Salmon, Green Beans and Sugar Snap Peas!

Spring is here and I am pretty pumped about it. Some friends had a little din din/cooking party the other night and it kind of inspired me to cook. I didn't take hours because I was super hungry when I got home, but I did want something fresh and light! Farm fresh veggies to the rescue! :)

Salmon

The salmon was pre-marinated, which I am not a huge fan of so I tried rubbing/washing most of it off. I put a bit of olive oil in the pan and cooked the fillet for about 7 minutes. I added some pepper while it was cooking and lemon juice after it browned.

Green Beans with Slivered Almonds

Add a bit of olive oil to a pan and saute the green onion. After rinsing the green beans, add them to the pan. Steam with the lid on for about 5 minutes or until the beans are cooked half-way. Add in the almonds and cook for another 3 minutes. 

Sugar Snap Peas

I am not going to lie, I quickly steamed them in the microwave for one minute and chopped some fresh tomatoes to put on top! 

Not too fancy, super quick and healthy so I had to share.
PS I am accepting applications for a live-in chef or baker! :)

Veggie Eggs!

My mom has always been wanting breakfast in bed. So this year I decided to do it. Only problem is, Mom lives a thousand miles away. I enjoyed my breakfast in bed and reflected on how lucky I am to have the best mama around! She has taught me so much and I cannot begin to thank her for everything she has done, and continues to do for me.

If I told my mom I ate eggs, she would probably say "What?" and think I was joking. I am not a big egg fan. I am a weird texture person and the rubbery, mushiness of eggs creeps me out. BUT...I am getting better at expanding my tastes as I experiment with my own cooking and trying new dishes. Eggs are a good source of protein and are packed with lots of vitamins and minerals so I have been trying to eat them a bit more. My secret: load them with other things that don't have a weird texture!!

We get a fresh veggie box each Tuesday through CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). It is awesome because we get tasty, fresh veggies each week and support local farmers. My favorite way to mask the egginess: pile on awesome greens from the farm!

Veggie Eggs

2 eggs 

milk

pepper

4 baby asparagus

1 cup fresh spinach leaves

1 green onion

5 cherry tomatoes 

olive oil

I whisked one entire egg plus the white of a second with a splash of milk and a bit of pepper. 

After rinsing the veggies, I chopped the baby asparagus, spinach, green onion and cherry tomatoes.

Heat a pan with a bit of olive oil, then add the egg mixture. Once it starts to thicken, add the veggies on top. I chop my eggs up in the pan after it solidifies a bit, but you can do an omelet as well. I cook it for about 3-4 minutes after adding the veggies, mostly paying attention to the spinach.

cooked eggs and veggies!!

Big bro is obsessed with Frank's hot sauce. He puts it on everything, including his eggs. I must say that I stole that little tip from him, but it adds a lil kick in the morn!!

delish!

My family is coming to visit next weekend for my sister's hooding and graduation ceremony, so I will save the Mother's Day celebrations for the following Sunday. Better late than never, right?

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you!

Hawaiian Chicken with Rice

Living Alone Lesson 4: Screaming will not kill cockroaches.

Hate is a pretty strong word. I know I over-use it and don't really mean it sometimes when I say it. Honestly, I feel privileged to say that there are only a few things in life that I truly hate.

Growing up in South Florida exposed me to the nastyness of palmetto bugs. Just thinking about them makes my skin crawl. There wasn't much you could do to prevent them from crawling into the garage or house in the hot, humid weather! Luckily I could just scream or run away and someone else would have to deal with it. 

Spring break in high school, I was in Texas with the besties. We were having a great "before bed" conversation when I quickly jumped out of bed to run to the bathroom. I flipped on the light, did my thing, then turned around to flush the toiled...AND SCREAMED! A huge palmetto the size of my middle finger went scurrying across the back of the toilet into the vanity. I woke up the whole house: parents, brothers, friends, everyone.  When they came to the rescue there was no mysterious bug to be found. I am positive it is hiding in the wood. To this day, they all probably think I was on hallucinogenics.

