The Weekend in Photos

As usual, the weekend went entirely too fast.  But isn't that always the case?  This weekend I tried to strike a balance of having things to do but also having some downtime to relax.  I didn't relax quite as much as I thought I would this weekend but I still had a great weekend!

On Friday, we met up with 3 other couples and went to Minnehaha Falls.  This waterfall is super powerful right now because of all of the rain we've had so I wanted to make sure we saw it while it was still a-roaring!

Phil is not a huge fan of posed photography (he is like my dad in that regard) but I did talk him into taking a picture with me here.

After having dinner at a restaurant by the fall, we went to the home of the couple that lived close by for dessert and a couple of games of Wits & Wagers which was a new game for us.  It was really fun!

I was up bright and early on Saturday morning to meet my running group for a 7 am trail run at a location that was about 20 miles away. 

I was a little apprehensive about this run as I have never been a huge fan of trail running but it actually went really well.  We ran 11.5 miles in about 2 hours and 8 minutes, so our pace was kind of slow but I know that's the way it goes with trail runs.  The trails were pretty muddy in certain parts so my legs were I mess and I was a hot, drippy mess as it was so humid that morning! 

On Saturday afternoon I was supposed to meet a friend for coffee but she cancelled as she wasn't feeling well so I used the afternoon to be meal plan, grocery shop, and do laundry.  When meal planning, I focused on recipes that required basil as my Bert the basil plant (yes, I named him) had quite a few leaves that I could harvest!  My basil is doing well.  My flowers?  Not so much.  Only one is producing flowers, 2 plants died, and the last one is growing like a week but won't produce flowers.  Oh well, at least I can say I tried to grow flowers!

I am hosting a get together at the end of the month and one of the guests is vegetarian so I am experimenting with some vegetarian recipes.  I used some of the basil to make these lentil 'meatballs.'  They look and sound a little weird but they are actually delicious!  They have chopped up kalamata olives in them which give them a salty, tangy taste!  The recipe was a hit, so while the meat eaters are enjoying pulled pork, my vegetarian friend will have a meatball marinara sandwich.

I used the majority of the basil to make a very easy marinara sauce.  I forgot how easy it is to make my own marinara sauce!  I'll definitely be making this recipe again.

On Sunday I went to a yoga class at the studio by my house and was reminded how hard/awesome classes there are!  My afternoon was spent with my adorable nephews.  Being an aunt rocks!  I'll share pics from that in a separate post as this one is getting long enough.

I capped off my Sunday by doing a trial run of Chicken Provencal which will be the main course for Julia Child Night this fall.  Phil and I both gave it two thumbs up!

For having a "quieter" weekend, I sure kept busy!

What were some of the highlights of your weekend?