Ball joints and sway bars

A Video of me in Thailand

Hey Sweetie?

By Jason Brockman

Three o’clock rolls around and your eyelids have started to involuntarily droop.  Is this ptosis?  A general lack of sleep?  Spreadsheet syndrome?  What is your go to snack at times like these?

My first thought or craving invariably involves something sweet.  Jelly beans, leftover birthday cake, or some Mountain Dew always sounds like the right thing to do, but we well know that the temporary sugar high will undoubtedly lead to the crash and burn later on.  According to PepsiCo, one shiny little green 12 ounce can has 46 grams of sugar.  Any trained “sucrologist”, or sugar packet collector could tell you that one standard US sugar packet contains about 2-4 grams of sugar.  That means that one little green can contains a whopping 11 to 23 packets of sugar!  There has to be a better way to maintain alertness and good energy levels throughout the day without increasing your risk of diabetes.

Here are some tips that can help you stay alert, energetic, and engaged throughout your work day.

Tip 1 – Manage Those Amino Acids

As most people know, that post Thanksgiving dinner nap is mostly caused by tryptophan, the sleepy little amino that causes drowsiness.  Tryptophan is also found in high concentrations in bananas, dairy products, sunflower seeds, and beans.  A good strategy would be to limit your snacking on these types of foods when you are not feeling full of energy.  Instead, look for foods that are higher in Tyrosine, the amino that has been linked to alertness!  Shrimp, chicken, soy products, fish,  egg whites, and seaweed are just some examples of foods that have high concentrations.

Tip 2 – Change the order

The order in which you eat different types of foods can have an effect on your energy levels.  You should try to eat proteins before carbohydrates.  Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin, and this competes with all of the amino acids except for tryptophan!  A good strategy is to have a good high protein breakfast with only a small serving of a complex carbohydrate (such as a whole grain bagel or oatmeal).  This should keep you going for a few hours.  For lunch have a small high protein, low carb meal to keep your brain active.  Once you get home, a meal that begins with some good complex carbohydrates can help you to relax after a long day. 

Tip 3 – What about coffee?

Coffee is a great drink, and it can help to keep you alert.  There are many studies that promote the health benefits of a good cup of coffee, from the NIH-AARP study that claims to have found a link between coffee drinking and longevity to studies that have found a link between coffee and decreased risk of skin cancer.  So go ahead and have a cup, but be careful.  Drinking too much coffee at one time can cause “caffeine intoxication” that can have some severe withdrawal symptoms.  You are better off drinking about a half a cup of coffee every 2 hours to stay alert than having that big cup of “double level four”  first thing in the morning.

Stay alert, and stay classy! 

Selected Sources

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/prevention/diabetes-risk-test/

http://www.pepsicobeveragefacts.com/infobyproduct.php

http://journals.lww.com/nursing/Abstract/2005/06001/_Road_trip__and__healthy_diet___Can_they_coexist_.10.aspx

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/05/16/152835058/can-coffee-help-you-live-longer-we-really-want-to-know

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/caffeine-linked-lower-skin-cancer-risk/story?id=16679958#.UD5qU8HN_X8

Oregano's first Christmas.

Oregano looks rather surprised

What kind of tranny is this?

Oregano, the orphaned kitten

This is a kitty that we found under the porch.  The next day, we found the mother and the rest of the litter.  We re-introduced this kitty to the mother, who took care of it for 2 days.  Then, she left and took the rest of the litter with her.  Oregano was left behind.  Now, she is two weeks old.

Guess what? 1988 Jeep Cherokee XJ

The Five Dollar a Day Challenge - Day 5

Bonnie provided the fixings for a couple of tasty sandwiches, and after a quick lunch we headed off in search of adventure in the Cuyamaca wilderness.  You never really know what you are going to find when you head out on the trail, but this little hike ended in something completely unexpected.  Somewhere near the top of Japacha Peak, on the eastern side, was one of the strangest monuments that I have ever encountered.  We set off on the West Side Trail, and after about a mile came to a marker for something called the Monument Trail.  After following this uphill for about a mile and a half, we entered a little clearing where somebody had dropped a 12 cylinder airplane engine! It was mounted on a stone and concrete pedestal, with a plaque that read, "In Memory of Col. F.C. Marshall and 1st Lt. C.L. Weber who fell at this spot Dec 7th, 1922."  A hive of bees had made their home inside of it, and they were buzzing in and out of an exhaust port.  The monument itself is a little piece of early aviation and military history - and it was a pleasure to find this by accident.  I would like to give credit to Mr. Alexander D. Bevil for writing a wonderful piece about this mysterious chunk of metal that is enshrined on a lonely and forgotten trail in the backcountry of San Diego.  You can click the quote below to see the full story.   


