Why My Dad is the Best

Hello everyone! I hope you all had the best Father’s Days you have had in years!

I was able to spend Father’s Day with my Dad, who came up from Florida! It was just the two of us, which hasn’t happened in quite some time.

He cooked ME dinner Friday Night (I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to work the other way around on Father’s Day Weekend)

Dad’s Bouillabaissee

After breakfast on the porch, he spent his entire Saturday helping ME on a very stressful apartment search.

He insisted on buying ME Dinner Saturday night

Orchetti Pasta from Vivace

He did at least let me buy the froyo

While I was out on my long run on Father’s Day, HE went out and bought us a Sunday paper to muse over while we ate breakfast.

Forget an expensive, fancy schmany brunch  (I swear, I will never understand brunch) he chose the greatest restaurant on earth for his Father’s Day Lunch…

Just look at that awesomeness!

Do you see a trend here? To say that my Dad is selfless is ridiculous. It’s more than that. His family IS  his life. Don’t get me wrong, he forces his Led Zepplin and Duck Dynasty obsessions on the rest of us just as hard as he can, but when it comes to what matters, it is only his family.

How was your Father’s Day?

Why is your Dad the best?

I Want You to Broaden Your Mind

I hope everyone made it through Wednesday/Thursday’s crazy storm system which hit 24(!) of the states! Here in NC, we only lost power for a brief 15 minutes as I cooked dinner. I was actually a touch disappointed when the power came back on as I sat down to eat. I was looking forward to a  technology, appliance free night.

Luckily I had time to heat the grill before the outage and was able to enjoy some oh so yummy Tacos!

I Want You To Broaden Your Minds

Harry Potter anyone?

My attention span is about as long as this sentence. So when a tv show asks me to sit through a whole HOUR much less these crazy two hour reality shows, my brain says, “No thank you!”

I will often entertain myself as I prep lunches and dinners by plugging into those shows I do find mildly entertaining while I have other tasks to occupy my brain.

Instead of watching Scandal (Just started, the rest of America is right, Scandal rocks!) I spent my Wednesday evening broadening my mind as opposed to widdling it down.

So why exactly am I applying myself to Italian? (Ok more like, kinda sorta trying to pick up a few key phrases)

In a (very) few short weeks, I, with my mom, dad, brother and sister will be in….

Italia!

I studied abroad for an all too brief five weeks in Florence, the summer between sophomore and junior year of college

Venice, not Florence, but pretty much the only picture I have without friends in it.

As much as my family loves to travel, I am the only one who has been to Italy. I m not sure they can appreciate, until they see it for themselves, how different Italy is from any other place they have ever been. I cannot wait to experience it with them!

We will be going to Rome

Lucca

Florence

 

and Siena, where I have yet to go!

 

My silly limited vacation days means my family will continue on to quite a few dream destinations, while I return to work. That’s ok, I am grateful beyond belief to be able to go at all, and plan to pack as much in as humanly possible!

I have been planning to return to Italy this summer for the past two years. I have friends who save their money to buy a house, spend it on clothes, or a new car, I save my pennies to travel!

That leave me one question…..

Where next?!!

What are you saving for?

Where do you want to go most in the world?

Hong Kong

Where do you want to go realistically?

Austin

Grilled Eggplant and Lentil Ratatouille

I can remember the very first time I tasted eggplant, and it was FAR  too late in life! It was during college, in the form of Chef Terry’s (the cook at my sorority house) oh so wonderful ratatouille. Tomatoes, onion, and the new chewy, hearty, satisfying, element that was eggplant opened my eyes.

How could one little food be so revolutionary? Eggplant is a unique food. Bitter when raw, once cooked (which can be done a myriad of ways) it assumes a savory, rich flavor. Eggplant originated in Asia and migrated to Europe with the conquest of the Arabs. The result, for those of us living in 2013 is that we are able to experience regional, global dishes featuring this plant, seeped in each of these varying cultures.

Anytime a food has existed in a culture for hundreds of years, there is a good chance that culture has created some truly wonderful dishes from it. In India, they are famous for Baingan Bharta, Italy, Parmigania, Lebanon Baba Ganoush to name a very few!

This play on ratatouille is oh so satisfying. The comforting heartiness of the lentils, tomatoes, and eggplant made me sad that I only had one meals worth of ingredients on hand! And did I mention it’s easy! If you can shop and pour, you’ve got a wonderful meal on your hands!

The Reality Show I Would Die To Go On

Now those are words I never thought I would say! (Type?) It’s that time again… moving time! After four moves, you would think that I would be an expert apartment hunter, but alas, the skills I have acquired, while valuable don’t make the perfect apartment in the perfect location for the perfect price magically appear.

I adore real estate. Growing up in Florida, during the housing boom, our idea of fun was exploring the construction sites that were omnipresent in our neighborhood. That being said, when you are the one searching in a tough market, a tad of the fun disappears.

