Nom Nom Gumbo

One of the dishes my Mom had in her dinner repertoire when I was growing up was Gumbo. For those of you who haven't had it before, let me give you a quick explanation. Combine spicy sausage, chicken meat, shrimp, bell peppers, celery, lots of herbs and broth, and serve over rice. Now a question....

How could that possibly be bad?

Oh that's right, it can't. It's delicious. And healthy to boot.

Gumbo
Serves 2 (with excellent leftovers)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 chicken andouille sausages
4 chicken tenders
1/2lb of shrimp (if you want, but I omitted them)
1 onion, chopped
1 cup sliced celery
2 cups bell peppers
1 container reduced-sodium chicken broth from Tj's (32 ounces)
32 ounces of water
3 tablespoons granulated garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teapsoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
1 cup prepared white rice

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized soup pot. Add the chopped onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the andouille sausage and saute until slightly browned.
Put the chicken tenders in and saute until light brown, then take them out, give them a rough chop and put them back in the pot.
Add the celery and bell peppers and saute for several minutes, until the veggies begin to soften.
Pour the broth and water in, and then add all the herbs/spices.
Simmer for 30-45 minutes.
Taste for salt, and add some if needed.
Serve over white rice.

This is a super delicious, 1-pot meal. Very hearty and filling. I asked Mike while we were eating if he would give it two thumbs up and he replied with, "ssshhhh...eating" so I'll take that as a compliment.

Have to give my Mom props for emailing me her recipe, thanks Mom!!

Beef Stir Fry

This is a kickass recipe. It's spicy, super-healthy and delicious. Hadn't done a stir-fry in what seems like forever, so it was time. And it turned out great. Hope you all try it and love it as much as I do!!

Beef Stir Fry
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2lb. lean beef strips (round steak or something similar)
1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
2 small broccoli heads, chopped
2 stalks celery, thinly chopped
1/2 frozen bell peppers
1/2 cup frozen green beans (or snow peas, whatever you have!)
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1 teaspoon granulated ginger
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper

Place the beef strips in a ziploc with half the soy sauce and half the garlic, ginger, and cayenne. Allow to marinate for an hour or so. This really helps the flavors come alive in the stir fry.
Get all your veggies cut up and set them aside.

All of these, plus a bunch more only cost me $1.77.

Heat up a wok that has been sprayed with Pam until it's super-hot and then drop the beef strips in and sear quickly. Like a minute on each side, max. Remove the beef from the wok and set aside.

The beef, post-sear

Once the beef is done, take the frozen veggies and allow them to steam for a couple minutes.

Once frozen, now hot and tasty!

And after the frozen veggies are up to temp, toss in the rest of the veggies, along with the remaining soy sauce and spices. Mix well, then add a couple tablespoons of water and throw a lid on the wok for 3-4 minutes so the veggies steam. Be careful not to overdo it. Mushy veggies are no one's friend.

After steaming, the broccoli should be a vibrant green color.

When you take the lid off the wok, the veggies should be slightly tender but have bite to them still. Nab a  piece of broccoli and test it. You want it to still have nice crisp bite. Also, this allows you to taste for seasoning. With the soy sauce, you shouldn't need to add any salt, but if the garlic-level isn't too your liking, go ahead and add more. Then toss the beef back in the wok, and mix everything together. Turn the heat off on the stove and place the lid back on the wok.

You jealous bro?? 

It'll only take a minute for the meat to heat through. Most of the time I would serve this kind of dinner with some rice, but in keeping with the health-kick, I just had some raw veggies instead.

Yea, you jealous.

God said let there be stir fry. 

And there was.

And it was good.

Actually. It was pretty freaking great. Light, but filling. Absolutely nom-tastic.

And now it's Wednesday evening. Time to work out and make dinner! Have a good night everyone!

Miyagi Sushi

As last week neared it's end, several things happened:

1) I had a successful (still waiting to hear back) interview

2) The realization hit that Insanity is molding me into a hotter version of myself

3) It had been a week or 2 since Mike and I had gone out with our friends

So...because of all these things, we decided to try a sushi place here in San bernardino that we had heard great things about, Miyagi Sushi.

I know what you're thinking...Marga, a sushi place...in San Bernardino??? WTF are you thinking??? 

Well, I can now assure you, that although located in a questionable (at best) area, this is a solid sushi joint. And even better, the chefs are all Japanese. Very encouraging.

