Waiting for Harvest, Waiting for Vengence

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It’s been quite the productive Saturday; I decorated the apartment, ran a bunch of errands, made (TWO) great dinner(s), and even got some studying done for Tuesday’s Nutrition test.

Our errands – just post office, Target, Wegmans – took hours; the holiday crowds are out!  We ended up picking up lunch from the hot bar when I declared myself too hungry to shop.

Everything on that plate was delicious!

Once we were home long enough to warm up, we bundled back up and headed to Starbucks so I could get a salted caramel hot chocolate to sip while I studied.

Delicious!  But even though I gave myself a sugar headache, I still had a weird, growly hunger.  I ended up having a few random snacks while I waited for/cooked dinner.  Like a latke straight from the fridge,

and half a tortilla with melted sharp cheddar.

Dinner was quick to prepare, but the 45minute cook time is when I required my snacks.  It was worth it.

Another family recipe attempt, this time Noodle Kugel (recipe at the end of the post).

I only made a half recipe; when Adam saw cottage cheese and raisins go into the casserole dish he told me lighting the menorah would be the extent of his Jewish traditions for the day.  Hence, dinner # 2.

Did you know we have an Aero Garden in our fire-place?

I should say had.

We harvested!

And I used the basils to make Adam some tasty homemade pesto for dinner.

My dinner was better though.

Kugel is sweet in a way that still feels like dinner and the crispy noodles on the top are the best.

My side dish was pretty rocking too.  I shredded two leftover latkes, mixed them with 2/3 cup of peas, and topped with the end of the cranberry sauce and a dollop of light sour cream.

The combination was to die for and the fact that I ended up with Christmas colors was a happy accident.

Quite the fantastic dinner if I do say so myself!

Noodle Kugel

  • 12-16 oz. wide egg noodles – cook, drain, run cold water over

 Mix the following ingredients, and then mix in the noodles:

  • 8 oz. sour cream
  • 8 oz. cottage cheese
  • 1 ¼ C yellow raisins
  • 1 stick melted butter
  • 3 eggs
  • ¾ C sugar
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 1 t cinnamon

 9 x 12 greased casserole; sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on top (diagonal rows); cook 45 min. at 350*

Deck the Halls

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Christmas time is here…

Well, not quite, but we are watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and we decked the halls so it’s feeling pretty festive around here.

We don’t have much in the way of decorations (and we didn’t even put them all out), but even a few little touches will help you feel seasonal.

Even my breakfast felt a little special.

I made the traditional stove top oats (with 1/4 cup oats, 1cup skim milk/Silk almond milk, a pinch of salt, and 1 banana) and stirred in ~1/3 cup each canned pumpkin and low-fat cottage cheese.

Topped with some coconut “snow.”

Yummy, yummy.  Although somehow I made waaaay too much; I left almost half of it in my bowl.

We’ve got a lot of work and fun on the agenda, got to get to it!

Have you decorated for the holidays yet?

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my OhNuts! giveaway!

We Liked Them a Latke

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This has been the perfect sort of evening; exactly what I need before another week of tests!  My night was spent in the kitchen, with my husband, cooking and eating good foods.  We moved from cooking to couching (cuddling) and the whole affair was pretty blissful.

I was famished when I got out of the shower; nuts for lunch pack a caloric punch, but they don’t hold me over as long as I would expect.  Since we knew dinner would take a while to prepare we decided to go with dessert first.  My aunt and uncle sent us this box of fancy chocolates for Hanukkah.

Milk and dark chocolate dipped orange peel, almonds, hazelnuts, and biscuit pieces.

I ate a handful and was in heaven; you can tell this stuff is good!

I also ate a candy cane white chocolate coated pretzel from my Sweet Treats Basket.

Yum!  White chocolate dipped candy cane anything is pretty awesome but the pretzel was especially fresh and tasty.

Dinner was a labor of love, but it was so worth it.

Latkes, homemade applesauce, and roasted veggies.  We spent a long time in the kitchen, but had a lot of fun and the end products were amazing.  Recipes at the end of the post.

