Category Archive

So, I haven’t updated. But don’t worry it has nothing to do with my life being crazy. In fact the monotony of my stint of unemployment has made me realize even more how much I enjoy working. Crazy I know.

My appreciation for work also might have something to do with the American economy going up in flames and me realizing, “hey, I probably need to wiggle my way into that declining job market if at all possible”. My parents taught me well.

So in spite of all the grim headlines pronouncing the absence of jobs in America, I have been successful in finding two (not one but two) pretty cool part time jobs.

One of the jobs is teaching kids ages 7-13 this program. I am pretty excited about this! I will be teaching it at two different branches of the YMCA.

The other job is through Texas Agrilife, and no I am not becoming a 4H leader. I will be working with a new program called Grow, Eat, Go that will be implemented soon in 3rd grade classrooms in Texas.

Both jobs with definitely have a learning curve, but I couldn’t be more excited about the challenges ahead.

So other than being proficient at filling out W-4′s and misplacing my social security card (don’t worry mom I found it) my life has been fairly routine.

Tonight however I wanted to tackle a giant (HUGE) bag of spinach that I bought at COSTCO. I had an idea about how to make a pesto-ish pizza sauce that is less nut based and more veggie based.

The sauce was a combo of

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• enough spinach to go to the top of my food processor
• dash of red pepper flakes

I ran these items through the food processor and added a little water to get things moving.

Next I took my favorite pizza crust that I freeze in single serving balls and made a crazy “pizza” dinner.

I put quite a bit (probably too much) of my green sauce on the crust…

I added canned diced tomatoes and chopped broccoli and baked it…

It came out looking pretty ugly, but tasting pretty good.

I saved some of the extra sauce to up my veggie servings during the week.

My first experiment included adding it to my post workout cottage cheese. Not bad.

Welcome back to my blog. After an extended, extended vacation I am entering the blog world once again.

Since I have last written I have

1. Finished my job of two year at www.arlingtonreads.org

2. Written a 100 page thesis over a pre-teen health and fitness program implemented in the public school system

3. Graduated from Eastern University with my Masters in Urban Studies

4. Received a pair of Timberland boots from Eastern University upon my graduation.

5. Been to Korean Karaoke approximately five times

6. Witnessed the engagement of my dear friend Kelley Nease and my dear sister Deborah Welch

 

7. Ran my 2nd half marathon alongside the wonderful Bre Schiffer and Sarah Welch

8. Spent a wonderful extended vacation in Amarillo, TX that spawned a Dr. Oz obsession

9. Started my earnest search for a ‘real’ job, which has been eye-opening to say the least

10. Traveled to Memphis, TN for a dear Mission Year roommates wedding

11. Traveled to St. Louis, MO for two dear Mission Year friends wedding

12. Lost 2 camelback water bottles on two consecutive weekends

13. Started a new obsession with www.pinterest.com

14. Spent a glorious weekend on the beach with the family (Welch’s and Sauer’s) in St. George Island, FL

My sister took this beautiful picture of me cooking. My eyes are not usually crossed…

Mom and the sisters

Me, Stephen (future brother-in-law), and Deb-tastic interacting with one another…

In Florida my family and friends told my since I am unemployed and am no longer a student that it was time I started this blog up again. I told them it would take $14 to renew my domain name and if they were willing to spot me the cash I was game. So here we go.

My recipe of the day is

Cold Udon Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Vegetables

inspired by Vegan with a Vengeance

Ingredients:

Peanut Sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tsp minced garlic

1 cup water

1 TBL soy sauce

2/3 cup natural smooth Peanut butter

1 TBL maple syrup

2 TBL rice wine vinegar

1 tsp sriacha (optional)

Directions

In a small saucepan heat the sesame oil and saute the garlic. Add water a soy sauce and bring to a boil. Then add peanut butter and turn the heat to low. Whisk well and add other ingredients until well combined. Let cool to room temperature.

Noodles

One package udon noodles prepared according to the package. Rinsed and set aside

Veggies

1 Head broccoli florets

1 red bell pepper

1 seedless cucumber sliced into matchsticks

3 cups mung bean sprouts

1 cup scallions

lime wedges for serving

Steam the broccoli until tender and the bell pepper if desired. Chop the rest of the vegetables to your personal liking.

