Julie & Julia: INSPIRED!

First and foremost: I loved Julie & Julia. I saw it in the theatre the weekend it opened with my little sister. Right after I was so inspired. So inspired in fact we went to Barnes & Noble and I bought the cookbook.

I have had this book for months! Months. And I had not used it once until, well yesterday! I felt guilty for buying it and leaving it to sit in the cabinet for months. A cookbook is bought to be used! And a lot of the recipes that I wanted to try had a long cooktime. That's not feasible for one of our weekly dinners. We like to eat early and usually tend to cook something that can be done [prepped and cooked] in about an hour or less. So it just wasnt' going to work unless I used it for a weekend dinner. I finally got the courage to pick something, again inspired from just seeing the movie for the 5th or 8th time the night before. I wanted to make the chicken breasts in the mushroom and cream sauce. So we went out to buy the ingredients and well I came home and made it. This meal could easily be done during the week mind you. The only time consuming part there was was cleaning off the mushrooms with a damp towel - we bought the presliced mushrooms, so you can imagine me standing by the counter cleaning off each slice one by one.

So really all you do is semi-cook the chicken breast seperately. Then remove them and then saute the mushroom with some shallots [I used half an onion] and then add the chicken back in to the mushroom/onion mixture before the mushrooms/onions get too brown. When the chicken is cooked through remove them, mix in some chicken stock and white vermouth - cook the alocohol down and then add the cream. Bring that to a boil and then serve it immediately. We had some roasted potatoes and sauteed string beans as sides.

 

It was delicious! The chicken was so moist, and not because of the mushroom cream sauce. It was truly delicious! I don't think I'd change a thing about the recipe, except probably just use different sides next time to change it up.

Hopefully sometime in the next few weeks I can try to make the boeuf bourguignon. Cross your fingers for me!

24: A family addiction!

This is is blamed on the fiancée! Sorry Danny! lol. It's his fault. And you know, he probably had the best intentions. I mean we were having a pretty crappy year already, and then he brought his season 1 set one weekend - we easily watched 6 episodes!

The suspense! The action! KIEFER! lol.

We could not stop after the first season. We had to know what was going to happen next. So one trip to the mall, we stopped at Suncoast to see what they had in their inventory. They had seasons 1-7 in stock; new and used! We tried it out buying the second season used, and as soon as we got in the car Danny opened up the package  to inspect the discs and what do you know!? They were spotless! No smudges, no scratches! They were perfect! I was so happy and we couldn't wait to go home and show Audrey and my dad! And that's pretty much how the rest of the seasons went. I think the only seasons we bought that were brand spanking new were seasons 4, 5, and 7.

Sometimes my dad would make a face when I'd bring a season home, but I never heard him complaining when we were watching them! We get the occasional "Chingow Danny!" for getting us hooked on 24.

Our weekdays now revolve around 24 and the new season. We are used to seeing at least 2 episodes a day! I don't know how we are going to make it through this season taking in only 1 episode a week!

Right now, Audrey and I are here sitting on the couch waiting. We already ate dinner. Now we wait for 24. Only 1 more hour to go! Crazy huh?

Wedding Day Errand Saturday

So this past Saturday my mom, my sister and I were on a mission to get some wedding errands accomplished. This is a necessity seeing as my wedding is only a mere 82 days away! Can you believe that?! There’s at least one point in everyday where I panic a little, only because everything is not completely set. The good thing is that everything and everyone is booked! Here’s the list rundown:


Church: Trinity Worship Center, ceremony is to begin at 4 PM
Reception site: Villa de Cortez Ballroom – Dinner 6-8, Dance 8-12
Catering: Jose’s Cafecito
Photographers: RGV Photography, for the day of
David Pezzat Photography, for our engagement and bridal sessions
Wedding dress, Bridesmaid’s dresses: David’s Bridal
MOH’s dress: Alfred Angelo
Limo: All Valley Limousine
Flowers: Jac-Lin’s Flowers
Music: DJ Art
Invitations: Social Situations
Cakes: Sweet & Tasty Bakery
Linen Rental: Sweet Dreams

