For our three year anniversary, Cale and I decided it might be nice to cook dinner together. This might sound pathetic to some, but considering how often we go out to eat or just throw something quick together for dinner, the thought of planning and executing a dinner seemed like a “fancy” idea. We actually do well when we cook together, and we only step on each other’s toes every once and a while.

When thinking of what we wanted to make, all I could think about was Spinach and Artichoke dip. Well, that certainly does not count as a meal. So I hit up Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen for some “spinach and artichoke” searches. During which I found a spinach and artichoke pasta. Perfect! Except for when I read one word: mayonnaise. Mayo in pasta? Gross. (I’m not a fan of mayo in general.. except for certain occasions: egg/macaroni/pasta salads and only sparingly). So I did a search for alfredo sauce and decided to make a hybrid of the two recipes.

Spinach, Artichoke, and ALFREDO (not mayo!) Pasta

Los Ingredients

• 1 pound Small Pasta (we used whole wheat rotini)
• ½ cups Butter
• 1 whole Small Onion (or 1/2 Medium), Diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
• ½ teaspoons Onion Powder
• 1 cup Milk
• ¼ cups Flour
• ¾ cups Parmesan Cheese
• 6 ounces, weight Fontina Cheese, Shredded
• 1 Tablespoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 6-ounce jars of Artichoke Hearts, Chopped
• Several handfuls of fresh Chopped Spinach (be liberal since this cooks down)

How to Cook (I had a glass of wine at this point.. so it might not be exact)

Boil pasta in heavily salted water until al dente.

While that’s going: Melt butter over low heat. Add onions, garlic, garlic powder, onion powder and stir well. Cook until translucent, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Gradually blend in milk, stirring constantly. Add flour and stir until it thickens. Stir in Parmesan and Fontina cheeses, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste, and stir until cheese has melted. Once the cheese becomes melted and creamy, add the spinach and artichokes and mix well. Let this simmer a minute until spinach cooks. Once pasta is ready, add to sauce and mix until pasta is coated. Serve and enjoy!

We sat down with this and could not get over how good a job we did! Luckily we had plenty of leftovers for the next day’s lunch (served cold it was still so yummy) and the follow day’s dinner (warm round 2!).

I’m now obsessed with artichoke hearts, so please share any favorite artichoke recipes!

In case you missed it yesterday, I’m hosting a raffle: BLOGGERS HEART BOOBIES!. Please go and check it out! I have plenty of prizes to give away!

Because yeah.

Sadly I don’t have all that much to update about my life. We’ve been enjoying the day to day… working towards cooking at home more often, trying to find the motivation to exercise, playing with the dogs. Oh and watching Big Love during any free minute we have. We’re in the middle of season two; it’s so addicting! I can’t believe we waited this long to start watching it.

Last night, Cale decided he wanted to finally make some cupcakes with the rainbow chip icing we had purchased about a month ago. Which is an amazing feat in itself; that frosting lasted an entire month without getting eaten straight out of the can. And since he’s such a wonderful husband (or since I’m such a horrible cook and lazy wife who was busy doing the laundry), he grabbed the mixer and took it upon himself to make them.

So if you would like a cupcake, please come! We have about a million, and I really don’t want to eat them all.

Sidenote: I’ve been using the hipstamatic app on my iphone to randomly document my day to day life and have been posting every so often at stephcorwin.com since it’s just so easy! If you haven’t been following over there, I think I’ll maintain the format that longer posts will be here and random snippets will be there.

Perfectly harmless right? Well this weekend, my husband was about ready to ban me from the blogging world. All because of a few innocent little curtain rods that needed .5 billion screws. Should I start from the beginning?

Kerri posted her curtains on flickr. Not that I’m blaming her at all. Her beautiful new dining room just reminded me of all our plain windows. It was like Kerri had these pretty frosted cupcakes, and I was sitting there with this muffin. A muffin is delicious, don’t get me wrong. But a cupcake with pretty frosting (funfetti perhaps?) is always better.

So I discussed my plans with Cale; we’ll rearrange the bedroom, which is something we’d been talking about doing for months now. Then we would hang curtains on our windows, centering one big set of curtains behind the bed. He thought it would be a great idea, so off I went skipping to Target, where I cursed Target for being remarkably un-cute. I ultimately found my super adorable curtains at World Market (as if I wasn’t copying Kerri enough!). I came home feeling inspired and charged with this decorative electricity. There was no stopping me. I rearranged the entire room just in time for Cale to come home for his job: the curtain rods. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve hung many a curtain rod in my day. I’m all for feminine empowerment, but did you just read that last sentence? I rearranged the entire room, which included vacuuming under the bed, reorganizing under the bed, moving the freakin’ bed. I was tired.

