Camille's Meals

Reinventing the Protein Shake

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:35:07 -0700

“This couldn’t possibly be good for me” I say to myself right now as I sit here, drinking my experimental Orange Julius. This is even better than I remember, and I have very good memories. When I was a kid, I LOVED Orange Julius’s. Who wouldn’t, right? Milk, frozen OJ concentrate, vanilla, sugar, ice. Sometimes I even convinced my mom to let us have them for breakfast, but even then, I’m pretty sure I knew it was a glorified orange milkshake. So what does a nasty and unhealthy milkshake, the kind you get at the mall in the food court have to do with health, you ask? How is it going to revolutionize my morning, giving me energy for my workouts, pack me full of essential nutrients, and add years to my life? To answer this question, I must start from the beginning, a couple days ago…

A large container of soy protein powder was purchased at Trader Joe’s for an anonymous consumer. It did not make me happy, in fact it totally grossed me out. As most of you know, I am not an advocate of soy (see footnote). When asked what I thought a better alternative would be for a quick morning protein shake, I was sort of at a loss as most conventional protein supplements are made from whey or soy, then filled with sugar and synthetic vitamin supplements. Not my idea of a great jumpstart to your day. The ones found in health food stores may be better, with hemp, pea, and rice protein options topping my list of viable vegan options. Then I got to thinking: “What would be an EVEN BETTER way to jump-start your day?” It just so happens that several things had happened in the previous weeks that helped formulate an answer, so we go back further still.

First, my friend Tiana who works at the honey stand at the farmers market gave me some great local raw honey when I was battling a cough induced by seasonal allergies. Then my new friends, the Butt family, gave me 5 amazing eggs from the chickens they raise at their house (I’m officially obsessed with getting my own chickens). Then last week I started making homemade yogurt from raw cows milk and didn’t have the allergic reaction that I get to normal milk/yogurt. Also, as some of you know, I was a die-hard raw foodist for 6 weeks last year. Though I wasn’t able to stick with the diet and have a life, I did learn a lot about the benefits of eating much more raw food and the importance of keeping the natural enzymes intact with food, especially with harder to digest things like dairy, eggs, and beans. So as these pieces returned to my mind, I naturally began formulating a recipe (I can’t help it, all thoughts eventually come back to this): RAW MILK + YOGURT + RAW EGGS + RAW HONEY…hmmmm, still missing something…ORANGE JUICE!!! Is this coming together for you yet?!?!? ORANGE JULIUS!!! And the story has come full-circle. Into the kitchen I go…

Camille’s Raw Orange Julius (aka “My New Miracle Breakfast”)

1/2 cup whole raw milk

1/2 cup plain Greek-style yogurt (or even better, homemade)

1-2 T raw honey

2-3 T OJ concentrate

2 tangerines or 1 large orange (peeled, seeds removed)

0-8 lg. ice cubes (depending on the consistency you like, though cold is harder for your body to digest)

2 fresh raw eggs

Add all ingredients except the eggs to a variable high-speed blender (I adore my Vita-mix) and blend well. Add eggs and blend very gently until just incorporated. This may not be necessary, but I read that the delicate egg proteins could be damaged by too much blending, so I took the precaution. Pour into a glass and drink with your favorite bendy straw. You will feel like a kid on many levels in no time :)

The links to the research and information about each component are below, but to summarize:

Raw eggs: Contain essential nutrients for the brain, nerves, glands and hormones, and are nutritionally balanced. The sulphur amino acids help to keep you young, raw eggs also contain an abundance of other vital substances including protein, essential fatty acids along with niacin, riboflavin, biotin, choline, vitamins A, D and E, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, manganese, iron, iodine, copper, zinc and sulphur. Egg yolks are one of the few foods that contain vitamin D (more here).

Raw honey: a healthy way to get an energy boost. Its carbohydrates supply us with energy and strength. It can boost your endurance and reduce muscle fatigue (more here).

Raw Organic milk from grass-fed cows (from www.realmilk.com…included it all b/c it’s important to know the distinction between pasteurized milk and raw milk): Real feed for cows is green grass in Spring, Summer and Fall; stored dry hay, silage, hay and root vegetables in Winter. It is not soy meal, cottonseed meal or other commercial feeds, nor is it bakery waste, chicken manure or citrus peel cake, laced with pesticides. Vital nutrients like vitamin A and D are greatest in milk from cows eating green grass, especially rapidly growing green grass in the spring and fall. Vitamins A and D are greatly diminished, and Activator X disappears, when milk cows are fed commercial feed. Soy meal has the wrong protein profile for the dairy cow, resulting in a short burst of high milk production followed by premature death. Most milk (even most milk labeled “organic”) comes from dairy cows that are kept in confinement their entire lives and never see green grass!

Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B12 and B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer. Calves fed pasteurized milk do poorly and many die before maturity. Raw milk sours naturally but pasteurized milk turns putrid; processors must remove slime and pus from pasteurized milk by a process of centrifugal clarification. Inspection of dairy herds for disease is not required for pasteurized milk. Pasteurization was instituted in the 1920s to combat TB, infant diarrhea, undulant fever and other diseases caused by poor animal nutrition and dirty production methods. But times have changed and modern stainless steel tanks, milking machines, refrigerated trucks and inspection methods make pasteurization absolutely unnecessary for public protection. And pasteurization does not always kill the bacteria for Johne’s disease suspected of causing Crohn’s disease in humans with which most confinement cows are infected. Much commercial milk is now ultra-pasteurized to get rid of heat-resistant bacteria and give it a longer shelf life. Ultra-pasteurization is a violent process that takes milk from a chilled temperature to above the boiling point in less than two seconds. Clean raw milk from certified healthy cows is available commercially in several states and may be bought directly from the farm in many more. Homogenization is a process that breaks down butterfat globules so they do not rise to the top. Homogenized milk has been linked to heart disease. (Sources are listed on www.realmilk.com.)

*On soy: It’s largely made from genetically modified soybeans and been heavily marketed by the soy industry as a healthy food, but over the last couple years, several studies have emerged that links soy to cancer and hormone imbalances, inhibits vitamin and mineral absorption, and a litany of other charges. To be fair, there are many respected healthcare practitioners who consider soy to be healthy, and in its pure, unadulterated form or when fermented, may very well be. Japanese cultures have been thriving on soy for centuries, but I am not of the belief that all cultures have the genetic makeup to thrive on soy, especially the soy available in our supermarkets.

These are my debut pics with my new (borrowed) camera! I still...

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:44:39 -0800

Cranberry Apple Albacore Sandwich

Sour Cream Waffles with Berry Compote

Herb-Brined Turkey Breast

Shepherd's Pie

Migas (mexican scrambled eggs)

Chicken Meatballs with Pepperonata

These are my debut pics with my new (borrowed) camera! I still have no idea how to edit, and only have a vague idea of how all the buttons work, but I had so much fun with this today! Many more to come!!!

Molten Chocolate Quiddler Photo Extravaganza!

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:30:00 -0800

I am entering the world of food photography (beautiful shot above by Jeff, not I). Yay!! Its about time! Even before I was a chef, an aspiring cookbook author, or friend to dozens of photographers, I regularly drooled over the beautiful food photography found in my arsenal of cookbooks and dreamed of expressing my creativity in such a way. My parents and brother are all artists, and until I entered the culinary arts, I was pretty sure I didn’t have a creative bone in my body. I have a degree in Economics for crying out loud! I have always loved to cook, and now that I have been doing so professionally for six years, I think I can fairly call myself a food artist. I love pairing flavors, colors, and textures. Yes indeed, my kitchen is my canvas, my whisk and knives are my brushes, and beautiful raw ingredients my paint! Now its time to embark on phase two: capturing this art for the world to see! From the plate to the page and beyond!!

The impetus for this endeavor is that one of my clients has asked me to come and work for them full-time. Its quite an exciting project: Prepare three meals a day for a family of five. Local. Organic. From scratch. Nothing from a can, box, or package: we’re talking ketchup, mayo, pasta, bread, sausage, granola…the works. I will have my own kitchen, office, and studio space, and by the end of my time with them will have documented an entire cookbook’s worth of recipes and photographs for them as well as to input in the Recipe Rx database, and as the foundation for my first cookbook! My client loaned me his Canon 30D, I ordered a couple books on food photography and styling, and have started buying beautiful cups, plates, linens, and other “props” at discount and second-hand stores around town.

This leads me to last night: the first photo shoot! Sara DiSalvo and I were sitting at dinner and learned that we have a mutual love for Molten Chocolate Lava Cake. Instead of just ordering it off the menu, we decided that making it from scratch was the obvious choice. We sent out the alarm to the troops that Operation Lava Cake would begin at my house in T-minus 45 minutes, or 21:00 hours. Sara ran to Cost Plus and purchased the necessary ramekins (as they were locking the doors), Emily and I bolted to the market for bittersweet chocolate, heavy cream, and J. Shipley (we got him free, not at Albertson’s), and raced home where Joel was already waiting. After a couple impromptu cocktails made from the stuff I had on-hand: brandy, lemonade, rosemary, and frozen raspberries, we got down to business. The process was quite fun, especially with the camera in tow. Unfortunately, I overcooked the cakes (this is why I NEVER follow recipes…they always let me down) so the center didn’t have its signature oozy middle, but I made up with it with brandied whipped cream. What follows are the highlights documented through my photographic debut, as well as the impeccable skills of Jeff Shipley, Emily Crawford, Joel Hoffman, and Jules Faas. Our model, Mr. Owl, made quite the impression on us all. Enjoy!

View all the images from the evening here.

My first shot!

Mr. Owl approves (photo by Jeff Shipley).

Leaning Tower of…Dirty Ramekins (photo by Jules Faas).

Face-off. Dwight the Bobble-head is pissed that Mr. Owl got all the love.

This here is the extent of my graphic design abilities…I...

