Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Oh Christmas Tree?


With Thanksgiving neatly tucked into the archives of Holiday’s Past, it’s time to turn our attention to Christmas.  

Our first Christmas together, my then-live-in-boyfriend and I were just settling into our new (rental) home.  We’d moved in 11/15/08, so we still hadn’t quite made the place feel like home.  I decided that it would feel decidedly more cozy with a Christmas tree.  And so, he and I trekked out to the craft stores.  We picked a tree and all the trimmings together.  Then we decorated it in our pajamas.  Really, is there any other way?  It felt wonderful to bask in the glow of Christmas time.

Last year, we were elbow deep in wedding prep by the time Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled around.  The dining table had turned into Craft Central.  Wedding and Christmas projects were everywhere.  I blew up on Thanksgiving day due to stress......of the wedding looming, of hosting my soon-to-be mother-in-law for the first time, of dealing with two huge elephants in the room (aka excessively troubling family drama), and of hosting the holiday during all of that foolishness.  So, when we rolled past Thanksgiving and into Christmas, I decided the tree was simple more clutter than I could handle with all the unfinished projects lying around.  I had visions of the tree still being up after we returned from our honeymoon on March 1st!  And that was just being realistic, not lazy.  So, we nixed the stress of the tree.  Good call.

This year, there’s a 7 month-old puppy in the house that likes to eat inedible objects.  My tree is fake and wired.  My bulbs are glass, not that shatter-proof plastic stuff.  The only place the tree could go is the room that the puppy considers her “play room”.  Yeah, that tree’s got a snowball’s chance of seeing daylight this year!  I don’t need another $300+ vet bill.  

So, how do you get into the Spirit of the Holiday sans tree?

Monday, November 29, 2010

Recovery weekend

Everyone in the family seemed to be in recovery mode this weekend. 

Ms. Riley needed to heal her tummy from the obstruction.  This involved bills, supervised restroom walks, and trying to get as much food as possible into her tummy.  It also involved a lot of sleep.  Apparently trying to pass an obstruction is really hard work.

For the husband, it was recovering from a long break from one of his favorite hobbies.  His weekend consisted of caring for the sickly dog and miniature painting.  It's so nice to see him at it again.

Me, well, I've been sick for almost two weeks.  I haven't been sick enough to really warrant slowing down, but I've been sick enough to feel run down.  My body forced a full-stop this weekend.  I fell asleep Friday night (after working a full shift Friday) on the couch by 8pm.  I was in bed and completely out before 9.  I slept till 6am.  Saturday, after running some errands and getting lunch, I took a three hour nap on the couch.  I turned around and went to bed before 10pm and all three of us slept till 7am!  Totally unheard of since we got the dog.  To say the least, I felt the best I have in two weeks on Sunday.  I even manage to take Riley on a nearly hour long walk.  We both needed it.

Here's to hoping the vigor carries over into the week!  I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Saturday, November 27, 2010

The dog that ate Christmas

What does a $300+ vet bill do to the holidays when incurred the day after Thanksgiving?  It cancels it.  We’re not huge gift buyers, as I usually make all of the gifts that are handed out, but this year we were going to at least exchange gifts.  Now, I really doubt that we will.

And no, it wasn’t anything related to the thanksgiving festivities.  It was the hose she ate in the backyard.  Or maybe the sticks.  Or some other such thing that she ate in the backyard, unbeknown to us.  I think that officially makes me a really horrible puppy parent.  The x-ray to find obstructions did indeed find one.  It happens to be very small and very low in her intestine, so the vet recommended that we wait and see before flaying her open needlessly.  She’ll be on meds for the diarrhea and vomiting for the next few days.  Ah, the joys of dog-parenthood.  Definitely time to look into pet insurance, else this beast it quickly going to become far too expensive.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Food in Review

It's hard to think about anything but the big meal on Thursday during Thanksgiving week, but I did try once we were home from Austin.  We ate out Friday and Saturday night, of course, but we ate in the rest of the week thanks to a quick shopping trip between the four hour drive home and Riley's training class.

Sunday: I found Boar's Head kielbasa on sale during my grocery trip and decided to make all of my non-turkey dinners around it.  First up, simple grilled kielbasa with brown mustard for dipping, a slice of utterly soft and delightful Nature's Pride 12 grain, and sweet potato fires.  It was SO nice to eat in after having restaurant-made food for three days in a row. 


