Do you guilt eat?

 I’ve written about peer pressure before and “bossy bosses”.  Guilt eating is similar but generally speaking in this case the person gifting or offering food has good intentions. I hear instances of guilt eating all the time. Just this week “My mom left this morning! After she left, I filled a trash bag with all of the English muffins, chips and dessert she had so graciously bought me :)”

Good that the “trash” was tossed. I’m not 100% convinced bringing these foods to an adult “child” is the best idea but you see the pull. Mom thought of me and arrived with these foods, it was so nice of her.  Yes, to an extent it was, feel that gesture.

Or, this one is even more tricky and loaded, “my kids had made cinnamon chip cookies which my daughter "invented” she had to make up a recipe for school...how could I not have one?”

Are you ready? Neither mom’s kindness nor this child’s creativity are ignored if we don’t consume the food. Acknowledge the emotion “thank you so much for taking time to bring these” OR “tell me what you put in these cookies”. It will not create an eating disorder in your children if you say “let’s put this in a container, I’m going to have it tomorrow as my treat” or “those look amazing but I’m not hungry right now.” You see, show enthusiasm and graciousness but only eat the said food if you really want to. It's your choice and your guilt or lack thereof. Make sense?

Do you guilt eat? In what situations? 

Bananas For Boobies

A few years ago, we had my friend Shari and her family staying with us in Vermont. As I prepared breakfast she looked at me and said “I can’t believe you’re making waffles from scratch”. I was confused “Shar, I’m not- I’m using mix I said pushing the Arrowhead Mills bag in her direction.” “Well still, you’re actually making them”

I wish I had really had the chance to know and cook with Judy

Later that day, Shari told me about her plans to start a blog. Shari had recently lost her beautiful mother Judy to breast cancer. After Judy’s funeral, I recall Shari was so touched with strangers approaching her with tales of Judy’s kindness. Some of this kindness was expressed through food. Shari tells of a home-cooked meal on the table every night. There was always an invitation and place setting for whomever would drop by. Shari knew she and others could benefit from Judy’s recipes and approach even if Judy wasn’t here to do the teaching.

Fast forward a few years, Shari can cook. Her blog is a huge hit (as ventures from the heart often are) and Shari and her sister Stacy decide to launch another venture. Enter Bananas for Boobies. I chuckled too but here’s the deal. You bake Judy’s Banana Chocolate Chip Loaf or as the campaign says “bake it happen” post your finished loaf to their FB page, you’re entered to win an iPad and money, via an anonymous corporate donor, goes to breast cancer research.

I love the idea of using cooking and community to make a difference. However, my nutritionist hat is always on (and my crazy desire to tweak I talked about Monday).

So I checked with Shari and she said I could make my own version. I wanted a loaf that was gluten free and sugar free (cancer cells can use sugar as fuel), I also wanted to add some of my “screw yourself breast cancer” ingredients green tea (in this case matcha) and turmeric (don’t be scared). My only problem was that as much as I cook, I don’t bake. At first I found a handful of interesting recipes and combined them- I ended up with a loaf that was wet in the middle and the conclusion that cacao nibs aren’t that enjoyable in banana bread. I then focused on Slim Palate’s version adding my own twist. The result? Green and delicious, the whole family enjoyed it. I just hope Judy wouldn’t be mad at me.

½ cup coconut flour (used Nutiva)

½ cup almond flour (used Bobs Red Mill)

1-cup ripe bananas (works fine even if they are not black)

½ cup coconut oil, if not already liquid melt it,  (used jungle Products) plus additional to grease

1 Tbs matcha (powdered green tea)

½ tsp. cinnamon

Dash of turmeric

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ tsp. liquid stevia (used NuNaturals)

4 omega 3 eggs

½ tsp. organic vanilla extract

Pinch of Himalayan salt

Preheat oven to 350

1. Use coconut oil to grease small 8.5 x 4.5 loaf and cut a piece of parchment to fit in the bottom on the pan

2. In a large bowl combine flours, matcha, cinnamon, turmeric baking soda and salt mix with a fork.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, extract, and stevia. Then add bananas to this mixture and whisk again.

4. Pour the egg/banana concoction into the flour/dry ingredient bowl. Use a wooden spoon to mix. 

5. Add the melted coconut oil and mix again.

6. Pour into the pan, making the top respectable and smooth.

7. Bake for 45 minutes and do the toothpick test.

8. Run a knife around the edges and flip the loaf out. Let it cool on a wire rack.

Nutrition (based on 1/8 of loaf) 260 calories, 4g sugar, 6g fiber, 7g protein per slice

Please go to the Bananas for Boobies site for Judy’s Chocolate Chip Loaf (the real deal).

Have you heard of Bananas for Boobies or Shari's blog? Do you bake? Ever tweak recipes to make them healthier?

