The Cake

My adventure in making a white cake with butter cream frosting. (errrrr orange/purple/white cake).





Started with sugar, eggs and butter.
Added milk and flour bit by bit while mixing in between. Should have made sure milk was at room temperature.

Added Orange food dye for the first two cakes.

and purple for the next batch.

 The three tiers! Let them cool in

fridge over night, and then cut off the edges (some of them may have been slightly burnt....) oops! But no biggie since, we're cutting them off!

Start the layering process. Added straws to help support the layers.

The left side is the crumb frosting which I did the day before the real frosting, which is to the right.

Added more milk to the last layer of frosting to help make it as smooth as possible.

Tempered chocolate and added it to a black (food coloring) butter cream frosting. Then heated the frosting on the double broiler and poured it on the cake.

 whipped frosting

 got lazy... easier to hold the bowl in my lap!

 mmmm....

 that bag of sugar was almost empty by the end...

Recipe: Cabbage Soup

So here is a quick entry for basic Cabbage soup

Chop up: 

3 Carrots

5 Stalks of Celery

1 Onion

2TBS chopped Garlic

Place veggies in a large pan or dutch oven
Add 1/4 cup chicken broth or 1-2 TBS olive oil

Saute for about 5 min.

Chop up 1 head of cabbage as shown below ( I did two as I was making  double recipe).

 Chop in half

Cut out stalks

Slice into thin strips. *Note: I did this very quickly so my cabbage was quite large in my soup. If you are looking to impress, be careful to make sure all of the strips of cabbage  are separated from one another.

Add Cabbage to your bowl.

Add 6-8 cups of Chicken Broth or water with a 2 cubes of chicken bullion

Boil/Simmer for about an hour or until the cabbage is tender enough for you to enjoy!

Blog: No Sugar makes life a lot sweeter

It's incredible. I feel so much more free without sugar and/or sweets. I thought it would be awful but I find myself so much less anxious about food.

Take for example tonight. I've been baking a cake and I cut off the edges so there was a heap of cake scraps left over. Normally, I would have helped myself to more than a few of them. I would have then eaten dinner, but been secretly craving more cake. Post dinner, I would have gone back for more cake pieces until I felt overly full and high on sugar. And even then after being sickly full,  while going to bed, I still would have been wanting more cake.

Now I haven't had sweets for 9 weeks, and I don't really see myself going back to them anytime soon. I don't really even crave goodies any more. When I want something sweet, I go for yogurt with fruit, or frozen mango. Sometimes I'll even make myself white bread for a treat. But that's way more satisfying than straight sugary treats are.

I'm not saying I'll never eat sweets again, I'm just saying, for the time being, life is sweeter without the sugar!

Recipe: No Sugar Added Banana Bread

You'll need a lot of bananas for this one, but I find that if I dig through my freezer I'm able to dig up some lost soldiers.

Sadly I don't have a picture of the finished product.... it got eaten too quickly.


But the ingredients are....

Dry:
2 Cups flour, (can be whole wheat)
1 cup oatmeal
2 TBS cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 TBS Flax seed, or any other nutty addition

Wet:
6-8 Frozen Bananas
1/4cup Banana Syrup*
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup apple sauce
1 cup plain yogurt, buttermilk or milk (I had some left over half&half I needed to use... yum)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9x11 pan with oil or butter
Microwave frozen bananas. Then transfer the to a strainer over a sauce pan and let sit.
Mix the dry ingredients together
Mix the wet ingredients together except for the bananas and banana syrup

Press out as much of the juice from the bananas as possible. Transfer the sauce pan to the stove, on high heat. Bring to a boil and let boil for about 5 minutes. It should look quite frothy through all of it, just keep stirring it every so often to keep it from burning (although I'm not completely convinced it will burn as it has a lot of liquid). After about 10min it should be thick enough
Pour liquid into wet ingredients and add bananas, mix well.
Add  the wet ingredients to the dry, but don't beat, just stir until everything is wet (batter will be lumpy)

Pour  batter into prepared pan, bake 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

Recipe: Healthy and Lite Coleslaw

This is an amazingly fresh and healthy 'coleslaw.'

I put coleslaw in quotes because with out mayonnaise it's probably not actually a coleslaw but it's the the only coleslaw I like! (I can't stand mayo)

It's super quick and easy and is really fresh.

