I once was lost but now I'm found....(japanese eggplant)

Me and a very awake Wesley

I had a cup of coffee and found myself. I hadn't been feeling lost per-say, it wasn't until I was found that i realized things had been slowly changing, I had been slowly changing.

I noticed that in the last 6 weeks and the last 10 months, I have been making choices that I would not have normally made. Whether it be how I wear my hair (at 12 weeks pregnant I had bangs cut..bad idea), what I do with my spare time (less walks, bike rides, and swims, nevermind a lack of nights out dancing), what I talk about (baby, diapers, flu shots), and what I eat (turkey, chicken, and lots of ice cream). Looking at pictures of myself from last year, I hardly recognized that person and this bothered me a little. Everything has gotten a little wider, Chopper now calls me "mommy" instead of "babe", I haven't been out with friends, and my reasonably clean diet has been tainted with sugar powered energy and enjoyment.

Well yesterday, after my cup of coffee, I was me again! Though I wasn't out dancing, I was home with my sweet sweet boy and my other sweet boy, we were relaxing, nursing, changing, reading, and getting ready to take a walk. But my sense of humor was boomin, I was dancing around the living room, and I couldn't wait to start a million and one projects! Then I realized, I hadn't lost myself, I was just exhausted, and tired like I've never felt before. I told Chop I felt like I was learning a new depth of tired, and he said he felt a new depth of awake...he's so smart. Now what to do besides become a coffee addict, because that's not what a good health counselor would do (though tempting). I realized that all those changes weren't me losing myself, I am still the person in the pictures, but when you are so tired you can't see straight it makes it much harder to be yourself.

Well, what I know for sure is that you are what you eat, and your food forms your body and your mind(set). A healthy diet means a healthy mind, energy, and body (healthy food means healthy hair too, but the food won't do much for a bad bangs haircut). So I will start there. Fresh air, water, green vegetables, and whole grains will give me the energy that I have been relying on brownies, ice cream and coffee to provide (that's right I said brownies). It will help with the waistline as well, though that is less of a concern right now. My focus is to feel focused, enthused, and at peace. And I will kindly ask Chop to refer to me as "babe" for a little while longer, at least till Wes learns the concept of "mommy".

Since I became pregnant I have been eating eggplant like it'll never grow again. Lots and lots of it, usually roasted and then thrown over pasta or in sandwiches. Because I want to make a few healthy changes I decided to do up my eggplant a little differently. This was inspired by the beautiful Japanese eggplant I found at the farmer's market. Japanese eggplant is the smaller varietal you may sometimes see. It has a softer skin and can be a less bitter than the larger eggplants.
Why eggplant?

Its fiber content is high, which helps our digestive process and also acts against coronary heart disease. Eggplant not only features a number of vitamins, proteins and minerals but also contain important phytonutrients and antioxidants. The potassium in eggplant brings a balance to your salt intake and maintains a nice level of hydration and also plays a role in regulating blood pressure. Eggplant also contains folate, magnesium and niacin as well as copper, manganese and thiamine (vitamin B1), all important minerals.

Chinese Japanese Eggplant

6 japanese eggplant sliced
3 Tbl soy sauce
3 Tbl maple syrup
1 Tbl sesame oil
1/4 cup water

Heat the sesame oil till nice and hot, then add soy sauce.
Toss in eggplant slices, stir coating them in the oil and sauce.
Add water
Cover
Cook covered about 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add maple syrup
Cover
Cook until eggplant is soft, add more water if neccesary


Once the eggplant was finished, I cooked a bag of mixed frozen veggies that had carrots, green beans, and peas the same way (you could do these together, but this was an afterthought).

I served all the vegetables over quinoa and sprinkled with a little gomasio (toasted sesame seeds and sea salt). It was really yummy. It had a nice sweet flavor too, which helped to stave off the sweet cravings later on.

A promise is a promise (vegetable pot pie)

So how's everyone doing?

Well, we are sittin pretty over here. Splitting our time between Block Island and Warwick. Chop works through the week as we get acclamated with new parenthood, and then there is lots of visiting on the weekends. Introducing Wes to people is lots of fun (once they wash their hands of course), especially because he is so damn cute!

With the flu season and swine flu mania upon us, washing hands has become a very important health issue in our household. Of course the week we spent with Wesley in the hospital with respitory issues, certainly helped to fuel our fire. From what I understand hand washing is the number 1 thing we should all be doing to stay well this winter, so let that be my health counseling tip for today, keep washing people!

