Apple Crumble

My kitchen is crammed with baked goods. I'm not sure what's gotten into me lately, but over the past week I've allowed oatmeal raisin bars and cinnamon bread to pile up on me. Maybe it's the end of summer let's-put-cinnamon-in-everything bug?

Even though I still have a week's worth of these indulgent snacks, I couldn't stop myself at the supermarket from grabbing (a) a couple of cans of pumpkin puree for soon-to-be cookies and quick breads, and (b) a bag of apples for yet another cinnamon-packed favorite: apple crumble. Apple crumble is the best version of apple pie for economical (and lazy) people like me. It can be thrown together in 20 minutes, there's no bottom crust to get soggy in the fridge, and since the topping is cookie-like, there's no rolling or tricky ice-water adding in search of the perfect pastry flake.

I like to use Granny Smiths for baking; other good apples would be Jonagolds or Braeburn. Some people like Golden Delicious, Gala, or Fuji--if you use sweet varieties like these cut back on the sugar or risk ending up with a sickly candy-like mess (unless you happen to like candy-like messes...to each his own).

Tamara's Sort-of-Healthy Apple Crumble
-6 apples, chopped (leave skins on for fiber and color)
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/4 cup light butter
-1/2 cup whole wheat flour
-1/2 cup rolled oats

Mix the apples, 1/4 cup of the sugar, and cinnamon. Layer in a Pam-sprayed pie pan.


Cream the butter and remaining sugar. Stir in flour and oats. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit.


Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake at 350%deg; for 15 minutes. Remove foil, and bake another 35 minutes until crust is golden and apples are tender.


1/6 of the pie is only 220 calories! That leaves room for a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. If you have self-discipline enough to eat it slowly, the ice cream melts a little around the apples and turns the dessert into a creamy sweet-tart dream.

Cinnamon Bread

As the air grows colder and the morning skies darker, it becomes increasingly difficult to wake up in the morning. Not only is it more difficult for our bodies to snap to attention when the summer cues of bright sunshine and chirping birds are gone, but there are fewer incentives to emerge from under the covers after we are technically awake.

Yesterday morning, these factors worked together to keep me asleep 20 minutes longer than usual (plus, the alarm clock went AWOL). There wasn't enough time before work to make my planned peanut butter oats, and it was too chilly for bran flakes. To my good fortune, I had whipped up a loaf of cinnamon bread over the weekend. Lightly toasted and topped with Tofutti cream cheese with Diet V8 Splash on the side, it gave my day a delicious start and held me through to snack time.

Cinnamon Bread
-1 cup warm water or milk
-1 egg
-1 tablespoon canola oil
-2 cups bread flour
-1 cup whole-wheat flour
-2 tablespoons milled flax seed (or bran or wheat berries)
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 tablespoon sugar or brown sugar
-1 tablespoon active yeast

Add the ingredients to your bread machine in the order listed (or backwards, if your machine prefers dry ingredients on the bottom). Program the machine to the dough cycle and find something to do for an hour. Alternatively, make the dough by hand by proofing the yeast with the water, then stirring in the sugar and salt, adding the remaining ingredients and kneading for about 10 minutes until elastic. Place the ball of dough in an oiled mixing bowl and cover with plastic to rise for an hour.


My yeast was obviously working o.o Punch down the dough (whether in the machine or the mixing bowl) and turn onto a floured surface. Shape the dough into a rectangle and brush with canola oil or butter. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and a liberal amount of cinnamon (plus nutmeg, raisins, chopped walnuts, or anything else that strikes your fancy).


Roll the rectangle up lengthwise (so that the shorter side becomes the final length). Pinch the ends to seal and place in a Pam-sprayed loaf pan. Brush the top with egg whites for a glossy crust (use milk for a soft crust or water for a crispy one if you prefer--you can also make an incision in the dough lengthwise and trickle melted butter in the groove for a split-top loaf).


Place the limp-and-unappetizing-looking log into a 350° oven for 30 minutes, until the top is browned and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the side.


Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack and go somewhere far, far away to avoid the temptation to dig in before it has completely cooled. To be perfectly honest, I failed. Not ten minutes after taking it out of the oven, I was nibbling on a large chunk of the the soft, aromatic treat.


See what happens when you're too eager? I promise it cuts a lot prettier after setting properly. This bread makes for an indulgent morning spread with cream cheese, butter, or fruit preserves. After it has staled, I imagine it will make a wonderful french toast. I won't attempt to give the caloric breakdown of each serving, because it varies so much with how you slice it. Suffice to say the entire loaf is about 1750 calories, so if you polish it off over 7 days you've consumed about 250 calories per serving...the same amount as in a typical four-inch diameter bagel (supermarket-sized, not ginormous bakery-sized).

Oatmeal Raisin Bars

Sometimes you just need a cookie. For my sweetie, that "sometimes" is every night before bed with a mug of milk suitable for dunking. We have a constant supply of Keebler's Original or homemade chocolate chip cookies at the ready so he can go to sleep with a happy tummy. I don't really like his cookies, though. Plain Jane chocolate-chip just doesn't cut it for me. I need bold flavors and textures: dark chocolate, chewy fruits, spices, and grains I can sink my teeth into. When I'm craving cookies, like I was Friday Night, I crave one of two types: dark chocolate pumpkin cookies, which I didn't have the ingredients for at the time, or oatmeal raisin bars, which I did.

Bars are a wonderful invention because you don't have to shape and space individual servings--just smear everything into a pan and deal with the divvying later. These bars are packed with nutrients and flavor from the flax seeds, raisins and heart-healthy canola oil. They use about a third of the sugar usually called for in cookie recipes, which tastes great to me but may be a little disappointing for people used to typical baked goods. If you have a sweeter tooth, add another half cup of brown sugar to the list below or replace some of the oil with naturally sweet applesauce.

Oatmeal Raisin Bars
-one egg
-1/4 cup egg whites
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-3 tablespoons canola oil
-1/2 cup sugar
-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 cup whole wheat flour
-1/4 cup milled flax seeds
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon nutmeg or allspice (optional)
-1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
-1/2 cup raisins

Mix the egg and whites with the vanilla, oil, and sugar until smooth. Add the flours, flax seed, soda, and spices and mix until a heavy dough forms. Stir in the oats (this will take some forearm power), then the raisins. Press the dough into an 8x8 Pam-sprayed square pan (fingers may be necessary for spreading, unless you have a better hand with a spatula than I do). Bake for 15 minutes at 350°.


The top will feel slightly spongy. Cool for a minute or two, then transfer the massive bar to a cooling rack. After 10-20 minutes, cut into 9 bars.


Aren't they moist and delicious-looking? Each bar contains 250 chewy calories, perfect for dessert or half a woke-up-too-late breakfast. Keep them in an airtight container for up to a week.

People First Language

At the CeDIR library, where I "work," we are very conscious of People First Language. Here is a write-up on what PFL means, published for elementary schoolers on the Kids' Corner site I designed last month. Basically, it's a way of speaking that avoids the unfair stigma of disability--discouraging first graders (and some adults) from calling Johnny "the wheelchair kid" or avoiding the "retarded girl" down the street.

This morning, I spent a few hours combing through the "Health and Wellness" blogs in BlogHer network I recently joined. After reading through a few pages of blog titles, I started to notice the distinct lack of PFL when it comes to weight. Obesity isn't a disability, but the stigma surrounding it can be just as negative as the black clouds around autism and cerebral palsy. Here are a few select titles in the directory:

Follow the Fat Girl
Project Fat Amanda
Recovering Fatty
Once Upon a Fat Girl
My Year to Get Skinny - The Diary of a Fat Girl
Skinnification
Fat Bridesmaid
Fat Chick on a Date
Chubbie Chica
Being Short and Fat

Now, I'm all for embracing yourself and everything you are, but language like this declares that "fat" is all you are. Though these women might think such descriptors are an irreverent form of liberation, the excessive focus on their physical attributes is, in the end, nothing but damaging self-deprecation. How on earth is it empowering to call yourself disparaging names? Would it be considered a triumph for someone to write a blog called "Project Crippled Cathy"? How about "Stupid Stephanie" or "Failure Fran"? Of course not, but for some reason "Fat Amanda" is celebrated.

Sometimes labels can be useful. They allow you to convey a lot of information in a short amount of time. If you announce to a new acquaintance that you're a Green Party member, for example, you have given them a sense of where you stand ideologically without having to trudge through individual political issues. But what information do you convey by saying you're fat? This particular label means, to the general populace: "I'm lazy, morally inferior, weak-willed, and too stupid to read nutrition labels." How productive, you've just clouded yourself in misconceptions.

I'm not one to preach, since I'm riddled with my own masochistic demons. The first phrase that enters my head when qualifying myself is "eats too much." Such thinking gets me nowhere and aggravates my sweetie. But even I can recognize that the blog names above are anything but healthy. Instead of bolstering self esteem, they further integrate the belief that being overweight is dirty, evil, and must be overcome at all costs. "My Year to Get Skinny" leads to the sort of thinking that if you can't fit into a certain size within a certain time limit, you have failed as a human being.

It's great if women want to chronicle changing their eating habits and strengthening their bodies through exercise. But titles like "Skinnification," should be in the Fashion or Sex categories, not the Wellness one.

Peanut Butter Bananadilla

Growing up in sunny SoCal, tortillas figured prominently in my diet. On trips to the beach I downed bags of spicy chili-powdered tortilla chips, on special occasions my mother would take me to Green Burrito or my father out for fast-food tacos, and for years my brothers and I had an insatiable taste for simple quesadillas. There was no savory indulgence quite like microwaved Colby-Jack in a white flour tortilla.

Excluding that Colby-Jack now sends me into lactose-intolerance misery, my consumption of quesadillas fell by the wayside when I started avoiding foods that filled half my daily allotment of saturated fat in one sitting. However, I did not banish the innocent tortilla for the cheese's sins. Whole wheat tortillas are excellent for healthy wraps like my tasty chicken fajitas. My latest creation, tried out for the first time yesterday morning on a post-exercise whim, replaces the quesa with wholesome fruit for what I like to call: The Bananadilla.

-one whole wheat tortilla
-one tablespoon creamy peanut butter
-small banana, thickly sliced

Spread the peanut butter thinly over the tortilla, and place on a frying pan over low heat. Layer banana slices on one half of the tortilla and heat until the PB has melted.


