My parents want to know who I am and where their daughter went. I’d like to know, too. Who the heck is this girl granny who wakes up before the sun (without an alarm!)? I was up and at ‘em at 5:59 AM today. I’m not kidding when I say that used to be more like my bedtime.

[Peter walks downstairs to leave for work]

Where are you going today?

Uhh, nowhere…? I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep, Dad.

[Mom walks downstairs to leave for work]

You really ARE a granny!

Thanks, Mom.

Well, Granny Allie fulfilled her duties last night by cooking dinner for her family.

I know what you’re thinking. A recipe? A savory recipe? Oh yes, the recipe drought has finally come to an end, folks!

I didn’t know what my parents wanted to eat last night, so I made something that I would want to eat myself. Makes sense, right? Sure.

I’ve been dying to try this brown rice spaghetti for awhile now, but haven’t had the chance. And by that I mean, I’m always ravenous when I’m making myself food and can’t bare to spend an extra second waiting for water to boil.

It’s been forever since I last made pasta. How much do I cook?

Enough.

I also added a can of wild Alaskan salmon along with 2 tomatoes to give it some bulk.

We had no pasta sauce of any kind in the house, so I used Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.

I mean, why not?

I really didn’t know what to expect…hummus pasta?

It tasted fabulous though. You’ve gotta try it. It was creamy like alfredo, but without the weigh-you-down-like-a-bowling-ball effect. Oh and you can totally make the hummus from scratch if you want.

As for the brown rice pasta? I asked Peter what he thought…

Hey, you know that pasta was made entirely from brown rice? Is that not just SO cool?!

Cool? Well, it was good…really good. Much better than I expected, actually.

(FYI Peter is a die hard white rice fan…emphasis on the white)

Granny’s Hummus Pasta

Ingredients

• 8 oz. brown rice spaghetti (or pasta of your choice)
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1-6 oz can boneless wild Alaskan salmon
• 2/3 cup prepared roasted red pepper hummus (or make your own!)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Bring 6 cups of water to boil in a large pot. Cook pasta on high heat for 12 minutes or until al dente. Drain. In the same pot, sauté chopped tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cooked pasta, salmon and hummus and stir until fully combined. Serve with extra hummus if desired.

***

I’m on the lookout for a little girl in a red riding hood to bring this granny some muffins!!

I think I’m finally at the point where I don’t wake up the day after a run sore and waddling like a penguin. Every time I begin my running cycle it takes me about 2-3 weeks to build up my mileage, my endurance and my running muscles! I think I’ve reached the end up that stage now (thank goodness). Hopefully I can keep building up my mileage when the summer heat sets in. If you remember last summer, I had to take a long break from running due to some shin pain and super hot temps.

Soon, the days of perfect running weather will be few and far between…and then later, they’ll be long gone. Enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts, folks!

This afternoon, I ran 4.5 miles and walked 1 mile on my usual loop. It really felt like I ran 10!

~ ~ ~ ~ Crazy wind gusts!!! ~ ~ ~ ~

I know I say this every time but really, today was the craziest by far. I had to stop and walk for a good 1/2 mile because I was pretty much pushing against a wall with my forehead (!!).

I was tempted to quit and walk home but I repeated my new mantra and forged on. Running against the wind will only make you a stronger runner.

***

Post workout, I assembled a tacowrap. I was a little overzealous stuffing my wrap and it became a giant taco .

I was going to hold it together with two shot glasses from our collection (taco style), but I ended up using a toothpick instead.

The Las Vegas shot glass is one of my favorites!

I wanted to make an egg salad with hard-boiled eggs, but the yolks came out a little too runny [bunny]. My patience was dwindling and I took them off the stove early.

I knew it would happen but I just didn’t want to wait 3 more minutes!!

I ended eating a whole egg straight up…love runny yolk.

Then I used another whole egg and one white mixed with Nayonaise to make the egg salad. Stuffed in a habanero lime wrap with tomatoes and spring mix.

I heated the wrap directly on the stove. A trick I learned from my host family in Mexico. The first time I saw my “sister” do it, I thought she was going to burn the house down!

On the side, a banana and toasted pecans.

Soon after, I walked to Harris Teeter with my Uncle where I sampled some pineapple, cantaloupe, bread ‘n hummus and cinnamon buns!

Another 1.5 miles logged for the day.

I tried to hold out for dinner but the juiciest strawberries ever were staring me in the face and I had to eat them. Look at these beauties…

Just in case you think I’m cray cray, the thought process for my post title was…

Run + Runny Eggs –> Eggs –> Easter–> Bunny.

