Every Bite Counts

A few weeks ago, I turned 30. Ah, yes, the big 3-0. I am not, nor have I ever been the type to be sad on my birthday because I'm "old". I am actually very excited for my birthdays. I like the feeling that this day is somehow about me and only me (and dammit it should be about me), I like the cake and ice cream with the tiny colorful wax candles, and the hoopla of the chorus of waiters singing to me. I like that. But, most of all I like the feeling of newness. I like the thought that I'm about to embark on a new year, a new adventure, a new season of my life. So, here I am, a wife, a mother, a teacher, a 30 year old, venturing into this season of my life. My heart is full of desires and dreams that I hope to accomplish. I'm hoping I can leave behind the insecurities and regrets that my 20 year old self held on to so tightly.

My new mantra for my 30's is to Savor Each Bite, Make Every Bite Count. I don't know if it's because I'm a planner by nature or because I'm just crazy, but I am always looking for "what's next." Nevermind what I'm eating for breakfast, what's for dinner? Nevermind that I just graduated college, when am I getting married and having babies? I shovel these bites into my mouth without savoring it which leads me to being discontent and disappointed. This snowballs into feeling so disgusted with myself.  I just stuffed my face with all that I could and was still so unhappy with what I had in my tummy all because I want more on my next plate. So, I'm vowing to change that. I want to slow down and relish as many moments as I can. I want to appreciate that bite that is on my fork, now. I want to enjoy the season that I'm in, not anticipate the season that is yet to come.

As for my blog, I want to refocus my attention on food. Cooking, recipe testing, restaurant reviewing, and studying food photography. I love this blogworld and all the friendly people in it. Thank you to all of my loyal readers for sticking with me and reading what I have to say. I appreciate it.

Here's to 30. Here's to making every bite count.

Ridiculously Easy Crockpot Pulled Pork

As if crock pot cooking couldn't get any easier, I find this ridiculous recipe. I found it in the allrecipes mini magazine that came with an issue of Good Housekeeping (why does this magazine making me feel old?).

This recipe is perfect in every way. It's simple, quick, and delicious. Actually, simple is an overstatement. What's 5 notches below simple? I know. This recipe.

Ingredients:
2 lbs pork loin (didn't know it shredded!)
1 can of root beer
1 bottle of your favorite sauce

Seriously, that's it.

1. Combine loin and root beer in crockpot.
2. Set it (low) and forget it! BING! Leave it for about 6-8 hours.
3. Drain and mix with sauce.

Seriously, that's it.

I also used steamed cauliflower to make mock mashed potatoes. (Because fried potatoes are out of the question) Insane.

 

You're welcome.

Pineapple Fried Quinoa

SUCCESS! I made a quinoa dish that I just love! Bonus, Hubby loved it, too. We were both pleasantly surprised and it gave me hope that I can finish the rest of that bag!

I used my recipe for regular, delicious Pineapple Fried Rice and made a few changes to make this dish bomb diggy.

Ch-Ch- Changes:

• Switched up the rice for quinoa...duh.
• Cooked the quinoa in my rice cooker and I sprinkled  some chicken bullion powder in before cooking. Chicken stock would be fine, too.
• Instead of minced garlic I used garlic salt. The dish wasn't too salty but for heart healthy sake, next time I will cut the sodium. (i.e. less soy sauce, galic powder instead of salt, and stock instead of bullion.)
• added corn and edamame because that's all I had
• forgot the raisins
• kicked out the sugar and added some of the pineapple juice

I highly recommend this dish if you hate quinoa. I have hope that I can use my noggin and some old recipes to use quinoa in delicious ways. Quinoa, we're going to be alright. We're going to be alright.

Random Wednesday: Priorities

1. I'm giving up Facebook. My promise was to give it up for a week. I only failed once. I'm ashamed that my willpower is so weak that I HAD to check it. Did I find anything cool on my "give in check?" NO! Same ol' Like this picture because I want a puppy, Like this picture if you don't want to go to Hell, Like my picture because I went to the club this weekend and I'm showing my boobies. Wow, I am addicted to what now? Yeah, I'm definitely going to do this.

2. I have 5 drafts of unfinished posts in my Blogger. I write them during my lunch, on my phone, or when I'm on the loo, but I'm big on pictures and I can't upload pictures quickly at any of those times. I like to post lots of pictures because I like blogs with lots of pictures. I would rather gawk at pictures than read sometimes. I'm a first grader apparently.

