Honeybaked Ham Trauma

Never tried a Honeybaked Ham before and it was actually really delicious, but won't go through the trouble of buying one ever again. You have to reserve them over the phone and pick up the ham in the store. I'll not go into all of my traumatic details because it's giving me high blood pressure just thinking about what I went through, but be assured that it had a LOT to do with poor customer service and I just despise that.
Dinner was fabulous though, good time had with family at Cabernet. We had the ham, spinach, roasted potatoes, coconut-almond shrimp, and bread. Mom made Chickie Cupcakes for dessert...they were cute

Gorgeous Chocolate

Huggy and I were running this morning for an hour and a half at the Los Gatos Creek Trail. I came home and Les had a surprise waiting for me at home. He brought me to the bedroom, told me to close my eyes and hold out my hands. Now when I was young my friends and I did things like this to each other, but the surprises were never nice. You'd usually open your eyes to find a hairy spider or some gross thing someone found on the ground. This time, the surprise was different. A beautiful chocolate tulip from Joseph Schmidt. I can't bear to break into it, so it's in the freezer under cryo suspense!

Thai Peanut Chicken

This was so incredibly tasty I will definitely do it again. I just happen to have bought boneless chicken thighs at the store....I never buy dark meat, but this changed me forever. I cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and cooked them on very high heat just until heated through. I made some soba wheat noodles, drained them and then tossed the chicken in with some thai peanut dressing. Amazing. Les ate it all gone and the leftovers were gone before morning because he snuck in the fridge while he was up until the wee hours coding.

Tuesday is a perfect day for burgers

Lean ground turkey is so flavorless that you must make up for it with seasoning. I did something completely different with these and Les loved them. I put the usual egg, worschestershire, and Lipton Onion Soup mix in, but also threw in some French Fried Onions that I had in the cubbord. YUUUUMMMM. So much onion flavor, but not over powering. I oven roasted some french fries and put a salad on the side. It was a winner. I love good old American meals:)

mmmmmm...parsnips

nothing special at all about this, just quick and easy...like Sheri. Just kidding, wanted to get your attention:D This is kielbasa with onions and roast parsnips. I threw some green squash in there for good measure.

Kielbasa Fritatta

Breakfast in bed with eggs. Nothing better:) This time we had no nap, on the run all day. We went to Santa Cruz in the morning to check out the site for this year's Nor Cal Strongman Competition. Les is going to be the DJ for it again. It's the same day as Tierra Bella, so I'm not sure what time I'll be able to go down there. I don't want to miss it though because it's a great time. Keg Tosses, Conan's Wheel, Overhead lifts of crazy weight. It's fun to watch.
Les

London Bridges broiling down...broiling down...broiling down

Okay, that titles is a bit lame, but I'm rushing rather un-lovingly through this just to get it done! London Broil is one of our favorite things to eat. This was particularly good because I seasoned it with sesame oil and grill seasoning. And get this....I actually broiled it! I usually grill it, but felt like doing something different this time.
Oh, and that's steamed broccoflower on the side.

Chili and Salad

Yes, this blog has become a bastard of a thing to keep up with...so I'm just now getting around to posting two weeks worth of meals...so don't ask me to remember the details that far back...or provide color commentary of said meals:D

You knew it was coming!

Pork Tenderloin! On a bed of baby spinach with ginger dressing. Yes, we like it:)

Lloyd's Rocks!

Tonight I sucked it up and joined the Sunnyvale Masters. I have never swam...swum...swimmed (?) so much in my life! It was awesome. I called Miss Sheri to see if she wanted to come along, but she denied me. She's not feeling well, so I'll let her sickly little self off this one time! I plan to swim three times a week. That should get my ass in shape rather quickly. I'm not going to let a boatload of people pass me at Wildflower, and I'll be swimming 1500 meters that day. I liked TI, but this structure is what I need and the drills are horrific. It's just the way I like it, I'm a sicko...I know.

