Posts Tagged With: Baking

Week’s Eats

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Beth @ Running on Cloud Nine

In a rut and looking for some dinner ideas? Here is what I’ve been making this past week.

Hot Garlic Shrimp and Asparagus

Hot Garlic Shrimp and Asparagus from Eating Bird Food

My Notes: Flavorful and quick! We only used 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper and that was plenty. I’d think that the 1-2 teaspoons the recipe calls for might be too much for most people. You can always start out with less and add more! I added some red and green bell pepper, plus baby spinach, to increase the veggie-ness.

Elana's Pantry Chocolate Chip Scones

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Scones

Chocolate Chip Scones from The Almond Flour Cookbook

My Notes: Makes 12 (not 16). I wouldn’t call these scones as they lack the classic scone texture, but they taste like excellent pillowy cake-like chocolate chip cookies. Try them! I’ve made these twice in one week – once with dark chocolate chips and once with Enjoy Life! chocolate chips.

Clean Eating Apple Grilled Cheese

Apple Grilled Cheese with Grainy Mustard from Clean Eating

My Notes: Added smoked turkey for more protein, and ate with sliced honeycrisp apple and salt & pepper pop chips! Simple, super fast lunch!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza Closeup

Cauliflower Crust Pizza with Veggies

Cauliflower Crust Pizza from Janetha at Meals & Moves

My Notes: Made a much smaller pizza than expected. Used up some veggies on hand (bell peppers and mushrooms). Baked on parchment-lined baking sheet, flipping before adding toppings. Not as crispy as I like my crusts, but nice and “bread-like”. Interesting concept, would try again with some changes, but good base recipe if you want to try working with cauliflower dough.

Tandoor Chef Pizza

Tandoor Chef Roasted Eggplant Naan Pizza

Okay, this isn’t homemade, but it’s out of this world! My local co-op had this on sale for $2.24 and it is worth every penny. The eggplant gets crispy, has a slight spice to it, and the naan crust is fantastic. The only downside is that these pizzas are small and soooo good that I can easily eat a whole one myself, and I do.

Clean Eating Shepherds Pie

Shepherd’s Pie with Buttermilk-Chive Mashed Potato Crust from Clean Eating

My Notes: Liked this more than I thought I would! Good for a cold autumn night. Leftovers were equally as tasty.

All of the above are easy to make and QUICK. I work full-time and don’t have a lot of time and energy to spend hours in the kitchen every night. Most of the recipes I make are quick and require few ingredients.

What are you cooking up this week?

Categories: Food | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sunday in the Kitchen

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Beth @ Running on Cloud Nine

Today was our town’s big 10k. I’ve run this race every year since I’ve been a runner (3 years) and this was the first year that I had to gracefully bow out. I’m still struggling with running injury-free, and while things are definitely a lot better than they were a year ago, I have to practice patience and learn not to push myself. I could have run, but I didn’t want to end up not being able to run the rest of fall, and then I’d miss out on all these windy, chilly, fabulous fall days.

Instead, today I stayed in and spent most of the day in the kitchen.

Mr. Nine took care of breakfast, delivering a warm heaping plate of scrambled eggs, toasted Ezekiel bread, bacon (!), apple-maple chicken sausage, and coffee to my warm place on the couch. I love having breakfast underneath a big blanket sitting in our living room. It is the only meal I’ll eat away from the table. For some reason eating lunch and dinner on the couch is a big no-no to me, but breakfast is okay. Probably because I am too lazy to move to the dining room that early in the morning.

After breakfast we walked down to the 10k race with cow bell in hand to cheer on some of our friends. Seeing those lead runners trailing the pace car was amazing!

Seeing the race actually made me relieved that I wasn’t running. I could just walk back home, not worry about splits, and instead spend the day at home being domestic. Hey, I did run a 5k yesterday so I’m not being totally lazy. :-)

I started off by baking up a batch of Gluten-Free Banana Blueberry Muffins.

Gluten-Free Banana Blueberry Muffins in Pan

Gluten-Free Banana Blueberry Muffins Close-Up

These were good, although a little eggy, but since they lacked sweetener they were very mild. I secretly wanted to sprinkle on a bit of Truvia to make it a little sweet. :-)

Next up was a throw-it-together pasta.

