Healthy Spaghetti O's and Dinner Trivia

Tonight after perusing the food supply I pulled a large can of whole tomatoes and a packet of ramen noodles. I opened the can and drained the tomato juice into a medium saucepan. I broke up the ramen noodles into the juice, emptied the beef seasonings packet on top of them, and filled half a tomato can with water before pouring the water too into the pot. I quartered the whole tomatoes on a cutting board then put them in the pot and let it all boil five minutes. We loved the outcome! Over dinner my husband popped a trivia question which he said he and his siblings did often around the dinner table growing up. He asked what type of gas the bubbles were at the bottom of the tomato soup. I asked him to list off for me what the possible answers were for his multiple choice question. He laughed, us both knowing that I was presuming it to be multiple choice. He said the answer was simple, and would not tell me what it was. Finally, he succumbed to my repeated interrogations and said that the gas bubbles at the bottom of the pot are water vapor/steam.

Chicken Fried Brown Rice For Lunch

-half bag frozen stir-fry veggies
-small can of corn
-fresh carrot
-egg
-4 small chicken tenders diced
-Teriyaki
-Worcestershire
-chopped garlic
-salt & pepper


-1 cup uncooked rice
-2 cups water
-1/2 Tb salt
-1 Tb oil

Yeah, we thought it was pretty amazing:)

Late Night Snack Requested By The Husband

Was I ever surprised when a salad was requested as a late night snack at 11:30 p.m. by my dear Anthony. I was surprised and impressed. He was just sitting there grading papers when he came up with the idea. I prepared the salad, and then we ate it together. Let me tell you, a salad late at night is very refreshing. You should try it some time, instead of ice cream or a donut or whatever.

 

Breakfast for Dinner

I looked in the cabinets for inspiration for something to make for dinner. All I saw was more of what we've been having: Asian noodles, Italian, chicken, salad etc. I told Anthony what I saw, and asked what he wanted. He said maybe pancakes. We still have a leftover pancake in the fridge and I just didn't know if it was time for those again yet. I asked what he thought of waffles. He said that sounded good, with eggs. So that is what we had. I sliced up some bananas for a side.

I made the recipe for waffles off the Aunt Jemima's box, and added a couple of the recommended add-ins: 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 2 Tb brown sugar.

I put a little salt, cayenne pepper, and onion powder in the eggs.

 Leftovers

Shari's Orange Chicken & Brown Rice

First, I started my 1 cup of brown rice in a little pot with 2 cups of water, 1 Tb of oil, and salt to taste. I brought it to a boil and then let it cook on low for thirty minutes. I loaded 12 chicken tenders onto a baking sheet and stuck them in the oven to cook at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Next, I cut up a vidalia onion and threw it in a thoroughly sprayed skillet. I sprinkled some red pepper flakes over the onion, doused the onion with clover honey, and grated some orange zest into the conglomeration.

I chopped up a whole orange including the peel and added it to the skillet.

I put the mixture on high, added water, added more red pepper flakes and honey, and salt.

I combined the chicken and sauce when they were both done cooking separately. I served the orange chicken over the brown rice. So fresh and nutritious.

After The Baby Shower

Last night and this morning I had a lot of fun sorting and organizing all the adorable gifts that friends and family were so kind to give us for our dear little baby on the way! Thank you so much to all the ones that made last night so special. I think we are ready for baby Garland! It is amazing how God has provided everything we need. The baby shower was a lot of fun last night. My friends did a great job planning, decorating, and running the party. The theme color was light pink, and the theme was international travel/ precious cargo! The food and games were great:)

Stacks of clothing: newborn, 3 months, 6 months,  & 9-18 months.

Anthony's sister Auria and Gramma Q made this cute diaper cake for us!

Honey-Roasted Peanut Banana Dinner Smoothie

I'm on my own for dinner tonight. The grad student husband is grading papers at Dunkin' Donuts before meeting a friend there for coffee. The two of them are having a guys night while I am having a ladies night later on this evening with a bunch of friends from my church that are throwing me a baby shower! I was going to make a banana peanut butter smoothie but then I thought of throwing honey-roasted peanuts in instead of peanut butter for more texture and fresher flavor. My smoothie which included: 1 banana, ice, vanilla, honey-roasted peanuts, and 2% milk was delicious.

Simple Pretty Mango Cranberry Chicken Salad

It just doesn't get much easier than this . . .

Ingredients:

Iceberg Lettuce

Fresh Mango

Chicken Tenders

Dried Cranberries

Ranch Salad Dressing

The Making of Fresh Homemade Vegetable Lasagna

When I was at Big Lots the other day I was inspired by the recipe on the back of a Procino-Rossi lasagna noodles box. I bought the noodles and purchased most of the rest of the ingredients listed in the recipe except the sausage. I decided to substitute vegetables for the sausage.

I really liked the method on the P&R box for draining the noodles on a baking sheet between paper towel layers. I was pleasantly surprised that the noodles did not stick to the paper towels. This method also kept the noodles from making the lasagna watery.

I had a lot of fun with my assembly line layering all the ingredients. I enjoyed the organization that went in to it all.

 

I made Caesar salads for our first course. 

We felt like we were at Olive Garden.

Amazing Chef's Creation!

I made a chicken pancake sandwich for lunch. I toasted two pancakes leftover from breakfast, squirted lots of horseradish sauce on one, ripped some romaine lettuce leaves from a head of lettuce, washed and squeezed them dry before adding them to the beginnings of my sandwich, loaded a couple pickle slices on top of the lettuce, and finally I put the chicken patty on the other pancake. While the pancakes were toasting, and the chicken patty was being zapped in the microwave, I cut a huge nectarine in half, quartering one half to eat for dessert, and bagging the other half for later. I completed my lunch with a tumbler of sweet tea. I would highly recommend this amazing lunch to all! The pancakes used as a sandwich ingredient reminded me of Dutch Country potato bread a little bit. The sandwich as a whole was soft, sweet, and savory with a kick.