I FUDGE-ING Love You, Mr. Grumpy

Many people love to travel, adventure, climb mountains, jump off rocks, etc. What do I love? (Other than my Grumpy fam, duh) – I LOVE to eat at new places and try new things. So as such, when Mr. Grumpy told me he had made DINNER RESERVATIONS (literally… he made these like two weeks in advance which is romantic in and of itself) at Lago in the Flats for our Valentine’s date, I was pumped. I immediately started thinking about what I was going to order and how much wine I was going to drink. Tomorrow I start a 21-day clean eating and fitness challenge as part of my Beach Body challenge groups. I am so excited to see the results 21 days from now – my goal is to be at 121 pounds by the end, which is the weight I was on our wedding day. BUT, as my last meal with cream and cheese, you better believe I went all out!

Fun Fact: did you know Mr. Grumpy and I met the eve of Valentine’s Day? Cupid decided to send us both to the same bar – and at about 1:30 in the morning, Mr. Grumpy and his friends had the liquid courage to approach me and my friends. Needless to say, I did not remember his name but DID remember that they were all very nice and told me they were TRAIN ENGINEERS. And yes, I believed them – in fact, I told my mom I had met the nicest boys who were train engineers, and she pointed out they were likely lying. Which, they were. Lucky for them, I stayed around and about a year and a half later, I tricked Mr. Grumpy into our first date. The rest is history. So, lucky girl that I am – Mr. Grumpy always sends me flowers on Feb. 13:

I love getting flowers the day before – and thought I was pretty set for Vday gifts, until I woke up on Saturday to get ready for our 5K and found a box of Shari’s Berries sitting on the counter with a giant Hershey kiss and my favorite – Reese cups shaped like HEARTS.

Then, after eating everything… I felt like this:

 

 

So, I went to the 5K ready to run my little heart out. And guess what – I ran my fastest 5K yet!! At 32:30!!!! I was so proud of myself and excited at how much I’d improved since my last race.

Look! I got a medal! (It’s a participatory medal… I DON’T CARE I AM A WINNER IN MY OWN HEAD!). Ok, yes – I told the nice man at the market that I got first place in the race… but I’ll never see him again. So do I feel guilty? NO!

Here’s a peek at our yummy dinner – Mr. G’s lasagna, my tortelloni, and our dessert martinis!

Anyway – for Mr. Grumpy’s gift, I wanted to bake him something sweet. He’s been so nice about all our healthy eating – and has lost a ton of weight (nearly 10 lbs!!) and he deserved a night off too. In all actuality, these cookies are really not that bad for you – why? Because I replaced the oil with almond oil and there’s no butter needed! You are going to love how easy it is to make these – and how MOIST (I hate that word) that turn out!

I Double Fudge Love You, Mr. Grumpy Cookies!  

I adapted this recipe from this one on Sally’s Baking Addiction

What You’ll Need:

• 1 box of Duncan Hines Double Fudge Cake Mix
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup almond oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine the cake mix and baking powder in a large bowl. Set aside. Then, in another bowl, mix the eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Mix in slowly to the cake mix/baking powder (do not use your electric mixer as you want to fold it in my hand). Stop once the concoction forms a soft dough.

Using an ice cream scoop, plop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees. You want them to be slightly dough-y when you take them out of the oven. Leave them on the pan to set. They should be soft and fudgy-licious after about 5-10 minutes out of the oven.

Yum yum! What did you all do over Valentine’s Day weekend? Share your romantic moments!! And remember, Ryan loves you no matter how bad at crafting you are:

Mom says, “Eat Yer Greens!” We say, “Drink ’em!” #drinkurgreens #organicgirl

organicgirl sent me a package of their kale in exchange for this post. all the rest of it was totally on me, and man are you going to be impressed! now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about smoothies!

Well, we sure do talk about making smart food choices here a lot on Home with You. Mr. Grumpy and I have been working really hard on getting our butts into shape and making smart choices after those workouts so that we can actually see the fruits of our labor. One of our favorite brands out there for getting our green on is organicgirl, which I know I talk about a lot over here, too! Well, they really are a great company, and man does their produce stay fresh for a long time (which is great for us Grumpy’s because we tend to get very distracted and forget about things in the fridge).

For the month of June, organicgirl is reminding folks out there that you don’t just have to eat a salad every single night of the week. There are more creative ways to get super fresh, power foods into your system – and one of those ways is to DRINK your greens with smoothies! Smoothies can also be an any time of the day snack or meal, depending on how often you eat during the day. For example, you can have a smoothie for breakfast, you can have one as a snack, you can add rum to it after work and have it at happy hour… oh wait.. ok, well do that last one sparingly. As part of their #drinkurgreens contest, you (that’s right, I mean YOU!) can win a year’s worth of organicgirl greens AND a Vitamix blender. Amazing, right? So, get up on that Facebook, and go directly to their page (https://www.facebook.com/iloveorganicgirl) and get to work on your very own smoothie. OR if you’re not feeling like a kitchen genius, you can make one of our ideas we came up with!

Now, Mr. Grumpy was very excited about this challenge. organicgirl sent us an entire package of their amazing 100% baby kale to try out in our smoothies. Me being the smoothie connoisseur that I am (hello, I worked for six years in an ice cream shop) was so excited to get to work, but I cannot tell you how much MORE excited Mr. Grumpy was. So, we went ahead and made soon-to-be Mr and Mrs. Grumpy smoothies for you to try.

Let’s make Mr. Grumpy’s first (first is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the … ok, I will try to grow up a bit).

Mr. Grumpy’s Razzango Smoothie

#drinkurgreens #ormrgrumpywillglareatyou

What You’ll Need:

• 1 cup organicgirl 100% baby kale
• 1 cup coconut water
• 1 tsp chia seeds (for energy!!)
• 1 cup of frozen mango
• 1 1/2 cups raspberries, fresh
• Splash of lime juice

First, combine the kale, chia seeds and the coconut water. Blend until smooth – about 1 minute. Then, add in the fruit, and blend everything again. Pour into a glass, and enjoy!!

