Chopped 7/28/10

Here is another Chopped round. This was a tough one I might add. I tossed out some ingredients to my coworker Sumi, who also enjoys cooking and experimenting, and she even thought they were hard!  This rounds ingredients:

1. Hummus (I think it was red pepper hummus)
2. Banana
3. Fishsticks
4. Cheerios

In this challenge, he took the fish sticks, deconstructed them, and fried them with bananas.  He also incorporated the cheerios into the fish cake by crushing them into nothing, and adding them to the fish cake while lightly frying the combo.  The hummus is on the bread, and in little dots around the plate  ;)  There is a lemon for taste, and believe it or not, these were delicious. I do not often eat fish, being a vegetarian for 20+ years, I have had fish maybe a half a dozen times. I tried to incorporate it while pregnant, and just really could not do it. But these, I ate a whole one.  And our son loved it as well. It sounds odd, banana and fish, but the sweetness was minimal, and in my opinion they went well together!  Try it sometime!

 

Chopped!

We had yet another Chopped Challenge, or rather two since I have posted last. These are so fun!  I love what my fiance makes, the meals are creative and delicious!  Now if only I could him to open a restaurant!

The ingredients for the following image were:

1. 
   
   Rice flour wraps
2. Tomato
3. Honey
4. Choice of protein

He made sort of a wonton out of the ingredients, it was delicious. The only item that really did not flow in the wonton were the tomatoes, but that is hard to keep fresh and crisp in a fried wonton!


The ingredients for the following image were:

1. Strawberries
2. Guacamole Hummus
3. Watermelon
4. Teryaki sauce

Again, so delicious. He made sort of a tofu meat(less)loaf, and infused the yellow squash with the strawberries and watermelon.  It was not too fragrant as I thought it might be, and it was really tasty.  The sauce was mixed with watermelon and teriyaki, and had a little spice in it.  It was really good. I wish he had made more. Our son even liked this one.

He has about an hour to make the meals, which is different from the show, but he has to prep, clean, cook, and present. That is a tough job, especially with a dog doing laps around you, maybe a cat coming up to check your floorspace out, and possibly tripping over any number of toddler toys.  It's an event!  I think that is what makes him so good at multi-tasking - all the obstacles!

Enjoy!

Cell phones and bees...

My boss sent me an article this morning that was very interesting about bees and cell phones, which made me do a little more research on the issue (links below if you want to skip my "go green" ramble...).

Everyone talks about bees, how they are dwindling, how we are killing them, what is killing them, and so on. I think of myself, being a vegetarian, as fairly aware of possibility of harm to animals. I do not eat meat as I do not support the killing of animals. I try to avoid products if they are tested on animals. I try to buy eco-friendly items. I have recycled since I could walk. But then again, my VW has leather trim, I have accidentally eaten bacon in potato salad, and I know my Manolos are genuine leather from Italy. Even though someone else originally purchased these items, and I am doing my part to reduce, reuse, and recycle wherever and whenever I can, not everyone is perfect. I am sure I have bought honey through a harmful venue at some point in my life. But... as people have always said, "knowing is half the battle", right? So, if I can share my research of articles discussing the new studies that supposedly show that cell phone use is affecting bees, well, maybe the discussion will spread around, maybe an environmental group is already involved in confirming the validity of the highly debatable issue, maybe someone might think to buy organic honey instead of mass produced brands... and maybe someone will see a bee, put their cell phone, iphone, or pda down for a minute, and let that bee do its thing in peace.   ;)

Articles: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/07/02/Study-says-cellphones-affecting-beehives/UPI-84511278098133/

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/06/30/bee.decline.mobile.phones/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20006445-71.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_cell_phones_killing_the_bees

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_wguy/20100603/tc_ytech_wguy/ytech_wguy_tc2385

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=3044926&page=1

Chopped!

So each week, my fiance and I do a "Chopped" challenge, like the TV show. If you have never seen it, some up and coming/experienced chefs from all over the states are given surprise baskets to make meals out of. There are four contestants, three rounds, and someone is eliminated each round. They are given a time limit, I think 20 minutes for the appetizer and 30 minutes for the dinner and dessert courses. The basket is usually a nightmare, filled with things like fish, cranberries, oatmeal, passionfruit, odd cuts/choice of meat, things you have never heard of, things that need to be de-veined, shelled, or cooked for normally a few hours. Its fun to watch.

We have been having fun doing our own Chopped Challenge, my fiance being the creative cook, I toss out four ingredients for him to make dinner out of. No real timeframe other then I pick up our son and he has about an hour to make something.

Last nights "basket" was:

1. veggie tofu hot dogs
2. white nectarines
3. the remainder of a port wine cheese ball, yes the one with almonds on it (about half of it left)
4. 2/3 of a red bell pepper

Below is what he made us. It was so tasty! He sauteed the hot dogs with bell peppers, corn, and some herbs/spices. He made a sauce out of the nectarines, apple juice, and something else. He sliced the port wine cheese ball into thin slices and semi fried them so they were crispy and crunchy. It was delicious! I only wish I had a slice of toast or panini half or something to sort of mush it all together with and scoop it up in bites. It was so good! Thanks love!

Einstein once said...

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."

I wish I could remember that saying. Do you know how many times I do something over and over and get so frustrated with it? You think, being a mom, that I would have this memorized, or tattooed on my arm or something. I have to remember this saying... each day, each night, each trying moment with our son or with my fiance.

This is my first post, but I feel like I should be posting somewhere, doing something, documenting life and its moments and struggles. We have pictures and videos and memories, but how do you share those with strangers? Not that I am going to delve deep into my personal life and give all the gritty details, but what if...

What if... someone else wanted to know how our home "Chopped Challenges" go?
What if... someone else is struggling with what type of bed to move their toddler to?
What if... someone else is looking for inspiration for weight loss?
What if... someone else misses their single life every now and then?

There are so many what ifs in life. I know I look online for feedback, guidance, love, recipes, reviews, deals, and so on. Why not share struggles, experiences, and life. What fun is anything unless you can share it?

H