My name is mylunchanddinner….

and I am an eat-a-holic. I am sad and embarrassed. It was not long ago that I told you about my need for an urgent diet plan to loose some 9 pounds because of a wedding that I have to go to. I have lost 1 pound since, which is far from the so needed goal.

I can’t go further than three days with my diet. It’s shameful.  Last week, I managed to work for almost two days… we then had a birthday party and celebrated with our Mexican friends eating tacos! They were exquisite, made with flour tortillas, Palmito cheese (the closest to the Oaxacan cheese almost every Mexican loves) and Chilorio. Chilorio is pork meat seasoned with different kind of non-hot chile which is really good. Since we can’t get fresh chilorio, we all bring it from Mexico. The brand is La Chata, if you ever see it, get it! You’ll love it!!  They way in which they prepared everything was really good.

from: http://www.supertogo.com/
and: http://www.bedri.es/

Then on Wednesday, I was not feeling well, so I decided not to cook any complicated meal. I prepared my Mexitalian pasta. It was delicious with the tasty tomato sauce and the delicious cheese. Then for dinner, I was craving fat and salt , so I convinced Hubby to order some pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hot. It was great… a crispy base with even crispier pepperoni which tasted to my sick persona so good that I ate four slices. Don’t worry that much, it was a small pizza.

from: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/

I proceeded to continue with my diet then. I now lasted for three and a half days. On Sunday we went to a new place which I will tell you all about in my next post. I decided to order fish and chips… NO please nice waitress, I’d like to change it for a fresh tuna salad. “Mmmm, I wouldn’t recommend it,” she said, “it comes as if the tuna was canned and is kind of disgusting.” Ok… bring the fish and chips then… I made myself feel better thinking that I had good intentions. Needless to say, the plate was really good. Specially the chips, but as you know I’ve got something with potatoes.

© mylunchanddinner

Ok… I’ll go back to my diet. “Wait did you see that truck?” I asked Hubby as he was driving. “There is a new sandwich at subway!!” It looked so good… buffalo chicken. I love buffalo chicken! Damn it! “Can we go have dinner there?” Nooooooo! was the answer I received. Ok… I we won’t. I was sad though, so I made myself a ham-cheese-sausage sandwich which I ate with a bag of lemon-salt green plantains. As if not enough, I had two oreos as dessert.

Monday morning, I weight my self… 116 pounds. Now, I know you all must think that is not too much. You have to consider though that I am only 5′ 1, and I used to weight about 100 before I got married. I was still a foodie then, but I had a far faster metabolism. I really don’t want to be a 100 lbs again, but I do want my clothes to fit, and not only wear 2 pairs of jeans which will get holes soon for being washed so often.

I am definitely following the diet plan this week! I have only managed to loose 1 pound and it must be for exercising. I now managed to follow the diet for 2.5 days. Then I went to have lunch with my friend. We went to the jewish restaurant, Little Israel. I was starving by the time we got there, and they serve the best Pita bread I have ever eaten when you just sit at the table. I only had a small piece of bread… ok that is a lie, I had about 5 pieces of bread. Now I was thinking, I already broke the plan, let’s go to subway… Hubby gave me the same answer.

Finally, last night, Hubby came home from work. He was tired, and yet he was planning to go out to buy tickets for the avengers movie. I don’t love the movie, but like it enough to watch it. “Ok, I’ll go with you to get the tickets and watch the movie only if… we go to subway after.” He said it was fine, and of we went.

From: http://www.buffalochicken.com/

The buffalo chicken sub was just what I had imagined, in flavor, for it didn’t look at all as the photo. It was juicy, tasty, delicious. The buffalo sauce was between hot and with that vinegary taste that makes it special. I am breaking the plan aren’t I? I thought. “Yes Miss, I want it with a combo, please give me some Doritos”. Hubby asked me what I wanted to drink… a regular coke, there is not much to care anymore.

© mylunchanddinner 2012

Today’s yummy breakfast

© mylunchanddinner

I’ve been thinking about eating pancakes for a couple of weeks now. I was wishing to make some carrot-cake pancakes, but I thought it would be a lot of work. So instead I went forward with a recipe of a cook who I think never goes wrong: Nigella Lawson. I announced my idea to Hubby on Friday night as we were going out for dinner. He looked really excited about it. In fact, yesterday it was all he could think of. He even said a bunch of times… oh we are having pancakes for breakfast tomorrow!!

