Move over Sandra Lee

This weekend was a lazy one and I loved every second of it.  We stoked a fire in the living room every evening and watched Netflix like it was going out of style.  We did manage to squeeze in a family walk down on the SUNY campus Sunday and then a 40 minute workout afterwards so we didn't feel like complete couch potatoes.  Plus, Riley was on the mend.  Saturday morning we brought him into see the vet since he's been out of sorts lately and as it turns out his glands needed to be expressed internally as opposed to the external technique the groomer uses.  Apparently those bad boys were full and making things rather uncomfortable for him.  No sooner were they emptied, he was back to his snuggle-loving self.  I love when things work out.

Staying in and making the most of our quality time together, I made some Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookies to be enjoyed throughout the day followed by a large Italian meal Saturday evening.  Justin loves Italian.  We've joked that if we win the Lotto we would open up a pizzeria/Italian eatery just for fun.  Neither of us have much Italian heritage to speak of, but who doesn't like Italian food?  Plus I think we're pretty darn good at recreating some authentic dishes.  Saturday's meal was a successful "Theresa Style" meal as Justin would say.  It was a semi-homemade meal even Sandra Lee would be proud of.  About a week ago Price Chopper was running a BOGO special on mussels in either a red or a white wine sauce.  Those of you who have bought such packages know that there really isn't much sauce to speak of, so I improvised.  Below is my make-shift sauce recipe in case you want to give it a go:

Mussels in Red Sauce

Sauce
1lb box of prepackaged frozen mussels in red sauce
28-oz can of crushed tomatoes w/ basil
1 whole tomato - diced
1/4 cup of merlot
1/2 stick of butter cut up into tbsp-sized hunks
1/2 tsp of minced garlic
1/2 tsp of  crushed red pepper
3 pinches of salt
3 pinches of pepper
A few good shakes of onion powder

Whole Wheat Pasta
1 lb box - follow cooking instructions

Begin boiling water for pasta.  At the same time combine all sauce ingredients in a deep skillet and cover.  Cook sauce over medium heat until bubbly, stirring occasionally.  Once bubbly lower heat to low.   All your mussels should be open and getting nicely acquainted with the sauce. When there is about five minutes remaining on the pasta cook-time, remove cover from the sauce.  Drain pasta.  Serve and enjoy!

Left overs...sure to be even better the next day!