Happy Birthday (to me)!

Though I tried to delay as long as possible, my birthday came along anyway. There's something about turning 26 that seems unsettling, like now I'm really in the thick of adulthood. But its here, so I may as well embrace it!

For my "Happy Birthday Eve" celebration I had dinner with my mom, brother, and brother's girlfriend. We got some great Japanese take-out including shrimp and vegetable tempura, seaweed salad (Jim and Kristi had never tried this before and now they love it too) and lots of sushi!

My mom made me carrot cake cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting (orange zest in the frosting):

These were quite delicious! My favorite desserts are orange: pumpkin pie and carrot cake!

Among my birthday presents were some kitchen items that I'm very excited about:

• Garlic press (no more mincing for me!!)
• Grapefruit knife
• Cupcake/Brioche pans (which came with a recipe for pumpkin muffins!)

Unfortunately my body wasn't feeling very happy on my birthday. I left work early after feeling dizzy and nauseous for a couple hours. I went home and napped for a while, then woke up very hungry, and decided to make myself a pizza.

Squash-Spinach-Ricotta-Onion Pizza!

Ingredients:

• Pizza dough (pre-made or homemade)
• Winter squash
• Spinach
• Onions
• Ricotta Cheese
• Oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

I used 1 acorn and 1 buttercup squash for this. I think it would also be really good with butternut squash. Cut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and place in an oven pan. I tossed some cinnamon and green chili powder on top, then put in the oven for 35-40 minutes (until meat is tender).

(Cutting the squash in half is sometimes easier said than done!)

While the squash cooks, prepare the rest of the pizza.

Slice onions (I used small white onions that my brother's lovely girlfriend gave me!):

Saute in a little bit of butter in pan on medium heat until onions are translucent.

Once finished, take off heat and set aside.

Prepare the dough. I used half of a pre-made dough ball for this pizza. I covered a large cutting board with a thin layer of flour, and stretched and pulled my dough into a squarish shape. I weighed down the corners with glasses and a salt grinder, and let sit for about 10 minutes so the dough would retain the shape.

Then put the dough on the pizza pan, and brush a little bit of olive oil on the crust, to prevent the pizza toppings from making the crust soggy.

When the squash is done, remove from oven. Put the oiled dough in the oven for 5 minutes to cook a bit.

I took the insides of two halves of the squash (1/2 acorn and 1/2 buttercup) and mashed together. This will be my sauce instead of tomato sauce.

Then cover liberally with spinach (I used organic baby spinach):

Then add Ricotta cheese (I used part-skim):

Add sauteed onions:

At the last minute I decided to slice a piece of honey ham and add to half of the pizza:

Put in the oven (still at 400 degrees) and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the crust begins to crisp and the cheese is melty.

And Voila!! This was delicious, exactly what the doctor ordered! And now, back to bed...

I also happen to share my birthday with several people I know...so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Preston, Taylor, Heather, Adam and Beth!

Today was a very busy Sunday. I usually like to lay low on Sundays, recover from the hectic work week and whatever weekend festivities that took place, but today there was much to do...although it seemed to be all centered around eating.

Breakfast

I started the day with some fresh brewed coffee with some skim milk, a little bit of sugar, and a lot of cinnamon.

Cinnamon is good for a few reasons:
1. Its delicious, so that is reason enough.
2. It is said to help lower cholesterol.

3. It reduces stroke risk by forty percent, protects against degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, and protects against the general effects of aging. Other spices that offer these benefits are rosemary, turmeric, basil, oregano, thyme, and sage. You should aim for 3-7 teaspoons of any combination of these spices every day. (From Women's Health article 12 Ways Your Brain Power Can Be Boosted).

I then made an egg+cheese+ham breakfast sandwich.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray, and crack egg into pan. Cook for a couple minutes on each side.

Then put ham (I used 97% fat free honey roasted ham) on the pan, put egg on top, then add the cheese - this will heat the ham and melt the cheese.

