48-Hour Juice Cleanse Challenge

Hello again, everyone! I am loving this beautiful, cooler weather--it's certainly getting me in the mood for autumn, my favorite time of year. Time for leaves and pumpkins and sweaters, oh my!

Anyway, as I said in my last post, I've been transitioning into a new, healthy lifestyle. I've been eating healthier, staying more active and trying new things. One of these new things was a juice cleanse, or a juice detox. The concept is to consume only raw fruit and vegetable purees and juices over some period of time, usually 2-4 days, which cleans out your digestive system, rids your body of toxins and essentially pushes the "reset" button on your body. I'd been hearing a lot about them, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Look scary?

The verdict: not so bad.

Here I am, at the end of two days of a straight liquid diet, and I can honestly say I feel good. Not entirely different, which I guess just says my system didn't need too much flushing out. However, I did lose about 2 pounds. I'll take it.

The challenging part was not hunger, surprisingly. I expected to be hungry all the time, but all the juice and smoothies I was drinking definitely kept me nourished. Also, I expected to spend a lot more time in the bathroom. This was not the case, but I won't go into further detail there. If you really want to know those details, you can ask me privately.

What was challenging were the cravings: knowing I couldn't have that cheeseburger made me crave it all the more, when I normally wouldn't think about it so much.

Interested in doing a cleanse yourself? Either you can spend hundreds on an expensive juice delivery service or do it yourself with store-bought juice and a few ingredients for about 20 bucks. There's not too much prep work involved, actually. See below for how I did it.

Note: I am in no way a doctor and therefore I can't advise you to do this. Though it should be completely safe and I didn't experience any adverse effects, you should do your research and make sure your body can handle it before you dive into anything.

48-Hour Juice Cleanse

Schedule:
8:00am: Juice 1 - Green Smoothie
10:00am: Juice 2 - Fruit Smoothie
12:00pm: Juice 3 - Green Smoothie
3:00pm: Juice 4 - Spicy Lemonade
6:00pm: Juice 5 - Odwalla Superfood
8:00pm: Juice 6 - Almond Milk

Ingredients:
1 large jug Odwalla Superfood
16 oz. organic lemonade (with agave nectar instead of sugar)
2 15.2 oz bottles Naked Smoothies, or other organic fruit smoothie, whichever flavors you like
16 oz. pure unsweetened almond milk
1 cucumber
2 cups spinach
1 head romaine lettuce
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:
1. Get all your supplies together, including the ingredients listed above, a blender and some plastic bottles. I needed enough bottles to take Juices 1-4 to work, and prepared Juices 5 and 6 when I got home.

Making Juice 1 and Juice 3: Green Smoothie
2. Peel, seed and chop the cucumber. Add to blender.

3. Wash and chop the lettuce and add it and the spinach to the blender. Pictured here is the baby bok choy I used instead of lettuce, which I would not advise.

Cabbage + smoothie = yuck. Use lettuce.

4. Add the 3/4 cup of water and blend away!
5. Take 4 plastic bottles and divide the blended cucumber/spinach/lettuce mixture among each. Top them off with the Odwalla Superfood (making sure to reserve two servings for later). Refrigerate until you're ready to drink.

 **You may be wondering why I added more green stuff to Odwalla Superfood, which is already pretty green-looking. The reason is this: even though it is green in color, a peek at the ingredients list shows that it is mostly fruit. By beefing up its green veggie content, we create a more effective cleanse.**

Making Juice 2: Fruit Smoothie
6. The beauty of this step is, there is no step! Because I used store-bought fruit smoothies, the prep work was all done for me. I used Naked's Mango Veggie and Berry Blast.

Making Juice 4: Spicy Lemonade
7. For one serving, mix 8 ounces of lemonade with half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Add more if you can tolerate the spice, but don't get heavy-handed: this stuff really scours you out. Refrigerate until you're ready to drink, and make sure to give it a good stir or shake before you do.

Making Juice 5: Odwalla Superfood
8. Similar to the fruit smoothies, this one's already done for you. Just split the remaining Odwalla into 2 servings, enough for each day of the cleanse.

Making Juice 6: Almond Milk (which isn't juice at all)
9. Gotta have some protein, right? To make one serving, pour 8 ounces unsweetened almond milk into a mug and add 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Microwave for 2 minutes and stir well.

Important Notes:

• A few days before the cleanse, start eliminating alcohol, sugar, meat and dairy from your diet. However, I will say that I had a little bit of chocolate and some goat cheese the day before I started and nothing bad happened to me. But I'd say stop eating meat and alcohol at least 24 hours before. 
• Drink plenty of water throughout the days you are detoxing.
• If you need something to chew on, grab some sugar-free gum.
• If your cravings are distracting you, try to keep busy, like by doing a craft from Pinterest (pictured at right).
• You can still work out during the cleanse (I did), but stop if you get dizzy.
• Once the cleanse is over, don't run out and buy a cheeseburger. Give your body a few days to re-acclimate before gumming up the works with too much greasy stuff.

Like I said, I'm not a doctor. But I did try this myself and I'd say it worked pretty well. I might try it again in a few months, or maybe a couple days after Thanksgiving...I'm sure I'll need a detox then!

Good luck, and please feel free to ask questions in the comments.

****
P.S. The day after the cleanse, you may notice that you are as hungry as a bottomless pit. Resist that cheeseburger. Your body will thank you!

Summer Sunshine Salad

After a several-month hiatus, I'm back! True, it's been quite awhile, but I was in Europe for two months (you can check out my travel blog here), and since I've been back I've been getting settled in my new big-girl job. I know, excuses excuses. However, while I have been remiss about keeping up The Home Skillet, I have definitely been experimenting in the kitchen with new ingredients and new flavors! As an avid pinner, I admit I get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest. But somehow I always manage to put my own twist on things. Which brings me to today's post: Summer Sunshine Salad.

Doesn't this just look like a taste of summer sunshine?

Summer is, alas, coming to a close. But we are still lucky to enjoy all the bounty of summertime, like tomatoes, squash, peaches, cherries and all manner of yummy things. With all these fresh, delicious fruits and veggies around, it's a great time to be going through a bit of a lifestyle change, as I am now: eating healthier, being more active and generally making smarter choices for my body.

I got the idea for this salad from Love and Olive Oil, but, as always, I ended up changing things around a little to suit my tastes. It's still chock-full of nutritious summertime goodies.

Summer Sunshine Salad
Serves: 3 lunch or side portions
Calories: 439

Ingredients:
3 golden beets (or ruby if you prefer)
2 large carrots
3/4 cup dry quinoa (or grain of your choice)
1 1/2 tbsp thyme
2 tbsp basil, chopped or cut into ribbons
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 peaches or nectarines
4 oz soft goat cheese
salt to taste

Directions:
1. Peel and chop your beets. This is easier said than done, so be careful with that knife! I chopped them into fairly small pieces.

Not the easiest vegetable to peel...

2. Chop your carrots into similarly sized pieces and add them to the beets on a cookie sheet. The recipe technically calls for 2 large carrots, but all we had was baby carrots, so I made do. As long as everything is around the same size, it's fine.

This is me trying to guesstimate how many baby carrots makes a big carrot.

3. Toss everything with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and give them a good salt.

4. Pop in the oven at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until fork-tender.
5. While those are going, prepare your grain of choice (could be farro, wheatberries, brown rice, cous cous, etc.) according to package directions. I had precooked some quinoa, so I just used that.
6. Once your grain is done, toss it with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, basil and thyme and salt to taste. Set aside.

Nothing says summer like basil.

7. Now for that sweet, sweet taste of summer: the fruit. You could use either nectarines or peaches, according to your preference or whichever is ripest at the store. I used nectarines, 2 white and 1 yellow. If you're using peaches, you may want to consider peeling their fuzzy skin before adding them to the salad. Then, chop them into 1 inch pieces and add to your bowl of grains.

Look at those beauties!

8. When the beets and carrots are done roasting, add them to the party. Give everything a good toss, and correct seasoning levels if needed.

9. Before serving, crumble some soft goat cheese on top. I love goat cheese, so I was pretty generous with it.
10. Enjoy your big bowl of summer!

All ready to go for lunch tomorrow!

This is a great idea for a lunch to take to work. There aren't really any good places to eat close to my work (your options are White Castle and the Marathon station), so I brown-bag it almost every day. I always try to make sure my lunches are satisfying and healthy, but also have a lot of variety. My parents are on a salad-every-night sort of diet, so lunch is my only time to spice things up. This little taste of summer will be perfect!

What's your favorite summertime food?

Homemade Trofie Pasta Adventure

Hello there! It has been so long since I last posted, but a lot has been going on. This is one of the first real chances I've had to experiment with some new things in the kitchen. Since I'm home for the long weekend, I decided to have some fun and try something new.

