March Madness

So this is my version of March madness...bah.  Welcome to Minnesota.  It's kinda ugly in March.  At least I see a few tiny spikes of green poking through!

Zucchini/Banana Muffins

Ever have one of those days where you feel like you are fulfilling your purpose and know where you belong?  It doesn't happen as much as I'd like, but today was one of those days.  The sun was shining and I was productive.  While my husband was at work, I cleaned the house, did laundry, went for a run outside, and made a ton of food.  I started out with an egg bake for myself and an egg bake for my husband so we have breakfast for the week.  I also made a big pot of butternut squash soup so we have lunch for the week.  Then I made zucchini/banana muffins so we have a pre-workout snack during the week.  When I got married, I thought I completely won the jackpot of husbands because he can cook (and for many other reasons), and I didn't think there was any chance I'd ever figure out how to cook well enough to sub in for him.  Trust me, I'm still amazed every time I make something and it actually turns out. 

So back to the muffins.  These are legit good, and healthy. 

Ingredients:

• 2 big zucchinis with skin on
• 2 frozen bananas - heated up
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tbsp of agave nectar
• cinnamon
• vanilla
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cup of gluten free flour
• 1tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt

I made this up all by myself!  So I know the muffins are quite green and look like they are probably 100% grass, but they are really tasty! The zucchini and banana flavors really come through!  I'm really proud of these.

Today I smiled and reveled in being a traditional wife.  While my husband was at work providing for us financially, I was at home supporting him.  I cleaned the house so he'd have a calm environment to relax in when he got home from work.  I did laundry so he'd have whatever clothes he wanted at his disposal.  I made food for the week so packing lunch would be quick and easy for him as he gets ready really early in the morning each day.  And I made sure to provide nutrition and flavor for him to enjoy while eating.  I love this.  Being a wife.  Being at home.

...back to the grind tomorrow.  But least I had today.  And I look forward to next weekend when I can do it all again.

Bean Town

Apparently my main mode of entertainment during the winter is going out to eat.  And it's starting to show on my figure...

Yesterday's entertainment was lunch with my family at Bean Town in Fairmont.  This is a relatively new restaurant.  I've been here a few times and have thoroughly enjoyed every meal I've had here. 

Yesterday I had a delightful smoked pork tenderloin flatbread sandwich.  And my first bloody mary.  I was impressed by their food menu.  There were so many good things to choose from!  Another favorite is the bean and bacon soup.   I think this is our new favorite in town.  And how awesome is a $4 bloody mary or mimosa on a Sunday during brunch!? 

Brewkaz Coffee Shop

Brewkaz.  Finally.  For some reason, the city of Fairmont has been unable to support a coffee shop.  There used to be a coffee shop in the small mall and then a Starbucks right off the Interstate 90, but both closed after only a few years in business.  I'm glad someone had the guts to try and make a go of it, and I think she has a good chance. 

Brewkaz is located in Fairmont's mall on Hwy 15 in the middle of town.  The coffee shop is a cute little café/ coffee shop combo.  As far as coffee shop accoutrements, Brewkaz serves regular coffee, lattes, a drink of the day, and they have almond milk and coconut milk available for the lattes!!!  They also have wonderful bakery goods like muffins and donuts.  But my favorite part is the lunch menu.  Amazing salads.  The salads are set apart from others by serving mixed greens instead of ice berg or romaine, homemade candied nuts, and a slice of baguette bread with homemade honey butter. 

We stopped in yesterday for goodies before getting back on the road.  My brother loved the Americano and raspberry muffin.  My sister and I enjoyed our lattes.  My mom and brother in law enjoyed the regular coffee.  And my Dad liked his hot chocolate. 

You can grab everything to go, but I will say that Brewkaz is probably one of the more cozy places in town.  There are a few tables set up and there is also an area with couches and a fireplace.  It's owned by a young woman in her twenties which is really impressive.  She has a knack for decorating and crafting wonder food and coffee drinks.  I stop in whenever I'm in town to support her.  I'd love to see this business succeed. 