Cooking Homework Update

A month ago, I satisfied my school cravings and assigned myself cooking homework. My goals were to buy and use a slow cooker, to enter the scary world of baking and, for extra credit, make a dish without a recipe. Many of you jumped on the homework bandwagon formulating your own personal cooking goal.  In retrospect, my course load was a little heavy. I was mainly interested in slow cooking but included the baking and recipe-less items for an extra challenge.  Most of you were much smarter and picked a singular goal. Going forward, that’s what I’ll do.

My beautiful new slow cooker (above) arrived shortly after last month’s post. I chose a Breville. I own a Breville juicer and wanted a larger slow cooker. I love that it has an insert so you can brown things before slow cooking.  Because every class needs a textbook, I chose Make it Fast, Cook it Slow by Stephanie O’dea. Stephanie has a blog called A Year of Slow Cooking. She vowed to use her slow cooker every day for a year.  I loved that these recipes were simple, that most were gluten free and that a “verdict” is included telling you who liked the recipe in her family and who did not.

There was no question what my first recipe would be. We stop at a place on the way to Vermont that makes the best pulled pork on the planet. When I thought about slow cooking, stewy things came to mind. My book contains a pulled pork recipe but like a true nerd I had to cross-reference. I found that a pork butt roast was the cut to use. After being briefly nauseated I learned this was not in fact the pork “rear” and located an organic roast.  I made the recipe on a Saturday; if you’re an impatient person I wouldn’t suggest slow cooking while you’re hanging around the house. Eight hours later, dinner was done. All four of us loved it.

dark picture, delicious dish

The boys were excited about our new addition to the family and I let them pick my next recipe. They choose an apple crisp.  While this was also delicious, “crisp” is a little misleading. Despite some hanging out under the boiler, there wasn’t anything crispy happening. Nobody objected; we used it as a topping for Greek yogurt.

Finally, on a day I was taking the boys to a birthday party that ended at dinnertime, I decided on Split Pea Soup.  This was as easy as could be and again the aroma was amazing. The only problem was this soup was thick and filling. I could’ve thinned it a little bit but was too excited to dig in.

Cooking Homework Month 1: Grade is B.
For some inspiration, here were some other assignments:

Baking Homework

Justine- to make bread

EA- to make gluten free sourdough bread

Sam- to bake a cake from scratch

Kristen and Andrea- to bake

Jen to bake something from Ruhlman’s book Ratio

Appliance Homework

Gina- to add a slow cooker to her wedding registry

Stephanie – to use her dehydrator

Carolyn- to use her juicer

Pearl to use Le Crueset pot to make stews and braised dishes

Carrie- to make healthy soups and stews

Einat and Claire to use slow cooker

Variety Homework

Erin- to experiment, she said homework would be “easy” for her, wonder if it was

Jenny- 2 new recipes from her cookbooks

Specific Homework

Madeline- to make Korean food with her mother in law

Jess- to make Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Allison- to cook one new veggie a week

Caron- to cook kasha

This month I’m going to continue slow cookery, I’m going to focus on a chicken dish, an oatmeal something and using The Indian Slow Cooker book I purchased.

Did you do your homework? What grade would you give yourself? What’s your assignment this month? With Christmas, I’ll set our deadline for early January.

Cooking Homework

I am jealous of my kids. It's not because they get to play sports every day or can take three bites of ice cream and feel full or even their ten hours of sleep each night. Nope, I am jealous of their homework. I covet their list of assignments, their notebooks with separate folders and their nightly reading; it makes me miss school. It has been many years but my inner nerd hasn’t faded. And sadly, though the PhD is a bucket list item, depending on the day, I am not headed back to school any time soon.

My friend Shari has a great blog called My Judy the Foodie (I shamelessly linked to the post where she asks me “is homemade healthier”). She's teaching herself to cook using her mother's recipes. It occurred to me that, in a way, Shari has created a cooking school for herself with her mother as her teacher. Shari is a great storyteller and readers follow her buy a Dutch oven, plant an herb garden and make her first holiday meal. As I've watched Shari learn and grow I've done what any friend would. I’ve grown jealous of Shari too.

I miss the challenge of entering new territory and gradually gaining proficiency. I even crave the inevitable fumbles along the way. I cook, you see, but I keep to my comfort zone. As a parent, I encourage my kids to try new things. I nudge my non-cooking clients to use their ovens and try easy recipes and then go home and whip up my old, reliable ones. So rather than sit here and let my jealousy surge, I thought of a solution. I’m assigning myself homework. In the next month (deadlines need to be realistic) I’m going to:

1. Buy a new slow cooker and use it
2. Bake at least once; while I cook I’m baking illiterate

 *For extra credit, I’ll make at least 1 dish without a recipe if I’ve completed #’s 1 and 2.

I’d love for you to join me and assign yourself homework too.

Don't be a slacker, what’s your cooking homework going to be? Can you pick one ingredient or type of cooking you’d like to tackle in the next month? In my school copying is fine so feel free to try one of my assignments. Oh and anything you’re jealous of? You can vent it here.