Mambo Italiano August 22, 2011
Posted by cirellih in Dinner, Food.Tags: Broccoli, Chicken Parmesan, Garlic Bread, Penne
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I had so many plans for today. So many plans! But they all went to the wayside when I started applying for jobs. BAH.
Rather than canning peaches, cleaning the living room, going to the gym in the afternoon, and a little bit of job search, my day ended up more like this: Sit down for a second to check on some of my applications, find a job that I would love to have, apply, apply, apply for the whole day. I’m beginning to go a little stir crazy!
Anyway, after a day like that, I certainly needed a delicious meal for dinner. Chris and I decided on chicken parmesan with lots of veggies on the side.
For the parm, we split a chicken breast, (one of the ones my grandmother sent in the mail) breaded it, and crisped it up in a pan with a little olive oil. A little penne for each of us to go underneath and a generous sprinkling on mozzarella cheese to top it all off. We baked the whole thing in the oven at 425* until the cheese was melted and golden brown. Mmmm, perfection! On the side I had a piece of garlic bread and a mountain of broccoli. Just the perfect addition to a hot and cheesy meal.
Meat in the Mail August 14, 2011
Posted by cirellih in Dinner, Food.Tags: Anniversary, Broccoli, Potatoes, Steak
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As I said, Chris and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary recently…as in August 1st! Just before we left for our weekend getaway, we found a package on our doorstep. In this glorious package, we found filet mignon, pork chops, chicken breasts, kitchen knives and a cutting board. My grandmother sent us a wonderful present from Omaha Steaks that we are going to enjoy most thoroughly!
For our first attempt at cooking our meat in the mail was a fantastic success. In typical fashion, Chris deftly grilled the steaks to perfection. I added in broccoli and roasted potatoes. It was certainly a delicious meal altogether.
Chris put a dry rub on the steak. It included coriander, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, turmeric, brown sugar, salt and pepper. It came out so well! For the potatoes, I boiled them first to cut down on the roasting time. After they came out of the water, I added paprika, a bit of salt and olive oil then baked them for 20 minutes. I always love it when foods are ready at the same time!
Just the way we both like our steaks. Absolutely delicious!
All American, All Around April 21, 2011
Posted by cirellih in Dinner, Family, Food, Friends, Movie.Tags: American Beauty, Apple Crisp, Asparagus, Broccoli, Macaroni and Cheese
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It’s movie night, so Ruth, Lindsay, Chris and I chose an All-American theme for tonight’s dinner and a movie: Macaroni and Cheese, Apple Crisp and American Beauty.
Dinner was delicious, if I do say so myself. Macaroni and cheese is one of those great dishes that can be made ahead of time. It is always great to take a bit of time the night before in order to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. Now, I can’t give away the recipe as it’s my Mum’s secret, but I will say that when you’re making it be sure to use sharp cheddar cheese to make sure it’s a nice cheesy flavor. We had good amounts of green on the side… broccoli and asparagus. Just to balance the cheesy goodness.
For dessert, Lindsay found a recipe for healthy apple crisp.
The Recipe:
- 6 Macintosh Apples
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 1/2 tbsp promise light
Directions: Preheat the oven to 375*F. Spray an 8×8 baking pan with a non-stick cooking spray. Slice and core the apples, then layer the apples in the baking pan. Add all of the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and crumble over the apples. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the apples are tender.
It was certainly tasty, but a little drier than crisps usually are. We tried adding in a bit of water in the middle, but that didn’t seem to do much. However, dry or not, add a bit of vanilla ice cream and it turns to something outstanding.
For our film portion, we watched American Beauty.
As you can see, it did well at the Academy Awards in 1999. I’ve spent quite a while thinking about why it was such a big hit. Really, it was a sad look at American family life and the frustrations that can tear people apart. A lot of the film seemed to be revolving around the idea that everyone in suburbia is hiding something in order to keep up appearances.
Basically, I came out of the film thanking my lucky stars that my life doesn’t resemble the lives of those characters. The husband and wife who can’t stand each other, but are staying married because they look like a perfect couple and like that image. The military father who is willing to beat his son for any imagined infraction, only to discover it’s because he can’t stand himself.
All in all, I’m not sure that it was a great picture of what American suburbia life is like. If that was its goal, I hope that it misrepresented most people’s lives!
The Easy Way Out April 3, 2011
Posted by cirellih in Craving, Dinner, Exercise, Food.Tags: Beef Tips, Broccoli, Egg Noodles, Rainy Day
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Sometimes you just don’t feel like spending a lot of time cooking. It has been a long, odd weekend. Arguably not one of the best I’ve had in a while. Chris and I biked to the gym this morning, had a good workout, biked back and then wanted nothing more than a lazy day… which is exactly what we did.
Netflix may or may not have put several seasons of Top Gear on demand. And Chris and I may or may not have spent a significant portion of the day watching episodes we have missed. Since yesterday was 79* and I got my first [tiny] sunburn of the season, and today was sleety/snowy, cold and miserable… we didn’t feel terrible about staying indoors.
For dinner, we decided to take the easy route and make one of the Hormel Ready Meals: Beef Tips. It was really the perfect easy comfort food. Combined with copious amounts of broccoli and a few egg noodles, the meal was just what the weather called for.
Perhaps not the healthiest, but it was certainly fast and delicious. Perfect for the cold weather!
The Family is in Town! March 23, 2011
Posted by cirellih in Dinner, Exercise, Food, Moving.Tags: Broccoli, Garlic Bread, Linguine, Meatballs, Skiing, Snowshoeing
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They finally made their way from Central New York on a four-day trek to Colorado. Hooray! It’s so nice to finally have them on our new stomping ground.
We decided to take them to Eldora for some skiing/snowshoeing. Lucky them, welcome to Colorado… let’s put your tolerance of altitude to the test.
Mum, Dad and I went for a snowshoeing jaunt. Chris and Tim shredded some gnarly pow, or something like that. The weather was as good as can be expected for Eldora. A little windy on the mountain, but really nice in the trees for a hike.
For dinner we carbed it up with mounds of linguine and garlic bread. Scrumptious!!! Gosh I love me some pasta!
My Upstate New York roots must have come out in full force when my family arrived. All I wanted was some good old-fashioned Italian food!
Healthy Heath 