3. Tonight, I will be making Pineapple Fried Rice, but with quinoa. All I can think about is that I'm going to hate it. I tried quinoa and I'm not a fan of the texture. I want to like it, mostly because I bought a big box of it and I don't want to waste it. If you have any recipes that I might fancy, please pass them to me.

4. Joaquin is starting to get a little too attatched to me. Sometimes he wants just me and only the warmth of my arms. I love it.

5. I really hope my dinner turns out edible.

6. I'm not posting pictures today. The first grader in me is crying.

Meatless Monday: Mac and Cheeeeeese

Say WHAaaaAT?

You heard it here first...I've jumped on the bandwagon. Damn that bandwagon, so attractive and alluring. I am on the meatless bandwagon, but only for one day a week. So, I guess you can say I'm a part-time rider of this wagon. I'd love to stay and shmooze with the Vegans all week, but let's be realistic here... my self-control is nowhere close to theirs. I think you have to like veggies to be a vegan, right? Yeah, not happenin' here. I'm the girl who believes that the veggie crisper in the fridge is where vegetables go to die.

But, I'm working on changing that a bit. One day a week.

My first real meatless dinner was a recipe I found in one of my favorite cookbooks Deceptively Delicious. I was craving something comforting that week so this really hit the spot! And BONUS POINTS, hubby absolutely loved it. I was shocked! He is more of a meat eater than I am and he didn't even miss the meat one bit.

Macaroni and Cheese
(Adapted from Deceptively Delicious)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat elbow macaroni
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup chickpeas-pureed
1/2 cup of butternut squash-pureed
1 1/2-2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
4 slices of Colby Jack Cheese- Thinly sliced
1/2 cup of Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper

1. Boil macaroni according to the package.
2. Combine the milk, bean puree, and squash puree in a blender and blend until smooth.

3. Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray and set it over medium heat.

4. Add milk and pureed mixture and stir for about 2 minutes. Add shredded cheese and cook until creamy and melted.

6. Stir in the macaroni. Pour the delicious mixture into a baking dish of your choice.

8. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted to your desired melted levels.

ENJOY!

Homemade Flour Tortillas

This recipe blows my mind. I can't believe how easy it is! For some reason, I thought tortillas were made from  magical ingredients that only Abuelas (grandmas) knew how to get. Sorry to break it to you Mija, but the secret is out! Vamanos!

First off, I need to give a shoutout to one of my new favorite bloggers. She is the reason for this post because her blog is where I pretty much jacked this rad recipe from. Thank you, FearlessHomemaker for being a source of so many great recipes. And BONUS, she is super down to earth and writes in a way that makes you want to be her friend. Go check her blog out. You can thank me later.

Project Wifey Wife: The Savory
Homemade Flour Tortillas
from The Fearless Homemaker

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 cup of vegetable shortening
2 tsp of salt
1 cup of lukewarm water

1. In a large bowl, blend the flour and shortening together so that it resembles fine meal.

2. In another bowl, dissolve the salt in the water. I used my mixer with the dough hook attachment to incorporate the salt water with the flour mixture.

3. The Fearless Homemaker suggests dividing the dough into 12 equally sized pieces and then rolling them into a ball. Because I am so impatient, I just ripped chunks, flattened with my hand, and used a rolling pin for extra flattening powers. My way worked fine. Just make sure you get them as thin as you can.

4. Again, the patient Fearless Homemaker made hers into circles by using a plate as a cookie cutter and trimming off the access. I, on the other hand, just threw it in the pan. Both works. I should try to be more patient.

5. Cook each tortilla in a nonstick pan for about 2-4 minutes on each side on a medium-high heat. They will brown and puff, you will flip, then you will see the magic that is tortilla making. It's really that simple.

Then use this carne asada recipe and prepare to be transported to Meh-heeko.

My hubby absolutely loves these tacos and begs me each week to make them. I tell him "What do I look like? An Abuela?" Then he says Yes and we argue and thumb wrestle or tickle fight until it's ok again. That's what normal married couples do, right? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Happy Birthday Hubby Hub!

To my wonderful Hubs,

Happy 30th birthday, my love!

You are everything to me hunny. You're like the frosting to my cupcake, the ketchup to my french fries, the salt to my pepper. You are my partner in crime.

