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Appetites and Adventures

Pumpkin Pie BYOgurt + WIAW

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Some things make being on the road all week a little better.

 

Check out the Roasted Pumpkin in the top left corner of this screen shot of today’s FoodBuzz Top 9 – its my roasted pumpkin from this post!!!  🙂

Another thing that makes a long week brighter is my favorite weekly event – Jenn @ Peas and Crayons‘ What I ate Wednesday.  Here’s my WIAW (technically Tuesday… but whatever).

Breakfast #1:

Pumpkin Zucchini Muffin… recipe coming soon to a blog near you!

Breakfast #2:

Remember the Sweet Potato BYOB Greek Yogurt?  Same idea, same Sky mag (the new one wasn’t out until the flight home – SJP looks amazing in it!), different flavors.

Pumpkin Greek Yogurt

Pumpkin Greek Yogurt with Fage.  I think the secret is using a thick yogurt (this may also help when getting through security!) and not being afraid to add spices/flavors.  Shout out to almond extract and ginger in this cup.  YUM.

You should have see the guys next to me on the plane wondering WTF I was doing taking multiple pics of my BYOgurt. 🙂

Full recipe at the end of this post.

The St. Louis airport was especially festive after the Cardinals big World Series win!

Lunch:

Lunch today was from a deli in the bottom of an office building.  It is barely worth mentions and certainly not worth picturing.  Over-salted but otherwise flavorless vegetable soup and a dry roll.

I would have rather had my Wild Mushroom Soup from last week.

Snacks: 

Unpictured pretzels and an apple on the plane.  I did get a shot of a gorgeous sunset.

Dinner:

Totally made up for lunch.

My boss and I had to work late.  Since we were at the airport already, we decided to check out One Flew South in the ATL airport.  It was recently featured in Food & Wine!

There weren’t any vegetarian options on the menu, but they did have tofu in a salmon dish.  I asked the server if they would make a tofu-only dish and they surprised with me an amazing tofu-veggie sauté.  It included sweet potato straws, butternut squash, snow peas, carrots, fennel, spinach, and shittake mushrooms over a parsnip puree.  Absolutely delicious.

Dessert was fantastic – Banana Pudding with ‘Nilla Wafers.  So much so that I forgot to take a picture until there was barely a bite left in the jar.

I had NO idea airport food could be this good!

Homemade Pumpkin Greek Yogurt

Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt

Mix all ingredients together in bowl or recycled yogurt container.  For best results, let refrigerate 1-2 hours or overnight to allow flavors to meld.

Add toppings as desired.  Mine included: pomegranate seeds and these Cardamom Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

Get through security and enjoy your yogurt-pie as a reward!

As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway

***

As always, check out Peas and Crayons to see the tastiness everyone else ate today!

What is your favorite seasonal flavor?  Eggnog?  Hot Chocolate?  A pie of sorts?

What airport do you think has the best food?

Pumped Up Seeds

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Apparently Halloween is the new Friday the 13th.

Yesterday I managed to:

  • Dump cinnamon all over the counter and floor
  • Grab a hot pan out of the oven without a mitt (Why?  I have no idea.)
  • Almost drop a weight on myself doing a shoulder press (no, it wasn’t too heavy… just made an awkward move)
  • Run into a drawer is neglected to close
  • Get the Magic Bullet cup stuck in the blender

Just another Manic Monday…

 

One thing DID go right: I made some rockin’ roasted pumpkin seeds.  Three ways, in fact.  Does that mean that 3 things went right? 

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Yesterday I posted a “how to” for roasting pumpkin and making your own pumpkin puree (step away from the Libby’s).  I cautioned you to save the seeds, and this post is the reason why.

I should preface this with the fact that you can roast any squash seeds.  Recently I roasted a butternut squash for my Curried Butternut Squash Dip, I roasted those seeds up like so.

Pumpkin seeds in particular make awesome snacks – they are great sources of fiber, magnesium, manganese, and iron.  Plus you can exercise your creative genius flavoring them with basically anything in your pantry.  Case and point:

1. Cardamom Pumpkin Seeds

  • 1/4 C pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp coconut oil

2. Smoked Soy Seeds

  • 1/4 C pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tsp Liquid Aminos (can use soy sauce or tamari)
  • 5-6 drops liquid smoke

3. Salt & Pepper Pumpkin Seeds

  • 1/4 C pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

 

Note: All measurements are approximations.  I free-handed these to my liking.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Pumpkin Seeds

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

  • Seeds from 1 pumpkin, separated from “guts”
  • Seasonings of your choosing

Rinse seeds from your gutted pumpkin to remove the goop.  Spread evenly across a sheet of wax paper or parchment (or other non-stick surface).  Allow to dry for 1-2 hours. 

