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Dinner in a Flash January 27, 2012

Posted by cirellih in Dinner, Food, Planning.
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Sometimes dinner needs to be ready quickly. So for all those people who claim that they just don’t have time to make anything, pfft is all I have to say to them.

I give you the wonder food: pasta. Really. Dinner in 8 minutes. What other food can boast that?

Pasta goes with everything! It can hold most anything that you put on it. Goes next to most meals. Can be a filling meal on its own. It really is a wonder food! One of the things I like to keep in my freezer is meatballs. This is apparently not as easy in Colorado as it is in Upstate New York where everything is Italian, but I’ve managed to find them if I look hard enough.

So tonight, I made my own tomato sauce, cooked pasta, heated meatballs, steamed zucchini and baked garlic bread… all in under 10 minutes. Impressed? I was!

Badda bing, baddah boom, yous got a delicious home-cooked meal in minutes. It hit the spot and was crammed with veggies. You can’t get much better than that after a long week!

In a Roasting Kind of Mood January 17, 2012

Posted by cirellih in Craving, Dinner, Food, Goals.
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Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day, and a wonderful day it was. Working at a school has definite benefits… like important days off. Having the day off made me think of my years in AmeriCorps, and how the bravery and courage of people before me allowed for my years of service to take place. So, thank you MLK and all of the rest of the believers in civil rights for all you have done. Working in Baltimore and Boulder has shaped me in ways I am still discovering.

It was partially from my experiences with these kiddos that I decided that I would like to be a teacher… some classes would definitely help, now that I’ve had these experiences!

On a completely separate note, I decided that I wanted to channel my inner domestic goddess and prepare a roast for my hubby. Roasts seem to have gone a bit out of vogue. Everyone is running around with no time to wait for hours for dinner to prepare. Life is far to hectic to take pleasure in the simple things.

Not tonight. I had bought a little chicken, perfect for two, the other day. Tonight, I took the dog for a walk, and then settled in to make a scrumptious meal. I removed the giblets… my least favorite cooking task. I don’t even like the word…giblet…ick. Anyway, massage the chicken with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and rotisserie spices. Peeled and quartered potatoes for roasting. Sliced zucchini, and prepared (stovetop) stuffing. A mere one hour and forty-five minutes later, Chris was carving the chicken, Oliver was drooling over the smells, and I was preparing plates. Exactly what the doctor ordered after a hectic day.

Sometimes, good things really do come to those who wait.

Golden Days of Summer September 22, 2011

Posted by cirellih in Dinner, Food.
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Colorado weather strikes again! I can’t tell if it’s going to be hot or cold, dry or rainy, sunny or windy. All I know is when I dress for warm weather, the office is cold. If I try and prepare for the cold office, it is inevitably hot. Difficult to do anything but layer, I suppose.

Tonight was a grilling night. We made kababs with veggies and beef. They turned out to be a perfect end of summer meal!

I love the warm crispy vegetables next to the crunchy fresh cucumber and radishes. Poor radishes, they are an under appreciated veggie, but I love them so!

It’s Not Easy Being Green June 4, 2011

Posted by cirellih in Dinner, Food.
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Goodness, today has been fantastic. Going to the zoo and good food… I am a lucky girl!

When we got home, Chris decided that it was a grilling type of night. It was definitely the perfect summer weather for it.  Originally we were going to try slow cooking ribs, but upon perusing the selection at the grocery store, Chris opted for a steak option instead. I definitely can’t complain as it turned out to be absolutely delicious.

The steak had paprika, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, brown sugar, garlic and onion powers on it as a dry rub. Chris made chimichurri sauce for dipping (the green stuff in the ramekin in the picture), mashed potatoes and then I grilled up some asparagus, zucchini and summer squash.

I’m pretty sure the dinner encapsulates summer on a plate. Perfect, if you ask me!

I Want My Baby Back… May 7, 2011

Posted by cirellih in Dinner, Food.
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…Ribs!!!!

Clearly, Colorado is coming into the summer season. Somehow, we managed to skip over the lovely warm springtime weather I was looking forward to  and leap onward towards the hot heat of summer. This does of course come with some benefits… grilling.

Chris has not been one to be stopped by cooler weather and winds when it comes to his grill, but the nice weather certainly makes it more desirable.

We puttered around Pearl Street in the afternoon and managed to stop in at Peppercorn. I am convinced that the store has a magnet pull on us. Every kitchen utensil you could possibly ever want and then some are to be found within its walls. As an added bonus, they have some specialty food that you can’t find in many other places. Things like Vegemite, Farrow’s English toffees, Lebkuchen  and for tonight dinner (most importantly) they have Dinosaur Barbecue Sauce!!! Imported all the way from Syracuse, NY… clearly one of the nations’ hotbeds for bbq.

I don’t always love barbecue, but Dinosaur’s has something that makes everything it touches taste exponentially better! Like tonight’s dinner of ribs. They would be fine with any sauce, but absolutely delectable with the touch of the Dinosaur!

As an aside, we tried pre-dryrubbed ribs today. I’m not sure that I would advise this. Definitely salty, and I don’t think the spices added much in the way of delicious flavor. But other than that, they were good. Fall off the bone good. Just the way they’re supposed to be!