Friday, January 28, 2011

I've Discovered Frank's

This is probably going to seem like a weird post to many of you but here goes anyhow.  I don't really care much for spicy food...well, most spicy foods.  I like my salsa mild and my stuffed jalapeno's sweet and tangy, and I love wassabi on sushi, dijon mustard on just about anything, and horseradish is a favorite as well.  But I'm not much of a tobasco, poblano, chili pepper kind of girl.  I'm a pansy when it comes to spicy most of the time.

But then there are exceptions.  I love tom yum soup which is a spicy Asian soup with lemongrass.  In fact, cayenne pepper and lemongrass/lemon juice are one of my favorite flavor combinations for soups and broths when I'm sick.  Sunday, when we went to the sports bar, I decided to be a little bit brave and had "Temptation" put a little bit of this hot sauce that was on the table on a slice of pizza.  He got carried away and ended up practically drowning my slice in Frank's red hot and after mopping a lot of it off I thought it was going to be horrible because there was still so much that I couldn't get rid of.

SURPRISE!  That has to be one of the tastiest flavor profiles I've ever had!  So we were grocery shopping the other night and there, in Wal-Mart, was a huge display of Frank's Red Hot.  I swear there was this ethereal light over the display and angelic music was coming from somewhere nearby.  It was like kismet.  First of all, Frank's has 0 calories, and second, it's relatively cheap; so I grabbed a bottle.

Last night while adding up the calories for Temptation's burgers I started to get nervous, the bun and patty alone was a bit high (about 600 calories) and that didn't include mayo and mustard (my usual burger condiments).  Then I had an idea ... how about no mayo or mustard but instead using LOTS of tomato slices to add moisture and some Frank's for flavor.  It was mui tasty!  This could be the pick-me-up I've been looking for.  I could put that stuff on chicken, hummus, mixed veggies, maybe even a can of tuna ... the possibilities are endless.  I can use Frank's to spice up the flavor of any thing that I find a little on the bland side to make it more palatable.  Also, I found a recipe last night in the book for these little spinach and egg tureen thingies that you bake in the oven.  Basically I can pre-saute the spinach and onions on a weekend and then put them in tupperware in the fridge, then for lunch I would heat up the oven, plop a serving of the greens into a tureen, break an egg over them and bake them for awhile while I watch TV, sprinkle a little Frank's and voila.  I need to go to Ikea and get some earthenware tureens.

I had another idea which I mentioned in a comment on a previous post but I thought I'd mention it here for feedback purposes.  I was thinking I could dice up veggies like lettuce, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, avocado, mushrooms etc on a weekend, put them in single-serving sandwich bags and freeze them.  Then I could take one out of the freezer in the morning when I pour my coffee and put it on the counter to thaw.  By lunch time it should be thawed so I could fold the veggies up in a small tortilla, drizzle some balsamic and have easy peasy veggie wraps for lunch with little to no clean up.  My question is this: do you think the veggies will freeze/thaw well?  Has anyone tried to freeze those types of veggies and thaw them out?  I am especially worried about the lettuce and tomatoes ... it seems like they'd be ok but I'm not sure.



Food:
7 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Fiber One bar
1 can hearts of palm
1 cup fat free yogurt
1 veggie stromboli
>>spinach
>>mushrooms
>>olives
>>onions
>>tomatoes
>>broccoli
>>cheese
4 squares of chocolate
----------------------------------
Daily Caloric Intake 1,051



Activity:
"Temptation" blew my gym plans for this evening by coming home from work two hours late.  He also blew our dinner plans because we needed a grocery store rotisery style chicken that he was supposed to pick up for the recipe from the new cook book.  Grrr.  So now I get to walk 5.12 miles tomorrow (minimum) to meet my 14 mile quota.  This will be the most walking I've done in one day so far - thank goodness Sunday he has paintball and I can stay home and soak in a hot bath/recover.  I think I did alright with dinner though, only 600 calories for the stromboli; less than the home made cheese burger from last night and twice as tasty.  Tomorrow will be interesting.

8 comments:

  1. hmmmm, lettuce and tomatoes will likely thaw mushy. :(

    Do you work from home?

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  2. Mmmm, Frank's, my hubby puts that sh*t on everything. You have seen the commercials, haven't you?

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  3. Willpower: Yes I do work from home. I'm sure I could prep the lettuce and tomatoes and put them in tupperware in the fridge and then freeze everything else.

    Darla: No I haven't. I hadn't even heard of the stuff before this last Sunday.

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  4. I put two or three chicken breasts in the crock pot with a sliced onion. Dump a bunch of Franks on it and let it cook until done. Now shred the chicken. I make sandwiches or put a spoonful on a big salad. So good!

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  5. There's a hilarious commercial (maybe only in Canada, who knows) with an old lady and they are talking about Frank's and she says, "I put that sh#t on everything." Now my husband and I say it all the time because he does put in on everything.

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  6. mushrooms must be cooked in order to be frozen just to let you know and you have already been told about the lettuce and tomato. LOL

    I add Franks to salmon patties and omlettes as well. NUMMY!

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  7. I love frank's btw. I also love chalula, Mmmm. :) It's my fave hot sauce next to frank's extra hot. ;)

    Speaking of, I used frank's last night on my taco salad, which is one of my fave meals. :)

    Trader Joe's taco seasoning packet is THE BEST. Mmmm :)

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