A Cold Bowl of "Cereal"

I used to plan my life around eating a bowl of cereal.  I grew up lactose intolerant and there were certain dairy products that I could safely eat but there were some that would bring terrible pains to my stomach: sour cream, goat cheese, and milk.  But I loved eating a cold bowl of cereal so much that I would plan a night in just so that I could indulge in a bowl or two. I didn't care about the stomach pains.  It was worth it.

Now that Marshall and I are changing our lifestyle, cereal and milk no longer show up as items on our grocery list.  Most cereals are loaded with sugar and milk has a fair share of sugar in it too.  So our pantry shelves no longer have those colorful, tall boxes on them anymore and I miss them so.

Last week, Ashley and I had a chance to talk to Robert Morton from Power Supply about his lifestyle change.  He talked about how Crossfit changed his life and he talked about integrating the Paelo diet into his family's lifestyle.  I loved that for his kids, it wasn't about pushing them to eat their vegetables. It is on the table and a part of their lives and they enjoy it.  He was leading by example.

Something else caught my attention and it was when he talked about breakfast and something he typically eats.  He assembles a bowl of fruit and walnuts and pours some almond milk on top.  He talked about how the motion of eating this bowl of fruit was similar to eating a bowl of cereal for him.  I thought about this for a long time and it really hit me how much emotion is involved in eating.  Food has so many connections to memories, feelings, and feelings of comfort for me.  The motion of eating a bowl of cereal was so delightful to me because I made it a treat for so long.

For the past few nights and this morning, I made myself a bowl of "cereal." I filled a bowl with blueberries, raspberries, and some slivered almonds and filled it up with cold almond milk.  As I ate the bowl, I thought about how I felt and whether it felt satisfying to me.  The first bite was always a shock to my palate (it literally thought, "what the hell is this?" But after bite number three and bite number four, the sweetness from the berries kicked in and the crunch from the almonds started to register.  It felt like I was eating a bowl of cereal. It tasted good.  It felt good. I felt satisfied.

And, no stomach ache.

Chix on 14th and L Street

It has been a week since we started eating a modified Paleo diet and Marshall and I have seen some results.  The scale has informed us that we both have dropped weight and I'm feeling more comfortable in my skin (funny how you don't notice that you were uncomfortable until  you treat your body a little better.)  One of the biggest hurtles of eating a modified Paleo diet is keeping up with all of the cooking and cleaning. I'm actually beginning to feel cooking fatigue from the constant cooking and cleaning.  From the start, I knew that we would have a hard time cooking three meals a day so I decided to stick with cooking at least breakfast and dinner. Until we get a handle on those two meals, we will have to either bring leftovers for lunch or we will just have to go out and buy it (some of the dishes we have cooked keep well for lunch the next day but many of them are not dishes that taste good heated up in a microwave.) We have a lot of great options for lunch since both of us work in downtown DC.

And lucky for me, Chix opened their second location a couple of weeks ago and it is located a block from my office. The chicken breast special is $8.99 and it comes with a grilled chicken breast and two sides (I ordered the roasted sweet potatoes and the green beans.) The meal was very filling. It was so filling that I could only eat half of it and saved the rest for another meal.

The thing I like about Chix is that it is almost impossible to make an unhealthy choice. Their menu is full of flavorful and healthy options that will provide you all the vegetables and protein you need. It will be one of my go-to lunch restaurants from now on.


Chix
1121 14th St. NW.
Washington, D.C.
Monday-Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Washington Green Grocer

 

Living in DC gives me access to a number of places to shop. I forget how spoiled I am until I talk to a relative or a friend who doesn't live in a big city and hear about how they are making a special trip to the "city" to buy something they really wanted.

The problem with having access to so many shops is that I can spend a full day running from shop to shop looking at new items and figuring out what is a better deal. By the end of that day, I'm too tired to do any real cooking ( or real exercising).  It occurred to me that it is such a waste for me to spend time shopping and the come home too exhausted to cook the things I spent so much time shopping for.

So, since Marshall and I got some big health news, I really started to analyze my life and have been trying to strategize to make cooking at home and exercise a priority. In order to avoid highly processed foods, we are going to spend more of our time cooking at home. That also means a lot more time cleaning (praise The Lord for the invention of dishwashers.) 

And here is when the magic fairies from Washington Green Grocer comes in. This business model is amazing. They have a great website where you can place your order online and they deliver groceries to your door. They make eating healthy so easy.  Since I am pretty thrifty, I spent some time comparing their produce prices to local grocery store prices and found that they are more than reasonable when you factor in the cost of gas and time spent shopping.

Here are five reasons why I love Washington Green Grocers:

1) You can order a box whenever you want to. There is no obligation to "subscribe." This is pretty rare for produce delivery services.

