This weekend is already flying by!  It always goes by way too fast, especially when you’re trying to balance work and play  How was your weekend?  I had the wonderful opportunity to host a Buitoni Pasta Party for some of my friends Saturday evening, which included lots of good food, conversation and vino to wash it down.  Join me for a tasty re-cap!  

Friday . . . started with a quick morning bike ride before work.  I always love fitting in some activity if I can beat the super hot heat.  It’s really been getting to me here, so I haven’t been able to get many long rides in.  I’m hoping it will start cooling down after August.  After work I had a ton of errands to run, which included picking up groceries for the dinner party.  Once I got home and cooled down, I got to prepping and chopping and cooking so that there wouldn’t be too much to do on Saturday. Whew, long night, but I love being in the kitchen!

Saturday . . . morning was spent cleaning and finishing up the last few things for the party.  Chris and I also made the drive out to Pahrump to see my little 5-yr old sister’s first gymnastics/dance recital.  oh my goodness, lots of cuteness!!  Sure brings back a lot of good memories.  I LOVED my dance recitals, so much fun!

After getting back from the long drive out to Pahrump, we had a few hours to get situated and ready for our guests to arrive at 6:30pm.  Well, it turns out 4 of our guests (2 couples) had to cancel last minute and we were forced to go to plan B:  Invite more friends!  There were only 5 of us total, but it really turned out to be a fun evening and we got to chat with some fairly new friends and catch up with one we hadn’t seen in awhile.  Always nice.

To start I made prosciutto wrapped stuffed dates and I have to say this is my favorite appetizer.  Salty, sweet, creamy all rolled into one tasty bite!

I used black dates, honey dates, and a few medjools from the China Farm date ranch and stuffed them with about 1/2 log of herbed goat cheese from TJ’s, 3 oz of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, and a dollop of honey, then wrapped them with thinly sliced prociutto and sprinkled with local basil.  They were divine and the perfect salty sweet combo.  mmmm  these are going to be a must on the party menu from now on for sure.

I also had a some crackers and roasted cashews for munching.  We chatted and enjoyed some 2007 Honig Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc.  This wine is great for summer!  I really enjoyed this one because it has a rich mouthfeel with butter and luscious fruit, but not a lot of oak. Perfection.  Here are the tasting notes from the 2008, but I would definitely say the oak and mineral are just accents, not the main component of this wine.

Peach, honeydew melon, white fig and floral notes are complemented by vanilla, nutmeg and lemon peel. Fruit forward, with a rich mid-palate accented by toasty oak, and a long, crisp, minerally finish.

Chris also had the crazy idea for a Pizza Atomica Challenge before dinner.  Now, if you recognize the word ‘atomica’, usually this means something that is really, really hot, like burn your mouth off hot.  Crazy, right?  So the details of the challenge were whoever ate the blazing hot pizza the fastest would win the challenge + this oh so fashionable t-shirt below (Chris used an iron decal that he made right before). hehe

And here are all the peppers!  We didn’t use all of them, but boy I didn’t want to go near them.  There were mostly serranos, as well as mild green and HOT orange peppers that I got at the farmer’s market.  I didn’t partake in this challenge, but I heard those orange ones were definitely HOT!

Here are the pizzas divided among 4 people.  I didn’t want my mouth on fire, so I was in charge of keeping time and seeing who finished first.

The winner finished in 1:24 and didn’t even break a sweat!  Everyone else was pretty much dying, crying and blowing their noses for some time afterwards.  Funny!

Ok, now on to the FOOD!

I won a contest through Foodbuzz to host a Buitoni Riserva Dinner Party during the month of July.  I received coupons for their new Riserva pastas and hosted a dinner party featuring them, along with a vegetable side dish.

I wanted to try the mushroom agnolloti, but the store that I went to only had the spicy beef and sausage version.  I wasn’t going to complain and gave it a shot!

For a sauce I made a batch of tomato sauce in the crockpot and it was ready to go by the time dinner rolled around.

To contrast the rich, dark and concentrated flavor of the cooked tomato sauce, I paired it with a fresh bruschetta topping made with local tomatoes, lots of fragrant basil, garlic, salt and pepper.  And finally to top it off I reduced down some balsamic vinegar to add a tangy sweet finish on top.  It was heaven!

Although this version of ravioli has quite a bit of sodium (yikes), they had a great flavor and just the right amount of heat that didn’t take over everything (like those pizzas).

For the vegetable side dish, I utilized the bounty of the farmer’s market and made simple roasted mini squash and potatoes with herbs de provence.

This is my absolute favorite herb blend and I like to put it on pretty much anything.

I saw these squash at the farmer’s market and just about squealed in delight at the sight of them!  I go crazy over anything mini.

Aren’t they precious?

I didn’t chop anything, but mixed them with a bit of olive oil, herbs de provence, garlic powder, salt and pepper and roasted them at 425 for about 20 minutes.  They cooked pretty fast since they were so teeny.

This was my favorite

All together now . . .

It doesn’t look like much ravioli but I actually only ate about half since they are so filling.

aaaaaand for dessert I decided to pair my love for limoncello with cream cheese and made a limoncello raspberry cheesecake.  Oh boy.  I made two versions, one alcoholic and one with just lemon, both which turned out really well.  I was expecting more people, so now I have way too many leftovers!

The first version was from CookingLight and only used cottage cheese.  I really liked these lemon cheesecake bars, although I would have liked to have more filling.  I swirled some raspberry jam on top too.

The next version was Giada’s limoncello cheesecake squares.  I used less butter, less sugar, used 1/3 fat cream cheese, added one egg white instead of all whole eggs, and some fresh raspberries inside.  This one was really good, although the liquor flavor was just a bit too strong.  I would use a 1/3 cup next time instead of half?

I’ve been getting more into coffee actually since we purchased that new coffee maker.  I don’t have too much when we do make it, but it’s just a nice ritual in the mornings.  I recently made the mistake of buying some Kona coffee to try because it is pretty expensive and of course I’ve found it to be my new love.  We’ll definitely have to save it for weekends and special occassions.  Alongside the cheesecake I did make a small batch of Kona coffee and it was pretty much heaven.

