Joining a gym...

...This should be interesting. Haha. Not that I have never worked out before or that I don't know how. I was a college athlete so I'm well versed in fitness. As I am getting older, I'm starting to realize that my metabolism is slowing down and I sit at a desk all day. Time to get up and moving. I have included some interesting articles that I came across today. One is myths about working out and the others is a food intake infographic to help explain which foods keep you full for longer while still being healthy.

Enjoy!

Myths:
http://lifehacker.com/5895140/10-stubborn-exercise-myths-that-wont-die-debunked-by-science

Food:

http://lifehacker.com/5895525/are-bananas-as-bad-for-you-as-cookies-which-foods-to-eat-to-keep-you-full-and-not-crash-later

Cut a Glass Bottle Using Nail Polish, String, and Fire [Video]

I have nothing exciting to blog about today, but here is an awesome video on how to use a String to cut through a glass bottle.

This is a great tip and may end up in a project down the road.

I especially like the tidbit about not catching anything else on fire ;-)



Cut a Glass Bottle Using Nail Polish, String, and Fire [Video]:

There are a lot of fun ways you can reuse beer and wine bottles. Two months ago I showed you how to build a glass cutting jig on the cheap to make wine bottle glasses, but YouTube user TrashPeaches shares another easy method of precision cutting of glass bottles using acetone (nail polish remover), a cotton string, and fire. More »




via Lifehacker

Paprika

Paprika - what you get when salt and pepper get married and have a baby. Just kidding! Anyone who has ever seen Blue's Clues will get the reference because that's immediately what comes to mind when I think of paprika.

I had some baked potatoes slices yesterday that I wanted to try to turn into mashed potatoes because mashed potatoes are probably my favorite food ever. Two problems: the potatoes has already been cooked and I didn't have any milk. Time to improvise! Lesson one - remember to heat up the potatoes first. Otherwise, the beater will fling them EVERYWHERE in your kitchen. I swear I don't know from personal experience. I decided to use Cream Cheese in place of milk. While, not exactly healthy, delicious none the less. Since I was already experimenting, I thought I would throw in some Paprika. I liked it.

Here is what the experts have to say about it:


Paprika, Capsicum annuum, is a sweet-to-mildly hot cultivar of the chile pepper of the family Solanaceae. It is cultivated for its fruit, which are dried and used as a spice or seasoning. C.annuum is a native of South America; however it is cultivated most extensively in Hungary. The English word was borrowed directly from Hungarian, which in turn borrowed the term from the adjacent Slavic peoples, among whom the word has survived since its inception in Proto Indo-European (p+p+r). Modern variations of the word exists in most European languages. The word "paprika" can be used to describe both the fruit and the spice.


http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Paprika

Culinary Uses
Paprika is intimately associated with Hungarian cuisine especially paprikash and goulash. Many spiced sausages incorporate it, including the Spanish chorizos. Paprika is often used as a garnish, spinkled on eggs, hors d’ouvres and salads for colour. It spices and colours cheeses and cheese spreads, and is used in marinades and smoked foods. It can be incorporated in the flour dusting for chicken and other meats. Many Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish recipes use paprika for soups, stews, casseroles and vegetables. In India paprika is sometimes used in tandoori chicken, to give the characteristic red colour. Paprika is an emulsifier, temporarily bonding with oil and vinegar to make a smooth mixture for a salad dressing.

via http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/paprika.html

Roasted Mushrooms

So my mushrooms were about to go bad so I decided to try to cook them last night. I searched the internet for a base recipe to work from.

Ingredients:

1 pack of sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup light extra virgin oil olive
1/2 tsp Rosemary
1/2 tsp Sage
1/2 tsp
1 Tbsp Parsley
Salt and Pepper

I used almost the whole pack of fresh mushrooms (I left a few to top the salad).

I rinsed them all first and placed them on the cutting board. I trimmed up the larger ones to make sure they would cook.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Place all ingredients into glass bakeware
3. Mix in mushrooms, coat evenly

4. Bake for 30 minutes




Original Online Recipe can be found here

Dublin Frame is Finished!

Yay! (I know, it's about time)

It is hard to take pictures on my phone without getting the reflections. Sorry about that!

Becoming an expert chef

Next goal : Learning how to cook from scratch without instruction. Learning the uses of spices/herbs/seasonings and how they enhance/detract from food flavors. Creating my own recipes and eventually creating a cookbook with those recipes.

