Breaking the Habit

I try really hard to eat real food. Whole foods, if you will. Unprocessed. Not from a box. As close to the source as you can get.

I don't have any particular health problems that make eating whole foods a must for me, I just want to be as healthy as possible. It's not always easy (or convenient) to eat real foods, but I've been trying to break my dependence on convenience foods by learning to make my own stuff.

For example, I bake my own bread rolls and pizza dough (and hot pockets!),

save money at Starbucks by munching on homemade pumpkin scones,

 simmer my own chicken stock,

and make salad dressing, frozen yogurt, "larabars," and (even though I can't believe I've never blogged about it) granola bars.

However, there is still one overly-processed, probably-slowly-killing me frankenfood that I simply have not been able to get rid of:

My fat free French Vanilla Coffeemate.

God, I love this stuff. I can't drink coffee without it. But I cringe every time I look at the ingredient list:

It's appalling, I know. That I would even dare to call myself a healthy living blogger after consuming this stuff on a regular basis since I was in high school is laughable. I am sure that when I die, autopsies will confirm that fat free French Vanilla Coffeemate was to blame.

I got tired of feeling sorry for myself this weekend and decided to take Coffeemate matters into my own hands. Surely, I thought (as I often do) I can make this myself!

I found several recipes, but ultimately decided to start with one I found on ModernBeet because it had three ingredients only. Excellent.

(I added some vanilla extract later because I found that the bean on it's own didn't give me as strong of a vanilla flavor as I had wanted.)

What you'll need:

• 1 pint half-and-half or cream
• 1 whole vanilla bean (I got mine in the bulk spices aisle at Whole Foods for only $1.50!)
• 1/2t pure vanilla extract
• 2T + 1t sugar

I bought this particular carton of half-and-half (with the screw-on lid) intentionally so I could use it to store my creamer after I made it. I figured it would be much easier to store in this type of container than in a traditional milk carton top. I was right :)

What you do:

1. Heat the half-and-half in a small saucepan on the stove top until it is steaming, but not boiling.
2. Split the vanilla bean down the center with a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds inside.

3. Remove the half-and-half from the heat and mix in the vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, and the bean.
4. Cover and let the vanilla infuse until the mixture is cool.
5. Remove the vanilla bean, add sugar, and stir.

6. Pour into a bottle/jar/half-and-half container and refrigerate until ready to use.

I used mine this morning. The verdict?

Well, it's definitely not French Vanilla Coffeemate, but it's not bad either. It has a distinctly fresh smell and taste - maybe I'm just so used to the Coffeemate chemicals it will take a while for me to adjust? It's also not as thick as Cofeemate (and I do like the texture), but perhaps using cream instead of half-and-half would solve that problem?

I'll keep experimenting! You know, in the name of science :)

Buzz, Buzz

These were delivered to my classroom yesterday:

As soon as the kids saw them, they got really excited because they knew they were full of:

Macbooks!

We've spend the last several days working on our first "official" essay of seventh grade. We are analyzing the theme of Langston Hughes' "Thank You, Ma'm." It is hard work, but they are doing a great job! I am actually maybe kind of looking forward to reading 130 rough drafts when they get turned in on Monday! Maybe... Kind of...

My desk last November...

If you don't live in California, maybe you don't know how hot it has been lately. I'll sum it up for you: HOT! So freaking unbelievably hot for the last week of September (113 degrees in LA yesterday)! I did not complain this weekend, because I really do love hot weather, but it's been tough at work. You know, 30 sweaty preteen bodies, questionable deodorant application, no AC, a classroom full of Macbooks buzzing away. Yeah. HOT.

This has pretty much thrown all cooking and working out plans into a complete tailspin. However, I plan to get back on track today! It's only (only!) 90 degrees in Campbell, so I think I can manage doing some Yoga Meltdown and abs and sticking a pork tenderloin in the oven. I might even bake some bread. I'll let you know how that all works out.

And finally, today is National Coffee Day! I couldn't let it pass without celebration, so I treated myself after work:

Please note, I went through seven lids before I could finally get one to stay on. It was well worth the effort. 

Happy hump day!

Sweet Saturday Morning

I love Saturday mornings. I sleep in but am still usually up before Brian. While he sleeps, I make coffee, read the paper, and usually play around in the kitchen. This morning I woke up with one thing on my mind - PUMPKIN!

Although I still haven't found any canned pumpkin (but only because I've been too busy this week to look), I remembered that I had about 1 cup of pumpkin puree in the freezer from last fall! I busted it out and defrosted it post-haste with visions of scones dancing in my head!

I took Angela's pumpkin scone recipe, but made some switches with the original recipe so they were sweeter and not vegan, but still healthier. 

They were a hit! Possibly my most successful baked good to date (this is a big deal, I'm a horrible baker)!

Meg's Hybrid Pumpkin Scones

inspired by Oh She Glows and Food.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat  flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• Turbinado sugar, to garnish

Spiced Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1.5-2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a non-stick mat.
2. In a large bowl mix the first 9 ingredients.
3. Take the cold butter and cut butter into dry ingredients until crumbly (I use my food processor).
4. In a medium sized bowl, mix the pumpkin, egg, vanilla, and milk.
5. Add wet to dry and mix until a ball forms.
6. Place the ball of dough on a floured surface. Flour your hands lightly and knead a few times..
7. Shape the dough into a circle and then cut into 8 triangles (a pizza wheel works really well for this step!).
8. Beat the egg slightly and, with a pastry brush or a spoon, brush onto each scone.
9. Sprinkle generously with sugar and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate halfway through.
10. While cooling, make the spiced glaze by beating 1 cup powdered sugar with milk and spice until smooth.
11. When scones are cool ice and enjoy! I piped the icing using a ziplock bag, but you could drizzle it with a whisk or just cover the whole scone.

