Protein waffle topped with a bit of peanut butter, bananas, and walnuts.
I promised to share any healthy, clean-eating recipes I came across; I tried one on Sunday morning, which was outstanding.
It was a bit more work that I wasn’t prepared to do, but now I know how to smooth things out to make the waffles easier.
I made an eating mistake on a chilly morning last week. I went back to having a carb-only breakfast and paid for it the rest of the day. Now I know why I was always tired, hungry, and grumpy mid-morning.
I made a bowl of grits with a pinch of salt and a small amount of maple syrup. It was yummy and satisfying. Not!
By mid-morning, I was starving and falling asleep. I had been hungry all day and tired. It wasn’t until we had a dinner salad that I started to wake up.
No more carb-only meals again, ever. I started looking for breakfast options that weren’t just yogurt or cottage cheese based.
Then, I found this fantastic protein waffle recipe. It’s a perfect carrier for other proteins such as peanut butter, cashew or almond butter, nuts, and fruits.
Below is the recipe I found. In the future, I will grind my GF oats ahead of time and store them in a canister, which takes another step and removes a small appliance from the mix.
Since the end of April, Marty and I have been eating clean. What is eating clean, you may ask? Eating clean is following these basic principles. It’s been easy to adapt to, especially since it’s almost summer. I started feeling better immediately.
Eat breakfast every day within an hour of getting up.
Eat lean protein and complex carbohydrates at every meal.
Have two or three servings of healthy fats every day.
Get fiber, vitamins, nutrients, and enzymes from fresh fruits and vegetables.
Control your portions.
Drink 2 to 3 liters of water (about 13 8-ounce cups) daily.
The foods to avoid:
Overprocessed foods, especially white flour and sugar
Artificial sweeteners
Sugary beverages, such as soda and juice
Alcohol
Foods with chemical additives like food dyes and sodium nitrite
Foods with preservatives
Artificial foods, such as processed cheese slices
Saturated fats and trans fats
Anti-foods — foods with no nutritional value, such as Cool Whip.
Eating clean isn’t a diet; it’s a lifestyle choice. Since I stopped drinking alcohol and eating clean, I have lost 16 lbs and have no symptoms of lung disease. For me, clean eating equals feeling healthy and active without restrictions due to lung disease!
I realized we weren’t eating enough fruits and veggies because of laziness. Yup, it’s true. I would prep food for meals for hours, but I didn’t want to cut up fruit and veggies to eat uncooked. Ugh.
After speaking with my pulmonologist a month ago, I learned that to stay feeling this good, I needed to continue losing weight to fall into my BMI (Body Mass Index) range of 117 lbs—129 lbs.
Right now, I am at 130 lbs and motivated as hell. My weight before I had pneumonia was 158 lbs. No wonder why I felt like shit and didn’t feel comfortable in that body. I was miserable at that weight.
My first real love of summertime fruit has been cherries. How could I not love cherries? George Washington loved them!
“The cherry tree myth is one of the oldest and best-known legends about George Washington. In the original story, when Washington was six years old, he received a hatchet as a gift and damaged his father’s cherry tree with it. When his father discovered what George had done, he became angry. Young George bravely said, “I cannot tell a lie…I did cut it with my hatchet.” Washington’s father embraced him and declared that his son’s honesty was worth more than a thousand trees.” The Washington Library.
I love American history, especially the Revolutionary War era. Archeologists found 35 bottles of preserved cherries on Mount Vernon’s property. I guess Washington did love cherries!
I bought a small bag at Aldi for $7.99 and gulped at that price, but I bought them anyway. I washed and removed the stones as soon as I got home. I knew if I didn’t do it right away, they would sit until they rotted in the bag.
Boy, was I surprised by how easy it went and how incredibly delicious they were! I used a large round cake piping tip, a trick I was on a cooking show years ago.
I ate vanilla Greek yogurt with cherries while I was still removing the pits; sometimes, I used the same ingredients and made a parfait topped with granola.
We ate them by the handful, and I made a beautiful salad with them: fresh peaches, lettuce, arugula from my garden, burrata cheese, and a simple vinaigrette. Holy shit, was this good!
The good news after we ran out, Marty picked up a pint at the Troy Farmers Market on Saturday! Yum! I will be searching for more ideas for cherries. I can’t tell you that I am kicking myself for being such a lazy ass for so long.
Inspiration comes from everywhere. As a young cook, I HAD to use recipes; if I didn’t, I would become paralyzed by fear of messing up. I felt the same way when I was driving and feared getting lost.
