Posted by terrepruitt on October 6, 2012
Ok, I really am not going to turn this blog into a Green Smoothie blog, but . . . I have been making them almost every day and I really would like to share so we will see where it goes. And, as I have told you in the past, food posts are VERY popular. So my third ever green smoothie was Pear, Cucumber, Baby Bok Choy, and Rainbow Chard. It was pretty good. I don’t usually eat pears. There is a salad that I make in which I include pears, but beyond that, I don’t eat them. Cucumber I have almost every night in my salad. If you have read my blog for a bit you know I am in LOVE with baby bok choy. And this is my introduction to chard. I think that cucumber is a great equalizer. It really helps mellow out flavors. The pear worked well to sweeten the smoothie. I am thinking that chard is not that bitter because this was not a bitter smoothie. It was nice. It was smooth. This one goes on my list of likes. 
But right now I am just experimenting and putting whatever I have in the smoothies. I am not doing it to lose weight, or detox, or cleanse, or any other reason but to get more fruits and vegetables in my diet. So for now anything goes. And let me say, that everything does not really go!
Third Green Smoothie
1 C water
1 pear
2 inches of large cucumber
1 SMALL bunch of baby bok choy
2 leaves rainbow chard
With my fourth smoothie I was using watermelon and I thought I had read that if you use a really watery fruit such as watermelon you can skip the water. Since I was using such a large amount of watermelon I didn’t use any water. Worked out fine. It was not a pretty green so I used a dark blue glass, which made it even less pretty. But it was tasty. I really like watermelon in the smoothie.
Fourth Green Smoothie
1 1/2 C Watermelon
1/2 apple
1 small bunch baby bok choy
2 leaves rainbow chard
My fifth smoothie I wanted to make very green so I used a HUGE amount of kale. Four kale leaves equates to a lot of kale. This was the most bitter of the smoothies that I had at this point. That was a lot of kale. You may notice in the recipe I ended up with a lot of fruit. That is because I ended up adding the banana after I tasted it because it was really bitter. Since my point of doing this is to get more fruits and veggies and not anything else (as I’ve stated above), I don’t feel I have to suffer through my smoothies. This is not a torture, it is
supposed to be an enjoyable way to get some veggies and provide my body with additional nutrition, not make me suffer. So I added the banana. I will just use less kale next time. Because I really do want to be drinking more of a veggie smoothie than a fruit smoothie.
Fifth Green Smoothie
1.5 C Watermelon
1 apple
3 pieces baby bok choy
4 kale leaves
1 banana
It is really funny because cooking kale in foods and putting it in salad does not taste as bitter to me. But for some reason, whirred up in a smoothie . . . whew. Could be I don’t usually have THAT much kale. That was a lot of kale.
I actually have made more smoothies than I am putting in this post. So . . . I have learned a lot of things so far. That will probably be my next post. “Things I have learned on my smoothie journey so far . . . ” 🙂
Maybe there is a recipe here you might enjoy. Let me know if you try one. Or share what you are putting in your blender.
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies | Tagged: baby bok choy, bitter smoothie, fruit smoothies, Fruits and vegetables, green smoothies, Kale, rainbow chard, smoothies | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 4, 2012
I don’t like to waste my bananas. My husband won’t eat them if they have one little tiny spot of brown. And I don’t usually eat that many bananas. So you might have learned from some of my posts that I usually use the over ripe bananas in banana bread or Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies. Both of these items are not low calorie nor low fat, they are just a way for me to use up my bananas and put a treat in my hubby’s lunch. I have a great recipe I found on the internet for banana bread. I think it was called the World’s Best Banana Bread and I actually think it is. I have issues cooking it though, it never seems cooked all the way through, but that could because it is hand mixed and the bananas kind of chunk up in the batter. Well, since I got a fancy new blender I have been trying to find things to use it for. In the recipe book there is a recipe for banana bread so I thought I would give it a try. Even though the ingredients get mixed in the blender the recipe calls for the bananas to be mashed. Before I stared I grabbed my camera fully intending on taking pictures along the way. The next thing I knew I was putting the pan in the oven. DRAT! I forgot to take pictures as I was making it. But I took some of the finished product. Can you see how smooth it is? Blender bread is really like “commercially made” bread.