Everytime you celebrate a birthday, I thank The Man upstairs for blessing my life with such a kind soul. I'm so lucky that I get to celebrate the rest of your birthdays with you. I will be making you a cake until you're 100, ok? Get used to it Hubs! But, time flies when you're having fun, no?

My wish for you is that you get to live out all of your dreams and I want nothing more than to support you on your wonderful journey. You want to go to law school? I will make you snacks when you study. You want to play guitar in a band? I will be front and center throwing my bra at you. You want to run a marathon? I will be there, running in front of you because we all know I'm the faster runner in the family. I keed. I will be in front of you like a carrot on a string, motivating you until the end.

Your friends know how amazingly sweet and helpful you are, your family knows how incredibly funny and kind you are, and yes, your puppy even knows how wonderfully delicious your goatee is. You are perfect to all of us.

But to me, you are more than perfect. You are more than kind and sweet and delicious. You always give me so much more and that's my prize for marrying you. I love you, babe. Happy 30th birthday! Enjoy your special day!

Love,  Your crazy wife.

Cutie Churro Muffins

Hello, Friends! ::warm embrace:: I have missed you all so much. I've been busy with life, with work, and with this lingering cold. I wish there was a way to connect my brain noodles to the internets and blog that way because I promise you, I think in blogspeak. You Bloggers know what I mean! My brain constantly thinks about what I want to write about, what I want to cook, and most importantly, what I want to eat! However, my lazy busy ass just can't find the time to get these fingers atypin'.

I'm here now and ready for some foodlovin'. I assure you that I have been cooking some awesomely good food. Just check out my love handles. They are more "handlier" nowadays. First up, these bad boys.

Of course I found this recipe on Pinterest. That website is truly revolutionary and I applaud the person who created that marvelous site. Anywho, this recipe is from Velvet Lava and she called them French Toast Muffins. Now call me shady, but I am going to have to change that name. I consider myself a French Toast fan through and through, and these do not taste like french toast triangles to me. To me, they taste like Mexican churros and that is what I will be calling them over here. Kapeesh?

Project Wifey Wife-The Sweet
Churro Muffins

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter; melted
1/2 cup of sugar
1 room temperature egg
1-1/2 cup all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup of milk

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift  together all of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet and stir together. The batter will be lumpy.
3. Scoop  them into your pre-sprayed muffin tins. I used teeny ones because everything is cuter when they are teeny.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes. If you use the regular sized tins, up the time to 20-25 minutes.
5. Right out of the oven, dip the little guys into the melted butter, then roll them into a mixture of the sugar and cinnamon.

Anything that is dipped in cinnamon and sugar wins my vote! These little gems are so cute and delicious. I served them for my friends at one of our Sunday brunches.

It was a cute addition to my lovely table scape. I could've decorated with dirt and target bags for place mats and these muffins would still make the table cute. They are just so cute I want to bite them, over and over and over.

Pork Siu Mai/Shoe My/Shoo Mie

'Ello Govnah.

I'm a bit peeved right now. My Body and I are at war. Not just, Mind says "Run a 10K", Body says "no way, Jose." Instead, my body wants to be sick but that is not on my schedule at the moment. I don't want to be hocking up loogies, blowing my nose every 5.5 seconds until the skin from my nose peels off, or having nasty mouth. I just want to be a normal girl, gaw dangit! Seems as though Body does not give a flying shit. So, I will drown my body with Green Monsters, green tea, and cough drops while acting like the biggest baby so my hubby will feel sorry for me and do all the chores, cooking, and laundry. ::crossing fingers that hubby reads this::

Besides being sick, I've been having very strong cravings for one thing... Chinese food. What the what? Now before you start speculating that I am with child, I will tell you that I am in fact, not preggos. If I am, it must be a Chinese baby because all it wants is Chow Mein and Dim Sum. Lucy.... you have some splainin' to do.


Honey Walnut Shrimp. One of the best things on earth.

Besides begging my hubby to take me to Panda Inn, I also felt the sudden urge to make some dumplings. I made them before, but to keep in line with my resolutions I decided to try a new recipe. Easy, quick, and delicious. What more can you want out of a recipe?
Project Wifey Wife- The Savory
Pork Sui Mai
adapted from The Everything Rice Cooker Cookbook

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground pork
1 package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 egg
wonton wrappers

1. Mix all of the ingredients together.  See how easy that is?

2. Put about a half to a full tablespoon of the mixture into a wonton wrapper. Make a little cup and squeeze.

3. Steam for about 7-10 minutes until cooked through.



If you're feeling crazy, you can also fry some!

