Sexy Summer Salad

This sweet and savory little number has it all. Crunchy nuts, softly roasted root veggies, snappy greens, sweet cherries and a salty kiss of feta. Don't blame me if you fall in love after the first bite.

2 T Walnuts, chopped
1 C Hakurei Turnips, peeled, cut into half moons
6 ea Baby Carrots, sliced longways
1 T Walnut Oil, divided
Pinch each kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cracked black pepper
2 C Turnip Greens, washed, chopped
9 ea Cherries, fresh, pitted, quartered
2 T Feta Cheese, crumbled
1 t Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste (I used Pink Himalayan Salt from Trader Joe's)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread walnuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast util medium brown. They burn quickly - as soon as you can smell them they are usually just about ready. Set aside to cool.

In a medium mixing bowl, toss turnips and carrots with 1/2 tablespoon of walnut oil. Add kosher salt, onion & garlic powders and cracked black pepper. Toss to evenly distribute the seasonings. Spread turnip and carrot mixture in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees until the vegetables start to brown on the edges and are tender. Set aside to cool.

Once the walnuts and vegetables are room temperature put them both in a mixing bowl. Add turnip greens and cherries then toss to evenly combine everything.

Add feta, reserved walnut oil, balsamic and salt/pepper. Carefully and gently mix everything together.

Makes one entree sized portion, two side salad portions or 4 something healthier instead of chips with a sandwich portions.

Nutrition info is for the entree portion, cut numbers in half for the side salads; divide by 4 for the sandwich platter portions:

Calories: 472
Fat: 32g
Sat Fat: 7g
Poly Fat: 17g
Mono Fat: 4g
Trans Fat: 0g
Protein: 17g
Carbs: 43g
Fiber 13g

How to lose 70 pounds forever

After gaining weight slowly over the years, I tried doing what I did when I was younger to lose weight. I did a lot of cardio - which achieved nothing now that I was in my late 30s. After a few years of trying this unsuccessfully, I had put on even more weight which caused recurring bouts of bronchitis so severe I was incapacitated. Not to mention the abject distain I felt when looking in the mirror. At 5'4" and almost 190 pounds, I was almost wider than I was tall...

My degree is in clinical dietetics and I held multiple certifications in the field. How could I be in this situation? Was I stupid? Lazy? Neither was true so I used my knowledge of clinical dietetics as a starting point and began my quest to find out exactly what needs to happen to achieve weight loss permanently.

Turns out almost all the information and lifestyle we are surrounded by is WRONG! Here's some examples...

3 squares a day - great way to gain weight
Cut down on snacks - pack on the pounds
Give up your favorite food - recipe for disaster
Eating low calorie - great way to make sure we stay fat forever

Many weight loss plans reduce calories by 500 to 1000 calories a day to lose weight. But doing that is a guarantee we lose muscle instead of fat which will lead to the weight coming back on.

Going on a diet means someday going off the diet. Once we start eating the same way we used to, the weight comes back and is even harder to lose. Any diet plan that actually puts you on a diet is lying to you. They want you to fail so they keep you coming back.

Running healthcare kitchens for over a decade has taught me to systemize anything to achieve maximum performance with minimum input. Using the information I learned combined with my systemization technique produced amazing results...

70 pounds of fat lost in a year and a half! 
And it's still gone!

I lost weight without going on a diet, buying expensive tasteless foods or taking weird supplements. (Who knows what's really in those diet pills?) Eating more frequently and understanding how much water, activity and nutrition my body personally needs got me where I wanted to be.

Many plans preach insane amounts of water but my body only need 7 cups a day. The weight came off (and stays off) eating 50% carbs, 20% protein and 30% fat. I still like to bake and continue to take my coffee with half and half so I don't give up out of self depravation.

Activity is not hours of cardio but is a balance of cardio and some weight training. And making sure I don't sit on my keister for too long at work without moving. Same at home - can't spend too much time blogging without some movement.

It's about understanding the needs of our individual bodies and eating to meet those needs. Losing weight really is all about the food.

-DK

Superhero Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Rich in anti oxidants, omega 3s and fiber, this delicious crisp might just save your life!



