Tonight's Dinner: March 7, 2013

Just a quick dinner tonight so this will be a quick post (like the last few).  I've been extremely pressed for time lately with being slammed at work, training for my upcoming half marathon, and trying to get our wedding website up and running while also still making healthy meals.  That being said, I sliced chicken breasts in half to get a few extra pieces out of them and also for them to cook faster and more evenly.  To get a little crust, I floured the chicken before putting it in the pan fry.  I also had a bunch of lovely, giant button mushrooms which I sliced up and made a pan sauce with soy milk.  We've found that substituting real milk with soy makes everything significantly sweeter.  It's not too big of a deal, but real milk is definitely better. Since milk bothers the both of us, I've been trying to buy soy instead.  I've also been making salads with our meals in an effort to fill us up with good vegetables instead of the main meal.  I think it's been working, though sometimes we just eat both and then feel overly stuffed.

Heirloom tomatoes with avocado and balsamic over mixed greens

I used the left over biscuits from Black Bear to make an impromptu biscuits and
gravy. 

Tonight's Dinner: March 6, 2013

Nick's parents invited us over for dinner and we try not to pass offers like that up if we help it.  Since I get off earlier than Nick, I planned out a run to his parent's house while he drove over.  As it turns out, the Fong's place is only about five and a half miles away from our apartment if I take the running trail.  It was quite a nice run also.  What I found interesting is that a lot of the homes that line the trails don't have privacy fences into their backyards.  Being the nosy one that I am, I was looking at all of the different backyards.  There are some nice houses along the trail!

Mrs. Fong is an amazing cook.  She made us three crabs, three pieces of turbot fish, tofu with mushrooms, gai lan, and rice.  Oh man, it was so good.  Mr. Fong and I were the last ones at the table eating the crab.  My favorite!

Gai lan

Tofu with mushroom

Turbot fish

Crab, crab and more crab!!!  Mrs. Fong prepared it as a
Chinese Ginger and Scallion Crab.

Tonight's Dinner: March 5, 2013

After a quick workout, I went out to Los Panchos to meet up with Linda and discuss her wedding invitations.  Turns out that we talked about her invitations for about ten minutes and then gossiped the rest of the night.  We're girls I guess and also creatures of habit.  We each both have our favorite dishes.  I love beans, rice, and cheese burritos and Linda loves Pastor Tacos.

Pastor tacos

BCR dinner

Tonight's Dinner: March 3, 2013

Our good friends Rob and Linda recently got the keys to their new house.  They have been waiting a long time and we are so excited for them that the day finally came!  Watching them go through the home buying process makes me want to live in our little apartment forever.  But as the saying goes, without risk there is no reward.

Nick and I headed out to Livermore to check out their new pad and have dinner.  We walked over to a local restaurant called Zephyr Grill and Bar.  We were very pleased that they were dog friendly!  They turned on the outdoor heater and we had whole patio to ourselves.  It was probably a good thing too as we all get loud when we get together.

I got a wedge salad as my starter. 

Nick got a tomato soup and it came in a mug!  Pretty
clever.  I think I might do this at home.

The rosemary bread and flavored butters were a nice start to the meal. 

Zephyr is known for their fried chicken.  Both Nick and
Rob ordered it and said that it tasted pretty good.  There
was definitely turmeric in the breading.  Maybe that's their
secret.

I think Linda got the Lemon Tarragon Chicken.

Since I had gone on a long run the day before, I figured I could afford to
eat a giant steak with mashed potatoes. 

Today's Lunch: March 3, 2013

Last weekend when my Dad had to pick Christopher and me up from our failed practice half marathon,  we sat in front of Black Bear Diner.  It smelled so good.  After that, I wanted to introduce my family to the deliciously gigantic meals at Black Bear.  There was quite the wait, but it was nice to have that time to hang out with my family.  We normally go to pho or Nations, which is quite fast.

Both my Dad and brother got the steak breakfast with
three eggs, two pancakes, and two biscuits.  

I got the chicken fried steak. 

Tonight's Dinner: March 2, 2013

I completed my 13.7mi run!  I was so excited and tired at the same time.  Nick picked up a Jamba Juice with protein powder in it for me to drink before we went to Chinese New Year dinner.  I hobbled my way into the restaurant and gobbled down as much food as I could.  I'm going to blame it on all of the running I've been doing.  My appetite is outrageous.

My left ankle always kills me after long runs.  Before I
set out for my run, I put a Ziplock baggie in the freezer
around a bottle and wa la!  Perfectly shaped ice pack for
my ankle or knee. 

