Hubby and I enjoyed a lazy morning on Saturday.

We kicked things off with breakfast – blueberry pancakes (with maple syrup), bacon, orange juice, and coffee.

After breakfast and some continued relaxation around hubby’s mom’s house, we took my MIL out to see Sherlock Holmes. I grew up loving all the Sherlock Holmes stories, books, and movies (or was it a TV show?), so I’m a big fan. This Sherlock was very different from the calmer, quieter one I remember growing up, but I still thought the movie was quite enjoyable.

Since internet access and computer access isn’t as easy as it is at home, hubby and I headed in search of free wifi so I could get some blogging done.

We ended up at Barnes & Nobles where I noshed on a gingerbread soy latte and shared a blueberry scone with hubby. I was disappointed that the B&N didn’t offer short cups. When I tried to order my drink “short” (aka what used to be considered a Starbucks-small), they said they didn’t have shorts since they’re “Barnes & Nobles.” I’m pretty sure the cafe has “Starbucks” plastered everywhere (see it on my cup!?) and Starbucks carries shorts, but whatever.

They nicely heated up my blueberry scone since I was dining in. It was super good. The blueberry scones are a bit of an indulgence for me. I used to eat them a couple times a week till I learned how bad they are for you (calorie/fat-wise).

While in the neighborhood, hubby and I met up with Sarah + Josh (whom we met at Michelle’s holiday party) for a bloggie-dinner at Rockwood Filling Station.

I loved the colorful artwork inside.

I kicked things off with the seasonal brew (which hubby helped me finish) – a Dogfish IPA – and some water.

Josh ordered deviled eggs for a starter and hubby and I split one. They were good – nice and creamy.

Hubby and I split an Arugula Salad (from the menu) – Pinenuts & Parmesan Reggiano with Lemon Vinaigrettte – $6

Now, I’ve had arugula salads before, but this one tasted so much better! I think it was the combo of the lemon vinaigrette and fresh parm. Yummers!

We got a couple pies to share:

White Pie (from the menu) – Ricotta, Fontina, Spinach, Carmelized Onions, Roasted Artichokes & Basil Pesto – with a whole wheat crust.

Very tasty combo. I had a quarter of this pizza. I didn’t even miss the tomato sauce and thought the flavors went well together.

Bolognese (from the menu) – Pork & Beef Bolognese, Mushroom, Arugula, Roasted Peppers, and Parmesan Reggiano.

I loved this one, too. I had 1/8th of this pie. I thought the meat was nice and light and liked the arugula on top. I can’t get enough shaved parm, too…mmm…

We ordered a Chocolate Tiramisu to split between the table. I’ve never seen a tiramisu served like this – very unique.

The flavor of the dessert proved to be delicious. I loved how this tiramisu had a chocolate-y twist.

So glad to have more friends in hubby’s hometown! We had a blast and hope to get together again soon!

Check out Sarah’s recap by clicking here

I wasn’t sure at first exactly what to do with all the farmer’s market goodies we picked up Saturday morning, but thanks to a tip from one of the stands, my first stab at making pesto from scratch seemed like a good idea.

When I saw this recipe by Sunny Anderson for Shrimp with Roasted Garlic Pesto Pasta, I got the idea to use the local shrimp we had picked up along with some fresh pasta from a local pasta joint – Pasta & Provisions.

I wasn’t in the mood to follow a recipe, so I just made something up with a pesto recipe primarily eye-balled but loosely based on the Classic Pesto recipe by Cooking Light.

Prepping the zucchini

I started by rinsing and drying some fresh basil.

I used some pine nuts I had stowed away in the freezer, along with a couple cloves of garlic (extra garlic b/c I like it like that)

I added some grated cheese mixture from Pasta & Provisions, along with the fresh basil. I ended up adding a handful more of basil leaves when the mixture didn’t turn quite as green as I wanted.

AAAAAANNNNDDDD….we have PESTO!

The foccacia loaf we got is delicious but HUGE, so I halved it and put the other half in the freezer.

The one we’d be eating, I drizzled it with olive oil, sprinkled a wee bit of salt over the top and stuck it in the oven at 300 degrees F for 5 minutes (while the rest of the food cooked) to heat through and crisp up a little.

The main dish started with some zucchini chopped small and sauteed in olive oil.

After a couple minutes, I added the local shrimp (which hubby so kindly prepped for me).

With 2 minutes left of cooking time, I dropped the fresh pasta into some boiling water to cook.

As I cooked the shrimp, I was getting some real brown bits working in the pan. So, I did what any pasta-cooking-chef would do and used some of the pasta water to deglaze the pan. I just added a half ladle or so to the pan and scraped up the brown bits.

When the pasta was done, I added it straight to the pan a la Giada.

Then, I added my homemade, freshmade pesto.

Then I got my stir on and mixed everything together (after turning off the heat) with a little help from some leftover pasta water. The mixture came together quite nice! I was really pleased with my little experiment.

Altogether now.

Up-close…mmm…

Perfect with some white wine and “fresh-baked” foccacia bread. Yum!

Pesto Shrimp Fettuccine with Zucchini
by me
serves 2-3

NOTE: Different pasta makers may have different cooking times – use time for the pasta you purchase – mine just happened to cook in 2 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1/2-3/4 peeled, de-veined shrimp
• 1/2 lb fresh fettuccine pasta (we used spinach pasta cut like fettuccine)
• 1/2-3/4 cup chopped zucchini
• 2 cups basil
• 2 tbsp freshly grated cheese (i.e. parmesan)
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/8-1/4 cup olive oil, plus 1 tbsp
• salt and pepper

Directions:

• Start medium pot of water boiling for the pasta.
• Add pine nuts and garlic to a food processor. Process till ground almost fine. Add basil, cheese, and some olive oil. Process till everything is finely minced. Add extra olive oil as needed.
• Meanwhile, heat pan over medium heat with 1 tbsp olive oil. Add zucchini to heated pan and saute for 2 minutes. Add shrimp to pan. Season with salt and pepper. Saute till shrimp are cooked through, about 4 minutes.
• Meanwhile, when shrimp have about 2 minutes left to cook (I put a timer on when I start the shrimp so I know when there are 2 minutes left – btw I used 2 minutes b/c that was the cooking time for my pasta), add salt and then the fettuccine pasta to the boiling water and stir. Use pasta water to de-glaze the pan, as needed.
• When pasta cooked through, add pasta directly to the pan of shrimp and zucchini using pronged spoon (some pasta water added to the shrimp mixture is ok).
• Add pesto to the pan.
• Stir ingredients in pan till the pesto is evenly distributed. Add a bit of pasta water here and there to help the pesto spread (I added about 1/4-1/2 cup).
• Serve pasta with foccacia and offer extra grated cheese to top, as desired. Enjoy!

I’m leaning towards “Yes!” on subscribing to Clean Eating Magazine…their recipes are just awesome and I love how truly “clean” they are.

I finally got to test out another CE recipe I’ve been dying to try: Stuffed Turkey Peppers.

Ingredients gathered.

Cooking the turkey filling.

Pre-cooking the peppers in boiling water. The different colors are so pretty!

Finished filling with the wild rice now.

The recipe made SO MUCH FILLING! Look – those peppers are fully stuffed and there’s still a ton of filling left in the pan.

I filled a tupperware with the leftover stuffing – will have to figure out something to do with these leftovers…I’m thinking soup!

Stuffed peppers – check!

Top with a little mozzarella…

…and then the pepper tops.

Bake.

OH NO!!! Some of my peppers fell over!

No worries, though – they will taste the same later.

All cooked up and ready to enjoy.

Yummy, melty cheese. Mmmm…..

Delicio-so!

And for dessert…

I made a little something with the Stonyfield Oikos Organic Greek Vanilla Yogurt I got for free with the coupon they sent me, along with some toppings I purchased on my own.

Yogurt parfait!

Toppings: 1/2 banana (sliced), Trader Joe’s dry-toasted almonds, whole flaxseed, and ground flaxseed.

Closer look at the yummy toppings.

20% Calcium. I think I haven’t been getting enough Calcium lately, so I’m going to work on that.

On the container: “We give 10% of our profits to efforts that help protect and restore the earth.” Love that!

So simple, but so good…I’m enjoying another parfait as I work on this post, actually! I probably won’t blog about it, but it is on my Twitter!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!

I’ve been having fun playing with chia seeds in my food. You’d think I was doing submissions for my Weekly Food Challenge, but alas, I didn’t plan our my food-playing well enough to do so. The good news is that I plan on starting my Weekly Food Challenge back up and chia seeds will be featured in a couple weeks. If you don’t have any yet, get you some! I hear they’re hard to find.

Back to my post…

I’ve been enjoying the blueberries I picked from the farm awhile back in my morning oats. I froze all the ones I couldn’t eat immediately and have found through experimentation they cook up quite nicely in oatmeal.

General directions: Just place a handful of frozen blueberries in the bottom of a bowl (no de-frosting necessary!). Top with old-fashioned rolled oats (I use 1/4 cup) and water (I use 1/2 cup). Stir. Microwave for 2 minutes. Done-zo! Ok, not tototally done…done cooking but I add a wee bit of sweetener – sugar or agave – and some skim milk. Stir. Now enjoy!

Having loved how my chia seeds plumped up in that Chia Fizz drink, I wondered if they’d drink up the water from my bowl of AM oats, too. To this particular bowl, I added the usual handful of frozen blueberries, a pinch of golden flaxseed (I know they should be ground, but I like the texture of them whole), and a pinch of chia seeds.

Following general directions above: Top with oats and water. Stir. Microwave. Stir. Add drizzle agave and some skim milk and stir. Top with ground flaxseed. Yum!

Here’s what it looks like just after microwaving. I love how the pretty purplish-blue swirls start showing through the oats.

The end result ready to be enjoyed. Delish and nutrish!!

Oh…and the chia seeds…they did plump up quite nicely! I really enjoyed them cooked into the oats and will definitely enjoy them this way again soon!

You guys were close, but Rebecca from All Vegged Out guessed right!

I FINALLY got to try that Chia Fizz drink from my Clean Eating Mag that I’ve been drooling over for weeks!

I started with some fresh mint and lime that I got from the Farmer’s Market this past weekend (can’t wait to visit a new one this weekend!)

I muddled the lime and mint using the back of a spoon, since I didn’t have a muddler.

Some Trader Joe’s Organic Blue Agave Sweetener sweetened my drink.

Then, there were the chia seeds, of course!

Add some Pellegrino.

Let drink chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

Add ice cubes and enjoy! Dee-licious and so refreshing! I love the way those little chia seeds soak whatever liquids you introduce them to and get all gelatinous! They remind me ever-so-slightly of the bubbles in bubble tea (a fave drink of mine).

I can’t wait to have another one of these…maybe I’ll make one up this weekend?

Btw, I’m going to pick up my Weekly Food Challenges again soon. I’m going to feature chia seeds in the next couple weeks, but I hear they’re hard to find, so go ahead and pick some up if you want to play along!