the frosting because it’s not super sweet like most butter creams, and the cupcake wasn’t over-frosted.

My main problem with butter creams are that they alwaaaays call for up to EIGHT CUPS of powdered sugar. I try to never use powdered sugar in the first place, let alone EIGHT cups of it. I don’t use it because it is processed white sugar + even more insanely processed corn starch. BLEGH. I try to keep as much processed corn product out of my diet as possible. If you want to know more on this read: The Omnivores Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. [amazing book!!!]

THEE best “impress your friends” butter cream frosting EVUR! [sans the powdered corn starch sugar!]

Recipe is enough for about 2 dozen cupcakes, [1] 9x13 cake, or [2] 8x8 cakes.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sucanat [or pure can sugar]
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk [I have used both 2% and whole milk and both have worked]
1 teaspoon vanilla extract [I added 1t vanilla and 2T Kahlua]

-Whisk milk and flour in bowl until smooth

-Add to saucepan and keep on medium heat for about 20min, stirring with a whisk, pretty constantly so it doesn’t burn [insert patience!! I swear it’s worth it!] You want the mixture to be nice and thick. The best thing I can compare the thickness to, might be pudding??

-Once nice and thick, transfer to bowl and let cool to room temp. [I sped this up in the fridge a bit]

-In large bowl cream butter + sucanat [or sugar] for about 5min [stand mixer would come in handy here!] until light and fluffy

-Add in room temp. milk/flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Cream this until smooth and fluffy. You want all of the sugar crystals to dissolve so the frosting is not crunchy. I did this with a normal mixer and it took a good 5-8min. [again, stand mixer, much easier!]

-Add vanilla + any other liquid add in. If you want almond flavor you could try 1t. vanilla and 1/2t. almond. Just play until you get the flavors right. Fold this into the batter, and only add a little at a time so the batter does not get runny. I added 1t. vanilla and 2-3T Kahlua and the better was still thick. You could always put it in the fridge to stiffen for a few.

-Scoop into plastic ziploc or pastry bag. If using a ziploc cut a small hole in the corner and pipe onto cupcakes!!

I promise the time is WELL worth it and your friends will think you are a baking all-star!

If you want to read more crazy cupcake stories, check out Kath’s blog, when she made cupcakes for Kelsey’s birthday [post on her party and Kath’s cupcakes]!!

Okay…I’m finally done. My apologies for the lengthiness. This will not become a habit..I just felt like I needed to give all of the experimental information!! I know someone out there will like it =)

I would say we are 35% packed with one week to go!! Off to visit my grandparents [2hrs away] tomorrow and then to the beach for Heather’s wedding!! Action packed!

Night!!

Ashley

girls night + the easiest dessert recipe evuuur

2009-09-02T11:53:00.015-04:00

So, it's 1 week + 1 day until we say goodbye to Charlotte. I decided to throw a girls night with my best Charlotte girl friends. All of the girls knew at least one of the others..but a lot were meeting for the first time. I must say, I have some seriously impressive friends, that I am going to miss a TON.

Rachel - Architect in training [like me] + has her own business
Deb + Lynne + Alicia - All are new [and amazing] mom's and all are working as well!
Kelsey + Kath - Both in school to become Registered Dietitians and both have fun and addicting food blogs that I adore
Rosarae - Interior designer, starting her own business + teacher
Noelle - In sales, for a ridiculously sweet furniture company, Knoll + she's trying to start her own jewelry business
Anna - singer/songwriter, keeps the architecture firm I used to work for alive!!

Okay...on to the night! I told all the girls I was going to put together a really yummy + healthy salad bar. For some extra fun I asked them all to bring their favorite plate from home. Why? Well, why not! You know you have a favorite plate! Also, I had them bring their favorite salad dressing + wine. I also had an art project set up for them. It was without.a.doubt. one of my favorite nights in Charlotte.

The art project! For the past 4 years I've had my closest family and friends paint me a small 4"x5" canvas. I have them up on our wall in a grid pattern. I love having a little piece of everyone that I'm close with...and it has become a good conversation piece! =)

These are all the paintings I had before girls night

food time - chips + dip from Trader Joes - I am going to miss that store

Lynne's baby boy- Liam - 9wks old

Anna, Rachel, Kath

Deb, Lynne, Alicia, Noelle

all of the wines + salad dressings

Anna, Rachel, Kath playing with paint!

chicken + shrimp

tons of veg

ota.bar ingredients on a salad!! almonds + pepitas [pumpkin seeds]

Rachel starting things off

Rosarae + Noelle + their sweet bowl/plate

Anna, Rachel, Kath [I have at least 3 photos of you 3, standing/sitting in this exact order..what is up with this?? haha]

nom.nom.nom.