Monday: I tried to recreate a gnocchi dish that worked surprisingly well in the past.  Last time I made it with bacon.  This time I made it with small bits of kielbasa.  I browned the sausage, then removed it from the skillet.  Quartered brussel sprouts were added the the sausage drippings.  I let them get good and caramelized before I moved on.  Meanwhile, I made an arugula pesto and boiled whole wheat gnocchi.  Everything was added to the skillet with the sprouts along with about a 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of cooking water from the gnocchi and a handful of parm.  This dish was so hearty and filling that one bowl filled us both up.  No sides, no seconds.  And it was delicious to boot.


Tuesday: Kielbasa made its last appearance in cabbage stew.  I simply browned the sliced sausage, then added half a diced onion and an entire (small) head of green cabbage.  Once the cabbage wilts a bit and the onions go translucent, I added a can of fire roasted tomatoes, veggie stock, two bay leaves, old bay, smoked hot and regular paprika, oregano, and Louisiana hot sauce.  I let it simmer until the flavors have a chance to do their thing.  I love this stew in a bread bowl, but I didn't buy any this time.  So, I made a small batch of cornbread to go with it instead.  This is an excellent dish to crumble cornbread into.  It's also one of my very favorite comfort foods.


Wednesday: I wanted to keep it very simple because we had a bit of prep for the holiday to do.  Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches accompanied Thai sweet potato soup from Pacific boxed soups.  I'd never had one of their soups, so it was a bit of a gamble.  It totally paid off.  The spice in the soup and the coconut flavor you expect with Thai curries was spot on.  It was an excellent and very easy combo.


Thursday: Well, we feasted at lunch.  So, dinner is simply grazing on leftovers, like you do on Thanksgiving.  I do intend to reinvent some of the food for next week, but today, it's nice to just have a second helping of turkey dinner, or rather open-faced turkey sandwiches.  Yes, that is cranberry sauce, cornbread dressing, and turkey covered in gravy. 




Riley got very little of the feast, as she had a tummy ache anyhow.  But she sure did enjoy some peanut butter. 



I hope you looked as happy as she did while enjoying your feast!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thankful






Every day, I am grateful for the wonderful man who calls me his wife.  He truly is the answer to a very often-repeated and heart-felt prayer.



Every day, I am thankful that I have little fuzz babies to love and delight me.  


Every day, I am grateful for another day where my grandparents are still with us and very much a part of our daily lives.


Every day, I am so thankful that I have always had these men as my “big, bad protectors” and examples of what good men should be so that I didn't make the same mistake twice.


Every day, I am thankful for every single person in this photo (all of which will soon be in my house save one), for loving and supporting me unconditionally.




Every day, I am grateful to be called friend by people who enrich to this crazy little thing called life.




On Thanksgiving and every other day, I do my best to remember to be thankful for the blessings in my life and never take them for granted.  I  hope you do as well.  




Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Much ado about turkey

Thanksgiving is tomorrow.  Are you ready for it?!  Is there a turkey thawing in your fridge?  Do you have bread/cornbread going stale ON PURPOSE?  Is there an unusually large amount of butter in the little compartment in the door of the fridge?  Have you made sure your “roomy” pants are clean for the occasion?  Well, if not, you had best jump to it!  Time’s a-wastin’!

In our family, we do our best to play to each other’s strengths to divide and conquer the holiday vittles.  For the past six years, I’ve been on turkey duty.  The first year I was horrified that I’d kill the whole family.  I didn’t.  So, I got the privilege of repeating the next year.  And though the skin on the breast was a bit too brown, the actual meat underneath was still very good.  I knew at that point that I’d never be able to relinquish turkey duty again.  It was mine and will remain that way (expect for the years that we visit my husband’s family, that is).  

I don’t mind this duty too much.  It’s actually very simple, especially once it goes in the oven!  The hard part is getting it to the oven.  First, it has to thaw for days in the fridge.  Days.  Then you find that the neck and giblets are still frozen inside the cavity even after days of thaw.  I’ve never had one that wasn’t in six years.  Not a big deal, just means your fingers are going to feel like they’re going to freeze off your hands by the end of dressing the turkey.  

