Nor Cal Love and Addendum

This past weekend I went up to the Bay area to visit my friends and we spent the day in Napa!  I finally had the chance to try Thomas Keller’s famous Fried Chicken as well as have a yummy dinner at Ad Hoc!  We left the city and headed to Napa, the car ride was filled with gossip, sing a longs as well as laughs.  Our first stop was Addendum where we had the fried chicken plate and the Pork BBQ.  I thought I had good fried chicken, but this fried chicken was amazing.  The ribs were also the perfect blend of sweet and spicy and the meat just fell off the bones.   

The area that Addendum is in is so cute!  In the back of Ad Hoc they have a cute little picnic area where they grow a lot of the herbs, fruit and veggies that they use at Ad Hoc. 

After the lunch it was down to BUSINESS!  We hit the wineries, one of my favorite wineries we visited was Peju.  I love the way that Peju does their wine tastings, they break you off into groups and the person who runs the tasting is always super knowledgeable and personable.  I am a Cabernet girl and Peju has some great Cabs, but this trip up I bought 3 types of blends.  One of their wines, the 50/50 might soon become one of my favorites.  We even got to do a tasting of one of their $200 bottles!        

After Peju we hit BV to pick up one of my favorite wines, the Tapestry!  And what would a trip to Napa be without checking out all the grapes??

We also had time to check out Frog’s Leap where we fit in a wine tasting and a quick game of corn hole.  I love the way this vineyard is laid out and how they did their tastings.  It was such a relaxed setting and they even had a cheese pairing that you could get as well. 

We had just enough time to grab some sparkly cocktails before our dinner at Ad Hoc at Chandon.  One of each that they offered of course… A sparkly Ginger Mojito, a Cosmo, a Hibiscus Royale and a traditional Champagne Cocktail. 

  Next post, our fabulous dinner at Ad Hoc!  Thanks to Robert for letting me post all of his amazing pics.  Yes, if you thought my photography skills dramatically improved in one weekend you are mistaken.  Only 5 of the photos are mine…  However I do start Photography classes next week, so hopefully I will be able to take some awesome photos like Robert very very soon!  

Tofu with Ricotta Cheese

Life is about the unexpected combinations that make you smile.  This happens in food, music and probably even romantic relationships.  What would life be like without combos like:  Bacon + Chocolate, Mozzarella + Kim Chee Fried Rice (amaaaaaaaa-zing), Michael McDonald + Grizzly Bear (While You Wait for Others), The Black Keys and Mos Def (Ain’t Nothing Like You), the list goes on…  I have had my eye on this recipe for a while, I was a little scared to try it because of the unexpected combo, but now its one of my favorites!  You can make it in less than 10 minutes, its super healthy and it’s delish.  The flavor and ingredient combo might scare you at first, but please try it, you won’t be sorry! 

When I made this I didn’t have shiso leaves, but I did have mint and basil.  In a lot of Japanese recipes I always see them claiming that you can substitute shiso for a mix of mint and basil.  I am here to tell you it is so true!!! 

Tofu with Ricotta Cheese
adapted from Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking

1 block soft silken tofu
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. mirin
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1/2 cup fat free ricotta cheese
5 shiso leaves, or a mix of mint and basil
sesame seeds or furikake

1.  Remove the chilled tofu it’s package and drain.  Place on a serving dish.

2.  In a small microwave safe dish mix soy sauce, sugar and mirin.  Place in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.  Let it cool and add in the grated ginger. 

3.  Place the ricotta cheese on top of the tofu, sprinkle with shredded shiso leaves and furikake/sesame seeds.  Pour sauce over the tofu and serve. 

This dish is so good!  It’s nice and refreshing for the last few warm days of summer that we have.  Its great with a side of soba or over some fresh greens!  This could be your next favorite unexpected combination!

Birdseye Steamfresh!

As part of FoodBuzz’s Tastemaker program, I get to sample a bunch of products!  Imagine my happiness that when I came home one day and found a box sitting outside my door with some of Birds Eye’s new products!  Inside were some of their new Steamfresh items that are lightly sauced.  In the goodie box they sent me I got some Creamed Spinach, Roasted Red Potatoes and Green Beans and two types of Risotto. 

