December Has Been Crazy...

... and then last week when time started freeing up I got sick and all I have wanted to do is sleep and watch ridiculous made for TV movies on lifetime.
But before all of that I took a trip down to Utah to see some friends and we went to see the lights at Temple Square, very fun, insanely cold. I always enjoy just relaxing with friends and making up new rules to make games funnier :)

I also was introduced to a new method for making gingerbread houses that is really cool. All you do is melt white sugar in a saute pan on the stove and then dip one edge of the graham cracker in the molten sugar and then add the other wall, within 30 seconds the sugar has hardened and you do not have to worry about your
little house falling down. I also got to make up some new ways to make trees- some of my gingerbread house making friends did not bring their creativity with them- I won't mention names.

My branch had a service auction and I had a lot of fun making caramel & candy covered apples, and I ate so much chocolate making them that it was probably better that someone else have the finished product.

Martha, Martha, Martha

The other day I found a beautiful red casserole dish at Macy's and I justified buying it telling myself that I could bring it to Thanksgiving dinner. I trusted that a Martha Stewart dish would be the best quality. Well it isn't the quality I had an issue with. Martha had glued a paper to the bottom of the dish and it wasn't coming off. Not only had she bonded the paper to the dish never to be parted, but she had written something (important, I'm sure) on the back side of the paper. Now how was I supposed to get to that?

Luckily a little elbow grease went a long way, and I think the dish looked wonderful filled with spinach casserole.

Because I know how much I love food...

my sister and I are going to do a 5k tomorrow morning, to hopefully offset some of the calories I am sure to consume. If you're around the Idaho Falls area you should join me.

http://www.pb-performance.com/pb/calendar.php?year=2009&month=11&eventId=25

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! (More on actual food and how Martha Stewart recently disappointed me coming up)

I love this video!

"Haven't Met You Yet"
Michael Buble

Maybe I should be looking for more than food at the grocery store :)

Get Outta Town

Once in a while, you just have to get away... When I planned this little getaway I was thinking that it would already be "winter" in Idaho Falls and I would need some time in the warm sun to thaw my bones. Lucky for me we have had a very mild fall and just this week (Nov. 15th) is winter really starting.

So a week ago on Thursday night my friend Jami and I flew away to "sin city." In true dietitan fashion here is my food diary:

Thursday night- Airplane treats. Since they no longer give you food on airplanes I have to bring my own. By the time we arrived in Vegas and got to our hotel, The Stratosphere I was way too tired to even think about food.

Friday- our day to be crazy. We started off CRAZY shopping at the outlet mall. What shopping trip would be complete without a stop at Auntie Anne's Pretzels? After some more shopping we finally left the mall and stopped by Quiznos for a late lunch.

I tried a sandwich called the Pesto Turkey Bullet. It's made on a thin ciabatta baguette and just the right size, and price ($3), for a mid afternoon snack. We headed back to the hotel with a few more bags then we intended and took a short stop by the pool before our next adventure.

I am proud to announce that Jami and I rode all 3 CRAZY rides that sit atop the Stratosphere tower. (Our favorite of the 3 rides, Insanity is pictured below.)

After we exhaled and safely had our feet on solid ground, we headed to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner, and dessert. I love the food there, but sometimes I struggle with the atmosphere, we were seated in VERY close proximity to the surrounding tables.

A quick stop off at the M&M store (we practiced some good self control there) and we were on our last ride of the night at New York New York.


Saturday-

The majority of the day we spent at the Hoover Dam. I had driven over the dam before, but it was really cool to get to take a tour of the inside and learn more about how it works. We also got to eat some "dam food" at the High Scaler Cafe. I had a really yummy crispy chicken wrap. (Note: Las Vegas has a lot of overpriced food, but in my opinion the Hoover Dam was the worst.)

Once we got back to Vegas we changed and went on our way to our worst meal so far. We ate dinner at Maggiano's. I don't recommend it. To make up for it we got a nutella crepe from The Paris and enjoyed The Fountains at the Bellagio. I think I could watch those fountains everyday and never get bored.

