Roasted Broccoli and Sweet Potato Salad

The weather was beautiful tonight. It was still about 65* when I got home from work, so I laced up my shoes and went for a long run. Even though it is officially Spring, it is still pretty chilly here. Therefore, I'm boycotting any day that is below 60* and sticking with the treadmill. Tonight, however, was a different story. I ran my usual route for 7 miles at a 8.5min pace. I definitely pushed myself during the second half of the run, and finally by mile 6 I was starting to loosen up. Tonight my hamstrings were super tight. I swear somedays I can barely put one foot in front of the other for more than a mile...

For dinner I roasted a broccoli, red onion, sweet potatoes, and baby tomatoes in the oven with walnuts. I seasoned the veggies with salt, pepper and a little olive oil and baked them for about 15 minutes at 425*. After 10 minutes I sprinkled the mix with a little brown sugar to add a touch of sweetness and caramelization.

I added the veggies to some mixed greens and dinner was ready.

Healthy and Delicious

For once, I decided to be proactive and pack my lunch for tomorrow. I used the leftover roasted veggies and mixed them with 3/4 cup of instant brown rice, some super spicy chili garlic sauce and general tso's sauce stir fry sauce.

Lunch :)

I hope I remember to bring this to work tomorrow. I always forget my lunch in the fridge when I have something yummy to take.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Let's bake cookies!

While my dinner was cooking, I whipped up a quick batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies. Why not? I almost made THESE...but didn't want to go to the deli downstairs to buy oreos. I'm definitely buying the double stuffed peanut butter oreos soon and putting them inside a chocolate chip cookie. For sure. I have about a million bags of chocolate chip taking up precious real estate in my limited cabinet space. I have made this recipe several times before and loved it, and honestly, what is not to love? Feel free to throw in walnuts or oats.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp hot water
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350* F
2. Cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve the baking soda in hot water. Add to the batter along with salt. Stir in flour and chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.
4. Share and enjoy :)

Ready for the oven!

Pure Joy

Salad + Rant

First thing is first. Today's workout: 4 miles this am, 60 minutes on the elliptical tonight and 10 minutes of abs.

Tonight on the menu: mixed greens, baby tomatoes, grapes, sliced almonds, feta cheese and (of course) honey balsamic vinaigrette. Super super super yummy.

Light and Satisfying

I munched on the salad while looking over a new cookbook I picked up. The Borders by my office (where I got this) is closing in a matter of days, so I thought I'd stop by one last time on my way home to see what was left. The answer? Not much. Not much at all. The only thing I saw worth buying was the "Master Chef Cookbook". Apparently there was a show on Fox called Master Chef. I must have missed that one. Anyway, the book has a bunch of fun recipes and helpful hints like how to make fresh pasta and fillet a salmon (stay tuned).

Now for my rant...WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE PUBLISHED AUTHORS?

The Situation? He really got a book deal by pitching his idea for a guide to "creeping on chicks"?? Oh and by the way, excuse me while I go do 10,000 crunches...

Really JWow? Didn't all of America see her last trainwreck of a relationship and now she is SELLING advice. Also, her outfit is making me doubt her grammar skills. 

I don't hate Hilary Duff, I just kind of forgot she existed. I honestly had no idea she had a book out. Maybe it's great, she did take some online college classes from Harvard. I had to google that fact and found this nice little quote from Hilary..."I'm not big on English, but I am into math. If I'm able to focus on it, I like it." Lovely Hilary. Lovely.

A travesty. Lauren Conrad next to Charles Dickens. Sad. Sad Sad. I guess even though these people got book deals (minus Charles Dickens, he was writing books before people got book deals) these were literally the only books left on the shelves. 

Lately, I've been reading novels en Espanol. It is obviously more challenging and time consuming than reading in English, but it is also more rewarding when everything comes together. Currently I'm reading "El Nino con el Pijama de Rayas" (Boy in the Stripped Pajamas). So far it's 100% better than the movie.

Eat @ Eat Bar!

A bar called Eat? Yes please!

Eat? I don't mind if I do...

Eat is a gastropub in Arlington, Va that serves up small plates and microbrews and was the setting for Monday night date night. Usually, Lupe and I cook and relax at home, but tonight the temperature was nearly 85* at 7:00pm when I finished work, so we decided to take a walk and go out to eat.

As we arrived, the happy hour crowd was heading out and the restaurant was filling up. We sat at the bar and ordered a bottle merlot/cab mix from Lebanon. I always like to branch out and and was excited to try something new. It was nice and light and a little sweet. You can't get Lebanese wine from the deli downstairs (where the most expensive wine sells for about $17) so it was quite the treat.

After I looked at the menu forever, Lupe was starving. This is how is usually goes when we order food....I can never make up my mind, so I pick out a few things that I want, ask "half and half?" and then we share everything. For the most part, Lupe and I have the same taste in food so this works well.

For an appetizer, I chose risotto frito and Lupe opted for a baby cheeseburger. Yum and yum! Fried risotto is what heaven would taste like if it was rolled into a ball, lightly battered, fried to perfection and served with a side of garlic cream.

Fried risotto and a baby cheeseburger!

We decided on our entrees later. After seeing the baby cheeseburger (how cute is that?), I was craving the real thing and ordered an aged beef burger with cheddar and malt vinegar french fries.

I talked Lupe into ordering the fried chicken and waffles. I can safely say I have never had this dish and quite honestly the Ihop commercials advertising their chicken and waffles makes me want to run in the other direction. BUT I worked out at 5 am this morning, so who cares right? I don't remember the last time I had friend chicken, and that my friends, is a tragedy. I am looking up recipes as we speak. The fried chicken was so crispy, tender and juicy and topped with homemade gravy. The waffle was freshly baked and beautiful. It was served with maple syrup and spinach satueed with lemon. I love fresh spinach but can't stand cooked spinach...so basically we didn't eat any vegetables tonight.

SOOOO GOOD!

But that's okay, because this is what I had for lunch.

Lunch

Arugula with roasted squash, goat cheese, and walnuts served with fireroasted red pepper hummus and fresh baked pita slices. Yum :)

And for the rest of the night? Relaxing and watching Gone with the Wind! I LOVE this movie...all 6 hours! This is the first time I've ever watched a movie on TMC and I think they should play this on repeat at least for the rest of the week so I can seen the whole thing. Do they sell this movie on DVD? My mom has it on VHS and it is at least 4 tapes haha.

Good night all!