November 03, 2013

Organized.

November 03, 2013/ sherri d'alessandro

Lately, more than usual, Mondays arrive much too quickly. I don't know where they go, but, I've had house projects piling up for over a month now. So, this weekend, I decided to dedicate Saturday day and night to getting organized. First, I cleaned out everything in my closets. My condo is small but I have pretty good storage space in my hall closets. The problem is that, over time, I tend to continually stack items in them without giving anything a real 'spot'. That issue has been fixed.

Then, I got to re-decorating. My mom and sister have had two big yard sales this month and so I decided to take a few key items that I didn't really want to see go. I've been pinning ideas like crazy, but, haven't implemented anything (sound familiar?). I picked up two key items. First, my mom's antique sewing table. I couldn't believe she was getting rid of it. She sewed her prom dress, tons of vogue patterns, my first communion dress, and much more on that table. It is old, sturdy, antique, and so vintage. I love it!

My Waterford wine glasses have been in their little round hatbox home, save for a few key small dinners, since I received them as a gift in 2007. Those pretty little things need to breathe and they are now in the perfect spot next to what I like to call my round "wine table".

See the engraved ruler? I just love the detailing of this table.

The second addition to my living room was my mom's idea. It's my Nana's antique wooden ironing board. At first, I laughed when she texted me a picture of it with wine bottles on it to show "how it could work" in my living room. But, then, once again I started pinning some ideas and thought it would look kind of cool and really different.

I know... my wine rack is seriously lacking.... I'll get on that...

The little candle stick holders are also antiques that my mom was getting rid of... I think they are so pretty!

This bench was originally where the sewing table now is so I moved it and implemented it as a coffee table. I added these cool Anthropologie coasters that I picked up a while back and cookbooks and I've received as gifts throughout the years.

An extra hour of sleep this morning and I'm finally feeling caught up! I've always said that 'physical clutter is mental clutter'. I have a couple of busy weekends ahead of me and I feel like I can now focus on everything else! Hope you all have a GREAT Sunday! GO PATS! xo

October 29, 2013

Guys, Parsnips are like, really good

October 29, 2013/ sherri d'alessandro

So, this fall, I've been buying different types of squash to try. I saw this guy at Foodies yesterday and thought he might be tasty so I looked up who he was and come to find out... he's available year-round. Sigh. Oh, his name is Carnival Squash. He was hard to chop up, too.

Anyway, I was still excited to try him so I carefully (using 3 different types of knives) chopped him up into pieces and then left a 1/4 of it in the skin. Drizzled all of the 'meat' with extra virgin o/o, cinnamon, & salt. Popped it in the oven at 425.

Then, I remembered I also picked up some Parsnips. My sister does a roasted mix of root vegetables at Thanksgiving and I remember digging these guys. So, I peeled & chopped them and added them to the baking sheet with just extra virgin and salt.

WELL, the squash was OK, I like butternut and spaghetti much better. BUT, the parsnips were awesome! They kind of taste like a mix between a potato and a carrot. Baking them this way made them crunchy, too (I really like my root vegetables prepared this way)

Obviously, I did my research and parsnips are really high in potassium, folate, vitamin C, and vitamin E!

(The chicken was prepared grilled and tossed in buffalo sauce - I felt like eating orange food tonight... or something)

Parsnips... who knew?

Have a GREAT hump day! xo

October 28, 2013

Quick, Creamy Protein Pasta

October 28, 2013/ sherri d'alessandro

I don't know about you guys, but, dinners need to be made in a flash these days. Sox in the ALCS and now the World Series (Whoo!) at 7:30pm every night calls for some quick dinners or take-out. The meal I made tonight takes basically no prep time and can be made in between commercials breaks! Oh, and it's pasta (so it's comforting for all this stress) AND it's JAM PACKED with PROTEIN and other health benefits.

I needed some serious recovery fuel after boxing tonight and this meal has got it all.

It took all of 23 minutes and that includes the time it took to wait for the water to start to boil.

Yup, it's late. The game's already on and I'm s t a r v i n g g g.

Need: Barilla Protein Plus Pasta, Organic Cottage Cheese, Garlic, Lemon Rind/Juice, Arugula, Crushed Red Pepper, Extra Virgin o/o, Salt, & Parmesan. Cottage Cheese has 15g of Protein in every half cup! Barilla Protein Plus has 10g of Protein for every 2 oz. Arugula is high in vitamins C, A, & K and also minerals iron, calcium, and potassium. Garlic is a superfood... mega antioxidant, high in selenium, manganese, B6, C, and calcium.

Get your ingredients ready in a saute pan: garlic, extra virgin, crushed red, lemon juice, salt, and crushed red pepper.

While the pasta is boiling. Turn on that saute pan and get the sauce heated up. Once the pasta is fully cooked, add it to the pan and toss on some cottage cheese. I know it seems weird, but, the cottage cheese melts down and it creates a really creamy protein-rich sauce.