Diving Discoveries

What. A. Day. 

   Jeffrey invited me and Chris to assist with two Discover Scuba classes of Boy Scouts (17 kids!), and then a third class with a mom and her son, and another family of 5 Nigerian kids. The scouts were wonderful of course, and all did a great job. But I got to spend more individual time with and I especially enjoyed the final class of the day.

   The two girls weren't so comfortable in the water, so we had to get over that hurdle before teaching them to dive. At first, their instinct was to grab my arm and hold on for dear life, sometimes dragging me under water in the process, or nearly knocking my regulator out. But over the couple of hours that we were in the pool, I watched their fear melt away.

   By the end of the day, they each took me by the hand and wanted me to jump into the pool with them! Although they never dove in the deep end, it was magic to see them just playing in the water without a trace of fear. One even had me pull up a Rihanna song ("Stay") on my iPhone and the three of us sang it together in the pool as we were swimming around.

   What really impressed upon me about the five siblings was that none of them were especially confident in the water at first. But also, none of them were so fearful that they refused to try. It was like it never entered their mind to not try it--despite their clear trepidation. Their parents weren't here, and they had never met me before. They were in an unfamiliar and potentially risky situation, yet placed all their trust in a stranger. I think that's fairly remarkable for one individual, much less five all at once. It made me wonder about their parents and what amazing people they must be, raising such fun, joyful, confident young adults.

   I just about had tears in my eyes when the two girls came over to me and gave me big smiles and even bigger hugs as we were all getting ready to leave. It is so empowering and so fulfilling to not only have fun together, but also to help them try something they might not have otherwise.

   Cuties Sam and Tia, two naturals in the water!

   I don't know how on earth I had energy left after 5+ hours of diving and kid-wrangling to stop at the grocery store and then to come home and make dinner, but I hadn't eaten anything all day, so it was a good idea. Here's what I whipped up:

   Broiled miso black cod, sautéed brussels sprouts, and spiced, roasted carrots and sweet potatoes. I even cooked up some plain sweet potatoes just for the dogs, and they enjoyed them with a dollop of plain yogurt on top, like a real dessert. As my food was cooking I made up a double batch of Michele's special protein nuggets, which are a great breakfast on the go, or snack, or dessert, or anything you want!

   And you know what I want? To go to sleep!

Get on the bus, Gus!

   Due to my snowboarding trip, I missed out on the chance to buy my monthly bus pass for February. I was so bummed when I realized it! So I was put in touch with the admin of our fleet department, and she had the bus driver bring a pass for me. Wow. This is what I left on her desk…. Hope it gave her a laugh and adequately expressed my sincere appreciation.

Green goodness

Made baked cod, and fried edamame fritters with Thai sweet chili sauce for dinner. Big fan of edamame, whether it's plain, frittered, or covered in dark chocolate from Trader Joe's. Now that's a versatile veggie. Yum!

Snowbird, Day 2

   Day 2 at the 'bird was a bit more trying... After two hard days of riding, my legs were beginning to talk back, making my form sloppy and falls more eminent. It snowed all day, with visibility greatly reduced for much of it. Thank goodness Brett loaned me his low-light goggles, so I had a snowball's chance of seeing where I was going! Mine are only for sunlight. While we were cold and vis was poor, fresh pow is always welcome.
   I also woke up feeling lousy, and suspected a sinus infection. Huge bummer to be sick on vacation, but I wasn't about to let that stop me. I rode from 9-2:00, until my head was pounding so hard I simply couldn't continue. Then I sat in Creekside Cafe at the base under a warm heater, drinking 50/50 hot chocolate & coffee, and chatted it up with the locals. Had an invitation to join a couple of guys in their hot tub but figured I'd better decline.  ;)
   We all cooked dinner tonight at the condo: Mexican extravaganza! Made chicken enchilada soup, fresh black bean salsa, and fresh guacamole. Big hit. (Thanks to Ginny for the mixes that made it even easier.)

Dinner in Draper

   "Live underwater"?! Of course I'd find the scuba cart at the grocery store on a snowboarding trip to Utah!

   Extensive beer selection at the condo. Thinking of Trish!

   Putting Brett to work. Shopping & cooking for 5 is harder than for 1, it turns out.

MacDo

   I eat fast food mayyyybe 6 times a year. And I am in Filet-o-Fake-Fish a and greasy delicious French fry heaven at the Denver airport right now. #preemptiveregret #slimyyetsatisfying

   On a similarly unhealthy note:

Hahahhahhahahahahaha!!!!!

Fruits of my imagination

   Cute + slightly disturbing = 

Besties

   And to top off the six-hour diving extravaganza, Britten and Rich stopped by the shop with lunch from Haus for me, and to drop off my race packet for the Groundhog Run tomorrow morning. After all those hours in the pool with only my breakfast of coffee and oatmeal to hold me, you have no idea how good homemade bratwurst with sauerkraut and sautéed onions on a pretzel bun & hand cut french fries taste. Yum! I'm so lucky to have such thoughtful friends. THANKS GUYS!!!!

