Vegan Dinner

We took a turn hosting a Vegan Dinner Party.  We are not vegan, we are not considering becoming vegan or vegetarian, but I do think it's a great occasional experience and opportunity to step out of our comfort zone of cooking and try new things.

We didn't really step too far, though.  Both recipes we made are foods we regularly eat around our house, although one of them was missing the cheese, the other sour cream.  They were good, but both ingredients were missed (by me)!! (Especailly the cheese!!)

We set up a second table in our living room to make sure everyone had space, but because of a last minute cancellation we all just squashed into the main table.

We made bean and tomato stuffed sweet potatoes and Stuffed Green Pepppers. Both are easy and healthy. Ironically, the last time we made stuffed peppers we added sausage because of my OB's concern about my protein intake and lack of weight gain.  This time, we took out the cheese.  The sausage was a better recipe change as it turns out!!

I certainly won't be turning vegan any time soon.  I think it's incredibly difficult (although not impossible) to maintain a healthy diet this way, but I do enjoy trying new foods and creatively excluding some ingredients from my dishes.

Although there are very very few foods Colin won't eat, he was a fan of the leftovers!  Also, he slept great through the entire event!
 

Cooking with Sister

My sister is in town.  She's a fantastic housemate and we've been having a great time.  Last week we made a delicious dinner together.

(Okay to be honest, she made everything.  I just cooked the shrimp because she'd never worked with raw shrimp before)

Grilled Cabbage Wedge Salad

Shrimp Pasta in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce

I would love to share the recipe with you, but I don't understand pinterest.  I mean, I really really don't get it.  So you'll have to get a hold of Cheryl if you want to know!

Juice Days and Veggie Days

This week was a rough week for food.  But we managed both!  Sometimes life makes it quite difficult, but I was proud of our effort.

Because of schedules, appointments, and life in general, making juice was not really an option.  I found it much more difficult to drink store bought juices all day.  Most are way too sweet to be a decent meal and even tomato juice has too much salt.

Wednesday I had my first opps at breakfast when I forgot what day it was, but I made it up by having a veggie breakfast on Thursday.

I have no great photos of my food this week, but I have this instead.

I didn't order a designated vegetarian entree, but for some reason was really proud of the sticker on my potato taco from Taco Mesa:

Juice Monday, Edition 1

As I mentioned, we are switching to a weekly juice day.  Monday.

This week, my goal was to move away from juice 'recipes' with the idea that we have a general idea of what kind of juice we like (and hate) so we should be able to put together some decent juices.

Nice bowl of fruit, but not even half the fruits and veggies for today!

We had gone on a little hike in San Juan Capistrano and brought home a few super tart oranges so we juiced those first.  I thought it was great, although it was too sour for Gavin!

Hawaiian sunrise is the pretty juice we keep making for breakfast.  Same thing today, except we used our tart orange juice instead and didn't use as many oranges as we normally would.

Hawaiian Sunrise, even the waste is pretty!

First Juice Monday juices!

Our second juice of the day was pure carrot juice.  We used about a pound and a half of carrots.  Have I mentioned that I love carrots?

I <3 u, carrots

Third juice was a homemade recipe.  I've insisted it would be a good idea to juice iceberg lettuce.  So we did!  Half a head of lettuce, spinach, cucumber and apples.  Very green juice.  It wasn't bad, although it did separate and looked awful until shaken.

We find green juices a bit difficult, so we bought one to steal the idea:  Green Machine for dinner!

No better way to end a juice day so far than Strawberry banana, one package of strawberries, one banana.

Today was challenging because it was so cold.  It's hard to drink cold juice all day when it's cold.  When I was drinking the carrot juice, all I could think about was the warm delicious carrot and orange soup we often make.  I imagine it may be a tad bit easier at room temperature, but I never realized just how comforting warm food is!

Juice Diaries: Half day 3

So the second half of day 2 was... more difficult.

I found myself feeling absent minded and disoriented at work, not to mention irritable in general.  Two of our juices yesterday were quite... awful.  The first was a green juice that had lots of kale.  I don't like Kale, I don't care of if it's a miracle food.  The second had tomato, red peppers, yellow peppers, and some other random veggies in it.  The recipe suggested adding hot sauce.  I'm glad we didn't.

When I got home, we were both in quite a mood.  At one point Gavin stopped me, looked me in the eyes, and earnestly said, 'Let's just eat 1 cracker.'  I laughed.  As if I was going to break a juice face for a freaking cracker!  You must be joking me.  We both had headaches and a craving for almost anything solid.  Our last juice was good: kiwi and blueberries, but so tart it almost burned to drink it!  Maybe some things were not intended to be concentrated?  