Now, I go SIMPLE for the turkey.  We like it traditional in our family.  And we’re southern, so we don’t stuff our birds.  Nope.  We like cornbread dressing, not stuffing.  So, that’s one less worry.  I find that an onion and an orange in the cavity along with butter under the skin of the breast with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rubbed sage all over the bird is all it really needs to be traditionally delicious.  I cook my birds in an oven bag to save myself the haste of basting.  No one has complained, and the turkey is always moist.  So I do not see any need to mess with a good thing, even if some people find the bags to be cheating.  I’m okay with simple.  

What?  You’re shocked to see butter on that list, huh?  Why?  It’s the holiday, and no substitute will do what butter can in that case.  So, I use butter.  It’s less than a stick for the whole bird, and I think it adds quite a lot of flavor.  Believe it or not, I don’t try to make everything as healthy as humanly possible on the holidays.  My family would HATE that.  I don’t want my need for all things healthy and organic to alienate my family during the holidays.  So, the things that it would kill me to make “traditionally”, in this case it’s the mashed potatoes that I know have more butter than is in the compartment in the door of my fridge, I let someone else in the family make.  That way I can eat just a little without having a coronary (pun intended) over how fattening they are, and everyone else in the family can just enjoy some of the world’s greatest mashed potatoes because that’s not something they obsess over like I do.  No, instead of changing tradition, I simply try to limit portions.  It’s easier than forcing my entire family to eat they way I chose to on a daily basis.  I’m the odd man out, so I feel I should bend for them.  Not vice versa.  

And besides, it’s the holiday.  One day.  One day celebrated with all my nearest and dearest.  It’s worth the butter intake.  

And yeah, I’ll sneak in a few healthy dishes too.  Just not the mashed potatoes.  

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Ringing in a new decade

Once all was revealed about the can’t-believe-we-managed-to-keep-it secret trip, it was time to hit the road.  I’d pre-packed for us while home sick earlier in the week.  So, loading up and hitting the road was surprisingly easy.  The four hours to Austin passed easily enough.  Riley takes road trips so well.  She slept in my lap the whole time.  

The rental house was stunning.  By the end of the trip, we all agreed we could happily live in that space.  It was clean and efficiently laid out while feeling very cozy.  The kitchen was also to die for, as was the view of the creek behind the house.  We took Riley for a walk to get the feel of the neighborhood upon arrival.  There’s a surprising lack of sidewalks in Austin!  I really expected it to be very walker-friendly.  It is….sort of….because people just walk in the streets.  I hate walking in the street.  Oh well.  I guess you do what you have to!  

We ventured out to grab a nibble and made a lucky find: a Flying Saucer!  So, we each had a beer and split an appetizer.  We hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and it was nearly 6pm!  I had a local beer: the Livewire Hefeweisen.  My hubby went for a classic that we both love: Delirium Nocturnum.   For the nibble….brats con queso with tortillas.  It was sinful in every way.

The Bringer of the Fun arrived and we headed out on the town to a recommended eatery: the Iron Cactus in downtown Austin.  I have to admit, the atmosphere was a huge turn off for me.  The place was trying too hard to be hip and cool, or at least that’s how I saw it.  The food was amazing though.  Red-headed bridesmaid had arrived by the time we ordered, so she and I split the roasted chili relleno stuffed with goat cheese, chicken, pepitas, and cranberries.  

We all agreed it was past our bedtimes and turned in immediately.  Sadly, Riley had other plans.  She did not like being away from home.  She had her crate, her bed, and even a frozen carrot, but it wasn’t the same.  She hated being in that room, it seemed.  After two hours of trying to get her to stop crying, I had to take her and her crate to the living room to sleep.  I’ve never seen my husband so close to snapping.  He was exhausted, and I decided it was best to separate them.  I put her crate RIGHT at my head by the couch.  She could see and smell me.  That made her happy enough, and she was sound asleep within 30 seconds.  So, I just stayed out on the couch.  My husband came and got us around 5am, and all of us slept in the bedroom for the first time that night.  

Breakfast was needed to make up for the lack of sleep, so we walked to a nearby café.  I had an interesting-sound dish that sort of fell flat: sweet potato hash.  But the Bringer of the Fun discovered the secret to this little café….the pancakes!  I’ve never had better.  Ever.  So, go to Kerbey Lane Café and order pancakes.  You won’t be sorry.

