Just Around the River Bend

On Monday, B and I headed up to the mountains to go to “Skinny Dip” (that’s the name of the place; we didn’t actually go skinny dipping ).

But first we stopped for lunch to use a Living Social deal I’ve had for awhile.

We went to Scoop’s, which is a cute little sandwich, soup, and ice cream shop. I had a turkey sandwich (mediocre) and a salad (pretty good). Both B and I also had an unpictured scoop of cake batter cookie dough ice cream (sooo good!).

Then we were on our way!

We parked the car in a clearing and then hiked about 1 1/2 miles until we found the “secret” trail.

We came here a couple years ago and it took us awhile to find the trail then. We kept saying, “Okay, it’s probably just around this bend.” This time was no different, but at least we recognized the trail once we saw it. (We also had to sing “Just Around the River Bend” from Pocahontas a few times )

On the trail:

Yay! We made it!

So beautiful.

A few minutes after we got there, two guys showed up who had come there to jump off the waterfall ledge into the deep pool below.

B and I weren’t up for jumping, but I got some cool pics of the guys:

Crazy!

After enjoying the view for awhile, and sticking our feet in the cold water, we headed back up the trail. Since it was well past dinner time by the time we got back to the nearby town, we decided to stop and get some Japanese food. I totally forgot to snap a picture before digging into my chicken teriyaki bowl, so here is a dinner-in-process picture:

We got back pretty late, and my tailbone was pretty sore from sitting in the car so long, but it was well worth it! I’ve missed being in the mountains, and I love how secluded and beautiful Skinny Dip is. It was a good day!

Question: Is there a special place you love to go where you know you will leave feeling relaxed and recharged?

Farmer’s Market

On Friday my mom and I went out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes and then visited a farmer’s market that we hadn’t been to before.

The first thing we saw when we got to the farmer’s market was a bunch of kids all dancing in the middle of a big circle of people sitting and listening to the band – so cute! I didn’t get a picture of them because I was afraid the parents would think I was a creeper.

This farmer’s market may be my new favorite! It was pretty big and they had so much good food!

We also stopped by Trader Joe’s for a few other things. Here’s our haul from TJ’s and farmer’s:

Has anyone tried the Zico chocolate coconut water? I’m kind of scared to…

On our way home we stopped at Big Lots to look for a vase for my friend’s upcoming baby shower (I have to make one of the table centerpieces), but no luck. I did, however, find a cute dog bed for Dobby for ten bucks!

I think he likes it. Unfortunately for Dobby, so do all the other little dogs.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!

Crash Hot Potatoes

Tonight for dinner I made another one of my favorites from The Pioneer Woman (you will be seeing a lot of her recipes in these neck of the woods/web).

In case you haven’t noticed, my family is big on potatoes. You should see my sister practically inhale the mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving… and any other time we have potatoes. (Hi B… do you want me to use your name?).  It’s the Idaho spuds in our genes.

For this recipe (see below) I used potatoes from my garden (hahaha, I’m too quick for you, garden-destroying gopher!), and also heated up some microwavable frozen corn, green beans, and carrots (you wouldn’t have guessed it unless I told ya, huh? )

Dessert was a big spoon-full of frozen peanut butter drizzled with chocolate syrup.

Like eating PB ice cream!

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RECIPE: Crash Hot Potatoes (from The Pioneer Woman)

12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste
Herbs Of Choice To Taste

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato. (I decided to cram as many potatoes on one pan as I could, which is why my potatoes don’t look as pretty as hers. It has nothing to do with my cooking skills. And at least I only had to wash one pan!)

With a potato masher (or a fork), gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potatoes with salt, pepper, or any herb you choose.

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

 

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Good news!

I won the lottery!

Hahaha, I wish…. although don’t most of those people end up spending all their money and basically wind up right back where they started?

Or become cursed… like Hugo from Lost.

….Anyway, I was very recently hired to be a Kids Club attendant at a local fitness center. It is only part-time, but at least it’s a job! I start training next week and will hopefully start actually working sometime later this month. Yay paycheck!

Enchilada Night

Since it wasn’t too hot today, I spent some time this afternoon sitting out by our pool with a Passion Iced Tea and some super serious reading material.

I get so excited when I receive a new magazine in the mail. Even though it seems like most of the articles are very similar to ones from previous issues, I still enjoy reading through them and looking for new info or things to try. It’s kind of like a word search– find the meaningful information within the pages of fluff!

I slathered on the SPF and tried to read while the dogs ran around chasing lizards (which this year look like monitor lizards for some reason- will have to get a picture to show you) and jumping all over Zooey Deschanel’s face.

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I was in charge of dinner tonight, so after herding the dogs out of the pool area, I made some Bean and Cheese Enchiladas.

I also whipped up some guacamole and oven-baked chips made from my favorite La Tortilla Factory Sonoma Organic tortillas.

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RECIPE: Cheesy Bean Enchiladas (adapted from Hungry Girl recipe)

Ingredients:
2 large corn tortillas
2 thin slices reduced-fat cheddar cheese
2/3 cup enchilada sauce (I used the Ten Minute Enchilada Sauce from AllRecipes)
1/3 cup fat-free refried beans
1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a small baking dish with nonstick spray. Heat tortillas in the microwave until slightly warm. Lay the tortillas on a clean, dry surface, and then spread about 2 tbsp. of the enchilada sauce onto each one. Place one slice of cheese on each tortilla. Then, evenly distribute the bean mixture into the center of each tortilla. Wrap the tortillas up tightly, and place them in the baking dish seam side down. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the enchiladas. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes (until the enchiladas are hot). Remove dish from the oven, sprinkle shredded cheese over the enchiladas, and then return it to the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Let sit for a couple minutes, then enjoy! (Makes 2 Servings – I obviously made about four times this amount so we can have leftovers- yay!)

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Workout: I did my Personal Training With Jackie: Xtreme Timesaver Training DVD this evening. It’s only about 30 minutes, but it’s intense. It kicked my butt! But in a good way.

I also applied for a bunch of teaching jobs today (fingers crossed!).

AND I updated the Fashion page (will be adding more pictures to it tomorrow)!