basil

I won a YAS tank from MizFit and I’m so pumped! New workout clothes make me really excited and motivated to hit the gym so this is a really good prize:

Also, just because I’ve never worn anything with skulls on it before, I’m interested to see if people look at the ground when they walk by me at the gym or run when I come in the door because they think I might beat them up. ( I kind of doubt this will happen, it is a yoga tank and not a leather jacket, but it would be funny) ALSO I have to mention that I don’t consider myself a lucky person, and I don’t know why I have been so lucky lately.. maybe it’s my lucky month, nope, that can’t be it, because I won the cookbook in July, MAYBE my life is turning around and I am now the luckiest woman ALLLIVVEE. That would be awesome, I’m just crossing my fingers that some of this luck with rub off on to my job search.

On to the food.. last night for dinner I randomly threw a bunch of things together to go with Barilla Plus pasta because my cabinet is overflowing with different types of pasta. I buy it often, but I don’t cook it very often, so the packages have just been sitting there quite lonely. See:

So my delicious concoction, also known as, ”Chicken” Pesto Pasta for one, has these main ingredients:

6 Morningstar veggie “chicken” strips
3 Sundried tomatoes (they were packed in oil but I rinsed them)
4 small Mushrooms
1/2 cup Yellow cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/4 cup Fresh Basil
1 cup Spinach
2 tsp of pesto
3 cloves of Garlic ( I love garlic and I was home alone)
1 cup of Penne pasta

While the pasta was boiling, I put a little olive oil the chicken strips and garlic in a skillet. I sauteed those items for about 2 minutes then added the mushrooms, tomatoes (both kinds), basil, and pesto. When everything was about finished I added the spinach and once it wilted, turned the stove off. I used about 3/4 of a cup of pasta and spooned the pesto mixture on top. As the title suggests, it was quite delicious. And easy!

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Tonight for dinner I decided to try a recipe that Isaac’s mom recommended. It was one of her favorites when she was strictly vegetarian. I had never had fennel before and thought this would be a great way to try it, but apparently when the recipe says one large bulb of fennel it meant it about 1 lb of fennel. However, I bought organic fennel and they were all the same size and I thought it looked pretty large. Remember I have never had fennel before or purchased it so obviously I didn’t know what size was large for a fennel. But I do know that all organic things are usually smaller because all conventional things seem to be given growth hormones and are giant, so therefore, I should have realized the organic fennel I bought was wee. Unfortunately I didn’t and I also I didn’t read the recipe that carefully, at least the part about the 1 lb of fennel until after I got home. So my dish was more orange and basil tofu with a tiny bit of fennel when I think in reality the fennel should be the main component of the dish. I also used hot sesame oil so it turned out a bit spicy. I like to spice things up. Oh and my tofu is spotted because it is herb flavored. Isaac and I both enjoyed the dish… very good flavors. I want to make it again and use more fennel, and maybe I’ll go really crazy and add some other veggies like broccoli.