Hey Hermano! There’s always money in the banana stand!

So Memorial day weekend is now over. <sad face> and I did enjoy relaxing. There is a slight bit of greed in me that wishes it was memorial week instead, but hey, 3 days weekend is nice after a 5 month stint of no days off. At least the extra day was nice to have.

There were a few activities this weekend that I enjoyed. One of them cooking based, but I will get to that one later. And I put my flag out every day this weekend too!

Really the main thing I wanna explore today is the arrested development marathon I had!

So before starting it I (naturally) wanted to re-watch the series (3 seasons) over again. But sadly by the time the bell came - a – tolling for me to start season 4, I had only gotten about half way through season 2. But that’s ok. It’s not like I haven’t seen them before.

Season 4 came out Sunday “morning” as it were but I didn’t start the marathon until Sunday evening. And then finished (eventually) on Monday.

So I must say to start off that I give major props to Netflix for doing this. I think it was smart on their end. I just don’t think TV is the exact right place for the show, BUT I do think it is the right format if that makes sense. I don’t think a movie would work as well with the way the show flows. And this way people can watch it WHEN THEY WANT. Which is the best thing about on demand in general. I don’t have to wait until 8pm wed night to see my fav show. I can watch it at 2am when I can’t sleep or 5:30pm when I get home from work. It does not matter! And that is the kind of grouping I think arrested development fits in. It fits in a more non-conformist kind of crowd. So I am in hopes it will be successful on Netflix. I’m certainly happy they did it.

Now I gotta say with a show that has been off the air for 7 years, there are just going to be some things that are different. And one of those being - how people look. So I can’t help but comment on it. However I was surprised at the people who… kind of didn’t age. The dad – George Bluth looks the same, as does Michael, GOB, Buster, Tobias (well, he looks like he’s gained a tiny bit of weight, but not really noticeable.) The mom has aged a little, and of course so have the kids (by the way- you don’t want to watch it on super HD. It looks far more scary!). Really Maybe’s voice totally threw me off since it got so much deeper!

The high and lows of looks? Unfortunately the one who looked the most different of the main characters was Lindsey. Enough that it was almost unsettling and distracting to look at her. She looked a lot better with short hair…. But still. It would really only look like her when she smiled. And Steve Holt? I didn’t even recognize him!  The high? Liza Minnelli looked great! She looked better than she did in the original series I thought actually! Way to go Liza!

The first episode is rough. Not that it is poorly written or anything, just that it is rough to watch this character become a bit more like the rest of the Bluth family. And you can’t help but feel really bad for the guy. Still enjoyable none the less. But ugh. I think it was a bit of a tough start. And as the series gets going you can feel the flow of the show come back more and more. So a little bit of a rocky start (because they are trying to explain things) but it starts to get it’s groove back. I don’t know what my fav episode of the season is yet, but I squeal with delight several times at different episodes.

All in all there are a TON of characters who re-appear. If only for a few brief moments or up to several episodes. Which is awesome. It continues to self reference itself as always, as well as make Andy Griffith show jokes (which I just can’t help but love), along with other shows as well. Ron Howards voice is back narrating, and his presence is in the show as well. The only character that felt a little differently written to me was the mother. But I could be wrong. But all in all, it’s very similar. The structure is a little different. It’s focused on some members of the family more for some episodes than others (which thinking about how they much have had to budget things out makes a LOT of sense) and it all kind of leads up to this one big night. Which does make the structure a bit different from the other seasons, but I’m ok with that. So instead of being linear, it’s very go back in time each episode to explain what is going on kind of thing, and then leads up to this one night.

BTW: the music is the same (meaning the quirky little songs they use for sequences they had before, get recycled in this season.) which I am so happy about. Sometimes you worry they won’t get the rights to things, but thankfully that was clearly not an issue here. There is some slight advertising in the series, but once again - I get you gotta do what you gotta do to make the show. I was very ok with it.

I think it was done well though, and I want to go back and re-watch season 4 so I can get more of what I missed! It’s a fun ride and it is clearly left open for more seasons. More-so than when the show was originally cancelled. And I will happily come back for more. I hope it has done well for Netflix. I will love to see the stats on it when they come out. How many people joined up for it, and how many watched it this weekend.

Hope I didn’t spoil anything for you! But I will say, if you are a fan of the series, you will enjoy season 4. Not life shattering awesome, but totally enjoyable none the less!

And for your pleasure:

Chicken, Broccoli & Noodles, oh my!

