Snow

Brrrr! It's snowing in October...

Ready or not...

The race is on in about 20 hours! We're gathering our supplies to get ready for a long and cold run. Crossing my fingers for no snow!

Goat-cheese stuffed meatballs

N took over the kitchen last night to make lamb meatballs stuffed with goat cheese. I helped him with the marinara. Such a treat! Recipe care of http://postcollegiatecooking.blogspot.com/2010/11/so-not-kosher-goat-cheese-stuffed.html (and inspired by a restaurant nearby). We left out the sausage.

P.S. It tasted MUCH better than it looks!

Masala veggie burgers with homemade buns

Burger recipe courtesy of http://www.dailygarnish.com/2011/01/homemade-vegetable-masala-burgers.html. Needs more masala spice, but we had no problems finishing them.

Pasta with homemade marinara, zucchini, and basil

I don't love pasta, but I'm looking for good ways to use all my basil. Such a great problem to have too much basil (yummmm), but I'm drawing a blank on good recipe ideas. A pizza is on the agenda for the next few days, but what else should I make?

This week at the market

Rain + wind + cold = no morning 20-miler. Hooray! I celebrated by shopping (in the cold, rain, and wind...oh well). Green onions, a ton of basil, squash, sweet potato, and okra. I'm excited!

Red lentil soup with ricotta dumplings

A delicious red lentil soup heavy on sweet potatoes. Recipe courtesy of http://albioncooks.blogspot.com/2007/11/red-lentil-soup-with-ricotta-dumplings.html. I used a fresh jalepeno and doubled the lentils. Next time I may add more lentils and more curry powder.

As for the twist for the macaroni and cheese...it's cauliflower! But you never would have guessed if you'd eaten it. I roughly chopped the cauliflower and steamed it with a little bit of water. When soft, blend it with an immersion blender and then add a pat of butter and enough cheese to meet your preference. Add salt, pepper, and any other spice you like, and mix with cooked macaroni. I baked mine with bread crumbs and Parm on top. We ate every bit and wished we had more.

Macaroni & cheese with a twist

Delicious and healthy. Any guesses on the "twist"?

Lately...

I've spent a lot of time in the office/guest room. Luckily the fuzzy dog keeps me company while studying.

Other recent happenings: lots of brownie and puppy chow consumption (of the dog food variety for the pup and the Chex variety for me), a Trader Joes binge on prepared foods, and a new membership at Arlington County pools. Now if only I could find more time to use it. Counting down the days...

Happy Fourth

I'm always sad to miss Granbury's celebration, but there are so many things to be happy about!




Puppy chow...



Happy puppies (who convinced his daddy to let him chew his dog bone in the house)...

And picnics and fireworks with fantastic friends.

Happy fourth, y'all!

Beautiful brunch

Roasted asparagus topped with a poached egg, quinoa and beet salad with goat cheese, and a cheddar dill corn muffin. Thoroughly enjoying this three-day weekend!

Fruit feast!

Bountiful.

Chocolate and strawberries

The farmers' market berries are so good, and when mixed with mini chocolate chips, they're out of this world.

This week at the market

Three cukes + two squash + one red bell pepper = yum

Filipino-style dinner

Filipino pork ribs with sweet corn, baked potato fries, and Filipino ketchup sauce. The Filipino-marinated ribs were given to us by N's sister's new nanny, and we roasted them with some extra brown sugar and soy sauce. N and I had fun playing in the kitchen with these, and they were pretty good.

This is of course N's plate; my corn was off the cob, and my portion of ribs was much smaller. :)

Salmon with green bean "fries"

Wild-caught salmon with baked green bean fries. Green bean recipe from http://www.howsweeteats.com/2010/10/roasted-green-bean-fries/. Delicious!

Today's happiness

Things that make me happy--



After-work snack of some favorite cheeses (Brie, Gouda, Mediterranean feta).



A glass of Pinot noir (and rabbit to open it with!).



Sweet puppy greetings.

And finally finishing my client seminars!!

This week at the market

So many delicious things made it hard to choose! Waited 20 minutes in line for the peaches, but the are so worth it :)

The last week...

This week N and I finished our 10k (turned 5k) race in record times! Oscar was so proud..




We ate N's family recipe of pork chops and pineapple.




And a squash gratin using 4 kinds of squash!




And two new Indian recipes.




It was a good week!

Saturday afternoon jog

New shoes, short run, beautiful day!

P.S. Aren't these shoes obnoxious?!

Tilapia with quinoa salad

Easy, healthy meal c/o http://www.eatliverun.com/chili-rubbed-fish-with-quinoa-corn-and-black-bean-salad/.

More scrambled eggs

Scrambled eggs have been playing a starring role in my kitchen lately. This version had yellow crookneck squash, onion, red pepper, asparagus, and sharp cheddar. Not pictured: last week's scrambled eggs with avocado. So good!

Strawberry smoothies

Carton of strawberries (tops and all), a frozen banana, frozen yogurt, plain Greek yogurt, and a smidge of soy milk. Was a great way to stay cool after a morning of farmer's market shopping in the sun. =)

This week at the market

Rhubarb, broccoli, and five kinds of squash! Can't wait to try all the squash. I can identify two. Anyone know what the other three are?

Quick Homemade Pizza

Made homemade pizza using this quick crust recipe.  I usually let my crust sit overnight, but this crust was so much faster and may have even been better.  A piece (or two...or three...) with salad made for a great dinner.

Asparagus salad

One of my favorites right now: raw asparagus mixed with a squeeze of fresh lemon, olive oil, pepper, and grated Parmesan cheese.

(Pan) grilled burgers

Chef N took over the grill (pan) and made great burgers! I topped mine with cheese, pickles, and avocado. I also baked some sweet potato fries and had extra pickles on the side. =)

This week at the market

Finally the beets! And the last week for apples. Wonder what they'll have next week...

Turnips and greens

I feel like a true southern girl today. Mixed the turnips with five thick pieces of bacon (and all accompanying grease) and a half of a small onion. The grease was really too much for me, but no complaints from N. Oscar also thinks it looks delicious!

Vegetable risotto

Another one that tastes better than it looks. Sautéed onions, broccoli, and the fresh English peas in olive oil. Then made risotto with goat cheese and Parmesan cheese. Mixed all with basil and parsley. Tasted springy and fresh! Even better as lunch at work today.

Also, has anybody ever shucked their own peas? I was terribly disappointed in work:pea ratio. But fresh peas...totally delicious!

Tonight's appetizer

Prosciutto di Parma + buffalo mozzarella = one happy woman!

Afraid the appetizer may overshadow tonight's dinner...

This week at the market

Broccoli, english peas, turnips, turnip greens, and chocolate chip cookies. The turnips were an unpleasant surprise...they were labeled beets. :( I don't think I like turnips and certainly don't know how to cook turnip greens. Please share ideas if you have them!

Tri-dog =)

The puppy LOVES his new triathlon shirt! Can't you tell? (poor guy!)

Stir fry two ways

After a week of eating out (had so much fun with you, Mom and Dad), tonight's dinner was an attempt to use several loose ends in our fridge. I sautéed some onion, carrots, the farmers' market snow peas, and broccoli. Half the veggies were added to soba (buckwheat noodles) and half went with homemade fried rice made with leftover rice. Not too pretty, but pretty good.

Post-workout brunch

Six- mile run for me, 27-mile bike for him. Desperately in need of food! My new favorite egg recipe starts by sautéing diced asparagus (local, of course) in olive oil for two minutes, then scrambling in 3-4 eggs and topping with grated Parmesan cheese. We ate ours with some of the strawberries from yesterday and toast with Nutella (for him). My body is much happier now!

This week at the market

Strawberries (!!), sugar snap peas, brownies, and breakfast (not pictured). This is the first week for both produce, so I was pretty excited to find them!

Cucumber, tomato, and feta salad

Tonight's dinner was the fresh cucumber and tomato with feta, kalamata olives, spring lettuce, salt, pepper, and drizzles of balsamic and olive oil. Good, but I'm still hungry!

Chole

Tonight was our third try at recreating N's mom's chole. And sadly not the charm! It was tasty, but I'm still having a hard time figuring out just what I'm missing. She doesn't measure while cooking, so it's a bit of a guessing game. But a fun one! Also enjoyed using cilantro from my garden. :)

(Local) spinach manicotti

Yesterday's farmer's market spinach is today's spinach and cheese manicotti. I sautéed the spinach with some onion and garlic, seasoned it with salt and cayenne pepper, and mixed it with ricotta cheese, parmesan, one egg, parsley and ground pepper. Stuffed the raw manicotti shells with the mixture and topped with a can of pasta sauce, 1/3 cup of water, and more parmesan. Baked at 375 for 30 minutes. Yum! Wish I'd been given more free spinach to eat this week!

Farmer's market stash

Struck gold at the market today! Asparagus, cucumbers, tomato, potatoes, and (free) spinach. So happy for fresh local vegetables again. Any recipe ideas?

Surprise package

Random act of sweetness from N's very sweet sister! So lucky to have such loving people in our lives!

Easter feast

Delicious Easter dinner with N. Lamb chops with balsamic glaze over spring lettuce and perfectly ripe avocado. And of course a big glass of Pinot Noir. Recipe courtesy of http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lamb-Chops-with-Balsamic-Reduction/Detail.aspx. Now relaxing on the couch listening to the storm outside while N makes dessert. :)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Deviled eggs - secret recipe (and by secret I mean that I just wing it!). A favorite Easter staple!