Getting Back in the Flow

A couple days ago, I subscribed to a new channel on YouTube.  I have several subscriptions, most of them food related.  The one I want to share is this yoga channel.  I am getting back into the flow of yoga.  It really does help with the mind, body, and spirit.  Just an overall wellness.  In fact, Frank just did a session with me.  What I like about this channel particularly is how she explains the moves articulately and really gets you into the flow.  She has several videos so I would suggest checking her channel out if you are new to the practice or just want to get back into it.

She also has a website: Yoga with Adriene. Here is her YouTube channel link as well for you to check out.

Today we had our Apprenticeship Fair at the school where Frank and I will be teaching kids about comics.  We gave our Comics Pitch to entice students to learn about comics and creating their own unique comic book.  I think this is going to be a fun learning experience.  A lot of the students were very interactive with the pitch presentation.  I was relieved that it would be a shy turnout.  It was the complete opposite.  For the next week or so, I'll be learning about the history of comics to write up a presentation for the students. Brings me back to the days when I did a lot of presentations for school.

We also checked out this restaurant out in Bridgeport, Oliver's Cafe.  When a groupon came out for it, I snatched it up.  Glad I did because they have a pretty delicious menu.  My favorite was their chocolate lava cake.  It was scrumptious and had the texture of a more dense, yet moist souffle.  I might try to recreate it at home tomorrow.  Either that or I will make something else.

Tomorrow, my goal is to wake up earlier and make breakfast for Frank.  My rising at 11 am jumps me into lunch, I suppose.  And he isn't having pancakes for lunch.

Clean Slate

I finally cleaned up my Desktop!  I had so many icons that it would drive anyone MAD looking at it. It feels good to sort through all that ish!

Last week, I somehow managed to hurt my lower back.  Ironically, I did a deep stretch exercise to stretch my body out.  Then my throat started to feel ill.  Now my nose is congested, neck and body aches.  On top of that it is cold and my knee aches.

Perhaps this is all related to allergies?  I already took a flu shot, so instead of being intensely sick; I get these random spurts of being uneasy. Boo!

Citizen Schools Apprenticeship

Last week, Frank and I started an Apprenticeship with Citizen Schools. We along with two others are going to be teaching a course on Comics.  I really don't know much about Comics (read some here and there), so I have been reading a lot about it.  This Thursday we are going to be pitching our course to middle schoolers and see who would like to join us on this adventure.

I must admit, this is probably going to be pretty fun.  This past Sunday, we went to a comic book store and I got 5 free comics. I had a belly app!  Usually these are your one dollar comics that gets you into reading the first of a series.  I saw one that I was familiar with; it was a good read and a good example for kids.  There was also one on not needing a prince to save you. And a couple more.

Mid Week Warming

I been waiting for the weather to warm up to go Ice Skating.  This past Wednesday it was in the 40s with minimal windchill and sunny!  I knew it was the perfect day to enjoy ice skating at the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink! Frank and I had lots of fun!  I'm glad he was able to shuffle his schedule around so we can enjoy this warm day.

It had been a really long time since I've ice skated.  Perhaps high school??? Ice skating works out different muscles, so stretching first helps.  It's really pretty ice skating at Millennium Park.  You have great skyline view, the bean and so much more.

Here's a picture of Frank and myself with the bean behind us.

Here's us on the Ice Rink taken by a fellow who had some good moves.  

From the center on the rink, I took a panoramic of Michigan Ave.  

 And here's a panoramic of the other side. So pretty!

Frank and I also met Seth Wescott, two-time Olympian champion in the snowboard cross.  Liberty Mutual Insurance sponsored the Road to Sochi Tour which passed through Chicago on February 19-20, 2014. 

Here's Pritzker Pavillion covered in snow.

A tranquil shot of Cloud Gate.

A view of the Chicago Skyline.

Prevention can save you $$$

Last week, I was doing some continuing education.  One of the courses was about anticipatory guidance in pediatric care.  I wanted to talk about this subject because a lot of my friends and family have children now or are starting to family plan.  The big take home message here is: Early Childhood Caries is Preventable with the proper education background.

What is Early Childhood Caries (ECC)? The California Dental Association defines, "Early childhood caries (ECC), also known as baby bottle tooth decay (BBTD) is a preventable, infectious disease caused by certain types of bacteria (bugs) that live in your mouth."  Basically, ECC is a preventable, infectious disease that can result from sweet liquids in the mouth.  It can also be passed from a caretaker with untreated dental disease.  It is important to know that when your infant's teeth start to erupt, you are wiping their teeth with a wash cloth or something to prevent them from retaining that sugary substance in their mouth.