Gluten-Free Pasta Toss

I didn’t follow a recipe, but here is what I did:

  • Cooked a box of Ancient Grains Quinoa Pasta (Rotelle).
  • Removed the casings from a package of  Smart Chicken Sweet Italian Sausage, crumbled and browned.
  • Removed the cooked chicken and set aside, and in the same pan, cooked up a container of mushrooms.
  • Stirred in a few handfuls of fresh spinach until wilted.
  • Added a handful of multi-colored cherry tomatoes, sliced in half.
  • Seasoned with some spices (crushed red pepper, oregano, salt)
  • Added the chicken back to the pan.
  • Added the cooked, drained pasta to pan.
  • Poured in 1/4 jar of Newman’s Own Marinara Sauce.

That’s it! Super easy, yet healthy and tasty. This batch will last us for a few work lunches this week.

Next up were the Paleo Pumpkin Bars.

Paleo Pumpkin Bars

Paleo Pumpkin Bars Detail View

This is the second time I’ve made these in a week, they are so good! A note on these: I found that these need to be cooked approximately twice as long as the recipe states. I bake mine for 45 minutes, which could be that I use canned pumpkin. These definitely have a coconut flavor from both the coconut flour and oil, but I really like that.

I also experimented with dinner and made stuffed bell peppers with cauliflower “rice”. We really liked them, and I wrote down the recipe because I am planning on keeping this one around. I’ll post the recipe for that tomorrow.

No workouts today, but a lot of running… the dishwasher. ;-) We did have a last-minute trip to visit family due to an unexpected circumstance, so our day was full as it was. Dinner for tomorrow is already planned out, so I should have time to get a workout in after work.

Categories: Food | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Healthy Food Community is Growing

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Beth @ Running on Cloud Nine

Living in a community plagued an abundance of fast food restaurants and more greasy bar food than one could imagine, it is refreshing to see some healthy and creative women in our community combating that.

Rural Girl Soups

Rural Girl Soup to Go

Rural Girl Salad to Go

Last month, I had the opportunity to sample some soups & salads at a special event from a new soup delivery business called Rural Girl Soups. The concept is a weekly soup service that will deliver soup to your front door. The owner, Gail, makes all the soups from scratch and her husband Joe makes the deliveries. You leave a cooler with ice on your front step, similar to an old-fashioned milk delivery service. Rural Girl also sells colorful salads, cookies and resells hand pies from Over The Top Sweets in Elgin, Illinois and Potter’s Crackers from Madison, Wisconsin. (I just wrote about Potter’s in my last blog post, I picked up a package of their Rhubarb Graham Crackers at the Dane County Farmer’s Market!)

Jo Cessna Natural Cook

Then there is Jo Cessna, a lady who is helping us eat healthier one dish at a time. She calls herself A Natural Cook, and focuses on clean eating principles. Jo makes appearances a local events (I first saw her at a Progressive Wine Tasting last year), and does workshops and private or small-group cooking lessons. She also sells recipe cards and has a blog with more good stuff!

It is refreshing to these smart, beautiful, entrepreneurial women leaving their mark to help this community get back to real food. I’m inspired by these women and I want to be part of this real food movement and help to inspire others.

I’ve been busy in my own kitchen trying lots of new recipes. Most of the recipes I have been trying have been Paleo-ish or at least clean eating and gluten-free.

Mustard Lime Chicken

Elana’s Pantry Mustard Lime Chicken on the grill with a side of cauliflower puree. This marinade rocks and is so simple! Lime juice, cilantro, dijon mustard, olive oil, chili powder, salt and pepper all mixed up in the Vitamix. I only had time to marinate it for 20 minutes (just long enough for the charcoal to get hot) and it was plenty of time! Loads of flavor here. The best part? I have a leftover breast that I plan on slicing up for a salad for lunch today!

Almond Cheddar Crackers

From the Almond Flour Cookbook, I made these Cheddar Cheese Crackers. They are made from almond flour, salt, baking soda, cheddar cheese, grapeseed oil and eggs. They were super easy to make (the oils from the cheese keep the dough nice and easy to form and roll), using parchment paper keeps things clean and pre-scoring them made it a cinch to snap after baking. I had to increase my bake time by 10 minutes to get them golden brown. They taste very similar to Cheez-Its only much better for you. I used a sharp cheddar from Wisconsin that I grated fresh (way better than the pre-shredded cheese!) and the flavor was great. The only thing I am not thrilled about is the texture which is a bit soft. It kind of reminds me of eating a stale cracker that has softened. :-( I still like them enough to eat them, but wish they were crisper. This recipe makes A LOT of crackers so I may smash some and use it as a “breading” for baked chicken!

Paleo Breakfast Cake

Paleo Breakfast Bread. Wow. Super simple and quick to make! These contain only almond butter, eggs, honey, vanilla extract, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. The recipe also calls for stevia, but I left that out as I find it too bitter in baked goods. I mixed it in my Kitchen-Aid and then into the oven it went for 15 minutes (quick!). This “cake” has a mild sweetness and is really addicting!

