Delicious and nutritious!

This is one of the yummiest dinners ever. Enjoy!

Pasta and Vegetable Carbonara
Serves 4

6 oz bowtie or farfalle pasta
2 slices bacon
1 c coarsely chopped red bell peppers
2 c chopped broccoli florets
2 t flour
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3/4 c half and half
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta as directed on package. Drain and keep warm.In a large frying pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain, reserving 1 T drippings in the pan. Saute bell pepper and broccoli in drippings for 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender-crisp. Crumble bacon. Add pasta and bacon to the vegetables in the pan and cook 3-5 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and half and half in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Add to mixture in skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add Parmesan cheese and stir. Serve.

Happenings at work

The other day at work, one of my co-workers walked into my office. We talked for a minute, then she paused to listen to my online radio station, wrinkled her nose and said, "Who are you listening to, George Michael?" I answered, "No, it's Elton John." Long pause. "Ummmm ok, see ya later," she said and left my office. That little interaction made me think. What's wrong with a 23 year old liking Elton John? Nothing. My love for Elton runs deep- for as long as I can remember, my dad has liked Elton John and played his cd's in our home. In fact, some of my fondest memories of growing up were waking up on a Saturday morning to the sounds of Elton John, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, and the like playing on the family room stereo Even now I get really happy and excited when I hear any of my dad's music on the radio, even if I have to listen to the "soft hits" station to hear it.

Oops, he did it again

Today Ben went snowboarding at Sundance. Before the left the house, the last thing I said to him was: "Don't get hurt, ok?" I guess he didn't hear me. Six hours later I got a phone call from Ben. This is how it went:
Me: "Hi honey, how's the snowboarding going?"
Ben: "Uh... not so good. I think I broke my foot."
Me : "Whatever, very funny. So when are you going to be home?"
Ben: "We're coming down the mountain right now, so 20-30 minutes."
Me: "Ok, bye."

20 minutes later, Ben stumbles in the house, hopping on one foot, obviously in pain. I thought it was kidding about the foot- he always kids about that stuff. Poor Ben's foot was all swollen and had a funny bump on it. After he took a quick, one-footed shower, we went to the hospital, which is a convenient 4 blocks away.

After x-rays and whatnot, we received Ben's diagnosis: Alas, his foot was indeed broken. Now he has a little brace/split thing and has to see a specialist on Monday after the swelling is gone. Dang my accident prone husband!

For the record, this makes 2 ER visits in 2 months.

Spoon Me: A review

This past Monday Ben and I decided to go to Spoon Me, a new frozen yogurt shop in SLC. Wait, we didn't decide to go- I made Ben take me. Anyway, I guess Spoon Me is a ton like Pinkberry, the popular frozen yogurt shop in California and now New York. I've never been to Pinkberry, but the girls on The Hills make it look cool to eat. Yeah, I'm a dork. Whatever, you know you watch The Hills too. I must say Spoon Me was really good. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting - the yogurt had a very tart taste and only healthyish toppings, but it really tasted great! I loved it! I got the regular yogurt with almonds, strawberries, and bananas. Ben got the green tea yogurt with strawberries, blackberries, and something else. It was delish. And a healthy snack! Unfortunately, it's kind of out of the way.... like 40 miles away from our place. While I can definitely say that I'll go to Spoon Me again, I don't think I'll go unless I'm going to be in Salt Lake anyway.

Grade: B+

Spinkles fans anyone?

I've never had Sprinkles Cupcakes, but I've heard that they're absolutely wonderful. Here is the recipe for their Valentine's Day cupcakes- I know Valentine's Day was last week, but does it really matter? We're talking about cupcakes here. Also, it seems a little cheaper to make the cupcakes from scratch than buying the Sprinkle's mix at Williams-Sonoma for $17.

Ingredients for Cupcakes:

2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar1 large egg, room temperature

2 large egg whites, room temperature

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

Ingredients for Icing:

Makes enough for 1 dozen cupcakes

1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold

Pinch of coarse salt

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process untilpureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

This recipe makes 1 dozen cupcakes. Enjoy!