Rachel's bowl

Kath, ready to chow down

Alicia, Lynne + Kelsey

so pretty, Lynne!!

about to get my grub on

me!

some of the cool plates/bowls

Liam snoozed a lot of the time

I told Kelsey to arrange these chocolates however she wanted...I thought this was pretty intricate!

I grilled dessert...it was soooooooo simple + delicious!!! [recipe below]

we topped the dessert with vanilla bean icecream + the dark chocolate squares

Deb's 6wk old son, Bryson! He looks like daddy =)

Deb and Bryce!! Soooo cute [both of them!]

Liam loved painting, hehe

Look at what these awesome ladies gave me at the end of the night!! Soooo impressed!! Love my new artwork =) =)

Grilled Peach Marinade: [with 2 ota.ingredients]

4 peaches - cut in half and take out pit - you want to use slightly soft peaches
1/4c. balsamic vinegar
1T melted coconut oil
2T honey

-whisk all ingredients together
-add peach halves to large plastic bag
-add mixture to bag and shake around
-use right away or leave in fridge for 30min-4hrs

-preheat grill to med-high
-grill appx. 3-4min on each side

Top with vanilla icecream!! Can use marinade for grilling other fruit too fruit. I have also cooked the peaches in my cast iron pan, which worked perfectly.

I left the pineapple plain, but grilled for the same amount of time.

Stay tuned for more posts!

Niiiiight,
Ashley

packing + the last batches of ota.bars in charlotte

2009-09-01T12:30:00.007-04:00

A quick post as I'm packing away!!

I made my last 4 batches of ota.bars here in Charlotte. Most of them were handed out to my friends, who were some of my best customers.

I have a few exciting posts on the way, but it's hard to take a few hours to post when the empty boxes are staring me down.

posts to stay tuned for:

sucanat cupcake extravaganza + wheat germ pancakes + girls night with 9 of my favorites

Yesterday someone asked when we're moving...and it was the first time I could say "we're moving next week!!" Wow, does time fly...I think saying that made everything really sink in. We are super excited but a wee bit stressed =)

proof of the packing...about 1/2 are still empty, hehe

pnat banana ota.bars [peanut butter banana] The name was inspired by the names of my bro-in-law [Pat] and sis-in-law [Natalie] We are going to be living with them for awhile until we find our own place [or when they're sick of us, hehe].

cherry almond + cran mango cash

close-up on the cherry pistachio

Keep an eye out for more posts!! =)

Ashley

lots of ota.related stuff

2009-08-28T07:45:00.011-04:00

This is going to be a long but fun [hopefully] post!

Any ideas where this photo was taken?

Any better ideas now? It is at Mt.Fuji, in Japan. Are you curious what the relevance to ota.bars is here? Well, a friend and co-worker, took her ota.bars to Japan and snacked on them with her sister at the top! Pretty amazing stuff. Ota.bars are more traveled than I am! The only thing she forgot was to get a pic snacking on the bar. =)

2nd order of business : ota.bars are going to a wedding! One of my favorite. girls. ever, is getting married over labor day weekend. As a gift to her guests she is putting triple berry almond ota.bars in her hotel gift bags! Heather - Good luck and congrats!! I can't wait to see you on your big day! We thought of a more wedding appropriate name for them so I gussied up the labels and shipped them off to Heather today. Here are some photos --->

triple berry almond as the berry wedded bliss bar

double stacked ota.bars

off to Heather + Penn at the beach

topic #3 - I decided to make almond milk! I was pretttty excited about this after I discovered how delicious and easy it is to make. I wanted to feature almonds, one of the ota.ingredients, and thought this was a really unique recipe to share with everyone. Not what you would typically expect for an almond recipe. Almonds are an amazing nut! They are packed with many essential vitamins [mostly vitamin E] and minerals [magnesium, potassium, etc.] These nuts have the healthy fats [like in olive oil] and have been shown [in some medical studies] to keep your glycemic index levels more balanced.