   And this is my dinner experiment for the week: BBQ chicken sandwiches with fresh mozzarella, Oklahoma Joe's sauce, and either avocado, or pineapple, or both! My twist on the pickles are miso-sesame-cucumbers, and jalapeño-lime salsa (Kristin's recipe). Success!

Chow hounds

#icanteatundertheseconditions

   But I have to say, after the meal was over, it was pretty sweet the way Taylor wanted to snuggle with me… my furry BFF. I took him to the vet tonight to check his thyroid levels, and not only did they look good, but my boy has lost 2 pounds this month! I'm ecstatic that we have found the source of his problem and he is on his way to being lean and mean again. Well, lean anyway.  This boy isn't capable of being mean!

Cooking up a storm

   Today one of my generous coworkers, David H, brought me a bag of tomatoes and fresh herbs from his garden. Though I'd intended to spend a quiet evening recovering from Roatan (read: zonking out on the couch), it inspired me to cook a big meal: marinara and spaghetti squash, and roast chicken and vegetables. Yum! So lucky to have such awesome friends. :)

   I forgot to add roasted red pepper to the label, but you can taste it for sure. And the cayenne and red pepper flakes too. I made up the recipe, but it is my best batch of sauce yet! Here's what I did:

- chop the ripe tomatoes and sauté them with olive oil and garlic

- roast carrots with a little olive oil

- separately (they cook faster), roast the red pepper, onion, and garlic 

- when veggies are roasted to carmelized perfection, throw them in the food processor until smooth. Blend with sautéed tomatoes.

- add a can of tomato sauce to thicken 

- add fresh basil, rosemary, thyme, and sage

- stir over low heat as the spaghetti squash roasts (45 min at 425 degrees)

   Eat and enjoy!

   The chicken was adapted from this classic Ina Garten recipe: http://m.foodnetwork.com/recipes/21404 . It's as good as it claims to be, or better. Which is good, because with these quantities, I will be eating this meal for days!

Beggar 8/27

   This is what it's like to eat dinner at my house. Kismet often makes it feel like Gypsy is still here. :)

Pure protein

   These things are seriously addictive. And apparently, a healthy snack, although they taste way too good for that to possibly be true. But that's what my sources tell me! I got the recipe from my friend Michele, who has done extremely well in a weight loss competition through her dedication to following a challenging routine of diet and exercise.
   Try these for yourself. And do yourself a favor and start with a double batch. They take less than 10 minutes to make, and are very filling due to all the protein. I've been popping a couple of these with some fresh fruit and yogurt for a highly-satisfying breakfast.
   The chocolate protein powder that I bought is specially formulated to support and rebuild muscles, which I need after my 5-mile run yesterday. (I hadn't run in 20 days. Ugh.)

Super Foods

   さいきょみそ black cod (sablefish) with caramelized balsamic portobello kale. I have to thank my Aunt Marty as well as my Alaskan friends Greg & Peggy for this feast. Greg shipped a huge box of the fish to Marty for Christmas, and she passed half of it on to me. Most black cod goes straight to Japan, as it is too pricey and not as valued by Americans. It swims deep and is harder to catch. It is truly the best cooked fish I've ever had (usually, I vastly prefer my fish raw). The flavor super-rich and buttery, yet mild, perfectly accented by the miso/mirin marinade.
   I am trying to foster a love for kale, as it is supposedly very healthy—a "superfood". I love that it keeps seemingly forever in the fridge—I've at times kept it for more than a week and it was still perfectly crisp and bright. Kelley got me into it when I visited her in LA for Sean's birthday back in October. She throws a handful of kale into smoothies. I've grown to like the flavor, though it does turn smoothies a medium concrete-gray which is a little strange. I've found that it's truly delicious with frozen peaches, blueberries and banana and a splash of milk. 
   I needed a big, healthy dinner tonight, after spending a total of 3.5 hours shoveling 12+" of very heavy snow today. That brings me to 6 hours of shoveling in as many days. And although I LOVE the snow, my lower back is ready for a little break. But I'm very thankful that I am healthy enough and strong enough to do the work—it is fantastic exercise. And the neighborhood looks beautiful enveloped in a heavy blanket of snow.

Hot dog + Hot lemonade

   Sawako came over last night. She brought presents for the dogs & kitty, homemade croissants for us, and a giant cup of homemade Japanese hot lemonade for me! YUM!
   While we were sitting at the dining room table, eating and talking, all of a sudden Sawako felt something on her leg. She looked down to see this: The Hungriest Dog in the World strikes again!

