Hello blog world! It's been a busy week, eh? This past week, I went back to school for what USM calls a "mini-session." A mini-session is a week long class, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Once the week is over, you've got a 3 hour class under your belt and it's tacked on to the proceeding semester (which for me, is the spring semester, which starts Tuesday). It's a great idea, and I decided to take advantage of it, enrolling in one of the journalism department's seminar classes called "Entrepenurial Journalism and the Art of Freelance." It was very interesting and informative, but it was LONG. I mean, VERY LONG.

But, along the way, I schooled my roommate, Erin, on healthy eating via Weight Watchers and cooked some great meals. (She's now obsessed with my sweet potato fries and turkey burgers on the George Foreman) Somewhere in there, I also happened to lose another 3 pounds! No pictures though because I forgot my camera at my parents house!

However, we are making cabbage rolls tonight!

Photo courtesy nibbledish.com

I'm not exactly sure on a recipe yet as I'm going to create it myself to fit my diet. I do know that I'll use turkey instead of beef and oatmeal instead of rice, so it's going to be more of a meatloaf inside of a cabbage leaf. I'll let you know more about it later!

I think I've figured out why I was lacking so much in the blog department at the end of last year: too many steps in the photo taking, downloading, rotating, uploading process! By utilizing the BlogPress app on my phone and using my phone's camera (which really takes a good enough quality picture) the pictures are already there and ready for a post.

So, before mixing up and baking our meatloaf, I decided to take a crack (quitely literally) at our acorn squash. For me, like most Southerners and probably most Americans, acorn squash seemed pretty exotic. I mean, it's pointy, has seeds like a pumpkin, yet looks as hard as a brick. So I always passed it in the grocery store, feeling pity for the veggie that I'm sure was looked over a hundred times that day.

For about two years now, I've been reading a health food blog by Kath Eats and she cooked acorn squash on a regular basis and actually LIKED it. But I was only seeing this squash from the comfort of my own computer screen, so when I was in the produce department today I finally decided to give it a try.


I don't know why I'm surprised when I taste good, real food anymore. I just can't believe I've been missing out on this guy! I'd say it's closer to a sweet potato in texture but less sweet (actually was similar in sweet level to purple sweet potato). This is what expanding your horizons is for, right?

Roasted Acorn Squash
1 small acorn squash
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking spray

Cut squash in half "hamburger" style and scoop out all seeds and membrane (I used our new Kitchenaid chef knife and it's fabulous). Cut each half again to quarter it. Slice into thin 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices. Place on greased cookies sheet. Spray top of squash with cooking spray and add salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 400* for 20 minutes on each side.

Enjoy!
-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

An iPhone post from the kitchen for you guys!

They've been forecasting on the news about snow, ice, and rain and I've got to say, I'm a little disappointed. All I see so far is rain, but that hasn't stopped me from making this awesome lunch.

Probably my favorite and most filling lunch yet- black bean burger with (purple) sweet potato fries. Both were super easy to make with not that many ingredients. [The white on the potatoes is just where the oil sizzled and I had yet to dab it off]

Black Bean Burger
1/3 cup black beans, drained
1 tbsp. Flour
3-4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp Tony's creole seasoning

Mash beans and stir in flour. Add other ingredients to taste. You can always add more/less seasonings. Cook in a skillet on medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side until a brown crust forms.

Sweet Potato Fries
(I used the purple variety from Fresh Market, it's a little less sweet. You can use the popular orange variety or garnet, which I really want to try)
One sweet potato (~10 oz.)
Canola oil spray
Tony's creole seasoning

Cut potatoes into thin discs and placed on greased cookies sheet spray tops of discs and sprinkle with seasoning. Roast at 400* for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Years

Sheesh, you'd think I'd post every once in a while?

This year, I'm going to try to be more dedicated to the blog. As my goal for the new year, I am going to make my life as healthy as possible. This doesn't just mean that I am going to "watch what I eat," that's only part of it. I am also going to be financially healthy (save those "workers" for when I truly need them, not when I think I need a latte), emotionally healthy (decreased stress and worry), and environmentally healthy/conscious.

To help with the process, I'm going to display it on the blog. As Leo Babauta emphasizes in 6 Changes, making it public on a blog keeps you in check.

I expect 2010 to be full of changes- internship, last semester, graduation, finding a job, working 9-5, finding a place to live, new friends. I hope that I can apply "healthy" to all of these things.

To start things off, I began my diet on 1/1/2010. To date, I've already lost 11 pounds! I'm pretty excited about the change, even if the weight loss so far has mostly been water weight. While I've tried dieting in the past, I feel more in control of what I eat. I'm older now with more money to spend and I am actually interested in food now. I see this as a lifestyle change, I can't live the unhealthy lifestyle I was living before. So, the blog will definitely serve to show you some of the foods I am eating now and how this can actually be fun. I haven't been very creative so far, but I've got purple sweet potatoes, acorn squash, tilapia, black bean burgers, and brussel sprouts somewhere on the menu in the near future!