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Recipes

Autumn Ratatouille

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Autumn Ratatouille

It has been way too long in between recipes… but it is Autumn and this looks like the colors of fall leaves, doesn’t it? This version is super-quick, low calorie, vegan, with no added fats, but I’ll add some variations in the postscript in case you want to change it up.

Ratatouille
makes 2 large servings, 230 calories each.

Ingredients:

1 eggplant, cubed (I don’t peel them)

1 carrot, cubed (you can cut it into discs, I just like how it looks shape-wise with the eggplant & corn)

1 2/3 cup frozen corn

1 can S&W stewed Roma Tomatoes, Italian style, 14.5 oz.

Imagine Brand No-Chicken Broth, Low Sodium, 2 cups

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp (or less) Tamari

dash cayenne

Add salt & pepper to taste

Process:

Place cut up vegies in microwaveable bowl and cover (I use a corning ware casserole) cook on high 5 minutes.

Meantime, place a soup pot on burner and heat broth and tomatoes with their liquid, add vegetables and remaining ingredients to liquid and simmer until carrots are tender and flavors are blended, about 20 to 30 minutes. Enjoy with bread or crackers  if desired.

Variations:

For even lower calories, you could substitute yellow pepper for corn, but I like corn and the starchiness makes it filling. You could also use different flavors of S&W tomatoes and stock to change the character of the broth. If you like olive oil and would like a higher fat, higher calorie version, instead of cooking your vegetables in the microwave, brown an onion in olive oil, then add liquids to pot. cook as per remaining instructions.

Health & Fitness

The Oatmeal Experiment

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Oatmeal directly from the packing.

The Oatmeal Experiment

I know it isn’t really hot here compared to what the rest of the country is suffering but I overheat easily so I have been trying to exercise early in the morning instead of my usual lunch-time. Really, I have tried to become a morning exerciser for years because it just seems like such a good idea to get it over with before the day starts.  I also love the self-righteous feeling I get from it. Unfortunately, I don’t waken bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I am more the bleary, uncoordinated, non-morning, type of person.

So, After Thursday’s near crash, I decided to try Friday’s walk in a well-fed state. I made a standard portion of oatmeal, (1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 cup water, pinch of salt) and ate it with a cup of coffee before I left.  My stats are below. The biggest differences are in the perception of exertion, and probably blood-sugar levels. Thursday I was happy to get home before I fainted and Friday I  stopped only because I had stuff to do.  Also note that Thursday’s walk was nearly flat where Friday’s was hilly. Even so, I am amazed at how much slower my average pace is in the morning than when I walk later in the day, My average rate at noon is generally 5.2 mph.

I’d love to hear what other people do. Do you exercise in the morning, do you eat first, or not until after?

Thursday:

  • on Aug 10, 2012 @ 07:52 AM
  • Total Time: 00:45:14Distance: 2.9 Miles
  • Elevation Gain: 380 ft / -369 ft
  • Average Speed: 3.8 mphMax Speed: 4.4 mph
  • Average Pace: 00:15:35

Friday:

  • on Aug 11, 2012 @ 08:51 am
  • Total Time: 01:11:23Distance: 4.5 Miles
  • Elevation Gain: 703 ft / -699 ft
  • Average Speed: 3.7 mphMax Speed: 4.5 mph
  • Average Pace: 00:15:51

Stats by Plus3network

Health & Fitness, Recipes

SOTD, Shake of the Day

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Mmmm, breakfast.

I was pretty shaky after my exercise this morning, I guess green tea alone just doesn’t cut it for me for Nordic Walking. In the past, working out in a fasted state was believed to burn a lot more calories but I just googled it and found that those findings were controversial. I am linking (see related articles below) to 3 articles that reach different conclusions. Anyway, I had to come in after 45 minutes because I was too dizzy to continue, so I’ll probably go with “lightly fed exercise” myself unless I am just doing a 20 minute run or something. But…  it is all OK because I made this!

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Pineapple mylk

Ingredients:

almond or soymilk, 1 cup

flax seeds, 1 tsp

frozen or fresh pineapple, 1 cup

sweetener as desired, I use 3 drops of Stevia

Process:

I used the VitaMix. If you don’t have one you should probably use flaxseed meal because my regular blender never ground the seeds up well enough for my taste.  Essentially, that is the difference between a VitaMix and a blender. A strawberry smoothie made in a blender will still have strawberry seeds in it, the smoothie made in the VitaMix will not.

You can bet I’ll make one of these before I walk out the door tomorrow.

Related articles:

Mark’s Daily Apple recommends fasting before intense exercise, referring to a study in which the subjects were eating a diet containing 50% fat. He also notes, “Lifting heavy things while picturing the pounds of meat to come is, for lack of a better word, kinda Primal. The hunger fuels my performance.”

