233 Years of Awesomeness

Happy Birthday America (okay technically that's 2 days belated).... I was celebrating our nation's birth in true americana style... the only thing missing was the gorgeous weather (very present on July 3rd and 5th.. go figure) Friday we spent 6 brief hours in the car to get to fam in Iowa. We went to dinner theater featuring best of Monty Python. How great is that?

They had cake. And Booze. And encouraged people to sing 'always look on the bright side of life' and there was whistling involved, which is not my forte. I end up doing a lot of spitting. Over cake. boo for that.

On the fourth we got to Judge the parade!! The town has 600ish people (is that a good estimate, family?) and the turn-out was undoubtedly hampered by the subzero temperatures. Seriously despite checking my iphone every 5 minutes for weather conditions I failed to adequately pack for the forecasted gloomy weather. What i brought was a sundress and sandals. What i SHOULD have brought was sweatpants tucked into rain boots. And puff paint, obviously, to decorate the sweatpants in all of their 4th of July glory.

It was still really fun though. Minus when Dad did this (he was just kidding though)

My sister, John (in a poncho... pause for laughter..) and I as my uncle gives us instructions on how to judge the float entries.

In a fierce pro and con deliberating session. Judging floats isn't easy, you know.

Discussing the float with the goat on it (there was one with chickens too!) ... I think we gave it 2nd place in its category. John found it hilarious that they were holding he umbrella over the goat..... considering I had requested that he hold the umbrella over me all morning.

The night ended with watching a big fireworks display over the Mississippi River. It was perfect :) !

On to the eats! This week I found a recipe for a california roll salad. It was MUCHO interesting (or should that be reserved for mexican entries?) how about it was most interesting? Anyway it had:

• torn nori strips
• sesame seeds
• imitation crab meat (i know, i know, it's super processed)
• avocado
• cucumbers
• lettuce
• Jasmine rice (i know, i know, it's white and not the healthier option either)
• soy sauce/ginger/rice wine vinegar

the recipe had some sort of combo for the salad dressing, but it looked/smelled weird when I attempted it (through no fault of the recipe i'm sure)... but i thought this was creative and yummy. Just like the 'ole california roll and it satisfied my sushi craving for days!

Next up for my interesting eats last week was this little Ellie Krieger gem from her cookbook. The Shrimp/Tomato Bake had:

• shrimp
• diced tomatoes
• feta
• onion
• seasonings

Just how I like it, a SHORT ingredient list! Actually this was pretty good, John even liked it (gasp!) We had it served over orzo and had big crusty sourdough bread and corn on the cob with it too.. YUMM.

I hope everyone had a FABULOUS 4th of July!

Long Live the King

I woke up this morning wishing it was winter so I could ceremoniously wear one glove in memorium. I might've bedazzled it too. I loved that Michael loved bedazzlement. *sigh*

This further makes me vow that we WILL learn the thriller dance this summer. In college my good friend Amanda would ALWAYS lead the crowd/dance floor, knowing every single move. She was amazing. However in desperate need of-but without the guidance of the brilliant Amanda, we instead looked up the thriller youtube video and stopped/started it while we tried to learn it backwards (micheal facing the camera, us facing micheal) over a few bottles of wine. Cut to the next weekend on a dance floor when thriller was played and --not surprisingly -- when 1 1/2 eight counts into the dance when we crashed into one and other we asked the DJ to stop and start it again (he didn't)... it was SO FUN though. Here's to you Micheal, and moonwalking your way into our hearts and group dance aspirations. In other news, I had a FANTASTIC and creative meal planned, I promise. However, game time, one of the star pieces of produce in said meal was peeled and discovered to be BAD. that's right. dead. old news. finito. checked out. swimming with the fishes (okay that one just didn't make sense). gone to Avocado heaven (mexico? could be). Anyway Instead I decided to make an impromptu big 'ole salad based on inspiration from the following article:

Animals on drugs: Australian crop circles created by 'high' wallabies
That's right. Apparently a bunch of wallabies (by the way, what IS the difference between kangaroos and wallabies?) anyway, they got into some poppy fields and got HIGH and spun around a bunch of times until they crashed, ruining crops and causing all kinds of problems for farmers, animal control, and of course causing hilarity.


Then I got to thinking how poppy seed dressing sounded SOOOooo good. I searched my calendar for upcoming drug tests:
But since I'm not a MLB player, have a parole officer, or on Seinfeld, I'm pretty much able to have all the poppy seed I want :)

My Salad was DEE LISH

• Spinach
• Iceberg Lettuce
• Red peppers
• Roma tomatoes
• Carrot shreds
• Cucumber slices
• shelled edamame (YUM)
• PLENTY of poppyseed dressing

For more protein/good measure I had a little cup of lowfat cottage cheese and some fig newtons.


What did I do LAST weekend you ask? Well, John and I saw UP in 3D :) It was AWESOME. Totally adorable story line, and really cool to see things in 3D (check out our cool glasses!)

Also my friend Jessica (the first to have offspring) came into town and I got to have my second date with her completely adorable son. Not surprisingly, this rang no bells, clocks or timers. As much as this kid was trying to crawl away from me most of the time he was there, I was happy to live vicariously through his momma. :)

He IS cute though isn't he?

In other news the CHIRO says I need to have a more active spine at work. Hence forth, My regular spinning chair has been replaced by this guy:

Abs of steel in like ... what... two? three weeks? Too bad I spend most of the day with my elbows on the desk typing/moving hte mouse. I guess it will take more like a month for a six pack then, huh? :)

Hope everyone is has a FABULOUS weekend!

