“Is this consistent with my goals?”

Someone posted the title question on Facebook around the end of last year or the beginning of this year. It’s a good mantra for 2012.

What is the best use of my time? Should I be playing around online all of my waking, non-work hours? Some of this time is on social media, such as Facebook and various forums on topics that interest me. Sure, a social life is important, but should an online social life replace face-to-face time?

I think a well-balanced life consists of a balance of work and leisure, some socializing and some physical and mental activity. It includes a balance of online time and offline time. It also includes some alone time.

Yoga is good for the mind and body. I joined a 21-day online challenge, but soon dropped out, not because the routines were too difficult or not challenging enough, but because the videos kept buffering, regardless what I did to try to stop it. This affected my enjoyment of the experience. Strike one against online. Someone online pointed out that the whole challenge was available online. I have ordered the DVD set and am awaiting their arrival. One point for online.

I have a Y membership, but haven’t been going lately. Not good. Not only am I paying for the privilege of not going, I am missing out on the social aspect of working out with others. Another good aspect of working out live, in a gym, is the instructors can tell me if I’m doing something wrong, risking injury. When I use a video in the privacy of my home, I’m really on my own.

It is tempting to pick up a lot of extra shifts at work. This helps the budget, but too many shifts makes me tired and hampers my exercise and social life. Again, a balance is called for. A nice mix of work and play and everything else.

So…what is consistent with my goals? A nice mix of reading and writing, of working and working out and resting. Some days, of course, will be heavier on one than the other, but over the course of a week or a month, it will all even out.

A Few Recipes

I work in a group home, and sometimes the cooking falls to me. I don’t mind, as my workplace is my playground. I’ve always got willing participants to help pour and stir, and the best part for everyone is getting to eat what I make.

CORN SOUP

This was adapted from a vegetarian cookbook. I made it at work and 2 out of 4 clients loved it (the other 2 don’t love soup).

The herb amounts are approximate – I just dumped some in. I would like to try it again with fresh ginger and mint, if they are available. All that was available was fresh basil. Don’t put too much in at a time and adjust to taste, and you’ll have a personalized soup.

I used frozen corn, but the original recipe called for cooking ears of corn before doing anything else.

Ingredients

1 T vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
8 scallions, sliced
2 tsp. ground ginger
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
2 tsp. dried mint
32 oz. vegetable broth
1 ½ cups corn
2 red potatoes

Directions

Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or stock pot. Add the onions, scallion, ginger, basil, and mint, and sauté. Add the vegetable broth, then the corn and potatoes. Cook for about 30 minutes or until corn and potatoes are cooked.

Makes 8 servings.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

I tinkered with the Cranberry-Orange Muffin recipe again and made blueberry muffins at the request of a client who isn’t crazy about cranberries (not that I can blame her – cranberries are rather tart). I again used agave nectar in place of sugar and tried using unsweetened applesauce instead of vegetable oil. It made for a denser muffin, but it was still tasty. I imagine this version would be great for those who are trying to cut back on their fat intake – if they can avoid dousing the muffins with butter before they eat them.

Ingredients
3/4 cup milk (I used skim)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup blueberries (1 dry pint)

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease or spray the bottoms of the cups with some kind of shortening.

Mix milk, applesauce, egg, agave nectar, baking powder, and salt well in a large bowl (I used a wire whisk). Add the flour and mix just until moistened (I used a wooden spoon). Fold in the blueberries. Divide batter among muffin cups.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 12 servings.

POTATO AND CARROT OVEN FRIES

This is a big hit at work, and I kind of wing it with a drizzle of this and a drizzle of that. You really can do what you want with this one, and you can adjust quantities of potatoes and carrots to match the number of people you are serving. You can use whatever herb blend you have on hand. This may be good with fresh herbs. The important thing is to cut the carrots and potatoes to somewhere close to the same size, so they cook at the same rate.

4 out of 4 clients gave this a thumbs up.

Ingredients

Carrots, cut into sticks.
Potatoes, cut into sticks.
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Balsamic vinegar (if I get a hold of malted vinegar, I’ll try that)
McCormick Perfect Pinch Vegetable herb blend
Olive oil cooking spray

Directions

Place carrot and potato sticks into a large bowl. Drizzle on some EVOO and balsamic vinegar and sprinkle on some herb blend. Toss until the vegetables are well coated. Spray some cooking spray on a baking sheet or two (depending on how many fries you are making). Spread the potatoes and carrots onto the baking sheet(s). Bake at 350 degrees until vegetables are cooked (I made tiny fries and it took an hour to cook; your oven may cook differently).

Improvised menu plan

I started the year following a menu plan in the January 1012 issue of “Oxygen” magazine. Several people in a Facebook group were doing it (and I don’t know if they still are – we’ve all stopped posting about it).

The article starts on page 94 of the magazine (in case you want to follow the plan) and is called “10 Pounds Down!” The idea is to eat clean (non-processed or processed as little as possible and without preservatives) foods and lots of canned tuna in several different ways so it doesn’t get boring, and you'll lose weight in 4 weeks. Other forms of protein are also included, such as chicken breast, pork, and haddock.

I started modifying recipes right away, because I don’t particularly like some things that were called for, such as avocado (taste is too strong for me). Other things, I thought I didn’t like, but tried anyway – sardines (which I had probably last eaten when I was 8) and cottage cheese (I’m not sure if I had ever tried this). I’ve already ended up using the menu as a guideline and did what I wanted, keeping my foods as clean as possible.

