food biz

okay, so i've jumped in with both feet. i have started THE PIXYWAGON for real, and i am so excited! it starts in the fall and 10 people have shown interest. oh my gosh. cooking for 10 people each week? that's crazy!!! but if i stay organized, and eliminate other things, rather than trying to add this onto my normally crazy week, i will be brilliantly happy with this addition to my life.

that means some of my teaching hours have to go. and that is a very happy, but scary, thing.

organization is KEY. so i am going to formulate my few months of meals in advance. and renew my costco membership and start crunching numbers. and order my cute little to go boxes!!!

i am so excited about this. the thought of cooking for this many people is overwhelming. but i really want to do this. also, the thought of possibly not teaching for an extra whole day is THRRRRRRILLLLLLLING.

creamy substitute

i have been passionately learning the art of substitutes for a few years now. every time i go to a restaurant, eat something so rich i cannot even think about finishing it, then leave with a stomach ache, i sit there and brainstorm ideas to make the same thing at home ~ only without rich ingredients that i just can't digest. plus, i am starting the pixywagon biz again in the fall, and want to have lots of great ideas.

here's my latest love.

i love creamy soups. i love how classy they are, and you can also literally throw in everything in your fridge, give it a whirl with your handheld mixer, and you have a soup that's got great flavor and texture. but, of course, the last ingredient is usually heavy cream. that's not so terrible, but tonight, i made a creamy soup without any cream! and while i wouldn't be mad at myself if i put a little cream in this soup on the 2nd day, i'm really enjoying this healthy bowl o' good without anything getting in the way of my ideal goal weight. tra la.

the trick is garbanzo beans. you know how creamy they are in hummus? well, there you have it. they are ridiculously good for you. put them in a food processor with a touch of olive oil, or even a little laughing cow cheese, if you really think you'll miss the cream. i would have used some this time, but i didn't have any. meanwhile, in a dutch oven, throw in lots of carrots and whatever is not yet fermenting in your crisper. i had broccoli slaw and shredded carrots. i also added some green olives. amazing! cook with a little butter and olive oil, add garlic, a little stone ground mustard, i don't know. that's what i had. add a can of artichoke hearts.

everything is caramelizing a little and getting some great color. imagine if you added prosciutto! ugh!!

add some white wine, if you have it, and bubble away. then add some chicken stock, a bay leaf, and i had a frozen parmesan rind in the freezer. not sure those last two ingredients made any difference because the flavor of those veggies is already sensational!

then you add the garbanzo mash and let it bubble some more. i added a touch of olive oil on the top, some grated parm, fresh cracked pepper, and voila! yummy, healthy soup.

it had a german flavor to it, with the white wine and the stone ground mustard. very tangy, but creamy. and it's a beautiful soup, with bits of orange from the carrot, and the cracked pepper.

yummmm....

california

new design template!! i couldn't help myself. honestly, you would think i was more interested in the look of my blog than the actual content of it. well sometimes i am.

i just got back from an amazing trip to california with my mother. it was sensational. first, a recording of two scenes from a new opera, which made this trip possible. then an unprecedented amount of sight-seeing! san francisco, santa barbara, the cliffs on hwy 1, the vineyards of hwy 101, spanish food, california shopping, you name it!

and now i'm back and full of life and memories and total contentment. everyone should take a vacation. every year. twice a year. and everyone should see hwy 1, along the coast. it is unreal. the picture i've attached is a tiny introduction to the grandeur of this place. you have to see it in person, preferably in the driver's seat. scary, but exhilarating. (i had to google the spelling for that word. i'm ashamed.)

i have one more gig, this weekend in oklahoma with my trio. but i feel like the hardest work of this year is all behind me. so now i am going to start working on new recipes for the PIXYWAGON, which i am starting up again in the fall!!! i have 8 interested clients. yay! so this summer i will test new ideas and tweak their contents until they are as healthy as they can possibly be. i also have new ideas for the PIXYCAKES that i am dying to try.

i read an article at the gym tonight that had some great weight-loss food tips. thought i'd share them with you:

1. healthy dip ~ plain yogurt with ranch seasoning packet. how freakin' easy is that?
2. healthy nuts ~ take peanuts or almonds and toss them in a tiny bit of olive oil and some cayenne pepper. cayenne pepper is a major health booster, and also makes you drink more water. i think you can toast them in the oven, but i don't remember what it said.
3. frozen bananas ~ i love this one and am definitely going to try it! slice bananas and toss them in cinnamon and maybe a little cocoa powder. throw them in a bag and freeze. the magazine says they taste like ice cream when frozen. cool!

love those!

tikka your fancy

i am always craving indian food. and i'm not yet to the point where i would like to conquer indian cuisine in my home, because i feel like it will require me to buy one of those tandoori ovens, or some wood-burning device. i'm pretty sure they won't allow one of those in my apartment. and not to mention a boat-load of spices i would have to buy, some that might be difficult to find.
all of that is probably way not true, but it does stop me from going there.
anyway, there is a great indian line at target, and the picture you see is TIKKA MASALA. it's a jar of sauce, that i soup up with veggies, chicken and chick peas. and don't forget the amazing jasmati rice ~ a mix between jasmin and basmati. deeeelish.
the sauce tastes better when you thin it out with chicken stock, lime juice and plain yogurt, all healthy additions. and top it with as much cilantro as you can handle. and i can handle a lot.
i thought the fresh tomatoes added at the end were a nice, fresh touch.
i'm not sure how incredibly healthy these jars of sauce are, but they really jazz up rice and chicken. i added lots of veggies, so that counts for something.
and the one jar, when souped up, was good for 3 meals. kaching!

first food installment

a colleague at william jewell was sharing this blog about food she had come across, and she didn't even know the woman, but told me to look it up. well, i did and it was adorable. i didn't even know this woman and it sounds like she lives on an island somewhere. very interesting! she has little stories about her day, but mostly, it's about food. she adds gorgeous pictures of the food and leaves the recipe. it's inspiring and the way she writes makes you feel like you are sharing recipes with an old friend, sitting around your kitchen table.

i am very passionate about healthy cooking and baking. about 10 years ago, i stopped eating preservatives, for the most part. i stay away from almost anything that comes in a box, already made. and anything with high fructose corn syrup, which, by the way, is in most salad dressings. hello! i try to use healthy ingredients, like whole wheat/whole grain, no mayo (hate it anyway), olive oil for everything, and some other really cool tricks that i've read about, or discovered myself. i add as many veggies as i can to everything and cook with citrus and herbs/spices as much as i can.

with that said, i'm building quite a repertoire of healthy food ideas and i was thinking maybe i should share them on this blog.

as EVERYONE knows, the blog is most beneficial to the writer, not the reader, and i feel that if i wrote about my healthy tricks, i would be focused on them more, and use them more. i don't expect anyone out there to think these are genius ideas, but if you like something, let me know! and if you have ideas, please put them on here! it'll be a recipe share, or idea share.

i'm also interested in ideas about working out. right now, i'm jogging. i really like it a lot ~ the simplicity of it. i'm about 15 lbs heavier than i want to be, so i'm trying to jog five days a week. this week: i have only exercised twice. but i had horrible headaches all week, so i'll give myself a little understanding.

today's healthy food:

HUMMUS.

chick peas
feta (instead of tahini sauce, which is bloody expensive and only comes in a huge jar that goes rancid fast)
lemon juice
cilantro
garlic
salt and pepper
cumin
i also like jalapeno pepper in mine
olive oil

this would all be delicious with edamame instead of chick peas. or peas with mint? just find a veggie or bean to puree and you've beaten the need for fattening dips...

the picture i just added to my blog page is WAY more sassy than i'm feeling. i feel fat, old, pale (if only those sunspots would just connect), and very unhealthy. but, i got my hair cut today and it's super cute and sassy. so there you have it.

it's thursday night and i have a serious mission to accomplish tonight. i MUST end this evening with the atonal, mixed-meter, crazy new opera arias prepared. MUST. i am not allowed to finish this evening without accomplishing that one task.

but, before i begin, i have a question to anyone who is reading this:

i want to change the subject of this blog. food blog? healthy food discovery blog? something about food and music? passion? spirituality? i need something to write about that isn't all about me. bored with that. so bored with that.

i've been very interested in healthy, but yummy food and have found some kick ass tricks that can make rich food low calorie.

anybody interested in that type of blog?