Lean Up Your Grocery Bill

Well, after a long hiatus, I am blogging again.  And eating healthy!  I ran across this internet article about saving at the grocery store and I like its "basic foods" approach.

Here are 5 tips for saving money:

1. Make a grocery list and check it twice.
2. Stop clipping worthless coupons.
3. Watch the price scanner.
4. Buy generic over brand names.
5. Skip the cans, buy dried beans in bulk.

I can attest to these tips.  Also, watch out at the bulk stores like Costco and Sam's Club.  Do you really need 5 pounds of biscotti?

Check out the entire article HERE.

P.S.  Photo from the market in Catania, Sicily.

Grow Your Own Food

It's spring in Houston which is quite wonderful.  Actually, we only have two seasons here:  nice and hell.  The nice months are wonderful (October to May) and summer is just something we try to survive.  After a fairly stressful winter- it was cold and the construction workers trampled everything in our entire yard- I am back in the garden.  We have started our seeds, got the beds rebuilt and turned, the compost is recomposing and we are almost ready to get our garden on!

I have been studying the gardening patterns of Houston and I am excited about my new gardening calendar from Houston Grows.

Pretty soon, we will have the following vegetables:  leeks, beets, green onions, lettuce, arugula, turnips, radishes, garlic, peppers, heirloom yellow tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli,  collard greens, carrots and more!

I'll update you with pics of my new babies and recipes!  I hope you find time and a little bit of space to start your own garden.

The Last Organic Outpost

I had the most interesting adventure the other day.  I visited a local urban farm and selected my hand picked vegetables for the week!  The Last Organic Outpost is a not-for-profit urban farm project in Houston's Fifth Ward (Emile Community Farm) and Third Ward (Live Oak Outpost).   The project was started in 1999 as Joe's personal project and bloomed into a not-for-profit local initiative to teach Houstonians about farming and to provide local, fresh produce to an under served urban area.  Now the Last Organic Outpost hosts dinners, movie nights, cooking, agricultural, building and irrigation classes.  The project assists with local food pantries and schools.

Marcella and Farmer Joe run the farms and are super friendly hosts.  I arrived at the farm and Marcella promptly introduced herself and everyone else there, told me the history of the project and gave me a tour of the farm. Marcella hand picked my vegetables and invited me to all the upcoming events.  She introduced to several new vegetables and gave me some handy gardening tips.  I left with two Huge bags of produce that included:  kale, kohlrabi, mixed salad greens, romaine lettuce, beets, and onions.  Regrettably, I did not have my camera with me, so the photos are from the Last Organic Outpost website.

Since I have never had kohlrabi (German turnip) before, I followed Marcella's advice for cooking this delicious root vegetable.  I stir fried the tops and the vegetable (which must be peeled) in a little bit of Earth Balance butter and served it up.  It was a new adventure and it was delicious!

Babette's Feast

This is a beautiful and simple film based on a book by Danish author Isak Dinesen.  It is a Dutch film about a cook/servant who wins the lottery and treats her homeowners and friends to a wonderful home cooked meal.  It shows that preparing food, sharing a meal and sharing company are love.

This trailer is sort of old, but this discussion by New York Times critic A.O. Scott is a fantastic dissection of the film.  So, I hope you enjoy this film!  Food is love.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

It's Saturday, it's sunny and it's time for a mostly silly movie. I LOVED this film as a child and appreciate it even more as an adult. I like it so much because I have a massive sweet tooth. I like the old school version with Gene Wilder. Johnny Depp did an amazing job in Tim Burton's version, but I like the innocence of the original film.  Whenever I watch this movie, I leave with a craving for some yummy dessert and I'm singing the songs.  Enjoy!

Food, Inc.

Yeah, Food, Inc. has arrived at our house! Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here. We're going to watch it tonight and it's just in time for the Oscars! This film is nominated for Best Documentary Feature. I'll let you know how it is. If you want to find out more about the subject and cause, check out the website Food, Inc. Enjoy!

