Seriously? …Seriously? (and pssst...a Giveaway!)

“What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets.  I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?” -Erma Bombeck

I’m talking to my mom on my way to work this morning, requesting my favorite coffee creamer while she was grocery shopping. Mom just happens to mention, “Well, the store was out of pecan pies, so I got pecan pie cups. Good portion control, right?” Where do I begin with the wrongness of this all.

1. Pecan pie should be homemade.


2. Pecan pie cups? Give me a break. No pumpkin PIE is the equivalent of Christmas without a Christmas tree littering gifts beneath it.

I feel so shafted already. Pecan pie is a once-a-year-can’t-live-without-it STAPLE. 
Holds. Me. Together. All. Year. Treat.

As un-healthy as that little tantrum is, I could’ve verbally berated husband last night after he decided he NEEDED (yes, NEEDED) Buffalo Wild Wings. Let’s not be confused here, I love anything involving wing sauce -- it’s a guilty pleasure. Just look to the right there and you can see that SEVERAL of my “must-try” recipes contain wing sauce. However, BW3’s is 30 minutes away from home and I had a headache and a wonderful, healthy pad Thai dinner planned. But no, husband NEEDED wings. So, off we go at 8:30pm (had to wait til the game was on!), only to arrive and find that both the restaurant and inhaler-requiring bar were filled to capacity and there was a 40-minute wait. On a Tuesday. One would think they were GIVING AWAY $0.40 wings, my goodness! After flashing him a stink face and a blatant, annoyed eye roll, we left BW3’s for a silent 30-minute commute back home.

I am a man. I do NOT want to watch games (football, basketball, or otherwise) that I care about in a bar watching a TV without volume and obnoxious patrons taking away from my viewing experience. Which leads me to the acceptance of a sad truth: I am old. On a Tuesday evening after an 11-hour work day, I want to be a homebody. I want to be in my warm house, in my cuddly clothes, enjoying healthy, homemade food, watching and listening to my sporting pleasure! Last night being Fighting Illini men’s basketball.

Is anyone else a huge homebody, especially once the fall and winter seasons encroach?

My crankiness subsided this morning when I opened my office door to a package from Newman's Owns Organics (not to be confused with Newman's Own). I've heard a lot about Newman's Owns Organics (NOO's) and I was interested in sampling some of their products. Well, let's just say I received an early Christmas gift this year! Check out the loot...

Thank you, Newman's Own Organics!! <3

Food models, mess, lunch (upper right), Zevia (upper left)...and the loot, scattered! My office is atrocious!

 An array of cookies...chocolate, Arrowroot, and chocolate chip!

 Choooooooocolate! Need I say more? Note: that dark chocolate bar

on the left is opened...I wonder who did that!!

 

 Fat-free AND low-fat Fig Newmans...love the play on words : )

 

 Dried fruit...prunes, apricots, apples, and berry blend. The apples are delicious! They are completely all-natural in taste, not all pumped up with sugar!!

 

For my afternoon snack, I had 2 original Hermits. Um, DELICIOUS! They are so moist and rich in flavor...love them!! Favorite taste from Newman's Own Organics thus far!!

 

Mint rolls -- Peppermint, Wintergreen, Ginger, and Hot (not pictured, oops!)

 Newman's O's -- Chocolate and Mint!!

 

 There was a 3rd bag, but one of my patient's ate them. Thumbs up! Especially excited about the protein pretzels!

 

 Soy crisps! Can't wait to try!

 

 Hot, Wintergreen, Ginger (yum!), and peppermint mints. The ginger ones are delicious!!!

 

And Newman's Own Organics even sent something for the puppy -- dog treats! Lily gives the salmon and sweet potato treats a high-five (and my dog gives high-5's, no joke!)

And since 'tis the season to be giving...a GIVEAWAY for you all! And because that box weighs about 25 pounds!!! THANK YOU, NEWMAN'S OWN ORGANICS!!!