Once, I made a dish, probably more than ten times; I didn’t need the recipe anymore but never deviated from the original.
I made the dish this way for years; then, I began to learn what flavors went with what and started cooking “my” food. It is an ever-evolving process.
I watched the documentary Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, which changed my thoughts about food. I finally understood why some food was spectacular, and others were mediocre at best.
I learned how to balance a dish. I discovered what umami was and why it’s called the fifth sense. I finally learned how to season a dish properly. These things take regular home cooking to the next level and beyond.
Flash forward 20 years, and now I use recipes to inspire or see ingredient ratios. I will still follow a new or tricky recipe until I learn it. In baking, recipes are a must for most people since you can’t wing it.
My inspirations for the summer.
Look, anyone can cook and has to start somewhere. Back in the day, I used Betty Crocker and The Joy of Cooking cookbooks. Today, new cooks have YouTube, online cooking classes, food blogs, and other social media platforms.
Food was always an essential part of my life back then, and I wanted to get better. It took a decade or two before I stopped apologizing for my food and getting embarrassed when people complimented me on my cooking.
I use the food blog Love and Lemons whenever I am looking for new fantastic vegetable mains, sides, or salads. The food and recipes on this blog feel a bit like sunshine to me.
One of my readers asked for the lemon vinaigrette dressing recipe I used on the green beans & scallops salad I made this week. Here is the link to Love and Lemons recipe for Lemon Vinaigrette. I replaced the thyme used in the recipe with tarragon.
I have no affiliation with Love and Lemons, but when I like something, I share it. I’m sure anyone could find at least 3-5 recipes they would like to try; I have mine earmarked.
I hope this post inspires someone and a new food blog to check out. Something I always have on hand? Lemons. 🍋
I wrote about St. Joseph two years ago on my blog. This post was fun for me to research and share the history of the feast day.
I’m having Noah and Aja over for dinner tomorrow night to celebrate St. Joseph’s Day. I don’t know if he remembers always having Italian food and cream puffs on March 19th growing up.
Sadly, I may have to wait until next week to start my seeds. It will be in the teens and twenties in the evenings for the rest of the week, which is too cold for germination.
I wish I had a grow light to set them up in a warm place in our house.
Well, enough about me; here is the link to my blog post, “Make Way for San Giuseppe.”
I used to make my cream puffs with Bavarian cream, but have switched to whipped cream. It’s so much easier and delicious. I learned this from my bio mom. 😊
Tomorrow is also the first day of spring! Because of leap year, it’s on the 19th and not the 20th. Winter is holding on for dear life this week, even though spring has sprung.
After discovering I am 78% Irish, St Patrick’s Day means more to me each year. Since I am Irish, I have really started digging my heels in and learning more about Ireland and the areas where my ancestors came from.
I found out that many Irish people have special gifts like I do. I am another person in my family with the “Irish gift.”
Of course, not all Irish people have spiritual or psychic gifts; every nationality also has gifted people.
They can be labeled as Shamans, healers, psychics, different types of witches, or helpers to the other side, which is my specialty.
I’ve been focusing on honing my craft and doing spiritual work on myself—specifically, on my soul.
Many blockages have opened since removing that vortex in our home that came from two mirrors facing each other
I have finally been able to forgive my mother for everything. If you are a new reader, I wrote a lot about our relationship and its effect on me.
How do I feel? I feel free, lighter, and happier. Incredible.
I was happy af at dance class on Wednesday. I wore my jade shamrock and a green gemstone beaded necklace my friend Everely made for me.
I can think about my good and funny memories growing up. This is a miracle, honestly and truly. I feel as though I have finally completed one of my lessons in this lifetime. Yay!
I wanted to share the link to my “Everyday Irish Soda Bread” post from 2021. I’ll be making two loaves tomorrow morning. Yum!
Here is the recipe that changed my life when making my corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day. Trust me, I’ve shared this recipe with hundreds of people, all of whom had the same success as me. Do not boil your corned beef!
We all know by now that I am a techie knucklehead; I have many other strengths after trying to share the recipe link from my cooking class numerous times.
I’m glad the link didn’t work because now I can share other thoughts, notes, and advice with you.
A few of my cooking students feared Thai and Indian food because they thought they were too spicy.
After explaining to them when you prepare Thai and Indian food at home, you can adjust the spice level you are comfortable with.
