Long time, no type

Heeyyy. How's it going? No, I didn't forget about my blog*, I've just been super busy what with quitting my job and starting pastry school full time.

Speaking of, I'm in serious need of getting my booty back on my monthly goals track. I've gained a few of my pounds back, but you would too if you were making danish, croissant, and baked Alaska 4 days a week. On top of that, we took our annual Shake that Big Bear ski trip the first weekend of Feb, and who sprained her MCL? This girl. While I'm not gimping around town anymore, I'm starting to swim tomorrow in an effort to maintain my new found daily pastries habit. What, a girl needs her sweets.

So what have I been up to? Here's the bullet version:

• Went to Raleigh for work meetings in Dec, and went to a bar with skee ball. SKEE BALL! How freaking sweet is that?
• Went home to MD for Christmas, drove around like a freaking manic, and swore to never return again. Except we have like 50 million wedding to go to this year, and all of them are there. Drat.
  
• Gave Duff a bath. Evidently he's a bit stinky.
  
• Finished working in Jan, job searching all of Feb, and so incredibly thankful I can now enjoy my Blackberry rather than thinking of it as an evil tether to Boss Lady.
• Moved. Like 6 blocks. $100 more per month in rent for a parking space, laundry, two times as much space, and an ocean view. Yes, I'm crazy.
• Joining a book club when I was so adamantly against joining one in the past. Justification: I need to meet new people other than the obnoxious 18 year olds in school with me. And duh, I like to read.
  
• Babysitting Liam! OK, only once, but J and I kicked ass at it! I mean, we were excellent role models for the young man.
  

I don't think I'll be able to update often as I have in the past, but here's a little peek at what I've been up to!

Little Venice Baker

March Goals:
Get back on track with my exercise, most importantly, keeping my knee healthy.
Convince my friends to have weekly family dinners so I have somewhere to put all my baked goods, other than my mouth.
Start my etsy shop with local delivery for most goods, and shipping for others. Cookies anyone?


xoxo James

* I still use it to read all the fabulous blogs in my roll, Google Reader what? Now I just need to get on actually commenting.

Just a wee bit intoxicated

You may have noticed by my twitter, maybe not. Either way, I was drunk as a cute little skunk last night. Monday night. WTF?

Maybe it's because I'm hopping on the paranoid train with everyone here at the office. Seriously, I think I'm getting laid off this week. Last week was pretty rough in the office, what with 1/3 of HR out the door, with no announcement. IT tells us this week is going to be even worse. It's to the point where we debate sending out company wide "test" emails to see which ones bounce back. I mean, it's not like I would be upset if I lost my job. I think it's pretty obvious that I hate my job. I just don't like this feeling of uncertainty, and I certainly don't like the idea of no money.

Actually though, last night's drunken escapades were a result of a lovely evening with Jota. I made us the tastiest, easiest dinner ever (Balsamic glazed chicken and brussels sprouts with pecans), and then we sat in the nook peeled paint off the table, and listened to music. That is until I got bored and ditched him for Gossip Girl. Love you honey!

And seriously, dinner was so easy and great that I have to share. Enjoy!

Balsamic and Strawberry Glazed Chicken

4 chicken thighs
1 tsp french tarragon
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tbs strawberry jam
juice from 1 lemon

Heat olive oil in a skillet, toss thighs in and season with salt, pepper, and tarragon. Cook chicken through and remove. Put balsamic vinegar, jam, and lemon juice in the skillet to remove any bits of goodness. Heat through, and toss the chicken back in to coat. And you're done.

Brussels Sprouts with Pecans

1 lb of brussels sprouts (or like the bag from Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup of butter
1 tbs of butter
1 tbs maple syrup
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 oz chopped pecans

Chop brussels sprouts so they're all shredded. Melt 1/4 cup of butter in skillet, toss sprouts in and cook until wilted, about 3 to 5 minutes. In the meantime, combine other tbs of butter (I never said this was healthy) with maple syrup and apple cider vinegar in a small sauce pan. Heat through, toss with finished sprouts and pecans.

Cooking for One

Day Four of no Jota and the dishes are clean, I've taken the trash out, and Duff hasn't destroyed anything while I'm at work. I'm getting used to this taking care of myself, by myself thing. I may not be enjoying it, but it's almost over.

