Clean Eating TMB Spaghetti Squash + Weekend Recap

Happy Monday! I had one of those weekends that was so great that it feels fine to come back to work today, weird huh? But more on that later, first off is a recipe I posted on Instagram awhile ago (that is where little recipes go that don't make it to the blog, follow along!) that I keep calling TMB Spaghetti Squash (Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil). It was so so good and we had leftovers for days!

Servings: 3-4
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise ($3.00)
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese ($2.00)
• 3 medium sized tomatoes, diced ($2.00)
• 1 Handful fresh basil, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp Garlic powder  (we love garlic more than the average humans so feel free to skip this step)
• 2 tsp Onion powder

Pick the guts/seeds/ribs out of the spaghetti squash and cook in the oven, cut side up, at 400 degrees for 45 mins. After 45 mins pull the squash out of the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Then using a fork, poke at the edges and pull the spaghetti-ish noodle-things off the skin. Top each half with a layer of tomatoes, the mozzarella (1/2 cup on each), the basil and the seasonings. Pop back in the oven for 15 mins.

That's it! We loved this one. Harrison added some sauce, sauteed onions and mushrooms to his but I liked mine plain.

Ok so onto this weekend. It was my good friends Deanna and Nick's Big Greek wedding- a little backstory: When I lived in Richmond, Deanna and a group of us used to go to Wednesday night karaoke religiously at our local dive bar. That's where she met Nick, and now they're married. A karaoke love story! What could be better?

I planned on leaving at 1, but a massive torrential rain storm had other ideas. Andi and I left our house at 2 and arrived in Richmond at 7:00. It should take 2 hours at the most. I hate traffic. This is us dying a slow, torturous death in stand-still traffic
.

When I got to Richmond some friends and I had dinner and some Greek dance lessons and some wine. Lots and lots of wine.

The next day I had a cheat day with an everything bagel from my favorite Einstein's with one of my favorite friends from high school who is prego- so crazy to see old friends making big life moves right?

Then I got my hair cut and highlighted- this is me trying to see what the highlights were going to look like and panicking a little at how light it was, I should really be in a shampoo commercial for how atrocious my hair looks when it's brushed out:

Then we got ready and headed to the big Greek wedding! The ceremony was over an hour and mostly in Greek but the church was so beautiful, and they had a program that explained everything that was happening

This was my favorite part:

Or maybe this:

Or maybe the "Poptail Hour"- cocktail hour with popsicles (our friend has a pops food truck)

Then we headed to the reception which was really simple and really really fun. It was one of very few weddings I've been to where I felt like the bride and groom were just soo themselves- relaxed, chill, fun, and dancing like maniacs. It was really great.

We danced:

And took pix with the beautiful bride (PS her dress was amazing and from David's Bridal):

And took a giant wedding selfie:

Signed their guest book (I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea for a guest book):

And by the end all felt like this:

The next day we all went to a recovery brunch at my favorite old brunch spot Buddy's that has a build your own bloody mary bar and a porch for the perfect weather we had. Really what else could a girl ask for after a big Greek wedding?

 

Clean Eating 3 Ingredient Crockpot Mexican Chicken + Weekend Recap + Ice Cream Pie

Happy Monday! I can barely sit still because I am SO excited for my friend's big fat Greek wedding this weekend (it's literally a Greek wedding) and I'm going to be reunited with some of my favorite people ever at 5 pm Friday. Until then I'll be practicing Greek dances via Youtube haha.

Our oven is officially fixed so rest easy, this is the last crockpot recipe for awhile. Again, laughably easy. This was my lunch for the week.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken breasts ($4.00)
• 1 can diced tomatoes with chiles (I use Rotel) ($.99)
• 3 Tablespoons taco seasoning (clean eating taco seasoning = 2 Tbs ground cumin, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp black pepper)

Combine the ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 7 hours. I switched up how I ate it each day- some days at it on a salad, some days in Ezekiel tortillas, some days with black beans, added some salsa, added Greek yogurt. It was so good!

Anyone else have an amazing weekend? I have back to back weddings for the next 3 weekends (Richmond, Boston, and Lancaster here I come!) so I HAD to be productive- at least for part of the weekend

Friday night I stayed in to watch Orange Is The New Black which I have been anxiously awaiting for the last...oh you know year or so. I'm a grandma so despite my excitement and how much I was loving it, I passed out somewhere around episode 4 (DON'T SPOIL ANYTHING FOR ME OR I WILL KNIFE YOU). Andi was unimpressed however.