College came around and I was supposed to mature. There was a small, more private weight room in the basement of one of the old, dingy dorms near mine. It was beyond disgusting, smelled like feces, and the roof leaked in more than seven places. I am still shocked that I used it, but it was closer than the trek across campus in the -40 degree weather during the winter. I usually felt pretty safe around one of my good buddies and would venture to go lift over there with him as I was confident he had my back if a creeper ever decided to get me while lifting. Pretty sure it was a Sunday afternoon when my perception of this brave soul drastically changed. As soon as we entered the hell hole of a room, I recognized these HUGE, nasty antenna and immediately freaked out! (Well, I thought it was a freak out until I witnessed Ben's reaction.) He legit was in the corner screeching like a girl telling me "to do something about it." After I realized that the two of us combined yelled louder than a school yard full of children and that I would have to be the bigger person in the situation, I started chucking 25 lb. plate weights across the room. I creatively trapped the nasty cockroach, then smashed it with a mound of six weights. They sat there for the rest of the school year and I never, EVER, will go back to check on it. 

After over twenty years of my life, Jeanie can finally say she witnessed me screaming like a girl. I turned on the toaster oven for her one night and after about three minutes of it heating up, I opened it to put her bread in. Never thought I'd ever see a cockroach run from a heated toaster over, but it happened, literally, right before my eyes. I jumped to the ceiling and let out the highest pitched yell of my life. For sure thought the bug was going to crawl on my face. Just one of those things I never expected to find toasting bread, but was glad to have someone close by to take care of the bug for me!

Yesterday I was in the bathroom and saw a big, black mark on the wall behind me. At first, I was trying to figure out what dinner guest made a scuff that high up on the wall and how I would come up with a story for the house owner upon arrival. Quickly I noticed the trademark, long antenna and realized it was no mark at all. I could yell and scream all night, but that bug was not going to magically disappear and the neighbors were probably contemplating calling the police. I gathered myself together, did a little pump up speech and ran to grab the vacuum. I closed my mouth really tight, turned on the high powered thing and sucked him up super fast with one eye closed. I heard the crunch and left the machine on for a few more minutes just to make sure he was drowning in the sea of hair already trapped in the vacuum. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. 

Hawaiian Chicken

3 chicken breasts

4 cups pineapple tidbits with juice

1/4 cup brown sugar

splash of olive oil

1 cup brown rice 

1 cup white rice

2 cups water

I surgically cleaned and chopped the chicken into about 1 inch pieces and added the pineapple pieces, juice and sugar to the crock pot. After about one hour or so I added a splash of oil to prevent it from sticking together. I let it cook on high for about 3 hours total and it was moist and tender!

With about 20 minutes remaining on the chicken, I cheated and used the rice cooker for the rice. Half-white, half-brown rice and it was ready in just a few minutes!

I don't hate pineapple, or chicken, or people that kill bugs for me. I can handle fruit flies and spiders, but Lord bless me when a nasty cockroach (or any closely related relative of his) enters my home. I like to think I am making baby steps in the right direction.

Coconut Pound Cake with Rum Glaze

Living Alone Lesson 2: Hosting is fun work.

In college I always said "I am going to have parties all the time when I get my own place." I lived in the dorms all four years and was a RA so "partying" in my little abode was difficult to say the least. Although I still don't really have my own place (yet), I think I can still host. And for the next week or two I get to pretend the house is mine! :)

The awful 30-40 degree rain we had ALL last week made me want to stay in bed and drink tea al day, but yesterday and today's glorious weather made up for it! I have had spring fever for probably a month now and am definitely ready for the beach weekends and hot runs to start up again! To prepare others for the greatness, I decided to have a themed din din party. I think it is safe to say it was Hawaiian-themed. Pineapple dominated and, as we all learned, it pairs well with lots of things!

I originally wanted to host a bake-off, but I realized that most people eat normal foods and don't run off baked goods like I do. My main dish was Hawaiian Chicken served over rice (post to follow), but as the host, it is only proper to have a dessert option too just in case someone else doesn't bring one right...? Coconut and rum are both pretty tropical!

