Mom and Dad's Kentucky Visit

Last week, my mom and dad came to check out where I now live. We had a great time! We were able to check out quite a lot of sites and I was able to introduce them to most of Jerame's family. Jerame and I took Mom and Dad into Huntington to check out Marshall University and have lunch at the Marshall Cafe. We also took them to Lexington to check out the UK-Florida football game (it's no secret my mom loves football!). Jerame's aunt and uncle, Martha and Ron, also hosted an amazing dinner at their house which gave my parents the opportunity to meet them as well as Jerame's mom and dad. It was a fantastic trip and my parents took some good photos, thank goodness :)

Lunch at the Marshall Cafe

Dad and Mom checking out the historical items

My parents and I outside a wine store we found in Huntington

Dad loved this little shopping center that was once a train depot

Jerame and I with Mom outside Commonwealth Stadium

Dad and Mom at the game

View of Lexington from Commonwealth Stadium

Dinner at Martha and Ron's house. Good pic of Joyce, Mom, me, and Martha

I love this picture! Jerame and his parents and me and my parents. This is the only picture of all the in-laws in existence :)

Visitors from the West Coast

The parents and I at our first SEC football game. Kentucky vs. Florida at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington

My parents just wrapped up their first trip to Kentucky yesterday. They spent a week out here, discovering all the idiosyncrasies of the Ohio River Valley that I have. The worst picture taker in the world (i.e. me!) needs a sticker pasted to my forehead to remind me to take them! The good news is I believe my parents took quite a few good pictures which I will post once they have had a chance to upload. I have to give them a break since they did get into Portland at 10 pm last night :)

West Virginia Chili Fest 2011

This Saturday, I had the opportunity to check out the West Virginia State Chili Festival in Huntington, West Virginia. The Duck's football game was not on television in our area so the husband and I figured why not check it out.
We started off the day inviting Jerame's aunt and uncle up to our house in the morning for homemade biscuits and gravy before we all went to the festival. Jerame is a much better baker than I and his homemade biscuits are yummy! He makes sausage gravy to go with the biscuits and I must say, they are probably the best biscuits and gravy I have had. Not that I am biased or anything :)

Homemade B's & G's

Later in the morning, we headed out to Huntington. I had never been to a chili fest before so I wasn't sure what to expect. When we arrived, there was an entire road closed and lined up and down with different chili vendors. The way they had the festival set up, you purchase tickets and then trade a ticket for a sample of chili. I have no idea how many chili's I tried, but I ate a lot of chili! Jerame's favorite ended up being the first one he tried which was a Spicy Garlic Chili while my favorite was a completely untraditional chili, a Slow Roasted Pork Green Chili. Delish! I also discovered Chili in a Bag (my second favorite!). They actually open up little bags of Fritos and mix chili in the Fritos. Definitely a guilty pleasure! There was live music as well as a hot pepper eating contest that we witnessed. The prize for that contest was a dinner for two which Jerame and I decided was not quite a good enough prize for the pain these people would probably later endure. It was a ton of fun and we came home stuffed! We decided it was a great way to spend a Saturday when the Ducks aren't on TV :)

Crazy Week

Too busy to blog? That's me. I have been running around since last Friday! As last weekend was Labor Day, there was a mini-family reunion among Jerame's family at his Aunt Martha's house. The festivities started on Friday night at our humble abode. We had Jerame's cousin and his wife along with Jerame's Aunt Martha and Uncle Ron over on Friday night for drinks and board games. I definitely over indulged! Saturday and Sunday were spent at Martha and Ron's eating, drinking, doing karaoke, and playing corn hole. Again, a lot of over indulging! On Monday the hubby and I tried to recover until the afternoon when we had our fantasy football draft with my family. Tuesday was spent shopping as I pushed off my Monday schedule. Wednesday, the hubby and I drove to Cincinatti to pick up medicine for his mother. This normally 5 hour round trip ending up taking us considerably longer when one of the back roads we take was closed and we got lost on the detour, losing about an hour. Needless to say, the trip consumed the whole day and we didn't make it home till early evening. Thursday was going to be my down time but alas, we decided to have Martha and Ron over for dinner. This transformed my day off into a major day ON as I cleaned the whole house, went to the store for dinner supplies, and began to prep vegetables for dinner. I ended up making Chicken Primavera with fettuccine, grilled chicken, and roasted bell peppers and broccoli. It ended up being delicious! Friday ended up finally being my day off. I spent it well with a nice leisurely work out, catching up on reading my savings blogs, and playing with the puppies. It was a busy busy week, I am looking forward to a slow down this coming week :)

New Recipe Find!

I found this recipe in the September Cooking Light issue and I couldn't wait to try it. It's called Cheese Ravioli with Pesto, recipe follows.

More summer pasta!

Ingredients:

1 (9-ounce) package fresh 3-cheese ravioli
1 1/3 cups fresh baby spinach
2/3 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 plum tomato, diced
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shaved fresh Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
Fresh basil leaves (optional)

Preparation:

                   1. Cook ravioli according to package directions; omit salt and fat. Drain.
        2. Combine spinach, basil, salt, red pepper, and garlic in a food processor. With processor running, add broth, olive oil, and lemon juice through chute until mixture is smooth.
        3. Combine ravioli, pesto, and tomato in medium saucepan over medium-high heat; cook 1 minute or until warm. Spoon 3/4 cup into each of 4 bowls; sprinkle each serving with 2 tablespoons cheese and about 4 teaspoons nuts. Garnish with basil leaves, if desired.

-So, looking at my photo I think you can tell I made some changes. I subbed tortellini for the ravioli, as tortellini was on sale this week. The hubby and I like to grate fresh Parmesan onto our dishes as it incorporates the whole dish better than shaving the cheese. I also didn't completely want to waste a whole lemon for 1 tablespoon of juice so I zested the lemon before juicing it. I sprinkled a little lemon zest over the whole dish when it was done. I also garnished the dish with minced Italian parsley instead of more basil. I highly recommend this dish, it was delish!

Getting Back on the Horse

Yesterday, my physical therapist finally gave me the all clear to start exercising again. I was sent away from the office with instructions to go back to my normal routine but stop if I have any pain. If I am able to do my normal routine, I can then try some exercises to "push" my muscles. We would regroup in a week after I tried a couple days of working out.
This made my day! I eagerly laced up my running shoes this morning, turned to Fergie Radio on Pandora, and jumped on the elliptical. I don't know if it was the music or my newly healed muscles, but this workout felt amazing! I rocked out an hour of cardio and then moved on to crunches, planks, squats, and some light weight lifting (just using 5 lb weights). Now that I am sitting here thinking about it, since I haven't worked out much at all for the last 2 months, it was probably the endorphins that I have been missing.
Anyhoo, I am definitely going to get my workouts in until Saturday at which I will stuff my face at Jerame's aunt's Labor Day party and probably negate the whole week of working out. But hey, I work out so I can have fun :)

Summer Pasta

I love pasta salad in the summer. Pasta pairs perfectly with all the fresh summer produce that is in season. Here are 2 of my favorite summertime pasta salads that make for healthy, delicious, and light summer dinners.

Orecchiete with Roasted Peppers, Spinach, and Tomatoes

Link to recipe:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/orecchiette-with-roasted-peppers-arugula-tomatoes-10000001988548/

This recipe is pretty good as is. The only changes I make are to broil the peppers for 10 minutes instead of 15. I find that the peppers just get too mushy if you broil them that long. It is also difficult to find Herbes de Provence here in Kentucky so I usually just throw some fresh basil in. I also subbed spinach for the arugula (just a preference).

Pasta Salad with Tuna, Olives, and Parsley

Link to recipe:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pasta-salad-with-tuna-olives-parsley-50400000114265/

This recipe is also good as is. I did throw in a yellow bell pepper because I had it and I subbed green olives for the black olives. I also omitted the red onion as the hubby will not eat raw onions. Delish!

Kung Pao Chicken

I love Asian cooking. I love the flavors they use, from fish sauce to hoisin to Sriracha. Back in Oregon, it wasn't hard to find excellent Chinese or kick ass sushi. Here in Kentucky, well, that is another story. The husband and I have to get our Chinese fix from our kitchen. One of our favorites is Cooking Light's Kung Pao Chicken. I must warn that if you are looking for an authentic Kung Pao Chicken as you would find in a Chinese restaurant, this is not what you are looking for. It is Cooking Light's version of Kung Pao Chicken. And for an Asian stir-fry, this is a good one. We serve it over steamed rice. Yum!


Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1 tablespoon ground fresh ginger (such as Spice World), divided
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4-inch strips
• 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped salted peanuts

Preparation

• Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and 2 teaspoons ginger to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add water. Cover; cook 2 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Remove broccoli from pan; keep warm.
• Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in pan; add remaining 1 teaspoon ginger, crushed red pepper, and chicken. Cook 4 minutes or until chicken is lightly browned, stirring frequently.
• Combine broth and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) in a small bowl, and stir with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan; cook 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Return broccoli mixture to pan; toss to coat. Sprinkle with peanuts.

The only alterations I made were to add 1 onion, sliced, and 1 red bell pepper, sliced. I actually steamed the broccoli for 3 minutes on it's own and then threw the broccoli in with the other vegetables after I had sautéed the onions and red pepper. My one note is that the dish is not that spicy if you add the crushed red pepper to the chicken. Next time I will add the red pepper to the sauce and allow the spiciness to incorporate with the sauce. As for the sauce, I recommend making extra if you are adding more vegetables to the dish.

The final result! We dusted our plates with toasted sesame seeds for garnish.

An Exercise in Control

About a month ago, Jerame and I were rear-ended by an intoxicated driver. The other driver was driving at a pretty good clip so needless to say both Jerame and I are feeling some neck and back pain. We both started physical therapy 2 weeks ago, 3 times a week. At my first appointment with the physical therapist, he banned me from working out for at least 3 weeks. Meaning, in 3 weeks he would re-evaluate and then we could talk about my exercising. I am now going on my 3rd week of not working out and frankly it sucks! I never thought I would say this, but all I want to do is work out! It's taking all my self-control to rest during this time period. Last week the therapist finally gave me some stretches to work on and while this helps, it is not taking the place of my exercise time.
I had an appointment this morning at which the therapist told me it seems like I am improving and he cut me back to 2 appointments a week! He also told me that he thinks I may be able to start up my weight lifting next week as well! This was music to my ears! So, for 1 more week, I will remain a couch potato. I do have some reading to attend to anyways :)