So, I’ve got to admit, now that I’ve joined society and am no longer working from home, putting together meals that take longer than about 45 mins (start to finish) gets a little tricky.  However, I’m still bound and determined to put healthy, yummy meals on the table at least 4 nights a week.  In honor of this new chapter (and cooking learning curve), I’m starting a new series – “MM” aka Minute Meals.  I’ll be adding “30MM” 0r “45MM” to recipes that are under 1 hour, from start to finish.  Remember, the right side bar has all kinds of categories in case you’re looking for something specific.  You’ll also now find “30MM” and “45MM” – so if you’ve got tighter timelines, you can hop in there and check out some great quickies. (Side note: Did that make you think of inappropriate things?  My mind is always in the gutter.)

Geez Court, GET ON WITH THE MEAL.  30MM, 3 hour long story.  Story. Of. My. Life.

Ya’ll, we’ve officially been Austin residents for three weeks.  My how time flies when you’re eating BBQ.  I thought I’d take the southern food festival down a notch and fix up something fresh.  These California Greek Chicken Bowls are delish and can be customized.  Hopefully my version will give you a good launching point to create your own:

Have you ever heard the saying, “The things you own, end up owning you”?  I heard that once from one of my Southern California hippie friends who shared a studio apartment and had lawn chairs for furniture.  I might have looked down my nose at that comment a few days ago, but I suddenly understand it all.  After these last two weeks, I have understood so clearly the pros of only having a lawn chair couch and a dream.  You guys, WE HAVE SO MUCH F’N STUFF.  We’re close to the end, but we have been unpacking, organizing, setting-up for daaaaaaaaays.

I’m finally in a place where I can take a few moments to make some dinner and share the ridiculousness of my life with you (albeit, dinner was eaten on TV trays surrounded by packing paper and boxes).  But regardless, it’s good to be back in the saddle.  I wanted to share a recipe I made right before we left San Diego when we had a few friends over.  It was bright and super flavorful.  A perfect Friday evening meal with your lova or your favorite ‘Bachelor’-watching gal pal.

This salad, oh em geeee, this salad.  Not only does it go perfectly with my Christmas-themed tablescape (weirdo-alert), but it is packed full of everything you need, as well as some of my favorite ingredients.  We’ve got a superfood, healthy carbs, fresh veggies, calcium, protein and flavor for days.  This would be a great lunch, light dinner OR you could pair it with a small skirt steak (like we did tonight) for an extra punch of protein.

You could probably do this with regular mozzarella, but then you’ll miss the creamy goodness that burrata provides.  If you’ve never had burrata before – it’s a fresh mozzerella with a mix of cream and mozzerella in the middle.  It’s like what Maya says, “When you know better, you do better.”  So now that you know better… try some burrata.

Have you heard the news about the Siracha plant possibly being shut down due to the unbearable smells and stinging eyes it is creating for its neighbors?  Well, if not – be afraid, be VERY afraid – because if that happens, it’s about as close the apocalypse as we’ve come.  Screw the locus and earthquakes… no Siracha???  I might as well rip up my clothes and leave my car in the middle of the street while I walk to “Old New York” in search of water – because this, my friends, is the end of days.

In order to celebrate (read: possible MOURN) my favorite condiment, I went to the store and purchased 5 big bottles.  Don’t judge me… I consider myself more “Doomsday Peppper” than “Hoarder”.

After I rolled around on my bed with the bottles… I mean hid them under my bed in a locked box with a password only Gidget and I know… I put together a little dish I’ve seen swarming all over Pinterest recently, and now I know why. These Crockpot Korean Tacos are about as easy as it gets and wowzers,  they are gooooooooooooood.  I topped them with a tiny drizzle of sesame oil, some low fat cheese, asian pickled cabbage (or you could grab some kimchi at the store), a creamy umani sauce and Siracha (duh).

So many leftovers, so I froze almost all the rest for another quick meal down the road. Two meals, one night – VICTORY!!

Pull up your boot straps kiddos, it’s finally fall in Southern California.  I’ve stocked up on seasonal candles, crockpot recipes and baby pumpkins so even if Helen Keller came to visit, she’d know what time it was in our house.  BOOM.

Tonight was perfect for a simple soup that is one of my favorites – inspired by Cooking Light – this one pot White Bean and Turkey Sausage Ragout with Tomatoes, Spinach and Zucchini can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes.  As with all soups, it gets better with age – so you’ll be happy to know it feeds four with leftovers for lunch the next day.

I think I’m in the running for worst blogger this month.  I’ve gotta say, this has been one of the more hectic months this year, between weddings and parents – I feel like I’ve left Lemons&Lunges at the firehouse in a basket.  If you’re still with me, I promise to buy you a pony for Christmas.

Since I’ve been soooo out of the loop, I thought it might be easier to catch-up with some photos and the recipe I made for Adam’s parents the first night of their visit – Caprese Salmon with Kale Pesto over a Spring Rice.  His stepmom is a FANTASTIC cook, so the pressure was on.  And this one’s a keeper – rave reviews all around.

So here goes:

First, I started out the month getting down and dirty at the Del Mar Mud Run.  It was so fun and so disgusting.  I managed to come up injury-free and repped Team Lemons&Lunges with pride! (I’m probably going to get arrested for this copyrighted photo – but i can’t find it anywhere.)

Then, Adam and I were off to Orlando for my friend’s wedding.  And… we forgot sunglasses:

When in Orlando, you MUST get $25 8.x10 photos of yourselves while doing sports on your birthday:

And then upgrade your rental from compact to convertible…(Only to find the convertible top does not go up, so you get refunded… but still have a GREAT time driving around like two gay men in a parade).

After the trip, it was back to San Diego.  Adam had to miss Dave Chappell (after buying tickets), so I scooped my friend Trish and off we went to a big night on the town.  When we were shown to our seats… in the last row,  I noticed my seat was a little askew, so I notified someone and BINGO, BANGO, BONGO…we were ushered to new seats a few rows from the front, with the security guards and the ushers.  We’re so “in”.  And then we almost got escorted out for taking this picture.

Lastly, our parents came and we did all kinds of touristy stuff – from the Midway (look how cute they all are – new BFF’s forever)…

To Mister A’s, a fantastic restaurant that sits on the circular top floor of the building, overlooking all of downtown San Diego, complete with planes flying in next to your dinner table.  (It’s the kind of place that frowns on someone flicking off a Southwest plane b/c it gives her memories of some bad experiences… but ya know that didn’t stop me.)

And more baseball than any girl should ever be subjected to – “Fear the Beard” – Go Sox!

And last but certainly not least, I knew my proudest moment had arrived when I went into a bathroom stall at a college bar and was face-to-face with myself.  Yep, these flyers for a Vavi (the Mud Run peeps) Halloween party are everywhere.  Bathroom stall status… I’ll never be president.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some good food for you mouth AND your skin

The ocean and I have a such a love/hate relationship.  Let me be more specific, the PACIFIC Ocean and I have such a love/hate relationship.  I remember when I first moved from a little town in Maryland out to sunny Southern California.  My impression of this side of the country had almost solely been based on Bayside High and Baywatch.  When I moved here, I wanted to drive a yellow convertible right up to lifeguard stand, give David Charvet (if you don’t know who that is, I’m sorry for your eyes) a boyfriend-worthy kiss and bound into the warm blue waters that lapped up onto this beautiful left coast.

However, my experience was a bit different.  I drove up in a black Mazda Protege (black, lowered, with illegally tinted windows and black rims that I had to buy from a “Your Job Is Your Credit” used car lot), ran across the grey sand into the dark blue water and went into immediate shock.  It was about 50 degrees and my entire lower body was wrapped in seaweed and my foot was bleeding from a rogue shell colony.

Since that day, I have been in the Pacific exactly 5 times in last 7 years.  And once was to save Gidget when she got caught in the current and I found out not all dogs can swim.

Moral of this story: Don’t believe everything you see that stars  David Hasselhoff.

But what, I DO love about the ocean?  Eating everything in it.  Sometimes I wish I was a shark, so I could just swim around with my mouth open and get free sushi for miles and miles. But, I’m not.  So, tonight we settled for the next best thing – this Roasted Lemon and Garlic Shrimp.  It was fantastic and reaffirms my love for the ocean… from afar.

It’s official, I’m the last one standing in this house.  Adam is one cough away from losing a lung, Rondo has something going on with his sweet little eyes and you know all about The Gidge’s recent brush with pancreatitis.  Gidget Watch 2013 Update: she’s home now, thank goodness!  Resting, eating chicken and rice only for the next month (I think that was her plan all along), and on the road to recovery.   The one silver lining in all this is that they had to shave her leg to give her an IV and now she looks like she either has a wooden peg leg or got attacked by a mini shark.  I feel badly laughing in a sick dog’s face, but I can’t help it.  I mean…

::wahahaha.  I’m a terrible mother/person. wahahahaha::

Last night, after running around picking up meds for everyone, I thought I’d make something light and fresh that might help everyone ingesting it feel lighter and fresher.  I was wrong, and we’ll be having soup tonight, because sick people like soup, not shrimp.  BUT, I’d otherwise recommend these Cilantro and Jalapeno Shrimp Cakes for a nice late summer dinner (or lunch) option, inspired by SkinnyTaste. I paired mine with some grilled corn and grilled zucchini spears (not pictured).  For Adam, I through together a little lemon, basil angel hair pasta as a base because he’s not a huge fan of corn.  Who doesn’t like sweet summer corn, grilled to perfection?  I’m suspect of his taste. Whatevs… more for me.

