Working Out and Eating In

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Individual Empanada Tartas

When I first posted my recipe for Empanada Tartas, I had no idea it would be so popular! Not only is it a delicious dish, but I think a lot of people watched the episode on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and wanted to know how to make the giant empanada.

We have made the Empanada Tartas for so many different occasions. It is the perfect weeknight dinner along with a salad or side dish. It is also great for a party.

This time, we wanted to try to make individual empanadas, and we were so pleased with how they turned out! You get the same delicious flavor, but all in a neat little package. I think these would work really well at a dinner party as an appetizer.

The beauty is that you can use whatever you want in the filling. You must use cream cheese - it adds the perfect tang and creaminess. Goat cheese would work equally well. After that, you can just stuff them with your favorite cooked vegetables. Just make sure not to use anything too wet since it would make the whole thing soggy. I really like putting a slice of roasted sweet potato or butternut squash on top of the cream cheese, and then piling whatever vegetables I have in my fridge on top. Onions, mushrooms and peppers are a great combo. In the pictures below, I sauteed some onions, brussels sprouts and corn. See the original post for more ideas and instructions.

Ingredients:
Dough:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/3 cup ice water
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar

Filling:
~4 tbsp cream cheese (whipped or brick-style) - goat cheese could also be substituted
~ 1 1/2 cups cooked vegetables (see above)

1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the bowl. Using your hands (or a pastry blender or two knives), work the butter into the flour until you have small pieces/ribbons of butter that are no larger than the size of a pea. Put the whole bowl in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to keep it cold.

In a small bowl, mix together the egg, water and vinegar.

Pull out your bowl from the fridge/freezer and add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Use a fork or spoon to gently mix together until there are no visibly wet areas. Use your hands to help form it into a ball. It will seem like there is too much flour - that is okay!

Lay out a piece of plastic wrap onto your counter and dump the contents of the bowl on it. Use the plastic wrap to help guide the dough into a disc - it helps to act as a shield so it won't stick to your hands, and will help some of the excess flour adhere to the dough. Wrap the disc well with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 1-1.5 hours.

At this point you can roast up some veggies, if you don't have them already. Make sure you let them cool completely before adding to the dough.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Lightly flour a large work surface. (I like to use this pastry mat, since it has measurements on it.) Once the dough has been chilled, set it out and divide it into 12 equal portions. I like to use a food scale to make sure they are all equal in size, but you can definitely estimate it. The easiest way to do it by hand is to divide it in half, divide each of those portions in half, and then divide each of those into 3. Making small divisions feels a lot easier.

Keeping the rest of the dough portions covered with plastic wrap or a clean towel, roll out each one until it is a 5 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. It doesn't have to be a perfect circle, but it does help if it is symmetrical since you will be folding it over.

Put ~1 tsp of cream cheese on one side of the dough, then top with ~1.5-2 tbsp of your veggies.

Carefully stretch the other side of the dough over it to close. Crimp the edges closed - you want to make sure it is sealed really well so nothing leaks out. Transfer to your parchment paper-lined baking tray, and repeat with the remaining 11 pieces of dough. Put 6 empanadas on each tray.

* If at any point the dough starts to feel too warm/soft, put it back in the fridge. The entire tray can even be kept in the fridge while you are working on them. You don't want the butter to melt out before baking, so keeping everything cold is essential.*

Brush the top of the empanadas with your egg wash. Bake until golden brown and flaky, for about 25 minutes. Make sure to switch positions of the baking trays halfway through. I like to swap from top to bottom racks, and to also rotate each pan 180 degrees.

Let cool for 5 minutes before eating.

These are best right out of the oven. If you are reheating them I find it works best to microwave for a short amount of time, just to warm (15-45 seconds, depending on how many you are heating at once) and then put them in the oven or toaster oven to crisp up. Keep leftovers in the refrigerator.

Disclosure - I have included affiliate links in this post. If you buy any of the products I recommend on Amazon, I get a tiny tiny percentage of the sale, but it's still the same price for you

Friday, August 18, 2017

Date and Pecan Bars

I'm always looking for a healthy snack to get me through the afternoon slump. These bars are perfect. They are slightly sweet, full of fiber and protein, and are incredibly portable. I have traveled with these by car and by plane (and back) and they are super sturdy.

