Asian Salad

This salad is delicious, inexpensive, and easy to make as well... but it's jam packed with sodium (mmmm salt). So here's the "less sodium" version (let's keep those arteries soft people!), though I have yet to find reduced sodium Oriental flavored Ramen.  If you do please let me know.

Salad

1 bag of coleslaw

4 green onions, sliced

1 cup slivered raw almonds-- unsalted if possible

1 cup raw sunflower seeds-- unsalted if your grocery store has them... unlike my stupid store

2 pkgs Oriental flavored ramen noodles, crushed ("Hulk Smash!")

Dressing 

(this makes a s**t load of dressing, so I'd suggest using half or doubling the salad. Another great way to lessen the sodium? Make it crowd size so other people eat it. I might be evil.)

Both ramen noodle seasoning packets

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

5 dashes pepper (or however ever much YOU want-- take control!)

Combine and place dressing on salad. Toss. Eat. Love.

Here's how to make it an Ultimate Asian Salad:

• Add diced chicken (about a cup or two or however much you like), dried cranberries, and a can of mandarin oranges, drained.  Maybe toss in a bit of the juice when you mix up the dressing.  
• And if you have some extra fresh cilantro leftover from the Blackened Fish Tacos I highly suggest adding that as well.  

Blackened Fish Tacos

The best compliment I had for this dish was when my mother-in-law asked me what restaurant I bought these at. I was GLOWING with pride. Not only do I love this dish because it's delish, but it's also a 30 minute HEALTHY meal that's inexpensive.  And it's great Mexican food without the dairy (I promise-- it's possible).

Slaw

1/4 cup sliced green onions with tops

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 garlic clove, pressed or minced

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp Cajun or blackened fish seasoning

2 cups broccoli slaw mix

Fish

1 pound tilapia fish fillets (found frozen and bought fresh... or freshly caught for all you outdoorsy types)

1 Tbsp Cajun or blackened fish seasoning

1 avocado, seeded and sliced

8 - 6 inch tortillas (corn or flour) warmed

Additional cilantro

     For the slaw, combine all ingredients except slaw and mix well.  Add to broccoli slaw and toss. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

     Heat pan over medium heat for 5 minutes. Moisten fish fillets with water and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning.  Lightly grease pan then cook fillets over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, until flaky, carefully turning once.  Remove from heat and flake into bite sized pieces.

     Warm tortillas in microwave, then top with slaw mixture and fish. Top with avocado slices and sprinkle with additional cilantro.

Hodge Podge Tips:

• Switch out the avocado with homemade guacamole then add about a Tbsp to each taco-- it's extra work but it adds a burst of flavor.  Then you can munch on the rest with chips! Oh, and don't be afraid to be heavy handed with the cilantro... I love that stuff.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

(I'm pretty sure this is the worst food picture I've ever taken and makes this soup look like death.)

Whoever invented the crockpot deserves a big hug of thanks from me and anyone else short on time and big on home cooking.  I love dumping everything into one pot, letting it cook on its own, then taking credit for making a delish dinner that's healthy to boot.

4 chicken breast halves

2 - 15 oz cans black beans, undrained

2 - 15 oz cans Mexican stewed tomatoes or Rotel tomatoes

1 cup salsa (any variety)

4 oz can chopped green chiles

14 1/2 oz can tomato sauce

Tortilla Chips

2 cups grated cheese (I like Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese)

Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in large slow cooker.

Cover. Cook on Low for 8 hours.

Just before serving, remove chicken and shred or slice into bite-sized pieces. Stir into soup.

To serve, put a handful of chips into each individual soup bowl. Ladle soup over chips. Top with cheese.

Hodge Podge's notes:

• If you're getting corn chips, go with Organic-- corn is better for your digestive system when organic.
• I like to lightly crush the chips into the bowl, and add a few on top for a crunchier texture.  Also, to make it a bit creamier, I suggest a dollop of light sour cream instead of or along with shredded cheese.

Happy Eating!

Sweet Potato Chicken Curry

Sweet Potato Chicken Curry

This simple and exotic dish has a lot of spices and is perfect for a cold night or a night you're craving curry. Did I mention it's a Cooking Light recipe? I also made this in a Dutch oven, but if you don't have one-- don't be discouraged! Just use a large pot.

