Floods and comfort food

So lately, we’ve had a little bit of rain in Nairobi:

 A parking lot turned river

This one literally had a serious current and wave action.

This one had me worried some but I saw some of those smaller cars making it through so I forged ahead.

It's a good thing there is such a strong drainage system or we would have some serious flooding. (yes, sarcasm)

My street was a literal river  - the entire thing was filled with about 1.5 ft of water - the whole way. Those people walking were getting housed by all the water both on the street and splashes from the cars.

It's a damn good thing that I drive a monster truck. A few smaller cars got stuck ahead on this road..a.k.a the road to my apartments!

And next time you are losing your patience while you are sitting your car in mega traffic due to bad weather..Think about all these guys that get transported from their work site crammed in the back of this giant truck with a piece of plastic to keep you from getting fully soaked…thinking of that will help you relax. It works for me.

And now I have a treat for you -

I will now share my delicious, simple, and healthy chicken enchiladas (I used turkey breast) with you – because I love you and you deserve something so tasty.

I make these things like at least once a month and it will feed you all week. For big families, you might as well make 2 pans at once.

Ingredients

Chicken or turkey breast – for just one pan of enchiladas you could use like 3 split chicken breasts – that’s if you like a lot of chicken in yours – otherwise use 2.

Green and red peppers (I don’t know..maybe 1 of each)

Onions (1)

Corn tortillas (you can use flour too..go ahead get nuts on this one)

Cheese

Salsa

Sour cream

Taco seasoning

Store bought enchilada sauce (red or green, whatever you like)

Method

Prepare your chicken or turkey breast by coating them with taco seasoning

Chop up your veggies and sauté them with a tiny bit of olive oil and taco seasoning

Cook your chicken – I used to have a foreman grill before I sold it and that worked great for cooking up the chicken. Now I use the broiler. Cook it till it’s just done. Then chop it up!

Then get out a baking pan, or use the same one from the chicky like me,  and begin making your enchiladas. In each tortilla put some chicken, veggies, salsa, tiny bit of cheese and if you want, a tiny bit of sour cream. Roll it up and place it tightly in the pan, then continue with the rest of them.

Lastly, pour store bought enchilada sauce – any kind you like – all over the enchiladas.  Sprinkle the top with a bit of cheese – just a little if you want this low fat. Then pop it in the oven till it all gets hot and everything cooks together a bit. Maybe like 10-15 min. Then ENJOY! Mmmmmm.

Hmm..this looks good but it just seems to be missing something....

Ah there we go! All better now - How to make home cooking taste more like crappy fast food - cover it in mild sauce! so delish.

Side note: I have decided that Old El Paso Red enchilada sauce is the same thing as taco bell mild sauce. Amazing. And for some crazy reason they stock it in Nairobi! Also Amazing.

Bob Harper yay - Kale Chips Nay

I just finished watching season 1 of New Girl - It's superb.  It makes me laugh out loud. If you haven't seen it - you should.

Next topic -  So before Sergio arrived I was doing really well with working out and eating healthy, but then I sort of got off my kick and the schedule was all nuts and so I lost my weight loss mojo. I was down a few for a while there! But I'm back on the horse now! Since my gym membership ran out I bought like 15 work out dvds and my plan is to do a mix of work out dvds, running, and bodyrock.com throughout the week to try to lose some LBs.

So far, I've done the Bob Harper Ultimate Cardio and the Jillian Michaels Shed and Shred.
The Bob Harper Ultimate Cardio will have you doubled over in pain and misery. I sort of crushed it though - It is awesome. And I feel like I am pretty tough in general so when I say it's hard,  I promise you will vomit and feel like you've been punched in the gut if you try this video.

This was pretty much how I looked after Bob Harper had his way with me

The Jillian Michaels Shed and Shred has 2 30 minute workouts - the first one is level 1 and it sucks. It's like doing a Jane Fonda callestetics work out. I was so annoyed the whole time - and her voice always yapping doesn't help.

Then there's Level 2 - Level 2 will make you burn. It's decent. I would do it again. It's a mix of movements with weights and plyometric body weight exercises.

