Cooking

As I mentioned, I have been doing a lot of cooking this past week, and I wanted to share some of my recipes with you. 

The other night I whipped up this Shrimp and Green Bean Fried Rice dish in no time at all. I sautéed shrimp in butter and poured this over rice I had whipped up from Boil in a Bag (so easy and makes cleaning up a breeze). I then stirred in green beans which I had steamed in the bag, and cut up quickly with kitchen scissors after they were steamed. I then tossed the mixture with some fried rice seasoning. I had meant to also mix in a touch of soy sauce but forgot. It was good but most of all it was so quick and healthy. 

Last night I made this Crispy Cheddar Chicken Dish that I found on Pinterest and it was very delicious. 

For the chicken you put it in milk, then roll it in shredded cheddar cheese, then roll it in crushed up Ritz crackers, and then bake. The sauce is just cream of chicken, sour cream, and butter. 

Here is the link to the recipe:

http://m.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/chicken/crispy-cheddar-chicken-4.html

I also made this last week for the boyfriend 

and I, but it was not very quick. I made baked potatoes

spinach, and steak with mushrooms and onions.

The steak was cooked perfectly, one of my best,

but the potatoes took forever to cook. To make the 

steak delicious he first rule is you can't cook it if 

it's cold - I try and let it sit out for at least an hour

before I cook it. After you cook it, you have to let 

it rest for at least 3 mins before you cut into it. 

I try and keep it very simple when I cook steak: 

sautée it in butter or oil (I prefer butter) on med to 

med low heat. I flavor it with McCormicks Grill

Mates, which is mainly just salt and pepper, and 

if the steak is thick I put the heat on low and put

the lid on to help it cook through. It should take no

more than 5 mins to cook. 

Hope to have more recipes coming soon - I 

pinned a bunch of recipes on Pinterest I hope

to try soon!

Staycation

At my work, our vacation days start Oct 1 and ends Sep 30. I had 2 extra days I had to use or I would loose them, so I decided to take Monday and Tuesday off. I had such a nice and relaxing day the past 2 days! I cleaned my apartment from top to bottom, I transitioned out my summer clothes and transitioned in my winter clothes, I made a bunch of meals and froze them for later, and I just relaxed and enjoyed myself. It was glorious, and the best part is its already Wednesday!

This past weekend the weather was beautiful so I tried to be outside as much as possible. Friday I went to crossfit after work, Saturday morning my friend Jesica ran her first 5k at a Color Run so I went to cheer her on, then I had my women's league game in the afternoon (the boyfriend surprised me by coming to watch - he had to work but finished up early), and we went to Georgetown that evening to switch out my Nike FuelBand since it stopped working on me.  

Sunday I went to the boyfriend's soccer game and then he played with my team later that day. It was quite an active and fun-filled weekend!

Below are pictures from Jesica's race:

Pre-race 

Mid-race

Finishing the race

So proud of her!!!

Long Weekend!

Can't believe September is already here, but August ended on a high note with the boyfriend's sister coming to visit. We did lots of touristy things including the Museum of Natural History where we saw the butterfly exhibit. We went into this room where there were butterflies everywhere, of all shapes and sizes. They were so beautiful!

We also went to the Portrait Gallery which has the most beautiful courtyard. 

Another adventure was going to the top of the Old Post Office Building which has magnificent views. 

We also ate and ate and ate! So much eating delicious food, I am still stuffed from the weekend. 

Friday night I went to my friends place for a homemade meal of traditional South Indian food. I wasn't sure what to expect but the food was delicious. Not too spicy, full of flavor, and I definitely didn't miss the meat (the meal was vegetarian).  

Making dosas

Dosas

Eating dosas: my bro-in-law, my sister, Jeet, and myself

Sisters :)

Sunday we also went over to our friend Ros's for a small get together/BBQ. It was really fun, relaxing, and great food (per usual). 

That pretty much covers it. The weekend was lots of fun and went by way too fast. Now it's back to reality time. 

Upcoming this week is soccer on Tues and hopefully crossfit on Wed, Thurs, and Fri...lets hope that's not too ambitious and that I can walk by this weekend, since my new ladies soccer team's first game is on Saturday, and my regular soccer league's season kickoff is Sunday evening.