NEWMAN'S OWNS ORGANICS GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

There will be 2 winners as there's plenty of goodies to go around...

Giveaway 1: The Cookie Monster

Newman's Own Organics Champion Chip Cookies (Chocolate)

Newman's Own Organics Ginger Hermits

Newman's Own Organics 54% cocoa Dark Chocolate Bar

Giveaway 2: The Smorgasbord

 Newman's Own Organics White Cheddar Soy Crisps

Newman's Own Organics California Prunes

Newman's Own Organics 54% cocoa Espresso Dark Chocolate Bar

How to enter? Lots of ways! 

Enter up to 4 times by doing one, two, three...or all of the following:

1. Post a comment with your giveaway selection preference below (1 or 2, see above)

2. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link back to your tweet, 
or follow me @PreventionRD

3. If you're a blogger, post about this Newman's Own Organics Giveaway with a link back to this post on your blog. Leave a comment below containing your blog/post link!

4. Email me a favorite, healthy recipe at Mrs.RD44@gmail.com

Entries will be taken through Sunday, November 29th at 12pm (Central Time) and the winners will be announced on my Sunday blog post!


Sampled thus far: 70% cocoa organic chocolate bar (super yum!) and organic dried apples. Mmm!


A patient this morning had to fast for a late lab appointment and by the time he made it over to my office for his nutrition appointment, he was so hungry he had a headache. I handed my country bumpkin of a patient Newman's Own Organics salted pretzels, and that country bumpkin chowed down. And believe you me, I'd have heard about it if he didn't love'em! Thumbs up, Newman's Own Organics!!

Looking forward to Pad Thai tonight and an early departure to Chicago tomorrow morning! If our flight is delayed, we’ll be missing Thanksgiving dinner. Wish us luck, O’Hare doesn’t have the best of records when it comes to flight delays.

Have a wonderful, safe, healthful, and relaxing Thanksgiving!

Food Tip of the Day - Wednesday, November 25th, 2009: How to Cook a Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

Tomorrow is of course one of the biggest days in the American calendar when Thanksgiving is celebrated across the country. The vast majority of those responsible for roasting the turkey on the big day will all have their own special tips and secrets for doing so, perhaps handed down through the generations.

Sometimes, however, it can be nice to read about a new slant on a well known theme and the article below attempts to provide just that with regards to the process of how to cook a perfect Thanksgiving turkey. I very much hope that some of you at least find it helpful.

A very happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and readers!

How to Cook a Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

Nick Rupiper and His Chicks

Nick Rupiper of Rup Nut Farm has recently opened a very small destination farm stand on a private driveway off 16331 Norrbom Road, north of Sonoma, out First Street West. You’re not likely to stumble across it. On a regular day only about five cars pass by. But two or more days a week when the trapeze crowd gathers to fly on a rig located down the road a bit, the stand is likely to do a lot of business. Nick’s Chicks, now numbering about 90, provide the eggs. His garden provides the rest. When I took this photo in October, it was apples. Now he’s heading toward kale, chard, and Brussels sprouts.

















Nick’s been raising chickens for a couple of years. He was introduced to them in a psych class at Sonoma State taught by professor and organic farmer, Shepherd Bliss, who also raises chickens. Bliss says, “Chickens are the farm animals that I personally find most healing…. They can be funny, as well as beautiful. I enjoy watching and hearing chickens dance, talk to each other, clown around and dig into the Earth with glee, and herald the dawn.” Bliss contends that human and chicken interactions have a lot in common and that humans could learn a lot from them. He continues, “I sometimes take chickens as ‘Teaching Assistants’ to my psychology classes at Sonoma State University, much to the delight of my students.” Nick found Bliss’s enthusiasm inspiring and contagious. He also got some first hand knowledge from his friend Tobias, who lives on an adjacent piece of the property, and has always had a chicken or two as part of his magic show.






















