Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

I follow a few cooking blogs to find new recipes to try out, and one of my favorite blogs to read is “Eat, Live, Run”. The author went to Le Cordon Bleu, and now develops her own recipes and blogs about them. She provides step by step instructions for each recipe, and takes beautiful pictures of each dish.

I came across her recipe for Asian Chicken Noodle Soup and tried it out last week. I loved the comfort of the chicken noodle soup and the heat from the jalapeno and sriracha sauce. I would recommend this soup to anyone who enjoys Asian flavors and would like to try a new spin on an old favorite!

Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/4th tsp salt
6 cups chicken broth
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
3 green onions, sliced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 baby bok choy, chopped
5 oz chinese noodles (about half a package)
sriracha sauce for serving (optional)
chopped cilantro for serving (optional)

Directions:
Heat the sesame oil over medium high heat in a large heavy-bottomed stock pot. Add the minced garlic and ginger and briefly saute for about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and bok choy, sprinkle with salt, and saute for another three minutes until chicken has turned white but not completely cooked all the way through.

Add the chicken broth, jalapeno and green onions to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes until chicken is done.

Meanwhile, cook the noodles in boiling salted water, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Add the rice vinegar and soy sauce and stir. You can add a little more salt if you like, but taste first because soy sauce already contains a lot of salt! Add the noodles to the pot and serve with chopped cilantro and sriracha sauce on the side.

Time:
45 minutes

Why do we need bloggers?

The internet has put enormous amounts of information at our fingertips. Whether you want to learn the weather forecast in Timbuktu, the 19th president of the U.S., or find a picture of a snub nosed monkey, the information is only milliseconds away. With all these advancements in information availability, in my opinion, blogging typically only clogs the process.

Apparently there are over 150 million blogs on the internet. Who writes all these? Is anyone reading them? Many bloggers remind me of a man that we used to see periodically in college. I guess you might call him a little extreme. He would stand on his soapbox when students were walking to and from class and yell provocative statements. Some were about religion and others about the end of the world coming soon. For added effect, I believe he often wore a cape. People just chuckled and walked on by.

Why do bloggers bring back memories of him? Both have an enormous energy and incredible belief in their proclamations, but a very limited following. The louder you scream or the more blogs you post does not ensure that people are listening. I guess it takes just one listener/reader to create a following though.

Aren't you mad you spent three minutes reading this post? Go ahead and google the snub nosed monkey. It's whats great about the internet.

Oh, and the 19th President of the U.S. was Rutherford B. Hayes. I googled it.

Watch It - My Life as a Turkey

I was so happy a friend of mine recommended I check out "My Life as a Turkey" on PBS, I've decided to recommend it to you. It's the story of Joe Hutto and his experience imprinting and raising a family of wild turkeys in a forest in Florida. Not only is the story touching and entertaining, the cinematography is incredible, and the animals and landscape are beautiful.

As Joe describes his journey:

“Had I known what was in store—the difficult nature of the study and the time I was about to invest—I would have been hard pressed to justify such an intense involvement. But, fortunately, I naively allowed myself to blunder into a two-year commitment that was at once exhausting, often overwhelming, enlightening, and one of the most inspiring and satisfying experiences of my life.”

–Joe Hutto, Illumination in the Flatwoods

It's only an hour, and you can watch the entire episode online. Catch it while you still can!

Poetry Foundation in River North.

There have been many changes in our River North neighborhood over the past six years, condo developments, new restaurants (one which hosted a dinner for none other than President Obama), and we finally got a Walgreens just around the corner. Yet the most remarkable addition has been the Poetry Foundation down the street at 61 W. Superior. 

The history of how the building came to life is classic story book stuff. In 2002 Ruth Lilly, granddaughter of pharmaceutical czar Eli Lilly, left an endowment of stock worth $100 million to the Poetry Foundation, the publisher of Poetry Magazine. In her youth Ms. Lilly, an aspiring poet, sent numerous poems to the magazine, all were rejected.  She was touched by the spirit of the rejection letters which urged her to continue her writing, and with that, decided to bequeath the gift (kind of puts failure in whole different light).

At the time, Poetry Mag had a staff of four, no permanent home, and a meager subscriber base. In August 2011, the foundation moved into its’ new building designed by John Ronan Architects. You must walk past, a view from a cab or website visit does not invoke the serenity felt from the garden that is described in PF’s brochure as “conceived of as an urban sanctuary, a space that could mediate between the street and the building, blurring the distinction between public and private”. It invites you to enter and take a look, it invites you to think about poetry. So I finally checked it out. The first floor is open to the public, offering exhibit space, theatre for open readings, a 30,000 volume library and a library listening room.

Poetry Magazine celebrates its’ 100th anniversary in 2012.  I will be there.

Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” / Let us go and make our visit. – T.S. Eliot

Photos also courtesy of Marcia!

"Green Tips" for your office.

You spend most of your time at work, so help make sure your office is green by following these tips.

Tip #1: Be bright about light.
Artificial lighting accounts for nearly half of the electricity use in office buildings, so turn off the lights whenever you leave any room -- and invite in natural light wherever possible. Make it a policy, too, to buy Energy Star-rated lightbulbs and fixtures, which use at least two-thirds less energy than regular lighting, and install timers or motion sensors that automatically shut off lights when they're not needed.

Tip #2: Maximize computer efficiency.
Computers in the business sector waste $1 billion worth of electricity per year, so make it a habit to turn off your computer -- and the power strip it's plugged into -- when you leave work for the day. Otherwise you'll still be burning energy even if you're not burning the midnight oil. During the day, setting your computer to go to sleep during short breaks can cut energy use 70%. Remember, screen savers don't save energy.

Tip #3: Print smarter (or not at all).
The average U.S. office worker can use 10,000 pieces of copy paper per year. To reduce your number, print double-sided whenever possible. Avoid color printing (hues are more likely to be toxic) and consider downloading Ecofont to save ink. Better yet, really think about whether you need that information down on sheets of dead trees, or whether having it on your computer is good enough.

Tip #4: Chew on this.
Much of your munching happens at the office, so keep your own mug, dishware, and flatware at your desk. This will fend off the temptation to use the paper and plastic disposables that are easy to grab in the lunchroom. If you're a workplace manager, provide reusable dishes, silverware, and glasses. Switch to eco-friendly coffees and teas, and buy organic and local food for parties and other events. And remember: Water fountains are always better than bottled water.

It’s in the Numbers.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not much of a numbers person. I think they’re kind of scary. But when I stumbled across these, I thought, hmmm, kind of interesting. (And scary, too!)

That’s the amount of landfill waste (in tons) that could be avoided if half the kids in America traded Halloween costumes instead of buying new ones. There’s even a day dedicated to costume-swapping – National Costume Swap Day (this year it was October 8th). And as expected in this wonderful world of online technology, there’s a website to visit if you want to join the efforts: Greenhalloween.org

This is how many more calories American workers burned in one day on the job in 1960 than they do today. (And imagine, that was before Grande Iced Caramel Lattes!) Granted, back then more than half of all jobs required physical labor compared to today when less than 1/5th do. But hey, why not get up and take a lap around the office every hour? And head out for a stroll at lunch. You’ll burn a few calories, and (gasp!), have the chance to say hello to co-workers… in person!

(This is my favorite – finally, an excuse!) 9% is the average amount a person’s pelvis expands between the ages of 20 and 80, even without weight gain. So if you can’t fit into those jeans from high school, give yourself a break. You’re normal, and you’ve earned it! It’s ‘hip’ to age gracefully.

The Age of Persuasion.

Last summer I took a 6-week class at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It started at 7:30am, which meant that I was in the car at 6:30 to accommodate a stop for coffee. This may have been the only time in recent memory that I was regularly up-and-at-'em so early on a weekend. It turned out to be one of my favorite things about the class, and the whole summer, really. And what made it so great, besides no traffic on the Edens, was a show on WBEZ called "The Age of Persuasion."

I had taken the gardening class as I diversion from work, but I found the show so entertaining, informative and thought-provoking, that it ending up sticking with me for the whole day. "The Age of Persuasion" is from CBC Radio in Canada and is hosted by Terry O'Reilly and produced by Mike Tennant. The show "explores the countless ways marketers permeate your life, from media, art, and language, to politics, religion, and fashion." The show has a lot dry, even self-depreciating humor along with the history of the advertising industry. The commentary always promotes smart, creative marketing and seems to prove over and over how successful this kind of advertising can be.

At the end of the class I realized that I wouldn't be catching the radio broadcast of the show anymore and, knowing myself, knew I wouldn't wake up early on a Saturday morning to listen to it. Fortunately, there is a podcast to subscribe to on iTunes. And this has worked out even better for me. I can now listen to episodes on the El or on my drive to Michigan on Fridays.

The episodes are an easily digestible half-hour and with a good range of topics so that they don't get boring if listened to back-to-back. Some great episodes include: ""Mad Women: The Great Women of Advertising," "It's Not Easy Being Green: Green Marketing" and" Caution: Speed Bumps. The Magical Ingredient in Marketing." Also, the website has a lot of YouTube videos and pics of the ads discussed.

Here are some links if you're interested in checking out "The Age of Persuasion" for yourself.

http://www.cbc.ca/ageofpersuasion/

(There is a link to subscribe to the podcast through iTunes)

http://www.wbez.org/programs

(The show airs Saturdays at 6:30am and Thursdays at 11:30am on WBEZ 91.5)