Author Archives: Jennifer FIsher

Sweet, Sophisticated Yet Oh-So Sensible: Poached Pears with Pomegranate-Mascarpone Sauce Recipe

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The New Year brings new resolutions about food for most of us.  For me, it usually means trying to find healthier desserts to satisfy my sweet tooth.  Inspired by poached pears served at a dinner party I attended New Year’s Eve, I came up with this Poached Pears with Pomegranate-Mascarpone Sauce version to share with you for a healthy 2013.  A delicious and decidedly more nutritious alternative to my Bluebell ice cream habit, these poached pears are so simple to make and have very few calories, not much fat, and lots of dietary fiber. You could top them with vanilla ice cream, but they are yummy enough to stand alone on sweetness.

Instead of Bartlett pears, you can use other varieties known to hold up through the cooking process such as Bosc or Anjou.  Remember to choose pears that aren’t super ripe, you want them to be fairly firm so that they don’t fall apart in the pan. While some people peel the pears for aesthetics, I prefer to keep it on in order to retain the naturally high levels of chlorogenic acid found in the skin (a phytonutrient that can help control blood glucose levels). By the way, in the rare chance you have leftovers; they are great the next day sliced up in a salad.

Poached Pears with Pomegranate-Mascarpone Sauce Recipe

  • 3 semi-firm Bartlett pears
  • 2 cups all-natural pomegranate juice (not pomegranate cocktail)
  • 1 teaspoon Stevia
  • Pinch ground clove
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ½ cup mascarpone cheese
  • Garnish: fresh mint leaves

Slice pears in half lengthwise. In medium pot, bring juice to a light simmer. Stir in Stevia and spices.

Gently lower each pear into juice, flat-side down.  Reduce heat to med-low and let pears cook for approximately 10 to15 minutes, or until softened. Turn several times during the process for even cooking.

Remove pot from stovetop and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove pears from juice. Leave 1 cup of juice in the pot, add mascarpone cheese. Return to stove and warm over low heat, stirring until well-combined.  Pour sauce over pears and keep in refrigerator until ready to serve. Before serving, garnish with fresh mint.

Serves 6.

 

Guaranteed-to-be-Sore Core Workout

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the fit fork jennifer fisher core workout core exercises

Picked up this core workout from a CrossFit Gymnastics seminar I took a few weeks ago. Apparently all the elite, Olympian-type gymnasts do it everyday as a warm-up and cool-down to their hours and hours of grueling in the gym.So, I decided If these little pig-tailed girls can do it a couple times a day to bookend much harder and more difficult workouts, surely I can do the simple core workout just once, every other day, as a stand-alone event! Somehow though, it doesn’t seem so simple about 30 hollow rocks into the routine. So break it down in chunks if you need to.

So, who’s in? No flipping or flopping on the commitment; you have to agree to do the workout at least three times per week. Come on, it’s only going to take about 10  to 20 minutes depending on how long you have to rest.  Here’s the plan:

100 Hollow Rocks: Remember, lower back should be touching the ground. Keep legs straight and tight together with toes pointed. Arms extended straight and glued to your ears. Slowly rock back and forth without allowing the shape to break at any point.

50 Belly Rocks: Lay face-down on the ground. Extend arms straight and keep glued to your ears. Pull chest and lower legs off the floor, keep core tight. Slowly rock back and forth without allowing the shape to break at any point.

50 V-Ups: Lie on ground and start in hollow body position. With legs straight and together, bring them up and towards your torso. While raising your legs, reach for the toes with your hands. Finish in a pike position with your hands and feet meeting at hip level, then return to hollow body position.

50 Side Crunches:  Lie on side, claps hands behind neck. Slightly bend knees and keep legs together. Pull torso and lower legs up at the same time, as if they were reaching toward one another. Lower back down to the ground. Repeat on other side after 50 crunches.