Their favorite things we made in class were Thai and Indian cuisine, which I loved so much. I loved even more that they made the recipes they learned at home!
With this recipe, you can use any protein, such as chicken, shrimp, fish, tofu, soy curls, or vegetarian.
Speaking of vegetables, add what you like, have on hand, or do a kitchen sink curry with anything leftover in your fridge.
Spice levels can be left up to you. If you are afraid of spice, start with just a teaspoon of curry paste. If you love spice, use a whole can. I use half a can when I make it and adjust when I have guests.
This recipe can be vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, or gluten-free, using tamari sauce and not soy sauce containing wheat. Many cooks don’t realize this, and gluten poisoning their dinner guests.
Additional gluten-free information: these are the brands of curry paste and fish sauce I use, which are safe and gluten-free. All pure coconut milk is naturally gluten-free.
Whatever brand of broth you use, always check the label that it says gluten-free. Many are not.
I’ve had many requests for the recipe this week. Alas, here it is.
Thai Red Curry with Chicken
Ingredients
1 TBSP vegetable, coconut, or canola oil 1 TBSP Thai red curry paste (more or less depending on your spice level) 1 14 oz can of coconut milk (stirred well) 2 or 3 cloves of finely minced garlic 1 tsp of finely minced garlic 1 large onion cut into crescents 1 red & 1 green, yellow, or orange sweet bell pepper cut into strips 2 carrots cut diagonally or julienned 1 1/2 cups of your choice additional veg (sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, peas), etc 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts cut into bite-size pieces 1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth 1 TBSP fish sauce 1 TBSP soy or tamari sauce for gluten-free 1-2 TBSP brown sugar 1/2 lime freshly squeezed 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Directions
In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil & red curry paste to the pan, stirring in 1/4 can of coconut milk. Cook for 1 minute making sure not to burn, lower heat if necessary.
Add the onion, peppers, carrots, and additional vegetables to the pan and stir-fry the vegetables in the curry paste mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the garlic and ginger to the pan. Cook for another minute. Be careful not to let them burn. Add the rest of the coconut milk and chicken broth to the pan. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
Add the chicken to the pan and stir. Simmer over low heat covered for 20 minutes or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.
Uncover and add the fish sauce, brown sugar, soy or tamari sauce, and lime juice to the pan. Stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro.
Taste, taste, taste. Check for the balance between spice, sweet, acid, salt, or umami. Trust your taste buds and adjust as necessary.
Serve in bowls with steamed jasmine rice and garnish with additional chopped cilantro and lime wedges if desired. Enjoy.
Last Wednesday, when I was at my dance partner Kathleen’s house between belly dance classes, she showed me what she baked earlier that day.
You guessed it, butter swim biscuits. She let me smell them, and I looked at them. They made my mouth water.
Within one minute, I found a gluten-free recipe almost identical to the conventional recipe she used.
Friday morning, Marty’s birthday, I decided to make the biscuits. I failed. Dammit. I did everything correctly and knew I failed before putting them in the oven.
The dough was described in the recipe as a moist dough. I had a soupy mess. Shit. I added more flour than the recipe called for just until it came together. I proceeded with the recipe.
As they baked, I thought I saved them. I let them cool as instructed. Then I tried serving them. The insides were gooey. I was pissed. We ate one each, but eating it wasn’t pleasant, and we needed salt big time.
The next day, I went on YouTube and watched Southern cooks turn out the most glorious butter swim biscuits, and there was no fussy shit.
I watched their technique and how they measured their flour by scooping a cup into it. I used to measure flour this way, and that’s why I failed.
When I follow gluten-free baking recipes, they are always more complicated than necessary. Every gluten-free blogger tries to up the others since they compete for how many subscriptions they have.
“You must not scoop when measuring your flour; you spoon the flour into the cup.”
I follow the instructions if I want these gluten-free recipes to come out correctly. The next time I make the recipe, I cut out the bullshit extra steps and dishes.
The butter swim recipe I used had very few instructions for measuring the ingredients, followed by stirring it until a “moist dough” is formed.
There were no demo photos like most food blogs. Photos are extremely helpful, which is why I use them when I am writing a recipe.
I guess I back-seat drove the first time and measured my flour the “professional’ way. That was my mistake, silly Julz.
On Sunday morning, I needed to try making these butter whatamacallits again. Did I have to? Yes! I was still pissy; the first ones didn’t come out. I HATE wasting food and ingredients.
This time, I got to bake the way I used to, plunging the measuring cup right into the container of flour.
