Blog Love

My cute friend Ashley at Forever & Always gave me the Kreativ Blogger award! What a nice surprise!


As part of the award, I have to list 7 things I love, and 7 blogs I love. Here goes!

7 things I love...
1. Chris
2. Shopping
3. Trying new recipes
4. Twinkies
5. Wearing shorts
6. A clean kitchen
7. Spreadsheets

7 blogs I love...
1. Melissa @ 365 Days of Exercise. You go, girl!
2. Erin @ Jane4Girls$800AnnualBudget. You HAVE to see it.
3. Jen @ Daylights. She's just so creative!
4. Michelle @ Leaving Excess. Did you know she goes no 'poo?
5. Gayle @ The Grocery Cart Challenge. $60 a week for a family of six.
6. Maryanne @ My Penny Pile. She never misses a deal!
7. Stephanie @ Crockpot365. My kind of cooking!

Thank you all for being so wonderful!

Menu Plan Monday

Chris brought home a copy of a recipe from work last week and asked me to add it to the menu plan for this week. If I had a nickel for every time he's done this...I'd have a lot of nickels. The man sure comes home with a lot of recipes for working with a bunch of dudes!


Wednesday:

B-L-T Pasta <-- Chris's request
(Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato Bucatini with garlic bread crumbs)
Makes 2 servings, total time about 45 minutes

Breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic
1 c French bread cubes
1 tsp olive oil salt to taste

Pasta
2 strips thick-sliced bacon, diced
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 c thinly sliced leeks
1/4 c dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 oz dry bucatini or spaghetti
1 c fresh spinach leaves
1/4 tsp minced fresh thyme

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the bucatini. Mince garlic for the bread crumbs in a food processor. Add cubed bread, and process until coarse. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium; add crumbs and toast until golden, 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Season with salt and set aside. Saute bacon for the pasta in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook until crisp, then drain pieces on a paper towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp of drippings. Caramelize tomatoes and sugar in the drippings over medium heat. Cook until tomatoes begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add leeks; saute until wilted, 3-4 minutes. Deglaze skillet with wine; simmer until liquid is nearly evaporated. Add the broth, vinegar, and pepper flakes. Simmer until liquid is reduced by a third, about 5 minutes. Cook bucatini in boiling water according to package directions. Add spinach, thyme, and bacon pieces to sauce. Transfer cooked pasta from cooking water to the skillet using tongs. Toss to coat with sauce. Season with salt, then divide pasta between plates. Sprinkle pasta with reserved bacon pieces and bread crumbs before serving.

From CuisineAtHome.com
610 calories per serving
22 g total fat

Thursday:

Ritzy Kids Chicken (recipe to come!)
This will be made using the Ritz crackers I got for free last week!

8 Boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed
2 cups crushed Ritz crackers
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted (optional)

Combine crushed crackers Parmesan, garlic salt and seasoned salt in shallow dish. Pat chicken dry, then coat with yogurt. Dip each piece in crumb mixture and arrange in 9" x 13" baking dish. Drizzle melted butter over top, if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Friday:

Baked Potato Soup (link)

Validation

I just loved this video! It's a feel-good movie that will make you smile!

New and Improved

Chris and I finally made a much-needed improvement to our living room! It sort of ended up being a Valentines Day present to eachother, because shopping for them was part of our V-day festivities -- but they didn't get delivered until a little later.

Our living room used to look like this. These are the couches we inherited with the house we bought from a 97 year old lady. These pink couches matched the pink carpet, pink curtains, and pink wallpaper. To mask the pinkness of it all, I bought some slipcovers for them, but Chris just hated how twisty they got when you tried to lay on the couch or roll over. The slipcovers were almost worse than the pink couches...almost.

Now our living room looks like this! Buying new couches was sort of a big step for us, because up until now we've been spending money (more like flushing) on actual improvements to the house - like paint, flooring, doors, windows, landscaping, appliances, etc. This purchase kind of felt like a splurge because it's not something that will make our house go up in value! (In theory, of course, if the whole housing market hadn't crashed.)