The first item that I tried was of course the creamed spinach.  I was little worried about the nutritional stats would be, but I was pleasantly surprised since the stats were a lot lower than I had thought.  Who knew you could have creamed spinach that was light right?  I popped it in the microwave for a couple of minutes and I had a side dish to my meatballs in minutes! 

The creamed spinach was yummy, though I did add some salt and pepper for additional flavor.  I will actually probably buy this product again since I felt like I was being naughty but the stats were so good! 

The other item I couldn’t wait to try was one of the Risottos.  I had grand ideas of what I would do with the Risotto… Make some risotto cakes, sear some scallops, but time ran out and the risotto rescued me and helped me to create the best 10 minute dinner!  I tried the Mushroom and Green Bean Risotto with some lemon grass chicken egg rolls that I popped into the toasted oven. 

Best 10 minute meal ever!  I wasn’t really sure what I was going to get with the Risotto, I sorta expected a rich creamy mess.  But I was pleasantly surprised that the Risotto didn’t feel to heavy with cream and I could actually really taste the mushroom flavor in this dish! 

The verdict?  While the risotto was good, I’m not sure if I would buy it again.  Mostly since I am trying to eat healthier and I loved the creamed spinach!  The best thing about this is that you do not create any dirty dishes, you just microwave it in the bag!  I can’t wait to try the Red Potato and Green Beans and the other Risotto I have waiting for me. 

Disclosure:  As part of the Tastemaker program I received free product from Birds Eye.  However the opinions expressed are my own and I am not receiving compensation from Birds Eye. 

Spicy Korean Rice Cakes with Noodles (Rabokki)

I seem to be in a Korean type of mood lately, with my Kim Chee Cucumbers, Kim Chee Soba and now a famous Korean street food dish, Rabokki!  I first tried this dish when my friend made this at a sleep over. Note:  Sleepovers post college unless they are in hotel rooms, seem to be a BAD idea.  Even though they sound fun when you are planning it, I think with age we all like comforts.    Our sleep over niter has never been attempted again! 

This dish is total comfort food and major carb heaven!  It combines Korean rice cakes (mochi like discs) with ramen, and marinated beef in a spicy sauce. 

Rabokki
as taught to me by my Korean friends

2 cups sliced rice cake
1 package instant noodles
1/2 onion, sliced
1 1/2 cups water (approximate)
1/2 lb. thinly sliced beef
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 cup mushrooms, sliced

Sauce
2-3 Tbsp. Kochijang
1 tsp. Red chili flake
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
2 Tbsp. soy sauce

green onions
sesame seeds

Note: You can get thinly sliced cuts of beef at any Asian market.  I’ve seen this dish done with sea food, pork, fish cake and tofu as well. 

1.  Soak rice cakes in cool water for 15 minutes.  Heat pan on medium high heat and add olive oil to pan.  Add in onions, beef and mushrooms and cook until onions start to slightly soften.  *Don’t worry if your beef is not all the way through at this point, we do this mostly to cook the onions.*

2. Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Drain the rice cakes and add to pan, along with sauce and water.  Mix ingredients until everything is well coated. 

3.  At this point I like to cook the instant noodles (ramen) in the microwave.  You can add the noodles to the pan at this point and allow it to cook in the sauce as well. *I just prefer to do it in the micro*  Add the noodles to the pan once the rice cakes are tender and you can poke through them with a fork.

4.  Mix well and allow the sauce to thicken up and reduce for a couple of minutes.  Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds and serve!

Kim Chee Soba

In the hot days of summer, sometimes all you want is a nice cold and refreshing meal.  You may also remember that I mentioned that I was back on my healthy eating AND I am in my third week of boot camp!!  So what better to make than some Kim Chee Soba.

Soba is a Japanese noodle that is made out of buckwheat flour.  It is packed with vitamin B, has a higher protein content that most noodles and it is also said to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol as well as increase your metabolism.  WIN!!   Since I had just made some Kim Chee Cucumbers, I decided to make a Kim Chee Soba as a nice refreshing dinner.  

