Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Ultra-metabolism Chicken Cacciatore

So, this first recipe isn't the easiest that I'll post--but I wanted to get the ball rolling, and also offer a cookbook suggestion!

I really like the Ultra-Metabolism Cookbook by Dr. Mark Hyman.  These are good tasting recipes for realistic people who are not going to soup and smoothie their ways through 30 days.

Let this be your dinner on Night #1-- and your lunch the next day-- and I DARE you to feel like you're on an anti-inflammatory diet detox!

(and if you like this recipe, Dr. Hyman has some more online for free!)

Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 

Ingredients
  • 6 (about 3 pounds total) bone-in chicken breast halves, skin removed  (I have had success with boneless, too!)
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups sliced onion (about 3 medium onions)
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 medium cloves)
  • 4 medium red bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into ½ inch strips (honestly, you don't really need these-- I have made it when I'm out of peppers)
  • ¼ cup organic low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped  (I use a box of Pomi and if you haven't used Pomi, go find some...Whole Foods carries it, as does my local grocery store.  It is great.)
  • 1 teaspoon minced oregano
  • ½ teaspoon minced rosemary
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • ½ pound cremini mushrooms, cut into thick slices  (I think I have used any kind of mushroom, sometimes frozen, sometimes dried...it is always fine)
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Instructions
  1. Rub the chicken with ½ teaspoon of the salt and ½ teaspoon of the black pepper.
  2. Heat ¼ cup of the extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  3. Add the chicken breasts and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until brown.
  4. Remove the chicken to a platter and set aside.
  5. Add the sliced onions to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and red peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, until the peppers begin to softened. Remove the onions and red pepper mixture to a plate.
  6. Add the broth to the skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook for 1 minute, scraping any brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes, oregano, rosemary and crushed red pepper flakes, reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in the reserved onions and peppers. Add the chicken pieces and bring back to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the chicken is done.
  7. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and the remaining ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Cook for about 8 minutes, until the mushrooms have browned.
  8. When the chicken is done, add the mushrooms to the pan and heat through. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve garnished with the parsley.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Anti-inflammatory

I have been doing a lot of reading about foods and inflammation.

First, I'd like to note the quote by Hippocrates, "let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food".  Great quote.  Also happens to be the header quote on EVERY BLOG BY EVERY SELF RESPECTING NUTRITIONIST AND AMATEUR HOUR NUTRITION BLOGGER (like myself) EVER.  Ok, just so you know, I am nothing if not self aware.  Maybe.

Phew, ok, that is out of the way, we can get down to business.

I am going to be posting anti-inflammatory information-- my research and thoughts, and recipes.  I hope it can be of interest to my friends and family, and I'd be most honored if you ever wanted to try a recipe or a week of anti-inflammatory eating, or a month of anti-inflammatory eating. 

I can tell you, it can be very helpful in quickly SHEDDING pounds (my boyfriend lost 15lbs in about 6 weeks!) or restoring energy, good moods, and wellness (after BEGRUDGINGLY eliminating gluten/wheat at the advice of a real nutritionist, I discovered that my gut does not like gluten.  As bummed as I am that I can't have doughnut vault or pequod's pizza whenever I want them, I can tell I am HAPPIER and healthier.)  Interestingly, I mainly notice the "happier" part, even more than the "healthier."

Did you know that serotonin, our body's main "happy chemical" is most prevalent in our GUTS?  And if our GUTS ARE HURTING, so likely is our serotonin, and therefore our moods?  This is MUCH MORE MOTIVATING to me than the GI distress I now experience after consuming gluten-- I want to be happy!!

Okay... happy anti-inflammatory eating...  LET FOOD BE THY MEDICINE!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

i love m'le

I love Madeleine L'Engle.

In my mind she is like an eccentric old aunt who passed her wisdom onto me.

I carry it always.

And then it delights and surprises me to find that...others might be proprietary about her too!  and she is maybe making a comeback!  The small local bookstore certainly has a wider selection than many!  (OR MAYBE THAT IS CHANGING)

lucky for me, the public library where i grew up stocked even her super out of print first work, Ilsa, and I got to read a musty old copy twice.

blueberry pancakes

best recipe, easy recipe

great off the griddle, great made and saved in the fridge and toasted 3 days later

just. great.


2
cups Original Bisquick® mix
1
cup milk
1
tablespoon sugar
2
tablespoons lemon juice
2
teaspoons baking powder
2
eggs
  1. Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat or electric griddle to 375°F; grease with butter. (Surface is ready when a few drops of water sprinkled on it dance and disappear.)
  2. Stir all ingredients until blended. Pour by slightly less than 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle.
  3. Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook until golden. 


 Go to the farmers market.
get local blueberries.


 butter butter butter!

in a fit of "ohmahgawsh the toxins are killin' me" i threw out all my nonstick this week.  so grease up that cast iron!

 si-zzle.



Enjoy with a homemade latte (guzzled down before i remembered it'd make a nice pic)

Oooh also

I'd really like to welcome/shoutout to the person who got here via the search "pretty things are dangerous"... you may be onto something anonymous friend.  But don'tchya just want to touch/taste/play with them anyway!!???

