Basil overload

The CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) season is in full swing. With that, we have basil coming out of our ears in the KG/EH Casa.

Here are the results of my "must use as much basil as possible" brainstorming:

Sun dried tomato, basil and mozzarella stuffed chicken breasts
w/cucumber salad and whole wheat couscous

I made this recipe up so the measurements are all estimates.

2 large chicken breasts cut in half
8 large sun dried tomato pieces
8 large basil leaves
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Cut chicken breasts in half and pound to thin out for easier rolling if needed. Layer basil, sun dried tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of mozzarella on top of each chicken breast. Roll into logs and fasten toothpicks to hold together. Whisk egg in one bowl and spread panko in another. Dip each chicken breast in egg wash and roll in panko. Put on tin foil lined, greased cookie sheet. Spray tops of chicken breasts with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and are golden brown.

Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Caprese Salad

1 large tomato
1 ounce fresh mozzarella cheese
8 basil leaves
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Chop basil, set aside. Slice tomato and mozzarella. Layer tomato, basil and mozzarella. Salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.

I also have plans for my favorite basil pesto sauce and a basil vinaigrette, but those will have to wait until I return from Colorado.

Until then, tell me what is your favorite basil recipe?

This ain't your mama's fried chicken

Last night I made my first attempt at cooking collard greens. We got a bunch in our final CSA share last week. After the turnip green disaster, I proceeded cautiously and followed a recipe this time.

I used Amateur Gourmet's rendition of a Lee Bro's recipe. And they turned out great!

Given my big ol' pot of collards, I was craving some fried chicken to go with them. I was on my way to the grocery store and even reasoned, "Well, I'll just get ONE piece to take home from the deli."

But I didn't. Nope, I was a good little Carb Lover's (and calorie counting) girl and came home from the grocery store and dredged some chicken breasts in a mixture of corn flakes, salt and pepper and baked them in the oven.

Oh - my - goodness! It was SO good and the extra pepper I put in the breading mixture made it *almost* like my mom's homemade fried chicken I haven't had in probably 5 or 6 years.

I will be making this again and again! I also think I'll try Amateur Gourmet's collard soup idea with my leftovers.

Turnip green disaster

Thursday night I made a complete veggie meal of 4 of our CSA produce items: sweet potato fries (baked), butternut squash, eggplant with a balsamic reduction and turnip greens.

I've never had turnip greens and apparently something went terribly, terribly wrong with them because they tasted way too bitter. I guess I didn't cook them long enough? They were tender, but still so bitter.

Inedible.

Out of all the new things I've tried this year with the CSA (kale, swiss chard) this was the first total disaster. I say that's pretty good statistics! Maybe we will get more greens this week and I can experiment with it some more.

Eggplant pizza bites and a weekend preview

I promised to share the goodness of the CSA and here I have delivered.

That is basil, sweet potatoes, various peppers, summer squash, butternut squash, cubanelle peppers, acorn squash, 2 kinds of eggplant, 2 kinds of cucumbers and okra! What a stash!

As is typical for Wednesday nights, my awesome housemate, KG and I made a CSA approved meal - Alea's Eggplant Pizza Bites.

Letting the eggplant sit, sprinkled with salt to draw the bitter juices out (it worked!)



Finished product - we added pepperoni because I was feeling some protein (it was supposed to be turkey pepperoni, but Kroger fails and was out).



Upclose of the cute little bites.

With the pepperoni, each bite was around 37.3 calories. I had 7 bites so I ended up with around 261 calories. We also made some sweet potato fries from the sweet potatoes from last week's CSA pick up. My dinner was probably around 450-500 calories. I love our CSA!!!

Back pain update

After walking a little over 2 miles on Saturday, my lower back pain got progressively worse over the long weekend. It seemed to be better yesterday and today I didn't take any pain meds, although I did use my Lidoderm patches. I haven't done any exercise this week, but I am thinking of starting by doing just a short (20 minute) walk tomorrow, followed by water aerobics on Friday. I hope that this back pain goes away soon, I'm ready to exercise regularly again!

This weekend is Nashville's annual Greek Fest. It will be my third year going and it is my favorite event of the year! Dancing! Gyros! Lukamades! Opa!

A non-scale victory

A blogger I follow, who writes about her journey after having the lapband procedure done, has used the term NSV - or non-scale victory alot throughout her journey. These are the little moments or things that happen as you lose weight or notice as you become a healthier version of yourself that don't relate to a number on the scale.

Today I had a NSV.

My slim fit pants I am wearing today feel too large, to the point that I have to keep pulling them up. Good thing I have a long shirt on or otherwise it would be uncomfortable. It feels good to have this problem.

Today is CSA day, and we haven't had a CSA related post in awhile. I plan to change that tonight. Look out for a post of all the goodies we get!

Jalapenos, peppers and basil, oh my!