Then, since I'm also trying to get on track with my healthy eating - I made a couple of new things in the kitchen that I've been reading about in some healthy people blogs.

The first was Kale Chips.
Kale is in ABUNDANCE here. They shred it and boil it with onions..sort of like spinach.
But these Kale Chips were supposed to taste like you're eating potato chips.  Eh - I mean, they were okay, I over salted mine. Would I rather have a stack of Pringles? Yes.  Do I like that it's a new way to slip more veggies into my diet without feeling like i'm eating veggies? yes also. Here's how it went:

Kale in all its glory. It's a strong leaf with really giant thick veins.

I used my scissors to chop the leaf off the stem

I chopped them into large pieces and then tossed them with olive oil and seasoning salt

baked them till they were crispy..

this is what resulted. I think i over salted them but they were okay. I guess if you are a huge potato chip person and you are trying to stay off them, this is an okay alternative.  Kind of tastes like a maple leaf with salt. mmm

Then I also made Sweet Potato Fries. There is so much stuff on the internet right now about sweet potatoes and how they are this great healthy food that can satisfy your carb craving without being destructive to your progress. Here the sweet potatoes are really mild - It's not as easy find those deep colored yams - but i've seen them around. Actually sweet potatoes are really popular in the local diet here, so the big light colored ones are easy to find.

I just chopped them up - threw on some olive oil and salt and baked them till they were soft. These I highly recommend. I dump ketchup on them and it works for me.

These were goooood. I'll be doing this more often.

Okay  - that's it for today. Tomorrow is another day and another work out DVD. I'll holler at ya!

Making Healthy Tomato Basil Soup…For One.

How many times have you been talking to someone about cooking and you or they have said, “I just don’t like cooking big meals just for myself.  It’s much more fun and interesting cooking for others”.  While it’s true that cooking for others is a special joy –because I do like cooking for Sergio - cooking for your own DEAR and PRECIOUS self should be just as joyful. Don’t you still love that process of starting from nothing and ending up with a flavorful creation made from your own hands. Don’t you still enjoy sitting peacefully, even if alone, and enjoying the fruits of your labor and a quality homemade meal? Isn’t impressing yourself JUST as important? Or learning to make something new for your arsenal of go to recipes equally as satisfying?  YES, IT IS!
I cook for myself – even if I’m all alone now that Sergio is back in the States. Why should I eat boring, meaningless food just because another human being is not in the room?  I destroy my kitchen weekly even just for a party of 1.
On Monday, my newest creation was Homemade Roasted Tomato Basil Soup. LAWDY!- it was pleasurable and I have been eating it every day this week and it makes me happy – It tastes like restaurant quality soup and I am proud of this one. In fact it tastes almost exactly like Cosi Tomato Basil Soup, which I obsess over when I go home. It’s just a low-fat version since it doesn’t have cream.  If you are a tomato soup fan like me, you have to try it. It makes me want to say: Yay, soup's my favorite! (haha -if you read this post, that will make sense.) I got the recipe from the Food Network – It was one of Barefoot Contessa’s recipes. Here’s what you need:

Ingredients

• 3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
  
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil (I used some good stuff Sergio bought from his friend who has an olive farm in Croatia..man that stuff tastes pure olives..oil.)
  
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
  
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (but I did not use butter at all..just olive oil)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  
• 1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
  
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
  
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  
• 1 quart chicken stock or water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

before

After

Prep work - chopped onions, fresh thyme, garlic and basil

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown.

Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock.

Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.

 Then puree!  I used my immersion blender that my step mom bought me back in college – that thing has been the most useful thing ever – I don’t have large equipment since I tend to move a lot. It’s the perfect little portable device.  Looks like this:

 
VOILA! Then, just taste for seasonings and enjoy. If you want your soup a little creamy you can add a dollop of sour cream – so DELISH. And you made it yourself for yourself! or to share, which is nice too. ;-)

A Pot Luck Post

This post is going to be all over the place  - I first want to show you what traffic in Nairobi can look like:

.

 It's not the best photo but I was trying to be inconspicuous because there was a cop standing nearby and cell phones while in the driver seat can get you in big trouble. Anyways, what you see here is an intersection (roundabout) with cars jammed all together headed every single direction imaginable..and NO ONE MOVING. Everyone just packs in so tight that it ends up just screwing the entire flow of traffic and then you just sit there with all these cars so close together you couldn't slip a piece of paper between them (see car in front of me and the truck it's basically hitting)..and it's the ultimate gridlock. I swear I had to do a 34 point turn just to get through a crack of space to finally break away. Love it. This is why a 5 minute drive home ends up taking 1.5 hours in Nairobi. There are no rules - no lights, no stop signs, no lanes..no rules. Free for all. But I am a demon out there and hold my own nicely. It helps that I have a big truck that scares the small cars..Or I would never be able to cross a road EVER here.


Okay, now that my traffic rant is over - I'll move on to my next random thought, which is Paleo Banana Bread that rocked my face off. It was the best ever AND flour free, with hardly any fat and no sugar (well there was syrup in there).

Another award winning food photography shot by Lenna. Premium aluminum foil baby!

The Recipe is courtesy of Elana's Pantry.
Basically, you use almond flour instead of baking flour, and you use some coconut oil instead of regular oil ( but i used some yogurt, some coconut oil), and then i used real maple syrup (thanks Mikey) instead of the honey that the recipe calls for. And I threw in a couple of splenda packets and some crushed walnuts...SO good. It's gluten free and low fat.  Almond flour is cheap here and is easy to find, which is a little strange but great - so I've been using it a lot.

Next topic - My work out today.
I woke up at 5 to the sound of a car alarm going off - and couldn't fall back asleep. So, I called Sergio since it was around 9pm for him and it's a treat for him for us to talk at his night time (and a treat for me as well of course).  After we talked, I got up, made some coffee and decided to go to the gym. I did a really tough work out on the Total Arc machine (kind of like an elliptical) - the effort ranges from 0-100% resistance. Basically I did the following:
0-3 min - 40% medium incline
4-5 - 70% (quick pace)
5-6 - 60% (quick pace)
6-7 - 50% (quick pace)
7-8 - 40% (medium pace)
8-9 - 35% (slow pace)
Repeat like 8 times.
Then I did a 500m challenge on the row machine. I'm trying to get a time of 2:15 or better - it's tough.

Okay, that's if for today. I'm something good for you coming tomorrow!!
xoxo

Our little Thanksgiving

I'm still trying to get caught up with the past here so that I can discuss the present! But I need to talk about Thanksgiving 2011!

My family was set to arrive at 9pm on Thanksgiving night so Scott, Sergio and I just pulled together a small little thanksgiving together earlier that day - We decided to not wait until the next day since my family had done a little celebration the weekend before in TX and since we had to hit the ground running with activities once they arrived.

Okay, I did most of the cooking - and what started as wanting to have a small Thanksgiving kind of exploded since I figured leftovers would be a good thing for my family on their way.
On the menu:
Grilled honey/soy glazed turkey breast
Florentine salad
Arabic meat pies
mashed potatos
Arabic Stuffing (hashwa)
hummus

This is the closest thing I have to a food processor - so I just load up this cup with the hummus ingredients and "blend it like beckham"

voila!

Florentine salad made of spinach, tomato, olives, sun dried tomato, orzo pasta

Turkey breast prepped for grilling - We went with turkey breast only since the full turkeys are way too expensive here and for just 3 of us - not really worth it. Plus we all like the breast best anyways. Marinade was soy sauce, honey, garlic, and lots of herbs

Making the dough for meat pies

hashwa in the making - rice+ground beef+nuts+cinnamon+salt and pepper

Meat pie filling - tomato+ground beef+garlic+salt+pepper+lemon juice

serg making the mashed potatos -

ok, they weren't the prettiest meat pies I have ever made and the dough was a bit too elastic but they ended up tasting great. I had trays and trays of these puppies - My family loved the leftovers - we ate on them all week.

Had a ton of dough so I made up some zaatar too

Cheers and beers!

Happy Thanksgiving! -aww but the main chef didn't even get a pic at the table ;-(

Our little spread..mmm..everything was delish - scott made pumpkin rolls that were so could - they might be the key to world peace..i swear

 Then we finished up and went to the airport to pick up my family!

we had this sign maker guy on the side of the road make a sign for us to hold up at the airport - Sergio went cowboy style to make the texans feel at home ;-)

Waiting at the airport and playing with the camera

Next post - I'll tell you all about their visit - I bet you can't wait!
Anyone need any recipes seen here? Just let me know.

XOXO

YAY - Soup's my favorite!

Sergio is working in London this week and so I'm all laid back with myself here and decided to make some soup that will last me all week so I don't have to cook...Plus I overindulged a bit this weekend and I feel like I need to detox and take myself off solid foods for a while.

Oh wait - I need to digress - funny true story about soup that I want to tell - So, I was at this picnic thing with a bunch of random people after we did white water rafting one day.  There were a few Americans in the mix that I had not met before and I usually love meeting fellow Americans. It's fun to talk about stuff you have in common, etc.  But one girl especially was one of those chicks - we all know her, she was the kind that talks without articulating the last consonant of words and makes all sentences sound like questions (I bought a sandwich yesterdayyyyyyy???? and then I ate iiit???), You know, the kind that says the unenthusiastic "YAY" as a response to everything  from birthday cake being served to Kadafi being killed.  Yes, it was that girl.  I'm sure she has many redeeming qualities but that new way of talking all sweet and fuzzy like everything is made of marshmellows makes me nuts!
Anyways, so this place was serving soup, and this chick and I had a super awkward moment that I will never forget. I went up to get my soup as she was coming back from getting hers...and as we passed each other, there was a moment where we didn't know what to say in passing..and so she took care of it for us by saying..in that sweet cutesy voice: "mmm, soup's my favorite".  WTH?! Who says that?!  WHO SAYS SOUP IS THEIR FAVORITE?? Favorite is a superlative - favorite means favorite. It would make sense if she was saying a certain type of soup is her favorite..but no, she was saying that soup is her favorite thing PERIOD. And it wasn't even soup..it was BROTH! But I didn't leave it there - I had to awkwardly respond with something so I instinctively sort of smiled all excited and fake and said, "yep, love soup!" - WTH?!!! Somehow she found a way to drag me into her happy little soup world! Sounds like a conversation that two 80 year old women could be having easily.  But they have a reason that soup is their favorite..they don't have teeth! at least there is a reason for the soup enthusiasm.....is it just me?!

Anyways, back to my soup.  I made MY FAVORITE SOUP ;-) - Chicken Tortilla Soup.  Mine didn't have tortillas but I cannot call it Chicken soup because that's not what it was. It was like Mexican chicken soup..how bout that?
I just ate it and honestly I have to give my full compliments to the chef....good stuff.
Ingredients:

1 can of crushed tomatos
1 can of white beans
3 cloves of garlic
1 onion chopped
olive oil
1 can of corn
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
3 limes
1 can of chicken stock
bunch of cilantro
2 cups of water
taco seasoning
2 cooked chicken breasts chopped (I coated mine in the taco seasoning and baked them in the oven)

Saute the onions and garlic together in a big pot with a bit of olive oil. Then add the chicken stock, tomatoes, lime juice, oregano, chili powder, water - Let it boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the corn, white beans, chopped chicken and cilantro and bring to a boil again and then let simmer for another 10-15 minutes.VOILA! You got soup!

Monday - Friday baby!

I added a bit of sour cream and some mozz cheese to my bowl and served it up!

You like those dishes huh? Those are still alive from the college days - I figured I'd bring my crappy stuff to Kenya and leave it here. But the truth is I'm attached to them and will still probably bring them back with me

And, I feel that it's my social responsibility to not just talk about the good, but to also discuss topics that are sad or uncomfortable on here. So, I should tell you that while I was cooking up my soup, I was also broiling some chicken marinaded in some weird thai sauce - Well I ended up getting on the phone and forgetting all about the thai chicken under the broiler until I saw thick smoke rising out of the oven (which is not so rare in my house). And I'm only showing you this as a public service message.  This is your public service message:  DO NOT LEAVE SH!T UNDER THE BROILER TOO LONG!  

They're like little burnt end chicken nuggets.  Not edible..believe me I tried.