kristilynk

You Want Flower? Five dollar….

My Kiah told me about a new”ish” nail salon in the area that boasts using natural ingredients whenever possible with their salon services. “Naturally” I was intrigued. At the soonest possible moment I grabbed my friend, Nicole, and we headed out. Well, technically..she drove so I guess she grabbed me..but whatever..we went here. (Thanks Kim for showing me the linkage ways..it’s fun, easy and I will try not to overuse it!!)

The wait was a little long, but..we did not have an appointment, they open at 0900 and we didn’t get there until 10:00 and it was a Saturday. The wait gave us a chance to choose our colors. While we were choosing, I noticed..these are regular nail polishes. Shouldn’t an “Herbal” nail bar have natural’ish’ nail colors? And then I got to thinking…does such a thing exist? I put a pin in that thought and it has stuck with me all the live long weekend…

The wait also allowed us to check out the scenery:

I love the colors and the plants and fountain in the middle of the area. See the nail “bar” off to the right? Pretty clever.. Kinda made me crave sushi..or a margarita 😉

When our wait was over, we scurried to our chairs, plopped down and hit the button for the massage chair with a sigh.

I’m feeling the pink colors these days…

We both chose the coconut spa pedicure. Yes, it was as delightful as it sounds! Old polish off (again..they used nail polish remover..that has to be toxic..hmmm), soak time, scrub time to rid myself of nasty feet, you know..the usual pedi stuff. With the addition of this pretty little tray set up:

Nothing fancy but a teeny incline above “the other” strip mall nail spas. I really like the use of the lemon instead of alcohol to remove excess oils..Fresh lemon smells so good and its cleansing properties are great! win win!!

They have two girly pedicure chairs ~ I so wanted to get my big butt into one and have Nicole take my picture..sadly..there were two little girls hogging up the chairs the entire time I was there…pshht.

They were something along the lines of this picture I pulled from the internet:

Here’s a little glance at their menu:

The pricing is pretty good, especially considering the extra services that are provided. I suggest going when you have a couple of hours to kill during your day. Drive time, wait time and pedi time you’re gonna need it!

This trip..I had time to kill, the need for a couple hours of pampering and reconnecting with a girlfriend who is just as (if not more so) busy as I.

Now it’s time to back track a bit..remember when I told you I got curious about “natural” nail polish? I was serious when I said it has stuck with me since..Today..I found online there are quite a few nail polishes that have been created without the five major ingredients that make nail polish toxic. (Not one of these brands were at the Herbal Nail Bar :/)

Now I know! Time for a little nail polish replacement on the home front!!

Culinary Bucket List 2014 ~ April

Longer days and warmer weather…summer has quickly replaced Spring! With that we need light meals that refresh our palates 😉

This months CB dish is Chicken-Pineapple Fajitas..I followed the instructions from this website (Nope…I still do not know how to make a link with just a word…sighhhh) http://www.bhg.com/recipe/beef/chicken-pineapple-fajitas/

The hardest part of this recipe was cutting the pineapple. I’ll be honest..I had never cut a pineapple before last night.

I didn’t like it..way to much work.. I will recruit a sous chef to do this task next time I make something with fresh pineapple.

You are supposed to brown the pineapple in a pan..WARNING..this takes some time..who has the patience to allow these things to brown?? I waited and waited then flipped then waited some more. Grew impatience then took those slices off the pan, threw a few more on and moved onto taking the middle out and cutting the good bits into pieces.

Remember when I asked who had time to allow these babies to brown?? Well. suggestion..find

something else to do, you’ll forget about the pineapple and VOILA…they will brown! 🙂

This batch came out much better..while I was cutting up the not so brown fruit..the others were left alone to do their job.

I started this post in the middle of the process..sorry, the pineapple fiasco was a big deal and I had to get that off my chest right away. Before the fruit drama…I grabbed a big metal bowl, tossed in some sliced up chicken breast, baby sweet peppers, Caribbean Jerk marinade and some pepper and I let that sit while I was tending to the ‘apples.

