Preview: Baby Rika

Today I had the pleasure of meeting my good friend Suzannah's new daughter Victoria. Baby "Rika" came into the world while I was on vacation in Rhode Island and I finally got to see her today.

Of course I brought the camera...

















Ok guys I am REALLY PROUD of these shots. I finally feel like this is something I am getting. I can successfully expose and capture images. I can show what I see through my lens. I am becomming more then someone "taking pictures"; I am becoming a real photographer.

Thanks little Rika :-)

Baked Ziti with Turkey Sausage

This is the second time I made this dish. I make it once in January while at home in Rhode Island; the batch didn't last the night. This batch I brought over to new mommy Suzannah today. I used disposable ovenware so she doesn't have to worry about bringing any dishes back to me.

Now let me preface the ingredient list by saying this, yes this recipe uses cottage cheese as it's soft cheese base. When I first saw this I was like YUCK I HATE COTTAGE CHEESE which I do, I can't stand the stuff (it's a texture thing I think). I can tell you that it really makes this dish. It was baked in America's test kitchen and they swear by the use of cottage cheese to obtain the creamy texture of the dish. So If you are like me and say "EW COTTAGE CHEESE!" Give this a shot, believe me you won't be disappointed.



Baked Ziti with Turkey Sausage
source: Anne's Eats


Ingredients:
1 lb. whole milk or 1% cottage cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 oz. grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 cups), divided
Table salt
1 lb. ziti
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
20 oz. turkey Italian sausage
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
5 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 (28 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves, divided
1 tsp. sugarGround black pepper
3/4 tsp. cornstarch1 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)
8 oz. low-moisture mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

Directions:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F. Whisk cottage cheese, eggs, and 1 cup Parmesan together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Stir in 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta; cook until pasta begins to soften but is not yet cooked through, 5-7 minutes. Drain the pasta and leave in colander.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Crumble in the turkey sausage and cook until nearly browned. Add in the onion and garlic and continue to cook until the onion is softened and the sausage is completely browned. Stir in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and oregano; simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Off the heat, stir in 1/2 cup basil and the sugar, and season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and heavy cream. Transfer the mixture to the now-empty stockpot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, 3-4 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and add the cottage cheese mixture, 1 1/2 cups of the tomato sauce and 3/4 cup mozzarella. Stir to combine. Add the pasta and toss to coat thoroughly with the sauce.

Transfer the pasta to a 9×13″ baking dish and spread the remaining tomato sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan over the top. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the foil from the pan and continue to cook until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons basil and serve.

Tilapia Toastadas with Roasted Corn Relish

Another Successful Dinner night (with a speed bump along the way) let me explain...

Picture it. Me, apron clad in the kitchen whipping up a culinary masterpiece for my adoring husband, who happens to walk through the door with a bouquet of flowers (did I mention adoring?) I was broiling the toastadas, the last step before my dinner was complete when I noticed some steam coming out of the burner I was making couscous on. Hmm....I took the pot off the burner and I didn't stop. Then my light bulb went off....the toastadas! Boom! Oven opens, the kitchen fills with smoke and the smoke alarm goes off, awesome, my toastadas are char broiled...black, ruined!

That being said after a quick fix involing opening every window and turning on evey fan in the apartment and heating up some leftover tortillas in the toaster oven we had a fantastic meal. We ate the talipia more "soft taco style" and they were delicious! The sour cream-salsa verde mix really adds to the meal. 'Ole!



Tilapia Toastadas with Roasted Corn Relish
source:Cooking Light

Ingredients
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup green salsa
Cooking spray
1 cup yellow corn kernels
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 1/2 teaspoons minced seeded jalapeño pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 cup diced peeled avocado
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 cup packaged angel hair slaw
Lime wedges (optional)


1. Combine sour cream and salsa.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add corn, bell pepper, onion, jalapeño, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to pan; sauté 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove mixture from pan; wipe pan clean with paper towels. Combine avocado and juice; toss gently. Stir avocado mixture into corn mixture.

3. Preheat broiler.

4. Sprinkle fish evenly with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Place cornmeal in a shallow dish; dredge fish in cornmeal. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add half of fish to pan; cook 3 minutes. Carefully turn fish over; cook 2 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and fish.

5. Coat both sides of tortillas with cooking spray. Arrange tortillas in a single layer on baking sheets; broil 2 minutes on each side or until crisp. (Don't forget about them like I did!) Place 2 tortillas on each of 4 plates. Arrange 2 tablespoons slaw on each tortilla. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; top each serving with about 3 tablespoons corn relish and about 1 1/2 tablespoons sour cream mixture. Serve with lime wedges, if desired.

Coconut Curry Chicken Soup

This was dinner tonight. I decided to make this based on the fact that I have always been a fan of Thai cuisine (the fact that I had most of the ingredients already on hand didn't hurt either). It was quite good. The coconut milk makes it really creamy without it being too heavy.



Coconut Curry Chicken Soup
source: Cooking Light

Ingredients
4 cups water
3 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
1 (5 3/4-ounce) package pad thai noodles (wide rice stick noodles)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce -(MAN THIS STUFF STINKS!!! after buying it I stashed it in the back back of the cuboard)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 small hot red chiles, seeded and chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
7 lime wedges


1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add spinach and peas to pan; cook for 30 seconds. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add noodles to pan; cook 3 minutes. Drain; add noodles to spinach mixture in bowl.

2. Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and the next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth to pan, and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken, onions, sugar, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes. Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in bowl. Stir in cilantro and chiles. Serve with lime wedges.

Our Oreo

My mom called me this afternoon to tell me that my brother's cat was put to sleep today, she was 13 years old.

My brother got Oreo when my parents bought our house in 1997. She was always, well, kind of stand-offish as far as cats go, but she was a good cat and a wonderful companion for my brother. She was different, not the typical cuddly "oh oh pet me" kind of cat, but she loved to be with us, and we loved to have her around. She always slept with my brother at the foot of his bed, and the few times that she would want to cuddle with us I remember the silky softness of her long black and white fur very well.

My mother told me that over the past two weeks Oreo (who had been a big cat all her life) started loosing weight at a pretty dramatic rate. Two days ago she stopped eating all together. Today when my dad took her into the Vet they told him that she was in end stage Kidney failure and there was nothing they could do. She had never been sick a day in her life. A couple of hours later she was gone.

I was so shocked by this news. I was home myself just last week! I saw her! She did look thinner then I remember but she never looked like she was sick or in pain...It was pretty difficult for me to process this news.

I am sure most of you have delt with loss in your life of one form or another, but I believe that there is a significant and unique loss that a person can only feel with the loss of an animal. It is impossible to describe to someone who doesn't have pets, who haven't been blessed by their unconditional love and compainionship.

I, along with my family, all loved Oreo and we all will miss her dearly. The sudden shock of this unexpcted loss kind of knocks the wind out of you, but also makes you think of how great the gift is of a pet's love. Even if it isn't the kind of love you expect.

We'll miss you, Oreo...

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. "
(Anatole France)

The Joys of going to bed early

I have NEVER, EVER been one to go to bed early. When I was in elementary school I would get into so much trouble for being caught out of bed past my bedtime. I would always read via flashlight to stay awake. In college I don't think I ever went to bed earlier than 12:30am, then the past 5 months of working night shifts pretty much made a normal sleep schedule impossible.

So far this month, (mostly because of a nasty cold I got last week) I have been regularly going to bed at around 10 (last night it was 9:30). The nice thing about it is that I have discovered this wonderful period of time I never had before; the hours between 7-11am. Yesterday I woke up without an alarm at 7:40. I was awake, had breakfast and was hanging out by 8:30, so I decided to go to the gym. I was showered and ready for the day after my workout by 10:30 which is when I used to wake up on a normal day. It seemed that I had nothing but time, it was wonderful! I was in bed reading by 9:00 and went to bed at 9:30 for work this morning. This morning I woke up before my alarm at 5:45!?! WTF? While I was in the shower work called and asked me to come in at 9 instead of 7 so I had an extra 2 hours to have a relaxing breakfast and clean my apartment before going to work, and I had time to write this post.

I might be a convert to "early rising." It's nice to have a morning to get stuff done.

Man where have I been?

Hey, way to start off the year with a total lack of posting. haha.

Well things have been going along at full speed for me for the past two weeks. I got back from Rhode Island on Saturday after a wonderful 10 days visiting with friends and family. I have some pictures to post from my visit home including some family pictures and pictures from Kyle's 24th birthday party.

I haven't yet gone back to work (YES) and I am enjoying the last day of my vacation before I go back to work tomorrow. I have been keeping up with my gym days and today I started the couch to 5-k running plan. Have any of you successfully completed this? I am hoping that I will be able to complete it from start to finish. I downloaded the app for the iphone and I actually really enjoyed my 31 minute run. The app makes it really easy.

I have been reading more. I am on the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series that True Blood is based on.

I am interested in starting the TV series as well but I haven't decided if I should wait until I finish the books. If you True Blood fans haven't read the books, I have really enjoyed them so far. Check them out if you want

So you'll hear from me later on today. My friend Suzannah gave birth to her first baby, a girl, while I was in Rhode Island. I am excited to meet her this afternoon!

Have a great day everyone!

Two more Days

The buzzer just went off on my dryer, which SHOULD signal me to get up and go fold the laundry, but here I sit, cuddled with my two cats, blogging.

Man I really love slacking off sometimes.

Today was busy, but really productive. I had my last gym session this morning. I really didn't want to pay to go to 24 hour fitness anymore. We DO have a gym at my apartment, but when Kyle deployed I wanted to treat myself and I got a personal trainer at 24 hour fitness. It was so much fun and I learned a lot from him (also it kept me accountable for going to the gym regularly) but it is expensive, and I couldn't justify paying for it anymore, hence today was my last day.

Now comes the hard part. I need to start motivating myself to go to the gym without having to be accountable to anyone but myself (hard to do for anyone). I have done it many times before, I just have to get into a routine.

I have settled on three days at the gym and two days with Jillian

Any of you ladies tried this DVD? I highly recommend it.
It is an ass-kicking 20 minutes but no pain no gain right?

Ok I guess I should go fold that laundry right? Two more days of work before I fly out Thursday. Just have to get through the next 48 hours.