Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.”
~Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein, on you I call bullsh*t. Everything is happening at once on my end these days and it's consuming my tiny bit of free time...which in turn, disables me from cooking....which leads to eating pre-prepared foods...which leads to this AWFUL mood and negative levels of energy. Ay, Ay, Ay!
I have no fancy or creative meals to show you and I'm just as disappointed as you (assuming you give a freak).
I do, however, have an intersting little vittle for you to chew over. Check this out:

A few weeks ago, I was at Kroger minding my own business in the Organic/Clean foods section. I stumbled upon this cereal (shown in picture). I was in a rush so didn't read the indgredients, assuming it was, eh hmmmmm...clean. Not so much.
Check out the front of the box, make your assumptions about the nutrition level of this product, then check out the label I've posted. If you did not know before, the ingredients on food is listed in order of the greatest amount in the product...so, what we see here is that SUGAR is the second highest ingredient in this cereal. Ummmm, no. I don't eat cereal with SUGAR. Also, not that it matters at this point, but it also contains High Fructose Corn Syrup. Yo, is this the early 90's? Are we really thinking it's ok to consume that? The makers of this cereal are ho bags. Steer clear and ALWAYS read the labels before wasting your money on crap.

Also, I want so badly to have time to make these silver dollar sized pancakes. YUMMY! I have to have you, darling ricotta/blueberry buckwheat pancakes....who wants to come over for brunch this weekend and DEVOUR THEM!!!!??? http://cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Mini-Blueberry-Buckwheat-Ricotta-Dessert-Pancakes.aspx
I would make them for mi hombre when he's in town but alas, he doesn't enjoy sweets (lab results are still out confirming his status as human...i'll keep you posted).

Sorry for the randomness but I hope you were able to get something out of this post.
Have great days, my precious readers!!!

I have no idea how this happened....

....but I'm sure glad it did.
This week is beyond exhausting. I have way more than my share of things going and it's been keeping me on the run CONSTANTLY. I finally got home from work last night around 7:45 and my dogs were barking (my feet were tired). I wasn't really hungry, but knew that I didn't wanna bring a frozen meal for lunch today, so I got to cooking.
Somehow, in a haze of exhaustion, I ended up with spanish onions, chicken breast, broccoli, and artichokes all hanging out in my sautee pan. Once they were ready, I poured a can of low-sodium french onion soup over the concoction and TA DA! It ended up being super tasty and light. I had enough for a giant dinner and then a lunch today.

Teriyaki Time!!!

SOY VAY! (Get it, hehehehe. Nothing like a good Judaic-slanged pun to get your day started). This stuff is a DREAM. A bit of an expensive dream, but worth every drop...plus it goes VERY far. I got my bottle at World Market for 4 bones. Much cheaper than at Westborn or other quality grocers where you may pay up to 6 bones. Anywho, let's discuss what I've done here.

Marinated a 1/3 lb salmon filet in Soy Vey for 15 minutes turning once. Put in the sautee pan (where I've already prepared my red onions and spinach) with a touch of olive oil and cooked for 5 minutes or so on each side. It smelled insanely good. I had difficulty not eating it straight out of the pan, but alas, then I would starve today. I added everything to 1 cup of brown rice and VOILA! Today's lunch AND dinner.

So, what can you do with Soy Vay? Sautee (or wok/stirfry) veggies, any fish, pork, steak, chicken, add a bit to your steamed veggies for a kick. ANYTHING! This stuff is the best, I'm happy to have it live in my fridge amongst my other edible friends. :)

I Yam Your Root-Vegetable Authority

I cannot tell you how good these taste. I don't even want to begin to describe it. Let me just say that if I had to choose between regular french fries and my perfectly seasoned Yam Fries....the yams win, hands down.
I'm just gonna tell you how this happened and leave it at that. No sense in mindlessly babbling about an indescribable flavor and heartiness. ooohhhh, baby.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 450
Two Medium Yams (sweet potatoes) cut into strips (like carrot stick size, long and thin)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 tablesspoon of ground cumin
1/4 tablespoon of ground sea salt
1/4 tablespoon of ground pepper

Combine yam sticks and all ingredient a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir until ingredients are evenly combined or put plastic wrap over bowl and shake like crazy to cover the sticks evenly.

