The Amateur Gourmet is at it again

I can't be bothered to post about food or restaurants. I'm too busy cooking for myself, eating the same old takeout, or reading other blogs. So... for those few readers, here's something that I'm hoping happens each week. The Amateur Gourmet playing dinner music.

Snyder's Multi Grain White Cheddar Puffs

I just bought the new Snyder's Multi Grain White Cheddar Puffs and I have to say, I recommend them. Small servings, though. If you eat too many, you stop tasting the cheese flavor and then you're just wasting calories. They sort of taste like Pirate's Booty, except they have a nice crunch and little brown specks of what I guess are the multitudes of grains. And they're shaped like little logs. Go out and get some for yourself!

That link points to the main multi grain page. Click on the Cheddar Puffs link and scroll to the White Cheddar version. The other kind of cheddar puffs, the bright orange ones, said they were artificially flavored, and I thought that might be kind of gross.

Wine in a Box

I needed some white wine to make an artichoke sauce (recipe at end of post). I went to Austin Liquor on Gold Star Boulevard. I was going to buy some Cavit but the large bottle was $11.00 and I just needed 1/4 cup. After wandering around for a while, I came across the boxed wine. Hmm, I thought. Five liters for only $10.49? That sounds like a bargain!! And it has a spout, for easy pouring. I bought it. It turns out, Ellen likes it too.

I bought Franzia Crisp White Table wine. It's described as a medium bodied wine with floral aromas and fruit flavors.
Verdict: Terrible warm, quite tasty chilled. Great in the sauce. Dangerous to have around; very easy to get at.

Sauce Recipe

Warm some chopped garlic and olive oil in a pan
Add sliced mushrooms if you like them
Sautee
Add a can of quartered artichokes (in water, not oil, drained). You can also use frozen artichoke hearts from Trader Joe's. They're really good.
Add about 1/4 cup of white wine.
Simmer for a while, until everything's nice and warmed up.
Add salt and pepper.

Toss with tortellini. I like the frozen artichoke tortellini from Trader Joe's. The gorgonzola and walnut is good too but the flavor is a little strong. You could also serve over rice. You could also add some frozen or fresh spinach, though you might need to add more oil since these items are watery.

Forays into Organic Goodness

Because of a book I read, and in the interest of trying to stay healthy, I've changed my diet somewhat. I'm eating less dairy, though by no means cutting it out. Cheese is so delish. I'm not swilling pints of milk daily, though, and I haven't been eating ice cream, though Summer's coming so that will probably go right out the window.

I've been eating practically no meat. I hadn't really had any since mid-February, with two exceptions: chicken from chinese rice. I thought it was veg. And prosciutto from Al Fresco in Holden (review to come). Last weekend, I broke down and had the chopped salad from The Cheesecake Factory, which included grilled chicken and bacon. If I was going to fall off the wagon, that was the way to go. This salad was freaking fantastic. I always love the chopped salads because they're so easy to eat. It also had avocado, and was dressed in a house vinaigrette. I'll definitely geti again!

Anyway, I wanted to give an update on what I have been eating.

Fish. Fish and more fish. Salmon and haddock, mostly. It's lighter than meat and is good for you. I do need to read up on the mercury factor, though.

Beans and veggies. I've been making many variations on my favorite black bean soup recipe, and have cut out the taco seasoning, since it's high high high in sodium. Basically, any kind of bean, frozen or fresh veggies thrown in the pot, seasonings including garlic, and served over rice or with tortillas. Sometimes I add cheese and/or sour cream. I read somewhere that you should always eat beans with rice because they digest well together.

Fruit shakes, homemade. This is for breakfast. OJ or whatever J, though I like OJ best. A banana. Frozen berries (straw, black, blue). Frozen pineapple or fresh, frozen mango (from Trader Joe's). Blend it up, drink. I usually make about 16 ounces. It keeps me full for quite a while, though without the banana it's not as filling. I think that you could also do peanut butter, milk, and banana. That would be good. This is a good book, though I know there are other smoothie books out there.

Nuts. Pistachio, mixed, whatever's on hand. A good afternoon snack that helps me not starve when I go to the gym after work.

Organic pepper jack cheese from Trader Joe's. Soooo good.

I've been trying to buy everything organic or pesticide free. It's not always easy in this city of Worcester because the grocery stores don't always have good organic sections. If they do, often the frozen foods are mostly meat items. Shaw's in Shrewsbury has a decent section. Big Y on May Street is terrible. Shaw's on Gold Star is ok, but the produce is really lacking. I guess I could try the Living Earth but I hear their prices are really high, and I don't really like their parking lot. You could get a ding in your brand new car just like that.

Also, I hear there's a food co-op that I've been meaning to try out but I don't really like the neighborhood and I can't get there during the week. I'll probably check it out during the daylight hours. So, this is a plea to Whole Foods... Please come to Worcester. We will pay the high prices for the quality food. We will!

Yes, We Have No Bananas

Why is it that Shaw's on Gold Star Boulevard never has any yellow bananas? I wanted to eat one "right now!" and I had to buy green ones because that's all they had. Right in front of the sign that said "ripe and ready bananas".

Ach. Annoying.