meatloaf in july

We had a pretty low key weekend, not nearly as exciting as the weekend before. We had dinner with friends on Friday for Natasha's birthday, then called it an early night so that we could tackle our huge to do list on Saturday.

Saturday morning, we were up and out of bed by 6:45, partly because of annoying dogs, and partly because we wanted to get an early run in before the humidity got too bad. We were out the door by 7:00 and did 5 miles around our neighborhood. I was absolutely drenched by the time we got home, so I guess the humidity was already bad. It was a slow run, but it was pretty good. I am glad we got it over with early, so we had the rest of the day to work on other things.

Starting this upcoming weekend, we have a very busy schedule. Each weekend, we are out of town until we leave for a week and a half of weddings/vacation in Mexico and Providence, RI. We used this past weekend to prepare ourselves and get some things done that will need to be done by the end of the summer. 

One of the items on my to do list was to go bridesmaid dress shopping with Lindsay. We definitely found "the one(s)" and had a blast trying on bunches of dresses. After shopping, I introduced Lindsay to the fabulous world of ring cleaning, and we grabbed lunch while our rings were soaking at the jewelers. During lunch, Lindsay mentioned she was making a turkey meatloaf for dinner. I thought that was a little weird considering it is July and 100+ degrees outside, but for some reason, I began to instantly crave some.

Lindsay assured me it was a lighter version of the winter time favorite and forwarded me the recipe from Real Simple.  The spinach, egg white, and ground turkey combination definitely had me interested so I decided to give it a try. It turned out fantastic.

I made a few adjustments to the recipe by subbing whole grain oats for the breadcrumbs, cutting the parsley measurements in half, and per Lindsay's suggestion, cutting the onion and spinach measurements in half as well. I decided to make mashed red skinned potatoes and corn on the cob to summerfy this meatloaf even more.

Mike and I both really enjoyed this meal and I am really glad Lindsay suggested it. Thanks so much!



While everything was cooking, I decided to use up some kale in the refrigerator the only way that I know how... kale chips. :)

They were a great snack to have while we were waiting for dinner to be ready.

We had some great fruit this week in our weekly produce box, including cherries (love), strawberries, and more blueberries. I feel like I hit the produce jackpot with this delivery. The only problem, how are we going to get rid of all these blueberries before we leave on Thursday? I know we will get through the strawberries and cherries, but I really only take a small amount of blueberries in my oats everyday, and we have 2 full pints to get through.

Since the lemon blueberry muffins that I made last week were such a huge hit, I decided to make more yesterday.  This time, I threw in some chopped strawberries to make them a little more exciting.

They turned out so delicious. The strawberries give them a gooey, sweet flavor that goes so wonderful with lemon.

I had one this morning with a little butter on top and it was absolute perfection. This recipe is so easy and I plan on continuing to make these for as long as we have blueberries. I am considering making an extra batch to throw in the freezer for when we don't have any... That might have to happen before we leave on Thursday.

I also made some super creamy overnight oats with greek yogurt, strawberries, and blueberries for breakfast this morning.

Don't want those berries to go bad!

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This morning I did 3 miles around Mike's office and it was pretty sluggish. I just didn't have it in me today and I ran super slow... maybe that meatloaf had something to do with it? I felt heavy and tired, and HOT. It was only 8:15 in the morning, but the heat was so miserable. A friend told me over the weekend that runners only get a few "great" runs per week. 3/5 runs are just bad but you have to get through them. That is a pretty true statement and I guess today was one of my bad ones. I can look forward to my next run and hope it is a good, or great one.

Have a good Monday, everyone! I've got leftover meatloaf and mashed red potatoes for lunch with cherries for dessert. It is going to be a good day. :)

music, food trucks, and wine

I am going to have to break this past weekend up in a few parts. There is just too much goodness to share!

Our weekend started on Friday night, when Mike and I rushed home from work to change and head to Music on the Porch, an event that occurs twice a month during the summer in downtown Raleigh. I was pretty pumped about this event and knew it was considered family friendly, but boy were we surprised just how family friendly it really was! We were the ONLY people there without kids, which didn't really bother us, but it was kinda funny.

