The eats!

Okay, if you don't like food, you won't like this post. Because I love food. And I take pictures of it. And I blog about it occasionally all the time. This time I even have a recipe!

Aside from the fact that I have a problem buying too much food sometimes, particularly veggies because they look especially lush and delicious, I often have one or many ingredients in my fridge that I need to use up. I hate throwing away food, and sometimes (*shameful confession time*) I've even thrown away something amazing because we literally cannot eat any more...only to stick my fingers in the trash and dig out one more bite, a la Paul Rudd in This Is 40. Sigh. I'm so classy.

Anyway. Last week I bought way too much asparagus and broccolini, and we tried some new restaurants and didn't end up eating at home, blah blah blah. So I had to use it up. So I made something new! And oh, it was tasty. I called it:

Green Quinoa Bake.

Creative, no? Okay fine. But it was delicious, and oh so good for you. And here is how I did it:

I steamed a big bunch of asparagus, and a big bunch of broccolini, and let them cool and dry in a colander. Meanwhile, I boiled 1/2 cup quinoa in 1 cup water until it was nice and soft. Then I cooked up 2 pieces of turkey bacon, chopped it up, set it aside, and sauteed 1/4 - 1/2 cup raw cashews (halved) in the drippings. I stirred in some garlic, salt and pepper, and I think a little chili powder in with the quinoa, and a tiny bit of almond milk to fluff it. Then I layered the asparagus and broccolini in the bottom of an 8x8 pan, covered it with the quinoa mixture, and evenly sprinkled the chopped up bacon pieces and cashews over the top. I then sprinkled just about 1/4 cup parmesan over all of that and patted it all down and stuck it under the broiler until the cheese was melted and browning. That 8x8 pan made a good 4 servings, with just about 255 calories and 14 grams of protein each. Tasty! It's not the prettiest thing out there, but it's delicious, nutritious, and has an excellent crunch to it!

This weekend we checked off more items from our bucket list. I had a pretty fabulous weekend overall, including the longest run I've done since injuring my knee years ago. It was great. We spent time with friends, went to a BBQ, had waffles and played chess, and just relaxed. Sunday after the bbq with friends, we drove up to the city, had an EARLY dinner at Katana-ya for ramen (tasty, even though I'm not a big ramen fan!):

And then we headed over to Club Fugazi and saw Beach Blanket Babylon. Entertaining? Check. Unique? Check. A San Francisco staple? Double check. And that's another item off of our bay area bucket list. 

Friday I did rope climbs as part of my WOD, and forgot to invest in some good, high socks. Do you wonder why CrossFitters wear high socks? Here is your answer:

Because welts and burns hurt. And between box jumps, rope climbs, and double-unders, the shins can take a beating :(

Saturday night I made us a nice, light Israeli meal. We just happened to be craving Falafel, so I baked (not fried!) up a delicious batch, made a little Israeli cucumber salad, a cold artichoke, and homemade yogurt dill sauce. The bowl of yellow stuff is homemade mayonnaise and...I used non-light tasting olive oil. Note to self - that will make it taste like olives. Igh.

As we speak, I have a yogurt and cheese starter set in the mail, and I'm making mozzarella and yogurt this weekend at home (yay!).  So that means more pictures of food to come.

Speaking of which:

Did I mention I made homemade vegan oreos tonight? This was my second time making them, and they were infinitely better looking than the first batch. I made a healthy oreo cookie pie for dessert with a friend tomorrow, and of course had to whip up homemade oreos to make it with. Too bad, I guess Nolan will have to eat some healthy and delicious oreos for a snack tomorrow!

WOD tomorrow morning is rowing 21k. wtf. So we'll see if I can sit at that stupid machine at 5am tomorrow at the gym and row for 1.5-2 hours or however long it takes me to row half a marathon. If I'm not as sweaty as I think I am, I packed an extra pair of workout clothes to run in at lunch since I missed my run today in lieu of the lunchtime workout. That and the fact that I took a day off from running (but not the gym!) today because I may or may not be coming down with strep throat. Salud!

Thankful Thursday

Have I mentioned that I love Thursdays? Somehow, no matter what the week looks like, the stars seem to align for all-around awesomeness on Thursdays. This morning I got up early to Skype with a friend, was wildly productive at work, and went for a super satisfying run in San Francisco near my office to mix things up. I pretty much gave myself the tour-de-SF (at least all the touristy sites) in 40 minutes or less. See, this was my loop:

And I have to admit, for as much as I complain about the weather in SF, it IS pretty perfect for running. I must have hit all the crosswalk signals at the right time, too, because the only real nuisance was dodging tourists.

I've been scheming all week to buy lunch today at my favourite spot, and let me tell you - it was more blissful that I'd hoped. This is one lunch that I eat very, very slowly, so I can savour every bite. Lo, the goodness:

Those eggplant chips are to die for. Seriously.