This past Christmas, my boyfriend got me a book called The Geometry of Pasta by Caz Hildebrand and Jacob Kennedy (here's their site). It's a really clever little book that teaches you the fundamentals of pasta, as well as the history behind each different pasta shape, from agnolotti to ziti. For a food nerd, it's fascinating stuff. So since my friend Emily was coming over for dinner, I decided it would be fun to try making our own pasta. I chose one of the simplest handmade pastas in the whole book: trofie (TRAW-fee-ay). It's a short, sort of torpedo-shaped pasta made from a really simple dough. The whole process is fun, straightforward, and yields really yummy results. Mix this fresh homemade pasta with some pesto, and that is one delicious meal. There's just nothing like fresh pasta.

Ingredients:
Semolina flour (#1 durum wheat is best--I used Bob's Red Mill brand)
Water
All purpose flour, for dusting

Equipment:
Wooden cutting board
Food scale
Stockpot

Directions:
1. To make the dough, weigh out 1/3 pound of the semolina flour. If you don't have a scale, I'd say 1/3 pound is just over 3/4 cup. This will make enough pasta for one hungry person or two moderately hungry people.
2. Pour the semolina on your wooden board (or any clean surface, though wood is better) and make a well in the middle of it, thusly:

3. Add 5 tablespoons of room temperature water into the well and pile the flour on top of it to mix together. Keep adding water, tablespoon by tablespoon, until all the flour is incorporated and the dough reaches the correct consistency. According to the authors of The Geometry of Pasta, "The texture of the dough should be soft enough to work (like a stress ball), but dry enough that it won't stick to itself too easily. A good way to test it is to press and smear the dough against a dry wooden surface--if it is easy to do, the pasta doesn't stick to the wood, and the top surface tears and roughens against your hand, the texture is right."

4. Once your dough passes the above test, knead it for a few minutes, cover it with a towel, and leave it to rest for 15 minutes (hint: while you're waiting, this is a good time to make pesto).
5. Now it's pasta-shaping time! Here's a helpful video to get you started. After the dough has rested, break off an egg-sized chunk of it and start to roll it into a thin log shape, just like you were working with Play-Doh.

Once the log is about the width of your pinkie finger (or a 1/2 inch), use a butter knife to cut off short pieces less than an inch in length. They should look like little pillows. Continue until the rest of the dough is used up.

6. Once all your little pillows are cut, throw a little all purpose flour into their midst and dust them around in it, so they don't stick to one another.
7. This is the part where you roll them into a trofie shape. Dust your hands with flour. Take one pillow and hold it right at the bottom of your palm.

Using your other hand, start with the tips of your fingers and, keeping both hands flat but pressed firmly together, slide your top hand down quickly. You might have to rub your palms together more than once to make the right shape (this is where the video is really helpful).

This makes the pasta spiral around itself and make a torpedo shape that is fatter in the middle and tapered at the ends. Repeat this with the rest of the dough. And don't worry if they don't all look perfect...they're homemade!
8. Once all your trofie shapes are made, spread them out flat and let them dry slightly for 20 minutes.

9. Bring a pot of heavily salted water to boil (2 teaspoons of salt per quart of water). Once the 20 minutes are up, throw your trofie in the water and cook them for 5 minutes, or until al dente.
10. Drain, toss with some olive oil and pesto, top with parm, and enjoy!

This is a super-simple way to make your own homemade pasta. You can really taste the difference when it's fresh. Once you get the shaping part down, this recipe is a piece of cake!

Culinary Experimentation: Roasted Winter Veggies and Cous Cous Salad

One of my new year's resolutions was to experiment with new recipes and new ingredients. Tonight was one of my first culinary experiments of the new year. I did some pan-roasted winter veggies and a cous cous salad--sounds classy, right? Surprisingly, both of these are pretty simple.

These are great vegetarian meals that make use of some ingredients I have little to no experience with, including: cous cous (a Mediterranean pasta that looks like pasta and rice had tiny tiny babies), parsnips (like a milder, white carrot), and golden beets (I opted for golden over normal ruby beets because I heard a rumor that they are sweeter). Though I'm not a vegetarian, I tend to not buy meat when I'm at school to save money. Also, when you're cooking for one, sometimes meat doesn't keep in the fridge long enough to eat it all. So I'm always looking for some meat-free recipes to make at school, and these are a couple of winners!

On to the experiments...

