VIV- WONDER DRINK

Yes, if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you've seen my comments about VIV. It is a antioxident, anti-aging with five herbal extractions to relieve stress, fight fatigue, increase focus and memory,improve mood and sense of well being, and enhance physical endurance.
It comes in convenient packets that you simply mix with water. It tastes good, like berries and in these little packets it is easy to take it with you if you need an extra boost while playing sports or exercising. I've been taking it for a couple of weeks now and I feel a lot better. My friend who suffers from anxiety attacks, depression and a number of other problems has been drinking VIV for only a few days and says she is much more relaxed, has been sleeping better and the best thing, has lost weight because she isn't doing that nervous eating. Her daughter is ADHD and she has been taking the VIV also and after just a few days my friend has seen a noticeable change in her daughter's behavior. She is sold on the product. In fact her and her ex husband who don't agree on anything agree on this. It is helping their daughter dramatically..and they want to keep her on it.

No, I'm not selling it, a friend of mine is and I'm just helping to spread the word about this product through the various networking channels.
So please, go to this website and check it out http://dibill45.mykiiera.com/

If your interested you can e-mail Bill or give him a call and I'm sure he would be willing to send out a sample for you to try. Tell him I said so.

Really, it's good stuff and as far as price goes it isn't bad especially for all the good stuff it does.

http://dibill45.mykiiera.com/

Don't forget to click on the Top 25 before you leave....thanks

SLANTED DOOR

Today Sue, Nance, Mare and I went to San Francisco. Sue had a medical appointment at the UC med center. Her appointment was at 9:00am and it took about an hour and a half. After she was done we headed to the Ferry Building. We spent a little time looking through Sur La Table then headed to the Slanted Door. This is where they always go for lunch after Sue's Dr's appointments. This was my first time. We took a picture out by the bay then headed into the restaurant..right when it opened. If you wait too long it gets very crowded.


As you can see we had a great view of the bay bridge. After we were seated we ordered drinks and appetizers. Sue ordered us tons of appetizers! I started with a Hefe Wiezen

We then ordered the Imperial Rolls.. a crispy roll filled with pork, shrimp, glass noodles and peanuts with dipping sauce and lettuce and mint to roll it all in.
Dip the Imperial Roll into the dipping sauce then roll it up in the lettuce with the noodles and mint.. It was so good, the roll isn't your ordinary egg or spring roll, it has a lot more flavor.

Niman Ranch spareribs with Hoisin honey glaze

plus we also had a Green Papaya salad which was good but not spicy. It was not the normal papaya salad but it was flavorful. After the appetizers they brought us hot towels to clean up with. I love those, they always feel so good.
Here is our lunch:

Chicken in Clay Pot with Caramel, chilies and ginger. It was good, a little too sweet but had a kick from the chilies. I was so full, I brought most of it home and had it for dinner.

Grilled Chicken Breast over rice noodles and Imperial Rolls

Niman Ranch Shaking Beef.. filet mignon, watercress, red onions and a lime dipping sauce

And Sue and Nance had desert. Creme Brule for Nance, she said it was really good, very smooth and creamy. Sue had the Beignets with cinammon sabayon..I had a bit of the beignets and they were good, very light but I would have liked powdered sugar on them. With regular sugar it was more like a donut hole.

We rolled out of there then did a little more shopping. They have some wonderful things at the Ferry building. It was a good day and we all had fun.

Don't forget to click on the Top 25 before you leave. Thanks

CHICKEN SALTIMBOCCA

Learned this easy quick and tasty recipe the other night at our cooking class with Gigi Warshawsky at the co-op. I love Gigi's recipes they are all quick easy and very flavorful. She calls herself the lazy gourmet. Here is the Saltimbocca recipe: serves 4