The sky was a little gnarly looking, but we actually didn't get any rain while we were out there. Here is the low-down... bring some chairs or a blanket, a bottle of wine or some beer, pack a picnic dinner (if you have time) or buy some food there, and relax while listening to some local music. Any event where I can bring my own wine and have an excuse to drink it out of a mason jar is a pure win in my book. :)

The event was close to a few restaurants, but they also had one food truck you could order from if you wanted. Mike and I definitely wanted to go that route, since I have an obsession with food trucks... and mason jars.

Klausie's Pizza

This isn't just regular pizza, either. It is deep dish, Chicago style pizza with some insane toppings and varieties. Of course I couldn't go with just a normal pepperoni pizza, I had to get something different, and I had to make Mike get something different too, 'cause that is how I roll.

The pizza on the left was called the Fire Belly, pineapple puree, ham, hot thai chili butter, sweet red onion, and sweet basil (grown on the dashboard of the truck). The pizza on the right had bbq sauce, red onion, and pulled pork. Both were amazeballs.

I think it is awesome that Raleigh has an event like this. It was cheap, it was fun, and it was really a great way to unwind after a long work week. I think we need to borrow some kids next time we go, but I would definitely go again.

Mike and I enjoyed the music for about 2 hours before heading out. The sky was freaking us out that we were going to get drenched.  Plus, we were out of wine. :)

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Saturday morning, we had planned on getting a long run in. Since we haven't been running much in the last few weeks, I don't know where we got the idea that we would be able to just get up and run 8-10 miles, but clearly we were mistaken. We didn't get started until almost 10 or 11 and it was pretty toasty out. I made it about 3 miles before I had to take a break. When Mike saw me walking, he decided he had had about enough as well, so we walked for 2 miles before calling it quits.

We did hit up a new trail, though, and I really liked it. This trail is actually part of the marathon that Mike will be running in November, so he wants to start running different pieces of it to get familiar with it. I loved all the rolling hills and pastures that we ran through, but boy was it hot out there.

Right when we got back to the car, Mike and I decided to do a sprint lap around a track that we came across.

Mike ran his lap in 1 minute and 30 seconds and I ran mine in 1 minute and 40 or 45 seconds, I can't remember. It was fun to end our work out with a sprint, but we were both about to die when we finished.

Sweaty, post run picture... check!

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We spent the rest of Saturday doing some things around the house and yard and making a ton of homemade foods for dinner and for the freezer. But, I will save that for the next post!

Before I forget, though, look what I saw on my run this morning!

Right as I turned a corner, I saw this guy just staring at me. He let me take a picture, but when I tried to get closer, he took off. I love seeing things like this while running! 

decisions, decisions...

This past weekend, Mike and I headed to Huntington, West Virginia to see my family. My family has a big reunion each year and we have had to miss for the last few years due to weddings and other obligations, so I was really excited to get to go this year.

It was a fairly quick trip, leaving on Friday after work and returning on Sunday, but it was well worth it. I didn't take too many pictures on my phone, since we really just spent the days and nights catching up with family and watching the kids play, but I snapped a few while on a run on Saturday morning. My sister, Mike, and I went out for a 3 mile run near my Aunt and Uncle's house and although humid, it was really pretty.

We started out at my Aunt and Uncles and ran along a trail that led to a park.

The park we ran around was really cute, so of course I had to take a few photos.

When we got back near my Aunt and Uncle's house, we were right at 3 miles, so we called it a day.

With the massive amount of eating that was consumed later that day, we needed to do a little calorie burn beforehand. After the run, we spent the day at my uncles. It was a great weekend full of family and fun. Of course there was plenty of time with this little gal... who happens to have turned 5 years old today! I can't even get over how big she is getting! Here she is, taking self photos on my iPhone, when I wasn't even paying attention and climbing a tree all by herself.

Happy Birthday, Lil Bug! Aunt Dee Dee loves you soooo much!

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A while ago, I talked about considering doing a half marathon this coming September. I thought I had my mind made up to go ahead and register, but now I am reconsidering. I really want to do it, but I have a few hesitations.

