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Surprise! It’s a new camera!

Right now I’m in San Francisco meeting up with some bloggies 🙂 More on that later.

This is my surprise!

d40

I got a new-to-me Nikon D40 on Craigslist! It came with a different lens than the kit lens (one for longer distances), so I need to get a close-up lens too. The guy did give me the kit lens for free, but it’s broken – if I can get it fixed I might.

In between figuring out my camera and procrastinating, I found time to scare the cats.

me yelling

Bo thinks I’m being stupid.

bo staring

I love the camera. I made this for breakfast yesterday (recipe to come) – “brancakes“:

23 brancakes

Nice picture, right? Back later. Happy Sunday! P.S. There’s a free concert today in Golden Gate Park featuring Train, Colbie Caillat, and Howie Day. It’s noon-5pm; Bobby and I will be there for at least some of it.

P.P.S. Bobby is going to start doing P90X and I might try some of the exercises with him. Any thoughts? (He was going to try training for a half-marathon, but I think this is a better option.)

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Recipe: Pepper-Lime Red Snapper

I made this for dinner on Thursday night. We had it topped with Herdez salsa and I also put parmesan cheese on mine. Bobby had his with seasoned rice (keep reading for instructions) and I had mine with buttered kabocha.

Pepper-Lime Red Snapper

20 red snapper

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 2 red snapper fillets
  • juice from 1/2 lime
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated pepper
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic, grated
  • topping: salsa, parmesan

Directions

  1. Combine the fillets, lime juice, pepper, salt, and grated garlic in a bowl. Mix around so the fish is well coated. Let it sit 5-10 minutes in the refrigerator so the flavors really sink in.
  2. Heat a pan on high heat. Spray with cooking oil or PAM. Cook the fish for 3-4 minutes on the first side, covered. Flip them over and cook them another 3-4 minutes uncovered.
  3. Serve with fresh salsa and your cheese of choice (optional, of course). Seasoned rice is a good side.

19 red snapper

Seasoned rice: add salt and pepper to your rice (1 cup dry) while it’s cooking (I do mine in the rice cooker – so simple). In the last 3-4 minutes toss in chopped carrots and celery. At the end, add 1 tablespoon of butter and mix it around until it melts and blends in.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to to San Francisco for a blogger meetup with Kath and maybe Jenna! I also have another awesome announcement. You’ll have to wait to hear about it though 🙂 Bobby has class all day so I’m going to try to get lots of work done. Go enjoy your weekend!

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Recipe: Protein Fiber Crepes

These are protein and fiber crepes that I made two mornings ago. I also have a recipe for egg white crepes here.

Protein Fiber Crepes

17 protein fiber crepes

Ingredients

  • 4 egg whites
  • scant 1/3 cup wheat bran (or oat bran, or whole wheat flour)
  • 2 tablespoons peanut butter (I used PB2 powder)
  • stevia or other sweetener, to taste (I did about 2 teaspoons stevia)
  • dash of salt
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup water
  • toppings: kefir, real maple syrup, grapes

Directions

  1. Mix all the ingredients (except the toppings) together. Beat it well. You may add more or less water to get the right consistency. It should be smooth, but not watery.
  2. Heat a nonstick pan over high heat. Lightly spray with cooking oil.
  3. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the pan. Let it cook through until you can flip it. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
  4. Top with your desired toppings. Maple syrup (real, of course) is my favorite.

18 protein fiber crepes

The crepes alone (no toppings, using PB2) offer up just 160 calories, 33 grams of protein, 8.3 grams of fiber, 16.3 carbohydrates, and 3.6 grams of fat. Using real peanut butter will obviously give you more healthy fats; I’ll probably try this at some point. Once you add the kefir and maple syrup you’ll have a very well-rounded breakfast. Mine came out kind of ugly, but that’s because my non-stick pan is no longer non-stick.

maple syrup

I recently found a fantastic deal on Coombs Family Farms maple syrup thanks to Alisa at One Frugal Foodie. I got 4 pounds (2 jugs) of organic syrup for just $26.00 on Amazon, and free shipping. All you have to do is pick your maple syrup and use the code BASCOM35 when you check out. You get an additional 15% off if you sign up for their subscription program, which you can just cancel after you get your syrup. My order arrived 2 days after I sent it in. The deal ends on September 30, so make your order quick! I picked Grade B, which is really flavorful.

I also made a version of these crepes yesterday – they included chia seeds and Amazing Grass Supergreens. For some reason they were not crepe-like in the least; they were more like a mushy bran scramble. They tasted fine, but they were quite hideous. I’ll spare you the picture.

