Asparagus Pasta Toss & Mailman Terror
Happy Friday!!!
We have some fun things planned for this weekend… so I’m excited 🙂
On another note… our AC was NEVER fixed yesterday. We ditched our regular AC guy and have someone new coming to look at it. Thank goodness a mini-cold front blew in. We’ve got temps in the upper sixties today! YAY! The weekend is expected to peak in the upper seventies… so no AC is fine with me!
I made this Asparagus pasta toss the other night and my husband went crazy for it! This made the perfect side dish for his favorite food… steak…
This recipe was adapted from Southern Living.
Ingredients:
- 1 – 16 oz box of penne pasta
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large bunch of asparagus
- 1 large red bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons butter
Directions:
Cook pasta according to directions on the box. Drain and rinse.
Pour olive oil in medium skillet. Bring to medium heat. Cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces. Cook asparagus, red bell pepper, and garlic for 5 minutes until asparagus is tender. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for addition 4 minutes. Stir in pasta, butter, and parmesan cheese. Mix until cheese in melted.
MAILMAN TERROR
For you those you haven’t met him… this is Shiner. My dog 🙂 He’s a Lab/Chow mix. Shiner’s ten years old. My hubby and I got him from the pound when he was six weeks old. Shiner was our first big investment together as a couple. You can read more about Shiner here.
In his old age… Shiner’s gotten pretty mellow. He pretty much just lays around all day long. He’s a kind, playful dog…. except for one thing…
THE MAILMAN!!!!!!
What is it about dogs and the mailman?!?!! Ever since he was a puppy he turns into a terror when the mailman comes! Its almost like he can sense it.
The funny part is the mailman comes at different times in the afternoon. Sometimes its around 2 p.m., other days its close to 5 p.m. No matter what time of day it is… within 45 seconds of the mailman coming to our door, he turns into crazy dog. I’m talking crazy barking, saliva throwing, body thrashing dog. At first it didn’t bother me too much…
It wasn’t until little M came along that it began to make my blood pressure rise!
She can be playing peacefully in the living room (which is rare) and Shiner disturbs the rare peace because of the mailman! Leading to a unconsolable crying baby.
I love my dog… I can’t imagine life without Shiner… but mail delivery time is the worst part of our day….
What do I do now?
I stalk the mailman.
When I see his truck parked down the street I know he’s in the area. That’s when the stalking begins. If it’s after M’s nap time, we’ll leave the house or go for a walk. If it during her nap time, I make sure to pay extra special attention to Shiner so when the mailman comes… he’s distracted… Phew!
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Question of the Day?
Do you have a dog? Does he/she have mailman terror? Any tips for me?
Have a great weekend!
LOL!
I didn’t know you had a dog! That is hilarious, tho. I would probably stalk the mailman, too. I have been begging my hubby for a dog!
I know this is a real problem for you, but it’s absolutely hysterical to read about!!
No AC isn’t fine with me either. My roommate wouldn’t let me turn it on when it was 79 degrees in our house!! It’s all about “saving money” around here…but not at the expense of sweating in my own house 😕
I don’t have a dog but if I did I would want one as cute as yours! And seriously, that pasta looks amazing. The sauce just looks so rich and delicious!
Sorry about the dog troubles. It’s nice that you go out of your way not to cause the mailman stress though.
The pasta sounds great!
This pasta looks great. From your title, I though you had the same kind of mailman problems as me. Every day I get someone else’s mail—not always from people in my building. He particularly likes to give me everyone else’s magazines. The other day I got two issues of Self. Not really sure why he thought I’d subscribe twice.
Our dog HATES the UPS and FedEX guys! We have an invisible fence, so he is able to roam about the yard, but then, I would hear this horrible barking/growling and look out to see the UPS/FedEx guy stopped dead in his tracks or trying to hit the dog with the package! Since my husband works from home a lot and gets many packages, we had to come up with a solution so no one gets injured!
First, we put a Beware of Dog sign at our mailbox/entrance to our driveway. (Our friends and family think it’s funny b/c they only see our dog as this friendly, docile animal!). Then, we attached another very large mailbox to the pole and labeled it “UPS/FedEx Deliveries”. Those guys are so happy now 🙂
Don’t know if putting a mailbox in an area that your dog can’t get to would work for you, but your mailman might be able to help you with that. If worse comes to worst, you can always change to not have your mail delivered and go pick it up at the postoffice. A pain, but it might be easier than the stress of stalking! (sorry for the novel, btw!)
shiner is too cute!! i bet you cant even be mad at him with that face 🙂
What a delicious meal! I love the colors and flavors in this dish, I’ll have to keep it on file!
And that is a tough situation with Shiner, M, and the mailman! Has Shiner ever met the mailman outside, like smelled him and realized he’s not the enemy? I don’t know too much about dogs, so I don’t know if that would even help. I just wonder if he becomes acquainted with the mailman if it would lessen the barking. Good luck with the AC!!
Shiner.. hmm let guess you named him after the beer 😉
Sadie LOVES to bark.. a car could park in front of our house and she goes NUTS… if I know someone is coming to the door I usually put sadie in a room with her toys and shut the door.. but since we live in a master planned community our mailbox is at the end of our street.
Big dogs have always kind of scared me, so that situation would make me very nervous…I hope you can figure something out!
The pasta looks great! Love asparagus anything 🙂
Our mailbox is at the end of the driveway and Lily snores like a senile old man all day. I doubt she has a clue. Not sure what you could do, sorry 🙁
The pasta looks delicious! I just had dinner and I am still hungry…that made it worse! Our AC is still out too! They told us 5 to 7 days to get the part in…ugh I hope the cooler weather holds out for a little while! I hope yours gets fixed soon.
I’m not a dog person at all….but good luck!
It’s almost 90 degrees here, and we don’t have AC either. Ah, the life of a college student in a dorm.
Oh gosh, I’m sorry to laugh, but this story is rather funny!! I’m sure it’s annoying, but it’s sch a cliche that dogs hate mailmen, but yours really does!! When the baby is asleep I can completely understand your wanting the dog to NOT bark. I guess I would just put the dog in the basement around the time when you know the mailman comes, everyday! Or perhaps sit outside and grab the mail before he gets there???
BTW, our AC was broken for the two days when it reached 80 degrees last week. I was dying, Nick was dying, it was awful. We were both thankful for the huge drop this week too!! Sleeping when you are sweaty is the worst.
Have a great weekend!
YUM! that looks great!
Seriously that was cracking me up because the dog and the mailman just sounds so cliche! haha…I think it is kind of cute that it is real! 🙂 Sorry!!!
Aw, Shiner is just trying to protect his little girl, too! 😉 This recipe looks fantastic and a great way to utilize asparagus in season!
The recipe looks great! The old joke about the mailman and a dog seems to be true, only in reverse!
That asparagus pasta looks amazing!
We don’t have a dog, but we have 6 cats. They go running when anyone comes to the door, including us! 😆
Jenn
love asparagus..no tips for the mailman situ but your lil girl is too adorable!
Oh man. I would NOT want to be your mailman. I’ve never liked dogs (sorry), so I would seriously be terrified. You’re such a nice owner to go through the trouble of stalking the mailman…I know several dog owners who don’t bother!
I’m loving the sound of that recipe as I’m an all-of-a-sudden asparagus addict!
Oh, and I have a dog and he has the same issues with the UPS and FedEx men. I love to see them coming, and sadly, Bella does not. Makes. Me. Crazy.
I totally understand your doggy dilema! Molly HATES the UPS man. She goes bananas as soon as she hears him coming up the street and continues until she can’t hear his truck anymore! Silly dogs!