Slice of Life Saturday’s ~ Poems, Zumba, & Valentine’s

Happy Saturday!

This week was fairly uneventful; just an average kind of week. The one thing that wasn’t average this week was the food. Oh my, what yummy food I found on the interweb this week. I suppose that has something to do with Valentine’s Day. Did any of you eat any real food this week, or was it full of chocolates, cookies, cake, brownies, and truffles? Valentine’s food is my kind of food. I live in a world (this is my own dreamed up world, of course) where dessert should always come first, so I can totally get behind a holiday that revolves around sweets.

Squirrel and I celebrated Valentines Day at home with smoky chipotle chicken tacos. Squirrel asked for them everyday this week, and each time he asked for them, I would say, “Remember, I’m making those for your birthday/Valentine’s Day.” Apparently, it wasn’t sinking in. He must have really wanted some of those tacos. Needless to say, he was a happy camper come Valentine’s Day when I finally sat a plate full of tacos in front of him. I will be posting the recipe for these tacos in the near future. They’re so easy a monkey could make them.

Did I mention that I’m taking a poetry class this semester (my last and final semester)? Well, I’m taking a poetry class. While it was 55 degrees out and sunny, I was sitting in poetry class dreaming about biking in the beautiful weather.

I can’t tell you how bad I am at writing poetry. It’s bad! I’m no Shakespeare or Wordsworth, that’s for sure. I can’t do any of those fancy poetry things that come easily to other people. My poetry is unstructured and lacks flow. My idea of a poem is breaking up my sentences into mini paragraphs and calling it a day.

I almost fainted on the first day of class when the professor told me I had to turn in a poem the following week. What! I was thinking to myself, “I don’t know how to write a poem. Aren’t you supposed to teach me that first?” The answer was no. No, he was not going to teach me how to write a poem. I just had to wing it. Wing it, I did! I wrote a poem about what I know best, food. I turned in my poem, and it was reviewed by the entire class this week. You know what? They liked my poem. They used fancy poetic terms like, “nice alliteration” and “your description of the food made me want to eat it.” I had a smile slapped across my face so big that my cheeks started to burn. Poem 1=success!

I also started exercising again after four months of being restricted after my foot injury in October. I figured I’d start off slow and do some zumba. I forgot how much I love zumba. Anything that makes exercise fun is a winner. Shaking my rump while buring calories is just plain ol’ fun. Did you know that one hour of zumba can burn up to 500 calories? That’s at least on thick slice of chocolate cake with the works!

Speaking of exercise, I’m going to need it after the dinner we had at the Bonefish Grill last night to celebrate Squirrel’s birthday. We started out with smoky Bang Bang Shrimp for the appetizer. They’re the perfect combination of smoky and spicy. Yum! I had the grilled  sea bass with a white wine sauce and cheesy au gratin potatoes. Oh, and a fresh sour apple martini, of course. Squirrel ordered the stuffed wolf fish with a side of cheesy au gratin potatoes that he couldn’t stop praising and, to top it off right, a grilled lobster tail. At the end of dinner, the waiter brought him a heaping plate of flourless brownies topped with ice-cream and fresh raspberry sauce. I’d say he was a tad bit spoiled for his birthday. As if dinner weren’t enough, I gave him tickets to see Daniel Tosh live in June and a Raven’s Super Bowl hat. Spoiled!

Here’s what I pinned this week:

Brown Butter Rolo Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies by Damn Delicious
Cheesecake Swirled Brownies on an Oreo Crust by Gotta Get Baked
Nutella Truffles by Roxana’s Home Baking

Here’s what I’m craving:

Glazed Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Loaf by Get Off Your Butt and Bake
Individual Slutty Blondies by Pies and Plots
Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls by Sally’s Baking Addiction

Look what I made:

Chicken Fried Steak by The Pioneer Woman- My husband loves chicken fried steak, so I thought I’d give it a try. The steaks are crispy, flavorful, and delicious; however, the gravy was a bit bland. I jazzed it up with a bit of seasonings and worcestershire sauce. Would I make it again? Yes.
Spicy Chicken Rigatoni by Juanita’s Cocina- If you want a simple dish packed with a ton of flavor, this is the dish for you. It was so creamy and delicious. We loved it!

On the menu:

Chicken Fajitas by Homesick Texan
Asian BBQ Country Ribs by Chef Billy Parisi
Ikea’s Swedish Meatballs by Or So She Says