Houston Theater District Open House

Last weekend I checked out the Houston Theater District 15th Annual Open House.
It was quite a nice event. Even though I was not inspired to become an opera singer!

Soup on Sunday's

I have been horribly uninspired to cook since I started "working".

Perhaps its because I spend at least 8 - 10 hours everyday talking and thinking about what other people eat and seeing first hand the consequences of poor dietary/lifestyle choices. Perhaps its because its not as convenient to get great ingredients (No Monterrey Market, no Berkeley Bowl, no Trader Joe's). Perhaps its because I am only cooking for me. Who knows?? Anyway I've got to get back cooking... Starting with a little soup on Sunday's.


Spicy Southwestern Soup

Soak 1.3 cups of mixed dried beans in water for a few hours.
(I used beans from North Day Trading Co, found in the bulk bins at Whole Foods)
Use a colander, drain and rinse beans.

In a large stock pot over medium-high heat saute 1/2 chopped onion, 2 -3 cloves of garlic in ~1 tablespoon of olive oil. Allow to become fragrant and translucent ~7 minutes.

Add beans back in and cover with about 1.5 inches (~6 cups) of water. Add 2 tablespoons of Better than Bouillon or 2-3 cubes of bouillon. I like chicken or veggie flavor. Add 1/2 cup of prepared salsa. Cover the pot bring to boil and than turn down allow to simmer for 60 - 90 minutes. You want the beans to be tender but not falling apart.

At the end a 5 - 10 minutes before serving (depending on how cooked you like your veggies) Add:
Handful of chopped cilantro
1/2 chopped red bell pepper
1 cup of of chopped carrots
1 chopped squash (zucchini or yellow or whatever you have and like)
Whatever else you think would be good.

Garnish:
Cheese, avocado, lime wedges

Time: 2.5 hours, mostly unattended
Serves: 4 easily - 6

EL SALVADOR

At the End of Week#1 and 5 Things U Might Not Know About Houston

Week 1 (or so)-in-Review:

Thus far, I have completed the orientation for the dietetic internship (DI). It consisted of:
Day 1 - Review of policy and procedures; Review of the rotations sites
Day 2 - Introduction to using the evidence based library, case study assignments. I was assigned metastatic brain tumors in overweight patients. My task was to prepare a ~15 minute power point presentation about the condition, the expected course of treatment and the nutritional implications.
Day 3 - In small groups complied nutritional care plans using information from the evidence based library and other journals; Case study presentations
Day 4 - Enteral and parenteral formula review
Day 5 - Introduction to medical charts at a hospital ~30 minutes outside of Houston; Dinner with the out-going interns. They made a fantastic gluten-free menu complete with focaccia bread and tiramisu. It was really good.
Day 6 - Review of charting using the nutritional care process
Day 7 - Attended the out-going interns graduation


5 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT HOUSTON, TX

5. NO-ONE WATERS THEIR LAWNS or PLANTS HERE
Even though its been almost 100, almost everyday...Seriously all of the plants are maintained by the humidity in the air. I haven't met anyone with a veggie-garden, I think people must water those??

4. STOPLIGHTS ARE HORIZONTAL HERE
There also a lot of blinking yellow lights

3. EVERYTHING IS BIGGER HERE
For example, I went to the mall over the weekend. I thought I knew how big it was going to be: I was wrong. Its huge... There's a post-office in it (unlike at the airport), and an ice rink and anything else you could possibly want.

2. IT IS MORE FORMAL HERE
Unless you are friends with someone, you call them Ms. or Mr. (especially women) until directly told not to. No one swears (not even in damn, definitely not s-h-i-t and never anything stronger) in public. The tone is just - different. I can't decide if I like it or not.

1. IT IS AS HOT AND HUMID HERE AS THEY SAY IT IS (like you didn't know that..)
During the weather forecast the temperature really means nothing... Its the "heat index" that really tells you what its going to feel like. Generally, its hot or miserable... Unless there's a tropical storm or a hurricane, than its quite lovely (humid but lovely) but a little scary because you don't know what's going to happen.