Sunday- We went to Sunday brunch at a little cafe called Serendipity 3. It was the best meal of the trip and our flamboyant waiter only made the experience more memorable.
After the best meal we had had all weekend it was time to get back on a plane and come home. Lucky for us my sister knew that we were not ready to transition back into real life just yet and she had homemade enchiladas waiting for us when we got in.

After a weekend of warm weather it's hard to believe that it's almost time to start making fudge and Christmas cookies.

Who said you have to carve a pumpkin?

I'll fill you in on more of my Halloween weekend adventures later (after all of them are over!) Have a happy Halloween!

Random thoughts for today

1. When someone asks me what my favorite flower is I never say roses. I don't have favorite flower, per se, I think I always answer that question differently. But it's not roses. That said my mom sent me a beautiful bouquet for my birthday. It contained bright green spider mums and roses in two shades of pink and other whitish flower that I can't remember the name of. They are on their was out and as I passed by them today I had the fleeting thought that roses really aren't that bad; what did roses ever do to me? I think I might like them, don't get me wrong, they are not my favorite and I never want to smell like roses, but sometimes it's nice to have them on the coffee table.

2. This is how I feel after this week at work, the days seemed to last forever.


3. Should I buy myself a birthday present? Is that something grown-up people do?

4. I love the rain, but I am afraid that it may be a sign of colder and wetter things to come.

5. I spent way too much time debating the purchase of a saute pan today, now I know that is not something normal grown-up people do.











6. I discovered a new disease to add to the list of things not to get. It's called cyclic vomiting syndrome. I don't think you want all the details, but trust me that you don't want to get it. My heart goes out to people I see everyday that struggle with challenges that I cannot even imagine.

That's all folks!

How can I make this about food?

I have been a slacker and haven't posted in a whole month, which means that my birthday has now come and gone. But, oh, it was wonderful! Because I feel obligated to talk about food I will recount my birthday through a food diary. (Other RDs that are reading this, don't judge me!)

Friday night:
I ate with some friends at The Snakebite, my favorite little hole-in-the-wall restaurant here in IF, while I was waiting for some other (procrastinator) friends to get up here! So, I had: salmon sandwich, waffle fries, and chocolate cake.

Later Friday night:
Friends FINALLY got here and because it was "1:30 night" we stayed up talking and laughing, and I'm pretty sure I ate something. (pic: Megan and I playing Cat's cradle... kinda)

Saturday morning:
Breakfast at my sister's house with the whole gang. Muffins, fruit, juice, banana bread, yum!

Saturday midday:
We drove to Rexburg to go to bear world! Pringles in the car, free fudge samples, etc.

Saturday before the game:
5 guys burgers and fries, we all shared fries, but I think I still ended up eating 4 whole potatoes.

BYU won! But on the Bryan scale of football fun the game was a 3, so not a total victory.

Saturday evening:
Jami hosted a wonderful party for me, complete with fruit, veggies, yogurt covered pretzels, cookie dough truffles and it goes on and on, and then Casady (I love her!) made me a delicious birthday cake. I don't think anyone got a picture of it before it caught on fire (a story for another day) but it was beautiful! (And someone bought me "Five" to have with my cake :)

Later Saturday evening:
This is the only part of the day that I didn't eat, but I should have had the diet coke that Megan got for me because Tiffany kept wanting to "talk" about stuff and sorry Tiff, but I couldn't keep my eyes open.

Way too few hours later/ Sunday morning:
Another breakfast at my sisters, cereal and Reed's choco milko. (pic: after church we walked around the green belt and discovered waterfalls and rock alcoves)


Sunday afternoon:
A beautiful "Thanksgiving dinner" spread complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, spinach casserole, and home-grown mushroom gravy- and for the third time that weekend, cake! (above: in between dinner and dessert; below: trying to burn off all the calories we just consumed and posing for our album cover photo)

Thanks to everyone who played a part in making my birthday weekend wonderful! It wouldn't have been the same without you.

Only 1 month left...

...until my birthday! I love my birthday. It is in the best month of the best season. And it is just another wonderful excuse to be surrounded by lots of friends and WAY too much junk food. Well, there was that one year that my roommates decided to be healthy :)


Don't worry, there was still plenty of chocolate and candy and ice cream to go around.

