A lovely Easter...and then some.

Spent my first Easter in NC and LOVED it!
We spent the afternoon at Chris' mom's place. She cooked a spiral ham, potato salad, beets, some sorta cheese ball thing that wasn't really cheese (but still good), beans, deviled eggs, kielbasa, BANANA PUDDING (mmm). Needless to say, we had some leftovers to take home.

I was doing some "freebie" searching earlier and came across 24 hours free access to the cook's illustrated site. I was thinking about what we could do to use up the ham and somehow thought, "pizza". Weird.

Anyhow, I found a recipe on that site, hit the store and for $10 got all the stuff I'd need. Mind you, $10 bought enough flour to make a whooooooole bunch of pizzas so I estimate a homemade pizza costs no more than a couple bucks vs ordering.

I also got to use my food processor..bonus!

The recipe I'm gonna post is just the dough. It makes an AWESOME dough if you like thin crust. I was really impressed with it. Our toppings tonight was just ham/pineapple and I'm already thinking about what to do next time!

Pizza Dough

1 1/4	teaspoons instant yeast
1	cup water (8 ounces), room temperature
1 3/4	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces), plus extra for dusting work surface and peel
1	cup cake flour (4 ounces)
1 1/2	teaspoons table salt
2	teaspoons sugar

• Whisk together the yeast & water in a measuring cup
• In a food processor, pulse the flours, salt & sugar a few times to mix through
• Slowly add the yeast/water mixture through the feed tube while the processor is running
• Let it mix for 2 minutes. If after 1 minute, it's sticking to everything, add a tbs or 2 of flour. If it looks dry/crumbly, add a tsp or so of water.
• Mix until the dough forms a satiny ball and comes away from the sides of the processor.
• Divide dough into 2 and place on a floured surface or baking sheet 3 inches apart
  
• Cover loosely with plastic wrap that's been oiled
• Let stand until dough doubles in size, about 1 hour
• Roll it, stretch it, do whatever to make a pizza...
• At this point, I didn't follow the recipe much anymore cause I don't have a pizza stone or any of that. I oiled a cookie sheet and stretched the pizza out as thin as I could
• Add toppings (ie. pizza sauce, ham, pineapple, mozzarella)
• Bake in preheated 500 degree oven with rack on lower level for 10 mins.

No pics cause we ate it and it was DEEEEEEEEEEELICIOUS!

toys and treats

For Easter at Chris' mom's I made a couple treats...english toffee & "millionaire's shortbread". Got the recipe from Food Network..I guess it was featured on that new show that only uses 5 ingredients per dish. I dig that. Makes my life easier and helps with the wallet, too.

Anyhoots..I'm too lazy to do anything right now so just follow the link for the recipe. It tastes kinda like Twix! Mmmmmmmmm. i LOOOOOOOOVE using dulce de leche when I make desserts. It's the best flavor everrrr.

OH YEAH...Macy's had some major sales and they had a 7 cup Cuisinart food processor for $79.99 (regular $140 or somethin). I had to have it and it's AWESOME.
I've used it to make red pepper hummus (recipe will follow soon), chop nuts, grate a block of cheese in seconds, bangin scalloped potatoes (lost the recipe i used) and the shortbread. HEELLLLLL YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

git in mah belleeehhhh

ok so working out has been paying off. instead of being WAY off my 2 lb/week weight loss, im 1 lb off. booooo but not as bad as i thought considering the weekend. hopefully i dont run into any problems in the next few days. actually wait..i already have. i dont feel like goin to the gym today. there goes my shopping treat. this could change in the next few hours but im not countin on it.

***EDIT***
I dragged my ass to the gym..in the rain! That means shopping is still a possibility this weekend!
I procrastinated my ass off but I MADE IT. i did all elliptical today for an hour. Even as I worked out part of me was like "just get off after 15 minutes...okay get off at 30 minutes.." BUT I DIDN'T! I stayed on that bad boy for an hour, burned at least 800 calories and did 3.8 miles.
HOLLERRRRRRR. I'm real proud of myself cause I really was bein a lazy bugger.
Tomorrow, I gotta force myself to get up with Chris and hit the gym one mo time.

ON TO BETTER NEWS..........
ive surprisingly been keeping to my calorie goals. this is gettin hard cause last night i made ENGLISH TOFFEE!!!!!!!!!! tasted just like skor bars....but better! and so easy to make.
Today I saw some cream cheese in the fridge. Figured I should use it so I randomly went on a search for recipes using cream cheese. I came across a cheese puff recipe. (think cream puff but savory).

Realizing I had all of the ingredients to make the puff I got to it. SUPER EASY to make. The cream cheese part came in making the "filling". I didn't follow what the recipe said, instead I looked in the fridge, found a few slices of bacon, saw the garlic.....thought, "bacon & roasted garlic cream cheese". Fantastic.

