Kickoff Week: Veggie Wraps

Half of the fun of tailgating is snacking on delicious food all day.  My mom is a master tailgater.  She has all kinds of recipes and pairs them all well.  For the cold games there's always at least one soup.  If I'm at the tailgate, there's always my favorite cookie--the peanut butter ones with a Hershey kiss on top.  Today though I'm talking about those cute little things up above--veggie wraps.  I love having these at tailgates because they are bite size, yummy, and actually not too bad for you.  I know, health really isn't on the mind when tailgating, but with these, you don't have to feel bad about eating them all day.

So here's what you need:

• 1 large broccoli crown
• 1 jalapeno--diced
• 5 green onions--diced
• 1 red pepper--diced
• 1 yellow pepper--diced
• shredded cheese (your choice, I use a mix)
• Soft tortillas (I'm partial to the Mission Carb Balance ones)
• Italian dressing dry package
• 16 oz. cream cheese (I'll normally do low-fat)

Basically once you get everything chopped up, it's super easy.  Make sure any liquid is drained from the vegetables. 

Mix the cream cheese and dressing and then slowly add in vegetables. 

 

Then you spread the mixture on the tortilla.  Make it about 1/4 inch thick, but after you make it once, you can just do it to taste.  Once the mixture is on the tortilla, sprinkle it with the shredded cheese.

 

 

Then you want to roll it up tightly.  It can get a little messy because the cream cheese will want to squeeze out. 

 

 

Afterwards, you can wrap it in saran wrap or not.  My mom wraps it, but I don't.  I didn't feel like it made a difference.  You then want to refrigerate the rolls for awhile until firm.  Often I prepare this the night before, and let them refrigerate over night.  You can really do it for as long as you want.  Once you're ready to take it out of the fridge, slice them.  The longer in the fridge, the easier it is to slice.  Then EAT, enjoy the day, and yell for your team!





Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to you! I've never been a die hard Valentine's Day fan, but we do celebrate it somewhat. This year Ben left for a conference on the actual day so our Valentine's Day was on Saturday. After a lunch at Bdubs (a fav) with some trivia and basketball, we came home for our celebration. We have a tradition that Ben makes me a surprise dinner, which of course I love! This year he out-did himself.

Look at this feast!

We had seared scallops (unbelievable), split a grilled steak with grilled tomatoes (best combo ever), and an artichoke salad. The artichoke salad had artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, capers, red onion, and olive oil. It was divine. Basically my husband rocks, and I'm completely spoiled.

Here's me before the dinner (pardon the messy desk behind me). My new boots are my second valentine. I'll probably have an entire post about them soon.
 

I hope you had a great Valentine's Day as well!

Pasta to Die For

Excuse the improper grammar in the title, but this pasta is unbelievably yummy. Ben and I make it about once every two weeks. I know I originally found it online, probably through a blog, but I can't remember where so I'm sorry I can't credit it. I've tinkered with it anyway so it's not really the same recipe I found. The original recipe called for baked chicken, marinated in Italian dressing. I found myself actually picking around the chicken so we just eventually started leaving it out. We also add mushrooms, cooked with olive oil and salt, because, well, mushrooms are awesome. This pasta actually makes me feel like a cook.

I would post the recipe if I thought anyone actually read this blog, but I'm pretty sure it's just Ben. He already knows the secret. Besides, if you ever come to our house for dinner, you have a pretty good chance of being served "pasta to die for."

Just check it out!

(If you do happen to read the blog and want the recipe, let me know. I'm more than happy to share!)