All four of us decided to go exploring on foot in the early afternoon.  We wondered around the UT campus just as the football game was starting.  We even spotted the band.  It was a nice outing, and Riley really loved smelling everything in sight!  We even got to meet a couple dogs, but one of the flipped out.  The little dog slipped his collar.  The owner threw the other dog’s leash at me to hold, and I missed it.  The leash tore my pinkie nail backward and broke another.  I ended up standing on the leash, nursing a bloody hand.  It was a sign I need to be quicker on my feet….and keep my nails shorter.

The afternoon was passed happily in our rental.  I went out for some snacks and wound up with amazing cookies, hummus, and artichoke dip with pitas all split four ways while playing a board game called Zombies.  You’re supposed to play against each other.  Yeah, we scrapped that and played communally to beat the game, which was far more fun.  

A quick change and we were back downtown.  A friend had told me that he thought we’d like a bar down there called The Ginger Man.  He was right.  The bar was the dark-wood and brass sort with benches and lots of belly-up space.  The draft pulls lined and entire wall.  Such a beautiful sight to me!  Everyone got adventurous and tried new-to-them beers.  The music was varied and low enough to talk without shouting.  The waitress was friendly and quirky.  Yeah, it was truly a wonderful bar.  We stayed four over three hours!  Some local friends met up with us.  That made the evening even more fun.  Finally, the need for food (more than just the liquid sustenance we’d been enjoying) kicked in.  The redhead’s friend recommended an Irish pub called Fado just across the street from The Ginger Man.  Perfection.   My meal was Irish Tex-Mex: a quesadilla with boxty potato pancakes in place of tortillas.  The hubby let me try his fish and chips.  The breading was light without a trace of grease and the fish was clean-tasting and very flaky.  Overall, it was an evening not to be easily topped!  I was so pleased.  And I believe my husband was too.

Sadly, Riley still didn’t like sleeping away from home.  I laid on the floor for at least an hour with my pillow…..rubbing the spot behind her ear that makes her calm down until she was in a deep sleep so that I could get back into the bed.

Sunday morning, more pancakes were required.  I’d only had a bite the morning before.  This time I wanted my own.  I got apple whole wheat.  Redhead got pumpkin. The hubby got buttermilk.  Epic, epic pancakes, all of them!  I need more pancakes like this in my life!

All that was left was to clean up, pack up, and drive home.  All happened just as uneventfully as before.  I’m so glad we took this little vacation.   It was worth all the planning.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Surprise!

I surprised the husband all week. 

First it was a little surprise of mini cannoli on Tuesday, just like we had on our honeymoon. 

Next it was a new set of gaming dice in his lunch box on Wednesday, to which he asked how dice were best served. 

Then it was telling him of the biggest surprise on Thursday morning.  Riley and I planned a whole mini-vacation for him!  We're whisking him away to Austin for a nice change of scenery and perhaps a little bit of mischief! 

Just when he thought I was out of surprises....there was more.  Friends are in on it.  Oh yes.  The Bringer of the Fun and Redheaded Bridesmaid are joining in too! 

I think that's enough surprises for one year, don't you?!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Food in Review

This week got lost somewhere under my cough suppressant!   I did try to make meals that would seem like a treat because of my hubby’s big birthday.

Friday: We had the Pampered Chef party, so my dinner consisted of brie and raw cashew spread.  His consisted of sushi out in order to avoid all the estrogen.  Smart man.

Saturday: We had a late lunch in Ft. Worth.  We were trying to go back to Rahr, but got totally lost.  So, our fall-back plan was the Italian spot we like so much: Taverna.  Sadly, the service was so bad that even the waiter admitted how lousy it was and ASKED us not to tip him.  What?!  Yeah.  At least the pizza with Italian salami and goat cheese was amazing.  Dinner was left over burrito bowls from work.  They catered Chipotle for a training seminar and ordered WAY too much.  Luck us!  We had cilantro lime rice, black bean, chicken, steak, and salsa burrito bowls as a result.  So good.

Sunday: Central Market has a special on their pot pies.  I have a soft spot for their pot pies.  The flaky crusts.  The real meat and veg inside.  The made-with-love feel as if my grama had made it herself.  MMM!  Yeah, so we had turkey pot pies.  It was probably a fortunate purchase, as I was feeling quite ill by Sunday night.  Not sure we would have wound up with a choice that even involved vegetables had it not been for the pot pies all ready in the fridge, waiting for us.
 

