Creativity and Lettuce Tacos, With a Little Bit of Kundalini

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How was your weekend? 

Mine was wonderful, with just the right combination of activity and rest. Friday, fiance and I went on a date. Then, Saturday, we did an insanely hard Spinning class, then I went to Blogger Book Club, and then we had dinner with one of our fave couples at a schwanky restaurant in West Town. Yesterday, we relaxed, had a yummy breakfast at The Breakfast Club, and tried our first session of Kundalini Yoga!

Delicious spread at Blogger Book Club, hosted by Kelsey

Yummy dinner at Leopold in West Town

Swirlymon Coffee at The Breakfast Club

Creativity and Kundalini? 
Yesterday, fiance and I decided to take a yoga class at the gym. Neither of us were feeling up for anything highly aerobic, because we were both absolutely wiped and needed a day to rest. So, we saw something called 'Beginner's Yoga' (we are not beginners, mind you) on the schedule, and decided to give it a try.

Totally not what I was expecting. As it turned out, the instructor taught Kundalini Yoga. I know, you thought the "Kundalini" in the title was an Italian dish, didn't you? I don't blame you. Fun fact, though: I don't like Italian dishes. I legitimately dislike pasta (notice there are like zero pasta recipes on my food page).

Anyway, apparently, Kundalini as a yoga practice is meant to "cultivate the creative spiritual potential of a human to uphold values, speak truth, and focus on the compassion and consciousness needed to serve and heal others" (yes, I'm quoting Wikipedia again). Most of what I got out of that explanation was the part about cultivating the creative spiritual potential.

So, what's the deal with Kundalini Yoga? It was just alright. The instructor had us do small repetitive movements for about 2 minutes each, combining it with breathing techniques. I'll admit that I did feel some heat in my arms, and, at one point, in my abs... but, when I'm spending an hour in a class, I expect a bit more than that.

That said, who knows. Maybe my creativity has been increased in its wake. Who knows what kind of magic I'll whip up today?!

Lettuce Tacos? 

Fiance loves himself some Turkey Tacos. They're lean, they're mean, and they're just darn good. It's been our Sunday Night meal for a while now.

But there's one thing I just don't love about it, which is what I call the vehicle. The taco shell, itself (or it-shell-f? ha). Just as your car is a vehicle to get you to Hobby Lobby (loveeeeee), the taco shell is really just a vehicle to get that turkey and cheese goodness into my oh-so-happy mouth. I could eat more of the turkey and less of the taco shell.

Enter large lettuce heads. Bib lettuce, if you will. I grabbed a head of it for $0.99 at the grocer. Now, I can get my fill on that delicious protein, instead of spending on the carby carb carbs.

It's kind of like if skinny fish tacos and turkey lettuce wraps had a baby. You could also do something similar with Swiss Chard, and it would be a bit more hearty, so you could really load those babies up with meat.

Really, though. Check it out. His and hers tacos?

Questions...

• How was your weekend? I want to know!
• What have you done creatively this week - in the kitchen or elsewhere? 

Ronald McDonald Volunteer Day

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Today was a wonderful day! A group of my coworkers and I volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House. For those of you who don't know, it's a wonderful charity-and-donation-run home (more like a hotel, with 80+ rooms) that accommodates families with children who are receiving treatment at Chicago hospitals.



Just inside the third floor is a crazy musical wonderland. Those dots on the floor, see them? Well, when you stomp on them, they play music. My coworkers insisted on (attempting to) make their own music!



For this wonderful home, we decided to show up and cook a meal. What better to make for a huge group than tacos, right?



I'm sure you all know how to make tacos. But making them in bulk is a slightly different thing, I suppose. Step one: Season lots and lots and lots of meat.



Step two: Cook it! We had 3-4 full pans of ground beef going at once, which we slowly transferred to a warming/serving tray.



Step three: Chop stuff. Lots of it. Tomatoes, onions, lettuce. You name it.



Step four: Heat the tortillas. We decided to heat them over the flame, then transfer them to a basket lined in foil and covered in foil. They kept warm quite well.



Step five: Set everything out and serve!

More important than the food, however, was meeting the people there. Meeting little kids and families who were so grateful for our visit.

Watching my coworkers play with the children was the cutest thing ever.

 It was all orchestrated by this lovely woman. Thank you for such a wonderful day! :)

Skinny Fish Tacos

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Light on calories but heavy on flavor and spice, these skinny fish tacos have just the right amount of authentic flavor mixed in with some delicious twists. Prepare in 20 minutes and it's yours forever... well, or for as long as you can manage to enjoy it before polishing it all off!

On Monday, something totally adorable happened. While I was at work, bf asked me if we could have a date night. After our last date night in Wicker Park, I was totally hyped about what this date night would consist of.

As it turned out, he had a plan. While I was at the gym, he prepared all of his ingredients for fish tacos, as well as a totally delicious Whiskey Sweet-N-Sour (which I'll share the recipe for on Friday, get pumped!). And by the time I was showered and ready for date night, everything was ready.

No, you can't have him. He's mine. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound white fish (any white fish)
• 1/2 pack of Trader Joe’s taco seasoning
• 1/8 to 1/4 diced onion 
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 8-10 small corn tortillas
• 1-2 cups baby spinach
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Mix vegetable oil and taco seasoning together in a mixing bowl (has to be a large enough bowl to fit the fish, too). Add water and stir well.
3. Cut the fish into bite sized squares. Toss fish pieces in the bowl with the seasoning and mix, gently, until fish pieces are completely covered.
4. Line a cake pan with aluminum foil. Add a thin layer of olive oil on top. Then, spread the seasoned fish out over the bottom of the pan.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, then use tongs to flip the pieces. Bake for another 10 minutes, then remove.
6. Heat corn tortillas in the microwave for 15-30 seconds, just enough to make them more pliable (so they don’t break apart in your hand, which happened to me).
7. Serve with baby spinach, cilantro, and shredded cheese.