Category Archives: Jenna Weber

Back to the Basics!

     Dairy-free for five days and already my skin is looking so much better. Crap. Obviously I’m happy that my skin is clearing up, but DAMN am I gonna miss my gelato!

I am SO thankful they carry dairy-free sorbets and soy options!
I tried a little variation for breakfast yesterday – MIGAS! I snagged this recipe from Jenna, cut it in half and substituted baked blue corn tortilla chips for regular fried, and shallots for onions.
No cheese, but it was still pretty good!
Green Monstas and Kitchen Sink Salads are back with a vengeance! This one had half a bag of mixed greens, 1/2 of a zucchini sauteed with herbes de provnce, 1/2 a cup of lentils, 1/2 a chopped bell pepper and 1/2 a can of yellowfin tuna in olive oil (the oil drained out, obviously).
I’ve missed these!
The hikes are back as well! Went on an INTENSE one this morning to enjoy the beautiful 68 degree day and now I’m full of happy endorphins!
     Today is bottling day!!! I’ll be sipping some good brews while I bottle my beer (the official name will be posted when I pour the first glass), and then cooking up an amazing meal with my new cookbook from Williams Sonoma! Tomorrow is BREWING DAY!!! I’m heading up the coast to brew with some of my boys from college. 
Have I mentioned how very awesome my life is?
😀

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Filed under beer, bottling, dairy-free, green monsta, hiking, home brewing, Jenna Weber, kitchen sink salad, Migas, Paciugo, sorbet, strawberry balsamic sorbet, Williams Sonoma

So Much To Do!

     How’s your Thanksgiving prep going? Mine hasn’t started yet. I’ve been pretty busy with some important, pressing things.

Thai food had to be consumed.
Drives through my neighborhood had to be taken.
The sky had to be gazed at.
Fair-trade beer had to be tasted.
It was good.

Nutcrackers had to be inspected.

It did not pass inspection.

Whole Wheat Cranberry-Walnut Bread had to be made. And consumed.
     I suppose I could claim the cranberry bread as a Thanksgiving dish, but I have so much more to make tomorrow! I think I’ll call it a warm-up training session for Turkey Day. I used Jenna’s recipe but left out the orange zest, used brown sugar instead of granulated, and pressed the batter into three mini-bread pans instead of one big pan.
Awww, baby bread!
You know it’s done when the cranberries on top have burst open in a joyous, tangy display of love.
I highly recommend this bread! Quick, easy and de-freakin-luscious!
     
     Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy your days off, relax and appreciate the people you’re able to spend time with. I’ll be spending the day in the kitchen with the parentals, cooking, eating and feeling blessed.
And then I work at 3:45am on Black Friday.
I love my job, I love my job, I…
Ugh, forget it.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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Filed under beer, Black Friday, cranberry walnut bread, EatLiveRun, fair trade, Jenna Weber, mountain views, nutcracker, peak organic, quick bread, thai food makes me happy, Thanksgiving

Recipe Overload!

My kitchen smells like heaven right now and there’s a burning underneath my fingernails. I’ll explain later.

I had my free fitness evaluation at the gym this morning and learned some great exercises to build core strength in preparation for the heavy lifting I need to do with my new job, and got an injury/body-fat reading. Foam rollers are my new best friend! I have incredibly tight quads, hamstrings and IT bands from the mass amounts of hiking I do, and I will be devoting a good amount of time at the gym to stretch them out and release all the knots. This morning’s rollout goes up on the list as one of the most painful things I’ve experienced.

I finished up my workout, ran over to Trader Joe’s to pick up some necessities for my day off and sprinted through a downpour to get to my car. Lunchtime!