Home is...

Let me start off by saying that I had an AMAZING Labor Day weekend filled with so many good friends and even more good food. I probably shouldn't have eaten at all today, but I did. I'll fill you in on the weekend's goodies later, but first here is what happened today.

I was at my sister's house reading a magazine and one of the features was a collection of readers' opinions of what home means to them. Some were typical "home is the smell of my mom's perfume", some a little more interesting "home is where I can wear yellow yoga pants and a holey shirt and not worry about being ambushed by a makeover crew", and some were downright weird "home is the smell of my husbands neck right below his ear." However odd some people are the question got me thinking (though not too hard and honestly I would have never thought about it again if what home is to me hadn't smacked me in the face a few hours later.)

Let me back up a few years and explain. When I was younger my favorite ice cream flavor was vanilla, and I was not afraid to admit it. As I got older I fell into some traps, thinking that more is better and obsessing over my love of chocolate, I soon fell away from my classic flavor in favor of New York Super Fudge Chunk, Fudge Brownie, and other dare I say trendy flavors. I think I was a little afraid to miss something if I stuck with vanilla.

Today I apologize to vanilla. I am no longer afraid to admit that deep down you have always been my favorite. I don't need anyone to mix in chocolate chips or snickers bars or little pieces of bubble gum. All I need is vanilla, and that is home to me.
Thank you Haagen-Dazs Five for helping me remember what it feels like to be home.

Mango Salsa

Next weekend is labor day and I am heading to Provo for a weekend-o-fun with my old college friends, I can't wait and in my anticipation I started preparing for the trip today. I don't think there is a better place to start than with food :) I know that I will be eating a whole bunch of junk food, a minimum of 2 late night Wendy's runs, plenty of Diet Coke, and smiley face fruit snacks, so I thought I would contribute something (relatively) healthy-- Mango Salsa. I will post the original recipe below, but I adapted it a little bit today, mainly because I left my grocery list at home.

Start by dicing some onion.

Add some diced red bell pepper.

I forgot how hard and annoying it is to cut mangoes. It works best for me to cut the flesh from around the pit (the pit won't just pop out like an avocado). I discovered it does work pretty well to take the skin off with a spoon, my knife was taking off too much of the good stuff!

Next add a finely diced jalapeno pepper, you could also use a serano pepper, those tend to be a little more spicy. (I seeded mine because I'm a wuss when it comes to spicy things.)


I added a whole can (minus what I couldn't help myself from eating) of pineapple and a whole can of peach halves, both roughly chopped.



Last, but definitely not least, a few tablespoons of lemon juice and lots of cilantro, and other mango because I have lots of hungry friends.



I made almost 8 cups of mango salsa! I guess the real test is how much will actually make it to Provo when I have to look at in the fridge everyday.

Brittany's Mango Salsa:

2 mangoes
1 c each roughly diced canned peaches and pineapple
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 c sliced green onions
1/4 c snipped cilantro
2 Tbsp lemon/ lime juice
1-2 jalapeno/ serrano peppers, seeded and diced

To market to market

I am trying to hold on to what I have left of summer, and I know of no other way than with fresh fruit, perfectly ripe and sweet.

I was at Albertson's the other day and I found a little basket of pluots. They are a variety of plums and they are super-sweet with bright red flesh.




I never know what to do at this point. They aren't like apples and you can eat all the way around the pit (which was surprisingly small), but for some reason it just feels wrong. Don't worry I ended up eating every little bit!

I was also FINALLY able to go to the Idaho Falls farmers market. It was small, but fun and I left wishing that I had a house full of people to feed that would justify buying multiple loaves of bread and way too many pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. I managed to restrain myself and left with only peaches and raspberries.


I'm hoping I can squeeze a few more weeks out of this summer before I have to go into hibernation mode, wish me luck!

Grab a snack...

... I just found something really entertaining. One of my co-workers told me to look up the literal video of Total Eclipse of the Heart, it's hilarious. I recommend watching the original first. Enjoy!

