cooking in my underwear

For the past few days, I'd been stressing over what to prepare for Christmas Eve dinner.  I wanted to avoid laboring over a meal for countless hours when I had so many other demands on my time and energy, but at the same time, I wanted a meal that would be somewhat elegant and festive, but not crazy expensive. I know from years of experience, that when it comes to 'elegant and festive', you can choose to save time, or money, but rarely ever both. Luckily for me, inspiration struck at just the right time!  I've always loved mussels, but I found the process of cleaning and de-bearding them so laborious that I rarely ever prepared them at home.  But since the rest of this preparation was so quick and easy, I figured I could devote some time to the cleaning without too much difficulty.  As it turned out, the mussels that I found were so clean and free of debris that prepping them was a snap, taking less than half the time I anticipated. Also, to be clear, I di

Nothing like plummeting temperatures, bleak skies, and snow flurries to get me in the mood to whip up some comfort food!  On this particular night, I was inspired by a tuna casserole recipe that one of my friends posted on 'that other social network'.  I adapted the ingredients a bit to accommodate my dietary restrictions, but you can feel free to use the full-fat, full-sodium versions of any of the ingredients.  I didn't measure anything, (I rarely do) so you'll just have to wing it on that front.  Here's what went into the dish: 2 cans tuna fish, drained 1/2 package whole wheat pasta spirals 3 egg whites, beaten 2 tablespoons of Smart Balance spread grated pepper-jack cheese diced tomatoes fresh chopped parsley chopped onion fresh ground black pepper salt, to taste (I didn't use any) Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain.  Mix in all the other ingredients except for the eggs, and a couple handfuls of the cheese.  When the mixtur