Neither the toffee or puffs are calorie friendly so MODERATION is key.

And since I'm feelin like a complete lazy ass, here's the recipes.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 tsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Couple handfuls of chocolate chips
• Crushed nuts. I woulda used almonds but only had peanuts on hand. Still worked.
  

1. Combine butter/sugar/water in a medium sauce pan over low-med heat, stirring constantly with a heat resistant spatula.
2. You've got to keep stirring for like...10-20 minutes. Crazy, I know. The recipes I referenced said you need to have a candy thermometer but I don't.
3. When the colour started turning into what I know toffee to look like, I dropped a bit of the hot mixture into ice water. It solidified instantly. This is the "hard crack" stage & it's done.
   
4. Mix in the vanilla.
   
5. Spread the mixture into a pan lined with parchment paper & let it cool for 10 minutes.
6. I then slid the parchment paper/toffee out of the pan onto the table top and sprinkled it with the chocolate, waited a few minutes, spread the chocolate out then sprinked on the nuts.
7. Let it cool completely. After 30 minutes, the chocolate was still soft so I stuck the candy in the fridge for another half hour or so.
8. Break the pieces up and enjoy.

CHEESE PUFFS WITH ROASTED GARLIC BACON CREAM CHEESE FILLING

For the puffs:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 2/3 cup water
• 2/3 cup flour
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of Cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
  

1. Bring the butter and water to a boil in a sauce pan.
2. In a bowl mix flour, salt, cayenne & cheese
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the melted butter/water mixture off the heat
4. Beat it up until it's well mixed and kinda forms a ball, let it cool slightly
5. Gradually beat in the beaten eggs and mix it hard til it's smooth and glossy.
6. I don't have a pastry bag so I scooped the mixture into a ziplock bag & let it cool more.
7. Preheat oven to 425F
   
8. Line a big baking sheet with parchment
9. Snip a small corner off of the ziplock bag
10. Squeeze out the pastry mixture making 16-20 "puffs"
11. I wet my finger 'n smoothed out the tops of the puffs/formed them better cause I saw this on a cooking show once.
12. Stick em in the oven for 15 minutes then lower heat to 375F and cook for another 10-15 or until golden brown.
13. Remove from oven and let cool.
14. Use a serated knife to cut each puff in half horizontally.

For the filling

• 4 oz softened cream cheese
• A few strips of cooked then crumbled bacon
• 3-4 cloves roasted garlic, mashed up
  
• Salt/pepper to taste with a pinch of paprika, cayenne, onion powder
• quick squeeze of lemon

1. Mix up all of the above ingredients
2. Spoon a small amount of mixture onto half of a cheese puff then top it with the other half
3. Do it to all the puffs and try and resist the temptation to eat each one as you finish it.
   

This blog is making me laugh. I feel like I contradict myself cause one minute I'm posting about health/weightloss then the next it's restaurants and recipes. Oh well!

Restaurant review: Chubby's Tacos, Raleigh location

Last week, Chris and I were in Durham and after eating a really good burrito at Cosmic Cafe, we drove by another restaurant, Chubby's Tacos on Ninth Street.

I saw a lineup in the place and knew it'd be on my list of places to try out. I did a bit of research online and was impressed by the reviews. What was even more exciting were posts that a Chubby's would be opening in Raleigh (and not too far from where we live)!!!

We checked it out. It's in the Lake Boone shopping center, kinda hidden away in the cut. When you step in, the decor is simple, not over the top but it's got a nice, small 'n comfy atmosphere & set up so you can see the hard work goin on in the kitchen. We stepped up to the counter 'n placed our order. The young man was really helpful in guiding us around their menu & offering suggestions.

We ended up getting:

• 2 Ground Beef tacos in crisp corn shells- $2 each
  grill cooked with onions & tomatoes - filled with lettuce & cheese
• Tacos Al Pastor - $2
  marinated pork & pineapple with cilantro & onions
• Grilled Tilapia taco - $3
  citrus marinated with chipotle cream sauce and pico de gallo
• Made our tacos into a meal - $2 each
  each got a serving of rice, chips & beans (we chose black beans over refried)
• Sopapillas with cinnamon & honey for dessert - $2.50
• Cantaloupe Aguas Fresca - $2.00

EVERYTHING was absolutely delicious and packed with flavor. The ingredients were fresh and perfectly seasoned. For 2 people, we ate for less than $20 (before tip) and left very satisfied. That's like the same price you'd pay at the not-as-great mexican restaurants in the area. I really love that it's an open kitchen. As I ate tacos, I saw one of the guys making a fresh batch! The Agua Fresca was SOOO GOOD. It reminded me of a cantaloupe drink my mom makes except mom puts shreds of the actual fruit in the drink. I read about their watermelon but they didn't have any. Hopefully next time. Dessert was a bite of light and pillowy heaven! Yummy! Whenever I go back, I plan on getting something different each time. They serve up more tacos burritos, gorditas, tortas, taquitos, tamales, chile rellenos, quesadillas, nachos, taco salads, desserts and other sides...ALL FOR LESS THAN $10!!!!!!!