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

Toss seeds in desired seasonings and spread evenly across a foil-lined baking sheet.  Bake until beginning to brown (~15-20 mins), tossing half way through.  Allow to cool completely before storing in airtight container.

Enjoy as a snack or a tasty topping for soups, salads, yogurt, etc.

***

My hand is blistered from grabbing that pan… hopefully no one will want to shake my hand today.  LOL!

What is your favorite flavor combo for seeds/popcorn/chips?

Did you go trick-or-treating last night?

Halloween Pumpkin Roast

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Halloween is the perfect day for roasting pumpkin.

Touchdown!!! (John Bazemore/AP Photo)

Before I get into that tastiness, I need to talk a little football.  In addition to being Halloween weekend, it was a HUGE football weekend.  Georgia Tech‘s Homecoming game was against the undefeated Clemson Tigers.  Tech won pretty 31-17, making me one happy girl Saturday night. 🙂

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Every fall people go crazy over the return of canned pumpkin to grocery store shelves.  While the canned stuff is good (and convenient), it doesn’t hold a candle to homemade pumpkin puree.

Don’t use your jack-o-laterns for this.  

Recycling is good, but those are different pumpkins.  What you want to use is the smaller Sugar Pie Pumpkin, which has a sweeter, softer flesh.  They can be found at most grocery stores.

Gutted and ready to roast

Yes, it is slightly more time-consuming than opening a can.  The end result is well worth it.  There is just something about the flavor and the texture that is much, much better.  It will take your pumpkin pies and breads to a new level of delicious.

Post-Roast Pumpkin

You’ll notice a huge difference when using it for non-baking purposes too.  I love mixing it in my Greek yogurt, smoothies, and pasta dishes.

Some people lick batter out of bowls… I may have done something similar with this pumpkin skin.

Yesterday I even mixed my pumpkin puree with coconut milk and cayenne and used it as a marinade for my  tempeh before pan-frying it.  Lunch doesn’t get more fall than that!

Pumpkin-encrusted tempeh salad

The puree can be portioned and frozen for later use (if you don’t eat it all at once).  Pumpkin muffins year-round!

Pumpkin puree

The puree is decadent.  Fresh pumpkin contains more moisture than canned, making the texture absolutely fabulous.  You won’t be able to resist sprinkling some cinnamon and nutmeg on it for a mid-morning snack.

Perfect post-photo shoot snack

Don’t forget to save the seeds for roasting!

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It wasn’t a bad fitness week.  Thank you all for your well-wishes regarding my injury.  I did make the call not to run my portion of the relay.  It was a tough decision, but I just literally couldn’t run more even a mile Saturday morning.   Now I’m concentrating on healing up and being able to run the Half Marathon on Thanksgiving.  I can’t believe its less than a month away!

Workout Recap (10/24-10/30)

  • Monday – 4 mile run, 6 min plank sequence, 100 push-ups
  • Tuesday – Biceps/Back, P90X Ab Ripper X, 100 push-ups
  • Wednesday – 100 push-ups
  • Thursday – 6 mile run, 100 push-ups
  • Friday – Triceps/Chest, Ab Ripper X
  • Saturday – Shoulders/Butt, 45 mins elliptical, 100 push-ups
  • Sunday – 15 mins abs, 45 mins stationary bike, 100 push-ups

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Roasted Pumpkin

  • 1 sugar pie pumpkin
  • olive oil
  • salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the pumpkin in half.  Scoop out the “guts” (save the seeds to roast later), and then slice each half once to create a total of 4 pieces.  Rub the wedges with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Place on a foil-lined baking sheet to bake for about an hour (or until tender).

Scoop the meat out of the skins and puree in food processor.

***

Best costume of the weekend: Charlie Sheen with Goddesses.

What was the best costume you saw this weekend (or at work today)?

What food items commonly purchased pre-made do you like to make yourself?

Cinnamon Coffee and a PSA

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The Atlanta Marathon is this weekend.

I am supposed to relay it with a team of 4, running a 7.2 mile leg of it.  Wellll… I went for a run on Thursday thinking if I could do 6 then I could certainly do 7.  It was going really well – I felt good, no knee pain.  Was my running mojo back?!

