A Fruit and a Root

I haven't posted our new produce but we have still been sampling a nutritious variety of yummy treats.  I tried a real exotic fruit last week - an apple.  Stop the crazy train, right?  :)  Yes I have had an apple a time or two in my life but not this variety called Lady Alice apples.  It sounded intriguing - it does have a royal title which must mean its impressive, right?  I thought so.   I really like Golden Delicious apples with its bright yellow skin and not as crisp flesh and a nice mild flavor - a tad sweet, very little tart, and comforting, especially with some peanut butter.  I mentioned all this because the Lady Alice apple shares a few similarities. For instance, if you see a Lady Alice apple it looks like a Golden but with a warm pink blush.  And the size just fits the palm of my hand.  The peel feels firm but not like armor (nor a candle - but sadly I have tried an apple or two that couldn't boast the same :( .  I enjoyed this variety and kept the snack real simple.  I cut it up and ate it with almond butter.  For years I have listened to some family members and friends really talk up the Honeycrisp variety.  This is a good stand - in.  I find some Honeycrisp apples to be quite large - I want a snack not a whole pie from one fruit.  Also some of the apples are REALLY sweet and when I find something REALLY sweet - thats almost scary!  So sweet you pucker your lips kind of sweet.  I also have found near the end of their season that Honeycrisp tends to be near flavorless, almost blah.  What's great about a Lady Alice apple is they take awhile to brown - you can enjoy your whole snack and it still be the white crispy slice you cut thirty minutes prior.  Also this is the perfect season for the Lady Alice to make her royal appearance; where most apples are in season during fall Lad Alice is perfectly right and ripe for Spring.  Easy go to snack at hopefully your grocer's.  I also leaned towards almond butter as peanut butter would compete against the apple's own sweetness.  Yummy!

Now unto the root.  Roots in the produce aisle look scary with their gnarliness and dirty exterior but when peeled and prepared they are so tender and delicious.  So this week we tackled the *pound piano* celery root!  These roots can be quite large and in charge.  But a great addition to a roast.  At least that's how we prepared it and loved it!  I am not a huge celery fan.  But its not really the flavor I mind - its the strings and texture.  Raw celery not a fan! But roasted or sauteed celery - quite enjoyable.  One string or snap and I'm done with it.   So celery root quite a nice find.  We had planned a roast for Monday in the crockpot.  Filling meal without too much hassle.  Monday around here we both had to get up early and work all day.  Who wants to mess with dishes after a long day?  So we were going to prep the veggies Sunday night and in the morning would just toss in the roast and turn the knob.  Simple, right?  Sort of.  We both hit that evening lull where you are just ready for bed.  And cutting vegetables sounded like such a chore.  But in all honesty ten minutes from gathering - rough chop and quick clean-up.  We quartered a couple of potatoes, chunked a big onion, and tackled the celery root.  It looks hard to deal with it.  But really a quick rinse and the peel is not tough at all.  Because the surface area tends to be good size you don't have to worry about nooks and crannies like a sunchoke or the tough exterior of the turban squash (I still get tense about that ordeal!!!) . Quick peel and you can immediately smell the celery aroma.  Its flesh has tinges a spring green that peek through the peel but a creamy white inside (closely resembling a potato).  I did read at www.eattheseasons.com mentioned you could eat it raw - but suggested slicing thin matchsticks and possibly blanching it quickly for a creamier texture. My hubby cut the root into cubes and we were ready for the roast.  I really liked the flavor it lended to the other vegetables and the meat.  It had such a comforting flavor - almost cinnamon like - tish sweet but more a warming spice - think warm apple cider on a chilly day.  It has been two days since we made our tasty roast but I just had yummy leftovers and the flavors only deepened.  And for any other diabetics or those seeking low carb - root vegetable but not loaded with starch (at least according to wikipedia and http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/carbcounts/a/celeriac.htm .  Great way to stretch mashed potatoes or make a creamy soup. 

Thinking spring around here but feel like I was eating autumnish :)  Its beautiful weather and we are four days away from our  Strides for Autism walk Saturday, April 14, 2012. We still would love donations to meat our $500.00 goal.  We are past the half-way point - your donation could help us meet or even surpass the goal!!! Please visit https://scautism.org/strides/team/3/ .

May your HealthFULL Journey keep you grounded to your roots but motivate you to always reach for the highest fruit :)  'Til we meet again. . .

Supermom Jeans are here!

