No, I haven't starved to death or gorged myself into oblivion.

Well after another long hiatus, I'm typing again... I broke yet another camera and I started school full time so I haven't been in the blogging mood. But I'm full of words again, so here ya go.

There have been big changes around here since I last blogged. We've always eaten very healthy, but we took it up another notch.

We stopped shopping at Walmart. Those low prices were coming at the cost of our sanity. That place is a sad zoo. The miserable employees, primitive customers, and asinine company structure make Walmart a nightmare for people like my husband and me. We do all of our shopping at Kroger now. Yeah, I know it's only one small step up the food chain, but it has totally made a difference.

We also drastically changed the way we eat by cutting out high fructose corn syrup. You know I don't always buy into all the hype out there but we have noticed a major difference with this little step. Avoiding the HFCS has made me a lot more critical of everything I buy. You'd be surprised at all of the things with HFCS. We had to change breads, yogurts, salad dressings, cereals, even pickles and ketchup! In order to get a better sugar, we have to buy a lot more organic products. I've actually been surprised at how little it has affected our bottom line. I'm also watching all those nasty partially hydrogenated oils and MSG. I'm not perfect. I still love a bottomless regualar coca cola when I go out, I'm making better choices over all.

So I'll be the first to admit these changes have been super hard. Not because I can't have oreos, ritz, or whatever (I didn't eat those things before), but because it throws me out of my element. Before this winter we had our shopping trips down to a science. We could have shopped with our eyes closed. I flipped out when he suggested changing my grocery list. We spent a few hours in Kroger trying to find the best bread. Its been about 2 months HFCS free and I've got a product list built up, so I'm getting comfortable with my shopping trip again and I'm so proud of us for the changes we're making. I've updated the "what I'm eating" sidebar for you guys. I feel like we've really struck a good health/value balance with the meals.

We're also eating a lot of Subway lately. Probably enough to qualify it as an addiction, but don't hate! I have discovered the Italian BMT on Italian herbs and cheese and I don't think I'll ever be the same. We have had at least 3 subs each a week for the last 2 months. BTW, the whole wheat breads have HFCS, but the white and the flatbread are ok. I might do a big post on this later so I'm holding back a million nice things I have to say about subway.

I might also write a post on my new "pet." I am growing a sourdough culture in my refrigerator and I'm quite proud of it.

So, I'm back (again). I'm not dead and I'm lovin' live and lovin' food.

Remi's Birthday (Pumpkin Cheese)cake

My love's 27th birthday is this Sunday. Yay! To make things even better, he decided to take the week off. We wanted to take a little vacay, but we have horrible planning skills so we're making it a wonderful staycay. We've had a pretty good week so far. We're eating at some of our favorite restaurants to celebrate. We had some good Mexican yesterday. I finally had fish tacos some (I didn't like them nearly as much as I thought I would). Then today we had Fuji Hana sushi (I had waited wayyyy too long to eat, so I was a little monster, oops). Tonight I'm making a birthday cake for us to nibble on until Sunday. It's in the oven as we speak... er, I type and it is smelling like a kazillion bucks. I almost passed out as I rang up $25 worth of ingredients for it, but I'm told it will be worth it. It's a pumpkin cheesecake if you can't tell by my title and its another recipe that I'm copycatting the super healthy way... lemme tell ya how.

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Roast

1 Small Sugar Pumpkin

with a bit of water for about an hour at 350 degrees. (I saved 50 seeds to plant next year and roasted the rest with a spray of olive oil and a dusting of salt. Exciting!)
While you're waiting for the pumpkin to get tender process

20 gingersnap cookies

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup melted light Smart Balance margarine

to a fine fluffy crumb.
Just before the pumpkin is ready you can start to mix the batter by processing or electrically mixing

3 8oz packages Neufchatel cheese

3/4 cup Splenda

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 T molasses and

1 t vanilla

Remove the cooked pumpkin meat from the rind by scraping it with an icecream scoop. Add 1 cup to the cream cheese mixture. Then add

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t all spice

1/4 t nutmeg and

a pinch of freshly grated ginger.

Stir in

3 well beaten eggs

by hand to prevent cracks. (Mine cracked anyway, but not too bad)
Bake for 45 minutes or so, then refridgerate at least 12 hours.
Good with some fat free Rediwhip.

