Am…musings

I just had another “shut the eff up” moment. I decided to wrap up the “cleanse” a few days early and move on to the more reasonable week two of the Body by Glamour diet. It’s the same principles, but additional whole grains and some sweets are allowed. There’s also a daily “treat” … one ounce of dark chocolate, frozen yogurt, a glass of wine. Homemade microwave popcorn was also on the list. Huh?

Even reduced-fat package microwave popcorn has a fairly long list of ingredients that don’t sound very healthy, including added color. The Glamour recipe … 3 Tbsp. popcorn kernels. Place them in a paper lunch bag. Fold the top of the bag down a few times. Microwave for two to three minutes or until popping slows (mine took less than a minute and a half.) Add your favorite popcorn topping (I’m going with a few sprays of Pam, a touch of salt and hot sauce … healthy hottt corn!)

I was a bit skeptical of the whole paper bag thing and of popping the corn without any fat, but it totally worked! And it has to be a ton cheaper and much healthier than the packaged variety.

I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I prefer sweet breakfasts over savory ones. I tend to crave a little something sweet after a meal. And sweet drinks are no exception. For a girl who doctors up her coffee up like candy and adores Southern sweet tea, a sip of unsweetened beverage (besides water) pretty much made me want to gag.

For the most part, I’m an artificial sweetener fan … Sweet & Low, beginning as a kid, and recently Splenda. But I’ve always been concerned about the chemicals. And recent studies are showing that our bodies don’t know the difference between sugar and the fake stuff, which could contribute to weigh gain. Here’s a good explanation from Dr. Katz, who is featured on Oprah.

So when my February Glamour magazine featured a week-long “cleanse” with no sweets or added sugar or sweeteners as part of its Body By Glamour diet and exercise series, I was intrigued. The series focuses on healthy, reasonable eating rather than fad-diet extremes, and the “cleanse” is no different.

It includes three smaller meals and two snack, consisting of lots of veggies and fruits, lean protein and dairy, select whole grains and healthy fats. The following should be avoided:

• Packaged foods
• Soda
• Bread, pasta, crackers
• Butter and cheese
• Red meat
• Caffeine (yeah, no caffeine is a goal of mine, but I haven’t gotten here and wasn’t about go cold turkey; instead, I went had a cup or two of unsweetened coffee and then a few glasses of unsweetened iced tea)
• Alcohol (ok … I cheated a bit here)

So … my first sips of unsweetened coffee and tea were … ok (I swear). Of course, the coffee wasn’t quite as yummy as “candy,” but not horrid. Each morning I’ve had a cup of unsweetened oatmeal with a half cup of berries, a few walnuts and a little milk. It’s pretty tasty, and most importantly … I’m not hungry until lunch, which is rare for me. I chalk it up to the fact that I’m not experiencing the drop in blood sugar from the sweet meal I’d normally have. In fact, I haven’t been all that hungry all week, despite eating smaller quantities of much healthier fare. And my energy levels have been good … no afternoon “I need a Diet Coke” lulls.

The “cleanse” is just for a week, but I plan to definitely stick with no soda, no-added-sugar/sweetener breakfasts and unsweetened coffee and tea. If you’re interested in checking it out, the whole plan is outlined at Glamour.com (you do have to sign up, but can opt out of receiving e-mails).

Saturday’s baked apple dessert transformed nicely into a healthy, heartwarming breakfast. After perching the lightly chopped apples on top of the oatmeal (made with milk … it’s the only way to go despite what the oatmeal container says), I added a few extra walnut and some brown sugar. Yum!

Yes … I’m a little behind the times. Because I like to decorate with pumpkins in the fall and keep my decorations up through Thanksgiving, I don’t carve most of them. I usually just pitch them after Turkey Day, but because I grew them in my new garden this year, the trash didn’t seem like a fitting end for some of them.

I say “some” because of the nasty worm issue that you may remember. Thankfully, my tactics for de-worming and preserving the pumpkins worked … all but one of the little orange guys I saved made it through and hit the trash just a few days ago. And the “some” I didn’t pitch were two that actually made it out of the garden without worms.

Although I tend to be a bit of a princess, I enjoy digging in to clean out the pumpkin “guts” (I guess from years of carving pumpkins with my dad as a kid), and I couldn’t resist cutting into one of survivors the minute it finished its decorating tour of duty.

