Tag: warm weather

Low Key Weekend Things

Lauren6 Comments

Happy Monday, you all.  I hope you had a pleasant weekend.  Mine was pretty low key.  I bet you didn’t see that coming judging from title of the post, right?  On Friday, as we drove home from work, I commented that I was pretty sure my throat wasn’t really sore, it was just really dry.  Then I woke up on Saturday with a definite sore throat and about zero energy.  Hence the low key-ness around here.

IMG_2570

Remember this place??  Even though they were out of both movies we wanted to rent (Anna Karenina and Argo) it was such a trip to be inside a Blockbuster for the first time in years.  It brought back fond memories of trips there with my family when I was younger.  We were there a lot.  We ended up buying Anna Karenina on pay-per-view and I managed to stay awake through 3/4 of it.  I’m a fricken party, people!

IMG_2575

Beer brewing took up a majority of the day on Saturday.  We did manage to take a nice walk outside in the 60-degree weather.  There was so much snow last weekend and this weekend was perfectly beautiful.  That’s Colorado for you.

IMG_2584

Our beer currently looks like this.  It’s a Hefeweizen, which I’m a big fan of so I’m crossing my fingers that it turns out good.  We may or may not have almost forgot to add the malt extract, which is, you know, pretty important in the beer-making process.

IMG_2582

I wanted to go to the free Saturday yoga class, but my lack of energy made me skip yoga for the Great Gatsby (I want to read it before the movie comes out!) and a green smoothie.  Then I took the most awesome nap.  I felt a million times better afterwards.  Naps are the best.  Weekend movie #2 was Adaptation.  How crazy is that movie?!  Fun Fact: the main character’s identical twin brother is the only fictional person to be nominated for an Oscar.

IMG_2586

Sunday involved outdoor running, a trip to the mall –I took my sunglasses to be adjusted and it literally took them 30 minutes to get them “just right” — and new candle purchases.  Spring scents are out and that plus the warm weather this weekend has me totally craving spring.  It’s just around the corner, right?

IMG_2588

I also did some healthy food prep for the workweek.  There’s chopped veggies galore, homemade hummus, hardboiled eggs and Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars all packaged up and ready to go!  I find chopping and baking extremely cathartic and if I had the time and motivation to do something like this every weekend, I totally would.  After all that healthy-ness, it was time for burgers.

IMG_2590

Look, Joey and I already broke our “no eating out” rule only 3 days into the challenge.  To be fair, we planned on letting the rule slide for this special occasion.  Since my parents couldn’t make it to my nephew’s birthday party last weekend, they took us all out to Red Robin for burgers, bottomless fries, balloons that kept ending up on the ceiling and presents.  I multi-tasked with a baby in one hand and a burger in the other.

Here’s to as fast week — I’m headed to Arizona on Friday!

**************************

Are you a beer drinker?  What’s your favorite kind?

Are you a napper?

Are you as excited for spring as I am?

Weekend Things: Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

Lauren4 Comments

This weekend I…

Got a special package delivered straight from New Orleans. <— Thanks, Uncle!

IMG_2299

My mom said I shouldn’t have shared with everyone at work.  I argued that then I wouldn’t be able to brag that I have family in New Orleans or see the look on people’s faces when you say “don’t accidentally eat the baby!”

Enjoyed Friday evening Happy Hour.

IMG_2303

We tried a new place in Louisville.  It was cute, affordable, and the pizza was delicious but it just wasn’t the Med.

Cooked a delicious Saturday night dinner.

IMG_2306

Beef stroganoff, mustardy brussel sprouts and red wine.  I’m on a mission to become a wino but I currently know nothing about wine and am paranoid that liquor store employees are suspicious when I wander around the wine section for so long before finally making a decision.

Had dinner and well, more King Cake at my parents’ on Sunday  night.

IMG_2315

My mom found the baby, continuing my streak of not finding the baby.  FYI this is a Mardi Gras tradition.  You hide this plastic baby inside the King Cake and the person who finds it in their piece is in charge of hosting the party the next year.

Other weekend highlights would include…

An outdoor run, seeing Gangster Squad (Ryan Gosling, you so cool), me pretending to work on the puzzle but actually just watching TV instead while Joey comes up with some systematic way to finish all the sky parts that are left, coffee with Hannah, bottling our beer and booking a trip to Vegas for my sister’s 21st birthday!!  I think I’m more excited than she is.

Oh!  and Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce!

Last week we made “the lazy man’s quiche” aka a fritatta, with ricotta cheese.  It was delicious by the way, but we had leftover ricotta that I didn’t want to waste, so ricotta pancakes were born.  Lemon and blueberries are the obvious pairings for such pancakes and they turned out to be really delicious.

IMG_2308

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

For the pancakes:

  • 1 cup AP flour
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup ricotta
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg white
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/2-2/3 cup milk (enough to get batter to the right consistency — you want it slightly thick)

For the blueberry sauce:

  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • juice of half a lemon
  1. In a large bowl, combine flours, salt, baking soda baking powder and sugar.
  2. In another bowl, combine ricotta, egg, egg white, milk and lemon juice.
  3. Add ricotta mixture to dry ingredients, mix until just combined and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
  4. Heat a griddle, and drop batter by the 1/4 cup once hot.  Once bubbles start to form, flip pancakes and cook on the other side.
  5. While pancakes are cooking, combine blueberries, water and lemon juice in a sauce pot.  Bring to a boil, then mash blueberries, reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes or until thickened.
  6. Top pancakes with blueberry sauce and devour!

Now what to do with the 1 cup of ricotta that’s still left over.

*****************************

What did you do this weekend?

Do you know what a King Cake is?

What’s your favorite weekend breakfast to indulge in?