 

Assemble the bowl with the noodles on the bottom and the vegetables on top. Pour peanut sauce over the top and serve.

Until next time!

Dear food blog,

One day I might finish my master’s degree. One day I might find a day job that leaves me a little more time for cooking/blogging. Until that day you guys will be stuck with my sporadic ramblings.

Lately, I havn’t been cooking much.

There was an adventure with Tempeh Helper, a recipe I have been eyeing for a long time from post-punk kitchen. Most people won’t be too tempted by this recipe. Honestly, I don’t know why it sounded so good to me. My mom is a really good cook, and I can confidently say that Hamburger Helper was never cooked in  my home while growing up, but it is definitely one of those things that I always had a weird curiosity about.

It reminds me of the time when I was younger and I begged my mom to buy a box of Trix cereal. Growing up my home was a place of brown cereal. There was cheerios and rice krispies and not a lot else. I was fascinated by all the different cereals I saw on television, but what really intrigued me to want trix cereal is that they were giving away a magic color changing spoon in the box. Now please try and tell me that advertising doesn’t affect children. I would have never asked for (and gotten) that box of trix if it hadn’t have been for that elusive spoon.
p.s. I didn’t even eat the trix. Love fruit, hate fruit flavored things.
So tempeh helper, vegan cheese sauce. Check it out if you are feeling adventurous. It is pretty good.

Also, I must update you on my not so healthy food journeying. My co-worker Kaley and I have often talked about donuts together. It is not so much that I eat donuts, but that I talk about them. After I lost the weight I consciously decided that I was only going to eat donuts once a year. They are one of those things that I just can’t say no to. When Kaley found this out she suggested that we roadtrip to Round Rock and eat the famous Round Rock Donuts. I am always down for A. A roadtrip and B. Donuts.
Six of us from work set out to find the donuts. We arrived. Stood in line for 30 minutes. And then feasted.

Hands down the best fresh, hot glazed donut I have ever eaten.
We may or may not have bought their massive huge super-donut to share….also worth it.
The day was only made supremely better by a Kite Festival in Zilker Park that we frolicked at for the afternoon. It was a great day!

Some of us might have bought short-alls for the occasion…big deal.

After several, several days of ice…really thick ice….we woke up to snow this morning. A lot of it. This week has been a little crazy with all the winter weather, but it looks like it is going to melt away just in time for the super bowl….

Another view down 8th street.

Brooke didn’t want to be photographed this morning, but I told her it would be good for her modeling career. Work that coffee mug..

Now onto the food…because what else do you do when you are stuck in your house again…cook and eat….repeat.

 

After looking through a few cookbooks and considering what ingredients we had on hand we decided on blueberry corn pancakes.

Blueberry Corn Pancakes (adapted from Veganomicon)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons syrup (pure maple is best)

1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Sift all the dry ingredients together in a bowl

2. Mix the rest of the ingredients (minus the blueberries) in another bowl.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined.

4. Fold in the blueberries.

5. Heat up your skillet or griddle to medium heat. Make sure it is really warm before you start.

6. Once it is warm cook your pancakes. I don’t have much advice except to make sure you have bubbles before you flip them.

Yummmmmm

Top them as you please. Some prefer syrup. My pancakes were covered in maple yogurt (1/4 cup plain yogurt + 1 tablespoon syrup).

The nutrition facts are four about four small pancakes or a fourth of the recipe.

These cookies are good for you.

Made with a secret ingredient…..

pureed white beans!

Recipe:

Chai Spice Bites

inspired by marathon cookies at 101 cookbooks

ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats (not instant oats)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

one 15-ounce can great northern beans, rinsed & drained
1/8 cup olive oil

1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar (I used some baking splenda I am trying to get rid of)

2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F degrees and place a rack in the top third. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Pulse the oats in a food processor (or blender) until they resemble flour. Transfer the oats to a large mixing bowl and whisk in the flour and other dry ingredients.

Pulse the beans, olive oil and water in the food processor until they are creamy. Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and pulse until smooth. Scrap down the sides of the bowl once or twice along the way.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until the ingredients start to come together.

Make each cookie with a 1/4 cup scoop of dough. Roll each scoop of dough into a ball. Set each ball on the prepared baking sheet and with the palm of your hand flatten the dough just a bit. Repeat with the remaining dough, leaving at least an inch or so between each cookie – they’ll spread a bit, but not much. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Each cookie is about 70 calories. I am going to work on a lower calorie cookie made with less flour soon.

