When "disaster" Strikes

Before I left for grad school, my grandparents came down for a brief visit and my sister and her husband came up as well. I love when lots of people visit because it gives me an excuse to bake something. Because I'm missing the American autumn (and the apple pie that goes with it) I decided to make a Dutch Apple pie from a recipe I found on Epicurious (originally from Bon Appetit). I made my own crust because a) I like to make my own crust and b) I haven't perfected making my own crust yet. I think I make it TOO wet, because rolling it out when it's too dry is such a hassle. It has to be the perfect consistency, and I just haven't managed to get it right yet. And then I couldn't find my go-to crust recipe, so I used another crust recipe from my pumpkin pie that I'd never tried before (because I like my other crust recipe). 

This recipe had 10 tablespoons of butter in it. TABLESPOONS. TEN! That is a crap-ton of butter. Particular when you add the 3 melted into apple-spice mixture and the 7 cut into the streusel topping. This was not a heart-healthy pie, people. 

What transpired next is a perfect illustration of why you should always ALWAYS put a clean sheet tray on the rack underneath the one you'll place your pastry/buttergasm on. Which, thankfully, I did. Of course, it would've helped if I placed it just right. Because not 3 minutes into the first stage of pie-baking (at 400 degrees F), I smelled smoke and immediately opened all the windows and doors. And I caught it before my mom even smelled anything (I think working in a restaurant made my nose more sensitive, but that's just a theory).

But what can you do? There's no major damage to the pie itself, but the butter is just bubbling around the sides of the crust like a reverse Vesuvius. And the only thing you really can do is just wing it. I (carefully) wiped up the sides of the pie plate as best I could with a sponge, left the oven door open until it stopped smoking (mind you: if there is FIRE, keep the door CLOSED and turn the oven off. The lower amount of oxygen should lessen/put out the fire) and spent the rest of the baking time periodically running a spatula around the crevice between the pie and the plate to stem the tide.

The point is this: recipes are really sort of suggestions, ultimately. Read the comments. Had I not read the comments, I would have assumed that the pie needed the full time written on the recipe, rather than HALF of that (I went about an hour and 20 minutes). And when you see that the crust is browned and the crumble topping looks nice and toasty, turn the oven down, timer be-damned. When you think the pie should be done, pull it out and stick a knife into the apples to see if they're done (you should be able to stick the knife in easily, but they should hold their shape [if it's headed toward applesauce consistency, aka almost fuzzy looking, you've gone too far]).

And for the love of God, don't walk away from a new recipe. Don't assume that everything will be fine. Keep an eye on it, peek in on it, sniff the air. Even on your old standbys. Because shit happens, and it's a little different every time. And had I walked away to do something else I would've ended up wielding a fire extinguisher rather than a sponge. 

And that would've sucked, because it was a damn tasty pie. I made it with just Granny Smiths and it wasn't too tart, the oat topping was delicious, and it held its shape really well (the only way I can think to describe it is that the apples didn't splooge out everywhere, which is kinda gross but true.) 

O Pioneer!

O you youths, Western youths,

So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,

Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

  
Have the elder races halted?

Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the

seas?

We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind,

We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,

Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

O resistless restless race!

O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all!

O I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

Raise the mighty mother mistress,

Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress,

(bend your heads all,)

Raise the fang'd and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon'd

mistress,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you daughters of the West!

O you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives!

Never must you be divided, in our ranks you move united,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

Minstrels latent on the prairies!

(Shrouded bards of other lands, you may rest, you have done your

work,)

Soon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us,

Pioneers! O pioneers! 

Till with sound of trumpet,

Far, far off the daybreak call-hark! how loud and clear I hear it

wind,

Swift! to the head of the army!-swift! spring to your places,

Pioneers! O pioneers! 

(excerpts from Pioneers! O Pioneers! by Walt Whitman)

recipe source: The Pioneer Woman

Recipe Book

So, as I get ready to move I am attempting to compile a boatload of recipes to take with me. Recipes that are delicious, healthy, and inexpensive to make. Quite the tall order, I know.

But my question is this? How do you organize your recipes, and with what system? My mom puts print-outs in a binder, organized by appetizers, desserts, soups, but also by proteins.

I know some people prefer a recipe box, others just pull recipes up on their computer . . . I never know what will be the most efficient when it comes to the actual cooking.

Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?

