After the initial failure of the Cadbury Crème Egg Cookies, you’d think we’d give up on repurposing these springtime treats. But no! It just made us more dogged about creating a great crème egg recipe.

Now that the chocolatey capsules of ooey gooey goodness are in the stores – weeks before Valentine’s Day, no less! – it’s time we shared our second experiment: The Cadbury Crème Egg Milkshake.

We froze a few Cadbury eggs beforehand. Add a couple of scoops of your favorite ice cream to the blender – we chose chocolate – and blend with milk to desired consistency. Then add a quartered frozen Cadbury egg and blend again.

THE VERDICT: It was a good chocolate milkshake! But the sweet crème of the crème egg didn’t shine through. Perhaps vanilla or another flavor of ice cream would have helped the egg’s flavors stand out.

Why did we post another kitchen (semi-)failure? If you remember the “fauxnuts” we made last year, there’s always a lesson to be learned in the kitchen. With the crème eggs, we learned more about texture and tastes and how to better use ingredients that complement – not compete – with each other.

Have you ever baked with Easter candy? What are the biggest lessons you learned in the kitchen by making mistakes?

But planning doesn’t have to be boring! Sustainable meal planning makes sense for our health, our wallet and our environment. When we know what we have on hand, what we need at the store, and what’s going on the table for dinner, we can slow down, relax, and enjoy the eating experience. Harried, tired and haphazard don’t make for a comforting meal at home.

Step 1 – Inspiration

To start the planning process, we need to be inspired. Ideas don’t generate themselves, we need to search out recipes, talk to friends and neighbors, dust off old cookbooks and head to the blogosphere. Talk with friends who entertain often, and with those whose meals you love. Have a recipe swap party. Head to the bookstore to peruse cooking magazines and cookbooks. Those who go astray from meal planning often tire of repeating the same meals. Brainstorming some new ideas and stepping fearlessly into the kitchen can do wonders.

Start slowly. Idea gathering can be fun, but also overwhelming if we get carried away. Remain realistic about nutrition, taste preference and what’s manageable for you in the kitchen.

Step 2  – Organization 

Once ideas are gathered, get a system to stay organized. Keep recipes together and categorize as you add them. Consider a “tried-and-true” section as well as a “to try” section. Programs such as Tastebook allow you to search for new recipes, store recipes on their website and access them through a smartphone app. You can even print a cookbook with your favorite recipes if you prefer a hard copy in the kitchen.

Know what’s in your pantry and keep an ongoing store list in a central location (fridge door anyone?). Every so often, take an inventory to toss expired items or quickly use items about to expire. Start menu planning based on what’s already available in house. Include a day for leftovers, and one for eating out or ordering in.

Set shopping days ahead of time, particularly if you need to visit more than one store. And take your list. Going to the store without a list is like, well, it’s not pretty.

Once necessary items are purchased and ingredients are in place, get that apron on and get cooking!

What are your tried-and-true meal planning methods?

Just as we did in 2011, we’ll follow up with quarterly progress reports regarding our goals – and we’d like to hear your resolutions, too.

Sam:

-       2011 in a Nutshell. I did meet my meal planning and trialing of new recipes goal but look forward to seeing it pick up speed as we enter 2012. Big points are scored for creating intentional family meal times because this is a daily priority for me. Even if we’re having sandwiches or easy meals, we sit at the table together and I know this positively impacts our family. I also get points for being active with others, and plan to continue more of the same this year.

-       Meal planning. The goal here is to step it up and spend even more time in the kitchen. I’m good at staying organized, but sometimes find my ideas are so plentiful, I don’t know where to begin and feel slightly overwhelmed. I can’t wait to start packing my new chest freezer full of homemade goodness.

-       Homemade and DIY. This is likely to be a big goal for many this year, as homemade translates to benefits in health, economics and the environment. I’m keeping it simple and looking for incorporating more homemade staples (enter the new freezer) like spice mixes, sauces and bread doughs.

-       Integration. As in pulling together the various aspects of my life and keeping balance through self care.

Stacey:

-       2011 in a Nutshell. I ate very well during my pregnancy and with the help of friends and family, continued to eat right through the end of the year. After a few challenging months, I got the hang of walking the dog and baby at the same time and took them out a lot in the summer and fall, but I did not do as much yoga as I had hoped. Though I didn’t interview many chefs last year, I’ve been able to stay connected to D.C.’s food scene and wrote several tasty features.

