out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks

Everyonce in a while you see something on the side of a building that you pay attention to. Last week I saw a quote that said:

"Live like your life depends on it"

I didn't really know what that meant, but I replaced a word and it make a lot more sense to me.

"Eat like your life depends on it"

That is true. My life does depend on it.
But not in the same way as it does for people that don't have enough food.
For me, its about what I eat.
What I eat for breakfast does determine the amount of "life" I have during the day.
Whether I eat vegetables and fish or meat and potatoes my body will be affected.

And, let's be real. The quality of my life is also impacted by the quality of flavor.
No one smiles and relaxes when they bite into a sugar-free, fat free cookie.
We have to care for the heart too of course.

soup's on

Posted by Sam , at Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup

Last time I posted I mentioned that it was starting to get cold so we had butternut squash soup in bread bowls. Well the truth is, I have been on a bit of a soup kick lately. I just keep making them! This month I have made:

If you make this one I recommend you add a little milk or cream to finish it off.

2% would be a responsible choice.

The verdict on this soup was that the flavor was great,

but the texture was closure to butternut squash puree.

Get some dairy in there for creaminess.

Roasted Cauliflower and Aged Cheddar Soup

Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Soup

I made this one just because I wanted to.

Only seven ingredients*.
*EVOO and S&P don't count
Delectable as is.
No changes from me. Rare.

Chicken Verde Stew with Hominy
aka- Green Chicken Chili

I made this one because I had the ingredients.
I almost always have carrots, onions, peppers, chicken broth.
I had leftover celery from a batch of curried chicken salad
and just needed a few extras to finish this one off.
Verdict? A little spicy but the sour cream is a great touch.
Good flavor and very fresh!
My preferred modifications?
Replace the big can of hominy with a little one and add a can of garbanzo beans.
Get yerself some extra protein.

Am I talking too much? Okay fine I'll cut to the chase.

I made chili for some college students that came over.
I usually make beef-free chili, but that isn't as publically acceptable
so I made the real stuff this time.
All American Chili

This is not the speedist chili recipe, but it is delish.
Definitely a crowd pleaser. Don't change a thing.

Today for lunch I am eating
Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup
Healthy Roasted-Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Healthy Roasted-Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

I accidently let this simmer a little too long and it turned it into
a chicken noodle/ potato soup hybrid.
This is about as hearty as soups come. Filled with protein and veggies.
Plus the creaminess of potatoes and... well... cream.
Brett likes to call it a "casserole soup" just to ruffle my feathers.
It's not a casserole. It's a soup. K?
Verdict? Awesome,
but don't expect a classic brothy soup.
Modifications? Pull the chicken off last night's rotiserrie chicken.
Way easier than cooking your own just for this soup.

I'm forgetting one soup... oh well.
Our favorites in order:
1. Roasted Cauliflower
2. All American Chili
3. Chicken Noodle
4. Green Chicken Chili
5. Butternut Squash.

Next up? My favorite soup cooking tools!

Kids these days

Posted by Sam , at Friday, August 10, 2012

Ya know the trouble with kids these days? They buy too much organic. Ya know the trouble with organic food? Not enough pesticides.

Ya know the trouble with not having enough pesticides? Too many pests.

Brett found a fly. I found a worm and two ants. On my broccoli.

THIS IS WHY KIDS DON'T LIKE VEGETABLES! Cause broccoli eating experiences are wrought with images of black slime and crawling things.

Last weekend hubs and I tried to do a 3-day lean meat and vegetable cleanse. This is not one of those liquid cleanses that forces you to... Um... flush your system. No no. This is more of a detox from carbs and sugar. Now those of you that know me - read:all of you - understand that those are fighting words. This is like...

I don't even have any good analogies. But it's SERIOUS! We started this crazy business on a Friday. And of course hubs was feeling peachy keen after work so he wants to lift weights. I might as well have not eaten anything that day. I'm getting lightheaded and real grouchy. But I forge through it. For the sake of my bestie.

