Wednesday's GHI: Toaster Oven & Roasted Root Veggie Recipe

So you guys know how by now that being frugal is the name of the game for me. I try to save money wherever I can without feeling like I'm sacrificing. If it's worth the splurge, I'm all for it (I'm looking at you truffle salt), but if there's a cheaper alternative that doesn't feel like a sacrifice, you better believe I'm jumping on that.

Enter: toaster oven. When we were putting together our wedding registry, I knew that I wanted a toaster oven instead of just a regular pop-up bread toaster. At the time, I was really just thinking about the dinky little toaster oven that I grew up using (no offense Mom) that we would use to make cheesy bread as an after school snack, and I later started to use to make my decadent garlic bread recipe. It was this teeny little thing with heating elements on top and bottom, and my mom would put a piece of whole wheat bread in there with a slice of cheddar cheese, she'd cut up an apple, and voila - after-school snacks were served.

But in doing my research for our registry, I found that toaster ovens have come a very long way. And I found a model from Breville that I absolutely adore - it's their compact model, since we don't have a lot of counter space, but it's a full-feature design. The only thing it doesn't have is convection or pressure-cooking features, which I'm totally fine with. It has a bunch of settings, but the ones I use the most are toast, bake, broil, bagel, and defrost. It has two racks which can hold a lot of bread if I were to use it just for toast in the morning for a large crowd. But what it has that I love is a great bake / broil feature.

This is where we get into my frugality. It takes significantly less energy to heat up that little metal box to 350* than it does to heat up our standard-sized oven. And the energy is much more efficient - it's electricity through high efficiency heating elements vs. our gas oven. It also cooks more evenly and doesn't have as drastic of hot/cold spots as our gas oven does. So whenever I possibly can, I opt to use my toaster oven to bake rather than the conventional oven. I would say that I use the toaster oven more than 75% of the time I need to bake something. And this size oven is JUST big enough to fit a standard 12-inch frozen pizza (yes, we eat frozen pizzas every now and then... we're human too). I cook everything in there including meat and/or veggies I'm roasting, any type of broiling that needs to be done, desserts I'm baking (it's perfect to throw on just a couple of cookies, or bake up a quick cobbler to use fruit that's about to turn mushy). It fits my 8x8 glass pyrex baking dish and came with a broiling pan that I can use too. The cases where I'd opt for the regular oven instead of the toaster oven are if what I'm cooking is too big (either a roast, or anything in a 9x13 or one of my big gratin dishes), or if I need a dry heat. The gas oven provides a dryer heat because there's more circulation with the extra air that fills the big space, and the flames help it remain more dry. One example is if I'm making croutons, I'll most likely use the regular gas oven. But most of the recipes I've posted on the blog so far that were done in the oven have used the toaster oven.

The moral of the story is that I recommend a good toaster oven. You'll likely use it more than you think you will, it will simplify your time in the kitchen, and it will potentially save you money on your energy bills.

The recipe that I want to feature in my toaster oven is a Roasted Root Veggie Medley. It's super simple, but crazy healthy - tons of antioxidants, and lots of vitamins in the rich colored veggies!

Ingredients:
2 large beets - peeled and cubed
1 large sweet potato - scrubbed and cubed with peel left on
2 carrots - peeled and cut into 1-inch lengths (you can halve the lengths if they're too big), or ~1.5 cup baby carrots, halved
2 tbsp coconut oil
salt & pepper to taste

• Put the 2 tbsp of coconut oil into the bottom of your roasting pan, and put it in the oven while it's preheating to 400* and while you prep the other veggies
• After the veggies are cut and the oil is melted, toss the veggies in the pan with the oil to coat evenly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss together again
• Bake at 400* for about 45 minutes or until roasted, fork-tender, and browning on the outsides (take out the pan and mix up the veggies at least once during roasting)

Parmesan Crusted White Fish

I told you guys that I have 3 seafood recipes... one Asian-inspired, one Italian inspired for Salmon, and one Italian inspired for white fish. Here's the white fish recipe!!

It's a Parmesan "Crusted" Tilapia inspired from a recipe I found on Sparkpeople.com, which is a health and wellness website. The crust is in quotes because it's not a crunchy crust with any type of breading, it's more of just a Parmesan layer. Call it what you will, it's delicious.

The ingredients for the "crust" are:

~1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp softened butter

1.5 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

(optional) Granulated garlic to taste

1/2 - 1 lb. fillets of any white fish (tilapia, sole, flounder, trout, snapper, etc.)

