I eat when I'm stressed. It's okay because I cooked it, right?

'Ello everyone,

Big news: in exactly two months, I'm done with undergraduate studies.

Now back to things that are fun for everyone!
Haven't had time to cook as much recently, but we did belt out this fantastic Italian dish:

Pesto Stuffed Shells. We accidentally used large shells instead of manicotti sized jumbo shells. They were probably best at this little size but much more of a challenge to fill. All said, well worth it.

Earlier in the week, we tried an ultra simple but big flavor recipe for black bean and guac burritos. We used taco sized wheat tortillas then grilled them over my new grill pan. Absolutely delicious. We made six total, enough for two meals for the two of us. Only a few members in the cast, but each member stood out deliciously. I recommend it to anyone who has the ingredients patiently waiting in their fridge.

My next project is an Easter dinner (lunch, if you're in the South) to impress.
We'll start with the previously mentioned fruit bruchetta, because it's the best use of fruit and yogurt I've ever experienced.
After church, we'll start with mushroom asparagus tarts. For those more experienced in cooking, does everything involving flour count as a tart?
Next round, we're having cranberry and walnut stuffed pork loin. I'm excited because it involves two ingredients I don't like wrapped in a meat I've never cooked with. Should be fantastic.
Haven't decided about what to pair with the pork loin; maybe we'll have a simple spinach salad.
To close with a bang, we're divulging in a lemon curd trifle with fresh berries. The recipe calls for lemon pound cake, so for anyone eating with us who chose to lose weight for a new year's resolution- sorry. I know I didn't.
It's worth noting that the beginning and end of this meal feature fresh fruit, so it's a healthy meal anyway. Right?

It's a fun experience to watch my taste buds mature. Mom- I know you're still in awe of me enjoying a black bean and guacamole burrito. I am too, it's delicious stuff.

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Today's unrelated comic:

Note: found the comic online. No correlation with having a brother named Todd.

Feeling crafty again...

So, with new, pretty weather and the approach of a new holiday, also comes my creativity creeping back out from hiding. I don't know where or why it goes, but as weather got warmer and I started to see little chickies and bunnies in stores everywhere, it peeped back out temporarily. I wanted to make some kind of decoration for our still-newlywed home, so I went to etsy for inspiration. I guess it's a little rude to tease etsy by not actually purchasing the things I see, but trying to recreate them myself... but I do it anyway! I saw Easter eggs. I wanted to make Easter eggs (not the kind that rot, mind you). Here's what I came up with:

I'm very happy with them, by the way. :) And I'm in love with the little chickies I got at Hobby Lobby! They're all over the apartment. They make me smile. So, we'll see what else happens with my creativity this season. I made a ribbon-flower hair pin to go with my Easter dress as well, but I'd like to make a couple more. If that ever happens, I may post photos of those too!

To wrap up this post, I'd like to share another funny. A video this time. You'll like it if you like movies, satire, and a little bit of sarcasm... like I do! :)

I am a cooking fiend

With work and school and apartment life, life has been somewhat stressful lately. Not too much, but enough to want to go on a few vacations. Since we can't really afford Pensacola right now, I've been channeling the stress through the skillet.

Lots and lots of cooking.

Last Sunday, for instance:

• homemade bruschetta
• homemade lasagna
• homemade key lime pie minis

Last night:

• upscale tuna melt
• toasted mushroom macaroni
• honey sweetened, low fat, banana chocolate chip muffins

The best part- it's all been delicious. Not to toot my own horn, but this is "open my own restaurant" good.
Ever since I found foodgawker, I've been scrolling through the pages and finding recipes I MUST do.

If anyone wants to come over for our new weekly event, fun-food-Friday, here's the next two weeks:

• Feta sun-dried tomato turkey burger
• Squash and rosemary macaroni and cheese

And for breakfast this Saturday (hopefully), fruit bruschetta before petite vegetable frittatas.

I want to start taking pictures of the meals that turn out well, and cataloging our changes and thoughts. We'll see how that turns out.

As usual, a non sequitur web comic. This one in no way represents my wife. It's just funny.

Diving back in...

...because I feel like it today. Had a really good weekend, so I'm feeling the whole blog thing again. We were productive this weekend--hung a bookshelf, printed and framed some wedding photos (I know... it took 8 months for me to get that done! By the way, we've been married for 8 months!), went grocery shopping, bought Tyler some nice sweater jacket things for work so he wouldn't look like a college guy in his hoodies anymore (he's super professional now. :)) So, yeah, I'm feeling good. Here's a funny or two:

                                                                                                                      

                                      

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

(This is the image I made and turned into a plaque to hang on our door!)

I'm getting so excited about the holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving! This year will be the first that I'm actually responsible for some of the classic Alewyne Thanksgiving dishes--corn pudding, cranberry salad, and pumpkin pie. A little nerve-racking, but I think it'll all turn out okay. None of those dishes are super complicated, so surely I can manage, right? Looking forward to mine and Tyler's 3rd Annual black Friday stakeout! It should be reeeallly cold again, so that's fun. Maybe it'll even rain. Starting to wonder how that makes for a fun night... but it always is!

Happy Halloween!

Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a lovely day! Here's a pretty darn funny for you today. Please enjoy! And Happy Halloween!

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Woo hoo, 5K!

This past Saturday was the "1st Annual Stonewall Long Haul 5K." It was also my first 5K! Tyler has done these a lot in the past but not so much recently, so it was sort of getting back in the habit for him. Even though I walked like 94% of the way, I was definitely sore Sunday! Walking approximately 3 miles is harder than you think if you practically never exercise! But I think we'll do these a lot more often now because we had a lot of fun!