A Fresh Start

I’ve been slouching on my diet lately.  I call it being in “The Cheese Condition” because I eat a little too much cheese and picture myself stuck in a pile of melted cheese, struggling to get out.  I’ve had a harder time finding that determination that keeps me set on my task of being healthy and fit and taking great care of myself and my family.  And it’s a slippery slope for me.  It starts with extra bites and turns into extra bowls of food I don’t need.  It starts with a couple excuses why I didn’t exercise and turns into daily laziness.  The holidays certainly didn’t help.  In my last post you saw me declare how much I was going to cook and eat. 

I once cut out a quote from a magazine that said, “Remember you can always take a U Turn.  Eating three cookies is better than three cookies and a piece of pie.”  That has always stuck with me.  I love the idea that, at any moment, we can stop in our tracks, let go of the negative storyline in our heads and just start fresh.  So, rather than make any grand proclamation about the New Year and make a giant list of things I plan to do, I’m making that my resolution. 

I’m going to start each day of 2011 with a fresh start.  And that means, for today, I’m not eating cheese.  Instead, I’m making a delicious pear and arugula salad.  I’ll post the recipe!

Double Chocolate Cherry Crackles

These cookies are really easy, really yummy and fun for kids to help make!  You can make the dough ahead and then just bake when you want them.  I got the original idea from Food Network and then added the cherries (I'm a genius baker, I know)!  The dough is really stiff, but they come out yummy, I promise!

Double Chocolate Cherry Crackles

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the melted butter and eggs until combined, then stir in the white chocolate chips and cherries. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Put the confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll tablespoonfuls of the dough into balls, then roll in the confectioners' sugar until well coated. Place 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.

Bake until the cookies are puffed and the tops are cracked, about 10 minutes. Let cool 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Celebrate Light!

     The sky is grey.  The light is shallow.  We are descending toward the shortest day of the year.  Our Vitamin D levels are decreasing.  The cold is causing our bones to ache.  Our children have got another round of seasonal viruses.  It gets dark at 5 pm.  We have every reason to feel hopeless and gloomy. 

     And that is why it is so important to celebrate!  It doesn’t matter what you believe or where you come from, there is a celebration for you.  I grew up with Christmas, but I also love the miracle of Hanukkah, the burning of the Yule log, and El Día de los Reyes.  During the darkest time of the year, we, as a human race, hang on the hope that light will return again.  We eat feasts and light candles and sing songs of joy.  We drink wassail or ponche or really great wine.  Children wait for Santa or Baby Jesus or light candles for the Sun Lord, all giving hope of wonder to come.

     I tend to be an over-thinker and focus on all the things I don’t believe in and don’t like.  But December, for me, is all about remembering all the traditions that our ancestors used to bring joy to their lives during the darkest of days.  So, I’m baking a ton of cookies.  I’m roasting a pork loin.  I’m mixing ginger cocktails.  And I’m sewing tiny gifts to remind my kids how much I love them.  Happy, Joyous Holidays to you and yours!  Seriously, eat, drink and Be Merry, the light will return again!

Easy Hanukkah Doughnuts & Best Ever Hot Chocolate

Easy Hanukkah Doughnuts & Best Ever Hot Chocolate

Fried food is typically eaten during Hanukkah because it celebrates oil and the miracle of the holiday.  The easiest doughnuts I know of are made using canned biscuit dough.  They are light and fluffy and oh so good.  This is my sort-of Mexican twist to make them taste a little like churros.  Eat these with the hot chocolate, and you will think you are in heaven.  

Doughnuts:

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (make sure you get some really great cinnamon - I personally LOVE Penzey's Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cinnamon)
• 1 container (8 large) store-bought biscuit dough
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

Place sugar and cinnamon in a paper bag and shake to combine.

Place oil in a deep pan until it comes about halfway up the side of the pan. 

Heat oil to 350 degrees F.

Slice biscuit dough in quarters and roll into balls to form 24 donut holes. Working in batches, place donut holes in hot oil and fry until golden, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the hot donuts to the paper bag and shake to coat with orange sugar. Serve immediately.

