A Couch for a Treadmill...

So, I guess I forgot I haven't posted since Thursday.  Whoops.  I forget how fast time flies. 

We got a treadmill!  There was a ridiculous closeout sale and we couldn't pass it up.  Our only problem was, we live in a 2 bedroom apartment and we're limited on space.  We already have an exercise bike, so a treadmill was gonna be tough.  We ended up getting rid of our spare couch to make room for it.  Being the packrat I am, it was tough getting rid of that couch.  It was our first couch when we moved, until the BF was able to move his living room set up here.  There was a little sentimental value to that thing.  A co-worker of the BF offered to take it (no telling what him and his redneck friends are gonna do with it).  And we tossed in a a spare microwave as well.  Now we have ump-teen unused things to still get rid of....

Anyway, back to the treadmill.  I've gotten some pretty good use out of it in the week that we've had it.  The BF and I signed up for a 5K in the fall, and we are NOT runners.  So we've been slowly training for it.  Although the winter had been pretty mild so far, our work schedules prevent us from running during the day (and this area isn't the greatest for being out at night).  And when we're running outside, we like running together.  The treadmill's been great for training in the meantime.

In other news, Shamrock Shakes at McDonald's are out!  We had to reward ourselves after buying that treadmill...

And earlier in the week, I made a giant of a breakfast.

I used a regular can of cinnamon rolls.  I put one roll in the middle and unrolled the rest and wrapped the middle roll with them.

Even though we bought a treadmill, we can't deprive ourselves of such deliciousness!  We'll run it off...

Stay classy my friends,
Heidi

Being Mini Just Makes Them Even Better

"Mini" means you can eat more!  Well, not really.  But if you can stop at just one, then that's pretty good portion control.

Anyway, Valentine's Day came and went.  I am personally not a fan of this holiday.  I think it's way too commercialized.  Why show that you love someone just one day of the year, why not every day?  I feel the BF and I's anniversary is more special.  Our night was spent eating pizza and watching Dexter, which I think was a fantastic night.

Valentine's Day did give me a reason to make dessert though!  I saw it on Pinterest and just couldn't resist.  Red velvet, cheesecake, and mini...a perfect combination. 

Here's the recipe from Betty Crocker.

Mini Red Velvet Cheesecakes 

24 thin chocolate wafer cookies, crushed (about 1 1/4 c)

3 tbsp butter, melted

2-8 oz pkgs cream cheese + 4 oz, softened

1 c sugar

1/4 c unsweetened baking cocoa

2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp red food color (I only had 1 tbsp)

3 eggs

1/2 c whipping cream

1 tbsp sugar (I used powdered)

Heat oven to 350°F. Place foil baking cup in each of 16 regular-size muffin cups. In small bowl, mix cookie crumbs and melted butter. Divide crumb mixture among cups. With back of spoon, firmly press cookie crumbs in bottom of each foil cup.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in 1 cup granulated sugar and the cocoa until fluffy. Beat in vanilla and food color. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Divide batter evenly among baking cups (cups will be almost full).

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until centers are firm. Cool 15 minutes (cheesecake centers will sink while cooling). Refrigerate in baking cups at least 1 hour; cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour longer before serving.

In chilled small bowl, beat whipping cream and sugar with electric mixer on high speed until stiff. Spoon whipped cream on chilled cheesecakes. Just before serving, garnish with chocolate curls. Cover and refrigerate any remaining cheesecakes.

This is the picture from the Betty Crocker website.  They look so...professional.

This is my version (that I took with my cell phone, so the picture quality isn't the greatest!)  I had leftover red sprinkles from Christmas that I ended up using.

Oh my, these were so good.  As I've gotten older, I've become more sensitive to excessive sugar, but these weren't too sweet.  The BF, who doesn't normally like cheesecakes, even ate it...and finished it.  After having these in the kitchen for 2 days, I had to get rid of these bad boys...so I brought them to work.  My co-workers approved!!

Stay classy my friends,

Heidi

The Cake from the Birthday

It's amazing how fast a week can go.

The BF's birthday came and went. We went to the movies and ate Mexican food. And as I promised, here's a picture of the cake. The BF is into video games, and recently, he's been really into this game called Skyrim. Well anyway, I wanted to incorporate that into his cake. I made a homemade chocolate cake and used whipped vanilla frosting.

I made an outline of the dragon that's on the cover. I melted semi-sweet chocolate and poured it onto a wax paper that I placed on top of the outline I drew. I then put the dragon in the fridge to harden. After I frosted and topped with the dragon, I made the edges. I melted some more chocolate and smudged it on some tin foil that I cut to size to fit the edge of the cake. I put the tin foil with chocolate on the sides and put it in the fridge to harden. A couple of hours later, I took the tin foil off and the chocolate wall stayed on. The BF was impressed...and it didn't last very long.

In other news, the weather has been up and down here. It's warm one day and freezing the rest. I'm from the south and I'm just not used to this. The BF is from Michigan, so he's used to 8 month winters. Anyway, the day before his birthday, the sun was out and it was in the 50's (in February). We enjoyed the day by going for a walk/run. And we wanted to capture the fact that he's wearing shorts and a tshirt.  He doesn't recall having that many birthdays without snow.