Celebration penalty.  Around mile 5.5 I felt a little pop in my heel/ankle area.  I stopped to stretch it out… and kept going only to have to stop again due to the pain.  More stretching followed by a limp-run back home.  Lots of ice and rest.  Still pain.

 

Friday I had an appointment with my PT to continue therapy on my knee, so I asked him to take a look.  He thinks I may have a pull or small tear in my Achilles area.  Apparently there’s a muscle group back there (he said a bunch of big words I didn’t absorb) that feels jacked up.  He put some electro-thing and ice on it to try to calm the inflammation… but it still hurts like a b*tch.

I’m really concerned that I won’t be able to run at all tomorrow and I need to make that call this morning.  Backing out last minute sucks, but I would rather do that than hurt my relay team (and myself) worse by failing to finish.  So I’m going to try a short jog in a minute to see what I can do.  *sigh*

First I need coffee.

 Peet’s Coffee sent over some delicious roasts for me to sample as part of the FoodBuzz Tastemaker’s program (but you know I’ll give my honest, unbiased opinion).  I like to use cinnamon in my coffee, so I selected the Cafe Domingo to try first.  I love adding cinnamon to (almost) anything with Latin flavor!

I prepare the coffee pot to make 4 cups.  Before I hit start I add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon to the grounds.  It adds a little extra taste and smells amazing while brewing!

Peet’s Cafe Domingo was delicious – it was more smooth than many I’ve tried without compromising flavor.  This is important to me because I drink my coffee black.

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Speaking of drinking…

…in case you are planning to drink this Halloween weekend, I have a little PSA for you.

Eat a lot of strawberries before and after indulging.

A European study done on rats concluded that strawberries can protect the stomach mucous membrane, which is harmed by drinking.

You’re welcome.

***

May I suggest Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal this morning? 🙂

What is the most cleaver Halloween costume you’ve seen?

Would you back out of a relay team or try to tough it out and run?

Orange You Glad Its Friday?

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Happy Halloween Friday!

In the spirit of The Great Pumpkin/Halloween (and the fact that I’m up to ears in work), here are some of my favorite orange food creations (click the image or title for the recipe!):

Orange for the A.M.

Apple Carrot Muffins

Carrot Cake Oatmeal 

Sweet Potato Greek Yogurt

Orange for the P.M.

Butternut Squash Drop Biscuits

Indian-Spiced Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onions 

 

Lentil-Stuffed Acorn Squash (ok, I realize it’s more yellow… but go with it…)

Sweet Potato Falafel

If I had just one orange item to make this Halloween weekend… I’d make the following soup.  It’s one of my Top 5 Favorite Creations.  That’s including desserts.

Butternut Squash-Apple Soup

Searching past recipes to write this, I realized I don’t make many orange desserts.  My friends do though!  Check out some of these awesome treats from the blog-world:

***

I just realized almost everything I ate yesterday was unintentionally orange.  Creepy.

What are some of your favorite orange/Halloween creations?

Who is doing something fun this weekend?  Tell me about it so I can live vicariously! 

Eating Through Siena

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Today the Italian adventures continue in Siena.

I took a little recap break to post some of the dishes I’ve made.  Some – like this and this – were inspired by my travels… only I made them like your vegan-ish Italian grandmother would. 🙂

The Tuscan region was home to some of the best food on the trip.  Certainly the best gelato!

In order to get to Siena, we braved the overnight trains (not recommended without a seat reservation… using the restroom on the train also not recommended) and arrived in Siena sometime around 6am.  Thank god our room was ready early and we were able to take a nap before exploring the city.

Despite the train-lag, we got moving in time for lunch.  The view from our room had me bouncing out of bed!

For lunch we followed a Rick Steve’s recommendation that promised vegetarian fare (we were deprived of veggies after all that travel).  He was spot on – this Osteria was awesome!

The servers were very nice (and patient).  One was even wearing a Fenway Park shirt.  The veggies were just what we needed to begin the day:

We wandered through town before resting at the main piazza to enjoy a coffee while people-watching.  Followed by gelato (banana and nutella for me).

Next on the agenda was the Duomo (the tallest point you can see in the pic of our view from the hotel room).  They sell a pass for the whole artistic complex of “Opera della Metropolitana di Siena” for 10 Euro!  Sold.

In the opera museum we were able to view some incredible paintings, sheet music from operas, and sculptures.  It still blows my mind to think the history behind it all.  From the museum there is a long, winding staircase to the top of a tower offering a view that will take your breath (so will all those stairs!).