My storage unit, which was packed to the brim with furniture from my old house that I have not even thought about for the last year, was dropped off on Friday so we spent the weekend throwing a pseudo yard-sale. We didn't have a backup plan so I was super stressed that we'd be stuck with all this stuff and nowhere to put it so I threw a few tantrums (sorry, Harrison).

We got rid of all the big stuff, so a few boxes will be headed to Goodwill this week. Temper tantrums were 100% unnecessary.

I also found tons of pictures from back when I used to print out pictures, like this little throwback of Harrison and me 3 years ago when we FIRST started dating:

Saturday was my friend Kyle's birthday so we cooked out and I ate about a million pounds of food.

Played an insanely intense round of Taboo (girls vs. boys- always gets out of hand). For the record, "starts with letter V" is NEVER OK RIGHT??? NEVER! Sorry for being a rule follower.:

My friend Anna who makes everything look super easy (oh don't minder her just completing a post-bach med school program and cooking her husband's birthday dinner for 50 people 2 days before HUGE tests. I mean really) made this delicious apple/kale/quinoa salad that I MUST eat again soon. She said she just looks at SweetGreen's salads and then makes them herself. Genius. She also made this ice cream pies:

Listen to how she made these pies. Scooped ice cream into a pie crust. Let the ice cream soften and melt a little. Put it back in the freezer. So like I said, she makes everything so freaking easy.

Sunday was insanely productive. I cleaned (PS if you have wood floors you HAVE to use Muprhy's Oil. Decent price, I just spray it on our wood floors and dry mop right over it- our floors are IMMACULATE). Andi and I went for a run in the park and took a break for a selfie photoshoot:

Annnd of course threw in a few episodes with Piper and the crew in the clink.

Tell me: can you EVER say "starts with a [insert letter here]"?? And what is your favorite salad?

Linking up today with LeeAnn, Kimberlee, Biana, Much Ado About Monday, Motivation Monday

2 Ingredient Crockpot Green Chicken + Weekend Recap

Ugh, Tuesday after a long weekend is like Monday on steroids. Fortunately I had a great/refreshing weekend and made a few delicious ovenless meals like this green chicken- I threw the 2 ingredients in the crockpot before I went hiking and when I came home it was ready!

This dish is also Tonii-approved which means anyone will like it (backstory: Tonii was a roommate who had never tried hummus , avocado, and a whole host of other "white" foods before we lived together. For the record- he would never choose to eat hummus or avocado but if they were the last 2 foods on the planet he could handle it).

Prep Time: 1 min (to pour stuff in the crockpot)
Cook Time: 6-8 hours
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• Green Salsa (I used the one pictured below from Wal-Mart for $2.00)
• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast ($3.50)

Throw it all in the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours. Cut off the crockpot and allow to cool and absorb the juices for about 45 mins before serving.

I ate it with a black bean salad which was just a few spoonfuls of black beans, shredded lettuce, a scoop of fat-free Greek Yogurt and a scoop of salsa. I had leftovers as a salad the next day. MMM mmm.

This weekend some friends came over and we christened the front porch with a happy hour and some Sam Adams Summer Ale (y'all I wait all year for these and hoard them like Cadbury Mini Eggs).

Some friends and I went hiking in Great Falls on Saturday and I remembered why DC is the greatest city ever to live in, I mean really this is amazing:

My friend Tonii (as in Tonii-approved chicken) came home from Boston and we ate green chicken and watched the Ana Nicole Smith Story and Jodi Arias Story on Lifetime (Lifetime please give me more of these "docudramas")

Sunday we got up and went to see Christine Cain speak at church and ohhheemmmgeee I am ready to stop making excuses and do something with myself- this woman has done so much in her life, and had a major impact on human trafficking. Really take a lunch break and watch this video about not making excuses and putting our pride aside. And in case you don't want to click I put the video right here because this talk is THAT necessary to hear:



We at on the porch of Desperado's on U Street after- the drinks were good and my portobello burger was deelish!

