#BostonOrBust - Philadelphia

Dear Philly,

You stink, literally and figuratively.

Literally: there is trash everywhere, maybe take away a few parking authority salaries and invest in trash cans.  We walked all around the city and could not find any public trash cans, apparenlty no one else can either and throw their trash all over the ground.

Figuratively: 2 tickets, $36 each and within a combined total of being parked for about 48 minutes....REALLY! The first one was our fault- I told Matt, "we have twenty minutes until it's free I think we will be fine." Wrong.  Withing eight minutes of parking we had a ticket, okay Philly lesson learned.  The next day we were taking NO CHANCES, I downloaded the parking app and made sure we paid for our spot. I paid for the maxmium of 2 hours but we came back a few minutes early because these Philly Parking Authority people don't play games. THERE WAS A TICKET ON OUR CAR, What The Ef. The reason was 'no parking kiosk card displayed'.....ummmm I paid on the app.  Now I get to contest it which apparently is a huge hassle. 

 Oh well, now let's move on to the good things about Philly!

We got into Philly around dinner time and made a bee-line for the block that houses Pat's and Geno's- the biggest rivalry in cheese steak history (or maybe just a huge tourist trap). I wouldn't say this was the nicest area, and we probably should have gone for lunch but we were hungry! We stopped at Pat's first- Pat's has been their longer, since 1930, and is the ol' faithful of the town.  We ordered a cheesesteak with onions and cheez whiz.  The bread was hearty and rough, the sandwich was full of juice, and smothered in cheez whiz. YUM.  Then we walked over to the 'new kid on the block' blazing with neon Vegas signs and ordered a cheesteak with onions and provolone.  The bread was soft, the meat was drier, and the provolone was definitely not the cheez whiz. Pat's was the winner in both of our books, but the challenge was fun!

Game Seven was on so we headed to a local brewery to grab a beer and watch the game, this was the site of our first parking ticket - __ -.  2nd Story Brewery was in the middle of a mixed residential/ commercial street which was cool since the breweries we normally venture to are in industrial spaces.  The beer was fine, nothing special. The game result left a sour taste in our mouths and we decided to call it a night.

We woke up and headed to breakfast at a spot called Green Eggs. Y'all, I might fly to Philly and take a taxi to this place to eat again,  it was that good (notice: no car = no parking ticket, I'm a little bitter). I ordered a coconut bombon and chicken and waffles Benedict, and Matt had the short rib benedict. Everything was AMAZZZIINNGGGGG.

Next up was touristy stuff, Liberty Bell, Rocky Steps. Statue, and Reading Terminal.  On the way to the Liberty Bell we saw a beer garden in the middle of downtown Philly, got distracted from our itenirary and stopped in for a beer.  It was so pretty, lots of green plants, checkerboards, and cold beer- a good place to cool down from the heat.

We checked out the Liberty Bell,

Then went and ran up the Rocky stairs.....okay maybe just the first flight.

And then went to Reading Terminal where we grabbed cookies for 4th street bakery, we wanted Amish pretzels but they don't work on Monday.

It was time to head back to Raleigh, we decided to skip DC and will go back another time.


Pause- Victory Brewing is 'kind of close.'  We decided to make a pit stop and hit one last brewery before venturing home to get our pup and get back to real life. 

 

#BostonOrBust: Baltimore

Day Two: Baltimore, MD

Yesterday I was ready to throw in the towel on this whole road trip idea. I wouldn't say I'm necessarily the ideal car partner. I may or may not try to be a back seat driver, make panicky noise when these crazy "northern" drivers try to change lanes where there is no room to merge, and get restless after the 2 hour mark....but at least I stay awake! The drive from Richmond to Baltimore blows, it took an extra hour due to traffic, no wrecks just stupid traffic...in the middle of the day, on a Thursday. We finally made it to Baltimore and got a beer at Heavy Seas which helped to calm my nerves.

