m2h blogs by Marcia Hansen » Food

Just Pleasantries

Marcia Hansen — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:16:02 +0000

A couple business colleagues took me out to lunch today to Bob-Chinn’s Crabhouse. I was really surprised at how good the food was–especially considering how far Illinois is from any sea. I chose the Florida Grouper for lunch, and the taste had me going “Mmmm” from the first bite to the last. It was as good or better than any I’ve had in Florida.
I am also surprised at how much I’m enjoying green smoothies these days. Tonight I blended a little apple juice, 1/2 banana, 1/2 pear, and 1/2 bag of organic baby spinach. I love how it looks — bright green — and I love how it tastes. Yum! Who knew!?!

What else am I enjoying?

Clothes/Jewelry from Chico’s — So many bright colors and patterns. On. Sale. If I was married, I’d be embarrassed to walk in the house with yet another Chico’s bag. However, one of the joy’s of being single is not having to explain–you see, I had this great coupon off of the sale price…. However, I do admit that it is about time that I have a talk with myself!
Merle Norman Soft Touch Eye Pencils — They are so creamy going on. I can get a thin subtle line or that smoky smudged look really easily.

What else is working for me?

20 minutes on/20 minutes off — work a while, play for a bit. I’ve been able to make more progress at getting necessary household chores done without it seeming like such a big deal. I won’t go so far as to say it’s been fun, but definitely more manageable!

What’s working for you? Or, what seems like less work these days? Any new food addictions?

Good microwave potatoes

Marcia Hansen — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 04:47:07 +0000

In her latest good things post, Billie talks about cooking eggs in the microwave, and how good they turned out. Her post reminded me of how I’ve just learned a new way to cook potatoes in the microwave, and they turned out really good. Surprisingly, good.

Instructions

Prep the potatoes: clean and pierce the skins. Mom likes to slice the ends off, but I like to make a long slit length-wise in the potato on both sides. Choose your own method of perforation.
Butter the entire skin of each potato, all the way around. There is just no easy way to avoid getting your fingers a little messy on this step.
Wrap each potato individually in plastic wrap. I’ve been using press and seal wrap because that is what we have available. At the craft show, one of the ladies was selling what looked to be two pot holders sewn together with a top flap like a sandwich bag. If you try and like this method and don’t want to use plastic wrap in the microwave, you could get/make yourself something similar without too much difficulty.
Microwave until done. For two small to medium sized potatoes, five minutes works for me.
Unwrap and enjoy with whatever toppings you desire. We had some leftover barbecue chicken (boneless, shredded/stringed cooked in the crock-pot the day before) that was really great on top with a little sour cream and pepper.

I’m usually very picky about only eating potatoes baked in the oven. I am just not fond of how plain microwaved potatoes taste. I’d rather not even eat them (and that is saying a lot because I love potatoes!)

I really like this new way of cooking potatoes in the microwave. Note: If I am planning ahead of time, I will still bake potatoes in the oven, but when I need potatoes at the last minute, I’ll use this method. I don’t know where the idea originated. Mom told me about it. She learned it from my brother. I don’t know where he picked it up. Maybe I’m just late to the potato baking party, but I thought I’d share the new method in case there are other potato lovers who haven’t heard of it yet.

Dinner (proof that I cooked)

Marcia Hansen — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 03:10:47 +0000

I don’t have trouble eating healthy breakfasts or lunches. Usually, it is dinner that I have the most trouble planning and fixing. I’m usually tired and hungry by the time I get home at night so I usually try and go for something that is quick and easy. But, quick and easy, isn’t always the most healthy.

Thus, I committed to fixing dinner 2 times this week featured, prominently, a vegetable (fixing: as in not buying something already prepared or just opening a box or can). Last Thursday I had a nice romaine and spinach salad with avocado and tomatoes. Tonight it was green beans and chicken with brown rice.

The green beans and rice are from Trader Joe’s. The green beans are frozen french style. The rice is brown basmati, which is pretty good, but it takes 40 minutes to prepare! (I usually buy TJ’s 3-minute, microwavable brown rice, but the last few times that I’ve been to the store, it’s been out of stock.) Ideally, if I really had my act together, I’d prepare the rice a day or two ahead of time and then it would be faster in the evenings to fix something to go with it.

Side note: blogging after dinner has the added benefit of keeping me from nibbling on anything else.

Just Peachy: Crystal Light Peach Tea

Marcia Hansen — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 03:31:14 +0000

On the recommendation of a random grocery shopper, I picked up some Crystal Light Peach Tea. Have you had it? It’s really good. I didn’t expect to like it quite this much. I’ve been drinking significantly less soda, which I think is a good thing.

More good things later…