What came first?

Today I thought I would talk about my least favorite meal of the day, but the most important one: Breakfast. Don't get me wrong I love breakfast, however, I cannot stand the massive amounts of tempting foods presented before me every morning. From bagels to french toast I love it all. Unfortunately, I do not have a private trainer who will be there to snatch the extra cream cheese out of my hand and then immediately put me on a treadmill for intense training, so I have to maintain a healthy morning regimen. With the new workout (which includes weight training) I find it necessary to include protein into all of my meals. Plain eggs can be boring at times and not very filling, so I came up with my own recipe to spice up my morning ritual.

I call this one:
The Perfect Omelette (although perfection is in the eyes, or tummy, of the beholder)

Main Ingredients:
2 large eggs
4-6 dashes of hot sauce (I prefer Cholula)
1/2 tsp skim milk
1-2 tbls of crumbled feta cheese
2 tsp natures seasoning
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Pam (or cooking spray of your choice)

Extras:
2 tbls sauteed onion (white)
sauteed mushrooms (to your liking)
1 tbls sauteed green pepper

*Note: I usually only add in the onion. These are not the only extras that can be added into this meal, they are however, some of the healthiest ones.

Directions:
1. Saute your extras in the EVOO (you may want to add more EVOO to the veggies depending on the quantity)


2. Put eggs, hot sauce, milk, & seasoning in a bowl and beat until mixed thoroughly


3. Add your extras to the bowl and beat into the mixture

4. Spray Pam into a 10" pan making sure to coat the bottom

5. Add mixture to pan and set the burner to medium heat

6. Once the eggs start to solidify add desired amount of feta cheese


7. Fold egg mixture over to one side to create your omlette making sure to cook through (no one wants a case of salmonella, especially not first thing in the morning)


8. Enjoy!

There's no place like ...

HOME! After a very hectic and long weekend Phil and I found a house we love. The house went under contract yesterday and we plan on closing April 30. This is all very exciting, frustrating, and scary.

The drive to Oklahoma was what some would call comical and others would call a nightmare. The 8 hour drive turned into a 13 hour drive after being stuck in traffic for 1.) A semi that broke down in the middle of the interstate 2). A woman who was hit by a car on the interstate 3.) Fort Worth rush hour 4.) Road contstruction and finally 5.) A major car accident that required a helicopter to land on the interstate. So when we finally arrived at the base hotel (at 11:30 p.m.) we were exhasted. Little did we know there was a 6th surprise for us: when we walked into our room we noticed it was a bit warm. The thermostat was not working so Phil went to the front office to ask about getting a different room. To his (and my) dismay, the desk clerk (who was a very nice older woman) said, "Oh, dear there is no air conditioning in these old buildings." Yah.

The day of house hunting was a bit long and boring. Once we were done looking at homes we nulled over the 3 we found to be most suitable. One was brand new (still under construction) but in a horrible neighborhood. The other was in an okay neighborhood, but needed lots of extra work for the price. The one we finally went with is a classic 57 year old home. Everything is traditional from the hardwood floors to the brick exterior. As soon as I walked into this home I was in love. It's charm is only one of it's many qualities although it is the most important one. Simply put, this is more than a house it's a home.

We quickly put down a bid and went out to dinner. Right before dinner we were told that the first bid was rejected and we quickly countered. They, however, were not so quick to get back to us so Phil and I called it a night with some cocktails at a local hotspot we used to visit during pilot training. We went back to our room early to get some rest before our big drive back to Texas. We got our 7th surprise at 4 a.m. when the train came. It sounded as though it was coming into our room ... and neither of us could get right back to bed. Let's put it this way, if I am about to get hit by a train in the future I will know how loud it can get before I need to jump out of the way.

The drive home started off a little rough. Things started looking up when we heard back that the sellers had a counter offer. We haggled over the phone for a while and agreed on a price before we even got to Oklahoma City. We were (are) both ecstatic. Unfortunately it didn't make the drive go by any faster.

To conclude this very long blog, I'm posting photos of our new digs. (Note: the stuff inside obviously isn't ours.) Enjoy!

Front of the House

Living Room

Family Room

Kitchen

Breakfast Nook

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

Guest Bath

Dining Room

Florida Room / Sunroom

Backyard

Sleepy in San Antonio

Well, it's nice to see I have some readers! If anything, at least I have a reader ... even if it is a relative. ;) Things are slow here in the great state of Texas. My mother and sister-in-law just left and we are getting back to our normal routine (whatever that is). In any event, here are a few photos from last weekend with the in-laws. Enjoy!

Phil, Meg and I at the Alamo.



Meg and I at the back of the Alamo



Phil and I sitting in a wishing well at the Natural Bridge Caverns



Me inside the cavern. No my eyes normally aren't that wide. That's what a bright flash in a very dark cave will do to you.