Fold the unencumbered half of the tortilla over the banana filling. Transfer the bananadilla to a plate and cut into four wedges.


I had my bananadilla with some end-of-summer cantaloupe and a cup of light chocolate soy milk. The meal would have been 450-500 calories (justifiable, since I needed to replenish my strength after running for two whole miles :p), except I had a bizarre episode of appetite reduction. After only 3 of the 4 wedges and half the beautiful melon, I suddenly felt very full and very anti-food. I have no idea what happened--the bananadilla was delicious and I'm usually as excited as a six-year-old at the prospect of chocolate milk, but I had to force myself to choke the latter down. I wrapped up the extra fruit to accompany my tuna sandwich for lunch, but I really hope this doesn't become a recurring trend. I like my food ;-;

Maple-Glazed Tofu Scramble

The city is enveloped in fog, the rain drizzles down and the time for skirts and sandals has passed. It's one of those mornings when bran flakes and fruit just won't cut it. It's also one of those mornings I crave something unusual--not your basic palm-warming oatmeal, but something with a B&B-type autumn flair. Something like a maple-glazed tofu scramble with root vegetables.


Tofu is usually reserved for stir-fries, dumpling fillings and spicy curries, but it shouldn't be restricted to Asian cuisine. Heck, almost half of the world's soybean trade is grown in the US, and 8.4% of that half comes from Indiana. That's $2.4 million's worth of beans, which make up the bulk of exports to China, the EU, and Japan. So it's frankly puzzling that we don't see more tofu in Midwestern diets.

Here's a dish that proves you can make this "exotic" food acceptable to even the blandest of American palates.

-1 medium potato, cubed
-1/2 a large carrot, sliced thinly
-1/4 a block of firm tofu, cubed
-1 teaspoon canola oil
-1 tablespoon light maple syrup
-salt and pepper to taste

Place the potato cubes in a sandwich bag with a few drops of water and microwave for 5 minutes. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the oil in a small saucepan or shallow skillet and saute the carrots until tender. Add the finished potatoes and tofu cubes. Cook, stirring often, until the sides of the potatoes and tofu are lightly browned. Remove the pan from heat and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and maple syrup. Mix to incorporate, allowing everything to caramel slightly in the still-hot pan. Plate and serve.

The tofu is wonderfully mellow, the potatoes deliciously starchy, and the maple enhances the natural sweetness of the carrots. I was saddened when I saw the emptied plate. This hearty 350 calorie breakfast gave me my fill of vegetables, healthy fats and protein, as well as fruit when paired with diet V8 Splash Berry Blend. I hit the remaining food groups later in the morning with a snack of 1/4 cup granola with light soy milk and a cup of fragrant Pink Lady Apple Green Tea snitched from the librarian's stash in the office cupboard o.o

Americanized Nikuman

One of the best pseudo-Asian dishes in my repertoire is nikuman, or meat dumplings. Traditional nikuman are made with pork filling wrapped in a rice flour dough, but both pork and rice flour are very expensive at my local Kroger. I make do with the sadly predictable substitutions of ground beef and wheat flour.

Nikuman are sold as snacks at Japanese convenience stores and street stalls. But unlike the ubiquitous American snacks of cheese-filled pretzels and Polar Pops, they make a decent fall/winter meal all by themselves.

Dough:
-1/3 cup warm water or milk
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1 tablespoon granulated sugar
-2 teaspoons baking powder

Knead all of the ingredients with your hands until the dough is soft and pliable. The consistency of the dough will vary with the weather, so adjustments to the amount of flour may be necessary. Set the dough aside to relax while you make the filling.

Filling:
-1/4 pound lean ground beef
-1/4 a yellow onion, chopped
-1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-1 teaspoon ginger powder
-1 teaspoon chilli-garlic sauce


Mix all of the filling ingredients in a bowl. Beware of pets and any household males at this point--I often catch my sweetie sneaking whiffs of the aromatic raw meat under the guise of "helping" to mix it. After you've secured the area, divide the dough into four equal parts. Roll each part into a ball and flatten to make a dumpling skin.


Place 1/4 of the filling in the center of each round.


Pull the sides of the dough over the filling, doing your best to seal everything in. The day I took these pictures, my dough was a little too dry (and adding water after you've added too much flour just ends up a sticky mess, so I let it be)--the result wasn't as pretty as it should be :( I reiterate the caution about the weather.


Place the wrapped dumplings in a steamer sprayed with oil and cook for 15 minutes, until the juices from the meat creep out.


They'll puff beautifully and smell heavenly, but avoid the temptation to remove them immediately from the steamer to devour. I've had a few broken nikuman disasters thanks to my impatience. They need to sit for a few minutes to dry and unstick from the steamer. Eat them over a napkin or plate with care; the hot juices will leap out and surprise you if you chomp down too forcefully.

Two of these nikuman approximate to 350 calories, and contain lots of protein to satisfy any carnivorous autumn cravings.

Edit 10/11/09: I made another batch of nikuman today, and they're much closer to what they're supposed to be. For the sake of my reputation, I post the improved photo.


Practice makes perfect.

