Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Viral infection

Dear Internet Bad Guys:

You suck.

Disrespectfully,

Lara



To those of you who are unaware my computer has been infected with a virus called "antivirus live" its a sneaky little bug that independently downloads itself and begins running on your computer as an antivirus program alerting you to numerous bogus infections. Once you are made aware that your computer is being attacked by these threats the virus prompts you to purchase a "full version" of the antivirus software to protect you and remove the threats. The virus disables the use of other programs and applications on your computer so that purchasing the fake software seems like the only solution. All in attempt to scam you out of your money.

Thankfully I didn't fall for the scam instead I dropped it off with my 'computer guy'. I imagine right about now he is digging around in there with his scalpel and forceps trying to pull the wormy invader from the belly of the machine. And soon he will return it to me with the only damage being done to my wallet.

So stay tuned, I have a a few recipes I'm really excited to share; Zucchini "fries" with marinara, Chicken Picatta and Cream of Asparagus soup!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Eggs Florentine

When Chris and I spent new years 2007-2008 in Stowe we stayed at a little B&B called The Gables Inn. Ever since I was young they were known for doing the best Eggs Benedict in town. But now under new ownership would they still be the best in town? I was concerned because I love Eggs Benedict. Its, hands down, my favorite breakfast dish. Finish it off with a little fruit salad and coffee and I'm ready for anything the day has to throw at me, after a nap of course.

We narrowly avoided a major breakfast crisis because they were just as wonderful as I had remembered, if not better. But one can't eat only Eggs Benedict every morning for a week. So I went out on a limb and mixed it up with what they called "two on a raft" which was essentially Eggs Florentine with a slice of fresh tomato snuck into the stack.
I certainly can't imagine hitting the gym in an hour with a belly full of eggs and hollandaise sauce so to keep me motivated: my version of Eggs Florentine; slightly adapted to agree with my goals. Its a compromise I can be happy with!

Here is what you will need:

Two eggs
2 fistfuls of fresh spinach
1 small shallot
a few slices of fresh juicy tomato
2 teaspoons olive oil
whole wheat fresh loaf, sliced or English muffin
reduced fat cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Depending on your appetite this will feed 1 very hungry person or two for a light breakfast.




Shallot: a marriage of onion and garlic. The perfect sidekick to spinach.


this package had two rather large shallots so I'm only using half of one, sliced up fine.

In a pan with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, saute the shallot over medium heat until soft.

Fresh spinach: the bag says its a super food. I believe it.

Drop about two fistfuls of spinach into the pan and reduce the heat to med-low. Add a sprinkling of salt to keep the leaves bright green. Cover and saute for just a few minutes until wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.

Slice your tomato, not too thin, you want it to hold its integrity in the pan.

Drop the tomato into a saute pan with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and heat until soft. Remove from pan and set a side

Whole wheat crusty loaf. My Achilles heel.

Toast, lightly, two slices. If you want to go crazy you can put a light spread of butter on there...

Top the toast with the tomato

Crack two eggs into the pan you had the tomato in.

Easy now, beeee careful!

Phew. Two eggs over medium, salt and pepper to taste.

Top the tomato with the egg

and the egg with the spinach.

Instead of hollandaise, top the spinach with a small slice of reduced fat cheese. I'm using provolone.

I popped the whole plate under the broiler to melt the cheese quickly.

Fiber, protein, iron, vitamin C, calcium... this is an excellent way to start your day. And it doesn't taste like a compromise at all.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

"Awesome Apple Crisp"

My husband is an apple crisp connoisseur. It is one of his three favorite desserts when its done right. So its rather convenient, for Chris, that one of his good friends owns a company that produces and sells an incredible apple crisp topping (not so convenient for me on the heels of my renewed focus explained here).

I may have mentioned it before but here's a little recap: Chris is from Rhinebeck NY. Which randomly happens to be some sort of weird hub for State Fair concessions. Chris grew up in Rhinebeck with Rick and Steph Winne who own one of these concession gigs. Just like our friend Rob, they travel from state fairs to horse shows to small craft festivals selling hot apple crisp. They do this in addition to regular, full time jobs; Rick is an insurance adjuster and Steph is in real estate. As if all that weren't enough, they decided to expand the business to local commercial markets and grocers selling the apple crisp recipe along with sweet potato crisp, pumpkin crisp and pear crisp in convenient, single serving packages in parts of the north east.

After a recent visit, when Rick and Steph returned home they sent down a couple of samples of their apple and sweet potato crisp. Today we threw one together and lets just say its good that I'm leaving for work soon lest my willpower waver.

If your are able to get your hands on it, here is what you'll need:

1 package awesome apple crisp
10 to 12 baking apples
2 sticks butter
1/4 cup water

This package makes 18 servings in a 9 by 13 baking dish!

The Winne's recommend using granny smith apples. We had a bag of organic Galas so thats what we're using.
Peel,

core,
and slice your apples. If you have one of these thing-a-ma-jiggies its makes the whole process a lot easier.
place all the apples in the baking dish with 1/4 cup of water

melt two sticks of butter
pour the package of crisp topping into a bowl


add the butter and combine

Topping!

now pour the crisp over the apples

and bake for 45 minutes

The aroma in this house is making my mouth water

and so is this!

Serve with ice cream and earn big points with your hubby! I see shopping in my near future...

