Il Radicchio

On Friday, Alli and I had the pleasure of dining on Mr. Heaney's dime... I mean, company. We had a fantastic meal, and a fantastic time. I had never been to this little hole in the wall, but I'll definitely be going back.

The meal maaay have been enhanced by the not one, but two bottles of wine split between the three of us. Further proof I now looooove a good Chianti.

We also split the lobster ravioli as an appetizer, which I wish I got as a second entree. The server recommended the pistachio sauce... and so do I.

We each got personal pizzas - I copied Alli with the classic tomato, mozz, basil and added garlic and hot peppers. I could have eaten the whole thing, but instead saved some for late night, and breakfast the next day. No Regrets.

Upon Mr. Heaney's insistence, we ordered dessert. I've had better tiramisu, but Alli's limoncello sorbet ball (for lack of a better description) was delish.

Not too mention, we got Big Bill's version of how he met Mrs. Heaney, learned that my grandfather's pretty legit in the military history circles... or at least just with Mr. Heaney, and had lots of interesting conversation. Mr. Heaney is one great dinner date. Thanks Alli for letting me tag along. I sure am glad its Lent and you've resolved to do one nice thing per day. Ha.

Hoboken St. Patty's Day

The following picture and NYTimes article sums up my Saturday.

For Hoboken, A Day of Revelry is Overwhelmed By Lawlessness

Spaghetti Squash

I'm editing this post for my adoring fans. Details you say? Well, hmm, I suppose I could give you the play-by-play.

A spaghetti squash looks like this originally:



And then like that when I'm done with with it.

[Note: thats not my picture. My spaghetti squash is not nearly so neat, and has wayyy more sauce, yum]

This isn't much of a recipe, so much as it is a "How To" ...

1. Poke holes all over the squash with a fork.

2. Put the whole squash in the oven at 350. Once the skin is warm, remove. 

3. Cut it in half. 

4. Once it's open, remove the guts. It has the same insides as a pumpkin. 

5. Put both halves back in the oven. I spritz with olive oil.

6. After 10 minutes, start keeping an eye on it. Some recipes say to leave it in for an hour, but I'm usually starving after 15 minutes.

7. Remove it when you feel like its ready (seriously, thats the judgement I use), and take a fork to the inside. The inside should peel/grate/come off like spaghetti noodles.  



8. Top like you would spaghetti! I used marina, sauteed onions, and parmesan.


One squash could feed a lot of people, but I usually eat the whole serving. Whaaaa? It's a vegetable! I definitely recommend this dish. Let me know if you're inspired to try it!

Hillshire Farms... NO Meat!

I'm on Day 1 of my Meatless March Challenge. Only on my second meal. And I already put a big "NO MEAT" sign above my computer because I just know I'm going to slip up. Why did I pick a month with 31 days??

I'm not a huge red meat fan, and lately, I've been trying to only eat meat with one meal/day. It started because I took a Health Assessment for my insurance, and apparently I wasn't eating my daily dose of fruits and veggies. When I tried limiting meat to one meal/day, I increased my fruits and veggies intake and started eating more healthy foods.

I also have a tendency for mindless eating... and indulging in Wendy's and alarming amounts of buffalo wings. So, by making a conscious diet restriction, I hope to be more aware of what I eat. And hopefully eat less, lose some weight, and look gooood.

I hope this doesn't backfire by eating Five Guys hamburgers with reckless abandon on April 1. I also start boot camp next week, but that's a wholeeee different post.