Pantry pasta

The packing continues...life is pretty much the same as it was last week. Work, run, cook, pack, clean. Repeat again. The one big change is finally the weather is more June like. Still warm but not ridiculously hot and not humid. Thank goodness. I am praying that it will hold out through the weekend.

Jordan and I collaborated on this little treat the other night for dinner. I am super impressed with our abilities to pull off pretty decent dinners despite the fact our kitchen is in shambles at the moment.

Pantry Pasta

1/2 can artichoke hearts
1 roasted red pepper
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1/2 LB pasta

I luckily had a jar of artichoke hearts - 1/2 leftover from the hummus and a jar of roasted red peppers. I really think if you put roasted peppers in anything it tastes about 100 times better. Add to this a can of diced tomatoes and some sauteed onions and garlic you have quite the hearty meal.

Once the onions and garlic are cooked through and soft, add the artichoke and red peppers.
Add cooked pasta, following directions on the box.
And ta-da! I added the final bits of fresh mozzarella I had laying about in the fridge and some cracked pepper. Yummy, easy, quick, and it got rid of 3 jars and one box from the pantry. Success!

Tomorrow I get the keys for the new apartment. I am jumping for joy!

Hiatus

Oh boy...words cannot describe life right now so pictures will have to do....

For an obsessively compulsive neat freak, this is a very hard way to live. I am counting down the days till I can move into the new apartment and organize my life. Countdown is T-minus 4 days.
One of the bedrooms...not so bad just yet.

The kitchen again a few hours later. The pile expanded about 4 feet.

Sunday afternoon I couldn't take it anymore and in the last little bit of counter space I used my Kitchen Aid mixer one more time before it was packed away. I whipped up these yummy double chocolate chip cookies. It seemed a good idea at the time right up till the point the whole apartment's temperature rose about 20 degrees and neither Jordan or I wanted to pack again. At least we had something to munch on...
Back to the packing I was faced with the living room - I am not sure we are doing much living there. Notice the remote control and laptop on the floor. This was where I was taking a break. I was in the valley of boxes.

From here on out no promises on the blog updates...I promised Jordan a Sonic dinner. (A bribe really cause he had to go to the gym with me first, but still.) A few fast food feast might make the cut; I am crossing my fingers that it is just a few.

Cafe Amarcord

The last hoorah, sort of. Last week just got to be so unbearably hot that I pretty much had no ambition to do anything outside of 8:30am-5pm (working hours with free A/C). I didn't want to run. I didn't want to pack. And I certainly didn't want to cook. I still wanted to eat though. The perfect solution was crossing off another restaurant on Jordan's list of must eat places before the move.

It's hard to describe the food at Cafe Amarcord. The menu is somewhat small but all of the options are good. There is also about 5 more specials each day. Jordan and I ended up splitting a mesclin mix pear salad. For entrees we both got one of the specials - a grilled rib eye steak with roasted potatoes and asparagus. It was huge and did us well with a lunch of leftovers. Sorry no pictures I completely forgot till after the meal was packed up to go.

I am also happy to announce laundry is official done at the apartment. I swear never ever to be in the position to have to do laundry in a communal facility. It sucks. Any dirty clothes from here on out will be transferred to the new apartment. I really think this is the most exciting feature and what I am looking forward to the most!