Hot, salty and sweet

Today really feels like summer. It's sunny, hot and humid- which makes me a little cranky. I am very thankful for allergy medications and air conditioning this week.

Since it's so hot, I do look for things to cool me off. I could very easily live the everything-cold-diet (except for my coffee, dark, hot with milk) during the summer. I think I am going to make a batch of hummus this weekend since I have some pita bread to use up in the fridge. Tonight, since I got the place to myself :-), I am leaning towards cooking tonight after yoga- spicy orange chicken stir fry and some brown rice. Chicken with a spicy orange sauce with ginger, garlic, red peppers, onions, & green beans. It's from Weight Watchers Take Out Tonight, which is a fabulous cookbook.

I have to admit, out of the oodles of cookbooks and magazines that I own, I cook mostly out of Cooking Light, and my lighter cookbooks. I love to eat and cook, but I know that I like myself the way I am now and more importantly, I feel better when I eat better. I hate feeling sluggish and uncomfortable after I eat something really heavy and fatty. Don't get me wrong, I still have my moments- one of which is for sure coming up, the Iowa State Fair!

Last night, I knew we had a lot of veggies in the fridge to use up before heading down to the farmer's market tomorrow. I was wandering around the store thinking about something to center everything around. I ended up buying a bag of frozen butternut squash ravioli from Rosetto (hey, and if you go to their website you can print off a $1 off coupon) and some low-fat alfredo sauce. I ate all my peas and sauteed up the bunch of swiss chard. Today I had the leftovers for lunch along with some sauteed patty pan squash.

And something else I found- wonders of wonders. Haagan Daz's new reserve flavor Fleur de Sel Caramel.

Now, I am not a huge ice cream fan, but oh my god this is a sweet and salty seduction that had me eating it out of the carton over the kitchen sink. I think the only way to improve it for me would do have a young Henry Rollins dish it out for me (he used to work at Haagan Daz- yep!) They have other Reserve flavors- but I didn't notice them because I was so excited about the Fleur de Sel.

Sweet and salty has become the ultimate flavor combo for me. I can easily bypass any candy bar (ok maybe not a Take 5) - in favor of a sweet and salty Cliff mojo bar, or little less healthier option, chocolate covered pretzels.

Mischa has had a busy week. I took him over to the spice shack to visit Papa Ted- which he was really good. He meowed continuously but was pretty willing to be petted. After he got home, he was so stressed, he panted for about ten minutes. He has also discovered that he likes to munch on not only beet greens, but swiss chard as well. So, if I ever start that garden, he'll be my biggest enemy I think.

I did finish the new Bond book last night, nice old school Bond! The twist at the end was very nice. Over the summer, I do try to read a couple of classics- we all have those books that we've bought and mean to read. You know the ones, the ones that make you look smart and worldly cause their on your bookshelf. Right now, I choose to re-read 1984 by George Orwell, which I last read in high school. I am excited to read it again, this time in the post 9/11 patriot act world.

Well, should get going here. I have a lot to do this afternoon. Have a great weekend!