Chocolate = the ROOT of all evil?

Since today was my last day of classes for the semester I decided to reward myself. Actually, I was just really hungry all day because I didn't eat enough oatmeal for breakfast.

I bought some chocolate chocolate chip bread this afternoon. It was SO GOOD. Somehow, I had a feeling that eating the whole piece was a bad idea, but I continued to eat it. Five minutes later, it was definitely a bad idea.

All I was craving after that nauseas feeling induced by abnormally large amounts of chocolate was some neutral tasting veggies. (And going along with winter root vegetable week, today's recipe includes sweet potato!)

I microwaved half of a large sweet potato for five minutes. While it was cooking, I sauteed some frozen spinach and corn in olive oil.

The sweet potato was so soft and easy to peel!

I diced it further and added it to the pot. I was going for a neutral but still somewhat spiced flavor. So I added some turmeric, salt, and pepper.

I ate this along with the collard greens salad I made over the weekend. Veggie overload!!! I realize I said I was going on a greens hiatus for awhile. Fail.

Let's get to the ROOT of this.

No pun intended.

Actually, the pun was much intended. It's winter root vegetable week!!!

Normally, I update my blog while eating the meal I am describing in the post. However, by the time I clicked on "New Post," I had already finished 90% of my dinner.

Group fitness classes are AWESOME. I realize I am a little biased when it comes to this topic, but today I realized why they are so great. First of all, the people who attend my class every week are incredibly motivated and push themselves more than I'd ever expect, and it makes teaching a lot more fun. Secondly, half of the people who attend my class every week stay in the room just like I do to attend the Zumba class afterwards. This makes me feel like I belong. And that I'm not a weirdo. Third, I've developed the best network of work out buddies! Hence, working out has become not only something I have to do, but also my form of socializing. The problem with this is days like today. I was really exhausted after about 20 minutes of Zumba. But I was having too much fun dancing around with my work out buddies. So I stayed.

And now I can't walk/can't keep my torso vertical/finished my dinner in two minutes.

My dinner consisted of a variety of items, three of which will be shown here!

I thought I'd start out the week with a rutabaga. Rutabaga is a Swedish turnip. And it is also a root that is a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. (I don't really see the resemblance to a cabbage).

So I made mashed rutabaga. It tastes similar to mashed potatoes.

First I peeled and chopped one rutabaga, and put it in a pot of boiling water.

I covered the pot for 10 minutes or so, until the rutabaga was soft enough to mash. I drained the water and then proceeded to use both a fork and a spoon to mash the pieces.

I put the pot back on the stove and added chopped garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

First root vegetable = success!

Next, I cut a small red bell pepper into strips, and placed the pieces on a baking sheet with some olive oil and oregano. I put the pan in the oven at 350F for 15 minutes. (After 10 minutes, I flipped the pieces to make sure they cooked evenly).

Roasted red pepper is so sweet compared to raw bell pepper. I really like it!

Actually, what am I thinking? Anything roasted is tasty.

My original plan was to bake some tofu with the red pepper. Then I decided on a whim to try to press the tofu. I made a contraption out of lots of paper towels, an old cereal box, and an enormous textbook. I did not take a picture of this.

However, after checking the progress after 20-25 minutes...

It looked pretty good. It could have probably been pressed more, but I was running out of time.

I cut these into cubes and...

wait for it...

shallow fried it in some vegetable oil.

Okay, it really wasn't even that much oil. I would estimate one tablespoon.

I couldn't wait for the crispy coating to appear. I flipped the pieces every so often.

Why would I ever want to bake tofu after experiencing this?

These were so tempting. But I had to control myself. I couldn't eat these before working out.

Then I suddenly realized that in the midst of my excitement induced by the crispy coating, I forgot to season the tofu. Woops. So I just drizzled some soy sauce on the plate.

I should have made more.

An outrageous amount of greens + new videos!

I'm more excited about the three new videos I just uploaded to youtube than I am about the various kale/collard items I made today.

I have some really supportive friends. Alyssa and Nick graciously volunteered to be my "assistants" in my new kickboxing fitness videos! This video is the high impact punches and kicks section. 

This and two other videos are currently on youtube:

Punches

Punches and Kicks

Recovery

Check them out!

A couple of days ago, I mentioned I was going to make a huge batch of kale chips this weekend. I was feeling creative, so I made two flavors: salt & vinegar and spicy "cheese."

For the salt & vinegar flavor, I drizzled olive oil, rice vinegar, red wine vinegar, and salt onto a bowl full of kale. After mixing evenly, I placed it onto a baking pan and baked it for 15 minutes at 400F.

It definitely is a bad thing that I experiment with the oven sometimes. Because I don't check the progress of the baking every few minutes, I end up with burnt stuff.

I managed to take a picture of the few chips that weren't burnt.

I actually was looking forward to that flavor! I actually ended up eating a lot of the chips despite the state they were in.

Luckily, the spicy "cheese" chips came out well!

The "cheesy" sauce consisted of a couple of spoonfuls of SunButter, several spoonfuls of nutritional yeast, a drizzle of olive oil, and crushed red pepper. I mixed these in the food processor. Then I used a spoon/my hands to coat the chopped kale in the sauce. Keep in mind it was a very thin coating of this sauce--a little bit of flavor goes a long way.

Ugh, bad picture. But the only picture I have of the sauce. 

I checked the oven often while this batch baked.

The chips actually tasted cheesy and spicy! The SunButter and nutritional yeast combo is definitely a keeper.

Notice how little of the sauce is on the chips!

I still had a little predicament regarding my ridiculous amount of kale and collard greens. Even though I made two batches of kale chips, I had a bowl full of kale and an entire bundle of collard greens left to use. I decided to make kale fritters.

I mixed two eggs, some 2% grated cheese, pepper, and oregano in a bowl.

I threw the whole bowl of kale into this mixture and then proceeded to empty the entire bowl on a greased skillet.

I don't really know what I expected to happen, but I definitely didn't expect an omelette to happen.

Oh well, as long as it tastes good. That's all that matters.

By this time, I just wanted a quick way to prepare the collards. What's an easier way than salad?

A massaged collard greens salad. (I've been hearing the word "massaged" describing salads too often lately. Why can't I use it too?)

I proceeded to complete the salad with the only other two fresh veggies I had: tomatoes and red bell peppers. Dressed in balsamic vinaigrette, lemon juice, and black pepper.

I think I'm going to go on a greens hiatus for a little bit.

Guest Blog #3!

Spontaneity at its finest.

Meet my dear friend, Cynthia, who is an amazing baker herself! In fact, I should be getting tips from her.

We combined her baking expertise with my healthy dessert obsession to make a healthy chocolate-pecan cake. A group of us had just come back from eating at a restaurant called Delectables for the first time. (I ordered asparagus and dill crepes filled with swiss cheese and chopped asparagus. Fancy!) And after a delicious dinner, we were craving dessert. Actually, I just wanted to put my sweetened condensed milk to good use, and Cynthia wanted to bake. So the two of us whipped together whatever sounded like it would go well in a cake.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 can fat free sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• pecans

We mixed the dry ingredients first, and then added the wet. I made Cynthia do the dirty work aka mixing the batter.

Action shot for real. 

I just licked the bowl. Just kidding there was a raw egg in there.

We put the batter in a non-stick sprayed baking dish.

And baked it at 350F for ~25 minutes.

The real baker doing the taste testing...it passed!

We topped it with some honey for some additional sweetness. I'm thinking maybe a Greek yogurt/cinnamon mixture could go well on this cake, or even a maple syrup/coconut oil combination? However, Cynthia and I concluded this cake would have been a bit better if we had added some chocolate chips in the batter!

Nevertheless, I'd definitely call this more of a snack cake than a dessert cake. Or even a mid-morning breakfast cake. Works for me!

Another comfort food. Tulika-fied.

Bread making success!

While all of my friends and classmates were off being spirited at school for the last football game of the season, I was baking a batch of kale corn bread.

In my defense, I was hungry, and my head was spinning with all kinds of kale recipe ideas. I definitely couldn't wait any longer to experiment in the kitchen.

Don't worry, I did go to watch the game eventually.

And before I forget, check out the beast of a breakfast I had this morning.

1 cup rolled oats in 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, vanilla protein powder, and 1 teaspoon cocoa powder. Toppings: banana "soft serve" and 1 tablespoon SunButter.

It kept me full for FIVE HOURS. This is exactly why I eat what I eat in the morning (despite all of the ridicule!). If I eat sugary, airy, mainstream cereals, I get hungry three minutes later. And oatmeal without any kind of nut/nut butter/fruit topping doesn't last me longer than 30 minutes. So my breakfasts are massive and filling. And quite satisfying. And healthy.

Back to the corn bread.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• chopped kale
• frozen corn kernels
• pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Boil a pot of water and add chopped kale. Cook for ten minutes and then drain the water.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix evenly. Then add the cooked kale and frozen corn.

Oh, I also added a teaspoon of nutritional yeast here for a "cheesy" flavor.

Spray some non-stick on a baking dish and spread the batter into the pan.

This goes in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

For an experiment, this turned out quite nicely! However, I'd probably add more salt next time, and more nutritional yeast. Also, because this recipe uses little oil and no butter, this bread is not as moist as regular corn bread, so it could definitely use some sort of dipping sauce, or it would go well with some tomato soup. Mmm....more ideas!

But in the mean time, I'll be snacking away!

Who wants to help eat my kale?

I'm not joking. I've finished one bundle so far, and I bought FOUR. Actually, I bought three bundles of kale and one bundle of collard greens because I thought it was kale. Turns out it wasn't.

Kale chips, anyone? I think I'll make a huge batch of different flavors this weekend. But more on that later.

I am currently eating a delicious kale stir fry. But before we get to that, I've been wanting to share this all day:

That is exactly what you think it is: strawberry cobbler with a creamy Greek yogurt/cinnamon topping.

Perfect mid-afternoon winter snack. Or dessert. Whatever floats your boat.

Oh, did I mention it takes 3 minutes to make?

Ingredients:

• rolled oats
• strawberries (I used frozen)
• nonfat Greek yogurt
• cinnamon

I made a really small portion because I was experimenting. I added about 6 strawberries and a few large tablespoons of oats to a bowl. I microwaved it for less than 2 minutes, until the strawberries became hot and gooey. 

Before.

After.

Let's take another after look, shall we?

That's some slimy deliciousness right there.

I sprinkled some cinnamon onto two spoonfuls of Greek yogurt and swirled it so the yogurt was smooth. And then topped my cobbler with it!

Yum. Maybe next time I'll experiment with some more toppings.

For dinner, I made a colorful Asian-style stir fry.

I combined olive oil and coconut oil and threw in two cloves of garlic, lots of chopped kale, some mushrooms, and half of a red bell pepper.

Side note: When I was at Sunflower Market this weekend, I browsed through the frozen veggies section and found frozen mushrooms. FROZEN MUSHROOMS!!!

No more having to buy regular mushrooms and eat them all in one day.

I chopped up some extra firm tofu and put it into the pan.

Then I added soy sauce, rice vinegar, and black pepper, and covered the pan for a few minutes.

Quite lovely I must say! (And check out how much the kale shrank! Those crazy greens).