Instead of giving in, we escaped into the imaginary worlds of Elder Scrolls and survived the rest of the day stealing food and force feeding it to my character.  :)

This morning, the juice was fine.  Plain Orange.  Some of the oranges weren't quite ripe and so the juice was a little tart, but otherwise good.  Today is an important day at our house, so we decided to take lunch off and had a light sushi lunch in celebration.  Tonight we have some other green type juice that I'm really not looking forward too, but we have a nice desert strawberry banana juice.

I can see the general idea of the diet: lots of fruit and veggies.  It is a severe violation of my 'moderation is best' rule.  I've suggested to Gavin maybe trying one day a week of juice instead of groups of days.  Apparently this would offend most of the juice fanatics, but I think I'm okay with that.

As far as cooking in general, we're working on ideas to reintroduce a routine and joy to eating at home again.  So far it looks like we are planning on 'Juice Mondays' and the reintroduction of 'Veggie Wednesdays.'

So I'm lifting my juice glass high to a year a new year of cooking adventures, including but thank god not limited to drinking juice!    

Juice Diaries: Halfway into Day 2

Day 2.

When I woke up, I was quite excited about our morning juice.  Gavin made the same breakfast juice as yesterday: Hawaiian Sunrise.  It's tasty and pretty!


Hawaiian Sunrise
      Grapefruit, peeled – 24 oz. = 2 very large
      Pineapple, with most rind removed – 16 oz. = 2 inch slice
      Orange, peeled – 24 oz. = 6 medium

It was perfect and I sat pleasantly drinking it.  That was the last positive thought I've had about juice since.

First, "Green Machine" leaked all over my lunch box.  It was also suppose to be my 9 am snack.  It was awful and I had to bargain with myself to finish it, which I eventually did, just a few minutes ago, and just in time for the next juice of the day: zipper.  I don't remember exactly what's in this juice, but I can tell you for sure it has ginger in it.  It's not bad it's just oddly... unidentifiable which is particularly mystifying since I just made it myself yesterday.  The color is a bit odd as well.

Incredibly, this photo just doesn't do the color justice...

So... there's my update!

The Juice Diaries

Gavin got a juicer for Christmas.  He watched a movie and was set on the benefits of juice.

Enter Juice Diet.

Today was day 1.

I apologize in advance for the pictures.  My camera, like me, was out of batteries.

This is all of the required fruits and veggies for two days.  TWO.

One 'meal'

Juice Master himself

Breakfast juice cast offs

Lunch castoffs

Final Product: Breakfast

The rest of our meals for the day

Gavin's conclusion was that it was a lot harder than he was anticipating.  It was exactly as hard as I was anticipating!  Fruit is expensive.  And our kitchen looked a bit like a food fight had happened.  For me, as soon as I can't have something, I want it three times as much.  It was so bad that even the food in Skyrim looked tasty!

The juice is satisfying, so it's not that I was hungry exactly.  More that I wanted to eat things!  My favorite juice, not surprisingly, was strawberry banana.  My least favorite was something involved parsley, kale, ginger and carrots.

I'll try to post some of the recipes, but I have to convince Gavin to give them up first!

Thanksgiving

Mid December and I just now get around to posting about Thanksgiving?  

I've lost my umph as it was SO long ago, so just a few pictures and a quick summary:

Table, should have used a brighter table cloth, there's always next year!

Dinner, which I now realize you can't even see in the photo...

Bread Pudding

Dinner:

Butternut Squash Soup

Homemade Wheat Bread

Gavin's family stuffing ( a meal in itself, really)

Sauteed Baby Carrots

Cheryl's Green Bean Casserole

Deviled Eggs by my mom

Fresh Turkey from El Toro Meats

Mom's Apple Cider

Bread Pudding with Canadian Maple Syrup Glaze

Everything came out great and it was a nice day at home cooking with my husband and enjoying my family.  The never frozen turkey turned out fantastic.  I'd certainly recommend it over a frozen turkey any day.

What's for dinner? Raw Fish!

Yep, I finally I did it.  I finally worked up the nerve to prepare uncooked fish in my kitchen!  We don't do cooked fish because I don't eat cooked fish, so it's actually my first time using our 'fish' cutting board as well! (Okay, Okay, I've used it before when the others were dirty.)

