My name is Chloe and I'm a Food-A-Holic.

We started this blog because we both find cooking food together to be rewarding in many aspects. As a therapist I know that creating something is an incredible release of tension and helps focus your energy in a positive direction, especially something delicious… especially if you can eat it afterwards. Cooking at home not only saves money (after you’ve built up a sizable pantry of spices and staples, not to mention the pots, pans and accessories you‘ll need, but we’ll save that for another entry) but also can strengthen your relationship with your other half, your kids, your friends, whomever. Cooking helps us stay sane in an insane world and will help you get to know each other on a deeper level. We feel it’s the best kind of couples therapy, or at least its the most fun.

Food has gotten a bad wrap. We’re too scared to over eat it, under eat it, or consume the myriad of chemicals it now contains. We’re here to help change that fear. We hope to convey our love for food and show how it can be a healthy obsession as we divulge our deepest, darkest & most delicious recipes. Following a few common sense rules and a little knowledge of where to shop and what to look for in ingredients, you can once again enjoy food without the guilt.

And now a confession:
Tonight, due to deadlines, busy schedules, extra-curricular activities, you name it… we didn’t actually cook (GASP!) However, I feel the need to share the café I frequent for take out, healthy smoothies or a quick snack from time to time. It also has a create-your-own meal station, and offers only fresh organic, free of artificial preservatives, additives, chemicals, dyes etc. ingredients & healthy portion sizes.
The place is FeelGoods Healthy Family Café. If you live in the St. James area like we do, you’ve probably heard of it. If you don’t, you can read about them and lust here: http://www.feelgoodscafe.com/
Become a fan on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/search/?flt=1&q=feelgoods&o=65&sid=55301566.880975884..1#!/pages/Saint-James-NY/FeelGoods-Cafe/102291173304?v=wall&ref=mf

Tonight I sampled their lean turkey and spinach lasagna, with a sweet potato pancake and a stuffed portobello mushroom as sides. I’ll do my best to either get the recipes, or challenge Dan to recreate them. Look out for that post!

Easter Breakfast

Message from Dan
Breakfast in general has to be one of my favorite meals to cook. With simple ingredients and very basic techniques you can put together a great breakfast. My favorite part is that it emphasises the freshness and quality of the ingredients. Recipes with only 2 or 3 ingredients will easily show poor quality ingredients, but don't be fooled. Good ingredients are no longer hard to find and are not at all too expensive. In fact, if most people knew exactly what to look for when purchasing fruits and vegetables you may not need to change your buying habits all that much.

This Easter morning, we decided to go a little overboard for the simple sake of overboardedness. Breakfast consisted of, (it's always homemade by the way) pancakes with strawberries, banana's and chocolate chips. Spiced homefries with sauteed onions, omelets with sauteed peppers and onions and sliced chicken (Left Overs) with cheddar cheese, bacon and coffee. It was incredibly delicious....and easy. Here's how.


Tools
Spatula
Griddle (preferably) A large non stick pan would suffice
Non-Stick 6 or 8 inch omelets pan (totally not necessary)
Box Grater
Sauce Pan

Pancake Recipe
Yields: 4 Large Pancakes (More than enough for 2 people eating like human beings)
1 1/2 Cups AP Flour
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt (Kosher Salt please)
1 Tablespoon White Sugar (Regular table sugar)
1 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Egg
Vanilla Extract (to flavor - use sparingly)

Simply combine all the dry ingredients, (don't forget sugar is a wet ingredient) in a seperate bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk well. Add the wet to the dry and mix until smooth. This shouldn't take any longer than 10-15 seconds of stirring lightly. DO NOT OVERMIX or your pancakes will become heavy and dense.

Once combined let sit for 3-5 minutes. While the batter rests turn on your griddle to medium/medium low. If you put butter on the griddle and it browns quickly or smokes the griddle is way too hot. Lower the heat and let it cool before continuing. After the griddle is preheated, ladle the batter onto the griddle in desired sizes. Let cook for 1-2 minutes before placing fillings into the pancakes. We used strawberries (because they were fresh) bananas (because they were ripe and on sale) and chocolate chips (because they were in the pantry, and I mean come on? Banana's strawberries and chocolate chips...Duh). Let the pancakes cook until they are browned on one side and flip. Cook until cooked through and brown on both sides and remove them from heat. Serve them immediately or keep in a warmed oven (200 degrees or lower) until ready to eat.

Welcome to Our Blog

My girlfriend Chloe and I have been cooking on a regular basis for quite some time. We have decided to begin sharing the various recipes and experiences we have revolving around food.