Kim Chee Soba

2 bundles of soba, cooked according to package
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
1 Tbsp. Kim Chee “juice” (from your Kim chee container)
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup Kim Chee Cucumber or Cabbage
1/2 cup dried shitake mushrooms
2 eggs, pan fried
green onion, sliced
sesame seeds

1.  Cook your soba noodles according to the direction on the package.  Throw dried shitake mushrooms into the hot water while noodles are cooking.  Once noodles are done, drain noodles and mushrooms.  Rinse noodles with cold water, and pull out mushrooms and squeeze excess water out of the mushrooms. 

2.  In a small bowl mix soy sauce, sesame seed oil, Kim Chee Juice and sugar.  Mix the sauce over the cold noodles and the mushrooms. 

3.  Plate noodles and garnish each place with Cucumber Kim Chee, fried egg, green onions and sesame seeds.

Super easy, refreshing and healthy dish perfect for the summer!  This would be great with any type of kim chee that you can find.  And if you are lucky enough to have a Korean Market near your house, imagine how good it would be to add in a variety of their marinated veggies that they always have.  YUM!  

Cucumber Kim Chee

My Aunty Jane makes this recipe, which she shared with my mom and now I am sharing with you!  In Hawaii this is the kind of recipe that neighbors share, friends pass along little jars to each other and if you are a “nice girl” you bring if over for your friends mom as well.  (They love that!)  I love Kim Chee Cucumbers since it’s a nice bit of crunch with that spicy kim chee flavoring.  This is so easy to make, this will become a staple in your refrigerators.     

 

Cucumber Kim Chee
From Aunty Jane

4-5 medium Japanese Cucumbers, (Persian works too)
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. Hawaiian Salt (Rock Salt)
3-4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. Kim Chee Base
1 tsp. paprika

Note:  You can find Kim Chee Base at most asian markets or on Amazon. 

1.  Cut cucumbers into cubes or thick slices.  In a bowl combine cucumbers, sugar, salt and vinegar.  Mix well and let stand for 1-2 hours.  *I only used 3 Tbsp. of sugar, it depends on your personal taste.*

2.  Taste one of the cucumber pieces, if needed do a quick rinse of the cucumbers.  *Only do this if it is too sweet to too salty.* 

3.  Add in Kim Chee Base and paprika to the cucumbers.  Mix well and bottle and refrigerate. 

I love to eat this with a hot bowl of rice, with soba noodles or lately I snack on them a little before dinner.  This will keep for about 3 weeks once refrigerated in an air tight container. 

Kodak Gallery Book, Weekend of Fun!

You may remember a couple of posts ago I told you that my college roommate (and good friend) came to Los Angeles to have a Bachelorette weekend.  What I didn’t tell you was this was no typical bachelorette weekend, this was a foodies bachelorette weekend!!  From the moment she landed in LA, the bride to be hit up all of her favorite spots that she had been missing for the past year. There was sushi, Korean BBQ, Pinkberry, her around the world shower, the night out with Korean tacos and some Boiling Shrimp!

So when I got selected as part of Foodbuzz’s Tastemaker Program along with Kodak to try their photobooks, I was beyond excited and knew Charlotte’s Bachelorette weekend was the perfect thing to capture and would make an excellent gift for the bride to be!!  Over the years I have used a lot of different photo sharing sites, so at one point I had also used Kodak Gallery as well.  I was so impressed with all the improvements that they made since the last time I visited!   My favorite new feature was definitely the “Group Albums” feature.  Instead of visiting friends Facebook pages, or begging them to send you photos, you can now send them a link and everyone can now directly upload to a Group Album!  

This feature was awesome since for several of the events I didn’t take photos, so the other ladies were awesome enough to contribute their fun photos.  Selecting the photos to use is a snap, a lot easier than I remember in the past.  The Photobook wizard is so easy, you simply select a page layout and drag pictures on to the pages.  They even have a feature that will auto create an album from the pictures that you select.       

Some layouts have spaces for you to add text which is always nice to jot down things like time, date or comments about the memory.  In the past I have also used the text fields for people to write messages to the photobook recipients.  The possibilities are endless on what you can create.   

