Welcome Back

Hello Everyone! Hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Dave and I had a blast. Before we left for the North Shore on Christmas Eve, we exchanged presents. The highlights for Dave were clothes, his universal remote, stuffed animals and lots of Celtics stuff. I got Wii Fit and a cutting cheese board as well as lots of clothes. After we exchanged gifts, we headed up to Dave's parents house and then to his aunts house to celebrate Christmas Eve!

We stayed at Dave's parents house on Christmas Eve and woke up to open gifts. I even get my own stocking : ) Dave and I enjoyed a nice leisurely run and then we ate dinner around 2pm. Dave's mom made an amazing beef tenderloin, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, steamed veggies and so much dessert. It was amazing!!!

We got home late Friday night and Saturday was a busy day. I visited with a friend then went to my brothers and ran. We ran just under 6 miles. Felt pretty good! Then Saturday night we went to my friend Melissa's going away party. She is moving to England for three months with work. Lucky girl!

Sunday Dave and I had a lazy cleaning day. I finally went shopping around 5. My plan for Sunday dinner was Steak and Mushroom Reuben from this months Bon Appetit. This is another one of those dishes where I wish the pictures look as good as this tastes. Trust me people, it was gooooood!

Steak and Mushroom Reubens
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 8-ounce NY Strip
• 12 large fresh portobello mushrooms, stemmed
• 12 slices deli rye bread
• 1/4 cup fat-free Thousand Island dressing
• 1 1/2 cups drained sauerkraut
• 6 ounces thinly sliced Provolone cheese
• Nonstick olive oil spray

Instructions:

• 
  
  Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons pickling spice on each side of steak, then sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Add steak to skillet and cook to medium-rare, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to cutting board. Add mushrooms to same skillet. Cover and cook until mushrooms are tender, turning occasionally, about 3 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to bowl.
• 
  
  Thinly slice steak on diagonal. Arrange 6 bread slices on work surface. Spread with dressing. Layer each with steak, 2 mushroom caps, sauerkraut, and cheese. Top with remaining bread slices.
• 
  
  Spray 2 large nonstick skillets with nonstick spray. Add sandwiches to skillets; place over medium heat. Cover and cook until bottoms are golden, about 3 minutes. Remove skillets from heat. Remove sandwiches. Spray skillets with nonstick spray. Turn sandwiches over into skillets. Cover and cook until bottoms are golden and cheese is melted, 2 to 3 minutes.

Then Sunday night, I went to BFF Courtney's house in the city to hang out with our other BFF Jamie! Jamie is quite the foodie herself and she is in town visiting from California with her boyfriend. These pictures highlight the night pretty well. It's always so fun when we all get together. It's just too bad I had to work today!
Plans for the Week:
Monday: Beef & Chicken Soft Tacos with Avocado Cream and Roasted Asparagus Salsa