unsatisfied

i just had a rather unsatisfying lunch. i bought some of those tuna "lunch to go" kits, with the tuna, mayo, relish, and crackers. i like tuna, and this is a nice little snack-y lunch (seriously, does one of those kits fill ANYONE up? those of you who know me know that i am not shy about scarfing down a hearty lunch... i'm not fooling anyone and i'm not trying to). that's not the problem, though. the problem is that it just wasn't flavorful enough. the mayo was reduced fat (a problem which, i admit, i could have resolved myself had i not been too lazy to walk downstairs to the cafeteria to get the full flavored stuff). the crackers were pretty bland. it all would have been much better on some country bread with a squeeze of lemon and some really fine gouda. at least i have some sea salt bagel crisps. though i wish it was a chocolate cupcake instead.



this disappointment is heightened by the fact that we have a rather scrumptious meal last night. we had some chicken thighs left over from the same package bryan made the paella with. he fried them up, southern style, and served them with a cider vinegar honey sauce. we had sauteed green beans and homemade fried potato rounds alongside. everything was absolutely perfect. the vinegar honey sauce went quite well on the potatoes, too. i got the chance to try out my ghee, on the beans. tasted like candy. see, this is what happens when you take dairy away from a lactophile.

re: the ghee - shannon sent an email when she had a moment of clarity, asking if i could have clarified butter, since when you make clarified butter, you are removing the milk proteins (as well as the water). le duh! bryan whipped up a batch of ghee (which is different than clarified butter in that it is slightly browned) and it didn't seem to bother junior at his 2:30am feeding. go shannon! and i'm not joking, it tasted quite like candy (think not quite done caramel - it's the slightly burnt sweet butter that did it). i'm totally slathering it liberally on some rolls tonight with our spaghetti and meat sauce.

happy national chocolate cupcake day!

happy national chocolate cupcake day everyone. if you haven't already, go ahead and get yourself a chocolate cupcake. if you already have, go ahead and have another one - it is national chocolate cupcake day, after all. i made 2 dozen to bring into work today and am looking forward to tucking into one! if you're in atlanta and are cupcake-less, i recommend star provisions. you should grab yourself a sandwich for lunch while you're there. you won't be disappointed.

last night, i made a tex-mex casserole to pop into the freezer. it involves 2 kinds of beef and a whole lot of cheese. it's like an american version of chilaquiles. it probably won't suck. i also prepped beef for chili, which is currently simmering in the slow cooker. should be all ready for freezing tonight. i'm making mac n cheese tonight, as well as some garlic breads, to toss into the freezer as well. bryan has promised me pizza dough and chile paste. i'll be using the chile paste to make an enchilada sauce for stacks of frozen enchiladas this weekend. then i swear i am done with freezer foods. although i was thinking freezing cookie dough might be smart too. THEN, i swear, i am done. contrary to popular belief (bryan), i can stop whenever i want. ;)

the massive storm they've been talking about has started to roll through here. we got some wind and rain last night, and the morning started out very windy and a bit rainy. no super thunder and lightening storms though, which is the fun part. the sun is out now, which we haven't seen in a few days. it doesn't really look like we'll be getting anything too exciting. i am holding out hope that the change in barometric pressure will move things along a little bit for oliver. at the doctor's this morning, the doctor confirmed that ollie has dropped and is very, very low (which i had suspected this morning but didn't want to jinx by saying out loud). no dilation yet, BUT things are moving along! he suspects we're on target for the due date or even a week early! :) very exciting news.

last night for dinner bryan braised some pork short ribs. mmmmm they were SO good. he did a basic sauce with tomatoes and brown sugar. they came out SO tender and delicious! perfect fall weather food. we gave the dogs the bones. ally had a medium size one and it took her a few minutes to finish. moose, on the other hand, had a tiny little piece and he SWALLOWED IT WHOLE. i've never seem him do that, and was worried he would get sick since he has such a sensitive stomach and always seems to puke when he over does it. but he managed to hold onto it. he's growing up! :)