Thursday, April 1, 2010

Success!

As I mentioned in a post over the weekend, Woody and I made a trip to the Union Square farmers market on Saturday. We've been adding a lot of veggies, fruits and grains into our meals over the last several months, and we picked up two that we haven't tried before at the farmers market: leeks and turnips.

Monday night I made my easy veggie/potato bake using carrots, potatoes (new, red, and purple) from the market, and the turnips with fresh ground pepper, a bit of thyme and olive oil. I didn't post a picture since I've posted similar ones several times before and didn't want to bore you! It turned out perfectly! I loved the inclusion of this root vegetable that's a good source of Vitamin C and fiber, while low in calories added a nice mild flavor, and the baked texture was a perfect compliment to the other ingredients.

On to last night, we used the leeks in a veggie side dish that was delicious! I was really pleased with how this turned out. Woody chopped up a couple carrots and through them in a skillet and let them soften a bit before we added two chopped leeks and olive oil. I read thyme is a good compliment for leeks so we added a bit of that in as they cooked with a top over the skillet to keep in the moisture. Leeks are low in sodium and are a good source of fiber, Vitamins B6, A, C, and K, folate and iron. This is a power packed veggie that can be used in place of onions in many recipes. We kept the heat on med-low for a few minutes and then added in a few cherry tomatoes I picked up at Chelsea Market in the afternoon.
Doesn't that look great? It tasted amazing and I can't wait to try the rest of the leeks in another recipe! We'll definitely be getting these again. Apparently they aren't very common in the US because they are usually pretty expensive, however we got a bunch for only a few dollars at the farmers market!

I also tried a new recipe for granola last night - using 1/2c of applesauce instead of 1/3c honey in order to cut down on the sugar and calories. The mixture included:
  • 3c whole rolled oats
  • 1c mixed nuts (walnuts, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds)
  • 1tbs ground flax seeds
  • 1tbs wheat bran
  • cinnamon
  • 1/2c (approx) applesauce
  • 1.5tbs natural, unsalted peanut butter
Apparently applesauce means that the granola needs a few more minutes of baking time. It turned out well, but definitely not as sweet as with honey (obviously). I think next time I'll add a tiny bit of honey for a touch of sweetness, but not too much. I used it this morning with my yogurt mess!

One last thing for today. Do you watch The Biggest Loser? It is one of the few 'reality' shows I watch and other than the obligatory mid-show informercials, I love it. It's so inspiring and incredible. Sometimes I don't catch it on Tuesday nights, but catch up with replays on the Fine Living Network. I sit on the couch in awe of what they can do. I am convinced they're able to do workouts that I couldn't do. Oh what I would give to have Jillian kick my butt in a workout for one day! I imagine I wouldn't be able to move much the day after, but these people keep going. Day after day. Dropping pounds and changing their lives. It's pretty incredible. And did you see the BL fan who dropped over 400lbs after being inspired by the show? Now, in my mind at least, that makes BL a worthy reality show. I also loved this week how they voted Victoria back on after she was voted off the first week. That proves they understand it's more about health than winning a prize. Well, all except for Melissa. Ugh. Don't worry, I'm not going to go there. On a personal note, I realized yesterday that eating more fresh foods has helped me loose a few lbs! I don't use a scale, but I have noticed clothes are fitting a little looser than they were! Success! Just have to keep this up and not let fantastically delicious Jacques Torres dark chocolate matzos hold me back!

Listening to "Foreplay/Long Time" by Boston as I finish writing this. What a great song! Seriously, bands do not write songs like this anymore. What a powerful intro. Reminds me of college. haha!

Have a great day!
************
Workout Stats -
60min bike (mileage ?)
hitting up the gym later for a weight session

9 comments:

Molly said...

that veggie dish looks delish!! So vibrant!

Melissa on BL drives me nuts!! She's so smug, and she plays dirty. I always get teary watching BL, especially when they voted Victoria back!

Robyn said...

I really need to check out this farmer's market. Your dish looks awesome, I love leeks!

Christy Ashley said...

Hi! I recently started following your blog =)

I LOVE the Biggest Loser. It's the only reality show I can watch and it's so true, I feel like they do things I couldn't! I don't know that I could ever bike 26.2 miles!

J said...

That looks so good! I can't wait to start going to the Farmers Market and picking up more fruits and veggies!

And I like Biggest loser too. Sometimes I even get tears in my eyes at those incredible moments like when people get under 300 or 200 pounds and they havent been that skinny in a really long time! It really is a motivating show and I like how this season the contestants seem to be more about the health aspect even though the producers try to make it more of a contest!

RunToTheFinish said...

i've got a bunch of purple potatoes...do they taste any different than the others?

Lisa said...

Robyn - you definitely should check out the market. There are a lot of smaller ones too, but Union Sq beats them by far! Let me know if you want company when you go!

Amanda - the purple potatoes do taste a little different. I don't think they're quite as starchy and a little sweet, actually. We LOVE them! Let me know what you think once you try them!

akjenniekt said...

Your veggie side dish looks great! I love leeks- I use them in a lot of my veggie soups..

Marathonman101108 said...

Thanks for making me hungry! OK, so one of these times when I run a race in your neck of the woods, we'll have to meet! Yes, they certainly don't write and play songs like they used to. I'm pretty much stuck in the 70's with my listening choices, although over the past year I have added some newer songs that were suggested by my Followers/Stalkers!

Nishant said...

Your dish looks awesome, I love leeks!
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