Wonderful discovery

I actually had a post planned for today.  I don't always work like that, so I felt pretty accomplished, especially because I knew I would not have much time.  Well as it turned out my computer time got eaten up by trying to clean up the mess that some hackers made of my e-mail account.  So, instead of a great wonderful post today I will simply be sharing a wonderful discovery that I made last night.

Would you ever have guessed that the top of a Parmesan cheese container would fit perfectly onto a ball jar?

I made some toasted parmesan "cheese" last night.  The cheese is in quotes because there is actually no cheese it it at all.  Can you believe it? I wanted the perfect container to put it in and then this idea stuck me.   I was so excited that I did a little dance around the kitchen.

You just have to let the small things in life make your day.  Try it.  I dare you. 

I'll talk more about the "cheese" later.  But for now I have to go do my schoolwork and pack because for the rest of the week I will be spending my time here.  Okay, I'm actually going for the Christian Camp and Conference Association (CCCA) gathering that they are hosting, but I hope to spend at least a little time in that pool!!  

Cashew Cheese

WHAAAATTTT????

That's what went through my mind when I heard the words Cashew and Cheese in the same recipe title.

The Recipe-
Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos with Cashew Cheese 

The Source-
Clean Food by Terry Walters
(an Institute of Integrative Nutrition grad, which is why I bought the book)

This cookbook is mostly vegan recipes that are divided up into the four seasons and an anytime category.  I like that she does not advertise as vegan because a lot of people get scared of that title, like the recipes are harder or something.  Sometimes I'm sure you eat vegan without realizing it, so why bother labeling it and getting all the anxiety that comes along with that?  Needless to say I just got this cookbook from amazon on Monday and already made two recipes that I love.  And this one called for Nutritional yeast which is a new ingredient to me that I just picked up in Lancaster this past weekend.

The Cheese-

1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup nutritional (large flake) yeast
1 Tablespoon canola oil

-----start with turning 1/2 cup of cashew pieces into a cashew dust.  However it is that you chop nuts.  I use my food processor.  

-----Stir in the nutritional yeast and slowly add in the oil.

-----Your finished Cashew Cheese product will look something similar to this hopefully.

Don't expect it to taste like Parmesan or cheddar or anything, but it does have a slightly nutty cheesy flavor.  If it is better for you not to think of it as CHEESE per se, but rather cashew topping, then do whatever works for you.  Okay Dad, mister don't call it a burger and I'd love to eat your vegetable burger? Bottom line is that it is yummy.

Now to assemble the burritos.

They just called for being broiled for 3-5 minutes, which was an answer to an unsaid prayer because just minutes before we found out we were s.u.p.e.r low on propane.  Oops.

Even though our house was chillier than normal, at least we got to have a warm supper.

Oh, stop on by for a quick visit to the Not So Homemade blog where my recipe idea and picture are featured.  How exciting. 

Restocking

I am a bargain hunter. I try to be realistic about this and not go too crazy crunching numbers and saving pennies. But there is no denying that I am a coupon using, price comparing, zip-lock bag washing woman.

If there is one place I love to go shopping, especially for groceries, it is Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When I was younger my mom, sister, aunts and cousins would go out with my grandparents. My grandfather seemed to know all the back roads, short cuts and the most amazing little Amish grocery stores to stop at. Of course the trip always began with a customary stop at Shady Maple Smorgasbord and finishing the meal with an apple fritter doughnut.

When I lived at home Lancaster was only about 1 1/2 hours away.  Now that I live in the Poconos it takes about 3 hours of drive time.  Needless to say I have to plan ahead a little bit more about our shopping trips now a days.  I knew that my mom wanted to go again and I was in need of shredded coconut and spices, just to name a few things.  It worked out perfectly to make Lancaster a family trip on Saturday since I was down at home anyway for the weekend.  My mom, dad and sister all came along and we had a great time.

My cousin, who recently moved close to Lancaster City, met us for breakfast in the morning and then we stopped in to see her new house and room mates.

My dad's eagle eye spotted a tiny sign on the side of the road that said FREE.  We stopped and made my mom get out and see what it was.  A bakery was giving away the end of the days products!!!  We picked up our favorite apple fritter doughnuts.  Although they were kind of hard to eat because this particular batch looked very similar to fried chicken breasts.

