Uncommon Restaurant

We recently went to dinner with our daughter and her husband to celebrate her birthday. She selected Communal Restaurant in Provo, where they served meals made with fresh produce from local farms, and "local and sustainable meats and cheeses." The masterfully prepared foods were a delight to the taste buds, making many pleasurable "mmm mmm mmm" moments.

We had a reservation for four and sat at our own table, but in another part of the restaurant a long table invited communal feasting where strangers socialized as they dined.

The menu changes every season as various produce becomes available. I would love to sample foods from every menu. It's amazing how fresh local foods make such a difference.

And a poor reflection on our society when serving  fresh foods makes a restaurant uncommon.

The old reliable.

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to plan out some menus.  I do so much better preparing meals when I have a plan.  (See: Making a menu plan.)

Tonight I couldn't think of what to fix for supper, so I pulled out the old reliable... sauteed veggies with whole wheat pasta, drizzled with olive oil.  I use whatever veggies I have on hand and this time it was zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and chopped Kalamata olives, sprinkled with sea salt and white pepper.

Successful meal.  I wish everything I whipped together at the last minute would turn out so great!

Delicious Recipe

My husband is not a fan of Brussels sprouts, but the first time I prepared this, he told me, "This is a must-have-again!"  So don't let that ingredient scare you off.

Cannellini with Shredded Brussels Sprouts and Sausage

Makes: 4 servings

Time: 20 minutes with cooked or canned beans

3 Tbs. olive oil [I think I used 2 Tbs the last time I made it, and it was plenty.]

8 ounces Italian sausage, casings removed [I used “natural” ground Italian sausage, without growth hormones, etc.]

2 Tbs. minced garlic

Red chile flakes, to taste

Salt and black pepper

1 pound Brussels sprouts, shredded in a food process or roughly chopped [I found that we  prefer it roughly chopped]

½ cup white wine or water [I used chicken bouillon]

2 cups cooked or canned cannelloni [white kidney] beans, drained [I think white northern beans would also taste great]

1. Put the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When it’s hot, crumble the sausage into the pan and cook, stirring occasionally to break the meat into relatively small bits, until browned, 5 to 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and chile flakes and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook and stir for another minute or so.

2. Add the Brussels sprouts and wine [water or bouillon] to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until the sprouts are tender but still a bit crunchy, 5 to 10 minutes.

3.  Add the beans and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are heated through, just a minute or two.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Serve over cooked grains (rice, bulgur, cracked wheat), or toasted bread.

(From The Food Matters Cookbook, p. 394)

Mother's Day Breakfast

When our kids were small they used to serve me breakfast in bed for Mother's Day. Now, even with the children gone, my husband continues to spoil me in such a manner.  This morning he prepared a crab omelet with cheese and tomato.  On the side, he served a variety of fresh fruit (banana, pineapple, cantaloupe, and grapes) which he arranged in an attractive display.  *sigh*

When I serve food, it is plopped on a plate, like, "Here ya go.  Eat up."  But whenever he serves food, it's arranged in such a fashion I have to feast my eyes (and pause to snap a picture) before feasting my belly.

Here's the delightful meal he brought to me:

Thank you honey!

"Extra" food.

I'm not talking extra helpings, I'm talking about the food served while working as an "Extra" last week, for an ABC family movie titled "The Mistle-Tones." (With Tia Mowry, and Tori Spelling.)

Our meals were catered and we were given large portions of cooked vegetables, as well as salad.  We also had some pasta one day, and rice another day, with a small amount of meat each time.

As I reflected on this, I realized it's an economical way to feed a crowd: lots of veggies to fill up on, a portion of grain/starch, and a small amount of meat.  (Basically the way I eat at home!)  They didn't serve us "cheap" burgers from a fast food dollar menu.  Seems to debunk the theory of those who claim it's cheaper to feed their family junk.

A perfectly "crumby" substitute!!

I prepared some oven baked chicken, and the recipe called for "dry bread crumbs."  I pulled out a container of bread crumbs I've had on the shelf for ages.  The crumbs inside seemed stale (no surprise since the date on the can was 2006).

What to do.  What to do.

I thought maybe I would make crumbs from a slice of bread and put them on a baking sheet and let the oven dry them for a bit, and hoped it wouldn't take very long.  Then, as I was reaching for the bread, I had an idea!

I put some Triscuit crackers in the blender and turned them into crumbs.  It worked great since the crackers were already "dry" and crunchy.  Saved the extra time that making dried crumbs from fresh bread would have required.  Plus...the chicken turned out very tasty!  I think I preferred the flavor over ordinary crumbs.

What a fabulous "crumby" idea!

Homemade Tomato Soup

I haven't found a canned tomato soup without added sweetener. Even the canned organic soups have organic sugar or syrups added.  Organic or not, I don't want the added sugar!!

