For Thanksgiving: Not a food post

Based on my previous track record and well, the title of my blog, one might think I live, eat (no pun intended), and breathe for food.   While food is the primary way I feel drawn to express creativity, writing is another big part of my personal creativity. For me, food is social and fun; and implies community. It’s most pleasurable aspect is sharing it with others.  It brings people together. Writing, on the other hand, has always been more of a private endeavor.  I’ve kept a diary since 2^nd grade (although now I prefer the more sophisticated term “journal”). Blogging kind of joins the two!  Sometimes, I think it would be nice to share more of my private world- if only for entertainment, encouragement, or in attempt to bridge the big ocean that divides me from many of the ones I love!

This week I was thinking about Thanksgiving- a day dedicated to celebrating the many reasons we have to be grateful. The nature of the holiday has led to a focus on the gifts or blessings we have in our lives.  And don’t get me wrong, one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is going around the dinner table and everyone stating something they are thankful for. But for every gift there is a giver, right? As a Christian, I try to make a regular practice of thanking God for his many blessings, because I believe He is the Giver of all good things. And if there are things I want or ask for which I don’t have, then it must be because God, in his perfect and all-knowing character has deemed them not good for me; or at least not good right now. And I'm thankful for that too!

I was reflecting on my own tendency to forget about the Giver and decided I want that to be my focus this Thanksgiving: being thankful to the Lord for who He is, and not only for what He has given me (and He has given me much). I am thankful that some of the greatest gifts He gives are the intangible things; bound up in His promises to give us joy and peace through Christ. This poem is a product of these thoughts and reflections; and a personal call to myself and others to seek the Giver and not the gifts.  

No Good Thing Withheld

Psalm 84:11

“No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly”

The Lord eagerly bestows good things

Upon the children of His vine

For all that He has given Christ

Is also now forever mine

We search too often His giving hand

Yet so seldom seek His face

If we rather sought our Father’s heart

We’d find unending stores of grace

His blessings not bound in fingers clenched

In hands reluctant to release,

But his riches rest in open palms

Offering gifts of joy and peace

James 1:17
"Every good and perfect gift is from above."

Slow Cooker Barley Risotto

Temporary borrowed picture from Worldhealth.net

Friends, I have possibly discovered the most wonderfully delicious healthy-meets-gourmet dish yet. (Have I reeled you in?) AND I cooked it in my slow cooker! For those of you who think crock-pots don't count as cooking (you know who you are) then think again! This meal involved a small amount of prep work, but really all the slow cooker did was take the dirty work out of risotto. Instead of constantly stirring, as traditional risotto requires, the grains slowly soak up the broth over a few hours. A few finishing touches and you're done. And the best part of this meal (in my dietitian opinion): FIBER! Although my less health-inclined husband would say it was the butter. And cheese. Regardless of which end of the spectrum calls your name, I promise you, this gets just as creamy and heavenly as regular risotto.

In my excitement and haste I forgot to take a picture. Maybe during lunchtime leftovers tomorrow. Again, lack of necessary ingredients caused me to alter this quite a bit and combine various recipes..but now I can claim this as my own, right?

Slow Cooker Barley Risotto
Serves 4-6 (Makes about 8 cups)

2 Tablespoons butter, divided
2 finely sliced shallots (about 3 Tbs)
1 1/2 cups barley
5 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 fresh thyme sprig (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c parmesan cheese
pepper to taste

1. In a large skillet, cook sliced shallots in 1 Tbs melted butter over medium heat (about 1-2 mins).
2. Add thyme sprig and cook an additional 30 seconds. Add barley to skillet and cook an additional 2 minutes, or until all the grains are coated in butter.
3. Lightly spray slow cooker with non-stick spray. Add broth, salt, and barley mixture to slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until liquid is absorbed.
4. Add remaining 1 Tbs butter and parmesan cheese and stir gently until butter and cheese are melted. Salt & pepper to taste.

You will not regret this! :)

When life hands you apples..make applesauce!

The change of seasons is welcome for many reasons: the weather cools down, the leaves change colors, I can bring out the winter wardrobe (scarves, boots, gloves and peacoats..what could be more fun?) and of course, fall food! In the States, seasonal changes didn't seem so drastic for a few reasons. First, I lived in Florida where it's summer for 11 months and fall/winter for 1 month; which hardly merits a dramatic change in wardrobe (sadly). Secondly, we have a variety of foods available to us most of the year. Sure there are some seasonal fluctuations, but if I want it badly enough I can find a winter squash in the spring or an avocado in December.

