Dad’s Turn!

I don’t know about you guys, but Saturday mornings are typically our “run errands” day (while Sundays are our laundry and pick up our mess day). One fun errand was a bit of furniture shopping – even though we were totally unsuccessful in finding what we were looking for, we had a good time browsing and lusting after things we can’t afford.

I have no place for this in my house (not to mention it had a “sold” tag on it) but that doesn’t stop me from wanting it. I love the yellow and grey! Tookiloo in Ogden always has really fun antiques and accessories so I’m hoping that they will have something more what I’m looking for in the near future Plus, their stuff is always really affordable, unlike some of the other places we looked at.

After striking out on our furniture and organization errand we needed to stock up on groceries – big time! Call me a nerd but I was so excited about the bulk section at Winco. I love buying in bulk and every time I pop into Winco I find something new. This time I fell in love with the spice section.

Heaven! I used to buy my spices in bulk from Market Spice in Pike Place Market – but since moving to Utah I’ve paid the full (ridiculously high) prices for bottled spices at the grocery store. I don’t know how I missed the spice section at Winco before but I have found my paradise. I’m currently dreaming of a pantry/spice shelf makeover – matching jars and no boxes or canisters. Ah, I can’t wait to have time to put into that.

I am also especially happy that we’re all stocked up again…

Chobani! We are eating more yogurt than ever these days – Spencer keeps “stealing” mine.

The Bangbow yogurt collective:

• one of the large plain variety (we use in baking and smoothies)
• six of the individual flavors – for work
• eight of the new “bites” – in coffee w/chocolate chunks and also raspberry w/chocolate chunks – also for me to take to work (yep, I take two a day now) and I share these ones with Spencer
• one box of the new “yogurt tubes” which is for Mack to take to school with him. Chobani’s answer to GoGurt, but with a lot more protein and way less sugar. Cool beans.

For dinner I decided to try out one of my Trader Joe’s purchases. I threw together TJs Harvest Grains Blend with a few fun things and let it cook up in the rice cooker while Nick cooked up some steaks. Harvest Grains is made up of couscous, red quinoa, baby garbanzo beans and orzo.

Harvest Grains Pilaf

• 1 1/4 Cup Harvest Grains Blend
• 1 3/4 Cup Chicken Broth
• 3 Stalks Celery, finely chopped
• 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 1/8 Yellow Onion, diced
• Cook in rice cooker until “done” – mine turns off on its own using a censor, about thirty minutes.

We enjoyed our steaks with the harvest blend and a side of roasted kale, peas and corn. I’m trying really hard to sneak in as many veggies (especially green veggies) as possible.

Once dinner was over and our stomachs had settled a bit (hey, steak…it needs some time) we headed down to our “at-home gym” to work out a bit. Our basement isn’t set up all that great but it gets the job done. I put in 15 minutes on the stationary bike as a warm up and then Nick showed me a few things on the weight bench. I always treat the weight bench as if it is a “boys” thing and I honestly didn’t even know what to do over there. Nick worked with me a little bit and spotted me as a I did a few reps of various presses.

It was nice of Nick to work with me, but honestly I don’t think I’ll ever be a big fan of this type of workout. I’d much rather have my heart rate high and feel the sweat dripping down. It’s a personal thing I guess. And, maybe I just don’t know what I’m doing still…

Who else got a lesson on the bench?

It was dad’s turn to have a little workout buddy! Now, I really really wish that I had a better photo of this. Nick and I always change into our workout clothes and Mack has seen us do that a hundred bazillion times. When he asked to ride my stationary bike I told him he needed to get shoes on if he wanted to workout with us. He came down with his shoes on alright, but he also changed into a button down shirt and a clip on tie. His idea of workout clothes

Remember what I said about setting an example for our kids? Perhaps Mack set an example this time and we’ll be seeing Nick in a shirt and tie for his next workout – what do you guys think?

Our idea of a fun Saturday night – catching up on the DVR and watching Macklemore’s performance on Ellen! Did you guys see it? I’m pretty stoked at how popular this song has become – for one Macklemore is from Seattle and for two, a friend of mine from high school is in the video. Awesome possum!

Watch the whole video: