Hiatus - Day 4

Big City Dining - that was on the agenda for today.

Mom and I ventured downtown to have lunch with Pete in the Big City today. Pete now works for an advertising firm in the very trendy Pearl District of Portland. Let me just tell you that this was not a place to hang out when I was growing up, in fact I believe I would lock the doors while driving through this part of town back in the day. Once we found a place to park, which ended up being a lot easier than anticipated, we found our way to his office. He met us in the lobby, that was as far as we could go, and pointed out a few interesting things about the building that are visible from the lobby. We then ventured down the street to the Deschutes Brewery for lunch. Although I didn't order them I highly recommend the sweet potato fries - very good, and a serving of vegetables in my book.

After our lunch adventure we headed back to our side of town to get ready for our dinner guests. Once again, I was cooking dinner (yes, you read that correctly). Our guests arrived and we enjoyed hearing about their recent trip, dinner, and learning a new (for me) game called zilch (also called 10,000).

Chicken Alfredo Pasta
5 1/2 oz rotini, uncooked (2 cups)
1 10 oz pkg frozen mixed vegetables
1 9 oz pkg frozen cooked diced chicken breast
1 15 oz can low-fat chicken alfredo-style soup
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Cook pasta and vegetables together in boiling water in a Dutch oven 10 minutes or until pasta is done and vegetables are tender.

Drain pasta and vegetables; return to Dutch oven. Add chicken and next three ingredients to pasta mixture, stirring well. Cook over low heat 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper.

Yield - 6 servings