Monday, July 14, 2014

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?

21 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great weekend! I love that you went to a waterfall as a big group event!

    I love the picture of you and Phil. I'm so glad Eric does not have a thing against posed pictures haha because I think it would be really hard to be married to me if so :)

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  2. Anything with olives gets my vote! That's sweet of you to plan especially for your vegetarian friend instead of being like, "Oh, I guess you can have more salad..."

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  3. That waterfall is beautiful1 I wish we had sites like that around here.

    My weekend was great! My parents finally got up to NW Iowa so they could see the wedding site and we got a lot of wedding prep done!

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  4. Tell Phil he did a great job! I know where he comes from as I am not a lover of picture taking either!
    Those "meatballs" sounds great and I agree about the olives! They make everything taste better!
    Can't wait to see the post with the "
    "boys"!
    Enjoy that basil!

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  5. That falls picture of you and Phil is so cute! I love your top!

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  6. Oh, I forgot to say that I'm happy you liked the trail run! Cheers!

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  7. You guys make such a cute couple! You're such a good friend, going above and beyond to make a special vegetarian meal (that sounds delicious!). I'm sure that she/he will really appreciate it.

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  8. Love that photo of you two! And I also love Bert the Basil plant - ha!

    My weekend was good - fast, but good! Family reunion was fabulous, but we were gone less than 72 hours and 25 of them were spent driving - definitely glad to be back!

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  9. Love that picture of you and Phil. Chris saw it on Facebook and was like, "oooh is that the boy?"

    Also, that Chicken Provencal looks amazing!

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  10. Oh you had quite the weekend! Looks like fun though. And love the picture of you and Phil :)

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  11. Sounds like a fabulous weekend! Love that your running group does trail running - good training for your fall race! What hydration vest are you using? I just bought one the other month and love it (though, it takes some getting used to wearing).

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  12. Yum! You've made me hungry with your photos. And, PHIL IS CUTE!! ;) <3 so happy for you love.

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  13. You did have a super busy weekend but it was full of lots of good things! Eric gets tired of me taking photos too, he was definitely done with them by the end of our last vacation haha.

    We have a ton of basil right now too so maybe I will have to make a marinara sauce. Does it require turning my oven on? As long as it just uses the stove top I'm good to go! Haha. Can you send me the recipe you used?? :)

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  14. I’m so glad you loved your trail run! That’s good to hear. :) Another busy weekend for you, but sounds like all good things so that’s awesome!

    My weekend was very nice! I met up with a friend on Friday night, celebrated my mom’s birthday with her fiancé, my brother, and my nephew on Saturday, and Sunday, I was a little productivity queen, getting done lots of chores and writing and meal prep.

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  15. So much to love here -- chicken provencal; finally seeing Phil; "meeting" Bert the Basil Plant and smiling because you are running and having a grand time with it! Three cheers for you, Lisa -- it all sounds terrific!

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  16. Love these "meat"balls! Yum! I want to try making them. My friends and I are hosting an end of summer wine tasting/pesto party - and those look like a cool addition!

    Minnehaha falls are amazing! How did I never see this when I lived in MN that summer?!

    You and Phil look great together!

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  17. Way to go on your trail run! Your lentil meatballs look really good. I don't eat meat but Pete does and sometimes we struggle to strike a good balance with meals. Making a batch and freezing would make it a lot easier for us to do spaghetti & meatballs with him eating real meatballs and me eating lentil meatballs.

    My weekend was filled with packing and painting Pete's condo. I will be so glad when this is all over! I hate feeling unsettled (I know you can relate to that!) so I've been burning the candle at both ends trying to get all these move-related tasks completed while still keeping up with my normal routines and fitting in all my workouts. I'm beat!

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  18. What a beautiful waterfall! and wow, 11.5 miles on trails? nice job! That's a long trail run. and a long any run for you these days. You should be really proud of that.

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  19. Anything with olives makes me really, really happy, so I think those lentil "meatballs" sound amazing!! Kalamata are probably my favourite type of olives.

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  20. As you probably know, the boy hates taking his photo taken as well. Most times it isn't worth the hassle, but every once in a while I really want a picture!

    And I love the idea of lentil meatballs. Of course, I love lentils and love meatballs so it really isn't a surprise.

    And I know I've mentioned the Betsy-Tacy series to you before, which I'm guessing you still haven't started :), but anytime someone mentions the Minnehaha Falls I can't help but think of the series. And actually without the books, I likely wouldn't recognize the name.

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  21. So excited about your couples'night out... I wish we had some couple friends!

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