A Practical Guide To Healthy Living

Well friends, we’re on the brink of Christmas and this blogger’s takin’ her show on the road for the next couple of weeks.  We’re headed to Madrid to meet my new niece and see my favorite sister and brother-in-law.  It’s likely that there’ll be no posting ’til after New Years.  In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy yourselves and eat well – I think there’s enough in the archives to keep you full and happy while I’m gone. 

Here’s to more sweet times together in 2010!  Feliz año nuevo!

Sarah

Print This!

Remember this Kale, Kielbasa & Tortellini Soup from the other day?  It is sooooo delicious leftover, people, that I am almost tempted to recommend that you make it day-before and then refrigerate it ’til ready to reheat and serve.  The flavors came together so well in the overnight, and now, on the second day, it’s outstanding.  So if you’re trying it and thinking “Meh?  It’s OK . . .” seal it away in the fridge and try again tomorrow. 

Oh, and I’ve been eating the leftovers without any tortellini . . . it’s plenty hearty and tasty, and let’s just say I’m gettin’ enough carbs and fat elsewhere, these days before Christmas!

Print This!

One last cookie recipe for you this season – the grand-daddy of them all. This is the most praised cookie in my battalion of cookie recipes.  I am not exaggerating when I tell you that people fall all over themselves for these rugelach.  Lifetime rugelach-lovers have confided in me that these are better than any they’ve ever tasted before . . . . so if you want to make some friends (maybe influence some people?) this season, whip up a batch or two of these and be generous.  And read to the end for a shortcut that might make these less daunting to bake.  

Rugelach

Cream the cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light. Add 1/4 c. granulated sugar, the salt, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and mix until just combined. Dump the dough out onto a well-floured board or countertop and roll it into a ball. Cut the ball in quarters, wrap each piece in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

To make the filling, combine 6 T. of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the raisins and the walnuts.

On a well-floured board, roll each ball of dough into a 9-inch circle (a nice way to get a neat circle is to place a 9-inch pie plate upside-down over the dough as a stencil, scoring the dough around the edge with a small knife). Spread the dough with 2 T. apricot preserves and sprinkle with 1/2 c. of the filling. Press the filling lightly into the dough. Cut the circle into 12 equal wedges, cutting the whole circle in quarters, then each quarter into thirds. Starting with the wide edge, roll up each wedge. Place the cookies, points tucked under, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine 3 T. granulated sugar and 1 t. cinnamon in a small bowl.  Remove the cookies from the fridge, brush each cookie with the egg wash, and sprinkle each cookie with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack and let cool.

Yield:  approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Note:  the possibilities for fillings are endless.  I usually make at least 2 batches of these, half with apricot and half with seedless raspberry preserves.  You can use a chocolate spread, like Nutella, or chocolate and raspberry together.  I’ve heard of people using fig jam, some just use cinnamon-sugar and nuts.  Think of what flavors appeal to you and go from there – the dough is neutral and will showcase whatever’s inside.

Next – these are a lot of work: mixing, rolling, filling, chilling, yada yada yada.  If you want to make “lazy-man’s rugelach,” you can roll the dough into a rectangle instead of a circle, insert your fillings, roll it up into a log and cut slices.  Then chill them and brush them as you would traditional, crescent-shaped rugelach.

Print This!

Yowza, did we get some snow on Saturday night and Sunday!  I love me a good weekend snowstorm, though – nowhere to go first thing in the morning . . . we just hang out inside and watch it fall.  And then later, I hang out inside and watch my intrepid husband wrangle our giant snow-blower around for a while.  L. played in the snow a bit, but we also took the opportunity to whip up a batch of her favorite Christmas cookies, along with a big pot of this soup.  

Kale, Kielbasa & Tortellini Soup 

Heat the oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add the kielbasa, onion, garlic, thyme and red pepper and sauté until the onion is translucent and the kielbasa is brown, about 12 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil. Stir in kale and cannellini. Reduce heat to low and simmer until kale is wilted, about 4 minutes. Add the tortellini to soup*.  Simmer until pasta is just tender but still firm to the bite, about 5 minutes.  Add the soy sauce, and salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle soup into bowls. Serve, passing cheese separately. Serves 6.

*A note:  If you think you’re going to eat all the soup at once, prep it this way.  But if you think that you’re going to want to have soup as leftovers, I’d cook the tortellini according to the package directions and then add it to individual serving bowls.  Otherwise, next day you’re going to have lifeless, bloated tortellini floating in your soup, and that’s just gross.

Print This!

Folks, it’s nuts out there.  I’ve been out and about all a.m. and it’s not pretty.  Big snow predicted for the Boston area, plus Christmas around the corner = madness on the roads, in the stores, etc.  As I headed out to the supermarket at 8:30 this morning, I said to myself “it might be bonkers out there, but today you’re going to remember all the joy in your life, and you’re going to be nice and friendly.”  Sound crazy?  Many of you haven’t driven with me before, but let me assure you, I’m Boston-born and bred, and I drive like hellfire and I swear like a sailor (if my youngest Midwestern cousin is reading this, he will remember a little incident many years ago that involved, I think, a rotary, a stick-shift, some yelling and some graphic hand gesturing).  So this little pep-talk was necessary.

And it worked out OK, but I was, shall I say, tested.  I’m home now, fed and ready to start prepping food for a very fun annual Festivus gathering tonight, and checking Google Reader – I came across this post from the Crazy Sexy Life Blog.  Not sure how much you can use suggestion #1 at this late date, but the rest is so good and such a good reminder that I’m breaking tradition and blogging on the weekend.

