No? Ok, then you should definitely make them. These babies were incredible!!

What, you’re still trying to keep cookies out of your house as part of your New Years resolution to lose a few pounds? I have 2 things to say about that.

1. Are there really people out there that still remember their New Year’s resolutions on January 30? I’m serious. Are there? I can’t seem to remember mine. Sad truth.

2. If you make these cookies, you can taste 1 or 2… and then gift them. Trust me – the recipient will very happy. Very very happy. And making your friends even better friends this year is a really good thing to add to your resolutions.

See? Win-win

A few weeks ago it was my friend Katy’s birthday and I was trying to figure out the perfect gift for her. She’s a doctor so the girl is pretty much living in the hospital. I wanted to give her something that would relax her on some especially exhausting day. Since my mind always goes to food, I thought that maybe baking cookies would be a nice activity for such a day (truth be told, on days like that I prefer to mindlessly shove cookies into my mouth until I pass out. Slowing down and actually baking some is a way better approach. I think Katy agreed!). Katy rarely has time to go grocery shopping so I thought a cookie mix would be a good compromise – homemade cookies, homemade taste – a lot less measuring and planning necessary. Again, win-win.

So I researched and researched. And I found this guide to oatmeal peanut butter jar cookies. They looked perfect!

Of course I wanted to bake a test batch and also to give some to Katy together with the mix so she wouldn’t need to work for her cookies right away.

[Side note: I tried baking them on an ungreased cookie sheet and on a silpat. The results were identical!]

They came out even better than expected!! They were soft and a little gooey on the inside, yet hearty with the addition of oat). And of course the mini peanut butter cups (from Trade Joe’s) made these guys extra special. Everything is better with chocolate!

I made another batch of the mix for Katy…

… and completed the gift with a peanut butter jar (since you have to add pb to the mix), a cookie scoop, and some pretty tags. Honestly, I couldn’t be more proud of myself. The gift turned out SO CUTE!!

Don’t wait for the holidays to shower your friends with homemade gifts. Or to eat cookies.

Are you into DIY gifts? I’d love to hear some new ideas… I’m really digging them these days

Have you heard of miracle berries before? Wikipedia tells me it’s also called synsepalum dulcificum (way harder to pronounce!) which is a plant with a berry that makes sour things taste sweet. The tablets are basically ground up miracle berries – all natural

Last night we had our friends Jim and Liz over for dinner to experiment with this “mysterious fruit tab.” We started the dinner by dissolving a tablet on our tongues and then dove into lemons, limes and grapefruit. Not gonna lie, it was a little scary to take the first bite! Would it really work?

Action shots!

Wow, guys. This was crazy. Seriously insane. Everything was SO SWEET – I honestly had no idea how sweet they’d be (and started getting a little nervous that our whole dinner will taste like pure sugar). Biting into a lime and being overwhelmed by its sweetness was surreal (the limes were the sweetest – almost inedible at first because of how sweet they were).

We calmed our palettes for a minute with these clover rolls, which had nothing to do with our experiment but delicious nonetheless. Definitely a must-make again recipe!

Aside from the rolls which were a last minute decision (a brilliant last minute decision!), the rest of the dinner all centered around citrus. I looked for recipes that utilized oranges (already sweet) but used lemons and grapefruit instead, knowing they would be made sweeter because of the tablets.

Grapefruit and avocado salad with a citrus dressing (here is the base recipes, I subbed grapefruit for oranges in everything)

Jalapeno citrus salmon (based on this recipe, I used half grapefruit, half lemon juice for the glaze)

My plate:

My beverage of choice for the night – it had citrus notes which turned sweet. The beer tasted kind of like a beer cocktail as a result. I liked it

The effect lasts between 30 minutes and 2 hours and over the course of dinner we definitely felt it fade. The citrus still tasted very sweet but we could start slowly also tasting mild sour notes. Luckily non-citrusy components made the meal a real dinner – salmon, avocado, jalapenos all stayed true to themselves

Of course we had to finish the meal with some lemon sherbet. This particular brand was super creamy – the perfect ending to a sweet citrus meal!

