Tuesday, September 1, 2009

When coffee doesn't cut it...

How easy is it to blow your money on food without actually winding up with something to eat? Pretty easy, actually. If that didn't turn you off this post, then you're probably a yuppie, and all yuppies prefer their coffee in as little coffee form as possible. For me, that's the caramel macchiato at that haven for yuppies: Starbucks.

"But, Sean," you say, "I hate spending three and half bucks on milk (six bucks with the necessary coffee cake to accompany)." Well, a nonfat caramel macchiato is only 190 calories, and normal coffee cake thrown in rounds out to 490 calories for the morning. That's not bad for super-charging my morning. Besides, what else am I going to do? Go to Heine Bros. Coffee? Yeah right! But if you prefer to pay an extra dime or two to support local businesses in an effort to make Louisville not such a samey place (or some yuppie cause like that), then go for it.



That's not why we're here.

We're here to MAKE caramel macchiatos! Yay!

First, you need to grab yourself an espresso machine and a coffee grinder. Next, you'll need the following:

  • Espresso Beans from your local grocery store

  • Non-fat milk

  • Vanilla Syrup

  • Caramel Topping (I use the non-sugar type)

  • Tap water (bottle water is for yuppies)

  • 2 cups and however many mugs you're making


If it's Monday morning, stop now. You're not going to get this right the first time, and it's probably going to piss you off if you just spent over 100 bucks and screwed up your first coffee treat right before work. On a weekend, do yourself a favor and wake up a little later, and try this. You'll find out quickly whether you like messing with drinks or if you want to just blow six bucks every morning that isn't going well.

Ready? Here's the steps,

1) Grind the coffee. Normally this takes over 15 seconds, but check how long your grinder specifies for coffee beans. The coffee must be extremely fine.

2) Stuff your coffee down into your filter and pack it tight.

3) Line the bottom of your mug with vanilla syrup

4) Fill up your espresso machine with water (normally on back)

5) Turn on your espresso machine and pump 2 shots worth of coffee into your mug (That sounds bad for a blog called S & M)

6) Fill one of your cups with about 8 oz (1 cup) of milk and nuke it for about a minute and a half (warmer than lukewarm, but not burning your finger)

7) Fill one of your cups just under halfway with milk and use your steamer on it.

8) By the time you finish steaming, the nuking will be done. You should've filled the cup by now.

9) Throw in heated milk, toss on the foam, sprinkle on the caramel

10) FINALLY, enjoy!


Yeah, with practice you can get two cups done in 30 mins, including prep time, make time, and some cleanup time after the drink.

Takes a while? Yeah.

Costs a bit? I'd argue if you drop Starbucks for this it will eventually be cheaper.

Worth it? Oh yeah!

What's best? After you get over this first hump, then you're ready to experiment even more. There's pumpkin spice to be had, lattes to be made, and the world to save. Especially if you're a dumb yuppie.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Time & Sticking to It

Time had a good article this week about exercise versus food.

Yes, that muffin you have at Starbucks really will set you back a half hour of jogging. Yuck!

We all know what to eat (or at least we think we do). You're supposed to grab lots of fruits and veggies, skimp on the fat, and balance everything in the food pyramid. Well, I ain't Superman.



Dieting is difficult, making a change to your eating habits is much easier. Sure, we're (Megan is) providing plenty of recipes, but don't think that if you eat one meal here your job is done. Same idea for exercise. Going for a 30 minute walk does not entitle you to that muffin.

But that's okay! If you like food, like I do, are able to make jokes that yes you're a fat kid and you want the cake don't feel bad. Feeling sorry for yourself is for losers. Jump on the treadmill, hop on the bike, go for a walk, but most importantly, never lose sight of the goal and record what you're eating. If you make mistakes today, that's ok. Every day is a new day, and you should treat it as such. Don't crash diet one day because your night of drinking ended up inside ice cream shop.