So I have briefly have started this goal. I have been fumbling around cooking for a few weeks now. I have been following recipes to hopefully learn which spices go well together and the ratios in which they are used. 

So should be quite the adventure as I learn as I go.

Some reference sources:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-use-herbs-and-spices-in-cooking/






Spice Rack Must Have:

DIY - Photography Art Coasters

The theme throughout my apartment is black and white with accents of colors. I have florally damask style rugs and lamp. In additional, the photos over my bed are of a sunflower. I thought these elements would be nice to bring into the living area a little more and decided coasters were the way to go. I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and found some nice glass photo coasters for around $5.

I went through my photography and pictured out 4 pictures that I thought would work well. I used iPhoto to turn the to black and white and played with the levels tool under I achieved the contrast I was looking for. If you are not the photography expert you would like to be, there are image searches that can be done online. It is such a small image, shouldn't have issues with printing resolutions. I had the photos printed at target for $0.25. So the whole project only cost me about $6.

I measure the coaster slots and cut the pictures accordingly.

Next, slide the pictures into the coasters and wah-la, photography art coasters!

Simple, easy and a touch of personalization to your living room.

Need a Rueben Now

Thanks to Arby's commercials, I have seriously been craving a rueben sandwich. I am trying to not eat out for two reasons. First, moving is expensive and has left my funds somewhat depleted, in other words, I'm broke as a joke. Second, all the processed food is bad for you and I am trying to be a bit healthy, within reason of course.

I have never actually made a rueben sandwich before. But it is like four ingredients, how hard could it possibly be. Now folks, something to note about me. I'm more of the dive right in and learn while I go type of person. Not so much the detailedly planning everything out person. There were a few things I figured out along the way and important to note upfront.

1.  Corned Beef - With that much corned beef, it will not work like a "grilled cheese" and toast the meet inside. I needed to fry that for a few seconds on the pan.

2. Sauerkraut - It is important to drain the package first. Also, only making a few sandwiches does not require the whole pack to be made. I will be eating sauerkraut all week (which really isn't a bad thing).

Ruebens require a few key ingredients

1. Rye Bread
2. Corned Beef
3. Swiss Cheese
4. Sauerkraut
5. 1000 Island Dressing

The process below worked pretty well for me.

1. Spray pan with cooking spray
2. Lay out rye bread on pan
3. Cover with swiss cheese and let the cheese melt on the bread
4. Place corned beef on pan until it reached desired temperature, a minute or so worked fine.
5. Fry Sauerkraut

6. Once bread is toasted and cheese is melted, layer on corned beef then sauerkraut
7. Top with 1000 island dressing
8. Place other piece of bread on top

Enjoy!

Also, as a healthier alternative for lunch today (since I have so much sauerkraut left over), I followed the same basic steps but swapped out a few ingredients. I used whole wheat tortilla as opposed to bread and turkey rather than corned beef. Another option is to switch out for fat free dressing.

Sushi

I LOVE sushi. It's delicious. I had this for lunch. Fusian is the most brilliant idea ever. Think like what Chipotle is to burritos is what Fusian is to sushi. You pick your toppings as you go along with your roll. Then they cut it and sauce it for you. BRILLIANT. Happy Lent.

Wine Tasting

I have always wanted to learn about wines. Maybe its my desire to be more cultured? When I say that I laugh at myself because that's a pipe dream. I love sweat pants, bad music, and the disney channel way too much for that to ever happen. Anyway, I was off to meet a friend of mine last night. She has asked to interview for a proposal she was working on. She asked if I would like to grab a drink and of course I said yes. So we went to this trendy little wine and coffee bar called 1215 and I was really pleased with my experience there. We got out menus and we ordered an appetizer of bruschette. It had the strangest toppings. One of them had sweet potatoes, one had brussel sprouts and the other had gonzo beans. It was absolutely delicious! Especially, the sweet potato one, but may that is because I am partial to sweet potatoes, who knows? Also, I was soon informed that every Wednesday was wine tasting and was asked if I would like to participate. I mean, come on, is that really even a question, duh! So we each received four glasses of wine and descriptions of what the four we were blind tasting were. Then we had to guess which was which. I didn't get any of the right, shocking news! No, no its not. I am terrible at that kind of stuff. However, I got talking to the bartender who is studying for his next wine exam and told him that he needed to teach me his wise ways. I am eager to go back and learn from his expertises and actually learn the difference between wines.