Now, I want to reach out to moms-to-be.  Educating pre-mothers is a great preventative tactic.  Did you know that your infant's teeth start to develop 4 months into pregnancy?  Something you can do is implement Xylitol into your diet to control the bacteria in your mouth.  It comes in the form of gum or mints, if you have no contraindications to chewing gum.

What is Xylitol? The California Dental Association describes xylitol as "a natural sugar alcohol that helps prevents cavities."  Xylitol's dental benefit help to reduce cavities and help with remineralization, as some studies have shown.   In addition, xylitol reduces plaque adherence, thus resulting in less bad bacteria.  If the bacteria can't adhere, this results in less bad bacterial congregating in the mouth that can demineralize that teeth.  When you eat something sweet (and the longer you are consuming this product), the more acidity you are exposing your mouth to and the longer it will take to remineralize your teeth.

How to handle teething?  It is recommended to use something natural and avoid products that contain benzocaine.  Using a product with benzocaine can lead to a disorder known as methemoglobinemia, where the amount of oxygen carried in the bloodstream can be greatly reduced. Use a chilled teeth ring (refrigerated, not frozen) or a wash cloth.  You can read about more why Benzocaine and Babies are not a good mix on the FDA website.  

I just want to touch on some Ways to preventing ECC.
1) Water is the best liquid you can consume, just make sure it is neutral in pH.  Usually tap water or filtered water will have a neutral pH.  Be carefully with some bottled water because some actually possess a pH of 5.35 or less.  You can ask me more about this if you like.
2) Know the eruption dates of when teeth erupt and exfoliate.  Here are some great references from the American Dental Association.
For Primary Teeth. 
For Permanent Teeth.
3) When should your child see a dental professional? Around six-12 months of age is what dental professions recommend.  During this visit, they are gathering assessment information and providing the caretaker vital information that can prevent ECC.  

Weekend Wrap Up

I've had another eventful weekend.  This past week, I made Alfajores.  It is a Peruvian Cookie I had the pleasure of tasting at Erika's Baby Shower.  It is two shortbread like cookies made with flour or corn starch filled with dulce de leche.  I made them in the shape of heart for Valentine's Day.

We went to Gino's East and tried their deep dish pizza on Valentine's Day.  I had a Groupon so it was a great deal to check out another deep dish establishment.  We went nice and early, like around 5 pm, and didn't wait.  Usually if you dine around primetime it is about a one and a half to two hour wait. After our heavy dinner, we walked it off along Michigan Ave.

Saturday was our day of running errands and we also checked out a massage place, Relax Feet.  They were okay, too much shiatsu going on for me though.  I'll be checking out other places before returning there.  It was a good way to end a day of running errands.

Today, we went to a volunteer expo.  It was located at one of the museums.  That was pretty cool because you got to see things as you are checking out volunteer opportunities.  I am thinking I might volunteer at the Alder Planetarium.  I also have an apprenticeship starting this week to teach middle schoolers.

The other face of a burger

Everybody enjoys a good burger!  I grew up in SoCal and In-N-Out was the burger I grew up eating. I much prefer it to the rest of the other burger joints.  There is something nostalgic about In-N-Out that draws me and many others to this establishment.

Out here, I can't merely get my In-N-Out fix.  So, I made my own burger.  Keeping with my lean theme of turkey, I use ground turkey.  The recipes makes 2 quarter pound burgers or you can make 4 mini slider sized burger.  I stuffed my patties with some Jalapeno Cheese Havarti that I picked up while I was in Wisconsin this past weekend.  The cheese inside is a nice surprise.  Also the burger came out juicy.  Yum!  Sometimes burgers can be dry.  I was really happy with the result.  I dressed it up with pretzel bread from the Mars Cheese Castle, tomatoes, spinach, cheese and grilled onion.  Served them up with sweet potato fries and shishido peppers.

Turkey Burger with Jalapeno Cheese Havarti Print

Yields: 2-4 burgers

Ingredients

½ pound ground turkey

¼ cup bread crumbs

¼ onion, finely diced

1 egg

2 shishito peppers, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp red pepper

¼ tsp dried oregano

4 small pieces Jalapeno Cheese Havarti

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, bread crumbs, onion, egg, shishito peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper and oregano.  Divide into 4 parts.  Stuff a piece of cheese and form into patties. 

2. Cook the patties in a skillet over high-medium heat, 4 minutes per side, turning once, to an internal temperature of 180 degree F. 

3. Serve with condiments and bread of choice.  Enjoy! 

Milwaukee Sights

I had a pretty relaxing weekend.  We started off with a day trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday. Frank really wanted to get out of the city, so we explored Milwaukee.  It isn't too far from us.  Took less than 2 hours and even less since we went to Frank's work site first.  It was half way in between.