Chicken Fajitas

First off, I have to share some bad news: all of my blood work from the gastroenterology appointment last week came back negative. I don't have an ulcer, celiac disease, or anything else detectable from the fluid flowing through my veins. Why is this bad news? Because now I have no solvable explanation for the stomach pain. I'll have to have a camera stuck down my throat to find one, which will cost money, cause me to lose money by missing work, and be generally unpleasant. And after going through the procedure, I will most likely be told it's chronic gastritis and there's no treatment except "don't smoke, don't drink, and stay away from Starbucks" (and I already do all of the above).

But there's also good news, kind of: there's no reason to fear wheat anymore. This means I can enjoy yummy foods like today's packed lunch of chicken fajitas.

-whole wheat tortilla
-3 oz. cooked chicken breast, sliced
-leafy greens (romaine, spring mix, etc.)
-light Miracle Whip (or fat-free sour cream)
-picante sauce or salsa

Lay a bed of greens on the tortilla. Place the chicken pieces near the bottom edge and top with Miracle Whip and picante sauce.


Fold the sides of the tortilla inwards over the fillings, then roll up from the bottom to make a neat packet. The greens will protect the tortilla from getting soggy during the first half of the work/school day.


I'm eating my fajita today with a banana to cover four food groups for 400 calories. You can also add guacamole, cheeses, onions, or stir-fry the chicken in chilli powder and other spices for an extra kick.

Hummus

Hummus is one of those foods you can't escape in the foodie blogosphere. Typing "hummus" into the blog search function of Google yields 373,518 results, which is surprising for a food commonly found in the specialty section of grocery stores. Comparisons: "tzatziki" yields 81,563 results, "edamame" 166,755, and "pancetta" only 179,264 despite Giada De Laurentiis' use of it in half the dishes on her television shows.

So you get the sense it's pretty popular, and it's a good thing it is. Hummus is a wonderfully healthy spread, providing fiber, vitamin C, protein. A couple tablespoons of store-bought hummus amount to only 50 calories, making it perfect for low-cal sandwich spreads and dips. I went through streaks in college when I would eat nothing but hummus on bagels, hummus with All-Bran crackers, and hummus on turkey subs from the student union. Of course, it isn't healthy enough to justify that degree of devotion, but it is a good addition to your everyday diet.

Unfortunately, hummus is pretty expensive. A tiny 7 oz. container of Athenos brand from my grocery store runs $3.50, for only 7 servings. As usual, making my own is a much better option.

Homemade Hummus
-two cans garbanzo beans, drained
-one tablespoon apple cider vinegar
-one teaspoon sesame oil
-garlic powder, cumin, black pepper to taste

I put all of the ingredients into my VitaMix, plus about 2/3 the liquid from one of the cans and process at low-to-medium speeds until the mixture is smooth and spreadable. The recipe fills a 12 oz. tub for only $2, even using brand-name garbanzo beans (I had to, since my back-water Kroger didn't even have dry beans and only carried Bush's).

If the vinegar is too strong for your tastes, use the more traditional lemon juice. The sesame oil can also be replaced by tahini. Other recipes call for olive oil, which results in a creamier texture and longer preservation. If you want, use about a 1/4 cup oil per cup of garbonzo beans, but I use the can liquid instead to keep the fat to a minimum. That way I can eat more of it :D

Macaroni and Cheese

Many favorite childhood dishes are best served as memories. The smells of cafeteria chicken patties, Bisquick pancakes, and Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies still send me into a fluffy pink world of cartoon princesses and B*Witched singles, but the way they actually taste is nowhere near as good as my 8-year-old self thought. I had a real shock last week when my supervisor set out the obligatory plastic pumpkin filled with treats, and I discovered that my beloved Tootsie Rolls were suspiciously colored sticky lumps which left me reaching for a cup of bitter tea to eradicate the aftertaste.

However, there are some childhood favorites that simply need an update to be just as delicious as they were in the 20th century. Examples: chocolate (Hersheys is dead to me; bring on the Lindt), hamburgers and french fries (forget McDonalds; try some homemade retro diner fare), and macaroni and cheese. At four I ate the kind shaped like bright orange dinosaurs, but at twenty-one it's time for the pure stuff.


Lightened-up Mac&Cheese
Makes 2 servings
-1 cup dry macaroni
-1 tablespoon light butter or margarine
-1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
-1 cup light soy milk (or skim milk)
-2 slices 2% sharp cheddar cheese
-1 teaspoon mustard
-1/2 teaspoon onion powder
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper
-Optional: chicken, broccoli florets, frozen peas, chopped bell peppers etc.

Prepare the macaroni in the traditional fashion, boiling 9-11 minutes until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and mix until incorporated and brown. Slowly whisk in the milk and stir continuously until thickened and bubbling. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the cheese, mustard, and spices. When the pasta has finished cooking, drain and add to the sauce.


At this stage, I like to incorporate the ingredients that turn this side dish into a meal--usually a large baked and shredded chicken breast and a chopped head of broccoli. Lean ground beef would be good for former Hamburger Helper lovers, or more greens for vegetarians. But even if you don't add anything, the remaining steps are the same: line a casserole dish or loaf pan with aluminum foil, spray with Pam, and pour in the casserole mixture. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes until bubbly.


