We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Life to Whine For A Bit

170 lbs!  One Hundred and SEVENTY freakin' pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WTF?!!!!  Last winter I broke my shoulder and shuddered as the pounds piled on during my depressive inactive state.  But as spring sprung and my shoulder healed I was able to return to my healthy lifestyle.  Over the summer, I admit I tried and failed at many flash quick fix diets that I KNOW I shouldn't try....so desperate was I.  I'd lose a few and then gain them back.  I was not getting in the cardio I needed in order to lose, I was only doing my maintenance workouts and then wondering WHY I wasn't losing weight.  duh.

As the end of summer came around I jumped on a boot camp wagon and was working out avidly and eating well.  I gained 4 lbs.  "It's muscle." my people said to me.  Bullshit.  Muscle it is NOT...unless it is muscle making  my muffin top grow daily. 

Something is wrong.   How can I exercise 5 times a week, eat a balanced and healthy diet and still be gaining weight?  It just doesn't add up. (Well, actually it does...all on my stomach and butt) What has changed?
To pile on more drama, my old injuries are all flaring up...shin splints, popping ribs etc.  However, I don't suffer from the exhaustion that I did before.  I'm flummaxed.  I visited a Naturpath and have been doing some research on my own as well.

These are the possibilities I'm considering and waiting for all the labs to come back...but the waiting is killing me!

1.  Adrenal Fatigue revisited?  - don't think so, I'm not exhausted
2.  Hypothyroid?  Maybe -- I have had hair loss, low temp...but not ALL of the symptoms.  And so far my lab work turns out normal.  But I'm hearing that lab work isn't always a true indicator of these things.  May require further investigation.
3.  I'm 40 now and life will become pure hell in an effort to remain active.  I refuse to accept that answer, though on certain days I feel doomed.  Especially after "friends" make ignorant and hurtful comments who can't possibly understand what I'm going through.  I'm generally a pretty confident person.  But there are definitely days when I want to smack down the skinny people.
4.  My bio-identical hormone patch.  Could it be the culprit?  Come to think of it -- I started this patch a year ago and that's when I seemed to start having trouble keeping the pounds off.  My Naturpath tends to agree and is having me do this 30 day liver detox to clean out my system and get a true reading of my hormone levels.  I agree that detoxing once a year is a good thing, and taking a break from analyzing everything I put in my mouth is fun too.  The no wheat, no caffeine, no sugar, no dairy (except raw or cultured) I can get on board with and isn't MUCH different from my usual diet.  The no meat (even fish) part kills me.  I did get a special dispensation to eat my pastured beef so I don't become anemic (which my first round of labs said I already was, again.) My protein intake is down by about 10- 15% and I feel it puts the muscle I've worked so hard for, at risk.  I mean, the more muscle you have the more calories you can burn, right?  I dunno -- my studies with the GCNM tell me, that we don't need that much protein.  I'm SO confused!  This detox definitely is messing with my mind.
5.  I'm still in a quandry over the nonfat/lofat/lotsafat research I've been doing.  Studies say that if you eat healthy fats as 30% of your diet that it won't make you fat, but in fact will help you lose weight.  Given that I'm 25 lbs heavier since I started eating more fat, I'm not sold on this.  However, I found it REALLY interesting that my cholesterol has dropped 20 points in the past 2 years.  Very interesting indeed. 

In the meantime I signed myself up to participate in this crazy race called the Tough Mudder with a bunch of men who are certain to be dragging me behind by the end of the race.  What was I thinking?  Well...at the time I thought I was ramping up again and was ready to be in tip top shape by next February.  Fast forward 2 months and I'm still struggling.  wuh-oh  Better find my mojo and quick.  It's somewhere buried in these 25 lbs, I'm sure of it.

