Me Meal: Hola, Hot Stuff

I forgot to post this yesterday. It's another great MeMeal :) I followed (pretty closely) the directions from Hungry Girl. Unfortunately, I didn't have regular mayo so I used Miracle Whip (don't judge. If it was socially acceptable, I'd eat it straight out of the jar.) and instead of bran cereal I used tortilla crumbs. Oh, and I bought a slaw mix instead of the broccoli slaw in a bag. I think I like the texture better, but I had to pick out the green pepper chunks. E-w. Surprisingly, the MW tasted just fine, but something was seriously off with the tortilla chip crumbs. They didn't have any pizazz or crunch. Oh well. I'm going to have to research some other fried substitutes as well as how Rubios makes their corn tortillas taste so darn good. These were kind of card-board like: dry and absorbent. I'm really selling this one aren't I? ;) How about a close-up shot of the yummy goodness to turn you on?

These s'rimps, as my grandma used to call them, and their mixin's were quite tasty! A little tangy, a little crunchy, and a little spicy. And a heck of a lot healthier than anything I could have bought at a taco stand...not that Maryland really has those, but you get my point. Anyway, it was a fun and quick creation, and cooking is about learning and tweaking after all. I'll tweak the heck out of these guys next time!

Adios!

Love,

Stephanie Marie

More Than Just Another Monday

Mondays are becoming a day of rest for me, especially since both Saturday and Sunday are anything but! Hours of hiking and biking make me want to take time to relax on the first day of the work week. Besides, Mondays are hard enough; why stress about working out too? So, yesterday, I decided to hit up Trader Joe's, do some errands around the house, and check out a new present I bought for myself. Unfortunately, I'm also learning that when I don't work out, my sleep schedule inevitably suffers, which means last night I didn't go to sleep until midnight...something I'm paying for today.

I started off the evening by making a dinner I've shown on here before. i didn't invent it; this lady did :) She calls it pantry pasta and that is exactly how I treat it. Time to finish up last week's veggies to make room for this week's? Pantry pasta will help! This is a great Me Meal. This time I used my cherry tomatoes, kale, and bow ties, but you really could use anything...just don't forget the feta! It makes everything betta.

Pantry pasta.

After dinner, I checked out a gift I bought myself from the TastingRoom.com. I bought my sister and her husband a California flight for a fun date night in. Not sure if they've used it yet, but I figured it would be a good way for me to try some more zinfandels, which are my favorite! These bottles are so adorable; they probably have about three sips each. Just enough to get to know whether I want a big-girl bottle or not :)

Zinfandel love.

My last chore before watching "Dancing With the Stars," which I did while taking back my laundry room, was to hang this lovely frame my sister gave me when she visited last week. It's hard to see, but it's a white frame with lots of different inserts for different times of the year. I decided to go with the purple, flowery "S" for Stephanie and spring! Isn't that such a cute and thoughtful idea?! I wanted to pick a place to put it where it would be visible from my kitchen and the bedroom. I spend most of my time in the bedroom, but guests rarely come in there. I thought this wall, which is visible from the front door and also in my bedroom, was the perfect compromise. What do you think?

Wall flower.

So there you have it: a productive but not tiring Monday. I'm thinking I'll be doing some yoga tonight to get out my hiking/biking kinks, so hopefully sleep will be easy to come by this evening. 

Do you strive for at least one productive day each week?

Oh and by the way, happy May!

Love,

Stephanie Marie