The Inspired Latin Cook

Beating the burnout

2011-08-18T22:40:00.001-07:00

I’m still not used to the new Blogger dashboard layout – which is why I switched to Google Reader. How have I missed out on GR?! It’s incredibly easier to read through your favorite and new blogs – I absolutely LOVE IT!

You know those days when you’re thoroughly exhausted from the day’s stresses and all you want to do is take a big bite of this chocolaty goodness?

The following two photos are courtesy of www.foodporndaily.com.

Fudgy double chocolate brownies dipped in rich chocolate ganache

Forget about the rich chocolate ganache – just give me the brownie!

…and wish this was served at dinner, along with you’re favorite salad? My favorite salad would include spinach leaves, green & red apple slices, blue cheese, cranberries, candied walnuts and a light vinaigrette.

Rich layered zucchini parmesan w/homemade tomato sauce & fresh mozzarella

Oy vey! I’ve got to get this cooking burnout out of my system. I don’t know how many of you readers have the cooking blahs. Mine seemed to have lasted for a couple of months now. I don’t know if it’s because it’s summertime and it’s just way too hot to be cooking warm food. It it just me or does anyone else have this feeling during Summer?

Here are some things I’d like to work on this week:

Get myself out of this barely cooking funk.
Find new dishes that will inspire me to get back into cooking and share them all with YOU!
Look for a dish washer (only half kidding!)
Actually put the recipes to (real) use in the dozens of cookbooks sitting in my bookshelf instead of using them as dust collectors.
Finish cleaning my house.
Go out for a bike ride, burn that rubber and enjoy the sunshine!

What’re some ways you beat your burnouts?

Watch Out for the Newbie Cycler!

2011-07-17T20:41:00.001-07:00

I nearly did this in front of a bike shop this week, except I had a close call with the wall

With a little more practice, I’ll get the hang of being on the road! By the way today was an absolutely beautiful day to test-ride bikes. Did you know you can do it for free??

Semi-Homemade Pizza on the Cheap

2011-04-16T20:56:00.001-07:00

Pizza on the cheap – who isn’t looking for a good deal? I’ve found that I can make a semi-homemade large pizza for less than $5. How great is THAT deal?!

Nothing says Saturday night like some great pizza and a movie.

The breakdown:

1 large pizza dough from your local pizza shop + tax = $3.26
Mozzarella cheese = approx. $1.00
Pizza sauce & herbs = pennies
Easy Saturday night dinner & cleanup= priceless

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Bake for 12 minutes. Prepare to eat until your heart’s content

Failure Makes You Stronger – Say What?

2011-03-09T20:55:00.001-08:00

As my first official return to WW, I was hit with shock when I entered my points for a Roasted Turkey sandwich from Subway. On the old plan, a veggie sandwich was 4 and now it's 6; a turkey was 5 and now 7. Part of me forgot that I was on the new plan and had the "what the heck?" come out. "It's supposed to be 4 for the veggie, not 6! How can a turkey be 7?" Points shocker has gotten to me more than I thought.

Up until I'd reached goal February 2010, life was pretty great. I was regularly going to the gym after work (despite that the commute from work to the gym is 1 hour); both my husband and I were working. We had a little extra money for fun. Once I hit goal, life seemed to spiral downward and I struggled a bit to deal with my weight. My husband got laid off and we really had to stick to budget and begin being frugal. Frugal meant that I had to monitor how much gas I was using. Those extra 20 miles round trip to the gym were cutting way too much into the gas bill; and eating out came to a complete halt.

After much stress and worry, along with some extra unwanted pounds, I'm back on WW, even if just for a little bit. I want to get back in control before my weight really begins to spiral in a direction I don't ever want to go back to.

Failure has taught me more about myself - who I am and want to be. It's taught me patience, motivation, prioritization, faith, flexibility and coupon clipping. I've learned how I want to feel; to be motivated by my successes; and more importantly, to be honest with myself. I've learned to treasure the little things in life and get back to my basics.

I got a happy unexpected surprise tonight as I walked from my car to my house – I found a $1 bill on the ground with no one around to claim it. How about that?

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.
– Joshua J. Marine

What's failure taught you?

A Sizzlin’ Fajita Friday!

2011-03-05T00:04:00.001-08:00

Where did February go?

Every time MigL and I happen to watch Paula Deen on Food Network (let me clarify we don’t intentionally watch PD), it seems like we should ask, “would you like some buttah with that?” We always get a kick when PD says, “ya’ll we’re gonna start this recipe by ______”. And more often than not, it’s a stick of butter. If I got a quarter every time she said butter in a show, boy I’d be rich! I know we’re in a recession, but pennies don’t buy much so I’ve resorted to quarters.

1 stick, 2 sticks, even melted butter. Isn’t that what Julia Child cooked with too and is part of what made her famous in a fanciful way? I have a feeling that butter alone makes a name for itself; but if you’re one to sell it with everything you make, you’d practically be a legend. I have to say butter does make omelets SO much better, but that’s another post. I know a little butter makes the world go round, but I seriously think PD just piles that buttah on.

For the past few weeks I’ve been trying to find something stable, amidst the craziness in my life. I was tired of trying to find something to cook every day to what feels like the last minute; and with a tight budget, it can be a bit daunting. I wanted something no-brainer. So, I came up with Fajita Friday. Dinner every Friday is now the official Fajita Friday; except that the last few Friday’s I’ve had some flop Fajita Fridays. The recipes weren’t as good as I’d hoped – and then on a whim I decided to invent what a fajita should taste like. The results were disappointing. Oh well, there’s no learning like the present, right?

So I decided to do a little homework and found a recipe that will now become a part of my Fajita Friday. Much to my surprise and relief, PD doesn’t cook everything with buttah. In my search, I was looking for something quick and tasty – WITH pictures included. It’s a crime if I can’t see what I’ll potentially be making and I’ll bypass a recipe if it doesn’t have any pictures – after all, shouldn’t the food you’re eating not only taste good but, look good too?

On a Friday evening, after a long week, who really wants to wait 3 hours or more for something to marinate - unless you’ve got the whole day off, or even an afternoon; then I’d consider you, my friend, a lucky duck and I completely wish I were you. Otherwise, I need something quick and tasty and more often than not, I need it right away; although at times, it does take a good 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get dinner finished. (On a side note, I should start eating a snack in between the time I get off work and dinner so that I’m not as hungry).

Perhaps every now and again I’ll try to find new fajita recipes to prevent from being bored; but for now this is our new favorite. I was even very surprised when MigL got seconds!

Gold Medal Sizzling Fajitas

(adapted from Food Network)

Serves 8

Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon fajita seasoning
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
Dash green Tabasco sauce (or any hot sauce)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 large onion, halved and sliced lengthwise
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
8 (8-inch) corn tortillas

Directions
In a heavy duty resalable plastic bag, combine 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, garlic, cumin, garlic powder, fajita seasoning, mustard, hot sauce, salt, pepper and chicken. Seal and toss the bag around to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Preheat a cast iron skillet in a preheated 400 degree F oven for at least 20 minutes, to get a good sizzle when you plate the fajitas.

Heat the outside grill or a large indoor grill pan to medium-high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place it on the hot grill, discard the marinade. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Slice the chicken into strips.

In a large skillet heat up the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and fry the onions and bell peppers until crisp-tender with some salt and pepper.

Wrap the tortillas in a paper towel and warm in the microwave for 1 minute.

When you are ready to serve, remove the cast iron servers from the oven and quickly arrange the meat and peppers and onions on it (wait for the ooh’s and ahh’s!). It will immediately start to sizzle from their fat and moisture. Serve sizzling immediately with the warm tortillas and other accompaniments.

Latin Cook’s Notes
Oh man, dinner was fajita-licious! While I was preparing the marinade for the chicken it smelled so good; but you have to wait until it’s ready to cook (when all of the flavors have marinated) to have something incredibly great. I think the kicker was the mustard – since I didn’t have any lemons, I wondered if this might do the trick – and believe me, it does. You’ve GOT to try this out. There was a pretty good party in my mouth!

The intimidation of new foods

2011-02-02T21:35:00.001-08:00

I have been afraid to cook certain foods. I can’t tell you what they all are because I don’t know all of them yet and am discovering them as I go. Celery root and butternut squash were intimidating once…until Sunday night. Why is it that the unknown is scary and intimidating and fear can take a hold of your life? And I’m not just talking about cooking; but trying something new every once in a while can be healthy and a great change of pace…like...

having fun with your fruit . Thanks to my mother-in-law, she got me this cute vegetable peeler!

Two days ago I finished listening my first “foodie” book. Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs was an incredible first read in this type of genre. Augusta “Gus” Simpson is a famous TV chef with two grown daughters. She finds out her show “Cooking with Gusto” is going to be cancelled on the Cooking Channel and she finds ways, desperately, to keep her show. Much to her dismay, she ends up hosting a cooking show with Carmen, “Miss Spain” turned chef who appears to be in it for herself and makes sure everyone else know it. The book is a bit slow and the characters are confusing at first but it has good drama; however, this type of genre now intrigues me to delve into “foodie world” just a little bit more.

It all happened by accident a couple of weeks ago when I was perusing through the audio books at the library and the title caught my eye. Who doesn’t like comfort food, whatever it may be? Once I read the brief introductory, I knew I had to listen to this. Since December of last year, I’ve gotten hooked on audio-books. First came Eat, Pray, Love, then The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And since I finished Comfort Food this week, I’ve felt like something’s missing. The audio-book is like my travel buddy. I listen to it on my commute to work and it even makes me laugh. OK, I admit, I may sound a little cuckoo. But I enjoy being entertained on my beautiful drive through Napa Valley, at least for an hour a day.

My friend Tanya sent me a note last week to say that she had celery root. Boy was I glad! For the longest time, I’d been excited to try out something new. I’d found a recipe I’d wanted to try in case she had extra celery root she didn’t know what she wanted to do with. So on Wednesday I went to her house for our weekly workout and not only did she kindly give me the celery root (as promised ), she also donated a butternut squash! Not having ever dealt with either, I was curious to find what recipes I could make with these ingredients. Out of curiosity, I decided to Google both at the same time; and lo and behold, I found the recipe below that fancied my inquisitive mind.

Looking through the recipe I was a bit crushed (no pun intended) to find that I didn’t have sage. Oh boy. Luckily, cooking means you can make anything and everything your own, whether you have a spice or not. I found this amazing website called The Cook's Thesaurus that provides substitutes for spices. What a lifesaver!

Don’t mind me, I may be a bit naïve about this,
but celery root smells like…get this…celery.

Beautiful butternut squash

Butternut squash seeds which I mean to do something with
and then realized I had thrown them away

Celery root and Butternut Squash just out of the oven!

Butternut Squash and Celery Root Soup

(adapted)

Ingredients
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 6 cups)
1 celery root, peeled and cubed (about 3 cups)
2-3 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp rosemary
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups vegetable stock
3 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the squash and celery root with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. In a single layer spread on a baking sheet, or two. Roast until tender and starting to brown, about 25 minutes.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan. Sauté onions, red pepper flakes and rosemary until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the stock and roasted vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly and puree thoroughly in a food processor or blender. Add additional salt if necessary. Return to the pot to reheat, and serve.

Latin Cook’s Notes:
I found that I didn’t need to add any extra salt or pepper after roasting the veggies in the oven. The chicken stock had plenty of sodium to add to this soup. I found it easier to blend ONLY the vegetables in the blender and add a little bit of the liquid from the soup as opposed to blending EVERYTHING together with a hand blender or food processor. It made the soup less mushier and smooth enough to swallow. It wasn’t thin like a broth or thick like a stew; it was smooth-soup goodness. Oh yeah, minor detail - I also added 2 tablespoons of butter and stirred it into the soup until it completely melted. Practically anything is better with butter, in moderation, right?

An apple scrumdiddlyumptious treat

2011-01-18T23:09:00.001-08:00

Lately I’ve been a sucker for anything donuts. It’s taken a lot of self-restraint to not go into the donut shop every week and buy a chocolate glazed donut, mainly because finances are tight and I don’t want it to become an addiction, just an occasional treat, when chump change is available. Have I mentioned I’ve become somewhat of a chocoholic, thanks to my wonderful husband?

So when I came across this recipe I just had to make this. Although it doesn’t have chocolate it looked awesome and my mouth watered when I read the ingredients. I had ALL of them! It’s a definite bonus these days not having to go to the grocery store, simply to buy a spice. If I see a recipe and I happen to have all of the ingredients, I for the most part won’t hesitate to make it.

The recipe below is more like muffins more so than donuts as the recipe title might say. I was very surprised by MigL when he said he actually liked them, seeing that we, OK I, had to do some QC, quality control. LOVED this one. I think this will be my next not-so-sweet go-to treat.

Baked apple donuts with cinnamon and nutmeg
(courtesy of www.homecookingrocks.com)

Ingredients
2 apples (I used Brae burn apples)
1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/3 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/4 cup milk

Topping:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon powder

Directions
Peel and roughly chop the apples.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and nutmeg. Add the butter to the flour mixture. Rub the butter against the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Beat the egg. Pour in the milk and stir lightly. Add the chopped apples to the egg-milk mixture.

Pour the apple-egg-milk mixture to the flour-butter mixture. Stir (a fork is most useful) just until blended. Do not over mix. The batter will be a bit stiff.

Form the batter into loose balls and place in the holes of a muffin pan. If you’re not using a non-stick pan, brush the holes lightly with softened butter.

Bake at 350^oF for 25 minutes.

While the donuts are baking, prepare the topping. Measure the sugar and cinnamon powder into a bowl. Stir to combine.

When the donuts are done, remove from the oven. Use a teaspoon to remove them from the pan. While still warm, dip the tops in melted butter them dredge in the sugar-cinnamon mixture.

The Best Vegetarian Chili I’ve Ever Had

2011-01-18T23:01:00.001-08:00

Chili. It’s what’s been on my mind all winter and have been wanting to make the perfect chili. I’d tried making recipes before but none seemed to satisfy my idea of chili. And then, this weekend, I found it.

This is by far the best vegetarian chili I’ve ever eaten. If you get a chance, you’ve GOT to try this out – paired especially with warm garlic Naan bread (I like Trader Joe’s garlic Naan – found in the frozen section). It’s absolutely magical. MigL and I split the last (and only) piece of Naan bread. We definitely wished we had more.

Last night I also tried making Giada de Laurentiis’ Herbed Flatbread. I didn’t care for this, even though I thought it might pair well with the chili. Perhaps the flatbread will suit your taste buds.

Get ready for a slightly spicy, meat-free, optional, veggie-filled soup that will satisfy your soul and make your cold-filled evening something to talk about.

Vegetarian Chili
(courtesy of CHOW)

Ingredients

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 onion, medium dice
1 carrot, medium dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 bell pepper, medium dice
1 zucchini, medium dice
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. chili powder
2 (15-oz.) cans light kidney, dark kidney, or black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups water
1 (28 oz.) canned chopped tomatoes
Chopped cilantro, for garnish (optional)
Quartered lime pieces, for garnish (optional)
Shredded cheddar cheese or crumbled queso fresco, for garnish (optional)
Sour cream, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot with a tightfitting lid or a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, carrots, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the bell pepper and zucchini to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Add the cum and chili powder and stir to incorporate. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are knife tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the beans, water, and tomatoes with their juices and stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer until the vegetables are soft and the flavors have melded, about 15 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Serve and garnish as desired.

Latin Cook’s Notes

I used fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies (unbeknownst to me, MigL had grabbed this kind of tomatoes at Trader Joe’s – he didn’t know I was planning on making chili and it was FANTASTIC). I also made some black beans from scratch and used those instead of canned (in a large pot, cook raw black beans with 3 crushed garlic at medium high heat for about 1 hour to 1 hr., 10 min., stirring occasionally; make sure to add plenty of water, otherwise you’ll end up with burnt beans – trust me, I’d forgotten to add more water and got said burnt black beans. It took forever to scrub the pot and dinner took approximately 3 hours because of this). Top the chili with shredded Cheddar cheese. Buen provecho!

The most beautiful castle

2011-01-09T22:26:00.001-08:00

I went on vacation for a week with MigL, my mom, sister, brother and their families. We had such a great time! It had been 10 years since my sister and I had flown together (really, it’d been that long?), when we flew to check out a potential college option in Napa Valley. From that moment, it became my alma mater of a college.

For a year and a half, we’d been planning this wonderful trip to Disney World. For months and months, we pined over the details and I researched like a mad woman for inexpensive ways to spend time at WDW. Buy food at the grocery store and make meals at your hotel (great money saving tip!). Since we had a party of 10 we would have spent a ridiculous amount of money if we’d eaten out every day. We also made sandwiches and ate them for lunch (another money saving tip). WDW will let you bring in food and drinks (thank goodness). I’m not sure what I would have done without the Diet Mountain Dews and Diet Pepsi and of course, bottled water. We walked SO much.

MigL and I arrived at WDW Friday night, after nine, yes nine, hours of traveling. Ya really get your money’s worth by working those good ‘ol layovers and stops. The warm and breezy 70-something degree Florida weather was greatly welcomed Christmas morning. Now THIS is Florida. I was looking forward to the fantastic Florida weather, as we were having incredibly cold mornings and days here in Napa (frost on windshields and mostly upper 40s weather). For you non-Californians, typical weather during winter is around 60 degrees; the 40s is not conducive to your typical California weather.

What a great moment to search for a fitness center! My first day in Florida on a beautiful sunny Christmas afternoon and here I am on a quest to find a fitness center for my first activity of the day. Little did I know that on my way to said fitness center, a wasp (at least I thought it was) had latched onto my thumb. It wasn’t until I got inside the fitness center I was closing my hand and felt something on my thumb. PINCH! What the heck was that! I quickly flung my hand so fast. I saw something on the left side of the floor but probably had gone underneath the treadmill machines. Drat! It hurt like crazy! I couldn’t bear the pain and I returned back to the hotel room. MigL was hanging out in the living room. “I think I got stung by a wasp, what do we do?” Panic and frustration and a bit of anger settle into me because of this THING. We need internet! I quickly ran downstairs and over to the next building where the welcome building was to get a password for the internet. Then I proceeded to find some help for my poor thumb. I managed to call Security over and had to wait a couple of minutes for “backup” to get the first aid kit to where we were. “I always carry the kit with me, but for some reason today, I’m missing it,” said the security guard. “Great. It’s just my luck. I’m out on my first day of vacation on this beautiful day, ready to conquer the week of relaxation and fun and this is what I get.” Welcome to Florida.

The security guard gave me some bee/wasp sting wipes. There wasn’t much else he could do. I wasn’t sure if I’d get a reaction or not. The only other time I got stung by a bee was on a Friday afternoon in college after classes had been finished and I was grabbing some dinner and was headed back to my dorm when I got stung on my foot. Needless to say at the time I was wearing flip flops and my foot began to swell within five minutes - it stayed swollen for about a week. I wasn’t sure how my body would react seeing how well my body did with the bee sting. I hadn’t ever gotten stung by a wasp.

MigL tried looking up on the internet what type of wasp it was. “I don’t know, it was a wasp (I think). It hurts so bad! Isn’t there a general thing to do for wasp stings? Why do we have to know exactly what it looked like?” I knew there was a reason why he wanted to find the exact thing that stung me but I was getting more anxious by the second. I just wanted treatment and for my thumb to stop hurting. I was holding/pinching my thumb so that it’d hurt less. About 10 minutes later (which felt like an eternity) we finally got an answer. Antibiotics. Well, I can do that. I’d packed some Advil before we left just in case MigL got any headaches on our trip. I swallowed three with water so fast, by the time you said Advil, they were gone. More pinching. Hardly any blood came out. It seemed like it had all coagulated on my finger. Today, what still remains on my thumb is a black dot. Stupid wasp. Oh yeah, Merry Christmas to me.

The next three days were as cold as being in a freezer. The plants seemed to have been covered overnight everyday with tarp so that the plants wouldn’t die. Morning temperatures at 7 a.m. = 30 degrees. High of 50. We all warmed ourselves with all of the extra layers we could put on including hats, gloves, scarves and extra outwear. We’re in Florida not California, right? It’d been cold in California the week prior I just wanted to confirm that with MigL. We went to Hollywood Studios on Sunday, Epcot on Monday, Animal Kingdom on Tuesday, Epcot on Wednesday, Magic Kingdom on Thursday.

Trying to get warm at Hollywood studios

Yep, this is definitely the most beautiful castle ever.

Hey, Sicko!

2011-01-09T21:19:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! I know I’m late with all of the New Year festivities, congratulatory comments and whatnot, but better late than never! I know I’ve neglected blogging for the past month or so, but it’s been a bit rough lately.

That’s what MigL has been calling me for the past week. Sicko. Truth be told, I’m sick of being sick, not that I love being sick anyway. I was so sick that I even had to take a couple of days off work this week. I have to mention it was a nice two-week break from work (one week of vacation and a half week of sickness). I’ve felt like crap since we returned from our trip (more about this in another post). It’s been exactly one week and a day since I got sick and have been battling this cold/fever/runny nose/earache/slight sore throat THING. Especially this runny nose thing. It’s completely overrated and getting very annoying. Funny thing is when one member of the family is sick in a household, someone else is bound to get sick; and wouldn’t you know it, MigL too got sick – luckily not as bad as I.

Earlier this week I asked hungrily, “What’s for dinner tonight, honey?” (after a few days of not being hungry but force feeding food into my body enough to have energy to move from one room to another). “Can I have a grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup?” “No” he says. “You should probably wait a couple of days so that the cheese doesn’t cause any more phlegm than you already have.” Aw, man! Ugh. Just as I think of how wonderful a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup would feel with the wonderful crunchiness of the bread and warm soup in my belly I suddenly felt “Mount Wannahackalugi” come over me. Ugh, more phlegm. Disgusting. Then comes the incessant need to blow my nose. Those of you with children or who have been around children understand the snot mess a sick kid’s nose can get. That’s how my nose felt. Even more disgusting. “I don’t want to be sick anymore! This sucks!”

