Savory Sunday-Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

Since Bartek and I have given up sweets for Lent, I decided to transform Sweet Tooth Sunday into Savory Sunday. For the next six weeks, I'll be sharing yummy recipes for appetizers and entrees that I love. Today I decided to go with this recipe for Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup I tried a few weeks ago. It's a quick and simple soup that has so many delicious flavors melding together. 

A Week in Our Lives-February 11, 2013

Hi Everyone! It's been a busy few weeks for me at work. I've been preparing for a presentation I give three times a year. It was last Tuesday and I'm so glad it's over! I get a chance to breathe! I wasn't able to post last Monday because I was away from my computer so this will be two weeks of updates.

Last weekend, my little guy turned 18 months old! I feel like that's a huge milestone month because now he's officially a year-and-a-half. For people that don't have kids, I feel like they are always confused when parents refer to their children's age by month. Before Landon, I always found it strange. So now, until he gets closer to 2, I'll say he's a year-and-a-half.

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Raspberry Whipped Cream

The unfortunate timing of Lent and Valentine's Day means that we're celebrating V-Day early this year! We will be giving up all sweets for Lent so we need to load up before Wednesday!! I realize that technically since every Sunday is a little Easter, we don't really have to give up Sweet Tooth Sundays, but since we normally have leftover desserts for a few days after, I don't want to waste anything. For the season of Lent, I'll switch over to "Savory Sundays"and I'll be making some delicious non-sweets on these days.

For our last Sweet Tooth before lent since I love my husband so much, I decided to give him the dessert that he wants, which was something fruity. He's been on chocolate- and peanut butter-overload from my past Sweet Tooth Sundays. So this Sunday, it was all about him. This was a light and very easy dessert inspired by this recipe here.

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Avalanche Bars

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! If you're in a bind to make a last minute treat for Game Day, this is really simple. Its a spin on the traditional Rice Krispies Treat.

A Week in Our Lives-January 28, 2013

It was so nice to have a three-day work week. We had off for Martin Luther King Jr Day and Bartek and I both took off on Friday to get some skiing and snowboarding in! 

I haven't been snowboarding since 2010! In 2011, I was pregnant and for some reason was shocked when my doctor told me "absolutely no snowboarding"... I don't know why I thought I could! And last year, it never snowed so we never went! We've been having some extremely cold days in the Northeast. On top of the few times that it actually did snow this year, it seemed like a perfect time to finally hit the slopes. We went to Mountain Creek, which is just 20 minutes from my parents' house, and figured that since it was Friday afternoon, it wouldn't be too packed. 

My first time down the mountain was pretty rusty. I kept falling and wouldn't let myself ease up. On the second run, I finally got it down but stupidly took the turn down the bunny slope and ran into some big patches of ice. I fell HARD on my butt and now I have a huge blue bruise on my bum the size of a softball! I was so pissed that it happened on my second run. After that, I was so nervous about falling on the bruise, that I actually fell even more. My legs got really sore and stiff after just a few runs. I wish I could've stayed out longer, but my body just couldn't work. I can't wait to get back out on the slopes (after my bruise goes away)!

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Milky Way Puppy Chow

I remember my dad would always get "Puppy Chow" from customers around Christmas time. It was chocolate-covered Chex topped with powdered sugar. I was always weirded out by it for some reason. Maybe I was just intimidated by this dessert that was out-of-the-norm for us. When I saw this recipe come across my Pinterest feed, I decided to give it a go. It's for Puppy Chow made with Milky Way bars. I halved the recipe because we didn't need so much of this sweet treat in our apartment!

Wanderlust Wednesday-Elysian Cafe

On Saturday night, before we headed off to see Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway, Bartek and I wanted to take advantage of our baby-free night and grab a delicious dinner. We went over to Elysian Cafe and miraculously they had a free table for us. Just like seating at many restaurants in the city are like, we were seated only inches from another table which turned out to be hilarious! It was a couple on a first date and the guy was a total tool...talking about growing up poor and now he's rich. He has a house in Spain (yeah, right!). He asked the girl what nationalities she likes in guys but refused to tell her what he was. Apparently Bartek saw him give her a wad of cash, rolled up with a rubber band and asked her to hold on to it for him (WHAT?!). It was cringe-worthy, but very entertaining at the same time. 

Anyway, back to the food! So I ordered a beer cocktail. I've never had one before, but it was awesome!  It was a Raspberry Gaarden--Hoegaarden and Raspberry liquor! I want that to be my signature drink. Yum!

For my entree, I ordered pan roasted salmon with a potato leek cake on a bed of spinach. The salmon was nice and crunchy on the outside. It was incredibly delicious, but just a tad too salty. The highlight of the dish was the spinach. It was cooked and dressed with an apple bacon vinaigrette. It was to die for! If I could make that vinaigrette, Bartek would each spinach every day!