So, what do you eat?

When I tell people that I don’t have a meal plan and that I am not in an eating house (Davidson’s version of sororities) their first reaction is, “So, what do you eat?” Although I don’t find it strange that I am competent enough to shop for and feed myself, evidently some of my friends and peers do. For all of those doubters and students who don’t think they could do it, let me just say that you could. I happen to be passionate about food and about eating healthy, minimally processed food so honestly you couldn’t pay me to go back to a 19 meal plan. I love the gratification that comes from making a delicious concoction, even if it is totally random or not the most visually appealing (like that one time I mixed together tuna, guacamole, and Sriracha).

In case you are interested, here are some of the things I eat. I would hope that you might just learn something or find some inspiration to try to cook for yourself.

Breakfast

0% fat Fage with Trader Joe’s cranberry sauce mixed in

Whole grains with almond milk (unsweetened vanilla), dried fruit (right now I love apples and cranberries), and nuts (walnuts and almonds are my favorites!)

Oatmeal (made with water in the microwave) with Greek Yogurt (for creaminess) and something delicious mixed in (caramelized pears, baked sweet potatoes, and sweet potato butter are all delicious!)

Waffle stacker (this one made with pumpkin puree, agave nectar, and cinnamon + cranberry sauce+ spiced almonds, buckwheat waffle base)

Overnight oats with almond milk, peanut or almond butter, and dried fruit

Go to: anything with peanut butter and bananas, peanut butter on toast

 

Lunch/Dinner

Waffle sandwich (with organic freshly ground peanut butter, local NC apples, and chia seeds on buckwheat waffles) [yep, this could be breakfast too, but many of the meals I eat blur the line between lunch/dinner and breakfast]

Carrots with peanut butter or yogurt dip (dijon mustard, Greek yogurt, and Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute)

Apples with peanut or almond butter

Hummus wrap

Egg mugs (egg, milk or water, and veggies, heat in the microwave)

Go to: Whole grains (brown rice, farro, wheat berries, quinoa) with falafel balls, tempeh, or veggies (and usually Sriracha) [I have a rice cooker in my room that makes this super convenient]

 

Hot Drinks

Mum tea (the dried blossoms unfold in the hot water and make it turn a beautiful pale yellow color)

Almond milk with spicy fair trade hot chocolate mix

Almond milk with sweet potato butter and cinnamon

Organic chai tea or white tea with roses (loose-leaf)

 

 

When I am feeling gourmet (or just want to procrastinate):

Whole wheat bread bowls from How Sweet It Is, the one on the left with leftover veggie chili (mine) and the decidedly carb-loaded one on the right with white cheddar macaroni and cheese (Jerry’s)

Egg poached in the microwave (crack an egg in a mug with 1/2 cup water and a tablespoon or white vinegar, microwave for a minute)

A fried egg on anything (toast, eggs, roasted vegetables)

Tuna burger (canned tuna, egg, peppers, Sriracha, wheat germ, cook in a frying pan)

Noodle dishes (mainly with peanut butter and veggies)

Pancakes!

Cake in a mug

 

 

 

Honestly, the main principles I follow for feeding myself are simple:

1) Take advantage of free food, especially if it is ethnic or healthy (this is easy for college students)

2) Don’t waste food, eat food that are will go bad soon first (Duh!)

3) Embrace leftovers (they can be just as good as the original but allow for more experimentation)

4) Be creative!

Middle of the Week Treat

Pumpkin Petit Four from Amelie’s. Enough said.

Of course I am not serious. I think that something deep down inside me would be seriously disturbed if I just posted a picture and a seven word caption. However, the pumpkin petit four from Amelie’s is certainly good enough to deserve that kind of a spotlight, a big picture with just a few words. The attention to detail in the layering is what makes this one superb and seasonal petit four.The top layer has the most pumpkin flavor that hits your taste buds first but is very smooth, almost like a less sticky caramel. Then, there is a cream cheese layer that is fluffier and has a slight tang to balance the sweetness of the other layers. Next is a spice cake layer that is truly has lots of spice but is not dense or too sweet. Rounding out the petit four, on the bottom is a graham cracker cookie crust that is buttery with a slight crunch. The textures in this multilayered cake confection are perfectly matched. You probably know that I am generally obsessed with pumpkin; but, regardless of this obsession, this petit four is truly remarkable and worth a try if you are in the NoDa neighborhood. Also, this two or three bite small treat is very satisfying and will only cost you just over $2.