Another important health tip...eat your vegetables. Fresh is best. Raw is better. Frozen is cool. Canned is ok. Cooked is great. Organic when you can. Local when it's available. Just get them in, and feel your immune system soar or at least feel better than if you left them off your plate. Greens are the way to go, dark leafy greens. They oxygenate the blood, improve circulation, strengthen the immune system, promote healthy intestinal flora, improve kidney, gall bladder, and liver function, and help to clear congestion and mucus. Can you beat that? Try eating one full serving of greens a day for a week, and witness how you will start to crave them. Arugula is good cooked or as a salad, so is spinach and escarole. Chard, collards, and kale all liked to be cooked. Steamed, roasted or sauteed, finish them off with a little drizzle of olive or flax oil (Vitamins A and D need fats to be assimilated and absorbed).

Ok, so that being said, I believe I promised a pie crust or a vegetable pot pie. This counts as veggies, but of course it satisfies the comfort food craving as well.

As with most of my recipes here, I usually don't use measurements (I'm making them up here as estimates for you), if you find it could use a little more of this or that feel free, be flexible.

Vegetable Pot Pie

1 onion
4 cloves garlic
2-3 medium carrots*
4 medium potatoes
1 can corn*
1 can peas*
1 small head broccoli*
1 bunch chard
5-7 mushrooms
1 pie crust (store bought or homemade**)
1 tbl thyme
1 tsp sage (cut up small)
1 tsp rosemary (cut up small)
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup milk (your choice)
1/3 cup flour

*You can always use a bag of frozen mixed veggies to simplify the process, less slicing and dicing. I would suggest this, especially because these vegetables will be cooked so much.

** Pie crust recipe at bottom of page


Chop and dice all the veggies to prepare for the pan.

In a large fry pan or pot (needs to be pretty deep, lots of stuff)..start by sauteing the onions and garlic till translucent and then add the potatoes. Purple potatoes make this look really pretty.

Once the potatoes start to soften ever so slightly, add the carrots. These take the longest to cook, so they just need a little head start.

As the carrots and potatoes cook, add the herbs (chopped and diced nice and small).

Then add the broccoli and frozen vegetables. Lastly add the mushrooms and chard.


The chard takes over the pan until it starts to cook down. Mix all the veggies and after the chard cooks down, sprinkle the flour over all the vegetables coating them evenly.

Then add the vegetable stock and stir, allowing it to simmer for about another 5 minutes.

The flour and stock will start to thicken and then add the milk, continuing to stir till it thickens again.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and see how you're liking things so far.

Remember that flavors will come out as the pot pie cooks in the oven, before you add too many seasonings. Once the filling is done (you don't want the vegetables cooked too too much, because they will have time in the oven as well), put it in whatever casserole dish you choose. I used my large cast iron skillet. Lay the crust over the top and make 3 nice little slits in the top to allow for steam and to make it look pretty.

Bake at 375* for 45-60 minutes depending on your oven.

This vegetable pot pie is easy once you've made it for the first time. You can get creative with the vegetables you use and seasonings since, well, like I've said before you really can't beat anything with a crust (recipe at bottom of page).

And while you are contemplating making your family a pot pie in this extremely warm November weather (maybe you should wait till you have leftover turkey to throw into it, and perhaps there will be a chill in the air by then)....I will let you contemplate the beauty of my son, Wesley Able Butterfield. We chose Able as his middle name, it means "breath" or "exhalation of breath" which has significance because of his entry to the world.



Pie Crust- some store bought crusts are just as good- look for crusts made with butter and with little additives (health food stores or wholefoods)

This recipe makes 1 crust. If you are making a pie with a bottom and top crust, double this recipe and form two discs of dough instead of one.

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (increase to 1 1/2 teaspoons if for a sweet recipe)
• 2 to 4 Tbsp ice water, very cold

1 Start by cutting the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and placing in the freezer for at least 15 minutes (preferably longer) so that they become thoroughly chilled

2 In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar, pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready, if not, add a little more water and pulse again.

3 Remove dough from machine and place on a clean surface. Carefully shape into a discs. Do not over-knead the dough! You should still be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These bits of butter are what will allow the result crust to be flaky. Sprinkle the disc with a little flour on all sides. Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

4 Remove the crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12 inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, use a metal spatula to check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Gently fold in half. Place on to a 9-inch pie plate, lining up the fold with the center of the pan. Gently unfold and press down to line the pie dish with the dough.