"Neither monumental nor imposing, the Airplane Crash Memorial on Japacha Ridge is a simple expression of three generations’ honor and respect. First in 1923, then again in 1934 and 1968, they built and improved the monument so that 'the present and coming generation' would honor the memory of the two pioneer military aviators who died on this spot while flying outdated machines through treacherous skies over forbidding terrain."


One thing that a nice long uphill hike will do, is make you hungry.  Feeling a bit nostalgic-like, I decided on making some Sloppy Joes.  This ended up putting over my budget for the day, as one pound of ground beef costs about $5 now, and that is just way too much.  Add the buns, Manwich sauce, and tater tots - and I was well into the next day's cash allowance.  I decided to try to conserve a little bit of money and use ground pork instead, since it was leaner and cheaper than beef.  Sloppy Wilburs, I called it.  While everybody involved agreed that it is better when you use beef, Bonnie still ate two sandwiches while I had three. 

The Five Dollar a Day Challenge - Day 4

While the blackout was great fun (and the hangover was not) - there was an unintended consequence that put a bit more challenge into my menu.  All of my perishables became untrustworthy....and this was a real burden!  I had some left over chicken and blue corn posole, broccoli mac and cheese, spiced potatoes, and other odds and ends that would have been turned into a couple of really nice meals!  Well, they were all gone.  In the morning, I had no yummy leftovers for lunch.  I keep a big jar of home made instant oatmeal at my desk (it is easy to make with quick oats, raisins, cinnamon and sugar and powdered milk) and that was good enough to keep me going through the morning, but when lunchtime hit.....I caved. 

30 minutes later (thanks for losing my order McDumbasses) I had 20 nuggets and two spongebread and beef sandwiches, slathered with ketchup and mustard and laced with one thin, warm pickle.  Total cost - $7.  I didnt feel too bad about the cost, since I spent no money the day before during the blackout - but I did feel a bit sad that all I got for that money was a pile of empty calories.  McPoop.

For dinner, I salvaged what was left in my freezer - a box of pork breakfast sausages and half a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and combined that with a can of tomato puree that was buried in the larder to make somekind of "Mulligan Sauce".  I used a bag of thick rice stick noodles and pretended that it was fettucini.  The dish resembled something that was Italian, but really, it was nothing more than an "impasta" masquerading as real food.  I didnt care for it too much, but it was better than my McLunch - and Bonnie gave it at least one weak nom, so.......we live to eat another day.

The Five Dollar a Day Challenge - Day 3 - The Great Blackout

Some people may say that it is crazy to carry around a dozen MREs in your trunk with you wherever you go (MRE = Meal Ready to Eat).  Perhaps it is a little bit cynical, apocolypsist, pessamistic, paranoid, or just plain silly to assume that there are going to be nuclear disasters and zombie emergencies that will require an emergency food supply.  Or.....is it?  So, when the lights go out in your town, what is the best thing to do?  Thursday, September 8th will forever be remembered as The Great Southern California Blackout, for more than just the shutdown of the electrical grid from Orange County to Tijuana.  For many, it will be remembered (or not) as the day that there was nothing better to do than get drunk!  Hey, let's face it....everybody was ready to use the "my alarm clock wasn't working" excuse to ditch work the next day.  So, like many others in my building, I headed to the pool.  My building did have emergency generators, and I have to hand it to them, they have their priorities....the jacuzzi still had power.  The party quickly turned into a devil-may-care affair as people emptied out the liquor cabinets and beer coolers.  After several hours of debauchery, it became painfully clear that there was not going to be anything to eat because my stove and microwave all requred electricity.  In addition, since there was no sense in even trying to go to the store, it was looking like I was going to have some trouble spending my $5 for the day.  I decided to expand my list of possible resources to include my trunk....where about 10 MREs have been stored, just in case.  I suppose that necessity drives people to do things that they would not normally do - and Bonnie had her first taste of military rations.  They heat up nicely with the water activated heating pouch.  She gave them a "not bad....not good, but not bad".  It's nice to know that, in case of a nuclear viral zombie outbreak, the food is not half bad.

