Deeeeeep Breaths!

Sometimes life just gets overwhelming and most of the time, I’m the only person to blame. I have always had a hard time saying “no” to social events and sometimes my calendar can get out of control. This past week & last week too I had a jam-packed schedule. It kicked off with a Thursday night, family-style dinner where me and my 18 other relatives met at Presto’s for dinner. We’ve started getting together once a month to catch up, eat and drink good wine. This is so Italian of us. I don’t know why but I ordered a Buffalo Chicken Pizza and I was a little disappointed with it. I did not like the fact that they put celery on it but it was also just way too blue-cheesy. As you can see, I managed to get half of it down…

On Friday I couldn’t resist an offer to go to my all-time favorite lunch spot Yu-Yus. This place has revolutionized the way I think of rice bowls. I always go with the brown rice with chicken, cucumbers, bean sprouts and red onion. It is divine.

Now, you know now that my weekend meals are a bit of a mystery. Partly because Chris and I will try to eat out and I don’t cook as much and partly because I’m embarrassed that on some nights it might include a jr. bacon cheeseburger and a frosty from Wendy’s after a long Happy Hour 😉 Like I’ve said before, this blog is about me trying to keep balance-between all of life’s indulgences-including great beers, summer nights on porches and your average late night craving.  I justify these less than healthy vices because most of the time I’m striving to live healthy, but I’m only human and I’m a firm believer that what you do in moderation, can’t hurt. If I didn’t allow myself some of life’s guilty pleasures I would be miserable. Every once in a while a night out with good friends and some greasy food is just a vice I have to indulge in…especially when there are out-of-towners to hang with, like this pretty lady!

Monday was back to the grind as usual. Work was less than stellar on this gloomy Monday and I had grocery shopping in my future (which just put me in a worse mood). After making a quick and inexpensive trip, I came home-changed into my p.j.’s and made tonight’s meal plan recipe: hamburger and macaroni. It’s basically home-made hamburger helper but instead of a packet of powder, the ingredients include yummy things like sautéed onions, parsley and diced tomatoes. This was an easy recipe (shocker) that hit the spot. No running on the schedule today-just stretching-so now I can’t wait to cuddle up on the couch next to my hubby and my dog while I make both of them watch Gossip Girl and 90210…ahhhh peace at last.

Hamburger and Macaroni Recipe

Recipe from Simply Recipes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, chopped (or mixed chopped green onion greens and yellow onion)
• Olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Vegesal or other seasoned salt
• Dash crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 large can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 cups uncooked macaroni (use rice pasta for wheat-free version)

Directions:

Get a large pot of hot water heating and begin cooking the macaroni as per the directions on the macaroni package.

In a skillet, brown the ground beef in a tablespoon of olive oil on high heat. Stir only infrequently so that the ground beef has an opportunity to brown.

In a large skillet, sauté chopped onion with a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat. Add the ground beef and lower the heat to medium. Add a dash of crushed red pepper. Add Vegesal or other seasoned salt. Add celery seed. Add canned tomatoes. Add Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 5 minutes. Mix in the drained and cooked macaroni and parsley. Simmer for another 5 minutes.