Last night I didn't get home until way late, and almost decided to order in. My mom is notorious for grabbing the most random items out of the fridge and making a great meal. So instead of grabbing noodles from Mao's, I crossed my fingers and said a little prayer that her gene for concocting great meals was passed on to me.

And oh did it. After just 15 minutes, I had the tastiest dish ever, or at least this week. I feel it's my obligation to pass on the goodness. Being my mother's daughter, I don't exactly measure things while cooking. Deal with it.

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed

1 small chinese eggplant, thinly sliced

couple tablespoons of A1 Chicago Steakhouse marinade. Ehhh for steaks. Amazing on chicken.
maybe a 1/4 cup of low sodium chicken broth

3 or 4 tablespoons of ricotta cheese

In your skillet, heat up a teaspoon or two of olive oil while you cube your chicken. Toss that in there, and you know, get it cooked so you don't get salmonella.
Slice your eggplant and salt it to sweat the bitter out.
Pour some of the marinade in your pan, enough to coat the chicken.
Once the chicken is done, toss the eggplant in, and then add the chicken broth.
Simmer until the eggplant is finished, and then toss your ricotta in at the end.

I'm sure this would also be great with some tomatoes tossed in, and served with whole wheat pasta.

The Dark Knight and Koreatown

Last night, Jota hooked it up, and took me to see an advance screening of The Dark Knight with his work peoples at Universal City Walk. First, City Walk is like The Grove on crack. Tons of restaurants, shopping, and a giant theatre, with an explosion of neon lighting thrown in for effect. Definitely a spot to take the parents to experience a "family friendly Hollywood."

Second, The Dark Knight = amazing. Like best movie I've seen in ages. Like totally one that I want to see in the theatre again. I think the last one I did that with was Titanic. Don't judge.

Third, Dark Knight in IMAX = out of this world. It's like I was in the back seat of the Bat Tank. (That buggy is in no way sleek enough to be called the Bat Mobile.)

Fourth, Heath Ledger as the Joker made Jack Nicholson look like an amateur. He was so incredibly disturbing that I found myself trying to hide my face in Jota's shoulder when he appeared on screen.

Fifth, the entire film is quite dark. I may have laughed two or three times, but spent most on the time clinging to Jota and practically jumping out of my seat.

Sixth...oh just go see it on Friday.

Afterwards, we headed to Koreatown with Jota's coworker Jenny and her boyfriend John. A whole car full of J's. I'd never had Korean food, and to say that I was nervous was a bit of an understatement. The menu wasn't in English, so I had to rely on the other J's to recommend something for me. I felt so bratty because I rattled of a list of dislikes. No spicy. No mushrooms. No onions. No peppers. No tofu. Pretty much the whole menu. John ended up choosing this dish that came out piping hot with rice, beef, an assortment of veggies, and a raw egg on top. I'm all like, "Ewwww."

And he's all like, "Don't worry, when you stir it the egg cooks in the bowl, and the rice gets crispy."

Um fuck yeah.

An Almost Culinary Success

I try not to bitch about work, but having Byn come into town was an issue. Work is pretty lax about taking a day here or there, plus they give us the week between Christmas and New Year's off. So when I submitted my form two months ago and told my boss I would be in town, I thought it was no biggie. I was wrong. Evidently, disclosing my lack of destination meant that I wasn't really on vacation. Meaning that when my boss decided that we were going to fly a candidate in to interview all day Friday, I was expected to come in. When I refused, she pressed for me to at least come in to handle lunch. Fucking bullshit. I flat out said no, resulting in the most awkward and stressful week before vacay EVER. A full week later, and she's still pissed at me.

To solve the lunch "dilemma" I asked a co-worker to sign for the delivery, and make sure that it was actually one time. She awesomely also did her best to keep my staff on track with interview times.

As a thank you, I made her this beautiful recipe that I found on Smitten Kitchen. I did the basic lemon/blueberry combo, adding an extra 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and lemon zest. I have these super cute cupcake boxes that Em gave me, so I made muffins. No pictures from me though, I forgot to rinse my wild blueberries, and ended up with the dreaded purple muffin. At least her kids will appreciate the color.