That’s what I’ve got done and booked so far. The only thing we need now is our wedding rings! LOL. That’s it. And well his tux rental. But that’s it. Ok, ok and the wedding favors. But I cannot for the life of me decide on what to do. I definitely don’t want to spend too much money. And so far I’ve considered doing a Goody Table, or as my little sister likes to call it: the Heart attack table. I’ve thought about having little bells with a personalized tag, they can be later used for Christmas Ornaments, but then I think about all the little kids running around the ballroom ringing those bells. That doesn’t seem like something to look forward to. I’ve also considered little baggies/containers with a special treat inside. But that can be pricy. So the favors will probably be one of the last things we do.

But anyway, this past weekend, we found our linen provider! They’re located in Edinburg, and still a bit pricy – but it’s the cheapest price I’ve been able to find. I picked a simple, shiny and elegant white table cloth. It looks nice and is cheap without looking cheap. I still have no idea what we’ll use for the centerpieces but luckily I still have some time to decide on those.

And luckily, we stopped at a Valero on the way to check out the linens for some drinks and lo and behold we found $20 on the floor! Pretty cool huh?! And then we went to see the linens, booked them and left a deposit. Then we went to go check out the bakery and book them for a tasting. When we got there, we were informed that there would be a $50 delivery fee. See that, me and my little sister completely understand. I mean this is probably going to be a 4-5 tiered cake. There is no way that I want to be responsible for transporting it to the reception site! No way. And when my mom heard that price, she flipped! I know $50 is a lot, but think about the stress of not having to worry about getting a beautiful wedding cake to the ballroom site. We made an appointment for a tasting for this Thursday to pick the flavors and talk about the design. Mom just doesn’t know that yet.

After that we had to take my mom back to her car because she needed to go to work, but then we drove back to McAllen to continue doing more wedding errands. I wanted to stop by the florist to give her the color swatches for the girls’ dresses and maybe even talk about potential flowers for the bridal party bouquets, and to give her a payment. We got there at about 2:15 PM and we arrived to see that the sign said they closed at 2PM! But the glowy sign said OPEN, so I got off to see if she was there or if they were in fact closed. Guess what?! They were OPEN after all! So we sit and chat for a bit. We decided on super colorful flowers, and to incorporate some daisies – my favorite flower! So she brought out a few contenders, some Gerber daisies, margarita daisies and a lily. And just as we were about to leave, my florist took the bundle and put them in a vase for me to take home! So pretty!

The whole night my dad just commented on how huge the Gerber Daisies were. As huge as they are, they really are beautiful. I’m so excited to see what she comes up with for my bouquet. Mine will be all white: ivory and white flowers with some greenery.

After the florist we ventured off to David’s Bridal to see if they still had a cake topper that we had been eyeing a few weeks back. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. “Didn’t you already do a post about a wedding cake topper you already bought?” And yes, you’re absolutely right! I did. But this was a figurine one, and even Danny had seen it, and guess what? We BOTH liked it! And guess what?! It was still there! Needless to say it also came home with me that day.

Audrey thinks I should use both toppers, I’m still thinking about it. I know they’ll fit perfectly if I go with a square shaped cake. But I’m just not sure how they’ll look together. I don’t know. I guess we’ll see what the baker says.

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

This is one thing Danny had been begging me to make for the longest time. And frankly, right now, I cannot for the life of me think of why I never made them before. It isn't a difficult task, but I am Queen of the Procrastinators of America so ... that must be it. Yeah that's what it was ;)

The first time I attempted them I used the Betty Crocker recipe. And my little sister tried it a couple of times last summer I think. They were kind of dry, and me being the self-proclaimed baker, I thought I could do that same recipe and turn out way better biscuits. Yeh it didn't quite work out that way. I don't know what it was, maybe the fact that we didnt' have a bicuit cutter, the fact that I know I rolled them out way too thin, or that I tried throwing in some tricks I'd seen on the food network. Mind you this recipe was for Baking Powder biscuits. They turned out dry and well, my dad called them hockey pucks. They were pretty disappointing. I was pretty upset about it.

