turn up out of the blue

True Story: I like Peter Hollen's mashup of Adele's Turning Tables/Someone Like You better than either of the original songs.

So...

The weekend was very low-key, mostly because it was kind of gross outside. So we stayed inside. Friday night we...watched TV, I think. Totally hooked on Once Upon a Time now. SO GOOD. Saturday night we watched Apocalypto and The Shrine. Not sure I'd recommend either of them, but I thought Apocalypto was interesting (there's definitely never a slow moment.) The Shrine (which has the lesser-known Ashmore twin, Aaaron) actually had a cool twist at the end, but it wasn't very well done, so it didn't really wind up being scary. Oh well.

Sunday, I got a haircut. It's a glorious thing -- my hair actually looks healthy again. That's what happens when you don't cut it for ten months. Hah. =P

new hair!



Anywho, doing a little Menu Planning this morning, along with OrgJunkie. Cause I haven't done that in a while, and I want to make a list to remind myself of some new things I'd like to try. Huzzah!

Monday

Catalina Chicken Breasts with

Steamed Squash and Zucchini

and honey Baby Carrots.

Tuesday

Chicken Pot Pie Bites

with broccoli.

(found here)

Wednesday

Thanksgiving Meatloaf

with salad.

Thursday

Crockpot Soup/Stew
(haven't decided what kind yet -- maybe Minestrone?

We have personal training at 7pm, so

I want something I can just leave til we get home.)

Friday

Chili Mac & Cheese

(mine came from a pin I can't find on Pinterest anymore,

but here's a similar recipe. I may use this recipe anyway!)

Planning on making anything fun this week?

take all the courage

Last night's dinner was delicious, so I just thought I'd share some pictures:

noms to the brussel sprouts.

pumpkin gnocchi in a brown butter sauce!

I adapted the pasta from this recipe at Eat, Live, Run that I thought sounded really good. Instead of the Butternut Squash, I subbed in a 15oz can of organic Pumpkin. I also made the brown butter sauce with some fresh rosemary sprigs tosses in while the butter was cooking -- after the butter melted, I turned the heat down for a couple of minutes to let the butter take on the flavor of the rosemary before turning the heat back up to medium to brown it. It turned out great,* but the recipe makes a giant batch of pasta dough so we have more for tonight. I'm not complaining, not in the slightest.

The brussel sprouts are also super easy to make; Nate eats them like candy, so it's a good thing they're only a $1.79/lb right now. Basically, I cut off the bottoms and then halve (or quarter, depending on if they're HUGE or not) the brussel sprouts, taking off the outer leaves. For the most part, the leaves will fall off while you're cutting up the sprouts, anyway. Super easy.

Toss them in a gallon-sized baggie, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil (I don't measure, I just pour) and add a generous amount of any or all of the following: garlic salt, italian spice mix, parmesan cheese. Close the bag and shake it up! Shake shake shake....shake shake shake...you get the picture.

Preheat the oven to 450-ish, and dump sprouts into a baking pan (like an 8x8 or 9x9) that's been sprayed or oiled. Pop in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, opening the oven to shake the pan to loosen up the sprouts that will get stuck to the bottom.

Voila! A whole meal. Just like that. So much yum.

*this would be an instance where I could use an exclamation comma. For reals, y'all.

Menu Planning Mon -- Tuesday?

So...I started this entry yesterday (Monday) mid-morning and then it was 11PM and I hadn't even showered after the gym yet, so it got pushed back to today!




{link up over at Organizing Junkie}

Monday

(we ate)

 Teriyaki Pork Stir-Fry

with Mushrooms, Onions, Pineapple, Walnuts and Spinach,

over couscous!

Tuesday

EDIT: Almond and Panko-Crusted Chicken Fingers
with baked brussel sprouts and honey-glazed baby carrots.

Wednesday

Crock-Pot Pork Adobo

with yellow squash and zucchini.

Thursday

White Fish Stew

with Squash and Sweet Potato

(if I can find the recipe...hopefully it's on my computer!)

