Tag Archive for 'diet'

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Published
by
Rosemary
on October 20, 2008
in Food
. 1 Comment

This evening I tweeted what I was having for dinner,

“Dinner from scratch: wh wheat oregano/rosemry pizza crust, garlic tomato sauce, spinach, mushrooms, kalamata olives, goat cheese, pepperoni”

and @blendlab asked if there were any leftovers.  It was too hard to transmit pizza over Twitteriffic, but I offered to share the crust recipe.

Here is the original recipe from the beautiful Giada DeLaurentiis, followed by my modification of the ingredients:

3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast (equivalent of 2 1/4 tsp)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour, plus 1/4 set aside for kneading if necessary
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried rosemary
3 tablespoons olive oil

The original recipe called for a total of two cups of flour, but I find that using whole wheat flour results in more flour gluten, requiring less. I keep the extra 1/4 cup of flour nearby if the dough is too sticky when kneading though. I add the oregano and rosemary at the same time as the salt when following the same procedure as the original recipe. It’s tempting to add garlic or at least dehydrated garlic to the crust for flavor, but as it is an antifungal it will harm the yeast and the dough won’t rise as well. Lastly, I don’t use a food processor for making dough. I just use a large broad spoon, and get my hands into the dough as soon as the flour is stirred in.

Here is the procedure, copied and pasted:

Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. KNEAD dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. PUNCH down dough. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. ROLL out dough according to recipe instructions. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them.)

Makes two pizzas. Bake at 475F for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Italian Meatball Vegetable Soup

Published
by
Rosemary
on August 30, 2008
in Food
. 1 Comment

I was flipping through a Chatelaine magazine at my parents-in-law’s place and came across one of those quick-and-easy 30-minute meal recipes.  It was a turkey meatball soup that sounded easy enough, but it was missing some key ingredients like onions, garlic, and fresh herbs (aka flavor).  I did a search on Food Network.com and found an italian meatball soup by Emeril Lagasse, but it was missing another one of my key criteria for good eating: vegetables.  I took his recipe and added my own improvisations to include vegetative matter, fibre, and a leaner protein and this is the result.  Normally I take pictures of food I like to eat, but this stuff was consumed too quickly for the camera.

Italian Meatball Vegetable Soup

Meatballs:
1 lb lean ground turkey
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus more for garnishing soup if desired
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 pinches crushed red pepper

Soup:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed with your hands, with their juice (or I just used diced tomatoes)
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 carrots, chopped
1 large zucchini, diced
14 oz canned beans (navy beans or mixed (kidney, garbanzo, etc.)), rinsed and drained
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup whole wheat small pasta
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

In a medium mixing bowl combine the ingredients for the meatballs and mix
until thoroughly combined.

Divide the meat mixture into tablespoons and roll into smooth balls in your hands. Set rolled meatballs aside on a plate or other flat surface.

In a 4 1/2 quart soup pot or large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat until hot. Add half of the rolled meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Transfer the browned meatballs to a plate and set aside. Brown the remaining meatballs in the same manner and set aside.

Add the chopped onion to the pot and cook, stirring, until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, tomatoes and their juices, chicken broth, oregano and parsley and stir to combine. Return the meatballs to the soup pot and bring the soup to a boil. Add the carrots and zucchini. Reduce the heat so that the soup just simmers and cook for 30 minutes.  Add the pasta and beans to the hot soup, stir well, and cook for 15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked through. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in the chopped basil and serve.

Watching my Fitness

Published
by
Rosemary
on August 24, 2008
in Play
. 0 Comments

I usually don’t wear a watch.  I always have my cell phone with me (even if I don’t answer it, heh) and if not I’m always near a computer.  After reading free Oxygen magazines I’ve determined that I should probably find out what my real heart rate is when I do cardio, since the machine downstairs is broken.  It says that I’m at 70-90, but that’s more or less what a person’s resting heart rate is.  Anyways, we went to Sport Chek at Beacon Hill and I picked up a Mio Shape watch.

Mio Shape

Mio Shape

The box had a price sticker stating $149.99, but the computer at the till said $39.99, so I’m pretty sure I lucked out with this purchase.  Not only does it have a heart rate monitor, but I can also track my calorie intake and expenditure, compare it to my target caloric intake, AND it tells time.

I’m looking forward to trying this out during my morning cardio routine tomorrow.  In the meantime I’m reading the extensive health and fitness suggestion manual that came with the watch, and trying to determine if a resting heart rate of 56 is healthy or if I’m really a zombie.

— Edit August 24 —

Whohoo!  The chart at the bottom of this heart rate page suggests that I am not a zombie and even lists me as “athlete”!  While I still want to chalk up this reading as being tired right now and not having my coffee today, I’ll take what “truth” I can get from the internet.

Three “Tomorrows” Later

Published
by
Rosemary
on July 16, 2008
in Food and Lessons Learned
. 0 Comments

The Calgary Stampede is over.  This city’s ten-day endorsement of sin has left us for another year, and as the cowboy hats and boots are stowed away, out come the regrets of succumbing to our human weaknesses.  I managed to avoid the alcohol-and-hot-weather induced lust, the greed of big and easy wins, and even the wrath of sticky and impatient crowds.  The one I couldn’t avoid is a weakness of any foodie-wannabe: Gluttony.

After camping in luxury and enjoying Applied’s Stampede breakfast and its get-rid-of-leftovers repeat, I continued to enjoy and share the annual carnival favorites.  The result?  Well, let’s say that owning a Wii Fit means I can be reprimanded by a video game as well as my conscience.  So, the week plus three tomorrows after the Stampede, it’s time to get back on track.

In perspective, I haven’t strayed too far.  After all, in 2005 I was over 165 lbs which meant that for my height I was entering obese-land.  Since then I’ve dropped (and kept off!) two clothing sizes, not through drastic dieting but through some changes that weren’t difficult to do:

  1. Keeping a diet log. This is effective it makes me accountable for what I put in my mouth, and guilt is a good deterrent for me.  Diet Blog also has a good article with added benefits.
  2. Cut back on sweetened beverages. When I was a kid, we weren’t allowed to have pop with our meals, so it wasn’t a big deal for me.  Juice, however, sometimes contains as much sugar as pop and some “cocktails” don’t even contain vitamin C.  I weaned myself off using tea (green/black/white/herbal) and honey, then dropped the honey altogether.  It might not seem like a lot, but even going with the default medium coke from McDonalds can add up after a while.
  3. Some foods aren’t worth it. I don’t calorie count religiously, but I do know when some foods just aren’t worth it.  I’m talking about foods with empty nutrition that I can avoid and not miss.  If I absolutely have to have something, I’ll just steal a bite of someone else’s or just do it once a year.
  4. Quality over quantity. If you notice that it takes me 60% longer to eat a meal, you can see the effect that Mireille Guiliano’s book French Women Don’t Get Fat had on me.  It has more sensible tips for long term lifestyle changes than these four points (and I’m sure these four points are crude regurgitations of her originals).

So, I’m back to having to follow my own advice, but at least writing this blog entry was good in revisiting some of the basics, kind of like writing lines in detention.  Just picture me repeating gluttony’s countervirtue over and over: Temperance.