Laundry Lottery!

I'm a day late this week. Yesterday was chopped full of errands that had to be run, and I had no time left to do laundry, as well!

No harm done, though, I'm just stuck well into it today.

This week's "winnings"?

Well, here ya go!

I "won" an empty Lifesaver wrapper, a Lifesaver still in it's wrapper, some artificial maple leaves and one additional thing. *shudders* Look closely at the red-toned maple leaf. See that little crescent shaped thing on it? Uh-huh *nods* it is exactly what it looks like. A toenail. Left in a pocket. For ME to discover. As you can imagine there was MUCH dancing around and "EEEWWWWWWWing" at this find. Two hours later I'm still not amused.

Also for your amusement I give you an adorable boxer posing for, what I believe, to be the Miss October spread for Playdog magazine. I know it looks staged, but I swear she did this all on her own!

Copycat Recipe

One of my favorite "fast food" things to eat is Penn Station's Artichoke Sub. It's made of ooey-gooey goodness. I was really craving one yesterday, but wasn't about to head out into the torrential downpour that was occurring all day long to drive and get one.

To the cupboard I went, and after some scrounging I came up with an aritchoke sub of my own, and a healthier version of it, at that!

I figured I couldn't be the ONLY one who appreciated this sandwich, so I'm offering my recipe to you all. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

4 extra-large artichoke hearts, chopped roughly

1/4 cup natural mozzarella cheese

1/4 of a red onion, sliced thin

1/4 cup mushrooms, slided thin

1 Tbsp. light mayonnaise

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1 whole wheat sub bun

Parmesan cheese to taste

Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat

Add the artichoke hearts, red onion, mushrooms, and garlic and cook until onions are tender, stirring often.

When tender add in the balsamic vinegar and stir to mix well.

Preheat your broiler or toaster oven.

Spread the mayonnaise evenly over both halves of the sub bun.

Top the bottom portion of the sub bun with the artichoke mixture.

Put half of the mozzarella cheese over the artichoke mixture, and the other half over the top portion of the sub bun.

Season to taste with parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

Place about 4 inches below the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown, about 3-5 minutes.

Makes 1 sub. Calories - 480, Total fat - 14 grams, Fiber - 8 grams.

Recipe Review!

Last night I had a strange thing happen; the hubby was working late, the 17-YO was staying at a friend's house, and the 9-YO ate dinner at the birthday party he went to - leaving me able to cook something JUST FOR ME! Can you believe it?

I'm not a vegetarian, but were it not for the house full of carnivores that I live with I probably would be. I'm just not a big meat fan. We have "Vegetarian Tuesday" at our house, but even then I have to be very careful to choose something that the boys will all eat and fell satisfied eating. Now here I am, for once able to cook something that I'd been wanting to try for a LONG time. The problem? The list is lengthy.

After a little debate, and a lot of cupboard checks for ingredients, I decided on an Artichoke & Red Pepper Frittata. It was DIVINE! I think I was a little heavy-handed on the crushed red pepper, but other than that it was the perfect dinner. I added a little garden salad with some light creamy caesar dressing, and some white merlot (as a fritatta is just too delicate for standard merlot, for me).

I would most definitely recommend this recipe to anyone and everyone!

Laundry Lottery!

I've been a little remiss in posting my Laundry Lottery pics for the past 3 or 4 weeks, but never fear! I've still been snapping pictures. I'm gonna catch you up in this one post.

From August 25th:

1. A hairnet.
2. The endcap from my ironing board leg.
3. 1 1/2 breathmints.

From September 1st:

1. A quarter.
2. 2 Bakugan Battle Brawlers
3. One Bakugan action card.
4. One receipt.
5. $10.00, BABY!!!! (needless to say we had pizza for dinner THAT night!)

From September 8th:

1. An umbrella.
2. A NY Yankees ballcap.
3. 6 Bakugan Battle Brawlers.
4. A Bakugan action card.
5. My 9-YO's entire Bakugan Battle Brawler gameboard, all the cards, etc., all wrapped up in the quilted orange thing.

From September 15th I have no picture because *insert creepy drumroll here* DUM, DUM, DUMMMM.........there were no "winnings" in the laundry. I almost passed out, for real!

Then, today, I thought I was going to have a dud day again, but was saved at the last minute.

1. A Bakugan Battle Brawler.
2. A used eyeglass lens cloth.

I see from the comments on my original post that we have a new "Laundry Lottery" gal. Welcome aboard, I'm tickled to have you, and make sure to spread the word!!