It was a wonderful evening!!  Thank you to Buitoni for the pasta! I always love having dinner parties with good food and friends

Well, today is for playing catch up and I’m not making the best progress at the moment.  That to-do list keeps growing and loading down my shoulder!  Thanks for stopping by & don’t forget to enter my ReGen giveaway!

What were you up to this weekend?

Wazzz up my readers?! Don’t worry I haven’t gone loopy on you, well almost, but I did have the wonderful opportunity to see the one and only Snoop Dogg on Sunday night/Monday morning!  It was at the night club Rain in the Palms Hotel.  It was a private party for the group at pokerstars.net, which I have no affiliation with, but a good friend offered me a ticket and I was like . . . heck yes!

Now many of you may be quite confused . . . Kristen? A Snoop fan?  That sweet, white girl likes rap and hip hop?  Well, actually I do! Many of you may not know that I love to get my groove on since I’ve been a dancer for most of my life and on dance teams in high school and college.  While my predominatly ectomorphic body type really was best for ballet, I sure like to busta move on the dance floor with some good ol’ hip hop.  Probably one of my other favorite artists of this genre is Ludacris.  I’m not going to lie, I was struggling on Monday morning, but let’s recap a great evening, shall we? . . .  

After getting all dolled up, I met my friend at her place and we both drove over to the Palms together.  I couldn’t believe that it was about 9pm and I was heading out on the town, on a Sunday evening no less.  We stood in line for a good while to get in, but finally made it inside the club around 10pm.

Of course the music was bumping and there were people mingling around and even some dancing on roller skates!  Never seen that before.

We decided to hit up the bar for a drink to find that it was open bar!! holy smokes.  I ordered my usual go-to cocktail: vanilla vodka, coconut rum, and a splash of pineapple juice.  Nice and tropical  Then we made our way towards the front of the stage to get a good spot.  It wasn’t too crowded in the beginning, but boy oh boy we were packed in there like sardines as the night went on!

I had never been to Rain before, but it is a nice night club.  It’s a little small with only one main area, though.

Yay!  We were so excited!

The first band that came on was called Esthero.  I had never heard of them before and I believe they are based out of Canada and LA. I really enjoyed their music.  Kind of a cross between a big band feel and a defiant chick rock band.  I loved the addition of the sax, trumpet and trombone.  Very cool.  Another one of my favorites is jazz!

And then after her performance . . . we waited . . .  and waited . . . and waited.  They tried to keep us entertained with more club music and those crazy people on the roller skates.  They even had bubbles fall from the sky!

I had borrowed a cute pair of shoes from my friend, since I have a sorry collection, and at this point my feet were absolutely killing me!  Oh man and then I had to peeeeee really bad too.  We waited for 1.5 hours before Snoop finally came on at 12:30am! There were quite a few characters in the crowd too, you know the ones that have had a bit too much too drink and smoke a lot of weed?  Well, that was fun.

And finally, finally it was time for the one and only D-O-G!!!  aaaah it was soooo cool!

Lots of hand waving and cursing going on!

Get a look at that ring!  Now that is some bling.

Crowded!

They played some great classics and new hits like gangsta luv.

We had so much fun!!!

Well, I didn’t get into bed until 2am and had to be up at 6am at the absolute latest to make it to work and I was struggling.  I powered through the day in a fuzzy fog and iced my feet.  I think I’m finally just getting caught back up.  That staying up late and not being able to sleep in is rough, but it was soooo worth it!  This was my first real concert-type experience.

Of course this left no room for workouts today and yesterday  I’m going to hit the hay early tonight to make it up at the crack of dawn for a ride before work.  I may try to make it to yoga afterwards too.  I need to get more stretching in

*GOOD NEWS*

I received my credit in the mail and was able to get a new laptop yesterday from Office Depot!!!!  I’m so happy I had the performance plan, and this time around I got the 4 year plan to be extra safe.  I also was able to get a new monitor and am loving the dual screen action going on.  I’ve never had two monitors and it makes it so nice!  I also promptly started backing up all my crap with MozyHome Unlimited.  It’s worth it to know all your important stuff is continually being backed up securely.

Not so good news about my Canon camera lens though  I guess my auto focus is defective and I didn’t get the extended warranty and it is just too late.  ugh, wasn’t expecting that expense.  So hopefully I will have it good to go within a week *fingers crossed*  I don’t think I can afford a point-and-shoot right now.

I’ll just keep trucking and looking at the positives  I’m really looking forward to a ride tomorrow, yay Hump Day!

What’s your favorite concert experience?

I just love three day weekends!  With that one extra day it feels like so much more can be accomplished, in addition to some much needed relaxation.  I’m so thankful I was able to have it off.  I sure hope you guys had a nice fourth of July no matter what you were up to, working or otherwise.  There was much to celebrate and be thankful for with great food, fun times with friends, and our country’s independence . . .  

Saturday started out early at 4:30am with a nice 29-mile bike ride to kick of the start of the Tour de France!!! Can you see the sun coming up in my glasses?

ahhhh! I just love watching it. It makes it so much more invigorating when you are a cyclist yourself.  I am nowhere near their caliber of course, but it is still amazing to watch.  Those guys are friggin’ incredible and I wish I could look 1/2 as cool as they do.  And those mondo ginormous quads!  It is estimated that they burn 130,000 kcals (37lbs) during the Tour, which has to require some solid sports nutrition strategy.  Oh how I would love to see what they are eating!! I can’t believe all the crazy crashes that have been going on.  Scary stuff.  I sure hope tomorrow and those crazy cobblestones won’t cause even more devastating crashes. Have you been watching the Tour??

I admit that I ditched my swimming lessons because Chris wasn’t able to go and Kristen invited me to come hang out at the Rio Hotel Pool.  How could I resist?  We hung out by the pool for most of the day, chatting and people watching.  It was a lot of fun! I brought along the new CookingLight magazine to drool over all the lovely recipes

I ordered a non-alcoholic frozen lemonade and it was refreshing in the heat!

