Scrumptious Spring Salad

Spring Lunch! So, I've been munchin' some majorly delish salads lately. I get up in the am and literally have meat and eggs. I need that fat and protein to start the day. I then want a lighter, and medium volume lunch.

It is Spring after all!

Salad! Fill yourself with fiber mid-day. Seriously. And the more components you add to your salad, the more fun it is to eat. Each bite is a bit different. Tantalize those taste buds mid day. Trust me. After you spend the morning listening to people tell you how machines are taking over their body, you need a fun lunch!




Morning procedure. Fill Tupperware 1/2 way with lettuce or spinach, whatever is on sale.

Add cherry tomatoes and grapes

Add mango, pineapple, strawberries, whatev! What do you have on hand? My salads are random!! Having an impulse control problem makes for some great meals!



Make your dressing! I have mini Tupperware from Ikea. For this salad combo I use a rice vinegar base. I add tamari and a few drops of sesame oil. Then a titch of siracha chili garlic sauce.



Put your salad dressing in your Tupperware now. It will fit, smoosh it! If you do this, it provides double coverage for your liquid. Spills happen people. You don't want your bag to smell like sesame oil...not that that's ever happened to me!!!



Now you will have some extra space around your dressing Tupperware. Fill it in! I love a big pinch of coconut flakes, gomasio sesame seeds and wasabi peas please!


Pack 'er away in your cooler lunch box. You have re-usable lunch wear correct? Whew. Good! Bring a beverage, a fork and some crackers etc to complete your lunch. Pull this baby out at noon, and say ooooh! Lookin yummy! Or go get chicken fingers from the hospital cafeteria. yeah. right!



Sit outside for lunch. Get some vitamin D! Salads are better when eaten in the sun:)

Brunch!

A rainy morning. Oh, goodness how I love them!!!! It is April after all. In any case, whenever I can, I apprehend ripe bananas from my Mom. She thinks she likes bananas. She doesn't. But, she keeps believing some day she will, and therefore keeps purchasing them. I do not really like bananas either. But, I love love love banana bread. So does Jon. Lucky him:) This weeks experiment was control vs raisins + coconut. I like the experiment, Jon likes the control. A loaf for each :)

Anyways, Jon joined for brunch. Offer a baked good and he's so there :) I gained my inspiration here. And, I so happened to have turkey, eggs, a tomato and cheese to use up. Plus the oven was already heated up. I'm green.

So. I took tortillas, and warmed them on a skillet. Then, sliced a roma tomato and dried it out a bit on the skilltet. I sprayed a baking sheet, and placed the torillas on the sheet. I added the tomato, and sprinkled some shredded pepper jack cheese. I then created a turkey breast moat so to speak. I cracked an egg in the middle and dusted cumin and corriander on top. Then, I popped it in the oven at 350, or whatever my crazy oven decided to rest at, and baked till egg was set. Delish.






btw, check out Jon and Nick's sweet dorothy inspired matching outfits last night! So stylin! The show was fantastic. The Vangobots rocked as usual, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yelstin were a treat live. Gotta love indie rock!

Gotta write a paper!

Well. I have to write my psych paper this week. yuck. I'm thinking i'll research gluten free diet for autism spectrum disorders. I hope my professor approves. I'm not sure what he would be interested in to be honest, but I think anytime someone pulls a newer/less researched treatment it's useful. I'm not looking up the 1500835th SSRI that is for sure.

Tonight however, I'm off to hear the Vangobots opening for Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.


Ha! Here are the websites: http://www.myspace.com/boris and http://www.myspace.com/thevangobots

Next: Drooling!!!! This is SO ON MY RADAR. I think i'll roast these this weekend. Catch ya on the flip side folks!

Pharaoh, Pharaoh, whoa baby, Let my people go—yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

To begin, I have to buzz about this beauty!

Who wants honeycomb?

I do! My good friend Dan raises bees. He so generously supplies me with honeycomb and jars of honey whenever the bees have some to spare! Last year, the bees were WAY into basswood. I'm not quite sure what this batch most represents, but I'm guessing it's heavy on the wild flower. Man, do I ever love honey. See the chunk bitten out of the right corner? I couldn't resist!!!

And now, for the main event.

Tradition, tradition, tradition!

Holy Moses! Gotta love the 10 commandments. I honestly think I have watched this movie every year that I can remember. I believe I had a Biochemistry exam once which prevented me from partaking in the glory that is ABC's presentation. I promptly drove my butt to Target and purchased my very own copy, so I would never miss the masterpiece again!

Saturday was so beautiful out, I actually spent the afternoon at the driving range! I was sharpening my.. um... skills. A trip to Rainbow followed and then home to whip up the munchies.

Of course, to accompany movie watching, you need an appetizer spread! I whipped up eggs, 2 shrimp dishes, popcorn, apples, cheese, olives and fudge! Enough to last through a 3 hour and 39 minute saga, as the introduction states! I had hard boiled the eggs and made the fudge earlier, so the entire production only took about 30 min! Pretty nice, if I don't say so myself.

Night-time pictures aside, it really turned out well.

Ready for recipes?
Fudge from My Sweet Vegan

Combine in a bowl:
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
3½ Cups Confectioner’s Sugar
½ Cup Dutch Process Cocoa Powder

Heat on stove till just bubbly
2 Tablespoons Margarine
½ Cup Regular Coconut Milk

Pour warm coconut milk on dry ingredients, let sit, then stir like a mad woman.
After well mixed, add.
½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Pour into greased pan, and top with coconut flakes. Press the flakes into the fudge. Cool well before cutting!

