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Editor's note: This column was originally published Sept. 12, 2006. The regular Easy Does It column returns next week.
33This dark-haired Utah Valley State College student is a lean; 5-foot, 4-inch; 116-pound mother of two.
"Never run out of food," said Ashley, 31. "Don't scrimp -- have as much as possible. I'm a big eater. I like two helpings, I eat like a truck driver."
She offsets her diet with exercise. "I love to go cycling, but also I'm of Asian descent. We are known for high metabolism," she said. "That's why I can eat so much and can intake lots of calories."
Luckily, the foods she chooses to ingest are healthy. Most are home-grown or made from scratch. The Bastians's garden is overflowing with produce including zucchini, crook neck squash, pumpkins, bell peppers, tomatoes and really spicy peppers. She sautes those with scalloped potatoes for a tasty dish.
"I stick with basic, traditional food," she said. "We try to eat healthy, not so much organic but natural. I make my own yogurt, my own bread, grind the wheat and go to a dairy farm to buy natural milk.
"We're not fanatics, just health conscious," she said.
When she does prepare desserts, she uses unbleached flour or wheat flour. When a recipe calls for sugar, she uses sugarcane.
"I'm not a junk food person, but I do it because the people around me love sweets."
When Ashley becomes tired of her own recipes she seeks out www.allrecipes.com. "I get a lot of my recipes there and like to read the comments," she said. "They are flavorfui and in my opinion, I consider it gourmet cooking." One she shares from that site is a meatloaf recipe.
"I am not a meatloaf fan, but this recipe changed my opinion on meatloaf," said Ashley. "I make it for my family and friends and they all ask for the recipe." There are no leftovers from this meatloaf even when she doubles it, she said.
Glazed Meatloaf
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoon dry mustard or deli mustard
• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 box croutons, crumbled
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cube beef bouillon, crumbled
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and dry mustard until smooth.
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, croutons, onion, egg, bouillon, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and 1/3 cup of the ketchup mixture until well mixed. Form into a loaf and place in a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
Bake l hour.
Pour off fat. Pour reserved ketchup mixture over loaf. Bake 10 minutes more.
What happens when her busy schedule doesn't allow her to cook from scratch? "I fix peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a quick, natural food!" says Ashley with a laugh.
Please send your favorite recipes to Karen Hoag at
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, fax to 344-2985 or mail to the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 717, Provo, Utah 84603. |
