Tastes of the Season

It's officially Fall. Is anyone other than me secretly sad about this? Don't get me wrong. I love the Fall but my true love is Summer. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I'm a July baby, but I really do love the Summer. Summer means vacations, warm weather (although this year it meant HOT weather), grilling, dining al fresco, fireworks, tans, flip flops, dresses, peaches, berries, smoothies...aaahhh. I could go on and on. It just makes give me the warm fuzzies inside.

Source

Fall however is my second favorite season for multiple reasons. The beautiful colors of the tree leaves changing, football (GO RAVENS!), sweet potatoes, Halloween (have I expressed my Obsession with candy? It's a real problem), PUMPKIN, apples, and just the feel and smell of the cool, but not too cold air. Did you notice that I mentioned a lot of food? You can tell where my heart really is...my belly!

After opening an e-mail this morning from Real Simple, I came across this quote:

“Growth is the only evidence of life.”

― John Henry Newman

Now I know that I could get deep here and discuss personal growth and how learning and growing your knowledge is the key to life but I'm interpreting this quote in the most literal meaning. Ecological growth. Plant growth is the evidence of life and health on this planet. With that being said, I would like to share a list of the wonderful life that this season produces in the form of Fall crops.

Fall Fruits and Veggies:

• Acorn Squash
• Apples
• Broccoli
• Brussel Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Collards
• Figs
• Garlic
• Grapes
• Kale
• Leeks
• Mushrooms
• Pear
• Pumpkin
• Persimmons
• Sweet Potatoes
• Swiss Chard
• Winter Squash

Look out for these fall crops at your local market or farmers market. To find a farmer's market in your area visit Local Harvest @ http://www.localharvest.org/ . For farmer's markets in Maryland go to http://www.mda.state.md.us/md_products/farmers_market_dir.php.

My plan is to do Feature posts for each, or most, of the Fall produce listed above and discuss nutritional information, how to buy and store, and of course how to prepare them in a meal with recipes included.

What is you favorite thing about the Fall season? What are your favorite foods and recipes for Fall? Please comment and share!!!

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Breakfast:

Chobani Peach Greek Yogurt, Organic Raspberries, Blueberry Almond Granola

(I'm trying to hold on to to peach for as long as possible)

Added chopped almonds and chia seeds

I also had a cup, or two, of Creme Brulee flavored coffee from Wegmans but I drank it before I could take a picture. I was one of those mornings.

Mexicano Cravings

Well I'm almost caught up on my posts. The internet at the house has been very spotty for the last week or so and I haven't been able to upload any of my pictures to Blogger or Flickr to complete any of my blog posts. Last night after lab I finally had enough after waiting 30 minutes for my pictures to only half upload and decided to look into getting the 3g hotspot service for my Droid Incredible. The hotspot is a new feature offered since the new 2.2 system update but of course additional charges apply. (you are killing me Verizon) Since I don't actually pay for internet at the house I decided to spend the $20/month and check it out for awhile to see if I like it. Plus I'll be able to have internet service on my labtop wherever I go now. So far so good. It's not quite as fast as I would have hoped but it gets the job done. I'm still not completely sold but we'll see how it goes.

I was feeling the pumpkin fever for breakfast yesterday. I made 2 batches of rolled oats on Tuesday morning and had the second serving yesterday. I've decided not to blog about my Tuesdays due to my very LONG day of work and then class until 10:30PM. By the time that I drive the 30 minutes home, get settled, and catch up with the bf I just don't have time to upload the photos (which are usually some time of leftovers) and write a detailed blog.

Oat Mix:

1/2 cup rolled oats (pre-cooked and warmed in the microwave at the office)

1/2 cup vanilla soy milk

1 tsp chia seeds

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 Wegmans whole wheat pumpkin muffin

1 Tbs Pumpkin Butter (info to come)

I had a banana to try to fight off the crazy cravings in my head (not my tummy) after a conversation with work peeps about a local restaurant. I wasn't even hungry after the pumpkin gloriness from the morning but I was hoping that it would help.

No such luck. By lunchtime I was sick of fighting the urges and by that time I really was hungry and didn't pack lunch so I took a trip across the street and came back with this...

Can anybody guess where this is from?

Chipotle!

Probably not the healthiest choice for lunch but with lab in the evening and the strict no food policy in the lab I was able to justify a big lunch to myself and I haven't had Chipotle in over a month. It was worth every bite. Nutrition Facts from Chipotle Nutriton Calculator. Holy Sodium!

I wasn't very hungry after my lunch so I decided to stop at Starbucks

Grande soy, no whip, pumkin spice latte

It was gone before I pulled in the parking lot on campus. mmmmmm so good.

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Happy Thursday! Tonight I have the trainer after work and then I'm headed to support some friends for the Susan G. Komen  3 day walk for the cure at Boozin for Boobs at Riptide by the Bay in Fells Point. Stop by and show your support if you are in the area!

1718 Thames St

Baltimore, MD

Asian Tofu and Sugar Snap Peas




Picture is approx. 2 servings without rice

 

Asian Tofu with Sugar Snap Peas

Ingredients:

14 oz package Extra Firm Tofu (I used Wegmans brand)

8 oz Sugar Snap Peas

2 tsp Sesame Oil divided into 2 parts

2 Tbs Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce

1 Tbs Rice Wine Vinegar

1 Tbs Mirin

1 Tbs Honey

2 cloves Garlic, 1 grated, 1 minced

1 Tbs Ginger Root, grated

1 tsp crushed red pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Drain and press tofu (About.com directions here)

2. Cut tofu into cubes

3. Heat sesame oil in pan over medium-high heat, add tofu cubes and saute until brown, remove from pan and set aside.

4. Add remaining sesame oil to pan along with sugar snap peas and saute until tender but firm.

5. Mix remaining indregients in bowl and wisk.

6. Add tofu back to pan along with sauce mixture and cook until sauce thickens.

Serve over brown rice, noodles, or salad and enjoy.

