Chocolate Oat Smoothies

Once again, I've saved the best for last!

These smoothies truly feel decadent. Indulgent. Kind of like a Wendy's Frosty. Kind of. But I will tell you, these are much healthier for you than a Wendy's Frosty. Because, you know, there's oatmeal in these.

There's also Nutella... Moving on :)

I loved these smoothies. Loved, loved, loved them. They would make a great dessert if you are watching your calories. Even the hubby enjoyed them. I'm not sure why, but I never think chocolate when I think smoothies. I think fruit. I think yogurt. But chocolate? Not so much. Well. Quite frankly, forget that! I'll be putting chocolate in more smoothies from now on. Many, many more.

So, Smoothie Week is now over. I'm pretty pleased with how delicious they all turned out, not to mention how well the photographs turned out. I'll be back next week with a few non-liquid recipes. Since it's been birthday season around here, I'll have a couple of cake recipes for you. I made a Pecan Pie Cake for my mother-in-law's birthday, I'm beyond excited to share it. It was a decidedly elaborate cake. A perfect share for blogging.

Some exciting news! I was a featured recipe over on The Country Cook's Weekend Potluck. This is my second time, and it still feels just as good as the first time. I must say, starting a blog is hard work, and a reward such as this every once in awhile really makes it all worth it. Sometimes, on those weeks where you get no hits and no one comments on anything, I get that nagging thought that I suck at this and I need to give it up. I follow a number of different blogs, I know this is a typical feeling among bloggers and one that no one is immune to. Sometimes you just need a pat on the back to keep going. And that's exactly what I got. Well played Country Cook, well played.

Between this and our driveway being completed, I'm heading into the weekend on Cloud 9. It's supposed to be a true Spring weekend here, with sunshine and nice weather without the nasty humidity of summer. I'm planning to get a couple of runs in, especially since I've been eating so much cake as of late.

No rest for the wicked :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ingredients (makes 2 smoothies):

1/3 cup Nutella
1 cup quick cooking oats
2 frozen bananas, sliced
1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1/2- 1 cup almond milk

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add more almond milk to achieve a thinner consistency. Distribute between 2 glasses. Serve immediately.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Frozen Peach Smoothies

Smoothie Week forges on!

Mmmm, peaches. I just love peaches. Peaches and summer go hand in hand for me. I look forward to peach season every year, they're one of my favorite summer fruits. You know, along with raspberries. In fact, peach and raspberry will forever be one of my favorite combinations. A perfect marriage, in my opinion. There are a zillion things I like to do with peaches. One of my favorite peach recipes is this quesadilla recipe. You haven't lived till you've had peach in a quesadilla. So. Good. I also like to put peaches in cobblers, muffins, salads, sandwiches, and of course, on their own. 

I'll admit, fresh peaches are definitely preferred the majority of the time. However, I used frozen peaches for this smoothie because I didn't want to use ice. For a smoothie, frozen peaches are really the way to go. Their frozen texture provides the perfect velvety consistency for a smoothie. I'm in love with this incredibly simple frozen concoction. There are only 3 ingredients, it doesn't get any easier. Or more delicious.

When I was in college, I had several experiences making smoothies. My first job in college was at the sandwich shop, Blimpies. Does Blimpies even exist anymore? I'm not sure. Anyways... Blimpies made smoothies. Or rather, I made the smoothies. They weren't healthy, and they actually contained shockingly little fruit. It was mostly frozen yogurt, heavy syrup, ice, and a smattering of fruit. I wasn't fond of those smoothies. They had a peach smoothie that tasted more like artificial peach than real peach. That's one of my biggest pet peeves. I'm not fond of the artificial flavors of most fruits, peach being near the top (although, strawberry takes the cake on that one!). I later worked at Baskin Robbins, which of course serves smoothies. Again, these smoothies were unpleasantly similar to Blimpies smoothies. Hardly any fruit, and mostly the unhealthy stuff. Ugh. Give me the real thing!

