free tasting events!!!

so remember the awesome johnnie walker event i did a few months back? here's a refresher if you don't remember.

wellllll they're doing it again!

even though it'll probably be the exact same thing as last time...i signed up to do it again. um, definitely worth listening to the same speeches and watching the same videos if it means i get free food and blue label johnnie! (and like, 4 other labels)

there are a bunch of times still available. if u wanna do it sign up here

there's also a guinness event going on that same weekend. after googling and reading a few yelp reviews, it looks like it's not as fancy as the johnnie event (aka no tasting of $150 alcohol...). according to this dude you'll get some food, a pint, and a few tastes of other guinness products. (so there are other guinness products..?) 

anyways...free food and beer is free food and beer, so i'm obviously still down. and it'll be cool to learn more about guinness. watch out, i'm going to be one of those annoying ppl being like "noooooo this is how you pour a perfect pinttttt ughhhhhh i'm so cooooooool"

smart swong signed up for the guinness event on friday (april 13th) at 6 and the johnnie event at 8. so you should sign up then too.

(i wonder diageo will notice that i'm going to a bunch of their marketing events...haha)

curry fried rice

fried rice is high up there on the dishes swong makes most often. probably because you can it with anything (as long as you have leftover rice) and it's easy to do. (so easy, even the bf can make it! har har har)

i wanted fried rice the other day but didn't have any soy sauce. instead of just walking across the street to county to buy some, i decided to improvise with what i had. i looked in my spice cabinet and decided...curry fried rice it shall be!

What I used:

- 1/2 c leftover rice

- 2 slices of firm tofu, cubed

- 1.5 cups frozen normandy blend veggies

- 1 smal onion, chopped

- 1/2 tsp curry powder

- splash of water

i tried to cut the tofu into uniform-sized cubes

i microwaved the veggies to thaw a little but then chopped them into smaller pieces

the onions cooked in some oil until they were a bit transluscent, then i added the tofu and let it brown a bit. then the veggies.

added the rice, curry powder and water. the water helps cook the veggies and rice more..and also helps get the yummy brown bits from the bottom.

and finished!

i forgot to start timing this, but it probably took about ten minutes for everything. the onions and caulliflower pieces were the under-the-radar winners here. they tasted sooo good in combo with the curry powder! maybe next time i'll do a stirfry just of the two.

granola bars!!

i don't need to say much about my love for ina garten. because well, it's been talked about. knowing this about me, it's probably no surprise that even without cable in my apt i make sure that i get my barefoot contessa fix through using hulu and timing my work outs to catch airings at the gym (ok..i've actually only done this twice).

homegirl made granola bars the other day and i couldn't stop thinking about them.

maybe it's the training, maybe it's my love for ina, or maybe just that i'm a fatty...but i decided i NEEDED to make those granola bars.

i used this recipe but made a few changes. first off, i double it because at the time it seemed like a good idea? now i have enough granola bars for the rest of the year. whoopsies.

i also substituted chia seeds for wheat germ because i didn't have any (and chia seeds are sooo trendy/the new flax seed, duh.)

What I used:

- 4 cups rolled oats

- 2 cups sliced almonds

- 2 cups coconut

- 6 tbsp butter

- 2/3 cup honey [i forgot to double this :( ]

- 1/2 c light brown sugar

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 cup each dried apricots (chopped), cherries (cut in halves), and cranberries

- 1 cup chia seeds

toasted the almonds, coconut and oats at 320 for about 10 mins

while the ingredients were toasting..the butter, sugar, salt, honey and vanilla were mix together on the stove over medium heat.

the dried fruit! i got these bags for about $2 each at my new fav store aldi's.

all of the ingredients were mixed together and put into a foil-lined half sheet pan. this is what it looked like before baking in the oven at 300 for 25 minutes.

after baking and three hours of cooling...voila.

cutting them got messy :(

beauuuuuuuty shot.

when life gives you crumbs from cutting granola bars, you make a baggy labeled "granola" and throw it in there!

ok, so they weren't as chewy as i expected... probably because i used half the honey i was supposed to. but they still weren't horribly crumby and got better after being in ziploc baggies for a little bit. the other issue are the chia seeds. they keep getting stuck in my teeth. and then they get slimey...and meh. so maybe next time i'll grind up the chia seeds? idk

but overall...sooooo goood. i love the almonds and coconut in it. i'll defintely make my granola from now on. 