So another food adventure here! Don’t know why that is the theme currently (ya know… twice in a row and all) but it is…

                    

So the other night I was inspired to make something pretty basic. Meat, noodles and veggies. I was inspired by some leftovers I had at a friends house. I did kind of make a twist on it though. (as I like to do… running with someone else’s idea and tweaking it to my own taste pallet, and more importantly, to be Healthier as well.)  And here were the results of my food experiment:

Honestly I have no technical recipe details. Because I very much played it by ear.

I decided to fry up some chicken in my frying pan using only olive oil and coconut oil. Just a little bit. (maybe a tablespoon? For both combined as a total I mean. Not 2 table spoons, but 1) I chopped up the raw chicken tenders beforehand (maybe 3 chicken tenders?) into little cubes and put them into the already hot pan. I put just a dash of sea salt on them and let them cook away. Moving them around on occasion with a wooden spoon to help make the cooking more even.

 Meanwhile I had a pot full of water boiling, waiting for my gluten free – Trader Joe’s Corn Penne Pasta to come on in.  This time I used the Corn penne pasta because I felt it would compliment the flavor better since I wasn’t making any kind of thick sauce, just olive oil. I’m not a big fan of brown rice noodles alone, but corn noodles on their own have a nice little flavor to them. And to be honest, I’m pretty tired of spaghetti shaped noodles.

So then I (I like to time my boiling since I use an electric stove. I put the water on, put the knob to medium and then put my timer on for 12 minutes. By then, it is boiling.) grab a small handful of frozen broccoli (1/2 cup?) and put it in the boiling water for like 3 minutes. Long enough to defrost and refresh them. Then I scoop them out with a slotted spoon and proceed to chop them up into little mini broccoli and put them into the frying pan.

I then put my Corn Penne Pasta into the boiling hot water and cook those for 9 mins

So Chicken is cooked about 20mins, Broccoli about 10 mins, and Pasta about 9. if you do it right it should all take only 20 mins though.

And then I thought something crazy.

Earlier that day when I did my grocery shopping I grabbed some strawberries. Mostly because they smelled amazing upon my walking in the door and so, by influence of my nose, knew I needed them. While I was frying everything up, I chose to cut up a few strawberries and add them to the mix adding color and a sweetness to my dinner.

When all was strained and done, I just put everything together in a bowl. I didn’t add more olive oil or anything, just put everything in my bowl to eat up, and you know what? It wasn’t bad at all!

Upon further reflection I would do 1 thing different. They crazy ingredient

–        the strawberries   --

 needed to be dealt with differently.

Either I don’t add them at all to the heat (because of their fragile nature) or I only do for about 15 seconds or so. Not a couple of minutes. But hey, I wanted to see what would happen! Plus I would make sure they were sweeter. These were just a bit too tart.

Anyway, that was my cooking adventure, but I foresee more coming upon me this weekend with memorial day on the rise. I do like to make a “weekend meal” when I can, which means one big meal I really like and I can just eat off of all weekend instead of cooking over and over again. (which I find tiring…)

The adventures I am planning?

Gluten Free Dark Chocolate chip & Oatmeal cookies……

Home made healthier Worcestershire sauce (mostly for the next item)

Gluten free (and healthier) Chex Mix

AND

Beef Tea….

I’m sure you’re like “what the crap is “Beef Tea?” and trust me, what you find on the internet is NOT what I want to make. The one on the internet is this sad beefy soup brothy thing (which with the name of it, makes sense really) and tends to be served to elderly people as a source of protein… Like old school Ensure….

But what I want to make was/ is a family recipe. Which tragically I did not get from my mother before her passing. A true failure on my part. And so I will try to re-create it this weekend….

With any luck…

 but more on that for the next post….

PS- I have every intention of watching the new season of arrested development this weekend as well…. Oh yeah…. Mr. Manager is in charge here. Right now I’m gearing up by re-watching all 3 previous seasons that thankfully exist on Netflix instant play….

As a nice      little      warm-up…..

Beef Stroganoff Food Adventure!

So this week in my dining experiences I decided to put a healthier twist on an old classic my mom used to make. Beef Stroganoff. She used to make it almost every time the missionaries came over for dinner, and sometimes when friends came over for dinner as well. That is to say, this was typically a “company” meal, one that would be eaten in the dining room on the china, and not normally a family dinner kind of thing. (don’t think too crazy, my mom actually used the China way more than normal people do)

                                                                         

So my mom would make it with the typical ingredients. Egg noodles (which my dad would put a blob of butter into while mixing it… and OH      MY      GOSH   they would be amazing. I would just want a bowl of noodles half the time.), and cream of mushroom soup, as well as sour cream. I didn’t love it as a kid though, I blame the mushroom soup.

