What We Eat

After Cisco’s initial trip to PFI, he was pretty anxious to take me there I browsed around their website to see what items they had, and was SO excited to go after I saw roughly a million things I’d like to try! So we set off….and here’s our loot!

4 cans of al Dente! sauce (two for us, two for our friends Chris and Julia), 00 flour for pizza dough, spicy red pepper and eggplant spread, a CHOCOLATE BRICK (seriously the best chocolate, you’ll be seeing some kind of cookie made with this stuff soon!), and two interesting pastas…..one was a long, tubular shape:

I have no idea how you would serve this (meatballs? meatsauce? hmmm), but it just looked awesome!

I thought this would be appropriate for a Valentine’s Day meal

Heart Shapes! Awwww!

So with the leftover sauce from our gnocchi dinner, I was thinking of PIZZA! So before we left, I made a homemade crust with 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose flour. Once we got home, I stretched it out, added the sauce and toppings (mushrooms, onions, spinach, artichokes, and mozzarella), and put it on our awesome new pizza stone!

Into the oven at 500 degrees!

After a rough day of shopping and pizza prep, we needed to hydrate!

Enter homemade Pina Coladas!

I have been making these for a while, and they keep getting better! It’s light coconut milk, pineapple chunks (and juice from the can), a frozen banana, ice, and quite a bit of Mailbu! Everything goes into the BlendTec looking like a yogurt parfait….

Hit the “Smoothie” button….

Whirling….

Ready to serve! Mine in a martini glass:

And supersized for Cisco:

Time to check the pizza….

Still not quite done! So…

Time to enjoy my drink! We went to the living room and started watching “Meet The Parents” in HD (LOVE that movie!) and waited for the pizza to get finished.

Ding ding ding! (That’s my impression of our oven timer!)

This was SO GOOD! The sauce totally made the meal. It was a little rough getting it off the stone, which resulted in some unintentional (but yummy) whole wheat crackers leftover on the stone, but still, we ate the entire thing!

A few days ago, Cisco and our friend Chris happened upon this little hole-in-the-wall shop called Big John’s PFI. I guess they import all kinds of European foods, mostly Italian and Mediterranean, with a LARGE specialty cheese section. Knowing that I had been craving a GOOD gnocchi for a while, Cisco picked up some plain and wild mushroom gnocchi along with some other items he figured would be of interest to me. The star of the show:

This sauce got great reviews from a fellow customer at the store, so they each purchased a can to go with the gnocchi. I couldn’t wait to try this stuff! I boiled the gnocchi (basically potato dumplings for those of you who don’t know), sauteed some mushrooms, leeks and spinach, dumped it into two Pyrex dishes, topped it with the sauce, and then topped THAT with fresh mozzarella and set the oven to broil!

I made two seperate dishes because Cisco’s had a little beef meatball action going on! Plus, I like lighter cheese amounts and double the sauce

The verdict?

EXCELLANT! The gnocchi was awesome….I’d been craving it for a while for some reason (I’m not really a white potato kinda girl)…I tried ordering it at a restaurant, and it was so mushy, gross! These dumplings were much more firm, probably because I didn’t boil them for too long. So much easier making your own meals at home!

I enjoyed this dish for sure!

Since I knew that Cisco had kindly picked up dinner for us, I wanted to surprise him with a dessert I knew he’d like but hadn’t had before:

Pistachio pudding! My mom used to make this ALL the time when I was little, my dad loves it! I topped it with some Redi-Whip and shaved chocolate brick (more on THAT later!) Oh, btw, I think he enjoyed it

Next up? COCONUT SHRIMP!

We still had some frying oil on hand from our lumpia lunch, so reluctantly (but kinda happily!) I agreed that deep fried coconut shrimp would work for dinner. And this time, I helped!

I dipped the shrimp in egg wash, then a whole wheat flour and spice mixture, then some shredded unsweetened coconut.  Then Cisco took them and deep fried them in the leftover oil. Here’s the final result:

The coconut flakes were huge, so they kinda fell off…..but some stuck on! I ate a couple of the shrimp with a HUGE salad:

Cisco settled on leftovers: white rice and his crock-pot chicken wings:

Our tablescape, complete with the white wine I’ve been craving, AND a few slices of Franz garlic bread.

