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By Liz, December 18, 2009 12:28 pm

Finals week is over! I took my last final yesterday at noon, and now I do not have any homework, or tests, or reading, or studying or paper writing. It feels pretty amazing, I have to admit.

So, on the food front…I’ve been trying to make new recipes and use new foods to expand my eats. I get stuck in food ruts a lot, and make the same few dishes all the time. So, after my positive venture into making a curry, I made  a few new dishes this week.

I did make curry again last Sunday. It’s just so gosh darn fast, easy and delicious to make. I used chick peas this time, which worked great with the sauce. I also had edamame and a Kona brew.

Monday night I decided to try out one of Matt’s recent recipes…Sweet Potato Gnocchi. I began my new cooking excursion with a glass of my favorite wine ever….Bianchi Pinot Grigio. Quick sidenote: I’d been saving the bottle for a special occasion for about a month, and I figured cooking a fun new recipe with a glass of wine was special enough.

So, I have never made homemade pasta before, so this recipe seemed pretty daunting. But, it actually wasn’t that bad. The gnocchi didn’t turn out super pretty or professional looking, but they tasted great and that’s what matters.

I made a quick tomato sauce to go with it: 2 cans tomato sauce, spinach, cannellini beans, broccoli, garlic, basil, thyme, s & p. Topped with some parm of course .

Great recipe Matt! I loved this gnocchi and will for sure be making this again!

I made an apple crisp on Monday also. I was supposed to make it last week for Jacob’s birthday, but that never happened. So tonight was the night, and it turned out utterly delectable. Monday night’s dinner was soooo great and tasted pretty gourmet if I do say so myself.

Random comment…This was the view for a few moments outside my work on Monday. Beeea-utiful That is one of the only nice things about rain…rainbows.

The next new meal on the block was a breakfast creation. I was not craving my usually sweetish carbs in the morning and wanted something more savory. So, I toasted a slice of ezekiel with a smidgen on cheddar cheese, fried an egg in butter and topped all that with 1/4 of a smashed avocado and salsa. This was a light, yet filling and delicious breakfast. I will for sure be adding this to my usual breakfast rotation.Wednesday night I made a tribute to Hanukkah dinner….latkes. For anyone who doesn’t know what latkes are, they are potato pancakes.

Latkes are super easy to make. I didn’t use a recipe and kinda winged it, but here’s what I did.

Holiday Latkes

• 5 small russet potatoes
• 1 large zucchini (or a few baby ones)
• 1/2 a yellow onion
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper
• unsweetened applesauce (for dipping)

Directions: Wash potatoes and zucchini. Grate the potato and zucchini and place in a large bowl. Finely chop onion and add to bowl of potatoes. Stir in eggs, flour and seasoning until well combined. To cook the mixture, heat a pan with about a 1/2 inch of oil in the bottom. Use a medium to medium high heat. I used a 1/4c. measuring cup to portion the pancakes into the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side and serve with applesauce. (Recipe by Liz @ Thereforeieat.com)

We turned dinner into a breakfast-for-dinner of sorts and made scrambled eggs with spinach and sausage. I had the last of my Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale with dinner, too. Latkes aren’t exactly the healthiest meal in the world, but they sure are delicious.

Last night night I tried something else I have never made before…stuffed bell peppers.

These were so good!! And, I just have to share the recipe with you.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

• 1c. cooked quinoa
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 small can sliced olives
• 2 eggs
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• basil
• thyme
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 chopped onion
• bread crumbs (I used panko)
• about 1/4c. cheddar cheese
• 2 bell peppers (any color you want)

Directions:

1. Prepare the peppers: Cut the tops off. Chop and reserve the tops for the filling. De-seed and then steam the peppers for about 10 minutes.
2. Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees.
3. In a large pan, saute the onion, reserved pepper tops and kidney beans in a little olive oil over med-high heat.
4. Once onions and pepper are tender, add in the quinoa, tomatoes, eggs, olives, spices and garlic. Stir for about 5 minutes.
5. Combine bread crumbs and cheese.
6. Spoon the filling mixture into the peppers until the peppers are full. Top with the breadcrumb cheese mixture.
7. Place the peppers in a small pan (I used a bread loaf pan) bake the peppers for 25 minutes. Enjoy! (recipe by Liz @ Thereforeieat.com; adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

Jacob and I both loved this dish. With our first bites we both looked at each other and had that “Wow” look on our faces. So, ya, you guys should really try this!