2) They know "hip food" - Washington Green Grocers always seems to know about good food in DC. They carry Border Springs Farm lamb which is used by some of the best restaurants in DC and  is some of the best lamb I have ever eaten.  They also carry Trickling Springs dairy, which is dairy from nearby Pennsylvania. (If you ever get a chance to buy ice cream from Trickling Springs, do yourself a favor and buy as much as you can. They make the most amazing ice cream.) You can even order Kombucha through them!

3) You can choose from a variety of boxes including a "Local Only" one - Since Marshall and I are watching our sugar intake, we are limited to specific kinds of fruits we can eat. So we subscribe to a weekly "all vegetable" box.  We have some friends who feel strongly about eating local produce so they can choose the "local only" box that only included produced that is sourced locally. There are ten different boxes you can choose from.

4) "Always" and "Never items" - You can choose fruits and vegetables that will "always" be included in your box (like cauliflower because we cook with it all of the time) or vegetables and fruits that are "never" included in your box (like cucumbers for me since I am allergic).

5) Recipe Kits - Talk about making life simple! Green Grocers also sells these Recipe Kits which include everything you need to make a dish.  For instance, Mexican Shredded Beef Tacos, or Carrot Ginger Salad, and even juice kits so that you can have everything you need to make a healthy drink.

Washington Green Grocer is just a great service and I feel lucky to have them.

Souper Party

A lot has happened since my last post. Marshall and I got married, we had an amazing and fun wedding, we went on a mini-moon, we survived the holidays, and life just kept presenting us one surprise after another. (Don't get too excited, I'm not preggers and don't plan to be for a little while longer.) (That note was for you, Dad. Mr. Iamtooexcitedtobeagrandpaagain)

For awhile, I was considering changing my blog to another name. I even started a new Blogger account and started working on the new layout. Then it came time to change my Twitter handle and I couldn't do it. It didn't feel right. For the last few years, I've become attached to Thrifty DC Cook and I've met people who refer to me by that name and not my real name.

So, I've decided to stick with Thrifty DC Cook and keep posting my food adventures here but will also include other things that may not be food related that are equally as interesting.

Yesterday, my friend Joy threw our third annual soup party. Every year for the last few years, one of our friends would host a soup party where each guest would bring a pot (or crockpot) of soup. It is the perfect party for cold days. We had vegetarian chili, beer and cheddar soup, chicken tortilla soup, lasagna soup, lentil soups, and so much more. The best part is, Joy ordered to-go containers so that all of us took home a variety of soups for lunches next week.

This year, she also included a cookie exchange. I've been trying to be good about my sugar intake so I only sampled one cookie. It was a Sage cookie by my friend Brian and it was fantastic.

My contribution was a Roasted Butternut Squash and Peanut Butter Soup with Sunflower Seeds. The peanut butter might sound strange but it gives the soup a depth of flavor but doesn't overpower the butternut squash. Here is the recipe:

For the soup
2 tablespoons of canola oil
2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1 inch chuncks
3 bulbs of shallots with skin taken off
4 cups chicken stock
1 ¼ cup of half'n'half
1 tablespoon of creamy peanut butter
Salt and pepper

Garnish with sunflower seeds.

Preheat ovento 375F

Place butternut squash and shallots on a baking sheet and drizzle the canola oil on the squash and run your hands through it to be sure that the canola oil is evenly distributed. Roast for 45 minutes. Take out of the oven and allow to cool.

Place two cups of the roasted sqaush,  the three bulbs of roasted shallots, and two cups chicken broth into a blender and blend until smooth.  Then place in large pot and place the rest of the squash and broth into the pot and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. (It may seem like a waste of time to blend in two steps but I really wanted a smooth-textured soup and was not sure if the shallots would be thoroughly blended by the immersion blender. So I did it in two steps just to be sure.)

Bring the pot to a slow simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.  Then swirl in a tablespoon of peanut butter. Add the half 'n' half.  Salt and Pepper to taste. If you like a spicy kick, add a bit of ground cayanne pepper.

Ladle into a bowl and top with roasted sunflower seeds.  Enjoy.

I followed this Jean Georges recipe but roasted the butternut squash before I cooked it in the chicken broth. Next time, I think I might fry up some sage leaves to add as a garnish.

Button Farm in Montgomery County

Photo from Montgomery Countryside Alliance

These past few weeks have been pretty fun for me. I got to go on a booze cruise, eat a fantastic steak dinner with wine pairings, and I got to celebrate Marshall's birthday with great friends. Sometimes I look at my long to-do list and wonder where the time has gone. Oh yeah...I was too busy having fun.

