Monday, January 17, 2011

Not much time for cooking....

Happy Monday! Have you ever been so busy that you didn't get to cook for several days? After those days have passed, do you look back and try to figure out what you actually did, but really can't seem to figure out what took so much of your time? That's how the last several days have been for me.

I have decided to go back to college to get my Education degree, so I can teach K-6 in the distant future. I say distant future, because it will take me several years to get my degree. It's been a while since I have taken any college classes, so I decided to ease back into it this semester by taking only one class. I decided to take an online class, which is a first for me. I am a huge procrastinator, so this online class should be an interesting task for me. I work full time, so I am hoping that online classes will work out. I hate the thought of being away from my hubby 3 or 4 nights a week to take classes, hence the online class. I keep telling myself I can do this though and he does too!

Here are a few things that I have eaten over the last few days. I think the best was what I made Friday night. I made some portobello tacos. OMG...these were the best things that I have ever put in my mouth...seriously! All I did was clean, de-stem and slice some portobellos, then put them into a nonstick skillet with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I sauteed them for about 10 minutes then put them in taco shells with steamed spinach and guacamole on top. I had Mexican fried rice, chips, salsa and more guacamole on the side.


Saturday night we had pizza. I never get tired of pizza! Anywho....I used some left over spaghetti sauce for the marinara. My half (right side) of the pizza consisted of vegan mozzarella, sliced Tofurky Italian Sausage, red bell peppers, onions, and portobellos, that were left over from the tacos. Tony drizzled a little olive oil over the top, and then I topped it off with a little dried basil. :o) Very yummy! But honestly...can you ever go wrong with a pizza?


One night we had pasta and a salad. Do you ever use jar spaghetti sauce? We normally make our own sauce, but on this night we didn't have the time. I found some Prego Fresh Mushroom pasta sauce and decided to give that a try. It appeared to be animal free, so I bought it. Here are the ingredients. Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste)Diced Tomatoes in Tomato Juice, Mushrooms, Sugar, Vegetable Oil (Corn and/or Cottonseed and/or Canola)Salt, Spices (Basil, Oregano, Spice)Dehydrated Garlic, Onion Powder, Citric Acid, Dehydrated Parsley and Flavoring. It was very good for "jar"sauce. This is what I used for the pizza marinara also. I think I'll always keep a jar of this in the pantry for another "just in case we're in a hurry" time. The salad was made up of leafy green lettuce, shaved carrots, dried cranberries, broccoli, sunflower seeds and pepita seeds, which I finally found at the grocery store the other day. For the dressing I used Newman's Own Cranberry Walnut. I think this is my favorite store bought dressing!


Hopefully I will have a little more control over my time now, so maybe I will be cooking from my new cookbooks this week...just maybe. :o)

~Peace~Love~Happiness~

12 comments:

  1. portobello tacos,,,..what an insanely good idea! mm id want mine ina soft tortila! great thinking, really!

    i use jar sauce a lot, i like ragu sugar-free. (trying to stay away from sugar) i like it. ill use it as a sald dressing also:) sound gross? lol oh well.

    you have a winner with this portobello idea!

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  2. Congrats on your decision! And good call on the easing-in. You'll do great!

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  3. Good luck going back to school! I love being a teacher, even if it's only in the advanced toddler room. I haven't been able to cook a lot lately either. I don't know why. I think I just haven't been motivated. I am going to tryyyyy to make something tomorrow night though. YUM! Portobello tacos! I use jar sauce a lot actually. Well, whenever I need marinara sauce that is. I bought the Trader Joe's Organic one last time.

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  4. and...just realized that i didnt mention anything about your huge decision, im so sorry about that! online classes sound just right! what an exciting change in your life:) keep us up to date ok?

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  5. Dirtyduck stole both of my comments! Congrats on the move back to school - I'm thinking about it too, and never really considered online classes because I get really easily distracted, but that sounds like a great idea.
    And the portobello tacos sound amazing, but hard tacos hurt my mouth!
    Anyway, good luck + good eats!

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  6. That's terrific that you're taking a course! Please keep us updated on how it's going. I've always wondered how those online classes are.

    All of the food looks scrumdiddlyicious. Yum! We love portobella mushrooms like that. So simple & so good.

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  7. The portabello tacos sound great - as does using the leftovers for the pizza. Those are two of my favorite foods. No, you can't go wrong with pizza!

    Looks like you are getting some good food even if times are busy. Good luck going back to school - what a great decision! You'll be teaching in no time.

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  8. Thanks everyone! I will keep you updated on how the class/school is going. I'm trying to get a study plan down righ now. I get side tracked so easily.

    Soft portobello tacos will be up next. :o)

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  9. For not having time to cook you have put together some tasty looking meals! :) I am glad you stopped by my blog! I will add you to my roll as well! :)

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  10. Congrats on deciding to back to school, that is awesome. I too went back to school before my boys and did it online. I truly loved it, I mean where else can you go to class in your pj's :) It will be so worth it in the end!

    Those portobello tacos sound fantastic, I never thought of putting mushrooms in as the "meat". Love it! Congrats again!

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  11. Hey, good for you and congrats on going back for another degree! Good luck!

    Those tacos are the business...they look and sound so good. They are going on my list for dinner in the very short term future!

    I agree with all of the above; for not having time to cook, you sure ate some yummy dinners! :)

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  12. We're a Prego Mushroom Family for many years. Love that stuff.

    Good luck with your class. There is always a demand for K-6 teachers. Job security!

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