Next stop was Inner Harbor and Federal Hill. Overlooking the harbor from Federal Hill was really cool- I took a "couple" pictures :). We went and walked around the Harbor before heading to Matt's friend Brendan's. (Note to self: next time I want to go on a Dragon pedal boat).

Brenden's place was SO cool, he had a roof top deck and I was IN LOVE. I kept asking people if they realized how cool this feature was...I think I was the most excited. 

Game Six of the Cavs vs Warriors was on, so we followed Brenden's lead and headed to a neighborhood bar called Das Bier Haus. It was loud, a little rowdy, and had HUGE beer steins.

My friend Stacy Uber'd across town to hang with me, so I was pretty pumped about that. She also gave me some tips about breakfast.

We hit up Blue Moon Too on the way out of town, Stacy told me that this was a new, larger location that was closer to Brenden's place. I ordered a Carmel latte and Captain Crunch French Toast (it was actually breaded in ground up Captain Crunch) and Matt ordered Sweet Baby Jesus (lump crab, fried eggs, cheese, hash browns, and hollandaise). Breakfast was AMAZING. The power went out after we got our food and we ended up getting breakfast for free- perfect way to round out Baltimore.

We're back on the road, off to Boston! Lord, give me patience to sit in the car al day! 

#BostonOrBust: Richmond

Off we go! Six days, seven states. Let's do it!!

Day one:

We dropped Folgies off at Matts parents house and headed to VA. We stopped at Pescados in Midlothian where my dad and I went after I bought the BMW, it was  just as good as I remembered! We ordered an enchilada aculpulco and voodoo shrimp with habanero mango sauce. Yum!

Here are my goals for the trip: 1- eat all the good food 2- drink al the beer (wait, who am I?) 3- check out local art 4- take pictures with as many state signs as possible 5- make memories with Matt

We're off to a good start! 

We checked out a really cool mural (and super creepy on the other side) and then headed to Stone Brewery for beers. I got a flight and wound up pretty tipsy, I want aware that the average ABV for their beers was somewhere in the high 8s! Mom- for reference bud light has like 4.5%. The building was HUGE and had no sign which several folks on the interwebs complained about, but the beer tender told us that "historically none of the Stone Breweries have a sign," so there ya go.

We were heading to the hotel with plans to change, grab dinner, and then head to the show...we saw a sign for Strangeways Brewing and made a little detour. I am SO glad that we did, they mix syrups in their beers and I had a beer with Woodruff syrup which tastes exactly like Lucky Charms marshmallows. It was AMAZING, but a funky color- oh well.

Due to this little detour we ran out of time for dinner and just grabbed Taco Beezy- we keep it classy, at least it was cheaper than a "real" dinner place.

We found our way to Innsbrook Pavillion, which must be a makeshift venue, it was in the middle of business park parking lot. We grooved to Through the Roots, Stick Figure, The Green and J. Boog, and Rebelution. Stick Figure always brings their dog, "Cocoa the Tour Dog" who I'm  obsessed with and J. Boog sings one of my favorite songs! We left a little early and retreated to our hotel where we slept in separate beds (hi mom). Bedtime by 930- were officially old, but Matt is older.

We had breakfast at The Black Sheep which was near VCU and kind of sketchy,  but the food was good and the portions were huge. We left a ton behind which we don't usually do, but we won't be eating leftovers on the road trip so it is what it is! Matt had Bayou Biscuits and Gravy and I had Gambas Bravas.

It's been real Richmond, we're off to Baltimore! 

The Accidental Amazing Sauce!

I was making chicken parmesan for dinner last night and ran out of marinara sauce. Fail.

We had a block of Trader Joe's Pesto Gouda Cheese in the fridge that was starting to go bad and I figured I could make a sauce out of it- did a quick Google consult and went with it.  Butter in the pan, add flour, Whisk. Add milk. Whisk. Reduce heat to low and throw in diced (or shredded) cheese.  Let it get melty and pour it on your dish. 

I ate it with zuchinni noodles and Matt ate it with normal noodles.  He thinks my zoodles are weird. It was AMAZING. Definietly will be buying this cheese for the purpose of making this sauce again. YUM!