Now, I wanted to try something a little sweeter. It took everything I had to not use ice cream – but I think you could totally substitute the vanilla Greek yogurt for vanilla ice cream if you had not been like me and skipped your workout this weekend. So… here is the soon-to-be Mrs. Grumpy smoothie for us gals!

Soon2Be Mrs. Grumpy’s Something Sweet Strawberry Mint Smoothie

#drinkurgreens #becauseisaidso

What You’ll Need:

• 1 cup organicgirl 100% baby kale
• 2 5.2 oz. containers of Chobani Greek vanilla yogurt (or 1 cup of vanilla ice cream)
• 2 tbsp fresh mint (thanks to Suzie Q’s amazing garden this year!)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries
• 1 cup ice (don’t do this if you use ice cream, ok? Ok…)

First, combine the kale, yogurt, mint and ice. Blend until smooth and all the ice is gone to the human eye. This is just to make sure that you don’t get any ice chunks. Then, add the strawberries and blend one more time until smooth.

Halfway through making my strawberry mint smoothie, another idea occurred to me that you could do the kale, mint, vanilla ice cream and chocolate chips. Like … HOW AMAZING WOULD THAT BE? Right? But, Mr. Grumpy told me we needed to get through the smoothies that I made before I started making more… and he was right because I quickly realized that we had about 45-minutes worth of dishes ahead of us.

So, get to smoothie-ing, and don’t forget to post your own creations over on Facebook (or Instagram, if you’re into that!) using #drinkurgreens. You can find more about the contest here: https://www.facebook.com/iloveorganicgirl/app_448952861833126.

Happy drinking, friends!

Couples who (fill in the blank) together, stay together.

Well, folks. It’s officially summer in Cleveland. Ok, I don’t think it is actually officially summer yet – but with weather as beautiful as we’ve had here, I’m just refusing to even acknowledge that there are other seasons available to choose from.

Mr. Grumpy and I had a pretty fantastic week livin’ life in the CLE, and it made me feel even more thankful than I normally do to have my best friend/boyfriend/fiancé/boytoy and an all around good guy here to keep me company while we explored and remembered why on earth we live in this city by the lake. Here’s a fun recap of everything we accomplished this week:

This is the view from our rooftop deck!

1. Couples who eat ribs ‘n’ corn together, stay together.

If you have not been to the Cleveland Rib-Off festival, boy do you have a long time to wait until next year’s comes back around. It was literally the most fun I’d had in a long time – we tried to eat as much food as we possibly could, while enjoying a nice view of the Cuyahoga River and all the fun boats that come in and out of the harbor (I’m not sure they actually call it a harbor. Is it called a port even? I just don’t know, but I think you get my point…). I even convinced my dear friend Kelsey to try frozen cheesecake (it was amazing, and covered in rainbow sprinkles), and my other dear friend Maddy convinced ME to split a funnel cake with her (it did not take much convincing). The sun was out all day long – it was the perfect way to spend Memorial Day. Now, I just have to diet until next Memorial Day.

Man, that’s some good lookin’ corn!

The frozen cheesecake was not a myth. Here is proof.

We really enjoyed the corn probably a little too much.

2. Couples who sweat together, stay together.

Now, we couldn’t get through the week without a few runs, of course. Unfortunately, Mr. Grumpy had a long week at work with a few late nights. It wasn’t until Tuesday when I was running by myself (and ran – literally – into Kelsey and her fiancé, B-rad) that I realized just how much I miss Mr. Grumpy when I go out for a run. Why? Well – he is super speedy, so I don’t miss being the slow poke of the couple. But, other than that – he is a great running companion. He makes fun zig-zags, he farts, he gets distracted and runs you off the sidewalk without even noticing it. It makes for a pretty entertaining run, and for that I really missed him. In all seriousness, Mr. Grumpy actually is the best running coach ever because he can always tell during a run when I’m discouraged and he’ll say sweet things like, “You’re doing a really good job!” So – if you can run with your manfriend, do it. It is a great bonding activity. Thus, tonight when Mr. Grumpy and I ran together, I wanted to run faster than I ever did just for him. And guess what – I got all the way down to 8:49 seconds a mile! It felt really good and I think I finally achieved that runners’ high everyone’s been talking about.

It was at the end that I got really fast, just FYI.

3. Couples who gawk at elephants together, stay together.

It’s true – Mr. Grumpy finally bit the bullet and took me to the zoo. Now, I have been BEGGING shamelessly for years to Mr. Grumpy to please have him take me to the zoo. We tried to go once a few months ago (yes, during the polar vortex), and my iPhone 4 (RIP) took us way out in the middle of nowhere. So far out that we finally just gave up and had it take us right back home. Well this weekend, we did it. We went to the zoo, and of course – I had an allergy attack. Thanks, Ohio trees. But, my swollen face aside, man, that place is really cool. If you haven’t gotten the chance to go, definitely go on a day that they’re doing the Elephant Crossing. We will have to go back to experience that one because it was not open today, but it was a pretty amazing zoo with a lot of interesting, sleepy animals.

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4. Couples who eat healthy together, stay attracted to one another.

Ok – let’s get down to my recipe for the day because I am telling you, I made the most perfect hummus today anyone has ever made. I know I’m really being a bragster about this, but seriously. Mr. Grumpy and I were just eating it with a spoon like it was yogurt. We are trying our hardest to eat healthier so we can both lose some weight before the wedding. So, I decided for lunch this week, I’m going to eat hummus and veggies. No carby pita chips, people. Just veggies. Hummus is great because it’s not like you eat it and think, “Yep, this is healthy for you.” It has a lot of great flavor and fills you up so you don’t overeat. And it’s made of all good-for-you things like chick peas and lemon and garlic (heart health, I think?). Anyway – I’d never made hummus for one very distinct reason: I refuse to pay a million dollars for tahini. Sorry. It’s always so expensive. And I just … refuse. So I decided, well, why not try it without. And man – this was amazing.

This is a terrible picture… but I promise it was good.