Sunday I was able to get a butt-load of wash and cleaning done.  Yay!!  I love the feeling of a clean house.  I know I’m a big dork, but I do!  The day flew by and pretty soon it was time to get ready and head to Kristen’s 4th of July Party hosted by her parents.  Boy, there is always a ton of great food and fun at her mom’s parties!

I have to admit also that I had a little too much fun with the blender and alcoholic beverages  I made this awesome meloncello cocktail that was such a hit that I made 2 batches.  I’m definitely going to make this one again.

Meloncello Cocktail

Serves: 6

• 3.5 cups seedless watermelon, cubed
• 3/4 cups limoncello (Italian lemon-flavored liquor)
• 1/3 cup coconut rum (I’m sure you could use plain)
• juice from one lemon
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 cups crushed ice
• sugar and lemon for dressing the glasses

Note:  Make sure all ingredients are nice and cold before mixing.

Rub a lemon slice along each glass rim and then place in sugar to coat.  Blend the rest of the ingredients in a blender and pour into each glass.  Voila!

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I had 2 glasses + a small chocolate cake shot.  I also made sure to drink lots of water and had 3 bottles throughout the night.

Aside from the lovely beverages, I promise I did eat dinner!  There was so much food and snacks to choose from.  I must have been too busy in the bar area because I didn’t manage to visit this first table

I didn’t want to go over board and settled on a few selections for dinner:  BBQ ribs, grilled chicken, green beans, asparagus, broccoli salad, pasta salad, and a wee bit of mac and cheese.  It was all delish!

After dancing around and chatting it up before the fireworks, I decided to stop avoiding the dessert table and grabbed one of these beauties that Kristen’s sister made. It was a decadent chocolate cookie stuffed with peanut butter in the center and topped with chocolate ganache!  I’d just call it pure heaven.

Oh boy, and then later I had to have a sample of this wonderfully creamy ladyfinger dessert that Kristen’s mom made + another 1/2 cookie.

Ok, enough indulgence for one night!  I sure had a blast though.  I made it home safe and sound, but didn’t get to bed until 12am, yikes.

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This morning I was able to sleep in till 8am, woop!  Thank you for that extra day!  I also managed to join Kristen for body pump and have been getting caught up.

I am not having luck with electronics lately.  My laptop is still in the process of being fixed for the 3rd time and I am sad to report that something is wrong with my Canon SLR camera’s autofocus.  For some reason it won’t focus and isn’t able to take pictures?  It has been fine for a little over a year and I hope it’s not something major.  I don’t really have another good camera, so this should be interesting.  I do have some backlogged recipes that I need to share.  Thanks for bearing with me!

5am spin in the am for me . . . have a wonderful week!

What were you up to for the fourth?

Boy this past weekend flew by for me!  Well, I do say that most every weekend, but this one was packed with friend meet-ups and recovering from late nights  It was nice to catch back up with good friends since we’ve been caught up with life and busy with cycling, school and work.  Sometimes it sure is hard to keep in touch with everyone, although I know that shouldn’t be an excuse.  Do you find it hard to juggle it all sometimes?  I sure do and I hope that my buds don’t think any less of our friendship.  So here’s to a great weekend catching back up with good friends  

The whirlwind weekend started Friday night when Kristen, her sis, another friend and I all went out to grab some small plates at a local tapas bar called Firefly to have a little late b-day celebration for me.  I had never been there before and it was a lot of fun!  Although it’s probably not the best place to go if you are hungry, it’s fun to order several different items and share.

We ended up ordering a pitcher of red sangria first of course!  It was nice and refreshing (Thanks to Kristen for the pictures!)

Before we ordered they brought out some tasty bread.  I didn’t have any though since I had a pretty large afternoon snack and wasn’t too hungry.

Each of us ordered some tapas which included . . .

bacon-wrapped stuffed dates (my fav)

stuffed mushrooms

It was a bit dark to photograph, but other items included a beet and goat cheese salad with sugar-crusted pecans, veggie empanadas and a marinated octopus dish (I actually really liked this one too).

After chatting it up for a bit, we decided to head to the Hard Rock to have a drink and wait till Vanity opened up.  My other friend, being the tequila connoisseur that she is, recommended we try some aged tequila.  I thought it was actually nice and smooth; not too shocking like most hard liquor lol And then the bartender proceeded to pour us another 1/2 shot of some more smooth tequila.  Oy, and we were ready for da club!

At this point I wasn’t feeling anything from the alcohol surprisingly.  Normally I’m a light weight, but since I started drinking on an already full stomach I had a delayed reaction I guess.  My friend proceeded to buy me another sweet shot and drink at the club, thinking I needed more.  Nope, not feeling nuthin . . . And after some more dancing she ordered another lemon drop shot . . .  ok I’m good, no more thank you!

I’m not a frequent club goer, but I really enjoyed Vanity.  Even being a local, I’ve only gone to about 4 or so.  Being a local you really don’t go downtown much unless you have friends in town or want to play ‘tourist’.  The only thing I really enjoy when going to a club is dancing, lots and lots of dancing.  Vanity was perfect because it wasn’t overly crowded and they were playing great music.  It was a fun night, thanks ladies!

Kristen also got me a nice bottle of wine, aww I love personalized gifts!

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Saturday was mostly spent recovering from the night before and getting ready for a little dinner party we had planned with some good friends that we hadn’t seen in awhile.  We also got a new wine fridge to store our wine properly, since it’s probably not the best idea to let wine age in an 81 F house = /  We really like the new addition!

There were two other couples, one of which just got married and another that recently got engaged and will be married in October!  Very exciting!  But boy, I’m really feeling the pressure of marriage all of a sudden.  I don’t know I just want ours to be nice and not over the top, but we can’t really afford that much.  I honestly feel overwhelmed with it all.  I think Chris and I are still going to wait till Spring of 2012 after we both graduate and have time/money to plan.  Enough of that blabbering . . . on to the festivities and fun!