4 boneless skinless chicken breast cut in halves
16 fresh sage leaves
4 thin Prosciutto slices cut into 8 pieces
flour for dredging
Olive oil and butter for sauteing
8 slices Double Creme Gouda , or regular Gouda
2 C sliced mushrooms
1 Shallot finely chopped
1/4C white wine
1/2C Marsala wine
1/2C chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
2Tbsp butter
2Tbsp cream
1Tbsp fresh sage chopped
Pound chicken breasts between plastic wrap to 1/4" thickness
lightly season chicken with salt and pepper.
Pound breasts between plastic wrap to 1/4" thickness
On each breast half lay 2 sage leaves on the less smooth side.
Cover the leaf side with prosciutto and press so it adheres. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.
In a large skillet heat and add the olive oil and butter. Dredge the chicken pieces in flour and lightly shake off. Saute the chicken w/prosciutto side down (about 2 min) then turn and cook the other side. Add slices of Gouda cheese on top and saute until cheese is melted. ( After sauteing the chicken I put mine in a baking dish and put the cheese on top and put it into the oven until melted.)
In hot pan(the same one the chicken was cooked in) add the mushrooms and shallots and saute until mushrooms are soft. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and Marsala scraping up the bits on the bottom of the pan. Add chicken stock and reduce liquid by at least half. Add the chopped sage and simmer for about a minute. Finish the sauce and whisk in the cream and butter. Adjust seasoning. Plate chicken and pour the sauce over.
It is very quick to make since the chicken is pounded thin. I didn't have any shallots or cream but the sauce was still great. It did cut down on calories too.

DATE "MILKSHAKE"

Another recipe from Shankari, this is the Date Milkshake that I said I was going to start drinking in the mornings for a healthy breakfast. It's easy :
11/2C milk (I used soy milk)
6 pitted dates
5 raw almonds
a little less than 1/8 tsp cardamom
In a blender blend all together until creamy and enjoy.
A tip from Shankari, blend the dates, almonds and the cardamom in a larger batch, this can either be refridgerated for quite a while of frozen. Just add the milk and blend.
This recipe serves 2.
I did the breakdown for this drink because I wanted to see the calorie content. This is for the whole recipe. So it turns out to be a healthy drink.

Grams Calories %-Cals Calories 366 Fat 10.3 86 24 % Saturated 1.1 9 3 % Polyunsaturated 3.6 30 8 % Monounsaturated 3.4 28 8 % Carbohydrate 56.7 213 58 % Dietary Fiber 9.5 Protein 19.0 66 18 % Alcohol 0.0 0 0 %		Fat ( 24 %) Carbs ( 58 %) Protein ( 18 %) Alcohol ( 0 %) Publish Post

KAARA PORI

Puffed rice sauteed with peanuts, red chile and curry leaves... this is my little curry tree, it is
probably almost a year old..

This is a mature curry leaf branch. As you can see my little tree is going to take a while to get to this point.

This puffed rice recipe is kind of like a spicy popcorn and addictive. Here is the recipe

4C puffed rice

5 cloves garlic thinly sliced

1/2 C roasted peanuts

1/2C Dalia (roasted chick peas)

2 dried red chilies split

10-12 curry leaves

1tsp mustard seeds

1tsp urad dhal

1/4tsp cumin seeds

pinch (small pinch) Asafetida

1/4tsp turmeric powder

1/2tsp chili powder

salt to taste

2tsp oil

In a wok or large frying pan add oil, heat until hot.

Start by adding the urad dhal and when it turns brown add the mustard sees, cumin, dried red chilies, Asafetida, and curry leaves. Stir to fry slightly.

Add the garlic and fry until golden, then add the dalia,peanuts, turmeric,chili powder and salt.

Switch stove off and add the puffed rice and mix well. Taste and salt to taste.

Store in an airtight container after it cools.

DATE MILKSHAKE

Took an Indian Cooking class tonight with Shankari at the Sacramento Natural Food Co-op. As usual it was a great class and the food was delicious. I especially liked the Date Milkshake. Shankari said it would make a great breakfast drink and I'm inclined to agree.
Obviously I need to loose about 20lbs so I thought this might be a good drink.. at least it would be healthy. It consists of dates, milk, raw almonds and cardamom. Blend all together and there you have it. Dates are good for you, almonds and milk are supposed to help with weight loss so we shall see. I think I'll use soy milk and maybe a little yogurt. I figured it would be a better and healthier breakfast than left overs from the previous nights dinner. So, we shall see how it goes.. It tastes great so I know I will drink it. Couldn't hurt right?

BURGERS AND BREW

Last night Sue and I had to go to Costco so we stopped by Burgers and Brew a new spot along the R street corridor. I think it just opened up last week but I'm not sure. It is the 2nd Burgers and Brew pub for the same people who have Crepeville. The first one is in Davis. The restaurant is wood and brick with some interesting pictures that give the place a pop of color.