These red velvet brownies are bad for you

Made with a not so secret ingredient…..butter.

Thank you mom for the great recipe

Red Velvet Brownies
1 ( 4 0z) bittersweet chocolate baking bar (chopped)
3/4 cup butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1 oz red food coloring
1 1/2 tsp b powder
1/8 tsp salt

Line bottoms of 9 inch pan (could be bigger) with foil allowing 2 to 3
inches to extend over sides, lightly grease.
Microwave chocolate and butter in microwave.  Whisk in sugar. Add eggs
one at a time. Gently stir in flour and other things.  Pour in pan.
Bake 350 degrees for 44 to 48 minutes or until wooden pick inserted
in center comes  out with a few moist crumbs.  Will be crusty on top.
Cool completely.
Lift brownies from pan using foil sides as handles.  Gently remove
foil . Ice.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8 0z.  cream cheese and 3 T. butter softened
1 1/2 cups pd. sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat cream cheese and butter with mixer.  Gradually add powdered
sugar and other ingredients.
makes lots of icing.

I made them for Catlin’s b-day. I did it to make up for the time I made her a whole wheat red velvet cake in college that was disgusting. I don’t recommend using whole wheat with red velvet. These brownies were a big improvement.

We had a little breakfast for dinner party in honor of Catlin. We had made to order omletes and whole wheat and buttermilk pancakes with yummy toppings.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate the beginning of Catlin’s 25th year on earth!

In the midst of writing my thesis proposal (Four months to go!) I decided I must drag myself away to share a recipe. It is just too good not to.

It all started this morning. After Brooke and I went to the gym this morning where we rocked out the Katy Perry on the cross trainers (not intentionally, it was just on) my mind went to breakfast.

You may or may not know that breakfast is my favorite part of the day. I love almost every food associated with breakfast and love putting them together in new and exciting ways. This morning behold…..

Chocolate Banana Almond Butter Oats—in a jar

 

This breakfast of champions consisted of

1/3 cup rolled oats

2/3 cup water

(I cooked those two together then added the toppings last)

1/2 banana’

The 1 tablespoon of almond butter left in the jar

a splash of almond milk

a tablespoon of chocolate chips

and…I poured it in the jar.

delicious.

Don’t think I am a genius or anything. People have been putting oats in nut butter jars for…months…I am late to the oats in a jar party.

After breakfast I traveled happily to work.

I stayed late tonight to lead and ESL orientation at work. For those of you who don’t know 65% of my job consists of me talking to people and them not understanding anything I say. I help people sign up for our English as a second language program at work, which often leads to great confusion, humor, distress, joy. It just depends on the day.

There is one form in particular that students have to fill out that I absolutely hate. Try asking someone with a basic understanding of English who the ‘head of the household’ is. Its close to impossible. I once tried with my limited Spanish skills to ask a lady this question…I actually ended up asking her who the tallest person in her house was…and then who the best person in her house was….Needless to say I now stick to my native language when asking those tricky questions.

Tonight was an orientation like many others (I have three a month). I wasn’t looking forward to it, but when I left I was happy. I little Iraqi lady called me sweetie four times. It was a good night.

I then came home and decided to cook something.

Out of the kitchen came….

Curried Chickpeas with Spinach

This might both sound and look gross to you…but trust me the taste is awesome!

I will spare you of most of the pictures I took, because they aren’t very good.

Recipe.

Curried Chickpeas with Spinach

adapted from appetite for reduction

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

1 small onion diced

4 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp powdered or fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if your feeling crazy)

1 tablespoon curry powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon garam masala (I got some for Christmas!)

1 teaspoon salt

1 can crushed tomatoes

4-5 cups fresh baby spinach (or around 2 if you have frozen)

2 cans of chickpeas (around 28 ounces total)

 

The weird ingredients are worth it. I had to buy mustard seeds and I think I am glad I did.

Directions

1. Heat one teaspoon of your oil in a big pot on medium high. Spread it around and put in your mustard seed. Cover! The seeds should start popping like popcorn. Let them do this for about a minute, then add your onion and other teaspoon of oil. The seeds must pop though!