Usually when you come over for a dinner party at our house, there is always some kind of vino involved  Since we also just got back from Napa, we had even more that we needed to share.  Chris and I decided to play a little wine tasting game with our guests.  We opened up 5 bottles (4 reds and 1 white) and each person had their own sheet of paper with the name of the winery and tasting notes on one side.  On the other side they would have to guess which winery it was and also the grape type.  Whoever scored the most points got to take home a bottle.  It was a ton of fun!!

Here are the wines we ended up tasting:  (from left to right)  2008 Pride Chardonnay, 2008 Ritual Pinot Noir, 2007 Willow Springs Cab (can’t find this anymore anywhere), 2003 Fire Block Grenache (aged very well), and 2001 Twomey Merlot (ages very very well).

Throughout chatting and tasting I made some appetizers which included spinach-artichoke dip.  This is our favorite for parties and everyone loves it.  I usually add more spinach.

There was a cheese platter with 5-year aged gouda (great with fruity reds), parmesan, brie, grapes and honey.  I also put out some mixed nuts and dates.

Dinner was another crowd pleaser –> Broccoli Sausage Pasta <–  We can never get enough of this stuff!  With dinner we had the Pride Chardonnay that we also used in the tasting game.  It has a nice balance of oak, butter and fruit.

Most of the night was spent chatting away and it was a lot of fun to catch up.  I had another small glass of the Willow Springs Cab and Twomey Merlot.  We also got to see wedding pictures and showed everyone our vacay pics.  By 12:30am I was pooped, but we decided to play a game of UNO.  One quick game lasted about 1.5 hours of course and we didn’t say our goodbyes until 2am!  Way past my bed-time!

It was sure nice to see everyone again, especially since we all kind of live far away from each other.  Every time we get together it is so much fun, but sometimes it’s hard with cycling and everything going on with life in general to have extra time.  Cycling and being active can take up a lot of time and doesn’t really leave much room for drinking for me. It takes me awhile to recover and of course my training suffers.  I can say that while I probably won’t be drinking for a looong time after this weekend, we definitely need to plan these more often because keeping in touch with friends is sure important.

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In other news, it is freakin’ HOT here and has been reaching 108 F these past few days, ugh.  Hot weather makes me cranky and lethargic.  I’m sure I’m not going to like our next power bill, but I really can’t stand any hotter than 80-81 F in the house.  In order to get in some cross-training since cycling when it’s really hot is out of the question, Chris and I signed up for basic swim lessons!!! I still have to find a suit asap because they start this Saturday and go for 6 weeks! I haven’t been in a pool in about 2 years and don’t really know swim mechanics at all.   I’m hoping my inner dolphin will somehow come out and shine

I also tried bikram yoga for the first time after work today and OMG I have never sweat so much in my entire life!!! It was INTENSE!!!  It’s definitely not like your average yoga class.  There isn’t any relaxing zen music playing in the background and the instructor doesn’t do the poses with you, but calls out every position like an auction announcer!  I just tried not to focus on the fact that it was 105 degrees F in the room with very little breeze.  Wow, I could see how it could get addicting because you really can stretch, but I just don’t know about how HOT it was in there.  That is going to take some getting used to.  It was funny because stepping outside after class with the 100+ temps here it actually felt cooler!  When I got home all I wanted was a big, refreshing salad.

I got this avocado from the farmer’s market and it was absolutely blemish free and probably the best one I’ve had.  Isn’t it precious?

I made a quick salad with romaine, spinach, salmon salad, local strawberries, barley, goat cheese and a sprinkling of lemon vinaigrette.  It was just what I was craving!  mmm

Hope you all had a nice weekend and a good start to the week!

Do you find it hard to keep in touch with friends sometimes?  Does having an active lifestyle effect your social relationships?

Hello!  Boy this last weekend flew by and was jam-packed with fun wedding festivities and new road bike adventures!  I’m still playing catch up and felt pretty terrible today with the lack of sleep catching up with me and my tummy wasn’t happy for some reason.  I swear I felt like someone hit me over the head with a hammer and didn’t let me sleep all night, but I didn’t even drink anything!  Weird.  Anyway, I thought I’d do a quick re-cap of the weekend.  Hope you all are doing well, I have so much to catch up on!  I can’t post most of the wedding and bachelorette party pictures for obvious reasons, but by clicking on this link to read more you understand that there are a few pictures that involve adult content and are not safe for work! 

Friday morning I made it to 6am spin and I had to bring everything with me for the bachelorette party festivities since I probably wouldn’t be home till the weee hours of the morning.  After work I picked up some ‘bachelorette-style’ cupcakes and headed to Trump Tower to meet some of the bridal party to help decorate the room.

We went to a few adult shops nearby and picked up some decorations  Oh boy that was fun! It’s crazy the things they have in there!  That’s as far as I’ll go with that lol

I got these cupcakes from Freed’s Bakery, which has some awesome cakes and goodies!

The room had a great view of the strip and other things

Of course there was some alcohol involved, although I only had one drink.  I didn’t want to feel crappy the next day.

Have you ever had sweet tea or bubble gum vodka?  They were yummy!  I had a drink with sweet tea vodka + some lemonade.

After playing a few ‘fun’ games like ‘pin the junk on the hunk’, we all got dolled up and ventured out on the strip to Tao Night Club.  It was a lot of fun, but super crowded!  When I go to clubs I just like to dance, but it was so jam packed in there, it was definitely a fire hazard!  I got bumped around and spilled on a few times.  One of my biggest pet peeves with clubs is when people take their drinks to the dance floor and don’t dance! I swear they need to have sippy cups

After the club we were all super tired, so we all went back to the room and I headed home safe and sound.

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Saturday I got the chance to hit up TJ’s for some grocery shopping after sleeping in till 8am!  Yay!  After that Chris and I went to pick up my new road bike that finally came in!!!!!  It’s the Jamis Zenith Race and I was so excited to try it out! I went and got fitted for an hour and made a some minor adjustments.  I also had to pick up some new shoes and pedals before I could get fitted, and we had to go to a few other shops nearby to find my size.