I eat almonds for their slew of health benefits and because they seem to fill me up with just a small about [about 1/4c.] They really do the trick! mmmm

I switch back and forth between my point and shoot and Chris's [the husband] digital SLR. When I have time and some natural daylight I use the SLR. I really like this photo, but I'm sure there are 50 things wrong with it =)

The recipe I used:

1c. almonds

4c. water

2t. pure organic vanilla extract

1T sucanat

-Soak the almonds in water + vanilla + sucanat for about 8hrs.

-Blend everything together until frothy and smooth

-Drape cheesecloth over a bowl and rubberband it to secure, or drape it over a wire mesh strainer. You don't want any of the almond pulp to get through.

-Let drain for about 2hrs.

-Store in the fridge for about 2-4 days. When it goes bad it will taste sour. You can also keep the almond pulp that was collected in the cheesecloth and use it in raw cookie recipes, and many other things I'm sure.

You can play around w/the flavor add-ins as much as you want. It is really basic and easy and if you buy bulk nuts, it is pretty darn cheap! It's a great alternative to cow's milk and really easy on your gut, if you are sensitive.

I know this looks kind of gross, but it is just from the vanilla extract I added.

[cheesecloth] They also make netted bags specifically for this that you can buy online or maybe at a Whole Foods?

Blended almond milk about to be poured into the pitcher. This method failed as the rubberband did not stay secure around the pitcher because the handle and the spout were in the way. Be sure to leave enough room to be able to pour all of the mixture into the cheesecloth in 1 shot. [so you don't have to pour, wait wait to drain, repeat]

This over the bowl method, with the cheesecloth draped in the wire mesh strainer was MUCH more effective!! Look at all that awesome almond pulp!! It's in my fridge waiting to be put to good use.

And now a recipe using 5 ota.ingredients [highlighted in red]!! If you want to see a pictures of the finished project go here! The photos are about half-way into the post thanks to Kelsey!

Ashley's French Toast Bake:

*For best results plan to prepare the night before you want to serve it

Night before ingredients:
1 whole-loaf crusty bread [ie: ciabatta or french] NOT pre-sliced [unless they can slice 1" thick]
4 eggs
2c. almond milk
3/4c. sucanat
2t. vanilla
1-2t. cinnamon [depends on your love for cinnamon]
few dashes of nutmeg [optional]

Morning of ingredients:
.5-1c. chopped nuts [walnuts or pecans]
1/4c. melted coconut oil
1/4c. sucanat
1-2c. fresh berries [strawberries/blueberries/raspberries/etc]
process to assemble:

1] arrange 1" thick slices of bread in a greased 13x9" pan
notes: -I usually have enough bread and batter to fill up [1] 13"x9" and [1] 8"x8"
-do not stack bread slices - make a single layer
-I like to cut the bread in chunks, not use the full slices

2] in a bowl combine and whisk together: eggs + milk + 3/4c sucanat + vanilla + cinn + nutmeg

3] pour mixture over bread - flip pieces so both sides are coated

4] refrigerate appx. 8hrs

5] let sit out 30min prior to baking - set oven to 400*

6] flip pieces over before baking [important to avoid sogginess!]
notes: if there is more than thin layer of liquid coverhing the bottom of the pan try to drain some of it out with a spoon or turkey baster.

7] bake 20min

8] while baking melt coconut oil and combine with 1/4c. sucanat [you can always add more/less of this]

9] after 20 min take pan out ---> spread nuts + fruits + butter/sugar on top [be creative with your toppings]

10] bake for another 20-25min. +/- [keep an eye on it so your nutZ don't burn] you want it nice and brown on top

11] for a little extra crisp turn your broiler on HIGH for a few minutes [realllly watch it though]

12] let sit 10min + ENJOYYYYY

Of course if you don't have coconut oil, sucanat, or almond milk you can substitute butter + brown sugar + milk at a 1:1 ratio.

Okay...that was officially my longest post ever. I will be back soon with some info. on the wonderfood, Wheat Germ!

Have a great weekend + keep the comments coming!

Ashley

info@otabars.com

how to keep your friends around

2009-08-26T06:50:00.022-04:00

Apparently, all you need to do to keep friends around, is bring fruit + creamy fruit dip to their parties. Usually these dips involve way too much added sugar and MARSHMALLOW FLUFF [yak!] So, while still not being a "healthy" dip to chow down on, I made it a little more "know. your. food." friendly.

