Random Ramblings

A recipe so I can bookmark it: Stuffed Spinach Ricotta tortillas

This makes 10-12.

15 oz ricotta cheese, 1 large package of frozen spinach, a container of feta cheese, spaghetti sauce or pesto sauce, cheese for topping. Spices: garlic, onions, basil, oregano, salt, pepper. I used low carb whole wheat tortillas for the shells.

Nuke the spinach and drain thoroughly when it is cooled. Meanwhile, put about a tablespoon of dried garlic and a tablespoon of dried onions in the ricotta so they rehydrate. When the spinach is cool and drained, mix gradually with the ricotta, about half the feta cheese and the spices.

Grease a baking pan and stuff the tortillas with the mixture. I would suggest the rolled side up, since it's easier to eat them as tortillas as long as you don't put too much sauce on them. Top either with pesto + the remaining feta, or or light layer of spaghetti sauce and cheddar. 350 for 30 minutes; 20 covered with aluminum foil and ten uncovered (maybe a bit longer if you're not using feta).

Since one of my summer goals is to do some things I don't normally do/ step out of my comfort zone, I can report a few small accomplishments this weekend:

1. Joined a gym for the summer (the better to meet my summer goals of 5 miles a day! which I've been doing very well on) and actually went today, despite the huge surge of social anxiety I get when going to unfamiliar places. It helped that it was 100 today, so doing my evening walk outdoors just wasn't going to happen.

2. Made myself try new dishes. Most people who know me know my lifelong aversion to eggs, but to those who don't: I've hated eggs since I was a small child--the smell, the texture, etc. But because of the limitations of my diet these days, I'm trying to find at least a few egg dishes I can stand, and Saturday I successfully made myself scrambled eggs, and they were fine--actually good when I put salsa on them. So yay.

I also picked up some kimchi at Trader Joe's yesterday, and found it very yummy. I had it today on the leftover zucchini-garbanzo bean patties I made from this recipe yesterday, as a way of getting rid of leftover zucchini and incorporating more eggs into my diet. I'm cutting for the full recipe in case the link vanishes in the future: ( Read more... )

3. I also had lunch with Ruth yesterday at the new Indian place downtown, which I had also had a little social anxiety about beforehand (new places + weird diabetic requirements=stupid anxiety), and it was good. Not great, but definitely good.

I'm pretty sure the only way this food transformation thing is going to work is if I keep finding yummy things to eat so I don't feel deprived. For example, when I want a treat I've been splurging on different kinds of herbal tea. I keep meaning to write about new recipes I've tried for future record.

Things I've really, really liked

1. Fresh-ground peanut butter. OMG so yummy--why oh why does anyone ever eat anything else? This really helps when I'm craving sweets--I just eat a tablespoon or so and I'm good.

2. Raw zucchini pad thai . The spiral slicer is surprisingly easy to use, and this is quite yummy, though I do get sick of it after about a day, so I may save it for parties.

3. Baked kale chips. I got inspired and actually tried baked mustard greens--not so good, but they were better when dehydrated (150 degree oven, about 6 hours, though I actually heated the oven to 300 and then just turned it off since I was leaving the house). Tastier when spritzed with red vinegar/garlic mix; I'm also going to try pickle juice.

4. Cauliflower as a replacement for pasta (i.e. with sauce and cheese). Yummy and filling.

Things that were ok

4. Spaghetti squash. Good with spaghetti sauce; not quite as satisfying as pasta, but an ok subsititute (kind of like zucchini)--in both cases I don't like the squash flavor, so concealing it with sauce is a must. I tried the leftovers with butter and parmesan as one recipe recommended, and yuck--it just reminded me I really don't like plain squash.

5. "Pizza" with the low carb tortillas: these tasted fine but had to be eaten like tacos rather than pizza. Shredding the cheese might help, as might baking the tortilla shells longer.

Since I am now on a health-mandated new dietary regime, I've been looking for low-carb vegetarian recipes, and I stumbled across a wonderful site: vegangela.com. So far every single recipe I've made from there has been yummy. I'm especially fond of Creamy Cashew Kale with Chickpeas and Quinoa salad with spicy peanut dressing, but I'm also planning on making raw pad thai sometime this week with my new spiral slicer.