Meg, Donna and I inside the cavern.



The Natural Bridge.



The next two photos are great cavern shots. It was unbelievable in there!




Phil sifting for gold.



Phil with the bag of dirt.



Other news:
Phil and I will be traveling to Oklahoma next weekend to do some serious house hunting. We'll see if any of the houses we've been looking at online are worth purchasing or if we'll end up renters once again. Wish us luck!!!

Chicken and such

It has almost been three weeks since I started my new hobbies. I have still gotten nowhere with the knitting. I have a feeling that I will be struggling with that for a while. In any event, I am into my third week of the Self Challenge (which is still going on and can be signed up for on Self.com). I've actually been doing a good job keeping up with the challenge as a whole and the only real complication is the menu design. So far I haven't made a single item they suggest. Instead I make my own menu. Perhaps this is cheating just a little bit, but I've stayed within the alloted caloric intake and I've cut out all items made with enriched wheat. Phil and I have even been making our own treats and desserts so we know exactly what is in the food we eat.

To answer a question posed to me in one of my comments ... errr, actually my only comment on this blog ... I usually stick with using thin filets of chicken breast. The only seasoning I use before the cooking process begins (usually) is ground sea salt and ground peppercorn. Some of my recipes call for other seasonings, but I have been trying to stay away from adding too much extra salt, just one quick pinch of sea salt over each piece of chicken is as far as I go.

Here's a good quick Asian Recipe that I use when cooking either chicken or beef strips. The recipe listed here is what I use for chicken. I normally have other/different additives for the steak.

Laura's Quick Teriyaki
Chicken:
4-6 pieces of chicken sliced thin, then cut into strips
1 tsp ground sea salt (or table salt)
1 tsp ground black peppercorn (or black pepper)
1/4 cup white onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (which I refer to as EVOO)
Fresh Red Pepper (sliced)
Steamed brocolli (optional)


Sauce:
1/2 cup low sodium teriyaki (Aloha brand is the best, but others are fine)
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tsp crushed red pepper (more if you like it spicy)
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp corn starch

Cooking Directions:
Sprinkle chicken with the salt and pepper. Put EVOO in deep cold skillet making sure to coat bottom of pan. Add your chicken strips. Cook on Med-High for roughly 10 minutes or until a light brown (making sure to cook all sides of the chicken). I tend to add my onion, garlic, and sliced red pepper towards the end of the ten minutes, before I add my sauce. While your chicken is cooking, mix up the ingredients for your sauce. I find it's best to start with your water and corn starch (to allow the starch to dissolve). Once the chicken is a golden brown add the sauce mixure and the brocolli. Reduce heat to Med-Low and cook for another 5 minutes.

I usually serve this with a brown rice, but Phil isn't a fan of brown rice so I'll divvy it up between that, white rice, and a healthier version of fried rice we came up with after a visit to Benihana's.

Woo!

I'll finish up this post by updating on my favorite hobby: reading for fun! So far I've made a huge dent on Tim Dorsey's work. I've been reading it in chronological order (which is painful, because the story line doesn't follow as such, but Mr. Dorsey requests that it be read that way ... I'm sure I'll figure out why one day) and I am finally up to Stingray Shuffle. I bought that and Cadillac Beach today in the hopes that I might make it through both by the end of next weekend. Serge is my new all time favorite character (although Carl Hiaasen's Mick Stranahan is a close second). Dorsey sells his stuff on his web site and one day I will finally give in and get my Serge's Florida Experience shirt. In any event, Hiaasen's and Dorsey's books are perfect for the person who wants to learn their Florida history, but doesn't want to be bothered by the boring books. Personally, I can't wait to get my hands on "The Tropic of Cracker: The Florida History and Cultural Series" and "Seasons of Real Florida".

All my ex's

Well, not all of them. Errr, actually none of them live in Texas, but I do for now. I have been here for 2 month and I have to tell you, I'm not all that impressed . . . at least not with the food. It appears that fast food is the life blood of the community here. Those of my fellow Floridians and Californians know that health food is as prevalent in those states as the McDonald's are, but that can not be said of Texas; at least not San Antonio. Needless to say, most of my lunches are made at home and it is getting to be a bit boring. I miss Fresh Choice and Plutos! At this point I would give anything to find a local Ruby Tuesdays just for their salad bar.

Now that I am 2 months into my "vacation" I can honestly say that I have become quite addicted to watching television once again. It appears as though the average housewife either has too much time on her hands or has way more to accomplish than I do during the average work week. Either way, I am about to go out of my mind. Luckily we only have 2 months left here, then off to a place where I can officially get back to the grind of life (AKA work). Which leads me to our new goal: finding a home we love and in the area we want to live in . . . which is difficult in a small town in the heart of Oklahoma. Ah, ladies and gentlemen; let the games begin!