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:40:00 -0800

This here is the extent of my graphic design abilities…I would be lying if I said it took less than 5 hours to create. This is the version of the food pyramid that I try to operate with, but you may switch it around based on your body’s unique needs (I have more success with less carbs and a little more protein). Either way, I believe that local, organic (if possible) fresh fruits and veggies should be the foundation of any diet, and that healthy fats, whole grains, and high-quality organic proteins should subsidize this foundation.

Creamy Gorgonzola & Jalapeno Dip

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Disclaimer: This here is NOT a Recipe Rx feature…this was made at the request of my aunt as part of our Christmas dinner feast with ingredients we had on-hand. As I am typing this sentence, my uncle says: “man you could eat this on just about anything”…yup, pretty much…

Ingredients:

1 package cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

1 cup plain yogurt (Fage is a great Greek yogurt)

1 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup chives, snipped

1/4 cup fresh dill, finely minced

3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2-4 tablespoons pickled jalapenos, minced

1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced

2 teaspoons Santa Maria seasoning, or equivalent blend (salt, pepper, garlic, parsley powder)

Directions: Blend by hand in medium bowl. Allow flavors to blend for at least 30 minutes. These are approximate measurements. You may want to add more/less salt, lemon juice, or jalapenos.

Serve with veggie crudite, crackers, or with steak and eggs on freshly baked bread (as we did this morning). This REALLY goes great with steak.

Merry Christmas!

"Whenever you go out-of-doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs..."

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:51:25 -0800

“Whenever you go out-of-doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every handclasp. Do not fear being misunderstood and do not waste a minute thinking about your enemies. Try to fix firmly in your mind what you would like to do; and then, without veering off direction, you will move straight to the goal. Keep your mind on the great and splendid things you would like to do, and then, as the days go gliding away, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing upon the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desire, just as the coral insect takes from the ruining tide the element it needs.Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual…Thought is supreme. Preserve a right mental attitude-the attitude of courage, frankness, and good cheer. To think rightly is to create. All things come through desire and every sincere prayer is answered. We become like that on which our hearts are fixed. Carry your chin in and the crown of your head high. We are gods in the chrysalis.”

- “How To Win Friends & Influence People”– (actual quote from Elbert Hubbard within book)

What's the point in getting healthy, you ask?

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

People are creatures of habit and positive change can be challenging. When we struggle to get on and then remain on course, its important to remember why we have make these choices. These are the reasons I have chosen to make my health a priority:

1. Freedom from illness. I believe that if a healthy individual can do the things below 80% of the time, they will be providing themselves the insurance against illness and disease. Obviously genetics are a factor as are pre-existing conditions, but doing these things gives me the peace of mind that I need not worry about cancer, diabetes, and other preventative diseases.

2. Healthy babies (and the ability to reproduce at all). It breaks my heart that so many women have trouble getting pregnant, especially as early as their 30’s. I cannot say I am surprised, with all of the toxins and nasty birth control people take, but sad none-the-less. I am almost 30 and have no plans to have children anytime soon, but I know that I want a family. The thought of being unable to have children devastates me and I am committed to keeping my body as healthy as possible for my future family. I want them to have the best shot at a lifetime of good health and parents health (especially mothers) is a huge factor in giving them that gift.

3. Good health is a means to an end and my body is my temple, my vessel. Unless its clean and operating at maximum capacity, I wont have the energy and mental clarity to pursue all of my many dreams. Life is too short to not do and become all that is in your heart and illness, disease, and overall sub-par health can stop you in your tracks.

4. It is sooooooooo much easier to STAY healthy than heal from illness. When you get sick, that is your body saying “enough is enough…you better change directions”. Depending on the illness, it can take years to heal, and some people wont. I dont want to wait until I am sick to get healthy. Too much work!

5. I want to look and feel young and alive! No over-the-counter cream or botox therapy can give you the skin and body that you can have if you commit to a lifetime of good health. Beauty comes from the inside out (physical, emotional, and spiritual). Commit to this and people will see the difference in you.

What are your reasons for getting healthy? Write them down and read them when faced with adversity. Or share them here:

Raw Foods Reference Guide

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Howdy,

Here is a list of the raw foods books I have read in the last couple months that you may find helpful. These are my favs:

1. Raw Food Detox Diet, Natalia Rose: This book is the first you should read if you want to incorporate more raw foods into your diet. She doesn’t force readers to go totally raw overnight, but emphasizes making a smooth transition throughout your life. She breaks down the principles behind eating more raw and learning to detox on a regular basis easy to understand.

2. 12 Steps to Raw Foods, Victoria Boutenko: This is a fascinating look at the process of going raw, emphasizing the addictive properties of food (both chemical and psychological). A great read for anyone trying to go completely raw but having a difficult time.

3. Rawvolution, Matt Amsden: Matt runs a very successful raw delivery service out of LA and NYC. His onion bread is out of this world (but if you make it, cut the Nama Shoyu in half)! His recipes are relatively simple and straightforward.

4. Raw Food, Real World, Matthew Kenney: This is a lovely book and the authors are too beautiful for words! This is definitely more up-scale raw food prep, but not so complicated that it cant be made at home. The Chocolate Ganache Tart is INSANE!!!

