The Best Weekend Ever

This weekend we got our first real substantial snow storm in Tahoe. 59 inches or almost 5 feet fell! The excitement over the snow got Luke and me so pumped for the weekend that we started dubbing it “The Best Weekend Ever.”

I’m not sure if it was our state of mind or just luck, but this weekend everything seemed to go right and it was indeed the “best weekend” I’ve had in a long time.

Friday: 
– I got home early enough from work to whip up a delicious dinner before bowling – mexican stuffed peppers
– We won our bowling league and I scored a weekend high 167 in the first game.
– Ohio University (my alma mater) defeated Michigan!!

Saturday:
– Woke up to four feet of powder! Made it to Heavenly for almost first-chair and skied knee-deep snow all day. (only fell twice and it was in soft, soft snow)

– Got home totally exhausted by 3:00 pm and watched Indiana (Luke’s alma mater) beat VCU!
– Went to all-you-can-eat sushi with Luke’s brother and gorged ourselves on delicious maki rolls

– Went to bed really early and got a good 10+ hours of sleep

Sunday:
– Woke up to another foot of new snow! Went “stash hunting” (looking for untracked snow) in the trees at Heavenly for a few hours before our legs went out
Heavenly tree skiing
– Came home and Luke whipped up delicious egg and bacon sandwiches for lunch
– Watched Ohio University beat South Florida! BOBCATSSSSSS!!!
– Ate the most delicious meal of the weekend: roasted pork belly with veggies. Amazing!

pork belly recipe
– Watched Eastbound & Down by the fire with a glass of wine
– Went to bed by 9:30 pm

From the looks of my Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram feed it looks like most of my friends/family were also having the “best weekend ever!” with the warm weather, St. Patrick’s Day parties and awesome basketball.

Here’s to recognizing how awesome your life is right in the very moment!

 

Unexpected Gifts For a Guy

This Valentine’s Day, I actually had my act together to get Luke some presents ahead of time. I decided this year instead of getting him something he NEEDS, I would get him a bunch of small things he probably never thought of, but would think were cool.

Just some fun things he could open and be surprised by. Here’s what he got:

Batman & Robin t-shirt, because he’s my favorite side kick. :)

Man soap, because my guy likes natural body products and this one smells like black licorice

Coffee canister, because Luke takes pride in his coffee. We’re talking full on drip method every morning.

And finally a sweet belt buckle, because we live in NV and every man must have a belt buckle.

I put all his presents into a “bag of surprises” as I called it and watched with a smile on my face as he opened each present. Sure, they aren’t the most practical of presents, but for Valentine’s Day, they were just the right way to say “I Love You” with some quirk.

What did you get/give this Valentine’s Day? You can click on any image above to go to the site where it was purchased.

Paleo Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Last week I was in the mood for shrimp fra diavolo. With lemon, parmesean angel-hair pasta. This was one of my favorite “pre-paleo” meals. Now that I’m grain free, I was looking for a way to recreate this dish sans pasta.

Luckily my favorite Paleo cook book “Paleo Comfort Food” had a recipe I adapted to meet my craving. It’s called a “shrimp skillet” in the book, but that’s not quite descriptive for me. How about “Shrimp & pepper & tomato & onion & feta-goodness skillet?” No? Ok, I can live with “Paleo Shrimp Fra Diavolo” :) Here we go.

Shrimp Skillet Ingredients:
– 2 lbs peeled, deveined shrimp
– 1 medium onion
– 1 red bell pepper
– 5 garlic cloves, minced
– olive oil
– 2 tlbs fresh chopped oregano
– 1 lemon
– Feta cheese
– 4 medium tomatoes
– Red pepper flakes

Lemon Parmesan Pasta:
– 1 spaghetti squash
– 1 lemon
– Container of Parmesan cheese
– Olive oil

First, put the shrimp in a medium bowl. Add the minced garlic, chopped oregano, zest of the lemon, juice of the lemon and two tablespoons of olive oil. Mix and let marinate for 15 minutes.


While you wait, slice the red pepper into long thin strips and set aside. Do the same to the onion. Cook the pepper and onion in some olive oil in a skillet until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. During the cook time, chop the tomatoes into large pieces and clean out the “wet” seedy part so just the tomato meat is left behind.

Once the onion is translucent, add the shrimp and the marinade to the pan and cook just until the shrimp is pink. Then add the tomatoes and cook just until the tomatoes are warm. Top with feta cheese and a bunch of red pepper flakes.

This dish can stand alone as it’s own meal, but if you want to tackle the lemon parm “pasta” I mentioned, here’s the recipe for that. It’s SUPER easy and tastes just like the tangy, cheesy pasta I remember from my grain-eating days.

Prick holes in a spaghetti squash and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for one hour. Remove the squash from the oven, cut it in half, remove the seeds and then scrape with a fork to make “pasta.” Add the juice of one lemon, 1 tablespoons of olive oil and a cup of Parmesan cheese. Mix and serve.

Here’s the final product:

Really yummy and really easy for a week-night meal. Enjoy!

 

 

Why I Love My Valentine

If you read this blog, you probably already know how much I adore my husband, Luke.  But here are some of the specific things I love about him that you might not already know. I love that…

He is strong.

He is silly.

He loves nature.

He looks good with his shirt off, but gets embarrassed when I tell him so.

When he laughs, he laughs with his whole face.

He does things he normally never would to make me happy.

He eats like a man.

Babies love him.

He cleans up well.

He rocks a side part and looks good doing it.

And finally, I love that he makes my heart flutter every day.