Friday

Probably Out!

 

Saturday & Sunday

I don't know what we'll eat, but I think I'm going to try and make these Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls I found from Eat, Live, Run. That way, I can make them if we go visit Nate's sister for Thanksgiving!

HEY -- I need new recipes. Got any for me to try? My only request is that they do not require fancy cool tools (except a mandolin, I do have that!) or techniques. I am not technique-oriented. Leave me a link/the recipe in the comments! Thanks!

i don't want to be anything

So...I may have, in the recent past, promised a giveaway for today. HOWEVER, I was feeling kind of run-down and not at all in the mood to do the post yesterday, so we went out to dinner instead. I apologize, and the giveaway will start TOMORROW!

Wheeeee.

In any case, we went to Purple Cafe in downtown Seattle last night because we had been there once before and had to leave because I was feeling unwell, so we wanted to go back and try again! (just so you know, I don't bring the real camera with me to restaurants because it makes feel uncomfortable ((hooray anxiety...?)) and the lighting in Purple is super low, so my iPhone camera kind of hates me trying to take pictures of food and makes them ridiculously unclear. This is a roundabout way of saying I have no pictures.)

Unfortunately, they don't have the small plates that they did before -- we had AWESOME beef carpaccio there, as the one thing we ate, for like, $5, last time (on a side note: we talked to the waiter about it and he said they've gotten lots of people asking about the small plates, so they're planning on bringing some of them back in a couple weeks -- YAY! an excuse to go again ;) -- but they do have a variety of cheese plates and a variety of starters to choose from.

We contemplated getting the calamari and fried brie, but ultimately decided against them because those are the two appetizers we always get an Contour (one of our other favorite places.) We decided to go for a semi-hard cheese called 'Slightly Buzzed' that came with fresh wildflower honey and the Meze Plate: a set of two or three spreads and some warmed pita. We opted for two spreads, the feta-walnut and the white bean-garlic. Both were delicious, but Nate favored the feta-walnut and I liked the white bean-garlic better. We both thoroughly enjoyed the cheese, which we enjoyed with the fresh-made sweet and salty crackers they brought out at the same time.

We also got a small plate of goat-cheese stuffed dates with pine nuts, because we asked (we did not complain -- we very rarely do) if we could be moved to different table. The one they put us at (incidentally, it was the same one the first time we went) is right next to the door and kind of on the very cusp of being in the middle of the walkway, so it isn't terribly private or warm. They didn't, which was fine, but we got the dates and a discount on our wine because of it. We felt kind of bad about this, because they really didn't need to do it, so we tipped the waiter to make up the difference. Which feels good to be able to do!

For our entree we shared the wild mushroom, roasted garlic and goat cheese risotto. It was fabulous and creamy, although a little too peppery for my taste (as someone who is not fond of pepper, I really wish restaurants would list it among the ingredients for a dish, if it's something that is going to be present in every bite. I know it's like salt for most people, but it isn't for me and sometimes it can ruin a dish for my delicate palette. Man, I sound awesome douchey.) and we ate every bite! Well, Nate finished the last couple bites of mine, because I was feeling full from the apps.

We had decided not to get dessert, but I changed my mind at the last second (my food had settled and I had some more room, what can I say?) and we wound up getting a chocolate torte. Which was incredible. I tried to take a picture of it, because it was also beautiful, and this is what happened:

Now you know. At least you can kind of see the beauty.

I guess to sum up: everything was awesome, tasted awesome and they are very nice. You should go there!

(p.s. Purple Cafe didn't pay me to write this -- they probably don't even know and won't ever see it. I just liked it a lot!)

memo to me...

...maim you after my meeting. (name that movie!)

{make sure to check out who actually planned on Monday over at OrgJunkie!}

...except pretend that says Wednesday because we had guests through Tuesday, so the beginning of the week (and last weekend) was filled with eating out and crappy food. Yay!

