First two minutes and seventeen seconds of the Veronica Mars movie

I don't know what this is from?

but i rejoice in it.

#PerfectEncasulationOfMyFeelings

WHAT???

i don't understand what happened there.

#darkworldending

*** finis ***

When *my* hair is that lank . . .

. . . it *never* looks that good. #chrishemsworthisnothuman

Blergh.

this movie has been nonstop crescendo -- visually and plot-wise. it's exhausting. #poorediting/ADHDviewingexperience

Delightful . . .

. . . that upon entering a modest apartment Thor hangs his Hammer up on the coat rack . . .

. . . and stellan skarsgard usually wears no pants for the duration.

#movierescuingitselffromitself

Very disappointed . . .

. . . in the casual reactions/minimal emotional fallout after major character deaths in this movie. #poorscriptorwoodenacting?

VERY upset . . .

. . . about the demise of a certain Ass Guard Player.

Spoilerish

seeing loki fight side-by-side with thor is sort of mesmerizing. #hiddyphan

So,

frigga (thor and loki's mom, played by the ageless rene russo) has a sweet dress featuring a single breast plate. amazonian? i couldn't say. but it's awesome in its weirdness.

"I'm not sure you should be allowed to watch this movie." —my husband

so, just a few minutes into the movie, there's this scene where chris hemsworth is wearing only a bath towel, and i just broke down into hysterical giggling.

Liveblogging Thor: Dark World

the main bad guy look like a deranged teletubby.

Offshoot of the Birther movement

DJ wrote:  i reject thee, CNN!

 

Kibble wrote: First, people are all "9/11 was an inside job" and now they're all "cheese can kill you!" Assholes.

Bargain!

reduced from $34.00 to . . . $34.00.

Recent recipe win #2

Juicy Baked Chicken

i love boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but i am not a chicken whisperer. when preparing it at home, if not poaching it and then shredding it for a soup, i usually resort to tenderizing and breading each breast -- a messy, time-consuming process at best, and pretty gross to a germaphobe like me who hates thinking of all of the raw-chicken nasties lurking in my kitchen after (officially known as the chicken zone). the few times i've tried to oven roast or skillet fry a whole breast as was, unpounded, seasoned lightly, i ended up with an overcooked, dry, rubbery sadness that reinforced the time-consuming poaching-shredding-tenderizing-breading loop. 

a few months ago i pinned a recipe on pinterest advertising the easiest, most mouth-watering baked whole chicken breast ever. tonight i finally tried it for the first time. and it's as advertised -- a deliciously moist, tender, flavorful breast that baked up just like the pictures, oven-browned and juicy. not to mention, the prep was sooooo easy: i simply used kitchen tongs to take the breasts out of the original packaging and plop them into a baking dish, used the spoon i'd used to mix the seasoning mess to slather each side of the breast with the stuff, and popped the whole thing in my preheated oven. no chicken zone. no tons of dishes to wash and lots of steps and babysitting to get adequate chicken. 

this recipe is totally going in the regular rotation.

i only had full-fat mayo on hand, but i'll probably try different iterations with miracle whip, vegenaise (my BFF), and low-fat mayo options to see if i can bring down the saturated fats and calories without sacrificing texture and taste. but even so, as it is, with only 1 tablespoon of mayo per serving, this can be a pretty healthy main.

enjoy!

Ingredients:
boneless skinless chicken breast, 2, approximately 7.5 oz
mayonnaise, 2 T
grated parmesan cheese, 1.5 T
garlic powder, 1 t or to taste
salt
pepper

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 375^F.
2. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, parmesan, and garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste 'til blended.
3. Place the chicken in a glass baking dish, coating each with half the mayonnaise mixture, top and bottom.
4. Bake the chicken 45 minutes. Serve.