The Five Dollar a Day Challenge - Day 2

Day two was really a winner, as I served up a couple of dishes that really went well together.  I did my shopping at Ralph's, admittedly, a rather expensive store.  I think that you can get much more out of your dollar if you shop around for things, and I will do this in the future to see how it goes, but since this supermarket was next to the video store, and my movies were two days late, I decided to try it out.  I really didn't get all that much for my money, but I planned on using some of the leftovers that were in my fridge and larder to supplement the meal.  I bought a red onion, 8oz of shredded Mexican cheese, and a broccoli crown.  It came out to a little over $4.  I shredded up two old chicken breasts, mixed it with some diced red onion and rolled it up with the cheese in some lightly fried tortillas that were on the verge of getting moldy.  This was then covered in green enchilada sauce, topped with cheese and popped into the hot oven.  To accompany this, I cooked a box of generic brand shells and cheese, and added the steamed broccoli crown.  The result was a match made in heaven!  And there was a ton of leftovers for lunch the next day!  Bonnie seemed to agree with this dish, and promptly cleaned her plate. 

The 5 Dollar a Day Challenge - Day 1

I really dont know where all of my money went.  Well, OK, that is not true - it all went to pay bills, and somewhere along the way I may have dropped some of it into a beer glass.  Well, that's not the point.  The point is that I have approximately $50 to last me until the next pay day....10 days away. 

So, I posed the question on Facebook - what would you eat if you had to live on $5 a day?  Of course, you could always do what my friends suggested, such as eat a $5 Footlong from Subway every day, or fill up on pasta and beans.  Really?  That's no way to live, and certainly no way to eat.  While I may be inclined to add some of these choices to the menu, I do not intend to live on these things morning, noon, and night.  I will do my very best to create astounding cullinary marvels using only what I have left in my larder and fridge, and half a sawbuck per day. 

Day one involved cleaning out some leftover tidbits that were in my fridge, so I guess that technically, I was cheating a bit since I already had two nice fillets of rock cod chilling out.  But, I made good on my $5 commitment at the grocery store, and I picked up 2 big tomatoes, 2 red jalapenos, 4 brown onions, a bunch of spinach, and one cup of wild rice mix in bulk.

I browned 2 of the onions in some olive oil, and added thin slices of the red jalapeno, cooking until everything was soft.  Then I put that aside, chopped and sauteed the spinich, adding a bit of garlic salt, then the diced up tomatoes and added them when the spinich was almost done.  I put that into the colander to drain off the excess water.  The filets were seasoned and grilled with a bit of olive oil in a very hot pan, searing one side.  Once the fish was almost cooked through, I covered it with the browned onion mixture, then the spinach and tomato.  Removing the pan from the heat, the dish cooled for about 5 minutes before being served.  The vegetable covered fish was served on a bed of wild rice mix.  I got two HUGE portions, one for me, one for Bonnie (the official critique gastronomique du nom nom).  

Well, day one was a sucess.  I met my financial goal of only spending $5 dollars - but I have to admit that I had some help.  Some might say that I cheated - since I already had the fish in my fridge, but hey, those are the rules.  Anything that I have stocked up already (including leftovers) is fair game.

El Perro Peligroso - a.k.a - The Danger Dog

Falling out of an all-you-can-drink tequila disaster in the wee hours of the morning, head steaming with sweat, neck covered in lip gloss, and beach sand in my shoes (how did THAT get there) has always brought back fond memories.  While it may be impossible to re-live my late teens, I can, as it has sometimes been said, live vicariously through food.  Enter.....the Tijuana Danger Dog.  Tiny little brown women, slowly grilling tiny little brown dogs, from tiny little white carts positioned strategically outside the club exit door pull in sweaty teens with the wafting odor of grilled onions and bacon.  When you've been filling your stomach with cheap tequila and beer (and subsequently emptying it in the urinal), nothing....and I mean nothing...makes you feel whole again like a bacon wrapped hot dog, TJ style.

