Fage Greek Getaway

Almond Ginger Pear Crumble {Good Living: Part III}

December 2, 2011 by Hillary 3 Comments

This post serves as an entry to win an 8-day trip to Greece, courtesy of Fage Total and the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program. The team invited featured publishers to create blog posts illustrating the Greek concept of “good living”, combining good food and fine taste for a positive, healthy life.

Good Living Part I: Setting the Table

Good Living Part II: Guiltless Gluttony

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With chilly winter weather and the holiday season comes comfort food… creamy this, sugary that. I, too, crave foods that warm me up from the inside out during this time of year. When I think of comfort food, I think of my mom’s spiced pear crisp. I can see my 15-year-old self sitting in front of our woodstove – with our yellow Labrador by my side and heavy rain outside – savoring a bowl of warm pears and crispy oats on a stormy school night.

My mother instilled the value of good food and fine taste into me at a young age, to which I’ve held onto tight and incorporated in my own positive, healthy life.

With my mother’s inspiration, I created a nutty and nostalgic pear {and apple} crumble, with a few healthy twists of my own.

Almond Ginger Pear Crumble {gluten-free}

~6 small organic pears*
2 small organic Granny Smith apples
1 1/4 c. rolled oats
6 T raw sugar
6 T unsalted butter
1/4 c. raw almonds
1/4 c. crystallized ginger, chopped
1 T ground flax
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 325F. In a food processor, combine oats, sugar, butter, almonds, ginger, flax, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pulse until crumbly. Place pears and apples into a shallow baking dish (I used a 9-inch cake pan). Cover fruit with oat mixture. Bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling. Let cool slightly before serving.

*I used frozen pears I had chopped and stored in the freezer from my aunt’s tree; I only had approximately 3-4 cups, so I added a couple small apples to add more volume, approx. 5 cups total.

I recommend eating it warm. I, personally, enjoy it as is and think it’s totally acceptable to eat for breakfast with a dollop of Fage Total Greek yogurt. Fiber-rich fruit, heart-healthy oats and almonds, and protein-packed yogurt – it’s a nutritious meal if you ask me. To make it more of a decadent treat, serve with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Wishing you comfort and health this season from my cozy kitchen to yours,

Hillary

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As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You, too, can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway.

Guiltless Gluttony {Good Living: Part II}

November 26, 2011 by Hillary 5 Comments

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I’ve spent the last 10 days away from my humble college apartment treasuring time with family and friends laughing, walking, talking, running, and most of all — eating.

A lack of good food is never a concern with my foodie family.

tempura asparagus sushi. homemade honey wheat bread. raisin challah french toast. apple pie. pecan pie. Twisted sourdough breadsticks – homemade. gingersnap pumpkin pecan cheesecake. roasted squash + apple salad. portabella ravioli w/ vegetable ragu. pumpkin pie. sinful dark chocolate truffles. homemade cranberry orange bread. butternut squash soup. goat cheese + veggie pesto pizza. local ginger ice cream.

Gluttony

glut-ton-y [gluht-n-ee]; noun – excessive eating and drinking.

During my vacation, I was over-indulgent — a glutton. I didn’t stop at one piece of pie… or two. Clean eating was non-existent the later half of the week – as more gluten and sugar invaded my “diet” – while exercise didn’t appear until Wednesday due to a persistent head cold. Is it just a coincidence that gluten and glutton have the same prefix and sound oddly alike!?

Setting the table to nourish our bodies together is something I value {read: Good Living Part I}; yet, after 142 days fueling my body with simpler eats, my body isn’t handling the extra carbohydrates and calories all too well. To me, good living is a balance between clean eating and moderate gluttony.

I am grateful to have gobbled a plethora of gourmet eats during my Thanksgiving vacation, but now my body is more than ready to return to “normalcy”.

Good living is eating foods that not only deliver good taste, but good feeling. It is about following your food philosophy 90% of the time, and accepting the other 10% without guilt.

Good living has room for both greens and gluttony.

Here’s to many more balanced and delicious days this holiday season…

“Stinygiasou!” — to your health!

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source

Setting the Table {Good Living: Part I}

November 20, 2011 by Hillary 4 Comments

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When I think of good living, I think of family rituals. It may be that it is the peak of the holiday hustle and bustle, but there’s something about repeated habits around this time of year that puts goodness into any ordinary day — into life.

Growing up, setting the table with placemats, napkins, and utensils each night for dinner was a part of our normal routine. Every other day, the responsibility traded from my chore chart to my brother’s. As simple as it was to put four cloth mats and four sets of silverware on the table, it was the dreaded task and avoided until the homemade spinach soup – my favorite, believe it or not – was served up.

At age 22, with five years of good living away from home, I am thankful for this aspect of my upbringing and value its importance in my relationship with food.

Many rituals and aspects of my family life have changed since I was the 9-year-old gymnast picking out the prettiest placemats in my leotard, while some things – the cheery Crate & Barrel place settings – have ~~stained~~ stayed the same.

When I come home after 142 days away as a college foodie on my own, I don’t hesitate to set the table – a picnic table handmade by my great-grandfather – and make my parents a well-deserved dinner in appreciation of the hundreds of healthy meals they put on our table night after night.

Tonight I made a light, yet festive and filling, salad with local ingredients and a lot of love.

Maple Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple Salad

recipe adapted from: Two Peas & Their Pod

organic mixed greens. butternut squash + red onion roasted w/ olive oil, pure maple syrup, cinnamon, s+p @ 400F – 30 minutes. local Pippin apple, sliced. dried cranberries. raw pepitas. local, creamy chevre. dressing: olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, “grainy” mustard, garlic, pure maple syrup, s+p

Good living, in my eyes, is a collaboration of many healthy habits; setting the table was a part of the collaborative effort of putting a good dinner on the table that positively influenced my healthy outlook on life.

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