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp salt (I use Kosher salt)

1/2 tsp black pepper (fresh ground is best)

1/4 tsp ground red pepper (Cayenne Pepper)

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces (about 3 chicken breasts)

1 1/2 cups vertically sliced onion

1 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger 

2 garlic cloves (minced or pressed)

1 - 14 oz can chicken broth (Low Sodium but the best is homemade broth)

1 - 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

2 cups (1/2 inch) cubed, peeled sweet potato (about 1 potato)

3/4 canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup frozen green peas

1 T fresh lemon juice

Brown Rice

Combine the first 7 ingredients.

Heat oil in large Dutch Oven (or pot with lid) over medium high heat. Add chicken to pan; saute 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally.  Remove chicken from pan.  Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to pan; cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.  Increase heat to medium-high then return chicken to pan. Cook 1 minute.  Stir in ginger and garlic, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add curry powder mixture; cook 2 minutes, stir.  Add broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour.  Stir in potato and chickpeas. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes.  Add peas and cook 5 more minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in lemon juice. Discard bay leaf. Serve over rice

**Hodge Podge's notes:

• If you don't want to spend the money on spices you think you'll never use again, check in the organic/ natural food section at the grocery store for shelves with large containers of varying spices that you can measure out into baggies.  It saves money!
• Mix the rice in with the curry when packing up the leftovers-- that way it absorbs all the flavor.
• I'd also recommend tossing in a can of coconut milk to moisten it up and add even more deliciousness.

iPhone Photo Fun

A few weeks ago, our Sprint contract was up for renewal which meant one thing: NEW PHONES! While I enjoyed my HTC Evo (Android) phone when I first got it in 2009, lately it had been on the fritz and by "fritz" I mean calling people randomly then every time I'd hit the "home" or "back" buttons it would redial... my mom's cell... at 12:45am! Phone Fail.

Now I've got an iPhone 4S and for the most part, I love it. The storage space both in the phone and with iCloud is reason enough to have one. But I've also got an iPad and Macbook so it's nice to have fully compatible tech. Of course, the iPhone gets the fun games and some cool apps, but I miss my Zedge app that gave me great ringtones and wallpapers. I still haven't found an app that I like for that stuff. Any recommendations? Plus it's aggravating that even after I download a ringtone, I have to connect my phone to iTunes before I can use it. Yes it's extra security, but dammit! I'm lazy!

Siri-- the virtual assistant-- is awesome. I asked Siri how to get a blow job, she offered to do a web search and I said "NO!" How did she respond? "Okay... I didn't think so."  Siri has a wonderfully robotic dry sense of humor.
But my favorite part of the iPhone is the camera. I love the quality of photos even when there's a lack of light, not to mention there's a reversible camera! FINALLY! I have been waiting to have that feature for ages. It's amazing how little technology changes make life more fun. And with all this photo taking, the battery life is excellent: I can't wait to use this at Disneyland in July!!

Okay, so here's the photo fun I've been having lately:

Food at the Screenwriter Smorgasbord at The Great America Pitchfest

 Horribly blurry photo because I sat too far away BUT... the guy on the left is Rhett Reese, writer of Monsters, Inc and Zombieland... he's one cool dude

Mani/pedi for the Pitchfest (please excuse the feet pic)

Fingers: Westbourne Grove

Toes: Porchester Square

 nails inc "Neon & Nude" collection

Cooper in need of Mommy/Kitty cuddle time

Cooper sad to discover the outer ball from his toy mysteriously disappeared...

Niko

Left: wearing my kick ass star earrings that I'll probably throw away since they ALWAYS infect my ears.

Right: Playing around with the mirror doors in my please-ignore-the-mess-because-this-is-a-storage-room room. Like my new top from Lane Bryant? I dressed it up with a black blazer. (if you're new to Hodge Podge Gallery, you'll quickly realize I don't do outfit photos because I'm a walking advertisement for LB. Actually I almost didn't put this pic up but DAMMIT! I'm tired of hiding! I look cute for plus size but it's awfully boring.) For fashion AWESOMENESS, click here, here, and here.

Makeup "dead face" 

I've switched from liquid foundation to Bare Minerals, apparently powder foundation is better for oily skin. Do we like? There's nothing I can do about my "chocolate sprinkles" but everything else looks even and smooth (even without the Bare Minerals brushes that I keep telling myself I don't need...)

Also, I wanted to try a photo in natural lighting. I promise I smile LOTS in real life-- I have no choice since I'm So. Damn. Funny.

Eye shadows:

CG "Mink"

Urban Decay "Bootycall" "Snakebite" "Suspect" "YDK" (from Naked 2 palette)

Maybelline black eyeliner (smudged!)