if you want to try some let me know (with a comment! hehe)

look what i did!

sometimes i can come up with smart ideas.  if i had a pinterest account i'd totally post this up.

fast and easy (semi-fancy) pasta

so guess who signed up for the half marathon. this girl did! (and in time this year.. i won't have to pretend to be named katie or whatever haha)

training started this week meaning swong-on-a-(carefully timed)-eating-rampage has begun. you already know how much i love food but it becomes an even bigger deal while training. 

when training you can really notice more the huge range of effects food can have. i can really see how my energy level changes based on certain foods. oh hey glycemic index, i guess you are useful.

during training my eating habits definitely change. i'm snacking almost all of the time, i'll buy foods with refined sugar or flour, and i'll chug HFCS products...(i love you powerade!)

an important meal is the meal after working out. after a run it's good to eat a lot of carbs and protein because it helps your body build muscle and refuel your glycogen stores. but after a run i'm tired, i feel gross and the last thing i want to do is cook a long, complicated meal. 

here's a something i made filled with yummy good-for-you stuff and only took 13 mins to make :)

What I used:

- 1/2 small onions, chopped

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 1 serving Barilla Plus Thin Spaghetti

- 1/4 cup frozen peas

- handful of Organic Girl supergreens

- Salt &Pepper

- crushed Red Pepper Flakes

- Chicken Breast

 no, i didn't run out of clean pots. this is a lifehacker trick i learned to cook your pasta with less energy, time and water. you want to start the pasta first thing because it takes the longest to cook. my pasta took about 7 mins.

while the pasta's going, prep your ingredients.  then, sautee the onion for about a minute and add the garlic. salt and pepper a little bit too

add the cooked pasta and frozen peas to the onions. then some salt, pepper and a dash of red chili flakes (or whatever seasonings you want).

i had these greens leftover so that's why i added them.  it was nice having it in there because i felt like it brought a new texture to the dish. and greens are always good for you! you could use anything baby greens you have or any more veggies you want.  I tossed these for about a minute to wilt.

13 mins 19 seconds to cook! woohooo. and yes, that is a cracked screen :(

finished product

(while this was all going on, i used the george forman to grill my chicken breasts. none of the pics of this process looked that appetizing and you know..swong's blog only has the highest of standards!! so that's where the chicken magically appeared from)

enjoy :)

GOING TO BACONFEST YAY

i'm sooooo over next (jk not really i still love you even if you're mean to me i wanna pay a lot of money and go back asap)

but seriously.. i fiiiiinally getting rewarded for my fbook stalking. as you can see on the ticket --  GOT THESE BADBOYS ONLY A MINUTE AFTER THEY WENT ON SALE.. HOLLAAAAAH. altho it's currently 12:46 and there are a few ticket still available so i guess i'm not that cool... :( 

we decided to do the lunch shift because we think we'll be able to eat more at this time (compared to 6:30-9pm), and i'll have time to take my food-and-beverage-induced-coma and be ready for something fun that night (ie watching a episodes of downton abbey on netflix). although taking the lunch time meant giving up the chance to meet steph izard and sarah grueneberg...saddies.

but i'm super pumped to read all about the chefs, menus, and fun things that are gonna come! ill probs post things i find interesting/things i want to remember for when i go.

(so be prepared and i apologize in advanced if i go a little crazy)

oh, and don't worry. i've already set a reminder on my phone to bring my camera ;)

#coffeesnobproblems

(less than) 10 minute "frittata"

i have this thing now where i get tired by 11pm and wake up around 8ish. it's like...really weird and grown up.

with that comes a lot of idle time in the morning before classes. there's only so much hw (ha) or cleaning (lolololol) i can do..

so...in swong fashion...i decided cook breakfast. looking in my fridge, i noticed my kale was gettin a lil old so i thought i'd use. and i had eggs..OMG EGGS AND KALE TOGETHER...I'M SO SMART.

anddd this is how i made it..

 the ingredients: 3 eggs, about a cup of thinly sliced kale and a garlic clove

step #1 - i sauteed the garlic. (how exciting!)