I love these Specialized carbon shoes because they are very supportive and fit my feet so much better than my last pair.

Ultegra is pretty much the bomb and smooooooth like butta’. I couldn’t believe the feeling.

What do you think?  Should I give her a name?

I went on a ride on Sunday morning and it was absolutely amazing!!!!!  Oh my gosh, I couldn’t believe what a difference it makes. This bike is actually about 9 pounds lighter than my last one, with better components, and on the ride at one point I looked down at my Garmin and couldn’t believe I was going 33 mph!!  Yowza, what a feeling.

• Time: 2:36
• 49 miles
• Avg:  18.6 mph  Max:  33 mph (It was fairly flat)

The only thing is that my shoulders were not feeling too hot during and after the ride.  It’s tough because my legs are long and I have a short torso, so I have to have my seat post pretty high which puts more pressure on my hands.  The fitting I got has a 30-day guarantee so I’m going to go back and make some adjustments.  woo-hoo!

T minus 4 weeks until the LiveStrong Century, eek!  Every little bit helps if you can donate! I need to make sure that I do at least 2 hill rides in the early morning during the week and then at least one longer weekend ride.  I’m hoping to get in at least 65 miles this weekend, we’ll see.

After we got back from our rides (Chris went for about 65 miles), I whipped up a quick recovery smoothie and had some leftover Memphis BBQ pizza from Metro.  Hit the spot!

I am in love with this cereal!!

Then we were off to our friends’ wedding! I haven’t been to a ton of weddings, but I think this one was my absolute favorite.  It was beautiful and perfect, and I was so happy for both of them since they had been together for 10 years before getting married!  You just know when it was meant to be

It was at a place here in Vegas called Springs Preserve, which is absolutely gorgeous and not on the strip like most weddings.

Her dress was absolutely stunning!

This was the neatest thing ever . . . instead of doing the usual candle ceremony, they did something similar but with peanut butter and jelly!!!  This symbolized the classic connection between peanut butter and jelly just like the bride and groom

The food was absolutely AMAZING too!  After the ceremony there were numerous hors d’ oeuvres going around and I had to snatch up a few since I was hungry.

After the cocktail hour, we all headed to the main reception area which was outside.  The weather was gorgeous and the temperature was absolutely perfect.  I’m so glad it wasn’t windy

We started with a fresh veggie salad with a balsamic vinaigrette.

I munched on 2 slices of bread.

Next came roasted mozzarella raviolis in a smooth tomato sauce with wild oregano.  mmm!  Sorry it started to get dark and I lost my precious sunlight!

And for the main entree — wild king salmon with a five-spice wine reduction atop a carrot ginger puree and a tempura shiso leaf.  I LOVED this and I practically licked my plate clean!

Chris had the chicken option which was equally tasty.

And after a bit of dancing and chatting, it was time for the best part . . . wedding cake!!!!

Isn’t it gorgeous?  It’s actually all cheesecake too!

I topped mine with some sweetened strawberries.

What a wonderful evening!  I just love weddings.  It was so nice to get to see some of our old friends again, and it couldn’t have been a more perfect night.  We were super tuckered by the time we got home though, and I’m still trying to play catch up with house chores and school work.  I can’t believe finals are next week, yikes!

Have you been to any weddings recently?

I can hardly believe yet another long weekend is about to come to a close!  I always enjoy having an extra day  I hope you all had a nice weekend as well!  Our Valentine’s was simple, sweet and pretty low-key filled with a few parties, a nice bike ride and a new breakfast creation . . .

First a quick weekend recap The first time we visited the new aquatic center near our house, we were on our bikes and it wasn’t open, so we decided to go back and see what the inside looked like.  Boy this place is gorgeous!!  We can hardly wait to start swimming, although yes, I still have yet to purchase a dang bathing suit, goggles and cap.  Another good thing is that it opens bright and early at 5am which would give us enough time to get in a quick swim and come back home to shower for work.

You know how Chris and I love ‘active’ gifts, so we each got each other a 30 punch card for the new aquatic center (each visit is 2 punches) for Valentine’s Day.  I think they are starting swim lessons in March, so I’ll have to check out some classes because I don’t think I’ve been in a pool in um . . . 2 years! I can keep myself afloat, but when it comes to actually knowing how to swim I am a fish out of water.

This place is huge with 14 lanes and a separate heated pool.

We also both got some new Asics gel-cumulus running shoes.  They were pricey, but they feel like heaven and are really supportive which is worth it when you are pounding the pavement.  My hip is feeling much better, so I can’t wait to try them out!  Plus our weather has been absolutely gorgeous in the 60s!  

We had two Valentine’s parties this weekend and it was fun to see some good friends again.  Of course there was a lot of food involved and I tried not to go overboard.

This one had various munchies like vegan egg rolls, potstickers, bean/salsa dip and veggies.  I think my favorite though was the chocolate-covered strawberries, yum!!  Haven’t had those in awhile.

The next morning Chris and I went on a really great bike ride with the Green Valley Cyclists for Valentine’s Day.  We did about 32 miles in 2 hours and I felt amazing afterwards!  It was a nice ride, pretty flat and overall really enjoyable.

The next party later that evening was a quick stop before Chris and I went out to dinner for Valentine’s Day together.

Awwwww her dog Louie is the cutest cupid ever!

Love the style of her living room and had to share  so chic

Chris and I munched on a few appetizers before heading out to dinner at Settebello.  We didn’t know if we wanted to make dinner together, but the last minute we just decided to go out and have a nice dinner.  This was actually our first time officially eating out at a restaurant since the Eat In Month Challenge!

We started out with a nice salad to share.

We decided on their special of the month called Cartoccio.  It contained roasted red and yellow bell peppers, zucchini sauteed with pancetta, roasted sausage, onion and fresh mozzarella.  It was delicious!!  I think we are going to try to recreate this at home next time we make pizza and load it up with even more veggies.