Half of this beauty, including the chicken and broccoli, is about 450 calories and covers four food groups (all five if I accompany it with a glass of light blueberry juice). Without the additions, it's a mildly hefty side dish or snack of 300 calories. But consider: the same amount of prepared Kraft mac&cheese is 410 calories and contains a bunch of ingredients I shouldn't see outside of chem lab. A serving of the tree-hugging, wallet-depleting Amy's brand, though made of recognizable ingredients, makes up 48% of your daily saturated fat intake. So if you're craving warm cheesy nastalgia, homemade is the way to go.

French Toast (Light)

One of my favorite dishes in elementary school was french toast sticks. They were mostly a favorite because I could drown them in syrup--the starchy cardboard called "french toast" was just a vehicle for the sweet sticky artificially flavored sauce. When I grew a little older, I learned to appreciate the tiny-pieces-of-bread-shaped crunch of another food labeled "french toast" swimming in milk (which, I'm sorry to say, is no longer manufactured in America).

Now and then I like to indulge in real french toast--not the kind with the cartoon chef on the box. Traditional french toast is a nutritional nightmare: fried in butter with a deluge of powdered sugar. My version can't exactly be called healthy, but it causes much less damage to the waistline.

For one serving:
-1/4 cup egg whites
-1 tablespoon light soy milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 pieces slightly stale bread
-ground cinnamon

First I pour the first three ingredients into the shallow well of a dessert-sized plate and mix for more or less uniformity.


Then I dredge the bread slices for about 30 seconds on each side, until the egg mixture has soaked through (note: I only had white bread on hand this morning, since it's grocery-shopping day, but whole wheat works fine). I spray a frying pan with Pam and preheat, adding the drenched bread after the pan has reached dancing-water-droplet stage. I sprinkle the tops of the bread with the ground cinnamon.


When the bottoms have browned and the toast has puffed, I flip the slices and wait for the other side to cook. I serve the finished french toast with a drizzle of light maple syrup or microwaved berries.


The dish tops out at only 200 calories, so other food groups are in order to complete the meal. I like to accompany it with a vitamin-rich smoothie; other good options include yogurt, turkey sausage, carrot juice, or a bit of this lovely-looking roasted vegetable hash.

Homemade Granola

For reasons unknown, granola has worked its way into a sort of tree-hugging vegan stereotype. When a person wants to enter the health subculture, they eat granola. When a person wants to describe a liberal in a demeaning way, they accuse them of eating granola. This is very puzzling to me, because, quite, frankly, granola isn't healthy.

A half cup of store-bought granola can range from 200-300 calories. Let me emphasize the half before the cup. The stuff is loaded with sugar and fats; sometimes the good kinds of fats, but often not. Even a lot of recipes for wholesome homemade granola call for cups of honey or fruit juice (and no, just because it the sugar isn't in granular white form doesn't mean it's better for you).

I like granola. I don't like it much as a cold cereal, because it requires too much chewing, but it's a great topping for fruits and yogurt and a fall-back workday snack when I've run out of nuts. So in order to enjoy my sweet crunch while cutting out the unhealthiness of most boxed cereals, I make my own.

A real nutritionist would add sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, dried figs, and other nutrient-packed goodies to her granola. I can't because I work for $8/hour 30 hours/week. Instead, I make a very basic mix, nicknamed:

Poor Girl's Granola
-2 cups rolled oats
-2 tablespoons milled flax seed
-1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
-1 teaspoon nutmeg
-1/3 cup sugar
-1/3 cup water
-2 tablespoons canola oil
-1/2 cup raisins

I mix the first four dry ingredients, then add the others (except the raisins) and stir until the oats clump together. I spread the oats onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and make sure the clumps aren't too large.


The sheet goes into a 350° oven for ten minutes. Then I flip the granola with a spatula and put it back for another ten. When the nuggets have cooled, I add the raisins and mix everything with my hands to make sure the fruits get a fine coating of oat flour and don't stick together.


The secret to clumps is liquid: if you like bigger clumps add a little more water, and if you like fine muesli-type granola add less. A half cup of this is 250 calories by my estimate; as much as the boxed kind but with far less sugar, and more fiber and heart-healthy fats.

Chicken with Peach Relish and Mashed Potatoes

I have a whipped topping tub filled with peaches in the fridge from when I made blueberry peach maple muffins a while back. Yesterday it occurred to me it was time to use them up, but in what?

I didn't want to make a cobbler, or ice cream topping, or any other predictable summer dessert. I turned to Eating Well, which at first just served up the tired-and-true recipes for crumbles, cakes and fruity arugula salads (confidential information: I know it's foodie blasphemy, but I hate arugula). Then I found inspiration for a new dish buried on the second page of the search results: grilled chicken sandwiches with sherried peaches.

Problems: I don't own a grill. I don't buy alcohol, even for cooking, so I didn't have sherry. I also generally prefer meals you can eat with a fork over sandwiches--they take a longer to eat you can detect each isolated flavor and texture, which makes them more satisfying. But the peach-onion relish recipe sounded like a great starting point, so I had my sweetie thaw a chicken breast before I got home so I could make this:


First I sprayed a frying pan with Pam, then added one chicken breast to cook over medium heat until the insides were no longer pink (flipping when the bottom browned). While the chicken was cooking, I made the relish.