More fun from today:

 

The Ten Best Things I Ate in 2012

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As I reflect over the past year, important things start playing through my mind like a slideshow.  You know; important things like all the delicious things I’ve eaten throughout the last 12 months. Of course, it’s hard to narrow it down to just a dozen delights and I know I’m probably forgetting to give many dishes their due credit.  But, here is my list for “The 10 Best Things I Ate in 2012,” a random compilation of both to-die-for restaurant dishes and out-of-this-world recipes. You can tell by the list that I don’t get out to the fanciest places, but I do like to eat at unique and off-the-beaten path places when I can. Some of the foods are healthy and some not so much, but every mention is a winner in taste!

78704 Burger from Phil’s Ice House in Austin has become a go-to lunch after a long run. This bad boy is topped with Monterey Jack cheese, jalapeños, grilled onions, sliced avocado, and chipotle mayo on a toasted jalapeño cheese bun. Although served with sweet potato fries, I’m usually too stuffed to finish them off. The bun is seriously so tasty that my dad tried to recreate them at home, check out the recipe for Jalapeno Cheese Hamburger Buns.

Brown Sugar Bacon Appetizers made by my friend Angie for our book club Christmas party rank way up on the list for tasty tidbits sampled in 2012.  Credits go to the The Pioneer Woman who brought this popular 70s-era hors d’ouevres back to the buffet spreads everywhere this holiday season.   Basically, it’s a club cracker topped with brown sugar, wrapped in bacon, and baked into a little bubbling popper of pleasure.

via The Pioneer Woman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tai-Pan Salmon Salad from Zen Japanese Food in Austin is a delicious, quick and healthy lunch featuring grilled salmon atop a bed of salad greens, roasted corn & avocado pico, carrot, peanuts, red bell pepper, cranberries, shaved parmesan cheese, sesame seeds and sriracha with peanut dressing.  I hadn’t been to this place in like 10 years and my taste buds are so happy I decided to drop back in during 2012.

Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Fig and Onion Confit prepared by Richard Chamberlain of Chamberlain’s Steak and Chop House at a party in his lovely Dallas home. My favorite cut of lean beef tasted so much more delicious when prepared by a renowned chef and not me!

The recipe for Chocolate Truffle Pie by the Dean brothers (Paula’s boys) will make any chocoholic feel light-headed. In a twisted sort of way you can even call a slice of this chocolate pie “clean eating;” I made it for a couple of birthdays in the family and every plate was licked clean.  If you can’t splurge for a celebration, then when can you?

The Greek Salad from Doyle’s Café in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.  Most people come to this venerable Irish Bar, famous for first serving Samuel Adams on tap, to take in the ambiance and snarf down pizza and beer (duh), I found the humungous, sized-to-share Greek salad to be one of the yummiest I’ve had in a long time.

Grilled Fish Tacos from Pier 23 Café in San Francisco. This casual place sits right out on the bay where I had a front-row view of the Pacific as I munched down on a pair of super fresh fish tacos loaded with tomato salsa and guacamole.  While I had my heart set on the Dungeness crab which wasn’t in season, these tasty tacos took my mind off the disappointment quite well. So good, in fact, I had to keep swatting away my husband’s fingers on my plate.

The Calamari Forno Panini with Lemon Aioli from Enoteca Vespaio in Austin is totally worth the splurge. Split this sandwich with a friend and order one of their delicious Italian-inspired salads, then you don’t have to feel so bad.  But right now, I’m having stress because I no longer see it on their lunch menu . . . . oh noooooooo!

The Apple Pork Sandwich from Food Heads in Austin near the UT campus makes for a fast, filling and fairly well-rounded lunch. Whatcha get is grilled pork tenderloin on toasted bolillo with smoked Gouda cheese, fresh spinach, spicy apple & tomato pico and honey Dijon aioli.  All served in a quaint and quirky house that is so NOT a Subway franchise.

The Pumpkin Protein Donuts recipe I created (hate to brag, but I will) is one of the best things I found for breakfast this year. I make a bunch of these mini baked pumpkin protein doughnuts at once and then stash them away in the freezer. On hectic school mornings, the kids and I can pop them out, heat up in the microwave and then head off to the day’s chaos fueled with a better-balanced start than something just carbohydrate laden.