Tacos Al Pastor, Black beans, Rice, Grilled Tilapia Taco
Fresh made Sopapillas

Chubby's also has an AWESOME salsa bar. We got samples of everything and I loved them all. My favorites were the guacatillo & salsa verde. They had a chubby's salsa, habanero, and I cant remember the names of the rest..d'oh.

Overall, I have to say this is my favorite eatery in Raleigh yet. From the atmosphere, great, timely service, value and delicious food..it's definitely a spot I think we'll frequent.

fitness..but first, the kimburger

I've started to get re-motivated & get into summer shape. It was easy to stay reasonably healthy in Vancouver cause I had no car and living in Yaletown, I could walk everywhere! It was a hilly 20 minute walk each way. Not the case here + southern food is not the healthiest.

I'm currently attempting to work out 3-5 times a week. I'm training myself to do 5K right now (I think that's equivalent to 3 miles). So far, so good. I'm on week 2 of 9. I also squeeze in turbo jam when I can.

Eating healthy is a whole 'nother challenge. As my "last meal" before counting calories I made AMAZING burgers last night with roasted taters. I've never made burgers before so I was quite impressed. Here's kind of the recipe..I don't really measure so....

THE KIMBURGER

• 2 lbs ground chuck
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 3 finely chopped jalapenos
• 4 finely chopped garlic cloves
• couple tbs butter
  
• 8 slices cooked bacon
• 16 small cheese cubes (I had 8 monterey jack, 8 cheddar)
• couple handfulls finely shredded sharp cheddar
• whatever seasonings you like for burgers. I think I used salt, pepper, worsch..ire sauce?, grill seasoning, A1

1. In pan, melt the butter and saute the onion/jalapenos/garlic with a bit of salt til everything's soft then cool mixture.
2. Mix the chuck, above mixture & whatever seasonings you put in your burgers.
3. Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions
4. I flattened each patty, then put a flattened piece of jack/cheddar cubes in the middle with a crumbled up bacon slice.
5. Take the sides of the patty and bring it up towards the middle so u cover the cheese/bacon and re-flatten.
6. Grill these suckers. I prefer a charcoal grill..adds so much more flavor. Few minutes on each side should do.
   
7. put a patty between a burger bun and EAT!
   

These burgers were bangin. I was scared the jalapenos would make them too spicy but they were perfect...great amount of heat. Biting into the middle with a burst of cheese/bacon made these soooooooooooooo yummyyyyyyyyyy.
I looked up the calories for this on my ipod app..comes out to 474 calories per burger or something with mustard/pickles. Not as bad as I thought.

Crispy garlic parmesan roasted taters

• 4 med size white or red potatoes, cubed
• garlic powder..no idea how much..sprinkled into:
  
• some sort of fat..since I cooked bacon, damn right I used the bacon fat. Not sure how much, maybe 1/4 - 1/2 cup?
• handful of grated parmesan cheese

1. Put the cubed taters into cold water in a pot
2. bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.
3. Drain the taters onto paper towels and cool completely.
4. Toss the cooled cubes with the fat/garlic powder mixture and sprinkle with salt/pepper to taste and the parmesan cheese.
   
5. bake in a 9x13 pan at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, stir/flip then bake for another 25 minutes at 425 degrees.
   

miss norma jean

So as I was flippin through a XXL, I came across some broad's interview and she quoted Marilyn Monroe:

"Well-behaved women rarely make history."

I don't know much about Marilyn Monroe but I know she kept it real and I can definitely respect that. The lil bit I do know based on some things she's said, I can really relate to.

More quotes I like. . . .

“A career is wonderful, but you can’t curl up with it on a cold night.”

“I am not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful."

"No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they are pretty, even if they aren't."

a better appreciation for snow . . .

A view of downtown Winnipeg on a normal, FREEZING winter day. Lasts MONTHS!
Snow in Raleigh (I think this was in January). Lasted no more than a couple days.

I grew up in Winnipeg, MB. I'm convinced their winters are THE WORST in the whole, wide universe! The ice 'n snow don't bother me nearly as much as the COLD!
Now that I'm in the south, I absolutely LOVE when it snows. You just don't expect it so it's exciting! Everyone chills, folks don't go to work and when it rarely snows..you don't take for granted when the flakes fall. The temperatures don't cause hypothermia in seconds either!
It's snowing as I speak and has been for a few hours now. I hope it sticks so we can make snowmen and maybe go sledding!

My favorite snow memory? Well, while I was fixin up a snack, Chris ran outside and wrote "I LOVE KIM" across the parking lot!! Super cute!!!!!! I tried to take a pic but it didn't work ):

Here's my attempt anyway.