Dinners This Week

I am trying this new thing where I don’t post two food photos in a row on Instagram.  Partly as a challenge to myself to capture other parts of my life and partly because I don’t want to be that person.  Though I’m pretty sure posting as often as I do already makes me that person.  Oh well!  But that doesn’t mean I didn’t take any food pictures this week, just that I didn’t post them all.  Till now, because I’m about to share all our dinners from this past week.  Pretend you care, okay?

Sunday: Radicchio, Fennel & Olive Panzanella

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Here’s the thing.  Loved everything about this except the radicchio.  In fact, it is at this point in life that I’m comfortable saying I don’t need to eat radicchio ever again.  But I would (and will) totally make this again with another leafy base, like arugula.  We made croutons by toasting chunks of French bread tossed with olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper and we could not get over how good they were.  Gimme a bowl of just those croutons, please!

Monday: Mustard-Glazed Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

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Cooking Light did this new thing where they gave a “master recipe” that made a TON of roasted veggies, then two recipes that made use of those veggie leftovers.  GENIUS!  Sadly, this chicken recipe didn’t really wow me.  It was good (but what isn’t good when it’s coated in mustard sauce?!), but not great and I felt like something was missing… like cheese or something rich.

Tuesday: Roasted Vegetable Soup + Goat Cheese Toasts

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Two thumbs up for this being the easiest recipe ever.  Since the veggies were already roasted, all we had to do was combine it with chicken stock and some spices, then puree and top with crumbled bacon and chopped parsley.  Again though, good not great.  We felt like the soup itself was missing something.  Luckily, the bacon saved the day.  The goat cheese toasts were simple and probably didn’t require a recipe but you know, you had me at goat cheese.

Wednesday: Denver Deep Dish

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Serious Question: How often do you go out to eat?  We probably eat out three times a week and sometimes I feel like that’s a lot and other times (like after I read this column), I feel like that’s pretty good.  The pizza place down the street just started doing Wednesday night trivia and this makes my heart so happy.  It was tough but we came in second.  And this personal deep dish spinach and sausage pizza is always a winner.

Thursday: Egg Sandwich + Sliced Radishes & Flaky Salt

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Okay, confession.  When Joey is not home to eat dinner with me, I eat weird things.  Like last week’s lettuce and hummus tacos.  I guess this is an indicator of how I would eat if I was single.  This week’s dinner craving wasn’t all that strange but definitely more spontaneous than re-heating Tuesday night’s soup.  I just sautéed some spinach then added eggs and goat cheese, scrambled it all up and stuck in between two pieces of toasted Ciabatta.  Yeah, I’m still riding that egg obsession hard.

Friday: Roasted Vegetable and Spinach Turnovers + sautéed green beans

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The last use for our roasted veggies!  The recipe called for French Bread dough but I said no thanks and made my pumpkin pizza dough instead.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… it never fails!  And it was also the star of this dinner.  For as cute as these turnovers were, the filling was pretty lackluster.  One ounce of cream cheese for four turnovers = not enough cream cheese.

So overall, it was a quick and easy week of dinners but not the best recipes I’ve ever tried.  You win some, you lose some.

What was the best dinner you cooked/ate this week?

Weekend Things

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  I almost wrote “Top of the mornin’ to ya!” then decided that sounded seriously cheesy.  Although I may have actually written that on our chalk wall this morning…

Raise your hand if this weekend’s sunshine has you ready for full on spring.  Okay, so we had about an hour of wind and snow flurries on Saturday afternoon, but otherwise this weekend was so pleasantly warm and sunny.  I loved every single second and took full advantage by taking a walk on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Fact: I love walking 🙂

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Lunchtime stroll down the street (insert weekend walk #1) for a workday picnic = best way to kick off Friday fun.

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Prost Brewing is minutes from our house, yet somehow we’d never been!

Verdict: fun atmosphere, awesome Denver view and a good beer selection.  Plus… food trucks!

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Are you seeing these fries?!  Holy thick cut parmesan bliss.

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Apparently Joey did not want to be in this picture?

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So, the Avs lost… AGAIN.  Which I think means I’m bad luck and shouldn’t be allowed at hockey games, but these seats — given to me by one of our suppliers at work — were awesome and it was definitely the most exciting game we’ve seen this year.  Does anyone else feel guilty rooting on violence at a hockey game?

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The excitement I feel upon receiving the newest edition (almost just wrote addition) of Cooking Light is slightly embarrassing…

Insert weekend walk #2 to go get my hair cut.  The excitement I feel upon realizing the new hair salon I decided to try out is on the same street I live on, is pretty much at the same level of receiving Cooking Light (see above).  I really did attempt to take a picture of my hair, but selfies are just so uncomfortable.

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Saturday afternoon productivity: finishing all the painting in our living room and setting up our new island!  I am so in love!  The backside has a leaf that flips up so it can double as an eating area.  We need barstools ASAP!

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Close up of the falafel salad I was making on the island because it looks too pretty not to share 🙂

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Long story short: some of us may have had too much fun on Saturday night and pretty much spent most of the day Sunday being lazy on the couch… uh oops.  But around 3 PM, I decided getting up and enjoying the gorgeous weather outside might actually help so we took a stroll through the neighborhood (insert weekend walk #3).

This tree has buds!  Spring is so close I can taste it!  Or at least see it.

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Obligatory St. Patrick’s Day dinner at my parents’ never disappoints.  My mom actually cooked this corned beef and cabbage in the stout Joey and I just brewed!  How cool is that?  Dinner was followed up by a big slice of red velvet cake for my sister’s boyfriend’s birthday.  And because mom can’t resist an opportunity to bake red velvet.  I’m not complaining!

I’m hoping the spring weather continues this week (insert future walks #4-130948) because this whole getting to be outside without a heavy winter jacket thing is making me feel pretty happy.

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Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this weekend?

Does it feel like spring where you live?

What’s making you happy today?