Wednesday Lunch Date #4: Feng Shui for Fall, Chai Pumpkin Bars & 4-Minute Workouts

Another week has passed, and we’re already sitting down for our Wednesday lunch date again! Can you believe it? I’m so glad to have this time to share the latest news with you and I encourage you to share your favorite articles, recipes, and healthy stories from the week in the comments below.

Here’s what I’ve been up to this past week:

My Recent Press:

• 10 Heart Healthy Foods That Aren’t – Patricia Bannan for Livestrong.com

What I’ve Cooked Lately That Was AWESOME:

• Gnocchi with Tomatoes, Basil and Olives – Giada De Laurentiis  (Pin It)
• Mediterranean Smothered Chicken – Iowa Girl Eats (Pin It) – One of my husband’s favorite meals. Made for friends who came to dinner and it was a hit. For dessert Adam made…
• Dark Chocolate Tart with Gingersnap Crust – Smitten Kitchen (Pin It)

What I’m Reading:

Food News & Trends:

• Carrots Find Roots on Restaurant Menus – Nancy Kruse for Nation’s Restaurant News (requires registration)
• America is slowly – but surely – becoming a nation of tea drinkers – The Washington Post
• General Mills to acquire Annie’s in $820m deal to expand natural & organics portfolio – Food Navigator USA

Healthy Eating:

• USDA pilot boosts local control of school food purchases – The Packer (in other words, a USDA pilot program will let schools use federal $$ to purchase local produce for school lunch)
• Mouth on Fire? The Best (and Worst) Ways to Soothe the Burn Fast – Greatist
• 50 Light and Healthy Soup Recipes – Skinnytaste
• Kitchen Hack: Freezing Yogurt in an Ice Cube Tray – The Cutting Board
• How Long Is It Really Safe to Keep Foods? (Infographic) – Cleveland Clinic
• 4 Healthy Breakfasts That’ll Leave You Hungry An Hour Later – Women’s Health (a.k.a. how to give your breakfasts staying power!)
• How to Make a Healthy, Tasty Sandwich – Keri Gans for U.S. News and World Report

Exercise:

• Short On Time? Try This 4-Minute Workout – Tracy Hicks for MindBodyGreen
• Wine and Exercise: A Promising Combination – The Atlantic (not before, during, or immediately after exercise though)
  • Presentation of Results at the European Society of Cardiology
• What Style of Yoga Is Best for You? – Greatist
• Put the Physical in Education – The New York Times

Lifestyle (Home, Relationships, Organization, Psychology, Happiness, Art, DIY Crafts):

• 6 Feng Shui Tips To Bring Good Energy Into Your Home This Fall – Amanda Gibby Peters for MindBodyGreen
• A Moving Day Kitchen Survival Box – The Kitchn
• 5 Tiny Investments That Will Elevate Your Baking – The Kitchn
• 7 Inspiring Ideas for Organizing All the Stuff Under Your Sink – The Kitchn

What I’m Salivating Over:

Breakfasts:

• Morning Maple Cranberry Pecan Oat Bars – Skinnytaste (Pin It)
• Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins – Running with Spoons (Pin It)

Salads & Veggie Sides:

• Farmer’s Market Salad – The Cutting Board (Pin It)
• Chopped Apple Salad with Toasted Walnuts, Blue Cheese and Pomegranate Vinaigrette  – Bobbby Flay (Pin It)
• Spinach, Apple and Mushroom Salad with Maple Vinaigrette – Let’s Have Mixture (Pin It)
• Grilled Sweet Potato Wedges – Eating Bird Food (Pin It)

Main Courses:

• Pizza di Spaghetti (a recipe for leftover spaghetti) – Giada DeLaurenti (Pin It)
• Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken with Apricots, Olives and Almonds – Food and Wine (Pin It)
• Chicken Marbella – Silver Palate Cookbook (Pin It)
• Naan Pizzas with Garlicky Roasted Tomatoes and Ricotta – 30 Seconds with A&J (Pin It)
• 21 Vegan Freezer-Friendly Recipes – Oh She Glows (Pin It)

Desserts:

• Cinnamon-Sugar Pumpkin Snack Cake – Sweet Treats & More (Pin It)
• Pumpkin Peanut Butter Skillet Cookie (grain & gluten free) – Fountain Avenue Kitchen (Pin It)
• Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars – Chocolate Covered Katie (Pin It)
• Chai Spiced Pumpkin Bars – The Kitchn (Pin It)
• Ginger Pumpkin Pudding Cakes – Martha Stewart (Pin It)
• Oatmeal Struesel Baked Apples – Sweet Treats & More (Pin It)

Snacks:

• Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Granola Bars – FANNEtastic Food (Pin It)

New Cookbook Alerts!

• One Pot: 120+ Easy Meals From Your Skillet, Slow Cooker, Stockpot, and More – Editors of Martha Stewart Living (releases Sept 23rd)
• The Kitchn Cookbook: Recipes, Kitchens & Tips to Inspire Your Cooking – The Kitchn (releases October October 7th)

Helpful Tweets:

• “Putting a vanilla chai tea bag in my oats before microwaving is the best idea I have had in a while. New staple in my diet!” – @NutritionNerd

• “What #diet do I favor?  Wholesome foods in sensible combinations, and let the nutrients sort themselves out” – @DrDavidKatz

• “[My Son] ordered okra tonight, which surprised me, but then confessed that he confused it with orzo.” – This one just made me laugh 🙂 – @TheScramble

Fun Food Quiz!

•  Can We Guess Your Favorite Food? – Buzzfeed (I got steak. Not my favorite food by any means, but they did say that means I’m a “really awesome person” so I’ll take it.

The Week in Photos:

While I love cooking some nights, other times I like/need/must have wholesome dinners that are really quick to assemble. Here’s one of my favorite easy chicken dinners. Step 1) Buy a Rotisserie chicken. Step 2) Make rice in a rice cooker (easiest!), or on the stove (In the photo, it’s garlic & herb rice pilaf). Step 3) Steam green beans in them microwave (takes just a few minutes). Step 4) Slice up a raw vegetable of your choice – tomatoes, cucumbers, sugar snap peas, etc. If you used a rice cooker, the dinner took about 5 minutes to put on the plate. A 5 minute chicken dinner awaits!

One super simple chicken dinner

On Tuesday night, I went to a truly lovely dinner hosted by the California Table Grape Commission at Republique in Los Angeles. Did you know 99% of the commercially grown table grapes harvested in the US are from California? The chef incorporated cooked grapes into each course in creative ways alongside sea trout crudo, wild atlantic striped bass, and Sonoma duck breast. My favorite part of the meal was the dessert: Warm California Grape Clafoutis. It’s a French dessert where fruit (traditionally cherries) are baked in a custard batter. Ours was piping hot served with a dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of freshly made almond ice cream. During dinner, Ellie Krieger talked about how she uses grapes in her kitchen at home (like roasting, yum!) and we all shared some of our favorite grape recipes. They gave us each a personalized box of red, green and black grapes that had been harvested TWO days ago and two fabulous cookbooks. I can’t wait to cook something from the grape book! (I already have a well-loved copy of Ellie’s cookbook, which I reference often on the blog).

Dinner with the California Table Grape Commission at Republique in LA

And finally, a few new (to me) finds at Trader Joes. I love healthy fast food options! They’ve got ready made veggie kabobs you can marinate and pop on the grill, and lightly breaded and baked zucchini fries, ready to be your next side dish.

“Fast Food” at Trader Joes!

Be well! See you for another mid-week lunch date next Wednesday!

Any favorite recipes, new products, articles, or quizzes you’d like to share?