I liked the taste ok. It was actually good. I think the vanilla yogurt added the extra sweet, yumminess. Since it has no butter it has to be less calories and grams of fat then my other recipe. And it really was good, but it was so . . . “commercial”. It was like a loaf of bread from the store. There was no texture, no chunks, no . . . personality.
In addition to using my blender the other reason I wanted to try this recipe is because it called for two bananas and that is what I had.
I can’t find the recipe on the Blendtec website and, of course, I did some modifying anyway, so here is what I did:
_________________________________
Blender Banana Bread
Using the WildSide Jar
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1/2 C low-fat vanilla yogurt
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 C wheat flour
3/4 C white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add first six ingredients to the container and secure lid. Select “Batters.” After that has blended, add the remaining four ingredients to the container and secure the lid. Press “Pulse” 3-5 times until dry ingredients are incorporated. (Do not over blend.) Pour batter into greased 9″X5″ loan pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
_______________________________
I guess the WildSide Jar and the FourSide Jar for this blender are very different because there are additional/different instructions if you are using the FourSide Jar.
Well, I know that I have been posting a lot about my blender, but . . . I am trying to get a fraction of the money’s worth out of it! I will not turn this blog into a blender blog, I will post about Nia, exercises, other health stuff, and even Zumba, but I am getting some post out of my first uses of the blender.
Do you like your banana bread smooth? Or do you like it more rustic and chunky?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: banana bread, Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies, blender bread, exercise, FourSide Jar, homemade bread, low calorie, low fat, Nia, Nia exercise, power blender, WildSide Jar, Zumba | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 2, 2012
When you do something, like Nia or use a blender every day, it gives you a lot of material to post on a blog! I’ve been using my birthday present almost every day. When I first heard of “super” blenders that made soup I thought that was crazy.
I thought that the blender had a heating element to heat up the soup. And there are some like that. But with the high-speed blenders, I didn’t realize the blades go fast enough to cause heat and heat up the soup. They go so fast it is hot! I didn’t think it would be something I would like. As you may know I love to make soup and one of the things I love about the soup I make is the fact that I do it all in one pot and then I use my immersion blender. I really like that. I don’t like having to pour cooked soup into a blender then blend it then pour it back into the pot to re-warm it. The soup recipes that I have seen for blender soup either have you doing that or have you cooking some if not the majority of ingredients before putting them in the blender. At this point, for some of my soups I will stick to my one pot and stick blender recipes. Another reason I like to make the soup in a pot is because I believe that cooking some of the ingredients as you go allows you to layer the flavors. Now, I know that phrase from cooking shows and I could be off base with what it means and what I am doing, but that is what I consider myself doing when I sauté onions and then garlic and then add the butternut squash and sauté it. Then add other spices, etc. It layers the flavors. But in a lot of the blender soup recipes you just dump it all in. Well, since I got the dang thing I decided to at least try one of the recipes for soup. I picked a recipe that does not require any other cooking. Just dump all the ingredients in the blender container and press soup. Now with that kind of ease I could maybe live without the layer of flavor if I liked the soup.
I like it ok. I think that if I followed the recipe exactly it would have more flavor, but I also think that if I follow the recipe exactly it would be too hot for me.
The recipe that came with the Blendtec Blender and is on their website is for Tortilla Soup.
Tortilla Soup
2 cups warm water
2 Roma tomatoes
1/2 large carrot
1 1 inch strip of red pepper
1/4 avocado
an onion wedge
1 1 inch X 1/2 inch chunk of pepper jack cheese Monterey jack
2 sprigs fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon no-salt herb seasoning Italian seasoning
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
The ingredients go into the blender in the order that they are listed then you press “Soups” on the blender and let it do its thing. It does really go so fast that it actually does get hot! Some people might like their soup piping hot so this MIGHT not be hot enough for them. But this type of soup is perfect at the temperature that the blender makes it.