Finally, I tried a recipe I have been dying to make for a while, but just havn’t had all the ingredients to make it.

Averie’s chocolate chip balls! Boy oh boy are these amazing!!! I may have single handily almost finished a whole plate of these. You rock Averie, and I’m for sure going to be making your other balls, too.

There is just one final new food I have tried this week, and it was my breakfast this morning.Those may look like regular pancakes, but they are actually Almond Banana Pancakes made with 4 simple ingredients: banana, almond butter, egg and cinnamon. I found the recipe at Mark’s Daily Apple. I actually think I liked them better than regular pancakes. I put 3 twists on the pancakes. First, the cinnamon was my idea. Next, I used a little agave instead of maple for the topping and finally, I cooked them in the pan with coconut oil instead of butter. YUM!! Try these out, you won’t be disappointed.

So, on my final note, I want to share with you the absolutely adorable Christmas tree Jacob bought this week.I couldn’t get the lighting right, but this was the best pic I got. Those are our roommate’s stockings in the background. They also used a few of their ornaments, too. The tree is just sooo cute!

Tonight I’m doing Bikram with Jacob.  I think we’re gonna make a stop into New Frontiers for some green juice afterwards, too. I can’t wait!

Adios!

Comments (5)

By Liz, October 17, 2009 8:21 pm

What’s happenin?! Today has been a pretty good day so far. There were some low points but then a bunch of highlights. Let’s start the beginning, shall we?

So, I woke up bright and early at 6:20 to get ready and leave for my race. I made a green monster to fuel my run.

I made my GM with 1 cup of fat free milk, a frozen banana, 2 tbsp of peanut butter and 2 big handfuls of spinach. It was quite delicious, but then again, I haven’t had a GM that wasn’t

I got to the race around 7:30. The race today was at our home course, right across the street from school. That was nifty because I knew all the hills and every part of the course like the back of my hand. That fact made me feel more relaxed about everything. Me and the my other teammates walked parts of the course then warmed up with about a mile and some plyometrics. I was feeling a bit tired, but feeling good for the most part. Sadly after that, it all went downhill. My race today was supposed to be a tempo run and I had specific paces I had to hit. Here’s what I was supposed to do: 7:45, 15:32, 23:30 were supposed to me my times going through the 1 mile mark, 2 mile mark and finish time. Well, what actually happened was 8:00, 16:38, 25:11. I pretty much sucked. Here’s what I think happened: By the first 800 meters my body felt completely depleted. I had that feeling when you’re into a long run and you haven’t fueled enough and start to hit that wall. I know what it feels like to be glycogen depleted and I defenitly felt that today. It wasn’t the same feeling of just being tired or over-trained. It felt like I had no energy or fuel in my body. Also, when I finished I was extremely dizzy and almost blacked out. So…why would I be so carb depleted. Well, I hate to say it but it’s most likely from eating no grains yesterday and I didn’t have grains on Thursday either. So that’s two days with out grains. I didn’t realize how much carbohydrate I was really cutting out! So, pretty much…I made a mistake. But I guess that’s what happens when you experiment. I was trying something new out, and it backfired…but not all experiments come out with the results you want. And hopefully, you guys can learn from my mistake. I think there’s a quote that goes something like this…If I can’t be a shining example, let me be a terrible warning.

I’m afraid someone may say “I told ya so..,” or something along those lines. Well, please don’t. I already feel kinda stupid and really beat myself up about my race and my no-grain experiment this morning. I told myself “I told ya so…and you should have known better…and duh! Runners need carbs.” a bunch of times…but like I said before, I experimented and it just didn’t turn out right. The primal diet will not work for me now…but if there is a time in my life when running is not as important, then I may try it again. Oh, and also, there may have been another variable that affected my race and it may not have been the no-grain thing, but I have a pretty strong feeling it was my diet change that affected my race this morning.