Curry Chicken and Rice

Obviously I'm obsessed with curry.  It's been added to soup, BBQ sauce, dry rub, egg bake, sweet potato fries, hot chocolate (oops! :p), and now where it really belongs - with chicken and rice.  As Jimmy Fallon would say - So great! So so great!

Ingredients:

• chicken breasts
• olive oil
• onion
• green pepper
• red pepper
• polano pepper
• rice
• curry
• salt
• spinach
• avocado
• lime juice

It was so easy.
1.  Broil chicken
2.  Saute veggies in olive oil and add curry, salt, and lime juice
3.  Prepare rice
4.  Either mix it all together for easy left-overs or layer it.
5.  I had a bed of spinach, added rice/veggie/chicken mixture, and then sliced an avocado over the top

Oh my goodness.  Yum. 

Haiku Japanese Bistro

You know that feeling when you taste something so delicious that your eyes roll to the back of your head, you take a really long time to chew, and you savor every last bite?  It goes way beyond a normal meal where you are just satisfied that it tastes good and is providing sustenance to your body.  What I'm talking about is an experience.  Fireworks.  It's primal, it's powerful, it's perfect.  For me this happens when I eat ribs, Edgerton Rolls (see blog post on 1/13/14), a perfect champagne mango, or a perfect peach.  The food is so amazing, it's like a drug.  Apparently now I can add sushi to the list of mind blowing good food.  It makes sense.  Sushi is in itself an art form - visually beautiful, hand crafted, creative in its flavor and texture combinations.  Not just any sushi though.  Last night I had the best sushi of my life.   

Enter Haiku in Mendota Heights, MN.  My coworker had a groupon deal and decided to invite me and another coworker of ours since he knows how much we like sushi.  Of course I'm not going to turn down a sushi outing.  Haiku is not all that impressive when you walk up to it.  It's in a strip mall, after all.  I will admit, I had immediate concerns about eating sushi from restaurant in a strip mall.  Sketch.  Anyway, when we walked inside, my mood instantly changed.  The sushi bar is beautiful.  Behind it is the alcohol bar.  The lights are dimmed and the restaurant is decorated in a very modern way.  Maybe they chose cheaper rent so they could spend more money on sushi ingredients?

We ordered the obligatory edamame and tempura appetizers.  They were really good as always.  We chose sweet potato tempura which was new for me.  On to the main event.  We ordered four rolls.  They were all phenomenal.  Hands down, our favorite was the Powerful Roll.  Get this:  the roll was wrapped in filet mignon.  Oh my goodness.  The way the warm beef melded with the sauce, shrimp tempura, and rice was just perfection.  Usually sushi is served cold, but our rolls were on the warmer side.  Definitely enhances the flavor.  We also had a lobster roll wrapped in mango, and two other rolls.  As I said my eyes were rolled to the back of my head the whole time, and I was quite distracted savoring every bite that I forgot to write down details for a descriptive blog post.  My apologies.  You'll just have to go check it out for yourself.

Of course we ended the meal with dessert.  We all shared the mango cheese cake, key lime pie, and chocolate fudge cake.  Each dessert was also served with a scoop of ice cream - mango, vanilla, and green tea.  Those were delicious as well. 

We were still talking about how amazing the sushi was today at work.  We are going to have to keep ourselves in check and not go there every week for lunch.  I've had sushi at several restaurants, but for me, this went above and beyond and was truly epic. 

Tanger Outlet Center

On the way home from Hinckley on Saturday, we stopped in North Branch at the Tanger Outlet center.  I love shopping there.  It's a little nostalgic.  We used to stop there on the way home from college.  It's a great way to break up that monotonous drive on I-35 and get some really good deals.  My favorite store there is GAP.  The clothes are marked down from regular GAP store prices and then it's usually an extra 50% off of that.  Who doesn't love a great deal!  My husband and I started our spring shopping and found some great pieces.  Now if only the weather would cooperate!

Exhibit A:  Purple and white checkered shirt for the man.  Umbrella, bikini, and gladiator sandals for me. 

Ribs, my turn!

