America’s Test Kitchen

Spanish Chorizo and Lentil Soup: cooking 101

Diabetes, Uncategorized

May 29, 2013 Cook’s Illustrated – March/April 2013 Spanish Chorizo and Lentil Soup “To achieve authentically deep, complex flavor in this hearty soup, we had to turn down the flame.” ~ David Paz Sometimes you’ve just got to have faith… at least, that’s what I told myself when I gave Big Ring the keys to my 12 Months of Cooking Challenge. For May’s challenge, I plopped a stack of magazines in front of him and told him to choose my next recipe. The only perimeter I gave him was that it had to be a proper meal – no other limitations – and I was fully aware, and freaked out, of the consequences this could present. What if he picked pork? I do NOT eat piggies* Big Ring, to his credit, took the challenge seriously. He told me he didn’t want to pick something super easy, or super hard for […]

Spanish Chorizo and Lentil Soup: cooking 101 Read More »

Braciole: fooled by the name

Uncategorized

April 20, 2013: Cook’s Country – April/May issue Braciole Braciole. Ohhh, braciole. Braciole. Braciole. Braciole. I just can’t get enough of saying its name, letting it roll off my tongue, pretending I were on the beach in Sicily, scarf around my neck blowing in the wind, over-sized sunglasses taking over my face. Ahh, yes, my first mistake in choosing it for my latest 12 Months of Cooking Challenge. Last month was a bit of a funny month for the challenge. I had chosen braciole (pronounced bruh-zoooool) early in the month, had sent Big Ring out for the ingredients, and then got curb stomped by a nasty cold, putting braciole on hold. Instead, I made that incredible chicken soup that I still dream of to this day. The cold lasted just over a week, and lucky for us the braciole ingredients were still in tact. The proper April challenge was a

Braciole: fooled by the name Read More »

Chicken and Rice Soup

Diabetes, Uncategorized

April 17, 2013: Cook’s Country – February/March issue Chicken and Rice Soup “Too often, cutting corners in an effort to save time spoils the broth. Our version of chicken and rice soup cuts down on time but not on flavor.” ~ Erika Bruce Well now, that chicken was a helluva lot easier – and tastier! – to prepare than the last chicken I tried. No near salmonella poisoning this time, oh no! For this month’s challenge I had planned a completely different recipe with the intent of taking on dinner duty last Sunday. But this stupid cold got in the way, and the last thing me and my stuffed head wanted to do was spend hours cursing in the kitchen. And so, the ingredients that could be frozen were put in the freezer, and the fresh ingredients we hoped to use in other meals. As the days past, my head did

Chicken and Rice Soup Read More »

New Challenge: the chef’s hat

Diabetes, Uncategorized

I’ve run marathons, ridden my bike up the seemingly never-ending hills to Horseshoe Bay, competitively hiked the Grouse Grind, have raced dragon boats, and now I have set forth a new challenge – in the kitchen! This past Christmas, my pops (who drew my name for the family gift exchange) got me a subscription to Cooks Illustrated and Cook’s Country – both products of America’s Test Kitchen. Some of you familiar with my blog might be wondering why the heck he would do such a thing. It’s no secret that while I love to bake, I don’t like cooking, I’m no good at cooking, I cook but once a year, and frankly I’m much happier out of the kitchen than in. Yup, I can pretty much count how many times I’ve cooked on one hand! But the thing is, I love cooking shows and cooking magazines. Whenever I go to my

New Challenge: the chef’s hat Read More »

Strength training…with love

Diabetes, Training

Who needs chocolates? Who needs flowers? Who even needs Tiffany’s*? Not me, not when I’ve got the two very best loves of my life, every day of my life … yep, I’m all romantic like that 😉 However, that Coach NZ, she’s all hardcore. No days off for Valentine’s Day, oh no, today we were back at it with strength training, but she did note it was strength training with love day! TODAY’S STRENGTH: 2 p.m. BG before: 6.4 Temp. basal: none 3 sets 12 lunges 3 sets squats 3 sets calf raises 3 sets 10 pushups 3 sets straight planks (45 seconds each) 2 sets side planks (60 seconds each) 2 sets 30 airplane/swimming thingamabob 3 sets 30 clam shells (both sides) 3 sets 16 leg raises 2:30 p.m. BG after: 5.0 Yep, there was love alright! Laughing squats We do pushups together in this family. And when mama

Strength training…with love Read More »

Start typing and press enter to search