Coconut Pound Cake with Rum Glaze

1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temp

2 cups sugar

1/2 tablespoon coconut extract

4 eggs

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

1/4 cup Captain Morgan

1 cup sugar

Preheat over to 350. Cream the butter and sugar together until nice and smooth. Add in the coconut extract and beat together with the eggs until light and fluffy. Combine the flour and baking powder together. Slowly add in the flour mixture, one cup at a time, with the milk, a little bit at a time. Do not over mix the batter. Once everything is incorporated, pour into a well-greased bundt cake pan. Bake at 350 for about 60 minutes, checking with a toothpick to make sure it is cooked all the way through. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before flipping onto a plate.

the masterpiece!!
(I feel like there should be a flower or plant in the middle)

For the glaze, add the rum and sugar to a small sauce pan on low heat. Bring to a slow boil and stir. Let it boil for about one minute or until the sugar completely dissolves. Slowly pour the glaze onto the top of the cake letting it drip down the sides. When it cools it will crystallize and make a pretty pattern!

the inside was nice and moist!

My (baking) services are up for auction. Tonight I was offered a basement bedroom with a private bath. Even the non-loving coconut fans in the house thoroughly enjoyed the cake, which pretty much made my night!


I am kind of glad I didn't host parties in college. I couldn't deal with mopping up beer from the floor, picking up millions of solo cups all over the place, or finding other fun random messes in the morning. I still had a bit of work to do when everyone left and I didn't even throw a rager! I will say that the best thing about going to someone else's party is that you get to go home to a clean(er) house! :) No matter how well I vacuumed and cleaned the counters before people came, I did it all over again! 


Totally worth it! It was great to have people over and share yummy dishes! Can't wait for the next one!!

Lamb Stew!

Living Alone Lesson 1: How to de-clog the sink.

The sister is out and about enjoying pineapple, coconuts, and volcanoes. She is celebrating her birthday, her recent addition of PhD after her name, and many years with her hubby. In the meantime, I am throwing raging parties every night. The house will be clean before she gets back.

It's been nice to make a mess when I cook and not have to worry about it. Or leave my clothes all over the house. In fact, I think I have been doing it these past few days just because I can! I will admit, I did pick up and play housewife today. The counter-tops are shining and I can see the carpet in my room!

Garbage disposals are great. Don't have to worry about scraping out the crumbs or peels from the sink. Just push the little button. However, today we had a little spit up. Usually when this happens, I just stand there and look cute while Jeanie plugs the mess away. Doesn't seem too complicated and, to be honest, I have plenty of toilet plunging experiences from the good ol college days (o how I miss the roomies!) With no Jeanie to do the work for me, I was left to use my own skills...

Lamb Stew
1/2 medium onion
3 stalks celery
3 carrots
2 potatoes
6 stalks of parsley, stems removed, tops chopped
about 3/4 lb lamb meat
1 bottle dark beer
1 can Hunts tomato sauce (you can use fresh or diced tomatoes as well)
rosemary
thyme
pepper
olive oil

Peel, rinse and chop all the veggies and add to crock pot. Remove the stems from the parsley, chop the tops and add to the pot. Carefully trim the lamb meat, cut into chunks and add in. Pour in the beer and tomato sauce. Add a splash of olive oils and seasonings to taste. You can always add more later! Set the crock pot on high for 4 hours and enjoy!

my stew with some fresh French Baguette!

We all know how capable I am...so after plunging for 20 minutes, I called papa bear for some guidance. I learned how to create more pressure by using the stopper for one side of the sink and plunging on the other. I heard WOOOOOSH and magically the water drained! Thank God for cell phones, the engineers in my life, and my amazing ability to follow directions.

I am not sure if it was the potato peels or carrots, but needless to say, next time I might just throw the peels in the garbage. (My personal plumber highly recommended that) I know I should probably be eco-friendly and compost, but I don't want raccoons. I do not think I am ready to deal with them. At least not yet.

I know some people that are always happy, optimistic and smiling. Definitely have some close pals that are not so cheery all the time. I'd like to think I am somewhere in between the two extremes. Most of the time.

It's still a work in progress, but I am slowly learning that you cannot change others' attitudes or behaviors. No matter how much you love spending time with someone, they will start to get on your nerves. Some smart woman once told me, "Relationships are about compromise." Not just between couples, but among friends, family members and complete strangers.

This past week was action packed. Jeanie's defense, birthday, St. Patty's Day, parents visiting, sister's in-laws, and the month I have been waiting for! I had plenty to do and prepare for to keep semi-busy, but also found my mind constantly racing. I tried my best to please everyone and do the in-between thing. But I feel like maybe I would have been better off if I was just myself and didn't try so hard.

