Artisphere

Back in the spring, Anthony and I went to Artisphere in downtown Greenville, SC. We had a lot of fun. I'll share Anthony's pics of some of my favorite items that were there.

 

Brunch

Last night I told Anthony I was going to make broccoli and cheese omelettes for breakfast. This morning it was after eleven and he was getting kind of hungry. He asked me if I was still planning on making the omelettes! It was so cute that he remembered. He must have been excited about them. So I got up and made brunch.

Last night I had been trying to think of how we could use up the bananas because they had ripened rather quickly. I had thought maybe banana nut oatmeal, but then I thought I could just use them for a nutrient-rich side for an omelette instead for something different, besides oatmeal.

I steamed my broccoli saving some for later. I beat four eggs, salt, and onion powder together and poured them in a sprayed mini skillet over med-high heat. The key to good omelettes, I think, is having a good pan, and spraying it with enough oil. I waited to turn my omelette until the last minute, pushing down the sides and letting the raw egg spill underneath and cook. I also turned the heat down to medium. Then when there was just a little raw egg left, I flipped it, then put cheese on one side. I put some broccoli on top, then one more slice of cheese on top of that to make the omelette moist, and so the cheese could act as glue to hold the omelette together. The omelette was so fluffy, and had some beautiful color on it.

Ice Cream Sandwiches!

Ingredients:

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Whipped Topping

Ground Cloves

Store in the freezer.

Anthony Loves Stromboli!

I used my faithful favorite dough recipe for my base. I added basil. For fillers I stuffed my stromboli with smoked ham, grated mozzarella, bell pepper, onion, and garlic!

Pics of the Chef!

Etiquette On Talking To a Pregnant Lady

WHAT TO DO

1. Be positive. Ask her:

-What's new?
-How's life?

2. Treat her like a normal person. Remember she has a lot of great things going on in her life besides the pregnancy. Ask her:

-What have you been doing lately?

WHAT NOT TO DO

1. Don't be negative. Don't ask her:

-How's the weight gain?
-How many pounds have you gained?
-How's your weight?

She'll bring it up if she wants you to know. Besides, women generally do not discuss their weight. Be prepared to share your weight if you want to ask her her weight.

2. Don't be nosy. Don't ask:

-Midwife or hospital?
-Natural or Cesarean?
-Breastfeeding or formula?

She's sick of these questions.

3. Don't stereotype:

Just because she's pregnant doesn't mean that's all she wants to talk about. She might not be one of those pregnant ladies that likes to bemoan every tiny little pregnancy phenomenon. Maybe she's sick of talking about it. Maybe that's all anyone talks to her about. Maybe it's not that big of a deal to her. For you to try to make it a big deal makes you annoying. Back off. Go get pregnant yourself if you want to know so much about pregnancy. Or if you merely want to compare stories or worse yet horror stories, go read pregnancy stories online, but please, leave her out of it. She doesn't need the drama. Really.

Specialty Oatmeal

This morning my husband woke up first, made coffee and oatmeal. When I got up, he gave me the rest of his oatmeal. It looked like it was mainly oats and water, maybe a few honey-roasted peanuts. I reheated the leftover oatmeal, crumbled chocolate chip oatmeal cookies over it, sprinkled dried dates on it, and trickled a little milk over it. Delicious.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

This evening Anthony and I weren't really hungry for dinner because we had both had Baozi for snacks late in the afternoon. I had been seeing recipes for chocolate chip oatmeal cookies all over my kitchen lately from the oatmeal container to the flour bags to the brown sugar bag. I finally broke down and made them. My baby likes chocolate. She moves around a lot in my tummy when I eat chocolate. So I decided we both would like the cookies, all I had to do was talk Anthony into the idea. That was a little work because he likes to eat healthy, and he's concerned that I eat healthy before I go into labor. Well, he finally succumbed, I think after I told him the baby likes chocolate. The recipe I ended up using was the one on the side of my Baker's Corner All-Purpose Flour bag.

As I mixed the dough I wondered if I am the only one that does quality control on the brown sugar, trying it over and over because it is so good, and the chocolate chips. Maybe it's just a pregnancy thing. Of course that is my regular habit with the chocolate chips but it was a new one with the brown sugar.

The cookies turned out really well. I'm surprised we have so many left. I thought I was eating the dough continuously, and the cookies.

After I made them I had the audacity to look online for the health benefits of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies! I had to laugh out loud when I found an article talking about just that. The source was http://www.harvardcommonpress.com/the-health-benefits-of-oatmeal-chocolate-cookies/. I found it most amusing that the name Harvard was in the title. It reminded me of when we were in China this past summer and I was playing quite the lawyer with Anthony trying to convince him of the health benefits of ice cream such as calcium!

Homemade Dumplings with Balsamic and Fresh Ginger

Amazing. You can refer to my Chinese Dumplings and Baozi post from last night if you want the recipe for the dumplings. I just reheated some of the leftover dumplings from last night for a late lunch today. I doused them with balsamic vinegar and then sliced fresh ginger root on top of them. Outstanding!

Lunch

I wasn't hungry for lunch but I made a sandwich for Anthony. I sprayed a skillet with oil, dumped some minced garlic in it, put five slices of smoked lunch meat ham in it, and two slices of bread. I let it grill on high and sprinkled it all with cajun seasoning, turning them ever so often. I added a slice of yellow american cheese, chipotle ranch salad dressing, and lettuce to Anthony's sandwich. I washed some carrots, and cut the ends off of them for a side item. I helped Anthony eat the carrots:)