Sunday, February 28, 2010

Chinese Lantern Festival

Beautiful, but what a clusterfuck.  We were there like 10 minutes and lost one another.  We intended to get food but it was just SO packed in the food area, we would not have been able to get food out of there without spilling it all over ourselves; so we left. Here are some photos of the event:

 


 




Thursday, February 25, 2010

Unwell

I feel so tired today.  I came home from work early as my body has been aching so bad.  I think I have some mild inflammation of my joints as some of them feel quite warm.  Hopefully I will be better tomorrow so I can do my workout.....I definitely did not make it to the gym this morning!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Slow Cooked Barbeque Chicken

I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com, but modified it a little to suit my taste.

1 whole chicken cut up or 3-4 chicken breasts
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  500ml bottle barbecue sauce
3/4 cup regular cola
1 large carrot, chopped into large chunks
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
Add chicken and onion to slow cooker
Pour in cola
 

Add 500ml bottle of Barbecue sauce

 Add chopped carrot and garlic
 
 
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  When ready serve with rice.


Review:  I'd give this one 3.5 out of 5.  I think it depends a lot on what barbecue sauce you use.  I found it too sweet actually, but I will give it a try with another brand and see how it turns out.  As with all slow cooked recipes, the meat was nice and tender. 

Don't forget to give your bunny the carrot offcuts!


Monday, February 15, 2010

Cupcakes of Looove

I decided to make something sweet yesterday for my Valentine (my other Valentine, not my bunny!!) and went to one of my favourite online sites for holiday recipes: Delish.com.  I found this recipe and I initially dismissed it because it had premade cake mix in it.  If I'm going to bake something, I like to make it from scratch or else I may as well be buying my baked goods from a bakery or supermarket.  However, I gave in and decided to make it after no other options really tickled my fancy.  The below recipe has been changed very slightly, the full recipe can be found here.



Ingredients
1 package(s)  (18 1/4-oz.) cake mix, plain white or yellow
1 package(s) (3-oz.) strawberry jelly
1 cup(s) (finely chopped fresh) strawberries, with juice (from 1 1/2 cups whole berries)
3/4 cup(s) milk
3/4 cup(s) vegetable oil
4 large eggs
Frosting
1 package(s) (8-oz.) cream cheese, reduced-fat, at room temperature
4 tablespoon(s) (1/2 stick) butter, unsalted, at room temperature
3 cup(s) (up to 3 1/2 cups) confectioners’ sugar, sifted


  1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.
  2. Combine the cake mix, gelatin, strawberries and juice, milk, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down sides again if needed. Spoon about 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it 3/4 full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove empty liners, if any.) Place pans side by side in the oven.
  3. Bake until cupcakes are lightly golden and spring back when pressed gently with a finger, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven, place pans on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes to wire racks to cool for another 15 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, prepare frosting: Blend cream cheese and butter in large mixing bowl with electric mixer on low speed until combined, 30 seconds. Stop mixer and add 3 cups confectioners’ sugar and the mashed strawberries. Mix on low speed until incorporated, 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and blend until frosting is fluffy, 30 to 45 seconds longer, adding up to 1/2 cup more sugar if needed to get a spreadable consistency.
  5. Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread it out with back of spoon. Refrigerate, uncovered, until frosting sets, 20 minutes. Decorate with sprinkles and strawberry slices, if desired.


Obviously the outcome of this recipe depends a lot on what cake mix you have access to.  I thought the cupcake had a strange aftertaste - it actually reminded me of a supermarket bakery cake.  The frosting was very nice.  Good enough to make once, but I think I'd try and make the dry ingredients from scratch next time.  I thought the appearance of the cupcake was very appealing. The cake had a light pink hue with bits of strawberry throughout; I used red and pink coloured cup cake liners and heart shaped sprinkles in line with the Valentine's Day theme.  Overall I give the recipe a rating of 3/5.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Bunny Tuesday

I like this rabbit. He reminds me of how my rabbit bosses the cat around.



Not much happening today. It was a rest day for me. I didn't eat much either!

Nutrition
Breakfast - Eggs, Banana
Lunch - Lemon Chicken & Broccoli
Snack - Protein Shake
Snack - Nectarine
Dinner - A couple bites of cous cous salad

So. Tired. 
I actually was too tired to eat dinner so I put it in my lunch box for tomorrow.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

This Weekend

No workouts this weekend.  All I did was go for a 1/2 hour walk this afternoon.  I'm planning on doing a quick power workout tomorrow and then a step class; I'm looking forward to it.

Eats this weekend have been awful actually.  We had KFC for dinner last night (I had 4 pieces of chicken + potato and gravy).  Today I hardly ate anything: Yoghurt with Pumpkin butter, 100g of Lindt Chili chocolate, some chocolate covered popcorn and a Steak dinner with vegetables.  Not nearly enough protein.  I don't know what it is, but on my days off I don't really feel hungry at all.  It's kinda strange.

I didn't do much today: did some house work, napped, watched a movie and went shopping for an hour.  I saw some nice stuff while I was out shopping so I think I might have to save up to get a new outfit.  It will be mainly for work.  This is what I bought today with some birthday money I got:

 

Just a top for casual wear but it's made of 100% fine merino wool.  I have a few tops in the same brand and they're awesome.  As it's made from natural fibers you can wear it for a few days and it doesn't smell at all.  I hate it when you buy t-shirts and as they get older they start to stink even if you wash them regularly.  This type of top doesn't do that - it's fantastic.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Happy Birthday To ME!


Chicken and Red Curry Coconut Rice

250g lean chicken breast (cut into pieces)
165ml lite coconut milk (small can)
red curry paste to taste (I used about 2 teaspoons, but it was spicy)
1 tablespoon splenda
70g dry white rice
100ml water

Put all in a dish and cook at 200 celcius for about 40 mins or until most of the "water" has gone. Makes one large serve.