Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Feeling Foodie

Not having school yesterday and today (and the rest of the week) has really allowed me to explore my creativity in the kitchen. Ever since I learned about "whole foods" and making it my self, I have been experimenting in my tiny apartment kitchen! The possibilities really are endless when you know what you want to achieve :) And you when you don't make your dinner from a box. 

The first thing I have been experimenting with snacks.  Although I am not 100% whole foods, snacks are always an issue for me.  The majority of my options are always sugar filled (and many are labeled as "healthy"...) or fat filled. And then I'm hungry again later.  I started to solve this problem a couple weeks ago with my trail mix, and this week decided to go a step further. 

If you haven't heard of Larabars, you are missing out. These amazing snack bars are mostly dried fruit and nuts, chopped and pressed into bars. And man are they good! Ivy introduced me to them over winter break and I finally broke down and bought a food processor so that I could make my own.  This week's batch consists of prunes, raisins, almonds, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate.  Putting it all in the chopper allowed the nuts to stick to the fruit, and thus I was able to press them into bars! I can't wait to do more experimenting -- I really want to do something with dried pineapple and mangoes.


Lunch has been a bit of an issue lately too, simply for the fact that I don't think I'm eating a big enough/enough substance and then I get hungry really early in the afternoon. You're supposed to have 2/3 of your daily calories in the earlier part of the day so that they can be burned off. Well by having small lunches and snacking smaller, I end up with a huge dinner. 

This week I decided to mix up my usual salads, and googled pasta salad recipes. I stumbled upon this one, which sounded healthy and yummy! Today I decided to try it and man am I glad I did. I am NEVER going back to store-bought vinaigrette again. I omitted the mustard from this recipe, but I still love how it turned out. I added carrots I had in the fridge, and used a different pasta. 

The grapes add a nice touch, I am so excited to try more salad recipes in the weeks to come!

A couple weeks ago I was given a huge bag of mini red potatoes, along with lots of other veggies.  I've been wanting to try baked wedges/fries for awhile, and now I had the chance. So I cut up so potatoes and drenched them in olive oil, seasons, and parmesan cheese. This was the starting point, although I added extra basil, oregano, etc. to make it more Italian. They are delectable!

I still cannot believe that I have only been a "foodie" for less than a year! At this time last year I was just beginning to cook myself, but never paying this much attention to the things I cooked with. I know one thing -- I am forever in love with olive oil and honey!  But seriously, cooking with whole and 1 ingredient foods really isn't that hard, or much more expensive. If budgeted correctly, it can be done. Why do food companies think they can get away with so much crap? 

I'm leaving you guys with an in-progress photo of my current painting, which is also my best one yet. I spent 5 hrs at studio today, and I plan to spend at least that tomorrow as well.


~Lisa



3 comments:

  1. Ohh, all your food looks delicious!! Might have to check out those potatoes, yum! And wow, your painting is incredible, the texture looks perfect!

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  2. That pasta salad looks amazing! You are such a great cook, I wish I was as inventive as you!

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  3. I agree with Sarah, the texture just pops off the screen. Also, it's fun watching you discover all these foodie things!

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