26 Sunday Feb 2012
Posted in Food
I’ve been so busy with student teaching I haven’t had any time to update ye ol’ blog but here’s a little something. This past weekend Mike and I volunteered at my school’s Jump Rope for Heart and had a blast:
Getting some air for a good cause 
Today Mike and I saw a great little Paleo/Primal reference guide and thought it was a great, easy-to-read/understand breakdown of how we eat. Check it out here.
12 Thursday Jan 2012
Growing up my family ate Italian food at least three times a week. At least. We used to joke that we should have an “i” on the end of our last name since we were obviously secretly Italian. We loved anything with garlic and sauce on it. And I still do. BUT now that we’re mostly gluten-free we’ve had to make some adaptations. So here is a way to make a classic spaghetti/pasta dish for GF households…even if you’re not Italian
To replace the penne, spaghetti, shells, or any type of noodles use spaghetti squash. There are a lot of different GF pasta replacements lining the grocery store shelves but most of them use rice or some type of GF flour. We try to stay away from a lot of processed foods so we don’t buy them. We use spaghetti squash because it’s a vegetable and veggies rock! Duh.
I had never made, let alone ate a spaghetti squash until 2-3 years ago. They are super easy to make and taste awesome! To start take your spaghetti squash and cut it in half, lengthwise. Be careful, sometimes this is challenging. Once cut in half, scoop out the seeds. We save the seeds, de-goop them (yes, that’s a technical cooking term, at least according to me), toss them in olive oil and salt, and bake on a cookie sheet until crunchy – yummy treats! Once the seeds are scooped out, place the squash halves in a pan and cook at 400° for 40-50 minutes. To check if it’s done take a fork and run lengthwise. If the squash comes up easily it’s ready! Run the fork from stem to stem in order to get all the “spaghetti” strands out. Add your toppings and enjoy!
Roast the seeds just like pumpkin seeds!
Immediately after cooking (even though they look just the same pre-cooked!)
Getting those strands out!
Almost done, just missing one topping...
The final product! Trust me - this will fill you up!
03 Tuesday Jan 2012
One of the gray (or is it “grey”???) areas of Paleo/Primal eating is whether to include dairy or not in one’s diet. Hmmmm….Mike and I are def in the gray area here. I don’t drink milk except coconut milk. Which isn’t exactly what we think of when we’re talking about milk. If you really think about it the whole idea of drinking cow’s milk is odd. Seriously, we’re the only species that drinks another species’ milk. Yeah, weird. So in addition to not drinking milk I try to limit my dairy. We eat cheese, yogurt, and ice cream but in moderation. Mike and I are huge ice cream fans and buy Breyer’s Natural flavors because they are the most, well, natural. But overall we don’t consume huge amounts of dairy.
But because we do have some dairy every now and then I have to share with you an easy appetizer “recipe”. Recipe is in quotes because this barely qualifies as a recipe. It’s that easy. But of course when I was making it I wasn’t paying attention and burnt the pecans. So I did find a way to screw up this easy “recipe”. We had this when we were over my parent’s house for Christmas Eve with the family. So I’ll dub it:
Place sugar, pecans, and a little bit of water in a frying pan. Heat on low, stirring constantly until sugar melts and all the pecan pieces are coated and warmed. Spread apricot on top of the brie wheel. Spoon pecans on top of the apricot. Enjoy!
But sorry, you’ll have to get your own wonderful boyfriend to put it all together for you
29 Tuesday Nov 2011
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Mr. Yuck would not approve of the following information.
A new study just came out stating that BPA is found in most cans. A lot of people are aware of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). You know, the chemical found in things made from plastic. So now if you go buy a plastic bottle you see the little BPA-free stickers all over the bottles:
Well apparently BPA is found in the lining of cans, some plastics, some polycarbonate bottles, and cash register receipts (random, right?). Well a lot of people know about BPA being found in plastic bottles but the new study talks about the effects of BPA in canned goods.
A small study released on Tuesday found that 46 out of 50 cans tested had traces of Bisphenol A — more commonly referred to as BPA. Source
Read an article about the study (it’s really short and easy to understand – always good when dealing with scientific studies!). Mike and I have heard over the years that plastic packaging and cans can leak into your food (gross I know) so we have tried to avoid buying those items. We buy salmon but get Chicken of the Sea Salmon (wild caught) in packets:
We also buy any tomato item (pasta sauce) in jars, parmesan cheese in glass jars:
And really other than that and the occasional random purchase (artichoke hearts, but again we buy those in glass jars) we try not to purchase anything else that would come in cans or plastic containers. Personally, it’s really scary knowing that all of these things are still being sold in stores and so many people are unaware of the potential risks they can bring.
The chemical BPA is an endocrine disruptor that has been shown to interfere with reproductive development in animal studies at levels of 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight and higher, though it remains uncertain if the same effects cross over to humans, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Source
So even though the effects on humans are not completely known I’d rather not risk it. I’ll be sticking to glass jars or passing on buying the product. No thank you Progresso and Spaghetti O’s. I’ll be sticking with glass or making it on my own! (Definitely helps that a lot of gross, unnatural foods come in plastic containers or cans. All the more reason to avoid them!).
22 Tuesday Nov 2011
Posted in Being Green, Food
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It was Mike’s birthday on Monday and to celebrate we went out to a new restaurant: The Green Room Bistro.
Their philosophy:
THE STATE of commercial food production in this country is frightening. Just a small peek at how our food gets to our table is enough to disturb even the most stoic palate. We work with small local Farmers to find the freshest, nutrient-rich ingredients available. OUR MISSION is to provide food that nourishes your body and our local economy. Sustainability is the future. If we are going to affect change, it is up to each of us to eat in what we believe. Come join the party.
And join the party we did! We had such a great experience at The Green Room. As soon as we walked in I was digging the atmosphere. It was quaint, cozy, and funky all at the same time. It was a BYOB place so we brought a bottle of Malbec to accompany our feast for the evening.
The menu was small but changes daily in order to offer the freshest food possible. We opted to start with the Dinner Crepes to split as an appetizer. They were filled with black beans, goat cheese, and a tomato-salsa sauce. They were very good (and very large!):
Then for our entrees we ordered the Alaskan wild caught salmon and the roasted chicken with chocolate barbeque sauce. They each came with two sides: garlic mashed potatoes, steak fries, a vegetable medley, and greens with turnips. I was a little skeptical of trying chocolate barbeque sauce on the chicken but wow – it was great. It really didn’t taste like either barbeque sauce or like chocolate. But it made for a wonderful marinade/rub!
The salmon was a little on the dry side but was otherwise very tasty.
The portions were perfect: we were satisfied but not stuffed. And since it was a birthday dinner we knew we had to order dessert This was seriously the highlight of the meal:
Homemade brownies with real whipped cream. ohhh my mouth is seriously drooling just writing about them. They were amazing. The brownies were very fudgy and dense – a perfect combo!
I’m not going to lie – after we devoured those brownies we definitely felt a little stuffed. But since most of the food was local, fresh, and organic I didn’t feel too guilty Overall we enjoyed The Green Room. The service was great and the food was excellent. I will gladly support places like this that help out the local economy and farmer. It will be exciting to go back knowing that the menu is changing daily and we get to try new and wonderful dishes!
