¡Soy cambiado para siempre! (I am Forever Changed)
What do I write for the 500th post on this website? I want to tell Andy (who’s Andy?) how much I really do love him, and what a wonderful past year and 8 months it’s been since I met him at the 21st Annual Curtis Park Wine Tasting & Silent Auction.
As of today, we have been a couple for 1 year and 7 months. We have both had struggles during this time, but somehow it has all worked out. We have so much in common, that it’s hard to pay attention to our differences. I think I can say that he loves me more than anyone ever has. That means a lot to me because I really don’t have anyone out here. I still can’t believe I met him because I was in the right place in the right time. I just wanted him to be my best friend immediately. I never thought that he would like me romantically.
But (for some reason) he did, and immediately spoke of taking me to Mexico for Thanksgiving last year. I laughed about it, not taking him seriously… doubting our romance would last that far into the year…not because of him necessarily…but because of me and how complicated I can be… 😉
And then Thanksgiving 2012 came around and I had my passport (brand new, especially for this trip!) and off we went. For four days, we ate and drank and exercised and slept. And didn’t have to be anywhere for anyone at any time. And it was amazing. And somehow a lot of my high school Spanish came back to me. Especially the food stuff. I loved reading menus the most. My favorite restaurant in Ixtapa is called La Gloria del Infierno, The Glory of Hell. 😛 During our time in Ixtapa, we also dined at La Malinche…which happens to have a Facebook page!
We stayed at a hotel called Capella, located in Ixtapa (Facebook page here, twitter page here), far removed from the downtown area and restaurants. Almost isolated from everything. Um, P.S.: it’s built into the side of a cliff! 🙂 It was the most romantic place I have ever been. And for the first time, we were outside of all the stresses of daily life and we got to be ourselves. And that’s when I knew I didn’t even want to ever be without him. ¡La mejor semana de mi vida! The pictures above are from the trip, but they just don’t do the place justice. This is a place you have to see for yourself to believe. 🙂
Meatless Monday: Cauliflower Sweet Potato Tots
Last Saturday was the annual Komen Race for the Cure at Cal Expo, and Andy won his division! (Race photo by Morinico Photography)
To celebrate the win, I made one of his favorite foods (pizza!) these Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Tots (the pizza was a primal-ized BBQ Chicken Pizza, which I will share with you later this week). I had made an earlier version of the tots last week for myself, but was not satisfied with the texture or really, the flavor. This time, I used a combination of cauliflower and sweet potatoes, and it was a success! I also coated the tots in almond meal for extra crunch. Here’s the recipe!
1/2 head caulflower
2 medium sweet potatoes
3 large eggs
1/4 cup So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/8 cup coconut flour or gluten free flour (to use as a binder)
cracked pepper (to taste)
salt
1/4 cup olive oil or a can of olive oil spray
1 cup raw almonds
1 Tbs coconut flour
1-2 tsp your favorite spice mixture (you can be creative here: chili powder, curry, rosemary, cumin)
Peel and cut potatoes into cubes and microwave until soft. While the potatoes are microwaving, pulse the (raw) cauliflower in a food processor until it’s texture is finely “crummed”, do not purée. Set aside in a large mixing bowl. When the potatoes are tender, set aside and allow them to cool.
Rinse out and dry the food processor, then pulse the almonds until they are almost breadcrumb consistency, then pulse in the coconut flour. Then if you wish, add in your favorite spices or extra parmesan cheese to finish off the breading. Set mixture aside on a plate and rinse and dry the food processor again.
Preheat oven to 385°F
Then place the sweet potatoes in the food processor and pulse to mash them up. Then add the cheese, the coconut milk, the eggs and the coconut flour, and pulse until smooth. Then remove the potato mixture and add it to the cauliflower crumbs. Stir until well combined.
Coat a baking sheet with olive oil or olive oil spray. Form the cauliflower and sweet potato mixture into little cylinder shapes and then roll in the almond/coconut flour/spice mixture. Set each shape on the baking sheet. This recipe will probably yield about 24 tots. Lightly drizzle the tots with olive oil, or pulse them lightly with the spray. This will help them get extra crisp.
Bake in oven until golden brown. (30-40 mins) Salt to taste. 🙂
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