Sorry about the yellow-ish photos. Kelsey's [www.bitesandbowls.com] walls are painted like the rainbow [but in a pretty way, hehe], making it hard to take photos without natural light!

fruit + dip [behind]

Be creative with your dippers - It was Kelsey's b-day, so I got her favorite cookies from Trader Joes [ginger snap]

RECIPE: LEMONY MARSCAPONE DIP

8oz. cream cheese
8oz. marscapone cheese [they have it at Trader Joes for about $2.50..if you can't find it, ricotta miiight work?]
appx. 1-2T SUCANAT
appx. 1T honey
appx. 2t vanilla
appx. 1/4c. vanilla yogurt [plain would work]
appx. 1/4 - 1/3c. milk [any %]
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon

[yields appx. 3c. - didn't measure it]

dipper suggestions - cantaloupe/peaches/nectarines/apples [slice and roll in lemon juice and they won't turn brown at all]/watermelon/bananas/kiwi/pineapple/ginger snap cookies/angel food cake/etc!!

Let cheeses sit on counter for 10-20min. to slightly soften. Beat with mixer until combined. Add sucanat [or other sugar], honey, vanilla, yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat again. Slowly add the milk, until desired consistency is reached.

This recipe is extremely easy and fun! If you don't want to use any added sugar, I'm sure it would be fine leaving it out. You could try different flavor variations: replace lemon zest and juice and add 1t almond extract and 1/2c. chopped almonds. Just keep tasting as you go. It's a fun recipe to play with, and a super simple way to start using your sucanat!

ENJOY!

I made it the next night for the going away party Jason threw for Chris + me!! [awesome food + awesome people..thanks Jaaaason!!!!] I spy fruit + dip on the table....and a RIDICULOUSLY sweeet house! mad.jealous.

exterior shot of Jason's neighborhood [l.o.v.e. it]

Patrick [a friend and coworker] decided to get me a going away present.... best..present..ever..!!! THANKS Patrick!! He tried to find the cheapest granola bars with the longest ingredient list imaginable. Nice work!! He thought that with the list of preservatives, they would definitely make it to Colorado, with no problem at all.

I love that soy lecithin [or what I like to call "soy sludge"] made the list TWICE...awesome!

Patrick also brought this ice cream. He thought it would probably be the last time I would get these Southern flavors. The ingredient lists made up for the granola bars. Each carton only had FOUR ingredients. Su-weet!

Off to my last few days of work [done this friday]!!! Moving countdown : 15 DAYS!! aaaahhh

Ashley

ota.ingredients : sucanat

2009-08-20T23:06:00.011-04:00

I get a lot of questions about the ingredients I use in ota.bars, so I thought while I have some down time [while getting ready to move] from making bars, that I would briefly talk about them.

I'm going to start with SUCANAT. Sucanat is evaporated sugar cane juice. It is the most minimally processed sugar you will find! It has a dusty brown color with small sand-like grains. Because of the short process it goes through, it actually retains all of its natural caramel and molasses coloring and flavor. Whereas brown sugar is processed and refined down to white sugar and molasses + caramel syrups are added back in [yak!].

My thought is...Why does something need to be processed and refined down and then have color and flavor added back in...when it's most natural, less-processed form, already holds those attributes!? Because it is so minimally processed it retains some natural vitamins + minerals that exist in the sugar cane plant!

SUCANAT PROCESS: crush sugar cane ---> extract juice ---> dry juice ---> paddle into granules

I haven't gotten a bag of white sugar or brown sugar in quite some time now. I have been substituting 1:1 in my recipes that call for sugar. I would love to hear from YOU and your experience with sucanat.

Send any questions my way!! Would love to give more details!

[practicing my completely amateur photog. skillz]

I buy sucanat in 2.5lb bags from this awesome store Natural Grocers. Each bag costs about $3!!! [cheap cheap cheap!] I love this store and buy about 70% of my ingredients from them. If you just want to try it out, go to Whole Foods/EarthFare/etc. and you'll find 2lb bags for appx. $6.

[trying to capture the sand-like quality]

Do not confuse this with Turbinado sugar. Turbinado sugar looks all pretty, with its large grain - shine appeal, but is basically processed down almost as much as white sugar. It only retains trace amounts of its natural molasses content.

Not only does this awesome ingredient make your baked goods taste better, it is actually easier on the environemnt too!! [Yaaaaaah!!] It skips a lot of the process that white sugar has to go through to actually become white sugar, which therefore saves time + energy. It is a MUCH less industrialized product [ = HAPPY ASHLEY ].

