Life has a way of changing your direction

Our poor dog Rugby has been sick. I just had to share this picture of him enjoying his favorite thing, sunbathing. It is the first thing he did when he came home from the hospital. As of now, Rugby has a good diagnosis but initially it was pretty dire. 

Sorry we have been slackers on keep the blog current. As you can see we have had a few things come up that changed the direction we were moving. Everyone has mountains and valleys in life and we happened to hit one with our poor guy. He is our first baby. We rescued him while living in Los Angeles. He gave us both a second chance and we gave him one.

These events have forced us to reevaluate priorities, finances, who we surround ourselves with and what we give our daily attention to. The time is now to focus on family and embrace life. You only get one shot as this thing called life.

Each year brings seasons and sometimes in life you go through a new season of change. Like most people we say we are good at change but when it actually arrives you fight it. It forces you to reevaluate how good you really are at accepting it. When seasons change the only thing to do is do your best with what you've been dealt.

With that being said, this blog like everything in life is subject to change. We are going to try and make it more spontaneous so bear with us as we figure this out. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Diamante Style Fish (En papillote)

1lb firm fleshed white fish (ex - Cod, MahiMahi, Halibut)

1/3 cup sliced black olives

1/4 cup capers

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/3 cup tomato puree

2 cloves garlic minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup white wine

2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine black olives, capers, fresh parsley and set aside. Combine tomato puree, garlic, lemon juice, white wine together in a separate bowl. Mix well to incorporate. 

Set the fish on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper large enough to fold around the fish. Fold up the sides of parchment paper around the fish to create a bowl type form. Pour the tomato mixture evenly over the top of the fish. Season liberally with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. 

Seal the parchment paper to form a pouch and bake for 10 minutes (depending on thickness of your fish). Remove and open pouch carefully due to steam. Add black olive mixture to the top. Re-seal and bake another 10 minutes or until fish is fully cooked and flaky. 

Use the juice in the pouch to pour over the fish and serve. 

Week 2 - Goal Driven

Writing out our goals...

I would say I am a Type A personality. I am very passionate and with that passion comes some major planning to achieve my goals. The issue with this type of personality is that the passion can be very short lived. I want it now and I will succeed now. Patience is not my virtue. Plans, plans and more plans. Success takes patience which can be unfortunate for my personality.

So here are my goals for the week. No judgement here folks, you have to start somewhere and small works for me. 

1. Patience with myself and others

2. Focus - I mean really dig deep and just stick to one project/plan and follow through

Scott spent last week with some Italian chefs from Tuscany who were in town visiting. They spent the week creating recipes and going to "work" dinners (I was not included - chime the violin) in an effort to build relationships and learn more about the Italian food and culture. Scott could have just checked in with me since I am the Italian/Sicilian one and live with him but that would have been way to easy and cost effective. Also, I have never lived in Italy or even been to Italy but that is between you and me. I was able to meet the Italian chefs their last day in town and it was a really amazing experience. Growing up surrounded by Italians is one of my fondest childhood memories but now most of us have moved away as we've grown up and started our own families.  It is amazing the difference in culture that you can clearly feel. To sum it up, what these chefs reminded me of in terms of the feel of the culture was respect, love, family and genuine interest in people vs. the hustle and bustle of business.

So to end this how about an attainable goal this week that you have to be intentional with. The good news is that you do get to eat it. This is an authentic focaccia/pizza dough from the Campania region of Italy.

Execution...

Authentic Pizza Dough from Naples Italy

4 Cups 00 flour (if you can find it - if not use bread flour)

1.75 Cups slightly warmed water

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 packet dry active yeast (2 teaspoons)

Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixer with dough hook, slowly add the warmed water and olive oil and scrape down sides as necessary. Beat on low speed for 10 -15 minutes until the dough just starts to come away from the side of the bowl.

Add more flour or water a tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together and pulls away from the bowl.

Once the dough has come together remove it from the mixer and place on a lightly floured cutting board or workspace. Knead the dough and form into a big ball. In a stainless steel or glass bowl add 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Place the ball of dough in the bowl and move it around to cover it with olive oil. Cover with a towel and refrigerate for 24 hours to allow dough to rest/cure.

When ready to use, remove the dough from the refrigerator and keep covered with the bowl and allow to sit at room temperature an proof for 2 hours prior to baking. When ready to bake, punch down the dough and cut into baseball size dough balls and roll it out into focaccia shape. Bake on stone or sheet pan for 10-15 min until edges are puffy and starting to get color at 500 degrees.

Brush dough with extra virgin oil oil and herbs if wanted. Can serve as is with salt and olive oil or add pizza toppings and throw it back in the oven. 

P.S. Not hard to do but it is a labor of love. Conquer pizza dough - check this as a goal achieved. Then you can make this for your Italian Nonna. 

                                                          Week one - Health

The nutrition company that I have teamed up with has the most amazing values. For the next 12 weeks I am going to focus our blog around one of them until I get through all 12. 

Health is key. How can we go about making our world a healthier world? When I think about health I think about physical and emotional health. Everyone has a "quick fix". Take this supplement, take this medicine, eat this, drink this and the list goes on and on. Health and fitness is 80% about nutrition and 20% is exercise.

So how do you make this part of your process, your reality? Baby steps folks. Focus on things in your  personal environment that you can change. Maybe something as simple as changing your water bottle  from plastic to glass. Maybe start buying a few more items organic than you normally would. Maybe try spending more time living and being around people with similar values/views. Maybe trying loving more and judging others less. Everyone is going through something so try and be kind.

How about a money saving recipe. Instead of spending money on bacon, try making a healthy version that costs at least half and you won't feel guilty eating the entire batch.

Disclaimer - we are by no means vegetarians and love bacon, however this is a great way to get crunch and flavor without the fat. Added bonus is that you are getting your dark green veggies.

Kale Bacon

Preheat oven to 225F degrees

1 large bunch of lacinato kale (also known as dinosaur or tuscan kale)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt to taste

Using a sharp knife, slide the knife along the stalk of each rib of kale. Try to keep the leaves as long as possible so they resemble bacon. Discard the stems. Repeat this process with each piece of kale.  Toss the kale once cut into a large bowl. Add all ingredients above EXCEPT salt to the bowl and toss well to coat. Gently lay the kale bacon strips onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (you may have to work in batches as you don't want to over crowd your sheet pan). Once on the sheet pan, sprinkle the kale with salt. Bake for an hour and 10 min or until kale is dried out and crispy to the touch.

Remove the kale from the oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes. This will ensure the kale finishes drying out. Consume and repeat recipe as needed. This is great to serve along side morning eggs or just a snack. Our 4 year old and her friend consumed approximately half our batch today so it is kid friendly as well. See you next week!