Pasta Lovers

Well not really. We love this pasta but in general we are not pasta lovers. We never get it when we go out and rarely and almost never go to an Italian restaurant. We have 3 pasta dinners on rotation and desperately need a few more. But anyway, back to the current recipe on hand. I found a recipe online when we first got married and adapted it to our liking and we ended up with....

Sun-dried Tomato, Cashew, and Asparagus Pasta

 It's so simple and delicious!

Recipe
Ingredients:

1 box of bow-tie pasta (we use wheat pasta)
1 bushel of asparagus (usually a pound or close to it)
1 cup of cashews (I usually just add some, but I think its close to a cup)
1 bottle of sun-dried tomatoes

Once the water is boiling add pasta. Cook pasta for 11-12 minutes.

On medium heat, In a separate pan add some olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and the asparagus (I cut the asparagus into 3's) and cashews. As soon as you add the pasta to the water begin cooking asparagus and cashews in separate pan. Stir frequently. Let the cashews and asparagus cook for about 5 minutes then add the tomatoes and all it's olive oil. Then turn the heat down and let it simmer for the remaining time (about 6 minutes).

Drain pasta and add the mixture to the pasta bowl. Stir. Serve. Enjoy.


We've made this so many times I'm almost sick of it :)
So seriously if anyone has any good pasta recipes send them our way!

Going Bovine

Hello readers. Are you still there? I knew life would get busy but I'm determined to keep the good ol' blog alive. Today in honor of President's day the schools were closed and I got an extra day to relax, work from home in attempt to get caught up on a zillion and one things.

All weekend I read Going Bovine for class and finally finished all 480 pages. It's WEIRD and unlike any book I've ever read. In short it's about a boy in high-school, the druggie kind, without any motivation, who gets mad cow disease and goes on an adventure in his mind to save the world along with a drawf and talking yard gnome. Seriously crazy.

Today I also wrote a 2 page paper, did 2 loads of laundry, went grocery shopping, cooked dinner, cleaned (a bit), took care of some paper work, and crossed off each item on my "To Do List" with satisfaction :) Anyone else love lists?

I'll be back sometime this week with a favorite, delicious recipe of ours.

Have a great week everyone! Snow again?

A little valentine love

Did everyone enjoy that oh so romantic holiday? Get anything fun? Here in the Douglas household it was low-key but special. I honestly didn't expect anything since I just got flowers two weeks ago wishing me a great start to grad school.

But to my surprise, 12 beautiful roses awaited me on the table along with my favorite candy and a card. JD said since our Valentine celebrations in the past have been slim to none, he wanted to make this one special. It was very much appreciated.

On to another thought... a few weeks ago I received an e-mail from my mom that went a little something like this...

"Hi honey. I was just reading through your blog and I think you should include more of your wedding pictures on your blog, since it's mostly about you guys."

So in honor of V-Day and my mom's request, I thought I'd share our wedding snapshot video with you all. Please excuse the making out in the beginning, we were told to do it! :) Thanks to Derek Dienner for creating such an awesome video.

Douglas Wedding Snapshot from Derek Dienner on Vimeo.

A Quick Thought

On saving money.

I just walked in from my grad class a few minutes ago and got in the blogging mood. Tonight at class we discussed our personal ties to reading, and I was quick to mention my thrill for blogs. I got a little bummed about my lack of posts and was inspired to share a quick thought.

Let's rewind to about 4 ago hours ago when I was debating on whether or not to stop at Starbucks for a hot beverage on this FREEZING day. I'm getting tired of this cold, snowless weather so either snow or bring on the spring. But anyway, when saving money some people tend to think of transferring a sum of money each month into their saving account.

However, JD and I realized that saving can also occur on a day-to-day basis. We manage this by eliminating the little things that over time add up to big savings. Like skipping Starbucks and making my own tea. Or like on Sunday when we planned on grabbing subs from subway but realized we had plenty of sandwich stuff at home.

Don't get me wrong, I still occasionally buy Starbucks and we always treat ourselves on our Friday night dates, but we feel it's ok because we eat at home throughout the week.

Summary of my quick thought: A lot of little purchases can add up quickly. Look at your everyday spending to see where you can save a buck a or two. 

A Few Things

Wow! Today I just hit a big milestone for the bloggy-blog. This is post number 100! I started this blog blindly about two years ago. I knew/know very little about blogging and continue to learn as I go. I just want to say how thankful I am for all my faithful readers. Without you, I wouldn't have a reason to blog. I am thrilled with the little community we've started here at High Style on a Small Budget. Your comments mean the world to me, they seriously makes me feel like this...

As if I'm not busy enough already, I am going to grad school. In all honesty, I am thrilled about getting my masters and becoming a student once again, but I am bit nervous about how I will fit a full-time job, at-home grading, grad class work, and blogging all into my schedule. Trust me, I will do my VERY best to get the posts coming your way but appreciate your patience beforehand. I am attending Johns Hopkins University. Wohooo!

  

Last week I posted a status on facebook saying, "got a very exciting phone call today. If everything works out, I can share the details." Some of you have been asking me, sooooo what is the news?? I was expecting to hear from that special someone this week but have not. So I'm not sure if that something exciting is going to happen after all. I am still hopeful and will share the details as soon as I can. And for all of you wondering, no, I'm not pregnant. 

Lastly, I will leave you with a recipe. This one is not so healthy but is one our favorites. When it's cold outside and I just want a good meal, I pull out my Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese recipe. Thanks again  Rachael Ray!

 Enjoy your weekend!