The Method:
This is not complicated.  You wrap a hotdog in bacon.  Use a toothpick to secure the bacon while it crisps up around the weenie, then you remove the pick and brown all around.

The Madness:
This is where things get a little bit scary.  The dog must be dressed in the proper fashion, and this means that it has enough fat to re-line your previously decimated esophagus.  The bun is smeared with mayonnaise (an absolute necessity) and mustard.  Because I'm already going all the way here, I melted a small piece of cheese on my dog.  It is then topped with grilled onions, ketchup, and hot sauce.  A bit of pickled jalapeno is optional, because after all, you don't want it causing trouble while you are waiting in line to cross the border.



The last thing anybody is worried about as you file out of a rocking place like the legendary "Club Safari" are calories.  More important things are on your mind...like, "was that her real phone number?"  Word to the wise....you are only young once.

The final foods of 2010

Here are just a few pictures of the last few dishes of 2010.  At a recent dinner party, we feasted on cheese, olives, grapes, bacon wrapped chicken livers (rumaki), braised short ribs, roasted Brussels sprouts, risotto d'oro, and mai tai's made with a very tasty Venezuelan rum.  I had a quick lunch of dungeness crab and beer, and later made some lump crab cakes.  My resolution this year is to document more of the delicious foods, and take more pictures.  I am looking forward to a great new year, and I am hoping that my friends and family will join me to be a part of the dinner celebrations that I am planning for the future! 

You can't beet that!

I don't exactly know where beets ended up getting a bad name. They are one of the tastiest little things in the world, especially when they are fresh. I am guessing that the little purple circles that make their way into the lineup at the Sizzler salad bar are what have turned most people off. Yeah, those are not that good....but they come from a can! Get a hold of some fresh beets, and you have a double delicious treat. The bulbs are great when you steam them (about 25-40 minutes depending on the size) and you get the greens! A bunch of beets, complete with the greens only cost about $2 right now at Henry's Market and they are ORGANIC. Here, I used them two ways. Steamed golden beets are peeled and sliced, and drizzled with just a little bit of butter and salt. They have a wonderful flavor that is all their own. The chopped greens were sauteed with onions, olive oil, sea salt, and red pepper flakes. This was all laid upon a bed of quinoa (a grain that is actually related to the beet and spinach family) and served with a nice garnish of New York steak.

Oh, the joys of fall.

One of the wonderful things that start to make an appearance in the fall are "winter squashes". These wonderful things are known by this somewhat misleading name because they are built to last through the winter, not because they grow during the cold months. In fact, these rather hardy squashes take a rather long time to grow during the summer months. What sets them apart from the summer squashes (like zucchini and yellow crookneck squash) is that they have a very hard, thick skin. This skin is cured a bit by letting the squash sit out in the sun once it is ripe. What you are left with is a fabulous vegetable that you can store at room temperature for months at a time....virtually all winter! So, if you have the storage space, buy them up as they reach rock bottom prices during the fall. They have diverse names, like Acorn, Delicata, Spaghetti, Butternut, Table Queen, Banana, and many many others. Cooking these basically involves the same process, no matter what you choose for your table. You cut the squash in half, remove the seeds and pulp, and then put them in a pan with 1/4 inch of water, flesh side down. Bake them at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Then, you can scoop out the flesh, or leave it in the shell to serve. An easy way to season them is to turn them flesh side up, sprinkle some brown sugar, salt, pepper and cinnamon in the hollow and put them back into the oven for 5 minutes. A little bit of butter can add to the richness.

Tonight, I filled a Delicata with a wonderful mixture of fresh sauteed collard greens, onions, garlic, Hot Silva Linguica, and cooked winter wheat berries. A bit of grated Swiss cheese topped it off. This was a wonderful way to represent the bounty of the fall harvest season
.