After the fruit is done and set off to the side, I used the same pan to fry up the meat and peppers:

Jason and Kiah opted out of the pineapple…they missed out.

So good. Zingy taste with a little bit of fresh sweetness and lets face it..EVERYthing is better with cilantro!

Eet smakelijk!

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has sprung! Not that we here in Arizona have any type of season other than summer and light summer but spring has sprung and its time for some springy things..

Of course there is the ever popular spring cleaning (which I really don’t think anyone ever really accomplishes but it’s a brilliant concept)

We have spring breaks but I am neither a college student nor do I have little kids in school so..no reason for me to take a week long vacation.

What else is a girl to do? AH! It is time to refreshen thyself! First thing to tackle on this wonderful Saturday..Nasty winter feet!
I am sorry, I know it’s disgusting but people lets face it we need to get the word out there.. Our feet need attention.

Starting out in fixed firm pose yesterday morning in yoga, I glanced down to make sure my hands in feet were in their proper position.

** This is not me..really? How am I supposed to take a picture of myself doing such things? 😉 I stole this from the internet…

I was appalled to find that my heels looked like the lady standing in front of me in the Walmart line (oh don’t you act like you don’t know who I’m talking about..mmhhmm).

Promptly, I sent message to a girlfriend (aka..my nut-ball friend who is currently training for a M-A-R-A-T-H-O-N) who I KNEW would benefit from a little foot and lower leg pampering..we were soon set!

We strayed a bit off the planned course of just a pedicure date and ended up starting with lunch at The Pita Jungle.
I don’t like to throw this out to the inter webs but I have to, …I have been to this Pita Jungle like four times. I think I love the Idea of the place more so than the actual place itself. They have a great menu, it’s fresh, vegan/vegetarian (not that I am either of those) friendly, they also support meat eaters..its a pretty nonjudgmental place. The only problem I have is…the acoustics of the space. Horribly loud..unbearably loud..they really should figure out how to fix this.
I was pretty excited to find they did have outdoor seating! It was a beautiful day and of course it had to be much more quiet outdoors so we scooped up the chance to dine outdoors!

And yes..it was nice and the food was great ~ I had the pesto pita pizza (so good)

Problem with the outside? It was a breezy day and our outdoor dining area was just downwind of the DUMPSTER.
No…bueno…

Sorry…three strikes..you’re out. I am done with the Pita Jungle.

Bellies full – because the only bad part of the Jungle experience was the environment – we headed off to the salon for the peak of our Saturday!

Shockingly, the wait was just long enough to allow us to select the color of the week. It took me some time by I finally chose the shimmering pinkish color on the thumb:

Yep..I left the place with all of my nail painted in this manner and I will leave them as such as long as I can 🙂

I will spare you the before picture of my walmart feet and cut straight to the pretty in pink end result.

If you have a foot aversion…keep scrolling down because I am going there..hah..

I really wanted to go home and nap afterwards, unfortunately.. my body has no idea how to do such things whilst the sun is up 😦

Some piddle “shopping” was done followed by a trip to Total Wine. Good lord..I love this store. Beth had n e v e r been to Total Wine..her words..”I have never seen this much wine in one place”. I found myself walking through the store and pointing out the highlights of each isle. I should really work here. 🙂

All in all it was really a great day..one, I think, needed on both our accounts.

Nap time?

NOPE! Plug along into the evening! Casual evening but evening non the less!

Time for dinner! Jason and I met up with our great great friends Amy and Dan and we were ready to have a Mexican dining extravaganza!

Margaritas, conversation and great food made for a fabu way to end a Saturday night~

I will leave you with my dinner choice ( Pollo Fundido — not very fun after the fact but completely fun while devouring!!)

Tell me what sorts of shenanigans you are planning for Spring 2014?

Culinary Bucket List 2014 ~ March

Stuffed Bell Peppers!

