Anyways, here are some pictures of food I've eaten in the past two weeks. Most of them were taken with my cell phone. I'M NOT SORRY.
Okay I need to get back to work for real now. EXPECT A EURO POST SOON. I AIN'T LYIN.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Just checking in...
Okay, I swear I will get my post about Greece and Hungary by the end of the week. I've just been swamped with school work...and catching up on Once Upon a Time (WHICH IS ON NETFLIX NOW WOOHOO) before the new season starts. DON'T HATE. But seriously I will write that post...
Anyways, here are some pictures of food I've eaten in the past two weeks. Most of them were taken with my cell phone. I'M NOT SORRY.
One of my fave healthy dinners: Sauteed shrimp, brown rice with peas, and steamed carrots. Filling and delicious!
Another one of my favorite healthy choices: Turkey burger (I made the patties myself!) on an English muffin with oven baked white sweet potato fries. It's like McDonalds...but without the misery!
From the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire: a scotch egg! They should rename it...um...deep fried breakfast. It was delishh.
From the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire: TURKEY LEG. I thought I would be able to finish this on my own but I was sadly mistaken. I'LL DO IT NEXT TIME. LIMITATIONS ARE ONLY IN OUR MINDS.
I made this super simple bread (FROM SCRATCH) this week to go with my roommate's beef stew. I didn't get a picture of it, and it didn't look QUITE like this...but it was still sososooo yummy!
Okay I need to get back to work for real now. EXPECT A EURO POST SOON. I AIN'T LYIN.
Anyways, here are some pictures of food I've eaten in the past two weeks. Most of them were taken with my cell phone. I'M NOT SORRY.
Okay I need to get back to work for real now. EXPECT A EURO POST SOON. I AIN'T LYIN.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Pasta a la Procrastination
Okay, this blog post is not about food from Europe. But I wasn't really feeling inspired by all of my iPod photos of the seven different versions of Greek Salad I ate. Don't worry, I'LL WRITE IT. I just figured I would cleanse the palate with a recipe.
So I made this delicious pasta for lunch yesterday:
(Yes, that is the comforter on my bed. Our kitchen doesn't have windows, and my bedroom gets good lighting during lunch time. GET OVER IT.)
This recipe is actually one that I MADE UP. WOAH THERE MELANIE, SLOW DOWN, WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS, CHOPPED? No, voice in my head. I just threw a bunch of things that I was craving in a pan. Jeez.
The real story behind this pasta is pretty pathetic, too. Basically, I'm easily distracted in my Music History class. I sit down, open up my computer, set up a document for note taking, and then proceed to drool at all of the recipes on Pinterest. I don't know what it was, but I was like HARDCORE craving pasta. So I searched the tags for "healthy pasta" (because I am trying to be healthy now...but that's a whole other post!), and I was just not feelin' any of the pins I was seeing. I was craving something really specific...so I was once again distracted from our lecture on Oratorios, and started making a list of things I wanted in my dream pasta. This is what I came up with:
EVOO
Chicken
Mushrooms (sliced)
Garlic (minced)
Some cooking wine
Teensy bit of ragu
Basil
Little bit of cream?
1.) Thaw chicken in the microwave? Maybe boiling water?
2.) Dice up chicken real good. Cook it?
3.) Heat up some EVOO, drop some garlic and mushrooms into dat pan
4.) Deglaze w/ some crappy cooking wine.
5.) Throw some ragu in there. Heat it all up.
6.) Stir in some light cream cream? Like a tbsp...
7.) Mix it all up with the pasta that you should have been cooking this whole time.
8.) Toss in some low fat mozzarella and parmesan because whatever.
9.) Steal some basil from your roommate's basil plant, chiffonade that shit, and throw it in.
VOILA.
So that was a..uhh...rough outline of the recipe. It wound up being a tad different...but if you wanted to follow it step by step I'm pretty sure it would be the exact same dish. But you know what? I made an effort to take pictures of everything I did, SO YOU'RE GONNA SEE THE GAME, PLAY BY PLAY.
This is the cast of characters, mise en place version, minus the low-fat mozzerella and parmesan I threw in at the end. You get the idea. Also, GET OVER THE RAGU. I can feel you judging me silently through your computer screen. And don't hate on that jar of garlic, either. My mom minced that shit FRESH just for me.