-       Homemade baby food. I’m taking homemade to a whole new level. My 7-month-old son doesn’t just enjoy solid foods, he’s nuts about them. Oatmeal, rice cracker melts, multigrain cereal, apples, carrots, mangoes, peaches, roasted butternut squash, you name it, he’ll eat it. But food bills can really add up when you spend a dollar here on a pouch of pears and 79 cents there on a jar of peas. From purees to snacks to teething biscuits, I’ll share my adventures in making food for my wee one.

-       Meal planning and food photography. A big reason that we started this blog was to provide mouth-watering photos that look like real food and inspire readers to make the simple recipes. But the demands of a two-entrepreneur household and a new baby have trumped photography for many months. It’s my goal to better plan meals and make the beautiful photos you’ve come to expect. Focusing on food photography doesn’t just make for good eye candy; it feeds my soul, something a new mom desperately needs!

-       Exercise, exercise, exercise. It won’t be difficult to keep moving; as my son gets more mobile, I find that I need to chase him across the room and, soon enough, around the house. But I’d like to try and fit in yoga sessions of 20 or 30 minutes a few times a week. And though it sounds a little silly – “Housekeeping is my cardio!” – I resolve to vacuum and mop the floors of our three-story house every Monday. I’m going to track this on a calendar and, at the end of each month, reward myself for a job well done if I complete this dreaded task.

Do you have nutrition-related goals for the year? Instead of “joining a gym,” are you finding more creative ways to get exercise? What are your goals or resolutions for 2012?

By: Stacey Viera

“The food at your wedding doesn’t have to be great. Guests won’t remember what they ate.” That’s what one well-meaning person told me as I was picking a venue for my 2005 wedding.

My response? “But they’ll remember if the food was bad.” And from that conclusion, I was determined to find a fantastic venue with great food that fit our budget.

I lucked out, too, when I came across the Hotel Monaco in D.C.’s then-up-and-coming Penn Quarter neighborhood. Restaurants in the chain of one-of-a-kind Kimpton Hotels are generally known for excellent food. Having dined at the hotel restaurant, Poste, during Robert Weland’s tenure as chef, I knew that my guests and I would enjoy a fantastic spread.

Six years later, with new head chef Dennis Marron in the Poste kitchen, the menu has changed, but the reputation for a superb dining experience has not. (If Chef Marron’s name sounds familiar, dear reader, it’s because we caught up with him a year and a half ago when he was chef at The Grille at Morrison House and Hotel Monaco Alexandria’s Jackson 20.)

Here’s a sampling what we enjoyed at lunch:

• Truffle frites: Imagine a hot crispy French fry that melts in your mouth the moment it hits your tongue. Absolutely delectable. If it was socially and nutritionally acceptable, I would’ve ordered my own personal helping and eaten the whole thing.
• Bordelaise frites: The first word that sprung into my mind when I dipped a fry into the Bordelaise sauce was “meaty.” Made with marrow, wine and seasoning, it’s a classical French preparation and – for me – an unusual treat.
• Pork rillettes: Served with crispy grilled bread and housemade pickled vegetables, I enjoyed the accompaniments more than the pâté-style spread. Like every dish at Poste, the unique plating is so appealing, you just want to dig right in.
• Rockfish: I chose a regional favorite, rockfish – aka striped bass, as my entrée. The medium-textured fish had a delightful crust on top. The clams around the dish weren’t just visually striking, but tasty as well, and the bacon-braised potatoes possessed just the right hint of bacon flavor.
• Chocolate Pot de Crème: As the name denotes, it’s a silky and chocolaty custard topped with a chocolate crumble and (more!) cream. This is a dessert you must not miss.
• Chocolate-Mint Torte: File under “Try Something New, You Might Like It.” The only way I usually enjoy mint is in a piece of chewing gum. But when I tasted both spearmint and peppermint in the torte, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed a few bites. With the moist chocolate cake and blood orange crème fraiche ice cream, this is a great dessert for someone who loves mint.

Chef Marron was kind enough to send me home with a cinnamon-y apple butter, which I’ve been enjoying with homemade challah.

DISCLOSURE: I was treated to this amazing lunch by the fine folks with Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.  