My favorite quotation is:  ”you are the architect of all of your life experiences.”  Take that one along in your back pocket for the next week or so.  And further indulge me as I plug in another great reminder about being in the moment, from Pema Chodron:

“There is a story of a woman running away from tigers. She runs and runs and the tigers are getting closer and closer. When she comes to the edge of a cliff, she sees some vines there, so she climbs down and holds on to the vines. Looking down, she sees that there are tigers below her as well. She then notices that a mouse is gnawing away at the vine to which she is clinging. She also sees a beautiful little bunch of strawberries close to her, growing out of a clump of grass. She looks up and she looks down. She looks at the mouse. Then she just takes a strawberry, puts it in her mouth, and enjoys it thoroughly. Tigers above, tigers below. This is actually the predicament that we are always in, in terms of our birth and death. Each moment is just what it is. It might be the only moment of our life; it might be the only strawberry we’ll ever eat. We could get depressed about it, or we could finally appreciate it and delight in the preciousness of every single moment of our life.”

Good luck this weekend, everyone, snow or no snow, Christmas prepping or not.  Breathe deep, be present, eat well, and I’ll see you back here on Monday morning.

Print This!

It’s Friday!?  It’s the last weekend before Christmas . . . breathe deeply.  I’m looking for ways to cut corners with dinner right now.  That, and the fact that very chilly winter weather has finally settled into the Boston area has me rediscovering my Crock-Pot.  I’ll be honest, I have a love-hate relationship with the thing.  Love the convenience, hate a lot of the recipes that are out there . . . mmmm, canned cream of mushroom soup, anyone? 

So where does this girl go for inspiration? 

• The number one resource I’ve found on the ‘net for slow cooking recipes is this one.  This mother set out to prep something in her slow cooker every single day for a year – so there’re lots of recipes to choose from here.  At the end of every recipe she gives a (sometimes very funny) report on what the family thought about the recipe, including the kids’ reactions.
• For more inspiration, the Better Homes & Gardens site has a whole section devoted to slow cooker recipes.
• Here’s a good thread from the Chowhound Home Cooking board re interesting slow-cooker recipes.
• This Lora Brody recipe for Moroccan Chicken With Couscous in the slow cooker is fantastic – I took the book out of the library years ago, made this, and it went immediately into the recipe box.
• Some of these recipes might be a little more complicated than what you want to make in a slow cooker, but they look very tasty – the veggie leek beef barley soup is one I want to make soon.
• OMG!  There’s an app for that . . . Crock-Pot has its own iPhone appthat’ll allow you to search for recipes.  I’m going to add this to my phone for comic relief - “look how far I’ve devolved from my lawyer-days now, people!”  You can also search recipes on the Crock-Pot site itself.
• Here are two of my own favorites, from this site – if you haven’t tried them, now might be the time.
• Or, you can take the easy way out like I did on Wednesday.  For some reason, we’d accumulated 3 open jars of spaghetti sauce in the fridge.  I took a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, dumped them in the slow cooker, poured the various spaghetti sauces on top, set it to low, and left for a few hours.  Later I cooked up some whole wheat spaghetti and made a couple tossed salads and we had a super quick, hot, and reasonably tasty meal.  See?  We’re not always uber-creative and fancy over at chez Semi-Sweet.  Some nights you just need to get the job done.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Print This!

Homemade gifts are always meaningful . . . just ask L.  I tear up every time she gives me a homemade card.  Yes, even a brass-balled former-litigator like me.  And while today’s gifty goody isn’t guaranteed to elicit tears of joy, it’s easy, delicious and from the heart. And best of all, it uses a childhood favorite of mine, Marshmallow Fluff . . . made locally in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Peppermint Never-Fail Fudge (adapted from the Marshmallow Fluff Yummy Book)

Butter an 8-inch square baking pan; set aside.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine sugar,butter, milk, Fluff and salt . Microwave, uncovered, on medium high for 2 1/2 minutes; remove and stir until blended. Microwave on medium high for 5 minutes; remove and stir until blended. Microwave on medium high for 5 minutes; remove and stir. Microwave on medium high 2 1/2 minutes; remove and stir again. Still using medium high microwave for 6 minutes more. Stir in chocolate and vanilla and until blended. Pour into pan. Top with crushed candy canes.  Using a plastic baggie or a piece of waxed paper, very gently press the crushed cane pieces into the top of the fudge. Let stand to harden.  Makes 2 1/2 pounds.

A note on the fudge process . . . don’t get crafty and just set the microwave to run for minutes on end . . . do you know why I keep having you get your bowl out to stir?  Because otherwise, all that gooey goodness will get super hot, bubble up, and erupt all over the inside of your microwave.  And once it sets, this stuff could probably be used to mortar your front walk . . . so don’t cut corners on this one – you’re already using the microwave to make candy, for goodness sake.

Print This!

Happy Wednesday, friends!  Been a long time since I put up some hotlinks . . . . Here’s a nice collection of holiday links for you – focused on sweets.  I haven’t tried them, yet, but if you do, will you post in the comments and let us know what you think? 

Here’s a great-looking recipe for peppermint cookie bark. (Macheesmo)

This cookie made with pistachios, dried cranberries and candied ginger shouts “Christmas!” (Luna Cafe)

Perhaps you’ll want to loosen your belt and serve The Kitchen Witch’s rendition of Ina Garten’s luscious croissant bread pudding. (The Kitchen Witch)

Go free-form with this fabulous looking cherry almond galette- no hardcore baking skills needed. (The (Wicked) Awesome Whisk)

Here’s a collection of delicious-looking cookie recipes adapted from local bakeries. (Globe Magazine)

And last, but not least, a yummy sweet kugel recipe . . . if you’ve never had sweet noodle pudding, you need to try this one out . . . and you know?  It’d be great (yet decidedly not traditional!) with your Christmas ham. (Bitten)

Print This!