• Atmosphere: 4 Spatulas. It's a small place, and there is pretty much always going to be a wait, but the place is clean and the turnover is quick. It looks like a sushi place, not a crappy restaurant pretending to be a sushi place.
• Service: 4 Spatulas. The servers all have smiles on their faces and the sushi chefs are super entertaining. Not only that, the food practically flies out of the kitchen. It's very efficient. They have their dance steps down. Considering we ordered a metric shit-ton of food and they didn't forget or miss anything, I was impressed.
• Food: 5 Spatulas. The food, most amazingly, was delicious. I was incredibly suspicious of a place in the Inland Empire offering fresh sushi. Now my doubts are history. The fish was fresh. And plentiful. And artfully presented. And most important, completely delectable. I will definitely be going back. We went with a group of 6 total people, and tried 17 different rolls. Every single one was fantastic. That's a damn good record if you ask me. Also, the appetizers were great too. Their fried calamari wasn't too chewy or tough. Yum, yum, YUM! I'd definitely recommend the Dynamite if you go...it's baked scallops with crab meat, rice and sauce. Over-the-top good.
• Overall Value: 4 1/2 Spatulas. We went for the "all-you-can-eat" option for our dinner. Spent $24 a person. Considering the average cost of one of their rolls is $10, we ate our fair share. Meaning, between the 6 of us, we needed to order at least 12 rolls to make it worthwhile. And we ordered 17. Plus miso soup. Plus appetizers. So we did good. Oh so good, if you ask me. It had been a while since I'd had amazing sushi, and this was like a religious experience. As in, you take a bite of your first roll and your eyes glaze over and you feel such unbridled pleasure you could just die, right then and there. Will I be back? Hell yes. Will I do the "all-you-can-eat" again? HELL YES!

God. Just thinking about it, I want to go right now. Sigh.

And although doing an "all-you-can-eat" dinner experience may not exactly be on my "diet" plan right now, it was so worth it. This week I'm back to eating like a bunny-rabbit. Hey, if you don't enjoy yourself from time to time, what's the point??? You only get 1 go-round in life, so I'll stuff my face with sushi till I can't walk every now and then. My advice would be for you to do the same.

Feta Makes it Bettah

Last week was busy. As Wednesday neared, I was getting all kinds of anxious prepared for my interview, and time was slipping away from me. So Wednesday, while the Curry in the Crock Pot simmered away and filled the house with its essence, I also made Thursdays' dinner ahead of time and stuck it in the fridge. Multi-tasking-magic.

Went with a super-easy, super-delish meal that both Mike and I love. And, as it sits overnight, it just gets better. Pasta Salad. Combined with some yummy feta...because, of course:

Feta Makes it Bettah
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 cups rotelle pasta (or shells, or penne. go nuts.)
1/2 big cucumber, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small can black olives, chopped
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn, drained & rinsed
3/4 cup feta, crumbled
1/2-3/4 cup italian dressing

Get a big pot of water on the stovetop and bring to a boil.
While you are waiting for the water to boil, prep all the veggies and toss them into a big bowl.
When the water is boiling, salt liberally and add the pasta. Cook to al dente.
Drain the pasta when it's finished, and add them to the veggies.
Top the pasta salad with the feta and italian dressing and mix well.
Cover with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge till you are ready for it!

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Got to love it!

Another reason I love pasta salad, you can pretty much put anything in it and it'll taste great. Don't have black beans and corn? Don't shed a tear. You can put olives, bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots...etc. There are no rules!!

We ended up eating this Thursday night...and then had the leftovers at the beach on Saturday...Bonus!

Curry in the Crock Pot

Alright, so I've been craving some spicy, hearty food this week. So I contacted the curry goddess Evelyn and asked if she would share her recipe with me. She gave me loose guidelines, and I went for it.

Mine turned out a bit different from hers. Not better or worse, just different. But still very delicious and filling. Was a fun experiment. I literally measured nothing. Just did it by feel, which is, actually, strangely liberating.

Also, this dish perfumes the whole house with the smells of love and caring that only a good crock-pot meal can produce. So it was a win across the board.

All the amounts in the following recipe are my guesstimates. And yes, I just used a fake word.

Chicken Curry (adapted from Evelyn!)
Serves 2 with massive leftovers

Ingredients:
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 big carrots, peeled and chopped
4 small-to-medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup of the Melange a Trois bell peppers from TJ's
2 cups fresh pineapple, chopped
4-6 chicken breast tenderloins, depending on how much you want/size
1 1/2 cans coconut milk
1 can chicken broth
Several heaping tablespoons of curry powder (I probably used 4-5)
Granulated garlic (I think I did 2 tablespoons or so)
1 teaspoon cayenne powder
Salt to taste

The beginning of this process is the only part that requires any real work. It'll take you about, 10-15 to prep all of your veggies and spices. After that, all you do is lay them in your Crock-Pot and crank that thing up to high for 6 hours. I put the onions in first, followed by the carrots, potatoes, pineapple and the chicken on top. Then add the liquids to cover. Put the spices in last and stir a bit to combine. After that..put the lid on a go have a productive day!
I came back about half way through the cooking process and tasted for seasoning. At this point I added a little bit of salt and some more garlic. Because that's how I roll.
After 6 hours, this meal is ready to roll. Just boil some rice and serve it up.

This meal is super easy to prepare, and the results are fantastic. You could trick people into thinking you slaved away all day at the stove! But I don't encourage lying. I actually served it on top of rice and with Garlic Naan from TJ's which is super-addictive and delicious. Two dollars buys you 4 big pieces of Naan that are covered in garlic.....MMMMMMM!

And..of course...this was a pretty healthy meal. The only fat comes from the coconut milk. But..what can I say. You can't make good curry without coconut milk. It just wouldn't work. There's something magical that happens when you combine curry powder and coconut milk. It's the same as beef broth and wine. Shouldn't taste good together, but after a couple hours on low heat, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn't lick the bowl. All the bowl-lickers out there know what I'm saying. Happy Friday people!