A Blog About Nothing

Friday, February 10, 2012

Christmas Gift

This is my new favorite thing, a painting of the bay that Mrs. Granade gave me for Christmas! I'm obsessed. It is hanging above my other favorite thing - tiny deer antlers from an antique store in Oxford (sorry animal lovers!)

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Skinny Mac and Cheese

I planned to make a skinny mac and cheese recipe from Skinny Taste, so I emailed myself the recipe- knowing that Joe would be in class with his computer when I was making it and I could use my phone. Well, Joe's Internet does not want to work lately, and it decided to go out just as I was looking for the email!

Easy and delicious

So, I had to go from memory (scary) and invent my own recipe. I got a lot of it right, but created my own measurements and additions (garlic, cayenne, goat cheese, forgot the onions..) It turned out pretty great!

I ate it for lunch today and added ham...it was amaaaaaazing.

Here is the original recipe:

Skinny Baked Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

12 oz high fiber elbows like Ronzoni Smart Taste

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp light butter

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup minced onion

2 cups skim milk

1 cup fat free chicken broth (vegetarians use vegetable broth)

8 oz (2 cups) Sargento shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar

salt and fresh pepper to taste

12 oz fresh broccoli florets (I used pre-cut bag)

1/8 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

cooking spray

Directions: Cook pasta and broccoli together in a large pot of salted water, according to package directions for al dente (or slightly under cook 2 minutes). Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375°.

In a large, heavy skillet, melt butters. Add onion and cook over low heat about 2 minutes, add flour and cook another minute, or until the flour is golden and well combined. Add milk and chicken broth and whisk, raising heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil; cook about 5 minutes or until the sauce becomes smooth and thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the sauce is thick, remove from heat, add cheese and mix well until cheese is melted. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add cooked macaroni and broccoli and mix well. Pour into prepared baking dish. Top with grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Spray a little more cooking spray on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, then broil for a few minutes to get the breadcrumbs golden.

Happy Mardi Gras!

It's easy to forget about Mardi Gras now that we don't live in Mobile, but we are still representing in Oxford!

We went home to the Thalians party this weekend and had a good time at the Courtyard Manor. Joe was ambitious and walked to see the parade, but I was lame and didn't want to go because it was about to rain and I am deathly afraid of watching the parades at The Garage. One word - violent! I spend the whole parade in the fetal position on the ground crying because I am so scared. He had fun at the parade and I had fun at the party with my friends - and no one got injured!

At the party with Bryan and Carrie Ann!

Not sure who I can credit this amazing photo to!

Cheese Connoisseur

Kroger likes to label their cheeses in extreme abbreves, so I usually have to look the name up online to find out what I am enjoying. No such luck this time, google has failed me. This cheese will have to remain as : RUSL DN OLVO SWTZRLND. I can obviously guess the OLVO = olive (there are olive pieces inside, and SWTZRLND = Switzerland (tough one!) If you have any clues, feel free to make a guess. I really liked this cheese!

Yummy!

FLASHBACK to...Christmas!

I skipped right over this for some reason, so here you go! Here are some pictures from Christmas Adam:

Our Dirty Santa party at Jody's house

This year, the Jensen newlyweds joined us for the fun at Turtleneck Christmas!

I liked getting one million congratulations on our engagement! Very fun, and a very late night.

The next day, Brianne met me in the morning to go to Baby Day 2011. She was only in town for the weekend and wanted to see everyone and their new additions, so we got them all in one place and had a ball! I have a feeling that baby day will be even bigger next year!