Welcome

I'd just like to shout out a warm welcome to the person or persons that viewed this blog 8 times from Russia!  Dosvedanya!*  I've read Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment and I've been about 123 pages into Brothers Karamazov for 5 and 1/2 years....sooo, we can be bff for sure. 


Please come back!!!  You're double the page views I get from the USA! 

*turns out this actually means "goodbye".

Friday, June 15, 2012

bloggin machine

I just finished Divergent.  Good job, Veronica Roth!! (aka my sister's friend!)

Next up: When You Reach Me
and the Jonah Lehrer books (Imagine and Proust was a Neuroscientist).

I need to get on the library waiting list for Bonhoeffer.  I want to read more biographies of inspiring people!

But no pictures of tonight's dinner...that would just be peanut butter crackers while I finished the book... (I washed the brussels sprouts, they just didn't make it into the oven.  oops!)








...

Just clearin the cobwebs here...

Things I did around home

 I worked at home some... I broke that pretty mug... My sister got me that awesome tray at an awesome store in Montreal.
 I painted those chairs black
I grew a lot of basil (this was last summer)
 I made a lot of pesto with that basil and froze it and used it throughout the winter!
 I baked honey wheat bread a few times...delish
 I went a little crazy at TJ's with my bf
 My wonderful mother came and we organized my entire apartment and closets!!  This was about...4 months ago and they're gone to pot again... sigh.
 This was amazing.  I need to do it again.  I need to post the recipe and how to.  Quick yeast crust.  SO worth it.  Amazing.
We had a memorial day picnic at the lakefront!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Jogging downtown

 Sometimes I go jogging on my lunch break.... this is what i have seen on some of those days, in the past year....







I went to montreal

 With my sister... we missed my brother... we are the 3 amigos with my brother... and we missed him.  It was our fault.

 We climbed a lot of things.  Awkwardly.  That was the theme of the trip.  Awkward climbing.

Squirrels climb things too.
 We ogled chocolates.

 Gorgeous farmers market, worth the trek to the far side of town

We lived it up in style.

More farmers market.  Colors!

 Sunflowers!

Crabapples!

 We ate a LOT of chocolate.














Pretty outside spaces.












Poutine!!  (Fries covered in gravy and cheese curds.  Not my thang, but whatever floats your boat, peeps.)

Thursday, June 7, 2012

libraries!!!

Also, I love the library... libraries!!  Free books!!!

I got a kindle, but I can get books from the library!

I've recently read many good books, some kindle some hardback.  And I'm on the waiting list for more good books!

READ:
a million miles in a thousand years (donald miller)
devil in the white city (erik larson)
count of monte cristo (dumas)
the art of fielding (chad harbach)

TO READ:
when you reach me  (word on the street is that "wrinkle in time HIGHLY relates" to this book-- color me excited.  i am picking it up from the library tomorrow....or saturday if i don't get up and to work early enough to get to the library before it closes)
divergent (veronica roth)
loving frank
proust was a neuroscientist
flourish
wuthering heights

and some others :)

Pretty days = better running, too

Its a beautiful day for a running break by the lake!

When I run...

Sometimes when I run I have good ideas about blog posts and crafts and creative things I will do, with spare time, with spare energy, with getting up early, or staying productively up late...  And then I go inside and shower off sweat and my good ideas.

When I hear the words, "when I run..." I recall a quote from this guy: second quote down.

I'll post a picture later.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

also delicious

Improvised peach pie/cobbler

peaches
+
graham crackers
+
"accidentally" too much butter and brown sugar



=
YES PLEASE


especially if that is how you get yourself to eat brussels sprouts...as the aroma of baked peaches wafts through the air...




by the way... I shake my brussels sprouts in a gallon zip lock with olive oil and salt and pepper (today I microwaved them a bit first so they'd cook through faster)
then i put them in the broiler for about 5 minutes (these were massive so i chopped them up a bit)

they are actually pretty good this way!

small contentment

small contentment is...cute new bowls (from TJ Maxx) and a well-organized cupboard


Wednesday luck!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

beach with family


sunglasses

dangerous natural beauty

if you look around at nature, you'll see all sorts of beauty...



Quiche is pretty

And delicious

Not super quick (about an hour of cooking at 350ish degrees)

Not crazy healthy (pie crust, 4-6 eggs, I used about 3/4 cup- 1c of half and 1/4-1/2c of 2% milk, but a little bit of health inside- broccoli.  I also added ham slices and a GOOD pound of grated cheese...some mozzarella and some fancy gruyere cheese).  I used a deep pie crust and started with this basic recipe but ended up needing to add 2 more eggs and more milk/half and half because I had, (a)- a lot of fillings with my ham/cheese/broccoli and (b)- enough space due to my deep dish crust.

I also added fresh herbs from my urban garden and salt and pepper.

For my lunch, I also packed some greens and watermelon (the round, dark watermelons are the MOST delicious)!