Barley Bowls

Hey kids! Thanks for welcoming me back on my last post. It's always nice to feel at least a little missed while I'm away :) As I mentioned, things have been pretty much a whirlwind since I've been back, and sometimes a crazy schedule necessitates a bit of laziness--or shall we say "efficiency" in the cooking department.

Between church, laundry and paying attention to my poor neglected husband, I only had a few hours last Sunday to catch up with everything and prepare for the week. I did some prep work for our dinner on Monday and wound up with a TON of leftovers.

I have been dying to try the recipe for Creamy Barley featured in last month's Real Simple, but I knew I wouldn't have time Monday night to put it all together. Not to mention, we didn't have the instant barley called for, so I decided to cook up our regular pearled barley (thank you food storage) in advance and modify the recipe on Monday. The recipe calls for two cups of instant barely, so I used 1 1/2 c. regular. Holy moly barely explosion!! I always forget that Real Simple like to make their servings Real Large (which is fine by me!), so even though I used a sufficient amount of the grain in my version, we still had SO much left.

For my Creamy Barley, I sauteed some onions in a large saucepan until golden, then added 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms and one package of thawed and drained frozen spinach. As the mixture cooked, I stirred in 1 c. cooked barley and a 14 oz can diced Italian style tomatoes (with about 1/4 of the liquid removed). Then, to make it creamy and extra delish, I added two laughing cow wedges and a healthy sprinkle of Parmesan cheese with extra feta for garnish.

For added protein and a European flair, I also "fried" an egg to top off my masterpiece. Yep, another whole egg as part of the Fatty February challenge!

Really, the yolk does add an excellent element of flavor and texture, and was the perfect compliment to this meal. Yum yum. This made 3 servings. My sis and D both liked it too, although Sarah opted out of the egg on hers. She doesn't know what she's missing ;)

And additionally, since I am now overrun with barley, I decided to do some of my standard experimentation and incorporate it into my breakfasts. While not exactly a Freaky Food, it definitely turns the tables on breakfast norms for me!

Above is a delightful mix of Greek yogurt, Crofter's Asian Superfruit spread, berries, Naturally More peanut butter and 1/2 c. barley, plus cinnamon, of course!

Round two was equally scrumptious and included 1 chopped pear steamed with cinnamon, yog, sugar free maple syrup, almond butter and barley. So good and both barley breakfast bowls held me over for hours. Excellent, as I expect nothing less from my first meal of the day :)

Luckily for me, I still have a few more serving of this great grain in my fridge to eat up throughout the next few days. It's kept remarkably well and has been very versatile. According to a little online investigating, barley also contains loads of amino acids and can help fight high cholesterol and regulate blood sugar. So I'd highly encourage all of you to be a little daring in the grains department and give it a try. What's your favorite grain? Any interesting ways to eat it?

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend full of lots of good things, including healthy fats, good grains and lots of R&R--I know I'm opting for all of the above! xoxo

Rainbows and Puppies

You guys are the best. I love you for reals. THANK YOU all so much for the love and support shown to me on my last post. I was so scared to post something that personal, but I truly believe that it may help others learn from my experience. Seriously, if you have not read it, please do so! I will probably be linking back to it on my next couple of posts just to help get the word out a little more.

Anyway, since my last post was slightly dismal, I promise this one will be nothing but rainbows and puppies! I've had quite the run of good eats lately, and successful experiments, which is supremely conducive for blogging purposes.

My first score was a tasty little thing, organic, raw, stinky, and you guessed it! KOMBUCHA! Now, I had tried this before a couple of years ago and had not been impressed. But after seeing it on Janetha's and then another Emily's blog, I had a hankering to give it a shot once again. I think I picked a better flavor this time which definitely helped, and now I am addicted! At first sip, it honestly just tasted like fizzy vinegar. But hey, you know I love me some vinegar, so this was right up my alley. The second swig tasted a lot more like cranberry and the following guzzles were just good! D thinks I'm crazy. This is one thing he refuses to try.

Another stinky, smelly thing that Dustin doesn't like (oh goody, more fore ME!): blue cheese. I have been obsessed lately. This idea is semi-stolen from sweet little Lauren's blog because it was absolutely perfect for Sammie Saturday, but here is my version with her inspiration!