1. Preheat your broiler. Put aluminum foil on a baking sheet and spray with nonstick cooking spray

2. Combine all ingredients except the fish and set aside.

3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat; flip fillets, and coat with the prepared Parmesan cheese mixture. Broil until golden and bubbly and the fish flakes easily with a fork. Avoid overcooking the fish! Use trial and error in your oven (or toaster oven in my case) - for mine, I actually do not pre-cook the fish, I just coat them with the topping and broil. But try it out for yourself and see how quickly your oven cooks it!

I hope you enjoy. Please leave your comments below!

I had some sole fillets in my freezer so that's what we used!

Starting from the top going around clockwise: Parmesan cheese, black pepper, celery salt, onion powder, dried basil, butter, mayonnaise

I top my fillets before baking. This time they were teeny fillets and I actually had to layer 2 of 3 on top of each other to get a piece of the size I wanted that would make sense to crust. If you're working with good sized fillets, follow directions above until you know how your oven cooks.

Delicious golden crust

Flowers from my overgrown sage

Wednesday's GHI: Water bottle

Gotta Have It: Giant water bottle

If you could only do one good thing for your body each day, I would recommend drinking tons of water. And I mean tons... a gallon if possible. But start for a goal of at least 64 oz. per day. Water is so essential for all of your body's processes to function properly, you need to give your body plenty of it!

My favorite water bottle. This thing comes with me everywhere!!

By the time you feel "thirsty," your body is already dehydrated!! You should be constantly drinking water, and you should never feel thirsty if you are staying properly hydrated. Here's the TMI time: if your pee is actually yellow, you need to drink more water. Your urine should be practically clear. The yellow color is from uric acid, which is the waste that your kidneys process out of your body. So you can imagine that it's not good for that to sit in your body for a long time, especially if it's that concentrated. In fact, prolonged dehydration can even lead to UTIs as those toxins pass through you in such a concentrated form. And for those of you who have ever had one of those... Let's avoid that, shall we?? So while many people complain about drinking the proper amount of water because they don't like that it makes them have to use the restroom more frequently, that's a good thing!! Get those toxins out of your body as often as you can!! Embrace the toilet. Not literally though, that's gross.

And lastly, staying properly hydrated can actually make you eat less. When you feel hungry, more often than not what your body actually needs is water. But when your body goes to send those signals to your brain, the "hunger" and "thirst" signals are so close together, that your brain kind of smooshes them together, and the feeling if hunger dominates even if it's caused by thirst. So any time you feel hungry outside of a normal meal time, try drinking a big glass of water and wait ~15 minutes. If you're still hungry, then have a snack with some protein and fiber, like peanut butter and carrots or an apple, or almonds and some dried fruit. 

Here are some tips to help keep you optimally hydrated:

1. Get a big reusable bottle, and keep it with you all day. Bring it to meetings with you. Bring it in the car. Bring it into the store with you. 
2. Set milestones for when you want to finish said water bottle. For me, I have a 24 oz. bottle, and I fill it up first thing in the morning, then I refill it once before lunchtime, once in the afternoon, once before I leave work, and once in the evening. That's 120 oz minimum each day. 
3. Avoid drinking water within 30 minutes of eating or during meals. When you drink water, it actually reduces the acidity of your stomach which means you can't digest food as efficiently as you're meant to. So drink a big glass of water 30 minutes before eating to keep you hydrated during the meal. If you need to drink water while you eat, add some lemon juice - the little bit if extra acidity reduces the alkaline effects of the water (chemistry class, anyone??).
4. When drinking anything with diuretic effects, drink one glass of water per beverage to reduce the potential for dehydration and bloating. This includes any caffeinated beverages (especially coffee) and any alcoholic beverages. Bonus: you'll be way less hungover. I would also say any time you eat something really salty, you should down a glass of water 30 minutes after you're done eating to avoid bloating. 

Wednesday's GHI: Salad Spinner

Every week on Wednesdays, I'll talk about something that I've just gotta have. It could be anything... Keep up with me, I may throw some curve balls.

You guys will learn that I subscribe to the Alton Brown philosophy: no unitaskers in the kitchen. Gadgets that only do one job have no place in my cupboards. For the two years I lived in an apartment in Downtown Chicago, and even in our small house now, I do not have space in my little kitchen for things that only serve one purpose (there are very few exceptions, and you'll learn about them over the coming weeks. I'll give you a hint - check out yesterday's post re: my obsession with garlic). But more importantly, most unitaskers are gimmicks! A strawberry huller? Trust me, you can pass. Use a paring knife and, at worst, it will take seconds longer than with some gimmicky tool that does no other task and just clutters your kitchen. And they often don't even work that well. I'll create some posts to debunk some of these gimmicks so you can save your money. But it's Tuesday, so we're talking about things I love.

Gotta Have It: Salad Spinner

OXO Good Grips Large Salad Spinner

This is my salad spinner, and I could not live without it. Ok, that's an exaggeration. But I would definitely eat fewer salads without it.

