30by30: 2.) Experiment with Tahini

Tahini is delicious! I've never had it until today, but anything with sesame seeds in it must be delicious and imagine a "peanut butter" sub sesame seeds and voila! Tahini! 

Pictured is tonight's dinner of roasted chicken and asparagus with tahini sauce. Delicious! Much more subtle then peanut sauces, in my opinion. The recipe was again from Ruth Reichl's "Gourmet Today" cookbook.

30by30: 2.) Seared Salmon with Sesame Bok Choy & Spinach (new dinner & bento lunch)

Today for dinner I made Seared Salmon with Sesame Bok Choy and Spinach. The recipe I got from "Gourmet Today" by  Ruth Reichl on page 340. It was delicious and had enough for a cute bento box for lunch.

30by30: 3.) Four yoga classes in San Francisco

While I was visiting a girlfriend in San Francisco, I took four daily yoga classes. They were tons of fun, though I realized how completely out of shape I am. I've lost a lot of flexibility since my colorguard days, so I think yoga is a great way to get that back plus some of the yoga poses really require strength training. Especially when you are trying to balance and do back bends you really need to be able to hold your own weight.

30by30: EC: Go to Hawaii - COMPLETED May 6-18, 2012

In celebration of me earning my master's, Kevin and I flew to Hawaii for a two week vacation. It was a wonderful trip. We went to Oahu, Maui and Hawaii. Here is what we did:

• Hiked Diamondhead (Oahu)
• Observed an Urasenke tea lesson 
• Ate at the Hukilau Cafe (from 50 First Dates)
• Visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial
• Participated at the Polynesian Cultural Center
• Hiked the Ia'o Valley (Maui)
• Viewed a Haleakala sunrise (twice)
• Made it to Hana in a car
• Snorkeled with tropical fish and a sea turtle
• Discovered a romantic waterfall
• Devoured Spam and eggs for breakfast
• Found a new drink (Maui Brewing Company root beer + vodka = delicious and refreshing)
• Enjoyed Mother's Day lunch at Mama's Fish House
• Watched lava glow and ooze (Hawaii)
• Stargazed from the front seat of a convertible Mustang
• Basked in a lovely sunset with my hubby
• Swam with more tropical fish via snorkelling
• Ate at Sam Choy's
• Went on a brewery tour of the Kona Brewing Company
• Went on a coffee farm tour at Greenwell Coffee Farms

30by30: 25.) Organize Garden Shed - SECOND HALF COMPLETED

This completed #25 on the list. Kevin and I went to IKEA and picked up a couple of the wire racks for a laundry room that have shelving that slides in and out. I pulled everything out, swept the floor and the shelves and it looks great. Much more organized then it did. It isn't perfect yet. The organizational system needs a few tweaks to make it more intuitive, but I believe that will come with time too.

30by30: 16.) Square Foot Gardening - UPDATE

Though I already completed this on my 30 Before 30 list, I just wanted to let you know that we got the second bed in the garden. The first one was 4 x 10ft, this one is 4 x 8ft. We put in corn and sunflower transplants from the other bed plus seeds for chives, carrots, okra (2), brussel sprouts (2) and green onions.  It's going to also have tomatoes and green peppers. The two raspberries are in pots for now, I'm not sure where I'm going to put them.

30by30: 2.) New Recipe: Biscuits and Gravy

What would my favorite breakfast be without a healthy (in this case, "large") serving of the all time yummy Biscuits and Gravy. As much as I love this dish, I have never made it for myself. The hubby and I munched on this deliciousness this morning :) Though not a new "dinner" dish, it could easily pass for any meal but was really worth it.

My Aunt Bev makes amazing B&G with venison sausage. The sausage is definitely a must for any B&G recipe, but what people fail to consider is the quality of biscuits.

For the best B&G I've tasted (besides my Aunt's), check out Pine State Biscuits in Oregon. A yuppy, preppy place that should be featured on an episode of Portlandia. You get a plate and it's to DIE for!

This breakfast was just made with Pillsbury biscuits, "country" style ground sausage and McCormick's Country gravy packet. Not form scratch; however, in a pinch this is still delectable! Plus, it only took 20 minutes for everything, which was a nice time saver. Saved myself the $6 for the B&G at my all time fav Gateway Breakfast House, also very good but more country-diner-style.