Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Go Juice Yourself

Look at how pretty that juice is!

A few months ago I watched the movie Fat Sick and Nearly Dead.  It was an interesting movie.  It's about a guy that goes on a 60 day juice fast as a last ditch effort to get healthy.  And it works.  For him.  I could never simply juice for 60 days.  I couldn't juice for 3 days.  I like food.  But I did decide to buy a juicer based on this film, for the simple fact that juicing is good for you.  I mean, really, when are you ever going to sit down and eat an apple, 4 carrots, a nub of ginger, a half a lemon, a cucumber and half a bag of spinach in one setting?  Well I never would have unless it was in juice form.  And I have to say, juicing makes you feel good.  It gives you energy...lots of it.  1 juice feels like drinking 5 cups of coffee, in my opinion.  And if you wake up to a juice, it will give you the motivation to eat better the rest of the day.  Makes you feel all healthy and warm and fuzzy because you're doing something good for your body.      

This is my juice after mixing it all together. Not the prettiest thing, but it really picked up the ginger flavor, so it really was delicious.  And yes, you don't get a whole lot of juice, but this is what I got from 1 cucumber, 1 apple, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 bag of spinach, 1 inch of ginger, and 4 carrots.  Think about how much nutrition is packed into that one little drink.  And you don't have to peel anything.  All you have to do is wash whatever you are going to juice.  And don't forget to rip off the stickers that come attached to small fruits and veggies, cause they taste like shit.

The fibers left over from juicing.  If I only had a compost pile...one step at a time!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Cuckoo for Cauliflower


Cauliflower has always been one of those vegetables that I could take or leave.  It's good enough.  It tastes kind of like cabbage.  It's one of those veggies that if you eat too much of it raw, your burps will smell terrible.  So when I heard of roasted cauliflower, I decided I had to try it.  I love roasted vegetables.  Something about roasting veggies gives it that nutty flavor that I so love.  So I gave it a whirl with cauliflower and I'm happy I did.  I can't stop making this dish. 

Here's What You Do:
Take a head of cauliflower and chop the florets into bite-sized pieces.  Place the pieces into a baking dish and drizzle olive oil over each floret.  Salt and Pepper the florets and then add in a sprinkle of crushed red pepper and sliced garlic.  Mix everything together and place in a 400 degree oven.  Cook for 15 minutes or until cauliflower is tender.  At this point, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese is browned.

The flavors are amazing.  The nuttiness of the cauliflower, the spiciness of the crushed red pepper, the creaminess of the garlic and the salty goodness of the cheese make this the tastiest cauliflower dish ever.  EVER. 

Try it.  You too will go cuckoo for cauliflower.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Hot Damn for Hot Browns


This, my friends, is a little number called a Hot Brown.  It's a sandwich that dates back to 1926 and was created by a man named Fred Schmidt at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY. It's an open-faced turkey sandwich covered with tomato and bacon and then smothered with a creamy, cheesy mornay sauce and then baked until bubbly and browned. 

I had the pleasure of eating this very hot brown at the Brown Hotel last year on a trip to see Jane's Addiction at the Palace Theater.  If you've never been to the Palace Theater to see a band, do yourself a favor.  It's the most intricately decorated theater I have ever stepped foot in.  It's beautiful.  Here's a picture of the outside.  


The inside will blow you away.  Trust me. 

But back to the hot brown.  It's hot.  It's browned.  And it's delicious.  Make one.  Or if you're having a Kentucky Derby party this year, make a bunch.  Hot Brown with a Mint Julep, can't go wrong. 

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Fat Camp

When I was a junior in high school my mom worked at a place called the Health Connection.  It was that year, that the Health Connection started what came to be known around our house as "fat camp".  It was a weekly class that taught young adults how to eat, how to exercise, how to count calories and essentially, how to lose weight.  So being the daughter of the person in charge of the Health Connection, I was told by my mother that I had to participate in this fat camp because she had to have a certain number of students in order to have the class. 

I'm sure it was some sort of punishment for something I did.  I was not fat.  Sure I had a little baby weight on me, but I was by no means fat.  In fact, I was the skinniest kid in fat camp, which kind of makes you feel bad.  You don't want to be the skinniest kid in fat camp.  At least I didn't want to be.  I could feel the other kids in the class burning holes into me with their eyes.

Fat camp turned out to be a fun experience.  I did learn a lot about eating in this class.  I learned how to make healthy choices when eating out.  I learned things back then that people to this day still don't know about.  Like portion sizes.  I learned a lot of things that I use to this day to remain a healthy weight.  I also lost the most weight in fat camp.  I didn't need to lose the most weight in fat camp.  The kids in fat camp hated me.

We joked about it then.  It's really no joke now.  We have WAY too many fat kids in our country.  Maybe there's a fat camp near you.    


Here's one of the healthy snacks I learned to make in fat camp:



Here's What You Need:
Rice Cake
Peanut Butter
Raisins

Here's What You Do:
Spread peanut butter (about a tablespoon) onto your rice cake, top with raisins.  Eat.  It's delicious.  And it won't make you fat.  Well, unless you eat 15 of them in one setting.






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