Stay classy my friends,

Heidi

Happy Birthday!!

Today is the BF's 27th birthday.  We're keeping it low key.  All he really wants to do is go to Baja Fresh and go to the movies to see Chronicle.  So far, he's spent the day plaing video games.  Whatever he wants, it's his day. 

Him playing video games and being out of the kitchen has given me an opportunity to work on his cake.  I've kind of started this little tradition where I suprise him with a cake.  One of his favorite foods are tacos, so last year I made...a taco cake!  It took a little bit of creativity, but I got it done.


I mixed cookie crumbs into the white fondant to give the brown spots that are normally in flour tortillas.



I used half the chocolate batter for a round cake and the rest for cupcakes. I cut the round cake in half, frosted with chocolate icing and put them into the fondant "tortillas." I crumbled the cupcakes to resemble the ground beef and covered the rest of the round cake inside. 

The toppings were made out of fruit rollups and starbursts.

And the "taco sauce" was red icing.

As awesome as it looked, it didn't have the greatest taste.  I wasn't a fan of the sugary fondant. 

So this year, I'm leaning towards a better flavor with a simpler design.  It's a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting....with a suprise!



Stay classy my friends,
Heidi

Sweet and Fiery Pork Tenderloin w/ Mango Salsa

The other night I made an amazing dinner of pork and rice.  I love trying out new recipes (with a fifty-fifty chance of it being great).  Along with being a time killer, Pinterest is a great source for cooking concoctions.  For me, a picture says a thousand words and delicious looking dishes catch my eye.  I came across a picture from Skinnytaste that looked so good, that I just had to try the recipe.  The BF and I have been trying to eat better, so I'm happy that I came across this site.

I also served this with the Coconut Rice w/ Cilantro that was recommended with the pork on the same site.

Sweet and Fiery Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa from Skinnytaste (the nutritional info is at this link)

(Makes 4 servings)

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 lb pork tenderloin

1/4 c sweet chili sauce

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp Sriracha sauce (or more to taste, which I doubled since I like spicy)
For the salsa (makes about 1 cup):
1 large mango, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped

1-2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp minced jalapeno (I just chopped up jalapeno slices)

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

Combine all the salsa ingredients together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Refridgerate the salsa until it's ready to serve.

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Mix the garlic salt and ginger in a bowl.  Rub evenly over the pork.  And place the pork in a roasting pan.  Roast the pork for 40-45 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.

Mix the chili sauce, honey, and sriracha sauce in a small bowl. 

Brush the sauce over the pork during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Slice the pork and serve with the pan drippings (I actually ended up making more sauce to pour over the cooked meat) and mango salsa on the side.

Brown Coconut Rice w/ Cilantro from Skinnytaste (with the nutritional info at the link)

1 c uncooked brown rice (I used white jasmine rice since that's what I had; just be sure to change the rice-to-liquid ratio)

1 c lite coconut milk

1 1/4 c water

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 garlic clove, crushed (I used minced garlic) 

1/4 tsp salt, or more to taste

2 tbsp sweetened grated coconut (I used some coconut shavings) 

3 tbsp cilantro

In a medium sized pot, add the coconut milk, rice, water, ginger, garlic, salt and coconut.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Reduce the heat to low.  Cover and simmer until all liquid evaporates, about 40-45 minutes. Remove from the heat.  Keep it covered for 10 more minutes. Fluff with a fork and toss with cilantro.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I put some salsa over the rice, and the rest of it over the pork, with the additional sauce I made.  Although it took awhile to cook, it's pretty hands off.  Cutting up the mango was the most extensive part of the process.  This one had the BF and I's seal of approval so it's a keeper!

Stay classy my friends,
Heidi

NYC...with pictures!

Over the weekend, the BF and I took a kind of last minute trip to NYC.  We only live a couple of hours away, but have never actually been.  We took the Mega Bus, so we didn't have to worry about traffic, tolls or parking.  I was able to sleep and the BF was able to catch up on his PSP games.  We stayed at the Flatiron Hotel (which was one of the coolest places I've stayed in by the way!) on 26th St.  Considering this was our first visit and we only had a day and a half, we kept our trip to Times Square, Central Park area and the vicinity around our hotel.  Oh yea, we made it in the background on the Today Show as well (Check us out in the background between Bill and Guiliana).  Since it was ridiculously cold (we're talking like 6 degrees or something!), not that many people were hanging around the studio, so the camera guy was able to have conversations with all of us and got us on camera a couple of times when the show was coming and going from commercial.  My mom DVR'd the show.  We can now say we've been on national television :)  It did snow while we there too, but it turned to slush by the end of the morning.  Oh, and our hotel was by Koreatown, so alot of eating was spent there.  Now that we know our way around the city, we'll venture into other neighborhoods and ride the subway next time. 

A tv in the bathroom mirror!

Al's weather report.

My purchases from the korean grocery store.

Times Square.

Taking a break in Central Park.

The city squirrel that crawled up the BF's leg.

Stay classy my friends,
Heidi

NYC

We're currently sitting on a bus on our way back. I'll post pictures with a recap soon!!