Tired Chatterbox

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!

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

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

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!

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.

Where's my personal chef?

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

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.