Hello, hello! I am so excited because Future Husband, his brother Nick, our friends Joe and Harry, Meghann, and I are all going out tonight! Orlando has a great club/bar scene, and I haven't dressed up and cut loose in SO long!
We are celebrating Harry and Nick's birthdays, which are next week. Happy Birthday, Harry! Happy Birthday, Nick!
Earlier today I made fresh vanilla icing and iced some more cupcakes. Here they all are, sitting in my super awesome cupcake caddy:
I somehow managed to ice all the cupcakes without eating one... miracle! But I did eat a cupcake with dinner. :)
Dinner - Santa Fe Casserole
When I was 10, I decided I wanted to be a vegetarian (this lasted for only a few months). My mom then bought me my very first vegetarian cookbook, "Better Homes and Gardens: Cooking for Today - Vegetarian Recipes."
I've kept this book for almost 15 years, and the pages are so tattered and stained with milk, oil, etc. But it has some BANGING recipes in it, and this one is my favorite.
Ingredients (with some minor alterations to the BH&G recipe):
- 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon EVOO
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon pepper
- 1/2 can red beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 and 1/2 cup brown rice, cooked (I used white in this version because we're all out of brown)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 large green pepper, chopped
Preparation:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a casserole dish with EVOO spray.
- In a skillet, cook the onion, garlic, and EVOO on Medium High until tender. Add the salt and chili powder.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the pepper, milk, beans, COOKED brown rice, eggs, cheddar cheese, and green pepper.
- Pour mixture into casserole dish and sprinkle with extra pepper.
- Bake casserole for 25 minutes or until center is firm.
- Let cool 5 minutes and serve.
- Enjoy!
Mid-Afternoon Snacks
Earlier this afternoon, I ate a hearty and healthy mid-afternoon snack (yogurt + granola) while I worked on our holistic supplement website, which will be launching very, very soon! It will include all the speciality supplements and protein powders I show on the blog.
And around 4:45 PM, I had a banana + PB.
Off to go drink some booze! In moderation, of course! :) Pictures to follow in the AM. Have a wonderful Saturday night!