Have you eaten at Poste lately? What’s your favorite dish?

Stop us if you’ve heard this one. Two foodies walk into a McDonald’s. (Actually, we did Drive-Thru, but that’s not what’s important.)

How, you ask, do two proud “locavores” – in this instance, Stacey was with her pal, Amy, a talented food writer – order up Quarter Pounder meals with pride and still feel good about themselves afterward?

It’s a monthly – or occasionally, a fortnightly – treat. Eating at McDonald’s is not a habit, not an obsession, but a treat enjoyed every so often. We eat fresh, whole foods made from scratch perhaps 80 percent of the time. So a little indulgence is a good thing, because, damn, those fries and burgers make us happy!

Including enjoyable foods is such a critical element in eating well. When we deny ourselves what we really want, it’s a lose-lose situation. Eventually we’ll eat what we want, and then we often feel guilty about it afterward. So not worth it. Lose the guilt and know that it’s OK to eat fun foods, even fast foods every so often. It’s all about moderation, folks. Today there’s even a deal online to get Big Macs and fries at a discount.

And if you’re a mom, you know how challenging it is to feed the kids – nevermind yourselves! – healthy meals every day. So on a particularly rough day, it’s OK to take a guilt-free drive through the Drive-Thru. Nowadays, it’s even easier to make healthier choices at fast-food restaurants. Opt for milk instead of soda or juice. Choose apples over fries. Take the cheese off the burger. No, wait…that’s a bit too extreme. Keep the cheese.

We joke about what is really a serious issue. Every food fits. We truly believe that. It’s even in our Eaters’ Manifesto:

Every food fits because no one food is all good or all bad. Certainly some foods have greater nutritional value and provide more of our required nutrients, but we choose foods based on more than simply nutrition. Stating that every food fits is not discounting the critical role of nutrition to our overall health and well being. Rather, it is expanding the idea of healthy eating to include choosing foods that we truly enjoy, being creative, and finding a balance that suits our lifestyle. It is not, however, permission to eat without awareness.

When labeling foods as good or bad, we then carry those biases into our daily eating habits, and lose out on some of the pleasure and enjoyment of food and the overall eating experience. Besides, many know all too well that we set ourselves up for failure when we deprive ourselves. It’s simply not worth it.

If we are incorporating a wide variety of foods, then there is room for everything – even if it’s only a bite!

What do you think? Do you enjoy the occasional fast food treat? Or have *our* monthly burger-and-fry indulgences clouded our thinking?

Ah, Trader Joe’s. What a refreshing change of pace from the big-name grocery chains. While it bugs us to hear people refer to it as a health food store, we enjoy their more unique variety of items, including products with shorter ingredient lists when compared to similar items from other brands. Here are some of our favorites:

Stacey:

-       Pizza dough. For 99 cents, you can make a 4- to 6-serving pizza (plus toppings, of course) from a one-pound ball of dough. We usually purchase whole wheat to get added nutrition, but there are also white dough and herbed dough varieties.

-       Store-brand yogurt. The yogurt in the 32 oz. tubs – lowfat or nonfat vanilla are our favorites – is rumored to be supplied by none other than Stoneyfield Farms, and costs about 70 cents less than the Stoneyfield in the grocery stores. Spoiled by the natural sweeteners, we can’t go back to eating other brands. (Except for when we splurge on creamy, dreamy Chobani Greek-style yogurt. Mmm!)

-       Booze! If you’re lucky enough to live in a state – such as the Commonwealth of Virginia – that sells beverage alcohol in supermarkets, you must take advantage of the beer and wine that helped put TJ’s on the map. At $2.99 for a 6-pack of Name Tag beer, we were pleasantly surprised by the taste. A bottle of “3 Buck Chuck” (which used to be 2 Buck Chuck – darn you, inflation!) is a staple on the wine rack. If you like light, fruity wines, try the White Zinfandel. No, really, it’s pretty good! We love the merlot in a traditional sangria and as everyday drinking wine.

-       TJ brand Chevre. If goat-milk cheese is your idea of heaven, you can buy 8 ounces of it for $3.99. Revel in the silky creaminess. And hide it somewhere in the fridge so that no one else will find it! Hoard your slice of heaven!

-       Bananas. They’re 19 cents apiece and packed with nutrition. Need I say more?