Wednesday

Spaghetti with sauce, 

turkey kielbasa -- assuming it thaws in time -- 

and sauteed zucchini!

Thursday

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

(basically put the HEAPLOAD of pork shoulder we got on super sale

 in the crock pot, load it up with BBQ sauce and cook the crap out of it)

with mashed sweet potato, peas and apple slaw 

(which I have no recipe for, so I'm just going to wing it.)

Friday

Leftover Pulled Pork Sandwiches/Tacos

with salad.

also, for your enjoyment, a list of things that need to get accomplished tonight:

• laundry (lots and lots of laundry)
• packaging up my blog swap stuff so I can send it tomorrow!
• watch two or so of the shows that premiered last night and/or shows from last week we need to catch up on:
• TerraNova
• The Sing-Off
• House
• How I Met Your Mother
• Project Runway

Go to it, sister.

shadow feet (What I ate Wednesday)

Since it's a short week and I didn't menu plan, here are some of the things I've been eating. Just in case you need inspiration or something. (You can link up for fun and good times over at Peas and Crayons!)

Spinach and Yellow Squash Lasagna

One of the best pizzas I've had in Seattle thus far -
 from Alibi Room.

Beast of a Leftover Chicken Adobo Salad.

Shredded Chicken Adobo Tacos!

...with fixings =)

The makings of California Lettuce Wraps.

All wrapped up!

Baked Coconut Shrimp

Spinach & Fontina Sausage over CousCous
with Broccoli and Green Bean Fries

MorningStar Chick'n Patties
over lots and lots of lettuce.

Mm...crunchy water ;)

What have you been eating?

here's to you (menu planning monday)

Because thinking about delicious dinners for the rest of the week makes Monday that much better.

(feel free to link up over at OrgJunkie!)

Monday:

Salad with Tomato Basil Burgers,

Edamame and Caprese Salad.

(binge eating meat and bread this weekend has got me feeling dis-GUSTING, 

so it's a veg-fest tonight!)

Tuesday:

Baked Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

with Green Beans and Israeli Couscous

Wednesday:

Crock Pot Adobo Chicken Tacos

Thursday:

California Lettuce Wraps

(stolen from here)

Friday:

MorningStar BBQ Riblets 

with Corn, Peas and Cauliflower 

(cause we didn't have this last Friday!)

Saturday & Sunday:

Sandwiches and Salads. 

In an attempt to not eat out and save money,

so we can go to LA!

two ways to tango

You asked, you got it: recipe for Crock Pot Lasagna. Two different ways!


I actually stole the basic recipe from a different blog that i can't seem to find right now. If I do find it, I'll give it some credit. It's somewhere in the backlogs of my GoogleReader.


Also, I'm not exactly sure how big our crock pot is. 2-quart? It's pretty small, so you might need to double the amounts if you have a real-sized crock pot.


Squash Crock Pot Lasagna


You need:

• whole wheat uncooked lasagna noodles (I think I wound up using about 1/4 of the box?)
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1 jar red alfredo sauce (ooh, so fancy, huh?)
• 1 medium yellow squash, cut into rounds
• 1 1/2 cups raw spinach
• 1lb cooked ground beef (or other ground meat of your choosing)
• however much shredded cheese you want (I think we used either cheddar or colby jack.)

How to make:

1. Spread tomato sauce on the bottom of the crockpot (I think this is to keep the noodles from burning onto the bottom. You can also grease the pot, but I think most of them are non-stick these days, anyhow.)
2. Put down lasagna noodles, meat, squash, spinach and alfredo sauce in even (or uneven, I don't really think it matters) layers until you have used up all your ingredients. Make sure to end with cheese!
3. Put crock pot on high for about 4 hours. (I tend to start this at lunch and eat it at dinner. I love cooking in the crock pot, because you can turn it off and the meal will stay hot, even if you go to the gym for two hours!)
4. Serve and enjoy.

