The Funny Thing About Me Is...

#6 I am prone to buying fad diet/exercise books/videos.

Here is a recurring conversation in our house:

Me: Soooo.... honey. I wasn't gonna tell you this I was just gonna do it and see if you noticed buuut.... I ordered (insert fad diet materials here). I really think it's good. I mean it has yada, yada, yada. I used Jazzercise money for it. It was only (blank amount of dollars).

Justin: (Smiling and shaking his head at me)Well good. You think it's better than (insert previous fad diet materials here)?

What a good hubby he is. It's just the silliness of it all. Embarrassing.

The last one I bought on-line was just a few weeks ago. I couldn't even get the words out of my mouth when I was trying to tell Amy. I was laughing hysterically. And so was she.

Fit Yummy Mummy.

It really works. Really. You know, not like the last one.

Blessed

blessed: divinely or supremely favored; fortunate

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10

This happened to me today. It sucked. I bawled my eyes out afterward. I am blessed.

This Morning...

while watching Mr. Roger's Neighborhood...

Steele: That's Mr. Lovecheese

Me: You mean Mr. McFeeley?

The Funny Thing About Me Is....

#5 For fun - I like to read cookbooks. And buy them.

For the life of me I can't remember where I heard about him (perhaps in some comments on Martha's blog) nor can I figure out why I have never heard about him before (although I do have a very vague memory of his face) but by any means, somewhere recently I read about Rick Bayless and his wonderful Mexican cookbooks. I'm half Mexican, studied in Mexico for a quarter, my major in college was Spanish and I love just about anything to do with Mexican culture and people. So when someone mentioned Mr. Bayless' Mexican Everyday cookbook I jumped right on it and put it on hold at the library. While I was searching I also found Rick and Lanie's Excellent Kitchen Adventures, a cookbook he wrote with his teenage daughter, and put that on hold as well.

Since it is a beautiful, sunny day here in the PNW - the fam and I decided to take a walk downtown to the library this morning to pick up one of the cookbooks and a few others I had put on hold. I should mention here that it was such a lovely walk - my first iced coffee of the season made it extra special. I could hardly stand the time it took to get the kids fed and down for their naps so I could kick back in my chair and devour that book. It's the Kitchen Adventures one and it is fabulous!

Now, when I say 'read' I really mean it. I sat down in my chair, put my feet up and opened up the front cover and started reading. All the introductions and stories - everything. I can't even describe the feeling I get when I sit down to read a good cookbook - truly, as funny as it may sound, all giddy and excited inside. I really think I have a true, harmless addiction to cookbooks... and yarn and knitting books for that matter but that's a different story(book) altogether. I rarely use the recipes, as I've mentioned before. I like to think that I kind of glean and somehow incorporate their ideas into my cooking just by reading what they say.

The coolest thing about this trait of mine is that my grandma is the exact same way. I like to think I inherited it from her. Now, back to reading....

Before I Hit the Hay.

I promised I would post these today and since I'm striving to be a woman of my word I had better do it now.

Let's see... where were we?

Stacy-

The simmer sauce is at the back to the left of the food sample station. If you get an Indian version it will go perfectly with your naan bread. It's so easy and I love it - I really prefer the spinach one the best. For the life of me I can't remember the exact name of it right now. They're in jars and you just add vegetables or meat and sometimes water and serve over rice.

Ok - I'm going to attempt my Chinese Noodles recipe even though I really just eyeball things. But, since I love you all so much and I know your lives will be richer having eaten this I will do it. But only for you. And you. Oh, and you reading... right there. I see Martha. And Jodi. And Amy... I see Stacy and Grace. I see Michele and someone from Gurnee, Illinois...(do you guys remember that show from when we were kids? ok - I must be really tired....)

Chinese Noodles

Oh man, I started this and now I'm re-starting it to hopefully make some more sense. Here's what I do.

I buy the 3 pack pork roast from Costco and take one of them and cut it up into small-ish strips. You can use whatever you want - just cut it up. Then I throw it in a big pot (think roasting pot, soup pot, wok - you get the idea) with quite a lot of crushed garlic and olive oil and maybe a little soy sauce. You can be creative - some fresh grated ginger might be good too. Maybe throw a little pepper in there.

After it's browned a bit add some beef broth and water. Or a lot of water with beef bouillon. Anyways, you want a lot of broth. Like maybe 10 or more cups - remember, you're making soup. Be sure not to overpower it with beef flavor though because you're gonna let this baby cook for a looooooong time so that all the yummy, garlicky, porky goodness makes it's way into the broth.