I must add (for humor's sake) that I, more than once, brought home smoothies to the sorority house with the intention of adding alcohol. Now that was a smoothie! :) The best combination? Mixed berry made with raspberry sherbet and tequila. Holy yum.

Kids, if you work at Baskin Robbins, do not do that :)

I'm a little distracted today. The driveway is getting poured today, so we've got workers outside the house. Gizmo is feeling positively nutty. He's roving from room to room, alternatively growling and barking. Haloti has been sitting in the window watching them, but hasn't made a sound. Gizmo, this dog that the hubby was convinced would be a mute, will not be silenced. The goofiest dog ever. I'm so excited to be getting the driveway! I definitely plan on taking lots of pictures when the project is done later today, which I'll probably get around to showing next week. Or maybe Saturday. I've got one more smoothie this week (tomorrow, obviously), and then Smoothie Week is over! This week has flown by, it's been absolutely crazy.

Speaking of which, today is going to be crazy.

I should probably get going.

Sigh.

One more day till the weekend friends! Happy Thursday!

Ingredients (makes 2 smoothies):

3 cups frozen peaches

1 (8 oz) cup Greek yogurt, peach flavored (I used Chobani)

1 cup orange juice

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add more orange juice to achieve a thinner consistency, blend until combined. Distribute between 2 glasses, serve immediately.

Green Smoothies

Don't be put off by the color of these smoothies. They taste ah-mazing! Yes, there may be fistfuls of spinach in these frosty bad-boys, but you'd never know if I didn't tell you. The smoothie just tastes like kiwi and vanilla. It is so good! I've always heard you can put greens in a smoothie (spinach, kale, arugula, etc.) without flavoring the smoothie, but believe it or not, I'd never experimented. Well. Now I know I should have done this before.

This is the one of the smoothies this week that I used ice in. I suppose you could freeze your kiwis if you are looking to skip the ice. I blended and blended these smoothies (you know, with my little blender), and arrived at the perfect texture. Not a single ice chip! I made these pretty thick, you could definitely add more liquid and less ice to achieve a thinner consistency.

This may seem like a strange combination. Kiwi and spinach? Turns out to be one of the best combinations! Perhaps you don't eat kiwi. Let me tell you why you should, besides the basic, obvious reason that they are freakin' delicious. These little fuzzy fruits are one of nature's super foods. They're high in vitamin C and potassium. Studies have shown kiwi can lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. They are good for your skin, can help you sleep better, and help lower your blood pressure.

Ok, after hearing all that, why wouldn't you eat more kiwi?

I think the world would be a happier place if people would just eat more fruit. My springtime diet has morphed into a fruit free-for-all. On top of trying to avoid processed food (excluding fruit snacks, my Kryptonite), I try to eat mostly whole foods and allow myself as much fruit and veggies as I want. I've had an easier time managing my weight by eating this way than I ever did eating a calorie-restricted diet and keeping a food journal. I've got a highly unscientific theory that my body doesn't like the stress of obsessing about food and calories. I think everyone would have an easier time managing their weight if they just ditched all the pre-made and processed food.

Did I mention these were unscientific theories? They are :)

All right, Jessica out. It's my mother-in-law's birthday, and I'm taking her out for lunch. Before I stuff my face with pizza however (oh the irony, after I just waxed poetic about ditching processed foods!), it's cardio day at the gym. Gotta go work up that appetite! Then...

Time to come home and bake a cake!

I love birthday season :)

Happy Hump Day!

Ingredients (makes 2 smoothies):

4 kiwis, peeled and sliced

3 cups spinach

1 cup Greek vanilla yogurt

1/2- 1 cup almond milk

2-3 cups ice

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in blender. Add more almond milk to make your smoothie thinner. Add more ice to make your smoothie thicker. Pulse until you reach your desired texture. Distribute between 2 glasses. Serve immediately.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Tropical Fruit Smoothies

Well, this post feels a little inappropriate.

