What I Ate Wednesday....

Hello Again Blogging World.....

I've been MIA for the past month and actually haven't been as dedicated as I should be.  It's pretty much laziness as far as I am concerned which is sad.  So here's to hoping that I can really truly get back into the swing of things.  

Today we were supposed to have a "Snowstorm" here in the DC metro area.  I was sooo super excited because if you know anything about me, you know that I like love snow! The kiddos and I were discussing yesterday whether or not we'd get snow and of course us teachers were praying that we wouldn't have school.  

Fast forward to this morning about 6:00 am, at this point I have overslept if I do actually have work.  I check the county's website and win! No school!  So of course I look outside and what do I see?! NOTHING!  That's pretty much how today went.  Huge flakes would fall and quickly and then the rain would come.  I know that there were areas that got snow, just not ours.  What a disappointing winter.  

Alas, I guess I am truly ready for spring now.

Since we didn't have school, Gary cooked breakfast, pancakes and bacon. Yum! I also had a couple cups of hot chocolate...perfect on a non-snowy day :-(

Lunch: Salad bar from Harris Teeter

Snack: Banana 

Dinner: London broil, baked potato and green beans 

So, what did y'all eat?  

Did you get the snow that I so desperately wanted?!

A Weekend in the Burgh

One of my best friends lives in Pittsburgh.  I wish she lived closer, but at least she lives in a cool city. The Megabus also goes there so I don't have to drive.  

I had off Friday and Monday so I could leave early Friday Morning, which was great since it was like a 6 hour ride.  I of course arrived late and ended up not having a seat to myself, or even a window, totally bumming.  

Now, if you know me, I love to eat.  So of course I had to eat my way around Pittsburgh.  For dinner, we went to this noodle place called Noodlehead in Shadyside.  I ordered the pad thai, with a spice of 2, I think it goes up to 5, with 5 being blazing hot! It was actually plenty spicy, I didn't have to add anything extra, actually I am pretty sure I downed 6 glasses of water.  T and I also ordered a Ginger beer to split the bottle labeled it "hot, hot, hot." Yeah, that did not help calm the fire that was burning in my mouth.  However, it did meet my need for a good ginger beer.   A good ginger beer should not be able to be chugged, it should be sipped because of the spice.  Oh, we also ordered these pork belly steamed buns, with some type of pickle slaw, soooo delish!

After dinner T and I had a few hours to chilax before we went to see Les Miserables.  The theater was super cute and the food was super cheap compared to normal AMC/Regal prices. They also had a full bar. Winning!  Then after consuming a medium popcorn we headed over to the all night diner, yup and ordered more food. I love diners and cheap food. I got a caramel sundae, YUM!  and mozzarella sticks, yes the perfect sweet/salty, hot/cold combo.  I think I gained like 5 lbs that weekend.

Does this look staged?!

We slept in Saturday morning and then went for our 6 mile run.  I signed my girl up for the DC half marathon in March, so I have her on a training regiment and she's been so good about sticking to it.  I however, haven't been all that diligent.  My running buddy, aka my husband, does not always like to run and I don't enjoy going on longer runs solo.  C'est la vie.   We ran along the river, highway, over a bridge and through a cute town.  

Dinner that night I had made a early birthday reservation for T at Lidia's Italian Restaurant, Lidia is apparently Joe from Master Chef's mother(I learn something new every day). Teresa got the restaurant week special, four course meal and I got the Lidia's Pasta Tasting Trio served table side(unlimited servings), with Caesar salad and dessert.  

The Breadsticks were delish!

Teresa had a roasted yellow and red beet salad with goat cheese.  Soo the "it" thing right now.  Too bad I think red beets tasted like dirt.

Her second Primi was homemade ravioli with roasted almonds(I forget what was inside, was it butternut squash?) 

Her main dish, chicken parmesan with eggplant. 