Toasted cinnamon raisin bread spread with Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow and blue cheese crumbles, thinly sliced pear, smoked turkey, dijon mustard and spinach.
Om yum ghee. that is me with my mouth full because you know I could NOT stop eating this heavenly combo of deliciosuness.
Speaking of delightful sammies, check out another delightful pear and turkey combo whipped up by Haleigh, and a superstar created by Susan from Tangerine Trees and Marmalade Skies as she guested for K. That one is on my list for sure!

Just a little more fun--last night Dustin and I got to have a date and go to the Jazz game. Whoo hoo! I have been waiting for this moment for like 5 years! No, not for the Jazz to play a good game, although that finally happened, too. For Dippin Dots! Now, you guys have probably had these before, but I had NOT. I saw them once when we were in Cali and I didn't get them. I have wanted them EVER SINCE! We went to the zoo a while back and they had them there, but I just wasn't in the mood and I knew they wouldn't be as epic--does that ever happen to you? Ugh. But anyway I finally got some. Banana Split style and they were pretty yummy. Almost like eating frozen, flavored air because once second they're on your tongue and the next, they are completely gone. Entertaining eats, that's for sure. Sorry for the craptastic picture. I was trying not to piss off everyone around me by taking obnoxious food photos.

See? Kittens and sunshine just like I promised! Anyhoo, I hope your weekend has been full of the same, and once again I really do thank you all so much for being so nice to me and your support in speaking out against the consequences of eating disorders. Gros bisous. xoxo

Lots of R's

First of all--HOLLA!! I have missed you guys so much! Also, I have noticed a few new readers in my last posts, and I just wanted to say welcome! Hope you stick around and that I don't scare you off with this huuuuuugee post that I'm about to proffer.

I have been super busy with the holidays and family, but also thinking a lot about the past year and all it has brought for me. I have also been thinking a lot about the blog...

...and pondering if I should keep it going in the new year. There are several reasons for this thought process. First of all, I started this blog back in May, when I was in quite a different frame of mind. I was embattled in my eating disorder, and this blog served as an excellent tool to aide me in my recovery ( you can read more about that here). I have made significant strides since than and have forsaken some of the things that "kept" me sick, were no longer serving their positive purpose in my life, or were otherwise keeping me tied to the identity of someone suffering with anorexia.

I was worried that blogging was only serving to make me "accountable" for the food I was eating, instead of the fun I was supposed to be having with it. Hope that makes sense. However, I have come to the conclusion that this blog has been far more helpful than hurtful for me as I move forward in recovery. Because I have a forum to vent my frustrations and fears, as well as my accomplishments, I know that I have been able to move farther ahead. Mostly thanks to so many of the awesome readers I have and friends that I have made. It is so incredible to know that I have people who "get" me, and my food!

You have stood by me this year as I have tried many new things, from avocados, to hamburgers, to some very Freaky Foods; and you all have helped me learn so much, too! Thank you and Happy New Year!!

Anyway, I am grateful for my little bitty blog and for the job it does in helping me keep track of the bigger picture. I am working on letting go of a lot of things, and that includes my all or nothing mentality. Here are some thoughts that I think will help me align my blogging priorities with the rest of my LIFE--

Realizations/revelations:

• Freaky Food Friday does not have to be EVERY Friday
• Sammie Saturday does not have to occur EVERY Saturday
• If I do not post for a few days, or a week or even two weeks, no one is going to miss me THAT BAD.
• I do not have to read every blog post or be fantastically witty and/or snarky in every single post of my own. Sometimes I don't have anything interesting to post, but sometimes that can be just as interesting--it will be up up me to make that call.

In addition to realizations and revelations, I have also been pondering another "R." Resolutions. Now, I am not typically a person who makes New Years Resolutions. I have never seen the need for it because I usually just decide to do things and then do them. I don't always appreciate the idea of working up to a goal because it often seems it takes more effort to get there than to just get going! However, because so much has occurred in 2009 (both personally and food-related), the start of 2010 seems like a good time to work in some modified lifestyle aspects.

Meatless Mondays: This idea came about for a variety of reasons. First, we spend an atrocious amount of money on food. Most of this is my problem. D would be content eating peanut butter (an Nutella) sandwiches, tuna fish and $.25 burritos. I, on the other hand, prefer 5 dollar jars of nut butters, copious amounts of FRESH fruit and vegetables (2 lb bag of baby carrots, you ain't got nuthin on me!), and any type of new, cool, healthy, heard-about food product.

