I'm Gonna Buttuh Yo Bread

Clear Flour Bakery - Brookline, MA
http://clearflourbread.com/

Going without something so simple for a long time, really makes the experience of returning to it overwhelmingly enjoyable. Buttered toast. Buttered sourdough toast to be exact. After CRASH Bs, I walked out of the arena and straight to Clear Flour Bakery in Brookline. I had heard rave reviews about this place and had walked in once just to smell it. This time, however, I was on a mission for a big hearty loaf of bread that I was to slather with butter. The place was tiny. You could get from one end to the other in 3 steps. Not kidding. It smelled absolutely heavenly, and, might I say, it looked quite picturesque. I ended up going a beautiful loaf of sourdough bread that had that crispy sound to it when you squeezed it (yes, just like in the movie Ratatouille). Once I got home, I toasted that puppy and loaded it with butter with reckless abandon. I could NOT believe what was in my mouth. The bread was just outstanding. Probably the most amazing sourdough bread I've ever had. It was so simple, but so flavorful, especially with warm butter. The loaf was nearly gone in 24 hours. The next day Jimmy and I had made sandwiches with the sourdough bread, pastrami, fontina cheese, roasted red pepper, spinach and a homemade sundried tomato and hummus spread. Lord have mercy.


The Hill Tavern - Boston, MA
http://www.thehilltavern.com/

Nachos with meat chili

"Nacho Average Run"

 









   


     As many know, I was on a quest for nachos post CRASH Bs. After extensive research, I went on what I called "Nacho Average Run" to investigate them all. However, I did not end of going to any of the places the internet world recommended as "Boston's Best Nachos." Instead, I went to The Hill Tavern in Beacon Hill for the post CRASH B party. The Hill Tavern seemed like a pretty classy place, the lights were dim and it had a good feel. The service was bonkers, but I just came for the food. Give me the food and we might just get along.
 
      It's pretty hard to screw up nachos. Mary,
Antonia, Hayley and I ordered 3 plates, 2 vegetarian and one with meat. Both came with their housemade tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, jalepenos, and cheese. I was particularly a fan of the nachos with meat chili. Man, the salt from the chips, the cheese, and the meat all together just fit my fancy. The removal of salty things from my diet pre-race made this eating experience just off the charts. While at the Hill Tavern, I also got to sample their buffalo wings and the honey barbecue wings. Both were pretty standard but still tasted phenomenal to my deprived palette. Woah man.

Pure joy

     Naturally, Mary and I were thinking about dessert, but they didn't have anything listed on the menu. Major turn off. James asked our waitress if they had any dessert and she said "Only a brownie with ice cream or apple pie." Umm... what? Only? That sounds amazing! However, girl needs to learn her desserts. We went with the "brownie" and ice cream, but it wasn't a brownie. It was a mini chocolate bunt cake with chocolate syrup inside. It was one of those chocolate lava cakes with a massive scoop of vanilla ice cream. I wasn't even mad. It was absolutely perfect and hit the spot. I just love when you cut into those cakes and the chocolate comes gooing out. Mmmm!



Quinoa Squash Soup - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

     I like when I read simple soup recipes like this one that I found on Katrina Runs for Food. I feel like it's hard to follow a recipe for soup. People like different things, and it's easy to modify soup recipes to your liking and not really screw it up. This was the full recipe that Katrina posted on her blog. It's perfect. It's simple and gives you the freedom to modify as well as forces you to learn how to proportion things.

Quinoa Soup
1. Saute some small chopped vegetables, about 2 cups cooked. 
2. Add vegetables to a big pot of simmering broth. 
3. Add 1 cup of quinoa (make sure you rinse the quinoa through a sieve first to get the outer layer of gunk off). 
4. Simmer until quinoa is done, about 20 minutes. 

