Oh How Time Flys

Hello World,

Long time no posts :( J and I sincerely apologize for the long delay.  So many things have happened since the last post and I guess life just threw us into a big fog.  We really didn't have time to blog.  And once one blog was delayed we kept at it.  We actually have taken pictures of all the food we ate...we just didn't post them on the blog.  But as the new year is approaching and our love for food grows I would have to say we are picking up the steam on this blog once again.  It will be full of food posts in no time (in a timely manner of course).

To recap the last five months in a few paragraphs...I started my first term at university and it went very well.  It was hard to try to balance everything but eventually everything fell into place.  J is busy as always with his business, lots of clients and lots of late nights at the office.  I started working at Bath & Body Works and let's just say I smell phenomenal when I leave work.  We've been on tons of adventures together, one of which I will talk about today.  And now here I am back in Texas, spending time with the fam for the holidays.  It's quite chilly here today and I can't wait to get back to California!  But in other news, lets get to the food!

Last Friday (I was leaving on Sunday) J surprised me with a trip to Hollywood after all my finals were finished.  It was a Christmas present for us both.  To my pleasant surprise he had booked us a tour on Tourific Escapes.  J heard about the tours from a blog we both follow Lynn Chen's The Actor's Diet. If you guys haven't heard of them, it's a Food & Tourist tour throughout Hollywood (they also have a Santa Monica tour) the tours are hosted by a husband (Matt) and wife (Trish) team.  We visited 6 restaurants on our tour and got to hear about the awesome history of Hollywood.  We don't want to ruin any stories if you guys are looking forward to attending, but let me just say this tour was amazaballs.  I left feeling well fed, knowledgable, and happy!  It was tons of fun and even if you've lived in LA all your life (like J) you still can learn loads on the tour.  We would definitely recommend this to future foodies and tourists visiting the city.  Here are some pictures from our day trip!

Just looking at the pictures again makes me want to experience it all again!  I would definitely be interested in attending their Santa Monica tour in the future.  After a wonderful tour we decided to some shopping.  Zara, H&M, then a detour to Santa Monica pier's mall (Nike, Love Culture, Nike, Forever  21, Urban Outfitters, and more I can't recount).  I scored some adorable boots for only $30.  

The next plan was to go ice skating but the storms begin to hit and the rain came a-pourin' so we decided to go back to San Diego where the skies were at peace.  Before heading off we hit up Real Foods Daily where J got a cup of coffee for the drive + a piece of hemp bread and I got a suppa strong ginger ale.  The atmosphere is nice but their service is definitely slow.  It took about 15-20 minutes to get our items. 

We got back to SD around 10 and hit up the restaurant Lotus Thai where I ate my weight in spicy fried rice.  J got the ush veggie dish minus Salmon and replaced with chicken this time.  It wasn't the best Thai food I've had in San Diego but it definitely hit the spot. 

Fast forward to Sunday where I boarded a plane from San Diego in flight to DFW.  I hadn't ate anything for about 10+ hours so when I landed in DFW it was safe to say I was famished.  I asked my parents to get me something to eat when I landed and being the Texans they are they showed up with Sonic Fast Food in hand.  I hadn't had this in months!  

 A cherry limeade 

 A double cheeseburger...I gulfed it down in T-minus 10 minutes.  Went home to rest and chill for a while.  It was definitely weird to be back in Texas...the weather actually felt like winter and the surroundings looked like it never changed from 6 months back.  That night my sister was raving about this restaurant that she had eaten at in Austin, TX and she found out they just opened up in Arlington.  

Let me introduce you to Rudy's...there's two gas pumps on the outside, a drive thru, a mini convience store inside, and a restaurant to take up the rest of the space.  Oh and the most important part?  You buy meat by the pound there.  Brisket, Turkey, Chicken, Pork oh my!  1/2 of Brisket is 5.99 and comes with unlimited amounts of sandwich bread slices, hot sauce, pickles, and pickled peppers.  Welcome to the South. 

 I can't say it wasn't delicious because it surely was and the price is hard to beat for meat.  I wouldn't recommend it for everyday consumption though! 

The next day was a potluck get together with my best friends.  Everyone was back in town and we cooked a vegetarian meal together!  I made raw vegan chocolate truffles (recipe out of Living Raw Food)  It was a big hit.  All the dishes were delicious. 

My plate all vegetarian filled with a taco roll, spinach balls, toasted bread topped with pesto and tomato, sweet potato hash, Teriyaki grilled tofu, and veggie scramble.  So delicious!  We were stuffed to the gills.  

Afterwards, the boys left and us girls had some catch up times.  We read old diaries and laughed at lists made up of cute boys, the hate list, and the love list.  Time flew by and we decided it was time to head home...but not after a thousand picture taking opportunities. 

Everything started off normal but then funny faces were put to action....

And ugly Christmas sweaters got involved. 

