Treachery, thy Name is Cadbury Mini Egg...

Mmmmmmmm.......mini eggs...*drool*...

Ok so now that I have your attention I'm just gonna jot down some stuff real quick. Ok for some reason I have this feeling of total anxiety right now. Like physical knot-in-my-chest-total-sense-of-foreboding kind of anxiety. I haven't felt that way in awhile...but then again I've been absolutely terrible lately when it comes to taking my medication on time (VERY stupid on my part), so perhaps that's it. It could also have something to do with entering this last stretch of the school year. There's loads of work to do, a job to find, family drama to deal with and a constant feeling that there simply won't be enough time to accomplish it all. I am hoping it will pass so I can concentrate a little better tomorrow. Anyhow on with some news...

I have finished a few things from those lists I posted! Now I will undoubtedly be adding many more items to them but it feels good for now to knock some projects out of the way :)

First of all, I've been getting my essay stuff done and eating healthy :) Well ok I totally ate waaayyyyy too many Cadbury Mini Eggs over the last week. My boyfriend bought them for himself but sadly (for him) left them unattended for large parts of time and I..uh....well.... Hey, it's not my fault, he KNOWS that mini-eggs are my kryptonite! More importantly, they're seasonal kryptonite...I only get to have them at one time of year! Ok ok so I owe him a rather large portion of mini-eggs. I need to make a trip to Costco to get a family-size bag or something lol. Seriously though, I love Cadbury mini eggs-which is why I usually keep my distance from them *ahem*.

Well Hello There...

Well first I'd like to apologize for disappearing on y'all like that. I vowed to stop disappearing on people so it's time I 'splained...

I continued to be sick for about a week after the kefir incident. I didn't eat. I couldn't sleep. It was awful. I didn't really feel like staring at a computer screen even for the little while that it taks to blog. Now right as I started to feel better, I had to banish myself from the world to study for a midterm. Anyhow that's all done for a little while so I am back to write for a little bit before I go to bed.

Soooo what's new? Not too much. I've been doing the usual: school, cooking, the Beer Baron, room reno etc. As far as that list goes from the last time I wrote here? Eh, let's check it out:

• Make cupcakes with munchkin sister as promised.
• Get some homework done
• Watch Caps game.
• Get together books for buy-back at bookstore.
• Figure out where to put my calendar so that I don't have to check this page to remember all of these tasks.
• Put up list of tasks on wall. Aka paint my chalkboard onto my wall.
• Call one friend on phone. S is preferrable. Also figure out her gift.
• Make the lampshade if I am so inclined...no ok make the damn lampshade.
• Take a look at the spice jars. Hopefully finalize said spice jars.
• Eat healthy all day so I don't feel sluggish like I was today because of sugar overload.

Hmmm not as good as I'd hoped. Ok so here's my pledge for te next few days. All of these tasks will get done (will update you all of course) aaaand I will add a few more onto this list. Oh lord ok here we go:

• Get a few essay outlines done.
• Get a few rough drafts done
• Post a recipe with pictures..this entails locating my camera cord.
• Follow healthy plan for all meals
• Complete cute pink box.It will make sense when I post pictures.
• Clean my floor so I can move up my bookcase.
• Move up the bookcase.

Ok! So that's it! Hope to see you all tomorrow with some progress and some exciting news.

-GT

A Quick One While He's Away...

Boyfriend will now be referred to as the Beer Baron...he finds "boy" to be derogatory. I have obliged him because lord knows the last thing I want to be known for is objectifying men ;)

*ahem* ... Well hello there Brooks Laich...how you doin'? I just want you to know that I value you as a person and as a great hockey player.

-GT

P.S. Image is not mine....nor is Brooks Laich for that matter. Darn.

Yucks..and not the laughing kind

Hey y'all,

Watching the Caps-Habs game. Just witnessed Gorges getting caught in the face by a slapper from Green :( Poor guy, that looked like it got the side of his face and maybe a bit of his ear. I hope he'll be ok. I am currently lying in bed recovering from what I can't even properly classify as food-poisoning. I have quite literally been in bed all day. It's gross.

So what happened? Well dearies I'm so glad you asked :P Yesterday I woke up feeling like I was on the verge of getting a cold. Now I just had a pretty epic one in January so I really wasn't looking forward to an encore. My solution? Why Cold-FX of course! Now the scientific data might say oterwise, but I've had pretty good luck with Cold-FX. So theoretically this boosted my immune system when I took it before dinner. Boy and I prepared some steak and I made a quinoa salad with heirloom tomatoes (yummmm). Now to backtrack, we'd also picked up some kefir earlier at the grocery store. I'd hear quite a bit about kefir's health benefits from a dear friend and also from my Polish relatives. Kefir is really popular in eastern europe; it's like drinkable yogourt but with a much higher bacteria (good bacteria) count and loads of vitamins and good enzymes. The problem? I seem to have committed virtually every no-no in the book on taking kefir. And lord did I ever pay for it.