So, 2000 yards later I'm ready for dinner! Thankfully while talking to Sheri earlier, I was reminded there was no food in the house so I did some shopping before swimming. I pulled out the easiest and most instantly satisfying thing I could...LLOYD'S! Yummmmmm.

Elephants in Bars

Les and I went to dinner last night at The Elephant Bar. This is one of my favorite places to eat...as far as chain restaurants are concerned. Les had just learned the meaning of bonking because when he came home from the gym he was absolutely wiped out and in need of food.

We both ordered the lemon herb chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and spinach. I also ordered a side Jamaican Mojo Salad that had some really great dressing. It was a mixture of spicy and sweet and had those amazing candied walnuts and dried cranberries mixed in. I was quite happy with my meal selection:D

Teriyaki Two Times

I absolutely love sushi restaurants. I'll never ever ever turn down the opportunity to go to one. Today I went out to lunch with two of my co-workers before we went to visit a client and passed sushi....we had to go. I ordered the chicken teriyaki and california roll bento box. I loved it. I loved it so much, I made it for dinner!

Chicken teriyaki, scalloped potatoes (yes from a box Sheri and Amy:P), acorn squash, and spinach. I topped it with some pine nuts and dried apricots. Simple, and yummy.

Roasted Things Are Good

I love parsnips...and anytime I can get away with making them, they go in the oven at high heat to be roasted. I also roasted some broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms. Les doesn't eat all-veggie meals so I made some Swedish Meatballs in a Merlot reduction. My first reduction ever and it was nice and syruppy and yummy and good!

I actually kinda followed a recipe!

Tonight I made tequila lime chicken, corn casserole, and an endive salad with balsamic honey dressing. I think it's just Les getting over his illness, but he liked it a lot. The casserole called for a lot of butter and half & half, but I just can't justify the fat or calories, so I omitted the butter and used fat free h&h. The chicken did not turn out like I wanted it to, but it was still good. Thank goodness for the grill pan, I love that thing!

Tonights dinner

was seriously not even worth posting about, but I'll recap: Leftover pork tenderloin, Stove Top chicken stuffing, and some carrots. It was good, but nothing to write home about:D

A little Vietnamese

While being fit for my new Profile Design Carbon Stryke aero bars at Sun Bike Shop, I ordered some Viet Pho to take home to the sickly husband. Minh's is the best Vietnamese in my opinion. Very friendly and fast. I love the self-constructing method of Viet cooking. For the soups, they give you a broth base and give you a separate side of ingredients that you add to the broth yourself.
I love basil and bean sprouts so I threw plenty of those in. I had a seafood combination of shrimp and crabmeat. Les had sliced beef and pork. This was a nice and refreshing dinner. Very light and very yummy. Sorry, no pic today.

Sickly down time

Les is sick, so dinner has been toned down a bit. I made some tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. I used colby and swiss in these sammies and they turned out very nice and melty. Love it. Comfort food is great, I will not get sick. I will not get sick. I will not get sick!

Back to Pork!

You had to know it was coming soon, right? Ever since Sheri introduced me to this, I have really fallen in love with it. So has Les. Whenever I bring it home, he gets a really big smile on his face and thinks about it all day! What's not to love? It's lean meat, and so easy to cook. Grill it, broil it, cut it into small pieces and sautee it in sauce...the possibilities are endless.

I used a package of fresh pasta and steamed some spinach. I love spinach when it turns out bright green and just wilted. Overcooked spinach...not so nice, this was perfect.

leftovers and something never tried before

Wanted something Mexican-ish, so settled on tacos using the leftover steak from last night (no, we didn't eat the WHOLE thing, it was huge!). I bought a bag of kale the other day and was trying to figure out what to do with it....I ended up sauteeing it in chicken broth, garlic, and mint sauce with some cherry tomatoes for about 20 minutes. I don't think Les liked it at all because it was the only thing left on his plate....all of it! I'll eat anything no matter what it tastes like, so it didn't bother me at all:P