This was super fun!! Apparently hot sauce and radishes should have been part of our experiment too. I may just have to keep playing around with this stuff. It’s sort of trippy in a good way

Would you want to try this stuff? What would you make? I may use these for nights when my sweet tooth won’t stop nagging. A wedge of lemon would totally do the trick!

enjoyed in the past – but with better pictures

“Old” tomato goat cheese strata (yikes!). Visually improved tomato goat cheese strata:

Same delicious recipe from Cooking Light. Now hopefully you’d actually want to make it

How is your week going so far?? Mine is flying by and I’m not too happy about it. I have things to accomplish!! Although now that I think about it, this weekend I’m going to NY to go wedding dress shopping with my sister (and hopefully celebrating my best friend’s 30th birthday… if I can get a hold of her!) so it’s going to be a good one. So I guess it’s ok that it’s coming so soon.

As I mentioned in the my previous post, my sister’s wedding is definitely motivating me to get a little more serious about healthy eating. I’m not going on any crazy diets but I am being a little more mindful about what I’m eating. I put up a big calendar on the fridge reminding me of the “big day” (sort of funny saying that since it’s not my wedding) and a few pictures of myself at a lower weight for motivation. It’s only been 1 day, but I feel like I’m approaching this in the right way and feel good about weight loss results that are sure to follow!

The best part? I have a few old favorites to ensure I’m eating satisfying healthy meals. Like this strata. It comes together quite quickly, uses ingredients I always have on hand (well, I happened to have fresh sage on hand this time, but I’d just use dried if I didn’t) and it’s so warm and comforting. It has (whole wheat) sourdough bread and goat cheese. You can eat it for breakfast or dinner. And one quarter of the pan is a serving. Really, what’s not to love?!

Diets, shmiets. I’ll stick to this!

What are your favorite healthy and satisfying recipes? Please share with me in the comments!

Now that I know how easy it is, there will be lots and lots of toffee in my future. And the future of my family and friends. Prepare yourself peeps. If you know me, there will be toffee coming your way at some point in your life. Nothing to complain about, that’s for sure.

So the toffee making process was born from the desire to make the chocolate almond saltine toffee recipe from Food & Wine. I’ve had saltine bark before (a.k.a crack) but this was my first time making my own. Toffee is basically butter (lots of it), sugar (yup, lots of it too), and corn syrup boiled together until it reaches 300* (a candy thermometer is very key here!!). Once these 3 simple ingredients turn into a golden brown syrupy goodness, you poor it into a container (in this case, over saltine crackers actually) and then cool it. After 15 minutes in the freezer, you have a sweet crunchy candy. Man, it’s good!

Fun fact: Our wedding favors were sweet sloops which are little sailboat shaped toffee candies dipped in i2 kinds of chocolate and pecan crumbs. Awesomeness in a pretty package. So are these:

Salty saltines + sweet crunchy toffee + creamy dreamy chocolate + nuts = happiness all around. Life changing.

The back side

Dig in!!

This little tin has someone’s name on it…

Have you ever made toffee? Other things that got me as giddy (“life changing” was also possibly mentioned in relevant posts): making marshmallows, making challah bread, making pretzel sandwich buns, Italian bread, and making ricotta. I think it’s something about demystifying some of my favorite foods, as well as the pride that comes from turning a handful of ingredients into a completely different form of deliciousness. Yup, that’s it.

PS – Other baked goods created during this baking extravaganza (thanks, Tiffany, for hosting!)…

Chocolate peppermint roll

… and peanut butter blossoms

What have you been baking lately?

