Protein power

Now that DB and I have gotten in the swing of regular workouts together I'm shifting him onto my eating plan because he's got this disorder where he mindlessly snacks on whatever he sees and although that's fine now I'm anticipating his metabolism slowing down any minute now as 30 is upon him. So for lunch today I made a big pot of quinoa and made some all natural chicken meatballs and tossed them in 2 tbs of teriyaki sauce. I put the quinoa in a bowl, seasoned it with salt, pepper and ginger then put a bed of raw spinach which softened with the hot meatballs on top and then I added some orange pepper and some Thai basil.

I had a lot of quinoa left so for dinner I made a chicken brocolli bake which I used to make with brown rice but tonight I subbed in quinoa.

First things first I put the quinoa in a baking dish 

Next I sautéed 1 large onion, 1 garlic clove sliced and and 8 sliced mushrooms. I seasoned these with salt and pepper and once they were mostly browned I added 1 cup of homemade chicken broth. I took this mixture and poured it over the quinoa

Next I added a layer of broccoli

And then a layer of spinach which I sprinkled with more salt, pepper and garlic powder

While this was all going on it had 3 organic chicken breasts cooking on the stove. We don't eat or buy a lot of meat so when we do we make sure it's all natural, organic and free range or grass fed. Anyway! Sliced the chicken and layered them across the top, poured another cup of broth over it, covered it in foil and baked it at 375 for about 30 minutes.  While that was cooking I made a salad (butter lettuce and heirloom tomatoes is my go-to fave) and that was it. Super protein packed for the macho man in my life 

Dream a not-so-little dream

While I've been loving this whole (f)unemployment kick I've been on, I got a little too bored and had to get myself a job.  The last 2 weeks of my boredom led me to dabble in some neat little things which I decided to put into an etsy shop because let's face it, I will never throw anything away.  So all of my projects are now up for grabs, HERE.  I've sold a few trinkets but it's more for fun, I find peace knowing I can experimentally make something and don't have to find a place for it in my closet to sit and collect dust.  I did however make this super awesome dream catcher which I've had in the back of my mind since I got engaged and it's pretty awesome.  I'm so pleased.  I also realized I'm a pretty legit feather drawer.

Buy This

Or This

The end of a season

Today is the first day of fall and so summer is officially over and with that being said I've come to realize 1. I love fall more and more every year. And 2. This particular change in the seasons is a little more symbolic than I would have liked but I'm fully and completely embracing.  Over the last few months a lot has changed, more than I would have imagined. Future plans, present goals and the usual characters of my everyday life have all somehow morphed and rearranged almost as if God is reminding me that he's in control. I wasn't a fan of all that's happened but after a lot of prayer I've realized my life has played out this far perfectly and I have faith it will continue to do so.  We are all responsible for our own happiness and how we choose to look at situations and I will continue to thank God for everything I have and all that he's allowed me to do. 

Perfection.

Spent the morning with my husband and my dog looking at homes in the most beautiful area and on the way home it starts raining as we listen to the postal service, life is so beautiful.

Sew whattttttt?

I've been on a sewing hype lately and will debut my wares sometime soon but in the mean time I've hunted down fabric in my most favorite pattern and spent the easiest 15 minutes of my life sewing it into throw pillows. Now I never want to leave my bed. 

A little greenery in Charm City

Day 2 | Hiking and Guy Fieri 

We started our day with my brother, Mike making us all an awesome breakfast and then we all went and got ready for a day of hiking and a trip to Hampden.  While waiting for the girls the brothers went virtual house hunting. 

Once everyone met up at the house we loaded up and drove to a little trail off the side of the road and hiked for about 

There was an old railroad track that ran along the trail and little creeks throughout.

There was also a train in-use that ran through.  

We went down to the water and let the dogs play 

After our hike we went to a little town called Hampden with all these little shops   including one that sold shoes and gourmet chocolate because what could be better?

After that we met our friend from California who moved to Philly at a place on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives called Broadway Diner.

The food was "meh", which I expected because the menu was huge and the diner wasn't that big. 

The desserts however were amazing and we got a bunch to take home. 

We stayed in for the rest of the night and played games.  I was super bloated, (most likely from late night convenience store chicken) so I ran to Safeway and grabbed a little something that worked its magic. 

East coast bound

Day 1 | welcome to D.C.

Our family trip to the east coast has finally arrived! The family left Friday and Dan and I had our flight Saturday morning.

We left Sunny, fresh California at 6:45 am 

and headed 3 hours south to Austin for a 1 hour layover where we entertained ourselves however we could 

and then 3.5 hours north to D.C.  We dreaded the long flight but ended up laughing and sleeping the whole time which was awesome.

Once we got to the airport we had to take a shuttle to the Metro and then ride the Metro to DuPont Circle where our friends live.

We met them at the station and walked back to the apartment to drop off our luggage.

The walk was so beautiful with all the brick homes and unique buildings but man, I did not expect such crazy humidity! We got to the apartment which looked like something straight off of Pinterest and then met up with the fam for dinner at Levante's, a Mediterranean restaurant. Dan and I split an appetizer plate which was super good. 

It had dolma, breaded fried kaser cheese, dill and cheese stuffed phyllo,fried eggplant and zucchini.

We also split a Turkish Pide which is like a bigger version of Arab meat pies I grew up eating called sfiha.  Our pide had ground lamb, tomato, onion, peppers feta on it. Really really good food and not pricey at all. a group of 9 of us came to $100.

On our way home we walked past a family of musicians performing on the street which was so awesome. There's something so amazing about seeing people play instruments with so much passion.  We took the metro as far as we could to the cars then drove the rest of the way to Baltimore. We were all pretty tired and got in bed and then my brother-in-law started telling us about a convenience store that is open 24 hours and makes fried chicken to order. Obviously we had to go. So at 1:30am we got out of bed and went to Royal Farms. It was a little store that looked like an AmPm inside only with a deep fryer. You order the food yourself on a screen then take it up to pay while they make it. 

I got chicken biscuit sliders, cole slaw and wedges and we ate it in the car on the way home like it was our last meal. So unbelievably good and I don't even like fried chicken but this was AMAZING. My mom uses old bay when she makes hers but these guys smothered it and it was so freaking good. We went home and promised not to let each other do that again and fell asleep. My b.i.l. wrote up a 5 page itinerary for our entire trip so there will never be a boring moment.