Am I talking about the Hall and Oates song?
Not so much (although you should totally check it out just for the bad, big hair and fashion of the 70’s) but by she’s gone, I mean the weekend. I forgot how much stuff there I used to have to do over the weekend with such a limited amount of time. Ad d holiday stuff into the mix and I felt like I was non stop the entire time.
I fit in some time to make a few meals like chicken sausage with onions and peppers on Friday night. I’ve been craving sausage and peppers like crazy so when I saw it on sale at King Soopers (aka Kroger. I call it Kroger because the name King Soopers just sounds dumb and let’s not enough get me started on the spelling over it) for $3.99 for a $1.50 off coupon, I grabbed it. Grocery shopping here is going to be a challenge for me since the price of food here is more expensive than North Carolina and seems to be on par with Florida.
This was the perfect meal to make on Friday night after a trip to the grocery store (ok, grocery store and liquor store) It took less than 20 minutes to make since I just threw everything on the stovetop and let cook while I had brown rice nuking in the microwave. Easy to watch plus down a glass of wine since I am all about priorities.
This made two servings so now I don’t even have to think about what I’m going to bring to work tomorrow-score.
On Saturday morning I made lasagne. I made it last month and tend to get sick of it since it’s just me eating it or freezing the rest. But now that I have a roommate, we’re going to make meals and split so we can save money and add some variety. Sharing is caring, y’all.
I cooked the onions and spinach on stovetop then threw in the artichokes and red pepper flakes.
It’s been awhile since I’ve made lasagne with real sausage so this was a special treat. I know how horrible it is for me and how greasy it can be but real Italian sausage is where it’s at!
I swear, this right here is the reason I will never go vegetarian. The smell, the spice, the flavor, I love it! Even though I felt like I smelled of eau de sausage, I was all about it. I added to the spinach mixture along with garlic and oregano.
I made it as I always do except I used one bag of cheese instead of the two bags I usually use. I figure the Italian sausage was going to add enough fat and cholesterol to that could kill me if I ate the pan in one sitting so why not try to cut back in other areas? Even with one bag of cheese, it turned out absolutely cheesy. Plus the sausage really plumps up the lasagne so I don’t feel like I have to have as big of a piece as I normally do.
And just to break up the food madness that was this weekend, can we talk about the name of this school? Sounds a little morbid to me.
And also while we are taking a random break, is anyone else annoyed by the Victoria’s Secret commercials as of late? The angels seem like they are really need in them “Tell me you love me, tell me you want me, tell me there’s no other woman like me” Ok, I would love to hear that from a man but I’m blatantly going to command them to say it. I guess if I looked like Adriana Lima I could get away with that kind of behavior.
Diana and I met up on Sunday morning for brunch. I hear Denver is crazy about brunch and the brunch scene is off the hook so I felt the need to begin exploring. I seriously need to start putting together a list of all the places I want/need to try in Denver since every day someone is recommending a new place to me. I keep trying to remind myself that I’m going to be here for awhile and I’m not longer just visiting but I just want to go to every place I hear about!
Let’s talk about this place. It sits right on the outskirts of downtown Denver so not only do you get a beautiful view of the front range mountains and the capital building, you get the downtown vibe but without the hustle and bustle and instead, more of a neighborhood feel. It came from the recommendation of my roommate and they open at 10am on Sundays. We got there at 10:08am, the parking lot was already full! That is definitely a good sign (as long as I don’t have to wait because when there is hopes of eggs or French toast on the horizon, I have no patience). They offered to seat us inside or on the outdoor patio (they have a fuller size patio, pictured below and another one in front of the restaurant) and since it was heated, we had no issues with that. Also, we had the place to ourselves but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
I didn’t even need the vest or gloves between it being in the 40’s with the sun shining. Coffee was $2.50 but that was for a bottomless cup and I definitely got my moneys worth but after cup four (yeah, four) I decided to cut myself off in lieu of getting the shakes. I love the retro feel to it and I adored the bacon shirts that all the servers seemed to wear (to all those wanting to buy me a Christmas gift, there you go). I perused their item and couldn’t decide. I kept flip flopping because they had goodies such as chicken and waffles, huevos rancheros green chile burgers and other sandwiches. But when I looked over to the left I saw a column for Benny’s and game was on. I can’t resist Eggs Benedict and in an attempt to get in some kind of vegetable or fruit in, got the tomato and avocado Benny.
I don’t know if you can tell just from looking at it but it was heavenly (and I don’t use that term too often) I am very particular about my Eggs Benedict, I don’t want them swimming in hollandaise sauce and like the eggs poached just right. I liked how it wasn’t served piping hot because of the tomato and avocado. Even though I’m not used to it, I soon realized that was the best way to serve it and the hash browns were fresh as can be so everything worked out in the end!