I know you probably mistake me for the kind of gal who would just love to be a on the Real World, but alas I just don’t think I’m cut out for it The one reality show I would appear on in a hot second is HGTV’s For Rent.

For Rent is basically House Hunters for Rentals. Sadly, For Rent is not casting at the moment, boo!

HGTV, if you’re reading this please make an exception!

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Cooking Time!

I realized how long it has been since I attempted a new recipe. In theory, I do so every weekend. One guess how that pans out Monday night, I finally made Pinto Bean Chilaquiles from the most recent issue of Eating Well which I have had dog eared for weeks. Another runny egg, I know… shocking!

 

My version may not have looked too pretty, but holy cow was it good! Instead, you can look at theirs and drool over how yummy it must be

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Don’t be intimidated by the 1/3 cup of chili powder the recipe calls for, the dish is not not spice, simply flavorful and delicious!

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The Week In Fitness

Wednesday: 60 minutes elliptical

Thursday: Off!

Friday: 1 mile @ 9:00, 1 Mile @ 8:34, 7 intervals: 3 minutes @ 7:30, 2 minutes @ 8:34, abs

Saturday: 7 miles humid run, Body Pump

Sunday: 10 mile run

Monday: 5 miles @ 8:34, 10 minutes stair climber, abs

Tuesday: 7 miles: 1 @ 9:00, 1 @ 8:34, 1 @ 8:00, 4 @ 7:41, lots o’lots of squat jumps, jump lunges, and single leg squats

Do you enjoy apartment hunting?

Only when I don’t have to move.

How often do you try new recipes?

I plan to on the weekend but end up wanting something easy. It’s the weeknights when time is limited that I get the urge to cook something new!

What reality show would you go on?

Zooooeeyyy Mama!

Zooooeeeeyyy Mama! (Diary of a Wimpy Kid anyone?)

It is humid out there ya’ll! Long gone are the glistening winter days of long, tiresome, hilly, sweat free runs! Duhhhh Anne, it’s June. I know, I know, but thanks to the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea, that fact slapped my silly upside the face Saturday morning!

I set out to run my favorite seven mile route, full of hills, including the notorious killer hill that concluded last Saturday’s race and brought so many of us to our knees.  Andrea had a different idea. The greenway was more like a mudway, and a fallen tree blocked my path.

Seven miles, and a whole and a whole lot of mud later, I felt to icky, stick that I did something I NEVER do….

I showered after my run!

I  know, I’m wild. Showers and I don’t really get along so that’s really saying something, especially because after my shower and breakfast, I went to my first ever Body Pump class! I’ve obviously heard about Body pump for years now, and have always wanted to give it a go.

The class and instructor were great, I’ll definitely be going back! Being my first class, my workout was really more about finding what weights work for me, but I definitely see how, like spin, the quality of your workout is very dependent on how hard you push yourself.

After some apartment hunting (Ek! more on that at a later date!) the afternoon was sauntered away on the porch with friends, and drinks followed by the BEST Mexican food in Raleigh, Gonza’s Tacos Y Tequila

A recycled picture of the Tinga Tacos, I did not take a single picture last night

Because we’re wild and cool, we obviously ended the night with Froyo. I realized how bad of a friend I am, when it became clear that this was two of my friends first trip to Menchies!

Sunday, I woke up tired from the previous days Body Pumpin’, and was NOT in the mood to run. I told myself to give it a go and was so glad that I did (Duhhh)!  As soon as the lactic acid flushed out of my muscles, I decided to up the planned seven hilly miles to ten! I’ll admit the last few were rough, but that was just fine because I was able to eat away the pain later

I met friends downtown of some double Sunday fun. The main event was the Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo. To say that it was packed would be an understatement.

Fortunately, the line for one of the yummiest booths was not too long.

Le Farm’s Veggie Stacker, filled with hummus, lettuce, red onion, tomato, and avocado was fabulous!

I followed that  triple decker monstrosity of deliciousness with one of my favorite foods of all time.

A scrumdidlyumtous soft pretzel with mustard to boot!

And now, friends, for the double portion of this Sunday Funday…..

You have probably heard of a Beer Mile. To some, it means drinking (or chugging) a beer, running a mile, the drinking another. Well friends, were you aware that there are actually official Beer Miles, rules, record holders, and qualifications?

Me neither. I was shocked to learn that according to official Beer Mile rules, participants must drink four cans of beer, one each quarter mile, and light beer does not count!

A friend’s running club organized a beer mile to be held at the food truck rodeo. The winner ran his mile, and drank his four beers in 7:03! If you ask me, that is darn impressive! If I had participated, he wouldn’t have had a chance

Have you ever run a Beer Mile?

When was the last time you had good Mexican?

Have you ever done Body Pump? What did you think?

