fatgirlskinny

hedgehog cookies

2011-04-15T21:13:33Z

These cookies might be the best I've ever invented. I started in my kitchen just with the idea of wanting to mix hazelnut and chocolate, but without whole chunks of nuts which just get in the way of a good chewy cookie. This is what I came up with, and they are amazingly chewy, chocolately, and taste just like hazelnut truffles. And as usual they don't have refined sugar or white flour. Yes, it is possible, just follow along...

ingredients:

1 cup soft margarine (I use olive oil Becel) or butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups turbinado cane sugar (turbinado is really fine grain cane sugar, though in the US they seem to mislabel large grain cane sugar as such which does not bake the same... so look for fine grain cane sugar)
3 tbsp molasses
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole hazelnuts, toasted & skins removed
2 cups whole grain pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp cocoa powder (not dutch process, regular cocoa powder)
2 cups No Sugar Added Chocolate Chips

you will need:

4 cup liquid measuring cup
wooden spoons
food processor
heavy bottomed frying pan
cookie sheets
parchment paper
mixing bowl
measuring cups & spoons

The first thing you’ll want to do is let your margarine (or butter) reach room temperature. I always use olive oil margarine in baking, it’s healthier & doesn’t have all the nastiness that margarines of old did. To measure soft margarine (or peanut butter) you measure by using water displacement. If you’ve never done this before get a 4 cup liquid measuring cup and fill it with 2 cups of water. Add in the soft margarine a spoonful at a time, making sure it’s completely submerged under the water. When the measurement has increased so the water is now reading “3 cups” you know that you’ve got 1 cup of margarine. Holding the margarine back with a spoon drain the water out thoroughly.

While your fat is reaching room temperature you’ll need to toast your hazelnuts. This is one of the most finicky parts of making these delicious cookies. You want to toast the whole nuts to released the oils & flavours in them because later you’re going to make them into a nut butter. Put the whole nuts, skins and all, in a dry, heavy bottomed frying pan over medium heat. You want to lay them out so that each nut is touching the pan. Keep a close eye on them and give the pan a toss every few minutes so that none of them burn. Continue to toast until the skins start to crack and peel off of each hazelnut.

Remove the hazelnuts to a plate lined with paper towel, they will be really hot so be careful. Give them a couple of minutes to cool, but while they are still warm rub them between to kitchen towels to get the skins to peel off. Sort through the nuts afterwards and using your fingers only remove any of the leftover skins.

Allow the hazelnuts to cool completely. Place the toasted and now skinless hazelnuts in a food processor. Pulse the food processor until the nuts start to turn into a butter. You’ll need to scrape down the sides as you do this to ensure everything is really mixed in. When you’ve reached a nut-butter like consistency stop mixing.

By now your margarine or butter should have reached room temperature. Add your margarine, sugar & molasses into a mixing bowl and cream together. Next add in your 2 eggs and vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined.

Add in your hazelnut butter that you’ve made and mix completely. Next add in your whole grain pastry flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Stir carefully until it a cookie dough is formed. Add in your 2 cups of chocolate chips and stir once more to distribute them evenly.

Preheat your oven to 350F.

If you used butter instead of margarine, you might want to pop your batter in the fridge for about 20 minutes. The slight cooling of the batter will prevent the cookies from spreading out too much when you bake them which is often the effect of using butter in your cookies

Cover your cookie sheets with parchment paper (this keeps the cookies soft on the bottom and chewy). Using a spoon or a cookie baller, drop cookie batter onto the sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake 12-15 minutes.

Makes about 48 cookies.

spring fling pasta

2011-03-07T21:15:40Z

Spring has sprung! Well, okay, maybe not quite yet, but the sunshine is back in Vancouver which is always a reason to celebrate. There's something unique about living in the Pacific NorthWest that only those of us who've endured its winters can truly understand. I always consider myself lucky that I live in a part of Canada that rarely sees snow, and I never really mind the rain. When it starts getting grey and rainy for days (or weeks) on end, the start of winter can be rough. But after adding extra Vitamin D pills to your daily routine you get used to it. By the time February rolls around and you start going through fits of needing to change your life in some way, you've all but forgotten that the restlessness is more likely due to 4 months without sunshine than anything else.