Edamame Ahi Towers

There's a place we eat near our house that has an ahi nacho dish that's usually delicious and sometimes atrocious.  I decided to steal some elements from their dish and combine in with some of my own.  The hardest part was finding a meat market with sashimi grade fish.  I eventually found one, and the fish was fine, but I probably need to find a different place for next time.

The elements I chose for my tower were edamame, guacamole, salmon, chives.  I made the sauce out of wasabi, wasabi mayonnaise, dijon mustard, line juice, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, sweet onion, fresh basil, salt and pepper.   

   
I started with a layer of mashed avocado.  I don't know if that's standard, but the engineer in my couldn't build my tower on the non-cohesive foundation of edamame beans!

I was pretty impressed with the results.  I surprised Gavin with a tranquil date night mood dinner in the middle of the week (although this has kinda been my thing lately, so not sure it's actually a surprise anymore!)  

What's for dinner? Guest Chef

I have a few fantastic friends.  This week I had a rough week and Jen made the LA to OC trek to cook me lunch.  She arrived with all ingredients ready to go.  

Jen did a fantastic job of describing our delicious meal here so I won't subject you to a less informative description.  I'll just add my "OMG it was delicious!" Commentary.

I haven't been eating nearly enough vegetables (I probably haven't been eating enough in general, but veggies are certainly a huge missing element)  so this meal was perfect.  I'll post one picture, but go check out Jen's blog for the REAL ones! :)

Very yummy food

And I'm kinda proud of myself, because I think I'm at least partially responsible for this:

Thank you so much, Jen.  You are fantastic. 

What's for dinner? Easter Edition

For Easter, my sister came to visit and we cooked!

I was primarily responsible for the eggs (which came out lovely, although I failed to get a picture.  No idea how that happened!)

My sister made green bean casserole.  Gavin made the mashed potatoes and ham.  We didn't want a whole ham so we just bought already cooked sliced ham and fried it.  It was good and saved us having to suffer through weeks of ham sandwiches or the guilt of throwing them away.

My favorite part of our Easter dinner was our egg surprises. 

Last year, Gavin and I made these when we colored eggs.  We both put things inside for each other.  Both of us put things representing our wedding planning.  I wish I had the material to do it again this year, but there's always next year.  I suspect traditions aren't going to really survive this year, but maybe they'll come around again next year.

What's for dinner? Dinner 1-Amy 0

This week Gavin and I ventured back into the kitchen in full force.  Today, I retreated.

If you haven't noticed, cooking/eating/everything has been a bit of a struggle for me lately.  We started off strong enough with a meal plan and a list.  Getting to the store was a challenge, but no pain no gain, right?

Last night, we made bacon wrapped meatloaf and mashed potatoes from Rachel Ray 365.

We laughed, drank wine and enjoyed the end result.  We even cleaned up cheerfully (sorta). 

Today, the kitchen taught me that it is impossible to work a 12 hour day and come home and cook dinner.  Even if that dinner is a '30 minute meal'. 

In reality, today's dinner wasn't much different than yesterday, as shown below.

Lemon and Thyme Chicken and Gnocchi.  But my was it problematic.  Chicken wouldn't cook all the way (I cooked it 2 times the recommended time and STILL had to butterfly them... )  I was missing one of the ingredients (an onion).  I DESTROYED my kitchen (mostly thanks to the frying of the chicken).  And I ended up with a mediocre meal that made me wish I had just gone through a drive-thru.

As I sat down to write this post, I immediately realized that the kitchen challenges were likely directly linked to a very busy work day, but still, I realize that I have been defeated by my kitchen.

What's for dinner?

Dinner, which was once an approximately regular part of my day, has become quite a bit more difficult this year.

Lately, what's for dinner has tended more towards Monsoon Indian in Palm Springs (at least a few days a week!) or the TV dinner our office manager makes for me because I haven't left the office for hours. 

Still, there have been a few nights of cooking.  Last week, I made some lamb on white means and rice for Gavin.

And last night, Jen made me an awesome pasta dish. 

What I'm going to try to figure out tomorrow is how to eat remotely healthy when you're spending 3+ nights away from home and 60+ hours at work.  Any suggestions are welcome!

What's for dinner?

A blog about what we had for dinner!  If you want to see our cookbooks, check out the cookbook shelf link at the top my the blog.

