Tag Archives: asparagus

Cheesy Peasy

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This afternoon I got my Great Fundraising Act contribution ready for mailing tomorrow.

Would you like to see what hand-rolling 30+ sugar cookie balls does to your palms?

Ouch!  But at least it makes it ok for me to get caught red-handed having a reward for my hard work.

Sugar cookie frosting sandwich, x2.

My snack embodied sweet, so dinner was savory.

Cheesy Peasy Garlic Pasta (recipe available here and included at the end of this post).

Plus a side of roasted asparagus.

I was so excited about the creation of this recipe – which totally achieved the thick, cheesy sauce I was shooting for – but unfortunately it didn’t really fill me up.  I wasn’t sure if I was really hungry or residually hungry though, so I decided to wait a bit before refilling my plate.  Adam had a volunteering commitment in our neighborhood so I walked with him to deliver a cookie sandwich to the friend he was meeting (hi, Patrick!).

When my stomach was still grumbly mid-walk I decided to stop by the co-op for some protein.  Waldorf chicken salad fit the bill.

It filled me up and pleased my taste buds, yum!  If you haven’t tried grapes in chicken salad yet you don’t know what you’re missing.

Cheesy Peasy Garlic Pasta, serves 4

  • 8 oz uncooked rigatoni
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  • 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp reduced fat cream cheese
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 4 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 2 Tbsp fat-free ricotta
  1. Cook pasta al dente according to box directions.  In the last three minutes of cooking time, add frozen peas to the boiling water.  Drain peas and pasta and set aside.
  2. While pasta is cooking, heat evoo in a large pan over medium-high heat.
  3. Add garlic to the oil and saute for 2 minutes; remove from pan and set aside.
  4. Add flour and cream cheese to the pan and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  5. Add milk to the roux mixture and cook 3 more minutes, stirring constantly until thickened.  Don’t worry if your mixture still is lumpy at this stage.
  6. Reduce heat to low and stir in cheddar cheese and ricotta.  When the sauce has fully mixed and achieved a smooth texture, remove the pan from the heat.
  7. Add pasta, peas, and cooked garlic to the sauce in the pan; toss to combine.
  8. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with a vegetable.

Taste of Buffalo

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It’s been a fabulous Saturday!  It’s always great spending time with the husband (he’ll have most weekends off during this section of his clerkship) but it was nice to have fun activities to do as well.

After yoga I had to shower, go to the campus library to do some printing, go to the post office, and go to the bank before I could get my hands on some food.  Thank goodness our first fun activity was the Taste of Buffalo, a food festival with offerings from all the local restaurants.

We bought 30 tickets (ie spent $15) and we’re very impressed with what we were able to get on such a cheap date. 

Buffalo natives – if you haven’t been yet please keep in mind that Adam used more than half of our tickets so my food eaten isn’t totally representative of $7.50 spent.

P.S. I need to be honest about what a fatty dork I am; I printed off the menu from the website and arrived at the festival with a circled, highlighted list –

Adam and I shared and I ended up with many fun bites.  One bite of fried cheese ravioli from Cecelia’s.

One tiny bourbon glazed shrimp from The Grill at the Dome, which was the biggest waste of money of the day.

A small glass of berry chai smoothie that Lipton was handing out for free.  This free sample was actually the 2nd best thing I had all day!

Adam and I split this smoked bourbon chicken sandwich from Chester’s Cajun grill and it was the #1 favorite for both of us.

Half of a gourmet watermelon popsicle from Sweet Melody.  This was delicious and I wish I could have downed the whole thing but it was just too drippy.

Among other things the husband also tried catfish nuggets and a huge cup of Cuban roasted pork.  We definitely discovered a few restaurants that we want to go check out.

We parked near our old apartment and walked to the fair which meant we got in a little more than 2 miles in total wandering.  It was just hot enough that stopping at The Spot for a diet pop on the walk back was pretty damn exciting.

As we talked about our favorite bites we realized that I hadn’t actually gotten all that much to eat (Adam was stuffed!), so I grabbed hot bar when we were picking up groceries.

Peak of season delicious watermelon and pineapple,

plus a random assortment of veggies.

During our downtime this afternoon I also snacked on a serving of coffee ice cream with blueberries and chocolate syrup.

You wouldn’t expect that combo to work but it totally did.

Dinner was also an expected win.

Breaded buffalo chicken – Marinate.  Roll in panko.  Bake at 350* for 38 minutes.  Eat dipped in blue cheese dressing.

Plus asparagus that we threw into the oven during the chicken’s last 20 minutes.

The chicken was taken totally over the top thanks to a sample of KC Masterpiece Buffalo Marinade from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program.

I always forget how much marinating does for the texture of chicken, it was like butter!  The marinade itself was tasty too, a nice vinegary buffalo without an excess of spice.

For our evening entertainment we cashed in a Groupon for a Broadway light show at the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium (conveniently located on my campus).

I really don’t want to share my opinion because Adam and I actually hate most musicals, which obviously colors our review.  I will say that the show was not the most exciting hour I’ve ever spent, and Adam claims to be having Vietnam War-esque flashbacks.  The high point of the activity was that the husband and I got to say planet-AIR-ium to each other a million times.  <– don’t get it?  watch this.

Boarding Time

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I started my morning with a shot of the Orange Dream Machine knock-off I made Adam.

He takes the Step I Board Exam on Saturday so we are testing out different breakfasts to find the perfect one for test morning.  This is a big-time important exam so he needs a breakfast that leaves him full and doesn’t make him have to go pee.  We’re also making sure he eats the perfect night-before dinner.  It’s the little things people!

The Step I Board Exam is similar to the MCAT exam, but more important and taken after your 2nd year of medical school.  Your Board score basically determines the rest of your career so, no pressure Adam!  Taking the exam also marks the “end” of your 2nd year of medical school.  The 3rd and 4th years you leave the classroom for rotations in different clerkships, ie hands-on experience.  In 3rd and 4th of medical school Adam’s schedule will be similar to what’s coming during residency – basically I’m becoming a single mom to Levinson.

Since Adam is taking his exam this Saturday, we have exactly one week of freedom before he starts back for his 3rd year of school (Adam is hosting a student clinician ceremony the Saturday before school starts).  Since I’m not dramatic at all, I’m calling this “the last week of our marriage.”  To celebrate/spend as much time together as possible, I took the week off of work and we are going on vacation!

  • 1 day in VA helping my in-laws move
  • 1 day exploring Charlottesville (a lot of programs on Adam’s list are at UVA)
  • 2 days in DC visiting my best friend from high school
  • 2 days in Maryland visiting family

It’s going to be a whirlwind and lots of driving but we are so looking forward to it!

Apparently I’ve also been looking forward to bed, because that’s where I spent my entire day!  I stayed up until 3 am last night because I have some sort of mental problem and then I napped the day away.  I did finally get up around 4 because I needed to make the husband dinner.  I nibbled on more mini candy bars while I cooked.

I wasn’t eating dinner at home because I had a date with Katie.  She’s moving at the end of the summer so hopefully we will get in a lot of meet ups before then.  We went to Saigon Cafe and split a spring roll for an appetizer.

I ordered the Spicy Rainbow – an assortment of vegetables stir fried with basil leaves in a hot sweet basil sauce, with white rice.

The dish is marked with two stars (= extra spicy) on the menu and I asked the waiter for “Thai spicy” and he grimaced like my face was going to fall off.  After the grimace, but before tasting my food, I ordered Thai Iced Tea to combat the spice.

No dice spice.  The veggies were good, but this wasn’t even close to being a little spicy, let alone Thai spicy.  So disappointing!

I ate about 2/3 of my food but after this and last week’s bland meal I’m going to take the hint and stop going to Saigon Cafe.  Can any Buffalo readers recommend a local Thai spot that actually brings the spice???

After dinner we took a nice walk down Elmwood, stopping for Ciao Bella gelato.

Key lime pie and dulce de leche for the win.

I actually walked Katie all the way back to her apartment where she loaned me some books so … I could get in bed early and read!  Be back in the am!

What time is your bed time usually?  What’s the stupidest reason you’ve stayed up too late recently?  I think reruns of Food Network Star takes the cake for me.

Summer On A Plate

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I knocked off most of my to-do’s by 7:30 and was ready to get to work on an extra-extraordinary dinner!  Getting back into the kitchen helped me to feel like myself again; I can’t wait to use my extra time this summer cooking.  And in spite of the still-crummy weather outside, this dinner tasted like summer!

We started by attempting to make onion rings for an appetizer.

We loosely followed this recipe and after some difficulty and a few scary oil incidents, Adam and I ended up with a nice plate to share –

I would pretty much never order onion rings in a restaurant, but it was defintely fun to make them at home.

Dinner was summer on a plate.

Corn on the cob.

We placed our shucked corn in a big pot with enough water to float, then covered the pot and brought the water to a boil for 5 minutes.  Followed by a quick roll in the butter.

Roasted asparagus.

35 minutes at 450*, with a bit of cooking spray and salt.

The veggies were pretty perfect, but the real winner was the burgers.

My newest genius creation, Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burgers. 

We served our burgers on onion rolls and topped them with more cheese and dressing, because we are reuben fanatics!

Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burgers, serves 6

  • 1 lb 94% fat-free ground turkey meat
  • 1 cup sauerkraut, carefully squeezed to remove as much liquid as possible
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1.5 tsp dried caraway seeds
  • 3 (1 oz)-slices Swiss cheese
  • 2 Tbsp thousand island dressing
  1. Slice cheese into quarters; you should end up with twelve 1inch x 1inch squares.
  2. Place meat, sauerkraut, egg, breadcrumbs, and caraway seeds in a large bowl.  Use your hands to mix until well combined.
  3. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, divide the meat mixture evenly into twelve 1/4-cup portions.  Flatten six of the portions into patties.
  4. Place 1 tsp thousand island dressing and two cheese squares in the center of each flattened patty.  Top with remaining portions, pressing on the edges to “seal” the patties.
  5. Place a greased grill-pan over medium-high heat.  Cook burgers until browned and fully cooked through; 5-8 minutes on each side.

If I could get my hands on some watermelon I think I’d be pushed right over the edge.

What foods taste like summer to you?

Fantastic Fettuccine

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Happy Friday!  The husband and I are cuddling up to watch the latest “Bones” as soon as I’m done so I’ll keep this quick.

Tonight’s dinner recipe came from Cooking Light, Fettuccine Alfredo with Bacon.  Click the name for a link to the recipe.  Per usual, here were my changes:

  • Subbed in 6slices of extra-lean turkey bacon (and 2T butter); and stirred the bacon into the pasta
  • Subbed in 1/3cup chopped red onion for garlic
  • Subbed in fat free milk
  • Skipped the addition of cooking water

Our meal was fantastic!

I had a small serving of pasta with roasted asparagus on the side.

The pasta was creamy and chewy and oh-so-tasty!  It was filling without being too heavy and the sauce turned out perfectly.

I thought I hated Alfredo sauces, but I think maybe I just needed bacon 😉 Plus I’m not at all a fan of full-fat dairy so the fact that this had skim milk instead of cream was perfect for me.

And the asparagus was outstanding.

This was the first time we tried roasting and of course it was the best ever; roasting is my favorite method for every veggie.  It ended up almost hollow.  The stems were wilted and perfect and the tips were amazingly carmelized and crunchy.

Can you tell I was in love with dinner?

I’ve got mid-show dessert planned already.

Single-serving of dulce de leche ice-cream is sure to hit the spot.

I hope everyone else had a great Friday!  See you Saturday.

What is your favorite ‘lightened up’ dish?  Do you enjoy ‘lite’ options or would you rather indulge sparingly? 

P.S. My camera was charging but I also ended up snacking on a big bowl of popcorn and a serving of blue corn chips.