I am the wife of a trucker

This past weekend I bit the bullet and went with Ben for the weekend. For those of you who don't know, Ben is a full-time student during the week and drives a semi-truck every weekend. I go with him every two months or so, because I feel guilty if I never go with him. But why would I go with him? Other than a million hours of uninterrupted conversation, being in that truck is beyond boring. Here's a timeline of events for you to drool over:

1pm- Ben and I drive to Salt Lake to pick up his truck
2pm- pick up trailer
2:30pm- officially on the road, headed for Denver via i-70
5:30pm- stop in Green River for dinner and bathroom break
8:30pm- canyon we have to go through is closed due to an accident, have to wait 5 hours for it to open. Force ourselves to pull over and sleep during this time. Bonus: this truck did not have a tv and dvd player in the back. Boooo.
1:30am- finally moving again
4:30am- we arrive in Denver, drop off trailer, bathroom break, pick up new trailer, sleep
9:30am- wake up, start journey back to SLC
3pm- bathroom break, re-fuel in Green River, lunch/dinner at Arby's
6pm- we approach Orem. I'm dying to get out of this truck. Ben drives the semi to our place and drops me off. He still has to drive to SLC, drop off truck and trailer, drive home
9pm- Ben finally gets home. Hooray!

But wait, there's more. I failed to mention the bathing using baby wipes, listening to sicko truckers ask "Are there any working girls here" over the radio at truck stops, and Ben catching an Arby's worker masturbating in the truck stop/Arby's bathroom.

Despite all my complaining, it is great to have Ben around every evening. He does his studying/classes/homework during the day, and he can hang out with me every night after I come home. Also, the paycheck is a nice bonus. Truck driving definitely is not a permanent career choice, but it works for us right now. Booya.

Happy Love Day!

Happy Valentine's everyone! This holiday is one of my favorites, because I get to focus on my Benjamin and tell him how much I loooove him. We don't really go super crazy for Valentine's (but it definitely isn't ignored either) - usually cards, a gift, and a yummy dinner cooked by me. Tonight's menu consists of lasagna, salad, breadsticks, and pie. PIE! We're such pie people. Anyway, it should be a nice, relaxing evening.

Before I go, let's take a little trip down memory lane...
Our first Valentine's Day together was in 2004, after maybe 4 dates and a few kisses. We weren't officially together, but we sure liked each other a lot. Ridiculous infatuation. Anyway, I had no clue what I was supposed to do for Valentines... should I get him something or what? I ended up making him cookies and a card, he gave me a rose- perfect. We went to Samba Grill with Megan P. and Brento (cousins, not a couple) for dinner and then we saw "50 First Dates." It was lovely. I was smitten. And after that date I was positive that I was going to marry him. Awww.

In honor of love, here is our first ever picture together, taken in the dorms at BYU. And yes, I think that Ben's eyes are closed. And no, he's not copping a feel, it just looks that way.

New blog title?

Even though my blog is called "La Bella Vida," I think that it may be more appropriate to call it "The Stuff that I Buy" (not to be confused with Kelly Kapoor's personal blog) or "Random Pictures of my Life." No title changes yet, but get a load of my latest purchase:
I found this beauty at Ikea today and I'm so excited to put it in my office! It would look even better if my office walls were a color other than white (like a pretty mint green or light purple), but alas, painting is not allowed. I take the decoration of my office very seriously- it was unbearable in the beginning, because my office had absolutely no decoration. It's been six months, and my office is slowly coming along. I'll post a picture one of these days, but don't get too excited, because it's really not that neat.

Date night

You guessed it... bowling! We went to Fat Cats with our friends Nathan and Denise and had a great time. I have this weird pattern of getting a strike the first frame, followed by a gutter ball and a low number on the second. It has happened at least 3 times. Ben thinks it's incredibly funny, and I just think it's pitiful that I'm just that inconsistent with my bowling. Grrr.

Every serious cook needs an apron... I mean seriously...

No, I'm not really a cook yet, but I bought myself a beautiful apron from Williams-Sonoma to get myself in the cooking spirit. Poor Ben gets home cooked meals only 1-2 times each week, and I felt that if I had something cute to wear while cooking, maybe I'd want to cook more. We'll see, right?

Me too

As you can see, I too have been bitten by the bowling bug (how's that for alliteration). The other day Ben and I went bowling, and he bought me my own pink bowling ball and bag. How could I not love it?!?

I've got my radar on

Eva Mendes in Rehab
Posted Feb 1st 2008 12:00PM by TMZ Staff
TMZ has learned Eva Mendes is in Utah battling a substance abuse problem.We're told the "Ghost Rider" star is at the famous Cirque Lodge, near Sundance. The Lodge, which treated Lindsay Lohan and other stars, is one of the most respected treatment facilities in the country.Eva has been at Cirque for several weeks.Her rep tells TMZ "Eva has been working hard for the past year and made a positive decision to take some much-needed time off to proactively attend to some personal issues that, while not critical, she felt deserved some outside professional support. Out of respect for Eva's privacy, we do not wish to discuss further details."

Geez, another one bites the dust. I mean, if a person has a problem it's good that they're doing something about it, but come on celebrities- lay off the sauce/rock/whatever they're doing and stick to what you're good at!

On another note- my celebrity radar is on, despite my feeling a little nerdy admitting it.