Their dough is perfection.  Crunchy and crispy on the outside, yet doughy and chewy on the inside.  It’s the perfect balance.

We didn’t have any dessert since we were both pretty darn stuffed and tired from the day.  We attempted to watch some TV when we got home, but I fell asleep soon enough!

Overall it was a great weekend  I managed to pretty much abstain from alcohol this weekend except about a cup of punch from the second party.  I finally had this realization this weekend of moving from working out to just maintain my weight to actually working out to train. I felt really good about it.  I enjoy having a glass of wine with dinner on the weekends or a cocktail with friends, but I realized that it may be fun while I’m buzzed or whatever, but it makes me and my training go to crap.  I want to do the Napa metric century in May and a sprint or olympic triathlon in September and I have a lot to work on in the coming months.  I’m not some amazing athlete or anything, but when I want to work hard for something all week and then have a few drinks over the weekend, it really sets me back.  Even though I felt old as we left the party at 9:30pm and I didn’t have any drinks, I felt so much better the next day when I was able to have a killer ride that left me on the clouds all day.  That feeling for me is so much better, plus it is so much healthier overall.  What do you think?  Do you work out to lose/maintain weight or do you workout to train?

This morning we made some heart-shaped banana brownie waffles from the Meal Makeover Moms.  It’s a little late for V Day, but I will share all the pictures tomorrow since I gotta get dinner going!  Oh my gosh, these were delish!  I also made a peanut butter ‘mousse’ which was out of this world.  They are like little waffle towers!

Another to-do on the list is to catch up on all your blogs, hope you had a nice weekend!

Boy, Sunday just flew by and was packed with a lot of food!!  Hope you had a nice Super Bowl and/or Sunday.  I wasn’t really rooting for anyone in particular and only watched maybe the last part of the game (the most thrilling part!), but it was kind of nice to see the underdog win.  Sorry Colts fans!

The day started out really nice with a casual and easy breakfast of

blueberry flax pancakes!  FlaxMatters.com sent me a few of their flax products to review and I was eager to give them a try.  What makes their products unique is the patented processing that separates whole, plump seeds from damaged ones.  By eliminating the damaged seeds, their flax is made to be shelf and nutrient stable for up to 2 years.  Flax seeds are also a great source of ALA-Omega 3s.  While these aren’t quite as beneficial as DHA/EPA omega-3s, I still believe they should definitely be included in a heart-healthy diet as they are also packed with beneficial and filling fiber in addition to healthy fats.  They even have flax products with DHA/EPA omega-3s as well!

The Flax Pancake & Waffle mix had a nice nutty flavor from the addition of flax and whole grains.  It was also a cinch to make!  I decided to double the recipe since we enjoy pancakes for leftover peanut butter sandwiches and ended up with 10 pancakes total.  Yum!  This would even be doable on a weekday.

I also tried their Milled Golden Flax with Blueberries.  I loved how there were little bits of dried blueberries in there in addition to the smoothly milled flaxseed.  I even added a little bit of this to the pancakes, and it would be a great addition to oatmeal, yogurt or smoothies.

Here’s what went into this batch:

• 2 cups Flax Pancake & Waffle Mix
• 2 cups NF milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Golden Flax with Blueberries
• 1 banana + frozen blueberries added while cooking

Simply mix all the ingredients together and cook (1/4 cup batter for each) in a pan or on a griddle about 5-6 minutes per side  As they were cooking on the griddle I put a few sliced naners on top and a sprinkling of frozen blueberries.

Here’s my GIANT pancake spatula!  It works really well

We topped ours with NF Greek yogurt, mixed with a little Wallaby vanilla yogurt, and some more flax.  With a fried egg on the side.

I then had the ingenious idea to spread a little bit of peanut butter on top with the yogurt . .  heavenly!  I’m all over the good fats this morning.

Afterwards, while I should have been working on school stuff, I transferred over some more recipes to the recipes page and decided to get a quick workout in on the bike trainer.  After our downpour on Saturday, I think we are supposed to have even more rain this week!  It was a really good sweat session, all while I watched DVR-ed Oprah.  I loved her diabetes episode, so very informative and wonderful of her to bring the tragic reality of this deadly disease to the country.

• Bike Trainer Stats:  1 hour, 14.01 miles, 550kcals (I think this overestimates?) —- It’s nice to have the Garmin cadence sensor and I actually really liked having the timer going because I was able to do some interval training as well as harder hills.  I hate working out and not knowing my time frame sometimes!  I really want to work increasing my avg pace to 15-17 mph.  I think I’m going to go for the Napa Metric Century!!!  I just have to first okay it with work and make sure I can stay with my aunt who lives there.  So excited!!

After a nice sweat session, I re-fueled with a smoothie bowl, topped with some tasty granola (can’t get enough Gina!).  I also had a leftover spanakopita.  I didn’t want to eat too much since it was almost time to leave for Kristen‘s Super Bowl party!  Woo-hoo!

This one contained (for 2):

• NF Milk, Wallaby plain yogurt
• TJ’s frozen mango, raspberry, blueberry mix
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• chia seeds
• scoop peanut butter

It was delish!

Oh my gosh, there was so much food at the party!  Kristen’s family always has such a wonderful spread of really great food.  I had to control myself from eating too much since my friend also invited me out to dinner later that evening.  It was sure tough!  Here’s just a few of the choices, yes just a few:

With all the selection, it was so hard to decide!  Here is what my plate looked like.  I ate most, except the pasta salad.  It was all delicious!  I also had a bite of the football cake

It was a really great party and it was nice to catch up.  Thanks Kristen!!!

After the game (wow, what a game!), I dropped Chris off at home and headed to the next eating session  A good friend invited me to dinner at a restaurant in the Palms called Nove Italiano.  Oh boy, this place was chic!  I get all excited trying restaurants like this since I don’t get to go that often, and we sure received the VIP treatment.

I started out with a glass of their Cabernet on the list.  It was nice and full, bursting with luscious fruit and a rich finish.

Then the food kept on coming!

