double whammy

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!]

1. No red pepper flakes.  There was enough spice in the main dish.  I like plain cornbread! =) 
2. 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! 
3. 2 1/2c. corn in 1 pan is a LOT of corn.  I use 1c. [frozen] max!
4. 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!

flying home

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

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

1. Bring broth to a boil.
2. 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]
3. In a large saucepan, cook sausage/bacon until done.
4. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Set meat aside.
5. Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender.
6. Stir in flour, salt, basil and pepper to the onion/garlic pan. 
7. Gradually add to broth, stirring, and bring to a boil.
8. 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

cooking for 10

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:

1. Wash – cut stem off – chop in half or in 1/4’s
2. heat pan on medium with 2T olive oil
3. add sprouts with s+p
4. 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.
5. 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!

1. Preheat oven to 400* [use middle rack]
2. Slice potatoes into strips
3. Toss with a light coating of EVOO, s+p
4. Put on baking sheet for about 40min [time varies] and turn a few times throughout cooking.
5. 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