So now that I've drawn out the clouds in the detail, it's time to do some rainbow hunting:

1. Even though I'm puffy, I'm still not as puffy as I was 5 years ago.  I am in far better health that I was then.
2. This journey is leading me to a better understanding of proper nutrition and will probably make me a more compassionate and knowledgeable Nutritional Consultant.
3. I am exercising ALOT.  And that is good.  I especially enjoy the tennis I play with my son and the swimming I'm doing with my daughter.  I've also got a nice network of friends to exercise with, which is a very important motivating factor.
4. My husband never makes me feel fat and he always loves as much of me or as little of me as there is.
 

Dinner with the HSM's

Last night I was invited to dinner with a group of girlfriends from my kids’ school.  Somehow the group has been dubbed the HSM's (Hot Sexy Mamas).  We always have a lot of fun and laughs when we’re together, and this evening was no exception.  Ivette, the host, went all out providing each of us with gifts and little momento’s to take home.  The highlight of the evening was receiving homemade cards and bracelets from her adorable 5 year old son. What woman wouldn’t want such attention from a handsome young man!

 (Some of my booty from last night.  Ian made the card and bracelet.  Ivette hand crafted a little owl picture holder for each of us, and idea I definitely need to steal!)

In addition to the love and laughter we also enjoyed a lot of really good food.  Ivette did a great slow roasted pork and a salad made from her garden.  Her bff, Sheryl (of Sheryl Lynne’sSweets), brought a family recipe of black beans and rice which was, hands down, the best arroz y frijoles negro I’ve ever had.  Due to my stinkin’ diet limitations (more on that later) I brought a baked quinoa and caesar salad.  Sucks having to travel everywhere with food – but as it turned out, the recipes all blended well together.  For dessert Ivette hooked up her chocolate fountain which was served with an assortment of fruits.  Perfecto!  

Additionally, back around punkin carving time the girls gave me bags and bags of seeds, which I soaked, roasted and seasoned.  This was a great opportunity to bring them back in 3 variations...simple sea salt and olive oil; butter with pumpkin pie spice and my Soul Seed recipe made with bacon lard and cajun seasoning mix. 

Of course the evening would not have been complete without a viewing of Bridesmaids, a lovely fire on the patio, raucous and sometimes raunchy conversation, laughing to tears, and taste testing some of Sheryl's latest yummy creations.  

Girls, it's always a good time.  Thank you, Ivette for welcoming us into your warm and lovely home.  Until next time, HSM's!

Caesar Salad Dressing 

I really like Alice Water’s recipe from The Art of Simple Food.  I’ve said before and I’ve said again, if you do not have this book, you should get it.  The ingredients follow:

Technically this recipe serves 4, but I find a little goes a long way.

1 T – Red wine vinegar

1 T – fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 t – minced anchovies

2 – cloves of garlic pounded until pureed

¼ cup (or so) olive oil

Mix the above together in a small bowl until emulsified.

Just before serving add:

½ cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese (only fresh will do, none of that stuff from the can)

1 egg yolk (make sure you use a good fresh egg, you don't want to risk ruining the evening with a bad egg!)

Salt and pepper to taste

Julie’s Ugly Roasted Salsa 

I call it ugly b/c the color leaves much to be desired, but I really love the flavor, so it is forgiven.

Makes 2 quarts of salsa (or 4 pints)

5 lbs Tomatillos

1 pint – cherry tomatoes

4 anaheim chilies

1 red onion – cut in half

2 small garlic bulbs (cleaned but not peeled) (note this is the whole bulb, not just a clove)

1 bunch of cilantro – chopped

2 jalapeno peppers

2 t salt

Juice of 2 lemons and 1 lime

1-2 T sugar (optional)

Set oven to 350.  Place tomatillos, cherry tomatoes, chili’s, onion and garlic in a bowl and toss with a bit of olive oil.  Place in single layer on 3 cookie sheets.  Place in oven for approx.30 – 40 minutes until Tomatillos begin to collapse.
Place in food processor with cilantro and pulse until broken down to the level you prefer.  Add salt and juice.  Blend again.  Taste – add more salt or sugar if desired.
I generally prepare this in smaller batches to enjoy fresh salsa for the week.  But if you are preparing the big batch, be sure to prepare your canning supplies in advance and process in a boiling bath for 10 – 15 minutes.