Saturday night I achieved a milestone in my life.  My husband left for a few hours to work his shift at the yoga studio and that left me to cook dinner.  Which was scheduled to be ribs.  Yikes.  I generally shy away from making meat, except chicken, because it's more expensive and I don't want to mess it up.  Also, he's just so darn good at cooking meat.  Why mess with perfection.  Anyway, he left and I spent the evening in the kitchen with a challenge and the desire to rise to the occasion.  Of course I couldn't just keep it simple, I wanted to put my own fingerprint on the meal and not just copy what he does.

Here are the steps:

1.  Salt and season the ribs, rub it in, broil each side on high to seal in the juices.

2.  Make BBQ sauce.

3.  Baste with BBQ sauce and wrap in foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and then at 200 degrees for as long as desired to increase tenderness.

4.  Unwrap, re-baste, broil on low to make the BBQ sauce stick to the meat.

5.  Enjoy with sweet potato fries and hard cider.  Really not a better combo.

Seasoning ingredients were sweet curry and a special curry I received from a coworker.

BBQ sauce ingredients:

• tomato sauce
• tomato paste
• red curry paste
• curry powder
• onion
• minced garlic
• lime juice
• mustard
• molasses
• balsamic vinegar
• apple cider vinegar
• soy sauce
• salt
• ginger
• Winter Jack (whiskey with apple cider liqueur)

I just whipped it all up in the food processor and it was great.

My husband approved of the meal, and was proud of how much my cooking has improved in the last 10 years.  Ten years ago, the only thing I was allowed to make for dinner was spaghetti and cheese bread.  I was definitely proud of this growth.

In other news, I also cooked up some fabulous beef stew (see post from February 2).  Instead of water, I fortified it with beef broth.  To continue my love affair with curry, I also added curry powder and red curry paste.  Gives it a richer, more robust flavor profile.

I also made a few egg bakes for breakfast this week.  Mine included egg whites, bacon, green peppers, tomatoes, spinach, onions, curry powder, salt, mustard.  My husband's included eggs, cheese, hashbrowns, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, bacon, avocado, milk, cajun, curry, salt.

  

It's so rewarding to spend a day cooking and cleaning so that I don't have to do any of it later in the week.  It's nice to be able to heat up each meal with minimal prep time and get on to the more important things in life. 

Weekend of Diners

This weekend has been devoted to catching up with dear friends of ours.  On Friday night we met friends from Iowa in Albert Lea at Trumbles.  Yesterday we met a dear friend from Duluth in Hinckley at Tobies.  It's been a lot of driving, but very fruitful in terms of connecting with people that are very important to us. And connecting with each other en route!  We ended up eating at diners which worked great because they are quieter and easier to converse in. We just so happened to close down Trumbles on Friday night.... at 9 pm :P 

Trumbles apparently had fantastic burgers, malts, and pies.  My husband tried each.  I had a salad and salmon which was also really good.  And the price was also good.  I don't know the restaurant scene in Albert Lea at all, but that worked out really well. 

Tobies was good too.  My husband had french toast (he considers himself the french toast connoisseur) and really liked it.  I had a veggie omelet made with egg whites which I enjoyed.  Tobies is also a huge bakery.  They even have gluten-free baked goods which is nice. 

Now today will be a day of cooking! 

Favorite Protein Bar

I just want to give a quick shout out to the Almond Honey Rise Bar.  This is by far the healthiest protein bar I’ve seen on the market.  It’s made with three ingredients:  whey protein, almonds, and honey.  No preservatives, no gluten, no chemicals, and no sugar alcohol. Twenty grams of whey protein, healthy fat from the almonds, and natural sugar from honey make this is the perfect snack after a hard workout.  It’s definitely my go-to.  You can purchase this protein bar at Lunds/Byerly’s, but it’s quite a bit cheaper to buy in bulk on amazon.com or www.gearup.active.com.  Rise bar also makes energy bars, breakfast bars, and other varieties of protein bars, but I think the Almond Honey bar is the best.  It’s actually pretty tasty too!  The consistency reminds me of cookie dough. You can't go wrong with that. :)

Lunds/Byerlys BOGO Sale!!

So...we like meat.  A LOT.  We generally eat it at every meal.  That can get expensive which is one reason I gleefully look forward to Lunds/Byerlys BOGO (buy one get one FREE) deal.  This magical sale comes around every couple months and when it does, my husband and I stock up on meat!  Roast, pork chops, fish, chicken...you would be amazed at how many food items are included in the BOGO sale.  It's so much fun to walk up and down every aisle and look for the red sign. 