One of the fun adventures I was lucky to have was provided by General Motors. They generously loaned me a red, Chevy Camaro convertible for a week to drive around and to partipate in the annual Montgomery Country Farm Tour. The tour was great with stops at Rockhill Orchards, Button Farm, and Butlers' Orchards. The tour was even more fun because my fellow food-loving friends were also invited: Stacey, Olga, Cecilia, and Ashley.

While picking berries and herbs was great, the highlight of the trip was our visit to Button Farm Living History Center. On this tour, we learned about the history of the land as a plantation.  Anthony Cohen, pictured above, heads a program that recreates what living on a farm as a slave in the 1850s would be like. During the tour of the farm, Anthony told us about researching the Underground Railroad that went through Montgomery County and his own experience of taking the walk himself all the way up to Canada. It was an incredible story and I felt really lucky to hear it from the man himself. The farm will be offering programs for people who want to experience the life of a slave on a farm for a day. Anthony talked about how Oprah trained for her role in Beloved at the farm and how the experience changed how she ran the Oprah show. The experience is suppose to help you let go of everday worries and help you look within.

If you think this is cheesy, I can understand that. But I felt like this was the best part of the tour because I know that I am ready for that sort of experience in my life. I love to be inspired and I know that some good would come out of me taking the time to be quiet and find out what I want and who I am at this moment. For some people, it takes being removed from places with TVs, computers, telephones, and piles of laundry to figure that out. This program would provide that quiet.  Learning about Anthony's life made me realize how important it is for me to live life with purpose.

How was driving the Camaro around, you ask? Pretty good. The car drove well and having a convertible was a lot of fun. A lot of young guys looked at me while I was driving but after blushing from embarrassment, I realized that they were only looking at the car. On the day I got the car, I met up with a few friends for happy hour. We drove around with the top down and music blasting. We drove by men in mini-vans who looked like they were ready for a mid-life crisis and gave them the thumbs-up. I wish I video-taped my guy friends when they saw the car. "Look Sylvie, the doors have lights on them!" "Look at all these gages." "Sylvie, if you don't live this experience to the fullest, I am never going to forgive you." Sorry guys, I only drove it up to 60mph. You are just going to have to hate me forever.

Photo by Cecilia Stoute

***Disclaimer: I received no payment for this post but I did get a free car for a week, grilled peaches with ice cream, a root beer float, a basket of herbs and produce from Rockhill Orchards, and a basket of produce from Butlers Orchards. And I ate berries from their fields without paying for them.

DC Food Bloggers Happy Hour - Taberna Del Alabardero

In spring of 2005, while living in southern California, I was sent to my company's Washington, DC office to work on a project for a week.  The office was located on 18th and I street NW. It was the furthest I had ever travelled for work and the first time I had an expense account.  It made me feel important.

I didn't want to waste an opportunity to try a high-end restaurant but wasn't brave enough to venture far from the office or my hotel.  Luckily for me, Taberna Del Alabardero was located on the first floor of my office building.  I remember loving the charming restaurant.  Dining all by myself, I was entertained by all the details of the elaborate decor.  I had fish and loved every last bite.  It was during this trip that I was offerred a job in DC and made the decision to move here.  Four months later, I moved into an apartment on 16th and T Street NW and started a new life on the east coast.

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012, this charming restuarant will be hosting the DC Food Bloggers Happy Hour from 6pm to 8pm.  I will be co-hosting with the wonderful Jessica Milby of One Classic Wino.  Some specials that will be available during the happy hour include $5 glasses of wine, $4.75 for a glass of sangria, and numerous food specials. The restaurant will also be sending some bites from the kitchen: Pan Tumaka a mi Manera, Brocheta de Pollo Moruno y Patatas al Mojo rojo, Rabo de Toro estofado con Queso Manchego, Bocaditos de Salmon con Tartara, and much more.

Please join us. RSVP here.

Grilled Lamb Vietnamese-Style Sandwich (Not Banh-Mi)

I refuse to call this Banh-Mi. The term has been used by too many restaurants and most of the sandwiches they serve barely resemble the beloved Banh-Mi I grew up with. This sandwich is inspired by Banh-Mi and I will consider it a Vietnamese-Style sandwich.

The lamb is great in this marinade. But everything is great with fish sauce, isn't it?

Ingredients

1 pound of a leg of lamb sliced thin
2 tablespoons of Maggi
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
4 tablespoons of canola oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper
French baguette
Mayonnaise
Cilantro
Carrots, shredded
Cucumber, sliced thin

Soak skewers in water for 4 hours so they won't burn on the grill.

Marinate the lamb in a mixture of fish sauce, oil, Maggi, crushed red peppers, brown sugar, and minced garlic for two hours.

Place lamb on skewers, grill in medium heat for 5 minutes in each side, and allow to cool.

Cut baguette in half & fill with mayo, carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, grilled lamb or whatever else your heart desires. Eat with pleasure.

Happy Eating.