mac & cheese: update edition

I made the mac & cheese from yesterdays post, for dinner last night. It was good. It's not the traditional mac & cheese you may be thinking of - I mean, it DOES have pureed butternut squash in it, and although you can barely taste that in the mac & cheese, you CAN taste it. It does give the mac & cheese the traditional & comforting "orange" color though.

I also have to admit that my attempt at making it healthier semi-failed. I added WAY more cheese then I was suppose to. I kept trying the sauce and it just never tasted cheesy enough for me, and we had to actually eat it for dinner, so I had to make sure it was edible. I would say I doubled the amount of cheese & mustard powder that the recipe called for. I have no idea what that does to the health factor, and I'm not going to obsess over it either. It was good, even Ted liked it & is having leftovers for lunch today. I call that a success. 

I might make it again, I'm not sure. It was worth a try, that's for sure. If you want to attempt making it I would encourage you the halve the recipe. This recipe makes a 9x13 baking dish of mac & cheese. Unless you love leftovers or your family is huge & you'll eat all of it in one sitting, I would encourage you to save a little $ and just make half. That way if you don't like it then it's not a huge loss. Also, I used fresh butternut squash that was already cubed up for me, but I pureed it in our blender with a little milk so it would blend up nicely.

I heart Giada

There are so many reasons I love Giada De Laurentiis. Just one reason is that she always helps me cook up some yummy & easy Italian dishes. This is one of my favorite dishes I make, speaking of which - I really need to make it again. It's warm, comforting, & yummy. Anyways... last night Giada helped me out, again! Yay!

This recipe is going to be hard to link you all to because it's on the Target website, in this section. Just click on "recipes" and you'll find it.

Last night I made her Baked Gnocchi. It was sooo delicious. Even my hubby who didn't think he liked gnocchi, loved it. Here's the recipe:

Baked Gnocchi (courtesy Giada De Laurentiis & Target)

• 1 - 17 oz. package potato gnocchi
• 1.5 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tbls. a-p flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 6 oz. baby spinach (I used fresh)
• 1.5 oz. goat cheese (I used a 5 oz. package of crumbled goat cheese & used all of it. We love cheese.)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook gnocchi according to package direction, drain. Place gnocchi in lightly greased baking dish. (I used the square 8" dish.)

In a medium sauce pan whisk together cream, broth/stock, & flour over medium heat. Continue to whisk for 5 minutes or until the sauce is simmering and thickened. Stir in the salt, pepper & nutmeg. Add the spinach and stir until it's all coated in the sauce. Pour the mixture over gnocchi making sure it's evenly spread out and the gnocchi is covered. Crumble the goat cheese over top, and then finish with the Parmesan cheese. Bake until the top is golden brown & bubbly, or 10 minutes. (I actually cooked ours for 15 minutes to get the desired brownness.)

This dish was nothing short of delicious. Surprisingly it really does have a mac & cheese feel to it, but better. Way better.

it's Christmas! (almost)

Christmas is right around the corner. I'm pretty excited. We set a budget for gifts and I actually stuck to it. Ted's gift is another story, but all the gifts for our families are awesome & in the budget I was aiming for. That made this time of year much less stressful for me. Now it's on to wrapping said gifts - not my favorite activity ever.

This year we're doing a small Christmas dinner with just Ted & me, and my parents. It should be pretty fun and I'm darn excited to cook some yummy food. Here's our menu:

• mushrooms stuffed with brie
• spinach salad with warm bacon dressing
• potatoes au gratin
• roasted asparagus 
• boeuf en croute (aka beef wellington)

And for dessert we'll be enjoying:

• cracked earth

I'm going to be making the beef wellingtons individually instead of one big one because everyone likes their steak done differently. I hope it comes out as yummy as I'm imagining. If all else fails I'm sure the stuffed mushrooms and cracked earth will be awesome.

Thanksgiving recap

Lets pretend it's two days ago - Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Ok, back to reality.

