Detox Days

So what do you do when you have come to that part of your life where the reflection in the mirror is pretty truthful and you find yourself spending more time putting outfits together to camouflage the muffin tops?  Or when naps are taken, more often than not, due to a lack of energy than for a pleasant rest? That was where I was 3 weeks ago. Truthfully, I’ve been in this position for the last 5 years. I have put on quite a bit of weight and all of it came from joyous events with delicious food and I have no regrets as far as that goes. I just feel like this is the season I have to really make some changes. Not just to lose a few pounds, eat a little healthier or walk a little more. Instead, I'm talking about making some lifelong changes. Changes that hopefully will take me well into being a grandmother and beyond. I know it's not going to be a cakewalk; heck, it took years to put this weight on! But for the first time in a very long time, I am motivated.

Though I am not one to join diet programs, I never fault anyone who is on them.  You have to find what works for you individually. Enter this amazing and sassy little lady named Pat Miller. She is all of 5 feet 5 inches and at 72 years of age, she could run circles around you with her spontaneous energy. In fact, it was her energy that made me want to learn more about TLS, the program that I am currently on. She is constantly in the know about the latest medical information (trust me on this, I get an e-mailbox full every week) and she has a great way of making you feel like you are part of her family with her constant cheering and guidance.

As a part of this program, I get the privilege of a personal trainer. I have plenty of friends that have trainers and quite honestly, I never really understood what that was all about until I met Jeremy Robinson. He is so much more than a trainer. He specializes in a total lifetime fitness program catered to your specific needs. His goal is to make sure that each of us in our group comes to the realization that being healthy is normal and that while it may take time, it's completely doable. He is encouraging but uses just enough tough-love to make it a real love/hate relationship. He is incredibly careful with watching us and making sure we don't get hurt (which, if you saw me on some of these exercise machines, you would be concerned for my safety and understand why I need some guidance). I can already tell that his knowledge of how the body works and his personal touch with each of us is a key factor in this life changing journey.

So here I am, 3 weeks into this program, and I have already lost 11pounds and 5% body fat. Have I changed my diet? Well, of course. Has it been a challenge? Absolutely! It's been a challenge in both my cooking and my personal life. Did I survive my first week of detox? Yep, and I got the added bonus of detoxing some other things in my life at the same time. Do I feel a difference in my overall health? Yes! Plus, I love feeling so motivated. I'm going to take this lifestyle change slow and steady. After all, it's not about the pounds lost, it’s about the overall feeling of being healthy... I'm jus' sayin'!

On my first week of Detox, I had a long list of vegetables and fruit and pretty much nothing else. I created these recipes to keep me motivated. Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Garlic Cauliflower Soup
2 Cups Cauliflower Florets
2 Cups Organic Vegetable Broth
2 Tbs. Minced Garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a pan combine all of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and lower heat to simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes until cauliflower is tender. Remove from heat and pour into a food processor. Whirl until smooth and thick. (If the soup is too thick for your liking, feel free to add a little more stock)



Vegan-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
8 Savoy Cabbage Leaves
1 Cup Mushrooms (minced)
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
1 Cup Diced Eggplant
¼ Cup Minced Red Onion
1 Carrot Diced
1 Zucchini Diced
½ Cup Diced Golden Beets (red can be substituted)
2 Tbs. Minced Garlic
2 Tbs. Minced Fresh Basil


Filling
In a sauté pan, sauté the following: eggplant, mushrooms, onion, carrot, zucchini, beets, 1 tbs. of garlic and 1 tbsp. of basil.  Sauté just until the onions are translucent and the veggies are soft. Set aside filling to cool.

Sauce
In a food processor combine the can of tomatoes, 1 tbsp. of garlic and 1 tbsp. of basil. Whirl until completely blended as a sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Cabbage Leaves
Place cabbage leaves into a large bowl. Cover with boiling water for 3 minutes or until pliable. Drain leaves. On a flat, clean work surface place 2 tbsp. of filling in each leaf (this will depend on the size of your leaf). Gently fold the leaf to create a small parcel (you may need to use a toothpick to secure each parcel - just make sure to remove them before serving).

Place each parcel in a clean saucepan that has a lid. After all the leaves are filled and all the filling is gone, pour the tomato sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cover with lid and bring to a boil. Lower to simmer and simmer for 15 minutes.



Coconut Curry Beet Soup
3 Cups of Golden Beets Diced
2 Carrots Diced
3 Cups of Organic Vegetable Broth
1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic
1 Tsp. Coconut Curry Spice
Pinch of Cinnamon
1 Tsp. Minced Ginger
Salt & Pepper to Taste
¼ Cup Greek Nonfat Yogurt

*Garnish - Dried Unsweetened Coconut

In a pot bring the first 8 ingredients to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes or until the beets and carrots are soft. Pour half of the mixture into a food processor and whirl until smooth. Add the yogurt and whirl again. Take the mixture and pour it back into the pot with the rest of the soup and stir. If too thick, add a bit more broth to make the consisitancy to your liking. Ladle into bowls and garnish with coconut.