Accepting Compliments

In the wake of Sheryl Sandberg’s call to Lean In, the energy surrounding women advocating their achievements in the workplace almost feels omnipresent. Cori, of Olive to Run, recently posted a wonderful post, where she discusses being humble, and the importance of encouraging others.

Cori’s point is so incredibly important in every facet of life I can imagine, from work, to school, to friendship. It got me think about a related yet different topic, and one I have worked to improve within myself over the past two year:

The Ability To Graciously Accept Compliments

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Let’s Back Up

While I’m sure the above quote is applicable to many, I think it perpetuates a stereotype. I, and I believe many like me, don’t feel that our accomplishments are minimal, that they are unimportant, that they are unworthy of Feedback.

Feedback

To me, feedback regarding any project is necessary to reinforce how we did on a given project . Did you far exceed expectations on a project at work and save the company money? Run your first 5k? Improve your calculus grade from a B to an A? To me those are achievements. You worked hard to earn them. Feedback reinforces the changes that you made, confirming that those changes were good so that you can continue those behaviors.

Feedback of course can, does, and should, go the other way. Negative feedback on that presentation that bombed helps us see what went wrong so we don’t repeat our mistakes. I know I am strange, but I actually like and seek negative feedback. It helps be to learn and to improve!

The point of making the distinction is to help explain why one can seek feedback but shy away from praise.

Learning to Accept Compliments

I will never forget getting schooled in accepting compliments. Senior year of college, while eating lunch at my sorority house, someone made a kind comment about my physique, complimenting me. Feeling bashful, I mitigated their comment as I typically would any praise which I felt I did nothing to earn.

“Anne! Someone just said something nice to you. Don’t brush that aside. They made the effort to compliment you, and you deserved it. You need to accept compliments.” My friend Julie said

I was shocked!

The last thing in the world I ever intended to do, or desired to do, was cut someone else’s comment down!

Since that day, I have worked to graciously thank anyone who compliments me. We are taught to be humble, and it can feel as if we are going against our nature, but I learned a lesson that day. Even if I don’t feel as though I did anything to earn their compliment, that doesn’t change that fact that I have respect for the things that others say.

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To be clear, my point about accepting compliments is different than “Leaning In” or utilizing feedback. Accepting compliments encompasses those times when we feel bashful. When we feel tempted to unassumingly blow that person’s comment off. Our intentions are right, but stop and think, how does that make them feel. How does it make you feel when someone blows off what you say?

Are you good at taking compliments?

What are your thoughts?

Chickpea Quinoa with Fried Egg

Grains. Grains are fabulous. They give us bread, cereals, oatmeal, flour (read, cake) and so much more. Thanks to the public deciding that a gluten-free diet is cool, as opposed to a medical necessity for some, whose bodies reject the plants, grains have taken an undue beating of late.

I confess to having a complicated relationship with grains. I enjoy whole wheat bread, love oats, and of course I adore cookies and cake, but as far as rice, corn, barley, and most others, well I’m fairly indifferent. I’ll eat them, they’re fine but they lack the “wow” factor I get from other foods like potatoes……Oh potatoes, my love affair with you is well documented here on CCR.

Quinoa has typically been included in the group of grains that just don’t get my juices flowin. That was until the past month. I can’t explain it, but quinoa has popped into the ever present Craving Zone in my brain. The result has been this recipe for Summer Quinoa Salad, and the following recipe for quinoa with fried eggs.

If you can’t tell, in addition to loving potatoes, another serious food love in my life is the runny egg. I am thoroughly convinced that you can add a runny egg to almost any dish and instantly transform it into something both luxurious and comforting. And the asparagus, nothing was made to go with eggs like asparagus.

This meal is as quick as quick gets, as healthy as you could ever hope for and absolutely delicious to boot! Enjoy!

Hands on Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 c uncooked quinoa
• 1/2 c water
• 1/8 tsp red chili powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• 1/ 4c chickpeas
• 1/3 c sliced cherry tomatoes
• 1 egg
• 100 g asparagus

Instructions

Place quinoa in a small pot and bring to medium heat. Toast quinoa until fragrant, 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Add water, cover and bring to a simmer. Simmer until water is absorbed, 12-13 minutes. When water is almost absorbed, add salt, chili powder, and pepper. Stir to mix.

While quinoa cooks, slice tomatoes. Bring a small skillet, sprayed with cooking spray to medium low heat.

Crack the egg into a bowl, and carefully  slide into skillet. Cover and cook 5-6 minutes until whites are set, yet yolk is still runny.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add asparagus, and cook 2-3 minutes. Drain, and blanch asparagus in ice water.

Combine, quinoa, tomatoes, chickpeas. Top with asparagus and egg.

Curious about grains? This feature from Cooking Light is fabulous!

What foods are in your “Crave Zone”?

Salads, eggs, potatoes,