Haha- that song just makes me think of Zoolander.
“I just thank the lord that she didn’t live to see her son as a mermaid.”
“Mer-man.” *cough* “MER-MAN!”
Gosh, this was such a relaxing weekend. I’m ready to get up early tomorrow morning and start the week running…
Hahaha, that was funny! This weekend was, as Brian says, “bat-nuts crazy.” I don’t know where he gets that potty mouth. I didn’t really take any photos until today, so let’s start with tonight’s dinner and work backwards. I cracked open the old Eat, Drink and Be Vegan cookbook and settled on the Pureed Spicy Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew with Chickpeas alond with Coconut Lime Basmati Rice.
I know a lot of people are turned off by the whole vegan thing, but if you’re looking to eat CHEAP, this is the way to go. The soup probably cost about $1/serving and consisted of pureed onions, garlic, celery, sweet potato, chicken broth, peanut butter, and lots of spices. You stir in a can of chickpeas at the very end and garnish with lime juice and cilantro. I also added some sriracha, fish sauce and extra PB. For the rice we used plain brown rice instead of basmati, but that turned out great too- I kept dipping my spoon into the rice and then the soup and it actually worked really well together. The coconut milk and lime provide a good balance of tart and creamy.
Even Brian loved the meal and commented on how filling it was… plus we have LOTS of leftover soup.
Want to see something crazy? We found the largest sweet potato in the history of mankind. Seriously, this one yielded 6 CUPS of peeled, diced potato- enough for the entire pot of soup. Here’s a frame of reference for you:
The thing is as tall as the pug. Clearly Chloe was not impressed.
Here’s the weekend rundown:
*FRIDAY*
Class: The class as a whole made about 8 different salads and sandwiches- panzanella, Waldorf salad, turkey-bacon wrap, chicken avocado sandwich, french potato salad, homemade chips, Pacific Rim salad and probably others that I can’t recall. Our group was assigned the Pacific Rim salad and panzanella (I mainly worked on the panzanella). The salad was topped with steak, which I DID try and WAS yummy… but even after a decade without beef, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.
Friday night Brian and I tried a Mexican restaurant that my brother’s always raving about, Avila’s. Can’t find a website, but you can read the Guidelive review here. It’s kind of a little hole-in-the-wall place in a rough area, but the food was great and it’s deceptively cozy inside. Given my love of mole sauce, I had to order the pollo con mole- very good, although the best mole award still goes to Cafe San Miguel. Yum.
*SATURDAY*
I was up at 5 to be at work by 6. It was COLD and I had a very warm and snuggly pug to leave. Work was fine, nothing terribly exciting. My schedule this week has me starting no later than 7am, but I usually get out just after lunchtime- so that’s kind of nice. Anyway, after work I headed home, ate a quick lunch, showered, dressed and headed out to Keller with Brian to have to dinner with his family and hold babies. Well, just one baby. Samantha’s already grown so much and seems really alert. I wish I’d gotten pictures- she’s a blond haired, blue eyed cutie.
After that we headed home. I was in bed by 9:30, asleep by 10. How lame is that? This schedule is kind of kicking my ass right now.
*SUNDAY*
Back up at 5 to be at work by 6. Meh. Got home from work at 12:30 and made a quick lunch of roasted red peppers, goat cheese, spinach, capers and balsamic vinegar on an Ezekiel hamburger bun:
And then I napped on the couch with the pug for like 3 hours while Brian watched football. All of a sudden I opened my eyes and it was 5 o’clock. You know what our big, exciting event of the day was? Visiting the brand, spanking new Wal-Mart that just opened near our house. That place was INSANE. There was actually a line to get into the parking lot. Anyway, it was nothing special and I’m afraid that it’s going to get trashed out like most of the other Wal-Marts around here. We grabbed our dinner supplies and booked it out of there ASAP.
(I love you Target. I’ll never cheat on you again.)
SURVEY TIME!
What’s the best dish you’re making for Thanksgiving? Or if you’re just mooching off of someone else’s cooking (thanks, mom!), what are you most looking forward to?
I’m trying to figure out what to make. My mom hates anything ORANGE (where the hell did I come from?) so that rules out pumpkin, sweet potato and butternut squash. Hrmm. The Rachael Ray holiday issue does have an intriguing recipe for an apple pie with bacon and cheddar, so I may give that a shot.
PS- THANK YOU SUSAN for the donation to Scottish Rite Hospital!!! You rock! For the rest of you, don’t forget to check out my donation page before the marathon- it’s up through December 14th:
































































