Scrambled Eggs, a la Alison

Ever in one of those "moods" where you don't feel good and you know you need to eat something half way good for you, but totally don't feel like putting any effort into it?  That was me tonight.

Ended up scrambling two eggs...now before you go thinking "Wow.  That woman's livin' 'la vida loca' " please read on.  I like to amp them up a notch, while still keeping them pretty healthy.  So to the two eggs, I sprinkle in a good dose of nutmeg and some small chunks of fat free cream cheese.  The cream cheese really adds some "body" to the eggs, and the nutmeg just makes them really yummy.  Another neat thing to do (instead of the fat free cream cheese) is to add about a tablespoon of plain Chobani yogurt.  Either way, you make the eggs taste "richer" without addingg any fat.  

Put the eggs on a plate.... since they need to cool for a minute anyway, smack a couple pieces of Canadian Bacon in the pan.  The meat only takes a few seconds to heat on each side.  

What you end up with is a dinner that has lots of taste, plenty of protein, and very little fat.  SWEET!

Bets' Pineapple Cole Slaw

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sugar

3 TBS apple cider vinegar

8 ounces crushed pineapple, drained

16 oz cole slaw mix (use some of the red cabbage mixed in for a colorful variation)

Go a little light-handed on the liquidy stuff, and a little heavy-handed on the slaw part, else it gets a bit soupy)

Mix mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar and sugar together.  Then add slaw mix and pineapple.  Mix it all up good.  Chill overnight.

(Even my friend, who said she doesn't like slaw, LOVED this!)

Portabella Mushrooms: The Other Meat

I LOOOOVE me some portabella mushrooms!  Kroger makes some really good fresh stuffed ones.  My favorite variety, which they don't have very often so it's that much more of a treat when do, is the ones stuffed with big fresh spinach leaves and cheese.  I like to sprinkle some chopped up marinated sun-dried tomatoes on top, and of course a little more cheese.  Two of them cost about $5, and I can never eat all of them both.  So of course the extra can be reheated for a snack the next day or put into the "trash soup" bag in the freezer. 

Paired with some fresh milk from Homestead Creamery right here in Virginia, it's a winner!

A Little Preparation..

...goes a long way.  Pay day, so went grocery shopping.  Bought another big thing (about 2 pounds, so "big" to me.  I guess it depends on if you ask a man or a woman for the definition of "big" for the answer you'd get!)   Now.  Where was I before I so rudely interrupted myself?  Oh.  Bought a big thing of hamburger meat.  Mixed it up with some chopped onions and Old Bay and fresh rosemary.  Threw some nutmeg in there for the Hell of it.  If it's good I'll call it "Greek Hamburger Steaks."  If it sucks, no one will ever know.  That's the beauty part of living alone!  

Also got a package of four pork loin chops (at $ for the package, "it's a good value" she said in her best TV commentator voice)!  Thinking I'll put tenderizer and seasoning on them and then freeze them individually so I can one out in the morning and have it for dinner that night.  Either pan fried or roasted.  Or who knows...I'll figure it out when I get there :=)

Some days, nothing else will do

Some days, nothing else will do but a grilled cheese sammich for supper.  Used my double fiber bread, of course, and heaped on a mountain of sharp cheddar and then delicately balanced some mozarella on top of that.  MMMMMMMM......good schtuff!!

There's no such thing as too much cheese!!!!

Julie and Julia

...Watching it on Lifetime.  It's just sooooo well done.  A little hurricane came flying through the area this weekend....I'm perfectly okay, but haven't been able to go get "good" food since I got home from Cincinnati.  They fed us breakfast and lunch today at work.  Nothing to write home about, but at least it was free.  

I promise to get back to healthier eating!  Believe me, my body is telling me I need to.  I want steak.....

Fincinnati, Day One

I'm here a day before everyone else.  Had hoped to lounge by the pool, but that gets tricky when it rains every ten minutes.  Oh well.  Life goes, oh blah de oh blah dah.

Cruised the road in front of the hotel for a dinner spot.  Went up one way for a whole bunch of traffic lights, then turned around and did the same thing in the other direction so I could see what my choices were.  One of the first places I'd seen was called "Larosa's Pizzeria."  It just kind of called to me.  So after I got parked and trapped in my car by the DELUGE of rain for about ten minutes I made my way in.  

My waitress Jess was just a sweet as she could be.  She totally "got" why I wanted a slice of orange for my Blue Moon.   My "BLT" salad was a really good sized portion with a neat garlic dressing.  What do I care--nobody's going to be kissing me tonight, and now I don't have to worry about those pesky vampires either.  I just kind of wished they hadn't used the "pre-made" bacon bits, but maybe that's just me.

Had hoped for some eggplant parmigiana for my dinner,  but it wasn't on the menu.  Didn't really feel like pizza.  Ended up ordering a combo of meat lasagna and cheese filled ravioli.  I expected your run of the mill mass-produced stuff, but boy was I pleasantly surprised!  What I got was a plate of lasagna and garlic bread.  The lasagna was anything BUT frozen and reheated!  To be honest I didn't touch the bread b/c I just don't need any more bread today.  You can just tell when something is freshly made with fresh ingredients, and this WAS!  Jesse checked in with me just often enough and just as I was finishing the lasagna, she brought me a plate with a bowl of cheese-filled ravioli and (strangely, I thought) another piece of garlic bread.  The ravioli was even better than the lasagna.  I ate til I almost exploded.

You really take your chances trying to find someplace "worthy" to eat.  Boy did I luck out tonight!  I deem Larosa's "TOTALLY WORTHY."  Apparently, it's a chain in the Cincinnati area.  Here's their website:

http://www.larosas.com/story.html

Tomorrow:  BUFTETT DAY!  There was this neat-looking bakery next to the place I ate dinner; I want to check them out tomorrow.  Besides the yummy treats, their logo is a big happy face on a bright yellow background, so it's MEANT to be!