Better Than Drive Thru

 

Wanna know one of my favorite things?

Cookies. Obviously.

But you knew that.

I’m talking about another one of my favorite things.

Curly fries.

Do I have your attention now?

They really are. The one and only bar in my town makes the best ones. Of all time. They’re seasoned to perfection and made with love by the lovely Miss Kitty. Arby’s comes in at a close second. I suppose they’re not so much made with love, but rank because of sheer convenience. Less than 5 miles away vs. 500. Makes sense.

But if I take my already precious time to drive to the nearest Arby’s, I’d totally also pick up who knows what and spend who knows how much and the whole ordeal would assumably escalate very quickly.

We try to avoid that. Because this is a healthy living blog, yo. Not to mention this healthy living blogger works on a budget.

Plus my car is still at the shop getting that battery taken care of. So the drive thru thing isn’t feasible at this moment in time.

So no curly fries for me???

No worries! I have the solution!

A family that likes to share.

My roommate isn’t the biggest fan of potato skins. So we compromised. Because that’s what roommates do.

Along with the bag of zucchini came a similar bag full of potatoes when my mom came to visit a couple of weeks ago.

Best invention ever.

Add in the 15-year old tater twister contraption I swiped from the house over Christmas, and you have a recipe for success!

Well that and seasoning. It’s important, too.

I went with chili and chipotle seasoning. And some garlic powder. No worries, I have plenty of mouthwash and no dates lined up for the weekend. It’s safe.

After googling a million different instructions (yes, that many), I decided to throw caution to the wind and just throw the seasoned fries in at 400 degrees. I stirred them around at every 10 to 15 minutes until the roomie and I just couldn’t take it anymore at 40 minutes.

A shake of parmasean makes them fancy…

They were done and seasoned beautifully, I might add.

Sure, next time I’ll restrain myself an extra 5 minutes or so, or maybe cook them at 425 degrees because I prefer fries a lil’ crispier. But this time? Still delicious and a successful first attempt.

They were the star of the veggie medley thing that was going on for dinner.

Because sometimes veggies are all you’re hungry for while watching really bad reality television.

They were oven baked to perfection and didn’t come with weird cheese from a tub. Way healthier than the drive thru. Suck it, Arby’s.

Happy Friday everyone! I’m off to google a place with a patio and a good beer selection. Huzzah!

More Randomness For The Files

1. I hate packing peanuts. They’re awful. Why not bubble wrap? It doesn’t make a mess and is fun to pop. It’s the obvious way to go. But packing peanuts? They make a mess of my work area. And when they’re not all over the place, they’re clinging to my pants, my top, or whatever else on my person. Much like my last boyfriend. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now. STOP WITH THE PACKING PEANUTS!

2. My college friend is coming tonight to stay with me through the weekend. He doesn’t care if my place is dirty (trust me- I’ve seen his and that would be highly hypocritical), but yet things needed to be done before his arrival. Laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. Which means the entirety of this week has been meticulously planned out.

Something I didn’t plan for? Cubs/Sox/Bulls/Blackhawks traffic. An extra 30-45 minutes spent on the interstate each night is really screwing this up.

It’s also screwing with my sanity, but at this point, that’s a non-issue.

3. My obsessively planned out week has left me with no time to watch the newest episodes of New Girl and Modern Family, along with a few others I don’t care to admit I tape on a weekly basis. This saddens me. #FirstWorldProblems

4. Another thing that saddens me? A zit on my cheek. Seriously. My cheek? GET OFF OF MY FACE.

Excuse me while I go drown it in zapzit.

5. Baking happened last night. We’ll discuss that later. But the sugar high may or may not have been the reasoning for nonsleep and the lackluster workout this morning. It was less than stellar, but I guess it’s better than hitting snooze and turning over. Which was an option I weighed heavily. 20 minutes on the stairmill and a 1-mile run before saying screw it and going home to finish out with a few circuits of No More Trouble Zones by Jillian.

