Simply Monday

I woke up this morning with the feeling that it was going to be a good day. The sun was shining, I felt good, and I had a little something up my sleeve for breakfast… yes, that’s right, you get to see What’s For Breakfast today too! Let me rewind a bit. Yesterday, when I went to the grocery store, fresh spinach was on crazy sale. It was like the world was trying to tell me something… well, the world and Angela from Oh She Glows. “Try the Green Monsters” she says “You’ll feel amazing!” she says. So last night, instead of the dessert I had planned, I made one. 2 cups of spinach leaves, 5 strawberries, a banana, some soy milk… it was the color of dirt. Reluctantly, I took a sip. AMAZING! So amazing, that…wait… what’s that in my pineapple mug?

Yes, that would be my 2nd Green Monster in the matter of less than 12 hours. I may have a problem. Then, inspired by Sarah’s instructional post on the amazing thing that is a Crack Wrap, I decided to have one of those for breakfast too. Nothing like garlic hummus and cheddar cheese to get a day going!

So I walked into my classroom, turned on the lights (that, incidentally take about 5 minutes to warm up to normal light levels) and saw that my whiteboard was written on. Now, I KNOW that I had cleaned my board on Friday…but it turns out that 2 of my former students came to visit me after school Friday and I’d missed them, so they LOVINGLY wrote me a fantastic message on my board:

In case you can’t read it, it says “Jillian and Angela Love you!” And girls, if you read this, it totally made my day! Thank you SO much

It was a beautiful day here today, not that I got to see much sunlight, but all in all, it was a good school day. When I got home, I had a dilemma. Which planned meal do I make? I asked Adam, and he seemed very excited about the prospect of cube steak, so I made that. I made pretty much the same recipe as I posted here, but I lowered the oil significantly. It came out fantastically! I made some home “fries” by microwaving 2 small potatoes, slicing them, then browning them with a little olive oil and garlic powder. I also steamed up some broccoli trees.

Broccoli like this always reminds me of a cookbook of my childhood: Mollie Katzen’s The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. My mom had that book and the Moosewood Cookbook stacked together in our cookbook cabinet. I can remember paging through and looking at the magical pictures of all the vegetable recipes… I still need to own those books!

Tonight, I have a very special Guest for Dinner. This girl is one I’ve had the pleasure to meet and hang out with not once, but twice, and has been a super-welcoming member of the blogging community. Who am I talking about? None other than Jenn from EatingBender! So, Jenn, pull up a chair, have a seat at my table, and tell us about your meal!

Hi everyone! Jenn from Eating Bender here. I was so excited when Mara asked me to be a guest on her fabulous dinner blog. Not only is she an inspiration in the blogging world, but her actual blog topic inspired me to get out of my food rut and make something new! Some of you may be familiar with my Humbecue Salmon Salad recipe. I decided to take the good ol’ humbecue to the next level. The result was delicious, filling and easy! Enjoy!

Humbecue Polenta Rounds

Ingredients (serves 1):

• 1 serving Melissa’s Sun Dried Tomato Polenta
• 1 tbsp. barbecue sauce (I used Bone Suckin’ Sauce)
• Ground pepper, to taste
• 1 serving (1/4 cup shelled) pistachios
• 1 serving julienne sun dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
• 1 serving shredded cheese (I used Veggie Shreds)
• 1 tbsp. roasted red pepper hummus (I used Sabra)

Directions:

Slice 1 serving of sun dried tomato polenta into 5 even circles. Place in a pan with cooking spray and top each side of the "rounds" with barbecue sauce and pepper.

Heat the polenta rounds on medium-high for 3-5 minutes, flipping occasionally, until both sides are slightly browned and heated. Meanwhile, combine pistachios and sun dried tomatoes in a bag and pound until you get crumbs.

Arrange the polenta rounds in a circular shape on a plate. Top with pistachio-tomato crumbs and sprinkle the entire dish with the shredded cheese.

Place in broiler for approximately 3-5 minutes or until cheese is completely melted. Remove from broiler and top with the red pepper hummus.

Dinner is served! The intense combination of flavors in this dish is sure to please every palate

Nutrition Information (per serving):

• 400 calories
• 21g fat
• 40g carbohydrates
• 6g fiber
• 14g protein

Thanks again for giving me the chance to be a guest at your humble abode, Mara!

Thanks Jenn! One day, you’ll have to REALLY be a guest at my table

Would you like to be my Guest for Dinner? Just write a short “blurb” about your dinner, with pictures and/or a recipe, and send it to me at mara@imadedinner.net and I’ll post them in the order I get them! I’ve got company this week through Thursday!

I’m off for seconds of dinner and to relax and watch House and have a Turtle Mountain mini coconut milk ice cream sandwich. Maybe if I link to them enough, they’ll send me samples too! Fingers crossed on that one

Have a wonderful night!

Tagged as: Guests for Dinner, meat, simple recipe