Food

photo via moonjuice

Our awesome nanny Tara recently brought over a bag of the most insidious candy I’ve ever encountered: Candy Cane Hershey’s Kisses. They are mint-flavored and have itty bitty bits of candy canes in them. Have you ever had them? I didn’t even know they existed until this year, which is a good thing, because that bag we got on Thursday? Yeah, it’s gone. I’ve been binging on those Kisses for four days and I still can’t say I even like them that much. But they are tricky little buggers and have an addictive quality that causes you to eat 10 of them in rapid succession and still want more.

The funny thing is that when Tara showed up with them I thanked her politely while thinking really snobby thoughts about Hershey’s chocolate and how it’s crappy and I don’t eat it. But of course I had to try one of these seasonal Kisses since they were a gift and I’d never had one. Oh man. These are not a quality treat but they are creamy and minty and the candy cane bits provide the perfect amount of subtle crunchiness. What else can I say? They’re dangerous, stay away unless you like to over-consume poor quality sugary foods that trick you into thinking they taste good.

It should be noted that I had to borrow a photo from flickr because there were no Candy Cane Kisses left in our house for me to photograph. I couldn’t risk buying another bag because they are evil insidious little bastards and I clearly do not have the self-control required to resist their siren song.

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We eat a lot of nuts around here. They are a great source of fat, protein, vitamins, and minerals. The thing is, sometimes plain nuts are a little bit boring. In an effort to jazz things up a bit, I concocted this trail mix. Who needs a recipe for trail mix, you say? Good point. But I know that sometimes I can get stuck in a rut, making the same trail mix again and again, so I figured I’d share this mix in an effort to inspire you to include something different the next time you make yours.

A few key points to note are that I’ve used raw nuts rather than roasted (a healthier option because the fats are not oxidized in raw nuts like they are in roasted) and unsweetened coconut (to keep sugar to a minimum). Also, opt for mini dark chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips–there are no extra additives (chocolate chips have them so they’ll keep their shape when baked!) and the percentage of cacao is much higher. If you can’t find mini dark chocolate chunks in your grocery store, just get a dark chocolate bar (preferably 70% cacao or higher–yum, antioxidants!) and chop it up.

Kick-Ass Trail Mix

1 heaping cup raw almonds
1 cup raw cashews (pieces work better than whole nuts)
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chunks

Mix all the ingredients together in an airtight container. That’s it! You can store this in the fridge to keep it tasting fresh longer, but I bet that you will eat this so quickly that freshness will not be an issue.

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Me, after just finishing lunch: I need more food.

Brian: Do you want some of these leftover potatoes?

Me: Yes, I was going to fry them up in the skillet that’s soaking in the sink.

Brian: I’ll do it. Do you want cheese on top?

Me: YES! GRATED CHEDDAR! AND COOK THEM IN BACON FAT!

Brian: Well, of course.

Note: Potatoes were small Yukon Golds that I quartered and roasted the other night, but I messed up and they came out more baked than roasted. Brian sauteed them in a cast iron skillet with bacon fat and onions and then grated very sharp Vermont cheddar on top. You should do this!

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I went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon and spent way too much money. It was seriously heartbreaking watching the total increase as the cashier rang up my groceries. I’ve had a hard time with the food stuff lately. I find it shocking and frustrating that we spend so much more on food in Texas than we ever did in DC. I have some ideas about why that is:

1. We buy more processed stuff than we used to. We still hardly eat any processed food compared to the average American, and probably compared to most health-conscious Americans, too, but it’s more than we used to and boy is that stuff costly. Examples of this are things like ice cream, Clif Bars (ew, but a necessary evil so I can always eat on the go if I have to), and cereal (our homemade granola was getting to me, so I’ve been digging on Ezequiel Sprouted Whole Grain Cereal lately – it is high in protein and very easy to digest since it contains no flour).
2. We are definitely consuming more luxury foods like avocados, which I used to only purchase if they were on sale. I justify the avocados because I need the fat and calories for the baby, and I buy the $5 bag of 4 organic avocados so they’re not super crazy expensive, but we never used to buy a bag every week. Ditto strawberries, which we only used to get if they were on sale at the farmer’s market. Now I buy a plastic box of California berries every week, and a little bit of me dies each time I do (see the next item about local, seasonal produce).
3. The biggest culprit is probably our now-routine consumption of out-of-season and non-local produce. It used to be that we only went to the grocery store for lemons, fish, and pantry items, and occasionally meat or chicken. We haven’t found a good source for local produce here yet, and with my appetite being what it is (um, can you say fickle?), I’ll buy almost anything if I think I’ll want to eat it. I really, really miss the bounty of the Dupont Circle Farmer’s Market. They had everything there, and once we figured out how to shop that market, we were able to eat extremely well without spending a ton of money.
4. Mass consumption of meat and dairy. We eat so much more of this stuff than we used to, in my attempt to pack in lots of fat, protein, and calories in general. Lots of burgers, which I admit are cheap in the grand scheme of meat, but we are really eating A LOT of them. Also cheese and yogurt, substances that rarely, if ever, made their way into our fridge. And it doesn’t help that the only cheese I have an appetite for lately is the nicely aged Parmigiano Reggiano. Let’s not talk about how much that costs.

