Tag Archives: mushroom

Bowled Over

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Hello, hello!  I’m up pretty late for a sick kid so I’ll try to keep this quick.  The movies didn’t really work out – we went to the mall and missed not one, but two! showings.  We ended up being at the mall for two fruitless hours, we walked around a bit and had a long chat on a bench.

I was actually glad we missed the second show because on the ride home I got a killer migraine that would have hit mid-movie.  After some Excedrin and a quick nap I was ready to make a fancy shmancy dinner.  I love brie, and was so excited to see some in my Foodbuzz swag.  And actually the inspiring recipe can from a magazine I read on my California trip!

We loosely followed this recipe from Real Simple, Pasta with Brie, Mushroom and Arugula.  Our changes –

  • we used ziti instead of penne
  • we used white mushrooms instead of button mushrooms
  • we used a cooking onion rather than a red onion
  • we subbed 1T butter substitute (Promise) for the evoo

It was pretty tasty!  But I guess it’s a good thing I’m sick or I’m not sure one meal for the whole day would have covered it 🙂

After dinner we headed out to meet some friends at a local bowling alley.  We called and found out games are $3 after 9 so it seemed like a good idea, even though I’m not a very good bowler.  We played (and drank) with three other couples and it was a lot of fun!

I managed to finagle it with the snack bar and the bartender to get a chocolate milkshake with a double shot of Jack Daniels.

Perfection.

And later on I had a diet coke with amaretto.

None of my games were great, but the second was the worst (I was playing under Benji’s name) –

Embarrassing!  I had a great time though, I definitely want to go back.

Now the goal is sleep before 1am.  My workload tomorrow is pretty light, I only have class one day before Thanksgiving some I’m hoping to get lots of pre-work done next week.  Sweet dreams folks!

Do you like ‘couples sports’ like bowling and mini golf?

Dreams of Root Vegetables

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Whew, Tuesday is almost over!  My meeting went well, I still have no idea which career path I’ll choose but it is exciting to learn about the options.  After my meeting I swung by the house to pick up the husband, who graciously offered to go along on my printing/mailing resume errands.

True Story – while we were driving he got annoyed that I don’t know what I want to do and said – “You’ll never know what you want to do.  Next thing I’ll know you’ll want to be a turnip!  Do you need to go back to school to be a turnip!?!”  And now he has called me Turnip for the rest of the day.  Holy cow I love my funny husband!

On our way home – resumes successfully mailed, hopefully I will be substituting at some point – we stopped in The Spot for coffee.

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I got a small  Chaider; steamed apple cider and chai tea.  Mmn, fall!  I actually think I’m going to head back to the Spot to work tomorrow, I haven’t been getting much done at home 😦

I was feeling sick with hunger when we got home so I got a snack while I worked on my lab (which I can not do without help, boo!).

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A bumped log,

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with Granny Smith slices with cinnamon caramel apple dip.

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I had a coupon for the dip and you know I’m a sucker for all foods fall.

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After struggling with Chemistry for forever I moved on to making dinner.  On the meal plan was a recipe from the November “Everyday with Rachael Ray” ‘lightened up’ moussaka.

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I can’t share the recipe but if you bought the magazine and are planning to try it here are the changes I made:

  • used 99% lean ground turkey instead of beef
  • skipped the food processor and used low fat whipped cottage cheese
  • used half graffiti eggplants
  • add 1/2 pint mushrooms

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We actually got busy and didn’t even eat dinner so I’ll have to review the recipe tomorrow!  I have a busy day planned tomorrow – no room for headaches! – so don’t be surprised if I don’t post until dinner.  Night!

Don’t forget to enter my Zevia giveaway!

BSI Entry

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Oh man was a good evening!  I am pretty much excited about everything right now.  My dinner (and drink) are delicious, but more importantly fall themed, and the whole meal is just rocking my socks!  I’ll back up though…

We didn’t head out to the store until after 7:30 but I was cool with the tardiness because I was excited about my new shirt.

