Clam on!

Good morning, lovebugs! I hope you had a fabulous weekend and are settling beautifully into this week (which is, looking at the huge calendar plopped on the table right in front of me, one of the last weeks of summer).  I’m sorry for disappearing on you for a few days, but life got busy, as it so often does.  I hope you enjoyed my re-cap; although it was light on the food and higher on the brew. To make up for it, I’d like to share a delicious, quick and easy recipe for fettuccine con vongole that I enjoyed for dinner last night.

Makes 1.5 servings

• 3 oz spinach fettuccine
• 1/2 of a 5 oz can whole clams in clam juice
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 lemon
• grape tomatoes, as many as desired
• 1 tsp (or to taste) crushed red pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large, salted & oiled pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: heat pan, add a splash of oil, and cook garlic for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.  Add a little clam juice and all of the lemon juice.  And clams and red pepper and raise heat, stirring constantly once bubbles begin to form.  Add tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low. Clams should be heated through and the tomato skins should be starting to shrivel. Remove from heat. Drain pasta and add directly to pan with reserved sauce.  Toss with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

I also had a few leaves of steamed kale:

Some GIANT carrots and cukes:

It was a very green dinner. A little too green, actually; I didn’t end up finishing the cucumbers.  Just too much!

I washed everything down with a little kale water…

… and ate, at the foot of the [unmade] bed, while I got some work done.

For dessert, I had my usual plate: dried fruit, almond butter, and two squares of Israeli chocolate.

The chocolate was made with Pop Rocks, and left my mouth pop!-ing all night! I loved it.

During one of my shifts last week, I shared the new Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar with some of the waiters.

Philip’s take: Mmm! Tastes like a Piña Colada.

Cornelius’ take: Not extremely sweet, and I like that.

Blerta’s take: Sour. It’s got a weird taste.

My Pros: Definite coconut taste, which I’ve been loving recently.

My Cons: It has 7g of saturated fat, which I don’t love.  The orange flavor is also a little too strong for me, and reminded me a bit of cleaning products.

Would I buy this again? Probably not. I prefer the more subtle Lara flavors.

Thanks again, Larabar!

Have a great Tuesday, guys.  And in case I don’t see you: good afternoon, good evening and good night