Oh yeah, and that there in the middle of the table? Next the the shrimp? Those fried sticks? LUMPIA! My love is addicted I think…..but it was fine by me since a few of those were veggie

During a recent visit to Cisco’s mom’s house for dinner, she gave us some extra shrimp she had on hand to take home. Enter yummy shrimp recipes!

 These babies were raw, tail-on, and not deveined. Totally new territory to us! I told Cisco if I had to devein them, I probably wouldn’t eat them (EW!), so he prepped them all himself. What a guy! He googled several different shrimp recipes to make for dinner. Shrimp alfredo was definitely a must! He did all the prep work himself and put some shrimp in our new All-Clad pans to fry up:

Check out that butterfly! Can’t believe he’s a first timer!

You know I won’t eat any dish that doesn’t include veggies!

This was just a simple mix of mushrooms and leeks.

Once the veggies were done, we added some alfredo sauce (Classico brand) to the shrimp, dumped in the mushroom/leek mix, and plopped it all on whole wheat spaghetti!

Pasta is NEVER complete without Franz!

Delicious! And luckily, we had enough shrimp to have another dinner…..coconut shrimp coming soon!

THIS is what was happening while I was at work Saturday!

A few months ago, Cisco and I bought a crockpot, and have been making all sorts of masterpieces! He found a great recipe for chicken wings, and this Saturday with the AFC and NFC playoff games on, he thought it would be a good time to try round 2 of his recipe.  So he pan seared the wings (above), mixed together his sauce:

Not sure of the exact ingredients and their measurements, but I know there’s mustard, soy sauce, and brown sugar involved!

The chicken went into the crockpot:

Then covered with the sauce:

The timer was set….

At that point, I’m sure there was some relaxing on the couch with a headset and Call of Duty 4. Boys!

After a meeting at work, I came home to this lovely display:

Cisco made me lunch too! He deep fried some veggie lumpia that his mom had prepared and frozen for us….I am not normally a “deep fried” kinda girl, ESPECIALLY when it’s in my own house (that smell is horrendous!), but I had 5 of these bad boys and they totally hit the spot Oh, and that drink you see was my own concoction…..homemade pina colada with light coconut milk, pineapple chunks, a frozen banana, and a generous helping of Malibu. Which, about 20 minutes later, had Cisco conked out on the couch for nearly the entire Saints/Cardinals game

Why hello! Long time no see!

I have had an odd craving for, of all things, tuna noodle casserole (wanna ask me how I've been doing on the raw foods diet? It's too cold to not have hot soups and casseroles!). Luckily, last night I made HOMEMADE cream of mushroom soup to use as my base. That recipe will be coming soon, it was great as a soup and for the califlower casserole I made with it! Yum!

I thought I was adding a whole lot more peas than that! Oh well.

Here’s my portion:

Mr. Snowman says hello!

We recently went to Target, Pier1, and WorldMarket for Christmas decorations….here’s our new tablescape!

It was fun, I’ve never bought holiday decorations before

Oh and about my diet….I am still eating a salad (unpictured tonight) with EVERY lunch and dinner meal…..I just find myself craving comfort foods as winter sets in and couldn’t imagine eating ONLY a salad for those meals. I need heat! I am still avoiding all cow dairy (that cream of mushroom soup was made with Mimicreme) and limiting my soy intake…..tofu and soymilk on occasion. I’ve allowed myself some whole wheat intake (obviously), but I really don’t crave it as much as I used to. I definitely prefer Ezekiel!

Time to eat some mint ice cream (coconut milk based, no cow’s dairy!) before Cisco gets home……I’m sure he’ll love my tuna kisses!

Before we left for Ohio, I saw some Dogfish Pumpkin Ale at Central Market with an ingredients list that sounded sooo good….so this week I made it back to get a bottle! I had to serve a “beer compatable” dinner to go with it (ie, guy foods!), so I went with tacos….Mexican is always a winner with Cisco

I browned some ground turkey with taco seasoning:

Pulled these out of the fridge for toppings:

Admired this lovely avocado:

FINALLY cracked open my pumpkin ale:

I thought it would be lighter than it actually was…..I’m not usually a beer girl, I typically go for wine…..but it wasn’t too bad! I don’t know if I would buy it again though….it was $2.50/bottle! But that ingredients list just sounds too good to pass up!