Even though they were smaller pie pumpkins, there were lots of seeds for roasting. I found a few recipes on the Internet. This one suggested boiling the seeds before roasting them.

I was pleased with the crispy result, although I waited to salt them until after boiling so that I could add some different spices like garlic pepper.

I still have one pumpkin left. It just seems crazy to me to go through all the trouble of messing with the flesh when I can buy a can of pumpkin, but I may try a pumpkin pie just because it makes me smile to think that I actually grew something I can create a pie with.

The house filled with the sweet, spicy smell of pumpkin bread emanating from the oven around 3 p.m. yesterday. I was making Halloween dinner for the Kit Drive clan … Trader Joe’s style. Pumpkin bread … topped with homemade cinnamon whipped cream … from my free bag o’ groceries was our delicious dessert.

As I mentioned, when I went to claim my prize I did a little shopping. While perusing the cheese section an intoxicating smell grabbed my attention and I was drawn to the sampling area. An amazing stuffed pork tenderloin awaited … after a taste and a glance at the simple recipe, I knew it would be dinner for the neighbors.

My free groceries included organic penne pasta and an incredibly tasty puttanesca sauce that I didn’t have to doctor a bit, unlike other jarred sauces. Plus, the ingredients were real … free of any preservatives or high fructose corn syrup.

T.J.’s frozen French-cut green beans mixed with butter, garlic salt and sautéed sliced almonds and a loaf of French bread completed the dinner. It’s the perfect dinner party or date night fare because it looks complicated, but was fairly easy to pull together … and it was yummy.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin (marinade overnight, see below)
1 jar T.J.’s Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade
¾ cup grated parmesan

Slice tenderloin* nearly halfway through.

Mix antipasto with ½ cup parmesan and stuff inside cut tenderloin.

Sprinkle top with remaining parmesan.

Roast at 350 degrees until internal temperature reaches 160 (begin checking temp at about 40 minutes, based on size); let rest before slicing.

*The sample I tasted was made from a garlic herbed tenderloin. At T.J.’s, it wasn’t large enough for my crowd so I decided to attempt it on my own. I drizzled olive oil over the pork; sprinkled it with dehydrated garlic, onion, cracked pepper and Kosher salt; and wrapped it in plastic wrap overnight. It was good … although maybe not quite as tasty as the T.J.’s offering.

Ever wondered how to tell if an egg is bad? When I started making Christmas cookies years ago, I worried about ruining a half-made batch by cracking a bad egg into it. Of course, you can crack eggs into a separate dish, but who wants more dishes to wash?

Somewhere along the line I learned a cool trick: place an egg in a cup of water … if it floats, it’s rotten. Today I was making an omelet and knew my eggs were past their prime so I did the test and found a floater …

Here’s a good explanation of why it happens from What’s Cooking America:
Old eggs float in fresh cold water because of a large air cell that forms as the egg cools after being laid. As the egg ages, air enters the egg and the air cell becomes larger and this acts as a buoyancy aid. Generally, fresh eggs will lie on the bottom of the bowl of water. Eggs that tilt so that the large end is up are older, and eggs that float are rotten. The tilting is caused by air pockets in the eggs that increase in size over time as fluid evaporates through the porous shell and oxygen and gases filter in. The older an egg gets the more gas builds up inside it. More gas = more floating!

I’m not a choosy girl when it comes to restaurants. I get just as excited about dining at some of the fancy Orlando restaurants when I visit as I do about eating at Perkins and Tropi-Grill, a Latin American fast food chain. This is why I was jazzed to see an El Pollo Loco under construction near my house in St. Louis.

It’s now open, and while they don’t offer quite the same menu, I love Tropi-Grill’s chicken Tropichop bowl, and El Pollo Loco’s similar Original Pollo Bowl did not disappoint.

And it’s probably a good thing that I have to travel 1,000 miles to Orlando to get Tropi-Grill’s sinfully starchy, but incredibly tasty Yucca Fries, which el Pollo Loco doesn’t offer here in St. Louis.

Now, when I told my Orlando-based friend Keith that we were getting El Pollo Loco he said, “I bet it won’t be open for long.” I’ve been twice and it’s been busy, but just in case … if you’re in the ‘Lou, please try it out!