After a gorgeous sunny Sunday, and a stormy but warm Monday, I woke up to SNOW today. Argh. I'm so irritated. The trees are starting to bloom, the grass is getting greener everyday, I'm starting to get tan lines, and now this? It's so much easier to envision yourself on a Hawaiian beach with this smoothie next to your beach chair when it feels summery out. I guess we'll all have to pretend today, hmmm?

These are one of my healthier smoothies. Mostly fruit, a little juice and yogurt, and a hefty tablespoon of coconut oil. You'll be surprised how much coconut flavor you get out of a little bit of oil. Mixing the coconut oil with pineapple and orange lends the perfect tropical flavor combination. I spent the whole week experimenting with using frozen fruit and frozen bananas in lieu of ice. Nothing against ice, but you can get a much better texture out of a smoothy if you skip it. I pretend the frozen fruit is my ice. It makes for a velvety smooth consistency with no crunchy ice chips. I hate crunchy ice chips in a smoothie.

I already know what some of you are going to say about ice chips. That's about the blender. Indeed. My blender model is circa 2001. I bought it the summer before I started college. It's a bright red Kitchen Aid I acquired for $20. And it still works! It's no Ninja or VitaMix, but it cost $20. I'll also tell you that "Smoothie Week" is the first time I've used that blender in my entire relationship with the hubby. That's almost 8 years. I use my food processor for most everything I need. It just so happens you can't make smoothies in the food processor (according to the hubby). With the amount that I use a blender, it'll be a while before I get a high-quality one. The point of this paragraph? You don't need a fancy blender to make smoothies. All of my smoothies are made out of my cheap-y blender, and they still turned smooth and delicious. 

Besides "Smoothie Week", we've got another project underway on the homestead. We are getting a driveway this week! The hubby and I have really approached life differently since we moved to Kentucky. The experiences that drove us here are also driving us to stay out of debt as much as possible. We put a 20% down payment on our home, and any projects done around the house we are paying for in cash. Which means we have to save to have that cash on hand, and the big projects will get done in time. We've got 2 projects on hand for this summer:

1. Concrete- we are getting the driveway poured. We are also getting a walkway to the front door as well as steps onto the front porch. With the work being done, we are also getting a concrete pad poured in the backyard that will function as a patio until the day we decide to build our deck. I'm super excited, especially about the walkway and steps. Currently, we open the garage door and let guests in through the garage when they come over so they don't have to walk through the muddy yard. Needless to say, my entryway is under utilized. Well, not for too much longer!

2. Fencing- We'll be fencing in the backyard. Part of the backyard, actually. We've got what we call "The Front Lot" which is separated from most of our property by a large ditch. We plan on fencing in the front lot later in the future, and putting goats and chickens out there. The small section we are fencing in this summer is mainly for the dogs and our garden. But soon we'll be able to open the back door, and let the dogs out with no worries.

The forms have been set, and the lines marked for concrete. Due to the weather today (grrrr), there will be no concrete. The driveway should be done tomorrow or Thursday, however. I can't wait! Pictures will be soon to follow :)

Happy Tuesday!

Ingredients (makes 2 smoothies):

1 cup pineapple, cubed

1 orange, peeled and sectioned

2 frozen bananas, sliced

1 cup orange juice

1 (8 oz) pineapple Greek yogurt (I used Chobani)

1 large tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Distribute between 2 glasses, serve immediately.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Strawberry Orange Smoothies

Well friends, you've made it to "Smoothie Week"! Settle in for lots of fruit, yogurt, frozen goodness, and maybe... some chocolate! That's right, I don't play by the rules. Sometimes I feel obliged to throw caution to the wind and put a non-traditional ingredient in my smoothie. Hey, you'll never know how delicious it is if you never try it!

I figure Spring is the perfect time of year to roll out "Smoothie Week". We had our first summery day of the year last year, indeed it got up to 85º. The house was 79º at 9 pm last night, so it was also the first day of the year we had to turn on the AC. Boo. I hate the AC. But, if that's the tradeoff for sitting in a lawn chair in my backyard with a smoothie in my hand, I'll take it. There's just something so magical about sitting outside with a frosty concoction while the sun beams down on you.