Here’s how you make it:

What You’ll Need:

• 2 cans chick peas (you’ll have to peel the skins off manually just by squeezing them ever so gently)
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• Dash of paprika and salt (do not go overboard, friends)
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or if you don’t want it too spicy, go down to 1/4 tsp)

Combine the chick peas, lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic, ground coriander, paprika and salt, and red pepper in a food processor until smooth. Stir once while still in the food processor (not while it’s running…) and then add the water and remaining olive oil until the mixture is soft and creamy. And voila! We cut up red and green peppers to dip in. It’s especially yummy when you let it sit in the fridge for just a bit.

5. Couples who drink together, stay together.

Well, sorry. But this one is just obvious I think…

After going to Kelsey’s wonderful bridal shower in Cuyahoga Falls Saturday, I came home to Mr. Grumpy – and we immediately hit up the Clevelander to catch the rest of the Indians vs. Rockies game. I – as the native Coloradan that I am – was very torn, per usual as to who I cheered on. So I wore my Indians tank top, and ordered this beer. I think that covered it, right?

What fun things did you get into this weekend? Are you able to work out with your significant other? Share your other “Couples who (fill in the blank) together, stay together” mantras in the comments below! And make it a great week, guys!

A Quick 5-Month Recap! (And the start of training season!)

Well gosh. It sure has been a while since we last caught up. It’s been kind of crazy up here.

WHY, you ask? Well most of you already know, but … Mr. Grumpy popped the question and… I SAID YES! Actually – let’s be honest. I think the exact words out of my mouth were, “Are you really asking me?!?! Is this real life?!?! OMG YES, YES, YES!!!” Long story short – we’re engaged and knee-deep in wedding planning. Here’s some pics of our engagement session by Mindy Sue Photography (who is seriously the BEST – if you’re looking for a wedding or life-event photog. look no further. Mindy is basically my new BFF and her pictures make me not look like a deranged squirrel, so I’m especially in friend love with her).

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Of course, you’re probably wondering how Mr. Grumpy asked. It was pretty perfect – we were getting ready to head out to his parent’s house for our holiday (yes, I’m talking Christmas it was THAT long ago) celebration. In true Cari fashion, I had NO idea that he was trying to ask me to be his wife. So here I am running around the apartment, turning off all the lights. Then, after turning off the hallway light (the last one that was on), I hear Mr. Grumpy in his I-cannot-believe-you voice say, “Cari!!!!” – so I turn the light back on and there he is, in the hallway, getting on his knee. Then I realized what he was doing and immediately started crying, shaking my head up and down and hugging/smooching him. Then, we tried to call all our friends and family and NOT ONE OF THEM answered the phone… Which would only happen to me! But, eventually they did and we’ve been celebrating ever since!

Now, this winter was especially rough. Hello – did you guys hear about the Polar Vortex? I mean that was no joke. I literally did not leave our apartment until last week – and the 10 days I spent in Colorado with my fantastic fam celebrating the wedding (pictured below!In most of these, I was laughing pretty hard. Not sorry.)

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So after the long, long winter, man – am I ready to thaw out! So ready, in fact, that I already have my first real bad sunburn, compliments of The Ohio State University (we went for Mr. Grumpy’s little brother David’s college graduation last weekend and apparently I thought I was exempt from sun lotion). But, it was worth it David!! (I was basically the only person tweeting live from the graduation ceremony…)

https://twitter.com/carijeanne/status/462996121636196352

https://twitter.com/carijeanne/status/463015474888843265

https://twitter.com/carijeanne/status/462969677358977024

Because the weather is beautiful and I need to be in shape come October 25 when we say, “I do!,” Mr. Grumpy and I signed up for yet ANOTHER half marathon. Yes, the answer is YES – I am crazy. This means that we start training THIS WEEK. Part of me is excited and the other part is just asking myself, “Why. Why do you do this to yourself, Cari?” Well – sitting in the apartment for five months straight taught me something – I become a true blue Mrs. Grumpy when I can’t go outside. I also do not have the same metabolism as I did at age 23. I also developed a pretty bad addiction to Candy Crush, which ended in me having to completely delete the app from my tired, old iPhone 4. Therefore, it’s time to get my butt in motion. So, starting this week – I’ll be sharing updates on my training, wedding planning and healthy eating as we get closer and closer to the Big Day. Bare with me, folks.

Mr. Grumpy stumbled upon this handy tool on the ASICS website – you just put in what day your half marathon (or whatever your goal is) is, add your previous time (if applicable) and set a goal for this race. Then, it creates a complete training schedule for you at the click of a button. What’s great is that you can adjust your running days (for example, I refuse to run on Fridays, so I just switched my rest days) and you can change your pace at any time between easy, average and hard. What’s even better about it is that you can log all your runs and sync your schedule not only to your Google calendar (or Outlook) but also to your Runkeeper app. And if you miss a run (which happens), then you can easily reschedule.

So – if you’re looking for a handy training tool for whatever your next running adventure may be – you should definitely check this out – myasics.us. You won’t regret it! Or you might depending on how much you want to run…

What was for dinner tonight you ask? Homemade Chipotle bowls!

Here’s a quick recipe:

• 1 cup brown rice, cooked in chicken broth
• 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 lb ground turkey (we use Jenni-O brand!), cooked and seasoned with paprika, smoked chipotle pepper and season salt
• 1 cup of frozen red peppers, onions and green peppers, sautéed and thawed
• 1 can of black beans and 1 can of pinto beans, drained and heated over medium heat on the stove
• 1/4 cup of low-fat cheddar cheese (optional)
• 1 can of no-sodium corn with green and red peppers, drained (we kept ours cold like salsa!)
• 1/2 red tomato, diced
• 1 cup of chopped romaine lettuce

Combine as you like it! I usually put the rice first, then beans, then turkey and cheese, the corn, lettuce, tomato and top it with the hot peppers and corn. But – it’s your bowl, so go through the line just like you would at Chipotle! Boy, this is a LOT cheaper and you’ll be a lot less tempted to put the “bad” ingredients Chipotle offers like the barbacoa or the sour cream. Enjoy!

 

Happy Halloween! It’s time for Mummy Pretzels!