We ended up leaving way later than expected but all had a great time.  What a week it has been!  Look for future posts soon! 

Cheers,

C

YEEEEEE!!!

Big news.  Huge.  Quickly.  C got her first job offer today!!  YEEEEEE!!! We are sooooooooooooooooo happy since the company is known to have a great culture, the work is nearby in a safe area, and most importantly, C just feels right about joining the team.  It also happened on the 12th - 12 is our lucky number - and that has got to be a good harbinger if there ever was one!  I just got off the phone with C and could feel the excitement from her voice.  I know this is a food blog but just a quick shout out to C: I am sooooooo proud of you!!!!!!  :{)

So let's get to this week's eats:

Satty morning, we woke up and made a farmer's market frittata.  We always have loads of veggies in the fridge and this was easy to whip up.  C had never made a frittata before either - now she can check that off her life list.  =)  

 

We paired that up with some green tea made with unsweetened almond milk and agave.  We enjoyed it in C's new tea set.  Well, I enjoyed it. . .C doesn't like tea made with anything other than water.  Noted.

Satty night we watched the UFC fights (C loves fighting.  She is so blood-thirsty.) and C made us order some buffalo wings.  They were NOT good.  No photo of them either which is a good thing, believe you me.  Anyhow, Sunday was a new day so we woke up and made some french toast.  We healthified it by using Julian Bakery's Smart Carb #2 bread (cinnamon-raisin), organic omega-3 eggs, and a drizzle of organic agave instead of maple syrup.  We topped it off with some peach-flambe.  It was our last peach from the previous week's farmer's market and was insanely sweet.  Half of the peach went in the flambe, the other half went on our plate.  The results were favorable.

The peach was amazing.  Sweet enough to cause cavities, I'll tell you what.  NOH.  Fear not for us that it was our last peach since right outside was the weekly farmer's market. The weather was "eh".  And the company was alright, I suppose. 

Sunday had categorically been both C and I's least favorite day of the week.  But now, it's one of our favorite days.  Life is good to us.  So we picked up some flowers for the leaky pot.  $5 for the flowers.  What a steal!

Sunday night, C made beet with goat cheese ravioli from Sarma's book that her awesome friends got her for her last bday.  We cheated on the raw dish though since we used real goat cheese - pine nuts, which the recipe calls for, are priced in the bulk bin at Henry's at $32/lb!  What a steal!...from the grocery's side.  :-/  We also boiled the beets since we do not have a mandolin and slicing our fingers from cutting up raw beets is frowned upon.  The result of C's awesome creation.   It was incredible!

As a side dish, we enjoyed some organic ketchup!  Oh, paired with acorn squash fries that is. 

Moving to Monday, we were both down for a light dinner so we concocted a modified caprese.  Instead of mozzarella, we alternated goat cheese (herbed ourselves), brie, and avocado slices.  We used the heirlooms we got at the farmer's market (C's first taste of heirlooms!) and sprinkled oregano and italian parsley in lieu of basil.  We topped it off with squash blossoms.

We call it "caprese a la P.P.WM".  Qui qui.

It was served with kale chips rubbed down with nutritional yeast.

Tuesday night, I had to tend to a board meeting.  While I was out, C decided to make some mac n' cheese, healthified with quinoa macaroni and homemade "cheese" made with tofu, Bragg's liquid aminos, paprika, and some other stuff that C was listing off that I forgot since I was busy grabbing seconds.  :@)  Ok, this is my new favorite dish.  If I were to die tomorrow and had one last meal, then I'd choose C's mac n' cheese.  I'd also eat the whole pan and not limit myself to two plates since I wouldn't need to worry about gas in the after-life.  Of course, we had some greenage on the side (spinach sally) but alas, it took a back seat to the mac n'cheese.  Behold!

Yesterday C got the call back from her job.  We celebrated with cupcakes from Cups in La Jolla.  We got the fig cupcake topped with goat cheese frosting and the lemon ricotta.  I dug the lemon ricotta since the cake tasted like cornbread.  :)

Then we came back and ate a low-carb meal: almond crusted mahi mahi on top of a garlic cauliflower mash.  I added too much almond milk to the mash and it came out with a more liquid texture than I wanted.  C said it was good, and recommended we not be as prolific with adding garlic to the mash next time.  And by "we not being as prolific", she meant "you shouldn't be using that much garlic.  Idiot."  Thank you. 

Tonight we are off to get C new sneakers for her J-O-B, and then off to krav maga for some self-defense techniques.  Catch ya lata!  :)

-J

Simple Tuesday. Creative Thursday.

Sorry about the lack of daily posts, internet use is scarce in our active life.  I'm sitting here in Filter, a 24/7 coffee shop in San Diego.  What a fun week this has been.  It's my first down time week, getting use to San Diego, finding my way around.  Anyhow, let's get to the eats.  On Tuesday we were feeling like a simple dinner.  J whipped out some already thawed Mahi Mahi (purchased frozen from Costco), grabbed some foil, and I chopped some veggies.  Wrapped a bunch of veggies and the fish into the foil and let it broil in the oven for about 30 minutes.   It turned out beautifully.  

