"Healthified" Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Memorial Day weekend was filled with my 3 favorite F-words: fitness, family and food. My family, boyfriend and I spent the weekend in the Adirondacks soaking up the perfect and sorta-bug-free weather. We didn't have much service which was a welcomed change; however, it didn't stop me from taking pictures of trees and desserts with Instagram. My aunt is a skinny-chef who whips up cookies the size of Frisbees then goes for a 17-mile run; so, though I didn't run a 1/2 marathon this weekend, I still got some yummy looking pictures!

A gym of any sort is out of the question so we stay active by running, biking, rowing and hiking. My boyfriend and I didn't bring our road bikes up this time--- the first hill off my road is known for flashing your life before your eyes--- instead, we hiked and the view looked like a photograph (and with the help of Instragram it really did, mwhaha!).

Whew! Going up was a workout but we did see 21 frogs--- which doesn't have to do with the hardness of the hike but it was still a lot of frogs!

Before the weekend my aunt and I bought several bushels of rhubarb from the farmer's market. I haven't cooked a ton with it but wanted to try a crisp with a healthy twist, so I introduce to you my "healthified" version of Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp.

What you'll need:

4 C chopped rhubarb

3 C hulled and halved strawberries

14 packets of Stevia (we only had individual packets)--- or use 1/2 cup of suagr

2 tsp cornstarch

4 tsp butter at room temperature

4 tsp unsweetened applesauce

1 C soft white wheat flour 

1/2 cup oats 

1/4 cup brown sugar

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix the rhubarb, strawberries, Stevia, and cornstarch. 
3. Pour into the greased baking dish.
4. In another bowl, add the butter and applesauce into the flour oats and brown sugar.
5. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit and bake about 30 minutes, topping should be golden brown.
6. Let cool and enjoy!

 

The crisp..... 

and weekend was a success!

   

The Organic & Cage-Free Myth

How many times during your grocery shopping trip do you idly scan shelves in hopes to select the most organic and environmentally-friendly product? I do this an average of 5 times per trip and most of the time it occurs in front of the egg and meat aisle. We’ve all heard that happy food comes from happy animals; therefore, these animals are not raised in cramped cages or killed inhumanly. Knowing this, I do my best to buy products that are dubbed organic by the USDA and featured the words “grass-fed” or “cage-free”. I assumed I was doing my part as an ethical carnivore until I read an article that made my rethink my buying habits.

The article featured on PETA’s site wrote:

Many organic and free-range farms cram thousands of animals together in sheds or mud-filled lots to increase profits, just as factory farms do, and the animals often suffer through the same mutilations—such as debeaking, dehorning, and castration without painkillers—that occur on factory farms (PETA).

I was really hurt by this information and felt I was being tricked by companies that trusted. I’ve always tried to buy organic beef but the FDA said that this meat can be labeled as organic as long as the cows are given organic feed; therefore, these cows are deemed organic but still sent to factory-farm feedlots to be fattened prior to slaughter.  Cows on organic dairy farms may still be kept in inhumane enclosures though their milk is labeled organic. I also read that some organic and “cage-free” chickens have their beaks cut off. According to my own opinion, this is not what I or the USDA should consider “organic”. I’ve always believed organic meant that animals were raised properly and never mistreated; however, this definition is becoming misconstrued and twisted into something more of an antonym of its core meaning.

What really is "Organic"?

The only advantage of organic products is that they do not contain antibiotics, hormones or arsenic-based addictive. The flesh may be somewhat healthier than non-organic animals but to avoid all of these unethical animal behaviors is to avoid all meat, eggs and dairy. This is difficult for someone like myself who doesn’t eat a ton of red meat but loves eggs. Realistically, there’s no win/win in this situation. I look for “organic” and “cage-free” eggs and buy from suppliers that I trust. There is no perfect answer and my advice is just to do the best you can when selecting your produce.

Lamb Burger with Greek Yogurt Dressing

I've been buggin' my friend and fellow blogger, Tony, for months now to share one of his delicious and inventive recipes! He'll describe his lasted dish in which I wipe up my drool and follow up with a "Tony, when are you going to send me this recipe for my blog?" Atlas, I am thrilled to feature one of Tony's yummy creations on my site. He is a gifted technological guru who's digital presence has thrived over the past years and has been an huge inspiration to my own blog. Check out his impressive website, Sheckiiville, and Twitter!

This lamb burger is as delicious as it is healthy and I'm about to grill up a few up this Memorial Day (FYI: Tony just informed me that if you're going to grill these, add some bread crumbs to the mixture for more patty firmness!) 

Thank you so much Tony and enjoy everyone!

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Recipe for Summer Burger with Greek Yogurt Dressing

Patty

Ground lamb

Red onions, diced

“Greek seasoning” (garlic, onion, black pepper, oregano, mustard powder, thyme)

Ground Cayenne red pepper

Fresh garlic, chopped finely

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

(Optional)

Red pepper, diced

Ground pork

Dressing

Greek yogurt

Whipped cream cheese

Cucumber, diced

Tomatoes, diced

Cantaloupe, diced

Lemon juice

Lemon zest

Before I start explaining the recipe, here are some pressure points:

·        Dressing needs to be in fridge immediately after mixing the ingredients. The burger’s temperature will make the mixture runny — and a thick, rich dressing is better.  

