Thursday, November 29, 2012

Sa-sa-sa-salsa!


I LOVE tomatoes. Capitalizing “love” may actually be an understatement. More like…LOVE. Yes, that much! Whether in sauce, salsa, or even plain, I just enjoy tomatoes. While for snack most people grab their yogurt or cheese stick, I grab my tomatoey friends and take a bite.

Story time. I was at the mall with a friend and chose some of the plumpest tomatoes at a nearby supermarket. I walked into William Sonoma, and bit into my tomato (yes whole tomato) as the employee asks, “Is that a tomato?”. Don’t knock it till you try it. Alas, tomato season is coming to an end, but I have been enjoying my favorite snack from the jar. Yep, you didn’t misread that. I’ve been eating plain salsa. No tortilla chips, no crackers, no carrots, just spooning it up! But, if you had tried some of the amazing salsas I buy, you wouldn’t be giving me that weird confused face right now.

Salsa Roll

1. Target has a mighty good jarred mango peach salsa. I don’t even recall how I happened upon it, but it has big chunks of pineapple. It is pretty sweet, with a teensy weensy bit of spice. It also has a tomatoey taste. This is a really sugary sweet salsa though so it may be an acquired taste. This is really the ONLY salsa I buy out of a jar. Who would have thought—Target. They also have other flavors if you are solely opposed to the fruity types. The pineapple mango variety is also yummy, but a decent bit hotter. My nose actually started to run.

 

2. Whole Foods has an ahhmmazing variety of fresh salsas. Between their pico de gallo, mango salsa, and even watermelon, they have some of the freshest and most flavorful varieties. These are usually located right next to the cut up fruit. But, if you can’t find them, ask a very helpful team member. The pico de gallo has large pieces of juicy tomatoes with some onions and a hint of seasoning. The mango salsa is always full of the freshest mangos. But, that watermelon salsa is amazing. It sometimes has jicama included, lime juice, and pepper. Caliente! Not to completely contradict the point of the post, the mango salsa and watermelon salsa aren’t tomatoey, but I always seem to associate salsa with tomatoes so I’m including them because you usually also eat them with chips.

 

3. Lastly, good ol’ Trader Joes. I go to the refrigerated section and seem to enjoy any of their pico de gallo salsas. But, stay away from the bruschetta. I used to love this, but recently bought one that was spoiled before I even opened it! Hopefully this was a one off.

On a fitness related note (not having anything to do with tomatoes). I am very excited to have finally made my way over to Target to buy some hand weights for Turbokick. I see everyone wearing them and figured it was finally time to acquire a pair. They really add a new dimension to my workouts with some mighty sore arms by the end of my workout. But, not too sore J

I also added a little more Latin spice to my life last week by taking a special Zumba class in Seattle at 24 Hour Fitness. I am not usually the biggest Zumba fan, but this class was super fun. I much prefer the modern hip-hop style. I can not tell you how much fun it is to Zumba to Gangnam Style.
On another note, I whipped up some of my famous fizzy lemonade for a debate tournament I judged. Yum! Store bought lemonade has so much added sugar. I like to get back to the basics by whipping up my own with lemons off the bush. I put it in my water bottle for an on-the-go drink! It also tastes so much fresher! For debate tournaments, this fizzy drink is especially symbolic with the eventful nature of these competitions...
 
Shake It Up Fizzy Lemonade Recipe
2 large lemons
1 tablespoon sugar (or more for taste)
6-8 oz. carbonated water (in water bottle)
Directions:
1. Squeeze the lemons out. You can either use a juicer or work those muscles squeezing my hand.
2. Pour the juice and sugar into your carbonated water bottle
3. Shake it up. Wait a couple minutes for air particles to return to normal before opening (yes I have had some explosions with that).
4. Drink up! You'll be shocked at just how fresh off the bush it tastes.
 
For audience enjoyment, I'm going to provide some of my debate tournament thoughts below. Judging high school debate leads to some fun times and listening to high schoolers discuss due process can lead to some...interesting scenarios. Fellow debaters will especially enjoy this:
Thought 1: These kids sound like they want to kill each other during cross ex...Awk apples. I feel like the third wheel in this argument.
Thought 2: One of the debaters says "I have three minutes of prep time...I'm just going to use it and see where it takes me." To some good arguments I hope...
Thought 3: Dude this kid is MEAN...alas he's correct.
Thought 4: These judges are sure excited about cheese and bacon...I'll stick with my pumpkin thank you very much.
Thought 5: Who needs tv with this super debate drama.
Thought 6: Woo hoo! This judge lady is totally matching my awesomeness in workout wear. Yoga gear all the way. Too bad that debaters have to wear suits...I much prefer my yoga pants.
Thought 7: I feel like I'm chewing my jicama super loudly during this round...ah well, at least it's quieter than carrots. But, it's so delicious!
In conclusion, today is one of those days where along with the yummy recipe, you get a bit of unsolicited humor :) Sorry about that, but my brain travels. Have a thoroughly terrific Thursday.
 
 

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