While cooking up a storm, I decided to try some of the Creme Brulee coffee that Caftea sent me this week!

I will be honest, I was a little apprehensive. I don't like flavored coffee very much and this smelled very sweet when I opened the bag. However, once I brewed it up (french press, hooray!) the sweetness was very subtle and the taste was really smooth! 

I was worried that the vanilla and brown sugar flavors, but they were very mellow and really complimented the coffee. I had 2 cups! You can pick up a bag in my OpenSky shop.

We have a FUN weekend planned, so be sure to check back later for all the details!

Lazy Saturday

I woke up early to run this morning and then remembered our plan to run/bike the race course (that link opens a PDF, in case you're interested. The elevation map terrifies me!) on Sunday. I love unexpected days off! This is also a nice rest day for my hip, which has been bothering me for a week. I had a bad run last week at my parents' house where my knee was really hurting (I forgot to wear my brace!) and so I limped along for a few miles, putting some unnecessary pressure on my hip. I don't think anything is seriously wrong, but it's still sore!

We experienced yet another kitchen tragedy yesterday, when our french press bit the dust.

Looking at the Amazon reviews, I probably should have seen this coming. I originally bought it just to take camping (hence the choice to buy an "unbreakable" carafe), but I really like using the french press in the summer instead of our monster coffee maker. I guess we drank too much coffee this summer because the french press basically disintegrated while Brian was cleaning it yesterday morning!

We wasted no time purchasing another and this is definitely a far superior coffee press. The stainless steel mesh filter cannot be beat! It makes a much smoother cup of coffee. Yum!

To celebrate my extra hour and a half of free time this morning, I made a version of Chelsey's coffee cake. I made a few changes to the recipe since A) I'm not vegan, and B) some of the proportions seemed a little off to me. It still needs a little tweaking (Brian requests more sugar, as usual), but it was a quick and easy Saturday morning treat!

I've been studying my Google Analytics (What? You don't do this? It's totally mesmerizing and a little addicting!) lately and have noticed that my number of readers has nearly doubled in the last week! Thanks so much for reading! I really appreciate it!

Can I ask you all a favor? Please comment when you read so I know who you are, even if you don't want to answer my questions but just want to say "hi!" I follow a lot of blogs and I know it's hard to comment on all of them (I'm trying to get better!), but the more you comment, the more I know about you, and the better friends we can become! I'm not blogging to get famous or land a book deal or win any awards; I'm blogging because I think this is a really incredible community of smart, sassy, fabulous women (and men!) and I want to get to know all of you better and share stories and recipes and expertise with you! I think you're all pretty amazing!

Speaking of amazing, the Love Bomb team at ItStartsWith.Us left comments on Bria's blog this week. Bria is 22 years old, suffers from clinical depression and anxiety, and is considering suicide. Over 300 people (strangers!) left inspiring and encouraging comments on a recent post. Yesterday, Bria said thanks. How cool is that? 

¡Viva España! and ICR fail

Another soccer match, another afternoon at St. Stephen's Green! I am thrilled that my Spanish boys pulled through in the end. Did you see that header that Puyol put in the back of the net? Incredible! He just may be my favorite hairy Spanish soccer player of all time. :) 

I will be so sad if he decides to retire!
[image source]

After my disappointing lunch at the pub yesterday, I decided to take matters into my own hands today. I ran 5 miles this morning (no SI pain, hooray!), then came home and whipped up my very first Green Monster!

Leafy green goodness in my new Copco To-Go Cup!

I put 1 cup spinach, 1/2 banana, and 3/4 cup soy milk in the blender and let it spin around for a minute. Then I tossed in some ice and let it go to town a little longer. Finally, I stirred in about 1T of chia seeds. I was dubious at first but, as usual, was proved totally wrong. Who knew spinach could be so sweet? I'm a convert!

I then packed a peach and a huge green salad into my bag. Is it weird that I snuck food into a pub? Whatever. While everyone else was clogging their arteries with fried fish and chips (although it did smell delicious...), I was perfectly happy with my fruits and veggies.

After celebrating Spain's victory, the hubs and I headed home and then decided to walk downtown for some iced coffee. That's where the "ICR fail" part of my title comes in. There are two coffee shops downtown, a Starbucks and an independent coffee roaster (see, ICR?). We try to frequent the ICR as often as possible, but I have to admit their coffee is just not all that good. I usually bite my tongue and order something as simple as possible, but today just put me over the edge.

I ordered an iced soy latte. When I got it off the bar, I noticed that there were some grounds floating at the top, but I didn't pay much notice to them. I stuck a straw in the lid and headed out into the beautiful sunlight with the husband. It wasn't until we were 2 blocks away that I finally took my first sip of coffee.

Blech! Horrible! The soy tasted like it had gone bad (is that even possible?) and the espresso tasted burned. I took a look at my cup and there were grounds covering the bottom! It was basically undrinkable. That's it, ICR! I have tried to be a good patron of independent establishments, but you have forced me to Starbucks! I didn't want to go back and be a pain, so I just threw it away and shared Brian's frosted chai (which was delicious).

Brian says this is a problem that I have - I hate inconveniencing people. I would rather just throw my coffee away and vow never to go to that coffee shop again than go back and cause a scene. Maybe this is true, I don't know. I just didn't really want to deal with it today.

What about you guys? Do you send food back if it's not what you expected?
I mean, I have no problem sending something back in a restaurant, but for a $3 cup of coffee... I don't know. It almost feels like more trouble than it's worth. Thoughts?