Celebration

As I mentioned Monday a fellow graduate student in my lab defended her thesis, which meant my boss bought the bubbly and left his tab open at the university bar. Apart from the champagne I also had a glass of wine and nibbled on some pretzels and chips. A few hours later I was definitely feeling it since I didn't have anything on my stomach and pretty much destroyed a box of granola once I went home. Shortly later I fell asleep. Oh well, we all occasionally have nights like that right?

For lunch yesterday I tried something new, I mixed berry applesauce with plain greek yogurt and granola, and it was a winner!

I also had an orange and later snacked on a quaker true delight granola bar. This one was not a winner, it tasted super artificial which makes sense looking at the mile long ingredient list. I'll eat my remaining bar but definitely will not be buying these in the future:

Dinner, however, was also a keeper! Super yummy and terribly quick :)

I didn't want to let the wine in the fridge go to waste so I decided to make some kind of sauce. I also bought shrimp this week at Trader Joe's. While I still eat seafood I rarely buy it myself, but I had a strange craving while shopping this week and so I went ahead and made the purchase. In the end I made shrimp in a garlic wine sauce with mushrooms and spinach for some veggie action.

I began by heating about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and threw in some minced garlic as well as a few large pieces (2 cloves total) which I removed after a minute or so, just to let the garlic infuse the oil.

I then added the shrimp and a sliced portobello mushroom and allowed them to cook for 2 minutes. Next went in 1/2 cup of white wine and I continued to cook for another 2 minutes:

I threw in a large handful of spinach for another 2 minutes, or until it was wilted, and added a dash of pepper.

Meanwhile in the microwave I made a quick polenta by combining 1/4 cup cornmeal with 1/2 cup of water (can also use broth, or 1/4 cup broth/water and 1/4 cup milk), a small pad of butter and heated on high for about 2 minutes. May cook longer depending on your desired consistency.

I topped the final dish with some fresh parmesan cheese:

So good! Okay, off for another full day. Can't believe it's already Wednesday!!

Nicole