When The Beer Isn't Flowing

Gary & I had been looking forward to this past Wednesday for about a week.  The local brewery was going  to throw themselves a 1 year birthday celebration with deals for their loyal customers.  Our plan was to get there early {between 4 & 5}, drink some brews, eat some dinner and stroll down Main Street.

During my break at work, I decided to check out their Facebook page to see if they had posted an specials yet.  Well, I didn't find specials, but I found this:

FAIL!!!  Why in the world did I think the celebration was on the 25th?!?!  

I was so looking forward to a night off from cooking dinner, but neither Gary or I wanted to spend extra money on dinner & beer when we already knew we would be going there NEXT Wednesday.  Plus, my birthday is this weekend, so the festivities {aka the spending on money} will begin.

Gary was kind enough to stop by the store and pick up some lettuce so I could throw a salad together.

I tossed together some salad, chicken cooked in BBQ sauce, chopped walnuts, strawberries and blue cheese.  SUPER FILLING!

But there's always room for dessert!

We have been consistent with eating fruit after dinner if we are still hungry.  Normally a small handful is all I need to fill my sweetness craving.

Today was a crazy busy day at work.  I had to go to Costco to buy enough hot dogs, buns, chips, water, etc. to feed 400 incoming 9th graders on Monday.  Buy the end of the work day I was already close to 7,000 steps!

I definitely felt tired and had to make myself go to the gym today.

Guess what??  Once I got there, I did not regret it.  Shocking, right?!?!

I played musical cardio machines.  First I went on this torturous machine that resembled an elliptical, but felt more like a stair master.  I lasted about 5 minutes, then had to get on the treadmill, where I ran half a mile.

I then did the following workout from here:  

I don't have a wedding to prepare for, but I figured my arms could use it.

DAMN!!  They are burning!

Working it!

Love my little gym bag!

 After that, I jumped on the Arc Trainer for about 10 minutes.

By the time I got home, Gary had washed the zucchini for me.

All I had to do was chop it, season the heck out of it with Garlic, S&P.

AMAZING!!!

Half a sweet potato and some leftover tri-tip rounded out our meal!

Sweet cherries for dessert!

OXO Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker {Recipe & Giveaway}

I was given an opportunity by the OXO Blogger Outreach Program to try one of their new "OXO Healthy Eating Tools."  I was given the choice between a few different items and #1 on my list was the OXO Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker.


Last summer I "discovered" homemade salad dressing....and.my.life.changed.  FOREVER!


You no longer see bottles of store bought salad dressing that last for a ridiculous amount of time in my fridge.  


When I received the "Shaker" in the mail, I was impressed right off the bat.  It's big enough to hold 1.5 cups of dressing, but it's not bulky at all.  Also, it's very sturdy, yet not too heavy.

A few more things I LOVE about my "shaker:"

• It's BPA Free - Don't know what BPA is?  Check here.  Just trust me when I say you want it nowhere near you!
• It's Dishwasher Safe - If a product isn't Dishwasher Safe, it's not in my kitchen!  My passion is cooking, NOT cleaning!
• It has a one-handed open/close seal - Seriously, yo!  I could hold my salad bowl in one hand and OPEN this in the other the immediately pour...perfect for a family gathering!

Here is the first salad dressing recipe I made using my OXO Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker.


Honey Mustard Vinaigrette 


Ingredients
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 TB honey
1 TB mustard {I like spicy brown}
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
3/4 cup olive oil


Directions
Add all ingredients to the shaker in the order listed.  Close lid & shake away.  DONE!
Pour on the nearest salad and enjoy!

See, I was not kidding when I said it's easy to make your own dressing!


What's even cooler than getting a free salad dressing recipe from me?!?!


Winning your own OXO Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker!!

***THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED***

Here's a few ways to enter {leave a separate comment for each one you do}:


1. Tell me your FAVORITE salad toppings.
2. Like OXO on Facebook.
3. Like Organically Mo on Facebook.
4. Follow OXO on Twitter.
5. Follow Organically Mo on Twitter.
6. Tweet the following: "I want to win an @OXO Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker from @OrganicallyMo so I can dress my salads with homemade goodness!"
7. "Subscribe" to Organically Mo by e-mail or RSS feed {upper right hand corner}


This Giveaway will close at 9pm EST on Tuesday, June 26 and I will announce a winner on June 27.

                        ***THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED***

***Disclaimer: I was sent a free Salad Dressing Shaker from OXO to review and blog about.  All opinions are my own.  OXO also supplied me with an extra shaker to send to a lucky Organically Mo reader.***

Run, Forrest, Run

AAAHHH!!!  I ran for the first time in over a year today and I feel A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

I started my day with a good, healthy breakfast of 1/2 cup hash browns sauteed with mushrooms and 2 eggs, some strawberries and grapes.

That held me over for about 4 hours until I had a salad very similar to last night.

Today's salad had less bacon {boo!}

I MAY have also indulged in a very rare midday treat:

Leftover Nutella from a baking project

It's not every week that I can enjoy such a sweet treat on a Tuesday afternoon!

The whole morning/early afternoon I did laundry and sat on my butt watching Hart of Dixie and Biggest Loser.


I was BORED out of my mind.

So I knew what I had to do.

Get up.

Get out.

And GOOOO!!

I planned on walking my normal mile route, but something inside of me wanted more.  So I went with it.  And probably freaked Sasha out...poor dog didn't know what she had gotten herself into.

Out of my mile, I probably jogged half of it total.  Yay!