Ingredients:
~A few apples
~1-2 tbs lemon juice
~2-4 cups shredded green cabbage
~2-4 cups shredded red cabbage
~1/2-1 cup craisins


Vinaigrette
~2 Tbs Olive Oil
~2 Tbs Red Wine or Balsamic Vinegar
~1 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
~1-2 TBS Mustard (Spicy brown or whichever you prefer)
~ (you can also add a tbs or two of honey to sweeten it up a bit)


Directions
Chop up apples

Add lemon juice to keep them from turning brown and for flavor.

Chop up the Cabbage (I only had green and didn't do a great job as i was in a hurry!)

Mix the vinaigrette together. Whisk it until everything looks incorporated.

Add apples, vinaigrette, and Craisins to the cabbage.
Toss everything together and you're done!

Recipe: Chicken Tikki Masala w/Lentils and Rice

I have wanted to try to make this and I was very pleased with the results! The sauce was delicious, but without the cilantro and fresh ginger, the chicken wasn't as awesome as it could have been.

Started with the chicken the day before. Chopped it up into cubes.

Then time to make the marinade.  It called for all yogurt, but I didn't want to waste my expensive yogurt on a marinade (ok I know it's not a waste, but it's pricey!) so I used half milk half yogurt

Then add in the salt, lemon juice, chili powder, ground ginger (was supposed to be fresh...oops), garlic, and ground coriander.

 Add the chicken and stick in the fridge for 24hrs.

Next day. Chopped up two onions into thin slices.












Add some more seasoning! (I don't know why we actually had Cardamon seeds, but I did!). The recipe called for 'bruised cardamon" so I just hit it with the side of my knife a few times...

For the sauce, which called for whole cream, I used part half-and-half and part 1% milk. It cuts down on fat and calories, and it was plenty thick for me!

The recipe also called for tomato paste + water... I didn't have paste, so I used tomato sauce (about half a can) and it worked well!

Add it all to the pot: 

I let it cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally on medium heat while I got the chicken out of the fridge. Turned off the stove so I could focus on the chicken!

I took the  cubes, and put them on skewers and placed them in the oven which had been pre-heated on High Broil.  I used a small cookie sheet with raised sides so that the skewers actually held the chicken OFF THE FOIL!! It made for the EASIEST clean-up, so easy in fact, i took pictures of it.

But here are the skewers in the oven. Every 10'or so I'd rotate them around using tongs.

 Finished chicken:

 Pushed the chicken off the skewers into the sauce. Turn the heat back on to low-medium, cover and let simmer for a few minutes for it all to come together..... mmmmmmm

Easy Clean-Up!
1. Notice, no burned mess or pieces of chicken wasted because they got stuck to the foil!
2. It's foil, so all I did was wrap it up and throw it away! (Ok I know it's not a very green way to cook, but I figured I saved a lot of water by not having to scrub and soak a few times... it's a reach, but I'm going with it)
 and ...






Voila! Clean pan... well almost... one rip in the foil, but i just wiped that juice off! :D

Also made lentils. I learned a great tip for cooking lentils from America's Test Kitchen: Pre-soak lentils in salt water for about an hour. Then drain them and they can be used then, or kept in the fridge for a few days. Why is this important? Well it's not important for taste, but it relaxes up the skin of the lentil so that when they cook they don't burst and turn into mush. It's so nice, to have lentils remain in lentil shape!

Ok back to the marsala sauce: This is when you'd add the cilantro if you had it. It would give it some nice color. Next time I might add some sweet peas as well.

On a plate ready to eat!! Yummy!!

Original Recipes from, "Complete Indian Cooking" by Hamlyn

Chicken Tikka
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 TBS grated freshe ginger root
2 garlic cloves, inced
1 teaspoond chili powder
1 TBS ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp salt
4TBS lemon juice
2 TBS oil
1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts, skinned, boned and cubed

To Garnish:
1 onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, quartered
4 lemon twists

Mix together in a bowl all the ingredients except the chicken. Drop the chicken cubes into the marinade. Cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight.

Thread the chicekn on to 4 skewers and cook under a preheated hot broiler for 5-6 minutes, turning frequently.

Remove the chicken from the skewers and arrange on individual serving plates. Garnish with onion, tomato, and lemon to serve.

Serves 4, Prep time: 15 minutes, plus overnight marinating time, Cooking time: 5-6 minutes on grill.