Okay, I have no idea why I’m awake at 5AM when I went to bed after 1AM. I’m going to make the most of it and try to be productive. Off to post at A Love of Words…

P.S. Have you submitted your healthy pasta recipes yet?

P.P.S Last chance at Katie’s giveaway!

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Cheesy Roasted Veggies

This recipe is so simple. If you’re vegan, omit the cheese or replace with a vegan cheeze.

Cheesy Roasted Veggies

13 roasted broccoli

Ingredients

  • 1-2 heads of broccoli, chopped (you can use the stem too)
  • Brussels sprouts, quartered
  • onions (optional)
  • spices: dill, salt, pepper
  • 2-3 teaspoons olive oil (more if you use more veggies)
  • 1-2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (I used organic raw)
  • cooking spray

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
  2. Toss the chopped veggies with the spices and olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes on a cooking-sprayed pan.
  3. Top with cheese; return to the oven for 5-10 more minutes.
  4. Serve, optionally topped with more cheese.

14 roasted broccoli

Another recipe I’ve been loving recently is my faux cheesecake. Cottage cheese, banana, and some other yums make this a wonderful dessert. This time I added some granola for a cheesecake-type crust.

15 faux cheesecake

Seriously, if you haven’t made this yet – go make it. You can substitute Greek yogurt for the cottage cheese and it’s just as good.

16 faux cheesecake

What’s your favorite healthy dessert?

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Simple Thai Stir-fry with Spiralized Summer Squash

I made this yesterday for lunch. My lovely sister sent me a spiralizer for my birthday and I had been dying to find a good recipe for it. I made zucchini noodles a few days ago, but once I was done I wasn’t in the mood for zucchini. I put them in the fridge and almost forgot about them until lunchtime yesterday. You definitely don’t have to use spiralized summer squash though; you could just chop it up, or use a different vegetable altogether.

I based this off of a stir-fry that we had on Monday night when our friends Ryan and Janet came over. I’ll share pics of that at the end. The ingredients list looks long, but I promise it’s simple. Read the instructions and you can substitute any veggies/proteins that you want!

Simple Thai Stir-fry with Spiralized Summer Squash

09 thai stir-fry

Ingredients (serves 1 Maggie as a meal; 2-4 as a side)

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed or grated
  • protein: a few slices of chopped tofurkey, or some tofu, or other protein (chicken, lunchmeat, shrimp)
  • veggies: 1/2 medium white onion = <1/2 cup total; 2 medium stalks of celery, sliced = <1 cup total; 5 Brussels sprouts, cut in quarters
  • 1-2 tablespoons fish sauce (optional for vegans/vegetarians)
  • 2-3 tablespoons pineapple juice (other fruit juice would work too)
  • 1 tablespoon sweetener (I used about 2 teaspoons Trader Joe’s stevia)
  • spices: dash of red pepper flakes (1/4 teaspoons), a few sprinkles of fresh ground pepper
  • 1 large summer squash = 2+ cups of spiralized summer squash noodles (or use real noodles/pasta! I’d toss in some cooked vermicelli)

Directions

08 thai stir-fry

  1. Heat the oil in a wok on high heat. Add the garlic, tofurkey, onion, celery, and Brussels sprouts. If you are using meat, you may want to add the meat by itself at first, before adding the rest of the veggies.
  2. Add the stevia, spices, pineapple juice, and fish sauce (if using). Saute for about 4-5 minutes.
  3. Add the zucchini. Continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes.
  4. Serve hot, plain or with rice.

I enjoyed this with a nice cup of organic Throat Comfort Yogi tea. “Live from your heart, you will be most effective.”

07 throat tea

When we had this with Ryan and Janet, Ryan made it and he used chicken for the protein, and sugar in the raw for the sweetener.

10 ryan janet bobby cooking

The veggies were: celery, scallions, yellow pepper, and green chilis (no Brussels or zucchini), and also cashews.

11 thai stir-fry

Bobby, Ryan, and Janet all had theirs with rice; I had mine with spaghetti squash. This is my first plate.

12 thai stir-fry spaghetti squash

Ryan has a Nikon D40 (the SLR I might want – I’m also looking at the D3000) and he let me play with it when they came over. I really really want it. I’m not sure if I can justify spending almost $500 (or more on the D3000) on a new camera, when it’s my fault that I broke my old one, and I don’t have a full-time job. One reader reminded me that I can call it a tax write-off, which is making me lean towards getting it.

What was the last thing you splurged on?