Thanksgiving was a great success this year! Yay. We spend it with my in-laws and most of the extended family, plus my parents come also... which totally alleviates the whole "splitting the holiday" stress. Thank you, Lord. Ted & I go to my parents house on Thanksgiving morning for breakfast with my family, so my parents, us, & my brother can all spend it together. It's just a day packed with family & food. All the food was amazing. Our smoked turkey came out awesome. My pies came out pretty darn good also. My pecan pie in the Oreo crust was a hit! One of Ted's uncles told me it was the best pecan pie he's ever had, and that he's had a lot of pecan pie. Comments like that make it ALL worth it. My apple pie didn't come out quite how I was expecting, but it was still really yummy. My pumpkin pie was delicious. I also made a last minute peanut butter pie and it was a hit! Of course, the easiest pie that took me all of 10 minutes to make was the biggest hit. It was such a big hit I'm adding it into the permanent Thanksgiving pie line-up. It was delicious, I can't deny that.

All in all it was a fab Thanksgiving. I love spending it with so much family all around. And then of course there's the leftovers. Last year I unknowingly started our own little family tradition. We had all these Thanksgiving leftovers and I wanted to do something special with them because we didn't really have enough of anything for more then one meal for each of us. What I ended up doing was making a Thanksgiving leftovers Shepard's pie. There's no recipe. Simply layer your favorite leftovers in a pan, top with mashed potatoes, top that with breadcrumbs if you like, and bake until everything is hot & bubbly. Ted has been talking about that meal for the last year, especially the last few days. He made sure that he scavenged as many leftovers as he could. We have leftover turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, & dressing. I'm thinking I will add in a can of cream of mushroom soup with the meats for moisture, and I will add in a can of corn so we have some sort of freshness & a veggie in there. Monday evenings dinner will be Yum-O for sure. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, we were telling one of Ted's aunts about how I made that Shepard's pie last year and she said she does something similar but she tops her with crescent rolls for the top layer. OMG. That has to be to die for.

more more more

As I promised, I'm sharing more recipes and general cooking info today.

I've made this recipe twice so far. It's really becoming a favorite.

The first time I made it exactly as the recipe goes, with the mashed potatoes & broccolini. Well, I did change one thing. I didn't use chicken sausage. I actually used this awesome Jennie-O ground turkey. Overall I loved this whole meal. The potatoes were really just "Ok" for me, but that's easy enough to omit from the meal. If you make this let me just warn you - it is not the prettiest meal you'll ever make, but it is soooo yummy & the leftovers are awesome.

The second time I made this recipe I just did regular ol' mashed potatoes, and for the veggie I did roasted Brussels sprouts - YUM. I love Brussels sprouts. I am aware this makes me weird, I'm ok with that. They're delicious. Ted definitely gave me the "side eye" when he saw them, but he even liked them. (or so he said?).

A few weeks ago we made our own canned jalapeno relish. Preface: We went to dinner at Slaters 50/50 and Ted got their jalapeno relish on his burger, and it was love at first bite. After that he went on & on for days about how good it was and then dropped the bomb on me saying "I want to make our own jalapeno relish and can it." My reaction was "wtf?! are you crazy?! who knows how to can?!" Of course I'm an awesome wife so I really just said those things in my head, and then smiled and said "Ok!" or something to that effect. Well we did it. It was stressful & fun at the same time. I admit I was worried and right before we started I was thinking of any excuse to get out of it. I'm really glad we did it, though. It made Ted really happy & he's already gotten a few requests for it from other people. We're thinking about giving it out at Christmas. Luckily our batch will be ready to eat just in time for Thanksgiving, so you know it's on our table this year.

Speaking of canning... I'm not completely determined/obsessed with making & canning my own apple butter to give out with our jalapeno relish. A whole sweet & spicy thing.

Tomorrow I'm going to let you know what pies I'll be making for Thanksgiving... since ya know, I demanded that I make them all... that's going to come back to bite me in the ass. When my in-laws were calling people to invite them to Thanksgiving and find out what they were bringing, they also let them know about the "no store bought pie" rule this year, and apparently a few people replied with "Well her pies better be good then." Ouch.

lately

There's been lots of cooking going on at our house. There have been several times I've thought "I need to blog about this!" But then the time comes and I have zero inspiration or gumption to follow through. Today, I'm following through despite the fact that it feels like my brain is lugging around cement blocks today.

What have I been reading lately? Nada. It's sad, I know! I'm the kind of person who has to know everything about everything before I can make a decision. It's really a hindrance more than a help. Well I got into this kick where I had to know everything about everything about having babies. So I become completely engulfed in reading baby/labor books. Yes, I had a problem. No, I'm not pregnant. So basically I've read 316545321 baby books and 0 fun books the last few months. I'm actually starting to miss reading just for fun, so hopefully I will start back up soon.