My salad spinner is one of my favorite kitchen tools because of how well it accomplishes the one task that it is designed to accomplish: drying lettuce and other leafy greens. But in addition to that, it is versatile in other ways. Tips for the salad spinner are that you fill the bowl with cold water, let your greens take a bath, lift out the basket, drain the water, replace the basket, and spin until the centrifugal force flings the water off your greens till they are dry. 

I eat a ton of salads, so this baby gets a work out. Our local grocery store has lately been selling 5 lb bags or romaine lettuce for $1. We also get giant bags of spinach in the spring, and all summer long I clean the kale from my garden and spin it dry for our favorite salad (recipe to follow in a later post. I need to make it once and write down the proportions I use because right now I totally wing it. So we have to wait for the kale to grow in). So it gets an A+ for spinning greens. And after the greens are spun dry, I dump the water out of the bowl, then put the greens right into the bowl, add all my other ingredients, and dress and toss the salad right in that same bowl. After spinning dry, I also will put the lid on and pop the whole thing in the fridge. Being in the basket and not directly in the bowl helps air circulate and it stays crisp for a long time. Another tip is that if your greens are a little wilted when you go to wash them, add some ice cubes to the cold water bath you give them, and let them soak for an hour or so. The veins in the leaves will absorb the cold water and they will get crispy again. I've also used a variation on this trick by filling the bowl with cold water, placing in the basket w/ the semi-wilted lettuce in it, and just putting the whole thing in my fridge overnight. My lettuce was perfect the next day!!

My salad spinner helping me make quick work of 5 lbs of Romaine lettuce tonight

I actively try to eliminate plastic from my kitchen, but this is one bit o' plastic that I'm ok with. That's because food doesn't stay in there for really extended periods of time, and food is never heated or frozen in it, so there is less of a likelihood that the chemicals will leech out. 

I also use it to spin dry big leafy herbs like basil or flat-leaf parsley. I'll use the basket as a colander while I'm washing veggies like beans or asparagus. One technique for cooking eggplant is that after slicing it but before cooking it, you sprinkle salt on the slices to pull out moisture, and you let them drain for an hour... I do that in the salad spinner too. So while it may technically be somewhat of a unitasker, a) it does that task REALLY well and there isn't a great alternative to it, and b) there are other things that it can do. Those are the signs of a good kitchen tool, even one that's masquerading as a unitasker. 

Me & Wheat

My Love/Hate Relationship with Wheat, and Why You Should Care

In April 2012 we were visiting our aunt and uncle in California. We ate and drank to our heart's content each day and each night, and had an absolute blast. Aunt Diane, a fellow health-nut, started to notice something... after a few of our meals, I complained of a stomach ache. 

I have suffered from frequent stomach aches for as long as I can remember. I bought Pepto-Bismol from Sam's club a few times a year... I kept some in my desk at work, in my purse, in my car, and on each floor of my house. I had it in pill form so I could bring it with when I travel for work, since the Sam's sized bottles are obviously more than 3 oz. 

I thought I just had a "sensitive stomach," but I never could figure out what triggered it. Maybe it was IBS, maybe something else. All I know is that stomach pain was a part of my life. And when I say pain, I mean pain... sharp, shooting pain all over my abdomen. Sometimes it woke me up at night it hurt so much. I asked my doctor about it at my physical in January 2012, and she goes "It could be a dietary thing. Do you know how to run a controlled experiment?" "Yes." "Ok, so do that. Testing one variable at a time, cut something out of your diet for a couple of months and see how it makes you feel. Start with Dairy or Wheat, then move on to soy, eggs, onions/garlic. No need to report back to me, just see what makes you feel better. If nothing helps, let me know and we'll start looking into if it's something more serious." I love that she trusted me and wasn't going to make me pay her several more office visit fees to tell me something I could figure out myself. Cheers, doc!

But I didn't do anything. All of the things she mentioned (except soy) are in some of my favorite foods. I don't know what my life would be like without Cheese. Hello, I went to the University of Wisconsin!!! And my favorite way to eat cheese is melted on something bread-based. Pokey sticks, grilled cheese, mac n cheese, brie en croute... I'm drooling now. And if you've ever eaten anything I've cooked, you know that I could not survive if I couldn't have garlic. It goes into EVERYTHING I make!! So I was in denial. I didn't want to think about my life without any of those foods, so I hunkered down and bought more of the pink stuff. 

Drooling. Right now. Ugh.