Eat Drink Man Woman

I love this movie! It's about a Chinese family and the patriarch who is a famous chef. The family shares its meals together, which leads to some bonding as well as some interesting conflicts. Overall, it shows how food and especially meals, bring people together. When I was in Ecuador and Mexican, we ate all our meals huddled over a fire. Other cultures sit in a circle or around a large circular table and eating together is an daily ritual. I am thankful that when I was growing up, we ate breakfast and dinner together at the table, with no TVs or telephone. It is a great way to connect daily. Enjoy!

Super Size Me

This movie is interesting, educational, funny, scary and overall important to watch. We saw this movie a few years ago. I thought we were doing pretty well with our nutrition, but it definitely motivated me to do better. Enjoy this movie with a healthy snack. Remember, if you're going to eat junk food, make it yourself!

If you want to watch the entire movie, just click on the link below to stream it via youtube.

It's Movie Week!

We survived Eating In Week and overall it was a good experience.  We saved some money and tried some new recipes.  We have lots of leftovers, so we'll still be eating in a lot this week.  I have lunch date at home with the hubby today.

Okay, now on to the most important TV night of the year for me- The Oscars!  I love movies and I love to watch the entire event.  So, in honor of the big event this weekend, I am featuring food movies this week.  If you haven't seen any of these films, considering adding them to your queue.  Some of them will make you hungry or motivated and some will make you want to improve the world of eating.

To start of the week, we watched Julie and Julia over the weekend.  It was fun to watch a fellow blogger share her food world and Meryl Streep's Julia Childs was incredible.  It made me hungry, but not for butter and duck!  So, here's a preview and please enjoy some movies this week.

My 15 Minutes

You've probably read about The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone many times on this blog.  Well, Alicia Silverstone also has a blog called The Kind Life.  The other day, I sent in the recipe for Gnocchi with Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce and Alicia kindly posted the recipe on her blog!!  Check out her blog and my 15 minutes HERE!

Boy Oh Boy! Baked Tofu Slices

Well, I have never been much of a tofu eater or cooker, but Eating In Week is inspiring me to try new things.  These slices are nice to have on hand for munching, making sandwiches, stuffing in pita or tortillas or making spring rolls.

Start with 16 oz firm tofu.  Drain excessive packing water off.  Place on a plate, put another plate on top and heavy weighted item on top of the plate to press off excess water.  Since my father loves to give me decorative paperweights, I found a nice heavy one to do the job.  Let sit 30 minutes.  

Drain off water, slice into 1/2 inch strips (or whatever size you like). 

Marinate with your favorite marinade for 20 to 60 minutes.  I used the following mix:

1 clove garlic
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
juice from 1/2 lime
sprinkle of cayenne pepper

Bake at 375 on a greased cookie sheet for 40 to 60 minutes, until desired chewiness.  Serve in strips or chop up.  Enjoy.

Day 3 of Eating In Week: Morning Rice Cornucopia and other concoctions

Well, it's Day 3 of Eating In Week and today is going to be a little more challenging because I am at working for 12 hours today!  That means I had to plan for 2 meals and some snacks.  It's tempting to eat at work because the cafeteria there feeds me for free!  But since it's Eating In Week and they use all disposable serving utensils and plates, I'm packing up my bags of food.  I started the day with a nice medley of leftover rice, pecans, cranberries, pears, flax seed and vanilla soymilk.  Delicious!

 For lunch, I'm having:

• Pure Pleasure Pumpkin Soup
• Best Bean Salad
• Brussel Sprouts
• Cornbread

Snacks include almonds, chocolate chips, cranberries, baby carrots and apple.

For dinner, I'm having:

• Swell Sweet Potato Thai Stew over rice
• Steamed kale with Dijon Barley Malt Dipping Sauce 

To keep myself on track, I am bringing my own tea with me:  Twig, Irish Breakfast, Green with Mint and Vanilla Blend White.

It's Eating In Week!

Photo: Not Eating Out in New York

Okay readers. the Eating In Challenge is on!  So far, I have made two lunch dates to eat in at my house and dinner plans for Saturday night to eat in at some friends' house.  Tonight is going to be simple, some leftovers.  I think I will make mom's Zesty Zucchini Zoup for lunch tomorrow and my friend is going to bring over some homemade cornbread.  What are your plans for Eating In?

Update:  We threw together some veggie tacos for dinner.  Not too bad...