The best part is, we are now able to do this! (We're both laying on the same couch! Our old couches weren't deep enough for that...or we were too wide...)

Rest in peace, my old friend

I did a stupid thing on Saturday. Remember how I said sometimes I say stupid things (see #25)? Well, sometimes I also DO stupid things.

I had a busy week at work last week, but I was determined not to skip the gym in the mornings just because of that. So I managed to get my workout in every day last week but on Friday I left my ipod in the pocket of my jacket and hung it on its hook after I hurried back from the gym.

On Saturday, Chris left for an IEEE conference downtown all day and I got up and tore through the house, cleaning, washing dishes and doing laundry. In my haste, I grabbed my workout clothes and threw them all in the washer -- with my ipod inside.


When I pulled it out of my jacket pocket, this is what it looked like. The headphones which were wrapped around it, were broken off at the base of the headphone jack, and I could see condensation inside the screen.

Alas, I've tried everything I could think of (including freezing it) but my dear old blue ipod seems to be dead. Forever. (Tears trickle down the cheek...)


I suppose it's not all bad, considering how old that ipod mini was, and it was probably time for an upgrade soon anyway. But I began to get nostalgic as I thought of all the times my ipod has spent with me. Before I let it go, I feel the need to give it a heartfelt eulogy.

Ahem. (Clears throat)

To my dear old friend, my blue Ipod Mini,

I remember the summer I first learned about you from my friend who works for Apple. I was living far from home, playing hard, working hard and living hard. When I came back with a broken heart, your music lifted my spirits and helped me feel whole.

We became exercise buddies, and study buddies. We ran away the heartache. We listened to Mark Geslison before every engineering exam. It calmed my nerves and got me through.

The first time I saw Chris, you were with me, sitting in an auditorium in the math building, waiting for class to start and serenading me.

Your music passed the winters on the treadmill in the basement, and the summers on the roads from Cottonwood Lane to Walker Lane. Hundreds of times. We could travel it in our sleep. Your music got me skinny before my wedding, and skinny again after.

Your music passed the time on many business flights, and during many hours in the lab. No matter my mood, you always had something for me. Music was my solace.

May you rest in peace my dear friend, and know that you were loved.

*Incidentally -- any ideas on where I should give old Blue Ipod Mini a proper burial? If it weren't for the whole battery-being-a-bio-hazard thing, I'd bury him deep in Walker Woods, a place he dearly loved. (Notice how my ipod turned into a "he?") Any ideas other than the place my dad used to always "bury" our dead chickens -- the big black garbage can?

Shout out to Amy

This is my cute sister Amy (in the blue socks) after her last Junior Jazz game of the year on Saturday. Isn't she cute?

Now that your season is over Ames, you should come play basketball with the ladies in my stake on Tuesday nights! We promise not to give you any black eyes.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:
Chris requested BBQ Chicken Pizza for dinner tonight. It's going to require a quick trip to the grocery store on my way home from work tonight to pick up a few things, but he doesn't request things very often, so we're going with it. :)


Tuesday:
Crockpot shredded chicken tacos and maybe some Cafe Rio dressing.


Thursday:
Homemade Chicken Rice Soup (using some chicken held over from Tuesday).



Incidentally, if you're looking for an AMAZING breakfast recipe, try this Banana Foster French Toast recipe. We had Sunday dinner at Julie's yesterday, where we had sausage egg casserole and this French toast. Delish! So delish I had to work it off at the gym this morning.

While I'm on the subject of breakfasts, I should post my favorite oatmeal pancake recipe I got from my friend Elisa at work. I make it some nights when Chris is at school and I'm just cooking for myself (he's not too big on "sweet" breakfast foods). It's surprisingly yummy and healthy.

Oatmeal Pancakes
2 eggs
1/2 c. cottage cheese
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. oats
1 tsp oil
1 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
1/4 c. flour (all purpose or wheat)

Combine milk and oats and heat in microwave for 1 min. Let soak until oats have fully absorbed the milk. Beat eggs, cinnamon, and oil in a separate bowl. Add in oats, mix. Add in flour, mix. Cook in a frying pan on medium to low heat.