Goodbye, Old Girl.

You always thought you were a puppy no matter how old and blind and deaf you got, didn't you? And when you weren't nipping my best friend's hand (so bizarre! What did you DO to her, Seen?), you were a sweet, goofy lover that had to be wherever we were. So we'll miss you. RIP, Mattie.


And btw...I'm currently obsessed with Pearl Jam's Just Breathe. According to the hubby, it is the saddest song ever. And having now listened to it 5 times in a row, one of which while writing this, I am apt to agree. Just beautiful. Go have a listen.

A week of anything goes.

I was scolded this afternoon for not posting all week, so I'm sorrrry...but I've had good reason...Basically, I've been making a lot of truly bizarre dinners. We've been doing a lot of pantry pasta meals (aka, we've been broke), and while some have been amazing (brie mac and cheese? Hel-lo!), some have been just plain weird (pasta with feta sounded better than it was), and none have really been anything I can easily track for you.

Case Study 1:
Last night's Artichoke and eggplant...thing..which consisted of a jar of eggplant caponata from Trader Joe's (which is a tapenade type spread made from tomato, artichoke, eggplant, capers, and oil), some sauteed garlic and artichoke chicken sausage, a bit of leftover marinara sauce, frozen baby artichokes, capers, pasta...some salt, pepper, red pepper flakes...and who knows what else I threw in there.

Case Study 2:
Brie Mac & Cheese...which started with a box of gluten free mac&cheese mix. But the hubby was in a mood to play, so he ended up cooking the pasta (plus some GF spiral pasta) in 3 cups of 1% milk and a tbsp margarine...when it was done, he added the cheese mix and about 3 oz of cut up brie, salt, pepper, and I threw in a tad of nutmeg. So good I don't even want to know how far the cals set me back for the week.

Case Study 3:
Mango Martinis. Of course, the only thing I can give actual directions for isn't a meal...sigh. They were a great way to use up frozen mango, since the only other thing I use frozen mango for is to eat with nonfat greek yogurt and a dash of cinnamon. Makes a great breakfast or dessert (the yogurt, not the martini...although...) Be careful who you serve these to...they were too 'strong' for my non-vodka drinking other half, so I got to have the whole blender full (Yes!) Anyway, here you go:

A cup or so of frozen mango pieces
Mango vodka
Raspberry vodka
Regular vodka
(I don't know why he thought they were strong)
Grenadine
couple leaves mint, plus some for garnish

In a blender, combine mango and vodkas, some mint, and add a splash of grenadine. It's not super sweet, so add some simple syrup or more grenadine if you like. Blend. Feel free to add ice if you want.

I had, like, three of them. And no hangover, so this is weeknight approved. I love that.

I am also happy to share that I inspired an old friend to try a stuffed chicken recipe for her gorgeous family this week. At least someone cooked something yummy! I love that she even sent me a pic. Glad to see/hear it was a success, Jess! And glad it got your hubby involved! You're such an ubermom...how you do it all with two little ones is beyond me...keep it up, girl!

Or I could pay for lunch every day...

I think most people have a love/hate relationship with leftovers. I totally do-I like the act of making food almost as much as I like eating, so the prospect of leftovers is pretty unexciting. But I'm a huge fan of taking them for lunch. I mean, I make a lot of food. So we could either eat it all (no), toss it (no), or save money and eat it again the next day (fine).

But over the past few days we've somehow gotten to the point where we have far too many options that we either have to eat like, immediately, or toss. Turns out a giant pot of pumpkin soup is great for a dinner party...not so much for two people. One of whom has eaten it for breakfast and/or lunch 3 of the past 5 days. I'm done. But we also have campechana and beef stroganoff (Delicious, recipe below) to kill.
And because I can't leave well enough alone, I also added some stuffed portabellas (the dried-herb no-mozzarella version, unfortunately. Still so good) and grabbed some 3-minute Trader Joe's brown rice (which, yes, is totally fair cheating) to go with the stroganoff. Which means my whole dinner came together in roughly 6 minutes, which gave me time to sit and watch Jeopardy and enjoy my Christmas presents. (My dear, those olives are ridic. Thanks again.)

The Stroganoff picture is from when we originally ate it this week, by the way. I totally count canned veggies as side dishes. Without shame, thank you. And the hubby likes them cold, so I don't even have to heat them up...which I probably shouldn't admit. Whatever.