Sweet Potato Truffles

Sweet potatoes + truffles, where can you go wrong?

First of all, I love sweet potatoes! Fun fact: these vitamin-packed tubers are my favorite vegetable! Second, truffles (as in the chocolate confection, not the very different but equally delicious fungus) can be the perfect little treat to satisfy a chocolate craving. They are creamy and chocolate-y and normally have a fun filling (I once had a divine white chocolate Kahlua truffle from 20 Degrees Chocolates). So, why not combine the two?

This week I wanted to make a snack for a club and as usual wanted to try something new. This club advocates for and tries to engage students in making responsible consumption choices. My thought process was as follows: “I have local, organic sweet potatoes in my room (from the Bowers house and as mentioned in the past blog post) and I want to find something that is easy and fast to make. Hmmm… Healthy Home Market is a few minutes away and they have delicious fair trade, organic chocolate that I haven’t had in a while. How can I combine the both of these?”

Several Google searches later, I had a base recipe for my sweet potato truffles. Below is my recipe, very responsibly made, delicious (they were a hit at the meeting!), and fairly ugly (but I would like to think the first two descriptions make up for this).

Orange Sweet Potato Truffles

Inspired by Ginger Beat

Yield: 12-15, depending on the size

Ingredients

1/2 cup chocolate chips (dark chocolate is best)

1 cup mashed sweet potato

1-1/2 cups raw chopped walnuts (pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, or pistachios would work here too; also, toasting the nuts would give a nice flavor)

Salt to taste

2 teaspoons orange essential oil (orange zest would work well, but use 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons)

Optional:

1/4 cup cocoa powder

chopped nuts

Chop walnuts and set aside. Place the mashed sweet potato in a glass bowl. Add chocolate chips and microwave for about 45 seconds (more or less depending on the microwave) until the chocolate chips start to melt. Add nuts, salt, and orange essential oil to bowl and mix together by hand.** Smooth mixture out and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper.

If using, place cocoa powder or chopped nuts in a shallow bowl or dish. Use a spoon to scoop out a tablespoon of mixture. Roll by hand into a ball shape and then gently roll in cocoa or nuts until covered.

Place on cookie sheet and store in the refrigerator until serving.

**For more uniform and truffle-like balls, you can combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth (no need to microwave chocolate chips). Then, roll truffles out in the same way as mentioned above.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

New Blog Design

Well, one thing lead to another and instead of doing homework I redesigned my blog. Tell me what you think and leave a comment! (It’s okay to be honest, I can take it.)

Digging Sweet Potatoes, a Davidson County Adventure

When asked what my plans were for this weekend, I responded that I was going home to dig sweet potatoes. I got quite a few strange looks and unsure “that’s cool”s. Some of my friends are from Charlotte or Chicago or South Korea and have probably never seen a sweet potato in a context other than on their plate. However, my family treasures our garden. During the summer it is a bounty of fresh produce and provides hours of enjoyment through picking and watering (I understand that this only constitutes “fun” to a certain segment of the population).

Our family garden’s growing season extended a bit longer than usual last summer when I bought six sweet potato plants on a whim. My rationale was that I like sweet potatoes and that we probably had a place to put them, so why not? Sweet potatoes are meant to be dug up before the first frost (according to my 93 year old great-grandmother whom I trust more than most gardening authorities). Therefore, last year my parents dug up the little plot of land in which we had planted the 6 plants in beginning-mid October. I think they were initially surprised to find way more than six sweet potatoes and were surprised that they were of any size since we had literally ignored them. But, the whole bed was filled with sweet potatoes, and some were really huge (like bigger than a football). Unfortunately, I was studiously occupied at Davidson during this inaugural digging of sweet potatoes. Fortunately, I was able to enjoy sweet potatoes until well into the spring. This year, I helped plant the sweet potatoes again. The only change from last year was that we planted more sweet potatoes and one time I sprinkled chili powder around the perimeter of the sweet potato patch (deer or rabbits had been eating the leaves off of the vines and I wanted to deter them but I can’t really confirm how well this worked). I have to say that digger sweet potatoes was way cooler than it sounds.  Ripping away the leaves and vines to see sweet potatoes bulging up out of the earth, with many more hidden below the surface is a way of seeing what nature can produce and connecting this back to what you eat.

