Juicy!

Howdy strangers! Shame, shame, shame on me. It's been a long time, I know. And what's even more shameful: I've fallen off the healthy-eating wagon. So, this is to let you all know that for the next 5 days (starting tomorrow) I'm going to be embarking on a juice fast.

This is something I'm really excited about though! I LOVE to juice! And guess what, so does Little Buddy! In fact, the last time I juiced I made a big jar of carrot-apple-ginger-lemonade, and didn't get to drink a drop because Little Buddy and Husband decided they were going to guzzle it. (Oh well, that's one way to get veggies into those silly boys.)

I already have some recipes I want to make, and am interested in suggestions if anyone has them.

Here are a few I want to try:

The Mean Green

6 Kale Leaves

1 Cucumber

2 Green Apples

4 Celery

1/2 Lemon

1 Ginger Root (thumb size)

The Tangy Cabbage

2 Pears

2 Apples

2 Wedges Cabbage

2 Carrots

1 Lemon

1 Lime

The Bruchetta

2 Roma Tomatoes

1-2 Cloves Garlic

20 leaves Basil

The Beet Rejuvenator (I love beets, so why not beet juice?)

3-4 Carrots

1 Cucumber

1/2 Lemon

1 Ginger Root (1 inch piece)

1/2 Beet Root(including stem and 1-2 leaves)

The Sunset Blend

1 large Sweet Potato

1 medium Carrot

1 Red Bell Pepper

2 Red Beets

2 Golden Delicious Apples

1 Orange, optional

Minty Fresh Berry
2 cups blueberries
2 kiwi
16 strawberries
2 cups mint leaves (packed)

Apparently you're supposed to have about 64oz. of juice a day, so I'm really happy our state refund check came and we get to get "prizes" as Husband called them (ain't he just adorable) at Whole Foods.

Follow my journey!

Inspiration

"No self respecting wolf nor woman would follow a culture that takes them to their deaths... instead of toward vibrant life. Be not young, be artful. Be not carving the body as though it is a block of wood, be strong, be healthy." -Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

If you are a woman, or lover of women, or misunderstand women, or misunderstand yourself, please read this book.

I always thought that I was different from other girls, then other teenagers, then other women, and I've found through this wonderful book that it is because I've embraced the wild inside myself, the wolf inside myself, the Mother and the Maiden and eventually the Crone inside of me.

Do not flee from the carnal, the feral, and the wild, embrace it.

Love it.

Live it.

I hadn't planned to post anything today, but then I found the above quote and I had to share it. This will be my inspiration today, tomorrow, and always. If I am healthy, then I am strong, and I am beautiful.

Go love and be loved, and as always, enjoy your life with a Spoonful of Sugar.

Miss Me?

Hey guys, I know, I know, it's been FOREVER! But, you know how it is right? At least, you do if you're a parent.

Does this sound familiar:

"I really meant to sit down and ________, but then ________." (My blanks are usually filled with "write" and "Baby Bear pulled all of the DVDs off the shelf" or "Baby Bear spilled his whole bottle of juice all over himself" or "Baby Bear started shoving things in the refrigerator filter" or "Baby Bear attempted to upend the trash can." True story.)

So, let's play catch up for a few minutes.

1) We went to visit my family in Memphis.






<--- The bald head behind my mom and Baby Bear, yeah, that's Craig Brewer.






2) Baby Bear experiences his first Halloween.






<--- Cutest bat ever? I think so.







3) Baby Bear turned ONE YEAR OLD on November, 23.






<--- Organic carrot cake with no processed sugar, and homemade whipped cream for icing? Win! Smearing it on mommy's face? Bigger Win!





4) We roasted a duck for Thanksgiving.








<--- Crispy skin, moist meat, and 2 cups of rendered duck fat? OMFG, WIN!









5) We adopted a stray puppy for Christmas.






<--- This is Guinness, our new dog. He's huge, and apparently he's only 7 months old. He and Baby Bear are the best of friends.





6) New Year, New Me.

So, I weaned Baby Bear, but didn't wean myself from what I'd been eating and how I'd been eating as I nursed, so I gained a little weight. (coughalotofweightcough) So, this month I'm buckling down and changing my diet. I'm exercising more, doing some yoga, not keeping sweets around the house, eating healthier in general, and trying to keep my metabolism running on high speed.