Eggs: Angel or devil? Hard to say, I spiced them up that is for sure. BUT, I filled them with hummus instead of egg yolk. Lower that cholesterol, ya all!

Make Karina's Jalapeno Lime Hummus, my way:) Take 1/2 out of the Cuisinart, and set aside. To the remaining half, simply add HALF of a chipotle pepper. Buy these babies canned and keep the remainer in the fridge. Add some to ketchup, or soup, or whatever!

Egg 1:
Fill with Jalapeno Lime Hummus. Garnish with a titch of cumin!

Egg 2:
Fill with Kicked up Chiptole hummus! - Your lipid panel thanks you! Especially since the next dish is...Shrimp!


Shrimp 1: Jon wanted shrimp a la Stella's cafe in Uptown:So, what do you do when you receive a specific request? Wing it!

Saute shrimp in butter, roughly chopped garlic, and Old Bay seasoning.
Serve in Easter egg bowl and pass it off as restaurant fare!

Shrimp 2: mission: use up coconut milk
saute chopped garlic in butter
Add a bit of chopped jalapeno
Add coconut milk
Simmer for a while
Add some adobo sauce, (from the chipotle can you opened for eggs!)
Add in shrimp, simmer till done.

Chop whatever sundries your family requires for movies. We NEED, and I mean NEED: popcorn, apples and cheese. I like some fancy olives too, you know, because I'm an adult.

So let it be written, so let this post be done!

Happy Easter!

A Banana Brunch

Yum. Banana bread. As promised, I baked last night. Wow, is that ever therapeutic. Baking and vacuuming do wonders for my mood! Gosh, how very 1952 of me! I guess right now I'm ...

















I guess vs this.



















Anyways. Of course. The recipe is Karina's. I've never tried banana bread before, but honestly if you are baking GF, mushy fruit in the recipe is a GREAT omen. It always turns out delicious!

Here's the recipe! I used 4 very ripe bananas and Cornstarch instead of arrowroot starch. I also did one loaf with chocolate chips and one without! You know, for the experimentation...you need a control!




The flour mix, from La la la Linda!


Banana "puree", Or mashed adequately with a fork.


Before! L: No choc chips, but topped generously with coconut, nutmeg and cinnamon. Did you know I had a patient who snorts nutmeg? yep. Whatever floats your boat! And R: hidden beneath the surface you'll find a precisely measured handful of chocolate chips.


Clean up time! Bread baking gives you time to wash dishes AND shower!




And they're out! Cooling away, and smelling fantastic. The coconut browned a little more than I'd like. Maybe next time I'll try it inside the loaf. I then covered them in foil and hit the sack!



This morning I woke up, made my usual breakfast and sat down to study. I was scheduled in the Behavior Emergency Center today, so I had a late shift. It was so nice to enjoy the morning sun. Do you spy George napping on the couch?

Ahhh, a perfect mid morning snack! Banana brunch bliss!

Ecopolitan with a budding ecopolitician!

Nick and I had planned on visiting this little gem seasonally. Alas, busy schedules intervene. You know, what with the obamamania/SXSW and med school that has been occupying our respective lives lately. We finally ended up meeting for a nice dinner on Tuesday, and oh boy was it glorious.




I narrowly escaped being hit by a flying psych table in order to whisk myself away to this tranquil ecopolitan table. I'm not kidding, those wacky kiddos. Watch out!!! Thank goodness George has been giving me "Reflex Lessons", free of charge.



Yum! We opted for appetizers, since we had both had a late lunch and had entrees last visit. My Trio sampler: pesto, hummus and olive tapenade with flax crackers. The olive tapenade is something I HAVE to try to replicate. I'm pretty sure there were also some sundried tomatoes in there, and something smoky. I'm thinking just a pinch of chipotle could do the trick...gears are spinning!

Nick's Bruschetta, with balsamic onions and oat focaccia slices. I opted to pass on sampling this, as the oat issue is something I just chose to surrender to. However, he gobbled it up, which is a good thing!

Next time I really think we should go for a pizza or breakfast. I would love to try someone else's pancakes, and their incorporation of flax is flaxtastic by me! My pancakes tend to sit like a rock in your stomach, not a pleasant adjustment after a life of my mom's honey wheat dimes!


Alrighty folks, off to make some banana bread! Stay posted! And, really, make sure your feet are clean for tomorrow!

Sunday Slowdown!

Ahhh. Ready for another week on the psych ward!!!! Sunday is my day of errands and chores. I love going to sleep Sunday night with clean laundry, fresh sheets and a vacuumed apartment! What better way to wind down than relax in my spic and span apartment with a Sunday night treat! Prosecco and Sparkling Pomegranate juice will be bubbling my nose as I hunker down for an epidsode of Chopped on Food Network!




I will be savoring some mango Italian ice and admiring my Santa Chiara souvenir my parents picked up for me in Italia! Now, Italian ice can't compare to this pic from M&Ds trip... but I'll close my eyes and pretend:)



And check out this baby! A huge diamond wine cork from Patina! A girl has gotta treat herself now and again! Have a happy week everyone. My fridge is now stocked, so I'm hoping to get some recipes up this week!!!