Spicy Gazpacho Soup Adapted from Ina Gartens

In a food processor or blender combine the following:
1 English Cucumber Diced
2 Red Bell Pepper, Cored and Seeded
1 Can of Organic Diced Tomatoes
1/2 Red Onion Sliced
2 Garlic Cloves Minced

When processed to desired consistency, pour into a large bowl with the following:
3 Cups Organic Vegetable Broth
1/4 Cup White Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Cup Good Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper To Taste

Chill for 30 minutes and garnish with sliced avocados.

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A Slice of Compassion

Earlier this year, I humbly accepted a committee chair position for the Austin Food Blogger Alliance, a great new non-profit organization that has rallied the Austin food bloggers together to help promote social, educational and philanthropic events. It's been quite a learning curve for me because I have always been happy being the person behind the scenes and not the one responsible for creating, managing and executing events for charitable organizations. With that said, I have been working on a project very near and dear to my heart. It's a project done in two parts, the first being a social event chaired by Rebecca Otis and the second being a fundraiser led by myself as the philanthropy chair. The goal was to reach out to support a local charity through the amazing and creative members of AFBA, both through their blogs to raise awareness as well as through a fundraising event.

Last saturday was part one of this event. The AFBA Pie-Luck was for members only and it was held at House Wine, a lovely little wine bar run by some amazing women who have a ton of hospitality. In case you have never heard of a pie-luck, picture this: it's no different from a traditional pot-luck but instead of all those mysterious covered dishes, everyone brings a pie to share. Yes, that's right. Pies. And to make it even more interesting, these pies are all made by local food bloggers - not a purchased one in the bunch! I'll let your mind wander aimlesly on that one. As part of the event, we had a little contest to see which pie was the best. We invited 5 local chefs and food purveyors to come and be the guest judges, tasting and scoring each pie in a blind tasting format. The judges were @cheforville, @pasandalio, @tmarshalljones, @ecstaticcuisine, and @SugaPlumpPastry. The winner, besides earning bragging rights among their local blogging peers, would get their pie featured on the menu of the Alamo Draft House for Part Two of the event.

I had the wonderful opportunity to be in the judge's room serving alongside Christy Horton of Epicuriosities.com and to listen in as the judges worked through each entry. This was some serious judging. They looked over the ten pie entries and carefully checked the crust, filling, appearance, taste and creativity of each one and scoring each category as they saw fit. It was really interesting being on the "other" side of a contest. When all the judges had finished and the votes were triple-checked, Alamo Drafthouse executive chef John Bullington had the honor of announcing the winner to the gathered crowd. First place went to Michael Chu for his old Southern standby of a pecan pie. Second place went to Bob Wolter with his New Mexico Hot Chocolate Pie. Yes, that would be my husband! And yes, the pie was that good - something I'll probably write about down the road sometime. Third place went to Sarah Pember for her Peanut Butter-Scotch Banana Pudding Pie. The final tallies were very close and all three were deserving.

On the social side, the Pie-Luck had something for everyone. Attendees had many tasty choices depending on their cream, fruit, nut, or custard preferences as all of them were represented. You could not have walked away without the sweet taste of pie trailing behind you. With this event now behind us, it's time to follow up this amazing Pie-Luck with part two of the project. Pie-Safe is the philanthropy event that my hard working committee (Suzana,Kathryn,Bob and Christy) and I have been passionately working on these last couple months. We will be taking Michael Chu's winning pecan pie recipe to chef John Bullington, and including it as a menu item at a special screening of Waitress. In addition, Michael will have the opportunity to work side by side with John in the Alamo drafthouse commercial kitchen to make the pies for the screening. The event takes place on Sunday, August 21st at 1:00pm. After the movie, the AFBA will also be selling whole pies donated by local chefs, restaurants and pie purveyors. The best part of all of this is that the proceeds will benefit Safe Place, a local non-profit domestic abuse shelter for woman. You can buy your tickets here. Hurry because tickets are limited and this will sell out fast. I'm jus' sayin'!



Coo Coo for Coconut Pie

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup flaked coconut
1/3 cup of desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

Chocolate Ganache Topping
9 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped (chips can be used)
1 cup heavy cream

Pie Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat together butter or margarine, sugar, and eggs with an electric mixer on low speed. Blend in flour. Mix in 1/2 cup of milk at a time. Add 1 cup coconut and vanilla, and mix well. Pour filling into unbaked pie shell. Sprinkle top with additional coconut before baking, just enough to lightly cover the top. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until set. Cool pie. Proceed with topping.

Chocolate Ganache Topping
Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Allow the ganache to cool slightly before pouring over the top of the pie. Start at the center of the pie and work outward. Garnish pie with toasted coconut shavings. Chill pie until ready to serve.