Book, Cook, and Bowl

I know what you're thinking... change the name of your blog because book, cook, and bowl is so MONEY... right? well actually it's more like the sum of my activities for the week (when of course you don't count working, sleeping, and continually checking gofugyourself.com for updates). My most recent concoction was supposed to be from this cooking light recipe. Too bad I forgot to print out the recipe before I left work and the internet connection last night was patchy at best. I just sort of threw in whatever sounded like it was probably in there. Truthfully I think I got all of the ingredients. Quantities on the other hand is probably an entirely different issue.

• Crab meat (canned, no more pulling from the legs for home preparation! sheesh)
• diced celery
• diced pepper
• diced green onion
• lemon juice
• hot sauce (gasp! i hate hot things but i had john bring some hot sauce over)
• curry powder
• cream cheese/ NF yogurt / Nayonaise (vegan mayo) self made combo
• lemon juice

because the original recipe called for tons of cream cheese and mayo, my version (lacking a lot of the thicker texture) turned out relatively tuna-esque. I was in-like with this lunch. I wouldn't marry it or anything but I would probably date it, meet its parents, and then decide that we'd be better off being friends. I was trying to change it anyway, not letting it be it's full fat self. It's for the best.

Many of the afore mentioned ingredients came from my trip to the new Grocery Store downtown, which apparently everyone and their dog who lives in the vicinity wanted to see at the very moment I was there... it was packed! The building/decor/fresh selection was beautiful and the deli/bakery was amazing. For a good five minutes I gushed to the girl at the counter about how pretty their cakes were. The selection on the grocery side was slim (read: they had no orzo rice and only one kind of cream cheese) things were pricier and the parking situation is a little less than desirable(elevators to the parking garage, validating tickets... all kinds of confusing things). I ended up walking and was grateful I didn't get 10 cans of black beans or a handle of vodka. GEEZ 8 blocks seems like a long way without a shopping cart. Yes, I realize I would look homeless if I had a shopping cart downtown. I will probably just stick with grocery shopping in the burbs. Anyway before grocery curiosity overtook me I went bowling with class friends (shout out to the simons siblings and john s.). It was fun despite averaging a 75 and only getting to do a getting-a-strike victory dance twice..... probably because there were more than a few gutter ball hang-head-in-shame times too. oh snap.

Last night John made an impromptu appearance and we were at an impass about what to make. In the end I made the chicken/rice soup I had my heart set on and he made spaghetti casserole (always sounds good). I used the recipe from Ellie, and it was good. I think I used a little too much lemon, but it felt good to have some healthy homemade soup!

YUM!

Also I am excited to share my new literary purchase. Because i received multiple copies of the skinny bitch cookbook, I spent quite a bit of quality time at Barnes and Noble (I'm beginning to think I could live there) attempting to exchange for an equally interesting book, possibly up the same health-food-expanding horizons. I ended up with the You: The Owner's Manual Book from Oprah's Doctor, Dr. Oz. This series of books is all kinds of popular and best selling and I've been eyeing them since I thumbed through one last year and discovered they have TONS of health info in a funny simplistic easy-to-read format. Think medical encyclopedia meets bathroom reader type-book. There are fun facts, recipes, myth busters, illustrations, and medical info and advice. I'm all over it.

Too bad school starts next week and it will pretty much RUIN me from extracurricular reading, because there are all kinds of things I want to soak in first. On the list is the People's History of the United States which I started over Christmas. Two weeks later and on the verge of a new semester I'm on page 50 of 700, so seeing the end of the book doesn't look promising any time soon. SUPER interesting though. Also when I was home last I found and old literature book from a class in college. There are all kinds of cool peoms, sonnets, short stories, etc. in there. Apparently while IN school I was too busy watching trading spaces marathons all afternoon, planning spring break, and otherwise having a mediocre GPA to go above and beyond any required reading. Oh well... college is for fun and not sonnets, right? Isn't that a saying or something?? :)

It's the Freakin' Weekend

I don't really like R. Kelly (what with him peeing on underage girls and all), but this song is very appropriately stuck in my head on this Friday morning. The last couple of nights I have stayed at home with no long to-do list (or more appropriately, not worrying about an existing long to-do list) No, instead I have been basking in the glow of nothingness as I am now DONE with school for the next month. That's right, finals are over, whoop whoop!! My blissfull school-is-out feeling coupled with the the crazy holiday upcoming holiday schedule.... means my immediate future resembles cleaning, cooking, christmas shopping, and/or spending so much time on my couch that i have to remind myself to quarter-turn every few hours to avoid bedsores. yessssssssssssss. I felt a little creative with my eats for the week. I made a fire roasted corn burger the other day. Not too shabby. For the life of me I can't find the actual recipe link anymore, but I found it on this super creative site. It uses the potato as a binder and has lime, cornmeal, kidney beans, fire roasted corn, and some spices. Grilling would've been ideal, but baking was delicous also. I had it with a WW bun, romaine, tomato..and.. be still my beating heart........... avocado. It was good, better than it looks at least (i realize the color is a bit unappetizing).

Also I've recently discovered that I'm obsessed with dates. On my last grocery trip I was looking for raisins for the recipe below, when I stumbled across a bag of dates from Dole. Because I love apricots, prunes, and apparently being an old person, I am no stranger to the dried fruit aisle in the grocery store. However seeing dates there made my heart skip a beat. The entire package is now gone and the next grocery shopping excursion cannot come fast enough! Anyway I made a salad based on the recipe on the back. It had pears, balsalmic vinagrette dressing, walnuts and romaine. There it is, in all it's date-like glory in front of my christmas tree. Also, fun fact, dates are from palm trees and are of middle east origin. Question: do I love food or wikipedia more? answer: looking up food on wikipedia.

Also I made a tuna salad recipe from whole foods online cookbook. It had raisins, carrots, almonds and cottage cheese. Here and I thought I could never love anything without mayo. It was a christmas miracle.

Have a fabulous weekend peeps.