tastefullyoffensive:

Dogs from this year’s Creative Dog Grooming Competition in Hershey, Pennsylvania. [telegraph/via]

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Dinner ideas….

I know I am not the only working wife who struggles to make a legit dinner that is healthy, satisfying, inexpensive, and creative during the work week. 

I enjoy cooking (in spite of our tiny kitchen) but often have trouble coming up with “what the h*ll should I cook tonight?”. I’ve done the meat, veggie, carb route but frankly that gets old real quick. I love when a fellow blogger posts a random “this is what I made for dinner this week” because it has therefore been tested and deemed feasible and tasty!

So I figured i’d pass along a few recipes i’ve been cooking lately in hopes that it gives a few people inspiration to get through the week! All of them make for good leftovers and lunches to get you through the week. 

Two new recipes I stumbled upon last week:

*None of these are my pictures, mine are either bad or I ate it before remembering to take a picture)

Chicken Tostada Salad

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Notes/Tips:

  • Bagged corn tortillas and rotisserie chicken makes this recipe a little less hands on. 
  • I kept romaine leaves in big chunks to act like lettuce wraps
  • Dressing is delicious and super simple

Flank Steak with Chimichurri and Summer Squash

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Notes/Tips:

  • Boil the potatoes to speed up the process
  • I added zucchini to make the hash a bit more green
  • Too much red wine vinegar in the sauce doesn’t hurt (I learned this on accident)
  • Don’t overcook the beef, it cooks quickly. 
  • There is a difference between curly and flat leaf parsley, who knew!
  • Lastly, parsley smells very blah when chopping but if you mix well with other ingredients (I mortared/pestled) it magically becomes delicious. 

Last night I made this recipe c/o http://www.thedailyjulie.com/

Creamy Cashew Chicken Soup

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Notes/Tips

  • I subbed collard greens for kale, same texture and I needed them for another recipe as well. 
  • I am going to add some rice for leftovers so that I can enjoy the delicious sauce/juice. 
  • I was brave and tried the chayote squashes, interesting, yummy and not very squashy. 

Lastly, this one is an absolute FAVORITE of my husband c/o http://unabashedlyuncorked.com/

White Bean, Pancetta, & Tortellini Soup

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Notes/Tips: 

  • I subbed collard greens when I couldn’t find swiss chard one time and liked it so stuck with it. 
  • I add one of the big 20oz packs of cheese tortellini to make it more substantial for a meal (read: to appease my husband). 
  • Boar’s Head sells pre-diced pancetta. Bacon ≠ pancetta but can work in a bind (I read you have to blanch it to get rid of smokey flavor). 

HAPPY COOKING!

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Weird, catchy and cute!! 

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HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to the worlds best dad!! 

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HAPPY FRIDAY ALL!! [via: themissq]

HAPPY FRIDAY ALL!!

[via: themissq]

(via emphasisadded)

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Neighborhood Tree Considered rotating it but actually prefer the horizontal layout. 

Neighborhood Tree

Considered rotating it but actually prefer the horizontal layout. 

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Happy Hump Day…I can almost see the weekend! Reblog: themissq

Happy Hump Day…I can almost see the weekend!

