I really can’t take credit for this. One day I just made a slice of toast with bologna, egg and hotdog and another with jam to serve the temporarily-crippled Mister and he decided to slap them together.
So I made it, tried it, and liked it.
Would anyone like to make jam,ham and peanut butter and tell me how it taste like?
Why the name? Can you wager a guess what it’s covered in? I can bet you $1000 you can’t. Here’s a list of what it’s covered in:
1) Semi-sweet chocolate
2) Shredded Raw Coconut
3) Sun Flower Seeds
and….. drum rolllllll!!!!
4) Popped Amaranth
Those of you who guess quinoa would have thought you were going to claim $1000 from me eh? Well here is $1 because you’re closer than anyone else. Amaranth like quinoa is grain-like seed that is high in protein. I popped it myself and honestly it taste and smells like popcorn!
Oh and why stop at strawberries right?
For those of you who don’t know, head cheese is not cheese. Traditionally head cheese is made from meat simmered from the head of a calf or pig but these days pigs feet and tongue and even beef makes the cut. Texturally it’s very gelatinous (as you can see) and it occurs naturally from the cooked down broth.
Since it would be a while before we travel to Germany (or Europe) I decided to get this one by Saag’s when I saw it at the grocery store.
Head cheese is usually eaten cold or at room temperature but well I wasn’t going to be THAT adventurous. So I made a grilled head cheese sandwich with sauerkraut instead. The gelatin melted so it made it kind of creamy cheesy. Not too bad really but the whole time I was eating it I was imagining this…..
If any of you have the guts (both literal and figurative) for this, here’s the recipe link to making head cheese. Or just get it from the grocery store like I did.
This goes into my list of weird foods I’ve eaten.
I call this The Alchemist’s Vinaigrette because mixing different types of vinegar makes me feel like an alchemist. I was inspired by Trader Joe’s Fat Free Balsamic Vinaigrette that I love. You can mess around with the types of vinegar that you have and you have the choice to make this fat free or fatfull (what’s the opposite of fat free?) Most importantly this recipe calls for xanthan gum for thickening because a thin salad dressing sucks.
So what is xanthan gum? It sounds bad and artificial but actually it’s a natural ingredient and although expensive you don’t use too much at one go. The suggested use is 1/2 tsp for every cup of liquid.
![IMG_4474[1]](http://dtspersonaltraining.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/img_44741.jpg?w=384&h=286)
Ingredients:
1) 1 cup water
2) 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3) 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4) 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
5) 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
6) 2 tbsp honey
7) Sprinkle in garlic, onion, pepper to taste
8) 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum
Optional: 2 tbsp of your choice of oil (I use hazelnut) to make it not fat free.
Instructions:
1) Pour all ingredients together with garlic, onion and pepper to taste and sprinkle in xanthan gum and whisk well.
2) Let sit to thicken. Refrigerate and shake well before use.
This is a beautiful vinaigrette especially for a fruit salad topped with almond slices.
Sa-lette? Ome-lad? It’s a hybrid of omelette and salad because when I wake up in the morning I don’t think to myself ”what should I eat today” instead I think “what do I create today”. I really do eat with my eyes especially for breakfast and apparently I like butchering conventions.
Essentially this is a salad in the form of an omelette. So same ingredients, different presentation.
Pretty as it is I don’t taste enough egg, so regular salad preparation still taste better. I just have to think of other recipes to use the pan-fried laced egg. For those of you who are interested in making it just beat up an egg with some type of flour (or pancake mix) to give it a thicker consistency before pouring it into a squeeze bottle and drizzle it on a heated pan. No flipping needed.
While here is the lower fat pesto recipe that I posted a while ago that can be used as a dip, a salad dressing, a marinade or as a condiment for a sandwich. Pretty versatile. You can always change the consistency with different measurements of oil, sour cream or water.
A while ago when I was struggling with binge eating I actually wrote in BOLD CAPS on the kitchen whiteboard “FOOD IS JUST SUSTENANCE”. Well the stupid saying didn’t work AT ALL because food is more than sustenance, food is nourishment.
Why nourish and not feed?
If you were to look at the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, food is considered a physiological need and maybe just maybe that used to be true way back when our ancestors brains were pea size and they were still running after gazelles on foot and with no remorse they stab, kill and feed. That’s right our forefathers fed.
But now our brains have changed in so many ways, we run in sport shoes and we buy cleanly packed meat at the grocery store because we cannot imagine killing something that moves. So what makes you think we still fit into the primal hierarchy of needs when we don’t have the same primal environment anymore? Lets just say I am not resisting the Maslow’s theory but rather it is a very flat one dimensional template for a very multi-dimensional species like us.
The famous criticism is that Maslow’s hierarchy fails to explain the “starving artist” scenario, in which the aesthetic neglects their physical needs to pursuit of aesthetic or spiritual goals. Wouldn’t you think the opposite would apply too?
We are the “overfed people” in which food acts to soothe the lack of aesthetic and spiritual goals.
How do we nourish?
When I started focusing more on food as a creative outlet for myself, the pieces fell into place because food is nourishing a part of me that was long neglected. My artistic side is inadvertently connected to my appetite. To me the preparation had to be with care, thought, containing variety of colours and texture. These days I’m already satisfied even before I eat. I find myself visually stimulated by my food and the eating is just the icing on the Protein Cottage Cheesecake (sorry some self promotion here)
So you say to me “but Iron Cheftress I hate cooking!” Well fret not because I believe that we are nourished by different means. My suggestion for you is to find what nourishes you aesthetically or spiritually especially when it comes to food. It may be eating organic, eating local, texture, colours or even eating in a calm and soothing environment with good company.
*I am not a nutritionist or a psychologist. Merely a personal trainer who has learned from her own experience with binge eating. If you have contradictory opinions I am very opened to discussions here on the comments*
I do not own a juicer because I don’t juice enough to justify spending even $55 on it. So today when I was craving juice, a little light bulb lit on top of my head! I could blend it and strain it like I do with nut milk.
Let me break it down for you why it’s better to do it this way and bear in mind that I’m comparing this to my mum’s 10 year old juicer, so unless they’ve invented a self-juicing and self-washing juicer, this is still a better way.
Blender juicing advantages:
1) Cut prep time into half – no need to cut everything into tiny pieces to fit into tiny funnels
2) No forcing – with juicers, juicing carrots is like a colon with no fibre and high on caffeine (sorry for the mental image)
3) Cheaper – Juicer price? $55 onwards. Nutbag price? $7 (for other straining suggestions)
4) Clean up – No scrubbing needed unlike juicers.
Quick Tip: put some water and detergent in the blender and give it a quick blend then rinse. You’re welcome.
So are you convinced yet?
Leftover Tofu makes Soy Miilk
Soy Milk Recipe
Walnut Milk Recipe
How to Make Almond Milk
