Sunday Dinner

So most nights it's pretty casual 'round my casa. We may fire up the grill, but then again we may just have a bowl of cereal with bananas. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a gourmet even on my best culinary days, but every once in a while I hit the nail pretty square on the head. Sundays are usually my days to spend a little more time on dinner and try out some new, and old favorites, from the oodles of recipes I hoard. Sunday I set out to try Pioneer Woman's Baked Lemon Pasta. But, I needed to make my own mark on this noodly-mess-of-complex-carbohydrates. Pardon me while I toot my own horn, but it totally rocked. It so rocked it had this effect on my family. Totally not kidding. And just for fun cuz he loves it when I post pics like this... Eat yer heart out (and a bowl full of pasta.).

My variation to the, "P-dubya Woman's," Baked Lemon Pasta...

At least double the amount of garlic she calls for. I mean come on it's Sunday, it's a must. Next time I'm skipping the parsley, cuz it's like eating rough air, and I'm totally going basil. I LOVE BASIL. Lastly, I sauteed some HUGE shrimp, bought from some weird door to door Schwans-wanna-be, in garlic/butter and placed them atop the mound of garlic-lemon goodness just before serving. Mmmmmmmmm, gooooooooood.

A Love/Hate Thang...

Eating healthy. I think it's the difference between me getting rid of 5lbs and staying status quot at 142 pounds of spunk, sass and a tad of cellulite. I don't eat bad necessarily, but I could eat better. So basically, I'm making sure we eat fresh veges and fruits in all the colors of the rainbow daily. At the top of my list is a tender bundle of fresh asparagus. Easy-peasy made on the grill to accompany a char-broiled turkey burger. I just clean em up, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Bundle them up in a neat, little, tin foil package and toss them on the barbe. Simmer to perfection in about 15-17 minutes. Yummy-yum-yum. So if you haven't caught on THIS is the LOVE part. Now for the HATE. Doing the body good by consuming this low cal, rich in beta-carotene, vitamins B, C and E, potassium, zinc, iodine and fab folate food has a terrible side effect. Stinky #1 people. Bad, bad, bad smelling urine. Wierd, huh? At least we live in a day and age where I can simply google, "asparagus stinky urine," and find out exactly what the dealio is. This in turn got me thinking... It's a good day for a poll. Let the world know if you are a stinky asparagus pee-er ro not, come on... it'll be fun.

Puttin' Up...

...yes up (not out) is hard work (well, actually they both are). I've never put up a thing in my life until this fine summer. The bounty from the garden has been plentiful and harvest can not be consumed fast enough. I decide to tackle a little canning. Side note: Why do the call it "canning" when you are actually putting things in jars? Shouldn't it be calling "jarring?" Anywayz, I had a little time on my hands and so why not, right? What I didn't realize is this "canning/jarring" thing is S-T-R-E-S-S-F-U-L! I wasn't counting on the 2 hours of prep work! WHERE might you ask was my handi sous-chef during all this chopping and dicing? Probably doin's somethin' like this. So hear my sob story... The acidity in the tomatoes stung my hands as I tried to slip the skin off. I chopped peppers and onions until my fingers burned and my mascara ran down my cheeks. I scrubbed jars and boiled rings and lids with one hand as I stirred the molten hot salsa with the other. The squeaky clean jars where filled and lids fastened tightly. After three panicked phone calls to my MOM the jars finally sealed, ensuring fresh salsa in the winter months to come. Start to finish 3 h 27 min 20 sec. It better be freakin' good.