Aye Caramba!

Living in San Diego, I get to enjoy wonderful Mexican food anytime I want it. It's one of the many perks of living in this wonderful city.

I was craving some Mexican food and my dad was coming over for dinner so I decided to cook Huevos Rancheros (which is usually served as a breakfast/brunch meal), and Flan for dessert!

I got this Huevos Rancheros recipe from Food Network. It was pretty tasty. I added one habanero in place of a jalapeno pepper because I looove my food spicy, and it gave it more of a kick. I also added two garlic cloves instead of just a teaspoon. My motto is, you can never add enough garlic!

Making the sauce.

Ready to eat!

This is literally the first free moment I have had to myself tonight and I'm feeling pretty sore, so I decided to take a rest day from working out. I feel guilty about it, but I know this will help my muscles heal and tomorrow I'll be back at it!

Asian Beef with Stir Fry Veggies

Yesterday was a good day. I managed to get a lot done. Work, study, work out, cook, clean, etc.

I was in a great mood so I decided to cook for Anto. He's been super busy lately with work and school, that I only see him for a couple of hours before he falls asleep at night. He works 12 hour days 4 days out of the week, then has 8 hour classes the other 3 days. I know it is temporary, but it can get difficult. My schedule is pretty packed too, so we are limited on the amount of time we can spend together.

I wasn't in the mood to cook something that took a long time, so I looked up quick and easy recipes on Allrecipes.com, and found something that sounded perfect. Asian Beef with Snowpeas. I modified it to add stir fry veggies instead of just snowpeas, though.

I doubled all of the ingredients that were listed on the original recipe and it definitely made it more flavorful. I would add even more garlic and ginger (my absolute favorite) next time!

Modified from here.

The ingredients:
-6 tablespoons soy sauce
-4 tablespoons rice vinegar
-2 tablespoons brown sugar
-1 teaspoon cornstarch
-1 tablespoon vegetable oil
-2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
-2 tablespoons minced garlic
-Pre-sliced Stir Fry beef strips from Vons
-One bag frozen Stir Fry Veggies, included corn, snowpeas, broccoli, mushrooms, water chestnuts

Quick and easy meal!

Trader Joe's Brown Rice!

Directions:
-Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl and set aside.
-Heat wok with vegetable oil, add in garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds.
-Add in meat, brown.
-Add in veggies, thawed (Don't put it in frozen like I did...oops!)
-Add sauce mixture, bring to boil, then let it simmer and thicken.
-Serve with brown rice and enjoy!

I don't have a wok, so I had to improvise with my small pan.

It wasn't spicy at all, and we LOVE spicy dishes, so we added some Sriracha sauce on top. Anto loved it! He literally cleaned his plate, half of my plate, and then went back for seconds and finished the entire thing! What a growing boy ;)

Sriracha Sauce makes EVERYTHING better!

Banana Bread!

Before heading out to the gym, I ate one of these Powerbar Protein Bites. It says to eat 4-5 before and after exercise, but I was so full from breakfast that I could only eat one. However, I did notice a difference at the gym...or maybe it was all in my head, but either way I felt more energized!

After completing Day One of Couch25K, I took Lucky for a 30 minute walk. I took him in an area he's never been before and he was a little scared! Did a lot of standing around and sniffing than actual walking, but once we got into familiar territory, we were back to our fast paced walk.

Before I left, I ate a Larabar (SO GOOD) to curb my cravings.

 

I headed out on my day off to run some errands, and of course ended up buying too much at Target! I can never walk into Target and buy only what I need to buy. I always buy more! I love Target. :)

Ready to take on my day!

I ended up buying a new sports bra, a new tank top to workout in, and some new running shorts. I have a very limited exercise wardrobe so I'm constantly trying to add to it.

 

After I got home, I decided to bake my very first loaf of banana bread, ever! It actually turned out pretty tasty! My first baking success.

Here is the link to the original recipe: Banana Bread

Ingredients:
-2 cups all purpose flower
-1/4 tsp salt
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 cup butter
-3/4 cup brown sugar
-2 eggs, beaten.
-2 1/3 cups of mashed overriped bananas. (I used four bananas.)

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease the 9x5in loaf pan.
-Add the first three ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
-In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. (I DON'T have an electric mixer, so this is where things got tricky for me. I'm definitely investing in one ASAP.)

 

CREAM!!

Using my laptop for baking support ;)

Mashing the bananas!

-Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.

This took quite a while to blend by hand.