All Star Almond Butter

 This is an easy way to make your own spread and it is super healthy because there are no added hydrogenated fats, preservatives, sugars or high fructose corn syrup.  Usually we buy the grind-it-yourself peanut butter at Whole Foods, but we ran out the other day and we had a surplus of nuts in the pantry.  I decided to whip up some Almond Butter and it is so simple and satisfying.

Blend until a "butter" in a food processor:

2 cups raw almonds (I prefer unsalted)
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons sunflower or safflower oil

You can alter the consistency by altering the oil or water.  Store in a glass jar (bonus- less packaging) in the refrigerator.

Eating In Challenge

Okay readers, this is a cool challenge for everyone and I hope it will be inspirational.  Next week is "Eating In" week.  That means for seven days, I'm going to eat in (or bring my own food) for all my meals.  Author and New Yorker, Cathy Erway pledged strictly to eat in or take her own food for two years while living and working in New York City.  I am in awe of such discipline!  She chronicled her food adventures on her blog, Not Eating Out in New York:  Consuming Less, Eating More.  Now she has published a book, The Art of Eating In, that expands on the subject of not eating out and includes some delicious looking recipes.

So, I'm signing onto the week of eating in.  We're going to get our grocery list together and go shopping!  I'm not much a menu planner, but I am going to at least think 12 hours ahead this week so we'll be prepared.  I challenge you to join us!  Just click on the link below to get started.

The Week of Eating In 

And to learn more about The Art of Eating In, watch the author's short video here.

Okay, I'm getting organized and plan to blog about my Eating In adventures next week. If you participate in this challenge, please let me know how it goes, what you cook and what you missed.

Give a Little Love

Valentines Day is coming up and people are running around the malls and shops buying stuffed animals, jewelry, flowers and cards.  Matt and I are terribly unromantic and tend to skip the occasion all together.  This year we are going to celebrate by spreading a little love to people who are hungry right now.  Giving the gift of food and sustenance is so much more satisfying than a manufactured product.  Please join us in spreading the love for Valentines Day.  Consider donating to your local food bank.  You can get started at Feeding America.  Just click on the link and go to the tab that says "Find a Food Bank."

Must See Food TV

Okay, this is a big day in the world of ChunkyChef because I learned to embed video in my posts!! This big move was inspired by today's morning edition of Democracy Now that featured food expert Michael Pollan. You might remember him from previous posts. Anyhow, I listened to the show on the radio today and it was great. So, if you would like to know more about what's in your food, what shouldn't be in your food, where your food comes from, what powers determine what we eat, the politics of food and more, please watch the show!

Healthy Foodies Superbowl

I'm not much of a TV watcher, but I heard that food guru Michael Pollan and vegan Alicia Silverstone were going to be on the Oprah show.  I had to see this!  Fortunately, my friend Janette saved me from having to dig out a blank tape to throw into the VCR because she has DVR and she recorded it for me.  It was an awesome show and Oprah did a great job of covering all the bases:  different types of diets, nutrition tidbits, discussion of factory farming and many, many resources.  For healthy foodie like me, it was the Superbowl.

You can watch clips from the show here:  Before You Grocery Shop Again  or read the entire show's transcript here:  Food 101.

Food Fashion

When I was in NYC summer, I bought this really cool t-shirt at the flea market made by the ladies at Black Sheep Heap, an eco-friendly green company.  My t-shirt is soft, organic and fun.  It's one of those shirts I grab first off the pile over and over again.

Jennifer Harris is an artist who uses her art to raise food awareness.  She has partnered with several not-for-profit organizations to promote sustainable, just food systems and work towards the eradication of poverty.

So, check out her wares and join the cool kids who wear "Food Fashion."

http://www.blacksheepheap.com/index.html

Tasty Twig Tea

About 15 years ago, my dear friend Michelle introduced me to Twig Tea.  Michelle followed a vegan macrobiotic diet long before it became fashionable.  We would study together and sip on twig tea.  I love its earthy flavor and its mellowing effect.  It's very low in caffeine and its made from the twigs and stems of tea plants.  So, there is no waste of these parts of tea plants.  I like Choice Organic Teas because they are organic, environmentally friendly, fair trade and delicious!  So curl up with a nice warm cup of tea and relax.