The power of my new jeans brought me a grateful puppy, compliments from my hubby, and the squeals of delight of my son.  Yes people these jeans were magical and transforming.  But how you wonder.  Because they were my "short-term" goal jeans.  I bought them last week in hopes of fitting into them soon.  They are two sizes down from jeans I bought this past summer.  So I washed them and then tried them on for a fit and they fit.  Not perfectly, but not where I have to lay on my bed and exhale all my breath (girls may understand that sentence more than the guys :)  So today I put them on and it was pure magic.  I smiled, I felt pleased with my efforts.  I haven't bought this size since my honeymoon (summer of 2003!!!)  If you can do math or at least "Suzy math" that means I subtracted approximately eight and a half years.  Wow! I am a girl back in my twenties and not a bedraggled mom in her thirties - no wonder I had a smile.  But not only did the confidence that these jeans radiate cause me to smile but those around me.  I had lost some of my "control".  I've admitted to several people that recently I have started to "recall/remember" my spontaneous side.  As I've grown older and trying to keep chaos to a minimum I've adopted a lot of "routines" and schedules to help keep things in line.  Organization is good - routines can be helpful.  However as Julia Roberts as Vivian in "Pretty Woman" said " I would say I'm a kinda fly by the seat of your pants gal, you know moment to moment."  Once upon a time I was a fly by the seat of your pants and loved chaos. It was challenging to think of my feet.  And somewhere in the twists and turns of life I let go of chaos and clung to routine.  Which it was good to get organized but sad to leave such a huge part of my personality in the years of yesterday.  So today with my supermom jeans I let  today guide me, I let logic and practicality take a backseat. 

This afternoon I texted my hubby if he wanted to run to a discount warehouse store instead of him picking up the couple of necessary items on the grocery list.  That's right in a day of spontaneous actions we threw out the list!  We had no dinner planned as our eggplant curry would be without eggplant or with spoiled eggplant and we decided skip the curry!  My dog Belle came inside and she was covered in grass!!!  She has been wriggling on the weirdest things lately.  I thought it was because she wanted to share her scent or pick up the new scent.  So as I grabbed her brushing mitt and stepped outside with her and my toddling little boy.  I realized she is shedding and rubbing her fur against anything to get rid of her winter coat.  So I brushed and brushed, and petted and petted. (In my new supermom jeans no less !)  Then I noticed I don't let my son play outside enough and decided today is the day to remedy that. (even though he just had a bath not even five hours earlier) But no fear of mess on a day that welcomes flexibility and chaos if it comes.  He loves to play in the bath and sneaks off to play in the dog's water dish.  With a beautiful day outside happening and my dog's fur flying in the wind; today is the day where I have promised my son that he could play in a basin of a water, make a mess, and be a kid.  I grabbed the supplies and let him have at it.  Since I was outside I decided to take a little time and start raking our yard of all our "gifts" from our stupid rubber gum trees or whatever they're called.  It gets daunting to think of doing the whole yard so if its all or nothing.  Nothing usually wins.  But today something was better than nothing.  We don't use our yard enough.  My dog wants to be chased but I trip on those li'l gifts from the trees.  Today I started to clear a patch for Drew to wander and Belle to lounge.  As I raked up my five small piles (still in a sweater and my supermom jeans!)  and watched over my son giggle in pure delight and sit in soaking wet pants my dog Belle laid down in the center of the freshly raked piles.  She looked at me with puppy dog eyes and bowed her head in a show of gratitude.  Then my hubby came home as I was giving my son his second bath of the day and that is when the compliments poured in.  What I accomplished today, that he had a happy son and dog (and somewhat cat - but can we really tell when the cat is happy since he does whatever he wants whenever he wants all the time?).  We hit our warehouse shopping without list and managed to cover dinners for tonight and most of the week .  We got home and I hacked up a fresh pineapple - all thanks to the supermom jeans.     

No my jeans probably aren't magical (although I will do another test run to test this theory)!  But it did feel good to feel free, flexible, less rigid, and in the moment.  It was reminiscent of a part of me that I let go.  Slowly I am tugging that part of me back in today's world while still holding onto the more mature organized self that can finish projects.  Because chaos girl was great at starting things but when you are always "in the moment" you forget to shut off running water, complete unfinished chores, and leave calls unreturned.  A woman who appreciates a little mix of schedules and menus with on the feet ingenuity may just be who I want to be when I grow up. Thanks supermom jeans for bringing a smile to my face and a sparkle to the eye of those I love.  (If you look closing at the bottom right of the screen door you can also see our disapproving cat Smokey.)

May your HealthFULL Journey remind you of the good of the past, the amazing possibilities of the future but only after you have had the chance to truly embrace today.  'Til we meet again. . .