I love Halloween. I love ghost stories, pumpkins, Halloween TV specials, spooky candles, witchy brews, costumes … Really. I love it all. As such, our apartment right now looks like the Headless Horseman and his crew of goblins regurgitated spookiness all over. I mean – I literally have pumpkins everywhere. And what’s even better is I’ve discovered the gloriousness of LED candles – why? They burn for like three weeks before you have to replace them. Which means that we can have our spooky Halloween-themed candles burning all. day. long. Awesome.

Mr. Grumpy is being extremely patient. Decorating makes him extremely grumpy. He’d much rather relax in our apartment without getting attacked by pumpkin pillows or the scent of my latest pumpkin spice candle. The end of Halloween for Mr. Grumpy also means that as my Halloween decor box gets put back in storage, out will come the Christmas tree. It really is the most wonderful time of the year. I suspect that he is really not looking forward to decorating the tree while I force him to listen to the N*Sync Christmas album …

Knowing my love of all things October 31, I could not resist making these mummy treats for us to take over to Kelsey & B-rad’s engagement party tonight. These were so easy to make and they’re just so darn cute that you really should make them before Halloween ends this year (thus why I’m posting this today, and not tomorrow. You have 24 hours – go!). I had just finished making them when Mr. Grumpy started eating them by the pounds, so don’t worry – they will definitely fulfill your sweet tooth.

Mummy Pretzel Rods! The perfect Halloween treat! (PS: Mr. Grumpy’s mom made me these beautiful Halloween-themed placemats! Jealous?)

What You’ll Need: 

• 1 package of milk chocolate CandiQuik coating (you can get this in the baking aisle. This is the brand Meijers carries, so really any brand of candy coating will do)
• 1 package of white chocolate CandiQuik coating (yes, it annoys me, too, how they spell their brand name)
• 1 bag of pretzel rods (about 12 rods)
• Toothpicks
• A microwave

First, line a baking sheet with non-stick aluminum foil or parchment paper. Make sure it’s non-stick! This will be really important. Next, take all the rods out of the bag and set the broken rods aside. With the remaining full rods, put them in a nice row next to your baking sheet.

Next, microwave the milk chocolate according to instructions. It is really important that in between each blast in the microwave that you stir thoroughly for at least 30 seconds. The chocolate will continue melting as you stir it, and as such – you don’t want to put it back in the microwave if you don’t need to or it will caramelize. This sounds awesome, but it’s not and you’ll have to go BACK to the store and buy a whole ‘nother package of the candy coating and you’ll be really pissed and your mummies won’t bring you as much joy. I digress…

Once the milk chocolate candy coating is smooth and melted, start rolling the rods one-by-one into the chocolate. Use a spoon to get the chocolate all the way down to about 1 inch away from the end of the rod. You can use the back of the spoon, too, to smooth out the chocolate. Set each rod gently onto the baking sheet. Continue until you’ve completed all the rods (I made about 12).

Now, place your baking dish in the fridge. In the meantime, microwave your white chocolate according to package instructions. Remember that white chocolate is a bit more fragile and susceptible to caramelizing than milk chocolate. As such, you may want to turn down the level on your microwave from high to medium. Really stir the chocolate in between each blast to make sure you’re not overheating it. Remove the pretzel rods from the frige.

Once the white chocolate is smooth and ready to go, pour it into a Ziplock bag. Cut a toothpick-sized hole in the corner of the bag. Moving over each individual pretzel rod, make small sweeping movements in the shape of little X’s starting at about 1.5 inches down, all the way down to the bottom of the milk chocolate. Give your mummy a hat by criss-crossing at the top as well. Do this to all your pretzels until they’re all dressed like mummies. It’s ok if some are messier than others – they’ve been hibernating in coffins for years … do you think they’re going to look put together?!?!

Next, take a toothpick and dip it in the white chocolate. Dot little eyes on each mummy in between the “wrapping.” That should dry pretty quickly, but let that set for a minute. Reheat the remaining milk chocolate you have (trust me you will have some!) and, with a new toothpick, make little brown dots on top of the larger white dots. Voila! Mummy eyes!

You’ll want to let those dry for a little bit before removing them from the baking sheet. Once they’re completely hardened, you can serve immediately or store in Ziplock bags to make sure they stay fresh!

Happy Halloween, ghouls! Hope you get more treats than tricks!  

PS: I found the idea for this on Pinterest, which by the way is the best place ever to find fun Halloween inspirations. You can follow my Fall Fun board for more ideas! 

Review: OrganicGirl Baby Kale (a recipe for Minestrone Soup!)

Disclaimer: I was provided product from OrganicGirl to review for this post. All opinions are my own. 

Hello, readers! Long time, no post, eh? Ok – I’m sorry. Life has been crazy – and I have been living off of peanut butter sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, ham sandwiches … and yogurt. And oatmeal. So, I didn’t really think you’d be too excited about that menu, right?

Over the past month, I have checked a BUNCH of things off my bucket list of things to do before I turn 26. The first – maybe most important item – was running my first half marathon. That is a whopping 13.1 miles, unless you take the wide turns – which Mr. Grumpy made me take. So, it was more like … 14.1 miles. With Mr. Grumpy as my SAG man (aka, safety and gear), the 13.1 miles went actually relatively fast, until the 10th mile when the marathon planners thought it would be hilarious and awesome to hit us with the largest hill I think exists in all of Ohio. Which was ridiculous. And we were basically the ONLY people in our running corral that ACTUALLY ran the hill. Which was not easy on the mind games – but alas, I survived. And I did it all without walking. Check that baby off. 

Ok, I know I said that I checked a bunch of stuff off my bucket list, but I really didn’t check that much more off. Really the half marathon counted for like eight items on my bucket list, so I’m sure you’ll understand. I did paint a chevron pumpkin. And went to a clam bake. And ate 3 dozen clams at that clam bake. And then I turned 26 (yes, it hurts, in case you were wondering). It especially hurts when you celebrate it at Ohio University. So, now I’m making a new bucket list of things to do before I turn 30. Here’s a recap of all those activities completed:

Readers, I have missed you so terribly. So what better way to bless you back with my presence than a review about OrganicGirl’s latest, most fabulous product yet! (If you maybe recall the last time I told you all about OrganicGirl when I made super yummy brie sammies with their Vive la France mix). 