1. Timing - The half that I was considering doing was the Rock 'N' Roll Virginia Beach half marathon on September 2. I haven't started training for it, and although I think I could still get the training in, I am a little nervous about injury and trying to do too much, too fast.

2. Money - The cost is up to $100 to enter and is only getting more and more expensive as the time passes. $100 is a lot of money just to accomplish a goal. Plus, the plan was to run it with Mike, and now we are talking $200. If I wait until next week to decide, the price is even more expensive.

3. Travel - We have been going non-stop this summer and won't be calming down until the end of August. I don't know if I want to throw yet another out of town trip onto our schedule, right when we thought we were done for a while.

So now, I am thinking I will look for some more challenging runs to do around here, that don't cost as much. Maybe even push back the half marathon to another time so that the weather is cooler and I will have plenty of time to train. There are a few options, including the Neuse River Bridge Run in New Bern, where my mom lives, the Just Think First Thanksgiving day half marathon here in Raleigh, or the City of Oaks half marathon, also in Raleigh. City of Oaks is the full marathon that Mike and his friends are planning to run in and I was hoping to be able to cheer him on along the sidelines, not running as well. I guess I am going to do a little more research and then decide.  Any suggestions for me?

a stocked fridge

I love when we go on a big grocery shopping trip. It feels so great to have options to choose from for breakfast and lunch. I love having plenty of snacks throughout the day to keep me from eating crap or starving.

We started our grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, which is always wonderful. We always try to get as much at TJ's at possible, since it is usually very reasonably priced and the options are so much better than traditional grocery stores. We usually have to go to another grocery store after Trader Joe's since they don't have everything we need, but luckily we only had to get a few things last night.

I was starving after we left the grocery store. I knew we had a ton of food, but all of it would require cooking, and since it was almost 8:30, cooking was not something I was interested in. Instead, we decided to be bad with our eating and went to a food truck.

There are always food trucks by our house, and they always look so good. They have been around for about a year and they are always packed, so we have been wanting to give one of them a try, especially the Mexican food truck. You know it must be good when the menu is written completely in Spanish.

I decided to go with the chicken quesadilla and Mike went with a few chicken and a beef taco. When we got home and I had my first bite, I knew it was an excellent decision.

The shredded chicken was seasoned perfectly (and obviously full of salt, but I didn't care). It wasn't dry at all and it was so full it had to be eaten with a fork. Luckily, I had over 1,000 mg of sodium left in my daily allowance, so I didn't worry about it nearly as much as usual.

Mike and I both agreed that the beef was the best. It wasn't ground beef, it was chopped chunks of delicious beef that were seasoned and cooked to perfection. They also gave us 3 different types of salsa and they were all homemade and super spicy, just the way I like it.

In a way, it probably was a bad thing to try this place out. It is really close to our house and I can totally see us stopping by there more often in the future.

--

This morning, we woke up and packed our lunches before starting to get ready for the day. Mike and I were giddy with how many options we had for snacks and lunches. We are nerds...

I packed up some plain greek yogurt with some honey on top (current yogurt lurve) instead of fruit. I had never bought any honey flavored yogurts before because I didn't think I would like it. Boy, was I wrong! It is so delicious! I tried some at my sister in law's last weekend, and now I want it all.the.time!

Lots of snack options for my day!

While we packed lunches, Mike fried us each some eggs and I made us some toast. Since I wasn't going to the gym today, I could eat a full breakfast, and it was really great.

I wound up still going to they gym yesterday since Mike had to be at work early, and I didn't have anything else to do. I didn't do any running though, since my shin has been bothering me. I actually think I am going to rest it today and possibly tomorrow too, and give running a try on Sunday. Hopefully by then it will be all better.

Poor Mike forgot his lunch today, so he doesn't even get to enjoy his monster sandwich and wonderful snacks that he made this morning. :(

We are off to the beach this weekend to see some family and friends. Should be a fun weekend and we are both pretty excited to go running at ANOTHER beach this weekend. May has been a pretty awesome running month with all the different places we have gotten to run.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday weekend!