So now back to cooking... there's been lots of it happening at Casa Us.

First things first - dessert. Paula's Loaded Oatmeal Cookies. They are divine. They smell warm, just like an oatmeal cookie should. I didn't use walnuts because lets all be honest - walnuts are the worst nuts. Blech. If you like them then I'm sorry, & you're wrong allowed your own opinion :) In all honesty, I know I'm weird because I don't like them. I mean - who doesn't like walnuts?! This girl. Back to the cookies - they're amazing & wonderful and probably the best oatmeal cookie you will ever eat. I promise.

I made those cookies after two utter & complete failures at other cookies. I mean, failures that would make Betty Crocker beat me senseless. And I would deserve it. We won't talk anymore about those, though.

Last week I was without any & all inspiration for dinner. I wanted to make this corn & Anaheim pepper thing that my father in law made years ago. I mean, this dish he made was amazing. Everyone loved it, but he hated it so he's never made it since. Unfortunately the store I went to didn't have Anaheim peppers. A few hop, skips, and jumps (in my head) later I walked out of the store with bell peppers. We had left over cooked rice that I knew I wanted to use up. I ended up heating the rice, sauteing the corn with the bell pepper (chopped), also included were garlic & onion. I then combined the sauteed mixture with the heated rice, making it a sort of pilaf-but-not-really thing. I don't even know what you would call it but it was really good, if I do say so myself.

For Thanksgiving this year we are bringing a smoked turkey. Talk about Yum. We had never smoked a turkey before, so obviously a practice turkey was in order. We pick up our bird, thawed it, fought over who was removing the gizzards & neck (I lost), and then brined that sucker. We used the brine recipe from Good Eats Roast Turkey. I mean really... at this point... doesn't everyone brine? If not then you should. If you dread the curse of dry turkey every Thanksgiving, then definitely brine your bird! You'll thank me. I promise.

After the turkey was done brining we rinsed it off & dried it, stuffed it with the aromatics, applied the coating of oil and then applied a light sprinkling of our own dry rub that Ted uses on almost everything he smokes. 6.5 hours later we had the most gorgeous turkey. A couple hours after that, when we finally had time to try it, we discovered we also had the most delicious & moist turkey. We could taste the brine, but not in an overwhelming way, just in a... "that was the perfect compliment to the turkey" way. We were thinking we would inject the turkey while it was cooking, but I'm actually glad we didn't. It absolutely didn't need it! Ted took most of the turkey to his work, where they brought sides & had an impromptu Thanksgiving of their own. He said people were inviting themselves to our Thanksgiving because they loved the turkey so much. So seriously... give it a try.

Ok, well this post has seriously gone on long enough. Yes I have more recipes to share with you - you're going to have to wait until tomorrow.

tasty tuesday

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/08/crispy-yogurt-chicken/

Ooooh Pioneer Woman! How I love thee.

I'll be making this recipe for dinner soon. Probably not tonight since I have a full night of sparkly vampires to get ready for! (Eclipse! Midnight showing baby!) I was feeling in a bit of a cooking slump lately and got a few rec's to check out The Pioneer Woman. I already knew her site & have read so many of her recipes, but I never thought to make any. ??? I don't know, I think I was ignoring them thinking that they were all going to be a bajillion calories.

I also plan on making this beauty soon: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/06/summer-stir-fr

When I actually get  off my lazy tookus and make both of these I'll come back & let you all know how they were. I'm hoping they're delicious.

tasty tuesday: pasta & cookie edition

I haven't blogged about food much lately... and I love food. The problem is I hate recipes. Almost every time I get all excited about a recipe and buy all the special ingredients and spend the time prepping & making... I'm always underwhelmed with the outcome. Which, of course, makes clean up even more fun. :)

So I'm going to talk about some recent food loves...

A couple years ago I tried baked chicken pastina. It was delicious. Seriously - I love this dish. Only deviation I would make is to add more chicken. I found Giada's calling for only a 1/2 cup was a little... too little.

