Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Red curry with vegetables (and Topher likes it too)

It's our second night of red curry with vegetables. I love the second night of a same dinner - because I don't have to clean the kitchen! Woo hoo! One night of cooking made four individual dinners and two individual lunches. (This is me trying to convince my non-cooking friends to give up the frozen meals and cook a big batch of anything).


This curry had eggplant, snap beans, sweet potato, basil, onion, bell pepper and baby corn. It was the baby corn that really rang Topher's bell (video below).

A note about curry: it's made with coconut milk. Coconut milk is low in cholesterol and sodium but is very high in saturated fat. Weigh your food choices from the rest of the day before picking this as dinner. 








Tuesday, November 8, 2011

What's for lunch? Black Beans!

While this may not be the prettiest lunch I've ever eaten it was exactly what I needed to get through a rough day at the office. Working to meet a deadline meant no lunch break, no time for a snack and then staying two hours late. The good part? I never got hungry. Oliver's homestewed black beans and tomatoes kept my mind focused and my belly full for eleven straight hours of work. Thank goodness for fiber!

Even so, I am ready for today to be over. That means a short post tonight so I can move on to cuddling up next to Oliver and watching a Netflix (Bridesmaids). Good things are in the works though. The etsy shop is set to open this weekend, Oliver is currently cooking a delicious smelling vegetarian curry and I have a very exciting cholesterol update to share!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Pizza night!


Oliver made a homemade pizza for dinner tonight. He mixed up the dough last night and let it ferment in fridge overnight. All the toppings are from YDFM: fresh mozzarella, eggplant, basil, hot coppa and baby portabella mushrooms. Out of the oven, then drizzled with olive oil, a bit of grated Parmesan and some red pepper flakes.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

My hero, Michael Pollan

If you're not already a fan of Michael Pollan then his appearance on the Colbert Report is a fantastic introduction. Pollan's book In Defense of Food is what set my lifestyle change in motion. Until that point I'd just been thinking about changing. His book gave me all the reasons I did't know I needed.  



Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. - Michael Pollan

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Split Pea Soup

After the white beans ran out Oliver made a giant pot of split pea soup. It's been lunch or dinner for the past three days. Delicious and filling too.

We had our friend Curt over for dinner on Tuesday. He brought the Great Divide Hibernation Ale. I definitely recommend it! Thanks Curt!
















Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Turn that frown upside down - happy tomatoes!

Turn that "sad tomato" frown upside down because Oliver has successfully ripened some of our late summer tomatoes! I want to start with the acknowledgement that fried green tomatoes topped with homemade pimento cheese are not heart healthy. But fortunately they are real food!

If you read the "sad tomato" blog post then you know we ripped out our tomato plants the day before the first predicted frost of the year. Oliver then took the 7.5 lbs of

growing tomatoes and wrapped them in newspaper and placed them in a cardboard box. Ten days later we checked the box. I was so excited to see that some of the tomatoes had continued to ripen! By then it was obvious which tomatoes were going to stay green and which had a chance of becoming perfectly red and plump. We rewrapped the reddening tomatoes and brought all the green ones to the kitchen.
Step one: slice! Step two coat: flour, then egg, then corn meal. Step three: Fry in vegetable oil. (We fry something possibly three times a year so I'm not feeling guilt about enjoying a fried sandwich but I should take the opportunity emphasize - stay away from fried foods!) Oliver then mixed up a homemade pimento cheese and spread it on bread fresh from the Grant Park Farmers Market. He topped it all off with the warm fried green tomatoes. We ate together outside on the freshly painted front porch.

I am so glad we grew those tomatoes. I am even happier Oliver was able to salvage the ones I thought were goners. There is still a box-full ripening and I promise to update as soon as we do something with them!


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

This week's beans

For this week's big pot of beans Oliver made "white beans". As usual, everything is from YDFM. I can't do the cooking process justice so you'll just have to follow along with the photos...

Bring on my tasty weekday lunchtime!



Let's get a physical, physical!

This morning I will have my first physical exam in at least ten years. I've made a list of questions:
1. What is my blood pressure?
2. Am I at a healthy weight?
3. How are my cholesterol levels? Specifically: HDL, LDL & Triglycerides.
4. Could you check out my moles and make sure they're not cancerous.
5. Do I need to worry that I'm on Prevacid for the 2nd time this year?
6. How long is too long to be on the pill?


If the answers I receive aren't TOO personal then I'll share them for everyone's benefit. Until then, wish me luck! 


(Hello from Topher too!)