So far, I don't really see any results, and I don't have a scale to see if any of this is working or not. The first week was horrible. I mean, seriously, I haven't felt so ill since being pregnant with Baby Bear. I was irritable, I was always tired, I had horrid headaches, and I had no energy. Wait...isn't the OPPOSITE supposed to happen? Well, when you're an idiot like me and you cut your calorie intake by like MORE THAN HALF (dumbdumbdumb!) it doesn't matter how many protein packed snacks and shakes you have, you aren't going to feel good.

Now it's a little better. I've decided not to literally count my calories. I've been able to create a sixth sense of calories basically. I'm eyeballing my portions, watching what I snack on, still making sure I eat frequently, and staying away from anything too heavy and fatty.

I'm still cooking regularly for Baby Bear and hubby, but am trying to get hubby to eat healthier. (Yeah, that'll happen. Just as soon as he stops smoking.) -_-

My new inspiration is Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. She's amazing. I love her. If you don't know who she is, go find out right now. I don't know how she does it though. She uses full fat, whole milk, half and half, and butter in all her recipes but is still relatively thin. So I emailed her and asked. If I get an answer I'll be sure to share, because America needs to know.

That's it for now. Hubby gets home soon from an all day class with no lunch break, so I need to go make him something filling and yummy. Does anyone else wish they lived in a grocery store sometimes? (read: all the time)

Oh, also, on a totally non-food note: I've been reading a lot lately, now that Baby Bear can kind of entertain himself for a while (when he feels like it), and the books I'm reading now are the George R.R. Martin series, A Song of Ice and Fire. SO GOOD! GO READ IT NOW!

Love and kisses and sugars until next time!

What Makes Me Happy

I've decided that since I haven't had much time to post any new recipes, I'd take some time to show you a few things that make me happy. Pictures, links, videos, enjoy it all! So this girl makes me AND my husband smile. Not very many people can boast that feat.
http://youtu.be/vq7G-Q9ZwC0

My current favorite song ever. And two of my favorite artists collaborating on it.http://youtu.be/wWdxgmzLdwk

This mom is pretty much how I see myself in the future. http://www.waitinthevan.com/

The Best Stew I've Ever Made

So, I don't know if you've noticed, but it's fall. Well, it's fall here at least. As in, last night, despite sleeping cuddled up with my heating blanket of a husband, I also threw a comforter over myself for good measure.

Fall to me means hot tea, cider, oatmeal, and most importantly: stew. In our household, soups and stews are a staple. We make at least one every week or two. They're frugal, they're filling, and they're just plain yummy.

Now, in this post I'll give you what I put in the stew, but not the amounts; not because it's a secret or anything, I just don't really measure when I'm making stew. Cooking's not about science and measurements, it's about emotion.

This stew started out with a sale on stew beef at Whole Foods, which we took full advantage of. And then we pretty much forgot like any other ingredient to go in a stew. So, while daddy danced for the little monkey, mommy ran to the grocery store for some veggies and such.

Sadly, while I was looking for beef stock, I found that our shitty local Food Lion (which we hate to use, but is literally across the street from our house) no longer carries ANY stock or broth other than chicken broth. I mean, really? I know I live in a backwards, ignorant state and the extent of fine dining is the Ruby Tuesdays in town, but...REALLY?

So, I improvised. Knorr has made this interesting new bouillon type thing. I was hesitant, but I needed beef stock to make this stew, so I grabbed one of these. They're kind of like a concentrated beef stock jelly. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. It dissolved in boiling water (the weird poo looking picture above to the right) and tasted just like regular beef stock, if not a bit saltier.

Hubby had this idea to kind of copy a stew he'd seen on an episode of Bourdain's No Reservations, which involved either turnips or rutabaga. He couldn't remember, so I got one of each. I had never had either. I mean, I've had (and I love) turnip greens, but I'd never had an actual turnip. I didn't really know how to go about tackling this mass of bitter root vegetable, but I noticed the outer skin was covered in wax, which is no bueno, so I just kind of rough-chopped the skin off since it was too thick for a veggie peeler. I did the same with the rutabaga and tossed those in the stock first since I thought they'd probably take the longest to soften.

