The Mob Town Cuban Sandwich

This weekend my dear friend Kyle and I set out to create the Cuban sandwich authentic. In order to do this we needed to bake the bread. Cuban bread isn't readily available in local stores. So, Friday night with the aid of some fantastic Pam's Peachy Vodka drinks we began the project. We found a bread recipe at icuban.com that passed the authenticity test.

We baked the bread Friday night and Kyle concocted a fantastic marinade for the pork loin which we marinated for about 12 hours and cooked on Saturday. 

The marinade consisted of:

• garlic powder
• minced onion
• thyme
• slap ya mamma
• cayenne pepper
• mustard powder
• salt & pepper
• ground cloves
• lime pepper
• paprika
• cumin
• lots-a-lemon juice
• olive oil
• dales marinade
• white wine
• balsamic vinegar
• red wine vinegar

All of these ingredients were mixed without measuring but to taste, as the best home cooking usually is! 

Kyle says most heavily he used olive oil and lemon juice, and carefully added the slap-ya-mamma & cayenne to spice just right! 

The ham was roasted Sunday. 

Other ingredients for the sandwiches consisted of:

• mustard & mayo
• sliced tomato
• lettuce
• sliced dill pickle
• swiss cheese

Kyle carved the meats thin and composed the sandwiches with the care of a maestro.  

The result? Delicious Cuban sandwiches for Sunday football! 

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This was an awesome fun project! Much thanks to Kyle for the authenticity, inspiration and the great company!!! 

A Note on Eating to Lose/Maintain weight

Okidoki kiddo. The key is to eat often. Start out with protiens: grilled chicken, beef jerky, beef, eggs etc. Avoid extremely fatty meats like bacon though. Season with garlics, spices and cook in olive oil. I'll do pork chops in a skillet with spices and garlic in olive oil sometimes - it's quick and easy and kids like it too! 

Veggies: Green beans, brocoli, bell peppers, cauliflower etc. Apples are a great snack too (with a tablespoon of peanubutter even better!). I keep - always - an atkins bar and/or a beef jerky in my purse! Only drink water, diet soda, or a calorie free drink like powerade zero. Pickles are awesome too. I eat them every evening when I get the munchies! To jump start do low low carb for a week, meats/veggies. There's shakes in the pharmacy section at walmart called EAS Carb Control. They have 100 calories and 2-3 carbs - these save my life! Atkins makes a variety of sweet snacks available in the same section.

Cheese sticks & Greek yogurt are great to add to your daily mix too. Dannon makes 100 calorie greeks that are super and it's more filling than regular yogurt. Try to get 30 grams of protein before noon every day.

Drink!!! Even if you have to 'go' alot. lol. Drink at the very minimum 8 glasses of fluids like water or powerade.

Take a multivitamin.

Oh! And salsa-if you like it- is great on eggs!

Just no no foods:
pasta, bread, chips, fries, potatoes, melons, sweets, granola bars (these are fools gold of diets) Beware of 100 calorie packs - it's more important to count carbs than calories!

I can make you a copy of out to eat selections from a list at home. It's hard to change at first, but once you get used to it it's cool. I enjoy the flavor of foods more since I stopped eating so much sugar.

Low Carb Linda is a great recipe site!

To start keep a food diary, sugar free gum, and set your cell phone timer for every two hours to remind yourself to have a snack. If you constantly feed your body smaller portions it will begin to burn what you eat up instead of storing it. The downside, being hungry often! But, the timer will remind your tummy how long it has to wait 

 I run and do weights, but I only have 45 min or so! But I'd start out walking. Set a distance - not a time frame - you can work on your time as your stamina builds, but if you go a specific distance you'll improve naturally. 

The concept is to eat less sugars/carbs. If you do your body won't store as much fat. If you go extremely low carb for 3-7 days (I mean like, meat? sure, pickle? okay, eas shake? okay, eggs? okay. Yup it's hard) Your body will switch into what's called ketosis and burn stored energy - aka FAT! It's a great way to jump start a weight loss campaign and then follow up with regular healthy eating as described above :)

Mood & energy levels will fluctuate at the start of a diet change. Be patient, you'll regulate! Good luck, you got this. 

Wordie Nerdie Fresh and Flirty!

A great site to discover the origin of words!!! Cool find. :)  word origins

Low Carb Smoothie!

Low Carb Smoothie!

Okay, I know when you are doing low carb it gets monotonous. So, I mix it up with some yummy "milkshakes" to keep from losing it.

Try this:

1/2 pkg vanilla or chocolate sugar free instant pudding (70 cal/16 carb)
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 c unsweetened almond milk
1 c ice
blend!

Filling, good protein, and satisfies the sweet craving!!

Writing in Nature

The Naturalist. A page I intend to follow! Read and report my friends.

E.R. Quotes.

Great page to share from!

Elizabeth Roosevelt Quotes

Kirinyaga

This is a short science fiction story I read for my Rhetorical Criticism class which I really enjoyed. Mostly because it turned my thinking on its side a little. I like to find things that get my thinking out of its groove.

Kirinyaga

"The Brown Wasp" is the other reading for this particular section. I am so fortunate to have brilliant professors who filter through the world of literature and find gems like these. The Rhetorical concepts of home and place are the discussion topics this week and also the topic for our first paper. I am so into this section. Spectacular!