Pan-Roasted Winter Vegetables

Ingredients:
1 large parsnip
3 golden beets
8-9 red potatoes
About a dozen baby carrots
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Give the carrots and potatoes a good wash. Cut each carrot in half lengthwise (careful with the knife!) and each potato into fourths. Toss them onto a lined sheet pan and proceed to the more exotic root vegetables...

Holy beets!

2. Peel the parsnip and beets. As you whip out that knife to chop them up, be advised: these are some tough little veggies. Use extra caution as you try to get all the pieces about equal sizes. Add them to your pan.

How pretty are those colors?

3. Season generously with salt and pepper, and coat with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Toss everything together with your hands and pop in a 400 degree oven for 45-60 minutes. Make sure to check up on them every so often and give them a stir. You'll know they're ready to go when everybody starts to get a little color and are fork-tender.

Warning: this will make your house smell very cozy. 

Cous Cous Salad

Ingredients:
1 box of cous cous
3/4 cup lemon juice
Olive oil
2 chicken bouillon cubes
3/4 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped thyme
1/4 cup of craisins
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Prepare the cous cous according to box directions. For the whole box, I used two cups of water and an equal amount of bouillon cubes. Also add in 1/4 cup lemon juice and a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Once the cous cous is cooked, let it stand while you prepare the dressing.
2. For the dressing, combine all your herbs, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Mix thoroughly and pour over the cous cous. Add in the craisins last (for a little color and sweetness) and toss well. This salad can be served warm, room temp, or cold.

The perfect side for the veggies...or anything, really.

Both of these experiments turned out delicious. And pretty inexpensive, too. In the spirit of experimentation and science and data and all that, I ran the numbers on how much these dishes cost per serving (assuming that I always have salt and pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice on hand...which I do). The results? $1.12 per serving for the roasted veggies, $1.16 for the cous cous salad. That's college-budget friendly!

So get creative with some new recipes in the new year! Feel free to leave any scientific discoveries in the comments.

BAM! Sausage and White Bean Soup

This soup was inspired by the man himself, Emeril Lagasse. The original recipe, courtesy of the Food Network, can be found here. I used the recipe as a benchmark, but simplified it somewhat. The result is an easy-to-make, healthy winter meal.

Winter is, of course, the perfect time of the year for soup. And soup has the added perk of only getting better the longer it sits in the refrigerator: perfect for a college student like myself. Throw in some crusty bread with that bad boy, and man, are you in hog heaven.

So let's get down to business...

Ingredients:
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 package pre-cooked Johnsonville chicken sausage (I used the apple kind--delish)
1 can white beans
1 bay leaf
1 spring fresh thyme
Water
5 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
A pinch of cayenne (in the absence of cayenne, I subbed Creole seasoning)

Directions:
1. Sweat down the onion in a stock pot on medium heat with a little olive oil for 5-7 minutes, or until the pieces are just beginning to become translucent. Add a little salt and pepper.
2. Add in the garlic and cook together for about a minute.
3. Chop up those snausages any size you want and add 'em in, allowing to heat together with the onions and garlic for a minute or so.

4. Add in the beans, bay leaf and thyme sprig. Remember to remove those herbs before serving.

5. If you are using chicken stock, add in 4 cups with 1 1/2 cups of water. If you're a broke college student (like me), throw in 5 1/2 cups of water with 5 chicken bouillon cubes. Add seasonings.
6. Give the whole thing a good stir and turn up the heat. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
7. Once it's done, adjust the seasonings and serve with crusty bread. Mmmm.

The thing I like about this soup recipe in particular is that it is so simple. You only have to chop 1 onion and some sausage, essentially throw everything in a pot, and ignore it for 3 hours. Very college-friendly. And pretty healthy, too!

P.S. This soup goes awesome in a bread bowl!

Back to School with Roasted Veggie Crepes

Finally back at school for one final semester! I apologize for the long absence...the end of last semester was crazy and then I was home for a month-long break. But now I'm back to cooking up a storm in my college kitchen.