They have a pretty extensive selection of beers, but I thought they would have a more diverse selection. The menu consists of burgers (of course), fish and chips, various other sandwiches and salads.

Both Sue and I had had the Bacon Jalapeno burger.. a nice juicy Nieman Ranch beef patty with Nieman Ranch bacon, mayo,pepper jack cheese, lettuce, onion and tomato and jalapenos peppers. I ordered mine rare and it came out about medium rare but it was a really good burger, maybe just a little too much lettuce. I wanted the beer battered onion rings but they were out so I had the curly fries which were good. Sue ordered her burger medium rare and I think it came out that way, I didn't hear any complaints about it being over cooked. She had the garlic fries which were also good. They also had a choice of regular fries and cheese fries. The wait staff was friendly and service was prompt. Our server wasn't much help on beer selection only because she wasn't 21 yet so didn't know much about the different beers. I think that was the only drawback, if you have any questions about various beers or styles at least our server couldn't answer my questions and didn't seem inclined to go find out the answer. I think the next time I'm going to have just the plain burger so I can actually taste the meat without all the distractions of jalapenos and pepper cheese etc. It was good though, I ended up eating the whole thing.

We shared a Nutella cheesecake for desert.. I had a bite I was just too full. It was good but not anything outstanding. Oh..the pickle was great.. it was actually crunchy, not one of those limp spears you usually get. That clinched it. Here are some pictures

EASTER KITTENS

As if there wasn't enough excitement on Easter, Tianna's cat had her kittens. Apparently she was acting funny early in the morning so Summer put her in her box in the closet and comforted her. Around 5 am Pawla went into labor, Summer became her labor coach. She said she stroked her head and sympathized with her and showed her how to .breath, whoo whoo whoo.. what other cat has a birthing coach? The kittens are born still in the sac and Summer didn't know what to do about that so Kobie is on the computer at 5 in the morning finding out what to do. It turns out that mamma cat eats the sack that encloses the kitten so it doesn't suffocate and there is no mess.. gross but you have to admit it is efficient. We thought that was it 2 little kittens.. but by 11 there were 8 of them! They are so tiny and cute and Pawla Smith is a very good mommy

EASTER

This was the first Easter I've gotten to spend in Poway with the family. It started early, around 7:00am Lana and Tianna were up and so everyone else was too. We gathered in Summer's room (I'm sure it thrilled Kobie to no end ) to watch Lana check out her Easter baskets. At noon we were supposed to go to Summer and Kobie's best friends house for lunch and and Easter egg hunt... the famous Easter egg hunt. So after playing for a while with Easter toys we had to make some salads and a 7 layer dip to take over to Tony's.

Lana didn't have the strength to blow hard enough to make the whistle quack so she just made grunting sounds herself.




The famous Easter egg hunt. Tony and Kobie put out dozens of plastic eggs hidden all over the back yard. The eggs contain anything from coins to candy to dollar bills, peanut butter, chocolate chips (which usually melt), rice, flour, and yes Tianna did find a maxi pad. Good thing she found it or someone was going to have to explain that to the younger kids. Also there were lots of funny notes in eggs also. As you can see the kids got tons of candy and money.. Tianna came away with about $9.00 and a huge bag of candy, not bad for an Easter egg hunt.
When we first got to Tony and Marissa's home there were Mimosas, the 7 layer dips that Kobie made, baked Brie.. tried not to eat too much since there was lunch after the egg hunt.
Lunch was after the egg hunt..Marissa baked a turkey and there was also a ham, mashed and scalloped potatoes, our chicken salad, green bean casserole, bread, and probably more food that I'm forgetting. Everything was delicious and of course wine..lots of wine : )
Desert was cheesecake ...groan...
Tianna and Justin wanted to go swimming, it was pretty cool out but they did jump in for about a minute and that was it. Some of the neighborhood boys also came over and also swam. The rest of us just hung out and played with the babies. It was a very nice relaxing day.
Later that evening we had to catch our plane back to reality.