Next, I chopped up a bunch of green onions, because I couldn't locate leeks at Food Lion. (Curse you, damn redneck grocery hub. Damn you to the depths of hell.) So, I grabbed a regular white onion and added that too. At this point you could probably saute your onion separately, then add them to the stew later, but I skipped that because I had a hungry hubby and a cranky little monkey that was screeching for mommy's attention. (We're currently cutting all four, count 'em FOUR, top front teeth.)

I also began seasoning at this point. You can season with whatever herbs and spices you hold dearest. In our house, we love us some marjoram, thyme, and sage. I think I tossed in more than that, but I can't actually remember...

Next, peel and chop some carrots. All the carrots I got were kind of puny, so I added quite a few. After this picture, I think I cut up about four more to go in, because I'm a huge fan of carrots in stew.

Jason likes his veggies still crispy, but he wasn't cooking, so he got mushy carrots--just the way I like them!

I'm pretty sure you could also substitute the carrots for some parsnips, but with the bitterness of the turnips and rutabagas I wanted the sweetness that the carrots bring to the pot.

I tossed all the veggies in the pot (which, is vastly smaller than I wish it was) and let them cook with the herbs and stock for a bit while I took a break and fed the hungry monster some cheese and crackers.

Oh, also, there's cabbage! I tossed it in after the carrots and added a dash of caraway seeds. We LOVE cabbage! I mean, hubby's Irish so that's kind of a given, and I just love it because it absorbs all the flavor of what you cook it with.

I like napa cabbage for stews usually because of it's added texture, but a head of regular cabbage is bigger, most of the time.

After that, I grabbed a skillet and added butter...a LOT of butter. So, if you're worried about cholesterol or any of that mumbo jumbo, then I guess you can use olive oil instead. But seriously, don't. The butter's there for a reason, which I'm getting to.

When browning meat, for any reason, you must take care to thoroughly dry the meat or it will not brown. Did you hear me? DRY YOUR MEAT. I just use paper towels because it's easily cleaned up, and I find it more sanitary. So, after you dry the meat, flour it and toss it in the butter.

Now, the butter...mmmmm, the butter. After all the meat is browned, add more butter to the skillet and let that melt. Then add some more flour. Are you realizing why you need butter yet? To make this a stew as opposed to a soup, it needs to be thick. To be thick, you need a roux. Now, I didn't really cook the roux like I would have for gumbo or etouffe, because I already had quite a bit of flavor from the meat in the butter. I just cooked it enough to get that raw flour taste out, then added some of the broth, and then added that into the stew.

Now, if you're impatient, sure, you could go ahead and cook that meat all the way through in the skillet, but it won't be tender enough. So, let the stew simmer on low heat for about another half hour, or until you just can't stand it any more.

I had a bowl of this delicious stew, then realized there was nothing to sop up the broth at the bottom of the bowl after all the good, chunky veggies and beef were gone. So, I tried my hand at making cornbread. The reason I'd never made cornbread before is because my best friend's mom, Mama Peggy, makes the BEST cornbread I've EVER had, and I was always afraid of falling utterly short of that golden goodness. But, I needed cornbread. It was essential. So I grabbed Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything" and looked up his easy-peasy recipe. It was totally simple, but completely delicious. I ate half the pan myself... And then my bowl looked like this. <----- Happy, empty bowl!

I found that the next day, this stew is even better because the flavors have had time to marry completely. I also found that I really like turnips and rutabagas. They're delicious in stews, so they'll become an always ingredient, much like carrots.

Little monkey also seemed to like them, which is a good thing. Even though he was fussy most of the time I was making the stew, he was not fussy while nom'in on some cooked carrots and some cereal.

That's it for now. Until next time, enjoy your loved ones and your life with a Spoonful of Sugar!

Apple Cake and Simple Fare

Apples = Good

Cake = Good

Apple + Cake = Greatness

So, I'm doing this post for a very special friend of mine named Wendi. She requested the recipe for my apple cake, and with her being a brand new mommy, how could I not share? But then I thought, what was it I wanted when I was a new mommy? Simple, hearty fare.