The first thing I did was thaw the chicken breast I was working with, and then sliced it into cubes. See, we're using chicken breast. It's already off to a healthy start! I threw that into a pan coated with olive oil, along with some chopped up mushrooms and garlic. I cooked it all up with some Salt n Pepa, until the chicken was mostly done and the mushrooms were tender.
Side note: I am partially obsessed with mushrooms. If you don't like mushrooms, I respect that. But also I hate you. Just kidding.
After I got the goodies all cooked up, I threw in some of the cooking wine I bought back in June, because why the hell not. Also, I don't think that cooking wine is such a terrible thing...I'm not allowed to buy real wine yet sooo this is a good compromise. And I'm sorry, but if you give me a bottle of fancy white wine I'm not going to be like "OOOH PERFECT FOR MY PASTA DISH". I'm gonna put it in a plastic cup and drink it in my bath tub.
...this post just got weirdly personal.
Anyways, after the wine cooked down, I threw in some Ragu. Yeah yeah, I know. It's what we had in the fridge. I'M IN COLLEGE. Although, if I were making a version of this for more than one person, I would maybe use canned tomato sauce that is not seasoned.
I waited for everyone in the pan to become friends before adding a touch of light cream. It was maybe 1 tablespoon. I have no regrets. THERE AIN'T NO SHAME IN MY GAME.
In the mean time, I drained my pasta that had been cooking this whole time and threw it in a bowl. I used pasta that is "made with vegetables". Which is not really any more special than regular pasta. Except it is enriched...so there are some nutrients in it from the "vegetables" that aren't in regular pasta. Plus, I straight up hate whole wheat pasta. I might give this a try with the pasta that has fiber added. We'll see.
Besides, my nutritionist told me I'm allowed to eat pasta. SUCK IT, MOM.
Anyways, I put the sauce with the pasta and went to grab all the extra yummies for the finished product.
This basil plant belongs to one of my roommates. I'm super jealous of it, because I'm OBSESSED with basil. I almost took the basil without asking her...almost. I mean, I asked first. Obviously she was cool with it...because she has a whole basil plant.
I took a gratuitous shot of the chiffonade'd basil, because I'M OBSESSED WITH IT.
I also threw in some parmesan (from the plastic jar...ONCE AGAIN, I'M IN COLLEGE) and some shredded low fat mozzarella. They were totally unnecessary. Sooo...maybe next time I will leave it out and focus on the basil.
And once again, here is the same shot of the photo at the beginning of the post, because I was too hungry to take more than one picture of the finished product. But let me tell you, IT WAS SO GOOD. I think the cooking wine really made all the difference...because otherwise it would have been Ragu with chicken on pasta. Lame.
Here's why I think it's healthy: Chicken breast? That's a lean protein, and I used about 3 ounces--which is a normal serving. Mushrooms and garlic? Very few calories, but TONS of flavor. A splash of cooking wine? PLEASE. A cup of that stuff is only 20 calories. I checked. The ragu? Not so sure about this one, because I didn't check the label...but generally with tomato sauces (especially plain canned sauce), they are low on calories. Because it's made from tomatoes. So far, the bulk of the calories is coming from the chicken. I threw in the light cream because, you know what? It's light. And honestly, it bumped up the sauce with not even one tablespoon. I combined that with the low fat mozzarella and parmesan to count as a serving of dairy. And I underestimated the amount of pasta I need by kind of a lot, so the portion of pasta was a totally moderate one. Not bad! I felt totally guilt free about eating this for lunch.
I really should have taken more pictures of this dish.
So I made this delicious pasta for lunch yesterday:
(Yes, that is the comforter on my bed. Our kitchen doesn't have windows, and my bedroom gets good lighting during lunch time. GET OVER IT.)
This recipe is actually one that I MADE UP. WOAH THERE MELANIE, SLOW DOWN, WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS, CHOPPED? No, voice in my head. I just threw a bunch of things that I was craving in a pan. Jeez.
The real story behind this pasta is pretty pathetic, too. Basically, I'm easily distracted in my Music History class. I sit down, open up my computer, set up a document for note taking, and then proceed to drool at all of the recipes on Pinterest. I don't know what it was, but I was like HARDCORE craving pasta. So I searched the tags for "healthy pasta" (because I am trying to be healthy now...but that's a whole other post!), and I was just not feelin' any of the pins I was seeing. I was craving something really specific...so I was once again distracted from our lecture on Oratorios, and started making a list of things I wanted in my dream pasta. This is what I came up with:
EVOO
Chicken
Mushrooms (sliced)
Garlic (minced)
Some cooking wine
Teensy bit of ragu
Basil
Little bit of cream?