Eggplant Crock Pot Lasagna

You need:

• whole wheat uncooked lasagna noodles (surprise! betcha didn't see that one coming)
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce (can you predict the next ingredient?)
• 1 jar regular alfredo sauce (hah! fooled you!)
• 16oz cottage cheese (of your curd and % milkfat choosing)
• 1lb cooked ground beef (etc, etc.)
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into rounds
• 1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms
• however much shredded cheese you want!

What you do:

1. Spread tomato sauce on the bottom of the crock pot.
2. Put down layers of lasagna noodles, meat, eggplant, cottage cheese and alfredo sauce (I kind mixed these two together,) mushrooms and shredded cheese until you use up everything! Finish with cheese (cause it gets an awesome baked cheesy crust, of course.)
3. Put crock pot on high for 4ish hours. (Then come home, turn it off and force yourself to go to the gym while smells of cheesy deliciousness waft from the kitchen. Cry about it a little, it's ok.)
4. Serve ad enjoy.

That's it! Super easy, super delicious. Not terribly healthy, but it does have whole wheat noodles and vegetables, see?

(as a side note: I did find that the regular alfredo sauce plus cottage cheese plus shredded cheese made the second recipe more salty than the first. In case you care about that sort of thing!)

death and all his friends (a yummy version)

Time for a new recipe!

I know you are jumping with joy. I can see it from here.

I had these for dinner tonight and they were delicious; so I thought I'd share them.

White Fish and Sweet Potato Tacos 
for two

You will need:

• 3/4lb fresh white fish (I used cod, because it's known for being mild in flavor and flaky when cooked)
• garlic salt
• lime juice 

I used half a baby lime, cause i'm not huge on citrus with savory food.

• pepper (optional - I don't use it cause I don't like it! But Nathan does, so...sometimes I try to be accommodating)
• two medium-sized tomatoes, cubed

• one medium sweet potato, diced
• one medium zucchini, diced

• olive oil (or cooking spray -- I just ran out of olive oil, but I prefer to use it over the cooking spray.)
• whole wheat tortillas
• half a medium onion, diced

• lettuce of your choosing (I used chopped romaine hearts. I like my lettuce crunchy :)

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Toss onion, zucchini and sweet potato with olive oil and garlic salt (to taste.) If you don't have olive oil, (like I don't tonight,) just lay out the veggies on the cookie sheet and spray them liberally with cooking spray before seasoning. (Not as cheftastic, but it gets the job done.)
3. Place onion, zucchini and sweet potato on a cookie sheet. I would recommend covering it with aluminum foil to cut down on the mess. I also usually spray the aluminum foil with spray. I don't like things to get stuck...and they usually do. Bake for about 20 minutes.

4.  Meanwhile, place fish in aluminum foil and season with garlic salt, pepper and lime juice.  Wrap fish up like a little packet and place on a second cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or so, until fish flakes easily with a fork and is firm (but not dry) in texture.

half with pepper, half without. 

it's all about compromise, people

they are friends in the oven

   5.  While veggies and fish are baking, chop up your lettuce and tomatoes, and get your tortillas ready!

   6. When fish is done, place on a cutting board and pull apart with a fork, into bite-sized chunks. Mix with veggies in tortilla and enjoy!

yummy!

So easy and so delicious. I've been thinking about a sauce to try with this. I'm sure salsa would be lovely (if you are one of those people that like salsa,) but I'm thinking something more along the lines of a non-pickle using tartar sauce knock-off. Maybe something like cilantro mayo or a creamy cucumber dill?

bananas foster

They made it on Restaurant: Impossible.
For breakfast.
With french toast.

Sounds. like. heaven.

Mikaela likes watching Food Network, too.

Enthralled.

I can't wait for TV shows to start up next month! So excited to have things to watch again.

I also found this awesome workout on this awesome blog yesterday. It's all about doing exercises while in Plank.  I tried doing some of the moves last night at the gym, to work myself up to being in Plank the whole time. It's stupidly hard for me, but I'm excited about doing it. It feels so kick ass!

