A Return -- And Some Juice

I've taken a really long time away from this blog. Not really intentional, but I let other things happen instead. If you've been checking for updates, I'm sorry there haven't been any. The biggest reason for the time away is I have been in a total food rut. I believe that through the second half of the Fall semester and the entire Spring semester, I ate exactly the same thing for breakfast and lunch. And I all too often felt like frozen peas and a can of tuna fish were perfectly acceptable for dinner. Acceptable, but not blog-worthy.

I've been thinking for the past two weeks that I should get back to blogging here. I am once again changing up how I eat, and I am spending a lot of time on food. I'm searching for recipes and inspiration, I'm menu planning, I'm shopping, I'm preparing, and I'm cooking. And then my sister Carla commented that I should blog my food, and it seemed like a sign.

As I said, I am changing up how I eat. I've lived for an entire year and seven months on my "green diet." I recently saw a nutritionist and she made some suggestions for upping my nutrient intake and making sure my body can absorb everything it needs. Which leads to the question I am frequently asked when I eat with other people: What can you eat?

It's easiest to tackle big categories first: I'm gluten-free and have been for 7 years. I'm mostly vegan -- meaning no meat, no eggs, and no dairy, but every once in a while (when I'm eating out) I will eat fish. I eat any vegetable I want, any fruit I want, any bean I want, and any nut I want.

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One of the big changes for me that my nutritionist recommended was to begin juicing -- at least three times a week. She gave me seven different recipes to start off with. 

There are a lot of reasons to juice. The biggest one is that people say you can get a whole bunch of vegetables in your system that you wouldn't eat otherwise. As I prepared this morning's juice, and shoved an entire romaine lettuce heart into my juicer, I thought, "Yeah, because really, who eats a whole head of romaine? ... Uh, wait. I do. I totally did last night." But I gamely pressed on with my juicing. 

There is also a huge debate about whether juicing or green smoothies are better. Medically-speaking, I have no idea. I'm just doing what was recommended for me. 

I have a Breville Juice Fountain. It works really well and has a lot of parts that you have to clean -- but that is how all juicers are. I got it a couple years ago, at Bed Bath and Beyond, because I always have a coupon for that store. 

Romaine Green Juice

1 Romaine Lettuce Heart

3 leaves Kale

2 giant leaves Red Chard

1 Cucumber

2 Celery Stalks

1/2 Green Apple

I use all-organic produce, especially for juice. Just wash everything and run it through the juicer, then drink up. 

All done! Yum. 

Cookie Dough Dip

This weekend I had a girls' night. We gathered at a friend's house and played games. We've gotten together a couple of times and everyone brings a snack. Last time I just took a bag of pistachios. They were popular, but I was on facebook the other day and saw a link to "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip."

The "friends" on facebook said that it was healthy, so I took a minute to click over. There was also a sugar-free version. 

So I made it for my friends. 

I took the dip with a bunch of sliced apples. It was a hit. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. 

Here is the original:

http://www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/23/want-to-eat-an-entire-bowl-of-cookie-dough/

Here is the sugar-free version:

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/09/27/new-recipe-sugar-free-cookie-dough-dip/

My changes:

I used slightly less than 1 Tbs vanilla. Because that was all I had. It was plenty vanilla-y.

I omitted the chocolate chips. No chocolate for me. 

I used certified gluten-free oats. 

I omitted the non-dairy milk. It was runny enough. 

For next time, I will actually mix everything without the liquid from soaking the dates, and then add the date liquid as needed. I thought that with all the date liquid it was a little runnier than it needed to be. I was looking for a creamy hummus-like texture. 

Despite the slightly more liquid-y than I wanted, it was delicious. Definitely worth doing again. 

The Farmer's Market

My friend and I went to the farmer's market this week. For a mere $20 I was able to get all this:

a bag of gala apples

2 cucumbers

3 zucchini

5 tomatoes

6 peaches

a butternut squash

a pumpkin

a bunch of kale

a bunch of sweet potato vine (the farmer said I could use it just like spinach)

Door to Door Organics

There is a company here called Door to Door Organics. They actually deliver organic produce right to your door. I had heard about the company a while back, and then was super excited to see a Groupon for half off the small box (called a bitty box).

I decided to use my Groupon last week. (Obviously this is the moment to say how much I love Groupon).

Here's what I got:

2 apples

3 plums

2 nectarines

a bag of purple long beans

a bunch of carrots

a cucumber

a bunch of spinach

a head of green lettuce

Favorite Things

It has still been 100 degrees around here. (Not today. Today is amazing. Today is gorgeous. Today is 80). So I have still been eating "summer food" = giant salads, whole produce, with maybe a little lentils and rice for fun.

But I thought I would share two things I am loving right now.

#1: Sun-dried Tomatoes

I bought them in a flat box, so they weren't packed in oil, and they were delicious. I sliced them and put them in a green salad, and I sliced them and put them in a bean salad.

#2: Garlic Sea Salt Grinder

Ok, it's the world's tiniest image, but the flavor packs a punch. It's delightful.

Tofu Marinade

Sometimes I buy tofu. And then I cook it and eat it and I think... hm, I don't really like tofu. It's really just flavorless. But I know that I should marinate it or put a sauce on it or do something to make it a little more delicious. So today, even though I didn't plan well, I took the time to marinate the tofu.

First I was using extra firm tofu, so I pressed and drained it. I got out a big dinner plate and inverted a small bowl on top of it. I put the tofu on top of the bowl and then put a small plate on top of that. I put my two very heavy cookbooks on top of that (yes, it was a little precarious) and let it sit for a half hour to forty-five minutes.

While the tofu was pressing I whipped together the marinade. Then I checked the tofu and cubed it up. I dumped it in a bowl and covered it with the marinade.

I let that sit for forty-five minutes to an hour, and then I grilled the tofu.

It turned out great.

Tofu Marinade

1/4 onion, chopped

10-12 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbs olive oil + 2 more tbs olive oil

4 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp cumin

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-low heat. Toss in the onion and garlic and cook them gently. In the meantime, squeeze the lemon juice into a deep bowl (or I just my liquid measuring cup). When the onions and garlic get soft and smell fragrant, drop in the cumin. Stir and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Then add the onions/garlic/oil mixture to the lemon juice. Add the extra olive oil and stir rapidly.

Pour the marinade over tofu and let it soak.

Summer Banana Treat

I had a long meeting at work yesterday. When I left, the sign out in front of the building said 101 degrees. And as I proceeded down the road, the radio said the heat index was 110. And it felt every bit of it.

So I needed a little treat.

I had seen this recipe floating around on the internet. So I modified it a little and whipped it up in about two minutes. And enjoyed every bite.

Now, on the internet this has been called "Banana Ice Cream." Don't let that name fool you. It is not ice cream. And it doesn't taste like ice cream. But it is frozen and sweet and good.

Summer Banana Treat

1 frozen banana (I am the kind of person who buys a bunch of bananas and then freezes them when they are black. It's actually happening regularly these days, so I always have at least one in the freezer)

1 tsp carob powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped macademia nuts (I buy these from the baking aisle, they are meant for white chocolate chip macademia cookies)

Put the frozen banana in the food processor and pulse. The banana will break into small pieces (like dippin dots at the mall). When it gets to that state, dump it in a bowl and stir in the spices. Stirring will make the banana smooth and creamy. I like to add the macademia nuts on top, but you could stir them in as well.