Food

I LOVE FOOD!! I wish I were allergic to something, or at least had a little bit of a more picky taste but I am not and I do not. I love all things eatable. So when I started thinking it was about that time to update the world on MY world as a Wakefield, I realized all that has really gone on is a whole lot of good eatin'! :)

Last weekend was wonderful!! It had been quite the week for both Richard and myself. We had both worked several shifts, most of those being long and draining. It was also the first weekend in a couple of weeks that Richard did not have to work. So on Friday after we both got home from work and school we decided on one of my all time favorites (you will learn I say that about almost everything), PIZZA!!!!! We were so excited about our Big Italy pizza that we called our friends, Donaye and Alicia, who were to be arriving back home from their trip to Vegas. We assumed they'd be worn out from the week long vacation of site seeing and the traveling and decide to have a rain check, but they must really like us because they said they'd be there soon. They wanted to order their own pizza and so Richard and I were thinking we'd be able to eat on the Big Italy for the whole weekend!! We were so hungry and hadn't eaten something that good in a while!! I don't know if this is needless to say or not, it just depends on how well you know me I suppose, but ... well we ALL BUT 2 PIECES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you seen the Big Italy from Pizza Hut???? 2 feet long.... the size of two medium pizzas!! I had 5 toppings on my half!!!!!! Richard had 4!!!!!!!! ALL BUT 2 PIECES!!!!!!!!!!! It was fabulous. Writing about it makes me really want a piece right now!!!! It doesn't help that I haven't had lunch... Technically then, we should have been full of food until at least Monday morning. I will say we at least took it easy on our tummies Saturday. Well sort of.

Saturday was a day of running errands and studying and of course football. We woke up that morning and left to get Richard's car serviced. While waiting we remember that there was to be a Greek Festival in B'ham  over the weekend and Saturday was the final day. Soo.... we drove over there after leaving the car shop. We stood in line to get authentic Greek cuisine, but realized we would be standing there for at least another hour and a half before we got to the actual food. Since Richard really needed to study, we opted to jump out of that line into the dessert line which for some reason was really short and much quicker to move through. We tried one of everything they had. (3 different desserts) I will have to let you know what they were called at another time. I don't recall, but they were all FABULOUS!!!! I know one was called the Greek Wedding Cookie. If you have ever had Danish Wedding Cookies, it was a homemade one of those!! YUM!!!! We walked around and did a tour of the Greek Orthodox church hear in B'ham who actually puts the Annual Greek Festival on each year. I believe this was like the 39th one!!! Then we returned home to study and watch the football scores. Richard of course studied hard for Pharmacy school, but I had to actually revisit Calculus. I had been told there would be a Calculus student coming to Sylvan and he would be placed with yours truly. I was fine with that, but felt it would be wise to refresh my memory over the weekend. We don't have cable as I have mentioned before in previous blogs, and our DSL Internet just isn't quite capable of showing a good clear game on espn3.com so we just kept up with the scores on the web site instead. (YAY !!! to the Mississippi and Alabama teams that weekend. They all won! Didn't really care what Alabama did, but I suppose I just commend them for their almost loss but not game. :))After quite a few hour of vigorous studying, we decided to take a break and run to the grocery, were we bought WAY more than we ever should have. I'm not going to tell you how much over our usual weekly grocery bill we spent!! BUT.... we decided to cook a wonderful dinner for our friends, Donaye and Alicia (yes, they seem to be the only people in this area who haven't figured out we are weird and therefore they still like us. Or maybe they are just as crazy. :)) for Alicia's Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! It is actually today, but we cooked the dinner last night for her! So anyways, I was pretty excited about that. Also, at the time Richard and I had gotten over our full of pizza bellies and decided we wanted some good home cookin' you get when you're a kid. We made fried chicken fingers, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans!!! It was sooo wonderful!!!!!! The bag of chicken fingers contains 40 chicken fingers. Guess how many were left over.... nope... guess again.... for those who guess 4 congratulations!!! Let's just say I don't want to step on a weighing scale any time soon. :/