-       Joe’s Dark Coffee. Grind the whole beans in the store – or at home if you have a coffee grinder – and enjoy a deeply satisfying cup of, er, Joe every morning. For the best cup of coffee, don’t be a drip! I like to grind it coarse for use in the French press or percolator.

Sam:

-       Joe’s O’s. The price is definitely right ($1.99 for 15 ounce box) for this whole grain oat cereal. One serving (1cup) has 110 calories and only 1g of sugar! As with other cold cereals, Joe’s O’s are fortified with vitamins and minerals, including B12 and folic acid.

-       Almond Butter (creamy with sea salt). While this will never take the top nut butter spot – peanut butter wins for me – this almond butter is a close second. It makes for an easy sandwich on whole grain bread, good dipping for fruit and a nice addition to graham crackers.

-       Pizza Sauce. Until the day comes when I regularly make my own sauce and keep it on hand in the freezer, this is my go-to. The flavor and consistency are just right and it’s not loaded with sugar.

-       Freeze dried Mango. Unfortunately the small 1.7 ounce bags don’t last long in my house, so I break them out at select lunches and snacks. If fresh mango is out of reach, try these.

-       Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce. Pair this with whatever you want, perhaps just a spoon.

With all of the entertaining that goes on around Thanksgiving, there’s so much pressure to make everything from scratch. Well, forget it. There’s no better time to buy a few items from TJ’s so that you have extra snacks and staples around the house just in case guests are extra hungry.

And if you live in Arlington, Virginia, the word on the street is that a new Trader Joe’s is opening in Clarendon at 1109 N. Highland Street tomorrow, November 18, according to the store’s website.

What are your tried-and-true go-to TJ’s products?

Yep. It’s true. We got tired of cooking boneless chicken breasts and decided to give pork chops a try. They’re relatively inexpensive – especially when they’re on sale at the grocery store – and cook up in a flash.

But before you buy them, understand that not all pork chop cuts are created equal. Look for center-cut chops, about ½ to ¾ inches thick. A little thicker, and you can pound them out. Thinner, and they get good and tough – FAST – so don’t purchase them too thinly sliced.

Ready for one of the easiest “un-recipes” ever? Here goes: add salt (and pepper, if that’s your thing) to each side of each pork chop. Dredge chops in flour and shake off excess. Heat vegetable oil on medium and cook about 3 or 4 minutes on one side. Flip over and shave a little Parmesan cheese on top.

It can be difficult to tell when the chops are cooked just right, so don’t be afraid to stick a meat thermometer in and cook until the chop reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Serve with a side of wilted spinach or another in-season leafy green veggie. You can do what we did and serve the chops with pan-cooked onions and asparagus.

It’s the bacon and sausage that give pork such a bad rep, but pork chops, along with pork tenderloin are two of the leanest cuts of pork, providing an alternative to other lean meats.

What’s your favorite cut of pork? How do you prepare it?

“Do I really need to sift the dry ingredients in this recipe?”

How many times have we asked this question? And how many times have we said, “Forget it! I ain’t sifting!”

We wonder if this “forget it!” mentality is the best course of action when baking, so we made two chocolate loaf cakes – one with sifted dry ingredients, and the other, un-sifted. Rakhi, who is Stacey’s longtime (note: not “old”) friend, found a great recipe from the Smitten Kitchen blog for Everyday Chocolate Cake that called for sifting of dry ingredients. So Rakhi and Stacey took a Sunday afternoon to make two loaves and finally answer the question about sifting ingredients. And the answer?

Well, this wasn’t the most scientific of experiments, you see. While the ingredients and measurements were identical, one cake was baked in a metal pan, the other glass. So there’s a question about whether the pan itself made more of a difference in the end than the sifting. And since we’re strict followers of the Church of America’s Test Kitchen, we think the pan might have made the difference in the end after all.

But really, what did we find? The three taste testers all agreed: the cake that wasn’t sifted was more dense, drier and with a crunchier crust. It was moister toward the center of the cake. The un-sifted cake was baked in a dark metal pan. We all preferred the cake with the ingredients sifted and baked in a milk glass pan. It was lighter, more chocolaty and moister overall.