The roasted veggies were leftover from Thanksgiving.

We wanted to try our hand at latkes for Hanukkah this year so we turned to my uncle’s famed recipe.  My uncle Brian makes the best latkes on earth, seriously, and following his recipe I think ours turned out pretty great.

We kept things top-notch and made our own apple sauce as well (latkes are traditionally eaten with sour cream and/or applesauce).

The applesauce recipe came from my food lab, my group was assigned it one week and it turned out so well I knew I wanted to make it again.  We didn’t have a cinnamon stick to cook in so instead I topped my bowl with red hots.

That was better anyways!

Such a pleasing meal. 

I portioned out a small bowl of candy for dessert dessert, and told myself that the kitchen is “closed.” 

Hope everyone else had a great Friday!

Best Potato Latkes

  •  5 med. to lg. Idaho potatoes
  • 2 eggs (slightly beaten)
  • 2 tbsp. matzoh meal (or breadcrumbs)
  • 1 lg. or 2 med. onions
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • vegetable oil and butter for frying
  1. Peel potatoes and place in a bowl of cold water.
  2. Finely grate half the potatoes and then more coarsely grate the other half, put in colander and completely drain off liquid.  You want to really press all of the liquid out, persistence pays off.
  3. Finely grate onion and mix with potatoes. Add eggs, salt, pepper and matzoh meal and mix well.
  4. Heat  oil in a large skillet. (Add some butter for flavor.) Drop by heaping tablespoonful into hot oil (draining off any excess liquid). Flatten with spatula and fry on both sides until crisp and golden brown.
  5. Remove to paper towel to drain and keep warm until all latkes are done.

Serve with sour cream and applesauce.  These freeze very well; can be made ahead and frozen and then heated up in hot oven.

Applesauce

  • 2lbs cooking apples
  • 1cup water
  • 6″ cinnamon stick
  • 1/2cup sugar
  1. Core and peel apples.  Cut into quarters.
  2. Place apples in a large pot; pour water over.  Add cinnamon and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer 8-10minutes or until tender.
  3. Uncover and remove cinnamon.  (I drained the water out here but I like my ‘sauce pretty chunky).
  4. Remove from heat.  Mash apples with a potato masher until smooth.
  5. Stir in sugar.  Refrigerate.

Just Like Jamba

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We got into bed after 1 a.m. last night so this morning was a little painful. Luckily I knew just the thing to get us through.

When we were in undergrad at UMiami, Adam and I developed a Jamba Juice obsession. I grew up on an island, we had rum huts, not smoothie shops! I poured through websites about the “underground” flavors (white gummi bear anyone?) and knew the calorie counts for my five favorite orders by heart, but my favorite were the holiday offerings.

Pumpkin was pretty good (my Pumpkin Pie Through a Straw is better though), but December was where it’s at. One year there was a mint strawberry smoothie that rocked my world and then disappeared forever. I know the combo sounds a little funky, but it’s magical. I check the website every holiday season but I’ve yet to see its return.

So when this West Soy Chocolate Peppermint Soy Beverage popped up on my grocery shelves (I actually bought this in October, but that’s another story) I had a delicious idea.

Mint chocolate strawberry smoothies.

For two (Adam loved his as well) I blended 2cups frozen strawberries, 2 cups chocolate peppermint soy milk and 1 vanilla Chobani.

A little sweet, healthy, and a lot magical.

During class I smacked on 2 servings of Sahale Snacks Valdosta Pecans,

and whilst cramming studying I also had a Cliff Spiced Pumpkin Pie bar.

A lunch with the perfect amount of fun and siety to get my through to my anatomy exam.

I also took my notecards on a trip to the gym.  I needed to be able to read the entire time, so I kept my workout low-impact but lengthy.

  • 35minutes on the elliptical, level 4
  • 25minutes on the treadmill, walking on an incline

I had a shocking amount of focus; I think the gym will have to be my new study spot for finals!

Then I took my Anatomy exam (ok, but not as good as I hoped), met with my Orgo teacher about my failing exam, and walked home in the cold. 

