Recipe Share

I'm one of those people who hates trying new recipes because I can't stand going back and forth between instructions, ingredients, steps, measurements, photos (DSLR + iPhone) and managing my pandora playlist. #firstworldproblems.

This weekend I tried to challenge myself by making a special trip to the grocery store for ingredients to make a few recipe's I've been eyeing lately.

#1 Kale & White Bean Soup <--recipe

Saturday's weather was beautiful in Portland and probably the last thing on my mind during the day was making soup that night. Once the sun fell over the residential horizon I felt the wind chill kick in and was reminded that we won't truly put our trust in that summer air until July. Get used to it PDX!

Marisa at Uproot From Oregon always has great recipes to share and this one is full credit to her:

#2 Protein Shamrock Shake <--recipe

Something that Saturday afternoon did bring to mind was the Shamrock Shake from McDonald's for a limited time only. It's definitely been a guilty pleasure of Dan and I's and we've shown a lot of self restraint to avoid that drive-thru this March. When I saw Taralynn share a protein-shake version of the same creation I knew I would have to try it and especially have Dan be the master taste tester.

In the end I think I used too many mint leaves, but was happy with myself rather than caving for the McDonald's version. Plus nobody ever complained about whipped cream topping and sprinkles!

#3 Tempeh + Lentil Salad

This one is a home creation and I always get rave reviews from people who see, smell and want to taste what I'm bringing back to my desk around noon.

• 1 cup of Romaine Lettuce


• 1/3 cup of Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils


• 4 oz. of Trader Joe's Organic 3 Grain Tempeh


• Drenched in Sriracha (as much as you can handle)

Pack the lettuce separately from the other three ingredients so that you don't heat the lettuce. Pop the tempeh, lentils and sriracha into the microwave for 45-60 seconds until you can hear it steaming, then dump it onto the bed of lettuce. Ta-dah! There's a tasty and clean meal in front of you waiting to be devoured.

Sometimes I even add an avocado and pepper - live life on the wild side, my friends.

Go on, what recipes do you have to share with me?

Saving Daylight

Who else around here is happy to have another hour of sunlight in the evenings?

I feel like the extra afternoon light will be exactly what I need to remind myself to get out in the world and enjoy it. In the winter darkness it's easy to get stuck in a rut when the only natural light you see is out the windows while you're tied to a desk all day figuratively speaking. Sure, when it's dark outside I can justify spending more time catching up on our DVR and catching up on my favorite internet reads - but that's not how I want to remember spending my twenties!

More daylight will mean more living, more inspiration, more color, more imagination and more time to take a step outside and breathe in the fresh air. It will also mean better photos, BBQ's and some beautiful sunsets to soak in.

Losing an hour this weekend didn't phase us and I felt more productive and balanced than ever.

• I finished running by 8am each morning


• I enjoyed quality family time as my brother packed up and returned home


• I finally met Olive and caught up with Tanna - both are happy and healthy!


• I visited Barista for a cup of coffee downtown Sunday morning


• Food prep for the weekend is done!


• We tried and loved some borrowed recipes (stay tuned!)

And Dan? He had a great Saturday playing frosty golf early in the morning, he loved watching Tiger Woods win the WGC Cadillac Championship on Sunday and he thanked me repeatedly for the time I spent in the kitchen making our meals for the weekend and for the week. He also impressed me domestically by mopping the floor and getting the dishes washed and put away before I even noticed.

He's a keeper.

Week 9: Cohabitation

Its ONLY  been 9 weeks that we've lived together in SE? Where has the time gone?

For how this week started off I am pretty impressed that we made it through.

Dan and I returned home from the coast early Sunday night to make sure we had laundry + food prep in order and also so that we had time to enjoy the latest episode of the Walking Dead. We headed to bed at a decent time because I wanted to be in to work at 6am and to do that he would have to come with me.

Monday morning our alarms went off, Dan rolled over, I sighed - then murmured that it was "okay" if we didn't go in early. Check - set, we will wake up at the normal time (5:15) so that we can leave the house a little after 6. We both were back to sleep before we could even count to 10.

I wake up to words I shouldn't type, several shakes, and an announcement that "It's 6:00!" I've never gotten ready so quickly in my life. It may surprise you that this very scene used to happen to me so often in college that my brother started sending me videos of annoying alarms to test out.

Never have I been so thankful that a top knot is in style, that I have a long commute to do my make-up (stop lights) and that I didn't have any meetings scheduled.

A huge award goes to Dan - because normally he can sleep until noon on weekends and he was the one that got us up and running. I would have never lived it down at work and would have been forever paranoid of how many alarms were set.

After this bump, the week only got better!

1. Mid day latte on a sunny day at my favorite local coffee shop

2. Hit my goal with the sunrise with my new and improved black ice Nike+ Fuelband

3. Yummy mid-day yogurt, honey & granola snack

4. An evening latte after Dan and I passed out napped after getting in the door Tuesday night

5. Tiger is happy to be back home from his road trip beach vacation

6. Dan posing at the beach, my handsome :)

7. Garlic Naan from Trader Joe's for dinner (with grilled chicken + steamed veggies)

8. Sister snoozes on Thursday at home with my family

9. Puppy play date at the park - Dan didn't make it but the girls had a great time!

Happy Friday to all!

Don't forget to Spring Forward this weekend. Sleep an extra hour for me, please!