Runny Bunny

I’ve got lotsa work to do tonight! I’ll be back tomorrow with the winner of the Glass Dharma Giveaway to celebrate Earth Day <— Last chance to enter. Do it!

Also, be sure to check out my guest post on Little Bitty Bakes. Coconut Bird’s Nest Cookies just in time for Easter.

Today has been all about planning, packing and baking for the 2nd annual Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco, CA! I’m flying out tomorrow morning and I get back super early on Tuesday (red eye flight). Who’s going?! Let me know!

To say I’m excited would be a serious understatement.

However, I am a last minute planner and packer so the day has been (and will continue to be) a bit c-c-c-crazy. I went on a run this morning to calm my nerves. I know it helped a lot, but I’m still frantic!!

Let’s all say sayonara to perfect running weather….bye…au revoir…adios.

At least now my shin sleeves will keep me warm and not make me HOT.

“HOT” not “HOTT.” I forgot to wear them once last week and got significantly more smiles and cat calls. Actually, I get none when I wear them! I guess shin sleeves not only protect my shins but keep kidnappers away!

Sweaty shin sleeves = pepper spray?

I ran 6 miles in 60 minutes. I felt a twinge of pain in my left shin near the end (uh oh). I made sure to stretch my legs nice ‘n’ good. Hopefully it’s nothing major.

The gloves make it look like I live in the arctic tundra. It sure felt like it going from underneath my down comforter to 40 degree chill!

I ended at the gym where I did a quick 25 min. full body strength training routine since I will be without weights for 5 days. Strength training is tres important.

Pre workout: I munched on some Shredded Oats cereal and a medjool date.

Post workout:

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Plus a bowl of Greek yogurt and pumpkin oatmeal swirl!

• 1 cup cinnamon spiked Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• cereal and raspberries

Operation eat-up-the-pumpkin-berries-and-yogurt!

I love the juxtaposition of hot, nutty oats/chia + cold, silky smooth yogurt.

Then I had to get some ingredients to bake for my festival Foodie Exchange gift. We are all supposed to bring something to exchange with another attendee. I’m baking AllieBars and another surprise item.

***

I think I photographed dinner with the very LAST drop of sunshine. Hmm I win this time, Sun .

I hereby present you the most random salad of ALL time. Are you ready?

While out, I picked up some artichoke hearts, caprese salad, a balsamic onion and olive tapenade from the Mediterranean/olive bar.

Supplemented with a carrot and 1/2 a veggie burger with ketchup.

Cinnaraisin Ezekiel Bread on the side.

So random, I know.

I wake up pretty late to begin with, so on the days that I run, all my meals get pushed back a few hours. Although this was eaten at dinner time, it was more like my lunch. I’m most likely gonna be eating another meal later on tonight.

…looks like I’m ready for California time already .

10 am East Coast time = 7 am Cali time. Heck yes! I’m going to be an early riser for 5 days.

***

I still have about 5,000 things to do in the next 10 hours, including sleep!!

To Do:

• Find a suitcase (uhh yeah…)

• Figure out all my outfits

• Laundry

• Find all my electronics + cords

• Charge everything

• Upload all my photos, burn on DVD, and delete from memory card

• BAKE!!

• PACK!!!!

It’s me against the clock. Ready, set, go!

***

Tell me: Some packing tips!! Running in the cold tips!!

Thanks

Hey y’all! (I’m watching Paula Deen on the Food Network right now…can’t help it!).

How was your Halloween? We only had a few groups of kiddos ring our doorbell last night so I’ve got plenty of Halloween pretzels left to eat. I thought we would get more kids now that we live in a neighborhood but NOPE. Good thing I didn’t get a big bag of candy to hand out like I had planned!

This morning, I munched on some Halloween pretzels and Honey Nut Cheerios as a pre-workout snack.

Workout:

• 45 min. elliptical
• 15 min. leg weights

Post Workout:

Pumpkin Pie Wheatgrass Smoothie

• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 1/2 banana
• 1 packet wheat grass
• 2/3 cup almond milk
• 1 scoop protein powder
• water, ice, stevia

Next up, a little something I dreamt up while working out.

2 min. Microwave Pumpkin Pie on Cinnaraisin Ezekiel toast ‘crust’, topped with Greek yogurt ‘whipped cream’ and raspberries

Bread ~ ‘crust’

Greek yogurt ~ whipped cream

I went back for a messy bowl of Greek yogurt, berries, banana, and Cheerios.