It’s time for a (much needed) shower and some (much needed) fun!

Do you live near a Jamba Juice?  What’s your favorite order?

Five Little Words

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Huge Anatomy test tomorrow, hurry!

Five(ish) words per line, go!

Southwest chicken flatbread sandwich, mmmn.

Corn, black beans, melty cheddar.

Baked goods food lab today.

1/3 eaten, cookies = dough balls!

Wegman’s to study, and dinner.

Lots of veggies, a little fun.

1chip per 4slides = study bribe.

Class, study, class, study, bedtime.

I Never Regret a Workout

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The snow did not stop.  In fact, it snowed sideways my entire walk to school.  I went to campus early to hand in a portfolio and all my before class studying time was wasted drying off.

When I got out of class this afternoon I was so tired that I sat on a bench for 30minutes just staring into space.  The last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym.

I told myself I could switch our meal plan so I didn’t have to cook dinner.

I told myself I could just eat cheese for dinner.

I told myself I didn’t have to walk home from school.

That last one was the ticket.  25minutes (2.5miles) on the treadmill later and Adam was picking me up and heading to Moe’s.  Quesadila with corn salsa and chips with queso dip.

My cheesy dinner was good, but even better was the feeling of accomplishment.  I never regret a workout.

However, I didn’t do a gosh darn thing this evening and I do have some regrets about that.  Goodnight!

1st Day Giveaway

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Today is a day of firsts.  Since we are a Christmas and Hanukkah household there is a lot of excitement in the air.  The first day of December – and thus the first day of the Christmas season – and the first day of Hanukkah all at once?  Be still my heart!

Since there is a lot to celebrate, I’m doing a lot to celebrate (erhm, mostly after my test, of course) –

  • (small-scale) decorating the apartment – Friday
  • trying my hand at my uncle’s famous latkes – tonight
  • making noodle keugal – Friday
  • blasting holiday music – today, onward
  • attempting a batch of homemade eggnog – next week
  • baking up cinnamon chocolate chip brownies – next week
  • sharing the joy with my readers – TODAY

Does anyone feel like a giveaway?

Oh Nuts! (a company I’ve ordered from before that offers a great range of high quality nuts, dried fruits, and candies) offered me a chance to give one of my readers a $25 gift certificate.

To win –

Go to either the Oh Nuts Christmas gift baskets page OR the Oh Nuts Hanukkah gift baskets page and choose your favorite gift.  Leave a comment on this post with the name and url of the gift you like most.

You have until midnight on Tuesday, December 7th to enter.

Pumpkin Stuffed French Toast

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We woke up to snow this morning, on December 1st natch!

Adam was giddy as a schoolboy, but the one of us that walks 30-minutes to school was less thrilled.

I consoled myself with a mug of mint cocoa.

This was amazingly thick (you cook it with water) and rich without being too sweet.  I’m looking for another packet asap!

I also consoled myself with this –

I’ve tried explaining to my parents that 25year-olds typically don’t get advent presents, but I’m sort of glad they don’t listen! 😉  The box was loaded with seasonal goodies and even smelled like peppermint.

When it was STILL snowing two hours later I knew I needed to bring out the big guns for breakfast.

When I got a Nature’s Pride Shipment from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program last month I shoved one of the loaves in my freezer and promptly forgot about it.

Nature’s Pride bread makes the best french toast, and Oven Classics Oatmeal is just what I needed on this blustery day.

Toast 2 slices of bread, and prepare a filling of canned pumpkin, light sour cream, cinnamon, and brown sugar.

Sandwich and dip with egg, milk, and vanilla.

Pan fry over medium heat in a dab of Smart Balance.  Topped with a bit of maple syrup and cinnamon.

Mmmmn.  This was chewy, and toasty, and eggy, and sweet.

And now it still hasn’t stopped snowing  and I’ve eaten this package of dark chocolate almond toffee.

It looks like I don’t need lunch, but I do need snow boots.  Do check back around noon for a giveaway though!