Thought you might enjoy a photo of my fat cat, Jay, drooling over a fat caterpillar this afternoon. After I snapped this pic, Jay stuck his hand-paw out the door and almost found purchase. Fortunately, though, I was quick enough to fend him off and close the door; thus saving the unknowing caterpillar. My good deed for the day.

Okay, so now that I've given myself permission to write about "whatever" - here are a couple things.

The first is my menu plan. I'm almost embarrassed to post it, just because it really - usually - is so simple. Part of me feels like I should do way more than I do...and the other part of me feels like I should be happy with the fact that we have a warm meal in our belly, at least most nights. I purchased 2 cookbooks about a week ago: "Great Food Fast" by M@rtha Stewart and "365: No Repeats" by R@chel R@y. Now, ask me if I've tried any recipes that are in either book?

Nope.

But I've looked at them! Actually, I have the stuff to make some of my old "tried & true" stuff for another week or so, and then I'll be heading to the store with some a list of things I need for some new recipes. I'll be honest, the 365 cookbook is cool - a really neat idea - and I absolutely LOVE her show. But the layout is a little strange, and will take some getting used to. I totally love the Great Food cookbook, though...it's M.S. gourmet, but the recipes are fairly simple - and the cookbook is so user-friendly! (thanks to Alicia, for putting me on to that cookbook).

We grilled chicken last night - with a store-bought marinade picked out by my one-&-only. It really was delicious! And I cooked rice and asparagus to go with it. I've only begun enjoying asparagus in the past couple years...if you have never tried it (or aren't crazy about it), and want to give it a good ole college try, I've got a tasty (easy) recipe for you. I've made this before, but it was also in the M.S. cookbook:

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Roasted Asparagus

(I halved everything)

2 bundles of asparagus, washed, with the tough bottom part of the stalk trimmed off
1 T. olive oil (if you want to lighten the recipe a bit, just use o.o. spray)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese (or...the stuff in a jar, but NOT the powdery stuff!)

Preheat the oven to 400*...spread asparagus out on a flat baking pan. Toss with olive oil, salt & pepper. Sprinkle with cheese. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until asparagus is tender (but I like mine still a tad crunchy) and cheese is melted.

If you wanna "kick it up a notch," sprinkle with fresh lemon juice right when you take it out of the oven. It is delish.

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Iliya ate 3/4 of a chicken breast, most of his rice, and two stalks of asparagus!! I really was shocked.

There are things I want to share with you about a byproduct of asparagus, but just won't, since I just posted a recipe. Instead, if you want to learn a fact (albeit a bit humorous, if you consider the fact that I had a scare about 2 years ago, before knowing this particular fact), visit this site about asparagus and read all about it!

In other news, Iliya is talking up a storm. (is that news?) Oh wait, I had a great idea. I started typing and felt an idea for a vlog. Yeah...a good idea. Maybe. If I get brave. So stay tuned!

And I was going to post about a couple more things tonight, but figure I should start spreading these posts out a little bit! So for now - I think it might be time to hit the sack. Goodnight!