Filling:

Rhubarb raw 2 1/3 cups sliced
Strawberries 2 1/3 cups sliced
Splenda blend 1/2 cup
Corn starch 3 T
Lemon zest 1 t
Splash water
Pinch salt

Using spatula mix filling ingredients thoroughly

Topping:

Whole oat flour 3/4 cup
Butter salted 3 T
Flax meal 1/4 cup
Chopped walnuts 1/3 cup
Salt 1/8 t

Nuke butter till soft but not melted
Use mixer or hands mix or rub all ingredients together until thoroughly combined


Assembly:

Butter baking dish
Put filling evenly in dish, scraping all goodness from bowl into baking dish
Sprinkle topping evenly on top, squeezing some together to make "crumbs" and dropping them on top as well

Bake at 350 for 45min to 1 hour or until filling bubbles thickly all around edges and top is lightly browned
Let cool to lukewarm before eating
Serves 6

Nutrition info:

Calories 303
Carb 45g
Pro 4g
Fat 12g
Sat 4g
Polyunsaturated 4g
Monounsaturated 1g
Trans fat 0g
Chol 15g
Sodium 89mg
Potassium 244mg
Vit A 5%
Vit C 71%
Calcium 14%
Iron 7%

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

....and performance is all about....you guessed it....FOOD!
Fueling up 5-6 times a day is the best way to keep the ol metabolism cranked and burning excess calories even when we're sitting still. But it can be overwhelming to try and eat healthy that many times a day without some forethought. Plus, life is crazy busy - who has time to cut up veggies, make salads and grill chicken on a week night between picking up the kids and softball practice.
Get stuff ready when there's time, put in the fridge and freezer and it's goodnesspalooza every day. On a weekend or, in my case a random weekday off, take a little time and:
-chop & clean greens
-clean and cut celery & carrots into sticks
-rinse some sugar snap peas and cut off those pointy ends
-wash all the fruit from food shopping
-cut up fridge fruits like pineapple & kiwi
-clean and cut up peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and onions
-break down a head of broccoli...cut and wash florets; run stems through a grater blade of a food processor (great for broccoli slaw)
-grill off a family pack of chicken
-boil off noodles, rinse in cold water and toss lightly with olive oil
Time spend achoppin' and acookin' burns calories - hey, it's activity so it counts!
Tossing together a salad for lunch at work is a breeze. Fresh fruit for school lunch boxes is ready to go. Fresh veggies for a dinner side is a splash of water and a short nuke from ready. Stir fries almost put themselves together what with the ready to go noodles and veggies. Smoothies for breakfast: done! The possibilities are as endless as they are easy.
Scheduling food prep increases veggie and fruit consumption and reduces the chance a stressed you will stop for fast food between obligations. It's like being your own private chef.
-DK

Smoothiemania is Running Wild!

Based on all my cupcake posts, it would seem that they are the biggest part of my diet. Nothing is further from the truth. I am all about 80/20 - eat right 80% of the time and the 20% that's not so healthy will take care of itself. Everything fits into a healthy diet and I never feel deprived.
Smoothies are my breakfast go to. Set 'em up the night before, put the blender cup in the fridge and then let 'er rip in the AM. A great way to start the day with nutrition packed goodness - it keeps me healthier and smarter in the face of managing the prep, delivery and cleanup of 1200 meals a day at work. They help me maintain my 65 pound weight loss and fuel me to train for my first ever mud run this June.
Best part is...they're never the same way twice cause my base recipe can be made with whatever's on hand.
Here's the deal:
1/2 cup liquid (water, skim milk, almond milk, soy milk, etc)
1 medrool date ( to sweeten it up)
1 tsp ground guarana seed (so I don't need a separate cup of coffee to get going)
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (whey, soy, brown rice, pea, etc)
1/2 piece of fruit (apple, pear, banana, orange, etc) or 1 cup berries (blueberries, quartered strawberries, raspberries, etc)
1/2 cup solid vegetable (celery, cucumber, carrot)
3 cups leafy greens (collards, chard, spinach, arugula, beet tops, carrot tops, radish leaves, parsley - go easy on the tops because the flavor is strong, mix them with the milder greens)
Handful of ice (only in the summer for me - too cold in the winter!)
And it's adjustable - just have leafy greens on hand - omit the solid veggie and replace with another cup of greens. Easy peasy.
A pretty powerful blender is needed to tame this beast. Here in casa de Krohne we use a Blendtec.
Try it- you'll like it and you're bod will look and feel great.
-DK

Big People Cupcake Party

I love cupcakes - fast to cook, cool & decorate. Easier to handle during decorating than a cake - can darn near juggle them without harm. Try tossing around a 12" layer that way and all you'll end up with is tasty crumbs. Of course, then you can make cake pops but that's another post altogether.
Overall I eat a crazy healthy diet but sometime I gotta indulge both creatively and sweets wise.