My trio of pastas, rigatoni with meat and parpadelle with vodka sauce and peas and a 4 cheese ravioli with a browned butter sauce and freshly cracked black pepper- that was my fav!

Final course: Dessert

T got Tiramisu and I torta di mascarpone con cioccolatta.

Sunday Morning we had brunch

I had the Challah french toast with fresh berries and a fig jam, potatoes and the most delish bacon. Teresa had crepes with asparagus and a cream mushroom sauce, also with potatoes. 

Later that afternoon, prior to departure we decided to visit the Andy Warhol Museum.  Let's just say he isn't one of my favorites. I am more of a impressionist lover, Monet, Degas, Renoir...

Last cooked meal of 2012

I have started to dedicate my Fridays to preparing fun meals.

We haven't been home since before Christmas break, much needed by the way. But the last meal that I made my hubby and I was a rack of lamb.  I've never made it before.  I've always wanted to, ever since I saw Matthew McConaughey prepare it for Kate Hudson in "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." One of my all time favorite movies by the way. 

So, the last time I was at our new Costco I saw a lil baby rack. Thought, what the hey..... and voila.....

I got the sides and herbs at the local market: Eastern Market, one of my favorite places to shop on the Hill.

I purchased fresh rosemary and oregano for the rub.  I chopped it up and mixed in some EVOO. I also chopped up some garlic to add to the rub. The longer it sits, the more the flavors seep in, however, I was only able to let it marinate for an hour or so. However it still had tons of flavor. I also cross scored the meat so that I could rub the mixture into the cuts.  

 I also bought fingerling potatoes. I also brushed them with some of the rub, added some additional smashed cloves of garlic and sprinkled with kosher salt.  I started roasting them up first because I hate when my potatoes aren't cooked enough.

Green bean almondine, I boiled the beans with again, some smashed cloves of garlic. Are you getting that I love garlic?!

Toasted almonds - yeah toaster oven

 OF course I took a picture of my chopped garlic!

 There it is just coming out of the oven. Beauty eh?!

Voila!

Dinner a la me

The other night I made dinner for my hubs.

Don't get too excited, I really didn't have the energy to be that creative. 

Here's what I made:

Brussel Spouts

I typically parboil my brussels first so that they cook all the way through and a little faster. Then, I roasted them in some chopped garlic, oil and sea salt.

I also fried up some bacon and toasted the chopped walnuts in the bacon grease(yes, I know, not exactly healthy, shame on me!)

Then, I tossed them all together, YUMMERS!

I also made boiled potatoes, boring I know. 

For dessert, Ghiradelli brownies! Yes Please!

Beautiful sear on my steak, thanks to the hubs. Usually I grill, but it was displaced, as in not right outside my back door.

 Here's the finished product. Grilled steak, boiled potatoes and roasted brussels with bacon and walnuts- I think that was the most exciting part of the dinner. 

Later this week I'm going to dabble in grilling a rack of lamb. If anyone has any tips....and or recipes....send them my way!

Favorite Parts of this Season

~Fall~

Fall is not my favorite season although there are definitely aspects of every season that I love.  

Favorites of this season:

• -apple picking
• - barlett pears
• - the beautiful leaves, as they change color
• -cooler weather
• -cute scarves
• -boots
• - pumpkins

I told Gary to hold up a pumpkin, this is what he chose(he clearly hates pictures). And yes, there were bugs coming out of that disgusting thing.  Sorry pumpkin, you are unwanted.

 I feel like I should be wearing Snow White's evil stepmother's costume and maybe not smiling. Just one little bite.

Since Gary and I had off today(thanks Hurricane Sandy) I thought it perfect to carve our pumpkins, well pumpkin, it took me forever just to do one. In hindsight I probably should have started yesterday. 

We have a bunch of pumpkin stencils, but we've used most of them.  I bought one of those kits a few years ago that came with two carving knives and a scoop.  Gary always gets frustrated that it doesn't scoop well so this year I bought a large metal scoop with "teeth"  from Michaels.  A lot easier I believe.  