So... I finally decided to just make my own.  Not sure why it took me so long to reach that conclusion... perhaps I fell for the myth that tomato soup required sweetener, since I could not find any without.

I pulled out my trusty cookbook and laughed out loud when the recipe for tomato soup called for (get this) canned tomato soup.  Uhhh...what't the point of homemade soup using the canned stuff?  I shook my head and shut the book.

I got on-line and checked several recipes, but I lacked some of the ingredients for them.

I decided to just 'wing it' and use a combination of ideas from the recipes I browsed.  Here's what I did:

I chopped up some onion and a clove of garlic, then sauteed them in olive oil.  Next I added 1 can of organic diced tomato and 1 cup of chicken bouillon.  Then some salt, pepper, and a dash of dried thyme. (I did not want to make a large batch since I wasn't sure if it would taste good... so I measured by guess and by golly to make enough for two servings.) 

I let those ingredients simmer for about 20 minutes, then pureed it in the blender.  Just for kicks and giggles, I added a spoonful of sour cream while it blended (next time, though, I will use some regular cream).

It turned out delicious!  Now I hope I can duplicate it the next time I'm hankering for tomato soup!

Over the New Year holiday, we traveled to Idaho to see some friends.  Wanting something healthy for lunch while on the road, we figured our best choice would be a Subway sandwich, so we waited until we were hungry and started watching the signs indicating the fast food choices at each exit.  We passed exit after exit without a sign for Subway, getting hungrier by the minute.  Finally we decided we would take the next exit and just do the best we could with whatever food choices were available.

Well, amid the few fast food establishments, I saw a Good Earth health food store and suggested they might have a deli, so we stopped there.  We didn't find a deli inside, but they had some pre-made wraps in their refrigerator section.  We each chose a spinach wrap with turkey and cranberry, which we ate in the car before continuing our drive.  Maybe it's a good thing we were isolated in the car, because it sounded like a scene from What About Bob as we moaned in pleasure over our food.  Mmmm mmm mmm.  Mmm.  Mmm.

The wrap tasted far better than any Subway sandwich, and the bonus:  it was made with free-range turkey, and organic veggies.  It opened our eyes to the option of "fast food" at health food stores, so the last couple weeks while out running errands we've headed to Whole Foods for healthy, made to order, sandwiches at their deli.

Deli-icious.

DAY 358 -- Our traditional Christmas foods.

It's Christmas Eve.  All the stockings are hung by the chimney (with care, of course!).  The first Christmas time after I stopped eating sweets, it was difficult to know what to put in my stocking.  I put my family's favorite candy and chocolates in theirs, but for my stocking I resorted to my favorite nuts (almonds) and some fruit leather made of 100% fruit, and told "Santa" to fill it with lots of little gifts since I had been such a good girl!  :)

Thankfully, Christmas meals for our family traditions are somewhat healthy.

On Christmas Eve we have what we call our Nazareth Supper.  We eat a simple meal and reflect on how Mary and Joseph might have lived before leaving Nazareth to travel to Bethlehem.  We eat by candlelight and use wooden bowls.  (This year, at World Market, I found the cutest little wooden bowls for the grandkids!!) The meal consists of smoked salmon, dried beef, cheese, a loaf of bread (that we tear with our hands), fruit, olives, and sometimes nuts. We drink 100% grape juice (I need mine watered down).  After our Nazareth supper, our family used to act out the nativity, and I look forward to grandkids reaching an age to start the tradition again.

My husband usually prepares Christmas breakfast and the menu changes according to what we feel like having.  This year, since our daughter, son-in-law, and little ones are spending the night with us, we plan to make (multigrain) Mickey Mouse pancakes for the grandkids.

On Christmas Day our supper consists of "Roast Beast." I will rub the roast (hormone free, grass fed from a local farm) with horseradish, salt and pepper, and cook it with organic vegetables: carrots, small red potatoes, and pearl onions.  We usually have green beans cooked with slivered almonds, and sometimes fruit gelatin salad made with Knox unflavored gelatin, and sweetened with fruit juice.  This year I plan to prepare some whipped cream topping for the gelatin, using a small amount of pure maple syrup to sweeten the cream (thanks for the suggestion Lynn!).

Merry Christmas!

DAY 351 -- Spaghetti!

I felt swamped with tasks, so I asked my husband if he had any ideas for supper.  He answered, "Spaghetti!"  And he quickly began fixing the meal.  


Spaghetti has been a favorite of his to prepare, but it's been awhile.  He went to the pantry and returned with a quizzical look on his face.  "Don't we have any cans of spaghetti sauce?"  I reminded him that we got rid of all that earlier in the year, now when we want sauce (rather than olive oil drizzled over the noodles) I make it from scratch.  He assured me he could figure it out.