As a mom and brownie troop leader, I also need to talk to people taller than 3 1/2 feet tall sometimes. To satisfy all these needs (cause it is ALL about me!), I threw a Big Person Cupcake Party last weekend.




Nothing complicated, just a few friends and Wilton's Black Eyed Coffee House Cupcakes served in demitasse mugs because anything worth doing is worth overdoing. The baking cups fit perfectly in the demitasse mugs - foodie heaven.

The frosting recipe is very one note. To punch it up add:
-a pinch of salt (I used pink Himalayan)
-a little vanilla (I used ground Tahitian vanilla bean)
-about a tablespoon of molasses

Oh, and...do yourself a favor and double the filling recipe - you'll need it.

I started decorating with the Wilton tip #22 but I would have had a lot of frosting left over and it seemed like a shrimpy amount on top of the cupcakes.



Digging through my decorating kit for better options, I first thought of using the 1M but I use it sooooo much for cupcakes. Then I saw the 1F and almost dismissed it cause it's a monster. Then the phrase Go Big or Go Home came to mind and I went for it. Love the way it turned out. A little grated chocolate and a royal icing flower later and viola!




Coffee, cupcakes and friends...best recipe ever.
-DK

Easter Cupcakes 2.0

I love cupcakes.  ALOT.  Probably more than what's healthy.

Playing with cake and icing flavor combinations. Planning how to decorate them...daydream material. Putting them on a pretty stand...so girly and fun. 

Who's to know those sweet royal icing flowers were piped while watching Descent 2 on Fearnet while cursing a blue streak at my inability to get the daisies just right. Good times.

These little beauties made quite a hit at last year's Easter get together. So much so that I was requested to make a similar setup as centerpieces for a bridal shower. Niiiice.

Made the royal icing flowers at least a day ahead to give them time to dry. I used the recipe from Pretty Party Cakes by Peggy Porschen. I'm not posting the recipe because I don't believe in sharing recipes unless the author posted them online themselves. Buy the book - it's worth the price just for the pictures. (But honey, I swear I read it for the recipes!)

The cupcake recipe is from the Neelys on Food Network's website. Only I didn't make PB&J cupcakes like in the original but used the base cupcake recipe with my own flavor twist. It's a moist yellow cake with a little something special due to the Creme Bouquet. 

Ingredients
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I decreased vanilla to 1/2 t and added 1.5 t of Creme Bouquet)
Directions

Put an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the sour cream to the butter and sugar mixture and continue to beat until incorporated. Add the eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed into the batter. Add in the vanilla and continue to mix. Slowly add the dry ingredients, in increments, and mix until combined.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners to fill 3/4 of the way. Put in the oven and bake until the cupcakes are a pale gold color and a cake tester comes out clean, about for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let cool in the tins for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting and filling.

And since every great cupcake needs frosting, I used my very favorite Swiss Meringue recipe from Cake Central's website.If you decide to make it, make your life easy and use pasteurized 100% liquid egg whites. They meringue up beautifully and if you don't have to worry about food borne illness if your thermometer isn't calibrated correctly. People who don't like frosting will like this frosting. It is not "too sweet" and is HIGHLY addictive. But do not, DO NOT!!!!!!!! add the butter in step 4 of the recipe until the meringue is room temperature. I cannot emphasize that enough. If the butter melts, you will have tasty, unsalvageable soup. (Yeah, I messed one up once the night before a delivery and had to run to the store for more ingredients and start ALL over at 9:00PM so I would have the cake ready on time the next day. Hoo!)

Ingredients

12 oz (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp5 egg whites
8 oz (1 cup) granulated sugar
2 TBSP real vanilla extract

Instructions
Place the egg whites and the sugar in a bowl or top of a double boiler and place it over a pot of simmering water, whisking until it registers 160 degrees. (Whisking keeps the white from turning into scrambled eggs)

Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer and whip it with the whisk on medium high until it is reaches the stiff peak stage.While the meringue is beating, cut up the butter into tbsp sized pieces.When meringue is ready, switch to the paddle attachment, turn on low, and slowly add the butter. (One tablespoon at a time, waiting until each piece of butter is incorporated before adding the next piece)

Add vanilla.

Turn on medium high and let it rip until you have a lovely silky buttercream. You will hear a slapping sound when it's ready. (It may look curdled before it smooths out. DON"T PANIC! Just let it mix and it'll all work out.)

Frost the cupcakes with a large, plain round tip, place the flowers and sprinkle strategically with pastel dragees for some shine. Serve them at room temp, this type of frosting is not nearly as amazing when it's cold.

-DK