Monday, September 22, 2014

Bonus.

Could it be true? Two posts in one day?

Back in high school I remember it was cool to say “BONUS!” after something cool happened.

Let me demonstrate:
“Hey. What’d you do last night?”
“I went to the mall and got some sweet new corduroy cargo pants, and then I got home just in time to watch the new episode of Dawson’s Creek.”
“BONUS!”

See? You’re welcome to help me bring that back. The word “bonus,” not the corduroy cargo pants. Ain’t nobody ever need to be wearing those again. (Also, in the year 2032, when corduroy cargo pants come back into style and I’m all obsessed with them, remind me that at one point I thought they were lame.)

Anyway.

I like it when other bloggers post their weekly meal plans. It totally helps prevent this conversation:
“What do you want for dinners this week?”
“I dunno. Whatever.”

So here we are- I copy others, you may copy me, we can all be copiers who live in peace with full bellies.

Monday night:
Turkey burger pizza (Bev Cooks)

Tuesday night:
Crispy stuffing chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, broccoli (based off Shelly at Cookiesandcups.com)

Wednesday night:

Thursday night:
Beef tacos

Friday night:
Turkey sandwiches, using awesome homemade pumpkin focaccia (CookingLight.com)

On weekends we do what I call freezer diving, which is infinity times better than dumpster diving. This helps us stay on top of our leftovers, and prevents the freezer from becoming jam packed with all sorts of ice crusticled tupperwares.


BONUS!

I think he can sense my fear

Last week started off pretty rough, and only for one reason- lack of sleep. I am a girl who runs on no less than 9 solid hours, and having baby suddenly regress and wake up 3-4 times is not okay. I think it was a combination of 1. snot-filled nose preventing him from sucking his own thumb (who can’t relate to that?), 2. getting various limbs stuck in the slats of his crib (happens to the best of us), and 3. peeing through his diaper and soaking his pj’s and sheet (if I had a dollar for everytime I woke up like…oh wait.)

But good news! I am a solution-focused parent (I should copyright that) and so I used this Swedish-y nose sucker that my mom had bought us. It’s pretty primitive…you put a tube up your baby’s nose and pretty much ape-style suck out the boogs. You know you come to this blog hoping that I’m not *just* going to talk about food, but also bodily secretions. Also bought a bumper- WAIT ON THE JUDGMENT- that is mesh, so he could breathe through it in a worst case scenario. Aaaaand also learned that Pampers makes a special overnight dipe.

The result of my three-pronged approach? Success. And just in time for my husband to leave for a four-day weekend. Even with better sleeping, I was still kind of nervous to be a single parent. What if he doesn’t nap? What if he is crabby and I can’t just hand him off and say “your turn!” He can totally sense this too. When he refused to take his after-dinner nap on Friday, we went and walked around the mall. I swear this kid’s first words will be “Baby GAP!”



Then Saturday late afternoon a wimpy storm came by but still managed to knock out our power. I was less worried about the darkness and more worried about the stocked fridge and freezer. Alllllll the meats and cheeses! I packed up and headed over to my parents’ house for the night.

So yeah, an easy enough weekend overall, but I still felt compelled to celebrate a little bit once my husband returned yesterday. Painting my nails my new fave navy Essie? 

Yes please! Cheesy pasta with sausage? Ok! US weekly? Done deal.

Spicy Sausage & Penne Pasta
  • 5 spicy Italian turkey sausage links, either grilled or boiled (grill if you can. I got lazy and just boiled mine)
  • 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • ½ stick butter
  • ½ cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon minced garlic
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 2 cups low sodium chicken or veggie broth
  • 1 can evaporated milk (or fresh milk)
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes with chiles
  • 1/3-1/2 cup chopped green onions
  • 1 box whole wheat penne pasta (I used Ronzoni “Smart Taste” ‘cause my husband thinks it’s regular white pasta)
  • 4 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a medium skillet with 2 teaspoons oil. Add onion. While that heats up, slice up your cooked sausages and add to onion. Saute until onion and sausage coins are lightly browned. Remove from heat.

2. Get your pasta cooking in a large pot of boiling water. While the pasta cooks, go onto the next step.
3. In a Dutch oven, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Stir constantly for a minute until it starts to slightly bubble. It will be quite thick. Whisk in garlic and pepper. Whisk in the 2 cups of broth and evaporated milk. Stir until bubbly and thickened. Turn down heat to low. Add the canned tomatoes (juice included) and green onions. Let that sit for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.


4. Drain your cooked pasta and add to Dutch oven, along with sausage/onion mixture. Stir until combined. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until bubbly.





Delish.


Makes 8 servings (so you can rock the leftovers just like we do). Per serving: 434 calories, 46 g carbs, 20g fat, 22 g protein, 670 mg sodium (about a third of your day’s allotted intake), 5 g fiber

Not the healthiest thing I’ve ever made, but whatever. Yay for fall, yay for snot suckers, and yay for my husband being home again. 

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Stereotypes are based on truths, no?

September 1: 12:01 a.m.

TIME TO CELEBRATE FALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.





The mums have been planted, the wreath has been hung, the "Harvest"-scented candle is on the mantle, and the crock pot has been hauled up from the basement for the season.

I am nothing but a walking stereotype.

But maybe a stereotype with a wee bit more sass.

And sarcasm.

This stuff happened this weekend:

Those are the meaty thighs of a future runningback.

This also happened:


I took two bookends, painted them white, and stuck 'em up in the doorway. Like most of the jerry-rigged stuff in our house, it looks better from a distance.

Oh yeah, and this happened:

Slow Cooker Pork Quesadillas
1 lean pork loin
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
12 whole wheat flour tortillas
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups sliced sweet peppers
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Salsa of your choice (I used salsa verde- not Pampers scrapins, as it might appear from the pic)

1. Combine pork, broth, and chili powder in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Remove pork and shred with a fork, adding a bit more broth if you'd like.
2. Heat a large shallow pan with 1 Tbsp oil over medium high heat. Add peppers and onions. Cook until tender and slightly browned. Add to shredded pork. Add beans to mixture.
3. Heat oven to low broil. Spray down each tortilla with a bit of olive oil spray (optional) and place oil-side down on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle a bit of cheese, top with pork mixture, and add a little bit more cheese. Repeat until you've used all the mixture.
4. Bake for 5-6 minutes, flipping halfway. Keep an eye on these because when you're broiling, they can go from perfect to burned in less than 30 seconds.

You'd best be getting on board with all this fall business.

Next up? Something pumpkin!

(Yep, stereotype)

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Anniversary!

We are three years into marriage now.  Things are starting to get serious 'round here. 

Because it's a weeknight and because there's a dang baby involved, dinner was pretty short and sweet. Doesn't mean we don't care; rather it means that we care in an expedited and simplified manner.  Mmk? 

Roasted drummies and potatoes
-1 package chicken drummies
-2 lb bag fingerling or small Yukon gold potatoes
-4 tablespoons olive oil 
-2 teaspoons sea salt
-1 teaspoon black pepper
-1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, toss together potatoes with 3 Tbsp olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with one teaspoon coarse sea salt.

On a separate baking sheet, drizzle remaining Tbsp olive oil and sprinkle salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. I then just used my hands to jumble up all the drummies to get them evenly coated. A spoon would work as well. Don't judge my method.

Put both pans in the oven and roast 20 minutes. Toss both potatoes flip drummies for even cooking. Return to oven for another 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are lightly browned and drummies reach an internal temp of at least 165 degrees.

I served this with steamed green beans fresh from our garden (yeah that whole thing is still going on).

You know what they say, happy marriage = happy baby.

Actually no, happy baby = happy anniversary.