recipe exchange

i'm all about trying new foods. okay not really. however, i AM all about new recipes with familiar ingredients. so, when i came across this in one of our red plum ads, i couldn't not try it out. i think it is delicious and a very nice change from my normal go-to hamburger recipes (baked spaghetti, meatloaf, stroganoff, ghetto tacos etc). it's super easy, and you probably have almost all the ingredients on-hand. (i didn't, but that's because we subsist on frozen chicken nuggets and boxed mac and cheese most days.) also, it is still just as good four days later. (i have a husband who has a severe aversion to eating leftovers, which sometimes makes me have a severe aversion to him. just sayin'.)

greek-style skillet supper

(why does any recipe with the word "supper" in it make me think of rachael ray?)

prep time : 5min - easy peasy

cook time : 25min

makes 6 servings

(perhaps i should have read this before throwing everything together for just the two of us.)

1lb ground beef

1/2c chopped onion

2tsp oregano leaves

1tsp ground cinnamon

1/2tsp garlic powder

1-14.5oz can beef broth

(i keep beef bullion handy, so i just made up about 1 3/4c of broth.)

1-14.5oz can diced tomatoes, UNdrained

2tbsp tomato paste*

1 1/2c or 12oz uncooked penne pasta

1 1/2c frozen spinach leaves, thawed

(i could only find frozen spinach in a 10oz package, so that's what i used.)

3/4c crumbled feta cheese, divided

COOK ground beef and onion in large skillet until cooked through. drain fat. add oregano, cinnamon, garlic powder; mix well.

STIR in broth, tomatoes, tomato paste. bring to boil. stir in pasta. reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 10min or until pasta is NEARLY tender. stir in spinach and 1/2c feta. cover and cook 5min more or until pasta is tender.

SPRINKLE remaining feta over top and serve.

credit here for pic and recipe

i'm telling you, mine looked exactly like that there above. exactly. ahem. anyway...

here's your job : send me your favorite recipe. i don't care if it's breakfast, lunch or dinner, dessert or appetizer (although, let me be honest in saying i have no real need for appetizers at this stage in life; i'm only entertaining an almost 2yr old all day long, not having lavish dinner parties on the weekends). whatever you love making and LOOOVE eating, send it my way. and if you don't have my email address, leave me the longest comment ever made by humans. i don't mind.

ps if you don't have my email address, does that mean you're some creeper who's stalking my blog hoping for glimpses of my kid? that's just pervy. or is it just that we aren't "email friends" (whatever that means)? it doesn't matter to me if you've got a great recipe. just being curious.

pps don't send me a chocolate chip cookie recipe, because you should know by now that i know how to make the world's best ccc.

*i also might need something to do with the rest of the tomato paste. do you think finn would notice if i tried mixing it into his sippy cup with his milk?

kick it

which kicks do i need for my birfday next week? let us consider the options and come up with a winner.

i kind of dig the orange on these

these with white laces, not black

as you can see, i've at least narrowed it down to the style i want (the onitsuka tiger ultimate 81 by asics, fyi). i just cannot decide on a color. please keep in mind what a weirdo i can be about having the color of my clothes and the color of my shoes "go" together. and also that the top two are currently unavailable in my size, which means my birthday gift would be more like an anniversary gift. ready? set go!

california love

we spent last week down in mor's old stomping grounds. it was a lot of fun and just the right thing to recharge our winter-worn batteries. we ate more than our fair share of porto's (mmm...chocolate croissants, meat pies, potato balls...mmm), stuffed ourselves full of my all-time favorite roscoe's (mmm...fried chicken and waffles and the most amazing mac and cheese EVER...mmm), visited little mor's favorite pony rides, rode two different trains 3 different times, enjoyed the warm sunshine and outdoors, got accosted by potheads trying to usher us into their dispensaries in venice, froze our tootsies off attempting to have a beach day in manhattan, celebrated james' bday with a laked-out nacho party etc etc etc. now for the pics...
@ travel town

enjoying his freedom (from being held, sitting in his stroller or holding someone's hand)

"e" for every time you ask me to look at the camera i'm going to do the opposite

riding the train, ride-riding the train

tender family portrait

@ the famous phillipe's

gloria, gma zola, katie, mor, finners and yours truly 

@ manhattan beach

we stayed long enough for finn to feel the sand between his toes then skedaddled
it was FREEzing!

 @ the pasadena roscoe's

my favorite place to eat, hands down

@ the griffith park pony and train rides

(sporting his muscle beach-flexing arnold tee)
and looking adorable riding the wagon wheel ponies

making sure the saddle is on nice and tight 

day 2 @ griffith park

riding the hairiest pony known to mankind

holding on with both hands, keeping that pony in line

 @ the carousel

not a great picture of the kid, i know, but the best pic i've taken in a LONG time

 @ the la zoo

explaining the finer points of a waterfall to aunt hill

watching the ocelot with papa

brushing the goats with aunt claire 

the cute koala

tempting the silverbacks with some popcorn

he is huge!

from rachelle's pov

chugging aunt chelle's watey
it was much tastier than mom's pink lemonade

this chartreuse color was working for him
he looked so handsome and grown up

thanks for lunch, schiz!

too funny to not share

mor took this a couple weeks ago, and i've been debating since then whether i should share it here. so, here we are. (and just disregard the part where he spits out the sausage link and then shoves right back in his gob. blech!) enjoy!

suppatime! from valeri h on Vimeo.

all thanks to jimmer

living this close to my beliked alma mater, we get to see jimmer-mania firsthand. and let me tell you, i LOVE it! and he really is all "they" say he is. (those ambiguous they people again.) a while ago, some girl got a bee in her bonnet about how much attention mr fredette was getting and tried to horn in on it. so, she wrote a letter to the pape...

Letter: Idol worship

Mon, 02/07/2011 - 21:02

I can’t walk across campus without hearing Jimmer Fredette’s name a dozen times. His name comes up everywhere: in class, at work, during lunch …  really, people? Cut it out with the Jimmer worship. Last time I checked, idol worship was very much frowned upon in the scriptures.

Don’t you have a life to live? Then quit wasting it in front of the TV or in lines at the Marriott Center.

At the very least, stop trying to convert those of us who don’t follow BYU sports and don’t care that baseball and badminton are two different things. Pushing basketball on us isn’t going to make us like it any better.

I’m not blaming Jimmer for all this; was it Nephi’s fault in the Book of Mormon when his brothers worshiped him? As far as I’m concerned, Jimmer is perfectly free to live his dreams. If he reaches his goals and lives his dreams, more power to him. I would like the same courtesy from his fans: let me live my own dreams in peace, even if they don’t include ever sitting in the Marriott Center screaming my brains out.

Michelle Peralta
Apple Valley, Calif.

while this letter in and of itself is simply amazing,  it's got nothing on what happened later on facebook...

• 

• Jimmer never said it would be easy, he just said it would be worth it.
• For the record... She compared Jimmer to Nephi.... who's taking it too far??
• 
• Michelle you called the basketbal arena on BYU campus the Marriott Center but its actually been renamed The House that Jimmer Built
• 
• I noticed in your letter that you accidentally forgot to capitalize some of your pronouns when you referred to The Jimmer. I am sure that He doesn't appreciate that.
• 
• Jimmer once played Michelle in a game of Connect-4, Jimmer won of course...in 3 moves.
• Jimmer Fredette can speak French... In Russian.

not that i'm one to enjoy admitting faults (my own at least; i'm all about admitting those of others), but everyone can take things too far at times. in either/both directions. this letter and the subsequent comments are prime examples. all thanks to jimmer. love that guy.

*i do not condone any use of improper grammar. thank you.