After discovering Keller Farm’s day-old corn two weekends ago, I became the pied piper of corn, delivering the amazing ears to my parents, aunt and uncle and neighbors. They were as enamored as I was with the juicy, tasty kernels, and when my parents and my neighbors found out the guy and I’d be traveling by one of Keller’s stands on our way to Rend Lake last Saturday, we were asked to get a dozen for each of them.

As payment, I swiped a few ears for myself and tried Cami’s suggestion on my original corn post for dinner tonight. I made a few modifications due to my preferences and lack of ingredients on hand. Some of my changes were ok; one … I think not so much:

• Cami’s recipe called for mayonnaise and butter. I’m ok with butter, but don’t love it. On a baked potato, I’ll go with just sour cream, figuring I’m saving a few calories by not doubling up. I went the same route tonight, choosing only mayonnaise. I don’t think I missed the butter. And for those of you that think mayo on corn sounds gross … you should try it.
• For the life of me, I can’t figure out how a girl that likes spicy food as much as I do doesn’t have cayenne pepper in her fairly large spice arsenal (I love Penzey’s Spices and always have to try something new when I go). I substituted Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning, which includes cayenne, as well as garlic, cumin, basil and more. I think the extra spices were nice and will continue to use this blend when I try this recipe again … even after I get to Penzey’s for some cayenne.
• I’ll admit substituting a main ingredient in a recipe is never a good idea, but I was very interested in trying Cami’s corn and even more unmotivated to go to the store. I was planning to use shredded cheddar, but Googled cotija and according to this site found it was much like parmesan. Honestly, my corn concoction was very tasty, but I’m thinking it would have been better with the recommended cotija. I’m sure I’ll be back to Keller’s … heck, maybe even this weekend … and will have to find the cojita before trying this again.

BTW, after this yummy recipe and Cami’s comment on my tomato post, I’m thinking she needs to start her own cooking/foodie blog!

Is it me or are the first homegrown tomatoes of summer the best? After three seasons of bland, mushy, way overpriced tomatoes, those first meaty, ruby red tastes of summer are such a treat.

After five years in my house, I actually planted a garden this year with lots of much-appreciated help, urging and advice from the guy I’m dating, as well as digging and tilling assistance from my 7-year-old “boyfriend” next door and his soon-to-be stepdad. Unfortunately, I got a very late start this year and will likely be tomato-less until late summer/early fall. But the aforementioned hot guy came to my rescue this weekend with two amazing “maters” from his neighbor’s garden stand … and when I say hot guy, I don’t mean the almost-stepdad or 7-year-old, although he is pretty cute …

Even though I expressed my ambivalence toward bacon a few posts ago, it seemed only fitting that such tasty tomatoes inspire a BLT for dinner.

I also had a few other inspirations for this masterpiece. At Cami’s suggestion on the first bacon post, I added avocado – lovely. I also mentioned Crown Candy Kitchen in that original post. Their BLTs are loaded with bacon and this one was a little over the top. Finally, although it wasn’t exactly inspiration, I had some leftover whole wheat French bread. I was worried it would be too much bread, but it was actually quite nice.

Because of all the bacon and bread, I chose a simple spinach salad with blueberries, goat cheese, chives and Girard’s Light Champagne dressing for a side.

All in all, a yummy summer supper. Have you had your first homegrown tomato of the summer?

After a work week of Luna bars for breakfast, I like to have something special on the weekends. Homemade whole wheat pancakes have been the standby lately, but I wasn’t in the mood this morning. Then inspiration struck … I had 11 ears of THE best corn ever in my fridge, so I headed to Google for a fresh corn muffin recipe.

I found several that were all fairly similar. How’s a girl to pick? I went with the blog with the best name … Smitten Kitchen. The post actually shared the recipe of another food writer and cookbook author … Dorie Greenspan. I won’t repost the entire recipe here because you can find it on Smitten Kitchen’s Corniest Corn Muffin post, but I will tell you it was fantastic. Of course, the fact that my muffins were studded with my super-fresh, day-old corn probably helped, but I will definitely use this recipe again even if I don’t have that amazing corn on hand.

One note, I don’t typically keep buttermilk in the fridge so I tried substituting 1 Tbsp. white vinegar and enough milk to make a cup (let it sit a few minutes) … worked just fine.