Category — Dinner

Both Matt and I are home from work today (Spring Break for the students usually means a day or two off for me!), we were able to start making dinner around 5 pm – Matt has something he wants to do at 7 pm so we needed to eat before hand.

I started working on pizza dough (made with one cup wheat flour and one cup white flour) while Matt finished a top secret cooking project.  While the dough was rising, I started working on the toppings for our calzones – diced tomatoes, mushrooms, scallions and mozzarella cheese (needed to be shredded).  Matt worked on the marinara sauce (2 cans of tomato sauce with garlic and basil, oregano and Italian Seasoning)

Before cooking in the oven, I brushed on some olive oil and sprinkled a little parmesan cheese on top.  I made a ginormous calzone (with 3 breadsticks made out of leftover dough)

I cut my calzone into 3rds – the rest will be for lunches this week

Delicious.  I love making calzones because I feel it is so easy to add healthier toppings.  We always use part skim mozzarella and ricotta cheese and I bulk mine up with fresh veggies (tomato, mushroom and scallions).  It may not look like a lot of veggies here but I promise they are in there.

To round out my cheesy dinner, I had a small salad

Mixed greens, mushrooms, tomato, scallions, cucumber, and yellow pepper – plus I added some craisins.

Want to do something to push for clean energy.  Read this and make a call to your senator.

After fighting to find a parking spot in Legacy Place, Matt and I finally made it to

The restaurant was interesting looking but VERY LOUD

Matt and I had a seat on the upper level – the one downside – the table.  We were sitting next to each other.  I HATE THAT.  It was hard to have a conversation – I like to look at the person I am having a talking to.  I was so distracted by the goings on below, it was hard to stay focused. 

I got a 2 oz pour of Chardonnay to start my evening

For an appetizer, Matt and I split the Rhode Island style fried Calamari

The calamari wasn’t bad – not the best I’ve ever had.  Sadly, it ended up being the highlight of our dinner.  Matt described the calamari as “delicious.”

For my dinner, surprise surprise, I got grilled scallops with onion straws and mashed sweet potatoes

I was so excited for scallops but they had such a strong “grilled” flavor that was all I could taste.  The scallops didn’t have the normal scallop flavor; they were not very good. I did enjoy the onion straws and the mashed sweet potatoes were good but not great. 

Our service wasn’t great either and we were never told the specials of the evening – but the table next to us was. 

Both Matt and I agreed that Legal C bar was highly disappointing.  In fact, it is a place we wouldn’t go again. 

After spending some quality time in Whole Foods, Matt and I ended our night on a good note at

 J.P. Licks has been on my “places to visit” list for a long time.  I have read so much about it on other food blogs.  I was excited to finally try it tonight.

I got a small coffee soft serve with M&Ms and crumbled Oreos

At first, I thought the coffee flavor tasted fake.  Then it grew on me.  A lot.  In fact, I was kinds sad when I finished my ice cream.  J.P. Licks is a place I would go again.

Time to watch some TV and go to bed – lots of work to do tomorrow!

Matt and I were able to have lunch together before he left for work.  Thinking I was going to have lunch by myself, I had decided to make one of my favorite soups – Matt hates it.  I made it anyway. 

It really could not be simpler.  Combine 1 can of refried beans (I used Amy’s Traditional Vegetarian Refried Beans), 1 can of diced tomatoes with mild green chilies and some diced red onion in a saucepan and heat through.  I always sprinkle with a little cheese. 

This makes a lot of soup in under 5 minutes.  I have plenty of leftovers that I cannot wait to eat. 

For dinner, Matt and I also made another favorite that we haven’t had in quite some time – Savory Oatmeal. 

In the bowl was 1/2 cup cooked oats (cooked in water), minced parsley and basil, a few sliced scallions, diced tomato, cheddar cheese and one fried egg.

Then I cut the egg and it oozed everywhere…

Both Matt and I LOVE this dish – especially when the egg is cooked just right.  The yolk adds a creaminess to the oatmeal that cannot be duplicated.  This meal is so quick to prepare and clean up – I have a feeling we will be making this more often.

I made some progress on my school work today but not nearly what I had hoped.  I have a feeling my study schedule will be recreated – I think my time estimations were a little low.

Tomorrow we need to take the recycling and then we are going somewhere new for dinner…cannot wait!

I confess.  I had a burger and large fries for dinner tonight.  I didn’t go through a drive through though – I made it at home.

Check out this large fries (all for me I might add)

One sweet potato sliced into “fries.”  I microwaved the fries for 3 minutes and 30 minutes and then cooked them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 18 minutes.  Before putting in the oven, I tossed with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and salt.  I then turned the broiler on to crisp ‘em up.

With my sweet potato fries, I enjoyed a Gardenburger Veggie Burger on a toasted Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat Deli Flat with tomato and one piece of reduced fat swiss cheese

Doesn’t that look better then drive through?  I think so. 

Working on some laundry and my 25 pages of reading for the evening.  I’m taking Friday and Monday off from work… lots to do!

Mexican Lasagna is a dish I have been making for years.  I love the simplicity, amount it makes and that it tastes just as good if not better reheated. 

