How Does Our Garden Grow?

Quite nicely, actually! Here's a picture breakdown of our veggie's growth so far:

Cherry Tomatoes (regular tomatoes not pictured)

Sugar Snap Peas

Red Bell Peppers

Spinach

Zucchini or Yellow Squash - I have no idea which is which

Green Beans

Want to know why our beans and squash are surrounded by styrofoam cups? It's easy. Pill bugs, or Roly Polys, as some people call them. The very first night after the plants had grown out of the soil, those little bugs attacked them. We went outside at midnight and found them feeding on them, at least 5 or so per plant. They just eat into the fleshy part of the stem and munch away. They normally don't feed on plants unless they are in very large numbers and there's not much food. Our garden fit the bill. We wanted to try to grow our garden without pesticides, so Jason found that he could buy diatemaceous (sp?) soil which is harmless to us. Unfortunately, you can only buy it in nurseries which are only open until 5. So, for night number two, we tried to block the bugs physically with these cups so that we could save the plants. Since it's worked, we didn't even bother buy the soil after all. Once the plants are larger, the pill bugs won't be able to bite into them, so we can remove the cups.

The last thing in our garden is this chili pequin plant:

Yeah, I know it looks like a stick. It was a larger plant that was growing underneath this plant:

We took out this plant because it was in the way of the garden and it was a little out of control. It's now planted at my in-law's house where it can grow all it wants!

Back to the plant - er - stick. I tried to plant the entire plant we uprooted at first. It was about a foot and a half long and had lots of leaves. I watered it, but it just didn't look very good. The leaves dried out and died. So Jason gave it a mayjuh haircut and chopped it to the stick it it. I thought there was no hope, but as you can see below, there's some growth!

I took these photos yesterday and today, there's actually 3 spots of growth on it! We may have little chili pequins one day after all!

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By the way,

GMA punked out on Woodsboro. They officially suck. They only put the 'Boro couple on the air live the very first day but they were only seen waving to the camera.

See? I told you there wasn't much to see there. Apparently, GMA thought so too.

Jerks.

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Cornyval

This weekend, I went to Cornyval in Helotes with my brother and two of my cousins. Cornyval is a festival that benefits lots of different non-profits. Each food booth was for a different cause. It also has a PRCA rodeo and carnival rides. Basicly, it's an eat-and-drink-beer type of place. I had never been before even though I used to live a couple miles away. It wasn't too crowded and it was more family-oriented. And, in light of the swine flu invading San Antonio, there were plenty of hand-washing stations. Because it's only important to wash your hands when the flu's going around. I digress.

I usually don't buy a lot of knick knacks, but there was one vendor I couldn't pass on. It was a homemade pasta and jelly booth from a company called Shayne Sauce (they take orders online, people!). The food is made right here in San Antonio. Did I mention that I love pasta? And jelly?

I bought the Spinach and Lemon fettuccine:

photo courtesy of Shayne Sauce

I put some regular marinara sauce on this and it was great! The fettuccine cooks in about 3 minutes, so you don't have to wait long. I also bought the Cranberry Cinnamon Jalapeno jelly:



photo courtesy of Shayne Sauce

After I bought my goodies, I decided I was starving. Over the course of the night, I had some beer, a Sprite, sausage on a stick, a jumbo corn dog, a chocolate dipped ice cream bar and bites of anything else that someone bought that I didn't buy. It was awesome! My brother ate a ton. And I mean a TON. The question is not what he ate, it's what didn't he eat?

I got pretty bad pictures of the rodeo; they weren't worth posting here. But we did get some pictures by the end of the night. Here's my cousins, my brother and I showing our true colors:

L to R: Becca, Me, Houston, Kathy

See those grease stains on my shirt? Yeah, that happened when I ate the sausage on a stick, which was really early in the night. It took me awhile to figure out that it was grease and not water, so I ended up walking around looking like white trash the entire night.

My brother was feeling pretty good by the end of the night if you know what I mean (lots of Shiner was involved), so he actually let me jump on him!

I caught Jason looking like a deer in the headlights here:

My brother's giant thumb covered part of the flash, but this is how he & Kathy usually act:

And I also got a picture of Becca with her fiance, TJ:

We had so much fun that I want to go again next year! I don't get to see my brother a lot, so this was especially fun for me!

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Wednesday workout

After Monday's lunges, my booty was sore! That must mean that I did some good. Today's workout is my medium day, which means I lift enough to exhaust my muscles after 9-12 rep, whatever I can get to. I do 3 sets of each exercise after 30 minutes of cardio.

• Quadriceps - Leg Press with 180lbs loaded onto machine
• Hamstrings - Hamstring curls with 75lbs loaded onto machine
• Calves - 135lb loaded onto Seated calve machine
• Chest - Incline chest press using 20lb dumbbells
• Back - Lat pulldowns, loaded 70lbs
• Shoulders - Dumbbell press using 15lb dumbbells
• Biceps - Bicep curls using 40lb EZ Curl Bar
• Triceps - Lying tricep extension using 12.5lb dumbbells

This was actually my old Monday hard workout. Check out what I was lifting on my hard day in January! See the improvement? I could hardly believe it myself!