Original video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=840B27zYfOk

Literal video:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9gcyi_total-eclipse-spoof_music

There are a whole bunch of other 80's videos, I liked Making Love Out Of Nothing At All a lot!

Original video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lE6Htee0sA

Literal video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GlJbyMrytA

More about food soon to come!

Tubers

Tuber: noun
1. a short, fleshy usually underground stem bearing minute scale leaves each of which bears a bud in its axil and is potentially able to produce a new plant.
2. one who travels down a water current in a rubber tube.

Webster.com did not have the second definition listed, but I went tubing last weekend near Lava Hot Springs and I definitely saw signs that directing tubers to go this way or that, and I followed because I was a tuber.

But this post is mainly concerning the first definition of tuber. This is one of my first food mysteries. I never quite understood the difference between a yam and a sweet potato. And as everyone was telling me how healthy sweet potatoes are, I became even more confused. My sister called me up one day explaining that she had purchased a tuber that was labeled as a sweet potato at the store with the intention of making sweet potato fries. (yum!) However, when she got home she realized that the tuber she fad purchased had white flesh, not the orange flesh she was expecting.

So... what is the difference between a yam and a sweet potato and why is the American food industry all mixed up?

Misconception #1: Sweet potatoes are orange. I call this a misconception because it is only half true. In fact there are two varieties of sweet potatoes widely available in the U.S. one has orange flesh and the other a whitish/ yellowish flesh. Both taste great!

Misconception #2: Yams are orange. False. And if you have not traveled to Africa or South American it is unlikely that you have ever seen a true yam, never mind eaten one. Around the time I was unraveling the yam/ sweet potato conspiracy a friend of mine traveled to Africa and was able to eat true yams, which have white flesh and are mild in flavor. Here is a picture he took of a yam plant.



The yam is growing underground and in order to be harvested the plant has to be removed from the ground. The rest of the pictures he sent me are actually of another tuber known as cassava, (Cassava starch is what tapioca is made from) but he assures me that the process is similar in yams.

After the tubers are collected they are peeled, cut, cooked and eaten in a number of different ways.



So the next time you pick up that big can of "Yams" and turn it around and see "Ingredients: Sweet Potatoes" you can think about a little Ghanaian boy who is actually eating yams for dinner, and know that you, in fact, are not.

Sunday Afternoons

In my previous post I mentioned my love of picnics. For my last picnic my friend Megan and I made a strawberry rhubarb pie. It was wonderful! The recipe didn't call for a crust on top, but I couldn't resist.

Thanks to Megan for making the crust from scratch, (she is an amazing partner in the kitchen!) and to Jen, the photographer, and to all those who ate the pie with us, I'd weigh 500# by now if it weren't for willing volunteers to eat whatever I make.

I don't know of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon, than eating fresh pie with friends, on a picnic.

RANDOM

It has been a while since I've posted and I am not exactly sure where July went, but it is almost officially gone. I have been super busy with work and moving to an apartment (that is on the other side of town, but feels forever away), so I have been neglecting the food, though I have not stopped thinking about it, so here (in no particular order) are my random thoughts:

1. I love picnics! I have to thank Whitney and Megan for making me go on them, but I am always happy that I do. Really I think I just love eating outside and any excuse for a party. (And Matt missed it, but we had scrabble cheese-its that were yummy and educational.)

2. Cinnamon. I know I have taken WAY too long answering Bryan's question. He asked, "Why is cinnamon hot/spicy in foods like gum and gummy bears, while it is not hot on things like Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Snicker Doodles?" I thought about it, performed some very scientific kitchen experiments and consulted a food science expert and still I have no concrete answers, but I have a few pretty good hunches-
a. Theory 1: The amount of sugar, here is a very simple kitchen science experiment: pour a little bit of cinnamon on a plate, get a good amount on the end of your finger and taste it. If you get enough and your cinnamon isn't too old I think you will be surprised how "spicy" it actually is. Part 2 of this experiment is to add sugar to the cinnamon. (No less than 2 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon). All of a sudden it is sweet and yummy.
b. Theory 2: There are different kinds of cinnamon, though according to my expert only one is prevalent in the U.S., so this is less likely.
c. Theory 3: Red dye. Now I know that this is highly unlikely, but I would just like to point out that all of the "spicy" cinnamon foods are red, coincidence?