Making these books is so easy, with all the prompts and helpful messages Kodak ensures that your book will come out great.  Some of the pics I had were such low resolution that when I tried to drop them in, I got a warning saying the quality might be poor.  Simply change the layout or drop the pic into a smaller spot!

Scrapbooking is out (although I still have boxes of supplies) and photobooks are seriously the new way to go.  This took me about 90 minutes to put together, but judging by the other photobooks I have made, it is time well invested.  These make such nice gifts as well as a nice way to capture your own memories.  The thing I love best about these is that they are so compact compared to keeping boxes of photos or huge scrapbook albums.  Sorry I was not able to show you pics of the real photobook, I had it directly shipped to the bride.  (I have issues with going to the post office, when she visited she finally got her birthday present that I’ve had since October.  Horrible I know…) 

Kodak Gallery is offering all you 40% off a medium hardcover or a large photobook!!  To take advantage of this awesome offer go to www.kodakgallery.com/creativity to redeem.  Do it quickly this offer is only available till 8/31/11.  Get all those awesome summer memories capture in a photobook that you can look through again and again.  

Disclosure – As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a free Kodak Gallery Photo Book.  The opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

Roasted Peaches with Goat Cheese Mousse

This was the super delicious and amazingly quick dessert that I made at my goat cheese dinner party!  As you may remember we started with a simple salad with strawberries, almonds, avocado and goat cheese.  Then we moved on to our main dish, Bacon Goat Cheese Gnocchi.  Since this “dinner party” was planned only a day before, I kept everything super simple.  This dessert was so good and literally only takes minutes of prep allowing you to spend time with your guests. 

   

Roasted Peaches with Goat Cheese Mousse

3-4 white peaches or white nectarines, quartered
3 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
4 oz. fresh goat cheese, room temperature
2-3 Tbsp. half and half (or whipping cream)
Honey
Balsamic Fig reduction, optional
Mint, optional

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Wash and cut fruit.  Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger in a bowl.

2.  Dip cut pieces of fruit into the brown sugar mixture and place on cookie sheet or in baking pan. *I lined with foil for super easy clean up!!*

3.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until fruit is fork tender and juices start to run out. 

4.  Place soft goat cheese in a bowl and add the half and half to the bowl.  Using a fork, whip the two ingredients until combine.  *Add more half and half if you would like a lighter consistency*

5.  Serve warm fruit with a dollop of goat cheese mousse and drizzle with honey.  Garnish with Balsamic Fig reduction and mint!  *Balsamic Fig reduction sauce is possibly the best thing that I bought myself this month!!*  

Seriously, this dessert is soooo good!  If you are grilling, pop those peaches on the grill!  My dinner guest loved it and literally couldn’t believe that it only took me 5 minutes to prep in the kitchen while they were relaxing.  And, if you have any left overs the roasted fruit was super yummy the next morning on my yogurt! 

Bacon Goat Cheese Gnocchi

One day I found myself with an absurd amount of goat cheese in my fridge.  All of a sudden I had about 5 different types of goat cheese!  Though I loooooove me some goat cheese I kinda had the feeling that I should not attempt to eat all this cheesy goodness alone.  Welcome the goat cheese dinner party!  I invited two of my friends over and we had three courses all with goat cheese as an ingredient. 

This was super fun, it forced me to try to be creative and use goat cheese in new ways.  I’ll share the recipe for two of the courses with you.  The first course was just a simple salad with goat cheese crumbles, strawberries, arugula, sliced almonds, and avocado with a ponzu dressing.  Here is what we had as our main course.  This is an excellent weeknight meal since this dinner probably all came together in about 20 minutes!     

Bacon Goat Cheese Gnocchi

4-6 strips of bacon (depending on thickness)
1 pkg gnocchi (I loved the one from Trader Joes)
1 1/2 cup mini heirloom tomatoes
1/2 cup pasta water
3 oz. fresh soft goat cheese
2 Tbsp. pesto
olive oil
sea salt
pepper

1.  Cut tomatoes in half and season well with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with olive oil and let them sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2.  Crisp up bacon, cut into small pieces and set aside.  Drain bacon grease from pan and reserve 1 Tbsp. for later. 

