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#Cultivate2012 Foodie Friday — Cultivate Style

Foodie Friday — Cultivate Style: Food nourishes us. Some foods give us more enjoyment than others. Some foods leave us feeling less than ourselves. What foods nourished your soul and body this year? What food choices can you make in 2013 to cultivate more self-care?

This year I learned how to make do with rice and potatoes. I gave up gluten for Lent in February as an experiment to see if my body had a reaction to gluten. On Easter, I discovered without any doubts that gluten negatively affects my digestive health. It was bittersweet because I’ve always loved bread and pasta — but they didn’t love me back. Along with this lifestyle change, I lost 20 pounds. It’s hard to believe I’ve been carrying around that much bloat! While it sounds difficult or like a fad, I’m actually comfortable without gluten. I treat it the way a diabetic treats sugar, a person with high cholesterol treats saturated fats and cholesterol, and a hypertension patient treats salt. I treat it how a person with food allergies would treat their allergens. It’s not a “diet.” It’s a not a “trend” to me. It’s a better quality of life.

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#FoodieFriday Salted Chocolate Bark with Almonds

 

I was struck by a very specific chocolate craving the other day, and I happened to have leftover chocolate chips from a snack mix I made. It’s super simple.

Salted Chocolate Bark with Almonds
1 cup chocolate chips or pieces
1/2 tsp salt
slivered almonds (add desired amount)

Grease a small cookie sheet, plate, or whatever you’ve got lying around. Line it with wax paper. Grease the wax paper. Put the chocolate chips/ pieces in a microwave safe bowl (or a double boiler if you desire), and sprinkle on the salt. Heat the chocolate chips for 1 minute. Stir. Heat for another 30 seconds. Stir in the slivered almonds. Spread the mixture across the wax paper. Chill in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Break into pieces and enjoy! See? Super fast, and super simple — so fast and simple that I never captured a picture. Oops!

 

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#FoodieFriday Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

Last week I promised my daughter that if she behaved in school we’d bake cupcakes. She complied, so I invited her into the kitchen to bake some peppermint mocha cupcakes.

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes (Adapted from Healthy Indulgences [Yes, I love playing with this recipe!])

1 can of drained, rinsed black beans
5 large eggs
2 tsps peppermint extract
1/2 tsp salt
3/8 cup coconut oil (or butter or oil of your choosing)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Put the beans, 3 eggs, extract, and salt into the food processor. Puree that mixture for a good two minutes. Add the remaining two eggs, oil, and sugar. Puree for another minute or so. Add the dry ingredients. Puree it until smooth and combine. Pour the batter into a lined cupcake pan (trust me — now is NOT the time to skimp on the cupcake liners!). Put the pan in the oven for 20 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Peppermint Mocha Frosting

1 stick of butter (8tbsps, 4oz), sliced
1 cup melted mint chocolate pieces
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp coffee extract

Cream the butter and melted chocolate until smooth. Add the sugar, cocoa, and extract. Whip until smooth and fluffy. Frost your cupcakes.

peppermintmocha

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#MondayMeditation Soaking In the New Year

We’re already nine days into 2012 (two thousand twelve or twenty twelve?), and already I feel a greater peace with my life than I did this time last year. Perhaps that’s because last year I was just beginning my journey living under someone else’s roof. This year I’m anticipating a move very, very soon. We may not achieve our February 1st goal due to some very complicated reasons of which I will not explain in public, but we have definitely spent the majority of our time here at this point. Even if our plans get pushed back to, say, March 1st, we’ll still be alright. I’ve allowed myself to explore ideas to cultivate a life worth living (yes, I’m going to repeat this phrase over and over again throughout the year — brace yourselves!), as well as explore other projects that encourage readers to revel in themselves and their dreams. Incidentally, I’m much more pleasant when I’ve taken care of myself. I don’t do as well when all I’ve had to eat is junk and I’m dehydrated. I’ve known this for years, but somehow I always end up letting my needs fall to the back burner when I’m asked to do something else. In those cases, I carry resentment. Resentment turns into stress, headaches, migraines, back pain, and a weakened immune system — seriously not a good state of being for anyone. This is why I think we should all stop to cultivate ourselves. It’s a holistic approach to feeling better and performing better, and there shouldn’t be a sense of guilt or selfishness involved. After all, I end up feeling guilty when I feel resentful towards someone I care about just because I stopped to do something for them instead of eating breakfast or washing my face.