Also, I ran for five minutes straight last night (this is big for me guys, I'm not a runner) and it felt GOOD. Three minutes at 5mph and 2 minutes at 6mph. It's just what my legs wanted after Dawn kicked my ass on Monday's personal training session. My thighs are having a hard time forgiving me for all the squats and lunges. 

Bought Bolthouse Vanilla Chai Tea Protein shake at the grocery store while getting stuff for last night's Baked Coconut Shrimp dinner (which was awesome and super easy, btw) because I'm out of my Powerbar Protein Bites to eat when I get home from the gym. It is delicious, but it gets slightly chalky toward the end of the 8oz serving. I'll take it, though. I love chai =) I'm feeling extra dehydrated, though, so it's definitely time for some more coconut water.

Hopefully your Thursday is turning out to be a good one! Keep a lookout for my fish and sweet potato taco recipe later this afternoon. It's a good one!

on the way

So, last night my sister got her first tattoo:

Then we got gelato from here:

(isn't the little fainting goat so clever? I love it!)

I also stole these pictures from her phone while we were at the tattoo studio:

tiny hats at H&M

garlic knot bowtie at ModPizza

She's leaving on Saturday morning and it makes me sad. Boooo.

menu planning on monday

Because I have recently been lacking inspiration (and because we haven't gone grocery shopping, so I can buy whatever I'd like!) I thought I'd participate in:

Organizing Junkie's 

(I know, it's terribly exciting.)

 Monday

TJ's Chicken, Spinach & Fontina Sausage

with Steamed Broccoli, Whole-Wheat Pearl Couscous 

and Green Beans Fries 

(I need to use up veggies from last week before they go bad.)

Tuesday

White Fish and Sweet Potato Tacos

 with zucchini fries.

Wednesday

Coconut Shrimp 

with Edamame and Sweet Corn Salad,

and brown rice.

Thursday

Crock Pot Spinach and Eggplant Lasagna!

and (ghetto) caprese salad 

(aka grape tomatoes with mozzarella 

and some kind of vinaigrette)

Friday

MorningStar BBQ Riblets with Corn, 

Steamed Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Fries.

Saturday & Sunday

Most likely eating out.

Possibly pizza, sushi or something quick and easy, like sandwiches?

Otherwise, I will whip something up all quick-like.

this is your wakeup call

I just wanted to make sure everyone knows that Vitatops are buy 12, get another 12 for $5 on Vitalicious's website until Saturday.

I ordered Banana Nut and Fudgy Chocolate Peanut Butter. And then I ordered Deep Chocolate and Corn Muffin mix, so I can make my own at home!

Go buy some. They. are. DELICIOUS.

Seriously.

(also, threw some stuff in the crockpot when I went home for lunch today. Didn't use any kind of recipe. We'll see how it turns out.)

the riptide

alternately titled: how to be awesome without really trying

You know what I've never really cooked before?

Seafood. (other than pre-filleted fish)

You know why?

Cause that shizz is intimidating.

Mostly because, for it to be really good, it's still alive when you get it.

But we bought some mussels (and cocktail shrimp, but those were all pretty and pre-cooked) and cooking them was easy and fun!

Homemade Easy-Peasy Mussels in White Wine and Garlic (appetizer - recipe taken mostly from here)


You will need:

• 1lb fresh mussels
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• chopped white/yellow onion (I used about 1/2 a medium-large onion)
• 2 tblsp butter/margarine
• 1.5 cups light white wine (I used Little Penguin Pinot Grigio. It's pretty darn good for costing $6 a bottle ;)
• collander/vegetable steamer
• one saucepan
• one skillet

(as a side note, the original recipe called for double these amounts for 4lbs of mussels. I made 1lb of mussels, but only halved the recipe -- mainly because I don't read things follow directions well -- so I guess you could actually halve these amounts and still be good. Whoops! No wonder I had so much broth!)

bye bye, little guys.