Put on a toasted english muffin and enjoy! I also had sliced apple on the side.

After breakfast we drove to Warwick, Rhode Island to join my family for the annual ALS Walk. We walk every year to remember my Uncle Steve, who passed away from ALS in 2006.

I spent most of the afternoon with this lovely lady:

On my shoulders is Madeline, my four year old cousin, and to the right is Carter, her twin brother.

Lunch

After the walk we all went to eat at Bertucci's. I'm always happy to eat there because their pizza is amazing and I love their rolls!

The kids food came out first. I was a little bit jealous.

Madeline got a black olive pizza, her favorite. Perhaps that's why we get along so well - as a kid my favorite was black olive too, and I still love it now.

Sometimes Madeline and Carter need a little coaxing to eat their meals...

We ordered several large pizzas for the rest of us. I had a piece of margherita (mozzarella slices and fresh basil) which is always good from Bertucci's, and also had a piece of spinach ricotta, which I'd never had before but loved! Anything with ricotta cheese makes me happy.

Snack Time

After eating a late lunch, Pat and I raced back up to NH to catch the Patriots game. We weren't terribly hungry after having lunch, but if you're going to watch football, there need to be snacks!

Carrots and Organic Hummus

Chili and Baked Tostitos Scoops

Perfect Bite!

This was chili that was left over from a big pot we'd made and froze. I'm sure we'll be making more soon as fall is upon us, and I'll post the recipe then!

Dinner

Meat Sauce with Pasta

Ingredients:

• Ground beef
• Ground sausage
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 - 28 ounce cans of Pastene Kitchen Ready Ground Peeled Tomatoes
• 1 - 16 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 - 15 ounce can tomato paste
• Sugar
• Basil
• Oregano
• Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and Pepper
• Flax-Seed Oil

Get 3 burners on the stove going at once:

1. Large pot - add both cans Pastene Ground Peeled Tomatoes, can diced tomatoes, and half can tomato paste. Heat on medium.

2. Large frying pan - add ground beef (I used about 1.25 pounds of 96/4 lean beef) and ground sausage (I used 1 pound of Italian hot). Heat on medium. You'll need to use a spatula to break up the meat as it cooks, cover, then break it up...continue with this every few minutes until the meat is browned throughout.

Its easiest if you use a spatula with a flat bottom so you can break up the meat.

3. Skillet - heat flax-seed oil on medium and add minced garlic. Cook until garlic is translucent. Flax-seed oil is a good alternative to olive oil because its much higher in Omega 3 fatty acids.

As the garlic cooks, chop the onion.

Add the onion to the garlic and continue to cook on medium, until the onions are also translucent.

Chop the green pepper, and add to the skillet.

Cook for a few minutes, then add the remaining 1/2 can tomato paste and the chopped tomato.

Stir in and cook for several more minutes. Also stir in 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and about 1 tablespoon each basil and oregano.

As you've been adding veggies to the 3rd skillet, you should also have been stirring/breaking up the meat. At this point it should be done (brown throughout). Drain the fat from the pan.

Return to stove and cook a couple more minutes, then add meat to the large pot of tomato sauce.

Then stir in all of the vegetables and herbs from the 3rd skillet:

Turn heat to medium-high until you see the sauce begin to bubble (you should never let it boil) then turn to low. Add about 2 more tablespoons sugar, 2 bay leaves, and red pepper flakes to taste. Cover and cook for at least an hour (or a few hours if you have time), stirring occasionally. The sauce tastes better the longer you can cook it for.

Cook pasta (I chose whole wheat spaghetti) and cover with sauce!

I need to give props to Pat, who was the brains behind the sauce. He makes a mean meat sauce! I thought it was great, but he said in the future he'd use a 2:1 ratio of beef to sausage (instead of the close to 1:1 ratio we used tonight) so the sausage doesn't overpower the beef.

This is great to make on a Sunday and reheat for quick lunches or dinners throughout the week!

Goodnight!