Beer me, Honey.

When it comes to Valentine's Day, I would say we're the "in-between" type. We don't get all dolled up and go out for a $200 meal and wait 2 hours to be seated for mediocre service. We also don't ignore it all together. We typically do cards, a meal at home and (hopefully) I'll get flowers. The kind from the tent at Kroger, and that's perfectly fine with me. They cost less and usually last longer!

This year, as mentioned before, we hit up St. Arnold's Brewery. If you're in Houston, give this a shot. Cheap Saturday entertainment. The weather was iffy, so this was perfect. They offer a "tour" for $5 on Saturdays at 1pm. FYI - the "tour" is a 30 minute spiel about their beer followed by 4 8oz tastings. You can bring in your own food and utilize their picnic tables, if you get there early enough. We've learned a few things in going. First, you can buy a bigger glass (pint=$6) and bring that back for more beer. Who doesn't need that??? Second, you can bring in anything!!! This time we picked up Chili's To Go, but next time I'm packing a picnic. Third, if you like the dark ale type beers and you bring your own glass, get a Designated Driver. Trust me. We had one and I'm glad, even though I only had 3 of the "lighter" beers.

Later that afternoon, once my slight beer buzz wore off, Bridget and I made truffles. Jason is not a chocoholic so I think I'll be bringing them to work to avoid eating all of them myself. Bear, however, had them for breakfast. Next time I'll send them home with him. I've wanted to make the cake truffles for a while now, but went for something a bit easier this weekend. These were SO easy! The recipe was in the Fall edition of the Kraft Magazine (this magazine is free, so sign up online).

Chocolate Truffles adapted from Kraft

• 1 8oz pkg cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat kind)
• 2 8oz pkgs Bakers Semi-Sweet Chocolate Squares
• Vanilla & Almond Extract (or any other flavor you might like)

Beat cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth. Melt 1 box of chocolate squares in the microwave (30 sec increments, stirring each time) or over a double boiler. Stir the chocolate into the cream cheese. I divided the mixture and added about 1/2 t vanilla extract and 1/2 t almond extract to each, just to change the flavor. Refrigerate until firm. Roll the mixture into about 1 inch balls, place on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Melt remaining chocolate and roll cream cheese balls in chocolate, placing them back on the wax paper to dry. Top with chopped pecans or sprinkles. Refrigerate for about another before serving.

Happy Birthday Jason!!!

Jason is turned 31 today! I'm a lame wife - I told him I would get up and fix him breakfast...but I didn't. We both slept another 20 minutes and that nixed the time for breakfast. I did get out of bed and have coffee with him. So now I'm completely over-caffeinated. :-)




Last night I took my sister to her first "grown up" entertainment. No, not La Bare!! We saw Legally Blonde at the Hobby Center for her birthday. My mom and her assistant went along also...and I think they had more fun than Lindsey did. We got in the car to head home and my mom's assitant said "We are SO doing this again!" The show was really cute - and man, could that Elle sing!!! Great girlie night out.

And I had the best surprise when I got home - the dishes were done and put away AND so were the clothes. Plus, Jason bought me flowers a few days early. I'm such a loser about that breakfast thing, huh?


Bear & Bridget are coming in this weekend to hang out. We've been doing this annually for years. The Astros used to have a College Classic baseball tournament and Fan Fest around this weekend, so we'd spend time shopping and doing the baseball thing. Well, that's been moved back a few months and...this is just a good weekend. Tonight we're going to celebrate Jason's birthday and Valentine's Day at Maggiano's (Bear's Holy Grail). Tomorrow the guys are playing golf and Bridget and I plan to get pedicures before we all head to St. Arnold's for lunch and beer. Then, depending on the amount of beer consumed...we are going to try to make truffles. I think they're like sugar cookies. They sound like a great idea when you start them...but about halfway through the batch you're tired of rolling the things out, have no desire to make 4 different colors of frosting, much less frost all of them, and think it would be much easier to just eat the raw cookie dough. ((please tell me you feel the same way)) So, attempting truffles together sounds like a much better idea.


I'll let you know next week how it goes...

Cooking lightER

I recently started working out with a personal trainer. Yep, I'm crazy. So...I decided that since I was going to be spending a lot of money working out, I should try to help myself by eating better. The sushi I had last night probably doesn't fit the plan, but these Lasagna Rolls were pretty good! I got a great Cooking Light cookbook for Christmas and this was my first shot at using it. The photo in the book just looked too good not to try. I'm a visual person and will always lean toward trying a recipe that looks good before one that sounds good.

I did change this up a bit - neither of us eat mushrooms and the original recipe called for regular pasta, but I only had whole wheat.

Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce adapted from Cooking Light

• 8 uncooked ww lasagna noodles
• 4 t olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 7oz jar sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and patted dry, chopped
• 1 6 oz package fresh baby spinach
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup shredded skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• fresh basil, minced
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t crushed red pepper
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 7 oz bottle roasted red bell peppers, undrained
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and oil. Drain and rinse under cold water. Set aside. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add onion, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, and 3 garlic cloves. Sauté until onions are tender and spinach wilts. Remove from heat, and stir in cheeses, basil, salt and crushed red pepper.

To prepare sauce, place vinegar and remaining 6 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth.
Place cooked noodles on flat surface; spread 1/4 cup cheese mixture over each noodle. Roll up noodles and place the rolls, seam sides down, in a shallow 2-quart dish. Pour 1/4 cup sauce over each roll, and cover with heavy-duty plastic wrap. Microwave at high 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. **I actually put this in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, but would suggest longer because they were not completely warm. This makes 4 servings of 2 lasagna rolls each.

We both liked the roasted red bell pepper sauce, but to make things easier and faster we'll probably just to regular pasta sauce next time. This is a good starter recipe and something easy to add to or change up. My favorite thing about my new CL cookbook is that the nutritional information is included in every recipe - making the task of keeping up with my food a lot easier!

I will not say it.

It really annoys me when people make up words. Stoup is not a word. No matter how many times Rachael Ray says "stoup" it is still not a word.



However, this is a pretty good recipe. I've made it a few times before, so it's a good addition to the winter weather soup rotation. Not that we get much of that in Houston, since we'll be at a balmy 75 degrees this weekend. I adjusted the recipe a little bit to be healthier.

Stuffed Cabbage Soup adapted from Rachael Ray

• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 quart plus 2 cups chicken stock, divided
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/2 t allspice
• 1 1/2 t coriander
• 2 t smoked paprika
• salt & pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler into strips then finely chopped
• 1 head cabbage, thinly sliced (your choice)
• 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• flat leaf parsley, chopped
• dill, finely chopped

Heat 2 cups of chicken stock to boiling. Add rice, bring up to a simmer, cover and cook for 16-18 minutes or until the rice is tender.

In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 T of olive oil. Once hot add meat and begin to brown. Season the meat with allspice, coriander, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Add bay leaf, onions, garlic and carrots. Cook the veggies 2-3 minutes and then add the cabbage to wilt. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and remaining chicken stock and cover. Bring the heat up to high and the soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the rice, stirring to combine. Stir in parsley and dill before serving.