Wave of the Future

Michelle Obama is really doing the nutritional/organic/healthy food world a solid, I have to say. She has spearheaded the fight against obesity with aplomb, and with a grace and sensitivity that many lack. Beyond the garden at the White House, the bee hives, and her awesome Move Your Body campaign, today Mrs. Obama (along with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin) unveiled the lasted diagram for nutritional information, an unspeakably huge part of the fight against obesity. Portion sizes in America have gone out of control-huge and as we all know (but sometimes can't do much to help) we're eating, mostly, all the wrong things.

Ladies and gents, it is time to kiss that old food pyramid good-bye! We now have myPlate, a much more straight-forward concept of a dinner plate and its appropriate portions (half fruits and veggies, a quarter protein and a quarter grains, with a small side circle of dairy). Though not totally fool-proof (because I can seriously mound up my grains . . . and lets not forget the mountain o' mashers from Close Encounter of the Third Kind) it does translate much easier than the pyramid ever did . . . for children AND adults.

 

news source: The New York Times

Food for Thought

Through my daily internet meandering (I should be reading for school . . .) I stumbled upon The Elephant Journal, a yoga/meditation/food/lifestyle arena that seems really interesting as I putter around the site. Most interesting, I think, is an interview with  Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma which, full disclosure, I have yet to read (but it's been on my radar for awhile). 


Walk the Talkshow: Michael Pollan from Alex King & Mito Media on Vimeo.

And check out The Elephant Journal here

Start it Young

At the risk of sounding preachy (again) the most important thing we can do is educate our kids on how important our environment is, and how important healthy eating is. If we instill these practices at an early age, simply through it being the only way we live (organic food is just what you eat, you just turn off the lights when you leave the room, etc) then kids are MUCH more likely to make it a habit through life. My cousin works at this awesome goal, going into classrooms to teach kids about the environment with fun activities.

Another way is just through movies, tv shows. Shows like David the Gnome when I was growing up, and my favorite environmental movie of all time, Ferngully. The original, not the sequel, is best in my opinion, and Avatar is great too, with the added bonus of teaching kids about respecting other people's cultures/appearance, etc. It just might not be quite as age appropriate as Ferngully.



This film might also be the reason why I secretly hope that someone will call me a "bodacious babe." But that's neither here nor there.

If I had a goat, this would get it

A few weeks ago my mother told me about a segment in one of her morning news' shows (I don't remember which one), that basically said that organic food is expensive, so THESE are the ones you need to focus on. Good idea in theory, EXCEPT: they basically said that with eggs and milk, you can't taste or see any sort of difference, so go with the cheaper non-organic option.

Going organic is NOT really about taste. I mean, it's a fantastic off-shoot that is 100% true, organic food just tastes better, but the main thing is that organic food doesn't contain harmful pesticides, and isn't biologically tampered with (hormones, frog DNA, etc. I'm not a scientist, I don't know the facts, but what I know freaks me out).

FURTHERMORE, break a non-organic egg next to an organic egg and there IS a visible difference. The yolk is so much brighter, tastes SO much creamier. Switching to organic egg changed my life, in terms of consuming eggs.

Also, organic milk tastes better, lasts longer, is actually probably safer because it's ultra-pasturized, and doesn't have creepy chemicals in it (minus fortified vitamin D and DHA omega-3)

So, basically, whichever morning show this is is full of crap.

BUT, I do agree that organic food IS unfortunately, really expensive and going whole hog on the organic food thing is quite the financial commitment.

According to greenissexy.org, the Environmental Working Group has listed 12 food items that absolutely should be bought organic. These foods have no inedible peel (i.e. melons, bananas, etc) and therefore absorb the chemicals and pesticides right into the flesh. As they say on greenissexy, these chemicals are designed to stick no matter what, so no amount of scrubbing/peeling will get it off. Here is, as they say, the Dirty Dozen:

-Peaches
-Apples
-Bell Peppers
-Celery
-Nectarines
-Strawberries
-Cherries
-Kale
-Leafy Greens
-Grapes (imported)
-Pears

Just something to consider the next time you go grocery shopping (hopefully with reusable shopping bags in tow!)

Home-made Aloo Palak

A few weeks ago (more than a few, honestly) when left to my own devices for dinner, I decided to try to make one of my favorite indian foods, aloo palak. I didn't attempt the naan (though I hear it's fun and not too difficult!) and bought it instead. I used a recipe by Emeril Lagasse found on the Food Network website, which obviously I will write out for you, with my own edits (I streamlined quite a bit of the process, because I'm lazy).

It's not the prettiest, but it's darn tasty

Aloo Palak

• 3 tablespoons clarified butter or vegetable oil(I used the latter)
• 1 pound yellow onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 jalapeno peppers, stems and seeds removed, chopped
• 1 pound fresh spinach, stems removed and well rinsed
• 1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon garam masala, or curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 cup heavy cream   

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saute pan or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapenos and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. 

