Thursday Favs: #Winning

~ I went shopping today for summer clothes (2 shorts, 2 tanks, 1 dress, and a partridge in a pear tree)  #winning

...Via Moo.com..

~ Had a yummy croissant club in beautiful Downtown Riverside with my favorite blogger friend. #winning


..Via..

 ~WON my first blog giveaway from Delighted Momma. Do you follow her blog? You really should, she has AWESOME stuff! Thanks Lindsay, can't wait to get my necklace!

Pair this with a plain Jane tank... #Winning... seriously...#Winning!

• What's one thing you loved about today?
• Anything that was #Winning?

Quick Fix Dinner: Lasagna Roll-Ups

Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going well and if it's not...you're half way done! WHOO HOO!

I hate to make people jealous, but I'm on break and loving every minute of it! I know, you want to shoot all the teachers out there right now, but walk a mile in our uncomfortable high heel shoes and you'll be begging for a summer vacation, too! Am I right Fellow Teachers?

I've been getting a lot done in the house:
-laundry up the wahzoo...done.
-organize closet monster...killed it
-read to my hearts content...Bang-a-rang Peter!
-train for my next race... Hellz to the Yeeah
-sleep up a storm... get that umbrella ella ella A
Ahhhh! Feels nice.
**To all my friends close by, I do house calls for dinner. Hard day at work? Request a meal and I'll bring it to ya! :) Serious!**

Turns out that when you're on break, your lazy bone starts to grow a little bit. Instead of making complicated meals, I find myself making the easier kind...but still just as equally delicious. I have a month of break left so I still have time for some challenges.

Until then, I give you a dinner so easy and fun to make, that even a teacher who is on break and whose lazy bone prevents her from showering sometimes, can make, half awake from a 7 hour nap.

Project Wifey Wife Week #18-
Spinach Ricotta Roll Ups

Ingredients:
-pack of frozen spinach, thawed
-16 oz tub of part skim Ricotta Cheese
-1/2 Tbs of garlic salt
-pepper to taste
-your favorite pasta sauce
-10-12 lasagna noodles, cooked
-2-3 cups of Swiss cheese; shredded
-1 cup of breadcrumbs
-drizzle of olive oil

I used my FAVORITE German Bolognese mix that my Auntie Irene brought from Germany. Even though I was born in Germany and lived there most of my childhood, I do not speak a lick of it.

Thank God for pictures!

Moving right along.....

So organized and beautiful, no?

 Now I got-stah get my butt up and make dinner! Do you think I need to take a shower before Hubby gets home from work? I mean we're married now so he can't really leave me. Ok, I'll shower.

• What's the easiest dinner you can make? Link it to me!
• If you were on break, how would you spend your lazy days?

JoMo Sandwich

In all four years of college, everyone I knew called me JoMo. It was a combination of my first and last name. That name stuck like glue and some people even went through the years never knowing my real name. Sad, huh? I kinda loved it because it was endearing to me, but then I hated it because it sounded so juvenile. It made me sound like a little chubby 5 year old boy or an English Bulldog or something.



Fun times.

I had two food obsessions in college, both VERY healthy.

#1-BOBA aka Bubble Tea. If you look at my About Me page, you will see what these evil balls did to my health. I was in love with this drink. Taro or Milk Tea to be exact.



Studious me!

#2- JoMo Sandwiches. I don't care what anyone says, but I was the one that coined this combo first. You can tell me that you had them when you were little, or whatever other lie you can think of, but I don't believe you. I believe me because who dah HECK are you? I used to make these in the dorms, for my friends in college, and in grad school as a study snack. It was protein and healthy hazelnuts and calcium rolled into one! That's what the commercial says right?

Hubby and I have been eating these for dessert lately. To make a JoMo Sandwich, you need to make sure you have the key ingredients.

1. HOT out of the toaster bread so the beautiful combination of gooeiness melts all over your face.
2. Healthy slather of Nutella
3. Messy glob of PB...smooooth.

College was the best time of my life. Every time I eat one of these sandwiches, it just takes me back to those days of partying studying, boys books, and drinking eating good stuff!

• What was one guilty pleasure you ate in college?
• Did you have a good college experience?
• Tell me your NICKNAME!