We visited the Milwaukee Public Market.  It is like the Ferry Building in San Francisco, The Chelsea Market in New York City, etc...  At the Taste of Wisconsin you can get some delicious cheese orphans for a great deal!  I picked up some Jalapeno Cheese Havarti for two dollars.  I enjoyed a delicious Lobster Dinner for $14.  It was the best!  Frank got the Shrimp Po' Boy and some oysters, also delicious!

 Milwaukee Public Market

St. Paul Fish Company Lobster Dinner, A MUST!

Milwaukee also has a lot of Breweries.  We visited Lakefront Brewery and took a tour there.  For $7, you get a tour, four tastings, and a pint glass.  They have a really big Brew Hall.  On Fridays they do a Fish Fry and we tried some of that.  It was good, not too greasy and you get more fish than batter. The potato pancakes were nothing to rave about.  I would get the mac n cheese since it is a better bang for your buck.  Also, THE BAVARIAN PRETZEL IS SO DELICIOUS!!!!

To conclude our short day trip we venture over to the Milwaukee Public Library.  This place really has some nice stone/marble work.  A good free activity.  We'll come back when it is warmer and check out the Riverwalk.  

Oatmeal Apple Pepitas Muffins

Apples are in season right now!  I made some muffins using apples because they are what is in season and on sale.  Berries are too pricey right now, so those blueberry muffins are going to have to wait.  I like using apples because there are so many apple varieties.  Like Granny Smith, Fuji, McIntosh, etc...

What makes this muffin different from the other ones I have made? This one isn't as healthy as the other ones; I use a little bit of butter and buttermilk for this recipe.  Taste wise, you might like this a little better because the apples are crunchy, yet moist and the muffin has more flavor.  I really like the pepitas addition because it brings out a nutty flavor.

The inspiration for this recipe came from Pinch of Yum. They are a husband and wife team, the wife being the food blogger and the husband is behind the scenes. They have a cute and successful blog that helps you start out your own food blog.  I adapted Pinch of Yum's Oatmeal Flax Blueberry Muffin recipe to create my Oatmeal Apple Pepitas Muffin recipe.

Oatmeal apple Pepitas Muffins Print

Yields: 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup buttermilk (or regular milk + 1 teaspoon vinegar)

1 ½ tablespoons butter, melted

1 egg

⅓ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup + 1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoon golden flax seeds

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 apple, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons raw pepitas, divided

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a muffin pan with butter and set aside.   

2. Combine the oats and buttermilk in a mixing bowl and let the oats soak for 20 minutes. Add the melted butter, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla. Stir to combine.

3. Add the flour, flax seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1 tbsp of pepitas. Stir until evenly moistened.

4. Before adding the apples to the mixture, scoop a spoonful of batter into each muffin tin. This prevents the apples from sinking to the bottom of the muffins and you will have a nice solid base. Fold the apples into the remaining batter.  Fill muffin tin about 3/4 of the way full.  Top with remaining 1 tbsp pepitas. 

5. Bake muffins for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Back in the Kitchen

Frank ate all the ice cream.  That means it is time to make more!  I am surprise he ate them all.  Even the Cheese Ice Cream.  I made Coffee Ice Cream.  It is my second time making it. It is pretty simple when you have a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker.  Thanks Jennifer and D!  
I adapted Laura In the Kitchen's Coffee Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream Recipe.  I omitted the Chocolate Chunks because I wanted a purely coffee flavored ice cream.  This is a custard base recipe.  It is best to use instant coffee because the coffee will dissolve and you won't have coffee bean chunks.  

Coffee Ice Cream Print

Yields: 1 ½ quart

Ingredients:

7 large egg yolks

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 cups whole milk

1 ¾ cup heavy cream

4-5 tbsp instant coffee

¼ tsp salt

InsTRuctions:

1. Insert ice cream machine insert in the freezer overnight. 

2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and sugar for 3-4 minutes.  The mixture will be thick and pastel yellow in color.  Set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan on low heat, combine milk, heavy cream, and instant coffee.  Stir frequently and bring to a simmer and do not let it boil. 

I used about 3 of these.

4. Whisk 1 cup of the milk mixture into the egg and sugar mixture.  Whisk until smooth.  You want to do this slowly and temper the egg mixture or else you will get scramble eggs.  That is why it is important simmer and not boil the milk mixture. 

5. Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the milk mixture and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.  Stir frequently with a wooden spoon.  The mixture will thicken and coat the wooden spoon.  Draw a line in the back of the wooden spoon, if it stays separated, its ready. 