Lay sticks in a single layer on either non-stick baking sheet or cover baking sheet with aluminum foil/parchment paper.

Bake for 15-20 minutes flipping the sticks over with a spatula every 7-8 minutes.

Enjoy alone or with your favorite condiment. Mine were devoured with natural Ketchup (the "no high fructose corn syrup" kind, of course).

And yes, that's kale next to the fries...I have a problem, it's true.

Try My Couscous (that's what she said)

So I'm gonna be honest with you. I had very little time in the kitchen last night because I spontaneously went out for drinks around 7. Most definitely worth it, but after two Stella Artois, I was the buzzed chef (another beauty of eating clean...it takes VERY little alcohol for you to have a good night out). Anyway, I came home last night around 10:30 and decided to make Couscous. It only takes about 2 minutes total to boil and then on the adjacent burner I sautee the veggies. Considering I was in a creative state of mind, I just started throwing things in. I only had a few bites before bed but made an entire lunch for today and dinner for tonight out of it.

Ingredients of intoxicated couscous:

-whole wheat couscous

-tomatoes

-artichokes

-grilled chicken breast

-broccoli

seasoning: garlic, cracked pepper, herb mix

Sooooo good and the protien in the chicken will keep me full for hours!

I have an appointment about 40 minutes away tonight so i also brought some kashi go lean crunch cereal to put in my greek yogurt before I leave work. The WORST thing ever is letting your blood sugar drop so low that you binge on whatever you can find first. I also have a banana in my purse for the ride home tonight before I get to the leftover couscous.

I know it seems like I carry a lot of food around, and I do, but it's SO much better than spending money or breaking down and eating out...this can always be avoided. I'd rather be overprepared than find myself booty calling Dominos (sick, i would never do that but you get the point) in a panic.

Anyway, i ramble again. Enjoy!

3 Parsnips, 4 Potatoes, and a Priest walk into a bar...

Sit down and make yourself comfortable, for I will now tell you the story of how I became a parsnip-whore. Once upon a time, in a near-distant suburb, lived my vision of the perfect family. Pon, Kate, and their 4 angelic offspring. At the time (fall, 2009) I was in a less-than-perfect life situation (translation: my life was super fucked up). The outlook was grim and I had very little hope in my world...until I met....the parsnip.

Pon and Kate were kind enough to invite me to dinner in their lovely home. When the vegetables that Pon roasted came around, I took a healthy serving and dug into them immediately (for those of you who don't know, a hot meal wasn't something that I was experiencing often during this time in my life...i was a savage guest). While eating, I noticed that Pon was genius enough to include thick steak fries in his roasted mix, assuming it convinced the offspring to eat their veggies. When I inquired about said fries, Pon laughed, "No, no. Those are parsnips. Haven't you ever had a parsnip?"

After asking approximately 246 question regarding parsnip origin, uses, recipes, and nutritional value, I was on a mission. I f'ing love parsnips. My favorite preparation method is to roast them while tossed in olive oil with sea salt, pepper, and thyme. The taste always reminds me of the warm home of kind friends. And, if I use enough oil, of french fries. :)

Oh my darlin', Clementine

the stores are filled to the brim with Clementines right now...get it while the getting is good. I've found the most interesting ways to get through my massive sack, but today's recipe was especially exciting. Clementine upside down cake. HOlla!

I got the recipe from this awesome healthy chic. Not only is she the shiznit for deciding to lose her extra weight for good, but she is incredibly creative! What an amazing idea...to make tiny single serve, healthy desserts. I subsituted 1% milk for her almond milk and agave nectar for her honey, but it turned out soooo tasty and not too sweet.

I LOVE ME SOME DESSERT, but I have NO control when it comes to portion sizes or number of helpings. This way, it's all portion-controlled for me. I even did some kitchenware shopping today to get some ramekins. This is what you make the single-serve dishes in. Personally, I find it genius for my situation. I live alone and love to try new things but don't want a ton of food here to eat with no one else to help.

For valentine's day, mi hombre will be in town and I'm gonna make the first course of his v-day meal in a ramekin....it's a recipe for seafood casserole and I think it'll be adorable in the tiny little dish. Anyway, I ramble.
So, I'm getting ready to make a giant batch of sauteed kale to munch on while I watch a movie so I'll see you on the flip side. :)