We don't usually get our groceries here because it's more expensive than other places, but when meat is buy one get one free, well you just can't ignore that.  I hope our stock pile will last until the next BOGO sale.  That is always the goal. 

We also stocked up on strawberries and Bolthouse juices.  The sale goes from March 13-26. 

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Oh you Target with your fancy-pants products at regular-Joe prices.  So much joy, so much temptation when I shop there. Despite recent events and bad press, I am totally a Target devotee.  I swear, I am kindred spirits with their buyers.  As if the store was specifically created for me. 

Tonight I found this gem:  coconut milk ice cream with no additional sugar added.  Only 100 calories per serving.  It's very tasty on its own, but I decided to make my favorite dessert.

Ingredients:
Coconut milk ice cream
Kahlua
Cacao Nibs

Just whip it all up and enjoy. 

Coconut Curry Chicken Soup

So this is actually my second time making this soup.  The first time I decided to add a little heat and totally underestimated how strong the cayenne was.  It burned my face off.  My husband was so gracious and ate it anyway.  When I said I wanted to make it again, we decided the goal should be to actually taste the flavors this time.

For more background, I have recently jumped on the curry bandwagon.  Studies have shown that curry can help protect against alzheimers as well as aid digestion.  We are brainstorming ways to incorporate it into our regular meals.  Seasoning chicken with curry has proven to be delicious.  And thankfully, the second iteration of this soup was delicious!

Here are the ingredients:

• carrots
• celery
• onion
• red pepper
• spinach
• minced garlic
• tomatoes
• chicken broth
• coconut milk
• lime juice
• curry paste
• curry powder
• ginger powder
• salt
• chicken breasts
• olive oil

The method is basically the same for each soup I make:

1.  Cut up all the veggies and saute in a bit of olive oil
2.  Pour in all of the seasoning
3.  Add about 3 cups of chicken broth and three cups of coconut milk (it really depends on the quantity of veggies that you cut up and the ratio of liquid to substance you like in your soup)
4.  Add curry paste to thicken
5.  Add about a tablespoon of lime juice
6.  Broil the chicken breasts, cut up in pieces, and add to soup
7.  Boil soup and then simmer until ready to serve

It's really simple (thankfully).  This might be my new favorite soup.  I think next time we'll add mashed butternut squash to thicken it up even more and increase veggie fortification. 

Surdyks Wine and Cheese Shop

One does not simply walk into Surdyks.  On a Saturday.  In the afternoon.  One should devote about an hour to the wonder that is Surdyks in Northeast Minneapolis.  First of all, it's a cheese shop with a deli, tons of varieties of cheese, canned goodies, and a lot of various other fun things that are perfect appetizers for parties.  You could wander around just the cheese shop for a while.  Then there's the liquor store.  They have a wide selection of wine, beer, hard cider, liquor, liqueur, mixers...it's so much fun to wander down the aisles and imagine what to serve for various occasions - heart to hearts, girls nights, family nights, celebrations, game nights, special dinners, regular dinners...

The other reason to specifically go to Surdyks is that they do wine tastings on Saturday afternoons.  We went this past Saturday and there were five tables each serving about 5-6 wines.  Free samples!!!!  I've also sampled sake on a previous visit.  It's so much fun and a great way to determine if you are purchasing the right bottle of wine.

So now you know, plan at least an hour to wander and be amazed.

Surdyks is currently running their annual spring wine sale which ends this next Saturday March 15.

They have their own parking lot, but there is also metered street parking available.  The neighborhood is kind of fun if you "want" to walk around afterward.  You can visit a European deli and there are several restaurants and coffee shops in the area.  There is also a Lunds down the street.

Here is our loot from Saturday:

Twin Cities Auto Show

Each March, various car companies congregate at the Minneapolis Convention Center for the Twin Cities Auto Show.  Car enthusiasts gather and wander, test drive and test sit, listen to women in ridiculously high heels spout out sales pitches for the cars, eat and drink.  This really is not my favorite activity by any means, but my husband is a car guy and loves to check it out each year.  I go along for moral support, to people watch, and always have hopes of going to dinner or happy hour in the City afterward.