Best Enchiladas Ever

And heere it is! This is my top-secret family recipe for enchiladas. It actually belongs to my aunt..who told me never to tell a soul...er...anyways I trust y'all to keep it to yourselves :) -Anyways it's not like enchiladas are rocket science :P But seriously, it's a great recipe. On with it!

**Oh, and before I start, I should mention that I normally marinate the chicken with this Southwest Lime Marinade. It should be done the night before but I've done it as close to an hour before I start assembling the enchiladas and it was still great. I also advise grilling the chicken if you have any grilling implements on hand. It makes a huge difference (though cooking in a pan or oven works great too).

Best Enchiladas Ever

• 4-6 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed (adjust if you like more or less meat in the filling)
• homemade enchilada sauce
• can also use storebought if that's the way you wanna play it :P
• 5 green onions, diced
• 2 med tomatoes, diced
• I usually add more because I am obsessed. Also cherry tomatoes are ideal but you will need about 1 lb.
• 3 oz sour cream or plain greek yogourt, drained
• add more/less depending on personal preference.
• 1 jalapeno chili/5-7 slices pickled jalapenos
• 5 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 5 oz cheddar cheese (or more mj cheese), shredded
• 12 medium tortillas
• 2-3 cups mild salsa
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 C (haven't figured out the degree symbol yet)
2. Combine chicken, green onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, sour cream, and 5oz of mj cheese in a bowl. Mix lightly so as not to mush up the tomatoes. As noted above, I tend to only use about 1-2oz or sour cream or yogourt in my filling because I don't like a very liquid-y filling. Some people prefer the mildness that upping the sour cream provides, so have a taste and see what you prefer. Also if you use yogourt it should be at least 5% mf because otherwise it'll get really watery on you. 10% is ideal. If you can't get that, sour cream is still your best bet. Also, if you prefer less heat, you can replace the jalapenos with a few dashes of hot sauce or none at all. But really, what fun is that? :P
3. Lightly grease 2 roasting pans. To assemble, brush a tortilla with your enchilada sauce (i do this with a spoon), and then fill with the chicken mixture and fold closed. Use your own judgement when it comes to filling. This recipe makes about 12 enchiladas if you don't over-fill :) Place fold-down in pan. Repeat until you run out of filling.
4. Cover your lovely enchiladas with the remained of the enchilada sauce. Then, divide up the salsa between the 2 pans of enchiladas. Lastly, sprinkle with the 5 oz of cheddar/jack cheese and bake in the oven at 350 for about 35-45 min until the top is golden and bubbly.
5. Serve with lime wedges, black beans, and some cilantro. Enjoy!

Yield: about 12 enchiladas

Hope y'all enjoy. I expect incoming death threats from my extended family any day now.

-GT

Best Enchilada Sauce Ever

Alrighty folks, today i am finally posting the recipe for the best enchiladas on the entire planet (and maybe even in all the universe). There are several components to this dish so I will start with the first and most crucial element: homemade enchilada sauce. Oh yes.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce 

• 3 tblsp oil of your choice
• 1 tblsp of flour
• 1/4 cup chili powder (I usually mix in some chipotle chili powder and smoked paprika as well :) )
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 cups chicken stock (actual stock because bouillion cubes lead to certain doom *story below*) 
• 10 oz of tomato paste (basically 2 of those little cans)
• salt to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or skillet (the deeper the better cause this mofo can splatter something awful) over medium heat. For the sake of your kitchen please have the lid handy for later. Don't be scared off though: the deliciousness makes up for the minor annoyance. After a few moments tilt the pan to check the viscosity of the oil: if it runs easily like water then it's ready.
2. Add your tablespoon of flower and whisk for about one minute. Then, add the chili powder and whisk to blend. Let it cook for no more than 30 seconds-singed chili powder ain't good eats. You can also add the cumin here if you like a stronger cumin flavor to your sauce.
3. Alright soo now you add in the chicken stock, the tomato paste, the ground cumin, and the oregano. *Note: Last night, to my horror, I realized I didn't have any chicken stock, so I was forced to sub in bouillion cubes. Aaaaaaghhhh DISASTER!! Why? I freaking hate using bouillion cubes because the flavour is never the same. You really do need the stock to to balance out the bitterness in the chili powder and the tomato paste (just so you know it's not just me being a snob).
4. Bring the mixture to a boil and then immediately turn it down to med-low or low if you're using a cast-iron pot such as a le creuset. I always forget how much heat they retain, and trust me, it's not fun to burn this sauce. Anyhow, cover the pot to avoid massive splatterage and let it simmer on low for 15 min.
5. Remove lid! The sauce will have smoothed itself out nicely at this point but if it's separated a bit just whisk it quickly back together and it'll be just fine :) Season avec salt to your liking. Ta-da!