2. When onions are translucent add garlic, ginger, and red pepper and cook for another minute. Add tomatoes and let cook for about three minutes. Then add the rest of the spices and mix.

3. Add your spinach next. You can put all of it in and then cover it for a few minutes and then stir. It doesn’t take spinach too long to cook down. Once your green are cooked down good add the rinsed and drained chickpeas and cook for another five minutes.

4. Eat.

This should make around 6 servings. If you are a nerd like me you put it into Tupperware immediately.

stats:

calories: 240

fat: 5 grams

fiber: 10 grams

protein: 13 grams

Eat and enjoy….

…..or place it among weird nick-knacks in your kitchen and take a picture of it…

I am in a bit of a recipe funk. Leave a comment with a request or idea and I might just try it!

We run a lot. Not always together. The sisters and I woke up and ran early Christmas morning in Granbury. It was a tough run due to the fact that we indulged in our Christmas eve tradition of tamales and guacamole. If I am lucky the miles I have run the past few weeks might just barely cancel out the amount of food and sugar I have eaten. It has been a lot of good food though.

Christmas was a collection of food creations from the Welch family. Pam made sourdough french bread. Sarah made green bean bundles. Deb-tastic made red pepper risotto. Dane made green-chili stuffed pork loin with a green peppercorn sauce. My grandmother made some wonderful fruit salads/puddings and my wonderful Aunt made 5 amazing pies. Lastly, I made pumpkin poblano corn pudding and some grilled vegetables to even everything out.

The poblano pumpkin corn pudding was an experiment from whole foods that turned out pretty good.

Recipe:

(taken from the Whole Foods Cookbook)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 large eggs beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

1 can creamed corn

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin

1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese

1 cup diced red onion

3/4 cups seeded and diced poblano pepper

1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger

1 cloves minced garlic

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Add beaten eggs, oil, and creamed corn. Mix well.

Next add pumpkin and ricotta cheese. Mix well.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour everything in a greased 9 by 13 pan. Bake for 45 minutes until set in a soft pudding.

Deb-tastic helped me by seasoning all the vegetables that we grilled. She begged to be featured on the blog. She also wants me to publicly apologize for portraying her as a horse-loving wrangler wearer.

Sarah and mom on the back porch

veggies!

 

Into the grill basket went broccoli, asparagus, onions, mushrooms, and pre-steamed butternut squash. Amazing!

Dad working on his meat.

veggies finished.

Beautiful salads complements of my grandmother…

The family table. My grandmother and uncle kindly joined me at the kids table. Although I am nearly 25 I am still the youngest person in my family. I feel obligated to take my place at the small card table.

My aunt is amazing! Pecan, Chocolate Pecan, Coconut Creme, pumpkin, and sweet potato pies.

The beautiful view of the Brazos.

Christmas comes to and end.

Sorry to you blog. With life taking on a hectic holiday rush, my blog has been sadly neglected. All this is attributed to a combination of finishing up my second to last semester of grad school (whoop!) and cooking for/attending a ridiculous amount of pot-luck Christmas parties.

I have been cooking like crazy though. I have made a little bit of everything. I went to the store last Friday night before the Christmas party at my place of employment and stocked up on holiday baking supplies swearing to myself that I wouldn’t run frantically to the store all week needing to buy this and that. I can probably make close to 1,000 cookies with the amount of flour and sugar I bought.

I also had a fun plan up my sleeve for Christmas presents for people around town. I love making cookies and I love Christmas music, so I decided to combine the two. No I did not create and edible Christmas CD. My roommates and I baked about 6 batches of cookies and made a special Christmas mix to take to our friends in the DFW.

My Roommates…

 

This picture is of me and my current roommates and I circa…2005. Five years later and we are not braiding each others hair anymore…

We used several cookbooks for inspiration. Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook is a work of art.

 

Cat-a-tat.

Our kitchen table.

Cookies….

And more cookies..

After things were baked and cooled we wrapped everything up and headed out.

Brooke and her shades….

 

Catlin and her shades….

Me in the backseat with no shades…

We went all over the Dallas area and dropped off our bundles of joy…

Along the way we noticed this lovely gender specific parking lot on DTS campus. This was one time we were definitely glad to use our status as child-bearers to secure a better parking spot…Hats off to you DTS.

I will leave you with one cookie recipe that we used, because I really liked it a lot.