5. Raw, Charlie Trotter: The most beautiful food photography ever! The recipes are very complicated and have many obscure ingredients, but I love looking at it for inspiration. A great coffee table book. The chocolate cookies are amazing (though I dont make the chocolate chips from scratch like they advise).

6. The Hallelujah Diet, Peter Shockey: I havent read this one yet, but my friend Holly swears by it. Just skimming through it and I found the research to be thorough and thoughtful.

7. Anything by David Wolfe. He is one of the pioneers of the raw foods movement.

You can buy any of the books listed above here.

Moderation

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I woke up this morning with a major craving for a bagel with lox and cream cheese. Fought the urge for several hours, ate some amazing, mouth watering plums, read for a couple more hours…and it came back! I gave in, and am actually kind of glad that I did because it is the impetus for this post: moderation.

Anyone who knows me at all would laugh at my writing such a post as this, for I am the QUEEN OF EXTREME (that rhymes)!! Some highlights in Camille’s life of bold and extreme decisions: quit my job with little more than 2 months rent in the bank to start my private chef business (even though I had never been paid to cook), dropped my life (job, house, car, friends) and embarked on a solo 7 month trip around the world, drained my entire savings account to launch my website Recipe Rx, and most recently, became a totally raw vegan overnight. This is where the story will begin:

I am always searching for the best new information on diet and health, for my readers and the business as well as for my own health. Over the course of the last 5 years, I have been reading anything and everything I can get my hands on: blood-type diet, Atkins, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, food combining, Chinese, Ayurvedic, etc…I would say that my own personal philosophy is a hodge-podge of everything I learn and I am always open to changing it if something new feels right. I actually was working with a rocket-scientist turned nutritionist last year who was convinced that the “perfect diet” consists of red meat and fruit. That’s it. Crazy as it sounded, I did try it for awhile. I ultimately felt many of his theories had holes, primarily that vegetables are toxic. The point is, I am willing to try it if it seems to have some evidence to support that it works for people.

Then the day that started it all: I was hanging out with my friend, Holly, and her 3 kids (they are like my family) and she started talking about this book she was reading all about a raw vegan diet. She usually comes to me for health advice and was surprised that this was never a topic of our conversations. “Well duh, Holly, how could I ever get behind a diet of NO MEAT? I LOVE MEAT?!?!?” was pretty much my reply, but after several hours of talking about it, I knew she was on to something. I left her house and went to Chausser’s Bookstore, spending the next 5 hours sitting on the floor in the middle of health section reading through every book on raw that was there. I was hooked. That night, I called my friend Michael and told him that I wanted to try to be a raw vegan. As he has been a semi-raw vegan for several years, he was stoked to bring me over to his side. Literally overnight, I got rid of all of my appliances (including my toaster which would have been useful for the bagel today) and converted to a raw kitchen. Naturally, I had to find a way to make this taste good because there was no way I would subsist on carrot sticks alone. So I bought several cookbooks, an amazing Vita-mix blender, a food dehydrator, and a new food processor. I experimented day and night, and came up with some great stuff. We even went so far as to begin planning for a raw food delivery service!

All in all, I was never able to eat totally raw for more than 4 days. I think I would have had more success if I wasn’t cooking regular meals for my clients, but that’s not really the point of this post. The point is the issue of the “ideal” we have in our minds that we want to achieve overnight versus the journey to achieving long-lasting results through moderating our behavior and creating good habits. We are the microwave generation and it’s so easy to latch onto something that seems like a good idea and literally drive ourselves mad trying to get there (wherever “there” is). This has been my experience with attaining good health. I get on some new radical diet, totally stress myself out trying to do it just right, then fall off the wagon. Thankfully, I am beginning to grow-up and accept that the process of introducing better habits into my life takes time. It’s a day to day thing. In terms of eating raw, I was not able to keep it up because it was controlling my entire life and I was really stressed out. I was making raw food all the time, and oftentimes I wasn’t even eating it all!

Since I stopped doing all the crazy prep, I have actually been eating more raw than before, just in the form of more simple foods: fruit, fresh veggie juices, smoothies, salads, and guacamole by the truckload. When I have a craving for something (like my bagel today), sometimes I indulge it and sometimes I don’t. I love the social aspects of eating more than most anything, so when I’m out with friends I eat what I want. The biggest thing I am working on right now is to not having guilt about it. The truth is that my body is becoming healthier** now than its ever been, and that’s because have been making these changes (eating about 80% raw), but still living life and enjoying the pleasure of food without stressing if I don’t get it just right.

So the moral of today’s story: DEFINITELY assess where you are in terms of the foods you are eating on a regular basis and ask yourself if they are really supporting your long-term health. If the answer is no, begin to plot a course to get there. Eat more fruits and veggies, less dairy, refined grains, meat, and sugar (eventually you can eliminate them all together if you can). I promise you that doing so will change your life for the better, but also remember that attaining optimal health is a process and that making a series of moderate changes is the best way to create long-term success. Just as important is that life is meant to be FUN, and if you are so caught up in doing it all “perfect”, you are going to lose much of the joy of eating and stress yourself out…definitely not good for your health. Good luck, young grasshopper!

