But I don't wanna!

I have lost my desire to cook lately. The weeone and I have been subsisting on easy to prep food at home or take out food lately. I know, I know...home cooked food is better for us, less fattening, and cheaper. But I just don't wanna. I just don't feel like cooking. I just don't.

Do you ever get like this? It happens every now and then for me. Usually it's when I'm worn out - too tired. I think the fact that we've been running crazy for a couple of months is just catching up with me. Between finishing school, craziness at work, the temps in Houston rising, and softball season the weeone and I are both just wrecked. We're just exhausted.

When you're so tired and can't quite find the inspiration to cook - what do you do?

Do you remember...

...when your kids were little, and I mean really little, like infants up to maybe age 3 or 4 and they would get overly tired? Do you remember what would happen? Do you remember how you'd fix it all? The weeone would get overly tired and so she just couldn't sleep. She was SO tired she couldn't sleep. I know, it never made sense to me either, but it's happened to all of us at some point. When are scientists going to figure that one out, by the way?

Anyway, she would be exhausted and the only surefire way to get her calmed down and asleep was to toss her into her carseat and do a few spins around the block. Worked every time.

Guess what? I'm overly tired. Can you come toss me into your car and do a few spins around the block?

Things that make you go "hmmmm...???"

Yesterday afternoon Staci and I headed over to Texan Nails. It's a relatively new salon in the shopping center that is approximately just behind my house. Convenient, wouldn't you say? We both had deluxe hot stone pedicures. They were awesome. My toenails are green now....from the polish, folks, just the polish! =)

As we were sitting letting our toes dry we noticed this buddha setup that they had. For those not from Houston, most of our nail salons are Vietnamese owned and run, so buddhas in and of themselves in a Vietnamese business is not an unusual sight. However, the pack of cigarettes that were offered up to buddha were a new twist to me! Do you see the yellow pack in the back on the right?????

Comfort food on a rainy night

I have very distinct memories from my childhood of Campbell's Tomato Soup. In our house it was almost always served with grilled cheese sandwiches and a sleeve of Saltine crackers. I even remember my dad teaching me how to crumble the crackers into the bowl. It took me a while to figure out what my perfect ratio of crackers:soup was. Too many crackers and you have a bunch of mush. Not enough crackers and you miss out on the mouth feel of soggy soup crackers. It's a balance.

When I came across a recipe for Tomato-Tortilla Soup in Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave I knew I had to try it. Tonight was the perfect night. The weeone is at her dad's for the weekend (she's not the biggest soup fan) and it's raining in Houston. The kind of rain that makes the air smell hot and sweet and like summer....I love it. Rain = Soup. You should learn that in kindergarten I think. =) Oh, and I had just about all the ingredients on hand, because rain also = not driving to the store!

Ellie's recipe calls for making your own baked tortilla strips, but I skipped this step since I had an opened bag of baked tortilla chips that needed to be used up. I also didn't have a jalapeno on hand so in place of it I added some tomatillo salsa that I did have to give it the needed heat. I skipped the sour cream on top since I'm dairy-free girl for now as well.

The recipe came together quickly, easily and is absolutely GREAT! I will definitely make this again...even for the weeone. And I might have to make her a grilled cheese to go along with it.

Tomato-Tortilla Soup
from Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave

• 2 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans no salt added diced tomatoes. with juice
  
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush both sides of each tortilla with oil, using 1 tablespoon of the oil. Cut the tortillas in half, then cut each half into 1/4-inch wide strips. Arrange the strips on a baking sheet, sprinkle with the salt, and bake until crisp and golden, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Heat the remaining 1 teaspoons of oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic, jalapeno, cumin, and oregano and cook for 1 minute more. Add the broth and tomatoes, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in lime juice.

Remove the pan from the heat and puree with an immersion blender or in 2 batches in a regular blender until the soup lightens in color but chunks of tomato remain, about 30 seconds. Serve the soup topped with the tortilla strips, a dollop of sour cream, and a sprinkle of cilantro.

Per Serving (2 cups: Yield 4 servings):

Calories 270; Total Fat 10g (Sat Fat 2g, Mono Fat 3.5g, Poly Fat 2g); Protein 9g; Carb 36g; Fiber 4g; Cholesterol 8mg; Sodium 335mg

I've been a busy little bee...

...cooking away this week! I've already made tonight's dinner even though we haven't eaten yet. The weeone has a softball game - Go Crickets!- and it's the season finale of The Biggest Loser, so I don't want to have to cook after the game. I had gotten the Rachel Ray Big Orange Book a little before Christmas of last year, but haven't really made much out of it. But one thing that RR is good at is fast meals that even a kid will love.

