August 7, 2009

Plain but Tasty Toast

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Happy Friday!!  7 more hours to the weekend (I get to leave work at 5pm), but who’s counting??

I wasn’t so hungry for breakfast this morning, but wanted to eat something before I left the house in order to avoid a grumbling stomach on my drive into work. I have a long commute (about 1 hours and 15 minutes) so if I don’t eat before leaving home I am usually starving by the time I make it to work.

I had a slice of raisin toast with apple cobbler on the side. I had left the cobbler I made for John Monday night in the refrigerator at work and only ended up giving it to him yesterday! The crumbs were a little soggy, but it still tasted OK :)

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After I ate the cobbler and toast I realized I was hungrier than I first thought and had a second piece of toast.

 I can’t put butter (allergy!) on my toast and the raisins were sweet enough so I didn’t need any jelly. That’s why I like raisin bread because I can eat it plain and it’s still tasty :) I can’t have nut butters (allergy!) either so if I do want something on my toast it’s usually GRAPE jelly. Once in a while I like apricot preserves, but it’s not something I like enough to eat all the time.

When eating breakfast out I have found many diners/restaurants/coffee shops usually offer strawberry (allergy!) jelly so I have eaten many english muffins, bagels and toast plain :( I usually try to choose a bread like raisin or rye that I think has a little more taste to it than plain white or wheat bread so I don’t miss the extra flavor from butter and other  spreads too much.

 

August 4, 2009

Zucchina

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No, the title of my lunch post is not a typo. I got tired of writing zucchini since I eat it at least once a day now so I looked up how to say it in Italian, but it’s not so different at all!

At least the zucchini in my lunch wasn’t grilled this time.  It’s still growing like crazy in the veggie garden. I am surprised though that I’m not sick of it yet!

I  layered hummus, tomato and zucchini on two slices of rye bread and ate it as an open faced sandwich. The zucchini was cut into round slices, dipped in egg, breadcrumbs and then baked in the oven until crispy. I warmed up the zucchini and tomato in the microwave. I never warmed up slices of tomato in the microwave before, but it was good! I didn’t want to eat the zucchini cold and thought cold tomato and warm zucchini eaten together would just throw the whole sandwich off ;) It I could eat cheese, a zucchini and tomato pannini would probably taste real good… 

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I also packed some apple cobbler with my lunch and ate a little before I took the pic :)

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It’s another hot day with no rain in sight (I hope I didn’t just jinx it!) so I ate lunch outside. I got this lunch bag not so long ago to carry my lunch to work in. It’s my small effort to be green and not use a different plastic or paper bag every day :)

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Tonight’s dinner post will be a recap of my car EATS on the way to Philly last week.  See you then!

UPDATE: For accountability sake…my snacks this morning and afternoon were a nectarine, some watermelon and a serving of Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips :) Work is busy today so I didn’t have time to take photos in between meetings.

 

August 3, 2009

What’s Baking Tonight?

Posted by Anna under Recipe | Tags: , |
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I had the urge to bake something tonight since I’ve been away for the past few days and AWAY from the KITCHEN! I knew I wanted a TREAT, but I wanted it to be a  little healthy too. So I made one of my favorites- Apple Cobbler (my version)!

From Start to Finish:

I like to use a variety of apples. All the flavors from the different apples really makes it more tasty. This time I used Gala, Braeburn and Granny Smith apples.

Peel the apples and cut them into small chunks. I use about 6 large apples. Sprinkle as much or little CINNAMON on them as you like. If you want to add in some sugar now’s the time to do it. I usually don’t add any sugar as the apples are sweet enough for me!

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Pour half the apples into a ungreased glass baking dish and top it with some raisins. (There really are no precise measurements here!) Cranberries are also a good option. It makes for a good dessert at Thanksgiving time ;)

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Pour in the remaining apples and top with some more raisins.

Next comes the best part since this is supposed to be somewhat of a TREAT! The Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

I usually follow these measurments. You can always use 1/2 the amount of sugar though and it still comes out pretty good. I have added cinnamon to the CRUMB TOPPING and used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white flour too.

First mix the butter and sugar together until it gets smooth and creamy. Then add in the flour. Don’t be afraid to use your hands. It’s really the only way to form the crumbs so they stick together.

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Break the crumbs into chunks and place on top of the apples.

Bake at 385 for about 25 minutes. If you like your apples to be really soft bake for an extra 5-10 minutes. You may need to cover the dish with foil though if you see the crumbs getting too browned. Burnt crumbs are CRUMMY :(

Going into the oven:

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I made two batches- one for me and the other to bring to John tomorrow!

And the FINISHED product…

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I have to admit I do eat this Apple Cobbler for breakfast sometimes!! But it’s also good topped with cool whip or ice cream for dessert.

ALLERGY NOTE: Have you ever read the ingredients for a store bought apple pie, cobbler or crisp? I have and that’s why I prefer to make my own. Store bought pies, crisps and cobbler often have cocoa powder, butter and milk in them. In my crumb topping I use margarine or a butter substitiute. If I go to a bakery I always ask before buying anything if there’s cocoa powder or dairy products in the mix. Sometimes I can tolerate a little milk or butter in a recipe if it’s cooked, but I prefer not to eat it since it makes me sick.