I can also successfully report that all the fruit, yogurt, and frozen bananas have been liberated from my kitchen. A week of smoothies took care of all those supplies!

Although I really enjoyed all the smoothies I experimented with, this was one of my favorites. I'm such a sucker for anything with berries. I've been on a major strawberry kick as of late. Since they're in season right now, they've been on sale. Maybe it's the low price or that I have some sort of strawberry deficiency, but I've been wolfing them down by the pound. Yes, by the pound. I felt guilty the first time I realized I'd inhaled a pound of strawberries in a sitting. Then I googled strawberries.

There's 150 calories in a pound of strawberries.

That's correct.

You read that right.

You can eat a pound of strawberries for 150 calories. Is this a revelation to anyone else? I mean, what else can you eat a pound of for that little calories? There's not a lot. Strawberries also boost short-term memory, ease inflammation, promote bone and eye health, lower cardiovascular disease, and are high in fiber. They have many other benefits, but you have Google to look those up right? :) My point is, there are a lot worse things you could be eating.

So I suggest following along with my "Smoothie Week". I actually ate smoothies for lunch all last week after my workouts. I loved it! They were very filling, plus they were quick and portable. Portable makes me happy. It means I can do many, many other things whilst sipping away. Like making another smoothie...

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! Happy Monday friends!

Ingredients (makes 2 smoothies):

1 cup strawberries, halved

1 orange, peeled and sectioned

1 cup vanilla yogurt

1 cup orange juice

2 frozen bananas, sliced

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Distribute between 2 glasses, and serve immediately. With a straw :)

Salted Dark Chocolate Caramel Cookies

Time for more cookie talk!

The hubby has posited that these cookies are perfection. That's right. Out of the mouth of that man. Perfection. I could get used to hearing those words. I have to admit though, these cookies are pretty darn good. They were a special request from the hubby. He'd just polished off the last couple of pieces from a bag of those Ghiradelli Chocolate Squares in Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt Caramel when he came up with his idea.

Him:

"Hey, why don't you make a cookie like this? With dark chocolate and those caramel bits and then put sea salt on them?"

Me:

"That's a good idea. I wish I'd thought of that..."

Him:

"Can you make them now?"

I didn't make them right then, but I did get around to it :)

Make these cookies! I used that melted butter base that I can't seem to get enough of these days. All I can say is Sally from Sally's Baking Addiction is a genius. The base lent the cookies the perfect amount of moisture and chew. The combination of the dark chocolate, caramel, and sea salt all together just... works. This recipe makes a little more than 2 dozen cookies (it makes ~27 cookies), so I'm left wondering how the heck I'm going to get these out of the house. It was super-hard to resist their siren song last night. I did manage to limit myself to 2, but it was only with extreme self-control that I managed to do that! I think today will be spent delivering cookies to the hubby's relatives...

A quick note- I used Kraft caramel bits for these cookies. I've noticed you can find these at certain stores, indeed I've found them at Target and Walmart. I haven't been able to find them at Kroger, or stores of the like. If I'm out of caramel bits and I can't find them, I take regular caramels and cut them into quarters. It takes a little more time to unwrap the caramels and cut them up, but the technique works all the same. 

Does anyone have fun plans for the weekend? We are supposed to get up to 80º this weekend here in my NE corner of Kentucky! The hubby and I have pledged to get a lot of yard work done this weekend. Of course, this includes some time spent drinking beers around a bonfire of brush, so don't feel too bad for me and my laborious weekend :)

Happy Friday everyone!

Ingredients (makes 27 cookies):

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup caramel bits (I used Kraft)
sea salt (enough to sprinkle over the cookies)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, add flour through salt. Whisk to combine.
2. In a separate mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars. Whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Mix in the eggs with the whisk. Mix in the vanilla. Using a spatula, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Add the chocolate and caramel. The dough will be very soft, but do your best to distribute the chocolate and caramel throughout the dough. Place in the freezer, and chill for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350º. Remove dough from freezer, and allow to thaw for 10-20 minutes. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
4. Using a 2 tbsp cookie scoop, roll dough balls into little logs. Yes, logs. A short, stout log. Stand the logs up tall on the cookie sheet. Take care to make sure the log is secured to the cookie sheet. If the logs fall in the oven, while your cookie will still be delicious, it will resemble a biscuit rather than a cookie. These cookies do some serious spreading, so the log shape will ensure a nice, round cookie. Place 9 logs on a cookie sheet. Take the sea salt and sprinkle it over the cookies. Take your fingers and press any salt that has fallen on the cookie sheet and press it into the sides of the logs <-- Using clean fingers, of course!!!
5. Bake in pre-heated oven 11-13 minutes. Cookies will look under-baked in the middle, but they are not. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Cool completely before storage.

Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Tickle My Tastebuds Tuesday

Garlic Roasted Chicken

Roasted chicken.

If you have been following me for awhile, you know that roasting a whole chicken was not a skill that came easily to me. I ruined more chickens than I can count on one hand. However, now that I have the process down, I'm not sure what my problem was.

I take that back. I know what my problem was. I made every mistake in the book. These mistakes include:

1. Cooking the chicken upside down.
2. Cooking the chicken in the crockpot (hello dry chicken!).
3. Putting a too cold chicken in the oven.
4. Using an unreliable meat thermometer.
5. Not having the experience to know that the silly bird is not going to cook another 10 degrees after you take it out of the oven. You'll maybe get another 5 degrees.

Personally, I'm happy I made all these mistakes. That's how I learn. You could give me a book on roasting chicken, tell me to study the technique, turn me loose, and be shocked at how little I've retained. There's just something about getting your hands dirty, and making those mistakes so you have the results of those mistakes right in your face. "Ohhhh. So that's why they cook the bird breast up." The mistakes I've made have just solidified my chicken roasting routine, which includes letting the bird get to room temperature before pre-roast, using a trusty thermometer, and cooking the bird to at least 160º. Now, almost every bird comes out perfect. There was a bird about a month ago that I'm chalking up to mistake #4. I've since gotten a new thermometer :)

Chicken dinners are super simple around here. Most of the time I roast some potatoes and carrots with the bird, but since Spring is upon us, I chose to serve it this time with a spinach, strawberry, and gorgonzola salad.

Here's what I do with my raw chicken. After I take the innards out, wash it, and dry it, I brush it with a little olive oil. I take copious amounts of crushed garlic (I like to use Trader Joe's Crushed Garlic, but you can DEF make your own) and rub it all the bird. I take a sharp knife and make slits all over the bird. Make sure and rub the crushed garlic into the slits. The crushed garlic really perfumes the meat, especially the thigh meat. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and get that bird in the oven. Assuming it's room temperature of course. I can't emphasize enough how important the temperature of the bird is. If you put a cold bird in the oven, you'll end up with dry breast meat and thigh meat that's verging on raw. Not good. Cook that chicken to exactly 160º, let it rest for 30-45 minutes, and then, dig in! The chicken skin will be crispy and delicious, but also removable. We eat the chicken skin sometimes, but definitely not often. Most of the time it flavors my broths. Either way, if you have a household of 2, like me, you'll have plenty of leftover chicken for weeknight cooking. Leftovers you could use for soup, sandwiches, salads, pastas, etc. Having precooked chicken makes weeknight cooking the biggest snap. 

I really can't advocate roasting your own chickens enough. They are cheap (whole chicken is usually $0.88/lb at my grocery store), you know exactly what's going on the chicken and how it's cooking, and these chickens are usually bigger than the rotisserie ones the deli sells. It makes your house smell delicious while it's roasting. And let's face it, who's not excited to come home to a perfectly cooked chicken? No one in my house!

All right, Jessica out. I've got cookies to bake, and they be calling my name!

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Ingredients:

1- whole chicken (approximately 5-6 lbs)

olive oil, crushed garlic, salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Make sure chicken is defrosted. If frozen, allow to unfreeze by putting the bird in the fridge for 24 hours. Allow the chicken to come to room temp before cooking by placing, covered, on the counter for 2-3 hours. I like to season my bird during this time period, so I will remove the innards and discard, then wash and rinse my bird. Place the bird in a roasting pan. I pat it dry, and then brush a little olive oil over the bird. Take a sharp knife and make slits all over the bird. Take the crushed garlic, and rub it onto the bird. Make sure to rub lots of garlic into the slits you made. Season the bird with salt and pepper. Cover the bird tightly with plastic wrap, and allow to come to room temperature.

2. Preheat oven to 400º. Remove wrap from chicken. Place chicken in the oven. Cook the bird for 1 1/2- 2 hours, basting with its own juices every 30 minutes. After 90 minutes, stick a meat thermometer into one of the chicken's thighs away from the bone. The chicken is done when it reaches 160º. Remove the chicken from the oven, and place on a cutting board. Tent the chicken loosely with foil, and allow to rest for 30-45 minutes. 

3. Carve the chicken, and serve immediately.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Shrimp & Artichoke Pasta Salad

This pasta salad was totally born out of laziness.

I didn't want to go to the store. I didn't want to do much more than boil some pasta and some shrimp. I did not want to spend quality time with my knife and cutting board.

I was willing to raid the pantry and freezer. I was willing to boil water. I was willing to do a couple of chops. And do those things I did...

I must say, this pantry salad turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. I used a recipe from a Japanese blog as inspiration, and put my own spin on it. I was very hesitant to put salami in a salad with shrimp, it just seemed weird. Have no fear, weird it is not. This is one of those salads that has to be served completely cold. I was not fond of it when it was warm, or at room temperature. Straight from fridge to plate for me. I also found that it needed a mandatory chilling period after making to allow the flavors to mellow and blend. Absolutely mandatory. Do not skip it. 

If you are a pasta salad fan, you are going to love this salad. It's colorful, perfectly salty thanks to the kalamata olives and brined artichokes, and it keeps well in the fridge. I ate this most of last week for lunch. Pasta salads are one of my favorite make-ahead lunches. If you don't mind eating the same thing for lunch a couple days in a row (like me!) a pasta salad is the perfect dish to have in the fridge for a quick, delicious lunch. Of course, it could just be that insane love of pasta I have.

Now, I'm going to give you all a preview of what I've got on tap for next week...

Next week is going to be "Smoothie Week" here on the blog! After my brother and sister-in-law went home, I was left with a surplus of fruit and yogurt. Some of that fruit was bananas that were getting riper by the day. Can you guess where they went? Straight into the freezer, you are correct! So I have fruit, frozen bananas, yogurt... What else would be crossing my mind? I'm really excited, I've already completed 2 out of the 5 smoothies. They were so yummy, I can't wait to make the rest and share with everyone! I think the little blogging break did me well, I'm full of food-bloggy ideas now. Bloggy just happens to be the latest word I made up :)

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Ingredients:

2 tsp kosher salt

10 oz dried rotini pasta

1/2 lb large shrimp, peeled and tails removed

1/8 cup red onion, finely minced

1 (14.5) oz can of quartered artichoke hearts, drained

1/4 cup kalamata olives, halved

1/3 cup salami, thinly sliced

1 tomato, deseeded and diced

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

3 tbsp parsley, minced

salt and pepper, to taste

garnish- shredded asiago cheese

Directions:

1. In a large pot, bring water to boil. When water is about to boil, add salt. Once boiling, add pasta to water. Cook according to package directions. Remove from water with a pasta scoop, placing in a stainer, leaving salty water in the pot to boil the shrimp. Run pasta under cold water. Once cool, add to a large salad bowl. Add shrimp to boiling water. Boil 90 seconds to 3 minutes, until shrimp are pink and cooked through. Remove shrimp to strainer, run under cold water. When cool, add shrimp to salad bowl.
2. Add red onion through tomato to the salad bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, sugar, and mustard. Drizzle dressing over salad. Add parsley to bowl. Toss salad to combine. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours.
4. Divide pasta salad among bowls. Top with asiago cheese. Serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from Foodjimoto

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Long Time, No See!

I'm back!

Sorry it's been so long my friends, however I've been keeping busy. As you may know, my brother and my sister-in-law came to visit. They arrived early (according to MY calendar, haha), we showed them everything there is to show around here, we watched plenty of March Madness, and then of course, they had to go home. Booooo. Time always flies when you are having fun.

We spent a lot of their trip relaxing. My brother and his wife are both teachers, and my brother is a varsity boys basketball coach at the high school he teaches at. It sounds like they'd had an insanely busy last couple of months, so lucky for us, relaxing is what they wanted to do :) While the boys laid around watching basketball and playing video games, my sister-in-law and I were able to squeeze in going to the gym and on a couple of runs. We even ran a 5k! We both got PR's, and my sister-in-law came in 2nd in her age division, and 18th overall! I finally got my time under 30 minutes, arriving at 28:51. It was a feat for me! I was really excited and proud, and now I'm ready for my next goal- placing in my age division and getting one of those medals. I know I can do it. 

It seems the kids flew into Kentucky on the last heels of winter. The day they flew in is the last day we got a coating of snow. It was a little rainy and overcast for most of their trip, but we did get a couple of days of "shorts" weather. We definitely took advantage of this, getting outside for walks, hiking to the back of the hubby's grandfather's property, and sitting outside splitting a bottle of wine. 

All in all, their trip went so fast! We blinked, they were here, we blinked, and they were gone. So much fun though! I definitely had a couple of melancholy days after they left :)

So I will be moving back to my food blogging. I'm slowly getting things back to normal around the house, and that means planning recipes to blog about. The weather has not been conducive the last couple of days for photography. I had dark thunderstorms moving in at my peak photography times on both Thursday and Friday, for which my workaround is not taking pictures at all. Today is shaping up to be lovely though, so I expect to take lots of pictures when I get back from a long run.

In other happenings, I've got some new visitors in the yard-

This brown squirrel shows up every day around 4 pm.

The chipmunks have settled in. I've seen at least 5. They are so dang cute. I just love them.

The American Goldfinches didn't move in until we put up a black oil sunflower seed feeder.

Unfortunately, these Brown-Headed Cowbirds have started showing up. I'm letting them be for now, but I'm not fond of these "arseholes of the bird world".

A Big, fat, clumsy Turtledove. They crack me up with their seemingly clumsy movements.

Gizmo would get them all. If I would let him :)

I'm going to rap up this ramble-y post by talking about the latest book I'm reading. I picked up a non-fiction to read. I do that occasionally. 

Image source: Amazon

I'm just fascinated by ghost stories. I have been since I was a kid. I'm not really a believer in anything supernatural, but that doesn't mean I don't like to read about it and imagine things. I love that this book contains "true" stories. True in the sense that strange things happened to random people, not true in the sense that I believe ghosts exist. I get a kick out of the reading the stories, because a lot of them probably do have just weird explanations behind them. A weird explanation that may not have been plausible at the time of the happening (most of the stories are from the 1800's). Overall, I'd say it's a very dry book. It reads like a book that a professor would have you read for a class- if that class were "Haunted History" or something of that sort. I'll probably read an easy fiction after this book (in fact, Divergent is sitting next to me right now!) since it is so matter-of-factly written. If you are a ghost story lover, you will enjoy this book!

I hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend. I'll be back tomorrow with new recipes, yippee!

And I just have to say, GO CATS!

Kentucky will be playing in the national championship tomorrow!

We have a happy hubby in this home :)