What I Ate Wednesday #52: Another Birthday

Oh hi there, friends! It’s been a while, huh? Sorry about that.. life has been crazy the past couple weeks and I’ve been gathering all of the pieces.

Speaking of crazy, I can’t believe it’s already September! Here I am with my birthday edition of WIAW and it’s only 2 weeks late 😉 I happened to have found myself in Florida on my birthday and even though we already had plans at home,  we quickly adapted and I had quite a tasty day. Not to mention, I was also with a bunch of family that I don’t often get to see; it was so nice to spend the day with everyone!

First and foremost, I want to wish a HUGE congrats to Jenn and her husband on the birth of their baby girl! So happy for you two three!

Birthday Lunch with the Fam!
Last time Nathan and I were in Florida, just a month earlier, we found a fabulous Vietnamese restaurant. This time, we wanted to try out another place to compare, so we dragged my family. How could they say no? It was my birthday! 🙂

It was pretty entertaining watching everyone, including my Grandpa, trying to figure out the menu. Good thing there are always descriptions in English and lots of pictures!

Gramps ❤

I just can’t get behind pho in the summer so my go-to has been the grilled pork vermicelli bowl. This pork was more of a sausage as opposed to the flat, grilled pork. It wasn’t my favorite vermicelli bowl, but it was still darn tasty! And of course I asked for extra crushed peanuts!

Grilled Pork Vermicelli Bowl

Snack Time!
After lunch, we dragged the youngins [otherwise known as the cousins and my parents] over to one of our new favorite breweries in Florida, Funky Buddha. I got a Cucumber Jones, a cucumber and basil infused wheat ale. I absolutely loved it! It was so refreshed and delicious.. I just wish I could get more of it!

Cucumber Jones Wheat Ale

Appropriately fuzzy, right? 😉

Dinner
In the spirit of trying new restaurants, Nathan took me to a tiny Indian restaurant that seats about 10 people. It was a very “no frills” kind of restaurant; they even served the food in to-go containers. Works for us!

I went for the grilled tandoori chicken and Nathan, who was feeling something extra spicy, ordered the chicken vindaloo. When you order, they ask you to give a rating, 1 though 10, for how spicy you want your sauce. He ordered a 7 and it was definitely up there!

Tandoori Chicken

Spicy Chicken Vindaloo

The food was so flavorful and the portions were very generous. We will definitely be returning!

Birthday Dessert
FROYOOOOOOOOO!! Seriously, it’s all I wanted. We located the nearest Yogurtland and I absolutely loaded up! It was perfect.

Yogurtland Birthday Froyo

And to top it all off, I ended my trip with a run [in exhausting humidity] with this view.

Food for Thought

Do you prefer to go to a fancy restaurant for your birthday or would you rather keep it casual?

What is your favorite dessert?

What I Ate Wednesday #19 – Road Trip and a Case of Wine

Have you entered my tortilla popchips giveaway yet? It ends this Friday, so don’t miss out! The new tortilla flavors are fantastic!

Ever since Nathan and I took our rainy day trip to Trader Joe’s for the Two-Buck Chuck, we’ve been wanting to go back and get a case. And buy a case (and a half), we did!

On Sunday, we decided to hit the road. But not after a delicious breakfast!

[Breakfast]
Powercakes Power Pumpkin Roll. It was featured in my Weekender Top 5 as well as my Top 5 in Review. I loved it and would absolutely make it again!

[Lunch]
As with our first trip to Alexandria, we went back to Caphe Banh Mi for lunch. I was thisclose to getting the traditional pho that Nathan ordered last time, but at the last minute, I decided to change my order to the pork vermicelli bowl. Definitely the right choice! The pork was delicious and I love pickled carrots and daikon.

[Snack]
This cute little Nutz Over Chocolate Luna mini was part of my swag bag from my last race. I’d never had this flavor before and it was the perfect sweet treat to hold me over until dinner.

[Dinner]
Pan-seared chicken breast, finished in the oven with a general tso glaze and coconut oil roasted broccoli, zucchini, and red onion. It was light and flavorful and hit the spot.

[Goals Update!]
In my WIAW Holiday Recovery post a couple weeks ago, I mentioned having a 5K on September 29th and I was determined to beat my previous time of 26:08. I’m pleased to be able to update you and say that I ran that 5K on Saturday in 25:47 at a 7:51 min/mile pace!

[Halloween Treats]
Recently I made Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from Brittany of Eating Bird Food. They were a hit with Nathan, my family, and my coworkers! If you’re looking for a healthier tasty treat during the Halloween season, this is a great way to satisfy that craving!

Food for Thought

What are your favorite healthy treats to snack on around Halloween time?

What I Ate Wednesday #14 – Rainy Day Adventures

We had some awesome plans last Saturday to rise and shine super early and head to Rehoboth Beach for the day. We haven’t been to the beach at all this summer so I was looking forward to it all week!

And then the weather forecast changed. To rain. All day. What do you even do when you’re at the beach and it’s raining? Exactly.

Well, fine then! We slept in, had a nice, relaxing morning, and then packed up and headed over to Alexandria, VA for the day! For what, you ask? Wine.

But not just any wine. Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck. Yep. We drove 1.5 hrs each way for Trader Joe’s wine. Don’t worry, we got some good eats on the way too!

[Breakfast]
Cinnamon protein Coach’s Oats, topped (of course) with Earth Balance coconut peanut spread and fig. Naturally, I had my Tone It Up Bombshell Spell and some coffee with almond milk on the side. Perfect way to start the day!

[Snack]
A relaxing morning turned into a very late lunch, so I munched on some baby carrots in the car. Nothing exciting.. or worth picturing.

[Lunch]
Here’s the exciting part. We googled for a good 30 minutes looking for the best place to go for lunch and ended up at Caphe Banh Mi. If you’re in the Alexandria area, definitely go!

We started out with a vegetarian summer roll with tofu, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, and other veggies with a peanut dipping sauce. The sauce made it for me.. anything peanut [butter] related is a big green light! For our meals, we both tried pho (our first time!) Nathan got the traditional and I got the chicken. Traditional is the way to go! The beef was so rich and delicious and I could have eaten all of his! But instead, I ate all of mine. Topped with bean sprouts and fresh Thai basil. YUM!

[Snack]
Old towne is such a cute place! We walked around looking for a place to get a sweet treat and found Pop’s. Peanut butter chocolate pretzel ice cream. This is no joke. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of it (because I ate it too quickly), but that sample picture will do. I would make the drive for the ice cream.

[Dinner]
Late lunch + snack = late [lazy] dinner. Steamed some broccoli in the microwave, topped it with chicken and bbq sauce, and called it a day!

[Summer Staple]
Wine! Yep, I went there. Every summer day is better with a glass of wine.

Trader Joe’s in Maryland doesn’t sell wine and we’ve heard so many good things about it. But the biggest thing is that we’re trying to find every way to cut back on our wedding budget, so when Nathan heard about Two-Buck Chuck taking home a big prize, we knew we had to give it a try.

Results are in! And it was totally worth the drive. Wedding attendants, get ready for some Two-Buck Chuck! 🙂

Speak Up!

Where is your favorite place to day-trip? Have you ever taken a day trip for a meal? … Or a drink? 😉