Tomato Surprise!

Tonight Josh and my brother are going to the Mavericks game against the Utah Jazz. Brother (yes, I call him brother, not Alex) even came over early for dinner and I got him to eat TOMATOES! Neither one of us have ever eaten tomatoes. Seriously, I even have book that my college roommate, Emily, gave to me titled I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato. I display it in my classroom as one of my favorite books!!! It's a texture thing because we both love everything tomato flavored- ketchup, spaghetti sauce, salsa, etc.- just not tomatoes. Anyhow, several weeks ago I was having dinner at my friend Kelly's house and she made pasta with basil and tomatoes. I knew I hated tomatoes but I figured I'd better put on my big girl panties, be a gracious guest and force it down. So I did. And I loved it! I admitted to Kelly half way through the meal how nervous I'd been about dinner because of the tomatoes. I couldn't believe how much I liked them. I had to know what kind of magical tomatoes she had used. Well, they weren't magical as I'm sure you guessed. They were roasted tomatoes. She explained that they are roasted and then stored in olive oil with garlic and spices. Kelly buys her's at Whole Foods but I've discovered they also have them at the fancier Krogers. If your Kroger has an olive bar they probably have the roasted tomatoes too. My Kroger is in the middle of a remodel but I've been told the olive bar is coming soon :).

Anyway, tonight I made California Chicken Spaghetti. It is one of the first recipes my cooking coach, Esther, taught me but I haven't made it in a couple years because it calls for roma tomatoes. With my new found affection for roasted tomatoes I thought I'd give it another try. So I substituted roasted tomatoes for the roma tomatoes and voila, an instant hit. Joshua puts it in his top 5. We've had it twice in the last few weeks. Here's a link to the recipe

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/California-Chicken-Spaghetti

You should give it a try. Remember to try the roasted tomatoes!

Look at all those tomatoes!!

Great Balls of Fire!

Tonight was the 2nd grade program at my school. My kiddos did great! And they looked so cute in their 50's attire!

The S'MORE Pizza

Friday night we had some friends over for dinner. I made broiled steaks, sauteed asparagus, and roasted rosemary new potatoes. I meant to take pictures of dinner but I forgot, oops! The Todd's brought over the most amazing desert! We weren't sure how it would turn out but it's "goodness was indescribable," according to Josh. I introduce you to THE S'MORE PIZZA. It is from Papa Murphy's. They make the pizzas, you just bake them in the oven. We can't wait to have another.

Out of this world!!

Fuel City

Last Thursday we went to one of our favorite spots, Fuel City! It was voted home of the best tacos in Texas back in 2006 by Texas Monthly magazine and it is what Esther calls  a "Dallas Institution". Fuel City is exactly what it sounds like it- it's a gas station. Now, before you dismiss the idea of eating tacos from a gas station hear me out. They really are great! My favorite is the barbacoa! Joshua loves the beef fajita, but it is cooked with onions so that ruins it for me. I've eaten them at least 10 times and I've never been sick, I promise. Plus, they're super cheap- $1.50 a piece. There is a small walk-up window where you place your order and then they call your name. The tacos come with 2 types of salsa and lime wedges. There is also a a giant car wash, a swimming pool, live music and long horn cattle. Yep, it is the most random combination of attractions you've ever seen. Anyhow, the point is, they have really good tacos and you should check it out.

Always packed!

Cash ONLY

Fantastic!

Moo!

Happy Valentine's Day!

On Saturday night we celebrated Valentine's Day because Josh has class tonight. We went to Ruth's Chris Steak House for dinner. It was delicious! Josh has been talking about it for months and it absolutely lived up to all the hype. It was the best steak I've ever had. YUM!!

We both had the filet... A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

We also went to see Cirque Du Soleil's Ovo. It was incredible! Every person I know that has been to see a Cirque Du Soleil show has raved about how astonishing it is and I have to agree. The costumes were beautiful! The tent setting was so unique! The performances were jaw-dropping! It was like nothing I've ever seen before. Everyone MUST go see it someday.

My sweet valentine

EUREKA!!!

I just found my new favorite store!!! Well, it's not actually a store it's a website for a catalog... i think :) I read about it from another wonderful blog that I read- bowerpowerblog.com. Ok, so it's Land's End Canvas. It's like GAP but a little more modest/traditional in my opinion. Their sale section is
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Just wanted to share with everyone in case you had never heard of them either. Maybe everyone else already knows about it. Maybe I'm the last to know... but I'm very happy I know about it now.

http://canvas.landsend.com

Thursday 2/11/2011

Tonight was date night so I cooked something new! I love allrecipes.com. One of the greatest features is the ingredient search. You can type in what you have and it will spit out all the recipes that contain those ingredients. I made Lemon Pepper Pork Chops and they turned out great! We also had garlic rosemary new potatoes & green beans with almonds. Here's the recipe...

Ingredients

4 pork chops

1 Tbsp Lemon Pepper

8 Tbsp Butter

8 Tbsp Olive Oil

4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

2. Tear off a generous square of tin foil for each pork chop, enough to wrap and seal completely. Coat both sides of each pork chop with lemon pepper.

3. Put 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in the middle of each square of tin foil. Put the peppered chops on top of the butter and oil. Put 1 tablespoon olive oil on top of each chop. Add 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce over the top of each chop. Wrap each chop tightly and place on middle rack of oven. Bake for 35 minutes.

Delicious!