Taco time!

This was Cisco’s…..three corn shells (I LOVE hard shells!) stuffed with the turkey mix, avocado, romaine, salsa, and cheese, with refried beans (YUM!) on the side. I thoguht it looked pretty!

I wasn’t super hungry, so I had romaine and avocado topped with salsa and a side of refried beans:

For dessert, I filled two bucket pails with popcorn! His was plain, I topped mine with cinnamon, it was fabulous! We ate this plopped on the couch watching Desperate Housewives that he’d downloaded for me

Night!

To celebrate Cisco’s birthday, we had “date night” at a restaurant of his choice….he chose Benihana!

I’d never been there, so I was excited. I didn’t really know what to expect….

We parked downtown 4-5 blocks away and huffed it uphill to get to the restaurant. We stopped in front of the Seattle Public Library for an “US” shot:

When we arrived we were brought to sit around the table with two other groups of people….a couple to our left and a group of four people who were there for business. It was kind of weird sitting with people you didn’t know, but the cook was entertaining and it went with the atmosphere. I had already looked at the menu online (of course!) so I knew exactly what I wanted when I got there…..unfortunately, this location hasn’t “updated” to the new menus, so I had to make another choice. One thing that swayed my decision was the fact that the calorie content was displayed for everything on the menu! I went with the 167 calorie platter…..aka, shrimp and veggies! I had planned on the mango shrimp.

Everyone got onion soup starters:

It was so good, just a simple veggie broth with a few fried onions, fresh mushrooms, and scallions. I had also ordered a plum wine that was listed under the “red wine” section on the menu, but it was clearly white when she brought it…..I tried it and it was basically syrup. So I sent it back and had a REAL red instead It was served with our salads:

Just iceberg, shreded carrots, and a fabulously thick ginger dressing. Those little plates are dipping sauces for our entrees…..dark brown = ginger, light brown = honey mustard.

Of COURSE we got sushi!

I love me some raw salmon, so we went with the Alaskan Roll – insides were crabstick meat and cucumber, topped with avocado and salmon. ALL my favorites!

Our chef came soon and started cooking it up!

After doing the obligitory tricks like flipping shrimp into his hat, of course…..which ended up stuck in the  range above him without him knowing LOL And we can’t forget the onion volcano:

Then he started on fried rice for everyone else at the table (Cisco and I stuck to the steamed white rice)

Look at what my hot date ordered!

A lobster tail! Neither of us had tried it before, and I was sure that if it was anything like crab, I would be instantly in love.

The empty shell was put on his plate as a serving vessel.

Cooked lobster….

YUM! It was great! Kind of a good and bad thing…..seeing as how it’s so expensive! But it would be a nice treat every once in a while!

After cooking the seafood, he started on the chicken and steak (one of which was for Cisco)

He said it was excellant!

We each loved our meals! We split a scoop of chocolate ice cream for dessert (sorry no picture) that came with his meal. That was ALSO really good!

Alright, time to start watching my favorite TV show that stars another Seattle Benihana customer…..Eva Longoria Parker! There were pictures of celebrities that had visited before, and there was one of her and Tony Parker

Well we’re back from a loooong vacation hiatus! We went to Ohio to visit with my fam. Here’s some of the highlights of our eats…..we ate out A LOT!

COFFEE CUP RESTAURANT:

With my niece Lexi

Coffee was served in these cups with local advertistments on them:

I had baked cod with salsa and mashed potatoes (given to Cisco):

Cisco had the restaurants specialty, a “pocket”:

Basically a couple of deep fried torillas stuffed with various innards…..I think his was Italian based

BOONDOCKS BBQ AND GRILL:

A couple of old coworkers of mine got married a few years ago and started a restaurant! They were recently visited by Guy Fieri for contention on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Crossing my fingers that they make it on the show! The food was AWESOME!