3.  Prepare gnocchi as directed on the package (boil in salted water until they float).  Remove 1/2 cup of pasta water from the pot and drain gnocchi.  Add gnocchi to the pan with the bacon grease and slightly brown the gnocchi.  *I wanted to do this since I kinda like the gnocchi with a slight crisp to it*

4.  In a large bowl add pasta water, browned gnocchi, marinated tomatoes, and goat cheese.  Mix well until the goat cheese melts and creates a sauce that coats the gnocchi.  Drizzle pesto and sprinkle bacon bits.

I like to serve this up with some red chili pepper flakes to give it a little bit of heat.  This is just the right amount of creamy and tangy with out being too rich.   

Maple Apple Bacon Baked French Toast

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that my college roommate came back to Los Angeles to have her bachelorette party!  I hosted her shower at my apartment and we did an around the world themed potluck.  The bride to be is Korean and originally from Los Angeles.  When she got engaged she moved out to North Carolina with her fiancé since he decided to go back to school to become a physicians assistant.   All of the guests were assigned one of the following locations for their contribution: Los Angeles, Korea, North Carolina, and Spain (the brides favorite vacation destination).  We made cute little flags to put in each dish to designate the location inspiration.    Here is a pic of the lovely bride to be, about to start one of our shower games!   

Besides our cute little food flags, I also made each guest a passport booklet complete with a fake VISA for our bride and pictures from each location.  We also included a "How well do you know the Bride” quiz game in the booklet which had random, cute and embarrassing questions about her.  And for our prize…. The guests won a trip to Croatia!!  Well not really, she got a travel guidebook about Croatia, to inspire her for her next vacation.  Other guests won exciting “trips” to other exotic locations as well…   

For the food I got assigned Spain and North Carolina, luckily I had bookmarked this recipe months ago and I had patiently been waiting for the perfect opportunity to make it.  (Making even a half recipe for just myself seemed a little gluttonous)  Kitchen Runway  had made this as part of the Kings Hawaiian Tastemaker Program and thank goodness she got chosen, cause this recipe is seriously no joke.  I made a few changes and lightened it up a bit and no one even noticed- it’s that good!!!

Thanks to A, who provided so much help hosting!  She assembled all the flags and helped me prep the day before and that morning.   

Maple Apple Bacon Baked French Toast
adapted from Kitchen Runway

21 Kings Hawaiian Rolls (2 packages)
12 oz. Maple Bacon
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cayenne
1 large Fuji apple, peeled quartered and sliced
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
8 large eggs
2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup half and half
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Topping
8 slices maple bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. milk

1.  Cut and quarter the Kings Hawaiian rolls.  *You can let them sit out while you prep the rest of the ingredients, letting them dry out a little.*

2.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Mix brown sugar and cayenne in a small bowl.  Lay out bacon in a single layer and sprinkle the brown sugar over the bacon.  Bake for 35 minutes, or until bacon is done.  Carefully remove from oven and let the bacon cool and then crumble.  *I really liked candying the bacon- the little bit of heat the cayenne added was well liked by the shower guests too.*

3.  Place the sliced apples in a bowl and add maple syrup.  Toss so sliced are evenly coated and set aside. 

4.  In a large bowl mix together eggs, milk, half and half, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt.  Mix until well combined.

5.  Grease a 9x13 pan with butter and create the first layer by laying down the quartered Kings Hawaiian rolls.  Cover the bread with 1/2 of the egg mixture. 

6.  Toss the remaining bread into the egg mixture.  Create a second layer in the pan by laying down the apple slices and  sprinkling the bacon over it. 

7.  Gently place the egg soaked bread pieces in the pan as your last layer.  If you have any left over egg mixture pour into the pan.  Cover the baking dish with foil and place into the refrigerator to let it rest overnight. 

8.  In the morning preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 60 minutes until the bread is golden and puffy.  *Tent foil over the dish if you feel it is browning too quickly, I did this when there was 20 minutes left to go.*

Topping

1.  Cook the bacon and crumble for topping.  *I did this one in the microwave since I was lazy.*

2.  In a small bowl whisk together milk, maple syrup and powdered sugar. 

Once you remove the French Toast from the oven, sprinkle with bacon and drizzle the maple mixture evenly over the entire baking dish.  Serve with additional drizzle or maple syrup, but this is so jam packed with flavor that none of the shower guest even need it!! 

