The new meal this week comes from Everyday Food. It's got a lot of flavor packed into not so many calories and it's very filling. Overall, we both found the recipe to be a winner, but there are certain things we'd do differently next time. The big one is to get everything chopped a bit smaller. The dish ended up seeming sort of chunky and it was hard to get all of the flavors into one bite. So chopping up all of the ingredients (paticularly the fruits and veggies) finer would be a big help.
Moroccan Lamb with Couscous
from: Shape Magazine
Ingredients
1 c lite vanilla soy milk
1/2 c calcium OJ
1 banana (I like frozen ones), peeled, obviously
Directions
Chunk it all in a blender and smoothie it up.
from: Everyday Food #15
Ingredients
5 t olive oil
1 1/4 lb boneless leg of lamb cut into 1 inch dice
coarse salt and pepper
1 large onion, halved and sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 t paprika
1/2 c dried apricots, halved
1/2 c pitted prunes
1 can (14.5 oz) whole peeled tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish
2 T fresh lime juice
couscous
Directions
In a 5 qt saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over high heat. Swirl to coat bottom of pan. Season lamb with salt and pepper; cook until browned, 3-5 min.
Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 2-4 min. Add paprika, apricots, prunes, tomatoes, and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer partially coverer, until tomatoes begin to break apart and sauce is thickened, about 25-30 min. While you wait on the lamb, put a pot of water to boil for your couscous. Place the couscous itself into a large bowl and add any dry seasonings you desire. Once the water has boiled, carefully pour it over the couscous until you have about an inch of water over the couscous. Wait a few minutes for the couscous to absorb the water and stir it. Wait a bit more and then taste it. It should have the same consistency as properly cooked pasta.
Return lamb and any accumulated juices to pan; cook until heated through, about 1 min. Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Serve with couscous.
Nutritional Info (1/4 recipe(
(without couscous:) 371 calories; 13.3 g fat; 31.9 g protein; 33.1 g carbs; 4.6 g fiber
Weekend!
Okay. I'm annoyed at this whole daylight savings thing. It caused me an hour less of WEEKEND. Why couldn't it cause me to have an hour less of WEEK? That somehow seems much more fair.
My weekend was kinda boring, and not even very productive. Although I did go on a 4 mi hike on Saturday with Matt and Loki. Loki is very interested in birds and such, but fortunately not so interested that he can be bothered to chase them. But then we decided to run down the trail that we'd hiked two miles up. It didn't hurt at all at the time, but my whole body ached yesterday. And on Sunday we went to my uncle's house for a little get-together since some relatives from out-of-town were here. It was nice to see people we don't often get to see.
And for the topper on the cake, I'm all stuffed up again. I don't know if it's allergies or if my cold has reared its ugly head again. In either case, I've been quite stuffed up including one ear – not both, just one. So I'm often seen these days walking around with my head tilted in hopes that it will drain. I look like I haven't had my V8.
Life with Loki
Well, Loki has been a part of the family for 3 whole days and we must say, he's a good boy. Either he's incredibly intelligent or someone has worked with him before, because he is learning pretty quickly. He sits like a champ, knows his name, and is getting better at not jumping on people (even when he does jump, he's not rough … just excited). He's also getting better about staying in the back of the car and not lunging to the front seat every other second. Better, mind you.
We bought him a crate and he settles down after just a few minutes and goes to sleep. We took him to the vet and she said he's still teething and isn't likely to be more than 10 months old.
The funniest thing ever though was when Matt broke a jar in the kitchen and was vaccuming up some of the pieces. Loki went NUTS over the vaccum. We're not sure if he wanted to play with it or kill it, but he barked like mad at it and one point, ran away and hid from it in his crate. He likewise barks at the garage whenever we raise or lower the door. It's a pretty quiet one too.
Car Dancing
I am one of those idiots. And I don't care if people see me dancing in the car in the morning to some slammin tunes and think I am an idiot. I have more fun driving in my car sometimes than doing just about anything.
This morning I plugged my MP3 player into my stereo and I cranked my running play list and I car-danced the whole way to work. It's funny how making an ass of yourself is invigorating. Continue reading “Car Dancing”
Meet Loki 
Isn't he cute? This is Loki, our new puppy. To answer the questions everyone has been asking…
What's his name mean?
It's the norse god of mischief. And we don't care that we're asking for trouble. It's cute. After all, a rose by any other name …
What breed is he?
He's black lab and … err… we don't know. He's got longer hair than a lab, subtle brown under his fur, paticularly on his hind legs and white on his belly, front paws, and tip of his tail. He's very soft!
How old is he?
We don't know. The shelter and some others we've met think he's full grown (he has his big-boy teeth) and about a year old. But his paws are still quite large for his size, and he acts and plays like a puppy.
Where did you get him?
We found him at the Table Mountain Animal Shelter a while back. He was a stray. I wasn't ready for a new doggie yet, but Matt fell in lurve. We got him yesterday. And now I'm in lurve too.
Indor or Outdoor Dog?
He'll be an indoor dog, but we plan on having him spend LOTS of time outdoors … he'll need it to wear him out.
Weren't you going to name him Groucho?
We were … yes. That was his shelter name and while we like the name, we didn't feel like it fit him. So we re-named him. He's already responding to it.
Is he already trained?
I don't think so. He walks on a leash pretty well, but sit, stay, come, etc. are lost on him. We'll get there though!
Sunrise Smoothie
from: Shape Magazine
Ingredients
1 c lite vanilla soy milk
1/2 c calcium OJ
1 banana (I like frozen ones), peeled, obviously
Directions
Chunk it all in a blender and smoothie it up.
Not Chili Again!!
Yes, my hungry friends … Chili again! But a different chili and something new and different to go along with it … I guess all of this starts back in mid Feb when I went on the ski trip with Mikey (co-worker/friend) and we stopped at the Happy Cooker in George Town, CO. Awesome little lunchy type place where I had some black bean and chorizo soup (or was it chili?) and some jalepeno cheddar bread. YUM! On the way back from Vail (site of the drinking … err ski trip), we stopped again and once again had this yummy yummy meal (and some quiche too, if I remember right). Fast forward to a few weeks ago when we went with Mikey and Holly to Goodwill. There was a breadmaker there for $8. Pretty good considering the cheapest one Target sells is $70. I didn't want to get it, because we already have too many freakin' kitchen appliances, but somehow, we ended up with it anyhow. I think that jalepeno cheddar bread was on both Mike's and my minds.
Of course with the ensuing May drama and travel, it languished on our counter in need of cleaning. But when Matt and I cleanded the house (paticularly the kitchen/pantry) on Saturday, I decided we must use it. So I looked up a recipe for the bread online and (sadly) we had all of the ingredients. It was phenomenal!!
Sunday, we decided we needed chili to go with it … specifically black bean and chorizo chili. The internet was searched, groceries were procured, and we had a truly lovely dining experience. Continue reading “Not Chili Again!!”
Cinnamon raisin bread for bread machines
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups of water
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
3 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 1/2 teaspoons regular active dry yeast or 3 teaspoons bread machine or quick-acting active dry yeast.
3/4 cup of raisins
Directions
Add to bread maker. Bake on Sweet bread cycle. Add raisins at the beep or after first kneading
Jalepeno Cheese Bread for bread machines
Ingredients
7 ounces water
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup jalapeño cheese, shredded
1/4 cup jalapeño peppers, chopped
2 1/4 cups white bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Directions
Place ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacture. Select Basic bread cycle and start machine.