What's your Real Age?

I am one of the few lucky ones that have DVR (digital video recorder) available from the cable company. It's basically like TIVO where you can record live tv. Anyway, it's really wonderful because you can set it up to record the entire series or just one episode of a show. In the mornings, I watch the news before leaving for work and usually there's commercials for the Oprah and Ellen shows later in the day. I don't normally watch these shows but sometimes the commercials hook me and I set the show to record. Sometime later I'll watch the show. I did this a few days ago with Oprah. The commercial was "1 in 2 women will die from this." Now how could that headline not hook you. Dr. Mehmet Oz was on the show. He is a heart doctor and they were showing off the latest technology in heart scans. It was really, really cool. He also brought hearts on the show demonstrating what a healthy heart looks like and what an unhealthy heart looks like along with good and bad kidneys. It was VERY interesting and scary. Anyway, I put a hold at the library for his book "You : the owner's manual : an insider's guide to the body that will make you healthier and younger." In the description for the book it also provided his website RealAge.com. OMG! You have got to visit and take the different assesment tests to see what your real age is. Even though I am a little skeptical in the sense that the questions are a little to broad, it does give you a good idea of how to eat better and healthier and what you might be missing in your nutritional health with diet and exercise. (No not diet as in can't eat anything, but diet as in what you eat. It's way to confusing and cruel to have one word mean two totally different things.) Membership is free and so are the assessments. I took the nutritional assessment and realized how much I am not getting vitamin wise and I am going to try and do better with taking my multivitamin everyday. Drat...I missed it again today. My real age surprisingly is just a couple of years difference with my biological age. And they provide tips on how to make your real age even younger than your biological age by changing what you eat and how you exercise. There's also a fitness assessment and since I hardly ever exercise, they have two different plans to follow: a sixty minute plan and a ten minute plan. Now don't scoff about only ten minutes a day, you also have to walk for fifty minutes a day. On the Oprah show, Dr. Oz said for those who don't exercise start out striving for sixty minutes a week and build up. I think even I can do this. The whole thing is about making choices that fit your lifestyle and trying to exercise on a daily basis so you can live longer and healthier.

Veggies

We've been eating more veggies lately. My goal is to eat broccoli at least three times a week. So far we are doing it. Basically, I am sauteeing an assortment of veggies and then serving them over rice or potatoes. You get a great assortment of flavors this way and the greens really taste great. If you don't like crunchy broccoli, the secret is to microwave it in a zip top baggie for one minute before adding to the veggies. I've been reading about veggies and how oil helps release certain nutrients and allows your body to absorb them. So I am using olive oil to saute them in and then just for a touch of flavor I am adding a small amount of butter in with the oil. Last night we added asparagus to the mix and I microwaved it for a minute before adding it to the pan for sauteeing. We really liked this addition. My veggie mix consists of onions, garlic, mushrooms, bell peppers (green and red), broccoli, jalapeno, asparagus, dried parsley flakes, garlic powder and onion powder, a small pinch of cayenne, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Because there is such a large variety, you only need a bit from each veggie when serving two people. I don't really like veggies reheated so I try to cook just the right amount that we will eat for that meal. We are eating a great variety of veggies, which was a goal of this blog. We now need to increase the amount of veggies we eat for a healthier lifestyle. It's a work-in-progress but it tastes great!

Catch Up Post

I've been so busy lately with work that I haven't had a chance to blog. I figured I'd do a catchup post because after all, the purpose of this blog is to help me remember what I ate for dinner. Monday - 3/27/06: Leftovers of Sunday night's meal. Sunday - 3/26/06: Grilled Steak, Baked Potato with Sauteed Veggies Saturday - 3/25/06: Chinese Food Friday - 3/24/06: Panko Fried Chilean Sea Bass, Pan Roasted Portobello Mushrooms with Sauteed Veggies and Mashed Potatoes Thursday - 3/23/06: Stir-fry broccoli with assorted veggies over rice with chicken Wednesday - 3/22/06: Leftovers Tuesday - 3/21/06: Jalisco's Mexican Restaurant Monday - 3/20/06: Leftover Corned Beef, Cabbage and Potatoes Sunday - 3/19/06: Steak and Fries Saturday - 3/18/06: Corned Beef, Cabbage, and Potatoes Friday - 3/17/06: Don't remember Thursday - 3/16/06: Don't remember Wednesday - 3/15/06: Don't remember Tuesday - 3/14/06: Leftover Barbecued Brisket Monday - 3/13/06: Roasted Chicken, Roasted Veggies, and Roasted Garlic