I added salt to the recipe, as all the Southern cooks did on YouTube. I was pleased with the outcome of the butter swim biscuits. They looked, tasted, and smelled like the ones I saw on YouTube.
After writing this, I know many people are shaking their heads and saying, “tisk tisk” at how bad these biscuits are for you since they are “swimming” in butter.
Butter swim biscuits use the same amount of butter or shortening as regular biscuits. These biscuits are a treat, not something you can eat daily unless you want to end up in a cath lab.
Scones also use the same amount of butter, so I rarely make them. I believe food and eating should be thought of as “everything in moderation.
For example, if I want to eat a scone, biscuits and gravy, or high-fat items, I’d rather eat a small amount and be satisfied than make a low-fat version. Moderation.
So would I recommend making butter swim biscuits? Absolutely! They are also the easiest biscuits to make.
We had the biscuits over three days with sausage gravy, preserves, and ham. They are so filling that you can only eat one, which helps when counting fat and cholesterol levels.
I must admit I miss the days when I could buy pop & fresh biscuits and crack open that tube, like winding a jack in the box. Pop!
So, if you like dense, crunchy, and buttery af biscuits, these are for you!
Just google butter swim biscuits, and a slew of recipes will come up, or go on YouTube and check out the southern cooks that helped me. 😊
“Gal”entines Day can be celebrated between February 1 and 13. The tea party was set for Saturday, February 10, so it qualified
I baked Earl gray tea cakes on Friday and glazed them with a made-from-scratch lavender glaze. Next, I baked lemon bars made with Meyer lemons. They came out amazing.
Finding Meyer lemons at Trader Joe’s that were $2.99 a bag, the same price as conventional and less than $3.99 for organic, is fantastic.
Just before the party, I made two kinds of tea sandwiches. The first was a cucumber and Boursin cheese sandwich. I used the Boursin cheese I made for “Sydney’s omelet.” It made the sandwiches so flavorful.
I forgot to take a photo of the sandwich platter. 😑
I whipped up a small batch of curried egg salad for the other sandwiches. The table setting came together quickly since I had a lot of different serving pieces and dishes.
Maria brought a tea party floral arrangement in a teacup. It couldn’t have been more perfect!
Nelly was a little doll and so happy to have friends over. She loves Maria, and she took her to Kat immediately. She settled into her little bed in the dining room. She would go over to Kat for a little loving.
She also spent her time inside Maria’s sweater that was hung on the stair post. Nelly smelled Maria & Jon’s three dogs, two donkeys, two chickens, one cat, and a flock of sheep.
Note…the sweater didn’t smell like any of the animals to a human’s nose. LOL.
I have always loved having tea parties since I was a little girl, plus I got to use my Mema’s rosebud teacups. I have beautiful memories of Mema and me drinking tea and having Stella Dora Anisette Toast. 💖
My friends and I enjoyed the food and tea. We had fun conversations and lots of laughs, exactly like the new holiday we had learned about, Galentine’s Day!
I took the leftover cookies with me to Martin’s dinner party last and got to share them with my other friends. Life is really good.
One of my favorite TV series is “The Bear.” I’m not going to get into the series or episodes, but in season two, Sydney makes Natalie, who is pregnant, an omelet. An omelet that is made with so much care and love.
After watching that episode, I started craving Sydney’s omelet. I watched Sydney several times making the omelet, taking note of Chef Sydney’s carefully prepared ingredients and techniques.
I made my first ever Boursin cheese and bought a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips, something I hardly ever purchase. I finely chopped some chives and was ready to go.
Marty likes to turn everything into a competition, which I knew when I asked him if we wanted to make our omelets together.
This is what was left in the sieve. When working on your culinary skills, this is a necessary step.
Marty is a better short-order cook than I am and can make a perfect French omelet. It is harder than you think.
This is why an executive chef will ask an applicant to make a French omelet. It tells them everything they need to know about the person’s skills.
Marty’s omelet is on the left, and mine is on the right.
I circled the flaws in my omelet in these two photos.
Long story short, Marty made a perfect omelet, while mine had two golden patches. I would not have been hired if this was an interview.
I know most people would think, “Big shit,” that I had flaws in my omelet, but I am working on my skills, and this bugged the hell out of me.
The last scrumptious bite.
The omelet is a viral recipe, and people are going nuts over it. We aren’t the type to try anything viral like people do on TikTok, but this was different because we “know” Chef Sydney.