It was not spicy because I didn’t use the pepper jack. I bet if you like that hot (spicy) cheese the soup is good with it. I will make it one day with the pepper jack because even if it ends up being too spicy hot for me, my hubby will eat it. For now, I am just using the Monterey jack.
The first time I made this it took me 30 minutes because I was going slow. The second time I made it, it was ready to eat in 20 minutes. So my title, So Fast It’s Hot, applies to the blades of the blender AND to the fact that this can be made and in a bowl in 20 minutes. Now that is HOT!
Before I got the blender I had an opinion about blender soup, what about you? What do you think about blender soup?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: 20 minute meal, 20 minute soup, blender soup, Blendtec, fast soup, hot soup, immersion blender, Nia, pepper cheese, Tomatoes, Tortilla Soup | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 29, 2012
Squats are great for the legs. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of a squat is sitting in a chair. So with the legs somewhat close together, the feet about shoulder width apart you then lowering your pelvis/buttocks down as if you are going to sit in a chair. When in reality a squat CAN be with a wider stance. I am vaguely remembering a “conversation” via comments on my blog about squats in Nia. We were talking about Nia squats being different from the squats in my Ten Minute Workout. I believe squats with weights are different from squats without weights. And I think that since I was focused on squats with weights I was not really thinking about side squats. We do side squats in Nia but now I think of that as Sumo Stance. The routine I am looking at right now has many squats in it. The squat works the legs, both front and back. The wider apart the feet the more the movement works the inner thighs. Since I am looking at a routine that has a lot of side squats or sumo stances it had me thinking . . . In addition to squats a way to get the adductors is to do movements where the leg is brought in towards the midline of the body. One exercise you might be familiar with is the inner thigh lift/raise. As with many exercises there are different versions and variations, but the basic of this one is lying on one side of your body with your torso propped up on your elbow. The “top” leg is back behind you with your foot flat on the floor. The other leg is straight down and lying on the floor. Then you lift the leg up toward the sky, keeping it parallel with the earth. So the inner thigh is being lifted toward the ceiling.
Well, this is a great one to use the weighted bar with. I had forgotten about my bar until recently. Then I remembered this exercise. I would recommend using shoes with the bar. I did it without shoes and I had to hold my foot at an odd angle to keep the bar from hurting my foot. I decided to continue my set without putting on shoes – because I didn’t want to stop – but I made a mental note to use shoes in the future.
One end of the bar rests on the foot of your straight leg. The bar runs the length of your body. The other end is up near your hands where you can secure it to the ground. Then you simply lift your leg. Make sure that the bar is resting firmly on your foot so it does not roll off and cause an injury. This exercise really targets the leg/hip adductors, the muscles that pull the thigh towards your body.
As I stated there are variations of this, some could be: dumbbells place on the thigh (and held securely!), instead of using the weighted bar. It can be done without any weights at all. And/or without weight, the upper leg and be in front.
I think it is a great idea to do different exercises to target the same muscles. Especially since when you do a different exercise to target a specific muscle or muscle group there are usually different or additional muscles that end up getting used. So it is nice to switch it up.
Might you switch it up and do thigh raises instead of squats? Are you familiar with the inner thigh lift?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: adductors, dumbbells, inner thigh lift, inner thigh raise, Nia, Nia exercise, squats, Sumo Stance, ten minute workout, weighted bar, weighted squats, wide stance squats | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 27, 2012
Yup, I am trying to do the Green Smoothie thing. Awhile back, I posted about not having time to eat breakfast before my Nia Classes. It is not that I don’t get up in time, it is that I don’t like to eat right when I get up. Then I think some time needs to pass after eating before I teach an exercise class. You might remember my post about how I was eating a banana on the way to class and I was ending up with heartburn. So I either have to get up an hour earlier or eat right when I get up. And/or maybe a green smoothie will help. Although I need to work on getting more protein in them then. Also, I am not sure about having that much liquid before class. I have found that the smoothies make about two glasses. Maybe I can drink one before class and save the other for after class. Oh, and, yes, I do do a lot of my thinking out loud on my blog . . . . 🙂 My last post was about my birthday present. So far I have used it five times. I’ve made three different green smoothies.