Maybelline Great Lash and Maybelline Great Last BIG mascaras in Very Black

Dear God I need help with my eyebrows... but I'm loving my eyes with these shades.

The Red Door in Toluca Lake. There's no sign for the bar, just-- you guessed it-- a red door.

And of course we had an "Animal Style"dinner-- this is the only decent place nearby that's open after 11:30pm besides Del Taco (and my stomach can't handle fast food Mexican)

So there's a little camera love from my iPhone. If you're debating about spending the money but take TONS of videos and photos with your phone, GET AN IPHONE!

And before I forget: Follow me on Twitter if you want ridiculousness on a daily basis-- I'll follow you back :)  Also, I'm on Pinterest-- oh how I love pinning-- let's share our interests and amazing tastes with each other!

Two Shots of Euphoria

While I'm busy trying to pull films out of my ass create brilliant cinema with the written word, my super sexy and awesome husband is building his portfolio as a Digital Composer. What IS a digital composer? It's a person who uses a computer program with digital loops to create music, specifically scores for film/TV/commercials, etc. Before you musical people scoff at the idea of anyone making beautiful music with "loops," digital composing is an actual career in Hollywood and a very affordable way for filmmakers to add music to their films. Not to mention, Michael-- who was a drummer for many years-- is GREAT at it. And this is coming from a musical person.

With loops, it's not just a matter of putting a few together that sound good and pressing play. Michael can change time signatures and keys; add effects like delay, reverb, distortion; you can stretch the loops, fade them in and out, speed one up while slowing another down. And don't forget about mixing the sound levels of each loop to balance the piece and finalize the tone.  Yes, he's still semi-new at it and there's a lot to learn, but hell, aren't we ALWAYS learning?

The little SoundCloud widget I added on the left is my favorite piece he's created so far. Have a listen-- it's about two minutes. You can hear more of his stuff here.

The reason I even mention this-- besides bragging rights-- is that Michael and I have gotten his blog "Two Shots of Euphoria" going again. Don't you just love the title? Anyway, we're collaborating meaning he tells me what he wants to say and I artfully and brilliantly and humbly write it out for him. I'm basically a not-so-ghostwriter. So check out his blog: Michael is creative and has a great perspective on life.

Hermmm.... Do you think I could use this on a resume since I'm technically writing for someone else?

To Do List

I love making lists because each time I cross off something it feels like a small MEGA accomplishment. For instance:
wash dishes
fold laundry
play video games
make a shopping list


Just look at how much one can accomplish in a week.

As I've been prepping all week for the Great American Pitchfest in Burbank this weekend,  I haven't had time to blog; and now that I'm going to create a regular daily writing schedule (like... using SPREADSHEETS, which, if you're a creative person, can scare the shit out of me you), I thought I'd put up a To Do List of my tasks in the coming week to share more of my writing process and early career steps. I'm also planning on posting script pieces so you can see what the heck I actually want to do in film.

To Do List
1. Create work and life schedule spreadsheet, as well as spreadsheets for documenting all scripts or treatments I've registered & copyrighted, info on the Trades, and screenplay contests I've entered.

2. Re-do the schedule to be more realistic.

3. Stick to the schedule.

After trying for years to be the laid back artistic type most successful film people seem to be, I realized I need STRUCTURE to accomplish... anything. School provided deadlines, accountability, and stakes that forced me to finish scripts and stories. There was stability in the day-to-day routine of going to class, socializing, and doing homework. A couple years ago I thought going back to school for a teaching degree was what I needed: turns out I just need the structure behind the academic world.

And discipline.

I went to an ILLUMINATING strengths workshop at my church, called "Illuminate." Go figure. There's more I'll explain in another blog, but basically, out of 34 total strengths I could have as my top 5, Discipline was not one of them. It's a weakness for me, actually. But our strengths help us manage our weaknesses. Since one of my strengths is Responsibility, I can use the side of myself that feels a duty to write as the driving force toward discipline. Such is the plan-- this must happen in order for me to become a successful screenwriter-- and you're coming along for the ride!


P.S. Check out two new amazing blogs by two lovely women.
The first is LA By Diana Live Magazine - a great visual blog about life and fashion in LA. Diana has fabulous taste and great insight into this crazy city.
The second is A Wife's Charmed Life - Ibyang shares photos, stories, and what she's learned as a wife living on the other side of the world.
Both great blogs to kick off your summer (or winter if you're in Sydney)!!