The Italian Dinner Party

Jan 30, 2011

Last night, my roommates and I hosted an Italian dinner party for our friends. This was a great way to get everyone together, play games and drink some wine! Say hello to Christie and Focaccia Caprese. I barley had time to grab my camera before it was almost gone. Josh, her fiance, is in the background diligently preparing the main course. What a guy!

The next course was tomato basil soup with ricotta dumplings.

We all piled around our small table to enjoy Ravioli with diced tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and spinach.

For desert, Panna Cotta was served with strawberries and a delicious red wine reduction sauce that Christie made.

It was all really tasty. Josh and Christie got the recipes from a Cooking Connections class they happened to stumble into at our local grocery store, H-E-B. Between the meat market and the bakery there is a large round stand where, as far as I’ve seen, a lady with a microphone usually talks about the olive oils they have on special.

Apparently, they use that round stand for more than advertising. Every other Tuesday there are free cooking classes in the store. I can’t wait to try one out! The recipes utilize a lot of H-E-B’s ready-made food, allowing for an easy dinner party. Christie and Josh did a wonderful job preparing the dishes!

Not too shabby for college students, eh?

****

In other news:

School is going well and I’ve been able to stay on top of all my assignments thus far.
Bello got his first round of vaccinations at the vet on Friday. He received his first dose of ear mite, flea and heart worm medicine this morning.
I applied to our local health food store last week, but it turns out they hired someone the day before I applied. They said they would keep my number on file, but I was bummed.
Friday evening, I drove 2 hours to a town east of Houston to watch my cousin in her high school play. They performed The Music Man and it was unbelievably good! I felt like I was watching a broadway production. All the kids could sing, dance AND act. At the end of the play, my sister and I turned to each other and declared ourselves talent-less in comparison.
I ran 7 miles this morning and it felt great. My speed has really improved from cross training. At CrossFit, I ran a third-of-a-mile in 1:55. There was no way I could keep that speed up though.

Until next time…

“Find reasons and ways to give. It’ll make you happier than you expect.”
~ Whole Living Magazine

Vegan Macaroni n’ Cheese

Jan 23, 2011

Hi Bloggers,

I feel like I haven’t ~~typed~~ talked to you in a while. This past week, being the first week of school, was a bit hectic. My schedule is now solidified after some back-and-forth emails with my academic advisor. Here is the lineup:

Statistics (an easy sophomore class)
The Practices of Modern Engineering
Engineering Ethics
Senior Design (Working on a project with the Air Force Research Laboratory)

It’s looking like it will be a great semester. Only 12 hours…no complaints!

Being back in school also means being back with friends!! Monopoly, Pictionary and card games were played Friday evening. Saturday was movie night and today was filled with group meetings.

I did manage to squeeze in 3 CrossFit training sessions throughout the week, make it to a rejuvenating sunrise yoga class Friday morning and go on a 3-mile run this morning.

Alas, it is Sunday and time to gear up for the week ahead. I made a delicious vegan mac n’ cheese casserole to get the week started. After a couple times of making this, I finally got it just the way I wanted. The sauce doesn’t taste exactly like cheese, but this creamy, flavor-packed version has replaced the original in my recipe book.

The carrots and sweet potato give the traditional cheese color, while the cannellini beans create the richness you’d expect from the classic comfort food. The Dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, sauteed onions and garlic intensify the savory flavor. I’ve already put the mac n’ cheese in containers to take for school lunches. No one will ever guess that I’m sneaking in four veggies. (insert evil laugh here)

Vegan Mac n’ Cheese
Inspiration from VegNews

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced (~1/2 cup)
1/2 large onion, diced (~1/2 cup)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. EVOO
1/2 sweet potato, already baked (~1/2 cup)
1/2 cup cannellini beans (if canned, rinsed and drained)
1 cup plain soy milk
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T. nutritional yeast
1/2 T. Dijon mustard
2 t. salt
8 ounces macaroni
dried bread crumbs or 1 piece of whole wheat bread
EVOO for drizzling
Paprika for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350°F and heat 1 tablespoon of EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil) over medium heat.
Cook the macaroni according to package instructions. In a colander, drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Add onion, carrot and garlic to oil and sauté for 6 minutes.
Meanwhile process piece of piece of bread in the processor until crumbs form. Set aside in small bowl.
Combine the sautéed veggies, sweet potato, beans, soy milk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, mustard and salt in to the food processor and process until smooth.
Combine the sauce and macaroni in a casserole dish.* Top with the bread crumbs. Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with paprika.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

* You can stop on step 6 if your running short on time. It is still delicious! Step 7 just adds a little somethin’ somethin’.

In pictures:

Sauté…

Make bread crumbs…

Make sauce…

Combine…

Top with breadcrumbs, EVOO and paprika…

Bake…

Serve up…

I also made my egg muffins to grab on my way out the door in the mornings.

Now it’s time for yoga before hitting the hay.

Over and out,

Lana

No-Oil Balsamic Dressing

Jan 18, 2011

To decades later and I can finally say it’s my last first day of school! I rolled out of bed, threw on jeans and my favorate A&M sweatshirt, braved the mucky weather and was in class with time to spare (check out my resolutions post). My first class, Sound & Vibration Mechanical Measurement, had 10 graduate and undergraduate students in it. We sat in silence as we watched the professor, literally run in with sweat rolling down his forehead. He was 10 minutes late. Apparently we did not make the same New Years resolutions. He was flustered, unable to work an example problem and accidentally used a permanent marker to write on the dry erase board. OPPS!

Needless to say, I have permanently dropped that class. The rest of the day went much smoother. I attended my Senior Design class, a Statistics class and the Practices of Modern Engineering…those professors were on time, excited to teach and were able to erase the board.

Once home, I made the heavenly No-Oil Balsamic Dressing from the cooking class I took last week. The dates in this dressing act as an emulsifier and add the perfect hint of sweetness. This stuff is downright good. Pull up a ~~salad~~ chair, get comfy and let me show you how to make a bland salad more exciting.

No-Oil Balsamic Dressing
Yield: 1.5 cups
Recipe courtesy of Dan Marek, Whole Foods Healthy Eating Specialist

2 cups water
3 large dates, pitted
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3 T. reduced sodium soy sauce
3 T. nutritional yeast
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. onion powder
1 clove of garlic, minced

Boil the water in a small sauce pan. Dice dates (see pictures below), place them in a heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Set aside to soak for 15 minutes.
Place the balsamic, soy, yeast, mustard, onion powder and minced garlic in a blender.
After 15 minutes, drain and reserve the liquid from the dates. Transfer the dates and 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid to the blender.
Puree until smooth. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

In pictures:

To dice a date, you will first need to cut it in half and remove the seed. I sprinkle flour on the inside of date and on the knife before slicing. This way the date pieces do not stick to the knife.