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smells like christmas December 21, 2009

Posted by molly in : healthy habits , 4comments

today has been a wonderful fake christmas day so far! phil and i decided to have our own mini christmas a few days early – so we have unwrapped most of our presents, and are going to have a wonderful feast tonight. and then watch love actually. total cheese.

anyway, major thank you to my dad for supplying the keyboard with which i am typing this lil blog post — that’s right, folks, i’m the proud owner of a brand new laptop! it is so pretty. i still need to think of a name. skye, a little help?

also, thank you to naomi of the gluttonous vegan! we met up for some delicious raw cake over the weekend, had a great chat, and i couldn’t be happier to have such a wonderful new friend in london. she graciously wrote a lil something about the particular kitchen on her blog, so now i must obviously do the same. go check it out – she is an amazing photographer and from the looks of it a wonderful cook!

and while we’re on the subject of new stuff, i got a haircut today and it is preeeeeeeeetty drastic. i generally don’t do boring haircuts, but since i’ve been to london, the mop hasn’t been too radical. but today i decided to throw caution to the wind and go for something slightly outrageous. so i’m a bit shorter, a bit brighter, and feeling shiny and new just in time for the holidays. woop!

food-wise, i made a delicious snack yesterday and have to give it a huge ringing endorsement. mama pea knows a thing or two about delicious grub.

pumpkin spice roasted chickpeas

check peas and thank you for the original recipe!

time to make the delicious feast. menu includes at least two recipes i learned at leith’s!

juicing December 13, 2009

Posted by molly in : healthy habits , 3comments

the particular kitchen just got a WHOLE lot healthier. my very generous grandma gave me a wonderful early christmas present (since it’s a little too big to bring to the states and then back to england again). A JUICER!

i’m so excited to start making my own juices (and coulis and cold soups and cocktails…) – so excited in fact that i made some fantastic stuff yesterday morning after making my weekly trip to the local farmer’s market. p.s. they have their own website finally – check out my beloved barnes farmer’s market!

i picked up a huge bag of apples and pears as well as some carrots and spinach, and immediately got juicing. phil and i decided to experiment by using 4 cox apples, 3 large carrots, and a couple of pieces of ginger (admittedly large pieces).

the result was a very orange and delicious juice, but i think the best part is the process of actually making the juice (the worst part is cleaning up all the leftover pulp GROSS). there is something weirdly satisfying about pressing the pieces of fruit and veg through the tube and watching it become a slow trickle of colourful juice into your cup. i can’t wait to start experimenting with different combinations. and eventually building up the courage to do green juices with spinach, kale, etc. and maybe even beetroot! ooh exciting!

all of this:

became this:

delish!

eat your greens December 7, 2009

Posted by molly in : healthy habits , 3comments

do you need more greens in your life? don’t we all. how about trying an extremely simple and tasty greens dish that takes mere minutes to make.

this comes to us from my step-mom’s cookbook that she made for me and her son a few christmases ago. the recipes are split up into the four seasons and all the pages have her own illustrations. it’s a beautiful little book and i love to try and make some of her dishes now and then.

today for lunch, i whipped up a nice big wok full of her greens recipe, with a couple of added extras. try it, you might like it!

elizabeth’s greens

the particulars:

  1. stir fry the onion, ginger, raisins, and pine nuts in the olive oil in a large wok until soft or caramelised.
  2. chop up the greens coarsely, then thrown them in a strainer and quickly clean, shaking off excess water. leave some dampness on them which will help to cook/steam them in the stirfry quickly.
  3. turn up the heat to high and add the greens, still damp from the strainer. stir them vigorously as they quickly cook and decrease in size. add the splash of vinegar once they have softened a little. do not cover, but continue to cook until they have wilted and everything is mixed together. serve hot, either as a side or main dish.

lesson learned: today i used good ol’ kale and something called “spring greens” – whatever they were, it was a delicious addition to my lunch (which also included goat’s cheese on toast and a few slices of tomato).

super vegetarian November 10, 2009

Posted by molly in : healthy habits, particularly random , 7comments

growing up, my family were strict meat eaters. to this day, i always get a nice fluttery feeling when i think about the impending holidays and all the turkey and roast beef. mmmm meat. so i guess i’ll never be a strict veg, but i’ve absolutely changed my ways since moving to london and living with one. you won’t find any meat in my kitchen (but that doesn’t mean i won’t order some when we’re at a restaurant).

every time i pick up a new cooking or food magazine, i always tear out the vegetarian recipes first. this one comes from olive and was colourful, beautiful, and delicious. all the herbs were fresh from the farmer’s market last weekend. how wonderful is the smell of fresh thyme? yummmm.

roasted butternut squash with goat’s cheese

based on this recipe from olive magazine, and halved.

IMG_7480

the particulars:

  1. heat the oven to 200C/gas 6. cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds then cut criss-cross patterns over the cut-side of each one. mix together the garlic, 1 tbsp olive oil, chilli and thyme and brush this mixture over the flesh. bake for about 40 minutes until the flesh is tender.
  2. to make the filling, put the courgette, pepper and onion in a roasting tin and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil. season and roast for about 20-25 minutes until tender and starting to brown at the edges. add the cherry tomatoes and pine nuts and cook for another 10 minutes.
  3. mix the breadcrumbs, goat’s cheese, and parsley. arrange the roasted vegetables in the squash halves, scatter with the breadcrumb and cheese mix and bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

lesson learned: the squash was a bit on the firm side, so could use maybe 10 more minutes in our little oven. other than that, the flavours were great and it was perfectly filling.

sober september September 23, 2009

Posted by molly in : healthy habits , 2comments

for no special reason, phil and i decided to have a sober september. i’ve never done a sober month before (he has) and i wanted to see if it would [a] be really difficult and [b] make a noticeable difference in my body and overall health.

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we went on two vacations in the month of august, which meant more alcohol than normal (even though we’re not heavy drinkers — we usually stick to the 3 nights a week rule), and we had no major plans or parties to go to in september, which led to us getting on the wagon.

so far, it’s been pretty smooth sailing. i’ve only really MISSED having a drink a couple of times — out at a pub or at a friend’s house — but for the most part, my body got used to the lack of alcohol quickly. the difficulty factor came out early on, since london is a city built around pubs, bars, and off-licenses. you can’t walk down a street here without being confronted by the lure of a drink.

health-wise, i have more energy, feel better in the mornings (hangover or not), and don’t have that bloated blah feeling nearly as much.

it reminds me of how i felt once i stopped eating the foods i discovered i was allergic to. this may be a new leaf i’m turning over. i think i might cut back even more on the drinking once the month is over. and no, i’m not going to get hammered in october! but i can’t say no to a good glass of wine every once in a while.

[photo by phil, taken at john's pizzeria in nyc]