1.) Thaw chicken in the microwave? Maybe boiling water?
2.) Dice up chicken real good. Cook it?
3.) Heat up some EVOO, drop some garlic and mushrooms into dat pan
4.) Deglaze w/ some crappy cooking wine.
5.) Throw some ragu in there. Heat it all up.
6.) Stir in some light cream cream? Like a tbsp...
7.) Mix it all up with the pasta that you should have been cooking this whole time.
8.) Toss in some low fat mozzarella and parmesan because whatever.
9.) Steal some basil from your roommate's basil plant, chiffonade that shit, and throw it in.
VOILA.
So that was a..uhh...rough outline of the recipe. It wound up being a tad different...but if you wanted to follow it step by step I'm pretty sure it would be the exact same dish. But you know what? I made an effort to take pictures of everything I did, SO YOU'RE GONNA SEE THE GAME, PLAY BY PLAY.
This is the cast of characters, mise en place version, minus the low-fat mozzerella and parmesan I threw in at the end. You get the idea. Also, GET OVER THE RAGU. I can feel you judging me silently through your computer screen. And don't hate on that jar of garlic, either. My mom minced that shit FRESH just for me.
The first thing I did was thaw the chicken breast I was working with, and then sliced it into cubes. See, we're using chicken breast. It's already off to a healthy start! I threw that into a pan coated with olive oil, along with some chopped up mushrooms and garlic. I cooked it all up with some Salt n Pepa, until the chicken was mostly done and the mushrooms were tender.
Side note: I am partially obsessed with mushrooms. If you don't like mushrooms, I respect that. But also I hate you. Just kidding.
After I got the goodies all cooked up, I threw in some of the cooking wine I bought back in June, because why the hell not. Also, I don't think that cooking wine is such a terrible thing...I'm not allowed to buy real wine yet sooo this is a good compromise. And I'm sorry, but if you give me a bottle of fancy white wine I'm not going to be like "OOOH PERFECT FOR MY PASTA DISH". I'm gonna put it in a plastic cup and drink it in my bath tub.
...this post just got weirdly personal.
Anyways, after the wine cooked down, I threw in some Ragu. Yeah yeah, I know. It's what we had in the fridge. I'M IN COLLEGE. Although, if I were making a version of this for more than one person, I would maybe use canned tomato sauce that is not seasoned.
I waited for everyone in the pan to become friends before adding a touch of light cream. It was maybe 1 tablespoon. I have no regrets. THERE AIN'T NO SHAME IN MY GAME.
In the mean time, I drained my pasta that had been cooking this whole time and threw it in a bowl. I used pasta that is "made with vegetables". Which is not really any more special than regular pasta. Except it is enriched...so there are some nutrients in it from the "vegetables" that aren't in regular pasta. Plus, I straight up hate whole wheat pasta. I might give this a try with the pasta that has fiber added. We'll see.
Besides, my nutritionist told me I'm allowed to eat pasta. SUCK IT, MOM.
Anyways, I put the sauce with the pasta and went to grab all the extra yummies for the finished product.
This basil plant belongs to one of my roommates. I'm super jealous of it, because I'm OBSESSED with basil. I almost took the basil without asking her...almost. I mean, I asked first. Obviously she was cool with it...because she has a whole basil plant.
I took a gratuitous shot of the chiffonade'd basil, because I'M OBSESSED WITH IT.
I also threw in some parmesan (from the plastic jar...ONCE AGAIN, I'M IN COLLEGE) and some shredded low fat mozzarella. They were totally unnecessary. Sooo...maybe next time I will leave it out and focus on the basil.
And once again, here is the same shot of the photo at the beginning of the post, because I was too hungry to take more than one picture of the finished product. But let me tell you, IT WAS SO GOOD. I think the cooking wine really made all the difference...because otherwise it would have been Ragu with chicken on pasta. Lame.
