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Late Summer Harvest

September 6, 2010 by

This weekend was full of laid-back fun – perfect for Labor Day weekend when you’re not supposed to be “working”. In just 3 short days, I was able to…

  • Take a road trip to the touristy town of Lake Geneva where I experienced my first olive oil and vinegar tasting
  • Enjoy dinner with Scott’s brother and sister-in-law and their family
  • Go hiking in a forest preserve
  • Try to teach my 5-year old how to ride his bike sans training wheels
  • Run an unofficial 10K

I still can’t believe it’s Labor Day. Where did the summer go? I feel like just yesterday I was planting my vegetable garden and opening my pool. Oh well, that’s one thing I love about living in Chicago – the change of the seasons.

Another thing I love about the change of the seasons is that most of the veggies in my garden are ready for picking – including a bunch-load of carrots! Unfortunately, most of my carrots turned out really small – no bigger than the length of my fingers. But don’t they look cool? Very harvesty. I think the problem with the carrots was either a) I planted too many seeds close together or b) I didn’t plant them in sandy enough soil.

Aside from carrots, the green peppers grew amazingly well, as did the cucumbers, roma tomatoes, and jalepeno peppers…

It’s such as awesome feeling to go out to the garden to pick veggies for salads, salsa, stir-fry, or other veggie-based dishes. I definitely think planting a garden is worth the effort, if you plant things the right way and continue to take care of it over the summer.

Tomorrow, it is back to reality and a TON of work. We are set to launch a huge initiative in 7 weeks in San Francisco, so I’ve got to get moving!

Have a great night all!

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Chip and Dip Bowl Giveaway!

August 26, 2010 by

When I attended the Healthy Living Summit, I was fortunate enough to go on a tour of the Frito Lay plant in Wisconsin. I learned so much about Frito Lay chips and was quite impressed at all of the steps they are taking to make healthier and greener products.

Now, you all know I’m a chip addict. But I also love dips! I love dips of nearly every kind – bean dips, fruit dips, taco dips, veggie dips, chips dips, etc. However, I’m quite aware that dips often contain high amounts of calories, fat, sugar, and sodium. That’s why I was so glad the girls at Frito Lay sent me a fantastic dip recipe made out of plain Greek yogurt.  Take a look at the recipe – it’s so much healthier than most dips. Hint – it only has 45 calories per serving!

Greek Yogurt and Cucumber Dip

Serves: 8; Serving Size: ¼ cup

Ingredients:

  • 1 English cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, and seeded
  • 1 ½ cups nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
  • 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • Cumin to taste

Directions:

  • Grate cucumber halves by hand or chop in a food processor until coarse, but not mushy. Place grated/chopped cucumber in a strainer and cover with a paper towel to squeeze out the excess juice. You may need to change the paper towel a few times.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, chives, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. Fold in the cucumber and season with salt and pepper. Add cumin to taste.
  • Refrigerate until chilled, about an hour.

    • Nutrition Information (per ¼ cup serving):

    45 calories, 5 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate, 0 g fiber, 2 g fat, 0 g sat fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 91 mg sodium

    The other day I was craving something crunchy and salty, so I promptly made this dip and paired it with some Frito Lay SunChips. Fantastic! The creamy, spicy dip was a perfect combo with my SunChips, although I probably ate more chips than the dip! But hey, they have 18g of whole grains per ounce!

    Frito Lay Giveaway

    As I mentioned last night, I will be doing more giveaways in the future. And guess what? I have another one for you right now! Frito Lay has graciously offered to give one of my readers a fabulous Crate and Barrel chip and dip bowl, with extra dip bowls. Plus, they are throwing in a bag of Lay’s, SunChips, and Tostitos Scoops!. And all of this just in time for Labor Day weekend! I sooo wish I could enter this giveaway myself! But because I can’t, I’m giving it to one of you.

    How to Enter

    All you have to do to enter is either:

    • Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite Frito Lay product OR
    • Tweet/retweet this post on Twitter

    You must enter the giveaway by 9 PM Eastern on Wednesday, September 1, 2010. After that, I will pick a random entrant and post the winner on the my blog. Easy peasey, don’t ya think?

    Good Luck! Now, let’s get snacking!