Stroganoff
1 package stew/stir fry beef strips
1/2 cup flour (I used Bob's Red Mill GF bread mix. Sometimes you make do with what you've got.)
salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter
2 large shallots, halved and sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup broth
1/2 cup sherry
Worcestershire Sauce
2 packages sliced mushrooms
water as needed
1 container light sour cream

Combine flour, a large pinch each of salt and pepper, and beef strips in a bowl. Toss til well coated.

In large stockpan, heat butter over medium. Saute shallots and garlic a couple of minutes til soft. Add beef, and brown about 4 minutes. Add sherry, and scrape up the browned bits in the pan. Add broth and Worcestershire. Mix well. Stir in mushrooms, reduce to medium low, and cover. Stir occasionally, and add a bit of water if it is sticking or too thick.

Let cook about 5 minutes. Reduce to low and stir in sour cream. Serve over rice or pasta.

Serves about 8. (Make extra rice for leftovers.) About 230 cals, .5g fiber, 13g carbs, 17g protein.

The sun! I've missed you!

The problem I have with training programs or rigid exercise routines is that you really need to do them regularly. And I am not good at that. Case in point...I finally got a chance to get to Day 2 of Week 1 of the Couch to 5K this morning. Five days later. Terrible.

But while I was out on the first gorgeous day all week, I realized how good I am at excuses, cause this program really isn't bad. Yeah, the running parts tend to come too soon, but the walking sections always come at just the right time. But even still..the excuses are amazing. I love the crap my brain comes up with...even during my jog:

Why do I try and work out in the mornings? My legs aren't awake yet. And it's cold, my teeth hurt in the cold. At least I wore a hat so my ears aren't cold...but now my head's hot...why did I wear this shirt? I couldn't just wear my own stupid shirt...now I look like a bag lady. Bad enough I jog like an old man, now I look homeless. Awesome. And now I'm sweaty. Damn hat...how come everything hurts? My toe hurts...my hip hurts...is that a headache? I wonder why my knee doesn't hurt...I'm thirsty. Hmmm, I'm by K's house...she's out of town, but I know how to break in...she wouldn't care...but I should at least have a better excuse than wanting water...do I need to pee? Damnit, no. Sigh... I'll make it.

Wah, wah, wah. Ridiculous.

Luckily, when I got home, I had a Christmas present waiting from the Parallel. (She, like me, has her own holiday schedule.) And it was fantastic. Olives and cute olive picks, which I may have actually informed her she was going to buy me not really thinking she would (darlin', you win!) And not only that-she totally made my dream of a ridiculously girly ice scraper come true.(Sadly, I'm not being sarcastic.) Best.thing.ever.

And now, since I've cleaned the kitchen and did my grocery store run, my jogged-out body and olive-filled tummy are going to spend the rest of the husbandless day catching up on tivo. It's a rough life, kids. Especially when my dinner is going to consist of campechana, chips and tequila. I'll try and survive.

A pumpkin challenge? Yes, please!

As many of you may already know, my friend Laura rocks. Not only did she motivate me to get my ass in gear and start running this week (though it's generally not starting that's my problem...), she also has been pestering me to make a Spiced Pumpkin soup that she tried for Thanksgiving.

As adorable as her version was, it was a bit time consuming, not to mention fairly fattening. So her challenge to me was to simplify/lighten it up.

Challenge accepted!


I was pretty happy with the outcome. A bit thick (I only used 3 cans of broth and probably should have used 4. But I ran out.), but quite tasty and filling. And super low cal. Plus, as an added bonus, I got to have a super color coordinated cooking experience. Holy crap, I love my new dutch oven. Isn't it gorg? I wanted a green one, but the Parallel convinced me that it would be less than appetizing. Plus it was like, twice as expensive. Details, details. Either way, now I love the red.

The only suggestion the hubby had was for more bacon...like, little pieces of it. You could always saute another piece or two, chop it up, and add it when you put in the half and half. I was fine without it, but dudes like bacon. I'm pretty sure it's in their DNA.

So congrats, L. You win my muse of the week award. But I'll definitely need a review—let me know how it compares to the full fat, full afternoon version.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup
1 tbsp butter
2 slices bacon, chopped (2 oz)
1/4 cup chardonnay
1 large onion, chopped
1 serrano chili, broiled til skin is charred. Seeds removed, roughly chopped
2 large cans pumpkin puree
4 cans chicken broth (about 6.5 cups)
1/4 + 2 tbsp cup maple syrup*
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper
2 cups fat free half and half
Green onions for garnish

* If you like sweeter stuff, use grade B, or regular grocery store syrup. If you're not so much, use grade A. I get ours at Trader Joe's.