Paleo Breakfast Cake

Moist, not overly sweet with a beautiful nuttiness. I usually wait for a cake to cool before cutting it, but I cut into this within minutes of it coming out of the oven. It tastes great warm, and sliced up fine. It also tastes good room temp. I had to stop myself from eating the whole pan.

I am in a baking mood this week, but a friend reminded me to focus more on eating vegetables and other healthy, clean, natural foods, and not just making Paleo-fied desserts and treats. I don’t always get into the baking mood though, so I am just enjoying it while I’m on a roll. However I will have to pay extra attention to adding more veggies into next week’s meal plan because I wholeheartedly agree with her (right after I make these Primal Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies). ;-)

I almost forgot, I won Tales from an Average Runner’s Cryocup Giveaway! Mr. Nine made a ice massager from a Dixie Cup filled with water, but this looks better and more durable. I’ll let you know how it works once I get to try it.

Do you have any real food activists in your community? How are they making positive changes? Any tips on baking crackers that stay crispy?

Categories: Food, Health | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gluten Free Bars, Shrooms and The Walk to Run Kickoff

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Beth @ Running on Cloud Nine

Happy Tuesday! We are moving one step closer to the weekend, life is good!

Because my recent bars baked with Stevia in the Raw (SITR) didn’t work out I decided to look for a recipe that didn’t use ANY added sugars or sugar substitutes. I don’t mind regular Stevia in my morning coffee, in MRM Whey Protein Powder or in the occasional baked goods however I want alternative options that don’t rely on it. I really liked the Gluten-Free Carrot Muffins from Elana’s Pantry because they were only sweetened with dates, so I went back to her site looking for more ideas. I found one with only 5 ingredients, 3 of which are kitchen staples!

Apricot Bars

These bars are made entirely from dried apricots, pecans, eggs, vanilla extract and sea salt. Okay, 6 ingredients if you count the chocolate chips that I added. :-) A food processor made prep quick and easy, and using a 8″ x 8″ pan made for effortless 1-dish baking. These bars are moist, flavorful and not too sweet. Mr. Nine liked the flavor, but he thought the texture was weird. I’ll have to disagree and say the texture was fine, a cross between a traditional cookie bar recipe and a Larabar. They hold their shape nicely (if you allow them to cool properly before cutting). The nuts give these bars a little texture and the chocolate chips add tiny bits of sweetness. Use dark chocolate (70% or higher) if you can or leave the chocolate out entirely if you have a strict diet. I love dark chocolate and the small amount (1/2 cup for the whole batch) is very reasonable. These are also gluten-free, dairy-free (if you use chocolate chips from Enjoy Life), and paleo-friendly (if you are okay with dark chocolate). Another bonus? They only take about 5 minutes of hands-on time to make. Throw the food processor container, blade, measuring cup, spoon and spatula in the dishwasher and sit back while they bake in the oven. I will definitely make these again, perhaps experimenting with additions of cinnamon, chia seeds or shredded coconut!

Batch of Apricot Pecan Bars

Excited to have this whole batch to snack on throughout the week. I keep mine in the fridge to prolong their freshness, but I doubt they’ll last more than a few days. I already had one with breakfast and two as a post-workout snack.

Here’s the recipe for Apricot Power Bars if you want to try them yourself!

In other food news, I made these yummy Sausage and Sweet Potato Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms from Pam at Paleo Table. Unlike traditional stuffed mushrooms which are filled with cheese and breadcrumbs, these contain no grain or dairy! Ground Italian sausage adds bulk, while mashed sweet potato adds body.

Sweet Potato and Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

I used baby portobello mushroom caps that were 3″-4″ in diameter and increased the cooking time until I saw that the mushrooms were beginning to release some water content (about 35 minutes). Instead of mixing the sausage and potato in the food processor, I simply mashed the potatoes in a bowl and then stirred in the almond meal and sausage-onion mixture. Drizzled with balsamic vinegar, these stuffed mushrooms both savory with a hint of sweetness. These also reheat well in the microwave, making them perfect for a grab-and-go work lunch. I’m saving this gluten-free, dairy-free and paleo recipe because it is a definite win.

I’ve been writing a lot about food lately and not very much about running. I’ll explain why in another post but I have been slowly running again. Not very fast, and not very far, but I’m moving in a forward direction.

Speaking of forward directions, our running group hosted a Couch to 5k style running program and the kick-off meeting was last night.