So, I’m frustrated that we’re spending all this money on food when our income is so erratic and unpredictable. But even more than that, I’m frustrated that we’re so out of sync with our beliefs when it comes to food. When we were buying almost all our food locally, we were supporting small farmers and eating in season, and feeling really great about both. Shopping at the grocery store for things I feel like I should be able to buy straight from a farmer makes me feel empty and sad. It’s more than guilt, it’s a deeper feeling of just plain ol’ wrongness.

For now, we’ll probably keep this grocery store-centric eating up since the baby is due in a week (a week!) and I am still trying to gain as much weight as possible. I had a prenatal check-up yesterday and only gained 1 lb in the past two weeks, so I still really need to be focusing on eating all the time. On top of that I have been exhausted, which makes it harder to plan and prepare the type of nutritious meals that typically form the foundation of our diet – especially since I have nearly lost my appetite for a lot of our old favorites (greens? ew!). But once the baby’s here and we have established some sort of rhythm (don’t laugh, I believe it is possible!) I am going to see about getting involved with a local farm or farmer’s market. I was so disappointed with the main Saturday farmer’s market downtown, but I heard the Wednesday one closer to our home is better. Maybe I can even get there next week to check it out. My hope is that I’ll be able to get involved in the local food community in some way – both to support and nurture the community and also to make it easier for us to eat in a way that makes us feel healthy and happy instead of sad and broke.

Now, on a happier note, that photo at the top of this post is of the gigantic organic heirloom tomato I picked up at Boggy Creek Farm a couple of days ago. It is finally ripe, and we are going to eat it tonight, unless I devour it sometime between now and dinner. This week was the first in a while that I’ve made it to Boggy Creek, and while it feels great to go to the farm and purchase directly from the farmer, it is not cheap and the variety is limited since, you know, it’s just one farm. That being said, the farmers that own and operate Boggy Creek are incredible people who are very involved in the sustainable food movement, and their farm is at the top of the list of places where I’d love to volunteer. I can just see myself now, with the baby in the sling, helping out around the farm or at one of the two weekly farm stands….

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Something we’ve gotten into the habit of doing since we moved to Seattle is making our own granola from scratch. We were inconsistent for a while, but lately have been making a batch every week. It’s delicious and easy to make, and so much healthier and cheaper than store bought. Tastier, too – I can only think of one store-bought granola that even comes close (and we can’t get it on the west coast anyway). One batch lasts us about a week, give or take depending on how much we gorge ourselves. We eat it with almond milk, or sometimes just grab a handful as a snack. For the past couple weeks I’ve been tossing a handful of organic Thompson’s raisins on top of each serving since I’m trying to keep my iron levels up (no sign that they’re dropping, but this is around the time in my pregnancy that they would be likely to, as the baby takes more and more for himself).

Note that this recipe doesn’t make chunky granola. I still haven’t figured out how to modify it to make the chunks, but it is crunchy and holds up well in milk. Feel free to halve the recipe to make a smaller batch, or use all honey instead of a mix of maple syrup and honey. You can also modify the nuts and seeds you use, but I highly recommend trying this combination before you go crazy  – it really works well in terms of flavor and texture. Yum!

GRANOLA

6 cups rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup raw walnuts (chopped)
3/4 cup raw pecans (chopped)
2/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Set out two large rimmed baking sheets.

Roughly measure out the coconut oil and melt almost completely in microwave (in glass measure). Use whisk to stir in small lumps so that the oil is completely liquid. The amount when melted should be 2/3 cup or slightly less. Add honey & maple syrup to glass measure and whisk to combine with coconut oil (this takes a few minutes). Add vanilla to liquid ingredients and whisk to combine. Make sure that the mixture is completely uniform, especially at the bottom of the measuring cup.

Measure dry ingredients into large bowl and stir to combine. Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients and stir THOROUGHLY. This takes a while but it is very important that all of the dry ingredients are evenly coated with the wet ingredients. Divide mixture between two baking sheets making sure the layer of granola on both sheets is pretty uniform.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, stirring and turning every 10 minutes until toasted. Switch the position of the two baking sheets each time you stir the granola. If granola is not uniformly reddish-brown after 20 minutes, put one or both sheets back in the oven for as many 3-5 minute increments as necessary, being careful not to burn the granola.

After baking, allow to cool on sheets thoroughly. Loosen granola from pan with a spatula, breaking it into small chunks as you go. Store in airtight container.

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