I made a few changes to the recipe:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil – once around the pan
• 2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case 1 package Morningstar Farm Soy Crumbles
• 2  1 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2  1 red onion, chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 cup medium mild heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes AND 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup 1 package frozen corn kernels
• Salt
• 8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, 4 Light Flat Out Wraps (Whole Wheat) available on dairy aisle of market (they are in my supermarket deli section)
• 2 1/2 cups as much as you need shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
• 2 scallions, finely chopped

I pretty much follow the preparation instructions from the recipe. 

Matt and I made this dish Sunday night and have been picking on it ever since

We reheated up the remainder for dinner tonight

The extra corn made this dish almost sweet.  Love the flavor combos – I typically make this with ground turkey, but with Vegetarian for Lent in full swing, I switched to soy crumbles.  Next time, I would try this with two cans of black beans (or if you lived in a household without an aversion to refried beans – Matt, I would use one can refried beans and one can black beans). 

I’ve got an exam in 2 weeks plus a lot of reading to catch up on – to get my act together, I created a master plan (Green for St. Patty’s Day)

My professors gave us a list of 7 possible exam questions – 2 will be on the exam.  I hope to be done preparing each exam question by Tuesday.  Let’s see if I can stick to the schedule!

Wish me luck!

Long day at work!  It’s 6:45 pm and I’m here for at least another 2 1/2 hours. 

For lunch, I had some Vegetable Orzo soup with some parmesan cheese

There were big pieces of kale in the soup – it tasted much better than it looked.

With my soup, I had a salad with an egg white and chickpeas for some staying power.

Around 4 pm, I broke for a yogurt with granola

I selected the vegetarian burrito for dinner which had rice, black beans and roasted peppers inside

It was a tad bit spicy – my mouth was on fire by the last few bites.

With my burrito, I enjoyed an apple – but forgot to take a picture.

I’ve been very productive day – got a few things off my to-do list.  I’m hoping to  get a little reading in before my 8:30 pm event. 

After learning I have a cavity the dentist, Matt and I went to one of our favorite “restaurants” where I used to live in Bristol, RI. 

It makes the most amazing wraps and pizza.  Matt and I always get the same thing when at Papa Joe’s

I always get it without the hot pepper rings. 

I mean – could anything be better than this?!?

I absolutely love this wrap – the flavors are perfect and the calamari is always piping hot.  They make this wrap in pizza form too – which is pretty close to heaven.

Ahhh…Matt and I both savored every bite of this.

After spending some quality time at the eye doctor learning I don’t have a scratched cornea again – hooray – just suffering from very dry eyes.

Matt and I made a simple but comforting dinner – roasted brussels sprouts and Creamy Tomato Mac and Cheese.

I roasted the brussels sprouts at 400 degrees for about  15 minutes – they could have used another 2-3 minutes though.

We cooked up a box of Annie’s Whole Wheat Shells with White Cheddar.  To the cooked pasta (with cheese and milk mixture), we added a can of diced tomatoes (drained) and one wedge of Laughing Cow Light Swiss. 

I also added some cooked peas to mine!

I love this way of making Mac and Cheese – jazzes it up – it almost tastes like a penne vodka sauce. 

More reading tonight – and packing.  I am off to the Cape for tomorrow and tomorrow night with the students for a retreat. 

I arrived home this evening in a rush to get a load of laundry in the wash – I have two to do tonight!

By the time I got that going, I debated my dinner.  It’s just me tonight, so I decided to keep things simple.  Very simple.  Cereal and fruit.

In my cereal bowl was:

• Kashi Island Vanilla
• Quaker Oatmeal Squares
• Enjoy Life Crunch Rice Cereal
• Kamut Puffs

The Rice Cereal is a new addition to our pantry – I saw it at Whole Foods the other day and picked it up.  It is “allergy friendly” – nut and gluten free.  It tasted kind of like Rice Krispies – very interesting.

With my cereal, I had an apple and orange

I love dinners that are like this – very little cleanup and prep!

I have the day off tomorrow – but in reality I will be at the eye doctor and dentist.  Not really a relaxing day…

Sunday night, Matt and I tried a new recipe – fried rice.  I found the recipe in Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian; sadly I can’t find the recipe online, but it was excellent.  I used long-grain brown rice which I cooked earlier in the day.  I had read in this article that this produces a better fried rice.

With our fried rice, we also made Tofu Steamed dumplings from the same cookbook.  With a little bit of dinner prep, we had excellent Chinese food – with tons of leftovers.

The fried rice had peas and red pepper and the dumplings had tofu, scallions, ginger and bok choy. 

Tonight, I heated up the leftovers for a great dinner.

Reading is on my agenda for the evening – hopefully an early bedtime too.  I have another early morning meeting and am hoping to squeeze a run in too…

Before Matt and I set out on our errand running marathon, we had a lunch/snack

We started with carrots, celery and soy nut butter – Matt’s peanut butter is pictured too

Plus some Chocolate Cheerios and milk

After a stop at BJs and the Verizon Wireless store, Matt and I stopped at Cosi for dinner. 

I had the Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella sandwich

With some more carrots!

After dinner, we got the make your own S’mores for a treat

We made it to Target and the grocery store after dinner – now our kitchen is fully stocked for a few days…

Time to hit the books again…a very exciting Saturday!