Emiko: Day 41, Sweet (potato) Eats

Hello, hungry-bellied friends! Here I am going to offer you the two newest additions to our virtual cookbook. The ingredient featured in both of these recipes is the magnificent Sweet Potato. These are so delicious, yet sometimes under-appreciated. 

I am posting a delectably simple recipe for sweet-yet-spicy Sweet Potato Fries. So easy, so yummy! Next will be a Whole Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Carrots recipe for the slow-cooker. Here is what the finished product looks like (with some of that Quinoa recipe on the side still left over from last time, and by the way it keeps really well!):

Looks awesome, right? Well, I would have taken pictures of the Sweet Potato Fries too, but we ate them too fast! So no pictures. But here's the recipe, and if you make then you will get the delightful bonus of getting to eat 'em, too. What could be better?

Sweet Potato Fries

4 medium-sized Sweet Potatoes

1 tbsp Olive Oil, plus a dash to grease the baking sheet

1/2 tsp Paprika

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

A sprinkle of Cayenne Pepper, or to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside. As the oven warms up, peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into long, square strips. You know, like a french fry! Place the sweet potatoes into a sealable plastic bag and add the oil, paprika, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Shake the bag until the potatoes are evenly-coated. Pour a small amount of oil on the lined baking sheet, just enough to grease the surface. Spread out the fries evenly, in one layer. It is very important to have just one layer, or some fries may burn/remain soggy. Bake in the oven for a total of 25-30 minutes, checking in every 10 minutes and flipping them around. After 20 minutes, try a fry (be careful, they're hot!) to see if you want them any spicier, and if so add more cayenne pepper. Keep a close eye for the last 10 minutes, to assure your fries don't burn. Remove from oven, and serve immediately. And enjoy!

Slow-cooker Whole Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

I got this recipe from familyoven.com, I will link to it here. In my version, I am changing it slightly by substituting sweet potatoes and carrots for the mushrooms in the original. We used an unfrozen chicken, and removed all the skin and most of the fat. We came back to check on the chicken after 7 hours, and it was just right. I also think that there is definitely too much butter in the original recipe, so try it with less before you add more butter to the paste. We also didn't add any salt, and it still came out fantastic.

1 (about 3lb) frozen or fresh whole chicken (make sure it will fit in your slow-cooker!), giblets removed

1 lb sweet potatoes and carrots (about 1/2 lb of each), cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2-3 cups water

1 small white onion, peeled and chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1/2 tbsp dried rosemary

1/2 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp garlic powder

1-3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

2 tbsp honey

Place the potatoes, carrots, and about half of the onions in your slow-cooker, and pour just enough water in to cover the vegetables. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, and set the slow-cooker to low. Cover with lid. Place all the other ingredients in a food processor and blend them into a paste. Remove the lid from your slow-cooker, pour the paste evenly over the chicken, and replace the lid. Let cook 6-8 hours, depending on how hot your slow-cooker runs. If you are using a frozen chicken, it may take up to 10 hours. The meat should be falling right off of the bone, and the vegetables also very tender.

Adrian and Emiko: Day 40, Working Together

We tried out a new recipe for lunch today. We made chicken with sweet potatoes, carrots & onions in our slow cooker. The recipe also included a paste made of garlic, onion, honey, rosemary & pepper, and butter, which we made with our blender. (The full recipe is coming tomorrow, along with a sweet potato fries recipe we made yesterday.)

For dinner, Emiko made Adrian an apple & banana smoothie, but it had a garlicky after taste. We used honey to cover it up, but that just made it really sweet - with a garlicky after taste. Luckily, Adrian loves garlic.

Adrian was in a really bad mood this morning. He even cursed at the carrots and sweet potatoes as he was chopping them up for the chicken recipe. The mood followed him all the way into the evening. But, after going out to do jump-ropes, the negativity magically lifted. From then on it was all hugs, smiles and laughter. It's amazing how quickly these things can change.

Today we both really realized how much of an advantage we have because we can do things together. We have been able to help each other during our workouts in a bunch of different ways.

One thing we've been able to do is to point out mistakes the other person is making. For example, when Emiko was doing her tricep extensions, Adrian noticed that she was using her entire arm to get through the movement. After bringing this up, Emiko was able to correct herself and do the rest of the exercise properly. Later, while Adrian was doing his tricep dips, he mentioned to Emiko how easy they were. Emiko then pointed out that he was going through the exercises too quickly. After slowing down his pace, Adrian had a much harder time, but in the end got a better workout.

