Goodness. I have been procrastinating posting this recipe simply because I do not how to spell Caesar. When I googled the word, there were at least five different spellings. So I decided to go with the spelling that the Little Caesar’s Pizza place uses, and guess what? It does NOT show up as misspelled in Microsoft Word. So it must be right...right?
Anyway, I once ate this salad at a potluck-type of meal provided for a hospitality room at a cheer competition. Apparently the cheer mom who made the salad is famous for it—I want to be famous, too! The main ingredients are simple: chicken, romaine lettuce, pasta, croutons and caesar dressing. I had never really contemplated mixing lettuce with pasta before, but it is a nice mixture of texture—especially if the lettuce is fresh and crunchy. Really, if you just mix the main ingredients together, you could take it to the table—that was the original salad that I sampled and decided I must someday duplicate.
However, in an effort to make the recipe “mine,” I experimented by adding other ingredients, which I think complemented the whole idea and made it quite a sassy little dish.
Main ingredients:
Romaine lettuce
Chopped/shredded chicken (I used rotisserie, but grilled would be great)
Boiled pasta (I used bow-tie, because I think they are cute)
Caesar dressing to taste (My fave brand: Litehouse Caesar Caesar)
Croutons
Other possibilities:
Toasted pine nuts (toast in dry pan until golden)
Shaved parmesan cheese (can buy shaved in grocery store)
Chopped red/yellow bell pepper
Chopped Genoa salami
Sweet grape tomatoes
Freshly ground pepper
Other tips:
• Depending on how many you are feeding, you will have to experiment with measurements. The pasta box will give you a good idea of serving sizes for the pasta portion.
• Make sure to SALT your pasta water—should taste like ocean-water, I learned on the Food Network channel one time. This is your only opportunity to season your pasta!
• Add salad dressing a little at a time—no need to drown the salad, hide all the good flavors, or add extra calories unnecessarily!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sex and the City -- Still a Fan!
I'm a Sex and the City fan. I watched it on HBO when new episodes were still being aired, long before it was syndicated and showing on TBS every night. I cried when Carrie and Aiden broke up the first time, then I cried again when they broke up the second time. I own all of the seasons on DVD. Drew is not allowed to watch them--ever. But that's not the point of this post.
This past weekend, I decided to watch a season's worth of episodes. I chose Season Five for no particular reason and whenever Drew was napping or down for the night, I watched an episode or two until I was all done. Well, I have a new-found respect for the show's writers/producers because of how they portrayed breastfeeding. Many episodes in Season Five depict Miranda's trials and tribulations in her new role as a mother. In one episode, she is stressed out because Brady, her son, won't latch on. The writers very naturally and smoothly incorporated breastfeeding vocabulary into the conversation in a very real situation that many mothers experience. In another episode, Miranda takes a weekend trip to Atlantic City, and in the middle of the casino, she mentions that she's tired and it's time for her to pump. So very clever how the writers incorporated the idea that one can still be a working mother who is a successful New York attorney, take a weekend trip with her girlfriends, and still be committed to giving her child the best form of nourishment that exists. In yet another episode, the baby's father, Steve, asks Miranda if her nipples are sore. And the conversation again is natural, caring, and completely appropriate. And it fits seamlessly into the story line. I watched the whole Season Five and failed to see one bottle. I don't know if any of this was done purposefully or not, but kudos to the writers of one of my favorite shows. I love it even more now!
This past weekend, I decided to watch a season's worth of episodes. I chose Season Five for no particular reason and whenever Drew was napping or down for the night, I watched an episode or two until I was all done. Well, I have a new-found respect for the show's writers/producers because of how they portrayed breastfeeding. Many episodes in Season Five depict Miranda's trials and tribulations in her new role as a mother. In one episode, she is stressed out because Brady, her son, won't latch on. The writers very naturally and smoothly incorporated breastfeeding vocabulary into the conversation in a very real situation that many mothers experience. In another episode, Miranda takes a weekend trip to Atlantic City, and in the middle of the casino, she mentions that she's tired and it's time for her to pump. So very clever how the writers incorporated the idea that one can still be a working mother who is a successful New York attorney, take a weekend trip with her girlfriends, and still be committed to giving her child the best form of nourishment that exists. In yet another episode, the baby's father, Steve, asks Miranda if her nipples are sore. And the conversation again is natural, caring, and completely appropriate. And it fits seamlessly into the story line. I watched the whole Season Five and failed to see one bottle. I don't know if any of this was done purposefully or not, but kudos to the writers of one of my favorite shows. I love it even more now!
The Scent of a Memory
*sniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiffffffffffffffff* I don’t really know how to spell the sound you make when you breathe deeply in an effort to take in a glorious scent, but at 3:15 p.m. today, when I left the school building to walk to my car, that is the sound I was making. Today was the first cutting of the school lawn. As soon as I exited the door, the sweet, sweet smell of fresh-cut grass was all about me. Fresh-cut grass is what the color green smells like. Not forest-green or sea-green, just pure green. And since we have had an abundance of spring rain lately, the smell was even sweeter than I remembered it. Or course, it’s really no mystery--the greener the grass, the sweeter the smell.
For me, aromas really trigger some great memories. For instance, fresh-cut-grass-smell reminds me of carefree childhood days rollerskating down the street and long ago high school dance team tryouts (they always took place in the springtime). Today the smell reminded me that my stress will very soon decrease from ten to zero, since I am fortunate to enjoy summer vacation. It also got me thinking about my other favorite aromas and how they connect to important experiences or simply make me smile. Here are some more of my favorites (in no particular order):
Warm, fresh corn tortillas: There is nothing quite like the earthy smell of freshly made corn tortillas—a warm, comforting aroma of toasted masa (the traditional tortilla dough made from ground up fire-roasted corn soaked in limewater). That smell takes me right back to my semester in Mexico when I was so young, but thought I was so old, and I did things that I would never do now (like eat tacos from a street vendor set up in a tin box with no running water). You can imitate the fresh-corn-tortilla smell to about 80% accuracy by heating some store-bought corn tortillas in the microwave, but the true smell can only be enjoyed by standing nearby when a corn tortilla has just been pulled off the griddle. Having lived in Mexico City for a semester my sophomore year in college, I know the true delight of actually doing just that. And here in the States there are certainly plenty of cities that have tortillerías (a tortilla shop where people make and sell them), as well as some restaurants that make their own tortillas in-house.
Pampers Swaddlers diapers: It’s only the Swaddlers smell that I really adore. Pre-motherhood, I had no idea such a sweet, delicate smell could even exist. The smell is in the neighborhood of baby powder, but so much better. That extraordinary smell reminds me of the first days of Drew’s life both in the hospital and at home. ***There is a chance that I might have saved a Swaddler diaper in a Ziploc bag just so I could open it sometimes and take a whiff down memory lane.*** Unfortunately, Pampers doesn’t make Swaddlers diapers in all sizes, so once your baby outgrows them, you’re out of luck if you love the scent as much as I do. Thank goodness Drew started in the “N” size (for Newborn), so we got to enjoy Swaddlers all the way through size 2 before making the switch. The other Pampers diapers smell nice, but not all cuddly and gentle and newborn-y. If we are blessed to have a second child, I would like to try cloth diapers, but not until after he/she would grow out of the Swaddlers. Just can’t give up that smell!
Puppy Breath: For non-animal people this probably sounds gross, but puppy breath has the cutest, most adorable scent. Unfortunately, it disappears with age. And I’m not a big fan of adult-dog breath. I didn’t grow up with a dog and would never have considered myself a dog-person…until I met Timber, our chocolate lab. It was a sad day when Timber lost his puppy breath. Sort of like Drew outgrowing his Pamper Swaddler diapers. Sigh.
Bumble & Bumble Hair-Thickening Conditioner: The shampoo smells the same, but the conditioner smell really lingers on your hands and in your hair. I always goo up my hair with the conditioner and then put my hands right by my nose and inhale deeply before rinsing them. I had never revealed that shower ritual until my younger sister had visited and used it at my house. She gushed about how much she loved the smell of it, too, so I decided my conditioner-smelling-ritual wasn’t so crazy after all. The memory linked to this is San Diego visiting my sister-in-law. That’s where I was when I first smelled the stuff. Imagine—an aroma so wonderful you remember where you are when you first smell it.
Starbucks coffee: I love the smell when you walk in the door—it says, “Everything is going to be just fine as soon as your Grande Non-fat Mocha w/ Whip is in your hands.” The aroma is only slightly better if it is wafting into my car, because that means that I am sitting at the drive-thru window and I didn’t even have to get out of my car to get my treat. Enough said.
Lake Michigan: Lake Michigan has a fresh, clean, salt-free-water smell. It smells like the ocean, minus the salty bite! You can smell it a little inland when the wind is just right, and that smell makes me want to drop what I'm doing and head straight for the beach. I moved to West Michigan a couple of years after I started teaching, and lived right by the lake. I lived in some GREAT places. The first house I rented was right on a lake that connected to Lake Michigan via a short channel. Then, I even got to live right across the street from the Lake Michigan. There was the old condo I rented, the road, and then the beach. Sunsets every single night. You can imagine the despair I experienced when the condo needed serious renovation and the owner decided to renovate and then double the rent. Bye bye. So very sad.
I don't live nearly as close to Lake Michigan as I used to, so I don't get my daily fix. However, I drive to the beach as frequently as possible. Smelling Lake Michigan is the closest thing to feeling like I'm "home" other than actually driving home to Illinois, where I grew up.
For me, aromas really trigger some great memories. For instance, fresh-cut-grass-smell reminds me of carefree childhood days rollerskating down the street and long ago high school dance team tryouts (they always took place in the springtime). Today the smell reminded me that my stress will very soon decrease from ten to zero, since I am fortunate to enjoy summer vacation. It also got me thinking about my other favorite aromas and how they connect to important experiences or simply make me smile. Here are some more of my favorites (in no particular order):
Warm, fresh corn tortillas: There is nothing quite like the earthy smell of freshly made corn tortillas—a warm, comforting aroma of toasted masa (the traditional tortilla dough made from ground up fire-roasted corn soaked in limewater). That smell takes me right back to my semester in Mexico when I was so young, but thought I was so old, and I did things that I would never do now (like eat tacos from a street vendor set up in a tin box with no running water). You can imitate the fresh-corn-tortilla smell to about 80% accuracy by heating some store-bought corn tortillas in the microwave, but the true smell can only be enjoyed by standing nearby when a corn tortilla has just been pulled off the griddle. Having lived in Mexico City for a semester my sophomore year in college, I know the true delight of actually doing just that. And here in the States there are certainly plenty of cities that have tortillerías (a tortilla shop where people make and sell them), as well as some restaurants that make their own tortillas in-house.
Pampers Swaddlers diapers: It’s only the Swaddlers smell that I really adore. Pre-motherhood, I had no idea such a sweet, delicate smell could even exist. The smell is in the neighborhood of baby powder, but so much better. That extraordinary smell reminds me of the first days of Drew’s life both in the hospital and at home. ***There is a chance that I might have saved a Swaddler diaper in a Ziploc bag just so I could open it sometimes and take a whiff down memory lane.*** Unfortunately, Pampers doesn’t make Swaddlers diapers in all sizes, so once your baby outgrows them, you’re out of luck if you love the scent as much as I do. Thank goodness Drew started in the “N” size (for Newborn), so we got to enjoy Swaddlers all the way through size 2 before making the switch. The other Pampers diapers smell nice, but not all cuddly and gentle and newborn-y. If we are blessed to have a second child, I would like to try cloth diapers, but not until after he/she would grow out of the Swaddlers. Just can’t give up that smell!
Puppy Breath: For non-animal people this probably sounds gross, but puppy breath has the cutest, most adorable scent. Unfortunately, it disappears with age. And I’m not a big fan of adult-dog breath. I didn’t grow up with a dog and would never have considered myself a dog-person…until I met Timber, our chocolate lab. It was a sad day when Timber lost his puppy breath. Sort of like Drew outgrowing his Pamper Swaddler diapers. Sigh.
Bumble & Bumble Hair-Thickening Conditioner: The shampoo smells the same, but the conditioner smell really lingers on your hands and in your hair. I always goo up my hair with the conditioner and then put my hands right by my nose and inhale deeply before rinsing them. I had never revealed that shower ritual until my younger sister had visited and used it at my house. She gushed about how much she loved the smell of it, too, so I decided my conditioner-smelling-ritual wasn’t so crazy after all. The memory linked to this is San Diego visiting my sister-in-law. That’s where I was when I first smelled the stuff. Imagine—an aroma so wonderful you remember where you are when you first smell it.
Starbucks coffee: I love the smell when you walk in the door—it says, “Everything is going to be just fine as soon as your Grande Non-fat Mocha w/ Whip is in your hands.” The aroma is only slightly better if it is wafting into my car, because that means that I am sitting at the drive-thru window and I didn’t even have to get out of my car to get my treat. Enough said.
Lake Michigan: Lake Michigan has a fresh, clean, salt-free-water smell. It smells like the ocean, minus the salty bite! You can smell it a little inland when the wind is just right, and that smell makes me want to drop what I'm doing and head straight for the beach. I moved to West Michigan a couple of years after I started teaching, and lived right by the lake. I lived in some GREAT places. The first house I rented was right on a lake that connected to Lake Michigan via a short channel. Then, I even got to live right across the street from the Lake Michigan. There was the old condo I rented, the road, and then the beach. Sunsets every single night. You can imagine the despair I experienced when the condo needed serious renovation and the owner decided to renovate and then double the rent. Bye bye. So very sad.
I don't live nearly as close to Lake Michigan as I used to, so I don't get my daily fix. However, I drive to the beach as frequently as possible. Smelling Lake Michigan is the closest thing to feeling like I'm "home" other than actually driving home to Illinois, where I grew up.
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