Time Flies

In the past 3 weeks, I have...
Made stuffed burgers, twice! I stuffed the Italian burgers with fresh mozz. Oh, and some food porn for you too, check out the Caprese in the background! But really, doesn't that oozy cheese look sooo good?

Here's another!

And the White Wine Pesto Burgers with white cheddar for Brian and Lauging Cow light Garlic and Herb for me! Yummy, ooey and gooey! I had such inspiration about stuffed burgers last night that I sat down and wrote out ideas, names and ingredients for about 15 more stuffed burgers. So, check back because I will be posting more!

We also GRILLED Brussels Sprouts on a veggie griller thingy. THEY WERE SO GOOD! Totally different flavor. It's way to hot here to even glance at the oven, let alone turn it on, so they got tossed in some oil with pepper and a little salt, same as we do for roasting, and got tossed on the grill with the burgers! Works for me! And it really did work!

Remember the raspberries... Well, they have become frozen yogurt! And people, if you don't have one of these, you really, truely, don't have an utter clue what you are missing! Seriously, I'm not kidding. I can't wait to make frozen yogurt with strawberries and peaches, or pistachio, mint chip, and cookie dough ice cream. I may burn the motor out this year! The recipe I used is from here...

Our friend Pam's sister is suffering from Melanoma and with a fundraiser coming up this weekend, I really wanted to donate something. I had some really pretty, varigated Rainbow Boucle in a pretty plummy color (they call it Berry Print) that was waiting to become a shawl, and I was so glad to drop it off for them this morning. I really hope it goes to a good home!

EDITED TO ADD:  It went to a great home!  Hope you enjoy Jodi!

And people, learn from my mistakes, buy two skeins... I didn't feel like carting 2 huge skeins up north this weekend and my poor (wonderful) mother helped me with more knots and tangles than you can imagine! This really is my favorite shawl to knit. The pattern is so easy you don't even need to haul the pattern around with you.

I finished the Cropped Raglan Sweater in record time too! I think it only took me about 5 or 6 days. Definatly not a full week though. I only used 3 skeins of Sensatons Kashmira for the project and I made it a few inches longer too!

What a great, cheap knit! It's so easy. Knit from the top down. I can already see some variations to this pattern too, the wheels were churning the entire time the needles were clicking! You have to check it out! Also on Ravelry.. sorry it's not blocked, I will hopefully get that done tonight or tomorrow! I see many more of these in my future! Actually I promptly went out and bought the same yarn in aqua (clearance for under $3/skein) and a really lovely soft and snuggly green yarn that might be by Paton's but I don't remember right now that was clearance for under $3/skein too! I see many of these in my future!

Congrats to Erin and Ryan! It was a beautiful wedding for two wonderful people! We had a great time! Sorry I don't have a pic, they didn't turn out that great for us!


Here's a cute kitty picture for you too! Ruger really likes his new lovie!!! I knit a few of these up last night for the boys! I just love his sweet face!

Dinner, Delights and The Biggest Loser...

Dinner: Lasagna Primavera from Everyday Food # 51 ( I love this issue!)

Yeah, so, here goes... Brian loved it. Me, I thought it was bland. Don't get me wrong, the sauce smelled great! But the outcome, bland. I would add some nutmeg AND some Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb to the ricotta mixture. It would also be good with leftover shredded chicken. And now that I am typing this, I would add the Garlic & Herb to the sauce as well. But whole milk people? Brian didn't read me that part of the recipe when we were deciding what to have for dinner this week. He just said "milk" well, I ALWAYS have milk in the fridge, but surely not WHOLE MILK! Does anyone have any ideas on how to lighten this up? Please send them my way!

Delight: There are two delights I would like to share with you today.

1) Kroger had a sale on Raspberries last week for $1/container!! $1

Raspberries are my FAVORITE! So, I promptly went out and bought 12 since that was the limit. I lined them up on a cookie sheet and stuck them in the freezer for a couple hours and then threw them in baggies. Then we proceeded to go out and get 2 dozen more! Yeah, fresh raspberries on my yogurt in the morning. Raspberry Sorbet (possibly tonight or tomorrow... the base is already waiting patiently in my freezer) Raspberry Muffins, Raspberry Scones... Oh, the possibilities, that is, if there are any left... Brian thinks they are great straight from the freezer. I'm not complaining, he is actually eating a healthy snack at night. Go for it! Look how lovely they are!

2) Have you read this book yet? Well, you need too! But you can't have mine, I'm too busy using it!

Melissa, thank you, thank you, thank you for this book! I loved it (finished it in 4 nights!) I laughed out loud so many times, Brian kept shush-ing me! I think the reason I was laughing was because something she was saying was totally me or when relating to her husband, us. I felt like I could have been in my kitchen having the same conversations and thoughts. Ruger even enjoyed it!

There are sooo many recipes I want to try in it, like, the Blueberry-Raspberry Pound Cake, and 1 point for me, I have raspberries.. and the Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger, 2 points for me, I have more than ready to use bananas on my counter right now... and those are only the 2nd and 3rd recipes in the book. I made a recipe from her Blog with the lasagna the other night and I was surprised at how good it was, and easy...Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Parmesan, yum. I know it doesn't look like much, but it is quite refreshing.

The Biggest Loser: Brian and I (more I) watched the Biggest Loser all the way through this season. We, or I in most cases, usually catch bits and pieces of it, but we watched it all this time.  Brian's partner Diana came into the office a while back telling everyone that her cousin Ron and his son Mike were going to be on The Biggest Loser. So for curiosity sake we tuned in and were hooked. Well, to sum it up, Diana's daughter was married on Saturday night, and we attended the wedding and reception. And got to meet Ron! I was a little bummed, because Mike is a CUTIE!!!! But Ron was such an inspiration! What a great guy, and he looks incredible!

I loved his Tie!  Congrats Ron, you did a great job!

Coming up: A lightened up version of Chicken Divan from Clean Eating Magazine and Banana Nut Muffins from Lickity Split Meals!