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    Spice Girl

    August 23, 2010 by

    What’s an easy way to add flavor to a dish without adding calories or fat? Spices of course! Scott and I regularly cook with spices, herbs, and rubs. Although our spice drawer is far from being complete, I think it would stand to impress any Food Network Chef. From exotic curries to fragrant chili powder to cracked peppercorns, our spice drawer is quite a site and one of the best aspects of our kitchen.

    But our spice drawer didn’t start out this way. I remember a time when our spice drawer wasn’t even a spice rack. It was no more than a jar of garlic powder and cinnamon – those were rough times in the kitchen. But over the years, we’ve built a stock of many of our favorites like oregano, Italian seasoning, and cumin. In fact, we have so many herbs and spices that they can’t all fit in one large drawer – we keep the overflow in the cabinet!

    Aside from adding taste without calories, spices can also turn an ordinary meal into something extraordinary. Seriously, a full spice drawer can do wonders for a pound of meat, poultry, fish, pasta, or even tofu. Lemon pepper chicken – no problem! Spicy turkey chili – coming right up! When it comes to spices, the possibilities are endless.

    If you’re just building your spice drawer or would like to expand it, start with your basic spices and then build from there, depending on your tastes and favorite recipes. Good Cooking also provides a great guide to herbs and spices and their suggested uses. Go on, add a little spice to your life – your tastebuds will thank you for it!

    Hmm, I think if I had to be a Spice Girl – I’d be Chili Spice – what about you?

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    Carrot Farming

    August 20, 2010 by

    Today was my second-to-last Friday off from work (next week is the final Friday). For nearly 3 years, I have had the majority of Fridays off, and working 35-40 hours a week in 4 days. All good things must come to an end. Even though I was technically off from work, I felt like I worked the ENTIRE day! I have been going non-stop from 5:30 AM until now, and that’s after going to bed at 11:30PM! Sometimes, I just don’t know how I do it.

    If you’ve been following me for the last few months, you will know that at the end of May/beginning of June, Scott and I planted a vegetable garden. We’ve had an abundance of tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers – pretty standard garden items. But what I’ve really been waiting for are my carrots. Unlike the tomatoes, cucs, and green peppers which were planted from seedlings, I planted the carrots from seeds. On the packet, it said it would take about 90 days to grow. The carrots would be ready to pick when you could see about 1 inch of the orange carrot top. The carrot sprouts (the green parts) have been flourishing for over a month, but no sign of orange – until a few days ago. I finally saw about 1/2 inch of orange sticking out of the ground and was so excited I called Scott and the kids out to see it. This was no false alarm either – like the other time I thought I saw orange, only to discover it was an orange leaf.

    I hesitated to pick it for a couple of days, knowing it could probably stand another week in the ground. But, after a particularly rough day and work, I felt like pulling the head off of something, so it may just as well be a carrot. So, I gave a good yank and out popped the 4-5 inch carrot. Even though the carrot was on the small side, I still felt a huge sense of accomplishment knowing that something that started from a seed grew into a full-fledged, edible vegetable. I don’t know anyone who has ever grown a carrot in their own backyard, let along from a seed. I was so proud of myself, for a quick second I thought about quitting my job and becoming a farmer. I mean when you think about it, many times I work longer hours than farmers. And beside, I love farmer’s markets. Hmm…maybe not. I don’t really have the patience  – hence the short carrot – and I’m not very good with farm machinery.

    After taking about a zillion pictures of my pride and joy, I peeled it and sliced it up. It was much lighter in color than the carrots you buy from the store and not as sweet, but still very good. Right now, I have about 15 other green carrot “stalks” that have yet to poke their orange heads out of the ground. Ahh, I can just smell the cream of carrot soup in the air. Ok, I have to stop thinking about it.

    I don’t know how farmers do it. Patience, please, patience.

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    Everything In Moderation, Including Chips

    August 18, 2010 by

    Have I ever told you how much I love chips? I don’t mean just love , I mean LOVE!!!! Hi, my name is Jennifer and I’m a chipaholic. And this isn’t a new love affair for me either. I’ve loved chips for as long as I can remember. I know what you’re thinking – I’m supposed to write about how to live a healthy lifestyle – and chips are bad, aren’t they? Well, it’s true that chips have little nutritional value – aside from standard carbs, fat, and calories that our body needs. However, my feeling is that no food should be bad or good. Eat any food that you like, as long as you eat it in moderation and balance it with a variety of foods from all of the food groups. So, I can absolutely have my chips as long as I balance them with vegetables, fruit, etc.