#2 threw in the kale, then realized that it wouldn't really cook well dry. so i  #3 added ~1/4 cup of water. chicken stock would have been fancy and wine would have been a way more awesome choice (but ya know.. it was 9am)

the water essentially steamed the kale after a minute of cooking. and look how pretty and green it turned out!!

#4 ACTION SHOT WOOO. i scrambled one whole egg and two egg whites with some water and poured it over the kale.

#5 it cooked like this for about 3 mins, scraping in the edges and filling it in with the raw part. luckliy this pan was nonstick so it wasnt' too hard to flip over. i cooked the other side for another 2 mins. 

aaand the finished product??? it tasted better then it looked...

all done in 9 mins 49.2 seconds :)

overall, it was really good, esp after adding some frank's hot sauce. the only thing i would say is that it wasn't worth it to make a fake frittata. i should have just scrambled the eggs. so that's what i'll do next time. i also could have had some toast with it but i had a pb&c waiting for me in my backpack for lunch.

What I drank--Birra Moretti

Ok.. I, in no way, am in the position to be a beer snob. A) I don't think I know enough about beer. B) I don't have the funds to be that selective.

So I have my own way to rate beers based on taste, alcohol level, and cost.

The perfect beer for swongy is hoppy, 7.
5abv or higher, and less than $8 for a 6 pack. (Aka...Bell's two hearted lol)

So how did moretti compare??
Flavor -- like keystone w a fruity aroma
ABV -- 4.6 which is higher than a light beer aka its decent
Price -- 4.50 for a bottle at Dave's italian kitchen

Basically....this beer sucks. If keystone is at a 0, this is at a -10 because it not only tastes worse, it costs a lot too! (And it also loses points for deceiving me w its fancy bottle..) food science classes have taught me that that fruity aromas can come from ketones...so could it be that moretti doesn't hide its alcohol taste well??

In any case, I tried to try something new and got extremely disappointed :( next time I want an Italian beer, ill stick w perroni.

(Ps ...Woo new fancy phone I can blog on hehe.)

hipster brunchables

ok, i know the purpose of this video is to make fun of everything. but ummmm i seriously think it's an awesome idea and i wish this were real.

mimisa pouch and mini cerveza ftwwwwwww

two new fun things i found on my mac

1. i can take pretty notes using preview

freeze drying cycle ... eff yeah!

i forgot to print out notes for a class today so i had to look at them on my computer. but that quickly became annoying because i couldn't take notes on the graphs. well....it turns out you can draw in lines/arrows and put in text on preview. how cool and fancy do my notes look???

2. i can have the computer read things for me

so sometimes there are interesting-looking posts on my reader but then i give up half way reading it because its just too long. yeah, i'm lazy. well i found oout i can just have the computer read it for me. at first i was right-clicking and having it play in my itunes. but there's a simpler way i discovered after googling-- 

• under system preferences to go speech.

•  select "speak selected text when the key is pressed" and then change the keys to something you'd use. i did ctrl+command+s. and i enjoy alex's voice. (esp when he reads stuff from betches)

• then just highlight the text you want read, and then hit ctrl+command+s! and your  computer reads it for you. woo.

i like my scotch...fo free.

johnnie walker held a free tasting event a few weeks ago. that's right --freeeeeeee. even though i sent a bunch of emails, only three of us managed to make it.

here's a quick run through of all the fun we got to have --

1. we got to play with ipads.

2. we saw very expensive bottles of alcohol that we'll never be able to buy.

the 2nd one from the right costs $27k, nbd

3. during cocktail hour, we drank old fashioneds, ate some hors d'oeuvres....aaand posted a picture onto facebook.

we're so fancy!

4. we pretended to be swanky grown ups.

5. We tweeted.

@leidermeister

6. We tried 5 labels of johnnie: black, red, double black, gold, and blue.

the aftermath

 7. We learned that you can mix scotch with orangina and ginger ale

8. We discovered jordan's hidding talent -- hand modeling.

 9. we took amazing glamour shots.

10. we get to brag to everyone how cool we are for remembering to sign up and how we know soooooo much about scotch now. (it's like...smokey and has a taste of caramel or something.)