Holy macaroni these were easy!!! 🙂 I followed the directions of good ‘ole Martha Stewart. Love her or hate her I tell you what..this woman has some really great recipes.

http://www.marthastewart.com/339288/stuffed-peppers

Pre-heat the oven to 400F

While the oven is preheating, dice your onion, grab a few garlic cloves, get out your ever so useful cast iron skillet (if you dont have one you can use any skillet but I HIGHLY recommend investing in a cast iron skillet..I LOVE mine!!) heat it up, add a tablespoon of olive oil, wait until the skillet starts smoking a teeny bit then toss in the diced onion. I use a garlic press to squish into the onion mix..cook until the onions are soft and browning a little. ** SMELLS SO GOOD!

**Add the turkey sausage ~ or whatever other meat you want to use.. I went for the lighter white meat.

Let this cook up for about five to seven minutes then add diced tomatoes and a cup of water. Here is a spot where I strayed from Marthas instructions. She calls for canned tomatoes… I don’t do canned tomato so I diced up two fresh ones. Yes, this makes me feel like I have a leg up on the queen of the kitchen Miss Martha 🙂 and look how pretty!!

Simmer for about five minutes to let the liquid thicken up ~ remove the skillet from the burner ~ then add 3/4 cup of plain cous cous (I get mine from Sprouts..it’s reasonably priced and you can load up a bag with as much as you like).

While the stuffing mixture was cooling off, I cut the bell peppers in half and emptied their guts. Then stuffed them and placed them in a baking dish ~ I had to use two baking dishes because I made eight halves. In each baking dish pour a half cup of water ( I assume this creates moisture so as not to dry out your dinner!) You’re also supposed to put tin foil over the dishes too BUT guess what….???

I did not have any sooooo out in the open they go!

Can you see how CLEAN the oven is???? I cleaned it for the first time – using the self cleaning method – in four years. It is like a brand new range!! 🙂

I baked for thirty five minutes and then grated monterey jack cheese over the top and baked for another five minutes to melt.

Luckily…the lack of tin foil was not a deal breaker and the stuffed peppers turned out pretty and tasted even better…even the finicky daughter loved them!

Help!

I have no idea what is wrong with me! I have scheduled myself to a pretty good yoga schedule..Monday, Wednesday Saturday and Sunday. I’ve been doing pretty good with this until ohhhh yesterday..

On the way home I decided it would be brilliant to pickup some pork fried rice. Of course I needed egg rolls and crab puffs to accompany, right?

** Picture stolen from the internet but I had to give the visual…pork fried rice is delicious **

The idea was for me to go home, feed the family, change, go to yoga, come home and eat me a little bit of yum yums..

I’m sure you can guess what happens next…

It started out pretty innocently, I will just have one little teensy flavorful crab puff. I told the family, they need not wait for me to eat because I would not be home until after 20:00

I lost all self control once Jason started stirring hot mustard into the fried rice bowl… Quickly…I got my own empty dish and DUG IN!

Guilt set in after I swallowed the last bite of that SECOND egg roll and I rolled myself onto the couch with stuffed belly. Not only did I miss my ninety minutes of self torture but I ate entirely too much.

No longer guilt ridden but so confused. Today, for dinner….I want CUPCAKES.

Help!! What is wrong with me??? UGHHHHH..

This had to be documented…

Since the end of November 2013, I have been involved in some serious self torture. The people of Bikram say, we endure ninety minutes of torture so we do not have to spend ninety years in torture or something like that…basically suck it up for an hour and a half a few days a week..do the twenty six poses to the best of your ability – but with proper alignment – and the benefits you reap are endless.

I am not hear to preach or try to bring all of you to the “dark side” (Although..really…you should try it..I feel AMAZING..skin so soft, lungs are clear, I feel strong and tall even though I am only 5’3)…but again..I tell you..I promise I am not here for this..

I am here to say..OH..MY..GOODNESS.. I woke up at 430 this morning and made it to a hot yoga sesh at 530..IN THE MORNING…BEFORE work!!