And isn't it funny that TODAY is Chinese New Year? Maybe that's why I've been craving it all! Really, it's a plain coincidence because I had no idea.

Gung Hei Fat Choy!

Something daring, eh? ::strokes chin::

Take Me to the Greek...Salmon

See what I did there on that shnazzy title?

When Hubby comes home and says that the house is filled with all his favorite food smells, you know you're doing something right. When your house STILL smells like that two days later...ummm, I'm not quite sure what that means. ::scratches head::

Point is, I made something that smells amazing and tastes even MORE so. I am pretty excited to post this because I created this recipe using my own noggin. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Sorry to toot my own horn, I'm just happy that my noggin is working. YAY for New Year's Resolutions.

Project Wifey Wife: The Savory
Panko Hummus Crusted Salmon with Orzo Salad

Ingredients:
For the Salmon
12-16oz  salmon or any other fish
2-3 garlic cloves; minced
1/4 of a yellow union; diced
1 Tbs of dried parsley
1 Tbs of dried oregano
1 cup of panko breadcrumbs
2Tbs of Hummus (I used a generic store bought one with no added flavors)
salt to taste
olive oil to moisten
feta for pretty decor

For the Orzo Salad
1 1/2 cups of dried orzo pasta
1 zucchini; chopped
1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper
1/4 yellow or red onion
1/2 Tbs parsley
1/2 Tbs oregano
Drizzle of olive oil
salt to taste

1.Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and Boil the orzo pasta according to the directions on the box.
2. Saute the onions and garlic for the salmon in a small pan. Add the oregano and parsley and stir. Cook for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent.

3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the panko breadcrumbs, hummus, salt, and oil together. Add the onion mixture and stir together. It should hold together pretty well.

4. Spread the mixture ontop of the salmon and crumble some feta on top if you'd like. I did it and turns out, I don't like feta.

5. On the same baking dish, throw on those yummy veggies for the orzo pasta. Toss with olive oil, oregano, parsley, and salt.
6. Bake  for 20-25 minutes until Salmon is flaky and the veggies are roasted. Mine cooked together perfectly.

7. Mix the beautifully fragrant veggies into the orzo pasta.

8. De....wait for it....vour.

In other news....

I've actually been to The Greek Amphitheater for a Lykke Li concert. It's pretty phat.

You know what else is pretty bangarang? The Coachella Line up. Wahoooo! I can't wait! Remember all the fun I had last year? It's going to be epic, my friends.

I am most excited to see Florence + The Machine, Radiohead, Bon Iver, The Shins, DJ Shadow, Santigold, The Rapture, Snoopaloop and Dr. Dre...oh my... I guess I could just show you the poster because there are so many more.

TAKE ME TO THE DESERT!

Good Bye Vacation. You Were SO Good to Me.

Alas, my winter vacation is over. I enjoyed every little drop of it.
Some of my favorite moments:

Seeing my Grandma. She was very ill and came here from the Philippines for medical care. I'm so happy to report that she is strong and doing well. She was doing so well, she asked me A MILLION times if I'm pregnant and if not... why? Then she proceeded to COMMAND Hubby and I to start trying immediately. I love her.

Baby fever in full effect. For now, I will practice holding other people's cute babies.

Hiking with friends. I only went twice, but that is two times more than I have been in the past six months. Winning! I went to Claremont Wilderness Park with some of my yoga/teacher buddies and then I went for a REAL hike with Hubby and his co-workers. I say "REAL" because this one required climbing, getting duuurty, seeing a coyote, and almost dying of butt cramps. I believe that constitutes as a real hike, no? We also brought Sonic along and he actually made it out alive!

We quickly recovered from our long hike with a couple of good eats! Can't get any better than that!

And tired puppy Sonic recovered with a long nap on the car ride home...or was that me? I don't recall.

Experimenting with new recipes! I've been in the kitchen making my very own recipes. I feel like a mad scientist in my kitchen except I'm not mad, but extremely content. Isn't it weird how food can make you feel like that? I can't wait to share them with you. I have 2 that I will post asap! Get ready to cook some delicious meals!

Stay tuned, friends!