On January 3, 2011 I came home after work balling my eyes out. I remember this date because it was the first work day of 2011 and I woke up that morning giving myself a little pep talk about how productive I was going to be. How this year I was going to be on top of everything. I was not going to get emotional – I was going to get my work done efficiently so I could keep getting better at what I did. So I could keep growing professionally and continue climbing the corporate ladder like I knew I could. Instead, about 2 hours into the day I realized that while I had a long list of things to do, I had zero motivation to get any of them done (I would eventually… I always did!). I watched the clock all day, trying to get some things done. Waiting for a reasonable hour to strike the clock so I could finally leave. I came home crying not because my boss was mean to me (my boss was the nicest guy ever!), not because I was unhappy with the pay, but because sitting at my desk, feeling like every fiber in my body was rejecting this, felt like torture. I wanted out. But first I needed a plan.

Here is where it gets sort of tough. You often hear people say to “Follow your dream!” but for that – you first need a dream. And so I desperately started searching for it. I like fitness; I like food; I care about the environment, about organic produce and humanely raised animals. I like helping people. Where does it get me? I don’t want to be a chef, what can I do with fitness… and how the hell can I help people and still make money? Can my skills in finance be used? I read a million articles on food careers; I talked to gyms about personal training (and realized that I hate the sales part of it!), I started blogging more hoping that would open doors for me… but I didn’t know how it would. Work got busier and busier. I was getting so burnt out and uninspired that by the time I got home all I wanted to do was plop myself on the couch and eat. I was going at 100 miles an hour and yet I was no closer to finding my dream. I was sad and fat and… still dreamless.

So I decided that I needed to quit my job first. I needed to let myself get bored. I figured that if I had all the time in the world to do whatever I wanted, I would figure out what “whatever” actually was. The thing is – sitting here right now I’m realizing that I didn’t really follow through with my plan. I didn’t give myself permission to really do whatever. I filled my to-do list with new things I should be doing. I created a new cycle of “I have a million things to do – I’m too tired – I don’t want/don’t have time to finish them all – I feel guilty – I’m eating – I still have a million things to do”. So here I am 6 weeks later, still aimless.

So here is the “new” plan – I’m going to embrace the discomfort and use it as my guide. This morning I started writing a completely different post… that just didn’t feel right. I kept trying to force myself to write but it wasn’t working (and I refuse to publish a post that doesn’t feel right to me).

Here is what discomfort told me: I’m not a natural writer (already knew that!) so whatever my future is, writing should not be at the center of it. Working with Cooking Matters has seriously been the highlight of the last 6 weeks. I loved how active it was. Honestly I loved being away from my computer and actually interacting with people, helping them in such concrete ways. I still don’t have a plan but maybe it will become more evident through the process of elimination

To tune in, I’m officially giving myself permission to slow down. To throw away the list of “shoulds” and fill it with “wants.” This instantly reminded me of the book The Kitchen Daughter.

I read it during the New Orleans trip and loved how the main character – Ginny – had this real connection to food. How present she was during the making of each dish. How romantic it made the whole process of slowing down and cooking. I wanted to spend days getting lost in my thoughts (dream revealing thoughts?) while stirring a big pot of soup. It was only appropriate to start with Ginny’s ribollita soup (Tuscan bread soup) and share it with my family.

It didn’t take hours but it sure was comforting. It was simple yet flavorful, fresh and so homey. My dad said it was something he could see on a Sweet Basil menu (<– my family’s favorite restaurant serving incredible Italian comfort food). I need to find another soup to stir!!

Ribollita soup (serves 4-6) – recipe based on Ginna’s ribollita soup from The Kitchen Daughter

• 14oz can cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
• 14oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 28oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 bunch of kale, thick stems removed, leaves cut in ribbons
• salt, pepper, dried oregano to taste
• 1/2 loaf of rustic bread, cut in 1” cubes
• olive oil
• shredded parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions:

• In a medium pot, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté minced garlic until golden (not brown).
• Add chicken broth, a few shakes of dried oregano, salt, pepper, beans, tomatoes (with juices) and kale. Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer until the flavors meld (I probably had my pot for an hour, while making the rest of the dinner). Adjust seasonings prior to serving.
• In the meantime, sauté bread cubes in olive oil. I had a fresh loaf of bread and enjoyed how it soaked up some oil and remained soft on the inside with a bit of a crust on the outside. You can also toast the bread cubes with a bit of olive oil if you want crunchy croutons.
• Serve the soup with croutons and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Did you ever have to work at finding a dream? What’s your favorite way to distress to reflect?