Friday, January 8, 2010

Grilled chicken with smokey salsa and herbed white beans

For Christmas this year my amazing husband got me a membership to the local fitness club. Now, I know a lot of women would be pissed thinking their husband was implying they need to lose weight. But I actually was DYING for this gift because I DO need to lose weight or, rather, I need to get back in shape. Its not so much the quantity I'm concerned about as the quality of the weight, if ya know what I mean.
Since I've been staying at home and not bringing in an income we've had to cut out certain luxury expenses. Unfortunately for me, my gym membership was the first to go. So on Christmas morning when I opened the little black felt jewelry box and found the keyring membership card, I was ecstatic. This new gym has a nursery with free childcare for members and a large indoor pool along with a fitness room that also offers a wide selection of classes from spinning to yoga to boot camp. Have I mentioned I'm super excited about this?
So to kick off the new year and my new membership right, I thought it only appropriate to start sharing some of my favorite no guilt recipes. I got a little off track while I was pregnant and then as a new mom I had all of these people bringing me delicious dishes... it would have been rude not to accept. And then it was summer and it gets so hot in the summer here that you NEED ice cream to keep you from overheating. And then it was autumn. And then the holidays came 'round and well, you know, its the holidays. Well now I'm fresh out of excuses. Not to mention the fact that when Liam was first born my mantra was: It took 9 months to gain all that weight it will take 9 months to lose it all again. Liam is now 1 and No, I did not lose it all.

Back before I got married I was at the pharmacy waiting for a prescription when I decided to check my blood pressure. Imagine my surprise when at 32 the result was hypertensive in flashing red lights. I thought "It must be a fluke, the machine isn't calibrated properly." So the next time I passed by a different machine I sat down and stuck my arm in. HYPERTENSIVE. Hmm. That is no good. When I got home I made an appointment with my doctor. Together we discussed my options. Not wanting to resort to medication right away we agreed that I should try and get my BP under control through diet and moderate exercise. After only 6 weeks my BP dropped from 145/90 to 130/80 and after 6 months it was 125/70. At which point I became a firm believer that the food we use to fuel our bodies can heal as well as harm us.
So this is not a diet and these are not diet recipes. This is me getting back on track and being conscious.

Here are the rules I chose to live by:
Adapted from Dr. Mehemet Oz & Dr. Michael Roizen.

1. Never buy anything with these ingredients: Hydrogenated oils, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Enriched/bleached grains, or phenylalanine. Those 4 little ingredients are in almost everything we buy off the shelf at the supermarket. Go to your fridge and pantry and take a look. bread, cereal, colas, BBQ sauce, rice, pasta, the list goes on and on. You'll be tossing a lot, which is a waste, I agree but you're better off in the long run.
2. Go brown. Whole wheat pasta instead of white, brown rice instead of white, whole wheat bread instead of white, substitute sweet potato for white baking potato unless you're one of the few people I know who can eat a baked potato without all the butter and sour cream and bacon bits. If it looks like it did when it came out of the ground you can eat it. ;)
3. Do not deprive yourself, totally, of anything you are craving, just make a comparable substitution and practice moderation. If you're like me you NEED something sweet to cap off a meal. If you've got the time make a big batch of deceptively delicious chocolate chip cookies and freeze them. When a craving hits you can defrost them in the microwave in just a few seconds but they wont be as readily available for you to eat the whole batch in one sitting.
4. Get off your butt. There is no escaping it. Move your body enough to get your heart rate elevated for 30 minutes a day. And 30 minutes is nothing, that's a mini-dance party in the living room with your toddler.

Now that you've got the foundation lets cook! Tonight's Dinner: Grilled Chicken with smokey salsa and herbed white beans.

Here is what you will need:
2 chicken breasts, trimmed.
1 cup chipotle salsa
1/2 avocado, diced
2 teaspoons olive oil
cilantro, chopped
1 can great northern beans
1 clove garlic
1/2 tomato diced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper


Will start with the Herbed white beans.



Of course you'll need some garlic minced up.

And a small saucepan with a teaspoon of olive oil in the bottom to which you'll add the garlic.

While the garlic is getting intimate with the oil in the saucepan open a can of white beans. I prefer great northern beans simply because of the name. I love the north.

Strain and rinse your beans


Then add them to the saucepan with the oil and garlic

Pretty tomato.

Diced tomato.

Pretty diced tomato tossed in with the white beans.
One tablespoon of balsamic vinegar gives these beans the tangy kick that makes me love them so much.

Fresh Herbs. Any fresh herbs you want. I chose cilantro because it goes with the rest of the meal but basil, chive, parsley, thyme, you name it, it would work.

Add salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to very low otherwise while you're making the chicken the beans will get mushy.


Take two well trimmed rinsed chicken breasts. I like the thin ones, they cook quickly. If yours are the fatter ones just pound them out with the flat side of a meat mallet.

Salt and pepper generously.

lightly sprinkle a grill pan with a little olive oil and set heat to medium-high

When the pan is hot drop the chicken breasts onto the grill pan seasoned side down, then season the other side.

I left mine for about 8 minutes each side.


Perfect!


Avocado! and more cilantro. Two of my favorite things in the world.

Once the chicken breasts are cooked through top with the salsa and leave on the heat until everything is nice and warm.



We also had broccoli with ours but it didn't look proper on the plate.


There you go, our light and healthy dinner with LOADS of yummy flavor! Enjoy!