Beer and Salad- the perfect combo of sinful and sweet

Yesterday Randy and I heated up a bowl of my dad's famous won ton soup and had that for our supper. I've got to get him to teach me how to make it at some point because I love it; all that I know that is in it is pork wrapped in wonton wrappers with some noodles (Mr.Noodles?) and I'm not sure what else. This is what it looks like:



 

Dad's Wonton Soup

Did I mention how I dumped a good 1/2 cup of hot sauce in the soup? I was never into hot sauce or anything remotely hot or spicy for the longest time. Even so much as medium instead of mild salsa was too much for me. But since dating Randy (who loves all foods hot and spicy), I decided to suck it up and assume that a taste for hot and spicy is an acquired one, and maybe I'd get used to and appreciate it over time. Well, I was right- I am a total convert. I'll admit that I still don't appreciate things that are uncomfortably spicy (i.e. eyes watering, throat coating, choke back your tears hot) but I have developed quite a palate for the hot and spicy. Although I think I may have dumped a little too much hot sauce into the soup this time because halfway through my bowl, my lips were burning and I had plowed through two cans of diet root beer. But nonetheless, still delicious, and a big thanks goes out to my dad for giving me some!

Last night before bed, I was getting pretty munchy so I had a bowlful of some trail mix my mom gave me one of the last times I was in Gander ( I know what this sounds like, but believe it or not, I do buy my own groceries). Now I've had all kinda of trail mix before and they're pretty much the same, but this one had a couple different additions - dried blueberries and little yogurt chips. Yum. I usually try and measure out 1/3 of a cup or one serving when I eat this stuff because it's pretty filling but also very high in calories. So a 1/3 of a cup, though it may not look like much, is actually pretty satisfying.

Trail Mix

Today I wasn't substituting so I decided to make some homemade rolls to have with various supper meals. I had a lot of time and while it would have been quicker (and cheaper) to buy rolls, I like the taste of homemade ones so much more and since I had the time on my hands, I figured I may as well make them. Anyway, they turned out like this:

I usually leave a few out and then freeze the rest to take out whenever I cook a meal that could use one. I had the intention tonight to cook cod au gratin with some leftover items we had around but when Randy came home from work, he offered to take me out for a couple beer and some supper. Since we're running a little low on groceries (which also makes me run low on creativity when it comes to cooking) and I had been home all day, I scrapped the cod idea and we went out.

Since moving to Grand Falls, Randy and I had been on the hunt for a decent pub with good beer and supper as well. The best place we found is the Crown and Moose- a pub actually inside the Mount Peyton Hotel. The Hotel actually has three places to eat: a steakhouse in the basement (which Randy really enjoys, but I once had a disgustingly overcooked rubbery chicken breast in), a nicer restaurant called Clem's upstairs, and the Crown and Moose adjacent to that. We started off with this lovely appetizer:

I ordered a chicken caesar salad with dressing on the side ( I hate how some restaurants give you a caesar salad swimming in dressing) and Randy ordered wings and a clubhouse sandwich. Here's my salad:

Doesn't LOOK the greatest but it wasn't half bad. I know what you're thinking - beer and caesar salad? Gross. But I like combining something (somewhat) healthy with something not so healthy. It's nice to make smart(er) choices while still not feeling like you are depriving yourself.

Randy ordered hot sauce on the side for his wings this time - usually he gets them cooked in the sauce but he wanted to see if it would be spicier having the sauce on the side to dip the wings in. He was right. This is a pic of him shortly after he nearly died from the spiciness; I think if you look closely, you can see his eyes watering.






After all that food and the beer, we were feeling pretty blah after coming home so we've just been relaxing for the rest of the evening. Even Sebastian ate too much wet food and conked out for the night:

Anyway, that's about it for now. I tossed the cod in the refridgerator and am planning on making the Cod Au Gratin tomorrow with a side salad and a homemade roll. I'll be trying out some more recipes (including Rachael Ray, Weight Watchers, and some from my Stir-fry cookbooks) after I pick up some groceries. In the meantime, it's going to be either some inventive meals or some pretty plain and/or standard meals.

Shout-outs for the past two days include cold pizza, crystal light lemonade, fererro rocher chocolates and green apples!