I give him the job of opening up the top and scooping out the inside.  Then it is up to me to trace on the design and use my meticulous cutting skills to carve our pumpkin.  
For some reason I wanted to a Disney Pumpkin. I love everything Disney!  I really do love Disney World too, I almost think it is better without kids. haha, maybe I'm wrong......Here's my finished product. It needs a little more fine tuning, there is still a lot of pulp.

I also get the joy of cleaning off all the pulp from the seeds and seasoning and roasting them.  I love roasted pumpkin seeds.  If you have never done it before, you should.  You can season them with all different toppings. 

This year I did half with cayenne and half with garlic.

Of course they are all seasoned with melted butter and salt. You can of course substitute oil for the butter. But there is just something about the taste of real butter.  

So as I speak those delicious little seeds are roasting away in the oven, smells super yummy!  

What are your favorite things to do in the fall?

Got Stress?!?

How do you de-stress at the end of the day? 

As of late I definitely have been feeling stressed.  We are moving on September 28, not too far from where we are, but we have a lot to do before then, arrangements to make, boxes to pack....I am super excited though.  Only 17 more days and we will officially be home owners.  Feel free to send housewarming gifts:-), we also take cash!

Tonight was Back to School Night, for teachers that is one of the least favorite days of the year.  I got to school at 6:40 and just got home at 7:40 so I was at work for 13 hours. I know, some of you work more than that. I, however am not used to it at all.  

So tonight I am having a nice slice of Dairy Queen oreo cookie ice cream cake.  

I'd also really like a glass of wine, but we don't have any bottles currently. I guess I could run across the street, but I'm just too tired and I am already in my pjs. I'd post a picture, but you would all be too jealous of the look I am sporting right now.  

I think food is one of my favorite de-stressers...I also enjoy running, but after putting in a 13 hour day I'm beat.  I'm also a little worried about my half marathon on Sunday....eeeek, so not ready. If I was going to run a 10k like I am at the end of October I would be set.  Let's just hope we have beautiful weather.  The last few days have been truly "Fall" weather.  

Can't wait for this to happen!

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is only Wed, just gotta push through.  Happy Hump Day a day early!

What I ate Wednesday

Haven't done this in awhile.  It isn't because I haven't eaten anything good, it's pretty much because I've been MIA.....

Breakfast:
Anyway, this morning I had some extra time to actually make breakfast.  I had to attend a workshop and didn't have to be there until 8:30. This means that I didn't have to get up at 5:30, but could get up at 7:30 or so.  Two whole extra hours of sleep, complete *Bliss*

Ever since I watched the MasterChef episode where they had to make eggs three ways, poached, soft boiled and omelette I have been on a mission.  I've tried the poached several times and still can't seem to perfect it. I've done the vinegar thing, but maybe it's because I only had cider vinegar. I just can't seem to get all the white to not spread out. Grrr.....
If anyone has any tips I'd love to hear them!

So this morning I decided to poach an egg.  I don't have any of those cute little egg cups.  They are on my Christmas wish list.  

Lunch: 
The workshop that I was at served lunch buffet style.  Not what I would typically eat for lunch, not to mention that hot lunches always make me super sleepy.  They had fried chicken, a greenbean medley, a creamed corn dish that was super yummy, fried cod, fried oysters (see the theme with the main foods?!), a pasta salad, rolls, crab soup, potatoes and some other side dishes.  The potatoes were yummy, whatever they cooked them in. 
Yeah, I have a huge plate full, kinda wanted to try a lil of everything.  I just couldn't stomach the oyster.

There was also cake for dessert, I'm not usually a huge fan of dessert, but I tried it, free is free after all.  It had strawberry layers and some raspberry sauce.  It was meh....

Dinner: 
I only wish that I could have found a yummy heirloom tomato for my dish.  C'est la vie.