-1/4 of a yellow onion, sliced
-1/2 cup canned peach slices, drained and chopped
-1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
-1 tablespoon light cranberry-grape juice
-ginger powder and pepper to taste

I sauteed the onion in a bit of canola oil, then added the other ingredients and simmered until the mixture reached a "jamlike" consistency. When the chicken was finished, I added it to the saucepan so the flavors could meld while I finished up the side dish.


I agonized a little over the side dish, because my natural instinct was to grab the corn-on-the-cob in the fridge and flash-boil for my favorite crunchy-sweet meal-completer. But I've been eating much too much corn lately, so I moved on to my second favorite quick-cooking fall-back: mashed potoates.

-one potato, cubed
-1/2 cup frozen peas
-a couple tablespoons fat-free chicken broth
-garlic powder and black pepper to taste

First I microwaved the potato pieces in a sandwich bag and some water for 5 minutes. Then I replaced the bag with a bowl of the peas and microwaved for three minutes, while I mashed the potato with a fork along with the broth and spices. When the potatoes were sufficiently creamy, I stirred in the hot peas and spooned the mixture onto my plate beside the finished chicken and relish.

The dinner contained about 500 calories and had more protein than I usually eat, which kept me full enough to avoid the temptation of filling the dairy food group gap with ice cream :D Meal bonus: I recently read an article describing a study that indicated consuming a tablespoon of vinegar lowered post-meal glucose spikes and led to eating less later. Whether that's because the vinegar affects digestion or tempers the taste buds, I don't know.

Tofu Burger

The best thing about having mornings off is that I get to make tasty spreads for breakfast and lunch. On full work days, the best I can do is hurriedly down a bowl of bran flakes with banana and throw some peanut butter on bread for lunch. But today, the first day this week I didn't have to take a sick coworker's shift, I savored every bite of buckwheat pancakes and a Green Monster for breakfast, and a tofu burger for lunch.

I'm not talking about those salty imitation meat tofu burgers that come in ridiculously priced boxes of four, but a sweet, filling homemade patty. The basic recipe is as follows:

-1/4 cup wilted spring greens or spinach
-1/5 a block of firm tofu, squeezed of excess water and crumbled
-tablespoon of rolled oats
-couple tablespoons of egg whites for binding
-dash of soy sauce
-dash of rice vinegar
-seasonings (ginger powder, garlic, black pepper, paprika, whatever strikes my fancy at the time)

I smoosh all of the ingredients with my hands until it seems more or less uniform, then place the mound on a heated frying pan sprayed with Pam.


I cook it for 2-3 minutes on each side, until the patty is heated through and holds together. Confession: today I forgot to add the egg, so it didn't hold at all, but with some slight of hand I managed to get it onto the plate in one piece (it's all the same once it's in your mouth, right?)


I served it (to myself) between two slices of rye, accompanied by corn-on-the-cob (surprise surprise) and some heirloom tomatoes my acting mother-in-law bought at the Farmer's Market. Yes, those funky-looking squash-shaped things are tomatoes. Very sweet non-acidic ones, too. I like them better than regular cherry, actually.

Some additions I throw into the patty occasionally for variety: grated carrot, green onion, and sesame oil. Some additions I've never tried but I've heard work well: beans, corn kernels, curry powder, cooked spaghetti squash, or bell peppers. Honestly, anything you think would taste good paired with the tofu probably will. It's a very open-armed food.

Gastroenterology Appointment

Today I had my long-awaited appointment with the gastroenterologist. I had planned to do some exercising this morning, shower, have a snack, and go in with a strong heart and full stomach, but my coworker called in sick. I had to rush over as part of my "lunch break." I had some difficulty finding the place, because his office was in a sea of specialty medical buildings, but with some asking around and ingenuity I made it on time.

First thing I noted about the office was that their weighing scale was off. Before breakfast this morning, in nothing but a thin silk robe, I weighed in at 131.2 pounds. In jeans and shoes at the office I was 130. Either they adjusted it to account for clothing, or I have a cynical scale at home. I also learned that my blood pressure is 108/70, which is smack-dab in the middle of "normal" range.

I honestly had a little trepidation about meeting the doctor, since he had a negative review on one of the internet snark-sites. However, that review must of been written by somebody really sensitive, because I liked Dr. W. He was efficient and brusque, but not impersonable, and he gave me plenty of opportunity for input. He determined that I have "chronic [something] dyspepsia," which just means I've been having upper abdominal discomfort for several years that has not been eradicated by acid reducers. Possible causes of chronic [something] dyspepsia: gastritis (what the first doctor said), ulcers, acid reflux, gallstones, or a number of less common disorders. I had blood drawn to test for all of the above, plus celiac disease per my request.

I'm supposed to schedule an endoscopy within the next few weeks, but I'm pretty sure my insurance won't cover it (because frankly, it doesn't like to cover much of anything). I hope the blood work will provide a preliminary cause so I don't have to.

After my appointment, I had just enough time to stop back at my apartment and grab lunch before I headed back to work. I had an all-inclusive lunch of a Green Monster and peanut butter on rye.


The smoothie contained my vegetable, fruit, and dairy-substitute food groups, while the sandwich covered the grains and protein, all for 500 calories. I grabbed a packet of strawberry-flavored instant oatmeal for my afternoon snack, which is less than nutritionally ideal. I can't wait for all this job-searching, germ-passing, and stomach-investigating craziness to die down and give me a chance to enjoy some real food.

