Evolution of Butternut Wontons

Okay Blogfans...this weekend I braved (among about a million other events) my very first food blogger event.  Now, as I mentioned before, I do not necessarily consider myself a food blogger...I mean, I do not even own a stand mixer, recipe cards or a camera...but my friend Amy, along with Jennifer, was hosting, so food blogger I was.

I decided that I was going to have to make something a bit more fancy than a smoothy for this event, so I put on my fall food thinking cap and decided I wanted to make something similar to my summer go-to appetizer of Caprese Salad Skewers.  What are Caprese Salad Skewers?  Only the easiest appetizer ever that actually looks impressive.  Heres what you do:

Caprese Salad Skewers

Get:
Mini Mozzarella balls
Mini tomatoes
Fresh Basil Leaves
Long Party Toothpicks

Put: One of each Ingredient on a Long Party Toothpick

Mix:
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Present Skewers with Balsamic dipping sauce.

Easy right?  I also do a chicken version of this where I soak the Toothpicks for awhile, skewer the tomatoes and roast the tomato/toothpicks together until the skin on the tomatoes just start to pucker.  Then I pan fry or grill some chicken, cut it into bite sized pieces and VERY CAREFULLY (because the tomatoes are delicate) but a piece of chicken on each skewer.  Maybe add a piece of basil or something if you want.

So, I really like those skewers, but they scream summer, not fall, and this was a fall food fest.  So, as I was saying a long time ago, I decided to try and make a fall skewer.  I decided that each Skewer had to have a cube of roasted butternut, a piece of fried sage and a golden raisin.

Can you see the problem here?  Not only would it be impossible to skewer fried sage without it crumbling everywhere, chances are the butternut would slide right off the skewer.  Disaster.

So I decided that I needed to come up with a different vessel to combine my desired appetizer ingredients.  My idea - wonton cups.  Now, I had seen this done before and it seemed pretty easy - you just buy wonton wrappers, push the wrappers into a mini muffin tin and bake.  So I did that.  It was very easy.  Next I did the following:

Butternut Cups

Bake: Butternut squash cubes at 450 degrees until browned

Fry: Sage in a little canola oil

Combine: ricotta (or mascarpone...I tried both) with maple flavored agave syrup (I was out of maple syrup)

Put: Some of each plus a few golden raisins in a wonton cup.

I was pretty pleased with this effort.  I made six as practice the weekend before the food fest and called it a day. 

The next night I had a ton leftover wonton wrappers and roasted butternut...so I decided to try my hand out at butternut ravioli.  Ready?

Butternut Ravioli

Combine: Roasted Butternut, Ricotta, Chopped Fresh Sage, Tarragon, Pepper, Salt, Cinnamon, Nutmeg to taste (lets call this "Butternut Mixture")

Wet: Each side of a wonton wrapper with water

Put: About a tablespoon of Butternut Mixture in the middle of the Wonton

Seal Up: the Wonton (I did this a variety of ways...just get it done)

Put: Wontons in boiling water until they float to the top (this was about 2 minutes...its fast)

Toss: Wontons in olive oil, garlic and Parmesan cheese (I also tossed in some roasted broccoli)

These.  Were.  Awesome.  WAY better than the Butternut Cups (which were still good but not awesome).

I wanted an awesome food blogger recipe.  I also wanted a portable, appetizer like food.  Thus, the Butternut Wonton was born.

Butternut Wontons

Roast: Butternut (I forgot to take a picture of this)

Lower: Oven temp to 350 Degrees

Combine: Ingredients to make Butternut Mixture

Wet the sides of each wonton wrapper and put a little Butternut Mixture in the middle

Seal Up the Wonton

Oil or spray cookie sheet (I actually forgot this step and it was a bit of a mess getting the wontons off the sheet whole...Bill actually saved the day here helping me get the wontons unstuck) 

Dab: Some egg white onto each Wonton for shine (you can totally skip this step)

Bake Wontons until crisp - about 15 minutes.  Keep an eye on them.

Mix: Mascarpone Cheese with some Maple Agave Nectar or Maple Syrup to taste.

Serve

I think it is safe to say that these were a hit at the event.  I heard unsolicited comments such as "These are incredible, who made them" and "Seriously, these are addictive...I am going to be thinking about them when I'm on the couch watching tv later."

So feel free to try them out - they are not hard to make just a little time consuming.  At the very least, I hope this post has inspired some of you to get in the kitchen and create.

Bonus Post!

This is a great list of foods to have on hand published by Weight Watchers.  I would say that my house has all of these at any given time except the lean ground beef and chicken...though there is usually chicken in the house once or twice a week.

Also, I have been living on frozen vegetables and chicken sausage this week.  Throw a good heap of mixed frozen veggies (I like the Bird's Eye Broccoli Stir-Fry blend) in a pan with a little oil, slice an Al Fresco Chicken Sausage Link up, toss in pan.  Season.  Cook until done.  Easy.