Chickpea Tuna Crostini — I had one

Panzanella Salad with a wonderful variety of heirloom tomatoes and hearts of palm.  This was my favorite!  I had two small plates full.

Fire-roasted cheese pizza — I had one slice.

Agnolatti Ravioli with spicy ricotta and walnut pesto.  This was a close second!  I had 5 raviolis.

Since we received 2 complimentary drinks, I decided to order more of a dessert drink called Strawberry Balsamico.  Oh man, is there really alcohol in here??? lol  Sooo good!  After dinner and lots of great conversation we walked around the PlayBoy Nightclub, although there wasn’t too much action at 10:30pm.  It was neat to just check it out.

Such a great night!!  I am definitely feeling it this morning as the alarm was blaring and I groggily rolled out of bed at 5:30am, dang it!  ah such is life and I’m hoping to get an afternoon nap  I can’t even tell you how many calories I had yesterday and I’m perfectly ok with that, time to get back on the wagon, savor the wonderful experience and move along

Gina’s having a random giveaway of peanut butter, pilates DVD and coconut milk, check it out!!

Thanks for reading, hope you all had a nice weekend!!

I had some leftover phyllo in the freezer from when I made chocolate baklava over the holidays and I had been contemplating what to do with it.  I saw Diana made this wonderful almond pastry (galette des rois) and really wanted to try that, but it used puff pastry not phyllo.  Hmmm, soon I had the idea to try my hand at spanakopita because I adore all things Greek and had never really tried making it before.  Well, it turned out nothing less than wonderful, as something wrapped in crispy, flaky dough would, and it just about tasted as good as the real thing!  Give it a try, it’s great for parties too (uh em SuperBowl) because it makes a butt load!  I have another fun appetizer to share as well

Spanakopita

Serves:  7-12 (as a main dish, probably double as an appetizer)

Ingredients

• 2lbs frozen spinach, thawed & drained really well (I used cheesecloth)
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped leeks (or a little less green onion)
• 8 oz feta, crumbled
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill or 1 tsp dried
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup olive oil or melted butter (I used the oil)
• Phyllo dough (standard package)

Directions

Drain spinach well in cheesecloth. (to clean leeks, cut lengthwise like below and rinse out with water)  In a large pan cook onion and leeks in oil.  Don’t brown.

Stir together onion mixture, feta cheese, parm, parsley and dill.  Beat eggs into onion mixture with spinach.
Stack 2 sheets of phyllo, brushing each with oil or butter.  Cut in half if making large triangles (this is what we did).  Cut smaller if making small appetizer pitas.

Place heaping tbsp or 2 at bottom of each length and fold back and forth into triangles (like folding a flag).

Place on baking sheet, brush with a little butter or oil and bake 350 for 40-50 minutes until golden.

For the chickpea salad:

• 1 3/4 cup water + 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 1/4 cup TJ’s Harvest Blend (I loved this!  but you can also use cous cous, quinoa, etc)
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup Mediterranean feta
• several good glugs of rice wine vinegar

Cook Harvest blend or other grains according to package directions, let cool and add the remaining ingredients.  Easy!

This dish was really tasty and fun to eat.  With each bite the loud and flaky phyllo broke apart to reveal the cheesy, spinachy goodness within.  It was messy, but we sure enjoyed it!

In spirit of the SuperBowl, we made another tasty finger food for lunch today.  Using TJ’s Lavash bread I made turkey roll-ups!  They’re great for little appetizers and even filling enough for a meal.  Kids enjoy them too!

You can stuff them with pretty much anything.  Ours included Light Laughing Cow, TJ’s tomato basil hummus, oven roasted turkey breast, muenster cheese and spinach.  Roasted bell peppers, avocado, artichoke hearts, chicken salad, etc would also be great in there too.

Viola!  Simple as that.  Want some other recipe ideas?  Check out my recipe page that I’m working on.  Still have more to add, but it’s getting there.  It’s raining buckets here so I’m not sure a bike ride is in the cards for tomorrow

Are you going to or hosting a SuperBowl Party? I’ll be back with a re-cap of SwankyRD‘s party

I absolutely LOVE planning for events, especially events that involve food and friends!  I think I should be a caterer and go to culinary school (this is my dream someday).  While I don’t handle stress/anxiousness too well sometimes, I love the stress of the kitchen.  That rush you get when you prepare something that turns out so well you want to jump or giggle, or the sheer disappointment you feel after messing up a dish and the determination to tweak it and make it better the next time (or right at that moment!).  I love preparing great nibbles and seeing the joy on people’s faces when they are enjoying the company of great friends and food.

Even with lots of planning, things just don’t always go as planned haha, and this is where I get a bit discombobulated :/  This week was pretty uneventful, but I did get in a small fender bender on Wednesday that put a ‘dent’ in things so to speak.  I was okay thank goodness, but my poor car got about $2,000 worth of damages.  The guy in front of me with the truck didn’t even get a scratch, go figure!  This is my first accident, so I hope that my insurance won’t go through the roof.  While I did get a moving violation for following too close, I don’t even remember being that close.  All I remember is coming to a slow stop, starting to go again and before I knew it I was smooshed in the car in front of me.  I didn’t have enough time to react, and the guy in front of me also hit the guy in front of him.  Not a pleasant experience, but not too bad.  I was just bummed because my gym plans were shot!  Crazy I was thinking about that, but I’m definitely glad it wasn’t more serious.  After filing a claim with my insurance and blah, blah, blah, I’m waiting for the body shop to finish the work . . . (big sigh).  Have you ever gotten in a car accident?  They scare me so much, and when I first started driving I about went into a panic attack every time I got into the car, especially on the freeway.  I didn’t get my license until the middle of my junior year of HS!  Now I’m not that bad, but they still give me serious chills.

On to something more fun . . . . PARTY TIME!

Once all the planning, prepping, making and cleaning was all done, it was so nice to have a cocktail (or two!) and enjoy the good company of family, friends and yummy nibbles celebrating our first home.