    In the last few years, Scott and I have been trying to eat foods in their most natural state – even chips. About 5 years ago, we were determined to find chips that had the fewest ingredients and ingredients we recognized. We settled on Cape Cod chips for the simple reasons that they tasted good and only had 3 ingredients – salt, oil, and potatoes. For years, Cape Cod chips were the ONLY chips we would eat, but we have since broadened our horizons.

    Last week, when I attended the Frito Lay tour, I learned that Lay’s signature chips – the plain potato chips – have only 3 ingredients – oil, salt, and potatoes. Shocking! I mentioned this to Scott over the phone who believed the ingredients, but was skeptical about the taste. But something must have peaked his interest along the way because he went out and bought 2 bags of Lay’s reduced fat all-natural potato chips made with sea salt. Tonight, while eating them with our turkey burgers and carrots, he said, “these taste better than Cape Cod, I don’t know why”. I admit, I felt the same way. Sorry Cape Cod, there’s a new chip in town.

    Anyway, after the Frito Lay tour, I begged and pleaded with the Frito Lay girls to give me a shirt, but alas, they had no more. Fortunately, they found a extra shirt back at the office and mailed it to me. Thank you!! It arrived today and I couldn’t wait to put it on. The shirt actually has a dual meaning for me. Not only did I want the shirt because I love chips, but I’m also an alum of Central Michigan University, home of the Chippewas – or the “Chips” as we would call them.

    And, as they say at CMU – Go, Fire Up, Chips! Have a great night everyone.

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    The Bible of Berries

    July 11, 2010 by

    For the past week, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with all of the wild mulberries and blackberries I’ve picked near my house. Yesterday morning, after an awesome yoga session, I added a heaping cup of blackberries and mulberries to a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch (about 16 g of fiber total!), plus a handful of blueberries and strawberries. So yum! My kids were even asking for bites of my berry cereal bowl!

    Even after my cereal, I easily have a full cup of mulberries left. Ironically, about 2 weeks ago, I received a complimentary copy of The Berry Bible in the mail. Apparently, this book has been out for a few years but this is the 2010 version. The Berry Bible is just that – a bible for all things berry! It has the lowdown on all of the popular berries, like strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc. But it also covers the more obscure berries like huckleberries, lingonberries, and mulberries!

    And the book tells you just about everything you need to know about berries, like when and how to pick them, how to wash and freeze them, recipes for making them into jam, pies, jellies, smoothies, etc. I only wish the book would have included pictures of the berries. I had to use the internet to find out what many of these berries look like. Overall, this book is definitely a keeper, especially if you eat berries as much as I do.

    So what did I decide to do with my mulberries? I don’t really have enough to make jam – you need a few cups to do that. So, aside from eating them on my cereal (as pictured above), oatmeal, and on ice cream, the book says that I can freeze them – and that’s what I plan to do with whatever is left today!

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    Mom Always Said, Eat Your Vegetables

    June 30, 2010 by

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    Most moms, at some point in time, struggle to get their children to eat vegetables. Even the sneakiest of tricks, like adding shredded veggies to stews and sauces, don’t always work. But new research shows that the ongoing veggie struggle may now be over!!

    A new study in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that kids will eat their veggies if they are served them prior to a meal. Let me clarify – they will eat their veggies before the actual meal is served, not with the meal. Apparently, if we give kids a vegetable snack or first course prior to the actual meal, they will gobble it up. Hmm…a bit skeptical? Think about it, after bringing the kids home from a long day of school, followed by soccer/baseball practice, they are likely to be so hungry while waiting for dinner that they would eat anything, including their vegetables.

    This strategy hardly seems sneaky, but I am convinced it works – at least most of the time. While in Michigan last weekend, I attended a family BBQ at my sister’s house. Around 5 PM, the natives (aka the 5 kids) were getting restless and hungry! We were still waiting for several family members and friends to arrive to the potluck dinner, so we were hesitant to start without them. Instead, we set out chopped fruit and crudites of raw veggies and dip. It was almost comical to watch the kids dash inside from the backyard, grab handfuls of carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes, and pepper strips, and then quickly run away as if they just snagged a bag of candy. Within a very short time, most of the vegetables had been eaten by the kids, so much so that we needed veggie reinforcements. Thank goodness that the one vegetarian person in our group arrived and brought another veggie tray!