Bryan- you can decide for yourself which theory to believe. Let me know if you have any other pressing questions.

3. This thought has been stewing for a while, but started when I went out to dinner for a birthday party. I noticed this pattern occurring in myself and in those around me. We go to a restaurant, sit, immediately open the menu, stare at it, if you are me you then drink 3-7 glasses of water, stare at it some more, order something that you have settled on, eat it (and drink another 5+ glasses of water), and then say something like "I wish it had come with broccoli instead of carrots." Or worse, sometimes before we even order we say, "I want chicken, but with pasta instead of rice," and then because we don't want to be the confusing/ complicated customer we order another chicken Caesar salad.

So, here is my revolution! I am going to stop ordering what is on the menu. I have worked at food institutions for long enough to know that the customer is always right and if I want an entree of salmon to come atop a salad, they will do it, if I want rice and pasta with my chicken, they will probably do that too. Why do we let ourselves be limited by the options they have created for us?
DISCLAIMER: Restaurants do have menus for a reason and have a limited amount of ingredients and time in which to prepare your meal, so please be reasonable in your requests and understand that special requests sometimes come with a special price tag :)

Happy eating!

Love

Love is the only way to describe the way I feel about my Kitchenaid. I get a little bit happier everytime it perfectly distributes chocolate chips, or kneads pizza dough so I don't have to. For its 90th Anniversary Kitchenaid has released a special edition mixer, available exclusively through Williams-Sonoma. I already have a mixer (and I much prefer my almond color to the fire truck red), but I am already awaiting the 2010 release of the glass bowl. Is there a saying about good things being worth waiting for? I am sure this falls into that catagory.

Happy mixing!

Food on the Fourth (and the third!)

Lucky for me I was invited to my brother-in-law cabin for the 3rd of July to celebrate the holiday. We had a blast! My mother taught me not to show up to something empty handed, so I tried out a new recipe for rolls. They were a hit.

Oatmeal Rolls--

1 cup oatmeal
2 cups boiling water
3 Tbsps. butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. white sugar
1 1/2 tsps. salt
2 Tbsps. yeast
1/2 cup warm water
5 cups flour

Mix first three ingredients and let cool. Add sugars, salt, yeast, and warm water. Add flour. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Let rise in large bowl for at about an hour. Punch down, then form into 20-24 dinner rolls. Put in greased 9x13-inch pan. Let rise again. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350F. Brush with butter while still warm.

(Hint: Once you put the rolls in the pan, let them rise for at least 30 minutes before baking, and they will be fluffy and delicious!)

Before we enjoyed our own private fireworks show (Thanks Margaret and Brett!), we chowed down on brisket, scalloped potatoes, salad, and make-your-own ice cream in a bag. We all ate way too much, but you are allowed to do that on holidays, right?


I came back to Idaho Falls for the 4th and again enjoyed some scrumptious food. We made hamburgers and strawberry shortcake (with home-grown strawberries). I was even able to catch some of the Melaleuca Fireworks. Did you know that Idaho Falls is home to the biggest firework show west of the Mississippi? I didn't, but even from 3 miles away it was amazing!

I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating our freedoms as much as I did- and that we will all be able to fit into our pants tomorrow!

Hospital Food

Granted hospital food does not have a good reputation, but luckily they don't make the employees eat it! I just thought I would update you all about my fast approaching start date. I was all set to start next Monday the 29th, but because all of my paperwork went through faster than expected (we can all breathe a sigh of relief that I don't have TB!) my boss called me today and said that I can start on Wednesday! I am just the slightest bit nervous, but I'm sure once I get there and get oriented I will only be excited.

I'll keep you posted on exactly how bad the food is.

For the love of shrimp and tofu

I don't like shrimp or tofu, but I have a new found respect for each.