I’m so glad that Hulu exists. In between sleeping and eating I delved myself into catching up on shows I hadn’t watched in a long time and episodes that I had missed since I’d gone on vacation, mostly because I didn’t have any energy to do anything else. Literally. MigL would physically have to help move me from the couch to the bed and even had to really convince me that a shower at night would help make me better. “But I don’t wanna, I’m too tired. Can’t I do it tomorrow?” “No honey, you can’t. You really should take a nice long hot shower tonight. Take the hottest shower you can handle. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.” Grumble, grumble. I was too tired to move from the couch to my bed and too tired to even take a shower. No energy whatsoever. MigL even started the shower for me and stood in the bathroom until I actually got into the shower. Lord knows I would have dashed into the bedroom and jumped onto my bed, just like the little pig that went “wee, wee, wee, all the way home.” (Visual note, the Geiko commercial) I had to admit, he was right. I hate it when he’s right. The hot shower felt SO good. He even mostly blow dried my hair. I wasn’t willing to wait 10 minutes for my hair to be completely dry; so 4 to 5 minutes was more than enough time before I plopped into bed for the night.

So far today’s been the best “sick” day. I finally had enough energy to get up in the morning, shower and even go to the gym. I HAD ENERGY TO GO TO THE GYM! 45 minutes at the gym was a good start today, which included 15 minutes of running at 15 min/mile, 15 minutes of 15 degree walking at 3 mi./hr. I have to admit, between being and vacation and being sick I hadn’t even thought about any new year resolutions. I haven’t finalized my resolutions but I’ve got one or two (OK, three) in mind I’d like to accomplish this year.

- Re-lose 10 pounds to get back to my goal weight.
- Eat smarter, balanced meals at home especially since the food budget is tight.
- Move more.

I’m happy to say that tomorrow’s the first day of the fitness challenge at work, thus meeting one of my New Year’s resolutions for this year of moving more. For the next three months I, along with four other people on my team, will be competing against other teams in the company to be Fitness Challenge Winners. The goal is to engage in activity, any sort of activity, and make that part of your regimen for good health. Last year I participated in this event and our team won 1st place! Yeah! Once I’m completely over this sickness thing, I’m going to be committed into incorporating activity into my lifestyle. Luckily the one lingering and remaining sickness thing is the runny nose.

Cookies for a Cause

2010-12-06T23:31:00.001-08:00

How would you feel if you received a box of fresh cookies at your doorstep?

You can be a part of a great cause by asking Kenmore to send a dozen cookies to a soldier away from home. What’s the cost to you? It’s free. Yep, FREE!

Here’s how it’s done:
1. Log on to Facebook.com/Kenmore and "Like" them
2. Click on the button that says SEND A DOZEN COOKIES FOR ME
3. Pick a message to go with your dozen.
4. Feel good that you are saying thanks in a unique way.
5. Tell as many people as you can that giving back is as simple as a few clicks! And did I mention it's FREE?

The Un-Sloppiest Joe

2010-12-06T22:36:00.001-08:00

Have I mentioned how 90’s Radio on Pandora ROCKS?

For years I’ve been craving Sloppy Joes; and the reason why I hadn’t made them before is that MigL doesn’t like them…get this…because they’re messy. I just about died laughing the first time I heard this. Seriously?! But you’re taking out all of the fun from eating a Sloppy Joe! I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but he is the neatest eater I’ve ever met. I’d bet he’d eat out of a divided plate if I gave him one and it’d have to be a green one, of course, because it’s his favorite color. Except this one is too lime green and I’m sure he’d prefer one that was more of a hunter green or forest green.

I was raking my brain tonight trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Lately I’ve been trying to use up the ingredients that I already have in my house to save money as opposed to finding a recipe a few days in advance and going to the grocery store specifically to buy those ingredients on the recipe – not that that’s a bad thing to do, I just some how don’t use up all of the extra ingredients, especially if I overbuy veggies, and then I’m left with an handful of untouched veggies. OR I’ll buy the ingredients for my recipe and then completely forget that I ever had said recipe. Poor spoiled veggies; and then I have to look for another recipe to use the ingredients I’ve just bought.

So tonight, I wanted to find a recipe for which I already had my ingredients. Ground beef, carrots and celery. What’s a girl to do? I found recipes but none really caught my eye until I fell upon this Sloppy Joes recipe. It’s A-mazing. You should DEFINITELY try this one. What a lifesaver! I definitely plan making this one more often!

The reason why I call this the un-sloppiest Joe is that I didn’t have any bread. What? No bread? How do you have a Sloppy Joe without bread? Yes, I know, it’s preposterous and I should probably be banned from the kitchen forevermore for even saying this.

You see, I ran out of sliced bread yesterday as I sadly cherished the last of the Thanksgiving turkey sandwich I’d had for dinner (leftover turkey sandwiches is probably one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving). So, because I hadn’t planned ahead, I was left without bread. In looking at the recipe below, I thought about pairing it with some tortillas and make some sort of taco style Sloppy Joe burritos. But I nixed that idea almost immediately. Wait a minute – I have potatoes! I’d seen a Shepard’s pie recipe in my quest to find tonight’s dinner and thought I could mesh those ideas together. I figured potatoes are fairly filling and the last I remember eating Sloppy Joes they were pretty filling as well. So why not pair these two filling foods together?

So off I went, merrily skipping my way through the kitchen. A little of this, a little of that. When there were 10 minutes left of cooking, I scrubbed two large potatoes, poked holes in them, wrapped them in Saran wrap and popped them in the microwave for 7 minutes (a great timesaver I’ll always remember from my awesome mother-in-law) – and voila, semi-instant baked potato! Add some Sloppy Joe mix to your potato and you’ve got a somewhat messy-less dinner! No messy hands or plops of Joe anywhere!

Sloppy Joes

Yield: 12 servings
Serving size: 1 sandwich
WW PointsPlus: 5

Ingredients
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
3/4 pound ground round
2 cups no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
12 (1 1/2-ounce) rolls, split

Directions
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add first 3 ingredients; cook until beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in tomato sauce and next 8 ingredients (tomato sauce through black pepper); reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon 1/4 cup beef mixture over bottom half of each bun. Cover with top halves.

Latin Cook’s notes:
I didn’t have any bell peppers, tomato paste or bread and used Ragu sauce instead of the tomato sauce. It still turned out incredibly amazing. I’m sure it would turn out equally as great if you chose to use soy crumbles instead of ground beef. Aww, what the heck – I dare ya!

On a different note, I went to visit a my co-worker in the hospital tonight. It broke my heart when she told me this afternoon she’d been in the hospital since Friday night with some serious health issues. I’ve been worried about her for a while – so I ask that you please pray for her and her family.

What Thanksgiving Means to Me

2010-11-24T12:54:00.001-08:00

Since Thanksgiving is around the corner, I decided to jot down some of the things I’m thankful for:

Having a place to come home to that keeps me warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Being able to put food on the table even if it’s as simple as possible.
I can keep in touch with family even through means of Facebook
Being able to deepen my friendships with people I care most about
I can spend some time with my friends and enjoy each others company
Living in a beautiful place in which I don’t have to deal with terrible city traffic, just tourists
Learning skills that will help me and my family live a healthful eating lifestyle
Peace and comfort from God even though life has thrown lots of curve balls
Growing older with my hubby

I hope you have a incredible Thanksgiving Day spending time with those you love the most and eating to your heart’s content!

Stuffed Peppers with Wild Rice

2010-11-23T21:41:00.001-08:00

When I came home from work I was in a complete mood for crispy oven-baked breaded chicken drumsticks. Ha, that’s a mouthful! I’ve never made it before, but out of nowhere I just felt the urge for some good finger-lickin’ food. Unfortunately I didn’t have any chicken at all – I was totally bummed about that. I didn’t want to leave the house for the rest of the evening because it was too cold! Why would I leave my warm, comfy home for windy 50 degree weather? No thanks. I thought about making fajitas, but I only had ground beef; and the thought of having ground beef with fajitas was completely unappealing. Then MigL came up with the bright idea which resulted in tonight’s dinner. “How about stuffed peppers?” I haven’t made these in at least three years, so I decided, why not? I had all of the ingredients I needed. These turned out way better than when I made them the first time!

Now I’m looking forward to some much needed rest and a day off tomorrow and then it’s Thanksgiving time!

Stuffed Peppers with Wild Rice

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 cup diced tomatoes (or 1 can of Rotel)
2 cups tomato sauce
1 tablespoon cumin
1 cup wild rice
1 cup white rice
4 green bell peppers, large
1 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated

Directions
Cook the wild rice. Cook the white rice. Set aside. Brown the beef in a skillet. Drain off any excess fat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until just soft. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce and cumin. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 15-20 minutes. Cut the tops off the peppers. Remove any seeds. Place in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain. Add the two rices to the meat mixture. Fill the peppers with the mix. Place the peppers in a baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Top with the cheese and bake for 15 minutes longer. Serve warm.

Latin Cook’s note
I didn’t add any garlic or cumin this time around since I felt kind of lazy; however the dish still turned out pretty well despite the omitted step. I mixed the tomato sauce in the mix right before I added the cheese and it turned out nice and moist.

Que Frio!

2010-11-19T20:41:00.001-08:00

I know it’s going to be a chilly night because my nose gets unusually cold whenever we have cold weather. I hear it’s supposed to snow in Angwin, about 30 minutes from Napa. I suppose my nose knows. It reminds me of my mom’s nose, partly because I have her nose, but also because every time it got cold at our house (we didn’t have heating or AC) she was always very cold mostly during the winter and her nose was extremely cold, like ice. My dad and I used to joke around with her saying “está nevando” (it’s snowing) only because we never got as cold as she did and she’d have to put on several layers of clothes, a big winter coat and warm socks just to get warm. At home, in Southern California, I remember that my nose and feet got cold – and whenever my feet stayed incredibly cold throughout the night, even if I had thick socks on, there was frost the next morning. It never failed.

Don’t you think somebody should invent a “nose warmer”? Perhaps it should be me!

This is probably my worst rendition ever of what I’m envisioning, but it’d be like a mask, except it’d be fuzzy solely to keep your nose warm! It’d have holes at the bottom so that your nose wouldn’t get nose claustrophobia (as I sometimes get when I’m underneath the covers and feel like I can’t breathe and have to instantly break for air). And just like a mask, you’d have individual adjustable strings to wrap around your ears. Genius, eh? I could call it, “Nuzzie”, the warm fuzzy for your nose! I can see the infomercials now..”but wait, THERE’S MORE! If you order within the next 15 minutes, you’ll get a second Nuzzie for half off! We’ll even throw in a fuzzy hat!”

I really enjoy listening to the rain at night with the window slightly cracked to bring in a bit of fresh rainy air. It really does feel like November. Just this week we had 85 degree weather and now it’s about 48 degrees. Welcome to California.

I’m off to make some hot chocolate and take a bite out of some brownies that I made last night while listening to the trickles of rain. Happy Friday!

Hankering for doughnuts

2010-11-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I got such a ridiculously strong hankering for doughnuts, at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night, no less. Do you know how many doughnut shops are open at that time? None. Now mind you, I haven’t had doughnuts in YEARS! I was watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”, which has absolutely nothing to do with doughnuts nor were there commercials for doughnuts. Just out of the blue, I wanted a freshly made (or two), soft glazed doughnut. What’s so wrong with that? I didn’t want those week-old (+) doughnuts neatly stacked in a cardboard box – you know what I’m talking about, the ones in the bread aisle? Yuck.

I began furiously and vigorously searching for a doughnut shop nearby. Something like Winchell's, or Dunkin’ Doughnuts, even Krispy Kreme. 114 miles, 0 locations found and 42.8 miles, respectively. Granted, Napa and their neighbors don’t like chain restaurants, but c’mon, people! So I then decided to look for something local – because as much as I was in the mood for some sweet goodness I wasn’t about to drive 40+ miles. And then I found it. Happy’s Donut Tree Too. The more I read about it, I was willing and ready to risk the 5 minute drive from my house.

“Their donuts are very good and smell amazing (… they are light and fluffy inside and have a very thick frosting and glaze selection).”

Yes, please! How late and when are they open?

“You have to work hard to get them because they don't make many so you want to get there before the rest of the savvy few do.”

Somehow I missed reading this portion. It would have been really nice if I’d remembered it the next morning. I was so thrilled to find this doughnut joint and wanted to get there as quick as I could. Except that it was now 10 p.m., and I couldn’t get rid of my doughnut craving. I’d discovered that they’re open 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Geez, where else do they sell doughnuts? That’s right, the grocery store! I decided to bite the bullet (cause if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em) and made the trip to Raley’s. Oh sweet golden chocolaty nuggets! It’s the golden ticket! It was calling my name.

I was so ecstatic to make this unique trip to grocery store. Oh Raley’s, how you saved my sugar craving! The Sugar Gods listened and provided!

Yes, this is exactly how I felt after biting into a long, chocolaty doughnut with the crème filling (of which name I can’t remember for the life of me). It was exactly what the doctor ordered. Sugar peace at last.

After some much needed grocery shopping the next morning, I decided to take a swing by Happy’s. By the sound of it, I couldn’t be disappointed, right? It was only Noon and for sure they’d have doughnuts left, right? I parked across the street from Happy’s (because there isn’t any parking) and bravely crossed the tumultuous street. When I finally walked in I was shocked to see Happy’s empty. I mean completely empty. It looked like they were closing (for the day). They had a half sheet baking tray of the stuff they were still trying to sell, at 12:30. Rats! I didn’t really care for what they had, as I was REALLY looking forward to doughnut holes. I think the doughnut place near my parent’s home was open mostly all day! I wish Happy’s could be open later too. Needless to say, I went home unhappy from Happy’s.

I still haven’t gone to Happy’s, but one of these mornings, by golly, I’ll have a doughnut hole. And it’ll be delicious and worthwhile.

Hey Pumpkin!

2010-10-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we invited some friends over for an incredibly late breakfast (12:30 p.m.) and pumpkin carving. This would be the first time my friend T and I would carve our first pumpkin. Can you believe it - at 27 years old, our first pumpkin carving? Well you’d better believe it.

T’s pumpkin carving

My pumpkin carving

Don’t they look great? I made éclairs for the first time on Sunday, which I’m planning on making again on Thursday for my work Halloween party. Thanks to Paula Deen the Mini Éclairs were great and were very easy to make! I’ll post pictures when I make them this coming week.

T made some awesome crepes and we also had fresh fruit and pumpkin pancakes. I would have loved to have tried the pumpkin pancakes, but I’d filled up on crepes & fruit and was incredibly full.

I don’t know why it took me this long to find a local produce stand. I suppose I hadn’t really tried looking for a place, even though I really had the desire to support local farms. We had such a great time at D&S Produce. I’m a bit sad to find out they’re closing their season October 31.

Look at all those pumpkins! T & I went through the hay maze and all of us looked through the lot to find some great pumpkins.

Who’s the king of the world?

We came home and were so excited to carve our pumpkins.

After some pumpkin pie and lots of dishes later, it was all worth the fun. I can’t wait to someday to go through corn/hay mazes with my kids, carve pumpkins, eat pumpkin pie and go trick-or-treating and see those big smiles on their faces. It will be a great day indeed!

Lazy Sunday

2010-10-10T22:20:00.001-07:00

What doesn’t get done today will get done tomorrow. I had planned on making éclairs and butternut squash soup; Much to my dismay, I didn’t get a chance to make them today. However, tomorrow is a new day and right after I come home from work I shall make them! I’ve never made éclairs, but I’m looking forward to making them. The WW Butternut Squash Soup I found looks so delicious and filling – I hope it doesn’t disappoint.

At least the day wasn’t a complete waste. MigL and I went grocery shopping tonight so I should be all set and get my cooking magic together!

p.s. Is it weird that I woke up at 10 a.m. today on October 10? I really hate it when the neighbor kids yell and wake you up, especially on a Sunday. I was expecting to sleep in longer….

Losing for Good

2010-10-09T22:30:00.001-07:00

The 3rd annual Weight Watchers Lose for Good Challenge began on September 5. I’ve been so excited about it since I initially read about it in this month’s WW Magazine. This’ll be a great time to lose those last few pounds and get back to my goal weight and continue to maintain!

“As you lose weight and participate in other activities from September 5 to October 23, you can help feed children and families in need.* Wow, only 2 weeks left until L4G is over. Do you think I can lose another 5 pounds in two weeks? It doesn’t hurt to try healthfully, of course. Healthy eating and exercise, here I come!

So far, as of last week, I’ve lost 5 pounds! Yeah! I’ve got about another 5 pounds to go and I’ll be back at my goal weight. I don’t know why, but for me it seems easier to lose weight during Fall than it is any other time of year. Since I began WW in late 2008, I’ve noticed that I have a difficult time losing weight from May – September. However, even though I have days or weeks when it’s difficult to maintain, I’ve been successful at maintaining within 5 to 10 pounds. Yay me!

I spent this morning as a cooking fairy. My friend T was hosting a home lunch (free lunch for college students) and was invited over to lunch. However, I spent this morning helping (which I totally didn’t mind at all) chopping and peeling broccoli, parsnips and carrots and browning some tri-tip roast. We had a really great lunch! Butternut squash soup, steamed broccoli, carrot/parsnip mash, tri-tip roast, boiled potatoes and a zucchini-pecan cake. Yum! A few hours after lunch I began feeling sleepy because I was so completely full from lunch! Thank goodness for a nice walk and French-pressed coffee. I still feel completely full from lunch. Even though I’m fairly tired, I hope I can fall asleep soon.

I’m currently watching “Because I Said So” It’s a great chick-flick way to end my fun-filled day.

Oh yah, so I’ve been going through some blog remodeling/face lifts lately. I feel like I needed to kick it up a notch, if you know what I mean. Some more changes soon to come, but it’s all work-in-progress. Bear with me, folks!

Under the weather with the Three Little Bears

2010-10-05T20:56:00.001-07:00

You know how you can just feel when you're getting sick? That’s what I felt yesterday. Ugh. I really hate being sick. My daily bedtime goal is 10 p.m. but have yet to stick to a full week of 10 p.m. Because I felt I could be getting sick (and feeling some chills), I made myself crawl into bed at 9:15. “I don’t feel well.” “I know honey, you’ve already said that.” “I have?” “I’m cold.” “Let’s get you into bed and tuck you in.” “OK.” “I don’t feel good.” Yep, definitely on an off day.

I probably didn’t fall asleep until 10 anyway, but I knew I tossed and turned a little. Thinking I’d sleep until my alarm went off, as usual, I set my alarm to go off at 6:15. I slept like a dream. It wasn’t until the morning came and I slowly began to wake up and felt like I’d gotten a good night’s sleep. I turned over to check the time on the clock. 5:30 a.m. What?! It’s only 5:30? For the next 10 minutes, I really tried to go back to sleep; but much to my chagrin, I couldn’t. Well, I suppose 7 hours it is. Hmph.

Today I felt like many a three little bears. It’s too hot. It’s too cold. And the “ahh” moment.

It began as another cold day in the building. Of course, everyone was cold. But I was freezing. I clenched and my green coat hoping it would provide more heat, just as a warm blanket would. Then I was warm, hot, then cold and felt as if I were a wet piece of clothing going through the dryer cycle sent with shots of November cold air. Chills began creeping throughout my body. Two Advil please. I thought I would feel better by lunch time. I know Advil works great and does wonders for me, but I was doubtful it’d work a miracle in 30 minutes. I wasn’t even hungry and hadn’t been for the last day. “I think can make it until two”. I was expecting a phone call for a work project at two and decided if I didn’t feel well, I’d come home. The phone call didn’t come through until 2:45. Cold. Hot. Warm. Dizzy. Sleepy. I’m definitely not myself. It was time to leave early before I got worse or got anyone else sick. I had an epiphany early this morning that one of my co-workers was sick. Surely I must have gotten sick from him.

The building temperature at work has been too hot, too cold. Since I began working there, whenever it gets cold, the AC is on. When it’s blazing hot outside, it’s hot inside. I hope we can get a “perfect” temperature soon.

The ahh moment came when I crawled into bed for some much needed rest after my body was telling me it wanted to shut down on the drive home. An hour and a half later, I woke up hot and sweaty. Yep, utterly disgusting. I walked into the living room and slowly began waking up again while watching Say Yes to the Dress re-runs through Comcast’s On Demand service.

My sweet husband went and grabbed some dinner of which I only ate half, not because I’m not mindful about portion sizes, because I am. But only eating half of a burger and 1 or 2 fries and a sip of OJ? On a normal day I would have eaten half of a tray of fries and the entire burger, minus the OJ. I gotta get some Vitamin C at least one way, right?

Time to finish watching the last part of Glee. How could I almost forget it’s on tonight?

Sweet dreams to all of you and may you have a healthy day tomorrow.

A half day of reflection…

2010-09-27T23:27:00.001-07:00

“A diet is when you watch what you eat and wish you could eat what you watch.” Hermione Gingold

"A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness." Elsa Schiaparelli

"A good cook is not necessarily a good woman with an even temper. Some allowance should be made for artistic temperament." X. Marcel Boulestin

"A good meal soothes the soul as it regenerates the body. From the abundance of it flows a benign benevolence." Frederick W. Hackwood

I’m using the quotes above to make up for the fact that I didn’t cook this weekend. I’m not feeling horribly guilty for not cooking, but it’s nice to do NOTHING. I haven’t had the best sleep recently and have had a lot going through my mind.

On the bright side, I couldn’t pass up not sharing the following commercial with you that I saw recently on TV. I lost my front tooth. How could this not bring a smile to your face?!

