BLOG — Boots and Beer

So I am always trying to eat healthy, but also eat good. Really good. I LOVE food.

Before going to bed last night, I was thinking about how good baba ghanoush sounded, and what cheese I like best. When I woke up this morning, I immediately thought of phyllo dough, and all of the wonderful things you can make out of it. Spanakopita. Mmmmm. I then proceeded to spend way too much time this morning looking at foodgawker.com, seeing all of the tasty things you can make out of phyllo dough.

I got made fun of yesterday, because I was explaining to my friend that I had made a list of all the restaurants in Dublin that I wanted to try. Granted, it's a fairly long list, but ya need to understand. Food is everything. It makes people happy and brings them together.

I also love cooking, but I am a very different cook as compared to your average person. I love vegetables and crazy amalgamations. I try to use and substitute ingredients for a recipe based on what I have on hand. But that's another thing, because I almost never follow a recipe. Unless I'm baking, of course, cause if ya don't follow the recipe there, ya dun fucked up. Then no one's going to be happy with your sweet treats.

A typical lunch for me. Egg + veggies + maybe meat + maybe avocado + maybe brown rice

Before coming to Dublin, I had this grand idea of how healthy and fit I was going to be. This has turned out to be much more difficult than I originally intended. Not having steady work + travel + new places + Ireland + booze + new friends makes it very difficult to be as healthy as I want. There's too much good food about, and there's also not enough of certain healthy ingredients I want. Also, why is protein so expensive here? For fucks sake. My protein intake has been suffering! I've been eating tons of eggs. Oh well.

Being fit, or at least forcing myself to go to the gym, however, is going alright. Except that I am not going nearly as much as I should be, but at least I am going! Anyway...

Back to the food. So last night I attempted my first Shakshuka. To be fair, it's not very similar to a traditional Shakshuka, but I thought it turned out very well. I spazzed out though and forgot to take pictures of the whole process, so I apologize that for my first cooking related post, the photos are somewhat lackluster.

Mexican-ish Inspired Shakshuka
serves 2

Anyway here's the ingredient list that I used and the approximations (I never measure anything ever, let's be real)

1/2 of a large hard cooked chorizo sausage chopped up small
1 red pepper sliced into thin pieces
1 medium sweet potato chopped
1 can of whole tomatoes in juice
1/4 cup of corn
3 cloves of garlic
20 baby tomatoes halved
1 tablespoon of olive oil
paprika to taste
Italian herbs to taste
black pepper (use loads)
2 eggs
1 cup of shredded cheddar (as garnish + cheese is the best)
Nice crusty bread for dipping or toasted tortillas

Instructions (again approximations, I never time anything)

Basically chop the shit out of the sweet potato, and sauté in the olive oil for about 10 minutes or until the sweet potato starts to soften a bit. Add the chorizo, garlic, and red pepper, and sauté for about another 10 minutes. Add the can of whole tomatoes + the halved baby tomatoes + corn. Add all the seasonings. I found that I didn't need to add extra salt because the chorizo was salty enough. Simmer on low heat for another 5 minutes before cracking the eggs into the mixture. Cover with a lid and cook until the whites of the egg are thoroughly cooked but so the yolk is still runny. Meanwhile, toast your bread or tortillas and prepare the plates. Add the cheese and cover with lid until just melted, and then revel in your glorious creation!

Nearly done. Just need the cheese. Too bad the cheese covers up those eggs.

It was easy enough, and turned out to be delicious. We ate it with toasted bread, and it was delightful. Again, I apologize for my poor photos. Next time I will take much better photos of the actual process.

I want to make a more traditional Shakshuka next time, but this was still lovely.

I'm super stoked, cause I leave for Budapest on Friday. Till next time.

So, what do you do in Dublin when you have friends, a job, and too little time? Well, you cry a bit, because your job is only for a month. And that month is ending on Monday (tomorrow).

I have spent the last three and half weeks working for Software Design, whose name very blatantly states what they do. Though sadly, they only hired me for a one month contract. However, it's been wonderful so far, and I am very sad that Monday will be my last day. My coworkers are all amazing and lovely people.

It has been nice to get back into a more normal schedule as well. Working 9-6 kind of sucks, but when you get to go play foosball, ping pong, and pool on your lunch break, ya can't really complain that much. I am awful at foosball, but I have been slowly and steadily improving. Foosball should not be this intense! It should not be allowed for a person to sweat so much from playing foosball! My coworkers always joke that I don't need to go to the gym when there's the foosball workout.

Anyway, I have met lovely people here in Dublin, and life has really been great. Except for the fact that I am now on the job hunt again! It's so sad. I am also going to Budapest and Prague in a couple weeks, and I am super stoked! Make some money, then spend all the money... At least I am traveling to cheap cities.

On another note, I’ve noticed that I need to take care of myself a little better. I have been indulging in the Irish lifestyle a bit too much. My diet has really been quite terrible, and with the constant chocolate and biscuits at work that everyone tempts me with, I am sure I am so unhealthy right now. Oh well. I have been going to the gym fairly frequently, so that's a win!

My coworkers bring in chocolate and biscuits every day. EVERY DAY. They ask me if I have tried certain kinds of candy/chocolate/cookies, and I generally haven't (except for the Oreos).

"Hey Christina, have you had this before?"

"Nope."

"Well you gotta try it!"

"Yeah, I suppose."

I was a bit hesitant at first, with the whole trying to be healthy thing, but now, there's no stopping it. Literally the only good thing about me leaving this job is that I won't have access to so many free sweets anymore.

Bray is quite lovely. The sheep were so skittish though!

Besides work, slacking, drinking, eating, and the occasional gym going, I still love to explore! I went to Bray on Monday (since it was a Bank Holiday) and it was beautiful. We hiked around Bray Head and ended the afternoon with a well needed chipper and pint.