 My favorite stores are:
Centerville Bulk Food- Centerville, PA
Millers Natural Food- Bird in Hand, PA
Sharp Shopper- Leola, PA
Shady Maple Farm Market- East Earl, PA
September Farm- Honeybrook, PA

September Farm was a new stop for us this time around.  Our friends from church years ago moved out to Lancaster.  They started making cheese and selling it in their shop and they have really taken off.  It was our first time that we have stopped in and it was probably my favorite stop.  Fresh cheese, samples, cute little store, old friends, and you can watch them make cheese on certain days.  I would certainly recommend checking it out if you are ever in the area.  I bought a container of tomato basil flavored cheese curds and a block of cheddar because she said it made the best macaroni and cheese.  I can't wait to give that a try!

I was so excited to stock up my pantry again especially with some new products.  Millers Natural food store has the most amazing prices on organic, local and natural products, it is where I spent the bulk of my time and money.

On the way home we drove through the King of Prussia area to stop in at Trader Joes.  I have been wanted to buy and try peanut flour and I knew that they sold it.  Unfortunately that was the key word at that store - SOLD.  They no longer carried it.  Bummer.  I think I will have to end up ordering that specific product online someday.

Here is a list of things that came home in my shopping bags from our Lancaster trip spending less than $175 total.  The items in bold are things I have never used before in recipes...

• Raw Cashew pieces- 4 pounds
• Organic Rolled Oats- 10 pounds
• Organic Barley Flour- 5 pounds
• Organic Oat Flour- 5 pounds
• Organic Buckwheat Flour- 5 pounds
• Organic Rye Flour- 5 pounds
• Organic Whole What Linguine- 4 pounds
• Organic Crushed Tomatoes- 8 32 ounce cans
• Millet - 2 pounds
• Unsweetened Coconut- 4 pounds
• Nutritional Yeast- 2 pounds
• Organic Steel Cut Oats- 5 pounds
• Organic Whole Flax Seeds- 5 pounds
• Organic Oat Bran- 1.5 pounds
• Hemp Seeds- 8 ounces
• Chia seeds- 8 ounces
• Pitted Dates- 2 pounds
• Parsley Flakes
• Curry Powder
• Crushed Red Pepper
• Chicken Bouillon Cubes
• Tahini- 15 ounces
• Brown Rice Vinegar- 12.7 ounces
• Flax oil- 2 8 ounce bottles
• Liquid Aminos- 32 ounces
• Organic Canola Oil- 2 32 ounce bottles
• Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds- 32 ounces
• Goji Raspberry V8 Fusion- 46 ounces
• Tomato Paste- 12 pack
• Cheddar Cheese (dipped in wax!)- 8 ounces
• Fresh Tomato Basil Cheese Curds- 8 ounces
• Sprout-Ease Jar Toppers-3 pack

My mom and I both picked up jar toppers to help with sprouting.  We both want to learn more about sprouting and thought this would help.  She bought broccoli seeds to experiment with.  I think I might start with lentils maybe.

I love experimenting with food and I look forward to trying new recipes with some of the ingredients that I picked up on our trip, especially the new flours.

Are you a bargain hunter?
Do you have any favorite recipes using the new ingredients above?
Do you have any experience with sprouting? 

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Was this helpful to you in seeking life to the fullest?  Do you have questions, comments, suggestions?  Leave a comment or e-mail me at chelsievarga@simplyseekinglife.com

I discovered some apples

I honestly have not been grocery shopping yet this year and we are 13 days in.  I actually think the Sunday after Christmas might have been the last time we went to the store.  Luckily Kale and Clementines last a long time.  I go crazy when we are out of fresh fruits and vegetables.  You know what else last a long time? Apples.  But they sure do not last forever.

 I do not remember when I bought these.  But it was a while ago.  They somehow ended up under the spaghetti squashes that I have in a large bowl.  The poor apples, it is well past time for them to have been eaten.  They are not terrible yet though, just a little wrinkly.  They could still be saved.  So our snowy days have been filled with plenty of apples.