This was so good and the hit of the shower!  And as a bonus, this keeps well in the fridge and heated up so nicely the next day for left over breakfast!  Thanks to Belle and Kim who sent me some pics, I was so busy with the cooking and hosting that I didn’t charge my camera!  The shower was so much fun, such a great bunch of girls and everyone brought amazing yummy dishes.  We of course ended the shower on a high note with a “naughty” cake.  We made the Bride to be put on the blindfold again and brought it out and boy was she surprised.  Not sure if people would be offended if I posted pics (or if my mom would faint if she saw it) so you can look at Jamaica's Cakes to see what we got.  Although each girl may or may not have taken at least 5 pictures of the cake.  Best cake ever- for the fun factor and the flavor, champagne cake with a raspberry mousse… How could we go wrong?! 

Perfect Weekend, Unique LA

Sometimes you have a weekend that just makes you smile from ear to ear.  Hanging out with friends, discovering great new eats, sharing in laughs over drinks and enjoying what summer has to offer.  Last weekend was one of those magical weekends for me.  I want to do a recap of Unique LA for you, but here are some other fun pics from the weekend. 

Dear LA, sometimes I <3 you…

On Saturday I went to Unique LA, a craft fair of sorts with products all made in Los Angeles or by US designers!  There was jewelry, food, art, clothing, soaps, DIY work stations, FREE BEER!!  literally something for everyone!!

First Stop:  Food Trucks!!  We had some bites from Flying Pig, Naan Stop, The Grilled Cheese Truck and Crème Caramel LA!  

Delish pork belly buns and duck tacos from Flying Pig!

MC eating the Mac and Cheese Grilled Cheese!  We also had the Brie, fig, roasted turkey and almond sandwich and the Smores (Nutella, graham and marshmallow) dessert sandwich from the Grilled Cheese Truck. 

And most excitingly…. The Caramelized Spam Bread Pudding from Crème Caramel LA!  Don’t be jealous, this was a “secret” menu item that I found out about from their Facebook page.  You may remember that I tried to taste them at Eat Real Fest, Kristine from Crème Caramel contacted me and assured me they would have lots this time.  It was worth the wait!  Since I am a Hawaii girl I liked the spam, my friends all gravitated towards the bacon version instead.  I wanted to get another one for the road, but my friend reminded me that “healthy eating starts on Monday”….

On to the fun stuff.. Shopping!!

Fascinators, headbands and hats from Pooka Queen!

Adorable Angry Birds cake toppers!

Check this sexy dress I got from the lovely ladies at Future Standard!
 (Image from Future Standard website)

I got these earrings from Seapony Couture!  Well mine have bits of white chain at the bottom too, cause I’m fun like that.
(Imagine from Seapony Couture)

We all bought something from Cast Iron Gourmet!  Their bacon, bacon crack, bacon chutney… Mmmm all pure evil genius!  Did I mention they have lamb and duck bacon too? 

Of course we had to have some Photo Booth fun!! 

I also managed to visit an Obon festival in Little Tokyo.  Obon is a Buddhist festival held in July to honor your ancestors, for more info you can read here.  Growing up Obon was all about the Bon Dance and Japanese treats that they would sell there!  I love looking at the lanterns lit up at night, the smell of dango and teriyaki chicken in the air and the sound of the taiko drums filling the night. 

Oh and did I mention the BINGO games?? 

Unfortunately I did not win a single game of Bingo.  The cutest old Japanese lady won the big jackpot!  Cash and a gift certificate to Mr. Ramen, I’m sure that made her week!

I’ve sorta veered from my healthy eating (as you can probably tell)… BUT- I’m making an effort to get back on track with the healthier eating and I am starting a new bootcamp class tomorrow morning!  Why I want to work out at 6:30 in the morning is beyond me, but I signed up to do bootcamp three times a week.  Please pray that this new trainer does not make me run (I hate running) and that I make it through the class.  Eek!  What do you all do to keep in shape?