Cooperative Capers

  Today's post is a review and walkthrough of the Tone It Up (TIU) cilantro lime quinoa bowls from page 109 of the Summer Tone Up Meal Plan. Let's start with the review so you can decide whether you want to try making it before you go through the trouble of planning. Overall I would say it's one of the better Tone It Up recipes. It feels like a healthy substitute for something like a burrito bowl. It's pretty quick once you get a routine down and takes me about 30 minutes. It also doesn't involve any actual cooking, just microwave, chopping, and assembly. I've made a few edits to the original recipe. The original recipe is very, very heavy on the lime, so I have greatly reduced it. I also usually skip the onion. Equipment:  microwave, cutting board, knife, medium-large bowl, large bowl, strainer or colander, wooden spoon, silicone scraper, a tablespoon, and 2 storage containers. Shopping List:  Since I make this every week, I have two versions of my shopping lis...

Black Friday this year was special because The Glass Onion, the new Knives Out  mystery, was playing in theatres for 1 week only! We braved the crowds and went to see it at the Irvine Spectrum Center, which features a Regal movie theatre. This was renovated relatively recently, but unfortunately it is not our favorite theater for a few reasons. One problem is cleanliness. The bathrooms are generally trashed, and it is hard to find soap (it took me 5 sinks before I found a pump that both worked and had soap left in it). The other is the uncomfortable seating. The seats recline, but they only stay that way if you brace against something. I knew this from previous experiences and did not even try, and the seats were still pretty uncomfortable. The cushions are very firm and full, which pushed my head out forward in relation to my neck. On the plus side, the theatre has a Lavazza, so if you need to buy coffee for your show, you won't run into the perennial problem of the teenager behin...

  Rakkan Ramen has been on our to-try list for a long time. Ramen is one of Shannon's favorite foods, so he tends to keep a running list of local places that are opening. Add this to the fact that this location has been tantalizingly setting up to open in the Tustin District for months with their menu on full display, teasing us every time we go to see a movie there, and you get a recipe for two trips in one weekend! That's right. We didn't have anything else going on, so we decided to hop on over to The District and finally try Rakkan Ramen last Saturday. I had the hot green tea ($2, free refills, 5 calories), which was a strong, bitter matcha. The cup was hot but the tea was drinkable immediately. We each ordered the Spicy Garnet Vegan ($15.50, 580 calories), which uses their miso sauce and which the menu describes as "Vegetable broth, sesame paste, spicy miso, grilled pork, black pepper, green onion, bamboo shoots, seasoned egg, fried garlic with RAKKAN noodles...Ma...