So when the last few days brought sunshine with them people all over the PNW were going outside throwing their hands up and yelling "Where have you been all my life!". Okay, maybe that was just me. But the mood change is palpable around the city. For me personally the first instinct was to make something gorgeous and fresh for lunch. As my lack of posting new recipes shows, winter is a time where I cook for comfort. Baking takes over with full force, and while I'm still making yummy and healthy meals, it's always less exciting. The springtime, however, brings with it a whole host of fresh ingredients that make tossing together new dishes so easy.

This is a dish I threw together this afternoon for lunch. It's vegetarian, which is great for anyone who's on the "meatless monday" bandwagon, and I'm positive you won't miss it with this yummy pasta.

1 large onion, diced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cups (dry) whole grain pasta shells* (I used Barilla's medium shells)
1, 6oz (117mL) jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained & flaked
large handful fresh spinach, washed & squeezed out
1 cup marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe's marinara)
1-2 pieces whole grain bread
1/2 tsp granulated garlic (it's similar to garlic powder or garlic salt, only way better)
1 tbsp parmesan cheese (fresh grated or the stuff from a can is fine)
olive oil to spray

First up you're going to caramelize some onions. You can do this step ahead of time if you don't want to do it right before you make dinner. It's a lot easier than you would think to do, and it takes very little effort. Put a medium sized saucepan on medium heat and add in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil once the saucepan has gotten warm. Add in your diced onion and give it a stir. Let this sit on the stove, checking on it from time to time, until the onions start to turn brown. It will probably take half an hour to 40 minutes for this to happen. When they've turned brown, add in your balsamic vinegar and using a wooden spoon mix it all together scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan as you go. Cook for another 5 minutes, or until most of the vinegar has been reduced, and remove from heat. Put the caramelized onions in a 2 quart ovenproof bowl, which is the bowl you're going to bake the pasta in.

Next up make 2 cups (dried) pasta according to packaged directions for al dente. While that's boiling away, drain your jar of artichoke hearts and flake them into the ovenproof bowl that you put your caramelized onions in earlier. When the pasta is cooked drain it and pour straight into your bowl and mix it into the artichoke hearts & caramelized onions. Next take your cup of marinara sauce and mix it into your pasta dish. Follow that with roughly tearing up your fresh spinach and mixing all of the ingredients thoroughly. When that's done preheat your oven to 350F while you make the topping.

Using 1-2 pieces of whole grain bread you're going to make seasoned breadcrumbs. I can never understand why anyone buys breadcrumbs when they are so easy & much cheaper if you make them yourself. Tear up your bread in large pieces and put it into a food processor. Grind them up until you get coarse breadcrumbs. At this point add in your granulated garlic and parmesan cheese. Give it another whiz in the food processor just to mix it through. Spread the breadcrumbs evenly over your pasta mixture and spray with a little olive oil to prevent burning.

Bake at 350F for 40 minutes.

Serves 2-3.

*I use whole grain pasta & whole grain bread, but if you can't eat wheat feel free to use rice pasta or whatever works for your specific dietary needs.

podcasts & popcorn

2010-11-24T14:47:23Z

Welcome to the newly tweaked & streamlined fat girl skinny! It's been a while, I know, 2010 has been quite the year. After my knee injury last March it took me until almost August until I could spend any length of time in the kitchen creating. And just after getting back on my feet again (literally), I then promptly lost most of my recipe files. So I've been working on recovering what I could and remaking things from memory.

So now here we are, the site has a new look to it. You'll notice that most of the categories have gone and been replaced by "what's cooking". This way most everything can be tagged properly and easily subscribed to through one RSS feed. There will still be coffee & tea recommendations, restaurant reviews, and what's in season, just all under one section.

