Would you wear tights with butt cheek cut-outs?

I am back from Ann Arbor and I don’t have much food reporting. I ate the “free” conference food, which was good, but not exciting. My group’s workshop went well and a lot of people showed up (especially for being the first time slot on the first day). I am still trying to work through my issues with public speaking. It ain’t easy. More practice when I present at Clemson University next week, I guess.

I do want to say that Ann Arbor is a great city and the hipster capital of Michigan. These people were the wackiest hipster dressers I have ever come in contact with in the Midwest. They even had an American Apparel and Urban Outfitters. Did you know AA sold assless tights? Please comment and explain their function.

Back to food. Ann Arbor had a great little cupcake shop my friends and I stopped at before heading back to Indiana: The Cupcake Station. Lame name, good cake. I picked up six mini cupcakes to share with Lars when I arrived home.

Top row, from left: Vanilla Latte, Salted Caramel Chocolate, Vegan Strawberry.

Bottom row, from left: Drumstick, Peanut Butter and Chocolate, Cookies and Cream.

These cupcakes were great. Lars’s favorite was the Vegan Strawberry, which was a surprise (he is a chocolate and vanilla lover). My favorite was the Vanilla Latte hands down. I also loved the creativity of the Drumstick cupcake. You know, the ice cream cone in the frozen aisle. It’s marshmallow icing was creamy and awesome.

Before I go an emergency cupcake run…onto healthier treats. I felt like baking today, so I did. I do what I want, folks.  These recipes were from Cooking Light. For dinner I wanted quiche. I revisited a recipe from before, but added sausage. Thus: Turkey Sausage, Smoked Gouda, Spinach, and Green Onion Quiche. It was easy, but you might have to cook it longer than the recipe suggests. I also took a shortcut and used frozen crust instead of making it. I served it with sliced apples and carrots.

The breakfast extravaganza continues! I made Lemon-Scented Olive Oil Muffins. I love olive oil cake, so I was excited about trying this healthier muffin version. The muffin itself has a subtle lemon taste, but the accompanying glaze is a lemon punch to your face. Lars had two, so that means they were good. Note: I only baked them for 15 minutes, instead of 25.

These muffins are easy and delicious. I could have had more of an olive oil taste, but then it wouldn’t be Cooking Light, but rather Cooking Oily. 

Thanks for your kind words about my tooth. It still hurts, but hopefully I’ll figure it out soon. Well I have a date with my television. Hope you had a great weekend.

Thank you, white wine.

I am still grading. I cannot wait to be done with this semester. I want to make the most of this summer, because every summer following this will not be a vacation at all. 

Well, I’ve been distracting myself with everything BUT grading today. This included a fantastic dinner brought to you by Cooking Light. This weekend I went home to see my sister graduate college, which means free groceries (one of the many perks of still being a college student). I picked up spinach tortellini and canned artichoke hearts and thought they’d go well together. Well, I adapted a recipe to create Spinach Tortellini with Chicken-Artichoke Wine Sauce. I pretty much rocked the shit out of my kitchen. Go me.

The dish was easy to make and I only had to wash a cast iron skillet and a pot afterwards. I’m lazy and do not have a dish washer; kill me. The fun does not stop there. Any recipe with wine is a friend of mine. I bought mini bottles of white wine, because I drink red wine, and I like the idea of having mini bottles around for recipes like this. I drank the rest of the ingredients. I am not wasteful, people.

The pasta turned out great. It was a simple pasta dish in taste. The taste of the melted Parmesan cheese and artichokes really stood out. It was so freaking simple to make.

After dinner, Lars and I ate a Skinny Cow Cookies and Cream ice cream sandwich and watched House, MD.

Well, for the rest of the evening I will be watching television, grading, commenting on blogs, and deciding what to do with my first free day of summer (tomorrow).

Water into Wine

Hey blogger buds! After my last post I got a lot of comments about Black Swan. I loved it and it took awhile to shake the feeling off. I will warn you that you will be in constant anxiety about her body breaking (and not because she is super skinny). That is my warning. I recommend seeing it though. And the sex scene: nothing. Perez posted constantly about this “scandalous” sex scene, but I literally said in the theater, “that is it?” So, if you get weird about sex…don’t worry. BUT, I also sat through Caligula with no problems, soooo….

Tortellini Florentine!

I made Lars dinner. I bought a package of pesto tortellini from Trader Joe’s and thought it would be perfect for a Florentine Ravioli recipe from Eating Well. Well it was decent, but only because I screwed it up. I added too much water to the spinach when I halved the recipe. No use crying over watery spinach, I say. I had a glass of wine.

I have tried every refrigerated tortellini and this was not my favorite. The pesto didn’t have any kick, and I picked this simple recipe to showcase that pesto. Whatever. Good recipe, but needed better tortellini and less water. I’ll use this recipe again with a more robust ravioli or tortellini.

Question: How do you feel about Taylor Swift? I think she should stop making that stupid heart with her hands. I don’t mean to pull a Kanye West, but I’m not a fan. I will say she is cute and talented for her age…for her age. What celebrity rubs you the wrong way, but everyone LOVES him/her?

Crazy Lady/Kitchen Lady

I am having one of those weeks where you work hard, then look around, and feel as if you got nothing accomplished. The final days of summer of whipping past me. I have to start class soon at a new school. I have to teach soon. I have no idea what I’m teaching these poor freshmen. One student already emailed me asking what textbook we are using. I don’t freaking know. I don’t even know what day it is.

Anyway, it has been a complicated week, but a fun one. I am starting to love the place and it is slowly coming together. I love our neighborhood and my English colleagues. I just hope I can get everything settled with the house before the school workload hits me like a ton of bricks.

Although I have been a crazy lady, I have also been a kitchen lady. I wanted to share some recipes from the past few days.

Amorelli with Spinach, Garbanzo Beans, and Feta

Adapted from Cooking Light

Just mix these delicious ingredients together, and then feel free to top with freshly ground pepper. It makes 12 servings, which means lunch for the rest of the week for me. Holler!

• 8 cups coarsely chopped spinach
• 8 cups hot cooked amorelli
• 1 cup crumbed low fat feta cheese
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 (19-ounce) cans garbanzo beans
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed

This pasta is what 5th-grade-Ashley would call “tight.”

A perfect summer pasta. It tastes great cold, also.

You know what else tastes great hot and cold? Blondies. I found a recipe for Blondies, infinitely adaptable on Smitten Kitchen. I tried these in two ways and created Chocolate Peanut Butter Blondies, and my favorite: Chocolate, Banana, and Pecan Blondies.

Ashley’s Blondies Adventure

• 8 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Butter an 8×8 pan
2. Mix butter and brown sugar, then egg, then vanilla.
3. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in additions (see below).
4. Pour in pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Cool on rack, then cut away.

Additions

Chocolate Peanut Butter Blondies: 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, 1/2 cup semi-sweet chips, 1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Chocolate, Banana, and Pecan Blondies: 1/2 cup toasted pecans, 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 banana); feel free to add more chocolate chips

Best Chocolate Chips EVER!

The banana added a great texture to the blondies.

Lastly, Lars and I finally tried the Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix I won from Tamara @ The Amateur Nutritionist. Thanks again, Tamara! Lars and I brushed it with olive oil, topped it with fresh mozzarella and baked it. Then when out of the oven, we topped it with salt, pepper, and basil. Delicious. Lars and I finished this baby off.  I don’t follow a gluten free diet, but I would definitely buy this crust again! It was easy to make, too. And this week, I need easy.

Okay party people, I must go. I NEED to catch up on y’all’s blogs. Hopefully I get internet at the new place soon. I’m going bonkers.

Nursing a Sweet Tooth

Thanks for the kind words about the dentist. I don’t know what hurt more: the tooth or the hole in my bank account.

I was driving back to Ohio, and I thought I’d take a drink. Mouth still numb. Wet Lap. I got home around 2 and at that point I had only eaten a bowl of fruit. I ran inside, threw my stuff down, and searched for food. I found an Amy’s Spinach personal pizza in the freezer. I really enjoyed this, but I wish it had more tomato action. I love tomatoes.

I also had 3 tiny pieces of a dark chocolate bar I bought at Target. It is only 55% in Cocoa content. I usually like it very very very dark. I loved this bar, though. Inside it had dried raspberries  that had this sweet crunch to them. I cannot wait until I break off my next piece.

In an attempt to use up the food in my apartment before I move, I utilized the big pile of spinach in my fridge for dinner. I made a salad with grilled chicken and Annie’s Gingerly Vinaigrette. I was also able to use the random mandarin oranges in my cabinet. Fruits in green salads rocks.

The real highlight of my evening was dessert. I took one of my Oatmeal/Molasses cookies and crumbled it on top of vanilla bean ice cream. Yum! I still have more ice cream to eat before the move, boo. And, I still have that other derby pie to eat.

Whew, what a day! I need a cup of tea and an early bed time. I have a day full of baking (get ready for some serious cookie action), cleaning, and packing. Ew. And, I have to deal with switching over to a new insurance plan. Don’t you hate making phone calls? I do, especially when it concerns money. Boo. Maybe I can just mess with them, like this video:

Hope your hump day wasn’t bumpy!

A Midnight Poaching

So, it is Saturday night. I am finally watching the series finale of Nip/Tuck (that show that ended 2 seasons too late), and I decided to find directions for poaching eggs. Jenna @ Eat, Live, Run had fantastic and easy-to-follow directions. I’m sipping on a glass of wine and bored, so I thought, “I’ll just poach an egg now.” So it is midnight at this point. I have no plan on eating this egg, I just wanted to see if I could do it.

I poached an egg successfully on the first try. After Julie and Julia, I surely thought it would take all night. Maybe Julia hated Julie because she was so dramatic about everything…and because of her haircut. Anyway, I set the egg on the plate, cut it, and it passed the ooze test. Bed time!

Today was pretty relaxing/lazy because I wasn’t feeling too well. My meals are nothing worth exploring in detail, because they were repeats.

Strawberries in Kashi’s Heart to Heart Warm Cinnamon Cereal (with milk).

Leftover soup and break sticks alongside a sliced Trader Joe’s chicken sausage.

Afternoon snacks include apple slices, and oatmeal cookie, and an apple cereal bar.

For weeks I have been craving spinach and artichoke dip, so of course I bought it when I spotted it in Trader Joe’s frozen aisle. I had it with dinner alongside pita chips. I also had strawberries, but don’t worry I didn’t dip them in the dip. Ha.

This was supposed to be a special treat, and…it wasn’t that great. To give Trader Joe’s a fair chance, I did built up expectations for this particular moment.

My evening involves a glass of wine, two oatmeal cookies, and Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I’m heading to bed relatively early, because this week is “Get Your Shit Together” Week. Also, who else is excited about Real Housewives: New Jersey or The Bachelorette? Ahhh!

Green Virgin

That is right, I made my first green monster. I made two batches. The first was one I found from a blog, but it wasn’t for me. So I decided to play around a bit. I think everyone has their favorite green monster. My second one was good (!), but I look forward to experimenting more! I’m sure there are so many possibilities.

Ashley’s First Green Monster

• 1 1/2-ish handfuls of fresh spinach
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 3/4 cup skim milk
• 1/2 tablespoon almond butter
• 1 spoonful of frozen apple juice
• 1 spoonful of brown sugar (I have a sweet tooth)
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1 handful of ice

I am very excited for the following things today:

1. I get to go to a coffee shop and read a book for FUN. I don’t think I have ever done that. Currently I am reading (photo from Amazon) :

Virgin: The Untouched History by Hanne Blank

Essentially, it is the history of the “virgin” in Western culture. She had me sold with a Donna Martin mention on the back (remember when she lost her virginity)!

2. I might be able to see an old friend for coffee today.

3. I am going to go to my parents (Indy) and slowly introduce veggies into my sister’s diet by making my family dinner.

I wanted to thank you for the comments and support last night in response to my post about binge eating. What a great and enlightening community. I am so glad to be a part of it!

I learned about Green Monsters via the blogs. What is one of the most important things you have learned from this blogging community? A cooking tip? A recipe? Some advice on body issues? A Trader Joe’s find?

Oh, family dinners.

Hey friends. Sorry I’ve been missing today! I’ve had quite the emotional day; I had that “why am I still sick” mental breakdown. Further, I cannot really taste food because of my sinus problems. This makes food blogging difficult.

I did not take pictures of lunch, because it was similar to yesterday’s. I had a cup of tomato soup, a small slice of the asiago sourdough, and baby carrots. Very exciting, yes.

The real challenge of the day was my family dinner. My family is what you would call dysfunctional. Ever since I voted for the other guy in the last election it has been pleasantly awkward. Further, I was once a daddy’s girl, so my father thinks all my boyfriends are evil. We all get along, but we have those quirks I suppose. We all went to a local fancy steakhouseto celebrate my brother’s recent graduation from high school.

Let's do this!

Since it was a family dinner, I had a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. The brand was Chateau St. Jean, I believe. It was delicious. The restaurant is supposed to have one of the most impressive wine lists in the world. Indiana, really?

We started with salads (I got mine with Balsamic Vinaigrette); I barely touched mine. For the entrée, I ended up ordering the Chicken Florentine: grilled chicken with peppers, tomatoes, spinach, and mushrooms (I asked for it without the cheese). It also came with the lemon pepper cream sauce on the side. I ate most of it. It was good, but my senses are also weak today.

During dinner Lars and I sat next to my brother and sister, so dinner went well.

Well, I’m going to make some tea and watch Mad Men. Go away sickness!