Moving on… Happy Mardi Gras, everybody! Or Fat Tuesday, or Pancake Day, or whatever you want to call it. I celebrated accordingly this morning:

This morning’s breakfast feast was muy delicioso: The Roommie made scrambled eggs and topped ‘em with avocado and hot sauce, The Boyf fried up some maple bacon, and I made lemon blueberry oatmeal pancakes and drizzled them with syrup The Roommate brought back from Montreal this weekend. Oh, yes.

Instead of a pancake, The Boyfriend poured some of the batter into the waffle iron that someone wonderful (me) gave him for Christmas. Doesn’t that look pretty?

I went with a breakfast burrito of sorts: eggs on a toasted Joseph’s pita with cheddar cheese and tomatoes.

Two things about this photo: I love that skillet.  It was a gift from my wonderful aunt.  Also, could my stove BE any messier? Probably not.

The final product.

I’m shortly giving up on the job search for the day.  Especially since my most promising prospect is for a writer specializing in the ‘Young and the Restless.’ The soap opera, yes.

Walking the dog is much more appealing than banging my head against the computer screen.

For lunch I had some of my barley soup. Holy deliciousness! You should seriously go get yourself a copy of The Best Vegetarian Recipes if only to make mushroom barley soup. I don’t even LIKE soup most of the time but this is amazing. I left my camera at home but I did snap a humorous photo with my phone. I give you Exhibit A, or Why I Desperately Need An iPhone:

Oh, yeeeeah.

My soup and yogurt-with-fruit combo did not hold me over for the seven hours between lunch and dinner so I snuck a Pecan Pie Larabar in during the commute home. Dear good people of Larabar: higher me to say good things about your company. I have high praises.

Dinner was the product of many cravings. Since I can’t stuff myself full of grilled cheese or pasta this week, I figured a hot and filling option was best. At first I wanted a repeat of last night — eggs, avocado and mushrooms. But then I wanted a baked potato. And then I remembered these Roma tomatoes I bought and need to use. So I created mishmash of all of these things in a Farmer’s Market Frittata. Frittatas are so tasty, so easy, and you can throw anything in them (like an abundance of vegetables in your fridge).

This photo only has 6 eggs, but that turned out to be too few — with all of these add-ins, I needed an extra three. I cut up a small potato (with skin — that’s where all the nutrients are!) and stuck it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Next I chopped up half an avocado, two mushroom caps, a Roma tomato, and the last bits from a bag of spinach.

Here are the instructions: heat olive oil in a cast-iron or any oven-safe skillet, beat eggs in a bowl, add ingredients, pour mixture into skillet and cook over medium heat until the sides pull away slightly and the middle almost sets.

Not quite done! Heat the oven to 350 degrees, grate some cheese on top (I used a mixture of Cheddar and Parm) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the eggs are cooked through and the top is set.

As such, I’m not in the best mood and I’m not feeling the positive and calming effects of refresh week. I won’t bore you with my morning bowl of oats (which is pretty much the same every day). Lunch was a repeat. Dinner was kind of weird looking, but totally delicious.

I had really wanted to make that pumpkin risotto that I love so much, but I cannot for the life of me find canned pumpkin! Are you telling me that I am the only person in the Albany area who uses pumpkin post Thanksgiving? The next time I find cans of it I’m stocking up!

In lieu of pumpkin-y delight, I used up leftover avocado in this:

Omelette (or something…) with mushrooms, avocado, and cheddar. Hot sauce added after the photo. Not the prettiest plate, but I think it’s sort of fun.

LOST is in a half hour. I love LOST but I’m already… lost. I can’t remember anything from last season. Bad. Hopefully it will all come back to me when I’m watching it!

Fast forward several meltdowns, many sarcastic comments, and a few lost posts later, and I am 20 bucks poorer and a happier blogger. Worth it.

We got our first snow in Albany this weekend. I am a little ambivalent about snow, honestly. (Although I was pretty clear about my feelings when I was 10 minutes late to work Sunday morning from digging my car out from beneath a sheet of ice.) Sure does look pretty, though….

Jack took his first walk in the New York snow. He is a bit of a princess and WILL NOT go out in the rain, so I was unsure how he’d react to the snow. We asked Sid if he wanted to accompany us, but he declined.

