Sarah's Gastronomic Adventures: It's GREEK to Me!

One of my favorite things about food is that with one bite, it can magically transport you to any time or place or memory in your life. Fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil, vine-ripened tomatoes, and a drizzle of hand pressed olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar always brings me back to The Jazz Club (a hidden, little restaurant that I was fond of) in Venice, Italy.

Greek food always reminds me of when I lived in Cluj Napoca, Romania. Yes, kind of a weird jump....who thinks Greek when you're in Eastern Europe?  The Akropolis was the most amazing Greek restaurant and a nice change from all of the pizza and pasta offered everywhere. The atmosphere was fun, the service was good, and the food was always delicious.  I have some very fond memories of celebrations at the little white and blue corner eatery.

The Akropolis Restaurant in Cluj-Napoca, Romania

My time in Romania was years ago at this point, and I'm still on the search for another memorable Greek meal.  Reno has some decent options for "one-the-go" Greek. I love Nick's Greek Deli (keep an eye out for an upcoming review). They do a mean gyro and Greek salad.  But Nick's doesn't offer that sit-down meal atmosphere, with linen tablecloths, plates with patterns of gods and goddesses, souvlaki that comes to your table in a fiery blaze, and an owner who will serenade you with Greek love songs.  You can't find that anywhere in Reno...that I know of.

So when I was craving Greek food the other day, I was THRILLED to stumble across this recipe in one of my cookbooks:

Greek-Style Chicken with Tzatziki Sauce

I found this recipe not only quick and easy (it was in my 20 minute cook-book after all), it was also way yummier then I had expected.  The lemon juice and oregano really brightened up the whole dish.

For the most part, I followed the recipe. I did add some extra veggies to the salad mixture -- had some extra carrots, peppers, and a few olives sitting around from a previous recipe.  I also opted to use a "spring mix" of greens instead of the called-for romaine lettuce.

Lettuce/salad mixture, tzatziki sauce, wild rice, and garlic-oregano chicken.

One of the biggest changes I would make to this recipe would be the tzatziki/yogurt sauce. 

I thought all of the flavors were spot on, but the combination of the non-fat plain yogurt and the wet cucumber made for a liquidy end result.  When I make this again I will "drain" the yogurt before adding the other ingredients.  This is done by putting the yogurt in some cheese cloth, which allows for some the extra liquid come out.  I will also remove some of the cucumber's extra moisture by blotting with paper towels. Taking those two extra steps, will result in a thicker and creamier sauce.

This meal easily serves four people.  Since I am just one, it made for one great dinner and three grab-and-go lunches.  Two of the days I opted to leave the rice out.  I felt the vegetable packed salad, chicken, and cucumber/yogurt "dressing" was plenty for my mid-day meal.

While this dish doesn't come close to that served at The Akropolis, it most definitely curbed my craving for Greek!

Sarah's Gastronomic Adventures: Bangkok Meets Bear

I LOVE THAI FOOD!  I mean, how could you not?  The vibrant spices, the complex flavors, the creamy sweetness of coconut milk.  Every time I eat a Thai Curry, I dream that I'm in Bangkok or along the water in Phuket (both locations I've yet to travel to, but are HIGH on my list).

What I don't love about Thai food is how calor-ific it is.  Lucky for me (and now you too) I found this awesome recipe in one of my Weight Watcher's cookbooks.  It's quick, and surprisingly easy.  You too can make amazing Thai Curry at home!

Chicken and Coconut Curry

Click on recipe to enlarge.

When I ate it for dinner, I served it with wild rice. For lunch, I just ate the curry as is.  The curry paste I used was a bit spicy (weird that something was too spicy...I like it HOT!) so I also ate this dish with a little non-fat plain yogurt.  SO YUMMY!

I would without a doubt make this recipe again. Because I bulked up the curry a bit by adding extra carrots and cauliflower, I had plenty of leftovers.  Enough leftovers actually for two days of lunch for me, and dinner for two for my mom and one of her friends while they went camping.  

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we all did!!!

  

It's in the Stars...

How often do you read your horoscope?  Have you had your palm read?

I used to be the type of person who read my horoscope everyday.  Now, I read it when I remember to.  I prefer reading my horoscope at the end of the day to see if it was correct.  I find horoscopes, palm reading, fortune telling, and the patterns of the sun/moon/stars interesting.  I just don't change my life or have my life revolve around a prediction made by a woman who thinks she's psychic.

With that said, I think it's interesting how very accurate predictions can be or how it seems like the phrase "it was in the stars" is true beyond words. 

My best friends "aunt" (it's easier to describe her as that, as opposed to saying my best friend's mom's best friend) reads palms.  Every time we go down to Vegas and stay with her she looks at how things have changed.  The things she's "seen" in my hands have been dead on:

• I like the finer things in life (not meaning so much that I'm a "brand whore" but more so I'm the type of girl who would prefer a weekend at a spa over a weekend roughing it in the wilderness)
• I worry about the well-being of others before I put myself first
• I enjoy traveling/I am WORLDLY
• I'm in a profession where I'm surrounded by kids

There are more things that she has seen in my hand, but I will leave it at that for the moment.  One thing that is interesting is she was the first one to point out that my life-line "forks" about halfway up my hand.  It's kind of like I have this oval "Lake Tahoe" looking split in the middle of my right hand.  Then the lines converge back together.  She couldn't remember what that meant, and it left me wondering.