]]> http://lemonsandlunges.com/2013/09/16/cilantro-and-jalapeno-shrimp-cakes-for-my-homies/feed/ 0 http://lemonsandlunges.com/2013/09/14/comfort-food-alert-chicken-deliciousness/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=comfort-food-alert-chicken-deliciousness http://lemonsandlunges.com/2013/09/14/comfort-food-alert-chicken-deliciousness/#comments Sat, 14 Sep 2013 10:53:30 +0000 http://lemonsandlunges.com/?p=368

Today called for a family favorite for dinner.  It was a tough one, Gidget had to go to the emergency room and we found out she has pancreatitis.   Poor little thing is staying overnight at the hospital.  And, let me tell ya, that’s like staying at the Four Seasons… in the penthouse suite.  For that price I can only hope that she is getting champagne pumped into her with her fluids.  If you don’t have a pet, the things we do for our pets makes us sound like crazy people.  But, when you have one, you are absolutely aware of your pet on-set insanity and you don’t apologize for it one bit. My non-pet-owning bank account thinks I’m crazy.  And I agree.

After all this drama, for dinner tonight I wanted something comforting.  One of this house’s favorite dishes, esp. Adam’s, is this chicken pocket of goodness. I asked Adam what we should name it as I began to write this post, and his first suggestion was all we needed, “Chicken Delisiousness”. Yep, nailed it. This dish is super easy to make, it’s the perfect comfort dish and it’s still not going to blow your calorie budget.

This one is not necessarily the best photo, unless you see the dish for all it is.  Hopefully these photos help tell the story.  And the story is deeeeelisssh.

This medium chicken breast is stuffed with bacon, light cream cheese, green onions, parsley, salt and pepper and wrapped in a light flaky dough.  Unfortunately, we don’t live in food heaven, so we can’t have bacon everyday.  When a recipe, like this, calls for 1-2 pieces of bacon, I’ve found that you can buy just two slices from the meat counter.  Rather than buying a whole pack, you can get just what you need, save some cash [I'll take anything I can get with The Gidge at the Four Seasons (re:VCA Hospital)], and not be tempted to eat bacon every morning. Oh.. but that would be great, wouldn’t it?

Recipe for this family fave below. But first, story time..

*After you finish stuffing the chicken and wrapping it in pastry – this should be about what it looks like. I cut the sheet horizontally, placed a 1/3 of it on the bottom, laid the chicken down and then wrapped the other 2/3 over the top and pinched the two together*

 *Insert perfectly crispy/ flaky breaking sound here*

*an inside look at what heaven looks like*

]]> http://lemonsandlunges.com/2013/09/14/comfort-food-alert-chicken-deliciousness/feed/ 1 http://lemonsandlunges.com/2013/09/10/dinnspiration-thai-coconut-red-curry-tilapia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dinnspiration-thai-coconut-red-curry-tilapia http://lemonsandlunges.com/2013/09/10/dinnspiration-thai-coconut-red-curry-tilapia/#comments Tue, 10 Sep 2013 04:39:57 +0000 http://lemonsandlunges.com/?p=328

Last week I only made it to the gym two times and I gotta say, it had a little something to do with having Monday off and not getting my week started on the right foot with a good work-out on Monday.  (Have you been trying the Monday Rule?) Today, I was excited to get back into it.  As much as I feel guilty when I don’t make it to the gym 4-5 times a week, it really is nice when you get that “absence makes the heart grow fonder”  feeling and you’re pumped to be back.

Well, today I was super motivated and took on the workout like a price-tagless shopping spree at Lulu (aggressively).  While I was doing box jump burpees, I felt something really painful in my toe, but kept going through the workout and when I got to my car, I whipped off my shoe to see… GET THIS… a cactus spike sticking out!!  I KNEW I had a spike in my toe after kicking that stupid cactus a couple weeks ago.  Well, all of the pressure and sweat must have thrown that creep right out of my foot house!  I can’t believe I’ve been walking around with a spike in my toe for two weeks.  I feel like a Spartan warrior.

Moral of the story, a good work-out helps release all the bad stuff… sometimes quite literally.

Exhibit A:

After that, I wiggled my new found painfree toes into the kitchen and pulled together a simple dish that was ready in 20 minutes and tasted like I was a real pro in the kitchen – Thai Coconut Curry Tilapia.  It had some heat, TONS of flavor and still left me feeling full, but light.  I paired it with a nice salad and a small bit of rice (mostly to catch that delicious sauce!)

Recipe after the jump:

*Inspired by my girl, Gina at SkinnyTaste