So I was determined that if ever I was to make them again, I'd look for a buttermilk biscuit recipe that could work better. And where we live, guess what?! They don't sell buttermilk! I kid you not! I have not been able to find buttermilk anywhere! Thank God for GOOGLE! I don't know if there goes a day where I dont' use GOOGLE, but man thank goodness. LOL! You can make your own! Just combine a TB of white wine vinegar per cup of milk! So I came across this recipe for buttermilk biscuits by Tyler Florence. And boy where these a hit! They were big - and still at this time we did not have a biscuit cutter, I used a glass - and moist and so flaky! They were delicious.

Tonights dinner menu was meatloaf, homemade mashed potatoes and corn with homemade buttermilk biscuits. Guess which recipe I used??? Yep, Mr. Florence's! And perhaps this time the difference was that I used a real bisuit cutter because I ended up with 15 biscuits rather than the recipe yield of 9!

We have 10 biscuits leftover. Nextime I just may have to cut the measurements in that recipe so I don't make too many biscuits. I hate to throw away food.

For those curious, here's the recipe I used:

Buttermilk Biscuits

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Prep Time:30 min
Cook Time:25 min
Level:Easy
Serves:9 biscuits

Ingredients:
•4 cups all-purpose flour
•1 tablespoon salt
•1 tablespoon baking powder
•2 teaspoons baking soda
•1 cup vegetable shortening, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
•1 1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk, plus additional for brushing

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add 1 cup buttermilk. Using your hands, quickly fold the dry ingredients into the buttermilk until a sticky dough forms. You may need to add more buttermilk.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Gently fold the dough over itself 3 or 4 times to create layers. Press the dough out to 1 1/2-inches thick and cut with a floured 3-inch biscuit cutter. Lay the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with buttermilk. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until risen and golden brown.

The Special K Challenge!

Ok so I know I previously mentioned, at least I think I did, about wanted to eat healthier - that was more directed towards a cooking aspect. But seeing as I've been sick for the past week and a half, cooking, well it just hasnt' happened. Bad potatoe salad this past Sunday doesn't count either!

Well dieting, I haven't really ever dieted. But this time I'm taking it a bit more serious and along with my little sister, we have begun the Special K Challenge! I thought it was gonna be harder than what it's been, but to my surprise I've been doing ok!

We went to HEB sometime last week and stocked up:

FYI: not all of our stock is pictured ;)

When we were at the checkout, Audrey said "I didn't like the way our cashier looked at us. It was like he was judging us." LOL. Nevertheless, we are on a mission! 6 lbs in 2 weeks! Wish us luck!

According to the website, for breakfast you're supposed to have some cereal with low fat/skim milk and some fruit, or some of their waffles, or you could have a protein shake or one of their meal bars. Then I usually have a mid-morning snack around 10 - and you're supposed to eat one of their suggested snacks: a snack bar, some of their crackers or snack fruit crisps, or just some fruit. Then you also use one of their meal supplements for lunch, and I gotta say that meal bar is quite filling! Then I have a mid-afternoon snack around 3. And then have a normal dinner, just a small portion - usually. lol. Like I said so far so good, and I am more than sure I can speed up the results if I were to actually exercise!

I will try my best and get past whatever feelings I have and start sometime this week. That's my goal. Just to start at some point this week. If not, I will find some way to punish myself. It'll probably be not to buy something I really want. But well, I'll let you know how that goes.

Gas update: Danny called in saying gas in Edinburg was at $2.46

My butt.

What a title ey? Lol. Well this blog is entirely devoted to what happened this afternoon.

So I decided to wear a skirt to work today. A black, form fitted, pencil skirt. It zipped up and buttoned all the way up this morning when I first put it on. And then I went to sit in the car and I have to admit I did notice the tight squeeze sitting down. But I sat, and I thought nothing of it. And so that's how I continued the day. Up, down, sit, up, down, sit ... .and so on. However, when I came to sit at one point this morning, I heard a rip. I freaked out! Luckily, nothing major had happened. I didn't even see/feel the tear that I heard. It also happened that I didn't fix my skirt before I sat, so that could've had something to do with it as well.