Brand Backer: Round One

I signed up to test products for a company called Brand Backer a few weeks ago and was selected to try the SLIMQUICK Pure Extra Strength Mixed Berries Drink Mix, you can purchase it on Walmart and Amazon's websites or find a list of local retailers here.  I also got a $5 coupon in you want to try it, just click the link: $5 Off Coupon.

The drink mix claims to help you lose 3 times the weight compared to just diet and exercise. It also says that it addresses the 6 ways women have trouble losing weight.  I was super pumped about it because who doesn't want to lose a couple extra pounds.

The first day you drink 2 packs, the 2nd day 3 packs, and then days 3-7 you drink 4 packs.  I only made it through the 1st day, maybe I should have kept pushing forward but it made me feel really sick.  The taste is okay, not terrible but not really good either.  It kind of tastes like melted jello with a strange aftertaste.  I've heard that if you mix it with smoothies it is delicious!  I got a really bad headache both times after I drank it and my stomach felt funny also.  So, I quit after the 2nd drink. Womp.

I rarely drink soda, and have one cup of coffee probably two mornings a week.  The mix contains a lot of caffeine so that may have caused the headaches.  If I was to do it again, or if you don't consume a lot of caffeine try reducing the doses and working your way up.  Try starting with half a pack in the morning and half a pack at night the first day and then increasing from there!

Guess I'll  have to try and get skinny another way.

Hitting up Duck Donuts like I did today won't help you get skinny, but it will make your taste buds dance!

Thank you Lord, for a Perfect Day.

That’s how my bedtime prayer started last night. “Thank you Lord, for a perfect day.” And then I laughed.  The day had been spent cutting grass that was up to my waist, trying to corral a thousand fruit flies into cups full of various liquids made of recipes I had found via Google searching “how to kill fruit flies”, and rounded out with dinner with 3 of my favorite girls. 

Due to lots of rain, my grass grew to approximately 3 feet tall. Okay, maybe I also went a little longer between grass cuttings than I should. Anyways, the grass is 3 feet tall and I’m a little over 5 feet tall- this is going to be bad. I put on my anti-snake bite yard cutting outfit, snoopy pj pants tucked into some teal socks.  If the lawn mower didn’t scare them off, the outfit probably would.   I had to do a weird squatting/ walking combo to lift the mower up enough to cut the top of the grass and it was going okay. SLOW, but okay.  I was covered in grass but it was getting shorter. And that’s when something snapped on my foot. A SNAKE! Nope, my freaking shoe broke.  I’ve been wearing the same Nikes for years to cut the grass and I guess they wore out and half the bottom broke halfway off and it was now flopping as I walked. Awesome. Then my lawn mower broke, Something had fallen off near the blade- don’t ask me what; so I took it to my neighbor and traded him for his. I start using his and it breaks. I call him and tell him it won’t crank so he comes to comes to check it out.  Out of gas. Genius this girl. He adds gas then leaves and I go inside for water.

While I’m inside getting water I go to throw something away and I am not kidding you when I say that a THOUSAND fruit flies come swarming at me from the inside of the trash can. SEEYA LATER. I’m supposed to be having girls over for dinner so I texted one of the other girls and ask if we can do it at her house and head back to finish the yard.

  I go back out and it won’t start. Broken. He comes back over, it needed to be primed…at least I’m learning to troubleshoot at this point.  I mow for a bit and it cuts off due to being clogged. I flip it over and clean it out- I’m getting pretty good at this by this point.  I go to crank it and pull the string completely out and it won’t go back in. Whatever, I’m over it. I’m quitting.  I checked my phone and my Maggie’s house is full of smoke from some crazy recipe she was making.  I tell her to just come over to my house instead and we will deal with the flies. 

The girls all showed up and we made dinner.  Actually, Lamb cooked my part while I showered off the pounds of dirt and grass that were covering my body.   We had an awesome dinner, watched Jeopardy, chatted, and drank wine.  Everyone left and I headed to bed.