Oh, a great book on this subject is called “The Raw Food Detox Diet” by Natalia Rose. It has really changed my perception on maintaining good health on a daily basis. She meets each reader where they are with levels that you can move up in once you have incorporated the previous levels targets into your life. I drink her Green Lemonade recipe almost every morning!

** I am eating a TON more raw fruits and veggies (and I already ate alot before), juicing most every morning instead of drinking caffeine (IT IS POSSIBLE!), not eating late at night, eating much less sugar, almost no dairy (except cheese, a true addiction), and very few grains. I still love meat, but instead of eating it 1-2x per day, I think I am eating it about 3x per week and in small quantities, which suits me fine. I have finally begun to lose the 25 pounds that crept up during the dark days of depression (13 down, 12 to go), haven’t had gnarly food cravings, have way more energy and desire to exercise, and most importantly right now, mental clarity.

Camille re-enters the blogosphere.

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It’s a miracle I even know where to go to write a new post…whats the domain again?!?! Its been way too long, I think almost 2 months (and I had a resolution to write everyday). I dont really have an excuse, except to say that at first I didnt think I had anything interesting or uplifting to say, and then I just got slammed and forgot. I will try and be better…if anyone is even still reading!! IIISSSSSS AAAAAAAAAAANNNYBODDDDDDYYYY OUT THERE??? (Thank goodness for Feedburner and Facebook and Twitter!!)

Anyway, basically the last 2 months have been a crazy rollercoaster, with ups and downs that sometimes leave me giddy and excited, sometimes make me wanna puke! Oh the joys of starting a company! Here’s a time line of what’s been shaking since I’ve been away:

May: Went raw (sort of). I will post all about that tomorrow.

June: Continued to wait for the framework for the Recipe Rx site to be finished so I could enter in recipes and health data. Finally about a week before our “secret” June 30th deadline for a rad competition (we arent able to disclose what its called), I get the site back. I eagerly begin inputting my heaps of data to find that NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE I lost at least 8 hours of work. I hate bugs (if you were following me on FB, you certainly heard my ranting)! Thankfully, we still managed to finish by the deadline (by a matter of minutes)! Phew… that was a close one. Anyway, the site wont be released for a couple more months, but the core system is in place and bug-free (i hope). That in and of itself is a miracle! I have had this “machine” built in my head and on paper for over 2 years, so to have something functional is very cool. I still dont think I have had time to process it.

July 1: The morning after submitting the site, I met with my friend, David Jay, to discuss catering a 3 day party he was hosting for his team at Showit (they build awesome plug and play websites). 3 days, 15-30 people each day. I knew I would have my work cut out for me, but I didnt care: the view from his kitchen window was BY FAR the best of any I have ever cooked in (and that says alot). From there, I flew downtown to meet with a potential new client to talk about teaching him to prepare raw food…or so I thought! By mid-conversation, he was interested in investing in Raw Fancy and Recipe Rx! More to come on that later, but certainly a nice little treat in the middle of my workday!

July 2-4: Wow! What a ride! I would have to say that this was the best catering event I have ever done. The house was amazing, the host (DJ) was a gem, a peach, a sweetheart (his guests were just the same), and the food was pretty good, too! Here are some highlights:

I got to meet some wonderful people, including the Showit Fast Team and some of the best wedding photographers in the industry, including Jasmine Star andBobby Earle. They were very cool.

The wine: Virgin Shiraz (yup Richard Branson’s label). Really good and drinkable (eh-hem, a bit too drinkable for me on the 4th…i was tossed after 2…or maybe 3 glasses…can anybody say “LIGHTWEIGHT”. Big mistake.) But seriously, a very nice, affordable wine-great for entertaining since it seems heavy enough to drink with meat, but not so heavy as to overpower lighter food.
The cheese: Cave-aged Gruyere from TJ’s. A bit pricier than most of their cheeses, but worth every tasty morsel.

counter-clockwise from bottom left:Blue Stilton, Cave-aged Gruyere, Aged Gouda, Goat Brie, Grana Padano.

Ok, ok, the food: I had some missteps (overcooked scrambled eggs that turned GREEN and nasty, some rushed presentations, and some burnt quesadillas and pancakes), but considering the sheer volume of food that came out of that kitchen, I would say it was a huge success. Here are some of the recipes from the weekends meu if you want to try them at home:

Warm Spinach-Parmesan Dip
Pumpkin Pancakes (served with cinnamon whipped cream, carmelized bananas, maple syrup and candied pecans).
Shoot, I thought I used more recipes! I guess I’ll have to write the others down. I did these Ginger Plum Ribs that were awesome…I will definitely have to get that one to you!!

a big mound of Asian slaw to go with the ribs. mmmmm…

me.

July 7: Was invited to cook at my clients vacational rental which was on this amazing nature preserve in the Ojai Valley. It was so awesome! There were tons of animals including peacocks! I picked the fruit for the meals straight off the trees in the orchard. I love that!!!

the fruits from the orchard!

So the moral of today’s story is that life is delicious! Enjoy every bite!!

(I will TRY to get back on the blogging bandwagon here now, too!)