Let's start with tofu. I spent the summer of 2007 working at a Girl Scout Camp in Park City and because I had a few weeks before my new job started I decided to help them out this summer while camp gets set up. I spent a week at a camp in Provo and last week in Park City. When I arrived at each I was informed of the number of vegetarians and vegans I would be cooking for. I had very little experience with tofu, but with some advice (and some experimentation) I think my skills have improved. The creation I am most proud of I called, tofu stir-fry. I started with some sauteed onions and garlic, added 1 package of firm tofu (seasoned with salt and pepper), minced celery and carrots and let it go for 10-15 minutes. Then I added a few handfuls on sliced mushrooms and let those saute for another 10 minutes. This is the weird part. I have always thought it was weird that I didn't like mushrooms, but I love the smell of them cooking. I think I have discovered that I only don't like raw mushrooms because when this stir-fry of sorts was done, it was good! We didn't have rice, but this would have been perfect over rice with a little soy sauce. I know a lot of you think I'm crazy, but the key to tofu is to not mess with it. If you let it cook in the pan without stirring it for 5-10 minutes then the outside will brown similarly to chicken. (If you keep stirring it will keep breaking up and even after 30 minutes will still be soft and mushy)

Next is shrimp. I don't like shrimp either and that hasn't changed, but today I went kayaking on the Great Salt Lake (so fun!) and I learned a lot about the brine shrimp that live there.

1. There are only 2 places in the world that brine shrimp are harvested: Great Salt Lake and the San Francisco Bay
2. The majority of the shrimp you eat in a restaurant come from the orient and those shrimp were fed brine shrimp.
3. Brine shrimp have live young (in the spring) and lay eggs (in the fall). I have never heard of another species that does that.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera on my kayaking adventure, but some of the people I went with will hopefully be emailing me their pictures.

Everybody knows something

It is an interesting thing to know a lot about food, because everybody knows a little about food. I don't know a lot about engineering or physics, so when someone tells me something about those subjects that seems remotely plausible, I tend to believe them.

Food is different.

I constantly find myself observing conversations (or arguments) between people who have heard different things (from unreliable sources) concerning food. And, even more aggravating, I have found that people don't like it when I interrupt and tell them who is right. Not only do they not like it, they tend not to believe me and continue in the argument, convinced that what they read/ heard/or made up is the truth.

Case in point: A few weeks ago I was at FHE and I observed a conversation/ argument about protein and exercise. Neither of the participants knew of my experience in the nutrition field, but another innocent bystander did and we were able to laugh about it together.

Anyway the point is that by the time you are in an argument about whether you should be eating protein before or after you work out you have already decided that your opinion is right. I offer you a solution. Let me know your burning question and I will do some research and offer you my opinion (and maybe some expert opinions as well). That way you will at least be able to site some sources while you are battling it out.

Remember middle school?

I don't remember everything from middle school, but I do remember that I didn't know what high fructose corn syrup was. But today when I was teaching a group of 8th graders about food science and drawing some simple chemical structures a student asked me to draw the structure of high fructose corn syrup. I didn't know what to do.

But he got me thinking, what is the big deal about HFCS (as the cool kids are calling it)?

I have heard the rumors that HFCS is the culprit behind the obesity epidemic in America and that I shouldn't eat any food if HFCS is one of the first 5 ingredients, but I hadn't heard any scientific evidence to back it up. And after looking into, I can't find any.

HCFS became popular in the '70s because it was cheaper and easier to transport than traditional sugar, but as far as I can tell the majority of the sugar in the American diet is still good old sucrose and there is no evidence that HFCS is any worse for you than other sugar sources.

While I'm on the subject of sugar. I learned something interesting about Splenda (sucralose) today. It turns out that it was discovered when one researcher misheard his colleague say to "taste it", he actually said to "test it"- turns out sometimes mis-communication can be productive.

So, whether you choose to indulge with corn syrup, splenda, or just regular sugar the most important thing is probably just to not eat too much.

Beginnings & Carrots

I was never going to be a blogger. My life is not interesting enough for anyone to want to read about it. But a few weeks ago I discovered something and I thought, does everyone else know this?

Baby carrots are just normal carrots that are cut to look like mini carrots.

I felt betrayed. I have spent the last 5 years of my life learning about food. I love food. How could I not know this, and what else is going on that I don't know about? So, I am spreading the word.