Do you have any favorite soup recipes?

So let’s talk about eating out. While I really love the whole process of preparing meals at home, from the menu planning to grocery shopping to cooking and finally eating my creation (best part when I see someone else enjoy my food as much as I do!), going out to eat is still one of my favorite ways to spend time with Adam, friends and family. Similarly to cooking at home, I love the whole process of searching for the perfect spot for the occasion, the anticipation of a great night out, then dressing up and finally experiencing the whole event. It is an event, isn’t it? From the atmosphere of the restaurant, to service to the wonderful food shared with lots of wine and laughs – there is so much to experience! There are nights and dishes I remember for years. They are special to me. Most of them I’d never dream of recreating but once in a while I eat something simple yet perfect and I vow to try creating a little restaurant meal right in my own home.

This is one of such meals.

This dinner was inspired by our favorite dishes from a spanish tapas restaurant, Jaleo, on our trip to Washington DC over the summer. The place was recommended to me by several readers and twitter friends, so one random day, we decided to rest our feet and have a glass of sangria with a few apps at the bar. There was no planning – it was a spur of the moment decision when we stumbled upon the place. I think because we had no expectations, it was especially surprising how much we enjoyed the few bites we had that first visit. So much that we had to go back 2 days later and have a whole meal!

Although every single thing at Jaleo was fantastic, hands down are two favorites were pan de recapte con anchoa (traditional Catalan bread with peppers, tomatoes and salt-cured Spanish anchovies) and gambas al ajillo (the very famous tapa of shrimp sautéed with garlic). These are my versions of these dishes.

For the play on pan de recapte con anchoa, I actually started with my mom’s recipes for perzzi (roasted peppers) and sinii (eggplant/tomato spread) and layered them over fresh slices of baguette, topped with garlic-marinated anchovies. I find the salt anchovies to be very pungent. They are fantastic melted into sauces or whipped into dressings, but I prefer the marinated kind when eaten “straight up.” The anchovies seem to mellow out as the vinegar breaks down some of that intense fishiness.

Aren’t these gorgeous? They were delicious

Next up, I followed America’s Test Kitchen’s recipe for Spanish-style garlic shrimp. I love how garlic is used in three different ways in this recipe (to marinate the shrimp, infuse the olive oil and finally to cook with shrimp). I used a dried habanero (much spicier than the cascabel chile that’s traditional) so my shrimp also had a bit of a kick. We like it spicy in these parts

This turned out fantastic! It was hard to not soak up every morsel of that garlicky spicy oil with baguette slices. So simple yet so perfect. I think it would be a fun dish to serve to company too with everyone just digging in straight into the skillet.

Simple roasted cauliflower to lighten up the fare:

Are you a tapas fan? Do you ever recreate restaurant dishes at home?

Next up: I’m getting crafty with my super awesome food art project. Can’t wait to share it with you!!

A few weeks ago I received an email from Daria who does PR for Nasoya. She wanted me to check out their new Nasoya Tofu U website (U stands for university) – a destination of all things tofu (recipes, games, instructional videos, and contests). She also told me about some of their newer products, like the organic sprouted tofu and TofuPlus which is fortified with additional vitamins, and offered to send me coupons to try them out. Of course I jumped at the chance (and asked for somethin’ somethin’ for you too!!).

I browsed through the Tofu U “cafeteria” section and found an interesting looking recipe for crispy tofu tacos with creamy jalapeno lime drizzle and decided to give it a go.

It’s important to press water out of your tofu if you want crispy results. Thanks, Lindsay, for sending me this awesome press!! The tofu pressis not a must though. Here is my previous “tofu-pressing system.”

This recipe was unusual to me because instead of flour, you covered the tofu pieces in cornstarch before stir-frying. I was really happy with the results, though – it created a real crust on each piece and the Worchester sauce gave it a lot of flavor!

