Eating: How I stay warm

It was freezing in my neck of the woods this weekend. REALLY cold. I mean it dropped 40 degrees in 24 hours cold. I hate being cold, so I tried not to leave my house.

Now my oldest took the ACT this weekend (bragging is allowed on one's own blog!) and so I had to run her there and back. Other than that, I stayed home all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday.

And...I cooked. All day long. 

I made homemade from scratch brownies, bread, chili, and a garlicky greens soup that made the bread just perfect. My house smelled great, my kitchen was toasty and I was happy. Sunday we continued cooking and made homemade pizza. We all piled onto one sofa (we have three, but all need  to lay on each other for some reason) and watched the Grammys and Napoleon Dynamite. Fun!

Homemade pizza is the best!

Last week I mentioned that I was cooking all Pinterest pinned recipes all week.
I did for the most part and they turned out great!
Here is a small review. 

• Warm butternut squash and chickpea salad- very delicious if you ask me. Too many chickpeas if you ask everyone else. Cut the chick peas in half and you will have a hit. The savoriness of the tahini balanced the sweetness of the butternut squash and it was easy to make.
• Spaghetti squash with garlic shrimp-my mouth is watering just typing this. It was the best thing I have made in a long, long time. Uses large shrimp and they cooked up beautifully!
• Bread- it wasn't on the menu, but I made it saturday...It was easy, got great reviews and disappeared in about 6 seconds. I grow rosemary in my garden and I think it made a big difference.
• Soup- the soup I made was my own recipe, but I got inspiration from pinterest.  

As often happens, our plans changed. I started a new job and was tired on Thursday and so we ate out. Friday, my husband took me on a fun date to a fancy restaurant and to hear a band with some friends. We were wild and stayed out until 10pm. Crazy, I know.

This week, it is Valentine's day and so I am making dinner special for my peeps. We are having something I hate to cook, but they love to eat. Bacon wrapped chicken. Nothing says love like a vegetarian with texture issues touching a dead pig AND a dead chicken (or 4 in our case). True love, I tell ya.

Happy Valentine's Day...hope you spend it surrounded by the ones you love.

Casa Swann Valentine week menu

• Homemade oven sweet potato fries, salmon, sauteed collard greens
• Bacon wrapped chicken thighs, butternut squash hash browns,  spinach souffle
• Baked chicken, squash and tomato casserole
• Tacos
• Dinner out with friends
• Nachos with chicken