My second green smoothie consisted of:
1 Cup water
1 apple chopped
1/2 of a large cucumber (cut up)
2 leaves of rainbow chard (cut up)
4 ice moons
I started out with only one half of the apple. But after blending it, I decided that I wanted more flavor so I added another half. It seems that cucumbers are REALLY good at masking flavor, while they do have a distinct flavor it is very mild so it can somewhat cancel out some harsher flavors . . . . maybe . . . I will have to see. That seems to be what I have found so far . . . on my SECOND green smoothie.
I read on one website (I can’t remember which one I have looked at so many) the idea that green smoothies taste better cold. I think that is a valid opinion. I tend to agree.
I am laughing as I look at my pictures though because the amounts and ingredients listed yield two glasses and have you ever seen people make smoothies? And have you ever seen the pictures? The blender container is full to the top. Now I would say that two leaves of rainbow chard and a half of a cucumber is one serving of vegetables if not more, but AT LEAST one. And a whole apple is one serving of fruit. I think that is pretty good. I am not sure I can DRINK more. Plus I do still love to EAT my fruits and veggies. I am just curious as to who actually drinks a full blender container full. But we will see, maybe I will be that person. But for now I will drink my additional serving (or so) of veggies and my additional serving of fruit in my 24 ounces of green smoothie.
Would adding more veggies and less water yield as much? Is that how on shows, cookbooks, and websites the blender container is so full? Less water more vegetables? What do you think? Do you drink green smoothies?
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: banana smoothie, breakfast, exercise class, going green, green smoothies, heartburn, Nia, Nia class, Nia exercise, rainbow chard | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 25, 2012
This year my husband was really on the ball. In July he started asking me what I wanted for my birthday. Since going out of town isn’t something we have in our budget, I thought about it for a bit, then decided that is what I wanted to do for my birthday. I wanted to go to a bed a breakfast place on the coast that we both love. So I got my heart set on a weekend at THAT particular bed and breakfast. When I looked it up on the internet I was happy to see it is still there, however, it is no longer a bed and breakfast establishment. The house is for rent as a vacation rental, but it is no longer a place to rent a room for the weekend. I was sad. I was so bummed that one of our places is gone. Plus I was bummed because I had to come up with something else for my birthday. He asked me every month. I thought I had found something, but then circumstances changed and so that didn’t work out. Then I remembered there was a time when I entertained the thought of one of those super blenders. But really, to me that is an outrageous purchase unless you are really going to use it. Having it sit in my cupboard would be a waste. In my opinion there are a lot of things that are outrageous if they just sit and not get used, but when I use things often I feel I get my money’s worth. I would like to include more vegetables in my diet. I like to serve a green salad every night and a vegetable, so I was thinking another way to add fruits and vegetables would be to make green smoothies. I don’t drink fruit smoothies so I really wanted to TRY a green one before I had my hubby make the investment. I hear that green smoothies are an acquired taste and I don’t just want to blend fruit. I want more veggies than fruit. But then I started looking at some recipes online of other things I could make in a “super blender”. I think I have posted about how my hummus is not smooth. I made a joke about being the inventor of “whole bean” hummus — which is basically just chickpeas. So I thought I could use the power of a super blender to make hummus. So I decided to ask for a blender for my birthday.
When I received my blender I didn’t have any greens, but I was going to get some delivered the very next day. In my box I received a new-to-me veggie. The box contained Rainbow Chard and so I thought I could put that in my first smoothie. I think of it as a fruit smoothie with some green since it really didn’t have that much green. I am breaking myself in slowly — as has been suggested.
Another suggestion that I have seen on various website is that if it is an “ugly” green smoothie put it in a mug and if it is a “pretty” green smoothie use a pretty glass. I think that is just the type of silly suggestion I can follow. It makes an odd kind of sense.
Well so far I have used my blender four times. I am sure you are going to hear about each time in future posts. Well, perhaps not all four times . . . but maybe, we will see.