Then later this afternoon, I did the same thing. Didn't adjust before I sat - and this time I wasn't so lucky! My zipper split from the end and opened up all the way to the buttons on top while I sat down! I was shocked! I still am. Although, now that I look back on it I'm way more embarassed. Lol, who wouldn't be. So I had my sister go to Wal-Mart and see if she could find me a skirt that I could wear, since well you know - the one I had on was kaput!

She did and for $7! Way to go Audrey!

So yeh, that's my story for today. Hope it was enjoyable!


Gas update: $2.53 everywhere by the expressway, $2.49 in Edinburg - $2.46 if you're in Mission!

My Birthday Weekend

FYI: This is a really long post! So sit tight :)

Sick. I was sick all weekend!

It all began on .... last week. lol. I was coughing and headachy about Wednesday/Thursday - but then on Friday. Friday the day I look forward to all week! I didn't even make it to work. I had to call, well text, in sick! And it was payday! Needless to say I bet my uncle understood that I really must've been quite ill to miss work on payday! So I didn't really worry about feeling guilty that he maybe wouldn't believe that I was truly sick.

Anyway it is really all a head cold. Cough/congestion and snot! Gross right?

It's all still happening right now. But for now, I think the storm has passed. I'm in recovery and looking forward to being completely healed so that I can start working out! I'm seriously lagging on that. And the wedding is less than 3 months away!!!

Ok well this weekend ... I stayed home all day on Friday - sick. I lived on soup and crackers for about 4 days. lol. Thankfully, that's all done with. Especially since the serving size for Ritz crackers is only 5 crackers! And remember: "I lived on soup and crackers for about 4 days"!! Oh the calories :( We stayed in, my dad brought me some caldo de marisco from Casa de Marisco in Weslaco - delicious! And then we all attemted to watch the Bourne Ultimatum. Audrey and I were the only ones that were successful. My dad fell asleep sometime in the first 30 minutes, I'm pretty sure.

Saturday [Birthday Eve]
Woke up and took my time in the morning. Then we got ready and I tagged along with my little sister as she went to spend her mula! lol. She actually bought a laptop! A really pretty one too. Actually I'm using it to type this blog right now. Right this second. Really! And then we ventured off to Old Navy for a bit of shopping. She was successful. I on the other hand could not find anything. Anything on sale anyway. I've become quite the frugal shopper lately. You know since I've got this big 'ol wedding thing coming up. She bought a couple of shirts there and then she took me to lunch at Which-Wich! It was our first time there too. I had the Shrimp Po-Boy and it was delicious!

Then we ventured off to the mall at a second attempt for shopping. And guess what??! NOTHING! We found nothing! Nothing at all! Unbelievable right?! Well I'm not lying, we could've easily bought something, but we would've regretted it the second we paid for it. So we didn't buy anything. Just a coffee. The whole point of going to the mall was to meet up with my Danny because he wanted to buy me a birthday present. And he actually didn't believe me when I said I didn't find anything I wanted! But I was determined to find something I liked enough so that if he were to buy it, I wouldn't feel guilty. So off to scent chips! Oh the things I could be happy with here! I could find something and actually have it have it's own purpose. They have these burner things that have different themes, one in particular:

I could put this in my future kitchen, with all my fat chef stuff :)

And then we saw this one:

Which could also go in my future kitchen, with the scent of guess?? COFFEE! lol.

Well then they also have a whole section of Jim Shore items! All of which I've been turned to thanks to my older sister Christina. Yes it all started with you Tina! And since I've already got my collection going ... guess what I got?! lol.

The Hey Diddle Diddle one is from my Danny and the Little Red Riding Hood one is from Audrey. I've got the Nursrey Ryhme collection going too. With:

Bonnie thrown in.

Anyway the day ended with a trip to Vitamin World and a early birthday dinner with my mom at Chili's complete with a birthday serenade and a molten chocolate cake a'la mode. It was ok.