Also, honestly, I am at a point in my recovery where I find it extraordinarily difficult to both buy and deny myself foods that were once restricted. Often times I find myself standing in the grocery aisle having a five minute debate over which type of bagels or crackers to buy (regular or "lite," whole grain or whole wheat, wheat or white, cheese or herb, this kind or that kind). It's exhausting and much too emotionally investing, so there are instances where I just throw both things in the cart so I come stop being a schizo in public. Not that I do this all the time. I really try not to make it a habit,and on the occasion where we find ourselves with 6 different types of cereal or 4 boxes of crackers in the cupboard, I will usually just scratch those items off my list for a week or so until our supply has calmed down.

On the other hand, as much as I would be content with a plate full of broccoli for dinner, I try to appease Dustin every once in a while with things like hamburgers, chili, shredded pork and the like. Who am I kidding--I like my animal proteins, too. But I found that the amount we use in cooking can sometimes be a little excessive. For example, I think I can make chili with 1/4 lb of ground beef as opposed to a half or a whole pound. The rest of the dish can be rounded out with things like beans or cooked veggies. I think it will be beneficial in terms of our health, money and cooking repertoire to find ways to stretch not only our food budget as a whole, but also our meat budget specifically.

Thus the idea of a Meatless Monday was born. I really love the idea of challenging myself to come up with new recipes that Dustin and I will both appreciate, all the while broadening our culinary palettes. If you have any meat-free meal suggestions, I would love to hear them!

So I guess those are my two big goals for the next few months--relax and ENJOY my blogging a little more without being so rigid in my posting/reading behaviors and save more money, especially on food by instituting Meatless Monday and eating less meat over all. Please don't mis-interpret this. I love meat. I am eating BBQ tonight. But I still recognize the benefit of working against my black and white thinking in this department too.

I think this year, I would also like to attend more live concerts, find ways to see my friends more and nourish those relationships, create more constructive hobbies for myself. I think the other, more deeper desires of my heart will follow :)

Well now that I've babbled on and on, let's actually get to some pictures shall we? Revelations, realizations, resolutions and now, RECAP! We were in dust-kickin' Wyoming for Christmas with my family and I loved every minute of it. Except the drive. There is nothing. Oh wait. There are windmills. We made it in time for church on Christmas Eve which is a big tradition for us. All dressed up. D and I got spoiled rotten on Christmas. Every year my mom says she is "cutting back," and every year we laugh at her because she never does. We got lots of amazing things including some new board games (love!!). Actually the best gift was spending time with my family.
Here is a little foodie flashback:



We had two different types of fruit cake, which of course, I was a little weary of. But since my sis made one, I knew it couldn't be bad. Hers is the second photo. I actually loved her recipe. It was rich and spicy, if a little crumbly. But I think that's because she didn't soak it in brandy ;) The first one was more dense and sticky, delightful over Greek yogurt.

Layered sweet potato and apple casserole, semi-stolen from my sister in law, Liz. Hers was better. Mine was slightly under baked, but better second day. Perfect golden turkey with stuffing (my FAVORITE!!)...peppermint pop rocks in my stocking.

No family dinner is complete without a plate of pickles (and you thought I was the only one). Finally, my mom's special fruit salad. Usually we just have it at Thanksgiving, but she is nice and made it per my special request since I wasn't there the first time around.

Well, if you have made it this far through my EPIC post, you deserve a prize for sure! Again, Happy New Year to everyone--I am wishing you all the best.

I have decided it's time for some more R's now, including rest, relaxation and a REMATCH!! If you peeps have never played Blokus, you need to! It's great! What's your favorite board game?? Mine will always and forever be Scrabble, but there is always room for some new loves! Love you! xoxo

Oh, P.S. Had to leave you with one last picture! This is my mom's favorite ornament of me. I made it in preschool and she puts it on the tree every year. Look at what a little shi*, I mean cutie pie, I was! Lol. Do your parents still have these of you?

Family Food/FFF #15

I am taking the weekend off from blogging, but fortunately, my family members have pitched in to help out. I received a holiday card from my mom that was pretty funny. It said something like, "The holidays are full of turkeys, hams and nuts....and that's just the relatives." Of course, no matter how nutty, there is nothing better than spending time with the people you care about, no mater how nutty.