It is courtesy of those ladies at Post Punk Kitchen.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

For the topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cookies:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons almond milk (Or your preferred non-dairy milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon chocolate extract (or more vanilla extract if you have no chocolate)
1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne ( had no cayenne, so I used chili powder….)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the topping ingredients together on a flat plate. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together oil,  sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix in extracts.

Sift in remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added mix until you’ve got a pliable dough.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Pat into the sugar topping to flatten into roughly 2 inch discs. Transfer to baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread). This should be easy as the the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet. 

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, they should be a bit spread and crackly on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

More Christmas joy to come soon!

This weekend in Amarillo I talked to many readers of my blog (a.k.a. my parents friends). One particular reader (Randy) said he was so bored on Thanksgiving day that he read the entire thing in one sitting. Other than feeling sorry for him I was impressed. He did mention that he was surprised that I didn’t just write about food and health. I hope that is ok with everyone that I often digress from the main purpose behind starting this blog.

I like to laugh and I like eating cookies…I plan to do both of these things often and at the same time…and take pictures of it…..and write blogs about it….

Anyways…

So in the past two years I have developed an irrational fear of flying. I blame it on my British roommate Lu who told my every reason why I should be afraid to get into a giant plane and shoot through the air. So most of my flights are uneventful with me clutching the armrest and nervously shaking my foot, but occasionally I will have an experience that puts the fear of flying right back into me.

I was flying back from Amarillo to Dallas Monday on an early morning flight. I got onto the tiny little plane with propellers and was prepared for a smooth flight. I was actually just hoping that I would be tired enough to fall asleep and forget that I was on a plane with propellers that was probably made in the 1970′s. We were on the runway approved for take off, speeding up when just at the point when you think you are going to become airborne the pilot slammed on the breaks……….

There were signs of engine failure….

They unloaded us off of the plane. There was another plane sitting next to the terminal that I found out had a similar experience the day before. I heard the lady at the ticket counter say that they would put us on whatever plane would be less likely to crash. Really.

So I switched airlines and got on another flight to Dallas. Safely.

My great roommate Bruce picked me up and drove me around.

I know you are all glad that I am alive…

But for now a brief recap of Welch family thanksgiving 2010…

My Dad let me cook black bean patties next to  German sausage on his outdoor grill. Most people ate the sausage, but I preferred to keep it vegetarian.

We cooked a lot during the week.

My mom cooked.

My Dad cooked. (homemade pizza and beer!)

And we ran!

Deb, me and Sarah after the first annual Tina Trot.

In honor of good friend Tina’s 50th birthday we all woke up early on Thanksgiving morning and ran the Amarillo Turkey Trot. It was 20 degrees Thursday morning with a wind chill of 9 degrees. I really love Tina or I would not have made it.

Cute mini coconut pies. There was lots of other good food but I forgot to take pictures.

Here is a recipe from my contribution to thanksgiving dinner…Lentil Loaf. I don’t know if my family actually liked it or if they were just pretending to be nice. Everyone did comment on how ‘meaty’ it was…Which is good I guess?

Sorry there are no pictures…

Apple Walnut Lentil Loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup dried lentils
3 cups vegetable stock
3 tbsps ground flax seed
1/2 cup water
3 tbsps olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, grated
1 stalk celery, minced
1 apple, grated
1/4 cup craisins
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
6-7 dashes balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup breadcrumbs

Glaze:
2 tbsps ketchup
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp apple butter

Preparing Lentils:
Rinse lentils, place in a pot, and add stock. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until liquid is absorbed and lentils are tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preparing Loaf:
In a small bowl, combine ground flax sees with water and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large skillet over med heat, saute onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil for 2 mins. Add grated apple, craisins, and walnuts and saute another minute. Add thyme, vinegar and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and fold in cooked lentils, breadcrumbs and soaked flax seed until evenly distributed. Press mixture firmly into oiled loaf pan and set aside.

Preparing Glaze:
In a small saucepan over no heat, combine all glaze ingredients. Place over med heat, and stir continuously until thick (2 mins). Spread evenly over loaf and bake, uncovered 40 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.

 

Fancy Welch picture. Don’t worry, this isn’t the Christmas card picture. I know you all wait in breathless anticipation to see what picture the Welch’s will release each year…

On deck next….tomato pie.