TUESDAY LUNCH:

Broiled Cheddar Apple Sandwich

• Thin slices of apple
• Cheddar cheese
• French bread
• Mayonaise
• Tarragon

Toast the french bread.
Layer on some apple slices on one side and top with cheddar cheese.
Mix 1 cups of Mayo with 1 t dried tarragon.

Spread some mayo mix on the other side of your sandwich.
Place both halves under the broiler until the cheese melts.
Enjoy.

This recipe is adapted from Chef Bobo's Good Food Cookbook, although I do not think it will be making an appearance in the camp menu anytime soon.  It was my first time making french bread and it got huge!  So really the sandwich tasted like bread with a little something else, but it was pretty tasty.  And very different than sandwiches that I am used to.  It was a fun change.

WEDNESDAY BREAKFAST:

I threw things that I was hungry for in a bowl.  Luckily they kind of went together.  In the mix was apple, peanut butter, honey and granola.  I could have done without the honey because I knew my lunch was going to be sweet as well.

WEDNESDAY LUNCH:

Huguenot Torte 
Adapted from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes 

• 2 eggs (or 2T ground flax seed and 6T water)
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1/4 c unbleached white flour
• 2t baking powder
• 1/4t sea salt
• 2t pure vanilla extract
• 1c chopped apples
• 1c chopped pecans
• 1t lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)

Step One:
Beat together 2 eggs until fluffy and then add the sugar in slowly.  OH NO!  I realized that I used up all my eggs the other night.  Did you know you can substitute eggs in baking with ground flax seed?

1 T ground flax seed + 3 T water + 5 minutes rest = 1 egg

It does not get fluffy like eggs do, but it works every time.  Because of the lack of fluffiness I just added all the sugar right to the flax mixture and stirred it around a little.

Step two:
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla.  Then add the egg (or flax) mixture.

Step three:
Fold in the apples and pecans and add the lemon juice.  I ended up using apple cidar vinegar instead because I realized I didn't have lemon juice, and could not for the life of me get the lid off the mason jar containing the lime juice.  Oh well, sometimes you just have to admit defeat and move on.

Step four:
Pour the batter into a greased 9x9 pan and bake for 35-40 minutes in a 325 degree preheated oven.  It will look something like this going into the oven...

  ...and hopefully like this when it is coming out.

I honestly think this could have been made with less sugar and could probably be easily substituted for something other than white sugar.  I will be sure to keep that in mind next time I find some wrinkly apples around the house.  

I used to be notorious for pouring milk on top of my baked goods before eating them.  I have cut back on my milk intake significantly over the past few years, but some things still merit that honor.  Anything that is baked and includes apples falls into that category.

I'm so glad that I grew up with a mom that taught me that it is okay to eat dessert for your meal every once in awhile.  Thanks mom!

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Was this helpful to you in seeking life to the fullest?  Do you have questions, comments, suggestions?  Leave a comment or e-mail me at chelsievarga@simplyseekinglife.com

Relationship status: It's Complicated

I have been thinking a lot about popular nutrition and exercise in the last few hours.  How quickly things get a bad rep and how easy it is to give up on eating healthy simply because it seems too complicated.  Here are the very interrelated bottom lines...

• Listen to your body.
• Don't do something because you think you have to
• Don't NOT do something because you think "it's not you"

ON FOOD & NUTRITION...
A lot of people have no idea how much they actually eat in a day.  This is where the idea of calorie counting comes in to play and why it is so popular.  While it is a very good starting point for some people, it is not so good of a choice for others (myself included!) because of getting hung up on numbers.  A good place to start learning to listen to your body is with a food journal.  It is up to you how long to keep going with it because it is all about gaining an understanding on what you are putting into your body.  If you wrote down everything you ate, including that handful of jelly beans at the office or the handful of chocolate chips you sneak from the pantry, you will begin to get a picture of you.  So whether it is a food journal or counting calories for you, it is a good idea to have an understanding of your own nutrition.  After time you will be able to really listen to your body and be able to deconstruct your cravings.  Your body craves things for a reason.