Here in Italy, it's a little different. While we don't have the luxury of incredible variety all year round, we do get the "cream of the crop" of the seasonal foods. You may recall me raving about the tomatoes this summer..and then a few posts later I complained about eating zucchini every other day- because that's what the summer has to offer: tomatoes and zucchini. And they were delicious!- But by August we were not sad to see them go. This fall I was disappointed that even some of the typical "in-season" fall foods are not widely available. Each week at the base we get a total of about 8 butternut squashes and you can own one for the small sacrifice of your child's college education (do you sense my sarcasm?) But I digress...

My positive point of all that is that because we don't have the variety all year round, the Harvest Season (September-November) is really celebrated. Every weekend in October you can find a harvest festival. Our local ones included: apples, truffles, chestnuts, chocolate, and beer & wine. We had the chance to go to the Apple Festival with some friends. It doesn't get much more fun than that! We sampled apple cider, apple wine, apple cakes and breads, and apple syrups.

There were about 30 tents like this one..all with their individual products

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.."

My first chestnut- yum!

Everyone participated in Apple Festival!

And because I can buy a ridiculous amount of apples for ridiculously cheap- I did! And I came home and made some apple pear sauce via slow cooker. It was way too easy and I'll definitely be doing it again :)

I made my own variation (which I'll post soon), but it was inspired by this one: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/01/homemade-crock-pot-pear-sauce-or-applesauce.html

First article published! Woohoo!

As I've mentioned previously, there isn't a big demand for dietitians here in Italy (unless I want to enlist in the military- no thanks). After 2 years of working in a teaching/counseling setting at a research-oriented hospital, I know the importance of "keeping my feet wet" in the nutrition world in order to not lose my skills. Before I got married I applied for a freelance writing job on a whim; one that allows me to write as frequently as I wish about nutrition-related topics. Besides the small amount of extra spending money, it allows me to keep up to date with some current research, and consumer interest topics such as dieting, weight loss, and medical nutrition therapy.

Anywho- my first article was published this month! Hopefully I'll be able write more regularly in the future. Check it out here: http://www.livestrong.com/article/546880-can-a-low-carb-diet-make-you-dizzy/.

Pumpkin in the morning, Pumpkin in the Evening, Pumpkin at Supper-time

All the pumpkin in this house called for some drastic creativity! Luckily, one of my BFF's sent me an e-article from SHAPE magazine on 10 different ways to cook pumpkin. Right away I knew had to make the lasagna. What a perfect twist to a usually strong & heavy dish. The natural savory flavor of pumpkin added a new "light" element to this meal, so much so that it needed very little cheese. I was a little worried, though, that the "unique-ness factor" would be a little too much for the hubby to handle. All day I kept telling him to "keep an open mind about dinner" without telling him what he'd be eating. Turns out- my worries were for nothing! I think he liked it even more than I did! The recipe left out a few important details, and as usual the commissary here left me without a few key ingredients, so I had to improvise a bit. But I'm getting ahead of myself..let's start  with breakfast :)

First, pumpkin oatmeal to warm me up! It was cold outside and nothing sounded better than warm, creamy, pumpkin-y oatmeal.

• 1/3 c oats
• 2/3 cups water
• 1/3 c pumpkin puree
• 1/4  tsp pumpkin pie spice + extra cinnamon
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 1/2 banana, halved and sliced
• 1/2 Tbs ground flax or 1 Tbs walnuts

1. Cook oatmeal in water according to instructions. When about 80% done (or after 4 mins for 5-minute oats), add in pumpkin, spices and maple syrup.

2. Cook an additional 1-2 mins. Remove from heat and stir in banana and nuts or flax.
 

No pumpkin at lunch, but dinner time = pumpkin lasagna! The light-ness of the pumpkin went perfectly with the mild veggies and ground turkey. I used oven-ready noodles and ended up cooking longer than the recipe said to.

Pumpkin "ricotta" layer. Store was out of ricotta (xgxasjifjrixx!) so I had to use cottage cheese.
Not quite the same, but it did the job.

Turkey-Veggie layer, on top of pumpkin-ricotta layer

I always forget to take the "after" picture because I'm so excited to eat. Oops!
Next time :)

And the final pumpkin "meal" was actually the following day, but same 24 hours- so that counts right? I met my chef-friend Sherry for a lesson in pumpkin-spice doughnuts! Mmmm mmmm.