Organized Archives

We are coming up on the 1 year anniversary of the Clean Up Clear Out blog! Perhaps not everyone who reads this has been following it from the beginning, but this blog started when I challenged myself to the 10 day Master Cleanse. I had decided that blogging my experience would keep me in line and help to share the cleansing process with my friends and family. I really enjoyed the kind of checking in, self maintenance, reflection, and journaling, blogging allowed and then realized that if I were to continue I wanted to share a little more with the readers. So the blog slowly evolved from different diets to just what's cooking in my kitchen, allowing me to share new foods as well as continue to experiment myself. As I've gone through different food phases my blog has too, and so I wanted to make the archives a little easier to follow. Since my last post was "crock pot chicken" and it has been a long time since one may have seen a new "green" introduced, I thought it best to make those recipes easier to find. So along with my cute and clever blog titles, I have now included the recipe that can be found with that post. I hope this encourages readers to jump around a little more and try recipes that may have been posted before they joined our blog bandwagon. So for all readers new and old, may I encourage you to check out or revisit some of the greens recipes or soups...I never did try a "dessert diet", perhaps I should give that one a whirl next! Head back to last January and get a taste of the more seasonal dishes from that time. AND Stay tuned...Next Post...Vegetable Pot Pie! Never want to miss a chance to wrap vegetables in pie crust!

Oh yeah..and here's another picture of my adorable baby boy...

Nourishment (crock pot chicken, miso gravy)

"Garcon- Please bring me my mother's milk. Thank you."

What a time this has been! Wes is 18 days old, and we have spent the last 12 days holed up, staring at him. Yes, there is work to be done, but any free time is spent oggling the baby. Chop goes back to work next week and I have to admit I am a little nervous how I will handle everything on my own.

Wesley is a milk monster, eating frequently and this means that I must eat frequently too. Fortunately Chop has really stepped up to the plate and we've had some decent meals. I am most impressed with my breakfasts. Every morning as Wes and I feed and nap, Chop goes downstairs and fixes up what are some of the most well rounded, beautiful breakfasts I've enjoyed.

Steel Cut Oatmeal with shaved coconut, raisins, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Cinnamon raisin english muffin with almond butter.

Rice and beans with eggs, side of english muffin, and oatmeal.

I know these look like huge breakfasts, but they are necessary.

Chopper also likes to take the opportunity, whenever I am not cooking, to make a crock pot chicken. He gets really excited about this and I always wonder why he doesn't just do it more often (I guess then some of the thrill would be gone).

There is a whole diet (Westin A. Price diet/ Traditional or Primitive diet) founded on the idea that we are meant to thrive on animal proteins and fats that are derived from the purest sources (this all based on evidence through studies of indigenous cultures). The meat we buy at the market would not be considered one of these sources. We're talking cows that eat grass and graze in the sun, chickens that eat grubs out of cow manure and grass and get sunlight, or seafood that is not contaminated with heavy metals. There is so much more to this than I could possibly do justice here, so definitely follow the link to 'bone up' (pun intended). The theories behind this way of eating are pretty telling and can once again confuse this one time (many times) vegetarian.

Chop came across a "Nourishing Traditions" magazine while bringing me to the accupuncturist and since then was excited and hell bent on getting some marrow and gelatin into his diet. To do this, first you need a quality chicken. He purchased a free range, sun fed chicken at Wholefoods and got down to business.

Crock Pot Chicken

1 free range quality chicken
4 fingerling potatos
2 carrots
4 shallots
Bells Seasonings-heaping Tablespoon

Leave the innards in the chicken, place the whole thing in the crock pot with the chopped veggies, seasoning, and enough water to fill the pot. Turn crock pot on and let simmer for about 6 hours.

Falls right off the bone.

The fat, gelatin, and marrow has this lovely yellow color. According to the Traditional Diet (and Chopper), this is where the good stuff is.

Chicken, and purple mashed potatoes with Miso gravy.

Miso Gravy-awesome gravy for any dish-especially when you go meatless.

2 Tbl sweet white miso
1 cup soy milk (milk)
3 Tbl flour (your choice)
1/2 onion
1 Tbl thyme
Black pepper

Saute onion till translucent.
Coat the onion in the flour, add thyme.
Dissolve the miso in the soy milk, stirring till mixed thoroughly.
Add the soy milk/miso to the onions. Stir till thickens.
Add black pepper to taste.