Where I prayed “Thank you Lord for a perfect day.” 

My grass had gotten crazy high and I spent hours trying to battle it out.  But, 

-          I have an able, healthy body and was able to do it by myself

-          I have about 50 other pairs of Nikes I can cut the grass in J

-          I have a (very patient)  friend that helps me when I get stuck

-          I have a big yard that surrounds a nice house with ample room

-          I allowed the grass to get so long because I was out playing with my friends

-          I have a job that allows me to pay for these luxuries

There were fruit flies swarming in my kitchen.  But,

-         I have food in the fridge and pantry

-         Our bellies were full

-         We had dessert even though our bellies were full

-         I have a job that allows me to pay for these luxuries

Even though all these ‘bad’ things happen, it wasn’t really that bad.  I was SO frustrated yesterday, but in the grand scheme of things I am lucky, or #blessed as some would say. #Blessed is one of my absolutely hated hash tags. I think it’s really obnoxious for some reason. But that is what I am. I’m blessed to have a yard to cut. I’m blessed that I have a healthy body.  I’m blessed there is food for fruit flies to try to find. I’m blessed to have awesome friends that come over to hang out, drink wine, and chat.

So, Thank you Lord for a Perfect Day.

My First Blue Apron Box

My friend Bekah started subscribing to Blue Apron which claims to be a "better way to cook."  Their slogan is 'fresh ingredients, great recipes, delivered weekly to your home."  She had a voucher for a free week of meals and asked if I would want to try it out. Free food for a week? Count me in! 

I signed up on their website and selected the meats I liked- which was all of them in case you are wondering.  They have several meat options, and also vegetarian boxes.  

A few weeks later I got the email that my Blue Apron box had been shipped and the next day it was on my porch full of fresh ingredients!  The box has 99% of the things you need to cook the meals; ingriedient wise you need olive oil, salt, and pepper and kitchen wise you need (at least for my meals) one pot, one pan, a cutting board, and a knife!

There are also ingredient cards for each recipe broken down into 6 sections.  Each section has a few lines of recipes but they are very easy to follow. 

The first night we tried out Seared Steak with Mashed Potatoes with sauteed radishes and snap peas.

Tada!  It was REALLY good!  We both wished there was more meat, but we were both very satisifed and not yucky full.  This meal clocked in at 700 calories which I feel like could have been cut down a bit by not eating the mashed potatoes.  There were a LOT of potaotes. 

After we finished eating I asked Matt if he liked radishes and he told me he didn't- silly boy thought those red things were potatoes. So ladies, if you want to trick your man into eating radishes, just pretend they are potatoes!!  There was some kind of lemon-pepper sauce that was DELICIOUUUUUSSS.

The second night we had more lemon and radishes- Matt knew they were radishes tonight, so don't let the cat out of the bag!!

The second night we had Seared Cod with Spring Vegetables and Lemon- Mustard vinaigrette. It wasn't as good as the steak, but it was 200 calories less.  I mean honestly, who would choose cod over steak if that was an option.  MAYYYBBEE salmon, but not cod.

Our final meal in the box was Hoisin Glazed Chicken Meatballs with Zucchini and Brown Rice. This one was a LOT of food. I probably could have taken leftovers to lunch but it would have been mostly rice.  I didn't even plate all of the rice and neither Matt nor I ate all the rice on our plate. This dish had a LOT of flavor! There was a spicy sauce that you added depending on your liking and I used the whole thing. YUM! This dish was also 700 calories but I felt like it was a lot more- so I guess that's a good thing?

 

Overall I really liked Blue Apron and will probably order it again!  I thought the $59.95 price tag was steep, but then breaking it down to $10 a meal it didn't seem so bad.  Matt and I spend way more than that going out all the time.  All 3 meals were tasty, left us satisfied, and only took about 30-40 minutes total for prepping and cooking.  You can check the calendar and see what meals are coming for the next few weeks and 'skip' the ones you don't want.  I think this will be in the rotation about once a month from now on.  Fun, easy, healthy- the only downside is having to do dishes!