Running Program

Photos by Brian Drendel

We had a huge turnout! It was so refreshing to see so many people from the community come out to take the first steps in training to run a 5k. For many this will be their first 5k. The program lasts 9 weeks with 3 weekly group runs using the walk-run approach. You can spot me above calling out the t-shirt raffle winners. I’m excited to volunteer this year, meet new people and hopefully inspire them to stick with the program and make running a lifelong activity.

Have you ever tried a Couch To 5k or Run to Walk program? Were you successful? Any advice or tips that I can give to these new runners next week?

Categories: Food, Running | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Good Friday Hike and Gluten-Free Carrot Muffins

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Beth @ Running on Cloud Nine

Ah, a glorious Friday off.

We took a drive in the country for some awesome BBQ pork sandwiches.

South Moon BBQ Pulled Pork

Carolina-style, baby. After pigging out (pun intended), we took a 5 1/2 mile hike around a local lake.

It took us about 2 hours, I didn’t bring my Garmin, just wanted to soak it all in and have a fun day without any technology.

Some parts of the trail were along the lake.

Boat and Tackle

Other parts were in the sunny open prairie.

Prairie

The wooded sections of trail were my favorite.

Wooded Trails

We even crossed a dam.

Dam

The trail varied from packed dirt to mowed grass, and the temps hovered right around 60 degrees with abundant sunshine. All the fresh country air made us sleepy, so we stopped at Starbucks afterward for a round of iced Americanos. Refreshing.

The coffee tasted great with the Gluten-Free/Paleo Carrot Banana Muffins that I made last night.

Since I dropped the “p-word”, I want to explain, I am not doing the Paleo diet. I do want to eat more protein and more meat and vegetables because I am learning that I actually feel better doing so. As someone who ate a mostly vegetarian diet because I believed it made me feel better, I am learning that I actually feel better with meat and less carbs and less gluten! I don’t believe in any one sort of diet of eating-style, just balance. I’m not going Paleo, or gluten-free or any strict diet (although for those who do, I think that is great!) but I do want to eat less carbs, less sugar, less alcohol and more protein, vegetables and fruit. I’m not going to eliminate pasta or bread or a sugary dessert here and there, just changing the balance of foods and trying to cut back on those. And as always, clean eating is important. I don’t know a whole lot about the Paleo Diet, but I do find it amusing that these are labeled Paleo muffins since I doubt the “cavemen” ate baked carrot and banana muffins! ;-) Maybe I’m missing something.

In the end, it’s just a name.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a muffin by any other name would taste just as sweet.”

Back to the muffins, here are the ingredients:

Paleo Muffin Ingredients

Almond flour, carrots, bananas, dates, eggs, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, eggs, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. No sugar or flour!

The finished muffins.

Paleo Banana Carrot Muffins

Yes, I used Halloween paper liners. I don’t normally use liners at all, but I had these sitting in the baker’s cupboard for over 3 years now and figured I might as well use them.

These were really good! The only fault I found was that the cinnamon was a little strong, and they are a little too moist. I blended the bananas, dates, eggs, vinegar and coconut oil in the Vitamix and stirred that into the dry ingredients. It could be my method of blending in the high-powered Vitamix vs. a food processor, or the ratio of ingredients or the nature of gluten-free muffins. I’m not really sure as I don’t have a lot of experience baking gluten-free so I don’t know yet what to expect. They still tasted good, and I don’t mind the moistness, but they are definitely different from your typical muffins.

Here is the recipe for Carrot Banana Muffins, which seem to be basically the same recipe that is posted on Elana’s Pantry. There are only slight differences between the two. One thing I noticed is that Elana’s recipe calls for melted coconut oil. I did not do this step, just whipped it all up in the Vitamix in its solid state.

I love how they are sweetened naturally with dates, not sugar. I can feel good about eating these treats.

Call them Paleo, call them gluten-free, call them healthy, but just call them good!

What is your favorite gluten-free muffin recipe?

Categories: Fitness, Food | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Baking Therapy

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Beth @ Running on Cloud Nine

I wouldn’t consider myself someone with a sweet tooth. Sure, sweets are good and I enjoy them, but I’m more of a savory girl. Salty, spicy, sour flavors are right up my alley. Despite this, I have found that I’ve been doing more baking this winter. I think it is more of a therapeutic thing, a method to focus on dough & batter, and nothing else matters.

I’ve been wanting to create a recipe for a healthy protein cookie so I did a little experimenting.