Today, here is a special guest post form my brother in law, Ollie. He has similar adventurous food tastes to mine, only minus the barbeque and philly cheese steaks because he is a vegetarian :) He is also so smart, witty and generally hilarious. Plus he cooks, too, as you'll see below. And guess what ladies, he's single!

Happy day after Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you had a great holiday and hope you enjoy this post too. Love you! xoxo,

E

Hi everyone! My name is Ollie and I'm subbing for Em on her blog today. I don't really have anything too freaky for freaky Friday. I think the freakiest part was just the idea of me cooking. Today wasn't that bad, and I put out the fire immediately (but not quick enough to save the blender. Oops.).

I've been experimenting with making my own bread for a few months now; unfortunately, I've made little progress. Today I followed a recipe from the New York Times. The best part of it is the amount of ingredients: 4. Water, flour, yeast, salt. There's also a video of it floating around. Anyway here's a foto of today's loaf; the crust wasn't as good as it normally is but it was still fairly stiff:

The crumb was actually better than I usually get it; I got a few more air bubbles than normal, but it was a little dense. Still it tasted impressive:

I also finally got around to making my bobas. I've been looking for these for a while. I found them in a little Thai store and cooked them up. They are really easy to prepare; they only need to be cooked in water for a few minutes:

Note that smiling spoon--it seems to know something that I don't (maybe that my blender is too close to the stove). I don't know if you guys have tried bobas (usually used in bubble tea or peal milk tea), but they are big purple tapioca pearls. The lady who sold them to me recommended that I try them in a mango smoothie. She convinced me pretty easily; I also tried them in some milky chai rooibos tea. The bobas went well with both. They don't add much flavor but they are fun to slurp up and chew:

Also I've been wanting to try persimmons since reading Li-Young Lee's poem. So when I found them at wal-mart I had to try one. I forgot to take a picture of them whole, so I found a pic online and while I searched for the picture I learned that they were called by ancient greeks "the fruit of the gods":

This probably wasn't the best way to try an unfamiliar food but I just cut it up and popped it in my mouth. It was sort of like eating a ripe mango but it made my mouth feel like it was covered in fuzz. So I would recommend cooking them--unless you enjoy the fuzzy-mouth sensation.

Anyway thanks for reading my about my experimentations and don't worry Emily will be back soon. And thanks Emily for letting me post. Hugs and Kisses.

I Scream, You Scream for...FFF #14

My favorite thing for dessert is ice cream. This is not me favorite dessert in the world--that would entail something like my moms' homemade chocolate cake with two inches of frosting, carrot cake from The Roof with two inches of frosting, or bread pudding--with no frosting--or with. That would be yummy too.

But for every day, I prefer something a little lighter and ice cream fits the bill beautifully, I consider myself quite the connoisseur of different brands and flavors. I think the slow churned, double churned, however churned is the best invention literally, since sliced bread. I mean, half the fat AND smooth creamy taste? That's what I'm talking about!

Recently, however, my friend Jess came up with a totally different type of ice cream and still managed to keep that smooth creamy flavor using a perfect ingredient for Freaky Food Friday....

Avocado Ice Cream!
Yup. Ever since taking the plunge with avocado this summer, I am not quie so afraid of it, and it it a little more often, but never before in a sweet format. Now, i know that a lot of vegan and raw cooking incorporate avocado into certain desserts to replace animal fats and dairy products, but I think it's usually masked by a stronger ingredient such as chocolate. In this dessert, it was the star of the show for sure!

You'll notice above, that I said creamy flavor, but not necessarily texture. You can see in this pic, that the ice cream ends up being slightly crystallized, but it still tastes very smooth!
It is a sweet dessert, but at certain points, I'd find myself feeling like I should bust out the chips and salsa and start dipping. So, the avocado flavor certainly shines through, but is wonderfully complemented by lots of sugar and hints of cream. Needless to say, this isn't something I can eat a lot of at one time...which, given my track record with other types of ice cream, may not be a bad thing!

