Yesterday's ZWOW; Happy Hour at Home

Have you had any exercise today? If not, here's a great total body workout you can complete in less than 30 minutes:

Just be mindful of your knees :/ I did simple weighted lunges on each side rather than jump lunges.

My workout for today included cleaning the house and making some delicious apps for a happy at home. 

Prepping another Barefoot Contessa recipe:

Before:

After:

 

Todd and I are going to spend the rest of the evening relaxing at home, but tomorrow will be a busy day filled with research, yoga, and cardio. Have a great rest of the week, bloggies :)

Herb & Lemon Buttered Popcorn

From Big Girls, Small Kitchen (GREAT blog!), makes 1 big bowl

1/4 cup olive oil

3/4 cups popcorn kernels

6 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon

zest of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/3 cup chopped almonds 

Place a large, heavy pan with a lid on medium heat. Add the olive oil and 3 kernels. When they pop, add the rest of the kernels. Shake the pan to distribute, then cover it. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until you stop hearing kernels pop more than once every five seconds or so. Turn off the heat and leave the cover on for another 2-3 minutes, until all of the kernels have popped. Transfer the popcorn to a large bowl.

While the kernels are popping, preheat the oven to 300°F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Keep cooking it, stirring occasionally, until it is very slightly golden. Pour into a bowl and add the lemon juice and zest, the pepper, salt, and spices (and a couple tablespoons Parmesan cheese??). Mix well, then drizzle this over the popcorn in the bowl. Add almonds and use your hands to mix the popcorn well, trying to get the butter mixture spread around as best as possible. Taste for salt, adding more as needed.

Pour the popcorn onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the popcorn has dried out slightly, about 6-8 minutes.

Serve warm or room temperature. If you make the popcorn in advance, cool it completely before storing it in an airtight container.

Barefoot Contessa's Hummus (my go-to hummus recipe)

4 garlic cloves

2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved 

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 

1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste) 

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons) 

2 tablespoons water or liquid from the chickpeas

8 dashes hot sauce 

Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop the garlic down the feed tube; process until it's minced. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste, for seasoning, and serve chilled or at room temperature.  (I served with hot house cucumber and carrots).

Izze Sparkling Cocktail

From Tasteinspired, Serves 1

Fill a short glass with ice. Add 2 ounces of vodka. Top glass off with blackberry-flavored Izze. Squeeze in a lime and drop in glass. Stir and enjoy!

Parsley, mint, basil, and chives from Adam and Erica.  Todd is a major stud at keeping these plants alive.

Avocado Mac and Cheese

Good evening, bloggies!  Hope you had a great weekend.  Ours was filled lindy-hop, tacos, and a surprise rendez-vous with friends while purchasing our solar viewers for the eclipse :)  We started off at the 7th Avenue food truck event then cruised over to Barrio to see the moon take a bite out of the sun and relax with friends.


As you may know, Mr. Food for Todd and I like mac and cheese a lot (OK, a lot a lot), but with the cheese and buttah and occasional quart of cream, it's not something we make all the time.  This mac and cheese is different though.  While it calls for 2 cups of cheese, it's still pretty wholesome and a unique way to get some good avocado fat into your day!


Plus, it comes together lightening-fast, doesn't require any chopping, and is just as tasty the next day :)  Don't miss out on this one!

Avocado Mac and Cheese

From Two Peas and Their Pod, Serves 4

10 ounces dry elbow macaroni (we used whole wheat/veggie-flavored bows)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 avocados, peeled and pitted
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk (we used nonfat)
2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Salt the water and add in macaroni. Stir and cook until Al Dente, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. While the pasta is cooking, make the avocado sauce by placing the garlic, avocados, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

3. To make the cheese sauce, place butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. When butter is melted, whisk in flour to create a paste. Whisk in milk until smooth. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sauce starts to thicken. Add in Pepper Jack cheese and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is creamy.

4. Place macaroni in a large bowl. Pour the avocado sauce over the macaroni and stir until well coated. Add the cheese sauce and stir until macaroni is coated and creamy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve warm. Garnish with fresh avocado chunks, if desired.

Barefoot Contessa's Cheddar Dill Scones

Hi bloggies!  I hope you're having a great weekend!  

We saw The Avengers  yesterday, and I woke up super early this morning to make these scones to share with friends ...

I know it's pretty risky to debut a new recipe when you're the one in charge of bringing the food, but Barefoot Contessa has never let me down.  Even with a few minor miscalculations, everybody still loved these.  For instance, I had only 3/4 cup of dill, I used extra sharp yellow instead of white cheddar, and the scones were pretty misshapen.  

