Zulu, Jake, & Bubbles

Sacramento flowers & an orange tree

Most Pathetic Menu Monday

We hardly ate any meals at home this weekend. It was a lot of fun to socialize and eat out with friends and family, but the bank account is none to pleased with our restaurant adventures!

Monday:
stuffed bell peppers and mashed potatoes

Tuesday:
fish tacos

Wednesday:
sushi in Ukiah with our friend Jill and her co-worker

Thursday:
mexican place in Vacaville with Jake's employee. I had Thursday off so I drove down with Jake and his worker bee. They worked and I shopped at the outlet mall.

Friday:
dinner in Lakeport for Jake's cousin's b-day

Saturday:
Easter potluck at Jake's uncle's house. I took tabouli inspired quinoa


Sunday:
Brunch in Cobb with Jake's dad and step family

Dinner in Sacramento! I'm willing to bet that Jake had chips and salsa for dinner. We made some AMAZING salsa today, but I didn't take pictures. We'll make it again soon though and I'll be sure to document.

P.S. my stomach is definitely feeling the effects of my tremendously non vegan eating habits this week!

Sacramento

I'm in Sacramento for a few days this week for work!

I'm staying in the Capitol Park/Midtown area and I LOVE it! It's so pretty and there are so many quirky little shops and eateries.

I went to a Triple D restaurant, The Golden Bear, for dinner tonight. I got a sandwich to go and it was delicious. It's really more of a bar than a restaurant. They have a very tiny menu, but everything on it sounded delicious.

It's also right across the street from a vegan place that I want to try, but it's not open on Sundays or Mondays and I'm leaving Tuesday. I'll try to squeeze it in, but if not then I'll save it for another trip.

Menu Monday

Monday:
white bean and avocado wasabi salad

Tuesday:
ordered pizza

Wednesday:
pineapple and cashew quinoa

Thursday:
split pea soup and lemon and dill roasted potatoes

Friday:
2 seven layer burritos from Taco Bell (minus the sour cream and cheese...still vegan!)

Saturday:
leftover soup

Sunday:
Lunch: leftover potatoes with peppers and "cheese"

Dinner: spinach and pea baked risotto with olive asparagus

Sunday blog meal: pickled mangoes

I was also extra productive on Sunday and made a big pot of beans and a large batch of rice to use in recipes throughout the week!

Spring Time Splurges

I ran a bunch of errands yesterday and decided to treat myself to a few spring time things.

The flowers were on sale for $5 at the grocery store and the dish towels were only $1.99 a piece at K-mart!

I picked up two of these rugs at K-mart. They were on sale for only $5.49 a piece! It's a good thing they were so cheap because Zulu has decided to chew them up. Yeah, it's been a rough day in Zulu land. Not only did she decide to ruin the rug, but she also knocked over a table by the front door, thus breaking a hurricane vase filled with potpourri and the cake topper from our wedding. The bride's arm broke off, as well as the grooms head. I can't find the head though so I guess I won't be gluing it back together. She spent a while in time out after that little incident.

I also did a 5k run yesterday. I don't normally like 5k's because they're such a short distance and when you're a slow runner like myself, they just seem kinda silly to run. This one served donuts though and started just down the street from our house so I really couldn't pass it up.

It was totally worth the donut and the shirt with donuts on it though. I think all races should serve donuts. Or tacos. I would totally be up for a taco 10k.

Menu Monday

I've decided to start a weekly "Menu Monday" post. I realize I already have a food blog, but since so much of my time is spent cooking, I think I this blog deserves some food time as well. I'll be recapping the previous weeks menu and I will gladly share any recipe upon request.

Monday:
Stuffed zucchini, white bean and sun dried tomato dip, and pita chips

Tuesday:
Italian white bean dish, asparagus with vegan alfredo sauce, and fruit salad
Wednesday:
Dan Dan noodles and salad with homemade miso dressing

Thursday: (aka: I don't want to cook day)
Buffalo "chicken" wings, mashed potatoes and salad with homemade honey mustard dressing

Friday:
Dinner out

Saturday:
chips and Whole Foods guacamole for dinner. No picture ;)

Sunday:
Picnic sandwiches and green bean salad (featured on the other blog)

Salvation Army (again)

It seems like I was just at the Salvation Army, but it was actually over a month ago. And we had other things to do in the area so I didn't travel over an hour just to go to the Salvation Army again. This experience at the SA was a bit different than most. We (I) usually find a ton of items that are super awesome and super cheap. Well this time we just got the "super awesome" part down.

Jake is actually the one to be credited with finding this item though, so let's blame him. He showed me this poster and I fell in love with it (he was already head over heals). Then I saw the price tag and it was one of those moments when you think "This has got to be a misprint. We're at the Salvation Army and this is a 3o year old poster. Why on earth is it that expensive?!" Well Jake pulled out his handy dandy smart phone and looked up comparable items on the internet. He said the few he found were about $40 more than the one we had in our hands. Still, unable to bite the bullet, we held onto this thing for about an hour while walking around and looking at other things. Finally, it was time to go and a decision needed to be made. We weighed the pros and cons. Pro: It's awesome. Con: It's expensive. But then I rationalized that this could be my birthday present (about a month early). And it was settled. Poster purchased.

It fits perfectly in our living room. I think our dreams of living is Sonoma County one day fueled our love of this poster. We actually found 1979 and 1980's posters later in the day at an antique store, but they were damaged and not framed so we kept our wallets in our pockets and continued walking.

I did find one cheap item at the SA though, this little painting that I put in the bathroom.

And a bit closer....

This is actually just a print, not a real painting, but I am so in love with it. I don't like the frame one bit, but it's one of those pictures with a paper backing so it would be a pain to change. I might try to paint over it though at some point.

I really want to design a wedding around this painting and my blue mason jars. Anyone want a free wedding designer?

Too Cute for Words

Triple D, Half Moon Bay & San Fran

Before we left for San Jose I looked up all of the Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives in the area and found 3. We only managed to go to one, but it was really good. I don't think I've seen the episode with this restaurant, but Jake thinks he's seen it. We both had falafels and shared a hummus plate. The hummus some of the best I've ever had. After lunch we headed to Half Moon Bay. We didn't stay long, but we did get out of the car to stretch our legs and enjoy the ocean views. We then continued our journey to San Francisco. We met up with our friend Tim and went to his brother's rooftop to enjoy some drinks. His brother wasn't home, but his fiance (who also lives there) joined us when she got off of work so we weren't really trespassing ;) They have the most amazing view of the city. I'm so jealous. We headed home after hanging out for a bit and concluded our 2 day, middle of the work week, adventure.