Monday:   Steak Sandwiches and rosemary potatoes, Our own Creation

We decided to abandon are seldom used extra refrigerator so we had to make room for our wedding cake in our primary freezer. We decided to defrost some steak and make sandwiches!  They came out great!  I made a quick gravy after Gavin cooked the meat.  Delicious!

Tuesday:Trader Joe's Tacos & Buffalo Wild Wings

My sister came up Tuesday and had to have Buffalo Wild Wings, but I had already defrosted some ground turkey so made the taco's anyway.  I used Trader Joe seasonings which I had never had before.  They were good, but it suggested half the packet, I used the entire packet and still felt it could use a little bit more.

Wednesday: Hunger Strike 

I actually wrote an entire post about this, but don't know what happened to it.  I think my Droid Blogger App ate it.  Anyway.  40 hour fast meant no dinner Wednesday and Thursday.



Thursday:  Hunger Strike 2.0

Friday: Take Out Sushi from Wasabi, Palm Springs Ca


Gavin came to visit me and since we had dog face with us, we couldn't really go anywhere.  Plus, I had a ton of work so Gavin just brought this meat-free dinner to me!  I probably wouldn't go back to this place, but the food was fine.

Saturday:Outback Steakhouse

Somehow, my project was running on time enough that I was able to sneak home Saturday night so my animals wouldn't forget who I was!  Gavin and I went to Outback. It brought back memories.  We used to go to outback all the time after ceramics class covered in clay and craving a blooming onion.  No clay covered clothing or deep friend onions this trip, though!

Sunday: Not Sure

I'm back in Palm Springs, so no idea what, if anything, I'll eat for dinner.  I have a short lull in work, but things are going to get hectic tonight.  Wish me luck.

What's for dinner?

A blog about what we had for dinner!  If you want to see our cookbooks, check out the cookbook shelf link at the top my the blog.

As I warned last week, I wasn't thinking I had a chance at any culinary awards this week... I mean, look at my groceries for the week:

Not exactly stellar, right?  Not to mention I drove over 1000 miles this week!  Well, won't you be surprised when you get to Friday, then!  Still... overall, not an impressive week. 

Monday:   KFC

Hey!  Stop making that face, I'm the one who had to eat it!

Tuesday: Skipped Dinner

You would have to if you ate KFC the previous night!

Wednesday: Bratwurst with wasabi mayonnaise 

 My Chicago born and raised husband was more than a little disdainful of my use of mayonnaise, but it's my dinner, I'll add calories if I want too!  Apparently it is correct to drink bear with brats, so that is a Pete's Wicked Ale and by far the darkest beer I've ever drank.  Not bad.  Overall, a good meal.  Mostly because it was the first of the week I spent with my husband.




Thursday:  Meatball Sub

Gavin was working and all I had was leftover meatballs defrosted from a few weeks ago, then I realized I had hot dog buns!  I was really impressed with my little concoction!  Of course, it was the meatballs in red pepper sauce recipe which is pretty much the best to being with.

Friday: Date Night!  Cheese Fondue, edamame and orange salad with soy vinaigrette, William Sonoma Healthful Cooking


And then Friday, I cooked! Like I really cooked!  Gavin had a softball game so I decided to surprise him with a romantic meal.

Pretty romantic if you ask me...

The salad was relatively easy (for a William Sonoma recipe at least!) and very refreshing.  The cheese fondue was relatively simple: milk, flour, Jarlsberg Cheese and dry white wine (Cupcake Chardonnay)  I decided to keep it simple and serve with fresh french bread and sliced apples.

I was pretty proud of my impromptu salad presentation:

I love romantic nights at home.


Saturday: Japanese Grill with Lisa and Chris

Saturday we braved LA traffic to check out the travel show with Jen and meet up with Lisa and Chris in Sherman Oaks after.  It was a cute little Japanese Grill whose name escapes me at the moment.  It was Korean BBQ style cooking which was new to me in a Japanese restaurant but reasonably priced and good. Between traffic and the general populous, I still contend that I dislike LA.

Sunday: Selma's Chicago Pizza

Today, something about the rain made Gavin and I really want deep dish Chicago Style Pizza.  So Selma's!  Love their pizza and had a Orange Wheat and Framboise beer.  Not a bad way to end a rough week.

Next week is looking to be a tough week as well, especially with this weather. 

What's for dinner?

A blog about what we had for dinner!  If you want to see our cookbooks, check out the cookbook shelf link at the top my the blog.

Monday:   Chipotle

I used to hate Chipotle.  Mostly because I hated their meat, so I switched to veggie bowls and all was well.  Then I discovered barbacoa.  Meat is back in at Chipotle!!