BuiltLean recommends a light meal before exercise. He says, “The group that ate before the moderate cardio session continued to burn significantly more calories up to 24 hours after the exercise bout. The authors concluded that “when moderate endurance exercise is done to lose body fat, fasting before exercise does not enhance lipid utilization (fat use); rather, physical activity after a light meal is advisable.”

The New York Times: Phys Ed: The Benefits of Exercising Before Breakfast which states, “Exercising in the morning, before eating, the study results show, seems to significantly lessen the ill effects of holiday Bacchanalias.”

Recipes

Every-day Eggplant Parmigiana

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Before you get started, I want to warn you that this is not a traditional recipe, this one is quick and simple enough for a week-night. Click this link if you were looking for a traditional recipe and want to bail out now.

Mine is low-fat, gluten free, and either vegan or vegetarian depending on whether you use mozzarella cheese or a vegan substitute. In case you worry that this is sacrilegious, don’t. First of all, the traditional dish it isn’t from Parma at all, despite the name it is from Southern Italy. Second, there are many regional variations on eggplant Parmigiana, also called eggplant parmesan in the USA, and third, there are two completely different traditions that claim the name, one is the baked casserole type and the other is the stacked slices type. I like the casserole type best but each slice of eggplant is generally salted, pressed, dipped in egg, breaded, then fried, and finally baked with sauce and cheese. That is just too many calories and way too many steps for me. Continue reading Every-day Eggplant Parmigiana →

Health & Fitness, Recipes

Almond Milk Maker- Monday

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It’s Almond Milk-Monday!

Several people have asked me how I make almond milk. May I introduce the Sanlinx SoyaJoy. Yes, I know you can blend soaked almonds and water in your blender and then strain them through a dishcloth but I am Gadget Girl, daughter of Appliance Lady, so that is just not how I roll. If someone invented an appliance to do, make or clean something… Mom had to have it! She bought this for me years ago when I drank soy milk and I recently discovered that it does a great job of making nut milks.

Continue reading Almond Milk Maker- Monday →

Recipes

Scott’s Crustless Quiche Recipe

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Today is menu-Monday and this is one of Scott’s favorite everyday recipes. I like it because it uses up leftovers, stores well, and reheats well.

Variation with a ton of broccoli and a sprinkling of cheddar

Ingredients:

You’ll need a blender, a 13 x 9 pan, and an oven

4 eggs

1 pint cream or milk

About 10 oz of raw or cooked vegetables, 1 head of broccoli, stems cut small or 10 oz package of broccoli florets, mushrooms, green beans, peppers, marinated artichokes, really anything along these lines will work. Continue reading Scott’s Crustless Quiche Recipe →

Uncategorized

YUM!

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I made this yesterday from one of my favorite blogs: Chocolate Covered Katie. Here is the complete recipe: The Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Pie. It fit all my criteria for a Saturday evening dessert: gluten-free, dairy free, low-sugar, low-calorie, quick, zap it in the food processor & no-bake. Wow! We both loved it. A long, long time ago Scott used to make tofu cheesecake for potlucks with his dive-buddies and he wouldn’t tell anyone what was in it until it was all gone. I don’t eat soy very often but when I do, this will be at the top of my list!

Recipes

A new recipe – Shredded Pork

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I noticed that it has been a long time since I posted a recipe. I generally make it when pork is on sale but it will work with beef or chicken. Don’t fret the large quantity this makes because it freezes well. Continue reading A new recipe – Shredded Pork →

Calendar

The Great Pumpkin

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The Farmer’s Almanac says that Pumpkin carving began with the Irish tradition of carving turnips. They would put candles in them and place them in windows to scare the ghosts away on the Hallowed Evening. When they moved to the US, they discovered the more plentiful, easier to carve pumpkin and the rest is history.

Continue reading The Great Pumpkin →

Recipes

Corned Beef and Cabbage

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We dove into this before I could get a picture but CBC looks pretty much the same however you make it so use your imagination, K?

I use the crockpot for this but you could just use a covered pot on the stove. Put a chopped onion in the bottom of the crockpot and put corned beef on top of the onion. Turn on at low temp for 8-10 hours or 3 hours if you are simmering it on the stove. Then 1 hour before you are ready to eat, cut your cabbage head into 4 wedges and arrange them on top of the corned beef.

Remove to a platter when done and serve with horseradish or mustard and soda bread.

The traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner is traditional to… Irish Americans. The Irish immigrants couldn’t find a local analogue to the type of bacon they were used to so they adopted corned beef from their Jewish neighbors.

Click here to read about traditional Irish food.