·        Most people under season. Also, if you have never cooked with lamb, it reacts to seasoning different from beef. So, a pinky nail-sized test meatball is recommended.

·        When cooked, the patty’s circumference will shrink, while the thickness will increase. Keep that in mind and form accordingly to bun size.

Start with the patty mixture using a 3:1 lamb to pork ratio. The pork is optional, but a 100-percent lamb burger doesn’t taste right to me. For this recipe, make it a total 16 ounces (ie: 16 ounces of lamb or 12 ounces of lamb and 4 ounces of pork).

Dice up about a fourth of a medium sized red onion. The red pepper is optional, but I think that spice adds a very interesting taste profile with the dressing. Mix that into the patty mixture.

I’m a huge believer in season it to your pleasing, so please forgive me if you hate those type of cooks. I added a 1/4 cup of the Greek seasoning, and two cloves of finely diced garlic.

(I bought a premix named “Greek seasoning.” I’ve listed what was in the ingredients at the top.)

For the olive oil and cayenne pepper, I mix those in a small bowl together. After dividing the patties into equal amounts (I made six burgers from that 16-ounce mix), I rolled each of the meatball-shaped portions into the mix, generously coating it. Then, I formed each burger patty.

Notice I haven’t added salt and pepper yet. I adjust accordingly after the taste meatball.

After you’re please with the mix, put it into the fridge, patties fully formed and ready to cook. Let it chill there for about 30 minutes.

Now work on the dressing, but add in the Greek yogurt last.

Dice equal amounts of cucumber, tomatoes and cantaloupe. Even if you don’t like one or two of those ingredients separately, an equal combination of those together brings a lovely mix and texture.

The great thing about this dressing is that you could eat it as a desert, too — so dice a generous amount. The highlight of this burger is this dressing!

Combine it with the Greek yogurt and mix. Add in a small amount of lemon juice. Then, put it back into the fridge.

After the patties have been set for about 30 minutes, cook it on a pan on medium heat.

Because it’s a summery burger, I don’t like to toast my buns with salt, butter, mayo or anything. Like stated above, the dressing should be the highlight! Still, a light toast is recommended.

Take out the dressing from the fridge and put a light coat on the bottom bun. Put the patty on the bottom bun, put more dressing on it and generously sprinkle the lemon zest. You’ll love the scent!

I’d recommend serving this with apple fries (still working on a good recipe for this) with a whipped cream and whipped cream cheese mix (whipped cream cheese alone is pretty dense). Or a nice baby greens salad mix with a mango ginger vinaigrette.

Gardening: Basil & Onions & Peas, Oh My!

Every summer I look forward to planting my garden because (1) I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with every grown vegetable and (2) I love food. My garden is essentially my child in which I'm incredibly proud of. When plant shopping, I pick my seedlings with precision and a critical eye. It would probably be unbearable for anyone to accompany me because I've been known to scan a single section for 15 minutes...or more (I have a tad case of veggie OCD) in hopes to adopt the perfect addition to my garden family. I am also prone to buying more vegetables than what will fit in my garden. It's like being at an animal shelter and having all of those adorable animals tug at your heartstrings, how can you say no?

This year my 3rd year so I've gotten an idea on what works and what doesn't (zucchini = huge success and broccoli = epic fail). I bought tomatoes (Early Girl and Cherry), cucumbers, yellow straight-neck squash, zucchinis, sweet banana peppers, baby eggplant, white and yellow onions, Brussels sprouts (curve ball), Swiss chard, Romaine lettuce, sugar snap peas, green beans and basil. Holy cow!

Here's the forest I had to cut down before I started planting:

After I broke out my machete and anaconda repellent, I finally had a blank canvas to color with basil and onions and peas (oh my!):

My boyfriend is like my personal landscaper and garden expert, he was a huge help in leveling my back bed, topping off my soil and planting. He grounds me (no pun here) when gardening because I get planting-happy and he reminds me that my children need space to thrive. I have an issue that I can't leave a lone seedling unplanted, so I had several extra pots full of tomato and pepper plants. We worked in the full sun for a solid 3 hours and I have the sun burns to prove it.

The backyard supermarket is open and ready for business:

I can't wait for everything to grow because that means new recipes and tasty new summer dishes! 

What do you plant in your garden?

                               

Banana Nut Breakfast Cookies

What if I said that you could have cookies for breakfast? Delicious cookies. For breakfast. Can you contain your excitement? I can't. What if I told you that these cookies are also healthy? Hallelujah, it's like every childhood dream that followed us into adulthood has come true.

I saw this recipe in my May issue of Fitness Magazine. After seening the words "breakfast" and "cookies", somehow the the oven was magically turned on and set at 350. They're full of fiber, iron and yumminess. A perfect start to any day. Here's the recipe:

I slightly tweaked the recipe and used two banana vs. one (more bananas = more fun) and Stevia over honey--- sadly, honey wasn't home. These cookies are  >150 calories a piece according to the recipe but will be more or less depending on how big or small you want them.

Step 1.

Ground 1 cup of ground oats in a food processor.

Ground walnuts and flax seed.

Step 2.

Mix all of the ingredients together and mash the bananas (isn't this a line from a kid's song? mash bananas, mash mash bananas, go bananas, go go bananas--- any one?)

Step 3.

Place on a well butter sprayed cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Step 4.

Let cool and eat! You have permission to enjoy these outside of breakfast.