| Mmm Butternut Squash |

Posted on by
Reply

So I think traditionally butternut squash is used in the fall – in fact, I think most of the squash family’s “prime” season is the fall. However, it’s spring and squash is still delicious and tasty.

We recently made acorn squash with dinner – which was delicious!! Baked in the oven with a tiny bit of butter and brown sugar…delightful. We’ve made homemade butternut squash risotto (recipe found here) a couple times and it was very tasty. We’ve also made a lighter version of of homestyle mac and cheese which cuts out a lot of fat by using butternut squash to make it creamy – and that was a big hit (recipe found here).

As I was looking around for recipes to use some of the leftover squash from the last time we made risotto, I found a recipe for butternut squash pasta sauce. After reading through the ingredients, we decided to give it a try. Here is the recipe, along with some (kind of awful) pics. If you’re a fan of butternut squash, I highly recommend giving this a shot! No tomatoes, chicken broth based with only a bit of milk and cheese. VERY TASTY!!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/3 apple, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup Italian cheese blend (Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano)
  • salt and ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Place the squash into a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Simmer the squash until very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain excess water. Cooked squash should equal 2 cups.
  2. Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook the onion, garlic, and apple, stirring frequently, until softened and brown, about 15 minutes. Add butternut squash and chicken broth, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat just to a simmer, and stir in the milk and cheese blend. Stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce has reached desired thickness, 5 to 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
  3. ***OUR ADJUSTMENTS: We read through some of the reviews of the original recipe (found here) and found that some people had left the “chunks” without using a food processor or mashing it up of any kind. Some people liked the texture, and others didn’t…so we met in the middle. We decided NOT to use a food processor, but rather used a potato masher to mash up most of the chunks. We purposefully left some of them…which we both actually really liked. Also, we both tend to like things with more flavor and a bit more “heat” so we added some cumin, red pepper flakes and a pinch of cayenne pepper. It turned out really good! It’s GREAT leftover as well – in fact, I think I almost enjoyed it MORE the second day. If you read through the reviews, some people made it a sweet sauce (which sounds totally gross to me) by adding brown sugar…but as pasta sauce?! REALLY?! Ick. Also, just really focus on the texture of the sauce as you boil it / come to the end. Some people prefer thicker sauce and some prefer a thinner sauce…the nice thing is that you can simmer it down (or not) to your liking!! Have fun and enjoy :)

And since it’s been a while since I updated AT ALL…here are a couple gratuitous pics of that Ollie Dog. He’s 5 months now and we just started Intermediate Puppy Class (he was the star student in the Puppy Beginners Class!). He’s getting so big!

| Love Day: Catching Up |

Posted on by
Reply

As previously mentioned, Jacques and I celebrated Valentine’s Day (more like Valentine’s Weekend) early since he was going to be traveling. Sushi, making a delicious lobster dinner together, homemade creme brulee, flowers and lots of LOVE – in photos:

I feel so lucky to be SO LOVED by two wonderful boys :)

Whether you celebrated it with your significant other, good friends, family or happily alone – I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine’s Day and was told how much they mean to they people in their lives <3

| A Welcome Home Breakfast |

Posted on by
2

I’m back to a point where blogging isn’t really a priority for me. I just don’t think to write about…well, anything really.

Life has been pretty uneventful (except for Ollie of course). Jacques is still traveling. I spend a lot of time at home. I’m working on being more social, I promise!

Jacques got home Thursday night and he’s only staying until Monday – then he’s leaving again for Tennessee for 5 more days. When he’s away, he lives very simply. Lots of frozen dinners, soups, salads, cereal. While he’s home this time, I wanted to make him some really good food (that way, he’ll always want to come home to me!). lol

Yesterday morning, I made a VERY delicious breakfast: Cinnamon-Swirl French Toast! Ooooh it was so good. I got the cinnamon burst bread from Great Harvest Bread Co. and omg, it was cinnamon-y and sooo delicious!

Last night we went to dinner at The Med in Boulder (sooo good) with some really great friends. I had more fun last night than I can remember in a LONG TIME.