I am someone who has a hard time eating mashed potatoes without gravy. This recipe is quick, easy, and delicious. You can also add mushrooms for a nice flare. I love being able to whip up gravy, it seems so decadent.

Baby Butternut (stuffed squash version 2)

Baby Butterfield is here! Meet Wesley (yet to have a middle name) Butterfield. Wesley was born at home on October 2 at 10:55 am, after a 13 hour labor.

I worried before I had him that my heart would open up. I worried that I'd become a gusher, another annoying parent with a "perfect" child. Well, ahem, it's happened. He's absolutely beautiful and I can't believe how quickly the love rushes in. One minute I didn't know if the baby inside of me was a boy or a girl and the next I knew love like I had never known before for my baby boy.

Wesley did not arrive without some strife. He had some trouble breathing on his own due to a cord wrapped 3 times around his neck and body which led to fluid aspiration in the lungs. EMT's were called to our house and our peaceful homebirth quickly turned chaotic and scary. After a week in the neonatal intensive care unit, Wes had been put through the ringer (and put us through the ringer as well), but I believe came out stronger because of it. I have been asked by people since our ordeal, whether my mind has been changed on homebirth. Although what we experienced was scary and sad for our family, I have to say that it does not change my mind on homebirth. Rather my experience changed my mind about hospitals. I have a new respect for the care that is given when it is needed. We were blessed and amazed as we witnessed the doctors and nurses who took care of Wes do what they do, with such care and compassion. Everyone we met was on their game and so thoughtful and considerate of what we were going through, never mind so damn smart! They truly saved our baby.

So now we are home (this is day 6 of our time home-we have officially been home as long as we were in the hospital-moving on..) We have been loving our baby-moon, though a bit tired. I have managed to do some cooking, though in stages.

So in honor of our little Butterfield...as Chops dad has taken to calling him, Butternut.

We had this today for lunch and it was delicious! Everytime we have something that Chop is really into, he adds it to our "someday cafe" menu. This was added today, he called it Cinco de Butternut Squash.


Cinco De Butternut Squash

1 small butternut squash halved and roasted (30-45 minutes at 400*)
1/2 can of black beans
1 avocado
2 inch cube cheddar cheese
tomato/ 1/4 red bell pepper
1/4 red onion (optional)

After squash is roasted spoon out about 1/2 the meat into a bowl.
Mix in beans, chopped bell pepper, 1/2 avocado and 1/2 the cheese grated.
Stuff the squash with the mixture and top with the other 1/2 grated cheese.
Bake for about 10 minutes at 350* (till cheese is melted)
When it comes out top with other 1/2 of avocado, diced tomato and red onion.

Apple Coffee Cake

Bundt cake cooling trick.

Before I loved to cook, I loved to bake. Unfortunately baking, as delicious as the results may be, isn't always the healthiest of options. So with health counseling and healthy cooking, came less and less baking. But I still love to bake, and these days (being pregnant and all) I love baked goods as well, so I pulled out my mixer and went to work.

Few tips to getting the most out of your baked goods. Now I know that if you are craving a cookie, you aren't necessarily going to be looking for a healthy alternative. However, if you have a healthier alternative cookie on hand you will curb that craving by having something that is a little more modest and will lead to less cravings in the long run.

Also, if you do partake in a little baking at home, you can control how much you actually intake. If you make a batch of dough, freeze half. If you make a coffee cake, after its done cut slices and put the rest in freezer as well, make these treats last. Most people bake and then for fear of wasting, continue to eat the whole tray, pan, or dish throughout the week.

Experiment with flours, try rice, spelt, or coconut flour for different textures and some gluten free options. In general it is good to have variety in your diet, causing less strain on your intestines from wheat wheat and more wheat. Experiment with sweeteners, try agave, molasses, evaporated cane juice, honey, date sugar or maple syrup. Getting away from processed white sugar will help the baked treat to not wreak havoc on your blood sugar-causing less highs and lows and in turn less cravings.