I was super excited to make an awesome cake for my sister's defense celebration/St. Patty's Day/birthday partay. Not going to lie, I started thinking about it a few months ago. She is not a fan of baked goods/sweets, but when I saw her two favorite ingredients combined in one cake, I figured it had to work...

Chocolate Avocado Cake

from Joy the Baker

3 cups flour

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup soft avocado (1 medium avocado)

2 cups water

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla

preheat oven to 350. sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda. 

mash the ripe avocado in a separate bowl. stir in oil, water, vinegar and vanilla. add in the sugar. 

mix wet ingredients with dry until incorporated. add batter to two greased, round cake pans.
bake for 30-40 minutes until cooked all the way through. let the cake completely cool on wire racks.

Avocado Frosting

2 ripe avocados (brown parts removed)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar  

using super ripe avocados, whisk together with lemon juice and vanilla until it becomes smooth. slowly add in powdered sugar.

*the color of the frosting will lighten as you add more sugar. my frosting was Shrek-green because I did not want a super sweet cake*

I had to remind Jeanie how old she is!

The cake was super moist and tasty! Vegans know how to bake too I guess! I think if I make it again, I would try to enhance the avocado flavor, or use a white cake since chocolate isn't my thing. But it was a fun experiment and definitely a unique cake!

Now that things have settled a bit, it is more clear that you can really only impact yourself. I am the only one that can control my mood, how crabby pants I want to be or the way I treat others. The people around me may enhance my mood or make me want to run away, but at the end of the day, it is my life and my choice.

Carrot Cake

Online shopping is so easy and convenient. You can compare lots of prices and products without traveling to millions of stores. No waiting in line or dealing with crazy crowds. Once you make up your mind, you just click and it's shipped right to your doorstep! Or so I thought...

Lately I have been having some issues. I ordered my mom and sis the same Vday gift (I know I am cool). Mom gets hers in three days. Perfect! Jeanie's never comes. At all. Long story short, company says something stupid about it being a seasonal item and not having anymore so they can't replace it. So no Vday gift for the sis. Fail!

Ordered some weight lifting gloves a few months ago. A week after I ordered them, I get an email with some stupid response about how the company cannot fill my order. Two months later, I decide to re-order from a different company. They came in late last week. Semi-fail!

Now I am getting smarter after all these fails. SO I order my friend Michelle's birthday gift two weeks before she is leaving for her hot getaway to Vegas. For sure in two weeks it will be here, right? I track it every day online. Feb 16 it is in Raleigh. Feb 17 USPS says it is delivered in Durham. Feb 19 it is in Indianapolis. hmmmmmmm? I politely tell the company that I have been tracking this thing and I need it here. They respond and say yea they guarantee delivery by the 24th so if it is not there by then to let them know. Sure enough, just like I predicted, no package on Feb 24. Enraged, I email them, not so politely this time, and say that not only should they have done something about it last week when I emailed, but now I won't have the gift for my friend's birthday party.

I guess the birthday cake I built her was better than nothing...

Carrot Cake
fresh squeezed orange juice from 2 medium oranges (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups grated carrots (about 4 medium sized carrots)
1 cup chopped walnuts

preheat oven to 350. beat together juice, oil, and eggs. mix dry ingredients together. add in the wet ingredients. fold in carrots and nuts. pour into cake pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Frosting
8 oz Neufchâtel cheese, room temp
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

while the cake is cooling, whip ingredients with hand or stand mixer. make sure the cheese is warm before starting. i recommend taking it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before starting to make the cake. when the cake is completely cooled, frost the cake! I added some grated carrots on top!

happy birthday Michelle!!

It's usually the little things in life that make a big difference. Packages that don't arrive on time make me incredibly angry. A simple "thank you" makes me feel warm and fuzzy. People that use the wrong door and walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk drive me nuts! Little notes and cards mean the world to me. Seeing someone smile from ear to ear while cutting into her birthday cake is priceless! 

A smart ass man once told me, "seems like things never go quite as you plan." It ended up being a fantastic birthday party, even without the gift I ordered and I knew we would celebrate after the trip! Tonight we had din din plans tonight to catch up, celebrate birthmonths/days and hear about the hot Vegas trip. That did not go quite as planned either. But the girly, heart to heart chat was way better! Gift was exchanged. Dessert was still consumed. And necessary chatting was completed! :)