I’ve recently come to the realization and conclusion that life is too short to not spend great quality time with family and friends. I’ve heard this time and time again, but this idea hadn’t really sunk in until today. Earlier today I learned that my uncle Manuel passed away this morning by means of a heart attack. He was 66.

I have so many mixed feelings right now and am not sure which I should be feeling. I wasn’t close to him. In a way I wish I did have memories of him and be able to reminisce the good times and the unique qualities that made him a great individual.

What makes life so daunting and real to me is that this is the 5th relative that has passed away in the last 10 years. I suppose that’s not a bad track record, right? Let’s be real, it probably is. However, on my dad’s side I’ve already lost my grandparents and aunt Isabel in the early to mid 90s and now uncle Manuel. Last year my aunt Virginia on my mom’s side passed away; I wish I could have met her. I heard so many great things about aunt Virginia.

I’m frustrated because I wish my dad were more sociable and want to spend more quality time with family, more often. If it were up to my mom, we’d be more involved with family and family activities. I feel so scared because I know my parents, aunts and uncles are aging, the majority in their late 50s and 60s, two in their 70s. Who’s going to be next in the family? I don’t want to see family members die off and not know who they are/were and share those intimately special moments that we’ll recount for years to come. I don’t want it to be just another name crossed off on my family tree.

Remember when grandma used to read bedtime stories and bake cookies with you? Not me. I wish I had shared those memories with my grandparents. Any grandparent. The only memory that I have from my dad’s mom is that she would make tamarind candies and dad and I used to sell the candies at the park on Sundays when I was younger. I was 11 years old when she passed away. I don’t have any memories of grandpa. My mom’s dad passed away way before I was born and I was 4 years old when grandma died. No memories. Was I born to miss out on family time? I’ve determined to say no.

I realize it’s getting late and the fact that I haven’t been sleeping well isn’t helping my emotions to know that another family member is gone.

‎"But i hold onto this hope and the promise that He brings, that there will be a place with no more suffering. there will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears. There will be a day when the burdens of this place will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face." – Jeremy Camp

I’m holding on to the hope that I’ll see all of them again soon and be able to create new memories. Uncle Manuel, you will be missed.

Lean mean cooking machine

2010-09-20T22:52:00.001-07:00

Would you say I was on a roll yesterday? I certainly would. For five hours I was a lean mean cooking machine. Six recipes in five hours. That’s not crazy, is it?

Cheese Pupusas.

Mashed potatoes, BBQ short ribs (left) and short ribs in red wine (right).

Stuffed zucchini.

And my very own homemade granola (2nd time’ a charm). Forgot to take a picture, but my homemade granola was DIVINE! Leftovers all week! I suppose that’s the only way to get a day off from cooking throughout the week :)

G’nite!

Peanut Butter and Oreo Truffles

2010-09-19T17:27:00.001-07:00

Written 9/18/2010.

What a week. I’m so glad it’s over and I’m happy for Sabbath, a day truly of rest.

I was catching up on the local news and came across this eye-catching recipe. Oreos and chocolate. Enough said. I’m happy to say this is one of my new favorite desserts!

Peanut Butter and Oreo Truffles

Makes about 3 dozen, depending on the size of the truffles.

Ingredients:

- 36 chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos), divided
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Directions

Finely crush 16 Oreo cookies (with a blender, or food processor). Set aside.

Chop remaining cookies into small pieces and mix with the peanut butter.

Roll peanut butter and cookie mixture into 1-inch balls (or smaller, if you prefer) and freeze until firm.

Coat frozen balls with melted chocolate. Roll in reserved finely crushed cookies and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

Store in an airtight container.

A fantastic bedtime story for my future kids

2010-09-07T21:17:00.001-07:00

I saw this poem online a few weeks ago (okay, like a few months ago) and later learned it’s a great kid’s book. I hope to have this book someday in my collection and be one of our (my kids’ and mine) favorite books to read. It’s already one of my favorites and I don’t even have kids yet. I suppose the nieces will have to do for now :)

You are my I love you
By: Maryann K Cusimano

I am your parent you are my child
I am your quiet place, you are my wild
I am your calm face, you are my giggle
I am your wait, you are my wiggle
I am your audience, you are my clown
I am your London Bridge, you are my falling down
I am your Carrot Sticks, you are my licorice
I am your dandelion, you are my first wish
I am your water wings, you are my deep
I am your open arms, you are my running leap
I am your way home, you are my new path
I am your dry towel, you are my wet bath
I am your dinner you are my chocolate cake
I am your bedtime, you are my wide awake
I am your finish line, you are my race
I am your praying hands, you are my saving grace
I am your favourite book, you are my new lines
I am your nightlight, you are my sunshine
I am your lullaby, you are my peek-a-boo
I am your kiss goodnight, you are my I love you

Is this what parenting's like?

2010-09-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

SWAGGER WAGON - just for parents

2010-09-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

Hope I can get my own Swagger Wagon - maybe not like this, but my own awesome mom car!

Jobless work

2010-09-06T23:55:00.001-07:00

It's been so frustrating that my DH hasn't been able to find work. It's already been almost seven months and I'm not exactly sure how we're making it through to pay the bills. All I know is that life's been very stressful and somehow God is helping us get through this. Sometimes I think, God, how am I going to be able to pay the bills today? All we'd need is for my DH to get a part time job and although it wouldn't be the ideal situation (as opposed to getting a full-time job), it's better than nothing. Can't a job come soon enough? Please, God, soon! I don't want to prod and ask, "have you found a job today" everyday, but sometimes it feels like I should, especially when the bills are piling up. Every now and again I ask how the job hunt is going, but he can't seem to find a job, to much avail.

For a year and a half, we've been planning, with my sister & brother and their families, on going to Disney World for a family trip this Christmas. This will be the DH's first time at WDW. I'm so excited to show him all around the area, as I've been there two times. I'm looking forward to seeing my nieces' faces, filled with excitement when they see their favorite Disney characters! I just get all giddy inside just thinking about it again and again! Hopefully DH will be able to get a job ASAP so we can start saving for our trip. Here's to hoping, wishing and praying. I feel like I'm starting to sound like the intro to "My Best Friend's Wedding".

Happy Labor Day, everyone! For the first time, I actually went in to work on Labor Day and was able to get a few things out of the way that were super important. Wish I had another day to relax!

Chilean Quiche

2010-08-25T22:12:00.001-07:00

Didn’t I just sweep this floor last night? Those were my exact thoughts as I was yet again, sweeping the floor after washing dishes and placing them in the dishwasher after dinner yesterday. How did so much dust and dirt can accumulate in just ONE day? I went to work in the morning and came back home in the evening. I’m certain that all wasn’t me, was it? How much dust can heels really attract to a 2nd story apartment?

This weekend was incredible! I deep cleaned most of the house and it felt wonderful! About a week ago, MigL wonderfully surprised me with a completely rearranged living room. What a complete shock! After having a long, frustratingly busy ~~day~~ week at work, his wonderful surprise was like a breath of fresh air. Simply refreshing. Anyway, an incredibly clean house inspired a give me a pan and some food to cook kind of moment. Saturday night I made chocolate croissants, cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies, a Chilean quiche (recipe below), lentils and Spanish rice. I also cooked some Trader Joe’s Indian chicken (I can’t remember the name right now), and made a yogurt sauce alongside some grilled chicken. Lots of good food – good thing the fridge was empty! I also marinated some chicken for what was supposed to be chicken masala, except I forgot to throw it on the grill. Marinades are still good for a few days, aren’t they? Anyway,I was in cooking bliss! The following morning I made some oatmeal waffles (so divine) and mustered up the courage to make some granola. I’ve wanted to make granola for the last few months; essential ingredients were never there when I wanted to make them. Actually it seemed a bit intimidating. Granola? Yep, granola. Have you been to the grocery store lately to buy granola? Have you seen those ridiculous prices?? $5.00 and up. Thanks, but no thanks.

Cutting back on costs have been my goal lately, so I figured, I love granola for breakfast – why not make my own? I’ll post the recipe later this week, but it was OK for my first try. I couldn’t get past the ginger taste. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy ginger in Indian cuisine. But this, I just wasn’t 100% sold. After I made granola, I ventured into concocting my own homemade granola by perusing through Food Network and Cooking Light websites and picking pieces here and there. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make them because I had run out of oats on my first and only batch of gingery granola. Rats! I suppose the next time the grocery shopping is done oats is definitely going to be the #1 item on the list.

Chilean Quiche

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6
WW Points: 3

Ingredients

3 sheets of frozen phyllo dough, cut lengthwise in half
1/4 cup fat free cheddar cheese
4 large eggs
1 cup fat free milk
10 oz frozen spinach, defrosted, drained and chopped
1/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp sliced green olives

Directions

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray.

Cover the phyllo dough in a plastic cover and a damp towel to prevent the dough to dry. Place 1 phyllo dough in the cake pan to form a base. spray quickly with cooking spray. Place the second sheet on top with the corners located in different angles than the first; spray with cooking spray. Repeat this process with the rest of the phyllo dough but don’t spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the inferior part of the dough.

Beat the eggs and milk in a large bowl. Add the spinach, black beans and olives. Spread mixture into the cake pan. Cook to about 45 minutes, until the knife comes out clean after you place it through the center of the dish. Cut into 6 pieces and serve immediately.

Latin cook’s notes

This recipe was incredibly yummy and so filling! I replaced black beans with garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and omitted the olives, only to find out after I’d already cooked the recipe I did indeed have sliced black olives. Hpmh! I used pastry dough instead of phyllo dough; however, in my head, I swear I was using phyllo! It wasn’t until I was supposed to lay out these “layers” that I realized, uh oh, this isn’t exactly phyllo dough. Oh well. I was really wiped out from all of the fun cooking I’d accomplished in a mere three hours. You know what they say, sometimes disasters can turn into amazing wonders! This was definitely the case for the Chilean quiche. It had a nice flaky golden crust, almost like those freshly baked biscuits, fresh out of the oven. The texture was one of a kind and melded in perfectly with the quiche. Tomorrow, I’m definitely planning on having leftovers for lunch and pairing it with a yummy salad. Filling food, here I come!

I’ll post pictures later on this week – I’m so tired!

Now Open: Berkeley’s Cinnaholic attracts big lines, vegans, tattoos - Paolo Lucchesi

2010-07-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

I totally want to try a vegan cinnamon bun!

Now Open: Berkeley’s Cinnaholic attracts big lines, vegans, tattoos - Paolo Lucchesi

Chocolate Caramel Tart UPdate

2010-07-20T20:59:00.001-07:00

It worked, it worked!! After my last post, I checked up on the tart after I’d stuck it in the fridge for three hours and it finally set! I briefly touched the chocolate shell last night to make sure it set, and I was uberly pleased! I came home tonight and found that a little mouse had delved into my chocolate tart!

So before the little mouse took more of it, I served myself up a piece to try out the new recipe.

Oh man, I must say it was deliciously worth the wait! MigL (I mean, the little mouse) didn’t care for the caramel. I, on the other hand, loved the caramel! It definitely reminded me of a Twix bar, just with a much harder shell/crust. I used Ghirardelli chocolate for the top layer. We both agreed that the chocolate was a bit too strong by itself, but paired with the crust, they actually surprisingly balanced each other out. MigL is such a chocoholic. He would be more than happy to have just the crust and chocolate. I’ll have to try that method out soon. I’m sure he’ll eat much more of it than I will when I make it that way. However this was definitely the best dessert I’ve ever had; I’ll have to keep this in my repertoire!

Did I mention that I caught the stove on fire while I was baking the crust? I saw smoke coming out from one of the back burners of the stove, so I peered over it, opened the oven and voila! Two pieces of crust that had fallen onto the very bottom of the oven were on fire! I swiftly moved the burning bread out of the way with a knife. Fire averted! Phew!

Chiles Rellenos, Chocolate Caramel Tart with Sea Salt and Rice Pudding

2010-07-19T22:28:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was an unbelievably great morning for breakfast! I can’t believe I’ve never made poached eggs! The moment felt like when Julie Powell tasted eggs for the first time in Julie & Julia. Sometimes cooking works out great the first time, and in this case, I’m glad it turned out divine! I paired my poached egg with toast and some green salsa. Yum!

I’m also happy to report that I made the Chocolate Caramel Tart with Sea Salt yesterday like I promised. However, the chocolate still looks like soup. Meh. I placed it in the refrigerator about 3 hours ago and I hope it hardens soon! I’m so eager to take a bite out of it!

I was super ecstatic when I realized I had made caramel – I LOVE caramel!

A lovely glazed layer of chocolate on top of the caramel.

I also found a recipe for stuffed peppers, or in my case, a new and improved way of making Chiles Rellenos. It’s super easy!

Refried Bean Poblanos with Cheese

Prep: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 6 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Serving size: 2 stuffed chile halves

Ingredients
4 medium poblano chiles, halved and seeded
1 (16-ounce) can fat-free refried beans
1 (8.8-ounce) pouch microwaveable cooked long-grain rice (such as Uncle Ben's Original Ready Rice)
1/2 cup picante sauce
1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions
Place chile halves, cut sides up, on a round microwave-safe plate. Cover with wax paper; microwave at HIGH 3 minutes.

While chiles cook, combine beans, rice, and picante sauce in a medium bowl, stirring well. Spoon bean mixture evenly into chile halves. Cover with wax paper; microwave at HIGH 2 minutes. Uncover chiles, sprinkle each half with 2 tablespoons cheese, and microwave at HIGH 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle evenly with cilantro, if desired.

Latin Cook’s notes
I didn’t have Poblano peppers, so I used Pasilla peppers; I also figured I’d use up the Jasmine Rice I’d previously made instead of buying some microwave long-grain rice. I used green salsa instead of Picante – there seems to be much less salt in the green sauce. Plus we’ve found that it’s tastier than the red salsas. However, the dish was incredibly tasty and super easy to make. Just be careful – this dish will be hot (temperature wise) when you take it out of the microwave. The next time I make it, I think I’ll take the seeds out of the Pasilla pepper. It was a bit too spicy for MigL; I, on the other hand, loved the spicy kick.

I also made some Caribbean Coconut Rice Pudding. See recipe below.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Jasmine Rice
2 cups whole milk
2 cups coconut milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp raisins
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Wash the rice thoroughly in several changes of water, put in a deep pot. Add milk, coconut milk and rice, bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook milk gently boiling for 1 hour or until the rice is thoroughly cooked and the milk has thickened to a pudding consistency. Add sugar and vanilla extract, cook about another 5 minutes. Distribute the pudding into 4 serving dishes and garnish with raisins and coconut flakes. Chill for 1 hour before serving.

Latin Cook’s notes
I used Golden Star Jasmine Rice for the rice pudding. I didn’t have whole milk on hand, so I used 1% and used light coconut milk. I forgot to add raisins at the very end for garnish! Oh well. I was incredibly excited that I’d made rice pudding for the first time :)

For tonight’s dinner I made my mother-in-law’s famous Stuffed Zucchini. They turned out perfect! I was a bit worried I’d forgotten an ingredient and I’d meant to write down the recipe while she was here visiting us for the 4th of July weekend.

Need to get to bed – it’s going to be a long day tomorrow!

African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas

2010-07-17T23:55:00.001-07:00

I was having a hankering for curry today and initially went to look through my Modern Spice cookbook that I won through a blog. I was a bit disappointed there weren’t any curry recipes. So after browsing online I looked through some recipes at Epicurious.com and came across an African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas and decided this would be the recipe that would be for tonight’s dinner. During my browsing quest, I also found a Curried Smoke Chicken and Wild Rice Salad and a Zucchini Curry that I definitely want to try soon!

African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas

Ingredients

2 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion (about 6 ounces), chopped
1 medium red bell pepper (about 6 ounces), chopped
1 jalapeño chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 (15-oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped tomatoes, seeded and peeled, fresh or canned
1 tsp mild curry powder
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 (14-oz) can light coconut milk
3/4 cup cooked white or brown rice
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)

Directions

In a medium stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and chili; cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add the broth, chickpeas, tomatoes, curry powder, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Latin cook’s notes

When you think of curry, the first term you might think of is “spicy”. This dish didn’t have the usual spice you would have thought. I was completely amazed at how the coconut added such a subtle flavor, yet it enveloped the entire dish and deterred any hotness from the jalapeno; and I appreciated that the spices weren’t overpowering. Once I added the soup on top of the Basmati rice, oh my! It was the perfect dish. I actually didn’t add the rice to the soup as suggested in the directions. Once I served myself some rice, I added the “soup” on top of the rice. There was a party definitely going on in my mouth! I was very pleased to hear from the hubby that this dish is another he would eat again if I made it in the future. I also popped some Trader Joe’s Garlic Naan into the oven. Now that makes a complete meal.

Dessert quest: Option 1 – Chocolate Caramel Tart with Sea Salt

2010-07-15T22:40:00.001-07:00

In yesterday’s post I mentioned that I’m on a quest to find my “No matter how my day’s been, this will make my day spectacularly better” dessert.

I was looking through some dessert blogs and came across a Chocolate Caramel Tart with Sea Salt dessert. I’m coming around more to chocolate. I love caramel. The blogger calls it a Twix Tart. I love Twix. I like a little bit of crust. THIS sounds like my kind of dessert!

I’ve realized that I, in comparison to MigL, am a messy eater. I’m perfectly OK with food spilling out the sides (especially with sandwiches, although it is annoying at times), but as long as I’m enjoying it, it’s A-OK. MigL, on the other hand, would prefer to have his food in those sectioned plates…. No thanks. Bring on the mess.

So when I saw the following picture on Dessert First, my mouth began to water. Mmmm, buttery crust. Chocolate. Oozy caramel.

Umm, yes please. I would like another. OK, really, I hope not because I’d like to keep the calories in check. But so far it looks amazingly delicious!

I’ll try to make this dessert this weekend and let you know whether or not this dessert is a keeper and my new go-to dessert; although, it sounds like the crust will take a bit of work. I suppose I’ll know soon enough whether it’s worth it!

Chicken wars

2010-07-14T21:39:00.001-07:00

I made two types of chicken tonight – I hope one of them turns out.

Chicken 1 – Mediterranean Lemon Chicken

Chicken 2 – Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms

You see, the reason I say “I hope it turns out tonight” is because I have this love/hate relationship with chicken. Sometimes it turns out great and other times I want to strangle/beat the crap out of the chicken myself, throw it away and continue cursing at the chicken that never turned out, as was the case for the dreadful Balsamic Chicken. Nice idea, terrible execution. Not that I didn’t want to execute the chicken anyway. “I can’t believe you stupid chicken! Ugggghhhh!! Why aren’t you done already? It’s already been an hour and a half. How much longer do you need until you’re not raw?! I need answers and I need them NOW! Why does my spoon keep disappearing?”

It’s chicken sh*t (pun intended) when they tell you to brown the chicken for 3 minutes on both sides (and that’s all the cooking this supposed chicken needs). How the heck is that really done? Hello, get REAL! Every time I try that method, and I do mean every time, I get crusty brown raw chicken. Disgusting.

I’m having an Amelia Bedelia moment. You know what I need? I need to find a dessert that I can make exquisitely well, no matter how fattening it is. At the end of the day, no matter what’s happened, I can make that something and make my day a whole lot better. Cheesecake comes to mind for now, but lately I haven’t been that big of a fan like I used to be. Don’t you think Julia Child had her moments? I’m sure Julie Powell had her moments too. I’m sure they must have had something that made a bad day turn into a fantastical one. Yep. Fantastical. And wonderful. This next week I shall look for my fantastical moment.

By the way, I had a great day at work. We’ve been planning for an event for a few months we have mostly every year (a wine grape grower dinner converted into a luncheon) and had loads of fun. After the event ended, a few of us went out and celebrated. The event was draining, nevertheless fun. And I even got to come home early and I went out for ice cream with MigL. Hooray!

The funny thing about the Mediterranean Lemon Chicken is that yesterday, I asked MigL to find a chicken recipe he’d like to have for dinner. By the time I got home last night, he’d already e-mailed it to me, but I was way too tired too cook. After I got home tonight, I found a recipe I thought might turn out, since I had some extra uncooked chicken. Killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, and not have to cook the next day. Well, at least one of the birds turned out well.

I forgot I used the eggs I had for last night’s breakfast for dinner. Rats. Now I can’t make the German Chocolate cake I wanted to tonight. Uggghh!!!! At least I still have some coffee cake cupcakes left over. Yum!

Mediterranean Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

1 lemon
2 tsp dried oregano
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
6 chicken legs

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

In a 9x13 inch baking dish, grate the peel from 1/2 the lemon, squeeze out the juice (about 1/4 cup) and add to peel with the oregano, garlic, oil, salt and pepper. Stir until mixed.

Remove skin from chicken pieces and discard. Coat chicken pieces with the lemon mixture and arrange, bone side up, in the baking dish. Cover dish and bake for 20 minutes. Turn and baste chicken.

Reduce heat to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and bake uncovered, basting every 10 minutes, for about 30 more minutes. Serve chicken with pan juices.

Latin Cook’s notes

This dish had a nice balance of lemon & spices. Even though it felt like Thanksgiving (basting the chicken), it was worth the extra effort. Thanks for the idea, Honey!

Balsamic chicken with Mushrooms

Ingredients

2 tsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 large garlic clove(s), crushed
1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4-oz pieces
2 cup(s) mushroom(s), small, halved
1/3 cup(s) canned chicken broth
1/4 tsp dried thyme, crumbled

Directions

In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of oil.

In a medium bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar, the mustard and garlic. Add chicken and turn to coat.

Transfer chicken and marinade to skillet. Sauté chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm.

Heat remaining teaspoon of oil in skillet. Sauté mushrooms for 1 minute. Add broth, thyme and remaining tablespoon of vinegar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are deep brown, about 2 minutes longer.

Serve chicken topped with mushrooms.