Then I came home and did strength training for 15 minutes.

I cannot say loud enough how proud I am of myself!!  Not only did I feel a fire inside of me to do something active, but that fire pushed me to do something I was uncomfortable with.

Watch out world, here I come!!

Feeling good after my workout, yo!

I'll leave with pictures of Sasha pre AND post walk...I do not think she has moved in the hour we've been home!

  

Avocado Madness

Somehow we have had over 20 avocados in our refrigerator this weekend.  We're now down to 15.  Raley's had a weekend only sale for 50 cent avocados....obviously we had to stock up!!

I am an avocado addict.  Whether it is spread on crackers, cubed into a salad or whipped into an delectable guacamole, if it is in front of me, I will down it within 5.3 seconds{scientifically proven}.

Not only are avocados tasty, they pack a punch when it comes to health benefits.  They are good for your heart and have anti-cancer benefits.  For more health information check out the California Avocado website.

With the spring like weather we've been blessed with in the Central Valley, I have been on a HUGE salad kick {exhibits A,  B & C} and decided to create an avocado based salad dressing for dinner tonight.  I had big dreams for avocado mixed with blue cheese & bacon, when I was reminded that Gary hates blue cheese {if I had only known this before we were married}.  So I took it as a challenge to also create a spicy avocado dressing for Gary.  Double Schwing!!  <---please tell me you get this reference so I don't feel old.

Avo Blue Bacon Dressing Ingredients

Avo Blue Bacon Dressing

Ingredients:
1 Large Avocado
1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt {or sour cream}
1/4 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Crumbled Blue Cheese
1 TB cooked & crumbled bacon
Dash of Pepper

Directions:
Cut Avocado in half and scoop the "meat" into a bowl.
Add yogurt, milk & blue cheese
Mix everything together until smooth.
Add bacon & pepper and mix again.

Avo Blue Bacon Dressing on spinach w/ walnuts & extra bacon

Spicy Avocado Dressing Ingredients

Spicy Avocado Dressing

Ingredients:
1 Large Avocado
1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt {or sour cream}
1/4 Cup Milk
1/4 to 1/2 Cup Prepared Salsa
Dash of Pepper

Directions:
Cut Avocado in half and scoop the "meat" into a bowl.
Add yogurt, milk, salsa and pepper
Mix everything together until smooth.

Spicy Avocado Dressing on spinach

These dressings both turned out super chunky and extremely delicious!

I'll be posting some more avocado recipes these next few weeks, so stay tuned!

***Are you an avocado fan?***

A Saturday to Myself

I meant to post this early this morning, but time got away from me...better late than never!

As soon as I woke up yesterday morning, I was itching to get out and do something.  I was in desperate need of some cosmetic/beauty items, so I decided to drive to the closest Ulta {about 30 minutes away} and make a day out of it by stopping in at Pier 1, Cost Plus and Trader Joe's!  The hubz was not in tears that this meant a day at home by himself {I think he saved the tears for after I left}.

No joke, I spent over an hour in Ulta, just wandering the aisles.  What I love about Ulta is that they are a mixture between Sephora and Target...on one side of the store they have higher end brands like Philosophy and Murad, while on the other side they offer items from Neutrogena and Pantene.  This gives me a great opportunity to compare products.  I used to buy a salicylic acid body spray from Murad that cost about $25.  The first time I went to Ulta, I saw Neutrogena had their own version.  Upon comparison, I  realized that they had the exact same ingredients, but the Neutrogena spray was less than $10!  Ulta also carries a wide variety of organic and natural beauty items and they are always have sales, so if I plan it right I can get some of my favorite items really cheap!

I've never tried fake lashes before and want to see if I can do it!

Next was Pier 1, where I stocked up on some clearance items and fantasized about how I will decorate our mansion when Gary & I win the lotto one day.  I also decided that when the world comes to an end later this year, and it is Gary, myself & John Cusak against the rest of society, while they raid grocery stores so we can survive, I will raid Pier 1 so we can have the most stylish, comfortable and good smelling bunker!

Cost Plus was next....I have found that I like looking around Cost Plus, but I rarely buy anything.  Probably because I always hit Pier 1 first and hit my spending limit there!

Then it was time to hit the holy grail of grocery shopping - Trader Joe's.  Most of the time I hate that it is 30 minutes from where I live, but there are times I am thankful for that, or I might go there a few times a week and spend a small fortune!  I stocked up on some almond meal, a pack of tilapia I want to experiment with later this week, dark chocolate peanut butter cups and bought this chocolate stout for Gary & I to share later that night {it was really good, but a bit too strong, so Gary had to drink his half AND some of mine...what a guy}!

I came home, dropped off the groceries, had a quick lunch and headed back out to finish getting our groceries for the week.

By the time I got home from that, it was nearly 5 and I wanted to cook the chicken for our salads.  I was halfway done when I remembered I had Kohl's cash that was going to expire that night....damn!  So Gary took over the chicken while I headed out for one last adventure.  I ended up buying a cute V-day decoration that was 80% off and 2 cute summer cardigans.

Finally I was able to come home and RELAX!!  I made our salads {using this dressing from the other night} and we watched Midnight In Paris.  We both really liked it and I am obsessed with the music...if I closed my eyes, I could picture myself walking down the Paris streets!

Yummy dinner salad!

Getting a day to myself was something I have really needed for awhile.  I like to go out and take my time exploring shops and not feel rushed.  Perfect day!!

***How was your weekend?  Any fun stuff come up?***