Dreamskies

Once upon a time there was a Polish woman who married a Southern man. This woman introduced her little sister to this man's little brother and soon the two married. The Polish women grew up in Chicago and then followed their husbands back home to the DEEP southern United States. And soon you had Polish women who were influenced by Chicago introduced to southern cooking. Needless to say, there was always an adventure in the kitchen. Several years into the future, a sweet southern gal (that's me) met this handsome southern guy and got married. Now this sweet southern gal who didn't know much about life outside of the DEEP south was now hearing words like Kolacky and Hoska as well as eating and enjoying these funny sounding foods. A new world opened up for this sweet southern gal's taste buds. However, it would be years later before she tried her own hand making these funny sounding foods. Kolacky is basically a thumbprint cookie filled with fruit or poppy seed filling. In honor of my husband's Polish heritage, I created a shortbread thumbprint cookie which I call Dreamskies. (Because they are a DREAM to eat and most last names of Polish people in our family end in SKI). Cookie Swap Chinese Take Out Container Front The creation was due to the 2005 cookie swap in which I participated. I made these cute little containers to fill with my cookies for the exchange. And since then I've made a couple more batches for Ron's work, well only one batch made it to his work and that was this Sunday's batch. I'm told they were delicious and gone by noon. Chinese Take Out Container Back Ready for the Oven Fresh from the Oven Ready to Eat

A Tisket A Brisket

I tested another recipe today for Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast for a Barbecued Brisket. I've never made brisket this way, so it was an interesting process. I'm sure it'll make it into her new cookbook she's writing.

Testing, Testing, Roasted Chicken

I made a Roasted Chicken with Roasted Veggies and Roasted Garlic today. It's a recipe I'm testing for Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast. I can't give you the recipe but check out her site and watch for her upcoming cookbook.

Freezer Worship

The freezer is one of the best inventions for the kitchen. I don't know about you but some days I pray I'll find something in the freezer for dinner. Saturday was the chosen day this week. The freezer gods answered with red beans and sausage. All I had to do was cook a pot of white rice. Easy! And very good! Nothing else to report for today.

TGIF!

TGIF!! I wasn't feeling well for Friday due to the medication I was taking and ended up staying home from work. Ron picked up the couple of items we needed to make the Cuban-Style Sea-Bass meal tonight. Our menu was Cuban-Style Sea-Bass with Black Bean and Pineapple Salsa and Saffron Rice. The rice was fantastic! Ron doesn't care for pineapple so the black bean and pineapple salsa was a flop. My fish tasted fine but Ron said his had a strong fish taste. After a bite of mine, he agreed it was just his fish and that the recipe was good. Cuban-Style Sea Bass with Black Bean and Pineapple Salsa Makes 4 servings Ingredients: 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 cup chopped fresh pineapple 1 fresh jalapeno or serrano pepper (I used one whole serrano pepper and 1/2 jalapeno pepper) 2 tablespoons orange or lime marmalade 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar or white wine vinegar 4 (4 oz) fresh sea bass fillets, 1/2 to 1 inch thick 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion Preheat gas grill or broiler. Combine the beans, pineapple, jalapeno pepper, marmalade, and vinegar. If desired, transfer to a small saucepan, then cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Rinse fish; pat dry. Brush fish with soy sauce. Grill fish on the greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium heat or broil until fish flakes easily with a fork (allow 4 to 6 minutes per 1/2 inch thickness of fish). Turn 1-inch thick fillets over halfway through cooking. to serve, arrange fish on pineapple and black bean salsa. Sprinkle with onion. Saffron Rice Makes 4 servings 1/2 diced onion 1/2 diced bell pepper (I used green and orange that I had on hand) 1 tablespoon diced pimiento, drained (pimientos in a jar) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon butter 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. 1/8 teaspoon turmeric 1/8 teaspoon Spanish saffron 1 clove garlic 1 chicken bullion cube 1 3/4 cup of water 1 cup long grain white rice In a skillet over medium heat, saute the garlic, onion, green bell pepper, pimiento in olive oil. In a separate pan, bring 1 3/4 cup of water to a boil and add a chicken bullion cube. Once the cube dissolves, add rice, sauteed veggies, butter, turmeric, Spanish saffron, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low heat 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Oops!