Cooked out with some old friends Sunday night, had a lil photoshoot in front of an American flag:

FYI that's Tonii in the middle

Monday I made a green soup that I read is Zooey Deschanel's favorite to serve friends and ate it for lunch with a limited edition Sam. Obvi it was amazing:

Cooked out Monday night with Harrison's family and now to get back to some serious clean eating.

Linking up at Turn it Up Tuesdays, Delicious Dish Tuesdays,

Clean Eating Mexican One Pan Meal + weekend recap

Happy Monday! How was everyone's weekend? I celebrated the 7th anniversary of my 21st birthday- do I seem older??

Today's recipe is one I made as my lunch for the week last week. The plantains and sweet potatoes added a nice sweet complement to the cumin, turkey, garlic and beans. It was delicious!

Servings: 5
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb lean ground turkey, browned ($2.00)
• 1 ripe (brown) plantain ($.50)
• 1 avocado, chopped ($1.00)
• 1 can black beans ($1.00)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced ($.89)
• 1/2 large onion, diced ($.50)
• 1 large tomato, diced ($.80)
• 1/2 sweet potato, diced ($.40)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder (less if you don't love garlic as much as I do)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all the ingredients except the avocado, mix well, and cook over medium-high heat in a non-stick pan for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add the avocado, and voila! You've got lunch for the week! Serve with salsa and Greek Yogurt.

I switched it up and ate it plain on Monday, on salad Tuesday, as a lettuce wrap Wednesday, on an Ezekiel tortilla Thursday, and plain again on Friday. It was so good!

Sooo as for the weekend, my birthday was pretty low key this year, which was what I wanted- I'm so focused on the house right now and wanted to be able to get up Sunday and paint/work (which didn't happen anyway because the baseboards weren't installed yet). Friday night a few friends from the neighborhood came over and we had beer and hookah on the balcony (yay nice weather!)

A few friends of mine from high school who live in DC came along for my favorite bottomless mimosa/bottomless buffet brunch at Front Page (on the porch!!) on Saturday, then we went to Local 16's rooftop (my other favorite). We bopped down the street to Chi-Cha Lounge for awhile, then capped off the night with some jumbo slice (thank you, DC).

Sunday we got up early and went to the house to check out progress. There wasn't much we could do but I need some advice! HELP!

This is our new walk-in closet (!!!!). The floor is slanted on my side- any ideas how to use this space so it's not just wasted? I'm thinking I might put some shelves over the slant? Not sure though? Thoughts? Ideas?

This is Andi attempting to look 100% uninterested in Max, her new neighbor- look how hard she's trying! I love this pic. BUT- Andi is a climber. Even while I was out there with her she tried to climb the fence! Anyone have ideas for how to keep her in? We are putting up a new fence soon, but it's just not in the budget right now.

Our new kitchen faucet came in. This house stuff has taught me A LOT about compromise, and about how different Harrison and my ideas are about decor... This hose faucet was a compromise. It reminds me of the giant things we used to clean dishes at the restaurants I worked in... This faucet is even removable and stretches...what do you think? Is this cool? Am I just scarred from years cleaning dishes at restaurants?

And now for some before/after pix, because these make me feel 100x better about the progress, and the fact that we are at T-Minus 10 days out from the day we have to move out of our current place (EEK):

The downstairs bathroom- can we just talk about WHY anyone ever wanted PINK toilets?!?!

New floor, new toilet, cleaned walls make a humongous difference. We have a pedestal sink going in soon- pix coming! If there needed to be any more evidence of how much of a NON DIY person I am, please observe the fact that I couldn't even figure out how to move this door out of the way for the picture..sorryyy!

Master bathroom during- again, who wanted a blue tub?!

Master bathroom: almost there! I love the subway tiles, and on last Tuesday's post I asked for suggestions on backsplash and paint colors- there were SO many good ideas (THANK YALL!) and Julie at The Natural Junkie suggested subway tile for the backsplash and I was like WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?!, so we just ordered some more of this in a smaller size! Still working on the paint color.

And that's it! Leave any advice in the comments- I appreciate it! And I hope everyone has an awesome Cinco de Mayo! This is actually a day that I drink margaritas at home because I refuse to fight the crowds of drunks in sombreros and pay for overpriced margs. I prefer be a drunk in a sombrero in the safety of my own home, with cheap tequila and no lines. #sorry

Linking up today with Weekend Recap, Much Ado About Monday, Monday Morning Gossip

Clean Eating Mushroom & Kale Stuffed Quesadillas + Weekend Recap + My chipped tooth

This weekend was amaazzz, and despite the high of 45 degrees in Milwaukee we had a blast at my friend's bachelorette party!

