A Fortnight's Update

Starting the post with some bam for your face! This is my take on a chile verde burrito I had at this really good taco shop.  Lean pork loin cubed and simmered in salsa verde on low.  Brown rice.  Leftover taco shop refried beans.  Toot toot! My fave part?  The pan fried potatoes and cilantro.  Yummo. 

I havent blogged in a few days but for very good reason.  Major issues with my home secuirty system needing adjustment, vamping and monitoring.  Seems to have been fixed but whooo-eeee.  Major drams.  Thank goodness for good friends who came to help a sister out.  I still miss my hubby horribly and to compound matters, the phone lines have been down where he is on his business trip.  I just have to keep reminding myself to stay busy and regular. 

Things at work are crazy.  With the economy changing, the upper-ups at work are busy keeping us in a state of frenzy--will we be able to keep our job?  If so, what more will we be expected to add to our collective work plates?  Common sense says, be grateful you have a job.  Be grateful you are paid.  Be grateful dangit.  So I will try to focus on the positive.

Food craving today: potatoes (already handled)

Bipolar moreover

The day started off messy and morose.  At one point, I found myself almost crying in my office for 2.5 seconds.  Maybe it was the nightmares last night.  Maybe it was not being able to talk to hubby enough in the past few days.  Maybe it was the weather.  Maybe I pissed off someone in the karmic retribution.  Whatever.  The day went on....and my mood did brighten eventually.  Enough to bake another loaf of bake another loaf of my now famous banana chocolate chip bread, kale bacon tomoato and parmesan non-frittata, and fixed myself a steak dinner with mixed green salad w/ tomato vinegrette and balsamic olive oil side pasta. 

This time I sprinkled extra chocolate chips on top of the loaf before putting it in the oven.  Noone ever quibbled over a couple extra chips did they?

I used day old french bread as the crust base for this egg breakfast/ lunch/ dinner beauty.  Then I sauteed bacon and mushrooms together for some juiciness and salty goodness.  Kale had to be cooked separately to get some bitter out and to wilt a bit.  Combine it all with some egg, layers of parmesan cheese and top with tomato chunks.  Enjoy this great way to use up leftover anythings. 

To be honest, the steak could have been seasoned better...or at least marinated at all.  I took the lazy girl way out and cooked it in the pan.  Egaads... I know.  The dressing on the mixed greens salad is a lovely tomato vinegrette with feta cheese, cucumber bits and carrots.  Even the pasta dish was a leftover special.  Leftover pasta from the other night, mixed with a dash of balsamic, EVOO, salt, pepper and some butter.  Microwave and stir.  Toss in some parmesan shreds and revel in its simple yumminess. 

So my lovelies- there may be a chance that I am channeling my need for a companion into a new habit.  As long as I am learning new things and occasionally sharing with others, I can readily justify the gluttony.  Plus it tops randomly crying or constantly shopping/ spending money.

Food craving today-- meat!

Bartering in 2009

In the days where all you can do is close your eyes, cover your face with your hands and sigh, something can still come along and brighten your day.  Today, that something was knowing the happiness I would give my friends by cooking a 3 course meal for them in my home in exchange for the happiness they would give me in exchange for bagging up some lawn debris in my backyard.  It really doesnt take much sometimes.  Truly.

Today's menu? Eggplant stacks on top of whole wheat pasta, bacon wrapped asparagus, crusty bread of the whole grain variety, salad on a stick and topped off with chocolate chip banana bread. 

This came out super good.  It helped to throw the dish under the broiler for the last few minutes to crisp up the pork.  Also, somehow therapeutic to roll the strips around the stalks. 

For my first time making this, it came out pretty damn good.  Edges came out crusty, inside super moist.  My intentional design on the top of the bread was from cutting diagonal slices off the extra banana and alternating them on the top of the bread mixture. 

Kinda blurry but the whitish area is where the decorative slices of banana almost melted but not quite.  Put in a few extra chocolate chip morsels because...you can never have too much morsels.  Dang I kinda wish I hadnt sent the extra bananas home with my guests so that I could have baked another one this weekend!

When I make this again, I'm going to play around with the components a bit.  Nonetheless, it might be a good idea for making kids eat veggies, make salad a party friendly menu item, etc.  Dressing was the store ranch version from one of the organic markets du jour.  Dressing was definitely not my fave in the least. 

So with these pictures, I am flitting off to bed.  If you are reading this out there, feel free to drop a line, emoticon, sound wave, something?  Food crave for the day: carne asada fries. 

Grocery overload

My accountant is going to be sorely disappointed in me.  Something happens when I start seeing food shows, magazines, store ads, etc.  I get very grandiose and have an urgent need to buy massive quantities of ingredients for meals that will most likely be for one plus lefties.  I somehow spent my grocery money for the next 2 weeks in 1 hour today.  Moving on...my grocery/ menu plans for the week:
- Kale and White Bean soup with potatoes and corn (adapted from Food Network magazine)
- Eggplant Stacks (from Costco), canapes, salad on a stick, and homemade banana bread with chocolate chips
- Falafel gyros with my rough and tough tsaziki sauce
- Quiche with mushrooms, parmesan, and kale (maybe salmon as well)
- Steak with onion rings and asparagus

Pics to come on the various meals after they come to fruition.  Did I really do NOTHING at all today?  The only good news I got today was that my Wii Fit age is 35--not bad considering that I'm only a few years younger than that in real life. 

Food craving for the day: banana chocolate chip bread.  Yummers.

Does anyone else read Postsecret every Sunday?  It really is a phenomenal idea.  I am crediting their website with this image below that was just so touching. 

First Blood

I've stopped growing.  Not in the physical sense, but more in the way someone should as a natural consequnce of trying new things and meeting new people.  Sure, I just got married.  Sure, I bought my first house earlier this year.  Sure, I have a stable job.  BUT I dont feel passionate about anything.  Within the midst of all this apathy, I find myself having to deal with my stagnancy...alone.  Husband just left to be stationed for a year 13 hours away. 

So now- he has been gone for 6 days.  In that time, I feel like I have to relearn how to do things on my own again.  First time taking the trash out in over 3 years...gosh, that sounds more pathetic now that I see it on type than it did in my own head.  First time to use the steam mop and sweep my hardwood floors.  First time to cook exactly for one person.  First time to set the security alarm at night--even had to call the alarm company to ask if I did it right. You get the point.

In my zeal to thrive in my newly found state, God must have wanted to show me the cosmic humor in this situation.  My first time running by myself since my single glory days?  My dog refused to run after 40 paces, got completely muddy and tracked it into my car, and thereby added another to-do list item.  Burglar alarm went off during my workday and the local sheriff had to meet me at home to make sure there were no intruders--alarm is new as is the motion detector ADT insisted I needed. 

Another thing I fnd myself having to relearn?  How to be in social situations as a party of one. It sounds retarded to a point but you never realize how much you can become a half person in the midst of a relationship. Happy and safe, but only half a unit.  I recently flaked on a social engagement outside my house yesterday because of some unexplainable fear.  I have promised myself that I am going to go to the bday dinner I was invited to tonight.  Frenemies be damned...I will still go. 

So it begins, the newly new moi.  Updates to come shortly.

FYI- Every post will end with a nod to my current food crave.  Today? Pho.