Pink Lemonade

Wow, I have been such a slacker lately with my blogging!  I have been super busy this past month, which is always a good thing but does not leave me too much time.  I have been trying to experiment with new recipes for next month's additions to the website but I am also preparing for my shoot for Healthy Child, Healthy World.  I have reached out to like-minded companies for product sponsorship and have been so incredibly lucky!  In the past week I received shipment from Scandanavian Child, Le Creuset, Alternative Apparel and Glass Lock!  Wow, I mean, could that be more exciting?? :)

There is still so much left to do but I am trying not to be overwhelmed!  

Although it has not been terribly hot this summer... and by not terribly hot I mean I think I have seen the sun a total of 5 days so far.  Bummer.  However, it is a goal of mine to take advantage of every gorgeous moment so I have been on a few kayaking trips, camping, walking, etc.  All of which have put me in the mood for an old summer classic: pink lemonade!

Of course I do not eat refined sugar, so how in the world do you make pink lemonade without killing yourself in sourness?!  I tried Truvia this week because I have used Stevia for a while and gave in to the marketing trap and needed to know what I was missing.  Its ok but I have to find out if it has "other" ingredients in it besides stevia.  Stevia is a natural sweetener made from the leaves of a plant and does not register on the glycemic index at all and has no calories.  Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!  haha, yeah I know, I'm not that funny ;)

Anyway, I made a couple varieties of lemonade but liked the simplest one the best: the juice from one whole lemon, 1 tsp. of stevia and 1/4 cup of unsweetened cranberry juice, about 3/4 cup of water and several ice cubes.  So fantastically refreshing you absolutely cannot go another sunny day without trying it.  And don't tell me you don't have time cause it takes about 30 seconds!

Alright, I am off to cook dinner... confetti turkey burgers, orangey sweet potato strings and roasted asparagus. YUM.

Mer and Meatloaf

My good friend Meredith came over today to keep me company (and ultimately help maintain my sanity) while I experimented with recipes for my upcoming HCHW webisodes.   The goal of the day was to sneak veggies into every food possible to help mom's and dad's get their potentially uninterested children to eat veggies!  

SO, in 3 hours I made: Carrot Crackers (need tweaking), Quinoa and Veggie Meatloaf, Secret Spaghetti Sauce (cause it has so many veggies!!) and finally Wild Smoothies (cause I added spinach!).  Whew!  Oh, and I had an extra ripe plantain (maduros) hanging around so I baked it in the oven for an extra treat... yeah, I need to take a load off.  

The verdict?  Well, all I know is Mer went home stuffed and I don't think either one of us will be needing dinner tonight.  According to my taste-tester aficionado, thumbs up on the meatloaf and spaghetti sauce, maybe a touch less spinach in the smoothie (I went a little slap happy with the spinach!), and crackers had great flavor but work on the texture.  Oh, and Mer recommends dipping the crackers in the spaghetti sauce :)

I will work on all of these to make them even better, the first try is always the toughest, especially when you cook 5 NEW recipes in 3 hours!  Sometimes you feel like a nut... this time I do, but I will keep trying until those crackers come out perfect.  No pictures of the food for now, I want to keep you guessing until I achieved perfection... or close enough to it!  This picture is of the two of us making collaborative artwork, a portrait of Mer's first house many moons ago when we were in graduate school together.

Thanks for the help!!

Knee Schmee

I have had a solid 9 operations on my left knee alone... and 3 in the past 6 months.  To say the least I am sick of being knee-restricted!  After my surgery in December I could not walk for three months and then had another surgery and could not walk for another 2... not cool, not cool at all.  For those of you who don't know me on a personal level, I love being active- whether I am walking, hiking, kayaking, tossing the football with my brother or dad, biking, doing yoga, etc., I love love love to move!  This past week has been one of the best for me knee-wise and that in combination with the fact that it was sunny for the first time in about 8 weeks, I went a little berserk!  

From the second I woke up and saw the sun I was psyched... made breakfast, went for a walk and then decided it was time to attempt outdoor biking for the first time (since my surgery).  I took my bike out of the garage, which was filled with cobwebs, dirt and buggies... hosed it down and hopped on.  Ok, I TRIED to hop on.  Yeah, not so successful!  After about 3 tries (I felt like I was 4 again!), I was able to get up on the bike and pedal fast enough not to tip over!  The first two tries I did in fact fall over, kind of a slow motion fall where if I could actually move my leg well enough I could have dismounted the bike instead of getting tangled in it, but alas I was not so nimble!

After conquering the pedaling, I made it about 3 laps around my house!!  YEAHHHHH, I was thrilled.  Yes, the pain started shortly after that and I had to call it quits for the day but whatever, bike ride outdoors- check!  

Then I thought it would be a great idea to put air back into every sports ball we had in the garage, dust them off and give them a spin.  For the next hour I was shooting hoops, bumping the volleyball and hitting the whiffle ball across the yard.   It was close to dinner time so I went in and made... hmmm, what was it.  Oh, creamy spinach and lentil stew.  Dinner $5.35/person, Whiffle Ball $.99, playing all day like a 5 year old- priceless.