Baked Quinoa with Cheese

1 T – olive oil

1 leek, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 green pepper, finely chopped

1 jalepeno minced (adjust according to your preference)

1 ½ cups quinoa

3 cups chicken stock

1 cup milk

2 eggs

4 oz grated cheese (I use raw cheddar)

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350

Heat olive in a sauce pan.  Add leeks and sautee until translucent, salt and pepper.  Add garlic, peppers, jalepeno.   Cover and let steam for a few minutes until tender.  Add quinoa, stir to mix.  Then add chicken stock.  Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and cover for 5 minutes until liquid is absorbed.

Mix milk and eggs together in large bowl.  Add quinoa and mix thoroughly.  Mix in cheese.  Place in greased 13” x 9” casserole dish.  Bake for 30 minutes and serve immediately.

·         If you plan on making ahead, do not bake until just before service.

·         Serve with salsa or as the basis for beans or other soup.

A Baby Shower

I meant to post this blog back in September, but until a friend inquired about a recipe, I realized I never did.  As it turns out the Baby celebrated at this shower was born just this week.  Little Dylan joined the party  on November 2^nd.  Mommy and baby doing fine!

Early October….

Last weekend, my friends and I threw our dear friend a baby shower.  This opportunity comes around less than it used to, so the thought of welcoming a new little being into our lives just fills me with delight.  The mom-to-be and I have known each other for nearly 25 years and in the last 10 we have spent many holidays and special times together with our mutual friends.  Most of these events included time spent in the kitchen together with bottles of wine or champagne whilst we created some of the most wonderful meals in my life.

The Décor – Catherine is not an elaborate person, but opts for the simple and beautiful things in life. She enjoys time in her garden and always has funny stories about a hummingbird or a dragonfly.  In fact they are creating some dragonfly artwork in the nursery, so we went with that kind of motif.  Just using simple clear jars and vases and filling them with simple white flowers.  Rachel (our host), has a lovely spanish style home, so not much décor was really needed. We were having an evening shower, so outside Rachel strung a lot of garden lanterns and twinkly lights.  We also put out a lot of tealights which I decorated in the garden motif.  The tealights, also served as the favors for the shower.

The Activities -  Catherine specified that no games were to be played (so happy about that!) so instead we had activities that guests could partake in, if they found themselves in a lull. Frankly, I felt I had to crack the whip a few times to get people to participate….we’re that kind of crowd.  So I’m not sure it was really necessary.  But these are the activities we provided. 

•   Onesie decorating.  We purchased plain white onesies and provided fabric markers.

• Wishes for Baby.  We asked guests to complete a form which had a “fill in the blank” list of things (see photo).   I’ll be taking these and making a book for the baby.  I’ll include a few extra pages for mom, dad and others to chime in.  As well as providing wish pages through the years for Mom to fill in, if she wants…or can also be used by the baby as a journal as he grows. 

• Lullabyes.  Catherine is a music lover, so I requested guests to write down their favorite songs as children or the ones they sang to their own children.  I thought this would be the most popular, but sadly, we got no takers. 

We also made a video to play through out the evening with all sorts of photos of Catherine as well as quotes on parenting and advice and best wishes from us all.

The Menu (recipes to follow)

When I sat down to create the menu for the shower, I did so with the purpose of providing her with a walk down memory lane.  Thankfully my friends reined me in and convinced me that not EVERYONE at the shower would appreciate a pate de foie gras, or duck leg lollipops …never the less we came up with a really scrumptious menu.  We were feeding 30 people and Catherine asked for finger foods, rather than a sit down meal.  However the timing of the shower was in the early evening, so we wanted to provide food with some substance.