For WEEKS now I have been hopeful and planning and setting alarm clocks only to shut them right off and go back to sleep.. On this day..I DID IT..

Admitting, I am pretty sure the only reason I was able to do so was because I stuffed my belly full of pasta, ice cream and honey fried bananas and fell asleep at 830 the night before…

None the less…I DID IT and I have not been able to wipe the grin off my face this entire day.

Bag packed with clothes for the day, mat, towel and water in tow I headed out at 0515!! Thankfully class is not too far from home: If you live in the area and you’re into self torture…come take a class with me!! The studio is new”ish” to our area, clean and the people are so friendly and encouraging!

http://www.bikramyogapeoria.com/

I don’t know if I will ever be able to make a 530 am class again but I’ll keep trying because this feeling of accomplishment is almost as good as the feeling I feel after I am done with class.

Namaste…bitches 😉

Culinary Bucket List 2014 ~ FEBRUARY!

I love seafood. I would eat it in a house, I would eat it with a mouse. OK, well I probably would not eat it with a mouse but..I love seafood.

If given the opportunity at home..every meal would be made with something from the sea. Oddly enough, in all of my years as a seafood lover, I had never actually made Ahi Tuna Steaks.

After perusing the internet for “the best” recipe and best ways too cook Ahi, I came to the conclusion that simple was best. I’m beginning to think I opt for simple because I just do not have the attention span for more than five steps in dinner creations.

Grocery list in hand, I headed to Sprouts to fill my basket with two Ahi Steaks, one bell pepper, broccoli crowns, scallions (which..btw..did you know are just a fancy way of saying..GREEN ONIONS???) I actually walked around the around the grocery store one time searching for scallions and had to ask the guy in the produce section, “Don’t you stock scallions here”? to which he replied, pointing to the GREEN ONIONS…”Uh, yea..right here”. Of course, I played it off well with a big smile and said “OHHHHH, I can’t believe I missed them..they were right in front of my face”!

Anyyyywaaay..back to dinner! 2 Ahi Steaks, 1 bell pepper, broccoli crowns, scallions..

Next on the list was black and white sesame seeds ~ Sprouts did not have them. They had white roasted sesame but not black. Boooo, that meant I was going to have to make a pit stop to Lee Lees (Asian market around the corner) not a huge deal but I don’t like having to go to two places for one meal..psshhht.. Thankfully, Lee Lee’s came though for me. 🙂

So..this was super easy and I am sure can be prepared a hundred and one ways more delectable BUT this worked for simple and tasty.

In a cast iron skillet: a splash of sesame oil and a splash of avocado oil. Toss in the chopped scallions, broccoli and red bell pepper. Stir fry for a bit. Oh, about fifteen minutes before I started the vegetables I started the rice steamer.

At the same time, I placed the 2 tablespoons of white and 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds in a pan to dry roast. Dont let it get too hot ~ the sesame seeds pop!

Once the vegetables were done, I dumped them into the rice that is done steaming.

In the same cast iron skillet: a splash more of sesame and avocado oil ~ In a separate bowl – big enough to hold the tuna steak – add the toasted sesame seeds and coat the steaks with them. The seeds stick.

Toss the tuna onto the hot skillet for only 45 seconds per side!

I did forget one thing..I forgot to add sea-salt to the sesame seeds BUT…I honestly think it was not needed.

The end product..not pretty because I do not know how to slice. 🙂

I added a splash of fish sauce to the rice ~ soooo good… The Ahi tasted just as it should have. Next time I may find some tasty marinades to try.

Not just another Valentines Day Post ;)

Social media was completely out..of..control.. yesterday with everything Valentines. Valentines day is a day to express your undying love for your significant other. It’s kind of like Thanksgiving to me. You know? The one day of the year everyone is so very thankful for everything they have been complaining about, on social media, earlier in the year. Same thing. 🙂

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a complete hater of this Hallmark celebration of love..but…why not celebrate the love of your life everyday? I could go on and on but I am bored with the topic and so glad VD 2014 is over. On that note!