Nick started out with three chickens, then bought six more, then another six, then another fifty and another fifty. Currently he has about 15 varieties. They live just across from the farm stand and at the Sonoma Garden Park. He says, “I raise my chickens with care and treat them the way I would like to be treated if I were a chicken. That means fresh green grass to run, peck and scratch on, a clean coop, organic feed, and fresh organic fruits and vegetables from behind the market (they compost otherwise, so they let me take it to feed the girls). I really do think these chickens are the most happy chickens I have seen.”

Now that he has a fair amount of experience with chickens, he’s building chicken coops for people in the area who want their own. In addition, he plays drums with the Green String Farm Band and does some teaching on the side.

The stand is open intermittently so best email him at nickrup@yahoo.com before making the trip. He also sells his eggs at the Sonoma Garden Park on Seventh Street East on Saturday mornings and occasionally at Readers Books.

Classic Cheddar Cheese Soufflé

When my boys Franz and Ben were growing up, we would have a cheese soufflé every couple of weeks. Making a soufflé often meant that I was running out of food in the fridge—and that, in fact, we were pretty much down to the basics: butter, eggs, milk, and cheese. They would greet the meal with a moan “Soufflé again?” Poor boys. Little did they know that many people would find it an elegant and almost ethereal repast. Last week I served it to a friend who said that it was like eating clouds. What a perfect antidote to the excesses of Thanksgiving. Enjoy.

6 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dry mustard
Dash cayenne pepper or ¼ teaspoon hot smoky paprika or Aleppo pepper
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup flour
1½ cups milk, warmed in the microwave
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
OR
½ cup grated Parmesan and ½ cup grated cheddar or whatever mixture you might like

1. Separate the eggs. Put the yolks in a large bowl and the whites in a medium bowl. Add the salt, mustard, cayenne or paprika to the egg yolks and mix well.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan; blend in the flour. Let bubble, stirring, for a minute or two to cook the flour. Off the heat, add the warm milk, stirring to combine. Return the pan to the heat and cook until thick and smooth, about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from the heat. Add the cheese and stir until melted.
3. Stir in several large spoonfuls of the sauce to the yolk mixture to temper the yolks. Then add the yolk mixture to the sauce, mixing steadily. Return to the large bowl and set aside to cool for 15 minutes or more.
4. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Butter a 2-quart soufflé dish and dust it with flour.
5. With a perfectly clean wire whisk, hand or electric beaters, whip the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir ¼ of the egg whites into the cheese mixture. Then fold in the remaining. Pour into the prepared dish.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until puffed and brown on top. Serve at once.

4 servings, 3 if people are really hungry
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything

Ramean lagi

23 november 2009, senin

Sebenarnya hari ini ada rencana mo pergi ke tempat teman di nagahama,kusyu...tapi, berhubung suami semalam kerja lembur, kcapean, jadi batal deh. Tiba2 aja jam 9 an ada temen yang telp nanya mo ikutan pergi ga? wah pikir2 boleh juga nih daripada di rumah aja, sekalian jalan2.

Berhubung ga sempet bikin apa2, jadi nya pergi ke supermaket beli makanan kecil n juice aja, daripada ga bawa apa2, ga enak. Trus langsung ke tempat temen, sama2 pergi deh. Perjalanannya lumayan jauh, kira2 mpir 2 jam..mmm jauhhhh jugaaa...
Untungnya di perjalanan anak2 ga rewel.

Nyampe disana, uda pada dateng, kita dateng paling akhir nih...gpp, daripda ga datang sama sekali. Makanan berlimpah, mpe ada acara pembungkusan di akhir acara..hihihi, seneng dah jadi ga usah masak makan malam deh..thx ya.

Nyampe di rumah uda jam 5an, capeee...padahal gw ga ikutan nyetir...thx ya uda dianter mpe rumah...sayang ga sempet foto di daerah pantainyaaa