    At first, my sister and I were amazed at how fast the veggies went and even more surprised that they were being eaten by the children at the party. But it really makes sense. If you’re kids are hungry enough, they will eat whatever is put in front of them. And, as the “mom”, your job is to make sure that what’s put in front of them is something healthy.

    So the next time your little ones are begging you for a snack before dinner – offer them an assortment of veggies – what’s the worst that could happen? They could become too full from vegetables to eat their dinner….we should all be so lucky!

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    To Market, To Market…

    June 28, 2010 by

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    Since we were out of town in Michigan for the weekend, we’ve had no time to grocery shop. So, it is not surprising that our fridge and cupboards are bare. I don’t mind when our grocery supply dwindles but it drives Scott crazy. As a result of having very little food selection for lunch, I opted to stop at the grocery store this morning to pick up a can of soup and a few other things for the day. As a rule, I try to avoid eating soup from a can because canned soup is typically loaded with sodium and is definitely processed in some way – no matter what the label says. But in my world, having a can of soup is slightly better than having a frozen dinner (can’t even remember the last time I had one) and cheaper than going out to eat.

    To off-set my sodium-filled lunch, I also bought a banana and a HUGE orange to snack on throughout the day. I loved the feeling of knowing that I was buying fresh, whole fruit from the market rather than going out to eat. This practice of stopping at the market on your way to work or even on your lunch break is a way of life for many in Europe, but is not as ingrained in American culture. Think about it, when was the last time you just stopped at the market or bakery to pick up a loaf of bread for your lunch or fresh fruit for your afternoon snack? When given a choice, I assume most Americans would choose to eat at a restaurant for lunch rather than stop at the store to pick up a little something.

    If you needed to grab lunch at work, what would you do – go out to eat or stop at the market to pick up real, fresh food?

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    Lessons From A Starbucks Addicted VP

    June 18, 2010 by

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    The other morning, when I was heading out of my usual Starbucks (yep, back on the wagon), I ran into one of our seasoned VP’s. She was so surprised to see me and almost seemed a little embarrassed. She asked, “Are you as addicted as I am?” We went on to exchange that we both were addicted and both wanted to cut down because of the calories and the cost. My drink, whether it’s a skinny vanilla latte or a mocha frap, usually costs around $4.

    She explained that she knew how to work the system, and get what she wanted for less. Instead of her former skinny vanilla latte, she now gets a bold coffee, with a soy milk topper with a shot of sugar-free vanilla. She said it tastes nearly exactly like a vanilla latte with fewer calories. And how much does that cost – $2.50 for a Venti! She is sooo smart. Maybe that’s why she’s a VP.

    What’s your creative way of getting your drink or food of choice for less?

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    New Chip On The Block

    June 15, 2010 by

    Last night, I came home from work to find that Scott had went to the grocery store. We were out of everything that I would consider essential – like peanut butter, Luna bars, vegetables, etc. Aside from getting our staples, he also surprised me by getting a new product – popchips. I’m sure many of you have already heard about this snack, but this is the first time I have consciously heard about them. I vaguely remember seeing them in the store and reading about them in a magazine. Scott said the chip was ranked very highly in his triathlete magazine as well as Real Simple.

    I will completely admit – I am a chip person. If chips are in the house, I will eat them. And, I won’t just eat them with a sandwich or at a meal, I will snack on them like crazy. In other words, I don’t like chips being in the house! Most of the time, chips are loaded with fat and calories and practically zero nutrients. But these popchips are a little different. They are not fried, not even baked – they are popped. Apparently, they are pressurized so much that they just pop into a chip. Because they are not made with oil, they have just 120 calories per nearly 20 chips and they have less than 1/2 the fat of fried chips. Plus, they are all natural – no preservatives or artificial ingredients. Maybe I would actually feel good about eating these chips. But, how about the taste?

    OK – sold. I tried them.

    Hmm…to my surprise, they were actually good. The consistency of the chip was a little strange at first, kind of like eating a very thin rice cake. Still, in a very strange – I can’t eat just one way – they were very good. However, I will not go as far as saying popchips will be making regular appearances in our house. Seriously, most potato chips – all potato chips – even popchips – have very little nutrients in them. And, if they are a snack food or even a mealtime food, then you would be eating nutrient shallow food, which equals filling up on needless fat and calories.

    True – I would not hesitate to pick them over fried chips, but in all honestly, I just need to cut down on my chip habit in general.

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