I stepped into the kitchen later to see him hard at work, with a cookbook open... not to the recipe I use.  Oh well.  I watched him glance at the recipe, grab a bottle of garlic salt and dump a very generous amount into the sauce.  No measuring.  Back to the cookbook, he gets the black pepper and dumps, and dumps, and dumps.  He used enough pepper to choke a horse!  I bit my tongue and retreated out of the kitchen.  I decided it was best not to see my food prepared.  

Later, when dinner was announced, I took a small taste of the sauce before putting it on my pasta.  It was... delicious!  Now, I wonder if he can repeat his magic potion, because I want more!

DAY 349 -- Sushi

You've heard the saying, "The problem with eating Chinese food... after an hour you're hungry again" ... well, the problem with eating sushi is that after a minute you're hungry again.  My husband loves sushi.  My opinion: "meh." Not yucky, but not something that enticed me.  I could not understand the attraction to sushi, and I certainly couldn't understand anyone being able to make a meal out of it!  To me, sushi is an appetizer.


Recently, a friend recommended a great place for sushi, so I told my husband I would give it another try.  This time I actually enjoyed the items I ate, which moved it from the "meh" stage to "pretty tasty." Now I can understand better why people like it.  But I still don't see how you make a meal out of it.  By the time we left the restaurant and walked to the car, I was hungry again.  So I came home and ate some fruit.

DAY 346 -- "We need to stop meeting this way."

We traveled to Idaho to attend a funeral for an 86 year old aunt.  This is the third aunt I've lost this year, and the fourth family funeral.  It's wonderful to see family but...we need to stop meeting like this!  

I wish I could report that I ate healthy, and paid attention to when I was full.  But no... I succumbed to the delicious homemade rolls.  And the funeral potatoes seemed extra tasty. And I couldn't stop at the fried chicken drumstick, I had to sample the ham too.  And another homemade roll.  

You get the picture.

Gee... I can't imagine why I feel so tired and bloated...(read dripping with sarcasm).

DAY 335 -- Thwarted plans.

Today was a Christmas luncheon for my husband's work.  It was held at a steak house where they serve buckets of peanuts and fluffy white flour rolls before the meal comes to the table. We thought the luncheon started at 11:00 with the food being served at 11:30ish.  Because of other commitments, we were not able to arrive until around 11:30, so in my mind I thought it was perfect timing.... we would arrive in time for the food and I would not be tempted to fill up on peanuts (and I told myself to stay away from the white flour rolls).

BUT... we arrived at the restaurant and learned we were early.  Turned out the function didn't start until around 12:00 with the food coming to the tables at 12:30.  So there we were, sitting at a table with peanuts right in front of my face.  Plus I was really hungry.  I thought we would be eating earlier, so I avoided a mid-morning snack.

Peanuts called out to me, and I succumbed... but managed to avoid the rolls.  Nevertheless, I still ate too much by the time the meal was over.

I guess it balanced out though, because I ended up dashing off to a meeting tonight without any supper.  My lunch held me over all this time.  It's nearly midnight and I'm still not hungry.

DAY 332 -- The taste of homemade.

For lunch on Saturday I grabbed a can of organic soup off our pantry shelf.  Thinking we needed "quick" options for some meals, we stocked up on a few canned organic soups, being careful to select the ones without added sweeteners.  They are "okay" in a pinch, but I realized as I slurped a spoonful on Saturday, they leave a lot to be desired when it comes to flavor. After a few bites, I pushed the bowl away.

My husband questioned, "Saving that for your mulligan?"

"No way.  It's not worthy."

Taking the bowl, he sampled the soup, then with a shudder, he pushed the bowl back towards me.

The taste of homemade called to us after that experience, so for our evening supper I prepared a pot of Lentil-Vegetable Soup.  (See Recipe Page.)

Then for breakfast Sunday morning, Kurt mentioned he was hungry for waffles.  Thinking I didn't have enough time to prepare waffles from scratch (we were getting ready for church), I grabbed the whole wheat Insta-Bake.  (It's supposedly healthy as far as baking mixes go, but looking at the label I am doubting that.)  The waffles seemed heavy with an unsatisfying flavor.  We longed for the taste of homemade...again.

So... this morning I whipped up some waffles using a favorite recipe and we feasted on the yummy light flavor of "Annette's Oatmeal Waffles."  (See Recipe Page.)

(For toppings on our waffles we use a small amount of pure maple syrup, or all fruit jam, or fresh fruit.  Pure, 100% maple syrup doesn't trigger cravings for me, but I use it very sparingly, and very infrequently.)

I know some people who rarely cook from scratch (some rarely eat at home, period) but ever since I started eating healthy foods, I realize my mouth rejoices in the taste of homemade.

DAY 322 -- Trying a new recipe.