6. Using a fine sieve, strain the mixture into a large bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let the plastic wrap touch the cream mixture.  Refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight. 

7. Once the mixture is ready, add it to your ice cream machine insert that you have left in the freezer overnight.   Turn the ice cream machine on and let churn.  I let it churn for about 20-25 minutes.  Follow manufacturer’s instructions. 

8. Once done, transfer to an airtight container for up to a month.  Serve and enjoy.  

The best part, scraping the ice cream bowl clean!  

Readjusting

I am still readjusting to being back home.  I was away for 2 1/2 weeks in sunny SoCal where I worked and caught up with family and friends. The weather was beyond warm with highs in the 80s.  It is so crazy how weather can be so extreme in one part and so mild in another. I would much rather put on jeans and a t-shirts with some flip flops, as oppose to a base layer, then a top with a sweater, then a down jacket. Add on the jeans and snow boots.  It was nice and sunny today though, even though it was probably around the teens.

I was able to run my errands.  The next two days it is suppose to snow. That means I will be indoors. A couple of days ago, it was so icy that I fell half a flight of stairs.  I have this ginormous bruise as a result of the fall.  Everyone else in the building has a similar incident.  The Black Ice is pretty dangerous; so much so that we were warned to not use the back stairs until further notice.  Black Ice is pretty much ice but looks like concrete, hence black ice.

The fall encouraged me to continue to take calcium.  Weak bones run in my blood so to prevent breaking my bones, I take calcium supplements. CVS has a great deal going on: buy one get one free. I picked some up on my stroll out today.  I also picked up some more prenatal vitamins.  My friend, Kim, say the CVS prenatal gummy vitamins taste the best.  This is the only one I've had, I'm glad I chose wisely.

Happy Lunar New Year!

The year of the snake has come to an end and now we are in the year of the horse. We celebrate with a hot pot dinner. This is the pot that keeps on giving! It feeds us for days!

Along with the Lunar New Year, we jump into February. January flew by so fast. Time is really flying by! Soon, I'll be back in Cali again. I really enjoyed the warm weather, but I am glad to be home. I ate so much while I was in SoCal, I think I gained like 5 pounds. Hopefully, it will burn off quickly. Perhaps, I shouldn't have ate so much. 

I did Tracy Anderson Method today and my arms were giving out on me. It was intense. A good intense though. At least out here, there are less temptations for me; I do not have my usual got to hotspots.

Saturday Surprises

I had a most eventful day today.  My last post was about stamps.  I went to the post office again today and bought some stamps.  I think I am set for a while.  This means I am saving around 60 cents per booklet of 20.  Not bad.  If only I didn't have to pay my gardener, then I would never really need to buy stamps.

After the post office, I went to Sprouts and found a great deal on Almond Meal/Flour.  It was $5.99 for a 1 pound bag, regularly $9.99.  It is actually really hard to finely ground anything, so I thought this was a great deal.  I ended up buying two.  My mom suggested I bring another suitcase back seeing as how I have accumulated some goodies to take back home.  I think I will be okay.  I thought about mailing it, but for the $25 bag check in fee versus the $13 something medium flat rate USPS, it is more worth it to check in a bag and put more stuff in it.

I met up with Kim and had lunch at the Manhattan Beach Post.  Similar to Chicago it is tapas style.  I enjoyed the Burrata and Red Pepper Sandwich mainly because of the pretzel bread.  I am a sucker for that.  The food there is very tasty.  Thanks Kim!

It was such a beautiful day, we walked along the pier and saw people enjoying the warm January weather.

Afterwards, I picked up some pastries at Porto's.  It is always busy there.  The good thing, the line goes by quickly.  I consumed perhaps too many pastries in one sitting.  And even ate a cupcake.  Not the best dinner option.

I also made muffins for my mom, my no muffin-top muffins slightly adjusted.  I added some pandan flavoring and took out some other ingredients.

In between all that, my sister Sophia had some crazy stomach flu happening.  So we took her to the ER but ended up leaving because it was going to take who knows when to be seen.  We are back home now, much better than being in the waiting room with a bunch of contagiously sick people.

USPS raises rates

On January 26, 2014 USPS raises its rates again.  It will now cost you $0.49 First Class Mail.  That's a 3 cent increase from last year. Last day to buy stamps. I also heard that the forever stamps are going away.

Powdered Milk

Last week I made Polvorone.  It is a Filipino speciality, made from toasted flour, sugar, powdered milk, your choice of flavor and melted butter.  My brother got me some polvorone molds from the Philippines. Thus, I made Green Tea polvorone upon his request.  I also made Black Sesame and Pandan. The most delicious ingredient is the powdered milk.  It seems divine, like babies.  I think that is similar to baby formula but cheaper perhaps.  I smelled a baby this weekend.  And it was similar--the milk scent.