Jerry and Dad cutting away the vines

Me holding up some small sweet potatoes

Our bounty of sweet potatoes, stored in the basement on newspaper these will last for a LONG time

Below are a few things I learned from digging sweet potatoes:
-the ones on top are the easiest to spot and dig up (obvious, but true)
-the ones that you can’t see at first are prime targets for shovels or trowels to slash into or for me to snap in half while trying to pull out (oops!)
-digging sweet potatoes can be a good excuse for playing in the dirt, a trowel or shovel is not necessary as long as you use your digits
-don’t discriminate; oddly shaped and broken in half sweet potatoes are still perfect for making sweet potato butter (recipe here)
-scrubbing the dirt off of sweet potatoes is messier and more time-consuming than it seems
-sweet potato butter is right up there with pumpkin butter and apple butter in terms of deliciousness

The above mentioned sweet potato butter on top of a healthy pumpkin cake. I have also found the sweet potato butter delicious in oatmeal!

Enjoy this fall weather and please eat something with pumpkin or sweet potato, lots of spice, and everything nice!

Random Article

If you care about me, or care about some of the same things that I care about (for instance, North Carolina, the city of Charlotte, or food), then please read this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/dining/in-charlotte-nc-democrats-will-find-a-growing-food-scene.html?_r=1 My friend Alexandra brought it to my attention recently and I am so happy that Charlotte is getting credit where credit is due for its food scene. Charlotte is more than the home of Bank of America, the Carolina Panthers, and the 2012 Democratic National Convention. And, for the Charlotteans, let’s not forget to support these businesses and show our appreciation that Charlotte has more to offer than forty-something Starbucks and the original Bojangles.

What I haven’t written

It has been about two months since my last post. During this time I have been grappling with whether I want to continue blogging or not. It is the typical head vs. heart dilemma. Quite honestly, I am still trying to figure it out. So, bear with me and I will keep you in the loop. But for now, here is a brief recap of my life for the past two months. This is primarily in pictures and if you will notice, the second half of the pictures are considerably better. It’s because I have a real DSRL camera now! It was quite a surprise to receive it and there is a learning curve but I love using it!  (Thanks Jerry!)

 

Lemon olive oil muffins. These sound kind of strange but using olive oil in baked goods has become one of my new favorite things. These were light and summery!

 

 

 

 

 

Lemon whoopie pies that I made with my host mom. Delicious and fun to make!

 

 

 

 

 

Food trucks, I am obsessed with them and Charlotte has them; therefore, the perfect lunch date with a friend from work.

 

 

 

Hiking adventure with a lovely friend at Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina’s highest peak.

 

 

 

I discovered a new taste for sprouted bread. And of course, its even better with peanut butter and blueberry jam!

I am so loyal to this stuff. Almost every single time I have gone to Ben and Jerry’s for the past six months, I have gotten Banana and Peanut Butter Greek Frozen Yogurt (I think you can see a common thread, I probably eat way to much peanut butter).

 

 

Making sprouted bread. Except it honestly didn’t turn out exactly as I planned (which means that I threw it in the trashcan in frustration). I tried to get fancy and make cinnamon raisin swirl sprouted bread. Note to self: stick to the recipe, whoever ever created it knows more than you do!

 

 

   Succulent garden. I love this! I made it in the mountains with my grandmother and now have it sitting on the windowsill in my dorm room. Nana said they are hard to kill….. only time will tell.

 

 

 

Baking with friends that I missed so much over the summer. The result: delicious chocolate pudding chocolate chip cookies

 

 

 

New experiences! For our anniversary, Jerry and I went up in a small plane (is it possible to get motion sickness from a plane? if so, then I had it) and he got to take the controls for part of the time. Very fun!

 

 

View of Lake Norman from the window of the plane.

 

 

Last weekend I got to see two great Braves games with Jerry and his family. I don’t know that much about baseball but it was really fun (I didn’t even have to pull out my Kindle that I brought for backup entertainment)!

 

 

 

Waxy monkey frog, my favorite of the 12 species of frogs and toads featured in an exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium. He literally looked like fake.

 

 

 

 

Fall is here! I wore a pair of wine-colored skinny jeans today (the picture distorted the color a bit, but imagine that they have a bit of burgundy in them). It was wonderful! Next come the boots and cardigans!