you made me strong when I was feeling weak

I’m here in Gordon biersch unwinding with my 2 beers. It’s been a few weeks since I last posted, but I think it’s about time to update this, eh? 2 weekends ago, Joy and I went to Las Vegas with a few local friends for labor day weekend. There was definately a drink for every step we took! (well, not really, but just a way to give you an idea of how much we drank in the OTHER city that never sleeps….) I drove instead of flying and it was a lot of fun. Armed with Verizon Navigator, we got there with ease. We later found out that our friends took the long way to LV through Flagstaff (a near 2-hour detour, I believe). We didn’t see any shows, but who needs shows when friends who drink are nearby?

We ate…and…ate…and…drank…and…well, you get the idea…by the end of the weekend, we all felt a lil’ weird inside. So I decided that it was time to get back into the gym. Joy took it one step further. She took me to Bikram Yoga here in Scottsdale. OMG what an intense workout and experience it is. I’m barely 5 classes in and already I have some definition on me Joy likes :).  We also saw 2 movies: Balls of Fury and Shoot ‘em Up. I’d make detailed reviews of those, but that would take too much time.  Simply put, Balls of Fury is a cute brainless movie that has Walken present and Shoot ‘em Up is a typical action movie that has some interesting twists. Both enjoyable pictures, though, damn shame they aren’t doing better in the BO than they should be deserving. In a sea of “dramas,” a brainless comedy was exactly what we needed for getting our fixes.

It was our anniversary last Sunday and instead of taking her to a fancy-shmancy restuarant, I took the reigns of dinner and made it myself. The meal: Filet mignon, Spinach salad with cirtus vinagerette, & a spinach pasta dish we learned from Giada that morning before going shopping. Delectiable in every way! Her meat was prepared prefectly and mine……..was….done…we’ll just say that ;).  (I swear, the thermo said the meat was done!) .  Topped off with some new wine to drink, and a perfect collection of mid-evening selections from Dave Coz on the local Jazz radio station, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect dining experience with the one I call my own:).  Love ya baby

This past weekend, Joy’s been all about shopping for me and my birthday on Saturday. Which is kinda why I’m able to post right now. I’m having a “writers block” with this programming assignment Joy asked me to do for one of her clients. I’ll see if I can focus on that later. Now’s the time to vamooosh Until next time…

-Me

Joy and I recieved a few packages the other day. One I’m told is quite large the other oblong. We’ve been awaiting the arrival of her books and the Magic Bullet Blending system that her mom sent to us. This is what I thought it was, however it was descretely wrapped but I didn’t know for sure until I ripped apart the wrapping like a 5-year old at Christmas. Sure enough, that little box was the Bullet. So what did we make as the first product to be mixed? Well, nothing more than a frozen margarita. Here is the evidence:

 Quick, dirty, and effecient. Like the box says, both glasses were ready in about 20 seconds. (10 for me, 10 for Joy ) Just looking at the recipe list makes my mouth water. heh. Anyways, cheers y’all!

-Me

Overworked, jaded, and a little tired one mildly warm night, Joy and I decided to exploit the closeness that is Barnes and Noble in Keirland Shopping center. While Joy poked at some design magazines, I went on the hunt for this month’s “Mens Health” magazine. I figured it would be a good start to finding out anything to help my workouts that I have resumed. When I could not find the magazine, I asked Joy if she’s seen it. She starts asking me why I’m looking for a “metrosexual” magazine :p. Ignoring that comment slightly, I found my magazine. Further into the visit, we got a couple of books. I got the A+, Net+, and Security+ book from O’Rielly and Joy picked up Stardust. We made our way to the Starbucks inside with our books to bring back to the apartment.

“Go ahead and order. I don’t know what I want.”

Joy orders then asks, “What are you in the mood for?”

I looked at the coffee-less fraps and I could not decide between the double chocolate, the Orange Crème, and the Strawberries & Crème. I told Joy what I was trying to figure out and the clerk piped in.

“We can mix 2 if you want.”

“Well, babe, I’ve had the orange and chocolate blended in Vancouver and it su…” She doesn’t get the word out before I go for the order. Her drink had long been prepared before I made my choice. She grunted and moved to the side for the next customers. I got my drink a few moments later, stuck my straw in it and exclaimed, “Oh my GOD!” I offered some to Joy whose eyes now bugged.

“That’s awesome! The vancouver one is nasty, I’m surprised!”

“Well, that’s because America rocks dear.”

I get the glare and daggers from Joy, but what made it all the more memorable was that at the end of the bar where all the condiments are, there was a guy who let out the most baritone laugh I’ve heard in a long time. I had a good smirk the rest of the night, along with a reddened arm from the slapping I recieved. The redness was worth it, in my opinion.

-Me

So I made chicken again. I started with this recipe for chicken. I thought I was doing everything okay.

While I was making the batter, I was making the Heartland® Wheat pasta and a loaf of cornbread.

So that was up and running, I wanted a salad. I made a 1/4 version of Giada’s Citrus Vinaigrette. That turned out fine.

When the dressing was done, it was ready to bring everything together. I also topped my chicken w/ meat-flavored Ragu®.

But here’s the completion: The cornbread was almost black, you can’t really tell from the picture, but the batter turned my chicken into a pancake-like blanket.

The pluses: the pasta was tender, the spinach was firm, and the Rago was microwaved to perfection

Please be gentle

-Me

So Joy tells me about this recipe, found here.
A few things I had problems with….well, not problems, just ideas. Okay, I’ll admit, not a fan of chard! :p anyways…
My variance, as I was 1 person, 1 chicken breast:
1 egg
at least 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup regular flour
1/4 cup cornmeal flour
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 and 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
(this was due to the fact that my cinnamon was clumpy and when I was adding to the mixture, it plopped in)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
salt and ground black pepper to taste
Shredded Parmasean Cheese
1 skinned boneless chicken breast.
olive oil.

From the directions:
1. Marinated the chicken in buttermilk for a good 1/2 hr. However, my current chicken breast was already sitting in an olive oil marinade to begin with because I wasn’t sure what to do with it, I’d recommend the 4-hour from the original recipe.

2. Set up your stations:
-egg
-flour + all seasonings + pecans blitzed in a processor or finely chopped
(make sure it doesn’t scatter to the sides, of course, it can’t blend if it’s not hitting the processors).

3. Dunk each breast in the egg and then the flour and settle on a rack before transferring into the olive oiled non-stick skillet. The rack will help with any excess egg drippage so your breasts aren’t “eggy” or “gloppy” (if that’s even an adjective)
(My variance: I kept rolling the breast until everything stuck and when picked up, nothing fell off, if something fell, it went back into the roll. I was able to make that successfully in 4 dredgings.)

4. Fry for 4 minutes/side, until golden brown and the pecans are toasted, not burned
(this is important, you cannot go far from the skillet while it’s cooking. A burned nut is not a good nut…)

5.) (my variance) When the chicken started turning brown, I added a few sprinkles of shredded Parmasean cheese while cooking.

Then end result is  this.

The baked potato was microwaved with crushed garlic, Bacon bits, butter, and 4-cheese blend.

The bread is garlic bread with some garlic / romano “spread” from the spice cabinet.

OMG, so good. Thanks for the idea, Fel!