[GO GET YOU SOME SUCANAT!!!]

Keep me posted if you try this [amazing/flavorful/natural] ingredient out!!!

Catch ya next week!!

Ashley

p.s. if you are looking for a quick + easy + delicious summer recipe, to ease you into switching to sucanat, check out the one I left [for a peach crisp] in the comments on Kath's blog [comment #23]

ota.bars are moving!?!

2009-08-15T15:22:00.009-04:00

Yes, it is true. We are moving to coloraaaado!!!!

[chris took these early spring '09 in CO]

more of the hub's awesome photos ----> HERE!!!

I have this girl to thank for insisting that I turn ota.bars into a real deal business
[i l.o.v.e. her] Fuse Photographic [amazzzing husband + wife photography team]

we always have THEE best times together aaaand she lives in CO so now I get more laura+ashley time [yes yes yes]

We will be living with my awwwwesome bro-in-law + sis-in-law...they are waaaay too kind!

the adventures of Pat+Chris....we will never run out of ridiculous things to do with these 2! [i spy shamu]

My sister-in-law, natalie, is absolutely amazing! She is so fun/loving/hilarious/smart!!/adventurous/etc/etc. She is excited to have a personal cook [me me me] coming to live at their house ;) aaand I can't wait to start cooking and adventuring with her!

Pat is awesome too!!! Look at his sweet stacking skillz!

the bro + me

I am going to miss wakeboarding!!!!! A huuuuge thanks to Will + Deb for inviting us on their boat alllll theee time!! Time to get my snowboarding on!

I want to thank EVERYONE for all of their support on my granola bar journey. I am hoping to transition it to Colorado, but have been so jam-packed busy that I haven't even started to research how to do this! Keep your eyes on the blog and hopefully I can keep you informed of what is going on with the biz.

I had a GREAT last day at the Charlotte Tailgate Market. I absolutely L.O.V.E.D. coming to this market and meeting all the vendors and customers. Lynn, the market queen/organizer/magician/etc./etc. was a pleasure to work with and she has done such an amazing job with this local market. Keeeep it UP!!!!

In other quick news...I have been blogged about a few times! Exciting!!! If you want to check it out look....

---> here [the most energetic + full of life girl I have ever met in my entire life]

---> and here[a super cute food blog with some fabulous photos]

Stay tuned!!!

[a nervous/excited/happppy/energized] Ashley

ota.documentation

2009-07-23T22:39:00.007-04:00

I love to document the process of things.

I spent a LOT of my time during thesis d.o.c.u.m.e.n.t.i.n.g. If you didn't know, my thesis was on food + architecture.
[but I won't get into all of that now =)]

So I felt I should share some of my documenting for ota.bars. There were not ideal lighting conditions, but you get the idea.

enjoy + leave comments + ask questions

Come out to the market this weekend 9am-1pm - email - info@otabars.com for market details

[organic rolled oats]

[ota.ingredients...can you tell which variety I'm making???]

[pnutty crunch!!! I use fresh ground, no added ingredient, pnut butter - mmmm]

[toasted oats + other secretive stuff - but not too secretive b/c it's all listed on the ingredient label]

[pnutty crunch]

[triple berry almond]

Did I make you hungry for some ota???

Time for bed!!!

Ashley

p.s. I linked my favorite blog sites to the right. Check them out!!! Lots of awesome food pics + recipes + funny life stories + wedding photography.

saturday market

2009-07-19T17:52:00.011-04:00

We had perfect weather at the market yesterday. There was a slow but steady crowd and ota.bars had a great day! I had cinna-fuse : cherry pistachio : pnutty crunch : & apple cherry walnut. Cherry pistachio sold out after about 2hrs. The new variety, apple cherry walnut, seemed to go over really well. I sold about 80 bars in 4hrs, which was great. I had a lot of friends stop by too, which is always nice.