Optional: Add sesame seeds to garnish

Serves 4-5, 5 oz servings. Prep time 40 minutes. Cook time ~20 minutes.

(Nutritional Information to come)

Tofu

Purple Meatless Monday

First let me start by saying GO RAVENS!  Congrats to my boys on their win over the Jets. It wasn't a pretty win but it was still a win! Yaaaay!



The day began with some instant oatmeal w/ chia seeds, pumpkin butter, granola, cinnamon, and vanilla soy milk. I am NOT a fan of the instant stuff. Bleck!

Our firm was given a catered lunch by Panera from our process serving company. Unfortunately I didn't bring lunch and wasn't going to pass on the opportunity to get a free one. The conference room smelled of lunch meats, onions, and warm bread. Maybe not appetizing to some but I wanted in. As much as I wanted to dive in the smorgasbord of sammies I refrained from the turkey, italian cold cuts, tuna and chicken salads, and went with a half of a veggie sandwich on sundried tomato bread, a side of greek salad, a pickle, and a small piece of the multi grain baguette.  

The sandwich was OK. There was a strong cilantro flavored spread that I wasn't a big fan of but the bread was wonderful. Cut a little thick so it was hard to get into my mouth but it was soft and oh so fresh.

I also had one of these. I tried really hard not to eat the whole thing because it was humongous but by the end of the day there wasn't a crumb left. Shhhhh

Of course we had to go out to our favorite football spot JD's Smokehouse and we had to get there early to get a good spot so there was no time to make or eat dinner beforehand. On the way to JD's I stopped to take a picture of my snack for my walk to the square. Larabar yumminess.

Somebody else decided that it was time to take a picture too. Busted taking a picture of my food. Hehe

As much as I wanted to have one of the guy's chicken wings I stuck to my Meatless Monday goal and ate my Margherita Pizza. It was garlicky and crispy and surprisingly good considering where I was. It was a fine choice and I'd probably order it again. Maybe for more MNF games.





blurry pic from my Droid. poor bar lighting :(

  Overall Meatless Monday was a success especially with the Ravens win. It really wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be but it was a challenge to make good choices with the catered lunch and dinner at a bar but it can be done with a little will power.

Hunger Action Month

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was pretty good. Friday night I enjoyed a relaxing night in so that I could wake up nice and refreshed to volunteer Saturday morning. September is Hunger Action Month. Throughout Hunger Action Month America's food banks call upon communities to take part in the "30 Ways In 30 Days" campaign, which states 30 ways to fight hunger in the 30 days of September. You can choose to follow the campaign's suggestions or you can pledge to help in your own way.

I decided to become involved with Hunger Action Month by volunteering at my local food bank. I have volunteered there once before and really enjoyed the experience so I recruited the guy to come with me and participate during their Saturday weekend volunteer session.

We had originally signed up to volunteer in the new Community Kitchen. The Community Kitchen is a training program for a group of students to learn about culinary arts, nutrition, knife skills, and prepare them for the work force. The meals that are prepared in the program are made from the donated food,   frozen, and distributed throughout various programs in the state. Unfortunately the program wasn't open this particular weekend so we worked the conveyor in the warehouse sorting the food donations into various categories such as baking needs, tomatoes, canned prep, water, candy, etc. They were a little low on the donations because of the slow summer months so we finished early and went on a tour of the facility afterwards and learned some interesting fact about the Maryland Food Bank and it's programs. It was a great experience and it felt great to give back know that the service will contribute to helping the local community. Last year alone the Maryland Food Bank distributed 18.6 MILLION pounds of food across the state to feed the 455,601 Marylanders living at or below the federal poverty level, and hope to reach 20 million this year!

To learn more about the Maryland Food Bank, it's programs, how to get involved, or how to donate visit here. To find a local food bank near you visit here

Front of building

the conveyor belt

My volunteer partner

Pack that water!

The Three P's

Happy Friday! How was everybody's week? Mine was pretty good considering that it was a 4 day week. Yesterday began like this:

Multi-grain english muffin. Half with Crofter's Superfruit Spread, the other half with Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter and Coffee of course

A banana about an hour later

Lunch:

Food Should Taste Good Multigrain chips

With a side of guacamole and  insalata caprese

Munched on some of this...

Oh office snacks

Caramel Corn with peanuts YUM

After work I met with the trainer at the gym. She changed my routine a little which was very refreshing. I love switching it up. Doing the same thing everytime is so boring and I don't get the same results after doing the same routine over and over again. I'll post the workout once I figure out all of the moves that she had me doing. I used lots of dumbells, medicine ball, stability ball, bosu ball, and jump rope.

After the gym I headed straight to Whole Foods in Harbor East and picked up the ingredients for dinner...

The 3 P's were Pork, Peaches, and Punkin Ale

 Ingredients for Bourbon Glazed Pork and Peaches

Bourbon, Honey, Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce, Black Pepper, Ground Ginger, Crushed Red Pepper, Oil  

Toss Pork and Peaches in mixture to coat

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Side of Purple Kale

Check out those grill marks!

I pretty much followed the original recipes so here are the links

Bourbon-Glazed Pork Chops

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1036097

Sauteed Kale Recipe

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/sauteed-kale-recipe/index.html

Wolf!!!

Hope everyone has a good weekend. Cheers!

What are you up to this weekend?