Get the SKINNY......

I heard there's SKINNY news in Judiland! 

Yes, blog friends....there's incredibly exciting SKINNY news here in Judiland. 
In fact, I am in SKINNY heaven and I can't wait to share with all of you. 
I just hope you are as excited and over the moon as I am about it all. 
First, I must apologize for being away from Stories from the Road for so long.  I wish I could tell you that I was just dancing all over Judiland celebrating my SKINNY news but that would be a bold faced lie.   I might have been fantasizing about dancing and celebrating while I was fighting the elements of winter while I was eating, drinking and sleeping work, work, work.   But, I'm pretty sure I was fantasizing about winning the lottery and moving to a Caribbean island.....

Without further adieu......
I bring you the most exciting  SKINNY news in the JEANS and PASTA category of the past 7 years!!!
Trust me, it might sound like minor news but I assure you friends, this news ranks up there with finding a new gin to love.  That's not minor!   Because, you know that I do lots of research and testing when I am on a mission to uncover the little necessary luxuries in life.  
My research and testing on two very necessary luxuries in life--- PASTA and JEANS---has led me to two fabulous finds that have rocked my world.   And, I mean ROCKED MY WORLD. 

First, let's talk SKINNY JEANS.......
Finding the best SKINNY JEANS is not an easy task.  It takes a very determined woman with a little disposable income and some shopping time on her hands to make it happen.  You have to kiss a lot of frogs try on and purchase a lot of jeans and  scream a lot endure a lot of heartache while conducting this quest.  But---if you are patient enough and willing to suffer for SKINNY JEAN LOVE....it's worth it when you finally find that one amazing pair that just works like they were made for you and only you!   That's what happened for me when I came in contact with these beautiful, perfectly wonderful fabulastic RELAXED SKINNY JEANS .  They are boyfriend jeans and skinny jeans rolled into one.  Why didn't someone think of this sooner?   And, if they did....why didn't they tell me about it?   I love, love boyfriend jeans and I love skinny jeans.   Sometimes I am not crazy about how either of them look on me but I love the look of both.   Putting them both together--to give me more room in the hips but that slender look on the legs.....woo-hoo.  I mean WOO-HOO!!!   These are an amazing pair of jeans.  Thank you LOFT!   But...here's the best part and the reason why I just had to share this with you---these SKINNY JEANS are not just made for me.   No. No. No.  I sent a total of 4 gal pals to check them out---all of them with quite different bodies and ranging in age between 42 and 63.   And, guess what?  They are all living in SKINNY JEAN heaven too.  
Pretty great SKINNY news, don't you think?

Okay, now, let's talk SKINNY PASTA.  
I might have mentioned it once or twice or a gadzillion times that I am married to a full Italian, my mother and her entire family is full Italian and I was raised on amazing Italian food cooked by wonderful Italian women and that I love, love, love to cook Italian food.  As a matter of fact--much of my weight gain over the years can be directly attributed to pasta.  Pounds and pounds of every shape and size of pasta.  I adored it covered in red sauces, garlic sauces, white sauces, green sauces....oh any kind of sauce....you name it!!!  Trust me on that...
However, I gladly gave pasta up when my Lap band came into the picture.  My Lap band and pasta did not have a friendly relationship.  Trust me....I tried.  Oh, how I tried. 
Since then, I've searched high and low for a substitute to quench my pasta love.  Granted, I found many wonderful alternatives to slather in good Italian sauces such as polenta and zucchini that I would slice into strands.  I even found a nice locally handmade pasta that I could purchase that I could indulge in a tiny helping every once in awhile.  And, I was content.  Perfectly content.
Every once in awhile, I'd try out something but either it was too much of a chore to make and it just didn't work for me.  You see, one of the nice things about pasta is that it could be the basis for  quick yet delicious dinner.  The perfect work night meal.   I missed the convenience of being able to throw together a quick sauce and ladle it over pasta and making everyone happy.  Yes, I missed those days.
Then....
Enter this little gadget and I'm going ga-ga over the things I can make. Think "zucchini pasta" spirals in 2 minutes, sweet potato ribbons, strands of butternut squash....
Funny thing is that they were doing a demo on this  at one of my favorite cooking stores on the very same day at the very same mall where I experienced  my  RELAXED SKINNY JEANS thrill.  Can you imagine?  What a RED LETTER DAY!   The moon and the starts either aligned perfectly that day or God was blessing me especially graciously or perhaps it was just my beautiful payback for having to deal with less-than wonderful holiday moments. Whatever good karma was happening to me that day, I am eternally grateful. 
Although I do try to be very careful to resist the urge to buy every gadget that promises to solve every problem, I was drawn to this thing.   I have a bad habit of finding myself in gadget heaven for fleeting moments--only to be left with another thing that I have to find a place to store. I have to work hard to restrain myself.   So...after really interrogating the poor sales woman who was demonstrating this tool and trying my hand at it myself and finding that it was so easy to use, I scooped it up and it was mine!!!   Since then, I have been having a fun time coming up with ways to use it.  My french fry loving nephew went crazy over my Cajun curly fries,  my daughter and I gobbled up my skinny onion straws,  and last but not least.....my Italian engineer hubby and I have been in pasta heaven----zucchini pasta spirals covered in a quick sauce made of quartered canned artichokes sauteed in garlic, butter and olive oil with with a bit of white wine and lemon and covered in Pecorino Romano one day, zucchini ribbons covered in a beautiful creamy pesto sauce another day and strands of butternut squash slathered in a super quick sauce made of  olive oil, garlic, toasted walnuts and dried cranberries then topped with crumbled goat cheese on yet another day.  The key is to lightly blanch the veggies after they are cut--they will take on an "al-dente"  texture.....much like pasta.   My Lap band and I are lovin' in......

Now that I've done my good deed for the day and shared my SKINNY news, perhaps I will be rewarded again.    This might be a good day to play the lottery.....