Happy Groundhog Day Everyone! Anyone else SUPER annoyed by the fact that one day after the QCA got more than a foot of snow a little hairy creature popped out of a hole in the ground and predicted six more weeks of winter?
We’re officially NOT friends, Phil. Also – and I’m not trying to spread rumors or anything – but Zuno says he doesn’t like you either. The snow in our front yard is HIGHER than our poor little pup. However, it’s making his bathroom breaks very entertaining.
So, it’s #MmmMonday on The Sharp Side and I’m starting it by enjoying some coffee – a huge shout-out to Zach who went out into the snow and got it for me as a way to celebrate getting through this past weekend of newscasts.
You may notice my St. Louis Cardinals cup in the background of that pic. The day after the Super Bowl is one of my favorites because that means baseball season is just around the corner!
What a perfect way to get into today’s post. Two weeks ago, it was warm enough for Zach to grill. Our favorite thing to put on is chicken and we love using the rubs from Penzey’s Spices. If you are ever in the Chicago suburbs, be sure to make a stop there. We are slowly, but surely growing our collection:
The best part about this meal is your pizza can be different from your husband’s. Zach uses flour tortillas, I use wheat. Zach likes lots of cheese, I try to keep it to just a pinch… a big pinch. Zach puts on regular pepperonis, I put on turkey pepperonis. We use whatever vegetables we have on hand – it’s a great way to use that half of an onion you have left over from a recipe or the rest of the carton of mushrooms.
I’m sorry about that last picture. I am still getting used to taking pictures of my food and forgot to take a “finished product” one before I chowed down. Can you blame me, though?
I’m making it up to you with last week’s meals, though! I’m going to highlight two of them. The first is my version of BWW’s Spicy Garlic Wings. Mmm, indeed! This is Diary of a Recipe Addict’s Spicy Garlic Wing Sauce.
The only adjustment we make is cutting down the oil to 1/4 cup. For the “wings,” we make chicken nuggets with cut up chicken breasts, flour, egg, and whole wheat bread crumbs. They were supposed to be panko bread crumbs toasted in the oven, but… well, you see what happened. That darn oven! The whole wheat bread crumbs turned out fine, though. It’s a messy process… but oh, so (full)filling for a night when you are craving bar food.
We also made some Sweet Potato Fries. I finally found a recipe that works! Whenever I can’t find a recipe or need to find something fast, I always go to AllRecipes. It’s actually where I found Zach’s Favorite that I posted about awhile ago (which he requested again last week, haha). Anyway, AllRecipes had 29 recipes for Sweet Potato Fries. Wow. I chose this one. I love french fries, so this is a really good alternative for me. Maybe if I keep making these, I will stop craving those salty sticks and all the ketchup my plate has room for. The struggle is real, friends.
The other delicious meal I tried this week was The Gunny Sack’s Garlic Rosemary Pork Tenderloin and How Sweet It Is’ Bacon-Wrapped Caramelized Sesame Asparagus:
One Word: Delicious!
So, what’s on the menu this week? Well, let’s start with yesterday… Super Bowl Sunday! For our work party, I made an appetizer and a dessert that were really tasty: Macaroni and Cheesecake’s Buffalo Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups (another use for wheat tortillas!) & Parent Pretty’s Cake Mix Cookie Bars (no healthy alternatives here… just enjoy). Those cookie bars were SO good. I’m going to need to make another batch of them and bring them to our neighbor, who helped us plow our driveway yesterday.
Tonight, I’m making Holy Cannolli’s Buffalo Chicken Casserole — Can you tell we love buffalo-style recipes? Geesh. However, it’s very tasty and makes great leftovers. So, that’s our oldie. For our newbies, I’m going to try this Cravings of a Lunatic’s Roasted Red Pepper and Chipotle Pepper in Adobo Angel Hair Pasta. My tongue burns just thinking about it! For our crock pot, I’m going to make Krafted Koch’s Healthy Crock Pot Jalapeño, Chicken, and Sweet Corn Soup. We’re spicing it up! Although, for Zach, this is how he would prefer to eat every single day. I swear, I buy jalapeños and Rotel and salsa just as much as I buy milk.
Again, Happy Groundhog Day! Remember – February is the shortest month of the year 🙂
– A