Okay, so that was the lowlight today. However, the rest of the day was great. My mom came to watch me race, which was wonderful. I felt bad because I sucked so bad, but her support really made me feel better. After the race I went over to my mom’s house and made her brunch. Before I started cooking my mom offered me a cinnamon roll my dad made her for breakfast a la Pillsbury. I just couldn’t say no!

I made quite the delish brunch if I do say so myself!

I made multi-grain pancakes with whole wheat flour, oat bran and cornmeal. These turned out light and fluffy and oh so yummy! I dipped my pancakes in a little less than a quarter cup of pure maple syrup. I also made omelets similar to the one I had yesterday. I used two eggs, and filled the omelet with spinach and parmesan cheese and topped the omelet with 1/4 of an avocado. My mom and I ate and chatted about life and stuff. Great company and great food! I had a funny thought when I was cooking for my mom…What college student cooks for their parents? It’s usually the other way around! Haha…I just love to cook, and I’m pretty sure my parents love my cooking…so it’s all good.

Apparently, I went back on the grains right away. And I gotta say, those pancakes were darn good!

After brunch, we went to do a little shopping. My mom got me a few essentials…I got a pair of skinny jeans (which make my legs looks awesome btw!), some undies and 2 bras. You can’t go without underwear! I got my mom a pair of really cute owl socks when we were out, too.

We stopped by my dad’s work (he’s a tasting room attendant) at Bianchi. Bianchi has my absolute favorite wine ever…their Pinot Grigio! I had two tastes of that, plus a sauvignon blanc, a chard and a few reds. Here’s my dad hard at work.

My mom and I sat and talked for a bit at the winery…deep conversations about life ensued…and then we headed back to her house and I went home. It was quite the eventful day, and I really enjoyed spending some quality time with my mom.

I was pretty famished when I got home. Some beef stew was scarfed.

As well as a bit of chocolate.

I have a casserole in the oven to eat and share with the roomies right now. I may also be going out tonight with a girlfriend. We’ll see…one of my friends flaked out already, so I’m just playing it by ear.

Have a great Saturday night!

And Happy Birthday Momma!

Comments (2)

By Liz, October 16, 2009 12:04 pm

Good Morning/Afternoon folks! Well, as you all know, it is Friday. It has been a long week my friends! I feel like I’ve been studying and working on projects non stop. Well, today I need not worry about any of that. Sweet!

So, if you guys read my title for this post, you will see that I’m going “primal”. What does that mean? Well, for the past year I’ve been reading Mark’s Daily Apple. Actually, this was the first blog I ever stumbled upon in the blogoshpere. I actually never knew that blogs existed or what they were before MDA. For people who don’t know what MDA is all about read here, and here. And, to quickly summarize, the Primal Blueprint is all about eating and living life similar to how our ancestors ate and moved.

I have been fascinated by the idea that how we are eating today is only a small blip on the radar of how we ate for thousands of years prior to the agricultural revolution. Here is an excerpt from The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan that mirrors Mark Sisson’s viewpoints:

“Taking the long view of human nutrition, we evolved to eat the sort of food available to hunter-gatherers, most of whose genes we’ve inherited and whose bodies we still (more or less) inhabit. Humans have had less than ten thousand years-an evolutionary blink-to accustom our bodies to agricultural food, and as far as our bodies are concerned, industrial agricultural food-a diet based largely on a small handful or staple grains, like corn-is still a biological novelty.”

I can’t help but agree and think that this makes sense. Grains and sugar are by-products of industrial agriculture. We as humans did not eat such carbohydrate rich foods until they starting being processed. Looking at our society today, many of the preventable diseases afflicting our western nation are related to high carb and high sugar diets (as well as high fat).  On the counterpoint, there are many cultures in other countries that subsist mainly off grains and do not have the health problems of Americans. The people of Kenya are an example, who eat ugali on a daily basis. Also, the people of Japan eat white rice, yet are some of the healthiest people in the world. Maybe it has something to do with how their culture evolved as compared to the people of North America. It could also have to do with the fact that both Kenyans and the Japanese do not over-eat the way that westerners do. The reasons for the high rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer in America cannot be blamed on just one thing. However, the idea that we are not made to digest grains and sugar is a compelling one. For example, there are numerous people who are gluten intolerant. I’ve never heard of broccoli intolerance or steak intolerance. Two of the most common food intolerances, lactose and gluten, are directly related to carbohydrates.