In large stockpot, heat butter and bacon over medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add onion, stir occasionally for about 15 minutes. Add chili, mix well.

Add wine, and try and get up all the browned bits in the pan. Stir in pumpkin and 3 cans broth. Add syrup, paprikas, cayenne, about 3 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Stir til mixed. When it starts bubbling, reduce to low and cover. Stir once in a while for about 20 minutes.

Remove soup from heat. Using a blender (upright or immersion), puree the soup til smooth. Return to heat. Stir in half and half. If you want it thinner, add some or all of the 4th can of broth. Add more syrup, salt or spice to taste.

About 12 servings. About 100 cals per serving, 2g fat, 6g fiber, 16g carbs, 6g protein.

Next time I'll make him Pad Thai, I promise.

Ever get stuck with a rather random ingredient and need to find something to use it in? I feel like that's a fairly common occurrence for me, especially since I like using, well, random ingredients. And I have a really bad habit of just kind of ignoring them until they go bad. So I was glad when the husband saw the half full bag of bean sprouts and requested a dinner using them last night.

I know what he really wanted was Pad Thai, but since he didn't specifically ask for that...sorry honey. You got Lemongrass Shrimp Salad instead. Since I based it off a Cooking Light recipe (Lemongrass Shrimp over Rice Vermicelli and Veggies), I'm going to repost theirs and just mark the things I changed.

Honestly, I was hoping it wouldn't take as long as it did to make, but I prepped everything while the shrimp marinated and still had time to sit down with a martini and the new People (damn you Heidi, you train wreck, you). So I can't complain too much. Especially cause it looks pretty impressive. It got a "whoa-oh!" from the hubby. I love that.

Lemongrass Shrimp Salad
Shrimp:
1/3 cup Thai fish sauce
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh lemongrass (I used the kind in a tube in the produce department)
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
About a lb Medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Sauce:
About 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
handful shredded carrot (I bought a bag of them)
1/4 cup sugar
About 3 tbsp Thai fish sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
Squirt of Sriracha (about a tsp, vary depending on your taste)

Shallot oil:
1/4 cup canola oil
One large thinly sliced shallot

Remaining ingredients:
About 2 oz Bean thread noodles
One chopped head of romaine lettuce, divided
2 large handfuls of fresh bean sprouts, divided
2 large handfuls shredded carrot, divided
1 medium cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced, divided
Cooking spray
handful chopped fresh mint
About 1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts, finely chopped


To prepare shrimp, combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning occasionally. Remove shrimp from bag; discard marinade.

To prepare sauce, combine the lime juice and next 5 ingredients (through sriracha), stirring with a whisk until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

To prepare shallot oil, heat 1/4 cup oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots; cook 5 minutes or until golden brown. Strain the shallot mixture through a sieve over a bowl. Reserve oil. Set fried shallots aside.

To prepare remaining ingredients, place noodles in a large bowl; cover with boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes or til soft. Drain. Combine the noodles, shallot oil, about 3/4 of the lettuce, 3/4 the sprouts, 3/4 the carrot, and 3/4 of the cucumber, tossing well.

To cook shrimp, prepare the grill to medium-high heat. (I used an indoor grill)

Place shrimp on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill about 3 minutes on each side or until done. Divide the remaining lettuce into bowls. Divide the salad mixture into the bowls over the lettuce; top each serving with shrimp, about 3 tablespoons of sauce, and about 1 tablespoon fried shallots. Serve with remaining, bean sprouts, carrot, cucumber, mint, and peanuts.
Serves four. My calories should be about 50 cals lower (because I use less noodles, and you could lower them more by omitting the shallot oil...it's not really necessary), but their recipe is about 420 cals, 13g fat, 4g fiber, 52g carbs, 26g protein.

Getting off the Couch.

My scale hates me. I know it has nothing to do with the fatkid weekends, the booze, or the whole avoiding-the-gym business, so the scale must be possessed/evil/broken.

Sigh. Seriously, I've got to do something about these last 10 pounds. According to Self magazine, as a lightly active 5'10 woman who enjoys eating, my "Happy Weight" is between 151-160. And while I currently reside at the top end of that, I would much prefer the lower.

When I was working out a lot, losing weight was easy for me...and when I don't, it's not. (Weird how that works). Which has led me to the painful realization that I have GOT to get back in a cardio routine.