My son was born 2 days before Thanksgiving last year, so when we went home on Thanksgiving, there was a ton of food that my mom had lovingly slaved over. So for about a week, we were good on leftovers, but then my mom (known as "Mimi" to the little monkey) went back home and we were on our own.

Now, I don't know if you, dear reader, have ever had a baby, but it's hard those first few weeks. Hell, it's hard those first few months! I think I maybe got an average of 3 hours of sleep a night for the first month, and little monkey didn't start sleeping through the night until he was 7 or 8 months old.

So, for the new mommy, I've decided to include a few really great, simple recipes.

To start, my Irish Apple Cake

For the cake:

1 lb. apples of your choice (I usually up the apple amount because you really can't have enough apples, and I use either Gala or Pink Lady.)

1 and 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

a pinch of salt

1/2 c. butter, plus extra for greasing your pan

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 tbs. milk

For the streusel topping:

Generous 3/4 c. flour

6 tbs. butter (diced)

1/2 c. sugar

To make:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9 inch round pan. I used my white Corningware, and it worked perfectly. Make the streusel topping by cutting the butter into the sugar and flour until crumbly. (I added some nutmeg and cinnamon at this stage, because they're yummy and nutmeg helps your brain function. True story.)

Peel, core, and thinly slice your apples and set aside.

Mix all the other cake ingredients together. Spoon the batter into your pan and smooth the surface (or don't, because no one's going to see it under all those apples!) Gently and lovingly and with the utmost affection and car begin to layer your apples over the cake batter. Use them ALL. It may look like a lot of apples, but trust me, it's SO FREAKING GOOD.

Now, over that gorgeous layer of mouth-watering fruit, sprinkle your streusel topping as evenly as you can. Now, stare appreciatively at your cake-to-be and whisper sweet nothings too it. (No really, do. The more love you cook with, the better it tastes.)

Bake for an hour, then remove from oven and let cool in the pan. If you wish, you can dust the cake with powdered sugar, but I find this step unnecessary.

And that's it! All done! Unless...

If you'd like to gild the lily as they say, please do so by dolloping a big ol' scoop of vanilla ice cream. Or caramel ice cream. Or whatever bloody ice cream you favor the most. Now take a big ol' spoonful of that bright, warm, delicious cake and shove it unapologetically into your mouth.

Now, since we've taken care of the cake, on to the mommy food.

For some delicious, easy soda breads, I always turn to my favorite Irish cook book. I'm a fan of the brown soda bread, because I feel it has a nuttier, fuller flavor than white soda bread. Here is a recipe for brown soda bread.

For some simple crock pot meals and soups, simply scroll down to some previous posts like this one on a Greek chicken and rice dish, or this one on two great soups.

I'm a huge fan of Cook's magazine as well, and as a new mommy, you deserve something to read for those marathon nursing sessions. Luckily, I have a magic fairy godmother (my best friend Evie's mama--my second mother--Ms. Peggy) who gave us a subscription to Cook's Illustrated for our wedding. It's a great gift for the foodie we all know, and for a year of magazines for about $20.00, it's a great investment.

I have a good friend who's Iranian, and her mother makes the most amazing dish that I am slightly obsessed with. And for a little effort, you get a lot of great leftovers. It's called Zereshk Polo. In Farsi, Polo means rice, and the dish is a chicken and rice dish for those that like sweet and savory together. It's fairly easy to find recipes online, but I like this one by Chef Kshar because the video shows you each step.

Now, to some, the thought of roasted marrow bones might be exotic fare, but I love them, as does the hubby. And they're actually really good for you! The marrow has tons of great fats to help baby with brain development, and can actually lower cholesterol. Roasted marrow bones are actually the chosen last meal of my favorite celebrity chef and potty mouth, Anthony Bourdain (or as he's known by little monkey, "Uncle Tony") Here is a good recipe for them.

I'd love to post even more delicious food, but sadly, my little guy has just awoken from his nap and it's time to go back to being mommy again. I hope these recipes and links help all you find some great new foods to try, or some inspiration to create your own recipes. And to Wendi, enjoy this time with your little cowgirl, because they'll be the best days of your life.