 The 10 Euro tour then took us inside the Cattedrale, followed by the Cripta below.  I was most excited about the crypt, but they must have been renovating because much of it was blocked off or not labeled (unmarked mounds containing bodies = not as exciting).

The cathedral was stunning.  I was back to my over-used phrase: This doesn’t even look real!

At this point my camera died… which didn’t stop me from making everyone pose for a pic in the Battistero (a smaller church housing works from many of the greatest Renaissance sculptors).

 Dead cameras don’t end the day – we hauled it back to out hotel to re-charge batteries – electronic and our own.  We had met a friend along the way earlier in the day who promised us a delicious dinner.

He was the chef at a restaurant we had also found via Rick Steve: Antica Osteria da Divo.  If you are ever in Siena, I highly recommend this place.  It’s a gorgeous dining room and the food is top-notch.

Beautiful setting

2007 Castello di Ama Chianti Classico

Rolled zucchini filled with pecorino cheese from Pienza and kale served over caramelized red onions

Scallops browned with citrus-bread crumbs, served over pumpkin cream and watercress

Risotto with fresh Porcini mushrooms and Saffron served table-side in a form of demi-seasoned pecorino cheese

I almost asked for seconds

Hand-rolled Senese pasta with Selvatic meat (Wildboar-Venison-Deer) sauce, “Taggiasche” olives, juniper berries and rosemary-scented crispy bread

Rolled pork stuffed with spinach and fresh pecorino cheese, truffle sauce and caramelized scallions

Rolled pan biscuit ,vanilla cream, and pear cooked in Chianti Classico with a caramel net

A picture cannot begin to do that dessert justice.  It was a work of art.

Feeling fat and happy, we took a walk back to our hotel.  The chef and waiter invited us for drinks,  but we were still tired from the train and needed to wake up early.  The next day would bring a trip to Montalcino to learn about Brunello wine.*

*This is the part of the trip where we hijacked a tour bus.  No joke.  Check back for the rest of that story. 🙂

***

Pretty please vote for my Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls by clicking here and “liking” (via Facebook) my entry in Delta’s Biscoff Bake-Off.  You can vote 1x per day!!!  Thanks for all of your votes so far!

Do you enjoy going to museums when you travel or are you more of an unorganized explorer?

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Apple Pie Milkshake

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It seems that every fast food joint has turned fall desserts into milkshakes. 

Skip the fast food sugar-bomb and make your own (much healthier) version!

Apple Pie is fantastic a la mode… it’s only natural that is become part of the la mode.

Yes, my Apple Pie Shake is green.  If you haven’t tried it yet, now is the time to toss an avocado in your smoothie.  It adds to the creamy-milkshake texture and you cannot taste it.  (Recipe at the bottom of post.)

Breakfast:

To begin my WIAW, I had a post-workout Apple Pie Shake.  Perfect beginning to a warm fall day.

Words of shake-making advice:

  • Virtually anything can be frozen – including avocados and apples
  • Guar Gum is worth the expense – a little bit goes a long way and it makes the perfect shake texture
  • Don’t skimp on vanilla and cinnamon
  • Guard your apple when taking pic from your balcony

I only turned my back for a second when I heard a big “SPLAT.”  I looked around… where’s my apple???  Hmmmm… glance down… apparently my apple grew legs and jumped off my balcony.  It’s not that bad, apple!  

Odd craving for apple sauce…

Lunch:

Today’s lunch was gourmet.  By gourmet, I mean multi-course.

First a salad of arugula and spinach with carrots, cucumber, and a hearty scoop of chipotle salsa.  I love salsa as dressing.

Followed by my leftover “pasta” (spaghetti squash from this dish) and a quick batch of this tahini sauce.

Dinner:

I didn’t realize today was going to be a “make it again” day.  Typically I don’t repeat recipes… there are so many new ideas floating around in my head!

After the tahini sauce repeat, I re-made this Wild Mushroom Soup for dinner.  It was one of my favorites last winter – someone remind me to re-make dishes more often!

Don’t judge… brown food is impossible to photograph!

I made is almost the same way; however I did use fresh parsley and roasted garlic and added lentils for bulk.

Snacks:

It was a fun snack day!  In addition to my “OMG, I cannot get sick” Emergen-C, I tried a new product: Primal Strips.

It’s meatless vegan jerky made from seitan!

Observations:

  • 11 grams of protein
  • Only 3 grams of sugar
  • Ingredient list I can pronounce
  • Texture was a little weird (chewy, which I suppose is jerky-esque), but I got over it half way through the “strip” 
  • Loved the teriyaki flavor

Verdict: I’d definitely buy it again and would love to try other flavors!

