Who knew?

I made polenta – from scratch – for the first time ever tonight.

Actually, that’s not true.  I made it one other time, a dinner that is frequently referred to by Chris as the “Rosemary Incident of ’05.”  Let’s just say that rosemary is potent.  A little goes a long way.

This time, I went the basil route and made some to go along with fish:

It was so easy, I was really surprised. It seems intimidating for some reason.  I used this brand, and basically added a bunch of basil to the recipe on the package: 1/2 cup corn meal, 1.5 cups vegetable stock, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and three tablespoons parmesan cheese.  I didn’t halve the parmesan cheese.  That would be stupid.

And then the other great discovery of the night was Trader Joe’s bruschetta:

Chris wasn’t with me at the grocery store this weekend, and let’s just say there were a few impulse buys. Maybe more than a few.  This was one of them, and it’s a keeper.  I had a couple tastes straight from the jar, even.  Then I mixed about 1/2 cup with a bag of baby spinach and put it over the fish, which was just baked for about ten minutes or so.

I can’t wait to use the rest of the bag of polenta.  Anyone want to hook me up with a recipe?

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Protein swap

I switched up one of my favorite recipes tonight to include shrimp instead of tofu:

I also omitted the enormous handful of breadcrumbs that I usually throw on top. Because I didn’t have to coat the tofu in them, I couldn’t justify it.  I did miss them, though.  A lot.

Other than that, I used:

1 bag baby spinach

8 ounces of shrimp

2 scallions

1 T olive oil

4 ounces soba noodles

6 or 7 chopped up almonds

A ton of garlic powder

Cook the shrimp, cook the noodles, cook the spinach, then mix it all together with the olive oil, garlic powder, scallions and almonds.  Done.

This afternoon I had popcorn and chocolate chips as a snack again.  This is one of those things that I can just tell I am going to eat over and over again.  In fact, it might replace Z Bars if I don’t need something portable.  We’ll see.  It kind of tastes the same.

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I need a miracle

I made this for dinner again, except this time I kind of forgot to look at the recipe halfway through and just started throwing things together.  I have a bad habit of doing that, but it turned out fine:

Once again, I would like to tell you that I am in love with these bread crumbs.  So in love, in fact, that I ate some with a spoon while I was performing the necessary dredging of the tofu.  My only complaint is that they’re not whole wheat.

Now I’m drinking wine in celebration of Obama and the fact that tomorrow is Jack’s birthday!  He’ll be one.  I imagine that at midnight, this strange sense of calm will come over him and he’ll no longer be interested in chewing up my flip flops and peeing when he gets excited.

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I give you knowledge

I needed another snack before dinner (cookies = not filling) so I had a box of mini raisins with about a teaspoon or so of peanut butter:

Do you think they make little mini boxes of figs? Because that would be way cool. Except I figured out that the boxes aren’t really sealed up (they came in a six pack) so, um, someone might find that their box is a few raisins short. You can’t tell, though, I promise. I’m totally sneaky like that.

Anyway, dinner was fish, potatoes and spinach:

Just like last time. Now I am going to give you some useful information. Are you ready?

Purple potatoes have antioxidants just like blueberries. I know this is true, because the World’s Healthiest Foods says so:

“The differences in color between varieties of potatoes are basically differences in carotenoid and flavonoid content. Virtually all types of potatoes provide significant amounts of approximately 7-10 nutrients. While Americans are used to potatoes with a white inside, potatoes in other parts of the world more commonly have starchy yellow insides. We call these potatoes with yellow insides “specialty potatoes” however worldwide they are the norm rather than the exception.

All colorful potatoes provide carotenoids (and some provide flavonoids as well) that white potatoes do not. Carotenoids and flavonoids are pigments, and according to nutritional research, they provide us with many health benefits, including cancer protection. For example, the darker the starchy yellow inside of a yellow potato the greater quantities of carotenoid, including beta-carotene, and in some cases, lutein that are present. The blue in blue potatoes comes from their flavonoid content. Both the flavonoids found in blue potatoes and the carotinoids found in yellow potatoes help promote good health!”

I buy my potatoes in a mixed bag, but I picked out all of the purple ones for this dinner because we are going to another wedding this weekend and I want to feel my best so that I can consume maximum amounts of wine.

That’s also why I had another cookie.

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I love The Office.

Best. Show. Ever.  Jim and Pam make my heart flutter.

Anyway.  Tonight’s dinner was so good, I was compelled to proclaim to Chris that I was “becoming quite the gourmet.”

Unfortunately, I really shouldn’t take the credit.  Don’t get me wrong – I still will – but I actually followed this recipe from Eating Well almost exactly, cutting it down a little (I’m not sure I cut it in half because I don’t weigh things, but I definitely used less fish, less potatoes and only a tablespoon of olive oil).

It was really tasty.  Oh, and those fancy purple potatoes?  All my idea.  Spinach too.  Gourmet, I tell you.

Now I’m drinking a glass of wine, which I would show you, but I took the picture sideways and I can’t get the damn photo to flip around for some reason and I might, might, flip out if I keep trying.

Also, just a little taste of what I deal with on a day to day basis:

Please ignore my blue sweatpants, or what I like to call my “everyday pants.”  I have a sneaking suspicion that my neighbors all call them that, too.

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Desperate times…

I offered Chris the last Skinny Cow bar after dinner tonight because I ate the rest am selfless.  Then, I rummaged around in the back of the freezer, eyes closed, a prayer on my lips, and unearthed this:

Which I then ate.  I don’t even want to know what they put in these to make them all gummy and gross, but that’s what they are. I am sure the fact that this bar has been in our freezer for months and was covered in a nice layer of burn was a contributor to its lovely taste and texture as well.

Anyway, rewinding to dinner, we had eggplant and FLAX parmesan, spinach, and a little focaccia that I picked up at the store earlier.  I went in for a banana.  I don’t know how this happens to me, but I’m glad it did, because garlic bread makes me happy.

There is cheese under that sauce, don’t you worry.  I make a lazy version – the recipe is here.  Don’t forget to add flax to the bread crumbs!

Earlier, before dinner, I had some hummus and crackers:

And that’s that.  I’m going away for the weekend starting tomorrow, back on Sunday night.

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Swordfish success

So I ended up halving this recipe to make the swordfish, and it turned out pretty well:

Would you even believe me if I told you that I only set off the smoke detector four times making those grill marks? I know what you’re thinking – “What grill marks?” – but you have to look really hard. You’ll find them, I promise, you just have to put a little effort into it.

We’re also having wine, of course, because it’s Thursday. And I’m having chocolate because, well, it tastes good.

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