Best Ever Hot Chocolate:

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 ounce best-quality unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp. granulated sugar
• Few grains of salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
Garnish
• Lightly sweetened whipped cream

Method:

In bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade, combine both chocolates, sugar, and salt. Cover; process at high speed just until chocolates are finely ground. Set aside near stovetop.

In a one-quart, heavy-bottomed, nonaluminum saucepan, heat milk over low heat, stirring often with small whisk, until it is steaming hot. Carefully add chopped chocolate mixture (don’t let the hot milk splash you as you do this!).

Continue cooking mixture over low heat, stirring almost constantly with whisk and scraping bottom and sides of pot with rubber spatula frequently. Mixture will steam for several minutes before coming to a boil, and as temperature increases it will thicken slightly. When mixture achieves a boil, continue cooking and stirring for 30 to 45 seconds.

Remove from heat; whisk in vanilla. Divide among small mugs, top with whipped cream, and serve immediately with the doughnuts.  

Family Holidays!

As we gather together for the holidays, we often swell with expectations, with glorious ideas about how perfect the holiday will be.  We plan our menu.  We package our gifts.  We buy our plane tickets.  We are filled with grandiose ideas of a Normal Rockwell gathering of like minds and cheerful children.  But we’re often wrong.  The holidays are a huge stress, and it seems to bring out the worst in sibling relationships and child insubordination.  It’s a giant roasting pot of familial chaos.

I love my crazy family.  I love my brothers and sister.  We were somehow thrown into life together despite our obvious and riotous differences.  We had no choice in the matter.  We have staunchly different beliefs and parenting and political views.  We have different dietary habits and chemical balances.  We probably should not be friends.  But we are.  We love each other fiercely. 

And so, I’m setting a new expectation for this coming holiday season.  I’m expecting a little frustration.  I’m expecting an argument or two.  I’m expecting that everyone will bring to the table a little bit of crazy with their favorite dish.  But I still have high hopes for a delicious menu.  And I’m also expecting hugs and laughter and ridiculously competitive rounds of Trivial Pursuit.  I know I’ll bake a lot and hope they’ll love it.  So, I guess I’m expecting a much more fun party than a Normal Rockwell painting.  I guess I’m expecting a real family.

The Simplest Side Dish

I love sweet potatoes, and, recently, I started roasting them with garlic and onions and apples.  It's the easiest thing, but it is so ridiculously good.  The kids pick out the onions, but they chow down on the sweet potatoes and apples!  I love the sweet/savory mix.  I hope you do too!

Prep: 20 min., Bake: 35 min. 

Ingredients

• 3  pounds  sweet potatoes (about 5 medium-size sweet potatoes), peeled
• 2  large Granny Smith apples, peeled
• 4  tablespoons  olive oil
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  coarsely ground pepper

Preparation

1. Cut peeled sweet potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Cut peeled apples into 1/2-inch-thick cubes.  Smash the garlic cubes to peel them, then roughly chop them.  Cut the onion into larger chunks, a little smaller than the sweet potatoes and apples.
2. Coat everything in the olive oil.  
3. Add salt and pepper.
4. Place potato mixture in a single layer in a lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish.
5. Bake at 400° for 30 to 35 minutes or until potatoes and apples are tender and lightly browned.  You can bake for less if you'd like your apples more crisp.

Enjoy!

A Big Thank You!

                I’ve been suffering lately from a terrible sickness.  You might have caught this.  It’s going around.  The symptoms are total misery, grumpiness, agitation, dissatisfaction and complaining.  I’ve had a bad case of jealousy.  And it’s been really hard to recover.  I’ve been disgruntled about every hardship because I keep thinking of someone else who has it easier.  Even the choices I’ve made for myself start to make me angry because other people are making easier choices.  They should have it just as hard.

                But as Thanksgiving draws near and I sit with my daughter and talk about the meaning of the holiday, I’m realizing that my illness needs an antidote.  And the antidote is right there in the word, thanks.  If I stop the storyline in my head and just sit and look around, I have so very much that deserves my gratitude.  And the jealousy is just discounting the wonder of my life. 

                Yet life is really just so wonderful.  There are so many things in life to savor and appreciate.  And nothing I can add can increase the joy I receive from being with my three crazy kids.  As Wendell Berry says in his poem “The Wild Geese,” “what we need is here.  And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye clear.  What we need is here.”  I can mumble complaints about what I don’t have, or, with same breath, I can say thank you that I have all that I need.