***

Then I ran some errands at 2 humongous stores: Super Target and Wegman’s.

At Weg, I picked up an organic Pumpkin Spice tea I’d never seen before and [on-sale] Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea. I plan on buying many many many more boxes of this crack tea as the season progresses.

(I actually have a box leftover from last winter. I hoard SCSR tea like it’s going out of fashion.)

I also got 5 Chunks of Energy and ate ‘em all. One day, I will figure out how to make these.

I got home in time to watch Taylor Swift on Ellen and Portia de Rossi on Oprah.

Taylor was adorable. I’ve only been belting her songs day and night for the past week .

Portia discussed her battle with anorexia and bulimia as well as coming out in the Hollywood spotlight. She had me in tears! What a well-spoken lady. I never knew about her story until today. I want to read her new book now, Unbearable Lightness.

While watching, I snacked on some medjool dates. The ones we got from Costco are great–very soft and moist.

…dipped in hazelnut cream cheese of course.

I also had a few handfuls of Kettle Chips. This is definitely something I only eat because it is in the house…PETER!!

For dinner, I put together a simple salad.

Avocado, herbed goat cheese, diced tomatoes, perfectly fried egg and a slice of Ezekiel Bread.

It was the last of the goat cheese .

I also had a few bites of Peter’s cooking.

Now I am trying to figure out how to satisfy my chocolate craving with no chocolate in the house!

***

Becoming a Faster Blogger: Step 1

I’ve mentioned that it takes me an inordinate amount of time to blog. Part of the reason is that I put a lot of thought into what I write and I proofread my posts at least a dozen times before I press publish. The other part is that my laptop is incredibly slow and it can’t handle a lot of activity at one time. Sometimes, if I drag too many photos into my blog post, I have to restart the computer just to load more. This makes it very difficult for me to blog when I am short on time such as when I am on FUN TRIPS. It’s also just really annoying.

Recently, I’ve been using my mom’s super powerful laptop to blog and I’ve been enjoying the speed with which I can upload photos. However, it’s not practical for me to hog her computer all day and when I go out of town, I need something to speed my ancient laptop along.

Enter, the SD Card Reader.

My mom’s laptop (and most newer laptops) has a card reader on the side where I can insert my memory card directly. My laptop, however, doesn’t have one and therefore I have to use a cord.

With the cord, I have to download the photos before I can drag them into my blog posts. With the SD card reader, I DON’T have to download the photos. Instead, I can drag them into my blog posts directly.

This allows me to sort through the 80,000 photos I take on a daily basis without taking up a lot of my precious and limited computer memory.

I found this at Target for $7.99. I’m sure you could find a similar one online for cheaper but I am leaving for San Fran this Thursday!

OH! Also, with this gadget, I can drag my photos onto a blank CD and burn them there so I can back up my photos without having to take up computer memory space.

I can’t believe I didn’t buy this gadget a year ago!! I could have saved so much time. So long, farewell camera cord!

***

Have a great night and US peeps, don’t forget to vote tomorrow!

Tell me: Got a strategy to help me (and others) blog faster? Do tell!

I’m probably breaking every jinxing rule in the book but…ohbygollythejobisreallycool!

That’s all I’m going to say for now.

Alright. Okay. Fine. I’ll tell you a little more. Part of the ‘interview’ was to drive over to the bakery and be semi-undercover.

I need to stop!! I don’t want to get too attached (um too late…?).

While undercover at the scene of the crime , I got a decaf coffee. The one thing I really wanted, the pecan bar, had pistachios. Boo allergy.

***

On the way home, I stopped by Target, Trader Joe’s and Wegman’s to entertain my sweet tooth. As you know, I’ve got a raging sweet tooth.

Every day is Halloween for me .

Look what I found…Chocolate covered candy corn!

I actually ended up putting it back. Don’t worry–read on!

Taylor Swift’s new album. I rarely ever buy full albums but come on, it’s T. Swee! Worth. every. penny.

(I love it!)

***

I got a carton of Pacific Natural Foods Organic Almond Milk from TJ’s for $1.69. I don’t typically get this brand because I’ve only seen them for $2.50+ (too much!).

Pacific is ranked #2 in my Almond Milk Ranking.

***

From top to bottom…1) a 29 cent chocolate bar, 2) chocolate mint candy, 3) candy corn and…

4) Chunks of Energy Chocolate Chip Almond. I’m addicted. Apparently these don’t last in my possession because they disappeared before my eyes once again.

***

I got the candy corn to make my OWN chocolate covered candy corn.