Jack seemed to enjoy the snow. He looks sort of like a reversed Dalmatian, doesn’t he?

The rest of the weekend was uneventful. By the time Sunday dinner rolled around, my body was craving veggies. Does Sunday night usually find you craving salad? You realize you may have had one too many beers/desserts/potato chips during the weekend and suddenly your body is longing for greens and bright, fresh veggies.

That was my thinking as I cobbled together some faux Cobb salads for the Boyfriend and me. We ran out to the market and bought some lettuce mix and vegetables. We started with mesclun mix, hard boiled egg, cucumbers, and broccoli, and added different toppings. I tried to save some money on croutons for the Boyfriend by making our own using sliced bread, olive oil, and spices.

Chop up one slice of regular sandwich bread. I used whole wheat. Add it to a bowl and toss with a little olive oil, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.

Bake at about 275 for 10 minutes or so, until they are crusty like croutons!

On the Boyf’s salad: croutons and bacon bits.

I just added tuna and corn to mine.

Just kidding.

Behold my salad art.

Instead of bottled dressing I made a vinaigrette the way my mother and aunt do.

In the jar: olive oil, lemon juice, dry mustard, rice vinegar, and salt. Shake well. Super tangy.

Dinner wasn’t TOO healthy, of course.

Off to take on the work week! Christmas is almost here!

The four of us (the lady roommates and their respective boyfriends) went over to Cafe Madison for a laid-back Halloween brunch.  I probably cannot say greater things about Cafe Madison.

It’s casual-chic inside, but the food is anything but casual.   We started off with something I haven’t had in a long time: coffee!

And of course we toasted Halloween with mimosas.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I blame the early end to my slumber of a the fact that I woke up very thirsty at 5am.  My mind kept racing and I couldn’t go back to sleep for the life of me, so when the clock struck 6, I thought, What the heck, and bounced out of bed.  I figured I could get a start on my day and my to-do list, so I did.  I made coffee, then had to re-make the pot once I realized that I had essentially just made brown water.  I fried an egg, nearly set the smoke alarm off at 6:15 (wouldn’t THAT have delighted my roommates), which sent me racing around the kitchen, frantically waving a towel to clear the smoke.  Luckily, breakfast and I were saved (apparently our smoke alarm doesn’t like to get up before 8 either).  While working at my desk I enjoyed a cup of Round 2 coffee and a yummy Trader Joe’s English muffin, my fried egg atop one, some pecan butter atop the other.  (Fear not, I only dribbled a little egg onto my desk calendar.)

I am currently all over the Interwebs, trying to plan out meals for this week.  We barely have any leftovers from The Boyfriend’s meal last night.  One of my favorite sites is Big Oven.  Big Oven is a recipe database with a unique option: you can do a search based on leftovers.  So if you cooked too much rice last night, type in rice and whatever random ingredients you have lying about the fridge, and Big Oven will show you what you can do with your leftovers! It’s a great tool for the days when the creative culinary juices just aren’t flowing.  Today is one such day for me.

As with beef stroganoff, I find it’s best to pronounce “frittata” with an accent.

Sunday Frrrrrrrittata

1 medium potato, chopped

1 tomato, sliced

1 cup fresh baby spinach, washed

1 small onion, chopped

8 eggs

2 T crumbled goat cheese

2 T shredded Parmesan

3 fresh basil leaves, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

My veggies looked like this

Preheat your broiler.  In a cast-iron or other oven-safe skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and cook potatoes and onions until soft, about 6 minutes.  In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the salt, pepper, goat cheese, and basil.  Add the spinach to the skillet for a few seconds so it wilts. Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes, onions, and spinach.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, then place the tomatoes on top of the frittata.

Almost done!

Grate the Parmesan over the tomatoes and continue cooking on the stove for another 5 minutes or until the sides of the frittata are almost cooked but the top is still slightly runny.  Using oven mitts (!!) transfer the skillet to the broiler and broil for 2 minutes or until the top is cooked and puffs slightly.

Crispy, eggy perfection

Enjoy while re-watching episodes from season 3 of The Office.

How do you spend your Sunday nights? Relaxing or doing major prep for the upcoming week?