I really liked this recipe. It's really delicious, and balanced with a ton of veggies, grains and protein (from the quinoa). My recipe included:

1 sliced zucchini
1 sliced yellow squash
1 can garbonzo beans
3 large carrots, chopped
2 small onions, chopped 
1 cup quinoa
Some savory herbs like basil, thyme, marjoram
1 bay leaf
1 tbs olive oil
1 quart vegetable stock
2-4 cups water

Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Muffins - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA



     I stumbled upon this one at work the other day. Guilty. I found it on Fit and Healthy with Debbie. I don't know who Debbie is, but she has good ideas. I wanted to try these muffins because they seem great for you and because I wanted to use my new food processor my mom got me for Christmas :) Basically like a bowl of oatmeal, just in muffin form. I only made half of her recipe (plus I added cocoa powder) and it made 6 muffins. I figured they'd last me a couple days, but I ate four for breakfast. Shoot.

     Changes I made to her recipe included adding 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and using 1 tbs of honey instead of 1/2 cup. That just seemed like a lot and I thought a decent amount of sweetness would come from the banana... but I was wrong. They definitely could've been a little sweeter. I'd recommend maybe using 1/4 or so instead. Or maybe add chocolate chips for some sweetness. I wanted to do that, but didn't have any. Oh... ha... and I put blueberries in one.

Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Muffins

1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats (I used an oats, barley, wheat & rye mix)
1 ripe banana
1 egg
1 tbs ground flax seed
1 tbs cocoa powder
1/2 cup plain lowfat greek yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla
a few pinches of sugar to sprinkle on top

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease muffin tin or line with muffin cups.
2) Put oats into a food processor and pulse for around 20 seconds. 
3) Add the rest of the ingredients and process until everything is mixed.
4) Fill cups 3/4 of the way full and sprinkle a little sugar on top. 
5) Bake 15-20 minutes. Serve warm with butter!

In (Hibernating) Lightweight Mode

Cauliflower Pizza Crusts - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

Our toppings of choice

     Ok, I'll admit right away, that both of these posts may seem really unappetizing to most, BUT... totally worth a try if you're looking for some healthy, low sodium alternatives to some standard fare.

     It was a Saturday evening, and since my nightlife (as well as Antonia's) is virtually non-existant, we decided to go make dinner and fall in love with Mel Gibson in We Were Soldiers. In an effort to be smart about our Saturday meal, we decided to try out these Cauliflower Pizza Crusts that I found on Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body. They're basically a pizza crust made out of cauliflower, basil and mozzarella cheese. Oddly enough, I kind of thought they tasted just like a pizza with thin crust. You really couldn't tell the difference. Yea... I was surprised too. Then again, the crust was maybe even a little more delicious because it was half cheese that had been browned. It's important that you crisp the crusts up in the oven before adding your toppings. That's what's going to prevent them from getting soggy. Top these bad boys with any toppings of your choice, and it's sure to be delicious! You may be surprised. 

Crusts fresh from le oven.

Cauliflower Pizza Crusts 

2 eggs
2 cups mozzarella cheese
2 cups riced cauliflower (grate the cauliflower on a cheese grater or in a food processor)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh julienned basil

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, spray with non-stick spray.

2) In a medium bowl, combine riced cauliflower, basil, eggs and mozzarella. Divide into 4 amounts and press evenly on the parchment paper. You can omit the basil or sub it for others herbs of your choice.

3) Bake the crusts at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes (we went for about 20 minutes actually to get them a little more stiff).

4) Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, add your toppings, and bake for another 5-10 minutes. 

Lentil Soup - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

Lentil soup. Terrible picture. Don't care. 

     Lentils always remind me of Diane in our college lightweight days. Kind of a weird and twisted memory. Last weekend, lentils just sounded good (definintely not something you hear often). Regardless, I made some and it was super easy, delicious and really filling! Not to mention, full of protein. I feel like lentils get a bad rap. I kind of made this recipe up. Enjoy. 

Lentil Soup

1 tsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 or 3 carrots, sliced

2 or 3 celery stalks, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (I added an additional 2 cups of water and it was necessary for the lentils)

1 16oz bag of lentils

A few sprigs of fresh parley, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes

1 cup plum tomatoes, halved

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbs ground cumin

Pepper

1 bay leaf

1) Heat the olive oil in a large pot and saute onions and garlic until translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add the carrots and celery and cook another 7 minutes or so.  

