Fluff and Froth

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Andrea

Last week and this week are pretty intense ones for Scott. He’s got a lot going on and because of that I have said that we need to chill out on the weekends.

Last weekend and this weekend, the home renos can take a backseat and instead we can hang out. Unfortunately we did have to make a run to North Market on Saturday.

Normally not an issue but I forgot last weekend was The Arnold. Lord what a mess downtown was!

On Sunday I pretty much demanded pancakes. Two weekends in a row we’ve had bunk pancakes! One was an attempt at trying to make waffles again only to have that fail. I used the batter to make pancakes and it was not a fun time. Oh they cooked, they just didn’t have much taste or fluff.

The following weekend was the buttermilk experiment which resulted in mediocre pancakes.

This weekend though, banana nut to the rescue! And they completely hit the spot!

Lots of Goings On

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Andrea

Alright gang it’s time to have a chat!

Scott and I have a crap ton o’ stuff going on here at the HQ and I’m about to tell you some of it. The other half of it will come around eventually. Just please know that both of us are working are A-Double-S es off doing what seems like 50 things at once.

All of it will be shared in due time, I pinky swear.

Right now I’m giving you some of what I’m doing!

Posting on Food Embrace will be reduced from 5-6 days a week to, I’m not sure how much. I want to say three days a week but there might be a day or two extra if I get the chance. I do need to create a schedule and stick to it. The types of posts will not change, everything is staying food and fitness related. Oh and beer because, well it’s me.

Redemption

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Andrea

I could not wait for pizza this week! After last week’s debacle, I was really jonsing for a great pizza. It also felt like an amazing reward for what turned out to be a long and super productive week.

I’m currently working on a new business plan that I’ve put into effect this week and as a result but the time the end of the work day on Thursday rolled around, I had already attended 6 personal business meetings and 2 group business meetings.

Please look past that horrible sentence structure and focus on the stats! Thank you, ever so.

I put the pizza in the oven and poured a taste of red while it baked and I chatted with Scott (about more business stuff). Here is where I would link to my instagram photo of my wine but I have no idea how to do this. I also have no idea how people get two pictures or split pics on their instagram feed. If you can tell me I would greatly appreciate it!

Review: Red Gold’s Culinary Classics

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Andrea

I was recently contacted by Red Gold to see if I would like to try out some of their new tomato products that they are putting on the market.

I’ve worked with Red Gold before and I enjoy their products a great deal so I agreed! I got sent two 28oz cans of their newest products to hit the market.

The one I was drawn to first was their Culinary Classics Sliced Tomatoes and Zucchini. I gave the ingredient list a once over and there was nothing scary or weird in the list. Bonus!

I decided to use the tomatoes in a seafood stew.

This stew has a tomato and chicken stock base and is filled with potatoes, cod, bay scallops, and shrimp.

I’m still tinkering with the recipe, you’ll have to give me some time with it!

The tomatoes had a great flavor and I thought being sliced they would be on the thinner side but they were HUGE. In fact they were so big that for this stew, I had to get out the immersion blender and break them down just a tad.

Weekend Food Highlights

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Andrea

Hi all! I was having some technical issues with the blog yesterday and couldn’t connect to get my pictures. I called IT Scott and he fixed the issue. Now things are working properly again!

Just a few highlights from our weekend! I was contacted by my local Whole Foods and asked to participate in their annual Parmesan event. I have to create a recipe for them using parm as the main ingredient. I swung by WF on Saturday to pick up the cheese. Exciting! I’ll be working on my recipe this week!

While I was at WF, I picked up some buttermilk. For some weird reason I have had buttermilk stuck in my head. I wanted some so very badly! I looked and looked but could not find a local source for buttermilk. I also could not find an organic version other than Horizon which I won’t buy, so I was stuck. I finally broke down and bought a small container of cultured buttermilk from a source I’m not familiar with. It happens.

