Ingredients: 1 t olive oil 2 leeks, thoroughly washed and chopped* 1 small onion, diced 2 celery stalks, chopped 8 red potatoes (about 3 lbs) cubed 6 c chicken stock 1 bay leaf 1 T parsley 1/2 c milk 2 T flour 5.3 oz greek yogurt salt and pepper to taste Parmesan cheese (optional) *Note: leeks […]
Easy Patriotic Cupcakes
Ingredients: Cake: 1 box French vanilla cake mix 1 cup water 3 eggs 1/2 c oil Red and blue food coloring Buttercream Frosting: 1 lb box powdered sugar 1 stick butter- softened 1/4 c milk 1 t vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place cupcake wrappers into muffin tin. Combine cake mix, water, […]
Asian inspired barbecue chicken
I am looking forward to another weekend of barbecuing, but I am in the mood for something a little different, something with an Asian flare with hints of ginger, honey, and sesame. Because barbecue chicken often takes a while on the grill and we will be at a bbq potluck, I decided to bake the chicken prior to […]
Food Journal – July
July 1: Breakfast: Steel cut oatmeal with blueberries Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich Dinner: White Bean Soup Exercise: a.m. none p.m. Yoga class – final (no workout) July 2: Breakfast: Steel cut oatmeal with blueberries Lunch: Chicken mole with brown rice Dinner: Panda Express – 1/2 chow […]
Broccoli Peanut Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients: 1 t oil 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces ½ red onion, sliced 1 head broccoli, chopped (about 3 cups) 1 T garlic 2 T soy sauce 2 T oyster flavored sauce ¼ c peanuts Siracha Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink. […]
Venus and Jupiter Converge – June 2015
June 24th – July 2nd Venus and Jupiter converged to within one-third of a degree. Venus and Jupiter are the two brightest celestial bodies after the sun and moon. Venus is the brightest spot and Jupiter is the second brightest in the night sky, which makes the convergence easily visible with the naked eye. Unfortunately, […]
Baby Birds
On June 26th, a coworker brought these little baby birds to my office. She had found them in her backyard the previous weekend, and has been hand raising them ever since. The birds are about three and a half inches including the feathers. And despite their small size, they chirp loudly. They require food every […]
Urban Squirrels
Living in Los Angeles suburbs leaves a lot to be desired in terms of natural escapes. There are occasionally a few “wild animal” sitings in the Hollywood hills and eastern outskirts of LA County, but the South Bay beach city doesn’t have much in the way of wildlife other than raccoons, squirrels, cats, opossums, birds […]
Twenty-six Miles Across the Sea in Santa...
This past weekend I had the fortune of relaxing on Santa Catalina Island, which is a small 76 square mile island off the coast of Los Angeles. If you have never been to Catalina, you definitely need to check it out. This trip the one-hour boat ride from San Pedro Harbor was quite pleasant. Mild weather with only 2 foot […]
Lemon Herb Chicken with Rosemary Potatoe...
This is one of my go-to weekday meals. It does take a little planning because the chicken can take up to two hours and the potatoes take about 45 minutes. But the prep is super quick and the oven does most of the work. I recently started splurging on the chicken and buying the organic, […]