Here is the link if you didn't catch it above:  http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=43331

Bad Yoga

As you are all aware, I am picking up my running mileage in the hopes of racing a solid 10 Miler in February.  If you read about running at all - or train - you know a little bit about 'speed work' and 'tempo' runs.  Now, as you may have guessed from the title, this is a yoga post NOT a running post, so I am not going to go into the mechanics of speed work or tempo runs, but here is the basic idea...you run faster than normal for set periods of time or distance.  Yesterday I did my first tempo run in ... oh ... a year maybe (4.5 miles total, 3 miles at 10K pace).  I've also added about 5 miles onto my weekly total the last few weeks.

Now, these additional miles and single fast run may not seem like a lot, but to tired, hardly running at all legs, it is a lot of extra work.  Enter the bad yoga.

I am amazed that I can practice yoga as much as I do and still wake up with hamstrings so tight I can't reach my toes.  Actually, these added miles and workouts are destroying my hamstrings (I also really, really need new sneakers).   Two Fridays ago I went to Victoria's Vinyasa class, then that Sunday I ran 5 miles with Meri and then went immediately to power yoga.  The next day I went to a (medium) power class at Revelation....and it was a disaster.  My hamstrings and hips were a nightmare and I actually had to pull out of a pigeon pose that I was barely in.  The only thing I could come up with was the triple header of power yoga with the 5 Miler in the middle was too much.  This past weekend I tried to learn from my mistakes - I went to Victoria's class on Friday, Ran 5.7 with Meri on Saturday then went to power yoga at Revelation on Sunday.  The  elimination of the Saturday morning long run/yoga double header seemed to work and I had a good run on Monday.  All was good.  Until yesterday.

Yesterday I did the previously mentioned tempo run at lunch then went to power yoga at night.  Wednesday night power yoga is usually medium hard but for some insane reason Kim was killing us last night.  And my legs and mind just could not keep up.  I must have fallen out of Eagle at least 4 times AND I almost threw up in Revolved Triangle from the combined heat and painful hamstrings.

Now, I am seeing a pattern here - are you?  Longer/harder runs and power yoga apparently do not mix.  Which is unfortunate because I do not see that combo going away anytime soon.  Eventually the Saturday double headers will have to stop because the long runs will get longer...but the Wednesday quality runs combined with Kim's power class...I may be able to tweak the schedule so they are not combined...or I can hope that I get stronger.  We shall see.

Training Schedule

I have to tell you, it feels great to be back on a training schedule.  For me, running with a focus or a goal is so much more productive.  I like to have a plan and, essentially, a training schedule is nothing more than a running plan.

So whats so great about a training schedule? 

Well, for one, it tells you that you have to run.  Unless I actually have to make a certain amount of miles, I'll just squeeze in a run here and there.  A training schedule says "You have to run 3 miles on Monday, 5 Miles on Wednesday, 3 Miles on Thursday and 6 Miles on Saturday."  I love that - Here is your plan, go do it!

The more often you run, the better your runs feel.  Granted, there will still be bad run days.  But in general, your legs, lungs and mind will get used to the miles as you gradually pile them on.  Having good runs is way worth the extra miles.

The other thing about being on a training schedule - it forces you to re-prioritize.  Now, maybe you think that that is a bad thing...but really, its not.  I think a shake up to the schedule is good - it keeps things exciting and forces you to change your routine.  The downside here is that, when you re-prioritize, something usually looses its rank on the top of the pile.

So here it is, I have had to re-prioritize my workout schedule to fit in all of the runs.  I was contemplating taking spin classes, but that idea is shot.  The other thing that is losing its rank is weight lifting.  Now, do not freak out.  Really, relax.  I am still lifting weights.  For the time being, I am still following New Rules two days a week.  BUT come Christmas time, I am only going to have an hour and a half per week to devote to lifting - an hour Tuesday and a half hour on Thursday.  This is necessary in order to fit in a few miles and weight lifting at lunch on Thursdays.  Some sacrifices have to be made.  I am not overly concerned with this change in schedule as I generally go to Power Yoga 3 times a week, which is 60-90 minutes of supporting your own body weight, which is a weight lifting routine all of its own.

So there you have it.  The new schedule will be running 4-5 days a week, lifting 1-2 days a week and yoga 5-7 times a week (schedule permitting).     

Yoga Championships

This Saturday was the New England Yoga Championships.  I went into the Championships a little hesitant...I wasn't sure what to expect exactly.  I was afraid it would cheapen the art of practice, that it would destroy the art of staying on your mat, of calming your mind.  I am happy to report that the Championships in no way hurt yoga and in fact, I am glad I went.

The Championships did not feel competitive at all.  Here is the deal - though there are certainly talented yogi/nis in the Championship, there are also competitors who are doing it for themselves.  There was one woman who previously had back surgery for three herniated discs and, through yoga, had managed her back pain and had gotten completely off pain killers.  She was competing because she could, because she was thankful for yoga.  There were numerous competitors that were clearly there for themselves - not to prove that they are better than anyone else, but to challenge themselves.  In fact, it is encouraged for yogi/nis of all levels to compete, to get on stage and challenge themselves.  There were some super yoginis up there, yes.  But there was also an array of body types and personalities.  As far as 'sports' and 'chamionships' go, it made me proud to be a yogini.

With that said, some pictures complements of Steven Schwartz Photography: http://stevenschwartz.smugmug.com/event/YOGA-NERYAC