Scenes from a weekend #47

It was a lovely weekend. In case you missed The Run Report, I told you guys I’m back to feeling normal – nausea free and more energy. (Well, the energy part has been assisted by some timely naps).  So, I got some great workouts done this weekend.

Along with a 3 mile run on Friday, I did an hour on the elliptical on Saturday afternoon. I say it every time, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE watching HGTV while I’m on the elliptical or bike at the gym. It’s definitely my guilty pleasure & I never dread a long cross-training session because of it. Saturday didn’t disappoint, with an Alaska themed marathon of House Hunters. Fact: Before I moved to the US, the only place I had any real interest in visiting in this country was Alaska. Chalk it up to that show Northern Exposure and a fascination with snow and whales and moose, or just that it looks so beautiful, but it’s definitely on my list of places to see.

After watching the House Hunters marathon, though, I’m certain I would NEVER want to live there. Holy cold!! They must have been laughing at the rest of the country freaking out last winter during our polar vortex. That’s just a regular winter to them. There was also a terrifying funny moment when a couple moving there from Tennessee remarked on seeing some moose to their realtor. Their realtor explained the house was on the edge of a national park so they’d often encounter moose and bear. The woman joked, “I guess maybe I should get a gun for taking a walk!” The realtor said seriously, “Yes. Yes, you should absolutely have a gun on you when you’re outside. I do.” The face of the Tennessean woman was priceless.

I also decided last-minute to take a yoga class on Sunday. My spinning buddy couldn’t make it to class Sunday morning, so I was going solo anyway, then I saw that Christine was subbing a class at a studio near me at the same time. Sold! I’d never been to the studio, but it was lovely. They had a new visitor discount of 3 classes for $30 (to take within 30 days), which I thought was a good deal, especially because they have a bunch of prenatal classes. It was my second time taking a class with Christine and she’s such a calm, assured teacher who takes you through the flow so smoothly that you don’t realize it’s getting difficult until you’re in the middle of it.

The rest of Sunday was very laid-back. I hung with my two favorite boys in Prospect Park. A little playground fun, checking out the drum corps at a breast cancer walk that was happening, then just a lot of wandering along some of the side paths. (It’s all about running the little guy ragged so he sleeps well! 😉 )

Fran had bought some Bloody Mary mix, so during nap time I indulged in a virgin Bloody Mary. It makes me feel like I’m having a grown-up cocktail. 🙂

And my (very) recent trend of actually planning out what I’m cooking and pre-ordering the groceries has continued for another week. Here are a few things that featured this weekend:
This is some delicious oatmeal I made in a huge batch on Friday to eat over the weekend. Rolled oats, unsweetened cocoa, sliced almonds, peanut butter and coconut butter. I made it with water, then added a dash of heavy cream at the end of cooking to make it a little creamier and sweeter. Roman loves it because it’s “chocolate”, duh, and I love it because it’s delicious and it keeps you full for a long time.

I also made salmon, pan grilled. I read this incredibly detailed guide on how to pan cook the perfect salmon filet and it turned out so well. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the center of the fish was lovely and pink, perfectly cooked. I cooked it 6 minutes skin down in preheated oil that I then turned to medium-low heat, and a minute on the non-skin side. Served with a mushroom risotto and cauliflower with capers.

A real stick-to-your-ribs dish I made was a one-pot meal. I made it up as I went along. I sautéed onions, garlic & some peperoncini in oil, added ground turkey breast, some parboiled butternut squash, then added some vegetable stock and white wine and let the squash cook through in that broth. Once it started thickening I threw in some mushrooms, torn kale and a little bit of fresh parsley, salt & pepper. If you wanted to do it vegetarian, you could sub cannellini beans for the turkey.

Such a great weekend – workouts, great eats, guilty pleasure TV, some of my favorite people. 🙂

Have you tried any new recipes recently?

Favorite cocktail? (Mine’s actually a Vesper or a Margarita, but they’re harder to make virgin, ha!)

Do you have some place you’d like to visit, but don’t think you could live?