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!!!

Polar Vortex

OKAY, I must admit, I am getting tired of this beyond freezing cold weather.  As each cold day passes by, you get slightly more angry.  Monday was beyond cold, as many of you may have heard in the news.  Tuesday, our car died, it just did not want to start anymore.  We winterized it too, so WTH?  So Frank was not able to make it to work.  I called the AAA Roadside Service and OMG, it took me 11 tries to get through.  Really, that is how freaking busy and backed up it is around here.  TOO CRAZY!!!  I was on hold for an hour before I was able to talk to a customer service person.  Then they tell me it is a 10 hour turnaround time.  WTF!!!!  So what can I do, all the towing companies are backed up.  There was nothing I could do but wait.

I had an event to go to that evening.  We took the cta.  Going into downtown, we primarily take the train or the bus.  It was our 1st Yelp Elite event in Chi-town.  We had a great time at Blackfinn Ameripub. It reminds me of Yardhouse back home.  There was ample appetizers to go around and drinks were plentiful.  We got to cozy up to a nice booth and warm up from the polar vortex looming outdoor.  I scored some Yelp swag.  My fav were the socks.  In fact, I am sporting them right now to keep warm. I have to venture out in the cold in a little bit because the AAA Roadside Service finally called.  I will continue that story later.

Here is the swag we score!

They had some great options for drinks which were generous on pours.  

Afterwards, we headed over to Eataly to walk off all the deliciousness and drinks we consumed.  It was pretty empty in there.  Usually it is crowded.  The polar vortex probably kept a lot of people from going out.  We picked up some parmesan and squid ink pasta.  That is what we had for dinner this evening.  I put mushrooms and red peppers seasoned with lemon, dill, garlic, chili, and olive oil.  

 Squid Ink Pasta seasoned with dill.

Dill Squid Ink Pasta topped with parmesan.  So after I made this, I realized that I am not a big fan of squid ink. It has an after taste that resonants.  Perhaps, a creamy sauce with butter and white wine would fair better.

Returning to my story about AAA.  Apparently, they claim they came at 4am.  I received no call or missed calls.  So when I woke the next day (Wednesday) at 7:30am, I was on hold again for an hour. 5 hours later, someone came to jump start my car.  That was around noon.  Result,  jump start was not a success.  The guy was helpful, but it would have helped more if he was able to tow my vehicle to the repair shop.  Anyways, I called AAA several times for update and soonest they said they would get someone out was 5:30pm.  

What a surprise!  No one at 5:30pm, so I was back on the phone on hold for another hour.  Apparently, they meant 5:30am.  WTF!!! Really?  So around 9:20pm, I get a call saying that they are 6 miles away. But you know what, the towing guy says that his flat bed is too big and he needs to call a snatcher in. He was pretty much useless, with a slight attempt to push the car out and quickly gave up. Fool could have used his vehicle's power and was just making attempts for show.  But at least got the guy with the snatcher to come out quickly.  

So another guy comes by.  This time the turn around time was a lot faster and this guy blows those other guys out of the water.  He shovel the snow and pushed the car out. It was a big job and I think I threw out my back helping push the car.  It hurts now.  We got the car to the repair shop so task accomplished.  In sum, this polar vortex is no joke.  Calls are in the triple digits the past couple of days and that why it takes so long to get any service.  Once service arrives, they are helpful.  But I wish it would be more timely.  The last reach out was and that is how it should be.  

I hope there isn't anything majorly wrong with the car.  Perhaps an issue with the starter.  I think we also have to start our car everyday now when it is cold so it is not frozen.  That's where a garage would help out a lot.  

A couple more days of this until I can bask in sunny SoCal!

No muffin top muffins

Today was very cold.  Very, Very cold!  When I woke up this morning, it was -15, with windchill it was -42.  OMG!

I think this is the coldest I have ever experience in my life.  Naturally, it took me a while to rise from my warm haven.  I had to turn on the heater to warm up the place.  A lot of snow has built up on our window as well.  It looks like frosted decorations.  I am in shock!  It is pretty though.

I made muffins today.  These are my "No muffin top muffins."  What does that mean?  Physically, they still possess a muffin top, but eating them will not result in a muffin top.  It is a healthy take on muffins, they are 145 calories.  These are healthy calories that you will be consuming.