Yielding 2 servings, 1 breast each, at approximately 300 calories per serving.

photograph by sharon chen; recipe slightly adapted from http://www.food.com/recipe/melt-in-your-mouth-chicken-breasts-37336

Recent recipe win #1

Creamy Tomato Pasta Soup

i found this delightful calorie bomb on pinterest, originally written for slow cooker. but i figured, what with the preparations required, it actually wasn't much more difficult to just bite the bullet and cook it all on the stovetop -- approximately 40 minutes total, including all simmering time. the original recipe called for a jarred meat sauce, but i was wary and so instead used my favorite jarred sauce (delallo tomato basil) along with fresh chicken sausage. the original also called for cheese tortellini and to serve with a handful of grated mozzarella, but i couldn't bring myself to do that (and i didn't happen to have the tortellini in the first place). i briefly debated subbing the cream cheese out for something lower fat -- like a small amount of heavy cream or little bit of half and half or even just serving with a dollop of fat-free greek yogurt -- but in the end i opted to try it first with the full-fat cheese, just to see. it was DELICIOUS. and since i'd already swapped out other high-calorie elements, in the end each bowl wasn't the horrifying artery-hardening mess it could have been.

the soup is addictive; i've eaten it every day since i first made it three days ago. you'll love it, too. and this base -- chicken broth + jarred pasta sauce + meat + veg + optional dairy -- is a toooooootally easy, high-impact soup formula. i definitely plan to make an easy minestrone variation some time soon (celery, carrots, kale, beans, ditalini, served with parmesan and a swirl of best olive oil) or perhaps something with hearty chunks of turkey ham and lots of shredded cabbage. tons of possibilities here.

 enjoy!

Ingredients:
extra-virgin olive oil, 2 t
yellow onion, approx. 6 oz or half of a large onion, chopped
Italian chicken sausage, 5 links, removed from casings, approx. 90 g without casings
red pepper flakes
whole button mushrooms, approximately 230 g, cleaned and halved or quartered, with stems, depending on size
salt
pepper
fat-free chicken broth, 4 c
preprepared pasta sauce, 1 jar or approx 25 oz
frozen spinach, 1 square rectangle package thingy, approx 1.5 c frozen
cream cheese, 8 oz (full fat; low- and no-fat will break down and become grainy and so are not appropriate to this recipe)
farfalle, approximately 200 g, or other medium-sized pasta

Preparation:

1. In a medium-large soup pot, heat the extra-virgin olive oil over a medium-high flame, add the onion, and saute for a few minutes until the onion begins to soften, a few minutes. Add the chicken sausage and red pepper flakes to taste (I used approximately 1/4 t for some bite but not much discernible heat), cooking 'til only just no longer raw, breaking it up with a spoon 'til crumbly. Add mushrooms, stirring; season with salt and pepper to taste. Allow the mixture to cook down slightly, 'til the mushrooms have given off most of their moisture, a few minutes.
2. Add broth and pasta sauce, stirring to combine. Add frozen spinach. Once the spinach has defrosted sufficiently, stir to evenly distribute it throughout the soup. Allow the mixture to heat up over a medium flame. 
3. Once the mixture is bubbling, add the cream cheese. Lower the flame if necessary, as you don't want the soup to be so hot that it causes the dairy to separate. You may find it easier to add the cream cheese in about eight large chunks, which will allow more even melting. Stir to combine. If at this stage you think the soup is looking a bit thick, add a few cups of water (I added about 16 oz), stirring to combine. The soup is rich and flavorful enough to bear watering down, so you can really add as much water as you want to increase your yield and lower the final calorie count.
4. Once the soup is creamy and evenly mixed, with low but consistent bubbling, add the pasta, and stir to mix, cooking 'til the pasta is al dente -- usually a few minutes longer than the box's stating cooking time (as the temperature of the soup is slowly lower than the boiling water usually used to cook pasta). Once the pasta is cooked, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

As written, this recipe should yield approximately 7 servings, each two healthy ladlesful, and will be approximately 400 calories per serving.

above is pictured the original recipe, Creamy Slow-Cooker Tortellini Soup, which i've adapted from http://www.heatherlikesfood.com/creamy-slow-cooker-tortellini-soup/.

Important

A little late but still worth it