My dad’s appetizer:

A root beer float! This came with a free refill! He shared, of course

I ordered crab cakes:

One of my two favorites These were slightly overcooked, and STILL good! I shared with Cisco and my dad, who is a huge crab cake fan

Also had a side salad:

And a baked sweet pa-tater (Ohio accent!):

Cisco’s plate o’ fried goodness:

Ribs, sweet potato fries, fried catfish, and cornbread muffin. Neither of us had ever had catfish before, and it’s not normally something I would go for, but I told him I’d split my crabcakes with him if he ordered an entree with the catfish. We shared, and that catfish was my OTHER favorite of the evening. So good! It was surprisingly not greasy at all! I also ganked 1/2 of his cornbread

Even after drinking about 2/3 of  a HUGE root beer float and being stuffed…..

That’s right, a brownie sundae. NO willpower in Ohio. Ugh.

One morning, I did manage to make french toast for my mom, Cisco, and my brother

Orange flavored french toast with bananas, strawberries, and syrup!

RAVENWOOD CASTLE:

We took a trip out to a “castle” on our last night there to celebrate Cisco turning 30 in three days! It was a three course meal (preset) at $25 per person.

But we started out with bread of course!

Starter salad of mixed greens, blue cheese, walnuts, and balsamic:

l….uh…..had THREE of these. They weren’t huge, I promise!

The main course:

Roasted pork loin with honey mustard sauce, rosemary potatoes, and roasted veggies. I didn’t eat the pork of course, but I heard from just about everyone at the table that it was fabulous!

I had salmon instead of pork:

I could tell the salmon had just been defrosted, and was seasoned with pepper ONLY. It was good, but the veggies and potatoes, WOW! These were sooo good! Not sure what they did to the veggeis, but it was some of the best I’ve had.

And no meal in Ohio is complete without dessert!

Pumpkin cheesecake! Not just plain old pumpkin cheesecake, this had all the bells and whistles! Gingersnap crust and a “special” whipped cream that was loaded with alcohol LOL Amaretto I’m guessing?

The girls got fruit cups with their meals, and I was happy to see that Lexi loves cantaloupe

My sister made a cake for Cisco to surprise him with:

I told her he loved toffee, so she made a Heath Bar Blizzard cake at Dairy Queen:

Yes, we ate dessert TWICE. Oh yeah, after we left the castle, we went to my aunt and uncles where I ate THREE no-bake cookies. Wowsa.

CRACKER BARREL:

Before my parents dropped us off for our flight back to civilization Seattle, I requested a stop at Cracker Barrel. I thought it would be a new experience for Cisco

It was around 11….we couldn’t decide on breakfast or lunch, so we had both

Started out with a salad:

NO ONE has better croutons than Cracker Barrel!

The rest of lunch:

Catfish (not as good as Boondock’s, but edible) with green beans and a fabulous biscuit! I also got a side of dumplings for Cisco to try:

Our breakfast! Cisco ate scrambled eggs and bacon:

And I ate 2/3 of we split these:

Pancakes with blackberry topping and whipped cream…..this was basically dessert. WOW it was sweet…but just like cobbler

I really wanted to use some REAL maple syrup:

So I took the underside of the blackberry pancakes and ate it that way….not as thrilling as I thought it would be

Oh yeah, my dad wanted his meal featured on the blog! Pinto beans and cornbread:

With a side of lima beans:

I hope my mom had a GREAT car ride home

So ended our Ohio trip!

Oh yeah, we did get to try one place, we’ve been eyeballing…

Uno’s! We ate it for dinner in Houston’s airport. We split a veggie pizza…..it was good, but Cisco’s is better

I’m not sure what’s going on with my dinner appetite….I just want to graze all night without eating an actual MEAL! Very odd for me, I am definitely a girl who likes her food!

While I glanced around the fridge to see what to make, I noticed there was some avocado in there that I need to use up soon. I also have canned pumpkin in the fridge to use, so I thought “Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl”!

This time I made it with FRESH carrot juice from the juicer:

While I was cutting the avocado, I munched on a few of these straight from the container and cold:

I ate a 6 oz cup of the pumpkin soup and saved the rest for my lunch tomorrow

Pathetic! Oh yeah, I did have another 5 goat cheese balls (are these considered “balls”? LOL)

And for accountability…I DID have a salted chocolate Lindt square….did some yoga…and when Cisco came home, my appetite came back and I ate some raisins and almonds. Yum!