Carbo Loading

Yesterday turned into such a carb fest! I had not intention to eat so much starchy goodness. It just happened. Mid-morning I snacked on half a cranberry scone that was leftover from a meeting.
Then I found out that we were having Blue Ribbon BBQ for a lunch screening! Their food is great, but its really heavy and I always eat too much and feel ill after. Here my big old plate starch.

Mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, cornbread, coleslaw, and pickles (they only green thing on this plate).  I also had a blondie.

Ugh. Lots of food. For a late afternoon snack I had an apple with brazil nut butter.

I left the office right at 5:30 - I felt like I was taking a half day! It was beautiful out, so I went for a run around the river. I went 4.5 miles in 46 minutes. It felt great. Then I came back and continued my carb fest. I made mushroom calzones with some of the amazing ingredients I got from Russo's. I started by sauteing 1/2 an onion and 2 cloves of garlic in EVOO.

Then I added a ton of mushrooms. About 2 pounds of cremini, shitake, and wild black trumpets. The black trumpets are the best (and most expensive) of this mixture. I only used a handful, but they added a really intense, earthy flavor.

These all cooked down a lot, because mushrooms have so much water in them. Once all the liquid had cooked out, I poured in about 2 Tbl of balsamic vinegar and cooked that down a little more. Then I stirred up the whole mixture with house made Russo's ricotta cheese and a little marscapone cheese.

This made way too much filling - I saved the leftovers and I think I'll mix them into a quiche. I bought some house made pizza dough at Russo's as well. Normally I do make my own - but not on a weeknight. I divided the dough and worked it into 2 rough circles (very rough). Then scooped some of the filling onto each and topped them with a few slices of fresh mozzarella.

These baked on a pizza stone in a 450º oven for about 12 minutes, then came out perfectly browned on the outside and gooey and oozy inside.



I served them with marinara sauce.

These were huge, so I only ate half of mine. But Derek finished the whole thing! I'm glad I have leftovers to enjoy later.

This morning I was out of bananas and yogurt. Which may be a good thing. My mother told me she got a phone call telling her the tub of Stoneyfield Farm's nonfat plain she had was recalled because it may have disinfectant in it! I go through a tub of that stuff a week! I may be switching to Greek yogurt for a while. So, for breakfast I had a jar of oatmeal with strawberries, blueberries, and a scoop of brazil nut butter.

Shot taken on the run. I had a busy morning - but now I get to go home! They let us out early for Good Friday. Enjoy your afternoon - I know I will!