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Monday Workout

I finally switched routines after doing the same one for a few months. I should really be switching them up every 4 to 6 weeks, but I just got a little lazy. I had a great workout today and I could really see improvement. I can lift so much more than I could last year. It's so encouraging! I mentioned before that I like weight-lifting more than cardio and today was no exception! I started out my routine with 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. Monday is my heavy day, so I did this weight routine using 6-9 reps (whatever I could squeeze out):

• Quadriceps - squats using 30lb loaded onto the Smith machine. I may increase this later.
• Hamstrings - 110lb loaded onto the seated hamstring machine
• Inner/Outer thighs - Hip Adductor/Abductor - 210lbs for adduction (I maxed that sucker out!!!) and 125lb for abductor (I may drop that, not sure yet) on the scissor machine
  
• Calves - 250lb on the Rotary calve machine
• Chest - Flat back flyes using 15lb dumbbells
• Back - Loaded 80lbs on the seated cable- pull machine
• Shoulders - Shoulder extensions using 15lb dumbbells
• Biceps - Reclined bicep curls using 20lb dumbbells
• Triceps - Overhead tricep extension using a cable and loaded 40lbs
• Abs - Hanging leg raises

That made me tired just typing that out! Yikes! I'll post my other workouts each day....good luck to you all, my sisters in iron! (That's what Tosca Reno says)

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5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Today's a two-fer! That's right, I'm posting TWO recipes today! You should feel special.

If you have an email address, then you've probably gotten the email about the 5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake. I've gotten it several times and every single time I read it, it makes me want to try it. I have no idea why I haven't, but I thought today should be the day. The recipe is simple enough; the ingredient breakdown is here:

• 3 Tbsp flour
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp cocoa
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 3 Tbsp oil
• 3 Tbsp chocolate chips (optional)
• Splash of vanilla extract
• 1 large coffee mug

All you have to do is mix all the ingredients into the mug and microwave it on high for 3 minutes. Sounds easy, doesn't it?

I put all the ingredients in a 1-cup Pyrex measuring cup just in case my coffee mugs weren't big enough.

I mixed it all together well with a spoon:

Then, I put it in the microwave:

It came out looking like this:

And tasted like this:

Oh wait. You can't taste it. Too bad for you!

I kid, I kid. Actually, the cake turns out pretty heavy, but fairly moist. It tastes like chocolate cake, but it really needed something.

Like yummy chocolate icing.

But there's no microwave mug recipe for that, is there?

All in all, I probably wouldn't make this to satisfy a chocolate craving, but it was a fun experiment regardless!

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Moroccan Couscous with Seven Vegetables

This might be my favorite recipe yet. It turned out so, so yummy! It's not very spicy at all and spells delicious. The downside? It takes a long time to make. It would be a great Sunday thing to make and then eat throughout the week.

Sauteing the Ras El Hanout, garlic & olive oil:

Adding in the first few veggies and water:

Putting the pureed veggies back into the dish:

I have no idea why the picture is sideways because it's correct on my computer! ???

Finally, enjoying the final product with some cilantro on top:

And the breakdown:

Ingredients:

• 3 tsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp Ras El Hanout (see below)
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
• 2 small turnips, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium zucchini, diced into 1-inch pieces
• 2 carrots (10 oz), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 head cabbage (about 1/2 lb), cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into chunks (I used the whole thing)
  
• 1/2 cup green beans (about 2 oz), cut into thirds (didn't use because I was out)
  
• 1/2 to 1 tsp Harissa or any chile paste or hot sauce (I used 1 tsp Cholula)
  
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup raisins, soaked in 2 or 3 Tbsp warm water for 10 minutes, drained
• 3/4 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 16 oz white fish (tilapia, haddock or sole), cut into chunks (I used Tilapia)
  
• 1 1/3 cup whole-wheat couscous
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, divided

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in large stockpot over medium heat, add garlic and Ras El Hanout. Quickly stir until brown, about 1 minute. Then add next 5 ingredients. Pour in enough water to cover vegetables. Cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, until vegetables are soft but not fully cooked. Add pepper, beans, Harissa and salt. Cook for another 10 to 15 minutes, until tender.
2. Ladle out 3 cups of broth and vegetables (1 1/2 cups each). Puree in blender until thick. Add back to stew.
3. Mix in raisins and chickpeas. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and place fish on top of mixture (don't mix in, or fish will break up). Cook, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork. Fish will steam on top.
4. While fish is cooking, boil 1 1/3 cups water in a saucepan over high heat. Take off heat, add couscous and cover. Set aside for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork. To serve, place 1/2 cup couscous in bowl. Pour 1 cup vegetable-fish mixture over top and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp cilantro.

Steps 1 & 2 can be completed up to 2 days in advance. Keep mixture in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you're ready to continue.

Ras El Hanout (Makes 2 Tbsp)

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp turmeric (careful! this stuff stains!!)
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl until well blended. Seal in an airtight container and store in a dark, dry spot in the pantry; it will keep for up to a year.

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