The love of my life and I had sushi last night. Yep, we braved the crazy VD crowd and headed out to one of our favorite, family owned, neighborhood restaurants.

Sushi Yuki, http://www.sushiyuki.com/

I debated with myself on this post..Should I really tell all of you about my secret sushi spot? It is such a hidden gem and one of the things I love about this place is that it’s never super busy so the service is great!

Luckily…I have very few followers and even fewer followers who live in my area. 🙂

There were more patrons than what is typical but we were still able to walk in and be seated straight away. Score…no wait!

I really need to invest in a compact point and shoot camera for occasions such as this. I do not like crappy cell phone pictures of food nor do I want to bust out with the big ole DSLR camera in a restaurant. Goal number three for 2014…

Moving on…the upper left we have some absolutely delicious Yellowtail Sashimi.. I think I used the exact phrase, “Oh….this yellow-tail is like butter”

That’s actually a terrible saying because I would never eat butter straight up…gross.

In the middle is a philly roll…the salmon melts in your mouth and at the end of it you taste the zing of cream cheese ~ cream cheese and salmon..two of my favorites 🙂

The green one was good but not my favorite..it’s called a caterpillar roll. The chunky funny looking guys on the upper right..fresh water eel or Unagi…an all time favorite of both J and me..

We should have ordered more sashimi..we were finished in no time and I am pretty sure Jason was still hungry 🙂

Next time…there will be more!!!

What’s for dinner?

I was tossing around the idea of using last nights dinner as part of my culinary bucket list but decided against it. Why? Well, mostly because I have made tomato soup and grill cheese before so it’s technically not anything I have never made before. PLUS…this was just a recipe I found online and not anything I “have always wanted to make” but I HAD to try it.

http://www.thelondoner.me/2014/01/pesto-grilled-cheese-with-roasted-tomato-soup.html

Whatever…this..I promise you..is oh so tasty!

Pre-heat the oven to 375 F

I placed 14 small/medium”ish” tomatoes (on the vine) onto a baking sheet.

** 14 of these tomatoes was entirely too many for just three people — we will be eating tomato soup, every day for ten days ** 🙂

Plopped them in the oven, set the timer for 45 minutes, grabbed the daughter and went for a little jog around the neighborhood. We were going to take the dogs but that is just wayyyy too much work. I do feel bad for leaving them home with the oven and the oven vent fan running..poor dogs are absolutely PETRIFIED of kitchen noises. SORRY dupper dawgs! 😉

Once the jog was out of the way, I got back to business. The tomato’s were still roasting in the oven so I started in on the pesto sauce.

I grabbed a handful and a half of pine nuts and placed them and dry roasted them in a frying pan.

I think I roasted them a little bit too long…they look burnt don’t they? This is what happens when I get sidetracked. Things burn. I did, I walked away from the stove for a little too long. Once they were chopped up though…we could not taste that they had been cooked for too long.

In the food processor, I put a batch of fresh basil, four garlic cloves, a handful of fresh grated Parmesan cheese and poured some olive oil. Sorry, I did not take any measurements, I just used my eyes as a judge….and then ma mouth 😉

WHY…have I NEVER…made this before???? I don’t usually use pesto too often so I have always just bought, either, a jar or made from a packet. Ridiculous..this is SO easy and SO delicious. I think fresh pesto might just be my new favorite thing.

By the time the pesto was done, the tomato’s were done! I took them from the oven, peeled the dried up skin from some of them and ate some of the others 🙂

Plopped the maters into the blender along with three cups of chicken broth, a handful of basil, about two teaspoons of paprika, some freshly ground pepper..blended for a bit on low and high and then low again and then dumped it all into a big ole pot and warmed it up.

While the soup was warming, I buttered one side of two pieces of bread – I used cracked wheat – next time I will use sourdough. The cracked wheat is good but it was a little too sweet in then end.

So, butter on one side and pesto spread on the other..