Well Saturday morning rolls around and hubs and I head to the park. I'm feeling slightly better, he is feeling slightly worse, but needs to get in his long run. Training for a half-marathon. Nut. But he heads out for his run and I decide to keep my exercise to a brisk walk. I don't function well without my sugar-nicotine. Duh. Well hubs doesn't either cause he makes it back 45 minutes later looking like death. [No offense, babe.] We had to get the kid some electrolytes in the form of Gatorade. That also came with sugar. And a stop at First Watch. We are still recovering.

Lesson of the day? Vegetables are overrated. Eat cake.

Like this one that is currently baking in my oven:

Roasted Banana Browned Butter Bars? Don't mind if I do.

Posted with Blogsy

What I learned today

Posted by Sam , at Monday, July 23, 2012

Today I had to drive to the boonies to get our car back from the shop and to return the rental car. We're talking a 20 minute drive south (or maybe it was west), 10-15 minutes at the shop, and 25 minutes to work. Don't worry. I got there early.

Psych!

So I'm leaving to make this whole trek and its already 8:02am and I realize we don't have anything I can just grab and take for lunch since we were out of town this weekend. We have food, sure, but frozen fish doesn't count at 8am. So I stopped by the grocery store on my trek out south (and/or west). I grabbed a frozen dinner and a second one since they were on sale, and I happened to pass by the far corner of the store where the baked goods are held. I didn't want to do it, but alas, the baked goods and the frozen foods are always so close together... sigh. So I had a donut for breakfast. I thought about grabbing a bottled frappuccino, but they looked too sugary to me. I checked the nutrition label and sure enough it is made of 92% sugar. Slight exaggeration possibly, but not a significant one. These suckers were fully leaded with sugar. So I drank my water with my [delicious tasting] donut. And I felt crummy.

So then I got suspicious. How much sugar is too much? Both my dad and hub's pop are pre-diabetic. And we all know my three food groups are fruits, vegetables, and desserts. So I should pay attention to this whole sugar thing. First stop, what is the recommended daily intake by the wise people? You know- the USDA, FDA, American Heart Association, all those people. Well generally speaking, the magic number is 25 grams. Yikesabee! Here are a few foods and how they measured up (Pardon the formatting. I'll fix it later):

Recommended Daily Allowance (Men/ Women)	36 / 24
Hershey's Bar	24
Sara Lee 100% whole wheat (2 slices)	5
Starbucks Grande Vanilla Latte	35
Blue Bell Homemade Ice Cream (1/2 C)	21
Jose Cuervo Marg (4 oz)	24
McD's Medium Dr Pepper	56
McD's Large Orange Hi-C	94
Watermelon (2 C)	20
Strawberries (8 med)	8
Chocolate Frosted Cake Donut	20
My Smart Ones for lunch	10
PB&J (with aforementioned bread)	20
Yoplait Light Strawberry Yogurt	14
Bottled Starbucks Vanilla Frappuccino	31

That's intense.

I can't be perfect in my food habits, but it is still very good to be aware. Maybe tomorrow I'll tackle sodium research.

Just kidding. That's enough smart stuff for the week.

Over and out.

This just in: Cooking Light

Posted by Sam , at Thursday, June 14, 2012

Strawberry, Peaches, and Basil with Orange Vinaigrette

I love fruit.

Including fruit for dessert.

Add fresh basil and a warm vinaigrette and I'm a goner.

(Tangent: Goner looks like goon. Not always interchangeable).

Anywho, I need to make this soon.

This came in last month's Cooking Light and it is pretty. I said "this just in" because my July edition just came and I hadn't read June yet! I've been too busy being fickle about bathroom colors and haven't done much else around the house. More to come on the paint indecision.

The June edition has lots of great stuff and I'm only halfway through it.

This article on the nutrition of fruits and veggies makes me want my own garden really badly. Instead, I will go to the farmers market this weekend and skip the gym. Wait, is that bad?

How simple and delicious do these scallops look?

Aren't these overpriced bakery towels adorable?

I'll probably make this cashew chicken in the next 3 hours. Or 3 days if I'm lazy.

And did you know that pina coladas are a death trap for your swim suit? I didn't! I'm trying this recipe makeover ASAP.