                We at The Fork & Spoon want to take this time to say a special thank you to all of our wonderful customers.  We know you have a choice when dining out and we thank you for joining us.  We hope to see you again soon!

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

 (Don't tell them it's healthy!)

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon flax seed
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions:  

Prep time, 10 min.  Total time: 20 min.

1. 1Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, flaxseed, wheat germ and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
2. 2Add in the egg, milk, oil and pumpkin. Depending on how thick you like the consistency of your batter, you may want to add a little more milk or water to thin it out as needed.
3. 3Heat electric griddle to 375 degrees. Spray with Pam cooking spray.
4. 4Ladle spoonfuls of batter onto griddle. Once you see bubbles starting to form, flip the pancakes over but do not pat them down! They won't be as fluffy if you pat them.
5. 5Cook until lightly brown on both sides.
6. 6Serve with fruit, syrup, or honey as desired. (Put servings of syrup in old cough syrup cups to portion it and reduce sugar!)

Sneak in the Veggies!

                Based on everything I’ve read and heard from other parents, getting kids to eat vegetables is one of the most challenging things we do.  I know my three have made a pact not to eat broccoli, spinach or green beans.  They love orange veggies, but green has been voted out.

                Therefore, based I’ve adapted to sneaking vegetables into our food, one way or another.  Here are some of the ways I do it.  You can check out the blog for more extensive recipes and tips.

1. I mix broccoli puree in with my macaroni and cheese sauce.  I make a white sauce and then add cheese and puree.  The broccoli taste goes well with cheddar, and they gobble it up!  If your kids hate the broccoli flavor, try an orange vegetable instead. 
2. I mix spinach puree into scrambled eggs.  This is my version of “green eggs.”  My kids love eggs, so they think it’s hilarious to eat them green. 
3. I mix pumpkin into pancake batter.  Add a little pumpkin pie spice, and you feel like you’re eating dessert for breakfast.  Use whole wheat flour and portion the syrup in old cough syrup cups so they don’t get too much sugar.
4. I mix vegetable purees into pasta sauce.  The tartness of the tomatoes helps cover up the flavor and color of the vegetables. Put the sauce on whole wheat pasta or pizza dough.  Add cheese.  Devour.

Once you start doing this, you will come up with all sorts of creative ways to sneak in those veggies.  It only takes an hour or so to puree a bunch of different vegetables.  Then you can freeze them in ice cube trays for easy pre-portioned availability!

Bring on the Pumpkins!

I love fall.  I love the crisp air and the changing leaves.  Most of all, I love fall produce.  Bring on the squashes, greens, apples and sweet potatoes.  And bring on the pumpkins!  The best part is, these fruits and vegetables are packed with cancer-fighting carotenoids which may inhibit cancer cell growth, work as antioxidants and improve immune response.  They are also delicious.

As we dive full force into Pumpkin Show and eat our hearts out with all the amazing pumpkin recipes, let us not forget the humble yet extremely tasty pumpkin seed or pepita.  Pumpkin seeds pack a strong nutritional punch.  They are a great source of protein and many essential minerals.  They also provide polyunsaturated fatty acids.  They are also nutty and yummy.

In Mexico, the historical origin of the pumpkin, pepitas are prized little gems that are used in a variety of sauces and soups.  There is a type of sauce or mole called Pipian that features these might green kernels of goodness.  It is creamy without having dairy.  It is rich without adding too much extra fat.  And, what’s best, I adapted a recipe from Rick Bayless that uses store-bought salsa that can be made in half an hour and may just get your kids to eat something green!

Check out my blog to read the full recipe and some of the tips I have about where to get the pepitas and salsa and how to adapt the recipe for picky little finger feeders.  I also included a recipe for roasting your own pumpkin seeds, if you’re feeling ambitious.  Happy Pumpkin Show!

Pink My Diet

Cancer is very prevalent in my family.  My mother is a breast cancer survivor.  And with October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and my age creeping ever higher toward my mid-thirties (that can’t be right), I’m really starting to think seriously about breast cancer prevention.  This prompted a call to one of my best friends, a breast surgeon at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC.  “What can I do to help prevent breast cancer?”

