Friday night at home, just how I like it!

Since I was in college, I've always liked the idea of spending Friday night in. Everyone is out, forcing themselves to have fun, cause its! the! weekend!

I prefer my Friday nights in. Tonight, BF's best friend J is coming over to help me with the truck cake for his son's birthday. He's an art school grad and will probably bring it to a new level!

My interview went well - it was with a recruiter, so they will forward my resume to the firm and see if they like me. They said I was a terrific candidate, so here's hoping. It's a 2-3 month project, so I can hopefully stash a bit away while I attempt to make my own business(s) get off the ground - I've been working on that for the past 6-7 months, and it's been slow going.

I got to my interview a bit early, and was hungry, as I had only had cottage cheese this am. Subway was right there, so I had a six inch turkey sandwich on the flat-bread. I did have cheese, but no mayo. Will try to leave out the cheese next time, although it does add nice flavor, it's not really good cheese and an extra 50 calories! 360 calories with the cheese. The flat-bread actually had more calories than the wheat bread! I was surprised! Check out the subway nutrition info here...I had a bit of a hard time finding it. I think I might get a wheat bread next time and just eat half the bread and double the turkey, as there is only 9 grams protein in a sandwich.

I went to a produce market in another neighborhood that is supposed to be amazing...it was ok. No organics, and some of the produce was a bit over-ripe. Picked up a ton of citrus as it's in season, was cheap, and BF eats it in mass quantities. Plus, it will feature in my menu for tomorrow night...I'm having my little brother and a few friends over for dinner. We'll have a blood orange and red onion salad, Indian spiced green beans (recipe below),  Indian lamb curry, basmati rice, and for dessert fresh oranges and pomegranates. I'm going to go clean up the kitchen and make the lamb tonight! I'll cook it till it falls apart, chill it overnight, and skim off the fat tomorrow before I reheat and serve! In the Indian mood, I'm making some tandoori style chicken breasts in the oven tonight. I marinate them in soy yogurt, lemon, garlic, ginger, and Indian spices. Think I'll make a little baked potato to go with it.

I cooked dinner, and served myself half a baked potato and half a chicken breast. It was delish, and I could totally eat more. I think!!! I've been overly full, not painfully, but obviously from every meal I've eaten the past few days. So I stopped. I can go back for more later, if I really want it. Yay, me!

To change it from Gujerati to Kerala green beans, just add a half a cup of grated coconut (unsweetened or fresh), when it comes time to simmer the final mix.

Here’s what you need:

	1 pound fresh green beans
	1 good sized shallot, peeled and coarsely chopped
	4 Tbsp. vegetable oil I will use less!
	1 Tbsp. whole black mustard seeds
	1 tsp. ground cumin seeds, toasted
	2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
	½ - 1 diced jalapeño pepper
	salt
	black pepper

Here’s what you do:

1. Lay a row of beans. Trim the ends. Do them all that way.

2. Blanch the beans by dropping them into a pot of boiling water and boiling rapidly for 3 to 4 minutes or until they are just tender. Drain immediately in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Set aside.

3. Heat the oil in a large fry pan over a medium heat. Saute the shallots - when hot, put in the mustard seeds.  As soon as they begin to pop (watch out, those mustard seeds really do jump out), put in the garlic and the jalapeño. Stir the garlic pieces around until they turn light brown. Work fast - you don’t want to burn these ingredients.

4. Put in the green beans, salt and sugar. Stir to mix. Turn the heat to medium-low. Add 2 Tbsp. water. Toss in the ground cumin (and the coconut if you are adding this ingredient) and stir.  Cover and cook the beans for 7 to 8 minutes or until they have absorbed the flavor of the spices. Add the black pepper to taste, mix and serve.