This recipe was inspired by Corina Tomaselli.  Her muffin is actually 95 calories.  She uses egg and stevia in her recipe, which I opted not to use.  I am not a fan of artificial sugar and I wanted to lower the cholesterol content.  Thus, I substituted the eggs for chia seeds and used brown sugar instead.  I will probably rework this recipe in the future.  I would add another banana and lose the blanched almonds.

Apple Banana Oatmeal Muffins Print

Yields: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp flax seeds

2 tbsp chia seeds

¼ cup applesauce

2/3 cup yogurt

1 mashed banana

1 cup chopped apples

¼ cup sliced blanched almonds

Directions:

1. Grease muffin pan or use liners. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place oven rack in the center position.

3. In a large bowl, combine oats, flour sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, flax seeds, and chia seeds.  Whisk until well sifted and set aside.

4. In another bowl, combine applesauce, yogurt and mashed banana and mix well.

5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add wet mixture.  Stir until moistened and incorporated. Fold in chopped apples and almonds.

6. Scoop into a well-greased muffin tin.  It’s okay to make big scoops and have mounts.  This should make 12 muffins.

7. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Let muffins cool for 5 minutes in their tins before removing to cook on a wire rack.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 145; Fat (g) 3.3; Cholesterol (mg) 0.8; Sodium (mg) 203.5; Potassium (mg) 45.3; Carb (g) 23.8; Fiber(g) 3.5; Sugar (g) 3.5; Protein (g) 5.3  

More Snow, Hot pot Cure

It snowed again today.  I think that is expected now.  When it snows, we pretty much stay indoors.  We had hot pot today.  It was delish!  I picked up these fish balls at H-Mart and they were a hit.  YUM!  I am pretty full now.  Too full to enjoy my cupcakes from yesterday.

This was our hot pot spread.  Tofu, Clams, Beef, Enoki and King Oyster Mushrooms, Fish Balls, Daikon, Shrimp, Sake, Napa Cabbage, and Tomatoes.  The best part: all the sauces that you dip these delicious goodies into.  

I also made some muffins earlier today.  It's my Cranberry Oatmeal Flax Muffins Recipe, but this time I didn't use any vegetable oil.   I substituted it for applesauce and added some orange zest.  Sometimes if you don't want to use vegetable oil, applesauce makes a great alternative.  I am stocking up on baked goods to freeze for Frank when I go away. 

These muffins are great for breakfast or as a snack.  I also thought about making Frank breakfast bars. I'll have to comb through pinterest for some ideas.  

Rolling in the Deep

After 5 days of staying in, we finally ventured out.  Our car was rolling in the deep!  A covered space in a garage would be great.  Sadly, that is not an option.  However, our parking lot gets plowed.  Our car was surrounded by almost 2 feet of snow.

I was really happy that I got snow boots.  So useful with all this snow and wind chill.  I sport a pair of UGGs.  In retrospect, a pair of Sorel also would also have been awesome.

We went to Niles today for two reasons.  I wanted cupcakes from Le Sucre and Frank wanted hot pot. They have a Super H-Mart at Niles, so we did our grocery shopping there. Since the weather has been pretty crazy, we stocked up on groceries.  I was surprised at how much we spent.  Usually we pick up a few choice items.  Now, we are well stocked.  We also made a Target run to get some supplies on our way home.

Forecast on Monday is -8, with windchill -52. CRAY CRAY! Schools might be closed that day. Looks like we might be staying in for a couple more days.

These are the cupcakes I picked up from Le Sucre.  On the top, Red Velvet.  To the right of that, Tiramisu. Bottom right, Blueberry Cheesecake.  Bottom left, Mocha espresso.  I like the frosting at Le Sucre, it reminds me of the cupcakes from Sweet Lilikoi Patisserie.  The mocha frosting is rich and tasty.  The others are lighter and more mousse-like, similar to Sweet Lilikoi Patisserie.

This was a nice treat today!

Savory Scones

I have trouble sleeping at night and it takes me forever to fall asleep. This is a problem. I looked up ways to fall asleep faster. I will try them tonight. I woke up around 11 today. Roomba woke me up. Aside from that, I would have probably kept slumbering. Nonetheless, I awoke and did the laundry. And made some Savory Scones. This is what I was thinking about last night perhaps.