Todd and I are off to the gym to do ZWOW 16!  It's looks like we're gonna push ourselves pretty hard for this one!  

Cheddar Dill Scones

Barefoot Contessa, makes about 16

Ingredients

4 cups plus 1 tablespoon APF, divided

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

4 extra-large eggs, beaten lightly

1 cup cold heavy cream

1/2 pound extra-sharp yellow Cheddar, small-diced

1 cup minced fresh dill

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine 4 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Mix the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Toss together the cheddar, dill, and 1 tablespoon of flour and add them to the dough. Mix until they are almost incorporated.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it for 1 minute, until the Cheddar and dill are well distributed. Roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. Cut into 4-inch squares and then in half diagonally to make triangles. Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 20 to 25 minutes (depending on thick they are & how crusty you want them), until the outside is crusty and the inside is fully baked.

What I Ate Wednesday

I'm pretty sure we buy at least 10 Chobani a week, you know, to help keep them in business.

Cartel Coffee with a side of family law final.

(had another orange later too!)

Caramel brownie Luna bar after the family law final.  I was in a rush to get somewhere, otherwise I was totally wanting to make a salad with romaine lettuce, black beans, fresh salsa, balsamic, and mozzarella.  I need to make this happen next week.

Not pictured: sweet treat during family law exam, 2 fistfuls of carrots and 2 hefty spoonfuls of Sunflower fresh ground peanut butter (nothing but peanuts, and you get to grind it yourself - we go though 1 tub every week!)

X-ing for 3Ls only!

Pork chop steaks, green beans, and The Descendants with the hubby.  Tomorrow = meetings, errands, and my first full day as a 3L!  I can't complain!

Where I've Been!

After a bit of a study break, I'm back in the blog world!  Even though it's been quiet on the blog, things have been busy around here :)  I'll catch you up up on some stuff!


Zuzana's Workout of the Week (ZWOW)
Have you ever heard of BodyRock?  It's a vlog where superfit people post short, high-intensity workouts.  Although you can do the workouts at home, many of them require special equipment like BodyRock sandbags and modified pull-up bars. 


Although we had been lifting weights and doing consistently for 4 months, we didn't see any results.  About 3 weeks ago, though, I found out Zuzana, one of the former BodyRock hosts, started her own youtube channel that doesn't require any special equipment, so Todd and I decided to give it a shot.  Each workout takes less than half an hour, but Zuzana makes you sweat!  Since they're so short, I think they'd be great especially for any one with a busy schedule!  I've done a video a day for the past week - no results yet ;)  but I'll let you know if I see any changes!  Here are some of my favorite ZWOWs so far:

Other stuff 
I'm working in DC this summer!  I'll give you the deets in another post, but yay!!  


Our best friends are moving back to their homeland next week, which is seriously the saddest thing ever (for me hahaha), especially because I've been so busy studying I haven't seen them much recently.  Their going away party is this weekend, and then that's it :(  Tearsssss!!!!  


One final down, two finals to go then 3L.  3L?  Wow.  I can't believe I've spent my entire married life in law school - it's gone by so quickly!  I'm excited to see where the next couple of years take us!  Todd and I have a few tricks up our sleeves and whole list of fun projects to attack once we're both outta school :)


I'm planning a special date for Todd and me that I pretty much think is going to be the funniest thing ever.  And Todd may hate me for it.  I'll let you know!


See you soon with more posts! xoxo, J


P.S.  I just noticed my like two sentence post about how I taped the federal rules of evidence flowchart to my wall as art is now one of my most popular posts hahaha.  People must be searching for free evidence flowcharts online.  Love the finals.

Stubb's Sauce Chicken Sandwich (the butcher's recipe)

Last week, I had a major breakthrough at the grocery store.  And by that, I can only be talking about the fact that the butcher and I are now on a first-name basis.

When I saw him again today, he told me to make this:

Sandwiches made by Todd

Here's what you do: buy a rotisserie chicken. Take off the skin then shred the chicken with your hands.  Add chopped green onion.  Add Stubb's wing sauce (go easy, it's spicy!).  Mix.  Toast two slices of sourdough bread.  On a plate, spoon some of the chicken mixture onto one slice of bread and place the other slice of bread next to it.  Heat in the microwave then place the other slice of bread on the chicken mixture.

