Beating the Intimidation Factor.

Good Morning!!

Happy JERSDAY! Oh, yes, I totally went there.

Please tell me that you are excited too?! You know the new season starts tonight! Totally a guilty pleasure. Right there along with Big Brother!! 😀 Jeff & Jordan are my favorites…they always have been. I just love the two of them together & she has the CUTEST little southern twang. A-Freakin’-dorable!

As you can see I am one of those people. 😉 I love reality tv! I can’t help it…I really can’t. It’s just so entertaining…even if the stuff is staged.

Believe it or not there are some recipes and dishes that intimidate me. Typically these meals involve any kind of yeast (I feel like I will NEVER be able to make bread correctly), scallops (I always think that I will over cook them & they will wind up all rubbery), or ahi tuna/ any kind of sushi dish. (in fear that I will COMPLETELY mess that up)

The other night I attempted to make something that I had never made before.

Those would be ahi tuna steaks.

I don’t know why, but I have ALWAYS been intimidated by tuna steaks. I just felt like they were restaurant food ONLY. Well that all changed when I was browsing around the grocery store & noticed that they happened to be on sale. I think it was like $17 for both pieces, which is a REALLY good deal for ahi tuna! I thought I would give them a try since Craig & I are both HUGE ahi tuna fans.

I was looking around on the internet to try to find a good way to cook them, since we both like them seared. I didn’t want to marinate them because I didn’t want to take away from the flavor. I found a few recipes that called for adding soy sauce or terriyaki to the steaks, but I felt like that would totally mask the flavor of the tuna. So I decided to go VERY simple…as in only 4 ingredients. (besides the tuna of course)

1. 1 tsp. Salt
2. 1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Easy. Peasy.

I just rubbed the spices on both sides of the tuna, making sure that they were evenly distributed on the steaks.

Next up was time to figure out how to cook them. After reading for a bit, I came to the conclusion that the best way was to pan sear them.
Here are the other two ingredients:

3. about 1 tsp. of olive oil
4. about 1/2- 1 tsp. of pepper (depending on how much you like pepper)

To cook: Heat the olive oil over medium high heat until it starts to bubble. Once it bubbles/ starts to sizzle sprinkle the pepper into the oil.

Then you add the steaks to the oil & pepper and cook for about 3- 4 minutes on each side…DEPENDING on the size! These steaks were pretty thick (about 1 inch), so I was able to cook them longer, but you HAVE to watch them carefully & make sure to keep checking the middle…because you don’t want to over cook them.
(We both like them seared, so of course the middle is still raw, but if you don’t like it that way, then I suggest cooking them longer.)

My favorite way to eat seared tuna is on top of salad, so that’s how I decided to serve it.

I served the salad with this dressing:

Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame. I always think of having seared ahi tuna at Japanese restaurants, so I figured the Asian dressing would be perfect. And, well it IS my favorite dressing for any salad. 😀

I KNOW that ahi tuna may look intimidating (I think all seafood is kind of intimidating when you first start cooking), but this was one of the EASIEST meals that I have EVER made.

Not only was it super easy, but it felt like we were enjoying a fancy restaurant meal!! Once Craig saw what I made for dinner (because he never knows until we sit down to eat, I like to surprise him every night) he looked up & and was like ‘WHOA H! You definitely out did yourself on this meal!’ Little did he know that it was also one of the easiest meals too 😉 Win win.

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In order news, I went to the chiropractor yesterday. I have always had lower back issues, but they have seemed to be increasing…and now I’m also getting some really bad pain in my upper back- in the middle of my shoulder blades.

I guess it would be called the ‘rhomboideus minor’ if I am reading that correctly.

The other night it was hurting so bad that I had to lay flat on my stomach & have Craig press as HARD as he could on the spot between my shoulder blades. I don’t know what it is but it has been KILLING me lately- kind of like sharp needles in my upper back.

I went to a chiropractor that my friend suggested, and I am SO glad that I did!!! Not only was she AWESOME & SO SO SO friendly, she gave me SO much information!!!! I had NO idea, but your spine and the tendons & ligaments around it can affect your ENTIRE BODY.

When I was filling out my new patient forms I wrote in my medical history, which obviously includes Crohn’s disease. When she was going over my file, she mentioned that she could help me with the Crohn’s & all of the side effects. She had me lay down on the table & she pressed a certain spot on my back and it felt SO weird. Not painful, but weird…like my whole body just felt funky. She said that the certain spot she was touching affected the nerves that control my colon. (which is where Crohn’s disease is located)

I go back on Friday to get all of the results from my X-rays (of my back/ neck/ & spine), and she is also going to recommend some supplements & herbs to take, which will hopefully help me wean off my current medications.
*fingers crossed* that the chiropractic appointments will help!!!!!! I have HIGH hopes! 😀

Have a GREAT Friday Eve!

Questions for you:
1. Are you intimidated to cook any foods?
2. Have you ever been to a chiropractor? If you have, do you still go? Did you notice any results? I went to one a few years ago for my lower back pain (he said most of it was due to running 😦 ) but then I stopped going because insurance only covered a certain number of visits a year.
3. Do you watch Jersey Shore? Will you be watching tonight’s episode?

Posted by Holly at Holly on the Run on August 4, 2011

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