Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patty's and the Ultimate (though unintended) food insult

Well, as most of you probably know by now, I don't do a whole lot in the way of decorating for holidays as of yet. I do, however, try and do something great in the way of food. This year I had hoped to make fresh spinach pasta for st. patty's, but yesterday was too hectic to get the pasta started. So, instead I made Tilapia and Emerald Green Risotto tonight. I generally don't make risotto because it takes so long to soak in all the broth, but I had all the ingredients (well, I did substitute asparagus for the green beans) and it sounded better than my alternate veggie fried rice. I think it's only my second time in making it at home. I thought it was good. When I asked Matt if he liked it he said, "Yeah. It just reminded me of Rice-a-Roni though."

What???? That was an unintended slap in the face. I told him I would never, ever make risotto again if it really made him think of rice-a-roni. I used fresh veggies, feta and fresh Parmesan cheese, short grain rice, good broth, fresh parsley, fresh garlic, etc. Surely it had to be better than a $1 box of rice-a roni. Grrrr....

(I have to insert here, I am incredibly proud of my cooking efforts lately. I've actually cooked things that take some extra effort and thought. It's been awhile since I've done that because of pregnancy woes and exhaustion. Last week I made homemade hamburger and hotdog buns. Yesterday I made Mediterranean grilled chicken salad with a homemade feta dressing and homemade naan. And then of course I've already told you about my dinner tonight.)


Anyway, I started the spinach pasta this afternoon and didn't get around to rolling it until about 9 pm. Remind me to never, ever attempt to roll pasta again without a pasta roller machine! It took me an hour and a half and I am beat! My feet are killing me. Plus I don't know if I really got it as thin as it should be. I tried my darnedest though. It looks pretty, but I hope it dries properly and tastes good! I want my effort to be worth it dang it. Here is all my pasta:


Dean and I went to a new park (for us) today (the aviation park) for a "Mom and Me" church group. It was by far the best park I've been to here. It had a good mix of things that appealed to little and big kids. It was easy to supervise without being right by his side. And there were planes taking off right next to the park. Dean loved it! We had a lot of fun there. It's a quite a bit further than our normal park, but I think it's worth a little drive for some variety.

Here he is giving you an Irish kiss (17 seconds):

9 comments:

FoxyJ said...

That risotto looks yummy! We've had some unintended food insults here too--I love to cook and make things fresh, but my husband isn't a very discerning eater. He's slowly learning to appreciate the good stuff, and we compromise by occasionally buying stuff like Oreos or sugary cereal. But yeah, he'd probably tell me risotto tastes like Rice-a-Roni too :)

Jodi Reeve said...

You have Matt too well trained! Will he eat anyone elses cooking?

Celia Marie (W.) B. said...

Sure he'll eat just about anything, but he may not LOVE it. Food is more of a fuel to him than a passion, though.

Erin said...

Your food looks and sounds awesome! I always take extra time to create great dinners for Robert and Nate and get less than enthused reactions. Don't they know the difference between homemade and a box? Honestly! Although I can't be too harsh Robert grew up on Hamburger Helper. Not exactly capable of cultivating a discriminating palette.

Celia Marie (W.) B. said...

I can't really rag on Matt. He does have a discerning palate usually. That's why his response caught me off guard.

Juls said...

I can't believe you ROLLED it out by HAND! I had a pasta machine in PA and used it once in a while, but for me it was just easier to buy. Oh, the rice a roni comment sure burns :)

Loved the kiss from Dean!

Juls said...

HAHA...someone just brought me dinner and the side dish was...rice a roni :)

Amanda said...

you never cease to amaze me with what you are willing to make from scratch and how good it turns out. the green pasta looks AMAZING. i just made sausage and potato soup and put spinach in it to green it up and called it good for st. patrick's day. oh and mint oreo ice cream pie--easiest dessert ever--to top it off. nothing gourmet like your lucky family.

mad white woman said...

The Rice-o-Roni comment sounds like something Jason would say.

I can't believe you hand rolled pasta. You are quite devoted. I've never tried to make pasta, I've just made egg noodles for soup. I'll have to try pasta... after I get a pasta roller (or borrow my mom's I've seen sitting on her kitchen counter this past week).