Recipe Rut Solution #1

Last night was the start of my new adventure! I found a recipe for spinach and artichoke calzones and decided to try it.

I had every intention of making my own pizza dough, until I found out that they didn't have any yeast at Trader Joes. Bummer! I did discover that they already have pre-mixed pizza dough that you can roll out yourself, so I got garlic and herb dough for $1.00 and it was perfect. I also decided to divide the dough into 1/4ths and make "mini-calzones" the only problem was they still weren't so mini!

Here's the recipe:

• 1 cups part skim ricotta
• 1/2 cup (a couple of handfuls) grated Parmigiano, plus extra, for sprinkling
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
• 1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 (10-ounce) tubes refrigerated pizza dough
• 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl (except for the pizza dough).

2. Roll the pizza dough out into 4 mini circles.

3. Spread even amounts of the cheese mixture onto 1/2 of each circle of dough.

4. Work on just half of the surface of each circle of dough, then fold dough over top of filling and pinch edges firmly to seal.

5. Repeat the process, spacing the calzones evenly on baking sheet.

6. Bake the calzones for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown all over.

Total Meal Cost: $15.00

Adam's Rating: 11 out of 10

Next Day Lunchability: We took the leftovers for lunch today, and they were a bit soggy after being microwaved.

Recipe Rut

Lately I’ve noticed that the blog is getting a bit boring, I mean, who really cares about what I do from day-to-day? I can only post so many tear-jerker veteran stories and horrifying metro escapades.

Last night, I was thinking about a way to spice up my blog, and then I had a great idea that will not only make this place a bit more interesting, but it will be helpful to me (and to Adam)!

Have you ever gotten into a recipe rut, where you have the same eight or nine things for dinner over and over again? WE DO! Most of the dinners we make (tacos, chicken, spaghetti) are easy and require little preparation.

So I’ve decided that in order to get out of this rut, I need to expand my horizons and try new things, this is why I am going to try a new recipe once a week. One night, I will find a new recipe and make it, and then post the recipe and pictures right here. I will show the good, the bad, the ugly and the terrible tasting, all in an effort to improve my cooking capabilities. The recipe doesn’t have to be a main course, it could be a side dish, a salad or even a dessert.

Tonight, I am going to try my first new recipe, so wish me luck!

Vacation Hangover

Vacation last week was amazing! Adam and I did nothing the whole time, and enjoyed it immensely. Everyday, I would get up, have breakfast, take the dog for a walk and read until the pool opened. Then, we would read at the pool for a few hours before returning for nap time. We would read or play games until dinner time and then we would go walk on the boardwalk. I couldn't have asked for a better trip and I definitely got to use my new Nook!

I didn't take too many pictures because we were pretty boring while we were there.

One of the highlights of the trip was going to Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, DE. Adam loved it and you got free samples at the end:






My favorite part was visiting Lewes, DE on Saturday night for dinner. The town was adorable, and I loved all of the colonial style houses. I'm not an expert night photographer, but I thought this little church was beautiful:



Overall, a fantastic trip.

Vacation

Today we are leaving for vacation! It’s the first time we’ve had off of work for an extended period of time since the wedding/honeymoon and stretched ahead of us are 10 days of doing nothing. After much debate about what we wanted to do this summer, we decided to spend the week at Rehoboth Beach. Why? One, it’s pretty much free (you really can’t go on a nice vacation for less that $2,000) and two, there is no pressure to get out and do things.

The one thing that sucks about vacation….getting ready for it. On top of work, 4 discussion boards to participate in and the 10 page paper I had to write this week, I also had a huge list of things that needed to get done before we leave for 10 days. All of the preparations: doing laundry, cleaning (I hate coming back to a messy apartment), baking and packing = exhaustion! It was 11:00 last night before I got everything done. Now, the car is packed and parked in the garage below my building and I will be picking Adam up after work.

We plan on lounging by the pool, going to the beach, catching up on sleep, walking the boardwalk, shopping and exploring the towns around Rehoboth. I’m also excited to take full advantage of my new Nook!