An oops turns out a great meal. It was a crazy day for me. I had to "get worked in" to the doctor's office and then pick up a prescription. Nothing serious, which is seriously good! But this problem threw off my entire day. I was planning on making a Cuban-Style Sea-Bass meal from my 20-minute Super Suppers cookbook, but didn't have two key ingredients on hand. Oops! I was supposed to pick those up on lunch. Oh well! In the middle of assembling what we needed for the fish meal, we realized my oops! After looking at each other crazy like and going through the pantry and freezer we came up with a dish we are calling Turkey Manicotti. Ron normally doesn't like ground turkey because he says it is dry, but he really liked this creation. Turkey Manicotti Makes 4 - 8 servings, depends on how much your family eats. We had a little meat mixture leftover so we just baked it up with cheese on top in a separate casserole dish. Ingredients: 14 Manicotti shells (1 package of shells) 1 lb. ground turkey 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided 4 eggs, beaten slightly 1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (grate more if you would like to sprinkle parmesan on top of prepared shells.) 3/4 cup finely chopped onion 1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 cups spaghetti sauce (We used homemade sauce we had in the freezer). Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and cool. In a large skillet, brown turkey, drain and cool slightly. Mix together meat, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, eggs, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, onion, bell pepper, oregano, salt and pepper. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish. Stuff each manicotti shell with meat mixture until full and place into baking dish. When dish is full, cover with spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese, if desired. Bake 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Eat and enjoy!

Shanghai Lo Mein

This week I am making recipes from "20-Minute Super Suppers", a cookbook I recently purchased. The title hooked me and the recipes cinched the deal. I narrowed it down to five recipes for the work week. For Wednesday, I made a recipe originally calling for pork but we changed it to shrimp for the meat. We tried two new products for this recipe. First were the dried somen noodles (Sun Luck brand, Tomoshiraga Somen Japanese Style Noodles) and the second was House of Tsang's Szechuan Spicy Stir Fry Sauce, both of which are now pantry staples. Ron did a fantastic job of stir-frying the meal in our wok. He was pretty skeptical about the mandarin oranges added at the end but he had to admit that they complimented the meal. And we both agreed it's a keeper. Two noodle substitutes were included in the recipe if you are unable to find them. But the somen noodles are worth finding. They have a great flavor to them. I found them at Albertson's in the Asian Foods section. And on the House of Tsang bottle, they provide a web address for additional recipes, check it out at World Food. Shanghai Lo Mein Makes 4 servings Ingredients: 6 ounces dried somen noodles (Substitutes: fine egg noodles or angel hair pasta) 8 ounces shrimp (Substitute: 8 oz. pork tenderloin, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick) 2 teaspoons cooking oil 2 - 4 teaspoons Szechuan Spicy Stir Fry Sauce (optional and more equals spicier) 2 cups sliced bok choy 3/4 cup chicken broth 1/4 cup orange juice 3 tablespoons soy sauce 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1 (11 oz) can mandarin orange sections, drained Instructions: Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, in a wok or large skillet stir-fry shrimp in hot oil for 1 1/2 minutes (pork for 3 minutes), adding more oil if necessary. Add bok choy; stir fry about 2 minutes more or until bok choy is crisp tender (and pork is no longer pink). Add the broth, orange juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, and red pepper; bring to a boil. Stir in the cooked noodles. Cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in orange sections. Eat and Enjoy! Felicia