 

It took J about 5 minutes to prepare and tasted amazing.  I on the other hand made us some "Relax" iced tea (we had to watch Shutter Island after, scary stuff, ya know ;) ).  

Wednesday night we were feeling like we needed a night out, so we walked ourselves down a few blocks and dined at India Palace.  A cute little place in a strip mall, dim lighting and small booths.  We ordered two dishes to share.  J ordered the Fish Tikka Masala and I ordered the Baighan Bartha both 8's on a scale of 12 on spicy-ness.  Both were delicious with a side of rice and garlic naan.  It was my first go with Indian food and I was definitely pleased.  Many trips are going to be in my future. 

Yesterday night we had scheduled to go to a Hip-Hop dance class then go listen to some slam poetry.  Both of those plans fell through and we ended up walking around in Northpark.  Still a blasty blast, because we always have a wonderful time together!  We came home around 9 and were feeling quite creative.  J decided to make some zucchini pasta and I made us some sally to have in our lives.   One whole zucchini was spiraled (thanks to Joyce Chen's spiralizer).  J then cooked the last of Tofurky’s Italian Sausage, added some kalamata olives, some spice, one artichoke heart, tomato sauce, and garlic.  The end product was soooooooo good!  I on the other hand made the salad (baby spinach, carrot, tomato, avocado, cauliflower, artichoke hearts).  The dressing was made with EVOO, agave, lemon juice, black pepper, and sea salt.  Tossed around and it tasted amazing also if I don't say so myself ;) 

 

I would highly recommend this recipe,  I am craving some right now!  

Have a fabulous Friday, everyone! 

-C

Sunday Funday. Monday Stir-on-day.

I’m here eating some leftover quinoa from Satty and it is sooooo good.  I think the flavors came together even more with time – which is, in a lot of ways, like a good basketball team.  Therefore the stuffed acorn dish will heretofore be known as “The Lakers 2009-2010”.  The quinoa is Kobe, and the nutty flavor is Ron “Ron Ron” Artest.  Zaaainnnnnggg!!!  

Sunday night, after an awesome day of driving on the coast, shopping at the Farmers’ Market, biking at Pantoja park, and flying kites in the bay, we were down for a hearty meal.  So we cracked open a Giada cookbook and came across a recipe for Italian stew that we figured would hit the spot.  We walked to Trader Joes to grab some essentials and then “CJed” the dish (“CJ” – verb.  To healthify a dish and/or make more palatable to C and J’s tastes.  “We CJed the fried chicken by not frying it and not using chicken”.  Not to be confused with "CJ" the noun which refers to an entity of two awesome peeps) by replacing the chicken with Tofurky’s Italian Sausage, and added veggies we picked up that morning at the Hillcrest Farmers’ Market (beets, broc, yellow carrots, celery, Italian parsley) to an otherwise light-on-the-veggie dish.   C took the chopping role and pre-tay much whipped up the stew herself.  Fear not, J did some work by blending some cannellini beans with Italian parsley and garlic for a bomb-dot-com hummus which we ate with broc and celery. 

The hummus. 

Also peep the flowers C picked up at the Farmers' Market to replace some fake ones.   *In Seinfeld/Teri Hatcher voice* They're real and they're magnificent. 

Our vegan Italian Spezzatino.  Filed under “did you know”: Did you know that Italian stews are called spezzatini because everything is cut up and spezzare means “to cut up”?  Well now you do!

Dessert?  Uh, yeah.  CJ always answer “yeah”.  Peaches from the Farmers’ Market.  Green figs from Trader Joe’s.  C cut them up, put the dish together, and snapped the pic.  In J’s defense, he was lazy.  See? There’s always a good reason. 

Peaches tasted like honey – soooooo good, though C didn’t care for the skin.  Eating green figs were a first for the both of us and certainly won’t be the last.  We’s digs the figs, ooohhhhh yeeeaaahhhhh…

Yesterday, after a bike ride and unsuccessful but not un-fun (you know we’re serious when we use double negatives) trip get mosquito repellent from Ralph’s, we came back and whipped up a spiced veggie stirfry.  We pretty much took every veggie in the fridge (zucchini, celery, tomato, cauliflower, kale, and spinach) and sautéed it with garlic and one slizzo of Tofurky Italian sausage.  This was steamed with some veggie broth and balsamic vinaigrette.  J was gonna add Maggi soy sauce but C informed J that the sauce contains MSG.  J quickly put it away and wondered how much MSG he’s inadvertently consumed over his childhood.  J guessed 10 lbs worth and today did more sprints that usual to overcompensate for it.  It did not work. :/  This is how the dish looked.  

 

Annnnnnnnndddddddd… FIN. 

-J