LANA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

The birthday girl wasn't happy about the hat.. Saturday was Lana's first birthday so we were down in Poway in San Diego. The party was supposed to be at the park but it started raining that morning so we had to move the party to the house. We did a quick clean up of the garage and put the tables out there. Kobie barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers and there were salads and chips etc. Just a very casual party for friends, around 25 in all. Lots of little ones around Lana's age, they were all so cute. Lana got a lot of gifts and after grumpy start she had good day.



The birthday cakes.. the round one was Lana's personal cake


She loved the cake

lots of birthday gifts

Trying to put together one of Lana's gifts.. a rocking horse

Yaa!

The Bimini Steakhouse

This weekend we decided go away for an short over night stay. We had comp rooms in Tahoe at either Harrah's or Harvey's but when I called both places were booked. I thought there was a recession going on. I had a offer for a reduced rate at the Peppermill so I called them and they had a room. When we got there at 3 the place was packed! That was check in time but I haven't seen it that crowded in a long time. I guess there is no recession in Reno. We were just there to relax and have a good time. It's important for us to get away every so often especially since our office is in the home it's not like we can ever get away from the job. I gambled a little but of course I didn't do any good, but it was fun. We had decided to try the Bimini Steakhouse in the new section of the casino. Peppermill has recently done a total remodel.
We were disappointed with the steakhouse, it turned out to be the same steakhouse as before with a different name and location. Actually the old steakhouse was better.

The virtual aquarium at the steakhouse

We started dinner with the Escargot for Charlie and I had the Plank roasted oysters with pancetta,leeks and a Chardonay cream sauce. One of the best dishes. The sauce was delicious. I guess this was there take on Oysters Rockefeller. I used the bread to sop up all that delicious sauce also the garlic butter from the escargot. Charlie loves them, I just like the butter.
Charlie had the Ceasar salad which was not worth eating. It looks good but it had no flavor at all.


I had the rack of lamb and the onion rings. The lamb had a good flavor but was so fatty that it was mostly fat. The Rings were good with the chipotle cream dipping sauce.


Charlie of course had the New York steak and the sauteed mushrooms. He said it was a good steak but nothing outstanding. The mushrooms were good.



Desert for Charlie was the seasonal fruit tart and as an ending they brought out a couple of lollipops.. a nice ending.
I have to say also that I can' t remember what the 2 wines I had were, one was a Merlot and one was a Zin but both were terrible.. I've never had 2 wines that were equally bad. Oh well.

Great Quote

I was reading an interview with John Rich a country singer, song writer, the other half of Big and Rich. He was saying how a lot of people say that they would love to be him with all his money, music career, TV shows etc. but they have no idea how hard he had to work to get to where he is now. How it's taken him 17 years to reach this point and he can't slack off now because at any moment his career could be gone in a second. This is his response.
"But a lot of Americans think they're entitled ... What does the Constitution guarantee you? Happiness? No. The Constitution guarantees you the pursuit of happiness. But the pursuit is sometimes some pretty tough stuff."
I thought that was the best quote. No one is entitled, you have to work and work hard for what you want.

Cosmo Cafe deal

I got this e-mail from Mel at Cooking Schmooking..No Problem . This is a great deal and the food at Cosmo is very good. It is located at 1000 K Street.

April 5 - April 16, 2009

In appreciation for your loyalty, we are extending an exclusive offer to you. Enjoy a full 3-Course meal at Cosmo Cafe for only $20.

Just follow these 3 simple steps:

1. Call the restaurant: 916.446.9800 2. Reserve your table.
Please note: Cosmo Cafe is closed on Mondays. Reservations for
Friday and Saturday night are only available after 7:30pm 3. Use the Reservation Code "iEat"

Cosmo Cafe Special Menu


As an added bonus:
We are also offering 2 for 1 tickets to see Forever Plaid at the Cosmopolitan Cabaret (2 for $32). If you would like to purchase tickets, please inform the hostess when you make your dinner reservation. Please note that this offer is only valid Sun-Thurs. The Cabaret is closed on Mondays.

View Information about Forever Plaid

Tax and gratuity not included. Valid for dine-in only, after 5pm Sun-Thus and after 7:30pm Fri and Sat. Cosmo Cafe and the Cosmopolitan Cabaret are not open on Mondays and will be closed on Easter Sunday. Must purchase dinner in order to take advantage of ticket offer. Advance reservations must be made for discount. Offer available 04/05/09 - 04/016/

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