RTT: Endorphins, Rock Stars and Barilla

 

How's everybody doing out there? It is GORGEOUS here in the City of Angels - clear, cool, autumnal - puts me in my happy place. I'm all upbeat and bursting with energy. Of course, it could be the three cups of coffee I've consumed. Or perhaps it's...

 

Oh yes I did!

...ENDORPHINS. That's right, 3 miles, baby. My exercising is coming along well. Very soon I will be able to fit into my skinny jeans (which used to be my fat jeans, before I outgrew even them). Assuming, of course, that I don't get derailed by Thanksgiving. And Christmas. Which, of course, I will. Sigh...

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Last week, I took Jude on his first "seeing a band in a club" experience. Which sounds much more radical than it was. Remember his cooler, older friend, Lucas? The one we took to the Paul McCartney concert? Well, Lucas is in a band. A real band. Or at least as real a band as a group of 14-year olds can form. They're totally old school rock and roll - lots of Zeppelin and blues rock. They played a real club, in a fairly iffy LA neighborhood, but the crowd was all kids. Very fun. I kept having flashbacks to my youth, except everybody at the club was drinking bottled water and nobody was smoking! These kids really blew us away - little rock stars!

 

Bang

Here we are. You can see us if you squint...

 

It was very dark.

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You know that you have moved on to a new stage of your life when Buck a Box on Barilla is the most exciting thing that happens to you all week...

 

I stocked up. Which inspired me to come up with the following recipe...

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I have been fairly obsessed with kale lately. Yeah, I know. Anyway, I've also been trying to minimize our meat eating, so have been coming up with lots of vegetarian meals. I threw this together last night, and damn if it wasn't excellent. The proportions are rough, as I just kind of tossed things together...

Pasta with Butternut Squash, Kale and Walnuts

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. butter

2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch dice (I bought a bag of pre-peeled because I'm lazy)

4 cups kale, chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 cup walnuts (halves and pieces)

3/4 lb. pasta (I used Cellentani, which is like Fusilli but more interesting)

Parmesan cheese - tons

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Get the water boiling. When it's ready, add the pasta and cook according to the box. 

In the meantime, add olive oil and butter to large, heavy saucepan. Heat over low heat. Add squash and saute until softened. Add garlic for about 30 seconds, stirring. Add kale and stir well. Saute until softened. Add walnuts and heat through. Stir a lot.

When the pasta is cooked, drain well and add to the pot of squash/kale/walnuts. Toss well. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss with TONS of Parmesan.

YUM.

I have no idea what the nutritional content on this recipe is, but I'm thinking it's HIGH in nutrition.

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Hey, can y'all do me a favor? My Subaru commercial ran for a while, but now it's just on "Hold". Can you let me know if you see it? And tell me what channel you're watching and what time of day? It would be much appreciated. I'm the mom who wishes she had girls...

 

 

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Alrighty. Happy Tuesday. Go visit Stacy and the others!

 

Comments

[VandyJ]

I have seen that commercial, but not so recently. I think the last time I saw it was on TNT while watching reruns of Castle. Kind of cool when I know one of the actors in the commercials...

[allstarme]

Same here. I saw it a few times. I have a friend who was in a series of Ford commercials and I saw them just once before they disappeared. Funny how that works.

[Janice]

I was just thinking about you today and the meal of the seven fishes. I have not seen the commercial running on the Austin stations but I may have just missed it.

[A.J. Cattapan]

You look great in the commercial! I haven't seen it on TV, but I'll keep my eyes open.

[Stacy Uncorked]

I have seen that commercial! I thought you looked familiar... ;) We are cord cutters, so I can't tell you exactly when I've seen it, since we've been watching most of our favorite shows on Hulu+... I will keep an eye out, though, and write down which show it appears in even on Hulu, and what time of day (or night). :)

Way to go on your exercise routine! I need to pick up the pace...thanks for the motivation! ;)

A buck a box?! I would have stocked up, too - and that recipe looks yummy!

Great to have you join in again this week! I've missed you! :)

[Sharon, the Mayor]

I saw this on either CBS or ABC but it was cut up a bit different. The aired commercial was shorter and focused more on the pregnant couple and hospital run. Hope this helps.