it's been a while since i posted one of these, despite writing up a weekly menu every week for a while now...i just got lazy for a while. and speaking of lazy, i couldn't find the will to be very creative with the food line-up this week, thanks to being a little...how shall we say..."off", on sunday...and monday. oh yeah. i reverted back to my college days and rocked a mad two-day hangover, only after projectile-vomiting red Gatorade over the side of the back porch on Sunday morning/afternoon. jeebus. i felt so ashamed. how is it possible to simultaneously feel like one is both 19 and 150 years of age? anyhoo. back to the menu. i tried to make it rather light, as after the weekend of drunken and cheesy debauchery, both of us were having trouble fitting into our fat pants. i'm happy to report that, as of this morning, i was down 6 pounds from monday morning. 'woot' for fish, veggies, and condensed chicken noodle soup!

Monday:
Herbed red snapper, sauted spinach, baked sweet potatoes

Tuesday:
Salad topped with tequila-jalapeño shrimp

Wednesday:
chicken/shrimp/chicken sausage gumbo

Thursday:
bourbon-marinated salmon, brown rice, broccolini (that oh-so-trendy vegetable that our grocery store in suburban/rural Georgia just recently started carrying)

Friday:
Tuscan bean soup from a packet I don't know if I trust? a cheap bag of 15-bean soup I know to be delicious and reliably...beany? eating out to save ourselves from eating a metric ass-ton of beans and quite possibly endangering the drive to Nashville on Saturday? Bueller?

Saturday:
whatever is available at the big par-tay, and most certainly ZOMG MORE LIQUOR!!!! because that's just what my body needs...booze, booze, and more booze. :( nooooooo!




ugh. i'm so over drinking right now. like, "gag me with a corkscrew" over it. but sadly, i'm not sure if it's in my genetic code to stop drinking altogether. bummer, because i could probably make a good go of it...at least until Saturday.

speaking of Saturday, i am really looking forward to going to Nashville and visiting the family. it's been about 6 years since i last saw most of them, save Vonda and Roper, and Ben has never met the rest of the crazy cousins. it should be a good time. and it'll be good to escape this stifling heat, if even just by a few degrees, for a few days.

yay!

now, if only someone would come look at our house and buy it...

(x-posted to baggie)

Tuna Orzo Salad
(adapted from Everyday With Rachael Ray magazine, April 2007)

• 3 cups low-sodium, 99% fat free chicken broth


• 1 cup orzo


• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar


• 1/8 cup olive oil*


• salt and pepper


• two 6-ounce cans of water-packed albacore tuna, drained and broken up with a fork


• one 15.5-ounce can chickpeas, drained


• 1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half


• 1 yellow or red bell pepper, chopped


• half of a red onion, finely chopped


• 1/2 cup fresh basil or parsley


• 1/2 cup reduced fat crumbled feta cheese

In a saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Stir in the orzo and cook until al dente (7 or 8 minutes). Drain and cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a large serving bowl, season the vinegar with salt and pepper, and mix until the salt dissolves. Whisk in the olive oil. Add the orzo to the dressing and toss to mix.

Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, basil, and tuna to the orzo. Top the salad with the feta cheese.

Makes 4 servings.
____

To cut calories and fat even more, one might sub out water for the chicken broth and use fat free feta cheese. Enjoy!

*Or however much olive oil one might have drained from 2 6-oz cans of oil-packed tuna. My suggestion is to drain the water-packed tuna (which is much lower in fat/calories), measure the amount of liquid, and use a little less oil than that. I didn't have the foresight to measure the amount of oil I put in; I just eyeballed it (Oops). I also added some Italian seasoning and a little bit of oil (like 1/2 a Tbsp) to the tuna before adding it to the salad this last time I made it, just to give it a little more flavor.

for static_eddie, et. al...( recipes... )

sushi, i love thee. how do i count the ways?
like a dollop of wasabi smeared in my eye,
you make me cry.
hold me, little rainbow roll,
like the chopsticks hold you...
soy. soy bomb! soy.
wasabi.
ginger.
but you are so much more.
shrimp tempura and special eel.
miso, miso?
miso love you long time.
more than five dollah.
*du-duuummmmm*
suuushhi.
so good to me.