She didn't fail me tonight either. These Cold Chicken Satay Noodles combine flavors that just about all kids love and do it in about 20 minutes from start to finish. The weeone had a few bites while they were still hot and proclaimed them to be "disgusting and good". I took that to mean that they looked disgusting and tasted good. Mine came out a bit gloppier than RR's look in the photo in the cookbook, but that could have something to do with the fact that I don't have a food stylist lurking in my kitchen trying to figure out how to make the food look "pretty".

So, it's in the fridge now, chilling so that I can have a yummy meal while watching to see who lost the most weight on this season's Biggest Loser. I'm rooting for Tara!

Cold Chicken Satay Noodles
from Rachel Ray's Big Orange Book

• 1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
• 1/4-1/3 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter, softened (eyeball it)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup warm water (eyeball it)
• 1/4 cup Tamari (dark soy sauce)
• 1 clove garlic, grated with microplane or box grater
• Juice of 2 limes, zest of 1
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce (eyeball it)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable, peanut or sunflower oil (eyeball it)
• 2 cups store-bought rotisserie chicken meat, skin removed and thinly sliced
• A handful of shredded carrots
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
• 1 cup spinach greens, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts, available in small pouches in the baking aisle
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or flat leaf parsley, whichever you prefer

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, salt water liberally, then drop pasta in and cook to al dente. Run cooked pasta under cold water to cool. Drain well and reserve.

While the water is coming to a boil and the pasta is cooking, whisk together softened peanut butter, honey and warm water in a large bowl.

Once they're combined, whisk in the Tamari, garlic, lime juice and zest and hot sauce.

While whisking continuously, pour the oil in a steady stream to complete the dressing. Add noodles, veggies and peanuts to the bowl and toss until everything is mixed well. Place noodles in shallow bowls and top with chicken and cilantro or parsley.

No Nutritional Information Available

I need to move to Asia...

...because they don't eat much dairy. =) I'm finding that eating Asian food of any kind is really easy for me these days. The weeone is a fan of Chinese and Vietnamese food, so when I found an old magazine tear out with a recipe for Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps and it looked like I could make it on the fly I added it to this week's menu. Yes, menu. Yes, I'm cooking again. Now pick your chin up off the floor and pretend that softball season never happened. I'm back in the kitchen. It's a nice place to be.

So, back to the Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps. I'm a fan of the lettuce wraps at PF Chang's although those are chicken and I'm certain they're laced with crack since once you start eating them it's tough to stop. This was a recipe that was simple, quick and good. I think you could make some alterations to it and make it with tofu, chicken, or whatever protein you'd prefer.

For the record, the weeone ate one wrap and then asked for a pb&j. So, your kids may not LOVE these. =)

I don't know who to credit this recipe to since the magazine page I have has no reference, so my apologies to the originator of this recipe. I know this much - it wasn't me!

Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps

1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup matchstick-cut carrots (I added more than this)
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
8 iceburg lettuce leaves
1 cup thinly sliced cucumbers
Lime wedges

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add beef, carrots, and ginger and saute 6 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring to crumble beef. Drain, in necessary, and retun beef mixture to pan. Stir in soy sauce and next 3 ingredients; cook 1 minute.

2. Remove beef mixture from heat; stir in green onions, cilantro and mint. Spook beff filling evenly into center of each lettuce leaf; top evenly with diced cucumbers. Serve with lime wedges.

Yield: 4 servings of 2 wraps each

Nutritional Information: Cal 158, Fat 5.5g, Protein 23.7g, Carb 5g, Fiber 1.3g, Chol 60mg, Iron 2.6mg, Sodium 606mg, Calcium 25mg

Diet Shmiet

I haven't talked about my weight battles lately so I figure it's time for an update. I'm still working with Sarah, my dietician and we've been slowly putting new habits in place of old ones. For example, the water drinking that I never did before, the tracking of my food and WHY I'm eating when I do eat, etc. There haven't been any major changes that she has made to my diet at this point, but the increase in water has helped significantly.

Starting a few weeks ago I cut dairy products as I talked about in this post. It has been one of the biggest challenges I've ever taken on. It's hard to cut out cheese, but ALL dairy is killing me slowly, I swear. Watch the news headlines...soon we'll see reports of a crazy woman in Houston attacking people in attempt to steal their cheese!!! =)

So, what's all this amounted to? In total I've probably lost 15 pounds since the beginning of the year. Now, that might not seem impressive if you watch The Biggest Loser like I do and LOVE, but for not "dieting" and just slowly changing my eating habits - I'm thrilled with the results. And all of this is with me not adding any real exercise yet. I think when my foot is ready for exercise I'll see the pace pick up a bit more, which is fine. I've been overweight for about 10 years now, so if it takes me a couple more to peel it off, so be it.