As a note, can I just encourage those of you who have an iPad to read magazines on it? Better Homes and Gardens on the iPad is my favorite. Cooking Light is kinda tricky to setup, but wonderful cause I like to have links to the web pages with recipe reviews. I don't always trust the ones they print, you know. You get extra links to where to buy things, interactive articles, and all kinda off good stuff.

I heart donuts

Posted by Sam , at Friday, June 01, 2012

It's National donut day!

Free cake donuts to anyone that walks in the door at Lamars.

(aka Brett can't bring me one at work)

As Tom and Donna might say,

treat yo'self!

PS- Check to make sure the location near you is participating.

PPS- Krispie Kreme is doing the same thing, but their donuts are icky. Don't do it.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

Posted by Sam , at Thursday, May 31, 2012

For those of you who are interested, here is the recipe for the mason jar desserts from Memorial Day

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/judys-strawberry-pretzel-salad/

Speaking of sharing recipes, have you ever used Pepperplate? Great for sharing recipes online and especially on iPhones and iPads. It allows you to make notes, scale recipes, plan menus, and shoot an email to a friend with your custom recipe at any time.

But for y'all I'll just tell you the modifications J ulie and I made:

Mason jars. Duh. I bought 1/2 pint jars from the grocery and they were prefect. This recipe made 10 jars, but you could definitely fit 12. The thing is that it makes 16 servings, so we had couples share the 10 that we made and it was just about the right about. If you want a big dessert though, go one per person.
Cut down on the sugar and butter in the crust. 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 cup of butter is plenty. I also recommend a food processor to chop them up if you want the crust smoother. If you like a course crust just go at it with a meat tenderizer or rolling pin. If you leave it chunky people will think there are nuts in it.
Skinny please. Go with low fat cream cheese, cool whip, and sugar free jello. No one will miss the extra calories. Note: if you always make recipes skinny, people never try the fully loaded kind and likely wont know what they are missing out on. I'm so sneaky that way. Don't tell hubs :-)

The perfect make-ahead, cool, fruity summer dessert.

Except for maybe daiquiri ice from Baskin Robbins.

Or a margarita.

Or sangria. Who doesn't want to end a gorgeous night with sangria? Sigh...

Memorial Day

Posted by Sam , at Wednesday, May 30, 2012

I know I told you I'd write about baseball, and I full intended to today, but then there was a heated game last night and I got all riled up. So it's best if I let myself take a chill pill and write about that later.

In the mean time, I'll tell you about my weekend.

Friday hubs went left and I went right. Actually, we were only a block apart for a good portion of the night, but who's counting? His bestie is getting married and they had their bachelor party. Do men call their best friends "besties"? Probs not. Let's call him his best "bud". I don't think hubster uses that phrase, but I'm at a loss. Anyway, they had a bachelor party and I went to the associated bachelorette cause the future Mrs. Best Bud is great and we get along well. No photos from the evening, but the boys ended the night at 3am with Taco Bell sooo... just sayin.

Blah blah boring things on Saturday morning and mid-day. Then that afternoon we went my sister move into her new place. It was super duper hot, so no photos there either. Even if they did exist, which they don't, I wouldn't show you.

Then Sunday the pictures began. We went to Celebration at the Station. Ever been? Basically the Symphony has a free concert on the lawn between Union Station and the Liberty Memorial. Did you know the Liberty Memorial is one of very few WWI museums in America? Well we sat on blankets between the two landmarks and listened to the symphony while we enjoyed wine, fruit, bread with oil, and (duh) dessert.

My lovely friend and I made what I like to refer to as the classic grandma style potluck dessert- strawberry jello cheesecake crusty things. That's the technical term. I'll find the recipe and post it here. But the fun of it was the mini-mason jars. Everything is more fun in a jar, doncha know? Long story short, I didn't know how to transport the dessert for more than 10 people in a cooler to the park. Much less, something that could baked in and served from. Solution? My friend mason. Check out these little cutie pies?*

Pardon the photo quality. Not sure what happened here.

There were also some wonderful designs on Union Station behind the symphony stage. How cool?!

They also shot of cannons. Like real cannons. The really loud ones. I jumped every time. Then they shot off fireworks behind the memorial. A lot of them. Probably the best firework show I've been to in a long time.

