Gogol Bordello rocks my socks!

Wednesday night we had the opportunity to see Gogol Bordello at People's Court. The tickets were pretty cheap, and we had an awesome close-up view of the action. I don't remember last time I had this much fun.

Multi-ethnic gypsy punk at its finest:

It was crazy - lots of moshing and body surfing. Awesome.Sergey Ryabtsev and Eugene Hütz...

Eugene up close...

Eugene, again...

Kevin Snider from DeLeon, the opening band. S and D went crazy for him.

Sisters M and Z before the show, ready to rock.

Immigrant punks all sweaty and flushed after the show.

It was crazy awesome. And I have tons and tons of more pictures, but I couldn't put them all on here. I just selected a random few.

Eggplant-cellent!

My parents have an awesome garden that is actually producing vegetables. My mama gave me some eggplants.Orzo primavera leftovers + mama's eggplant = yum!

My favorite guys

While I spent my weekend cleaning the house, shopping, cooking, and spending time with one of my favorite "guys" (my puppy dog Wallace who turned 5 on Saturday, the 18th), my husband went on a fishing/camping trip with his friend. There he ran into my dad, who was also on a fishing/camping trip with his friend. (Note that my mom was also at home - cleaning.)

It must be great to be a guy.

Getting a grip

I've been eyeing the OXO Good Grips containers for a while now, so I finally caved in and bought some.

I tend to have a bug problem in my kitchen, and considering how much yummy stuff I have in my pantry (quinoa, bulgur, brown rice, orzo, lentils, polenta, flaxseed, wheat germ), it's no wonder. These containers are see-through and they seal-close. It's actually fun to press on the round button to seal the box.

It also makes my pantry look more organized and pretty.

Eating clean

Okay - so I loved cooking every night, but the recipes from the Vegetarian cookbook have started to fail me. Taste-wise, they were either hit or miss. And a closer look at the nutrition data showed that they were still too carby and fatty. So I wanted to find a cookbook that was a bit more healthy and nutritious.

This is where the Eat-Clean Diet cookbook came in. I first heard of Tosca Reno in the Oxygen magazine (a mag for female bodybuilders and fitness gurus). So I decided to check it out. The advice in the book made sense to me (eat lots of complex carbs with lean protein, drink lots of water, take supplements, exercise, eat every 3 hours...), and the recipes in the cookbook looked delicious.

My trainer, Terri, also recommends the book. It is a diet for bodybuilders. I know I am not even close to even showing muscle, but I do have to get rid of all this unhealthy fat around my waist. (Last time I checked, my body composition consisted of over 30% fat - yikes!)

The first recipe I made was the linguine with jumbo shrimp and spinach. It contained ingredients like cherry tomatoes, basil, and lemon rind. It was uber-delicious!

The second recipe was orzo with baby peas, edamame, red pepper and then I added lemon-pepper tilapia. I didn't think it was possible, but it was even better than the linguine.

I've been careful with portions, eating only one serving at dinner, and then saving another serving for lunch the next day. My hubby has been eating it, as well. He liked it. That is always a good sign.

I have high hopes for this new clean eating lifestyle. I am already noticing a trimmer waist and more energy overall. Woohoo!

Salsa time

Went to B's house on Thursday night to make salsa - a recipe from my boss. It was a fun mess. We made a hot and a mild batch.
The salsa ended up being muy caliente, giving me acid reflux that kept me up all night. But it was worth it.