To top things off, I went to Denver Zoo Lights tonight. It’s awesome because not only do you get to take a walk through the zoo while surrounded by the beautiful holiday lights, you get to check out the exhibits and animals too! I’m not a huge fan of zoo’s but for $9 this is a deal that I couldn’t pass on.
The only downside to the night (besides the Bears losing to the Broncos) was that it was so cold out! It was a gorgeous, sunny day but the temperature dropped as soon as the sun went down. Even with three layers and a vest on, I was ready to get inside. What makes it even better than only being $9, is that they let you bring in your own beverages. We made a thermos of hot chocolate before we left and brought it in with us and refilled it whenever we needed to warm up!
Not a shabby way to end the weekend but now my issue is that I want a pet giraffe. Cannot win. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
damn!!! That zoo lights thing is probably what the botanical gardens thing is. And that school name? Makes me think of jesus camp…did you ever watch that documentary?
I saw Jesus camp- both CREEPY (especially that main boy!!) and Fascinating!!
I’ve never seen it-adding to my netflix queue now!
I can tell the breakfast looks heavenly! Yummmm! And I’ll add one more restaurant to the list- my favorite is ROOT DOWN. It is AMAZING- but hard to get a table! Make a reservation for sometime in the future- DO IT. And post pictures of your food- it’s so pretty and delicious!!
My aunt lives right across from the Denver zoo, off 17th street (I think?). When I stayed with her, I went running in the park over there and around the zoo. The lights look awesome!!
Thats awesome–not too far from me and City Park is becoming one of my new favorite places, it’s like a mini Central Park! I will definitely try Root Down–thanks for the suggestion!!
I need more eggs benedict in my life. And well done on the lasagna, looks amazing!
PS sorry about the Bears loss, that was excruciating. Stupid Tebow…
I’ve never seen a man perform like that under pressure–heeeeeeyo!
Ahh, love the zoo Christmas lights! I wonder if the zoo around here does that…I’m going to have to look into it.
Please tell me you have a picture of your Christmas moo moo! I am going to have to hunt through your archives
Of course, here you go
http://www.snacksnarkbark.com/uglychristmassweaterparty/
That school name….yah…sounds like a school for vampires. Who sits around and thinks “let’s build a school and name it most precious blood”? Anyway, had to laugh at the name Steuben b/c that’s the name of Riley’s favorite toy.
Riley poo-my man
What a good weekend! Steubens looks delish!
Going to a school with Blood in the name is uber creepy.
I want that tiny giraffe on the treadmill from that one commercial…gah! What was it!? Anyway, I love going to brunch but it might as well be breakfast. I end up getting confused and go with something breakfasty anyway!
I love that commercial, I think its for Directv??
I’m planing on making lasagna soon (tonight?) and the addition of artichokes sounds awesome! Yum!
The zoo Christmas lights looks fun! They have a drive-thru Christmas lights thingy here in San Diego that I’m thinking about doing.
I love brunch. Pancakes, french toast, mmmmmmm…. so good.
Oh… and ‘She’s Gone’ is one of my favorite Hall & Oats song… I immediately thought of that song when I read your post title… heehee
Oh… and ‘She’s Gone’ is one of my favorite Hall & Oats songs… I immediately thought of that song when I read your post title… heehee
I had a montage of Hall and Oates songs stuck in my head on Monday, it was wonderful!
I really wanted to make a florentine lasagne with a white sauce but didnt want all the fat with alfredo sauce. You’re creative, let me know if you have anu ideas. I imagine the SD zoo is absolutely amazing with all the lights, you have to go and report back!
Oh… sorry, I didn’t mean the drive-thru lights were at the zoo… just an area set up with lights… they claim over 400 displays and that they are the “largest animated drive-through light show on the West Coast”.
I made lasagna with artichoke hearts!
I’m writing up the post about it, I’ll hit publish soon… 
How festive!!! Love the lights!!
I love the lights. And yes, if there is a way you can ship that lasagna to me, I would much appreciate it!!!
Girl,. I would if I could. Even with freezing it, there is too much of it!
Zoos totally sketch me out, but kind of in that traffic accident-can’t-look-away kind of way. I love the National Zoo in DC, but the one here is really weird and on the border of a part of town that looks like the set of The Wire. Mile 12 of the Half from Hell ran THROUGH this zoo, so now I will always associate it with “The Funny Farm”, which I was mumbling to myself over and over as I half-deliriously cracked myself up thinking it would be really hilarious if I survived 12.5 miles only to have an alligator escape and eat me with a half mile left. And then like four days later, the zebras at that zoo really DID escape. Basically, I’m psychic.
The light thing looks like it was really fun though… so pretty!
Caitlin-every single comment of yours kills me.
Who the eff plans a half through a zoo? I think the smell alone would knock me out, especially after running that far.
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Going dutch with the roomie is genius. My roomie is a culinary student so sometimes i get to eat her homework and i like it. (my waistline? not so much. French culinary students use a lb of butter a day… almost)
that is a gorgeous zoo!