Latin Cook’s notes

Suck it. Let me know how it turns out for you.

MIA Updates

2010-07-10T13:38:00.001-07:00

I know I haven’t been blogging for a little while. I’ve been dealing with some family issues lately but I hope to be back to blogging sooner than later.

Did you notice the new blog re-design? I wanted to give my blog a makeover; and I’m so happy with the results!

Fourth of July was incredibly fun, but very exhausting. My in-laws came up for a few days and we had a blast showing them around Berkeley and San Francisco. We went to visit the Pampanito, Aquarium of the Bay, stopped for a photo-op of a pizzeria and drove down Lombard Street.

Waiting for food at Cafe Valparaiso, a Chilean restaurant in Berkeley.

The women of the family :)

Pollo Bahia - Boneless chicken thigh sautéed in coconut milk, tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, and white wine. Served with rice and black beans. It was Uh-mazingly delicious!

My MIL saw the name of this pizza place and we HAD to stop, pick up a menu and take a picture. Too bad we didn’t have enough time to actually eat some of this Orgasmica Pizza!

Visiting the Pampanito.

Taking a very quick SF picture – it was super windy and cold!

Celebrating MIL’s birthday with a massage and a fun weekend involving fun hats.

Tonight I’m going with my good friend to go see Rihanna! Someone at work was giving away a pair of free tickets to Rihanna’s concert and couldn’t go because of her nieces wedding. Too bad for her, but hooray for me!

Croissant Heaven

2010-07-10T13:05:00.001-07:00

This post was written 6/1.

I had the best newest coffee this afternoon! I decided to be adventurous on an insanely weather-wise day (hard rain, hail, a bit of wind and somewhat sunny) and try a new coffee drink at Starbucks. The blends of my new favorite coffee were superb! The mixture of caramel, espresso and milk for my nonfat Caramel Macchiato were divine and perfect for wacky weather Saturday.

Croissant photo courtesy of http://www.anspach.eu/bistrorante/

A good friend of mine challenged me find a healthy croissant. I LOVE croissants. If calories didn’t exist, I’d eat them with an egg sandwich for breakfast and a regular sandwich for lunch. Actually I bake the pre-made Pillsbury croissants with bits of chocolate chips for an instant treat! But be careful, those little devils are addicting! And you can’t have just one. They’re all you can ask for in just a few little bites. Let me tell you it’s an out-of-this-world experience. The warm, buttery taste of the croissant as it makes its way into your mouth, the softness of how it feels as you secure the croissant so it doesn’t fall out of your hand, and the chocolate….oh, the chocolate! OK, seriously, I’m not a big chocolate fan/eater, but this is seriously one of my absolute favorite treats!

So I’m on a quest to find and make a healthy croissant, with added chocolate chips of course!

Did you know there’s a new Cooking Channel? It’s completely separate from Food Network, but FN has this special 2nd show. I’m really bummed I can’t watch it (as the Cooking Channel was previously known as the Fine Living Network). I suppose I’ll have to stick to FN. Boo!

Usher's new single - It's fantastical!

2010-07-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Usher's new single ft. Pitbull, "DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again"?? LOOVE!

Breakfast of Champions

2010-05-30T09:07:00.001-07:00

Breakfast this morning started off with over easy eggs (1 egg and 1 egg white), a pinch of Herbes de Napa (lavender, thyme, fennel seed, savory, rosemary and cracked bay leaves) salt and freshly ground pepper; toast with strawberry jam, 1/4 cup fresh strawberries and two pieces of Morningstar bacon strips.

I’m planning on working today so I can play tomorrow. I’m feeling like one of the seven little dwarfs…it’s off to work I go! Hope you’re having a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Kudos to all veterans and a special shout out to my brother, who helped serve our country. Thanks for being so awesome and serving our country!

Channa Masala to the rescue

2010-05-29T22:14:00.001-07:00

I know I’m backtracking here a bit, so bear with me.

I got the idea for the Channa Masala recipe on Monday from Eat Live Run, a blog I often frequent.

Fresh ingredients and spices ready to roll in melted butter!

This dish is by far one of my favorite Indian dishes. By the looks of things, I’m cooking Indian food once if not twice a week; the great thing about this is that MigL doesn’t complain about it and he doesn’t get sick! Hooray! He actually likes it – hip, hip hooray! Although I did find out later after I’d made the dish that he’s not a huge fan of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)…he can take some, but not a lot. What the?! I love garbanzo beans. It’s up there with lentils and black beans.

Channa Masala

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 inch knob ginger, peeled and chopped
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 lemon
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp garam masala
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp tumeric
2 tbsp butter

Directions

In a large cast iron skillet, heat the butter. Once melted, add the onions and cook for about 15 minutes on medium low heat, or until golden brown.

Once the onions have caramelized, add the garlic, ginger and jalapeno and stir well. Cook for about two minutes or until it starts to smell like heaven on earth.

Add the tomato paste and pince, using above photos as an example. This is very important and if you don’t do it right your dish is pretty much doomed. No pressure.

Add the coriander, cumin, cayenne and tumeric and stir well. Then add the diced tomatoes, chickpeas and garam masala.

Cook for about five minutes or until the chickpeas have heated through. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and top with plain yogurt and cilantro if desired!

Latin Cook’s notes

This dish paired wonderfully well with Trader Joe’s Garlic Naan (from the frozen section). It was very filling, delish and the flavors weren’t too overpowering! I’d definitely make this dish again.

Roasted Chicken Breast with Potatoes and Asparagus

2010-05-29T21:30:00.001-07:00

What a great morning today! I hadn’t had cereal since last weekend, as breakfast during the week is normally yogurt with banana and granola.

Today I spent the day relaxing, reading and doing a little cooking. MigL really loved the flavors of the following chicken dish and I’m incredibly happy this dish turned out perfect and it was so easy. I told MigL, “this would be my comfort food if I were a kid coming back home. Except that my parents didn’t cook like this. But when my kids come home, hopefully this recipe will be one of their favorites.”

Here’s how you make the Roasted Chicken Breast with Potatoes and Asparagus:

Combine the mustard, tarragon, garlic, oil, honey, and salt in a medium bowl. Then add the chicken and coat well. The reason why you should add the oil first then the honey is because the honey will slide off much easier if the measuring spoon has already been coated with a liquid (it probably won’t work as well with water). If you switch the order of adding honey then oil, you’ll have a stickier time getting the honey off of your measuring spoon.

Then, add the coated chicken and potatoes into a baking dish. I initially made the mistake of putting it onto a baking sheet. I realized what I’d done after I’d put the ingredients on the pan, luckily I realized this before I put it in the oven! Ugh, one more dish to wash. Once you place the chicken and potatoes on the baking dish, bake them for 25 minutes.

Then add the asparagus and cook for another 12 minutes.

Buen provecho! (For you non-Spanish speaking folks, it translates to, “enjoy your meal!”

Recipe courtesy of Weight Watchers.

Servings: 2
WW Points: 12
Cook time: 37 min
Prep time: 16 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

2 tbsp Dijon mustard, whole-grain
1 tbsp fresh tarragon, or 1 teaspoon dried
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 tsp olive oil, or extra-virgin
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp table salt
1 1/4 pound Chicken breast, skinless, boneless, raw, or with bone
4 small potatoes (about 1/2 pound) white, purple, or red potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1/2 pound asparagus, fresh
1/8 medium lemon, or 2 wedges

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.

Combine the mustard, tarragon, garlic, oil, honey, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the chicken; toss well to coat.

Place the chicken, breast-side up, in the center of the baking dish. Add the potatoes and carrots to the mustard mixture in bowl; toss well to coat. Arrange the potatoes and carrots around the chicken. Roast 25 minutes.

Meanwhile trim and discard the tough ends of the asparagus; cut into 2-inch lengths. Add to potatoes and carrots in baking pan, stirring to coat asparagus. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the chicken breast registers 170°F and the vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes longer.

Cut the chicken breast in two. Wrap and refrigerate half for up to 3 days for later use. Thinly slice the remaining half chicken breast from the bone (discard the bones) and serve with the vegetables and lemon wedges. Yields about 5 thin slices chicken and 11/2 cups vegetables per serving.

Latin Cook’s notes

One of my favorite parts of this dish were the potatoes! I was thoroughly excited when the chicken turned out moist, juicy and it had awesome flavor. While making this dish I thought, “how does this work with tofu?” I used extra firm tofu, mixed it in the same ingredients as the chicken but it didn’t deliver. It was a bit soggy, even though I drained as much water as I could. I only had regular Dijon mustard on hand, but the Dijon, needless to say, definitely delivered on the chicken. I didn’t have fresh tarragon, but I did have Herbes de Provence; however, HDP has tarragon, along with some other spices, so it worked wonderfully. I only had small white potatoes and I didn’t think it took anything away from the dish.

Oh, Julie and Julia!

2010-05-19T21:19:00.001-07:00

For the past couple of days I’ve been reading a book my sister-in-law sent me and it’s been a ritual since she sent it to read a few pages every night. I’ve even set my alarm (it’s actually a timer that’s set to the sounds of the ocean with the seagulls ~~chirping~~ squawking in the background, which by the way is also the way I fall asleep). In any case, I’ve set it every night for 30 minutes because I know otherwise I’d be reading it for at least an hour every night. It’s also only 30 minutes because by the time I’m in bed, it’s already 11 p.m. So what is this book I’ve been reading? Julie & Julia. You’d think that I would have already read it, considering I’d previously blogged about how great of a movie Julie and Julia is. After previously watching it in theatres when it came out, I’d watched it twice in a row on DVD…once in normal format and the second with the director’s commentary, which by the way wasn’t especially intriguing, because she didn’t really give very many details. A bit disappointed.

Anyway, I’ve love reading this book. It’s my very own page turner and it’s just as addicting as reading the ~~medical~~ thrillers I love (authors like Michael Cook and Clive Cussler). It’s like an orgasmic foodie thriller. Can that be considered a disease? Oh, it’s OK, you have OFT. Also, can Drama for Foodies be a new section in the library? HEAVEN! I like it.

I can’t imagine what it’d be like to come home at 9 p.m. and begin making dinner…oh wait, I can, because it’s happened before. However, making 6+ new dishes a week? That I can’t imagine. By the time I get home it’s already 8:30 p.m. and I’m normally too pooped to make a complicated dinner.

That said, I’m so glad I didn’t have to make dinner tonight. Leftovers from a free meal at work (holla!). It basically consisted of black beans, rice, spiced chicken, a mixture of chopped onion and cilantro, and Pico de Gallo. Yep, Mexican fast food. It’s an awesome day when you can take a break from cooking and actually enjoy an evening! :) Don’t get me wrong, I love cooking, but it’s nice every now and again to get a break.

As I was driving home after work all I was thinking about was doing some catch-up blogging and reading my book. You’d think that I’d be distracted on the drive home by the sun that was coming out through the rainy clouds, the beautifully lush vineyards and a rainless drive. Nope. Home. Blog. J&J. Check, check and soon-to-be check. Today’s day at work consisted of going out into the vineyards and doing a site visit to meet all the workers and actually get to know where the company vineyards are located. It was a pretty great half day out of the office.

clusters of soon-to-be grapes.

Breakfasts on the weekend are probably one of my favorite times to have a great meal. For some reason they taste so much better, I’m so much more relaxed and I actually enjoy and savor my meal.

Pancakes always have a special place in my heart, even though I didn’t grow up eating them. Breakfast at my parents was usually some oatmeal concoction that my dad made that included milk, cinnamon sticks and oatmeal. But here was MY breakfast this past Sunday morning:

I’m happy to report that I bought and used the Bisquick mixture – I couldn’t bare to use the Fiber One pancake mix again, because I knew I’d be sorely devastated and disgusted. I’m a Bisquick devotee for life!

I’ve replaced pancake syrup with honey which fills in the sweetness factor.

This concoction, however appetizing it might look, didn’t actually deliver in taste. It’s a mixture of a cup of fresh strawberries, some milk and vanilla extract. It normally delivers, but this time I had to put some sugar in it – it didn’t help much.

Monday: Chicken Saagwala and Garlic Naan! I love how easy this dish is to make. I got the Garlic Naan from the frozen section at Trader Joe’s. Call me crazy but I feel the frozen ones taste better than the Naan in the usual bread section.

Tuesday: Microwave enchiladas – tortillas (heated up for 30 seconds in the microwave), adding tomato sauce, cheese, shredded rotisserie chicken, rolling them up as a burrito and adding more tomato sauce and cheese. They were so yummy and cheesy!

Tonight: Had a really late lunch so I wasn’t hungry. Nibbled on leftovers from lunch.

Chicken Saagwala

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
4 tsp curry powder, mild variety
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, finely chopped
2 large garlic clove(s), finely chopped
1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
2 large tomatoes, ripe, seeded and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
10 oz spinach, baby leaves
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup(s) water
2 Tbsp cilantro, fresh, chopped

Directions

Place 1 tablespoon of oil, curry powder, coriander, cumin, ginger and garlic in a large nonstick skillet; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until toasted and fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add remaining tablespoon of oil and chicken to skillet; stir to coat with spiced oil.

Add tomatoes to skillet; cover skillet and cook for 10 minutes. Uncover skillet and stir to combine.

Add spinach to skillet; cover and cook for 5 minutes more. Uncover skillet and stir to combine.

Add salt, water and cilantro to skillet; simmer for 1 minute. Yields about 1 1/2 heaping cups per serving.

Latin Cook’s notes

Another dish I’m curious to try to replace chicken with tofu….

I’m off to read J&J!

Whole-Wheat Shells with some yummy and not-so-yummy veggies

2010-05-19T19:58:00.001-07:00

Written May 6, 2010

How difficult is it really, to find an Iron Man 2 inspired menu? VERY difficult. You’d think it’d be easier to find it, considering it’s debut is this coming weekend!! I want to make a fantastic meal and share it with some friends using the Iron Man theme but it’s not as easy as I thought it was. So far, I haven’t been able to find anything. I suppose I’ll have to make my own. MigL definitely wants mashed potatoes (he prefers them from the box but I’d rather make them from scratch). I’m so over the quick mashed potatoes. I don’t dislike them, but I’d rather make them myself, even if it takes me a little bit longer, because I know what’s really in my mashed potatoes.

Update 5/19: We decided instead to make English muffin pizzas with cheese, pineapple (our favorite), mushrooms and olives, (all broiled in the oven for 2 minutes), paired with a mixed greens salad, candied walnuts, raspberry vinaigrette and feta cheese (which I forgot to include until afterward).

Tonight’s dinner was inspired by my e-mail inbox – courtesy of Vegetarian Times.

Whole-Wheat Shells with Asparagus, Peas, Feta and Mint

Ingredients

12 oz. whole-wheat pasta shells

1 lb. asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen baby peas

2 Tbs. garlic oil, such as Garlic Gold

3 green onions, thinly sliced (1/3 cup)

1 cup sliced fresh basil

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint

1 Tbs. grated lemon zest

3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (3/4 cup)

Directions

Bring large pot of water to a boil. Add asparagus, and cook 4 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Remove asparagus with slotted spoon; transfer to serving bowl.

2. Add pasta to boiling water; cook 5 minutes. Add peas, return water to a boil, and cook 2 minutes. Drain pasta and peas, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water, and return pasta and peas to pot. Stir in reserved cooking water, asparagus, garlic oil, green onions, basil, mint, and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper, if desired; transfer back to serving bowl; and sprinkle with feta cheese, if using.

Cook’s notes

I didn’t have any pasta shells, so I used Fusili pasta instead…I think it still turned out really well. The definite kicker in this recipe is the lemon zest – A MUST HAVE & USE! I also didn’t have any mint, thus defying the mint portion of this recipe.

p.s. I really dislike peas, so if I can’t taste them, the merrier. However, I’ve been using them to get more veggies in and bring a smile to MigL’s face, because let’s face it, he adores them. Perhaps I’m exaggerating a tad.

Crunchy tuna sandwich

2010-05-15T19:23:00.001-07:00

Just got my Cooking Light magazine in the mail!! Yippee! I had one of the most awesome impromptu lunches I’ve ever made today, and without a recipe!

My apologies - I was so hungry, took a bite, and then I remembered to take a picture.

Crunchy Tuna Sandwich

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1/8 cup Fat Free Greek-style yogurt
4 pieces of canned marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
6 oz water-packed tuna fish, drained
1 tsp mustard
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
4 slices of Sourdough bread
garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat broiler.

Drizzle olive oil onto the Sourdough bread and broil for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Divide the mixture evenly.

Latin cook’s notes

You can certainly substitute regular extra virgin olive oil or other olive oils if you don’t have the garlic infused olive oil. Instead of drizzling olive oil on both sides, I actually only drizzled and toasted it on one, so when I put my sandwich together, I placed the crispy side with the mixture on top, so that I would have the soft part on the outside. I really loved the crunchiness from the bread on the inside, the softness on the outside, and also the crunchiness from the red bell pepper.

Honey Berry Smoothie

Ingredients

1 tbsp honey
1 large banana
1 1/2 cups Silk Vanilla Light
1 cup frozen mixed fruit
1/2 cup mixed berries
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup ice cubes

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a blender and serve!

Muy caliente!

2010-05-13T22:02:00.001-07:00

That’s how my mouth feels after having tonight’s Thai-style dinner. I got the recipe from this week’s Weight Watchers weekly and it was dee-licious, with a capital D.

I realized tonight that I need to get back to the basics of my healthy eating. Life has gotten a bit crazy since MigL has been out of work for a few months and I’ve gotten stressed out thinking about it (or not thinking about it at times) and have somehow turned to food for comfort. I’ve never done this in my entire life before, so why should I start or rather, continue, now?? I’ve gained a few pounds back, but I’ve decided that I need to get back to the basics – continue eating healthier, monitoring portion sizes, avoid mindless eating and getting some exercise.

Food does not control me, I control it. I will not let circumstances beyond my control affect my eating habits that will derail me from leading a healthy lifestyle. Mind over matter!

I was talking with one of the gals at the meeting with which I've become close to, and she mentioned something that stuck with me. She was telling me about the first time she stepped on the scale at WW. The receptionist could tell she was nervous about weighing in and told her “Don’t worry, you’re never going to see this number again”. And since her first weigh-in over 2 years ago, she’s lost over 100 pounds. How amazing is that?! When you make something you want happen, and work hard at it, and amazing things can happen.

Thai Chicken Stir-Fry

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1lb uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium scallion, sliced
1 medium garlic clove, finely chopped
2 cups green snap beans, each sliced into 3 pieces
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp Asian hot sauce, such as chili paste
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, Thai or Italian

Directions

Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add oil and swirl to coat pan. When hot, add chicken; sauté for 3 minutes.

Add scallion and garlic, sauté until quite fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add green beans, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and chili paste; sauté until green beans are crisp-tender, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add basil and cook for 1 minute more. Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

Latin Cook’s notes

I used canola oil instead of vegetable, because that’s what I had on hand. I didn’t have any fish sauce or Asian hot sauce, so I substituted it for red pepper flakes – to my liking of spiciness. I’m actually curious to see how this recipe turns out using tofu. I’m sure it’ll actually turn out equally delish. If anyone tries it out with tofu, can ya let me know? Instead of the 1 garlic clove, I added three – yes three. I suppose I’ve become used to dishes having a bit more (umph) flavor and at times prefer it that way. What the heck, spices don’t have any calories. Why not?! I didn’t have snap beans, but I did have frozen green beans, so I just popped those right in. I had fresh Italian basil on hand, so that worked pretty well. Hmm, seems like lots of substitutions tonight. Oh well. That’s sometimes what’s so great about cooking. Sometimes you can turn what you have into something incredibly amazing and that’s totally OK!

You can definitely serve this dish with Jasmine rice and complete this amazing Bangkok experience!

I’m so glad it’s Friday tomorrow! AND only 2 weeks until Royal Pains premiers its new season!

Chocolate granola bars are a godsend!

2010-04-22T23:19:00.001-07:00

I’m feeling so incredibly tired tonight. I had an amazingly insane day at work. I don’t think I got much actual work done as much as I was on the phone with the help desk for about half of the day. I couldn’t get into the folders I needed to get into; somehow I kept disconnecting the internet (even though I was nowhere near the land line) which prevented me from sending or receiving e-mail; I was unable to connect to the internet which also prevented me from going into the network folders. Ugh! It felt like I was going nowhere, in circles. The WIM (Wine Industry Module) program that I live in had its issues of its own and it was fairly slow. My God, could this day have gotten any slower? I’m glad I didn’t have enough coins to buy something at the vending machine; otherwise I would have gotten something to munch on! However, I did manage to eat a couple of Fiber One Oats & Chocolate granola bars (deliciously amazing!) and completely demolished my Salvadorean candy, leche de burra, a.k.a. donkey’s milk (which isn’t actually made from donkey’s milk). The candy was hard and kept me distracted from all my stress and frustration. The more I chewed, the softer it got. It was divine. I was about to call the help desk yet again, for the 5^th time, when I realized it was 4:50 p.m. Was I willing to risk those last precious ten minutes and spend them with the help desk? I think not. I was glad I’d taken a slightly shorter lunch because boy was I ready to go home!

I stopped by the pharmacy, picked up a prescription and off I went to my Weight Watchers meeting. Meetings used to be uplifting, beneficial and worthwhile; lately they’ve been more of a Debbie downer bitch session, mainly from the newbies. There’s this guy (the only guy, I might add) who attends our meetings who’s been on program for about 20 weeks now and talks about things he shouldn’t be eating and only eats about 10 things. OK, really, nothing is off limits, just pick your food wisely, dammit!! And to me, only eating 10 things sounds like a road leading to a plateau. Even if you’re not on a weight loss journey, you still need some variety in your food; otherwise you’ll get bored with it and it’ll lead into food that’s unhealthy and can potentially lead into some bad weight gain. Anyway, this guy seems to take over the meeting and it’s getting pretty damn annoying. I’ve seen the leader try to ease into getting him off his ranting and getting back on topic, but she needs to step it up, take charge and talk about his personal crap after the meeting. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike newbies, as I used to be one, but I didn’t talk about what bad stuff I’d eaten, or what I felt was completely off limits. I now know that I shouldn’t eat potato chips because it’s difficult for me to control portion sizes at times. But c’mon! Meetings are supposed to be encouraging; and like a classroom, there’s a topic/subject, and ways to approach the topic; then there’s a possible, “has anyone had this problem, and if so, how did you go about handling it?” Ugh. I’m so glad I’ve got a buddy who’s on the same boat as I am. She’s been a WW member for a while and like me, is getting sick of this guy. Every time he talks it’s a “oh boy, here we go again” look. I’m going to talk to the leader early at next week’s meeting and let her know she needs to step up the pep factor; I really don’t want to go into some more Debbie downer crap. I’m sure that’s why some people stop going to meetings. If you have some smart, insightful ideas, then by all means, go for it, share those ideas with the group. If you’re struggling with an issue, spill the beans, but not in some 10 minute monologue where at the end of it you’re asking, “What was the question again? or what was the point of that?”.

Who says you can’t make Latin food healthy?

2010-04-04T21:30:00.001-07:00

I went on a quest today to make my own Latin food, specifically Salvadoran, healthier. We all know that fried food taste better, but shouldn’t there be more than one way to do things?

A few weeks ago I went into San Francisco and surprised MigL on a Chilean empanada quest. I directed him to the most awesome little empanada place called Chile Lindo (beautiful Chile).

These delicious Empanadas de Pino are filled with ground beef, black olives, raisins, onions, cumin and hard boiled eggs. Glazed with egg wash, they’re baked (and can be fried) in an oven until they’re golden brown.

I’m determined to recreate these in a couple of weeks and hopefully the turn out as well as I remember.

But I digress. I know most of my culture’s food is fried. However today I decided to try the unfried side of things. There is a flower (which also happens to be a vegetable) in El Salvador called Flor de Izote that happens to be the national flower. Yes, we eat it – all of it including both the flower and bulb. This vegetable is delicious.

The flavor is like nothing you’ve ever tasted. It’s a tad bitter. You eat both the flower and the But pop some egg whites in there and voila, you’ve got an incredibly low cal meal. It’s only 10 calories for 1/4 cup!

Here’s the egg white wash beaten into submission until stiff peaks form and then the Izote mixture is added into the egg white and placed into the pan.

I did substitute the oil for some Pam and it still tasted equally delicious. I still got that golden brown crust. Yeah!

I paired the Flor de Izote with tomato sauce alongside some rice and steamed veggies. Delish!

Pancake disaster

2010-04-04T11:52:00.001-07:00

Today has probably been one of the most saddest, semi-disastrous breakfasts ever.

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that I stopped by the grocery store, right? I also picked up some pancake mix, because we were pretty much out and figured that it’ll last us a lot longer – one less fast food item we have to buy, right?

For some reason I felt a bit ambitious, mainly because Raley’s didn’t carry the Bisquick pancake mix I normally would have bought. Hmph! So I decided to grab a more healthier option for pancake mixes and picked up a box of Fiber One Buttermilk pancakes. New product that can help increase my daily fiber intake? Sure, why not.

I wasn’t impressed at all with this pancake mix. I wish I’d stayed with my Bisquick mix. I trust it. It works. It doesn’t stick. It doesn’t make my life impossible. I know that when I place the batter onto the griddle it will turn into perfectly golden-looking pancakes. When the bubbles begin to pop out, I know that my batter will not be undercooked. When I take a bite, my mouth melts. They leave me with a “now THAT was good” happy feeling.

Instead when the bubbles began to come out the pancakes came out sticky, gooey and began to fall apart completely when I began to flip them over. They looked awfully distorted and I began getting frustrated with this pancake mix. They also tasted a bit dry. I even decided to substitute the milk for water because I felt that would give it a better taste. I’m so glad I did! This was supposed to be a really nice Easter breakfast. Well at least the scrambled eggs turned out as well as I expected them to, so breakfast wasn’t a complete flop. I made sure to add some honey and strawberries for an extra kick of moisture and flavor.

Perhaps the next time I’ll try using this mix for waffles? Now I just need to be creative and find ways to get rid of this stuff.

Anyone have any ideas?

Hope you have a Happy hoppity Easter!

Buy one, get one free

2010-04-03T22:41:00.001-07:00

I got so excited when I stopped by the grocery store tonight and read that sign. I’m being more frivolous with finances more than I’ve ever been before. We’re on an abnormally tight budget, so when I see things that say buy one, get one free, that’s definitely a steal, especially when it comes to produce, specifically strawberries. I normally don’t shop at Raley’s, but it’s the closest grocery store near my house, and in my opinion they’re probably a tad bit overrated on their prices. I’d normally shop at Lucky, but that’s about 10 minutes away. You be the judge – driving 2 minutes versus 10 for a quick grocery trip? Plus I only needed to get a couple of essential things.

So yes, I was completely ecstatic when I saw the buy one get one free offer for strawberries at Raley’s. It was unfortunately the best and only deal that I got during my shopping trip. I had to pick up some juice, bananas and some pancake mix. I also decided to pick up some plantains and re-create a recipe that my parents used to make. I’ll be sure to post that when I make it.

I’ve come to the realization that I’ve bottled my feelings. Not to the extent of blowing up when everything’s up and over my head, thank goodness. Having said that, as of today I’ve started writing down my thoughts about how I’m really feeling about things that are going on in my life. I need to feel the freedom to be raw. In the past I used a journal, but that hasn’t seemed to work out very well. I’ll write in it one day and the next thing you know an entire year has passed by. Who knew? It’s so interesting to read about what you’ve written when you’re going through at the time that it’s being written, forasmuch to laugh about the “major drama” that’s been going on. Other times it’s a reflection about who you are as a person.

I feel like I’ve never been one to completely connect with people and I’ve disliked that part about myself and am determined to improve that. This week it came to light that I have a disconnect with people. As I unfolded and talked about it with MigL I was getting very upset at the way that I grew up. I wish my parents could have done more to enhance my social skills. I grew up as an only child and had a father who didn’t like to socialize; a mother who wanted to be more sociable, but because it was up to my father when and what time we left functions, she was never really able to truly connect with people. And because my mom and I are very alike, I think I’ve inherited a bit of her personality. I’ve sworn to be a better parent to my kids than mine were to me. Growing up I felt like I never had an opinion of my own and didn’t come to that realization until I went to college. I slowly started figuring out who I was in college, but I’ve really come to figure out who I really am and want to be since I graduated. Ugh, so much to figure out and I sometimes hate growing up! MigL and I got a good laugh out of the conversation – my social skills must be good enough to have at least gotten married!

Welcome to Socialization 101.

Don’t tick off a woman

2010-04-03T21:42:00.001-07:00

"Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of...."

Hooray for Easter weekend and a food revolution

2010-04-02T22:55:00.001-07:00

I’m so glad for Easter weekend – not only because it’s the weekend, but because I had a day off from work today! It was so relieving knowing I didn’t have to wake up at 6 a.m. and I didn’t have to be anywhere today. I did attempt, however, go to Starbucks, specifically aiming to get their spinach and feta wrap, but the Starbucks near my house didn’t have a stove to be able to make them and so off I went to the next Starbucks in town. When I got there they told me they’d run out. What the heck?! I’ve been craving the wrap probably about 6 months and haven’t had a chance to try them yet. Whyyy! So, I came home, made an egg-white in a mug dish, toasted an english muffin and had some sips of the Starbucks latte and still have an unopened container of the Greek yogurt and honey parfait sitting in my fridge, out of disappointment for the spinach wrap I was so desperately looking forward to. I’m sure I’ll have some of the yogurt concoction for breakfast tomorrow.

I have been really touched recently in watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. As I’ve watched each episode, I’m realizing more and more that our country has really become a fast food nation. I acknowledged it before, but the concept never really sunk in as much as it has now. Looking back at my childhood meals in school, they really did serve us processed food. However, I don’t remember the other school kids being as overweight or obese as some of these kids in West Virginia.

Have we really become a workaholic nation? Looking into my own life, I’ve been consumed by work, immediately heading to the gym for a workout and coming home, spending about an hour winding down before I go to bed. This leaves me no virtual time for cooking. I thought I was eating healthier – and in certain ways, I am. However, before I went on my weight loss journey I did use to cook a lot more at home – because I had much more free time in my hands and didn’t work out at all. But now that I have my schedule set, I unfortunately don’t have as much time as I used to, leaving MigL to pick up food for himself – mainly Taco Bell.

I definitely want my kids to learn the names of fruits and vegetables. I was completely APALLED when Jamie asked one classroom full of kids to name some fruits and vegetables he was showing them. They could not name a single one! One kid thought tomatoes were potatoes; they had no clue where their favorite food, french fries, came from. They could, however, quickly pick out chicken nuggets and pizza without thinking it twice. Really, have we become that busy in our lives? I know how easy it is to just pick up something at the grocery store from the frozen foods section and voila, 4 minutes in the microwave, it’s done. Don’t get me wrong, I do that too. Or it’s even more easy just to go through the drive-thru and pick something out from the menu without even getting out of the car. But I think that companies should be thinking of ways to make some of their food healthier. I really don’t need or want to eat something that has 20 grams or more of fat or has 1200 or more calories in something that’s devoured in less than 10 minutes, thank you. How many more minutes of exercise will it take to burn that stuff off to maintain a healthy weight?? I hadn’t realized that chicken nuggets were made of the inedible leftovers from a chicken, mixed in with fat. What I found a bit funny but sad, was when Jamie performed that experiment (and before he said that, he mentioned that it was fool-proof), the kids still ate that kind of garbage. I guess we all eat what we know looks and is familiar and lean towards items that will leave us feeling happy even when we know what we’re eating is bad for us.

MigL and I have vowed to eat more home cooked meals and less take out; to really know what’s exactly in my food and know that I can eat a balanced meal that will fulfill not only my nutritional needs, but will leave me feeling satisfied and healthy. And eating at home will definitely help us save more money.

Click here to start your own food revolution where you live and help improve school foods! If you can’t help at a school, start by eating healthier foods and making better food choices at home. I know it’s helped me become happier with myself and have noticed I have way more energy than I’ve ever had in my entire life!

Eat your vegetables!

A day of relaxation

2010-03-23T22:20:00.001-07:00

I was filling out the following quiz on the T-mobile website and they suggested this about me:

You're a Dreamer. You're a hands on person who likes getting involved. You find great contentment in being expressive and creative. You are quite spiritual and seek peace and harmony with the world. You feel most at home when you're at one with nature - being out in the wilderness suits your adventurous nature.

It's important to take it easy from time to time. Being able to truly relax is a real gift. Life moves fast and sometimes it's nice to step off the treadmill and recharge those batteries.

You're a bit of a gourmet food lover whether that means hitting one of your favorite restaurants or trying out a new recipe yourself at home.

That actually does sound quite like me. I like keeping busy, but I do enjoy some down time and definitely do enjoy trying out new recipes.

Speaking of down time, after going into work this morning, I decided I needed to take a personal day. There was just so much that I was worrying and thinking about, that it was making it difficult to focus on the things that I needed to focus on at work. I felt pretty frazzled and stressed out. Taking a personal day the wisest decision I’ve ever made. I drove to Safeway, grabbed some sushi for lunch and headed to Barnes and Noble. There I spent a couple of hours sipping on some coffee, drinking a diet coke, listening to spa music on my laptop (thanks to Pandora, of course), and looking through some magazines. It was SO relaxing! It gave me some time to think about some things and enjoyed being away from the office. Sometimes I’ll go to B&N during the weekend and do my thing, but there was something so special, so different, about doing this during the week. It was definitely a real treat; and I’m so glad I did. After a couple of hours at B&N I headed over to 24-hour fitness and did a grueling 2-hour workout – 1 hour on the bike and about 50 minutes of weight training. I felt so great afterward! I still have that happy feeling when I think about how my day went and am getting ready to happily hop into bed. I already know I’m going to be sore tomorrow morning, but at least tomorrow’s going to be another Yoga day! Hooray! I’m always looking forward to those days.

By the way, I don’t agree with the terms that were on the Health Care Reform. Seeing myself as mostly Democrat, I highly disagree in how congress and the president have decided to handle this issue.

Tired Chatterbox

2010-03-23T00:53:00.001-07:00

So much to say, so little time!

I feel like I’ve neglected my baby, a.k.a. “the blog”, but it’s not like I’ve completely given up on it. I try to catch up on other people’s blog through my blog – does that count? It seems like I’ve been incredibly busy, even though my life might sounds pretty boring.

At this point in time, my life consists of work and working out…oh yeah, and on occasion, cooking! Seriously, I feel like I’ve barely had any time to cook, which is such a shame because I love it; however if I don’t get my workout in right after work my “workout evening” is totally shot, I know it. The gym is about 25 minutes away from home, so it really feels like I have to make the extra effort to go out once I come home from work; thus I make the trek directly from work to the gym. Total driving time one way: 1 hour. But it’s totally worth it, especially on yoga nights, like tonight. Miguel and I have been going through some tough times lately, with him being recently laid off again (a little over a month now) and it seems like the bills continue to pile on! Yesterday I was thinking, what would it be like to not have to pay bills for like 6 months? Those thoughts reverted me back to Office Space. Somewhere between the move from Central California and NorCal the movie’s been misplaced – I can’t seem to find it anywhere. I think I may have let somebody borrow it, but I don’t know who that might have been. For all I know it could be stuck in a box somewhere.

Anyway, I’ve come to the conclusion that yoga nights are awesome. I was kind of laughing at myself tonight on the drive back home, thinking, the gym is probably one of the best things that’s ever happened to us. It gives me time to get a good workout in, some time to myself where I get to relax and be in my “zone” and time away from home. It also gives MigL time to himself; and when things are stressful everything seems so much better when I come home after a workout at the gym.

Tonight was an especially stressful evening. We somewhat argued about taking some time out to clean up the house a bit mire, but because we were both stressed out (mainly I was incredibly stressed out) about bills, finding a job for him and such, it felt like the world was slowly starting to crumble. Thus I was definitely looking forward to yoga. Gosh, it felt SO good during and afterward! I was energized, and even had a spring to my step! OK, not really, but I did feel a happy aura. There’s a static-y area on the drive from my house to the gym because of some small hills and the only station that gets the least static happens to be the classical station. Sometimes that’s all I need to get through a long drive – to hear a really awesome piece. It was indeed a relaxing drive back home.

I’m not sure why, but for some reason I was craving lentils and rice ALL DAY! Granted, I haven’t made lentils in a couple of months, but something told me that’s what I needed to feel happy – probably because I was a bit hungry. Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that bring the best comfort. So after yoga, I made lentils and Spanish rice. It was the BEST! I mixed both all together and it was delish! All I needed was a few bites of each (OK, more like a 1/4 cup of rice and some lentils) and I was totally happy. On a side note, in Salvadoran culture when you combine beans and rice it’s called casamiento (meaning marriage); what’s it called when you mix lentils and rice? Would you consider calling it the same thing?

I was catching up on some blogging tonight and found out that one of my favorite Food Network chefs, Tyler Florence, is opening up a new restaurant right here in Napa! I’m head over heels – not to mention he’s incredibly cute (second to Michael Vartan, who apparently is engaged?! Ugh.) Sorry Josh Groban, you’ve been bumped to third. Tyler’s new restaurant, Rotisserie & Wine is supposed to be only a few blocks from my house! You had me at rotisserie.. Haha! Seriously, that's how I feel right now.

I know it’s getting late and I can feel the goofiness starting to come out. BUT I am totally relaxed and it doesn’t hurt that I’m listening to Spa Radio on Pandora. It definitely makes me want to snuggle up and relax.

On another side note I watched the third episode of Who Do You Think You Are? online on NBC. I’ve really resonated with the show because for years my aunt and I have been trying to track down our family history. I only wish I could travel and actually see where they’ve come from and talk to people who knew my great grandparents. In any case, in this particular episode they featured Lisa Kudrow’s history and I literally felt shivers and actually reacted to her story deeper than I’ve ever reacted before. She was trying to find out what happened to her great grandmother’s family, among other things, as her family’s background is Jewish. I totally didn't know that. Anyway, if you get a chance to watch it, definitely do. I promise, it’s worth it. It even finishes with a happy ending.

I’m out for now. Happy sleeping thoughts!

More interested in Earth's axis than Chile's earthquake victims, who have been shunned by celebrities and media | Philly2Philly.com

2010-03-03T23:14:00.000-08:00

I found this article quite interesting, seeing that Chile is close to my heart. My husband's family (dad's side & my hubby's mom's sister) live in Chile. For some reason I care more about the damage in Chile than I did Haiti. I promise I'm not heartless for those in Haiti.

More interested in Earth's axis than Chile's earthquake victims, who have been shunned by celebrities and media | Philly2Philly.com

In regards to the article, I can understand that the media probably wouldn't show as much damage as was shown for Haiti, but c'mon, damage is damage, whether it was a 7.0 quake or an 8.8 quake. Yes, more damage was done in Haiti because structurally, Haiti isn't prepared for these types of catastrophes and Chile's more developed than Haiti. Yes, more damage was done and people killed in a shorter amount of time. But just because it's a bigger country doesn't mean that you have to do as little coverage as there has been!

AND in the long run, does it REALLY matter that the Earth's axis shifted a whopping 3 inches and that the days are going to be shorter by a fraction of a second? REALLY, does all that matter with all of the devastation is said and done? C'mon people, get real!

Candied walnuts and more!

2010-03-01T02:31:00.001-08:00

Morning! A bit early in the morning, I know, but I’m going to bed here in a bit, I promise!

I actually slept in this morning! I woke up at 11:15 and was ecstatic that I’d slept in this much! Normally, sleeping in for me is waking up at 7:30 or 8 a.m., so this was like an awesome Christmas present for me!

I decided to be a bit non-traditionalist for breakfast, so on a whim I decided to make scrambled eggs (an egg and 1/2 cup of eggbeaters with a dash of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes) alongside some tortillas, a small bit of cheese and some fire-roasted green salsa. It was SOOOO good! After eating the Mexican feast and my pear, I was only able to drink less than half of my coffee :/.

This morning I made some coffee that I’d gotten at Target a couple of days ago – Giada de Laurentiis’ (GDL) Special Blend coffee. I LOVE Giada. I think she is really entertaining to watch. Hopefully I’ll be able to meet her someday. Hahaha, I’m almost picturing myself similarly to the Julie/Julia Project, except that it’ll be the Ruth & Giada – BFFs in Crime (my version is Best Friend Foodies). We’d be touring the world, trying awesome dishes, exchanging and creating superb recipes. One can only dream! :) Anyway, the coffee tasted pretty good, not that I’m biased or anything.

I’d had some Atlantic Salmon fillets sitting around in my fridge for a couple of days so I decided to do something with them for lunch. I definitely need to work on my encrusting skills…they’re a bit lacking. Needless to say, it was a filling lunch.

Spicy-Crusted Salmon Over Spinach

Ingredients

1 spray(s) cooking spray
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 pound(s) Atlantic salmon fillet(s), cut into four 6 oz pieces
1 tsp olive oil
1 bunch(es) spinach, steamed

Directions

Coat grill with cooking spray. Preheat grill.

Combine chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano and sugar. Rub salmon with spices and then drizzle with oil.

Grill salmon over medium heat, about 5 to 6 minutes per side. Serve with spinach.

*Adapted from Weight Watchers

Cook’s notes

I didn’t have any spinach, but who cares? I still did the salmon filet. It may not have been a golden brown crust, more like roughly charred decadence, (oy!) but it tasted pretty decent. Definitely not spicy like the recipe name suggests! I paired my salmon with some lettuce, blueberries, goat cheese, grape tomatoes and a few spritzes of Wish-Bone Balsamic Breeze spritzer. I have to say that I somehow actually preferred the salad over the salmon :) Charring anyone? Hopefully yours will turn out MUCH better than mine.

Last week when I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, I stumbled upon mascarpone. Because I’ve watched so many GDL shows, I now associate mascarpone with GDL. So I decided to try to make something with it and take it to work. Wasn’t sure at the time what to do with it. So today I ventured off and decided it was going to be a Mascarpone day. I didn’t know what it tasted like; I’d only seen it on TV and it looked interesting. So what do I do? I naturally look up GDL recipes on Food Network with anything mascarpone. I came across this particular recipe. Let me tell you it’s to die for. I couldn’t stop eating the filling! Mascarpone tastes kind of like cream cheese, but better. Not all GDL recipes turn out well for me, but this particular one, did. However, I do have to warn you that it’s pretty messy, but delicious! Hopefully the co-workers will enjoy them.

Strawberry and Mascarpone Filled Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 box vanilla cake mix (like Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe French Vanilla)
1 (8-oz) container Mascarpone cheese, chilled
1/2 cup thawed and drained frozen strawberries
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Directions

Special equipment: 1 muffin tin

Make the cupcakes according to package instructions. Lightly grease the muffin tin and fill the batter almost to the rim of each muffin cup. Bake according to package directions and let cool.

In a food processor combine the mascarpone cheese, strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice. Process the mixture until smooth. Transfer the strawberry mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a small tip. Push the tip gently into the bottom of a cupcake and squeeze in the strawberry mixture until the cupcake plumps. Continue with the remaining cupcakes.

In a small saucepan bring the 1/2 cup sugar, water, and vanilla extract to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved. In a medium bowl combine the vanilla syrup with the confectioner's sugar. Stir until smooth. Working quickly, use a rubber spatula spread the icing on the top of the cupcakes. If the icing begins to firm up, place in the microwave for a few seconds to warm up again.