First I caramelized some onions…
Next up, I chopped up a jalapeno (hence the burning under my fingernails that is STILL lingering, hours after chopping), a clove of garlic and grated some frozen ginger.
Hint: Using a zester and a knob of frozen ginger is the easiest way to “chop” ginger!
I threw above ingredients, plus a lot more into a pan…
I halved Jenna’s recipe since the roommates are out of town, and still have about four servings leftover!
     After lunch I ran to the library to pick up some books I had on hold and, since I was out, decided to stop by the grocery store for even MORE ingredients. Once I start cooking, I can’t stop!
Butternut squash, chocolate chips and “Leaves of Grass“. Not to be used together!
I had a butternut squash from TJ’s and after lots of deliberation, decided to make Megan’s butternut squash fries.
I sliced up half of the squash, tossed it with olive oil and sprinkled garlic salt on top, then baked it at 450 degrees for an hour.
These were enjoyed with ketchup and another thunderstorm 🙂
     I sat down to watch “Leaves of Grass” which stars Edward Norton as twin brothers. I really liked this movie and Ed Norton is AMAZING – however… The disc was scratched and the most pivotal moment was skipped over. I tried to clean the disc to no avail, and called Redbox to tell them. The good thing that came of this is that I got promo codes for two free movies! I’m slightly less bummed about not knowing what the heck happened in the climax of the movie…
     I was so distressed that I had to put my anxiety into the beating of some butter and sugar. It was time for Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins!
Chocolate Chip Banana MuffinsPrintable version available HERE.
(adapted from my Great Grandma Max’s recipe <3)
1/3 cup Nucoa
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup whole rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 banana mashed
1 banana roughly chopped
A crapload of chocolate chips
     1. Cream the Nucoa (or butter or butter substitute you prefer) and the brown sugar together.
     2. Add eggs and wisk together.
     3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix well.
     4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and combine.
     5. Stir in bananas and chocolate chips (I used almost half a bag in mine! Oops!)
     6. Pour batter into muffin tins.
     7. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
     8. Grab a muffin immediately and dive in!
YUM!
      I wish I could claim that the muffins are healthy, but whole wheat flour and rolled oats are the best I can do while still keeping it delicious! It’s a good thing I have a gym membership – I’ll be working off the extra muffin I inhaled after eating the first one. Oops again!
What’s your favorite recipe to make on a rainy day?

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Filed under butternut squash fries, chana masala, Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, HealthyHoggin, Jenna Weber, Leaves of Grass, Redbox

Gourmet Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday, all! I hope you all started off your morning as well as I did 🙂 GREEN MONSTAAAAA!!!

This baby has spinach, bananas, blueberries, lemon juice, soymilk and ice!
Cleaning the blender seems like a big ordeal, but it’s really easy! Just pour a little dish soap and hot water into the blender:

Press LIQUIFY:

Give it a few minutes to whirl, rinse, and you’re done!
After having my massive green fuel-machine (hey, that rhymes! I should get into poetry), I jumped on the trail for another hike up the hill. Today was completely empty and quiet and lovely, and there was marine layer hanging over so the bugs weren’t biting: the PERFECT day for a hike!

I got back and got spoiled by my roomie cooking up a semi-scramble.

We were running low on spinach, so this was made with a little spinach, yellow bell peppers, asparagus and zucchini roasted in herbes de provence. Have I mentioned how much I love herbes de provence? If I ever roast ANY vegetable, I love to cover it in HDP. It just makes everything taste more complex and warmer.
Next came a bunch of thrilling errands that had to be run – Home Depot for chicken wire to keep the rabbits from devouring the new vines, Petsmart to pick up chewies for the spoiled Buddha (nickname for the puppy), the library to pick up a book I requested a few weeks ago, and finally to Trader Joe’s!
I loooove me the TJ’s! For dinner I decided to make Jenna’s (http://eatliverun.com) channa masala recipe. I picked up chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), canned diced tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, onions, tomato paste and ginger. Every other ingredient I already had at home.

After setting it all up, I chopped, peeled, minced and measured all my ingredients and got them in order. I’m a big fan of mise en place – a French term that means “putting things into place.” It also helps you clean as you go, so there’s not a huge mess in the kitchen waiting to be scrubbed when all you want to do is relax and enjoy your meal.

I caramelized the onions for 15 minutes, then went to the next bowl which contained my chopped garlic, jalapeno and ginger. After stirring that together, the next dish (the tomato paste) went in. I was supposed to pince (cook down) the tomato paste until it had formed a nice crust on the pan, but it somehow came out a little blackened. Next I threw in the seasonings which smoked up the kitchen a bit, then the chickpeas and tomatoes and garam masala.

After letting everything stew for a while to warm through, I squeezed lemon on top (and all over the floor), and plated.

Today I got Trader Joe’s garlic naan! It made the meal complete!
Even though I burned the tomato paste a little, it still tasted A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I only finished about half my plate before I was comfortably full. I’m working on eating until I’m satisfied and not gorging until I’m bursting at the seams: it takes practice! I sipped on a (durr) Fat Tire and enjoyed the evening.
After an hour I got a little sweet craving, so I whipped out the So Delicious mocha ice cream. I’m not a fan of coffee ice cream, so this is perfect to keep me from overdoing it. I scooped about a quarter cup into a mug and ate that, and after was totally content. Just the right amount of sugar in my system, dairy-free, and I didn’t want to go back for more.

Now it’s time for the season finale of “Glee”, so I must leave you all! Happy hiking, biking, and most of all: EATING!

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Filed under Channa Masala, cooking, Garlic naan, green monster, Home Depot, ice cream, Jenna Weber, mocha, Petsmart, puppies, recipe, Trader Joe's