Oh and I have to fess up that I got myself a new toy!  I didn’t really ‘need’ it, but really believe that it will be a great investment for the future of my blog, business and tasty travels.  Drum roll please . . . .  it’s the Canon Rebel XSi aahhh!  I’ve been dreaming about taking pictures like these for years.  Yea, I could have gotten a new road bike, a flat screen tv, a bedroom set, or fake grass in the backyard, but I decided to get an awesome camera.  What is wrong with my head?  I love learning about food styling, and while my pictures are not professional at all, I hope to start learning a lot more about photography, particularly with FOOD!  By the time I made my decision, (I swear I was contemplating all freaking day!) it was too late to get it here by the party date, so I decided to speed ship it for a little extra so I could have it for the pics.  Let’s see how I did for an amateur right out of the box . . . There is so much to learn with this thing!

And if you have ANY experience with food photography, lighting, etc, by all means please give me some ideas and feedback for what works best for you

Here’s the spread:

For munchies to start:

Assorted cheeses – Colby, fontina, sharp cheddar, aged gouda, honey and grapes

Brie, herbed brie, and aged parmesan

Bruschetta with fig compote, goat cheese and crispy prosciutto.  We also had caprese bites with balsamic reduction.

Panzanella Salad

Chocolate Fountain!  This was a hit, who doesn’t love dipping things into falling chocolate?!

Spinach artichoke dip with Hawaiian sweet bread, this is always a crowd pleaser.

Roasted Veggie Calzones with marinara dipping sauce (still have to work on the aperture and depth of focus)

And we got a new TV!!  I think I about died right then.  Buster likes watching TV haha

It was such a wonderful party, and while it took most of the week to prepare for it, it was so much fun.  I think we will have to have another party soon because we have a ton of liquor left!  I forgot to take pictures, but we opened up 3 bottles of wine, had that lemon champagne punch (It was so good!), and also made another cocktail, and some pyramid apricot ale beer.  We still have a giant thing of vodka, coconut rum, cranberry and pineapple juice left.  We’ll have to keep it for another time.  Now I have a ton of dishes in the kitchen and loads of wash I need to get cleaning (boo!) . . . and Happy Father’s Day!  Give those men in your lives a big hug!

What’s your most memorable party that you have hosted?

With the housewarming party fast approaching, there is lots of planning to do.  As you know I’m a huge list writer and I really like the program called OneNote.  I also use it for all my classes.  I swear I’d be lost if I didn’t have my plan of action!  Most of the time this way of thinking is beneficial for me and helps me really get things done, but a lot of the time it is most certainly my downfall.  If something doesn’t quite go as planned, I get cranky and all discombobulated.  Well, let the planning begin . . . Let me know what you think or if you have any tried and true crowd pleasers.  If everyone attends there should be around 30 people . . . eek!  But, it should probably be more around 20-25.  More pictures to come as the food is prepped!

Menu Ideas so far . . . I may have to narrow some down

~Starters~

• Spinach artichoke dip with Hawaiian sweet bread
• Various cheese, Nut and fruit platters with honey
• Fig compote, goat cheese and caramelized onion bruschetta
• Caprese bruschetta with balsamic reduction

~Main~

• Artichoke heart, sun-dried tomato and olive pasta salad with lemon vinaigrette
• Panzanella salad
• Mini Veggie Calzones with marinara dipping sauce
• Asian BBQ chicken thighs

~Dessert~

• Chocolate fountain with strawberries, pretzels, marshmallows and brownie bites for dipping

~Grown-up Drinks~

• Citrus Champagne Punch(tried this at a friend’s, so good!)
• Starborough sauvignon blanc (very fruity and fresh)
• Ravenswood chardonnay (like butta’)
• Willow Springs Cabernet (nice fruit)
• Cakebread Merlot (haven’t tried yet, but got as a gift)
• Seghesio Zinfandel (jammy and full)

Wow, I have lots of things to do before all this is golden.  We even have more house stuff to do too . . . eek! Here’s my plan of attack so far . . .

This weekend:

• Clean up yard somewhat, Extra outside chairs,Touch-up paint, Baseboards, Thresholds? and Hang pictures

Mon-Wednesday

• Buy Wine/Alcohol at Lee’s
• Buy Platters/serving stuff at HomeGoods (so cheap!)
• Make brownie bites/freeze

Thursday

• Grocery Shopping
• Prep Salad/bruschetta ingredients

Friday

• Assemble Pasta salad/Panzanella salad
• Marinate chicken
• Roast Veggies for calzones
• Make calzone dough
• Clean upstairs

Saturday

• Buster Walk/Bath
• Clean downstairs
• Assemble Platters
• Make citrus punch
• Make calzones
• Grill Chicken

PARTY! – 6pm

For lunch the other day I had something that I haven’t had in a long time . . . tempeh!  I marinated a few strips of it in Hoisin, lime juice, and sesame oil for about 5 minutes.  Then I grilled it on the grill pan, and placed in on some sandwich bread with mozzarella, spinach and avocado and pressed it into a panini.  I also had greek yogurt on the side for dipping.  It was delish and very filling!

Buster has this weird thing and likes to smell shoes when you take them off!  We took Buster to the dog park for the first time and he had a blast!  He loves being around all the other dogs and people.  All the dogs were barking at him and smelling his butt, but he didn’t mind at all!  Isn’t that amazing that dogs smell each other’s butts to meet and find out about each other?  He was romping through the grass like a gazelle and loved all the new smells.  We are definitely going to make this a continued occurrence in the future.  He was so tuckered from all the excitement, but he still had us up at 4:15 am wanting to get up.  He is such a new dog once he got his poor ears and teeth fixed up.  He had a really bad ear infection the week after we got him, one of the worst the vet has seen.  Now, he’s been on antibiotics and two kinds of ear rinses and he’s feeling much more chipper and is quite the character.

Here’s Buster’s new friend Louie.  He’s my friend’s dog and is quite the ham!

Here’s the happy papa and Buster . . .

Hope you all have a wonderful, productive weekend!  Let me know on any of your recipe ideas