Cook’s notes:

I couldn’t find the Duncan Hines cake mix the recipe suggested, but I did find the Betty Crocker Moist French Vanilla cake mix. I also couldn’t seem to find the confectioner's sugar in my kitchen so instead I used Splenda. It still seemed to do the trick. I also didn’t have a pastry bag (go figure) and so I improvised by using parchment paper. Other than professional chefs, who really has a pastry bag?

I really got the 'itchiness’ for some candied walnuts today. I’d previously tried to make some, but didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing, as I wasn’t following a particular recipe. They turned out okay, but I felt they could definitely get some improvement. Previously, I’d used light brown sugar and walnuts only – they had a nice texture, but I wasn’t satisfied with them. However today I got some ideas as to what I could do, so this is what came out of the candied walnuts…

They turned out pretty good! I’ve been putting walnuts in my salad lately, so I think these will definitely do the trick. I’m totally looking forward to having some of these in my salad for lunch later today at work!

Candied Walnuts

Ingredients

6 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp orange-tangerine juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups walnut halves

Directions

Add 6 tablespoons sugar and orange-tangerine juice. Bring to a simmer, and then add walnuts. Cook until sugar is absorbed and mixture starts to caramelize around walnuts, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes, until all of the walnuts are completely coated.

*recipe adapted from Candied Walnut Butter Salad from Sandra Lee

Cook’s notes:

I didn’t have orange-tangerine juice, but I did however have V8 Splash Diet Tropical Blend, so I used that instead. Overall, I think they tasted pretty good! I also sprinkled a little bit extra brown sugar on top of the caramelized walnuts, to give it a bit more texture.

After the walnuts cooled, I lay them on a single layer on some parchment paper and let them sit for about 10 minutes.

G’nite!

Tonight’s gonna be a good night..

2010-02-25T22:01:00.001-08:00

I never would have thought that tonight was the night…but as of TONIGHT, I have OFFICIALLY lost 60 lbs, exactly!!! I totally wasn’t expecting it and I hadn’t been purposely trying to reach this particular goal this week. I was just minding my own business, maintaining, eating all sorts of yummy ice cream, cheesecake, chips and candy I don’t normally have, and somehow I lost 2.6 pounds this week! Yep, that’s pretty awesome; I’m sure some of you will be glaring at me, but hey, some deviation is good once in a while! This week I’ll be back on track, eating healthy foods and the like.

I’ve really gotten to like homemade candied walnuts; the only downside is that I haven’t had success in making my own! I have a friend who makes some amazing candied walnuts…I’ll definitely share the recipe when it turns out well for me. In the meantime, I’ll be dreaming of what those taste like in my mouth…YUM!

Heading to bed now…haven’t been feeling too well the last day or so. Seriously, if you’re sick, stay at home!! Don’t spread your nasty germs at work and get the rest of us healthy people sick!

Coffee anyone?

2010-02-20T16:59:00.001-08:00

This morning at church I was reading this week’s VIP (Very Important Person) newsletter. The letter had a great quick story and I wanted to share that with you.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

It really struck a chord when I read the following statement: “The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.” This totally makes sense and definitely resonates with my Lent goals. I think in a lot of cases, I’m like the egg. They say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

This morning I woke up at around 7:15 (after getting 9 hours of sleep!), ate a banana and went for a quick Yoga session at the gym. Unfortunately I got there a little bit late, so I got about 40 minutes of Yoga :( I’ve been wanting to go to today’s class for a while, but couldn’t seem to wake up and get going for the 8:30 a.m. class, since the gym is about 25 minutes away. After I returned home, I had some Red Velvet Cake yogurt and a handful of fresh strawberries.

Hopefully I’ll convince myself that I need to do some major cardio workout tonight; right now, I’m just not feeling it. Why am I saying I need to work out tonight? Because Thursday night I overate on some Panda Express food, ate about 1/2 of a personal mini New York Style cheesecake and Friday afternoon I couldn’t stop eating at work! Munchies here, munchies there, yummy salty munchies. I finally made myself drink water and chew gum, but that only lasted a little while. After work, I ate leftover Panda Express and had the other half of the cheesecake. What a rough couple of days! I’m not sure why I’m doing this, but I’m making myself pay for it in workouts. It’s the only way I’ll maintain my weight. I think it may somehow deep inside relate to the fact that I’m on maintenance and feel I have the right to eat however much I want and that calories don’t count anymore. WRONG! I just need to get over the “I’m on Maintenance” high and go back to eating normal and healthily again.

For lunch today I had two slices of whole wheat toast, a Morningstar Griller and added a slice of soy cheese, a leaf of lettuce, some mustard and lots of tomato. I’m so proud of myself - I only ate 5 Salsa Verde Doritos! Chips are a pretty big weakness for me, so I’m glad I was able to control myself! It also helped that by the time I was done with my sandwich I was pretty full. I gave in to my sweet craving this afternoon and had quite a few sour gummy worms and 3 Sugar Free Almond Roca. I LOVE Almond Roca. Just have to REALLY control myself when I’m around them, otherwise it’s bad news all around. So that’s why I’m feeling a bit blah about going to work out tonight…the sugar high is gone and I feel totally drained.

Plans for tonight? Hopefully get in a good workout and read my Real Simple and Vegetarian Times magazines. I picked up the mail yesterday and was so excited to see them; I just haven’t had a chance to read them yet.

Virgin Lenten

2010-02-18T23:03:00.001-08:00

Although I do not practice Lent or have ever practiced it, this ~~year~~ week I really looked into what it means. Why do people practice it? In high school I had several friends who always practiced Lent. Even now, some of my ex-coworkers practice it. Why do it? Why not do it?

According to All About Lent, Lent is a season that can be used as spiritual spring cleaning, to clean out things that “hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to him.”

So I’ve decided to be a bit unconventional considering I’ve never participated in Lent by changing my negative attitude into a more positive one. Christians are supposed to be a happy sort of people, right? And you aren’t really Christ-like when negative attitudes or behavior are present in you, right? I didn’t realize how much the negativity affected my life so I’m on a journey to change it, followed with lots and lots of prayer, conscious thought and patience.

So today’s been my 2nd day on my un-negative attitude/journey of Lent. Two days down, 38 days to go. I can’t say that it’s been easy, but it hasn’t been horrifically difficult. I guess today’s an in-between day, except for a comment that was made on Facebook that was driving me nuts. Husband’s response? Just ignore it. Breathe. Just breathe. Breathe again. I feel like I’m going to need to practice a little more Yoga breathing in the interim for my Lent. Lots of Yoga breathing.

Morning snippet

2010-02-06T08:41:00.001-08:00

On day three of maintenance and so far so good! I love the fact I can eat a little bit more, and now I just have to kick up my workouts (not that I haven’t been doing that before). So far I’ve been filling myself with ice cream to make up the leftover points, although I probably should be drinking more milk instead. I’ve noticed I haven’t drunk as much as I should – although lately I’ve been drinking 1 cup a day this last week.

Off I go to workout!

And the final verdict is…

2010-02-04T22:59:00.001-08:00

Woke up grumpy this morning? Check. Internal bitch-factor today? Check. Grumpiness gone after some breakfast and coffee? Check. People doing stupid things that annoyed me at work today? Check. Weighed in to check up on my weight loss progress? Check. Achieved goal weight? Check.

Wait a minute, did I just say I achieved goal tonight at my weekly weigh-in? Why yes, yes I did! :) I FINALLY reached my goal weight tonight!! Hooray!!! It’s been a long time coming!

This last week my goal was to 1) reach goal weight and 2) lose a total of 60 pounds. Although I have to say that I nearly DID reach my goal…by 0.2 lbs. I’ll hopefully get those last 0.2 pounds next week and definitely reach 60 lbs of total weight loss.

How did I get here?

After deciding at the beginning of the year in 2008 that it was going to be my year of weight loss success, I didn’t realize my journey wouldn’t really start until later in the year. In January 2008 I tried SparkPeople, which is a good program (and its FREE). I actually lost 6 pounds my first month and then quit because I was missing that accountability factor that WW has. Of course, the weight came back on and then some. I actually still use SP to track how many calories I’m burning when I work out..that definitely helps me keep on track and I can see my workout calorie goal and reach it. I decided to begin a weight loss program in September 2008 and chose Weight Watchers as my “diet” program. At the time my sister had lost a good amount of weight on program. I researched the program and decided it wasn’t completely unattainable. In August, a good friend of mine joined a different weight-loss program, and I decided to give WW a try. About three years ago I tried the Atkins diet (which I totally can’t do cause i LOVE bread, so that diet’s out). Then I tried diet pills for about a day and a half, and after that 2nd day I literally felt sick and decided that pills was a dumb way to lose weight.

Anyway, so in September I began losing weight and was THRILLED! In three months, I lost 20 pounds! Insane! After that, the weight came off more slowly. Since that day in September that I decided it was time to get healthy for good, I’ve stuck to my goals; and 15 months later I’ve had great success in losing almost 60 pounds; The great thing about this program is that I can keep up this lifestyle for the rest of my life AND feed my family with foods we’ll all enjoy. When kids come into the picture, I’ll definitely have to get creative with kid-friendly foods, not just fancy grown up foods.

The funny thing about WW is that I don’t consider it a diet program. It really IS a lifestyle. Why wouldn’t you want to continue eating healthily like this?

Anyway, enough ranting about WW.

Dinner tonight: Reuben Sandwiches, ice cream popsicle bar for dessert and 2 chocolate chip cookies.

Mini Reuben Snack Sandwiches

Ingredients

2 cups coleslaw mix
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp cider vinegar
16 slices mini cocktail rye bread
3 tbsp light Thousand Island salad dressing
4 thin slices reduced-fat Swiss cheese, cut into quarters
4 oz very thinly sliced lean deli corned beef

Directions

Combine the coleslaw mix, water and vinegar in a small skillet. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage wilts and all of the water evaporates, 5 minutes. Let cool.

Spread the dressing evenly on each slice of the bread. Top 8 of the bread slices with a piece of the cheese. Top evenly with the corned beef, coleslaw mixture and remaining cheese slices. Top with a slice of the remaining bread.

Lightly spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium heat. Add the sandwiches, in batches, if necessary and top with a heavy weight, such as a cast iron skillet. Cook until the bread is lightly browned and crisp, 2 minutes. With a spatula, turn the sandwiches, weight them down, and cook until the other sides are browned, 2 minutes. Cut each sandwich in half.

Cook’s notes:

I didn’t have mini rye bread slices, so I used regular rye bread. I used my Panini press (I have a Griddler that has the Panini option on it) to cook the Reuben sandwiches. They tasted so good…and just the right crunch! I also didn’t have any Swiss cheese, so I used Pepper jack cheese instead. It gave it a nice kick of spice, and it was pretty filling!

Enjoy!

Rain, you can’t stop me from enjoying my weekend…

2010-01-24T20:35:00.001-08:00

I feel exhausted right now, so I’ll try to be brief.

This weekend was pretty amazing – tried a new restaurant, had delicious coffees, worked out, went for a walk in the rain, saw three rainbows in one day and had an amazing vespers experience. The rain and wind this weekend didn’t bring me down – no siree!

Friday after work I met up with a friend to grab coffee and dinner, except that she’d apparently sent me an e-mail I never read, because I was so busy at work I didn’t have time to check my e-mail. She was basically letting me know she was going to run a bit late. I’m not high tech on my phone, and I wish I’d had an iphone of some sorts to be able to get important communication like that…oh well.

As I sat in the Napa Valley Roasting Company while waiting around for about an hour and drank my nonfat vanilla latte, and thought to myself, “This is sooo good!” Seriously, it’s the best coffee I’ve ever had and I consider that place one of the best places to get great coffee; and it was a perfect cup of joe for the start of a great weekend.

I decided to grab a book to continue killing time. As I skimmed through book titles, one in particular caught my eye. Bone in the Throat. What the heck is that, I thought to myself. I quickly glanced over to see who the author was and quickly picked up the book off of the bookshelf. Considering myself a foodie, I thought this book would be a must-read. Granted, I love me some medical thrillers; but this book mixed the medical thriller along with food thriller. Who'da thunk? Genius! I sat back down and took another sip of my latte. I began reading Anthony Bourdain’s novel, “Bone in the Throat”. According to Amazon’s booklist review, “Bourdain's tongue-in-cheek wiseguy novel features an up-and-coming young chef who owes his position in a New York restaurant to his uncle, a Mob collector-hit man who has loaned a considerable sum to the restaurant owner. Mobster Sal the Wig and Tommy, the sous-chef, are both unaware that state and federal agents have set up the owner, Harvey, as a plant to uncover extortion, murder, and whatever other criminal activities occur in Harvey's presence or the eaterie.”

It was really too bad that I had to stop reading it and eat dinner. I’ll definitely have to borrow that book sometime from the library and finish it up. While I was reading it, I couldn’t seem to put it down!

After coffee I finally met up with my friend for dinner and ate at Cooks, in St. Helena. I ate their Handmade Mozzarella Caprese. So good! It includes hairloom tomatoes, basil and a balsamic vinegar reduction with extra virgin olive oil. It also had dried tomatoes, which I normally don’t like, but these were delicious paired with the mozzarella. I took a bite of my friend’s gnocchi in gorgonzola cream and that was really good too. I’ve never had gnocchi like that before…so buttery and creamy and simply melt-in-your mouth. Delish! It was soon time to head up to PUC vespers. Normally we wouldn’t go to vespers up there because, speaking for myself, I feel old and out of place. But this time was the exception, seeing that a friend of ours, Godfrey, was speaking for vespers. It was such an inspiring environment – with great reflective music followed by a thought-provoking talk. Overall, our experience that night was definitely one of a kind.

Sabbath came along and the inspiration continued at church. It seemed that the sermon was a continuation of last night’s talk, even though the speakers were totally different and I was at different churches. It definitely fulfilled my soul and felt like it was exactly what I needed. After church, I joined some friends for a potluck lunch and the food was simply homey and delicious. On my way to lunch, I saw a rainbow. Simply gorgeous! It was just hanging out there right in front of me to enjoy. After lunch, we all hung out afterwards chatting and catching up. Soon after, three of us girls went for a walk. It had been raining on and off throughout the day, so I took an umbrella, just in case. And boy did we need it! It was raining pretty steadily. Nevertheless, we still walked in the rain. Even though our pants were wet, we continued catching up, talking about what our blessing of the week was, and then the miracle came. We saw a double rainbow, and one of them was actually a full rainbow. THAT was super awesome. Behind us it was sunny; where we were standing it was raining; and in front of us, there were rainbows. It was an amazing Sabbath afternoon.

That night I relaxed with a friend and ate her cinnamon-infused popcorn while watching “He’s just not that into you”. Such a funny movie. Too true in so many ways.

This morning I slept in until 9:30! Shared brunch with my hubby and made made the perfect looking pancakes on my new griddle! No burnt pancakes involved! With that, we paired the pancakes with bananas and accompanied it with some scrambled eggs. I warmed up some Morningstar Veggie Bacon Strips for myself. It was definitely a special breakfast like no other. I hadn’t made pancakes in such a long time, and to have a yummy brunch like that, was definitely a special treat. A typical breakfast includes cereal, most likely a banana and some milk.

Later today, I went to work out at the gym with my friend and had a great workout. I really pushed myself to get a good workout for the hour that we were going to be there. So I began with the elliptical (the one that goes up and down) and then rode a little over 5 miles in 21 minutes on the bicycle. Boy was I pumped for that one! I could definitely feel my body saying “I hate you”, but I know it’s thanking me afterward. :) I did about 10 minutes of weights and it was definitely time to come home and relax. I was pooped! Came home and snacked on a raisin bread English muffins and added a tablespoon of peanut butter. Fuel for my body! The hubby was nice enough to pick up dinner, so I had a Veggie Delite sandwich from Subway. Refreshingly filling.

OK, maybe not so brief tonight, but I am ready for bed. G’nite!

Cook once, eat all week

2010-01-18T23:36:00.001-08:00

This was today’s motto since I had a day off from work. Hooray! That said, I only managed to make two dishes. I suppose three if you count a side dish.

Today I made an Autumn Pot Roast with Horseradish Sauce and a Layered Mexican Chicken.

I wanted to get some things out of the way so I began making the horseradish sauce. Normally I don’t really care for this type of sauce but figured I’d make the exception this time.

Next came the halved red potatoes.

I then put them in a large bowl along with the baby carrots and sweet potatoes so they’d be ready to go.

Once the meat had browned, it was ready to go into the oven.

I took a quick break and grabbed one of my favorite cup o’ joe’s – a nonfat vanilla latte. I felt like I needed an extra shot of energy so I asked for an extra espresso boost. Wowzers, did that wake me up!

Next I began making preparations for the Layered Mexican Chicken dish.

After boiling the chicken breast and letting it rest I began assembling the dish which included tortillas, sour cream, black beans, cheese, cumin and green chilies.

Shortly after I had finished assembling the layered Mexican dish, I was a bit hungry, so I decided to make a smoothie. The bananas that I have were starting to get a bit soft so I used some of them, along with some blueberries, soy milk and a tad of vanilla extract and blended them to make my smoothie. Next time I think I’ll add a little bit of ice to make it colder.

A little while after the pot roast was complete!

Time to eat! I added some rice and more veggies.

cook’s thoughts

I have to admit that I didn’t follow the recipe exactly for the pot roast. I used sweet potatoes instead of turnips because I didn’t feel quite comfortable using them. I don’t think I’ve ever had them…. I also had to boil the potatoes, carrots in a pot to soften them up after the veggies had cooked with the meat; otherwise we would have eaten crunchy potatoes! As I was getting ready to upload the pictures I took for the blog I realized that I’d totally forgotten to add the horseradish!! Silly me. Oh well, hopefully next time I’ll remember to add it. It’s still sitting in the fridge, just like the directions said. Just forgot to take it out! :D . As I was eating the pot roast, it was a bit drier than I would have liked and decided that I’d use the leftovers to make roast beef sandwiches – it practically tasted like roast beef. Maybe you’ll have better luck at keeping it moist.

Onto the Layered Mexican Chicken. I thought it was OK for a lasagna-style dish. I’m not too crazy about it. I’ll have to get creative with the leftovers, for sure.

Autumn Pot Roast with Horseradish Sauce

prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 2 hrs 30 min

serves: 8

ingredients

2 lbs boneless bottom round roast, trimmed
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 1/4 lbs baby potatoes, halved
1 1/2 cup baby carrots
2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
3 tbsp prepared horseradish
1 tsp Dijon mustard

directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sprinkle the beef with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook, turning frequently, until browned, about 8 minutes. Add the broth, stirring to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the onion, garlic and thyme; bring to a boil. Cover and bake, turning once, 1 1/2 hours.

Add the potatoes, carrots, and turnips to the Dutch oven. Bake, covered, until the beef and vegetables are fork-tender, 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the horseradish sauce. Combine the yogurt, horseradish, mustard and the remaining 1/4 tsp salt in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Transfer the beef to a cutting board and slice across the grain into 16 slices. Serve with the vegetables and the horseradish sauce.

Layered Mexican Chicken

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes

serves: 12

Ingredients

1 spray olive oil cooking spray
2 pounds uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
30 oz canned black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups fat-free sour cream
2 cups shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese, divided
8 oz Chopped green chilies, two 4-oz cans
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
12 medium corn tortillas, cut into 2-inch strips
1 cup salsa, mild, medium or hot

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a lasagna pan with cooking spray.

Place chicken in medium saucepan and fill with enough cold water just to cover chicken. Set pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes; drain. When chicken is cool enough to handle, cut into 1-inch pieces.

Transfer chicken to a large bowl and add beans, sour cream, 1 cup shredded cheese, chilies, cumin and pepper; mix well and set aside.

Arrange half of tortillas in bottom of prepared lasagna pan, overlapping pieces to cover surface. Top tortillas with half of chicken mixture, layer with remaining tortillas and then top with remaining chicken mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese.

Bake until filling is bubbly and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing into 12 pieces. Serve with salsa on the side.

Time for bed! It’s been so nice sleeping in the past couple of days. I just know I’m going to have a hard time getting up tomorrow morning at 6.

More soup for you!

2010-01-18T01:16:00.001-08:00

So I made it to the library earlier today and searched for anything Julia Child. To my dismay there were only two books about her and/or written about her that remained at the library. The rest were either checked out or somewhere on the shelf. So I checked out those two books – From Julia’s Kitchen and The Biography of Julia Child. I’m actually looking forward to reading the latter of the two. What I really wanted to get was Julia’s recount of her time in France, but I guess I’ll have to wait until it gets returned back to the library.

Tonight’s new recipe was a Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Cook’s thoughts

It wasn’t as spicy as I thought it would be. I think next time I think I’ll add a can of Rotel and/or finely diced jalapenos to give it the kick it needs. Overall it was a good chicken soup fit for a rainy day like today.

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes

serves: 4

Ingredients

1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
1 (14-oz) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups thawed frozen mixed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, corn, and red bell pepper)
1 cup water
2 tsp ground cumin
1 cup chopped cooked chicken breast
3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp lime juice
12 baked tortilla chips, crumbled

Directions

Combine the tomatoes, broth, vegetables, water, and cum in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are tender, 10 minutes.

Stir in the chicken and cook until heated through, 2 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice. Top each serving with 3 of the tortilla chips and serve at once. Or omit the tortilla chips and transfer to individual microwave-safe containers. Let cool, cover, and refrigerate up to 3 days. To reheat, microwave each 1 1/2-cup serving on High until heated through, 2 minutes. Top with the tortilla chips just before eating.

Yippee!!

2010-01-17T17:37:00.001-08:00

Just have to blog about how excited I am about the renaming and redesign of the blog! When I originally created my blog I wasn’t quite sure what to name it and hadn’t found a niche. I’m proud to say that bmusedmusings is non-existent. Hooray for The Inspired Latin Cook! :D

Catch-up Sunday.

2010-01-17T15:44:00.001-08:00

Weekend recap.

This morning’s breakfast included a toasted whole wheat English muffin,1 oz of mozzarella cheese and 2 tbsp of Ragu with egg mug eggs with spinach. Delish! I accompanied my breakfast muffin with a glass of V8 Fusion Light Peach Mango. Unfortunately I devoured my muffin before I was able to take a picture of it.

In my last post I mentioned that I ran 4.5 miles. Hooray! However the next day my left foot started bothering me. So uncool. I had to figure out what to do for workouts, so I tried riding the indoor bicycle, did yoga and tried Zumba. I’ve been a bit discouraged and unmotivated about working out since Thursday, especially since I found out I still haven’t made my goal weight. Since then I kind of haven’t really cared about what I’ve been eating. I’ve had lots of ice cream on Thursday and really have had the munchies since then. Hmpph.

Last night we went out with some friends and saw Avatar on IMAX. Before I saw the movie I didn’t really care to see it and thought this movie was going to be “another one of these movies”. I was definitely utterly surprised. The vivid colors, the textures, and the 3-D experience was definitely one-of-a-kind. After the movie we ate at Taj Indian Restaurant, a fabulous restaurant in Fairfield. I was even more ecstatic that my hubby actually liked Indian food, was able to tolerate it and even had seconds! I asked him about his second helping later that evening and he said that he’d partly been really hungry and partly because he really liked the food. Hooray!!

Friday after work I came home and sat down to watch the movie I ordered as part of my Christmas present. What would be one of the greatest movies for a foodie, you ask? Julie and Julia, of course! So I watched the entire movie. Afterward, looking through the special features (not that there’s very many features and wish there were more…a Julia Child trivia perhaps?) I decided to re-watch the movie with the writer/director’s commentary about the movie. I was a bit disappointed there wasn’t more commentary to the movie, but I guess you get what you get. You’d think I would have gotten sick from watching it. Alas, no. Unfortunately I was actually really tired so I had to stop the DVD at 2 a.m., to be continued at a later time.

As I’m writing this blog I’m actually finishing the last part of the Julie and Julia commentary while literally eating frozen yogurt. And I mean literally. On Friday I took one of my Yoplait Light yogurts, Harvest Peach to be exact, and stuck it in the freezer. It’s so good! It’s actually a bit comical that I’m eating frozen yogurt since the weather outside is pretty gloomy and rainy. But this is my take on defying the day, despite the weather.

This afternoon’s plan includes going to the library and borrowing Julia Child’s cookbooks, as I decide if it’s worth investing in them. I went grocery shopping a few days ago and intended on cooking up some new recipes but just haven’t had a chance; so today I’ll cook up something. I’ve got a list of things I want to cook, just have to figure out which one I’ll make.

Off to my JC and food adventure!

Running accomplishment!

2010-01-11T23:35:00.001-08:00

Quick post tonight.

Tonight was a first in a really long time – I ran 4.5 miles in 45 minutes on the treadmill at the gym! So that means that I ran a 10-minute mile. Hooray for me! :) I also walked at a 12% incline for almost 20 minutes at a 16 mi/min pace; so overall I burned just over 500 calories. Hooray for me!! :)

Good eats for tonight

2010-01-07T21:58:00.001-08:00

So I was really hungry tonight for dinner. I’m so sick and tired of take-out food (mainly Taco Bell) that I decided to go to the grocery store and get some stuff for salad. I went ahead and still got something for the hubby at Mickey D’s; I was going to get their Chicken Caesar Salad minus the cheese, except that their salads come pre-made with cheese. Phmh.

So I decided instead to head over to Raley’s and get some better healthy stuff. So what’d I have for dinner? I’m calling it my Blueberry Radish Salad. I made a plate filled with Veggie lover’s salad mix, grape tomatoes, radishes and blueberries. It sounds like an odd combo, but the colors looked pretty. Hey at least it kept me full and it virtually has no calories. Hooray! And it actually didn’t taste too bad either.

Oh reality TV!

2010-01-05T21:45:00.001-08:00

So I’m winding down by watching the reality show Giuliana & Bill. How did I get roped into watching this show? I’m not quite sure, but it’s kind of hilarious watch. Perhaps it’s because it’s another single couple living their lives, just like MigL and I are, except without all of the luxuries. It’s kind of annoying to see how easily they drop money on stuff. For example in the episode I just watched, Giuliana wants to convince Bill to like Los Angeles, so she buys him a Harley Davidson bike. Just like that. Who does that? I guess people with a crap load of money! Must be nice. Wish I could do that – although I don’t think I’d buy a Harley. Maybe. :) It would be kind of fun to ride in a Harley throughout the Napa Valley. Note to self – rent a bike for a few hours…hopefully it won’t cost too much moola!

On a different note, I didn’t know a new season of Biggest Loser started tonight! Bummer! I wish I would have known to see it from the beginning of the first hour. It’s a few minutes past 9:00 p.m. and the show goes from 8-10 p.m. Oh well, at least I’m watching it now.

I’ve enjoyed watching past seasons because you learn so much about so many different things. It also helps that I’m still in the process of losing weight and getting healthier and watching them validates the work I’m doing to live a better life. On the flip side, it’s daunting to see that these people are a reflection of what the majority of our American population looks like. It makes me sad to see that food has become a way of nurturing ourselves from various things and situations and it has made us unaware of what portion sizes really look like. And unfortunately that’s the way that some people deal with their lives.

In my case, growing up, I didn’t know what a portion size was. I ate because the food was in front of me, I was hungry enough to fill my entire plate, on occasion it was served for me, and it was looked down upon to leave food on my plate. A good portion of the home made food was fried – although in my immediate family, we tried not to eat too much fried food. However, I did deter some weight gain and was able to mostly maintain when I was younger by playing sports – mainly playing tennis with my dad. In high school I was on the varsity tennis team. Fast forward a few years and I begin a weight loss program that works. I’ve lost nearly 60 pounds and I’m on the road to a healthy lifestyle. I know what a portion size is and should be. I know now to eat until I’m full – not stuffed, but satisfied. Some days I still struggle with that, but then again, nobody’s perfect. Anyway, here’s to happy and healthy living!

Ready for bed; but first a little entertainment

2010-01-03T23:01:00.001-08:00

The house is mostly clean and I’m ready for bed! It’s been quite a long day…working out, cleaning. It doesn’t sound like much, but I cleaned quite a bit!

I also started shredding some junk mail – holy cow! I get so much junk mail in a week…unfortunately it had piled up for a few months, so I was doing quite a bit “winter cleaning”. But it’s all done now and I feel refreshed that it’s all gone and my house is clean :)

To wind down my evening, I’m currently watching “Worst Cooks in America” on Food Network. It’s actually kinda funny to see all these horrible cooks try to make a meal. Friends and family have nominated these people as the worst cooks in America and Chefs Anne Burrell and Beau McMillan have chosen the worst cooks out of 24 people (after the cooks have made a meal that best represents their cooking) to be on the opposing team. Burrell and McMillan are competing against each other and will teach these bad cooks to cook like a chef in a competition that will last 10 weeks. The finalists will prepare a three course meal which will be judged by a panel of food judges that think their food is made by Burrell and McMillan; the winning cook will win $25,000. Not bad, eh?

In this first episode they’re supposed to re-create a dish that chefs Anne Burrell and Beau McMillan have shown them how to do. It must look and taste exactly as the chefs have made it. I feel bad for these cooks because it really looks like they’re trying and some of them just aren’t getting it. One of them even uses the utensils and places them on the plate “strategically” to cover up the food that even she thinks is bad. Gosh that’s awful. No one should EVER do that.

Well kids, it’s been fun. Now off to bed I go for an exciting workweek.

Welcome to Sunday

2010-01-03T15:13:00.001-08:00

Today’s breakfast was unexpectedly really good. I served myself a cup of Kashi’s Honey Almond Flax, 1/2 cup of 1% milk and about 1/4 cup of blueberries. So filling!

I remember a long time ago I turned my nose away from Kashi after trying one of their cereals (I don’t remember which one now) because it tasted funny and weird.

But I was at Target the other day and saw this and decided to try it and decided it’s pretty good. It reminds me of sweet granola, but not super sweet. It got me through today’s workout session – 1 hour of Yoga and 1 hour of aerobics.

I’m a bit tired from this week’s workout – Thursday, Saturday and today. But I’m determined to get to my last two pounds to reach my goal weight. Last night was the best and longest sleep I’ve gotten in such a long time. I slept for 14.5 hours! I was supposed to take a nap at 5:30 and instead woke up around 8 a.m. this morning. Hooray for sleep! I felt so refreshed when I woke up this morning (even though I was still a bit sore from all those workouts…Stairmaster, elliptical, weight training and Yoga.

Now it’s time to finish cleaning up the house and get ready for another workweek. Oh to be on vacation again!

I feel good…

2010-01-02T16:50:00.001-08:00

hahaha, now I have that song in my head! Thanks James Brown! I have to say that it’s such a great song for how I’m feeling right now. I worked out earlier today and I still have that post-workout high. It’s such a great feeling - I LOVE IT! It’s like having a caffeine high (after a great cup o’ joe) minus an empty cup, a small headache afterwards and the price of shelling out some dough for coffee. :)

Today’s workout consisted of an intense Stairmaster session for 30 minutes, elliptical for 30 minutes and 30 minutes of weight training. I feel like I had a great workout today. Yay me! I’m off to a great start on my way to achieving my new year’s goals.

After my workout I spent some down time reading at Barnes and Noble. I love that place! I could spend hours upon hours at B&N. It was a perfect ending to a great workout. I’m looking forward to some Yoga tomorrow :)

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-01T21:40:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010!!

I'm really looking forward to this year because... 1) I've nearly reached my goal weight and am looking forward to maintaining it 2) I'm going to a fun first trip to Vegas 3) I'll be spending Christmas in Walt Disney World! Hurray!

Looking back at the blog about my new year's resolutions, I have to confess that I haven't started them quite yet. What was I thinking?! I didn't realize it was a bad time to start mainly because I was out visiting family and doing lots of traveling for a week. Then came the holidays, and this past week was pretty busy. But since the new year is here, I will be sure to accomplish those.

In addition to the resolutions I've made to continue working out and toning, and cooking two new recipes a month, I've added two more resolutions:

- Practice Yoga at least once a week at the gym
- Blog more :)

I've realized that I've really been enjoying the yoga sessions I've attended. The last one I went to, I was really sore from working out (the previous day I began some strength training and my body was screaming bloody murder the day after), and I had a few things on my mind that I was stressing about. But I've realized that Yoga has really helped me to get rid of those stresses temporarily and get them out of my system; and the other thing is that after the session, my body feels much more relaxed and happy because it's like an entire hour of stretching - at least that's how I'm kind of looking at it now. So I'm excited about going to Yoga :).

I've come to the conclusion that just like eating and breathing, I need to exercise. It needs to come second nature. Otherwise if I don't, I'll become an unhappy person and perhaps revert back to my unhealthy old self. But at least I now know the tools that will keep me healthy and living longer.

I've also noticed that I've kind of neglected the blogging...I really do think I should blog more than once a month. I don't do this blog justice, so I'll make it a point to blog as often as I can.

But enough of the negativity. I'm looking forward to a great new year with new beginnings. I really hope 2010 treats all of us well.

Merry Christmas!

2010-01-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

I feel thoroughly exhausted today! I'm glad that I only had to get a few Christmas presents this year. I bought one more present today at Kohl's and holy moly! The lines were unbearably long (probably about 15 minute wait). I've not normally been a last minute shopper. I like to get things in early so that I'm not staying up till Midnight or later wrapping presents. All I can say is thank goodness for gift bags and tissue paper!

Anyway, I'm really blessed with great family and friends. Hope you have a memorable Christmas!

New Year’s Goals

2009-12-13T10:42:00.001-08:00

This morning I started thinking what my new year’s resolutions would be. Yes, really. I know it’s a bit early to even start thinking about it, but why not get a head start – not just thinking about it, but actually doing it? That way there’s not as much pressure, and by that time, I’ve already got my groove going!

So here are some of my goals:

Now that I’ve just about reached my goal weight, (I’ve lost over 55 lbs) I want to get really toned. In February my hubby and I are going on our first Vegas trip (kinda sad, I know, but better late than never! Then next Christmas we’ll be at at Disney World with my siblings and their families, so I definitely want to look smashingly fantastic :)
Make & try 3 to 4 new recipes a month. I really want to get back into doing things I love, and cooking is one of them. I want to think of myself as a healthier Julia Child cook. I know it can be tempting to cook with loads of butter, but I want to live a healthier lifestyle so that my family can live longer.

For now I think I’ll have my hands full. I don’t want to overwhelm myself with standards that seem impossible to meet. So this next week, I'm going to start on my goals!

Last night’s dream

2009-11-29T17:36:00.001-08:00

I don’t know why I have weird dreams. I mean really weird dreams. Once I dreamt of polar bears and penguins.

Anyway, last night was one of those weird dreams of all time. Even my hubby, Miguel, said it was quite the weird dream.

Disclaimer: I enjoy listening to Justin Timberlake’s music. I’m not one of those crazy fans that would do anything to see him. I do think he’s cute. End of story. Anyhow, read on :)

In last night’s dream, I, along with two other girls, Amanda and Debbie, were walking along the center of the aisle at church. The church service had already begun, and somehow we were all a part of the service. All three of us were pregnant. This was Debbie’s second pregnancy and mine and Amanda’s first. Debbie and I were the only ones that were married. I knew my husband was around somewhere, but I wasn’t sure where and I looked for him as I walked down the aisle.

The next thing I know church had ended and I’m about to climb into an old style car (perhaps a Rolls Royce). I see Justin Timberlake and a crowd of people along the fence. They didn’t seem phased by who he was. We’d dated quite a long time and decided to mutually end the relationship. It just wasn’t going to work out. He was there, watching me get into the car. I caught him staring at me and all of a sudden, feelings that had died as soon as the relationship ended arose again. I longed to run to him and desperately wanted to be with him. I wanted to hold him. But because I was pregnant (and about ready to pop), I couldn’t quite run to him. So I just stood there, alongside of the car. I longingly stared at him back. He yelled, “I’m still in love with you”. I thought to myself, “I can’t do this. I love my husband”. All of a sudden, I turn back towards the car and slowly put my left foot in. Justin began running madly towards me. He jumped onto the other side of the fence and continued running furiously. Finally, he reaches the car and said in an hastily voice, “I love you”. He holds and picks up my hand, gets me out of the car and says, “I’ve never stopped loving you”. He then proceeds to give me a long, passionate kiss. My body simply melted. I’d forgotten how great of a kisser he was and how I felt when I was with him. I had to pull back. “I can’t do this,” I said. “I’m about to have a baby with Miguel and I love him. I’m sorry”. I began to get back into the car and closed the door. I told the driver to start driving. As we left, tears began rolling down my face. Part of me still loved Justin, but I was about to have my complete family with Miguel. It’s what I’d always wanted and my dreams were finally coming true.

The next thing I know I’m lying in a hospital operating room and the entire cast of Grey’s Anatomy surrounded my bed. Not only was there a glass viewing room (like in the real show), but the entire room was surrounded by glass and the entire room was surrounded by doctors. The room was so full I assumed the entire hospital was there. I look to my right and Dr. Bailey is there. “Why are all of these doctors here and looking at me?” No answer. All of a sudden I was in labor (without any pain) and I was giving birth to a little girl. During and after the dream I remembered how I felt after I’d given birth and I’d never been more happy in my entire life. I was in love with my brand new baby girl.

As I gave birth to my daughter, the doctors took the baby away and wouldn’t let me see her. I could hear her crying and I began to cry because I was so happy. I said to Dr. Bailey, “I want to see her, I want to hold my baby!” She looked at me like I was crazy. All of a sudden I heard all of the machines furiously sound off. I knew something wasn’t right. I shrieked to Dr. Bailey, “What’s wrong with me?” “Where’s my baby?” I look to my left. “Is something wrong with me?” No answer. The machines seemed to indicate that they were all flat lining. I felt alone. No Miguel. No Justin. Just a room filled with what felt like hundreds of doctors.

Then I woke up. Reality set in. My heart was racing pretty fast. As I continued lying down my eyes were wide open and huge. I thought to myself, “where’s my baby? Then I remembered it was just a dream. I calmed myself down. It was only a dream. I look over to my left and I see Miguel peacefully sleeping. It was just a dream. I continued to take a few deeps breaths.

After I calmed myself down for a few moments I looked over to my right at the clock to see what time it was. 7:20 a.m. I quickly turned over and went back to sleep. Dreaming time had ended.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-28T10:08:00.001-08:00

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

Although it was kind of unfortunate that we spent Thanksgiving alone, it was nice to have a quiet one. We did, however, celebrate Thanksgiving with some friends two weeks ago. I really wanted to gather all of our friends in town and spend some time together, as I knew that each of us would go our separate ways for the holiday. I made my first turkey (I’ll post pics up as soon as I find the connector from the camera to the computer) and it turned out well!…except that I couldn’t find the giblets and I put a little too much flour in the turkey bag, but hey, it was the moistest turkey I’ve ever made! :) I did make some pies (pumpkin – that didn’t turn out well) and apple pie (I really liked how it turned out!). I also made stuffing and gravy (from the packet, as I didn’t have any time to make real gravy with real turkey leftovers. Maybe next year! :) I popped the cranberry sauce out of the can (I love the flavor compared to real cranberries – unless somebody can prove me otherwise.

All in all our pre-Thanksgiving meal went well. We played Rock Band with our friends, made a Starbucks run and chatted a while. It was a great Thanksgiving! On the actual Thanksgiving Day I felt it was a lot of cooking/work for just two people, so we ate out at Hometown Buffet.

I’m so thankful for safety, friends, family, and especially my hubby. Even though we’ve had a rough year I’m so thankful that he’s a part of my life.

Identity crisis – when does it stop?

2009-11-24T22:10:00.001-08:00

Reading a blog a few weeks, I began to ask myself – who am I, really? Growing up Latina in an Anglo world…I feel like I’m stuck in the middle and am not quite sure where I belong. I want to believe that I’m embracing my Latin heritage (through cooking). I feel like I can travel anywhere through cooking. However, growing up in a strict household, I feel like I missed out on many things.

In a typical Latino household, you’re surrounded by family all of the time. Birthday parties, quinceaneras, dances, loud music. In my own household, we occasionally went and saw family (mainly my mom’s side) whenever we convinced my dad to take us. We listened to classical music (I actually enjoy it very much). We're a subdued family.

My dad is quite the introvert and homebody. Anywhere and everywhere we went, everything we did, we did it as a family. This can be both good and bad. The unfortunate thing, for my mom, was that she didn’t know how to drive. So when I had a school event (like the tennis team), my dad would drive me everywhere. Even after I got my driver’s license, I never got to drive somewhere by myself. It wasn’t until I got to college and got my first car, that I was able to drive alone.

Browsing through TV channels a few weeks ago, my attention was caught by a show on CNN called Latino in America. What does it mean to be a Latino? How much will Latinos influence our country? How much has America improved and been influenced by all of the things that Latinos do, that other Americans don’t?

Growing up I never had sleepovers. I didn’t want to bring any of my friends home; I wasn’t allowed to talk on the phone (well not quite…my dad would listen on the other line and then ask afterward what I was talking about with my friends, thus leading telling my friends not to call home). I simply didn’t want to talk to my dad about what I felt were personal conversations between my friends and I, especially when they were going through a breakup or something of sorts.

Looking back at my childhood, I feel like I was held back and missed out on something, perhaps a real look at my culture. My dad is one of those people that doesn’t want to be a typical Latino family. I kind of have that same outlook he does. He wants to be proud of where he’s come from and what his family has grown up to be, what they’ve accomplished. Who doesn’t? But I want to do it in a manner that one can still proud of all of those things, accomplish something, still be proud of one’s heritage and not be ashamed.

Even now I roll my eyes at Latinos who are “stereotypical” Latinos. (by the way, I really am trying to change my outlook on that). But why? It would almost seem as if I were the puzzle piece that didn’t belong. Many typical Latinas are pregnant or have gotten pregnant while in their teens. Many Latinas (if not most) dress provocatively and have major attitudes. Many are dark skinned. Most have a Spanish accent. Me? Light skinned, no Spanish accent, definitely not pregnant (or have been), not much of an attitude. Is it a personality thing? Sometimes I feel like I haven’t quite come out of my shell, although I’m pushing myself more on that. On one hand I think, did their parents not teach them enough values? Don’t those kids have enough common sense to not do stupid things? One comment about a story in Latinos in America was that a mom, whose daughter got pregnant as a teenager, said, ‘What will the family say? What will the neighbors say?” Why does it matter what other people say? My dad worried about that ALL of the time. What will people at church say? Is it a cultural thing to worry about what other people will say about you and your family? Why does it matter? I think it might have to do a little bit about putting on a good image (things aren’t as they seem). Why does image seem like everything? Why are we putting on this image?

At what point does the identity crisis stop? I’m not just talking about Latinos anymore. There’s teenage identity, midlife crisis. Can menopause be considered as some sort of crisis? How do you know when it’s stopped? How can you cope and deal with it effectively as you’re going through this crisis?

Sometimes I still feel like I’m struggling against my own culture, still trying to find where I fit in. I haven’t quite found the answers to my own questions, but I hope I find some answers soon.

An unforgettable week…and yet plenty to be thankful for

2009-11-24T21:43:00.001-08:00

Stressed out, frustrated, afraid…these feelings this past week lead to stress eating for the first time in my life. Never have I ever done this and I don’t know why I’ve resorted to this method of relieving stress.

On Friday, in the wee hours of the morning (probably around 1:30 a.m. or so), someone broke into our home while we were asleep. Yes, asleep. The side paneling that attaches to the door was busted and the door itself was halfway open. A light was on. And we didn’t hear any of it.