So at least it was something (with weights!).

That means I can eat more baked goods, yes?

6. Last night also marked a momentous occasion. Remember how I talk about my parents supplying me with food from the garden back home? One of the things they hauled up was a big box of sweet potatoes. Each one being the size of my arm. Last night marked the end of those sweet potatoes.

Asparagus grilled cheese and sweet potatoes. I used a slice of Munster and some crumbled feta for the sandwich. Not sure if cheese experts would approve or not, but it's what I had on hand. And I liked it. So whatev.

It’s amazing I haven’t turned orange.Which is unfortunate. Because Pauly D is cute and I need to attract his attention somehow…

7. I have had the worst time trying to track down a copy of 50 Shades of Grey. Or at least a free copy (I’m looking at you, Chicago Public Library.) Apparently we all have dirty minds and need to read this book. Like now.

8. The phrase “This is my Friday!” really rubs me the wrong way. It was really only amusing the first 50 times I saw it as an update on facebook.

Ok, actually, it never really was.

However, if I were to consider using it, today would be a good day.

I think you know where I’m going with this.

Extended weekend. Holla’.

Small Celebrations

OMG guys. I slept until 7:45 AM.

This is kind of a big deal.

Fine. Don’t celebrate with me. Roll over and go back to sleep.

But I’ll continue to celebrate.

Because it’s the latest I’ve slept in WEEKS.

Could have something to do with how exhausting yesterday was.

Including the late night out. It was my friend’s birthday. She rented a trolley for a pub crawl.

Best idea ever.

I really only was with them for the end of it, but still reaped the benefits of bar hopping without having to deal with cabs or the el. WIN.

Not a win? Sitting next to one of her friends who discussed how lonesome it was to be a trader who works for himself. Then discussing the ins and outs of his volatile week.

Good thing I know SO much about finance. And am SO interested in the stock market.

Oh wait…

But I kept amused. My attention instantly perked up as soon as he started to compare himself to Chuckie.

Yes, the doll from the cheesy horror movies.

I have no idea why he’s still single.

ANYWAY, even if I stayed longer than I really wanted, there were other things that led to my ultimate point of exhaustion.

I ran 3.5 miles. On the lakefront. My friend and I had bad timing. Again. So I was running solo.

This was for the best.

Why? Well I’ll tell you why. Because I ran down the lakefront path as I always do. And got to the turn around point.

Normally, I’d have another 2ish miles left.

Then again, normally, my stomach doesn’t start to revolt. I blame the shenanigans from the night before.

Not that it was a surprise. But it was frustrating, nonetheless. So I pouted the 4 freakin’ miles home. Totally not planned well.This helped.

Or at least I hope it does. Because this is a version of the same lunch/dinner I’ve had all week.

Still have 4-5 ears of corn left from our accidental hoarding of garden vegetables.

Not that I’m complaining. It has been fantastic. Although the people at the grocery store are probably ready to send out a search party.

They’ll have a tough time finding me this morning, though. After this second cup of coffee, I’m off to meet up with a few fantastic ladies. One who actually ran the Rock n’ Roll Half this morning!

I’m going to celebrate by vicariously living through her stories and eating my weight in breakfast food.

It counts, right?

Cooking With Friends

From time to time, I find myself living in excess.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Usually it’s in the form of credit card receipts. Shoes. Chocolate. Wine…

However, this week it’s more of the garden fresh variety.

Thanks to the generosity of my parents, along with my roomie’s mom, we’re accidentally running a farmer’s market out of our kitchen.

So before business zoning becomes an issue, along with the overabundance of food all going bad, B and I decided to do something about it.

Have Megan cook for us!Just kidding. Sort of.

The roomie doesn’t cook often, and I’m a much better baker than cook (let’s be honest), so I told Megan about our hoarding of fresh food and asked if she could help out.

Plus, I offered to bring wine. I think that could be why she agreed.

And that’s how we had a little dinner party on our hands!

