About Roofresh

My name is Kelsey, not Roofresh, but Roo IS my nickname. I live in the Phoenix area with my husband and we are having fun being newlyweds and going on crazy adventures together. We like finding new hangouts, food, art, music and friends; so that's pretty much what my blog is about. You'll find a bit of fashion, design, nutrition and family sprinkled throughout my content, or anything else that catches my eye at the moment. My blog has changed a lot over the last year, but you'll see that it's really just a record of our lives together; our public journal.

The Blogroll

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Jacqueline's Homemade Granola

A friend of mine, Jacqueline, and I have been getting together on our off-days to try out new recipes and keep each other accountable with our running. It's been really nice because both of us are very involved in the nutrition world from a career stand-point and we are very like-minded when it comes to our beliefs. We always have fun looking up new vegan or vegetarian recipes to try and in all honesty, making things that I probably wouldn't make if it weren't for her (like homemade pasta!).

Something that Jacqueline introduced me to is her homemade granola recipe. Now I know she would probably want to give credit to Mark Bittman, where she got her original recipe, but she's modified it so much that it doesn't resemble his recipe so I'm just calling it 'Jacqueline's Homemade Granola' now. It's a super simple, quick recipe and it is AH-MAZING!
Now, this part is SERIOUSLY easy. I mean you will probably never do anything easier in your life, except maybe exhale. Mix all of the dry ingredients together, excluding the chocolate chips. Add the honey and mix again (you might have to make sure that you are using quite a large mixing bowl and mix with your hands). Spread the granola along some foil or wax paper on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (depending on how toasty you like it), stirring every three minutes to avoid burning the granola. After it's nice and toasty, take it out and mix in the chocolate chips - we left it on the cookie sheet to do this. This makes about eight cups.

I've been eating my granola with a little bit of soy milk every morning (it doesn't take much to fill me up either, the oats expand A LOT). You can also eat it dry as a snack too. It will not have the same consistency as most granolas that you are used to because those have a lot of sugar and chemicals in them to make them clump together like that, but I love it just the way it is. Enjoy!

Keep it real,
Roo

ps. Here is a photo of my friend Jacqueline while we were making pasta from scratch!

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

FLT

This is technically the newest version of "40-Minute-Meals" but it takes less than 40 minutes...way less, so I didn't want to title it that. FLT is my version of a BLT but the 'F' stands for...

FIGS!!!

Figs are the superstar of this sandwich, but it's good for oh so many reasons. If you look closely at my picture, it does have some bacon in there, but the good thing is that this sandwich can take it or leave it. We just happened to have leftover jalapeño bacon so it was more out of being resourceful. I guess this should be called a BFLT, but that starts to sound like an acronym for a profanity. 

{Ingredients}
Whole wheat artisan bread (ours is from TJ's)
Goat cheese, mmmm
Arugula
Sliced tomato
Sliced, dried figs
Oil and vinegar dressing

{Directions}

It's pretty self explanatory, but here we go: 
1. Start by slicing your wheat bread and spreading the goat cheese on one side. 
2. Thinly slice your tomatoes and figs. 
3. Place them on the cheesy side of the sandwich. (I like to sauté the tomatoes quickly before putting them on the sandwich. 
4. If you choose to add meat you can put it on at this time as well and close your sandwich (my preferred meat of choice is a thin slice of prosciutto - YUM!) 
5. Let sauté on either side (I have a fancy panini pan that smooshes mine for me, but any pan will do. 
6. After toasted on both sides, pull top slice off again and add arugula and a very small amount of oil and vinegar, (less than a teaspoon). I like to make a vinaigrette with it and add a little sea salt and pepper to my homemade dressing.

We had this for dinner tonight, it was pretty satisfying! I will caution you to be careful on the 'fats' of this dish, the goat cheese and olive oil can add calories quickly so use them both sparingly. I am planning on doing my next 'Things that are Good for You' post this week, and guess what it's on? FATS! So stay tuned if you want to learn more about what kinds of fats should be in your diet.

So what did you think? Would you try it? I'm pretty sure next time I want to put a little sliver of prosciutto on mine. Prosciutto is the reason why I'm currently not a vegetarian, I think it's my favorite meat! Ha ha. Would you alter this recipe at your house, or keep it the same? Would you try it with jalapeño bacon?

Keep it real,

Roo

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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

40 Minute Meals {because I just can't keep up with Rachel Ray}

Pavo con Queso (Turkey with Cheese)

So I'm not the best at naming things, obviously, but I wasn't sure what to call the dish that I make weekly for my family (myself and Jim Bob). I feel sorry for our future kids if I keep up with my lack of creativity with naming, but that's beyond the point; I actually decided to write this post as a bit of a joke (Kasey). I actually have had a few people mention that I should blog a recipe and since I owe Mrs. Julia a recipe I figured I would do it via blog. 








2 cups brown rice
2 Table spoons onion, chopped (I prefer yellow sweet onion)
1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
1 lb ground turkey meat
1/2 orange or yellow bell pepper (optional)
Taco Seasoning
1/2 small can or 2oz green chili
1 can roasted, diced tomatoes
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 small can sliced black olives (about 4oz)
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
Handful of cilantro (if desired)
Lime juice (if desired)


Taco Seasoning
3 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons garlic salt

1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika






















Start by sauteing the onions with olive oil until they start to brown and are tender. Add the turkey meat and again cook on medium heat until brown. When the meat is cooked through, drain the excess fat and return it to the pan. 

