Meredith’s 5 Laws of Food

My very real and official laws about food:

1. Cupcakes are only to be shared with a serious romantic interest. Or children under 5.

2. Pie scraps must be eaten in all circumstances.

3. Calories consumed while crying don’t count.

4. There is no such thing as a “bad” carbohydrate.

5. Butter is good. Amen.

race announcement

Boys and girls, it is time to break out the BodyGlide, cuddle with my foam roller, and use the power of positive thinking because I have signed up to run the Bun Run 5k on May 1st here in Austin. I’m probably more qualified for the kid’s 1k Fun Run.

“Running??” you ask.

Yes, I’m aware it has been a while since I ran a race (almost a year, in fact). But since my leg started feeling better and I got new shoes, I haven’t been able to shake the nagging feeling that I should “get back into running”. Since I had to let my half marathon dreams go, I’ve been secretly missing running. My friend Emilie asked if I would do this 5k with her, and while originally skeptical and saying that I would only do it if my leg felt okay, I’ve decided to throw caution to the wind and probably end up walking part of the race. I’m okay with that.

Running-wise, I’m so far behind where I was a year ago when I ran a 10k, but I’m excited. I really enjoyed running short distances and races like 5ks are so much fun. Plus I am publicizing this and making y’all hold me to this.

Oh and I want to have this look on my face again…

New to the blog or just want to relive when I had aspirations to be the next great marathoner? Here are my (few) race recaps for your reading pleasure:
My first ever race – January 16, 2010
Monument Ave 10k – March 27, 2010
Lion’s Club Journey for Sight 5k – April 10, 2010
EquiKids 5k – May 16, 2010

look for me on TV!

No, I don’t yet have a book deal and my very own talk show. But I still might be on TV tonight!

Have y’all been following March Madness? If you’ve turned on the TV in the past two weeks, you’ve probably heard a lot about basketball. Well, in case you are unaware, the #1 seed Kansas is playing the #12 seed University of Richmond tonight in the Sweet Sixteen round, held in San Antonio. Also, another school from Richmond, VCU, is playing in San Antonio right after that game.

I happen to live an hour from San Antonio. I happen to be an alumni of the University of Richmond. I happen to have lived in Richmond, home of both UR and VCU, for 4 years while in college.

I’m going to the game, decked out in my Spider pride and screaming the fight song. Want to know the fight song for the Spiders? Allow me to provide you the lyrics:

I’m Spider born and Spider bred

and when I die, I’ll be a Spider dead!

So ra-ra for Richmond Richmond,

ra-ra for Richmond Richmond,

ra-ra for Richmond! U OF R!!

I did a quick YouTube search for the tune to the fight song and found a delightful video of drunk alumni singing the fight song. If you transplant this into a basketball arena, this will be on TV tonight and I will be highly involved…

Should you decide to tune into the game tonight on TBS at 7:15 ET/6:15 CT, please look for this sign in the crowd…

Whether we win or not, tonight is going to be amazing because I’ll be with friends and enjoying the incredible success of the Spiders. For a school of 2,900 students to make it into the national spot light, playing against Kansas, is just awesome.

Oh and you can look for this sign, too…

Too much?

my Easter addiction

Every year around Easter, my most favorite candy (aside from Twizzlers) appears on the shelves of grocery stores everywhere and it sucks me in with its addictive power and sugar crashes.

I’m talking about Starburst Jelly Beans.

A dear friend from back home sent me an amazing cookbook and as I was leafing through it and trying to decide on a recipe to feature for y’all, the beans caught my eye. I ended up eating more than a couple handfuls for dinner. I’m not proud of my behavior.

I will love these beans until my dying day. I don’t need Peeps or Cadbury Cream Eggs when I have these.

 

this will make me eat salads

Chances are if you’ve ever met me in person and eaten with me, you’ll know a few things about my eating habits. You may know that I only like salads and sandwiches when other people make them for me. Weird, right? I know, I know. But I seriously can’t get myself to like them when I make them at home. There’s something so much better about a salad made by a restaurant or a sandwich packed for me by a family member.

However, I have discovered the magic antidote to this problem and it comes in the surprising form of red onions, a food I have enthusiastically avoided for all of my life. Not only do all onions make me cry, but the red ones are extra pungent and I hate the taste.

But upon moving to Austin and discovering my favorite place to eat, loiter, and make eyes at cute boys (Austin Java) I also discovered their pickled red onions which come standard on the house salad.

