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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Sure Things

There are a handful of  really important yet simple things in my life that are just sure things.  I trust them.  I know them to be true.  Some of these sure things include:

1) My love for Jude.
2) My love for my husband.
3) Yoga makes me a nicer person to be around.
4) An afternoon ride in the woods on my bike resets my energy.
5) There's no place like home.
6) Cheese is delicious.

It would be nice to have every decision and choice in life result in a sure thing.  But life is, excitingly, complicated and uncertain. As much as I crave routine and predictability, I fully recognize that by always playing it safe, life has the potential to become stale and boring. As I sat down to plan out my meals on Sunday morning for the upcoming week (hello, routine) I made a concerted effort to venture away from my old standbys and reach for cookbooks that haven't been cracked in a few years.  I know, I know, I live on the edge.
I settled on a new-to-me recipe for Southwestern Sheperd's Pie.  I thought it sounded perfect for the Tuesday night swap.  In retrospect, the name should have clued me in that this would be a bust. I don't know why I thought a gooey mess of veggies and chicken under a pile of chile mashed potatoes sounded awesome, but I was trying to shake things up and try something new.  Long story short, the dinner was not so hot and while this blog is a simple chronicle of the meals exchanged between Jenny and me, I do not want to endorse any less-than-delicious meals.

I would like to add the following to the sure thing list above:

7) Meat pies of any variety, but especially those of the shepherd and southwestern variety, are gross.

This swap bust won't deter me from taking chances in the kitchen in the future.  I want to buck routine and my need for playing it safe and try new recipes and find new passions. In the meantime, I will leave you with one of my hands-down favorite dinner sure things ever.  This dish is fresh, absolutely delicious and wildly simple to make. I will close with one more sure thing for the list...

8) Salmon Bulgogi with Bok Choy and Shitake Mushrooms is damn good.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

"Honey, help me out and please cut the carbs"!

Cut the carbs?  Lord help me!  So, this may sound like an easy and simple request, but for this carb loving, and 4 months preggo, girl, this could be difficult!  My sweet sweet husband is trying to lose some of the lbs put on during my first extreme carb craving period of life, that would be prenancy numero uno and thus his time each night spent with P90x alone will not suffice.  I have to help him cut the carbs and in addition, quit adding to the issue at hand and tempting him with yummy desserts.  Unfortunately, eventhough I did chose a light and healthy main meal, I had a weak moment and used the leftover sour cream pound cake cupcakes I had made this past weekend to make a mixed berry trifle spiked with amaretto for dessert!  Does dessert really count as a carb?  nahhhh......its just the pefect ending to a almost carb free dinner!  Poor guy, doens't have a chance in this household!  Hey, I did share with  three of our neighbors so that we would only have one serving each in the house. 

Monday, February 7, 2011

Birthdays, Blogs and Bacon

What do birthdays, blogs and bacon have in common?   Not much beyond the fact that I love all three and that it is a lame attempt at having a catchy post header.  Let me see if I can string the three together.  Last week I was recovering from a wild weekend/start of the week celebrating this wild man's second birthday.
Yes, that is a Peter Pan collar.  Yes, he was wearing shorts.  It was an unusually warm day.  Neither of the aforementioned articles of clothing will be worn again during the month of February and, if Patrick has anything to do with it, the former will never be seen again.

We had a big time.  Family came to town.  We borrowed a bounce house.  Jude was given a play horse that takes up our entire family room.  Happy Birthday was sung over a police mega phone.  Muffins and smoothies and some cupcakes were consumed by Jude and friends.  Suffice it to say by the time Jude's actual birthday rolled around, I was wiped out.  I had worked it out with Jenny beforehand to switch our Tuesday night swap to Thursday.  I was feeling low on motivation about what to cook for my family and share with hers until I stumbled upon a blog boasting about a baked potato soup.  Please welcome the third part of this post's alliteration...bacon.  
Bacon, chives, sour cream and cheddar cheese debut as toppings for the soup.