So everyone is familiar with crepes: crispy, buttery, thin French pancakes filled with sugar or Nutella or something else sweet and delicious. But crepes aren't just for dessert--I discovered this while studying abroad in southern France. Savory crepes are a popular meal, featuring whole-wheat crepes filled with veggies and cheese. My take on a savory crepe was inspired by a creperie in downtown Cincinnati called It's Just Crepes (http://itsjustcrepes.com/). One of my favorite lunches during my summer internship was a crepe full of sauteed veggies, goat cheese, and a balsamic dressing. My version of this follows below:

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1 red bell pepper
2 zucchini
Goat cheese
Balsamic vinegar
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp melted butter
2/3 to 3/4 cup milk (eyeball it)

Directions:
Roasted Veggie Mix
1. Chop the eggplant, bell pepper, and zucchini (or any mix of vegetables you prefer) so that the pieces are similarly sized.
2. Toss with a generous glug of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, or until veggies are fork-tender and the skins of the peppers are puckered.

(I've started using that Reynold's pan-lining paper, the one that's foil on one side and parchment paper on the other. If you're like me, you love to cook but hate doing the dishes!)

Crepes
1. Whisk the eggs, milk, butter, and flour together in a bowl until smooth with minimal lumps. If it's too thick, add a touch more milk.
2. Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Butter the skillet very well and pour in a small amount of the batter. Take the skillet by the handle and swirl it around until the batter is spread evenly throughout the skillet. You want it to be a thin layer--that's what makes it a crepe and not a pancake.
3. The crepe is ready to flip when the edges start to curl up and a peek on the underside reveals a sort of golden web pattern (that's because of the butter). The easiest way to flip this guy is to take a spatula in one hand and the skillet handle in the other, and meet in the middle.

4. Once you've flipped it, place your roasted veggies on one half of the crepe, along with a few dabs of goat cheese. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

5. Fold the crepe in half in the pan and gently transfer it to a plate. Voila! A little taste of France.

I love crepes like this because it's a fairly nutritious meal that's very straightforward to make, with very simple ingredients. I hope it becomes one of your favorites!

All Nighters and Austrian Gulasch

As it gets colder outside, we all get the craving for soups, stews, and other comfort food. Lately I've had a hankering for gulasch, a type of German/Austrian beef stew. This recipe falls into the "slow and low" category of cooking, calling for at least 2 and a half hours of simmer time. I knew I was going to be having several late nights this week anyhow, so I had the time to let the pot sit there and do its thing.


The last time I made this dish was two Christmases ago. My family's roots are German, so that year my dad wanted us to have a veritable German feast for Christmas dinner. We made gulasch, spätzle (a type of egg noodle), and Linzertorte (apricot tart). It was quite the meal, and definitely worth all the hard work. 


I have to give credit to Bon Appetit magazine for this recipe. Of course, I made a few changes as I went, so I will include my modified version of the recipe here. Also, you should know that this recipe makes a vast quantity of stew. It's a great recipe to make a few days ahead, as well, as it only gets more flavorful with time. Perfect for wintertime get-togethers: you can make it a few days in advance and feed a lot of people. 


Total Prep Time: about 4 hours (for 2 and 1/2 hours of that, the pot is just simmering)


Ingredients:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 pounds white onions, thinly sliced
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp dried marjoram
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp paprika
1 cup white wine vinegar
4 cups chicken broth
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 2/3 cups water (room temp)
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 1/2 pounds beef stew meat


Directions:
1. Heat your oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook down until golden and soft, about 30 minutes. Salt and pepper as you go. 
2. Stir in garlic and marjoram. 

3. Wait about 3 minutes, then add the tomato paste, stirring often until the mixture becomes dark red.

4. Add the paprika, then take the pot off heat for a minute or two to allow the flavors to blend.
5. Add the vinegar, and heat the pot on medium heat for a few minutes.

6. Add the broth, the bouillon cubes, the water, the bay leaves, and the lemon juice. Bring to a boil.

7. Salt and pepper the stew meat and add it to the pot. Simmer everything on medium-low heat for 2 1/2 hours. This is what makes the meat so tender and flavorful.
8. Take all the pieces of meat out of the pot and put them in a bowl off to the side. Try to leave all the onions in the pot. If some pieces of beef get left in there or if some onions get out, that's fine. 

9. Boil the broth for 15-20 minutes to reduce it down.
10. Let the broth cool slightly, then, using an immersion blender, puree it until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can puree it in batches in a regular blender or food processor.

11. Season with salt and pepper, then add beef back in. 
12. Heat for about 5 minutes, then serve. Or better yet, pop the pot in the fridge for a day or two before serving. 

Gulasch is best served over mashed potatoes or noodles. If you leave the broth a little thinner (don't reduce it down as much in Step 9), you can eat it like a soup as well. 


This recipe may seem like a big undertaking, but it is definitely worth it.