These are divine. Delicious. I cannot get enough of them. Perhaps it is because I like pickles a lot and love that vinegary, almost sweet taste of a pickled anything? All I know is that I usually steal them from my dining companion or annoyingly ask the waiters for extras to put on sandwiches and more on my salad. You know, just in case someone needs to smell my breath later.

Back at my apartment, I have endeavored to make them for myself and test whether or not I could stomach a homemade salad or even a sandwich. I am happy to report that both the sandwich above and an unpictured salad were quite delicious and I think I’ve found a cure to my aversion!

Spicy Pickled Red Onions (makes a heaping cup)
1 large red onion, peeled and sliced thinly
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 T sugar
1 bay leaf
1 pinch red pepper flakes (more or less depending on your preference!)
1 tsp salt
1 T whole black pepper corns
Peel and slice the onion as thinly as you can without your eyes bursting into tears (hint: light a candle near your cutting board!). In a sauce pan, mix the remaining ingredients together and bring them to a boil. Place the onion slices in the boiling mixture and immediately turn the heat down to low, allowing to simmer for a minute or 2. Remove from heat and let sit in liquid, cooling completely (about 30 minutes). When cooled, transfer liquid & onions into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

I know my pig

Down here in the blessed land of Texas, beef brisket is king. And while it is delicious, we can’t deny my Virginia roots where the pig rules. Barbecue in Virginia is pork ribs and pulled pork, the stuff I’ve been loving my whole life. In the Old Dominion state, we know a little something about our pigs.

And lest we forget, Virginia is considered the birth place of bacon.

Texas is sorely lacking in pulled pork. They have Tex-Mex carnitas which comes from the same cut of meat, but the spices just aren’t the same. So I embarked on a long journey to perfect my own recipe for pulled pork.

After a few attempts, I finally got it right to just the way I like it. I hope you try this, love it, and make it over and over again! Tip: it freezes well!

You could make this in a crock pot, but I don’t actually own one so I can’t give you directions. But the lower and slower the better when it comes to pulled pork.

Pulled Pork (serves 10-12)
1 bone-in pork shoulder, 4-5 lbs.
1 T olive oil
1/2 cup ketchup
2 T red wine vinegar
1/2 T chili powder
2 T brown sugar
1/2 T ground cumin
1/2 T garlic powder
1 cup water
salt & pepper to taste
In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together into a sauce (except the pork and water). Using your hands, rub the sauce into every nook and cranny of the pork shoulder. When all of the pork shoulder is covered in the sauce, place it in the bottom of a Dutch oven or crock pot. Pour any remaining sauce over the meat. Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pot and cover. Cook on 300* for 4 hours, turning the meat over once or twice while it cooks. Remove from the oven and move the meat to a large bowl or serving platter — this is a bit messy! Using two forks, shred the pork and remove from the bone. Discard the bone and continue to shred the meat. Spoon some of the liquid left in the pot over the pork until it reaches your desired taste — use as little or as much as you like. Serve on buns with coleslaw for a Southern dish or with tortillas, onion, and lime for a Tex-Mex flare.

my love affair with Hill Country

Back in September, Mary and I headed into the heart of Hill Country (west of Austin) to see the scenery, eat the barbecue, and taste the wine, so I knew what to expect when I rolled into town with my mom. We have been staying at a quaint, country bed & breakfast out here and we’ve certainly enjoyed the pace of things here as a relaxing alternative to San Antonio. The views are spectacular, the wine is delicious, and the livestock like to lick me. Yes friends, I feel an overwhelming urge to drop out of graduate school and move here.

Because of my deep love for this area, I’ve compiled my version of a visitor’s guide. While in Hill Country, please proceed as follows:

Find a hammock. Stat. Then sit it in for an afternoon and just listen to the leaves rustle in the wind.

Grab a local beer at the Fredericksburg Brewing Co. And be sure to try the bratwurst.

Flirt with a random Argentine winemaker who now lives in Texas. It will get you winks, flushed cheeks, and a personalized bottle of wine. (Note: this works best if, like me, you actually speak Spanish and have lived in Argentina so you have random facts with which to impress said Argentine man.)

Then eat a salted caramel, which will inevitably change your life.

Ignore all warning signs asking you not to touch/pet the livestock and proceed to make several new best friends. I named this one Pemberly.

And, at last, marvel at the big sky and the endless beauty of Texas.

Now, mama and I are back from the Hill Country and spending our last day together before she flies out Thursday and I cry my eyes out.

