Cooking: Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken

From some of the ingrediants I got at this weekend's trek to the farmer's market, I cooked a Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken recipe from rasamalaysia.com. I think I've become obsessed with getting this recipe so it tastes the same as latest and favorite Vietnamese restaurant. It's harder than you think. The first time I tried it, the chicken was bland and didn't taste anything like lemongrass. This time chicken turned out really yellow (from the tumeric in the impromtu curry powder I made). The sauce isn't even close either! I know the chicken at the restaurant is grilled but the recipe said to stir-fry it and also didn't call for it to be marinated. At the very least it's a pretty easy weeknight recipe and doesn't taste bad. Anyway.. back on the hunt for recipes. Well.. after I finish eating :)

Farmer's Market & Paula

Today my sister and I went to Campbell's farmer's market which is supposedly the biggest in the area. We purused the stalls for ingrediants to make salsa & some lemongrass chicken. My sister ended up getting some heirloom tomatoes, cilantro and limes while I was only able to find garlic, green onions and shallots. It was still fun to look at the variety of specialty foods such as oysters and parmesan twists which were delectable.

After the farmer's market, we met up with one of my friends, Paula, that I haven't seen since college. We went to one of my favorite restaurants called Nam Vang which specializes in Cambodian noodles. I wanted them to experience my favorite noodles, so I ordered on their behalf which was simply a small #1. It consists of "dry" noodles, with some sauce, a variety of meats including liver and heart and a side of pork bone soup.

After a late lunch we went over to Valley Fair so I could return some Laura Mercier tinted moisterizer and to hang out at the wine bar in Santana Row. It was super chill and relaxed which is exactly what I needed after a crazy Friday night. I'm glad I got to reconnect with an old friend on a nice Sunday afternoon.

Cards Blog Challenge: Pinwheels

Here's a pinwheel card I made for this week's Cards Blog Challenge. I didn't want to make a typical pinwheel so I googled how to make different kinds and settled on this style. I used Stampin Up's large tag punch and folded it so it resembled an origami style petal. Unfortunately it doesn't spin but I may make another one that will.

Awesome Care Package From Bri

It was just another day at work when I received a package from Bri. It actually arrived two weeks ago at my house but it was sent back to her since I wasn't home to sign for it. I felt really bad about it because it must've cost a lot to resend it but I am SOOO grateful she did.

Here's what I got.

- A bird pen which I'll use at work.

- A cute little tote which held all the goodies.

- Some fabric tape. When I saw this I literally gasped outloud because I've been wanting to use this stuff on my cards!

- A few very cute stamps which have actually renewed my inspiration for cardmaking.

- A couple packages of cute fabric flowers.

- A lovely handmade card :)

- A green tea face mask which I may try out tonight!

- One of THE necklaces that I've been wanting for a very long time. When I saw it I screamed haha.

- Some apple candy which I gave to Justyn.

- A swirley black frame.

Bri... words cannot begin to express how thankful I am to have you as a friend and to get this amazing package. Thank you sooo much! It totally brightened my day. You better brace yourself for what you're gonna get! I'm gonna go balls to the walls out on it hehe.

Smoke Eaters & SJ Giants

It's been a while since Justyn and I last went out on a random week night but we got free SJ Giants tickets from his mom so we decided to take Kris & my sister to go see the game. Before the game we stopped at Smoke Eaters for dinner. Between Kris & Justyn, they got three types of the hottest wings. I tasted each of the sauce with some celery and by the end of it, my mouth was on fire. Luckily I had some soda to put out the flames. They wolfed those wings down like it was nothing. From what I've seen on Man vs. Food, these wings can get super hot so I was amazed that they ate the wings like they jellybeans. My grilled chicken (California) burger was less that spectacular. I found it bland but that might've been because I had the beginning stages of a cold.

After dinner, I met up with my sister and we sat down for an "intense" game. The SJ Giants were playing the Stockton Plots (I think). Stockton ended up scoring 3 points in the 8th inning so we left early but it was fun hanging out and bull shitting. We ended up doing that more than actually watching the game.

Cooking: Cowboy Spaghetti

I made this dish a long time for some friends and they really liked it. This is one of the few recipes that I've made from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals but today I changed it up by substituting healthier ingrediants.

Her recipe calls for ground beef, cheddar cheese, spaghetti and bacon. I used ground turkey, reduced fat cheddar, whole wheat spaghetti & turkey bacon.

Justyn took one bite and said "YUM!". He rarely lets me know how my cooking is until I ask him so I know that he likes it.

Recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/cowboy-spaghetti-recipe/index.html

Cards Blog Challenge: Monochromatic Card

I did a monochromatic window card a few weeks ago and I didn't want to use white on this card. For some reason blue jumped out as the perfect color to use so I went with an oceany/sea theme. I kept it pretty simple since I haven't been as inspired as I have been in the past but hopefully Paige likes it!