I am one of OrganicGirl’s biggest fans. Why? Well – there are a few reasons. First, they make absolutely sure that, when you buy their greens in the produce aisle, that they are ready for you to eat. This means that it is washed THREE times before it gets to you. Which makes me feel really good and safe about what I’m eating. Plus, it comes in these really nice packages that keep your produce fresh for a super long time. We experimented with the last bunch, and it lasted at least a week longer than the other greens in a plastic container you can buy at the grocery.

This time, they sent me their latest and greatest – 100% baby kale.

I’ve been really excited about kale lately. Mr. Grumpy insisted we try it the other day, and so we jumped on the bandwagon. Then, he shared with me all these facts about kale that came out of NOWHERE (this is the same guy that while I was cooking dinner tonight was eating slices of cheese and Laffy Taffy…). I’m not sure he was sharing ACTUAL facts. For example, he claims that broccoli is human-made from baby kale. I’ve seen the Hidden Valley commercials, so I’m not convinced that his source – Uber Facts on Twitter – was being completely accurate. But if it IS true, it is probably why I love kale so much.

OrganicGirl’s baby kale is so crunchy and fresh – I was eating it like potato chips while I cooked. It has such great flavor – the perfect ingredient for my wintertime twist on one of my mom’s chilly evening staples – minestrone soup. As a kid, I used to get so excited to come home and smell Suzie Q’s minestrone soup. It warmed you up from head to toe. Plus DS and Erin always complained when she cooked it – so I would get to eat like 10 times more servings than everyone else (I was a really active kid, so that was ok). 

Kale is extremely important for people like Mr. Grumpy (who’s already training for another half marathon … …) and me (I’m working on mustering up the strength to run a 10K) because they absolutely need nutrients in their system after long runs or endurance work outs. Kale has the highest nutrition rating out of ALL the greens and vegetables. It has one of the highest level of nutrients out there (right up there with collard greens) and acts as an antioxident (you can read all about it on Whole Foods’ website). I mean – kale is just jam-packed with goodness. But what’s even better is you can do way more with it than just make a salad. Plus, literally everyone can cook with kale (I promise you) because it’s a great substitute for other greeny ingredients – including spinach (sorry, Popeye). 

And that’s exactly what we did… So, here it is – adapted from a Cooking Light recipe from a 2005 issue of the magazine (Suzie Q has never shared her minestrone soup recipe with me … thanks, Mom).

Baby Kale Minestrone Soup

What You’ll Need:

• 1/2 cup low-sodium, organic chicken stock
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 links of sweet italian sausage (this can be optional, but it’s really tasty)
• 1 zucchini, quartered and cut into small slices
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 cans low-sodium, organic great northern beans, drained 
• 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground Himalayan pink salt (or just normal salt if you’re not cool like me)
• 4 cups OrganicGirl 100% baby kale, de-stemmed 
• 1 cup cooked ditalini noodles (minestrone noodles basically)
• 2 tbsp Parmesan flakes 
• 1/2 white onion, chopped

First,  chop up your zucchini and onion. Slice the uncooked sausage into little 1/2 pieces. Then, in a medium soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sausage and cook about 8 minutes until the sausage is cooked all the way through. Then, add the garlic and the zucchini, and let that cook for another 5 minutes. Add the beans, salt, pepper, 3 cups of kale, tomatoes and chicken stock. Let that come to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let that simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add in the noodles and the final cup of kale, and serve immediately! 

This is just a ridiculously delicious, wholesome soup. If you’d like, you can sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top like you would with a traditional minestrone soup. It is so good. In my mothers words, “Your tongue will literally slap your brains out.”

OrganicGirl offers so many versatile greens – you can use their handy store tracker online to find where you can buy them. I’m a fan! (Or follow them on Pinterest). 

And now – on to some fun pictures of my past month or so in the CLE!! Enjoy, readers! It’s good to be back. 🙂 

  

Erin and I were carb-loading before my half marathon. Naturally, we did so at Great Lakes Brewing Company. And yes, that is my shirt she’s wearing. So I’m the cool sister.

This is Mr. Grumpy and I pre-race. Look how unsweaty – er … I mean, cute we are!

This is Mr. Grumpy and I crossing the finish line. He thinks it is SUPER embarrassing when I wave for pictures.

My first half marathon! Check! 

Weeknight Dinner: Fantasy Football Crock Pot Meatballs, A Day Late

Mr. Grumpy and I had committed this weekend to running 9 miles as part of my half-marathon training. So, naturally we waited until Sunday when it was 90 degrees outside. It. Was. A. Nightmare.

We drove out to the Cleveland Towpath for our nice, sunny run. Now, mind you, we had not been outside for nearly 36 hours (remember, Downton Abbey addiction?) and were not expecting the heat. In fact, before we left, I asked Mr. Grumpy if it was cool outside and he answered, “Yeah.” Which I now realize means he wasn’t listening to me… (shocker).

I thought, it can’t be that bad trying to run 9 miles in the sun. So, we began our trek down the trail, smiling at cyclists and runners alike as they passed by. Then, the first mile passed and I thought, “Man! This is going to be so easy.”

Cut to me at 4.5 miles down the trail. Dying, practically. Most likely having a stroke from overheat. And dare I say it, my ankle hurt. I was in poor form, friends. So naturally, as any calm girl in half-marathon training would, I flung myself onto the grass and pretended to pass out. When I looked up at Mr. Grumpy to see his reaction, I was not surprised to see him hovering over me, unconcerned, hands on hips with one of his unapproving glances (like this one, but he was wearing running clothes):

Also, while I was drenched in sweat (and now subsequently covered in dirt and grass), he was not even glistening. He was NOT EVEN PANTING. So, now I completely question whether or not Mr. Grumpy is an actual human. I’m sleeping with one eye open, but really. 90 degrees and you’re not even tired. You must be from another galaxy. Right???

So needless to say, we only managed 6.5 miles Sunday. But I am not giving up. And neither should you if you’re training like I am. Seriously – we’re almost there!