Megan showed us a few tricks in the kitchen when it comes to breaded eggplant.For the record, I’ve attempted eggplant on two different occasions. Neither of them were overly spectacular. It must be because I didn’t have the 8-lb weights at the time…

As Megan slaved away in the kitchen, Bailey and I took to the outdoors to shuck some corn.When I was a wee little lass, we used to shuck corn from the family garden on my grandma’s front porch steps. It overlooked the pasture (remember that whole thing where I told you I grew up on a cattle farm?).

Things have clearly changed. I now shuck corn on a balcony overlooking downtown Chicago. With a delicious cabernet sauvignon sitting beside me. Weird.

And for the record, I totally made my wine selection on what would be paired well with eggplant. This made me feel very adult-like.

Because usually I just ask the question, “white or red?”

Ok fine, it’s usually “well let’s see what I’ve got in the cabinet.”

Anyway, earlier in the day while chatting about a second side (yes, this is interesting conversation to us), I told Megan we also had a ridiculous amount of green beans and potatoes.

But she stopped me right there and said maybe we should consider a non-veggie side.

Oh yeah… balanced eating… that’s smart.She may not admit it, but I’m pretty sure Megan just wanted to make a cheese sauce.

Cheeeeeessseeeee…..

All in all, everything turned out amazing. And Bailey and I made our way home with full tummies and leftovers. Success!

And now our attentions turn to the massive bag of green beans and overflowing grocery bags of potatoes….

Fresh From The Ground

Hey there!

Glad to hear I got a few laughs over my hellish adventures of gym shopping.

Not being one to judge solely on first impressions, I do plan to stick out a week of working out there to try it out. But I promise you, there are a few more places on my list (thanks in part to some of the awesome Chicago kids!) to check out before deciding what my next move will be.

Fine, I actually do judge heavily on first impressions and I’m only giving it a second go around because they’re one of the cheaper options out there.

The honest truth. It hurts.

So back I went last night. And the roomie joined. I was truly looking forward to her opinion. Because she just wants a little activity in her life. No specific goals (that they badgered me for). Just a little more energy.

The second time back? They loosened up. A lot. I still avoid eye contact. And the weights area is still a bit overwhelming- I’m not a huge fan of doing weights anyway (why do you think I insist on using dvds to do them at all?). I’m rather self-conscious about it when it’s crowded and people are hanging out waiting for you to get done.

Not ideal. Strike 2.

I got home and comforted myself with food from the ‘rents.Mutant zucchini! I often question if their garden is on top of a nuclear reactor site that I’m unaware of. It may also explain the above average heights of some of my family… .(i.e. my brother being 6’7). And possibly the reason that I’m a little spazztastic every once in a while?

I’ll keep researching…

Anyway, when they offered to bring up some stuff during their visit, I said YES. This saved me from a trip to Trader Joe’s for the week. Holla’.

My favorite seems to be the zucchini and potatoes. I’ve been inhaling them this week on the regular.I like plain sweet potatoes, but white potatoes should never be consumed naked.

The potato… not you. You can wear or not wear whatever you like when dining in. No judgement.

Just remember, if it’s a hot meal, guard yourself. This has been your public safety announcement for the day. You’re welcome.

There happened to be a little cheddar and sour cream laying around, and it was used and topped with some paprika. This made it tasty, because I’m just awful at preparing regular potatoes. Even in the microwave. Like this one was. I ALWAYS screw it up. At least a little.

This one just had a teeny tiny section that didn’t seem cooked the whole way through. Yeah. I know. How hard is it to screw up a potato? I suck.

At least there’s one thing I don’t screw up. Usually.

That would be baking. And I’m just going to take advantage of that awesome transition to let you know there’s still time to sign up for the Blogger Bake Swap!  Jessica and I are still taking emails (if you want to do it, we NEED you to contact us!) until FRIDAY if you want to participate. So if you’re interested, you can read more HERE and shoot one of us an email!

Have a good one, kids!