Let’s just cut this short and say: Cale did not appreciate hanging the curtain rods and has requested that any future blogger projects not include screws, unless you plan on buying him a drill.

Are we understood blogging world? Because I love you too much, and I believe somewhere in my contract that I signed for Cale to hang the curtains included a clause that requires me to disclose that information. No more screws. Got it?

the new bedroom. Please ignore Cale’s messy nightstand, it’s now clean.

new bedroom #2

As with any furniture rearrangement, we’re convinced that it’s so much bigger now, etc. etc. But I really believe it compared to the old bedroom. So yay for successful attempts at maximizing the space in our itty bitty one bedroom cottage.

Our bathroom also got a little sprucing up.

How about a new curtain made out of World Market napkins

And yay for finding a great painting under your bed while you’re cleaning it out!

In a very desperate attempt to get my husband to forgive me after the curtain rod debacle, I made hand squeezed orange juice and french toast the next morning.

A feat easier said than done

French toast a la Alton Brown with a few modifications: super hearty whole wheat bread, substituted soy milk, and added some cinnamon

Okay he’s pretty darn cute. Whatever. As long as he doesn’t get cat hair anywhere near my french toast, he’s safe.

So our weekend started out insanely uneventful, but really was pretty sweet. How was yours? What aspects of the blogging world have permeated your life, and even, maybe, your marriage?

So to answer this one very last time: name a vegetable. any vegetable. I eat it. Same with fruits. Add to that beans, nuts, tofu, pasta, rice, bread, eggs, cheese, soy milk, etc. etc. Anything that does not involve killing an animal. I eat it. I’d love to be able to give up dairy and eggs, but haven’t found (or sought out, okay I’m lazy) any suitable replacements as of yet.

Does it sound utterly torturous? Gosh I know right?

Let me brighten your Friday and make you drool a little.

How about some homemade pizza on Trader Joes Garlic Herb pizza dough. With asparagus, onions, olives, and mushrooms

The next night, take the veggies you have left, add some red bell pepper and sauté them.

Then make tacos using Trader Joes chicken-less fajitas, TJs wheat tortillas, lettuce and cheese.

The next night, make a batch of Chipotle rice (recipe to follow)

and add you leftovers from the night before (including the chicken-less fajitas), plus some guac. A burrito bol at home!

Lately I’ve been pretty pleased with the amount of time I’ve been able to spend in the kitchen. It seems the more I cook, the less overwhelmed I get. I’ve definitely been busy, and I’m branching out from my standard, sauteed zucchini, onions, and mushrooms with pasta. I’m trying out new combinations, making things that require more than one pan! (crazy I know. You would understand this if you did not have a dishwasher. Well or if your dishwasher’s name was Cale). And I actually enjoy it! It’s nice to eat something different. And this week I did a little celebration dance because we managed to use all our vegetables before they went bad. Score!

Also since a couple of you requested the Cilantro rice recipe from Chipotle, Cale and I again adapted Chipotlefan’s rice recipe (seriously for a fan site, they kind of get most of it wrong) to better match how they actually cook the rice at Chipotle.

Chipotle’s Cilantro Rice

1. Cook 1 cup of white basmati rice with two bay leaves in either a rice cooker or a pot with the appropriate amount of water. Our rice cooker has measurements on the side for how much water you should add, so I’m not quite sure what it would be in a pot.
2. Once the rice is done, take out the bay leaves and throw them away. This just adds flavor while the rice is cooking, but you do not eat bay leaves.
3. Mix into the rice the following: 3 tsp. finely chopped cilantro, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, and the juice from 1/2 lemon. Mix well and let sit for a few minutes so that the flavors can meld.

And that, my friends, is it! You can adjust the salt to your personal tastes. I thought it was too salty; Cale thought it was not enough. But then again, I think the rice at Chipotle is too salty as well. So I guess I’m just crazy. edit: oh and just an FYI. Chipotle uses a bottle of mixed lemon/lime juice, but it’s mostly lemon juice. If you want you can add some lime juice as well.

I’m super excited because this weekend I’m gonna be on a boat with Alyssa, Jimaie, Morgan, Sarah, and Cait for Alyssa’s and Jimaie’s birthdays! Hooray for birthdays and boats! What are your plans this weekend?