Anyway … I was really excited about a funny surprise I had planned for my alien boyfriend on Tuesday. Mr. Grumpy had mentioned that his Fantasy Football draft was that day, and I was so excited to make him faux Super Bowl dinner – aka, those delish crock pot meatballs that everyone knows about. I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate every girlfriend’s favorite time of the year – football season. Sigh. [INSERT FAKE SMILE HERE]

But, as you know, Mr. Grumpy and I are trying to be healthy and watch what we eat. I decided that after dealing with my meltdown on the towpath Mr. Grumpy deserved a little BBQ sauce in his life, so this was my happy compromise. I found the recipe for the meatballs on Cookin’ Canuck, and adapted it to be more BBQ-friendly. I liked the idea of using quinoa and zucchini to thicken up the meatballs. Plus, I had zucchini left over from our taco boats on Monday – awesome! In fact, I made these Monday night before I made the boats, and then just heated the meatballs up on Tuesday. It was SO NICE coming home to a crock pot meal, let me tell you. Phew.

So, what’s up with my headline? A day late, you ask? Well, yeah. His fantasy draft was actually on Monday. So I was a day late with this one – but it’s the thought that counts, right? I TRIED, OK?!?!

What You’ll Need:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 4 slices of light oatmeal bread
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 white onion, grated
• 1/2 cup of zucchini, chopped (smoosh the water out of it)
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 12 oz. jar grape jelly
• 1 18 oz. bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Next, in a small saucepan, boil 1 cup of water with the 1/2 cup of quinoa mixed in. Boil on full speed for 5 minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Let it sit covered like that for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, in a mixing bowl, mix together all the ingredients EXCEPT the grape jelly and BBQ sauce. Now, because this is made out of ground turkey, it’s not going to feel as thick and sticky as the meatlballs you’re used to using ground chuck/beef. That’s ok – these will turn out really moist (hate this word), and I promise you’ll like them! Once your quinoa is done cooking, add that into the meat mixture. Stir everything together until it’s nicely combined.

On a large baking dish, spray it completely with olive oil-based cooking spray. Then, using a large melon baller, dish out your meatballs. They should be about 1.5″ large. About the size of your palm. Unless you’re a fembot and have really small hands. Then… just guess. (Eye roll)

Bake your meatballs on the mid-top rack (a few inches from the top) for 10 minutes. You want them to get nice and brown around the edges, but stay moist (really, really, really hate this word) on the inside. They won’t be completely done, but that’s ok because they’ll cook more in the crock pot.

Next, in your small crock pot, combine the grape jelly and the BBQ sauce. Once your meatballs are done cookin’, add them into your crock pot. Cook that on low for 6 hours. Stir gently every once and a while to make sure they are evenly coated. And…. enjoy! Even if you don’t have the fantasy draft binging every five minutes in the background (Mr. Grumpy, it must be your pick AGAIN!) 

We wrapped ours up in leaves of Boston Lettuce – like lettuce wraps! 

 

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Weeknight Dinner: Salmon Patties with Cucumber-Dill Sauce

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Weeknight Dinner: Salmon Patties with Cucumber-Dill Sauce

So, mostly everyone knows that the most important thing in my life (other than Mr. Grumpy) is the Backstreet Boys. Duh. This has been going on for quite some time – if you recall a former post in which I alerted you to this character flaw amazing part of me (Remember me, BSB? That girl who chased down your tour bus? Did I come on too strong??)

Naturally then, when the BSB came to Cleveland to perform right across the river from my apartment at Nautica Pavilion, you best believe I was there, sitting on the grass, with my best friend Ashley who loves the BSB almost as much as me, with a beer in my travel mug. Hell. yeah. 

Many years ago, Suzie Q and DS used to camp out for several hours so we could get FRONT ROW tickets to the BSB. Of course, since then, they’ve taken me off Steiner Family Life Support (aka, DS cut up my credit card), and therefore instead of enjoying the BSB from inside the Pavilion, I must sit out on the grass singing at the top of my lungs (need I mention the beer in the travel mug again?) like a crazy homeless person. It’s fine though. I’m a pretty good singer, and also know all the words to every single one of the Backstreet Boy’s albums, so I don’t think I was too concerned about what people may think. Also, Ashley was NOT embarrassed when I asked her to arrive at my apartment three hours in advance of the BSB performing, and when I answered the door with 20 boneless buffalo wings wearing a Backstreet Boys t-shirt, telling her to hurry up and eat – it was time. See the excitement on our faces? I will never throw this BSB t-shirt away. Never. No matter what happens.

Now, where was Mr. Grumpy you ask? Well let me ask you a question. Knowing Mr G the way you do – where do you think he was? Out on the grass sharing in this irreplaceable moment with Ashley and I? Nope! Hiding in our apartment where he was disappointed to learn he could STILL HEAR THEM even after turning up the volume on his Nintendo all the way? Bingo. Needless to say, he was not pleased when we came home, empty travel mugs in hand, to sing him all the songs the BSB sang (I’m pretty sure AJ waved at me… yes, from across the river. I realize how irrational this sounds. Just go with it).

To make matters worse, I had yet to tell Mr. Grumpy that coming up on our menu for dinner this week would be the dreaded SALMON. Which he thinks is way too healthy for him. And to make things even WORSER (right, it’s not a word), there would be no cheese in this dinner. So, I wanted to surprise Mr. Grumpy and make up for the seranading and salmoning by getting him a special present to distract him while we ate dinner.

I had received a gift card to use at Nautica Pavilion since I’m such a loyal customer (this is the girl who sits across the river for free, so I’m not sure why they think I’m loyal?). So right before I left work, I checked to see what shows were up and if any, by the grace of God, were ones that Mr. G would like. And lo-and-behold – there they were. The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Mr. Grumpy’s all time FAVORITE band.

I immediately started signing up for tickets.

Now, let me warn you, readers. If you ever purchase tickets for a show online – you better check the name of the band. And then DOUBLE-CHECK IT. And then, make sure that you copy and paste it’s title into Google to triple-check it.

Why? Well, because if you do not, you’ll end up with General Admission tickets to see these guys:

(Photo courtesy of Allareas.de)

That’s right, folks. The Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Coming to Cleveland on August 20. Better get ‘yer bagpipe-listening ears ready (this is code word for ear plugs). Because … and this is according to their website … they apparently … um. Rock.