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon. 

Place the onion mixture and spinach in a blender or food processor and blend on high speed to make a paste. Set aside. 

Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan of water to cover by 1-inch. Add the teaspoon of salt and the turmeric and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander. 

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan or skillet (I used the same one). Add the garam masala, cumin seeds, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, for 15 seconds. Add the spinach paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the potatoes and 1/4 cup of water, and cook, stirring, until the potatoes absorb the water, about 2 minutes. Return mixture to food processor and puree. (I didn't do this, because it seemed complicated, and I like the chunks of potatoes in my aloo palak). Add the cream and cook until thick, about 1 minute.

Overall, it was delicious and quite spicy and wonderful. I ate it ALL up. (With some jasmine rice, which is pretty simple. I usually do about a 1/4 cup rice for just me, cover with water and boil gently with lid on until the water is all absorbed, then fluff with fork). Delicious.

Happy Earth Day!!

source: nothingbutearth.com via pinterest

Happy Earth Day!!

Obviously today is the (United States) government sanctioned day to do a solid for the environment, but there are easy things to do everyday that help out your environment.

1) Unfortunately today is a rather gloomy day outside, but if it's sunny (or even a tad gloomy but still light enough to see) leave the lights off! Why waste electricity when Mother Nature is doing all the work for you already!

2) As we get closer to summer, and move from our "brrr it's so cold outside! I can't wait till summer!" to "omg it's so freaking hot outside, where is my a/c?" think about this: how uncomfortable are you reeeaaally? I know tons of people that keep their house like the subarctic in the summer. Closed off and dreary and you practically need a coat in their big ol' chilly house. Conversely, in the winter you usually want to strip off all your clothes because you think you've suddenly entered the Sahara. I've always bitterly complained because my mom keeps our house at 70 all year round, and frequently in the summer just keeps the air off. But in the last few years (months . . .) I've realized that she has a point. Do we really need to keep the house that warm? Isn't easier (and more cost and energy efficient) to just put on a sweater? Or wrap up in a cozy blanket? Or snuggle up with somebody you care about? 

Now that it's spring/summer, throw open those windows leave your doors open (with screens to catch the bugs, let's not go nuts, here) create some cross-ventilation and enjoy the sunshine, the breeze, and the birds a-chirping!

3) Now, this is one that I've just started trying . . . and its definitely not for everyone, which is totally understandable. But . . . if it's yellow, as they say, let it mellow. Not in your company bathrooms, obviously (unless you're cool with that . . . that just goes past my level). But in the privacy of your own bathroom? Try just letting it sit for a couple rounds.The average toilet flush uses about 6 gallons of water per flush. That's quite a bit of water. (for other water conserving tips, get out our other post!)

4) Unplug your appliances when you're not using them. Unlike European houses, which have switches that turn off an entire outlet, American outlets STILL leach electricity EVEN if the appliance/gadget/whatever is not in use but plugged into the wall. This tip not only saves energy, but it saves YOU money. And we all like that. 

etc, etc. It's the easiest things that would be so simple, every day.

Snack Alert

I'm a snacker. I am. I graze. Particularly when I come home from work and it's that evil time in between meals: you're hungry, but it's not dinner time for hours yet. So I'm trying to reach for healthful things rather than the alternative (I'm looking at you, jalapeno queso dip!). Now, for a long time this meant an apple with peanut butter. But I am an apple elitist (only Honeycrisp, thank you!) and my apple of choice are presently unavailable.

Lately I've been reaching for my granola, which is normally reserved for topping my oatmeal. This is of course disastrous, because it makes my granola disappear twice as fast, but it is also delicious. 

I use two types of granola on my oatmeal, both from Bear Naked (Peak!). The first layer (even in my snack bowl) is oats & honey, which is peppered with blueberries and ground and whole flax seeds. I never thought that I was a flax personal, but this is quite delicious, I have to say. Anyway, the second layer is cluster-y and wonderful, with cranberries and a hint of vanilla (the original [edit: original granola, not original vanilla], apparently).

I love bear naked for many reasons. They're vegetarian-friendly, soft-baked rather than break-your-tooth-off, kosher certified, all-natural, and as they say, "bearly processed."And finally, they have a "terracycling" program for their packaging. Each bag and wrapper has been assigned a number of points. You hold on to your empty packaging and when you have assembled the correct number of points, you mail them in and receive a reusable bag (made from the packaging) or a t-shirt! Now, there are some short-comings to the plan (pay for shipping, and really, how many t-shirts do you need from one company?) but I like the fact that they're doing more than JUST using recyclable materials, when it can be so hard to know where our recycling actually goes every week.