Take heart, and embrace patience. If you want to lose weight, I mean truly want to lose weight. You can, and it's not as hard as you think. Just find a method, and take it one step at a time.


-S

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Black Bean Lasagna

Hello Friends!
It's been a while since either Sean or myself posted on here, due to a tragic car accident at the end of June in which Sean's youngest sister was involved. As things are coming together, and she's getting healthier everyday (thank you all for the prayers and hope), we hope to continue this blog. I'd like to thank those of you who so patiently waited for the next post, as to what to make.
So, to get things started, I'd like to introduce you to my delicious black bean lasagna. It's super easy to make, and makes a lot - which is nice to freeze so you can pull it out of the freezer and pop it into the microwaves. I got the idea when Sean and I went to eat at Cafe Lou Lou in Louisville. He ordered black bean lasagna, and I thought it was delicious. I love vegetarian lasagnas, so I went home and started playing with different recipes to create this, trying to perfect the taste, yet make it my own and make it healthy. Finally, I after different attempts at how everything should make, I decided this was the best recipe I created for this dish. For this black bean lasagna, you need

2 Cans of Black Beans
1 LARGE (45 oz) jar of pasta sauce
2 Teaspoons Ground cumin
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
2 Teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes
Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles
1 15oz Container Part Skim Ricotta Cheese
1 tablespoon Parmesan
1 10oz package chopped spinach (thawed if frozen)
2 Cups Mexican Style Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese

Preheat oven to 375 F. Drain and rinse the black beans. Mush them, and mixed the mushed black beans with the jar of pasta sauce, ground cumin, and red pepper flakes. (Feel free to add more or less spice as you wish, if you like hotter or not so hot!) Blend the ricotta with garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, and thawed spinach. Using a 9x13" pan, layer the blends with the noodles in the following order...

1/4 Black bean/sauce mix
Noodles
1/2 Ricotta mix
1/3 Shredded cheese
1/4 Black bean/sauce mix
Noodles
1/2 Ricotta mix
1/3 Shredded cheese
1/4 Black bean/sauce mix
Noodles
1/4 Black bean/sauce mix
1/3 Shredded cheese

Cover pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour, uncover, and bake for 15 more minutes. Let sit about 10 minutes once out of the oven.

It's a great, filling meal, low calorie meal, and easy to play around with - for example, I love adding mushrooms to the ricotta mixture (too bad Sean isn't as big a fan of mushrooms as I am). As for low cal - the recipe (if followed above) makes approximately 12 servings, and has about 255 calories per serving, 9 grams of fat.

Enjoy!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

We're gonna make America skinny again, one slap at a time

There's nothing more crucial than Vince, who I swear is the scout from Team Fortress 2, remixed into a rap video.

Rap Chop


Meg and I still have to recover from a weekend. It's funny watching my former roommates embarrassing themselves at a wedding. Also, this weekend was the last time Megan opts for chicken while I steal the Mahi Mahi.

As soon as I grab some time, I need to make the potatoes we had. Seemed like small red potatoes peeled and boiled until you should've mashed them, then dipped in some melted butter. I figure a few leaves or spices would "awesome" them up.

Mmm...


Also, I haven't mentioned it yet, but go here: The Daily Plate

I dropped 45lbs since last August, and if you REALLY want to do weight loss, I'd recommend it.

Stay classy Interwebs,
-S

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Easy Homemade Corn and Black Bean Salsa

Tonight I made a homemade salsa. It's usually very popular, super easy to make. The worst part is chopping the vegetables (boy do onions make me cry!!), but the final product is worth it.
It's a flexible recipe. You can add/change ingredients as you need to. I've substitute a serrano pepper for a habanero when I know some might not like it as spicy as me or have just kept the habanero out all together, for a couple of examples. My usual take on the recipe is as follows

1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Orange Bell Pepper
3 JalapeƱo Peppers
1 Habanero Pepper (I like spicy food, but I know some people don't, so this can be left out and it's still good.)
1 Red Onion
5 Green Onions
2 Cans White and Yellow (Drained and rinsed)
2 Cans Black Beans (Drained and rinsed)
1 Can Petite Diced Tomatoes (Drained and rinsed)
1 Avocado
1 Bunch Cilantro
1 Cup Lime Juice
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
Red pepper flakes
Garlic Powder

It's a very colorful salsa, but quite delicious! Very popular when I take to places, and so hard for many people to remember it's actually quite good for you being all vegetables. Though it seems overwhelming, it's really not, as I said before, the worst part is chopping everything up! And be sure to wear gloves if cutting a habanero!

