Taking a Walk Break

It seems to me, we don’t always realize how run down we get until we give ourselves time to breathe. Trust me when I say I was more than well aware of my need for my rest day on Saturday. My workouts on Thursday and Friday left a bit to be desired and I just felt myself trying to plug along to finish out the week. Friday night, I met Nathan and some of his coworkers for happy hour and then we had possibly the best Chinese meal we’d ever had!

Five Spice Hot and Spicy Pork Shoulder

Chicken Clay Pot

Nathan got some serious side eye when he ordered the pork shoulder after saying “I know, you want healthy.” So healthy.. right. It was darn tasty though! We had an easy and quiet Saturday morning before deciding to head into the city. We chose a new spot to check out—Noe Valley—and we loved it! We had a great lunch at Savor, went for a nice walk around a few blocks, and stopped for a little sweet treat on our way to Dolores Park.

Fabulous salad with anjou pear, roasted red pepper, caramelized walnuts, and a huge hunka salmon.

Almond milk peanut butter, chocolate, and the cheesiest cheesecake froyo I’ve ever had!

Busy, beautiful day at Dolores Park

Enjoying the beautiful day!

After a pretty relaxing day and quiet night, I thought I’d be roaring to go yesterday. Turns out my body was still craving lots of rest. I slept until 9! Usually I’m lucky to make it to 7 so I’d say that was a huge success and took it as a sign when I was still not feeling up for hitting the gym. We had another quiet morning and then went for a nice 4 mile walk by the water with a lunch break halfway. I definitely had Lindsay’s post about taking walk breaks on my mind.. it’s nice to have that reminder sometimes.

My favorite dungeness crab I’ve had yet!

Another sunny day!

After a quick trip to the grocery store and a little food prep, we’re set for the week! It was another great weekend and it just reminds me how lucky I am to be married to my best friend.

And a super exciting side note, we’re going home for Thanksgiving! Actually, we’re going home for a whole 2 weeks so we can celebrate Thanksgiving, my cousin’s wedding, and Jilly’s first birthday. I’m beyond excited for it and had to keep it a secret for a few days until my cousin got her wedding RSVP from us. But the word’s out now!

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Leftovers
Monday – Thai basil turkey and lemongrass cauli rice bowls
Tuesday – Smokey chipotle turkey burgers with Mexican corn fritters and side salad
Wednesday – Leftovers
Thursday – Sesame carrot noodles with chicken and broccoli
Friday – Yom Kippur dinner –> matzah ball soup, brisket, potatoes, and roasted brussels
Saturday – BREAK FAST! I don’t care what I eat 😉

Food for Thought

Do you ever had one rest day turn into two?

What I Ate Wednesday #11 – Day Tripper

I bet you have that song stuck in your head now.

No? How about now?

Over the weekend, Nathan and I were tasked with seeing 2 wedding bands. The first one was in DC and with that being at least an hour away, we decided to make a day trip of it. Clearly the first thing to do when deciding on a day trip is to pick out where we can stop for lunch, drinks, and dinner. Who doesn’t plan their day around food?

Breakfast

Typical.. a chocolate coconut zucchini protein pancake (similar recipe to this guy!) topped with the new Earth Balance coconut & peanut spread, coconut, and cinnamon. Of course, I ha my Tone It Up Bombshell Spell and Chocolate Coconut coffee with almond milk. Between the coconut & peanut spread and the chocolate coconut coffee, I was in heaven!

P.S. Make sure to check back soon.. I’m hoping to be doing something fun with Earth Balance!

We made our way off to DC where we had reservations at Oyamel, a José Andrés restaurant. I love tapas restaurants and being able to taste a bunch of things makes it such a fun experience. I would definitely go back!

Lunch

We had to do it fancy and got a pitcher of Farmer’s Fresh Mimosas with plum and lemon verbena. Delicious! I could have had the whole pitcher myself 🙂 The fresh salsa was wonderful and the Mexican squash salad was light and delicious. I loved the topping of queso fresco and crushed peanuts. This is definitely a dish I would consider a summer staple.

I followed that up with a chicken taco with their homemade guacamole and grilled scallion. I have to admit, the guacamole might have been my favorite part of the meal (other than the mimosas!) Next time, I’m definitely getting that to start! I also had a fish taco with pico de gallo. Once again, so fresh and light. We each finished off our meal with Mexican coffee. Full of flavor and a nice jolt to our systems! It was a great meal and so nice to have a light lunch before hitting the town!

After lunch, we explored DC a bit. We took a nice walk over to the Lincoln Monument and then found some much needed air conditioning at the American History Museum. The heat must have messed with our heads; once we cooled off at the museum, we realized we’d much rather cool off with a beer. Off to RFD! After splitting the pitcher of mimosas, I decided to keep it at one beer. What was that beer you ask? Oh, I can’t remember because I forgot to take a picture! Professional blogger over here 😉

Don’t you worry though, I definitely didn’t forget to take a picture of my froyo!

Snack

I don’t mess around with froyo (also a very important summer staple.) Mostly peanut butter with a touch of cheesecake, dulce de leche, and coconut. And of course I had to top it with peanut butter cups. I have a slight obsession with chocolate and peanut butter. Can you tell?

Dinner

Since Nathan indulged my obsession, I indulged his and we went for pizza for dinner! Matchbox features tons of pizzas with a thin, crispy crust. We started off with the large apple/pear salad. I would give the salad a big miss next time. I wouldn’t call it a large and, unfortunately, I had no desire to take a picture of it. But at least we got a little veggie!

When it came to ordering the pizzas, we went back and forth with what we wanted to split. They have so many different kinds and they all sounded wonderful! If we could have, I would have gotten a different kind of pizza for each slice, but since we could only split it in half, we went for the Oven Dried Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella (their version of the margherita pizza) and the Veggie with roasted garlic, artichokes, oven dried tomatoes, pecorino romano, and mozzarella. We each tried a piece of each and went our separate ways. He finished the margherita and I finished the veggie. It’s why we work 🙂

And dessert? Oh right.. had that before dinner. Whoops! (I would have had another one if I had my chance!) We did finally make it to see the band, but the food was the real highlight of the day trip!

Speak Up!

Where is your favorite day trip? Do you plan where you’re going to eat before you head out or just see where the road takes you?