Ultra-Veggie Stir Fry

I often reference my favorite tofu stir-fry, but I haven't had the opportunity to put the recipe up. I dedicate today's post to this, the most excellent of Asian culinary approximations. My stir-fry incorporates:

-1/2 tablespoon canola oil
-one carrot, thinly sliced
-1/5 a block of firm tofu
-1/2 cup chopped broccoli florets
-the leaves of a green onion, chopped

Since I don't have a proper wok, I first heat the oil in a small saucepan. Over medium-high heat, I add the carrots and saute for a minute until they're coated with the oil, then add the tofu. I stir-fry these two until the carrots are tender and the tofu cubes crisp. I add the broccoli florets, lower the heat, cover and let everything steam for a minute while I prepare the sauce:

-1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth
-couple dashes of soy sauce
-1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
-1 tablespoon sweet & sour sauce
-1/4 cup of pineapple tidbits in juice
-1 tablespoon cornstarch
-dash of ginger powder

I combine all of these in a bowl, stirring vigorously to break up the clumps of cornstarch. I add the sauce to the vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the sauce bubbles and thickens. I finally add the green onions and incorporate them into the mix.


I heat a half cup of cooked rice (which I always have in the fridge) and spread it on one half of a big dinner plate, then put the main dish on the other side for a pretty effect.


Isn't it gorgeous? (When I made this, I was so excited to eat it I dribbled sauce on the counter and didn't bother to wipe up for the picture!) The best part of this meal is the broccoli--I love the bitter crunch paired with the spicy chili and ginger flavors. The carrots provide sweetness, the pineapple and green onion tanginess, and the tofu a warm mellow texture. The plate is loaded with good-for-you ingredients: economic protein, iron, vitamin A, beta carotene, and tons of vitamin C from the pineapple and broccoli. It's not a bad deal for 450 calories.

It would technically be even healthier with a dose of fiber from brown rice. But frankly, I like white better. Maybe it's a childhood nostalgia thing, but brown just doesn't make me salivate they way sticky white rice does. A half cup of brown rice only has two grams of fiber, anyway, less than half the amount in my morning bran flakes.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

For lunch today, I was determined to use the remnants of the half spaghetti squash I baked yesterday. I decided on a casserole--that forgiving dish capable of standing up to any random bits you mix into it. My random bits included:

-one fourth of the flesh from a medium-sized spaghetti squash
-a small broccoli crown
-half a yellow onion
-a quarter pound of lean ground beef
-half a can of fat-free cream of mushroom soup (the first half was consumed when my sweetie was sick last week)
-a half cup of greek-style yogurt

I started by roughly chopping the onion and sauteeing it until it turned golden brown. Then I added the chopped broccoli and squash and cooked the mixture until the broccoli turned a pretty bright green.


Because I was double-tasking for lunch, I transferred these vegetables into a mixing bowl and browned a half pound of beef in the skillet. I added half of that beef to the mix and used the other half for my sweetie's Hamburger Helper. Then I mixed in the mushroom soup and yogurt and spread the gloopy mess into a foil-lined baking pan.


The casserole went into a 350° oven for half an hour. It shared a rack with an ear of corn--my latest vegetable obsession. I ate half of the casserole and the roasted cob with a copious glass of Diet V8 Splash for a filling 400 calorie meal.


It isn't the most aesthetically pleasing of dishes, but it smelled wonderful. The taste was just what I expected, though I had hoped for more tang from the yogurt. Next time I make it (probably within the next week, using the other half of the raw squash in the fridge) I will add some more random bits to give it a kick: some black pepper, garlic, and some properly aged cheddar.

Spaghetti Squash

My gluten-free experiment is over for the time being. Though my sickness did curb temporarily over Thursday and Friday, I'm not sure whether the result had anything to do with gluten itself. My regimen forced me to eat more vegetables and smaller meals, which would help any digestive condition. Plus, I got back into exercising, which is associated with the reduction of gastrointestinal symptoms.

The experiment did show me, though, that I can live perfectly comfortably without gluten in my diet if need be. If I am not diagnosed with celiac disease, it may be a good idea to keep the refined carbohydrates to a minimum anyway. Later.

Today was very carb-happy, mostly because I have a lot of food in my kitchen that has been ignored for the past week and should be consumed. For breakfast, I had peanut butter on whole wheat toast with light cranberry grape juice. For lunch, it was leftover Friday Night Pizza with Tropical V8 Splash. I had half a cinnamon-raisin bagel with Tofutti cream cheese for my pre-nap snack, then hopped on the treadmill before dinner while these beauties baked:


This is half a spaghetti squash and ear of corn. I have never had spaghetti squash, but have read glowing things about it, so when I saw it in the grocery store this morning I grabbed one to try. I prepared it by cutting it lengthwise and removing the seeds, then placing it face down on a foil-lined baking sheet and in a 375° oven for 35-ish minutes.

I followed the suggestion on the sticker of mixing the extracted strands with butter and some Italian spices. I also mixed up a Green Monster to cover the other conspicuously lacking food groups on my plate.