Reblog: themissq

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Random Tuesday Ramblings

  • I have NOTHING planned for this weekend and I am so excited!  No traveling, no softball, no races, just loads of free time. I have high hopes of getting my hair done (long overdue), sleeping in, catching up with a friend (also overdue), getting the house back in order and with any luck catching some rays with a book I’ve been wanting to read.
  • We saw the aftermath of a really gnarly softball injury last weekend which did not help my ‘post-softball-to-the-head mildly traumatized self’ feel great about being out on the field. Softball has been a fun little adventure and I am slowly learning how to play and not suck. However, in the meantime, I’ll be the girl decked out in a helmet and mouth guard ducking from the ball.
  • I am starting to plan out the next Half Marathon training plan. I didn’t stick to a plan for the last two because I wanted a little training flexibility and it backfired (PR aside) so I’m going back to a true schedule since I apparently need the extra discipline.
  • I booked my tickets to go see my sister, brother-in-law, mother and new NEPHEW in July in El Paso, TX. The trip is ~3 days post due date so I will be there in time for either uber newborn phase or possibly catch birth if she goes past due date…can’t wait!
  • I’m looking at booking either one or two days of diving at the end of June since the last trip got blown out. One day makes for a much more reasonable weekend trip but part of me wants to stay for a second day to get the most out of the weekend…TBD.
  • Operation “Get Julie back in shape” is going pretty well. I didn’t want to go zero to hero style so I have been slowly ramping up my CrossFit and ramping down the unhealthy eating out (still eating out just trying to make some wiser ordering decisions). Should be at a comfortable coasting workout/healthy eating phase by the time I introduce Half Marathon training plan v4.0.
  • I used some basil, thyme and rosemary from our herb garden with dinner last night…dinner win!

ThaThat’s all folks! I might make this “Tuesday Ramblings” a thing like Throwback Thursday but with less alliteration. 

-        

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I got up bright and early Saturday morning to day-of register for a 10K. My husband was running it with work but I couldn’t quite commit to it before the online registration ended sometime last week. With the possibility of rain looming, the 5:45 wake up, the drive (and attempt to find parking) in Georgetown, I was a little unsure I was actually going to be able to talk myself into running it. Add in the lack of any financial commitment and well, it was 50:50 whether is was going to happen or not.  I debated whether to even do a race recap because I didn’t train in the slightest for it and well I’m not terribly happy with my time. For starters, I have run a whoppin’ 3 miles in the last three weeks since the Fredericksburg Half thanks to a cold that lingered, a serious case of lack of motivation and the fact that i’ve actually been going to CrossFit some. I had no goal other than to run it (and not die or hurt myself). Sure, I wanted to stay closeish to a 10 minute pace but I was trying to be realistic. I ran the first 5K without stopping for a split time of 32:34 (10.29 pace), not great, not terrible. I slowed down a bit on the back half (out and back course) and finished in 1:08:01 (10:57 pace). I am glad I beat the 11 minute pace (huge thanks to the downhill finish) but the really annoying thing was that it felt like I was running closer to a 10 minute pace based on effort and heart rate (thanks humidity!). The course was not bad, relatively flat and somewhat scenic but fairly boring because it was just straight out for 3.1 and back for 3.1 (aside from the 180 degree turn to get to start/finish). I missed having a running buddy but did enjoy watching the super fast runners who were on their way back. However, I found myself anticipating the turnaround point for way longer than I would have liked thanks to the the out and back nature. Ultimately, I’m just glad I got my a$$ out of bed and didn’t bail and that I still managed to run 6.2 miles at a decent pace J

I got up bright and early Saturday morning to day-of register for a 10K.

My husband was running it with work but I couldn’t quite commit to it before the online registration ended sometime last week. With the possibility of rain looming, the 5:45 wake up, the drive (and attempt to find parking) in Georgetown, I was a little unsure I was actually going to be able to talk myself into running it. Add in the lack of any financial commitment and well, it was 50:50 whether is was going to happen or not. 

I debated whether to even do a race recap because I didn’t train in the slightest for it and well I’m not terribly happy with my time. For starters, I have run a whoppin’ 3 miles in the last three weeks since the Fredericksburg Half thanks to a cold that lingered, a serious case of lack of motivation and the fact that i’ve actually been going to CrossFit some. I had no goal other than to run it (and not die or hurt myself). Sure, I wanted to stay closeish to a 10 minute pace but I was trying to be realistic.