We eat a lot of pasta because it's so easy. I did not grow up eating Italian food, my dad isn't a big fan so we just didn't eat a lot of it growing up. He's more of a meat & potatoes man. I don't make my own pasta sauce ::gasp:: I know... I know. I just don't have the time and to be perfectly & offensively (to some) honest - I find certain jarred sauces to be just as tasty, especially if you add a few of your own touches. Here are some of mine:

• Buy some Italian sausage - mild or hot, it's up to  you. Remove the sausage from its casing. I do this as I drop it into the pan/pot. I just break it apart in my hand, and the end product comes out something like cheater-meatballs. Brown up the sausage, throw in a little diced onion & minced garlic and allow to cook until tender. This is a good time to add in any additional dried spices you like. I usually add in some red pepper flakes to get all groovy in the rendered fat & oils. I also deglaze the pan with a 1/4 - 1/3 cup white wine. I use whatever is in the fridge. When every thing is smelling splendid I pour in our jarred sauce of choice. I can't remember the brand, but we buy it at Sam's Club and it's organic (fancy).
• pasta puttanesca - this is another trick up my sleeve. I have made this according to the recipe and it is Yum-O, as Rachael Ray would say. I have also just used some of the ingredients & methods and added our jarred sauce, again. If you use the olives, anchovies, & capers from the recipe then you will get something pretty darn close (and equally as yummy) to the recipe. This is my cheater-puttanesca.

 So those were a couple of my tricks. Also... last week I was sick with a head cold (actually it's still hanging around) and I had NO idea what to make for dinner. I ended up doing my cheater-puttanesca (see above), mixing it with the cooked pasta (slightly less than al dente), some chicken I quickly grilled up, and pouring it into a baking dish. Top with bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, & butter and you have a very yummy dish similar to the baked chicken pastina. This time I also topped it with some left over bleu cheese crumbles and it was surprisingly good. The bleu cheese added a little "pop" to the dish. I know it sounds strange... but it's cheese. And butter. And bread crumbs. Baked. How bad can it be?

Yesterday I discovered the easiest - and perhaps my favorite - peanut butter cookie recipe EVER. Seriously. Ok, so I love peanut butter cookies. The only thing I don't like about them is their tendency to be crispier than I like. I like soft, chewy, kinda-underbaked cookies. These cookies and perfectly simple and let the peanut butter really shine. LOVE.

1-2-3-4 Peanut Butter Cookies: http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/2008/06/cookies-for-soldiers-part-2_04.html

Make them. Love them. Share them. People will thank you.

is this weird?

I love grocery shopping. It's one of my favorite things to do on the weekend. I don't know why. Seriously... I have absolutely no idea why I enjoy it so much. Maybe it's because Ted & I do the shopping together? I don't know. Maybe it's because we do 99% of our shopping at Sam's Club and I l-o-v-e that place? I just love seeing all that stuff they have.

I mean... how many places can you: shop for groceries (including produce & fresh meat), buy new tires, get your oil changed, buy the latest books/movies/games/music/magazines, stock up on some season appropriate clothing (for every member of the family), buy your cat/dog supplies, stock your home bar, stock up on office supplies, keep your house stocked with more frozen entrees/proteins/desserts & snacks, keep your bathroom & medicine cabinet stocked, & pick up a pretty darn yummy birthday cake?!

My love for Sam's Club just never ends. A few weeks ago we went there to buy eggs. We got like 18 eggs for $2. TWO DOLLARS. Gallon of milk? $2.

I may be slowly selling my soul by buying cheap & in bulk... but man... do I love it. & don't even get me started in those yummy hotdogs in their food court! A delicious hotdog + a soda so big no human should even consume that much in a week? $2. I'm noticing a trend...

road of fail

Last nights dinner? Fail.

Last nights cookie making attempt? Fail.

This mornings lunch packing? Fail.

Lessons learned:

1. If you don't like red wine, don't cook with it & then be surprised when you don't like the dish.
2. You can not, in fact, swap oatmeal for flour when making cookies.
3. Pay more attention when packing lunches in the morning. This way you won't send your husband to work with your "healthy-diet" meal. i.e.: not a lot of food for a 6'2" man.

**update**
I was just informed I didn't even send Ted to work with my lunch. I sent him to work with just the leftover rice. ::sigh::

what's for dinner? & pet-parent fail.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/coq-au-vin-guine-recipe/index.html

I'm making ^this^ for dinner tonight. It's from Brian Boitano & his What Would Brian Boitano Make? show on the Food Network. Can I just say that I super love that show! He's hilarious, and most of his recipes look delish. Ok, so yes this meal tonight won't be the most healthy thing we've ever eaten - but it just looks so damn good! Plus we got a bottle of red wine at a wedding gift & although Ted will drink red wine, I won't, and he prefers beer to wine 99% of the time. So... I'll cook with it!