Bring it all to a boil and then turn it down and let it simmer for at least a couple hours. The longer it cooks the better it will taste. You want the pork to get nice and tender.

Once it's cooked long enough boil yourself up some Chinese egg noodles. Now, you'll have to look in the Asian food section at the grocery store for these. Make sure they are exactly what is written here: "Chinese Egg Noodles" Anything else is not the right stuff. Let's see if I can find a picture..... Yay! These are the exact ones I buy.
Usually about the time I go to put the noodles on I realize I should have hard-boiled some eggs so do that now too. And I just learned the most proper way to boil eggs from my MS Everyday Food Magazine. Add eggs to cold water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 12 minutes. Perfect hard boiled eggs. I promise. I tried it.

While everything's boiling chop up some green onion and drag out your soy sauce again. Be sure and get some good soy sauce too - I like Kikkoman as far as store brands are concerned.

Once all is done boiling and the onions are chopped - serve the broth and pork over the noodles and top it off with sliced egg, green onion and lots of soy sauce. I know, it sounds totally boring but something about it is so delicious. Anyone I've ever served it to has loved it. Justin and his virgin artichoke taste buds even loves it. If you like spicy stuff I always think it would be fun to add some Sriracha. Let me know if you try it.

So to sum it all up:

Pork, fried with garlic and soy sauce
Add beef broth and water - simmer for a long time.
Boil eggs
Boil noodles
Chop onion
Serve it all up with soy sauce.
Maybe Sriracha

I have 9 minutes to go to make sure this post gets done today....

Karen's Bran Flax Muffins

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c flaxseed meal
3/4 c bran
1 c rapadura, sucanat sugar or 1/2 c honey
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 c shredded carrots
2 peeled apples, shredded
1/2 tsp almond extract (I may omit this next time)
1/2 c raisins
1 c chopped walnuts
3/4 c milk
2 beaten eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla (or 2 tsp like I accidentally dumped in last night)

Mix flour, flax, bran, sugar (or honey), baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots, apples, raisins and nuts. Separately, combine milk, beaten eggs and extracts. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir until moistened. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

I'm gonna be honest here - I found some recipe posts lately about healthy food for kids but when I looked at the recipes they would include things like 2 cups of sugar, white flour, maybe throw in some oats... and I thought to myself, "Really? Healthy?" I wanted something that was as good as the oatmeal topped with all sorts of crazy stuff that I feed my kids every morning. So I e-mailed my friend Karen who is the smartest, health nuttiest friend I have and this is what she sent back to me. And it turned out SO great and really is truly healthy.

A couple tips for you:
1. I found cold pressed organic flax meal at Costco recently for like $10. I thought that was a heckofa deal.

2. Karen told me you can't leave these out on the counter for very long - not even in a plastic bag or glass container - because they'll mold really fast. They're really moist and don't have very much sugar in them to preserve them. She also said they freeze well.

Ok - did I make it? 12:01. Dangit. Oh well, a minute over's not bad. Enjoy! And let me know what you think.


ps. I'm a little worried because I think I've eaten like 6 of those muffins since I made them last night. All that bran.......

In Response to Meal Plans

Let's see....

First of all, keep in mind that a lot of my 'recipes' don't have actual recipes I go from. They've just sort of been adapted over the years. Feel free to ask me if you need clarification on any of them.

Jodi - the crock pot chicken mole recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes. I'm not sure if it's copyright infringement to post it here - hopefully not, since I cited my source. I've never tried it before and to be honest I haven't been completely enthused about the recipes in the book. But then again, I barely ever use my cook books. I just read them. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Mole with Chicken and Rice (remember, the thing about mole is that it has A LOT of ingredients - that what makes it special)

1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 c chopped onion
1/4 c slivered almonds, toasted
3 cloves garlic, quartered
2 canned jalapeno peppers, drained
3 T unsweetened cocoa powder
3 T raisins
1 T sesame seeds
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground coriander
2 T quick cooking tapioca
1 2 1/2 - 3 lb broiler-fryer chicken, cut up and skinned
2 T slivered almonds, toasted (for garnish)

Hot cooked rice.

Blend all ingredients except tapioca and chicken in blender until mixture is a coarse puree.
Add tapioca to slow cooker. Add chicken and then sauce. Cover, cook on low for 9 - 11 hours or on high heat for 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 hours.
Serve with with rice. Pour sauce over chicken.