Tuesday: Take Away Sushi from Sushi Plantation!


Driving a few hundred miles a day really makes you want to stay home.  Normally I don't like sushi at home at all, but alas, tired body insisted.  Gavin was so sweet to go pick up all of our favorites!  Not as good as in person, but so nice to have some time at home.

Wednesday: Worst Meal Ever: Tomato and cheese sandwich in Palm Springs.

All I wanted was some Ash Wednesday friendly meat free fare.  I gps'ed it and figured Italian would be safe: cheese pizza?  Nope... this place didn't have much to offer.  I should have just left, but instead I stayed for the most awkward meal ever surrounded by a less friend version of cheers who were all already blasted, at 3:15 in the afternoon...  I only got one meal on Wednesday and it wasn't pleasant. 


Thursday:  Veggie Nachos with Alyssa at Taco Mesa

Thursday I was exhausted again, so I made a baked potato.

Luckily, Alyssa was kind enough to invite me over to Taco Mesa to pick on some veggie nachos later in the evening!

Friday: Pre-softball Carbs- Spaghetti

Gavin joined a softball league, so to get him ready for his game, I made some carbs!

That basil leaf is the first yield from this seasons AeroGarden!  Expect more fresh herbs in my cooking starting in the next few weeks!



Saturday: Mexican Food at the JSerra Knights Poker Tournament. 


Gavin and I spent last night at a charity poker tournament through our church.  More on that later.

In the spirit of Movie Date #1, we had some wine and cheese on the balcony before we went.  Only instead of the 24th floor overlooking Melbourne, it was the 2nd floor overlooking Amberly Lane.  And it couldn't have been more beautiful.

Sunday: Sorta homemade butter chicken

I have been craving Indian food pretty much all the time lately.  So when I came across a butter chicken sauce at World Market, I was quite excited! It was easy.  I just stir-fried the chicken then simmered in the sauce for a while.  I would certainly make it again.

Next week is shaping up to be a doozy if my grocery shopping is any indication....

What's for Dinner?

A blog about what we had for dinner!  If you want to see our cookbooks, check out the cookbook shelf link at the top my the blog

Monday:   Eggplant and Pepper Stoup with Indian Spices (Rachel Ray 365)

I love Indian food.  My husband does not.  Hence I rarely get to eat it.  I never cook Indian both because my husband dislikes it and it smells so strong.  I chose this because it was mild but I thought it might be good enough to hold me over.  Eh... it was okay.

Tuesday: Paprika Chicken From Cori's Kitchen.

Tuesday I did the round trip Palm Springs commute (ick) so I was exhausted when I got home.  Gavin helped me make paprika chicken recipe his sister gave us last year at our wedding shower.  It was pretty good and smelled amazing.  The sauce didn't thicken up how we wanted, but it was still good.

Wednesday: Sushi Date with Gavin at Sushi Plantation in Mission Viejo

I've written about Sushi plantation many times before.  No disappointment here!  (I also had Indian for lunch to make up for Monday, Gandhi Palace in Anaheim, pretty good.)


Thursday:  Olive Garden, Palm Springs.

The think about traveling for business is that I'm all about doing as much business as possible.  That means 10, 12, 14 hour days if I have any energy for it.  So when it's time to pack up and sleep I usually just pick a logo I recognize (and an easy to get into driveway) and eat.  Hence, Olive Garden.

Friday: Javier's, Newport Coast

I met up with some friends at Javier's.  I had a shrimp salad.  The dressing was good, but it wasn't really my type of place.  I also drank my first Corona Light.  Beer is weird.



Saturday: Sushi on Fire, Huntington Beach with  Jen.


I had a super weird Saturday that involved photographing clouds, several shopping spree, glow in the dark bracelets, throwing sand, and having dinner with Jen.  Can't really beat delicious food with an insightful, sympathetic, understanding friend.  And free sake, too. 

Sunday: Rosemary Chicken and sweet potatoes and baby broccoli aka, whatever was left over from last week  

I think it's a sign of my culinary growth that I'm no longer completely daunted by the idea of cooking something with out set ingredients and a cookbook.  (To be fair, I used to always cook like that, which is why I was then terrified to attempt it!)  I didn't hear any complaints about today's results.

Last weeks goal was to not skip any dinners.  Mission accomplish.  Lunch and breakfast didn't fare so well, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.  This is gonna be a tough week, so no promises.  But I'll try.