California Eats: The Salted Pig

Last Friday, Hubby took me on a date night...a Fat Friday date night. I don't know whether to love him or hate him, but because he's so darn cute, I'll love him For-ev-ER!

He did an amazing job taking me to a place that is solely based around pork. I happen to really enjoy all things pork. Bacon, of course, Lechon (which is roasted pig), ham, uhhhhh what else is there? I don't know, but I like it... it's fatty, flavorful, and delicious.

The Place: This little gastropub is in the middle of the Law District of Riverside. It kitty corners the Riverside Court Houses and is neighbors with some of Riverside's hidden monuments. You really have to search for this place because it isn't in plain view when driving down the main streets. Because of this, the ambiance was very chill and there weren't a ton of people there. The people were definitely locals. This place is very small and the bar takes up more than half of this place...which is a great thing, right?

The Menu: There is a wide array of items that I've never seen on a menu before. Items like Bacon Fat Popcorn and Foie in a Jar peaked our curiosity and helped us to see that we are going to have to come back again to try everything. The menu was eclectic and modern.

First and most importantly for Hubby, we ordered drinks. I forgot to write the names of the drinks because I was hopped up on pork, my apologies.

The Eats:

It was a tough choice but we ended up choosing something we are familiar with: Bacon Wrapped Dates. The verdict? We weren't crazy impressed because we are bacon wrapped date connoisseurs, but they were pretty good. The thick bacon inside was no joke and who doesn't love a good aioli? Juicy, crispy, crunchy....B+

The Main Attraction: Most of the time at a new place, Hubs and I half our entrees. That way, we will be able to taste more without picking off all the food on our significant other's plate. Genius right?

Hubby's ordered his burger medium. It came out on a brioche bun with fries that are comparable (but not better than) In-n-Out.  It was a monster of juicy beef with chunks of bacon tickled throughout. The egg was perfectly runny and the meat to bread ratio was a fair trade. It seemed promising but it was not "throw your head back and moan because it's so good" type good. It was ok. We've had better. Would we eat it again, yes...B+.

I opted for this fat piece of meat. If you've ever had pork belly before, you know there is some fat involved, but GOODNESS ME, this was FATTY. It was 80% fat and 20% meat. The fattiest I've ever had. After awhile I felt gross, which is to be expected after chomping down on fat, but still...no dish should make you feel that way. Flavorful it was, but I've had pork belly that was made better with a lot less fat. The polenta was creamy and the strawberries gave the fat a well needed contrast. This dish was ok...B-

Overall: This place didn't impress me as much as I hoped it would. I would definitely come back because I want to try different things on the menu. I wont judge it solely on what we tried. The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing either. The beer selection was great and if anything, this place is a cool hangout spot. The service was very good and I loved the feel of the place. I'll give it another chance one day.

p.s Hubby and I are going to start running together this week. So, no need to worry about our hearts, cholesterol, or blood pressure. We will be ok.

• Do you like to share plates when you go out? Or are you selfish eater?
• Pork? yes or no?

Gets Me Everytime!

#157 on my bucket list..participate in a flashmob.
The end makes me tear everytime.

(#1 on my bucket list...make a bucket list.)

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Thursday Favorites! Look Ma, I Can Read!

Summer reading was never my thing. Heck, reading was never my thing, which is ironic since I am a teacher and all. I always envied those teachers who talk about how they just finished their 3rd book this week. It takes me SOOOO long to finish just one.

Let the record show that I am not a slow reader, I am quite fast actually. It's just I get so distracted. I watch a copious amount of stupid stuff on the boob tube, I love to do anything that doesn't require moving, and really...I've always been more of a magazine person...ooooh prudy pictures! I never wanted to admit any of this because now you probably think I'm an illiterate lazy bumhole. Illiterate...no. Lazy bumhole...mayhaps.

But this summer year has been quite different for me. I've been lucky in love at the bookstore. I'm reading actual books and not magazines!! And there are no prizes or ice cream parties at the end of this journey, I'm very much enjoying the feeling of getting lost in books. It feels good since it was in fact, part of my New Year's Resolution.

Here are some books I finished at truly enjoyed! (all images from Amazon.com)

       

1. This book was so intense. Very graphic in nature, suspenseful, and exciting. I really enjoyed it and was quite disturbed at the same time. You really have to get past the first half (which was full of lawyer jargon) to really get into the "good stuff" but I thought it was a great book.

