Ciao!

Apologies in advance, but this is going to be one of my more boring posts.  Today was pretty uneventful, aside from a situation at lunch time (Why do my "happenings" always revolve around food these days?).  I learned my lesson yesterday and took a LOT more snacks today, but I had to eat them all before lunch yet again...it's not what you think!  I did not get to eat lunch today until 2:00.  It was RIDIC.  The kitchen at this week's client has two entrances: through the President's office or through a conference room.  Today, someone scheduled some kind of meeting in the conference room that went through lunch, and the President was in her office all day, and I literally thought I was going to have to cut off my arm and eat it.  When the conference room FINALLY cleared out, I was ecstatic, and practially ran down the hall to get my lunch...only to find that the door leading into the kitchen was broken.  It wouldn't open.  The knob just turned in circles.  D Y I N G.  I leaned my head against the door in preparation to cry tears of hunger and sadness, until someone came and rescued me.  They clearly did not sense the urgency of the situation, keeping a pregnant woman from food.  Bad news bears.

ANYWAY, that story actually has nothing to do with what I want to post about except that both are related to food.  Remember I told you the other day that I have been craving some serious Italian food lately?  Case in point: I have made spaghetti bolognese and eaten pizza twice this week.  So, since the recipe I use for bolognese is DELISH, I thought I'd be nice and share with you all.  This recipe is courtesy of Giada de Laurentis (my husband's favorite chef to look at on the Food Network), and I originally stumbled upon it over at Nina's blog (which you should totally check out because she makes delicious things for you to try at home).

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
• 1 carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1 pound ground chuck beef
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped
• 8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Directions

In a large skillet heat the olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the ground beef. Saute, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and basil and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper. This will take approximately 1/2 hour. Finish bolognese with Pecorino Romano.

Just a note on this recipe: I often use jarred spices (i.e. basil and parsley, and I've even used minced garlic from the jar before when I was out) instead of fresh, and it still turns out fine.  It's not hard at all - more prep in the form of chopping than anything - and it is delicious.  It's also healthy (at least for pasta), especially if you pair it with whole wheat noodles, which I normally do.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Not much on the agenda tonight - I treated the family to Mellow Mushroom that I picked up on the way home from work for dinner, and we're going to watch the Panthers game.  I am so excited that I get to head home for the weekend and see Dan!

Until next time...

Sarah