Honey Butterflies -  Catherine once told me that one of her favorite childhood kitchen memories is of her mother fixing her bread spread with butter and honey.  I wanted to bring her back to that time, now that she’ll soon be making the same snack for her own child.   In this case it took the form of a very simple amuse bouche which I carried around on a tray and offered to our guests to get their mouths watering.  Who knew a little soft white bread with a rose of whipped honey and butter could illicit such praise.

Olives Assortment - Catherine and Cheri often have evenings of sharing olives and wine.  So Cheri provided a lovely assortment of olives for the evening.  She really is the olive aficionado, so I couldn’t begin to tell you what kind we ate – only that they were really delicious. Don’t ever underestimate the power of a really good olive!  HINT:  Be sure to have pails set near the table so people can easily dispose of their pits.

Crudite with Ina’s Herb Dip - Catherine always serves this dip at her parties, so we couldn’t possibly do without it at her most important party to date.  It is a very easy and simple recipe, but always brings rave reviews.  Seasonal raw vegetables are perfect accompaniment as are torn pieces of fresh baked bread.

Trader Joe’s Guilty Pleasures - We have spent more than a couple lazy Sunday afternoon’s in Catherine’s lovely backyard noshing on delectables from Trader Joe’s Frozen Food section along with some wine.  It seemed only right that we include these in the menu.   The Feta Cheese and Carmelized Onion in Puffed Pastry, Macaroni and Cheese bites, and Parmesan and Garlic Puffed Pastry.

Caesar Bites - Catherine and I had a very non-confrontational discussion about whether or not Caesar salad dressing should have anchovies in it.  She believes it should (she loves salt), I believe it shouldn’t (can’t stand a fishy taste).  In any case, we both love a good Caesar, so I made Caesar bites for our guests to enjoy – using Alice Water’s recipe for the dressing, which of course for this event, does include anchovies...and not one person complained of fishiness.

Tomato Basil Soup Shots - Catherine is an expert at sauces, gravies and soups.  Before we cooked together I never could get my soups or sauces to turn out right.  So this soup was an ode to the gifts she’s given me in the kitchen.  I was most nervous about serving it…so was relieved to get a thumbs up from the Queen of Soups herself.

BBQ Beef and Coleslaw Sandwiches - Before Catherine and I went to Babies R Us to register, we had lunch at my favorite restaurant in town, The Junkyard.  Traditionally, most restaurants I recommend really suck when other people go.  Happily, this was not the case.  She was in love with the BBQ Tri-tip and Coleslaw Sandwich that she had.  The way she described the heat of the sauce, the cream of the coleslaw and the garlic in the role – really stuck with me.   (And made me wish I had the same sandwich)  I knew I had to recreate a smaller version for her shower.

The Bar -  we served wine and sparkling clear sodas and water.  I pureed some watermelons and honey dew melons and froze the strained juice in ice cube trays.  These made a really pretty display and tasted delicious in the sparkling water as well.  We also provided a wonderful assortment of berries for people to eat or drop in their water or champagne.

Dessert -  I took the opportunity to support a friend who recently began her own bakery business…Sheryl Lynne’s Sweets.  She provided us with key lime pie bites with fondant daisies and dragonflies.  The pies were delicious and I wish her much luck in her new business.  Please keep her in mind if you are in LA or Ventura County. 

Cheri also selected a very delectable chocolate cake – perfect for Catherine who has been on a choco kick lately.  I can’t remember which bakery she purchased it from though. 

In the end, we were most exhausted – but it all went really well and Catherine took home a lot of loot.

There are very few people I would have gone to this much trouble for, but did it with much joy and anticipation of meeting our new party-goer.  I hope this baby boy LOVES to eat, because he will seriously be surrounded by a lot of women who are ready to feed him. (and I mean that in a non-breast sort of way.)

Recipes:

Honey Butterflies

·         4 oz honey

·         1 cup butter

·         1 loaf of soft white fresh bread.

Using a mixer, whip honey and butter together until smooth.  Do not over mix or the butter will begin to melt.  Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with the medium rosette nozzle.

Using a 2” circle cookie cutter, cut out 48 circles in the bread

Pipe a rosette onto each piece of bread.