Disappointing

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Andrea

This is all I have for you this week in regards to pictures of our pizza. I was very hungry when it was time to eat and I was slightly disappointed in the way the pizza turned out, resulting in not taking many pictures.

Bummer because I was looking forward to this pizza all week!

On Monday, Scott and I went on a scouting mission to one last appliance store to check out kitchen appliances. Our kitchen needs all new appliances, save for the stove because she’s new, purchased a few years ago.

President’s Day is a big sale weekend when it comes appliances and bedding it seems so all weekend long we were off hunting for the best deals, taking pictures, and comparing specs.

My patience for this is limited. Scott will compare and research till his eyes bleed. Partly because he enjoys research but mostly because plopping down large chunks of money and making a decision are not his strong points. I, on the other hand, have about a two day limit before a decision will be made whether you like it or not.

Kitchen Time

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Andrea

Yesterday I needed some time to myself. I also desperately needed some time in the kitchen and thankfully I was able to combine both of those things.

We have a lot going on here at the HQ and it’s all stuff that, for one reason or another, I can’t talk about just yet.

But it has us going and going and going with a lot of doing thrown in for good measure. We have been so busy and so focused on all these events that it quickly became overwhelming to me. There have been a few days where I told Scott I just needed to crash out because I needed a break. Enter in my couch and PS3 because on those days, that’s exactly what we did (Borderlands anyone? Anyone?).

I tend to shut down when things get overwhelming to me. I get quiet and sort of fall into myself. I also get cranky quickly over minor things. I realized that I was doing this and decided I needed to do something about it.

Review: Brix Chocolate

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Andrea

During one of our visits to World Market, Scott pointed out this Brix chocolate to me and said I should try some.

I read the description and saw that it was chocolate developed to pair specifically with wine. Since I like dark chocolate with red wine, this was a no-brainer purchase for me. In the cart it went and I haven’t looked back.

This chocolate is very smooth and melts on your tongue quickly. Velvety chocolate nibbles for a post dinner treat.

I normally stick with their darkest variety but for Christmas, Scott got me a sampler pack. It contained four little bricks of all of their chocolates.

The chocolate is presented in brick form with the idea that you break off a piece to nibble as you like. Much like how a cheese plate is presented for wine tastings.

With each chocolate there are wine note pairings and suggestions. After trying all of the chocolate I have to say that each flavor goes with most wines.

Red Red Wine

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Andrea

This week was birthday week here at the HQ for Mr. Scott. For the next couple of weeks (until my birthday) I am referring to him as “my old man” because both of us are in a new age bracket this year.

Exciting (please note the sarcasm.).

With birthday week comes a special pizza! I decided to play around with the crust a little bit and see what would happen if I mixed in some butter, garlic, and red wine.

I did orginally think that the wine would turn the pizza more of a pinkish color but maybe that’s because I didn’t use a bunch of it, only a little splash. I added the wine in place of adding in water when I added more flour to the bloomed yeast. I also used melted butter and about 3 cloves of chopped garlic that got added in place of the olive oil.

Earlier in the week (For Zombie Appreciation Day) we had pasta with a homemade meat sauce. I had leftovers of the sauce that I purposely saved for pizza.

Tips On Meal Planning

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Andrea

Recently a reader asked me about sharing a few tips for meal planning. Meal planning is a hot topic and one that clients ask me about the most.

This particular reader is looking for meal prepping tips along with suggestions for quick and easy meals.

Let’s start with foods that can be prepped ahead of time:

Rice
Pasta
Beans
Veggies like lettuce, carrots, broccoli, celery, greens
Precooking some chicken to be added to meals

All of those things can be cooked ahead of time and be ready to go when you are ready to assemble a meal. Plus they are all easily portable!

Brown rice is great for breakfast mixed with some yogurt, granola, and some fruit. Or a splash of nondairy milk, granola, and fruit. It can also be added to a salad or mixed up with some beans and sauteed veggies.

Also having some canned salmon or tuna on hand makes for quick protein addition to meals.