Enjoy!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Of Pizza and Cincinnati

Weekends in Cincinnati are fun. There's nothing better than Skyline Chili. There's a time for hearty, meaty, beany Texas chili. Then there's time for something better.

I went 180 on chili this weekend though for LaRosa's pizza, another Cincinnati specialty. There is no place better in the tri-state area to have this than the Boudinot location. Good atmosphere, a friendly community, and good food marked by the sweet pizza sauce. The better part, is you can chalk up their traditional style pizza as thin crust, because it is. When you're not going to Chicago, and you're not dipping in garlic butter (mmm...) why not just save a few calories and grab a thin crust?

Meg, me, and two friends went for the Buddy card (a must if you're in Cincinnati often) and got a deep dish cheese pizza (free) and a traditional crust chicken and pepperoni pizza. Poifect! With breadsticks and a tip, you get out around $27. Ugh, but I'm glad I rode my bike before then, because it was filling.

Speaking of the two toppings, they're kind of at the opposite ends of the spectrum. When you think of ordering a pizza for a group, what do you get? One cheese and a pepperoni, probably. What do 95% of the pizza places do (unfortunately, LaRosa's as well)? They put the pepperoni under the cheese. It blends right in with the cheese. That's bull. If you're doing pizza, put your pepperoni on top. It gives the meal a crisper taste and provides a better presentation than the three rings of dough, sauce, and cheese.

Chicken on the other hand. It's thicker than pepperoni, a more distinct taste, and is typically cut so you're getting more meat bang for the buck. Why pepperoni is used more often than bacon, sausage, or chicken confuses me. If you're going to get meat, then put that stuff on top or put on some real meat.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Homemade Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Meg here, and I decided to try my hands a recipe last night. A local restaurant here makes this GREAT buffalo chicken pizza, but it's so expensive, and I'm not quite sure what the calorie content would be. I wanted to try something on my own, that I could control what was in it, as well as save me time.
Ingredients -
1 - Boboli 100% Whole Wheet Pizza Crust
1 - Rotisserie chicken from the store's deli (I only used the breasts, saved the rest of the chicken for others)
2 oz (1/4 Cup) - Louisiana Hot Sauce
2 Tbsp - Light margarine
2 Tbsp - Hidden Vally Ranch dressing
Garlic powder.
1 cup - Mozzarella cheese (enough to cover)

I took the rotisserie chicken, peeling the meat off the breast and shredding it with my fingers. I melted the margarine, mixed with the hot sauce, and then blended with the shredded meat. Then I took the crust, rubbed the ranch dressing on the crust, just enough for a thin layer, and sprinkled it with garlic powder. I baked this for about 5 minutes. After baking, I covered the crust with the sauced-covered meat, and layered the cheese on top. I baked until cheese was melted.

It was a great and filling dinner. Two pieces are all I needed to feel full. Sean enjoyed it, as he just munched down 4. :)

Hello World

This blog is the pursuit of all things foody, by me (Sean) and my girlfriend of 2 and a half years (Megan).

It's not all devil's food cake and cookies though. We're both health-conscious 20-somethings looking for the most luscious bang for the caloric bite. It's food trying to be both good for you, and bad for you. Thus, the other reason we're called S & M.

We'll post reviews of local (Louisville) restaurants, bars, our own concoctions, and whatever else we can get our hands on.

Enjoy!