Hopefully this will be a successful meal. For some reason I dislike whatever I cook about 2/3 of the time. I don't know why. I suppose I am envisioning the dish to taste a certain way, I look forward to that idea, and then it's different or fails to impress & I hate it. I'm weird.

..................................

Last week was a rough week with our dog, Nova. He was either bored/frustrated or suffering from separation anxiety. I was told it was one of those by different people. First off, the dogs are confined to the kitchen area during the day. We have one of those baby gate things, so it can be somewhat permanent, but people can still walk through to the kitchen without stepping over a gate. It works out great for our house & needs. Yeah... well Nova is a Lab/Boxer. He likes to run, be crazy, and jump. He recently found out he can jump over the gate. Totally clear the thing like it's no big deal. Then he's out in the rest of the house. By the time we realized what he was doing, I was down six pairs of shoes. Yes, I said six. Gym shoes, casual sneakers, 2 pairs of black flats (one beloved pair -- he almost died), two other pairs of flats I wasn't particularly fond of... but nonetheless they are gone. So the thing is he chewed up ALL of the shoes I wear on a regular basis. Maybe we're slow or something, but we didn't know how he was getting out of the kitchen. Then when we realized he was jumping over the gate, we thought we had it figured out & were in the clear. Notsomuch. We cleared up the living room so he wouldn't have shoes to chew on, so he went into our bedroom and just got shoes from there. Again, I guess it was partly our own fault for not making sure he couldn't get into anything bad... but he's never been a chewer! EVER. I swear, this dog is 1 year old now, and he's never chewed up anything other than his own toys. It's just so weird he's doing it now.

We think he's frustrated from not getting enough exercise. We live in a condo with a very small patio. There's just no where for him to run around at home. Even if we take him for walks, this dog wants to run. He wants to tackle, wrestle, & run. Luckily our loving & gracious parents are allowing us to bring him over to their house(s) a few times a week so he can run out some energy with their dogs. 1x a week he's going to my parents house, 2x a week he's going to Ted's parents, and 1x a week he's going to Doggy Day Camp. I think Bella will enjoy some "alone time" and "quiet time" while Nova is gone during the day.

I forgot to call so he could go to DDC today... I hope our furniture is still intact by the time I get home.

thankful for bananas

I think I'll jump on the Thankful on Thursday bandwagon...

 Right now I am so Thankful for:

- a husband that loves me
- over-ripe bananas that can be made into yumminess
- waking up to sunshine in the morning! because is anything worse than waking up when it's still dark outside?
- my The Office desk calendar. This thing is so worth the $$. I have a nice little chuckle most days before I start working.
- Gold Bond Ultimate Hand Sanitizer Moisturizer. I work in an office, not with with the public or kids, but germs are always a concern. Between bathrooms, keyboards, shared copy/fax machines, office refrigerator door handles, microwave, etc. it's nice to have a hand sanitizer that's also a lotion. I guess some people complained that it smells like oatmeal. I don't have a problem with that, it's not like I'm trying to seduce anyone at work.
- Laser printers
- my mama  Awww...

That's right people! Mother's Day is in just a few days. Have you all ordered flowers for The One That Gave You Life? Get on it! What are you waiting for? I really love my mom, she's one of my best friends, & yet every year I think "Why do I only take one day a year to let her know how special she is?" That's something I really need to work on.

I don't know how many of you shop at Costco or Sam's Club... we shop at Sam's Club almost exclusively. Seriously - ever since The Heaven's opened up and Sam's started selling gallons of milk individually - I haven't been to the regular grocery store in a month at least. So we shop in bulk & bargains. One of those bargains are the bananas. It's like $1.32 for a bunch of bananas, and I think the one we picked up had about 10 giant bananas on there. It's like a too good to pass up deal right there. Unfortunately neither one of us loves bananas that much, so now we have 6 super over ripened bananas on our counter. I've been searching for banana recipes so I can use them up, and I wanted something other than banana bread of muffins.

So I came across this recipe and decided to make them. I liked this recipe because it didn't call for shortening... I loathe shortening. Anyways... so I make these cookies. And they're pretty darn tasty - but they are not cookies. Don't be fooled. These are delicious little "banana cakes" if you will. They are sort of flat (although they do puff up when baking) and small like cookies, but they have the consistency of cake. I'm not complaining - I'm just saying. They were good. Really quite good. If you make them just make sure your bananas are good & ripe so the natural banana flavor shines through the cinnamon.

