Thursday, March 29, 2012

Tasty Snacks


Recipes to come shortly. 
I do so love lazy day snacks that I eat so much of that they then turn into lunch.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Migas

When I was doing my normal morning routine of checking all my blogs on my google reader, I stumbled upon this recipe on one of my favs, 1cupawesome. I knew I had to make it. I made a few changes, simply because I didn't have a jalapeno and I selfishly wanted to save the avocado for some chickpea avocado smash. (but that's another story) I've not made migas before, so this was any body's guess as to how it was going to turn out.
Chop everything up, scramble the eggs and get to ready cook!
 First, put the chorizo in a med-high heated pan and let the fat render out. Throw in the tortilla strips.
 Toss the tortilla strips in the fat from the chorizo, cook for 3-4 minutes until they start to crisp up. (if there isn't much fat from the chorizo, add 1-2 tbs of olive oil.
Toss in the onions, let them cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add in the scrambled eggs. Cook until the eggs are almost done, then add the tomatoes and cheese. Stir until cooked to your liking. Season with salt and pepper.
 Put into a bowl and add cilantro. If you're PB and love spice, throw on some sriracha sauce first and enjoy.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Spring Break Saturday

There is something about the first Saturday of Spring Break that is magical. I know that it seems to be the same as every other Saturday; but this one is full of potential. All because everything I normally try to squeeze into two weekend days can now be done in ONE WHOLE WEEK. Insert extreme relaxation here. So I began this particular Saturday with a cup of tea and a bagel, along with a fabulous amount of time reading. After my busy morning of reading and relaxing, I had a massive chocolate/sweet craving. I know, I could've taken the time to bake something, but when I opened my cupboard and saw this cast of characters, I knew all I would need is a spoon. Please don't judge, but I have to admit that Mallow Fluff and Nutella (or NuCreme if you're me) are an amazing combo add the classic peanut butter, and life is only good. Try it, I dare you not to love it.
The weather is lovely today, so I'm off to enjoy a little sunshine. Have a fabulous weekend!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Bliss of a Lazy Weekend

I had plans for this weekend, things jotted down with little boxes to be happily waiting to be checked off as I completed each task. Then the weekend came. This Saturday was Gloomy. With a capital G. It was foggy and messy and totally unmotivating. So I did what every normal person would do. I hooked my hard drive up to the TV, grabbed my knitting and a blanket and spent the day watching television and movies. I'd like to say I changed out of my pajamas, accomplished something and demolished that checklist. False. I stayed in my PJ's all day. I can't say that I am ashamed I did this, I am slightly guilty about the amount of this
that I ate. Did you ever have something that you weren't allowed to eat as a child? My no-nos were sugary cereal. No sugary cereals allowed for me. I am one of those people who genuinely like Total and Grape Nuts, as a result. However, every now and then I get a massive craving for sugary nonsense most kiddos got to scarf. So I indulge. Also, I only eat these delicious fake fruit rings plain- no milk please! After a day filled with utter nothing, eventually I got off the couch long enough to ask PB what we were going to do for dinner. (I was soo not in the mood to cook.) We ordered pizza and had some bevs to celebrate St. Pat's day. I skyped with my future sister-in-law and knitted some more. And then Sunday, we awoke to this: 


SNOW! IN MARCH! I had all kinds of Springy thoughts last week, and then this. EW. But luckily, the sun came out and did this. Score one for Mother Nature. The snow melted on my bubble and I scooted out to get groceries. At least I accomplished something this weekend! 

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Not Your Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup

(Sorry about the pic, had to take it on my mobile, as I totally forgot to charge my camera battery, not one of my better moments, I'll admit.)
As the winter clings on, my habit of making soup at least once a week continues. 
So this week: Curried Chicken Noodle Soup. 
It's not too spicy (my tummy would not approve) but it's a great combination of flavors.


Ingredients
2 lb of Chicken Breast, cut into bite sized pieces
21 ounces of Coconut Milk (1 1/5 cans)
2 tbsp Red Curry Paste- I bought mine, I didn't make it (gasp)
1tsp Ground Turmeric
1 1/2 pints (generous 3 cups) Chicken Stock
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
handful of Coriander Leaves, roughly chopped
14 ox Dried or Fresh Egg Noodles- not the super flat ones if you can manage there are thicker ones , I, living in Beijing, got to take what I can get.


Garnishes (which I totally forgot to photograph, cause I'm awesome)
1-2 Red Chillies, seeded and finely diced
4 Shallots, finely sliced
4 Spring Onions, sliced at an angle


Directions
1. Pour the contents of one can of coconut milk into a wok or large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until it comes to rolling boil, add curry paste and turmeric. Stir to make a rich sauce, then reduce heat and cook for 3 minutes.
2. Ad the chicken and stir in spicy mixture until well coated. Pour in the other 1/2 can coconut milk, fish sauce and soy sauce, then cook over medium heat until chicken is tender, about 8 minutes.
3. Cook noodles according to package.
4. Place noodles in bowls and pour on the soup. Top with coriander leaves and garnishes to your taste.
ENJOY!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Spring is Almost Here...

It's getting warmer, not full on Spring all the time here, but warmer. The sun was shining and it was a splendid day. I even drove with my awesome bubble tuk tuk 1/3 open! I was thinking fresh, springy thoughts when I was making dinner. So on the menu tonight: grilled veggies and cous cous. 
Here are the veggies I chose, you can choose whatever looks good to you, just choose hearty veggies that will hold up to the grill or grill pan. Cut the veggies into thickish slices to prepare them for the grill. If you are doing this on an out door grill, brush the veggies with olive oil to stop them from sticking. We don't have a proper grill yet, so indoors on the grill pan it was for me.

Grill the veggies until they are done to your liking. Cooked, but still slightly crisp is mine. I cooked the peppers straight on the gas flame of my stove top, so that they could get nice and charred.  Look at all this grilled veggie glory.

After you char the peppers, you can put them in a bag so the steam will loosen the skin. After a few minutes the steam will do its work and you can take the peppers out of the bag and peel off the skin. They will look like this: To help you, you can rinse it under water while rubbing the skin of the pepper. It will slip off without a problem.
Boil water for your cous cous, when it's boiling, take it off the heat add salt and cous cous. Put a lid on the pot and let the cous cous absorb the water for at least five minutes. Fluff the cous cous with a fork. Mix in 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp. paprika and salt/pepper to taste.
 After grilling all the vegetables, cut them into tasty pieces and arrange atop the cous cous. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and enjoy!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Last 2 Days!

Sorry about the lateness for on this post, but my internet was DANG slow at my house, so I couldn't upload all this fun stuff. But it's finally uploaded, wahoo! 
Day 28: Money
While technically this isn't money, it's worth a lot of money and I just got it, so when I look at it I think of money. That said, it's totally money in another way. You know, when people say "that's so money!" when something is awesome. Because my new bubble tuk tuk is awesome. It goes zoom zoom and has a cover to protect me from the cold. Bonus, it has room for passengers. 
Well, more like passenger, but it's still FABULOUS! 
Day 29: What I'm Listening To
 To go along with my recent purchase, I've been rockin' out to this Paul Simon classic. You know you love it. Everyone needs some Paul Simon in their day. Enjoy!
The February Photo Challenge is complete. PHEW! However much I complained about posting photos and such daily, I did really like the motivation to post almost every day. Let's hope I can keep it up!