Serve within 30 minutes or chill with a wet paper towel draped loosely over the pan to keep the bread from drying out.

Caesar Bite

•  6 bunches of romaine lettuce, pulled apart, reserving the pieces which have a natural “well” and are not to wide to put in your mouth easily. 
•  2 roast chicken breasts  - ½ “ dice (you can roast them yourself, or just pick them up at the grocery to save time)
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan
• 1 loaf french bread – cut bread into ½” cubes  
  ¼ cup olive oil
  Salt
  Pepper
  Plus Ingredients for the Salad Dressing from The Art of Simple Living

Make the croutons by tossing with olive oil and salt and place on pan.  Put in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until crunchy and golden brown.  Making fresh croutons makes a huge difference in this salad, so take the time to make them yourself.

Make the Dressing Recipe from The Art of Simple Food   - make the portion according to the book – a little goes a long way. (Every kitchen should have this cookbook, so if you don't have it, order it!)

Arrange the lettuce leaves on a couple of trays.  Top each leave with a little chicken, crouton, and parmesan.  Keep cool until service.  Just before service, drizzle a little dressing over the top.

Tomato Basil Soup Shots

I used Ina’s recipe, but recommend that you remove about half of the basil before pureeing the soup – otherwise it may take on a “pukey” color (according to my 8 year old).  I also recommend making it the day before so that the flavors can meld and take on a better depth.

I chose to serve the soup in shot glasses, for ease and appearance.  In retrospect I should have added basil ribbons or basil oil in each glass…for both appearance and to replace the basil I removed.  But I was quite impressed with my little mozzarella balls on the toothpicks – very cocktail-esque.  The mozzarella was purchased at Whole Foods

This soup can be served hot or cold, so it made for a good soup to sit at a party.

BBQ Beef and Coleslaw Sandwiches

This recipe is the only one I can really call all my own.  (well, I did get some tips on Ina on the coleslaw)

BBQ Beef

-          3 lbs – chuck roast, rump roast or any other kind of beef you have.  I used grass fed beef from my local farm, b/c that’s how I roll.

-          1 quart – Beef stock – also my own. I always roast the bones , meat and veggies that go in my stock, so I believe this adds a really great flavor to any dish.

-          1 quart – Memphis style BBQ sauce.  I recommend an acidic sauce rather than a sweet one for this recipe.

-          ½ cup of your favorite BBQ Rub – again, I have my own.  But any will do.

Heat your crock pot to high and add 1 T olive oil.

Apply rub to the roasts and brown them all over in the crock pot.

Turn heat to low, add BBQ sauce and Stock.  Let cook slow and low all day until the meat can be pulled apart easily. Store meat and sauce overnight in a rectangle ovenproof pan.

Coleslaw

-          1 lb green cabbage- shredded

-          ½ lb carrots – shredded

-          1 ½ cups – mayonnaise

-          ¼ cup – stone ground Dijon mustard

-          1 T - honey

-          3 T – Apple cider vinegar

-          2 t – celery seeds

-          1 t – celery salt

-          Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together.  Recommend making this the day of so the coleslaw is cool and crunchy

Garlic Rolls

-          3 tubes of Pillbury Ready Bake French Rolls

-          4 oz garlic and herb butter spread (you can make your own by mixing stick of butter with herbs de provence and 2 t minced garlic)

Cut each French Bread “loaf” into 12 1” pieces.

Using a cupcake pan, put one segment in each cupcake hole and brush with herb butter.

Bake approx. 15 minutes at 375.  Keep an eye on them and take them out when they are golden brown.

Can be made ahead.

Before service….

-          Reheat meat in oven at 350 for about 12 – 20 minutes.  Then turn to broil for 5 minutes until tips of meat are crispy.

-          Cut rolls in half (sandwich style)

-          Top with about 1 T of meat and 1 T of coleslaw.  Place top bun on top.  If necessary, use a toothpick to hold them together.