Slice up some yummy Gouda cheese and place on the pesto side – butter side down on the frying pan. Cook on medium for about two minutes per side.

SOOOOO GOOD!

Bon Appetit!

Culinary Bucket List 2014 ~ JANUARY!

Hey there and Happy New Year! As usual, it’s been a while since my last post..you know..holidays, family and life has kept me away BUT..one of my goals this year is to visit you all more often. 🙂

My friend, Kim, came up with a brilliant idea of Culinary Bucket list for this year. She and I will be making one or two dishes every month this year..each of these dishes has to be something we have never made before. Fun, right?? 🙂 I am excited about this and can’t believe it took me three weeks into the first month to get started!

Check Kims blog out ~ she started with Chinese ~ mmm mmm delicious!! http://tryingforbabys.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/culinary-bucket-list-january/

Me? I started with Swedish Meatballs. I have been wanting to make these bad boys since I read this blog: http://www.thelondoner.me/2013/12/swedish-meatball-recipe.html

Looking at the pictures from this blog you can see why I was so excited to start here! The color and the texture of these photos you can just TASTE how amazing those balls must be!! 🙂

On the way home from the office I stopped at a local butcher shop ( http://site.themeatshopaz.com/Home.html ) I have been meaning to try for the past few months. What better excuse to actually stop in today?? I needed 1lb of ground beef (I opted for the local grass fed beef) and 1lb ground pork (apparently they don’t grass feed the pigs because that was not an option but…it was local pig).

I was greeted and served quickly BUT I was disappointed. The meat was FROZEN! I said, “Oh..it’s frozen, you don’t have anything fresh”? “No, always frozen”.

Noted…

I got home around 17:30, unwrapped the meat, set the meat in the cast iron pan (I was told setting the meat in a metal pan helps defrost meat faster) and waited and waited and waited. While I was waiting, I set the produce and what not on the counter, washed up the potatoes, cut them up and threw them in a pan.

Here’s the meat…STILL FROZEN!

Once I had the potatoes cut up, in the pot of water and set to boil..I decided…”Kiah, do you want to go for a run?”

We went for a run, or rather WOG (walk/jog). Just a short one, we couldn’t go for too long..I was cooking! When I got home the potatoes were done and Jason had taken control of those.

I hate to admit THIS but…he also had to put the meat in the microwave to defrost. THE HORROR!!! Oh well, what’s done is done..

Back from the wog, I washed up and got to chopping up the onion, melted the butter and cooked the onion for a couple of minutes.

Back at the mixing bowl, I added nutmeg, two eggs, cooked onion and sea salt to the meat. I used an electric mixer to whip the meat (I read, using a mixer makes the balls smoother).

After it is all mixed I used my hands to make the meatballs – next time I think I will use an ice cream scooper. I forgot about that tip until just now..

In the cast iron skillet I melted 1 TBSP of real salted butter. Once I the butter was melted I placed the balls in the pan to brown.

It took about 10-12 minutes for me to feel like they were cooked ~ because I mixed pork in the meatballs ~ I felt it was NOT ok to have ANY pink..That’s just me..pork and chicken I tend to over cook in fear of getting sick. Just sayin’

OH! While the meatballs were cooking..I heated the oven to 200F

After the meatballs were done, I placed them in an oven safe (aka another cast iron skillet) pan and placed them in the oven to keep warm.

To make the gravy, I used the butter and fat that was left over from the meatball cook, added 1 tbsp of flour, 10oz of chicken broth, 2 tbsp of Worcester sauce, 1 tbsp of mustard and 1 tbsp of honey boiled and stirred for a few moments and then added a pint of heavy whipping cream.

After a few minutes I took the meatballs from the oven and added them to the gravy.

Voila!

DINNER…is served 🙂

It was good. Not the best I’ve made and will need some practice in regards to spices. My opinion..needs more salt. The meatballs were not as soft as I had expected. I will, one day, figure out how to make them smooth.

Feel free to give me advice!! 😀