So what to do with more jalapenos and cubanelle peppers than one person needs?

You pickle and can them!

But canning is SO labor intensive. Last summer I had my first canning experience when KG, Miss Lynn and I canned 20 pounds of fresh picked peaches. Whew - it was hard work! So when we're only talking about 2 1/2 cups of each kind of pepper it wasn't really worth sterilizing, cooking, filling and processing to yield just 1-2 jars of each. So what to do? What to do?

Easy refrigerator pickles peppers!

I edited the recipe a bit and used:

1 cup vinegar (white or cider)
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
a shake of olive oil

So I cut.

And I cut.


Then I sterilized my jars and lids.

And filled my jars.

Presto! Fresh pickled jalapenos and cubanelle peppers.

I also made Katie's raw pesto sauce with the massive amounts of basil we received in our CSA this week. It only took 1 cup to make this pesto sauce, so I still have about 2 more cups (plus more in the freezer) to use.

I am in love with this sauce! I haven't actually used it in a meal, but I couldn't help myself from licking the spoon after I made it. Pesto is traditionally very very fattening (it's basically all oil and cheese) and I was happy to learn of this amazing healthy recipe to allow me to use some of my basil.

Yep, that's just one cup of basil.

And the rest of the basil.

Final product - yumminess!

This time in the kitchen, a 50 minute walk on the greenway in 70 degree weather and washing my car is how I spent my Saturday. I feel so accomplished and refreshed.

How's your Labor Day weekend going?

These ain't your grandmother's zucchini muffins

My grandmother never made zucchini muffins (her specialties were German potato salad, homemade biscuits, pot roast with mashed potatoes and chicken with homemade dumplings), but growing up a dear family friend always had an extraordinary amount of zucchini and inevitably would turn it into zucchini muffins/bread. As a child, I didn't appreciate the awesomeness of this baked confectionery but as a baked good obsessed adult I do, oh I do.

As I've written about before, I split a CSA this year with some friends. Zucchini is practically a staple in our box each week. I don't mind since I love lots of zucc and lots of zucc means I've been dying to make zucchini muffins.

I used this lowfat recipe and made alterations by doubling the nutmeg (love nutmeg), adding 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, using natural applesauce instead of canola oil, and substituting 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips for the raisins.


A cup of lovely zucchini shredded


Batter filled muffin cups awaiting the oven (sans walnuts for KG)


Hot out of the oven zucchini muffins with chocolate chips

After putting my altered recipe in this nifty recipe analyzer, it appears each muffin is only worth 94 calories and 1.6 grams of fat. A treat that will satisfy my baked good cravings, but won't produce a lot of guilt - success!

I also brewed some sun tea and infused it with fresh lemon and basil. How refreshing on this 100 degree summer day!

CMT Awards and Community Supported Agriculture

Sorry for the radio silence the last two days. Busy week here in Big Life. Last night I attended the CMT Awards, which was fabulous. Can I cross 'attending an awards show' off my 101 in 1001 list that I haven't created yet? It was really cool to see what goes on behind the scenes production wise, I get a kick out of seeing the stage guys prepping the celebrities for their intros.

Tonight, KG took me to her gym to see if I would like their water aerobics class. Being the stubborn girl I am, I chose the "heavy weights" and I can already tell I'll be sore tomorrow! It's a great feeling. I plan to try out the Y Saturday and make a decision where to join.

Wednesdays are CSA (community supported agriculture) day in the Big Life household. I joined a CSA from a local, organic farm with 3 friends. When you join a CSA you pay a fee for the 'season' (ours is May - Oct) and then each week we get a 'share' of what is produced on the farm. For the last 4 weeks, we've brought home a 1/2 bushel of fresh produce to enjoy. So far, we've received kale (lots), broccoli, swish chard, lettuces, zucchini, yellow squash, strawberries, green onions, arugula, basil and so much more!


Our CSA box from the second week


The first CSA meal - Kale omelets and hashbrown potatoes


Another CSA meal - bok choy stirfry


The lettuce plants at Delvin Farms, when we attended the member picnic.

Joining the CSA has been great for trying new produce I haven't had before (Kale, Swiss chard). And it's forcing KG and I to eat more veggies. Tonight, our dear house guest, Sarah, made us cabbage stirfry and sauteed zucchini and squash. It was DELICIOUS!

If you are at all interested in the CSA concept, I completely encourage you to research joining one in your community. They are more affordable than you think (my part of the share comes out to approx. $8 per week), most farms have full and half shares for singles and families alike, and some even with barter services with you. It makes me happy each week as we discover what goodies have been packed in our box and then make a mad dash to consume all of it in 7 days.

It's a pretty packed weekend in Big Life. Sex in the City 2, pool time, CMA festival and a Whole Foods/Trader Joe's trip is in store. And in all of that I need one more work out for my week to make my goal. What are you doing this weekend?