Fun Fact: A lot of women crave chocolate during their period.  You already knew that???  Okay listen to this, chocolate is a source of fat which is what your body is often really craving at that time.  Current culture is so fat-phobic most of the time it's no wonder the body is craving fat.  Your body craves things for a reason!

So now about those Brussels sprouts.  It is important to give food a chance.  It takes upwards of 7 times of trying something before you know if you really like it or not.  Once that trial stage is over though, it is okay if you don't like something.  Stay away from things you don't like and focus on what you do like.  Don't by gagging yourself with green smoothies and wheat-grass for a week straight if it is not something that you will be able to consistently keep up with.  There is some other food out there that will provide the same nutrients that your body needs in a different, more enjoyable format for you.  You are doing yourself a disservice if you are forcing yourself to eat things you don't like for a few days (most diets), just to rebound back to your normal eating habits.  Especially keep this in mind for kids.  Of course it is important for them to try things, but what are we teaching them about eating healthy if they only thing they equate with health is that yucky tomato that we force down all the time?  Instead focus on the carrots and cucumbers that they chomp right up.  Something to think about.

Lastly, don't stay away from things in the kitchen because they are "not you."  If you or your family has never eaten flax seed before, don't be afraid to start to incorporate it subtly into things and learn how to use it.  There is a whole other world out there when you walk down the health food section of your grocery store, don't be overwhelmed.  Try one new product a week, or a month, whatever works for you.  Find someone in the area, or a friend who gives tours of the grocery store and ask them to teach you some things about the new products.  I look forward to when I start giving tours of the grocery store, I love the so called health food aisle!              

ON EXERCISE...

If I listened to my body when I first started running again I would have given up before I even got through the first mile.  I guess when it comes down to exercise, the key is to listen to your body when you are finished.  How do you feel after that swim? hiking? running? You get the picture. If you consistantly physically feel terrible afterward it is probably not the activity for you.  Although keep in mind the difference between the good feeling of tired muscles and chronic knee pain.

Don't run because you think you have to.  It does not have to be running for you because it is running for me.  My knees are good and healthy, yours may not be and that is okay! There is something out there that you will enjoy, you just have to find it.  You may have to look outside of the actual activity itself to find the enjoyment at first.  For me running at the beginning is about being outside, it is about listening to music, it is about getting my heart rate up quickly and feeling like I have had a good work out after a short period of time.  If my exercise lull is too long I have to remember my love for these things over my love of running which is absent at the time.  If there is nothing about running that you like, find something different.  You are not going to keep up with a running routine, if you hate running.

At the same time do not stay away from exercise because you have convinced yourself that it "is not you."  Anyone can be physically active, it's not just for the "born athletes."  Check out this post from the (never home)maker blog about becoming a self-made athlete.  It is super inspiring!
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Were these things helpful to you in seeking life to the fullest?  Do you have questions, comments, suggestions?  Leave a comment below or e-mail me at chelsievarga@simplyseekinglife.com
           

ALERT: Foodie in the camp kitchen!

What do most people think of when the new year rolls around?
New Years Resolutions: eat more health food, eat less junk, exercise more, spend more "me" time, etc.
 
I am certainly not implying that I do not have goals for myself this year both personally and professionally, but it's usually about this time that I start thinking about something else...

  SUMMERTIME!

Since I was a junior in high school I have been working the summers at Spruce Lake Wilderness Camp. I started out in the kitchen, enjoyed a summer of counseling and made my way back to the kitchen world.  It's funny how sometimes you end up somewhere in life and all of the sudden you think, how did I get here?  I was always interested in food and my mom worked in the kitchen at Spruce Lake Wilderness Camp when she was in high school, so it made sense I started off there.  I was not always interested in Nutrition, especially the nutrition of other people.  When I was in high school I cared about MY weight and MY life when it came to what was going into my body.  I was in high school, aren't all high schoolers like that?