I haven't tasted this yet, but my house smells like Heaven right now. I'm really exicted to taste it. I want it to last until Sunday, but I'm making no bets. I'll let you know how it tastes tommorrow. Yay!

I'm baaack... its cool enough to cook again

So I guess I got lost exploring, but I'm back now. I'm making a recipe soooo amazing it pulled me out of blogger oblivion. I'm not promising anything, but I am pretty excited about fall, so I should be posting more recipes/reviews again.

Tonight I'm serving my replica of Kashi's Mayan Harvest Bake frozen dinner. I tried it during the spring and my husband looooooooooooved it. His mother is from Honduras, so hes kind of obsessed with the Mayan culture and flavors. I've been cooking since 11:30 this morning to create a meal that usually takes only 4 minutes in the microwave. Why am I doing this? The Kashi meal is perfect, quick, cheap, and healthy... the perfect quick fix. Maybe I'm a masochist, but I'm OC about making my own food. I have made this once before. I've had to totally construct the recipe myself, using the ingredients listed on the back of the box and my taste buds as a guide (pretty fun!). Here goes:

"Keshi's" Mayan Harvest Bake
*Cook

1 cup dry (presoaked) beans

6 c water

2 Tomatoes

1 small diced onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 clove chopped garlic and

1 T salt
in a slow cooker about 4 hours before serving. After the beans are soft drain excess water and add

1 cup crushed tomatoes

a handful of shredded spinach

1 T cilantro paste
Set on low or warm until serving.
*Soak

1/2 cup Bulgar and

1 T brown sugar in

1 cup water

*Roast

2 c 1 inch cubes of sweet potatoes

1 c 1 inch cubes of peeled yucca root

1/2 c carrot slices

1 clove chopped garlic

2 t cumin

2 t chili powder

1 t coriander

1/2 cinnamon

S&P

about 2 hours before serving.
*Lightly fry/saute

2 cups of sliced plantains

*Broil

1/8 c pumpkin seeds

right before serving.Remove the beans from the slow cooker when everything is ready to come together. Add the Bulgar to the bottom of the cooker, then add the roasted vegetables, then the beans, then the plantains, then sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on the top. Keep on warm setting until serving and enjoy (your hard labor).

Exploring

Today I went exploring. I live in a semiwalkable neighborhood and some days I just feel like walking. This feeling was born in Thailand. Almost daily, a partner and I (usually Anslee) would walk off into unexplored Thai territory. Each time I'd find some little nugget of excitingness. It's not nearly as fun to explore the area around my condo as it was to explore the area around Ban Rau, but it's close.

Like today, I had to go to the bank to do a couple of banking errands. The bank is about 3/4 mile away, so I figured while I was out I'd check out the a few stores across the street. I was on the lookout for a saucepan: the only cookware item that I needed, but didn't have. I wanted a good quality one for less than $7. I knew it probably wasn't going to happen, but I intended to deeply enjoy the exploratory walk. I checked out Tuesday Morning, but they only had one saucepan and it was $35. Then Ross: nada, cheap stuff for $14+.

Then... TJMaxx had something really interesting a small wok hanging front row, center on the pot rack. I fondled it, satisfied with its weight, wondering if this item was actually what I wanted all along. I am making orange chicken and "lo mien" stir fry tonight... Plus it was the least expensive item in the whole cookware section. I decided to hide it near its home on the pot rack for possible retrieval and check out the next store. Target had an entry level saucepan on sale for $7.99 and the Paula Deen one that makes me drool, but in the wrong color. There are two more stores in the area, but the little wok at TJMaxx had started to ping in my heart. I quickly made my way to the back of the store, pulled it from the hole I had stuck it in, fondled it a bit more, read the packaging, wondered if it would actually work well for both uses, decided it would, patted myself on the back for finding a frugal product with multiple uses, and took it to the checkout line.

A sweet Japanese lady was waiting in line in front of me. I don't usually talk to strangers, but she seemed as happy about my little wok as I was. We spent our couple of minutes together talking about homemade food, Asian cooking, and Eastern travel. She asked what kind of things I cook. I said "well, tonight I'm making orange chicken and stir fry, hence the pot." She smiled approvingly and said "well, tonight I make Japanese food." She made my day. Cashier #2 became available and I wished her a good dinner as she walked away. I guess she made the day come full circle. Asian people and older foreign ladies make my world a wonderful one.