Sunday we went to church at this small church right behind our apartments basically. I had actually gone the week before alone to visit, while Richard was stuck working. They are really sweet there and it somewhat reminds me of a church I went to in Mississippi a good bit my senior year of high school. There was a couple there around our age... actually they are the ONLY couple there around our age.... that talked to us and asked if we'd like to grab some lunch. I was honestly thinking to myself, "If you only knew what we have spent on food and eaten this weekend, you wouldn't dare ask in fear you'd be blamed for supporting our sin of gluttony." However, I looked at Richard and said "Well, we were just planning on eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but what did you have in mind?" The place was Subway, and I don't know why but I just LOVE Subway... oh yeah, maybe it is because I love all things eatable. :) So we decided to go along and make new friends. Richard went first and asked for a foot long Philly Steak and Cheese. I said, "Oh that sounds good. Yeah, I'll just half that with you." He turned and gave me a look and then said, "Get your own. This is mine!" hahaha! I said, okay and ordered a much healthier sandwich: Chicken Bacon Cheddar Ranch. I asked for a 6" and they made me a foot long. : / Being taught to not waste food, I knew this whole sandwich would have to be eaten! But do not worry, I saved half of it for supper. :)

So now to tell you what was made for last night's birthday supper. I have been asked to post the recipe so I will list that as well.

We had:

Bruschetta: Richard made this with butter and garlic brushed on bread, a piece of salami placed on top, and sprinkled with mozzarella cheese. You just place it in the oven long enough for the cheese to melt.

Spinach leaf salad with black olives, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, baby bella mushrooms, and creamy Italian dressing

Rotel Chicken Spaghetti (my mom's recipe)

What you need:

1 lb of spaghetti noodles (I like the angle hair)

3 to 4 chicken breast (depends on how much meat you like in yours. Also, if you can get the kind with the skin on it, it taste even better... however, I just usually use the regular skinless/boneless kind)

16 oz brick of Velveta cheese

1 can of Cream of Chicken soup

1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup

1 can of Rotel tomatoes

How to make it:

Boil the chicken. Usually takes 20 - 30 minutes. To check and see if they are done, cut one in half and there should be NO pink! ALL WHITE!!! You are going to cut these. Depending on if you like chunks of chicken or smaller pieces will determine how you cut them.

Then, take chicken of of the pot but KEEP the water you just boiled them in.

Place 1 lb of spaghetti noodles into the water. You will need to add some water for boiling your noodles. I add a little Chicken Broth instead if I have it handy. Boil noodles. Add salt and pepper according you your liking.  Drain.

In a big bowl, have 8 oz of your velveta cheese cubed. Pour drained noodles into the bowl while hot and mix well, until all the velveta cubes have melted and mixed in.

Add can of Cream of Chicken soup, can of Cream of Mushroom soup, and can of Rotel tomatoes, and cut chicken. Mix well.

Place concoction into a 9 X 13 baking dish. Place the other 8 oz of cubed Velveta cheese across the top of concoction.

Place in the oven long enough to let the cheese melt.

Then we also had dessert: What Richard calls "Slap yo' mamma chocolate toffee Trifle

What you will need:

1 box of chocolate cake mix AND whatever the back of the cake box says you will need for the cake

2 boxes of Jello Chocolate Instant Pudding

1 Quart of Milk

Cool Whip (the original recipe calls for the 8 oz tub... I get the 16 oz. :))

Crumbled Toffee (I buy small heath bars and smash them)

How to make it:

Bake your cake according to the back of the box in a 13 X 9 dish. Let cool. If I can, I let mine sit overnight or half a day. Then cute the cake into cubes. I usually cut it into 1/2 inch cubes.

Fill half of your Trifle dish with cake cubes. (Depending on the size of your trifle dish, this may or may not be half of the cake. I always have cubes left over.)

Next mix one packet of pudding with 2 cups of milk. Whisk well for about 2 minutes and then poor immediately over the cake cubes in your dish.

Spread a layer of Cool Whip on top (dividing your trifle dish in half)

Sprinkle with as much toffee as you wish.

Repeat these steps once more.

Sit in the refrigerator and let sit as long as you like. The cooler it gets the better!

 

Needless to say we ate GOOD last night, and there were plenty of left overs, so as soon as I get home today, you can bet I'll be warm some of those up!!!!

 

So I hope you have enjoyed my food filled blog!!!

I have made myself super hungry!!!!

 

Til' next time, GOD BLESS!!!!