As always, until next time, enjoy your loved ones and your life with a Spoonful of Sugar.

Soup for Two

Soup.

Makes you happy doesn't it, that word? Soup. When I was younger I remember the cans of condensed mush that tasted like a tinny salt-lick as opposed to something you'd cherish the memory of. (That being said though, when my throat's a-scratchin' I seek the comfort of a bright crimson bowl of Campbell's Tomato. I know. Ew.)

My husband and I love soups and stews. I think it's the process. Chopping the vegetables, adding the spices, stirring the brew ever so slowly. It's theraputic. As is the result.

Recently, we decided to make two different soups. I wanted to make chicken soup from scratch, because I'd never attempted it and it sounded both thrifty and delicious. We got a whole chicken to boil, about 5.5 lbs, and it produced a LOT of chicken in the soup. I won't go through the recipe for the chicken soup, because it's kind of a 'to-each-his/her-own' thing. We added chicken, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, oregano, parsley, and a lot of black pepper. I chose not to add noodles or rice, finding that even when done properly, the grains suck up too much of the liquid.

Last night, we made Lentil, Kale, and Sausage soup. I based our soup off of this recipe. I told my husband that I didn't like lentils, to which he replied, "You just haven't had them cooked properly then." I could believe this. I'd only ever had them at home, prepared by my step-dad, and let's just say that though we owned a full cabinet of spices, salt and pepper were the favorite sons. The lentil soup he'd prepared for us on numerous occaisions (and that my sister and I had made excuses not to eat) was more of a gruelish mush the color of mud and fog. Not very warming is it?

You can understand my hesitance to trust the hubby about lentils now, yes?

Anyway, we bought some french lentils from Whole Foods and they sat in our cabinet for a week before I found a recipe that looked interesting enough to try. I mean, with sausage in the name of the recipe, what could be bad right?

To the right you will see all of the lovely ingredients that went into the Lentil, Kale, and Sausage soup, here on out called LKS. I decided not to add the balsamic vinegar, because honestly, I don't like it. I'm not a vingar type of gal. I mean, I get why it was in teh recipe, to cut the fattiness of the sausage. But really...why would you want to do that? Here's the part where, if you're on a low-fat diet, you click the X at the top right corner and wonder away to enjoy some rice crackers.

Sausage. Mmmmm. Hate to say it, but it's one of my favorite foods. Kielbasa in particular. And in this recipe, it lends itself SO well to the flavor of the soup. I used no seasoning in this other than the garlic that is called for, and honestly, I think you could even leave that out.

Ok, so you take the kielbasa and cut it into whatever size pieces you wish to have, then sautee it until lightly browned. Don't worry about cooking it all the way through though, because it's going back into the soup. You take the sausage out of the pan and put on a paper towel lines plate. Leave the fat in the bottom of the pan.

Using that fat, you're going to sautee the garlic and onion until tender and slightly transparent. We're not lookin' for caramalized onions here, though if you wanna do that, I'm sure it would be delicious. Also, I added some celery we had left over from the chicken soup as well. Just add it in with the onions if you're using it.

Once the onions have gotten soft, pour over the water and broth. Add the sausage back in and add the lentils. (I doubled the amount of lentils and probably doubled the broth too. I wasn't really measuring, because that's the great thing about cooking.)

Let the mixture simmer for a while, about 30 minutes, then add the kale (de-ribbed) and let it simmer uncovered for about another 10 minutes.

The recipe I used calls for the balsamic vinegar, and if you want to use it, now is the time to add it, and then serve.

When your soup is done, you will have a gorgeous, light broth that's fantastically fragrant and dotted with little brownish green lentils, bright green, leafy kale and tasty pink sausage.


Now is when you take a spoon, dig into that delicious puddle of molten tastiness and moan. Yes, moan. It's alright, no one's going to blame you. So go on and moan, make little whinning noises, even giggle if you'd like to. Pour yourself a glass of wine and relax.

But, if you're really a gluten for punishment, and this just isn't rich and delicious enough for you, then please do as we did and make these. Go ahead, your taste buds will worship you.

Until next time, enjoy your loved ones and your life, with a Spoonful of Sugar.