We decided to go to the show yesterday.  Opening weekend.  It was a little busy for my taste.  My father-in-law met us there so it was nice to see him.  Unfortunately the show was not very impressive.  There seems to be a lack in ingenuity and creativity in the current car models.  Just rolling forward what they did last year.  This is frowned upon in my profession so I can only imagine it should be frowned upon in the car world.  I'm guessing same old, same old doesn't inspire a ton of new sales.  Anyway, what I do always like about the car show is that they sell beer, they let you do test drives, and you can sit in the cars.  I think the coolest thing this year was that Jeep had set up a rugged terrain course - 45 degree obstacle (the Jeep was only driving on two tires and no you can not drive this yourself, it's a professional driving you through the course), steep hills,  and rail road ties.  In previous years, I've seen Ferraris and Maseratis, but this year there weren't any exotic cars. 

Last year we purchased a Ford Focus and really really like it.  Another practical car that I really like is the similar Mazda 3.  Here is the new Mazda 3 that was at the car show.

The auto show runs through next weekend. 

Selby Avenue in St. Paul

This morning I spent some time on Selby Avenue.  Despite the cold, it was really nice to walk down the street for several blocks and appreciate the neighborhood.  I started my morning at Nina's Cafe for coffee with someone that I greatly admire.  It was the perfect atmosphere to catch up and converse.  The coffee shop has plenty of seating, variety of coffee drinks, and a fun assortment of food to enjoy (such as the oatmeal!).

After coffee, I walked down the street and noticed several cafes, restaurants, and little shops.  My destination was a little clothing boutique called Primp.  Sometimes I get bored with shopping at malls where everyone gets the same clothes and like the boutiques with unique styles.  I did find a few cute spring tops, but decided to wait to buy anything until it's warmer and they have a bigger selection of dresses for summer.

Some of the great establishments on Selby include New Louisiana Cafe (excellent breakfast), Happy Gnome (see previous post), and Great Harvest Bread Company.  Others that I hope to visit at some point are W.A. Frost (fabulous patio) and Moscow on the Hill (homemade vodka!).   

Good start to the day!

Kosama - Full Body Workout

Would you like to sample... Of course!  Who turns down free samples?  Especially if it involves a week of unlimited fitness classes!  Can't find better value than that :P

My husband and I always like to switch up our workouts.  Muscle confusion.  Apparently it is quite effective for building tone and losing weight as opposed to doing the same exact workout every day.  Thankfully, living in the Metro provides many opportunities to try out new workouts and new facilities.  And most of them offer either a free class or a free week!!  I love free stuff.

Yesterday I printed off a free day pass from Kosama's website, and my husband and I went to the studio to try out a class.  They are currently running a promotion offering a free week to new students instead of just the day pass. 

Kosama's studio is basically just a big room.  Each day is a new type of class which repeats at various times throughout the day.  Thursday is kettle bell day.  I had never worked out with kettle bells before.  It was a really good comprehensive workout focusing on cardio, strength training for upper and lower body muscles, and ended with an ab workout.  We ran through four minute circuts in which we did several reps of 2 to 4 moves and repeated as many times as we could in four minutes.  Then we rested for a minute while the instructor taught us how to do the next circuit.  You have to be really careful with this type of workout - speed can cause a breakdown in form which can cause injury.  While it is a really good workout, speed weightlifting is not my thing as I am quite injury prone.

Kosama also offers classes such as kickboxing, cardio, and TRX.  I really like the workout and the method.  I think I'll stay away from kettle bells, but I"m really excited to do the other three classes during my free week. 

Kosama has several locations throughout the metro and they often have crowdcut or groupon deals going on.  I actually bought the crowdcut deal which is a free month for only $39.  Way cheap compared to a full membership.

I will conclude by saying that yoga sculpt at Corepower Yoga is still our favorite and most effective full body workout. 

We ended the night by devouring a pot roast that my husband had expertly prepared.  PROTEIN!

Bryant Lake Bowl

Bowling.  Very nostalgic.  There was a bowling alley in my small hometown and I remember my dad grabbing his ball and shoes, walking us to the bowling alley on a Sunday afternoon, and pretty much having the place to ourselves.  I guess that was nice, but lack of business caused it to close.  I'm usually not very good at bowling, but I love that it's good clean family fun.  And a good winter activity!

On Tuesday night after dinner at Buddha Kitchen and Lounge, we went to Bryant Lake Bowl in Uptown for a game.  This alley in particular reminded me of the one at home.  You have to keep score by hand, . no fancy lights or accessories.  Just shoes, ball, and pins.  They also have a good tap list and locally grown organic food.  Not your typical bowling alley food.  And no leagues to contend with!  It was a perfect end to the night.  I need to reinstate bowling as a viable winter hobby. 

Buddha Kitchen & Lounge

Last night my husband and I met friends for dinner at Buddha Kitchen & Lounge on Eat Street.  We snuck in just in time to order a drink before happy hour ended.  He and I both got a cocktail and an entree. 

First of all, Eat Street truly is a sight to behold.  Tons of ethnic establishments - stores, nice restaurants, hole-in-the-wall restaurants as well as American establishments with a hipster flare.  Cars parked along the street everywhere since there aren't many parking lots.  I plan to take a long walk here in the summer to really explore.  It also blends seamlessly into Uptown which I would also like to explore on foot. 

Back to Buddha.  I ordered a lychee cocktail that I had high hopes for.  It turned out to be quite small, not as much flavor as I was hoping for, and still expensive for happy hour.  My husband's experience with his cocktail was similar. 

I ordered a sushi roll for dinner which was good, but not the best I've ever had.  I had the yoga roll with cucumber, variety of spicy fish, avocado, orange slice, and rice.  I was hoping it would be a bit spicier.  My husband ordered General Tso's chicken which we both loved.  That was definitely the best version of the dish that I've ever had.  It came with pineapple slices, perfectly seasoned chicken, and fried rice.  Very tasty; I highly recommend it. 

Overall the restaurant was good, but not overly impressive.  Our friends did enjoy their appetizers and dinners - lettuce wraps, spring rolls (I did have a bite of the spring roll and it was really good), pot stickers, and beef tenderloin stir fry. I should also mention that they do have an extensive menu and even call out gluten-free options which is really nice. 

Ribs!

I've had a bad case of the winter blues the last few days.  Ushering in March with negative temps is not my idea of joy and does not bode well for it feeling like spring in a few weeks at the vernal equinox.  I was reading through my journal from 2012 and noted that it was 50 degrees on January 10 and 60 degrees on March 10.  I was already up to running 6 miles outside on 3/10/12.  I have a feeling that will not be happening this year. 

To help me through my funk, my husband was kind enough to make me a wonderful dinner tonight that happened to be ready the second I walked in the door.  He made one of my favorites - ribs.  They were so wonderfully tender.  He broiled them to seal in the juices and then wrapped them up in tin foil and baked them for a few hours.  They fell right off the bone. 

For dessert I had my new favorite fruit - champagne mangoes.  I think they might be better than regular mangoes.  They are more tart and juicy and completely amazing.  We both love them so we stock up to ensure that we have at least a mango or champagne mango each day. 

We snuggled up and watched some of our favorite TV shows - Dexter and Jimmy Fallon.  It turned out to be a decent night.   Thank you...Jimmy Fallon...for being a comedic genius and laughing at your own jokes before you have a chance to fully deliver the punch line.  Thank you...Jimmy Fallon...for being able to carry on a conversation with yourself in your many different voices so that your writers only have to write material for half the show...and you fill in the rest with your random tangents.

Somehow I found the motivation to do dishes and clean the house. 

I ended the night with one of my favorite cocktails - almond milk, vanilla vodka, and Kahlua.  Yum.

I'm still not made for this weather and am desperately waiting for spring/summer.  Here are my favorite summer activities that I'm dreaming about:  riding motorcycle, running, going to the beach, having drinks out on the patio, using the fire pit, kayaking, going for walks in the evening, riding bike, Truman Days, Duluth in the summer... <sigh>