Oh, and... you should have seen the look of horror when I told Ted I was going to make banana cookies. It was pretty funny & even he said they were good after he tried one. Or he was being nice. Whatever, I liked them.

Does anyone have an actual cookie recipe that includes bananas? I still have 4 more sitting there in need of a high calorie home.

chocolate chip cookies

The best chocolate chip cookie recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies 

The best for the following reasons:
- they taste delish - everytime
- they are so simple & quick to whip up - thanks largely to the melting of the butter (read: not having to wait for the butter to be room temp. & the beating and the creaming)
- I made them on Friday and used M&M's because I had no chocolate chips in the house, and they were perfect

In my experience these need 1/4 - 1/2 cup less flour than called for, and they only need to bake for 9 minutes. I like a firm, but slightly under-baked cookie so they are soft & chewy. Yummmm. For the flour, it just depends on how the batter is looking, so I would strongly suggest not dumping the whole amount called for into the mix. I usually pour in 1 cup, then 1/2, then a little more until the desired consistency is reached. I go for a not-too-dry, still sticky, looking batter. Official terminology here people!

So bake, enjoy, share! (or don't, I won't tell.)

yum-o

Baked Risotto with Grilled Asparagus

My take: This recipe was super yummy. Really creamy & so flavorful. This recipe is definitely enough for at least 4-6 people, more if it will be served as a side. If you are making this for 2 then you may want to consider halving the recipe... unless you really like leftovers.

Also, not sure if my stove was too hot or what, but I actually had to use 1 cup of white wine because the first half cup I poured in evaporated immediately. Like, there-not-there in the blink of an eye fast, so I stirred in another half cup which was a good thing because I think otherwise the risotto may have turned out a little on the dry side. The recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups of chicken broth, but I didn't want to open another box of broth just for 1/4 cup, so I just added a 1/4 cup of water to make the correct amount.

Happy eating! :)

on to the next!

Last night I finished The 5th Horseman by James Patterson. I'm going to be starting The 6th Target any second now (but more on that one when I'm done).

So now that I've finished The 5th Horseman and slept on it I feel ready to review! I can't lie, the beginning of this one was slow going for me, but I had a similar experience with the second book in the series and then that one really came together for me at the end. With The 5th Horseman things started coming together for more about halfway through the book. I was having a hard time tying all of the story lines together. The Women's Murder Club books always have some person story going on throughout the book, on one or more of the women. This one didn't really have that. It sort of did with Yuki, but I won't get into it in case you want to read the book yourself. Something in this book really connected with me and once I got to the middle of the book it was difficult for me to put the book down at all. I really enjoyed the book, I enjoyed the stories, but I did feel slightly cheated by the ending. I feel like the very end got tied up a little too quickly for me. But, hey - I'm not a world renowned writer, so what the heck do I know? Maybe if there was more story it would have made the entire thing just too much? I don't know. At any rate, this one - again - left me needing to read the next one asap.

Last night we also went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner with my father in law. I'm not sure what the craze is with this place. I hear so many good things about it, but to me it was really just "meh". Yes the wings I chose were good (mild & honey bbq - mild owns honey bbq, for future reference). I was really, extremely turned off by the fact that ranch & bleu cheese dippers were .50¢ each. That just so cheapens the whole experience - it gives a very McDonalds-esque feel to the whole dinner. I agree with my father in law - I would go back if someone else really wanted to go, but I wouldn't suggest it. I thought the prices were high for wings. I mean, we are talking wings here, right? Also for reference - Ted got the spicy garlic & mango habanero. He said the spicy garlic were just too much (garlic & spice), but the mango habanero were delicious. My father in law got the asian zing & parmesan garlic, he liked them both. We also had an order of onion rings & those were quite good, especially the sauce they came with. Yeah... such a healthy meal, eh? I know, I know.





p.s.: Have I mentioned lately that I have an amazing husband? Yep, I do. He loves that I love reading, he encourages me, and doesn't complain when I leave my books strewn about wherever I go.

dinner

Melinda's Spaghetti Squash with Avocado and Parmesan

This is a recipe that Ted & I usually make a few times a month. It's so darn yummy just how it is. If you haven't tried spaghetti squash before then you must try it now! It's really delish. Even if you think you don't like squash - you will like this! It's not stringy or mushy like other squashes can be. Spaghetti squash literally looks like something between normal spaghetti noodles and angel hair. It has a wonderful sweetness to it, and doesn't take long to prepare. I know the spaghetti squash in my grocery store has a little sticker on it that tells you how to cook it in the microwave. Personally, I don't like microwaving food at all. But that does come in handy for people who are short on time and want to put together a quick, yummy, & healthy meal. The avocado with this gets a little bit warm and soft when it's mixed into the dish, and it just compliments everything so well. 