Today’s Cultivate 2012 actions were: eating chocolate cereal instead of snacking on cookies and fudge (note to self: unload the rest of the fudge on unsuspecting co-workers); completing crunches and yoga; meeting my water quota by 4PM; writing in green metallic ink; and spending a little extra time to plan a nice meal for Thursday night.

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#Reverb11: Photo

Photo (Written by Tracey Clark): Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.

Well, this isn’t exactly a “good” picture of me, but I didn’t feel like I took “good” pictures this year. The battle of the bulge has been rather troublesome this year, but this picture captures my essence. My husband took this earlier this year when we were enjoying a meal of baked ziti, salad, and Italian bread at the table. That door is the door — the separation that maintains our privacy. On the surface, this picture shows that I’m a married mother who really doesn’t mind a messy baby. He was eating — you want me to aggravate him between bites to wipe up the drool and crumbs? There’s no shame in wearing your food well. If you want to go a little deeper, this picture shows you exactly who I am and who I strive to be. I’m the mother who values quality family time around the table — and a good meal. I want to enjoy as many of these moments as possible. I want to nourish my family with love, good food, and strong values. And most of all, I want to be able to dictate when and how often we enjoy these meals. Not some schedule. Not some work stashed in a brief case (or in my case, a messenger bag). Me. Strong-willed little me. They’re growing up so fast, and I want to experience it.

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#Reverb11: Foodie Friday, Reverb Style

Foodie Friday, Reverb Style: Food nourishes us. Some foods give us more enjoyment than others. Share your favorite food moment of 2011. Describe the food, where you got it, and/ or how you made it.

Here we go again: chocolate. Yes, I’m going to talk to you about chocolate again. Moreover, I’m going to talk about Chocolate Therapy Cafe again. What can I say — that chocolate cobbler was just the most amazing food find of 2011. I had decided that once I finished tutoring my student, my husband and I would split some chocolate cobbler and get some coffees. They call their half hot chocolate/ half coffee drink a “chocolate au lait,” and you can get different flavors added to it. Our server warmed up a portion of chocolate cobbler, topped it with fresh whipped cream and chocolate sauce, and brought it out to us. If you’ve ever had molten chocolate lava cakes, this trumps those. The flavor, texture, and warmth of the chocolate cobbler brings a big smile to my face. It makes me giddy like a child. It’s a particularly special dessert, though, and I only order it when my husband and I plan to split — even if he only plans to eat a bite or two.

I entered 2011 having no idea a cobbler didn’t need fruit, and now I’m going into 2012 wondering where chocolate cobbler had been all my life.

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Foodie Friday: Chicken Marsala Penne

Last month my sister went to Italy and Greece and brought back a couple bottles of wine for me and Brian. I requested marsala and chianti — because marsala makes excellent dishes, and chianti’s an Italian classic. I was also inspired by Bitchin’ Kitchen’s creamy chicken marsala penne. It was perfect: bite-sized chunks of chicken served over pasta. I got to work searching for recipes to build my own, but I mostly adapted this recipe from Bitchin’ Kitchen and Emeril Lagasse.

Chicken Marsala
3 chicken breasts (or roughly 1.5-2lbs)
8-12oz sliced mushrooms (more or less, depending on your tastes — get creative with the varieties, too!)
Half of a diced vidalia onion (or just use what’s on sale and in season)
3/4 cup good Marsala wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup of AP flour
5 tbsps unsalted butter, divided
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Season flour with salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Chop chicken into bite-sized chunks. Dredge chicken in flour. Heat oil and one tbsp of butter in a pan. Cook the chicken through, then place on a plate in the oven to keep it warm. Add 3 tbsps butter into the pan, and saute the onions and mushrooms. Once golden, add marsala and bring to a boil. When reduced by half, add broth and remaining tbsp of butter. Lower heat and return chicken to the pan. Cook until sauce is thickened. Serve over penne pasta (or whatever pasta you’d like). Serves 4-6. I also added some green beans for some additional veggies.

 

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Reverb 10: Soul Food

Prompt: Soul food. What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul?

I’m pretty sure it should be obvious that the tiramisu cake touched my soul. In fact, it should be fairly obvious that I adore tiramisu — very much so. The rich, creamy texture of the mascarpone, zabaglione, and whipped cream blends delicately with the moist, spongy consistency of the lady fingers soaked with espresso and liqueur to create an exquisitely unique dessert. Preparing it in cake format simply allows for a different serving method. Garnishing tiramisu — cake or otherwise — with cocoa powder enhances the richness of the dessert, and I do love my chocolate. Put more simply, I fell in love with tiramisu cake this year.

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