Nothing much new to report, just a few pics I took at the market with my point-and-shoot. Tons of delicious, fresh, local produce. I am going to be sad when market season is over! Bye for now =)

Ashley

ota.bar samples

more samples

the best blackberries I have ever had...no comparison to store bought

I love fresh green beans [grilled, steamed, or sauteed]

Josh, Mandy, Lynne, Steve & their new cutie Liam

100% local breakfast...nothing beats this [even the bread and eggs are local]

ota.slogan

2009-07-15T12:03:00.005-04:00

I know, I know...where have I been??? The past few weeks have been a little crazy! I won't bore you with what we've been doing, but I will tell you I have decided on the ota.bar slogan! Took me long enough, right? Thanks to everyone who voted!! It pretty much ended up being a tie and I have been going back and forth and around again on which one to choose. [This may also have been 1 reason for my blog-slackerness lately]

I actually decided to throw both ideas out and come up with a completely new slogan. Crazy? Well, here are my reasons...

real.simple.food. - I really like the flow of this one and it says a lot in a small statement. However, everyone was telling me "this sounds so familiar." I then realized there is a magazine and product line [at Target] called "Real Simple." While it's not exactly the same thing, I felt I should probably divert from this one.

eat.real.food. - This was my favorite of the two. However, a few people pointed out it was somewhat bossy. I was okay with this at first because I thought maybe it would make people question what "real" food is. Then I started to think about who I'm marketing to and thought the slogan needed a slightly softer feel to it.

So, here goes...With some help from my good friend Joe...the new slogan is:

know.your.food.

I'm hoping that it will make people question what they are eating more, but in a less-bossy way.

If you have any negative comments on my new slogan, you can take it up with corporate ;)

In other news.....I have a new variety...again! I am really excited about this one!!

Apple Cherry Walnut - It is sweet but a little tart and full of flavor as always...who wants to give it a try!?

In other news.....I am mailing a package of bars to HAWAII!!!!! [thanks to my good friend Tom and his big mouth, hehe] Hopefully there will be more news with this in the coming weeks. Stay tuned...

Enjoy your week and weekend and come visit me at the market this Saturday 9am-1pm!

-Ashley

new ota.bar in town

2009-06-26T00:26:00.007-04:00

Quick blog before bed...
I have an exciting breakthrough to share!

ota.bars are now gluten-free friendly!!

The regular bars are not gluten-free but I have come up with a recipe for a gluten-free version. I took out the oats and wheat germ and replaced them with more nuts, more pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and a few other things. I tried out the cinna-fuse variety and they turned out better than expected. I still have some perfecting to do with the recipe but it was a great first trial.

Every weekend at the market I have people ask me if any of the bars are gluten-free. I really wanted to make a point in addressing this issue. My hope is to deliver a bar that is just as delicious and healthy. Even if you are not on a gluten-free diet, these bars are delish!

The other good news is that the bars are doing great at Common Market. The owner ordered more and said that people are responding really well to them and that the bright colors catch peoples' attention. This is really exciting because he has allll the nutrition bars in his store...Clif Bar, Larabar, Kind bar, etc. etc. So, to get people to stray away from their typical purchase and try my bars is kind of exciting!

Well, that is all...I don't have any ota.bar related photos so I'll leave you with this one that I took from our weekend anniversary trip. They are coconut pancakes that were pretty delicious. You realllly have to like coconut =) If you do here is the recipe link - (also my absolute favorite food website at the moment) The recipes are amazing..and the food photography is inspirational!

Come on out to the market! Lots to choose from this weekend =)

ota ota everywhere

2009-06-19T07:57:00.003-04:00

Now onto the ota.news! I sold another 124 bars this past weekend, which was super exciting! I am definitely starting to get weekly customers coming back for their favorites and people coming right up to my stand saying "I haven't eaten breakfast yet, I need a bar!!!"

This is pretty crazy/weird/exciting for me. It is a bit surreal as well. ota.bars are now proudly displayed and on sale at Common Market (South End location). I got some good feedback from people that saw them in the store before heading over to the market (they are right next to each other). The other Common Market location (Plaza Midwood) has shown interest in bringing the bars to their store as well. Yay!

I am taking a break from granola this weekend to celebrate my 1yr. wedding anniversary. Catch me next weekend back at the market!

Have a great weekend!!!
Ashley

common market

bars on display!

display jars for the store

save that water!

2009-06-19T07:45:00.005-04:00

Double whammy blog post!

This first post is non-ota related but something I am excited about. So, probably my favorite thing at the market is not food related. Well, it can be food related, but it is not edible. I am really passionate about water conservation and reuse and there is an awesome small business at the market selling residential rainwater catchment barrels. YAY! If only I owned a house where I could use one. Gr! This is a local company, making a solid product, that will definitely pay for itself in the long run. I took some pictures and you can check out their website for more information. http://www.mybarrelmonkey.com/

I also love their company name - Barrel Monkey (who doesn't remember that game as a kid!)

custom barrel covers