My dinner would have only been one color without that smoothie o.o

I have to be honest, that squash is nothing like spaghetti. It's slightly sweet, crunchy, and smells like pumpkin. I didn't finish all of the squash on my plate, because the smell of the butter and spices became nauseating. The vegetable was completely innocent, but something about that Italian mix I have makes foods other than stews hard to choke down. I have one serving-worth of leftovers in the fridge, so I'm going to look for another way to prepare them. I thought mixing it with some meats and other vegetables to make a casserole would be nice: like this one, only with ground beef and no cheese. I really need to make an effort to eat more protein.

Experiment: Day 4

Results from Day 3:
Some mornings I just rip the Earl Grey teabag out of its Stash wrapper, put it to my nose, and inhale deeply. Is this wrong?

I slept for about five hours total last night, so my compulsion to drink the flowery black stuff (as opposed to my usual bitter green) is unconquerable. I went to bed at 10, but lay awake for hours listening to my stomach growl. Whether it's PMS, damaged villi, an ulcer or whatever, this is getting ridiculous. On the plus side, I experienced no sickness at all yesterday! Notta! Zip! Not even my post-dinner Green Monster, full of icy fibery antagonists, dampened the peaceful state of my stomach.

Speaking of last night's dinner, I must report that brown-rice pasta is really weird. I was afraid of overcooking it, so I boiled it for the minimum five minutes--the strands came out mushy on the outside and still hard in the middle =/ Since I had already added sauce when I discovered this, I popped it in the microwave for two minutes. It obtained more of a semolina-like consistency, but it was still very grainy and heavy. It wasn't terrible, just not what you usually expect when biting into a forkful of spaghetti.


Because I was illness-free yesterday, my sweetie has encouraged me to extend the experiment for one more day. I'm obliging, but I'm making sure to have a small amount of gluten in my diet via contaminents for the sake of testing next week.

Start of Day 4:
First thing in the morning I threw together a breakfast of a fruit-and-frozen-spinach Green Monster and three Jimmy Dean turkey sausage links. My breakfast had 350-400 calories and covered four food groups.


Then I assembled my food for the workday:


The banana is for mid-morning snack, the nuts for mid-afternoon snack, and the potato and tuna salad for lunch. To make the tuna salad, I mixed together:

-one can chunk light tuna
-a tablespoon of generic light Miracle Whip
-a chopped green onion
-a splash of apple cider vinegar
-black pepper

On my way to work I stopped at Kroger to get a bed of salad for the tuna. As I made a beeline for my usual Leafy Romaine, I was intercepted by this obstacle:


I am powerless to Manager's Specials (when it's something I was going to buy anyway...plus my little bag of romaine was 20¢ more expensive than this big tub!).

Tonight I will attempt to put together gluten-free dough for my half of Friday Night Pizza. Fingers crossed.

Experiment: Day 3

Results from Day 2:
I felt my usual afternoon sickness, but for the first time in a while felt perfectly fine after dinner! I had some post stir-fry snacks (greek-style yogurt, a couple squares of chocolate) but I wasn't compelled to eat them out of discomfort. I was just hungry. Unfortunately, I was irrationally starving at bed-time, and couldn't fall asleep for an hour because of the tummy rumbles--this could either be from malabsorption of nutrients or plain old PMS. The gastroenterologist will decide which next Wednesday.

Start of Day 3:
Today will be my last day of the experiment until the weekend, because I want to make sure I have enough gluten in my diet for antibodies to show up in the blood tests and because tomorrow is pizza night with my sweetie. I started this morning with a Japanese staple: rice omelet.

I melted a tablespoon of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter in a saucepan, then sauteed:
-1/2 cup cooked rice
-1/2 cup frozen peas
-splash of soy sauce
-smaller splash of rice vinegar
-black pepper

I meant to add chopped green onions, too, but I was only half awake and forgot >.> Then, on a hot frying pan sprayed with Pam, I poured a half cup of egg whites in a very thin layer. When the eggs had set up I placed the rice mixture on top.


I folded the top over, kind of, and shuffled the omelet onto a plate in a way that made it look more or less decent. With a glass of light cranberry grape juice, I had a very filling 350 calorie breakfast.


I planned to run some errands this morning, but I got sidetracked by a cleaning frenzy. The cat has been very energetic lately (read: hyperactive terror) and took it upon herself to decorate the living room floor with bits from her Super Scratcher.


Those large missing chunks were meticulously shredded and distributed evenly across the carpet. I spent a good half hour vacuuming them up. While I was in the Zone, I scrubbed the bathroom sink and washed the bedsheets, too. Look at Luna so innocently covering the exposed mattress cover with hairs:


When I was done, there was only enough time for my little 2 mile walk/run and lunch before work. I reheated the chicken stew from Monday, foregoing the rice in favor of a "baked" potato. The "baked" has quotes because I cheated: I put a scrubbed Idaho potato in a sandwich bag with a bit of water and microwaved it for 5 minutes. This method results in a slightly tough skin, but a dab of butter remedies that.


Tonight I'm going to try the brown-rice spaghetti I bought on Tuesday, and use the leftovers in a tuna salad for tomorrow's lunch (since I'm working a full day, I'll be brown-bagging it). I've only tried rice pastas once before as a teenager, and I remember it turned out mushy and bland. We'll see whether the manufacturing process has improved since then.