Here's why I think it's healthy: Chicken breast? That's a lean protein, and I used about 3 ounces--which is a normal serving. Mushrooms and garlic? Very few calories, but TONS of flavor. A splash of cooking wine? PLEASE. A cup of that stuff is only 20 calories. I checked. The ragu? Not so sure about this one, because I didn't check the label...but generally with tomato sauces (especially plain canned sauce), they are low on calories. Because it's made from tomatoes. So far, the bulk of the calories is coming from the chicken. I threw in the light cream because, you know what? It's light. And honestly, it bumped up the sauce with not even one tablespoon. I combined that with the low fat mozzarella and parmesan to count as a serving of dairy. And I underestimated the amount of pasta I need by kind of a lot, so the portion of pasta was a totally moderate one. Not bad! I felt totally guilt free about eating this for lunch.
I really should have taken more pictures of this dish.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Eating My Way Through Europe, Part 1: Bavaria
So I went on a big European adventure with the University of Delaware Chorale for three weeks this summer. We went to tour around various towns in Germany and Hungary, with the purpose of preparing for a Big Fancy International Choral Competition at the end of July. It was a pretty big deal. And I could talk about how life changing the experience was and how it solidified my passion for music and how I made such great connections etc.
But this is a food blog. And boy was there FOOD.
We started our trip in Erding, right the heart of Bavaria. When you think of Liederhosen and yodeling on a mountaintop, you're thinking of Bavaria. And what is more German than a big 'ol soft pretzel?
I have to say, soft pretzels from Germany were nothing like those nasty super pretzels that you would get in your school cafeteria, and they were SO much better than the chewy-doughy mess of a Philly soft pretzel (...which I do love...but...come on). Everything about these pretzels were perfect. The outside was buttery and crisp, and the inside was soft and pillowy and if I could have a mattress made out of the stuff then I would eat that mattress.
...what was I talking about??
The best part about the pretzels is that you could literally find them EVERYWHERE. And they were delicious no matter where you bought them!! I could write poetry about German pretzels. But...this isn't that kind of blog.
We spent the first two and a half days rehearsing and performing around the area, and we even got treated to a delicious dinner of Wienerschnitzel in the town of Traunstein. But I didn't get a picture of it, because I was too hungry to remember.
This was a meal I had on my first free day. A couple of friends and I had decided to skip out on the optional excursion, and decided to explore Erding. We found a cafe that served this delicious quiche. Can we talk about how I am a sucker for a good quiche?? And this one was made with fresh tomatoes and the crust was super flaky and I sometimes have dreams about this quiche. The side salad was equally as delicious, because every component was super fresh, and I'm pretty sure that balsamic vinegar has magical properties. IT SAVES LIVES.
This is the first glass of wine I had in Europe. I ordered it after trying to convince myself that I liked beer for like two days only to realize that I'm really just a vino girl.
On our first Sunday in Europe, Chorale had this delicious dinner at the Erding Weissbrauhaus. It was one of my favorite meals of the whole trip, partly because I enjoyed the whole meal from start to finish. The first course of this meal was an onion soup that had fried onions in it (SO YUMMY) and giant buttery pretzel croutons.
I'll tell you a secret: my friend has a gluten allergy, so I took all of her croutons. I'm just that good of a friend ;)
SPAETZLE.
Oh. My. God. Speatzle.
Spaetzle is like...a German crossover between mac and cheese and gnocchi. The spaetzle itself is considered a dumpling, but acts a bit more like a pasta. And I'm not sure what sauce they put on it...but it was buttery and cheesy and I wanted to rub it all over my face. Is that weird? It was also topped with more fried onions, which I had no complaints about.
I didn't realize that eating authentic German apple strudel was an item on my bucket list until after I had crossed it off, but I will never forget the dance for joy my taste buds performed after I took a bite of the delicious pastry. It was just...just so beautiful. The pastry was served on a pool of this glorious vanilla sauce that I would like to bathe in. Is that too much information?
Also does anyone know what the fruit on top of the pile of whipped cream was? I was scared to try it, but I did it anyways and I spent the rest of the night trying to convince people that they wouldn't like theirs so I could eat more.
The next day we left Germany for the next leg of our trip...
Greece.
But you'll have to wait until next week to read about that!
But this is a food blog. And boy was there FOOD.
We started our trip in Erding, right the heart of Bavaria. When you think of Liederhosen and yodeling on a mountaintop, you're thinking of Bavaria. And what is more German than a big 'ol soft pretzel?
