Monday, January 22, 2007

SUPERBOWL BOUND

I feel like I have a lot to say today and I am not entirely sure why. Maybe I don’t have all that much to say. We’ll see.

Thing number one, the Chicago Bears are going to the Super Bowl. Hooray!!! This is utterly awesome. I really enjoyed watching the game. I was pretty scared in the beginning when it seemed they couldn’t score a touchdown to save their lives but they put it together eventually. For Lovie Smith to become the first Black coach to go to the super Bowl was really nice to see, he is a great guy. Then for him to be closely followed by Tony Dungy was just wonderful. No matter what happens a Black coach will win the Super Bowl. This may not seem like a huge deal but it kind of is. Speaking of the Colts, they are going to be one hard team to beat. I am sure that it is technically possible but if both teams play in the Super Bowl like they played last night the Bears uh, well, how do I say this and still sound like a fan??? Maybe just leaving it at that will be fine. One thing that really confused me about the Bears game was the weather. See, it was snowing lightly throughout most of the game and was coming down pretty well by the fourth quarter. However, at my house it was not snowing at all. I realize I live about 11 miles away but it was still strange. I spoke about this to my sister and we talked about how it would be fun to find the place where the snow stopped. It would be like that spot where you can stand in four states at once but it would be the spot where one side of you got snowed on and the other didn’t. Apparently, that spot was within 11 miles of my house. Anyway, GO BEARS.

The next thing I want to talk about is the fantastic dinner I made yesterday. Man was it delicious. I made potato gnocchi in a tofu cream sauce. Now I am sure many of you are currently making disgusted faces but you shouldn’t. This sauce, although made entirely of tofu and veggies, did not taste anything but delicious and creamy. If you are a person who likes delicious creamy sauces but is health conscious (and not allergic to soy) this is the sauce for you. Gnocchi is also pretty decent foodstuffs for the health conscious and is incredibly delicious and filling. I was so proud cause I basically made this recipe up and it worked. I would like to take this time to share. A side note is that there was a lot more sauce than gnocchi so if you don’t want leftovers you should make less about half the sauce would go perfectly with one package of gnocchi (about 3 cups cooked).

1. Get a big old pot of water on the stove.

2. Sautee two leeks (I only use the onion-like part not the leafy greens on top), one red pepper, ¼ cup fresh basil and two cloves of garlic together over medium low heat in some olive oil (I think I used about 1.5 tbsp) until nice and soft. The longer you cook the more flavor you get out and I don’t think it is possible to cook these things for too long.

3. Put the juice of one lemon into a blender

4. Put half a cube of tofu in the blender and blend

5. Once it is nice and creamy add the rest of the tofu (if your blender is better than mine you can probably add all the tofu at once)

6. Add the sautéed vegetables and a little bit of water (maybe ¼ cup or so?? Like I said I don’t measure) to the blender and blend until nice and smooth.

7. Taste sauce. It should be incredibly delicious. I didn’t need to add any salt or pepper but you may like those things added.

8. Chop up some mushrooms and spinach and put them in the already nice and hot sauté pan, sauté until spinach is limp and mushrooms have shrunk down a bit.

9. By this time the water should be boiling and you can put in the gnocchi. It should only take 2 minutes to cook so while that is going add the cream sauce to the mushroom/spinach mixture. MMMMM delicious already.

10. Drain the gnocchi and serve (I topped it with a tad of mozzarella and some basil)

This fantastic meal contains 381 calories, 47g carbs, 10g fat (half from cheese), and 23g protein (thanks to sparkpeople and to Julie for turning me on to it) for a 1 ¼ cup serving of gnocchi and enough sauce to sufficiently cover it, well.

The final thing on the agenda is a little news bit I read this morning. In California democratic assemblywoman Sally Lieber is going to introduce a law making spanking, hitting, and slapping a child under four a misdemeanor. Personally, it’s fine by me. I wasn’t a spanked child and I don’t plan to spank my future unborn children. However, I wonder if a light spank is the same thing as a hit or a slap? I am not sure. Maybe it depends on the person who is doing the hitting? Also, what is the deal on the age limit? Are there already laws to protect older children or does it not matter if they are spanked, hit, and slapped? Also, while I am certainly not an advocate of that type of punishment so many people are and I really wonder if such a law is truly going to be effective. Are Californian kids going to call the police on their parents every chance they get? Just got me thinking.

As a result of thinking, I think I have certainly rambled enough and it is time for this week’s Name That Tune. I have Tony’s iPod today so we’ll see what happens. Monica asked that I put slashes to separate lines rather than periods. That made sense to me.

1. Angel came down from heaven yesterday/ stayed with me just long enough to rescue me. Angel, Jimi Hendrix. Identified by Brooke

2. She’s a miss beautiful supreme/ A girl that others wish that they could be. Ebony Eyes, stevie Wonder. Identified by Brooke. (way to get the easy ones Friend)

3. Now who got the chance to make things right/ Why the politicians always want to fight

4. Dreamed I was an Eskimo/ frozen wind began to blow/ and my mama cried. Don't Eat The Yellow Snow, Frank Zappa. Identified by The Doc and Monica

5. At night I can’t sleep I toss and turn/ Candlesticks in the dark visions of bodies being burned. My Mind Is Playing Tricks On Me, The Geto Boyz. Identified by Monica




16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Man oh man am I excited about the Super Bowl, which is really weird for me. I'm so sad I'm not gonna be in Chicago.