Michele -
1. I LOVE Trader Joe's!! The pizza dough is in in the refrigerator section, as is the pizza sauce we use. (they have both jarred and refrigerated) We used to always buy the garlic herb dough but have been enjoying the plain old processed white flour variety as of late. They also sell 'Almost Whole Wheat' which I contemplated buying today. We usually top it with pepperoni (also from TJ's), artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, feta and a bit of cheddar or mozarella. Steele loves it too.

I think I bought that Soyaki sauce for the potstickers we bought there. If it's the same stuff - yum!


Stacy -
1. Beans are so easy and so yummy and can be low-fat or no-fat. Not like the ones at the restaurants made with lard. My family has made these for years - originally it may have been from my aunt who worked at a Mexican restaurant in San Diego when she was like, 20. Nothing tastes like homemade refried beans.

'Refried' Beans

In the crock pot add:
2 lbs of pinto beans
16 cups water
3-4 slices of bacon cut into small pieces (you can omit this if you want)
1/4 - 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Cook on high for like 8 hours or on low for about 24 - really, just cook them until they're done and have thickened. You will have to mash them a bit at the end or just before they're done. Add salt to taste. You'll probably have to add more salt than you think. Sometimes I add a bit before they're cooked and a bit at the end. This makes a really big pot - I used to freeze some of them until I had kids who eat them by the bowlful. I add all sorts of things to Adia's - sweet potatoes, squash - everything.

All righty.... that's it for tonight. I'm so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open. The Newton's Folly Granny Smith Draft Cider from TJ's might have something to do with it....

I promise, I'll post the rest tomorrow. And I'll even throw in a recipe for the DEE-licious bran flax muffins my friend Karen gave me. I made them tonight and they turned out great.

I can't believe I'm blogging about recipes. I really am an adult...

Meal Plans

31 is a funny age. So many times I think about what I'm doing and who I am and I realize, "Wow. I'm really an adult now." It's like a revelation sometimes. I mean, I guess I've been an adult for a while... but not like the being married for more than a year or two, having children, caring for children, owning your own business kind of adult.

Another thing that has made me feel like an adult is making meal plans. It's really brought this sort of simple joy to me over the last few months. I decided to share my current one with all of you (I just prepared it today) because I always think it's interesting to see what different things people eat. Food is really part of our heritage. We eat what we eat, a lot of times, because that is the type of food we ate when we were growing up. Then, when we get married we get to form a new food heritage - a combination of husband and wife. It's interesting to me.

I grew up in a home with a single parent until I was a senior in high school. My mom always prepared healthy meals for the two of us - often ethnic, lots of vegetables, nothing pre-prepared (is that a word?). We ate things like artichokes and steamer clams.... and while it seems weird to me to think of doing it now with my little family of four - we'd often eat in front of the tv together. But it was a nice kind of together - with our meal spread out before us on the coffee table. Place mats, napkins, bowls of butter to dip stuff in. Just the two of us.

Justin grew up in a home with his mom, dad and two sisters. His mom was raised on a dairy farm and both his parents grew up in very small, very rural towns. Forever eating around the dinner table, often after sports practice, they ate more typical "homestyle" food. Meat and potatoes all full of goodness and comfort. When Justin and I got married I asked him what his favorite meal was and he told me "spare ribs." To this day, I don't know that I've ever eaten spare ribs. We certainly never ate them at home. He had never eaten an artichoke....

In our family, meals are also a little weird because of our unusual schedule. Justin works 24 hours at a time so when he's not home I don't make a big meal. I also teach Jazzercise 3 days a week in the afternoons right before dinner time so I have to be creative in preparing food ahead of time that Justin can put in the oven or get going with ease. Because you know, our deal when we got married was that if I cooked, he would clean up the kitchen. I love the arrangement and am not about to shirk my end of things. So, without further adieu - our meal plan:

Today: Fish Tacos
Friday: Pizza w/ Trader Joe's pizza dough
Saturday: Sandwiches and soup
Sunday: Taco Soup

Monday: Crock Pot Chicken Mole
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Lasagna (I had never made and rarely eaten this before we got married. Simply not practical for 2 people)
Thursday: I'll make a big pot of refried beans this day and make burritos or something.
Friday: Trader Joe's s simmer sauce with rice and vegetables
Saturday: Sandwiches and soup
Sunday: Chinese Noodles (my great grandma's recipe from the Chinese people she cooked for in a restaurant in Alaska)

Monday: Thai Coconut Chicken with rice
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Spagetti-ish stuff probably with vegetables instead of meat (I was running out of time and ideas and found a package of whole wheat spaghetti noodles in the cupboard so I figured I'd use them up)


*I go pay day to pay day - in case you're wondering why I started on a Thursday and ended on a Wednesday.