So my first fruit/”green” smoothie was:
1 Cup water
1/2 of apple chopped
1 banana (sliced)
1 leaf of rainbow chard (cut up)
My blender has a smoothie button so I just used that and it worked great. There were NO chunks at all. What I really love and was somewhat surprised to see is, it comes out frothy!
I think my first “green” smoothie was pretty good. Although, I think that one leaf of green and 1.5 “fruits” is a larger fruit ratio than I want to stick with. I am going to work my way up to more greens and less fruit. My idea is to like and drink the more-veggie-than-fruit smoothies, but also enjoy the more-fruit-than-veggie smoothies when I feel the desire.
I am thinking I might have a smoothie before Nia, but I am not sure. I usually try not to drink so much liquid before class. 🙂
Have you heard of these blenders that blend SMOOTH smoothies?
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: birthday present, Blendtec, chickpeas, fruit smoothie, green smoothie, hummus, Nia, Nia class, rainbow chard, vegetable smoothie | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 22, 2012
Since I am still busy with my Nia classes and I have my Zumba teaching debut coming up, it really helps to have produce delivered. I know Nia and Zumba instructors that can learn a routine in an afternoon and teach it that night. I am not one of those teachers. It takes me a long time, so something that saves me a trip to the store is awesome. But then I do spend a little time trying to figure out what to do with the new-to-me produce. I also like to look up the nutrition. One thing I didn’t remember when I received my beets is that the beet greens can be eaten. I forgot about my own post Borscht Is Beets and I just chopped them off and threw them away. Now I know. I do have faith that beets have more nutrition than dirt, but I don’t actually know the nutrition value of dirt, so I really am just going off of faith.
As a reminder beets have anti-inflammatory affects along with antioxidant properties. According to World’s Healthiest Food website here are some numbers on a cup of raw beet:
1.00 cup raw
136.00 grams
58.48 calories
folate 148.24 mcg
manganese 0.45 mg
fiber 3.81 g
potassium 442.00 mg
vitamin C 6.66 mg
tryptophan 0.03 g
magnesium 31.28 mg
iron 1.09 mg
phosphorus 54.40 mg
copper 0.10 mg
The website states that the phytonutrients in beets are called betalains and the longer the beets are cooked, the less there are in the root. They “recommend that you keep beet steaming times to 15 minutes or less, and roasting times under an hour.” So some of the nutritional value is higher the less they are cooked. I had mentioned something similar in my Borscht post.
The paper that comes with the produce I have delivered states that the beets were gold beets. Being unfamiliar with beets I say, “Ok.”, but they were not yellow. They were deep red/purple — as you can see. And I KNOW, I have seen yellow beets before. I had a co-worker who loved beets and she would eat them in all the colors. Maybe the yellow ones aren’t called gold beets and these really were gold beets? I don’t know. The red and yellow pigment in beets lose their “super powers” the more the beets are cooked.
Since I have had my first foray into cooking beets and making something with beets I think I can do it again. I know I just made a salad, but it wasn’t terrible. I think I need to move onto something my husband just loves. In fact when I asked him if he liked beets he said yes and he reminded me that he loves borscht. I forgot he loved borscht and I forgot I posted about it. So I think I will actually purchase some beets and give it a try.
This is exactly one of the reasons I chose to have a produce box delivered. I never would have bought beets — obviously since back in January 2011 I talked about them and STILL haven’t done it. So now it is one of the things I can add to our list of vegetables for us to eat. I have the tendency to buy the same vegetables over and over even though I know variety is good. I just don’t buy it if I don’t know what to do with it. But when it lands on my doorstep, I feel as if I have to find something to do with it. I am so excited to be expanding my produce horizons. I also love that so many people have ideas on what to do with these new-to-me items.