Here’s the Smitten Kitchen recipe so that you can test the theory in your own kitchen. Heat the oven to 325. Butter and flour a loaf pan (or spritz with butter-flour baking spray). Then in your stand mixer, cream 1 stick of softened butter on medium until smooth. Add 1 cup of brown sugar and ½ cup of granulated sugar. Beat for 3 or 4 minutes until it’s fluffy. Add an egg that has come to room temperature, 1 cup of buttermilk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. The batter will probably look lumpy. Then sift – with a fine mesh strainer or a crank sifter – 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¾ cup cocoa powder. (What’s that, Big Spender? You want to use Dutch cocoa powder? Reduce the baking soda to ¼ teaspoon and add ½ teaspoon baking powder.) Blend everything together, but don’t overmix.

Scoop the batter into the pan and bake for at least 60 minutes on the center rack. We found that both loaves finished in 65 minutes; the cake in the metal pan finished a few minutes before the one in milk glass. You’ll know they’re done when a toothpick poked in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. We served it with a light dusting of powdered sugar and sliced strawberries.

Do you sift dry ingredients in a recipe? Do you think it really matters? 

Why does acorn squash seem so intimidating? The bulbous gourd is actually quite easy to prepare. A recent recipe from Mario Batali in Everyday Food Magazine inspired us to pick up an acorn squash at the Sunday farm market and give it a go.

Turns out, squash is squash is squash, for the most part. In fact, New York magazine published a primer on the more unusual varieties. When trying any new veggie, we like to take the path of least resistance and have found that roasting often yields the most desirable flavors.

For this modified stuffed acorn squash recipe – we call it “kitchen sink acorn squash” because you can toss in almost any odds and ends veggie in the hydrator – you start by heating the oven to 425 and lining a baking sheet with foil. Drizzle oil on the foil and sprinkle a little salt. Run the acorn squash under the tap to clean off any remaining dirt, and then on a cutting board, slice a bit off of the bottom so the squash is flat and then halve the gourd lengthwise. Scoop out the guts and then place each half on the baking sheet, skin side down. Drizzle the raw flesh with oil and sprinkle with salt. And pepper, too, if that’s your thing. Bake until fork-tender, about 40 minutes.

While the squash gets squishy, heat a pot on medium and add oil. Olive or canola will do. Add diced onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Then add your diced garlic. By now, the kitchen smells pretty good. But why stop here? Add baby spinach – or perhaps kale or Swiss chard – cover, and cook to soften the veggies. Mix it up by adding other diced veggies – such as carrots – with the onions. Once all the veggies are soft, remove from heat.

Remove the tender squash from the oven and turn on the broiler. Spoon the veggie mix into each half of the squash. Top with a good sprinkling of panko breadcrumbs, a dash of salt and shaved Parmesan cheese. Broil for about 2 minutes and serve.

Since squash is mild, the additions of other vegetables, herbs, cheeses, or other toppings make this a versatile recipe. A great addition to a Meatless Monday meal, or a new twist on a veggie side, add this to your fall collection.

"Puppy, I'm only telling you this because I love you, but you really could stand to lose a few pounds."

While the caption on the above photo is funny, when made to humans, these comments can be hurtful.

“Ugh, I look so fat in these jeans!” “She is too big to be wearing that.” Are these the type of statements you’ve heard from others, or made yourself? While seemingly harmless, and very often the norm in conversation, they are examples of fat talk.

This week marks Tri Delta sorority’s Fat Talk Free Week – a reminder to avoid potentially harmful and negative comments about body shape and size. Comments and judgments about our own bodies, and those of others, contribute to the already high body dissatisfaction in our nation, especially among women. Negative remarks about shape and size reinforce the message that thin is the ideal mark of beauty.

Others are listening to our words, including our children. If our daughters and sons hear us berate our bodies, they may question their own size and shape. It’s time to take stock of our comments and reflect on the potential impact for our own health, and that of others. It’s not a guilt message, but rather a reminder that we can turn a negative into something positive and encouraging that allows for a more diverse definition of beautiful.

So how does all this relate to Every Food Fits? Fat Talk Free Week relates to our message of balance and moderation that includes caring for ourselves and our health. We also believe in eating foods that are enjoyable, and avoiding guilt related to eating. If we’re caring for our bodies, we’re more likely to avoid negative comments, including fat talk.

Looking for encouragement? Try these Fat Talk Alternatives.  

Find out more about Fat Talk Free Week here and take the pledge today.