Thursday 23 September 2010

Breakfast:  Huh?  Where's the blue plate?  At home - which this was not.  Today was the first day of the kids carpooling to school, so we had a breakfast date at Sam's Coffee Shop.  I ate the omelet (linguisa sausage, cheddar cheese, spinach, onion, and avocado) and about 1/3 of the potatoes.  Oh, and lots of lovely, full-caff coffee with half-and-half.

Hi, Mr. H&H!  (He went for the decaf.  And don't you love those thick coffee shop mugs?  I sure do.)

Lunch:  I ate the whole 2.2 oz. bag of kale crunchies for lunch, which felt really decadent, and then I took a little stroll.

Scene from my stroll; not the best picture, but I wanted to share.  There are lots of picnic tables in this plaza by the fountain. And what you can't see back by the playground are the two ladies who are always walking at lunch time.  (Or, they usually seem to be when I'm out and about.)  The one uses a walker, but she really hauls.  I suspect she might be recovering from something, because she used to go slower and was more stooped.  Today they were kicking back in the rose garden when I was eating, and by the time I got back from my walk, they were tearing around the park.

Afternoon snack:  1/2 gourmet graham cracker, est. 2 Tbsp peanut butter (one has been licked off the top already...whoops), 2 squares of dark chocolate.

I also had some of my dry-roasted wasabi edamame! I hadn't had these in a long time; I had an Amazon order that needed more on it to get the free shipping, so I got myself a 12-pack.  I love these - they have lots of fiber and protein and flavor! (a 1/4 cup serving is 4.5 gram fat, 9 grams carb - 7 fiber! and 1 sugar, and 14 gram protein - this was probably about 1/3-1/2 cup, though)

Dinner:  For starters, chips and salsa.  Not shown:  3 more chips.

You said something about a secret ingredient in the salsa, Honey?

Main course:  One bowl "Pubsfolk Especial" plus another half bowl of mostly the sauce.

What is it?  This dish is our take on a favorite dish at La Fiesta restaurant in Mountain View.  The dish is called "Grandma's Especial," and it's chicken in a creamy sauce.  It's sort of like a Mexican version of the Indian Chicken Makhani dish, or the Eastern European Chicken Paprikash.  We have what we consider to be a fairly close approximation at home, although we don't have an exact ingredients ratio.  Here's how we make it:

1. We cut chicken breast into large cubes.  (La Fiesta makes this with the whole breast, bone in.)  You could use any cut of chicken, really, but be sure to remove the skin.  The more chicken you use, the more like a stew it will be; use less chicken, it's more like a soup.
2. Sauté with chopped onions (about 1 onion) and a can of chopped green chiles.  Season with garlic, cumin, and oregano.  (Fajita seasoning also works well.)
3. Add a can of enchilada sauce and simmer; 30 minutes seems to work well.
4. Before serving, add sour cream, cream cheese, and a splash of lime juice.  (To incorporate the cream cheese, sometimes it works best to pull a little sauce from the pan, mix it up with the cream cheese so it's more sauce than big lump of cheese, then add it back in.)  I think we use about 1/4 cup cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sour cream.  I'm sure it would be just as good with plain Greek-style yogurt instead of the sour cream.  We've used non-fat and low-fat for the dairy stuff, and either works really well.

(I have leftovers in my lunch, so I get to see how well adding green beans and diced potato works with this.  Stay tuned!)



Dessert:  15 chocolate chips and some peanut butter.  You know, I really like this better with the whole nuts. Something about having to crush the nuts with the chocolate makes the flavor better to me.