What's for Dinner?

I'm making this for dinner tonight. Just wanted to share this blog again... seriously everything I make from it has been delicious!

photo from www.skinnytaste.com

Happy cooking :)

Kraft Dinner

If you understand the meaning of the title of this post, you just earned mega points in my book. Explanation to follow....

It's cold out today. The sun didn't shine, my flowers are starting to wilt (surprise, surprise) and it just feels kinda blah. On top of which, I have a monster headache.

But, there are Friends reruns on and I have my comfy clothes on. Because Rick won't be home tonight for dinner, I'm on my own to come up with something to comfort my soul and fill my tummy. You know when you get something stuck in your head and it's all you want to do or eat or see? Well, this is what I decided today would make me feel better... at 4:30 pm...aka dinner time at The Mathews Retirement Home:

The funny part? My mom called before I decided to open this box of old-fashioned goodness and as we were chatting I told her that I just wanted to make some tonight for dinner. She laughed and said she was currently on her way to the grocery store to pick up a box because she had a craving for it, too! Oh, the mother-daughter bond.

So, why the blog title you (Americans) might ask? Growing up in the foreign land, our good ol' blue boxes of the cheesiest looked like this:

Kraft Dinner was a staple in our house. Seriously, by the time I was in middle school and was able to cook on my own... I swore I made the best Kraft Dinner of anyone in the house. My ratio of milk and fake butter to the powdery cheese was just perfect. I believe that's where my experimentation with cooking began.

So tonight, I indulged in the memories of my childhood and melted the yucky blues away with the cheesy goodness of the blue box. And, I have to say... this may have been my best batch yet!

Spring is Here!

Though today's frigid temperature would lead one to believe Spring has not sprung yet, in our house, we are welcoming the new season with open arms. Because gosh-darnit it's April, and in my book that means Spring.

Fall is definitely my favorite season, but Spring sweeps in as a close second. I mean, the term Spring Cleaning alone makes me drool with excitement. I love waking up to sunshine instead of dark. I love the tulips and blooms of color that spring up around the neighborhood. The park is full of life again and the city has come alive for the next few months!

Perhaps one of my favorite elements of Spring is that Rick takes over a lot of the cooking. The grill and the meat smoker are his two loves (after me and Maizey, of course!) and I take full advantage of his love for cooking outdoors. So today, we threw some kabobs and fresh corn on the cob on the grill and welcomed the new season with our forks.

Initially, the name of this sauce caught my eye today at Whole Foods. "Soy Vay"... what Jewish girl could pass that up? Turns out it's awesome! I look forward to merrily marinating with this stuff for a long time! 

Of course, I had to reward my loving husband for whipping up such a fantastic Sunday meal. So I baked up some cheesecake brownies from scratch (of course, recipe available upon request).

Happy Spring everyone! 

Day 90: Sweetness All Around

The past few days have definitely been full of sweetness. Lots of sweet treats, sweet friends and very sweet moments.

Today, I wanted to hang onto the sweetness just a little bit. We have a lot of leftover chocolate and marshmallows from the smore's station on Saturday. So, I indulged and ate two three squares of a plain old Hershey's chocolate bar. It hit the spot.

I also spent some time this afternoon playing with my new fancy camera. I SO need to take a class or something, but in the meantime, poor Maizey has been blinded by the constant flash.

Day 11: Date Night

Rick and I haven't gone to dinner, nor had a night out, just the two of us in a ridiculously long time. So long, in fact, I really can't remember. We love to travel and go out with friends, and between work events and family obligations, the time has just slipped away. We scheduled our date weeks ago. We had to put it on the calendar to make it stick, and we did. I got dressed up, he sprayed some cologne, and it felt like we were dating all over again.

We went last night to a fondue restaurant called Geja's. We had a gift certificate to spend, and we haven't had fondue in years, so it seemed perfect. The place is really romantic and quaint. Dim lights. No windows. Flickering candles. We vowed not to talk about the consistency of Maizey's poops. We promised to not look at our watches and rush through our meal. Phones were turned off and email wasn't being checked. There was nothing special to celebrate last night. It was just a perfect ending to an insane week. All the worries and chaos of our lives melted away for a couple of hours, and when we got home, we quickly fell into a deep and happy food coma.

Day 7: Coffee Break

Mondays suck. Especially the Monday after Daylight Savings ends. Going to work before the sun rises and coming home after its set doesn't leave much to desire. But the one thing I desire is coffee.  I have been trying really kind of hard to save money on coffee lately. Rick gave me a tutorial on how to use our fancy coffee machine about a month ago, and I try to make my coffee at least twice a week in the mornings now. But I miss my Starbucks. Somehow, when someone else is making my coffee, it tastes so much better. Well I decided to break bank and buy myself a skinny vanilla latte this morning. It was worth every penny, and made my Monday a little bit sweeter.

Day 4: The Zing

 Rick and I were in Ann Arbor for the weekend with his family. And on Friday, happiness came in the form of a sandwich. We met the gang at Zingerman's Rick's Mecca for dinner. To be honest, I'm not even the biggest sandwich fan, but my husband has a love affair going on with this place, and we can not make a trip to Ann Arbor without having at least one meal at the Zing. Rick took me there on our first date. At the time, I was less than impressed when we pulled up to a deli, but looking back, I can't imagine our first date being anywhere else.

Our visit to the Zing this weekend was like most of the past. But each time we go, I appreciate Rick's passion for the sandwich a little bit more. The way his eyes light up when he ponders the menu (which he has memorized) makes my heart melt. I adore the way he spends our entire 4 hour car ride asking my opinion about which bread he should choose for his sandwich. His love for Zingerman's is nothing but endearing. My sandwich on Friday was delicious, but the perma-smile on Rick's face that night was the sweetest part of my day.