I have to say, soft pretzels from Germany were nothing like those nasty super pretzels that you would get in your school cafeteria, and they were SO much better than the chewy-doughy mess of a Philly soft pretzel (...which I do love...but...come on). Everything about these pretzels were perfect. The outside was buttery and crisp, and the inside was soft and pillowy and if I could have a mattress made out of the stuff then I would eat that mattress.
...what was I talking about??
The best part about the pretzels is that you could literally find them EVERYWHERE. And they were delicious no matter where you bought them!! I could write poetry about German pretzels. But...this isn't that kind of blog.
We spent the first two and a half days rehearsing and performing around the area, and we even got treated to a delicious dinner of Wienerschnitzel in the town of Traunstein. But I didn't get a picture of it, because I was too hungry to remember.
This was a meal I had on my first free day. A couple of friends and I had decided to skip out on the optional excursion, and decided to explore Erding. We found a cafe that served this delicious quiche. Can we talk about how I am a sucker for a good quiche?? And this one was made with fresh tomatoes and the crust was super flaky and I sometimes have dreams about this quiche. The side salad was equally as delicious, because every component was super fresh, and I'm pretty sure that balsamic vinegar has magical properties. IT SAVES LIVES.
This is the first glass of wine I had in Europe. I ordered it after trying to convince myself that I liked beer for like two days only to realize that I'm really just a vino girl.
On our first Sunday in Europe, Chorale had this delicious dinner at the Erding Weissbrauhaus. It was one of my favorite meals of the whole trip, partly because I enjoyed the whole meal from start to finish. The first course of this meal was an onion soup that had fried onions in it (SO YUMMY) and giant buttery pretzel croutons.
I'll tell you a secret: my friend has a gluten allergy, so I took all of her croutons. I'm just that good of a friend ;)
SPAETZLE.
Oh. My. God. Speatzle.
Spaetzle is like...a German crossover between mac and cheese and gnocchi. The spaetzle itself is considered a dumpling, but acts a bit more like a pasta. And I'm not sure what sauce they put on it...but it was buttery and cheesy and I wanted to rub it all over my face. Is that weird? It was also topped with more fried onions, which I had no complaints about.
I didn't realize that eating authentic German apple strudel was an item on my bucket list until after I had crossed it off, but I will never forget the dance for joy my taste buds performed after I took a bite of the delicious pastry. It was just...just so beautiful. The pastry was served on a pool of this glorious vanilla sauce that I would like to bathe in. Is that too much information?
Also does anyone know what the fruit on top of the pile of whipped cream was? I was scared to try it, but I did it anyways and I spent the rest of the night trying to convince people that they wouldn't like theirs so I could eat more.
The next day we left Germany for the next leg of our trip...
Greece.
But you'll have to wait until next week to read about that!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
BLOG REBOOT
So it's been a while...
Like....a couple of months.
In case you were wondering what I was doing, here's a quick recap:
-I moved into a new apartment
-My sister got married
-I went to Europe for three weeks on a choir tour
-I started my junior year of college
Soooo I'm writing this in my music history class right now, because I need to make it look like I'm taking notes. But I also really want to use this blog...because....food. I posted a whopping ONE post before my unexpected hiatus, so this is going to be a fresh start. FRESH. PROFESH.
Some posts to expect in the near future:
-EATING MY WAY THROUGH EUROPE
-Lemon poppyseed macarons!!
-I started going to the nutritionist.
LET'S GET THIS PARTAY STARTED Y'ALL. IT'S A BLOG PARTY AND I'M CATERING.
Like....a couple of months.
In case you were wondering what I was doing, here's a quick recap:
-I moved into a new apartment
-My sister got married
-I went to Europe for three weeks on a choir tour
-I started my junior year of college
Soooo I'm writing this in my music history class right now, because I need to make it look like I'm taking notes. But I also really want to use this blog...because....food. I posted a whopping ONE post before my unexpected hiatus, so this is going to be a fresh start. FRESH. PROFESH.
Some posts to expect in the near future:
-EATING MY WAY THROUGH EUROPE
-Lemon poppyseed macarons!!
-I started going to the nutritionist.
LET'S GET THIS PARTAY STARTED Y'ALL. IT'S A BLOG PARTY AND I'M CATERING.
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