I made these mushroom and kale stuffed quesadillas when my dad was in town helping with building the kitchen in our new house and they were a hit with Dad and Harrison so I consider this a win!

Ingredients:

• 4 Tortillas (I use Ezekiel) 
• 1 pack mushrooms, sliced ($2.50)
• 1/2 lb ground turkey, browned (I used leftover from our calzones last week) ($2.00)--Turkey is optional. If you want to go vegetarian these would be just as good, but Harrison refuses to eat anything that even sounds vegetarian sooo..
• 1 zucchini, diced ($1.50)
• 1 squash, diced ($1.50)
• 1 onion, diced ($1.00)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup kale, removed from stems and diced ($.50)
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons Garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons sea salt

Serve with:

• Black beans
• Greek Yogurt
• Avocado

Combine everything but the kale and tortillas in a large non-stick frying pan and saute over medium heat for about 6 minutes. Add the kale and mix well, letting everything cook together for another 4-5 minutes. Make sure to stir this constantly so nothing gets stuck to the pan.

Top some tortillas with the turkey/veggie mix, add some Greek Yogurt, black beans, and avocado and enjoy!

Annnd in other news- Milwaukee is really fun! Who knew right?! We got in Friday night and went to Waukesha for the bride's dad's retirement party where the accents were ouuttt offf controoll! We kept it pretty low key Friday and hung out at our hotel bar (stayed at the Intercontinental  in the Third Ward- definitely recommend!) where we saw IRA GLASS from This American Life. He was so nice and asked lots of questions about what we were doing in Milwaukee, so if he mentions Milwaukee bachelorette parties next week, you know where it came from! Sidenote: my iPhone's theme for the weekend was Blurry Pictures but hey.

I could kill the bystander for taking a blurry picture

Saturday we got up and had amazing breakfast burritos and coffee from Colectivo, went to the Milwaukee Public Market where we explored local food/vendors/artists, and saw some cool local art:

Saturday afternoon we went out to Waukesha (the bride's home) for the wedding shower at A Touch of Glaze  where we all painted pottery for the bride and groom and drank wine (lots of wine). It was such a fun shower and so different from other showers I've been to- no cheesy games, just making plates, bowls, and mugs for them! I love this idea and kind of want to copy it?

After the shower we all came back to the hotel and got dressed for the Pin Up themed bachelorette party. The MOH got us all big flowers to wear to go with the theme:

We had dinner at  Swig which was delicious food for really good prices and really tasty local beers. I love this picture of my 2 best friends (who I lived and worked with for a year in Rhode Island) because a)it's goofy and b)you can see how good Amanda did with her hair for the pinup theme:

We continued the party at a 20's themed bar called Bugsy's Back Alley Saloon. The staff was dressed like full-on flappers (kind of goes with the pin-up theme?) and there was live music and cheap beer so we were happy. Then we took the party to a fun dance club called Oak Lounge where things spiraled out of control, one thing led to the next, and the bride chipped my front tooth. I couldn't be mad because it was so funny and such a great story...remember your bachelorette party when you broke my tooth? Anyone have recs for dentists in the DC area? I'm thinking about keeping it for the next 2 months so it can still be chipped in Amanda's wedding pictures and we can have this memory forever:

I was driving the strugglebus on Sunday because I'm too old for this. We went to Milwaukee Ale House  on the river where I drank a (life-saving) bloody mary and ate a famous Milwaukee brat.

The bloodys come with a sidecar of beer. thank you, Wisconsin

Amanda got a cheese burger and in true Wisconsin fashion, it came with about as much cheese as it did meat:

They also had some amazing menu items I'd like to try another time:

All in all it was an amazing trip. I am so glad I got to celebrate one of my best friends, and it didn't hurt that Milwaukee is a pretty cool city. My friend is moving there this year and I can't wait to visit her in the summer to take advantage of Lake Michigan and the river!

Linking up today with Monday Morning Gossip , Much Ado About Monday, Monday Tips, Weekend Recap