Do any of you like Borscht? Do you have a recipe for it?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, antioxidants, beets, borscht, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia instructor, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, organic produce, teaching debut, World's Healthiest Food, yellow beets, Zumba, Zumba classes, Zumba instructor, Zumba teacher | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 20, 2012
You might have read in my blog I am having an organic box of produce delivered to us. I love it. It is so nice to have produce and not have to go to the store. It is nice to have organic produce. So far I really like this. You might also know that part of the reason I decided to have a box of fruits and vegetables delivered is because I was hoping I would be “forced” to use produce that I normally wouldn’t buy. The last box I received had figs in it. Turns out I am ok with figs. I so enjoyed the salad with figs I had made, I tried to order the next box that had figs but I waited too long. I only have delivery every other week. Farm Fresh To You posts what will be delivered in a week the week before so I had known for a whole week, but I waited until the day before to decide that I actually wanted an additional delivery. It was not enough time for them to do it. So I missed out on another delivery of figs. But . . . in addition to the figs you might have noticed in the picture I posted on the first fig post that I had beets delivered. Now, I KNOW I don’t like beets. I have tried them, and I don’t like them. They taste like dirt. For those of you that don’t know what dirt tastes like, eat a beet and then you will know. So here I was with dirt to deal with. I was wondering, “WHAT DO I DO WITH A BEET?”
In the same conversations I had with people about figs I had asked about beets. One person said to boil them, peel them (the skin will come right off), and then put them in a salad. I think she said she cooks them then uses them as she needs them (within a reasonable amount of time. A couple of days or so.). Another person said she didn’t like beets, so she had no suggestions. Again, I was faced with a salad. That was the only thing I found that sounded remotely appealing. I was thinking I would boil the beets and then put them on a salad with goat cheese. Goat cheese seemed to be what I was finding as the cheese of choice with beets.
But you might have read that I was thinking about making a salad with figs. The recipes I was finding for figs in salads called for feta. But for me, I was thinking that the goat cheese would go better with the figs as it is creamy and mild — almost flavorless. And the feta — which to me is firm and much more flavorful — would go better with the beets. I was thinking the beets needed a strong flavor to help drown out the “dirt” taste.
One recipe I spotted said to roast the beets. Well, heck, why didn’t I think of that? Perhaps you know roasting is my prefered method! Geez, can’t understand why I didn’t think of that. Especially since I mentioned roasting beets in Borscht is Beets! Well, just as I did with the figs I didn’t read the recipes because I thought I could figure it out. I skimmed them and I saw some say, roast on a pan without foil and some say use foil. One recipe said the skin will come right off. Well, it didn’t so much for me, but it turned out ok.
I roasted them until they felt somewhat soft. I think it was at least 50 minutes, but I am not sure because I just kept resetting the timer and would run off to do whatever it was I was doing.
I had roasted the beets with olive oil and salt and a little garlic salt and I have to admit that even though while I was cutting them they smelled like dirt, they didn’t taste overwhelmingly like dirt.
Salad with beets:
mixed greens
pecans
beets (roasted with olive oil, salt, garlic salt — 375 degrees F for about 50 minutes)
feta cheese
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
Yay! Another produce item that I had not eaten before and I NEVER would have bought at a store or farmer’s market.
How about you? Do you like beets?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: balsamic vinegar, beet salad, beets, boiled beets, Farmers Market, feta cheese, figs, fresh figs, goat cheese, olive oil, organic produce, roasted beets, Salad with beets | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 18, 2012
Figs are considered a fruit. Most fruit has a lot of sugar. As I had explained in my Fresh Figs So Unlike Fig Newtons posts, most of the recipes I found for figs were dessert recipes that actually had additional sugar in the recipe. I didn’t want to make a dessert, so I ended up making a salad. It was very good. But as usual after having eaten something I don’t know much about I get curious as to what type of nutrition it has. Sometimes I actually am curious BEFORE eating it and I take the time to look it up, but this time it was after the fact.
Figs are a good source of potassium and fiber.
According to Calorie Count Two large figs (2-1/2″ diameter) contain about 100 calories and roughly the following:
Total Fat – 0.4g
Cholesterol – 0mg
Sodium – 2mg
Total Carbohydrates – 24.6g
Dietary Fiber – 3g
Protein – 1g
According to an article in 1999 by Dr. Sheldon Margen and Dale A. Ogar:
Figs “have the highest fiber and mineral content of all common fruits, nuts or vegetables. They also have as much as 1,000 times more calcium than other common fruits and by weight they actually have more calcium than skim milk.