Protein Cookie Experiment

Protein Cookie Experiment

They look fantastic, right? They were okay. I made them with vanilla protein powder, oats, applesauce, egg whites and a few other ingredients, leaving out butter. They turned out more like muffin tops, in that they had a muffin-like texture & look, which I expected. They were a tad on the dry side and lacking the pop of flavor that I wanted. Back to the drawing board on this one.

Next up in the oven… I was thumbing through a stack of older Cooking Light magazines, I found a recipe for Chocolate-Hazelnut Thumbprints. It was the perfect opportunity to use up the last few tablespoons of Nutella, like I need an excuse to eat Nutella! We also had some whole hazelnuts leftover from a hazelnut torte project Mr. Nine was working on last week. Here’s how the cookies turned out:

Chocolate-Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies

Chocolate-Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies

I had a hard time getting the dough not to crack when I made the thumb indentations. They were very good, but I disagree with the “rave” reviews on the CL website. I liked them, but was not wowed by them. They were a fun treat to make though and used ingredients we already had in the house… well except for the eggs. I was certain we had eggs, and I had all the dry ingredients mixed and was about to grab the eggs to mix with the espresso powder and, you guessed it, no eggs. Luckily Mr. Nine was nice enough to run to the gas station to get eggs for me (now that we no longer have our own chickens, that story is for another post). I had no idea that gas stations sold eggs! I checked the best buy date and packaging, very skeptical of the quality of them, but they seemed fine. First time for buying eggs from the place you get gas, strange!

At the end of my baking, I felt a little empty because I did not create a WOW recipe. I mean doesn’t everyone want to leave the kitchen in total foodie bliss, happily eating & talking about their fantastic food creations? I know I do. In all this I realized though that not every recipe is going to be amazing. Sometimes we have great meals, sometimes they are mediocre, sometimes they are total flops. But with each batch of cookies, or pot of soup, or whatever we make, it is a process. We learn a little along the way and each time we step into the kitchen, and no matter what the outcome, it sure beats a trip to the drive-thru.

For me, these last two recipes were also therapeutic. Whisking the egg yolks & espresso powder together (what a fabulous color it turns!) and kneading the dry, crumbly dough into a smooth, shiny ball of cookie potential. All of this reminds me why I love being in the kitchen.

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Soft Pretzels Soothe The Soul

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Beth @ Running on Cloud Nine

Today I’m lounging around the house in pajamas, riding out the tail end of a cold. I seldom get sick, this was my first cold in over 4 years.

Whenever I’m feeling under the weather, my cravings go straight for comfort foods from my childhood. There is something so familiar & soothing about those foods, they truly feed the soul. While blog hopping last night on the NOOK from underneath the most incredibly snuggly down blanket, I stumbled upon a recipe for Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites from Two Peas & Their Pod. I would have jumped straight off the sofa and did a happy dance if I wasn’t as sick and tired as I was. Hot pretzels rank up there with one of my favorite childhood treats. They remind me of seeing a baseball game at Wrigley, a day of riding roller coasters at the amusement park or even a sunny summer afternoon at the beach (our beach club sold them at the concession stand).

After lunch today, Mr. Nine popped the dough hook onto the KitchenAid and began making the dough for, you guessed it, hot soft pretzel bites! I think my subtle hints (shoving the NOOK in front of him screaming “Pretzel Nuggets! Pretzel Nuggets!”) did the trick. Just like with any bread baking, this is a good project for the weekend when you are home since the whole process takes several hours with the rising & baking.

Pretzel Bites Cooling on Rack

Pretzel Bites Cooling on Rack

I received some Red Alaea Hawaiian Sea Salt as a gift before Christmas this year, and it was the perfect coarse salt to top them with. Since the pink-red salt blended in with the brown pretzels, it wasn’t as picture perfect as pure white salt, but it tasted just as good.

This recipe makes a ton of pretzel bites. We had some leftover (stored covered at room temp overnight) and they were just as delicious after being heated up for a few seconds in the microwave. I am sure you could also freeze them, but I have not tried that.

The cheese dip was too thick, so we had to add a lot more milk to make it dippable. Be warned that it dips best when it is really hot, so eat it right away or put into a warming dish as it will not hold up at room temp for any length of time.

The Finished Pretzel Bites

The Finished Pretzel Bites!

While munching on these incredible pillowy pretzels, thinking about how I’ve not only been sick but injured and unable to run for the last 6 weeks, I figured now is a good time to start the blog that I’ve always wanted. So here I am, blogging about my road to recovery and all the yummy things that happen along the way.

Once I am able to run again on the trails I love, I’ll be running on cloud nine.

Categories: Food | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

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