What you do:

1. Place 2 cups water and 1/2 cup wine in a saucepan. (we only have a 2-quart saucepan, and it was a little small for the 1lb of mussels, so I'd recommend using a bigger one if you don't want the water continuously boiling over.)
2. Put mussels in the steamer and place in the pot over the broth. Cover and steam over medium-high heat until mussels have opened (about 10 minutes or so?) 
3. While mussels are steaming, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. 
4. Once butter is melted, add onions, wine and garlic. Simmer until wine reduces by half (or until you taste it and it no longer tastes like drinking wine and the onions are translucent!)
5. Once sauce has reduced, place mussels in serving bowl. 
6. Add a cup of mussel broth to the sauce and stir together. 
7. Pour wine sauce over mussels and enjoy! Preferably with some tasty baguette.

So delicious. And it only takes about ten minutes!

gone to see the river man

I have no inspiration and for this I am sorry. It's truly Hump Day. I'm feeling very mid-week over here.

I haven't done much these past couples days except put things off. So tonight, we need laundry. And we really need to go back to the gym, but that probably won't happen.

I have been eating less carbs (which is sad, carbs are my life,) and it seems to be helping my weightloss ALOT. Like, I wasn't losing anything before and now I'm losing again. Guess that means a life of fewer carbs. Boo!

Need to go to the grocery store tonight for some meat. Good thing it's between work and home!
I have Warby Parker glasses at home for the home try-on to take pictures of so y'all can tell me which ones look the best. Or worst. Or your thoughts on glasses in general. I'll do that tonight.

I LUH-UVE that Twitter finally added an 'add a picture' button to the website. Now I don't have to use Instagram! (Not that that was really a hardship; I love Instagram. It's really just annoying to have to use my phone to post pics to the tTwit.)

Hmm...

I wanna get a kitty this weekend?

I also want to go to Ikea. And Trader Joe's.

I need to convince Nate that both of these are excellent ideas...

How is your Hump Day going?

at my parents house

My sister, boyfriend and I are having a discussion (via Twitter) about Indiana Jones. My boyfriend is insisting that he is one in the same with the delectable Indy. Mostly because they both hate snakes.

My sister and I are not convinced.

I didn't eat enough yesterday, but that's mainly because I decided to make the half-hour trek to Whole Foods on foot instead of on the bus, so between walking there, walking home and waltzing around the store, I took 6400 steps and burned 250 calories. On top of the thirty-five minutes I spent walking around in circles in the conference room (I also did some lunges from one end to the other.) And then, there's fact that I didn't eat my balance bar during the afternoon, and filled myself up with a 20oz Coke Zero instead. I did have my yogurt-covered raisins though. That's gotta count for something!

Actually, now that I think about it, those yougurt covered raisins up my calorie intake so I am well over 1200, but still have a deficit. HAH. Take that, MyFitnessPal. My body is not in starvation mode. Nyeh.

In any case, I went to Whole Foods because it was the closest place (to my house) that sells VitaTops, which I was VERY excited to try. Apparently Whole Foods, Safeway and the Target in West Seattle are the only places in the general vicinity of my home that sell them. Boo. Whole Foods delivered with two kinds: deep chocolate and cranbran (ew.) So I bought a box of Deep Chocolate and then went on my merry way -- but not before discovering the WALL of protein/meal replacement bars that had NEW (to me) flavors of Balance Bars to try. And snagging a peach Chobani. Noms.

The deep chocolate VitaTop was DELISH; Nate agrees. We might have to just order them from the website, though, because they have so many more flavors there that I want to try. Namely: pumpkin spice and banana nut. And fudgy chocolate peanut butter!

I found this on Pinterest today, and I kind of want to print it out and put it on my wall. Just cause it's cool. And why not?

I've been scouring Pinterest, gathering ideas for decorating our new space. I'm excited. I'm also excited to have found a place that I will be staying for more six months. View + cheap = staying. At least, until we decide to get the heck out of Seattle and head to Hawaii!