Relaxing Weekend

We have had an insanely busy couple of weeks with the start of baseballs season, and the Bulls first home stand.  The week before the Bulls had their first home game Greg was working like crazy, he was staying at work until 9:00-11:00 pm!  So, we were both really excited with this home stand coming to an end on Friday.

Greg didn't have to work the game on Friday, so we had planned on going to the game and then going out with a few of the people that he works with afterwards.  The game was supposed to start at 7:05, and so I was going to go home and we would just go to the game together.  Well, we got some crazy rainy weather late that afternoon.  I got home, we cooked dinner, and we waited to hear what time the game would start.  Now, if you know me, you know that I'm not really a late night person.  I like going to bed early, and getting up early.  As we approached 9:00 pm I began to ask if we really wanted to go.  BUT Greg insisted.  They pulled the tarp off the field, we headed to the stadium and the game started at 9:05.  Not only did the game start late, but I felt like it was going SO SLOW.

We headed over to a bar that over looks the field and watched the end of the game with one of Greg's co-workers, and once the game was over we headed to a different bar where we were meeting everyone.  It was a lot of fun.  Everyone was unwinding, and I got to meet and interact with a few of his co-workers that I've wanted to get to know.  We rarely go out, so this was a treat!

Saturday slept in, and Greg really wanted to go to Joseph A. Bank because they were having a good sale, and my brother and sister in law gave him a gift card for Christmas.  We went and he decided to get a charcoal pin-stripped suit and a red paisley tie that he has wanted for a few months.  After that we went by some furniture stores because we are looking at buying a new couch and chair.  We have our eyes set on something, but we are trying to make sure it's a good price and that we can't find something we like better.

We stopped and got a RedBox on the way home.  We got The King's Speech.  I think that we both really liked it.  We also grilled burgers for dinner.

Sunday we didn't really do much.  We spent the afternoon at the pool (where we both got pretty sunburned, Greg is much worse than me).  The we went and got another movie!  We got The Kids Are Alright.  I was really disappointed.  I have pretty high expectations for films that are nominated for best picture, and to be honest...  I don't know how it go put into the same category as The Fighter and The King's Speech (the only two that we have seen that were nominated, but we are working our way down the list- I'm dying to see Black Swan).

All in all it was a wonderfully relaxing weekend, and I'm glad that Greg got to kick back.  He's been working really hard, so he needed some time off.  I hope you guys had a great weekend!

Pineapple Chicken Salad Pitas

Kate and Mark gave me some recipes that they wanted me to cook this week.  I am pretty sure that Kate got it out of a magazine that said to buy a 7 lb. chicken, roast it the first night, and then use it over a few days to make several different meals.  A 7 lb. chicken is pretty big for just two meals (which is what I was going to make), so I decided to look for a healthier version of chicken salad to make that we can all have for lunch.  I found this recipe on Cooking Light's web-site.  I thought it sounded good, and I don't care for celery so I was super excited to find a recipe without celery.

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups of chopped chicken breast (mine was roasted, but you could easily boil a couple of chicken breasts)
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 1/3 cup light mayonnaise (I used less than that)
- 1/2 finely chopped green onions
- 1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt (I thought that this was in the fridge, but it wasn't!  I used a little light sour cream instead)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (8 oz) can of crushed pineapple in juice (drained, but I didn't worry about getting every drop out)
- 4 whole wheat pitas
- 8 Romaine lettuce leaves

Combine the first 11 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well.  Cut the pita in half, put in a piece of lettuce, and then some of the chicken salad.



The only problem that I had was that I couldn't get the pita to open up.  I just cut the half in half again and made I guess a flatbread sandwich.  It is really good.  Interesting flavor combination.  You should totally give it a try if you aren't crazy about traditional chicken salad.

The best pasta salad that I've ever had!

So, Mark and Kate have been talking about this pasta salad that they were going to make for about a week.  Each day I would come to work and the package of pasta would still be on the counter.  It's been an especially hectic week for them, and so I offered to make it for them yesterday.  I asked Mark to just e-mail me the recipe and I would make it so that they could have it to take with them for lunch.

Well, I didn't exactly get a recipe, so I guess you aren't going to either.  I got a text message that said this:

"Orzo, asparagus, parmesan (a lot), lemon juice, lemon zest, toasted slivered almonds, salt, pepper, craisins."  And the directions were, "She usually does the final mixing in a large skillet."

SO, here's what I did...

- I boiled the pasta according to the package directions.
- I toasted the almonds in the large skillet, and once they were fragrant I put them in a dish by the stove.
- I cut the asparagus into about 1 inch pieces, and then I blanched them in about 1.5 in of salted boiling water and then immediately ran them under cold water to stop the cooking process(in the large skillet after toasting the almonds...  then of course I dumped the water)
- I zested on lemon and reserved it.
- I shredded about 1 1/2 or 2 cups of parmesan (come on and buy a block of it and get your box grater out)
- Then I put the pasta in the skillet and did a very light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, added the almonds, asparagus and a big handful of craisins.  I mixed that until everything looked incorporated.  Then I added the lemon zest and mixed until I thought that was mixed in well.  Then I added the juice of the lemon that I had zested.  Last but certainly not least...  the cheese.  Once again I mixed and mixed until it was all incorporated and yummy looking.
- I tasted and then added salt (not much since the parmesan is so salty) and pepper.

Let me just say... delicious.  I think when I was telling Greg about it last night I used the phrase "so good" more than 5 times.  This is SUPER easy and well... SO GOOD.

(Allison Ladner...  You have to make this ASAP.)