Pineapple Mango Roasted Salsa

I can’t believe it’s February already!   I think just one more month and we’ll start to get some better weather.  We probably got about 4 inches of snow overnight, even after I got home at 2:00 a.m. from the restaurant!   Our grill looks so sad all covered in snow.

Yesterday morning I made myself an egg white, baby spinach, Swiss cheese and ham omelet with a high fiber English muffin on the side.

Since it was a rest day for me, I decided to run a couple errands.  I had to pick up some coffee creamer for the office, so I stopped at Mariano’s.  I saw this car in the parking lot – maybe if I was Italian I would call for this cab?

I drooled over the donut selection – but didn’t pick one up for me OR Tony.  Go us!

I try to have a lunch on the bigger side on the nights I work at the restaurant, because you never know how busy it’s going to get.  I ate this around 1:30 – two chicken tacos with spinach and roasted pineapple and mango salsa, refried beans and some veggies for dipping.

Over  the weekend I had every intention of grilling salsa.  Tomatoes were cheap and even though I had to shovel and scrape off snow on the gas grill, AND it was only 10 degrees, there is nothing like the flavor of the charred veggies I can get from the grill.  It lit up just fine, I came back in the house to gather my stuff, only to realize . . . the propane was out.  Nooo!!  In the summer time we always have a backup, but didn’t this time.  I still wanted to make salsa, so I ended up making this under the broiler. 

Pineapple Mango Roasted Salsa

• 2 pounds of tomatoes
• 10 garlic cloves
• 3 limes
• 2 poblano peppers
• 2 banana peppers
• 2 jalapenos (keep one raw)
• 1 cup cilantro
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pineapple
• 1/2 cup mango (leave raw)

Heat broiler to high.  On a parchment lined cookie sheet, put all the veggies on the sheet and cook until charred.  This took me about 15 minutes in my oven – flipping once.  The peppers charred a lot faster than the tomatoes, and for whatever reason, I couldn’t get more of a char on the tomatoes than I did.  I also had to do it in batches, because I didn’t have any room for the pineapple the first time around.

I lucked out on the mangos – my store sold a package of 4 mangos for only $1.29!

Once the veggies are cooled a bit, throw everything in the food processor.  I roasted one jalapeno, then kept one raw to throw in for some extra heat.  This was a perfect balance of sweet and heat.  Upon first bite, you get the pineapple and mango, and then the heat catches up to you.  I brought some to the restaurant last week and everyone loved it, and I sent some to my step-daughter in law – my last batch of salsa I sent to her she said wasn’t hot enough, but I still like flavorful spicy, so hopefully she’ll like it.

As usual, Friday afternoon at the office dragged.  When I got to the restaurant, I saw that I was assigned to the bar.  I don’t mind working the bar area – there are 11 tables in there, but you never know if people are just going to be having cocktails, appetizers, or what – and it means that I have to work until close, which is 1:00.  After resetting tables, I didn’t get home until 2:00 a.m. but I made $345 and after tipping out, walked home with $290.  Not too shabby!   So last night I averaged $43 an hour – not bad for a part time job.  It went by really fast too since I was busy.  There were a few moments when “I was in the weeds” but I got my act together.  I love the beer glasses – they are shaped like beer cans.

So I was driving home, at 1:30 in the morning I always worry about drunk drivers, so I am super aware, and try to drive with my brights on as much as I can.  I turned down a street taking the back roads home and saw a family of deer – check out their eyes!  And the funny part was that they were walking down the sidewalk, like just taking an evening stroll!

I have to give a shout out to blog reader Laura (Docklady!) – I love my snowman mug!  I finally remembered to bring it to work this week.   I love it!  It just makes me happy looking at it.

And while I have an arm band for my iPod when I work out, I now use my iPhone, and when I work out without a pocket in my jacket or pants, it gets in the way while I am trying to work out in the morning.  I was at Walgreen’s picking up my insulin when I saw this on an end cap – normally $12.99, on sale for $9.99 and I had earned $5 in reward points, so it ended up costing me $4.99.

First of all, it’s blue, which is my favorite color.  And second – it fits perfectly on the side of my arm – I can still use the phone even beneath the clear film and I barely notice it’s there.  And those yurbud head phones I got from Balance Bar?  They are amazeballs – best fitting ear buds I’ve ever had.  I believe they sell starting at $19.99 and totally worth it if your ear buds are always popping out while working out like mine did.

So, I didn’t get to bed until nearly 3:00 last night – that’s what is so strange, you’d think that I would be dead tired working all day and night, but it takes me a while to unwind.  I ended up having a cup of cream of broccoli soup for “dinner” then later two pieces of pizza the chef made later in the night.  I had a few triscuits with port wine cheese when I got home so I wouldn’t wake up starving to death.

I also decided I wanted to get the fitbit like Andrea has.  I am going to use one of the gift cards my bosses gave me – I think they sell them at Best Buy.  I am curious to see how many steps I take in an 8 hour shift at the restaurant!

Stats for the Day:

• 1533 calories, 80 fat, 131 carbs, 89 protein and 26 fiber
• 32% of calories from carbs, 45% from fat and 22% from protein
• no exercise – rest day

So what are your plans for the Super Bowl?  This is Tony’s favorite and worst day of the year – favorite because it’s the Super Bowl, but the saddest because it’s a long stretch before baseball starts (we are not hockey are basketball fans) and the count down begins until football starts again.  We are actually going to have King Crab legs – and something that Tony loves – fried chicken gizzards!  Yep, you read that correctly.  Today they soak in buttermilk like you would fried chicken.  Do you like chicken gizzards??!! 

Alright, time to get some laundry done and shovel before heading out to work tonight – I hope the snow doesn’t deter people too much!  My only saving grace is that since I worked the bar last night, I will be in the dining room tonight, so hopefully I’ll get home at a decent hour.

Have a great weekend!  See you Monday.