I’m sure you now have a sugar coma just from seeing those photos….it’s time for some REAL FOOD.

Pumpkin oatmeal pancake with hazelnut cream cheese and dried cranberries.

(1/3 cup oats. 1/4 cup pumpkin puree. 1/4 cup egg whites. Cinnamon. Water)

I cracked open a can of 365 pumpkin for this. The verdict? Still not as good as Libby’s but much better than TJ’s (sorry, Teej)!

Libby’s Pure Pumpkin > WF’s 365 Pumpkin > TJ’s Organic Pumpkin

***

Does Allie eat salty food…ever?

Believe it or not, yes!

Salmon. Tilapia. Shrimp. Tomatoes. Asparagus. Spring Mix.

And that’s that. Gotta go!

It’s gonna hit 75 degrees today. Is next week really the beginning of November? Really?!

***

Tell me: Chocolate covered _____ are the bomb!

I say pecans. That was easy.

Greetings from Charlottesville, VA!

More specifically, the KERF house, where I am staying overnight.

A group of us travelled to KERFville this weekend to celebrate Kath’s birthday. A weekend agenda consisting of delicious food with old + new friends? I’m there!

Quick geography lesson: I’m from the northern part of VA (outside of DC) and Cville is about 2 1/2 hours south of me. In between us is a bunch of beautiful farms and rolling hills .

I rode with Christine and we arrived just in time for lunch at Eppie’s Restaurant in downtown Cville.

I ordered the 1/2 Soup and Salad Combo.

The Santa Monica Salad with spinach, corn on the cob, tomatoes, goat cheese (!!), and dates (!!!).

It was delicious (duh)! I mean, talk about all my favorite flavors in one bowl–I can’t wait to recreate this salad at home.

Soup of the Day: Tomato Bisque. Super creamy!

The best part? A side of pumpkin bread!

We chatted about life…

…we put Siracha on everything…

…and we chatted about all things cameras and lenses.

Afterwards, we stopped by Arch’s for some frozen yogurt and their famous gooey brownie [batter] topping. Well, let’s just say we went for the gooey brownie and got a side of frozen yogurt to go along with it .

I got the chocolate peppermint frozen yogurt and the gooey brownie, which was highly recommended by the birthday girl.

And then we did a little bit of this…

A lot of this…

More details to come!!

As per usual, I took a boatload of photos and I need more time to blog about it all. Watching this speedy blogger in action made me realize just how sloooow of a blogger I am!

(But I think she is abnormally fast!)

And yes, it’s really weird to see another blogger’s blogging process. And by ‘weird’ I mean really interesting and fun.

***

Alrighty, time to hit the hay!! It’s been a very long and very very delicious day.

Toodle-loo!

I had to do it.

I had to get the space heater out yesterday.

I was chilled to the bone! I think it was partly because I took the day off from working out and didn’t really move=minimal blood flow. It doesn’t help that my room is in the basement (the coldest part of the house). It’s gonna be a cold winter in this house that’s for sure!

Remember when I seared my leg by accident with this heater? That honeycomb scar lasted for weeks!

…and I just decided to name my space heater Honeycomb.

***

My pre-workout snack today consisted of a couple Fig Newmans, a banana w/ 2 TBSP almond butter, and 1/2 a slice of pumpkin pie.

I love Fig Newtons but stopped buying them when I found out they were made with high fructose corn syrup. I started buying Fig Newmans and the ones in the WFs bulk section instead.

My favorite way to eat them is FROZEN! I wrap them in plastic wrap and stick them in the freezer (they might have to defrost a bit). I swear, it is the best way. The fig filling gets hard and super chewy.

Trust me on this one.

Workout:

• 60 min. elliptical
• 20 min. full body strength training

My workouts after a day off are always great. I’m full of energy and I swear time flies. It sure helped warm my body up too!

Post workout I made a Pumpkin Pie Smoothie and went from feeling warm and toasty back to freezing again. Oops.

***

I also had a perfectly fried egg with cheddar cheese that slid off to the circumference.

The bread and tomato slices were hiding underneath.

For dinner, I ate a lot of cantaloupe while waiting for my mom to come home.

She was running late so I had 1/2 slice of brown rice bread and pumpkin Greek yogurt.

…and then I couldn’t wait any longer so I dug into my salad.

Goat cheese and beet salad with tomatoes and green peppers

Peter just discovered beets (thanks to me) and is a huge fan!

I also had some of Peter’s egg ‘n’ veggie dish.