"PSST! SAWAKO! Don't tell Jen, but I'm very hungry.
Please pass some food down to me."

   Sawako was kind enough to overlook Taylor's rudeness, and even kinder to share her recipe with me—in two languages!

ginger from Target; lemon juice from Whole Paycheck Foods

Best Dinner Ever?

   I blog about my food mostly so that when I am hungry and without inspiration, I can search for one of my food tags and be reminded of dishes I've made before. This one may be the winner, though: roasted chicken (I cheated and bought rotisserie to save time), roasted acorn squash with homemade chili-lime vinaigrette, and spinach salad with fruit, goat cheese, and raspberry dressing. YUM. The chili-lime vinaigrette upstaged everything. It's so good I may have to put it on my cereal in the morning. Okay, maybe not. But it's really, REALLY good!

* * *

   And two hours after dinner, I had a craving and went to the kitchen for a little dessert... another plateful of squash! This is some seriously good stuff.

Badness is the Spice of Life!

      On Sunday I went grocery shopping, and bought a bunch of ingredients to take to a friend's house for dinner Monday night. I prepped as much as I could ahead of time, leaving a bag of spices, cooking spray, & other non-perishables pushed to the back of the kitchen counter. Safe, I thought...

   Taylor is notoriously hungry (as his dog tag, "Chow Hound" professes). So I should have known better. "But he's been so GOOD lately," I thought. I left for work Monday morning.

   At 3:00 pm I was sitting in a meeting, and my phone buzzed. I was getting a call from my own home phone, which I knew meant that my pet sitter had stopped by. She only calls when it's important. She informed me that she came into my house to find the bag of food dragged into the living room, with the spices' lids chewed off... garlic, salt & pepper, onion powder blends. Ugh.

Nothing like getting a call at work about how bad your dogs are being at home!

   Taylor may be a shorty, but I figured out how he gets on my countertops, because my oven door handle is scratched: he jumps up & does a chin-up to get up there.

   My friend Susan heard about this, and sent me a photo of a collie wearing a sign stating, "I eat trash". I thought it was so funny that I had to do my own version... here's MSIR Aki & Taylor, telling it like it is!

Omaha & the Alpine Inn

   My first time in Nebraska, with Scott at the helm. And what's this about Arbor Day? 

   No time to stop and figure it out... we have chicken to eat and 'coons to watch, at the famed Alpine Inn!

   Dinner at a roadside attraction: fried chicken is served in heaping baskets, and leftovers are thrown on a platform out back, so that diners can enjoy the view out the picture windows: hordes of raccoons and feral cats climbing up for a feast! The cats showed up first:

   and were soon joined, or rather, scooted out of the way, by over a dozen hungry raccoons:

   They even muscled past the kitties to wash the grease off their paws & get a drink. Sheesh! 

   The kitties were cute, but looked a little sad. I can't imagine this diet is good for them, much less the fraternization with mangy 'coons!

   Above the fireplace in the Alpine Inn was a black velvet painting of their main attraction:

   Not unlike a souvenir postcard we found at a gas station on our way home two days later. But I beg to differ: Nebraska is the raccoon state!

Be still, my beating heart...

   We haven't even left for Omaha & we've already spotted wildlife. In fact, he stared menacingly at me the whole way there. Please hunt him down if I don't return alive.

And hmm, what's this?

   Scott made homemade beef jerky for our trip: teriyaki flavor. And it is his finest yet! I had to have him take the bag away from me after several handfuls, lest I hurt myself. But the rest of the drive, I struggled with the urge to tear off my seatbelt and lunge into the back seat like a wild animal, fighting Scott off and reclaiming the bag. (Yes, it's THAT good.)

Happy 4th!!!

(Note: NOT taken with new camera!)

   Happy Independence Day to all. I celebrated by—finally—investing in a semi-pro DSLR camera (Canon EOS Rebel T4i... and I can't wait 'til it's charged & ready to try it out!!!) So hopefully my blog photography will be getting an upgrade soon. 'Til then, please enjoy these iPhone shots of some delectable treats I whipped up this afternoon.
   Sure, tacos brimming with homemade salsa may not be the traditional food of July 4th, but why not, I say?

    And I found a recipe this week for no-bake red-white-and-blue fruit tarts, so I quadrupled the recipe and am going to surprise my team tomorrow. (Okay, and maybe eat one myself tonight, too.)

Tickfest 2012

   You will probably think this cartoon is an exaggeration, but sadly, had I taken a photo of the actual event (I didn't), i assure you that it would be virtually indistinguishable. I went hiking at Clinton Lake on Saturday morning, and as if the heat & humidity weren't evil enough, Mother Nature surprised me with hordes of thirsty ticks laying in wait. All in all, the 4.25 mile trail produced a minimum of FIFTY ticks among our band of hapless mammals. I lost count.