2. If I had to describe this book it would be the same description I give to a Gummy Bear. This book is filled with a handful of sweet and delightfully funny stories. It's about the author's experience moving to Whitter, California as a young child in the 70's. It's very cute and it was a fast read.

3. This book is now my all time favorite book. First off, this book is NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIE! Sure, it has snippets of the cooking and Julie breaking down and how she was inspired by Julia Child, but the movie left out Julie's crude humor (she curses like a sailor and I LIKE IT!), 100 more recipes that she has funny little adventures trying, and a crap load of weird characters that are her friends. In a nutshell, this book is about a girl who uses blogging and cooking to relieve herself from her crazy job with the support of her patient hubby. THIS IS ME!!!

4. This is my second time reading this book. I read it when I graduated college (Almost 7 years ago! WOW) and for some reason I couldn't get into it. Reading it again has given me a different perspective and I think I'm reading it in a good time in my life. It's about chasing your dreams and finding your passions. I'm diggin' it!



5. One word: HILARIOUS! The first half is about her childhood, about her teenhood, and her personal life. The second half is mostly about SNL and 30 Rock. Both halves made me laugh out loud and read it to my hubby. I LOVED IT!

6. More on this later because I'm only a quarter through it. So far, it's eye-opening and life altering. I don't want to accept the fact that I've been abusing my insides with all the butter, cookies, and burgers I've been consuming, but this is really going to help me feel better about myself. I can feel it already.

7 & 8. I purchased these two and look forward to reading them! Can't wait! I'll let you know how that goes.

I understand that these books aren't going to make me any smarter (DARN!) or make me look any smarter (Double DARN!!) but they make me happy and that's all that matters to me.

• Have you read any of these books?
• What's on your summer reading list?

The Hills are Alive, with the Sound of Hiking

And what does hiking sound like, you say?

"Why did we choose the hard path?"
"My thighs are buuurning!"
"Are we almost to the top?"
"Is that a SNAKE?"
"How come those old Asian ladies are passing us up?"

Last week, my friend Grace asked me to go hiking with her. The Lazy in me wanted to say no, but I think my couch needed a break from my BUH-DONK. Extra emphasis on the DONK.
Anywho- I said yes (obviously) and we had a grand old time...except for my left buttcheek and thigh, it wanted me dead and I know it.

I packed what I thought was necessary. But it turns out that when you are hiking up a mountain, an extra hand sanitizer in your bag feels like you're carrying a family of Koala bears on your back. I wanted to chuck my mini-bag off the cliff but apparently there are rules against that.


Hey! Look who remembered their inhaler this time!

Upon arrival, the clouds were covering the mountain, so I thought it would be cake. As the clouds parted, I realized that I might die today.

There was a cute little brook that marked the beginning of our journey. So peaceful and serene. We were ready to tackle the hill!

Then we found this crazy animal and we let him come along with us. We figured he would be able to carry us if we got hurt or something. Just kidding, he can't carry us, his noodle arms would buckle and we'd all plunge to our deaths.(I keed Richard! Your muscles can go up against any woman body builder.)

We complained climbed 2.5 miles all the way up and the view was breath taking!

I even met a little friend on the way! He was a fast little booger!

Even though we started our climb up the mountain around 8 in the morning, the sun burned off one layer of shirts for all of us. HOT! It had to be in the 80's or 90's!

Finally at the top, we came to a little tiny hut with two benches. I vote for a pool and an air conditioned ice cream stand, but that's just me.

Kidding aside, I had a great time with two of my buddies. It was hard, but we made it. I never hiked like this before and I felt strong when we finished. It was a challenge and we completed it! Even though I couldn't sit down on the toilet when I got back home because my thighs were mad at me, it was totally worth it!

The 2.5 miles down the hill was very scenic. Grace described it as a forest scene from Snow White.

And this is the spot where we Yelped a place to eat (which I will post tomorrow! Such a cute place we found). Ahhh, memories.

• Hiking...yay or nay?
• Would you like to come with me next time? I need someone to hold my bag.
• Seriously, I'm going again...I'm ready for these hills!