Either way, it's so darn tasty and I can't seem to stop my little grazing paw from reaching into the fridge to grab a little morsel of tasty clusters. 

(this being said, I'm pretty sure you don't have to keep granola in the fridge. I just do.)

Green Out!

I know, I know! We're terrible, it's the truth.

But in all honesty, my life hasn't been too super green right now and the last thing I want is to feel hypocritical. My stress levels have sky-rocketed over the last few days weeks, and frankly all I want to do is watch television, read blogs, and eat every available highly-processed food product. And then I get stressed about being stressed. It's a vicious cycle, my friends, and it must be stopped.

So, in an attempt to disconnect, I decided to enjoy the weather and go for a very long walk around my neighborhood (and the surrounding neighborhoods . . . ah, suburbia).  But besides enjoying the spring air, the sunshine, and spotting the new flowers peeking out of the dark earth, I couldn't help but notice something. Though there were several other people, couples, families enjoying the day as well, very few had really left their business at home.

A mother and daughter listened to the radio as they walked, a wife talked on her cell phone while her husband pushed the stroller and walked the dog. And there I walked, all by my lonesome, no phone, no iPod, just my keys and a good pair of sneakers. You don't realize how much your thoughts are taken up by random, pretty inconsequential things until you actually give yourself the time to think about whatever you want. I mean, I'm not going to get into it because it's sort of personal, but I did more than thinking. I had thoughts. Big ones. In a ponder my life/the universe kinda way. I feel like we don't let ourselves do that very often.

Anyway, as I looked through the archives of the blog Green is Sexy today, I noticed that posted what they called an "eco Sabbath" but that I call a "green out." It's marginally simple: unplug. Take an afternoon/evening a week/month/year to turn off the lights, the computer, the cell phone, the television. Don't buy anything, don't use any electricity, just take a break from everything.

both images: we heart it

Read. Journal. Draw. Play cards, or backgammon. Run outside. Play tag, or badminton (*note to self: get badminton set). Walk the dog, or yourself, or your sister. There are so many things that we don't let ourselves enjoy because we feel we aren't being productive. But in reality, we go watch tv or browse the internet. So give yourself an allotted amount of time to do nothing, and give your natural resources a break at the same time.

Who knows? Maybe you'll have thoughts. Big ones. (I'm sure you will)

I'm a terrible food blogger.

Because honestly, I'm so shy and nervous about my own cooking (and my own photos of my own cooking) that I tend to avoid taking pictures. But I promise to be better!

I'm so excited that spring is coming. Spring means warm weather, longer days, and best of all, fresh fruit. I love fresh fruit. Like, it's hard to express the depths of my affection for fresh fruit. A good melon, some strawberries, blueberries, hell any berries! Put them all in a bowl and I'll eat them like m&ms. Hopefully I'll have some recipes to post soon. Right now I am seriously digging Kath Eats Real Food's Tribute to Oatmeal (ask around. it's pretty pathetic how excited I get about oatmeal). Below is Kath's great tutorial (though I use 1/2 cup oats, and 1/3 cup water and milk, because I like it with BARELY any liquid in it). I add a little cinnamon and some granola on top, and it's a fantastic start to my morning!





In other news:


When I first started my "let's get healthy" journey, I started to take yoga at a studio in my college town. Once I graduated and moved home I continued to do yoga with those at-home dvds but . . . in my opinion it's just not the same. There is a great energy to doing yoga in a studio, with everyone breathing together and focusing so intently. It's also longer, heated (not hot yoga, just heated more than your house would be), and you get the unspeakable benefit of having an instructor to fix your pose and encourage your stretch when you're being complacent. 


I'm back at a studio that, based on the two practices I've attended, I just love. The space is fantastic, and I love the pull and feel in my muscles after a great class. However, my yoga gear is sadly out of date, and I can't help but have my eye on some pretty things from Lululemon.

 Obviously these are a bit wide for practice . . . but they look super duper comfortable, man. And as it turns out, when you feel like your hands are about to slip right out of downward dog, you really can't focus on your breathing. Or relaxing. Hence the skidless towel below.

 

source: Lululemon

Anyway, I'm hoping to be more regular with my posting, with recipes, and other yoga and running news, including playlists, product reviews, and (hopefully) my family's adventures in composting!