Ostrich... yummy!!!!

Yes, that is right, I said Ostrich is yummy! Tonight I made another one of Karina's recipes and substituted the beef for some ostrich meat we had. When Haws and I were on our honeymoon (ages ago) in Solvang, we visited a Ostrich farm there and tried some of the jerky. It was so good that we vowed that we would make it sometime. While shopping at Whole Foods, I came across some ground Ostrich meat and HAD to buy it! Ostrich is a great alternative to beef because it is super lean, low in fat and cholesterol, and high in protein and taste!!! To get the recipe and see what it looked like before we devoured it, check out Karina's Stuffed Acorn Squash. It is a wonderful cold weather meal :)

We feed them... they feed us! 

This is what was left by the time I thought to take a picture. I made a few tweaks to the recipe as I always do, mainly because I didn't have exactly all the same ingredients. This has a lot of flavor... sweet and spice!

PUERTO RICO!

I am finally getting around to posting pictures from our Puerto Rico trip. We had such a good time and there are sooo many pictures that I decided to try a slide for the first time! I hope it turns out OK.  

Enjoy :)

Puerto Rican Red Beans and Rice

This may not look like the most appetizing meal... but don't allow looks to deceive you. This red beans and rice dish is a staple in Puerto Rico and it is delicous!!! 

I got brave and decided to make the Puerto Rican beans from a cook book we bought on our trip. I was pleasnantly suprised by how good they turned out! I had never made beans that didn't come straight out of the can before and now I don't think I can ever go back. 

These are not just your average beans... they have a few surprises in there to spice things up. 

Puerto Rican small red bean stew

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Soaking time: 8–12 hours
Cooking time: 1 1/2 hours

 

1 pound dried small red beans
2 quarts water
1 1/4 cups cubed, fresh calabaza or pumpkin (I used Acorn Squash instead, but you can also use canned pumpkin)
1/4 cup tomato paste

Sofrito:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp crushed bay leaves

Rinse and drain dried red beans. Place in a pot, cover with water, and soak for 8–12 hours. Drain beans and place in a large, heavy pot with 2 quarts water. Add calabaza or pumpkin, cover pot, and bring to a boil. Continue to boil over medium heat for 1 hour. If using fresh pumpkin, slightly mash the pumpkin. To prepare sofrito, heat vegetable oil in a heavy pot. Add all sofrito ingredients and sauté for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sofrito and tomato paste to cooked beans and pumpkin mixture. Cook for an additional 30 minutes to allow mixture to thicken, stirring occasionally. May need to add additional water, as mixture should be moist.

Classic Haws

Fridays are always a tough one, especially for Haws. After a long week of waking up way too early in my opinion, he is usually pretty beat by the time 10pm rolls around. Tonight, like many other Friday nights, we went out and while I was driving home, Haws fell asleep. And like most nights like tonight, even though he was delirious, he comes home and just HAS to stay up to watch sport center. Tonight, I came out after cleaning the kitchen and saw this....

Total Classic Haws! I better go put the poor guy to bed :)

TV UPDATE

So we bit the bullet and bought a new TV yesterday. We didn't want to miss out on the election coverage and Dancing with the stars! We all know the results... so I won't go on and on about it here. I am a little sick of the whole thing and I am glad to take a break from all the campaigns.

Our wedding gift was out of warranty and it was going to cost us twice as much as a new one to fix.  I LOVE COSTCO! We got a brand new Panasonic 42" plasma with Costco's additional 2 year warranty for half of the price listed on the Internet! We stayed away from the VIZIO since that is the one that popped. 

Lesson Learned: The next time you have to get a TV, go to Costco!

The Pop of Death!!!

On Sat night, I was in the shower and heard a loud pop come from downstairs. I thought Haws had done something to himself... but it turns out that our plasma TV that we got for a wedding gift experienced "The pop of death". This refers to what happens when some wires get over heated and burst... the screen went completely blank and it appears that it is dead. The TV had only a one year warranty (we just hit the one year and 5 month mark), so we have to have it repaired or try to talk to the company into trading it in. Needless to say, this couldn't have happened at a worse time. We don't watch a ton of TV, but now I am missing dancing with the stars and the election coverage!!! I may have to get a temporary replacement until then. That, or I will have to spend some time trying to catch up on my blog. I am still working on getting some Puerto Rico pictures on here.