This Friday night...

Friday nights are my favorite night of the week and I don't mind the routine of it one bit. The promise of over 48 hours of freedom and not knowing what the rest of the weekend will bring excites me! I have become increasingly lame in my old age and just like to stay in on Friday nights. I love to relax, catch up on DVR, read magazines, and sleep. The best part is waking up not hungover on Saturday morning. It's such an amazing feeling!

After yesterday's sort-of mental breakdown, I picked myself up and was extremely productive. I was mostly well-rested at work today, I got cast iron skillets and Target popcorn on my lunch break, and left work early because I am working on Sunday afternoon. I went to the gym and spent a record amount of time on the treadmill (90 minutes). Pick your jaws up off the floor. Then I went to SuperTarget and saved 40% on a $100 bill! Pick your jaws back up off the floor.

After a day like today, a girl's gotta eat. Tonight I made a Morningstar grillers burger on a sandwich thin with chipotle cheddar cheese (what?!?!) I know. I had the same reaction. Go buy it at Target. It said 'limited time only' on the package. Get some before I buy it all!

After going back and forth on what side I wanted to go with my burger, I settled on getting some veggies in today. I had been craving cauliflower for a while (weird.) and decided to make a cheese sauce for it. I think I finally perfected my 'light' cheese sauce tonight, which has made an appearance in mac and cheese before. This picture is about 1/3 of a head of cauliflower with the cheese sauce as prepared below.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon light butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk, but usually use skim)
1/4 cup 2% shredded cheese (I used mild cheddar but sharp gives it a stronger cheese flavor)

Recommended seasonings: salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash garlic and herb, garlic powder, dry mustard, and cayenne pepper. The list goes on...

Directions:

Start steaming the cauliflower in a vegetable steamer (or on the stove). While veggies are steaming, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan on the stove over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and blend. Cook the flour mixture for about three - five minutes. Now add the milk and stir until the flour mixture is blended. Bring this to a boil and then reduce the heat so that it is simmering. Add your desired seasonings, Continue to stir until the mixture is thickened. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Then add your main ingredient - in this case, cauliflower.

As prepared this cheese sauce has about 200 calories. You can pour this over pasta, cauliflower, eat it with a spoon...

Time to watch more TV and eat peanut butter Cheerios for dessert. Oh yeah, they make peanut butter Cheerios now. Happy Friday!