The side effects of working

It's almost 9:30 pm and it is already pass my bedtime.  I am tiring to sleep earlier tonight to catch up on some Zzzzz.  Another early day for me tomorrow.  The bright side, I am driving into work.  Means I get an extra hour of sleep.  Yahh!!!!  Even though it is typically a short wednesday, I picked up 2 extras, so its pretty much a full day.

I have plenty of update.  Last week, I made Polvorone.  I will post those picture and tell you all about them.  I ate a lot this weekend as well, I think I am still full.  Met Sofia, Ruby's daughter.  Caught up with a bunch of friends and saw a lot of people.  This weekend will be more relaxing, I might tackle the garage though.

Lasagna: Turkey and Spinach

It's quite warm here in socal during the day. A nice switch up from the cold and snow. Frank said it snowed again today. Since I am out here in socal, I made him all this food before I left so that he would still have home cooking while I am away. One of the things I made for him was lasagna with a turkey and spinach base. I prefer to use ground turkey because it is leaner and smells less. Here's my recipe. Enjoy!!!

Turkey & Spinach Lasagna Print

Yields: 12-15 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground turkey

2 packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1 egg

16 oz ricotta cheese

9 lasagna pasta

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

3 cups simple tomato sauce

Salt and freshly ground pepper for seasoning

Olive oil

Instructions:

1. Heat up a pan with oil on medium heat and cook ground turkey and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Drain thawed spinach and squeeze dry.  Set aside.

3. Boil water and season with a little oil and salt. Cook pasta until al dente, usually 9-10 minutes. Once cooked, drain and set aside.  

4. In a bowl, combine ricotta cheese and egg, mix well and set aside.  

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  

6. Grease a 13x9 baking dish and assembly lasagna as you like. I started 1 ½ cup tomato sauce, then 3 pasta arranged lengthwise, then ½ ricotta mixture, then spinach.  Followed by pasta, ground turkey and the remaining 1 ½ cup tomato sauce.  Another layer of pasta, then the remaining ricotta mixture and the rest of mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Cover with foil that has either been greased or use cooking spray to prevent the cheese from sticking to the foil.  

7. Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 25 minutes.  Let cool for 15 minutes before serving to let the lasagna set.  

Sunny days are here again

Got into SoCal on Sunday and on Monday I was already exhausted. I haven't driven in a while so now that I am back that is the mode of transportation. I also take the metro and the big blue bus to work. Beats driving yourself in traffic.

Early day tomorrow. Will post more fun things soon!  

Rigatoni Red with Chicken and Mushrooms

In preparation for my departure, I have been making Frank a lot of food; so while I am gone, he is still well feed.  I made my Simple Tomato Sauce.  With that he is able to heat up some pasta and have some sort of pasta dish for dinner or lunch.  I am also going to make lasagna since that is something he can easily heat up.

Yesterday evening, I made Rigatoni Red with Chicken and Mushrooms using the Simple Tomato Sauce I made the other day. The sauce has multiple uses,  it goes a long way and you can even freeze it for later use. I used diced tomatoes this time around (either crushed or diced, even fresh tomatoes works). Usually, when I make Rigatoni, I use a white sauce similar to the Rigatoni D from Maggiano's. I decided to change it up a bit today.

Rigatoni Red with Chicken and Mushrooms Print

Yields: 4 -5 servings

Ingredients:

½ package of Rigatoni Pasta

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

6 mushrooms, sliced

2 chicken breasts

Salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning

2 cups Simple Tomato Sauce

¼ cup half and half

Parmesan cheese for topping

Parsley for topping

Directions:

1. Portion 2 chicken breasts into 4-6 pieces.  Season one side liberally with salt and pepper.

2. Boil water and season with olive oil and salt.  Cook rigatoni until al dente, usually 9-10 minutes.  Drain and set aside.  

3. While pasta is cooking, heat up a large pan or a wok with oil on high heat.  Cook chicken for 3 minutes on each side.  Once cooked, remove from pan.  Add mushrooms to wok and sauté for 2 minutes.  Remove from pan and set aside.  

4. Add tomato sauce to wok and heat on medium for 10 minutes or until it starts to simmer.  Then add ¼ cup of half and half (or heavy cream).  Let simmer for another 5 minutes on medium heat.

5. Slice the chicken breast and add chicken and mushroom into the pan along with the cooked rigatoni.  Stir together and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.  Serve with Parmesan cheese and parsley.

Enjoy!!!