Thanks for all your comments yesterday about the restaurant job.  I am a firm believer that if one door closes, another one will open!  Not going to worry about a second job until after Mayo, so its all good.  Although I did have a dream last night that I was complaining about seating at the restaurant to the GM and she looked at me and said “If you don’t like it here, go work at Chili’s!”  Ha!

I had one last Chobani that needed to be used up.  For some reason Tony and I didn’t buy much fruit last weekend, but we have a big bag of frozen fruit, so I just defrosted 3/4 of a cup of it – its mango, peaches, strawberries and pineapple.  I made a mini fruit parfait for breakfast.

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Work yesterday was crazeballs.  I won’t go into details, but I was brought to tears at one point.  What I really wanted to do?  Order a deep dish pizza and eat the whole thing myself.  But, I didn’t.  I went to the gym and had an awesome workout.  Legs were on the strength menu – first on the list?  Box jumps!  Shelley, I couldn’t help but think of you and your fear of them!  (You can read her story about it here).

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Only one problem guys.  That box was HUGE!  That was the only one I could find at the gym.  I tried and there was no way I was going to jump that high.  So I ended up just stepping up, stepping down – 20 reps for THREE sets!  I was feeling the burn!  Another new to me exercise was the cable side leg exercise – after I took this video I realized I wasn’t standing far enough away, and stepped further away from the machine for a bigger range of motion – boy could I feel that on the outside of my quad!  Please disregard my bad videographer skillz!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axccx3hMI8Q&feature=youtu.be

]The leg exercises took me 35 minutes, so I only had time to run a mile before heading back to the office.

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Over the weekend my Mom and I had Mexican food.  I had chicken fajitas and there was a ton leftover, so I decided to make leftover chicken fajita nachos for lunch.  But the star of the show was a new “salsa” to me.  I put the “salsa” in quotes because it’s thick like ketchup – almost like a condiment more than a salsa.  I brought some for one of my work friends to taste.  He brought leftover skirt steak for lunch and told me he spread this sauce over the steak and it was “really ridiculous.”  Ridiculously good!  We both agreed we could eat this sauce with a spoon with nothing else on it, it’s so flavorful.  When I read this recipe in an old Bon Appetit magazine, I realized that I had everything at home to make it.  You know, doesn’t everyone have dried guajillo peppers in their pantry?

Grilled Guajillo Chile Salsa

4 ounces dried guajillo chiles
(about 18), stemmed
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt plus more to taste
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder (I used 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic)
1 teaspoon onion powder (I left that out)

Heat your grill to a medium heat.  Working in batches, grill chiles until slightly puffed and fragrant, 15–20 seconds per side. Let cool.
Using kitchen scissors and working over a medium bowl, cut chiles into thin rings, reserving seeds. Cover with 2 cups very hot water and let soak for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; cook, turning often, until tender  lightly charred, about 8 minutes. Let cool. Peel; trim ends.
Transfer chiles with seeds and liquid to a blender; add roasted garlic, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, and remaining ingredients. Pulse until a thick, coarse purée forms. Season with salt.

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My store sells dried juajillo peppers for .99 a bag.  Look for them the next time you are at your store.  This is such an amazingly flavorful sauce, and even keeping all the dried seeds in the puree, it was flavorful spicy not knock your socks off spicy.

I also made more baja fresh salsa – you can’t have too much salsa in my book!  Although this time I grilled the garlic on the grill and it came out charred, yet soft.  I could definitely pick up the garlic flavor in this batch of salsa.

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And that cutting board?  It just shows what a mess I am in the kitchen when I cook!

Tony was nice and made me a drink after the work day I had yesterday – we sat and talked for 30 minutes or so before I got bizzy on making dinner.

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Dinner was so easy – grilled chicken thighs and corn on the cob.  I chopped up some hot giardinera for my corn – spicy goodness!

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I got all my steps in too, and then some!

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Today is a new day, just hope it’s better than yesterday!  Make it a great day!