Portobellos with Balsamic Wilted Kale and Mash Sweet Potatoes

October 10, 2015October 10, 2015Leave a comment

My creativity has been seriously lacking. I’ve spent more time and money eating out than cooking at home.

Today was the first day I felt inspired to cook. And it all stemmed from a guy blocking my view at the meat counter in the grocery store. All I wanted to do was look to see what they had. See if something jumped out and caught my attention. But he just kept jabbering with the associate, and I’m not that patient when I’m hungry and tired.

So I ventured to the produce section feeling slightly bereft, but hope surged when I thought of mushrooms. Big mushrooms. Portobellos, to be exact. Then I saw the prettiest bunch of dinosaur kale, and I grabbed that.

And it turned out to be some of my best work yet.

What you need:

Two portobello mushrooms
A bunch of dinosaur kale
Sweet Potato
1 shallot
1 clove of garlic
Splash of Balsamic vinegar
Homemade ranch mix
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry your sweet potatoes. I always bake more than one sweet potato at a time, or I feel like it’s a waste of time. Bake them for 1 hour or longer until they are cooked through.

For the mushrooms:

Remove the stem and the gills. The stem is hard, and the gills will hold too much moisture when baking. Cut a shallow X in the tops of the mushrooms.

Prepare the homemade ranch: Mix up dried dill, dried parsley, a smidgen of dried thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. I use more dill and garlic than the others.

Drizzle both sides of the mushrooms with olive oil and sprinkle with the homemade ranch mixture. Bake for 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven, and flip them over to bake for 10 more minutes. That’s a total of 20 minutes.

For the kale:

Heat up a saute pan with olive oil. Slice up the shallot, and mince the garlic. Throw them in the pan. Remove the stem ends of the kale, and chop the kale up into pieces that seems a tad bit too big. The kale will wilt down when you cook it. Throw in a tablespoon or so of Balsamic vinegar. And let it do it’s thing. Don’t forget the salt and pepper. The kale will wilt down, but still be slightly crunchy. The Balsamic vinegar will give it a zingy sweetness.

I can already tell you this will be one of my go-to meals. It’s more steps than I’d usually like to have, especially on a week night when I’ve been out for a run. But for a weekend or a lazy evening in, it’s perfect. And it’s healthy without lacking flavor. Because believe it or not, you can have healthy food that tastes good.

She Only Eats Eggs

October 1, 2015Leave a comment

I should have called this blog When I Grow Up I’ll Only Make Eggs.

Partly because it’s true.

I do make other stuff. I have the ability to create lots of pretty, delicious food. But I don’t want to eat the same thing for a solid week.

So when I’m feeling lazy and want something good to eat that will keep me full, I make eggs. Omelettes, scrambled eggs, fried eggs.

When I started writing this, I had every intention to create new and exciting recipes. But true to form, I’ve only posted pictures of eggs.

Let’s not change things up now.

An omelette with cherry tomatoes, orange bell pepper, shallots, power greens, lots of white cheddar cheese and salsa.

Breakfast for dinner. My favorite way to have breakfast, unless it’s Sunday brunch.

But after work today, I stopped by my favorite coffee shop, and I picked up one of their ridiculously delicious brownies.

I had that and a nap directly after work. And I consider that to be a golden opportunity. Brownies and naps. Perfection.

And don’t worry about the eggs. I will start making other stuff once it gets cold outside. Soups, chili, casseroles, chicken pot pies. But I’m sure there will be more breakfast treats in there, too.

The Art of Balance

September 28, 2015September 29, 2015Leave a comment

“Balance, that’s the secret. Moderate extremism. The best of both worlds.” – Edward Abbey

The idea of moderate extremism is very appealing, even though it’s difficult to find. The middle of the extremes. What does that even mean?

I’ve come up with my own explanation, and it’s called “what I ate for supper.”

What we have here is a frozen pizza and a fresh, green salad. The two extremes.

Green, crisp vegetables meets processed, ready-in-minutes pizza. And I love them both equally. Some days I crave a salad. Other days I crave pizza. And today I wanted them both. So I did just that.

I didn’t eat the whole pizza like I’ve been known to do. And I did make sure half my plate was vegetables. So that, to me, is the best attempt I could make with creating moderate extremism.

(Not pictured was the cup of coffee and six Oreos I had before this delightful meal.)

This is just a reminder that we are still human. And pizza, even the frozen variety, is still delicious. And vegetables don’t have to take over your whole plate every day for the rest of your life, unless you choose it.

Balance is an art. It’s an effort we must work for daily. In life, love and food. So don’t feel bad if you ate a few too many tacos, or if you didn’t get a run in one day. It all balances out in the end, if you make the effort.

Vacation Detox

July 28, 2015Leave a comment

My favorite vacations center around big bodies of water. I love the beach. It’s my happiest place. I say that because I find happiness in lots of places. But the beach is a different level.

In the days before I left for vacation, people made comments about me glowing with excitement. Hands down, one of the best compliments.

Glowing.

I was buzzing in my skin. Because I could wake up to this for seven days. And my best friend got to go with me. See, my happiest place.

And it was full of donuts, seafood, crab-stuffed this and bernaise covered that. So much good food.

And only one barefoot run in the sand before dawn, which was totally awesome and exactly what my soul craves. So by the time I got home yesterday, I knew I had to detox my body from the richness of vacation.

And so it began with breakfast. A beach-inspired breakfast bowl. All you need is one sliced up banana, two or three heaping spoonfuls of plain Greek yogurt, handful of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.

I’ll admit the plain yogurt is a tough one to go with, but there is enough natural sweetness in the fruit to balance it nicely. Plus you nix the added sugar in the flavored yogurts. Win.

Lunch was on the go today. So I ordered a chicken sandwich from the place downstairs from my office. The potatoes chips didn’t help the detox, but I made up for it at supper. Behold, the ultimate detox salad.

Romaine lettuce
Red bell pepper
Yellow cherry tomatoes
Cucumber
Half an avocado
Two boiled eggs
Your favorite dressing

Simple and delicious.

And it’s just an added bonus that it will cleanse my system from vacation food. I only wish I could have kept the beach a little longer.