So that being said. I made an Apple Coffee Cake that was a favorite at the cafe when I baked for them. Can't say I strayed too far from the original recipe here, the biggest change I made was playing around with the oil used. It calls for "vegetable oil", which is typically rancid rapeseed oil, that has been filtered and processed to remove all of the stank (lovely isn't it?). So in baking I use coconut oil. Because it is hard at room temperature you do need to melt it, but then it pours just like vegetable oil. Coconut oil has many benefits, which are listed if you follow the link. One of the coolest benefits, I think, is that it contains lauric acid which is only found in one other place...human breast milk. Lauric acid is converted into monolaurin which is an antimicrobial, and antibacterial so it can help to prevent/cure viruses and bacterial infections. I like to add a spoonful of coconut oil to my smoothies, or at times if I am craving fats, I will eat it by the spoonful. Another great use is to lather it on your skin...mmmm.

Apple Coffee Cake

Preheat oven to 350*
Bundt Pan
4 med granny smith apples
4 Tbl plus 2 cups sugar (I used evaporated cane juice granulated-not to be fooled into thinking this is a "healthy" sugar, but it is just one step less processed and I like the added depth of molasses flavor using this sugar allows-it is also less expensive to bake with than my ideal, agave)
2 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
1 cup coconut oil (also great at high heat-wonderful to cook with. Make sure to buy unrefined)
1/4 cup oj
1 Tbl Orange marmalade (if you don't have it, any jam will be yummy)
1 tsp vanilla
3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix apple with cinnamon and 4 Tbl of sugar

*Mix apple with cinnamon and 4 Tbl of sugar
*Combine sugar, eggs, coconut oil, oj, marmalade, and vanilla
*Combine flour, baking powder, and salt
*Mix the dry ingredients with the wet
*Properly grease pan (coconut oil works for that too!)Layer the batter and the apples in the pan...starting with the batter and ending with apples

I laid these apples out all nice nice, these will be in the middle of the cake.


The apples on the bottom, not so much. Let them be a little messy and gooey.

Bake for an hour to an hour and a half (depending on your oven) at 350*. When it does come out, enjoy. Share this with friends or with enemies to turn things around....or skip it, and save this for yourself in your freezer for a rainy coffee cake kind of day.

One of my firsts..(stuffed squash)

So it is officially fall, bugger! I always have a tough time transitioning from summer to fall, though this year I have a special package arriving, which makes the transition much much different. This summer was a blur, if it weren't for the squash showing up all over the farmer's markets, I'd still be expecting baby greens and I'd be ever so eager to eat them. The pumpkins tell me, that time has passed, it is getting cooler and time for more warming foods.

So have I got the recipe for you! I first made this dish one day when I was up at my mother's, I wanted to make her something for lunch, and I think I was eager to impress with how easy it can be to dish up something fantastic, quickly. So I perused her cupboards and fridge and went to it, the dish has stuck, it's become one of my favorites in a pinch, and my mother makes it from time to time as well.

Stuffed Butternut Squash
1 small to med. butternut squash
1 pear or apple diced
1/2 onion diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
about 15 almonds chopped
3/4 cup frozen spinach (you can use fresh spinach or arugula too-just use more)
1/2 cup brown rice or quinoa
handful raisins or dried cranberries
garlic powder (about 1 tsp)
ground ginger (about 1/2 tsp)
chili (about 1/4-1/2 tsp)
cumin (about 3/4 tsp)
feta (enough to crumble on top)

I tend to have cooked grains on hand, and I suggest this to everyone I work with. They are great with eggs in the morning, as a breakfast cereal (add some nuts, dried fruit, maple syrup), rice and beans can be a quick meal, or stir fry in a pinch. If you do not have rice or quinoa cooked on hand, throw them on, according to the directions. At the same time halve the squash and place face down on a baking tray with a little water in the pan. Roast at 400* for about 45 minutes (generally the same time it will take to cook the rice).

While the rice and squash are cooking-
-dice the apple
-chop the nuts (you can toast these too; optional)
-mince the garlic
-chop the onion

In a large pan saute the onions and garlic till translucent.
Add the apple, and spinach.
Add the rice, nuts, raisins/cranberries, and spices. Mix well.

Scoop out about half of the meat of the squash and add it to the stuffing. Scoop the stuffing into the squash and pile high if you'd like. Top with crumbled feta and pop back in the oven on broil (about 2-3 minutes) to brown the top.

This batch is a little light on the greens (if you follow the recipe it'll be a bit more green than this)

So I hope you make this, it's delicious. And if you use quinoa, know you are getting a nice kick of protein as well. Happy Fall!!