Yesterday's Stats (had to guesstimate a little):
Calories (-) 510
Sodium (+) 400?
Protein (+) 12

Monday Blues

Happy Monday... (said in my most monotone voice possible). Today is not happy. I am tired, cranky and ready to crawl back in bed. I woke up late, forgot my badge to get in my building, and realized I am on call tonight at the hospital. I really hope I don't get called in!

I would love to remain in my bad mood, but, that sucks. So, I might as well get positive!

This past weekend was so busy, but so fun. On Friday night, Mike had his holiday party for work and they are not allowed to bring spouses. Silly, if you ask me, but it gave me a chance to go to dinner with a dear friend. We ate some amazing food, drank some delicious wine, and caught up on life. It was magnificent. Later, the boys (her boyfriend and Mike are close friends and work together) met us for a drink before we all headed home.

We ate dinner at a great place downtown called Zely and Ritz. I had eaten there before, but Lindsay hadn't and it is totally food that is up both of our alleys. Most of their food is fresh and local and they have quite an impressive wine list.

We started with some bruschetta and wine. The bruschetta came with 3 topping options, a goat cheese spread, arugula pate, and a pear butter. I loved mixing the goat cheese and pear butter, it was so delicious.

This is the wine that we chose. It was a malbec blend and it was some of the best wine I have ever had. We were joking about how we could enjoy a $3 bottle of wine any day of the week, but then you put an actual nice bottle in front of me and I feel like I can't drink anything else. The difference is truly amazing. Unfortunately, my wallet does not agree with me, so I am sure I will be back to my $3 bottles in no time. :)

Next, we each ordered our entrees. Lindsay had the pork tenderloin stuffed with blue cheese and on top of a cherry glaze. The pork came from the restaurant's local, grass fed farm and it was amazing. I am not even a huge fan of blue cheese, but the flavors were so good.

I ordered the sweet potato gnocchi, butternut squash, and broccoli. I was really in the mood for meat, but those are some of my favorite vegetables. I just couldn't pass it up. It was made in a maple sauce and it almost could have been dessert, it was so good.

We decided to share some creamy risotto with pork. It was awesome. The pork flavor was really strong, but it was so wonderful. I was stuffed, but kept dipping my fork in the bowl for another taste. :)

We were too full for dessert, but their menu looked yummy. I will have to try to limit my bread intake next time so I can enjoy some dessert. It is really nice to get out to a nice dinner with friend's every once in a while. We are usually really good about not eating out or choosing relatively inexpensive places, but every once in a while, it is worth it to spend the extra money and enjoy a well made meal with great company.

The rest of our weekend included a lot of driving and spending time with family. Mike had tickets to go to the Redskins - Patriots game yesterday. So, we drove up on Saturday morning to see my sister and her family for the day. My sister and I did a lot of shopping around and playing with kids. I am really loving that we have seen them so often during this holiday season. They are also going to come to our house for New Years, which will be really fun. I just wish we could see them this often all year round.

Yesterday, Jaime (my sister), made a crock pot veggie lasagna. It was delicious. I am so glad I was able to stay and have dinner with them. I will definitely be making this meal at some point. I love crock pot meals and am always looking for new recipes to try. We had the lasagna with a side salad and garlic bread. So good!

Jaime - the cook and her little side kick.

I finished up my dinner right as Mike was walking in the door from the football game. We headed out pretty quickly after he arrived since we had a long drive ahead and had to get up for work this morning.

Along the way, we stopped at Caribou for a coffee for the boys, and a hot chocolate for me. Let me just tell you, I will be returning for their dark hot chocolate with peppermint. It was to die for! I love dark chocolate and this really tasted like dark chocolate. I had them add in a little peppermint and it was like the holidays having a party in my mouth. I really like Caribou. I feel like they have really great non-coffee options and a really cute gift shop. I even picked up a few things there as gifts for my friends. I am not sure why I haven't gone there in the past (probably because there is another coffee shop that is much more present in the area), but I will be seeking this one out a lot more. Plus, look how adorable their cups are?

I just got a call from the hospital and they are going to need me tonight. Whaaaa! I think I am going to get back into my bad mood now. :(

I hope everyone else has a great day!