Wednesday, January 20, 2010

loooong weekend

my weekend wasn't as exciting as some peoples' : ) but it was pretty fun. but first, let me backtrack a bit and discuss last Friday's breakfast. it was the perfect example of why it's best for me to avoid the cafeteria at work.


that's an egg-white omlette, filled with brocolli, and accompanied by deep-fried tater tots...I suppose it could have been worse - I did forego the cheese in the omlette, and although those tots were deeply satisfying, I managed to keep from stuffing them all down (into the 'ole pie hole). but still, I went there only to get either a piece of toast, or two scrambled eggs, and ended up coming back to my desk with a mess of food. I heard the voice of Kate saying, hey, it's Friday.

I got a bit blue (no reason) on Saturday, but cheered up once friends came over. they came in the late afternoon, and rather than getting take-out/delivery, I whipped up a satisfying dinner that I'd recommend to anyone who wants to eat something healthy, quickly. the bonus is that it's very easily assembled. I'm notorious for losing track of dinner once I've had even a sip of a drink, so simple is crucial for the likes of me.


that's asparagus and whole-wheat penne, tossed with extra-virgin olive-oil, garlic, and lemon. directions are written out next, so skip to the next photo to avoid boredom. to make: boil a large pot of water, and salt well. as the water is boiling, wash asparagus and cut into lengths about the size of the penne (to be fancy make the cuts on a bias). take a moment to finely mince a large piece of garlic. put the garlic aside for finishing the pasta. once the water comes to a full boil, cook asparagus for a few minutes, until just tender, but not soft. use a hand seive to pull the asparagus out of the water (put aside) - that way, you can boil the penne in the same pot. yes, put the penne on to boil next. once the penne is finished cooking, drain as usual. then, using the same pot, if you like (which I did, less to clean up!), heat about two tablespoons of olive oil and gently sautee garlic until lightly golden. turn heat off, add salt and pepper to taste, juice of the lemon (squeeze it straight into the pot), and toss the pasta and asparagus in the mixture. top with parmigiano & enjoy! oh, and if you want to be extra fancy, you should zest the lemon and toss that in as well (I didn't have the patience for fancy touches on Saturday night).


yup, that's Velveeta. I also made a "cheese" dip on Saturday. this was my first experience with Velveeta and I nearly didn't make it because I didn't know that it would be unrefrigerated in the grocery store, so finding it was like looking for lost treasure. boy, was I surprised when I unwrapped it and saw it up close. I had NO idea that it would be kind of soft, like a rubber brick! I cut the cheese into cubes and microwaved it, then stirred in pickled jalapenos and Crystal hot sauce (that brand of hot sauce is NEON RED! and tasty, not so hot though). I tasted it, but was not tempted to go for repeat bites once I finished microwaving it for my guests, ha ha. it was gratifying that Tifanee dug into it and proclaimed Velveeta to be an old friend. Laurie, on the other hand, avoided it altogether. when I was first pregnant, but before I knew I was, I suddenly became obsessed with cheese dip one day, while I was house-sitting for my brother. John was looking around the kitchen, and found a jar of cheeze whiz and a freezer full of soft pretzels. I couldn't believe how delicious it was! I should have known right there that I was knocked up. maybe I shouldn't have gotten all funny that night. but hey, it was also our wedding anniversary!


Laurie brought these to share and they are amazingly delicious. I was eating very well, for a Saturday, but couldn't stop myself from downing about three of these.


I made whole-wheat bread on Sunday. I think it's going to take a few tries to perfect it, but I did end up with two loaves (yeah, lazy on the final pictures). the crumb isn't the best, but it certainly passes for bread. I found the recipe in the book, Baking With Julia, and made only one alteration to the recipe: I skipped the malt extract because I didn't have it. I'm going to buy it before my next attempt. since it makes two loaves, my plan is to bake it every other week, and do something else in between. up next will be croissants. that'll probably end up a disaster, but hey, why not try?


found an extreme party-maker at Williams-Sonoma on Monday...it would be a good wedding gift, right? our friend's sister, Mary, brought one of these to the beach house we rented last August, and it was great!





this stuff is on sale for half-price at Whole Foods. it's ok...I'm not exactly sure what I think just yet. it makes the green monsters kind of powdery (one scoop). since it was 50% off, I got two flavors, berry and chocolate. I've only tried the berry so far.

2 comments:

  1. haha I lol'd at the "its friday" comment. so true.

    that food all looked relaly good, and im really impressed by the bread!

    you brat i just bought 2 jars of superfood off of amazon for full price!!!

    ReplyDelete