Peach and Nectarine Tart, Mmmmm, so good!

Ok, so we had a basket of peaches and nectarines ripening on my countertop... all looking incredibly desirable in perfect hues of orange and rustic reds.  Clearly I had to do something with them!  A sweet peach on its own is already a mouthwatering treat but I was in the mood to make it something special. 

I have made gluten-free pie crust before (pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving) and it turned out surprisingly well so I thought I would give it another whirl.  I threw together a pie crust (made with sorghum flour, brown rice flour, a little sea salt and organic butter), divided it into two and rolled out (very gently might I add!) two individual tart crusts.  

To make the filling, I mixed together the peaches and nectarines with a little cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice with a drizzle of maple syrup.  Let me just say that when I peeled the peach it was so ripe the sweet juices were running down my hands... thats when you know its going to be damn good!

I digress!  Anyway, so I wanted to make two varieties (as you can see above) one plain with a simple crumb topping and the other with slivered almonds, pistachios and unsweetened dried cranberries.  I am always adding nuts to things, I don't know what my deal is, maybe its a phase... Well, they both came out pretty fantastic but I actually preferred the plain.  Hmm, maybe its time to give the nuts a break!  I mean they are really healthy so I guess I will just go back to using them occasionally :)

This recipe will be posted in July's NourishThis.com updates.

Oh, I topped this one with coconut ice cream... non-dairy/soy/gluten but incredibly creamy and delicious.

Healthy Child Videos

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I have some exciting news!  I am going to be shooting webisodes for Healthy Child Healthy World.  They are a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and bringing awareness to harmful chemicals and toxins in our world that have a grave impact on children's development.  They are updating their website to include an entire section dedicated to recipes and nutritional information for parents and the public, which is where my web videos will be hosted.  You can check out their current website (www.healthychild.org).  

Here's the catch... because they are a non-profit, they do not have funding for webisodes so I have to figure it out on my own!  Zoiks!  I was told to check out local colleges for people interested in volunteering... but if anyone knows someone who might be interested in volunteering for this project, I would greatly appreciate it!  

Peter, Pina, little Sophia... and new inspiration

I REALLY need to get in the habit of being attached to my camera because it would have come in handy this weekend.  I went to Long Island to visit/plan/hang-out with my partners/advisors, Dr. Peter Bongiorno and Dr. Pina LoGiudice (and their precious 13 month old baby girl- Sophia).  It is always inspiring to get together with them.  I learn so much, but best of all, our conversations usually shifts my perspective slightly, opening my eyes to new possibilities for Nourish This.

Equally inspiring on this particular visit was our deliciously authentic take-out!  We debated about whether we would go to the grocery store and prepare lunch ourselves or if we should order take-out from either a Turkish or Indian restaurant... as soon as Peter and Pina mentioned Masala Dosas (which I had never tried before) both of their eyes lit up so bright I could hardly resist finding out what was so exciting!  Well, the pancakes came and they were HUGE, super thin and sort of stretchy... maybe I am not making them sound as appealing as they were!  They are made from lentil and garbanzo bean flours (are gluten-free) and taste terrifically light and tender.  They came with curried potato and onion as well as a few dipping options (what looked like a cilantro pesto of sorts, a spicy tomato based sauce and tomato chutney).  I am not sure if we ordered this separately, but it also came with a cold coconut spread, a slightly lighter and chunkier consistency than hummus-which I adored. 

Peter explained  that in ayurvedic medicine, the idea is to eat a variety in each meal, both sweet and savory, warm and cold, etc.  In doing so, the body is being completely satisfied... interesting thought.  I have to say I was definitely full and satisfied but not uncomfortably stuffed after that amazing lunch.  

Like I said... should have taken a picture :(  Next time, I promise!

ps- Pina found this photo for me on http://www.indianfoodforever.com/snacks/masala-dosa.html, so there ya go!

Devolve Clothing meets Nourish This!

I am planning a surprise... next month we are going to be selling the Nourish This T'shirt, designed by Josh Lee from Devolve Clothing!  I know Josh from college and he used to make all of his close friends these shirts/sweatshirts, etc.; each of which was completely unique and made by hand.  Now he has created a slightly more sophisticated approach and turned it into a business!  

So, of course when I thought of making Nourish This T's I had to ask Josh to help me out.  I know some of you know that I am an artist, but I am more of the paint on canvas, sketch with charcoal or sit down in a gorgeous spot and whip out the watercolors... BIG difference when you are trying to make a design look rockin' on a T-shirt!  I am not that cool!

Anyway, I cannot wait to see what Josh comes up with.  I mean, I thought it would be funny just to put "Nourish This" across the chest of a white T and call it a day!  I'm sure leaving it up to Josh was a better move :)  I know you will be sitting on the edge of your seat, just like me, but you will have to wait until next month... patience my friends, patience ;)