Don’t forget the fantastic toppings! This was the perfect balance of sweet, spicy, crunchy and creamy with mango, jalapenos, bell pepper and avocado.

I turned the tacos into refreshing burritos… sort of This recipe is a winner!!

Ready to win some Nasoya swag? One lucky winner will get 5 coupons for any free Nasoya product and a Tofu U t-shirt.

Here are the rules: there are plenty of ways to enter.

1) Leave a comment on this post – Tell me anything tofu related.

2) Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (a link to this post must be included to qualify)

3) Take the Nasoya Tofu U pledge. You’ll automatically get Nasoya coupons and tofu recipes.

4) Subscribe to Healthy and Sane by email

5) Like Healthy and Sane on Facebook.

6) Link to this post on your Facebook page.

7) Add Healthy and Sane to your blogroll.

8 ) Link to this post on your blog, if you have one. If you don’t, let someone else know about this giveaway and tell me so in the comments section after they’ve entered the giveaway.

Please leave a separate comment on this post for each qualifying entry. This giveaway is open to US residents only (sorry!) and ends at midnight on Sat, December 10. I will randomly choose 1 winner using random.org and announce him/her the following Monday. Good luck!

PS – I created a Favorite Recipes page over the weekend. This recipe will be added to it as well. Please check it out and let me know what you think!!

So let’s get back to food, shall we? Actually I sort of wanted to talk about kitchen gadgets. Gimmicky kitchen gadgets. Do you own any? I’m talking about silly things like Slap Chops (I own one! It’s collecting dust.), avocado slicers,  mango splitters and the like. Basically anything that a good ol’ knife would do FASTER. And then there is a whole new level of ridiculousness with the likes of egg poacher + english muffin toaster combo, andmarinade express tabletop unit(it’s $300!!). The good news is that some gadgets are AWESOME… even if you can in fact use something simpler to get the job done.

You are going to laugh at me but I love my strawberry stem remover. Yes, I can use a knife but it’s honestly so much fun using that little guy (and no, I will not be buying the strawberry slicerthat Amazon recommends with it… I do have my limits). And I recently purchased this cupcake corer. It looks gimmicky but I hate doing the job with a pairing knife. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Why am I even talking about kitchen gadgets anyway? Because the shredder attachment to my food processor rocked my world the other day. I sort of want to shred every single food item in the house now just to watch this beast process it into perfect little strips. Three pounds of potatoes processed in less than 1 minute. Box graters are so last year!

The recipe I used my favorite new gadget for was for kugelis, which is a Lithuanian potato dish reminiscent of a large hash brown cake. It took a little work (I wish those potatoes peeled themselves!) but the end result was a beautiful potato bake with a golden crust on the outside and tender potato on the inside. Adam and I both enjoyed it for our “restaurant meal in” (our new thing since our going out budget is tighter… there are no tvs, no computers, just the two of us enjoying a more indulgent meal together – catching up on random stories from the week)… but this would be a great dish to serve for brunch as well. I hope you make it and let me know how it goes!

Kugelis – serves 6-8 (recipe is largely based on the Please to the Table cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs potatoes
• 4 oz bacon
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 cup milk (if you want a richer dish, use all cream)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*.

2. Fry bacon in an oven safe 10” skillet. Pour out most of the bacon grease, leaving enough to coat the pan. Blot bacon on paper towels then crumble.

3. Peel potatoes, coarsely grate.

This is where the food processor is your friend!

4. Wash grated potatoes in several changes of cold water, then place in a kitchen towel to squeeze water out.

Nice and dry! Watery potatoes are no good.

5. Combine potatoes, bacon, milk, cream, and eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Transfer back to the pan and dot with butter.

6. Bake at 375* for about 1 hour, until the top is golden brown.

Crusty on the inside…

…soft and buttery on the inside:

These potatoes were definitely the star of our steak dinner. I also used these Green Giant green beans for a super quick side veg (*Disclaimer: I received a coupon for a free Green Giant product through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program).

Quick steam:

Then a 2 minute sautee with some EVOO and garlic.