Sunday [The Day of]
Still sick. It began with a trip to the flea market where I was on the hunt, and very determined I might add, to find some pie plates. Glass pie plates. It seems that a few of mine have disappeared! Ok I know where they are, but I haven't gotten them back yet. And since I had seen a couple of pie plates at the flea market a few weeks back, I was set on buying them there rather than buying identical glass pie plates at say Wal-Mart for what, $8 a piece?! No thank you. I bought 5. Yep, 5 pie plates. And I've been warned, no more pie plates. I got a double serving of that from Audrey, and then Danny later. :) It's ok, I have 6 now. Well 9 if you include the original missing ones!

Then the day commenced with cleaning, dinner prep and darts. The family was here, complete with my mom. My danny, Merced, and my cousin Robert came too! It was pretty fun. Unfortunately, I was still sick and had a cough attack every so often, but I lived.

Merced actually came with a present! I joked and said he must bring a present to come, but he seriously did! He got me a very personalized card which was really sparkly :) and also a Journey CD!

I do not own one. I mean I have their greatest hits cd on my iPod, but it's not quite the same as owning the cd itself. And now I have one! Thanks Merced! That version of "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" is my new favorite!
My birthday was ok. It was nice and small. Quaint. Overall, good.

So sorry about the long post, again! But it happens, especially when you don't blog for several days. I am going to try and blog every other day or so. Promise!

My excuse ...

I had quite the record in 2009. Didn't get a major cold once. Not once! And what happens at the turn of the new year?? I get a cold! lol. Right now it's just mild - cough, sore throat, congestion and sneezing. But man do I hate the sore throats! Ooooh and the watery eyes. I think though, on that part I'm just pretty tired.

I really haven't been up to much lately. Not at all. It's kinda quiet and boring on my end. Just work, work, work, bills - shower, rinse and repeat!

Although my birthday is coming up! In a matter of days! 4 days to be exact! :) It's weird though, because it doesn't feel like my birthday, not one bit. I don't even feel slightly spontaneously excited. I have to make myself feel excited. It's only 22 ... makes sense right?

But really that is my excuse for lack of blogging, the sickies.

I came home from the grocery store and unloaded a bunch of veggies into the dutch oven and made a veggie soup with some proscuitto. It was pretty good! Now the only downside is there's a crapload left! I kid you not. I've already filled 4 salsa jars with leftovers and there's still some inside the dutch oven! I don't know what I'm gonna do with the rest, it would kill me to throw it out.

I've already got an idea for the next blog post I wanna put up, so it won't be too long from now before I'm back!

A Productive Saturday!

Well I must say I'm rather proud of all the things that we were able to get done today! With the wedding less than 3 months away, the time crunch is now! We have our gameplan for how we want to pay off all the big things, so that's not my concern. I have to worry about all the little details!

Today the agenda was:
1. Go to Social Situations and get price [quote] for wedding invitations and check out other services they offer.

2. Meet Sasha [one of my bridesmaids] and order her dress at David's Bridal

3. Window shop sofas - living room sets and kitchen tables [At Rooms To Go]

4. Go to Best Buy so Audrey could use her remaining balance on her gift card and so I could show Danny the pattern on the invitations that I picked out.

That was the bulk of it! Little things came up along the way, but everything else - the important stuff got taken care of.

I actually ordered the inivitations. 175! That's right. That's a lot! I hope most will come. I think I'm secretly scared no one will show up. That would be horrible, seeing as we are spending a lot of money on pulling this day off. I instantly fell in love with the pattern, and it's funny because it was totally the opposite of the look I was going for for an invitation!

I was leaning more towards a extremely simple edge, beveled or even with a satiny finish. But I saw them, and I could not resist! Danny likes them too, but then again he isn't very picky. I could write them out and he probably wouldn't even care.

Now the next couple things I need to do are finalize a centerpiece, pick someone to handle the linens, buy our wedding rings .... and pay off our Bridal/Engagement Photographer, florist, and the church!

