lunch

Secret Santa Fitbloggin Reunion

When I landed in DC on Saturday morning, I hustled through the airport to get my checked bag… because I had lunch plans!

After I booked my flight to DC, I immediately reached out to Hilary, Ashley, Lauren, and Dawn to see if anyone was available for a get-together. The 5 of us met at Fitbloggin this summer and immediately clicked. I’m so thankful they were all available to meetup!

Hilary picked me up at the airport and we took off for Alexandria for lunch. When I heard we were going to Virginia for lunch, I was a little concerned that it might be far from the airport, but it really wasn’t at all.

We met at a little brewpub-pizza place called Rustico. It was SO delicious!

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Hilary and I made great time from Reagan International, so we had plenty of time to visit before the rest of our crew arrived. And, what were we visiting about???

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Hilary is PREGNANT!

Such exciting news… and she’s the first of our bunch to have a baby! As a result, I asked a million questions of my dear friend who unfortunately has had major morning sickness. If you’re a reader of her blog, this is why you’re not seeing posts these days. My hope is that she’ll return to the blogging world at some point. I know that I would love to read more…

Once the ladies arrived, we had a great opportunity to catch up. Chatting about this, that, and everything, time flew, and our food arrived before we knew it!

I splurgingly ordered a Spinach pizza, which was fantastic! I took home more than half of it for my brother to enjoy over the holidays.

After we had a chance to eat, it was time for presents! Ashley had used a website called Elfster to arrange for our secret santa exchange! I had never used Elfster until now, and as a big fan, I’m excited to tell you more about it.

It’s likely the best site for gift exchanges because it keeps things completely anonymous. Ashley entered everyone’s names and email addresses and the tool matched us up and sent us email notifications of who we were assigned to. We set our gift limit at $20, and the tool also enabled you to ask questions of your recipient.

I was assigned Lauren’s name, and I wanted to ask her a few questions about her preferences. It was super-easy to send her anonymous questions via the website!

When we exchanged, I received a fabulous gift from Dawn. When I opened the first box and saw that it was a Coach box… I didn’t want to get TOO excited (but I was!)

Inside was an adorable Coach keychain. I totally need a new keychain, so this was perfect! (And, who doesn’t love Coach!) My keys have already found a happy home on the new keyring…

She also gifted me a water body from the local yoga studio in my brother’s town. Thanks, Dawn!

After I opened my gift, I got to give Lauren her present next. My gift was handmade, and I was beyond excited to see if she liked it!

My gift was a purple infinity scarf that I hand knitted with some beautiful Cascade Yarn. If you’re a knitter, I HIGHLY recommend this pattern. It’s super-easy and knits up really nicely. Click here for the free pattern I found on Ravelry, and click here to connect with me on Ravelry if we haven’t already.

Thankfully, Lauren loved the gift and frankly… it looked GORGEOUS on her!

After opening the rest of our gifts and a quick photo shoot, it was time to leave. We stopped over at Buzz across the street to get a quick coffee and then headed on our way.

Luckily for me, I also got to spend some extra time with Dawn who gave me a ride to my brother’s house, in the same town where she lives! We got stuck in horrible traffic, but it was amazing to have that extra time to visit.

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To the lovely DC ladies, it was AMAZING to see each of you. I am so glad we had some time to visit, and I can’t wait to see you guys again next time I travel Eastward!

Did you do any secret santa exchanges this year? What did you give/receive?

Majestic Mountain Moments

An Easter Treat for My Gramps

For the Love of Wednesday...

I Vote Pro-Beet

It’s very possibly one of the most argued about of vegetables. People either love it or they hate it. I tend to be the optimist… I give the veggie a chance. I am very pro-BEET.

I decided to make it the recipe of the day today because it can divide a room faster than Obama and Romney.

Strangely, these two impressive politicians have weighed in on just about every topic known to man. They’ve professed their intentions. They’ve spent a gazillion dollars on TV ads and those paper ads that go from mailbox to trashcan at my house.

But, what I really want to know is… how about beets, boys??

These pink and golden root vegetables are some of my favorite. I remember as a kid growing up in Ohio that they served them everywhere. And, the salad bars that had them were my absolutely favorite…. because I would add ranch dressing and WAIT FOR IT… I would have PINK salad dressing. Uh-mazing! It’s always been the little things for me, truly…

Now, the beets that I grew up eating were the canned kind, sometimes pickled, and oh-so-delicious! Now, I still buy the canned kind, but I also like to pick up fresh beets when I’m at Whole Foods. They always seem to have the best selection. I’ve bought the red ones, the golden ones, and a beautiful pink striped one.

I’ve made beet chips

I made this amazing Beet-Avocado Arugula Salad

Today, I bring you an amazing beet sandwich that I seriously LOVE. It’s inspired by a local Denver vegetarian restaurant called Watercourse Foods. They make a sandwich that they call “The Champ” that could possibly be my favorite beet dish. Maybe… I like beets a LOT!

The Champ at Watercourse is served on an herby focaccia and also has swiss cheese, alfalfa sprouts, and grilled zucchini. My version lacks those ingredients, because it was a last minute decision to make this sandwich and I went with what was in my fridge. If you try my version of the Champ, I guarantee you are going to like it.

It’s a sandwich made for a president (with good taste)… it’s that good!

Roasted Beet Sandwich with Greek Yogurt “Aioli”

Inspired by “The Champ” at Watercourse Foods

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

1 Beet, sliced

1 6-inch Artisan Roll

Fresh Spinach

Red Onion, thinly sliced

Yellow Pepper, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp. Greek Yogurt

1 tsp. Minced Garlic

1 tsp. Capers, drained

Cooking Spray

Salt, Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425. Place sliced beets on a cooking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Spray the top of each slice with cooking spray and also sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Roast beets for 20 minutes, and then flip each beet over. Roast for an additional 20-25 minutes, until tender.

3. Prepare your bread. Note: My SuperTarget sells these awesome individual-sized Artisan breads. I sliced one horizontally to create my sandwich bread.

4. Combine 2 Tbsp. greek yogurt with 1 tsp. capers and 1 tsp. minced garlic. Add fresh ground black pepper, to taste. Note: I didn’t have Greek Yogurt on hand, so I used Skotidakis Greek Yogurt Dip (Dill & Cucumber) that I bought at Costco. If you use plain greek yogurt, consider adding some dried dill or other favorite dried spices to add flavor.

5. Spread yogurt mixture on the bread.

6. Add vegetables: sliced red onion, spinach leaves, and thinly sliced yellow pepper.

7. Add those gorgeous beets. Note: I roasted both beets that I had on hand, and used the remaining beets the next day. I chose the red beets only because they contrasted with the yellow pepper. Either color is delicious!

8. Close that sandwich and get ready to be WOW’ed!

I completely loved this sandwich. So much, that I made it a SECOND time on Sunday night. Please try it, and let me know what you think. Roasting the beets brings out their amazing sweet flavor. You’re going to love this one!