I see friends shaking hands
Saying "how do you do?"
They're really saying
"I love you."

***Update***
Wow! Wow! Wow! This orange chicken is the_bomb.com. I put in waaaaay too much pepper flakes but I still can't put it down. Stay tuned for the recipe tommorrow.

Kegun Steak and Sushi, Douglasville, GA

I love hibachi restaurants! I was introduced to hibachi during college and haven't been able to get enough since. Hibachi is the best for a celebration. This weekend we were treating our good friend to a housewarming dinner in his new hometown. I found a place on Restaurant.com, Kegun Steak and Sushi. I've always had good experiences with the restaurants on the site so I was happy to give this one a try.

I've been to several hibachi restaurants: Fuji Hana in Kennesaw, MoMoYa in Douglasville, Wasabi in Douglasville, Kani House in Dalton, Miyako in Austell, a great place in Jacksonville, FL- don't remember the name but def remember the experience, and a few others. I'm in no way an expert, but I've had enough to form an educated opinion. Well, sadly, my opinion of the Kegun steakhouse is that it sucks. Every single item was a disappointment to me.

First, the decor was ok, but pretty dated and the layout of the restaurant was totally confusing. I was really disoriented; it felt just awkward. We waited for a few minutes for someones attention, then finally our waitress led us to a table. I recognized her from the video on Citysearch's website. In the video she seems personable enough, but in person she was quite distant and tweaked out of her head. She seemed to be dodging our extroverted friend's attempts to break the ice or just was distracted. In the video she spoke at length about the restaurant, but she could hardly make a recommendation while we were ordering. We ordered a sushi roll (the hurricane) to start with, but were super disappointed when it was totally different than what we expected from the description. It was tiny, came on a plain white dinner plate (=totallyunimaginative), and did not have strips of yellowfin on the top like I had assumed from the description. We gave it a try. It was decent tasting, but didn't satisfy so we decided to order another. We explained that we really like the thick rolls with strips of salmon, yellowfin, or other raw fishes on the top. The waitress said she was sure they had plenty like that and handed me a menu. I was looking for a suggestion- there were only a dozen or so rolls on the menu- I was sure she'd be familiar with one like I was talking about, but she could offer none. I picked out another (the most expensive, thinking it would be the best).

The dinner came with soup and salad. The soup tasted more like french onion soup than the clear soups I'm used to from hibachi restaurants and was overloaded with salt and iceberg lettuce swimming in (gross) ginger dressing was the most depressing salad I've ever had ('specially since that's my favorite part.) The second roll came at the same time as our cook and was as sad as the first roll (at 3x the price :< ). At this point I must apologize to the cook. He was great. He pulled out all the good tricks. He was young, energetic, and talkative with our guest. So, I'm sorry for dragging your place of employment over the coals. Thank you for doing your job well. But as fun as the cook was, his food was just as disappointing as everything else. The rice was sub par and bland with freeze dried vegetables scattered throughout. The fresh vegetables were very good. The shrimp appetizer was decent, but the 2 peices of shrimp couldn't save this shipwreck. I had steak and salmon. The steak was pretty tasty, but thin, and the cook took it off the grill at just the right time: just as the blood disappeared. The salmon, however, might as well have been a salt block. I kept scraping at the "teriyaki" sauce but it really needed to be hosed off. I could only finish about half of my meal (big red flag! since I eat as much as I "think like a fat girl").

We finished with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream and a thin crouton of pound cake while waiting... and waiting for the lady come around with the bill. I was prepared to be hit as the prices were your average to above average hibachi prices, but got total sticker shock when I saw she didn't include my restaurant.com discount. When I asked her about it she walked away, came back, and said she'd lost it. After acting like I would be responsible for her mistake (she said everything but "sounds like a personal problem to me"), she went away again and came back with approval to discount it without the certificate.

All in all it was super disappointing. I can't recommend it at all and I won't be going back. The Kegun Steak and Sushi restaurant gets no spork, no spork at all.

