Mr. Friday Food Frenzy, Come On Down!

It was one of those days. One of those days where you clean up after other people and put out their fires. All you parents know what I'm talking about, I'm sure. Well, I could at least go home and switch off at the end of the day. I know so many of you brave, selfless folks can't, so well done you for carrying on! Despite my rather-small-in-comparison struggles, I really, really didn't want to cook that night. That's when my hero, my knight in shining armor, my wonderful husband swept in and made my day. Here he is, folks! Meet Mike!

Sup?


Don't get me wrong, Mike makes dinner about as often as I do. This night just seemed especially nice because of how unpleasant the day had been. Now, Mike doesn't make complicated meals (rice and pasta are his specialties), but what he does make is always really good. For this evening, Mike chose an easy, versatile, never-fail recipe...

Noodley Stuff
*I can't remember if it was us as kids or my mom that made this up, but it's pretty much the most awesome name ever!

2 cup pasta (penne, rotelle, elbow)
1 pkg chopped spinach
8 oz mushrooms
16 oz Alfredo sauce

Preheat oven. Cook pasta until tender. Thaw and drain spinach and mushrooms. Combine all ingredients in a 2 quart oven-safe dish. Top with cheese and italian seasoning. Bake uncovered.

I've mentioned I participate in a local meat CSA. This is great for big-time carnivores like us. This whole section of the freezer that you see is meat. Those are the boneless breasts that Mike had just dug out. More on that later.

Fact: Men are ten times more attractive when they're cooking.

Okay, we don't have a dish that sufficiently holds this much food. This recipe makes a lot, so careful mixing techniques are a must if you're in the same boat as us.

Mmmmmmm, delicious and easy. Did I mention it has all four food groups? The way we made it anyway. Score!

You'll see we (*cough Mike cough cough*) made some changes to the recipe. See, he doesn't like spinach or mushrooms, but he does like meat, hence the chicken. We both like broccoli too, so that got tossed in as well. You can pretty much put anything with this and it will be fine.

True, it's no gourmet meal. It probably won't impress your friends, but when it's made with lots of love and compassion and support, it's quite possibly the best thing you will ever eat. I'm so grateful for Mike everyday, and this was just one more wonderful way to show me his love. :-)

Bonus: Puppy parents, do you have trouble getting your fur-babies to take medicine? I have the solution! Our baby Bruin (the fluffy one) got stung on the nose--ow!--early last week, so the vet gave us some steroids for the inflammation and antibiotics to prevent infection. That's a lot of meds, so here's what we did: Take a pea sized dollop of peanut butter and press one pill into it. Then, holding the peanut-butter-pill above your dog's head, give it to them. Keeping their nose and mouth pointed upward as they eat will make the pill go down easy with all that yummy peanut butter.

Badger, the little black one, doesn't get any meds, but we can't leave him out, so he got to lick the spoon we used to scoop the peanut butter.