My friend pointed me to several studies that link diet and weight directly to breast cancer risk.  First of all, I need to get myself down to a healthy weight.  That means losing 20 pounds (gulp).  Scientists believe that the estrogen production in fatty cells may be the connection between obesity and breast cancer risk.  Research shows that my diet needs to be about two-thirds plant based, with foods that have low calorie density and are low in fat.  I need to cut out a lot of red meat and limit my alcohol.  I guess it’s true, you are what you eat. 

The other main thing I need to do is GET MOVING!  Studies show that we need about 30 minutes of vigorous exercise every day to help keep breast cancer at bay.  If getting into those skinny jeans wasn’t a motivator, surely preventing cancer will get me up on my feet every day!

Come on in to The Fork & Spoon for our new lunch buffet.  Every Tuesday – Friday from 11 to 1 we’ve got soup, salad and pasta for $5.49!  Let’s start this healthy living together!

Garlic Refried Black Beans

Making homemade refried beans is really easy and so worth it.  You can control the taste and variety and amount of fat.  When I want to be indulgent, I use bacon grease, but usually I use Canola or Olive Oil to cook the beans.  This recipe is a variation on the "typical" refried beans.  I like to only use garlic to give the beans a real rich, creamy flavor.

Garlic Refried Black Beans

1 bag of dried black beans
4 - 5 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/4 C oil or bacon fat



Cook the dried beans according to the instructions.  Usually you have to soak them and then cook them for a couple hours.  Don't salt the water in the beginning.  It hardens the beans, and they take longer to cook.  Once they are soft, then you can add salt to taste.  Don't go overboard, just enough to add a little flavor.  Then puree the beans using an immersion or regular blender with some of the cooking liquid.  You want them to be a little runnier than what you want as refried beans.
After the beans are done, heat the oil or bacon fat to medium high in a pan and sauté the garlic and until they begin to get soft.  Be very careful not to cook the garlic too long because burnt garlic will make the beans taste bitter.  Take out all the garlic with a slotted spoon.  Add your pureed beans to the oil.  Cook the beans until they start to get nice and thick and you can smell that they are toasting a little bit.  Careful not to burn them!  

You can keep these beans in the fridge for a long time.  They are great in quesadillas, on tostadas and alongside some warm brown rice!

Fresh Tomato Salsa

You can make this as spicy as you like by increasing or decreasing the amount of chiles.  And the secret to great salsa is to not forget the salt!  Think of salsa as adding seasoning.  You want it to be a little salty.  Then, you'll want to put it on everything!  This is a good way to use all those late summer tomatoes from the garden!

Fresh Tomato Salsa

8 Juicy Red Tomatoes

1 small Onion

3 Cloves of Garlic

3 Tb finely chopped Cilantro

1 Serrano Chile

Salt

 Add all the ingredients to your food processor and puree.  Salt to taste!

Family Dinner

Every night our family of five sits down to a family dinner. It’s not elegant. It’s not gourmet. And, it’s not quiet. It’s a zoo. And mostly, I’d just like to forego the entire production. It’s exhausting. But I truly believe it’s worth it.
 
A simple online search for “family dinner” reveals that many experts agree; family dinner is imperative. For kids who eat regular family meals there are significant decreases in many risk factors including obesity, substance abuse, depression and eating disorders. Research shows many also get better grades in school and often delay sexual activity.
 
One of the key components to a family dinner is communication. Our kids are still very little, so the topics of conversation are far from intellectual. Poop gets discussed more often than I’d like to admit. But we also talk about work and friends and sharing and why you need to eat those veggies. Good communication means we turn off the TV, don’t answer the phone and nothing comes to the table but food. We just sit and eat and talk. Well, there is some whining.
 
Eating together also gives me a chance to get my kids to try new things and teach them that eating is an adventure. When we get the chance, we like to eat out at different ethnic restaurants. It’s like travelling without ever boarding a plane!
 
Whether we’re eating leftovers at home or getting great Mexican food at The Fork & Spoon, we make eating dinner together a priority. And in between the whining and complaining and crying, there’s a lot of talking and a lot of laughter!