The Friday Five

1. What I'm Reading: Still Catch 22

I hate it.   


2. What I'm Listening to:  Anything on the radio that makes me want to dance.  I just want to dance!  Hopefully, this weekend will involve some dancing.  If not, I KNOW next weekend will consist of lots of it. :)  


3. What I'm Grocery Shopping: Lots of fruit.  

 It was all on sale and I couldn't decide, so I bought it all! That huge seedless watermelon was $5, the ginormous cantaloupe was $2, strawberries were 2/$4, blackberries (my favorite!) were 2/$5, and the pineapple were buy 1 get 1 free.  Needless to say, I spent most of last night cutting up fruit.  I brought a lot to our quarterly safety meeting this morning, not because I really wanted to share, but because I'm scared of what will happen to me if I eat it all by myself.

Oh, and I picked up some Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful.

I've been wanting to try this for ages because I love white chocolate, but have resisted because 1.peanuts aren't Paleo and 2. It's full of sugar.  Although, the ingredient list is actually fairly clean. 

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   A coupon for $1 off is what finally caused me to cave in and buy it.  I'm terrified to open the jar.  If it's as good as I think it will be, the entire jar will vanish quickly. Saving it and sharing it on my beach trip may be a good idea.  

4. What I'm Eating: this recipe from PaleOMG!

Thank god for the CrockPot with my busy schedule lately!  The only tweak I made was adding adobo peppers.

A salad of spring mix with fresh broccoli, squash, and zucchini was topped with the chicken for a delicious and very filling dinner.

5. What I'm Excited About:

-It's Friday!!!!

-It's payday!!!

- Beer Fest this weekend!!!

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- 4 day work weeks for the next 2 weeks!!!

- This WOD I'm taking on this afternoon!!!

- Sunshine!!!

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Happy Friday!

Have you tried Peanut Butter & Co.'s White Chocolate Wonderful?

Do you force yourself to finish a bad book?

What are your weekend plans?

The Friday Five

1. What I'm Reading: Catch 22

I started it a while back, then took a hiatus to read the Hunger Games Trilogy and some other books, now I'm attempting to finish.  I'm hoping it gets better.

2. What I'm Eating: Pork.

I used to despise pork, but lately, I'm loving it.  Sunday my dad grilled pork ribs and I stuffed myself full of them.  Then, I bought a pork loin on sale at Albertsons.  While trimming the fat, I sort of demolished it (I'm no butcher) and ended up with two hunks of loin and some "steaks".  I grilled the "steaks" and man, where they delicious. 

Who knows, I may even end up loving bacon!?

3. What I'm Drinking: Cucumber Vodka.  Square One Organic Cucumber Vodka, to be exact.  Say hello to my new best friend.

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I'm sure you have all seen the birthday cake, whipped cream, orange, banana, king cake, etc flavored vodkas.  Well, I was introduced to cucumber vodka.  I LOVE cucumbers!  It was fresh and natural tasting.  After sampling a shot, I had the bartender (my friend Jess) make a drink with the cucumber vodka, muddled mint, lime, and club soda.  I am so in love! It is really, really close behind a mint julep as my favorite summer drink.  We agreed the drink should be named after me, but haven't come up with anything just yet.  The name should reflect the freshness, crispness, and summeriness (word?) of the drink.

4. What I'm Watching: Impractical Jokers on Tru TV

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Hilarious.  Every episode I watch makes me belly laugh, out loud, alone in my living room. Here is Wikipedia's explanation of the show:

5. What I'm Pinning:

Happy Friday!  In 8 hours, fix yourself a cucumber vodka, muddled mint, lime, and club soda and enjoy the weekend!

What are you reading? Eating? Drinking? Watching? Pinning?
Help me name "my" drink!  What should I call it?  So far all I can think of is "the Seersucker", which is kind of perfect. 

Friday Five

What I am Reading: More Magazines

Yes, it's the February issue.  My sister brings me a copy of her subscription when she is done, but hoarded Feb. and brought me March first.

Again, it's the February issue.  Same as Bon Appetit...I read March last week.




Along with some local publications.  Of special interest this month, Lagniappe's feature story was on the bars of southwest Lousiana.  A reporter visited many bars in the area and wrote a synopsis of each.  How do I get that job?

And  Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

I'm only a couple of chapters into this book.  I honestly have no idea what it is about, only that it is a classic and a friend recommended I read it (although, he has led me astray on his last 2 recommendations). 

So far, it is really funny in a wierd, quirky way.  The characters are quite eccentric.  If I could only stay awake to read more of it!

What I am Listening To: my Baton Rouge Beach Half Marathon Playlist.

On yesterday's run, I repeated Super Bass about 5 times.  I'm addicted!

Non-running wise, I've been jamming Van Morrison (my all time favorite),

 Joe Purdy,

 and the Wood Brothers.

What I am Watching: the weather

It's going to be a wet weekend in southwest Louisiana, which is not good if you have 2 runs and a crawfish boil scheduled.  

It looks like my Saturday morning run will be dry, but my Sunday run and crawfish boil may be soggy.  If it's raining too heavy, I may swap my run for some burpees indoors.

What I am Eating: pulled pork

I made pulled pork for the first time on Saturday/Sunday/Monday (it's a long process) to bring to 2 of my friends who had babies last week.  Since I made a ton (seriously, it was 14 pounds of pork shoulder), I kept a little for myself and have been eating it pretty much all week.  Yum! It was worth all the work. Plus, I made a Paleo BBQ sauce to go with it!

I used this recipe for the pork (with a few modifications to make it Paleo) and this recipe for the BBQ sauce.

What I am Pinning Googling: Things to do/places to eat in Austin, TX

After the Blue Bell Fun Run, we are going to drive on to Austin for the night.  I've been to the capitol city of Texas a few times, but feel like I didn't get to explore enough. 

Last time I was there, we perused the South Congress area.  It was a really cool neighborhood with vintage shops, food trucks, and a hipster vibe.  At night, we went out on West 6th Street (it's an older crowd than the other side of 6th st).
 

source - We ate here. It was good, not spectacular.



source - Had dessert here .  Carrot cake cupcake was divine!

source - And peed here.  The decor here was unreal! I love all things nautical/coastal and their design fit the bill in a very classy and modern way. (Think oyster chandeliers , mother of pearl everywhere, and seafoam green nautical striped upholstery.)  This place is even cool enough for Anthony Bourdain.  I would love to eat here, but it is a bit pricey!

This time, I'll be with my sister, my mom, and my grandma.  I'd love to tour the capitol area, see the Lady Bird Johnson wildflower garden (since the bluebonnets will be blooming!), observe the bats taking flight off Congress Bridge, and watch the sunset at the Oasis (made famous by the Garth Brook's song "Friends in Low Places".)  Not to mention, the flagship Whole Foods is downtown and I heard it is HUGE!

All y'all that have been to Austin, give me tips and suggestions!  Is the Oasis worth the drive and the wait?  Any must see or dos?


Bonus #6 on the Friday Five...

What I Plan to Cook this Weekend:

Since it will raining all weekend and I will be stuck in the house, I am going to make the most of it and spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  Some things I am going to attempt: 

Paleo pancakes,

source & recipe

Paleo pizza,

source & recipe

Paleo candy or a Paleo fruit crumble of somekind, Paleo fish cakes,

source & recipe

and very non-Paleo chocolate chip cookies to bring to the crawfish boil. 



What  reading, watching, listening to, eating, googling, and cooking?