Long time no blog!!!!!

sorry about that!

ive had a lot on my plate right now. i got a new job as an english teacher at a school but my visa has expired so im trying to figure out what i need to d0 to fix that. plus ive been in training everyday for 3 weeks for the new job, but that ends soon.

So regular posting should begin again soon!!!

forgotten cookies

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary. man, these 3 years have gone by so fast. He took me to a Brasilian restaurant to celebrate. I ate so much that I never want to see meat again.

I made forgotten cookies the other day but didnt get to post them, because a friend had a baby (!) and I was with her all day.

my boyfriend and the baby

I got the recipe for forgotten cookies from my roomie when I was studying in Guadalajara. She had to make something American to take to her Spanish class, and she decided on these. They were sooo hard to make because we had no electric mixer and had to take turns mixing the egg whites by hand. And then, when we went to take the cookies of they tray the next day, we realized we hadnt greased it. We had to use a knife to get them off, and our host mom got really mad when she saw the tray because it was all scratched up. oops...

• 2 egg whites
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
   
2. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add sugar, continuing to beat until whites form stiff peaks. Fold in the vanilla and chocolate chips. Spoon onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Put the cookies into the preheated oven, shut the door and turn off the oven . Let cookies sit in the turned off oven for 5 to 6 hours or overnight.

BBQ...and the end of a diet :(

Well, I'm sad to say that my boyfriend's diet lasted all of 12 hours.

He got home from work Monday and pulled out another one of those giant tortas that i posted about the other day from his lap top case and dug in. He about 3/4 of it and washed it down with 2 glasses of sprite.

Yesterday I made some pulled chicken BBQ sandwiches with zucchini chips and a lite apple crisp in hopes that all that would fill him up, but it didnt. A couple hours later his parents invited us over because some friends of the family dropped by, and my bf chowed down on about 10 chalupas. A chalupa is fried corn dough toppd with lettuce, salsa, chicken, and radish.

But anyways! Sorry for the rant. I really dont know what to do about him. I guess it's just a decision he will have to make for himself, but in the mean time i can continue to cook healthy meals for him. sigh.




You can find my BBQ recipe here. The buns were homemade, but nothing to write home about, so I wont bore you with the recipe.

swiss chard with wild mushrooms

My mother in law gave me some weird looking mushrooms the other day. Anyone have any idea what kind they are??

I dont like mushrooms, as I have previously stated, but in light of my boyfriend's new diet, I decided to put them to good use. I had some swiss chard (called acelgas here in Mexico) that I needed to use up, so i just sauteed that with some garlic, salt and the mushrooms. My boy friend loved it!


Swiss chard with Wild Mushrooms (for 1):

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp oil
• a couple handfuls of swiss chard
• about a cup of sliced mushrooms

1. sautee garlic and musrooms in oil.
2. add in swiss chard and sautee until wilted
   

Stuffed peppers...the start of a diet!

Today, my boyfriend finally agreed to start a diet with me. I've been trying to get him to eat better for a long time. It's not that he eats alot of bad stuff. He eats relatively good foods, he just eats so much. He's a big guy (6'2'', 220 lbs) and I like how he looks, but its his health I'm concerned about.

But so far so good. Today was the first day in 3 years that I saw him eat meal without 4 slices of bread! I just hope he sticks with this diet.

I knew I had to make something healthy and filling, so I decided on stuffed bell peppers. They filled him up all right!




Stuffed Bell Peppers (for 2):

• 2 big bell peppers (whatever color you like)
• 1.5 - 2 c cooked rice (depends on how big your peppers are) I cooked my rice with tomatoes to give it a nice flavor
  
• 4-5 slices turkey bacon
• .5 c black beans
• diced onion and minced garlic (however much you want)
  
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut peppers either in half or cut the tops off. I cut mine in half length-wise.
2. Devein peppers.
3. Sautee onions, garlic, and bacon a few minutes. Add beans and cooked rice, and sautee a couple minutes more. Season with Salt and pepper.
4. fill peppers and pop in the oven at 375ºf for 25-30 minutes. ( you can add cheese on top if you are so inclined)
   

apple scones

Its been about a week since I've baked anything sweet, and I was going through withdrawls. I havent been shopping this week, so the only fruit I had on hand were some bananas and a green apple. I bake alot with bananas and I wanted something different so I knew I had to do something with the apple.
But what could I bake with jsut one apple??
Cinnamon Apple Scones of course! With one apple I could get 12 delicious, moist scones!
These were great!









Cinnamon Apple Scones:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 + 1/8c sugar ( i add the extra sugar to cut some of the baking powderish salty-ness)
  
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup cold butter, chopped in small cubes
• 1/2 c milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon ( I always add more)
• 1 green apple, peeled, cored, and diced

1. Mix dry ingredients, then cut in butter till mixture is crumby.
2. Add milk and apple and stir until you have a moist dough.
3. knead gently and separate the dough in two parts. On a greased baking sheet, pat the dough into circles.
   
4. Cut each circle into six parts.
   
5. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle on extra cinnamon and sugar
   

What is this monstrous thing?

its a torta de la central.
In other words, its an enormous sandwich my boyfriend bought at the bus station (central) this mornig at 4 am after a night at the bar. He only ate half of it, and said I could have the other half. I asked him what it had on it, and he said he didnt know, but that it was called a niña rica. I disected it this morning and found that it contains in no particular order:

1. mayo
2. milanesa- a breaded, fried meat fillet
3. avocado
4. sachicha- hot dogs
5. some other kind of thin red meat that tasted a little like pepperoni...
6. queso oaxaca
7. onions
8. tomato

I took a bite of it (minus the hot dogs and mayo...eww) and was surprised that it was delicious. One bite turned into another and another until I had finished the darn thing. :\