Still separate is the Freshman 15 project, which yes is still on, though now with the 201 classes. I've also been working on turning that series into it's own cookbook, and hopefully you'll hear more about that soon. If you haven't checked it out yet it has some great recipes for beginners to start learning some fundamental cooking skills.

You can expect updates twice a week, most likely Tuesdays and Fridays. As for today I have something a little more fun to share. I was asked to be a guest on the Trending Cinema podcast to talk about all things food & movies. From what kind of snacks I like to eat at home to what I choose to eat at the theatre, and all sorts of movies about food. You can download the episode through iTunes or simply by going to their website Trending Cinema, where you can also leave comments about the episode if you wish.

In keeping with the food in movies theme I thought I'd give you some links to recipes on fat girl skinny that make great snack foods. I've talked about a couple of my favourite store bought items like Harry & David's sugar-free Moose Munch & Lesser Evil's Kettle Corn and Virginia Diner peanuts, both of which I love as snack food items. If you're feeling like you want something a little more homemade I'd recommend my Maple Pecan Cranberry Granola, which I've found is satisfyingly crunchy, sweet & savory. I also talked about a really simple baked ratatouille recipe on the podcast so I'll link to that as well. It's not traditional ratatouille, but it's much easier and a good place to start.

Also, in honour of my guest spot on a movie podcast I thought I'd recommend 2 of my favourite new ways to perk up microwave popcorn. I've been using Trader Joe's microwave popcorn and I'm totally in love with it, which should be of no surprise as I love almost everything they make. The first suggestion is really simply, but sprinkling it with a tablespoon or so of parmesan reggiano cheese is yummy and simple. The second suggestion takes a little more work and is slightly messier.

100g (3.5oz) bar of Green & Black's organic dark chocolate
1 bag microwave popcorn

Break up the chocolate into large chunks into a small glass or metal bowl. Using a pot that's small enough for the bowl to fit on top of, fill it half full with water. Place the bowl with the chocolate on top of the pot, they should fit pretty snugly, and turn it on medium heat. This is what's called a double boiler. The chocolate will begin to melt, and once it's nearly all the way melted stir it with a wooden spoon making it smooth and shiny then remove from heat.

While the chocolate is melting pop your popcorn. Spread the hot popcorn out on a cookie sheet. It's alright that it will cool down while you're dealing with the chocolate, like revenge it's a dish also best served cold. After the chocolate is melted and has been removed from the heat use a spoon or whisk to drizzle it over top of the popcorn. It doesn't have to be neat, feel free to get out all your Pollock aspirations as you're doing this. Wait about 20 minutes and the chocolate should harden. Pile the popcorn into a big bowl and enjoy... though be warned it does get a bit messy, so you might want some napkins nearby.

cleaning out the proverbial fridge

2010-11-23T12:30:56Z

Wondering where the website went today? Noticing titles changing and moving around on you? No, you haven't eaten a batch of bad wild mushrooms (unless you have in which case call 9-1-1). The site's getting a bit of a makeover & much needed update. Don't worry all your favourite recipes will be back online soon. Stay tuned to twitter @fatgirlskinny for news on the relaunch in the next 24 hours and an exciting update featuring me talking about food & movies on Trending Cinema.

excuse the garlic breath...

2010-03-24T23:25:08Z

Garlic.

It's at the base of so many recipes, and one thing I always make sure I have on hand. Last year while covering a story for the paper I work for I got to meet some local garlic growers. I had never really thought before about how many different types there are. They talked about the distinct flavour differences between types and from which season they're grown as if they were fine wines to be savored.

Spring, it seems, is a great season for garlic. Though if you ask me all seasons are great seasons for garlic. I decided to try out a bulb of "elephant garlic" recently and was pleasantly surprised. Though the cloves themselves were massive, they were very mellow.