Add the water and taco seasoning to the meat (you can use a pre-made taco seasoning, however, Trader Joe's was out once an employee told me how to make it this way and I haven't bought any since. I think it tastes better and you can adjust the heat however you would like with more or less Cayenne pepper). If you like the peppers in your recipe, add them at this time and let it simmer for 5 or so minutes.
After the seasoning is mixed thoroughly, add the green chili and tomatoes. I use diced roasted tomatoes that have green chili already in the mix and then add 2oz more into the pot. If you use plain tomatoes you can use a full 4oz of chilies or whatever your preference is for hotness/flavor.

I use frozen corn for this step. You can use fresh, canned or whatever other invention of corn that you can think of. I like the frozen because I can put it in a little early and let it simmer while my rice finishes cooking. I put the corn in and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. 
After the mixture has simmered the rice should be almost done. If it's not done you can let it continue to simmer for a little longer, just keep it at a very low heat, uncovered. A few minutes before you add the rice, add the black olives. I use a 4oz can, if you're an olive lover-olive it up!

At this point you can add the rice and the cheddar cheese if you would like to "calorie-up" the dish. :) I would start by folding in the rice and going for the cheese second (I know this is breaking "sin queso" oath, but I swear I have cut back significantly!) If you want to add other ingredients such as cilantro and lime juice go for it! Be careful with this dish, it's reeeeaally good, but it makes large portion sizes-so make if for your family or if you have company! In my case I make a lot and Jim and I use it for lunches during the rest of the week.



Well I hope you enjoy this little recipe. If it doesn't look like the fanciest dish in the world, don't adjust your screen-it's not, but it tastes great and it's easy! Oh and all of the photos were taken on my iPhone, so don't judge to harshly. I've included some tips below for cooking rice, if you've never made O.G. rice on a stove before it can take a couple tries before you get it right if you don't have a little help. If a rice cooker is better for you, I say go for the cooker! If you like the ingredients from this, you can always substitute potatoes or scrambled eggs for rice and make it into a breakfast burrito. Sooooo yum!

Enjoy!

Roo


Rice Tips

Rinse the rice very well before cooking it to eliminate some of the starch and increase success in cooking. Make sure that you follow the instructions on the rice packaging, every type is a little different as far as cooking instructions goes and little changes in directions can make major changes in how your rice turns out. Typically rice takes about 35-40 minutes to cook, so start the rice before starting the rest of the meal to make sure that you don't end up waiting on the rice. You can add a little bit of salt to the water when you put it on the stove to add a little flavor. Bring the water to a boil and add rice. After adding the rice wait till it is back to a boil and then simmer for the specified cook time, with the lid on.  A good way to tell if the rice is done is by looking for these holes or divots in the surface. Make sure that you don't disturb the rice during cooking; cook with the lid on, unstirred. 





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Monday, September 13, 2010

Sin Queso

Photo from http://cheeseunderground.blogspot.com/
I think that the worst thing ever in the world happened this week: I agreed to not eat cheese for a month! Why in the world would I even consider something so crazy you ask? Well it started when my husband and I were out to lunch on Sunday and we started talking about the foods that we eat a lot of. He said that my three favorite things to eat/drink are "coffee, cheese and little pieces of chocolate," (from Trader Joe's). I have to admit he's pretty right on. After discussing this he went on to talk about how bad he heard cheese is for you, and how he read this article in Men's Health about how horrible it is for you...
Now as some of you might know, I do have a BS in Nutrition (Dietetics) and you would think that I know how bad cheese can be for you...well I do, I just choose to eat it in moderation, er uh, well I guess if I still ate it in moderation it wouldn't be that bad. It wouldn't be bad if I ate it in moderation and if I ate low-fat cheeses. It wouldn't be bad if I ate it only a couple of times a week, not every day. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have let myself get slightly out of control with the cheese and I could eat a whole block of cheddar in one sitting.
With this new realization out on my plate in front of me I had to take a step back and think about how far away from moderation I have gotten and how I was going to rein it in. Well Jim Bob wanted to cut back or stop using it in cooking for a while, I decided to take a leap and say that as soon as we finished up what I have stock-piled in our fridge that I would take a one month hiatus from my love-affair with cheese and see how I feel; then I could gradually re-introduce cheese but in a healthier way.
...But I looooove cheese: cheddar, gouda, muenster, goat cheese, mascarpone, cream cheese, and feta! With all of that said, I must share something that we (Jim Bob, my sister and I) discovered on a recent trip to San Diego. The most glorious, wonderful, and delicious discovery in the world. Venissimo cheese store in the Gas Lamp district is by far my favorite store in the world, even surpassing clothing stores, shoe stores and etsy stores. My sister and I were giddy as we walked into this cheese haven and were even more ecstatic after we found out that they hand out free samples like nobody's business. I will say that if you have never been to San Diego you should go for the ocean, the weather, the restaurants but mostly for this store.
So you can see how much I am going to miss cheese this month. Is there anyone else out there that feels the same way about cheese that I do? Or is your passion for a different food? Share!
Roo

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