Chicken Tikki Masala

Chicken
Chicken Tikka, marinated and threaded on to skewers but not cooked
2 TBS fresh shopped cilantro leaves
juice of 1/2 lime

Marsala Sauce
4 TBS ghee or vegetable oil
2 onions, thinly slices
1-inch piece of fresh ginger root, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cardaoms, bruised
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder, or to taste
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 TBS tomato paste
4 TBS hot water
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

To garnish
fresh cilantro leaves
slices of lie


Make the masala sauce by heating the ghee or vegetable oil on a large flameproof casserole dish; add the onions, ginger, and the garlic and cook over a gentle heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, until softened but not colored.

Add the spices and fry, stirring, for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant, then add the cream, tomato paste, water, sugar and salt. Bring slowly to the boil over a moderate heat, stirring, then lower the heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand while cooking the chicken.

Barbecue or broil the Chicken Tikka according to the recipe instructions on page 78, and then remove the cubes of chicken from the skewers.

Tip the chicken into the masala sauce, return to a low heat and simmer, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped cilantro leaves and lime juice, and taste for seasoning. Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro leaves and slices of lime and accompanied by plain boiled rice, chapatis or naan bread.

Serves 4
Prep time: 20 minutes

Clipboard:The aroma of the cardamom is contained within the seeds - small black seeds within the papery pod. Cardamom is related to ginger and is widely grown in the tropical regions of India.
Cook time40-45 minutes

Blog: Diet Starts Tomorrow! (Always does...) No but for real this time

Ok so I think it's time I mapped out my plan.  This diet is less of a 'fad diet' and more of an 'awareness exercise.'
I'm not planning to stick to the strictest portion of it for more than 7 days.

Goal: Recognize how much 'sugar added' I eat every day
Caveats: Will still use Gu  replenish and recovery  powder for during and post workouts

Week 1: Absolutely NO added Sugar foods. Everything from ketchup to cereal to sausages will be out, unless of course they don't contain any of the following:

• Agave nectar, Brown sugar, Cane crystals, Cane sugar, Corn sweetener, Corn syrup, Crystalline fructose,  Dextrose, Evaporated cane juice, Fructose, Fruit juice concentrates, Glucose, High-fructose corn syrup, Honey, Invert sugar. Lactose. Maltose, Malt syrup, Molasses, Raw sugar, Sucrose, Sugar, Syrup 

 From: 

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/added-sugar-on-food-labels/

I'm not going to worry about sugar that naturally occur in foods quite yet. I've done a little reading on GI indexes and I haven't done enough research to make create an informed eating plan based upon the indexes.  

The Glycemic Index rates how much a food affects your blood sugar from 1 to 100. You can get a feel for what foods are high on the GI here:  

http://www.high-fiber-health.com/glycemicindex.html

Anything lower than 55 is in the good zone, meaning it won't disrupt blood glucose levels too much.

Things that make a food have a lower GI rating:

Whole Wheat, Whole Bran, less ground, closer to the way nature created it

More fat and/or protein present will slow digestion

More acidity present will limit glucose absorption into the blood

But the more I read, the more I find out that GI is not the whole story. The Glycemic Load is just as important. The following article, quickly explains the difference, but here was one good quote from it: 

 "However, the average serving size of a baked potato is about 150 grams (5.3 oz) and contains 17 grams of carbohydrate. Conversely, a Mars® candy bar serving size is only 60 grams (2.1 oz) but contains 40 grams of carbohydrate. The boiled potato has a glycemic load of 17, while the Mars bar is 26. Thus, even though the potato has a higher glycemic index, the Mars® candy bar has a greater effect on blood glucose than the potato even though the size of the Mars® candy bar is less than half that of the potato. Dr. Jeukendrup, a respected sports nutrition researcher, reports that foods with a glycemic load of > 20 are high, 11-19 are medium, and < 10 are low (8). The following table lists some common foods with their corresponding glycemic index and glycemic loads. http://www.nsca-lift.org/HotTopic/download/Glycemic%20Load.pdf

So it looks like Glycemic Load is pretty important as well. But alas, I have digressed.

Ok, so NO SUGAR ADDED diet starts tomorrow. Just got back from Sams, loaded up on a lot of fresh and wholesome food. Here's my shopping list:

Bag of Pre-cut, pre-washed Romaine