I ran the first 5K without stopping for a split time of 32:34 (10.29 pace), not great, not terrible. I slowed down a bit on the back half (out and back course) and finished in 1:08:01 (10:57 pace). I am glad I beat the 11 minute pace (huge thanks to the downhill finish) but the really annoying thing was that it felt like I was running closer to a 10 minute pace based on effort and heart rate (thanks humidity!). The course was not bad, relatively flat and somewhat scenic but fairly boring because it was just straight out for 3.1 and back for 3.1 (aside from the 180 degree turn to get to start/finish). I missed having a running buddy but did enjoy watching the super fast runners who were on their way back. However, I found myself anticipating the turnaround point for way longer than I would have liked thanks to the the out and back nature. Ultimately, I’m just glad I got my a$$ out of bed and didn’t bail and that I still managed to run 6.2 miles at a decent pace J

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Eastern Market post rainfall

Eastern Market post rainfall

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AMAZING!! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2336829/Kayaker-keeps-cool-capture-moment-20ft-minke-whale-swam-beneath-boat-Antarctic.html Photo sourced from article

AMAZING!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2336829/Kayaker-keeps-cool-capture-moment-20ft-minke-whale-swam-beneath-boat-Antarctic.html

Photo sourced from article

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As I was driving home from work last night and saw a giant plum of smoke coming from somewhere in DC. I kept driving, curious what it possibly could be coming from. As I approach my exit I could tell that the smoke was clearly coming from something close by. I had a moment of “I didn’t leave anything on did I?” Turns out it was coming from our adorable neighborhood hardware store that is like 2 blocks from our house. Michael and I have made a few runs to our local “Frager’s” for everything from new house keys when we moved in to our latest blueberry bush additions to our patio. I had been meaning to run over there to pick up ant traps for the past week but hadn’t managed to find time. The fire was massive, burning for 5 hours and bringing in 50 fire trucks and 200 firefighters. I have high hopes that they will rebuild as it was one of the few stores that made our little neighborhood feel quaint.  PS - I got a new camera so brace yourself for an influx of random pictures on my blog as I figure out how to work the thing. 

As I was driving home from work last night and saw a giant plum of smoke coming from somewhere in DC. I kept driving, curious what it possibly could be coming from. As I approach my exit I could tell that the smoke was clearly coming from something close by. I had a moment of “I didn’t leave anything on did I?” Turns out it was coming from our adorable neighborhood hardware store that is like 2 blocks from our house. Michael and I have made a few runs to our local “Frager’s” for everything from new house keys when we moved in to our latest blueberry bush additions to our patio. I had been meaning to run over there to pick up ant traps for the past week but hadn’t managed to find time. The fire was massive, burning for 5 hours and bringing in 50 fire trucks and 200 firefighters. I have high hopes that they will rebuild as it was one of the few stores that made our little neighborhood feel quaint. 

PS - I got a new camera so brace yourself for an influx of random pictures on my blog as I figure out how to work the thing. 

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tastefullyoffensive: [via]

tastefullyoffensive:

[via]

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Hard hat octopus

Hard hat octopus

(via shellsinthekeys)

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Whirlwind yet relaxing weekend!

We headed off to Charlotte Friday morning to visit the in-laws and to attend a friend’s wedding. I decided to hail an uber cab (read: black town car) at my brothers suggestion which made the early morning airport commute super stress free. We made it to the airport with so much time to spare that we actually sat down for coffee & breakfast! Some early morning Facebook stalking revealed that one of my favorite SoCal dive buddies was flying into Charlotte around the same time and we arranged a brief airport terminal reunion. 

After a few errands we had a delicious lunch (and a beer) with family and then squeezed in a little poolside lounging before gearing up for group birthday dinner (celebrating four May birthdays) at BLT…tuna tartar, surf n’ turf, sweet brussels sprouts and strawberry/rhubarb cobbler…omg!

All plans to get up and knock out 2-3 vacation miles failed by sleeping in and enjoying a lazy Saturday morning (no regrets). We eventually made it back out to the pool for more magazine reading and hot dogs on the patio…summer done right!

We then got all dolled up for the black tie optional affair and then headed downtown in hopes of not being late. The wedding was wonderful, beautiful ceremony, delicious cocktails/hors d’oeuvres, gorgeous reception/dinner followed by cake and dancing.

Early morning flight back to DC on Sunday to an equally lazy/relaxing afternoon of DVR shows, couch napping and a rained out softball game (read: dinner and drinks with team). 

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Just a science nerd with a passion for scuba diving, running and CrossFit!

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