midweek confessions

I'm really getting the hang of this whole linking up concept.  Go me.  Go me. Go me.  Too much?  Understood.  Well, the good news is this week that I think I'll be able to actually write about more than one topic (aka no tax talk here!).  Yay for movement out of my self pity party.  Here it goes...

-I am cooking dinner from scratch this week for Jake's birthday which is a true gift since he does 90% f the cooking (don't judge me) and I'm already not a fan.  I personally don't know how some women do it.  I commute to work, put in my 8+ hours, get home, go for a run, and start cooking as soon as I get back.  I try to clean as I go but by the time I'm taking a seat it's 8:00!  I don't know how some people do it, I mean could you imagine inserting a small child into that schedule?  I.don't.think.so.

-Today when I came home the minute I came through the door I found Tank laying in the submissive position on the couch.  Not good.  I dropped my bag, looked down, and found the sole of Jake's new loafers completely chewed and thrown across the carpet.  I disciplined Tank and then called Jake to confirm he in fact left his shoes out (as if I didn't know).  I can see the remnants out of the corner of my eye right now as I blog and I'm not going to clean it up.  I think Jake needs to see what his "pup pup" is capable of.

-I have absolutely no discipline when I walk into stores these days.  I don't know what's wrong with me but I'm crazed for new clothes and I'm not very good about telling myself no.  To my defense, a lot of my clothes are old and have been worn well past their prime, but replacing them gets expensive.  I try not to hide my shopping endeavors from Jake, but I know his anxiety is growing as he sees me sporting new outfits.  Don't get me wrong, we're both fans of my style these days- he definitely prefers it to my sweats, sport bra, and t-shirts (strange, I know) but I still sort of feel bad.  Also to my defense, my clothes from before aren't fitting right.  They are too big, which is a good problem to have, or are severely "worn in".  I'm talking sweat and bleach stains, faded colors, etc. it's bad news bears when you work in the kind of office environment that I do.  

-My new boss starts next Monday and I went from nervous to excited to anxious all over again.  I have only met her briefly and she seems really nice, but for whatever reason this weekend I started questioning whether that is really her or if her "true" side will reveal itself with time.  Eek, I guess I won't know til I know.

-Jake's birthday is tomorrow and I don't really have a good gift for him.  I replaced is cologne which jut ran out from high school and bought him a nice pair of VT work out shorts.  He is the worst when it comes to gifts, so I just don't stress over it anymore.  As a matter of fact, I'm fully prepared for him to ask me to return both things... and I will, without hurt feelings because it's just how he is.

-I'm considering hitting the tanning bed.  Terrible, I know.  It's just that it's getting warmer and I'd like to let my legs out to play without blinding innocent onlookers.  Know what I mean?  We'll see if I do it or not.  In past years when I've gone it's given me the base tan I need to avoid a harsh sunburn when I finally hit the beach.  Decisions, decisions.

Hope you're having a good week!

4 Day Challenge: Day One

Well what do we have here?  Looks like a successfully prepared shrimp, avocado, and tomato pizza to me.  One day down, three more to go.

Truth be told, I got the recipe from Pinterest (they got it from Spice is Nice) and if I had to describe it in three a few words I’d go with easy, fresh, and filling (but not heavy).

Jake gave it 3.5 out of 5 forks (5 being one of the best home cooked meals he has ever had).  I’ll take it.

Directions below.  Try it if you dare.

Shrimp, Avocado and Tomato Pizza:

1 pizza dough ball

6 cloves garlic, minced

3 T. olive oil

1 cup shredded mozzarella and/or provolone cheese

2 scallions, chopped

2 large tomatos, chopped and drained

1 t. adobo sauce or 1 t. finely chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (this ingredient adds a lot of spice, so feel free to opt against adding it or go for more if that's your thing)

10-20 medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 avocado, diced

1/2 a lime's juice

1. Preheat oven to  475°.  Roll out the pizza dough, preferably on a pizza stone. Brush with 2 T. olive oil and 4 cloves of minced garlic. Then spread cheese evenly over the top.

2. In a medium sauté pan  add 1 T. olive oil and bring to medium-high heat.  Add remaining 2 cloves of garlic and stir until fragrant.  Then add the shrimp to the pan and stir for a 1-2 minutes.

  

3. Add the tomatoes, scallions and chipotle peppers to the pan, and sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes to soften the tomatoes and flavor the shrimp.  

Note: The peppers will really add a kick, so if you don't like spice consider leaving them out. 

  

4. Spread the shrimp mixture over the pizza and top with a little bit of cheese.

  

5. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and immediately top with cilantro and avocado.  Squeeze lime juice over top of the pizza, let sit for 5 minutes, and then serve.

4 Day Challenge

Jake’s Birthday is coming up so I decided to enter into a four day challenge of cooking homemade, new recipes for dinner each day this week up through his birthday.  This is my gift to him since last year I did the same thing but just for his actual bday.  Since this year he made the same request, I thought I needed to up the ante just a little bit to make it better than the last.  This may or may not be a very difficult thing to do since I rarely make elaborate (using the term lightly) dinners and traditionally save experimental recipes for baking.  Thank goodness for Pinterest!

Regardless, the cat is out of the bag since I told him already that this was his gift starting Monday.  Eek!  The week’s lineup is:

Shrimp, Tomato, & Avocado Pizza

Panko Crusted Chicken Stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach, Tomatoes, & Basil

Scallop Tacos

Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

Stay tuned to see how things turn out!