Awesome.

So, I went home – empty handed, ready to cook Mr. Grumpy his dinner – Salmon Patties with Cucumber-Dill Sauce. And boy were these bad boys delicious. When Mr. G. took his very first bite, his eyes got wide from shock that he could like something A) without cheese and B) from the sea. It. Happened. And it can happen to you. I adapted this recipe from Coastal Living magazine, which posted its 25 favorite salmon recipes, one of them being a Salmon Burger recipe.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

•  1 1/4 lb fresh, boneless Alaskan salmon with the skin cut off (your seafood butcher … seafood butcher? you know what I mean… can help you with this. It’s about two pieces slightly larger than the size of your hand. Unless you have Princess Cinderella hands. Then it’s about four slices the size of princess hands…)
• 1/8 cup red onion, diced
• 1/8 cup red pepper, diced
• 1 tbsp Spanish olives, diced
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup fat-free, plain Greek yogurt, plus an extra 1/2 cup
• 4 slices of light Pepperidge Farm oatmeal bread
• 1 large egg
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 1/2 tbsp cucumber, diced
• 2 tsp fresh dill, diced and divided
• 1 tsp Lemon Pepper McCormick’s Seasoning (seriously, why haven’t you bought this yet?!)
• 1/2 tsp salt, divided
• 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 5 Hawaiian bread rolls (we buy Sister Schubert’s. It’s frozen and then you heat it up in the oven)
• Toppings for your Salmon sandwiches: cucumber slices, tomato slices, red onion, lettuce 

First, chop all your ingredients. Then, cut your salmon into small slices – about 1 inch wide in cubes. Place that in a food processor. Then, add the red onion, red pepper, olives, Dijon, bread and garlic into the food processor. Combine the ingredients on low in your food processor until the salmon chunks have turned into what I really don’t want to call it – a pasty-like mixture. Basically, it would look like ground chicken looks almost. You can leave some chunks of salmon, but for the most part, it should be pretty smooth. Then, slide the mixture into a mixing bowl, and add 1 tsp of dill, 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt, Lemon Pepper McCormick’s seasoning, 1/4 tsp salt, and the egg. Stir gently until the egg is combined in with the rest of the ingredients. Form small patties with the mixture, slightly larger than the size of your hand. This will make about five patties.

Then, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil on a grilly skillet (seriously, still don’t know what the BEEP this thing is called. It’s that pan with the grill marks on it… you know??) over medium heat. Don’t overheat the skillet because your salmon patties will burn on the outside before cooking all the way through. Add the first three patties to the pan, and cook for three minutes, until the outer layer is nice and crispy and it starts to look white-ish on the sides. Flip, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a paper towel. Heat the remaining olive oil. Add the remaining patties, and repeat the steps I just told you.

In the meantime … (aka, make Mr. G do this), combine the remaining Greek yogurt and dill, along with the diced cucumber and the remaining salt. 

We turned our into sandwiches, which was a definite treat. But if you’re trying to avoid bready carbs, you could just eat the patty with a dollop of the sauce. If you’re training for a half-marathon and could USE the carbs…. then do this:

Put together your salmon sammies by placing the patty on the bun, adding a dollop of your Cucumber-Dill sauce, and toppings of your choice. And watch the magic happen on your Mr. Grumpy’s face. I seriously was shocked he liked these. 

Ok, I was actually shocked I liked these because I’m pretty hot and cold when it comes to seafood – especially fish that’s not crabby legs (my all-time favorite thing ever. Maybe because I like to WORK for my food…). But, they are so tasty. And such a great, healthy way to enjoy a burger-like dinner without the calories. The patties also make for great lunch leftovers the next day on a bed of lettuce greens! (Just don’t microwave it – it’s bad coworker etiquette).

Plus, I’m pretty sure they said at some point that salmon makes you smarter, which is never a bad thing, right? Right. So, enjoy friends! And wish us luck while the Red Hot Chilli Pipers are in town!

PS: What are other burger alternatives to save yourself from the calories? Tell me!! Tell me now!!!

PPS: Although Mr. Grumpy DID like my dinner, he also disappeared for a few minutes and came back from the Market downstairs with an ENTIRE BOX of sour gummy worms. Well, at least I tried! 

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Snack Attack: Froyo Blueberries

This weekend, I went to see Mr. Grumpy compete in an obstacle course. He was participating in the Cleveland Corporate Challenge on behalf of his company – and if his team won, the money they raised went to a local charity of their choice. Very cool. (Hey, just because he’s grumpy doesn’t mean he doesn’t like to help people!)

So, after I did this:

Wo000ohoo! It was actually about 6 miles, my GPS was a little off.

…I went to meet up with Mr. Grumpy to watch him compete. He was SUPPOSED to run at 11 a.m., and I was right on time. As I was driving over to the park, I said to myself, “Cari, maybe you should have worn sunscreen.” And then immediately dismissed myself since I would only be at the park for 30 minutes.

Five hours later, we were STILL at the park. And I was pretty badly sunburned. So sunburned in fact that I am now a blister queen. It’s pretty bad. I took a picture of myself so you could see how red I am:

I thought it was time the world saw this. This is me. At my first dance recital. I was a sweet ass lobster. This is basically what my body looks like right now. Minus the tinsel. (Thanks for that awesome lipstick, Mom)

So, Monday evening, instead of meeting up with a dear friend and watching the Indians play the Tigers, I sadly went home and lathered aloe on my back for the entire evening and stocked up on Motrin. I kept asking Mr. Grumpy to do me favors but he was not very pleased with my neediness. He claimed he couldn’t help me until the dishes were done, which ended up taking him 2 hours (no, this is not an exaggeration).

I needed a sweet treat that made me cool on the inside, even though my skin felt like a built-in heater. But, as you know I’m trying to not waste all the calories I lose by running by eating ice cream and drinking beer. So, I made these babies on Sunday night, and busted them out on Monday. It was the perfect answer to my troubles. So perfect, I wanted to just place them on my sunburn – but they were way too tasty to waste.

Froyo Bluberries – the ice cream alternative

What You’ll Need:

• 1/2 cup vanilla, non-fat Greek yogurt (I buy the Dannon Light & Fit)
• 1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed
• Room in your freezer for a baking sheet or plate

Sorry, we couldn’t get a really good picture of the froyo blueberries. Mostly because they were in my belly. Just imagine these, but white. And cold. The first image doesn’t really do them justice.

First, make sure after you rinse your bluberries you dry them completely. Otherwise, the yogurt won’t stick to them. Then, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Next, one-by-one, roll each blueberry in the vanilla yogurt, so they are completely coated.

Place gently on the baking sheet. Once the blueberries are all covered and on the baking sheet, gently cover with plastic wrap. Place in the freezer overnight. Once the yogurt is set, you can transfer them into a Ziplock bag or a freezer-safe container. But don’t do it like I did and put it in the Ziplock BEFORE the yogurt is dry. You’ll have yourself a chunk of blueberry yogurt ice blocks.

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Weeknight Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with Cheesy Chicken Meatballs

Dear Readers. I have missed you so much. Did you miss me? It sure has been a crazy three weeks! No, I haven’t abandoned you – I was just not here behind my little laptop on my comfy couch. What was I doing? Working, watching Imagine Dragons in concert, going to a luau on Lake Erie, going to bridal showers and feeding Mr. Grumpy turkey sandwiches, oatmeal and peanut butter banana sandwiches (recipe to come).

The recipe for the perfect peanut butter sandwich? Toast the bread, spread the peanut butter, place your naner slices on top, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar… OH MY GOD IT IS SO GOOD.

During this hiatus, I was able to spend a few days in Findlay with Suzie Q and DS, where my mom told me it was time I go on a diet. Ok – that’s an exaggeration. What really happened was that I told Suzie Q I needed to go on a diet, and she didn’t disagree. (Awesome). We decided to go on my diet AFTER we made these super yummy chocolate-covered strawberries:

Now, even though Mr. Grumpy thinks I’m just as BEE-U-TI-FUL as the day we met, I’ve gotten a little chunkier than I used to be. Listen, people. It’s called AGING. You can’t eat three boxes of mac n cheese and still expect to fit into your leggings from 7th grade. You can’t eat an entire pint of Mitchell’s ice cream and not expect your neck to sag. Why? Because that’s how God wanted it. Is it fair? No! So, Suzie Q and I went to work learning about the secret to all successful diets – PORTION CONTROL. Seriously – when you live with a Mr. Grumpy who eats an entire box of Nerds after dinner and still maintains his 23-year-old body (he’s almost 27 by the way), don’t try to keep up. Don’t even try. You will need new pants… among other things. 

Enter spaghetti squash. Now, Mr. Grumpy was not very happy when I brought this baby home. He thought it was a pumpkin, and when I explained it was not a pumpkin and that we’d be eating that instead of a bowl full of pasta for dinner, his face got very pale and he exclaimed, “But I wish we were eating pasta instead!” Get over it Mr. Grumpy. My reputation is on the line here.

Spaghetti squash, in case you’ve never had it, is a … squash … but when you cook it and take out the middle part, it looks just like spaghetti noodles. It’s really quite phenomenal. And it helps you avoid all those carbs that make your butt grow two times its normal size. Truth be told, I had never cooked it before. So, I asked my coworkers Debbie and Melissa what to do. They had some great advice, and I felt fully equipped going home that evening – ready to try to trick Mr. Grumpy into liking this vegetable.

Spaghetti Squash with Cheesy Chicken Meatballs

What You’ll Need: 

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus 1/4 tsp
• 1/4 tsp pepper, plus 1/8 tsp
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (divided), plus some for garnish
• 1 egg
• 1 lb sweet Italian chicken sausage
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, whole
• 1/2 white onion
• 2 tbsp basil, chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil

First, preheat your oven to 350. While that heats, cut your spaghetti squash in half. Remove the seeds from the middle. Take one clove of garlic and mince it. Smoosh the garlic all over the two insides of the squash. Next, take a baking pan and cover it with aluminum foil. Pour 1/2 cup of water and place the squash face-down (so the open middle is facing the pan). Cook the squash for 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently grab the middle part out of the squash. It will shred like really tender chicken. That’s your pasta!

In the meantime, combine breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, egg, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, chicken sausage, 1 clove of minced garlic, and ketchup in a mixing bowl. Using a melon baller, scoop out the mixture one-by-one to make small, 1-inch sized meatballs. Place each meatball on a non-stick baking pan. Bake the finished meatballs for 20-25 minutes at 350, until they are slightly crispy on the outside and firm to touch.

Next, in a small pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Place onions in the pan and cook for about 7 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the final clove of garlic, minced, into the pan and stir. Add the can of diced tomatoes with the juice and the cherry tomatoes, whole. Add sugar and the remainder of salt, plus a dash of pepper. Let that simmer for about 20 minutes, until the cherry tomatoes are easy to pop (go ahead, pop ’em!). Add the remaining Parmesan cheese and stir.

Now, take your spaghetti squash and separate it into two bowls – one for you and one for your Mr. Grumpy. I put about 3/4 cup my bowl (Mr. Grumpy got about 1 cup). Add 1/4 cup of tomato sauce to the top, and add 1 tbsp of basil per bowl. Next, give each bowl a few meatballs. Sprinkle with about 1 tsp of Parmesan cheese, and voila! Healthy pasta!! We did it!!

Now, Mr. Grumpy got done eating our dinner, ran into the kitchen and grabbed a biscuit from the fridge. He yelled at the top of his lungs, “I’M EATING THIS BISCUIT!!!” and then stuffed the entire thing in his mouth. You’d think he had just defeated the diet beast. It was really quite alarming, but alas – whatever makes him happy I suppose (apparently that’s not spaghetti squash).

Also, for the record, luaus do not make Mr. Grumpy happy either. We learned that lesson once…

I took Mr. Grumpy to Luau on the Lake, and forced him to wear this beautiful floral necklace. Then, I made him stand in front of this beautiful plant. He was extremely pleased.I took Mr. Grumpy to Luau on the Lake, and forced him to wear this beautiful floral necklace. Then, I made him stand in front of this beautiful plant. He was extremely pleased.

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