I've become a big fan of roasting garlic over the last few months. I always thought it was something that would be so time consuming, but it's really not. If you have a clay garlic baker and didn't break yours like I did, by all means use that. Otherwise you just preheat your oven to 375°F, spray a glass dish with a little olive oil, pop your whole bulb of garlic in the dish and drizzle a little olive oil on top of it. When the oven's ready cook it for 45 minutes to an hour.

It's great to do this and then use the garlic in recipes like pesto, hummus, or well... anything. It'll make the garlic flavour more subtle and a little sweet.

they call it mellow yellow

2010-03-15T15:53:44Z

Over the last week I've had an entire bag and a half of lemons. I'm in the throws of fighting off the springtime sniffles, and judging by the amount of coughing & sneezing I heard over the weekend I'm not the only one. I never buy cold medication, instead I swear by lemon tea. Sometimes it's lemon-ginger, and often it's lemon & honey. Either way, downing a pot or two a day seems to get me through it all much quicker. There's something so cleansing about lemon tea to start the morning. I'm thinking I might even start making it when I'm not sick.

If you've never made lemon tea yourself it's pretty easy. Wash a lemon really well, slice it and stick it in a teapot (with ginger if desired). Boil your kettle and pour the hot water into the teapot. Cover with a tea cozy and let steep 5-10 minutes. Drink. Repeat until you feel better!

i love a kiwi

2010-02-12T01:13:34Z

I'm not really sure if it's fair to say that kiwis are "in season". We don't grow Kiwis where I live, but I do always notice their peak seems to be around January/February. Seeing as it's summer in New Zealand, where I get my kiwis from, I guess that makes sense.

Kiwis are amazing little green gems of fruit. They are rich in vitamin C, high in fibre and a natural blood thinner. They can reduce the risk of clots and can lower the fat in your blood that causes all sorts of nasty problems.

I tend to slice them up and add them with bananas and strawberries to make a fruit salad for breakfast. Or I'll eat a couple simply by slicing them in half and eating with an egg spoon.

If you've never thought of eating kiwis before, and you're not fond of oranges, they're a great fruit in the winter. Full of vitamin C they help to stave off colds.

lunch to go

2010-02-04T09:37:23Z

One of the biggest complaints I hear from people is that it's too hard to eat healthy when you're away from home most of the day. People who commute up to 3 hours and work another 8 tend to be the ones I hear this from the most.

Today I'm going to be leaving my home at 4:30 a.m. and probably won't be home until about midnight. As a photographer I have the luxury of getting to work from home. That means if I want to have a really fresh spinach salad for lunch, it takes about 5 minutes of prep and is only 10 feet from "the office". There is, however, another side to being a photographer and that's working in the field. Long days far away from a home base are a reality of my job. In most instances I work on location, which means no cushy studio with a kitchen either. I'd like to tell you that being a photographer is glamorous, but mostly it's working out of Starbucks or your car.

On days like today it's especially important that I keep my energy level up, which means eating healthy food. So how does one do that on the road? Plan ahead. I did an hour of prep work & cooking this evening and have all my food for tomorrow ready to go. I'll be taking a fruit salad, tabbouleh, plantain chips, almonds, banana muffins & lots of water. Sound complicated? No way! Those of you who read the site often know I'm all about the fast & easy (food, that is). But this is not my first rodeo. Over the years I've mastered the art of taking a packed lunch with me. The last thing anyone wants when they're low on sleep & high on stress is lunch bag letdown. So here's some tips of how I pull it off...

pack a cooler ~ Just a small cooler or cooler bag with an ice pack will keep your food cold all day so you don't have to worry about spoilage

think outside the lettuce ~ When most people hear "salad" they think lettuce. In my experience making salads out of other things tends to work out better. You won't have to deal with a wilted lettuce/dressing situation for starters. Also, a lot of people have issues with greens if they're under stress, so it's better to keep to the safer foods. Today I made tabbouleh, but often a nice caprese or greek salad is amazing.

h2o ~ I cannot stress enough how important it is to stay hydrated on a long day away from home. It will keep your energy levels up and your body functioning normally.

small snacks ~ Today I'm taking plantain chips that I found in the health food section at my local grocery store. Usually I take trail mix with me as well. You don't need a ton of it, only a few handfuls. Little snacks that you can grab in between will help keep the hunger monster at bay.

fruit ~ Packing an apple is always a good idea. If you're like me and know that your body can't function without fruit during the day I'd recommend a simple fruit salad. I did a layered one in a tall reusable container. Diced granny smith, the juice of 1/2 lemon (to keep it from going brown), sliced strawberries, 1 tbsp honey & 1 diced peach. When you're ready to eat just shake it up and dig in.

stay away from sandwiches ~ It's easy to associate lunch with sandwiches, but I'd recommend staying away from them. They can get soggy and gross sitting in a cooler all day. Instead take a muffin. I've made whole grain banana muffins, which will curb my carb cravings and stay fresh all day.

I didn't want to leave you without a recipe today, so here's my last minute take on tabbouleh. Traditionally it's a middle eastern salad made of bulgar, parsley, mint, tomato & lemon juice. This is a really loose translation of that dish. I used what I had on hand instead of making my life too difficult. The trick is to dice everything quite finely so it mixes in better.

ingredients:

1 cup cooked whole wheat couscous
3 green onions, sliced
1/2 carrot, finely diced
1/2 orange pepper, finely diced (you can use red or yellow, I happened to have orange)
a handful of raisins
1 oz feta cheese
the zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp greek seasoning

Dice everything up and toss it together. Dress with the lemon juice, olive oil & seasoning and give it a stir. Voila, salad. Wasn't that easy?

the musical fruit

2010-02-03T00:02:26Z

Beans, beans...

Beans have gotten a bad rap over the years. Known as the "musical fruit" because of the havoc they can wreak on some people's systems. I for one have no problems with beans, which is great because they're so good for you. Kidney beans especially have great benefits for anyone with insulin resistance, or issues with sugar. They're very high in fiber and as such have a much lower impact on how your blood processes sugar. They're also really great for lowering cholesterol, basically they're a wonder food.

Even better? This recipe is SO easy & it uses the crock-pot, which seems to be a favourite among fat girl skinny readers. So here's my take on barbecue baked beans a la crock-pot (or some much more catchy name).

ingredients:

1 cup Kat's homemade barbecue sauce (from the shredded BBQ chicken recipe here)
1 can red kidney beans
1 can white kidney beans
1 sweet onion, diced
4 oz ham, diced

First thing you'll need to do is make your BBQ sauce. I had made the sauce for my shredded chicken, and since it makes 2 cups I had kept the other one sealed in a jar in the fridge ready to use. The sauce won't keep as long as regular condiments do. If you keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge it should keep about 2 weeks.

Next up you'll need to rinse your cans of beans. Empty them into a colander and run water through them until all the soapy bubbles stop. Some of you may want to use dried beans, but you really shouldn't when using a crock-pot. Raw kidney beans contain a toxin that is destroyed after 10 minutes of being cooked in boiling water. However the crock-pot doesn't heat to a temperature that is hot enough to get rid of this. So it's much safer to use canned beans which have already been cooked to prevent any food illnesses.

Throw your beans in your crock pot, along with your diced onion & ham. Gently stir it all together so that all the ingredients are mixed up. Pour your barbecue sauce over top, and gently stir once more.

Cook on high for 4 hours (or low for 8 hours).

Serve as a side-dish or a main meal, makes about 3-4 servings.

this is why you're not fat

2010-01-25T12:25:14Z

Raise your hand if you've ever eaten ice cream for breakfast.

Don't lie.