I had some extra ground beef left over the other day and thought of my mom’s stroganoff and decided to tweak the recipe here and there to make it more healthy. Making it Gluten free, and using Coconut Oil instead of butter and making my own “cream of anything” soup instead of the scary ones you get in the store. Among other tweaks as well.

I think it looks pretty good!

While it does have a different flavor (a little but more tangy because of the yogurt) I still really liked it and would eat it again. I want to do some more tweaking however, so I’m still working on that. I think next time I may try it with Chicken to make it even more Healthy!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Package Trader Joes Brown Rice Fusilli Noodles

1/2 pound ground beef

1 “can” cream of anything soup (see below on how to make this gluten free healthier soup! It is awesome for cooking with recipes that call for a “cream of something” type of soup in it.*)

1 tsp Sea Salt

½ cup Non-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt

Pepper to taste

~First fix noodles (I like to cook them while I am working on everything else by using more than 1 pot, but it’s up to you) By getting a large pot, putting water in it about half way (a quart?) and letting it come to a boil.

~Put Brown noodles into pot (I tend to only put in about a cup and a half at a time. But that is because I am making single servings for myself.) and let cook in boiling water for about 7-10 mins. (the particular type of noodles I used came out best at 7 mins.)

~Strain Noodles and put aside.

~Into Separate pan spray cocnot oil on pan and then put raw ground beef into it in little chunks.

~Cook & brown the Ground Beef to your liking (which can take anywhere between 12- 15 mins). I like to put in a little sea salt & pepper, a little olive oil (about 1 tsp) and a little trader joes 25 seasoning salute while cooking the meat. Just dashes of each.

~Drain the fat from the pan and Put aside.

~Cook the cream of anything soup.* And add ½ cup of Non-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt and mix in well. Then Add Sea Salt and then the ground beef. Mix well till it looks white, creamy, and awesome.

~Grab bowl and add Noodles and put some of the stroganoff, and put just a dash of pepper on top, and now you have dinner!

YUMMY!

*Gluten Free Cream of Anything Soup:

Ingredients:

1 cup cold milk

2 Tbs Cornstarch

1 ½ Tbs Coconut Oil (liquefied)

1 tsp Poultry seasoning

½ tsp Salt

Dash of pepper

~In a small saucepan whisk Milk and cornstarch until well blended.

~Stir in Coconut Oil, Seasoning, Salt and Pepper.

~Heat to boil, stirring frequently.

~Simmer on low for one minute more to thicken.

So blogging…..

I’ll admit I have tried this out several times. Like… several. And I am fully aware that it is good for me to do. Well, to journal at least, if nothing else. And so I know I need to get back to it. It helps my memory, it helps me understand my past better, it helps me vent, and it helps me connect.  

I seem to have 3 main obstacles when it comes to keeping up with this.

1- Time.

Finding the time to do this on a regular basis always seems to be tough. Logically it seems like I need to make a specific day and time to work on this so it actually will get done every week. And I suppose when you know someone will be reading it, that becomes more motivating to do it. But it’s setting aside that time and committing to it. And I will admit, I have never officially set a day of the week let alone a time to blog, or to work on my blog…. But I think that is the first thing I need to change.

2 – Subject

I think part of my trouble has been thinking that my blog has to be about something specific. But that is just not necessarily so. It could be about my gluten free food adventures, it could be about plays I’m doing, or movies I’m watching, personal life reflections…… yep. Whatever. I need to stop thinking I need to restrict myself on what I write about. If one day I decide to write a blog that is more tailored to one specific subject - then so be it, but for now, I just need to get to writing. I can work on a less broader blog later.

3- Censoring

The main thing with blogging as opposed to simply writing in a journal, is that the world sees it. And so I feel the need to hold back because of that. Because I don’t want to offend anyone or say things I might regret later. Consequently I don’t always have a lot to say on the internet. I know it’s out there for anyone to read, (in case anyone does want to read it) and they can interpret it any way they want. They can think I mean something different than I do, they can disagree with what I say or they can be offended by it. And there isn’t much I can do about that. It certainly is not my goal to upset people by merely expressing my thoughts. And being somewhat of a people pleaser, I naturally shy away from that idea. Well that, and I’m so non-confrontational that I would rather jump out of a window half the time than really argue about anything.

Consequently I think this one tends to hold me back the most, because I feel like I can’t be really free to express myself. But I think the need for codenames and some anonymity is necessary in order to do this properly…. Which is my goal to try and do.

Ok so there we go. Blogging. And my new adventures back into it. Ready or not, here I come!