Some women can eat all the cake and ice cream they want, and never gain a pound

They are called bitches.

I saw my friend Annie the other night for the first time in ages, and I must say my heart gave a flutter when she said, "You look skinny. How much weight have you lost? How did you do it?"

It's true, I do look skinnier. I am skinnier. I've spent the past two months working my ass off, and it just starting to show that I've dropped almost 20 pounds off my short frame. My goal is another 10 - 15 pounds by my birthday, June 17th...mark that down.

So how have I done it? The hard way. The not so fun way. The old fashioned way. Diet and exercise. Spark People is pretty much the most amazing diet tool ever. DH introduced me to it's online food journal which charts anything you want. I currently track carbs, fat, protein, and fiber. I need to add sodium to that mix, but keep forgetting. Fixing my diet was the first step towards getting healthy. You can't really lose weight when you're chomping down burgers, fries, and quesadillas right? I watch my breads, and always go for the whole grains. The majority of my carbs come from fruits and veggies, because I try to eat the recommended amount everyday. It's harder than you might think.

A typical day's worth of food:

Breakfast

2 eggy cups

1 piece of fruit (ie plum, apple, orange)

Smoothie, made with frozen fruit, diet V8 juice, and fiber powder. I need to find a protein powder that's not all chalky.

Lunch

leftovers from dinner the night before

3 oz (picture a deck of cards) salmon/chicken/beef

1/2 cup roasted asparagus/broccoli/squash

Snacks

2 per day

light string cheese

1 oz almonds (Trader Joe's sells them unsalted, in individual packs)

3 tbs greek yogurt (high in protein, low in fat and sugar) mix approx 1/2 cup of fruit in with yogurt (berries, grapes, pomegranate seeds)

1/2 cup of edamame (good fats, lots of protein and fiber)

Dinner

3 oz salmon/chicken/beef

1/2 cup to a full cup roasted veggies

roasted potatoes/rice (these are for Jota, but I occasionally have some)

Dessert

sugar free popsicles

TCBY or Pinkberry if you're lucky like me!

more fruit (add splenda if necessary)

hot chocolate

tea

sugar free jello pudding cups (not just for Bill Cosby!)

Exercise wise, I'm still a bit lazy. It helps that my gym is in the building I work at, so I don't really have an excuse not to go. If I'm feeling particularly lazy, I force myself to do 20 minutes on the treadmill, and then I can leave. Usually I end up doing a little more, or lifting weights, but there have totally been some days where I counted down the seconds to 20 mins, and then quit. But that's better than nothing!

James' exercise schedule:

Monday/Wed/Fri

20 mins on treadmill

work abs

super sets with arms, shoulders, and squats

stretch

15 mins on bike

Tues/Thurs

30 mins on treadmill/bike/combo

mat pilates

stretch

Sat/Sun

walks with Duff and Jota

Kickball is on either a Tues or Weds, so I usually don't get any workout that day. However, the other night I biked with my flat ass tires to the game, bar, and home again. My thighs were quaking in bed.

An Egg-cellent Start to the Day!

My favorite (read: current) breakfast food

3 whole eggs + 1 carton of egg whites - I know they're healthy and all, but plain egg whites creep me out. I need some yellow color.

12 slices of turkey bacon - Again with the healthy stuff. We all know I LOVE bacon, but a girl can only take so much fat.

1 cup shredded cheese - cheddar, swiss, whatevs (full fat, I DO NOT skimp on cheese.)

1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained *

1/4 cup of water

* substitute black beans, lentils, mushrooms (gross), anything you might put in an omelet or quiche.

Mix everything together, pour into greased muffin tins, and bake at 350. Not sure for how long, but keep checking until they're done. Cool, and then freeze/refrigerate for future use. I microwave frozen eggy cups for 30 second increments.

These are a great source of protein and fiber depending on the ingredients you use.

The End Has Come

I'm officially over junk food. Read that again, slowly. Last night, Jota and I went out to dinner with our weekly roommate (Kusi) to Danny's Deli. Unable to just stick with a salad, I opted for the Philly cheese steak with carmelized onions. Wouldn't you? It was damn good, and yet so filling that I could only eat half of it. I'm thinking to myself, "Look at you, going out to eat dinner, and only indulging a little bit. Yeah that's right."

