Homemade Carnitas Tacos

The Third Annual Armstrong Cinco de Mayo party was a success! We celebrated my favorite holiday of the year surrounded by friends and dined on homemade pork tacos. As I mentioned in my previous post, I bought myself a cast iron tortilla press which added an extra special touch to this year's fiesta! Many of my friends raved about the homemade tortillas and carnitas and asked for the recipes. I promise, they are much easier (and healthier) than you think!

Homemade Tortillas
2 cups Masa Harina (I used Bob's Mill brand and it worked great)
1 1/2 cups hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, mix masa harina and salt. Add water slowly and begin incorporating with hands until a soft and not sticky dough is formed. Once you achieve the correct consistency, knead dough for 5 minutes.
Let rest in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for one hour, this step is important to let the gluten develop.
Divide dough into 16 small balls. Roll out with rolling pin between two pieces of parchment paper (use tortilla press if you have one). Heat a cast iron skillet and cook tortillas for about 1 minute on each side. Keep tortillas warm in a dry dish towel.

Crock Pot Carnitas

1 pork tenderloin
1 15-ounce jar of tomatillo salsa
2  chopped bell peppers
1 chopped red onion
2 chopped jalapenos

This is one of my favorite party recipes because it is incredibly easy, healthy and my friends love it! Put all of the ingredients into a crock pot and cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Chana Masala (Chickpeas in a Tomato Cream Sauce)

It has been an exciting week! It started off with a Wine and Beer tasting in Yorktown, Virginia with the UVaClub of the Peninsula and will end tomorrow night with the Annual Armstrong Cinco de Mayo party. As I have mentioned in the past, it is my favorite holiday and this year I bought myself a present, a cast iron tortilla press! Blake also bought me a gift of unlimited Bikram Yoga in our next home, Winston-Salem!

On Monday, Darden held a beautiful celebration for my friend and mentor, Fred Drake, who passed away from cancer last week. I was humbled to be asked to speak to the community and was able to share beautiful words that he wrote me on my last day as a Darden employee. He spoke from the heart and told me I was the daughter he never had...pretty touching words, especially with his recent passing. Tomorrow we will gather again to celebrate his life's achievements including being at NASA when man first landed on the moon, dancing with Jackie O. Kennedy and serving Darden's students as a career consultant for 10 years. However, it's not his achievements that I will remember. Instead, I will recall his passion and zest for life and his unwavering kindness towards his wife, son, siblings and friends. I love you Fred Drake, thank you for teaching me invaluable life lessons!

As you can tell from reading my blog, I have a passion for cooking and creating new recipes. Chana Masala (one of my favorite Indian dishes) is one of my recent go-to recipes because it is spicy, full of nutrition and delicious!

1 15-oz can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 26-oz can whole tomatoes
1 cup water
5 whole carrots (peeled and chopped)
1 red onion
1 red pepper (diced)
3 tablespoons ginger garlic sauce
2 tablespoons low-fat cream cheese
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon guam masala
1/4 teaspoon red pepper (more if you like it spicier)
1 teaspooon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add onion, carrots, peppers, ginger garlic sauce, and spices. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
Add canned tomatoes and water. Bring to simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove pot from heat and stir in cream cheese.
Serve over hot brown jasmine rice. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Blake and I have big news to share! We will be moving to Winston-Salem, NC as he enters the world of an MBA student at Wake Forest University. Red Carpet Weekend was two weeks ago and we signed a lease on a duplex one mile from the Business School and paid our deposit. We made friends with some restaunteurs in town, met some of his classmates and their partners, and I found an awesome Bikram Yoga studio! While I am sad to leave Charlottesville, a place that has given us so many friends and mentors, I am excited for our next chapter.

In advance of our move, I have been trying to clean out the freezer and I found some frozen butternut squash left over from our CSA last fall. This was an experimental dish and it turned out wonderfully healthy and delicious.

Layer 1 (Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles)
12 whole wheat oven ready lasagna noodles

Layer 2
5 cups spinach

1 large red onion
6 oz part skim ricotta cheese
1 cup provolone cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup basil leaves
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Saute onion in olive oil and sauted for 5 minutes. Add spinach and wilt.
Mix together cheeses, egg, basil and salt and pepper.
Add spinach mixture to cheese mixture.

Layer 3 (Butternut Squash)
3 cups roasted butternut squash

Layer 4 (Spicy Tomato Sauce)
15 oz can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup  torn basil leaves
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauted garlic, oregano, basil leaves and red pepper flakes in olive oil.
Add tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes.

Begin layering lasagna starting with layer 1 and ending with layer 4. Repeat until you have used all of the ingredients. Top with 1 cup of parmesan cheese.

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until bubbly. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Homemade Pasta and Banana Pancakes

Blake and I traveled to Andrews Airforce Base two weeks ago to spend the weekend with one of my best friends, Jess and her husband, Mica. As I mentioned in a previous post, they just moved east from Buckley Airforce Base in Colorado. Jess will be leaving for Afghanistan on Wednesday for a short-term deployment until September.

We had a wonderful time during our visit. Jess and I cooked a delicious dinner of roasted chicken, homemade pasta and sauted asparagus for the boys and spent hours catching up over glasses of sparkling and red wine on Friday. Saturday was spent playing with the dogs, eating delicious food all over Capitol Hill on a walk/food tour and taking in the beautiful night sky in downtown DC while Sunday was filled with homemade banana pancakes and a round of golf. I simply cannot convey how proud I am of my beautiful friend and our country's military. Please take a moment today to say a prayer and thank our soldiers for sacrificing time with their families and friends to protect our nation.

Homemade Pasta
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
water

Knead flour, eggs and salt with enough water to make a soft ball. This will take several minutes of kneading. Roll out as thinly as possible (cut into noodles or cute shapes).

Bring water to a boil and cook noodles for 2 minutes. Serve with homemade sauce.

Banana Pancakes
1 cup uncooked rolled oats

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup raw sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 bananas, mashed

Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients, including bananas, into another bowl.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until combined and still slightly lumpy.

Head griddle to medium-high and spray with pam.

Cook pancakes about 2 minutes on each side.

Serve with pure maple syrup, homemade fruit syrup or peanut butter.

Curry Fried Rice

We have discovered a delicious restaurant in Charlottesville that sits right beside our local haunt, Beer Run. Pad Thai is owned by a lovely Thai couple who immigrated from Bangkok five years ago and serve the most delicious ginger tea, fresh summer rolls and spicy vegetable noodle dishes. Blake loves their Kapow Fried Rice. We had some leftover brown rice from the Orange Ginger Stir Fry that we had on Sunday and I thought it would be fun to recreate his favorite dish.

2 cups broccoli
2 cups asparagus
1 zucchini
1/2 onion
2 eggs
2 tablespoons garlic ginger sauce
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons canola or olive oil
4 cups cooked brown rice
1/4 cup chopped scallions

Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in wok and saute onions, veggies, garlic chili sauce, curry powder, red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper until veggies are tender.
Transfer veggies to a plate and add 1 tablespoon of oil to wok.
Scramble eggs in oil and add cooked rice and veggies.
Saute for 2-3 minutes.
Transfer to plate and top with scallions.

Enjoy!

Homemade "Brownies"

I have had the fantastic opportunity over the past nine months to travel all over the country and to Southeast Asia. I absolutely love traveling because it gives me the opportunity to meet new people, try new food, take in beautiful sights and grow as an individual. I have had some amazing opportunities like attending Ralph Sampson's induction into the NCAA Hall of Fame, visiting former students in Minneapolis, Kansas City, Charlotte and Greensboro, watching the Chick-fil-A-Bowl in Atlanta, and playing with beautiful children in Vietnam. I have also had some terrifying experiences like losing my Visa in Vietnam and getting stuck overnight in Hanoi before flying to Laos...the good news? I now know how to navigate the immigration process while traveling abroad.

While I am  on the road, I always bring snacks in my purse. This keeps my energy level up and my disposition happy to deal with any unforeseen travel woas and enjoy my new surroundings.

Here are some of my favorite snacks:
Banana
Apple
Orange
Kashi Crackers
Food Should Taste Good chips
Trail Mix (unsalted nuts, dried fruit, dried cereal)
Homemade "Brownies"

Homemade "Brownies"
I absolutely love making my own fruit and nut bars. This is an incredibly delicious recipe that packs well for long trips.

2 cups dates (pitted)
2 cups walnuts, almond or cashews
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon water

Process all ingredients in food processor or blender. Add more water if the ingredients do not come together easily. Spread batter into a glass pan and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Cut into squares and wrap in plastic wrap.

Orange Ginger Veggie Stirfry

I had the amazing opportunity in February to staff a Nursing Service trip to Vietnam.

This particular trip was a Nursing Service Trip in partnership with the University of Virginia’s Office of Engagement and Nursing Alumni Association, the Lion’s Club, and the Global Community Service Foundation. While we did our fair share of sightseeing: shopping at the Ben Tahn Market and learning more about the Vietnam War at the Cu Chi Tunnels in Saigon, running through the waves at China Beach, and having custom clothes constructed in Hoi An, it was the service aspect of the trip that left a lasting impression on my heart.  The first full-day of service was spent at the Vihn Lihn Blind Association in a farming village north of the former DMZ where we provided medical and eye exams to over 200 men, women and children. On the surface, the day was dreadful as rain poured from dawn until dusk but when a middle-aged rice farmer gave me the biggest grin I have ever seen after receiving his first pair of eye-glasses, the sun started to shine. That evening was spent at a lovely dinner at the beach (under a tarp since it was still raining) enjoying home-style Vietnamese cooking. I remember thinking to myself that life doesn’t get much better, but I was wrong. Tomorrow my life would be changed at a small rural school outside of Khe Sahn. While the doctors and nurses were busy giving deworming medicine to the kids, providing check-ups and testing eye sight; I was charged with playing with beautiful children amongst banana trees and rice paddies to keep them occupied. We played their version of baseball (using a ball of paper wrapped in a rubber band and our arms as bats), kicked a soccer ball, and ran around playing tag along the local stream. They were athletic, sweet as can be, and made a lasting impression on my life.

I miss these children and I miss the delicious food! I have daily cravings for Pho, Bahn Mi, rice and  fresh fruit and vegetables. This Orange Ginger Veggie Stirfry was influenced by this trip to Vietnam and the extension trip to Laos where local peanuts and cashews were frequently paired with rice and vegetables.

Orange Ginger Veggie Stirfry

Vegetables (you can use any combination of vegetables that you like)
2 cups sugar snap peas
2 cups broccoli
1 red onion
2 portabello mushrooms
2 zucchinis
5 carrots
2 red bell pepper
2 cans chopped water chestnuts

Marinade
2 cups orange juice
1 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoon garlic-ginger sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if you like)

Rice
2 cups short grain brown rice
4 cups water

Combine all ingredients in marinade, add chopped veggies and let sit for at least an hour.
Boil water and add rice, turn temperature down to medium-low and cook for 45 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is fluffy.
Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in wok (or large frying pan) until very hot, add veggies and marinade to wok and cook for 15-20 minutes until veggies are tender.
Serve veggies over rice and top wish roasted cashews or peanuts.