Variations:

Here are some variations on the dish which we enjoy-

- We grill a chicken breast, slice or dice up, and serve atop the squash. This just makes the whole meal a little more substantial for us.

- I wanted to make this and realized I had no lemon in the house, so we drizzled a little balsamic vinegar on the avocado. Obviously this doesn't serve the purpose of the lemon (keeping the avocado from browning), but it does serve the purpose of the wonderful tartness of the lemon working with the sweetness of the squash.

I will also add that in my experience the lemon only keeps the avocado from browning for a short time. If you plan to take leftovers for lunch then you may want to make sure you eat all of the avocado at dinner unless the brown avocado doesn't bother you.

eating healthier

As you know from this post I am trying to eat healthier. Incorporate more fruits & yogurt into my daily diet. I am not cutting anything out just yet. If I feel like eating it, I (1) wait and see if I still want it after 10 minutes (2) eat a considerably smaller amount than I would have say, a month ago (usually also less than the serving size).

Here is something I noticed, & wanted to make note of, on Monday: I was hungry almost all day. Serious. I was sitting at my desk, eating carrots & hummus (Thanks Fresh & Easy!) and thinking "Why am I hungry?! I'm shoveling these things in my mouth, and I am getting more hungry by the minute!" It was frustrating and strange.

Today? Not so much. I am not so hungry, I am having to remind myself to eat actually. This morning I was definitely hungry, but since then I have been ok. I know my body well enough to know when I get hungry so I am trying to eat something healthy & small right before that time, as a way to combat the hunger pains. Because... let me tell you... I reach a certain level of hunger where nothing will satisfy me unless is covered in cheese, fried, or smothered in icing. Today I had an apple pear (I have no idea what this is, it's the consistency of a pear, but the juices taste like apple juice.) at 10am, a yogurt at 11:30, and finally lunch at 1:00. I feel good.

I know it's an ongoing process with highs & lows, today I am on a high. I feel better than I have in a while, I'm happy, and I'm not seeking out chocolate or donuts like a mad woman.  

because I really am worth it

Today is the beginning of a new beginning, of sorts. I have been having some minor issues with my health, and I just decided I am tired of feeling like crap. So a few weeks ago I made a big step by cutting out my beloved iced tall caramel macchiato at Starbucks, and you know what? It wasn't that hard. I barely noticed. I guess letting go was a little easier because Ted & I were gifted with this kick ass coffee maker, so now I just make my coffee at home & go. I realized that I am not the "diet" kind of person. I can't go from eating & living one way, to a complete 180 and change everything all at once. That's not how my mind works. If I immediately take away everything I love, my brain instantly kicks into "kicking & screaming" mode, and I self sabotage within days, if not hours. Sad, but true.

So a few weeks ago I cut out something I thought I loved, and I lived. ::gasp!:: And since then I have been trying to make healthier eating choices. That means that even if I don't eat something healthy, I try to practice portion control. Portion Control. Man... that's a tough one! There is something about the fact that just because my husband can eat 4 slices of pizza, that doesn't mean I can or should (even if I could. & I could if I put my mind to it). So I'm wondering, if I can put my mind to making bad decisions, why can't I put my mind to making good, or at least better, decisions?

I am now trying to make simple & easy goals on a weekly/biweekly basis. The goal for this week is to start eating fruit throughout the day, as a healthy snack. I'm also going to try to incorporate yogurt in with my lunches. We always have veggies with dinner, so I'm not super concerned about working more vegetables in yet. We eat almost no fruit, so I knew I needed to get on top of that issue.

I think that I finally realized that I'm an adult, and I have to treat my body better. No one else can do it for me. I can make as many excuses as I want, but in the end I am an adult. I'm a married woman. This is my life, my only life, and I want to make the most of it & live it as long as I'm allowed.