When I went to college and started learning about social problems and caring about other people more, my interests in the world of Nutrition changed.  Of course I still cared about what I was eating, but I started to care just as much what other people had the chance to eat.  I started thinking about the homeless in Philly, the cafeteria at Eastern, church potlucks, school lunches.  It was only natural that I began to think about what kids at summer camps are being fed as well.  

summer of 2004

Today I am no longer a summer kitchen employee, but the kitchen manager.  I am fortunate in the position that I am in now being able to plan menus, work with the kids on specialty diets (becoming more common these days!), talk to parents, work with the summer staff and most importantly feed nourishing food to the campers.  People working for change in the school systems would love to be where I am, and somehow I just ended up here.  Is my passion for food and nutrition because of my experiences or are my experiences because of my passions?  What a conundrum!

It used to be that most parents send their kids away for the week not caring what they ate.  It was only a week and it was summer camp, let them have fun!  As the school lunch movements carry on into the summers and more parents/families are living in the "foodie" world people are becoming more interested in what the food options are at camp.

On the other side of the coin the camping world itself being more interested in what kids are being fed.  People are just now starting to ask questions such as...

• If we cut back on the amount of sugar that the kids intake, will that really decrease the amount of behavioral issues that we have to deal with?
• If we begin to provide more whole foods and less baked flour and other nutrient lacking products will that really give kids more energy and attentiveness?
• Does one week really make a difference in how kids view food and nutrition?
• How do you provide real whole foods within a budget? 

As I delve into these and many more questions in preparation for the coming summer I am excited for what is to come.  Last year was my first summer as manager and I had a lot to learn about how things work.  I will continue to have a lot to learn, but I feel like I have more time to put into menu planning and working on providing the best food possible to our campers and staff.  I look forward to being able to pair all of this with my continual learning through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.  In talking to my health coach, who I am paired up with through the school, she introduced me to Che Bobo.  He is a professional chef that is working in a private school in NYC getting kids to try new foods and finding that they actually enjoy it.

As soon as I saw he had a cookbook  Chef Bobo's Good Food Cookbook  I just knew I had to try it out

I'm not going to try to take on cooking one recipe a day for the next 100 some days or anything like Julie from "Julie and Julia."   But you may begin to realize a pattern in where a bunch of my recipes come from and how I analyze them.  The neat thing about these recipes is that cooking for a crowd at camp and cooking for yourself and/or your family is very similar.   Either way you are dealing with budgets, time, taste buds, trying new things and fun whether for 2 or 250. The first recipe that caught my eye was a vegetable dip.  This is my version inspired by Chef Bobo.

DILL AND YOGURT DIP

 1 c plain yogurt (I used Stoneyfield's whole milk yogurt)

1T dried dill

pinch of salt and pepper

One thing that we consistently did last summer was have a veggie tray at some meals instead of always having just a hot vegetable.  The kids ate up the vegetables much to my surprise, especially the younger ones.  I had all good intentions on making hummus for some weeks, but it turned out that ranch dip was just the easiest.  We used a dry mix and combined it with mostly sour cream and some yogurt, which I felt alright about, but I am totally on the lookout for new things to dip vegetables in.  This recipe was super simple and very tasty- very camp or family friendly.  This will be going on the list of things to try out during staff orientation or what I like to call in the kitchen world- new recipe experimentation week.   

 

5k fever

Since New Years Day we have had a very slow pace of life around here.  Joel has not been feeling well and that has meant lots and lots of tea, sleep and movies.  Yesterday alone between the two of us we drank at least a gallon and a half of various different kinds of teas.  Putting it in a ball jar made it a little bit more enticing for me to drink, I just love glass containers!

So I ran the PEEPS Fest 5k in Bethlehem on Friday, New Years Eve and have done almost no physical activity since.  Oh well, sometimes life slows down and it's okay just to hang out and take care of your husband instead of working on your life goals.  The important thing is to remember to adjust your eating schedule accordingly.  If you are lounging around the house all day make sure to listen to your stomach, try not to eat just because it is breakfast, lunch or dinner time.  You need waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy less calories on lazy days than you do when you are active.  I have to say I am finally getting used to listening to my body in that way (when we are at home, outside of my house I have a lot of work to do) and still feel very healthy and fit myself.

Okay so my review of the 5K.  I am so glad that I signed up for it and am proud of myself for reaching that goal.  I originally signed up by myself, but I ended up convincing one of my friends to run it along with me.  I am so glad she made it to run with me (about a minute before the race started) because it totally helped out my pace.  There certainly were a lot less hills than what I am used to as well, but it was still not a flat course.  I can only attribute my 2 1/2 minute drop in pace to running with someone else and the other people around me because I didn't even use my iPod.  I crossed the finish line at 28:15!