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This was one of many $10 mall finds last weekend.

The grocery store was quick and easy, Adam and I make each other laugh so much when we are doing errands.  This week’s BSI, a la Megan, is acorn squash, so I picked one up for dinner.

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By the way, Adam was less than thrilled by a veggie stuffed squash so he made his own dinner, including (among several other things) this sample from Annie Chun’s Soup Bowls.

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It had beef broth, so my caveman was happy.

While I cooked dinner I ate the last of this pineapple.

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Dinner was a masterpiece if I do say so myself!  My squash was inspired by eggplant and chicken parmesan, but ended up being waay more tasty.  Italian Stuffed Acorn Squash, for 1-2

  • 1 medium acorn squash, cut in half with seeds scooped out (go bigger than the one I bought, pictured above, it was too small and I had leftover guts)
  • 1T evoo
  • 1C baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 a small eggplant, cubed (I used a graffiti eggplant)
  • 1/4t minced garlic
  • 1/4t dried oregano
  • salt and pepper
  • 3T balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2C marinara sauce
  • 1/4C reduced fat mozzarella, shredded
  • 1T seasoned bread crumbs
  1. Preheat the oven to 400*.  Line a baking pan with tin foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.  Place squash cut side down and cook for 40minutes.
  2. While squash is cooking, heat evoo in a pan over medium-high heat.  Add eggplant and mushrooms.
  3. Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.  Cook for 7minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add balsmic vinegar and cook another 3-5minutes, until liquid is reduced.
  5. Remove from heat and stir in marinara sauce.
  6. Remove squash from oven and flip cut side up.  Fill cavities with veggie mixture and top each side with half of the bread crumbs and cheese.
  7. Return to oven for 10minutes, until cheese is browned.

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Holy cow, I fell in love!  The flavors of this melded together amazingly and I loved the texture. Gaaah!

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I really planned on eating the entire thing but 1half ended up being enough (I also ate some leftover stuffing while the final product cooked). 

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I am super excited to finish the rest tomorrow!  To drink I made the most “Fall” cocktail ever.

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8oz each apple cider and pumpkin beer.  Gah again!

Good meals, especially especially fall themed ones, make me so happy!  I’m going to do some blog reading and then head to bed.  I didn’t get any studying done today (that time was taken up by the flooding fun) so I have a lot to accomplish before my in-laws get here tomorrow.  Sleep tight!

Do you participate in the BSIs?  Have you won any?

Late Lab

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The longer I ate my lunch the more I loved it!  I will definitely do without the squeeze cheese next time but everything else was perfection.  I enjoyed my online tv watching as well.  If you have not watched the new show “Modern Family” you need to; it’s comedy genius!

After lunch I had 1 serving of Halloween Dots for dessert.

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Then I got started on cooking dinner.  I made a chicken cacciatore recipe from this month’s Cooking Light. 

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But I actually didn’t eat until much later.  As soon as the food was packed up I set off for campus.  I didn’t do so hot on my test last week (83%) but lab went well!  I always stay until the end of lab to work on calculations, which means I don’t leave until 9pm!

When I did finally get home it was time for dinner.

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I ate a teeny plate because Adam and I split a chocolate mint milkshake.

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Yes, it is 30* outside.  Yes, I am 24 years old and eating ice-cream for dinner.  The chicken was pretty good, Adam loved it.

I’ve got an early morning planned so I’ve got to get ready for bed.  Sweet dreams!

Do you watch tv/movies while you eat or is that dangerous for you?  I know studies always say not to eat in front of the tv but I love to.  I think as long as you only portion out a reasonable amount of healthy food (rather than digging mindlessly from say a bag of potato chips) it’s fine to eat and veg.  Plus, it’s tv, not open heart surgery – I’m able to notice when I’m full and push away my plate even if there’s food left.