Unfortunately at 5:30 this morning, my tummy was telling me, "Bitch, don't you ever eat that junk again! You think I'm angry now? Eat the rest of that sandwich for lunch today and I'll really let you know how I feel."

I left the house this morning with my excellent eggy cups (recipe and photos eventually) and no lunch in tow. Determined to get back on the healthy track, I offered to order in from California Vegan for a few girls on my team. Forty minutes later, I sign for the check, and bound to the kitchen to divvy up the goods. Pad see eew and soy chicken satay for me, veggies for the unadventurous, and wait...FOUR orders of pad thai?! I call them back up and explain, "I think there was a mistake. See when I asked for 'a full order of pad thai', I think you thought I said four orders of pad thai."

"Uh, that what you order. I repeat back 'four order pad thai', and you say yes".

"Yes, you're right. I understand that. But you see I thought you said 'full order pad thai'. Which is why I agreed with you."

"So what is problem?"

"The problem is I have three extra orders of pad thai, which normally wouldn't be a problem if they had shrimp and not soy fish in them, meaning no one else is going to eat them. I need you to take them back because my boss is breathing down my neck for spending $90 on lunch from a strip mall."

"Ok, you bring back and we refund."

I felt shitty, shitty, shitty. You know they just threw that food away. And the poor woman who took my order was all worried about her boss finding out that she made a mistake. I tried to explain there was no fault on either of us, it was simply a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding that required them to refund me $30. And this is why I hate being an assistant in LA.

Family Dinner

Starting this past Christmas, Kel and Da decided that we should try and do family dinner every once in a few. Say food and I'm there! So of course I showed up to Hanukkah rip roaring drunk. It was Em's fault I swear. Thankfully I redeemed myself at New Year's dinner, keeping my wine consumption to a minimum.

Since our previous two dinners were at Casa de BK Broilers, I opted to host in our small abode sometime in Feb. Noticing that there seemed to be a theme for each meal, I pronounced mine to be cheese and bacon. If you know me, you know that cheese and bacon are like their own food group. And I wonder why I need to lose a few lbs?

The Menu:
Bacon Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Parmesan

Four Cheese Macaroni with Pancetta (gruyere, cheddar, gouda, and fontina)

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

Beef Tenderloin with a Red Wine Sauce (no bacon or cheese here, unfortunately)

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (not here either, boo)

I think we all unbuttoned our pants at the table that night.

Now don't go thinking this is a typical dinner in the Jota household. We usually stick with chicken or fish with a veggie. Maybe a rice or potato, but that's not too often.

Last night we hosted again, and in honor of St. Patty's Day and my Irish roots, Jota helped me make dinner. What I mean is, he turned the crock pot on.

The Menu:
Fruit and Cheese Platter - including strawberries, grapes, starfruit, brie, chevre, and gouda.

Corned Beef with Cabbage and Potatoes

Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots

Spinach Salad with Grape Tomatoes, Avocado, and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Four Leaf Clover Sugar Cookies (Jota's mom sends us sugar cookies for every holiday. We got bunny and tulip shaped ones too.)

Afterwards, we jetted across the street to Cougar, I mean James Beach. From Urban Cougar...

"James Beach is a cougar landmark on the west side of Los Angeles. All wet-behind-the-ears cougar hunters would be well served to cut their teeth at this cougar institution. James Beach specializes in the Cadillac cougars that are on the fulcrum of becoming Trans-Ams. The crowd is usually solid and the after-parties are flowing. With an outdoor deck the Trans-Ams can be observed in their natural environment: cigarette in hand, mini-skirt, a tan that is 4 years shy of leather and a nose for partying. If all else fails, James Beach has the best French fries in the city and, oh yeah, my friend Daryl lives right around the corner."

Now, I don't know who Daryl is, but evidently he's practically my neighbor. Da was immediately pounced on by a manther, telling her, "You're the hottest bar in this bar." He then showed off his bling bracelet, and sulked away once she pointed out that it was CZ.

And that's pretty much where the story stops. Well, it's where it all gets too fuzzy for me to even try and re-tell. But we had fun. Lots of it. And we're doing Edward Forty Hands tonight. Liz is going to be the official pant unzipper-er.