Then Monday came and we had a b-day party for my cuz. Pool party, to be specific. It was the perfect day for it. Mack-attack loves to swim.

False. He does not love to swim. That picture was staged. Hard to imagine, but true.

And I baked a cake. Cause that's how I roll.

Then my sister and I wore matchy-matchy outfits. She called us "twinkles" all day. Not sure what that means... But I do know that she thought our dresses were green sooo she's clearly a bit coo-coo for cocoa puffs.

That's all folks.

Crunching the numbers

Posted by Sam , at Tuesday, April 10, 2012

I've had some interesting jobs in my day. I'm only a-twenty-somethin, but I done seen the world.
False.

But I did work at a golf country club without ever setting foot on the course.
I worked at a brewery without ever drinking beer.
I worked at the YMCA in the inner city... without having kids? Less significant. I'll stop.
I worked at a beauty salon.
I worked at a house-keeper in a major hotel.
I taught statistics.
I worked in another restaurant.
And I worked in a flower shop. Okay fine, I didn't. But I wish I did!

Anywho, I've spent a few minutes as a server. And mi madre y mi hermana (my computer really wanted me to type "Herman" there) have spent more than a few minutes servin y'all over the years. And ya know what I've found after being around the industry? People are confused about this whole tip thing. Allow me to give you some pointers:

Tips are servers' wages. They don't get a paycheck. And they likely have to split their earnings with lots of people through the restaurant, so don't assume they "make bank" on the $10 per table that they earn.
Tips should be percent based, not fixed value. You people that tip $3 every time no matter how big the bill... no one likes you.
Tips should be based on performance. The industry standard is about 18 percentages here in uh-mare-ee-ca, so you can go up or down from there. Go less than 15% and you're telling your server they messed up. Keep that in mind.
Tip on the after tax value. (This is the topic that spurred today's post so I had to bury this tip in the middle, lest I get fired up.)
Tip on the pre-discounted value. For example, if you had a coupon for a free entree or your server bought your dessert for your birthday, add the cost of that back in then calc your tip.
If you sit for a long time and don't order much, add extra to your tip for opportunity cost. We won't define that phrase today, so just trust me.

What is the easiest way to get to 18%? Aim for 20% Pardon the condescension here, but do you know how to crunch the numbers to get to 20% of your ticket? Just move the decimal and multiply by 2.
If your meal was 30, it is 3x2 or $6.
If your meal was 150, your tip should be closer to 15x2 or $30. You might think that is a lot, but at restaurants with higher prices each server takes care of fewer customers. That means they spend more time on you and don't have as many tables. So they aren't necessarily making that much more.

Glad we could have this conversation :-)

all I wanted was pink nails

Posted by Sam , at Tuesday, March 06, 2012

I did! I just really wanted a gel manicure. It started on Sunday when two friends came over and they had just come from the nail salon. Their fun springy nails beckoned. But I said to myself, I said, "No, self! You just got a haircut and have been longing for moroccan oil. You can't spend monies on a manicure."

Well, that was Sunday. Then Monday came and I still wanted a mani. Then Tuesday came in all it's 75 degree showiness and demanded that I get out of the office to get one. I called ahead to make sure I'd have time. It'd be close on my my 65 minute break, but I could do it. And I'd even have time to swing by one of the McD's in town that historically has had Shamrock shakes.

But you know what happened? Traffic was terrible. There was a school bus blocking one lane on Main waiting for the students. And then you make it past the bus to find a car with a guy dropping off his gf for work, but not without a 10 minute make-out session first. Aw, so cute. Barf. This lane is also, for all essential purposes, closed. I make it past both of them to find massive truck after massive bus after massive truck. What in the world?! It's a Tuesday at 11:45! What da' prob'm is?!

So right before getting on the highway I bailed. I decided to give up on the nails and just get my smooth minty shake. But you know where you don't go on Tuesday at what is now noon? McD's on Main. Just don't do it. You'll never get out. 12:50 after your manicure you'll be fine. But straight up 12 noon? No siree-bob. Bad news bears. Don't even try.

