While it was cold outside, the sun was shining which I desperately crave this time of year.  I was reading the Chicago Tribune this morning and they were talking about snow fall totals for the month of February – turns out historically Chicago gets 39 inches of snow in February!  So I decided to warm  up my breakfast with jalapenos!  One slice sourdough bread, 1 Pam fried egg, 1/2 ounce of cheddar cheese and sliced jalapenos:

After cleaning up the kitchen, Tony and I headed to the Japanese grocery store.  I love this place.  So much to see and touch!

lots of whole fish!
huge squid!

And some products are just plain interesting!  Check out this can:

I just think its funny that its a woman on the hood of a car!

But Maggie will be happy I picked this up!

Tony and I were watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives last week and they showed a New York deli with corned beef.  We both looked at each other and said “Siegelman’s!” I actually think my friend Mara and her husband are going there for lunch today!

I don’t even know why I bother to look at the menu, because I always get the Irving.  Open faced corned beef sandwich with sauerkraut and melted Swiss cheese.  But this made me laugh!

Lucikly, I have a great MIL! 😀

The corned beef is so tender – I’ve always hated getting Reuben sandwiches and you have to wrestle with tough corned beef.

I got home and did my menu planning and hit up the grocery store – probably the busiest I’ve ever seen it!  We have some great things on the menu this week:

  • short ribs with celery root puree
  • spinach and cheese stuffed manicotti with Italian sausage
  • balsamic glazed pork chops with mashed potatoes
  • broccoli macaroni and cheese
  • short rib grilled cheese sammies and soup
  • PIZZA!

Last night I made homemade sloppy joes.   I hated sloppy joes growing up – it was just way too sweet for me.  I love this simple version though!  I adapted it from Rachael Ray.

Biz’s Version of Sloppy Joes

  • 1.25 pounds ground sirloin
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 cups tomato sauce

In a large skillet, brown ground sirloin.  Combine the brown sugar and McCormick seasoning.  Add to meat and combine well.  Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.  Add vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Hannah, my non-meat eater, loves these sloppy joes!  I of course, added sliced jalapeno peppers to mine and some hot sauce! 😀

this takes literally 15 minutes to make - so much better than Manwich!

My plate:

So this morning I had to tackle the BSI recipe – coconut milk!   Our trip to the Japanese grocery store was my inspiration.  I decided to make a spicy coconut soup!

Biz’s Spicy Coconut Soup

  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1.2 pound thinly sliced pork
  • 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
  • 1 teaspoon sriraacha sauce
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • juice of one lime
  • zest of one lime
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
  • 1 5 ounce package yaki soba noodles
  • 1 sliced jalapeno

This is what I like to call a “dump” soup – just dump everything in and simmer over medium heat – although I didn’t add the pork until the last 5 minutes – it is so thin that it cooks almost immediately after adding it to the broth.

I used this soup base instead of chicken broth

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I love fresh ginger!
my store sells peeled garlic - only .99 cents for this whole container!
I recently bought a microplaner - love it!
serve the soup with a slice of lime to squeeze right before eating - it brightens up the dish!
I love these noodles - each 5 ounce bag is only 150 calories

adding the pork at the very end makes sure it doesn't overcook and get tough - this is so tender!
delicious! spicy with a slight sweetness from the coconut milk

Since no one in my family will touch this with a 10-foot pole, this is going to make a delicious lunch this week! 😀

Oh, and Tony found out about that mystery fruit yesterday!   It comes from the guava family and has been banned from the U.S. for over 80 years because they were known to carry fruit flies.

What are your Superbowl plans? My step-son is coming over – today is Tony’s favorite and saddest day of the year – after today he has to wait 7 long months for football season to begin again, and we have a few months to go before baseball season.  Turns out we aren’t basketball or hockey fans!

I plan on making homemade queso, and the boys wanted taquitos and mini tacos – easy for me, just turn on the deep fryer!

Oh, and my chili picture yesterday made it on Tastespotting!  However, Foodgawker called it dull/uninteresting! 🙁

And for your information, calories don’t count on Superbowl Sunday! 😀