I'm cookin'!

As I mentioned a few months ago, I bought a place for myself and I'm living on my own.  This is the first time in six years that I've been by myself.   Being by myself isn't a problem.  I'm an only child...I know how to amuse myself and not feel lonely.  But for six years I didn't have to cook!  My mom made dinner most of the time.  The only thing I handled was my lunch and meager breakfast.  If I wanted to cook I could, but honestly the motivation wasn't there.  Occasionally I would put together a meal and I had no problem baking, but when I came home from work, there usually was something in the house for me to eat and the most I had to do was warm it up.

So I find myself in my new place and I have to cook.  I'll be honest, the first few weeks I started staying here, I ate my meals at my parents' place.  I didn't even want to plug in the refrigerator or stove because if I wasn't planning to cook, then those appliances didn't need to be sucking up electricity.  Eventually, the time did come for me to make a meal and I made quesadillas and guacamole. GUACAMOLE!! Yes, I made an item on my Resolution list.  Admittedly, it wasn't the best.  I didn't have anything to properly mash up the avocados, but the flavor was there and I ate it. ha!

Since then I've really been impressing myself.  I made coconut curried chicken with pineapple served over rice that was DA BOMB!  I tasted it and was shocked by how good it was...it was restaurant quality y'all!  And again, this was an item on my Resolution list.   

But I've noticed that even the scraps that I've been throwing together taste pretty good. Just today I had a very simple meal that consisted of a salad, a piece of Texas toast and something that I'll just call turkey stuff. LOL  It was crumbled ground turkey breast with onions, garlic and red peppers, then I added some tomato sauce. The meal was simple and yet so flavorful and satisfying! 

I'm no one's Top Chef, but I can hold my own in the kitchen and the more I do cook, the better I get. Soon I'll invite y'all over for dinner.  ;-)

Ok...I've got a Resolution

So I've been thinking about my New Year's Resolution, or rather I've been trying to come up with a resolution for 2011.  Last year my resolution was to make a new dish each month, and up until October, I did!  My items included a Pepper Steak, Spinach Stuffed Zucchini, Black Beans and Rice, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Two Pasta Dishes, and Mashed Potatoes.  Even though I didn't make something for the final three months of 2010, overall, I did cook more.  I actually make Black Beans and Rice on a pretty regular basis now.  So with that I mind, I've decided to focus on food again for 2011. 

This year, I will learn to cook dishes that I love to eat, but obviously, don't know how to make.  I'm not going to force myself to cook one of these each month, but the overall goal, before 2012 rolls in, is to cook all of the following:

1. Creamed Spinach
2. Pulled Pork
3. Guacamole
4. Macaroons
5. Tres Leches Cake
6. Coconut Curried Chicken
7. Enchilada Suiza
8. Tiramisu
9. Carmine Pizza (I'm determined to figure out a version of Bertucci's pizza that I can make for myself)
10. Baked Potato Soup

If you've got any recipes for any of these delectable items...send them my way!

I'm working out regularly again...but it's not my New Year's Resolution

We're at the very beginning of the New Year and you know what that means...RESOLUTIONS! This is the time when many people resolve to lose weight, watch what they eat and get back in shape. I haven't made weight loss my resolution for the New Year, but I am on the "Special K (lose up to 6 lbs) Challenge" for two weeks, and I'm getting back in to my gym routine again, after taking a few weeks off to rest my left hip.  I was getting physical therapy on my hip...apparently I have/had hip bursitis and a pelvis that was misaligned.

Anyway, in recognition of all these people who are bombarding the gym right now and will likely fall off by March, if not sooner, I'm going to list a few helpful hints that will make you the ideal gym-goer.  The gym regulars, like myself, will encourage and motivate, but only if you take my advice.

Locker Room Etiquette

1. Do not choose a locker that is immediately next to, above or below a locker that is already occupied. Why would you want to be that close to someone? You don't want to be standing next to or below someone who's sweaty and smelly after a long workout, do you? Create a buffer zone. 
2. Don't parade around completely naked. Towels are available (usually)...so use them! This goes for whether you are fit and toned or fat and mushy...cover up!
3. If, after you leave the shower, you notice lots of hair around the drain that wasn't there before...NEWSFLASH...it's your hair!  Get a paper towel, pick it up and take it away.  There is something about seeing someone else's wet hair around a drain that is really gross and it totally freaks me out.  Don't make others freak out, just wipe up your shed hair and keep it moving.
4. Connected to #2...don't squat and towel down facing people. Turn toward the locker, or, here's a novel idea, dry off right by the shower! No one wants to look at you naked in the first place and certainly not while you are bending and squatting to dry off your private areas. ICK!!

Gym Floor Etiquette

1. Wipe down the machines...  I don't like my own sweat, so I definitely don't like your sweat.  Wipe it away before you go to another machine.  Plus, don't you want to stop the spread of those nasty super germs that live and grow at the gym??
2. Similar to L.R.E. #1, if the gym is not busy, do not choose the treadmill, elliptical or bike that is immediately next to someone else unless there is something wrong with a machine that is a spot or two away.   This isn't the starting line of the NYC Marathon, there is no need to be on top of someone, and or spying on their speed and time to see if it's worse (or better) than yours.  Spread out...do your own thing!
3. In the stretching area, don't be the person who stretches out perpendicular to everyone else, thereby taking up 2/3 more space than you need.  You mess up the parallel pattern and make everyone nervous.
4. If you're not a trainer, don't tell someone they are exercising incorrectly.  **MEN, please take note of this**  It's creepy to think that you are watching someone so closely that you now think you can school them on their exercise moves. If the person isn't harming his or her body while doing the exercise, MIND YOUR BUSINESS or ask a trainer to give some advice. 

There might be few more "rules" that will come up, but this should be good to get your started and surely, if you ever work out with me, I won't be annoyed by you. :)  Happy Working Out!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

New Year, new blog, very short post! More to come but I couldn't start 2011 without posting something.

Get ready for the continuation of my saga...