What it Was, is What it is...

Be Right Back ~ SkinnyMinhy's Saving the World ~ ONE SWEET TOOTH AT A TIME :)

5 years ago I started this blog... it has not been updated in over half a year. Reality has struck and work and moving around has consumed my life. I found it hard to find time and the right lighting to take pictures of my foods, let alone cook on a regular basis. The majority of my week is spent eating out.  Some people told me that I had too much time in dental school which is when my blog really did grow, and they were correct. Being in school was different than working, my schedule was set, and I spent my weekends in my apartment partially studying and partially cooking. That was the best time of my life thus far. I love being a dentist. There are those moments where I realized that this is an amazing profession. My job is to make people smile. My goal is to have less people dread coming to see me. I consider it a catch up session between old friends every 6 months when I see my patients. Between the work, commutes, spending time with friends, family, and going on dates, and my many vacations, my life is filled.. with other things that make me happy :) The return is inevitable, but will happen. I spent 20 years of my life in school and it's just time to take a breather and enjoy life.. outside of being cooped up at home or at school. No more tests, no more projects, no more scheduling my own patients. It's a 9-5 kind of life! Pretty sweet. Pretty chill. I got lucky.

Everyone keeps telling me to go on as many vacations as possible fore settling down... I took that idea and ran with it. In the past 13 months I've been fortunate enough to go all over.. to say the very least, I have been inspired by so many of those trips! Here's a look at the places I went to ( an also all over the Bay Area, these were the overnight trips)

Miami, FL
Nassau, Bahamas
Hanoi, Vietnam
Saigon, Vietnam
My Tho, Vietnam
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Siem Reap, Cambodia,
Bend, OR
Boston, MA
Los Angeles, CA (I-5 route)
New Orleans, LA
Vancouver, BC
Los Angeles (HWY 101 route + beach side)
Chico, CA
Las Vegas, NV

Some Food Pics from 2014

The last few months.. I've made these homemade goodies (more to post.. when I dig through my phone for pics)... lighting was always terrible.. and I apologize for the filters... but eh... they look like they belong in 2014.... surely in 5 years I'll look back and shake my head as to how these pictures were altered ;-)

Low fat granola with quinoa (apple sauce, replaced a lot of the fats!)

Lamb meatball stew with cabbage slaw 

grilled lamb with pistachio/mint, served with roasted chili honey glazed parsnips

flourless butterless peanut butter nutella cookies

fresh pasta with blackened corn, roasted tomatoes, Italian sausage mixed with pesto

Fast tuna can salad

flat iron steak with mashed slow roasted purple yam, and haricots with lemon/shallots

salt/sugar brine pork chops with red wine reduction , white bean spread crostini, kale+quinoa+ roasted sweet potato side 

Falafel pockets 

Fresh tilapia with mango/tomato/avocado/ salsa and asparagus 

roasted red pepper pasta salad ( finally took the time to roast the bell pepper!)

fresh wild caught salmon pan seared and finished in the oven, with crispy shallots ( failed attempt) green beans and sweet potato mash

flat iron steak with blackened corn green beans/quinoa, and puff pastry stone fruit dessert 

braised chicken with quick picked cucumber spears, and burrata + basil from the garden :)

carnitas nachos, carnitas from the night before!

no knead pizza , single serve, super crispy and chewy 

quiche 

thomas keller fried chicken 

nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies, and milk chocolate dentures 

still decorating! chocolate cupcakes made for my RDA's daughter 

cauliflower crust "pizza" with fresh ricotta gnocchi 

I miss cooking, I miss baking. I miss waiting 3+ hours for my meals to cook.... I will be back... until then... 

Eat Sweets, Brush, Floss, Rinse and Repeat :)