So when I saw that cheesy, corn chip mess in a bowl, I had to have it. Luckily my husband is always up for unhealthy meals. I was convinced that there had to be a new way to create a frito boat. So I googled and, indeed, many people have had the same ideas. So I present: Frito Boat Casserole.

Step one: Fritos!

We layered in vegetarian chili, corn, chopped onions, chopped olives, and shredded some cheddar cheese on top. Put it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Easy meal when you’re craving something entirely unhealthy.

yummmm

It’s also great with guacamole. Cale worked at Chipotle for a few years back in the day. So finally I had to insist he make me some of that guacamole goodness. This is a serious treat. The best ever.

avocados. I could eat a spoonful of that.

• 2 Hass Avocados (Cale and I would add an extra avocado the next time we make it)
• 1/2 of a Jalapeno pepper, seeded, and minced
• 1/4 of a red onion, finely chopped
• 2 heaping Tablespoons of Cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/4 of a lemon, juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Combine all of the ingredients into a bowl, and mash together until smooth. Add additional lemon juice or salt to taste. For extra spicy guacamole, you can leave in the jalepeno seeds! (Credit: Chipotlefan, with some corrections)

Guacamole. Which belongs on everything, I think.

There’s a little peak at what we’ve been eating. I still rarely make appearances in the kitchen. Being a vegetarian has forced me be a little more creative in adding vegetables into meals. And really, my creativity has sort of reached a plateau. I need to get out my cookbooks and work with them more, but the effort of listing ingredients, going to the store to get said ingredients, and actually making the meals with these ingredients, really exhausts me with just the thought. Until then, I’ll just settle for sauteed vegetables because really, it doesn’t get much better than that when you’re hungry and tired.

There are a million things I want to do now that I think I’m finally over this illness. Thursday I got myself to the doctor, and with the diagnosis of bronchitis and a sinus infection, took my last day of antibiotics today. I’m still weaker than I’d like to be, but I’m hoping that with getting back to work tomorrow and forcing myself to get back into the routine of everyday life, I can start back up with cooking and exercising. This illness must have messed with my brain because I actually told Cale that I miss the gym. Me! I miss going to the gym. Hah. Then we can finally make our long-awaited trip to meet the little brother and sister this up-coming weekend. I’m sure I needed the extra rest, so the timing of getting sick worked out alright. But I’m ready to be better and back as an active participant in my life. It’s hard being at home, needing to rest, when really all you want to do is get out the mop and clean. Spending 24 hours a day in the house really shows you how dirty it is.

Flippin’ Fitness Winner: Congrats Sensibly Sassy! After setting up everyone with their scores in excel, Sarah was the random winner! Looks like her 30 days of exercise definitely helped her odds. Good job!

The Bad:

1. Safeway does not carry Quinoa. The main part of my recipe.
2. The bitchy checkout clerk who reassured me many many times that I grabbed watercress and not mint. Okay I get it! It was labeled wrong and I don’t know my herbs. Stop lecturing me!
3. Our knives are dull.
4. Knocking an open bottle of soy sauce into your silverware drawer makes a mess.
5. I cannot cook without drinking a beer to calm my nerves. This is a fact.

The Good:

1. Luckily Trader Joes was nearby to save the day with their Organic Quinoa.
2. Trader Joes’s mint was clearly labeled. Saving the day again.
3. Dull knives may be the only reason why I still have fingertips right now.
4. Our silverware holder is now clean thanks to my husband who cleaned out the soy sauce.
5. I had a nice buzz going on by the time the food was ready.

But you know what.. it turned out good! Like WOW good. Like this actually has flavor, and I would eat this again good. I’ll definitely have to try more things out of the cookbook. Especially since my stomach has decided it no longer would like me to eat cheese. Last night’s grilled cheese from In N Out about killed me. Why?? Why Stomach Why??!

Do any of you have amazing Vegan recipes you are hiding from me?

Sidenote: Umm a thousand thanks for the compliments in my last post. I think I will have to have that post in my favorites and any time I feel in a poopy mood, just reread all your lovely comments. You guys are the sweetest. times a billion.

This pizza was quite a bit of work, though it was all brought on by myself and my ineptness in the kitchen. We got the pizza dough, pizza sauce, cheese, onions, mushrooms, sliced olives, and zucchini all ready. The pizza dough was ready-made by Trader Joes. As was the pizza sauce. The olives came sliced. Cale prepped the rest. We got the pizza stone all heated up in the oven, following the instructions to a tee.