All of the reading I’ve done on eliminating grains and sugars from our diets has simply made me think. I’ve looked at both sides of the argument, too. I mean, aren’t grains the largest part of the food pyramid? Aren’t whole grains heart healthy and contain lots of fiber? I’ve heard the advice to never completely cut out a food group, too. I’m also a proponent of eating without deprivation. How can we deprive ourselves of warm french bread, frozen yogurt, pancakes and waffles? On the no-grain side, I’ve thought about how I personally feel when I eat a diet loaded with grains and sugar. I feel my blood sugar go up and down, my energy level crash after partaking in a cup of frozen yogurt, that film on your tongue when you eat sugar. I just don’t feel good when I eat a lot of grains and sugar. This could just be me and have nothing to do with evolution or anything. Let’s just say…I’m curious about this whole primal thing.

So, this all brings me to the point that I am going to try the primal diet for a week. Just one week of no sugar, no grains. I’ve been reading about it and pondering it for enough time now that I think I need finally give it a go.

Now, I know that many many people may and probably do disagree with the whole “no grain” thing. For one, this is NOT a low carb diet. It is a no grain diet. Mark does not say…don’t eat fruit, eat bacon wrapped in cheese for a snack, etc. like the Atkins Diet promotes. Also, the primal blueprint is about much more than just eating. It is a true lifestyle. Mark promotes eating locally and organic. He also promotes grass fed and finished beef. There is much much more involved, too. I encourage you all to just take a look around his site, and other primal supporting sites, too (he has a blogroll).

Here’s what I’m going to do this week to “get primal.”

• eat no grains. This means…no ezekiel bread, no oats (gasp!), no pancakes, etc.
• eat no added sugars. This means…no cookies, no frozen yogurt, etc.
• focus my diet on meat, beans, nut butters, vegetables, fruit, milk and any other non-grain, non-sugar foods in my pantry and fridge
• try to not think about what I’m giving up and more focusing on the new, fun recipes and foods I can try and experiment with

Here’s what I’m not doing:

• I’m still going to exercise the way I normally do. Mark recommends no excessive cardio, like running for extended periods of time. I run, a lot. He says that excess cardio makes your body rely on carbs too much. Well, I just can’t see myself giving up running, and it’s not plausible for this week, as I’m in the middle of the XC season. So, I will be running.
• I’m not going “low-carb.” Mark recommends eating around 100-150g of carbohydrate a day. I’m pretty sure I can’t sustain my daily runs on that amount. However, instead of getting my extra carbohydrate from grains, I will eat more fruit, vegetables and starchy vegetables (like sweet potatoes).
• I am going to eat dairy
• I am going to eat conventionally raised meat. I just simply cannot afford to buy grass fed beef at this time.

So, I’m not following the primal blueprint to a T, but I’m going to do my best with what I have and know. Essentially, I’m more just focusing my diet on whole foods. We’ll see how it goes.

If anyone wants to do this with me feel free! I’d love to have other people experimenting to see how they feel on no-grains, too!

Like usual I’ll be sharing pictures of my food. And at the end of the week (next Friday), I’ll share with you guys how I feel after a week with no grain. I’m going to try really hard to not slip up…but I’m human. I have a feeling I’m going to get some major sugar cravings! Wish me luck!

So, to begin my primal journey, I’ll share with ya’ll my breakfast.I made a two egg omlet stuffed witha small handful of spinach and 1/2 ounce of sharp cheddar cheese.I also had a banana topped with about 2 tbsp. of peanut butter.I’ve gotta say…this was delish! I’m looking forward to making more primal breakfasts!

See ya’ll later and enjoy your Friday!