Many people are making the omelet their own by using different chips, but we wanted to make it exactly as it was on the show.
I’m skeptical if cheddar jalapeño chips would have paired with the Boursin cheese, or would it take over?
It was every bit as delicious as it looked on the show. The smooth Boursin cheese and the sour cream and onion ruffle chips crunch were a flavor bomb with a great mouth feel.
Even perfectly cooked French omelets can be a bit bland, but this takes it to the next level. That is why this scene in the episode and the recipe is the talk of the town.
Call it what you will: meat mallet, pounder, or tenderizer. I have a 4-sided one that is about 30 years old. I have a flat pounder that I never use for meat but as a hammer.
It’s part of my Italian tool kit, which contains a pounder, a butter knife, duct tape, and zip ties. That’s what my dad called it, but I have to tell you this tool kit is very useful.
I admit that even though I had a 4-sided mallet, I never used all four sides. I never even thought about them until recently.
I become a better cook every day and love to share everything I have learned or taught myself with you. If only I learned these things decades ago.
Every kitchen needs to have a meat mallet, whether you are a vegetarian or vegan. Their use is not limited to only meats.
You can use a mallet to crush garlic, nuts, and olives to remove pits, peppercorns, potatoes, rice, lemongrass, cardamom pods, crackers, cookies, or candies. Pretty handy, right?
I wanted to attempt to make braciole, Italian stuffed meat that is braised in tomato sauce; again, I watched a video on how to make it and how to pound the meat with a mallet properly.
I felt stupid; I didn’t know how to use a mallet properly. You learn by doing, so that’s what I did. The braciole came out good! 100% better than my previous too-tough and thick version
Last Saturday, I wanted to make stuffed pork tenderloin. I remembered what I learned from the braciole and took photos as I went along.
Sam was visiting for the weekend, taking a class, so while he and Marty were out of the house, I prepped our dinner. This was perfect so I could spend more time with them instead of alone in the kitchen.
Knowing how to use a meat mallet is so much easier now. It’s all about using all 4-sides and letting gravity do the work—no more upper body workouts when preparing dinner.
The tenderloin opened like a book turned into this!
I removed the silverskin and butterflied the pork by carefully cutting it horizontally, like opening a book, making sure I didn’t cut all the way through.
Next, I placed the open book on the cutting board and covered it with plastic wrap. I used side number one, then two, three, and the flat side. Gravity did the work.
The first pork tenderloin came out textbook perfect; the larger one I cut a little too far in the middle. Ugh! I repaired it when I used butcher’s twine to tie the stuffed tenderloin closed
The stuffed tenderloin in the distance looks like it did before I started, the front one not so much. 😕
I made a simple stuffing for the pork; you can use any recipe or boxed stuffing mix. I added cooked chestnuts since I have a few bags on hand.
The chestnuts gave the stuffing a delightful sweetness Marty and Sam couldn’t put their fingers on. I am so glad I tried this; now I’ll always put them into stuffing.
Ocean State Job Lot always has packages of cooked chestnuts at their registers. How random, right?
I always stock up on them since I use them for a pasta sauce with chestnuts and mushrooms and a dish called chestnut chicken.
I seasoned the meat with onion & garlic powder, kosher salt & pepper, and paprika, then put it into the fridge until dinner.
I popped the pork into a 400-degree oven and roasted it for about 30 minutes or until it registered an internal temperature of 145-150 degrees.
I also made garlic & parmesan sweet potatoes, a recipe Sam found turned out to be a keeper. Here is the link to the recipe:
The sweet potatoes didn’t turn mushy; you could remove them still “shingled” when plating.
A few green beans sauteed in butter, kosher salt & pepper rounded out the plate. Marty requested this meal that he loved for his birthday dinner next month. Yay!
Don’t let seemingly intimidating recipes, like braciole, dictate what you can make or not. Try it if you have never used a meat mallet or use it often. What else can I do with a mallet, you may ask?
Chicken that has been tenderized and pounded thinner is perfect for chicken parm, chicken marsala, grilled chicken, or breaded chicken cutlets for sandwiches. The same goes for pork or flank steaks. Trust me on this.
If you don’t have a meat mallet, they run from $9.99 to $30 at most stores or on Amazon. I recommend a 4-sided one, but the decision will be yours.
It will make you a better cook if it inspires you to become one like me. I always want to get better at everything I do, like dancing, gardening, drawing, and writing. I will never settle for “good enough.”
