Catch up & Casseroles

A crazy few weeks would be an underestimate. I haven’t cooked much, but instead have been forced to spend hours with my head buried in books and notes. If only life could always be spent doing what you want when you want! When I get busy, I tend to lean towards making casserole dishes. There are so many variations from breakfast casseroles, pasta casseroles, etc. That way I can just make one mess and have a meal for a couple days, which truly helps when your on a tight schedule.

But everyone still needs some sort of distraction from concentration—a chance to recharge, so the fam and I took off to Grand Forks for a few days to shop and just have fun.

We ate at the Golden Corral Buffet, which I had never heard of/been to. Wow—usually buffets can be a bit of a downer with the same ol’ food that can sometimes be less flavorful than hoped for. Not this one! We liked it so much that we ended up going back for dinner every night we were there. Amazing food—so far it’s put every other buffet I’ve eaten at to shame!

And you can watch the bakers and chefs in action which is great eating entertainment!

Have you been to a Golden Corral Buffet?

Here’s some of my plates..

Baked potato, grilled chicken, grilled peppers/onions, coleslaw, and stuffed mushrooms.

Corn on the cob, lemon pepper tilapia, fish Florentine, baked beans, and steamed veggies.

Then I had to stop at one of my all-time favorite ice cream places..yes it’s even a close second to ColdStone for me! TCBY has amazing soft-serve frozen yogurt flavors..check out my creations!

White chocolate mousse frozen yogurt with strawberries.

Half strawberry and half vanilla frozen yogurt with blueberries.

Then we stopped at  Applebee’s on our trek home and I decided to try another one of their Under 550 Calorie menu items. The Asiago Peppercorn Steak is one of their newer items in the line.

“Our classic 7 oz. sirloin, grilled and topped with cracked peppercorns and melted Asiago cheese. Served with steamed herb potatoes and seasonal vegetables.”

My thoughts: This meal was obviously perfectly portioned, but I found it a little high priced for the small amount of food you got. At $11.29, I can’t see myself ordering it again. I would definitely go with the Dijon Chicken and Portabellas like last time.

So now all I have left is finals this Monday and summer vacation is here! Not sure what my plans are for the summer; hopefully work, fun, and just enjoying the sunshine. Lots to come on the blog..hopefully things will get back to some sort of scheduled posting. Product reviews, new summer recipes, etc. And starting Monday, a whole week is going to be focused on casseroles, so if you have a favorite casserole dish you want to feature, I’d love for you to email me (apinchandadash@live.com) the recipe and a picture.

(May 3rd-9th)