I love you from your toes to your face

I, Melissa,

take you Casey

to be my wedded husband.

I take you for your strengths and your weaknesses.

I will laugh with you in happy times and support you in difficult times.

I will share with you the joys and the sorrows,

the challenges and the successes

which we will encounter in our lives.

I will love and honor you,

respect you, encourage you and cherish you,

all the days of my life.

Happy Anniversary.  Best.TwoYears.Ever.

Friday

So, I must admit that I didn't exactly hold up my end of the bargain.  I didn't make a whole week's worth of meals.  Instead, I copped out on Thursday and had left over chicken pasta, because A) I was tired, and B) we had a ton of it left over.  It was still yummy!

Friday
Shredded Pork Burritos

This is my newest, easiest, ingenious-est recipe!  It's a little sad how easy it is to make, but absolutely de-lish nonetheless!  Throw it in the crock pot in the morning and forget it!

1lb pork shoulder ribs (roughly 3 individual ribs)
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 8oz jar salsa verde (I used the Archer's Farm brand from Target because it was on sale - worked like a charm)
2 anaheim chiles, sliced and seeded to desired spiciness (or a small jar of jalepenos would work here too)

1. Spray bottom of slow cooker lightly with olive oil.  Layer onions on bottom of crockpot, followed by pork shoulder.
2.  Add salsa verde and chiles/jalepenos.  Cook on low approx 8 hours. 
3. WALK AWAY smiling to come back to a deliciously scented house!  Shred and serve in tortillas with any combination of the following: cheese, sour cream, avocado, beans, rice, tomatos or other desired fixins.  YUM!

*No picture was taken of tonight's meal, as it simply disappeared too quickly!

Turns out, I AM creative!

Every year, I get ridiculously excited for the holidays.  My favorite is Halloween.  Well, at least that's what I say each year until the day after Thanksgiving, when Christmas officially becomes my favorite. 

As a devout reader of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, I look forward to their daily e-mail segment entitled "100 Days of Holidays" which starts on September 24th.  Each day is a little like Christmas as I eagerly open my e-mail to see what wonderful, creative and clever holiday inspiration awaits me. 

Today's e-mail was titled "Inspiring Ideas from Readers."  I love the reader-inspired photos.  I always marvel at how clever and creative people are in the vignettes they put together for the holidays.  I always sigh and wish that somehow I could put something that creative and clever together.  Whatever is in their water, I want some!

I clicked the link, and shuffled through a few good ideas before finding one that looked vaugely familiar.  (See page 11!) 

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/?sssdmh=dm17.470500&day=06&esrc=nw100d1_11_6&email=469024886

Perhaps, because it is this photo:


Halloween 2008

 My photo!

Better Homes and Gardens published MY photo!!!!!!  I didn't even know my pics were in the running!  I thought I was just posting on a blog to share and get feedback, mostly so I can improve, since I don't consider myself either clever or creative.

I have to say, I feel rather pleased.  It was a very unexpected and pleasant surprise to be a part of the publication I idolize.  And it makes me that much more excited for this, my favorite!, time of year. 

Wednesday

Ahh, Wednesday.  Monday and Tuesday over, that much closer to the weekend...

Must be time for something with a little kick.

Chicken Fajitas
This is actually my mom's recipe, which I tried when Leah and I visited her over the summer.  They are fantastic, and surprisingly easy to prepare.

2 chicken breasts
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper (I used a yellow instead, since we had one from the farmers' market last weekend)
1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced
1 package McCormick Mesquite marinade prepared according to package directions
3-4 Tortillas
Cheese, sour cream, avocado as desired

1. Chop vegetables and chicken, keeping the two separate.  Add 2/3 marinade divided equally between vegetables and chicken.  Refrigerate for approx. 1/2-1 hour.
2. Cook chicken to near done, then add vegetables.  Cook a few additional minutes until vegetables are soft and chicken is cooked through.  Add remaining 1/3 marinade as mixture finishes cooking.
3. Meanwhile, heat tortillas between wet paper towels 45 seconds in the microwave.  Dish up!  Add cheese, sour cream, and avocado to fajita as desired.

Serve with Cheater Weeknight Mexican Rice - add 1/4 c. salsa, 2 tspn cayanne pepper, and 1 tspn cumin to prepared brown rice. 

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday

Tuesday brings...

Brown-Butter Tortellini

(It tastes better than it sounds!)  I've done the brown butter sauce before, but never with this particular combination.  It was very tasty... particularly the mushrooms!  I wanted the little mini-mushrooms (which probably have a name, but I don't know it).  I settled for large chopped mushrooms instead, because they were much less expensive. 

1 stick butter

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

8 oz cheese tortellini
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
2 c. chopped mushrooms
1 tspn crushed red pepper
1/2 tspn Italian seasoning
1/2 c. shredded parmesean cheese

1.  Cook tortellini to al dente (about 5 min).  In wok or large pan, heat butter over medium until it bubbles and burns, becoming slightly brown.  Remove from heat and add balsamic vinegar.
2.  Add pasta and vegetables to sauce.  Toss well to coat and cover. 

3. Allow pasta and sit over low heat approximately 10 minutes or until zucchini is soft.  Stir occasionally.  Add desired parmesean cheese while hot.

Served with: caesar salad and garlic bread.  Cut the mushrooms, and Casey had 3 servings!

A Week of Meals

First, I was pregnant, and handling food wasn't my favorite pass time.

Then, I was a brand new mother with a brand new baby and practically no sleep.

Whatever the cause, the bottom line is that I haven't exactly been much for cooking in recent... er... months. 

It's true: I've been in a rut.  Which is sad, seeing as I usually really like to cook.  As I've come back into preparing meals since Leah was born, I've been stuck in a Groundhog's Day of recipes that just get used again and again. 

So, I've decided to venture out of my cooking comfort zone and try a few things. 

Every night this week, I'm going to try a new (or newish) recipe.  YUM!

MONDAY
Out of character for me, I found this recipe on the Better Homes and Gardens website.  Typically, I tend to invent my own recipes and work them over until they're perfect - for my tastes, anyway.  But I made this tonight without modifying (much) and it turned out quite well!

2 chicken breasts, chopped and cooked
8 oz rotini pasta, cooked and drained
1 1/4 C. milk
2 eggs
6 oz can artichoke hearts
2 C. frozen spinach
2 C. cheese (I used Mexican blend because that's what I had on hand, even though the recipe calls for Monterey Jack)
1 TBSP melted butter
1 1/2 C. panko breadcrumbs
1/2 C. parmesean cheese
Garlic salt, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, paprika

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook pasta and add spinach; cook chicken using desired spices.
2. In large bowl, whisk together milk and eggs.  Drain pasta and add.  Add chicken, artichoke hearts and cheese.  Season as desired.  Pour into greased 13x9 baking dish.  Cover, bake 20 minutes.
3. In small bowl, combine melted butter, breadcrumbs, paprika and parmesean cheese.  Top chicken mix with breadcrumbs and bake uncovered additional 10 minutes.

Served with: broccoli and garlic bread.
Not bad for a Monday evening.  Enjoy!

Don't be judgin'

I am not a "teen" literature fan.

Okay, so I may have dabbled in it from time to time, but I read Michael Crichton when I was in 5th grade.  I read The Tempest at 12 and The Illiad at 15 (or I tried, anyway.  That counts). 

Yes, I may have read the Twilight series like 10 times
. 
Sure, I've read Harry Potter so often that I can recite much of books 1-4, as we discovered when Casey began reading them outloud to our daughter.

Oh, and yes, I chose Harry Potter to read to my unborn/newborn child. 

That doesn't prove anything.  I still don't like teen fiction. 

But I love the latest book I'm reading:

It's awesome!  Where was this book when I was nursing and up all night?  Where was this book when I couldn't sleep the first three, four, five months of Leah's life?!  I had all those hours in the middle of the night, and I wasted them worrying, when I could have been reading! 

Now, Leah is FINALLY sleeping through the night, and I can't go to bed because I'm too enthralled by what is happening in this stupid book!!!

Oh, and of course, it's teen fiction.  I mentioned that I love teen fiction, right?