I'll admit it, there have been times when I was growing up and my parents were out of town that ice cream for breakfast sounded totally awesome. Because when you're 15 and you have that kind of freedom of course you will choose Ben & Jerry's over Bran Flakes. But then we grow up. And the desire for a pint of Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz isn't as strong as the desire for a pot of coffee coffee right freakin' now.

Most mornings my breakfast is pretty simple. A fruit smoothie, lox & a sprouted grain bagel, or fruit salad are my main morning staples these days. Hardly things my younger self would have looked forward to. Now, though, I look forward to bananas and strawberries in the morning with the same vigor that I used to save for ice cream breakfasts when my parents went away. Starting the day off right really helps my body function better, which in turn makes me happy.

If you need a little convincing about eating healthy food feel free to use some aversion therapy. Whenever I start to think, "if only I could have..." I take a wander over to This Is Why You're Fat. Within 2 pages of the most indulgent and disgusting food imaginable I am running for the nearest piece of fruit. What frightens me the most is that there are people out there actually eating this stuff. For example "the Morning Glory" which is sausage, egg and cheese sandwiched inside a glazed cinnamon roll. If you look closely at the photo you'll notice where it says "Dale spec." Who is this Dale? Does he eat these regularly? Has Dale's cardiologist been notified? (see below for list of other cringe-worthy breakfast items)

So now that I've totally grossed you out this morning may I suggest a healthy breakfast alternative? This is a version of what I have most mornings for breakfast. Layer in a bowl:

5-6 fresh strawberries, sliced
1 banana, sliced
4 tbsp plain yogurt (I use Trader Joe's goats milk yogurt)
1/4 cup Trader Joe's High Fiber Cereal (or Kellogg's All Bran)
optional: 1 tbsp honey drizzled on top

It makes for a really filling and healthy breakfast. Picking out yogurt can be VERY difficult. I've found myself going through labels for half an hour at the grocery store before. Usually low-fat options add in more sugar. Really read the ingredient labels before you purchase. If you've never had greek yogurt before you might want to try that. I personally like the goat's milk yogurt because I'm sensitive to lactose, and Trader Joe's makes one of the only thick ones on the market. Above all else I'd urge you to start buying plain yogurt over flavoured. It's a lot healthier, and that way you can control what flavouring you're adding in. It will probably taste odd at first, but your taste buds will adjust to not eating something loaded with sugar.

Other gross breakfast foods I found:

Fool's Gold Stack - pancakes layered between peanut butter and bacon, topped with maple syrup

Hot Apple-Bacon Turnovers With Icing

IHOP Who-Cakes - Inspired by Horton Hears a Who! : A stack of five pancakes drenched in boysenberry and blueberry syrup, covered in rainbow-colored chocolate candy and topped with a pink Dum-Dum lollipop.

Eggs Benedict Poutine - French fries, brown gravy and cheese curds topped with a poached egg, bacon, Hollandaise sauce.

The Toaster Orgy - A toaster strudel topped with cream cheese, strawberry jelly, butter and Aunt Jemima syrup sandwiched between two waffles, all covered in strawberry cream cheese and more syrup.

Strudel Circus Stack - Nutella and strawberry jam sandwiched between two Toaster Strudel Pastries topped with icing, cherry pie filling, whipped cream, sprinkles and a drizzle of honey.

The Sausage McStuffin' - Sausage McMuffins with jelly donuts inside.

Triple Breakfast Panini - Giant buttermilk pancake stuffed with fried chicken, eggs and cheddar cheese, pressed in a panini press and served with maple syrup and white gravy.

The Silly Rabbit - French toast breaded in crushed Trix cereal.

Ultimate Biscuits - Three biscuits topped with ham, pork sausage, bacon, cheese, two over easy eggs, and gravy.

Breakfast Pizza - A sausage pizza with bacon and eggs, topped with mozzarella cheese and country gravy as sauce.

Snicker Bar Pancakes - Three buttermilk pancakes topped with chocolate syrup, caramel, peanuts and whipped cream.

Make sure to click the links, seeing really is believing.