Some Recent Meals

Oh, I know. What is the point of having a blog if you never bother to update it? Well, post-graduation, life took some getting used to. In addition to the new jobs, new apartment, and new car, there comes a new attitude. I think that I have now settled down a bit, and will be able to get back to cooking like I mean it. One interesting change is that I am not on a college budget anymore, so I am looking forward to creating a few dishes that really use some quality ingredients! Also, my job at The Cosmopolitan Hotel has brought cuisine back into my life, and working with fantastic people like Chef Amy DiBiase has given me new perspectives and ideas. Here are some pictures of a few dishes that I worked up during the summer:

Fresh Semolina Pasta

Making your own fresh pasta is rather simple, there are only a few rules of engagement if you want to have any success at using your noodle. One, make a volcano. Don't ask me why, it's just what you are supposed to do, and it's what every great Italian chef since Marco Polo brought the noodle home from China has done. Two, work with wet hands until you get the right moisture content in your dough. It's always better to work the water in, little by little, until you have it right. Three, use a pasta machine. Pasta dough is notoriously hard stuff to work with, but a small, hand operated roller will really go a long way when it comes to mixing and rolling out the noodle to the proper thickness. Here is a simple recipe for one man sized serving:

Fresh Semolina Pasta

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup semolina flour1 egg
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tap water

Form the flour into a small volcano, and add the beaten egg, water, and oil to the center. Using a fork, stir the egg mixture into the flour, until you get a crumbly, dry dough.

Next, wet your hands one time, and begin to knead the dough, working until you get a soft ball that does not crumble apart. If your dough is still too dry, wet your hands one more time and continue kneading. Do this until the dough is the right consistency. It should be very rubbery, and should not be too wet. Next, form the dough into a long snake, roll it flat, and pass it through the pasta machine, set to the thickest setting. Fold it in half, and pass it through the machine again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Do it until the dough is smooth and uniform. Fold the edges towards the center, and pass it through the machine again. Then, flatten the noodle out by making one pass through the machine, decreasing the thickness (my machine has a little knob numbered 1 to 7) until you get to the desired one. My machine starts out at 7, and I take the noodle down to a 3 for spaghetti. Finish the noodle off with the cutting attachment, if you have one (if not, you have to go old school and use a sharp knife). Fresh pasta cooks very fast, so only give it about 5 minutes, then drain and toss into your favorite sauce! OK OK. I know. I am sure that you want to know why there is a jar of Safeway Select brand Artichoke and Pesto Pasta sauce in the picture above. Yes, it is true. Sauce out of a jar. Now, before you choke in horror, let me remind you that I am on a really strict budget, and I carefully considered making my own sauce, if it was economically the best choice. I was shocked to find that the already prepared generic brand sauces by Safeway actually cost less per ounce than crushed tomatoes! If it were only a matter of price, I would spend the 2 cents more per ounce for my own tomato base, and I would have created my own sauce, because I am also concerned with using only natural ingredients. Well, there is absolutely nothing unnatural in the Safeway sauce! No high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, or artificial anything. Now, I will say that I do NOT see pine nuts listed as an ingredient, and I don't know how you can say that you have a pesto sauce without them, so that part may be a bit of a little white lie on the part of the marketing department, but regardless, the sauce is good stuff, and I felt fine with it, and especially the $1.99 per jar price. Once the noodles were tossed into the sauce, topped with crumbled feta and paired with a nice blue cheese salad, there was no doubt. And take a look at the marginal cost!

Food Economics:

Eggs - $1.99 dz = ($0.498 for 1)
Bob's Red Mill Semolina Flour - 24oz bag $3.11 = ($0.259 2oz or 1/2 cup)
Gold Medal All Purpose Flour - 5# $3.99 = ($0.099 for 2oz or 1/2 cup)
Olive Oil = ($0.050 for 1/2 tbsp)
Safeway Select Artichoke and Pesto Pasta Sauce - 1 jar $1.99 ($0.995 for 1/2 jar)
Feta Cheese Crumbles - 3.5oz $4.39 = ($0.313 for 1/4 oz)


Grand Total = $2.21