What's the best dessert you've had recently? This was definitely the most interesting one I've had in a while! Hope you all have a great Friday and a happy weekend. See you tomorrow for Sammie Saturday! xoxo

Sammie Saturday: Sweet, Spicy and Scary

You all saw yesterday in my fabulous package from Allison, those famous flattened bananas. I always think they look so interesting on her blog--all rolled up in a peanut butter blanket. Yum! I have been so excited to try them. Of course I chomped on one free form and they were delish----but I was struck with a brilliant idea to use them in a sandwich. Now, I think this sammie could almost have qualified for FFF yesterday. But since today is Sammie Saturday, and also Halloween, where all freaky things are appropriate, I wanted to save it for today.

In my scary sammie:
Fluffy whole wheat bread, chunky peanut butter, sweet and spicy ginger preserves and, the star of the circus: flattened banana.Sadly, this was not as amazing as I'd hoped, but still quite an interesting blend of flavors! The ginger gave the sammie quite a spicy little kick, but the banana was almost invisible against the stronger flavor. Too bad, but it wasn't awful--you can't mess up peanut butter all the way!

Not to be deterred, I tried another little concoction with the same sweet, spicy and savory combination in mind:
Sandwich thin with PB2 and chili mango!
Hee hee. Kind of looks like a hamburger!

This was actually the better of the two, and I would totally try this again using regular pb instead of the fake stuff. I liked this creation because neither flavor really overpowered the other, and they melded quite nicely. I imagine this is what my coveted spicy peanut butter tastes like, but for now I can only guess :)

It has occurred to me that I eat a lot of sandwiches because I always have multiple items to post on Saturday. It's kind of nice to have a lot of material to choose from!

Today, though, I also wanted to share a different type of creation with you. My sister reads my blog and is a big proponent of food adventures and experimentation with me. She tries raw food with me, brings me stuff for FFF and generally encourages me not to be a stick in the mud with Ed. She is the bomb.

She was also quite intrigued by my pumpkin CCC I posted a few weeks ago, thanks in part to Miss April, who originated the breakfast pie idea. Well, Sis gave it a try, and I think it's safe to say she loves it just as much as I do, because she put her own spin on it and made a desert trifle as a variation! She even took it to a couple pot lucks this past week, so watch out world--the CCC is catching on!

I promised her I'd share the recipe--there's even a family secret in there :) Here's her email to me after her experimentations:

Emily,
Just in case you wanted an "official" recipe for those parfaits.
1 24 oz (I think) container of cottage cheese
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
3/4 cup brown sugar
cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to taste ('cause I like cloves)

Blend together (I did the CC first, then added everything else and it turned out much better than when I threw everything in together on Sunday).

I layered that with Grandma Brown's Cream Puff Fudge Sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 squares of bakers chocolate plus 1/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup of cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Melt butter and chocolate Mix sugar, cocoa, add to mixture. Stir until smooth. Add cream slowly, stir, bring to boil slowly, and then add vanilla. Remove from stove and let cool. (I made a double batch, and had some left over. Its a hardship.)

Layer pumpkin concoction and fudge sauce in pretty glass, garnish with cute graham crackers and serve. I got 8 servings out of this, but they were pretty generous (like, I was the only person to finish mine ) if you can find smaller cups you could probably 12 servings. That's all! Have a good night.
Love you,
S

Isn't she sweet? And you guys all better feel cool and loved, because our Grandma Brown's Cream Puffs are the stuff of legend in my family, and the sauce is definitely the best part! (P.S. I do think you ARE cool and I DO love you).

She sent me a pic to go along with her creation--even though it's just from her camera phone and a little blurry, I can still see the deliciousness!
Anyway, glad she tried it out and dubbed it good enough for company!

You guys cracked me up yesterday with what you'd be if you were what you ate. Yog messes, gooey globs and perfect peanuts...I think we would all be yummy, that's for sure!

Part of this post published earlier today due to a silly error, so sorry about that! I hope you all have a wonderful and fun Halloween! Are you going to have little trick or treaters? If so, what are you giving out?

I'm so excited to see all the little ghosts and goblins (and princesses and superheros) this year in our new house! I decided to give out cans of kid-friendly pop like rootbeer, orange soda and Sprite. I always thought that stuff was so cool when I was little. Hopefully it's still cool and I'm not dreadfully out of touch! I mean, they already get enough candy--they need something equally cavity-causing to wash it down, right? Plus, that way, I don't have any leftover bags of candy staring me down all week. It's a win/win. xoxo