1. Angel - Jimi Hendrix
2. Ebony Eyes - Stevie Wonder. I remember almost losing it when Ben Carroll would sing this song.

Mood Indigo said...

Go Bears! My pops is from Chicago so we're excited (though I really know nothing about football)!

Anonymous said...

go bears!!!!!!

Traveling Matt said...

4. "Don't Eat Yellow Snow"
5. umm...It's by the Geto Boyz. probably Mind's Playin Tricks on Me

I never got spanked when I was a kid. I was also the kind of brat that a) probably needed one and b)would have called the cops if I ever got one. Oddly, my mother would have encouraged me to call the cops. She championed the whole "Children Are People Too" at my school when I was a kid. But it was a catholic school and they liked to beat the kids so it was necessary to empower them.

With Love, Fat Girl said...

Not a super bowl fan, but I have to admit that having Chicago and Indianapolis in the same stadium is some exciting stuff! Definitely go Bears!

The Doc said...

Looks like an interesting recipe, Natalie. Might have to try it myself, when I'm feeling in an adventurous mood. Also: #4 is indeed "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" by Frank Zappa.

Katrina said...

Man you get some weird songs going sometimes.

Anyway, the snow was beautiful to watch coming down in the stadium. Especially since we weren't standing in it. :)

It is a pretty big deal to have a black coach win. HD was just talking with a few of his friends about the positions and what race is predominant in which positions, including coaches. For the most part they're all mixed up but QB's and coaches are still predominantly white & receivers and running backs are still predominantly black. One day it won't be a huge deal. Hopefully that day will be in our lifetime.

Michael C said...

I can't speak about football because I don't follow it. For 36 Sundays a year my thoughts and TV is on NASCAR. I figure I owe the remaing Sundays to the family ;-)

It'll be interesting to see if that child spanking law gets passed out here. At least no one would have to see the disgruntled mother spanking her kids at Target or Wal-Mart anymore!!!
;-)

Foofa said...

Brooke- I never thought I would see the day when you would be excited about the Super Bowl. I wish you were going to be here as well.

Mood- I'm glad you are excited. There was a time when I knew nothing of football, then I learned that they had three tries to go ten yards. It was all easy from that point on.

Jamie- WWWOOOOOO Bears!!!

Monica- I hope you weren't oft beaten as a child at school. I think you were not because Mommie would have killed someone.

With Love- It truly is a good match up. I second you with a GO BEARS!

Doc- You should try it. It truly is delicious!

Katrina- So glad you had fun at the game. The racial mix in football is kind of strange. It is slowly changing though.

Michael- I always have a hard time seeing people spanking their kids in public. It pisses me off.

Blondie said...

So many different things to respond to...hmmm...I'll go with the spanking. My parents spanked me when I was little and I am NOT scarred for life. Sometimes it was the only way to get my attention. I have so many friends with little ones that I understand when they tell me there is no other solution. (I've seen the chaos) That being said, beating your kid is wrong. There is a fine line, but where is the line? Good food for thought!

Foofa said...

Blondie- So many people are spanked and I would assume most are well adjusted. Even though I am not an advocate of it, seems like an odd law to me.

Anonymous said...

That recipe sounds delicious! I'll definitely try it out. The sauce sounds rather similar to "Broccoli Alida" (which could also be made as spinach and/or mushroom "Alida".

Congrats, of course, to both Bears and Colts and especially to their head coaches. I have been a Tony Dungy fan for longer than I've been a Lovie Smith fan, plus I like Peyton Manning's sense of humor in his TV ads, so I'm favoring the Colts but I'll be happy either way.

Foofa said...

mom- boo you

Traveling Matt said...

actually, i've gotten 2 spankings before
1 from my kindergarten teacher(thus prompting "Children Are People Too") because I refused to eat food I was allergic to

1 from my aunt because my cousin timmy and i smeared makeup all over one of the bedrooms in her house

i remember people being outraged that my mom wouldn't hit us.

Jules said...

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Bears.

GO BEARS!

Have you heard that song on the radio that goes, "Ohhhh...Chicago Bears! We are who you thought we were!" I always have a hard time singing along with that one. I always want to say, "You are who they thought they were!" or "They are who they thought they were!" Just too many pronouns!!!

So yah, GO BEARS!

This freakin' rules!

That snow was what the Chicago weathermen like to call the "Lake Effect" - since Soldier Field is right on the lake, it makes sense that it could be snowing there and not at your house, because the lake makes crazy shit happen! I was at Mike's dad's, and he lives in Andersonville (approx. 5 miles north, yet only 1 mile west of the lake) and we had no snow either. Go figure!

Jules said...

Oh, and thanks for the shout out! I'm so glad SparkPeople is working out for you!