Perfect

What are your favorite kitchen gadgets?

So yeah, I couldn’t bring myself to toss the leftover whey from making ricotta, so with your suggestions I decided to google some bread recipes. This recipe for Italian white bread looked super easy and I figured was the perfect way for me to try my hand at homemade yeast bread (yup, it’s my first!).

I used the Kitchen Aid with the hook attachment to make the dough – it came together in no time.

And then I split it into 2 sections, rolled them up (hoping that’s what I was supposed to do)…

… and let these 2 guys rest.

1 hour later, it was time to bake some bread! Seriously, doesn’t it sound easy?

It was!

Adam was actually sick that day so I left for the gym and told him to pull the loaves out after 25 minutes of baking. I got home to the most amazing smell of freshly baked bread… with Adam jumping all around it, waiting for me to give him the ok to rip off a piece! DO IT!

The bread had a tight crumb and a mildly buttery taste… it almost melted in your mouth, sort of like brioche bread would except it didn’t have eggs. I kept catching Adam sneak “just one more piece”… he could not get enough!

I normally prefer whole wheat bread for my sandwiches, but this made for fantastic French toast one morning…

… and excellent stuffing for a little Thanksgiving potluck dinner with Shannon, Katie, and our significant others.

I have a few more slices left which I plan on turning into croutons. Yum!

I highly recommend making some ricotta and then this bread. You’ll thank me, I promise

Oh, one more thing. As I’m sure you know, I’ve been also writing Russian Bites where I share recipes from my childhood as well as other fun-sounding recipes from the former Soviet Union region. I’m toying with the idea of combining the two blogs since I’m often conflicted about who I should be… the “Healthy and Sane” girl or the “Russian Bites” girl when I comment on other blogs or otherwise engage in the blogging community. So my question is this – would you be interested in reading about Russian recipes here on Healthy and Sane?  Please let me know in this 1 question survey below. Be honest!! I promise you won’t hurt my feelings if it’s something that just doesn’t excite you. I will still keep writing, I’ll just keep it separate.

Thanks!!

So here is the deal. I want to bring some old favorites back. I want to share them with you again. I want you to SEE, not just imagine, how delicious they are. And then hopefully even more of you will be inspired to make them. I’m definitely having a lot of fun making them again!

Let’s start with a little flashback going back to December 2009… when I had my parents and aunt from Russia over for dinner.  When I told you that this Cooking Light recipe for sweet-spicy glazed salmon was a recent favorite. It comes together in less than 15 minutes and is certainly impressive and delicious enough to serve to company. The salmon gets a quick sprinkling of salt and pepper and then bakes for 10-12 minutes. In the mean time, you can work on the sweet and spicy glaze made of brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and mustard (I now use 100% dijon in place of Chinese mustard). The salmon is finished with a good slathering of the sauce. It’s shiny and sticky and finger-licking good.

Drooooool.

Of course you’ll need a side dish for the salmon. May I recommend this Food & Wine recipe for roasted brussels sprouts with capers, walnuts and anchovies? [Originally found through The Sweets Life] These babies are roasted at the same temperature and the dressing also contains mustard, which makes these two just meant for each other! I cut the oil in the dressing quite a bit and used a little less anchovies (PS – I hope you’re not scared of them, they are salty and just melt into the dressing. Don’t skip them!). This meal was so good that Adam broke the “no fish in the office” rule and took the leftovers (which were originally meant for me) to work for lunch the next day. He said it was worth the looks he got

I’m very seriously considering making these brussels sprouts for Thanksgiving this year. I loved how the sweet caramelized brussels sprouts were balanced by the salty/acidic dressing. Delicious!

PS – The photos were taken in my new “photo studio” with a custom white balance and dimmed overhead lights. I like how much more vivid the colors are. The gorgeous orange hue of salmon helped of course!

Do you have any old favorites you’d like to bring back? Also…

Are you making any veggie sides for Thanksgiving? Share some recipes with me, I’m still trying to finalize my contribution to the table!