Ahhh, I made my morning workout. Redemption is mine! 
No issues hopping out of bed and pounding out 4.25 miles on the treadmill, until…I went to get showered up and realized I had forgot to pack regular shoes! 
I would have happily rocked sneakers to work, but I had packed skinny jeans, and the combo of tight ankle jeans + running shoes would have looked absolutely insane.
Why, universe? WHY?!
Luckily the drive back home is short and I got to shower in my own bathroom. Nice. I didn’t end up getting to work too late either, so all in all I’d call it a success! Going to try and replicate tomorrow morning. 
Have you ever forgotten to pack any key items in your bag?
It’s standard procedure for me to forget something important – socks, pants, makeup – but when I used to work downtown near Ben, he’d always bring me my rogue item on his way to work. Now I’m flyin’ solo!
In other news, I made the pasta dish of ALL pasta dishes tonight. Straight from The Pioneer Woman herself – Spaghetti with Artichoke Hearts & Tomatoes!
Halt.
If you think you don’t like artichoke hearts – please keep reading. Trust me when I tell you that they are totally mellow in this dish, and mysteriously blend into the background of the sauce, helping to create what might be my favorite pasta dish ever!!
Ahem, anyways. I cut Ree’s recipe in half and started by melting some butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Next I sautéed green onions in the dynamic duo for a couple minutes,
followed by chopped garlic.
IS THERE ANYTHING BETTER THAN ONIONS AND GARLIC COOKING IN BUTTER!? No. There is not.
Next I added quartered artichoke hearts and petite diced tomatoes into the skillet.
The whole thing simmered for ~8 minutes until the sauce was nice and thick.
Don’t worry if you don’t like chunky sauces either. It’s about to get saucier.
The Pioneer Woman’s recipe calls for adding a load of heavy cream at this point, but I added in a modest amount of 1/2 and 1/2,
and chicken broth.
Then I brought out the big guns – GOAT CHEESE!
Helping to make the sauce even thicker, creamier and luscious…ier…!
The drained pasta got a dusting of parmesan cheese,
and the thick, creamy sauce. OH BOY!
Ok – it doesn’t look like much, but wowowowowow!
You know how in good Pad Thai dishes, the sauce doesn’t really coat the noodles, rather it seems be in the noodle? This was like that! The sauce thinly coated the noodle, yes, but it also totally soaked it all up.
It was SO fab. I had two plates. It’s true. Make this ok?
Ps I realize that I “love” 98% of the things I eat. Well…
- I’m just really not that hard to please. I’ll eat, and most likely enjoy, anything that doesn’t have big chunks of cooked carrots, bell peppers or mushrooms in it.
- That said, I need to come up with some kind of rating system. From now on I’ll rate my dishes from 1-10, 1 being the worst, 10 being the best. That will give me a better range to more accurately reflect how I feel about a dish – other than “I loved it.”
That said – I give this dish a 10. Totally addicting!
HA!
In other news, I discovered a Type A person’s dream come true today…
Google Calendar
It’s super similar to the iCal in that you can color code your activities, set them to repeat, set reminders, etc.
I started to use a print planner a few months ago, but I actually kind of forgot about it since I kept it in my purse, and stopped using it. On the flip side, I’m on the Internet all. day. long. so having this baby one-click away is key.
Things are getting busy in IGE land with freelance projects, blog stuff to remember and just life in general, so this is going to be a lifesaver!
How do you stay organized?
With that, I am off to enjoy the evening! See ya!
~~~~~
Do you consider yourself a picky eater?
What are your “deal breaker ingredients”? The ones that, if they’re in a dish or recipe, you’ll pass on?
Like I said – it’s a no go on mushrooms, bell pepper and/or cooked carrots. Or cooked celery, for that matter. Or mushy strawberries. I can’t do textures!
Google Calendar is a life-saver! I have alerts for all my bills (even the automatic ones, just to remind me my checking account will be that much lighter
), friend’s birthday’s, etc. This recipe sounds fantastic, I’m a big fan of all the ingredients. I just realized how CREAMINESS goat cheese can add to pasta for so little cheese!! Best news ever!
Not a picky eater at all but eating ethnic foods makes me a little nervous. I will try them though and after I do, I usually like them but it’s just getting the guts to actually put it in my mouth.
No deal breaker ingredients. Well, I hate beets (tastes like eating dirt – YUCK!) but that is really about the only thing I don’t like. Thankfully, you don’t encouter beets very often!
I don’t do anything with green, red, or yellow peppers. Gross. Also, water chestnuts are a deal breaker for me. Won’t touch it.
This looks easy and sounds tasty! is there any other cheese besides goat (same consistency) that you could add for another version?