Admittedly, that's not exactly what the butcher said.  I think the butcher butters the bread then adds cheese and grills everything on the stove.  Our version probably came out a bit drier than his, but I liked it just fine.  Sorry, that's an understatement.  This sandwich was amazing, one of the best things I've had all year (this and this are the other two).  And I don't even like sandwiches. 

As a note, I've never used Stubb's sauce before, but as you can see by the bottle, it's clearly legit.  Actually, I really have no idea, but the butcher told us to use this brand, and after eating this sandwich, I put my faith in his hands.

Salmon with Lemon-Pepper Sauce and Arugula-Herb Salad and Pistachio-Lemon Tart

Hi bloggies!  I'm back!

And I brought beer to the party ....

I have a mustache! 

It's officially spring-break time at UA Law, which means a visit from Todd's parents, tourist attractions, delicious foods, and cooking!

Yesterday night we made a delicious meal.  It was seriously classy stuff.  Sockeye salmon with honey, shallots, lemon juice and zest topped with greek yogurt  and an arugula salad with dill, tarragon and more lemon juice and zest.  Not being a licorice fan, I wasn't sure I'd like the tarragon, but this meal was incredible.  Like the mac and cheese with goat cheese and rosemary, I could definitely see this on a restaurant's menu, like maybe The Abbey?

To mix up the brown basmati rice, we used chicken stock instead of water then mixed in turmeric and onion powder and topped with parsley.  That simple!

And then there was this amazing thing...

It would be an understatement to say that we've been on a pistachio kick recently - we've been eating pistachios like it's our job.  Needless to say, the ingredients in this tart immediately struck a cord with me.  This is a pretty standard tart recipe, although the crust is a little different than those I've made before because it calls for an egg yolk and the filling is just a tad sweeter for lemon tart.

And do you know this trick?  For a flaky crust, make sure to use a pastry mat and sock for rolling and sub vodka for water.

And one more tip, be careful pulling your hot tart pan out of the oven.  When I pulled mine out, the bottom popped up from underneath and ended up hanging on my forearm like a big ring, giving me second-degree burns.  seconddegreeburnsfromatartpan#foddfortoddproblems.  Please, don't do what I did.

Something to Read:

The Most Common Cooking Mistakes

Kombucha May Be Treated Like Alcohol

Salmon with Lemon-Pepper Sauce and Arugula-Herb Salad

Slightly adapted from Epicurious

1 cup low-fat greek yogurt

3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, divided

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel, divided

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil plus additional for brushing

2 tablespoons chopped shallot

6 6-ounce salmon fillets

1 1/2 cups (lightly packed) arugula

1/4 cup small fresh dill sprigs

1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves

Sea salt

6 lemon wedges

Whisk greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon lemon peel in small bowl. Season with salt and generous amount of pepper.

Whisk honey, 1 tablespoon olive oil, shallot, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon lemon peel in 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Add salmon fillets and turn to coat. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour, turning salmon fillets occasionally. Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Line large baking sheet with foil and brush with olive oil. Transfer salmon fillets, with some marinade still clinging, to rimmed baking sheet. Roast until salmon is just opaque in center, about 14 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss arugula leaves and sprigs, dill sprigs, tarragon leaves, remaining 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in medium bowl. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.

Place 1 salmon fillet on each of 6 plates. Top with watercress salad. Drizzle with lemon-pepper sauce and garnish with lemon wedges. Serve, passing additional sauce alongside.

Lemon-Pistachio Tart

From Epicurious

crust

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 large egg yolk

3 tablespoons (or more) ice water

filling

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

3 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 teaspoons water

1/2 cup unsalted shelled pistachios 

for crust:

Combine flour and salt in processor. Add butter; cut in, using on/off turns, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk and 3 tablespoons ice water. Process until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 30 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Fold in overhang and press, forming high-standing rim. Pierce all over with fork. Cover and freeze 20 minutes.

Bake crust until deep golden, about 40 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool.

for filling:

Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in 1 cup sugar and next 5 ingredients. Cook until mixture thickens, whisking constantly, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and whisk 2 minutes longer. Pour hot filling into crust. Chill uncovered until filling is set, about 2 hours.

Line small baking sheet with foil. Stir 2 tablespoons sugar and 4 teaspoons water in heavy small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil without stirring until pale golden, about 4 minutes. Add pistachios and stir to coat. Spread pistachios in single layer on prepared sheet. Cool completely. Coarsely chop pistachios.

Sprinkle pistachios in 2-inch border around edge of tart.