Today we’re going to spend a relaxing day at home together, make some homemade marinana sauce and enjoy some lobster and pasta for dinner – oooh, and I think we’re going to use our new creme brulee kit this evening too!!

Tomorrow we will be celebrating our Valentine’s Day since he’ll be gone for the ACTUAL day. He already bought me some delightful roses and I think we’ve got reservations Sunday evening at a French restaurant called L’Atelier – never been but have heard AMAZING things about it. I’m excited…and I’m so happy that Jacques and I get to spend our THIRD Valentine’s Day together.

I’m sure I’ll post about the rest of our weekend soon.

| A Pup Named OLLIE |

Posted on by
3

A puppy. I have wanted one since we moved into our townhouse in Longmont. Well, I’ve wanted one since BEFORE that…but it became a real option when we moved here. It was a conversation that was held as our furniture was being placed…and then was repeated probably every month since then.

Jacques was the nay-sayer. Don’t get me wrong…he is an ANIMAL lover. And ALL animals love him. Not kidding – this man could team up with The Dog Whisperer and they’d be one heck of a team. No, it’s not that he didn’t want one…he’s just very – hmmm, practical.

He kept reminding me how much WORK a puppy takes. How much MONEY a puppy costs. YeahYeahYeahSureWorkMoney. I’m sorry…did you just say “PUPPY”…TWICE?! Ahem.

He’s also been traveling. Like, A LOT. He’s been in Tennessee for the better part of the last 8 weeks. I’ve been trying hard to stay busy – working out (at home) here and there. Planning lady dates with some of my favorite girls. I’ve seen my mother quite a bit…

Then I had a break down. I was sad. I was so lonely. I missed my boyfriend. Oh, and my period was about to start so the world seemed to be ENDING. Jacques was supposed to come home on a Friday (after being gone for 2 weeks straight) and he called me the day before to tell me that it was going to be another 6 days before he was going to come home. A few tears were shed – I wasn’t trying to make Jacques feel bad. I knew that he’d rather be here than there…but the more time he spends there, the sooner he can stay home for GOOD. After a long conversation, of apologizing and reminding me how much he loves me…assuring me it won’t be like this forever…he said those magical words:

“This weekend, we can look for a puppy.”

The clouds opened up and angels sang. Of course, Jacques meant that we can start our hunt for a puppy – to me it sounded like this: “This weekend, we’ll bring home a puppy.” Yup. Just like that.

I researched…we didn’t know what kind of puppy we wanted. A great dane? A lab? A mutt? I was kind of going by the theory that “When you find the right puppy, you’ll know.” So I looked at breeders, I looked at puppy rescue adoption events and found out there was going to be a big one at the Petco in South Denver on Saturday morning. I even pre-screened the puppies and fell in love with an 8 week old lab mix – she was brown, fluffy and adorable.

We got down there early and put our name on the list…I think we were 10th maybe? By the time we returned for the event 2 hours later, there were probably 60+ people there, also on the list. I thought for sure we’d be leaving with my little brown fluffball. HOWEVER, she was actually the 3rd puppy to be adopted, right behind possibly the two cutest golden retriever puppies I’ve ever seen. When it was our turn, since she was gone, we hung out with her sister, a little black lab mix…also a fluffball. She was very nervous. It was loud. There were so many people. She didn’t seem too concerned or interested in us. The adoption event holders let us know that our 15 minutes was up and Jacques looked at me and said, “I don’t think this is the right puppy for us.”

I was heart broken. I couldn’t say that I disagreed with him…we didn’t have that right kind of connection with her that I was hoping we’d have. I was just so sad to be leaving without a puppy – but Jacques was definitely right. She wasn’t the right pup for us. However, I have no doubt that she went home with a family that day – and I hope they’re the right family for her.