 

My Favorite Running & Fitness Goodies Giveaway

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Just because the holidays are pretty much over doesn’t mean gift-giving has to come to an end.  I want to jump-start all your New Year fitness resolutions with a care package of some of my favorite things.  Whether you are planning to run your first 5k in 2013 or complete your 100th marathon, these little goodies will help you get to the finish line just a little easier.  It’s my New Year gift to one of you!   Enter below on the Rafflecopter form to win this assortment of sporty stuff.

  • Save Our Soles Performance Socks for the Enlightened Athlete: Size Medium branded with Competitor 25th Anniversary logo.  You can never have too many socks, especially SOS socks.
  •  Sun-Rype 100% All Natural Fruit Strips: A delicious and nutritious product made in Canada but found in the fresh produce section of your local grocery. Contains no preservatives, artificial colors, and is gluten-free and nut-free.  You get one dozen fruit strips in Strawberry.
  •  FuelBelt – Super-Stretch Waist Pack in Blue ready to hold your race-day necessities like a phone, keys, nutrition gels and girl stuff.
  •  Slacklaces – “The Flexible Shoe Lace” in Pink are an inventive way to tie up your sneakers.  Don’t just lace them up old-school though; check out my old post on special techniques to lace shoes that alleviates problems like heel slip, smushed big toes, and such.
  •  Nuun Active Hydration Tablets – Enjoy one tube of 12 tablets in the Tropical flavor. If you haven’t used Nuun before, you’ll love it.  Drop one tab into a bottle of water and it fizzes up without stirring to provide you an on-the-go electrolyte drink without any sugar.
  •  Sports Legs:  Supplements to reduce lactic acid build-up and minimize post-race soreness (5-tablet supply which is enough for one marathon). I have used these a few times with some success, definitely less sore the next day.  The company told me they would make my legs feel 15 years younger, now if only the rest of my body follow suit.
  •  Chia Surge Endurance Gel – Pinapple-Orange Flavor and Raspberry Flavor from Vitalyte Sports Nutrition.  You can find these gels retail at REI Outdoor.
  •  Handana: It might not be hot now, but come summer, you’re going to appreciate wiping your brow with this stylish and easy-to-wear high-performance sports band.  Made right here in Austin, Texas!
  • Jamba Juice: Run your errands or workout in this understated but oh-so-fashionable Jamba Juice cap and then treat your healthy self to a smoothie with the 3 one-dollar gift cards. It’s no secret that my favorite flavor is Razzamatazz® with a whey protein boost.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lightened Yet Still Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe

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There’s nothing more soul-satisfying on a cold winter night than a nourishing bowl of soup for supper. And for those who know me even just a little bit, will confirm that I’m that always-freezing chick who is bundled up in long johns and ready to slurp soup anytime the thermometer plunges below 70 F degrees.  Soup is a beautiful thing. Not only is soup easy to whip up and low-mess (it’s a one-pot meal), the leftovers are often better the next day. For dinner tonight I made Lightened Yet Still Loaded Baked Potato Soup, a recipe I tweaked and adapted from a 10-year old recipe in Cooking Light magazine (9/2007).

Don’t worry about sabotaging your diet with this make-over recipe; it’s relatively low in calories and fat compared to the naughty restaurant equivalents. For example, 12-ounces of Baked Potato Soup at Outback Steakhouse has an impressive 514 calories and 53 grams of fat (24 saturated) compared to this lightened version that has just 346 calories and less 11.7 grams of fat (7.3 saturated). Calorie-counters could always skip the bacon, but that wouldn’t be any fun.

By the way, if you’re already drooling over the tantalizing photo, you can thank my dear mom and dad for helping get your appetite worked up – they gifted me with a brand new camera for my food photography! Kisses!

 

Lightened Yet Still Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe

  • 2 ½ lbs Russet potatoes
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 6 cups 1% reduced-fat milk
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup (8-ounces) light sour cream
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onions
  • 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Wash potatoes and pat dry. Pierce potatoes with a fork and microwave together for 15 – 20 minutes (turning every 5 minutes) until tender. Cool to handle under cold water.  Peel potatoes; coarsely mash in large bowl.

Place flour in a large Dutch oven or stock pot; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, approximately 8 – 10 minutes. Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated taking care not to let soup  boil. Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoon onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon.