When I have the time, I like to salt my beef and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour before cooking. If I have even more time (and remember – that’s really the hard part – remembering!) I prefer to salt it overnight.

You may have heard or been taught to not salt beef until just before cooking. That can be true too.  I know, it’s so contradictory and confusing. Instead of trying to explain it myself, I am going to direct you to THIS ARTICLE, which explains the science of it perfectly, and also tells you what NOT to do when salting beef.

This is good information, don’t be lazy, be sure to check it out!

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I’m teaching a class today, so instead of a recipe, how about a little Friday Fun?

I love the Someecards site. You can create your own funny cards there or see what other people have made. All of the cards I’m sharing with you today, apply to me, my philosophy, or my life in general.

In all honesty, the one below is the most accurate of all them all!

Enjoy. 🙂

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I’m using three different cooking methods to make a simple salad. This will infuse as much flavor as possible into each ingredient without adding fat. This is achieved by;

• Roasting cherry tomatoes
• Poaching chicken breast
• Blanching asparagus

As an added bonus, the poaching/blanching broth may be saved and added to soup on another day.

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mishmash: noun \’mish-mash, -mäsh\

1. A collection containing a variety of miscellaneous things.
2. hodgepodge, jumble
3. A popular Bulgarian summer dish made with tomatoes, peppers, onion, feta cheese, eggs, and fresh herbs.

That is what today’s post is; a mishmash of items. Plus a recipe for Mish Mash!

First and foremost I want to wish a Very Happy Birthday to my dear friend and former neighbor, Lori Vento.

Lori is pictured below, doing what she does best, looking beautiful and giving back to others! This is a photo from when she generously hosted one of many charity events at her home … while posing with two little angels.

Lori, her sweet husband Jonathan, and their gorgeous daughter Kylie moved to Chicago nearly 2 years ago. I miss them so much! Kylie is attending college in Michigan, while Lori and Jonathan are now doing business and living in Tokyo … temporarily. I hope Jonathan has some very special Japanese plans today for Lori’s big day! I wish I could be there to celebrate with her. But sending my love, admiration, and thoughts across the miles and through cyberspace will have to suffice. xoxo

Secondly, let’s talk about stress and old people!
Stress and Crazy Old People!

I’m quite certain I haven’t previously mentioned the fact that my mom has Alzheimer’s. Fact is, she does.

When I say Crazy Old People, from here on out referred to as CrOP, I’m not only referring to Alzheimer’s because, trust me, my mom has been crazy for my entire life! Ask anyone who has known me for more than a few years and who has met my mom, they will confirm that I’m not being mean when I say so, it just is!

Anyhow, my sister, Sloane, and I (more so Sloane, than I, until recently) have been dealing with trying to convince our mom and her husband, Bill (her 3rd husband, by the way) to move into assisted living. Mom turned 78 on March 8 and Bill turned 90 in February. We believe that Bill has Alzheimer’s as well, he is being tested for it next week. They need more help than we can provide!

Sloane and I found the place and had the lease papers drawn up yesterday. We then took the papers to their house to have them signed. We stayed and packed for several hours while the two CrOP, followed us around and repeated themselves and asked the same questions over and over and over for the ENTIRE time!

In the middle of that, while removing and packing up thousands of dusty framed photos from a dusty floral wallpapered hallway, I cut open my wrist on a nail that was invisibly protruding from said nasty floral wallpaper. It would not stop bleeding. It made me nauseous to look at. I finally got it under control and now it just aches. Anyhow, at one point in the middle of all that fun, Bill actually said to me, “You know that you and your sister will be going to heaven for this!” Amen to that!

OK, enough of that drama and downer news. Back to some more fun and uplifting mishmash!

The next fun thing – my horoscope for today – is spot on! I am working like a fiend on “the space around me,” so this horoscope must be correct. The final full sentence, which you can not see, is “Beautiful changes are coming.” I believe that indeed they are!

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I’m adding a new tag to the blog. “Skinny” is the name. My long-time friend, Karen Mock (seen below with her husband, Bob) has become a Health Coach for the Take Shape for Life program. I started working with her last week. So from now until, who knows when most recipes I post will be “lean and green” and tagged with “skinny.”  It’ll take a while for “skinny” to show up on the tag cloud over there on the left, and who knows, it may knock “vodka” off of there. That would be kinda sad!

I don’t think you’ll mind my new skinny recipes, in fact, the last three recipes I posted have been “skinny.” Some of them, I will create, others I’ll be modifying from recipes that Karen has sent me from the Take Shape for Life recipe files.

I modify them to add more flavor; not more fat, calories, or carbs. Mostly, I’ll be achieving this with the addition of spices and herbs, or with a change to the cooking technique.

For instance, the recipe I’m giving you today was a TSL recipe, but instead of just throwing the raw boneless ribs into the slow cooker, I brown them first in a skillet that I’ve sprayed with Pam and then deglaze the skillet with water and pour that in the slow cooker too. More Flavor – No Added Fat!

One of the products that Karen turned me onto that will help me boost flavor is the line of condiments from Walden Farms. All Walden Farms items are currently “BOGO Free” at Sprouts. The sale goes through 3/13/13. I saved $16 on my purchase of the eight products shown below!

I honestly don’t think you’ll even notice a difference in the recipes I post.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the TSL Program, you can email Karen at karenmock@cox.net. You will LOVE her! And be sure to tell her that you learned about her here.

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The recipe for these lamb chops was inspired by a recipe from Barbara Fenzl of Les Gourmettes. Barb served lamb chops at her classes last week. I forgot to bring home a set of recipes from the class, but I remember that Barb’s marinade had cumin, coriander, and cayenne. I wanted to make something similar for my guys, so I made sure my spice rub had those three spices included.

Connor is home for spring break – unfortunately he has bronchitis and not much of an appetite. He went to the doctor yesterday and got a Z–Pak prescription, so hopefully, he’ll be feeling better … and hungry… soon!

The squash and lamb take the same time to prepare. First, preheat the oven, then make the spice rub and spread it on the meat. Get the squash into the oven while the lamb sits at room temperature. Take the squash from the oven to cool slightly while you grill the meat. Finally, scrape out the squash while the cooked meat sits.  The timing of these two together is perfect! Sit down and enjoy.

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My dear friend Karen recently turned me on to a gluten-free noodle product. The noodles are made from either tofu or white yams. The brand is Shirataki and they can be found locally at Sprouts and Fry’s. At Sprouts the everyday price is $1.69 each, at Fry’s a bag is regularly $2.29. They are found in the refrigerated section, near the tofu.

(Thanks to a kind comment from LCDC, I learned that the brand of the noodles I found is House Foods and that Shirataki is the type of noodle. I happily stand corrected. Thank you, LCDC!)

I was skeptical at first, considering they come packaged in a water and look a bit slimy … but they were delicious! Shirataki noodles are quite a bit more expensive than dry noodles, but considering they are precooked, quick to use, and the yam variety has zero calories, the tofu style – only 20 calories… it may be worth the extra dough.

They have a long (about 3 months) expiration date, so if you find them on sale, stock up!

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Here is a super quick, super easy, and super yummy fish dish for your Friday!

I served mine with sautéed edamame and cherry tomatoes. Could not be easier or healthier.

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At the January Sweet Salvage sale, I spotted something “fabulous” as I was standing in the checkout line. It was something very similar to a thing I’ve been dreaming about for months now. I looked at the price, looked at all the stuff I already planned to purchase, and knew I could not have it all. I let the “fabulous thing” slip away.

(Hint #1 – the “fabulous thing” is in the photo above. I swiped this image from the Sweet Salvage blog. Can you guess what it is?)

For the rest of the month, I regretted not putting everything else I had in my hands down and getting the “fabulous thing” instead. But I held on to a glimmer of hope that “fabulous thing” would not be sold and would still be there when I returned for the February sale.

Kim and I walked into the door on the Friday morning of the February sale, and I headed straight for where it had been the last month. And…

IT was still there!

(Hint #2 – the “fabulous thing” is also in the February Sweet Salvage photo above – this image is also swiped from their blog. Do you spot it yet?)

I was so relieved! After being filled with regret all month long, it was still there, a sure sign that I was meant to have it! At least that’s the ‘sign’ I read.

(Hint #3 – I’ve been dreaming of this fabulous thing ever since I first learned that such a thing even existed. I had seen something very similar to it on the blog of the talented person I love to stalk. A year and a half ago, I read THIS post on Heather Bullard’s blog and have been coveting the item ever since.)

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On March 4, 1933, in his inaugural speech, newly elected U.S. President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, uttered the now-famous words, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!”

That was exactly 80 years and 1 day ago, today! This past week, that idea has proven to be very true for me.

For many months now I have been afraid of letting others in on a very difficult decision that I made.

I was afraid of letting people down.
I was fearful of people’s reactions.
I was afraid of possible backlash.

Turns out I was only afraid of fear – there was nothing to be fearful of after all!

On March 1st, I sent out an email to my entire mailing list and also posted it on the “Classes and Summer Camps” page over there on the left side, at the top, of this page.

March 1, 2013