Then it was my turn. I stretched out the pizza dough, but realized that we had no flour. Sticky sticky mess. So I figured alright let’s just get this thing over with. I flopped it onto the stone where it quickly started cooking and putting even more pressure on me. Then the beginning of the chaos: What?! Since when do we not have a rolling pin?! Panicky, I grabbed two wooden spoons and in true Stephanie-fashion, used the spoons in an attempt to stretch the dough out into a somewhat flat surface.

Thank goodness we do not own a video camera.

There may have been some frantic words said, orders given, and Cale was then in the car to the in-laws with a mission to find a rolling pin. There really are perks to living two streets down from people who actually use their kitchen. Though a few seconds after he left I took a few breaths and got the dough into a workable shape. I quickly slathered on the sauce and tossed the toppings on the pizza before closing the oven door. Which is good because ten minutes later, Cale came back with no rolling pin. Disaster averted.

Until two minutes before the pizza was done I realized we didn’t have a metal spatula. Only two plastic ones, and never again will I make the plastic in the oven mistake again (Mom you can stop laughing now. Though did your oven ever stop smelling like plastic?). So Cale headed back over to his mom’s to bring back a metal, non-meltable spatula. We got the pizza out, sliced it, and enjoyed!

Just fifteen minutes in the oven and viola! quick and easy pizza!

Hah!

The arsenal of ingredients

The not-so-perfect circle of dough, but plenty of cheesy goodness. Though the funniest part of this is all the utensils on the side, haha. I’m such a pro. Scissors.

Still tasted so great

Me in my smokey kitchen and my much-deserved Heineken

Of course after we were finished, we had a ton of leftover vegetables. So the next morning, I decided to conquer the kitchen once more and use up all my leftovers. This was actually pretty good! My first quiche, though it may be considered cheating since I used bisquick, but it was good enough for me.

A pretty darn good breakfast.

BISQUICK QUICHE

• 1-2 c. fillings of your choice (example broccoli, mushrooms, etc.)
• 1 c. shredded cheese
• 1/4 c. chopped onion
• 2 c. milk
• 1 c. Bisquick
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease 10″ pie plate or 8″ square.
3. Sprinkle fillings, onions and cheese in plate.
4. Beat remaining ingredients until smooth and pour into plate.
5. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean.
6. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

So, uh, how was your weekend?

I know I know. Who AM I? Trying to conserve. Not eating animals. What a crazy hippie.

Though I know what you’re really thinking: WHAT AM I GOING TO EAT FOR THANKSGIVING?

Umm lots of things. Just not the meat, which no offense to anyone who has ever prepared a Thanksgiving turkey that I’ve eaten, but half the time it is my least favorite item on the Thanksgiving table. Ugh or actually giblet gravy is. Turkey is a close second. But I am still super excited for Thanksgiving. I hear that Talia is making homemade cranberry sauce. So I think I might just steal the bowl and eat that by the spoonful.

Anyways, I had to blog about the super yummy dinner Cale and I had after we got home from the gym. Let me show you the inspiration:

Vegan Dad is one of my new favorite blogs. Not that I’m vegan (yet), but there is always a ton of super yummy healthy eats just waiting to make me drool.

Now I’m not going to lie… our chili was not homemade, unless you count heating up a can of Trader Joes Vegetarian chili as homemade. And our buns were the whole wheat ones from Trader Joes. But we sliced some red onion to accompany our chili. And topped with finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Like I said, I’m not ready to go vegan.

Why go veggie? Well I haven’t eaten beef for years. I actually physically can’t unless I want to be sick for the rest of the day. And I was like hmmmm if something that I’m eating is making me sick, then I probably shouldn’t eat it. My main reasoning is not just because of the fact that meat comes from animals, but mainly for health reasons. Ashley provides some great reasoning for why veggie is best. Not that I’m trying to sway you. Cale isn’t even on board.. his hot dogs were your manly-man beef grilling hot dogs. I’m really trying not to be the high-maintenance vegetarian. I’ll bring my own food if need be. Or just eat side dishes. I know that most other people like their meat. Luckily for me, I’m not very picky in the non-meat department, so I’m not very limited with regards to other foods.

It’s been about a month so far. The only meat I’ve eaten is sushi once or twice (I just can’t quite say no to that. And I’m okay with that. I’m not out to be perfect here.) Do I miss it? Not at all. I would much rather have a sandwich full of vegetables than meat. Am I out to lose weight? No, again, not my goal. Am I malnourished? No. I take my vitamins, and I generally eat well-balanced meals.

In the words of Joey Tribbiani: “Absolutely! I could be a vegetarian. There’s no meat in beer, right?”