Day 52 - Meeting Cat Cora

I was invited to a fun event at Macy's where I could meet Cat Cora.  I knew about Cat Cora from Iron Chef Amercia, and thought her works was really impressive.  I also learned more about what she is doing in Washington to help raise awareness for healthy eating with youth (very cool).  You can learn more about her organization Chefs for Humanity here, herself here, and follow her on twitter @CatCora.

Here are all of us bloggers - Cat Cora is in white. Can you guess which one is me?

oh look - who's that one on the left? 

Then Cat Cora made us some food... 

Steak Tacos, with a pineapple salsa. 

Grapefruit Ambrosia 

Both of these recipes are in her new book - Cat's Cora Classics with a Twist.  It was fun meeting all the bloggers, but especially hanging out with Cindy @ Healthy Heart Journey later today.  

 

Later today we had salmon burger's (these are great), and I made this salad.  

It was really colorful and fun - almost made me think I like salad.  Well... maybe I liked this salad. 

Ruby Leigh's Salad

Spinach Leaves

Eggs (Hard-Boiled)

Roma Tomato (chopped)

Yellow Pepper

Kalamata Olives

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Other more shameful blog updates:  $4.24 - for cup of soup, we are now 9/12 on night outs. 

Day 51 - The quintessential weekly link post #3

Some of the links this week are a tad on the dated side.  I didn't really do a link posts last week. 

Coffee And Raindrops - Love the the simplicity plug in this post. 

Real Food Boot Camp - I have to admit that I have not spent a lot of time here, but it comes recommended by others.  Looks like an excellent way to start cooking "good" and "healthy" food, if you are unfamiliar in the kitchen.

Pancake Truffles - these are apparently healthy, but look tasty.  I think I may try a modified version (as I do not have the exact ingredients) of them in the not too distant future.

Favorite Processed Food - #1 - Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and #2 - CoffeeMate are totally on my list others would be mm.... Can I say Taco Bell ?  Does anyone have else have a favorite processed food?

In other news, 1) I am participating in a garage sale this weekend for Relay For Life, an organization that raises awareness and money for cancer research. 2) I did cook and eat soybeans - just plain, good enough tasting.  I will post something when it gets interesting. 

Day 50 - How long do leftover's last?

The other day Huzbun says I am keeping the leftovers too long, and that and this got me thinking about how to know when food is no longer good.  After some googling, I found this.  So we may or may not have been eating food that was a bit on the "old" side. 

After a more intense review, I am definitely freezing more of the leftovers from now on (yikes!).  Well I guess it's true what my mom says "You and your dad have stomach's made of cast iron!"  The good news here is that I don't recall getting sick, despite my lack of fridge cleaning skills - and hey I guess I saved some money?!  Anyway, before anyone points to many fingers - I don't think too many items saw an over 10% increase in "time kept".

Anyone have any good stories on food they ate - a little past the "deadline"? 

Day 49 - Steak Soup or Stew I suppose.

Today I used the steak bits that I had in the freezer to make an uber easy, and uber tasty Steak Soup.

I thawed the meat and then cooked it in the crockpot, I had to make it before I left for work at 7:30 am (I think I'm still adjusting to this early schedule I have.) Anyway, it was quick recipe.

Steak Soup
Steak meat - cut in to 1" squares
Sprinkled with Onion Salt, Cumin and Paprika
A few splashes of Worchestire sauce
1 can tomatoes sauce
1 can diced tomatoes.
Some cabbage

Cook on low all day (8-10 hours) for best results.  Could also be cooked on high for approx 4 - 6 hours.

Voila!

This will make for leftovers tomorrow too, as Huzbun had yet another "Company Meal" and couldn't enjoy it today.  It's crunch time with his business.  Very exciting stuff.

Also, I swung buy Costco today - by mistake perhaps, but limited myself to only the "neccessary stuff"

Here's the damage:
Spinach Leaves - 3.99
6 Peppers - 6.79
Cereal -  7.99
Tomatoes - 3.99
Total - $22.79

Not too bad, and a good amount of fresh foods.

Day 48 - Huzbun is back!

My Huzbun is back in town, which means I probably will start eating on a somewhat normal schedule again.  lol.  I haven't been discussing what I eat on here as much, as it simply has not been interesting or notable.  Kind of hopeless when you realize a part of how you pace your life is hinged to another person, but I supposed that is how marriage works. 

So here is my mini-tribute to Huzbun's food successes over the course of this 90 day experiment, and as you might of guessed this wasn't his idea - so he's been a great sport.

Day 1 - He grills chicken 

Day 6 - He helps me make Pizza

Day 9 - He mixes up hamburgers 

Day 28 - He does good stuff with Mayo

Day 36 - He trys new food (umm... and he doesn't even like soup)

Oh, and he did agree to do this - so that's pretty big too.

Okay, I hope that I didn't make anyone gag yet.

Day 47 - A short garden update

I spent Memorial day with friends learning all sorts of wonderful things about gardening.  The friend's neighbors have a modern day secret garden and have learned a lot from them and passed a long what they knew.  Sorry no pictures.  Anyway, I came home with two baby maple trees, and a full stomach.  I am not sure which I liked more. 

In other news - my garden is doing a little better, since the last time I updated.  It required a repurchase of tomato plants, but this time the salesman threw in a bonus plant.  So I have Romas, Beefsteak, and two varieties of Brandywine (Yellow and Red).  Very excited to see the end results this year.   

Day 46 - Just the past the half-way point

I meant to write this post on Day 45 - the actual half-way point, but I got inspired to write something else. 

I wanted to assess whether or not we have learned anything or not.  Here's the list of things we may or may not have learned:

Thing one - We like fresh foods.

Thing two - Coffee brewed at home is actually better than McDonald's

Thing three - Cheese isn't going anywhere soon (if I can help it)

Thing four - Eating at home actually saves time

Thing five - Making bread need not be a mystery. 

and many more things, but those jump out at me first. 

I asked Huzbun if he learned anything and he said "that I'll stay alive without restaurants!"  haha

Cheers!