Crab Cake Heaven & Allergy Hell

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Again and again, I am so sorry that I have been writing so infrequently lately. Truth be told, I have been in no mood to write because…how do I put this…I have been feeling like crap. I feel bad admitting that to you because I know that you read in part to feel encouraged and enlightened about health and WELL-being, not ILL-being, which is how I have been feeling for weeks. It started with seasonal allergies last month, which have gotten progressively WORSE since the pollen field started growing behind my house. Oh sure, it looks nice blowing in the wind, but the truth is that every granule of pollen that sneaks into my house runs straight for my eyeballs, leaving me literally scratching them in hopes of dislodging even one (I have considered sewing my eyelids shut, but haven’t found a seeing eye dog on such short notice). From there came a serious pain in my neck, probably brought on by my pain in the neck allergies, pain in the neck taxes, pain in the neck selling/purchasing a new car, pain in the neck website building delays, and my pain in the neck attitude about it all (see why I haven’t been writing). Upon visiting the chiropractor after 3 days of inability to move my head from side to side, he asked me to stop sneezing otherwise I will throw my adjustment out. Thanks, doc, I’ll get right on that. Then just as I was starting to feel better, I came down with a nasty 48 hour flu. My mom thinks it hit me so hard because my immune system has been on hyper-mode defending itself from the aforementioned pollen invaders. The sickness has mostly subsided, but the allergies are here to stay, it seems indefinitely.

If you are still reading this pathetic diatribe, I will now reward you with a delicious recipe. Last week I made my favorite breakfast dish: Crab Cakes with Poached Eggs, Guacamole, and Lemon Hollandaise with Roasted Red Potatoes. Scrump-dilli-umptious!! It is a take-off of the one they serve at Tupelo Junction, but so much better (if i do say so myself). It is a bit labor intensive, but a great meal for a Sunday brunch or for anyone you just really want to impress. Make sure to get good quality crab meat. I Prefer Dungeness crab meat or blue crab, but used jumbo lump crab here. I am going to lay it out as separate recipes then show you how to assemble it at the end.

**will get pic, didn’t transfer**

Crab Cakes with Poached Eggs, Guacamole, and Lemon Hollandaise with Roasted Red Potatoes

Crab cakes:

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup minced green onions

2 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2-3 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs, minced (dill, parsley, tarragon, cilantro)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 pound blue crabmeat or Dungeness crabmeat

2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs),* divided

2 tablespoons (or more) butter

2 tablespoons (or more) grapeseed oil

Line baking sheet with waxed paper. Whisk first 10 ingredients in large bowl. Mix in crabmeat and 1 cup panko, breaking up crabmeat slightly. Let stand 10 minutes. Place remaining panko on rimmed baking sheet, spreading slightly. Form crab mixture into sixteen 2-inch-diameter patties, using about scant 1/4 cup for each. Press both sides of patties into panko. Transfer patties to waxed-paper-lined baking sheet. Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon oil in each of 2 heavy large skillets over medium-high heat. Add crab cakes to skillets and cook until golden on both sides, adding more butter and oil as needed, about 5 minutes total.

Poached Eggs:

1 teaspoon vinegar
8 very fresh large eggs

Combine 1 1/2 inches water (about 2 quarts) and vinegar in a wide 3-quart heavy saucepan (preferably about 9 inches wide) and bring to a simmer.

Break 1 egg into a small bowl or cup and slide egg into water. Repeat with each remaining egg, spacing them evenly in saucepan, and poach at a bare simmer until whites are firm and yolks are still runny, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer eggs as cooked to paper towels using a slotted spoon.

Guacamole:

2 ripe California avocados (1 pound total), quartered, pitted, and peeled
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup minced white onion
1 fresh serrano chile including seeds, minced (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste

Mash together all ingredients in a bowl with a fork until incorporated, but still chunky.

Lemon Hollandaise:

3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cream
1 cup (1/2 pound) melted butter, cooled to room temperature
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice (for desired tartness)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of cayenne pepper

Use a small, thick ceramic bowl set in a heavy-bottomed pan, or a heavyweight double boiler. Off the heat, put the egg yolks and cream in the bowl or upper section of the double boiler and stir with a wire whisk until well-blended — the mixture should never be beaten but stirred, evenly, vigorously and continually. Place the container over hot water (if you are setting the bowl in water, there should be about 1 1/2 inches of water in the pan; in a double boiler, the water should not touch the top section). Stirring eggs continuously, bring the water slowly to a simmer. Do not let it boil. Stir, incorporating the entire mixture so there is no film at the bottom. When the eggs have thickened to consistency of very heavy cream, begin to add the cooled melted butter with one hand, stirring vigorously with the other. Pour extremely slowly so that each addition is blended into the egg mixture before more is added. When all the butter has been added, add the lemon juice or vinegar a drop at a time and immediately remove from heat. Add salt and a mere dash of cayenne.

