First Day of Mother's Day Out 2011

Today was Cole's first day of mother's day out this school year.  How does it feel to be able to get a few (uber important) things done out and about as well as around the house?  In a word - awesome.  How did Cole do at the drop off?  Well, let's put it this way...while I was signing him in, he was beating on the door and yelling "DOOR YOCKED!  DOOR YOCKED!!"  The teacher opened the door and he ran in without so much as a passing backward glance.  I stayed a few seconds longer to make sure he didn't then randomly melt down, but no.  Cole was already on to bigger and better things than boring old mom...you know, like toy trucks and baby dolls with matching carseats.  It is a good feeling knowing that if you have to leave your kid somewhere, they really love it there.  We love the program and even though we don't attend the church and could certainly go somewhere closer, the people are awesome (and the rates are unbeatable as well!)

Today has been fairly productive thus far.  Vera and I did some serious grocery shopping followed by some organizing in the kitchen.  We have yet to tackle the three loads of laundry, but I figure I'll do that while Cole is napping this afternoon.  Did I mention how much I love mother's day out days?  Yeah.

Tonight we are branching out and trying one of my Everyday Foods Magazine recipes...here it is:

Fusilli with Chicken & Peppers



Serves 4
Active Time: 35 min
Total Time: 35 min


*coarse salt & ground pepper
*3/4 lb fusilli or other short, twisted pasta (I am using piccolini)
*4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
*1 lb chicken cutlets
*3 medium bell peppers (1 yellow, 2 orange) stemmed, seeded, and sliced into 3/4-in strips
*1 medium red onion, cut into 8 wedges
*2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh parsley (fair warning here - I am not using this as I hate buying fresh herbs, using two freaking tablespoons, and then trashing the rest a few days later when it gets old and decrepit)


1.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions.  Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water.  Drain pasta and return to pot.


2.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tsp oil over medium-high.  Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt & pepper.  Cook chicken until golden and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side, flipping once.  Transfer to a plate and let rest 5 minutes.  With two forks, shred chicken.


3.  Wipe out skillet and heat 2 tsp oil over medium-high.  Add bell peppers and onions, season with salt & pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are lightly browned and softened, about 15 minutes.  Stir in parsley.  Add vegetables and chicken to pasta.  Toss, adding enough pasta water to coat pasta, and season with salt & pepper.  To serve, drizzle with oil.


per serv: 528 cal; 10 g fat (2 g sat fat); 37 g protein; 72 g carb; 5 g fiber