Now back to our trip to CA. Aunt Diane heard me complain about my stomach hurting for the 3rd time, and she noticed a trend. Burger for lunch, stomach ache that night. Pizza for dinner, stomach ache the next morning. Panini with extra with bread at the table for lunch, stomach ache and intense headache that night. Pork chops, risotto, and salad for dinner... felt like a champ. So she mentioned what she had noticed. She asked if I ever considered that I might have a gluten sensitivity. I said no (see paragraph above re: denial and love of various cheesy breads).

Fast forward to the Clean Eating & Fitness Challenges I participated in during the summer of 2013 (see "About Me" for the rundown). Each meal was basically lean protein and veggies of some sort. I can't even articulate how fantastic I felt. I had more energy, no headaches, I was more regular (sorry for TMI, but it's true), and miraculously... no stomach aches. I attributed this to the overall better diet, the Shakeology I was drinking, and the daily fitness, all of which definitely contributed to me feeling like a million bucks.

But the following week when my diet went into a tailspin, I realized what the missing piece was. I had a tough week at work and stress-ate like crazy, and I felt like crap every night. I realized then that the biggest thing that had changed about my diet was re-introducing refined flour. I had a lot of sandwiches, pasta, pizza, cheese and crackers, etc... When I realized this, I decided to finally take my doctor's advice and do that experiment. So I cut out wheat flour for a few weeks, and it worked. I felt fantastic. Even when I wasn't eating particularly "healthy" foods, I still felt great because in my opinion, it was the wheat that was causing me problems. 

There is a lot of controversy on this issue right now, so here is my take on it and also some background. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and some other grains. When developed, it becomes elastic. That's why you knead bread and pasta dough, to develop the gluten which gives these things their structure. That's why you don't want to over-beat biscuit dough or cake batter because you want the gluten to be relaxed, otherwise if it over-develops it will make your baked goods tough. 

People with Celiac disease have a severe intolerance to Gluten of any kind. It's an autoimmune disease which is triggered when gluten is consumed, and it damages the lining of the small intestine to the point where their body cannot absorb the nutrients necessary for survival. It is a really serious condition and people with Celiac need to be meticulous about ensuring their diet is 100% gluten free. If a friend has it, don't be surprised when they grill the server about the risk of cross-contamination due to preparation techniques used in the kitchen. They need to do this to stay healthy!! 

Then there are people with Gluten "sensitivities," which can vary in severity. Some people have reactions that are so serious that it makes them be as vigilant as someone with celiac about avoiding it. Then there is me. We know what my symptoms are... I get tummy aches. I also get headaches, fatigue, bloating, and some other unnamed GI issues. BUT, it's not life or death. So I am usually wheat free, but certainly not all the time. I just need to be prepared for the consequences.

I've read Wheat Belly. It's intense. I don't necessarily subscribe to that level of intensity for everyone, though I agree with some of its points about the fact that just replacing wheat with "gluten-free alternatives" is probably even less healthy for you than just eating whatever you were going to eat with wheat in the first place. This is because these gluten free alternatives are made from various other starches that are even more processed than wheat. I've read articles that say that people with a non-celiac sensitivity are actually reacting to the fibrous part of wheat, not the protein part of wheat (meaning the gluten alone isn't the issue, it's just actual wheat that causes problems) - this is the category that I believe I fall into. I've also recently read an article from "I F-ing Love Science" that says that non-celiac sensitivity is bogus. That any health benefits you feel from not eating wheat are actually attributed to eating a generally healthier and less processed diet that automatically occurs when you cut out wheat. That's probably a fair point.

But here's what this all has to do with you... eat what makes you feel good, don't eat what doesn't, and ignore the haters. I don't care that a website has potentially debunked non-celiac wheat sensitivity. I've never officially been diagnosed with anything, but I know that I feel fantastic when I don't eat wheat and I feel crummy when I do. I don't care if people think I'm just jumping on the latest nutritional band-wagon (I also love kale, so there is that). I just know what I need to cut out of my diet to feel my best, and you should absolutely discover this for yourself. Whether it's a certain type of food, not eating at a particular time of day, eating a few big meals or lots of little meals... do whatever makes you feel good. 

And you know what sometimes makes me feel good? A fantastic spaghetti carbonara (I'll post a recipe soon). So once in a while, when I'm prepared for the calories and the consequences, I'm going to bust out the Pepto-Bismol for old time's sake and enjoy my all-time favorite pasta dish. The difference is that now I'm in control. I no longer am a victim to random attacks of abdominal pain. I stopped buying Pepto-Bismol in bulk. And when I do eat wheat, you better believe it's something delicious, and the consequences are worth it to me every once in a while. So, suck it haters.

Update: Just found this interesting read that corroborates what I've written above about my sensitivity being wheat-based and not gluten-based. 

So, what are your diet quirks? What makes you feel crappy, what makes you feel great? Share below!