Limited Components

I got home last night not wanting to stop at the store since Cristian was there on his break. I haven't been shopping in quite a while so it was find your ingredient and work with it time. That morning I had seen that we had some Bosch pears which excited me. I decided to make some chicken breast which I had frozen then top it with melted cheddar, grilled onions and pears (in balsamic) and spread the pepper jelly I had bought in Gilroy at a fruit stand on it. Low and behold it was delicious! I saw we had a ton of tomatoes too so I made some bruschetta. Instead of grilling some bread though I crisped some polenta rounds in the frying pan. Light and tasty. Here are the results:

Uncharted Territory

In keeping with my challenge to try new cooking techniques and foods I came upon an old classic that I have often wanted to try but never got the chance: Sloppy Joe's. As far as my memory can stretch I can't remember ever eating a sloppy Joe, let alone making some. It was quite an experience. As you can see from the photo I did not use a big enough pan. Luckily it held the contents and was an easy cleanup: one pan to wash. I started off browning the extra lean beef and added vegetables including eggplant, onions, garlic, zucchini and more. Then the sloppy part comes. You add tomato sauce, a can of beans, honey, spices and simmer. Once the mixture was the right temperature and consistency I was ready to plate. I poured the sloppy Joe on top of a whole wheat bun and took my first bite. Delicious! It was certainly messy but honestly a fun and tasty meal. It reminded me of chili, which I love. So get your inner child out and remake your favorites. You'd be surprised how easy, scrumptious and flexible some of the basics can be. Bon appetit!

The Undercover Veggies

I actually went back to the gym today! I had been maybe once every two weeks since I've been sick so it was difficult and I was lame. My lungs couldn't understand what was happening, my legs, especially my knee, were sore and I was out of breath in an instant. Not to mention the sweat fest...gross. I was happy to be back working out though and hope to continue on. My new quest is to lose the target weight by my last 20-something birthday in April. 10 pounds, 9 weeks. I'm hopeful. Plus, I watched "Heavy" and got fully re-inspired to want to have courage and motivation.

Last night I continued my quest to incorporate more veggies in my diet by starting off sauteing onions, eggplant, baby bella mushrooms and tomatoes. From there I decided it would be a delicious ragu so I boiled some water for my whole wheat pasta shells. I added tomato sauce to my veggies and browned some extra lean turkey sausage.  Then I added a little treat of olive oil/cilantro/garlic spread on french bread and made some delicious crunchy accompaniments. Cristian hardly noticed the extra veggies. The best part was I brought some for lunch today and it was even more extraordinary. Healthy, here I come. And I'm taking my pasta with me!

Irony

If you read my last blog I had some majorly depressing news yesterday. Of course a very happy thing happened at the same time that I tried to be upbeat and supportive for but ultimately had the underlying sad tone that prevented me from being 100% genuine. My husband was promoted at work yesterday after only 7 months with the company. That caused quite a stir. I will preface that he was ranked #4 in the entire sales force for the month of December. That's out of 6,000+ sales staff. The issue is he jumped up 3 levels instead of one and suddenly became his boss' boss. It's great for us but there's been some drama at work. I'm so proud of him though. It's a great thing for both of us. He even inspired a colleague to go back to school now that they're seeing the aftermath of having a degree.

So a silent congrats to my wonderful husband who works so hard and truly deserves this. Cheers!

Another Sad and Scary Update

My grandma is not doing well. Normally I don't like sharing this information but writing seems to help. She has stopped her medication and has met with a hospice nurse. It seems she's planning for the inevitable. I looked up life expectancy of stage 4 lung cancer without treatment and it says the average is 8 months after diagnosis. It's been six. Scared. They're bringing in a hospital bed and morphine/meds to make her feel more comfortable and be able to stay at home and not go to the hospital. I feel like I'm the only one who understands the gravity of this. Fortunately, I received a call today from my Aunt Nina and she feels the same. Apparently all of her step children and husband feel the seriousness of this. My grandma either isn't acknowledging or isn't grasping the real depth. My mom finally "got it" that the cancer is terminal. It's hard to be far from home too. I feel helpless and trapped. My husband is of course wonderful and amazingly so is his family. They really care about me and my family. Even my friends are filled with sadness that I didn't expect.

I had to tell my boss who has been through many of these situations unfortunately and she recommended I read this book: On Death and Dying . I have been through the grievance of losing a loved one but the last time it was sudden and unexpected. This I feel we can prevent.

Prayers are welcome.

A New Journey

I have so far kept to my new years resolution as far as cooking goes. I went to a new supermarket "Sprouts" where I bought eggplant, plantains and other fruits and vegetables. I have never cooked a plantain and it's been awhile for eggplant. Tonight I will be making chicken in a curry sauce paired with the lightly fried plantains. Sounds good, we'll see how it turns out. As for the eggplant I found a Bobby Flay recipe for chicken and eggplant quesadillas that sounded amazing. I'm going to see if Cristian will eat it since he normally doesn't like eggplant. . Also, I've been cooking more healthy. I made lettuce cups with extra lean beef and a bunch of vegetables drizzled with a honey-soy-OJ sauce I mixed together. It was actually delicious. Do you ever find though that without a lot of protein or carbs it's hard to feel full? That's my dilemma right now. But I'm thinking I just need to retrain my stomach.

Outcome of the plantains to be continued...

The Nest

The Nest has a recipe for a fantastic looking truffled Mac n Cheese. YUMM!

Happy 2011!

Hello my fellow foodies! Happy New Year! This is the start of the first full year of being married and I couldn't be more excited. So much to look forward to! I've tried to come up with some good resolutions and goals for the year.

To start here are my cooking goals/resolutions:
1) Use more vegetables, more creatively, more often
2) Try new ingredients
3) Look for inspiration where I can get it
4) Take at least one technique class

I'm ready to get a great start to a healthy and delicious new year.

What are your resolutions?

Williams-Sonoma Meets Rachel Ray?

Well not exactly. But WS has put up a website of one month of 30 minute meals! Click here to check it out. Some great ideas and a good variety. It's gourmet meets my time crunch in the evening.
I'll be trying some this week and give you an update.