As I planned my meals for the week, I came across a recipe for Crab Meat Clam Chowder.  It was a basic New England style clam chowder that included crab meat, and sure sounded delicious to me!  So I got the necessary ingredients and made the chowder today for lunch.

First of all, it was so easy to make I wondered why I rarely make chowder!

While it simmered, I sent an email to my husband, telling him how he can look forward to a tasty chowder when he gets home.  (I won't be home this evening, thus I prepared it for my lunch, but he will have it for supper.)  However, after I ate a bowlful (alright, alright... I had two bowls full... but they were shallow bowls) I sent him another message telling him the chowder was down right nasty and not to worry about it, I will take care of it so that he won't have to suffer through eating it.

Somehow, he didn't believe me!  *innocent grin*

If you don't believe me either, you might want to try it out.  I posted the recipe on my Recipe Page.  Click Here.

(Note:  I selected a can of minced clams that contained only chopped sea clams, clam juice, salt and wild clams.  I got it from the health/natural food store.  The canned clams at most grocery stores had way too many additives for my preference.  I purchased crab meat from the deli at Sunflower Market.)

DAY 298 -- My stickK goal.

This Thursday will mark four weeks of my "no overeating" which will complete the goal I set on stickK.com.  I've been successful so far, and have not lost any money to the anti-charity I selected!!!  Hooray!

However... tomorrow is our son-in-law's birthday and we are going out to dinner to celebrate.  He selected Ruby River Steakhouse.  I haven't eaten there in several years, so I got on-line to see look at their menu, and now my mouth is watering!  Gulp.  This could spell trouble.  

Stay tuned.

DAY 297 -- Hot cereal favorites.

I love hot cereal for breakfast.  I grew up on oatmeal, and whole wheat mush.  Now I have a variety of hot cereals on hand.  Oatmeal; oat bran; steel cut oats; Zoom (similar to mom's homemade whole wheat mush); Hodgson's Mill cracked wheat; and Bob's Red Mill 7 Grain Hot Cereal.

Those are some of my favorites, and some of the few "packaged" foods that I eat (since they only contain the grain, no additives or chemicals).  I sweeten them with fruit.  With oatmeal I like sliced banana and walnuts stirred in, with a dash of cinnamon.  With Zoom, I like to add peaches, or pears.  My favorite thing to add to cracked wheat is dried cherries and walnuts.  With the 7 grain hot cereal, I stir in dried currants (that have no sugar added) and pecan pieces.  Mmm. mmm. mmm!

I've come a looooong way from eating bowl after bowl (in one sitting) of Lucky Charms!

DAY 296 -- Popeye would be proud.

Image from Wikipedia

Kurt and I got our share of spinach today...and then some.  We had bunch of organic spinach that needed used soon, and even though we were putting it on salads, it was not getting used fast enough.  So for lunch today, I sauteed a big panful of spinach with fresh garlic and mixed it with cooked pasta.  Then I sprinkled it all with olive oil and put seasonings on it.  Delicious!

(It amazes me how a panful of spinach cooks down to what seems like a puny amount!)

As we ate the pasta/spinach dish with our meal, I mentioned that it made me hungry for a spinach-tomato omelet.  That sounded wonderful to Kurt too.

So tonight I sauteed the rest of the spinach along with onion, garlic, and tomato.  Kurt made the omelets filled with the sauteed vegetables, and added some pepper-jack cheese and a bit of cheddar.  (Both cheeses are made from cows NOT treated with hormones.)

They don't make omelets that delicious in any restaurant.  It was heavenly.  And... being repentant from my selfishness... I offered Kurt a big bite of mine, which he happily ate.

DAY 293 -- Selfish with food.

I've done well on my goal to not overeat for three weeks now.  I can leave food on my plate, and save food for later, but I'm still selfish with my food.  Today I needed to use up a potato and an onion, so I made hashbrowns with both.  I only ate half of mine and saved the other half on my plate while I visited with my husband.  He reached over and snitched a cube of my potato.  One cube.  And I snarled at him, "HEY!  That's mine!"

Heaven forbid if I have one cube, one morsel, less at my next meal!  Sheesh.

Will food always have such a hold on me?

DAY 292 -- Gratitude.

Yesterday I was called in to work at the last minute, so I quickly grabbed some celery sticks and a sandwich to take for my lunch.  Later, after eating, I commented to a co-worker, "The bad thing about eating celery is then I'm picking strings out of my teeth the rest of the afternoon."  He responded, "Be grateful you have teeth to pick!"

I laughed, but it was a good reminder...there's something to be grateful for in every situation.

I'm grateful for the food I have to eat.  I have a variety of fresh healthy foods to select from -- that's a tremendous blessing!

I got called in to work again today, and took an apple, walnuts, carrot sticks, and once again... celery.  And gratefully, I remembered to take floss.