Muscle-building smoothie things

If you, like me, appreciate the idea of those muscle-building protein powder shakes, but find yourself making excuses about why you don't have time to peel bananas, rest assured!



Tonight I made my vanilla Pro Lean Mass Extreme with banana juice manufactured by Hortex (I picked mine up at M&I International Foods in Brooklyn, but I'm guessing that any banana nectar-like juice will suffice). 8 scoops + 34 ounces + one Activa vanilla yogurt into the blender and ... delicious! This should be good for three days worth of lunch smoothie action.

I may have to try the chocolate powder with cherry juice next ... !!

Chicken fingers with honey mustard

I like this recipe because it's easy, and it helps me pretend that I am not basically making the equivalent of junky food, even though I am. This came from some junk mail:

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (4 ounces each)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Honey mustard:

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Serves 6

1. Cut chicken into 1/2 x 2" strips. For honey mustard sauce, blend honey & mustard in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Mix flour, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken in milk. (Okay, this is totally not kosher, duh.) Roll in flour mixture to coat well. Place chicken on waxed paper.
3. Pour 1/4" of oil into a large heavy skillet. Heat over medium-high heat to 350 or until a cube of white bread dropped in oil browns evenly in 1 minute. (Is anyone going to actually test browning the white bread cube in sixty seconds? Skeeriously???)
4. Divide chix into batches. Place 'em in an even layer in hot oil. Fry, turning 1x, for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown & crisp. Drain on paper towels. Search with sauce.

FIN.

Steak!

Saturday night, while my boyfriend was in the restroom I snuck a few bites of his Kobe beef during dinner at 15 East. I've never seen steak served with a side of melted butter a la lobster but that's how 15 East rolls and I tell you what, that's how I'm going to roll.

Since I'd like to get more confident cooking steak, and since I love butter, here's what I made tonight.

1. Cut 1 medium yellow onion into rings and 2 yellow apples into wedges
   
2. Put some leftover bacon grease and a plop of butter into a pan on medium-high heat
3. Set a small bowl of butter near the pan so it can start melting
   
4. Cook the onion and apples until the onions start to get a little soft
   
5. Make room for 3/4 lb of rib eye (I think ... it was $12/lb ... so whatever thick, fatty steak is $12/lb)
6. Sear it for 5-6 minutes on one side; flip and repeat
7. Turn off the heat; move the steak to a plate; cover loosely with tin foil
8. Let the juices continue to work their magic for ten minutes
9. Put the onions and apples in a bowl
10. EAT. Dip steak into butter often.

I washed it all down with a Pilsner Urquell.

Next up, I'll get so round that there'll be no more boyfriend for whom to sear red meat :)

Tasty drinks

I'm up in Toronto for corporate training this week. We went to a place called The Riv for drinks and, while we did end up having to teach the bartenders a couple, I learned how to make some drinks that I hereby consider ultra-tasty.

(For the record, I tend to have a girly-drink palate but all the drinks below were guy initiated, tested, & approved.)

The Kamikaze
This one's an old standby. First time I had this was at a feel-good happy hour at Good World for the .com I worked for in the 00s. I recently bought a couple of rounds for my basketball team after we won our summer division.

• Vodka
• Rose's lime juice
• Cointreau

The Washington Apple

• Cranberry juice
• Apple pucker
• Crown royal

Red-headed slut

• Jagermeister
• Cranberry juice
• Peach schnapps

Sicilian kiss
This one's not a shot but rather a mixed drink.

• Fill glass 1/2 to 2/3 with ice
  
• One (1) shot amaretto
• One (1) shot southern comfort
• Top off with ginger ale
• Garnish with lime

Heavy drinking: bad for your liver; good for morale!

(Related: the Almond Joy)

Day late and a URL short

Foodums.blogspot.com was already taken. D'OH!

(Dough!)