When we got home, I had an email from one of the breeders I had seen online – …

Yes, a breeder. Let’s address this for a minute. I’ve been hesitant to tell people where we got our Ollie because people are SO opinionated about rescue dogs. The thing is – we tried. I wanted to rescue a dog – bring home an animal who might not find a loving home otherwise. BUT. We drove for an hour an a half to a rescue event and fought 60-70 people…and it didn’t work out for us. Yes, I could have waited longer – chased adoption events all over the state of Colorado – and beyond. I didn’t want to. There are a multitude of reasons I’m happy that we got him from a breeder. I got to meet BOTH his mom and his dad – both of which were well-tempered, loving, BEAUTIFUL animals. I wasn’t rushed with a 15-minute time limit to decide on the pet we will bring into our family and love forever and ever and ever. I know what kind of dog he is – definitively. I have his AKC certification papers meaning that I know that he doesn’t have hip dysplasia, elbow problems or eye issues in his bloodlines. And not that I would ever, EVER give him back, but they guarantee their dogs. I got to meet the people who have been caring for him and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has been well-fed, well-loved and well-cared for. They asked questions to find out what kind of puppy parents we were going to be – I know they care for their animals. So no, we did not “rescue” Ollie…but regardless of where we got him, we love him and he is the right pup for us.

The breeder confirmed that they had 3 male chocolate lab puppies, all ready to go home. One was 8 weeks old and the other 2 were 11 weeks old, all from different litters. Their moms are sisters…so they’re – cousins? Anyway, I made a definite connection with the youngest puppy and Jacques fell in love with one of the 11 weeks old. Both were very friendly, but calm. The third was hyper and playful and didn’t seem to like either of us too much. In the end Jacques left the decision up to me and I decided on the 8 week old.

We stopped by Petsmart on the way home and I gave Jacques the list of puppy names I had been considering. After we were done shopping and before we even got home, we discovered that we had both settled on the same name – Ollie. Perfection!

Meet our little brown boy!

He’s the best!! We couldn’t be happier.

| Green Chile Chicken Pizza |

Posted on by
1

Green chile pizza! Delish.

We pretty much just made up the recipe on the fly – and it turned out SO WELL! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did…

Ingredients:
- Whole wheat crust or uncooked whole wheat dough (we used uncooked dough that was in the refrigerated pasta section of the grocery store but I’m sure boboli would work okay too)
- green enchilada sauce, canned
- 1 large chicken breast, chopped into approx 1″ cubes
- 3-5 peeled, de-seeded, and chopped hatch roasted green chiles (we used med-hot)
- 3 heaping tbsp canned yellow corn
- 2 tbsp chopped onion
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped or quartered
- 2 medium sized roma tomatoes
- 1/2 cup mexican cheese
- 1/4 cup queso fresco

Directions:

-if you bought uncooked dough let it sit at room temp for 15-20 minutes; then shape dough and put on a pizza baking pan

-preheat the oven to 450* or whatever temp your dough says to do

-season and brown the chicken (only cook partially since it will cook in the oven too) – we used all kinds of seasonings – wing it!

-set chicken aside when finished

-once the oven is preheated, cook un-topped dough partially to avoid soggy crust (the crust we bought had a recommended total cook time of 12-15 minutes so we precooked for about 6)

-while crust is precooking, chop the following: chiles, onions, garlic – we sliced the tomatoes much like you would for an italian pizza but we think we might try chopping them next time…give it a shot!

-in same pan as chicken, slightly sautee onion and garlic…set aside when finished

-when ready, top the pizza:
green enchilada sauce
garlic and onion mixture
mexican cheese
chicken
corn
tomatoes
chiles
queso freso

-cook for remaining time as directed by your crust instructions

***alternate suggestions: you could also try red enchilada sauce instead of green…another idea would be to put avocado on top of the pizza before serving

-then enjoy!! Woo!

| Out With 2011 – 2012, Get It |

Posted on by
1

If we ignore a few (minor) details, 2011 was pretty darn great.

Jacques and I moved in together, we have built a home together. We celebrated our 2 year anniversary. We both celebrated our 26th year of life.

I *still* have a job – and while, at times, I cannot stand it…I am able to pay my bills. I have good benefits. I have job security.