Perhaps I’ll be back with a recipe on Friday. Special requests?

Davy Crockett and carbohydrates

Mama and I are currently snuggled up on the couch in our bed and breakfast in Fredericksburg, deep into a bottle of wine (story behind the wine to come) and I thought I’d share a few pictures of our time in San Antonio! We remembered the Alamo, ate far too much, and enjoyed a margarita or three. I’m having a great vacation, so far!

Plenty of drinks were consumed (Lent doesn’t count on my Spring Break, y’all) and plenty of walks were taken on the Riverwalk. I loved San Antonio but we’re definitely happy to have a couple relaxing day in the countryside before my mom leaves me. I’ll be back with more tales later this week!

it must be the change in seasons

I’ve headed to San Antonio for Spring Break with… Mama!!! I’m meeting her out there for 3 days of Tex Mex and remembering the Alamo. Then we’re headed to Fredericksburg in the heart of Hill Country for wine tasting, German food, and a quaint b&b for another 3 days. Be sure to check in for snaps of our adventures along the way. But in the mean time, please enjoy a simple, light, Tex Mex-inspired, vegetarian dish to try this weekend!

Spring makes me want to eat more vegetables. While I still love me some good, old-fashioned comfort food, the change from winter to spring makes me want to take long walks, shop at farmer’s markets, and eat food that comes in pretty colors.

I saw these pretty little things at Whole Foods and I knew exactly what I had to do to them. I had to gut them and stuff them for some delicious stuffed peppers.

Stuffed peppers are such a simple dish to make and you can make them as healthy (or not) as you want them to be! My friend Mary is giving up meat for Lent, so I came up with this vegetarian recipe with her in mind (and for my vegan readers, you can eliminate or substitute the cheese for vegan cheese!)

When you slice off the top of the peppers to remove the seeds, be sure to remove all the seeds — they give a really unpleasant, bitter taste to any dish!

I accidentally bought the tomato paste with roasted garlic and my life has been forever changed. Make this mistake.

Stuffed Peppers (serves 1-2)
2 whole bell peppers (red and orange are my favorites!)
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
2 T tomato paste
1/2 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup canned corn, drained and rinsed
1 wedge Laughing Cow Chipotle cheese (trust me)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
Slice the top of the bell peppers off and remove the seeds. Keep the tops of the peppers for later. In a mixing bowl, combine tomato paste, rice, corn, beans, spices, and the wedge of Laughing Cow cheese.  When thoroughly mixed, put half of the mixture into one of the emptied peppers. Repeat to fill the other pepper. Replace the tops of the peppers, to keep the stuffing moist, and place on a baking dish. Bake the peppers at 400* for 20 minutes and enjoy!

my Lenten promise

Are y’all participating in Lent this year? Now, I don’t think that the concept of a Lenten promise is singular to those who go to church. On the contrary, I think that everyone can participate in certain aspects of Lent.

The official idea behind a Lenten promise is to spend 40 days of almsgiving, repentance, and self-denial to grow in your faith and spirituality. Most people are familiar with the self-denial part, as you probably know people who have given up junkfood, sweets, or meat for Lent. In the past I’ve given up coffee, sweets, and carbs (not all at the same time, but all equally disastrous). But this isn’t necessarily a spirtual practice! I think that knowingly eliminating something that unnecessarily takes up your time and money can be a great thing for everyone.

This year, I’m choosing to eliminate alcohol for Lent, with the exception of a wine tasting I have planned with my mom next week.

Aside from the increase in spiritual time, I’m choosing to give up alcohol because I realized how much time, money, and calories I waste going to happy hour with friends or having a few beers with dinner on a Saturday night. I feel that, once Lent is over, I will hopefully be more mindful of that in the future when I go out with friends.

But what everyone forgets is that in addition to giving something up, you can also take something on in your life to improve it in some way. In addition to eliminating alcohol, I am taking on financial responsibility. That’s a pretty umbrella term, but let’s just say that I’m trying to pay closer attention to where my money goes and how much extra I have to put in savings instead of wasting.

So far, I’ve opened up a Money Market savings account and created a budget spread sheet. I’m going for the big time, y’all. I’m going to figure out how much I spend on groceries, entertainment, restaurants, and really get responsible about my savings. I already feel so adult and empowered!

So religion aside, is anyone considering giving up a vice or taking on a challenge? It doesn’t have to be food! I know people giving up mean, judgmental thoughts. And my friend Emilie is taking on writing meaningful letters to special people in her life.