Normally I get up around 6 a.m., to get ready for work, but this time, my hubby and I were getting ready to go out of town for the weekend for a family event (there was a party for his grandma’s 90th birthday). I planned to go into work early and leave early, to get into SF in time for our flight. On Friday morning, I struggled a bit to get out of bed (as I’m not a morning person). Right before I came out of the bedroom at 5:30 a.m., I noticed the light was on in the living room through the bottom of the bedroom door. I thought to myself, did he leave the light on again? He sometimes has a tendency to do that (very rarely though). However, as I came out of the bedroom, I saw that the door was slightly open and there was wood on the floor, the main light was on. I immediately yelled out to my husband, “Get up, somebody broke into our apartment!” I’ve never seen him get up so fast. While he snapped up from sleeping and came into the living room, so many thoughts ran through my head. Is anything missing? Why did they turn the light on? Did they see the travel itinerary? I’m sure they saw the suitcase…are they going to come back in case they saw the itinerary, potentially knowing we were going to be out of town? I quickly checked my purse (as my wallet was wide open – it was hard to miss) to see if anything had been taken. Everything was still there. My cell phone was on the couch as I had left it. The laptop was still on the floor. Everything seemed in place as I’d left it the night before.

We paged the apartment management and immediately called the police. The police officer took a look at our apartment asked a few questions, asked for our IDs, took a look at our door and the wood spread out on the floor and wrote some things down on his writing pad. In the meantime, I thought, “Aren’t you going to take pictures? Call for backup? Take some fingerprints? Try to find the people that did this to us? This is a crime scene!! You’re supposed to do all this high-level stuff!! That’s all you’re going to do…write on your silly pad and take a few notes? This is our home!! Something horrible could have happened to us….we could have been tortured, even KILLED!!” The officer told us he thought this incident could have been one of a mistaken identity…wrong apartment? We’ve lived at our place for almost two years, we don’t have any enemies, that we know of. We sure don’t plan on making any. We’re homebodies and rarely talk to our neighbors. What do you mean mistaken identity?

After thanking the officer for his time and doing his cop duties, he left around 6:30 a.m. I immediately tried to get ready for work as fast as I could. As I got dressed, I thought to myself, shouldn’t the officer have done more? Why didn’t the intruders take anything? Why did they turn the light on? Why did they leave the light on??

After speaking to our neighbors later that day, we found out that the dog began barking around the time the intruders were making noise on our door and maybe one or two of the neighbors were awake downstairs. After the dog began barking, they initially saw one shadow pass by downstairs. Then two more later on. We’ve come to the conclusion that the neighbor’s dog might have scared them away and prevented them from taking anything. That, and our guardian angels were protecting us that night.

We’re still a bit shook up from that day. We haven’t fully slept well and I’m still in panic mode when I wake up in the morning; but we are thoroughly thankful that nothing was stolen and that we are safe. We’re so lucky to have reliable friends that take care of us and watch our back. Likewise, we’d do anything for our friends.

So this special and unique Thanksgiving week we’re thankful for safety, a place we can call home and each other. I cannot express in words how thankful I am to have my hubby. I feel much safer when he’s around and he’s there to comfort me, especially in times like these.

Video of the Week: El Perro y el Gato||SpanglishBaby

2009-10-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

I saw this on a post and thought it was the coolest thing. Whenever I have kids, I'll definitely bring them up bilingual. Resources like this video make learning Spanish mucho mejor! (aka, much better)

Video of the Week: El Perro y el Gato||SpanglishBaby

Weight loss update

2009-10-23T22:02:00.001-07:00

So far I’m at 52.5 pounds lost! Yay!! Only about 8 more pounds till goal! So far, this is the skinniest I’ve ever been. It feels so weird, but yet so empowering. Cheers to a new and healthy lifestyle! :)

Freedom at last!

2009-10-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

So here I am, writing my first blog with my new computer. So how does it feel? Excellent and fantastic!! Now I feel I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. Not that I didn’t do that before (for the most part), but now I can spend hours on the computer at home without having the hubby ‘wait’ on me to get off the computer. I can now re-start my Friday ritual – listening to Spa Radio on Pandora while browsing the internet or reading a good book, or taking a bubble bath while listening to spa music and taking some much needed ME time. :)

The computer may not be the color I wanted, but it’s MY very own computer. Oh how have I missed thee, laptop!! I had the biggest smile on my face coming out of the store, knowing I’d just made a great investment. We shall spend many happy years together, I just know it. :) Hooray for new toys!

Can't wait for my new toy

2009-08-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

Being computerless, SUCKS.

I can't blog, catch up with people, browse, check e-mail, read up on what's happening around the world or listen to Pandora.

A while back, my hubby and I agreed that he would let me use his laptop if I let him use my desktop computer, so that he'd have two computers. I like the freedom and mobility of the laptops better. But a few months ago, probably about five months ago or more (I've lost count), the laptop started smelling (as if it were burning) and all of a sudden it started smoking! I quickly closed the computer off and thought I would let it cool down, after I imeediately took out the battery - apparently not long enough. So I went ahead and tried turning the computer on again and the screen would not turn on. I could see lights on (signs that the computer was on), but nothing was happening. At that moment I decided that the computer was no more, especially after the smell and smoke. I was very sad to part with my dear computer.

So after that incident, I've been trying to find something to fill its void. I've been staying at the gym a little longer and coming home late (too late at times) and have been exhausted, too tired to even check e-mail on my desktop. Sometimes I would read, other times watching tv (mainly Food Network or watching NCIS re-runs, lots of re-runs); but it's still not the same. I've missed blogging.

So hopefully, within the next month, I'll have the opportunity to get another laptop. Ahh, my relaxation time will come back to me once more. :)

On a completely random and different note, as of last week, I have lost a total of 45pounds. It feels SO good! I'm getting closer to goal, just have to focus 1 lb at a time.

Just keep walking, just keep walking

2009-06-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

Over the Memorial Day weekend I made it to my second 10% of weight loss. Yay me! I was so shocked when I made it because I didn't think I would make it until a few weeks later, but hey, I'll take it!

Now, I just need to lose a little bit more weight to reach my goal to being at a healthy weight. I'm two pounds short of losing a total of 40 pounds! I can't believe that I've made it this far. Some weeks (like this one), I've overeaten, and I still struggle to find my balance of feeling full vs this food is so good I need to keep eating vs I want something sweet/salty and I'm not quite sure what food that is yet so I'll keep eating until I've found it. I haven't struggled too much with the last one, but at times it HAS been a challenge.

Other weeks it's been no problem staying on program. A few weeks I've overworked my body and I've somehow 'gained' weight, but the following week I've lost some of it. Sometimes losing weight is SUCH hard work. I'm pretty sure some days it's been easy to put it on, too.

I've been overweight most of my life and have come to the conclusion that the time is NOW to get into a healthy lifestyle. Some of the tools are simply learning what a portion is and sticking to that portion, in addition of listening to my body when it's telling me that it's full. Life's a balance.

I'm confident that I can reach my goal by September of this year. I just have to remember what my goals are and keep those in mind when I'm struggling. AND keep exercising.

I'm VERY proud of myself at the fact that I've been exercising and have stuck with it. I've stepped up my workout so much so that three weeks agi I decided to join a gym three weeks ago. Since then, I have gone four to five times a week. It also helps that I have a great husband and friends/family who have been encouraging me along the way and help keep me honest and accountable.

I think that accountability is one of the key things to losing or maintaining weight. Be honest with yourself. The only person you're cheating is yourself. And in the cases where you cheat yourself and tell others you "haven't" eaten that cookie or you tell yourself that your piece of chocolate cake doesn't have as many calories as you think it has, think again. Those little lies are the ones that are going to prevent you from being healthy. To do those things once in a while, OK, it happens, we all slip up. But to do those things often is a recipe for disaster.

Just keep walking (or in the case of Finding Nemo, just keep swimming). Just keep doing what you do that inspires you and keeps you motivated and focused. Little by little, you'll get there. Reaching goal will be one of the most amazing accomplishments. I keep telling myself it will be worth it.

Instant pancakes?

2009-06-06T17:53:00.001-07:00

Photo courtesy of http://bakingbites.com/

Pancakes in a can?

Yes, it's a real product. Check out the blog at http://bakingbites.com/ for all the info! I'd be interested to try it when I find it, just to kill my curiosity. I'm sure these would sell BIG in colleges!

The new short mini bus?

2009-06-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

Check this out:

I thought, seriously? It's the new short mini-bus with extra doors! If you were to shrink a school bus, this is what it'd look like.

What do you think?

Not On My Watch

2009-06-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

First comes love, then comes marriage, and then the baby in its carriage.

And to answer your question - no, I'm not pregnant.

Nor do I wish to be at this moment.

We have some college friends and know couples that have recently gotten married (or have been married just as long as we have), and BAM!, a few months later, a year later, two years later, they're pregnant. My thought is, what's the rush? I'm going on two years of marriage pretty soon, and I'm pefectly comfortable with my happy, simple, relatively uncomplicated life.

OK, if it's an accident, it happens, you should have at least been a little more careful. It happens. On the other hand, there are couples who REALLY want kids right away. For others, time's-a-ticking. Me? I'll wait a few more years until my life feels a little more stable and secure. Let's just say that when the economy gets a little better, I'll think about it some more. If not by then, then perhaps in about four years from now. Don't quote me on that.

It's not that I hate kids. I just don't want them right now. Maybe it was because of my years of being a summer camp counselor that frustrated me and stressed me out at times. Yes, a little scarred for life. It's no easy task, that's for sure. Maybe I just don't FULLY like kids yet. I like the idea of having them SOMEDAY. And it's not like when I see baby pictures or when I pass by little kids clothes, I don't have my "aww, look how cute!" moment, because trust me, I've had those moments. But then the thought just passes me by instantly as I walk past the kids section and it's as if I'd never had that thought. Maybe it's a good thing.

I don't mind kids - I don't think. I really enjoy playing with my nieces and tickling them like crazy and having a great time - for a few hours. But I think at times I'm thinking of it as a babysitter-type idea. They're OK for a few hours. But a few days (perhaps) or weeks? Thanks, but no thanks. I don't need that kind of drama quite yet.

I'm fairly certain my parents wouldn't mind having another grandchild - there's already three granddaughters in the family; two with hazel eyes, one brown. Maybe my kids will have green eyes (as my husband's family is pretty dominantly a green-eyed family); my family, more of a hazel, brown-eyed family.

And it's not like we're not being cautious, because we are. We're definitely using precautions. But getting pregnant? Not on my watch. I'll get pregnant when the time feels right, when my husband and I feel like we're ready to venture onto this new challenge, when I'm comfortable enough with being a mom and waiting to being called mommy by my child.

But when I do get pregnant, I really want a girl. :)

Where's my personal chef?

2009-05-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

Recently I came across a new site - Foodporndaily.com. I feel naughty just looking at these photos. But I'm pretty sure I just genuinely love looking at this site.

Today I began looking at these photos and the food looks so delicious. (Start and stop drooling...periodically)

Then I thought, where's MY own personal chef? I love watching Food Network shows like Giada at Home, Ask Aida and others. Sometimes I just want to sit back and have that delicious food ready for me when I get home from work. No need to think about what's for dinner. No need to worry about having to clean up dishes before cooking dinner or cleaning up afterwords. Days like today, where I'm just exhausted - from doing nothing - even though my day job keeps me busy and focused. Today I'm just incredibly exhausted. I think I'm coming down with something - I've been coughing a lot more than usual throughout the day. Just completely drained.

On the other hand, I'm kinda like, God, what I wouldn't give to learn how to do incredible stuff like that. I mean, yeah, I can cook, but sometimes the laziness gets the better of me. In order to REALLY cook, I have to be inspired. Too bad that hasn't happened for a while. It just may be that I have to get the house in order. In the meantime, I'll just look at all this food porn and dream :)

Disgruntled chicken

2009-02-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make.

I hate cooking chicken. I hate it even more when it takes 2 1/2 hours to cook. Last night I attempted to cook chicken in a pan. For some reason I thought it would take about 20 minutes. Not so true. I'd seared the chicken on medium heat, then occasionally set it to medium-high heat. Twenty minutes later I took it off thinking it'd be done. Not even remotely close. Still pink, still "semi-alive". I then decided to put it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Still not fully cooked.

As I put the chicken in yet again in the oven, I thought to myself, how long does chicken take to cook? How freaking long does it take?! By the time I began cooking the chicken it was about 6:00 p.m. Finally, after much frustration, hunger, and feeling like I was going to pass out because I hadn't eaten yet (even though I had been snacking in between to keep myself sustained), the moment finally came when it was done. An hour and a half later.

It tasted like perfection. How ironic. My husband even thought it tasted pretty good. Winner winner, chicken dinner. With rice. Just another day in the kitchen.

Good In Bed

2009-01-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I read an article aloud to my husband from my favorite magazine, Real Simple. In it is the amusing story of a woman, Julie Rottenberg, who loves to sleep. And I don't mean sleeping in until 10 or 11 a.m.

As she puts it, "I am a superhuman sleeper." When I told my husband that she describes her sleeping habit as a passion, an obsession and can even be a talent, he laughed and nodded completely in agreement. The author can sleep until one, two, and even until three in the afternoon for stretches of 12 to 15 hours. As someone who thinks that sleeping in is around 10 or 11 a.m., I didn't think it was possible to sleep until three in the afternoon. Not until I met my husband.

Some days, on the weekends, I'd get so frustrated because he'd "sleep the day away" as I'd put it - luckily he doesn't do this all the time. Some days I let him sleep in. I've discovered that we each have our own levels of grumpiness when we don't get our beauty sleep.

After I finished reading the article, I found myself partially agreeing with the author when she wrote the following paragraph:

"So when I find myself lying in bed on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning, plagued with the feeling that I should get up and embrace the day, I do not. Instead, I abandon all guilt and shame, put on my sleep mask, roll over, commit to sleeping, and continue sleeping until I can sleep no longer. I firmly believe that only then, in the deepest of sleep, can true progress begin."

So here's to sleep that builds enough confidence to conquer the day and replenishes the body and soul; and to lazy Sundays spent in pajamas :)

Check out the article Good in Bed by Julie Rottenberg in February's issue of Real Simple.

Living to live - and The Biggest Loser

2009-01-13T19:36:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a little while...

For the first time, I watched Season 6 of The Biggest Loser, when it initially aired on TV a few months ago. I was amazed with the outcomes and strengths that the individuals had, both good and bad.

So now, as part of my Tuesday night routine, I continue watching The Biggest Loser. Last week I told my husband that I was amazed at what our society has become. I know there are the extremes, anorexically skinny and morbidly obese. I know that sometimes it can be easy to lose track of oneself and one day look in the mirrow and not recognize who or what you've become. The unfortunate part of the obesity problem is that for some people it's gotten to be a matter of life or death.

Last week, the show introduced a 19-year-old man who was over 420 pounds. He didn't know whether he was going to be able to live to be 25 or 30 years old. As a 25-year-old young woman, I was shocked to hear that a young person like that might not make it to live to be 30 years old. It's scary alone to think that I'll be hitting the 30s range soon.

In September of last year I challenged myself to lose 10% of my body weight. Now that I've achieved that, I'm challenging myself to lose another 10%. I've found that I have more energy and stamina; and most importantly, I feel great! :) And one of the exciting things about my challenge is that I can now fit into my old clothes again! Yeah!

Redeem Team lives up to its name

2008-08-24T01:28:00.000-07:00

Well folks, there you have it. After many uncalled fouls, the Redeem Team was able to pull through to win and reclaim the gold medal in Beijing 118-107. Spain had some great shots and strategies, but in the end, Team USA came out on top.

Great job, guys!! Fantastic job Mike Krzyzewski! Go Duke!

And now, it's time for bed.

Olympics = sleep deprivation

2008-08-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching the Olympics. But maybe just a little too much. Is it really worth staying up past midnight? I do have to say that it was definitely worth watching Michael Phelps break records and win eight gold medals; watching Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor win gold medals in beach volleyball back-to-back for two straight Olympic games; and watching amazing gymnists, rowers, tennis players and such. There have been some incredibly amazing moments.

But never have I been so exhausted in my entire life - except for the time that I was working 60 hours a week for three months (at one point) this year. Six-hours of sleep is definitely not enough for me to fully function. My ideal sleep time? Nine hours. Nine hours of...I don't feel tired in the morning and can go all day without a cup of coffee. Nine hours of...I'm ready to conquer the day and excel at it. However with the Olympics going on I have been getting between five and seven hours of sleep.

Needless to say the Olympic games will be over fairly soon; and as saddened as I am to see it all end this year I am glad that I will be able to go back to some sleep normalcy.

A blissful birthday massage

2008-08-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I went with my friend Lauren on a date -- a massage date. We were both actually celebrating our birthdays (my belated, her early). My husband was really sweet and got me a gift certificate for my 25th birthday. Definitely one to remember.

Never have I been so relaxed and transformed into a different place (mentally), perhaps heaven. At least it felt like it could have been. I was relaxed, so much so, that I almost fell asleep. How could that be? The swedish massage did it for me.

It would be great to get a monthly massage. But for now, a yearly one, especially for my birthday, will do it for me.

Rest

2008-08-01T19:44:00.001-07:00

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

Too many burdens, worries and so little time. Never enough time to rest. Is that really our humanity? Thank goodness for the mandatory holidays; otherwise, would we ever give ourselves time to relax?

Merriam-Webster defines rest as: 1: REPOSE, SLEEP; specifically: a bodily state characterized by minimal functional and metabolic activities 2 a: freedom from activity or labor b: a state of motionlessness or inactivity c: the repose of death 3: a place for resting or lodging 4: peace of mind or spirit 5 a (1): a rhythmic silence in music (2): a character representing such a silence b: a brief pause in reading 6: something used for support

Do you know what Friday nights feel like to me? If you’ve ever gotten a massage, it’s the peacefulness, quietness and happiness that come about; although I really wish it could be a Friday ritual to actually get about an hour long massage or so, or maybe simply once a month. Wouldn’t that be nice! J

Friday nights are as refreshing as an ice-cold glass of water on a scorching hot day; and as you drink it you can feel the water filtering down inside of your body as it soothingly says, “aahhh!” It’s the satisfaction knowing that Sabbath is here and I don’t have to worry about work until Monday. It’s the happiness knowing that I can put off doing laundry until Sunday! It’s definitely the freedom from activity or labor (as Merriam-Webster puts it).

Once I know that Sabbath is here I can truly enjoy a day off and do things that will lift my soul spiritually – whether it’s meeting up with friends or being out in nature. Even reading a book Sabbath afternoon can be quite refreshing.

I am so thankful that I’m an Adventist and have been given the privilege and right by God to have a day off to rest. We can’t be workaholics all of the time. We all simply need some time to rest and definitely take some time off for ourselves to get some sanity and a little more perspective and clarity.

Rest

2008-08-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

The Ten Commandments - Redneck Style

2008-07-20T04:45:00.001-07:00

Too good to pass up! :o)

The Inspired Latin Cook

Beating the burnout

Fudgy double chocolate brownies dipped in rich chocolate ganache

Rich layered zucchini parmesan w/homemade tomato sauce & fresh mozzarella

Watch Out for the Newbie Cycler!

Semi-Homemade Pizza on the Cheap

The breakdown:

Directions:

Failure Makes You Stronger – Say What?

A Sizzlin’ Fajita Friday!

Gold Medal Sizzling Fajitas

(adapted from Food Network)

The intimidation of new foods

Butternut Squash and Celery Root Soup

(adapted)

An apple scrumdiddlyumptious treat

Baked apple donuts with cinnamon and nutmeg (courtesy of www.homecookingrocks.com)

The Best Vegetarian Chili I’ve Ever Had

Vegetarian Chili (courtesy of CHOW)

Ingredients

Instructions

Latin Cook’s Notes

The most beautiful castle

Hey, Sicko!

Cookies for a Cause

The Un-Sloppiest Joe

Sloppy Joes

What Thanksgiving Means to Me

Stuffed Peppers with Wild Rice

Stuffed Peppers with Wild Rice

Que Frio!

Hankering for doughnuts

“Their donuts are very good and smell amazing (… they are light and fluffy inside and have a very thick frosting and glaze selection).”

“You have to work hard to get them because they don't make many so you want to get there before the rest of the savvy few do.”

Hey Pumpkin!

Lazy Sunday

Losing for Good

Under the weather with the Three Little Bears

A half day of reflection…

Lean mean cooking machine

Peanut Butter and Oreo Truffles

Peanut Butter and Oreo Truffles

A fantastic bedtime story for my future kids

Is this what parenting's like?

SWAGGER WAGON - just for parents

Jobless work

Chilean Quiche

Ingredients

Directions

Latin cook’s notes

Now Open: Berkeley’s Cinnaholic attracts big lines, vegans, tattoos - Paolo Lucchesi

Chocolate Caramel Tart UPdate

Chiles Rellenos, Chocolate Caramel Tart with Sea Salt and Rice Pudding

African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas

African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas

Ingredients

Directions

Latin cook’s notes

Dessert quest: Option 1 – Chocolate Caramel Tart with Sea Salt

Chicken wars

Mediterranean Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Latin Cook’s notes

Balsamic chicken with Mushrooms

Ingredients

Directions

Latin Cook’s notes

MIA Updates

Croissant Heaven

Usher's new single - It's fantastical!

Breakfast of Champions

Channa Masala to the rescue

Channa Masala

Ingredients

Directions

Latin Cook’s notes

Roasted Chicken Breast with Potatoes and Asparagus

Ingredients

Instructions

Baked apple donuts with cinnamon and nutmeg
(courtesy of www.homecookingrocks.com)

Vegetarian Chili
(courtesy of CHOW)

prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 2 hrs 30 min

serves: 8