Paint Nite

Have you ever done a paint nite event?  They are so fun.  You get to meet at a location it's usually a restaurant or bar that is sectioned off specifically for the event and learn to paint.  Groupon usually offers a good deal because truthfully without Groupon it is crazy expensive.  Paint Nite is not the only option, there is a location in Folsom that is really nice.  There are quite a few options.  This is the most recent portrait I did.  And I must say I was very pleased with the end results.  I also have some other pics I've done posted.  We are going this Sunday, for my mother's early bday.  The only thing that is no good, is when looking for a cool pic during the month of December (which is her real birth month) they are all holiday related.  No one wants a snowman.  She loves butterflies, so we found a pretty cool one that looks easy as heck.

Update:
This painting was not easy and was super frustrating.  The flowers were horrific to create.

These are from previous times.  I have a green theme going that was never intentional so I am going to try and keep it that way.  I also tend to paint the edges of my canvas black, so I will keep it that way too.  If it ain't broke!

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

This is the long awaited soup and grilled cheese week.  This meal has been decided since the start of October.  We waited until the end of the month because we knew it was going to be cooler and worth the warm food.  Technically, it is always cold in this office, so anything warm is welcome.  But we have had this planned and are ready to eat!  Shi-Shi and I don't care to eat the tomato soup, really it is for dipping.  Deborah, likes tomato soup, so she got the bulk of it.  I have never made tomato soup so I was a tiny bit nervous.  Thanks Domestic Geek!  I have been saving my pulp from my juicing for my meals that I want to make, this way I don't waste and I get all the veggies already chopped and ready to go.  I froze my carrot and celery pulp and used that in my crock pot.

The recipe called for 8 tomatoes, but since I bought Romas from Sam's Club, I used the whole bag which gave me about 13.  It was perfect.  I chopped those babies up and threw 'em in the crock pot.  In the bottom I have my red onion, which is truly my onion preference over yellow or white.  And don't even ask me to use green onions, in the words of Grace..."iscusting".  Anyway, so I have my tomato, onion and big frozen celery and carrot pulp.  I also added some brown sugar and tomato paste.  On a side note: Why do they make tomato paste cans so big?  I never use them all.  Now I have to make a Boboli to use this sauce up.  I might get frisky and make a cauliflower crust...never been done, something to try. I also added minced garlic and the rest of my vegetable broth. Turned on the crock pot and let it do its magic. The soup was done in about 2 hours.  Now for the magic, the most exciting part! I added my cream and went to town with my immersion blender.  I don't know why, but I have always wanted one and now mama has one.  I didn't want to spend a fortune, so I got a quick cheap one.   The things I am going to mash up with this.  In another post I may talk about my idea for banana ice cubes for my juices.  So I blended everything in batches.  I first used the immersion blender, but there was too much soup for the blender to handle so once it was cool, I blended it with my Ninja and got the consistency I was looking for.  I did add salt, white pepper and black pepper to taste before I blended as well.  All in all, this soup turned out pretty dang good.  I would actually consider eating it rather than just dipping my grilled cheese.

The grilled cheese is nothing souper fancy...see what I did there?!  We used the Artisan bread and Colby Jack cheese.  I added a slice of Gouda to mine, because if I am going to eat cheese, I am going big.

OOTD 10/17-10/21

This week we were back to casual!  So nice.  I always have a hard time finding clothes to wear for casual becuase it still has to be work appropriate.  But this week, when we found out about casual week over the weekend I pieced together my outfits.  The cool part about the clothes this week is that one of the pairs I chose are two sizes smaller than I was currently wearing.  Score!!!! This is how I felt when I put those jeans on.

Anyway, I digress...We had to dress in business on Wednesday as we had guests, but the rest of the week we were back casual.

Enjoy my outfits again this week...and just know I am down sizes and feel great.

Pork Street Tacos

This week we decided on pork tacos.  I had the seasonings left from the Daal last week and wanted to use them.  They are not a normal set of seasonings that I would cook with so I wanted to hurry and use them.  I used mini flour tortillas, pork loin, pico de gallo, crema and Mexican 4 cheese blend.

I cooked everything in the crock pot, because I like the phrase, "Set it and forget it".  In the bottom of my crock pot I started with my veggie base of red onions, red and orange bell pepper and celery.  I also added minced garlic and three Chipotle spice cubes.  For the seasonings I used cumin, ground coriander, paprika, turmeric and white pepper.  I don't usually cook with salt anymore and pork is plenty salty anyway.  I cooked everything in the slow cooker (which by the way is one of the many great gifts Brother has given me.  It is a rice cooker/slow cooker) for 4 hours.  I think the meat was ready at 2.5 hours, but I let it really cook down and get tender.

Then I shredded it and portioned it out for the three of us.  Shi-Shi and I only eat lunch from home Monday thru Thursday and treat ourselves to eating out on Friday.  Friday is my true cheat day and I think it keeps me sane from eating the same stuff over and over.

On Tuesday Shi-Shi and I decided we needed lettuce, so we added that Wed and Thurs along with some Tapatio.  Then these tacos were perfection!  

Look at how beautiful this looks:

OOTD 10/10-10/14

This week we didn't have casual so it was business as usual.  I didn't really have a theme in mind, so I just wore what I liked.  Nothing too fancy.  I'm mostly posting these pics to check my weight loss progress.  The only thing is in the pics you can't tell.  As much as I can when I am at home and getting dressed.  But really as long as I see it, that's all that matters. I did have my old manager ask if I have lost weight, so that was reassuring.  There is no Friday pic, becuase I left my phone at home.  I will say it was nice to be off the grid for a day.

Enjoy my pics:

Juicing with Jack LaLanne

Ahhhh, let me tell you how much I enjoy juicing.  It is a satisfaction that I can't even begin to explain. Prepping the fruits and veggies and coming up with flavor combinations is the most fun.  I love looking up new recipes for combinations I would not even actually think of.  Right now I really like red cabbage in most of my juices.  It has an interesting aftertaste but it really adds a sweetness to most juices.  I have also enjoyed beets in most of my juices so I try to incorporate them as much as possible,

This week I ventured out and added celery.  If you know me, then you know I don't like celery in my drinks.  I like to eat celery, but I cannot stand it juiced.  This juice is pretty rough to drink each morning because all I taste is celery!  It kills me but I already prepped everything so I must drink them.

But below are the pictures for juice prepping for a delicious set of juices.  For breakfast I had carrots beets, apples, cabbage, and pineapple.  And for dinner I had strawberries, spinach, peaches, and blueberries.  This is how I prep my juices.  Either in Ziploc gallon bags or containers.

(I had to post my cabbage especially because when I cut it, it made a star and I thought it was dope).

Update:  I am so obsessed with my immersion blender, that I took my last bananas and mushed them up for banana ice cubes, to add flavor to my juices.  I know, I know...I am so incredibly smart.  It's amazing.

OOTD 10/3-10/7

Last week was a super short week for me. I was off work Monday and Tuesday, and we had casual day Friday. My outfits are shown here. The mirror at work is so nice. Perhaps I'll actually pose better.

Lentil Daal

This week we wanted to try something different for lunch. I follow this YouTuber, The Domestic Geek. She has e-books with menu and recipe ideas that will be more than likely attempting many of. I chose the Lentil Daal. The funny thing about my choosing is that she posted the menu item this week as well. It's meant to be.
This was incredibly filling and each portion was enough for 2 servings.  We had ours over white rice with mini naan.  It was good but too much food.

Enjoy: