A Place Like This......

What's For Lunch: Oprah Style

Greetings friends. Sorry for my absence last week. The flu bug hit my house and therefore my blogging but don't worry. All of us have recovered and are getting back to normal. 

Before I dish on some incredible news, go put some water on because today's lunch has pasta in it. Don't forget the salt and olive oil.......

Today I'm honoring the goddess of television Oprah Winfrey. Last week I received a newsletter/email update from Oprah saying she was taking her life class on tour. There will be two tapings in St. Louis Missouri and two tapings in New York City. With the speed of lightning I filled out forms for all four show tapings, naming my friend Susie as my guest, and hoped for the best.

For about 12 to 15 years  now or maybe even 20, it depends who's telling the story, Susie and I have always known that one day we would get to meet Oprah, we would be on or at her show, and we would be together. That day has finally arrived. On March 26th Susie and I will be at the Live on -air taping of The Oprah Winfrey Life Class Tour.

Just this morning we discovered that our friend Kim also has tickets to the show and creative wonder teacher and blogging friend Shannon Kinney is on the waiting list for the same show we have tickets too. Wouldn't that be great if Shannon and I could meet? If ever you feel like taking an incredible and inspiring find your "self"  class, Shannon's Inside Out is the one to take. It is so creative and nurturing. I just loved it ! But I digress back to lunch right?

Today in honor of the joy and excitement of going to see Oprah, today's lunch is on her. This is one of her favorites and will quickly become one of yours. It's delicious. Almost verging on divine. 

 Vegetable Carbonara 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
• 12 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 ounces uncooked cavatappi pasta
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 slices turkey bacon, chopped
• 1 cup chopped seeded red bell pepper

Preparation

1. Cook peas and asparagus in boiling water for 3 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender; drain. Plunge into ice water; drain. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Combine pasta and vegetables.

2. Combine cheese and the next 3 ingredients (through eggs) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Gradually add hot cooking liquid to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in pan. Add bacon to pasta mixture. Cook bell pepper in drippings for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pasta mixture; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove pan from heat, and stir in egg mixture. Return pan to low heat; cook for 2 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly, stirring constantly.

The original recipe is from Cooking Light.  I only used 2 eggs instead of 3 and I also added zucchini and yellow squash. I substitued bacon with Turkey bacon. 

Here's wishing you a happy lunch. I'd love to know what you're eating for lunch this week. Please just leave me a comment with a link to your post and I'll come drop by for lunch. Bon Appetit y'all.

The Joy in Doing

Since he was about 18 months old he has loved to beat and drum on things. As a very small boy he would toddle around the house taking all of my plastic containers out of the cupboard. With a wooden spoon he would spend long spells just singing and drumming himself tired.

Two years ago, his sister bought him a drum set as she was heading off to college. They love to play drum duets, or "Playing Stomp in the Basement" as they call it.

Often times friends come over to play "band" and hours of musical talent is enjoyed. It's been wonderful seeing all of them grow as musicians. And me, I have the best view of them all, ....the fly on the wall. They completely forget I'm there.

How thrilling it is to just watch him doing what he loves to do best.......play. There's been no lessons, no performances, just jamming. Playing to the music of all his favorite bands, Coldplay, Queen, Led Zepplin. Ok maybe some of those are my favorite bands, but he likes them too. 

Last week a major milestone passed as "O" played drums with Travis Patton and the Maryville Middle School Orchestra. It was also the first time "O" had ever played his drums anywhere but in our basement.

But that's tomorrow's story. For now all you need to know is he left my house a violinist and came home a drummer. 

To be continued.........

What's for Lunch: Week 1 Red Soup

So my little experiment worked. I've eaten 7 separate lunches this week. Absent were the 4 lunch items I've been eating for 15 years. Thanks to all who commented here and on Facebook. So let's have a look at What's for Lunch.

As many of you wrote in I noticed a theme, and that was you didn't want to spend a whole bunch of time cooking or making lunch when you will have to be back in the kitchen just a few hours later to get dinner together. This had me thinking, what types of recipes could I cook in the same time it takes to make a peanut butter sandwich? 

My first choice Red Soup

• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic diced
• A drizzle of olive oil
• 2 tbsps of tomato paste
• 2 1/2 cups of water
• 1/2 cup of rice either cooked or parboiled
• Dried Mint
• Dash of lemon juice
• Salt
• Croutons or dried pita bread

1. Drizzle about a tsp and a half of olive oil
2. Dice up the onion and throw it into the pot.
3. Put the stove onto medium and saute the onion until it's clear.
4. Throw in the diced garlic clove. 
5. Put in your 2 tbsp of tomato paste and let it brown up a little. We you saute your tomato paste before putting in the water, it will get a nice sweet taste and the bitterness that can be there goes away. 
6. Add the water. It's ok to put more water if it looks like it's not enough.
7. Add the rice and let it cook until done. If I have rice left over from the night before I throw that in. Lunch will be ready in just a few minutes. If you're using Uncle Ben's or Whole grain rice, it will take longer to cook. 
8. Once the rice is cooked or heated, add the dried mint to taste.
9. Add a dash of lemon juice to bring all of the flavors together.
10. Place soup in a bowl and crunch up either toasted pita bread or croutons. I like to take one whole pita bread and place it in my microwave for a minute on each side or until the bread is crunchy. With my hands I crunch it up into bite size pieces.

This lunch took me exactly 10 minutes to make using left-over rice. It really tasted good and hit the spot. I followed it up with a pear for dessert. 

What did you have for lunch? If you're blogging about your lunch choice, please leave the link below. On saturday I'll combine them into next weeks lunch menu. Happy Eating !!!

 

13

Someone special is celebrating a birthday.

13 years ago today the weather was snowy, rainy, but when they put my baby boy in my arms the sun came out.  

There is a theme among family members today and that is, how did our baby get to be 13? Well he did. Day by day and year by year.

We've had a weekend of festitivies to celebrate his entry into the teenage years. There's no more babies in this house. 

Happy Birthday to our Big Boy. We love you "O" !!!!

The "What's For Lunch" Project

It isn't usually an annual tradition that I get the doldrums in winter but this year I have them. The item which is annoying me the most is lunch. Yep, that's right you heard me. Though there are 7 days in a week, I have a lunch menu which encompasses 4 things, which means I'm eating repeats. Not only is my lunch menu short three days but I've been eating the same 4 lunches for about 15 years. I kid you not.

Don't think it stops there, each one of my children have their 4 special lunch items and their father/my husband ,aka "Fiber Boy" often times skips lunch or eats a veggie sandwich. Clearly we need help. 

Are any of you in a lunch rut? I'm sure not but I'm hoping you'll help me out of mine. I'm on a mission to bring back lunch. 

So by gosh or by golly I'm out to change "what's for lunch" over here.

Please Welcome:

The "What's For Lunch" Project

Starting next Monday, I will be posting my new "what I'm having for lunch", complete with recipes.

Please join me on Mondays by posting what you're having for  lunch on your blog. I'll have a Mister Linky at the end of my post and you can just link to your post there.

Remember the school lunch menu that would come home on Fridays or be posted in the daily newspaper? 

On Saturdays I'll post a Master Lunch Menu with all of your links, giving all of us new inspiration for our mid-day meals.

Please leave a comment below saying "I'm in !!!"

So here's to lunch !!!!!