We had some leftover cheese from Christmas and I figured I would make some savory scones. I made two kinds: Havarti Dill (top) and Goat Cheese Dill with Lemon Honey Glaze (bottom). 

Honestly, I am not a fan of goat cheese. That is why I made the Lemon Honey Glaze to mask the goat cheese flavor. Frank likes it though and that is why we had goat cheese for the cheese spread.

This savory scone recipe is just like my peach scone recipe. Instead of adding fruits, I added cheese and herbs. Also, I added buttermilk for some extra flavor. This scone isn't a tough, dry scone. Rather it is moist and soft on the inside; crunchy and crispy on the outside.

It snowed like crazy today, it was described as the "lake-effect." According to Wikipedia, it is when "cold winds move across long expanses of warmer lakewater, providing energy and picking up water vapor, which freezes and is deposited on the leeward shores." Thus, "this uplifting can produce narrow but very intense bands of precipitation, which deposit at a rate of many inches of snow each hour, often resulting in copious snowfall totals."  It was like a white out.  I captured some of it, but it was hard.  

 

Probably about 10 inches outside my doorstep.

All the snow on the stairs.

 

Our car is buried in a foot of snow!  I don't think I've left our condo for 5 days now.  Hopefully, tomorrow I can go to the market, running out of supplies here!  

Here's the recipe.  I also want to warn you that since you are combining just to incorporate, the dough is going to be sticky.  I floured generously.  You can mix it a little more and it should be okay.  It is also okay to knead it a little bit, like you would a flaky pie crust.  Enjoy!!!

Savory Scones: Havarti Dill & Goat Cheese Dill Print

Yields: 8-10 scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar

5 tbsp unsalted butter, cold, cut in small chunks

1 cup of milk

½ cup of buttermilk

¼ cup dill, finely chopped if fresh

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

½ cup havarti dill cheese, chopped mini cubes

½ cup goat cheese, broken up into pieces

Lemon Honey Glaze:

3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 tbsp powdered sugar

1 tsp honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Sift dry ingredients for the scones: flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

3. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour mixture. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.  Add dill.

4. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk and 1/3 cup buttermilk. Fold everything together just to incorporate. Do not overwork the dough unless you want tough scones. Gently fold in Parmesan cheese.

5. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts placing the other half in another bowl.  Place havarti dill cheese in one and the goat cheese in the other.  Gently fold until incorporated.  Note:  You can use all the dough with one type of cheese of your choice or a combination.

6. Generously flour your work surface and your hands and turn the dough out. Shape the dough into a rectangle about 12" x 3", about 1 ¼" thick. Cut the rectangle into 4 (3") squares. Then cut each square on the diagonal to make 8 triangles.  Note: You can also use a cookie cutter and make circular shape scones.

7. Place the scones 2 inches apart on a silicone mat for best results and easy clean up. Brush the tops with buttermilk.

8. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack.

For Lemon Honey Glaze: (Optional)

In a small bowl, mix lemon juice and powdered sugar.  Microwave for 1 minute.  Add honey and mix.  

Resolutions

New Year's Day 2014!  Today, the plan was to go to Niles and buy some food for our hot pot.  Sadly, the SNOW kept us from that.  It seriously snowed all day.  We stayed in instead.  I made some mushroom brie puff pastry, left over from scraps.  We pretty much devour it.

After that, we were still hungry so I toasted up some waffles.  I'm glad I made a bunch that last time. Tomorrow, it will still be snowing so I am going to heat up the banana pancakes for breakfast.  OR make some scones with goat cheese and dill.  Since it is winter, I sleep until forever. Who knew I could sleep like a bear?

I also cleaned up my inbox.  I had tons of emails that really needed to be discarded.  Feels good to be so empty.  New Year's Resolution #1: Try to keep inbox clean.

New Year's Resolution #2: Try to work out more.
Since it is snowing and really cold outside, I can't go to the park and walk/run.  So last month, Frank and I started doing in home exercises. He is doing INSANITY.  I started doing Tracy Anderson.  I have a youtube playlist that I work out to.  In addition, I am going to implement some yoga to my routine.  It is actually pretty intense.  I also wanted to do a cleanse, but it is way too cold to be drinking anything not hot/warm.  

I'll start off with those for now.  What's your resolution?