Scenes from a weekend #20

Brooklyn, NY this weekend: Yay, it’s Spring! Warm weather and sunshine! Oh, it’s “Spring”, biting wind and just above freezing. I mean, what the what, is it ever going to warm up and stay warm? It’s supposed to snow this week, guys.

At least we got one lovely day, right? Roman and I took advantage and had some serious playground time after his morning swimming lesson. He was so tired by the time lunch rolled around, I knew nap-time was going to be easy.

I call that his “stare bear” look. Pretty sure he forgot he was holding a sandwich while he zoned out. 😉

While he was napping, I jeopardized my marriage  had Fran be my photographer for another workout post for my column on The Stir. Look out for it later this week! (I don’t know how many more workout posts I can do while still claiming a happy marriage).

I made a delicious dinner on Friday night. I was inspired by this recipe from Lisa at Run Wiki. By ‘inspired’ I mean I read her recipe and thought it sounded good a month ago, then tried to just make it up as I went along without actually remembering many details from her actual instructions (or ingredients). Anyway, at the end of this post I’ve included my ‘recipe,’ so feel free to be inspired, too. 😉

Of course there was running – sadly my program called for a short run on the warm day and a long run on the chilly day, but that probably worked out for the best. I really enjoyed being out in the park on Saturday. It was packed and everyone was smiling.

I know – capris and compression socks. I’m a sartorial statement. (I forgot to pick up our clean laundry on Saturday, so I made do with what I had). It was so stylish I didn’t bother changing before meeting my boys from their date at the playground and grabbing a quick coffee.

Roman found this sweet rocket ship ride-on toy with a, “Free, Please Take” sign, so you can be reasonably certain this was the best weekend of his life.

And I would be doing damage control from the photo shoot remiss as a wife not to mention that my lovely husband surprised us on Sunday morning by making French toast for breakfast. YUM!

Another awesome moment from the weekend included watching the NY Rangers win both Friday and Saturday night’s games, resoundingly. It’s near the end of the regular season right now, so the games have become more intense, with all the teams trying to make it to the play-offs.

Here’s the recipe I promised:

Mexican Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 cans black beans, rinsed & drained
• 15 oz salsa
• Chopped cilantro (Fran hates it and I love it, so I used it as garnish on mine, otherwise I would have mixed it in with the beans and salsa)
• 6 oz shredded cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and Monterey Jack)
• 2 whole wheat tortillas
• 1 cup cooked brown rice (because I had it leftover in my fridge)
• 1 and 1/2 avocado, sliced
• Shredded rotisserie chicken (I used one breast plus a little extra)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pre-oil a casserole dish (I used a 9 x 13 dish). I layered the casserole with half the black beans, then half the salsa, all of the rice, half the chicken and half the cheese. Then I laid out strips of the tortillas as the middle layer, BUT if I was making this again I would skip the tortillas, since they just kind of went mushy. Second layer was the same, except I used avocado instead of the rice in the second layer. Bake (uncovered) for 20 minutes.

What was your favorite part of the weekend?

What sport (or team) do you watch?