-Stir in banana mixture into flour mixture, stir to moisten.

Mixing it all together.

-Add mixture into baking pan, put in oven for about 60 minutes.

Going in!

-Let cool in pan for ten minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool.

Ta-da!

For dinner I had left over shredded chicken with leftover Mexican rice, and some veggies. I'll admit that I did have a couple snacks late at night (some whole wheat grilled cheese sandwiches + chips), but I'm working hard to curb my late night snacking. I had my dinner at 5:30 last night which is REALLY early for me, so I might try to eat it at 6:30 instead to lessen my cravings at night.

I spent the rest of the day doing laundry, dishes, reading for school, and watching Grey's with my boo. We popped Fighting in the Blu Ray player right before bed, and it knocked my boyfriend out pretty fast. I watched the whole thing, and it was a terrible, terrible movie. I couldn't stand what Terrence Howard was doing with his character!

Off to do Couch25K Day Two, then spend the day running errands with my love! We both have the day off until about 3:30, when I have to head to work, and he has to head to class :(

Favorite Recipes

This is a list of my favorite recipes. I am constantly adding to this page!


-Dinner-
Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde
Asian Beef with Stir Fry Veggies

-Sides-
Mexican Rice

-Dessert-
Banana Bread

Chicken Verde Enchiladas + Mexican Rice

Happy Monday, everyone! I had a hard time getting up this morning. I didn't manage to wake up until 9:30, and it's now 10:00 and I STILL feel exhausted.

I have a lot on my agenda today, a lot of stuff that I didn't get to do yesterday must be completed today. There seriously aren't enough hours in the day!

Last night I decided to try out a new recipe from Cooking Light's website. I decided to make Chicken Enchiladas with Verde Sauce, and used a recipe from AllRecipes.com to make some Mexican Rice.

Although I did mess up on a few measurements (cut me some slack, I'm a novice at cooking!), it did manage to turn out scrumptious although not visually appealing.

Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
Mexican Rice Recipe

My boyfriend loved the Mexican Rice Recipe the best!

Mexican Rice:

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 2 cups chicken broth

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until puffed and golden. While rice is cooking, sprinkle with salt and cumin.
2. Stir in onions and cook until tender. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 292 | Total Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 3mg

Chicken Enchiladas Recipe:

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 enchiladas and 1 lime wedge)

Ingredients

• 1  cup  chopped onion
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  (7-ounce) bottle salsa verde (such as Herdez brand)
• 2  cups  shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/3  cup  (3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 8  (6-inch) corn tortillas
• Cooking spray
• 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) crumbled queso fresco
• 1/2  teaspoon  chili powder
• 4  lime wedges
• Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Preparation

-Preheat oven to 425°.
-Combine first 4 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth.

Combining ingredients.

Yummy Salsa Verde Sauce.

-Combine chicken and cream cheese in a large bowl.
-Stir in 1/2 cup salsa mixture. Reserve remaining salsa mixture.

Chicken mixed with the Salsa Verde.

The best part ;)

-Bring broth to a simmer in a medium skillet. Working with one tortilla at a time, add tortilla to pan; cook 20 seconds or until moist, turning once.
-Remove tortilla; drain on paper towels. Spoon about 1/4 cup chicken mixture down center of tortilla; roll up. -Place tortilla, seam-side down, in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, broth, and chicken mixture.
-Pour remaining salsa mixture over enchiladas; sprinkle evenly with queso fresco and chili powder.
-Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Fresh out the oven!

-Serve with lime wedges. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

The finished product.

Ugly, but it tasted good, I promise ;)

We have leftovers for lunch today as well!

I'm going to finish my cup of coffee while reading the newest Cooking Light magazine, then head to the apartment gym to do Day 1 of Couch25K. I went to the apartment gym yesterday, but all of the treadmills were full, and I had work so I didn't have time to head to 24 hour, so I just ended up spending some time on the elliptical.

My agenda includes:
-Day One Couch25K

My little cheat sheet.

-30 minute walk with Lucky.
-Shower, get ready.
-Head to the bank.
-Buy a loaf pan so I can bake banana bread tonight!
-Fold Laundry
-Clean my room.
-Finish my nursing communication reading.
-Order printer ink, phone battery, and renew my DL online.
-Shop online for new furniture (we are signing the lease on our new place this week!)
-Yoga workout dvd.
-Relax with my honey and watch "Life as We Know It"

I'm a bit obsessed with my pets, so I just had to throw in a picture of Lily! She's annoyed here.