In 2011, I showed very little interest in my physical health. Since becoming a work-at-home employee, I have gained only a couple pounds…overall I would say I have close-to maintained my weight. This is better than a big gain – PHEW. But it’s not awesome. In the beginning of the year, I was good about going to the gym but I still ate complete crap. Toward the end of the year, I had another short-lived stint in which I gave P90X a shot. That fizzled quickly.

Sidenote: Tony Horton can suck it.

My mental health is a whole different story. I finally sought the talk-therapy I think I’ve needed for a long time. I’m not sure if I’ve found the right therapist – but she provokes thought and challenges me (most of the time). I think this is something I will continue in 2012.

My self-esteem is in the shitter. Pretty sure “shitter” is a technical term. This is something that I think is directly related to my weight…and needs to be addressed this year. I’m pretty sure last year’s first post was me VOWING to do better in 2011…wooops.

This time I mean it. This time I HAVE to mean it.

Gym. Portion control. Continued mental health care. Positive self-talk (I swear, it makes a difference). I don’t know if goal-weight (145 pounds) is attainable this year…but I would like to get close. I’m going to spend the rest of this week making a solid plan. One that is written down. One that I can be held accountable for. Jacques will hold me accountable. Amanda and Capella will hold me accountable. Kaity and Lindsi will hold me accountable. My mother will hold me accountable.

Maybe that should be 2012′s word: ACCOUNTABILITY. Most importantly, *I* will hold me accountable. This year, I have to mean it.

Jacques is gone for the next 2 weeks (again) so I have a jump start on getting healthy food in the house. I will clean – I like to feel good about my home. I will join a gym. I will re-visit the important nutrition I learned from Weight Watchers – and maybe even rejoin WW for weekly meetings.

This is the year. This is my year. It has to be.

NEW YEAR’S EVE this year was great. We went out to a great little restaurant in Cherry Creek: Piatti’s. Our good friends Claire and Wade joined us. We ate good food, drank great wine…and stayed up past midnight. OMG, right?! It was wonderful.

I took some really great pictures of our NYE but I’m having a hard time figuring out how to get them into the blog (new camera, new process) – so it’ll just have to wait!!

| Holi-DAZED |

Posted on by
1

I am absolutely the first person in history to use that one. Definitely.

This year I was just so excited about Christmas. I had put a lot of thought and effort into gifts for Jacques (and for the rest of our family and friends). Our house was clean and I was thrilled to be seeing family.

Then I remembered how busy we are every holiday. Too much driving. Wayyyy too much eating. Usually lots of regret. I’m also feeling a bit guilty because Jacques and I really kind of went all-out this year with presents. Lots of money spent. We both love all of our presents (pictures to follow) but it gets very excessive. Maybe next year we’ll come up with a more economical, perhaps community-friendly way to “spoil” each other…

**Sidenote: Read my friend Kaity’s blog here and you’ll see why our gross overspending this year is kind of disgusting. She and her husband are AMAZING people…

In general though, I just feel so lucky to be so loved by my incredible family and friends. We received a lot of holiday cards from people with well wishes for 2012 and some really amazingly thoughtful gifts as well.

We made some really great food including a traditional sweet potato casserole for Christmas Eve at Jacques’ mother’s house and then a lower-fat/lesser-calorie version of homestyle mac & cheese for Christmas dinner at my mom’s house (recipe can be found here). It involves substituting the cream, butter and higher fat cheeses for butternut squash and “healthier” cheeses. It was delicious and a huge hit among my family – highly recommended!!

My favorite part of the weekend though was relaxing Saturday morning (Christmas Eve) and having our own little Christmas at home. It was the very best. Love that boy.

We don’t have a fireplace so we made-do with the YULE LOG channel, complete with wordless Christmas carols. Most excellent.

This year’s favorite new ornament – I was enamored with all things GLITTERY this Christmas.

This big guy stayed hidden until it was time to be opened – what’s inside?? Fancy new Samsonite luggage for my guy :) Had to get creative with the wrapping paper. lol  He’s so excited!!

…and now to just learn how to USE the new camera. SO EXCITED!!! Thanks to my honey – it’s incredible.