Avenue Q

Last weekend, Adam and I went to Philadelphia to visit my Grandma and see the off-Broadway show Avenue Q. My parents and sister had raved about the show and said it was hilarious and they were right. Some of the lyrics to the songs were very unexpected, but really, really funny. Even though it was a bit risque, I could hear Grandma laughing sitting on the other side of Adam. I would recommend the show to anyone.

This song was my personal favorite:



After the show, we went over to Pat's for a highly anticipated cheese steak (really, Adam had been looking forward to it for a month).



Overall, a FANTASTIC weekend!

Check the Glove Compartment

For months now I have been drooling over the Nook at Barnes and Noble. How cool would it be to be able to read any book you want, any time you want without having to lug it around with you? I worked some overtime in the hope that I would be able to get one before we head to the beach in two weeks.

Today Adam and I celebrated 4 years of being a couple. When we celebrated one year of being together three years ago, we went to Washington, D.C. for the weekend. On the way home he asked me to look for something in the glove compartment of his car and when I did, there was an IPOD in there for me! It is still one of my favorite memories.

Tonight after dinner, he asked me if I wanted to go get ice cream, so we headed out to the car. Just joking around I opened the glove compartment and said to him, "oh, is there anything here?" Little did I know, there actually was something in there! A NOOK!!!

Of course, I felt like a total idiot because I completely ruined the surprise, but I am still really excited about my new toy.

Hello Summer

Does anything say summer like a fresh watermelon? I don't think so.

Full of it

Source

WARNING: THIS POST IS NOT DIRECTED TOWARD ANYONE IN MY BLOG AUDIENCE.

Do you have someone in your life that you avoid like the plague simply because they are so incredibly full of themselves? You know that if you so much as say "good morning" to them, they will launch into a huge soliloquy about how their day is going, what they did last evening, what they had for breakfast, what their children had for breakfast, what nail polish is on their toenails and what color lipstick they're wearing today. OK, so I might be exaggerating, but people like that have really been bugging me lately. Do you ever want to say to them, "_________, do you really, honestly think that I care about what you just said?".

I consider myself a pretty good listener and most of the time I remember things that are going on in people's lives: coworkers, family, friends. But sometimes it's frustrating when a person doesn't inquire anything about you in return, or everything that you say somehow turns into something about them. Sometimes it's nice to hear, "Rachel, what are you doing this weekend?" or "What do you think about this?" instead of, "Oh, you're going to the beach this weekend? When I went to the beach last weekend I almost got eaten by a man-eating jellyfish...blah blah blah."

The jelly fish probably got sick of listening to them too.

Crabby

We started out our Memorial Day weekend by going up to my sister and brother-in-law's house for crabs. They got two dozen jumbo crabs for us to pick and enjoy, and even though I'm not a big fan of getting my hands covered in crab guts and Old Bay seasoning, I still picked 3 crabs before letting Adam do the hard work for me. In the end, two dozen was too much and my wonderful husband got stuck with the job of picking the rest of the crab meat. Now I can make crab cakes tomorrow night.

It was baby Jacob's first crab experience and he was dressed for the occasion! He was a good sport during the photo shoot as we held stinky crabs up next to him. Maybe next year he'll be eating them along with everyone else.

Shot to the Eyeball

Last night, my Delta Gamma little sister, Missy came to spend the night because she is working in Baltimore today. I haven't seen her in about a month, so it was great to catch up. We talked as we watched American Idol and Glee. When the 10 o'clock news came on, we were about to get up and go to bed when an interesting story caught our attention.

Apparently, the new trend in getting drunk is to pour vodka directly onto your eyeball. Yes people, the taped footage showed people of questionable intelligence holding a cheap vodka bottle directly up to their eye and pouring it in. Apparently the alcohol travels more directly to the blood stream this way, resulting in higher levels of intoxication.

My favorite line of the whole story, "This activity is not about getting drunk, it's about pure stupidity." I would have to agree.