The race itself was a lot of fun to run.  It was a fun activity for New Years Eve and I totally will run it next year as long as my schedule allows.  I will be luck if the weather is as nice though, it was around 45 degrees at the end of December!  I totally could have ditched my vest.  Joel made it down even though he was just starting to feel sickly.  My friends, sister and Dad made it by the end of the race to congratulate us and spend some time exploring Bethlehem afterwords.  Here is a little bit what the day looked like through Joel's lens...

So I think I have a little 5k fever myself.  I certainly am on the lookout for other events.  Although I have to say, what is with giving out goody bags full of processed food?  I was happy about the apple that they offered in the snack area, but what is with the Root beer, Peeps and Mike 'N Ikes? Okay I realize that they are the ones that sponsored the race, but it just seems a bit like an oxymoron.  Maybe that will be my calling to help events like this plan to have good whole foods that nourish the body.

Those pesky leftover vegetables

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
 Did you happen to see 1:11:11 on 1/1/11 at all today?
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Oh where to begin, so much I want to say today.

I guess first things first, the giveaway.  So in talking to some of you, the question may have been a little misleading, but only one of you even had a guess?  I guess it was a busy time of year to be doing this, I'll credit your lack posting your creative guesses to that.  Well Michelle of I Like To Read since you were daring enough to even post a guess I will officially declare you the winner with some valiant guesses.  Although cumin was not the ingredient I was so excited about it was in the veggieburgers, so close enough.  Contact me and let me know your mailing address and I will figure out how to safely get you your prize.  Congrats!

The real ingredient I was so excited about..........The Vegetables!  I already admitted that things were a little misleading, leave me alone :)  I made a veggie soup stock earlier that day and had a slightly broken heart over having to compost the overly boiled veggies.  I went to my fall back plan of google-ing "What to do with leftover stock veggies" and read over a few websites that came up as a result.  One comment I read was to mash them up and turn them into burgers.  BRILLIANT!  I have a wonderful burger recipe from the More-With-Less Cookbook that I thought would do just the trick for some ideas to help spice up these lifeless veggies.  The following is the recipe that I came up with.

Leftover Vegetable Croquettes

3 cups of mashed leftover stock vegetables or just leftover vegetables

1 whisked egg

1T flour

1/4t baking powder

1/2t salt

1T dried parsley

1/2t celery seed

1/2t granulated garlic

2t Worcestershire sauce

1c panko bread crumbs

1/2c wheat germ  

First find a way to mash up your vegetables.  We just so happened to get a grinder attachment for our Kitchen Aid for Christmas from my parents, so I chose to use my new toy! Though I am sure there are plenty of other ways to create a vegetable mash.

Okay, so truth be told that mash looked pretty disgusting when I first saw it.  Because of the extra liquid from boiling a long time it was pretty watery, but I dumped off the extra liquid pretty easily and just used what was left behind.

Once you have your vegetable mash you can add all of the rest of the ingredients except for the wheat germ.  Feel free to add more or less bread crumbs depending on the desired consistency.  And voila, with each addition your mash begins to look a bit more edible.

Once the desired consistency is attained then you are ready to start shaping into whatever size you would like, then just take it and coat it in wheat germ like so...

I then laid them all out on a lightly greased cookie tray and baked them at 375F for about a half an hour. 

I will be the first to admit that they are not bursting with flavor, but with a little bit of your choice of condiment or eaten with the right dish they are not half bad.  They are what they are for using up leftover vegetables.  I drizzled mine with some home made tahini dressing and healed my broken heart.  The vegetables ended up in my belly instead of in my compost bin.  So not to toot my own horn, but I was pretty excited about them.  Joel was happy as well and said that he really like them, so you have a second opinion I guess.  I realize that technically croquettes are fried (says Wikipedia) but that is more what they ended up looking like than burgers.  

Okay, that was long enough for today I the rest will have to wait for later.

PREVIEW OF WHAT IS TO COME: