Success

My idea was a success.  I HIGHLY suggest buying the butternut squash pasta sauce at Costco, it will NOT disappoint.  It is to die for.  I topped off our four cheese ravioli with the sauce, followed by sauteed portabello mushrooms and a sprinkle of Parmesan/Romano. I felt like we went out to a fancy dinner last night! The best part, Brent loved it! I was a bit apprehensive of how he would take to it, but I look over after I was two bites in and half his dinner was gone. That's always a good sign!  Hope everyone has a great weekend, relax and stay warm!

My dinner idea

 

Tonight I am going to try out a new sauce I found at Costco yesterday! It's a butternut squash pasta sauce. It sounds amazing, I will make sure to report back on how it tastes.  I'm planning on pouring it over Four Cheese Ravioli's, topping it off with sauteed Portabello mushrooms.  Good thing it's cardio night at the gym!

Fog.

Quick piece of advice for all of you.  Be extremely careful while backing out of your drive way in the fog. I happened to back into a car behind me this morning. It wasn't fun. We were both ok, there is some damage, but still sucky nonetheless. So, BE CAREFUL IN THE FOG. White cars are camouflaged when the fog is also thick and white-ish. 

On a happier note, yesterday was the beginning of the red cup season at Starbucks.  The red cups are one of my favorite things about the holiday season. They're so bright and cheery, filled with warm yummy goodness. 

 I also have another recipe idea.  It's quick, easy, and very delicious! Home made pizza, minus making the crust. You can use any toppings you want.  We didn't have a lot on hand, so I just mimicked the Italian Margarita pizza. 

Ingredients:

-Naan (Indian flat bread)-It's the perfect size for individual pizzas, it's already baked, and you can find them in many different flavors that add an extra zing to your dish. 
-Pizza sauce (I made my own, but almost all grocery stores have pre-made sauce in a can) 
-Mozzarella (I buy the kind from Costco made in logs, it's easy to cut)
-Roma tomatoes
-basil leaves
-shaved parmesan/romano
-cracked black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350. In the mean time I heat up the sauce on the stove, cut up the mozzarella and tomatoes, and pick my basil.  Put your Naan on a cookie sheet, add your pizza sauce and start layering.  All I added this time was slices of mozzarella, tomato, and basil on top. Then, sprinkled some shaved Parmesan/Romano and black cracked pepper on top.  Baked the mini pizzas for 10 minutes and ta-da!  


This is the pizza prior to it baking...it was delicious and full of flavor! Enjoy!

Go Green and Buy Shoes.

Happy Friday!!! Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday, I sure am.  I've been on the hunt for new cream or light pink flats and finally bought some today!!! Kelly found them and thought of me, (she knows I've been on the lookout) it was perfect timing.  Look to left, there are my new beauties. Sigh...there is just SOMETHING about shoes that make me so dang happy. 

Next on the list....I made/created a burrito inspired veggie bowl.  It turned out fantastic, that is...if you like veggies, you will love this.


Ingredients: 

1 red potato (mind you, this was for one person, make 2 potatoes if there are 2 people etc)
1 zuchinni (1 diced tomato--I forgot, it was late, I was hungry)
1 head of broccoli
7 asparagus
1 slice of mozzarella roll
1/2 avocado
3 tablespoons of  Verde salsa
sprinkle of Parmesan

Saute all your greens together with a bit of olive oil in the pan. Let those cook down while you slice up your avocado, mozzarella, and red potato. Make sure to microwave your potato for 1-2 mins prior to slicing it.  Once sliced, put a little bit of VEGETABLE oil in a pan, sprinkle with black pepper, and cook your red potato.  Do NOT mix up vegetable oil with olive oil, you do not want slimy potatoes. I've done this, it tastes terrible to mix them up.  

Once everything is sauteed and cooked, toss them in a bowl, put a bit of Parmesan on top for a little zing of flavor, and use a hefty amount of Verde salsa. It gives it a great kick. It was a delicious veggie filled burrito bowl.  I would definitely add some black beans next time, but all of the veggies hit the spot, I think I needed a vitamin boost.

Stuffed Peppers

Recipe time! The vegetarian cuisine has been going pretty good, and my recipe list is growing.  Many thanks to my friends for sending me ideas, I very much appreciate it! If you think of any more yummy vegetarian dinner recipes send them my way! 

Stuffed Peppers

Kelly gave me a great recipe, Healthy Stuffed Peppers.Click on the link and check out her recipe and her blog! I added a few extras to my peppers because I made my sans meat.  I made to sure to include a little more corn/black beans, and a few cubes of avocado in the mix.  I served them with a side of diced tomatoes and sour cream.

My first 24 hours.

I made it through the first day without any hiccups! Yesterday was my first complete day EVER eating 100% vegetarian. Breakfast and lunch were easy, it was dinner that challenged me. My main concern is that I won't find enough foods to fix that are filling enough to be a dinner dish. Thank GOODNESS for Kelly and her vegetarian cook books! Last night we had Huevos Rancheros, which is actually one of Brent's favorites. This was his portion...I didn't overload mine with avocado...boys. I highly reccomend this dish.  

-You only need: tortillas (optional) black beans (add cumin and pepper), 2 over easy eggs per serving, salsa ( I use verde and southwest) sour cream (optional) light sprinkle of grated cheese, avocado if you have it! Voila! You only need one helping because it's extremely filling.

I'm not sure where tonight's dinner will lead me...but I have some GREAT ideas thanks to my friends that are full ideas. Thank you much! Any idea is welcome, please send them my way!!!

Vegetarian Challenge!

Here goes nothing friends.  Starting TODAY, 10-10-11, Brent and I are challenging ourselves to eat vegetarian for a month and 22 days (up until the day we leave for Maui). I'm being completely honest...I'm extremely nervous about trying this.  I'm not trying to sound creepy or weird, but I LOVE meat....odd I know. I think the challenge will be much more tough for me than Brent.  BUT, we will see.  I will definitely keep you updated on my progress/challenges. Friends, please please please send recipes if you have yummy ones!!! I need, and would love any and all vegetarian recipes!