2) Add in the broth, lentils, tomatoes, and spices. Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer at least 40 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. The lentils will soak up a lot of fluid, so you may have to add some more water/broth/canned tomatoes to achieve the consistency you're looking for.

SANDWICH DAY is the Best Day :]

Deli-licious - Somerville, MA

http://deliicioussomerville.com/

The Godfather... amazing

     I have been working at Bluetrain for over a year now, and have only gone out with everyone to ACTUALLY purchase lunch once. They always go get the most amazing looking sandwiches that smell up the office for hours. The first reason I don't normally buy anything is because of lightweight reasons. The second reason is that I find it so difficult to spend $8 on a lunch. I just can't afford that. I seem to keep setting these goals where I tell myself, "Oh I'll go after Speed Order" or "Once I get to 135 again, I'll go." But then my reasoning changes, and I never end up going. This time, I told Griffin to make me get a sandwich in week. I put it on our calendars… and that meant it was happening.

     So the day came, and I decided to try out Deli-licious in Davis Square. After browsing their menu before leaving, I narrowed it down to the Godfather and My Cousin Vinny. Don't be fooled… this was no easy task. This place didn't just have a "Sandwiches" section. No… they had a panini section, a burgers section, a wraps section, a melts section, "Roast Beef in Paradise" section, "Delicious Clubhouse" section, and "Classics" amongst other non-sandwich sections. Based on the names of some of these sandwiches, I'm guessing an Italian Family owned this restaurant.

     The Godfather it was! Five bucks got me this deli-licious warm panini with thinly sliced prosciutto, a huge slice of mozzarella cheese, roasted red peppers, field greens, oregano and balsamic vinaigrette. I seriously haven't had prosciutto in eons, and I don't know how I've made it this long. My love for salt made this the best choice I could've made. The salty prosciutto with the warm mozzarella was just incredible. The freshness of greens, peppers and vinaigrette perfectly balanced out the bold flavors of the prosciutto and mozzarella. And I was really in awe at how critical the addition of oregano was! Call me crazy, but it added such a great little bit of flavor to each bite. All my sandwiches (which are few and far between) will include oregon. Seriously… it was magical. All of these delicious fixings were on focaccia bread that had some melted cheese on it. OH my goodness… It was like they took the partially overdone cheez-its (that no one likes for some reason) and topped the bread with them. Those cheez-its are my absolute favorite. Like the prize you used to eagerly dig out of cereal boxes as a kid. So topping bread with this cheese just sparked my fancy.


Power Pasta - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

Whole wheat angel hair, tomatoes, red pepper, sweet potatoes
and goat cheese. Who knew they'd be so good together?

    I'm constantly reading about how sweet potatoes are apparently the perfect pre-race food. So before our 6k, I purchased one and perused the interwebz looking for something fun to do with it. I stumbled upon this recipe for, what I decided to call, Power Pasta. It was on Eating Well's website and is actually called Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Pasta. It was basically a mix of shredded sweet potato, pasta, plum tomatoes, goat cheese, red pepper, and I added spinach, chicken and cinnamon Four of these ingredients are supposedly optimal for a pre-race meal, so I was in. While doubting my physical strength shredding the sweet potato, I had the chicken and garlic cooking in my cast iron skillet and whole wheat noodles cooking on the side. Once you got past the shredding and cutting of the veggies, all you've got left to do is throw it all together, cover, let it cook for 15 minutes or so and add in a few medallions of goat cheese. Boom. Energy. Delicious.

Power Pasta

8 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
1 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups shredded, peeled sweet potato, (about 1 medium)
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup diced plum tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup spinach
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of crumbled goat cheese or 2/3 medallions

1) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes or according to package directions.

2) Meanwhile, place 1 tablespoon oil and garlic in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is sizzling and fragrant, 2 to 5 minutes. Add diced chicken and cook completely. Add sweet potato, bell pepper, tomatoes (canned and chopped) and water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bell pepper is tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and keep warm.

3) Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water (I forgot to do this... woops). Return the pasta to the pot. Add the vegetable mixture, chicken, parsley, spinach, salt, cinnamon and cheese; toss to combine. Add the reserved pasta water, 2 tablespoons at a time, to achieve the desired consistency.