Roasted Potatoes:

2 pounds small (1 1/2-inch) red potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive or safflower oil
3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss potatoes with oil and sea salt in a large baking pan, then arrange them cut sides down. Roast in middle of oven until tender and cut sides are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

Assembling the meal and timing of prep work:

1. Assemble crab cakes and allow to rest (can make ahead, too).

2. Preheat oven for potatoes, prep potatoes and put in oven.

3. Make guacamole.

4. Boil water for eggs.

5. Fry crab cakes while making hollandaise sauce.

6. Poach eggs.

6. Assembly: For each plate, place 2 crab cakes down first, top each with a poached egg as soon as they come out of the water. Top with a dollop of guacamole and drizzle with hollandaise (use a bit of hot water to thin if necessary). Serve with roasted potatoes and herb salad (if desired).

***

I guess life isn’t so bad after all.

Guest Post on Simple Mom!

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

So as I was leaving the house for my 10 hour drive to Arizona today to go to the Grand Canyon, I got an email that an article I had submitted for Simple Mom was published today! I am very excited because it is a rockin’ blog that gets lots of eyeballs to it and I love having a platform with moms because good health and lifelong dietary habits are best when started at an early age.

I am tired and typing on a foreign keyboard, so I am going to say goodnight, but I will be back tomorrow to post Part 2 on good fat. Check out the site, ESPECIALLY if you are a mom…great stuff there.

Fat is your friend.

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I remember wanting to lose some weight back in college, before I had any concept of good health. My roommates and I would go to the supermarket and stock up on pretty much every variety of low-fat wheat thin, dorito, pop-tart, granola bar, cheese snack, and frozen microwave dinner and wonder why we still weren’t losing weight as we binged on them day and night. I even got on the Olestra wagon. Chips fried in oil that you couldn’t absorb. You would think that my bull-crap detector would have sounded, but no. Lucky for me, my mom quickly informed me that this food was all a fraud, and that if I couldn’t pronounce the ingredients in it, I definitely should not be eating it.

Since then, I have been learning and living with the belief that the low-fat diet is inherently flawed. Everyone in the fattest parts of America seem to be on low-fat diets, so surely its not the fat that’s making people fat. It must be something else. As you know if you have been reading for the last several months, I am eager to shed some of the weight that has crept up on me over the last year and a half. Although I have maintained a relatively healthy diet throughout, the main culprits in my weight gain have been stress, which lead to overeating, especially at night, and overall lethargy. My body also does not do well with gluten or dairy or refined carbohydrates, and I was eating all of these things over the last couple years, with the last half of 2008 being particularly bad. I also have a pretty bad habit of not eating until at least noon, eating two large meals throughout the day, and not much more (more on jump-starting your metabolism soon).

One thing that I believe actually saved me in this time was good fat. It never made sense to me when people would say “I dont eat too many nuts because they are high in fat” or “guacamole is good but has too much fat”. Really? These are obviously (at least to me) healthy choices. And all fats aren’t the same! I did make a really big shift in the last couple months away from butter (which I used to consider one of my major food groups) and towards coconut oil (people still freak out when I tell them coconut is really good for you and helps you LOSE weight). One day I woke up and butter didn’t taste that good to me anymore. I am not sure if the butter I was eating had gone bad, or what (it was even organic), but for several weeks, whenever I would put it on toast, I lost my appetite. Really weird. I started buying gourmet butter (the kind that’s like $10/pound) and that was much better, but it still seemed like my body was telling me to stop, so I did. I now spread EVCO (extra-virgin coconut oil) on my toast, I cook with it, fry with it (browns meat beautifully), slather it on my body as a moisturizer, and put it in my hair. Its a really good thing I like the taste and smell of coconut.

It has come to my attention recently that alot of people are still misinformed about fat, even though I thought it was now common knowledge that olive oil, fish oil, nuts, avocados, and the like are very healthy. I just bought an awesome book called Ultra-Metabolism by Mark Hyman, M.D. that debunks many of the fallacies that continue to linger in our society, even in the medical community. In part 2, I will give an explanation of good fat/bad fat, and why getting it wrong has lead to a nation of “low-fat” but still tragically unhealthy and overweight.

Update: I still haven’t lost a single pound after nearly 3 months of changing my eating patterns and exercising a whole lot more (i am going to invest in one of those body fat scales…they seem better at determining your progress). I do, however, look a whole lot better. The weight that was being distributed in fat over my body seems to be converting to muscle, which is very good. My arms, face, and waistline especially are becoming more defined. All of my cute clothes are beginning to fit again and I have tons more energy. I think that an overall stress reduction is a major factor as well. I am learning first-hand that stress makes you fat and unhealthy.

this dude really loves trader joe’s! awesome!

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

this dude really loves trader joe’s! awesome!

Blue Plate Special

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

I am now going to tell you a little story to illustrate the importance of forgiveness and compassion.

Almost four years ago, I left my job to start my personal chef business, Heavenly Home Gourmet. Times were tough and I was eagerly seeking new clients. I was given a lead for a woman in Montecito who needed a dinner party catered and I eagerly jumped at the opportunity. Upon meeting, I learned that she wanted a salad and entree for 25 people and that her budget was $500, or $20 per person. This is a virtually impossible budget to work with, the cost is more like $60-$100 per person for a meal prepared in-home (over Christmas I did a dinner that was $150 per person). This should have been my first indication to run like the wind, but I didn’t know how to say no and needed the cash. Things were going alright during the planning, except that she would forget entire phone conversations and then call me up wondering why we hadn’t finalized the menu. Stubborn and suffering from Dementia is never a good combo.