We had pretty standard fare at the restaurant.  I think I could have eaten it all.  Even though we had two seats and my grandma at the table empty at our table we didn't have anything left.  I absolutely love Chinese food.  I just can't get enough of it!

Salt and Pepper pork ribs

Mustard Greens

Roasted chicken with shrimp chips

Honey Walnut Shrimp

Black bean clams

Daw mew

Hong Kong style chow mein

Mabo Tofu

Tonight's Dinner: February 28, 2013

Fajitas!  They are simple, fast and tasty.  If you don't pile on the cheese and sour cream like I do, it would be fairly healthy too!  I sprinkled some steak seasoning on the skirt steak and then squeezed lime juice on while it was grilling.

I used corn tortillas even though I prefer flour.  They made the fajitas taste
so much better. 

All of our vegetable toppings.  We also had cheddar cheese, sour cream,
guacamole, and hot salsa. 

We've still been trying to eat full salads so that we don't eat so much of the
entree.  

Today's Lunch: February 27, 2013

My first rice plate from pho!  I have been eating pho since my college days and have never ventured into the plate-dom.  I love pho so much that I have never needed to.  We have been eating pho quite a bit, whether it's just going out to lunch with my parents on the weekend or going to  lunch as a couple on the weekdays, Nick and I have been eating it almost twice a week.  Fearing that I might actually get tired of pho, I tried a plate.  It was pretty darn good and definitely very filling.  I still love my noodle bowls though.  This plate came with a heaping pile of white rice, pork spear ribs, chicken wings, and an egg roll.

Tonight's Dinner: February 26, 2013

I wanted to try something different tonight with our burgers.  Generally, neither Nick or I like blue cheese, but I had it recently in a burger and wanted to try it for myself. I also added chopped up peppercinis to the burgers.  Sprouts had some awesome looking organic dandelion greens that I thought would be perfect to go with the burger.  I may not have cooked them properly, but Nick and I discovered that we don't like them.  They have a little bit of a bitter taste that over powered the flavor of the burgers.  I think these would be great stewed like a collard green, but they were not good for the purpose I was using them for.  I would definitely try them again using a different cooking method.

I sauteed some onions to go on top of the burgers.

Today's Lunch: February 26, 2013

This doesn't seem like much, but I haven't had a Subway sandwich in a while and don't remember them being so gigantic.  I finished it of course, but I was really surprised how big it was.  I planned on working through lunch so that I could leave early to go to Mr. Fong's retirement party in the evening.  This sandwich hit the spot.

Tonight's Dinner: Februrary 25, 2013

For lunch Vanessa had gone to Melo's to pick up pizza.  To try to save money, I decided not to participate. I love their spaghetti and meatballs, but I didn't want to pay $8.50 for them.  I don't mind spending that for dinner, but for lunch it is a bit much for such a simple dish.  With the thought of spaghetti in my head, I went to Sprouts to pick up some supplies and made it myself.

Normally, I would put the meatballs on a cooling rack to cook so that they
don't sit in their own oil, but I didn't want to have to clean the rack. 

I chopped up an onion and red bell pepper and threw it in a pot to saute before
adding about a cup of red wine.  

Tonight's Dinner: February 24, 2013

I had scarfed down the cheeseburger and grilled cheese at 3pm knowing that I would be going to dinner with the Fong and Lee's (the Malaysia crew reunites!) at 6:30pm.  I've noticed that I've been eating a lot now that I've been running a longer distance.  My appetite was always healthy, but now it's beyond healthy.  I realized that once everyone is done eating I just continue going and going like the Energizer Bunny. I figured that since I ate a large, calorie packed meal not four hours before, that I would appear to be a normal eater.  Not so.  Dennis and I were the last ones eating the crab and Dennis is a much bigger person than I am. I just can't help it.  I love Chinese food and I can really pack it away, especially the Salt and Pepper Crab because it takes so much work to get the meat out.  I will just keep telling myself that.  We met at one of our usual hang outs, Imperial Seafood Restaurant.

Crispy pork and black duck soup.

Squab

Goose intestines over bean sprouts.

Large clams over glass noodles

Suck stuffed with sticky rice. 

Salt and Pepper Crab

Chinese lamb stew.  Mr. Fong always orders this for me, but I was busy eating
the crab, which doesn't keep as well for leftovers.

Chinese style fish

I like big butts and I cannot lie...  The head waiter really likes us and always
talks to Mr. Fong.  Apparently these are from his personal stash.  They are
dessert balls that are traditional for the full moon during the Lunar New Year.
I don't normally like sweets, but I figured I'd try these since I've never seen them
before.  One had a sweet black bean past in the center and the other had peanut
butter.  They were actually pretty good!  The soup that they were in tasted like
pure sugar, but the balls were good.