Dessert: Frozen Fig Newmans and graham crackers.

The recipe for the Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Blondies is coming up next!

Tell me: How do you stay warm in the wintertime?

**NYC Readers

I will be traveling to NYC next week and I’m looking to plan a meet up. It will probably be sometime during the day on Monday 10/11. Email me (allie at livelaugheat dot com) if you want to join! I’d love to meet you.

*Voting has begun….Click here to vote!

Project Food Blog Challenge #3: Luxury Dinner Party

Do you remember your first kiss? Of course you do. Remember the 3 seconds leading up to your first kiss? You squeezed your eyes shut as you leaned in and then hoped for the best. Please no stinky breath, minimal slobbery spit and no disasters. Please. Puuuh-leease.

You may have been nervous or perhaps even a little scared but in the end when you opened your eyes again, everything was alright, if not, fabulous. Last night, I shut my eyes and hoped for the best as I threw my first real dinner party….as an adult. Planned and executed in 24 hours, no less.

There may have been some stinky garlic breath and some drool, but there were no disasters. Just plenty of good laughs and endless conversation.

Let’s start off with some tips for throwing a dinner party in less than 24 hours:

1. Advance Notice: Be sure to inform your guests about your dinner party plans more than 24 hours in advance. A couple weeks would be ideal. If you have to invite people at the last minute, make sure you invite friends you’ve known for years and years so you know they won’t judge you.

2. It’s OK to be Themeless: Don’t spend precious hours deciding on a theme for your party. If you have one off the top of your head, by all means, go for it. But, a perfectly acceptable theme is ‘your favorite foods with your favorite people.’ Done.

3. Use What You Have: When brainstorming the menu, take note of the ingredients you already have on hand. With a limited amount of time, you don’t want to be worrying about going on a major grocery excursion. You may have to get creative but that’s the beauty of it.

4. Know What You’re Going to Wear: Decide on your outfit the night before so you aren’t scrambling to get dressed as your guests are pulling into the driveway. Then again, if they’re friends from way back when, chances are they’ve seen you at your worst (read: ratty old middle school gym uniform).

Bonus Tip: Plan for an early arrival time (5 PM is good) so you have plenty of daylight to shoot your photos.

Priorities.

***

Let’s get this [dinner] party started….

Meet Trisha, Maggie and Laura. My friends from way back when.

We’ve been friends for far too long to count the years. Hint: longer than the length of time the popular sitcom Friends aired on NBC.

June 2006

June 2005

December 2007

October 2nd 2010

The menu featured some of my favorite ingredients: goat cheese, pears, pecans, salmon and pumpkin. I wanted to share my favorite foods with my favorite people.

First Course

Roasted Bartlett pears stuffed with herbed goat cheese, Medjool dates, pecans and a drizzle of honey

\

Served with spring mix salad greens, pecans and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette

Main Course

Pan roasted salmon with basil, tomatoes and onions served on a bed of orzo

Side of asparagus

Right as we were picking up our forks, Trisha informed us that she had never eaten salmon before….ever. In all 22 years of her life. Other species of fish, yes. Salmon, no.

There’s a first for everything, right? First kiss, first dinner party, first salmon experience.

What a moment this was.

She approved (phew!).

Dessert

Vegan pumpkin pecan blondies

The original recipe called for sweet potato. While I had sweet potato on hand, I opted for pumpkin at the very last minute.

Whoever decided this recipe made 12 servings was seriously confused.

Eaten by candlelight while chatting like old times.

There were some woulda coulda shouldas. However, none of them mattered because I got to spend a long overdue evening with three of my best friends from way back when.

When I opened my eyes again, all of sudden it wasn’t about what was missing but who was sitting right in front of me. The company was a luxury in itself. The opportunity to spend time with old friends is more than a creative theme, an exquisite table setting, or the perfect outfit.

As for my one regret? Not throwing a dinner party sooner! When did we go from talking about boys, clothes, and shoes to engagements, pregnancies and careers?

I hope you enjoyed being a part of my first dinner party. Next time, you’re invited! I promise I’ll give you advanced notice and I’ll be appropriately dressed.

***

You know the drill, I need YOUR vote to advance to round 4. Click here to vote!

Have you seen/heard of the movie Mao’s Last Dancer ?

Well let me tell you, it is fabulous. It left me with tears streaming down my face and a strong urge to take up ballet. It’s an Australian movie about a peasant boy growing up during the communist era in China who becomes a ballet dancer (ballerino?) and moves to the US. It’s based on a true story–the book Mao’s Last Dancer is actually an autobiography written by the main character himself.

I highly recommend it!

My mom was determined to see it, so we set out in the middle of the day to a small theatre where it was playing.

I wanna be a ballerina!! I wish I could go back to 1991 and tell my 3 year old self to keep on dancing!

***

Breakfast was somewhat rushed in an effort to catch the movie. I ate some albino honeydew melon.

Don’t let the color fool you. Greener does not necessarily mean better–this was frickin’ sah-weet!

I was literally racing out the door, so I had to pack the rest of brunch to-go. I mixed the rest of my TJ’s Greek yogurt (~1 cup) with some eggy oats and ground flaxseed.

I sprinkled some toasted pecans after the photo <–excellent decision!

I also packed a couple medjool dates and a guava for the movie.

My mom had a meeting afterwards so my dad and I hit up the tennis courts at the high school across the street. We played for about 90 minutes under the sizzling sun.

Not gonna lie, I feel a bit sunburned right now. Who said Fall was here?

I wore my running skirt (good idea) and running shoes (probably a bad idea).

Afterwards, we went grocery shopping and I was happy to see some samples because I was hungry!

***

For dinner, I made a small salad with the rest of the Costco spring mix (woohoo!!), tomatoes, and Gardein fake beef chunks.

+ piece of toast w/ hummus on the side.

CRABS!! (I just wrote ‘CARBS’ . Craaaaabs were on sale at the grocery store so we bought some. I ate 2 crabs + some extra crab legs.

And then I demolished the rest of the honey dew. I think I ate about 3/4 of that melon all in one day.

***

After dinner, my dad accompanied me to Whole Foods and Safeway to grab ingredients for my Project Food Blog post (coming up next).

He got really into the idea and couldn’t contain his excitement while giving me suggestions . Ohhh Peter.

And then I hit the JACKPOT!!

I only got 1 large can because they were kinda pricey. $2.55 for a 15 oz. can (I once got it for 89 cents!). I figure I can buy it as I eat it now and then stock up when Thanksgiving sales come up.

***

Dessert: I picked up this Blueberry Vanilla Attune bar with a free coupon I got from the HLS swag bag.

I do love dark chocolate but white chocolate will always have a special place in my heart.

I also got a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Almond Butter and ate it straight up while researching recipes.

These two photos were taken within 2 seconds of each other. The only difference was where I focused (dark spot vs. light spot). Cool, huh?

Alright it’s time to stop snacking on wasabi peas (at midnight!) and prepare for my PFB post.

***

Tell me: If you could go back in time, which activity/sport/hobby would you choose to continue doing/playing?

Happy 30th Anniversary to my Momma and Poppa!!

Holy suh-mokes.

My first thought was: Wow that’s a long time….longer than I’ve been alive!!

(Yes, Allie. It sure is.)

My parents met at the University of Kansas, where they both attended grad school. My mom and her friend cooked my dad dinner (oh how things have changed ) on one of their first days of school. In fact, they both had just arrived to the US a couple days beforehand. At the time, my dad was working as a custodian and my mom knew he would appreciate a delicious, authentic meal.

…and they lived happily ever after.

I guess my mom made a tasty meal!

Congrats to my parents for making it through 30 years of marriage. Certainly, not without the help of these two little goobers .

***

Salad week continued last night with a spring mix + tomato + feta salad.

.

.

.

.

I also made a Gardein ‘BBQ Beef’ burger.

These are meatless BBQ Skewers but to be quite honest, I could hardly tell! The texture was so. much. like. real. beef. I have been eyeing these products for months now and I finally got my hands on some thanks to a free coupon from the company.

Each serving has 19g of protein! I really like that they are made with non-genetically engineered soybeans….and don’t have a funky meatless taste/texture.

I used my whole wheat burger bun to soak up the extra BBQ sauce from the package….finger lickin’ good.

After the photo shoot, I immediately went back for another skewer (4 cubes) to put on top of my salad.

I’ve gotta cut this off short because I made a lovely breakfast, took lovely photos and wrote up a lovely post….BUT realized at the last second, that I might have to keep it under wraps for a couple days. Oooh wee!

***

My parents are out golfing all day and then the whole fam is going to a special restaurant to celebrate the big 3-0. The special restaurant is NOT Peter’s Kitchen, ha! We try to give the man a break sometimes, ya know.

***

One last reminder to vote for me in the Project Food Blog contest. You only have until 6pm PST tonight (so 9pm EST)!

***

Tell me: What’s the longest period of time two people you actually KNOW have been married?