I’ve found a good, filling snack is 1/2 cup cottage cheese mixed with 1/4 cup trail mix (pretty much any nut-fruit trail mix will do, but I like the Cherry-Chocolate Trail Mix from Whole Foods).

Not on the Oxygen menu, but I also tried carambola (star fruit – a bit bland, like kiwi) and pomegranate (yum!).

KALE-APPLE STIR FRY

This is a modification of a suggestion in the Oxygen magazine article. I liked it and will probably tamper with it some more in the future.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
3 c. chopped kale
1 medium apple, diced
1 T onion, chopped
1 T soy or pine nuts
1 c. cooked brown rice

Directions:

Heat olive oil in frying pan. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir fry until cooked.

Makes 1 serving.

CRANBERRY-ORANGE MUFFINS

I changed the original recipe for these muffins to use agave nectar, instead of sugar, making it a cleaner product. I’ve found the extra fluid provided by the nectar is absorbed nicely by the whole wheat flour.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup cranberries
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1/2 cup walnuts or other nuts, chopped, if desired

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease or spray the bottoms of the cups with some kind of shortening.

Mix orange juice, olive oil, egg, agave nectar, baking powder, and salt well in a large bowl. Add the flour and mix just until moistened. Fold in the cranberries, orange rind, and walnuts. Divide batter among muffin cups. Alternately, you can place in prepared loaf pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 12 servings.

Cranberry-Orange Muffins

If I have a holiday tradition, it has to be making Cranberry-Orange Muffins or Bread. Bread takes a little longer to bake and makes a nice, neat package for gifting. Muffins offer individual servings, and you don't have to worry about crumbles as you do with cutting the bread.

The basic recipe comes from Betty Crocker's Cookbook, New Edition (2005), from their Blueberry Muffins recipe on page 67. I made some substitutions based on a recipe I followed years ago and cannot recall where I got it (maybe an older Betty Crocker Cookbook).

My recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour - or whole wheat flour* - or 1 cup each flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh cranberries**
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or other nuts, if desired

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease or spray the bottoms of the cups with some kind of shortening.

Mix orange juice, vegetable oil, and egg well in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until ingredients are moistened. Fold in the remaining ingredients. Divide batter among muffin cups.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins

*if using whole wheat flour, add a little more orange juice to mix in the dry ingredients and to make the batter a good consistency - you don't want it too stiff or too runny

**some recipes call for chopped cranberries, but I leave them whole without any issues

This is a most excellent recipe for baking in a toaster oven, baking 6 muffins at a time.

Tomato Basil Soup

I decided to make some soup today. Most of the time, I throw in a little of this and a little of that and a bouillon cube or two and call it soup. Today, I thought I would use a recipe - and ended up blending two recipes together.

I used a recipe on page 200 of Betty Crocker: The 300 Calorie Cookbook and a recipe on page 49 of Tosca Reno's The Clean-Eat Diet Cookbook. I ended up with the following recipe:

Ingredients:

Olive oil cooking spray
2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, assorted varieties
1 T. olive oil
1 c. carrots, sliced
1/2 c. onion, chopped
4 c. lite, fat-free chicken broth
1/4 c. fresh basil, chopped
1/2 c. orzo pasta
2 c. kale
1 tsp. honey
3 T. lemon juice
1 tsp. red pepper sauce

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray. Cut tomatoes into smaller pieces and spread out on baking sheet. Roast in oven for 20 minutes.

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven. Saute carrots and onion. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in tomatoes and basil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.

It made a lot, probably 8 or more servings. I ran the recipe through a calorie counter, and it comes to about 185 calories a serving. The estimated cost per serving is $2.25.

I will be eating this all week. And will have to freeze some of it.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Breakfast

Tosca Reno (in The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged!) suggests boiling eggs for breakfast and other meals each day. She also suggests pouring boiling water over oatmeal and letting it set for 10 minutes. She says the oatmeal is cooked and ready to eat by then.

One egg is enough for me. Sometimes I'll boil a bunch of eggs to store in the fridge and eat one for breakfast and maybe one later on in the day. Sometimes, I like my egg fried or scrambled or poached.

With that egg, I've been having either one slice of whole grain toast with a natural nut butter (currently, that's cashew butter) or a bowl of oatmeal or multi-grain hot cereal. With an egg, a full serving of cereal is too much, so I make a little less. I've found that Tosca's method works to partially cook the oatmeal, but that it's too cool for me to eat. I still have to pop it into the microwave for about a minute. And I find I have to watch oatmeal in the microwave, as it tends to volcano rather quickly.

Other mornings (or for lunch), I'll have Fiber One pancakes (sometimes with chia seeds mixed in) with blueberries or mixed berries. And I'll top it off with a little real maple syrup, usually less than a recommended serving worth.

Teavana!

I love Teavana teas. They are expensive, but I don't know that they are all that more expensive than other good loose teas. I can buy a canister's worth and it will last me quite a while.

I love their chai/chai blend the best of all. This consists of a blend of White Ayurvedic Chai (their most popular tea) and Samurai Chai Mate. The salesperson talked me into getting German rock sugar, saying it tasted much better than regular sugar in their teas. I have found that Teavana teas taste awesome without sweetener of any kind. Nor do I need milk or lemon or anything else in them. Since plain tea has about 2 calories per cup, I can drink all I want, being mindful of any caffeine content they may have.

I have even bought a little mesh strainer ball, which I carry to work. I carry whatever tea I want in a little plastic container. I can have the convenience of instant tea any time I want a cup. All I have to do is heat up some water, add the tea, wait for it to steep (3 minutes, in most cases), and enjoy!