We are also big source of encouragement for each other. Today, while Emiko was doing her jump-ropes, she showed off some cool jump rope dance moves for Adrian which made him laugh. While she was fooling around, Emiko was able to do her first double-jump, and later Adrian did the same. It was lots of fun and broke up some of the monotony of jump-roping. Also, Emiko usually cheers Adrian on while he is struggling through a tough exercise like v-sits or tricep extensions, and it gives him an extra boost to go the extra mile.

These aspects are of course present in other parts of our relationship. We have decided to work together to put what we learn in school directly into use. Although we signed up for a Web Design class together this Fall, we decided today that our time would be best used if Emiko stays in the class and passes information along to Adrian, while he uses that time to create content for the website we are going to create. In this way, we are learning how to optimize our time, and to work together to complete tasks. It is exciting and motivating knowing that we are working as a team in order to move forward in our lives together.

Emiko: Day 38, A Crick in My Back

This morning I got up, stretched a bit, and was happy to note that my back was much less sore and achy than yesterday. As I mentioned in my previous post, after jumping around on trampolines for an hour on Friday, my back was in quite a state on Saturday. So I was really glad that it felt so much better.

I went out behind the house in the evening to do my jump ropes. It was then that I realized that my back was not in much better shape than yesterday. I noticed that my back would curl slightly with every jump, and with that curl I felt strain in my muscles and spine. It was a little challenging, but I did all of my sets and went upstairs the rest of the workout, on the other hand, was much much harder (Pistols!).

I just finished sitting half an hour of zazen, and my back was a continuous source of distraction. It was difficult to maintain my posture, and toward the end was painful to just sit there. It makes me really appreciate Tim's strength to go through all of this, as I know he has chronic aches and pains. I can see why he goes to get massages regularly.

Definitely can't wait to lie down in bed and rest my back muscles. Adrian also promised me a back massage before bed, so off I go I can't wait!

G'night!

Emiko: Day 36 & 37, A Birthday, Briefly

Good evening, everybody! Today was a bit of a special day, because it was my 20th birthday. Adrian made me the most wonderful present to wake up to... origami animals that filled our bedroom ceiling, all hanging down to greet me good morning. As I first awoke, I could see their silhouettes in the morning light, but didn't realize what they were until I turned the lamp on. Who knew that this was the surprise that Adrian had been working on in secret this whole time? So so so neat!


But that wasn't the only surprise he had in store for me! My first birthday surprise came yesterday, when Adrian took me for a drive down to Santa Clara. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, all he said was, "Don't dress up." When we arrived, I realized why. We were going to be jumping on trampolines!

At first I was a little embarrassed, because we were definitely the oldest people there besides parents supervising their children, and one old guy. The old guy was in a maroon jumpsuit with a matching headband, and was having extreme fun jumping and twirling in one little square of trampoline for an hour.

We only got to snap one photo before the attendants busted us and made us put our camera away.

I was also really scared to try anything ambitious on the trampolines. I attempted a few front-flips, but landed on my butt every time. I tried some old gymnastics moves before finally going for a back-flip, which I was almost positive I couldn't do anymore. But Adrian kept encouraging me, "Try it! Just try it!" And guess what? I did it! My body somehow remembered the movement from like 10 years ago when I could do all that flippy stuff. After that, I was able to do a bunch of back-flips, and I started to have a lot of fun.

Today I am a little sorry for getting overzealous with the back-flips, because I think I may have injured myself. My back just ain't used to this stuff no more! I suppose that this experience just reinforces the necessity of stretching before doing anything to your body. Also, Adrian and I both got tired out really fast because we had already done our exercises for the day. Made me feel old!

But still, Adrian and I do plan to go back for more jumping, and possibly use the space to practice parkour once we learn some moves at a beginner's class next Saturday. Even the walls are made of trampoline (your can see it in the photo), so that should be lots of fun to work with.

After getting all tired out from jumping, and then Adrian insisting that I go to bed early so that he could "set up" my present, I totally forgot to write a post last night! So I feel a little bad. But hey, it's my birthday so I gotta cut myself some slack.


Well, that's all I have to say. I had better go to sleep and rest up for a new day. I really hope that my back doesn't hurt as badly tomorrow!

Goodnight, lovely people!