It takes a little while to cut up all of the dates, I won't lie about that. It's worth it in the end! You can also buy them pre-chopped, but they are more moist when you buy them whole. You can let them sit in the rum, stirring them occasionally, for up to 4 hours. If you don't want to use rum, feel free to use water or coffee.

Toasting the pecans is a step that I highly recommend you do. I prefer to buy my nuts raw, so I can toast them or add salt as needed. In this case, it is best to toast them prior to adding them to the bars. When making something like granola, they get toasted while everything else is cooking, so it is much better to use them while still raw.

Date and Pecan Bars
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker
Yield: 16 2x2-inch bars

Ingredients:
8 oz dates (pitted), diced
1 1/2 tbsp dark rum (or water or coffee)
1 cup chopped pecans
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp hot water (from the tap is fine)
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt

Directions:
Put the dates in a medium bowl and pour the rum on top. Stirring from time to time, let them sit for at least an hour, and up to 4 hours.

Line a 8x8 or 9x9 inch pyrex baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread out pecans in an even layer on a small baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until slightly darker and become fragrant. Keep an eye on them - they can burn quickly! Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix the eggs and sugar until well combined. Add the vanilla, butter and hot water, mixing quickly so the eggs don't cook.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and stir together gently until mostly combined. Add in the dates (and any extra liquid) and pecans, and fold everything until it is all evenly distributed. It will seem like you have too many dates and pecans for the amount of batter. I promise it will all bake up perfectly!

Pour into the prepared pan and level it off. It is very thick and sticky, so you will have to push it into the corners.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when put in the center. Let cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then remove it (using the foil to help lift) and let cool completely on a cooling rack. Wait until they have cooled completely to cut into 2x2 inch squares.

Store for up to 3 days at room temperature, and for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. They can be frozen for longer storage.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

My Journey Through Exercise

For anyone who is new to the blog, or who read the blog several years ago, they might be wondering where the "working out" part of the blog is! After several long breaks from blogging I have put up several posts lately, but all have been on the "eating in" side of things. While it may be hard to imagine now, I used to post a lot of exercise posts!

I have tried doing a little bit of everything - circuits with free weights, body-weight spartacus-style workouts, tabatas, kettle bells, rock climbing, and lots and lots of running! Some of my posts were even pretty popular - I have a running graphic that has been pinned over 2,000 times and the post itself has also been read over 2,000 times.

In the several years since all of this activity, my workouts have ebbed and flowed. I spent a lot of time training for a few races, and during that time focused 100% on running. My body wasn't the biggest fan, and it led to a long period of complete stagnancy. I did not want to exercise, and I certainly did not want to run.

I spent a lot of time here

I got married last year, and spent the 8 months prior to the wedding trying to get back into a healthy routine. I was successful, and I was proud of how I looked on my wedding day. I did a combination of jogging and high-intensity interval training. It was mostly fun, but after almost a year of working out because I felt like I had to, I gladly took a long break post-wedding.

Yoga was something I had an off and on relationship with. When I was a graduate student at the University of Virginia, I took yoga classes for the first time ever. I had an amazing instructor and from time to time I would go to her class once a week. During busy times, and once I moved to Connecticut, my yoga practice came to an abrupt halt. I was never a strong or talented yogi, and finding new classes seemed like something I didn't want to deal with.

A few months after the wedding, my husband gifted me a subscription for online yoga classes. It is probably one of the best gifts he has ever given me. I think I was at a point where I didn't want to do workouts of the intensity I had done previously. I needed something that would shape my body as well as soothe my mind. With access to over 1000 videos taught by 50 different instructors, I can find whatever it is I need at the moment I am looking. I have also found that the variety of classes and instructors has made my practice stronger. Everyone learns in a different way, and the combination of tips and suggestions that each of them give has provided a stronger connection to each of the poses, and makes me feel like I am getting more out of each individual class.

I am certainly not being paid to promote the website that I use, and I think there are a lot of different options out there that are equally great. I have been using My Yoga Works, and I know my husband got a big discount on the subscription through Living Social or Groupon. I think that it makes a great gift, either for someone you love, or better yet, for yourself! If you belong to a gym, check out their class schedule. You might find something that you love, that you never would have thought to try out.

I am also not suggesting that anyone do yoga and only yoga. This is what is making me happy right now, and I figure that is pretty important. I am also doing a lot of walking and hiking, since it's a fun way to get some exercise while also exploring and having a lot of fun.