A few months ago, my mom asked if I wanted to join her at a psychic convention that was in town.  I thought it would be an interesting experience (it was) but it also put be smack-dab in wack-a-doo central.  Crystals everywhere.  People having their aura's cleansed by a didgeridoo looking thing.  Some guy chanting and dancing in weird, strange tongues. 

There were also people doing Tarot Card and Palm Readings. Still curious by my BFF's aunt's discovery in my life-line I went for the palm reading option.  He did a little pre-interview but I was very vague.  I didn't want to give him any information that he could then use to try to "trick" me into a prediction.  Again, he was oddly accurate.  Through reading my palm he told me:

• I enjoy helping others, and I do this as a career (he guessed that I worked in Social Services...CORRECT)
• I pass knowledge on to others (correct again, I have taught classes to youth in the community for years)
• I often forget to take care of myself because I am busy taking care of others
• I am destined for great things (WELL OF COURSE)

Again, he talked about many other things (I sat with him for an hour) but I won't bore you with that now.  I did ask him about my life-line split, and what that meant.  Interestingly enough he said that it could mean one of two things:

• THE POSITIVE OUTLOOK: That everyone assumes or sees me taking one path in life.  However I am going to do the complete opposite and surprise everyone.  And this ties into the whole "destined for great things" part.  For example, if everyone saw me as a simple teacher, I would in fact, go on to be a teacher-of-teachers.  Or something like that?  Again, I'm not up on all this palm-reading lingo!!! 
• THE NEGATIVE OUTLOOK: That things are going to go REALLY BAD sometime...possibly soon.  My world is going to be rocked, turned upside down, inside out, hit by a train, etc.  This experience will help me grow, make me stronger, and refocus me.  I will make it through "it" triumphant and more successful, and a happier, healthier person.

I remember thinking, "WOW...all that from my hand?"
Again, let me stress that I find this stuff interesting but I will never change my life because some guy with a ponytail told me that things may go to shit.  I just put it on the back-burner in my brain in case I may need that information later.

In addition to having my palm read and internalizing the prospect of my own personal "fall of Rome", several people over the last few months have mentioned the phenomenon of "Saturn Cycles" or the "Return of Saturn".

Return of Saturn?  Real or BS?

Basically (without weighing you down with all sorts of mumbo-jumbo) the "Saturn Return" is an astrological phenomenon that occurs at the ages of 27-30, 58-60, 86-88, etc., coinciding with the time it takes the planet Saturn to make one orbit around the sun.

It is believed by astrologers that as Saturn "returns" to the degree in which it occupied at the time of birth—approximately every 29.5 years—a person crosses over a major threshold and into the next stage of life.

• With the first Saturn Return, a person leaves youth behind and enters adulthood.
• With the second Return, maturity.
• And the third and usually final Return, a person enters wise old age.

The first Saturn Return is famous because it represents the first test of character and the structures a person has built their life upon. Apparently if these structures are unsound, or if a person is living out of touch with his or her true values, the Saturn Return will be a time of upheaval and limitations as Saturn forces an individual to reevaluate their life and make changes. It is not uncommon for relationships and jobs to end during this time of life restructuring and reevaluation.

But the Saturn Return is not all about painful endings. It has been noted that during this time people tend to gain a better vision of where they are going in their life.  Many major life milestones seem to happen around the ages of 29 and 30. This is why astrologers believe that the thirtieth birthday is such a major rite of passage because it marks the true beginning of adulthood, self-evaluation, independence, ambition, and self-actualization.

My mom said she has entered her second Saturn Cycle.  From her 30s to late 50s she was a mother, a wife, and a full-time employee.  Then things changed around her 60th birthday. Yes she's still a mom, but my brother and I don't live with her or need her on a daily basis (LOVE YOU MOM). My mom is now retired.  And my mom is single (my parents divorced a few years back).  There was a tough period for her, but now she has a new release on life.  She seems happier, more confident, and more independent.

So knowing all of this, I can't help but wonder if I've gone through my Saturn Cycle?  I am on the tail-end of my 27th year on this earth.  That puts me smack-dab in the middle of the Return of Saturn.  I have had some really rough (low) moments this year, but at the same time I've had some really fantastic ones too.  For example, I lost my job, but I found a FABULOUS one in return. 

But for some unexplained reason, I'm hesitant to say that my Saturn Cycle is complete. I've always been an optimistic, glass-half-full kind of girl but for some reason I feel like there is more shit to come.  There is still  time until Saturn's return and I wonder what other havoc is going to ensue. 

I also can't help but wonder if this whole "Return of Saturn" thing has anything to do with the split in my life-line.  One would think that there would be a direct correlation?  But then again, I'm not a palm reader, an astrologist, or psychic. 

So what am I going to do with all of this.  Honestly?  Not a damn thing.  I will continue to live my life to the best of my ability each day.  I won't live my life on regrets.  I WILL put myself first.  Because by taking care of myself, I will be more able to do what I love (taking care of others).  But if (and when) things get bad....and then get REALLY GOOD, I will blame it all on SATURN!!!