So. Thanks to one of my favorite college friends/fellow fondue lover (Laura), I got my ass up and off the couch tonight. She's been doing the Couch to 5K challenge, which she swears is easier than it sounds. You download the iphone app (oh, iphone, my love for you grows every day), and it keeps track of everything-what day you're on, how long you've been working out that day, and as it's an interval based training program, it even tells you when to walk and when to run. Without me having to look at a clock. It even integrates my ipod playlist. Brill.

And seriously...when homeboy tells you to "Run," you run. Like Laura, I do as I'm told. We're very well behaved like that.

I even convinced Hubby to go with me, which was a bit of a shocker, since the weather seems to be doing some intervals of its own today (Rain. Wind. Pouring rain. Wind.) and we weren't sure it would cooperate. But we chanced it, and got lucky. Besides the enjoyable company, having him alongside was fun for me cause I got to be bossy and tell him to run. And then walk. And then run. (Which he did. Go Hubby.)

I wouldn't really call this the Couch to 5K...I'd call it more the somewhat-used-to cardio to 5k. When I first got off the couch 2 years ago, this would not have worked. At all. I couldn't even jog for 30 seconds, much less 60 seconds at a time...seven times. I definitely am not used to running even now, but I'm glad I'm quasi in shape, cause otherwise I'd probably be discouraged.

I guess I should have gone to the store on my way home from work (who wants to go to the store after the gym? I want a shower. And a couch), but we had enough in the fridge for some leftover creativeness. Additional jogging bonus? You get to eat. And we know I like that. Cooked some onion and garlic, sliced up leftover grilled top sirloin, and mixed in some jarred marinara. Quite. Delicious.

But anyway...Week One, Day One. Check.
Eight and a half more weeks to go. Starting Thursday. The program says to rest between workouts. And we know I do as I'm told.

Yay.

Fresh? Sure. Easy? Ehhhhh.

Dear Fresh & Easy,
Since you came to town, I have been nothing but supportive of you. A store with obscure items a la Trader Joe's, but with name brand products so you aren't stuck with unscented natural deodorant? Excellent. You may have built an excessive number of locations at one time and you don't seem to feel like actually opening them all (um, Brimhall and Jewetta...Coffee and Hageman), but the important thing is that you did open one in incredibly close proximity to my house.

And I've appreciated this. But I've also assumed that with your easy access and cheap beer prices comes a guaranteed pleasant shopping experience. Unfortunately, however...not so much.

Exhibit A
The far-too-frequent union picketers. Um, when all the big grocery stores had picketers, I had to hot step across town to find stores where I didn't have to fight my way through ornery/bored people in my face. Gah, horrible. I'm a big ol' liberal, but my boss doesn't have to give me health insurance either(under current law...moving on). He does (not the point), but if he didn't, I wouldn't get to picket. I'd get my ass fired. (Yes, I'm oversimplifying, I realize that. No offense, I swear. Do your thing, but don't expect me to get involved. Either way, I need to buy toilet paper.)

Exhibit A.1
The being owned by Tesco bit. According to the OC Voice paper (March 6, 2008), "One Tesco manager admitted, “I can’t afford to throw away [expired food] because that is what they [corporate bosses] keep using to judge my performance. If I keep throwing things away, I’ll be in trouble with them, and I don’t want any of it.”"

Ew. Add that to the fact that Tesco's been called the Walmart of Europe. And we know how I feel about Walmart. Oh, you don't? I hate them.

Exhibit B
I went on Wednesday and bought some fresh soup, some copppa ham, and a salad for lunch. Paid $12.45. On Friday, I checked my bank statement. I was charged $12.45 on both Wednesday AND Thursday. Awesome. I have since been reimbursed. But still.

Exhibit C
The bitchy lady that works at the branch up the street.

C.1: (4 months ago)
No Coor's Light to be found.
Pammy: Do you have any Coor's Light in the back? Looks like you're out.
Bitchy Lady: It's in the cooler.
P: No, it's empty.
BL: Then it's at the end of the aisle.
P: No, I checked there, too.
BL: (blank stare)...It's there.
P: ...But it's not.
BL: SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHHHHHHHH. I'll get it for you.
Pammy waits patiently. Patiently for her, anyway...5 minutes later...
BL: We're out.

