Happy to Have a Lazy Day!

Good Saturday morning!  How have you all been?  I have missed you!

Where DOES the time go?  Seriously.

Last week I was in Las Vegas for work.  It was a good week, but did they have to have a scale in my bathroom?  No, I did not step on it!

After what seemed like a 10 day work week, I am happy to be sitting here in my PJs.  It is 12:23 CST so that indeed qualifies me as lazy!

I have been doing some meal planning this morning, and am excited for my shopping trip.  I decided to head to Trader Joe's today.

TJ's is not exactly close.  I have 4 in the metro to choose from, the closest about 15 minutes away.  I have only one real reason to go there today, and that is for Chile and Cheese Tamales.

This past week I was digging through the freezer for meal ideas; since last weekend I was out of town, there was no meal planning or grocery shopping.  I was scraping by on what I had.  I found a previous purchase of TJ's Tamales in the back, on the bottom shelf.

Ben and I headed out or a run, and by the time I was home, I was really ready for those tamales.  And they rocked!

After following the instructions, I added Ben's homemade enchilada sauce (I will share the recipe someday), a poached egg, some black beans and a sliced avocado.  It was SO good.  Now you see why I need to go.  I must have it again this week!

I really love poached eggs.  I had them 3 times in Vegas.  I went to the same restaurant twice for this amazing soup that had a runny poached egg in it.  SO GOOD!  Anything is better with a poached egg on it!

And this was a hamburger I had with a runny fried egg.  Dreamy!  Notice the fries?  Yes, cooked in duck fat!

Anyways, back to Trader Joes and my plans for meals for this week.

Last year I had purchased the book Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's by Deana Gunn and Wona Miniati.

I decided I actually should make some of the recipes instead of just drooling over them.

I am going to make Black Bean Soup, prep time 10 minutes, cooking time 20.

I am also going to make Pizza Bianca with Prosciutto and Asparagus.   You know anchovies will be making an appearance!  I will cut back on the prosciutto to avoid the salt lick effect. 

For Sunday dinner I am going to make this pot pie:

No one said this would be good for me.

This is from the Nine Fine Irishmen, a restaurant in NYNY in Las Vegas.  I had vowed to get the recipe when I visited this time.  I had it before the last time I was in Las Vegas, and had made attempts to recreate it at home.  I was even committed to offer, um, certain sexual favors to get the recipe. (KIDDING!)  No favors had to be offerred; it turns out all I had to do was ask!  An email to the chef, and voila! I now have the recipe.  

One last recipe to round out the week's menu.  It is one of the easiest to make, and will offer lunch leftovers too.   It is Pasta e Ceci.  I had it for the first time on our trip to Italy last year.  I dare say this recipe was even better than the one I had in Rome.  You MUST get the feta cheese.  I had been skipping this, and when I added it the last time, it just takes this to a whole different level of flavor.  You think it is decadent, but it is not!

Well, I guess it is time for this girl's lazy Saturday to come to an end.  I need to get off the couch, put on some running gear and hit the pavement, if even for just a mile.  Then off to the store with my grocery list in hand!

I hope you have a spectacular weekend!

Enjoying the sun on my face last weekend in Las Vegas.