I also just had an appointment today after work for an hour-long massage that I found on Groupon a month ago. Man, I was stiff. A massage was JUST what I needed. Yay for pampering! I should say: I also bought one for Nolan, which he used last week. He was sore afterwards for days because the masseuse really went to town on his back. The masseuse I had today was amazing, and I'm actually even considering making another appt with her, despite not having another groupon! That's satisfaction. I feel a little bit warm and jell-o-ish right now, and I like it.

So really, I have a lot to be thankful for just today, much more so in the grand scheme of things. Let's see:

1. I'm thankful for a good, strong massage to finally get some of those knots out of my back. It's been awhile, and she had to really go at them to get my poor muscles to release. I feel like I could either sleep forever or lift a thousand pounds and run 100 miles! Feels great.
2. I'm thankful for even more flexibility at my job. Starting tomorrow, I will officially work from home each and every Friday, with the possibility of adding on more days as necessary/desired. Only 4 days a week in the office/commuting? So fantastic!
3. I'm thankful for time with Nolan. Sometimes I feel guilty for how much time I spend at home with him, and sometimes I think I seriously take it for granted/act grouchy when he's home, but when it all comes down to it: I see him a heck of a lot more this year than in the past, and I really, really like it. We've been going on a lot of fun dates, and we have a lot of fun ones coming up! Beach Blanket Babylon and the Stern Grove Festival and eating at a Thai Temple (Wat) in Berkeley are just a few of the awesome things on our calendars together this weekend.
4. I'm thankful for CrossFit. Don't laugh - it's amazing. Not only is it really fun to do and relatively flexible with my schedule, but it's also really tough - and I like the challenge. Yesterday I set some Personal Records in a few lifts, and was on this high from realizing how much stronger I've gotten since starting, and how much I can lift now! Plus, it's different every day, and I like not knowing what to expect.
5. I'm thankful for all the gift cards and monies that I got for my birthday, because now I have SO MUCH STUFF. Okay, mostly I bought a ton of workout-related stuff. And my trusty blue water bottle died, so I got a brand-new awesome pink one. But I got a few other things too, and I feel a little bit giddy going through my closet now like, "what new thing should I wear to sweat in TODAY?!". It makes me weirdly excited.

What are you thankful for?

On Reno, celebrations, and way too many pictures

 I know, it's been awhile. But when was the last time I took a real hiatus from posting? And besides, I have pictures to show I've been actually doing...stuff. Are you prepared for an onslaught of images? Good. Here we go:

 Our vacation in July consisted of visiting 3 states (okay, if you're on the West Coast that feels like a lot!), going to interviews, visiting both families, and racking up the miles on my car. Oh and heat. There was a lot of heat. To prepare, Nolan made sure and stored up his sleep before we left:

Sadly, I don't have a single picture from my birthday. It was fabulous. I got my biometric screening (woo!), had breakfast and then we headed out the door to meander our way to the ranch. And it took us probably 7 hours, what with all the neighbourhood-exploring in the Sacramento valley and whatnot. We also had one of the worst lunches we've ever had. Hah! For dinner we had delicious and gigantic steaks with veggies, and of course, my favourite dessert (which I'm forbidden to mention by name because it makes Nolan feel weird). I almost couldn't make it, because apparently there was a huge fire in the county, and it killed the power at the ranch for hours on end. No power = no homemade mousse for the dessert. Unlike you like your mousse chunky with tofu pieces. Eventually the power came back on, I cried a little for joy, and ran back inside and made the mousse for that dessert, because man, I was set on it.

The next day, we trekked over to Reno for an overnight stay, exploring, and interviewing. I HAD to take a picture of the national forest on the 80, because it's pretty sad. This is definitely not like the national forests we're used to. I mean, where are the trees?

We used up my free birthday drink coupon for a gigantic iced coffee...

We even had a little date in Office Depot, scouting out a new office chair for Nolan. It's on his ever-growing wish list for post-residency.

And then...this happened. Keep in mind, it was 105 degrees. That and the fact that Reno probably gets about 10 inches of rainfall a year made this totally bizarre. It wasn't just ridiculously large raindrops, either:

It was also suuuuper strong winds. We watched the temperature outside drop literally 15 degrees in a couple minutes.

My phone started getting random emergency alerts...every 3 minutes:

So we sought out shelter in a Thai restaurant. It was...okay. Nothing on Karakade!

After awhile, the rain seemed to let up a little, so we checked into our hotel, and started walking around downtown, taking terrible pictures.

See, Reno is a pretty depressing place. So we had a contest to see who could take the most depressing picture, and brought the results back to my dad the next day to judge. Nobody won - they were all equally depressing. Like this video of me walking down the "bustling downtown streets" of Reno. With music playing outdoors that just makes me want to have a strong drink. Most depressing video ever.

Or this picture, RIGHT in the heart of downtown. With a tarp-covered building to one side, an empty lot and nobody around on the other. And Nolan trying to capture the mood:

Even in Reno, they don't care about Reno:

A sad little party shop that sells mugs that might trick you into thinking Reno is a fun place.