Monday: Okay, okay, enough of the pre-made food already!  Time for real eats made in my kitchen instead of just heated there.  I made tamale pie with a base of creamy polenta with chipotle cheddar mixed in.  The topping was made from half a marinated chicken breast and a can of Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies.  All I added to that mixture was a little salt, veggie broth, and half an onion.   I layered in sharp white cheddar and baked to allow everything to melt and meld.  This was an excellent, comforting meal.
 

Tuesday: A spaghetti squash purchased at this week’s farmer’s market was calling my name, along with an idea from Emily over at The Front Burner.  She made a vegan mushroom sauce to top spaghetti squash with.  I didn’t need it to be vegan, but the combo sounded irresistible.  I used the last of the pancetta from last week as a topper so that there was an ingredient that my husband really loved involved in the meal.  For my sauce, I sautéed baby bellas, deglazed in white wine, and simmered in veggie broth.  I finished it with parm.  It was thick and full of flavor.  Totally delicious.  The squash itself, though, was very bland and watery.  I realized after the fact that I need to cook this type of squash cut side down instead of up.  Totally my fault the squash tasted water-logged.
 

Wednesday: the other half of the chicken breast from Monday was transformed into BBQ pizza!  I used a whole wheat pizza dough from Great Harvest, Stubb’s spicy BBQ sauce, red onion slices, and sharp cheddar with the chicken.  This pizza was simply amazing.  So much so that I broke my “raw at lunch” policy to eat the leftovers on Thursday.  The Stubb’s spicy is REALLY spicy!  Love it.  


Thursday: It being the husband's birthday, I had every intention of taking him out to dinner.  Riley has other ideas.  She got sick (or peed) in her crate while we were at work and was noticeably shaken by it.  Would you be?!  We scrapped out plans and called in a to-go order at El Fenix.  It was delicious, but VERY anticlimactic.  

And, I'm up writing this at midnight because my cough won't let me sleep.  Nice, huh?  This concerns Riley.
 

Can't you tell?  Hehe.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

30!

Happy birthday, my love! 


I hope your 30s are as good as you've made mine!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Continued

And in continuation…here are random reasons why I love my husband.


He’ll go out of his way to help me watch my Colt’s games, even though he hates football (or any other sport for that matter). 

He nicknamed me his banana and calls me that when I’ve done anything dunce-worthy…like put the milk in the pantry instead of the fridge.  It’s like his little “oh baby, that’s okay, I still love you” without actually saying all of that.

He makes me open my little tightwad fists to get things I want; like a really cool, useful, large capacity, nearly professional grade food processor or new shoes when mine have literally fallen apart.

He eats my “excessively healthy” food.  His words, not mine.

When I have a way-worse-than-usual bad day, I can pretty much be guaranteed of a favorite beer, wine, or flower waiting for me at home.  He can be assured of getting comfort food that’s slightly less excessive on the health scale.

He always meets me at the door when I come into the house and kisses me hello.  Best part of my day, aside from being snuggled while I fall asleep. 

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Random Facts: Husband Edition

Since what I thought would be a throw-away post ended up with such good feedback, I thought I’d do it again.  But this time, the husband edition in honor of his upcoming birthday!   With that, here are some random facts about My Love.

His hair is truly epic in the morning.  It achieves heights in his sleep that southern beauty queens would kill for.

He’s the most active sleeper I know.  I’ve found him “braking” a car with his hands on all fours, running down a hallway to keep a dog from “attacking me” (there were no dogs), climbing the headboard (literally) because he dreamt he was a ninja, and stalking a dwarf on our bedroom floor all whilst blissfully sound asleep.  It’s so bad that he actually proclaimed, quite triumphantly, that he had a zombie dream the other night and didn’t manage to punch me, kick me, or drop an elbow on my chest!  And yes, all of that has happened before.

When I ask him what dinners he wants this week, his more recurring answer (other than I don’t know) is Ruebens.

Ruebens are his favorite meal, even though they contain some of his least favorite ingredients.

He’s compulsive about sets.  Books sets and complete music discs must be maintained as a whole.  It baffles him that I can have one song from one artist off of an album on my iPod.  This might explain why he has a 32GB MP3 player and four loaded bookcases.  

If you tell him something is hot, he feels even more compelled to touch it.  Yet, if you don’t tell him and he burns himself, he asks why he wasn’t warned.  This includes any item straight out of a blazing hot oven.

He thinks birthdays are just another day.  Clearly, I disagree.


Monday, November 15, 2010

Like Father....

I was not entirely shocked to discover that Riley has picked up some of my husband's traits.  I present you.....Riley Builds a Device.


Yeah, I didn't rig this.  This is a Riley original.  This made is so that she didn't have to hold the bone up to chew on it.  Pretty clever.  And if you remember back from the wedding, my husband built device upon device.  The does it for his D&D games and, well, anything that he can.  He loves rigging things up to make them more efficient.  His friends tease him that it should be a line of children's picture books: ____ Builds a Device.

And so, this kicks off a week of me honoring my hubby and his 30th birthday! 

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Pampered Chef

 
 We had such a good time at the Pampered Chef party last night!  The dog was a bit wild with five women and no "daddy" in the house, but other than that, smashing success!

 
 This dip is awesome.


 Organic braeburn and crackers.


Baked brie with fig and cranberry compote and organic honey.



The electric kettle had hot cider in it.  I was disappointed because I've misplaced my mulling spices, but the cider was actually so good that it wasn't missed.

Thanks for the great party!  If anyone out there needs some Pampered Chef, please drop me a line!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Food in Review

Not sure how to describe this week.....welcoming fall?

Friday: We welcomed the new Freebirds in Denton.  Me with a carnitas burrito bowl full of pico, house-roasted hot tomatillo salsa, corn salsa, rice and black beans.  My only complaint?  Too much cheese, if you can believe it!  Other than that, it was pure heaven in bowl form.  No photos were taken to save me the shame of admitting exactly how much food I dominated in one sitting. 

Saturday: We had plans for a pre-thanksgiving feast with friends.  They literally host Thanksgiving early....with three different turkeys done three different ways!  Epic. But Riley's swollen face kept us from the feat.  Our back up plan.  A grilled cheese sandwich.  Yep.  Just that.  Not even a side.  Sad in comparison, no?

Sunday: I made up for Saturday's sorry meal with some slow cooked comfort food!  I made my very first beef stew!  I used stew meat from CM's meat counter, organic yukon gold potatoes, organic carrots, pearl onions, fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary.  I loosely followed this Shiner recipe and used about 2/3 a bottle of bock.  Then it cooked.....all day.  The end result was fall-apart melt-in-you-mouth meat but the veg still held its shape.  Perfect combo.  Served with bread and butter.


Monday: Kroger had Muir Glen pasta sauces for $2.99 each.  That's an insanely good price.  I love their tomato products, and it seemed like a good time to try the pasta sauce.  I got the Cabernet Marinara and paired it with Rising Moon's basil, asiago, and pinenut pesto ravioli, a Caesar salad, and a ciabatta roll from WF.  The ciabatta and sauce were great.  The salad was just a salad.  The pasta was downright disappointing.  I'll be going back to the CM brand organic raviolis.


Tuesday: More stew...this time stew that's sat for two days.  Something about left over comfort food dishes (like stew, chili or lasagna) taste SO MUCH better days later.  Like the manicotti from CM a few weeks ago!  I hated it the first night.  I could have eaten my weight in it the second go-round.  The stew did not disappoint at all.  This time it was paired with leftover whole wheat buttermilk biscuits from gaming on Saturday, again, Mama Pea's recipe.

Wednesday: I went for an easy one after dance class.  Soup and sandwiches.  Soup of choice was Campbell's Italian Wedding.  Sandwich was turkey pastrami, sharp white cheddar, arugula, and horseradish mayo on toasted everything bagel thins.  Believe it or not, this meal rocked me to my core.  It was amazing.  Wish the everything bagels where whole grain though.


Thursday: I wanted to use up the pasta sauce, so I did something I rarely do.....I put it on "regular" pasta.  See, my half Italian (and I mean his mother is actually from Italy not a descendant) ate a little too much spaghetti and marinara in his youth.  Shocking, right?  So, I try not to make long, strand-style pasta with red sauce.  But I love it!  So, I added some crispy prosciutto to the mix in the hope that the addition of a favorite ingredient would disguise the fact that we are, in fact, eating one of his least favorite dishes.  At least I went for whole wheat linguine instead of spaghetti.  That counts, right??

Riley wishes you all a wonderful weekend!