Not pictured: I made another Apple Pie Shake as a bedtime snack.  Like I said, it’s a day of repeats.

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Apple Pie Shake

  • 1/2 large apple
  • 1/4 large avocado
  • 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
  • 1 handful spinach (optional – but I swear you can’t taste it!)
  • 1 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or any milk-substance)
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp ginger
  • 7-8 drops NuNaturals Pure Liquid Vanilla Stevia
  • Shake of salt
  • Shake of Guar gum (optional, but helps create milkshake consistency)
  • Ice, to taste

Put it in a blender and blend until smooth!  Pour into tumbler and drink your pie.

I received the pictured Tervis tumbler as part of the FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program.  It didn’t influence the fact that my shake was fantastic, but it did keep it nice and cold while I took a million pics of it. 🙂

***

Voting is now open on Facebook for Delta’s Biscoff Bake-Off.  Pretty please vote for my Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls by clicking here and “liking” my entry.  You can vote 1x per day!!!

As always, check out Peas and Crayons to see the tastiness everyone else ate today!

What is your favorite dessert-gone-shake?

Do you have “go to” dishes you make regularly?

“Spaghetti” and “Meat” Balls

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Last fall I tried a new type of spaghetti.

Source: steamykitchen.com

Spaghetti squash.  It blew my mind.  Who knew you could make a vegetable act like a pasta?!  The best part is that you can make it in the microwave in under 10 minutes.

If you haven’t tried it yet, you should probably do so immediately.  It’s that fantastic.  This squash-pasta takes on any flavor – have fun with it!  I’ve been known to eat it for breakfast…

The air has a nice fall crispness to it, which only makes me crave an Italian classic: spaghetti and meatballs.  (Side note: I didn’t have a single meatball in Italy!)  Post-cleanse and post-Forks Over Knives watching, I have decided to limit my intake of meat and other animal products.  So how was I to have meatballs?!

The spaghetti already had a twist… why not go experimental all the way?

Pre-Saucing

And so, Tofu-Lentil “Meat” Balls were born.  I’m not going to lie – these aren’t a perfect match for the real deal, but they are good and added some nice bulk to the dish.

I used plenty of red pepper flakes, fresh parsley, and garlic to make it feel more Italian.  The addition of liquid smoke (found at Whole Foods) was awesome.

As if they weren’t healthy enough, I baked my balls rather than fried them in oil.  That may have been more a function of my not believing they’d stay together in the pan.

As I alluded to before, the key to good spaghetti squash are the accompanying flavors.  Use your favorite sauce here to make the dish pop!  Don’t be afraid to start with a jar and add capers, roasted garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, cheese… or whatever your go-to Italian flavors are!

While we’re on the subject of balls…

Source: benjerry.com

Did you see that some grocery stores are refusing to carry Ben & Jerry’s new brilliant creation: Schweddy Balls???  I guess I get it… but come on… kids aren’t even going to “get” the joke.

Say what you will, but those fudgy rum balls are good – Schweddy Balls is B&Js most successful special edition ice cream to date.

spaghetti-squash-and-tofu-balls-300x225

“Spaghetti” and “Meat” Balls

  • 1 spaghetti squash
  • 1/2 block tofu
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 T shallot, minced
  • 2 T parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/8 tsp liquid smoke
  • 1/3 C lentils (pre-cooked)
  • S+P, to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut the squash in half (can soften in microwave first).  Remove the seeds.  Place in a glass baking dish, cut side down, in about 1 in of water.  Microwave for 7-8 minutes, or until shell is tender when pierced with a fork.  (You can also do this in the oven at 350 for about 45 mins.  I thought the microwave worked fantastically.)  Remove the flesh with a fork and place in serving bowl.

Meanwhile, crumble tofu into food processor or Magic Bullet.  Add garlic, shallots, parsley, red pepper flakes, and smoke.  Blend until just combined – you don’t want to make a paste, just to be able to form a ball.  Add lentils and stir by hand to combine.

Form 1-2 T size balls and place on foil or parchment paper.  Place in oven and bake ~20 mins, until balls begin to brown.

Serve with spaghetti squash and your favorite sauce!

Makes 2 servings.

***

Voting is now open on Facebook for Delta’s Biscoff Bake-Off.  Pretty please vote for my Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls by clicking here and “liking” my entry.  You can vote 1x per day!!!

What is the best “cold weather” meal you’ve made healthier?

What do you think of the Schweddy Balls controversy?  Overkill or being responsible?

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