Top Secret Salad

So I'm having trouble writing this post. I made one of my top secret recipes tonight. I know its a little paranoid, but I would like to maybe eventually publish a cookbook or something like that and there are a few things I have dreamed up that I don't want to talk about till then. Tonight's salad is one of the most interesting, but amazing ideas I've ever had. Since I told my love I'd be making it again he's been smiling from ear to ear.

I'm still having trouble writing this. I'm giving too much away and quickly erasing. All I will say is that it is a salad and a dressing that are out of this world. I blurted out the name of the salad over dinner with my sister/brother-in-law in NYC and am hoping they've forgotten it. Like I said, maybe I'm a little paranoid.

Ok, I'm definitely going to stop talking about it, so I don't blurt something out that will forever be cached in cyberland, but I will talk about the little amuse boucheI made to go with dinner:

Crab Rangoon
Preheat the oven to 350 while mixing

3 oz cream cheese (I used FF, but feel free to fatten them up- they'll taste a bit better)

3 oz crab meat (I used imitation, but feel free to use the real thing- I'm a cheapskate)

2 t chopped green onion/scallions

1 t minced onion

1 t minced garlic

1 t dried mushroom

1/2 t finely grated ginger

1/2 t finely grated carrot
1/2 t Worcestershire sauce

1/2 t rice wine vinegar

1/4 t lemon juice

1/4 t garlic juice

a few drops of sesame oil

a few drops of soy sauce

a bit of S&P

Spoon 1 generous teaspoon of the mixture on one of

10 wonton wrappers

then fold to look like this: Spray with a cooking spray, butter, or light oil and bake until browned and crispy (about 10 min).

So this is basically 1 part cream cheese, 1 part crab, 1 part Asian friendly flavored vegetables, 1/2 part Asian friendly flavored liquids baked in a wonton wrapper- 1+ t filling per wrapper. This recipe should make about 10. I adjusted it to make just 4 and by sticking to that ratio I just explained you can make as many as you want. If you can't get the fold right try something else. Some people have made them like burritos, raviolis, fans, triangles, or whatever. Try your favorite origami pattern. Just play with it.

It won't taste like the ones you'll get in a takeout box, they'll taste better- fresher, healthier, "realer"... I sprinkle a little bit of soy sauce on each one. I really liked these and will make them again. Next time I'm going to try to add a little bit of heat with some red pepper flakes, the crisp flavor of cilantro, and even more veggies- maybe water chestnuts and fresh red peppers? Like I said, play around with it.

Mediterranean Fish Night

Its a new week. Time flies by now that I'm an adult. I'm really not enjoying that part of growing up. But anyway, this weekend was pretty great. We traveled out to the new location of an old favorite, Oz Pizza in East Point, and tried another sushi/hibachi place out in Douglasville, Kegun Steakhouse. I'll get around to reviewing them sooner or later. Preview: Oz Pizza- Gold Spork (I may have to make a Platinum Spork category for that one) and Kegun Steakhouse- No Spork (no! no! no!).

Tonight I'm trying something I've done a few times before, but in a totally different way. I'm making Moroccan Salmon.

I found an awesome recipe for a Moroccan rub to use on grilled chicken back in the day. I believe it was in a Bobby Flay cookbook in the library, but I could be totally wrong on that one. Anyhow, this rub is really great and I used to use it on braised chicken at least once a week last Winter. But because Chicken Night was cut from the Summer Menu so we haven't had it in a while.

Then I found some hummus on sale. A $4.99 family sized Athenos Hummus for $1.69 to be exact. I couldn't pass it up. I only have one flex night to make a chicken meal and I already had planned for that one, so I decided to have a Mediterranean fish night. Favorite rub + Salmon? Hmm... yes!

Moroccan Rub
Rub

2 clove minced garlic

1 T EEVO

1/2 t Cumin

1/2 t Coriander

1/2 t Paprika

1/2 t Cinnamon

on 1 lb meat and grill.

I'm actually not grilling the fish. I broiled it for about 5 minutes and baked it about 25 minutes (until it was flaky, cooked throughout.) I'm serving this with some homemade whole wheat pita breads (one recipe per day, so wait until the topic comes up again or google it) and the hummus, broccoli, and blueberry panna cotta for dessert (see note about pita).