I’ve used Google Calendar for a few years and love it! It’s the only thing that keeps my life sane. It’s impossible to remember when all the bills are due and where I’m supposed to be when. I have it synced with my BlackBerry, so everything that is updated on my phone gets on the computer and vice versa. I have a print planner but hardly ever use it as I just can’t keep up. Cheers to staying organized!
You are right on with cooked carrots — blech. Also, I know everybody raves about squash (like butternut squash ravioli), but I just can not do it. I think it is the smell, actually. My fiance hates onions unless they are really really cooked. I have to make a lot of dishes separately for him — so annoying!
I recently started using google calendar myself, it’s great! I have an Android phone so it all syncs up and I have my calendar available no matter where I am.
I don’t have any “deal breaker” ingredients! For the last several years I’ve been working on expanding my palate and learning to like foods I previously disliked (olives, brussels sprouts). Sometimes it takes a long time though, and a lot of different recipes!
How do i find this calendar? That pasta looks amazing, i will be trying this one for sure.
That pasta looks SUPER yummy. I love artichoke hearts!
I used to be pretty picky but now I’m open to almost everything except pickles and celery, especially raw celery. Ugh. No amount of dip makes it taste good.
I’m not a picky eater at all, and I LOVE trying new foods and experimenting with new recipes. (this one looks wonderful) No deal breakers at all, which my husband said would have made me a good contestant on Fear Factor!
I forgot my shorts for work yesterday. I lead aqua classes and I NEED to wear shorts. It’s not such a pretty site for the members to have to look up from the water at me on the deck. I did not leave the water for the whole class and felt half naked the whole time.
As for the no-go foods, ANCHOVIES! YUCK! Can’t stand them. I can taste them a mile away. Hairy fish.
I stay organized with google calendar which syncs with my android and I use an old school planner for client appointments. I found for my personal stuff it’s easier to use my phone since it’s always with me! I also write tons of do to lists and have post it notes everywhere, I have bad short term memory.
I’m not a super picky eater, but if something has mushrooms I pass.
I am the queen of leaving my socks at home. Which is so annoying. No way I’m going to work out sockless…EWWWW!
I’ve forgotten my bra once, and had to wear my sports bra to work all day! ick! and I’ve also, on several occassions, forgotten my socks for my after work workout, and had to run with no socks and sneakers…not comfortable.
I am not a big fan of celery (cooked OR raw) and waterchestnuts – bleh! Otherwise, not a picky eater either at all
Your pasta dish looks amazing! I am definitley going to try that one out soon…
Funny story…. when I had early morning swm practices I would just change from my pjs straight into my bathing suit…. BUT there were numerous mornings where I forgot underwear!! I’ll leave it to your imagination how those days panned out…. haha
I forget shower stuff all the time. Ugh!
I totally love artichoke hearts! Nothing like doing them up scampi-style. My family, unfortunately, is not so hip on them. (BONUS: I get the can to myself!) I WILL make this dish, though, and take the artichoke hearts from their plates.
Thanks for sharing!
I frequently forget to pack GYM UNDERWEAR when I hit the gym after work. It’s okay if I’m wearing some plain, old cotton grunders, but I like to reward my weightloss with pretty panties. Let me tell you that it is NOT a good idea to wear satin undies with spandex workout pants. Nope. Not at all. I also often forget my outside shoes, so I leave the gym in workout clothes and HEELS. Very stylish!
I am not a very picky eater, and if a recipe calls for stuff I don’t like (or, more likely, stuff I am allergic to) then I’ll substitute or leave it out completely.
PS–I was already planning on adding mushrooms to this dish. Can’t believe you don’t like them!
olives are a no no!
There’s really nothing I won’t eat, except insects, especially if I’m a guest. For example, I don’t like saurkraut, but a friend’s family loooves it, so I eat it there.
Huge Google Calendar fan here! I also keep a paper planner with me at all times, just in case internet is not available.
I love Googlecalendar + Microsoft OneNote – it is the best! Totally recommend it.
I once forgot my work pants, which doesn’t sound too bad, but I was pregnant at the time and live 40 minutes from the gym/work! I ended up having to do a Target run and show up at work late.
[...] other news, this weekend I discovered the sad fact that Google Calendar doesn’t actually do your to-do’s, rather, it just organizes them. Drat. Therefore, [...]
i dont know, garlic and ginger might have my vote over the onions and garlic. oh heck, keep the onions in there, too
my fav. combo of all time!!
I finally got to try this recipe tonight. I didn’t have blue cheese so I threw in a bit of cream cheese…WOW…this was fantastic, and I don’t really even like tomatoes! Thank you for passing it on!