Garlic Asparagus

First, I've got to say a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favorite skister ever, Rachael! I miss you so much and I miss our tradition of you visiting me on your birthday! We have to bring it back or otherwise I'll poke my eyes out! I love you and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Now the food blog:

Holy crap it's been a over a month. Close to two months. Absolutely freakin' ridiculous. It's been busy around here, and while I'm usually pretty good about balancing my time...lately, I just haven't had any. And that bums me out. Up until this past week, I haven't cooked anything worthy of talking about. And I miss it. I miss cooking, I miss menu planning, I miss eating things I'm proud of making and I miss talking to you guys about it. And to make things worse, I've gained a ton of weight by eating things I really don't want to eat but have to because I don't have time.

It couldn't have been that smoked gouda bacon mac & cheese I made last week. Or the 400 (or so it seemed) mini homemade funfetti cupcakes I inhaled yesterday. No, not at all...

(I'm eating the last cupcake as I type this)

AND my ankle has been wonky so I haven't been skating (which I have a love/hate relationship with anyways). That means I skip the exercise and go out drinking with the team anyway (beer is much easier on the ankle). So of course that helps. I'm gonna go check out a physical therapist to see if I'm gonna be gimpy the rest of my life or if there is something that can help.

I'm down to 3 days a week at work, which I think will turn out pretty good for me. I have long weekends, Friday - Monday off, and I'll be able to dedicate more of my time to the kitchen, and now that the weather is getting nicer, the beach. I look forward to menu planning and grocery shopping for foods that I will enjoy turning into something, rather than the utility meals we've been consuming. I'd also like to continue with Reader Request Monday's. Now that I have a little more time, hopefully it'll turn into something useful for you guys!

Enough bitching and let's get onto the food, don't you think?

We'll start off with an easy but tasty one, getting back into the swing of things. Sauteed Garlic Asparagus is a standard that everyone should make. You could serve it with practically anything, and only takes minutes to whip up. I served this along side Salmon with Lemon and Dill.

Garlic Asparagus

Printable Recipe

by Kacey's Kitchen

• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1. Trim bottoms of asparagus off, discard.
2. Over medium heat, melt butter in large skillet.
3. Add garlic and asparagus to pan and cook for about 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. To speed things up, you can cover the pan for a few minutes to help steam you veggies.