Surf and Turf for V-day

I freely admit I think Valentine's Day is a foolish holiday. 

Countless commercials about diamonds, candy, cards etc are unleashed every February to prepare us for all the proper ways we are to express our love... eefffff that. 

Flowers die in a week, candy makes you fat and cards are wasteful. Why not doing something more meaningful?

We ended making a fantastic dinner (mostly because I injured a back muscle and couldn't go to my gym class) that would have easily cost us $100 if we had gone out for it.

Surf and Turf for Two

We already have a post on how to make the steak, so I'll just skip to the lobster and green beans.

Super simple...

Lobster was frozen so we thawed it in the fridge all day. Ian cut up a line up the back, pulled the meat out, and placed it back on top of the shell. I mixed together ghee (clarified butter), powdered garlic (1/2 tsp), paprika (1/2 tsp) and white pepper (to taste) and smothered the meat in it.

 Tails were broiled for 10 minutes (or until white and shell is bright red)

Green beans were sauteed start in oil, covered with a lid for a few minutes to steam, and then finished with a sprinkle of chili flakes to give a spicy end note.

Add it together with some roasted potatoes and white wine and you have a five star meal that was absolutely decadent. We haven't done lobster before, but will definitely give it another go if it always tastes this amazing.

Chili Time

 One of my favorite meals ever is a big bowl of homemade chili with some fresh cornbread. Chili is great because you can put whatever you want into it, and it will always taste delicious.

Yesterday, I had some extra bell peppers and jalapenos lying around, so I decided to put them to good use.

Chili Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

(I tried out dry aged ground beef for the first time)

1 cup yellow onion diced

garlic, minced (up to you how much, I do about 4 cloves)

1 cup bell pepper chopped (I used a mixture of green and red)

1 jalapeno, seeded (very spicy, but awesome)

1/2 cup corn (I used frozen)

2 tbs tomato paste

2 cups tomato sauce

Spices to Taste

cumin (I did about 4 tbs)

regular chili powder (2 tbs)

chipotle powder (1 tsp)

mesquite flour (1 tsp)

black pepper 

sea salt

 Whatever you have lying around

I had black beans, frozen pumpkin puree and fresh roma tomatoes that I added to the mix. Pumpkin puree sounds weird, but makes for a light sweet note to the final batch as well as making it creamier. I ended up finding half a sweet potato in the fridge after I had already made the chili, but shredded sweet potato is great in chili as well.

First step is to brown the meat in oil. I like to use olive oil, but anything will do (bacon grease is good to use if you have it). I gotta say, the dry aged ground beef smelled incredible when it was frying up. 

While the beef was browning, I chopped up the garlic, onion and peppers. I always hear you're supposed to wear gloves when cutting jalapeno peppers...but that's too much effort for me. I end up just searing my skin later when I end up touching my mouth nose or eyes...but that's manly... right?

Add in the onions first until they become soft and translucent, and then add the garlic.

This is where I added in the first round of tomato. I freeze tomato paste flattened between sheets of plastic wrap so I can break off chunks while I cook instead of always opening a new can or buying super expensive squeeze bottles of paste. I let this cook into the meat before adding more items.

After the tomato paste, I threw in everything else. The peppers, pumpkin puree and corn in this case. I threw the black beans in later because I had just cooked the beans today and was letting them drain during this time.

After I added the beans, I cut up the roma tomatoes and threw those in as well.

 At this point, all the ingredients are in and the mix just needs some nice dollops

of tomato sauce to wrap up.

 

 Woo! Everything is in the pan. This is where I walked away and rented a movie and did some food shopping while my roommate agreed to stir the chili once or twice while she was watching tv. Good team work!

First round of chili was good. Just good. That's not surprising to anybody that makes chili. Chili is one of those dishes where leftovers far surpass the first meal. Having said that, the first bowl had some pretty good flavors starting in it, so I was excited.

Today's chili was damn good. All the flavors had melded overnight to create one hell of a flavorful bowl of deliciousness. I like to add avocado slices and cilantro on top for added flavor. Sour cream and cheese are all good toppings, but avocado holds a special place in my heart. All of this on top of a toasted hunk of cornbread makes for a rib sticking meal that tastes better than any chili you can get at a restaurant. 

Only issue I have with this meal? I didn't make nearly enough. Ian ate a third of it yesterday, and we did our second round today. All that is left is one cup...so much for lunches at work.

Good oils for skin

You'd be amazed at how simple (and cheap) you can make your own face and body moisturizer. 

I've been doing some research into making homemade beauty supplies to get away from manufactured items that have ingredients that I can't even pronounce. Also, a lot of those ingredients are for extending the product's shelf life. Good for the company, but not good for your skin. 

I investigated a moisturizer I've used often in the past.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturizer SPF 15 

(Taken off their site)

Active Ingredients:
Octinoxate 7.5%, Octisalate 5% , Oxybenzone 3% 

These guys are all sunscreen components.

Octinoxate has been connected with endocrine disruption
Octisalate had reasonable ratings (semi toxic but not as bad compared to other ingredients). The interesting thing about it, however, is that it absorbs very easily, which may mean it can pull in other ingredients which may be harmful into your skin.
Oxybenzone is apparently found in just about every American (urine samples) according to the CDC. Well, that's a bit creepy. 

Inactive Ingredients:
Water, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Glycerin, Emulsifying Wax NF, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Dimethicone, Triethanolamine, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Carbomer 

 

Water: Reasonable
Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate: Used as an emollient
Glycerin: skin conditioning and is a humectant (keeps moisture on skin).

Little note on glycerin. Just found out that it may NOT be a good humectant if the environmental humidity is not high enough. If too low, the glycerin can actually PULL moisture from your skin, not keep it in. Interesting.
Emulsifying Wax NF: This basically carries all the other ingredients and makes the lotion creamy instead of watery or too thick. Wax is either bumped up to make salves or harder products or decreased to make smoother, creamier products.

Glyceryl Stearate: Helps to create emulsions and keep moisture on the face

PEG-100 Stearate: Used as an emollient

Dimethicone: Conditioning, emollient

Triethanolamine: Fragrance and pH adjuster (a little creepy to me...)

 

All those seem reasonable...but then I hit these ones...

Diazolidinyl Urea

According to EWG's Cosmetic Database, "Diazolidinyl urea is an antimicrobial preservative that acts as a formaldehyde releaser in cosmetics and personal care products".

 

What the WHAT?? Any vegans out there? This shit can also be animal derived.

Methylparaben (and Ethylparaben, Propylparaben)

Methylparaben is in the paraben family of preservatives used by the food, pharmaceutical, and personal care product industries. Parabens mimic estrogen and can act as potential hormone (endocrine) system disruptors.

 

So basically it can disrupt your endocrine system. Who cares about the endocrine system? Welll it's only the glands in your body that pump out hormones to regulate the whole system. No big deal or anything...

At any rate...I am now completely paranoid about what moisturizers I use. I have switched to more natural ingredients like almond oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E and essential oils. Soon, I'm going to add in beeswax to make a cream instead of a serum and see how that goes. Pictures coming soon!