Hannah and Jacob love really, really strong coffee. We ditched our Keurig a while back because it wasn’t unusual for them to drink 5 or more k-cups EACH. So we went back to using a carafe and it’s been working great. Jacob and I each fill up a Contigo travel mug, Hannah drinks the remainder of the pot during the day, and they will make a second pot after dinner. Oh, and they still go to Starbuck’s every other day. They love their coffee!
But yesterday the coffee was really strong. I drank it anyway, because – well, it was cold outside.
I felt sick to my stomach and the thought of eating anything was not appealing at all. I think it was just the super strong coffee?? Around 11 I felt a lot better, and ate this Weight Watcher protein bar – OMG, so good! Tastes like a snickers to me, but with rice krispies. 3 points for “breakfast.”
I was on my own for walking, but it was really crappy outside. I walked over to my favorite place The Chopping Block. I needed to get some Malden sea salt for my steaks I am cooking for Cooking Club tonight. Just like when I worked there, I touched everything. A girl that worked there was like “can I help you?” Nope – I just like to touch all the things – thanks 😀
It started to really rain so I jumped into the State of Illinois building because I can use the underground pedway to get to my office. I brought the leftovers from Hannah’s sesame chicken for lunch, just added some zucchini – she posted the recipe for both the sesame chicken and the egg foo young on her Instagram – you can find her and follow her at hannahfindinghealth there.
I walked through the food court on the way back to my building and saw that City Rock Korean Kitchen had bone broth and I thought that would be a good accessory to my lunch – but it was actually the “soup of the day” which wasn’t bone broth. For $3 I got bean sprout soup – sounds weird, but it was delicious. I asked to add spinach to it, and while the broth was delicious, I didn’t actually eat any of the bean sprouts – they were a bit too wilty for me.
I had to work late so didn’t get off the train until 7:30 and went straight to The Fresh Market to buy filet mignon and shrimp for Cooking Club tonight. I am making my version of surf and turf – I am going to be doing the filet in a cast iron skillet and then finishing it off in the oven, and instead of making hot shrimp scampi, I made shrimp cocktail to go over the top of the filet and then made a compound butter to drizzle over the top. In my head it turns out good!
While I was at Fresh Market I picked up store bought pizza dough – new brand to me called Wewalka – apparently you can buy this at Walmart too – I also had about a dozen people message me that they make puff pastry too – so I’ll need to find that. It was not bad! I mean, I do like my homemade pizza better because of the nooks and crannies, but this was tasty – 1/4 of the pizza dough is only 4 points, so with my turkey pepperoni and lite mozzarella, 1/4 of the pizza was 6 points.
I first posted this shrimp cocktail recipe back in 2009! The secret is to cook it to 165 degrees, and then let it sit for a minute before shocking it in an ice bath. The shrimp is just so meaty when cooked this way and it doesn’t matter what size shrimp you use.
And there my friends is the best scampi butter – one stick of butter, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 1/3 cup parsley, salt, pepper – just whirl in a food processor. I used softened butter so it would whip together, then I let it firm up in the fridge last night. This morning I put it in parchment paper into a log to slice up to go on top of the steak when it comes out of the oven.
And yes, we did get another dusting of snow. On April 19. I have a feeling we are never going to have spring this year. Makes me so sad! But, it’s sunny out, so I’ve got that going for me.
Come back tomorrow for a recap of our Cooking Club – it’s the last one of the season! Can’t believe in August it will be the beginning of our 4th year cooking together!
Happy Thursday my friends, midwest peeps – stay warm! Make it a great day!
Coffee can cause a tummy ache for sure. I think it comes from all the acid. I love my coffee too but cut way back since I am trying to get healthy once and for all. I am 55 now and want to check weight loss off my list of things to accomplish. I see many pizza recipes here & since I am gluten-free and wonder if you recommend any doughs that are GF.
Girl, I have the best gluten free pizza! Here is the link: http://www.mybizzykitchen.com/2016/01/18/the-best-gluten-free-pizza/
Bizzy let me start off by saying, I love your blog. The way you write, so down to earth, makes me laugh out loud. I do have a request for you though. I went to get Hannah’s recipes for Sesame Chicken and the Mushroom Egg Foo Yong. Could not get them without joining. Any possibility of you posting them on your blog also?. I am trying so hard to lose weight and your approach is refreshing and motivating for sure. I am getting as old as dirt and if I do make my weight goal, good for me, if I don’t, at least I know I have tried. It is hard to stick to a plan though.. I live in Ohio and we have had snow also for the past couple of days. This weekend is supposed to be warmer, so it will be coming your way. Thanks for all you do and have a great weekend.
Thank you so much Judy! I will email you the screen shots of Hannah’s recipes. I feel you on the weather – it’s the longest midwest winter ever!
Hanna’s meals look good. Did she eat the chicken? I have an awesome chicken chow mein recipe( its Cook’s country), she’d probably really like it. Let me know if you want it.
No, she did not eat the chicken 😀 She is an amazing cook – so proud of her!
So I’m guessing you don’t want to hear it was 88 degrees here and sunny. Can’t wait to hear about cooking club I always view those post a few times to marvel at the incredible dishes you ladies make. I like strong coffee too. I’m not sure if strong is the best word but I prefer a dark roast over almost any.
We had a dusting of snow on the mountain tops here in Santa Barbara this morning! (It was raining when I woke up to go swim.) By the time I dropped the kids off at school at 8:30, most had melted. I think I could see a tiny patch left.
It is snowing here in Buffalo as I type, we are also so over it. Does Hannah have a blog or just instagram? I am not on any social media but would love to keep up with her other ways if possible. I also loved hearing how much coffee they drink, I have been known to have 5 cup day on the keurig and I am glad to know I am not alone. I actually asked for a keurig for my desk at work for Christmas, probably the best and worst decision I made…..
Hi Biz – can’t wait to hear about Cooking club! We had almost 8 inches of snow(on top of the 6 we still had left from the weekend!) – miserable ride home last night! It was beautiful to look at this morning, but everyone is tired of it! People are half-assed cleaning it up and just going to wait for it to melt…hopefully by Sunday! Sun and 40 today – woohoo! I think it was the last gasp and we’ll finally be talking about Spring next week!!