You know what all the hub-ub is? The Big 12 tournament is arriving. All the junk and all the teams and all the fans. Now let it be known that I love my Jayhawks. And I love the tournament. But it ruined my perfectly-planned-pretty-pink sunshiney day. Ruuuuude!

Maybe tonight I'll paint my nails pink and make myself a homemade shamrock shake. In the mean time, I'm now back at my desk for my lunch. Hurumph.

Is this real life?

Posted by Sam , at Tuesday, February 21, 2012

You know the David After the Dentist video? One of my all time favorites :-)

But seriously, what you are about to read is real life.

Yesterday I got a work email announcing a bake-off.
My thought logic:
FUN!
Wait, that's scary. Other people are way better than me. I'll pass.
Whatever. I don't bake to be awesome. I bake cause I'm a sugar-aholic.
So that means I need to bring something.
Well I can't just make my go-to Chocolate Cherry Heart Smarts. Lame. Need to do something more impressive.
No no no. I'm not trying to impress anyone, remember?

So today I'm telling a female friend at my client (women are hard to come by) about the stich-u-ation and the guy next to her chimes in...

"You know what you should definitely NOT bring? Those cupcakes you made last week! Did anyone actually eat one anyway?" *snide laugh*"

Kid. You. Not.

Is this real life? Why yes. It is.
Have I told you lately how much I love working with [pretty much] all men? Cause I do.
Maybe I should make him a chocolate pie. Minny Jackson style.

Oh and for the record, these are said terrible cupcakes. Admittedly could be way better, but also could be way worse.

chicken curry in a hurry

Posted by Sam , at Monday, February 20, 2012

When we were growing up my mom occasionally made Chicken Curry in a Hurry. My sister was not a fan of curry so we didn't have it often, but we had it. Always introduce funky flavors to your kids at a young age; it helps them/us acquire the taste later down the road.

Then when we were sampling food for our wedding the restaurant made a warm chicken curry salad. It was surprisingly tasty. We had it for the big day. Well, I didn't eat it, but it was served. There was a small mishap with the food I was supposed to eat on my wedding day. Another story for another day.

Our neighbors love curry. They had us over once and made this super tasty green curry. At least I think it was green... Either way, it was tasty curry.

Slowly but surely I've been developing a taste for curry. So when I saw this recipe for Curried Chicken Salad with Apples and Raisins on CookingLight.com I decided I needed to try it. Besides, hubs is MIA this week so I can use raisins in my food without being chastised. Not that he does that, but whatever.

Last night, somewhere between 10:00 and10:30, I made it.

This morning somewhere between 11:30 and 12:00 I ate it.

Tasty. Healthly. Filling. Recommended.

Note: This recipe only makes enough for 2 servings if you're eating it by its lonesome. 4 servings if you're putting it on a sandwich. This is just the right amount for a trial run.

Coming Soon: DIY art project by yours truly. Hard to imagine, but true.

Valentines Day

Posted by Sam , at Tuesday, February 14, 2012

What is the best part about Valentine's Day?

So many wonderful things to choose from!

Time with my bestie

Chocolate

Flowers

Love songs

And as if those four things don't make me giddy enough...

Heart shaped everything

Donuts for breakfast

I didn't eat any though

Yes I did. But only one.

Okay fine maybe I had one and a half.

The color pink

But this year I don't get to spend time with my bestie.

It's hard to be an auditor's wife, I tell ya.

But you know what?

It's harder to be an auditor so I'll keep my mouth shut and be supportive.

What happens when you don't get time with your bestie?

You replace it with equal proportions of chocolate, flowers, and love songs.

This weekend I made some delicious brownies.

But only baked them about halfway.
Serious fail.

They are still good with a spoon though.

Last night I tried to make shortbread.

I couldn't get the dough to form a ball.
Had to throw it out altogether.
Epic fail.

Then I tried to make "Bleeding Heart Cupcakes"

(Read: Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry filling and a strawberry buttercream frosting)

I didn't have the coupler I needed to put in the filling.

It kinda went everywhere other than the center of the cupcakes.

But I forged through.

Then I ran out of sugar halfway through the frosting.

