Oh...yeah...an update...

Not exactly gonna happen now. Well, I mean, NYC has been awesome. I just forget about blogger. But I wanted to post a new recipe/find.

So I had some boneless chicken thighs from Trader Joe's. I cut them up into chunks, put them in a zip bag, and stuck a paste of garlic, ginger, hot pepper and 2-3 tablespoons of soyaki from Trader Joe's in with them. They marinated for about a day, could definitely go much longer.

Sliced a medium onion thinly, started it in a wok with a bit of sesame oil and veg oil. Once they got a bit caramelized and sauted, I added a clove of garlic. Then I added the chicken, tried to get it as browned and cooked as possible. Once it was near done, I added a small-medium red and yellow bell peppers, diced. After they cooked for a minute, I added this sauce:

1/4 cup soyaki (or just soy sauce)
2 tsp bouillon mix - I added 1 packet of reduced sodium chicken broth concentrate from Trader Joe's. It's not a powder, but similar to the bouillon cubes.
2 packets splenda
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup hot water

(The sauce recipe, and some advice on how to cook my noodles, from Hungry Girl.)

I tried to let it cook down and get as thick as my patience would allow. Then I threw in one bag of shirataki noodles. (scroll down to see) I let it continue to cook, for a few minutes, to keep up the thickening and to allow the noodles to absorb the flavors.

So shirataki noodles are my new find. They're a tofu noodle with very low nutrition information (calories, fat, carbs, protein). Before I threw them in the wok, I rinsed them with hot water and par-boiled them for 3 minutes. I then cut them up a bit. The rinsing and par-boiling are the standard procedure with shirataki noodles, because they're packaged in a funky-smelling water. But once you do these things, that smell is gone. The texture is chewier than regular pasta, but I definitely think they're appropriate for asian dishes. Lo mein, soups, anything!

I'd also make sure to dry them before you throw them in your wok. I didn't do so, and I think it made my sauce a bit watery. It at least took it longer to thicken up.

It's a yummy dish. Definitely needs some green veggies, but onions and bell peppers were the only edible vegetables in my fridge, so I just went with it. If nothing else, I'd top it with some fresh sliced scallions at the end. And I'd throw in fresh garlic (I used the frozen chopped cubes) and ginger in when cooking the onions. But a yummy work-in-progress dish is better than nothing!

A recipe for you!

I'm a fan of beans, so I decided to make a bean salad tonight. Southwestern/latin style, and I thought I'd share the recipe here. :)

Southwestern Bean Salad

1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can cannellini beans
1 small red bell pepper (pretty small)
1 small orange bell pepper
About 8 oz of roasted fresh corn (you can find this frozen at Trader Joe's, or just use regular corn)
1 red onion

Dressing:
About 1.5 - 2 cups picked cilantro
2 cloves smashed garlic
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds and veins removed
Juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp olive oil (probably could have been fine with 2 tbsp
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp Whole Foods chipotle spice mix - cumin, spices, pepper, etc
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 packets Splenda - maybe around 1 tsp?
1 tsp kosher salt

Dice the red onion finely, along with the bell peppers. Mix the beans, corn, peppers and onions. Tomatoes would also be good. The dressing is super easy - Put all of the ingredients into the Magic Bullet or blender and pulse until liquified. Toss together, and let marinate. The longer it sits, the better.

I also calculated the nutrition stats for it, since that's what I'm all about. It's not the most protein-heavy food for us RNYers, but a great side, or it would be wonderful with added cooked meat - rotisserrie chicken, beef, shrimp, etc. It makes a ton of salad, mine was about 51 ounces. And about 2 ounces of the salad has:
Calories: 52
Fat: 2
Carbs: 8 (2 fiber)
Protein: 2

I'm a lightweight!

Yeaaarp, I'm a lightweight. At least when it comes to drinking. :angel:

So yes, drinking post-op is a different ball game. Basically, it hits us faster, and we have a tendency to sober up faster. I haven't really had a drink post-op until tonight. I was feeling the (small) urge, and there's a fabulous beer, Framboise. Raspberry and YUMMY. I unfortunately saw it at a market near work, and picked up a bottle.

So, I cracked it open tonight, Shira and I sharing it (it's a big, fancy bottle). She had never had it before, and it's been a loooong time since I have. It's just bubbly enough to crave my carbonation desires without being so strong it'll bother my stomach. I have an 11 oz glass, and let's just say that one beer is plenty for me! It's a nice buzz. Drinking isn't something I'll be doing too often (hopefully), but it's nice to have my first experience drinking at home, very chilled out. :)

It's the little things...

That help brighten our days!

Since Friday is the Fourth of July, a holiday, Smita and Tina at Indigo Handloom said that they would pay me for Friday (and Saturday), if I don't have plans for the holiday. Of course I don't! (I'm only sort of a loser...) So that covers the cost of buying back my cell phone!

Not that the money was that big of a concern, but life gets expensive around here.

Something not-so-little that's hopefully going to make me happy - going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. FINALLY... I meant to leave the house around noon. It's 2 now. Hopefully I'll be out the door in the next 30 minutes...Oops! (I forgot that they close at 5:30, so my time is going to be somewhat limited, for an art geek like myself.)