Getting Sloppy

This HealthFULL Journey is about changes.  Trying a variety of patterns and seeing what works, what sticks, and what can be forgotten.  Tofu has became a staple in our house.  I usually have a package or two in the freezer of Extra Firm.  Now I know for many of you TOFU is a four letter word.  Which is true but it doesn't have to sound like a curse upon your house.  Do you eat hamburger out of the pack uncooked, unseasoned?  Or chicken?  No, so treat Tofu as the base.  Yes you can eat Tofu straight out of the pack, but I wouldn't recommend it.  Let's start with what is Tofu.  It is a great source of protein without using any animal product.  Because Tofu is pressed soybean curd. You have several different textures which play into the savory or sweet side of meals.  Usually the silken tofu is used for dessert and the firm/extra firm sponge blocks are used for savory dishes.  It is relatively cheap and fills you up if prepared with a little extra TLC.  My hubby is a man who likes meat but has willingly tried and appreciated most of the dishes we have tried.  I have mentioned our tofu challenge in the past and might have even mentioned one of our favorites.  Which is what we ate for dinner tonight, Sloppy Tofu (think sloppy joes).  Delicious.  It is filling, it has lots of flavor, and a great introduction for those who haven't "really" tried tofu.  If you freeze the extra firm all you have to do is take the block out at the beginning of the day (great if you work) and drop it in your sink.  Again not animal byproduct so there isn't the contamination fear.  After eight hours it is thawed and you can begin to rinse and squeeze.  It holds quite a bit of liquid, it really does resemble a sponge.  So remove it from the package and run some tepid/cool water and begin to rinse the liquid it has been soaking up in the package.  From what I understand if you leave it in the fridge versus the freezer it gives a different texture.  I really like the freezer approach.  As we always have a block or two on hand and aren't tripping over it.  Then choose any method how to prepare the tofu.  Our household three favorites are spinach rolls (if you love Italian and stuffed shells - this is the way to go!), sloppy tofu (yum) and the all-time favorite tofu tacos (so easy, prepare exactly like you would your beef, pork, chicken, fish tacos but substitute tofu).  Once you are done squeezing out the moisture.  Place a paper towel around the tofu block and then place it between two plates and a heavy object to push down the tofu for about forty five minutes to an hour.  (great time to veg in front of the tv, homework time, take a walk).  And then you are ready to cook.  This is when you can cut slabs, or crumble, or marinade a little.  Your call.  But for the tacos and the sloppy tofu you crumble. *Great kid activity*.  They can crush until their hearts content with their hands.  Because the sponge like texture will pick up all necessary flavor when cooking.  I borrowed our sloppy tofu recipe from the site http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/tofu-sloppy-joes.php . So good and fairly easy. 

So that is my soapbox speech how good tofu can be and is so simple to add to the menu rotation.  Cheap, easy to prepare, and lots of nutritional benefits.  Also tofu recipes tend to mean I'm cooking.  Now hubby is a great sport but this is a win win for us.  He'll try it if I cook it!  Which is fair.  So today my exercise and food victory was me slaving in the kitchen, I did rounds and rounds of dishes and I prepared lunch, dinner, and extras (snacks, lunches) for the week ahead.  I don't know about you but delivery, fast food, and restaurants get more of our business than necessary.  It just sounds so tempting to let someone prep, cook, serve, AND DO THE DISHES for our family.  We tell ourselves it is okay the extra cost because it saves us time, energy/sanity, and tastes good.  But is it really worth the cost.  It takes us at least twenty minutes to decide on dinner, then usually 15 - 20 minutes to drive to dinner and another fifteen - 20 back.  Then it takes 10 minutes for fast food or roughly an hour for dinner at a restaurant. So we are looking at least an hour to two hours.  And delivery is usually an hour (between decision, order, and delivery). Our last five deliveries of dinner have either been disappointing in flavor, ridiculous time, or forgotten an item.  Our last several restaurant experiences have been costly, bad service, or just okay food.  Notice the trend?  Either my cooking is getting better or quality is going down (at least at the establishments we have visited).  Plus you don't know what it is in that food.  At home with a little planning you pay easily less than 25% of what you pay at a food establishment.  And most meals take under thirty minutes of active participation (when one can grab some uninterrupted time).  We say it is great to eat around the supper table as a family but maybe it is just as important to put the family to work in the kitchen.  With a little ingenuity everyone can have kitchen duty at the same time.  Or spend a big day of prep for easy put togethers during the week.  That's what I did.  Made some egg salad for quick sandwiches, caramel corn for lunch treats or a dessert snack, prep /dice veggies  for easy flavor fillers (pepper, onions, jalapeno) and steam some rice.  Yes we still have a menu to cook the night of, but at least with a menu and some prep work done we are much more likely to raid our pantry then pick up the car keys.

May your HealthFULL Journey include some focus, preparation (as opportunity is 90 % preparation), and ingenuity. Not only will you be ready for surprises but hope for them.  'Til we meet again. . .