But it's all coming together. Finally - I can breathe :-)

My Mornings

I am not, for the life of me – a morning person! I have always had problems waking up early and getting ready to go wherever it is I needed to go. And now, all I have is work. Work, work, work … everyday! 8-5. Even getting to sleep at a decent hour is proving to be a challenge. When I get home from work I feel like I don’t have enough down time to bum around and relax. So we have dinner, then a movie, or TV and then more TV because I just feel like I can’t get enough. And the worst part is I’m supposed to be doing the P90X weight loss thing to prepare for the wedding. I was supposed to start January 1. Well originally December 21. Guess where I am??? Guess! – I have yet to start! How horrible am I? I’m not fat, and on the contrary from what my friends and loved ones have told me I look normal now. I just want to be fit and look and feel comfortable in my own clothes. And of course I want to fit into my beautiful wedding dress!

So anyhow, I start my mornings – not with coffee, but with a nice [or 2-4 nice cups] of Chai Tea lattés. Mostly for the caffeine. Chai is a black tea, and I’m not even sure if it has any caffeine whatsoever! But it’s warm, and it keeps me awake, so it works.

I heat up a cup of water in the microwave, it’s all I have to work with – don’t judge me! And then I steep a bag of my chai tea for about 5 minutes or so. Then I remove the bag and add 2 packets of pure sugar, some milk, and top if off with cinnamon.

The whole purpose of this is to try and recreate a truly blissful cup that I once had at this place my mom used to work at where they sold these. Only this particular mixture was already prepared and all you needed to do was add it to hot water or milk, like Nestle Nesquick chocolate milk. I am so close I can taste it! I think I am missing a drop or two of some vanilla syrup. I think. And I keep forgetting to buy a small bottle when I go to HEB or even Starbucks. Shame on me!

I think now though I'm going to just research recipes and compare others against mine. Hope I find what I'm looking for soon! But in the meantime, this works just fine for me!

Spicy Pork with Beans and Rice

So, of course – leave it to me to suck at the pre-pictures of my fabulous dinner! But we are trying not to spend so much money on dinners, especially if we have perfectly good meat in the freezer to work with. There was pork something or other in the freezer so I thought I’d use that. And while I was scheming up how I could cook them, Audrey reminded me that I had already prepared them grilled on the stove with sautéed string beans and I believe we also had roasted potatoes. So then the next suggestion was to do spicy pork chops! Not just any spicy pork chops, but a version of my Grandma’s Spicy Pork! Pork tenderloin pieces for us!

Ingredients:
Several cloves of garlic – or Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper
Cumin
Pork – cut into bite size pieces
Chile – not sure what it’s called, but pictured below
Tomato sauce
Corn Starch


So with a little bit of vegetable oil, maybe 2 T to coat the bottom of [our] super huge skillet, warm pan with oil and throw in the pork pieces with crushed/minced garlic. Then season with some salt, pepper [garlic powder] and cumin. I only cook them long enough on each side so they’re safe to eat! So really on medium/high heat, that’s about 2-4 min. on each side. Take off heat once they’re cooked. While that’s going, boil a handful of these chiles in some water: (don't forget to remove the stems!)

Boil for about 10-15 min. Then throw in a blender and liquefy! LOL.

Once that’s all ready, throw the chile mixture from the blender in the pan with the pork pieces.
In a separate bowl, depending on how much pork you have – we always have quite a bit so I use 2 – mix 8oz. cans of tomato sauce, 2-3 T of corn starch, a bit of cool water, generous amount of salt, some pepper, garlic powder and more cumin. Then throw in the pork pan and simmer for about 10 min. so that the sauce can thicken.

The first time I made this, my grandma had excess chile and gave it to me so I didn’t have to make my own. And she also used chile pequin. She also seared the pork chops and simmered it bones and all. It was hot. And so was my version. I didn’t know how to tone the heat down but still keep all that awesome flavor. Practice definitely makes perfect! Because now I know how to do it!

The second time I made it, my dad bought the wrong chile, so that one was a little bitter. And the third time I made it, it was way too HOT! I think I may have only had 5 pieces, maybe less. I could not digest it. My dad got past the heat and was able to finish his plate – but even he said it was too spicy.

4th time was a charm! And my good friend Javi was able to come over and he had some. He said he liked it, even got up for seconds! I hope he wasn’t just saying that to be nice though. Lol.

Of course this is to be served with beans and rice, as pictured below: