Baked Spaghetti Squash Marinara

February 9, 2015February 12, 2015 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Happy Valentine’s Day week! Robert and I have tried a variety of Valentine’s Day traditions over the years, fancy dinners out, homemade dinners in and of course the memorable year I tried to make Robert’s favorite cheesecake from scratch in my ancient apartment oven which turned out decently tasty but horribly cracked and ugly. This year we will be volunteering at a charity gala for a local foundation that raises money for children with disabilities. The Heart Ball is a black tie affair with dinner, dancing and several auctions. I’m excited to help with such a worthy cause, and seeing my handsome husband in a tuxedo is always an added bonus

If I was a good blogger I would have a heart shaped recipe to share with you right now…or at the very least something pink/chocolate/covered in sprinkles. Instead I have a yummy veggie centric dinner recipe that is not Valentine’s related in the slightest…although it is red so maybe I can get partial credit?

This recipe can easily be made meat free and is delicious that way, but Robert prefers his with a little extra protein. I have done it with grilled chicken, sausage and even my favorite easy meatballs, which is how we have been enjoying it lately. If you aren’t of the carnivore variety, I suggest beefing up the extra vegetables, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant and onion would be a great combination. Like my zucchini noodles, this is another non-recipe type recipe. It is slightly more prep intensive but doesn’t require a spiralizer. So if you are in the neighborhood for a pasta substitute without purchasing any additional gadgets, this recipe may be the one for you.

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Zucchini Noodles and Meatballs

January 28, 2015January 28, 2015 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Apologies in advance for the pictures in this post. Photography is NOT one of my strengths but these are probably worse than usual. Then again, how great can pictures of a kitchen appliance and vegetable ribbons really be? If your answer is “way better than those!” I know, kindly keep it to yourself please and thank you.

On top of being a bad photographer, I have also not been a very good blogger lately. Life has been insanely busy and I just haven’t had the time to devote to sitting down and writing a post. This makes me sad because I really enjoy writing this little blog. In my perfect world the day would be a few hours longer (and I would have a little more energy, a lot more crafting prowess, a never ending supply of perfectly ripe avocados AND be a professional photographer). But alas, there are only 24 hours in a day which means life often takes precedence. Sometimes I guess you have to be a bad blogger to be a good wife/friend/employee/puppy-mommy .

So, I won’t beat myself up about it, and instead I’ll just vow to try to devote more time to my blog when I can, but not at the expense of all the fun (and some not so fun) life things I’ve been doing lately…like planning a baby shower and wedding shower for sweet friends, furniture shopping (yay), playing with my favorite furball, and working on some very exciting and fulfilling personal projects (more on those later).

So remember these meatballs from last week? They have become a staple at my house during this busy time. Making diverse, healthy dinners for Robert and I is a priority for me. Since time is so limited, I am typically a mono-eater during both breakfast and lunch during the week. Yes, that is a real word. I read it in a food (or maybe fitness?) magazine years ago and it stuck with me at the time because it reminded me so much of Robert. A mono eater eats the same thing (or same type of food) regularly with little to no variation. Before I started packing his lunches for him, Robert would eat the exact same sub from Subway, every.single.day. for lunch. When we were dating I thought this was the most bizarre habit around, how could you go into a restaurant every day and never want to try something different? I mean he literally ate the exact same sub with the exact same toppings EVERY DAY! Ham, American cheese, black olives and spinach with mustard, oil and vinegar. I think those ingredients will be engraved onto my brain until the day I die. His excuse was always that he was so busy during the work day and had so little time for lunch, that it was just easier and faster to order the same thing. Robert’s mono-eating became kind of a running joke between us and our friends but if I’m being totally honest, I have to take back all the fun I poked at him, because either he’s rubbed off on me or I’ve turned into a major creature of habit in my old age because the mono-eater club now officially has it’s second member.

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Italian Sausage & Beef Meatballs

January 19, 2015January 19, 2015 ~ atastytrip ~ 1 Comment

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I am excited to have the day off from work to write, cook, catch up on chores and perhaps run a few errands. Before my trip to the gym this morning I took a few minutes to read a few articles and reflect on the day. I love reading all of Dr. King’s quotes that circulate the internet this time of year. What an eloquent, articulate and truly inspirational human being. This morning I found an article that listed some of Dr. King’s lesser known quotes, and I found this one particularly meaningful,

“ True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring”.

This quote resonates with me on many levels right now, both personally, professionally and even with memories of our recent trip to San Francisco where despite the beautiful landscapes, bright tourist attractions and thriving city life, we encountered SO many homeless individuals. Several times, I caught myself thinking, Wow, what can they do to help these people? Why don’t they seem to be doing more? And then, as we explored the city I would see the lines of men, women and children winding around blocks to get into the shelters and think, How do you fix a problem this big?

I think Dr. King was trying to express that putting a band aid on a problem is not enough, and to be truly compassionate, you must consider what you can do to eliminate the problem from the ground up. I think about this often at work as I encounter children with ever widening gaps in their knowledge. Do I use the quick fix and teach them the meaning of an unknown word? Or try something a bit more difficult and instead teach them how to use a dictionary? Or better still, do I try to teach them the importance of reading something new each day to continually expand both their vocabulary and their minds? This type of thinking is not the easy route and is definitely the road less traveled, but it is necessary to fix the broken parts of our education system, and our society as a whole.

So there is my 2 cents In exchange for reading I will also provide you with a yummy, easy and very versatile meatball recipe. And a close up picture of my dog looking rather forlorn. You’re welcome.

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Lighter Creamed Spinach and a Picky Eater Tip

January 7, 2015January 7, 2015 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Happy New Year readers (reader?)! Those of us who had the luxury of time off from work have officially been back to the grind for three days, halfway there! I was actually kind of excited this year to get back to work (read: back into my routine), it’s always fun to see the kids after Christmas and hear all about their holiday. This year I had a fun holiday of my own to tell them about…California! Robert and I had an amazing and very full trip. We successfully navigated two brand new cities, plus the airline giving away our seats, an extremely long rental car line, possible food poisoning, and driving in LA, but more on all that (and lots of fun photos!) later. No photos of the food poisoning part, promise.

I left you last with a breakfast casserole recipe a few days before Christmas. I hope everyone’s holiday was as nice as mine, full of family, friends and food (not necessarily in that order). But really, aren’t those three F’s the best thing about every holiday? Sleep and traveling are close seconds. Renly got a brand new haircut for Christmas. Check him out!

This is much shorter than we normally keep him cut but I have to admit it’s kind of growing on me. He’s pretty adorable with any haircut. When we got home late Friday night I thought his little tail was going to wag right off, but for the first time ever I think Robert and I were both more excited to see him than he was to see us, and that’s really saying something. Having a dog is literally the best.

For as long as I can remember, I have been eating the traditional New Year’s Day meal on January 1st. What, you may ask, is this traditional meal I speak of? I’m pretty sure it’s widespread considering both my mother and Robert’s mother do it but it could just be a southern thing. On New Year’s Day you are supposed to eat certain things for luck in the year ahead; pork for prosperity, greens for wealth, black-eyed peas for luck and cornbread for…something….maybe just a delicious starch? My mother-in-law always makes cornbread muffins and hides a penny in one, whoever finds it gets EXTRA luck that year. It’s a fun tradition but if you adopt it, don’t forget to wash your penny thoroughly and warn your guests so that no one cracks a tooth!

Since Robert and I didn’t return from California until the 2nd, we missed our traditional family meal While lamenting this fact on the flight home as we ate airport food, I remembered I had a Boston Butt in the freezer and decided to make Robert and I a mini version of this beloved tradition when we got home. I didn’t have any cornbread ingredients or black-eyed peas, but pork and spinach I could definitely handle on short notice (hello crock pot!). My sweet mother-in-law is NOT a cook, but the few dishes she has in her arsenal are tried, true and delicious….they are also top-secret as she refuses to share them with me for fear that she then won’t have anything to make or bring to family functions. Someday I’ll wear her down . On New Year’s she always serves her spinach casserole which is sinfully cheesy and delicious. I say sinfully because I’m pretty sure it’s also terrible for you. Like a whole stick of butter, three eggs, a container of full fat cottage cheese AND a whole block of cheddar terrible. Mmmm, why does bad usually taste so good?

I love having her spinach casserole as a treat, but since I enjoy healthy cooking (and I don’t have her recipe), I decided we would go a different route this year. I created this yummy and MUCH healthier creamed spinach recipe that Robert gobbled right up without ever missing that block of cheddar.

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Slow Saturday Breakfast: Easy Cheesy Shortcut(s) Breakfast Casserole

December 22, 2014December 22, 2014 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Merry Christmas week! Is that a thing? Like a birthday week? If it isn’t then it should be because Christmas is a lot more fun than your birthday.

Our tiny Christmas tree, space was tight this year!

I am officially on Christmas break and let me tell you it is just as glorious at 27 as it was at 17, or 7 for that matter. I think I still believed in Santa at 7 so maybe that was slightly more fun. I KNOW I didn’t appreciate the power of sleeping in and naps at 7 though so on second thought, it’s just as good now.

Now that Christmas break has begun, I’m finally getting into the Christmas spirit. It’s been a little tough this year for several reasons. For one thing, I’ve been sick and it’s been unseasonably warm and rainy…not ideal Christmas wellness or weather. For another (and this is probably the main reason) this is the first Christmas ever that I won’t have spent with my family. My mom tearfully reminded me of this on the phone a few days ago, that she won’t have either of her girls for Christmas this year FYI moms, reminders of this sort are not terribly helpful in cheering your children who are far away for the holidays. Since our families do not live in the same place, Robert and I navigated new married people territory this year and had to choose holidays. My family got Thanksgiving, his family gets Christmas and next year we swap. For those who haven’t crossed that bridge yet, as easy as you think it will be, even if you’re a holiday grinch, it isn’t. Every family has their own unique traditions and holiday quirks and no matter how wonderful the traditions you step into (or start anew) are, they still aren’t yours. I adore my in-laws, and I’m really excited to experience their Christmas (especially because my niece and nephew still believe in Santa!) but I know part of me will still be nostalgic for the holidays of my past. I KNOW this is part of life and growing up yada yada, but if your WHOLE family lives in the same place, count yourself lucky! I will get to see my parents on Tuesday as they plan to stop through Hilton Head on their way to see my sweet grandparents, so that is a definite plus!

Ingredients — Cheese not pictured because…early

Looking forward to all the festivities of this coming week, and enjoying all the fun we had this weekend has finally put me in the spirit! Not only was Friday my last day of work for two weeks, but my grandparents surprised Robert and I with an overnight visit on Friday evening! They drove over ten hours round trip to literally just have dinner and spend the night with us, did I mention they are the best? We took them to dinner, drove around to see Christmas lights and then came home to give them their Christmas gift and enjoy a piece of my favorite cake that my sweet nana made. An entire cake is pretty much the last thing I need right now with all the other holiday goodies I’ve been consuming but the fact she that she baked it and brought it just for me pretty much melts my heart.

My grandparent’s left around noon on Saturday and Robert and I quickly tidied the house and ran errands before his family holiday party. His mother’s side of the family gets together each year on the weekend before Christmas to enjoy dinner and a White Elephant gift exchange. It’s always a great time and this year was no exception! Robert’s cousin and her husband spent the night with us and Sunday morning we all reconvened once again for breakfast to see everyone off. I was tasked with providing the breakfast casserole, an oldie but always a goodie.