C.2 (Today)
$40 purchase. We have a coupon for $5 off purchases of $25 and more. The coupon machine eats our coupon and doesn't give us the discount.
Husband: Excuse me...the machine ate our coupon.
BL: (blank stare)...didn't you scan it first?
Pammy: ...no, we put it in the "insert coupon here" slot.
BL: SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH. I'll have to go get the key and get it out and rescan it.
Husband:...thank you?
Pammy and Husband wait patiently. Patiently for them, anyway...5 minutes later...
BL: Heeere (scans)...This coupon won't work.
P: ...why not. It's over $25.
BL: This coupon is only good if it's $25 not counting alcohol or dairy....(Judge McJudgerson glances at the cart).
Pammy and husband converse amongst themselves "$40 minus $20 of beer/champagne and greek yogurt...yeah, lame"
BL: You can't use it. You bought too much alcohol. Maybe next time.
Husband:...yeah, we got that.

So, F&E, my one time friend...you have some 'splaining to do. Cause, really? Such high hopes. Don't let me down.
Love, kinda...
Pammy

Yes, they're from Brussels. Shocking, I know.

Even after seeing pretty much the grossest thing ever this afternoon, I was still in the mood for steak and brussels. Though I've never exactly been one to lose my appetite...unfortunately.

But not the point. I've liked brussels sprouts since I was little. (I feel like my sister liked them cause they made her feel like a giant. Though that may have been me.) My mom wasn't super creative in her veggie presentations, but she did introduce a lot of them early on, which I assume is why I like them as a whole so much.

But as we know, I like to play in the kitchen and fancy up everything, including my veggies. So when the parallel sent me over a new brussels recipe, it quickly went on the try-immediately list.

I cut it down to a more manageable size, but otherwise followed the Cooking Light recipe pretty closely. The coppa was good, but you could leave it out and it would still be quite tasty as a vegetarian...veggie.

Honey glazed Brussels
About a dozen so brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
1 package pearl onions
Cooking spray
One oz chopped capocollo or prosciutto
water
large pinch freshly ground black pepper
large pinch salt
About a tbsp honey

Boil water in a medium stock pot. Throw in the onion (unpeeled), let cook about a minute, then fish out with a slotted spoon and rinse with cold water. Add brussels to boiling water, and cook about 2 minutes. Drain and rinse.

Peel the onions (the boiling is meant to make this easier). If they're big, cut them in half.

In large saute pan coated with spray, cook capocollo for a couple of minutes until it browns and gets a bit crunchy. Remove and set aside. Reheat pan, and add onions. Saute about 5 minutes until they start turning golden. Add brussels and about a 1/4 cup water or broth. Cover and cook 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked to your liking.

Turn off heat, add salt and pepper, mix gently. Add honey, toss gently. Sprinkle ham over top and serve.
Serves 2-3. For half the recipe, roughly 140 cals, 3g fat, 3g fiber, 20 carbs, 10g protein

I forget things. Gym clothes, salami...you know, the usual.

Well, I was all on top of things and ran to Fresh & Easy at lunch for some prosciutto/coppa to top my brussels sprouts with (F&E has an awesome cured meat selection. Go figure.), and of course left it in my work fridge. So, moving on to plan B. (Though I really wanted to go with plan C, which was to drink dinner at Jacalito Grill...our fave bartender was working tonight, which is always tempting, but I ended up working late, and since we were already there twice in the past 6 days...sigh. Why must a cantina be within walking distance?)

Anyway, I had some herbed goat cheese, shallots and basil, and figured those would be as good as anything else stuffed in a big piece of chicken (have I mentioned how much fun it is to stuff things?). Added some creamy polenta and a veggie, and we were good to go. (The chicken was FAB, btw. I carmelized the sliced shallot first. Sooo good.)

The husband isn't the biggest polenta fan (he thinks it's too much like cream of wheat and I think it freaks him out a little), but I'm persistent, so I'm determined to figure out a way to make it hubby-friendly. I figured cheese would be a good start (plus it tied it in with the chicken, I love doing that)...add some fat free half and half and ta-da...creamy polenta.

Verdict? "Babe, it's ok-I don't have to have any, you don't have to try and make it better."

Whatever. I liked it a lot. (And he still had some!) So if you're down with polenta, need an alternative for rice or potatoes, and/or like goat cheese...carry on.

Creamy Polenta
1/2 cup dried yellow polenta
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup fat free half and half
1/2 tsp pepper
dash of basil (fresh or dried)
1 oz goat cheese (I used herbed, or you could actually just use parm if you want it a little less strong)

Boil liquids in a rice pan (if you don't have half and half, use 1 cup milk and 1 1/2 cup broth-or whatever combination to equal 2.5 cups). Whisk in polenta, reduce to simmer, and let cook about 25 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Stir in cheese, basil and pepper. Serve hot.
If you want the fat kid portion (half recipe), it's approx. 195 cals, 5g fat, 3g fiber, 31 carbs, 11g protein.