Today I woke kind of late. I got up and went to the TV room in the hopes my husband would be up soon as well. I watched a few shows before he came walking in with what I like to call a crazy hairdo. I immediately ran to the kitchen and got the ingredients ready… flower, baking soda, sugar, salt, eggs, milk and butter. After whisking everything carefully following Nigella’s instructions, I placed two pans on the stove and waited for them to get to the right temperature.

It didn’t take long before I was cooking the pancakes. Unfortunately, the heat was to high so the butter I was using to fry the cakes started burning and producing a heavy smoke. Hubby arrived worried… are you burning the kitchen he asked? We laughed together at the sight of the smoke, and then finished the cakes together. When we were done cooking, I made a strawberry-banana milkshake and Hubby fried some sausage and ham.

We finally sat and ate our super delicious breakfast! The pancakes were really delicious, fluffy and tasty. We added honey and maple syrup for a better taste.  My sausage was not to fried, but it’s flavor was enhanced by the heating. Tasting the sausage at the same time as the pancakes gave it an extra super special flavor.  All in all, this pancakes are really tasty, plus they are really easy to make.  Of course, if you are the lazy kind and prefer to get a box, this would be too much work, but I’m telling you it’s totally worth it! For the recipe go to Nigella’s.

The milkshake was really good too! I loved the taste and the sweetness was just on the right level… if you want to prepare one here is what I used…

Strawberry-banana Milkshake

What you’ll need,

12 large strawberries cleaned

1 large ripe banana

400 mL (13.5 oz.)of 2% milk

How to do it,

After removing the stems from the strawberries, toss them inside the blender with the ripe banana, add the milk, and blend. If too thick add a bit more milk.  For an extra delicious taste add two tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa.

Give all this a try and enjoy!!

© mylunchanddinner 2012

Mexitalian fusilli

© mylunchanddinner

Lately I’ve been kind of lazy.  Perhaps is the proximity of my spring break. Maybe I’m just plain lazy…I was wondering what to have for lunch yesterday. I didn’t feel like cooking much, so I just looked around the pantry and fridge to see what I had. I discovered some fusilli which I had left from the first week of the Jamie Oliver Challenge, half a pack of tomato sauce and feta cheese. I decided to make some pasta adding a Mexican touch, so I went to get some of my jalapeño peppers as well. Additionally, I felt like eating some turkey sausage so I grabbed it as well.

I started cutting and working on a super delicious lunch (says me, but am I a good judge for my own food? mmmm, I do accept when something comes out completely wrong). I was really satisfied with the look of it at the end. The reddness of the sauce made the plate inviting, and the smell… oh the smell! I immediately took a photo because I felt like sharing this new invention. Then, I grabbed my  plate and sat in front of the TV to have my yummy pasta. It turned out to be delicious!! The tomato sauce and feta cheese had almost blended to make a light red sauce. The added italian spices gave it a nice touch. The jalapeño peppers were still crunchy so they added flavor and texture. And the sausage… well it added up to all the goodies I added…

Here’s the recipe…

© mylunchanddinner

What you’ll need:

1/2 medium onion chopped

125 mL (4 oz) tomato sauce

half jalapeño pepper chopped

70 g (2.5 oz) feta cheese in small chunks

1 turkey sausage sliced

2 table spoons olive oil

salt and pepper

dash of basil, oregano and thyme

1/4 teaspoon of Maggi sauce (or any kind of meat sauce)

OMG! almost forgetting!!!

100 g (3.5 oz) of fusilli pasta (or any kind you like)

Hot to play,

1. Cook the pasta as specified in the pack or until al dente

2. While your pasta is getting cooked prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3. Once the pasta is done, drain the water, keeping some of it in case your sauce is too thick, and live the pasta on the drainer.

4. On a hot pan, add the oil and immediately the onions. Cook until transparent. Add the sausage and stir until slightly browned. Incorporate the chopped jalapeño pepper and stir for a minute or two. Add the tomato sauce and cheese and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste and a dash of the other spices.

5. Toss the pasta in the pan and mix well. Add a little of the cooking water if you think your sauce is too heave.

6. Serve, add some freshly grated parmesan and enjoy!

If you like it, please tell me about it!!

© mylunchanddinner 2012