Jacques is back in Tennessee this week. He’ll come back just in time for New Year’s this weekend and then he’ll be gone for another two weeks – there goes January. Ugh. Plans for New Years involve meeting up with our good friends Claire and Wade for a nice dinner at Piatti’s in Cherry Creek. No idea what we’ll be doing at midnight though.

Probably kissing. That’s my guess ;) Anyone have fun plans??

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I wish all the *happiest* Happy New Year. 2012, here we come!!

| A Good Thursday |

Posted on by
Reply

You know when you haven’t had much to eat all day…

…and then you get off work and immediately drink two beers.

Then the timer on the oven goes off and you’re all “OH! Brownies are done! That means dinner’s ready!”

Yeah. That’s the kind of Thursday night I’m having.

Bam.

| When the boy is away… |

Posted on by
Reply

The girl gets REALLY REALLY bored. Hmm. That doesn’t rhyme…

Jacques has been in Tennessee one full week now. Honestly it hasn’t been completely awful. Don’t get me wrong, I miss him like crazy…but it helps to stay busy and positive. That, and I’m not doing a whole lot of cooking. Score.

I’ve gotten a ton of stuff done. Before he left, none of the Christmas decorations were up – not that we have a lot of them…but it’ll be nice and festive for when he comes home. I’ve wrapped all of our presents and am currently working on mailing our Christmas cards (so cute!). Just generally trying to stay busy.

I’ve enjoyed dinner at a pub with a friend, shopping, brunch with my lady love Amanda, lunch and long chat today with my girlfriend Claire and some well-spent time with my mom and little sister. I even got to open an early Christmas present today from my favorite Portland girl, Lindsi.

Look how talented my Lindsi is – handmade Christmas card AND my infinity scarf! So cute, girl! I love them.

Hopefully this week goes just as quickly. Can’t wait to see my guy! One week down, one more to go…

| Denver, Drinks, Decorations…and more Drinks |

Posted on by
Reply

We just dove head-first into December. This time of year is a whirlwind. Lots of places to go, people to see…sleep to lose, money to spend.

November ended with two birthdays. My sister Leah turned 11 two days before my sister Evan turned 12. Whoa. They’re both getting so big…they like to remind me that in no time they’ll be taller than me. Awesome. I am now the measuring stick by which my sisters mark their growth spurts…right after my grandmother who is 4 inches shorter than she used to be. Go figure.

THEN we found out on Wednesday (maybe it was Tuesday…let’s shorten it by 24 hours for dramatic effect) that Jacques was being sent to Tennessee in 4 short days (today) for 2 weeks to work. Ugh. Boy got it together…landed in Memphis and is braving the rain. Let the countdown til he comes home…BEGIN!

So this weekend. We pretended like we haven’t been out of college for 3 years. And we DRANK A LOT.

Friday: Margaritas. We spent Friday night and most of Saturday in Fort Collins, laying low, to celebrate Evan’s birthday. Yum. Happy birthday Evan. I know you’re not old enough to drink…so I’ll drink enough for both of us.

Saturday: A beer. Then 3 glasses of cabernet. Then a handful of strong top-shelf vodka tonics…3, or maybe 4? Then a shot of tequila. Then another beer. Jacques’ company party was in Denver Saturday night. We checked into the Westin (hotel: 100% paid for by his company). Enjoyed a fabulous 3-course dinner consisting of salad, steak with lobster mashed potatoes and creme brulee (also 100% paid for by his company). Then we went to Jazz at Jack’s where we tried our hardest to exhaust a $2000 minimum bar tab (paid for, by his company)…with MAYBE 30 people. Ummm. That’s where the damage was done.

I wanted to make sure that we at least put a DENT in that bar tab. IT WAS RIDICULOUS.

We went to bed at 3 am – again, seriously folks. We’re 26. I can’t do that shit anymore! We slept in…then drove to my dad’s to help put up the Christmas tree. I was pretty hungover. Whooops.

Photo evidence of the weekend. Nothing too crazy here. But lots of fun!