St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans

Happy St. Patrick's Day,  Friends!  Y'all, I LOVE St. Patrick's Day.  I LOVE IT. 

Here are some important supporting details for this thesis statement.

My mother's side of the family is Irish.  My mom's name is Patricia and she goes by Patsy.  (This would be the female version of the name Patrick for those of you who are still sleepy this morning) Patsy always made a big deal out of St. Patrick's Day.  Green has always been my very favorite color and I have always loved all things mint - Thin Mints, Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Vanilla Mint Lip Gloss, Minty Fresh Breath - all the minty things.  I love them.  Also, I know a lot of U2 songs.  I do not, however, like Guinness beer.  But, no matter, because just to prove that I'm not some bandwagoner when it comes to St. Patrick's Day, just lookie here. God even went and gave me my very own Leprechaun!

Let's all take a moment to give thanks and praise for the preschool teachers in the world.  I miss those days something fierce.

Anyway, I feel like I've kind of let my people down in the last few years on St. Patrick's Day because I'm not crafty and I'm not a creative cook and I'm really, really a disaster at baking.  And the Pinterest and the Facebook tend to make me feel a little less than adequate in all those areas around the holidays.

Excuse me while I go look in the mirror and have a Stuart Smalley moment.

Thank you, Stuart.  Today is a new day.  And I am going to show you what's happening in O'Skinner World today.  Don't be alarmed.  You might think that you have inadvertently stumbled on to the completely wrong place because this will almost, not really, but sorta, look like one of those fancy pants food blogs.  Get ready.  It's gonna happen.

The other night the lovely and talented Mrs. C. and I were discussing our great love and admiration for the Shamrock Shake which has made its triumphant return to a McDonald's near you.  The problem with the Shamrock Shake is that I saw a graphic the other day that showed that it has 82 grams of sugar and 680 calories. 

Wah,wah,waaaahhhh.

Now look, friends.  I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer and this here is not a health and fitness blog any more than it's a food blog.

(In fact, if any of you have determined to which blog category this collection of ramblings belongs, let me know.  Because I am flat out STUMPED.)

Based on facts from the interwebs, it appears that the Shamrock Shake is one sure fire way to find yourself waking up and wondering if you might be able to find an old pair of maternity jeans in the back of your closet.  The lovely and talented Mrs. C. or maybe Mr. C. or someone in the C. family did some poking around and found a recipe for a healthy version of our beloved shake.  HERE'S THE LINK FOR THE RECIPE. I must give credit where credit is due. 

I know what you're thinking:  "AS IF."  Who would ever believe that I would create a recipe out of my own head?

Here is my very foodie professional Iphone photo of the ingredients.  Do you see how I place all the taller items in the back and the smaller items in the front for optimal viewing?  I can barely stand myself.

All you do is blend all that stuff up - the measurements are on the website in the link.  I really, really liked it,  I promise it was really good.  I do want to point out that the recipe calls for an 1/8 of a teaspoon of peppermint extract which I thought sounded like it couldn't possibly be enough to cancel out that spinach. But be warned, even an 1/8 teaspoon is A LOT.  I love mint, but even for me, it was coming awfully close to being a Scope Shake instead of a Shamrock Shake.  The good news is that if you're wearing your "Kiss Me I'm Irish" shirt, you'll be all set.  Or your "Kiss Me I'm a Longhorn" shirt as the case may be.

Now.  I know that many of you are feeling inadequate right now. Because that was some really complicated blending I did there.  And then I went and posted that breathtaking photo that Drew took of my torso.  So, if you're feeling like the healthy Shamrock Shake is just not in your wheelhouse, let me give you another idea.

Costco always has these shamrock shaped four cheese raviolis all made up for you in the fridge section.  The package says it has an "artisan blend of cheeses" See that?  Artisan. Very impressive.  I went to Costco yesterday and I was so nervous because I thought for sure they'd be all gone by then, but there they were!  That's what we call the Luck o' the Procrastinating Irish, my friends.  

Tune in next week, when I'll be discussing how to properly put an Eggo waffle in the toaster. 

May God hold you in the palm of His hand today, Everyone!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!