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Monday, February 25, 2013

Husband's Away, The Wife Will...Make Risotto

Well, my hubs is away for work tonight, so I thought I'd make a blog-worthy meal to share with you all.

I love a classic risotto.  What I like to do is make a risotto "base" and add whatever mix-ins I want. 





Start by adding 4 cups of chicken stock to a sauce pan.  Add a pinch of saffron and allow the mixture to warm for about 10 minutes.

In 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil, sweat 1 small or 1/2 large white onion until just softened. 

Add 1 cup of Arborio rice to the pan, allowing it to toast for about 2-3 minutes, stirring often to ensure it doesn't burn.



Next, add about 1/2 cup of dry, white wine (I used a Pinot Grigio) to the pan, stirring until the wine is almost completely absorbed by the rice.  
Now is when you have to start really babysitting the risotto.  Add about 2 ladle-fulls of the chicken stock at a time, stirring the rice until almost all of the liquid is absorbed, until the stock has all been used and the rice is cooked through and creamy-about 20 minutes.



 The saffron gives the risotto not only a great, warm flavor, but also a really beautiful color.


 When the risotto is cooked, add about 3/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.


Next, I sauteed some of my veggies of choice--mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, spinach, and garlic.




 Add these (or any other ingredients you may choose) to the risotto "base."


 As my side dish, I went with roasted balsamic Brussels sprouts.  This is a vegetable that gets such a bad rep, when they're actually really delicious!

 

Start by de-stemming and quartering 1 lb of sprouts, discarding the dark-green outer leaves (they can be bitter).
Next, toss them with 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of pepper.

 

Roast the sprouts at 400 degrees.  I like mine tender and slightly charred, so I leave them in for around 20 minutes.  Adjust shorter or longer dependent on personal preference.

  
Voila!





 Cheers :)





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Monday, February 18, 2013

Home!

SO many mixed emotions about this.  The last 2 days or so of our vacation, I legitimately sunk into a deep depression about leaving.
I always get kind of bummed at the end of a trip, but it increased ten-fold leaving the 80 degree weather to return to snowy Michigan.  I am most certainly over winter right now.

You know how we all say, "I just need a vacation to get rested and recharged!"?  Biggest myth of all time.
So, we work so hard when we're at home, completely exhaust ourselves with a 14 hour travel day that happens to begin at 3:00am, drink ourselves into oblivion rest for a week, re-exhaust ourselves with yet another 14 hour travel day, spend 2 days unpacking and doing laundry, then go back to working like a mad-man/woman at home.

Don't get me wrong, I loved laying by the pool for a week straight, but I feel not even near rested now that I'm home.

Getting back into the routine does feel kind of nice though.  AND I got to see my puppy!  We missed her an unnatural amount.

I'll leave you with an obnoxious number of photos :)

















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Friday, February 8, 2013

What pet moms and real moms can agree upon

Mind you, I am not a real mom yet, so this is really just speculation.
Tonight, I dropped my puppy off at my Dad's house before we leave for Mexico tomorrow morning.  The most I've ever been away from her is about 4 days, and let me tell you, it was pretty rough.
But, seriously, we dropped her off tonight and don't pick her up until NEXT Sunday.  9 nights!  9!

Adding to the tragedy, my Dad wasn't at home when I brought her over, so I had to leave her in her kennel alone until he got home.
Those of you who still possess a touch of sanity are most likely thinking, "It's a dog.  She's fine."  And you would be correct.  I logically realize she's going to be fine and have fun hanging out with Aunt Sadie and Aunt Molly (because, yes, my Mom and Dad's dogs are most certainly related to her), but I can't help but go through my guilt when I leave her.
 

 
 
"Does she hate me?"  "Will she forget all about me?"  "Will she contract some incurable dog disease and die while I'm away?"
I don't even want to know how neurotic I'll get about leaving my real life human children when they exist.
At least I can admit I'm a nut job.
As if this stress isn't enough, this cute little "Nemo Blizzard" out east is making me super paranoid about our flight.  Thankfully, we're going West, so here's hoping none of our flights are coming in from the East Coast.  If you in the blogging world wouldn't mind sending us some positive thoughts for a safe and efficient travel day, it'd be much appreciated.
See you next week!
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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

A busy blogger is still a bad blogger

I have been so, so bad.  And I have actually had real, up at night guilt about it.  I thought the last 2 weeks were going to be low-stress, smooth sailing, pre-vacation awesomeness.  Then, my career decided to take off.
Okay, not literally, but kind of.  I've been so busy and it's been amazing, but I have allowed the content of this blog to suffer, so please forgive me for that!
 
Yes, I really did drop in just to apologize to anyone who actually reads this thing.  
Our much anticipated trip to Mexico (I know, shut up already) is next week and I have every intention of actually posting something worth reading between now and then!
 
 
But, as I am in the middle of one last pre-Mexico wait loss cleanse and therefore can't have any alcohol until Saturday--kill me now---I really have nothing witty to say.
 
Enjoy the remainder of your hump day.
 
 
 
Don't hate me.
 
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