New carpet day

Yesterday was "new carpet day" and I spent seven hours confined to a 2x3 space in the kitchen while we had new carpet installed. (Thank goodness for the internet!) It was a long day and now we have a lot of our stuff to put back in place. When we moved in, we put new carpet in our basement and one bedroom. The old carpet has stayed put for the past year but became increasingly more disgusting so we decided to replace it with what we put in the basement. The new carpet is plush and cozy for walking around barefoot and sitting on the floor (unlike the stiff, non-soft, gross carpet before). It's also stain-resistant which is a huge plus. Hopefully, now that the entire house is filled with the new plush carpet, our house doesn't look too 70s shag...I think it's such a big change, it will just take a few days to fully adjust.

Dog Wash

It's been a great Saturday so far. Out for breakfast, off to meet classmates to work on homework, a walk to Red Mango and some Starbucks. Also, we took our dogs to the dog wash...kind of like a self-service car wash but instead of washing your car, you wash your dog. They get baths at the vet when they are there being boarded and sometimes we do it at home as well but it's also back-breaking at home. (Also, yesterday was new carpet day so if we can avoid wet dogs at home for awhile, that's a plus.)

As usual, Crumley took it like a champ.

As usual, Iris did not take it like a champ. She tried to bite the blow dryer and blow dryer operator (me). Awesome.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Surprise from my Valentine...

Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole

My church regularly sends out emails for help with meal requests and I try to help out whenever possible. A recent request came my way and noted "no chicken or shellfish." I assumed the rest of the meals might be red meat heavy so I looked for alternatives and found a delicious Martha Stewart recipe for Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole. The recipe makes enough for two dishes so it was perfect to make one for us and one for someone else's freezer. It earned our seal of approval and a spot on our meal rotation so I thought I'd pass it along.

1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for baking dishes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound wide egg noodles
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
4 cans (6 ounces each) tuna in olive oil, drained*
1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained and thickly sliced
5 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil two 8-inch square (or other shallow 2-quart) baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until 2 minutes short of al dente; drain, and return to pot.

Meanwhile, in a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Add bell peppers; season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer.

Remove from heat; add mixture to noodles in pot, along with tuna, artichoke hearts, and scallions. Season with salt and pepper, and toss. Divide between prepared baking dishes, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes.

*Instead of four cans in oil, I used two in oil and two in water.