But I had worked too hard and couldn't give up

so I went to the store and bought more sugar at 11pm on a Monday.

Don't judge.

The consistency of the icing suffered because of the time gap.

Whatever. It still went on top.

In summary, the cupcakes survived.

They could be way better, but they could also be worse I guess.

Either way, they satisfy my need for chocolate and other sugar on V-Day.

And the donuts didn't hurt either...

So let's get to the point already:

1. What is YOUR favorite thing about valentines day?

2. What is your favorite love song?

("Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx is currently tickling my fancy)

Autumn roasted veggies

Posted by Sam , at Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Last week I made roasted veggies. The same ones my sister made for me on my birthday. They were uber-tasty and it incorporates all kinds of vegetables you've never used before. I took tons of fabulous photos along the way to show you.

{Imagine approximately 10 fabulous photos}

Then I went to load them to my computer and the photos were gone. Story of my life. Lucky for me I had texted one little picture to my sister, showing off the final product.

Pretty, huh?

So here's how you do it.

Gather yourself some veg-e-tables. I used:

Butternut squash
Rutabaga
Purple top turnip
Carrots
Pearl onions
You can also toss in beets, potatoes, celery root, parsnips, or whatever you heart desires.

When you get to the register at the grocery store and the cashier looks at you like "What is this? I don't know how to ring this up. You sure you want to eat this stuff?" Just look confident. You totally know what you're doing.

Start chopping everything into bite size pieces. Chopping is always the worst part of a recipe, so just power through it. A few tips:

Let your dog play with the pieces of carrot that go flying. He'll think it's a bouncy-ball.
Never cut a butternut squash? I have a photo of that for you. Psych! Just chop off the neck so you've got one thick piece and one thin piece. It makes it easier to peel.
Never cut a rutabaga? Good luck! Just kidding. Once you peel off the weird skin its just like a potato.

Drizzle on EVOO, as Rachael would say. I don’t have an actual measurement for you here. Which works cause I didn’t tell you how much of each of the veggies to use J. Just drizzle, toss, drizzle, toss… until you get to a just barely slimey state. Pardon the adjective there, but seriously that’s what you’re going for. Then toss on some sal y pepe, thyme, rosemary and majoram.
Spread all of it on a sheet pan in a single layer and roast “until fork tender” (her words, not mine) and golden brown, turning occasionally. It should take about 45 minutes.
Serve to people that don't like veggies, and watch them enjoy.

Self control

Posted by Sam , at Thursday, January 05, 2012

When it comes to shopping

I can handle it.

When it comes to my speech

I can usually control myself.

But when it comes to food

I'm a total sucker.

Bagels in the breakroom. I'm a goner.

nutella sea salt [wanna-be] fudge

Posted by Sam , at Monday, December 19, 2011

Fudge.

I could take it or leave it.

But when I come home from a weekend of wedding madness

and feel compelled to bring something to my work holiday party the next day

and don't have any eggs so I give up on baking

and resolve to putting on sweats and reading my favorite blogs

and accidentally stumble on Nutella fudge...

then, my dear friends, then

in that moment fudge sounds good.

So I make it at 11:30pm

Duh.

Tasty Kitchen Blog Chocolate Nutella Sea Salt Fudge

It was raved about at my company party today

and I had to put the tray away a few hours before the party ended

cause I knew hubs would want to try it.

Do yourself a favor and make this Nutella and Sea Salt Fudge

from Tasty Kitchen on ThePioneerWoman.com.

Oh and I make substitutions, remember?

Do yourself a favor and follow my lead:

use fat free sweetened condensed milk

1-1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips if that's what you have.

Because who has bittersweet chocolate and who has a scale? Not I.

Don't bother bringing your butter to room temp.

Except really you should cause mine struggled to melt.

And if you don't keep sea salt in your pantry use kosher.

It's not as pretty, but it tastes the same and no one will notice.

Just give them all away after you make them.

Or you'll have an upset stomach from eating too many.

And don't make Fantasy Fudge anymore.

It really doesn't stand a chance against this super simple, decadent recipe.

Dear coffee, I love you

Posted by Sam , at Wednesday, November 30, 2011