Figs are 80% higher in potassium than bananas, and are extremely easy to digest. They also have more iron than any other of the common fruits and are extremely high in magnesium. All of this for about 20 to 40 calories per fig.”
I had an idea I would make a salad when I bought the crumbled goat cheese. I know, not exciting, but it was really good!
When I went to make the salad I realized I didn’t know what to do with the figs. My husband said he peeled them and ate the inside. So I tried doing that, but when I peeled off the purple he said that I needed to peel off the white part too and only eat the inside. So I tried that and as I was doing it I decided that it was ridiculous and could not be right. Maybe opening them and eating the flesh works, but it does not work when trying to add them to a salad. Then I remembered all the pictures I saw having purple (to me it is purple) on them. So I Googled them again and figured out that they just need to be cut up the way they were and we could just eat the whole thing. Unfortunately I waited too long to use them and we ended up only able to eat about half. The other half had gotten moldy.
I just made a simple salad:
chopped up figs
lettuce
crumbled goat cheese
fig balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper (for my husband)
I wish I would have taken pictures. It was nice. Simple and yummy. Just enough sweet, creamy, and savory.
I saw recipes that said to use feta but I thought the creaminess of the goat cheese would go better with the figs.
Did you know figs are often referred to as the “perfect” fruit?
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Fruit | Tagged: Calorie Count, dietary fiber, Fig Newtons, fig salad, Fresh Fig Nutrition, goat cheese, perfect fruit, Potassium | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 15, 2012
As you may know I’ve been having an organic box of produce delivered every other week. My hope was in addition to getting fresh, yummy produce I would receive some new things that I normally would not have come home with from the grocery store or farmers market. Well, up until last week, I think I had received some pretty basic things. Different varieties of fruits and veggies, but nothing too new, right? I am asking because I don’t remember. 
I am thinking I did receive something else I hadn’t had before, but I can’t remember what it was. Oh, except those Shishito peppers that did end up being thrown away. After I tasted one every time I just looked at the container I felt like I needed something to drink to get that bitter taste out of my mouth so I couldn’t bring myself to cook them. In my last box I received a container of beautiful figs. Mission figs. I remember I tried some figs last November. I remember it was November because we had gathered to watch V for Vendetta and one of the snacks was figs on goat cheese. I don’t remember have eaten figs before because they just seemed icky to me. I think I had only been presented with dried figs and I don’t like dried fruit. I actually KNEW I didn’t like figs because of fig newtons. Now, I know that a fig newton really isn’t a fig and I should have not based my liking of the fruit on such a thing, but I had. So here I was with a container of figs. I had no idea what to do with them. What do you do with a fig?
So I asked a few people. Believe it or not their response was the same, “Just eat ’em.” Um . . . no thanks. My husband likes to just eat them and he ate one. When I told him I didn’t know what to do with them he said to just give him the go-ahead and he would eat them. He said they were good.
The bulk of the recipes I found online seemed to be tarts, pastries, desserts, and ooey-gooey things. And salads. Sigh. I thought I would go to the store and get some goat cheese and try making that dish that I had eaten before, but when I went to the store I found crumbled goat cheese and not a “brick” for slicing.
I can’t remember exactly, but I believe the snack was a piece of fig on top of a slice of goat cheese, with honey drizzled on it. Really rich, but very yummy. Kind of desserty.
I was happy and excited I received something I hadn’t had before, but I was stumped as to what to do with it/them. Even though I bragged about Farm Fresh To You having recipes on their site, I kept forgetting to look at it.
Do you like figs? How do you eat them? Do you know a savory dish that uses figs?
Posted in Food | Tagged: Farm Fresh to You, Farmers Market, Fig Newtons, fig recipe, fresh figs, goat cheese, Mission figs, organic fruit, organic produce, organic veggies, produce delivery, Shishito peppers, V for Vendetta | 10 Comments »
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