First, in order to prepare for my indulgence, I started with a low-cal breakfast:
Egg beater & Veggie "open-face" omelet-yum!

Shaping the donuts- so cute!

Fryin' 'em up!

Finishing touch: cinnamon sugar coating

Even brought a few home for Chris, who I thought would be pumpkined-out by now. But alas, he still had room for some sweets :)

An Apple a Day..

Always striving for that daily fruit intake! (Does it count if it's in a cobbler form? What about a healthy cobbler?) I recently made these individual Apple Crisps from Clean & Delicious and they were super yummy! I was thankful I only made enough for my husband and me to have just one...we would have been reaching for seconds! But luckily these were so easy and quick to make, I think I'll be making them again soon :)

As always- had to make some changes based on availability and preference! I used canola oil instead of coconut. I used 1 Tbs ground flax instead of 1/4c wheat germ.

*Gluten Free without wheat germ

Can't put my finger on it... Chocolate Granola

Sometimes I get a craving for something out of my normal realm of foods- something specific- and I drive  myself crazy trying to figure out what inspired  my momentary obsession. And I usually can't stop thinking about it until I've consumed it...and then I'm over it. (Does that sound like a problem?) Such was the case recently with chocolate granola. First, I rarely eat granola; and although I love chocolate I never desire it at breakfast time. So this one threw me for a loop trying to recall where I might have read or heard about, or saw chocolate granola. Then a few days later I was wandering through our grocery store and I saw chocolate cocoa puffs and I remembered!

When we were in France-all of 2 weeks ago- our hotel had breakfast in the mornings. They had 2 options of cereal: corn flakes or chocolate (corn?) flakes. I was a little skeptical because again, perhaps the only time of I don't want chocolate is at breakfast. So the first day I had corn flakes with a "splash" of chocolate flakes. It was pretty good so the next day I had a little more. By the third day I was going for half-corn, half-chocolate, and by out last day I was eating straight up chocolate flakes. So, I imagine I was going through some kind of withdrawl when I got home.

Needless to say the hunt for chocolate granola recipes began. I was surprised at how few I found. My preference was quite particular for cocoa-coated granola and not granola with chocolate chips. I found a blog with a recipe that sounded right up my alley, and which was inspired by a food network recipe. I  often will compare recipes to other recipe-sites that I trust (like food network) to get an idea of proportions, temperatures and cooking times to see how I can alter if needed.

Here's what I did: 

2 Tbs cocoa powder, unsweetened
2 1/4 c rolled oats
1/2 c shredded coconut
1/2 c sliced almonds almonds

1/2 t salt
1 t ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg (I'll omit this next time..)

1/2 c dried cranberries or cherries (cherries would be better- we didn't have any available here!)
6 Tbs brown sugar
1/3 c honey (see recommended changes below)
1/4 c + 2 Tbs applesauce (6 Tbs)
1 T canola oil
hot water

coffee in the picture not part of the recipe :)

1. Preheat oven to 250-300 degrees. (I recommend lower range if using a lot of honey)
2. Pour hot water over dried cherries and allow to sit for 15 mins.
3. Mix dry ingredients (cocoa powder-nutmeg). *Consider adding coconut half-way through baking. I plan to do this next time.
4. In a small saucepan, heat brown sugar, liquid sweeteners, applesauce and oil until blended and runny.
5. Add liquid to dry ingredients, along with dried cherries (drained) and toss well to coat.
6. Pour into glass baking dish or walled cookie sheet and bake 45 mins to 1 hour, tossing every 15 minutes or so.
7. Allow to cool completely. (*I made the mistake of thinking it would dry out completely in oven, but part of that happens in the cooling process. I think this is why mine turned out a little too crispy.) 

Changes/Critiques:
I cut the amounts in half of original recipe since I knew I didn't need 10 cups of chocolate granola laying around. All in all, it was pretty good. I used more honey than necessary since I didn't have agave and I think it made it a little too crispy for my taste (honey gets so hard!). Next time, I'll use maple syrup/honey combo and perhaps cook at a lower temp for longer time.

*I liked that this receipe used applesauce. I've never seen that before but it really cut down on the amount of oil needed (and therefore less fat) and had no hint of apple taste. I wonder if I can do this with pumkin puree instead of applesauce too?? But not with the chocolate..

**I will probably add the shredded coconut later next time because it dried up and was tasteless after an hour of baking.

Advice and suggestions welcome! How do you make granola??