Superbowl Sunday

Hey y'all. :)

I'm hanging out on the couch watching the end of the Superbowl. Now, I'm a pretty rudimentary sports fan. I don't really watch soccer (my countries always lose out really early anyways). I still have a lot to learn about hockey. My boyfriend gets exasperated when I get angry at hockey officials for calls I only half understand so. Somehow despite my mom's rabid Wolverines fandom (she's class of '76 I believe), I have avoided becoming obsessed with the University of Michigan. Essentially, when you add all of this up....I have no place passing judgement on the Superbowl, so I will avoid speaking about it. Now, about that halftime show ..... :P

I thought the Who put on a pretty good show...or at least their lighting guy did. The stage and lighting were fantastic. I also appreciated all of the vintage Who trademarks; the Quadrophenia-era colours everywhere and Who logo flashing at the base of the stage, the "mod" design on Zak Starkey's symbols, Roger Daltrey's moddish getup (someone's been shopping at Ben Sherman?), and of course Pete Townshend's legendary "windmill". Another Who trademark? -Pete Townshend thinking he can sing. Yes I know the bits he chimed in on are the bits he chimes in on in the original songs but...his voice hasn't exactly improved with age, has it? Alright anyhow I thought that despite all that they actually sounded pretty good.

As for the rest of the game, I am actually pretty happy with the outcome. Most of my family is from the midwest but I think it's great for New Orleans. If there ever was a town that deserved a good morale boost, New Orleans would be it :) Congrats, Saints!

As you can probably guess, I didn't have a very eventful day. -The best thing about it has been the time I've spent with my boyfriend (not to denigrate that at all :) ). I did manage to obtain the fuel cannister for my creme brulee torch...which allowed me to terrorize my munchkin of a younger sister by telling her I was going to use it to singe off all of her nose hairs in her sleep. Aaand I made cupcakes using Alton Brown's chiffon cupcake recipe. I thought I'd done pretty well making the batter and folding in the egg whites and all that jazz until I took a peak at them at halftime. The damn cupcakes were cooked! Over-cooked! Nary a risen mound in their ranks! My mutinous oven pulled a fast one on me and superheated my precious cupcakes. Most disheartening. I did manage to whip up a decent buttercream frosting for my slightly singed confections though. Oh frosting, my saviour, you hide a multitude of sins :)

Ok so maybe the oven was alreayd really hot from the hors d'oevres my mom had made beforehand and I was just too lazy to make sure the temperature was even throughout. They still look cute. Sue me, Alice Waters.

In terms of how I fared with the rest of my to-do list...not so great :s I cleaned up the pile of papers under my desk...pretty painful because many of the notes were from courses that I had to drop when i was really depressed or ones that I didn't do so well in because I was...again in the depths of depression. I literally felt like I couldn't do anything. I was constantly anxious and sad. Anyhow sorry to get off topic. The Caps game was great (well mainly because they won). The reffing was atrocious as usual: the phantom call on Jeff Schultz in the 3rd, the non-calls on preciou Sidney when he got a little too chippy, the non-call on one of their guys for tripping Ovechkin. And then after the game Orpik revealed himself as the tool that he is by complaining to the refs. And then whining to the press about Alexander Semin acting like a child after Orpik got him in the face with his stick. Sure, Semin could have embellished it, but that's nothing new in the spot of hockey. In fact, since Orpik is a Penguin he must be an expert in recognizing when a guy is putting on an act. Good on you, Orpik-I would expect nothing less. Hey how did that all wok out for you anyways? Oh you got a game misconduct? Well, ain't that a shame. When you add that to the fact that despite the generous officiating the Pens STILL couldn't defeat the Capitals..man not a good day to be Brooks Orpik.

As you can see I get pretty into my hockey games. Now, this is probably a sympton of my so-called bandwagoner's fandom but hey, you were all there once, right? Anyhow other than what I've mentioned..I didn't have all that productive a day. I am giving myself a temporary pass because it was Superbowl Sunday though. Tomorrow I'll get the rest of it done and repot here. Oh and the enchilada recipe will be posted as well. I'd put up some pics of the cupcakes but I've gotta get to bed so I can be ready for class tomorrow.

Hope you had a great Superbowl Sunday!  :)

-GT