I Vowed

I vowed (to myself) that this blog would never talk about weird or gross things. Apparently, I'll make an exception for certain things. 

One of my nieces swears she has the longest bum crack of any human being. We (as a family) tend to agree with her. I decided today that she shouldn't feel too bad because I think my bum crack is off-center. Every time I put on a pair of pants (or something else with "legs") the middle is off-center. My bum is the only common denominator! Gross, I know. And kinda weird. 
Yesterday at the doctor's office, I had to fill six (or seven, I can't remember) vials with blood for whatever tests he ordered. The nurse had a hard time getting a vein (thanks, Mom, for giving me your deep and disappearing veins). When she finally hit one she exclaimed, "Wow! Your blood comes out really fast!" Um, ew. Sure, it did only take a few minutes to fill the vials, but you don't go around telling people their bodily fluids come out fast. Thank goodness I've never done any passing out when giving blood since I ran like a cheetah once the band-aids (plural, since I got stabbed three times) were on. That's gross. And weird the nurse would say that to me as my blood is gushing out into vials. 
I made some whole wheat sugar-free banana bread a few weeks ago. Instead of leaving it on the cupboard, I put it in the fridge. Good move, right? The other night, I had a sugar low (totally weird!) in the middle of the night. Somehow, I buttered a piece of said banana bread and ate it. The next morning, I realized said bread was moldy. Gross!!! What happens if you eat moldy bread? Can it kill you? Or can you develop some kind of disease? Good thing I wasn't coherent when I ate it because there may have been vomit to clean up. 


On another (non-weird and non-gross) note, I made an awesome dinner last night and ate the leftovers today for lunch. It was SO good! And healthy. The recipe is below. Hopefully, it will look and taste so scrumptious that it will make up for the weird and gross things I've vowed never to talk about on this blog. 


Shrimp and Artichoke Pesto
1 Box Whole Wheat Pasta -- I used this kind: 

 The flavor was really good, and the entire box was supposed to make four servings, but it made more like seven servings. 

1 pound frozen shrimp (51-70), thawed - like this:

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One jar pesto sauce - jar pestos are better than mix pestos, in my opinion. Like this one:

 
One can artichoke hearts (not marinated), broken up in pieces. It should be a large can like this one (except that I don't know what kg is in American weight, so just get a large can): 

Cook the pasta like it says on the box, but make it al dente. 
Reserve three large serving spoonfuls of pasta water (or more if you like your sauce kind of wet). Lightly drain the pasta (don't shake all the water loose - leave it a little moist). Return it to the pot it was boiled in over low heat on the stove top. Add the shrimp, artichoke hearts, pesto sauce, and reserved pasta water. Mix well, until the pasta, shrimp, and artichokes are well covered. 
Serve it with a little Parmesan cheese on top. It's delish! I normally think re-heated pasta is disgusting (mainly because it turns soggy or gooey), but this was not like that, probably because it was boiled only to al dente and not to mush. And I bet there are lots of other things that could be added to it to add more flavor or texture. Ooh! Pine nuts might be really good in it! Guess that will be on my "to-do" list the next time I make it. Yum!