A lonely bicycle. This was weird and sad after exploring Davis neighbourhoods the day before.

Goin' to the chapel?

Hey look, the Truckee river! What's that? Oh, sewage from the city draining into it via a giant pipe? Awesome. What? The sewage is filtered through the nearby tree roots to make it "green"? Nice try, Reno. You're still dumping crap into your river. Which, by the way, is a primary source of drinking water for the city.

The art walk festival. I had to squint to see if there were actually people there.

We found (after much searching) a tasty little dessert spot near the river and ordered two giant sweets to cap off our walking around. We ate maybe 2 bites before realizing these were like...the most sugary crap desserts ever and so we stopped eating them. WAY overdone. But pretty!

Nolan back at our hotel, madly scratching at his bug bites and lamenting that we are, in fact, spending the night in Reno.

The hospital. Out in the desert. One of the attendings said his wife described living there like "living on the moon". Well said.

Somehow, this is the only picture we took at the ranch. Haha!

I guess this is a good place to mention that our trip (this should come as no surprise) helped us settle on a decision for where to move next year. We're going to Sacramento! It's SO NICE to have that decision made, and be able to start planning our future! Reno was a fun day trip, but definitely not a place we want to live.

We randomly decided to take a roadtrip to Oregon the next day. So I documented our journey while Nolan napped a bit. Driving-selfie!

As you know, we're super classy. So we stopped at the cheapest, weirdest asian buffet we could find in Redding. Yup. This place was the definition of mediocre.

Cede the state!

We stopped for a little trip to Nolan's village. Population now is almost 500 - wooo!

We successfully rolled up to his parents' in the afternoon, surprising them  (and hopefully not ruining any plans for the weekend they may have had), and letting them know they had dinner plans with all of their children. And their grandbaby! Nolan got some quality time in with his nephew.

And sibling time!

Since it's summertime, the Caldwell berry farms are thriving. We spent a long time on Sunday morning picking blueberries for breakfast. There was definitely a contest for the heaviest weight of your top 5 berries, and I definitely won with my chunkers.

It was a lot of berries.

On the drive home, we tried to take pictures of the massive herd of elk that was near the road, but there were a lot of parked cars from tourists, so this was the best we got.

Since we were driving through SF to get home anyway...we figured we might as well grab dinner at our favourite Indian spot in the sunset. Why not!

That's pretty much all of our vacay pics, but I do have some other random pictures to post on here. Read on, if you dare...

Best part of working from home - lunch date with N before we have to get back to our computers! This one was at Saba Vietnamese. Pretty tasty!

Last weekend, we checked an item off of our Bay Area Bucket List and went winetasting in Napa with friends. Yeah - we've lived here for 6ish years and had never done that until now! I WILL say that I still favour El Dorado and Amador county wines/winetasting over Napa and Sonoma. But that's just me.

Nothing cures too much wine in the morning like a taco truck, haha. Apparently the burritos were pretty good.

 This past week, we went to a Cuban place with our friends and their daughter. It was a good night to go, since the guitar guy was visiting. He serenaded their 1 year-old until she started crying. Good times! Definitely a tasty place, though, with killer sangria!

This past weekend, my parents and Nate came down to visit and go to Great America with us (and celebrate our anniversary with us!). Nolan was a little pooped from an overnight shift, but after waffles and coffee, he perked right up. This is generally why I feel bad waking him up after a shift. He looks so exhausted! We've both agreed though, that this futon may be more comfy than our bed. We both slept there this weekend and slept like babies!

Great America was fun...crowded, and smelled vaguely like the feces of small children mixed with funnel cakes. But fun! And during the picnic part (we went through my work, so there was a company hosted lunch), Nate and Nolan shoved the little kids out of the way and got some serious tetherball action in. It's not a very dignified sport, tetherball.

I decided to keep this video as a gif, because come on, it's just so much better this way. This is Nolan beating Nate in the final round. Hilarious!

Sunday, after Nolan's long shift at work, he brought home 2 pieces of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory (yum!), and I had prepared 2 little cookies and cream cakes, not knowing he was picking up cheesecake! So we had a dessert fiesta, and popped open a bottle of champagne to celebrate 6 incredible years together. I won't get sappy here, lest you think all these pictures were a ploy to get you to read this far and struggle through reading exactly how in love with my husband I am. But just you know - I am the luckiest woman alive.

I finally have almost used up the last of my birthday giftcards (yay!), and last night the last package arrived with my brand new CrossFit/running shoes. I just so happened to be doing "Nancy" last night for my WOD, so I needed some flexible shoes. These. were. awesome. There is nothing like a new pair of workout shoes. Especially ones as fun-looking (and functional) as these! Behold:

So, uh, that's the end. No more pictures. Do I hear a sigh of relief? Well just you wait - tomorrow is Thursday, so that means I have to come up with something to actually write about for my Thankful Thursday post! I guess I'm finally back from vacation.