On the day of the party, all my ducks were in a row and I was prepping in the kitchen with the housekeeper who was supposed to help me cook since she wouldn’t pay for an assistant. As the poor woman complained that: “Mrs. Blank is so cheap that she makes me drive 2 hours to come clean her house and doesn’t even pay for my gas or the driving time”, and many other awful stories that should be reported to authorities, I was secretly relieved that I had escaped relatively unscathed. As the hour approached, it was clear that this poor woman was to be as overworked this evening as I was. She was the server and cleaner, which meant that my hope of having an assistant flew out the window (I did a Christmas party for half as many people with my own assistant plus 2 servers). I moved more quickly and precisely than I ever had before. The food made it all out and was met with applause. Job well done, or so I thought…

The next day I got a phone call from Mrs. Blank that was the most offensive and displeased I have ever received. “You have no respect for my kitchen…you let water get onto the floor…you chipped the paint on the pantry door…you bought herbs when I have an herb garden (never told that)…you bought cranberries, etc, etc, and I have those things in the pantry…you should have given me your shopping list for approval…roasted chicken is supposed to have crispy skin…you should have asked for a recipe if you couldn’t get the skin crispy…thepotaoes were too soft…the gravy too thick…you have no right to work in MONTECITO !!”and on and on and on it went. As she continued with her rant, I remembered the conversation with her housekeeper about how she is always arguing the bill and her hours and realized that she was doing the same to me. Choking back tears, I told her that I was sorry that she was dissatisfied, but that I had done the best I could given her budget and stringent requests (roast 6 chickens and potatoes for 25 in 2 small ovens). She told me that if she had anything to do with it that I would never work in Montecito again (I thought people only said stuff like that in movies).

I sent her the bill that afternoon with a note at the bottom that a 20% charge would be added for each week the balance was delinquent, still worried that she wouldn’t pay me at all. I got a check a couple days later with a beautifully hand-written note that basically said: “You have no right considering yourself a professional chef and I hope you never work inMontecito again. Your food is the equivalent of a BLUE PLATE SPECIAL”. Man, oh man, was I fuming!! I told everyone who would listen how awful she was and felt sorry for myself for at least a week. I began to wonder if what she said were true, and called all of my clients to ask them for a performance review. I finally let it go until…

…I moved in ONE BLOCK AWAY FROM HER!!! I realized it even as I was interviewing for my new job and chuckled that I could soon be breathing that same air as her. Then about six months after I moved in the craziest things started happening: for 2-3 weeks, I saw her EVERYWHERE! In the downward-facing-dog position in my yoga class, buying produce at the farmers market, in the parking lot at the supermarket, pulling out of her driveway as I was running by her house!!! After about the ninth encounter, I had the sneeking suspicion that God was trying to tell me something, but what? That I should egg her house, toilet paper her trees, key her car?No, it was quickly made clear to me that I was supposed to FORGIVE HER! Ugh. Why, God? I had done such a good job of forgiving my parents and ex-boyfriends, why her? I was so clearly in the right and she was so abusive!

Well, if this was the only way to get this awful woman out of my life, I guess I could muster up some forgiveness. I began by apologizing (in my head) for all of the ways I could have done a better job and handled the situation. Then I was prompted to imagine all of her good characteristics and then praise her for them (all I could think of at first was that she had a really pretty house). Then I tried to imagine how she became the way she did. What kind of hardships had she encountered in her life? What was her family like? I obviously had very little information to work with, but it didn’t matter. As all of my judgment began to slip away, the door was opened to be compassionate towards her. After a couple days of doing this, I stopped seeing her (mostly).

I was reminded of these lessons at my home group on Monday night. The issues of judgment, forgiveness, and compassion came up and the ways in which we deal with the people in our lives that have hurt us. Someone told a story about the journey God had taken him on to forgive his mother for the horrendous things she did to her family.

After a long and painful process, he was able to fully forgive her, and once that happened, was able to love and have compassion for her as never before, experiencing a supernatural peace (my story was an itsy-bitsy grain of sand compared to this one). The Bible and other famous texts have a lot to say about the way we treat and relate to others. The Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke sums up the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Jesus goes further to say: “If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic” (Luke 6:29). We have fallen so far from this in our daily lives, choosing instead to judge and hold grudges on the people who have hurt us, and end up living with our hearts totally closed to love, acceptance, and compassion. Until we release judgment and hatred, we will not be able to have compassion and love, unable to feel forgiven until we forgive. Forgiveness releases us and releases others to return to our true, inherent, loving nature. It is humbling, painful at times, and difficult to battle our need to be right and justified, but its truly the only way to have peace.

I hope this inspires you to forgive the people who have hurt you and strive towards greater compassion and mercy in your daily life. It will be worth it, I promise. The alternative may be running into them EVERYWHERE YOU GO. What a sense of humor that God has.